Hey everyone Little local fnm report with my take on sultai midrange. Went 4-0 (8W-2L) and played againts MonoR phoenix, Abzan rock, UW control and Bant spirits.
Some card choices : Mishra's Bauble : The main reason why this card is in the deck is to grow Tarmogoyf some and to activate Grim Flayer more consistently. It also randomly helps "scrying" for Nissa's 0 activation and acts as a pseudo-opt most times. Im not too happy about this card, but it is not too bad.
Grim Flayer : This card also seemed underwhelming when I was building the deck, thus why only 2 copies. In reality, the fact that this is a 2 drop is relevant. It also felt way more oppressive seeing how my opponents always wanted this card off the battlefield. I could see switching these and dropping the baubles with them, but they've been good beaters and the surveil 3 is the real star here.
Ancestral vision : AV was good when it came up. This is my way of getting card advantage without big money planeswalkers like Liliana OTV or Jace TMS. I've had this on turn 1 maybe 3 out of 10 games, mostly because I've sided it out against some faster decks. It was great against Abzan and UW and, according to my opponents, the reason why I won those matches. More on that later.
Yahenni's Expertise : Guys, read this card. This is like a worse version of what we sometimes want in this kind of deck. I feel like this deck has trouble once it's a little behind againts aggro decks, so this card helps alot. It also tags along a 3 mana card which can be awkward sometimes, because of how tapout empty handed most games end up to be. The big deal here, though, is the fact that it can cast Ancestral Vision! It has helped me a few times and merits its spot in the deck especially playing AV, but it also restricts the creatures that see play; there are no Scavenging Ooze in the main and only 2 Tireless Tracker in the deck for that reason. Those 2 creatures are really powerful against most matchups so I'm still unsure of the numbers.
Creeping Tar Pit & Field of ruin : I want more of these, they were great. Tar pit was great against Liliana, since she's mostly always obligated to tick down. Field triggered tracker a few times and was very useful in the grindy matchups killing Celestial Colonnade and Treetop Village., very nice! Not having to use removal on lands against another rock deck is very precious. I'm not sure the manabase can handle more Field of ruin though, considering the amount of double colour cards this deck plays (the removal, flayer...).
Nissa, Steward of Elements : This card is in where Liliana of the Veil and Jace, the Mind Sculptor would be. This is mainly a budget reason, but the card did do some work. The scry is really nice and putting a creature in for free with some scry and baubles is really good as well. But then again, this card is very little immediate impact. I'm not sure if it would be better just as Tireless tracker #3 and 4 or maybe some Scavenging oozes.
The sideboard is a mess, please send help.
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Tournament report : Round 1 vs MonoR phoenix
Game 1 I kept a standard hand with inquisition, Tarmogoyf and a mostly painless land suite. My opponent quickly sends me to only 4 life dealing with my Goyf. The game ends a few turns after I cast Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet and kill their Monastery Swiftspear.
Game 2 I kept a hand with 2 Goyfs, Feed the clan, some discard and a Mishra's Bauble. My opponent played Soul-Scar Mage, bolted and Gut Shotted my goyf to oblivion. I played the second goyf followed by gain 10 in response to another deal 3 to my goyf. My opponent was never able to catch back up, ever after dealing with my creatures and swinging with 2 prowess creatures. The bauble was key in this game for ferocious.
The manabase was great both games, 5 basic lands really helped and I drew the right half of my deck for the matchup.
Round 2 vs Abzan rock
Game 1 went as most Abzan matches go : we trade resources for the first few turns of the game. Eventually we trade blows with manlands; their Shambling Vents meant that they were winning the race (I was at 5 at some point with them at ~10). I eventually find Nissa, Steward of Elements and start scrying for cards. The shambling vents was never able to really put pressure on my planeswalker and I end up scrying over 20 cards of my deck, with occasional 0 activation to put a goyf and some other creatures with the help of bauble. My opponent somehow deals with my Nissa, but I drop the 2nd one to seal the deal.
Game 2 : I don't remember what happened this game, but I got run over I think.
After this game, I felt pretty medium about Nissa and very highly about Tar pits. Nissa did scry me 20 and occasionnaly put some creatures into play, but a JTMS or LOTV in her stead would've just won me the game in a few turns.
