You should try SF, stompy decks need disruption, and just having Chalice and creatures is not enough. S-Field does enough work vs most decks. This deck is good, I don't think it's Tier 1, probably won't ever be, but it can win matches vs top tier decks for sure. Against the right meta, it could do well int a tourny. D&T is tough for us without Suppression Field, I imagine that matchup is very tough without Suppression Field.
Meren of Clan Nel Toth, could be a decent card. It doesn't die to Pyroclasm and Anger, and can help up build our board up if we get swept, or just recur some guys that were killed by spot removal. Recurring a Flamkin as soon as it comes in, then fetching for another Forge seems good.
Well, since we have beefy first strikers, it makes battling for our opponent pretty tough. The biggest problem creature has to be True-Name Nemesis. All I have against it is Crackdown and either Holy Light or Crovax, Ascendant Hero in the sideboard. Against Menfolk when they have buffers, the only reliable one is Crackdown. I guess we also have Charioteers to help race against it. Yeah, that should be enough. Our matchup without them having True-Name seems pretty good actually. Of course I played a 3 game match against menfolk and the 2 games he won were when he was on the play and cast a True-Name. The second time he even had Phantasmal Image to copy it.
If only we had that 2/4 Flying Lifelink with a useful ability!!!!!
Yeah, it turns out that the 2/4 Flying Lifelink is very good in this format. With one Daru in play he is safe from Dismember. The card has won me over, and so now I have 2 in the sideboard. I couldn't find any cards that I wanted to remove from the mainboard. I've cut Gustcloak Savior before but that card is just insanely good against any creature decks, so I always put it back in. I was thinking of Jotun Grunt, as a 1 of. Reason being that I don't mind having it in a lot of matchups. Any deck running DRS, Goyf, Snapcaster, Lingering Souls, Dredge, Reaminator, Loam, Punishing Fire, it's just a very flexible hate card with a big body.
The reason I don't like Prison, it doesn't help vs decks that are fine swinging with 1 or two creatures for the win. Like any deck running True-Name. Holy Light kills a lot of stuff, including True-Name, and can be used as a combat trick to kill more stuff. And Ratchet Bomb is also is more flexible. So while Prison may look like it is more flexible, I think it is actually less effective than the other two. Also Crovax, Ascendant Hero is interesting but probably too expensive. The fact that it's basically impossible to get rid of and can be powered into play with Cavern is very appealing though.
Current List: I'm happy with the way this has been performing. I like my sideboard a lot right now.
I'm having issues with Delver decks, Delver Pyromancer especially. Solutions would be appreciated. Holy Light or Ghostly Prison and Ratchet Bomb are the best options I can think of. Which do you think is the best? I think Prison might just be too narrow, as I can only see it being especially good vs Pyromancer, although IT IS great in conjunction with Winter Orb.
As much as I don't like Dawnbringer Charioteers, I feel like it would be nice to have lifeline in certain matchups. Also it survives bolt, and can block Delver and Mongoose without dying. Still dies to Dismember.
So I've found Hokori, Dust Drinker to be a great card, and right now I'm not sure how many I want in the deck. For all those people that want to run Winter Orb, this is the card for you. I have 1 mainboard that can be fetched with Recruiter, and I think I might try to fit 1 or 2 more in the sideboard. Get ahead on board, and then throw this guy down. It's insane if you already have a Captain out. It's nice that we have Chrome Mox to untap.
Also, this deck is not yet tier 1, but it's getting there. I've been working on hard on it and it's getting better and better Currently I do not have a good matchup vs Shardless BUG. Although my opponents keep getting lucky and drawing their single Toxic Deluge which wrecks me. I think Mirran Crusader should be included in the list, it is just very good in this format, and we can fetch it with Recruiter. Dodges a lot of removal and most creature threats are green or black; Goyf, Shardless Agent, Nimble Mongoose, Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Bob, Baleful Strix, and that big 5/5 black delve guy.
