Pearl Medallion and Ballyrush Banneret really smooths out the high CMC of our soldiers. It seems many of you guys like Suppression Field and Trinisphere, but Oblivion Ring really helps on game one against an unknown deck IMO.
Sometimes I will have Pearl Medallion in my hand with only one Plains, and wish the Pearl Medallion was another Plains. Sometimes, I have Ancient Tomb and Pearl Medallion and remembered why it was so awesome. I think 20 lands on this build is sufficient too.
To be honest, I don't really know when I would rather have Suppression Field over Oblivion Ring. I side in 3 Loxodon Gatekeeper against Sneak Attack.
I had my reservations about Suppression Field, but he can be deadly against some decks, my mates were stunned when I dropped a first turn Suppression Field before they could lay their fetchland. Subsequently, Field was also massive against powerful artifacts such as Sensei's Divining Top and Umezawa's Jitte. My Maverick opponent even struggled to use their Mother of Runes and Knight of Reliquary. Goblins also struggled with use of Aether Vial and Rishadan Port as well. Then again, Field can be completely useless against other matchups - I'll just use it as an imprint for my Chrome Mox.
What's so good about this deck is the ability to drop on the first turn - either a Supression Field, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben or Chalice of the Void to disrupt or messes up the opponent. Without Chrome Mox, you loses a big chance of dropping one of them. Also, by playing Chrome Mox, it's easier to run 20 lands or lower.
Looks like return to ravnica has been kind to legacy soldiers so far. A relevant 1 drop in the dryad militant, and then there's the precinct captain. him I like! I think he might change the style of the deck, though, or maybe he's just better in a more aggro version. thoughts?
Has the value of Brave The Elements been stated? In a monowhite deck it can basically save one dude, or make all your guys unblockable.
Also can mess up an oblivion ring if timed right.
Private Mod Note
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What's the big deal? You could have played multiple Righteous Avengers for years now.
That list looks pretty solid. The only things I would suggest:
- I personally like playing 2-3 City of Traitors instead of some Plains, because the additional 2-mana lands give the deck more early explosiveness: quicker Preeminent Captains, turn 1 Chalices, etc.
- So because of less Plains and more Cities in my deck, I like to play Veteran Swordsmith over Field Marshal. The extra added point of power (3/2 vs. 2/2) seems, usually, in testing, to be more relevant than the added 1 point of toughness it gives in its pump effect. Similarly, because most of the soldiers are first strike already, that effect is redundant.
- I really don't like playing Crib Swap, just because I want as few non-creature spells as possible in the deck (I stick to 4 Chrome Mox, 4 Chalice, and 4 extra disruption (Supp. Field or Winter Orb), but if you really need removal in your particular metagame it's obviously your best option in the deck.
- In place of Crib Swap, I like to play more soldiers. I've gone back and forth between playing more of the big guys (Captain of the Watch, Daru Warchief), or stuff like Kor Hookmaster. I love to play two Jotun Grunt maindeck in every list I play, however. These guys are pretty useful vs. Tarmogoyf decks and the like, and give you a big body that soldiers usually don't have without pump.
- I've found that Suppression Field is great against certain types of decks, but can be quickly rendered useless against decks that don't rely too heavily on activated abilities, or can easily pay for those few activated abilities, or simply fetch lands in response to the casting of Suppression Field. So in my testing, I've come to the conclusion that I like Field better as a 4-of in the sideboard to board in vs. decks that are heavily hit by it (stuff like Countertop, Miracles, and vs., Goblins and Merfolk in g2 and g3)
- Instead of Suppression Field in the main-deck, I personally like to play 4 Winter Orb. It's a devastating effect vs. most control decks, and while it's less useful vs. faster aggro decks, it can still have an effect in nearly every single matchup, which cannot be said for Field. Also, the 2 colorless casting cost is more easily manageable if you play both Ancient Tomb and City of Traitors, and it comes out more quickly than Field in most cases. Because of the 4 Ballyrush Banneret, and 4 Preeminent Captain, a Winter Orb can often slow down your opponent while you use those two other cards to skirts its effects. Basically speaking, Winter Orb gives you almost the same effect as Armageddon for less mana.
- I would also look into Cursed Totem as a 2-of or 3-of in the sideboard, because it completely shuts down Maverick and Elves. It is limited in its scope, but I've found that those match-ups are prevalent enough in the Legacy metagame, and hard enough to beat with just Suppression Field, that Totem as a "silver bullet" for these match-ups is very useful and effective.
Of course, those are just my personal preferences from testing. However, the way you have built the deck is certainly viable as well, because stuff like Swordsmith, City, and Winter Orb come with their own downsides as well as positives.
You're right in many points. I'll try if I can fit in 2 Cities.
Another thing that I noticed in my testing: I might need a 19th land - especially with the Cities, which blow up themselves. This land will take the slot of the 3rd Field Marshal.
And Marshal's pump to the Crib Swap Token was annoying sometimes, so I'll replace it either with Veteran Swordsmith or with Mentor of the Meek. I'm especially considering Mentor, because with all the cost-cutting effects, I might have the additional free Mana quite often - netting me more card advantage in the process.
I wouldn't play Mentor of the Meek at all. This deck does not want anything mana-intensive, let alone something that doesn't do anything on its own without other things being brought it into play.
Crib Swap is too important for me to give away - I'll never put it out.
I just don't like running 4-of a card in the maindeck that is dead against about 30-40% of the decks I play against (Combo and Control). Maybe I just play against more Combo and Control than you do; I don't know. I also don't like how Thalia (the most important card in the deck and one of the main reasons to even bother playing Soldiers) in play makes it a 4-mana removal spell (and you can't count on having Banneret or Warchief in play every time). I also don't like how it makes the second-most important card in the deck (Preeminent Captain) less effective.
Winter Orb? Never considered it. It looks very strong on paper. Anyways, I'm gonna test it. With all the Sol-lands, it shouldn't be that much of a problem.
And yeah, my SB needs some rework. I just doubt that Cursed Totem and Suppression Field are needed in the same Deck. Field already hinders those activated abilities, and I think that Totem may not be needed.
The problem is that even if you have Suppression Field in play vs, Maverick or Elves, they can still win relatively easily, especially if you don't get much early pressure.
I've lost quite a few games vs Maverick in which I had Field in play, and that's also one of the reasons I moved it to the SB. If you're playing against a deck that can pay the tax easily without being slowed down too much, it can be underwhelming. Maverick can just pay 2 mana with its lands or with its mana guys and then use it on one of their effects. Suppression Field would be a solid standalone answer to Maverick if it also stopped creature mana abilities, but it doens't affect Heirarch at all.
If you land a single Cursed Totem vs. Maverick or Elves, 90% of the time you will win. It's almost an auto-win against those decks, and because Maverick is such a huge part of the metagame, I like having an "I Win" button vs that deck. It comepletely shuts down Mother of Runes, and all of their mana guys as well.
