I missed this, thanks for posting. Surgical is definitely very different, and he is ready to play a fair game with a couple Shalai and Scooze. I've never considered SB Surgical before. I suppose it's best against Dredge where you can nail their Conflags. Don't know that I care about it vs Phoenix? TitI is the real problem card.
Speaking of TitI, my friend mentioned to me a few weeks ago how Mirror Entity is some cute tech vs TitI because you make everything Horrors. Kind of clever. Now today I see someone 5-0'd a league using Abzan Company with one. Those of you on two Shalai might give it a shot? It's sort of similar? You get a mana sink but annoyingly demands a W, and it offers a bit of a beatdown plan B. Granted, it dies to a stiff breeze as a 1/1 naturally. Interestingly, you can kind of get a rebate on your mana with Mirror and Druid in play as well. You can pump your team big, swing, bait some removal in combat, then post combat combo using some "hidden mana" from a big Druid.
I'm going to try -1 Postmortem Lunge, +1 Lightning Greaves this weekend. I expect to like it, as I've spent a lot of time frustrated with hands full of Postmortem Lunges. Also, most things that we Lunge back are in the graveyard due to removal so Greaves does act in a role related to that of Lunge (though much more proactive).
Swapping the fourth Lunge to a Greaves does seem okay in a more fair metagame. It does allow for some interesting turns where the opponent taps out and just randomly loses after not seeing Druid.
I went 3-1 this weekend after facing Dredge, Bant Eldrazi, Grixis Shadow, then losing to Sultai Teachings in the last round. Combo control with 1 CMC removal is certainly tough. Ordinary Sultai Control just dies to the pro black creatures, but we don't have the time to try and beatdown. I'll have to see if boarding in protection creatures or Pridemages and Meddling Mage is best. Could be a play draw thing.
Interesting card spoiled for Modern Horizons today. Seems like a card to consider for its ability to compress two sideboard slots into one: combining a planeswalker with Worship. Worse against Midrange and Control than Gideon AoZ, but the ability to have an extra slot against removal light creature decks is neat.
A 2WW Serra Angel that leaves behind a planeswalker is a solid baseline. Serra makes an angel once every three turns, or can go angel, uptick, angel if you're okay with throwing it away.
The uptick is more or less flavor text in our deck, but Suspend 1 unanswerable Worhsip may be absolutely horrendous card design, but it definitely has the ability to steal games. I will say the plan of going straight to emblem is worse than it looks when considering it's game ending against decks that flood the board, so it may be hard to protect. That said, going downtick into plus three times, ultimate could work given a 4/4 vigilant flyer is a great blocker.
My initial impression is that, like all marginal cards, it's worth testing and thinking about, but unless Worship is a card I know I want, it's not immediately a card I know is playable like with Incubation and Deputy of Detention.
I'm not sure how the Meddling Mages will perform, but Eidolon of Rhetoric (or any Arcane Laboratory effect) is too much of a hindrance to us for it to be a viable anti-combo plan.
Let me know how it works out for you, and good luck!
I agree very strongly with your analysis of Linvala. However, I think her effect can be very relevant. That's why I'm keeping the Phyrexian Revoker in my SB for now, even though its primary target (KCI) is gone.
I agree with your evaluation of Tracker. I'm not quite on the same boat with Scooze. Scooze is vital for beating Tarmogoyf decks and decent against Snapcaster/Logic Knot/Search for Azcanta decks. However, it doesn't seem to hate on GRAVEYARD decks properly (which is where I agree with your evaluation of Scooze). Further, to use Scooze effectively as hate, you have to forgo your other development, which is a terrible tradeoff. That is the real reason I'm liking Scooze less. Maybe a 1x Remorseful Cleric over 1x Scooze?
I'm open to increasing the number of planeswalkers and/or pro-black creatures. However, I think Mystic Enforcer, Chameleon Colossus, and Gideon AoZ do not cover all of our weak spots. I think we need something that beats BG Rock. Unfortunately, I think the right answer is Elspeth, Sun's Champion but that's obviously not an option. Could Nissa, Steward of Elements work? I have seen her in a few sideboards. Mirran Crusader is too narrow.
In reference to your sideboard: I'm surprised to see zero Arcane Laboratory effects. Eidolon of Rhetoric is pretty good at keeping Phoenix in the GY and slowing the TitI flip. Also relevant against many other decks. The inability to slam multiple combo pieces in a row FTW is unfortunate, but Eidolon buys so much time in so many matchups.
