After having a month of some variance with various decks, I decided to try a strong, tried, and true deck. Baaaaad idea...
Round 1 vs. RUG Moon. This guy always seems to be one up on me in the meta. I always tend to play rough matchups for myself because we both switch decks a lot. I was hoping he was on UR Breach from Wednesday when he got me 2-1, but he wasn't. In the first game, I get an early Tasigur, but he has ScM, Goyf, and Tireless Tracker with lands to keep him at bay. I draw all the way up to 7 lands by turn 7 and the Tasigur DOES NOT get there. In the next game, it is similar, but I have some more pressure than that and he is whiffing badly. He ends up losing to some late drawn creatures after doing Jace, the Mind Sculptor twice and Ancestral Vision and not getting anything. We run out of time before starting the last game. 1-1.
Round 2 vs. Humans. He mulls to 6, but has just enough to get me. He peels a land right on time to play 3 three drops, including double Reflector Mage and I don't get any removal. In the next game, he mulled to 4. I actually had one of my best hands of the tournament, so this game was easy. Still had 7 lands in play. In the final game, he keeps. I mull and he changes his decision. He draws enough Reflector Mages again to barely get there. I lost the game when I milled Engineered Explosives AND Kozilek's Return with a Thought Scour, but I needed to do it for Angler. The Angler was bounced anyway and I couldn't find removal again. I made a misplay, not delving Fatal Push when I knew he had the new Dire Fleet Daredevil and he drew a land the next turn to Fatal Push my Death's Shadow. He would have barely won anyway since my last 3 draws were Thoughtseize, IoK, and land, but I should have played correctly. 1-2.
Round 3 vs. Belcher. I am about to win the first game, but he top decks Traverse the Ulvenwald into Noxious Gearhulk and kills my creature. He draws gas and I draw lands and scoop. In the next game, I make him discard everything and he never finds the 2nd copy of Goblin Charbelcher. I drew K Command this game! In the final game, he Blood Moons me, but neither of us are doing much. I have 2 Ceremonious Rejection and my 2 basics for the longest time, but keep drawing Serum Visions. I decide to use them every once in a while to dig. I find Engineered Explosives and kill a Goyf (5/6) and 2 Wall of Roots to finally start swinging through. Got there. 2-1.
Round 4 vs. Fetchless Burn. It's a budget build. I get there in 2 games. The first one is a strong one for me and Stubborn Denial on Lightning Bolt after Stubborn Denial on Deflecting Palm wins me the game as his last card is a land. In the next one, he puts a lot of pressure on me to put me to 1 life, then draws 4 lands in a row and Eidolon when my Lily was on 3. Horrible luck for him! I scoop to him since he was 2-1 and only 3-1 and better get prizes. 2-1.
I get 2-1-1, but technically 1-2-1 after scooping. It's been a tough month for me. I had prized here probably 90% of the time or more before the last 2 months. Now it seems that no matter what I play, it's a bad meta call. I may stick with this deck though to see if I hit all of the potential bad decks. Also it's good against the people I drive with and I seem to play them every single time (but NOT TODAY!!!!).
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
I think there is an argument to bring in Deprive, Ceremonious Rejection, Duress, Brutality, Liliana of the Veil and Kolaghan's Command since they all do something relevant. I would bring in Liliana and Kommand before the Brutality since the subset of cards which Brutality is relevant against is ~10 (Ancient Stirrings, Sylvan Scrying, x). Liliana, as a way to attack Tron's hand and definitely strip away a card, is more effective than Brutality IMO. Kommand being able to interact with things like Oblivion Stone or Expedition Map is a reasonable way to keep them off balance. The downside of Liliana and Kolaghan's Command, however, is that they are relatively slow at 3 mana. Despite this downside, I feel that they are still better suited than Collective Brutality.
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Anyone having success with Baubles? All the current lists in the meta arent running baubles. I plan on playing Grixis at GP hartford and can't seem to settle on a version. Between the GP Madrid list and the SCG Dallas Classic all are sans Bauble.