EDIT: And I didn't realize in my previous post that Hero of Bladehold is not a Soldier, so I'm not sure I would include it in a soldier deck.
I think the Hate-Bear Stompy deck might just be better, even though it's weaker to early counter spells with no Cavern of Souls. It has so much hate, decks just can't deal it. I will keep testing both.
This non-soldier more hate-bear themed deck seemed great to me, so I edited it and included newer cards as this deck was constructed before Sanctum Prelate and Thalia 2.0 existed. This deck is actually very good! I made a new thread about it. Aven Mindcensor and Leonin Arbiter are extremely powerful cards and stack with the other Tax effects.
Here's my thread: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/legacy-type-1-5/developing-legacy/757559-hate-bear-stompy
P.S. in my last post I forgot to mention Gustcloack Savior which I think is the best flyer; it's a big body that combos well with P-Cap and makes combat so much more advantageous.
This deck is nasty, and I've been putting up good results against Tier 1 decks. So much hate for every tier 1 deck, and any deck that exists. Many times the opponent scoops after the first 2-3 creatures.
You have said Suppression Field is bad unless on turn 1. I disagree, most decks in Legacy use activated abilities, and Suppression Field heavily slows most decks, especially any deck running fetchlands. On turn 3 or 4, dropping a Suppression Field can still nix a Sensei's Devining Top, mess with Planeswalkers, and prevent them from playing Fetching. It's great vs sooo many cards!
Just in case you forgot, here are some cards it hoses from he best decks in the format:
Lands: Rishadan Port, Wasteland, Maze of Ith, Thespian Stage, Fetchlands D&T: Aether Vial, Stoneforge Mystic, All Equipment, Mother of Runes, Karakas Miracles: Fetchlands, Sensei's Devining Top, Jace, the Money Snatcher
Tax effects are better when stacked, and since we have two Thalias. That card has performed so well for me, especially in conjunction with the Thalias.
I haven't played the deck with the new Fairgrounds Warden, but I think that card is better than Palace Jailer because it is much safer to play, plus easier to cast and costs less. Honestly, I think this deck could get away with running 4 Thought-Knot Seer as the only non-soldier, but I could be wrong.
I will test your list and see if I can replace anything, it's looks basically the same as what I would play, but from my testing, Winter Orb is not made for this deck. We can't play it early because then we can't cast anything. I'd definitely play Suppression Field over Winter Orb.
The other card I will probably replace is Captain of the Watch because it's just too expensive and a win-more card. I'll probably replace it with a couple more Daru Warchief's. Hero of Bladehold is probably better than CotW as well. Unfortunately, it's not great with Preeminent Captain, because you don't get the tokens or the battle cry trigger when you sneak it into play with Captain. But it's an extremely powerful card nonetheless.
Also, since Flyers have been mentioned as having their benefits, the new Soldier Aerial Responder seems better than any of the flyers I've seen mentioned except Commander Eesha perhaps.
[quote from="Rendroc »" url="http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/budget-modern/556726-shamanism?comment=738"] This is what someone once referred to as "magic fairyland deckbuilding". Sure, the deck could work that way, but it only does if you have four very specific cards in your opening hand -- namely SSG, BTE, Beastcaller, and Harbinger. Another way it could work is: T1 Harbinger, T2 Elvish Visionary/Bosk Banneret, swing for 1, T3 Rage Forger, swing for 6.
Notice how I said this is AN EXAMPLE of how the deck works? If not, you'd benefit from impoving your reading comprehension skills. It has many good openers actually. The only problem with this deck is that it is weak to sweepers, like any aggro deck.
Playtested this noob brew vs xmage bot
Went 9-5 in games vs Green Stompy, 3-3 vs Fast Slivers
Provided bot is very stupid (plays spells absolutely randomly, has no idea about decks' strategies and whats happening in the game, often activates manlands without doing anything, basic combat AI) deck's weakness is confirmed
Deck is clunky, plays a ton of 1-power creatures which dont become powerhouses when rageforger lands, does million damage to itself. I didnt experience it but I bet this deck is susceptible to removal and discard.
