Honestly, if I ran Bant (sold off most of my stuff a few months ago) I'd go Blouses.dec with TNN. You don't even "need" geist anymore because TNN just races things and keeps you on 2 colors.
You could also be silly and run GSZ in a primarily UGx blouses shell just for redundancy.
Sam said he would not play this deck in an open meta anymore as it can't really get past Esper. I have Rafiq in my list if I do ever want to go that route though.
I never feel like I'm behind with Esper, which is why I like it. There's always a play to gain a little advantage here and there which will put me ahead over the course of a few turns. A pair of sweepers let's you come back a little more easily, TNN let's you have a flexible board presence too.
I do like playing Bant because of the flexibility and using Brainstorm in a deck with so many tutors and shuffle effects is nice, but it can only really race other TNN decks instead of dealing with them on board.
I want to rebuild my Stoneforge-Bant deck.
Now i wanna ask for some advices.
The core is probably the following:
Creatures:
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Stoneforge Mystic
3 True Name Nemesis
2 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Dryad Arbor
Spells:
4 Force of the Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Daze
3 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Ponder
1 Jace the Mindsculptor
Equipment:
1 Batterskull
1 Umezawa's Jitte
What is the right number of True Name Nemesis? 3 or 4?
And how many Jace's would you play? 1 or 2
In fact of playing so many True Name Nemesis would you add a sword like Feast and Famine?
What are your experiences?
What about adding ~2 bayou and toxic deluge into the sideboard to win the fight against other TNN decks?
TNN: 3 has worked decently well for me. There is enough filtering that he'll show up consistently.. a 4th starts too hurt the curve.
Jace: I hesitate to put Jace in at all, I currently don't run him in my version of this list. He helps in matchups that you are favored in. Bad matchups are Elves, Dredge, and American. Jace doesn't help very much in these matches while something like Ponder can help find some of your few answers to these kinds of matches.
Sword of feast and famine has seemed more of a sideboard sword while fire and ice has been amazing mainboard.
Scryb Ranger: It's another GSZ target that chumps delver, protects forests from wastelands, and can be used to cheat another land drop by bouncing.
I've been running a single Underground Sea for 3 Zealous Persecution Sideboard. They've done serious work against elves and do well against stoneblade, which is a good matchup anyway. Bant can race Stoneblade very well with exalted and using Qasali to blow up their equipment.
I'm actually switching the Underground to a Bayou because it can be bounced with Scryb Ranger. It is also a sac target for Knight of the Reliquary as well.
As far as a Knight land package. Maze of Ith isn't particularly fun to see around in this deck. I have yet to tutor for it.... This deck is land hungry, hardcasting Force of Will is a thing...
Karakas is a good land since it produces useful colors and has a useful ability that hurts problem decks like Tin Fins and Sneak and Show.
3 Wasteland has been nice, 4 would be too much with the Bayou around.
2 Bayou may be too many, though I could be wrong. My mana base for a similar deck is:
I took this list to GP Sac (Legacy side event) and the deck did well, I messed up a couple things and need to fix another thing or 2.
Jund is a really goo dmatchup wince they can't deal with the Knights, True-Names, and equipment, so the sideboard for them is simply incidental. 2 RIP, 1 Sword of Feast and Famine, 1 Pithing Needle.
Problem matches are Delver decks in general. I'm going -1 Golgari Charm, +1 Toxic Deluge in the sideboard. Going to need more than that to fix it though. Delver was the thing I lost to and had trouble with.
I haven't played Show and Tell recently, but it isn't a pleasant matchup either.
As far as RIP vs. Relic, RIP is so much better, even if it neutralizes Knight and ScOoze, it makes Deathrite a 1/2 and goyf an 0/1. It is a hard lock on dredge and gives a lot of other decks issues.
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Stoneforge Mystic
3 True-Name Nemesis
2 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Scavenging Ooze
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Brainstorm
3 Force of Will
3 Spell Pierce
3 Ponder
3 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Bayou
1 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
2 Tundra
1 Savannah
4 Windswept Heath
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Karakas
2 Wasteland
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Island
1 Forest
1 Plains
Sideboard
1 Pithing Needle
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
2 Vendilion Clique
3 Ethersworn Cannonist
1 Force of Will
2 Krosan Grip
1 Golgari Charm
1 Zealous Persecution
1 Toxic Deluge
2 Rest in Peace
Hey guys, I'm not sure if this is the right thread to post this question to but I was wondering if anyone has considered a Shardless Bant strategy. My friend and I were testing Shardless BUG vs Esper Stoneblade and I thought how powerful it would be to cascade into a Stoneforge Mystic. If this isn't the right place for this question then I'm sorry. Otherwise any thoughts or suggestion would be awesome.