Round 3 vs UW control
Game 1 : I have a good hand with 3 discard spells and lands. I tag most things in my opponent's hand and deploy some creatures. My opponent played 2 Search for Azcantas which were met with abrupt decays. The game goes on for a little while with them killing my stuff and eventually deploying Jace, the Mind Sculptor. I deal with the planeswalker with some form Tar pit attack I think? I then resolve AV and drop a goyf with both of us on topdeck mode for a while. The goyf was a 7/8 due to them playing planeswalker and enchantment. Celestial Colonnades were also not a problem here thanks to Field of Ruin
Game2 : I think I went AV on 1 followed by discard + AV on 2 with my opponnent on a mulligan to 5. I also cast Unmoored Ego to name JTMS. Through discard, I know they have Teferi, Hero of Dominaria in hand, which they decide not to play on 5. Great move, since I have negate in hand. They're eventually forced to do it when I Thoughtseize their Cryptic Command.
After the games, my opponent tells me they don't think they can win with my version of the deck playing AV and how their deck was built. They were not playing the big card drawing spells so could not keep up with the card advantage AV provided.
Round 4 vs Bant spirits
Game 1 : I keep a great hand with discard, Fatal push, tarmogoyf and a mostly painless lands. My opponent plays Mausoleum Wanderer on 1 followed by Selfless Spirit on 2. I push the Wanderer in response to try and stay on par with them as much as possible. I decide to kill the wanderer here to preserve life but also to be able to play my spells when things matter more in the later turns. One could argue that killing the Selfless Spirit and letting them sac their Wanderer is the right play, but I would rather not let them choose which spell I get to cast. The game goes my way with a 4/5 goyf and a Kalitas in play and a lot of removal for their spirits. They play Collected company as a last ditch effort with lethal on my side of the board and them at 1 point from lethal. They don't find anything particularly relevant and we go to game 2.
Game 2 : I keep an ok hand with 2 tarmogoyfs and some removal. They play Mausoleum Wanderer, Selfless Spirit and Drogskol Captain. I deploy goyf and some removal. They then play Rest in Peace and I never am able to catch up with my baby tarmogoyf. Creeping tar Pit did get them to ~5 life but their Collected Company beat my already dead sultai deck.
Game 3 : This game was interesting. The game goes as usual : spirits into removal. I Collective brutality twice on 2 different Drogskol Captains. They get to hit me a few times with a Rattlechains (if I remember right...) for 3 off the back of a Noble Hierarch and deploy a Rest in Peace once again. This game though, I saw no goyfs and deployed my Grim Flayer and a Tireless Tracker. We trade resources with my still at a low life total, but tireless tracker draws me some sweet sweet gas and I get there.
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Final thoughts :
This deck was real sweet. The Ancestral Visions we're super sweet and the creature package also felt reasonable. I think I got to play against a good spread of decks and the deck showed that it can grind properly as well as deploy a lot of disruption against creature strategies. I think going on, I would test more Assassin's Trophy if the Tron matchup is miserable (which it certainly might be) or if more planeswalkers and Gurmag anglers show up. I don't think this deck plays well when behind, so overloading on answers is very necessary with how I play the deck.
I would also try to find the correct threat suite. Some have talked about Dark Confidant instead of Grim flayer and I see how that can be a good idea; most matches came down to a grind in topdeck mode and I think bob serves the same role in those games - it is a 2drop must answer threat that draws me gas if it "connects". The difference is the power/toughness and the fact that it randomly loses life. I was really happy with the lowpain manabase so I don't think shelling $$ for Dark confidant is a good idea. Especially since JTMS would be a better upgrade path for the deck I feel.
I would maybe also go up to 24 lands if I drop Grim Flayer and bauble, but for now it felt reasonable.
Thanks everyone
Congrats on the 4-0! Nice job.. Interesting take with the Ancestral Vision. It's a card I would've thought to try in this archetype. I've been brewing sultai again recently and I've really liked Nissa actually, even alongside the more traditional PWs
TBR is secretly the best card in any Death's Shadow list. It's the only reason the deck is as good as it is. The prospect of just randomly suiciding yourself down to 2-3 life and TBRing for the win is what makes the deck. Think of it like the old Splinter Twin decks. It was a powerful mid-range/answer deck that could randomly just win on the spot.
That being said, I hadn't considered the new Lazav as a Shadow Duplicate. The Shadow does have to be in the graveyard already though, which isn't great. I think Mausoleum Secrets is a better at making more Shadows (assuming you're already running Traverse+Shadow).
