Yixlid Jailer is not a Human... But isn’t it a good graveyard hate? We can name Wizard with Cavern or Territory, and still use the land to cast Meddling Mage and Reflector Mage.
I know Leyline of the Void and Grafdigger’s Cage are often used for that role. But one is a dead card if we draw it after turn 1, and none have a 2/1 body...
Maybe it doesn’t make sense in the specific cases you have in mind, but one of the way to not run out of gas is to slow down opponents, to prevent them from running you out of said gas before you effectively win. One of the best way to do that, and a card that is often overlooked, is Thalia, Heretic Cathar, particularly on the play. Forcing lands to enter tapped will screw opponent’s curve. For example, against Tron, not only they can’t tap for 7 mana until a turn later than usual, but when they can finally tap lands to cast Wurmcoil Engine, it will ETB tapped, giving you another extra turn before they get that blocker and the life that come with it.
Also, if you really want more gas, as in pure cards (and not pseudo advantage, like Big Thalia), you can add Bob to you your deck list. Others have done so before. But IMHO, you shouldn’t need more than one or two extra cards in any matchup, and Bugler or Ranger-Captain can take care of that, along with Horizon Canopy.
Finally, it may well be possible that Unsettled Mariner will fix your problem just right. If you run out of gas due to removals, delaying them (with the help of Baby Thalia) may just be enough to deal the extra points of damage to win the game.
my second attempt follows your suggestion of not dropping mantis rider and has the non-fetches manabase (which is not painless but has a lot of card draw), what do you think?
You’re basically trading Thalia and Flex Spot for CoCo and some lands in the main deck. I don’t like that at all. More lands and more noncreatures (CoCo) means worst odds of hitting 2+ creatures with CoCo. And 21 lands is not enough for CoCo. I know you have Hierarch, but Abzan Company is playing full playsets of Bird and Hierarch to run a reliable turn 3-4 CoCo. Also, Humans need Thalia to disrupt opponent’s early turns.
Remember when Humans was just a fringe deck? And suddenly it was super good? The difference between before and after was the release of Freebooter and Unclaimed Territory. The flying disruptive Human made a huge difference to tackle all sorts of matchups, particularly Midrange and Combo, decks that prey upon Aggro if you agree with the metagame clock. And the gold land meant we could run 12 (with Ziggurat and Cavern), to reliably go 5 colors and play the best Humans in Magic. You see, Humans *need* gold lands to curve out, and you only run 8 in your deck. What if you only have Canopy/Razorverge and Botanical Sanctum/Waterlogged Grove? Freebooter will be a dead card for you, while it may be the best card in this matchup at that time. And if you get Blooming March instead of a UG land, than both Phantasmal Image and Meddling Mage will be dead in your hand. I know Freebooter is sometimes dead in our hand with the current deck list, but it doesn’t happen often with 12 gold lands. It will happen far more often with your line up (most of the time we can produce 5 colors with very few lands, while you will be stuck with 3 colors production a lot more often).
I’m absolutely and irrevocably certain that going back to CoCo would be a mistake. CoCo is a good card in decks that don’t play fair, like Vizier Combo or Allies that can win on turn 3 (yup, Allies can do that with Hada Freeblade, Harabaz Druid, Akoum Battlesinger + CoCo to get any Ally + Jwari Shapeshifter or an other Battlesinger = 21 damage). Humans is the most fair deck of Modern right now, and it can’t aggressively use CoCo to explode and win on the spot.
What’s that thing with Island replacing Seachrome Coast #2? Most lists on MTG Top8 features an Island in the main deck now. Is it because of the prevalence of UW Control (Path to Exile, Field of Ruin)? Any other reasons?
Could Kytheon, out of the SB or in the main deck, be a solution against UW Control? Flip it ASAP, and you have a 4/4 immuned to most of their sweeper...
One of the guys at my local FNM plays an Allies deck, with champion of the parish, student of warfare, brave the elements etc. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him win, but has a blast and has beaten everyone that plays a Tier 1 or 2 deck at some point. If you want, I will grab his list for you?