Hey guys, I've been messing around with the baubles version and I feel it's actually faster, also it seems that Jund has actually slowed down a little with the 4 bloodbraid elf MB, could it be feasible just to go under Jund? I mean, could it be possible that the deck is actually in a good place right now? or is Jacekai too dominant and too awful for GDS??
Hey guys, I've been messing around with the baubles version and I feel it's actually faster, also it seems that Jund has actually slowed down a little with the 4 bloodbraid elf MB, could it be feasible just to go under Jund? I mean, could it be possible that the deck is actually in a good place right now? or is Jacekai too dominant and too awful for GDS??
Sounds like we are the same boat. I keep thinking Baubles is the way to go but people seem to be having success without it (see SCG Dallas Classic and GP Madrid lists.)
New to the thread, but is there a person who has a Youtube channel that regularly posts videos of this deck? I know there are quite a few videos online of the deck, but it's much easier to just go through a playlist already made. If not, I can just browse naturally, but figured it couldn't hurt to ask. I didn't see anything in the primer.
Young P Is used in the grindy matches usually. And when you expect graveyard hate. Swap out an angler with a young pyro. In the mirror it's nice, especially against opposing lilianas. Sacrificeing a token is better than sacrificing a shadow.
After experimenting around I'm finally back on Shadow and the deck felt great to play again. I just have a few things to note.
1. Serum vs. Opt. I think this comes down to a playstyle choice honestly, reminding me of the days when the storm camp was divided between playing Faithless Looting and Desperate Ravings. Both have their pros and cons, and I don't necessarily think there is a wrong choice. I'm currently on Serum but that's because I value consistency over everything, especially in a deck like this.
2. The new 16-17 lands versions with Mishra's Bauble. I know a few lists have been doing well with this configuration but this is the choice that I am not a fan of. It was cool to see Ari Lax play a 16 cantrip version last year, but at this point bauble feels too all-in. Extra copies of Sleight/Opt can help dig a little deeper at the cost of some speed, bauble just feels like having too much air in the deck. There's also a few other issues, like the nonbo bauble can have with goyfs if playing dismembers over Terminate/Dreadbores. To me this version feels like it's trying too much to be like a Traverse Shadow list without the threat density so it just ends up feeling super light. Bauble also has some anti-synergy with YP's in the side unlike the extra blue cantrips for what that is worth.
3. There's a chance this deck is just fine and needs to wait for some of the control decks to weed out before it can come back, but if not there's quite a few value cards that can be added to the side to help combat them (and Jund/Pyromancer decks). Options such as more threats (YP and Vendilion Clique), Lilianas, Painful Truths, Rise//Fall and for some super spicy but more than likely far too cute options there's Search for Azcanta as well as Hazoret the Fervent. Traverse shadow decks have been picking it up as a way to really turn the corner super quickly but I have also seen it pop up in UR decks as well. There's times where the deck feels like it is short of threats and Hazoret might be a cool fun-of option to add that enables Ferocious, which both Clique and YP don't. 4 mana is a bit awkward however so it's probably not good enough for the cut but it is something I really want to try out.
Going forward the deck will probably be fine, I just think it's currently in flux with some of it's previous pilots also fiddling around with different decks and current users trying out different configurations of the deck. There's probably some fine line between the bauble versions and the versions trying to go way over the top and shove Jace's in the side with their best Grixis control impression (I don't think this deck needs Jace's). The deck's strength lies in it's ability to play like a control, midrange and combo deck and shift it's gears depending on the matchup. It's almost like a Jack of all trades deck, being able to do several things pretty well but not excellently.
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Modern URBSome variant of Death's Shadow URB Grixis Control (Chapin Version) JFM Storm / Treasure Cruise Delver / Splinter Twin / Infect
Hi, I'm new here and I'm building GDS and my question is which cards are necessery in SB for this deck. Mostly I'm asking about Liliana of the Veil, because it's really expensive card so i'm thinking about,can i play without her? I choose a version without baubles because i like more this one. And lastly 4 Opts or 4 Serum visions?? I didn't play with the deck so i don't know which card is better.
