Quote from Rai Kerensky »Quote from SC1987 »I'm curious as to why you put mono-red Eldrazi in your list of potentially good decks after rotation. Don't most people agree that mono-black is better?
I have not seen any Mono black decks doing well. It is a decent deck, but Mono Red actually has noticeable results.
What about the monk black deck by Michael Romero at the Houston Grand Prix?
And Where did you find the deck lists of mono red Eldrazis that you mentioned had noticeable results? I'm just curious about what they look like if you think anticipate they'll do well in the new standard.
Also since you pointed it out, you're right that Dovin, Architect of Law looks better than Dovin, Grand Arbiter; in a superfriends build, I'd play Dovin, Architect of Law first because it can draw cards and can protect itself better. That should tell you just how bad Dovin, Grand Arbiter is.
I'm very skeptical about Simic Ascendeny though. The win trigger has to occur on your upkeep making it very unreliable.
I disagree that the payoffs are real this time around. The creatures that have triggers upon receiving counters seem to cost way too much or have subpar effects.
The Kaya and Dovin planeswalkers look really bad too. I know wizards probably learned their lesson about the power level of 3-mana walkers, but they didn't have to make them unplayable.
I guess we'll just have to wait until Simic comes around for more +1/+1 counter supports.
My plan is actually focused on reanimating and not aristocrats. The main reason I added all those token generators was to feed experience counters to Meren so that I could have enough to reanimate something big quickly; the blood artist creatures I only included for lifegain to stabilize; you will draw a lot of hate once others see that you're looking to reanimate something big.
I also added the Mikaeus + Triskelion combo upon realizing how many tutor effects can be supported in this deck.
I also take back what I said earlier about Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. He's a great card but in this deck he's a non-bo. I thought he would be another source of counters but waiting until he hits the field and having my creatures die just for one +1 counter is too slow.
I'm not denying Kalitas is not great but I really don't think he's at his full potential with Atraxa, at least not in my playgroup. He just seems like a general good stuffs card but doesn't really add much synergy. That being said, my play group loves graveyard strategies so more graveyard hate is never unwelcoming so I might also put Kalitas back in at some point. But at the end of the day, the goal of Atraxa +1/+1 counters is to go tall and Ravenous Slime fits that strategy better.
Also note that Ravenous Slime doesn't say "non-token" creature unlike Kalitas in case your friends try to life-drain you by sac'ing tokens.
I'm currently on the road and on a mobile device so I apologize for making everyone click on a link. I'll re-post my list on here as soon I get the chance
I'm actually going to try out Sunscorch Regent because I've realized that I do need some more lifegain in this deck.
You have very nice card choices overall but I think your mana curve is too high. You'd ideally want the average cmc to be at 3 unless you have a lot of ramp effects. The cards I feel rather strongly against are
Shapers of Nature - I already consider Zameck Guildmage to be a bit too inefficient and this card is even less efficient.
Vorel of the Hull Clade - I find this guy to be too much a "win more" card; the fact you need to pay 2 mana and tap him is constraining and taxing.
Corpsejack Menace - I also think this is a "win more" card, considering that most sources of +1/+1 counters come in increments of 1 anyway.
Deathrite Shaman - This just seems like a general good stuffs card and doesn't synergize with most of your deck. Are you just in need of graveyard hate?
Archangel of Thune - This is unreliable if your deck is not built around gaining life.
Dusk//Dawn - This is likely going to hurt you more than anyone else. The Dawn half is great for you but I think there's still much better graveyard recursion out there.
Merciless Eviction - I still think Austere Command is better given the additional utility, but this is fine especially if you need the exile effect.