I readily admit to ashiok being a pet card, though the matches it comes in for tend to drag to the point that the slowness is off set. I really do like Last Hope, particularly if the meta calls for it. She has a lot of utility across different matchups, and has no inherent tension with the stubs i run. Main it if your LGS is loaded with aggro, midrange and control, SB it if not, in my opinion.
As a simplified answer to your first question, yes, card selection and snap redundancy are my personal draws to sultai over jund or abzan. I actually ran flayer for a while, packing 3x architects of will for delerium support. I can dig the list out if your interested, but the readers digest version of test8ng results was that flayer is ok when not buffed, awesome when he is buffed, and going all in on graveyard based creatures is a huge liability when dredge exists. It sucks to have all your threats basically shut down or turned into bears because all the combo/grave hate incidentally hoses you too.
Confidant vs tracker is a bit of a false choice. Theres no reason you cant run them together, and theres nothing that says if you run one you HAVE to run the other. They occupy different cmc slots and shine in different, though sometimes overlapping, situations. The real choice you have to make is confidant vs delve threats. These are mutually exclusive and have very different pros and cons. I prefer tasigur and/or gurmag over bob due to damage output and incidentally turning on ferocious for stubborn denial, but theres that graveyard problem again. Bob gives zero craps about the yard, and needs no set up to cast efficiently, but he dies to everything, only swings for 2, and loves to punch you in the face. I could definitely see a case where goyf, scooze, bob, tracker and jace are your threats, which would almost completely insulate you from grave hate. It seems like as much a personal preference as a meta call.
As far as other blue cards that would draw you to sultai over the other GBx's, again, please test out stub in a build that can reasonably have it turned on against the field. Black based midrange excels against creature decks naturally, struggles against big mana, and leans heavily on discard and lily vs combo. Having a 1 mana answer to scapeshift, gifts ungiven, krark clan ironworks, ad nauseam, karn, ugin, o stone, collective company, and whatever else degenerate nonsense is out there, is a huge stick to be carrying around. Not to mention randomly being able to say no to a turn one thoughtseize, or aether vial, or looting. You crush dreams by hitting those, and that my friend, is why were here.
Edit: Ashiok in the sideboard is also a pet card. Not saying he/she is good, but fun against creature decks and midrange. Specially coco decks. And blue tron.... yes, i WOULD like to play you platinum angel. Thank you for asking.
Edit II: May i aslo say, this has been the best damn conversation regarding magic, sultai in particular, that ive had in months. Thank you for he intelligent questions and constructive feedback. Maybe we can jumpstart an archetype here.
Thanks, you've been really clear on the two alternative choices you have to build the deck and on why Thing doesn't fit a midrange plan.
I approached this archetype with an idea in my mid, which is this should have a similar amount of card advantage engines almost as high as jund decks do ( I say jund because it's been so much tested over the years). So they usually have 11 advantage tools, which are confidants, BBe, K command. Is this parameter something that Sultai should take into consideration aswell? Is it something you should start from while building the list, like asking yourself: " what are going to be my card advantage tools and how many of them do I want?".
I have seen a recent vid from reid duke runing ancestral visions ( guess a bit of a nonbo when you open discard spell + vision), I ve been intrigued by that choice. What are the card advantage tools in this deck?
My pleasure, friend.
Im not sure that Sulati needs as much raw card advantage (from here on in refered to as C Adv) as Jund. Midranges flexibility depends on drawing the right half of your deck at any given match, depending on your match up. The best way to maximize the chances of finding that half is to draw as many cards as you can get away with, hence the C Adv engines) The card selection (lets go with C Sel) available to Sultai largly mitigate that need by being able to filter through your deck with serum or recycle useful cards in the yard with snap. If you can manage the double blue of Vendillion Clique, then the reverse card selection is nice too. (Dont underestimate that double blue in BGu lists) That said, i personally like 3 snaps and 3 tireless trackers for raw C Adv, and 4 visions and 2-3 collective brutality for C Sel. Brutality is of particular note, as it lets you convert the wrong half of your deck (removal vs UW, discard vs affinity, etc) into more useful effects.
Regarding ancestral visions, i dont personally run it, but the case could definitely be made for it in a slowish meta. And if shardless agent ever finds its way into modern (not as impossible as i used to think. WotC is toying with the idea of supplemental products introducing cards into modern while bypassing standard) then it will most likely define the deck.
