There's been a lot of debate on that recently in the last few pages. Some people (like myself) don't think we need it and prefer more disruption spells. Others swear by it and would never cut it from the deck.
Quick report, i decided to try out smuggler's copter in the 2 drop slot. Unfortunately i drew zero during today's tournament, bummer.
Still went 4-0 beating ponza 2-0, hardened scales aggro 2-0, mono red prison 2-1 and dredge 2-1. A lot of the games got closed real quick.
Also made a minor change, now playing with only 3 colorless mana producing lands. 4 was too much.
I did get to play with copter in a game i played for fun with one of my opponents, and it might be what we are looking for until another playable 2 drop spirit (if ever) is printed. The 3/3 stats are nice, gets through 1 or 2 power flying blockers. The loot is awesome, even getting just one or two triggers is huge. Obviously that was just one game but i'll keep you guys posted on further testing this week!
I'm about to test a couple of copters aswell, did you test it any further?
I'm interested in hearing what are you hoping to draw with it and what you're happy to discard.
Which creatures you use to crew?
Let us know some tales about it,I'm listening
Haven't done much more testing, i'm tweaking other decks currently. Nothing good for this deck to try in amonkhet and probably the next set as well.
Hoping to draw spirits, happy to discard lands. We lose when we flood, and win when we draw lots of spirits. The deck operate well on 3 lands anyways.
Always use the spirit you just played this turn to crew copter, hopefully you draw more spirits with copter or can make moorland haunt token for crewing.
Quick report, i decided to try out smuggler's copter in the 2 drop slot. Unfortunately i drew zero during today's tournament, bummer.
Still went 4-0 beating ponza 2-0, hardened scales aggro 2-0, mono red prison 2-1 and dredge 2-1. A lot of the games got closed real quick.
Also made a minor change, now playing with only 3 colorless mana producing lands. 4 was too much.
I did get to play with copter in a game i played for fun with one of my opponents, and it might be what we are looking for until another playable 2 drop spirit (if ever) is printed. The 3/3 stats are nice, gets through 1 or 2 power flying blockers. The loot is awesome, even getting just one or two triggers is huge. Obviously that was just one game but i'll keep you guys posted on further testing this week!
I'm about to test a couple of copters aswell, did you test it any further?
I'm interested in hearing what are you hoping to draw with it and what you're happy to discard.
Which creatures you use to crew?
Let us know some tales about it,I'm listening
Tested the Smuggler's Copter online on xmage and id say it worked well. It helped filter cards early and mid game. it having semi protection by turning into an artifact at end of turn was nice. It put pressure on the opponent and forces them to use removal on it and with Kira, Great Glass Spinner and Selfless Spirit its typically easy to protect when it is a creature. My only issue is that it really is useless without a creature. In some Grixis matches and other decks i faced with super heavy creature removal they made sure I have no creatures to crew it.
All that said I like the concept and also wanted a kind of finisher for the deck that would allow me to put pressure on my opponent and as Geist of Saint Traft is almost perfect for that role it isn't a flier and that has cost me quite a few games because it was easily blocked. Under this understanding I decided to test out Dragonlord Ojutai and I like it so far. Much like Copter it allows filter once the deck is typically running out of steam, it has semi protection and 5 is nice chunk of life. Here is my current deck list. I'll take thoughts and comments.
You'll also notice I'm not using Path to Exile. I really hate giving my opponent lands and where as Cast Out is 3 more expensive, at worst it can be a 1 mana draw card in supplement to Serum Visions or at its best flashable removal which allowed me to successfully get rid of a Emrakul, the Aeons Torn before my opponent was able to attack me with it.
Looks good - though with that list (i.e. with four legendary cards) Minamo, School at Water's Edge would probably be fine addition - especially the synergy with Ojutai!
Today, we had some time on our hands, so our local modern specialist who has nearly every top tier modern deck built played several of them he thought would do ok against my UW Spirits and I crushed hard, losing a game here or there, but not losing any matches. He played Bant Eldrazi, Abzan, Grixis Shadow, Naya Burn, and Merfolk. It's nice knowing my brew does so well against the field. I love the fact that it beats up on decks like Tron and Affinity that I hate losing to as well.
