First, how many games did you play in rounds 1,2, and 3? I think one of the most important things for you to share is whether you got pushed to a game 3 in any of these, followed by your impressions of how the post-board games felt. The fact that you lost four post-board games in a row to end the day is a very worrying sign to me, and the first matches might help shed some light on whether this is better or worse than it sounds.
Second, your Dovin's Veto, Flickerwisp, Charming Prince, Knight of Autumn, Sword of Fire and Ice, and Dryad of the Ilysian Grove all lose initiative in attrition games, so I am not surprised that decks with Lurrus of the Dream-Den felt like tough matchups. This is not the end of the world in general, it is just to say that your build seems generally worse against attrition, and is probably a little better against Combo and a lot better against Prison. I assume that this is not the direction that the metagame is trending towards, though, so keep an eye on your local opposition and be prepared to make adjustments.
Third, I agree that Veto is probably not pulling its weight, especially as a two-of in an 80-card deck. The same would go for Dryad if you dropped to two. The change in percentages between one and two copies out of eighty cards is negligible, and by having a chance of drawing one of either against a random opponent you get access to the effect without compromising any more than the minimum necessary. The next best number of a card to run after the maximum of four is a singleton, when you choose your spell suite with no other constraints but access.
Fourth and finally, you definitely need more land. Not only do you have more colour requirements and more fetchlands without access to Crucible of Worlds (which in point of fact you might want to try putting a Ramunap Excavator in for), you have ZERO copies of either The Birth of Meletis or Pilgrim's Eye, and you are running extra pseudo-sixes in Winds of Abandon! I think you need at least 36 land to support just your curve, and likely some other kind of help if you want to keep running the Dryad. If you say it was good for you, I'll believe you, but (just going off of what you mentioned) I will say that there are much better blockers out there in these colours if you want that, and that even in the best of times his "acceleration" leaves you empty-handed and down cards just when you are trying to stabilize. I would rather play Renegade Rallier or oracle of Mul Daya than the Dryad any day of the week, if given the choice - the former two have a chance of actually helping me when I have Mulliganed or topdecked into them, and could get better in the lategame.
Thank you for the breakdown so far, keep up the testing!
Thanks for the input, I'll definitely be making some of those adjustments. The more I think about it, the better Birth Of Meletis seems, so I'll be testing it out first I think.
Thanks for the report. It's informative on the current situation.
I've been hearing from discussions on another mtg forum that Lurrus is the new Hogaak. Perhaps, let's wait and see where this goes. If the card becomes too widespread, it could end up getting a ban. That's straight up so many Lurrus you played against. Tough, since our board wipes are less effective if they can recur.
Would agree with what Gerant said. Perhaps you could make room for a Pilgrim's Eye or two somewhere in your build? It helps get extra lands needed to activate emeria.
Yeah, not sure if Lurrus is broke or just really popular right now, but I'm already tired of seeing it lol
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?
Definitely would join a potential Discord! As far as Yorion, there's a few things to keep in mind. First of all, keep in mind that he doesn't just blink your creatures. He can reset your Batterskull and Mortarpod, reset Detention Spheres and even Birth Of Meletis, alongside all of your value creatures. Him being a huge beefy flier is also important, since the only thing we have to combat fliers specifically is our wimpy little 3/1 friend. It's also useful being able to attack with your team then blink them so you don't have to be afraid of the backswing.
The biggest thing is that you ALWAYS have him at the ready. Even if your hand is empty and you have nothing on the battlefeild, you still have access to a huge flier to provide defense. And if you do have things to blink with him, he opens up whole new lines of play that you can always have at your disposal. And the only cost to playing him is.....you have to play more good cards? In all my games playing with him, the 80 card restriction didn't exactly bite me in the ass too much (unless you count my own deckbuilding errors lol). Your deck doesn't get less consistent because so many of the cards we play are already Swiss Army Knives that can do any number of things depending on what we need at any time.
Flickerwisp, Knight Of Autumn, Charming Prince, Detention Sphere, Path To Exile, and Winds Of Abandon all can do lots of different things depending on what we need, so filling the deck with more of these modal cards helps us more than it hurts, in my opinion at least.
