Hi everyone I'm not a player of the deck, but was just thinking about an idea that I thought some of you might find useful.
By now everyone probably knows that the ruling on split cards has changed, so cascading into split cards to cast one or another half won't work like it used to, since it counts the cumulative cost of both halves now. But what if that could be used to a player's advantage? What if some split cards could be used to control the game, or some utility, in order to avoid being cascaded into while still serving that function? Some cards that came to mind:
Research//Development could even be used to pull silver bullets out of the sideboard to reliably cascade into. Depending on how greedy people could be with the manabase, it might just be possible to splash lots of different colors. Just thought I'd put the idea out there.
All my opinion
Turn // Burn
While a neat card, I don't think we want it. Restore Balance is our catch all against pesky non-removable creatures.
Reduce // Rubble
With this card, We have Supreme Will to counter things, and as for lands, we hope to knock them off enough of them with Restore Balance
Struggle // Survive
With Restore Balance, the first part of Struggle is sorta useless since we hope to never have a lot of lands in the first place. For Survive, we use Nahiri +Emrakul for that effect
Rough // Tumble
With some decks running Ghostly Prison we don't care about wiping their board, alongside those we have again, Restore Balance
Research // Development
While I do admit that's a pretty cool card, if we really need to answer something that badly in G1 we're probably losing the game at that point and can side cards in G2-G3
Just my 2 cents on the matter.
I like your idea, but for most fuse cards we run Wear // Tear
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It's easy to believe you're a god when you're twice as powerful as everyone else.
Hello! Would Narhiri's Wrath be any good? It can make both players dump their hands.
Also, Ghirapur Aether Grid? Seems like this would help in longer, grindier games. Also helps against enemy planeswalkers.
Also, why is Narhiri the main win con for this deck? It would seem March of the Machines is in many ways an insta win.
Sorry for barging in. Just some thoughts and questions
March of the Machines makes it so our borderposts can't be tapped for mana and also turns on our opponents creature removal in game 1. On top of this, after sideboarding, people bring in tons of artifact hate so that wincon becomes even less sustainable.
Ghirapur Aether Grid seems like a nice sideboard card to get around things in Ensnaring Bridge but relying on our artifacts (which people bring in lots of hate for, as I said before) to win is probably not the best idea but it could be worth testing out.
Hello! Would Narhiri's Wrath be any good? It can make both players dump their hands.
Also, Ghirapur Aether Grid? Seems like this would help in longer, grindier games. Also helps against enemy planeswalkers.
Also, why is Narhiri the main win con for this deck? It would seem March of the Machines is in many ways an insta win.
Sorry for barging in. Just some thoughts and questions
To piggyback on CCBM reply,
We run Nahiri for her removal effect, and her ability to dump cards out of our hand we don't need and to draw since most decks run 7-8 draw effects, she can help us recycle our grave by pitching Emrakul or by grabbing her from our deck. She also saves us about 6 life because our opponent will often kill her asap.
With Narhiri's Wrath, we don't want to pitch our hand that fast, we want to bring our opponent to us by losing 1-2 cards.
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It's easy to believe you're a god when you're twice as powerful as everyone else.
UR Delver 0-2
Eldrazi Taxes 2-0
Jeskai Control 2-0
GW Tokens 2-0
Mardu Pyromancer 2-1
RG Valakut 2-1
Mardu Pyromancer 0-2
I think red focus style is more consistent. Chandra is an additional wincon and good to against Liliana and control match.
Sideboard I try 3 Dead // Gone. It can deal with Thalia, Meddling Mage and Affinity creatures.
Next week I'll try blue version. Think Jace is very powerful for our deck.
A long time ago, builds played Oblivion Ring. That has since been phased out in favor of Beast Within and, on occasion, Detention Sphere (which I see as a meta call, considering BW is just more versatile).
Cast Out and Ixalan’s Binding are downgrades from what we’ve streamlined into.
I’m still not sold on Chandra. I have 3 of them wasting away in my collection, but I really don’t see a place for them in here.
@F97302012 (curious name, btw), how often did Demonic Dread not having a target become a problem? It’s been a talking point for a while and in some metas it is almost unplayable.
