I'm going to give Akroma an extended stay in my list after discussion with DrNutzlos.
I'm dropping one Spellskite for another Aven Mindcensor for tomorrow. Search hate feels relevant.
Solid, spellskite is becoming less so IMO. I'm gonna actually try and write a blurb about it later haha. Best of luck next week I suppose! Eidolon of rhetoric is a good side against living end btw. Him with a mark down pretty much means you win the match in my experience, if you really are concerned about the match up.
Just as a note, the store didn't have any copies of Brimaz so I had to borrow 2 Splicers from my brother to fill the gap. I figured I should throw in the angels in place of Hero for the extra tokens.
Opponent was playing GW Hatebears. It was a mix of both decks, as he was playing Blade Splicer & Flickerwhisps, but also had Smiters and Teeg. Game 1 I was able to lock him down off of 1 Arbiter and a thalia. Flickering his Aether Vial on turn 4 then beating down in the air with a sworded up whisp.
Game 2 he boarded in a sword of feast and famon, I didn't see anything else from him and the game came to an end after my Splicer's golem carrying a sword of War & Peace couldn't break through his 2 opposing golems. This is actually signification as the splicer should have been brimaz, who would have been able to attack through his team with the help of Eiganjo Castle while still being on blocking duty for his Smiter.
Game 3 was a loss after top decking 3 plains in a row after turn 4.
After playing a turn 1 Aether Vial, my opponent played Catacombs into Temple Garden into Steppe Lynx. I played Tunnel Ingus and he burst out laughing. His turn 2 he ended up taking 7 damage from landfalls & Fetchlands, and died on the next turn
Game 2 I played a turn 1 Tunnel Ingus and while my opponent tried to not crack fetches, his 0/1 Lynx didn't keep him alive any longer than in game 1
Game 1 he played a turn 1 Wild Nacatle and I proceed to die over the next 5 turns while drawing a decent amount of lands.
Game 2 went just about as well as he began attacking with a 4/4 Cat on turn 3 from a pride mage. My Aether Vial was on 2 and he blew it up thinking it was going to play an Arbiter. My actual plan was to vial in Blade Splicer on my upkeep, then begin attacking with a 5/5 first strike Vigilance golem (from Slayers' Stronghold). Losing Aether Vial set me back a turn on this plan, and I ended up losing the race the turn before I was able to kill him.
Brimaz would have been excellent here, as he had no blockers for my token aside from Noble Hierarch, which was keeping his cat alive in combat. Brimaz's tokens definitely would have swung the race into my favor.
Round 4 I got a bye, finishing off my night with a 2-2 (actually 1-2) record.
All in all I'm pretty happy with how it went considering I don't get to play paper modern very often. The landfall matchup was a free win I wasn't expecting but I didn't feel that my losses in the other games were so far away that I couldn't have won anyway, and the games would have definitely played out differently if Brimaz had been the 2 splicers in my deck.
Forgive me if this seems rather janky but I came across Merieke Ri Berit and wanted to splash it into by W/B list. I'm definitely being a bit greedy (weaker to Blood Moon) but I'm mostly hoping to cast her at the end of my opponents turn via vial. In creature match-ups it can get kind of ridiculous with the blink effects.
Forgive me if this seems rather janky but I came across Merieke Ri Berit and wanted to splash it into by W/B list. I'm definitely being a bit greedy (weaker to Blood Moon) but I'm mostly hoping to cast her at the end of my opponents turn via vial. In creature match-ups it can get kind of ridiculous with the blink effects.
Urborg is probably the least of the issues here with this list, but all that aside, I think a fifth blue source is needed to hit it more consistently. I'm unsure here, did you just want the merieki aspect reviewed, or the whole list?
I wanna write about a difficult topic, and will probably need help here, posting opinions on it would be good. I want to do a section on "things to look for in keepable game one hands". There's a lot of nuance here so any expert advice would be very much appreciated.
What are everyone's thoughts on the playability of Hushwing Gryff from M15?
It's an excellent card if you're on the opposite side of the table. It hoses this deck since we're running Flickerwisp, Resto and Blade Splicer. You probably meant it's playability in general and not in this deck, right?
One thing it has going for it is that it hoses Pod. That said, it's easier to get rid of than Orb. Also, what decks in Modern run white and no Resto/Snap? GW hatebears maybe, Zoo, then what? I think it's almost always too narrow for the mainboard, and for the side Orb is better in most decks (not Zoo, not Hatebears). Imho we'll see it, but not more than Orb. See top of this page for more.