Check my signature for a link to my 4 colors Ally deck. I played it against a number of Tier 1 decks during the holidays (not tournament), and results continue to surprise me. It's aggressive enough to win on turn 3 (usually turn 4), and it can switch strategy post SB (milling out Hollow One out of nowhere thanks to instant speed Allies on turn 3 at the end of opponent's turn, and main phase turn 4). I'll probably soon revive this deck. There's a few combo imprinted in this deck that probably mean it can perform well in the metagame).
It seems that I have gotten worse the more Modern I play. Maybe it is not the format where I personally can do better as I play it and many other decks much more. I have come to learn that. I play Combo decks quite often and I am used to tossing hands back much more than my opponent and playing on the draw, but I play decks that I perceive as "consistent" when I'm tired of the 5 card hand grind. I tried Grixis Shadow and I realized that it can be much more inconsistent as Grishoalbrand. I tried Humans now and mulliganed more often than I do with Bogles. Small sample size you know?
There's 2 ways to look at it. I should stick to 1 deck like I have done usually during PPTQ season before. I know many of the players who have won their respective PPTQs and most of them are not regulars with their decks. Many are very new to Modern and I believe that actually helps! I know 2 players who have won that have been on their decks forever and haven't had this type of success before, so I see that. But I also see someone who played his first PPTQ and ended up beating me in Round 1 due to 4 and 5 card hands out of BridgeVine, which admittedly is glass cannon as ****, but he won the freaking thing! It only had 59 players, but still. That was 58 other players that he was "better than that day." So, I personally feel that sooner or later something will click and I will mulligan not quite as much and get there. Until then, I am having fun with the variance and trying to figure out how to beat my opponents with 5-6 card hands. I could go back to Titanshift. I mulliganed almost the same amount as my opponents, but I would like to do it with another deck now, the decks me qualifying with having been Bogles, Bogles, Grishoalbrand, and Titanshift.
It's hard to tell because we don't know the hands you mulliganed, but maybe you mulligan too agressively? Combo players often have to mulligan aggressively to have a functionnal hand that can combo off. This trait is often imported to other strategies, but it's a huge mistake to have such an attitude with Humans. One-landers are usually just fine if you have Vial or Hierarch. And 100% lands should be kept if you've already mulliganed down to 6.
Basically, I try to keep any 7 cards that can play 2+ creatures in the first 3 turns. I ran thousands of simulation once, and this "rule" meant that about 75% of all 7 cards hands are good to keep.
You should also know that Humans are *really* bad at mulligans. The odds of having a keepable 6 cards or pretty low (under 50%, if I recall correctly ; *actually 40%, see below*). And the odds of having a keepable 5 cards are abysmal (avoid at all cost mulligan to 4).
Here, I found this old post I wrote about mulligans... I hope it helps :
---------------
18 lands feel very wrong to me. I've done some really serious maths over this, including Monte Carlo simulations of what are keepable hands, and what's not. First, you have to realise that Humans doesn't take mulligans very well. IT IS NOT THE TYPE OF DECK THAT YOU MULLIGAN AGGRESSIVELY WITH. In fact, you should avoid a mulligan with Humans, unless your hand is downright unplayable. By that I mean :
No land
One land, no Vial (or a non-castable Vial, because Ziggurat) and less than 2 castable one-drops with that single land (ex. : Seachrome Coast with two Hierarch is not good).
Two+ lands, and less than 2 creatures that are castable with these lands and that can be played in the first 3 turns. Ex. #1 : 3 lands with 4 three-drops is not very good, because you'll play only one creature per turn starting turn 3 and this is too slow for Modern's metagame. Ex. #2 : Two Canopy, 2 Freebooter and/or Meddling Mage, and 3 three-drops... you just can't cast a card AT ALL with this hand ; even if a Coast replaces a Canopy, only the Meddling Mage is playable, and the rest is probably dead cards for some time. This is a hand that can make you lose a game.