Did a league and went 2-3. Five rounds, five Lurrus Of The Dream-Den decks. Will try to give my best shot at a recap, apologies in advance, I'm not too good at these.
Round 1 - Grixis Lurrus Delver
Their deck was a little interesting. Sprite Dragon along with Delver made for a fast clock, but overall his deck ended up running out of steam pretty fast as long as I didn't let Lurrus stick around. His Mishra's Baubles aren't as impressive if they don't come back every turn. I boarded in my Tormod's Crypts to combat Lurrus and Snapcaster. It felt like a pretty good matchup.
1-0
Round 2 - Jund Lurrus Zoo?
Honestly, this matchup feels really bad. He had a playset of maindeck Nihil Spellbomb AND the playset of Scavenging Ooze, so Emeria and Sun Titan felt pretty weak. I didn't even bother with the Tormod's, which might have been a bad move on my part, but his deck hardly used Lurrus.
1-1
Round 3 - Lurrus Boggles
I like this matchup a lot. Knight Of Autumn was very good here, and Yorion helped a lot too. Only sideboarding I did was bringing in the third Knight Of Autumn.
2-1
Rounds 4 and 5 - Lurrus Prowess
Both of these rounds went about exactly the same, so I'll group them together. I won the first game both times, then lost the next two. Both rounds I found myself hoping to get to six lands so I could overload Winds Of Abandon, but it didn't happen.
2-3
Closing thoughts
-I want to go up to 34 lands from 33. Far too often I found myself crossing my fingers and hoping to draw a land
-Yorion is the truth. Any time I got to cast him he let me just run away with the game.
-Dryad of the Ilysian Grove Grove is very strong, but if I can't draw past my fourth land, he doesn't do too much. I plan to go down to 2 Dryad to add an extra land.
-The green splash is worth it if just for Knight Of Autumn. I'd like to play at least 3 mainboard.
-Stoneforge Mystic is strong, but I wish I could play something else. It doesn't have too much synergy with the deck. I think I'll go down to 3.
-Dovin's Veto felt pretty weak, but I did play against five creature based decks, so it might just be something to do with matchups. Might go down to one? Not really sure.
Well, that's my thoughts at least. As far as Dryad VS Realmwright goes, I think Dryad does far more. Realmwright still asks you to wait till turn 8 to start getting Emeria activations, and isn't useful for much else. Dryad is a good blocker, and he accelerates you a lot. He didn't help me in my worst games this league, but that was because I wasn't drawing lands, not because the dryad itself is weak. Anyways, I look forward to tweaking the list and trying again!
So since the general consensus seems to be that companions are busted, I thought I'd jump on the hype train with Yorion. Running an 80 card deck is a kind of blessing, since there have always been a ton of cards I wish I could squeeze in but wasn't sure what to cut for them. Here's the list I've come up with, and an explanation on some of the choices.
4x Stoneforge Mystic gives us a strong start for most games, even if we don't have much else going on the first few turns.
3x Dryad of the Ilysian Grove Grove and 3x Knight of Autumn are the source of a small green splash that I've always wanted. Dryad is pretty absurd for our deck I think. Most games we get Emeria online turn 9 at the earliest. With Dryad out, that's sped WAYYYY up to turn six or even turn five with the right draws. Not only does that make our plan more reliable, but also more consistent.
Those are most of the interesting choices, the rest is pretty stock for Emeria Titan. Would love to hear what you guys think! (also I love the idea of a discord)
Ah sorry I guess my description of the league wasn't too in depth. I'll try answering your point about it. First of all, here's the list, just to clarify which one.
good job on the win against Storm. How did the games go? I assume you won the two post-board games with graveyard disruption plus spot removal and/or Lavinia slowing them down?
In game one, he spent the first few turns just playing Serum Visions and Opt for a while, so by the time he was able to cast Gifts Ungiven I had found both Dovin's Vetos. Countered Gifts with the first one end of my turn, then next turn he plays Baral and rituals a bit, before trying a second Gifts, which I counter, leaving him with an empty hand, when he scoops. Second game he just goes super fast for a turn three win pretty much. Then third game I get Damping Spehre out early to slow him down, with backup from Remorseful Cleric and Veto. He eventually gets a decent storm count, but unfortunately for him his storm card this time was Empty The Warrens, and I had the Detention Sphere ready to wipe his gobbos out.