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Little angel, go away come again some other day the Devil has my ear today I'll never hear a word you say. He promised I would find a little solace and some peace of mind. Whatever. just as long as I don't feel so desperate and ravenous.
I want to rebuild my Stoneforge-Bant deck.
Now i wanna ask for some advices.
The core is probably the following:
Creatures:
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Stoneforge Mystic
3 True Name Nemesis
2 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Dryad Arbor
Spells:
4 Force of the Will
4 Brainstorm
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Daze
3 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Ponder
1 Jace the Mindsculptor
Equipment:
1 Batterskull
1 Umezawa's Jitte
What about adding ~2 bayou and toxic deluge into the sideboard to win the fight against other TNN decks?
I ran a list very similar to this at the last SCG event in Orlando.
It was my first legacy event so I made a few noob errors, but for he most part I think it went well.
Didn't expect so many BUG decks and played against no combo (except for mana-less dredge).
My list only ran 2 TNN, I have since added a third and moved the Jace to Sideboard.
I also run one Vendilion Clique, instead of 3 knight of reliquary which I had before...
I'm not sure what to run against TNN decks that don't hurt our own TNN ...thinking maybe 2x Celestial Flare sideboard...Wing Shards was another option...but I feel its extremely slow for this format.
Neither of these are ideal, but its all I can think of right now without having to splash black for toxic deluge, zealous persecution or golgari charm...
I've been wondering that myself...either way I think it has proven itself in recent big tournaments in the hands of people like Sam Black and Reid Duke.
It calls for alot of decisions with Green Sun and Knight...I'm thinking of adding the Dark Depths/Thespian's Stage combo to the sideboard to give it another angle.
I don't get to play legacy at all in my meta except once every blue moon. So the deck just sits there waiting for the next major event..
Hopefully we can revive the thread...its a very powerful deck and has access to all the best cards legacy has to offer....Force, True-Name, Brainstorm, Jace, Stoneforge, Swords, Jitte, Wasteland...
Guess it comes down to whether or not you wanna play with Deathrite Shaman or Noble Hierarch.
Have you played with it recently or just inquiring?
Would definitely like to get this thread popping again!
I'm just inquiring. It looks like a fun deck with a decent amount of tempo. I'm thinking Jund shuts this down deck hard enough that people just don't want to give it a whirl? I know that ever since Mental Misstep was banned, this deck started to falter.
What do you guys think of Council's Judgement as our answer to opposing TNN?
It seems like fair decks are on top of the meta again.
I've been running 2 in sideboard in my recent versions of the deck and its been doing decent, there are also other fringe matchups where a vindicate would comes in really handy.
I've rebuilt the deck to a different approach and been trying it for a few months without green sun package to try and keep it consistent against controlling matchups and running 4 deathrites and its been doing pretty well around my meta winning a few tourneys in a row (our tourneys are 12-16 players who rotate t1 decks or brews),
Miracles has been getting easier and easier after every tuning, tho now I'm more soft to delver decks until I find a comfortable manabase that supports my greediness and the delver matchups
What do you guys think of Council's Judgement as our answer to opposing TNN?
It seems like fair decks are on top of the meta again.
I've been running 2 in sideboard in my recent versions of the deck and its been doing decent, there are also other fringe matchups where a vindicate would comes in really handy.
I've rebuilt the deck to a different approach and been trying it for a few months without green sun package to try and keep it consistent against controlling matchups and running 4 deathrites and its been doing pretty well around my meta winning a few tourneys in a row (our tourneys are 12-16 players who rotate t1 decks or brews),
Miracles has been getting easier and easier after every tuning, tho now I'm more soft to delver decks until I find a comfortable manabase that supports my greediness and the delver matchups
Thanks for the reply..is deathrite the only black card you are running?
Do you play TNN?
Thanks for the reply..is deathrite the only black card you are running?