Today, we had some time on our hands, so our local modern specialist who has nearly every top tier modern deck built played several of them he thought would do ok against my UW Spirits and I crushed hard, losing a game here or there, but not losing any matches. He played Bant Eldrazi, Abzan, Grixis Shadow, Naya Burn, and Merfolk. It's nice knowing my brew does so well against the field. I love the fact that it beats up on decks like Tron and Affinity that I hate losing to as well.
Opinions in using Familiar's Ruse as a 3 off for the deck???
Why would we? We have zero creatures with etb abilities worth bouncing, double blue is difficult, and the card is very awkward in general. I don't like it.
You can't jam 4x ghost quarter and have a mana base as good as a "normal" one, this is what i mean. You have 16 colored sources, you'd need 19 to cast your gold card on curve consistently. Plus you take much more damage with adarkar wastes and the full 4x hallowed fountain than with a "normal" mana base. Not saying it isn't functional but playing 4x ghost quarters isn't free, there is a trade off. I've played with D&T in the past and you get these issues every once in a while, it is undeniable. Your mana is likely as good as it can be for your version, but it is much much worse than in taxless versions, and there is nothing you can do to fix this.
OK, I like to use Frank Karsten's colored sources article as a guide for my manabases. That says 14 sources of a color gives a 95% chance of being able to play a 1 drop of that color, yet I have 15 of each, +4 Aether Vial, and plus the rare time I'm forced to ghost quarter my own land for a color which even counting that as 1/4 of a source, drives it up to an effective 20. When counting the gold cards, there's 1 more source making it 2 colored sources out of every 7.5 cards not including Vials or Ghost Quarters, so on average, that's 2 colored sources by 2nd turn even on the play with extra leeway to give. I also make it much easier by not playing any double colored spells. I used to play another colored source, but after hundreds of matches, found that I kept drawing too many lands so I recently cut the third basic I'd been running for another spell. The 5 colorless lands can occasionally hurt, but much more often, they disrupt the opponent or provide the card advantage that this deck is lacking. Ghost Quarter is so well positioned now it's rediculous. All of the Death's Shadow variants max out at 1-2 basics. Eldrazi Tron in a tier 1 deck, Affinity is still a contender with it's 8 manlands. Both versions of Abzan play utility lands, and that's not even counting draws with Arbiter. The games they do hurt are far less often than the ones where they win me the game.
I find it interesting you use Frank Karsten's article for one drops (and 14 sources is 90% not 95%) but not for gold cards. For those, you use average. You want to play your captains and queller on curve 50% of the times? Seems bad. You are right about having enough colored sources to cast your wanderers, but not your 3 drops.
You have 16 sources of colored mana, Frank's article says you need 19. Even if we count vial as 1/4th of a source, that's still 17, two less than required, and vial should not count because it can't help cast 3 drops turn 3. And yes you can GQ yourself but that is a desperation move, not something you want to do. Also if we use the same math for casting 3 drops in time you'd need 22 lands, and you play 21 lands (again, vial doesn't help).
Another drawback is you are very soft to blood moon, against which traditional UW mana bases are resilient. And like i mentioned earlier you take a lot more damage from lands than a regular mana base would.
All i'm saying is jamming 4x GQ has a drawback, it isn't free. I actually like your list, like i said, and the trade off might very well be worth it. Ghost quarter seems very good right now. But you have to be aware this comes at a price, otherwise we'd all be jamming GQ x4 in every decks.
Ok, sorry. There is a cost, it just isn't that big of one IMO. Ghost Quartering myself is something I do relatively aggressively if I need to to make a play, but it is bad if I'm stuck on 2-3 lands without a vial. It's also a play I make aggressively against Blood Moon as well as Pathing my own creature if I don't have a Queller or Spell Pierce to stop it. Really though, I'm fine with people boarding it in against me. I've won most of the games where people tried playing it against me.