To me this version feels like it's trying too much to be like a Traverse Shadow list without the threat density so it just ends up feeling super light.
I see what you're saying, but Traverse really isn't packed with threats either. 4 Goyf, 4 Shadow, maybe a Flayer, as opposed to 4 Shadow, 4 Tas / Angler.. they're just a bit easier to cast for Traverse usually.
i like traverse more than grixis because it has more cards that allow me to interact with the board instead of just going all in with a delve creature or DS that usually dies and we just sit there waiting for a top deck. traverse's mainboard abrupt decays have won me many games that would have been forgone conclusions.
i am now playing 4c traverse ds because it has enough main deck choices to cope with the diversity of decks in modern in g1 with a semi transformational sideboard with cards like 1 x godless shrine and 3 x lingering souls.
I played Grixis Shadow again - only 16 people because of the GP Phoenix.
Round 1 vs. Storm. I just take some key cards, Stubborn Denial important stuff, and Fatal Push some dudes. He said he was close to a lethal Grapeshot in game 2, but I don't think he realized how many Stubborn Denials I had. He drew an Empty the Warrens in game 1 to stall me for 3 turns, but it still seemed fine. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. GR Ponza. I nab some key stuff, don't fall victim to him drawing another Blood Moon, and get there with a lot of dudes. It is similar in the next game with a Liliana of the Veil ticking up to ultimate, but if he draws land, he can play Inferno Titan. He draws Bloodbraid Elf and gets Utopia Sprawl. If he attacks, it's lethal because of Death's Shadow. If he doesn't, I can Bolt and then it's lethal. That's what happens. 2-0.
Round 3 vs. BG Tron. I mull to 5 and draw 2 Fatal Push and Terminate. Not ideal. I side all of those out. In the next game, I get there with an early Death's Shadow. I had GAS, with Stubborn Denials, Ceremonious REjections, and ScM. The next game is similar, but I have just enough gas to nab the last 2 cards in his hand 2-1.
Round 4 vs. UR Breach. We ID'd, 0-0-3, but played for fun. I take a Remand, but he draws another one for my ScM/Inquisition of Kozilek to try to take his Blood Moon and he gets there with Breach later on. Blood Moon was pretty rough. In the next few games, I get a good board presence, take key cards, and get there with overpowered dudes. I got there, 2-1.
I finish 3-0-1, which is strong for being in a slump. Maybe it's over?
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Where can I find a good sidebord guide for the curtent meta? I had some trouble today trying to figure out what to side out against Mardu Pyromancer and Jund.
Where can I find a good sidebord guide for the curtent meta? I had some trouble today trying to figure out what to side out against Mardu Pyromancer and Jund.
Take out all Denials and Battle Rages. Put in Lilianas and anything else that grinds. You still won't be favored but it's possible, I guess.
Where can I find a good sidebord guide for the curtent meta? I had some trouble today trying to figure out what to side out against Mardu Pyromancer and Jund.
Take out all Denials and Battle Rages. Put in Lilianas and anything else that grinds. You still won't be favored but it's possible, I guess.
against mardu pyromancer, wouldn't you need TBR to punch through the tokens?
against jund, i reckon having your own young pyromancer would help but its fringe.
against mardu pyromancer, wouldn't you need TBR to punch through the tokens?
This is a very tricky one. TBR is good against go-wide strategies, but it is bad against removal. Any or all of these philosophies could be correct:
They have tokens, particularly Lingering Souls tokens. Once they go wide they are better on both offense and defense than we are. We need TBR to break through and its the best option we have to win the matchups.
They are a Terminate/ Fatal Push/ Dreadbore deck. TBR is a liability. It can lack targets completely, and lead to huge blowouts. We can't afford the risk of dead cards or card disadvantage in a grindy matchups.