Hi TheAller, I've been thinking of a Sultai list and I've heard you have really to decide whether you want to play with discard or counterspells, do you think counterspells are superior in this shell?
Are 4x push necessary when you also have 6x trophy and decays?
I very much like the 4 surgical, i think 4 surgincal + 4 snap can really provide good hate against graveryard and combo decks, so since you have this option and a lot of deck manipulation, don't you feel a couple field of ruins necessary to make the surgical even better.
Two more questions: how do you feel about unmoored ego against combo and tron?
Since you have this insane amount of instant and sorceries, how would you feel about playing thing in the ice in replacement of tarmogoyf? I can see thing having a good synergy with snapcaster too.
Ok, in order:
If youre going to run the big green beaters that have made BGx successful, then you are going to want discard over permission. There are some permission based sultai lists out there, but they usually forgo creatures in lieu of olaneswalkers and manlands as wincons. The issue is sorcery speed yhreats dont play well with holding up mana. That leaves you with either BGu midrange with blue for snap, serum, and sideboard permission, or BUg with green for trophy, decay, and sideboard artifact and enchantment hate. I believe the only possible exception to this is stubborn denial. One could make the case that at 1 cmc and all the creatures you run turning it on, its a fine 2 or 3 of in lists not running LotV. It works for deaths shadow, after all.
The fatal push count is a meta call. If you expect a bunch of aggro or midrange then you cant beat 1 cmc. If its combo, big mana and control, then 3 is fine. Having visions and snap to get the most out of your list goes a long way.
Im with you on the surgical plan. Having a build-your-own slaughter games that also hits land is powerful game. Ego's advantage of hitting thing proactively is largly diminished (in my humble opinion) by the 3 drop cmc. Storm can go off, dredge can flood the board, tron can do tron things, all within that time. Its great for kci, but i like extract snap extract better.
Thing is a great card, but you would need to add a lot more cantrips (read:empty air) to an archetype that wants to function optimally in a topdeck war. Midrange needs to be able to turn the corner from control to beat down on a dime to function well. Flexibility is paramount. I feel that a card like titi needs too much support to be viable in midrange. But feel free to prove me wrong, i would love to be wrong.
While i haven't had the chance to thoroughly test my current discard/stub build, i fully intend to do so once i get my playset of trophies. My working theory is to follow the template Grixis Death Shadow laid out, minus the lifeloss and empty cycling. Id like you to walk me through why you dont think the discard into fatty threat into "protect the queen" with stubs wont work, and please understand that im not being snide or dismissive. I would genuinely like an outside perspective, yours in particular.
It would be more constructive to state why you think it doesnt make sense. This way does not really help.
I am also of the Jeff Hoogland school of thought that articulating one's argument is necessary to a constructive conversation.
That said, i do like Tas over zombie fish, due to both an easier delve (one less card in the yard could make a world of difference with goyf) and his activated ability. Fish's upside, eating the average goyf instead of bouncing off of it, i acknowledge, but find to be outweighed. Midrange is all about the grind, and card advantage built in to a dude is a good thing.
I am also a growing fan of tracker. Having them in deck makes lands held in hand less of a dead draw. It is should noted, as well, that tracker is a threat that is independent of the graveyard, which is important when opponent boards in a RiP. It does put you a little heavier into green, but not prohibitively so.
In non-LotV versions, having access to mainboard stubs is really nice. Plays a lot like painless deaths shadow. Honestly, even with lily, its got a knack for just 'catching' certain decks and throwing a wrench in tje works. Serum visions is also card quality, and shouldn't be discounted. Abzan, Jund and Rock all insta-mull 1 land hands. If i see one land and a castable serum, i keep. Having jace at the top end is... ok i guess. Lotta folks dont even bother, but he is at his best in a deck thay can protect him, which Bg is good at. Counters out of the side give you game against a completely different list of decks than traditional Bg.
I like the direction youre going with this, ive a couple thoughts for you though.
Not running counters (main board, anyway) is a fairly common acceptance amongst Sultai brewers, especially while running LotV. The exception to that is Stubborn Denial. If youre going the delve route anyway, then all of your creatures except snaps (and baby jace, if u run him) qualify ferocious. Something to consider, as it hits most of the things yould be worried about.