To be completely honest, I still am unsure as to what the best disruption is to include in the main deck.
I've gone back and forth on this for months. Some days I feel that Suppression Field is the card to have in the main deck, and other days I feel that I like Winter Orb more. It really comes down to what you prefer, because both cards have positives and negatives in the main deck. Winter Orb main is better vs. control, whereas Suppression Field is clearly better vs. the AEther Vial aggro decks such as Goblins and Merfolk. Orb has some positive effect vs. nearly every deck, even if its a weak effect, whereas a Field can sometimes be completely dead.
HOWEVER, I have decided after much testing that I need to have both Orb and Field in my 75 cards somewhere. And after testing both in the maindeck at the same time, I've found that having both usually dilutes the soldier base so only 4 of those 8 cards can be in the main deck.
The things I've decided regarding Field and Orb:
- I want to have both somewhere in my 75 cards.
- I can't play both at the same time in the main deck, because I absolutely need 4 Chrome Mox and 4 Chalice, so adding 8 more non-soldier cards dilutes the deck too much. The only exception to this rule is vs. control decks which are heavily affected by Suppression Field and would rather face more soldiers than a Field
- Therefore, I'll either play 4 Suppression Field in the main deck and 4 Winter Orb in the sideboard, or 4 Winter Orb in the main deck and 4 Suppression Field in the sideboard. I'm still undecided as to what is better.
- If I play Winter Orb main, I definitely need to play 4 Ballyrush Banneret, and obviously 4 Thalia as well
- Against control decks that rely on activation costs heavily (Miracle Control and Stoneblade) I want to board in the 4 extra disruption every time. I want to have 4 Chalice, 4 Suppression Field, and 4 Winter Orb.
- Against Goblins and Merfolk, Chalice does very little in g2 and g3, and especially on the draw. In those matchups, I actually board out the Chalices for the Suppression Field (or Winter Orb, if Field is in the main deck) leaving me with 4 Field and 4 Orb and no chalices.
After testing Loxodon Gatekeeper I have yet to find a matchup where he really shines.
More often than not, he feels very "win-more", as in - a card that grants a great effect if you have already locked him down with Thalia and/or Orb. But by himself, he doesn't really do much to dramatically affect the opponent.
And at 4 mana, he's competing with the Daru Warchief and the Captain of the Watch for a slot in the deck. And aside from his marginally disruptive ability, he has a very weak body for a 4 mana creature.
Can you tell me about your experiences testing him in this deck?
If Gatekeeper cost, say, 2W instead of 2WW, it'd make all the difference in the world. He might be an auto-include.
This deck can be solid and have moments of briliance, but after testing it for months it feels just on the fringe of the tier 2 competitors in the Legacy metagame.
It feels as if it's missing one really great card. Wizards needs to print a really awesome soldier that just pushes this deck over the top.
I'd like some aggressively-costed tutoring soldier, like a soldier version of Goblin Matron. That would enable you to run singletons of Gatekeeper and other utility cards like Jotun Grunt and Crib Swap.
Or some kind of crazy-good combat soldier like a 3/4 for 2W that has some relevant ability like lifelink or something.
I just completed my maindeck soldiers list, with still come sideboard cards to complete.
My current list:
4 Ballyrush
4 Thalia
4 Preeminent
4 Field Marshal
4 Daru warchief
4 Enlistment officer
4 Captain of the watch
4 Chrome Mox
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Suppression Field
2 Oblivion Ring
4 Ancient tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Flagstones
1 Karakas
8 Plains
Sideboard
4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Tormods Crypt
3 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Reverent Mantra
I dont have many cards so there is still plenty to buy to fully complete the list
Anyhow I took this to a small 10 man tournament with some ok results. Heres what I remember
Round 1: Cephalid Breakfast
Opponent wins the die roll and plays tundra > aether vial. I have no idea what hes playing but manage to play land > mox > suppression field. He plays a ponder while I manage to land some threats. Suppression field slows him down enough for me to finish him off with his life total looking like this 20>19>15>6>0. So a 9 point swing in there. I still have no idea what he is playing as I only say vial tundra and cantrips so sideboarding is difficult, I think I side in 2 Orings for 2 random soldiers.
Game 2 starts with a gitaxian probe on me revealing soldiers, plains and ancient tomb. He plays a land and passes. I top deck a chalice and play that off an ancient tomb. He brainstorms in response but doesnt find the free counter. Life total goes 20>19>14>0. A 14 point swing in there for perfect kill.
Round 2: Dredge
I know my opponent is playing dredge and theres not much I can do in terms of mulliganing for a good hand so pretty much die to zombies and a Griselbrand.
Game 2 I side in the 3 tormod's crypts for the 3 suppression field and I am able to play chalice for 1 to slow him down before I drop some threats and play a crypt drawn 3-4 turns later.
Game 3 was pretty fun, he mulls to 5 and I mull to 4 with a decent dredge hand of plains, chrome mox, oring and crypt. I topdeck a thalia and play the crypt and thalia. He plays around the crpyt by hardcasting narcomoeba and putrid imp. He takes quite abit of damage from city of brass, tarnished citadel and we race, unfortunately I dont draw another mana source for ther next 11 turns and I cant race 3 damage from thresholded imp and moeba. Oh well **** happens
Round 3: Hivemind
I get paired down so will be on very poor resistance even if I win. This is a pretty hard match up and relies on me landing thalia. Fortunately I land thalia turn 2 in all three games. Game one, he doesn't find the combo pieces and I finsh him off 3 attacks with life looking like 20>18>17fetch>15A tomb>12>0. A 12 point life swing to finsh him off. Game 2 I side in the Orings and canonsits. He plays draw go, I land thalia turn 2 with caverns protection, he intuitions in response for pacts and I eventually lose.
Game 3 again thalia and some lords put him on a clock which he is unable to live through.
Missed out on top 4 because of poor tiebreakers, but list did ok and is pretty fun to play with massive life total swings.
This was the first tournament I have played with the deck, so can't really comment on card choices too much. I obv need to change the flagstones to plains, but I do really like the wasteland resistance of this deck esp when your only running 18-19 lands. I don't think my list warrants city of traitors as I really only have t1 chalice playable off it. And maybe the occasional luck sol, mox preeminent. I never had issues casting soldiers, but then again I never faced any removal.
One card that might be a good replacement for winter orb is thorn of amethyst. I have seen a couple of lists run that as an additional nuisance piece.
The suppression field I felt was ok, It prob won the cephalid game 1, but I wasn't sure at the time as I never saw any of his combo. I only knew during round 3 that he was playing cephalid. Otherwise still to see with future tourneys.