@Gearhulk Nahiri’s Wrath requires too much setup to be good. Yes, we want to dump our hand, but not that fast and it sometimes won’t even do anything except discard us cards. March of the Machines was another card that was played in early adaptations of this deck, but it’s since been phased out due to the amount of artifact hate and setup required to win with it. Ghirapur was mentioned when it first came out as a potential sideboard card, but with all the board hate against artifacts, it didn’t make the cut.
On the subject of split cards, Wear // Tear is the best, as Loki stated, but some people experimented with Research // Development to some success. Prior to the rules change boom//bust was a popular card because we could cascade into it and nuke all the lands. Apart from that, I don’t think there have been many good split cards for our deck.
I debated it, but to me it's as as Epoa said a meta call. D-sphere helps with slow massive removal, Affinity Etched Champion, Blur Snapcaster, etc and if I need faster responses in G2 for spot removal that's when I'd side in BW. I feel both are really good, just they both have different applications
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I mainboard 2 of my BW (I’ll probably up the count for Jace).
I, personally, wouldn’t run either of those. RB does what KR does but better. The only other sweeper I run is Anger of the Gods because of the exile clause.
I, too, am curious as to the details of F9’s matches. Beating Pyromancer then losing to it piques my interest. Also, that game loss to Valakut interests me. As someone that has faced Valakut over 100 times (I did a lot of playtesting) and never once dropped a game, even on mulligans to 4, I am always curious when I see a game loss to them.
Thanks for the reply. I created my own salvation account.
@TheGreatGodLoki
Dead // Gone only need one mana and Kozilek's Return need three. Sometimes I only have to kill hated creature like Thalia or Meddling Mage. I think Dead // Gone is more flexible.
@epoa
Valakut match, although my list has lot's of card to beat or slowdown the Valakut, but in game2 did not expect she sided in 4 Chalice and did not have the answer. Game3 I sided in Waer//Tear and win very quick.
Pyromancer matches, the opponent was same person. In second game he always kept lands in his hand to minimum Balance's advantage, and I did not draw leyline in both game to prevent hand disruption. Think Leyline is very important for our deck and worth in main. It can against Jace too.
I'll just add to the Jace, the Wallet Sculptor argument: it helps us putting back those drawn RBs back on the top of the library. For players like me who always draws at least 1 RB each game, it is a big help. Unfortunately, I haven't acquired any, so I'll stick to my enchantment-based RB list for now...
Hello Everybody!
I will be very short: I have my own brew of Restore Balance, and is more or less a Toolbox deck. I Love to play this version over the popular one for a number of reasons. It feels nice, and all the games are actually different (even if the wincons are the same).
However: I had a break of a couple of months, and after the new tuning I find myself severely manascrewed. I am not really good in mana-math, and basically that's why I am posting here! I need help to determine
A) the ratio of borderposts' "color pie" (aka how many of which type to use)
B) ratio of basics lands.
Note: I'm not willing to run any fetchland that costs me life.
I will not write the actual lands because they are messy and they are the reason, alongside the posts, of this very forum post.
AS usual is a mix of Terramorphic Expanse and Evolving Wilds plus a variating number of basics, and absolute zero utility lands.
If somebody has the patience to give it some thought, I will be very Glad!
ESDIT: And of course, suggestions and opinions are always welcomed!
Hello,
I am also pretty new to this discussion but have been playing Restore Balance for a while on MTGO and just got the deck in paper. I'm a bit surprised that your list doesn't have Greater Gargadon since all our lists run a playset of it. Additionally I was wondering about your decision to only include 3 Ardent Plea since cascade is crucial to our deck. Most of our lists have completely cut black and have Nahiri, the Harbinger and Emrakul, the Aeons Torn over Ajani Vengeant and your other wincons. I really like the idea of a toolbox build though and would like to hear about some of the games your games. The list I have is a much more typical build of the deck but my sideboard is still a work in progress. http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/23-02-18-restore-balance/?cb=1519434710
Hello,
I am also pretty new to this discussion but have been playing Restore Balance for a while on MTGO and just got the deck in paper. I'm a bit surprised that your list doesn't have Greater Gargadon since all our lists run a playset of it. Additionally I was wondering about your decision to only include 3 Ardent Plea since cascade is crucial to our deck. Most of our lists have completely cut black and have Nahiri, the Harbinger and Emrakul, the Aeons Torn over Ajani Vengeant and your other wincons. I really like the idea of a toolbox build though and would like to hear about some of the games your games. The list I have is a much more typical build of the deck but my sideboard is still a work in progress. http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/23-02-18-restore-balance/?cb=1519434710
Hello!