On the note of delve and graveyard plays, i submit Architects of Will as an alternative to mishra's bauble. I admit that 1 mana (for the cycle) is a lot more than zero, and doesnt trigger revolt, but instant speed pumping goyf and flayer is not to br underestimated. It provides 2 card types at once to boot. And even on baubles best day, it cant be cast as a creature (attrition games end up in some crazy spots sometimes).
My final offering is a replacement for Go for the Throat in your second build. Having unconditional removal at 2 mana is important for rock builds, and Dominaria has gifted us Cast Down. The prerequisite condition of non legendary seems less likely to be an issue that having dead cards against affinity, though not hitting tasigur or ezuri should be considered.
Anyway, thanks for deck lists, please report any fnms or tourneys you go to. Happy brewing!
Running baby jace over snaps makes ancestral recall a lot more appealing, maybe over fact or fiction jace. Its not as versatile, but its easier on mana and 3 cards in a chunk is nice. Just a thought.
Is it possible a draw go style of this deck? Anyone working on it? Maybe some mystical teachings list
The inclusion of green largely forces you to play at sorcery speed, particularly while deploying your threats. It doesn't mean you can't run some counter magic, but there not a whole lotta flash in green worth running in modern.
Hey bud, welcome. A quick mana count tells me you're a base Black/Blue deck with Green splash, and the Lily's make Black dominant.
We'll begin with fetches, 4 polluted deltas is a gimme, and I would advise a 2/2 or 3/1 split of verdant catacombs and misty rainforests for the remaining fetches. 3 Shock lands and 3 basics for fetching brings our base to 14. Next, you need to decide on which manlands you're running, and how many. I never build a midrange without 4, but the case could be made for 3. Creeping tarpit is better against uninteractive linear decks, lumbering falls shines against removal packed control (beware blessed alliance) and hissing quagmire trades with anything not flying or first strike. I personally run a 2/2 split of tarpit and lumbering falls, but it's a meta call. Now we're up to 18.
Quick lands generally fill up the space leftover in a midrange mana base. The colors your deck needs earliest and most often dictate which quick go here,but it's also a good spot to add the color you're lacking in the rest of the base. Example, you're running 4 creeping tarpits along with the fetch/shock/basics I mentioned before, you'd be too low on green to reliable drop a goyf or decay turn 2. Blooming marshes and botanical sanctum, probably at 3/1, would work there. The tarpit/falls split I run would rather have darkslick shores and blooming marsh at 3/1. Now we're up to 22.
The last 1 to 2 lands will either be additional shocks (if you can afford the health), basics (hedges against that damned moon, also painless), and/or a utility land or two. While a few ghost quarters may sound like a great addition to any deck, tri color midrange is more vulnerable to color screw than most decks, so be careful.
Hopefully that helps, those guidelines have served me well for years. Keep it Sultai.
22 Land Including
2 Tarpits
2 Lumbering falls
1 Ghost Quarter
06 Sept 2017: Modern Wednesday
Match 1: Mono Blue Taking Turns
G1: Opening discard reveals 3 land, howling mine, 2 time walks and a cryptic. Take cryptic. Decay mine after drawing off of it. Snap discard T3, t4 goyf with stubb back up takes it.
In: 2 x squall, 3 x Extraction
Out: 3 x Push, 2 x Cut
G2: No discard, but deprive, snap and a clock seems good enough. It's not. Opponent exhausts and gigadrowses his way to victory.
G3: Discard, Flayer, Extract Snap Extract. Also, Decay hitting Dictate of Kruphix was very helpful.
Match 2: Mono White D&T
G1: Discard his Arbiter, play Flayer, swing into blocking Thalia ans 2nd (drawn) Arbiter. Cycle Architects to 2 for 1 him. However double Tec Edge taking me off green gives him enough time to get me with Wisp and Resto.
In 2 x Damnation, 1 x Baloth, Lili
Out 2 x Cut, 2 x Deprive
G2: This game goes much longer, gain some life off of baloth, clear the board, fight through 2 (!) Relics. But... double Tec Edge gets me off Snap Damnation and he takes it.
Match 3: Esper Tap Out Control.