I really like crib swap that you run, but in my meta a few show n tell decks pop up and I really want that play set of orings in the 75 to nullify that.
I've tested Thorn of Amethyst in the main deck and it's pretty terrible. Most decks just ignore it because Legacy is heavily creature-based, and in alot of matchups a Thalia that can't attack is just a waste of a card slot. The only matchups in which Thorn is effective at all are Storm combo, in which it obviously shines, and sometimes RUG Delver.
If I were to play Thorn, it'd strictly be a SB card to bring in as Thalia 5-7 or 5-8 against combo decks.
Also, Khamul, I'm surprised to see that you're having problems with Winter Orb in testing. As long as you play 4 Chrome Mox, and 4 Ballyrush Banneret, and at least 4 Ancient Tomb and say, 2-3 City of Traitors, I've found that it rarely affects me more than the opponent UNLESS I'm playing vs an opponent with an active AEther Vial. Or if I'm playing against a quick-strike combo deck like Belcher or Ad Nauseum, and even then it's not terrible if they slow-roll the combo. Vs. AEther Vial decks I keep 3-4 Orb in post-sb and bring in Suppression Fields and then if you can land Field or Field+Orb it really locks them down. Vs. Combo decks I bring in Thorn of Amethyst to replace Winter Orb (or if I'm not playing Thorn in sb, something like Rest in Peace).
But of course, I think that playing Suppression Field in them maindeck instead of Orb is also valid. Both have positives and negatives in the main deck and seek to basically do the same thing - slow down the opponent long enough to kill him. Orb, however, is just brutal vs. Control decks, and I feel that it has to at least be in the sideboard, because if you can bring in 4 Chalice, 4 Suppression Field, and 4 Winter Orb vs. Miracle Control or Stoneblade or anythign else that relies on having alot of mana open... then that matchup is tilted in your favor.
Also, if you were to continue testing Winter Orb, I would play less high casting cost soldiers (maybe only 3 each of Daru Warchief and Captain of the Watch) and more fast guys that do damage early and quickly, like Porcelain Legionnaire. I don't know if you guys have tested him yet, but he is super fast and super easy to cast early in the game. For just 2 additional life, he can be played off a single Ancient Tomb or City of Traitors, with no white mana in play. And he does 3 damage a turn plus has first strike, so he can kill stuff like Nimble Mongoose without dying.
I guess suppression field is the best main deck tax effect out there. Tangle wire might be ok, prob a little too slow. I haven't played this deck before that tournament, but what are match ups like for you guys?
I guess suppression field is the best main deck tax effect out there. Tangle wire might be ok, prob a little too slow. I haven't played this deck before that tournament, but what are match ups like for you guys?
I like Winter Orb slightly more maindeck than Suppression Field, and like Field more as a 4-of in the sideboard to complement Orb. It's just that Field has alot of matchups in which, if it lands on turn 1, it's great, but if they play a fetch, then you play Field and they fetch in response, then they just play regular lands, it's almost useless unless you're playing against something with Sensei's Divining Top. With only Field in play, most decks can just pay for whatever they need to activate, and you have to be really fast to take advantage of the minor speed bump.
Orb, on the other and, completely slows the game down for every single deck unless they have an active AEther Vial in play or lots of mana dorks / artifact mana active, because everything land-based is restricted under the Orb tax.
Here is my matchup analysis:
- Miracle Control and Stoneblade, if I play Orb main deck and then board in 4 Suppression Field to complement it, are positive matchups. Both of these decks rely heavily on having lots of mana open, casting lots of 1cc spells, and activating stuff like Jace and Stoneforge Mystic and Sensei's Divining Top. The combination of 4 Chalice, 4 Thalia, 4 Suppression Field and 4 Winter Orb post-board is stifling for those decks. And this matchup is one of the reasons I like Winter Orb maindeck instead of Field, because Orb does more to affect them than any single other card.
- Goblins and Merfolk are not great in game 1, but after boarding out Chalice of the Void for 4 Winter Orb + 4 Suppression Field in game 2 and game3, the matchup is about 60-40 or 50-50 overall. Field is obviously good in this matchup, and the combination of Orb and Field really slow them down. Chalice is boarded out in g2 and g3 because it only affects their Vial and Lackey, and only if you play first.
- RUG Delver is the hardest matchup for me because it almost completely depends on landing Chalice, and having some kind of answer for Delver. And basically speaking, nothing else does much to improve the matchup - Suppression Field, Winter Orb, whatever. I'm testing Rest in Peace from the sideboard vs. this, however, and it might improve the matchup.
- Combo (Storm, specifically) is a good matchup for this deck, because of 4 Chalice and 4 Thalia main, and if you play 2 Karakas main deck and some Oblivion Ring or Intrepid Hero you can handle the Show and Tell combo decks as well.
- Dredge depends on what kind of graveyard hate you play in the sideboard - Rest in Peace or whatever else. The great thing about the dredge matchup with this deck is that unlike alot of decks, you can actually win G1 vs. dredge with just your main deck, and no graveyard hate necessary. Soldiers is fast enough that you can kill them before they kill you.
- Maverick is a good matchup overall if you play Cursed Totem in the sideboard, because it completely shuts their deck down. The same applies for the Elves matchup and the Death and Taxes matchup. If you DON'T play any Cursed Totem, all three of these matchups are lose-able because their creatures generally outclass your creatures as the game goes on. That's one of the reasons I strongly suggest trying to fit at least 2-3 Cursed Totem into the sideboard.
Well, those problems with Orb were mainly against Maverick and RUG. Orb has nearly no impact against those Decks - or at least not as much as I would want it to. You're right with Orb against Control. It's extremely relevant against those Decks. The fact that it sometimes hurts me may come because of my boarding plan.
That's definitely one of the problems with Orb - it is not spectacular vs. Delver. The problem for me, though, is that Suppression Field is almost equally as ineffective vs. Delver in most situations. If you can land Field on turn 1 before they lay down any land, then it can sometimes lock them out of fetching land, but only if they fail to draw any real lands. And if you play Suppression Field later than turn 1, then they simply fetch in response or have already fetched lands. It obviously affects nothing else in the deck as well. Orb doesn't bother them much because everything is pretty cheap, BUT if you have something like Thalia in play, and you lay down Orb, it does restrict how quickly they can play their cantrips and burn spells. So in my opinion, Orb can still be somewhat effective mid and late-game, whereas Suppression Field is only useful in this matchup if you play it turn 1 AND they never draw more than 1 real land.
The real problem is that Delver doesn't really care about anything in the Soldier deck other than Chalice of the Void. And with Abrupt Decay and post-board stuff like Ancient Grudge, they can easily remove it and just out-efficient everything Soldiers does.
