MTG Salvation

Thus far I’ve removed two copies of SSV for a copy of Gideon Jura and Ob Nixilis Reignited. I’ve been pleased with the results and contemplating how necessary SSV is in the build. The life gain is important but I have several cards built in to accommodate this. The question is what replaces it and which effects are worth the switch. Big Lilli and Sorin have card draw and protection built in but are high cost. Another Gideon Ally would be nice and bring me closer to the original build of the deck. Will definitely continue testing it results have been promising

I've been doing really well in the online games I've played and enjoying the build thus far. The deck is nowhere close to being the finished product and I'm continually evaluating my sideboard options. I've considered modifying the deck in two ways. The first was by adding Lurrus of the Dream Den because who isn't running it these days lol. I built a deck around that card with Myth Realized as the main finisher but soon tossed the idea. The benefits of Lurrus were too few compared to its uses in other decks and the effects that would benefit us most (discard, cheap creature removal) didn't do enough against match-ups we weren't favored in already and I've always strayed away from creature heavy control builds due to their variance. The second modification comes at the cost of planeswalkers. There are a few that would slot in well to the deck over the three copies of SSV. While he's great when he comes in, I do have plenty of lifegain options in the deck already. Some options to consider are:

• Sorin, Grim Nemesis
  
• Gideon Jura
  
• Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
  
• Liliana, Dreadhorde General
  
• Ob Nixilis Reignited
  

I could likely free up two slots by reducing SSV to 1 and may get rid of Kaya'a Oath, though it has been great so far. I will know after further testing.

My current 60:

I’ve decided to return after a long hiatus and completing my stint in Standard. The itch has never left and it’s time to dust off my Modern project of Orzhov Control. A lot has changed since I started the thread and not sure whose left to help pick up the pieces. As for me, I’ve taken a look at the metagame and deemed it a good time to see what we can do to make this deck come alive again. As it’s been nearly a year since the last post, I’d like to reiterate the purpose of this thread. We are BW Control. This isn’t Esper or Tokens. I’ve played both and can tell you that while they’re fun, those decks are fundamentally different in terms of card selection and what they’re trying to do. If that is what you’re looking for, I encourage you to check out their thread as they have great content as well. As I mentioned, I’m looking to move this archetype forward, which will include updating the primer. If I see that others are along for the ride, I’ll also be creating a discord for ease of discussion and camaraderie. I’ve already rebuilt my main deck and have taken the list for a spin on MTGO. So far, it’s quite promising. Looking forward to seeing what the future holds for the Orzhov nation.

Thanks for the read @Fluff! It was certainly interesting. The rise of Aggro and combo is certainly going to push our strategy and force us to adapt accordingly. It seems like midrange and control are starting to creep back in week 2 thanks to Yorion and shows that our current build may be correct. I consider us a midrange Control deck and it’s interesting to see the lack of “true control” in the metagame. Is UW control really fallen that far? Also, I’m loving that Tron has struggled mightily during this time!:)

Good advice y’all! I will definitely keep that in mind when I next encounter those matchups.

My weekend match breakdown:
Matchups
Match 1-Grixis Delver (2-0)
The matchup was a Grixis delver/pyromancer with Lurrus included. The first match played out by the opponent putting a delver on the field turn 1 with turn 2 pyro to follow up. The delver failed to flip and I pathed the pyro before it started shenanigans. Turn three I had a pilgrims eye to block the delver and I started to build a board presence. I forced the opponent to overextend before sweeping the board once they emptied out their hand. I Yorioned the next turn to pick up my Mortarpods and astrolabes and they soon scooped it up.

There wasn’t much to board out here. I took out a sun Titan and a Mortarpod for two Celestial purges.

I kept a hand of three wraths, three lands, and a Stoneforge. The game was a breeze as I hit my land drops with out issue and cleaned up their board any time they had two or more creatures in play. By the time turn six rolled around their hand was empty and I was well ahead. I hit Emeria turn 8 and they scooped.