G1: Dicard on both sides, pushes my goyf, cut his Tas, double Tec Edges me off green (for f***s sake). Top deck forest, play Flayer, he has souls, opponent wins race by 3 life.
In: 1 x Golgari Charm, 1 x Lily, 1 x Baloth, 2 x Damnation
Out: 3 x IoK, 2 x Push
G2: Same dance (I love these games) trade resources into top deck war. Snap Golgari Charm clears overextended Souls, lone Goyf survives damnation via stub for win.
G3: Opponent has more respect for Charm now We both have field cleared by sweeper at one point or another, get into a race of manlands. Lumbering shows the value of hexproof, but only gets in twice before Tec Edged (at least it wasnt doulble this time) I have 2 Tarpits, can only activate 1 though, he has Tarpit and 2 Souls. I needed 2 more lands over 2 turns to activate both Tarpits and win race, or removal. Cant find it, he takes it by 1 life. Most fun of the night by far.
Takeaway: My rust was on full display, and more than 1 of those losses could have been prevented with better sequencing or prioritising. Having the full spectrum of disruption, however, did make some bad situations much more manageable. It should be noted that i have yet to pick up the Explosives, they were Spreading Seas this evening. Not sure how much difference that would have made, but I do plan on getting them sooner than later.
Don't know if it's better to play 3-1 PW over 2-2 or 3 lili and 0 ashiok (or vice versa).
Still thinking to use 12/14 creatures.
Not sure about the counterspells.
Need help with manabase too.
Hey bud, welcome to Sultai.
Nice list, but if youre asking for a constructive critique, heres a few things I noticed.
Grixis Shadow and Eldrazi Tron are the big kids on the block ATM, and they both run decay/push-proof creatures. You need answers to Reality Smasher and Tasigur, the Golden Fang, and two pulses aren't enough IMHO. I personally advise murderous cut in some number, 2 or 3 I feel, though you need to manage your graveyard once delve becomes a gameplan. Having a mainboard sweeper like damnation or even the newly released Bontu's something-or-other Last Stand (drawing a blank on name, Captain?) could go a long way towards dealing with a runaway board state.
Planeswalkers: New Lily is good against certain decks, notably dredge and affinity, so that's more of a meta call when comparing her to 'of the veil' Lily, but Ashiok really belongs in the sideboard. Theres so many decks that he simply doesn't do anything against, and Midrange cannot afford dead cards on the best of days, let alone this meta. you need your 3 (and above) drops to either immediately win the game or substantially affect the board to stabilize. Call me a traditionalist, but I feel Like Liliana of the veil is still the go to here. She also, incidentally, works well against Eldrazi and Delve fatties. Maybe a 3/1 split with new lily. I will say that Jace, architect of thought is GREAT against Lingering Souls decks and other midrange grinders, so another option for the side.
Spell snare in the main should probably be Stubborn Denial. Your creature suite is basically built to enable ferocious, making it a strict upgrade. Squall seems more at home in the side, but that's a meta call.
Eternal Witness seems a bit hard to cast with such a low land count and your base being black. You also want your creatures to be capable off ending the game in as few turns as possible once resolved. Tasigur fills the need of both efficient beat stick AND card advantage, as well as being a mana sink should you start to flood (more on that later). Again, adding delve spells creates tension with Goyf and Snap, but play smart and keep track of the yard and you should be fine. Kalitas, Traiter of Ghet is another option, minus the mana sink but a HOUSE against Aggro. 12-14 creatures is pretty standard in Midrange builds, which this definitely is.
Your mana base looks pretty solid, actually. I personally like lumbering falls more than quagmire, hexproof is not to be underestimated. Jeskai is on the rise, and everyone and their dog is running fatal push. Falls is as good at ignoring those as tarpit is at sneaking around a cluttered field. I would up the count to 23 lands, as far more games are lost to mana screw than flood, and having a sink already built in (this is Tasi waving. right here in these parenthesis) mitigates a lot of the downside.
Anyways, these are just my observation. They are in no way to be considered expert, but they ARE based on experience and testing. Good luck brother, and be sure to post results. This threads been quiet for WAY too long.