I have had a little play testing with delver, not much just a few games and found the match up to be in our favour, first striking soldiers tend to stall them until you overwhelm them. I tend to always play around daze, unless there is early delver pressure. But like I said not enough testing yet. I thought the menfolk and goblins would be the same with first strike trumping them. I was looking up some sb option flying option for the delver match and found the 2/3 flying gain 2 life when it enters and leaves play. But has vanishing 3. That could be interesting, but uses up precious sb slots.
I like the cursed totem sb option, I was looking around for elf hate and all I could find was either sworn canonist. But with ethers worn you could hate out storm combo as well. Mav is starting to fall off the meta so the totem will be less in favour for me, but I will try get a play set. The next tourney is on the 9th so will be keen to do some more playtesting
I realize that Catapult Squad and Suppression have terrible synergy, I'm just testing Catapult in there for the time being, I'm still not completely sure about it in here. I've found that suppression field can have a bunch of important effects aside from the fetch/waste lands; besides greatly slowing down planeswalkers, it helps with vial, lavamancer, cursed scroll, etc. It's definitely not great in some matchups, and I definitely feel like it often hits the ground too late to do much against fetchlands, as mentioned earlier. Any good alternatives? Is anyone running trini anymore?
Finally, Gustcloak Savior I've also just begun to test, but so far I really like it. Not only does it provide a burn-resistant, delver-proof flier for the deck, but it's ability is awesome. Regardless of what's staring at you across the board, you can swing with all your dudes, and simply remove from combat any that would get dealt lethal. Amazing. I may go up to 3 if he continues to test well. Thoughts from anyone?
I had my reservations about Suppression Field, but he can be deadly against some decks, my mates were stunned when I dropped a first turn Suppression Field before they could lay their fetchland. Subsequently, Field was also massive against powerful artifacts such as Sensei's Divining Top and Umezawa's Jitte. My Maverick opponent even struggled to use their Mother of Runes and Knight of Reliquary. Goblins also struggled with use of Aether Vial and Rishadan Port as well. Then again, Field can be completely useless against other matchups - I'll just use it as an imprint for my Chrome Mox.
What's so good about this deck is the ability to drop on the first turn - either a Supression Field, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben or Chalice of the Void to disrupt or messes up the opponent. Without Chrome Mox, you loses a big chance of dropping one of them. Also, by playing Chrome Mox, it's easier to run 20 lands or lower.
This is the first time I've seen a legacy deck with Suppression Field in the main. SF looks strong against certain decks, I didn't realize at first that it also affects fetchlands.
This is the first time I've seen a legacy deck with Suppression Field in the main. SF looks strong against certain decks, I didn't realize at first that it also affects fetchlands.
I won against an opponent playing UW stoneblade who miscalculated because he didn't had sufficient mana to activate Umezawa's Jitte ability. He had Jitte on a Vendilion Clique and played defensively, eventually he had 6 to 8 counters on the Jitte but could only activate 2 counters on the very last play. That was the last straw for him as all game long his Sensei, Fetches, Stoneforge, equipment etc were effected. He was absolutely suppressed by the Suppression Field :rolleyes:!
So just had a small 16 man tourney. No playoffs, pretty much just elimination for one prize.
Standard soldiers list.
Round 1: BUG control. Rogue build but a lot of removal so pretty much an auto loss here. He ran things like baleful strix, edict, shardless agent, ancestral visions. Either way no real chance for me. 0-2
Round 2: Enchantress. Very fast games here. Turn 2 Thalia in both games locked him out. 2-0
Round 3: BUG. Turn 1 chalice on turn one both games from me nullified his hand completely. Followed up with pressure and its scoop real quick 2-0
Round 4: UR control. Another rogue build with delvers, clique, lavamancer, mishra factory. Game one turn one chalice at one followed by captain leads to scoop pretty fast. Game 2 I mulligan and keep a slow 6, however apply a little pressure with Thalia and 2 anthem soldiers but mistakenly attack with one of the chiefs into a 4/4 factory and factory ties the floor down until clique and jitte beats me to death. I managed to get him down to lethal but jitte gains him too much life. Game 3 was a mulligan into another slow start. But did get a little pressure on board but drew too many land/moxes to allow him to seal the game off with clique and lavamancer.
Pretty unlucky in the last game, but then again very lucky against bug with chalices and chantress with thalias so can't complain. Meta was mainly BUG decks, not sure on how that match up is supposed to go but feels like a bad match up for me with all the removal.
The Control/Miracles matchup is actually one of this deck's better matchups if you play both Suppression Field AND Winter Orb as 4-ofs.
Miracles is one of the main reasons I play Winter Orb in the main deck and Suppression Field in the sideboard, instead of the other way around. Orb just kills Miracles, and with both Field and Orb in g2 and g3, alongside Thalia, it makes their life living hell.
Because Miracles has a slow clock, you can afford to board out soldiers for more "hate". I roll with 4 Chalice, 4 Winter Orb and 4 Suppression Field in g2 and g3 as my non-soldier spells in that matchup (in addition to 4 Chrome Mox, obviously, which stay in for every single matchup). I have to say that this configuration does very well vs. control decks of any kind, and not just Miracles.
Main
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Ballyrush Banneret
4 Captain of the Watch
4 Daru Warchief
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Field Marshal
4 Preeminent Captain
2 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Suppression Field
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox
2 Karakas
3 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Tomb
9 Plains
Sideboard
4 Rest in Peace
4 Oblivion Ring
2 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Null Rod
This deck is a house at a unknown meta. I have won twice at my local tourney before because people do not expect it. Suppression Field is a very relevant and underplayed card.
I would like to know what his thoughts are regarding City of Traitors and less WW soldiers (Veteran Swordsmith instead of Field Marshal) in this deck. I find that playing Cities and Swordsmiths gives you more early game explosion (ability to cast Chalice more easily early).
Sorry for the thread necro. Haven't looked up forums for awhile. But thought I'd post my latest tourney matches and be interested in how you guys are going.
This is my current list
4 Thalia
4 ballyrush
4 field Marshall
4 preeminent
4 enlistment
4 daru warchief
4 captain
3 phyrexian revoked
4 chalice
4 mox
3 suppression field
9 plains
4 tomb
4 caverns
1 karakas
Sideboard
4 Leyline
3 rest in piece
3 oblivion ring
3 canonist
2 jitte
Just a small local tourney with 15 ppl with top8
Round 1 bg elves
Game 1
I lose the die roll and know what the opponent is playing so mulligan what is normally a keeper into a chalice. I did even better and mulliganed into 6 with chalice and tomb. He resolves a visionary and then scoops when I start dropping fatties. I side out the fields for canonists
Game 2
A one mana elf from my opponent while I land a turn one chalice again off a tomb. I'm pretty lucky when it comes to chalices. He plays a pridemage while I start dropping some threats. He pops the chalice, however I draw a canonist and get a quick concession. Win 2-0
Round 2 bant
Game 1
I lose the roll and keep a moderate hand with thalia suppression field cotw and daru warchief. He opens with death rite shaman then into sylvan library. I land the suppression field which locks down his wasteland, shaman and fetchland activations long enough for me to establish a board. He removes my preeminent captains but I play a couple of warchiefs and hold back his scavenging ooze. I eventually land 2 cotw and he scoops.