TBR is an option, but there are better ways of fighting. Liliana the Last Hope is good against both removal and tokens. We want it anyway against midrange and barring Bolt or Dreadbore it generally cleanly answers a Lingering Souls. Izzet Staticaster kills all of their little dudes. Pyroclasm and Kozilek's Return are also better options that we generally have available, and unlike Junk with Souls - which sometimes just draws Goyfs and Ooze - they will almost always be effective.
Mardu is a bad matchup, so we should go for the jugular and try to kill them before they grind us down with Reveler and Souls. TBR is the best way to do this. We should try to avoid jamming it into removal as much as possible, but we need to go fast and kill them before they set up.
How good TBR is depends entirely on how you sideboard. If we have the full complement of Thoughtseize, Inquisition, and Stubborn Denial, we ran reliably punch a hole for it and protect our creatures. If we sideboard these out and decide to go more midrange/grindy, then we can't expect to use it safely and effectively.
I've been thinking lately how useful Jace's brainstorm ability would be for this deck in any game that goes beyond turn 5 or 6 when we start to flood out on fetch lands or draw discard spells after the window where they are effective has passed. I wanted to ask if anyone had tried a build with 19 or 20 lands and a 2 copies of Jace? I was planning to build and test something like this for my weekly event.
I feel like playing 17 or 18 lands can be a trap forcing you to keep too many 1 land hands that never get there in time. One advantage of the build I'm proposing would be to improve opening hand quality by running a few more land, as well as giving us a way to prevent flooding in the late game. My biggest concern is that we are still a 19 or 20 land deck (with ~12 cantrips to be fair), so getting to 4 lands to cast jace is never going to be guaranteed, even by turn 6 or so. Also increasing the mana curve with a 4-drop will certainly hurt us some amount of the time in the early game.
I'm curious to hear if anyone has tested anything like this or if anyone has any feedback for me that could be useful.
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Round 1 vs. RUG Moon. This guy always seems to be one up on me in the meta. I always tend to play rough matchups for myself because we both switch decks a lot. I was hoping he was on UR Breach from Wednesday when he got me 2-1, but he wasn't. In the first game, I get an early Tasigur, but he has ScM, Goyf, and Tireless Tracker with lands to keep him at bay. I draw all the way up to 7 lands by turn 7 and the Tasigur DOES NOT get there. In the next game, it is similar, but I have some more pressure than that and he is whiffing badly. He ends up losing to some late drawn creatures after doing Jace, the Mind Sculptor twice and Ancestral Vision and not getting anything. We run out of time before starting the last game. 1-1.
Round 2 vs. Humans. He mulls to 6, but has just enough to get me. He peels a land right on time to play 3 three drops, including double Reflector Mage and I don't get any removal. In the next game, he mulled to 4. I actually had one of my best hands of the tournament, so this game was easy. Still had 7 lands in play. In the final game, he keeps. I mull and he changes his decision. He draws enough Reflector Mages again to barely get there. I lost the game when I milled Engineered Explosives AND Kozilek's Return with a Thought Scour, but I needed to do it for Angler. The Angler was bounced anyway and I couldn't find removal again. I made a misplay, not delving Fatal Push when I knew he had the new Dire Fleet Daredevil and he drew a land the next turn to Fatal Push my Death's Shadow. He would have barely won anyway since my last 3 draws were Thoughtseize, IoK, and land, but I should have played correctly. 1-2.
Round 3 vs. Belcher. I am about to win the first game, but he top decks Traverse the Ulvenwald into Noxious Gearhulk and kills my creature. He draws gas and I draw lands and scoop. In the next game, I make him discard everything and he never finds the 2nd copy of Goblin Charbelcher. I drew K Command this game! In the final game, he Blood Moons me, but neither of us are doing much. I have 2 Ceremonious Rejection and my 2 basics for the longest time, but keep drawing Serum Visions. I decide to use them every once in a while to dig. I find Engineered Explosives and kill a Goyf (5/6) and 2 Wall of Roots to finally start swinging through. Got there. 2-1.