Monday 2-1
win 2-0 vs u/b delver
loss 1-2 vs knightfall
win 2-0 vs u/w control
Tuesday 3-0
2-1 vs ponza
2-0 vs merfolk
2-0 vs elves
Wednesday 2-1 (more like 1-1)
loss 0-2 vs 8 rack
win 2-1 vs abzan midrange
Round 3 : bye
Aftermath : So i wanted to try spirit of the labyrinth to fill the 2-drop whole. It was kind of hit or miss. I hated the lack of flying and the geier reach sanitarium combo never came up.
thursday went 3-1
loss 0-2 vs devoted druid combo
win 2-1 vs kuldotha red (goblins & robots)
win 2-0 vs u/w spirits (a more spell heavy version)
win 2-0 vs illusions tribal
Aftermath : irrigated farmland was pretty nice. I liked them a lot, but they will have to be tested in more games. I borrowed the 4x image idea from voltage and i like it (until we get something better). I also liked the 4 mana card advantage instant. Scry 2 draw 2 is a great effect. Not sure if it is better than ojutai’s command, which has been tried by some in this forum. I will try the command next time, see which i like most. Command seems great with image too!
Monday 3-1 (tied for 1st place)
R1 win 2-0 vs u/r delver/TiTi. Opponent stumbled on lands G1. G2 he was able to flip thing in the ice on his turn but thanks to vial and flash guys i replayed my stuff and counter-attacked for the win.
R2 loss 1-2 vs mono-black zombie pox, losses were due to mana flood and mana screw. Made a mistake G1 by playing cavern as my first land on the draw when i could have played moorland haunt. It got smallpoxed and i was left with a plains and another haunt as the only land i drew the whole game. Was able to put stuff into play with aether vial but only one dude a turn wasn't enough, and i lost the game with a bunch of uncastable stuff in my hand.
R3 win 2-0 vs knightfall. My tempo game got there both games.
R4 win 2-1 vs elves. Usually a though matchup, my counters were enough to win. Sometimes you just queller them to death and they can't kill or block any of our stuff. Multiple path to exile helped a lot too.
Tuesday 4-0 (officialy 3-0-1 because of ID)
R1 2-0 vs esper tokens, my opponent was new to the game and made a bunch of mistakes.
R2 2-0 vs naya burn, games were close, ojutai's command and blessed alliance from the board saved my life.
R3 2-0 vs death's shadow grixis, was able to tempo my opponent and takes advantage of my flyers and my opponent's low life total. Flashing in spirits to save my guys from removal gave me the wins.
R4 2-0 (intentional draw but we still played) vs r/g valakut. Again my tempo won me the games easily.
Are 22 lands always necessary? i personally went down to 20 and it feels great. Once i hit my third i'm fine most of the times, even if i have not vial on the table. I also play 3 x serum visions to smooth my drawing, but then wouldn't a cantrip be better than a cyclable land?
I don't think it would, but i might be wrong. Due to the instant-speed nature of the deck i'd rather have instant speed cantrips. And due to the fact that i'd much rather play a tapped land turn 2 than miss my 3rd land drop, i still think 22 is the correct number.
Our most powerful spirits cost 3, i never want to miss my 3rd land drop because i need to counter my opponent's stuff, apply pressure with a lord or tap down opposing attackers. Vial is great but it doesn't allow you to play your 3 drops in times, and therefore we should be playing 22 lands and not 20 in order to do that as often as possible, in my opinion. Cycling land is a fine compromize to mitigate flooding, i would think. Also note: i'm playing ojutai's command, 20 lands would be unreasonable for me.
What's the use you make of the 4 phantasmal images? aren't they too weak and in general a bit too slow to be played? i'm talking both of the fact you play them at sorcery speed and that you have to wait for one creature to be on the field to play it, so even though their cost is 2, you are never curving with them on your second turn. I have noticed you have took out the copters, which i like quite a lot. i'd like to know what didn't work with those. my opponents are scared of it as they know the advantage i can take from looting. it's also resilient to wraths and many small fliers.
I decided i wanted to max out on synergy. Copter not being a spirit is a huge downside, feels super bad to not be able to protect it. I reached the same conclusion with thalia. Both are totally fine, (usual rant: until another good spirit 2 drop is printed) but i'm trying to maximize synergy, and it just so happens that a lot of our spirits are great in multiples.
