So it's a bit late, but here's a breakdown of the Ice Imports Invitational that I said I was going to write. Sorry it took so long; I've been busy with work lately. I tested a lot in the week prior to the tournament, and felt really underwhelmed by Servant of the Scale, debating on replacing them with some combination of Gods Willing, Valorous Stance, and another Ajani, Mentor of Heroes. I ultimately decided to cut them in favor of Gods Willing, since it's at least okay in pretty much every matchup. Here's the list that I played:
Round 1: Jacekai Tempo (1-2)
Game one my opponent plays 2 Jeskai Charms to put my huge Hangarback Walker on top of my deck, flashes the Charms back with Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, plays and flashes back 2 copies of Valorous Stance to stave off my multiple Managorger Hydras, plays 2 copies of Ojutai's Command to chump with Soulfire Grand Master and basically fogs me for ~10-15 turns before killing me in the air with a Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker.
Game two, I keep a risky hand of 4 lands, Elvish Mystic, Managorger Hydra, Valorous Stance. I get aggressive with the early hydra, but I'm absolutely done-for if my opponent removes it on the spot. He doesn't, and I draw nothing but air for 3 straight turns, content to swing for a measly 2 per turn as my opponent won't blink first. Finally, I draw a Dromoka's Command followed by Hardened Scales on the following turn, with my opponent attempting to Valorous Stance the Hydra after Scales triggers grew it to 4 power. I Stance back and he concedes.
Game three, my opponent does an effective job of removing my threats for much of the game, but I'm in a position where I've largely worn him out and I have Citadel Siege set on Khans, an Elvish Mystic in play, and a Den Protector in hand. I draw a second copy of Citadel Siege and debate which line to take. After seeing 2 Valorous Stance in game 1, and another copy in the short game 2, I'm wary of going all-in on the Elf, despite being able to grow it to 7 power and swing my opponent down to 1. If he untaps, Stances the Elf and holds up Ojutai's Command for my Maternal Witness, I'm at the mercy of my topdeck for the rest of the game, so I decided not to go with that line. If I take advantage of him being tapped out to morph the Den-pro, I can place the Siege counters on her, or on the Elf. Again, playing around Stance, I choose to morph the Den Protector, put the counters on the Elf and swing for 3. My opponent untaps, slams Anger of the Gods, and I draw air for 5 turns and die to 2 follow-up Mantis Riders. Had I played around Anger, I would have easily won the game. I asked my opponent after, and it turns out he was only running the 2 maindecked Stances, and none in the side
Round 2: GW Warriors (2-0)
Game one I play a turn 3 Hydra and turn 4 double Hardened Scales. I quickly kill him with a 15/15 trample.
Game two my opponent comes out to a blistering start with a pair of Heir of the Wilds and Dromoka's Commands to kill my team before they can grow out of size. I'm down to a Fleecemane Lion that gets monstrous, and nothing else. I stabilize at 3 life using the lion to Dromoka's Command fight an Heir of the Wilds, and then repeat the process with a recycled Command a la Den Protector. Without the brick wall that is Fleecemane Lion, I absolutely lose that game to the deathtouch warriors.
Round 3: Bant Midrange (2-0)
Game one my opponent and I trade early swings and I'm content with getting my race on. His enthusiasm for the race is explained as he slams an Ajani Steadfast and swings a Deathmist Raptor into me to go back to 14 life. I have a pair of Hardened Scales on the field, and had, on an earlier turn, activated my Hangarback Walker, Dromoka's Commanded to fight a Deathmist Raptor and explode my Walker into 6 flying tokens. At the end of his Ajani turn, I flip my Den Protector, putting it to 5 power, getting back Dromoka's Command. Untap, Command to bring it to 8 power. Swing for exactsies, ignoring Ajani. Easy game, easy life
Game two sees Glare of Heresy, regrowth the Glare of Heresy, Valorous Stance on my opponent's desperation Ojutai swing, and a swift concession thereafter. If you want to just knuckle up and throw boneheads at each other, this deck is going to win more often than not.
Round 4: Red Deck Wins (2-1)
Game one my opponent has removal (including Searing Blood)for my relevant threats and leaves me with an Elvish Mystic, an Ajani in hand, and 4 land on the field. Deciding that casting the Ajani and hoping to not get hammered too hard (I'm at 13 life) for it is better than doing nothing with my turn, I tap the Elf to play Ajani, turning the Elf into a tapped 4/4 and hoping it will be good enough to stabilize next turn. My opponent untaps and plays another Monastery Swiftspear and a Lightning Strike, shooting me for 7 to drop me to 6 life. I draw a Scales and dig with Ajani for a Hangarback Walker. My opponent shows me a Wild Slash and Exquisite Firecraft in hand.
Game two plays out similar to game one, with a lot of efficiently aimed burn spells reducing my board. Eventually I stabilize with Walkers vs his 2 Abbot of Keral Keep, and I have an Ordeal of Heliod that was scryed on top. I choose to trade to an empty board (tokens notwithstanding) and draw my ordeal, casting a sandbagged Fleecemane Lion against my now hellbent opponent. My opponent draws and passes, and I resolve myself to either win or lose on the spot, enchanting the Lion with the Ordeal and swinging for 4. My opponent draws and passes, and I swing it to 5 power and 2 counters. My opponent draws again, hoping to see a Roast, but can't find it and concedes.
Game three I manage to stave off an intense blitz that drops my life total from 20 to 16,13,11,7, and finally 3 with the help of burns spells. I've stabilized behind a 5/5 Fleecemane Lion and a 5/4 Avatar of the Resolute, taking my opponent down to 10 in two swings, leaving behind a thopter token to guard against a hasty threat. My opponent is hellbent and dead on board if they don't topdeck a lethal burn spell. He draws... Searing Blood, targeting my thopter. The last card in my hand is... Gods Willing. I breathe a sigh of relief as my opponent extends the hand, grateful to be done with such a nail-biting round.
Round 5: Gr Devotion (1-2)
Game one I have a huge board against his decent sized board (thanks to a turn 3 Xenagos, the Reveler and a Whisperwood Elemental) but I have an enormous Managorger Hydra along with the rest of the knuckledraggers that's threatening to lethal my opponent, barring an Ugin. He draws... Ugin. His one-of out, and he just happened to have it. So it goes.
Game two I play Scales into Hydra into Citadel Siege, and the most exciting thing he has going on is a Polukranos, World Eater.