I love the Merieke Ri Berit idea, very original. I would probably cut the relic-warders and add some blue sources to the main deck, among other things. But you should definitely try it out and report back.
I think Hushwing Gryff probably fits best into hatebears style decks. Between this and torpor orb, I'd love to see a hatebears deck with Eater of Days at the top end.
Urborg is probably the least of the issues here with this list, but all that aside, I think a fifth blue source is needed to hit it more consistently. I'm unsure here, did you just want the merieki aspect reviewed, or the whole list?
Both aspects being reviewed couldn't hurt. I was testing on MODO last night and Merieke did some work vs. Tron, Pod and Twin. It clearly may be a bit too cute but it's also undoubtedly powerful.
I love the Merieke Ri Berit idea, very original. I would probably cut the relic-warders and add some blue sources to the main deck, among other things. But you should definitely try it out and report back.
Forgive me if this seems rather janky but I came across Merieke Ri Berit and wanted to splash it into by W/B list. I'm definitely being a bit greedy (weaker to Blood Moon) but I'm mostly hoping to cast her at the end of my opponents turn via vial. In creature match-ups it can get kind of ridiculous with the blink effects.
Urborg is probably the least of the issues here with this list, but all that aside, I think a fifth blue source is needed to hit it more consistently. I'm unsure here, did you just want the merieki aspect reviewed, or the whole list?
Forgive me if this seems rather janky but I came across Merieke Ri Berit and wanted to splash it into by W/B list. I'm definitely being a bit greedy (weaker to Blood Moon) but I'm mostly hoping to cast her at the end of my opponents turn via vial. In creature match-ups it can get kind of ridiculous with the blink effects.
okay, lets begin with it in order. Leonin relic-warder is not a good choice, they will just remove it in almost any deck you'd want it there for. You don't want to rely on that, not to mention the double white early is tricky in a two color deck, not to mention a three color one. Cut thoughtseize, it self taxes and you only have 8 first turn sources of black (not NEARLY enough to consistently hit it turn 1, you really would need like 17), not to mention the optimal creature count is 27 when youre running 25 for aether vial. For a three color deck, i do not believe you can afford to run tectonic edge. As far as your side goes, grand abolisher is not a good choice. It NEVER does what you want. If your concern is counters, run a singleton cavern of souls and lean on vial in those match ups (it's a hard call on keepable hands but well worth it, I bounce back worth between 1 and 2 caverns, build depending and it wins me a lot of control and tempo match ups, also in this build naming human would power out thalia and merieke which is key in those match ups for you). Sin collector is alright, I really have no real opinion there since i haven't really used it as much, i've found tidehollow accomplishes my hand control just fine and dandy most cases. You might want to stick a mark of asylum sideboard as well, since anger of the gods is a very very real threat to us. Again, don't run urborg, it will enable their fetches. Minamo, school at waters edge might be a good plan for you to abuse with merieke, giving you a fifth blue source and allowing you to steal emergency haste threats while killing them. All in all a solid trick with her. Personally, I use tapped out for checking my mana source balancing, you might wanna do that since it's going to be very very tricky here. To back up your pod and twin match ups you might want some sundering growth side, though there are other options, just something to keep in mind.
Hi guys, I'm looking at putting together a D&T build, loving the interactivity and decision trees involved. I have a couple of questions about splashes that I'm hazy on regarding splashes, and possible subsitutes.
First off, I'm happy to run a Green splash, but just wondering what it brings to the deck. Obviously it brings in good ol' Qasali Pridemage but that seems to be all. Is there a generally agreed on sideboard selection for Green, maybe Loxodon Smiter for the control matchup, where obviously we become the beatdown, and it lets us get some beats in in a hurry. (Thanks for posting that article by the way)
Secondly, being a bit fund limited, I play on MTGO where Restoration Angel is a bit pricey for me. What card would be a suitable replacement for it, I was considering either Aven Riftwatcher for the added lifegain in a burn heavy meta, such as online, or Kor Skyfisher for maintaining the bounce aspect.
Cheers guys, look forward to being a member of the D&T community!
A 4 flickerwisp, one resto package has it's advantages if you can't afford a play set. What the green splash brings depends on if you got GW or W(g). There are more than enough cards to fill the other restos slots :). Last part of the primer has a VERY solid side for GW, as well as reasons to run this or that.
Welcome to the community! I look forward to seeing more of you haha. I hope this helps! I'm sure other members can and will give you more details on the GW or W(g) build. I'm just sorry we lost the posts from the old primer, there was a really vast wealth of knowledge there. I will do my best to recover what I can though!