I haven't tried out Revoker myself. What do you like it best against?
I've observed that Scooze has the same issues as Tracker in fair matchups. It can run away with the game, but too often it just gets one-for-one'd with little to no impact. I haven't experimented much with planeswalkers outside of Gideon AoZ, or cards with CMC greater than 4. I've found pro black creature do tend to win the game vs BG and DS when they hit the table, so I've moved to three to naturally draw them more and see them in more Incubations.
I've found Meddling Mage does a good enough Eidolon impression in combo matchups without slowing me down or shutting off cards that I'm okay without it or Canonist. Phoenix is the matchup it seems like we'd want Eidolon over Mage for, but the card puts us in a very bizarre gamestate that sometimes is good enough, but the better the Phoenix player, the worse it ends up being in my experience.
They have enough removal to disrupt us anytime we commit a Druid to the board. Lunge is almost turned off unless a mana sink and Vizier are on the table, and if they are, we get two-for-one'd and our Druid exiled if they kill the mana sink. I end up giving them a bunch of time to draw into Flame Slash/Axe and it's difficult to win at all if they draw TitI or Surgical in the meantime.
I do like Eidolon when BFT is drawn too, or if we go Eidolon into Shalai. I will try testing more with a focused gameplan of: get Eidolon on the table, get BFT or Shalai, then start committing combo pieces to the board. We could always try that new hot anti TitI tech that I saw some Bant Spirits players trying. Just put Mirror Entity in play and activate it for one to make your board Horrors.
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Have any of you all considered what Druid Evolution would look like if Green Sun's Zenith is ever unbanned? I toyed around with a hypothetical decklist that just trades Incubation for GSZ and wow is it nuts. An extra mana dork or T2 Druid in conjunction with a T1 dork would really take this deck to another level. Keep 4 in your TCGplayer cart anytime a B&R rolls around
I agree that other people's sideboards are not very informative. But I still look for general patterns. And the online lists CONSISTENTLY play 1x Linvala and I still don't know why!
The decks it's relevant against are: Elves, opposing Druid decks, Vannifar decks, Hardened Scales, Affinity, and maybe Value Town.
I see three main issues with Linvala.
Decks that Linvala is worth boarding in against are not well represented in the meta at large. None of the matchups are heavily unfavored. And, most of all, I don't know that Linvala is a necessary plan to begin with. When the opponent is slower than us and is light on disruption, is it better to cast and tutor bullets, or just focus our mana and tutors on goldfishing and reassembling the combo?
I will freely admit that these decks can goldfish us though, especially on the draw, so something should be brought in. However I'm not sure four drops are the best way to disrupt them. I personally would prefer bringing in Paths, and a Deputy of Detention on the draw. Path is much better than Linvala in that we can kind of tempo them by executing our gameplan while also potentially disrupting theirs.
My sideboarding mindset with Druid Evolution is that because we're the beatdown in nearly every matchup, I only need to bring in in cards when: I believe our opponent can potentially race, the combo is too difficult to reliably assemble in the face of heavy disruption, or if the opponent can prevent me from combo'ing due to cards like Cage or a Hexproof creature and Worship.
Speaking of sideboard plans, I've been liking marginal cards like Tracker and Scooze less and less. Tracker is rarely turning the tide in matchups where our opponent's postboard plan is kill everything. It too often ends up just being an expensive Harmonize. Scooze suffers from the same issue against fair decks, while I've found it to be an anemic answer against graveyard decks when the best plan for Dredge is to simply race them and rely on BFT to stop Conflag + Axe and Reanimator decks are fixed for me with Meddling Mage.
I have replaced them in my sideboard for a third pro black creature and a third BFT. I've found the most difficult matchups to be BGx, URx, Mardu, and disruptive aggro decks like Phoenix, Burn, and Shadow. Burrenton-Forge Tender is hands down the best protection creature for Bolt decks because, similar to Lunge, we can still threaten turn 3 wins. Discard decks are the one matchup I believe we have to lean into a beatdown plan postboard, and pro black creatures are extremely good at giving us a plan B. Planeswalkers also work and can better enable a beatdown plan against Control, but I've found URx Control to not be popular enough to play more Gideons.
Let me know what you thought of Magus. It definitely is a little weird in that you want it most against decks you're generally favored against.
You feel we're general favored against GBx, UW, and UWx?!? If so, then I must be doing something seriously wrong! How are you playing against such disruption heavy decks?