Game three I keep a risky 7 of Elf, Siege, Ajani, and 4 lands, reasoning that any 2 or 3 drop threat makes this hand unbeatable. I proceed to draw land, land, land, another Siege, and quickly get run over. I had found in testing that this matchup was a cakewalk, but when you draw poorly, you draw poorly. Such is life with a linear strategy
At this point I'm out of contention for top 8 (there were 56 people there) and my friend had also just gone to 3-2 following a loss in what's supposed to be an easy matchup for him (he was on UR Scissors, matched against White Devotion). We talk about whether or not our round 6 opponent will agree to split top 16 prizes. We look at the pairings, and go figure, we're matched up. He gets the win, since he has better breakers. He gets 15th place at 4-2, and I get some packs for my troubles.
So, all in all, I'm a little disappointed with the finish (I was 15-1 in various swiss rounds going into this, and I punted one round by playing around the wrong card, and had poor draws against an easy matchup in another round) but I still had a lot of fun and got to play a sweet brew in a largely tier 1/2 meta. Looking back, I think I would have dropped down to a single Gods Willing and 22 land (I found myself flooding out an unreasonable amount of the time) in favor of playing a pair of Hidden Dragonslayers. I feel like the deck doesn't have quite enough interaction in game one, and that can be a bit of an issue. Having some more lifegain in the main would also be nice. The Gods Willing might even come out in favor of Valorous Stance. For the time being, however, I think I'll be testing out the Kibler aggro list.
Hopefully at least some of my ranting was insightful for someone
So it's a bit late, but here's a breakdown of the Ice Imports Invitational that I said I was going to write. Sorry it took so long; I've been busy with work lately. I tested a lot in the week prior to the tournament, and felt really underwhelmed by Servant of the Scale, debating on replacing them with some combination of Gods Willing, Valorous Stance, and another Ajani, Mentor of Heroes. I ultimately decided to cut them in favor of Gods Willing, since it's at least okay in pretty much every matchup. Here's the list that I played:
Round 1: Jacekai Tempo (1-2)
Game one my opponent plays 2 Jeskai Charms to put my huge Hangarback Walker on top of my deck, flashes the Charms back with Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, plays and flashes back 2 copies of Valorous Stance to stave off my multiple Managorger Hydras, plays 2 copies of Ojutai's Command to chump with Soulfire Grand Master and basically fogs me for ~10-15 turns before killing me in the air with a Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker.
Game two, I keep a risky hand of 4 lands, Elvish Mystic, Managorger Hydra, Valorous Stance. I get aggressive with the early hydra, but I'm absolutely done-for if my opponent removes it on the spot. He doesn't, and I draw nothing but air for 3 straight turns, content to swing for a measly 2 per turn as my opponent won't blink first. Finally, I draw a Dromoka's Command followed by Hardened Scales on the following turn, with my opponent attempting to Valorous Stance the Hydra after Scales triggers grew it to 4 power. I Stance back and he concedes.
Game three, my opponent does an effective job of removing my threats for much of the game, but I'm in a position where I've largely worn him out and I have Citadel Siege set on Khans, an Elvish Mystic in play, and a Den Protector in hand. I draw a second copy of Citadel Siege and debate which line to take. After seeing 2 Valorous Stance in game 1, and another copy in the short game 2, I'm wary of going all-in on the Elf, despite being able to grow it to 7 power and swing my opponent down to 1. If he untaps, Stances the Elf and holds up Ojutai's Command for my Maternal Witness, I'm at the mercy of my topdeck for the rest of the game, so I decided not to go with that line. If I take advantage of him being tapped out to morph the Den-pro, I can place the Siege counters on her, or on the Elf. Again, playing around Stance, I choose to morph the Den Protector, put the counters on the Elf and swing for 3. My opponent untaps, slams Anger of the Gods, and I draw air for 5 turns and die to 2 follow-up Mantis Riders. Had I played around Anger, I would have easily won the game. I asked my opponent after, and it turns out he was only running the 2 maindecked Stances, and none in the side
Round 2: GW Warriors (2-0)
Game one I play a turn 3 Hydra and turn 4 double Hardened Scales. I quickly kill him with a 15/15 trample.
Game two my opponent comes out to a blistering start with a pair of Heir of the Wilds and Dromoka's Commands to kill my team before they can grow out of size. I'm down to a Fleecemane Lion that gets monstrous, and nothing else. I stabilize at 3 life using the lion to Dromoka's Command fight an Heir of the Wilds, and then repeat the process with a recycled Command a la Den Protector. Without the brick wall that is Fleecemane Lion, I absolutely lose that game to the deathtouch warriors.
Round 3: Bant Midrange (2-0)
Game one my opponent and I trade early swings and I'm content with getting my race on. His enthusiasm for the race is explained as he slams an Ajani Steadfast and swings a Deathmist Raptor into me to go back to 14 life. I have a pair of Hardened Scales on the field, and had, on an earlier turn, activated my Hangarback Walker, Dromoka's Commanded to fight a Deathmist Raptor and explode my Walker into 6 flying tokens. At the end of his Ajani turn, I flip my Den Protector, putting it to 5 power, getting back Dromoka's Command. Untap, Command to bring it to 8 power. Swing for exactsies, ignoring Ajani. Easy game, easy life
Game two sees Glare of Heresy, regrowth the Glare of Heresy, Valorous Stance on my opponent's desperation Ojutai swing, and a swift concession thereafter. If you want to just knuckle up and throw boneheads at each other, this deck is going to win more often than not.
Round 4: Red Deck Wins (2-1)
Game one my opponent has removal (including Searing Blood)for my relevant threats and leaves me with an Elvish Mystic, an Ajani in hand, and 4 land on the field. Deciding that casting the Ajani and hoping to not get hammered too hard (I'm at 13 life) for it is better than doing nothing with my turn, I tap the Elf to play Ajani, turning the Elf into a tapped 4/4 and hoping it will be good enough to stabilize next turn. My opponent untaps and plays another Monastery Swiftspear and a Lightning Strike, shooting me for 7 to drop me to 6 life. I draw a Scales and dig with Ajani for a Hangarback Walker. My opponent shows me a Wild Slash and Exquisite Firecraft in hand.
Game two plays out similar to game one, with a lot of efficiently aimed burn spells reducing my board. Eventually I stabilize with Walkers vs his 2 Abbot of Keral Keep, and I have an Ordeal of Heliod that was scryed on top. I choose to trade to an empty board (tokens notwithstanding) and draw my ordeal, casting a sandbagged Fleecemane Lion against my now hellbent opponent. My opponent draws and passes, and I resolve myself to either win or lose on the spot, enchanting the Lion with the Ordeal and swinging for 4. My opponent draws and passes, and I swing it to 5 power and 2 counters. My opponent draws again, hoping to see a Roast, but can't find it and concedes.