Do you play TNN?
It is, outside of 3 abrupts in sideboard (invaluable against delver and some other less popular decks)
I used to have 2 in the sideboard against TNN (one of the reason I splashed black) but its since been swapped to the council's judgements
Went 4-0 again this week (r1 U/W stoneblade, r2 burn, r3 Tezz, r4 UWR delver), this is the list I've been running where I've abandoned the toolbox green sun package.
The only card I miss sometimes is knight and Teeg for the show and tell matchups, but that deck has almost disappeared from my meta so its been paying off.
I can explain the card choices that are different than the norm if you are curious
It is, outside of 3 in sideboard (invaluable against delver and some other less popular decks)
I used to have 2 in the sideboard against TNN (one of the reason I splashed black) but its since been swapped to the council's judgements
Went 4-0 again this week (r1 U/W stoneblade, r2 burn, r3 Tezz, r4 UWR delver), this is the list I've been running where I've abandoned the toolbox green sun package.
The only card I miss sometimes is and Teeg for the matchups, but that deck has almost disappeared from my meta so its been paying off.
I can explain the card choices that are different than the norm if you are curious
Unfortunately no one plays legacy at my LGS, so I'm stuck theorizing. I go to starcity tournaments when they are in town and plan to travel to some more.
Here is what I'm going to try going further, removed 2x Knight of the reliquary and added 2 deathrite shamnans.
Also removed a Green Sun Zenith and added a Councils Judgement. Sideboard is still a work in progress as I don't get to play often.
I keep the Green Suns in because I like the silver bullet approach of finding a Quasali Pridemage, Gaddock Teeg or Mana Dork. I need more practice to see its effectiveness.
Your deck reminds me of this one http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=7711&d=244339&f=LE, but without the goyfs and Spymaster.
Idk, the main reason I like this deck is because of Green Sun and Stoneforge. I love tutoring for silver bullets and deck manipulation. Adding the Deathrite makes me wonder if I should keep Ooze in as a Green Sun target for gy hate....but idk. I mainly like Deathrite as extra reach, he provides an alternative to winning without just combat.
I'd love to hear about some of your card choices and simply to start serious conversations about this deck again.
Whats the Abrupt Decays for in the sideboard...its a great card, but what exactly do you need it for?
It's true there is very little talk about this deck, and I'll be able to go over a bunch of my decisions this weekend of how I came to shy away from Green sun package and into my list.
The only recently successful lists of Bant is from the appearance by Sam black in 2 GPs if I recall after Reid brewed it up, but it hasn't seen enough testing and tuning so there are so many ways to make the deck still, and loads of approaches to it. Unlike RUG delver who has maybe 2 cards you can tune to your style, there is a massive portion of this deck can be tuned to your liking/playstyle once you get to play it a bunch.
If you want to keep the GSZ package, you'll need to leave at least 1 Knight of the Reliquary in, that way you double the amount of big threats you can draw (from 3 TNN to 3xTNN+3xGSZ). Main reason my deck is pulling ahead is the sheer amounts of threats I keep drawing that outlast any answer/counters from my opponent if given enough time. I also STRONGLY recommend Sword of Fire and Ice (at least in sideboard), I had put it maindeck in Sam's list and it was the all-star of the deck. The only time I was happy to have Dryad arbor in my deck was against the control decks where at end of turn after a terminus (or after jund pulled 2-3 removal, or a timely ) I'd crack my fetch, grab Dryad, equip sword, swing in again and be right back in a offensive position.
It's very unfortunate you don't get to put much testing in, I personally wish I had the cards on mtgo so I can push my testing to fine tune it some more (No SCG here in Canada, but my buds and I are playing more and more competitively so a road trip to play at a Open might soon be worth the effort), as all the changes since original list are from things that just wouldn't do what I expected out of them or cards I needed for my bad match-ups and how I'm at my list. Usually after a few weeks of losing against something, or by one of(or lack of) my cards, I'll look for a way to fix it. For example I've noticed that I've only searched for Umezawa's Jitte a single time with stoneforge in 4 weeks, while Sword of Fire and Ice did the same thing while allowing my other threats to go through opposing TNNs and was just a higher clock while still killing off creatures (plus the card drawing helps you protect that threat). Jitte was under-performing compared to the sword, and was only good on a TNN, so I put it in sideboard as there are still some match-ups I need it (elves, burn, brews) and I've been happy with that decision for a season now.