Magus of the Moon was great. He puts some serious fear into opponents. I usually nail my opponent with him in game 2 then side him out in game 3, as the opponent will be playing around him constantly anyways. For my local meta, Magus of the Moon is definitely a good choice. I think if you see more Infect, Grixis Death's Shadow, and Thing in the Ice then the Breeding Pool to support Incongruity is better than Magus (and the requisite Stomping Ground).
That 5-0 list is really heavy on card advantage (as midrange hate?) in the SB, yet no graveyard hate. I'm pretty confused about that. Also, these online lists continue to play Linvala and I just don't know why. Is Affinity so difficult?
I meant that decks that nearly scoop to Magus are often among our best matchups. Sort of like Jeskai playing Stony Silence for OG Affinity. BGx, URx are unfavored for sure. I find UW to be close and favor goes to which ever wants to beat the other more in deckbuilding.
Glad Magus is working well for you. I wasn't siding it in often in my metagame and the nail in the coffin for me was how awkward it is to Evo a dork into Magus since we can't combo without at least a white mana, sometimes two. Do you just not look to Evo into it on turn two much, or do you find it not difficult to fetch Forest, Plains on turn two?
I do agree the sideboard is walker heavy. I've found sideboarding to be all over the place with this deck, so I don't pay a whole lot of attention to them. It seems like they were wanting to beat Control since walkers appear to be at their best in that matchup.
Well I'm not ready to try Rallier yet. Shalai is too good to play less than 2 when burn spells rule the world. I am going to trim a Razorverge for an 8th fetch, because I got land flooded a lot recently.
I'm also going to try a Magus of the Moon tonight. -1 Breeding Pool, +1 Stomping Grounds, -1 SB ???, +1 SB Magus of the Moon. While it misses pure GB Rock, its great against GBx, UW, and UWx, which are bad matchups in my experience.
I'm pondering bringing in Magus in other matchups:
Good vs Tron and Scapeshift, but I don't know that we need much help against them anyways.
Do we bring it in vs Dredge? While possibly impactful, I think the answer is no as it doesn't stop their removal nor their biggest engine cards.
Grixis Death's Shadow is low on Bolts these days, so probably worthwhile when on the play. Does it come down fast enough to matter when on the draw?
Amulet Combo is already a good matchup and it is full of new tech against Blood Moon effects.
Any other matchups worth considering?
Let me know what you thought of Magus. It definitely is a little weird in that you want it most against decks you're generally favored against. I would definitely bring it in vs Tron, Amulet, and Shift. While it's not always necessary, it's great to have the ace in the hole if the opponent has a very disruptive draw. I personally wouldn't bring it in vs Dredge myself. GDS is probably personal preference and play draw dependent. I'd have to test it myself to say for certain.
Great to see Druid Evolution 5-0 a Comp League again. No value three and 4 + 1 on Commune effects is pretty neat to see. Replacing a three with a Commune is something I could get behind. Dork into Commune, two drop happens frequently in my experience.
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I played the deck last night, with minor changes to my list being -1 Tracker for a Chameleon Colossus to make for 2 pro black threats post board in Colossus and an Enforcer. Testing the BG matchup more, I found the majority of my wins came from the pro black creature, and a common line was two drop -> Evo it. More of them is valuable to allow for more of them naturally drawn, or seen in Incubation.
Ended up going 3-1 with wins against 4C Vannifar with Rhythm of the Wilds (aka a worse version of our deck), Burn, and Eldrazi Stompy, with a loss in the last round to UR Phoenix.
VS Vannifar. Game one I have the turn three but my opponent goes Deputy to force me to suicide Druid, into Image copy Deputy to take two Nobles. I have Lunge but I'm stuck on 4 Chord mana, so I'm unable to get Vizier. Game 2 I turn three unmolested. Game 3 I have a hand of Noble, Druid, Evo. I punt and Evolve my Noble into another Druid, confusing my Druid in hand with a Vizier for some reason. My opp goes T2 Rhythm. I draw Ballista and reluctantly Druid into of Ballista for 2, realizing this was a mistake given a third land from the opponent kills me. My opponent misses land and passes. I Ballista for 2, kill Noble, my opponent flashes in a Bellringer, bricks on land, passes. I draw Incubation, find Vizer for the win. Opponent shows me two Vannifar, ouch. I definitely misplayed twice and should have lost, but oh well.
