This is what I've been playing recently... I like less borderposts, so I am only playing the posts that support my splash. I hate getting land destructed by the Affinity hate in most sideboards... With this configuration, I am less susceptible to those hate cards and if they bring in artifact hate against me they are only able to target my four borderposts so its probably now a bad sideboard plan for my opposition. Weathered Wayfarer can search to get Azorius Chancery, which almost acts as another land and reduces my lands in play, but I am running 20 lands and a virtual 25 with the borderposts and the chancery. But we get opportunities to ramp with Knight of White Orchid and Weathered Wayfarer. But I also am finding more utility land like Moorland Haunt to help me in long games and a 3/3 flyer is nothing to sneeze at in a deck like this, sometimes those Moorland Haunt tokens are even bigger.
But I've switched into a token subtheme with a little bit of Knight matters added to the subtheme that works well with Benalia, KoWO, and Gideon and Riftmarked Knight that might be interesting out of the sideboard in some Black matchups. Leyline of the Meek is always relevant to my deck and the singleton Leyline of Sanctity is never in doubles anymore, but I actually have an extra opportunity to get a Leyline in play on Turn 1 because I am running one more Leyline than most devotion decks.
Balancing a midranged deck in Modern is hard. Its hard to have a decent game against everything, but this deck can do powerful things. Tokens are often like card advantage.
I think there are easier ways to accomplish the same thing. If you are just challenging yourself than go for it. But otherwise look at some of the cards above and use them...
Can you explain the value of Leyline of Vitality to me? The plus 0/1 doesn't seem that relevant and the life gain doesn't seem that relevant too often either. In theory you need to splash heavy to cast it if you draw it.
I like the idea of a tokens deck that makes really freakin big tokens, possibly with evasion.
I continue to be very leery of Energy mechanics in Modern. Because Energy has only been used in one set, you don't have enough cards with high enough powerlevel to get a critical mass in Modern. I am skeptical that Syphoner will be able to draw cards routinely or that you'll be able ot activate Machinations routinely enough without more Energy cards and there aren't more energy cards to add. I would remove them.
Even if Black is the primary color you'll want a splash of another most likely. Battlefield Scavenger might be a good enough Rogue that also enables Madness, but you might also look at the Blue as the splash and see if you can make a "Black Burn" that is Bu with a Rogue subtheme.
But to be better at burn than burn,R3Dox is correct... You have to better than Burn at something and or fix some of the issues with Burn. Rogue subthemes help you to draw more cards with spells like Morsel Theft. That could be the improvement you are looking for. Bitterblossom not only enables the Prowl mechanic well, it also becomes a forcefield spell that might add a couple turns against some decks.
I will caution that people have been trying to make Rogues work for a very long time, and its very difficult to do. The creatures are fragile and enabling Prowl is very hard in Modern.
I think Rats are a fine tribe that can be made to be in the neighborhood of tier 3. Above are some links to other takes on Rat Tribal. The strength of Rats are discard and removal. My take below emphasizes both... It could use tuning. Pack Rats are important because they turn dead spells into inevitability. Rats are hard to remove without sweepers and Pack Rats get very large very quick, but they tend to be a late game play.
Typhoid Rats are an underrated rat. They are effectively unblockable so they enable ninjitsu and are cheap to recast. They block well to kill usually the opponents best creature.
That deck played Elesh Norn and this deck might be able to play that card too since sometimes our deck can make a lot of mana. But I saw that BW tokens was a decent modern deck and that Leyline of the Meek is a card that BW tokens might be happy to play and that Leyline of the Meek would also help toward gaining devotion.
Another card good in a Devotion deck is Springjack Shepard. It makes a lot of tokens and if you have ways to buff tokens than the 0/1 bodies aren't too bad. Even as 0/1 its a lot of bodies that can help to stall a game. You have to have enough buffs and enough Devotion to make this card make sense and I have played versions of the deck with and without Springjack Shepard. I've seen a lot of variance in the card. I wouldn't classify it as win more, since often in this deck it can be a win con and it can be a stall card. Its not usually a dead top deck, usually you are more than happy to top deck this card. Often it depends on the build. The more Intangible Virtue you run the better the card is...