With these requirements, only 75% of all 7-cards hands are keepable. This number is not very good, and Humans are prone to have bad starting hands (most of the time because of zero or one-landers). If you mulligan, only 40% of 6-cards hands are keepable (which is an insanely low number). Scry will help, and you shouldn't be picky on 6 cards, because the odds go downhill from there. Mulligan to 5 only if the 6 cards are REALLY bad. And never mulligan down to 4, even if you have no lands (or just lands) in your 5-cards hand. The odds of top decking what you need are better in that case than of having a keepable 4-cards:
With 5-cards, only lands ; creatures density is very high in the library : 90% chance of top decking a creature, because of Scry 1. And you're 75% likely to draw 2 creatures in the first two turns. Following that metric, a 6-cards hand that is 100% lands is probably better to keep and scry 1 than mulligan down to 5 (the above odds are only better, because there's one less land in what's left of the library).
With 5-cards, and no lands (and some one-drops) ; land density is very high in the library : You'll get a land on the top deck 58% of the time, thanks to Scry 1. You'll hit land #2 43% of the time in the first 3 turns (on the draw), also thanks to Scry 1. These odds are not great, but they're better than having keepable 4-cards. This is a game you're likely to lose anyway, so go with the better odds and keep.
That being said, mulligan is not only bad because odds of keepable hands are increasingly low the less cards you have. But because with less cards come less synergy, something that Humans needs. Champion and Lieutenant are worse, Meddling won't be preceded by Freebooter, Rider won't be exalted by Hierarch, etc.
Avoiding mulligan becomes primordial for Humans pilot. With odds so low of having keepable 7, and mulligan being so bad for us (because of synergy), it is suicidal, IMHO, to go below 19 lands. Keepable hands will be even more rare, and you don't want to reduce an already low number (some other decks have keepable 7-cards in the 90% range).
Of course, you still have to mulligan about 25% of the time, so you should work to recognize the unkeepable hands. In my case, I never ever assume top deck will save my starting 7 (but I'll go with that assumption if I mulligan). These cards, by themselves, have to put two Humans in play by the end of turn 3, that's my law. If they can't achieve that, that's probably a mulligan. 4 Mantis Rider, 2 Lieutenant and one land is really bad, even if it's explosive if things go well. Five lands and 2 three-drops is probably bad too. One land, a Vial, and no one-drop is unkeepable IMHO (because the best you can do is play a two-drop from Vial on turn 3, and then you're at the mercy of having the right number of counters on Vial to play the rest). If that fits the definition of mulliganing aggressively, then so be it. In my opinion, it just means that I don't want to be relying on the top deck to have functional hand.
1. At first my Question is about Kitesail Freebooter, in Paper this Card is Awesome and i often see Plays with it that Perform perfect. But in a Situation where my Opp has 2 or more Removals, so the Thing is i know that he is forced to Remove the Freebooter and looses one of his removals but that doesn't feel right, what would you do if you cast a Freebooter and the Opp's hand (Jund) is something like this: BBE, Maelstrom Pulse, Abrupt Decay, Land and Thoghtseize.
What would you take? My choice would be Pulse most of the Times.
2. Whats your Oppinion about Militia Bugler and the Rest of the Main Deck. I Tested him now and i am blasted of how awesome he is. I used two Flex Slots and 1 Mantis Rider + 1 Reflector Mage to Play four Copies. What do you Think? are four Copies of him to much and did i cut the 'right' cards? most players cut Image but i thinks Image is too good to cut cause you can copy the best card in play and change the board situation with just one card.
3. I play 18 lands that look like this: 4 ancient Ziggurat, 4 Unclaimed territory, 4 Cavern of Souls, 4 Horizon Canopy, 1 Plains, 1 Seachrome Coastand
I think about Cutting one ziggurat and playing a Creature more to get more Topdecks. Do you think it is Worth it or should i stay at 18.
4. I have that feeling that my sideboard is Pretty weak, no matter if i play a stock list or customized for my local meta. what do you think are the most important cards in the Sideboard and what are 'flex' Slots ?