As I said, play solely on MTGO where burn seems to be pretty prevailing. I have the finks in main, and Kor Firewalkers in the side, which should give me a solid game against that. However, green seems to provide options for the side more than the main board. If I was coming at the from a mildly budget point of view, save on the Shock and Checklands, and maybe splurge for a Resto, by going mono white. What I'm wondering is whether the single angel makes a noticeable difference or not, or to stay with the reliable artifact/enchant main in the Pridemage, and go with GW.
Sorry if it seems like I'm asking to be spoon fed, but I just want to check I'm heading down the right course for the deck!
Cheers
One angel DOES make a difference since you can repeat it with wisp more, and it's one of the few bolt proof creatures. I would really urge you to not use firewalker and use burrenton forge-tender instead side, it's just better typically. A huge part of green depending on splash size is scavenging ooze and gavony township. Township gives important inevitability and is a really core part of the build. Greens real fantastic side options are creeping corrosion and choke, as well as more pridemage if necessary. Could you post a list? It would be much easier to give advice haha.
okay, lets begin with it in order. Leonin relic-warder is not a good choice, they will just remove it in almost any deck you'd want it there for. You don't want to rely on that, not to mention the double white early is tricky in a two color deck, not to mention a three color one. Cut thoughtseize, it self taxes and you only have 8 first turn sources of black (not NEARLY enough to consistently hit it turn 1, you really would need like 17), not to mention the optimal creature count is 27 when youre running 25 for aether vial. For a three color deck, i do not believe you can afford to run tectonic edge. As far as your side goes, grand abolisher is not a good choice. It NEVER does what you want. If your concern is counters, run a singleton cavern of souls and lean on vial in those match ups (it's a hard call on keepable hands but well worth it, I bounce back worth between 1 and 2 caverns, build depending and it wins me a lot of control and tempo match ups, also in this build naming human would power out thalia and merieke which is key in those match ups for you). Sin collector is alright, I really have no real opinion there since i haven't really used it as much, i've found tidehollow accomplishes my hand control just fine and dandy most cases. You might want to stick a mark of asylum sideboard as well, since anger of the gods is a very very real threat to us. Again, don't run urborg, it will enable their fetches. Minamo, school at waters edge might be a good plan for you to abuse with merieke, giving you a fifth blue source and allowing you to steal emergency haste threats while killing them. All in all a solid trick with her. Personally, I use tapped out for checking my mana source balancing, you might wanna do that since it's going to be very very tricky here. To back up your pod and twin match ups you might want some sundering growth side, though there are other options, just something to keep in mind.
Thank you for the advice, it's very much appreciated. Just a couple of things..
You are correct, 8 possible T1 sources is too few to be running a few set of Thoughtseize. However, you'd only need 11-13 T1 black sources to cast it "reliably". At 11-13, theres only a 8-10% chance you'll draw TS but not a T1 black source. I use this site for failure rates and this amazing post from an old member to work out my mana bases.
I'm used to running the W/G version and Qasali Pridemage has put in a lot of work for me in the past, especially with Pod and Affinity being so popular online. I was looking for something similarly versatile but I see your point on Leonin War-Relic; it's too vulnurable. I'll probably just up my SB hate.
Here's the current list taking into account your suggestions..
okay, lets begin with it in order. Leonin relic-warder is not a good choice, they will just remove it in almost any deck you'd want it there for. You don't want to rely on that, not to mention the double white early is tricky in a two color deck, not to mention a three color one. Cut thoughtseize, it self taxes and you only have 8 first turn sources of black (not NEARLY enough to consistently hit it turn 1, you really would need like 17), not to mention the optimal creature count is 27 when youre running 25 for aether vial. For a three color deck, i do not believe you can afford to run tectonic edge. As far as your side goes, grand abolisher is not a good choice. It NEVER does what you want. If your concern is counters, run a singleton cavern of souls and lean on vial in those match ups (it's a hard call on keepable hands but well worth it, I bounce back worth between 1 and 2 caverns, build depending and it wins me a lot of control and tempo match ups, also in this build naming human would power out thalia and merieke which is key in those match ups for you). Sin collector is alright, I really have no real opinion there since i haven't really used it as much, i've found tidehollow accomplishes my hand control just fine and dandy most cases. You might want to stick a mark of asylum sideboard as well, since anger of the gods is a very very real threat to us. Again, don't run urborg, it will enable their fetches. Minamo, school at waters edge might be a good plan for you to abuse with merieke, giving you a fifth blue source and allowing you to steal emergency haste threats while killing them. All in all a solid trick with her. Personally, I use tapped out for checking my mana source balancing, you might wanna do that since it's going to be very very tricky here. To back up your pod and twin match ups you might want some sundering growth side, though there are other options, just something to keep in mind.
