Been playing Jeskai Nahiri on and off at my local FNM since May and going 4-0 or 3-1 most weeks. Meta at FNM is pretty soft with mostly creature decks like Abzan, Affinity, Burn, BW Tokens, CoCo, Death's Zoo, Delver, Infect, Jund Very few of bad match ups 1 Bant Eldrazi, 1 Bring to Light Scapshift, 2 Tron players and 1-3 other control players. Played in a some leagues on MTGO and went 3-2 mostly couple 4-1s but no 5-0. Online seems to be pretty random what I play against in different leagues.
Looking to make a few tweaks and test them online and at FNM before Modern Season.
Sideboarding
Affinity
+2 Anger of the Gods +1 Engineered Explosives, +1 Izzet Staticaster, +1 Stony Silence, , +1 Wrath of God,
-2 Cryptic Command, -2 Mana Leak, -2 Remand,
Jund
+1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion, +2 Vendillion Clique, +1 Wrath of God
-2 Lightning Bolt, -1 Lightning Helix
Merfolk
+1 Engineered Explosives, +2 Anger of the Gods, +1 Wrath of God
-2 Cryptic Command, -2 Remand,
Scapeshift
+1 Crumble to Dust, +2 Negate, +2 Vendilion Clique
-3 Ancestral Visions, -2 Path to Exile.
Tokens
+2 Anger of the Gods, +1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion, +1 Izzet Staticaster, +2 Negate
-1 Lightning Bolt, -1 Path to Exile. -2 Remand, -2 Spell Snare
Tron
+1 Crumble to Dust, +2 Negate, +2 Vendillion Clique
-1 Spell Snare, -1 Path to Exile, -3 Ancestral Visions
Zoo
+2 Anger of the Gods, +1 Engineered Explosives, +1 Wrath of God
-2 Remind, -2 Cryptic Comm
Some card choices.
Cryptic Command Been running Cryptic Command in Splinter Twin before it got banned and Esper Draw Go and don't see running with out it. Hard counter is nice to have mid to late game since we do not have counterspell. Drawing cards is always good and tap all creatures is used often with so many creature decks. I was running a singleton and a second Verdict for awhile but went back up to 2. 24 lands has worked well enough.
Supreme Verdict As far as main deck board wipes I feel this is the best one. Anger misses quite a bit and having to Wrath a Thrun usually only happens post board. Being Uncounterable is relevant against Merfolk and Delver.
Celestial Colonnade Play the full 4 because they get much better game 2 when some ammount of creature removal is boarded out and pretty good against all the mid range creature decks and to attack planeswalkers.
Ghost Quarter With all the creature lands around in my meta this seemed to be the 24th utility land to run. I tried Lighthouse and it was nice to dig but having an answer to creature lands is pretty important. Will have to try Kher Keep at some point.
Sideboard cards.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion Expensive at 6 mana but has been excellent in all mid range creature match ups. Also good in Control mirrors. Hard to deal with outside of Dreadbore/Maelstrom Pulse and another board wipe
Crumble to Dust Just one mostly for creature lands and Cavern of Souls. Not as effective against Tron with
Izzet Staticaster Really good in my meta with Token decks without an Anthem in play, Infect, Affinity.
Wrath of God Most green creature decks sideboard a Thrun or two need a way to kill it.
Would like to fit a Wear/Tear for things like Choke but not sure what to cut.
Cute things tried and rejected Baneslayer Angel Good finisher but people caught on to it and leave in removal might be better if I didn't play it every week at FNM. Elspeth is better in some matches.
Splash Black for Kolagams Command, Lingering Souls, Sorin, and sideboard Slaugter Games. This was great for control mirrors and mid range creature decks but already good there and was worse against burn and did not seem to help against bad matches at all. Oddly most of the control players stopped showing up besides myself and couple other one running Jeskai and other running straight blue white. Slaughter Games was a bit slow at 4 mana but was good if resolved against Scapeshift. The living end player always killed me before I can cast it between Fulminators and beast with in on my lands. The black splash was awesome when I was playing up to two or three control matches a night. They stopped showing up so changed back. Also missed Cryptic Command when running 4 colors.
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage - Thought this would be good to tap creatures and combo with Nahiri to kill creatures with card draw bonus. Not as effective as I would have hoped 5 mana is alot and hard to use card draw ability.
Preordered 2 boxes. Hopefully limited is as fun as modern masters was.
Definitely want Foil play sets of Force of Will and Wasteland for vintage. New Terese Nielsen art on Force is awesome and like the destroyed City of Brass on Wasteland.
