@Honor Basquiat: I just recently brew this list since I got an Archangel of Thune at a M14 Prerelease. I will start testing it in a few days. as mention already, Faithless looting is not CA, but CN, however I was considering doing something like that since this deck more or less works as a combo deck. (Tamanoa combos with 1/3 of the deck, my favorites being the loop with Searing Meditation and turning Battlefield Forge into Plateau). Lone Missionary was the last add over cards like Faithless Looting because I needed a higher threat density, I may change that after testing. (I'm looking at Gitaxian Probe also.)
@Neon Strike: Soul Sisters was my initial shell, but being a brewer and Rogue deck player, I made the decision to cut most the that shell. I agree that the splash of red idea would work and give SS more of a removal package but I am a MTG Johnny and whenever I see a chance to play combo I aim for it. Secondly, I play better as a control player then Aggro. This deck sort of the is the control version of soul sisters.
@ cset: I would love to see that list. At the moment and with this current list, it does look like Ajani is a far superior card, however, the final build will more then likely have Spike feeder over Kitchen Finks and Archangel of Thune over Tamanoa?/Lone Missionary? for more instant speed life gain. Keeping Permanent tapped down is great for Board Control, but have the ability to burn off more then 1 creature at a time seem better to me (I'm a big fan of Punishing Fire in Legacy). Maybe testing will prove me wrong and I will end up running Ajani.
@hamberglar: True, but I got the jest of what he was saying, trying to assemble combo pieces needs me looking through my deck for more cards.
Here's a variant that may give you some ideas, it was a Bant Aura/Spirit Tribal build. I playtested with it at FNM and did not do so great but that was because the power level of some of the cards were poor. I would consider Tallowisp as an additional source for card advantage, but you will need to dive a bit into the Spirit tribal theme.
This card has been doing so much work for me at my FNM meta. Three Soul Sister decks, lots of WUR snap control/tempo, Both variants of Pod, a Zombie Station deck (recurring zombies with Blasting Station) are the top tier deck. It's currently a 2 of in my Board, but I'm thinking about putting 2 more.
Ignoring that I don't run Stalker, how is this any more painful than a deck that runs Bob with Force, Jace, and Stoneforge Mystic? Or with Bloodbraid Elf, Liliana, and Hymn?
As stated earlier, Those BUG deck are far more control-oriented and can easily handle a 5 life loss Bob trigger (Unsummon any threats with Jace's 0 ability, or fetch Battleskull with SFM) plus the revealing those pushing further in the late stages of the game. Delver is geared towards Tempo play where every resource you have (Hand, creatures, lands, and Life total) are used to maximum efficiency to get your opponent with exactly 20. Think of it this way, Let's say you get a turn 1 Delver off a cracked fetchland, gets flipped turn two, you cast BOB of cracked fetch and swing for 3 (18 vs 17). the turn 3 you reveal FoW on top and take 5 (13-17) swing for 5 and use FoW to protect delver (12-12). Seems close to parity or even that you are ahead. but on there side, they could be playing lots of things that will outclass the BOB and Delver by this turn, i.e. BUG deck (Deathrite into turn 2 Liliana or Turn 3 Jace) Now the life totals are too even for a Delver deck to get maximum value for fast wins. Bringing yourself to 12-14 lives is not what a Delver deck wants since it shortens what the other decks need to do to beat you.
Aether Vial=Chalice@1. Goyf=Side in Wurmcoil. Birthing Pod/Liliana=Side in extra Pithing Needles. Clique=not sure.
Chalice for @ 1 will not be able to beat a turn 1 AEther Vial, after that, the deck doesn't care about the MUD tactics.
I was not really asking about how to deal with the specific threats. It's more about how consistent are you getting out the MUD tactics (all are around 4 mana in Modern) before the other deck gets their key cards. By turn 4, a solid B/X deck can get Dark Confidant to Liliana of the Veil or Gravecrawler into 2 or 3 other zombies. Are the MUD tactics fast enough in Modern. (Note, MUD STAX is one of my favorite decks to play in Vintage because of all the early mana acceleration.)