VS Burn. I have a hand of Noble, Druid, Evo, scry Chord on top. Opp goes Guide on the draw, pass. I Druid, they Blaze it, then get turn 3'd. People get so tilted when their turn 3'd through a kill spell Game two my opponent T1 Swiftspear, I play fetch and get a tapped Temple after my opponent goes Eidolon. I Path Eidolon and fetch, shock for BFT. Opp plays 2nd Swiftspear, Charm me. I play Druid, he attacks me and Helixs preblocks on Druid. I sac BFT. I proceed to kill them with a Blaze in their hand, but on three mana it's good enough. Opp makes me play it out after getting Ballista'd game one PJSalt. Funny enough this is the same opp who wouldn't scoop after I Chalice them on 1, 2, 3 playing Burn as well.
VS E Stompy. My opponent thinks I'm on E Stompy after talking with him after R2. I go T1 Noble, T2 Druid, my opponent T3 TKSs me to see double Evo, Chord, Ballista. My opponent takes Ballista. I tank for a bit and kill him after getting Vizier, Duskwatch, into Shalai and attacks with two lethal attackers after Lunging back my Noble. Game 2 I go T2 Druid, my opponent Dismembers it. I fetch Dryad Arbor and kill on three lands with Lunge, Evo Arbor for Vizier.
VS UR Phoenix. Game 1 I have Druid in hand, but don't cast it into my opponent's T2 TitI. I Incongruity it in response to a Morphose. Opp ends up getting double Phoenix back anyway. I go Druid, Bird. Opponent Bolts Bird and me to deal exactsies. I side out Chords for 2 BFT, Skite, Selfless Spirit. I go dork into Selfless Spirit, opponent plays T2 TitI. I Incongruity it once again in response to the first spell, he chains spells into a Phoenix. I play a Druid, he Gut Shot Spirit and kill Druid. I get tempo'd out as my opp hits for three while killing anything that hits the table.
Rallier is more just a one-of I play in the flex slot you have Skite. I mentioned "Rallier manabase" because it makes it so Razorverge slots turn into fetches — I have 10 total — so the damage can add up quickly, making you feel the Canopies more. If you do not play a bunch of fetches, it definitely seems like a mistake to go below 3 Canopy. I'd personally go for the full 4 myself with Razorverges in the deck. A 12 dork combo deck is the ideal place to get greedy with Canopy. That said, with Burn rising a lot in popularity, sticking to 3 in Lava Spike heavy metagames is a good idea.
Rallier seems like a reason to play even more Canopies!
Right, it is a balancing act where Rallier synergizes great with Canopy, but Rallier also wants you to play two or three extra fetches as well. 3 is where I'm happiest currently given the extra fetches, but I could see anywhere from 2 to 4.
Is Eldrazi Tron giving you trouble? Decks that primarily interact with a few pieces of removal with a slower clock tend to feel favored for me.
I treat any deck with 4x Walking Ballista as highly dangerous!
What's a Rallier version look like for this deck? It's pretty easy to design and build in the CoCo shell, but I don't see available slots in Druid Evolution.
I am forgetting that a Ballista on 3 can just lock us out game one, and demand an answer in postboard. That card can be tricky, but with 2 or 3 slots in the board to answer it, Ballista can be more a roadblock. Bare in mind that E Tron isn't consistent at hitting Tron early, so the T3 Tron, Ballista on 3 games are not too common. Ideally our goldfish speed can force that to be the type of draw they need.
Rallier is more just a one-of I play in the flex slot you have Skite. I mentioned "Rallier manabase" because it makes it so Razorverge slots turn into fetches — I have 10 total — so the damage can add up quickly, making you feel the Canopies more. If you do not play a bunch of fetches, it definitely seems like a mistake to go below 3 Canopy. I'd personally go for the full 4 myself with Razorverges in the deck. A 12 dork combo deck is the ideal place to get greedy with Canopy. That said, with Burn rising a lot in popularity, sticking to 3 in Lava Spike heavy metagames is a good idea.
I will freely admit I tend to slant aggressively towards more copies of Canopy than typical though. I was playing a full set in Mono White D&T a while before that became the norm, I certainly wasn't the guy shaking in my boots about Blood Moon when the Humans community was stuck on fetches or Canopy in flex slots, and I'd probably be the Junk player with a one-of in their list.
I just view the card as the most powerful land in the format. Unconditional ETB untapped duals are already high on power level, Canopy decks tend to struggle in matchups that come down to a battle of card advantage, and it allows for playing a safer number of lands without getting punished. I like to think back to salt mine opponents who flip their top card after they lose and say "WOW YOU WERE DEAD IF I DREW THIS" and think that Canopy allows for drawing that card.