Please tell me what happened with Burn and Yawgmoth as well
I should clarify it was more of the Prowess variant than traditional burn. But they were pretty straightforward games, me trying to stall and take care of his threats as they come, and eventually he runs out of gas and I'm left with an active Emeria and Sun Titan. Batterskull was pretty helpful, though I think my personal MVP here was probably Charming Prince and his lifegain.
The Yawgmoth combo games were a little weird. What ended up happening is he would get a Yawgmoth down by turn three, I Detention Sphere it, then next turn he plays another. Then I draw a Flickerwisp and have to flicker the Sphere to take care of his new Yawgmoth. Happened all three games somehow. Only difference is in game two I ran out of removal by the time he got to Yawgmoth number 4, but I was able to take game 3.
As for Dredge, the games are back and forth, and take a little while to grow accustomed to, but the advantage is ours, so I would guess they had at least one blowout draw, but the other game(s) should have been competitive - let me know if they were not. How did you feel during the match? Were there any points of interaction you were uncertain of?
I kind of hate to blame my losses on just having bad draws, but I think that's seriously what happened here. I saw all of one Path To Exile in that round, and none of the Clerics I brought in from the board. On the other hand, he had super explosive draws. Gonna chalk this round up for variance.
Finally, I am most surprised by a loss against Ponza. What did they kill you with? What did you sideboard in and out? Was the list innovating something new? Since Mycosynth Lattice left the picture, their best lategame is gone, and the remainder can be cleanly dismantled, given time, so I assume this must have been possible unless they surprised you with something unexpected.
His deck was pretty interesting, a bit grindier than the normal Ponza list. He had a few copies of Klothys, God of Destiny, which was pretty good at dashing any of my hopes of getting stuff back from my graveyard. Sure, it's a big target for Path, but that's only if it's online as a creature. Besides Klothys, Chandra and W&6 gave the deck even more grindy late-game value.
Tried a league with your recent list GerantDePhares. Ended up 3/2 again. Won against Storm, Burn, and Yawgmoth Combo. Lost to Dredge and Ponza. The deck felt pretty solid, if there's anything in it that I'm unsure of, Crucible Of Worlds felt super weak. It's probably at it's best in super grindy matches, but it just did.....nothing at all for me. I dunno though, I might be missing something.
Ah hey GerantDePhares, sorry about that, I didn't see your post! I think you have some good points for sure. I could have won against the Amulet Titan deck if I had drawn Field Of Ruin, and Generous Gift didn't perform too well either, I think it should probably be Oblivion Ring or something like that. I almost want to splash into blue, but I don't even know if it's worth it. I'd get access to stuff like Court Hussar and Dovin's Veto, but I think it might be fine just to stay with White for now.
Slightly updated list. Tried cutting the Hawks in favor of Charming Prince and ended up really liking it. I ended up going 3/2 in my first league. Won against Red Prowess, Dredge, and Bant Snow, lost to Amulet Titan and Dredge a second time. Overall I'm pretty happy with the result! I like having the Charming Prince in there, but I miss the fourth Path To Exile, so I'll end up cutting something to have that in there. Other than that, I definitely want some more anti-dredge tech in the sideboard, cause that match felt rough. Winds Of Abandon and Settle the Wreckage were both game winning whenever I got to cast them , so I'm pretty happy with those. Are there any other cards I'm potentially missing?
I know some of my choices are a bit unorthodox, but they've all performed pretty well in my testing. The Squadron Hawks have been really good in pretty much any matchup except combo. Against control, it's four blockers to help you buy time to stabilize, and against control it gives you a bit of pressure to keep your opponent on their toes. Generous Gift is sort of the stand-in for Deputy of Detention, and it works pretty well at that. I feel like I should probably make room for some number of Charming Prince in the deck, including some mainboard, but I'm not really sure where. Anyways, any feedback on the list would be appreciated!