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Confidant vs tracker is a bit of a false choice. Theres no reason you cant run them together, and theres nothing that says if you run one you HAVE to run the other. They occupy different cmc slots and shine in different, though sometimes overlapping, situations. The real choice you have to make is confidant vs delve threats. These are mutually exclusive and have very different pros and cons. I prefer tasigur and/or gurmag over bob due to damage output and incidentally turning on ferocious for stubborn denial, but theres that graveyard problem again. Bob gives zero craps about the yard, and needs no set up to cast efficiently, but he dies to everything, only swings for 2, and loves to punch you in the face. I could definitely see a case where goyf, scooze, bob, tracker and jace are your threats, which would almost completely insulate you from grave hate. It seems like as much a personal preference as a meta call.
As far as other blue cards that would draw you to sultai over the other GBx's, again, please test out stub in a build that can reasonably have it turned on against the field. Black based midrange excels against creature decks naturally, struggles against big mana, and leans heavily on discard and lily vs combo. Having a 1 mana answer to scapeshift, gifts ungiven, krark clan ironworks, ad nauseam, karn, ugin, o stone, collective company, and whatever else degenerate nonsense is out there, is a huge stick to be carrying around. Not to mention randomly being able to say no to a turn one thoughtseize, or aether vial, or looting. You crush dreams by hitting those, and that my friend, is why were here.
Edit: Ashiok in the sideboard is also a pet card. Not saying he/she is good, but fun against creature decks and midrange. Specially coco decks. And blue tron.... yes, i WOULD like to play you platinum angel. Thank you for asking.
Edit II: May i aslo say, this has been the best damn conversation regarding magic, sultai in particular, that ive had in months. Thank you for he intelligent questions and constructive feedback. Maybe we can jumpstart an archetype here.
My pleasure, friend.
Im not sure that Sulati needs as much raw card advantage (from here on in refered to as C Adv) as Jund. Midranges flexibility depends on drawing the right half of your deck at any given match, depending on your match up. The best way to maximize the chances of finding that half is to draw as many cards as you can get away with, hence the C Adv engines) The card selection (lets go with C Sel) available to Sultai largly mitigate that need by being able to filter through your deck with serum or recycle useful cards in the yard with snap. If you can manage the double blue of Vendillion Clique, then the reverse card selection is nice too. (Dont underestimate that double blue in BGu lists) That said, i personally like 3 snaps and 3 tireless trackers for raw C Adv, and 4 visions and 2-3 collective brutality for C Sel. Brutality is of particular note, as it lets you convert the wrong half of your deck (removal vs UW, discard vs affinity, etc) into more useful effects.
Regarding ancestral visions, i dont personally run it, but the case could definitely be made for it in a slowish meta. And if shardless agent ever finds its way into modern (not as impossible as i used to think. WotC is toying with the idea of supplemental products introducing cards into modern while bypassing standard) then it will most likely define the deck.
Ok, in order:
If youre going to run the big green beaters that have made BGx successful, then you are going to want discard over permission. There are some permission based sultai lists out there, but they usually forgo creatures in lieu of olaneswalkers and manlands as wincons. The issue is sorcery speed yhreats dont play well with holding up mana. That leaves you with either BGu midrange with blue for snap, serum, and sideboard permission, or BUg with green for trophy, decay, and sideboard artifact and enchantment hate. I believe the only possible exception to this is stubborn denial. One could make the case that at 1 cmc and all the creatures you run turning it on, its a fine 2 or 3 of in lists not running LotV. It works for deaths shadow, after all.
The fatal push count is a meta call. If you expect a bunch of aggro or midrange then you cant beat 1 cmc. If its combo, big mana and control, then 3 is fine. Having visions and snap to get the most out of your list goes a long way.
Im with you on the surgical plan. Having a build-your-own slaughter games that also hits land is powerful game. Ego's advantage of hitting thing proactively is largly diminished (in my humble opinion) by the 3 drop cmc. Storm can go off, dredge can flood the board, tron can do tron things, all within that time. Its great for kci, but i like extract snap extract better.
Thing is a great card, but you would need to add a lot more cantrips (read:empty air) to an archetype that wants to function optimally in a topdeck war. Midrange needs to be able to turn the corner from control to beat down on a dime to function well. Flexibility is paramount. I feel that a card like titi needs too much support to be viable in midrange. But feel free to prove me wrong, i would love to be wrong.
Hope any of this helps.
