maybe spash blue for hexproof geist of saint traft or invisible stalker and card draw.
Messing with trepanation blade, it either hits big or very little, but the cards go to GY.
Looks very fast. I tried a mono white soldier/affinity version on budget, and it worked well but this has more resistance.
Might switch out Crainial plating for trepanation blade been a pet card of mine lately. The mana base could use some reworking, and needs lingering souls somewhere in the 75.
Might give it a try I have most of these cards already.
I have messed around with this as I believe BoBo has. Gaining the colored mana is not that hard but it does change the way the deck overall performs as you get weird off mana starting hands that hurt your T3-T4 drops. Also sac'ing a creature after you have 30+ life is probably not where you want to be at. Sac'ing for Lifegain only works well with pridemate or Serra ascendant, everything else is a 1 drop. ArchAngel of Thune seems like a good direction to go with a midrange goal.
I also tried Athreos, god of passage which made the T3 bad and the opponent just played around the ability.
The best luck I have had is a straighter version of the deck. My deck list is 2 pages back. with a splash of black.
Ayli shined in an Abzan shell with the siege rhino, which could be turned into a SS Deck.
@Hardcrack; list looks good. I found fetchlands worked very well to get that swamp, and thin the deck to improve your draws later. Aven mindcensor looks good. Glad that is putting work in for you.
I've been inching towards that for a while and been fine with it. Sorin gives me a similar body to Ranger when he hits the board if I need it (2/2 kills just as well as a 3/2, most of the time), or allows me to curve into 4-6+ lifelink damage if I just casted hit Spirits, which is just as good. Too often, Ranger was hitting the board and getting me two sisters or a Serra that wasn't ready to win me the game, so I cut him.
It is funny I was feeling the same way. I started going B/W token build with 2 Sorins, but switched back to a sisters build.
Ascendant is still a good card and I have ascended with out Martyr. Also if your life total is near 30 your opponent is forced to react to keep it lower than 30. Once ascendant flips it usually stays flipped. But if the game is going badly for you or your not near 30 life Serra is a terrible top deck.
Wanted a grinder deck able to handle longer matches. Wanted to try new cards as well.
I dont like the new Horse not as good as Archangel. Angry Vampire doesn't seem good losing 7 life is too much. Oketra or the Heliod God over Gidean ally of zendikar?
My Meta at my LGS
Burn, Jund, DeathShadow,Boggles, w/g humans,Amulet Titan, Storm, Jeskai, U/R,Delver, Taking Turns, Eldrazi G, Eldrazi Tron, Elven Tron, Scape Titan, Soul Sisters, Death&Taxes, Eldrazi Death&Taxes, Blue Steel -Variant Storm, Abzan Counters, CoCo, Mardu Burn, G/w Hate Bears, Skred Burn, 8 Rack, Infect, Co/Co WereWolves, Sumners' RUG, G/R Shamans, Elves
He had great opening hands both games, got tron naturally t3 both games. I saw no Ghost Quarter either game. My sideboard was not as relevant as needed. I mounted a come back but he stole it away with 2 thoughtknots (taking 2 martyrs of sands off of a Ranger) I holding another Ranger planning on fetching 2 Ascendant.
M3 0-2 RUG
Grindy first game. Went 35+ minutes. He out valued me. His cards stalled long enough for him to carry counter spells for my Impact-full cards.
2nd game went faster as his sideboard is more relevant for match up, Anger of the gods and stormbreath dragon wins.
1. I only run 2 Heights. They are a bit ruff in opening hands when your short mana, and can be annoying if you need untapped mana on a draw. Also they dont always grab something awesome in the hideaway (your opponent wont know). A better question might be how many Hieghts would you like to see show up in one game?
2. I tried it main, but 3 cmc is a tight spot in my deck and its not always the best card in every match up. So SB.
3. I run 2. I'm very impressed with them. Red is prominent in my meta. The double white has been an issue when a regular sister would do just fine.
Main board. Some decks run 4 main.
4. I do not run any of these. Brave looks best?
5. I would play 4 but I could see 3. I would not count it as a land but a bonus land (it may not flip).
6. you can run both, but the card count gets tight. Ascendants Need 30 life which benfits from a fast lifegain system early. Thune needs 5 mana so it comes out late and works with a grinder game that it shuts down fast. Archangel needs a higher mana count and a longer game plan. Ascendant can fit any game plan but works better with Martyr & full hand.
7. never played it.
8.Been great in other decks against CO-CO, and Tron. I side boarded it for a while but it lost its slot to other more versatile cards. If my meta changes I might put it back.
