Martin Juza's list seems like that's where we want to be though he could have just been a good pilot. I think your reaffirmation of 2 Devoted Druids was the final nail on the coffin. I'll continue to playtest with that change.
I've never been impressed with Essence warden but I know people have had results with it. Imo Kitchen Finks just gives us so much value against burn. Only way it feels bad is if it gets pathed.
Perhaps you're right about Rhonas. He gets increasingly weaker with low numbers of 2-power creatures. If I choose to run 4 Nettle, I'll have 16 2-power creatures between Nettle, Dwynen's, Archdruid, and Ezuri. With half of my creatures requiring only one pump, it doesn't seem so bad but I'll hold off on this change for now. Afterall, I really like the 2 selfless on the side.
I've been keeping an eye on discussions about Throne lists but I feel that it'll be too slow for the majority of the meta. As for a straight GB list, I'm not denying that there's strength in it but I think not playing Devoted combo is a missed opportunity. Also, Juza's list runs 4 paths in the side which I'm looking forward to testing against Death's Shadow.
I think what I need the most clarification on is how to sideboard properly with this deck.
Hey guys. I used to play company elves before I got into standard with friends but now I'm back with interest in Modern GP Vegas. I'm using this deck from Copenhagen as the starting point.
I really liked the 'oops I win' aspect to this list with the one of Vizier. After reading this forums' recent discussion on Vizier, I agree with Pokken that 1-2 Vizier are the right numbers.
These are some changes that I'm thinking about making down the line.
+1 Vizier / -1 Nettle
I suspect that I might need to run 2 Vizier because of how popular Death's Shadow is. It would be a waste of slots to run 4 Devoted Druid and have your only Vizier discarded right off the bat. Nettle seems like the most flexible slot.
-1 ezuri / +1 duskwatch
Duskwatch gives us another mana sink, its ability synergizes so well with our deck, having multiple legendaries in hand feels bad, and I get some game against grindy decks.
-1 Selfless / +1 Rhonas
It's another win-con, mana sink, and it's resilient against non-white removal heavy decks. Spirit seems like the easiest cut because Rhonas would be boarded in against the same decks spirit goes in.
I welcome any opinion on these changes I'm thinking about. Thanks for reading.
I hope that this shores up my Midrange and Control Matchup, because flickering Nalaar Twins or Splicer is pure Value town.
Also Blood Moon out of the sideboard is a pretty good card against those 3-colored decks.
I've been testing it for the last few days on cockatrice. I personally like the way he tuned it and haven't made any changes mb since I began testing.
Thoughts:
Harsh Mentor is certainly no end-all but it does give that edge when I transition to mid-late game and I'm beating opponents down with fliers. They often underestimate the bolt they deal to themselves when they crack a fetch.
Lightning Bolt has served three purposes. Firstly it gives me another t1 play - bolt the bird - that I'm never sad about drawing later in the game unlike Vial. Secondly it's another form of hate that gets me to 4 lands so I can use my powerful 4 drops of which this list runs 5 of. Lastly it sneaks me a win when they've been taking damage from my fliers, their fetches and shocks, and Harsh Mentor.
Pia and Kiran Nalaar have been nothing short of amazing. It's a mid-late game tool that ticks down our opponent further through fliers and its active. Its active can also control their field. One of my favorite things to do is sac useless vials I have out on the field to ping off a creature. As you said, flickering it is pure value.
Slayer's stronghold has been a powerhouse everytime I have it out. The synergy is great considering the fact we run first strike creatures and fliers whom are easy targets. Like wescoe mentioned in his article, Vialing out something as soon as T3 and giving it haste has proven to be really strong. It makes any creature top deck an immediate threat.
Blood moon is great for the reason you mentioned and also nasty against tron.
Wear//Tear is another strong sb tool red gives us. Very versatile and extra valuable in those rare occasions you 2 for 1.
Long time Mardu player here. Trials just doesn't have the clock Ally does. Trials' biggest strength is curving from Kiran which is a solid play against early removal/board wipes. Ally also does the ladder but much better for 1 more mana. Furthermore Trials platinum ability is pretty useless in standard - unless you run Glorious End - unlike Ally whose abilities are all relevant.