I think one of the strengths of the deck is playing a lot of basics, making it strong to Blood Moon and other land hate, so I don't want to sacrifice that. Plus, having our mana fixing cantrip is pretty handy. And it's not like we do too much those first couple of turns anyways, other than maybe Pathing something. Using the HyperGeometric Calculator there's only a 8.68% chance of not having two green on turn three to cast Eternal Witness, and we don't want to play it on turn three most of the time anyways.
Been messing around with the mono-white deck that 4-0'ed recently. A couple of things I've found out.
Ranger-Captain of Eos is a super strong card. Combined with Sun Titan you can basically lock your opponent out of sorcery-speed non-creature spells, while also tutoring up useful cards in the meanwhile. Giver of Runes is super good if you're playing the Ranger-Captain, it lets your protect Sun Titan from pesky Paths or other troubles. Thraben Inspector is also surprisingly useful. Dryad Militant is another good 1-drop tutor target.
I'm kind of wondering if a W/g version could be viable. Knight Of Autumn and Eternal Witness are the strongest potential cards in green I can think of, but I'm sure there are others. Wall of Blossoms too, though I don't know if Wall of Omens 5-8 is really necessary...
Round 1: UG Nexus/Reclamation
Game 1 - Knight of Autumn takes care of Wilderness Reclamation, Conclave Cavalier next turn sticks and is able to wrap it up.
Game 2 - Knight takes care of Search For Azcanta, Syncopate for the surprise Mana Tithe takes care of his Krasis, game didn't go much longer than that
2-0
1-0
In: 2xKnight of Autumn, 3x Negate, 1x Syncopate
Out: 2xSailor Of Means, 2x Adventurous Impulse, 1x Riverwise Auger, 1xDeputy Of Detention
Round 3: GW Tokens
Honestly, I completely punted this round. I'm pretty sure the only spell I was able to cast this round was one Druid of the Cowl, it was that bad. I probably should have mulliganed better, not really sure.
0-2
2-1
Round 4: Grixis Control.
Game 1: He plays a Nicol Bolas, The Ravager, Ravager Wurm fights him then gets in for beats. His removal mostly goes left and right, a Mirror Image on Ravager Wurm takes out his only blocker, letting me get in for the win.
Game 2: Syncopate on his Nicol Bolas, The Ravager leaves him tapped out, I'm able to land Azor, The Lawbringer with some protection.
2-0
3-1
In:1xAzor, 1xSyncopate, 1xNegate
Out:1xSailor of Means, 1xKnight Of Autumn, 1x Deputy of Detention
Ending record: 3-1, 3rd place
Thoughts- Syncopate is such a great gotcha card, I side it in about 90% of the time. Knight of Autumn continues to be one of my favorite cards. I didn't draw Rhythm Of The Wild a single time tonight, which is kinda sad. But I mean, it's not like it was a wasted slot, it didn't clog up my hand or anything, and there were some moments it would have been good. Just variance I guess. Glad to see that the Nexus Of Fate matchup is as good as I thought it would be.
So Sarkhan is for sure my favorite planeswalker (I mean what's more rad than a dude that turns into a dragon???), and Sarkhan The Masterless is one of his coolest cards yet, though I'm not exactly sure what sort of shell to build around him. Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner is a no brainer 3-4 of. She lets you drop 5-drop Sarkhan a turn early, and turns his dragons into cantrips. Sarkhan, Fireblood seems pretty perfect as well, he digs and lets us drop dragons really fast. If we go U/R, 3 drop Sarkhan lets us play Niv-Mizzet, Parun as early as turn four, which is really strong. I'm not really sure what else though....
I think we'd probably want some kind of board wipe. Maybe go Jeskai for Deafening Clarion? Or we can go R/U/G and play Llanowar Elves for extra ramp? Going into an extra color might not be worth it though, so maybe just stay Izzet colors? What do you guys think?
Kasmina's Transmutation is really good for removal in non-black, I'll probably try some out in the SB.
Fblthp, the Lost is probably too cute, though I might try a one of? I dunno.
Teferi's Time Twist can be protection with bonus ETB value. Again, might try out in the SB.
Paradise Druid probably looks unexciting, but it has me more excited than anything else I've seen so far. Going from 2CMC to 3CMC with Vannifar is super important for Knight of Autumn and Deputy of Detention, so the hexproof she has is super key IMO. Plus, I'm running four colors, so tapping for any color is a HUGE relief.