I definitely like 3 Canopies. It can be painful, especially with a Rallier manabase, but it's very powerful to have redraws in a combo deck. I'd sooner play 4 than 2.
I did find Eidolon to be very annoying to deal with when playing UR Phoenix against Druid Evolution. I lost a game where an Eidolon came down early and later a Shalai to pump the team and just punish my army of Pyromancer tokens hard. It could be right for me to play one, but I tend to dislike how these effects slow me down or nonbo with my cards.
Is Eldrazi Tron giving you trouble? Decks that primarily interact with a few pieces of removal with a slower clock tend to feel favored for me.
List looks fine to me @mirrislegend. Good luck in your event!
I ended up playing the list from last page last night in a big FNM. I saw a field of Phoenix and URx after round one and was thinking I should have maybe played Eldrazi Stompy instead. I end up playing against a bunch of weird decks instead.
R1 Eldrazi Tron
An ideal matchup, minimal disruption and a slower clock.
Game one I open on Druid, Vizier, Duskwatch. My opponent plays Chalice, I cast Druid, he T3 TKS me to see double Vizier, Duskwatch, Chord. Oh buddy, he scoops.
I board in Deputy and Knight of Autumn, taking out Shalai and Witness. I keep a hand with T1 dork, T2 Evolution. My opponent casts T1 Grafdigger's Cage and I draw into more tutors.
Game 3 I board in the Pridemage. My opponent is stuck on T2 lands and attempts to Eldrazi Charm exile my Druid. We both don't do much, him discarding eventually and me popping Canopies. I eventually find Lunge for the win.
R2 UW Thopter Gifts
Not a huge fan of this matchup. Combo control can be tough, but maybe a little better for us than standard control. Less slots on disruption, but they do close the game faster. This deck packs Paths, Remands, Wraths, and Unburial Rites Elesh Norn to disrupt us.
Game one I remember cast Druid on my T3 after finding it with Incubation. My two dorks, Druid, and Dryad Arbor get swept by a wrath and I get swarmed by Thopters.
I bring in a Spellskite and take out an Evolution. Game two goes on for a bit with me Chording on EoT for Druid and not doing much into open mana. My opponent on 5 lands casts Search for Azcanta, pass, I cast Vizier, he counters, I Rallier her back for the win. Opponent tells me they had Muddle and maybe shouldn't have tapped down. Whoops.
Game 3 I play T2 Druid, he Paths, I kill it. I get a Druid in play turn twos later and a second Path is met with a Lunge to combo.
R3 UW Emeria
I'm assuming this is a Saffron Olive deck or something, I seem to face it every once in a while. This bizarre deck looks to beat seemingly nothing good.
Game my Druid is Path'd, I kill it. I evolve a dork into Druid, a Vizier is countered by Ojutai's Command, I Lunge it back for the win.
I bring in a couple answers to enchants, taking out Ballista and Witness. Game two my opponent is stuck on 2 Ghost Quarters and I present a Druid on T3. He rips colored mana and he Paths it. I Lunge for the win next turn. We play a third game for fun and I similarly combo early easily through disruption.
R4 Sultai Wilderness Reclamation
The new jank hotness that lets you play EDH in Modern. Another combo control deck with Pushs, countermagic, and a glacially slow finish where you're probably dead to rights but have to play it out usually over a couple turns. I've tested against it earlier in the week and it's better than it looks, but pretty dependent about drawing Reclamation in certain matchups where playing a control style deck is a mistake.
I lose game one as my opponent answers Druid twice and I die a slow painful death as I try to beat down with Rallier and Ballista and only manage to hit them to around 4 before they chain turns and BSZ me for my deck.
I board in a Pridemage, taking out Evolution. Game two I cast Druid on two and it's Logic Knotted. I Rallier it back on my turn, they spend their turn killing Druid and I Lunge it back to kill them T4.
Game three I cast Druid on two, untap and cast Vizier into open mana, opponent kills Druid, I use the remaining three mana to Witness back Druid. I cast Druid next turn into Remand, then recast it. Opponent Cryptic bounces Druid on their turn, I untap and cast two Druids. They Teachings for Push and kill Vizer. I untap and Lunge back Vizier for the win.
I found myself leaning hard on the main and sideboarding lightly. Druid Evolution sort of plays like Infect in my experience and I prefer to stay as streamlined as possible. I really only move in the beatdown plan as a transformative gameplan vs URx and BGx. Interesting event overall. Certainly shows the variety you'll face in this format.