I will gladly expand my reasoning:
About Gargadons: Greater Gargadon is indeed a fitting card and more than reasonable staple for the archetype. However, in my own experience, I noticed that tis card serves me good only if drawn in opening hand or in the first few turns. Otherwise, he's a horrible topdeck that does nothing to enhance my strategy especially if there is another one already suspended. This, with the presence of BW D&T in my meta (Wasteland Strangler is just a direct counter to Gargadon, and can be cast istant speed with Æether Vial) made me decide to cut one at first. But the lower number of Gargadons made them also more rare to be seen in the first turns, making them effectively less good.
So one day I made up my mind and cut them completely. I am still managing to win matches, so for now they will stay in my Hall of Fames, for the deck (this doesn't mean that they are not good. I am exclusively speaking about my personal experience with the deck, so far.)
About Pleas: Ardent Plea is the only Enchantment cascader in our arsenal. It happens that also As Foretold is an enchantment. In a previous iteration, I was running 4 pleas and a singleton Ghirapur Æther Grid, for those pesky matches where attacking is not the right solution. Also, was running only 2 copies of Restore Balance (never needed more to actually win a game). So, I added 2 As Foretold, and to compensate the lack of one cascader, I added an extra copy of balance, as now I have the chance to cast it from my hand.
Is my most recent change, but so far so good - As Foretold made my life and mana management easier.
While I REALLY like Nahiri, the Harbinger, it became such an obvious staple that made me wonder if is the correct way to play it right now. You see, as it is most of time I face an opponent that knows the game, he knows about the deck. This means, that he knows about the outs, and how popular Nahiri+Emrakul is. Which means that as soon as he sees a borderpost, he will start a gameplan with this "setup" in mind. The other reason is that Pithing Needle makes 5 of your card useless, if you run such combo. And unfortunately is a card I saw too many times ruining my day already.
Truth is, I willingly traded consistency for versatility. So far, Gifts Ungiven is the best card in my deck. Is a combo enabler, or messes up hard with people's mind - both because how the text is written, the pressure you put on the opponent for the responsability of the choice, and the little mindgames you can start if you put a land in the choices (especially against unexperienced players). More than once I had congratulations for playing a good Gifts, or just by playing the card in general (which is quite funny, btw).
Generally speaking, I don't like dead cards. I even Run 61 cards, to give more utility to the deck draws and ratios with Restore Balance. To me Emrakul, the Aeons Torn looks like the fifth Greater Gargadon.
About Matches, what can I say.. Sometimes happens that unprepared players mocks my borderposts. They usually lose. Grixis decks are not easy to battle with, but not impossible. Eldratron has been an even match so far, for me (and is the deck I played most against.) If they have the nuts draw, they win. If I have, I win. In the middle, the match is pretty close at all stages.
So far the best game I had won was a 2-0 against Jund player who was bragging a little. G1 he didn't expected the deck, but he knew. I made some misplays but didn't got punished. Iona, Shield of Emeria won me the game. Second match however, was spectacular. ended up winning solely thanks a Ricochet Trap I sided in because of lack of Ideas. It happened that I was with that in hand, 4 Hp and Ajani Vengeant ready for the kill next turn. However he had a Scavenging Ooze, and I was expecting him to focus on Ajani. He was at 2 Hp (thanks to some beasts form Beast Within and his own Dark Confidant. Declaration of attackers, Scooze to face. EoT, taps for Lightning Bolt, to the face of course. I am a shy one, that tends to give up a little bit too soon, so I was demoralized by that bolt. Then I looked at my hand and at the 4 mana open I had. Was Epic. Redirect Bolt to his face with that goofy full paid Ricochet Trap, won the game, saw his face. Priceless.
Then I witnessed a rain of salt about price tags, s**t cards that nobody plays, and some swearing against luck itself.
However, now the deck heavily underperforms, only because of the manabase, and I don't know how to change it. Both the ratio of borderposts and basic lands.
Thanks for the response!