Thank you for the advice, it's very much appreciated. Just a couple of things..
You are correct, 8 possible T1 sources is too few to be running a few set of Thoughtseize. However, you'd only need 11-13 T1 black sources to cast it "reliably". At 11-13, theres only a 8-10% chance you'll draw TS but not a T1 black source. I use this site for failure rates and this amazing post from an old member to work out my mana bases.
I'm used to running the W/G version and Qasali Pridemage has put in a lot of work for me in the past, especially with Pod and Affinity being so popular online. I was looking for something similarly versatile but I see your point on Leonin War-Relic; it's too vulnurable. I'll probably just up my SB hate.
Here's the current list taking into account your suggestions..
So I was in a minor tournament the other day, and am just getting around to doing the write up on the matches. Here is the first write up, I'll post others when I can/if there is interest.
Match 1
(Going Second)
Opening hand: leonin arbiter x2, Eiganjo castle, flickerwisp, thalia, plains
Turn 1
Him: Misty, end turn
Me: draw path, plains, he fetches a tapped vents
Turn 2
Him: plays tapped vents, taps out for a probe
^Here is where I mistake Twin for Storm. Subtle hint here, Storm wouldn't have paid the mana, they would have paid the life.^
Me: Tec edge, Thalia
Turn 3
Him: Scalding Tarn, spellskite
Me: draw Leonin Arbiter, play castle, play arbiter (Leave tec untapped, bad error), (He pops fetch for a vents)
Turn 4
Him: island, pass
Me: (draw a plains) pop tec on vents, he plays exarch tapping castle, pass
^Trying to prevent early splinter twin, was fishing for flickering his spellskite and then pathing his exarch, but the second exarch here really seals the game for him^
Turn 5
Him: island, pass
Me: canopy, he end of turn exarches
Turn 6
Him: play tec edge, hits castle
Me: (Draw swamp) play swamp, end of turn pestermite
Turn 7
Him: Twin on pester, infinite.
Board:
Restos + Brimaz out
2 skite, 2 dismember, and needle in.
Game 2
Hand: Godless Shrine x2, Pack Rat, Tidehollow, Ghost quarter, Path, Leonin arbiter
Turn 1
Me: Godless tapped, pass
Him: Scalding tarn, pass
Turn 2
Me: Godless Shrine untapped, Tidehollow sculler (Hand is Batterskull, 2x Keranos, Snapcaster Mage, twin, desolate lighthouse, tectonic edge) I take snapcaster. He pops tarn, grabs vents (19)
^Seeing his hand with tide let me know I could be ridiculously aggressive, and that committing to the pack rat was absolutely the way to go^
Him: Desolate lighthouse, pass
Turn 3
Me: Attack (17), play ghost quarters, rat
Him: Scalding tarn
Turn 4
Me: Attack (14) he fetches mountain, (13)
Him: Tectonic edge, pass end of turn pitch arb to rat, he bolts tide
Turn 5
Me: (Drew path) attack for 4 with rats (9)
Him: Taps out for batterskull, end of turn pitch arb to rat
Turn 6
Me: path the skull, swing for lethal.
^Good reason to love rat here, fast clock, uncounterable, can hold mana up til last minute if need be^
Side: keep same
Game 3
Hand: Godless Shrine, Leonin Arbiter, Vial, Brimaz, Canopy, Ghost Quarter, Flickerwisp
Turn 1
Him: Misty
Me: Ghost quarters, vial (Pop tarn for island)
Turn 2
Him: Sulfer
Me: Ghost Quarters
Turn 3
Him: Tarn, pop it mountain, serum visions
Me: Canopy, pass
Turn 4
Him: Tapped Stomping Grounds, end of turn vial arbiter
Me: (Drew Wisp) tectonic edge, pop it kill stomping, attack with arbiter (16)
^Here is where I went on complete tilt. Sloppy of me.^
Turn 5
Him: scalding tarn, end of turn vial brimaz
Me: He flashes exarch, taps Brimaz
Turn 6
Him: Island, end of turn I vial Splicer
Me: He flashes exarch, taps Brimaz
Turn 7
Him: Steam vents, spellskite
Me: nothing, he pops tarn for an island
Turn 8: Misty rainforest, plays twin on exarch, I vial wisp on exarch in response, he redirects to skite to go infinite, and I concede.
