@DeckTipsPlease: Because it costs 4 mana and doesn't do anything the turn you play it or on its own Save it for Frontier, because you can't really swing that in Modern!
Doesn't look too bad! I can't say I've ever felt that Lightning Bolt was the splash we needed, since we don't really care about killing small creatures for the most part. It could be worth it for the Blood Moon SB, but I wouldn't recommend running those alongside Flagstones. Your lands will still be legendary under a Moon, but you won't be able to search when you play a second one. Bummer of an interaction. But if you're going red splash, why not go Norin?
And the Shining Shoal was inspired by the guy who top 8'd with mono white Hatebears with no vials. It looked nice for combat blowouts and 0 mana interaction. I've only drawn it once and haven't cast it at all, so not much to report there.
TBH Bobo, I just really hate not being able to cast my spells because of mana. The feelbad of not being able to Sundering Growth when I need to is more valuable to me than the chance at an extra token. I've casted Growth a lot, never got a spirit off it, but several times I couldn't cast it when I needed to, and it's an important spell for timing correctly. I could certainly be wrong in that choice though.
2 Leylines doesn't seem right to me. The times I want Leyline, I want 4 to maximize the opener because it's super necessary. But I also don't think Leyline helps Sisters very much. We don't care about burn to face, and discard doesn't destroy us the way it does decks like Ad Nauseam or Bogles, who always play Leyline. Why do you play it?
Just went 3-1 at another local LGS! Apparently I've been away from sisters for too long, because I have been losing more than winning for a long time with some other decks. Tonight I got super lucky and managed to beat RG Tron :OOO I took G1 on the play with a godhand serra-martyr-honor-spectral opener, and killed him on turn 4. Aggro AF. G2 I beat him down to 9, and was threatening to win through Ugin with my Smuggler's Copter, but he was able to crack a Sanctum of Ugin, grab a World Breaker, and exile it. He won pretty quickly after that. G3 I got to be on the play again with a turn 2 Stony Silence, then proceeded to beat him down with 1/1 sisters and hawks, many of which ate a Kozilek's Return, after which I beat him down with a few more 1/1 hawks and sisters while he frowned and cast artifacts with no text. I felt bad, but only a little
My other rounds were R1 Infect (0-2), R3 UW Titan Control (2-0), and Jund (2-0). I used the same maindeck as last week, with this sideboard:
I still feel very undecided on the right sideboard. I don't have a good working mental system in place for thinking about how to maximize its usefulness. Please let me know if you have any helpful thoughts or suggestions.
I went with a wide variety of 1-ofs to try to cover a wide berth and always be able to take out any glaringly bad cards (eg Aurioks against UW), and never be unprepared for anything. Round 1 I was reminded I didn't really board for infect. I didn't have any Blessed Alliances, because literally none of the LA LGSs have had them for months, but I managed to trade for a whole playset tonight, so no more worries there
Word, and I think in your case you'd be better served cutting even further, like 2 and 2, or even no Martyr/Serra at all! I'm of the opinion that Reid Duke has the best Archangel build, and he plays zero Martyrs.
2-1, after scooping on turn 3 to Bridge in G1. Just managed to aggro out G2 before he could draw Bridge, and G3 his Thoughtseize couldn't take Stony AND Disenchant we had already agreed to prize split, as I always do with this guy (he's a judge and often wins out at FNM).
Martyr was one of the MVPs of the night, actually! In every game where I was behind, Martyr gave me the breathing room to crawl back and win. It was the flyers that won me most of my games, but multiple opponents made comments along the lines of "Martyr OP". Personally, I don't think you should run Martyr unless you're in on the Hawks plan; the combo with Serra Ascendant is iffy in a deck with no selection, so I feel that you should be all-in on Martyrs and Serras or not. The builds you proposed are kinda halfway with 2 Martyr 3 Ascendant, and I think that might just be the worst of both worlds. If you don't like Martyr, consider a Reid Duke style build.