Glad to hear your successes. Would 1 anointed procession be of value in your deck? I was working on a similar list but never played it because I need the cards for standard that I don't actually play.
I also think that worship with flipped legion's landing would be outstanding in some match ups. Have you considered that?
I do not have any advise on what to cut though LOL Im sorry. I was going to cut martyr of sands and Serra Ascendant from my list but they did such a great job this Friday.
Match 2 Boggles
2-0
g1 Martyr into ascendant turn 3-4
g2 spirits with honor pressured him with cat early, Elspeth landed for +3/+3 to finish
I/ 2 blessed alliance, sundering growth
O/ ghost quarter, path to exile, Mikey the Lunarch
Match 3 Burn
2-1
g1 quick win, he played 2 edilon the great revival and burned himself while I played high drops around it.
g2 burned my life gain dropped two honor the pure, got me to 6 life with 2 burn in suspend and 2 guys on field.
g3 Hes stuck on 2 mana as I go wide and weak. He keeps me off lifegain but I still hit with weenies for win.
Match 4 Storm
2-1
G1- Ascendant for win by sisters and tokens
g2- I miss play and dont drop Rest in piece. turn 2-4 He remands my spectral to pump my cat. He storms off T4. I got greedy and wanted more stuff on table and in grave before i cast RIP. My mana was funky with off color lands which affected my play choices.
g3- Mana funky again plains, swamp, draw 2 GQ. Aurik, cat, sister, rest in piece. I drop RIP T2 I Quarter my other Quarter for a plain. He has trouble working around the RIP. I gain enough tempo and life to ascendant for win. EDIT Looking back it was spirits with honor the pure that won that game. Ascendant showed up but was bounced as were a few spirits and RIP but I was able to just replay them next turn.
I lost to this deck. First game quick defeat. Second game went longer but I did not take good notes.
If you play Aven Mindcensor that card would do some good work. I tried going wide and my stuff got taken out. The deck is quick at ramping.
The cats can trade but they get there things faster than we do. Martyr to Serra Ascendant seems solid if you can get it quick enough. Slayers' Stronghold Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion Tolaria West simic growth chamber are the worst land offenders. Amulet of vigor allows them to abuse the lands. so some artifact hate may go well. There only removal seems to be engeneered explosives and walking ballista.
There deck can do large amounts of damage with double strike.
so In
Blessed alliance
Wrath of god
sundering growth
Mirrian crusader
4 ghost quarters
Aven mindcensor
Banishing light looks nice but no flash. Might want something Instant speed.
Edit: nevermore targeting their Beast that kills things ETB, and Ilaxian binding targeting Prime time. Not instant but I think it makes up for it. Worship might work well in this match up also, or if you like spending money the new gideon of the trials
well thats what I dream-pt up
Oh, my mistake I was the one going for the mill kill play. Against the RUG deck. His deck was a "Best of Fun Stuff I Like To Play" deck. All great cards that just add value to each play. Quirky deck. Sometimes it plays midgame aggro, sometimes it plays as control combo.
As my pieces were getting locked down I figured that I could out last his draws. I drew 3 extra times from fetchlands, drew 2 Ascendants off of ranger.
I ghost quartered him 3 times, pathed to exiled him 2 times, he drew 4 cards off cantrips, 3 cards off cryptic command, plus 2-3 fecthlands himself. Both our library's' were thin I guess mine at 30 or less his at 25, maybe.
I scooped so we could play another game. I figured I had 5-6 more rounds, I could have found the second martyr and forced him to double cast counterspells to get martyr out with full hand. Sad game plan.
Loss vs G/R Shaman Deck
1-2
Good match up but my deck had mana issues and it cost me. I felt I played a great game over all. Game 1 win Pridemate and Ascendant hand full of sisters.
Game 2 loss had strong hand but got flooded when I needed gas. Had a field of 2/2.
Game 3 kept hand of sister,pridemate,aurik,honor,ascendant,plains,spectral procession. Got stuck on 1 land till turn 4 hit heights (lol) tucked lingering souls. I cast Aurik , he follows with destoying my heights. I dont land another mana till turn 8 ghost quarter. Wore me down and finished me off. Always felt like I could recover the whole game. The more creatures he put out the longer I stay in it.
Match 2 vs Boggles
2-0
game 1 He creates a manageable monster 9/9 hexproof unblockable. I take damage but regain enough life to stay I sister to pridemate to martyr to spectral procession to spectral procession.