I like the first intangible virtue a lot. I love vigilance with flying tokens. Being able to attack and then chump block is a wonderful tempo play. You don't have to do the guessing of how many blockers to leave back in case they have removal. I find that the clock is very important in the deck because while you are going wide and generally you make targeted removal far less important, you aren't always the deck that wins in the long game. You aren't inevitably going to win games. Of course this is matchup dependent but I think that in enough matchups we are playing a tempo game plan to win midgame, so being able to play offense and defense can be very important. The second intangible virtue isn't bad, but its not giving vigilance. Now its a two mana cheaper Leyline of the Meek, so its not bad, but the card also does nothing by itself. Its a great force multiplier but not a win con by itself. IV can be a bad top deck, so finding the right number of IV in a deck also running Leyline of Meek hasn't been easy. I've run 1 and I've run 4 and I haven't figured out what I think is best.
Secure the Wastes is wonderful. It was wonderful in Westcoe's deck. I run one Rise of the Hobgoblins as a sorcery speed Secure the Wastes. I like RotH. Again like many enchantments how many to run is a question. Like Intangible Virtue you get the static ability to grant First Strike, which is relevant, but not often relevant. It can really change defensive games, especially when you get Death Strike on line and/or vigilance. RotH also gives Devotion and with Tokens its hard to find playable cards that also provide devotion.
This is an issue for the deck, the best token producers don't produce Devotion. Lingering Souls, is just awesome. Its a big reason this deck is Wb. Its a great card in non-token decks. We'll play it, but by playing it and a couple copies of Secure the Wastes, you have to really play some sub-optimal token producers to gain devotion.
I don't think this is the same big mana devotion deck that Westcoe is playing. It might be able to go in that direction, but you need to find more of the combination of good token producers that produce mana and control the game. Westcoe was using a lot of creatures and borderposts to create that early game mana ramp. That could be a direction for the deck.
As you'll see, I'm content to play a lot of one of's: Legion's Landing, Rise of the Hobgoblins, Intangible Virtue, Planeswalkers... Either because the second one is Legend Ruled or because the second card is of less total benefit after the first is in play. Some of this is playtesting trying to find the relative value of different cards, some of it is because I'm okay with the variance, but I expect that I often play only one when the correct number is more or even not at all. But I see value in not getting cards stuck in your hand. My theory is that often people aren't placing enough emphasis on the value of not getting a card stuck in your hand and comparing that to having another random card in your hand. Modern is a huge format with number of cards and I just think that if you gave each card a number value from 1-10 for a deck. Often if we are playing a 8.5 and its a legend we can find a card that an 8.3 and you make up the difference in value simply by factoring the times you have a dead card in your hand. In a combo deck this probably isn't true, but we have general synergy not combo so we can play a lot of different cards.
We should look for lands that work well with the theme. Springjack Pasture is playable, maybe. Kher Keep would be nice if we were in Red. Moorland Haunt would be nice if we were in Blue and if we played creatures. Its why I like Legion's Landing. Its not an efficient token producer, but its a great over time grind card. If it just makes a blocker each turn it can buy you time to draw the card that helps you finish the game.
I think we need to look at all the Planeswalkers that make tokens. They aren't enchantments, but they do create devotion.
Something I have noticed, is that I am very very very happy to sideboard in creatures. In game two and three many of the single target removal is out of an opponent's deck and sweepers can be forced discards. So cards like Dark Confidant, Auriok Champion, Weathered Wayfarer, Tidehollow Sculler, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, etc get much better after the sideboard. They don't get the benefit of Leyline of the Meek or Intangible Virtue so they have to be very good, but often they are much better when they are hard to remove and serve a real purpose in your sideboard plan. So don't completely ignore them as options out of the sideboard.
I'm very high on Auriok Champion and his/her value may go down if Death's Shadow sees less play, but being hard to remove, gaining life, blocking black and red creatures are all very relevant. It provides devotion. It offsets Bitterblossom's life loss. It blocks a Bloodbraid Elf.
Flying tokens are going to be of much higher value if destroying a Jace the Mind Sculptor becomes important. So Lingering Souls and Bitter Blossom making tokens that can threaten Jace is important.
I am high on the deck. You can add enough black discard to the deck to slow control/combo decks including Sweepers. Targeted removal is fairly weak against us. We naturally slow down most aggressive decks.