If Protection from black is what you're after, I'd prefer a Chameleon Colossus which can also serve as a kill with our combo.
But still, 4cmc is a lot.
Hm I'd never considered that Colossus is a mana sink. The main reason I play Mystic Enforcer is just that Threshold is usually a given in matchups you want the slot and I've valued evasion and a body that can block Goyf more. I'll have to consider how often I'm in a spot where I have the slot on the field with Druid and Vizier but no mana sink. Seems a little rare given combo'ing in those matchups is pretty tough, but something to think about for sure.
Ryan Overturf managed to take down the Team Open this weekend with an interesting innovation on Phoenix. He cut out many of the flex slots for a playset of Traverse the Ulvenwald and Mishra's Bauble main.
Also why use necrogen spellbomb over something like Nihil spellbomb? I feel like discarding 1 is almsot never relevant? is there a good scrap trawler chain I'm missing?
Sometimes I was discarding my Sword with Spellbomb to save a mana I agree it isn't that great in the deck with KCI gone.
Speaking of TitI, my friend mentioned to me a few weeks ago how Mirror Entity is some cute tech vs TitI because you make everything Horrors. Kind of clever. Now today I see someone 5-0'd a league using Abzan Company with one. Those of you on two Shalai might give it a shot? It's sort of similar? You get a mana sink but annoyingly demands a W, and it offers a bit of a beatdown plan B. Granted, it dies to a stiff breeze as a 1/1 naturally. Interestingly, you can kind of get a rebate on your mana with Mirror and Druid in play as well. You can pump your team big, swing, bait some removal in combat, then post combat combo using some "hidden mana" from a big Druid.
I went 3-1 this weekend after facing Dredge, Bant Eldrazi, Grixis Shadow, then losing to Sultai Teachings in the last round. Combo control with 1 CMC removal is certainly tough. Ordinary Sultai Control just dies to the pro black creatures, but we don't have the time to try and beatdown. I'll have to see if boarding in protection creatures or Pridemages and Meddling Mage is best. Could be a play draw thing.
Interesting card spoiled for Modern Horizons today. Seems like a card to consider for its ability to compress two sideboard slots into one: combining a planeswalker with Worship. Worse against Midrange and Control than Gideon AoZ, but the ability to have an extra slot against removal light creature decks is neat.
A 2WW Serra Angel that leaves behind a planeswalker is a solid baseline. Serra makes an angel once every three turns, or can go angel, uptick, angel if you're okay with throwing it away.
The uptick is more or less flavor text in our deck, but Suspend 1 unanswerable Worhsip may be absolutely horrendous card design, but it definitely has the ability to steal games. I will say the plan of going straight to emblem is worse than it looks when considering it's game ending against decks that flood the board, so it may be hard to protect. That said, going downtick into plus three times, ultimate could work given a 4/4 vigilant flyer is a great blocker.
My initial impression is that, like all marginal cards, it's worth testing and thinking about, but unless Worship is a card I know I want, it's not immediately a card I know is playable like with Incubation and Deputy of Detention.
What are your thoughts everyone?
I've observed that Scooze has the same issues as Tracker in fair matchups. It can run away with the game, but too often it just gets one-for-one'd with little to no impact. I haven't experimented much with planeswalkers outside of Gideon AoZ, or cards with CMC greater than 4. I've found pro black creature do tend to win the game vs BG and DS when they hit the table, so I've moved to three to naturally draw them more and see them in more Incubations.
I've found Meddling Mage does a good enough Eidolon impression in combo matchups without slowing me down or shutting off cards that I'm okay without it or Canonist. Phoenix is the matchup it seems like we'd want Eidolon over Mage for, but the card puts us in a very bizarre gamestate that sometimes is good enough, but the better the Phoenix player, the worse it ends up being in my experience.
They have enough removal to disrupt us anytime we commit a Druid to the board. Lunge is almost turned off unless a mana sink and Vizier are on the table, and if they are, we get two-for-one'd and our Druid exiled if they kill the mana sink. I end up giving them a bunch of time to draw into Flame Slash/Axe and it's difficult to win at all if they draw TitI or Surgical in the meantime.
I do like Eidolon when BFT is drawn too, or if we go Eidolon into Shalai. I will try testing more with a focused gameplan of: get Eidolon on the table, get BFT or Shalai, then start committing combo pieces to the board. We could always try that new hot anti TitI tech that I saw some Bant Spirits players trying. Just put Mirror Entity in play and activate it for one to make your board Horrors.