Hopefully they have some more new art old favorites. New Show and Tell art would be nice. Not a fan of the Art on the Judge Show and Tell with Arbound Ravager and Thundermaw Hellkite. Really those cost 2 and 5 mana. Can they put Emrakul vs Griselbrand?
I would like old frames too but that is not happening.
I been having trouble find a list for dragons I really like. Loss of Dig Through Time and Crux of Fate really hurts.
I think the biggest issue is you really have to pick what decks you want to target. Ultimate Price is great versus humans and Bant coco but terrible against Eldrazi, Control, Ramp and Planswalker decks. Anguished Unmaking is terrible against aggressive strategies but good against Planeswalkers and Enchantments.
Is it correct to drop down to 3 Jace's? I mean, sometimes you want to loot to get a dragon, but Kalitas is and always has been a house. I tested out the deck today, felt good, not as powerful as it once was but in this format where standard has been powered down the deck seems to still do it's thing regardless of losing one of the best draw spells ever.
Dig Through Time is what made Dragons work so well. Dig found you answers or another dragon if they managed to kill your dragon. Without Dig and more answers to Dragons like Clip Wings I feel you have to play more dragons. Been playing 2 Icefall Regent to up the dragon count to 10 and it really helps turning on your Dragons matter cards.
Read the Bones and Painful Truths cost life which is a big deal against aggressive decks. Sorcery speed is also an issue since you want to maximize your mana.
Not sure I like 3 Jace. Yes Jace is hard to flip without fetchlands and tends to die but you really need the filtering to not flood out on lands and the card advantage. I run 4 in Vintage Jace is just that good.
Declaration in stone and tragic arrogance can be good probably if tokens sticks around
Silumgar's Command is pretty sweet but would not play more then 1 as it costs 5. Declaration in Stone is not what a control deck wants. Giving the opponent a card in a long game control deck is not something you want to be doing. Have not tried Tragic Arrogance but in a primarily Black and Blue deck which wants BB and UU early, not sure we can support WW also.
It may have been Esper Dragons that took the trophy, but it was Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet that stole the entire show. After seeing it in action I don't think there are any more justifiable reasons to not play this card.
Declaration in Stone and Tragic Arrogance should help keep the deck a contender, but it seems that people are still shying away from these cards due to mana constraints. If the token strategies continue to gain ground not playing Declaration in Stone is indefensible. Tragic Arrogance is a card I'm still very high on, since it work so well with what our deck is trying to do, but I can praise this card only so much. Give it a go and see the beauty of playing it with Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet on the battlefield.
Another card I've seen pick up popularity is Silumgar's Command, which seems nuts right now. Basically all the modes on the card are online in the current metagame and it will almost always guarantee a two for one, or a huge tempo swing at worst. It is a clean, if costly, answer to a transformed Westvale Abbey and it can help us deal with multiple planeswalkers.
The one point I feel is still contested is the draw engine. I'm not excited about the prospect of running a playset of pimped Divinations as my main source of card advantage. I'm still trying to make Epiphany at the Drownyard work but the results on that card are still inconclusive. I can't dismiss the card entirely nor can I advise other people to play it.
Maindeck Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is not something I thought of at all till the pros did it I was adding more Dragons. I do run Kalitas in the board though for some match ups Kalitas just wins the game.
Declaration in Stone is great in an aggro deck where your removing their blocker and winning soon but not what a control deck that is grinding for advantage wants.
Epiphany at the Drownyard I tried week one and was very disappointed. Your opponent chooses what you get so you never get what you need. It does give you more cards if cast for a lot of mana but they tend to be worse cards then if you just cast a draw spell where you drew random cards your opponent did not pick the worse ones.
I think you be running Void Shatter. The exile seems to be more relevant then scatter the winds late game put a few counters on your Shambling Vent. Exiling CoCo so they can't rebuy it with Jace seems pretty good.
Shaheen saying that Transgress the Mind was miserable and that everyone should cut it immediately
Weird.
Against ramp it improves the pre board matchup a lot, hitting world breakers, chandra, ulamog, atarka.
Against Bant Company it hits CoCo, Tireless tracker, Avacyn.
Mono White Humans it hits Always watching which is what put all their threats above languish range.
Against WB Midrange, all the planeswalker, avacyn.
And it's stellar in the mirror.
I agree with Shaheen and think Transgress the Mind is pretty horrible main deck. Costing 2 is really bad. It is ok Turn 2 but does not effect the board and gets progressively worse as the game goes on. CoCo, Avacyn are instants and likely to get cast in response to Transgress the mind if mana is available. Always Watching gets cast on turn 3. Late game if your opponent is not hellbent your opponent is going to be holding removal like Declaration in Stone/Clip Wings and stuff like Negate none of which get hit by Transgress the mind. Sure sideboard it vs ramp and control mirrors. Ramp and control don't seem all that common. Not a fan of main deck discard unless it is a 2 for 1 or hits anything like Thoughtseize did.