Regarding Sultai Mid-range - has anyone tested Noble Hierarch lately? It was discussed a couple pages back. I tried it out (in a Sultai+White Shadow shell) and had some mixed results. I would say I liked it about 6o% it the time. It's an awful topdeck though which we can't really afford
Though I will say the list you posted is very interesting. Only 1x Trophy and 3x decay.. I know it's too early to tell but I can't help feel a bit vindicated (no pun intended)
Although the list FD linked is the polar opposite, with 4x Trophy and no decay.
Maybe mid-range will prefer decay (but not forgo Trophy entirely) because the tempo loss matters more to them. A control list like that Sultai Thing could easily take over the game still, regardless of ramping the opponent a couple times.
We got a sultai control list from todays 5-0 leagues which is essentially the build I am trying to build. What do you think about this build? Amd personally not convinced of the TiTis, but the overall shell besides that seems reasonable for me.
Off topic here, but I think Thing and Hunted have a different allure because they're both threats in their own. There are already a bunch of single-use spells that deal with the tokens created from Hunted (Echoing Truth) but Thing is a threat on its own and sweeps the opposing board as well. Though it certainly takes some setup..
Agree with FlyingDelver, TITI is an awful topdeck. Considering the current discussion of fully fledged control lists, I don't know if we can afford to have anything be a worse topdeck than Serum Visions. At least SV fixes our next draws
I think he mean to say that it would be "a savage play" as in a very good one. My point really is that if you go with the TiTi build shouldn't you just be running Thragtusk in the main? I think it can be reasonable since it can be another finisher in your control strategy.
Exactly.
It's not unreasonable to have just 1 Thragtusk main and then maybe 1 additional SB for Aggro and Burn.
I'm liking the UB/g plan more and more. I think Logic Knot should be the delve card of choice, rather than going all in on Delve threats. Especially if TITI becomes a thing (no pun intended)
Are there any other creatures that are powerful enough on their own to warrant main deck consideration, but also synergize with TITI rather than something like Scooze, Tracker, or Tas which have anti-synergy? The only thing that comes to mind is Vendilion Clique. I've always wanted to make TITI work alongside Hunted Horror but it's probably not modern playable.
This configuration has been seen in several top 8s so far this summer, but it's literally the only notable showing of anything Sultai in modern since January (that I can find)
-EDIT-
Never mind! Superna has put in much more research than I. Great work.. I'm loving those 9 PW lists with a full 9 discard suite (including main deck Collective Brutality)
It's amazing how the color requirements of these lists completely thwart the Karsten formulas. Thank you for sharing your experience and these lists. I think we should consider rewriting the primer with these lists as the guide line, and still paying homage to the control lists of years past
I'll be trying out the big Sultai list too as soon as Trophy lands. Seems great removal alongside Spell Snare which will hit so many things.
A problem which i've been reading about and have encountered myself back then is the color requirements of the big spells (PW's and in my case Glen Elendra Archmage) while also being able to make good use of Scavenging Ooze.
My sulition was the U/G filterland. But havn't seen anyone else do so. Why doesn't anyone run Flooded Grove or any of the filterlands for that matter?
I think LOTV is the main reason no one uses that land. I think Sunken Ruins is a better consideration. It doesn't help with Scooze but it helps with LOTV, Jace, and Clique
It's not great but it's still useful in both examples. Unlike let's say H1 where decay is actively a bad card. The only thing you can hope to do is destroy a Flameblade Adept.
That being said, I'll move from the Trophy/Decay debate because it looks like both Abzan and Sultai threads are derailing (and crashing into each other). Here is my updated list that I've been play testing with, proxying Trophy of course.
I haven't been able to see Nissa in action yet but she feels good here. I thought about trying her in a Traverse she'll also, since she works great with Grim Flayer and also Bauble.
He explains why in an earlier post at the top of this page. Trophy gets very awkward when you draw multiples early game when it's likely they still have basics left. Ramping them (with an untapped land!) hurts worse thn you'd think during turn 1-3 or even later if they happen to be stuck on lands.
IMO you want Trophy as a late game catch-all against UWx, or early game against H1 and Tron. Otherwise most circumstances and match-ups I believe Abrupt decay is superior. Against Storm, Burn, Humans, Spirits - Trophy is actively bad so I certainly wouldn't want 4x in my main deck. And TBH I wouldn't play more than 3 in my 75 and I wouldn't run less than 2 Abrupt decay (in the 75)
----EDIT
To point out something people keep overlooking:
Decay is not bad against UW or Tron. It is actively good against UW because it destroys SFA, Detention Sphere, Vendilion, Rest in Peace, little Gideon (if they use him) and it can't be countered. Trophy helps mid-to-late game against Planeswalker, flipped Azcanta, and a lethal Colonnade. Both are important and useful, but you don't want either of them in copious amounts.