Game three I manage to stave off an intense blitz that drops my life total from 20 to 16,13,11,7, and finally 3 with the help of burns spells. I've stabilized behind a 5/5 Fleecemane Lion and a 5/4 Avatar of the Resolute, taking my opponent down to 10 in two swings, leaving behind a thopter token to guard against a hasty threat. My opponent is hellbent and dead on board if they don't topdeck a lethal burn spell. He draws... Searing Blood, targeting my thopter. The last card in my hand is... Gods Willing. I breathe a sigh of relief as my opponent extends the hand, grateful to be done with such a nail-biting round.
Round 5: Gr Devotion (1-2)
Game one I have a huge board against his decent sized board (thanks to a turn 3 Xenagos, the Reveler and a Whisperwood Elemental) but I have an enormous Managorger Hydra along with the rest of the knuckledraggers that's threatening to lethal my opponent, barring an Ugin. He draws... Ugin. His one-of out, and he just happened to have it. So it goes.
Game two I play Scales into Hydra into Citadel Siege, and the most exciting thing he has going on is a Polukranos, World Eater.
Game three I keep a risky 7 of Elf, Siege, Ajani, and 4 lands, reasoning that any 2 or 3 drop threat makes this hand unbeatable. I proceed to draw land, land, land, another Siege, and quickly get run over. I had found in testing that this matchup was a cakewalk, but when you draw poorly, you draw poorly. Such is life with a linear strategy
At this point I'm out of contention for top 8 (there were 56 people there) and my friend had also just gone to 3-2 following a loss in what's supposed to be an easy matchup for him (he was on UR Scissors, matched against White Devotion). We talk about whether or not our round 6 opponent will agree to split top 16 prizes. We look at the pairings, and go figure, we're matched up. He gets the win, since he has better breakers. He gets 15th place at 4-2, and I get some packs for my troubles.
So, all in all, I'm a little disappointed with the finish (I was 15-1 in various swiss rounds going into this, and I punted one round by playing around the wrong card, and had poor draws against an easy matchup in another round) but I still had a lot of fun and got to play a sweet brew in a largely tier 1/2 meta. Looking back, I think I would have dropped down to a single Gods Willing and 22 land (I found myself flooding out an unreasonable amount of the time) in favor of playing a pair of Hidden Dragonslayers. I feel like the deck doesn't have quite enough interaction in game one, and that can be a bit of an issue. Having some more lifegain in the main would also be nice. The Gods Willing might even come out in favor of Valorous Stance. For the time being, however, I think I'll be testing out the Kibler aggro list.
Hopefully at least some of my ranting was insightful for someone
Here are some suggestions I would make to help your deck run a bit better off what I have been playttesting so far.
The Warden Helps against control and burn, Valorous stnaces give you more options against threats and better choices for den protector to grab. The mystic's just are not benificial though. Yes you get a T2 Hydra, but you have to not play hardened Scales (in addition to being a horrible late game draw). This affects the T2 +2/2 hangarback though. I think T3-4 should be the main drop/set-up turns though. T1 should almost always be a hardened scales if it can land. I would also look at adding chronicler of heroes to help smooth out late game draws and situations that mana is not agreeing with you. They are very effective against RDW and control too. An extra 3/3 body if hard to deal with.
I'm about to start standard as I've completed my modern deck and I'm really leaning towards this deck. It looks like a lot of fun. My question is, how does this deck do vs burn? Apparently a good chunk of the standard meta is burn.
I'm about to start standard as I've completed my modern deck and I'm really leaning towards this deck. It looks like a lot of fun. My question is, how does this deck do vs burn? Apparently a good chunk of the standard meta is burn.
Draw your copies of Dromoka's Command and sideboard lifegain cards, and try to avoid playing your stuff into possible end-step removal spells, and you should be fine. The matchup isn't great, but it's certainly winnable.
Can't go to FNM tonight but will be attending Standard tomorrow. Here's the list I plan on taking since I haven't seen anyone play CoCo yet in this thread:
I have access to 4 Hangarback Walkers and am hoping to acquire 4 Den Protectors as well for the future. I'll try and do a writeup tomorrow night while things are fresh for everyone here.
I'm about to start standard as I've completed my modern deck and I'm really leaning towards this deck. It looks like a lot of fun. My question is, how does this deck do vs burn? Apparently a good chunk of the standard meta is burn.
On a side note, 6 new cards out of the Zendikar vs Eldrazi duel decks, 2 involving counters. Neither would be maindeckable (Retreat to Kazandu might be sidedeck worthy), but still a good start!
going to do this, but take a different approach to it.
i'm thinking about building mine closer to this:
x4 servant of the scales.
x4 honored heirarch
x4 avatar of the resolute
x4 managorger hydra
x4 hangarback walker
x2 sandsteppe mastadon/dromoka eternal/sunscorch regent
x4 hardened scales
x2 dromoka's command
x3 winds of qal sisma
x3 citadel siege
x2 inspiring call
x24 various lands, 2 GW fetch
sideboard
x4 suspension field
x4 valorous stance
x4 hidden dragonslayer
x3 abzan falconer/ den protector
mythic, rare, uncommons considered at a brief glance
undercity troll, regen and renown 1, seems to work well with theme
battlefront krushok/outland collosus maybe? but it seems bad.
woodladn bellower
warden of the first tree, a huge bomb in a deck like this.
explosive vegetation, to help ramp
hooded hydra
surrak, the hunt caller easy to meet conditions with him, gives my dudes haste
honors reward
scale blessing, hey bro, i heard you like +1/+1 counters, so heres some 1/1 counters to go with your 1/1 counters
eduring scale lord hey bro, i heard you like +1/+1 counters, so heres some 1/1 counters to go with your 1/1 counters
citadel castellan
elite scaleguard
Hey guys, I've been lurking this Thread for a while, and I've got to say that I love the deck
idea. However, hangar back walker is way out of budget(high school probs, no time for a job), so here's a budget list I came up with. Would anyone of you fine people assist in making it better? I already had den pro, btw.
4 servant of the scale
3 honored hierarch
4 avatar of the resolute
3 den protector
4 managorger hydra
1 Abzan falconer
2 tusk guard captain
2 high sentinels of arashin
I'm nominating this thread for "Featured Thread of the Month" since this deck is cool.
Congrats!
Pinned.
Sweet!!!