Abrupt Decay is mainly for all the delver match-ups as well as a effective answer to counterbalance, I went from 2 to 3 the other week and it's just been a huge boost. In post-board games I have the option to mimic esper deathblade with all the removal I bring in and play a controlling game against delver decks where my goal is to reach 3 mana and pulling off a single abrupt on their primary threat will help a lot in surviving the storm of wastelands and stifle (from rug), as I have a far better late-game than a delver deck can pull off.
Having flexible sideboard cards is important in a diverse playing field. It's basically an additional removal you can side in for some creature match-ups, and it is also invaluable against decks that bring in troublesome artifacts (Painter or Tezz for example) to answer chalices and bridges, and it's useful against any tier 2-3 decks that you might not expect to run into (you can abrupt for example)
It's true there is very little talk about this deck, and I'll be able to go over a bunch of my decisions this weekend of how I came to shy away from Green sun package and into my list.
The only recently successful lists of Bant is from the appearance by Sam black in 2 GPs if I recall after Reid brewed it up, but it hasn't seen enough testing and tuning so there are so many ways to make the deck still, and loads of approaches to it. Unlike RUG delver who has maybe 2 cards you can tune to your style, there is a massive portion of this deck can be tuned to your liking/playstyle once you get to play it a bunch....
Totally agree.
Also like you said I want to make the deck more threat heavy.
I think I will put two Geist in the deck...ideally I would want Goyfs since I could Green Sun for them and not have to run 4...but I'd rather spend the money to buy duals than a Goyf. Besides Goyf is neutralized by rest in peace anyway.
I also took out the Knights to run 2 Deathrites. I figure if I'm eating my own lands in the gy, its anti-synergistic with Knight...so I just threw a Crop Rotation in the Sideboard.
Also like you said I want to make the deck more threat heavy.
I think I will put two Geist in the deck...ideally I would want Goyfs since I could Green Sun for them and not have to run 4...but I'd rather spend the money to buy duals than a Goyf. Besides Goyf is neutralized by anyway.
I also took out the Knights to run 2 Deathrites. I figure if I'm eating my own lands in the gy, its anti-synergistic with Knight...so I just threw a in the Sideboard.
This isn't a deck for goyf, I tried him a long while back and he just did nothing. Goyf has a strong body for his mana cost and doesn't need other cards to help him, so he is either for defensive decks, low curve decks that keep all their lands/mana to disrupt (say delver), or are fine with a single mana efficient creature on the board (jund), but without alot of removal/disruption is very bland and doesn't do much when wielding an equipment. It's very rare to see a goyf and stoneforge in the same deck, even maverick never runs the guy. For an extra mana knight is a bigger threat with interaction and has extreme utility (either as a mana dork, a shuffle for brainstorm/library, to fetch karakas, or just to wasteland the opponent 3 turns in a row).
Starting writing up an essay on how I came to my list, but It'll probly be too big unless you're in for a read, or I can just explain particular cards.
Doesn't casting berserk sound fun?
I do like playing Bant because of the flexibility and using Brainstorm in a deck with so many tutors and shuffle effects is nice, but it can only really race other TNN decks instead of dealing with them on board.
TNN: 3 has worked decently well for me. There is enough filtering that he'll show up consistently.. a 4th starts too hurt the curve.
Jace: I hesitate to put Jace in at all, I currently don't run him in my version of this list. He helps in matchups that you are favored in. Bad matchups are Elves, Dredge, and American. Jace doesn't help very much in these matches while something like Ponder can help find some of your few answers to these kinds of matches.
Sword of feast and famine has seemed more of a sideboard sword while fire and ice has been amazing mainboard.
Scryb Ranger: It's another GSZ target that chumps delver, protects forests from wastelands, and can be used to cheat another land drop by bouncing.
I've been running a single Underground Sea for 3 Zealous Persecution Sideboard. They've done serious work against elves and do well against stoneblade, which is a good matchup anyway. Bant can race Stoneblade very well with exalted and using Qasali to blow up their equipment.
I'm actually switching the Underground to a Bayou because it can be bounced with Scryb Ranger. It is also a sac target for Knight of the Reliquary as well.