Tron is a problem for the metagame, especially control, tempo and midgame decks because it is very resilent to land disruption, I don't value Spreading Seas much in the matchup. Generally, they have so much land search spells that you spend 2 mana to time walk Tron, just one turn, but you didn't really advance your board state for the two mana and you didn't put down a clock. Fixing the Tron matchup maybe impossible. So it may not be worth dedicated sideboard slots for Tron. Ceremoious Rejection is strong so if there are enough matchups where it merits space other than Tron it does help in the Tron matchup.
We have a lot of overlapping cards, but very different goals and strategies. I am not saying my Flash strategy is better, just that the strategy is different. Spellstutter Sprite is good in my eyes, Modern spells in the non-Tron matchups usually are low casting cost, so countering a zero, one or two mana spell is what it is there for, but the 1/1 flying boy carries a sword well too, so some times you cast it without countering a spell. But its weaker in some matchups than others.
One piece of advice I will give you is not to have too many equipment in your 75. Steelshaper's Gift affords you some selection in the matchup. But we run so few artifacts that people will sideboard in Artifact hate to stop what maybe just two or three cards in your deck. In the sideboard matchups the hate maybe there if they saw the equipment game 1 and you may want to side out all your equipment or just leave the Batterskull with no search so that you have it for late game win condition. So each equipment in your 75 should earn its place. Sword of Light and Shadow, Sword of Fire and Ice and Sword of Feast and Famine are the swords I find worth running. The others just are not impactful enough. That is protection from White, Black, Green, Red and Blue between those swords. That's all five colors. I wouldn't run sub-optimal swords in the 75. You also might consider Academy Ruins if the equipment are a big part of your win condition.
Tron is actually a hard matchup. So many of our counterspells (some are creatures) only work on low casting cost spells and don't work well when your opponent has access to lots of mana, ie Mausoleum Wanderer. So many cards that are good answers in Modern in general don't affect Tron cards much, and we are playing a lot of those cards. In a heavy Tron game, I am not sure we can make this deck a viable option.
I felt like I had pre-sideboarded the deck for a metagame with a significant amount of Humans, Hollow One, and Affinity. The Wrath of God effects were strong. But I do think you are doing an okay job of making a choice of what your deck does in the first couple games and adding Black for Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, and Lingering Souls is smart. They are all strong cards in Modern.
How is Geist of Saint Traft? Its a great clock, even better if you can give it evasion with one of the swords, but that's an expensive "combo". I was trying to keep most of my deck at "Flash" speed to keep counterspell magic represented.
Why are you playing Sword of Body and Mind? I am genuinely curious on the logic, not being critical till I hear...
How is Jace performing? I've all but cut it from my deck, not because its not a good card, but I just haven't felt that it did enough to my Plan A. But I do bring one in out of the Board in Control matchups.
My works have gotten wild lately, so I haven't played much. The deck has a lot of room to be tuned. Play the deck like a Tempo deck, even though it has strong control elements. Its not dead to anything but probably burn. It has a little bit of a problem that some of the control cards are not good in every matchup which gets better after sideboard. Sideboard could be changed a lot, White has access to so many good sideboard cards.
But the idea is simple, we need a creature and an equipment and we create a clock. This deck can Wrath of God itself and usually put another creature in play to wear the equipment. Sword of Feast and Famine lets us commit to the Board and keep up Flash creatures and counterspells. I have been very happy with Paradise Mantle, cycling into it off of Steelshaper's Gift is often a great turn 1 or turn 2 play. Its rarely dead and often mana is the best use of Mausoleum Wander or a spirit token. It also can help ramp into a Wrath of God. Grafted Wargear makes the Mausoleum Wander a better card and turns everything into a very real clock. Its even great on an Eternal Scourge, especially it lets the Scourge trade with pretty much any creature that doesn't end the game on the spot. Eternal Scourge/Moorland Haunt is a great combo for long grindy games.
I like the deck. It shouldn't run out of resources, but don't be surprised if decks like Mardu Pyromancer can seem like a tough matchup... Its not a terrible matchup by any standard, but you have games where you'd think you'd win and then they do. Also even though we aren't running a lot of artifacts, incidental removal like Kolaghan's Command hurt when they target equipment and you are forced to chip away at opponents.
This deck isn't tuned or perfect by any stretch, but its somewhere in the middle of tempo and control. Its playable. It maybe able to be made much better.