Game 2
I don't remember a lot about this game. I do remember ancient tomb dealing me a lot of damage and he threatens with an active death rite but runs out of gy targets. I again eventually overwhelm him with an enlistment netting me 4 soldiers. Win 2-0
Round 3 MUD
I win the roll but it really doesn't matter as this is almost unwinnable. I lose 0-2 to metal worker into hasted forgemaster, then metal worker into hasted blightsteel.
Round 4 ID
Top 8 Jund
Game 1
A mixture of ancient tomb damage, goyf, death rite shaman and liliana puts me behind. I stabilize with chalice double field Marshall first strike and hold him off long enough to drop enlistment and cotw to get a concession. I side in rest in piece for
Game 2
I mulligan into a average 6 and don't really wanna go down to 5. He lands a lavamancer and goyf to finish me quickly despite a suppression field on my side.
Game 3
I mull to 5 which contains a mox. This puts me too far behind esp when facing a bob with a jitte. I land a chalice for 1, a rest in piece and when I finally get creatures jitte rips them all down.
Overall I think this match up is favoured but I was a bit unlucky with the last 2 draws. This made up for my double chalice for 1 in round 1.
Some notes on the list.
Revokers did almost nothing for me due to lack of targets.
Suppression field won me a game single handedly but was almost non existent rest of the time.
Def gonna take out leylines to free up some sb slots. Maybe some serenity or something for the mud game. Hopefully new set prints some utility soldiers.
Oh wow I didn't know field could shut down the shaman ability. That's handy.
I definitely think field Marshall is better than the swordsmith. The first strike ability is just too big. I feel against the tempo decks, bant and Jund I need to stall out to the long game. An early goyf really hurts, however a couple of small first strike creatures really does well holding down the fort.
I might actually try the crib swaps in the next tourney over the revokers. Goyfs and bobs are such a pain.
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I had my reservations about Suppression Field, but he can be deadly against some decks, my mates were stunned when I dropped a first turn Suppression Field before they could lay their fetchland. Subsequently, Field was also massive against powerful artifacts such as Sensei's Divining Top and Umezawa's Jitte. My Maverick opponent even struggled to use their Mother of Runes and Knight of Reliquary. Goblins also struggled with use of Aether Vial and Rishadan Port as well. Then again, Field can be completely useless against other matchups - I'll just use it as an imprint for my Chrome Mox.
What's so good about this deck is the ability to drop on the first turn - either a Supression Field, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben or Chalice of the Void to disrupt or messes up the opponent. Without Chrome Mox, you loses a big chance of dropping one of them. Also, by playing Chrome Mox, it's easier to run 20 lands or lower.
You may want to consider Veteran Swordsmith over Field Marshal, it will be so much easier and faster to cast.
Signature by Syndarion from Aeternal Studios!
[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
Credit to DolZero for this awesome sig!
Also can mess up an oblivion ring if timed right.
- I personally like playing 2-3 City of Traitors instead of some Plains, because the additional 2-mana lands give the deck more early explosiveness: quicker Preeminent Captains, turn 1 Chalices, etc.
- So because of less Plains and more Cities in my deck, I like to play Veteran Swordsmith over Field Marshal. The extra added point of power (3/2 vs. 2/2) seems, usually, in testing, to be more relevant than the added 1 point of toughness it gives in its pump effect. Similarly, because most of the soldiers are first strike already, that effect is redundant.
- I really don't like playing Crib Swap, just because I want as few non-creature spells as possible in the deck (I stick to 4 Chrome Mox, 4 Chalice, and 4 extra disruption (Supp. Field or Winter Orb), but if you really need removal in your particular metagame it's obviously your best option in the deck.
- In place of Crib Swap, I like to play more soldiers. I've gone back and forth between playing more of the big guys (Captain of the Watch, Daru Warchief), or stuff like Kor Hookmaster. I love to play two Jotun Grunt maindeck in every list I play, however. These guys are pretty useful vs. Tarmogoyf decks and the like, and give you a big body that soldiers usually don't have without pump.
- I've found that Suppression Field is great against certain types of decks, but can be quickly rendered useless against decks that don't rely too heavily on activated abilities, or can easily pay for those few activated abilities, or simply fetch lands in response to the casting of Suppression Field. So in my testing, I've come to the conclusion that I like Field better as a 4-of in the sideboard to board in vs. decks that are heavily hit by it (stuff like Countertop, Miracles, and vs., Goblins and Merfolk in g2 and g3)
- Instead of Suppression Field in the main-deck, I personally like to play 4 Winter Orb. It's a devastating effect vs. most control decks, and while it's less useful vs. faster aggro decks, it can still have an effect in nearly every single matchup, which cannot be said for Field. Also, the 2 colorless casting cost is more easily manageable if you play both Ancient Tomb and City of Traitors, and it comes out more quickly than Field in most cases. Because of the 4 Ballyrush Banneret, and 4 Preeminent Captain, a Winter Orb can often slow down your opponent while you use those two other cards to skirts its effects. Basically speaking, Winter Orb gives you almost the same effect as Armageddon for less mana.
- I would also look into Cursed Totem as a 2-of or 3-of in the sideboard, because it completely shuts down Maverick and Elves. It is limited in its scope, but I've found that those match-ups are prevalent enough in the Legacy metagame, and hard enough to beat with just Suppression Field, that Totem as a "silver bullet" for these match-ups is very useful and effective.
Of course, those are just my personal preferences from testing. However, the way you have built the deck is certainly viable as well, because stuff like Swordsmith, City, and Winter Orb come with their own downsides as well as positives.
I wouldn't play Mentor of the Meek at all. This deck does not want anything mana-intensive, let alone something that doesn't do anything on its own without other things being brought it into play.
I just don't like running 4-of a card in the maindeck that is dead against about 30-40% of the decks I play against (Combo and Control). Maybe I just play against more Combo and Control than you do; I don't know. I also don't like how Thalia (the most important card in the deck and one of the main reasons to even bother playing Soldiers) in play makes it a 4-mana removal spell (and you can't count on having Banneret or Warchief in play every time). I also don't like how it makes the second-most important card in the deck (Preeminent Captain) less effective.
The problem is that even if you have Suppression Field in play vs, Maverick or Elves, they can still win relatively easily, especially if you don't get much early pressure.