Thought for the day: Esper Dragons used to play Jace, Vryn's Prodigy out of the sideboard to blank removal game one. Is this something we could try again? Or are we still just happy with the "well if they kill Jace that's one less spell to kill Ojutai" line?
Dragonlord Silumgar and Ojutai still gets hit with removal. Jace is even more important with no Dig Through time to get card advantage. If they don't kill Jace you get advantage from it. I actually won two games with Jace ultimate mill since I could not find another dragon something that never happened when Dig Through Time was legal.
Dead Weight I think is definitely a card we should have represented in the 75. At present I think I'd prefer it in the sideboard.
We're struggling with no big blue draw spell to sink our mana into, I agree. For the past few formats we've always had either Sphinx's Revelation or Dig Through Time, so hopefully something gets printed in Eldritch Moon for us. If Epiphany at the Drownyard is that effect's representation in this block, though...
Dead Weight can replace Surge of Rightousness in the board. I saw no mono red at my FNM.
Epiphany at the Drownyard is pretty bad, opponent never gives you what you need. If your opponent made the piles and you got to pick whch pile to take like Fact or Fiction it may be worth running.
Have to rely on Jace, Narset and Painful Truths for card advantage.
How are people handling the Dark Jeskai match up? I had a really hard time beating Dark Jeskai with Esper Dragons so I moved to an esper planeswalker list since many players at my local FNM jumped on the Dark Jeskai bandwagon. Investing 5 or 6 mana in a dragon that gets cackling doomed or Disdainful stroked is pretty miserable and they play the value game very well between Dig Through Time, Kologan's Command and Ojutai's Command.
I also wonder why more people don't run Narset. So good if you can rebound a dig through time puts you so far ahead. People have just scooped to it.
Running Jace out turn 2 really depends if your opponent has Kologan's command.
Protecting Jace really depends getting your Jace zapped by Kologan's command and having to discard is bad news so want to counter that but if they just zapping Jace that usually is fine.
Tasigur is good in the Jeskai match up and against any aggressive match ups to get out a creature for only 1 mana while leaving mana up to use his ability or cast removal/counters.
Was wondering what preferences are on Foil Fetchlands.
Are people getting the new Expedition lands or sticking with Pack foils?
Honestly I don't like the border on the new expedition lands much but the art on some of them is beautiful.
I am picking them by my prefered art.
Arid Mesa - Zendikar Pack - True to what Mesa looks like don't like the new floating avatar silliness.
Bloodstained Mire - Khans Pack - actually like this one better then the original
Flooded Strand - Expedition - I really like waterfalls.
Marsh Flats - Zendikar Pack Foil - more traditional versus the avatar floating rock silliness.
Misty Rainforest - Expedition - the art on expedition is really pretty.
Polluted Delta - Expedition - just like how it looks.
Scalding Tarn - Zendikar Pack - like the volcano.
Verdant Catacombs - Expedition - tree maze
Windswept heath - Khans Pack - trees swaying in the wind
Wooded Foothills - Khans Pack - winter trees and mountains looks nice.
I saw the art on the Arid Mesa and Steam Vents and if the rest of the art is that good on the full art foil fetches and shocks may have to pick up a few for legacy and vintage. Have not started foiling Modern yet.
List I am running is draw go list pretty similar to Paiotrowiak and Wafo's with a few differences.
There is much blue in my local meta between Delver, Grixis Control, Twin and UW so Supreme Verdict is good here less Thrun where Wrath of God kills it. Might actually cut the Condemn for another Dismember of something that kills Exarchs. 4 Cryptic Commands can be pretty clunky so running 3. Fracturing Gust does work against Affinity, Boggles, and that white enchantment deck. Pulse of the Fields is nice against burn to suppliment the Kor Firewalkers and Timely.
@Grixis
I have not have had problems getting burned out versus Grixis. The Grixis players I play usually board out some number of bolts there really isn't much to bolt other then Snapcaster.
@Teferi
It is really good versus control but unless you are running a Teachings build if you run 1 you are unlikely to find it. I like Clique better cause it is good versus control and combo.
@New Gideon.
Not worth it in a Draw go build. Dying to Dismember is bad and can bet burned out. Old Gideon was higher loyalty.
The nerfing of the game is getting annoying. First it was Wrath effects now cost 5 mana now mana creatures cost 2 mana. Might be time to quit standard with the coming of the fast rotation unless Battle for Zendikar is really awesome.
Merfolk would probably a good starting point since you have Black Lotus, Ancestral Recall and Time walk. You do not lose much without having Mox Sapphire since the deck plays Null Rod anyway.