I am not sold on the number of Spellstutter Sprite being correct. I love the evasive flash creature that also counters a relevant spell. But its possible that it should only be two. I like Batterskull in the sideboard, its too slow for most matchups, but if a game goes long its a wonderful card, so it should still be in the 75. IF they legalize Stoneforge Mystic then it would move main and the deck gets better. The thought that Stoneforge might become Modern Legal is one of the reasons I started down this rabbit hole, since I think this maybe a very good place for that card.
If you want a project that is probably okay to play and one of the best control decks you can play, which might get a card unbanned to make it better down the road, this is a great choice, but if you want something to win the next big tournament, even if this deck can... it will probably need a lot of tuning.
This made top 8 in Barcelona. I guess the thing freaking me out about it is Terminus. Any other board sweeper Lodestone Golem would make too expensive but not Terminus.
There is no such thing as a perfect deck. I am not sure that Lodestone isn't good enough against some cards in that deck that it doesn't win us the match. Terminus is a bad card against us for precisely why you suggest, but this is the only deck that can use Terminus well. Its Modern, it won't be a huge portion of the metagame because the Modern Meta is so vast. My gut is to do our best in this matchup and accept that this matchup might be a loser, but we have a lot of other potentially good matchups so its okay.
This is a potentially good sideboard card. I am not sure how many decks it is good against or if it helps enough, but yeah we should look at it. Not maindeck material, but if its impactful enough in enough matchups it could be a good sideboard card because it fits with our game plan of needing cheap blue creatures.
How is this deck faring against the U/W control decks like the ones from Barcelona? Just looking at it on paper, Terminus scares me because they can cheat it out even if you've already stuck a Lodestone Golem.
Do you have a list? I don't think I've played against a newer version of UW control, but I'll let you know if I do?
I'm a big fan of Sage of Epityr, but is it better than Siren Stormtamer in this deck?
I'm a huge fan of Sage of Epityr as well and in my experience he has been better than the Siren. This deck is tight on blue mana and I found was a struggle trying to leave an island open for the Siren's ability. I really wanted that card to be good, but yeah, it turns out that I'm not a big fan. I'd say that slot should be filled with 4x Artificer's Assistant over any other one drop (assuming you're already playing Mausoleum Wanderer). Sage is good as a one or two of if you're playing fetch lands, but you don't want to play too many one drops.
I like the Sage of Epityr much more in decks that have lots of shuffle effects, so if you are running the Uw version, he is much more powerful because you can get the one or two cards you most want and then shuffle the rest away. Scry4 is very powerful and often it is hard to keep U mana up in this deck to activate Siren Stormtamer. They are very different effects, but the flight ability is of limited value, not none...So it depends on the meta game and AA and MW are definitely priority one drops, but its nice to have options.
Has anyone considered Sigil of Distinction as a one-of in this deck? It's tutorable for the versions running Trinket Mage and seems like it would be a great mana sink. Turns a Mausoleum Wanderer into both a beat stick and a hard counter. Just a thought...
Anyway, I'm about to hop on the wagon here since I already have a set of Walking Ballista and this deck looks like both an affordable and competitive entry point for me into Modern.
My first thought is that it doesn't impact enough, and its only great when you have a lot of mana, but its a threat that can often have haste since it hits the board and attaches to an existing creature. You are correct that it works well to make the Mausoleum Wanderers better and into evasive clocks.
I'd need to think about the whole deck you are playing. How many threats are evasive? How many Trinket Mages? I think its as mana efficient as Fireball and it can stick around for multiple turns. Certainly not going to vouch for it, but I don't hate the idea.
Enchantment removal is pretty limited in Modern, so its very hard to interact with. Since we rely on the Emperion lock to win, it is much like playing Greater Auramancy in the Enduring Ideal list, but it speeds up your clock and protects your lock. Generally if they can interact with your Platinum Emperion you lose, so its less a win more card and more lock piece.
I totally agree very few decks play creatures that cost more than 3 mana, if they do they cheat them into play. I think there is some Devoid removal that you can play to get around Favor of the Mighty if it helps your opponent like Kozilek's Return, Processor Assault, Touch of the Void.
I still have not decided if Favor of the Mighty is a sideboard card or a maindeck card in this kind of deck. Lord knows there are probably matchups where you board Favor out. But when I have played versions of Madcap Experiment, I find that they can often find removal for Emperion. Since it makes the Emperyon mostly unblockable, it also gives them less time to find an answer, and if Favor is out they usually have to find two answers.