I see where you're coming from with versatility over power. I know what you mean with the manabase issues you have having also experienced it. I had the same problem in a lot of my games where I will have three colors of mana but need a different color to cascade with which i don't draw until a couple turns later when i'm almost (or already) dead. The lack of consistency was really annoying and is why I cut black after reading some other people talking about it. This doesn't really seem feasible with your deck since you rely so much on Unburial Rites as a win condition. Other than that I am considering trying to fix the manabase by figuring out which color I search up most often (Red or Blue) and than adding more posts of the other colors. For instance; if in most of my games I need red for a Greater Gargadon and get it first almost every time then I might have more G/W and U/B than R/G or R/B posts. I haven't actually tested this yet but it might help.
So @Shanaxe with regards to colors its really hard to have a nice consistent mana base with four or five colors. In my deck for a borderpost ratio to lands I prefer 24-25 total mana sources, I'm currently on 11 borderpost for the amount of Stony around its rough to play more. With that I'm on 14 lands with fetches and shocks in addition to my basics. I love to have basics with the ability to grab a fetch after to fix my double white or blue. Also I attempted to streamlined my deck to be UW with a splash of red and just use green for Violent Outburst. So being concerned about colors are minimal most of the time. Not to be rude but why do you need black? With burying it and As Fortold I think it would make it easier on your mana to cut that and possibly use other options for toolbox like Drift Of Phantasms it's been great since I tried it, as has Monastery Siege as a versatile answer. Also below will be my list if you want some mana ideas, if you have questions feel free to ask. https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/restoring-modern/?cb=1519571896
Thanks for the response!
I see where you're coming from with versatility over power. I know what you mean with the manabase issues you have having also experienced it. I had the same problem in a lot of my games where I will have three colors of mana but need a different color to cascade with which i don't draw until a couple turns later when i'm almost (or already) dead. The lack of consistency was really annoying and is why I cut black after reading some other people talking about it. This doesn't really seem feasible with your deck since you rely so much on Unburial Rites as a win condition. Other than that I am considering trying to fix the manabase by figuring out which color I search up most often (Red or Blue) and than adding more posts of the other colors. For instance; if in most of my games I need red for a Greater Gargadon and get it first almost every time then I might have more G/W and U/B than R/G or R/B posts. I haven't actually tested this yet but it might help.
Thanks for the advice! Actually might make sense. To tell the truth, I was actually pondering on black sources, manabase and whant the color gives me. I will try a mix of ideas, and will give feedback.
So @Shanaxe with regards to colors its really hard to have a nice consistent mana base with four or five colors. In my deck for a borderpost ratio to lands I prefer 24-25 total mana sources, I'm currently on 11 borderpost for the amount of Stony around its rough to play more. With that I'm on 14 lands with fetches and shocks in addition to my basics. I love to have basics with the ability to grab a fetch after to fix my double white or blue. Also I attempted to streamlined my deck to be UW with a splash of red and just use green for Violent Outburst. So being concerned about colors are minimal most of the time. Not to be rude but why do you need black? With burying it and As Fortold I think it would make it easier on your mana to cut that and possibly use other options for toolbox like Drift Of Phantasms it's been great since I tried it, as has Monastery Siege as a versatile answer. Also below will be my list if you want some mana ideas, if you have questions feel free to ask. https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/restoring-modern/?cb=1519571896
Thanks for the answer! To tell the truth, I can say I was wondering about Drift of Phantasms for quite some time. Can actually be more easy to have UU rather than search for the UB for Perplex as a tutor. That was the olny thing keeping black for me. Also Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas is a tempting idea, but as for now, he's not in my 75.
I see you're using Thassa, God of the Sea in your main! How is it performing? Is on my radar for some time. If you can give me some nice words on her, I might be trying her soon
I will try to cut the black and to adjust my manabase accordingly. For the question of Stony silence, I still use posts as a way to discount Metalwork colossus. What I can do is to have multiple plains to fetch to be sure to be able to cast Wispmare eventually.
I like your list, saw what you did with Gideons and Jace, you evil man
So far so good, thanks for the replies! I will experiment with the imputs. If anybody wants to add something, all feedback is welcome!
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All my opinion
Turn // Burn
While a neat card, I don't think we want it. Restore Balance is our catch all against pesky non-removable creatures.
Reduce // Rubble
With this card, We have Supreme Will to counter things, and as for lands, we hope to knock them off enough of them with Restore Balance
Struggle // Survive
With Restore Balance, the first part of Struggle is sorta useless since we hope to never have a lot of lands in the first place. For Survive, we use Nahiri +Emrakul for that effect
Rough // Tumble
With some decks running Ghostly Prison we don't care about wiping their board, alongside those we have again, Restore Balance
Research // Development
While I do admit that's a pretty cool card, if we really need to answer something that badly in G1 we're probably losing the game at that point and can side cards in G2-G3
Just my 2 cents on the matter.