What do people think about the new dual, Canopy Vista, for this deck? I think it will be too slow since we are trying to get the turn 1 scales, mystic or servant and this will enter tapped until turn 3 at the earliest. Seems a bit slow for us to me but I'm no pro lol. Love that this deck is *basically* going to stay together after rotation too, only looses the temples and mystics. What will we want to add for the ramp, with what we know now? Does Whisperer of the Wilds do it for us or not?
This is my take on the Idea. It started out as a hybrid heroic/Scales deck, but I ended up tossing out all the Heroic creatures except Favored Hoplite. It works SO WELL in this deck. Heroic and Scales combos nicely, and Favored Hoplite is my #1 go-to target for Dromoka's Command.
If Scales comes into play early, this deck just hums. It kind of sputters without it, which is why I added the 4 Communes.
I am playing with Solidarity of Heros. I know it seems like more of a win more card but when you cast it on a hydra you might be able to win that turn rather than give your opponent another turn to find an answer. Had one game where I attacked with a 4/4 servant on turn 4 with three hardened scales out. He let it through and I cast feat of resistance and solidarity to make him a 19/19. I know that is Chrstmasland but it can be explosive.
I'm nominating this thread for "Featured Thread of the Month" since this deck is cool.
Congrats!
Pinned.
Thanks! I am glad you like the deck.
I have been going back and forth between this deck and my heroic list for the past few weeks and enjoying them both, the pure explosiveness this deck can have, as well as catching people by surprise and they read your hardened scales and wonder what jank your running. The list I have been running has been pretty successful but I always seem to get beaten down by the abzan control lists. I am anxiously waiting for some good spoiler to come out for BFZ because I know there will be some good cards to fill in the few we lose. But since we cant talk about rotation yet I will wait a few more weeks.
I am happy so many of you keep testing and evolving the deck by putting your own unique twist on the theme, keep it up guys.
Alright. I've been championing the deck for 2 months and i've been through so many iterations of the deck... from aggro to midrange, tried abzan, abzan midrange , hell i looked into trying with blue for negate, cruise and Chasm Skulker... and i've ended up with the conclusion that going turn 2 hydra is probably the way to go. And to ensure it, while we still can, Elvish mystic is probably key.
So here's the 75 i'll be running at a PPTQ tomorrow.
Anyone have any input on Scourge of Skola Vale for the last few weeks of current standard? Going to run it as a 2-of in my list tonight since it synergises pretty well with Hangarback Walker to sac it in response to a kill card. Might be too cute but still fun to try at FNM, right?!
Scourge is a card that could win you a game if you get a good activation on a Hangarback but other times it will just be too slow or you will find yourself in a situation where you just don't want to sac a creature to it. I say go for it and have fun, tell us how it works out.
@Siliticx: That list is pretty close to what I run and the only change I disagree on is taking out a Dramoka's Command as the card is just so good in so many matchups. I am not sure what decks you are expecting to play against at the PPTQ but I have found a singleton of Abzan Falconer has just flat out won me games against midrange decks.
@Siliticx: That list is pretty close to what I run and the only change I disagree on is taking out a Dramoka's Command as the card is just so good in so many matchups. I am not sure what decks you are expecting to play against at the PPTQ but I have found a singleton of Abzan Falconer has just flat out won me games against midrange decks.
As far Dromoka's command, i'm inclide to agree. As far as falconer... I believe that the only deck in the meta I was expecting that it could be useful against was abzan, and against that, i'm a slight underdog. OUr creatures take time to build. and per that mentality i dont see much point in going over... it can take somebody by surprise, if our board is significant enough sure but sadly our meta is extremely removal heavy and having more than 2 creatures is actually a stretch.
Speaking of removal, it's PPTQ review time.
The tournament was a 29 player, 5 round swiss.
Round 1 - UB Hangarback dragons 1-1-1 - Record 0-0-1
Match 1 - I proceed to roll over him, slowly but surely. Protection spells were all star. Especially the MB Feat of resistance. added 2 counters to go over silumgar the drifting death.
Match 2 - A very drawn out fight. Ended up losing with opponent at 3 HP. A very timely perilous vault was so good.
Match 3 - Turn 5 situation with 2 creatures on board, him at 7 HP and only 1 dig in hand.
Takeaway : Perilous vault blew me out, I didnt think dragons decks were using that, yet he switched Ojutai for hangarbacks. techy. I brought unravel/revoke game 3 but couldn't find em. Also, looks like inspiring call might be a thing.
Round 2 - UR Thopters 2-1 - Record 1-0-1
Match 1 - Dromoka's command was a turn too late. Adding commande #4.
match 2 - Revoke existence did some work. Marvelous marvelous work. Exiled both his scissors. Hydra closed it out. Actually the 2nd one did. Because i had protection for his roast. Remember kids, always wear protection.
Match 3 - He went for scissors turn 3, which was met to an unravel the aether on his land. felt soooo good. Yet he managed to stabilise with 3 ghostfire blades and chomping hangarbacks into thompters. In the end avartar of the resolute with reach pulled through as he couldnt just attack with his 3 blades anymore. Then hydra did it's thing, again with protection.
Take away - This is actually one of our great matchups I believe. Even though the player was one of the best in the region (going to BFZ PT actually) I feel he never got the upper hand. He was always digging for answers. Although the instant hate against hydra worries me. More on this later.
Round 3 - Hangarback Abzan - 1-2 - Record 1-1-1
Match 1 - That had to be the best starting hand i've seen. 1 land, mystic, 3 hangarback, Avatar and Hydra. What a beating. He favored ultimate price over downfall which have actually been more of an hinderance. I curved into Heath, god's willing and ajani and forest. God that felt good. Is that what magic christmas land feels like?
Match 2 - He had hangarback - anafenza(god that card breaks hangarback) - Rhino Rhino.... Since didn't have our 1 real removal (valorous stance) i just couldn't power through the crashing herd.
Match 3 - He had anafenza + rhino + 3 removal. Not much i could do there. More on that later.
Takeaway - Yeah... Shoulda packed more valorous stance I believe.
Round 4 - UB Control - 0-2 - Record 1-2-1
Match 1 - Perilous Vault. That is all.
Match 2 - Perilous Vault. COuldn't draw any of our 3 SB targets. welp.
Take away - Control aint our best matchup for sure.
Round 5 - UB Jace control - 1-1-1 - Record 1-2-2
Match 1 - Main deck Annul on the play to counter Hardened Scales... for real? This game came equipped to deal with enchants and Hangarbacks. took me by surprise. Ended up pulling through.
Match 2 - Seriously? Perilous vault. This card....and languish. Couldn't recover in time.