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Have any of you all considered what Druid Evolution would look like if Green Sun's Zenith is ever unbanned? I toyed around with a hypothetical decklist that just trades Incubation for GSZ and wow is it nuts. An extra mana dork or T2 Druid in conjunction with a T1 dork would really take this deck to another level. Keep 4 in your TCGplayer cart anytime a B&R rolls around
I see three main issues with Linvala.
Decks that Linvala is worth boarding in against are not well represented in the meta at large. None of the matchups are heavily unfavored. And, most of all, I don't know that Linvala is a necessary plan to begin with. When the opponent is slower than us and is light on disruption, is it better to cast and tutor bullets, or just focus our mana and tutors on goldfishing and reassembling the combo?
I will freely admit that these decks can goldfish us though, especially on the draw, so something should be brought in. However I'm not sure four drops are the best way to disrupt them. I personally would prefer bringing in Paths, and a Deputy of Detention on the draw. Path is much better than Linvala in that we can kind of tempo them by executing our gameplan while also potentially disrupting theirs.
My sideboarding mindset with Druid Evolution is that because we're the beatdown in nearly every matchup, I only need to bring in in cards when: I believe our opponent can potentially race, the combo is too difficult to reliably assemble in the face of heavy disruption, or if the opponent can prevent me from combo'ing due to cards like Cage or a Hexproof creature and Worship.
Speaking of sideboard plans, I've been liking marginal cards like Tracker and Scooze less and less. Tracker is rarely turning the tide in matchups where our opponent's postboard plan is kill everything. It too often ends up just being an expensive Harmonize. Scooze suffers from the same issue against fair decks, while I've found it to be an anemic answer against graveyard decks when the best plan for Dredge is to simply race them and rely on BFT to stop Conflag + Axe and Reanimator decks are fixed for me with Meddling Mage.
I have replaced them in my sideboard for a third pro black creature and a third BFT. I've found the most difficult matchups to be BGx, URx, Mardu, and disruptive aggro decks like Phoenix, Burn, and Shadow. Burrenton-Forge Tender is hands down the best protection creature for Bolt decks because, similar to Lunge, we can still threaten turn 3 wins. Discard decks are the one matchup I believe we have to lean into a beatdown plan postboard, and pro black creatures are extremely good at giving us a plan B. Planeswalkers also work and can better enable a beatdown plan against Control, but I've found URx Control to not be popular enough to play more Gideons.
This is my current sideboard:
3 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Spellskite
1 Selfless Spirit
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Meddling Mage
1 Deputy of Detention
1 Knight of Autumn
1 Mystic Enforcer
2 Chameleon Colossus
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
Glad Magus is working well for you. I wasn't siding it in often in my metagame and the nail in the coffin for me was how awkward it is to Evo a dork into Magus since we can't combo without at least a white mana, sometimes two. Do you just not look to Evo into it on turn two much, or do you find it not difficult to fetch Forest, Plains on turn two?
I do agree the sideboard is walker heavy. I've found sideboarding to be all over the place with this deck, so I don't pay a whole lot of attention to them. It seems like they were wanting to beat Control since walkers appear to be at their best in that matchup.
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I played the deck last night, with minor changes to my list being -1 Tracker for a Chameleon Colossus to make for 2 pro black threats post board in Colossus and an Enforcer. Testing the BG matchup more, I found the majority of my wins came from the pro black creature, and a common line was two drop -> Evo it. More of them is valuable to allow for more of them naturally drawn, or seen in Incubation.
Ended up going 3-1 with wins against 4C Vannifar with Rhythm of the Wilds (aka a worse version of our deck), Burn, and Eldrazi Stompy, with a loss in the last round to UR Phoenix.
VS Vannifar. Game one I have the turn three but my opponent goes Deputy to force me to suicide Druid, into Image copy Deputy to take two Nobles. I have Lunge but I'm stuck on 4 Chord mana, so I'm unable to get Vizier. Game 2 I turn three unmolested. Game 3 I have a hand of Noble, Druid, Evo. I punt and Evolve my Noble into another Druid, confusing my Druid in hand with a Vizier for some reason. My opp goes T2 Rhythm. I draw Ballista and reluctantly Druid into of Ballista for 2, realizing this was a mistake given a third land from the opponent kills me. My opponent misses land and passes. I Ballista for 2, kill Noble, my opponent flashes in a Bellringer, bricks on land, passes. I draw Incubation, find Vizer for the win. Opponent shows me two Vannifar, ouch. I definitely misplayed twice and should have lost, but oh well.