With Freebooter, you should take Abrupt Decay. That way, opponent is left with Maelstrom Pulse, and has to pay 3 mana to get back a spell that is at best a spot removal. Just make sure you don't play same name creatures until Pulse is cast. If you take Maelstrom Pulse instead, opponent can quickly kill the Freebooter with Abrupt Decay, which means they get back a spell that can remove more than one creatures.
I'm not totally convinced Humans need card advantage to win a game. Thus, Militia Bugler is only 2 in my deck, or 3 at worst. Never ever play less than full copy of Mantis Rider. It's your finisher, 95% of the time.
18 lands is not enough. Play 19. The whole community agrees it's the right number. I ran thousands of simulations, and 18 lands is not enough for consistency. You'll mulligan too often, or have trouble finding your 2nd or 3rd land. On the other hand, we *very* rarely flood out. And when we do, Horizon Canopy can be cycled away. (Edit : to make my point more clear, I shall quote myself from next post... With odds so low of having keepable 7, and mulligan being so bad for us (because of synergy), it is suicidal, IMHO, to go below 19 lands. Keepable hands will be even more rare, and you don't want to reduce an already low number).
About the SB, I think Gaddock Teeg has to become a new staple for the time being. UW Control is our new predator, and Gaddock Teeg alone is like a Super Meddling Mage naming Cryptic Command, Terminus, Wrath of God, Supreme Verdict, Jace, Teferi *and* Settle the Wreckage. Unless opponent can remove it with Path to Exile (which we are free to name with Meddling Mage, or exile with Freebooter), we probably have inevitability from there. Gaddock can also prevent Karn and Ugin in Tron matchups.
Ari Lax wrote a good Premium article about Modern matchups (including Humans) a few weeks ago on SCG. These Premium articles are unlocked after 14 days, so it's free to read now.
Also, Cedric Phillips’ article provides interesting arguments between two different lines of play vs Green Tron : Hierarch + Rider for 4 on turn 2? Or Vial + Meddling Mage and Hierarch on turn 2? I guess this article can trigger a 10+ posts storm here about what's the right line of play... my 2 cents : I would aim for Meddling Mage on T2 to name Sylvan Scrying, hoping to disrupt their whole plan. I've always been in favor of making sure they can't assemble the combo lands. After all, naming any of their threats or sweepers in the blind is a hard to win lottery (name Karn, they'll play Ugin ; name Oblivion Stone and they’ll play Walking Ballista, etc.).
Mike Sigrist wrote an excellent article about the Pro Tour and his deck of choice : Humans. You can read it here.
He played 4 Buglers in the main deck, but according to the article, he would reduce that to 2 or 3 in favor for full play set of Image or RefMage. Seems on point with what I've experienced. Humans don't really want to pause mid game to get an extra card, and would rather play the above mentioned cards right away than a Bugler to hopefully play these a turn later. Makes sense to play Bugler #3 in the SB for the grindy matchups (Jeskai, Mardu and Jund), but we don't see these decks a lot recently. Could help also digging out our precious SB cards...
So far, I like playing 3 Buglers (along with 3 Thalia and 3 RefMage). I prefer not reducing the count of Phantasmal Image because it's a valid target for Bugler's ability, and the only way for Bugler to fetch a « Mantis Rider » (by copying one already on the battlefield).
I didn't had a great night yesterday, losing to Ad Nauseum and never recognizing the deck until opponent played Phyrexian Unlife (note to self : Lotus Bloom is only played in Ad Nauseum). Thus I lost game 1 with Meddling Mage in my hand, uncast the turn before losing because I didn't know what to name with it. Won game 2, but lost game 3 after a serious mistake. Freebooter exiled a removal instead of Combo piece because I had another Freebooter (which was supposed to take care of the combo without fear of the removal). Turns out the removal was Slaughter Pact, and Freebooter was immuned to it anyway (should have read the card more carefully). Freebooter #2 never resolved, thanks to Pact if Negation. Lesson learned.
Also learned to watch out for Anger of the Gods against RG Aggro that plays Baloth post SB...