Game 2 win, crack fetch,sister , into pridemate, cast sister t3 hold up 2 open mana for Blessed allinace cast on his attack. destroying his Super Elf. GG
Match 3 vs RUG
0-2
G1 went Long. I conside at 71 life down from 89. His life at 4. Board state 3 serra ascendants, 3 sister, 2 spirits, 2 honor the pure. His side Stormbreath Dragon monsterous, Snap caster, Eternal witness, tamiyo planeswalker, kiora planeswalker, Emblem return spells from grave to hand, emblem create a 9/9 kraken, cryptic command in hand. he locks down my creatures, counters my spells. 30+ minutes off of the clock. I suppose I could have tried decking him out.
G2 15 minutes on clock. Strong hand 2 pridemates, sister, aurik, spectral, fetch land, plains. Draw fetch land. Play sister, to aurik, to t3 pridemate, bolted while counters on stack. t4 Pridemate bolted with counters on stack. His t1-3 hes cantriping and shock fetching T4 he casts huntmaster of the fells. T5 I cast spectral procession. t6 honor the pure is counterspelled. I chip at his life total but huntmaster keeps him alive. He casts Anger of the gods, and drops Goyf 5/6, then follows next turn with another goyf. I had him at 5 life before he angered.
Both games were fun, and interesting.
Unsure of sideboard for this match. o/ mikey, ghost quarter I/2 blessed alliance maybe.
Overall all the games felt win able. Even the shaman match up with mana screw. Bad variance on those games. RUG deck still continues to be a hard time.
I think this is the third match up and have not won a series yet.
@toroks Martyr of sands gets worse as the game goes long, because you ussually dont have much of a hand. So Martyr becomes a liability. Ascendant most of the game is just a 1/1 w/ lifelink. It CAN get bigger but it is often dealt with if your opponent is able.
Fatal Push has hurt their value long turn in the deck.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Messing with trepanation blade, it either hits big or very little, but the cards go to GY.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/859869#paper
Looks very fast. I tried a mono white soldier/affinity version on budget, and it worked well but this has more resistance.
Might switch out Crainial plating for trepanation blade been a pet card of mine lately. The mana base could use some reworking, and needs lingering souls somewhere in the 75.
Might give it a try I have most of these cards already.
edit:
4 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Glint Hawk
4 Serra Ascendant
2 Signal Pest
4 Soul Warden
3 Soul's Attendant
2 Thraben Inspector
4 Ajani's Pridemate
2 Kor Skyfisher
2 Trepanation Blade
1 Grappling Hook
1 Sword of Vengeance
2 Argentum Armor
Enchantments (4)
4 Quest for the Holy Relic
Lands (17)
4 Ghost Quarter
9 Plains
4 Flooded Strand
2 Auriok Champion
2 Blessed Alliance
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
1 Mirran Crusader
1 Return to the Ranks
1 Celestial Purge
3 Path to Exile
1 Settle The Wreckage
Spirits do not trigger Quest.
I also tried Athreos, god of passage which made the T3 bad and the opponent just played around the ability.
The best luck I have had is a straighter version of the deck. My deck list is 2 pages back. with a splash of black.
Ayli shined in an Abzan shell with the siege rhino, which could be turned into a SS Deck.
It is funny I was feeling the same way. I started going B/W token build with 2 Sorins, but switched back to a sisters build.
Ascendant is still a good card and I have ascended with out Martyr. Also if your life total is near 30 your opponent is forced to react to keep it lower than 30. Once ascendant flips it usually stays flipped. But if the game is going badly for you or your not near 30 life Serra is a terrible top deck.
4 Soul Attendant
3 Soul Warden
3 Serra Ascendant
2 Auriok Champion
3 Ranger of Eos
4 Ajanis Pridemate
2 Martyr of Sands
spells 17
4 Spectral Procession
4 Lingering Souls
4 Honor The Pure
4 Path to exile
1 Elspeth, knight-errant
1 Gideon, ally of zendikar
3 Ghost Quarter
1 Swamp
10 Plains
2 Windbrisk Heights
1 Godless shrine
4 flooded strand
2 Rest in Peace
3 Stoney Silence
2 Eiddon of Rhetoric
1 Sundering Growth
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Wrath of god
2 blessed Alliance
1 Celestial Purge
1 Mirran Crusader
1 Return to the ranks
My Current build UnPlayed
4 Soul Attendant
3 Soul Warden
2 Auriok Champion
2 Ranger of Eos
4 Ajanis Pridemate
2 Archangel of Thune
spells 22
3 Leigon's Landing
4 Spectral Procession
4 Lingering Souls
3 Honor The Pure
1 Spear of Heliod
4 Path to exile
1 Worship
1 Elspeth, knight-errant
1 Gideon, ally of zendikar
3 Ghost Quarter
1 Swamp
10 Plains
2 Windbrisk Heights
1 Godless shrine
4 flooded strand
2 Rest in Peace
3 Stoney Silence
2 Eiddon of Rhetoric
1 Sundering Growth
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Wrath of god
2 blessed Alliance
1 Celestial Purge
1 Mirran Crusader
1 Return to the ranks
Wanted a grinder deck able to handle longer matches. Wanted to try new cards as well.