1-2
The take away here from the last game was I didn't try and tempo him out with wisps like I very much ought to of, and I went on tilt and it cost me the match. Our wins are narrow and you can't just try and auto pilot with beaters like I did with Brimaz and Splicer while not really trying to interact.
Those are my thoughts at least, at least game 1 and 2 I believe I made the right moves.
Death and Taxes players on MTGO what's going on? No tops in 2 weeks in dailies. You guys gotta represent!
As far as the deck goes I went 2-1-1 at a small shop tourney this Monday and was able to split top 4 and grab some store credit. Hooray!
Match 1: Melira Pod (draw)
G1: I sit down and the guy whoops out an IQ mat with 6 IQ pins tagged all over his mat, good way to start the night. I lose the die-roll and have to mull to 6. I start strong and am able to ward him off with Arbiter but he is able to wade off my attacks and takes control of the game late with a pod activation which I respond with Aven, to which he chords in response. Ouch. He takes control of the game from there and beats me down.
G2: I pull it together and do what the deck is supposed to do. I play the matchup properly and flash in aven in response to a key fetch from him, snag him at a few other opportune moments with a vialed in arbiter, and ooze for a persist trigger and get him to pack it in.
G3: I don't remember much from this match except that we stalemate with me having 3 arbiters and he had lots of dudes. I kill his key blocker, have him top-decking, and start gavony'ing but I hit T5 the turn before I game him so we draw :C
(The whole shop was watching our game though, they all hold my opponent in high regard and after seeing the game come to a close I catch a guy trading for leonin arbiters and ghost quarters off to the side lol)
0-0-1
Match 2: BW tokens (2-0)
G1: I sit down and ask the guy what he's playing because he watched me last round. He responds happily with BW Tokens. I see my opener...and I see blade splicer and a fair amount of restos along with some core cards and snap-keep it. He does what his deck does and make some tokens, but I'm able to catch him off guard with more restos than he expected on his swingbacks letting me win the race.
G2: This game actually goes fairly similar to the last game with me getting a lethal crack-back by utlizing a flicker wisp, and then resto angeling the wisp in response to equips from his sword and I break through and swing for the win.
Still couldn't believe I managed to win this matchup. I'm fairly certain it was largely due to luck but a win is still a win I suppose.
1-0-1
Match 3: Storm (2-0)
This is one of my close friends who was my ride to the tournament. I don't remember much from this match except for thalia, RIP, and me furiously apologizing for getting paired against him for the second modern tourney in a row XD.
2-0-1
Match 4: Burn with dudes (0-2)
I punted this match so bad. I saw scavenging ooze both games and I even saw Mr. Tenderloins G2 but I got nervous and sequenced my threats incorrectly and played oozes into situations where I couldn't get a proper amount of life and make sure it survived any incoming burn. Definitely a case of you learn more from when you lose because against burn I don't think I'll ever make the mistake again.
2-1-1
Because of my tiebreakers and ranking I make 4th and split. First tourney report so sorry if it sucks
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I'm dropping one Spellskite for another Aven Mindcensor for tomorrow. Search hate feels relevant.
Solid, spellskite is becoming less so IMO. I'm gonna actually try and write a blurb about it later haha. Best of luck next week I suppose! Eidolon of rhetoric is a good side against living end btw. Him with a mark down pretty much means you win the match in my experience, if you really are concerned about the match up.
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Tunnel Ingus
2 Blade Splicer
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Flickerwhisp
2 Magus of the Moon
3 Restoration Angel
2 Aven Mindcensor
4 Path to Exile
4 Aether Vial
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Slayers' Stronghold
2 Techtonic Edge
4 Ghost Quarter
1 Keldon Megaliths
9 Plains
1 Eiganjo Castle
2 Rest in Peace
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Stony Silence
1 Kataki
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Mirran Crusader
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Spellskite
Just as a note, the store didn't have any copies of Brimaz so I had to borrow 2 Splicers from my brother to fill the gap. I figured I should throw in the angels in place of Hero for the extra tokens.
Game 2 he boarded in a sword of feast and famon, I didn't see anything else from him and the game came to an end after my Splicer's golem carrying a sword of War & Peace couldn't break through his 2 opposing golems. This is actually signification as the splicer should have been brimaz, who would have been able to attack through his team with the help of Eiganjo Castle while still being on blocking duty for his Smiter.