As far as a Knight land package. Maze of Ith isn't particularly fun to see around in this deck. I have yet to tutor for it.... This deck is land hungry, hardcasting Force of Will is a thing...
Karakas is a good land since it produces useful colors and has a useful ability that hurts problem decks like Tin Fins and Sneak and Show.
3 Wasteland has been nice, 4 would be too much with the Bayou around.
2 Bayou may be too many, though I could be wrong. My mana base for a similar deck is:
1 Plains
1 Forest
1 Island
2 Flooded Strand
2 Windswept Heath
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Karakas
3 Wasteland
2 Tropical Island
2 Tundra
1 Savannah
1 Bayou
1 Dryad Arbor
I'm playtesting this deck if anyone would like to join me.
Jund is a really goo dmatchup wince they can't deal with the Knights, True-Names, and equipment, so the sideboard for them is simply incidental. 2 RIP, 1 Sword of Feast and Famine, 1 Pithing Needle.
Problem matches are Delver decks in general. I'm going -1 Golgari Charm, +1 Toxic Deluge in the sideboard. Going to need more than that to fix it though. Delver was the thing I lost to and had trouble with.
I haven't played Show and Tell recently, but it isn't a pleasant matchup either.
As far as RIP vs. Relic, RIP is so much better, even if it neutralizes Knight and ScOoze, it makes Deathrite a 1/2 and goyf an 0/1. It is a hard lock on dredge and gives a lot of other decks issues.
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Stoneforge Mystic
3 True-Name Nemesis
2 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Scavenging Ooze
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Brainstorm
3 Force of Will
3 Spell Pierce
3 Ponder
3 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Bayou
1 Underground Sea
2 Tropical Island
2 Tundra
1 Savannah
4 Windswept Heath
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Karakas
2 Wasteland
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Island
1 Forest
1 Plains
Sideboard
1 Pithing Needle
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
2 Vendilion Clique
3 Ethersworn Cannonist
1 Force of Will
2 Krosan Grip
1 Golgari Charm
1 Zealous Persecution
1 Toxic Deluge
2 Rest in Peace
I ran a list very similar to this at the last SCG event in Orlando.
It was my first legacy event so I made a few noob errors, but for he most part I think it went well.
Didn't expect so many BUG decks and played against no combo (except for mana-less dredge).
My list only ran 2 TNN, I have since added a third and moved the Jace to Sideboard.
I also run one Vendilion Clique, instead of 3 knight of reliquary which I had before...
I'm not sure what to run against TNN decks that don't hurt our own TNN ...thinking maybe 2x Celestial Flare sideboard...Wing Shards was another option...but I feel its extremely slow for this format.
Neither of these are ideal, but its all I can think of right now without having to splash black for toxic deluge, zealous persecution or golgari charm...
Twitch: gamerchamp
Modern: UGrand Architect, UBTezzeret Control, UBWRG Bridge From Below (Dredge)
Legacy: UWGTrue-Name Bant
Sygg, River Cutthroat (U/B Disruptive Aggro)
I've been wondering that myself...either way I think it has proven itself in recent big tournaments in the hands of people like Sam Black and Reid Duke.
It calls for alot of decisions with Green Sun and Knight...I'm thinking of adding the Dark Depths/Thespian's Stage combo to the sideboard to give it another angle.
I don't get to play legacy at all in my meta except once every blue moon. So the deck just sits there waiting for the next major event..
Hopefully we can revive the thread...its a very powerful deck and has access to all the best cards legacy has to offer....Force, True-Name, Brainstorm, Jace, Stoneforge, Swords, Jitte, Wasteland...
Guess it comes down to whether or not you wanna play with Deathrite Shaman or Noble Hierarch.
Have you played with it recently or just inquiring?
Would definitely like to get this thread popping again!
Twitch: gamerchamp
Modern: UGrand Architect, UBTezzeret Control, UBWRG Bridge From Below (Dredge)
Legacy: UWGTrue-Name Bant
The deck its still relevant and strong.
Twitch: gamerchamp
Modern: UGrand Architect, UBTezzeret Control, UBWRG Bridge From Below (Dredge)
Legacy: UWGTrue-Name Bant
Deathblade may be tough...esp because of the disruption.