I dont like the new Horse not as good as Archangel. Angry Vampire doesn't seem good losing 7 life is too much. Oketra or the Heliod God over Gidean ally of zendikar?
My Meta at my LGS
Burn, Jund, DeathShadow,Boggles, w/g humans,Amulet Titan, Storm, Jeskai, U/R,Delver, Taking Turns, Eldrazi G, Eldrazi Tron, Elven Tron, Scape Titan, Soul Sisters, Death&Taxes, Eldrazi Death&Taxes, Blue Steel -Variant Storm, Abzan Counters, CoCo, Mardu Burn, G/w Hate Bears, Skred Burn, 8 Rack, Infect, Co/Co WereWolves, Sumners' RUG, G/R Shamans, Elves
Welcome Back, Have Fun.
1-2
M1 Bye
M2 2-1 Burn
loss G2 to a fast t3 win.
M2 0-2 EldraziTron
He had great opening hands both games, got tron naturally t3 both games. I saw no Ghost Quarter either game. My sideboard was not as relevant as needed. I mounted a come back but he stole it away with 2 thoughtknots (taking 2 martyrs of sands off of a Ranger) I holding another Ranger planning on fetching 2 Ascendant.
M3 0-2 RUG
Grindy first game. Went 35+ minutes. He out valued me. His cards stalled long enough for him to carry counter spells for my Impact-full cards.
2nd game went faster as his sideboard is more relevant for match up, Anger of the gods and stormbreath dragon wins.
Modern 11 players
standard 10 players
1. I only run 2 Heights. They are a bit ruff in opening hands when your short mana, and can be annoying if you need untapped mana on a draw. Also they dont always grab something awesome in the hideaway (your opponent wont know). A better question might be how many Hieghts would you like to see show up in one game?
2. I tried it main, but 3 cmc is a tight spot in my deck and its not always the best card in every match up. So SB.
3. I run 2. I'm very impressed with them. Red is prominent in my meta. The double white has been an issue when a regular sister would do just fine.
Main board. Some decks run 4 main.
4. I do not run any of these. Brave looks best?
5. I would play 4 but I could see 3. I would not count it as a land but a bonus land (it may not flip).
6. you can run both, but the card count gets tight. Ascendants Need 30 life which benfits from a fast lifegain system early. Thune needs 5 mana so it comes out late and works with a grinder game that it shuts down fast. Archangel needs a higher mana count and a longer game plan. Ascendant can fit any game plan but works better with Martyr & full hand.
7. never played it.
8.Been great in other decks against CO-CO, and Tron. I side boarded it for a while but it lost its slot to other more versatile cards. If my meta changes I might put it back.
I also think that worship with flipped legion's landing would be outstanding in some match ups. Have you considered that?
I do not have any advise on what to cut though LOL Im sorry. I was going to cut martyr of sands and Serra Ascendant from my list but they did such a great job this Friday.
4-0
G1 bye
Match 2 Boggles
2-0
g1 Martyr into ascendant turn 3-4
g2 spirits with honor pressured him with cat early, Elspeth landed for +3/+3 to finish
I/ 2 blessed alliance, sundering growth
O/ ghost quarter, path to exile, Mikey the Lunarch
Match 3 Burn
2-1
g1 quick win, he played 2 edilon the great revival and burned himself while I played high drops around it.
g2 burned my life gain dropped two honor the pure, got me to 6 life with 2 burn in suspend and 2 guys on field.
g3 Hes stuck on 2 mana as I go wide and weak. He keeps me off lifegain but I still hit with weenies for win.