VS Burn. I have a hand of Noble, Druid, Evo, scry Chord on top. Opp goes Guide on the draw, pass. I Druid, they Blaze it, then get turn 3'd. People get so tilted when their turn 3'd through a kill spell
VS E Stompy. My opponent thinks I'm on E Stompy after talking with him after R2. I go T1 Noble, T2 Druid, my opponent T3 TKSs me to see double Evo, Chord, Ballista. My opponent takes Ballista. I tank for a bit and kill him after getting Vizier, Duskwatch, into Shalai and attacks with two lethal attackers after Lunging back my Noble. Game 2 I go T2 Druid, my opponent Dismembers it. I fetch Dryad Arbor and kill on three lands with Lunge, Evo Arbor for Vizier.
VS UR Phoenix. Game 1 I have Druid in hand, but don't cast it into my opponent's T2 TitI. I Incongruity it in response to a Morphose. Opp ends up getting double Phoenix back anyway. I go Druid, Bird. Opponent Bolts Bird and me to deal exactsies. I side out Chords for 2 BFT, Skite, Selfless Spirit. I go dork into Selfless Spirit, opponent plays T2 TitI. I Incongruity it once again in response to the first spell, he chains spells into a Phoenix. I play a Druid, he Gut Shot Spirit and kill Druid. I get tempo'd out as my opp hits for three while killing anything that hits the table.
Rallier is more just a one-of I play in the flex slot you have Skite. I mentioned "Rallier manabase" because it makes it so Razorverge slots turn into fetches — I have 10 total — so the damage can add up quickly, making you feel the Canopies more. If you do not play a bunch of fetches, it definitely seems like a mistake to go below 3 Canopy. I'd personally go for the full 4 myself with Razorverges in the deck. A 12 dork combo deck is the ideal place to get greedy with Canopy. That said, with Burn rising a lot in popularity, sticking to 3 in Lava Spike heavy metagames is a good idea.
I will freely admit I tend to slant aggressively towards more copies of Canopy than typical though. I was playing a full set in Mono White D&T a while before that became the norm, I certainly wasn't the guy shaking in my boots about Blood Moon when the Humans community was stuck on fetches or Canopy in flex slots, and I'd probably be the Junk player with a one-of in their list.
I just view the card as the most powerful land in the format. Unconditional ETB untapped duals are already high on power level, Canopy decks tend to struggle in matchups that come down to a battle of card advantage, and it allows for playing a safer number of lands without getting punished. I like to think back to salt mine opponents who flip their top card after they lose and say "WOW YOU WERE DEAD IF I DREW THIS" and think that Canopy allows for drawing that card.
I definitely like 3 Canopies. It can be painful, especially with a Rallier manabase, but it's very powerful to have redraws in a combo deck. I'd sooner play 4 than 2.
I did find Eidolon to be very annoying to deal with when playing UR Phoenix against Druid Evolution. I lost a game where an Eidolon came down early and later a Shalai to pump the team and just punish my army of Pyromancer tokens hard. It could be right for me to play one, but I tend to dislike how these effects slow me down or nonbo with my cards.
Is Eldrazi Tron giving you trouble? Decks that primarily interact with a few pieces of removal with a slower clock tend to feel favored for me.
I ended up playing the list from last page last night in a big FNM. I saw a field of Phoenix and URx after round one and was thinking I should have maybe played Eldrazi Stompy instead. I end up playing against a bunch of weird decks instead.I found myself leaning hard on the main and sideboarding lightly. Druid Evolution sort of plays like Infect in my experience and I prefer to stay as streamlined as possible. I really only move in the beatdown plan as a transformative gameplan vs URx and BGx. Interesting event overall. Certainly shows the variety you'll face in this format.
4 Thing in the Ice
4 Arclight Phoenix
1 Crackling Drake
1 Snapcaster Mage
Spells (28)
4 Thought Scour
4 Serum Visions
4 Traverse the Ulvenwald
4 Faithless Looting
4 Manamorphose
3 Gut Shot
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Lightning Axe
4 Mishra's Bauble
Land (18)
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Wooded Foothills
3 Steam Vents
1 Breeding Pool
1 Stomping Ground
1 Island
1 Mountain
2 Life Goes On
2 Rending Volley
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Dispel
2 Spell Pierce
1 Faerie Macabre
1 Magus of the Moon
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Lightning Axe
1 Blood Moon