I think they answer to making it work is finding a solid second creature that has a high mana cost that you can cheat into play, I have tried cards like Bedlam Reveler, because it can be played for less than its mana cost, it refills the deck and is a win condition, even if its not the best win condition, but because of the way Favor of the Mighty works, having the higher mana cost removes the protection from your opponents creatures.
But I've switched into a token subtheme with a little bit of Knight matters added to the subtheme that works well with Benalia, KoWO, and Gideon and Riftmarked Knight that might be interesting out of the sideboard in some Black matchups. Leyline of the Meek is always relevant to my deck and the singleton Leyline of Sanctity is never in doubles anymore, but I actually have an extra opportunity to get a Leyline in play on Turn 1 because I am running one more Leyline than most devotion decks.
Balancing a midranged deck in Modern is hard. Its hard to have a decent game against everything, but this deck can do powerful things. Tokens are often like card advantage.
2 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
4 Knight of the White Orchid
3 Walking Ballista
4 Weathered Wayfarer
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
4 Fieldmist Borderpost
1 Legion's Landing
2 History of Benalia
1 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Leyline of the Meek
1 Nevermore
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Detention Sphere
4 Path to Exile
1 Quarantine Field
1 Rise of the Hobgoblins
2 Secure the Wastes
1 Island
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Azorious Chancery
1 Moorland Haunt
4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
10 Plains
1 Riftmarked Knight
1 Devout Lightcaster
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Entreat the Angels
1 Nevermore
1 Hangarback Walker
1 Quarantine Field
2 Rest in Peace
1 Azorius Charm
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Day of Judgment
2 Wrath of God
I think there are easier ways to accomplish the same thing. If you are just challenging yourself than go for it. But otherwise look at some of the cards above and use them...
Good Luck
I like the idea of a tokens deck that makes really freakin big tokens, possibly with evasion.
1 Heliod, God of the Sun
Enchantments (23)
1 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Leyline of the Meek
4 Bitterblossom
2 Rise of the Hobgoblins
1 Legion's Landing
4 Intangible Virtue
1 Starfield of Nyx
1 Call of the Bloodline
2 Hidden Stockpile
2 History of Benalia
Instant (5)
2 Fatal Push
2 Path to Exile
1 Secure the Wastes
4 Lingering Souls
Artifacts (4)
4 Helm of the Gods
Land (24)
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Godless Shrine
4 Marsh Flats
4 Plains
2 Swamp
2 Windswept Heath
2 Blood Crypt
2 Westveil Abbey
2 Windbrisk Heights
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 God-Favored General
2 Collective Brutality
1 Sundering Growth
1 Greater Auramancy
3 Leyline of the Void
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
2 Leyline of the Void
1 Dovescape
1 Murder Investigation
2 Promise of Bunrei
1 Rite of Belzenlok
Even if Black is the primary color you'll want a splash of another most likely. Battlefield Scavenger might be a good enough Rogue that also enables Madness, but you might also look at the Blue as the splash and see if you can make a "Black Burn" that is Bu with a Rogue subtheme.
But to be better at burn than burn,R3Dox is correct... You have to better than Burn at something and or fix some of the issues with Burn. Rogue subthemes help you to draw more cards with spells like Morsel Theft. That could be the improvement you are looking for. Bitterblossom not only enables the Prowl mechanic well, it also becomes a forcefield spell that might add a couple turns against some decks.
I will caution that people have been trying to make Rogues work for a very long time, and its very difficult to do. The creatures are fragile and enabling Prowl is very hard in Modern.
https://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/modern-archives/222339-primer-modern-rat-swarm
I think Rats are a fine tribe that can be made to be in the neighborhood of tier 3. Above are some links to other takes on Rat Tribal. The strength of Rats are discard and removal. My take below emphasizes both... It could use tuning. Pack Rats are important because they turn dead spells into inevitability. Rats are hard to remove without sweepers and Pack Rats get very large very quick, but they tend to be a late game play.
Typhoid Rats are an underrated rat. They are effectively unblockable so they enable ninjitsu and are cheap to recast. They block well to kill usually the opponents best creature.