Game 3 was a loss after top decking 3 plains in a row after turn 4.
Game 2 I played a turn 1 Tunnel Ingus and while my opponent tried to not crack fetches, his 0/1 Lynx didn't keep him alive any longer than in game 1
Game 2 went just about as well as he began attacking with a 4/4 Cat on turn 3 from a pride mage. My Aether Vial was on 2 and he blew it up thinking it was going to play an Arbiter. My actual plan was to vial in Blade Splicer on my upkeep, then begin attacking with a 5/5 first strike Vigilance golem (from Slayers' Stronghold). Losing Aether Vial set me back a turn on this plan, and I ended up losing the race the turn before I was able to kill him.
Brimaz would have been excellent here, as he had no blockers for my token aside from Noble Hierarch, which was keeping his cat alive in combat. Brimaz's tokens definitely would have swung the race into my favor.
Round 4 I got a bye, finishing off my night with a 2-2 (actually 1-2) record.
All in all I'm pretty happy with how it went considering I don't get to play paper modern very often. The landfall matchup was a free win I wasn't expecting but I didn't feel that my losses in the other games were so far away that I couldn't have won anyway, and the games would have definitely played out differently if Brimaz had been the 2 splicers in my deck.
Here's my current list..
4 Leonin Arbiter
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Leonin Relic-Warder
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Flickerwisp
2 Aven Mindcensor
2 Merieke Ri Berit
4 Restoration Angel
Other (12)
4 Aether Vial
4 Path to Exile
4 Thoughtseize
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Godless Shrine
4 Seachrome Coast
2 Fetid Heath
2 Plains
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Vault of the Archangel
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
2 Sin Collector
2 Fulminator Mage
2 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Dismember
1 Grand Abolisher
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Doomsdayin'
Urborg is probably the least of the issues here with this list, but all that aside, I think a fifth blue source is needed to hit it more consistently. I'm unsure here, did you just want the merieki aspect reviewed, or the whole list?
It hoses 90% of our deck, including the resto flickerwisp splicer core. It just can't be done without switching from DnT to hatebears.
It's an excellent card if you're on the opposite side of the table. It hoses this deck since we're running Flickerwisp, Resto and Blade Splicer. You probably meant it's playability in general and not in this deck, right?
One thing it has going for it is that it hoses Pod. That said, it's easier to get rid of than Orb. Also, what decks in Modern run white and no Resto/Snap? GW hatebears maybe, Zoo, then what? I think it's almost always too narrow for the mainboard, and for the side Orb is better in most decks (not Zoo, not Hatebears). Imho we'll see it, but not more than Orb. See top of this page for more.
Stay reasonable, be mindful of your expectations and don't feed the trolls.
Doomsdayin'
I think Hushwing Gryff probably fits best into hatebears style decks. Between this and torpor orb, I'd love to see a hatebears deck with Eater of Days at the top end.
I was so focused on fixing it completely slipped my mind haha, thanks.
Both aspects being reviewed couldn't hurt. I was testing on MODO last night and Merieke did some work vs. Tron, Pod and Twin. It clearly may be a bit too cute but it's also undoubtedly powerful.
Will add more blue sources and test, thanks.
okay, lets begin with it in order. Leonin relic-warder is not a good choice, they will just remove it in almost any deck you'd want it there for. You don't want to rely on that, not to mention the double white early is tricky in a two color deck, not to mention a three color one. Cut thoughtseize, it self taxes and you only have 8 first turn sources of black (not NEARLY enough to consistently hit it turn 1, you really would need like 17), not to mention the optimal creature count is 27 when youre running 25 for aether vial. For a three color deck, i do not believe you can afford to run tectonic edge. As far as your side goes, grand abolisher is not a good choice. It NEVER does what you want. If your concern is counters, run a singleton cavern of souls and lean on vial in those match ups (it's a hard call on keepable hands but well worth it, I bounce back worth between 1 and 2 caverns, build depending and it wins me a lot of control and tempo match ups, also in this build naming human would power out thalia and merieke which is key in those match ups for you). Sin collector is alright, I really have no real opinion there since i haven't really used it as much, i've found tidehollow accomplishes my hand control just fine and dandy most cases. You might want to stick a mark of asylum sideboard as well, since anger of the gods is a very very real threat to us. Again, don't run urborg, it will enable their fetches. Minamo, school at waters edge might be a good plan for you to abuse with merieke, giving you a fifth blue source and allowing you to steal emergency haste threats while killing them. All in all a solid trick with her. Personally, I use tapped out for checking my mana source balancing, you might wanna do that since it's going to be very very tricky here. To back up your pod and twin match ups you might want some sundering growth side, though there are other options, just something to keep in mind.