Decay kills Oblivion Stone AND kills their turn 1 Map if you're on the play. Both of these applications have been relevant in my competitive play experience. I don't even board out decay against Tron because it kills chalice, and also kills (or forces them to pop) Relic of Progenitus.
Keeping the board clean in the early turns with trophy's flexibility has definitely made slamming jace earlier much easier- you now have nice outs to cards like hollow one or gurmag angler with trophy.
I'll continue to play the devil's advocate here. Jace actually handles H1 and Gurmag just great on his own with -1. And then any other removal you have deals with smaller threats. I'm not saying Trophy is useless for this match, but in the example you gave Jace is already great and protects himself (assuming you curve out into him properly)
I agree that Trophy is a great addition for BGx players of all flavors but it's not the godsend people think. Other than against Tron and UWx Control, I don't think it's going to be changing our favor percentage much in other matches.
For now I actually think that thought scour might be correct- not only will it help fuel the potential turn 2 tasigur, but it also keeps up the card type count for goyf- something that can drastically go down when delving for tasigur- thought scour definitely reduces some of this tension. You can also do nifty stuff like thought scour yourself post brainstorm if you are brainstorm locked.
I agree completely with this. Tasigur + Tarmogoyf beckons some graveyard fueling and Thought Scour is perfect. I hadn't considered it's application alongside JTMS.
I think the general consensus is that Sultai doesn't necessarily need the blue cantrips, unless you're building more of a controllish deck in the first place. The performers we've seen recently are using blue basically only for Snap/Jace and sideboard options.
If you drop Thought Scour then you're open to Blooming Marsh which is much better for Scavenging Ooze.
I think the discard suite available to us in modern is too good to ignore completely. I think even in a heavy Counterspell shell like the one Todd Stevens posted when Trophy was first spoiled had a 2/2 split of TS/IOK.
I would say you want at least 3-4 main deck regardless of your configuration. Playing your deck without Delve threats also opens up the door for Logic Knot which I find to be one of the best counterspells in modern. (Obviously you could still support 2-3 LK alongside 1-2 Tasigur)
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Personally I'm not sold on the 22 lands in a mid-range deck with no cantrips. I would at least run 23 but I like to err on the side of caution for mid/Ctrl decks (and subsequently err on the side of aggression when piloting fast decks).
If I was to run any counterspells in the main deck it would be only Spell Snare or Stubborn denial. The low cost to wide hit-box ratio is the only thing that seems good enough (for main deck). Stuff like Remand doesn't belong in a mid-range deck unless you're trying to combo off like Twin
Congrats on the T8, Superna. I'd like to see the sideboard plans you mentioned if you wouldn't mind sharing.
Your list reminds me of something I saw Todd Stevens talking about when Jace was first unbanned. He predicted JTMS would be best in a midrange shell where it's reasonable to protect him with creatures and abuse his +0 and +2 abilities, rather than relying on his -1 (obviously still using it when necessary).
No scavenging ooze at all? What are your thoughts on the card? From my small amount of experience practicing with Sultai Mid lately, it looks like you'd get ran over by Bridgevine. Did you play against the deck at all?
Nissa, Steward of Elements - How often were you able to +0 her for value? or was she mostly just a scry 2 engine (totally awesome even at that)
Do you feel a single Sunken Ruins would've helped reach UU & BB more consistently?
7x spot removal, 4x Decay and 3x Push - How do you feel about these numbers? Was Decay relevant often in enough in your matches (i.e. non-creature target) or could you have maybe switched these numbers. I'm just thinking about mana efficiency in the first few turns against something like Humans, Spirits, or Affinity.
You seem very confident in your deck list so please don't just debate my points out of defensive habit. Dark Confidant has to be the card I'm most surprised about. Hoogland and Stevens (among other respected players) have offered thoughts that Bob isn't as good in Sultai as BG Rock or Jund, for a number of other reasons but also because we have great card advantage engines in Snapcaster and Tracker. I know you mentioned you dislike Tracker, and I haven't played with the card enough to offer an opinion, but Hoogland speaks really highly of her. So much so that I'm buying into a playset and trying it out. She does beg for a higher land count though, and that's valuable deck space right there...