@Timba You're probably playing the deck like a noob, even though this deck isn't hard to play. Also, you play tested against non-competitive decks. Evenstill, this deck should do good against most Tier 2/3 decks, as long as they are not main boarding Anger of the Gods. Based on your comments this far, you're probably just bad at magic, but here are some tips if you're really interested in winning with this deck.. Basically you always want to use SSG as soon as you can cast something with it, except maybe if it's turn 1 and all you can cast is Flameking but you need to draw lands, and you don't have a Rageforger in hand. This is the one case in which you don't use it as soon as you can. You want to use your cantrips immediately as well. Usually you don't want to turn sideways, if you can Chord off of your creatures for a flamekin. Better to grow your board for an Alpha strike.
The damage done to yourself is negligible vs most decks, except Burn. Combo decks like Scapeshift, Reanimator and Through the Breach decks with kill you at 20 or 7 life it doesn't matter. Aggro decks you think might be an issue (like Bant Eldrazi and Affinity), but they aren't as much of an issue as you think, because this deck is faster and pumps out so many creatures so we have blockers, and deter them from turning sideways with all creatures because we threaten lethal on the backswing. I've been looking for Sideboard cards for straight Burn decks, and I'm looking at Disciple of Griselbrand or Jaddi Lifestrider. I think Lifestrider is ambitious to cast in time, whereas I can Chord or cast Disciple quickly. I think this card could be lethal vs burn especially, or any other matchup in which I could use some life gain, and sacrificing a few creatures won't be an issue for us. If they focus on killing creatures instead of me, I'm less worried, because we draw a lot of creatures. Burn deck don't side in Sweepers luckily. This matchup doesn't seem great, but not unwinnable. I haven't played it yet.
@Dennis, Aether Vial is not good in my version at all, it's not fantastic even on turn 1, and it's a horrible draw. Also, Essence warden is only good on turn 1 in the matchups she would be used for, granted she doesn't get killed, which is unlikely. Another bad draw.
I'm winning a tremendous amount with this deck. The only decks that are REAL issues are decks mainboarding Anger of the Gods, which are not common at all, also when the Cockatrice shuffler gives me 20 spells in a row, then I lose.
I've taken out the Dryad Arbor for a maindeck Fulminator Mage, and I'm running 3 cavern instead of 4
The spirit is good vs Anger and Proclasm, I can chord or cast him off of Cavern. The one card in here that I question, is the Mindsparker, I can't think of any matchups where I REALLY want to include him over a Fulminator. It seems great, but it weak to removal. All the other cards are very good at serving their purpose reliably.
I've played this deck a lot on Cockatrice, and I'm confident enough to purchasing it and sleeving it up for an FMN and maybe bring it to a bigger tourney. Most of the deck is just bot a hundred bucks minus the Fulminator's the lands and the Blood Moon.
A few more cards for consideration: Gaddock Teeg - shuts down Damnation, Supreme Verdict and Wrath of God and Scapeshift, unfortunately white mana, but we can Chord it. Might be better than Selfless Spirit because it can shut down Scapeshift as well, but I doubt it. Kataki, War's Wage - since affinity is seems to be very popular and does well, this guy is an option Spellskite - vs Infect, I do think this one is necessary for the SD to just give us a big edge in that matchup. I doubt I would want to side this in vs Jund, or any other Red/x midrange/control decks, but it might be good Melira, Sylvok Outcast - against infect, probably better vs infect since they run Twisted image and other Spellskite removal
Toughest matchup by far is the R/U/W control deck that did well in a big tourney recently. It main decks Anger and has tons of spot removal.