I am also of the Jeff Hoogland school of thought that articulating one's argument is necessary to a constructive conversation.
That said, i do like Tas over zombie fish, due to both an easier delve (one less card in the yard could make a world of difference with goyf) and his activated ability. Fish's upside, eating the average goyf instead of bouncing off of it, i acknowledge, but find to be outweighed. Midrange is all about the grind, and card advantage built in to a dude is a good thing.
I am also a growing fan of tracker. Having them in deck makes lands held in hand less of a dead draw. It is should noted, as well, that tracker is a threat that is independent of the graveyard, which is important when opponent boards in a RiP. It does put you a little heavier into green, but not prohibitively so.
Not running counters (main board, anyway) is a fairly common acceptance amongst Sultai brewers, especially while running LotV. The exception to that is Stubborn Denial. If youre going the delve route anyway, then all of your creatures except snaps (and baby jace, if u run him) qualify ferocious. Something to consider, as it hits most of the things yould be worried about.
On the note of delve and graveyard plays, i submit Architects of Will as an alternative to mishra's bauble. I admit that 1 mana (for the cycle) is a lot more than zero, and doesnt trigger revolt, but instant speed pumping goyf and flayer is not to br underestimated. It provides 2 card types at once to boot. And even on baubles best day, it cant be cast as a creature (attrition games end up in some crazy spots sometimes).
My final offering is a replacement for Go for the Throat in your second build. Having unconditional removal at 2 mana is important for rock builds, and Dominaria has gifted us Cast Down. The prerequisite condition of non legendary seems less likely to be an issue that having dead cards against affinity, though not hitting tasigur or ezuri should be considered.
Anyway, thanks for deck lists, please report any fnms or tourneys you go to. Happy brewing!
The inclusion of green largely forces you to play at sorcery speed, particularly while deploying your threats. It doesn't mean you can't run some counter magic, but there not a whole lotta flash in green worth running in modern.
We'll begin with fetches, 4 polluted deltas is a gimme, and I would advise a 2/2 or 3/1 split of verdant catacombs and misty rainforests for the remaining fetches. 3 Shock lands and 3 basics for fetching brings our base to 14. Next, you need to decide on which manlands you're running, and how many. I never build a midrange without 4, but the case could be made for 3. Creeping tarpit is better against uninteractive linear decks, lumbering falls shines against removal packed control (beware blessed alliance) and hissing quagmire trades with anything not flying or first strike. I personally run a 2/2 split of tarpit and lumbering falls, but it's a meta call. Now we're up to 18.
Quick lands generally fill up the space leftover in a midrange mana base. The colors your deck needs earliest and most often dictate which quick go here,but it's also a good spot to add the color you're lacking in the rest of the base. Example, you're running 4 creeping tarpits along with the fetch/shock/basics I mentioned before, you'd be too low on green to reliable drop a goyf or decay turn 2. Blooming marshes and botanical sanctum, probably at 3/1, would work there. The tarpit/falls split I run would rather have darkslick shores and blooming marsh at 3/1. Now we're up to 22.
The last 1 to 2 lands will either be additional shocks (if you can afford the health), basics (hedges against that damned moon, also painless), and/or a utility land or two. While a few ghost quarters may sound like a great addition to any deck, tri color midrange is more vulnerable to color screw than most decks, so be careful.
Hopefully that helps, those guidelines have served me well for years. Keep it Sultai.
Creatures
4 Goyf
3 Snap
3 Grim Flayer
3 Architects of Will
2 Tas
Spells
4 IoK
2 Thoughtseize
3 Push
2 Murderous Cut
2 Decay
3 Stubborn Denial
2 Deprive
4 Serum Visions
1 Maelstrom Pulse
22 Land Including
2 Tarpits
2 Lumbering falls
1 Ghost Quarter
06 Sept 2017: Modern Wednesday
Match 1: Mono Blue Taking Turns
G1: Opening discard reveals 3 land, howling mine, 2 time walks and a cryptic. Take cryptic. Decay mine after drawing off of it. Snap discard T3, t4 goyf with stubb back up takes it.
In: 2 x squall, 3 x Extraction
Out: 3 x Push, 2 x Cut
G2: No discard, but deprive, snap and a clock seems good enough. It's not. Opponent exhausts and gigadrowses his way to victory.