Nice lists, Bobo you know I'm forever pushing the mono white build, which is the version I took to 4-0 tonight at FNM (against Jund, Death's Shadow, Mono-W Devotion, and Lantern). Here's the list I used:
Hear me out on Copter. Every time I played it, it felt awesome. Except the one time it got Kolagahn's Commanded. We all know that's the worst case scenario. But really, K-Command is pretty much always going to be a 2-for-1 against us. And Copter gives extra utility to all of our 1/1s, and alongside Squadron Hawk, it's crazy bananas. We get to crew the Copter with our fresh birds, and discard the extra ones if we want! Sisters has wanted another source of card advantage, and this felt like Flying Dark Confidant Plus whenever I cast it. Considering it's the only artifact in the deck, it's not too much of a liability, and dying to Push/Bolt really isn't that bad when the card has so much upside. Also, in my Death's Shadow infested meta, it's not irrelevant that it dodges Tarfire. Copter felt like another must-kill 2 drop that synergizes with the ladies, just like Pridemate. But this is just my first night testing the card. More reps will yield more useful information.
Hey! I'm glad to see this thread is still alive and well I used to hang out here before switching over to BW Tokens, and then mono W Humans, Poly Tokens, etc.. After all that, my journey has brought me back where I started. I've moved across the country and into a meta FULL of Blood Moon, Stone Rain, Valakut, and Lava Spike, so Sisters seems like a solidly positioned choice. Here's the list I'm thinking of running:
What do y'all think of my list (especially the sideboard)? Any new tech I could/should be using? What do you think of the Bant Eldrazi matchup?
To contribute to the ongoing discussion: I seriously considered Lone Rider for this deck, but decided against it. Fast, cheap removal is at an all-time high right now, and Rider dies to everything, and rarely flips on the turn you play him (in my testing), giving your opponents plenty of time to kill him. So removing something like the martyr-serra package or recurring threat like squawks to play another sister-synergy piece seems unwise.
That being said, test it! I could be wrong! And even if I'm right, playing your pet card and getting to take some games with it is very rewarding, so maybe it will be worth it to you any way.
People haven't messed with that combo in a long time. Spot removal is still strong to break it up, but it could be worth trying. Definitely let us know if you do.
I go back and forth on Finks. Two creatures for 3 is okay value, and the extra life can be marginally helpful. Though it curves well for us, it's always felt like lifegain for lifegains sake to me.
2 creatures for 3 mana that gains you life twice and blocks a full grown goyf twice us just okay value?
Honestly that's hardly the maximum value of a Finks. Ideally it's trading with creatures on the ground, like Nacatl. There it can be up to a 3-for-1.
That being said, our deck doesn't want that kind of value. We're not interested in blocking. We gain loads of life, so it shouldn't be relevant, and if it is, we have Whitegoyfmate for that. Finks is technically synergistic, because life gain and it's a creature, but it pales in comparison to say Spectral Procession in terms of use in our deck. It doesn't move us far enough along our lifegain or beatdown axis to warrant a 3cmc, which is why it often just feels bad when you cast it.
Since my meta looks quite a lot like creature-based/aggro, after Rvng got 5-0 back to back, Xarn's view on mono-white and especially because of the person at my LGS who plays mono-white and went 3-0 for 3 week straight... I'm thinking about going mono-white for a change, still thinking though, didn't decide yet.
I have 61 cards in the main, I really don't know what to cut... Need a bit of help!
Also wondering, how good is this deck against the current meta?
It's been a while since I played sisters, but this is pretty much how I used to build it. I had 3 Honors, because drawing one usually did the trick. Honestly couldn't say how it is against the larger meta or your local, but I'm interested to hear some new results put up. I've been thinking of switching back but I really haven't given BW Tokens enough of a chance yet.
2 Leylines doesn't seem right to me. The times I want Leyline, I want 4 to maximize the opener because it's super necessary. But I also don't think Leyline helps Sisters very much. We don't care about burn to face, and discard doesn't destroy us the way it does decks like Ad Nauseam or Bogles, who always play Leyline. Why do you play it?
My other rounds were R1 Infect (0-2), R3 UW Titan Control (2-0), and Jund (2-0). I used the same maindeck as last week, with this sideboard:
I still feel very undecided on the right sideboard. I don't have a good working mental system in place for thinking about how to maximize its usefulness. Please let me know if you have any helpful thoughts or suggestions.