I really really really really really want to play Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves. He's pretty much everything I could ask for from a creature. Problem is, the 5drop slot is kinda crowded as is in my deck, so it might be tough trying to fit him in. I'll definitely try though.
Another card that may serve as a backup plan is Vivien's Arkbow. A strong 2-of contender.
Other than that, GUB PSV is both slow to get going AND it's vulnerable to both countermagic and removal. Rhythm of the Wild solves two of these problems. It's a complete game changer.
That Temur list looks good. Tons of mana and treasure dorks to ensure big T3 plays. PSV swaps them for real money later.
Definitely agree. Rhythm is too good not to play. Using Prime Speaker the turn you play her makes it so much more powerful. Plus the creature you tutor for with her gets haste as well.
I honestly don't see how you can beat red or mono-u tempo. Nothing relevant happens until turn 4-5 and by then, you are dead to red or locked down to blue.
Mine? I can't imagine how I could lose to red. Between four Knight of Autumn in the 75, along with Kraul Foragers and Reclamation Sage in the side, I can gain so much life while destroying all of their important enchantments while I'm at it. I've won every game against red aggro I've played. As for Mono U, I've not played against them more than a couple of times, but it felt like a pretty even matchup.
I feel like if you're just going to play Sultai and put Vannifar in, you're limiting what the card can do.
I think you are exactly right. We are asking different questions. You seem to be asking: "What deck can make Vannifar most powerful?" I am asking: "What is the most powerful deck I can make that reasonably runs Vannifar?" This is not to say that my version is more powerful, but I am trying to make a deck that can win with or without.
The version I've been tinkering with is U/G/W/r. The red splash is just for Rhythm of the Wild, Ravager Wurm, and a couple of sideboard stuff. The deck runs really smooth most of the time. It struggles against your typical Sultai grindy decks, but that's probably the worst matchup. I've played it the past two Fridays and went 3-1 for rounds, 6-2 in games both times. Does great against control and aggro, less great against control.
I really like your take. It seems really fun. Ravager Wurm!
That said, I took my latest version to my less competitive meta and broke through for a 2-0-1 finish. I beat Goblins, drew Izzet Phoenix/Drakes and beat Naya Aggro.
Yeah, I feel like Sultai is probably a more consistent deck, but maybe a bit less explosive and more linear than my version. I don't know if it's really possible to say which is better per se, it's just personal choice I think. That said, having red for Rhythm of the Wild makes control matchups muuuuuch easier, and there's a ton of super strong white cards as well. I keep thinking that I want to cut Conclave Cavalier, but it always comes in clutch at least once every FNM I've played with it, so I don't know if I want to really.
EDIT: Also, everyone had better start calling their deck Amazon Prime right away because that's a much cooler deck name than "Vannifar Pod"
Thanks for the input, I'll definitely be making some of those adjustments. The more I think about it, the better Birth Of Meletis seems, so I'll be testing it out first I think.
Yeah, not sure if Lurrus is broke or just really popular right now, but I'm already tired of seeing it lol
Definitely would join a potential Discord! As far as Yorion, there's a few things to keep in mind. First of all, keep in mind that he doesn't just blink your creatures. He can reset your Batterskull and Mortarpod, reset Detention Spheres and even Birth Of Meletis, alongside all of your value creatures. Him being a huge beefy flier is also important, since the only thing we have to combat fliers specifically is our wimpy little 3/1 friend. It's also useful being able to attack with your team then blink them so you don't have to be afraid of the backswing.
The biggest thing is that you ALWAYS have him at the ready. Even if your hand is empty and you have nothing on the battlefeild, you still have access to a huge flier to provide defense. And if you do have things to blink with him, he opens up whole new lines of play that you can always have at your disposal. And the only cost to playing him is.....you have to play more good cards? In all my games playing with him, the 80 card restriction didn't exactly bite me in the ass too much (unless you count my own deckbuilding errors lol). Your deck doesn't get less consistent because so many of the cards we play are already Swiss Army Knives that can do any number of things depending on what we need at any time.