Match 3 - Ended on time. I shoulda won. he steals my avatar with 4 counters. I end up trying to attack through which what i though exactsies after putting in a citadel siege that added 4 counters to my hydra.... guess what, i miss counted 1 damage of trample. he kills my board next turn with 9 mana and vault. gg.
Takeaway... Seriously there's way too much UB control.
Tournament review :
Least my 2 travel partners got 2nd and 3/4th.
Double Abzan in the finals. The midrange build won.
BR and Mardu dragons finished 3/4th, both losing to their worst matchups.
As far as our deck, if we wouldn't be 3 weeks from release I would probably give up on it. But now i feel commited so I want to try something.
I think i'm gonna try and go back to my second option for the deck, and try and warp it into a midrange heroic deck. Do you guys want to see the deck?
Also, did anyone test Bow of Nylea? I feel like that option could be explored.
Feel free to ask any questions about the different matchups.
I haven't had a chance to take this to tournament as yet (I'd like to buy the list, but don't have anyone to really play-test with before committing, and I can only afford one deck right now. I've always loved Tribal, and so I wanted to try this spin on Warrior Tribal with +1/+1 counters
I've been considering delving into Fate Reforged and Khans of Tarkir for some extra options, but I was trying to build the deck to last awhile (So I don't have to worry about parts rotating out in March.) and on a mid-sized budget (trying to stay under 50$ for the list)
Strategically, I've tried to incorporate answers to some of the common standard threats I've seen in the top 8 lists. Silkwrap is a great answer to Hangarback Walker, since X is always 0 I can dumpster a Walker before it turns into Thopters. Display of Dominance answers Jace, Vryn's Prodigy and Liliana, Heretical Healer well, bombing them after they transform, or protecting my Warriors from targeted bounce. Evolutionary Leap gives me a good engine for trading in my Servants of the Scale or extra copies of Surrak or Anafenza for more creature gas. The Vryn's Wingmare in the sideboard is something i'm unsure of, but I felt like they might provide a good barrier against control, slowing down their casts while leaving me mostly unhindered since my cuve strays so low. I feel like there are better answers than this, and I'm just not looking hard enough.
Going deeper into Fate Reforged/Khans of Tarkir would let me pick up some more Warrior threats like Mardu Woe-Reaper (Strong hoser for Deathmist Raptor), Warden of the First Tree (A great one-drop with lots of mid-late pressure), Daghatar the Adamant (Plays well with a lot of the +1/+1 counters I'll have bouncing around) and/or Tuskguard Captain (Plays amazingly well with Daghatar, Anafenza, Arashin Foremost, and Gleam of Authority for big trample finishes)
The following are honorable mentions that I've been unsure of, mainly from KTK and FRF.
4 Hangarback Walker
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Avatar of the Resolute
4 Fleecemane Lion
3 Den Protector
4 Managorger Hydra
Instants (6)
2 Gods Willing
4 Dromoka's Command
1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
Enchantments (7)
4 Hardened Scales
3 Citadel Siege
Land (23)
4 Temple of Plenty
2 Blossoming Sands
4 Windswept Heath
1 Mana Confluence
7 Forest
5 Plains
4 Ordeal of Heliod
3 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
1 Den Protector
2 Valorous Stance
1 Evolutionary Leap
2 Glare of Heresy
Round 1: Jacekai Tempo (1-2)
Game one my opponent plays 2 Jeskai Charms to put my huge Hangarback Walker on top of my deck, flashes the Charms back with Jace, Vryn's Prodigy, plays and flashes back 2 copies of Valorous Stance to stave off my multiple Managorger Hydras, plays 2 copies of Ojutai's Command to chump with Soulfire Grand Master and basically fogs me for ~10-15 turns before killing me in the air with a Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker.
Game two, I keep a risky hand of 4 lands, Elvish Mystic, Managorger Hydra, Valorous Stance. I get aggressive with the early hydra, but I'm absolutely done-for if my opponent removes it on the spot. He doesn't, and I draw nothing but air for 3 straight turns, content to swing for a measly 2 per turn as my opponent won't blink first. Finally, I draw a Dromoka's Command followed by Hardened Scales on the following turn, with my opponent attempting to Valorous Stance the Hydra after Scales triggers grew it to 4 power. I Stance back and he concedes.
Game three, my opponent does an effective job of removing my threats for much of the game, but I'm in a position where I've largely worn him out and I have Citadel Siege set on Khans, an Elvish Mystic in play, and a Den Protector in hand. I draw a second copy of Citadel Siege and debate which line to take. After seeing 2 Valorous Stance in game 1, and another copy in the short game 2, I'm wary of going all-in on the Elf, despite being able to grow it to 7 power and swing my opponent down to 1. If he untaps, Stances the Elf and holds up Ojutai's Command for my Maternal Witness, I'm at the mercy of my topdeck for the rest of the game, so I decided not to go with that line. If I take advantage of him being tapped out to morph the Den-pro, I can place the Siege counters on her, or on the Elf. Again, playing around Stance, I choose to morph the Den Protector, put the counters on the Elf and swing for 3. My opponent untaps, slams Anger of the Gods, and I draw air for 5 turns and die to 2 follow-up Mantis Riders. Had I played around Anger, I would have easily won the game. I asked my opponent after, and it turns out he was only running the 2 maindecked Stances, and none in the side
Round 2: GW Warriors (2-0)
Game one I play a turn 3 Hydra and turn 4 double Hardened Scales. I quickly kill him with a 15/15 trample.
Game two my opponent comes out to a blistering start with a pair of Heir of the Wilds and Dromoka's Commands to kill my team before they can grow out of size. I'm down to a Fleecemane Lion that gets monstrous, and nothing else. I stabilize at 3 life using the lion to Dromoka's Command fight an Heir of the Wilds, and then repeat the process with a recycled Command a la Den Protector. Without the brick wall that is Fleecemane Lion, I absolutely lose that game to the deathtouch warriors.
Round 3: Bant Midrange (2-0)
Game one my opponent and I trade early swings and I'm content with getting my race on. His enthusiasm for the race is explained as he slams an Ajani Steadfast and swings a Deathmist Raptor into me to go back to 14 life. I have a pair of Hardened Scales on the field, and had, on an earlier turn, activated my Hangarback Walker, Dromoka's Commanded to fight a Deathmist Raptor and explode my Walker into 6 flying tokens. At the end of his Ajani turn, I flip my Den Protector, putting it to 5 power, getting back Dromoka's Command. Untap, Command to bring it to 8 power. Swing for exactsies, ignoring Ajani. Easy game, easy life
Game two sees Glare of Heresy, regrowth the Glare of Heresy, Valorous Stance on my opponent's desperation Ojutai swing, and a swift concession thereafter. If you want to just knuckle up and throw boneheads at each other, this deck is going to win more often than not.