You DO get to curve out image if you play turn one wanderer, that is a fine aggressive play if your opponent is tapped out or doesn't play removal. Also maxing out on image maximizes your turbo double-lord draws, which is great, especially in a death's shadow meta.
Vial on two is awesome with them, i've been able to flash them copying spell queller and boy does that feel dirty. Being able to bring them back instant-speed with ojutai's command can also be a powerful play. Also against decks low on removal with big dudes, you get to copy their stuff which can get you an edge.
Speaking of sideboards, which matchups required the double copy of echoing truth? i like the card but i'm not siding it in enough.
Echoing truths used to be detention spheres but for some reason people tend to be scared of vials and side in artifact destruction, which often are also able to kill enchantments so i'm with truth now.
These are very important, but meta dependant. They are here for what i've come to consider our very much worst (read: nightmarish) matchups: prison. Either tezzeret thopter foundry, lantern of insight control or any random wacky pillowfort prison deck that plays our deck's two nemesis: ensnaring bridge and worship.
These cards are simply impossible for us to beat if they resolve. Counters are ok but if we don't have them in time and have no answer in our deck we might as well just snap scoop. Perhaps you have been fortunate enough to dodge these type of decks but i see them from time to time and need an answer. Truth is perfect because it beats double bridge/worship and is randomly useful vs token decks, because most tokens played in modern are flying 1/1s.
And is burrenton better than kor firewlker or other anti burn cards?
I tried blessed alliance, it's a good card but i'm siding it out to test vapor snags and others once again. I had the feeling that my deck can't profit of this spell 100%.
Yes, forge-tender is much better than kor. First the cost: double white is muuuuuch harder than single white, especially since cavern doesn't count in the math. You'll likely have to shock yourself to play kor, if you are able to cast it at all.
I can say with confidence i never lost to burn with turn one burrenton forge-tender. And might i add how great they are in the matchup now with 4x phantasmal image in my deck? Just being a speed bumb on the ground AND later counter a burn spell of your choice is super valuable. Especially since it counters their best card against us: searing blaze! It is also wizer on sideboard card economy, because you can bring them in vs anger of the gods decks, for when you want 2 additional selfless spirits. Or just bring them in vs skred red, ponza, or almost anything red really...
Blessed alliance is more than just additional removal. It used to be nuts vs infect, but the deck is pretty dead now. I still like to have them to answer problematic creatures, such as slippery bogle from the aura deck, occasional geist of saint traft/thrun, the last troll, or just kill big eldrazis, such as reality smasher, without losing value. Of course you get the bonus of overloading on hate vs burn, which makes the matchup even better, and that is a good thing since i face the deck quite often.
Hope that answers your questions and good luck with trying stuff!
Here's a list i've brewed. This time, the focus is around an unassuming common from Amonkhet (Supernatural Stamina)
Woof! With Lingering Souls & Fatal Push I kind of figured Esper spirits would be a very strong build, but you're absolutely right that Supernatural Stamina looks like it's a beater in this deck - so much synergistic utility with the rest of our creatures! Thanks for bringing it up!
In spirits probably. Clique's double blue cost from a non-spirit is rough since caverns don't help. Should be great vs tron, great vs oblivion stone and in particular ugin, the spirit dragon (against which we had nothing). Also handy vs some combo decks, and random stuff (at worst burning a fetchland is fine). Clique prevents problem cards from landing but does nothing against resolved ones. The can't be countered (since cycling isn't casting) and the bonus card draw are nice. Obviously less good when hard-casted, i think the bird will be pretty helpful.
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modern:UW spirits, BR goblins
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Take a read backwards and see what you think.
Haven't done much more testing, i'm tweaking other decks currently. Nothing good for this deck to try in amonkhet and probably the next set as well.
Hoping to draw spirits, happy to discard lands. We lose when we flood, and win when we draw lots of spirits. The deck operate well on 3 lands anyways.
Always use the spirit you just played this turn to crew copter, hopefully you draw more spirits with copter or can make moorland haunt token for crewing.
