Honestly AER was everything we could have hoped for. Highspire Infusion, Invigorated Rampage, and Greenbelt Rampager all slot right into the combo version, and Winding Constrictor should be a house in non-combo lists (and maybe even the combo ones). Rampager is at its best in the non-combo versions as well. The printings of Yahenni's Expertise and Fatal Push could be an issue, but other than that there isn't much to complain about
You can't hit puzzleknot with lost legacy. But if you remove emrakul from his deck you're in very good position.
I also like lost legacy naming torrential gearhulk vs U based control deck !
In the last part of my post I was talking about hits off of Aetherworks Marvel activations, looking at my wording though I can see how that would have been unclear. I have seen more than one person play Lost Legacy naming Torrential Gearhulk and reach for their opponent's deck, only for their opponent to scream "JUDGE!" at the top of their lungs.
My only suggestion would be to cut a Swamp. Currently you have 61 cards in your maindeck and 23 lands is right where we want to be in terms of consistency.
As for the Marvel questions:
Emrakul is such a powerful, game-ending play (and can also be hardcast whereas the other two usually can't) that risking getting hit with a Lost Legacy isn't really worth diluting the decklist with cards like Desolation Twin which frankly just isn't good enough for Standard. In addition, the Marvel decks can win without Emrakul. Against us, a second Lost Legacy targeting Ishkanah probably ends the game on the spot, but Lost Legacy is slow enough that most BR lists don't run more than two in the sideboard if they run it at all, so that scenario will come up fairly rarely.
Emrakul isn't the only hit Marvel has. Woodweaver's Puzzleknot lets them spin the wheel with Marvel again and gains them a bunch of life, Ishkanah is a giant brick wall that triggers Marvel up to four times and hits hard, Whirler Virtuoso gives them energy and multiple blockers if needed, Vessel of Nascency triggers Marvel and digs for more threats, and Chandra is a fine hit in the right scenario. Even Servant of the Conduit chumps and puts them halfway toward another Marvel activation. Are some hits better than others? Sure. But against us, they have Emrakul, Ishkanah, and Puzzleknot as their optimal hits (meaning hitting one of those three makes it much, much harder for us to win the game), along with other cards they'd be happy to have such as Vessel and Chandra.
Wow. This is... one of the stronger uncommons we've seen in a while. There are a fair number of exile effects in Standard right now which will limit its effectiveness there at least until rotation, but it should see at least some amount of play in the right deck.
Thoughts on Fatal Push as a replacement for our fog effects? Seems very strong against infect and death aggro variants. The only problem I have with it is the fact that it could potentially push infect out of the meta, which mean that we may need to bring in tools that are better against Jund instead. Maybe grave titan will be better if midrange becomes more popular.
The fog effects are much better at buying time than Fatal Push IMHO. If Dredge gets banned then Push is likely a better option, but as the meta stands right now blanking the opponent's board for a turn is better than one-mana spot removal. It's worth noting that Push is worse here than in most decks since we don't generally play fetchlands.
Budoka ChantXG
Sorcery (U)
You may play up to X additional lands this turn. As Kamigawa fell into chaos, the Budoka carried on with their sacred rituals, a bastion of peace in a divided world.
Tolarian Weirding3U
Enchantment - Aura (U)
Enchant Island
Enchanted Island has " : Add U to your mana pool for each artifact you control." The time magic that was once abundant at the Tolarian Academy still flows through its ruins. Miles of ocean are randomly thrown back to the height of the Academy's glory, only to reappear in the present day hours later.
So this is something I'm testing right now. With the release of Secret Salvage and Yahenni's Expertise, this deck suddenly has both an easy way to go off with Hedron Alignment and a sweeper that lets you play an Alignment, a dig spell, or a Liliana for free. Green is key to the deck as well as it gives you access to Grapple with the Past and Vessel of Nascency, which churn through your deck for answers while also providing a way to get Hedron Alignment into the graveyard for Secret Salvage. There's also the usual Delirium wincon of just slamming down an Emrakul.
I'll wait on putting in a sideboard until more of the set is spoiled. Aether Revolt looks like it'll have a bigger impact on Standard than most small sets and IMHO it's kind of a fruitless exercise making a sideboard when we have no idea what the format will look like. Some potential options though would include Natural State, Pick the Brain, Flaying Tendrils, and Ceremonious Rejection.
Considering the removal available in Standard, Dreadnought-Siege Mod could be pretty solid - a t4 kill with just four mana and two cards invested is no joke. Throw in Copter, Start Your Engines, and some removal and beatsticks and there could be a deck here.