Well... my losses were both 1-2 (not 0-2), losing to mistakes on game 3. After the tournament was over, I got to play an off the record match against the undefeated winner of the nigh (WB Death & Taxes), and won 2-0. Felt good.
I'm certain that Militia Bugler is a very good card for Humans. But I must admit I am terrified of Tron. Big Thalia is very good game 1 vs Tron, and I'm pretty sure Bugler will be too slow for Tron. Or whatever card advantage it can get us will be destroyed by Oblivion Stone or Ugin's -X ability. I don't know about you guys, but it seems to me that Tron is more present in the metagame now than it was a few months ago. Having a good game 1 against this deck seems to me quite important.
And what should Meddling Mage name in the Tron matchup? Karn Liberated is the most numerous removal in their deck, but Ugin and Oblivion Stone can sweep our board. Walking Ballista is another problem I've seen from the SB, and sometimes maindeck (makes sense, as it can win a game by itself with tons of mana). And then there is also Spatial Contortion... Tron can overload our Freebooters and MedMages, and don't much care about Thalia. And if they untap with Wurmcoil Engine, it's pretty much game over, unless we have Reflector Mage to delay what may be inevitable.
Speaking of Reflector Mage... is it just me or has the metagame shifted a bit away from creatures deck? If so, maybe we should cut a copy (and rely on Militia Bugler to find the 3 others), and revert back to 4 Thalia in the main deck. What do you think?
It means you still rely on topdecking Mantis anyway, Bugler indeed doesn't change much of that.
If we need a Human with 2 power, Flying and Haste, then we should consider swapping Mantis Rider for Skynight Legionnaire or Adeliz, the Cinder Wind. But I doubt we want to go there. After all, Bugler is more likely to put the next Rider closer to the top deck, than farther away. Hypergeometric Calculator tells us that Bugler will only reveal Mantis Rider 24.7% of the time. This means that 75.3% of the time, Rider will get closer to the top of the deck through a Bugler activation. I'm fine with these numbers, and will accept the few frustrating times it *is* the needed card and I have to put it at the bottom of the deck.
Don’t forget that Staticaster kills any Image in the mirror. Even if fat Champions and Lieutenants survive 1 point of damage, Thalia and Hierarch are vulnerable to it. And copy Staticaster with Image to start cleaning the board. It’s a good card, and you want two in the matchups that matter (a lot do). Gut Shot is more a metagame call. I wouldn’t play it at my LGS, but at a PPTQ or Grand Prix, it can be a very good call.
If I ever add another one drop to my list, it would definitely be Kytheon, Hero of Akros. Experiment one will at best be a 3/3 that reverts to a 1/1 when it regenerate. Kytheon can flip into an indestructible 4/4 Gideon.
Gut Shot and Izzet Staticaster are very useful in the mirror. Both kills Hierarch, Champion, Lieutenant, Image and Thalia... copy it with Image to kill Freebooter and Meddling Mage. Considering Humans is the most popular deck in Modern, having good cards for the mirror is important. Note that Staticaster is also good vs Mardu Pyromancer, Affinity, Infect, Elves, etc. I dream of pairing Staticaster with something that could grant it Deathtouch... if you have a good idea to achieve that goal, be my guest.
About Big Thalia : I'll play 2 copies in the main deck for the time being (taking the flex spot, and Reflector Mage down to 3). I believe she could be very good against Mardu Pyromancer and Hollow One, as well as slowing down Tron, Control, Toolbox Company and Krark-Clan Ironworks. These decks dominate the format, and having a main deck card that is universally good is an important asset we should not disregard. Her ability is continuous, unlike Reflector Mage. She's like a repeatable pseudo-removal, because she effectively prevents creatures from blocking (Reflector Mage main use). Combine with Hierarch to play on T2 (Reflector Mage is very rarely what we want to play on turn 2).
You may be right about Meddling Mage. It's harder naming the right removal. Freebooter makes it easier, however. Maybe playing 3 is the right number... with Kytheon or Confidant taking the vacant spot?
I know Leyline of the Void and Grafdigger’s Cage are often used for that role. But one is a dead card if we draw it after turn 1, and none have a 2/1 body...