I've lost quite a few games vs Maverick in which I had Field in play, and that's also one of the reasons I moved it to the SB. If you're playing against a deck that can pay the tax easily without being slowed down too much, it can be underwhelming. Maverick can just pay 2 mana with its lands or with its mana guys and then use it on one of their effects. Suppression Field would be a solid standalone answer to Maverick if it also stopped creature mana abilities, but it doens't affect Heirarch at all.
If you land a single Cursed Totem vs. Maverick or Elves, 90% of the time you will win. It's almost an auto-win against those decks, and because Maverick is such a huge part of the metagame, I like having an "I Win" button vs that deck. It comepletely shuts down Mother of Runes, and all of their mana guys as well.
I've gone back and forth on this for months. Some days I feel that Suppression Field is the card to have in the main deck, and other days I feel that I like Winter Orb more. It really comes down to what you prefer, because both cards have positives and negatives in the main deck. Winter Orb main is better vs. control, whereas Suppression Field is clearly better vs. the AEther Vial aggro decks such as Goblins and Merfolk. Orb has some positive effect vs. nearly every deck, even if its a weak effect, whereas a Field can sometimes be completely dead.
HOWEVER, I have decided after much testing that I need to have both Orb and Field in my 75 cards somewhere. And after testing both in the maindeck at the same time, I've found that having both usually dilutes the soldier base so only 4 of those 8 cards can be in the main deck.
The things I've decided regarding Field and Orb:
- I want to have both somewhere in my 75 cards.
- I can't play both at the same time in the main deck, because I absolutely need 4 Chrome Mox and 4 Chalice, so adding 8 more non-soldier cards dilutes the deck too much. The only exception to this rule is vs. control decks which are heavily affected by Suppression Field and would rather face more soldiers than a Field
- Therefore, I'll either play 4 Suppression Field in the main deck and 4 Winter Orb in the sideboard, or 4 Winter Orb in the main deck and 4 Suppression Field in the sideboard. I'm still undecided as to what is better.
- If I play Winter Orb main, I definitely need to play 4 Ballyrush Banneret, and obviously 4 Thalia as well
- Against control decks that rely on activation costs heavily (Miracle Control and Stoneblade) I want to board in the 4 extra disruption every time. I want to have 4 Chalice, 4 Suppression Field, and 4 Winter Orb.
- Against Goblins and Merfolk, Chalice does very little in g2 and g3, and especially on the draw. In those matchups, I actually board out the Chalices for the Suppression Field (or Winter Orb, if Field is in the main deck) leaving me with 4 Field and 4 Orb and no chalices.
More often than not, he feels very "win-more", as in - a card that grants a great effect if you have already locked him down with Thalia and/or Orb. But by himself, he doesn't really do much to dramatically affect the opponent.
And at 4 mana, he's competing with the Daru Warchief and the Captain of the Watch for a slot in the deck. And aside from his marginally disruptive ability, he has a very weak body for a 4 mana creature.
Can you tell me about your experiences testing him in this deck?
This deck can be solid and have moments of briliance, but after testing it for months it feels just on the fringe of the tier 2 competitors in the Legacy metagame.
It feels as if it's missing one really great card. Wizards needs to print a really awesome soldier that just pushes this deck over the top.
I'd like some aggressively-costed tutoring soldier, like a soldier version of Goblin Matron. That would enable you to run singletons of Gatekeeper and other utility cards like Jotun Grunt and Crib Swap.
Or some kind of crazy-good combat soldier like a 3/4 for 2W that has some relevant ability like lifelink or something.
My current list:
4 Ballyrush
4 Thalia
4 Preeminent
4 Field Marshal
4 Daru warchief
4 Enlistment officer
4 Captain of the watch
4 Chrome Mox
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Suppression Field
2 Oblivion Ring
4 Ancient tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Flagstones
1 Karakas
8 Plains
Sideboard
4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Tormods Crypt
3 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Reverent Mantra
I dont have many cards so there is still plenty to buy to fully complete the list
Anyhow I took this to a small 10 man tournament with some ok results. Heres what I remember
Round 1: Cephalid Breakfast
Opponent wins the die roll and plays tundra > aether vial. I have no idea what hes playing but manage to play land > mox > suppression field. He plays a ponder while I manage to land some threats. Suppression field slows him down enough for me to finish him off with his life total looking like this 20>19>15>6>0. So a 9 point swing in there. I still have no idea what he is playing as I only say vial tundra and cantrips so sideboarding is difficult, I think I side in 2 Orings for 2 random soldiers.
Game 2 starts with a gitaxian probe on me revealing soldiers, plains and ancient tomb. He plays a land and passes. I top deck a chalice and play that off an ancient tomb. He brainstorms in response but doesnt find the free counter. Life total goes 20>19>14>0. A 14 point swing in there for perfect kill.
Round 2: Dredge
I know my opponent is playing dredge and theres not much I can do in terms of mulliganing for a good hand so pretty much die to zombies and a Griselbrand.
Game 2 I side in the 3 tormod's crypts for the 3 suppression field and I am able to play chalice for 1 to slow him down before I drop some threats and play a crypt drawn 3-4 turns later.
Game 3 was pretty fun, he mulls to 5 and I mull to 4 with a decent dredge hand of plains, chrome mox, oring and crypt. I topdeck a thalia and play the crypt and thalia. He plays around the crpyt by hardcasting narcomoeba and putrid imp. He takes quite abit of damage from city of brass, tarnished citadel and we race, unfortunately I dont draw another mana source for ther next 11 turns and I cant race 3 damage from thresholded imp and moeba. Oh well **** happens
Round 3: Hivemind
I get paired down so will be on very poor resistance even if I win. This is a pretty hard match up and relies on me landing thalia. Fortunately I land thalia turn 2 in all three games. Game one, he doesn't find the combo pieces and I finsh him off 3 attacks with life looking like 20>18>17fetch>15A tomb>12>0. A 12 point life swing to finsh him off. Game 2 I side in the Orings and canonsits. He plays draw go, I land thalia turn 2 with caverns protection, he intuitions in response for pacts and I eventually lose.
Game 3 again thalia and some lords put him on a clock which he is unable to live through.
Missed out on top 4 because of poor tiebreakers, but list did ok and is pretty fun to play with massive life total swings.
One card that might be a good replacement for winter orb is thorn of amethyst. I have seen a couple of lists run that as an additional nuisance piece.
The suppression field I felt was ok, It prob won the cephalid game 1, but I wasn't sure at the time as I never saw any of his combo. I only knew during round 3 that he was playing cephalid. Otherwise still to see with future tourneys.
I really like crib swap that you run, but in my meta a few show n tell decks pop up and I really want that play set of orings in the 75 to nullify that.
If I were to play Thorn, it'd strictly be a SB card to bring in as Thalia 5-7 or 5-8 against combo decks.