Round 4: Red Deck Wins (2-1)
Game one my opponent has removal (including Searing Blood)for my relevant threats and leaves me with an Elvish Mystic, an Ajani in hand, and 4 land on the field. Deciding that casting the Ajani and hoping to not get hammered too hard (I'm at 13 life) for it is better than doing nothing with my turn, I tap the Elf to play Ajani, turning the Elf into a tapped 4/4 and hoping it will be good enough to stabilize next turn. My opponent untaps and plays another Monastery Swiftspear and a Lightning Strike, shooting me for 7 to drop me to 6 life. I draw a Scales and dig with Ajani for a Hangarback Walker. My opponent shows me a Wild Slash and Exquisite Firecraft in hand.
Game two plays out similar to game one, with a lot of efficiently aimed burn spells reducing my board. Eventually I stabilize with Walkers vs his 2 Abbot of Keral Keep, and I have an Ordeal of Heliod that was scryed on top. I choose to trade to an empty board (tokens notwithstanding) and draw my ordeal, casting a sandbagged Fleecemane Lion against my now hellbent opponent. My opponent draws and passes, and I resolve myself to either win or lose on the spot, enchanting the Lion with the Ordeal and swinging for 4. My opponent draws and passes, and I swing it to 5 power and 2 counters. My opponent draws again, hoping to see a Roast, but can't find it and concedes.
Game three I manage to stave off an intense blitz that drops my life total from 20 to 16,13,11,7, and finally 3 with the help of burns spells. I've stabilized behind a 5/5 Fleecemane Lion and a 5/4 Avatar of the Resolute, taking my opponent down to 10 in two swings, leaving behind a thopter token to guard against a hasty threat. My opponent is hellbent and dead on board if they don't topdeck a lethal burn spell. He draws... Searing Blood, targeting my thopter. The last card in my hand is... Gods Willing. I breathe a sigh of relief as my opponent extends the hand, grateful to be done with such a nail-biting round.
Round 5: Gr Devotion (1-2)
Game one I have a huge board against his decent sized board (thanks to a turn 3 Xenagos, the Reveler and a Whisperwood Elemental) but I have an enormous Managorger Hydra along with the rest of the knuckledraggers that's threatening to lethal my opponent, barring an Ugin. He draws... Ugin. His one-of out, and he just happened to have it. So it goes.
Game two I play Scales into Hydra into Citadel Siege, and the most exciting thing he has going on is a Polukranos, World Eater.
Game three I keep a risky 7 of Elf, Siege, Ajani, and 4 lands, reasoning that any 2 or 3 drop threat makes this hand unbeatable. I proceed to draw land, land, land, another Siege, and quickly get run over. I had found in testing that this matchup was a cakewalk, but when you draw poorly, you draw poorly. Such is life with a linear strategy
At this point I'm out of contention for top 8 (there were 56 people there) and my friend had also just gone to 3-2 following a loss in what's supposed to be an easy matchup for him (he was on UR Scissors, matched against White Devotion). We talk about whether or not our round 6 opponent will agree to split top 16 prizes. We look at the pairings, and go figure, we're matched up. He gets the win, since he has better breakers. He gets 15th place at 4-2, and I get some packs for my troubles.
So, all in all, I'm a little disappointed with the finish (I was 15-1 in various swiss rounds going into this, and I punted one round by playing around the wrong card, and had poor draws against an easy matchup in another round) but I still had a lot of fun and got to play a sweet brew in a largely tier 1/2 meta. Looking back, I think I would have dropped down to a single Gods Willing and 22 land (I found myself flooding out an unreasonable amount of the time) in favor of playing a pair of Hidden Dragonslayers. I feel like the deck doesn't have quite enough interaction in game one, and that can be a bit of an issue. Having some more lifegain in the main would also be nice. The Gods Willing might even come out in favor of Valorous Stance. For the time being, however, I think I'll be testing out the Kibler aggro list.
Hopefully at least some of my ranting was insightful for someone
4 Hangarback Walker
2 Elvish Mystic
4 Avatar of the Resolute
4 Fleecemane Lion
3 Den Protector
4 Managorger Hydra
2 Warden of the First Tree
Instants (7)
3 Valorous Stance
4 Dromoka's Command
1 Ajani, Mentor of Heroes
Enchantments (6)
4 Hardened Scales
2 Citadel Siege
Land (23)
4 Temple of Plenty
4 Windswept Heath
9 Forest
6 Plains
4 Ordeal of Heliod
3 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
1 Den Protector
1 Valorous Stance
1 Evolutionary Leap
1 Glare of Heresy
2 Bow of Nylea
Here are some suggestions I would make to help your deck run a bit better off what I have been playttesting so far.
The Warden Helps against control and burn, Valorous stnaces give you more options against threats and better choices for den protector to grab. The mystic's just are not benificial though. Yes you get a T2 Hydra, but you have to not play hardened Scales (in addition to being a horrible late game draw). This affects the T2 +2/2 hangarback though. I think T3-4 should be the main drop/set-up turns though. T1 should almost always be a hardened scales if it can land. I would also look at adding chronicler of heroes to help smooth out late game draws and situations that mana is not agreeing with you. They are very effective against RDW and control too. An extra 3/3 body if hard to deal with.
Draw your copies of Dromoka's Command and sideboard lifegain cards, and try to avoid playing your stuff into possible end-step removal spells, and you should be fine. The matchup isn't great, but it's certainly winnable.
4x Abzan Falconer
4x Avatar of the Resolute
4x Honored Hierarch
4x Managorger Hydra
4x Servant of the Scale
4x Tuskguard Captain
Land (22)
3x Blossoming Sands
11x Forest
4x Plains
4x Windswept Heath
4x Collected Company
4x Dromoka's Command
Enchantment (6)
2x Citadel Siege
4x Hardened Scales
3x Arashin Cleric
3x Feat of Resistance
3x Naturalize
3x Plummet
3x Valorous Stance
I have access to 4 Hangarback Walkers and am hoping to acquire 4 Den Protectors as well for the future. I'll try and do a writeup tomorrow night while things are fresh for everyone here.