Until you board in karma-alt win con............;)
A 4 flickerwisp, one resto package has it's advantages if you can't afford a play set. What the green splash brings depends on if you got GW or W(g). There are more than enough cards to fill the other restos slots :). Last part of the primer has a VERY solid side for GW, as well as reasons to run this or that.
Welcome to the community! I look forward to seeing more of you haha. I hope this helps! I'm sure other members can and will give you more details on the GW or W(g) build. I'm just sorry we lost the posts from the old primer, there was a really vast wealth of knowledge there. I will do my best to recover what I can though!
One angel DOES make a difference since you can repeat it with wisp more, and it's one of the few bolt proof creatures. I would really urge you to not use firewalker and use burrenton forge-tender instead side, it's just better typically. A huge part of green depending on splash size is scavenging ooze and gavony township. Township gives important inevitability and is a really core part of the build. Greens real fantastic side options are creeping corrosion and choke, as well as more pridemage if necessary. Could you post a list? It would be much easier to give advice haha.
Thank you for the advice, it's very much appreciated. Just a couple of things..
You are correct, 8 possible T1 sources is too few to be running a few set of Thoughtseize. However, you'd only need 11-13 T1 black sources to cast it "reliably". At 11-13, theres only a 8-10% chance you'll draw TS but not a T1 black source. I use this site for failure rates and this amazing post from an old member to work out my mana bases.
I'm used to running the W/G version and Qasali Pridemage has put in a lot of work for me in the past, especially with Pod and Affinity being so popular online. I was looking for something similarly versatile but I see your point on Leonin War-Relic; it's too vulnurable. I'll probably just up my SB hate.
Here's the current list taking into account your suggestions..
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Jotun Grunt
4 Flickerwisp
2 Aven Mindcensor
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
2 Merieke Ri Berit
4 Restoration Angel
Other (9)
4 Aether Vial
4 Path to Exile
1 Dismember
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Godless Shrine
4 Seachrome Coast
2 Plains
1 Fetid Heath
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
1 Vault of the Archangel
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
2 Sin Collector
2 Fulminator Mage
1 Mark of Asylum
1 Dismember
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Worship
1 Engineered Explosives
Notable changes..
I loved the idea of Minamo. Also included Brimaz, Shizo and Eiganjo.
Testing Jotun Grunt to see how well of a Scooze impression he can do.
I'll test and report back.
Looks very solid! I love grunt in my jund match ups, always nice. Let me know how the minamo merieke combo works out! It looks brutal haha.
Match 1
(Going Second)
Opening hand: leonin arbiter x2, Eiganjo castle, flickerwisp, thalia, plains
Turn 1
Him: Misty, end turn
Me: draw path, plains, he fetches a tapped vents
Turn 2
Him: plays tapped vents, taps out for a probe
^Here is where I mistake Twin for Storm. Subtle hint here, Storm wouldn't have paid the mana, they would have paid the life.^
Me: Tec edge, Thalia
Turn 3
Him: Scalding Tarn, spellskite
Me: draw Leonin Arbiter, play castle, play arbiter (Leave tec untapped, bad error), (He pops fetch for a vents)
Turn 4
Him: island, pass
Me: (draw a plains) pop tec on vents, he plays exarch tapping castle, pass
^Trying to prevent early splinter twin, was fishing for flickering his spellskite and then pathing his exarch, but the second exarch here really seals the game for him^
Turn 5
Him: island, pass
Me: canopy, he end of turn exarches
Turn 6
Him: play tec edge, hits castle
Me: (Draw swamp) play swamp, end of turn pestermite
Turn 7
Him: Twin on pester, infinite.
Board:
Restos + Brimaz out
2 skite, 2 dismember, and needle in.
Game 2
Hand: Godless Shrine x2, Pack Rat, Tidehollow, Ghost quarter, Path, Leonin arbiter
Turn 1
Me: Godless tapped, pass
Him: Scalding tarn, pass
Turn 2
Me: Godless Shrine untapped, Tidehollow sculler (Hand is Batterskull, 2x Keranos, Snapcaster Mage, twin, desolate lighthouse, tectonic edge) I take snapcaster. He pops tarn, grabs vents (19)
^Seeing his hand with tide let me know I could be ridiculously aggressive, and that committing to the pack rat was absolutely the way to go^
Him: Desolate lighthouse, pass
Turn 3
Me: Attack (17), play ghost quarters, rat
Him: Scalding tarn
Turn 4
Me: Attack (14) he fetches mountain, (13)
Him: Tectonic edge, pass end of turn pitch arb to rat, he bolts tide
Turn 5
Me: (Drew path) attack for 4 with rats (9)
Him: Taps out for batterskull, end of turn pitch arb to rat
Turn 6
Me: path the skull, swing for lethal.