I like your idea, but for most fuse cards we run Wear // Tear
Also, Ghirapur Aether Grid? Seems like this would help in longer, grindier games. Also helps against enemy planeswalkers.
Also, why is Narhiri the main win con for this deck? It would seem March of the Machines is in many ways an insta win.
Sorry for barging in. Just some thoughts and questions
March of the Machines makes it so our borderposts can't be tapped for mana and also turns on our opponents creature removal in game 1. On top of this, after sideboarding, people bring in tons of artifact hate so that wincon becomes even less sustainable.
Ghirapur Aether Grid seems like a nice sideboard card to get around things in Ensnaring Bridge but relying on our artifacts (which people bring in lots of hate for, as I said before) to win is probably not the best idea but it could be worth testing out.
To piggyback on CCBM reply,
We run Nahiri for her removal effect, and her ability to dump cards out of our hand we don't need and to draw since most decks run 7-8 draw effects, she can help us recycle our grave by pitching Emrakul or by grabbing her from our deck. She also saves us about 6 life because our opponent will often kill her asap.
With Narhiri's Wrath, we don't want to pitch our hand that fast, we want to bring our opponent to us by losing 1-2 cards.
4x Greater Gargadon
1x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
4x Nahiri, the Harbinger
2x Beast Within
4x Violent Outburst
4x Demonic Dread
3x Restore Balance
3x Blood Moon
4x Leyline of Sanctity
4x Veinfire Borderpost
4x Firewild Borderpost
1x Fieldmist Borderpost
1x Mistvein Borderpost
4x Evolving Wilds
2x Mountain
2x Plains
1x Forest
1x Swamp
2x Terramorphic Expanse
2x Anger of the Gods
1x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
3x Dead // Gone
4x Leyline of the Void
2x Ricochet Trap
3x Wear // Tear
UR Delver 0-2
Eldrazi Taxes 2-0
Jeskai Control 2-0
GW Tokens 2-0
Mardu Pyromancer 2-1
RG Valakut 2-1
Mardu Pyromancer 0-2
I think red focus style is more consistent. Chandra is an additional wincon and good to against Liliana and control match.
Sideboard I try 3 Dead // Gone. It can deal with Thalia, Meddling Mage and Affinity creatures.
Next week I'll try blue version. Think Jace is very powerful for our deck.
Why not just play 3 Beast Within?
Cast Out and Ixalan’s Binding are downgrades from what we’ve streamlined into.
I’m still not sold on Chandra. I have 3 of them wasting away in my collection, but I really don’t see a place for them in here.
@F97302012 (curious name, btw), how often did Demonic Dread not having a target become a problem? It’s been a talking point for a while and in some metas it is almost unplayable.
@Gearhulk Nahiri’s Wrath requires too much setup to be good. Yes, we want to dump our hand, but not that fast and it sometimes won’t even do anything except discard us cards. March of the Machines was another card that was played in early adaptations of this deck, but it’s since been phased out due to the amount of artifact hate and setup required to win with it. Ghirapur was mentioned when it first came out as a potential sideboard card, but with all the board hate against artifacts, it didn’t make the cut.
On the subject of split cards, Wear // Tear is the best, as Loki stated, but some people experimented with Research // Development to some success. Prior to the rules change boom//bust was a popular card because we could cascade into it and nuke all the lands. Apart from that, I don’t think there have been many good split cards for our deck.
And would you happen to have any notes on how those matches went?
I, personally, wouldn’t run either of those. RB does what KR does but better. The only other sweeper I run is Anger of the Gods because of the exile clause.
I, too, am curious as to the details of F9’s matches. Beating Pyromancer then losing to it piques my interest. Also, that game loss to Valakut interests me. As someone that has faced Valakut over 100 times (I did a lot of playtesting) and never once dropped a game, even on mulligans to 4, I am always curious when I see a game loss to them.
@TheGreatGodLoki
Dead // Gone only need one mana and Kozilek's Return need three. Sometimes I only have to kill hated creature like Thalia or Meddling Mage. I think Dead // Gone is more flexible.