Tested the Smuggler's Copter online on xmage and id say it worked well. It helped filter cards early and mid game. it having semi protection by turning into an artifact at end of turn was nice. It put pressure on the opponent and forces them to use removal on it and with Kira, Great Glass Spinner and Selfless Spirit its typically easy to protect when it is a creature. My only issue is that it really is useless without a creature. In some Grixis matches and other decks i faced with super heavy creature removal they made sure I have no creatures to crew it.
All that said I like the concept and also wanted a kind of finisher for the deck that would allow me to put pressure on my opponent and as Geist of Saint Traft is almost perfect for that role it isn't a flier and that has cost me quite a few games because it was easily blocked. Under this understanding I decided to test out Dragonlord Ojutai and I like it so far. Much like Copter it allows filter once the deck is typically running out of steam, it has semi protection and 5 is nice chunk of life. Here is my current deck list. I'll take thoughts and comments.
2 Dragonlord Ojutai
4 Drogskol Captain
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Rattlechains
3 Selfless Spirit
4 Spell Queller
Enchantment (3)
3 Cast Out
Instant (9)
3 Blessed Alliance
2 Cryptic Command
4 Mana Leak
4 Serum Visions
Land (21)
4 Flooded Strand
3 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Island
2 Moorland Haunt
2 Plains
2 Tectonic Edge
2 Cavern of Souls
3 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Ratchet Bomb
2 Rest in Peace
3 Spreading Seas
2 Stony Silence
You'll also notice I'm not using Path to Exile. I really hate giving my opponent lands and where as Cast Out is 3 more expensive, at worst it can be a 1 mana draw card in supplement to Serum Visions or at its best flashable removal which allowed me to successfully get rid of a Emrakul, the Aeons Torn before my opponent was able to attack me with it.
3 Path to Exile
1 Spell Pierce
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Leonin Arbiter
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Phantasmal Image
4 Rattlechains
4 Selfless Spirit
4 Spell Queller
4 Drogskol Captain
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Adakar Wastes
2 Cavern of Souls
4 Ghost Quarter
1 Moorland Haunt
1 Plains
1 Island
1 Spell Pierce
1 Path to Exile
1 Gravedigger's Cage
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
1 Disenchant
3 Blessed Alliance
1 Detention Sphere
1 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
1 Worship
1 Moorland Haunt
Modern: UW Spirits
Seems good! Personally i hate bad mana bases (one of the reasons i don't play D&T anymore). But beating tron seems nice, good luck with that!
Why would we? We have zero creatures with etb abilities worth bouncing, double blue is difficult, and the card is very awkward in general. I don't like it.
Modern: UW Spirits
Modern: UW Spirits
You have 16 sources of colored mana, Frank's article says you need 19. Even if we count vial as 1/4th of a source, that's still 17, two less than required, and vial should not count because it can't help cast 3 drops turn 3. And yes you can GQ yourself but that is a desperation move, not something you want to do. Also if we use the same math for casting 3 drops in time you'd need 22 lands, and you play 21 lands (again, vial doesn't help).
Another drawback is you are very soft to blood moon, against which traditional UW mana bases are resilient. And like i mentioned earlier you take a lot more damage from lands than a regular mana base would.
All i'm saying is jamming 4x GQ has a drawback, it isn't free. I actually like your list, like i said, and the trade off might very well be worth it. Ghost quarter seems very good right now. But you have to be aware this comes at a price, otherwise we'd all be jamming GQ x4 in every decks.
Modern: UW Spirits
4 path to exile
artifacts: 4
4 aether vial
creatures: 30
4 mausoleum wanderer
4 selfless spirit
4 rattlechains
2 spirit of the labyrinth
2 thalia, guardian of thraben
2 phantasmal image
4 spell queller
4 drogskol captain
4 nebelgast herald
4 flooded strand
2 windswept heath
1 misty rainforest
2 hallowed fountain
3 plains
2 island
3 seachrome coast
2 cavern of souls
2 moorland haunt
1 geier reach sanitarium
2 echoing truth
2 blessed alliance
2 ceremonious rejection
2 rest in peace
2 stony silence
2 burrenton forge-tender
2 eidolon of rhetoric
1 Kira, great glass-spinner
Monday 2-1
win 2-0 vs u/b delver
loss 1-2 vs knightfall
win 2-0 vs u/w control
Tuesday 3-0
2-1 vs ponza
2-0 vs merfolk
2-0 vs elves
Wednesday 2-1 (more like 1-1)
loss 0-2 vs 8 rack
win 2-1 vs abzan midrange
Round 3 : bye
Aftermath : So i wanted to try spirit of the labyrinth to fill the 2-drop whole. It was kind of hit or miss. I hated the lack of flying and the geier reach sanitarium combo never came up.