Miracles is managable with Elspeth Knight-Errant, Jace and Gaddock Teeg.
Twitch: gamerchamp
Modern: UGrand Architect, UBTezzeret Control, UBWRG Bridge From Below (Dredge)
Legacy: UWGTrue-Name Bant
It seems like fair decks are on top of the meta again.
Also I've been contemplating adding a Bayou for Deathrite Shaman, but Rest In Piece is so good against Shaman and Goyf decks and 60% of the meta.
Yea they have ways of getting rid of it, but that goes for any card in magic.
What do you guys think...or has everyone in this thread converted to Deathblade :-(?
Twitch: gamerchamp
Modern: UGrand Architect, UBTezzeret Control, UBWRG Bridge From Below (Dredge)
Legacy: UWGTrue-Name Bant
I've been running 2 in sideboard in my recent versions of the deck and its been doing decent, there are also other fringe matchups where a vindicate would comes in really handy.
I've rebuilt the deck to a different approach and been trying it for a few months without green sun package to try and keep it consistent against controlling matchups and running 4 deathrites and its been doing pretty well around my meta winning a few tourneys in a row (our tourneys are 12-16 players who rotate t1 decks or brews),
Miracles has been getting easier and easier after every tuning, tho now I'm more soft to delver decks until I find a comfortable manabase that supports my greediness and the delver matchups
RUGTarmo Twin Modern Combo deck
Thanks for the reply..is deathrite the only black card you are running?
Do you play TNN?
Twitch: gamerchamp
Modern: UGrand Architect, UBTezzeret Control, UBWRG Bridge From Below (Dredge)
Legacy: UWGTrue-Name Bant
It is, outside of 3 abrupts in sideboard (invaluable against delver and some other less popular decks)
I used to have 2 in the sideboard against TNN (one of the reason I splashed black) but its since been swapped to the council's judgements
Went 4-0 again this week (r1 U/W stoneblade, r2 burn, r3 Tezz, r4 UWR delver), this is the list I've been running where I've abandoned the toolbox green sun package.
The only card I miss sometimes is knight and Teeg for the show and tell matchups, but that deck has almost disappeared from my meta so its been paying off.
I can explain the card choices that are different than the norm if you are curious
RUGTarmo Twin Modern Combo deck
Unfortunately no one plays legacy at my LGS, so I'm stuck theorizing. I go to starcity tournaments when they are in town and plan to travel to some more.
Here is what I'm going to try going further, removed 2x Knight of the reliquary and added 2 deathrite shamnans.
Also removed a Green Sun Zenith and added a Councils Judgement. Sideboard is still a work in progress as I don't get to play often.
4 Windswept Heath
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Wasteland
2 Tropical Island
2 Savannah
2 Tundra
1 Bayou
1 Karakas
1 Forest
1 Plains
1 Island
1 Dryad Arbor
Creatures (15)
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Stoneforge Mystic
3 True-Name Nemesis
2 Deathrite Shaman
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Quasali Pridemage
1 Scavenging Ooze
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
3 Daze
3 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Ponder
1 Council's Judgement
Artifacts (2)
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Batterskull
2 Flusterstorm
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Rest in Peace
1 Path to Exile
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Jace, The Mind Sculpturor
1 Spell Pierce
1 Sylvan Library
1 Humility
1 Krosan Grip
1 Crop Rotation
I keep the Green Suns in because I like the silver bullet approach of finding a Quasali Pridemage, Gaddock Teeg or Mana Dork. I need more practice to see its effectiveness.
Your deck reminds me of this one http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=7711&d=244339&f=LE, but without the goyfs and Spymaster.
Idk, the main reason I like this deck is because of Green Sun and Stoneforge. I love tutoring for silver bullets and deck manipulation. Adding the Deathrite makes me wonder if I should keep Ooze in as a Green Sun target for gy hate....but idk. I mainly like Deathrite as extra reach, he provides an alternative to winning without just combat.
I'd love to hear about some of your card choices and simply to start serious conversations about this deck again.
Whats the Abrupt Decays for in the sideboard...its a great card, but what exactly do you need it for?