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
Frankly, I don’t like the manabase, but the deck has main deck Lightning Bolt for some reach and interaction. What do you guys think?
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
Also, if you really want more gas, as in pure cards (and not pseudo advantage, like Big Thalia), you can add Bob to you your deck list. Others have done so before. But IMHO, you shouldn’t need more than one or two extra cards in any matchup, and Bugler or Ranger-Captain can take care of that, along with Horizon Canopy.
Finally, it may well be possible that Unsettled Mariner will fix your problem just right. If you run out of gas due to removals, delaying them (with the help of Baby Thalia) may just be enough to deal the extra points of damage to win the game.
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
Remember when Humans was just a fringe deck? And suddenly it was super good? The difference between before and after was the release of Freebooter and Unclaimed Territory. The flying disruptive Human made a huge difference to tackle all sorts of matchups, particularly Midrange and Combo, decks that prey upon Aggro if you agree with the metagame clock. And the gold land meant we could run 12 (with Ziggurat and Cavern), to reliably go 5 colors and play the best Humans in Magic. You see, Humans *need* gold lands to curve out, and you only run 8 in your deck. What if you only have Canopy/Razorverge and Botanical Sanctum/Waterlogged Grove? Freebooter will be a dead card for you, while it may be the best card in this matchup at that time. And if you get Blooming March instead of a UG land, than both Phantasmal Image and Meddling Mage will be dead in your hand. I know Freebooter is sometimes dead in our hand with the current deck list, but it doesn’t happen often with 12 gold lands. It will happen far more often with your line up (most of the time we can produce 5 colors with very few lands, while you will be stuck with 3 colors production a lot more often).
I’m absolutely and irrevocably certain that going back to CoCo would be a mistake. CoCo is a good card in decks that don’t play fair, like Vizier Combo or Allies that can win on turn 3 (yup, Allies can do that with Hada Freeblade, Harabaz Druid, Akoum Battlesinger + CoCo to get any Ally + Jwari Shapeshifter or an other Battlesinger = 21 damage). Humans is the most fair deck of Modern right now, and it can’t aggressively use CoCo to explode and win on the spot.
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
Could Kytheon, out of the SB or in the main deck, be a solution against UW Control? Flip it ASAP, and you have a 4/4 immuned to most of their sweeper...
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
Check my signature for a link to my 4 colors Ally deck. I played it against a number of Tier 1 decks during the holidays (not tournament), and results continue to surprise me. It's aggressive enough to win on turn 3 (usually turn 4), and it can switch strategy post SB (milling out Hollow One out of nowhere thanks to instant speed Allies on turn 3 at the end of opponent's turn, and main phase turn 4). I'll probably soon revive this deck. There's a few combo imprinted in this deck that probably mean it can perform well in the metagame).
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
It's hard to tell because we don't know the hands you mulliganed, but maybe you mulligan too agressively? Combo players often have to mulligan aggressively to have a functionnal hand that can combo off. This trait is often imported to other strategies, but it's a huge mistake to have such an attitude with Humans. One-landers are usually just fine if you have Vial or Hierarch. And 100% lands should be kept if you've already mulliganed down to 6.
Basically, I try to keep any 7 cards that can play 2+ creatures in the first 3 turns. I ran thousands of simulation once, and this "rule" meant that about 75% of all 7 cards hands are good to keep.
You should also know that Humans are *really* bad at mulligans. The odds of having a keepable 6 cards or pretty low (under 50%, if I recall correctly ; *actually 40%, see below*). And the odds of having a keepable 5 cards are abysmal (avoid at all cost mulligan to 4).
Here, I found this old post I wrote about mulligans... I hope it helps :
---------------
18 lands feel very wrong to me. I've done some really serious maths over this, including Monte Carlo simulations of what are keepable hands, and what's not. First, you have to realise that Humans doesn't take mulligans very well. IT IS NOT THE TYPE OF DECK THAT YOU MULLIGAN AGGRESSIVELY WITH. In fact, you should avoid a mulligan with Humans, unless your hand is downright unplayable. By that I mean :
Avoiding mulligan becomes primordial for Humans pilot. With odds so low of having keepable 7, and mulligan being so bad for us (because of synergy), it is suicidal, IMHO, to go below 19 lands. Keepable hands will be even more rare, and you don't want to reduce an already low number (some other decks have keepable 7-cards in the 90% range).