4 Typhoid Rats
4 Ravenous Rats
4 Chittering Rats
4 Pack Rats
4 Nezumi Shortfang
2 Swarm of Rats
1 Stronghold Rats
2 Throat Slitter
2 Okiba-Gang Shinobi
1 Marrow-Gnawer
1 Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
4 Fatal Push
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Doomblade
2 Thoughtseize
1 Mimic Vat
Lands (22)
4 Mutavault
4 Swarmyard
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
13 Swamp
1 Bladed Pinions
Please do not take this as the thought that I think I invented the deck... But this is my take on it the idea came to me after seeing Craig Westcoe play a White Devotion decklist with 4 Weathered Wayfarer main deck and I saw real power in White Devotion. http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=14329&writer=Craig Wescoe&articledate=12-8-2017
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
4 Knight of the White Orchid
1 Springjack Shepherd
1 Walking Ballista
4 Weathered Wayfarer
Planeswalker 4
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3 Fieldmist Borderpost
1 Intangible Virtue
2 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Leyline of the Meek
1 Legion's Landing
2 Nevermore
1 Oblivion Ring
4 Path to Exile
1 Quarantine Field
1 Rise of the Hobgoblins
4 Secure the Wastes
2 Wildfield Borderpost
4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Springjack Pasture
1 Westveil Abbey
1 Windbrisk Heights
11 Plains
2 Devout Lightcaster
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Nevermore
1 Quarantine Field
2 Rest in Peace
2 Tectonic Edge
4 Wrath of God
That deck played Elesh Norn and this deck might be able to play that card too since sometimes our deck can make a lot of mana. But I saw that BW tokens was a decent modern deck and that Leyline of the Meek is a card that BW tokens might be happy to play and that Leyline of the Meek would also help toward gaining devotion.
Another card good in a Devotion deck is Springjack Shepard. It makes a lot of tokens and if you have ways to buff tokens than the 0/1 bodies aren't too bad. Even as 0/1 its a lot of bodies that can help to stall a game. You have to have enough buffs and enough Devotion to make this card make sense and I have played versions of the deck with and without Springjack Shepard. I've seen a lot of variance in the card. I wouldn't classify it as win more, since often in this deck it can be a win con and it can be a stall card. Its not usually a dead top deck, usually you are more than happy to top deck this card. Often it depends on the build. The more Intangible Virtue you run the better the card is...
I like the first intangible virtue a lot. I love vigilance with flying tokens. Being able to attack and then chump block is a wonderful tempo play. You don't have to do the guessing of how many blockers to leave back in case they have removal. I find that the clock is very important in the deck because while you are going wide and generally you make targeted removal far less important, you aren't always the deck that wins in the long game. You aren't inevitably going to win games. Of course this is matchup dependent but I think that in enough matchups we are playing a tempo game plan to win midgame, so being able to play offense and defense can be very important. The second intangible virtue isn't bad, but its not giving vigilance. Now its a two mana cheaper Leyline of the Meek, so its not bad, but the card also does nothing by itself. Its a great force multiplier but not a win con by itself. IV can be a bad top deck, so finding the right number of IV in a deck also running Leyline of Meek hasn't been easy. I've run 1 and I've run 4 and I haven't figured out what I think is best.
Secure the Wastes is wonderful. It was wonderful in Westcoe's deck. I run one Rise of the Hobgoblins as a sorcery speed Secure the Wastes. I like RotH. Again like many enchantments how many to run is a question. Like Intangible Virtue you get the static ability to grant First Strike, which is relevant, but not often relevant. It can really change defensive games, especially when you get Death Strike on line and/or vigilance. RotH also gives Devotion and with Tokens its hard to find playable cards that also provide devotion.
This is an issue for the deck, the best token producers don't produce Devotion. Lingering Souls, is just awesome. Its a big reason this deck is Wb. Its a great card in non-token decks. We'll play it, but by playing it and a couple copies of Secure the Wastes, you have to really play some sub-optimal token producers to gain devotion.
I don't think this is the same big mana devotion deck that Westcoe is playing. It might be able to go in that direction, but you need to find more of the combination of good token producers that produce mana and control the game. Westcoe was using a lot of creatures and borderposts to create that early game mana ramp. That could be a direction for the deck.