Design -
(3/3) Appeal: Timmy likes big, splashy effects. Johnny likes the synergistic potential. Spike likes how powerful this could be in the right deck. (3/3) Elegance: It's simple, flavorful, and easy to understand.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: White is spot on here. There's precedent for this type of effect at uncommon (Migratory Route), but six evasive tokens are a lot harder to deal with than four so rare makes sense to me here. It's a little iffy from a lore standpoint, but it could definitely be made to work. (2/3) Balance: This is a fine Constructed card - not super powerful, but it could see play if a shadow deck was a thing. In Limited, though, this is fast, efficient, and incredibly hard to answer effectively, especially if you can get the umbral trigger.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: This is extremely similar to Migratory Route, and on top of that, rare white token-making sorceries aren't exactly a new thing. That said, Soltari tokens are pretty innovative, and there's a fair number of games when this would play completely differently than Route. (3/3) Flavor: The name and flavor of the card convey the abilities perfectly.
Polish -
(1/3) Quality: The correct wording for the umbral ability, based on Gather the Townsfolk's wording, should be "If you control a creature with shadow, create six of those creature tokens instead." There are also two periods missing, one after "shadow" at the end of the first line and one after "army" at the end of the flavor text. I'm guessing "Ertia" is supposed to be Ertai. (2/2) *Main Challenge
(2/2) Subchallenges
Total: 21/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Congrats on the finish Spider! I saw you were doing well, sucks you didn't make top 8 but 15th out of 100-plus players is still a great finish.
Anyway, what are people's thoughts on an Esper list with Merieke Ri Berit? At worst she draws out a removal spell that could get used on a Tidehollow Sculler or Spell Queller, at best she can completely decimate your opponent's board. Even if she isn't maindeck material she's still a great sideboard card against aggressive decks with little removal like Affinity and Merfolk. I'm not sure if the mana is worth it though; an Esper list with Merieke might even need to run a couple copies of Ancient Ziggurat to function consistently, and playing Merieke would probably mean giving up green cards and Eldrazi.
In Constructed I'd rather play Cultivator's Caravan[/card] unless a really dedicated Vehicle deck exists. In limited though... Holy crap this is insane. Crew 4 was prohibitive in Kaladesh (see Aradara Express), but even if crewing this got harder in Aether Revolt, it seems good enough at breaking board stalls and generating tempo that I don't think it would matter, especially since it's not completely useless even without the crew ability.
Dimir Shadowstealer 3UB
Creature - Shapeshifter
Deathtouch 3UB, T: Destroy target creature an opponent controls. if a creature is destroyed this way, Dimir Shadowstealer becomes a copy of that creature and gains this ability.
1/1 The best assassins are those who can truly blend in.
Next:
A female figure, wearing a burial shroud, rises from a stone slab in an elaborately decorated crypt. Smoke fills the room, spilling out of the crypt's high windows.
I've been running E&T for a while, but the Eldrazi have felt a little slow and clunky for my taste so I've switched to this list that's kind of a hybrid of D&T and UW Flicker. Any advice?
Creature - Angel (C)
Flying
5W: Return target Aura card from your graveyard to your hand.
2/2
Next: Ludevic's Test Subject
In the last part of my post I was talking about hits off of Aetherworks Marvel activations, looking at my wording though I can see how that would have been unclear. I have seen more than one person play Lost Legacy naming Torrential Gearhulk and reach for their opponent's deck, only for their opponent to scream "JUDGE!" at the top of their lungs.
As for the Marvel questions:
Emrakul is such a powerful, game-ending play (and can also be hardcast whereas the other two usually can't) that risking getting hit with a Lost Legacy isn't really worth diluting the decklist with cards like Desolation Twin which frankly just isn't good enough for Standard. In addition, the Marvel decks can win without Emrakul. Against us, a second Lost Legacy targeting Ishkanah probably ends the game on the spot, but Lost Legacy is slow enough that most BR lists don't run more than two in the sideboard if they run it at all, so that scenario will come up fairly rarely.
Emrakul isn't the only hit Marvel has. Woodweaver's Puzzleknot lets them spin the wheel with Marvel again and gains them a bunch of life, Ishkanah is a giant brick wall that triggers Marvel up to four times and hits hard, Whirler Virtuoso gives them energy and multiple blockers if needed, Vessel of Nascency triggers Marvel and digs for more threats, and Chandra is a fine hit in the right scenario. Even Servant of the Conduit chumps and puts them halfway toward another Marvel activation. Are some hits better than others? Sure. But against us, they have Emrakul, Ishkanah, and Puzzleknot as their optimal hits (meaning hitting one of those three makes it much, much harder for us to win the game), along with other cards they'd be happy to have such as Vessel and Chandra.