Of course, you still have to mulligan about 25% of the time, so you should work to recognize the unkeepable hands. In my case, I never ever assume top deck will save my starting 7 (but I'll go with that assumption if I mulligan). These cards, by themselves, have to put two Humans in play by the end of turn 3, that's my law. If they can't achieve that, that's probably a mulligan. 4 Mantis Rider, 2 Lieutenant and one land is really bad, even if it's explosive if things go well. Five lands and 2 three-drops is probably bad too. One land, a Vial, and no one-drop is unkeepable IMHO (because the best you can do is play a two-drop from Vial on turn 3, and then you're at the mercy of having the right number of counters on Vial to play the rest). If that fits the definition of mulliganing aggressively, then so be it. In my opinion, it just means that I don't want to be relying on the top deck to have functional hand.
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
With Freebooter, you should take Abrupt Decay. That way, opponent is left with Maelstrom Pulse, and has to pay 3 mana to get back a spell that is at best a spot removal. Just make sure you don't play same name creatures until Pulse is cast. If you take Maelstrom Pulse instead, opponent can quickly kill the Freebooter with Abrupt Decay, which means they get back a spell that can remove more than one creatures.
I'm not totally convinced Humans need card advantage to win a game. Thus, Militia Bugler is only 2 in my deck, or 3 at worst. Never ever play less than full copy of Mantis Rider. It's your finisher, 95% of the time.
18 lands is not enough. Play 19. The whole community agrees it's the right number. I ran thousands of simulations, and 18 lands is not enough for consistency. You'll mulligan too often, or have trouble finding your 2nd or 3rd land. On the other hand, we *very* rarely flood out. And when we do, Horizon Canopy can be cycled away. (Edit : to make my point more clear, I shall quote myself from next post... With odds so low of having keepable 7, and mulligan being so bad for us (because of synergy), it is suicidal, IMHO, to go below 19 lands. Keepable hands will be even more rare, and you don't want to reduce an already low number).
About the SB, I think Gaddock Teeg has to become a new staple for the time being. UW Control is our new predator, and Gaddock Teeg alone is like a Super Meddling Mage naming Cryptic Command, Terminus, Wrath of God, Supreme Verdict, Jace, Teferi *and* Settle the Wreckage. Unless opponent can remove it with Path to Exile (which we are free to name with Meddling Mage, or exile with Freebooter), we probably have inevitability from there. Gaddock can also prevent Karn and Ugin in Tron matchups.
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
Also, Cedric Phillips’ article provides interesting arguments between two different lines of play vs Green Tron : Hierarch + Rider for 4 on turn 2? Or Vial + Meddling Mage and Hierarch on turn 2? I guess this article can trigger a 10+ posts storm here about what's the right line of play... my 2 cents : I would aim for Meddling Mage on T2 to name Sylvan Scrying, hoping to disrupt their whole plan. I've always been in favor of making sure they can't assemble the combo lands. After all, naming any of their threats or sweepers in the blind is a hard to win lottery (name Karn, they'll play Ugin ; name Oblivion Stone and they’ll play Walking Ballista, etc.).
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
He played 4 Buglers in the main deck, but according to the article, he would reduce that to 2 or 3 in favor for full play set of Image or RefMage. Seems on point with what I've experienced. Humans don't really want to pause mid game to get an extra card, and would rather play the above mentioned cards right away than a Bugler to hopefully play these a turn later. Makes sense to play Bugler #3 in the SB for the grindy matchups (Jeskai, Mardu and Jund), but we don't see these decks a lot recently. Could help also digging out our precious SB cards...