4 Honored Hierarch
2 Servant of the Scale
4 Hangarback Walker
4 Avatar of the Resolute
4 Managorger Hydra
4 Abzan Falconer
4 Dromoka's Command
2 Gods Willing
1 Valorous Stance
4 Hardened Scales
4 Temple of Plenty
4 Windswept Heath
3 Mana Confluence
5 Plains
7 Forest
1 Valorous Stance
1 Bow of Nylea
1 Setessan Tactics
1 Ajani Steadfast
1 Tragic Arrogance
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Glare of Heresy
3 Unravel the Æther
2 Arashin Cleric
1 Feed the Clan
1 Hornet Nest
I'm a huge fan of Surge of Righteousness against red and black aggro/burn. As said previously Dromoka's Command is an all star as well.
On a side note, 6 new cards out of the Zendikar vs Eldrazi duel decks, 2 involving counters. Neither would be maindeckable (Retreat to Kazandu might be sidedeck worthy), but still a good start!
Harden(ed Scales) up!
i'm thinking about building mine closer to this:
x4 servant of the scales.
x4 honored heirarch
x4 avatar of the resolute
x4 managorger hydra
x4 hangarback walker
x2 sandsteppe mastadon/dromoka eternal/sunscorch regent
x4 hardened scales
x2 dromoka's command
x3 winds of qal sisma
x3 citadel siege
x2 inspiring call
x24 various lands, 2 GW fetch
sideboard
x4 suspension field
x4 valorous stance
x4 hidden dragonslayer
x3 abzan falconer/ den protector
mythic, rare, uncommons considered at a brief glance
undercity troll, regen and renown 1, seems to work well with theme
battlefront krushok/outland collosus maybe? but it seems bad.
woodladn bellower
warden of the first tree, a huge bomb in a deck like this.
explosive vegetation, to help ramp
hooded hydra
surrak, the hunt caller easy to meet conditions with him, gives my dudes haste
honors reward
scale blessing, hey bro, i heard you like +1/+1 counters, so heres some 1/1 counters to go with your 1/1 counters
eduring scale lord hey bro, i heard you like +1/+1 counters, so heres some 1/1 counters to go with your 1/1 counters
citadel castellan
elite scaleguard
idea. However, hangar back walker is way out of budget(high school probs, no time for a job), so here's a budget list I came up with. Would anyone of you fine people assist in making it better? I already had den pro, btw.
4 servant of the scale
3 honored hierarch
4 avatar of the resolute
3 den protector
4 managorger hydra
1 Abzan falconer
2 tusk guard captain
2 high sentinels of arashin
4 hardened scales
2 citadel siege
4 dromoka's command
2 valorous stance
3 gods willing
22 land
Modern:
Grixis Shadow
Burn
Titanshift
Copycat (Given up currently, not entirely sure what it needs)
Legacy:
Burn
B/R Reanimator (slowly building
EDH:
Sedris Control/Reanimation
Congrats!
Pinned.
Sweet!!!
What do people think about the new dual, Canopy Vista, for this deck? I think it will be too slow since we are trying to get the turn 1 scales, mystic or servant and this will enter tapped until turn 3 at the earliest. Seems a bit slow for us to me but I'm no pro lol. Love that this deck is *basically* going to stay together after rotation too, only looses the temples and mystics. What will we want to add for the ramp, with what we know now? Does Whisperer of the Wilds do it for us or not?
Discussion of new cards must be kept in the SNCD until the entire set is spoiled.
Thanks!
-- Lugger
4x Favored Hoplite
4x Seeker of the Way
4x Servant of the Scale
4x Managorger Hydra
Enchantments:
4x Hardened Scales
4x Gleam of Authority
4x Commune with the Gods
Instants:
4x Defiant Strike
4x Dromoka's Command
4x Gods Willing
Lands:
4x Blossoming Sands
4x Forest
2x Mana Confluence
4x Plains
2x Temple of Plenty
4x Windswept Heath
This is my take on the Idea. It started out as a hybrid heroic/Scales deck, but I ended up tossing out all the Heroic creatures except Favored Hoplite. It works SO WELL in this deck. Heroic and Scales combos nicely, and Favored Hoplite is my #1 go-to target for Dromoka's Command.
If Scales comes into play early, this deck just hums. It kind of sputters without it, which is why I added the 4 Communes.
Thanks! I am glad you like the deck.
I have been going back and forth between this deck and my heroic list for the past few weeks and enjoying them both, the pure explosiveness this deck can have, as well as catching people by surprise and they read your hardened scales and wonder what jank your running. The list I have been running has been pretty successful but I always seem to get beaten down by the abzan control lists. I am anxiously waiting for some good spoiler to come out for BFZ because I know there will be some good cards to fill in the few we lose. But since we cant talk about rotation yet I will wait a few more weeks.
I am happy so many of you keep testing and evolving the deck by putting your own unique twist on the theme, keep it up guys.
So here's the 75 i'll be running at a PPTQ tomorrow.
4x Avatar of the Resolute
2x Den Protector
4x Elvish Mystic
4x Hangarback Walker
4x Managorger Hydra
4x Servant of the Scale
Spells
2x Gods Willing
1x Valorous Stance
3x Dromoka's Command
1x Feat of Resistance
2x Ajani Steadfast
2x Citadel Siege
4x Hardened Scales
Lands
11x Forest
2x Mana Confluence
2x Plains
4x Temple of Plenty
4x Windswept Heath
1x Back to Nature
2x Display of Dominance
1x Evolutionary Leap
2x Gods Willing
2x Hallowed Moonlight
2x Ordeal of Heliod
2x Revoke Existence
2x Tragic Arrogance
1x Unravel the Æther
@Siliticx: That list is pretty close to what I run and the only change I disagree on is taking out a Dramoka's Command as the card is just so good in so many matchups. I am not sure what decks you are expecting to play against at the PPTQ but I have found a singleton of Abzan Falconer has just flat out won me games against midrange decks.
As far Dromoka's command, i'm inclide to agree. As far as falconer... I believe that the only deck in the meta I was expecting that it could be useful against was abzan, and against that, i'm a slight underdog. OUr creatures take time to build. and per that mentality i dont see much point in going over... it can take somebody by surprise, if our board is significant enough sure but sadly our meta is extremely removal heavy and having more than 2 creatures is actually a stretch.
Speaking of removal, it's PPTQ review time.
The tournament was a 29 player, 5 round swiss.
Round 1 - UB Hangarback dragons 1-1-1 - Record 0-0-1
Match 1 - I proceed to roll over him, slowly but surely. Protection spells were all star. Especially the MB Feat of resistance. added 2 counters to go over silumgar the drifting death.
Match 2 - A very drawn out fight. Ended up losing with opponent at 3 HP. A very timely perilous vault was so good.