Through my testing I've found the gods to be too clunky for us. Rhonas would have been nice when on the field with cultivator/Kiran but green is not the way to go. White God is a nonbo because of Ally. Black god is only good in a aristocrats deck. Red God is probably good in rb madness.
Now that certain cards are no longer in rotation (R.I.P. Kytheon, Knight, etc) I figured humans needed a different approach that doesn't revolve around vehicles. Behold, Boros Human Equipments!
This deck is currently in its beta phase. I've built a lot of variations to playtest with and so far this seems to be the most consistent one. Here is why:
The deck combines two playstyles that revolves around these "lords": Thalia's Lieutenant-
The only non-human creatures are Bushwhacker and Messenger (when he flips) which means the majority of creatures are human; in other words it's a tribal deck at heart. Weapons Trainer-
Low cost equipments compliment the deck's hyper aggressiveness by increasing the overall damage for an early win.
Eight of my creatures rely on transforming and Heirloom is the one equipment that not only has synergy with Transform but can also scale into the mid game much like many of my creatures.
I normally try to win the game by turn 5. Sideboard is built around dealing with control/midrange, dredge, and vehicles.
One of my favorite plays-
T1: Cast Saw and Apprentice
T2: Cast Trainer, Swing with Apprentice for 3 damage
T3: Swing with Trainer and Apprentice for 6 damage, Cast Hanweir Garrison
T4: Cast Thalia's LT, Surge Bushwhacker.
Attack with:
Apprentice - 5/4
Trainer - 5/3
Garrison - 5/4
Token #1 - 2/1
Token #2 - 2/1
Thalia's LT - 5/3
Bushwhacker - 3/1
= 27 damage on T4
= 36 damage overall by T4
@emberflux
Honestly, I liked your previous mana base much better, save I don't know about Okina. It seems nice, a Gavony Township on the other hand gives +1 to any creature and permanently. Clearly the winner for me.. A Wildwood in the main is always handy game 1.
Four smiters was always too much for me, but you sure thought well about the number. It's great against control and midrange.
How do you feel about -1 vryn,-1 smiter, +2 CoCo as you play no four drops (but with 22 lands then). EWit returning CoCo is lights out for most control decks, against which you have the Stirring Wildwood plan in your sideboard, however I think CoCo does even more here and is better in other matchups. (Can't imagine the Wildwood plan to workout really well, and it limits you sb space so much).
Dromoka's command isn't really good against Infect and even against bogles it doesn't do much. Skite is killer. Although against Infect, it is not as good as most people think, because most will board in Twisted Image (and most already play it MD, which make skite look silly), still wins games. Your infect matchup should be good enough with 4 thalia and 2 vryn.
Against what do you have declaration in stone? I always found engineered explosives do a better job. Works against tokens, affinity, infect, bogles, one drop zoo.
Firstly I want to say thank you for the feedback!
I wholeheartedly agree that Gavony's ability is strictly better than Okina's but I didn't run Okina only for its ability, I ran it because it produced G. Tbh I'm scared of going beyond 7 colorless sources because I want to consistently land G on turn 1 for my Hierarch. I know Vial helps with certain openers but I want to be ready for a non-vial opener.
As for Wildwood, I never really got to use it. The main reason is that I kept sacing my lands to draw (canopy) or disrupt (g quarter, tec edge) and as a result I maintained 3 lands on average. With 4 copies in the sideboard, I can increase my land count to 23-24 postboard against the decks its most useful against. Thinking about how many lands I'll have with this strategy makes me want to find room for Gavony but again, I'm scared of going past 7 colorless sources and replacing Tec Edge and GQ is out of the question (they've won me so many games).
The biggest reason for change to the mana base is safety against Path and Blood Moon. Ultimately I think CharonsObol said it best:
"I would rather lose because I didn't have Okina, than lose because my opponent drops a Blood Moon."
I'm no stranger to Company and I've thought about including it but it just seems like a non-board with 4 Thalia and even 1 Wingmare. In my games with 22 lands I hardly found myself with more than 3 or 4 mana and I usually had Thalia or Wingmare on the field making a 5 mana CoCo difficult to cast. Furthermore, two of the worst feelings when using CoCo is relying on it to flip the game around only to have it countered and also when it whiffs - most likely netting a loss. I'm willing to test it and -1 Wingmare and -1 Smiter sounds reasonable in order to make space for 2 copies but then I'd have to cut another creature for a 22nd land which is problematic.