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
So far, I like playing 3 Buglers (along with 3 Thalia and 3 RefMage). I prefer not reducing the count of Phantasmal Image because it's a valid target for Bugler's ability, and the only way for Bugler to fetch a « Mantis Rider » (by copying one already on the battlefield).
I didn't had a great night yesterday, losing to Ad Nauseum and never recognizing the deck until opponent played Phyrexian Unlife (note to self : Lotus Bloom is only played in Ad Nauseum). Thus I lost game 1 with Meddling Mage in my hand, uncast the turn before losing because I didn't know what to name with it. Won game 2, but lost game 3 after a serious mistake. Freebooter exiled a removal instead of Combo piece because I had another Freebooter (which was supposed to take care of the combo without fear of the removal). Turns out the removal was Slaughter Pact, and Freebooter was immuned to it anyway (should have read the card more carefully). Freebooter #2 never resolved, thanks to Pact if Negation. Lesson learned.
Also learned to watch out for Anger of the Gods against RG Aggro that plays Baloth post SB...
Well... my losses were both 1-2 (not 0-2), losing to mistakes on game 3. After the tournament was over, I got to play an off the record match against the undefeated winner of the nigh (WB Death & Taxes), and won 2-0. Felt good.
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
And what should Meddling Mage name in the Tron matchup? Karn Liberated is the most numerous removal in their deck, but Ugin and Oblivion Stone can sweep our board. Walking Ballista is another problem I've seen from the SB, and sometimes maindeck (makes sense, as it can win a game by itself with tons of mana). And then there is also Spatial Contortion... Tron can overload our Freebooters and MedMages, and don't much care about Thalia. And if they untap with Wurmcoil Engine, it's pretty much game over, unless we have Reflector Mage to delay what may be inevitable.
Speaking of Reflector Mage... is it just me or has the metagame shifted a bit away from creatures deck? If so, maybe we should cut a copy (and rely on Militia Bugler to find the 3 others), and revert back to 4 Thalia in the main deck. What do you think?
If we need a Human with 2 power, Flying and Haste, then we should consider swapping Mantis Rider for Skynight Legionnaire or Adeliz, the Cinder Wind. But I doubt we want to go there. After all, Bugler is more likely to put the next Rider closer to the top deck, than farther away. Hypergeometric Calculator tells us that Bugler will only reveal Mantis Rider 24.7% of the time. This means that 75.3% of the time, Rider will get closer to the top of the deck through a Bugler activation. I'm fine with these numbers, and will accept the few frustrating times it *is* the needed card and I have to put it at the bottom of the deck.
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
Can you share a link?
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.
Gut Shot and Izzet Staticaster are very useful in the mirror. Both kills Hierarch, Champion, Lieutenant, Image and Thalia... copy it with Image to kill Freebooter and Meddling Mage. Considering Humans is the most popular deck in Modern, having good cards for the mirror is important. Note that Staticaster is also good vs Mardu Pyromancer, Affinity, Infect, Elves, etc. I dream of pairing Staticaster with something that could grant it Deathtouch... if you have a good idea to achieve that goal, be my guest.
About Big Thalia : I'll play 2 copies in the main deck for the time being (taking the flex spot, and Reflector Mage down to 3). I believe she could be very good against Mardu Pyromancer and Hollow One, as well as slowing down Tron, Control, Toolbox Company and Krark-Clan Ironworks. These decks dominate the format, and having a main deck card that is universally good is an important asset we should not disregard. Her ability is continuous, unlike Reflector Mage. She's like a repeatable pseudo-removal, because she effectively prevents creatures from blocking (Reflector Mage main use). Combine with Hierarch to play on T2 (Reflector Mage is very rarely what we want to play on turn 2).
You may be right about Meddling Mage. It's harder naming the right removal. Freebooter makes it easier, however. Maybe playing 3 is the right number... with Kytheon or Confidant taking the vacant spot?
1st, GP Toronto Sunday Super Series 2016 : Ally Company RWBG
Top 8, PPTQ Shadows over Innistrad : Boros Humans WR.
Use a hypergeometric calculator for your deckbuilding maths,
and use TopDecked to manage your decks and collection on your Apple or Android device.