^Good reason to love rat here, fast clock, uncounterable, can hold mana up til last minute if need be^
Side: keep same
Game 3
Hand: Godless Shrine, Leonin Arbiter, Vial, Brimaz, Canopy, Ghost Quarter, Flickerwisp
Turn 1
Him: Misty
Me: Ghost quarters, vial (Pop tarn for island)
Turn 2
Him: Sulfer
Me: Ghost Quarters
Turn 3
Him: Tarn, pop it mountain, serum visions
Me: Canopy, pass
Turn 4
Him: Tapped Stomping Grounds, end of turn vial arbiter
Me: (Drew Wisp) tectonic edge, pop it kill stomping, attack with arbiter (16)
^Here is where I went on complete tilt. Sloppy of me.^
Turn 5
Him: scalding tarn, end of turn vial brimaz
Me: He flashes exarch, taps Brimaz
Turn 6
Him: Island, end of turn I vial Splicer
Me: He flashes exarch, taps Brimaz
Turn 7
Him: Steam vents, spellskite
Me: nothing, he pops tarn for an island
Turn 8: Misty rainforest, plays twin on exarch, I vial wisp on exarch in response, he redirects to skite to go infinite, and I concede.
1-2
The take away here from the last game was I didn't try and tempo him out with wisps like I very much ought to of, and I went on tilt and it cost me the match. Our wins are narrow and you can't just try and auto pilot with beaters like I did with Brimaz and Splicer while not really trying to interact.
Those are my thoughts at least, at least game 1 and 2 I believe I made the right moves.
As far as the deck goes I went 2-1-1 at a small shop tourney this Monday and was able to split top 4 and grab some store credit. Hooray!
Match 1: Melira Pod (draw)
G1: I sit down and the guy whoops out an IQ mat with 6 IQ pins tagged all over his mat, good way to start the night. I lose the die-roll and have to mull to 6. I start strong and am able to ward him off with Arbiter but he is able to wade off my attacks and takes control of the game late with a pod activation which I respond with Aven, to which he chords in response. Ouch. He takes control of the game from there and beats me down.
G2: I pull it together and do what the deck is supposed to do. I play the matchup properly and flash in aven in response to a key fetch from him, snag him at a few other opportune moments with a vialed in arbiter, and ooze for a persist trigger and get him to pack it in.
G3: I don't remember much from this match except that we stalemate with me having 3 arbiters and he had lots of dudes. I kill his key blocker, have him top-decking, and start gavony'ing but I hit T5 the turn before I game him so we draw :C
(The whole shop was watching our game though, they all hold my opponent in high regard and after seeing the game come to a close I catch a guy trading for leonin arbiters and ghost quarters off to the side lol)
0-0-1
Match 2: BW tokens (2-0)
G1: I sit down and ask the guy what he's playing because he watched me last round. He responds happily with BW Tokens. I see my opener...and I see blade splicer and a fair amount of restos along with some core cards and snap-keep it. He does what his deck does and make some tokens, but I'm able to catch him off guard with more restos than he expected on his swingbacks letting me win the race.
G2: This game actually goes fairly similar to the last game with me getting a lethal crack-back by utlizing a flicker wisp, and then resto angeling the wisp in response to equips from his sword and I break through and swing for the win.
Still couldn't believe I managed to win this matchup. I'm fairly certain it was largely due to luck but a win is still a win I suppose.
1-0-1
Match 3: Storm (2-0)
This is one of my close friends who was my ride to the tournament. I don't remember much from this match except for thalia, RIP, and me furiously apologizing for getting paired against him for the second modern tourney in a row XD.
2-0-1
Match 4: Burn with dudes (0-2)
I punted this match so bad. I saw scavenging ooze both games and I even saw Mr. Tenderloins G2 but I got nervous and sequenced my threats incorrectly and played oozes into situations where I couldn't get a proper amount of life and make sure it survived any incoming burn. Definitely a case of you learn more from when you lose because against burn I don't think I'll ever make the mistake again.
2-1-1
Because of my tiebreakers and ranking I make 4th and split. First tourney report so sorry if it sucks