Round 4 vs. Fetchless Burn. It's a budget build. I get there in 2 games. The first one is a strong one for me and Stubborn Denial on Lightning Bolt after Stubborn Denial on Deflecting Palm wins me the game as his last card is a land. In the next one, he puts a lot of pressure on me to put me to 1 life, then draws 4 lands in a row and Eidolon when my Lily was on 3. Horrible luck for him! I scoop to him since he was 2-1 and only 3-1 and better get prizes. 2-1.
I get 2-1-1, but technically 1-2-1 after scooping. It's been a tough month for me. I had prized here probably 90% of the time or more before the last 2 months. Now it seems that no matter what I play, it's a bad meta call. I may stick with this deck though to see if I hit all of the potential bad decks. Also it's good against the people I drive with and I seem to play them every single time (but NOT TODAY!!!!).
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)4 Death's Shadow
4 Street Wraith
3 Gurmag Angler
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4 Thought Scour
4 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Opt
4 Stubborn Denial
4 Fatal Push
2 Dismember
2 Temur Battle Rage
2 Watery Grave
4 Polluted Delta
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Steam Vents
1 Swamp
1 Island
1 Deprive
2 Collective Brutality
2 Liliana of the Veil
1 Duress
2 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Lightning Bolt
1 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Kolaghan's Command
I was thinking this:
-4 Fatal Push
-2 Dismember
+1 Deptive
+2 Ceremonious Rejection
+1 Duress
+2 Collective Brutality
Would two Lili or two Kolaghan's Command be better than the two Collective Brutality?
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Sounds like we are the same boat. I keep thinking Baubles is the way to go but people seem to be having success without it (see SCG Dallas Classic and GP Madrid lists.)
Lantern Control
(with videos)
Uc Tron
Netdecking explained
Netdecking explained, Part 2
On speculators and counterfeits
On Interaction
Every single competitive deck in existence is designed to limit the opponent's ability to interact in a meaningful way.
Record number of exclamation points on SCG homepage: 71 (6 January, 2018)
"I don't want to believe, I want to know."
-Carl Sagan
1. Serum vs. Opt. I think this comes down to a playstyle choice honestly, reminding me of the days when the storm camp was divided between playing Faithless Looting and Desperate Ravings. Both have their pros and cons, and I don't necessarily think there is a wrong choice. I'm currently on Serum but that's because I value consistency over everything, especially in a deck like this.
2. The new 16-17 lands versions with Mishra's Bauble. I know a few lists have been doing well with this configuration but this is the choice that I am not a fan of. It was cool to see Ari Lax play a 16 cantrip version last year, but at this point bauble feels too all-in. Extra copies of Sleight/Opt can help dig a little deeper at the cost of some speed, bauble just feels like having too much air in the deck. There's also a few other issues, like the nonbo bauble can have with goyfs if playing dismembers over Terminate/Dreadbores. To me this version feels like it's trying too much to be like a Traverse Shadow list without the threat density so it just ends up feeling super light. Bauble also has some anti-synergy with YP's in the side unlike the extra blue cantrips for what that is worth.
3. There's a chance this deck is just fine and needs to wait for some of the control decks to weed out before it can come back, but if not there's quite a few value cards that can be added to the side to help combat them (and Jund/Pyromancer decks). Options such as more threats (YP and Vendilion Clique), Lilianas, Painful Truths, Rise//Fall and for some super spicy but more than likely far too cute options there's Search for Azcanta as well as Hazoret the Fervent. Traverse shadow decks have been picking it up as a way to really turn the corner super quickly but I have also seen it pop up in UR decks as well. There's times where the deck feels like it is short of threats and Hazoret might be a cool fun-of option to add that enables Ferocious, which both Clique and YP don't. 4 mana is a bit awkward however so it's probably not good enough for the cut but it is something I really want to try out.