Match 2- Mardu pyromancer (2-0)
This was also a fairly straightforward matchup. The opponent came out swinging with two thoughtseizes, a young pyro and a seasoned pyro, in that order. They took away my stoneforge and my astrolabe but I drew into a wrath and batterskull naturally. I eventually wrathed them on turn five before throwing down a Batterskull the following turn. They drew a Reveler to reload but I drew another wrath. I attacked with the skull to gain life before wrathing. Thankfully I had enough basics as I closed in on emeria bc they played blood moon right after. I Yorioned my Skull and kept at it. They lost two turns later

Brought in some enchantment destruction and gy hate in sideboard

Opponent mulliganed to keep a Bad hand of two leyline of the voids. I had two dspheres in hand and the early game was laughable. I hit my land drops, built a board presence and dsphered their leylines once I felt comfortable.
Yorion was cast, drawing me cards and the next turn I Sun Titaned into a scoop.


Match 3- Amulet Titan (0-2)
I don’t remember much from the matchup tbh except it was extremely frustrating. I hit my land drops and had a Wall and Pilgrims Eye on the field on turn four while they had Azusa and Dryad. Got to turn five before they Titan and had a follow up Pact. Multiple fields, Valakut, and Vesuva fly onto the field and the next thing I know I’m overrun by zombies and Valakut triggers. I last one more turn before I’m zombie food and battered by Valakut.

I bring in Aven mindcensor, Lavina, and purges

Nothing mattered in this game. Everything happened so fast. On turn two they had two amulets. Then they just went off with combos. On Turn three I found myself facing Titan and a dryads and they kept putting an ungodly amount of land onto the field. By the time the turn was over they had spent at least 12 mana through various combos and had Valkut lined up. They machine gunned my Lavina and my face. I was dead the next turn.

Match 4- Dredge (2-1)
By far my favorite match and my best played. Game one was a doozy. I hit my land drops and had a Wall up to block.
Turn three they do dredge stuff and have an ox, two bloodghasts, and an amalgam by the end of turn. Turn four I wipe the board but they reloaded immediately on their turn. They dump three chills into the yard as well and by turn five I’m facing the exact same board, low life, and have no chance. Brutal.

I side in my clerics and purges

I Mull to five for gy hate, but no dice. I’m frustrated but I have three lands, a path, and a mystic. Turn 2 I drop my mystic and grab a batterskull. Turn 3 I bring in my skull and it helps me gain back some life. I also draw another mystic and by Turn four I now have two skulls to stabilize me.
Meanwhile, my opponent is dredging the hell out of his deck to the point where he’s running dangerously low. Turn four, He has ox, two bloodghasts, three narcos and three amalgams. I wipe the Board on turn 5 after I swing in to gain more life but I’ve missed a land drop. My opponent Reloads next turn, including another ox.
I Miss another land drop but use path and drop in a pilgrims eye to save me and keep me at 10 life when my opponent swings in with the team.
Yorion comes in on turn 6 to bring back weapons and draw cards off astrolabe. Opponent is down to the last six cards and has to be careful dredging.
Opponent literally finds a conflagrate as his last card in his deck and just misses lethal before attacking into my lifelink skulls, winning me game. Nuts

Game three is a Mull to 4 for opponent but they had ox by turn three regardless. Fortunately for me, I had Mystic already on board. I Path the ox and batterskull on my turn to help stabilize. They drop an Imp to kill my skull on turn four. But on turn 5, Yorion to rescue, reviving the skull and getting another one off my mystic. On turn six, they are dangerously low on time and in desperation mode. They Conflagrate to kill my batterskull and mystic before throwing in an ox, creeping chilling me, and bringing back two ghasts, and three amalgams. I’m dead next turn if I don’t get my life total back up. I draw a wall and now have to decide whether I throw in two chump blockers to buy me enough time for the clock to run or equip Yorion. I decide to equip Batterskull to Yorion and he smashed through in the air for 8, gaining me back much needed life and setting itself up to block.
Opp is out of out of time and sends in the team but life link Yorion soaks it up for the win

Match 5- Humans (2-0)
After the craziness of the last match I was hoping for a less strenuous way to end my run. This was the perfect way to cruise to the finish line. Very little to discuss. Game one, they Overextended early on into two wraths on turns four and six respectively. By turn seven I was a land away from Emeria with a Batterskull on board, they hand three lands and a vial under my dsphere, and they scooped.

I boarded in pithing needles and a disenchant

Pretty lame. I have a feeling they kept an embarrassing hand. Turn one they throw out an Aether vial which I immediately shut down with my pithing needle. They scooped.