@epoa
Valakut match, although my list has lot's of card to beat or slowdown the Valakut, but in game2 did not expect she sided in 4 Chalice and did not have the answer. Game3 I sided in Waer//Tear and win very quick.
Pyromancer matches, the opponent was same person. In second game he always kept lands in his hand to minimum Balance's advantage, and I did not draw leyline in both game to prevent hand disruption. Think Leyline is very important for our deck and worth in main. It can against Jace too.
RGForest BelcherRG
WUBRGBring to BalanceWUBRG
Commander Decks:
WUBSharuum the HegemonWUB
WUBRGScion of the Ur-DragonWUBRG
UBDralnu, Lich LordUB
UBRNekusar, the MindrazerUBR
I will be very short: I have my own brew of Restore Balance, and is more or less a Toolbox deck. I Love to play this version over the popular one for a number of reasons. It feels nice, and all the games are actually different (even if the wincons are the same).
However: I had a break of a couple of months, and after the new tuning I find myself severely manascrewed. I am not really good in mana-math, and basically that's why I am posting here! I need help to determine
A) the ratio of borderposts' "color pie" (aka how many of which type to use)
B) ratio of basics lands.
Note: I'm not willing to run any fetchland that costs me life.
So, coming to the list:
4 Firewild Borderpost
3 Fieldmist Borderpost
3 Wildfield Borderpost
2 Veinfire Borderpost
2 Mistvein Borderpost
RB package (12)
3 Restore Balance
4 Violent Outburst
3 Ardent Plea
2 As Foretold
1 Bow of Nylea
1 Ghostly Prison
2 Blood Moon
2 Ajani Vengeant
3 Gifts Ungiven
3 Beast Within
4 Simian Spirit Guide
2 Perplex
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Unburial Rites
1 Lodestone Golem
2 Metalwork Colossus
I will not write the actual lands because they are messy and they are the reason, alongside the posts, of this very forum post.
AS usual is a mix of Terramorphic Expanse and Evolving Wilds plus a variating number of basics, and absolute zero utility lands.
If somebody has the patience to give it some thought, I will be very Glad!
ESDIT: And of course, suggestions and opinions are always welcomed!
Thanks for the read,
Shanaxe
I am also pretty new to this discussion but have been playing Restore Balance for a while on MTGO and just got the deck in paper. I'm a bit surprised that your list doesn't have Greater Gargadon since all our lists run a playset of it. Additionally I was wondering about your decision to only include 3
Ardent Plea since cascade is crucial to our deck. Most of our lists have completely cut black and have
Nahiri, the Harbinger and Emrakul, the Aeons Torn over Ajani Vengeant and your other wincons. I really like the idea of a toolbox build though and would like to hear about some of the games your games. The list I have is a much more typical build of the deck but my sideboard is still a work in progress. http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/23-02-18-restore-balance/?cb=1519434710
Hello!
I will gladly expand my reasoning:
About Gargadons:
Greater Gargadon is indeed a fitting card and more than reasonable staple for the archetype. However, in my own experience, I noticed that tis card serves me good only if drawn in opening hand or in the first few turns. Otherwise, he's a horrible topdeck that does nothing to enhance my strategy especially if there is another one already suspended. This, with the presence of BW D&T in my meta (Wasteland Strangler is just a direct counter to Gargadon, and can be cast istant speed with Æether Vial) made me decide to cut one at first. But the lower number of Gargadons made them also more rare to be seen in the first turns, making them effectively less good.
So one day I made up my mind and cut them completely. I am still managing to win matches, so for now they will stay in my Hall of Fames, for the deck (this doesn't mean that they are not good. I am exclusively speaking about my personal experience with the deck, so far.)
About Pleas:
Ardent Plea is the only Enchantment cascader in our arsenal. It happens that also As Foretold is an enchantment. In a previous iteration, I was running 4 pleas and a singleton Ghirapur Æther Grid, for those pesky matches where attacking is not the right solution. Also, was running only 2 copies of Restore Balance (never needed more to actually win a game). So, I added 2 As Foretold, and to compensate the lack of one cascader, I added an extra copy of balance, as now I have the chance to cast it from my hand.
Is my most recent change, but so far so good - As Foretold made my life and mana management easier.