Would be nice if the lands are full art but adding a pack makes these a nice deal since the boxes are nice for storage and transporting commander decks.
$12 constructed dailies is stupid. My local store charges $6 for Friday Night Magic Standard and $15 for draft with $6 store credit going into the prize pool per person which is split between top 4 or top 8 depending on the size of the event.
Pack prizes are bad for Constucted players period.
As a MTGO constructed player you have to go through the hassle of finding which bot pays the most and then trading your prize packs for event tickets so you can enter the next event. Packs fall in price as more are put into the system.
I been saying this for awhile MTGO events should award Prize tickets that you can trade in for packs or anything in the store plus any promos. So if you are a drafter you can get your set of packs for the next draft. If you are a constructed player you can save up for that set of Promo Wastelands or whatever good promo you want for your collection.
MTGO really should award Prize tickets that you can trade in for Product like Grand Prix side events in real life.
TJ Collectables did this for GP Atlantic City. Each side event awarded a certain number of Prize tickets for winning or top 8ing. You could trade in these prize tickets for product like packs of in print sets. Commander decks and even singles.
Magic Online should award Prize tickets for each event instead of packs of all one type. That way if you want packs to draft again you can trade in your prize tickets for the appropriate packs to draft if you need different sets in a block. If you want to save up your prize tickets to get an event or commander deck that contains a card or cards you need you can. Don't think they want to sell singles but they could have prize promos for the month that could be in demand cards into the system that are high prized on the secondary market.
Ebonclaw, let us know how it eventually panned out.
The main reason why I am not including Elspeth is due to fact we can run multiples of Dragonlord Ojutai instead, which easy said works out better for the deck as a whole. It provides a realistic clock where Elspeth has the advantage of providing a boardsweep. The other more simple reason being Hero's Downfall. A card Dragonlord Ojutai is partially immume to and Silumgar, the Drifting Death is fully immume to.
Went 3-0-1 last week at FNM beating Naya Dragons 2-0, Abzan Midrange 2-0, RUG Aggro (2-0), ID into top 8. Beating Esper dragons 2-1 in top 8 and split top 4.
The Abzan player did not catch on to the dreadmist + den protector combo so the match up was not that bad.
Esper mirror is pretty miserable. My opponent was a Pro tour grinder running the Pro Tour list. Game 1 was a huge grind where we both killed all of each others dragons and I conceded because I had less cards left in deck. Game 2 I won because I was able to resolve and protect a Narset till I ultimated it then he conceded. Game 3 he resolved ashiok, I had the downfall for it. I then resolved ashiok and he had no answer and I ultimated it and he coneeded. I used to think that the pro tour type list was advantaged in the mirror because of Thoughtseize and more constent mana but when they only have 2-3 Heroes Downfall, Narset and Ashiok are very good threats. Having 2 Hex proof Silumgar is pretty good here also since it is harder to kill since targeted removal can not kill it and they need to have the Foul-Tongue or Crux.
Cool results with a cool list if you ask me. I personally still like the 3/3 split in Foul-Tongue Invocation and Hero's Downfall. While it's true that your variant works even better against control mirrors, or at least it should with Narset around.
Regarding the list I would only switch/drop Arashin Cleric from the sideboard. To switch for what exactly Im not fully sure. I think your match up against many types of Aggro is allready very solid. Perhaps Stratus Dancer to increase your match up against control even more.
A thing that suprised me aswell is how well the deck can also preform without Thoughtseize. Initially I cut them because of budget reasons, they are now in again, but the difference isn't as impactful as some might think. The main match up where they can end up being important is indeed Control. However if someone was to increase the numbers of Dissolvelike you did it still isn't by any means an easy deck to chew through. Mainly also because Dig Through Time can actually turn the tides on your opponent if cast fast because an opponent did Thoughtseize a couple of times but didn't follow up with a 'tempo-swinger' like Ashiok, Stratus Dancer or Narset. All quite slow clocks but a real hassle to deal with for Esper Dragons Control.
The only real difference between the two remains the mana base and the sometimes included Utter End.
- Im sort of inclined to make a [Primer] for Esper Dragon Control now we have so much data available since the Dragons of Tarkir Pro Tour. Would you guys be intrested in something like that?
Thank you, list is actually based on Shaheen Soorani's but I like Ugin and he does not but he finally came around to it and I have a sideboard for my meta. 4 Downfall is actually important to be able to answer planeswalkers since the sideboard plan for most control lists seems to be bring in 2-3 Ashiok and the Abzan midrange lists run some Sorin and Elspeth as well as Green Red running Sarkhan and Xenagos. Foul Tongue actually can be pretty bad against any token decks and decks with Caryitid.