Going forward the deck will probably be fine, I just think it's currently in flux with some of it's previous pilots also fiddling around with different decks and current users trying out different configurations of the deck. There's probably some fine line between the bauble versions and the versions trying to go way over the top and shove Jace's in the side with their best Grixis control impression (I don't think this deck needs Jace's). The deck's strength lies in it's ability to play like a control, midrange and combo deck and shift it's gears depending on the matchup. It's almost like a Jack of all trades deck, being able to do several things pretty well but not excellently.
URB Some variant of Death's Shadow
URB Grixis Control (Chapin Version)
JFM Storm / Treasure Cruise Delver / Splinter Twin / InfectCommander/EDH
This pile of cards when I feel like it
Death's Shadow discord link
I see what you're saying, but Traverse really isn't packed with threats either. 4 Goyf, 4 Shadow, maybe a Flayer, as opposed to 4 Shadow, 4 Tas / Angler.. they're just a bit easier to cast for Traverse usually.
Abzan Traverse / Traverse Shadow / UR Kiki
i am now playing 4c traverse ds because it has enough main deck choices to cope with the diversity of decks in modern in g1 with a semi transformational sideboard with cards like 1 x godless shrine and 3 x lingering souls.
Active thread contributor of Jeskai Prowess Tempo
Round 1 vs. Storm. I just take some key cards, Stubborn Denial important stuff, and Fatal Push some dudes. He said he was close to a lethal Grapeshot in game 2, but I don't think he realized how many Stubborn Denials I had. He drew an Empty the Warrens in game 1 to stall me for 3 turns, but it still seemed fine. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. GR Ponza. I nab some key stuff, don't fall victim to him drawing another Blood Moon, and get there with a lot of dudes. It is similar in the next game with a Liliana of the Veil ticking up to ultimate, but if he draws land, he can play Inferno Titan. He draws Bloodbraid Elf and gets Utopia Sprawl. If he attacks, it's lethal because of Death's Shadow. If he doesn't, I can Bolt and then it's lethal. That's what happens. 2-0.
Round 3 vs. BG Tron. I mull to 5 and draw 2 Fatal Push and Terminate. Not ideal. I side all of those out. In the next game, I get there with an early Death's Shadow. I had GAS, with Stubborn Denials, Ceremonious REjections, and ScM. The next game is similar, but I have just enough gas to nab the last 2 cards in his hand 2-1.
Round 4 vs. UR Breach. We ID'd, 0-0-3, but played for fun. I take a Remand, but he draws another one for my ScM/Inquisition of Kozilek to try to take his Blood Moon and he gets there with Breach later on. Blood Moon was pretty rough. In the next few games, I get a good board presence, take key cards, and get there with overpowered dudes. I got there, 2-1.
I finish 3-0-1, which is strong for being in a slump. Maybe it's over?
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Take out all Denials and Battle Rages. Put in Lilianas and anything else that grinds. You still won't be favored but it's possible, I guess.
Abzan Traverse / Traverse Shadow / UR Kiki
against mardu pyromancer, wouldn't you need TBR to punch through the tokens?
against jund, i reckon having your own young pyromancer would help but its fringe.
Active thread contributor of Jeskai Prowess Tempo
This is a very tricky one. TBR is good against go-wide strategies, but it is bad against removal. Any or all of these philosophies could be correct:
I feel like playing 17 or 18 lands can be a trap forcing you to keep too many 1 land hands that never get there in time. One advantage of the build I'm proposing would be to improve opening hand quality by running a few more land, as well as giving us a way to prevent flooding in the late game. My biggest concern is that we are still a 19 or 20 land deck (with ~12 cantrips to be fair), so getting to 4 lands to cast jace is never going to be guaranteed, even by turn 6 or so. Also increasing the mana curve with a 4-drop will certainly hurt us some amount of the time in the early game.
I'm curious to hear if anyone has tested anything like this or if anyone has any feedback for me that could be useful.