While I REALLY like Nahiri, the Harbinger, it became such an obvious staple that made me wonder if is the correct way to play it right now. You see, as it is most of time I face an opponent that knows the game, he knows about the deck. This means, that he knows about the outs, and how popular Nahiri+Emrakul is. Which means that as soon as he sees a borderpost, he will start a gameplan with this "setup" in mind. The other reason is that Pithing Needle makes 5 of your card useless, if you run such combo. And unfortunately is a card I saw too many times ruining my day already.
Truth is, I willingly traded consistency for versatility. So far, Gifts Ungiven is the best card in my deck. Is a combo enabler, or messes up hard with people's mind - both because how the text is written, the pressure you put on the opponent for the responsability of the choice, and the little mindgames you can start if you put a land in the choices (especially against unexperienced players). More than once I had congratulations for playing a good Gifts, or just by playing the card in general (which is quite funny, btw).
Generally speaking, I don't like dead cards. I even Run 61 cards, to give more utility to the deck draws and ratios with Restore Balance. To me Emrakul, the Aeons Torn looks like the fifth Greater Gargadon.
About Matches, what can I say.. Sometimes happens that unprepared players mocks my borderposts. They usually lose. Grixis decks are not easy to battle with, but not impossible. Eldratron has been an even match so far, for me (and is the deck I played most against.) If they have the nuts draw, they win. If I have, I win. In the middle, the match is pretty close at all stages.
So far the best game I had won was a 2-0 against Jund player who was bragging a little. G1 he didn't expected the deck, but he knew. I made some misplays but didn't got punished. Iona, Shield of Emeria won me the game. Second match however, was spectacular. ended up winning solely thanks a Ricochet Trap I sided in because of lack of Ideas. It happened that I was with that in hand, 4 Hp and Ajani Vengeant ready for the kill next turn. However he had a Scavenging Ooze, and I was expecting him to focus on Ajani. He was at 2 Hp (thanks to some beasts form Beast Within and his own Dark Confidant. Declaration of attackers, Scooze to face. EoT, taps for Lightning Bolt, to the face of course. I am a shy one, that tends to give up a little bit too soon, so I was demoralized by that bolt. Then I looked at my hand and at the 4 mana open I had. Was Epic. Redirect Bolt to his face with that goofy full paid Ricochet Trap, won the game, saw his face. Priceless.
Then I witnessed a rain of salt about price tags, s**t cards that nobody plays, and some swearing against luck itself.
However, now the deck heavily underperforms, only because of the manabase, and I don't know how to change it. Both the ratio of borderposts and basic lands.
1 Island
1 Mountain
2 Forest
2 Swamp
1 Plains
4 Terramorphic Expanse
2 Evolving Wilds
I don't feel them right, but alongside the posts, I don't know how to change it. That's the most help I need for now
I see where you're coming from with versatility over power. I know what you mean with the manabase issues you have having also experienced it. I had the same problem in a lot of my games where I will have three colors of mana but need a different color to cascade with which i don't draw until a couple turns later when i'm almost (or already) dead. The lack of consistency was really annoying and is why I cut black after reading some other people talking about it. This doesn't really seem feasible with your deck since you rely so much on Unburial Rites as a win condition. Other than that I am considering trying to fix the manabase by figuring out which color I search up most often (Red or Blue) and than adding more posts of the other colors. For instance; if in most of my games I need red for a Greater Gargadon and get it first almost every time then I might have more G/W and U/B than R/G or R/B posts. I haven't actually tested this yet but it might help.
https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/restoring-modern/?cb=1519571896
Thanks for the advice! Actually might make sense. To tell the truth, I was actually pondering on black sources, manabase and whant the color gives me. I will try a mix of ideas, and will give feedback.
Thanks for the answer! To tell the truth, I can say I was wondering about Drift of Phantasms for quite some time. Can actually be more easy to have UU rather than search for the UB for Perplex as a tutor. That was the olny thing keeping black for me. Also Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas is a tempting idea, but as for now, he's not in my 75.
I see you're using Thassa, God of the Sea in your main! How is it performing? Is on my radar for some time. If you can give me some nice words on her, I might be trying her soon
I will try to cut the black and to adjust my manabase accordingly. For the question of Stony silence, I still use posts as a way to discount Metalwork colossus. What I can do is to have multiple plains to fetch to be sure to be able to cast Wispmare eventually.
I like your list, saw what you did with Gideons and Jace, you evil man
So far so good, thanks for the replies! I will experiment with the imputs. If anybody wants to add something, all feedback is welcome!