Best cards against us, ranked:
1. Anger of the Gods, Engineered Explosives
2. Pyroclasm, and any Wrath
Hmm interesting, seem great. Green also has Genesis, which is one of the better cards for dick. Again, Stompy decks already have tight mana bases and are weak to Wasteland, so including dual lands to splash green seems suicidal.
@Worldsaverinc, a 1 drop isn't really necessary, and Beastcaller Savant and Simian Spirit Guide fill that roll. Sakura-Tribe Scout is only good if played on turn 1, and even then, only conditionally. He is not meant for a deck that will have many 1-2 land hands. I mean, it's not the worst, but it's not better than what I have now. I could consider putting one copy of this guy in instead of the Dryad Arbor, but there's no way I'd swap him for any of the other creatures. Nice suggestion though
All my deck really needs is maybe 1 turn to get some ramp and power out creatures, and SSG does just that. I take many 1 land hands that have Simian Spirit guide and a couple cantrips with maybe a Visionary, because I'm confident I will draw into lands or another SSG, or a Beastcaller or a Bosk Banneret. The odds are in my favor. With Bosk Banneret Beastcaller becomes a one drop mana dork with haste! That's better than any dork out there.
Here's is an example of how the deck works.
Turn 1: play land and pitch SSG and maybe a cantrip or two, play Emmissary, into Beastcaller into Flamekin put Rageforger on top
Turn 2: Draw the Rageforger, play another land tap 2 lands and Beastcaller and play Rageforger, swing for 7
Turn 3: either drop a rage forger in hand and basically win on the spot, or if you don't have it, hit with 1 or 2 guys, drop 1 or 2 guys and Chord for 1 at the end of opponents turn putting a Flamekin in play and Rageforger on top
Turn 4: Draw and cast Rageforger and swing for a million
The issue here is decks that run sweepers, but I'd say Anger of the Gods is even better against us the Pyroclasm or Damnation. Bosk Banneret already survives a pyrcoclasm, and if I drop a Rage Forger the Emissaries can live too. On the play it's much less scary facing these cards, because I can buff up my creatures to survive them. But it's much easier to drop two Rageforgers and get all my 1/1's to 3/3's than it is to get them to 4/4's, which is why Anger is more dangerous. Of course if my guys are 3/3's that means my opponent is one attack step from being dead most likely, but they might cast Anger before I get to attack. I can find a Fulminator Mage to keep them off black mana or a 4th land to prevent them from casting Damnation, already an expensive card. I think this strat is the best chance of beating Anger of the Gods.
Also, Engineered Explosives for 2 is basically a board wipe most of the time. This deck is fast enough that they shouldn't have enough mana to play it and crack it in the same turn, so siding in an Ingot Chewer vs decks siding EE is probably wise.
Spot removal from Jund and Junk decks is not great unless cast before we can chain bunch of creatures into play. Bolting a Bosk on turn 1 can slow the deck down quite a bit.
Dryad Arbor might be the odd man out, and I'm not sure it's worth it, although it is really nice to fetch for it with Chord when I want some more mana on the next turn. It also serves a purpose as a blocker against fast aggro decks, or a creature to sac vs Liliana. Removing it frees up some mainboard tech.
More Sideboard options and other interesting cards: Loaming Shaman - right now the deck has no graveyard hate, we can chord into this guy fairly easily and he's not too hard to cast Scavenging Ooze - great card that synergies with Rageforger and can make himself fat while disrupting GV shenanigans Fulminator Mage - I've moved one to the mainboard, and I might replace the Blood Moons with more of these guys, he turns off Tron is good vs Scapeshift and keep opponents down from casting sweepers, or any spell in general. So basically he's good against any deck, and really good against some decks. The fact that he's a Shaman and an Elemental is huge.