Another list i tried today :
4 path to exile
2 glimmer of genius
artifacts: 4
4 aether vial
creatures: 28
4 mausoleum wanderer
4 selfless spirit
4 rattlechains
4 phantasmal image
4 spell queller
4 drogskol captain
4 nebelgast herald
4 flooded strand
1 windswept heath
1 misty rainforest
2 hallowed fountain
3 plains
3 island
2 irrigated farmland
2 seachrome coast
2 cavern of souls
2 moorland haunt
2 echoing truth
2 blessed alliance
2 ceremonious rejection
2 rest in peace
2 stony silence
2 burrenton forge-tender
2 eidolon of rhetoric
1 Kira, great glass-spinner
thursday went 3-1
loss 0-2 vs devoted druid combo
win 2-1 vs kuldotha red (goblins & robots)
win 2-0 vs u/w spirits (a more spell heavy version)
win 2-0 vs illusions tribal
Aftermath : irrigated farmland was pretty nice. I liked them a lot, but they will have to be tested in more games. I borrowed the 4x image idea from voltage and i like it (until we get something better). I also liked the 4 mana card advantage instant. Scry 2 draw 2 is a great effect. Not sure if it is better than ojutai’s command, which has been tried by some in this forum. I will try the command next time, see which i like most. Command seems great with image too!
My current list:
4 Flooded Strand
2 Windswept heath
1 Misty rainforest
3 Plains
2 Island
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Irrigated farmland
2 Seachrome coast
2 Cavern of souls
2 Moorland haunt
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Selfless Spirit
4 Rattlechains
4 Phantasmal image
4 Spell Queller
4 Drogskol captain
4 Nebelgast herald
Artifact: 4
4 Aether vial
Instants 4
4 Path to exile
2 Ojutai's command
2 Ceremonious rejection
2 Blessed alliance
2 Echoing truth
2 Stony silence
2 Rest in peace
2 Burrenton forge-tender
2 Eidolon of rhetoric
1 Kira, great glass spinner
Monday 3-1 (tied for 1st place)
R1 win 2-0 vs u/r delver/TiTi. Opponent stumbled on lands G1. G2 he was able to flip thing in the ice on his turn but thanks to vial and flash guys i replayed my stuff and counter-attacked for the win.
R2 loss 1-2 vs mono-black zombie pox, losses were due to mana flood and mana screw. Made a mistake G1 by playing cavern as my first land on the draw when i could have played moorland haunt. It got smallpoxed and i was left with a plains and another haunt as the only land i drew the whole game. Was able to put stuff into play with aether vial but only one dude a turn wasn't enough, and i lost the game with a bunch of uncastable stuff in my hand.
R3 win 2-0 vs knightfall. My tempo game got there both games.
R4 win 2-1 vs elves. Usually a though matchup, my counters were enough to win. Sometimes you just queller them to death and they can't kill or block any of our stuff. Multiple path to exile helped a lot too.
Tuesday 4-0 (officialy 3-0-1 because of ID)
R1 2-0 vs esper tokens, my opponent was new to the game and made a bunch of mistakes.
R2 2-0 vs naya burn, games were close, ojutai's command and blessed alliance from the board saved my life.
R3 2-0 vs death's shadow grixis, was able to tempo my opponent and takes advantage of my flyers and my opponent's low life total. Flashing in spirits to save my guys from removal gave me the wins.
R4 2-0 (intentional draw but we still played) vs r/g valakut. Again my tempo won me the games easily.