To offer a concession, I'm really glad to see someone performing well with the deck at all, number 1. And then number 2 - way to go Creeping Tar Pit! IMO it's the best manland and I'm happy to see a list with 4x placing well. Also tipping my hat to running all 8x discard spells. This is another fringe tech I've been pushing my in BGx decks since before Jund Shadow started doing it. Especially alongside LOTV, who allows you to pitch unwanted discards later, and JTMS who allows you to just reshuffle them back in.
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Grim flayer
2 Jace, Vryn's prodigy
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
Spells (19)
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
2 Traverse the Ulvenwald
3 Serum Visions
4 Fatal Push
2 Assassin's Trophy
2 Stubborn Denial
Other (9)
3 Mishra's Bauble
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Liliana of the Veil
1 Nissa, Steward of Elements
1 Liliana, the Last hope
3 Blooming Marsh
2 Darkslick Shores
4 Polluted Delta
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Watery Grave
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Breeding pool
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Swamp
1 Forest
2 Collective Brutality
1 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Assassin's trophy
1 Languish
3 Fulminator Mage
2 Obstinate Baloth
1 Liliana, the Last hope
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That being said, I hadn't considered the new Lazav as a Shadow Duplicate. The Shadow does have to be in the graveyard already though, which isn't great. I think Mausoleum Secrets is a better at making more Shadows (assuming you're already running Traverse+Shadow).
Regarding Sultai Mid-range - has anyone tested Noble Hierarch lately? It was discussed a couple pages back. I tried it out (in a Sultai+White Shadow shell) and had some mixed results. I would say I liked it about 6o% it the time. It's an awful topdeck though which we can't really afford
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Although the list FD linked is the polar opposite, with 4x Trophy and no decay.
Maybe mid-range will prefer decay (but not forgo Trophy entirely) because the tempo loss matters more to them. A control list like that Sultai Thing could easily take over the game still, regardless of ramping the opponent a couple times.
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Off topic here, but I think Thing and Hunted have a different allure because they're both threats in their own. There are already a bunch of single-use spells that deal with the tokens created from Hunted (Echoing Truth) but Thing is a threat on its own and sweeps the opposing board as well. Though it certainly takes some setup..
Agree with FlyingDelver, TITI is an awful topdeck. Considering the current discussion of fully fledged control lists, I don't know if we can afford to have anything be a worse topdeck than Serum Visions. At least SV fixes our next draws
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Exactly.
It's not unreasonable to have just 1 Thragtusk main and then maybe 1 additional SB for Aggro and Burn.
I'm liking the UB/g plan more and more. I think Logic Knot should be the delve card of choice, rather than going all in on Delve threats. Especially if TITI becomes a thing (no pun intended)
Are there any other creatures that are powerful enough on their own to warrant main deck consideration, but also synergize with TITI rather than something like Scooze, Tracker, or Tas which have anti-synergy? The only thing that comes to mind is Vendilion Clique. I've always wanted to make TITI work alongside Hunted Horror but it's probably not modern playable.
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-EDIT-
Never mind! Superna has put in much more research than I. Great work.. I'm loving those 9 PW lists with a full 9 discard suite (including main deck Collective Brutality)
It's amazing how the color requirements of these lists completely thwart the Karsten formulas. Thank you for sharing your experience and these lists. I think we should consider rewriting the primer with these lists as the guide line, and still paying homage to the control lists of years past
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I think LOTV is the main reason no one uses that land. I think Sunken Ruins is a better consideration. It doesn't help with Scooze but it helps with LOTV, Jace, and Clique
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That being said, I'll move from the Trophy/Decay debate because it looks like both Abzan and Sultai threads are derailing (and crashing into each other). Here is my updated list that I've been play testing with, proxying Trophy of course.
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Grim Flayer
3 Tireless Tracker
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Snapcaster mage
Spells (16)
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Thoughtseize
3 Fatal Push
2 Assassin's Trophy
2 Abrupt decay
1 Maelstrom Pulse
Other (6)
3 Liliana of the veil
1 Nissa, Steward of Elements
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4 Blooming Marsh
4 Verdant catacombs
4 Polluted Delta
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Watery grave
1 Breeding Pool
1 Overgrown Tomb
3 Creeping tar pit
2 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Island
3 Unmoored Ego
2 Collective Brutality
2 Spell Snare
1 Assassin's Trophy
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Damnation
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Duress
1 Golgari Charm
I haven't been able to see Nissa in action yet but she feels good here. I thought about trying her in a Traverse she'll also, since she works great with Grim Flayer and also Bauble.