Heavier white for Narset and Utter End is better against the midrange decks since Narset into Dig Through Time with rebound has gotten me so many concessions. Also against the Dreadmist Raptor list Utter ENd and gives you answers to resolved enchantments like Seiges and Whip and what not. Also gives you Arashin Cleric which is the MVP in the Artaka red match up. It comes down early while they are still playing creatures and gains you 3 life before they hold mana for Artaka's command and blocks all their creatures and doesn't die to Drown in Sorrow. They have to burn it which gains you even more life cause that is burn that did not hit you.
Going heavy white also gives you all 12 scrylands which can hinder you against aggressive decks with the come into play tapped coupled with 4 Dissolve, in long games the added scry really helps.
Arashin Cleric stays because in my local friday night magic there are many red players due to budget. I would consider swapping it out in a larger event but not sure I would put in Stratus Dancer.
I run out of board outs for control so not sure I would add Stratus Dancer.
-2 Anticipate, -2 crux of fate -2 ultimate price, -2 Utter End
+2 Ashiok, +2 Foul Tongue +2 Negate, +2 Tasigur
Friend has been saying to keep utter ends and board out Hero's downfall because of the exile is relevant with Haven of the Spirit Dragon but I think being able to kill Ashiok on 3 mana if it resolves is really big.
And as much as I like Esper Control/UB Control I feel the two have grown together. I am still looking for imput, articles and opinions.
Cheers,
Nice work on the primer.
You understate the value of Narset though. Narset is really amazing against the mid range decks giving you more draw power and the rebound on dig through time is game winning. In control match ups it is not as good as Ashiok but can draw you cards and if you can ultimate Narset you win the game.
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Nahiri, the Harbinger
3 Ancestral Vision
2 Cryptic Command
1 Electrolyze
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Lightning Helix
2 Mana Leak
4 Path to Exile
2 Remand
2 Spell Snare
4 Serum Visions
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Arid Mesa
4 Celestial Colonnade
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Flooded Strand
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Crumble to Dust
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Izzet Staticaster
2 Negate
1 Rest in Peace
1 Stony Silence
2 Timely Reinforcements
2 Vendillion Clique
1 Wrath of God
Been playing Jeskai Nahiri on and off at my local FNM since May and going 4-0 or 3-1 most weeks. Meta at FNM is pretty soft with mostly creature decks like Abzan, Affinity, Burn, BW Tokens, CoCo, Death's Zoo, Delver, Infect, Jund Very few of bad match ups 1 Bant Eldrazi, 1 Bring to Light Scapshift, 2 Tron players and 1-3 other control players. Played in a some leagues on MTGO and went 3-2 mostly couple 4-1s but no 5-0. Online seems to be pretty random what I play against in different leagues.
Looking to make a few tweaks and test them online and at FNM before Modern Season.
Sideboarding
Affinity
+2 Anger of the Gods +1 Engineered Explosives, +1 Izzet Staticaster, +1 Stony Silence, , +1 Wrath of God,
-2 Cryptic Command, -2 Mana Leak, -2 Remand,
Burn
+1 Engineered Explosives, 2 Negate, 2 Timely Reinforcements
-2 Cryptic Command, -2 Remand
CoCo
+1 Izzet Staticaster, +2 Anger of the Gods, +1 Wrath of God
-2 Spell Snare, -1 Lightning Helix, -1 Cryptic Command
Control
+1 Elspeth Sun's Champion +2 Negate, +2 Vendillion Clique
-3 Lightning Bolt, -1 Lightning Helix, -1 Path to Exile.
Death's Shadow Zoo
+2 Anger of the Gods, +1 Engineered Explosives, +2 Negate, +1 Wrath of God,
-2 Cryptic Command, -2 Spell Snare, -2 Remand
Dredge
+2 Anger of the Gods, +1 Izzet Staticaster, +1 Rest in Pace, +2 Vendillion Clique, +1 Wrath of God
-1 Cryptic Command, -2 Mana Leak, -2 Remand, -2 Spell Snare
Bant Eldrazi
+2 Anger of the Gods, +1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion, +1 Wrath of God
-1 Electrolyze, -1 Remand, -2 Spell Snare
Infect
+1 Engineered Explosives, +1 Izzet Staticaster, +2 Vendillion Clique, +2 Anger of the Gods
-2 Remand, -1 Cryptic Command, -1 Nahiri, -2 Spell Snare
Jund
+1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion, +2 Vendillion Clique, +1 Wrath of God
-2 Lightning Bolt, -1 Lightning Helix
Merfolk
+1 Engineered Explosives, +2 Anger of the Gods, +1 Wrath of God
-2 Cryptic Command, -2 Remand,
Scapeshift
+1 Crumble to Dust, +2 Negate, +2 Vendilion Clique
-3 Ancestral Visions, -2 Path to Exile.