I don't think it would, but i might be wrong. Due to the instant-speed nature of the deck i'd rather have instant speed cantrips. And due to the fact that i'd much rather play a tapped land turn 2 than miss my 3rd land drop, i still think 22 is the correct number.
Our most powerful spirits cost 3, i never want to miss my 3rd land drop because i need to counter my opponent's stuff, apply pressure with a lord or tap down opposing attackers. Vial is great but it doesn't allow you to play your 3 drops in times, and therefore we should be playing 22 lands and not 20 in order to do that as often as possible, in my opinion. Cycling land is a fine compromize to mitigate flooding, i would think. Also note: i'm playing ojutai's command, 20 lands would be unreasonable for me.
I decided i wanted to max out on synergy. Copter not being a spirit is a huge downside, feels super bad to not be able to protect it. I reached the same conclusion with thalia. Both are totally fine, (usual rant: until another good spirit 2 drop is printed) but i'm trying to maximize synergy, and it just so happens that a lot of our spirits are great in multiples.
You DO get to curve out image if you play turn one wanderer, that is a fine aggressive play if your opponent is tapped out or doesn't play removal. Also maxing out on image maximizes your turbo double-lord draws, which is great, especially in a death's shadow meta.
Vial on two is awesome with them, i've been able to flash them copying spell queller and boy does that feel dirty. Being able to bring them back instant-speed with ojutai's command can also be a powerful play. Also against decks low on removal with big dudes, you get to copy their stuff which can get you an edge.
Echoing truths used to be detention spheres but for some reason people tend to be scared of vials and side in artifact destruction, which often are also able to kill enchantments so i'm with truth now.
These are very important, but meta dependant. They are here for what i've come to consider our very much worst (read: nightmarish) matchups: prison. Either tezzeret thopter foundry, lantern of insight control or any random wacky pillowfort prison deck that plays our deck's two nemesis: ensnaring bridge and worship.
These cards are simply impossible for us to beat if they resolve. Counters are ok but if we don't have them in time and have no answer in our deck we might as well just snap scoop. Perhaps you have been fortunate enough to dodge these type of decks but i see them from time to time and need an answer. Truth is perfect because it beats double bridge/worship and is randomly useful vs token decks, because most tokens played in modern are flying 1/1s.
Yes, forge-tender is much better than kor. First the cost: double white is muuuuuch harder than single white, especially since cavern doesn't count in the math. You'll likely have to shock yourself to play kor, if you are able to cast it at all.
I can say with confidence i never lost to burn with turn one burrenton forge-tender. And might i add how great they are in the matchup now with 4x phantasmal image in my deck? Just being a speed bumb on the ground AND later counter a burn spell of your choice is super valuable. Especially since it counters their best card against us: searing blaze! It is also wizer on sideboard card economy, because you can bring them in vs anger of the gods decks, for when you want 2 additional selfless spirits. Or just bring them in vs skred red, ponza, or almost anything red really...
Blessed alliance is more than just additional removal. It used to be nuts vs infect, but the deck is pretty dead now. I still like to have them to answer problematic creatures, such as slippery bogle from the aura deck, occasional geist of saint traft/thrun, the last troll, or just kill big eldrazis, such as reality smasher, without losing value. Of course you get the bonus of overloading on hate vs burn, which makes the matchup even better, and that is a good thing since i face the deck quite often.
Hope that answers your questions and good luck with trying stuff!
Woof! With Lingering Souls & Fatal Push I kind of figured Esper spirits would be a very strong build, but you're absolutely right that Supernatural Stamina looks like it's a beater in this deck - so much synergistic utility with the rest of our creatures! Thanks for bringing it up!
In spirits probably. Clique's double blue cost from a non-spirit is rough since caverns don't help. Should be great vs tron, great vs oblivion stone and in particular ugin, the spirit dragon (against which we had nothing). Also handy vs some combo decks, and random stuff (at worst burning a fetchland is fine). Clique prevents problem cards from landing but does nothing against resolved ones. The can't be countered (since cycling isn't casting) and the bonus card draw are nice. Obviously less good when hard-casted, i think the bird will be pretty helpful.