How fast is this deck capable of getting to 4 mana? The format seems to be crux around the 2 and 3-drops (Tarmagoyf, Birthing Pod, Liliana of the Veil, Vendilion Clique, etc) and this deck seems weak to those listed card. Also, AEther Vial seems to be a problem for the deck.
There are decks out there, but Delver decks really need access to Red for the burn. Grixis (BUR) build have some interesting inclusion, but then FoW cannot be in at the same time as Bob. Revealing a Force from Bob is terrible since it's 25% of your life total, couple with most delver decks running only upwards of 18 lands to turn Delver as soon as possible, Fetching because crucial in the early game. Therefore, a Delver deck starts out around 17-18 life, take a Bob FoW hit and you get way behind. Plus, you are less likely to get a Land of bob, therefore almost always lose life every turn. In the pro-circuits, the decks are just to well crafted in Legacy to start with this large disadvantage to win at a consistent level.
So, you running the control/tempo build. I would not run the Shining Shoal, I feel that it's not strong enough of a card. It can get free activations for Tallowisp but I think a curve topper would work better for your build. Consider what the original deck did and top out the curve with Chameleon Colossus. Its a Changling and therefore a Spirit so it activates Tallowisp. It is a great target for UCourage (Attached than activates the ability, you get a 12/12 Lifelinking, trampling finisher.) I would also strongly consider Hyena Umbra. It is a henge against Wrath effects. Heirarch into Tallowisp into GoST triggering Tallowisp searching and attaching Hyena Umbra is next to impossible to beat. After the new Legends rule come into effect, it should be almost a scoop.
Looking back at some old 7 year extended decks, I found the Spirit Stompy decks that used Tallowisp to gain incremental card advantage with powerful enchant creature spells. With the printing of recent printings of Unflinching Courage to replace the non-"modern legal" Armadillo Cloak and massive upgrades at the 2-drop and 3-drop Spirits and a Spirit lord and stronger card advantage Auras, I think this deck can be viable again. The below list is based on the cards that I currently own, but improvements (Tarmogoyf, additional Geist of Saint Trafts, and some more shocklands) can be made.
I've been able to gets some major blowouts with this deck. UCourage on GoST is not fair, but also Griffin Guide onto Strangleroot Geist just is a lethal combo. Anyone have any suggestions??? Sideboard help could really help. The board is to hate on Blood Moon and Control decks.
Isn't Evil Twin sort of broken in the format now with the M14 rules. If you find any way to protect it, then it will keep killing someone's General for just a blue and a black. I have a The Mimeoplasm deck that has nearly all the 0/0 creatures and lots of ways to grant hexproof and shroud, and now I will love the way Evil Twin works in the deck with the M14 rules.
Have a question regarding layering issues
I have only Sower of Temptation and I stolen my opp's Geist-Honored Monk. If he end of turn Path to Exile my Sower, can I use say Serrated Arrows to give the Monk -1/-1 counter and killing it off before it returns to my opponent. I know there is a complex interaction within the layers. Since Layer 2 deals with creature control and p/t is in later layer, I rule that I lose control of monk before the -1/-1 can kill it.
2 Chalice of Life
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
4 Path to Exile
3 Pyroclasm
4 Searing Meditation
Creatures
2 Archangel of Thune
2 Kitchen Finks
3 Lone Missionary
2 Spike Feeder
2 Tamanoa
4 Wall of Omens
4 Arid Mesa
4 Battlefield Forge
2 Forest
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Mountain
4 Plains
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Stomping Ground
3 Temple Garden
1 Verdant Catacombs
@Neon Strike: Soul Sisters was my initial shell, but being a brewer and Rogue deck player, I made the decision to cut most the that shell. I agree that the splash of red idea would work and give SS more of a removal package but I am a MTG Johnny and whenever I see a chance to play combo I aim for it. Secondly, I play better as a control player then Aggro. This deck sort of the is the control version of soul sisters.
@ cset: I would love to see that list. At the moment and with this current list, it does look like Ajani is a far superior card, however, the final build will more then likely have Spike feeder over Kitchen Finks and Archangel of Thune over Tamanoa?/Lone Missionary? for more instant speed life gain. Keeping Permanent tapped down is great for Board Control, but have the ability to burn off more then 1 creature at a time seem better to me (I'm a big fan of Punishing Fire in Legacy). Maybe testing will prove me wrong and I will end up running Ajani.