Tokens
+2 Anger of the Gods, +1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion, +1 Izzet Staticaster, +2 Negate
-1 Lightning Bolt, -1 Path to Exile. -2 Remand, -2 Spell Snare
Tron
+1 Crumble to Dust, +2 Negate, +2 Vendillion Clique
-1 Spell Snare, -1 Path to Exile, -3 Ancestral Visions
Zoo
+2 Anger of the Gods, +1 Engineered Explosives, +1 Wrath of God
-2 Remind, -2 Cryptic Comm
Some card choices.
Cryptic Command Been running Cryptic Command in Splinter Twin before it got banned and Esper Draw Go and don't see running with out it. Hard counter is nice to have mid to late game since we do not have counterspell. Drawing cards is always good and tap all creatures is used often with so many creature decks. I was running a singleton and a second Verdict for awhile but went back up to 2. 24 lands has worked well enough.
Supreme Verdict As far as main deck board wipes I feel this is the best one. Anger misses quite a bit and having to Wrath a Thrun usually only happens post board. Being Uncounterable is relevant against Merfolk and Delver.
Celestial Colonnade Play the full 4 because they get much better game 2 when some ammount of creature removal is boarded out and pretty good against all the mid range creature decks and to attack planeswalkers.
Ghost Quarter With all the creature lands around in my meta this seemed to be the 24th utility land to run. I tried Lighthouse and it was nice to dig but having an answer to creature lands is pretty important. Will have to try Kher Keep at some point.
Sideboard cards.
Elspeth, Sun's Champion Expensive at 6 mana but has been excellent in all mid range creature match ups. Also good in Control mirrors. Hard to deal with outside of Dreadbore/Maelstrom Pulse and another board wipe
Crumble to Dust Just one mostly for creature lands and Cavern of Souls. Not as effective against Tron with
Engineered Explosives really good catch all
Izzet Staticaster Really good in my meta with Token decks without an Anthem in play, Infect, Affinity.
Wrath of God Most green creature decks sideboard a Thrun or two need a way to kill it.
Would like to fit a Wear/Tear for things like Choke but not sure what to cut.
Cute things tried and rejected
Baneslayer Angel Good finisher but people caught on to it and leave in removal might be better if I didn't play it every week at FNM. Elspeth is better in some matches.
Splash Black for Kolagams Command, Lingering Souls, Sorin, and sideboard Slaugter Games. This was great for control mirrors and mid range creature decks but already good there and was worse against burn and did not seem to help against bad matches at all. Oddly most of the control players stopped showing up besides myself and couple other one running Jeskai and other running straight blue white. Slaughter Games was a bit slow at 4 mana but was good if resolved against Scapeshift. The living end player always killed me before I can cast it between Fulminators and beast with in on my lands. The black splash was awesome when I was playing up to two or three control matches a night. They stopped showing up so changed back. Also missed Cryptic Command when running 4 colors.
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage - Thought this would be good to tap creatures and combo with Nahiri to kill creatures with card draw bonus. Not as effective as I would have hoped 5 mana is alot and hard to use card draw ability.
Definitely want Foil play sets of Force of Will and Wasteland for vintage. New Terese Nielsen art on Force is awesome and like the destroyed City of Brass on Wasteland.
Hopefully they have some more new art old favorites. New Show and Tell art would be nice. Not a fan of the Art on the Judge Show and Tell with Arbound Ravager and Thundermaw Hellkite. Really those cost 2 and 5 mana. Can they put Emrakul vs Griselbrand?
I would like old frames too but that is not happening.
I think the biggest issue is you really have to pick what decks you want to target. Ultimate Price is great versus humans and Bant coco but terrible against Eldrazi, Control, Ramp and Planswalker decks. Anguished Unmaking is terrible against aggressive strategies but good against Planeswalkers and Enchantments.
Dig Through Time is what made Dragons work so well. Dig found you answers or another dragon if they managed to kill your dragon. Without Dig and more answers to Dragons like Clip Wings I feel you have to play more dragons. Been playing 2 Icefall Regent to up the dragon count to 10 and it really helps turning on your Dragons matter cards.
Read the Bones and Painful Truths cost life which is a big deal against aggressive decks. Sorcery speed is also an issue since you want to maximize your mana.
Not sure I like 3 Jace. Yes Jace is hard to flip without fetchlands and tends to die but you really need the filtering to not flood out on lands and the card advantage. I run 4 in Vintage Jace is just that good.