Twitch: gamerchamp
Modern: UGrand Architect, UBTezzeret Control, UBWRG Bridge From Below (Dredge)
Legacy: UWGTrue-Name Bant
The only recently successful lists of Bant is from the appearance by Sam black in 2 GPs if I recall after Reid brewed it up, but it hasn't seen enough testing and tuning so there are so many ways to make the deck still, and loads of approaches to it. Unlike RUG delver who has maybe 2 cards you can tune to your style, there is a massive portion of this deck can be tuned to your liking/playstyle once you get to play it a bunch.
If you want to keep the GSZ package, you'll need to leave at least 1 Knight of the Reliquary in, that way you double the amount of big threats you can draw (from 3 TNN to 3xTNN+3xGSZ). Main reason my deck is pulling ahead is the sheer amounts of threats I keep drawing that outlast any answer/counters from my opponent if given enough time. I also STRONGLY recommend Sword of Fire and Ice (at least in sideboard), I had put it maindeck in Sam's list and it was the all-star of the deck. The only time I was happy to have Dryad arbor in my deck was against the control decks where at end of turn after a terminus (or after jund pulled 2-3 removal, or a timely ) I'd crack my fetch, grab Dryad, equip sword, swing in again and be right back in a offensive position.
It's very unfortunate you don't get to put much testing in, I personally wish I had the cards on mtgo so I can push my testing to fine tune it some more (No SCG here in Canada, but my buds and I are playing more and more competitively so a road trip to play at a Open might soon be worth the effort), as all the changes since original list are from things that just wouldn't do what I expected out of them or cards I needed for my bad match-ups and how I'm at my list. Usually after a few weeks of losing against something, or by one of(or lack of) my cards, I'll look for a way to fix it. For example I've noticed that I've only searched for Umezawa's Jitte a single time with stoneforge in 4 weeks, while Sword of Fire and Ice did the same thing while allowing my other threats to go through opposing TNNs and was just a higher clock while still killing off creatures (plus the card drawing helps you protect that threat). Jitte was under-performing compared to the sword, and was only good on a TNN, so I put it in sideboard as there are still some match-ups I need it (elves, burn, brews) and I've been happy with that decision for a season now.
Abrupt Decay is mainly for all the delver match-ups as well as a effective answer to counterbalance, I went from 2 to 3 the other week and it's just been a huge boost. In post-board games I have the option to mimic esper deathblade with all the removal I bring in and play a controlling game against delver decks where my goal is to reach 3 mana and pulling off a single abrupt on their primary threat will help a lot in surviving the storm of wastelands and stifle (from rug), as I have a far better late-game than a delver deck can pull off.
Having flexible sideboard cards is important in a diverse playing field. It's basically an additional removal you can side in for some creature match-ups, and it is also invaluable against decks that bring in troublesome artifacts (Painter or Tezz for example) to answer chalices and bridges, and it's useful against any tier 2-3 decks that you might not expect to run into (you can abrupt for example)
RUGTarmo Twin Modern Combo deck
Totally agree.
Also like you said I want to make the deck more threat heavy.
I think I will put two Geist in the deck...ideally I would want Goyfs since I could Green Sun for them and not have to run 4...but I'd rather spend the money to buy duals than a Goyf. Besides Goyf is neutralized by rest in peace anyway.
I also took out the Knights to run 2 Deathrites. I figure if I'm eating my own lands in the gy, its anti-synergistic with Knight...so I just threw a Crop Rotation in the Sideboard.
Twitch: gamerchamp
Modern: UGrand Architect, UBTezzeret Control, UBWRG Bridge From Below (Dredge)
Legacy: UWGTrue-Name Bant
This isn't a deck for goyf, I tried him a long while back and he just did nothing. Goyf has a strong body for his mana cost and doesn't need other cards to help him, so he is either for defensive decks, low curve decks that keep all their lands/mana to disrupt (say delver), or are fine with a single mana efficient creature on the board (jund), but without alot of removal/disruption is very bland and doesn't do much when wielding an equipment. It's very rare to see a goyf and stoneforge in the same deck, even maverick never runs the guy. For an extra mana knight is a bigger threat with interaction and has extreme utility (either as a mana dork, a shuffle for brainstorm/library, to fetch karakas, or just to wasteland the opponent 3 turns in a row).
Starting writing up an essay on how I came to my list, but It'll probly be too big unless you're in for a read, or I can just explain particular cards.
RUGTarmo Twin Modern Combo deck