They will likely drag their feet when it comes to banning, especially with everything going on. While I get what they were trying to do in terms of Standard, the deck building restrictions were not equally distributed across the board. Some are unplayable for the most part while others are just a free card that does something it was never designed to do, ie Lurrus. The fact that it is used in a deck like Burn in Modern despite its mana hurdles reflects this as its being integrated into builds, because why not? It’s a free card when they’re out of gas that reloads them. Yorion, though powerful, feels like it can only be run properly in certain styles of decks for it to be useful (such as ours or those needing etb triggers), but I’m obviously biased lol. Honestly, I also wish Wizards stopped allowing wish effects. What’s the point of making all these “untouchable zones” like sideboards and exile when we can now interact with them at will?

Thanks Saint Tobia and Gerant. Three colors has always scared me personally with this deck but def makes for interesting potential. Does having Yorion make it more appealing to try and go with more blinking effects in general, like some of the cards seen in Soulmeria decks? Also, I’ve created a discord channel for us. Nothing fancy at the moment but can certainly grow. Here is the link for anyone interested:
https://discord.gg/rEdBa6P

If you guys want, I can get us started on a Discord. I wouldn’t see it replacing this forum, but would be a good resource for smaller discussions and real time chats. And I’m sorry, but I feel like I’m missing something here. I still don’t understand the Yorion hype as I’m trying to think of the scenario where it just wins me the game or increases my odds against unfavorable matchups. If anyone has played with it such as Saint Tobias, can you help me better understand why this would potentially be a preferred build for the future?

Hope everyone is doing well during these times. Been playing some UW Emeria online and happy with the results. Will be planning on running some leagues in the near future, and it’ll be interesting to see how the meta responds to the new set. I’ve already encountered a few, though the cards didn’t seem to give them a clear advantage when playing. Obviously the sample size was too low and people are still learning how to use some of the companion cards. I’ve mentioned it before but would creating a discord channel be helpful for the thread?

Also, aside from the obvious negatives of not having Supreme Verdict, Detention Sphere, and Court Hussar, would a mono-white build really be that far off in power level? When looking at the list, I'm tempted to test again with an all white build just to see how it fares. I know Saint Tobias has been running one in his local meta and Gerant's insights helped it run more cleanly. In the past, I always felt that UW was clearly better (and still do), however, having played with Gerant's Stoneforge version, I'm wondering how much it matters in terms of power level, due to Stoneforge's capabilities and reducing the need for flickering effects. Thoughts on the pros/cons or optimal builds for a single color?

@Gerant I believe Zirda allows you to play Thraben Inspectors clues for free as well as any PWs you run according to an article I read. But yes, it’s cost is too high if it means leaving behind two key pieces of our deck. Let us know your thoughts after running the Yorion build. As for the list, I’ve gotten much more comfortable with it. I can attribute some losses to silly mistakes but otherwise I feel good against any non combo or Tron matchup. I struggle more against Burn type decks still as damage to the face combined with hasty threats are hard to beat unless I have enough chumps and a Batterskull in my opening hand. Unfortunately, I have a poor record against them at the moment as I feel I’m drawing poorly or my answers are too slow/insufficient. Also I’ve played against some Soulherder Emeria decks and they’ve just run over me. It’s not a popular deck at all but I’ve played against it a few times, surprisingly.

The Azorius companion was a huge bust in my opinion when it comes to our deck. While it could be fun as a deck building challenge, I don’t see it making any of our bad matchups any better. The only one I saw that could be worth considering was Zirda, the Dawnwaker, if combined with Eldrazi Displacer, Thraben Inspector, or Stoneforge Mystic in a mono white build. As for the list I’m running, it’s Gerant’s with a GotT instead of T3feri.

@ Gerant, I guess I am overvaluing it’s activated ability as I try to keep it alive and avoid chump blocking with it. There have been games against aggro or combo decks where I find myself either needing life gain by turn 4 or things will get out of hand or I need to apply early pressure before they go off. An example of this would be a Through the Breach deck I faced yesterday. Without Dovins Veto, I cant disrupt the combo and need to kill them quickly. I may just need to do better with my mulligans when it comes to aggro but game ones without early life gain can cost me. I’ll certainly be working on my mulligans and sequencing this weekend.