Flickerwisp, Knight Of Autumn, Charming Prince, Detention Sphere, Path To Exile, and Winds Of Abandon all can do lots of different things depending on what we need, so filling the deck with more of these modal cards helps us more than it hurts, in my opinion at least.
Did a league and went 2-3. Five rounds, five Lurrus Of The Dream-Den decks. Will try to give my best shot at a recap, apologies in advance, I'm not too good at these.
- Round 1 - Grixis Lurrus Delver
Their deck was a little interesting. Sprite Dragon along with Delver made for a fast clock, but overall his deck ended up running out of steam pretty fast as long as I didn't let Lurrus stick around. His Mishra's Baubles aren't as impressive if they don't come back every turn. I boarded in my Tormod's Crypts to combat Lurrus and Snapcaster. It felt like a pretty good matchup.1-0
- Round 2 - Jund Lurrus Zoo?
Honestly, this matchup feels really bad. He had a playset of maindeck Nihil Spellbomb AND the playset of Scavenging Ooze, so Emeria and Sun Titan felt pretty weak. I didn't even bother with the Tormod's, which might have been a bad move on my part, but his deck hardly used Lurrus.1-1
- Round 3 - Lurrus Boggles
I like this matchup a lot. Knight Of Autumn was very good here, and Yorion helped a lot too. Only sideboarding I did was bringing in the third Knight Of Autumn.2-1
Rounds 4 and 5 - Lurrus Prowess
Both of these rounds went about exactly the same, so I'll group them together. I won the first game both times, then lost the next two. Both rounds I found myself hoping to get to six lands so I could overload Winds Of Abandon, but it didn't happen.
2-3
-I want to go up to 34 lands from 33. Far too often I found myself crossing my fingers and hoping to draw a land
-Yorion is the truth. Any time I got to cast him he let me just run away with the game.
-Dryad of the Ilysian Grove Grove is very strong, but if I can't draw past my fourth land, he doesn't do too much. I plan to go down to 2 Dryad to add an extra land.
-The green splash is worth it if just for Knight Of Autumn. I'd like to play at least 3 mainboard.
-Stoneforge Mystic is strong, but I wish I could play something else. It doesn't have too much synergy with the deck. I think I'll go down to 3.
-Dovin's Veto felt pretty weak, but I did play against five creature based decks, so it might just be something to do with matchups. Might go down to one? Not really sure.
Well, that's my thoughts at least. As far as Dryad VS Realmwright goes, I think Dryad does far more. Realmwright still asks you to wait till turn 8 to start getting Emeria activations, and isn't useful for much else. Dryad is a good blocker, and he accelerates you a lot. He didn't help me in my worst games this league, but that was because I wasn't drawing lands, not because the dryad itself is weak. Anyways, I look forward to tweaking the list and trying again!
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/2952028#paper
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/2911130#paper
In game one, he spent the first few turns just playing Serum Visions and Opt for a while, so by the time he was able to cast Gifts Ungiven I had found both Dovin's Vetos. Countered Gifts with the first one end of my turn, then next turn he plays Baral and rituals a bit, before trying a second Gifts, which I counter, leaving him with an empty hand, when he scoops. Second game he just goes super fast for a turn three win pretty much. Then third game I get Damping Spehre out early to slow him down, with backup from Remorseful Cleric and Veto. He eventually gets a decent storm count, but unfortunately for him his storm card this time was Empty The Warrens, and I had the Detention Sphere ready to wipe his gobbos out.
I should clarify it was more of the Prowess variant than traditional burn. But they were pretty straightforward games, me trying to stall and take care of his threats as they come, and eventually he runs out of gas and I'm left with an active Emeria and Sun Titan. Batterskull was pretty helpful, though I think my personal MVP here was probably Charming Prince and his lifegain.
The Yawgmoth combo games were a little weird. What ended up happening is he would get a Yawgmoth down by turn three, I Detention Sphere it, then next turn he plays another. Then I draw a Flickerwisp and have to flicker the Sphere to take care of his new Yawgmoth. Happened all three games somehow. Only difference is in game two I ran out of removal by the time he got to Yawgmoth number 4, but I was able to take game 3.