Silumgar's Command is pretty sweet but would not play more then 1 as it costs 5. Declaration in Stone is not what a control deck wants. Giving the opponent a card in a long game control deck is not something you want to be doing. Have not tried Tragic Arrogance but in a primarily Black and Blue deck which wants BB and UU early, not sure we can support WW also.
Maindeck Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is not something I thought of at all till the pros did it I was adding more Dragons. I do run Kalitas in the board though for some match ups Kalitas just wins the game.
Declaration in Stone is great in an aggro deck where your removing their blocker and winning soon but not what a control deck that is grinding for advantage wants.
Epiphany at the Drownyard I tried week one and was very disappointed. Your opponent chooses what you get so you never get what you need. It does give you more cards if cast for a lot of mana but they tend to be worse cards then if you just cast a draw spell where you drew random cards your opponent did not pick the worse ones.
I agree with Shaheen and think Transgress the Mind is pretty horrible main deck. Costing 2 is really bad. It is ok Turn 2 but does not effect the board and gets progressively worse as the game goes on. CoCo, Avacyn are instants and likely to get cast in response to Transgress the mind if mana is available. Always Watching gets cast on turn 3. Late game if your opponent is not hellbent your opponent is going to be holding removal like Declaration in Stone/Clip Wings and stuff like Negate none of which get hit by Transgress the mind. Sure sideboard it vs ramp and control mirrors. Ramp and control don't seem all that common. Not a fan of main deck discard unless it is a 2 for 1 or hits anything like Thoughtseize did.
Dragonlord Silumgar and Ojutai still gets hit with removal. Jace is even more important with no Dig Through time to get card advantage. If they don't kill Jace you get advantage from it. I actually won two games with Jace ultimate mill since I could not find another dragon something that never happened when Dig Through Time was legal.
Dead Weight can replace Surge of Rightousness in the board. I saw no mono red at my FNM.
Epiphany at the Drownyard is pretty bad, opponent never gives you what you need. If your opponent made the piles and you got to pick whch pile to take like Fact or Fiction it may be worth running.
Have to rely on Jace, Narset and Painful Truths for card advantage.
I also wonder why more people don't run Narset. So good if you can rebound a dig through time puts you so far ahead. People have just scooped to it.
Running Jace out turn 2 really depends if your opponent has Kologan's command.
Protecting Jace really depends getting your Jace zapped by Kologan's command and having to discard is bad news so want to counter that but if they just zapping Jace that usually is fine.
Tasigur is good in the Jeskai match up and against any aggressive match ups to get out a creature for only 1 mana while leaving mana up to use his ability or cast removal/counters.
Are people getting the new Expedition lands or sticking with Pack foils?
Honestly I don't like the border on the new expedition lands much but the art on some of them is beautiful.
I am picking them by my prefered art.
Arid Mesa - Zendikar Pack - True to what Mesa looks like don't like the new floating avatar silliness.
Bloodstained Mire - Khans Pack - actually like this one better then the original
Flooded Strand - Expedition - I really like waterfalls.
Marsh Flats - Zendikar Pack Foil - more traditional versus the avatar floating rock silliness.
Misty Rainforest - Expedition - the art on expedition is really pretty.
Polluted Delta - Expedition - just like how it looks.
Scalding Tarn - Zendikar Pack - like the volcano.
Verdant Catacombs - Expedition - tree maze
Windswept heath - Khans Pack - trees swaying in the wind
Wooded Foothills - Khans Pack - winter trees and mountains looks nice.
So what are your opinions?
List I am running is draw go list pretty similar to Paiotrowiak and Wafo's with a few differences.
3 Supreme Verdict
1 Condemn
3 Cryptic Command
4 Esper Charm
1 Dismember
2 Logic Knot
1 Negate
1 Remand
1 Shadow of Doubt
4 Path to Exile
3 Spell Snare
2 Sphinx's Revelation
4 Think Twice
1 White Sun's Zenith
4 Celestial Collonade
1 Creeping Tarpit
2 Drowned Catacombs
4 Flooded Strand
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Ghost Quarter
3 Island
1 Mystic Gate
1 Plains
3 Polluted Delta
1 Swamp
2 Watery Grave
2 Duress
1 Fracturing Gust
2 Kor Firewalker
1 Night of Soul's Betrayal
1 Pulse of the Fields
2 Stony Silence
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1 Timely Reinforcements
2 Vendillion Clique
1 Wrath of God
There is much blue in my local meta between Delver, Grixis Control, Twin and UW so Supreme Verdict is good here less Thrun where Wrath of God kills it. Might actually cut the Condemn for another Dismember of something that kills Exarchs. 4 Cryptic Commands can be pretty clunky so running 3. Fracturing Gust does work against Affinity, Boggles, and that white enchantment deck. Pulse of the Fields is nice against burn to suppliment the Kor Firewalkers and Timely.