Match 4 Storm
2-1
G1- Ascendant for win by sisters and tokens
g2- I miss play and dont drop Rest in piece. turn 2-4 He remands my spectral to pump my cat. He storms off T4. I got greedy and wanted more stuff on table and in grave before i cast RIP. My mana was funky with off color lands which affected my play choices.
g3- Mana funky again plains, swamp, draw 2 GQ. Aurik, cat, sister, rest in piece. I drop RIP T2 I Quarter my other Quarter for a plain. He has trouble working around the RIP. I gain enough tempo and life to ascendant for win. EDIT Looking back it was spirits with honor the pure that won that game. Ascendant showed up but was bounced as were a few spirits and RIP but I was able to just replay them next turn.
If you play Aven Mindcensor that card would do some good work. I tried going wide and my stuff got taken out. The deck is quick at ramping.
The cats can trade but they get there things faster than we do. Martyr to Serra Ascendant seems solid if you can get it quick enough. Slayers' Stronghold Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion Tolaria West simic growth chamber are the worst land offenders. Amulet of vigor allows them to abuse the lands. so some artifact hate may go well. There only removal seems to be engeneered explosives and walking ballista.
There deck can do large amounts of damage with double strike.
so In
Blessed alliance
Wrath of god
sundering growth
Mirrian crusader
4 ghost quarters
Aven mindcensor
Banishing light looks nice but no flash. Might want something Instant speed.
Edit: nevermore targeting their Beast that kills things ETB, and Ilaxian binding targeting Prime time. Not instant but I think it makes up for it.
Worship might work well in this match up also, or if you like spending money the new gideon of the trials
well thats what I dream-pt up
As my pieces were getting locked down I figured that I could out last his draws. I drew 3 extra times from fetchlands, drew 2 Ascendants off of ranger.
I ghost quartered him 3 times, pathed to exiled him 2 times, he drew 4 cards off cantrips, 3 cards off cryptic command, plus 2-3 fecthlands himself. Both our library's' were thin I guess mine at 30 or less his at 25, maybe.
I scooped so we could play another game. I figured I had 5-6 more rounds, I could have found the second martyr and forced him to double cast counterspells to get martyr out with full hand. Sad game plan.
Loss vs G/R Shaman Deck
1-2
Good match up but my deck had mana issues and it cost me. I felt I played a great game over all. Game 1 win Pridemate and Ascendant hand full of sisters.
Game 2 loss had strong hand but got flooded when I needed gas. Had a field of 2/2.
Game 3 kept hand of sister,pridemate,aurik,honor,ascendant,plains,spectral procession. Got stuck on 1 land till turn 4 hit heights (lol) tucked lingering souls. I cast Aurik , he follows with destoying my heights. I dont land another mana till turn 8 ghost quarter. Wore me down and finished me off. Always felt like I could recover the whole game. The more creatures he put out the longer I stay in it.
sideboard o/Ghost quarter, Mikey, I/Mirrian, Wrath
Match 2 vs Boggles
2-0
game 1 He creates a manageable monster 9/9 hexproof unblockable. I take damage but regain enough life to stay I sister to pridemate to martyr to spectral procession to spectral procession.
Game 2 win, crack fetch,sister , into pridemate, cast sister t3 hold up 2 open mana for Blessed allinace cast on his attack. destroying his Super Elf. GG
Sideboard o/path, Ghost Quarter, Elspeth I/2 blessed alliance, Sundering growth
Match 3 vs RUG
0-2
G1 went Long. I conside at 71 life down from 89. His life at 4. Board state 3 serra ascendants, 3 sister, 2 spirits, 2 honor the pure. His side Stormbreath Dragon monsterous, Snap caster, Eternal witness, tamiyo planeswalker, kiora planeswalker, Emblem return spells from grave to hand, emblem create a 9/9 kraken, cryptic command in hand. he locks down my creatures, counters my spells. 30+ minutes off of the clock. I suppose I could have tried decking him out.
G2 15 minutes on clock. Strong hand 2 pridemates, sister, aurik, spectral, fetch land, plains. Draw fetch land. Play sister, to aurik, to t3 pridemate, bolted while counters on stack. t4 Pridemate bolted with counters on stack. His t1-3 hes cantriping and shock fetching T4 he casts huntmaster of the fells. T5 I cast spectral procession. t6 honor the pure is counterspelled. I chip at his life total but huntmaster keeps him alive. He casts Anger of the gods, and drops Goyf 5/6, then follows next turn with another goyf. I had him at 5 life before he angered.
Both games were fun, and interesting.
Unsure of sideboard for this match. o/ mikey, ghost quarter I/2 blessed alliance maybe.
Overall all the games felt win able. Even the shaman match up with mana screw. Bad variance on those games. RUG deck still continues to be a hard time.
I think this is the third match up and have not won a series yet.
Fatal Push has hurt their value long turn in the deck.