Interesting how you think Dromoka's isn't good in either match up. Against infect it can act like creature removal and can even make them sac their enchantment. Against Bogles making them sac one aura could mean the difference between life or death and threat of killing their kor spiritwalker is also solid - definitely better than path in this MU. You make a valid point on how having 6 Thalia effects in the main is already good against these two matchups.
I like Dstone's versatility in being good against tokens and most importantly tempo-aggro decks like Delver and Zoo. Having them pay 2 mana to draw in these match-ups usually swings the tempo in my favor. Specifically against Grixis Delver it allows me to get rid of their Tasigur/Gurmag.
I'm incorporating Standard's Wr Humans strategy of having manlands in the sideboard for control/midrange decks. Even though I did win both of my control matchups (grixis and nahiri), I never truly felt safe even with 3 spirits mainboard and 2 burrentons/2 dromokas sided in. What mostly won me these games were clutch land destruction plays, voice of resurgence, and smiter but a well placed board wipe while not having spirit+vial could have easily won them those games. I eventually want to test Mindcensor and re-add Ethersworn/Rhetoric but space is so tight right now. Maybe I could take out the witnesses as I am already using so many dedicated slots for control/midrange (smiter, voice, spirit, thalia, wingmare, wildwood, relic). Do I really need skite against Infect/Auras when I already have Dromoka's in the board?
Just went 4-0 tonight in a Cash Modern tournament at my LGS.
Played against Storm, Bant Eldrazis, Nahiri Control, and Grixis Control.
I ran 2 copies of new Thalia and 3 of Selfless spirits in my gw shell. Both performed amazing. It was hard for me to side out New Thalia in any of my games.
What does everyone think of my new plan, I call it "Lose ever creature match, win every non-creature match":
It needs more Vryn Wingmare in order to live up to its name.
Judge's Familiar also comes to mind. It'll help protect your Spirit of the Labyrinth so you could safely lock your opponent out with Geier's. Looks like fun to me
I'm mainly dealing with Grixis Delver, Infect, Burn, Ad Nauseum, Tron, RG Eldrazi-Stompy, and BW Spirits.
Cards that might have a slot in a broader meta: Scooze and Pridemage. I know Auriok Champion would be great against Grixis Delver and Burn but I have yet to buy them.
I realize I'm prone to Path, GQ, and Blood Moon; it's something I'm keeping a close eye on. The greed is real.
Aside from my lands, do you guys think I covered my bases?
-Against aggro, sunlance or dismember ? I would say sunlance, because we don't want to loose more life with dismember.
- elspeth knight errant or gideon ally of zendikar?
1. I personally prefer Sunlance. The only place it feels weaker is against Infect where the life loss doesn't matter and even then against Infect Sunlance being a sorcery doesn't matter since it's better to target them on your turn to make them waste a pump spell if it's damaged based removal. I find the lifeloss against Zoo, Affinity and Stompy to be too much and against Zoo and Affinity sunlance clears 90% of their threats.
2. Elespeth is pretty good, and the flying +3/+3 buff is probably better on average then Gideon's +1/+1 global, but Gideon's emblem is better at protecting your creatures from random -1/-1 hosers, his tokens are great and his ability to swing in as a 5/5 is great in a pinch. If you have a lot of flyers or have a deck that tends to go a little wider go with Gideon. If you've got Mirran Crusaders, are not worried about -1/-1 effects or want to play a threat or two at a time at most Elspeth is a fine choice.
Me personally I picked up 2 Gideons last week and have really enjoyed him more than Elspeth in W/B Eldrazi.
In reference to Sunlance, it's weak against Grixis decks that tend to run Tasigur and Gurmag in which case a dismember or even Declaration In Stone is better. I'm personally running D-Stone because of Grixis Delver being a problem in my meta more than anything else. Against this match up Dismember really hurts me especially after I pay 4 life to have it countered.