Also, Khamul, I'm surprised to see that you're having problems with Winter Orb in testing. As long as you play 4 Chrome Mox, and 4 Ballyrush Banneret, and at least 4 Ancient Tomb and say, 2-3 City of Traitors, I've found that it rarely affects me more than the opponent UNLESS I'm playing vs an opponent with an active AEther Vial. Or if I'm playing against a quick-strike combo deck like Belcher or Ad Nauseum, and even then it's not terrible if they slow-roll the combo. Vs. AEther Vial decks I keep 3-4 Orb in post-sb and bring in Suppression Fields and then if you can land Field or Field+Orb it really locks them down. Vs. Combo decks I bring in Thorn of Amethyst to replace Winter Orb (or if I'm not playing Thorn in sb, something like Rest in Peace).
But of course, I think that playing Suppression Field in them maindeck instead of Orb is also valid. Both have positives and negatives in the main deck and seek to basically do the same thing - slow down the opponent long enough to kill him. Orb, however, is just brutal vs. Control decks, and I feel that it has to at least be in the sideboard, because if you can bring in 4 Chalice, 4 Suppression Field, and 4 Winter Orb vs. Miracle Control or Stoneblade or anythign else that relies on having alot of mana open... then that matchup is tilted in your favor.
Also, if you were to continue testing Winter Orb, I would play less high casting cost soldiers (maybe only 3 each of Daru Warchief and Captain of the Watch) and more fast guys that do damage early and quickly, like Porcelain Legionnaire. I don't know if you guys have tested him yet, but he is super fast and super easy to cast early in the game. For just 2 additional life, he can be played off a single Ancient Tomb or City of Traitors, with no white mana in play. And he does 3 damage a turn plus has first strike, so he can kill stuff like Nimble Mongoose without dying.
I like Winter Orb slightly more maindeck than Suppression Field, and like Field more as a 4-of in the sideboard to complement Orb. It's just that Field has alot of matchups in which, if it lands on turn 1, it's great, but if they play a fetch, then you play Field and they fetch in response, then they just play regular lands, it's almost useless unless you're playing against something with Sensei's Divining Top. With only Field in play, most decks can just pay for whatever they need to activate, and you have to be really fast to take advantage of the minor speed bump.
Orb, on the other and, completely slows the game down for every single deck unless they have an active AEther Vial in play or lots of mana dorks / artifact mana active, because everything land-based is restricted under the Orb tax.
Here is my matchup analysis:
- Miracle Control and Stoneblade, if I play Orb main deck and then board in 4 Suppression Field to complement it, are positive matchups. Both of these decks rely heavily on having lots of mana open, casting lots of 1cc spells, and activating stuff like Jace and Stoneforge Mystic and Sensei's Divining Top. The combination of 4 Chalice, 4 Thalia, 4 Suppression Field and 4 Winter Orb post-board is stifling for those decks. And this matchup is one of the reasons I like Winter Orb maindeck instead of Field, because Orb does more to affect them than any single other card.
- Goblins and Merfolk are not great in game 1, but after boarding out Chalice of the Void for 4 Winter Orb + 4 Suppression Field in game 2 and game3, the matchup is about 60-40 or 50-50 overall. Field is obviously good in this matchup, and the combination of Orb and Field really slow them down. Chalice is boarded out in g2 and g3 because it only affects their Vial and Lackey, and only if you play first.
- RUG Delver is the hardest matchup for me because it almost completely depends on landing Chalice, and having some kind of answer for Delver. And basically speaking, nothing else does much to improve the matchup - Suppression Field, Winter Orb, whatever. I'm testing Rest in Peace from the sideboard vs. this, however, and it might improve the matchup.
- Combo (Storm, specifically) is a good matchup for this deck, because of 4 Chalice and 4 Thalia main, and if you play 2 Karakas main deck and some Oblivion Ring or Intrepid Hero you can handle the Show and Tell combo decks as well.
- Dredge depends on what kind of graveyard hate you play in the sideboard - Rest in Peace or whatever else. The great thing about the dredge matchup with this deck is that unlike alot of decks, you can actually win G1 vs. dredge with just your main deck, and no graveyard hate necessary. Soldiers is fast enough that you can kill them before they kill you.
- Maverick is a good matchup overall if you play Cursed Totem in the sideboard, because it completely shuts their deck down. The same applies for the Elves matchup and the Death and Taxes matchup. If you DON'T play any Cursed Totem, all three of these matchups are lose-able because their creatures generally outclass your creatures as the game goes on. That's one of the reasons I strongly suggest trying to fit at least 2-3 Cursed Totem into the sideboard.
That's definitely one of the problems with Orb - it is not spectacular vs. Delver. The problem for me, though, is that Suppression Field is almost equally as ineffective vs. Delver in most situations. If you can land Field on turn 1 before they lay down any land, then it can sometimes lock them out of fetching land, but only if they fail to draw any real lands. And if you play Suppression Field later than turn 1, then they simply fetch in response or have already fetched lands. It obviously affects nothing else in the deck as well. Orb doesn't bother them much because everything is pretty cheap, BUT if you have something like Thalia in play, and you lay down Orb, it does restrict how quickly they can play their cantrips and burn spells. So in my opinion, Orb can still be somewhat effective mid and late-game, whereas Suppression Field is only useful in this matchup if you play it turn 1 AND they never draw more than 1 real land.
The real problem is that Delver doesn't really care about anything in the Soldier deck other than Chalice of the Void. And with Abrupt Decay and post-board stuff like Ancient Grudge, they can easily remove it and just out-efficient everything Soldiers does.
I like the cursed totem sb option, I was looking around for elf hate and all I could find was either sworn canonist. But with ethers worn you could hate out storm combo as well. Mav is starting to fall off the meta so the totem will be less in favour for me, but I will try get a play set. The next tourney is on the 9th so will be keen to do some more playtesting
3 Karakas
6 Plains
4 Cavern
2 City of Traitors
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Daru Warchief
2 Captain of the Watch
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Thalia
4 Ballyrush
3 Veteran Swordsmith
2 Catapult Squad
2 Gustcloak Savior
4 Suppression Field
4 Chalice
4 Chrome Mox
SB
2 O-ring
2 Jitte
3 Serenity
3 Cursed Totem
3 Rest in Peace
2 Phyrexian Revoker
I realize that Catapult Squad and Suppression have terrible synergy, I'm just testing Catapult in there for the time being, I'm still not completely sure about it in here. I've found that suppression field can have a bunch of important effects aside from the fetch/waste lands; besides greatly slowing down planeswalkers, it helps with vial, lavamancer, cursed scroll, etc. It's definitely not great in some matchups, and I definitely feel like it often hits the ground too late to do much against fetchlands, as mentioned earlier. Any good alternatives? Is anyone running trini anymore?