G3: Discard, Flayer, Extract Snap Extract. Also, Decay hitting Dictate of Kruphix was very helpful.
Match 2: Mono White D&T
G1: Discard his Arbiter, play Flayer, swing into blocking Thalia ans 2nd (drawn) Arbiter. Cycle Architects to 2 for 1 him. However double Tec Edge taking me off green gives him enough time to get me with Wisp and Resto.
In 2 x Damnation, 1 x Baloth, Lili
Out 2 x Cut, 2 x Deprive
G2: This game goes much longer, gain some life off of baloth, clear the board, fight through 2 (!) Relics. But... double Tec Edge gets me off Snap Damnation and he takes it.
Match 3: Esper Tap Out Control.
G1: Dicard on both sides, pushes my goyf, cut his Tas, double Tec Edges me off green (for f***s sake). Top deck forest, play Flayer, he has souls, opponent wins race by 3 life.
In: 1 x Golgari Charm, 1 x Lily, 1 x Baloth, 2 x Damnation
Out: 3 x IoK, 2 x Push
G2: Same dance (I love these games) trade resources into top deck war. Snap Golgari Charm clears overextended Souls, lone Goyf survives damnation via stub for win.
G3: Opponent has more respect for Charm now
Takeaway: My rust was on full display, and more than 1 of those losses could have been prevented with better sequencing or prioritising. Having the full spectrum of disruption, however, did make some bad situations much more manageable. It should be noted that i have yet to pick up the Explosives, they were Spreading Seas this evening. Not sure how much difference that would have made, but I do plan on getting them sooner than later.
Hey bud, welcome to Sultai.
Nice list, but if youre asking for a constructive critique, heres a few things I noticed.
Grixis Shadow and Eldrazi Tron are the big kids on the block ATM, and they both run decay/push-proof creatures. You need answers to Reality Smasher and Tasigur, the Golden Fang, and two pulses aren't enough IMHO. I personally advise murderous cut in some number, 2 or 3 I feel, though you need to manage your graveyard once delve becomes a gameplan. Having a mainboard sweeper like damnation or even the newly released Bontu's something-or-other Last Stand (drawing a blank on name, Captain?) could go a long way towards dealing with a runaway board state.
Planeswalkers: New Lily is good against certain decks, notably dredge and affinity, so that's more of a meta call when comparing her to 'of the veil' Lily, but Ashiok really belongs in the sideboard. Theres so many decks that he simply doesn't do anything against, and Midrange cannot afford dead cards on the best of days, let alone this meta. you need your 3 (and above) drops to either immediately win the game or substantially affect the board to stabilize. Call me a traditionalist, but I feel Like Liliana of the veil is still the go to here. She also, incidentally, works well against Eldrazi and Delve fatties. Maybe a 3/1 split with new lily. I will say that Jace, architect of thought is GREAT against Lingering Souls decks and other midrange grinders, so another option for the side.
Spell snare in the main should probably be Stubborn Denial. Your creature suite is basically built to enable ferocious, making it a strict upgrade. Squall seems more at home in the side, but that's a meta call.
Eternal Witness seems a bit hard to cast with such a low land count and your base being black. You also want your creatures to be capable off ending the game in as few turns as possible once resolved. Tasigur fills the need of both efficient beat stick AND card advantage, as well as being a mana sink should you start to flood (more on that later). Again, adding delve spells creates tension with Goyf and Snap, but play smart and keep track of the yard and you should be fine. Kalitas, Traiter of Ghet is another option, minus the mana sink but a HOUSE against Aggro. 12-14 creatures is pretty standard in Midrange builds, which this definitely is.
Your mana base looks pretty solid, actually. I personally like lumbering falls more than quagmire, hexproof is not to be underestimated. Jeskai is on the rise, and everyone and their dog is running fatal push. Falls is as good at ignoring those as tarpit is at sneaking around a cluttered field. I would up the count to 23 lands, as far more games are lost to mana screw than flood, and having a sink already built in (this is Tasi waving. right here in these parenthesis) mitigates a lot of the downside.
Anyways, these are just my observation. They are in no way to be considered expert, but they ARE based on experience and testing. Good luck brother, and be sure to post results. This threads been quiet for WAY too long.