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IMO you want Trophy as a late game catch-all against UWx, or early game against H1 and Tron. Otherwise most circumstances and match-ups I believe Abrupt decay is superior. Against Storm, Burn, Humans, Spirits - Trophy is actively bad so I certainly wouldn't want 4x in my main deck. And TBH I wouldn't play more than 3 in my 75 and I wouldn't run less than 2 Abrupt decay (in the 75)
----EDIT
To point out something people keep overlooking:
Decay is not bad against UW or Tron. It is actively good against UW because it destroys SFA, Detention Sphere, Vendilion, Rest in Peace, little Gideon (if they use him) and it can't be countered. Trophy helps mid-to-late game against Planeswalker, flipped Azcanta, and a lethal Colonnade. Both are important and useful, but you don't want either of them in copious amounts.
Decay kills Oblivion Stone AND kills their turn 1 Map if you're on the play. Both of these applications have been relevant in my competitive play experience. I don't even board out decay against Tron because it kills chalice, and also kills (or forces them to pop) Relic of Progenitus.
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I'll continue to play the devil's advocate here. Jace actually handles H1 and Gurmag just great on his own with -1. And then any other removal you have deals with smaller threats. I'm not saying Trophy is useless for this match, but in the example you gave Jace is already great and protects himself (assuming you curve out into him properly)
I agree that Trophy is a great addition for BGx players of all flavors but it's not the godsend people think. Other than against Tron and UWx Control, I don't think it's going to be changing our favor percentage much in other matches.
I agree completely with this. Tasigur + Tarmogoyf beckons some graveyard fueling and Thought Scour is perfect. I hadn't considered it's application alongside JTMS.
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If you drop Thought Scour then you're open to Blooming Marsh which is much better for Scavenging Ooze.
How has Jace been for you?
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I would say you want at least 3-4 main deck regardless of your configuration. Playing your deck without Delve threats also opens up the door for Logic Knot which I find to be one of the best counterspells in modern. (Obviously you could still support 2-3 LK alongside 1-2 Tasigur)
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Personally I'm not sold on the 22 lands in a mid-range deck with no cantrips. I would at least run 23 but I like to err on the side of caution for mid/Ctrl decks (and subsequently err on the side of aggression when piloting fast decks).
If I was to run any counterspells in the main deck it would be only Spell Snare or Stubborn denial. The low cost to wide hit-box ratio is the only thing that seems good enough (for main deck). Stuff like Remand doesn't belong in a mid-range deck unless you're trying to combo off like Twin
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Your list reminds me of something I saw Todd Stevens talking about when Jace was first unbanned. He predicted JTMS would be best in a midrange shell where it's reasonable to protect him with creatures and abuse his +0 and +2 abilities, rather than relying on his -1 (obviously still using it when necessary).
No scavenging ooze at all? What are your thoughts on the card? From my small amount of experience practicing with Sultai Mid lately, it looks like you'd get ran over by Bridgevine. Did you play against the deck at all?
Nissa, Steward of Elements - How often were you able to +0 her for value? or was she mostly just a scry 2 engine (totally awesome even at that)
Do you feel a single Sunken Ruins would've helped reach UU & BB more consistently?
7x spot removal, 4x Decay and 3x Push - How do you feel about these numbers? Was Decay relevant often in enough in your matches (i.e. non-creature target) or could you have maybe switched these numbers. I'm just thinking about mana efficiency in the first few turns against something like Humans, Spirits, or Affinity.
You seem very confident in your deck list so please don't just debate my points out of defensive habit. Dark Confidant has to be the card I'm most surprised about. Hoogland and Stevens (among other respected players) have offered thoughts that Bob isn't as good in Sultai as BG Rock or Jund, for a number of other reasons but also because we have great card advantage engines in Snapcaster and Tracker. I know you mentioned you dislike Tracker, and I haven't played with the card enough to offer an opinion, but Hoogland speaks really highly of her. So much so that I'm buying into a playset and trying it out. She does beg for a higher land count though, and that's valuable deck space right there...
To offer a concession, I'm really glad to see someone performing well with the deck at all, number 1. And then number 2 - way to go Creeping Tar Pit! IMO it's the best manland and I'm happy to see a list with 4x placing well. Also tipping my hat to running all 8x discard spells. This is another fringe tech I've been pushing my in BGx decks since before Jund Shadow started doing it. Especially alongside LOTV, who allows you to pitch unwanted discards later, and JTMS who allows you to just reshuffle them back in.
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