As you'll see, I'm content to play a lot of one of's: Legion's Landing, Rise of the Hobgoblins, Intangible Virtue, Planeswalkers... Either because the second one is Legend Ruled or because the second card is of less total benefit after the first is in play. Some of this is playtesting trying to find the relative value of different cards, some of it is because I'm okay with the variance, but I expect that I often play only one when the correct number is more or even not at all. But I see value in not getting cards stuck in your hand. My theory is that often people aren't placing enough emphasis on the value of not getting a card stuck in your hand and comparing that to having another random card in your hand. Modern is a huge format with number of cards and I just think that if you gave each card a number value from 1-10 for a deck. Often if we are playing a 8.5 and its a legend we can find a card that an 8.3 and you make up the difference in value simply by factoring the times you have a dead card in your hand. In a combo deck this probably isn't true, but we have general synergy not combo so we can play a lot of different cards.
We should look for lands that work well with the theme. Springjack Pasture is playable, maybe. Kher Keep would be nice if we were in Red. Moorland Haunt would be nice if we were in Blue and if we played creatures. Its why I like Legion's Landing. Its not an efficient token producer, but its a great over time grind card. If it just makes a blocker each turn it can buy you time to draw the card that helps you finish the game.
I think we need to look at all the Planeswalkers that make tokens. They aren't enchantments, but they do create devotion.
Something I have noticed, is that I am very very very happy to sideboard in creatures. In game two and three many of the single target removal is out of an opponent's deck and sweepers can be forced discards. So cards like Dark Confidant, Auriok Champion, Weathered Wayfarer, Tidehollow Sculler, Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite, etc get much better after the sideboard. They don't get the benefit of Leyline of the Meek or Intangible Virtue so they have to be very good, but often they are much better when they are hard to remove and serve a real purpose in your sideboard plan. So don't completely ignore them as options out of the sideboard.
I'm very high on Auriok Champion and his/her value may go down if Death's Shadow sees less play, but being hard to remove, gaining life, blocking black and red creatures are all very relevant. It provides devotion. It offsets Bitterblossom's life loss. It blocks a Bloodbraid Elf.
Flying tokens are going to be of much higher value if destroying a Jace the Mind Sculptor becomes important. So Lingering Souls and Bitter Blossom making tokens that can threaten Jace is important.
I am high on the deck. You can add enough black discard to the deck to slow control/combo decks including Sweepers. Targeted removal is fairly weak against us. We naturally slow down most aggressive decks.
We have a lot of overlapping cards, but very different goals and strategies. I am not saying my Flash strategy is better, just that the strategy is different. Spellstutter Sprite is good in my eyes, Modern spells in the non-Tron matchups usually are low casting cost, so countering a zero, one or two mana spell is what it is there for, but the 1/1 flying boy carries a sword well too, so some times you cast it without countering a spell. But its weaker in some matchups than others.
One piece of advice I will give you is not to have too many equipment in your 75. Steelshaper's Gift affords you some selection in the matchup. But we run so few artifacts that people will sideboard in Artifact hate to stop what maybe just two or three cards in your deck. In the sideboard matchups the hate maybe there if they saw the equipment game 1 and you may want to side out all your equipment or just leave the Batterskull with no search so that you have it for late game win condition. So each equipment in your 75 should earn its place. Sword of Light and Shadow, Sword of Fire and Ice and Sword of Feast and Famine are the swords I find worth running. The others just are not impactful enough. That is protection from White, Black, Green, Red and Blue between those swords. That's all five colors. I wouldn't run sub-optimal swords in the 75. You also might consider Academy Ruins if the equipment are a big part of your win condition.
I felt like I had pre-sideboarded the deck for a metagame with a significant amount of Humans, Hollow One, and Affinity. The Wrath of God effects were strong. But I do think you are doing an okay job of making a choice of what your deck does in the first couple games and adding Black for Thoughtseize, Fatal Push, and Lingering Souls is smart. They are all strong cards in Modern.
How is Geist of Saint Traft? Its a great clock, even better if you can give it evasion with one of the swords, but that's an expensive "combo". I was trying to keep most of my deck at "Flash" speed to keep counterspell magic represented.
Why are you playing Sword of Body and Mind? I am genuinely curious on the logic, not being critical till I hear...
How is Jace performing? I've all but cut it from my deck, not because its not a good card, but I just haven't felt that it did enough to my Plan A. But I do bring one in out of the Board in Control matchups.