I just found this card Pendelhaven Elder which could potentially be a sideboard option vs. red sweepers, but I think playing around them might just be better. Fulminator Mage is probably just better at protecting from Anger or Damnation. Although this guy might be a 1-of for the SD. Shaman of the Great Hunt - it's seems great, but it's expensive and is more likely to win the game the turn after it enters the battlefield which is too slow in my books. This might be a sideboard for some grindier matchup. Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker - not impossible to cast, it is a shaman, cute with Rageforger, definitely a win morecard though Sapling of Colfenor - for a grindy matchup against decks not running Path Sylvok Replica - another Reclamation Sage that we don't have to hold in our hand or fetched for the right moment. Nullmage Shepherd - this guys might be great as a sideboard card vs Affinity and maybe some OP Artifact deck that emerges from Kaladesh
So I kind of ask myself, if I'm thinking of running one-of Shamans for the Sideboard, why can't I just look outside the Shaman creatures type for a creature that is just better at doing what I'm trying to do. I've though of Selfless Spirit as an answer to sweepers. We have mana fixers and Chord to play it.
If I have a Tunnel Ignus on the battlefield and my opponent casts Scapeshift after playing a land for the turn, fetching Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and a bunch of mountains, do the triggers from Tunnel Ignus resolve before the triggers from Valakut, in turn killing my opponent? I assume so due to APNAP, I just wanted to make sure.
Also, and trickier, if my opponent has NOT played a land for the turn, but casts Scapeshift, fetching Valakut and mountains, does my Tunnel Ignus trigger at all???
If only we had that 2/4 Flying Lifelink with a useful ability!!!!!
The reason I don't like Prison, it doesn't help vs decks that are fine swinging with 1 or two creatures for the win. Like any deck running True-Name. Holy Light kills a lot of stuff, including True-Name, and can be used as a combat trick to kill more stuff. And Ratchet Bomb is also is more flexible. So while Prison may look like it is more flexible, I think it is actually less effective than the other two. Also Crovax, Ascendant Hero is interesting but probably too expensive. The fact that it's basically impossible to get rid of and can be powered into play with Cavern is very appealing though.
Current List: I'm happy with the way this has been performing. I like my sideboard a lot right now.
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Flagstones of Trokair
2 Karakas
3 Plains
4 Ancient Tomb
4 City of Traitors
Artifacts:
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox
Enchantments:
4 Suppression Field
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Daru Warchief
4 Fairgrounds Warden
2 Recruiter of the Guard
2 Gustcloak Savior
1 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Rest in Peace
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Containment Priest
2 Sanctum Prelate
1 Leonin Relic-Warder
1 Aegis of the Gods
2 Crackdown
2 Dawnbringer Charioteers
1 Crovax, Ascendant Hero
As much as I don't like Dawnbringer Charioteers, I feel like it would be nice to have lifeline in certain matchups. Also it survives bolt, and can block Delver and Mongoose without dying. Still dies to Dismember.
So I've found Hokori, Dust Drinker to be a great card, and right now I'm not sure how many I want in the deck. For all those people that want to run Winter Orb, this is the card for you. I have 1 mainboard that can be fetched with Recruiter, and I think I might try to fit 1 or 2 more in the sideboard. Get ahead on board, and then throw this guy down. It's insane if you already have a Captain out. It's nice that we have Chrome Mox to untap.
EDIT: And I didn't realize in my previous post that Hero of Bladehold is not a Soldier, so I'm not sure I would include it in a soldier deck.
I think the Hate-Bear Stompy deck might just be better, even though it's weaker to early counter spells with no Cavern of Souls. It has so much hate, decks just can't deal it. I will keep testing both.
I'm glad you posted those deck lists from online.
It should be noted that a bunch of the ones that did well were running Hero of Bladehold and Aven Mindcensor.
Soldier Deck: http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=8487&d=248704&f=LE
Hate-bear Stompy: http://www.mtgstocks.com/decks/20990
This non-soldier more hate-bear themed deck seemed great to me, so I edited it and included newer cards as this deck was constructed before Sanctum Prelate and Thalia 2.0 existed. This deck is actually very good! I made a new thread about it. Aven Mindcensor and Leonin Arbiter are extremely powerful cards and stack with the other Tax effects.
