I've been playtesting this deck for around 2 months now. Thanks to the bannings, it gave the sideboard a lot more room to breathe. However, the bannings also opened the gates for affinity and RDW which hurt this deck a lot.
How about Tree of Redemption? That seems fun against red (well of course there's Obstinate Baloth but having the tree as a 1-of in the SB is cute.
The most crippling lifegainers vs. RDW are: Loxodon Hierarch and Rest for the Weary. The latter is my favorite because it's two mana. Compare that to their spells and you see how superior it is. Usually if you resolve only one of them with landfall you have just regained 2-3 turns.
Another option (and some supersecret technology) is Spirit Loop. I used to run it when Doran was standard-legal. It's really good if you know what you're doing.
Creeping Corrosion vs. Affinity seems good, as does all the discard. I generally will hit their draw spell (can't remember the name of it right now) straight off because they're probably casting it a lot sooner than you think, and affinity's lifeblood is card advantage. Their beaters we already outclass. Smother > Go for the Throat here. In fact I'm not sure it's safe to run GftT anymore actually. I would stick with Smother.
Crime//Punishment is indeed really good, but only, I believe, with Glittering Wish. You're probably going to Punishment for 1, right? To kill Kird Ape/Loam Lion/Nacatl? Engineered Explosives seems better if you aren't running Wish, and faster because you aren't wishing for it frantically on turn 2.
The tutoring ability of Treefolk Harbinger is really good with some of the other cards available. You can set up your draws or make sure Bob doesn't burn you.
But for Harbinger to be really good Doran has to be there too.
Personal preference, I suppose. KotR is amaaaazing and maybe I'll put her in one day but for now I think Doran is really good.
Just to get the ball rolling on this discussion, I recall from a forum nearly 2 years ago i believe, someone was looking for a replacement for tarmogoyf for budget reasons of course and he chose to use ohran viper Would that be viable? or quirion dryad, i was thinking of making old school rock/junk with loxodon hierarch and/or iwamori of the open fist are cards like batterskull or the infamous swords appropriate here? Thoughts?
Deathmark is the solution vs. Elves. Keep a decent number of mainboard creature removal as well, e.g. Path to Exile, Smother, etc.
The most crippling lifegainers vs. RDW are: Loxodon Hierarch and Rest for the Weary. The latter is my favorite because it's two mana. Compare that to their spells and you see how superior it is. Usually if you resolve only one of them with landfall you have just regained 2-3 turns.
Another option (and some supersecret technology) is Spirit Loop. I used to run it when Doran was standard-legal. It's really good if you know what you're doing.
Creeping Corrosion vs. Affinity seems good, as does all the discard. I generally will hit their draw spell (can't remember the name of it right now) straight off because they're probably casting it a lot sooner than you think, and affinity's lifeblood is card advantage. Their beaters we already outclass. Smother > Go for the Throat here. In fact I'm not sure it's safe to run GftT anymore actually. I would stick with Smother.
Crime//Punishment is indeed really good, but only, I believe, with Glittering Wish. You're probably going to Punishment for 1, right? To kill Kird Ape/Loam Lion/Nacatl? Engineered Explosives seems better if you aren't running Wish, and faster because you aren't wishing for it frantically on turn 2.
Loam Lion is really good, but so is T1 IoK.
I'm not sure what this deck really wants to do T1. It's like there are 3 plays to make:
- mana dork
- 1 cc discard
- aggro creature
Streamlining to support any of these strategies is probably optimal. If a deck is all over the map with what it wants to do, it will collapse.
KotR is better than Doran in most situations, but Treefolk Harbinger is pretty good too.
Skinshifter is the nuts. Most of the cards in this deck are 1-2 cmc so the upkeep should not be problematic. He's good with swords too.
But for Harbinger to be really good Doran has to be there too.
Personal preference, I suppose. KotR is amaaaazing and maybe I'll put her in one day but for now I think Doran is really good.
Do you use Sejiri Steppe with her?
4 Dark Confidant
3 Kitchen Finks
4 Knight of the Reliquary
2 Qasali Pridemage
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Tidehollow Sculler
Spells (15):
1 Behemoth Sledge
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Liliana of the Veil
4 Path to Exile
2 Smother
2 Thoughtseize
1 Arena
3 Forest
2 Godless Shrine
4 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Oran-Rief, the Vastwood
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Plains
1 Sejiri Steppe
2 Swamp
2 Temple Garden
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Crime/Punishment
2 Duress
2 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Qasali Pridemage
3 Relic of Progenitus
2 Smother
1 Thoughtseize
Skinshifter seems to be the guy for the job.