The fog effects are much better at buying time than Fatal Push IMHO. If Dredge gets banned then Push is likely a better option, but as the meta stands right now blanking the opponent's board for a turn is better than one-mana spot removal. It's worth noting that Push is worse here than in most decks since we don't generally play fetchlands.
Sorcery (U)
You may play up to X additional lands this turn.
As Kamigawa fell into chaos, the Budoka carried on with their sacred rituals, a bastion of peace in a divided world.
Enchantment - Aura (U)
Enchant Island
Enchanted Island has "
The time magic that was once abundant at the Tolarian Academy still flows through its ruins. Miles of ocean are randomly thrown back to the height of the Academy's glory, only to reappear in the present day hours later.
4 Blooming Marsh
3 Botanical Sanctum
2 Choked Estuary
2 Evolving Wilds
2 Forest
2 Hissing Quagmire
1 Island
5 Swamp
3 Sunken Hollow
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
2 Ishkanah, Grafwidow
Spells:
3 Anticipate
4 Fatal Push
4 Grapple with the Past
4 Hedron Alignment
4 Liliana, the Last Hope
4 Secret Salvage
2 Spell Shrivel
4 Vessel of Nascency
4 Yahenni's Expertise
I'll wait on putting in a sideboard until more of the set is spoiled. Aether Revolt looks like it'll have a bigger impact on Standard than most small sets and IMHO it's kind of a fruitless exercise making a sideboard when we have no idea what the format will look like. Some potential options though would include Natural State, Pick the Brain, Flaying Tendrils, and Ceremonious Rejection.
Thoughts?
(3/3) Appeal: Timmy likes big, splashy effects. Johnny likes the synergistic potential. Spike likes how powerful this could be in the right deck.
(3/3) Elegance: It's simple, flavorful, and easy to understand.
Development -
(3/3) Viability: White is spot on here. There's precedent for this type of effect at uncommon (Migratory Route), but six evasive tokens are a lot harder to deal with than four so rare makes sense to me here. It's a little iffy from a lore standpoint, but it could definitely be made to work.
(2/3) Balance: This is a fine Constructed card - not super powerful, but it could see play if a shadow deck was a thing. In Limited, though, this is fast, efficient, and incredibly hard to answer effectively, especially if you can get the umbral trigger.
Creativity -
(2/3) Uniqueness: This is extremely similar to Migratory Route, and on top of that, rare white token-making sorceries aren't exactly a new thing. That said, Soltari tokens are pretty innovative, and there's a fair number of games when this would play completely differently than Route.
(3/3) Flavor: The name and flavor of the card convey the abilities perfectly.
Polish -
(1/3) Quality: The correct wording for the umbral ability, based on Gather the Townsfolk's wording, should be "If you control a creature with shadow, create six of those creature tokens instead." There are also two periods missing, one after "shadow" at the end of the first line and one after "army" at the end of the flavor text. I'm guessing "Ertia" is supposed to be Ertai.
(2/2) *Main Challenge
(2/2) Subchallenges
Total: 21/25
*An entry with 0 points here is subject to disqualification.
Anyway, what are people's thoughts on an Esper list with Merieke Ri Berit? At worst she draws out a removal spell that could get used on a Tidehollow Sculler or Spell Queller, at best she can completely decimate your opponent's board. Even if she isn't maindeck material she's still a great sideboard card against aggressive decks with little removal like Affinity and Merfolk. I'm not sure if the mana is worth it though; an Esper list with Merieke might even need to run a couple copies of Ancient Ziggurat to function consistently, and playing Merieke would probably mean giving up green cards and Eldrazi.
Creature - Shapeshifter
Deathtouch
3UB, T: Destroy target creature an opponent controls. if a creature is destroyed this way, Dimir Shadowstealer becomes a copy of that creature and gains this ability.
1/1
The best assassins are those who can truly blend in.
Next:
A female figure, wearing a burial shroud, rises from a stone slab in an elaborately decorated crypt. Smoke fills the room, spilling out of the crypt's high windows.
4 Adarkar Wastes
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
6 Plains
4 Seachrome Coast
Creatures:
4 Flickerwisp
2 Kitchen Finks
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Reflector Mage
4 Restoration Angel
4 Selfless Spirit
4 Spell Queller
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Aether Vial
4 Path to Exile
2 Blessed Alliance
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Kitchen Finks
2 Kor Firewalker
2 Negate
3 Rest in Peace
3 Stony Silence
Thanks in advance!