One last thing. I'm sure you guys have covered what I'm about to say but please enlighten me. What the consensus on Declaration in Stone as sideboard tech for extra removal? Is Dismember still the best option? I mainly need an edge against grixis delver.
I like declaration in stone as a 5th removal for the deck, but if you need the 1 cmc removal go with dismember. Vs. delver it can help with pyromancer tokens if they are playing that, its power comes from hitting two creatures at once for 2 mana.
I'm not a fan of dismember versus a tempo deck like delver because of the life loss. It especially hurts when it gets countered. I think what scared me most about Dstone is giving them CA but I suppose I'll just have to out-tempo them! I'll give it a try at FNM.
(...) Atm I'm running a GW list because of how eager I am to play new Thalia in turn 2. In my testing against RG Eldrazi she hasn't been game breaking but 4 mb lb and kozileks return weaken her impact so it may not be the best deck to test against. That being said, I don't think it's that good if played after turn 2. As we all know, there's a lot of fast decks out there and this just doesn't have an immediate impact like the old Thalia. (...)
Now, of course she is better turn 2 but i still think she can do work later vs some decks. Also just vialing in a first striker can mess up combat.
I can see it being useful versus Naya Chord because of the reason you stated; another bonus would be hindering the convoke from Chord. As for Nahiri, I fear it's too fragile.
If I need a first striker with a solid body I'll just stick with Blade Splicer because they're sharing the same slot in the end.
I would love to keep her in the deck because 2 thalias side by side sound awesome and she fits the theme of taxing but I'm not yet convinced she's a staple. Could even be sideboard material.
Hey guys! It seems you are all as excited as I am with the new set.
Love the new primer. These new spoilers are really hyping me to pick up my first competitive modern deck (D&T). This set may give us the push we need to stay a T2 deck so here's hoping.
Atm I'm running a GW list because of how eager I am to play new Thalia in turn 2. In my testing against RG Eldrazi she hasn't been game breaking but 4 mb lb and kozileks return weaken her impact so it may not be the best deck to test against. That being said, I don't think it's that good if played after turn 2. As we all know, there's a lot of fast decks out there and this just doesn't have an immediate impact like the old Thalia.
The spirit that sacs for indestructibility seems like something we can run a set of in the 75. It will shore up our control matchups and will even help against Tron and Scapeshift by giving our creatures staying power to continue beating face while keeping Arbiter and Thalia alive to disrupt them.
The spirit that exiles a spell seems really good in a tempo build with Judge's Familiar and swords/batterskull. I could see Bant D&T having a blast by being able to cast him turn 2 with a Hierarch.
One last thing. I'm sure you guys have covered what I'm about to say but please enlighten me. What the consensus on Declaration in Stone as sideboard tech for extra removal? Is Dismember still the best option? I mainly need an edge against grixis delver.
I can't wait to see everyone's brews! Thanks for reading.
I've never been impressed with Essence warden but I know people have had results with it. Imo Kitchen Finks just gives us so much value against burn. Only way it feels bad is if it gets pathed.
Perhaps you're right about Rhonas. He gets increasingly weaker with low numbers of 2-power creatures. If I choose to run 4 Nettle, I'll have 16 2-power creatures between Nettle, Dwynen's, Archdruid, and Ezuri. With half of my creatures requiring only one pump, it doesn't seem so bad but I'll hold off on this change for now. Afterall, I really like the 2 selfless on the side.
I've been keeping an eye on discussions about Throne lists but I feel that it'll be too slow for the majority of the meta. As for a straight GB list, I'm not denying that there's strength in it but I think not playing Devoted combo is a missed opportunity. Also, Juza's list runs 4 paths in the side which I'm looking forward to testing against Death's Shadow.
I think what I need the most clarification on is how to sideboard properly with this deck.
4 Dwynen's Elite
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Elvish Mystic
2 Elvish Visionary
4 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
4 Heritage Druid
4 Llanowar Elves
3 Nettle Sentinel
1 Vizier of Remedies
4 Chord of Calling
4 Collected Company
4 Cavern of Souls
3 Forest
3 Horizon Canopy
1 Pendelhaven
3 Razorverge Thicket
1 Temple Garden
1 Westvale Abbey
2 Windswept Heath
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Kitchen Finks
4 Path to Exile
2 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Selfless Spirit
I really liked the 'oops I win' aspect to this list with the one of Vizier. After reading this forums' recent discussion on Vizier, I agree with Pokken that 1-2 Vizier are the right numbers.