Finally, Gustcloak Savior I've also just begun to test, but so far I really like it. Not only does it provide a burn-resistant, delver-proof flier for the deck, but it's ability is awesome. Regardless of what's staring at you across the board, you can swing with all your dudes, and simply remove from combat any that would get dealt lethal. Amazing. I may go up to 3 if he continues to test well. Thoughts from anyone?
This is the first time I've seen a legacy deck with Suppression Field in the main. SF looks strong against certain decks, I didn't realize at first that it also affects fetchlands.
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I won against an opponent playing UW stoneblade who miscalculated because he didn't had sufficient mana to activate Umezawa's Jitte ability. He had Jitte on a Vendilion Clique and played defensively, eventually he had 6 to 8 counters on the Jitte but could only activate 2 counters on the very last play. That was the last straw for him as all game long his Sensei, Fetches, Stoneforge, equipment etc were effected. He was absolutely suppressed by the Suppression Field :rolleyes:!
Signature by Syndarion from Aeternal Studios!
[Deck/Primer] Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Darth Knights in Legacy
[Deck] Casual Knights in Legacy
[Deck/Primer] Modern Knights
[Deck/Primer] Modern Ninjas
LEGACY
Legacy Knights Variants WG,WU,WR,WB,W,B
Soldiers Stompy W
NinjaStill UB
FOWless Merfolk UW
Aggro Elves G
MODERN
Modern Knights Variants WG,BR
Modern Ninjas Variants UB,UG,UW,UWR
Modern Kithkins WR,W
Standard soldiers list.
Round 1: BUG control. Rogue build but a lot of removal so pretty much an auto loss here. He ran things like baleful strix, edict, shardless agent, ancestral visions. Either way no real chance for me. 0-2
Round 2: Enchantress. Very fast games here. Turn 2 Thalia in both games locked him out. 2-0
Round 3: BUG. Turn 1 chalice on turn one both games from me nullified his hand completely. Followed up with pressure and its scoop real quick 2-0
Round 4: UR control. Another rogue build with delvers, clique, lavamancer, mishra factory. Game one turn one chalice at one followed by captain leads to scoop pretty fast. Game 2 I mulligan and keep a slow 6, however apply a little pressure with Thalia and 2 anthem soldiers but mistakenly attack with one of the chiefs into a 4/4 factory and factory ties the floor down until clique and jitte beats me to death. I managed to get him down to lethal but jitte gains him too much life. Game 3 was a mulligan into another slow start. But did get a little pressure on board but drew too many land/moxes to allow him to seal the game off with clique and lavamancer.
Pretty unlucky in the last game, but then again very lucky against bug with chalices and chantress with thalias so can't complain. Meta was mainly BUG decks, not sure on how that match up is supposed to go but feels like a bad match up for me with all the removal.
Miracles is one of the main reasons I play Winter Orb in the main deck and Suppression Field in the sideboard, instead of the other way around. Orb just kills Miracles, and with both Field and Orb in g2 and g3, alongside Thalia, it makes their life living hell.
Because Miracles has a slow clock, you can afford to board out soldiers for more "hate". I roll with 4 Chalice, 4 Winter Orb and 4 Suppression Field in g2 and g3 as my non-soldier spells in that matchup (in addition to 4 Chrome Mox, obviously, which stay in for every single matchup). I have to say that this configuration does very well vs. control decks of any kind, and not just Miracles.
http://www.factoriademishra.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=7402&start=120
Main
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Ballyrush Banneret
4 Captain of the Watch
4 Daru Warchief
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Field Marshal
4 Preeminent Captain
2 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Suppression Field
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox
2 Karakas
3 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Tomb
9 Plains
Sideboard
4 Rest in Peace
4 Oblivion Ring
2 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Null Rod
This deck is a house at a unknown meta. I have won twice at my local tourney before because people do not expect it. Suppression Field is a very relevant and underplayed card.
This is my current list
4 Thalia
4 ballyrush
4 field Marshall
4 preeminent
4 enlistment
4 daru warchief
4 captain
3 phyrexian revoked
4 chalice
4 mox
3 suppression field
9 plains
4 tomb
4 caverns
1 karakas
Sideboard
4 Leyline
3 rest in piece
3 oblivion ring
3 canonist
2 jitte
Just a small local tourney with 15 ppl with top8
Round 1 bg elves
Game 1
I lose the die roll and know what the opponent is playing so mulligan what is normally a keeper into a chalice. I did even better and mulliganed into 6 with chalice and tomb. He resolves a visionary and then scoops when I start dropping fatties. I side out the fields for canonists
Game 2
A one mana elf from my opponent while I land a turn one chalice again off a tomb. I'm pretty lucky when it comes to chalices. He plays a pridemage while I start dropping some threats. He pops the chalice, however I draw a canonist and get a quick concession. Win 2-0
Round 2 bant
Game 1
I lose the roll and keep a moderate hand with thalia suppression field cotw and daru warchief. He opens with death rite shaman then into sylvan library. I land the suppression field which locks down his wasteland, shaman and fetchland activations long enough for me to establish a board. He removes my preeminent captains but I play a couple of warchiefs and hold back his scavenging ooze. I eventually land 2 cotw and he scoops.
Game 2
I don't remember a lot about this game. I do remember ancient tomb dealing me a lot of damage and he threatens with an active death rite but runs out of gy targets. I again eventually overwhelm him with an enlistment netting me 4 soldiers. Win 2-0
Round 3 MUD
I win the roll but it really doesn't matter as this is almost unwinnable. I lose 0-2 to metal worker into hasted forgemaster, then metal worker into hasted blightsteel.
Round 4 ID
Top 8 Jund
Game 1
A mixture of ancient tomb damage, goyf, death rite shaman and liliana puts me behind. I stabilize with chalice double field Marshall first strike and hold him off long enough to drop enlistment and cotw to get a concession. I side in rest in piece for
Game 2
I mulligan into a average 6 and don't really wanna go down to 5. He lands a lavamancer and goyf to finish me quickly despite a suppression field on my side.
Game 3
I mull to 5 which contains a mox. This puts me too far behind esp when facing a bob with a jitte. I land a chalice for 1, a rest in piece and when I finally get creatures jitte rips them all down.
Overall I think this match up is favoured but I was a bit unlucky with the last 2 draws. This made up for my double chalice for 1 in round 1.
Some notes on the list.
Revokers did almost nothing for me due to lack of targets.
Suppression field won me a game single handedly but was almost non existent rest of the time.
Def gonna take out leylines to free up some sb slots. Maybe some serenity or something for the mud game. Hopefully new set prints some utility soldiers.
I definitely think field Marshall is better than the swordsmith. The first strike ability is just too big. I feel against the tempo decks, bant and Jund I need to stall out to the long game. An early goyf really hurts, however a couple of small first strike creatures really does well holding down the fort.
I might actually try the crib swaps in the next tourney over the revokers. Goyfs and bobs are such a pain.