I kind of hate to blame my losses on just having bad draws, but I think that's seriously what happened here. I saw all of one Path To Exile in that round, and none of the Clerics I brought in from the board. On the other hand, he had super explosive draws. Gonna chalk this round up for variance.
His deck was pretty interesting, a bit grindier than the normal Ponza list. He had a few copies of Klothys, God of Destiny, which was pretty good at dashing any of my hopes of getting stuff back from my graveyard. Sure, it's a big target for Path, but that's only if it's online as a creature. Besides Klothys, Chandra and W&6 gave the deck even more grindy late-game value.
Slightly updated list. Tried cutting the Hawks in favor of Charming Prince and ended up really liking it. I ended up going 3/2 in my first league. Won against Red Prowess, Dredge, and Bant Snow, lost to Amulet Titan and Dredge a second time. Overall I'm pretty happy with the result! I like having the Charming Prince in there, but I miss the fourth Path To Exile, so I'll end up cutting something to have that in there. Other than that, I definitely want some more anti-dredge tech in the sideboard, cause that match felt rough. Winds Of Abandon and Settle the Wreckage were both game winning whenever I got to cast them , so I'm pretty happy with those. Are there any other cards I'm potentially missing?
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/2213524#paper
I know some of my choices are a bit unorthodox, but they've all performed pretty well in my testing. The Squadron Hawks have been really good in pretty much any matchup except combo. Against control, it's four blockers to help you buy time to stabilize, and against control it gives you a bit of pressure to keep your opponent on their toes. Generous Gift is sort of the stand-in for Deputy of Detention, and it works pretty well at that. I feel like I should probably make room for some number of Charming Prince in the deck, including some mainboard, but I'm not really sure where. Anyways, any feedback on the list would be appreciated!
4 Arcum's Astrolabe
2 Prophetic Prism
14 Snow-Covered Plains
2 Emeria, The Sky Ruin
4 Field Of Ruin
4 Temple Garden
I think one of the strengths of the deck is playing a lot of basics, making it strong to Blood Moon and other land hate, so I don't want to sacrifice that. Plus, having our mana fixing cantrip is pretty handy. And it's not like we do too much those first couple of turns anyways, other than maybe Pathing something. Using the HyperGeometric Calculator there's only a 8.68% chance of not having two green on turn three to cast Eternal Witness, and we don't want to play it on turn three most of the time anyways.
Ranger-Captain of Eos is a super strong card. Combined with Sun Titan you can basically lock your opponent out of sorcery-speed non-creature spells, while also tutoring up useful cards in the meanwhile. Giver of Runes is super good if you're playing the Ranger-Captain, it lets your protect Sun Titan from pesky Paths or other troubles. Thraben Inspector is also surprisingly useful. Dryad Militant is another good 1-drop tutor target.
I'm kind of wondering if a W/g version could be viable. Knight Of Autumn and Eternal Witness are the strongest potential cards in green I can think of, but I'm sure there are others. Wall of Blossoms too, though I don't know if Wall of Omens 5-8 is really necessary...
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1601547#paper
Round 1: UG Nexus/Reclamation
Game 1 - Knight of Autumn takes care of Wilderness Reclamation, Conclave Cavalier next turn sticks and is able to wrap it up.
Game 2 - Knight takes care of Search For Azcanta, Syncopate for the surprise Mana Tithe takes care of his Krasis, game didn't go much longer than that
2-0
1-0
In: 2xKnight of Autumn, 3x Negate, 1x Syncopate
Out: 2xSailor Of Means, 2x Adventurous Impulse, 1x Riverwise Auger, 1xDeputy Of Detention
Round 2: Sultai Explore
Game 1: He plays some early Merfolk Branchwalker and Jadelight Rangers, is able to get me to 7 life before 2 Biogenic Ooze and a Mirror Image in one turn stabalizes for me.
Gamne 2: He slams three Wildgrowth Walkers on the table, with two Jadelight in hand, and I was ready to scoop before I topdeck a Deputy of Detention along with Shalai, Voice Of Plenty to clear up the board, Azor, The Lawbringer helps wrap this game up.