These are some changes that I'm thinking about making down the line.
+1 Vizier / -1 Nettle
I suspect that I might need to run 2 Vizier because of how popular Death's Shadow is. It would be a waste of slots to run 4 Devoted Druid and have your only Vizier discarded right off the bat. Nettle seems like the most flexible slot.
-1 ezuri / +1 duskwatch
Duskwatch gives us another mana sink, its ability synergizes so well with our deck, having multiple legendaries in hand feels bad, and I get some game against grindy decks.
-1 Selfless / +1 Rhonas
It's another win-con, mana sink, and it's resilient against non-white removal heavy decks. Spirit seems like the easiest cut because Rhonas would be boarded in against the same decks spirit goes in.
I welcome any opinion on these changes I'm thinking about. Thanks for reading.
I've been testing it for the last few days on cockatrice. I personally like the way he tuned it and haven't made any changes mb since I began testing.
Thoughts:
Harsh Mentor is certainly no end-all but it does give that edge when I transition to mid-late game and I'm beating opponents down with fliers. They often underestimate the bolt they deal to themselves when they crack a fetch.
Lightning Bolt has served three purposes. Firstly it gives me another t1 play - bolt the bird - that I'm never sad about drawing later in the game unlike Vial. Secondly it's another form of hate that gets me to 4 lands so I can use my powerful 4 drops of which this list runs 5 of. Lastly it sneaks me a win when they've been taking damage from my fliers, their fetches and shocks, and Harsh Mentor.
Pia and Kiran Nalaar have been nothing short of amazing. It's a mid-late game tool that ticks down our opponent further through fliers and its active. Its active can also control their field. One of my favorite things to do is sac useless vials I have out on the field to ping off a creature. As you said, flickering it is pure value.
Slayer's stronghold has been a powerhouse everytime I have it out. The synergy is great considering the fact we run first strike creatures and fliers whom are easy targets. Like wescoe mentioned in his article, Vialing out something as soon as T3 and giving it haste has proven to be really strong. It makes any creature top deck an immediate threat.
Blood moon is great for the reason you mentioned and also nasty against tron.
Wear//Tear is another strong sb tool red gives us. Very versatile and extra valuable in those rare occasions you 2 for 1.
Through my testing I've found the gods to be too clunky for us. Rhonas would have been nice when on the field with cultivator/Kiran but green is not the way to go. White God is a nonbo because of Ally. Black god is only good in a aristocrats deck. Red God is probably good in rb madness.
I think the only cards that will likely see play in Mardu ballista/aggro is Glorybringer, Lay Bare the Heart, Cut // Ribbons, Never // Return, By Force, Magma Spray, and Honored Crop-Captain. I know I've been harsh on Trials but I can't help but feel a 1-of may be used just for the curve and synergy with Kiran.
4x Bone Saw
4x Declaration in Stone
2x Hanweir Battlements
3x Hanweir Garrison
4x Inspiring Vantage
4x Inventor's Apprentice
4x Mountain
4x Needle Spires
4x Neglected Heirloom
4x Plains
3x Reckless Bushwhacker
4x Thalia's Lieutenant
4x Town Gossipmonger
4x Village Messenger
4x Weapons Trainer
1x Captain's Claws
2x Fragmentize
3x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
4x Incendiary Flow
2x Pathway Arrows
3x Selfless Spirit
This deck is currently in its beta phase. I've built a lot of variations to playtest with and so far this seems to be the most consistent one. Here is why:
The deck combines two playstyles that revolves around these "lords":
Thalia's Lieutenant-
The only non-human creatures are Bushwhacker and Messenger (when he flips) which means the majority of creatures are human; in other words it's a tribal deck at heart.
Weapons Trainer-
Low cost equipments compliment the deck's hyper aggressiveness by increasing the overall damage for an early win.
Eight of my creatures rely on transforming and Heirloom is the one equipment that not only has synergy with Transform but can also scale into the mid game much like many of my creatures.