@Grixis
I have not have had problems getting burned out versus Grixis. The Grixis players I play usually board out some number of bolts there really isn't much to bolt other then Snapcaster.
@Teferi
It is really good versus control but unless you are running a Teachings build if you run 1 you are unlikely to find it. I like Clique better cause it is good versus control and combo.
@New Gideon.
Not worth it in a Draw go build. Dying to Dismember is bad and can bet burned out. Old Gideon was higher loyalty.
$12 constructed dailies is stupid. My local store charges $6 for Friday Night Magic Standard and $15 for draft with $6 store credit going into the prize pool per person which is split between top 4 or top 8 depending on the size of the event.
Pack prizes are bad for Constucted players period.
As a MTGO constructed player you have to go through the hassle of finding which bot pays the most and then trading your prize packs for event tickets so you can enter the next event. Packs fall in price as more are put into the system.
I been saying this for awhile MTGO events should award Prize tickets that you can trade in for packs or anything in the store plus any promos. So if you are a drafter you can get your set of packs for the next draft. If you are a constructed player you can save up for that set of Promo Wastelands or whatever good promo you want for your collection.
Khaleesi Esper Dragons post Origins
2 Silumgar, the Drifting Death
2 Narset Transcendent
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
1 Anticipate
4 Dig Through Time
4 Dissolve
2 Foul-Tongue Invocation
4 Hero's Downfall
2 Languish
4 Silumgar's Scorn
2 Thoughtseize
2 Utter End
2 Crux of Fate
5 Island
2 Swamp
1 Caves of Koilos
1 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
4 Polluted Delta
4 Temple of Deceit
4 Temple of Enlightenment
4 Temple of Silence
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
2 Foul-Tongue Invocation
1 Virulent Plague
2 Negate
1 Dragonlord Silumgar
3 Drown in Sorrow
What is unfortunate is I cut Akroma from my Kaalia deck awhile ago. Alt art Avacyn would be nice though.
TJ Collectables did this for GP Atlantic City. Each side event awarded a certain number of Prize tickets for winning or top 8ing. You could trade in these prize tickets for product like packs of in print sets. Commander decks and even singles.
Magic Online should award Prize tickets for each event instead of packs of all one type. That way if you want packs to draft again you can trade in your prize tickets for the appropriate packs to draft if you need different sets in a block. If you want to save up your prize tickets to get an event or commander deck that contains a card or cards you need you can. Don't think they want to sell singles but they could have prize promos for the month that could be in demand cards into the system that are high prized on the secondary market.
Thank you, list is actually based on Shaheen Soorani's but I like Ugin and he does not but he finally came around to it and I have a sideboard for my meta. 4 Downfall is actually important to be able to answer planeswalkers since the sideboard plan for most control lists seems to be bring in 2-3 Ashiok and the Abzan midrange lists run some Sorin and Elspeth as well as Green Red running Sarkhan and Xenagos. Foul Tongue actually can be pretty bad against any token decks and decks with Caryitid.
Heavier white for Narset and Utter End is better against the midrange decks since Narset into Dig Through Time with rebound has gotten me so many concessions. Also against the Dreadmist Raptor list Utter ENd and gives you answers to resolved enchantments like Seiges and Whip and what not. Also gives you Arashin Cleric which is the MVP in the Artaka red match up. It comes down early while they are still playing creatures and gains you 3 life before they hold mana for Artaka's command and blocks all their creatures and doesn't die to Drown in Sorrow. They have to burn it which gains you even more life cause that is burn that did not hit you.
Going heavy white also gives you all 12 scrylands which can hinder you against aggressive decks with the come into play tapped coupled with 4 Dissolve, in long games the added scry really helps.
Arashin Cleric stays because in my local friday night magic there are many red players due to budget. I would consider swapping it out in a larger event but not sure I would put in Stratus Dancer.
I run out of board outs for control so not sure I would add Stratus Dancer.
-2 Anticipate, -2 crux of fate -2 ultimate price, -2 Utter End
+2 Ashiok, +2 Foul Tongue +2 Negate, +2 Tasigur
Friend has been saying to keep utter ends and board out Hero's downfall because of the exile is relevant with Haven of the Spirit Dragon but I think being able to kill Ashiok on 3 mana if it resolves is really big.
Nice work on the primer.
You understate the value of Narset though. Narset is really amazing against the mid range decks giving you more draw power and the rebound on dig through time is game winning. In control match ups it is not as good as Ashiok but can draw you cards and if you can ultimate Narset you win the game.