2-0
2-0
In:1xAzore, the Lawbringer, 1xSyncopate
Out: 1xRavager Wurm, 1x Adventurous Impulse
Round 3: GW Tokens
Honestly, I completely punted this round. I'm pretty sure the only spell I was able to cast this round was one Druid of the Cowl, it was that bad. I probably should have mulliganed better, not really sure.
0-2
2-1
Round 4: Grixis Control.
Game 1: He plays a Nicol Bolas, The Ravager, Ravager Wurm fights him then gets in for beats. His removal mostly goes left and right, a Mirror Image on Ravager Wurm takes out his only blocker, letting me get in for the win.
Game 2: Syncopate on his Nicol Bolas, The Ravager leaves him tapped out, I'm able to land Azor, The Lawbringer with some protection.
2-0
3-1
In:1xAzor, 1xSyncopate, 1xNegate
Out:1xSailor of Means, 1xKnight Of Autumn, 1x Deputy of Detention
Ending record: 3-1, 3rd place
Thoughts- Syncopate is such a great gotcha card, I side it in about 90% of the time. Knight of Autumn continues to be one of my favorite cards. I didn't draw Rhythm Of The Wild a single time tonight, which is kinda sad. But I mean, it's not like it was a wasted slot, it didn't clog up my hand or anything, and there were some moments it would have been good. Just variance I guess. Glad to see that the Nexus Of Fate matchup is as good as I thought it would be.
1 Verix Bladewing
2 Niv-Mizzet, Parun
Enchantment
1 Seal Away
Land
2 Island
4 Mountain
2 Glacial Fortress
2 Clifftop Retreat
4 Sulfur Falls
3 Sacred Foundry
4 Steam Vents
3 Hallowed Fountain
4 Opt
2 Lightning Strike
2 Shock
2 Radical Idea
2 Disdainful Stroke
1 Dovin's Veto
Sorcery
3 Chart a Course
3 Deafening Clarion
2 Lava Coil
2 Sarkhan, Fireblood
4 Kiora, Behemoth Beckoner
1 Samut, Tyrant Smasher
1 Saheeli, Sublime Artificer
3 Sarkhan the Masterless
I think we'd probably want some kind of board wipe. Maybe go Jeskai for Deafening Clarion? Or we can go R/U/G and play Llanowar Elves for extra ramp? Going into an extra color might not be worth it though, so maybe just stay Izzet colors? What do you guys think?
Kasmina's Transmutation is really good for removal in non-black, I'll probably try some out in the SB.
Fblthp, the Lost is probably too cute, though I might try a one of? I dunno.
Teferi's Time Twist can be protection with bonus ETB value. Again, might try out in the SB.
Paradise Druid probably looks unexciting, but it has me more excited than anything else I've seen so far. Going from 2CMC to 3CMC with Vannifar is super important for Knight of Autumn and Deputy of Detention, so the hexproof she has is super key IMO. Plus, I'm running four colors, so tapping for any color is a HUGE relief.
I really really really really really want to play Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves. He's pretty much everything I could ask for from a creature. Problem is, the 5drop slot is kinda crowded as is in my deck, so it might be tough trying to fit him in. I'll definitely try though.
Definitely agree. Rhythm is too good not to play. Using Prime Speaker the turn you play her makes it so much more powerful. Plus the creature you tutor for with her gets haste as well.
Mine? I can't imagine how I could lose to red. Between four Knight of Autumn in the 75, along with Kraul Foragers and Reclamation Sage in the side, I can gain so much life while destroying all of their important enchantments while I'm at it. I've won every game against red aggro I've played. As for Mono U, I've not played against them more than a couple of times, but it felt like a pretty even matchup.
Yeah, I feel like Sultai is probably a more consistent deck, but maybe a bit less explosive and more linear than my version. I don't know if it's really possible to say which is better per se, it's just personal choice I think. That said, having red for Rhythm of the Wild makes control matchups muuuuuch easier, and there's a ton of super strong white cards as well. I keep thinking that I want to cut Conclave Cavalier, but it always comes in clutch at least once every FNM I've played with it, so I don't know if I want to really.
EDIT: Also, everyone had better start calling their deck Amazon Prime right away because that's a much cooler deck name than "Vannifar Pod"