I normally try to win the game by turn 5. Sideboard is built around dealing with control/midrange, dredge, and vehicles.
One of my favorite plays-
T1: Cast Saw and Apprentice
T2: Cast Trainer, Swing with Apprentice for 3 damage
T3: Swing with Trainer and Apprentice for 6 damage, Cast Hanweir Garrison
T4: Cast Thalia's LT, Surge Bushwhacker.
Attack with:
Apprentice - 5/4
Trainer - 5/3
Garrison - 5/4
Token #1 - 2/1
Token #2 - 2/1
Thalia's LT - 5/3
Bushwhacker - 3/1
= 27 damage on T4
= 36 damage overall by T4
I would love to have your thoughts.
edit:grammar and content
Firstly I want to say thank you for the feedback!
I wholeheartedly agree that Gavony's ability is strictly better than Okina's but I didn't run Okina only for its ability, I ran it because it produced G. Tbh I'm scared of going beyond 7 colorless sources because I want to consistently land G on turn 1 for my Hierarch. I know Vial helps with certain openers but I want to be ready for a non-vial opener.
As for Wildwood, I never really got to use it. The main reason is that I kept sacing my lands to draw (canopy) or disrupt (g quarter, tec edge) and as a result I maintained 3 lands on average. With 4 copies in the sideboard, I can increase my land count to 23-24 postboard against the decks its most useful against. Thinking about how many lands I'll have with this strategy makes me want to find room for Gavony but again, I'm scared of going past 7 colorless sources and replacing Tec Edge and GQ is out of the question (they've won me so many games).
The biggest reason for change to the mana base is safety against Path and Blood Moon. Ultimately I think CharonsObol said it best:
I'm no stranger to Company and I've thought about including it but it just seems like a non-board with 4 Thalia and even 1 Wingmare. In my games with 22 lands I hardly found myself with more than 3 or 4 mana and I usually had Thalia or Wingmare on the field making a 5 mana CoCo difficult to cast. Furthermore, two of the worst feelings when using CoCo is relying on it to flip the game around only to have it countered and also when it whiffs - most likely netting a loss. I'm willing to test it and -1 Wingmare and -1 Smiter sounds reasonable in order to make space for 2 copies but then I'd have to cut another creature for a 22nd land which is problematic.
Interesting how you think Dromoka's isn't good in either match up. Against infect it can act like creature removal and can even make them sac their enchantment. Against Bogles making them sac one aura could mean the difference between life or death and threat of killing their kor spiritwalker is also solid - definitely better than path in this MU. You make a valid point on how having 6 Thalia effects in the main is already good against these two matchups.
I like Dstone's versatility in being good against tokens and most importantly tempo-aggro decks like Delver and Zoo. Having them pay 2 mana to draw in these match-ups usually swings the tempo in my favor. Specifically against Grixis Delver it allows me to get rid of their Tasigur/Gurmag.
1 Forest
4 Ghost Quarter
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Plains
4 Razorverge Thicket
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
3 Tectonic Edge
4 Temple Garden
1 Stirring Wildwood
// Creatures
1 Eternal Witness
4 Flickerwisp
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Loxodon Smiter
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Selfless Spirit
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2 Voice of Resurgence
2 Vryn Wingmare
4 Path to Exile
4 Æther Vial
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Declaration in Stone
2 Dromoka's Command
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Eternal Witness
2 Rest in Peace
2 Spellskite
2 Mirran Crusader
1 Disenchant
This is the new list I want to take to FNM this week.
2 Forest
4 Ghost Quarter
2 Horizon Canopy
2 Plains
4 Razorverge Thicket
3 Tectonic Edge
4 Temple Garden
// Creatures
1 Eternal Witness
4 Flickerwisp
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Loxodon Smiter
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Selfless Spirit
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2 Voice of Resurgence
2 Vryn Wingmare
4 Path to Exile
4 Æther Vial
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Declaration in Stone
2 Dromoka's Command
1 Eternal Witness
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Kataki, War's Wage
4 Stirring Wildwood
I'm incorporating Standard's Wr Humans strategy of having manlands in the sideboard for control/midrange decks. Even though I did win both of my control matchups (grixis and nahiri), I never truly felt safe even with 3 spirits mainboard and 2 burrentons/2 dromokas sided in. What mostly won me these games were clutch land destruction plays, voice of resurgence, and smiter but a well placed board wipe while not having spirit+vial could have easily won them those games. I eventually want to test Mindcensor and re-add Ethersworn/Rhetoric but space is so tight right now. Maybe I could take out the witnesses as I am already using so many dedicated slots for control/midrange (smiter, voice, spirit, thalia, wingmare, wildwood, relic). Do I really need skite against Infect/Auras when I already have Dromoka's in the board?