Match 3 - Turn 5 situation with 2 creatures on board, him at 7 HP and only 1 dig in hand.
Takeaway : Perilous vault blew me out, I didnt think dragons decks were using that, yet he switched Ojutai for hangarbacks. techy. I brought unravel/revoke game 3 but couldn't find em. Also, looks like inspiring call might be a thing.
Round 2 - UR Thopters 2-1 - Record 1-0-1
Match 1 - Dromoka's command was a turn too late. Adding commande #4.
match 2 - Revoke existence did some work. Marvelous marvelous work. Exiled both his scissors. Hydra closed it out. Actually the 2nd one did. Because i had protection for his roast. Remember kids, always wear protection.
Match 3 - He went for scissors turn 3, which was met to an unravel the aether on his land. felt soooo good. Yet he managed to stabilise with 3 ghostfire blades and chomping hangarbacks into thompters. In the end avartar of the resolute with reach pulled through as he couldnt just attack with his 3 blades anymore. Then hydra did it's thing, again with protection.
Take away - This is actually one of our great matchups I believe. Even though the player was one of the best in the region (going to BFZ PT actually) I feel he never got the upper hand. He was always digging for answers. Although the instant hate against hydra worries me. More on this later.
Round 3 - Hangarback Abzan - 1-2 - Record 1-1-1
Match 1 - That had to be the best starting hand i've seen. 1 land, mystic, 3 hangarback, Avatar and Hydra. What a beating. He favored ultimate price over downfall which have actually been more of an hinderance. I curved into Heath, god's willing and ajani and forest. God that felt good. Is that what magic christmas land feels like?
Match 2 - He had hangarback - anafenza(god that card breaks hangarback) - Rhino Rhino.... Since didn't have our 1 real removal (valorous stance) i just couldn't power through the crashing herd.
Match 3 - He had anafenza + rhino + 3 removal. Not much i could do there. More on that later.
Takeaway - Yeah... Shoulda packed more valorous stance I believe.
Round 4 - UB Control - 0-2 - Record 1-2-1
Match 1 - Perilous Vault. That is all.
Match 2 - Perilous Vault. COuldn't draw any of our 3 SB targets. welp.
Take away - Control aint our best matchup for sure.
Round 5 - UB Jace control - 1-1-1 - Record 1-2-2
Match 1 - Main deck Annul on the play to counter Hardened Scales... for real? This game came equipped to deal with enchants and Hangarbacks. took me by surprise. Ended up pulling through.
Match 2 - Seriously? Perilous vault. This card....and languish. Couldn't recover in time.
Match 3 - Ended on time. I shoulda won. he steals my avatar with 4 counters. I end up trying to attack through which what i though exactsies after putting in a citadel siege that added 4 counters to my hydra.... guess what, i miss counted 1 damage of trample. he kills my board next turn with 9 mana and vault. gg.
Takeaway... Seriously there's way too much UB control.
Tournament review :
Least my 2 travel partners got 2nd and 3/4th.
Double Abzan in the finals. The midrange build won.
BR and Mardu dragons finished 3/4th, both losing to their worst matchups.
As far as our deck, if we wouldn't be 3 weeks from release I would probably give up on it. But now i feel commited so I want to try something.
I think i'm gonna try and go back to my second option for the deck, and try and warp it into a midrange heroic deck. Do you guys want to see the deck?
Also, did anyone test Bow of Nylea? I feel like that option could be explored.
Feel free to ask any questions about the different matchups.
2 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
3 Arashin Foremost
2 Champion of Arashin
3 Herald of Dromoka
4 Hidden Dragonslayer
3 Managorger Hydra
4 Servant of the Scale
2 Surrak, the Hunt Caller
2 Evolutionary Leap
4 Gleam of Authority
Instant (8)
4 Celestial Flare
4 Dromoka's Command
Land (23)
4 Blossoming Sands
7 Forest
10 Plains
2 Rogue's Passage
3 Display of Dominance
3 Naturalize
3 Pacifism
3 Silkwrap
3 Vryn Wingmare
I haven't had a chance to take this to tournament as yet (I'd like to buy the list, but don't have anyone to really play-test with before committing, and I can only afford one deck right now. I've always loved Tribal, and so I wanted to try this spin on Warrior Tribal with +1/+1 counters
I've been considering delving into Fate Reforged and Khans of Tarkir for some extra options, but I was trying to build the deck to last awhile (So I don't have to worry about parts rotating out in March.) and on a mid-sized budget (trying to stay under 50$ for the list)
Strategically, I've tried to incorporate answers to some of the common standard threats I've seen in the top 8 lists.
Silkwrap is a great answer to Hangarback Walker, since X is always 0 I can dumpster a Walker before it turns into Thopters. Display of Dominance answers Jace, Vryn's Prodigy and Liliana, Heretical Healer well, bombing them after they transform, or protecting my Warriors from targeted bounce. Evolutionary Leap gives me a good engine for trading in my Servants of the Scale or extra copies of Surrak or Anafenza for more creature gas. The Vryn's Wingmare in the sideboard is something i'm unsure of, but I felt like they might provide a good barrier against control, slowing down their casts while leaving me mostly unhindered since my cuve strays so low. I feel like there are better answers than this, and I'm just not looking hard enough.
Going deeper into Fate Reforged/Khans of Tarkir would let me pick up some more Warrior threats like Mardu Woe-Reaper (Strong hoser for Deathmist Raptor), Warden of the First Tree (A great one-drop with lots of mid-late pressure), Daghatar the Adamant (Plays well with a lot of the +1/+1 counters I'll have bouncing around) and/or Tuskguard Captain (Plays amazingly well with Daghatar, Anafenza, Arashin Foremost, and Gleam of Authority for big trample finishes)
The following are honorable mentions that I've been unsure of, mainly from KTK and FRF.
Creatures (24)
3xHonored Hierarch
4xServant of the scale
4xHangarback Walker
4xAvatar of the Resolute
4xManagorger Hydra
2xDaghatar the Adamant
3xAbzan Falconer
Instants (6)
4xDromoka's Command
2xFeat of Resistance
Enchantments (7)
4xHardened Scales
3xCitadel Siege
Land (23)
4xTemple of Plenty
7xForest
6xPlains
4xWindswept Heath
2xWooded Foothills
In the Standard forum, new card discussion is only allowed in this forum. -Lugger
T1 Honored Heirarch
T2 Scales and Servant of the Scales
There's also a brand new card in BFZ with X for it's cost.. I'm most excited for THAT card.