@hamberglar: True, but I got the jest of what he was saying, trying to assemble combo pieces needs me looking through my deck for more cards.
1 Chalice of Life
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
4 Path to Exile
4 Pyroclasm
4 Searing Meditation
Creatures
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Tamanoa
4 Wall of Omens
3 Lone Missionary
4 Arid Mesa
2 Forest
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Mountain
4 Battlefield Forge
5 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Stomping Ground
3 Temple Garden
1 Verdant Catacombs
4 Celestial Purge
2 Wrath of God
2 Loxodon Smiter
2 Ajani Goldmare
2 Spike Feeder
2 Torpor Orb
1 Rest in Peace
Mana base (Just need to get some more duals) and curve needs some work. M14 is coming out soon and I am considering Archangel of Thune & Spike Feeder/Kitchen Finks combo.
http://www.gatheringmagic.com/kevin-crimin-modern-deck-list-video-04172013-playing-on-a-budget-modern-soul-sisters/
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=518471
As stated earlier, Those BUG deck are far more control-oriented and can easily handle a 5 life loss Bob trigger (Unsummon any threats with Jace's 0 ability, or fetch Battleskull with SFM) plus the revealing those pushing further in the late stages of the game. Delver is geared towards Tempo play where every resource you have (Hand, creatures, lands, and Life total) are used to maximum efficiency to get your opponent with exactly 20. Think of it this way, Let's say you get a turn 1 Delver off a cracked fetchland, gets flipped turn two, you cast BOB of cracked fetch and swing for 3 (18 vs 17). the turn 3 you reveal FoW on top and take 5 (13-17) swing for 5 and use FoW to protect delver (12-12). Seems close to parity or even that you are ahead. but on there side, they could be playing lots of things that will outclass the BOB and Delver by this turn, i.e. BUG deck (Deathrite into turn 2 Liliana or Turn 3 Jace) Now the life totals are too even for a Delver deck to get maximum value for fast wins. Bringing yourself to 12-14 lives is not what a Delver deck wants since it shortens what the other decks need to do to beat you.
Chalice for @ 1 will not be able to beat a turn 1 AEther Vial, after that, the deck doesn't care about the MUD tactics.
I was not really asking about how to deal with the specific threats. It's more about how consistent are you getting out the MUD tactics (all are around 4 mana in Modern) before the other deck gets their key cards. By turn 4, a solid B/X deck can get Dark Confidant to Liliana of the Veil or Gravecrawler into 2 or 3 other zombies. Are the MUD tactics fast enough in Modern. (Note, MUD STAX is one of my favorite decks to play in Vintage because of all the early mana acceleration.)
1 Alchemist's Refuge
1 Moorland Haunt
1 Breeding Pool
3 Forest
1 Godless Shrine
3 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
4 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Plains
2 Temple Garden
1 Watery Grave
2 Hyena Umbra
1 Griffin Guide
4 Path to Exile
1 Spirit Mantle
1 Temporal Isolation
4 Unflinching Courage
Creatures
4 Drift of Phantasms
4 Drogskol Captain
2 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Niblis of the Urn
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Tallowisp
4 Troll Ascetic
4 Lingering Souls
4 Abrupt Decay
4 Disenchant
2 Loxodon Smiter
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
I've been able to gets some major blowouts with this deck. UCourage on GoST is not fair, but also Griffin Guide onto Strangleroot Geist just is a lethal combo. Anyone have any suggestions??? Sideboard help could really help. The board is to hate on Blood Moon and Control decks.
I have only Sower of Temptation and I stolen my opp's Geist-Honored Monk. If he end of turn Path to Exile my Sower, can I use say Serrated Arrows to give the Monk -1/-1 counter and killing it off before it returns to my opponent. I know there is a complex interaction within the layers. Since Layer 2 deals with creature control and p/t is in later layer, I rule that I lose control of monk before the -1/-1 can kill it.