Edit: grammar, typos
Played against Storm, Bant Eldrazis, Nahiri Control, and Grixis Control.
I ran 2 copies of new Thalia and 3 of Selfless spirits in my gw shell. Both performed amazing. It was hard for me to side out New Thalia in any of my games.
Judge's Familiar also comes to mind. It'll help protect your Spirit of the Labyrinth so you could safely lock your opponent out with Geier's. Looks like fun to me
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Forest
4 Ghost Quarter
3 Horizon Canopy
1 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
1 Plains
4 Razorverge Thicket
3 Tectonic Edge
4 Temple Garden
// Creatures
1 Eternal Witness
4 Flickerwisp
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Loxodon Smiter
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Selfless Spirit
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2 Voice of Resurgence
2 Vryn Wingmare
4 Path to Exile
4 Æther Vial
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Chameleon Colossus
2 Declaration in Stone
1 Disenchant
2 Dromoka's Command
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Eternal Witness
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Rest in Peace
1 Selfless Spirit
2 Spellskite
I'm mainly dealing with Grixis Delver, Infect, Burn, Ad Nauseum, Tron, RG Eldrazi-Stompy, and BW Spirits.
Cards that might have a slot in a broader meta: Scooze and Pridemage. I know Auriok Champion would be great against Grixis Delver and Burn but I have yet to buy them.
I realize I'm prone to Path, GQ, and Blood Moon; it's something I'm keeping a close eye on. The greed is real.
Aside from my lands, do you guys think I covered my bases?
In reference to Sunlance, it's weak against Grixis decks that tend to run Tasigur and Gurmag in which case a dismember or even Declaration In Stone is better. I'm personally running D-Stone because of Grixis Delver being a problem in my meta more than anything else. Against this match up Dismember really hurts me especially after I pay 4 life to have it countered.
I'm not a fan of dismember versus a tempo deck like delver because of the life loss. It especially hurts when it gets countered. I think what scared me most about Dstone is giving them CA but I suppose I'll just have to out-tempo them! I'll give it a try at FNM.
I can see it being useful versus Naya Chord because of the reason you stated; another bonus would be hindering the convoke from Chord. As for Nahiri, I fear it's too fragile.
If I need a first striker with a solid body I'll just stick with Blade Splicer because they're sharing the same slot in the end.
I would love to keep her in the deck because 2 thalias side by side sound awesome and she fits the theme of taxing but I'm not yet convinced she's a staple. Could even be sideboard material.
Love the new primer. These new spoilers are really hyping me to pick up my first competitive modern deck (D&T). This set may give us the push we need to stay a T2 deck so here's hoping.
Atm I'm running a GW list because of how eager I am to play new Thalia in turn 2. In my testing against RG Eldrazi she hasn't been game breaking but 4 mb lb and kozileks return weaken her impact so it may not be the best deck to test against. That being said, I don't think it's that good if played after turn 2. As we all know, there's a lot of fast decks out there and this just doesn't have an immediate impact like the old Thalia.
The spirit that sacs for indestructibility seems like something we can run a set of in the 75. It will shore up our control matchups and will even help against Tron and Scapeshift by giving our creatures staying power to continue beating face while keeping Arbiter and Thalia alive to disrupt them.
The spirit that exiles a spell seems really good in a tempo build with Judge's Familiar and swords/batterskull. I could see Bant D&T having a blast by being able to cast him turn 2 with a Hierarch.
One last thing. I'm sure you guys have covered what I'm about to say but please enlighten me. What the consensus on Declaration in Stone as sideboard tech for extra removal? Is Dismember still the best option? I mainly need an edge against grixis delver.
I can't wait to see everyone's brews! Thanks for reading.