I went with a wide variety of 1-ofs to try to cover a wide berth and always be able to take out any glaringly bad cards (eg Aurioks against UW), and never be unprepared for anything. Round 1 I was reminded I didn't really board for infect. I didn't have any Blessed Alliances, because literally none of the LA LGSs have had them for months, but I managed to trade for a whole playset tonight, so no more worries there
3 Soul Warden
3 Soul's Attendant
3 Auriok Champion
3 Martyr of Sands
4 Serra Ascendant
4 Ajani's Pridemate
3 Ranger of Eos
Non-Creature Spells:
2 Smuggler's Copter
3 Path to Exile
4 Spectral Procession
3 Honor of the Pure
11 Plains
4 Flagstones of Trokair
3 Ghost Quarter
2 Windbrisk Heights
1 Mistveil Plains
3 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
2 Disenchant
1 Suppression Field
1 Return to the Ranks
1 Mark of Asylum
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Path to Exile
1 Worship
1 Repel the Abominable
Hear me out on Copter. Every time I played it, it felt awesome. Except the one time it got Kolagahn's Commanded. We all know that's the worst case scenario. But really, K-Command is pretty much always going to be a 2-for-1 against us. And Copter gives extra utility to all of our 1/1s, and alongside Squadron Hawk, it's crazy bananas. We get to crew the Copter with our fresh birds, and discard the extra ones if we want! Sisters has wanted another source of card advantage, and this felt like Flying Dark Confidant Plus whenever I cast it. Considering it's the only artifact in the deck, it's not too much of a liability, and dying to Push/Bolt really isn't that bad when the card has so much upside. Also, in my Death's Shadow infested meta, it's not irrelevant that it dodges Tarfire. Copter felt like another must-kill 2 drop that synergizes with the ladies, just like Pridemate. But this is just my first night testing the card. More reps will yield more useful information.
2 Auriok Champion
4 Ajani's Pridemate
4 Serra Ascendant
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Soul's Attendant
3 Soul Warden
3 Ranger of Eos
3 Martyr of Sands
3 Path to Exile
Sorceries:
4 Spectral Procession
Enchantments:
3 Honor of the Pure
1 Worship
Lands:
4 Flagstones of Trokair
3 Ghost Quarter
1 Mistveil Plains
14 Plains
3 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
2 Return to the Ranks
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Pithing Needle
1 Auriok Champion
3 Blessed Alliance
1 Disenchant
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
What do y'all think of my list (especially the sideboard)? Any new tech I could/should be using? What do you think of the Bant Eldrazi matchup?
To contribute to the ongoing discussion: I seriously considered Lone Rider for this deck, but decided against it. Fast, cheap removal is at an all-time high right now, and Rider dies to everything, and rarely flips on the turn you play him (in my testing), giving your opponents plenty of time to kill him. So removing something like the martyr-serra package or recurring threat like squawks to play another sister-synergy piece seems unwise.
That being said, test it! I could be wrong! And even if I'm right, playing your pet card and getting to take some games with it is very rewarding, so maybe it will be worth it to you any way.
Feels good to be back
Honestly that's hardly the maximum value of a Finks. Ideally it's trading with creatures on the ground, like Nacatl. There it can be up to a 3-for-1.
That being said, our deck doesn't want that kind of value. We're not interested in blocking. We gain loads of life, so it shouldn't be relevant, and if it is, we have Whitegoyfmate for that. Finks is technically synergistic, because life gain and it's a creature, but it pales in comparison to say Spectral Procession in terms of use in our deck. It doesn't move us far enough along our lifegain or beatdown axis to warrant a 3cmc, which is why it often just feels bad when you cast it.
It's been a while since I played sisters, but this is pretty much how I used to build it. I had 3 Honors, because drawing one usually did the trick. Honestly couldn't say how it is against the larger meta or your local, but I'm interested to hear some new results put up. I've been thinking of switching back but I really haven't given BW Tokens enough of a chance yet.