But the idea is simple, we need a creature and an equipment and we create a clock. This deck can Wrath of God itself and usually put another creature in play to wear the equipment. Sword of Feast and Famine lets us commit to the Board and keep up Flash creatures and counterspells. I have been very happy with Paradise Mantle, cycling into it off of Steelshaper's Gift is often a great turn 1 or turn 2 play. Its rarely dead and often mana is the best use of Mausoleum Wander or a spirit token. It also can help ramp into a Wrath of God. Grafted Wargear makes the Mausoleum Wander a better card and turns everything into a very real clock. Its even great on an Eternal Scourge, especially it lets the Scourge trade with pretty much any creature that doesn't end the game on the spot. Eternal Scourge/Moorland Haunt is a great combo for long grindy games.
I like the deck. It shouldn't run out of resources, but don't be surprised if decks like Mardu Pyromancer can seem like a tough matchup... Its not a terrible matchup by any standard, but you have games where you'd think you'd win and then they do. Also even though we aren't running a lot of artifacts, incidental removal like Kolaghan's Command hurt when they target equipment and you are forced to chip away at opponents.
This deck isn't tuned or perfect by any stretch, but its somewhere in the middle of tempo and control. Its playable. It maybe able to be made much better.
I am not sold on the number of Spellstutter Sprite being correct. I love the evasive flash creature that also counters a relevant spell. But its possible that it should only be two. I like Batterskull in the sideboard, its too slow for most matchups, but if a game goes long its a wonderful card, so it should still be in the 75. IF they legalize Stoneforge Mystic then it would move main and the deck gets better. The thought that Stoneforge might become Modern Legal is one of the reasons I started down this rabbit hole, since I think this maybe a very good place for that card.
If you want a project that is probably okay to play and one of the best control decks you can play, which might get a card unbanned to make it better down the road, this is a great choice, but if you want something to win the next big tournament, even if this deck can... it will probably need a lot of tuning.
There is no such thing as a perfect deck. I am not sure that Lodestone isn't good enough against some cards in that deck that it doesn't win us the match. Terminus is a bad card against us for precisely why you suggest, but this is the only deck that can use Terminus well. Its Modern, it won't be a huge portion of the metagame because the Modern Meta is so vast. My gut is to do our best in this matchup and accept that this matchup might be a loser, but we have a lot of other potentially good matchups so its okay.
This is a potentially good sideboard card. I am not sure how many decks it is good against or if it helps enough, but yeah we should look at it. Not maindeck material, but if its impactful enough in enough matchups it could be a good sideboard card because it fits with our game plan of needing cheap blue creatures.
I like the Sage of Epityr much more in decks that have lots of shuffle effects, so if you are running the Uw version, he is much more powerful because you can get the one or two cards you most want and then shuffle the rest away. Scry4 is very powerful and often it is hard to keep U mana up in this deck to activate Siren Stormtamer. They are very different effects, but the flight ability is of limited value, not none...So it depends on the meta game and AA and MW are definitely priority one drops, but its nice to have options.
My first thought is that it doesn't impact enough, and its only great when you have a lot of mana, but its a threat that can often have haste since it hits the board and attaches to an existing creature. You are correct that it works well to make the Mausoleum Wanderers better and into evasive clocks.
I'd need to think about the whole deck you are playing. How many threats are evasive? How many Trinket Mages? I think its as mana efficient as Fireball and it can stick around for multiple turns. Certainly not going to vouch for it, but I don't hate the idea.
I totally agree very few decks play creatures that cost more than 3 mana, if they do they cheat them into play. I think there is some Devoid removal that you can play to get around Favor of the Mighty if it helps your opponent like Kozilek's Return, Processor Assault, Touch of the Void.
I still have not decided if Favor of the Mighty is a sideboard card or a maindeck card in this kind of deck. Lord knows there are probably matchups where you board Favor out. But when I have played versions of Madcap Experiment, I find that they can often find removal for Emperion. Since it makes the Emperyon mostly unblockable, it also gives them less time to find an answer, and if Favor is out they usually have to find two answers.
I think they answer to making it work is finding a solid second creature that has a high mana cost that you can cheat into play, I have tried cards like Bedlam Reveler, because it can be played for less than its mana cost, it refills the deck and is a win condition, even if its not the best win condition, but because of the way Favor of the Mighty works, having the higher mana cost removes the protection from your opponents creatures.