Here's my thread: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/legacy-type-1-5/developing-legacy/757559-hate-bear-stompy
P.S. in my last post I forgot to mention Gustcloack Savior which I think is the best flyer; it's a big body that combos well with P-Cap and makes combat so much more advantageous.
2 Flagstones of Trokair
2 Karakas
8 Plains
3 Ancient Tomb
4 City of Traitors
Artifacts: 9
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox
Enchantments: 4
4 Suppression Field
2 Baneslayer Angel
3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Mirran Crusader
4 Sanctum Prelate
4 Vryn Wingmare
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Aven Mindcensor
4 Leonin Arbiter
3 Rest in Peace
3 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Aegis of the Gods
2 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Fairgrounds Warden
1 Leonin Relic-Warder
1 Containment Priest
This deck is nasty, and I've been putting up good results against Tier 1 decks. So much hate for every tier 1 deck, and any deck that exists. Many times the opponent scoops after the first 2-3 creatures.
It could also be called Hate.dec.dec
You have said Suppression Field is bad unless on turn 1. I disagree, most decks in Legacy use activated abilities, and Suppression Field heavily slows most decks, especially any deck running fetchlands. On turn 3 or 4, dropping a Suppression Field can still nix a Sensei's Devining Top, mess with Planeswalkers, and prevent them from playing Fetching. It's great vs sooo many cards!
Just in case you forgot, here are some cards it hoses from he best decks in the format:
Lands: Rishadan Port, Wasteland, Maze of Ith, Thespian Stage, Fetchlands
D&T: Aether Vial, Stoneforge Mystic, All Equipment, Mother of Runes, Karakas
Miracles: Fetchlands, Sensei's Devining Top, Jace, the Money Snatcher
Tax effects are better when stacked, and since we have two Thalias. That card has performed so well for me, especially in conjunction with the Thalias.
I haven't played the deck with the new Fairgrounds Warden, but I think that card is better than Palace Jailer because it is much safer to play, plus easier to cast and costs less. Honestly, I think this deck could get away with running 4 Thought-Knot Seer as the only non-soldier, but I could be wrong.
I will test your list and see if I can replace anything, it's looks basically the same as what I would play, but from my testing, Winter Orb is not made for this deck. We can't play it early because then we can't cast anything. I'd definitely play Suppression Field over Winter Orb.
The other card I will probably replace is Captain of the Watch because it's just too expensive and a win-more card. I'll probably replace it with a couple more Daru Warchief's. Hero of Bladehold is probably better than CotW as well. Unfortunately, it's not great with Preeminent Captain, because you don't get the tokens or the battle cry trigger when you sneak it into play with Captain. But it's an extremely powerful card nonetheless.
Also, since Flyers have been mentioned as having their benefits, the new Soldier Aerial Responder seems better than any of the flyers I've seen mentioned except Commander Eesha perhaps.
Notice how I said this is AN EXAMPLE of how the deck works? If not, you'd benefit from impoving your reading comprehension skills. It has many good openers actually. The only problem with this deck is that it is weak to sweepers, like any aggro deck.
@Timba You're probably playing the deck like a noob, even though this deck isn't hard to play. Also, you play tested against non-competitive decks. Evenstill, this deck should do good against most Tier 2/3 decks, as long as they are not main boarding Anger of the Gods. Based on your comments this far, you're probably just bad at magic, but here are some tips if you're really interested in winning with this deck.. Basically you always want to use SSG as soon as you can cast something with it, except maybe if it's turn 1 and all you can cast is Flameking but you need to draw lands, and you don't have a Rageforger in hand. This is the one case in which you don't use it as soon as you can. You want to use your cantrips immediately as well. Usually you don't want to turn sideways, if you can Chord off of your creatures for a flamekin. Better to grow your board for an Alpha strike.
The damage done to yourself is negligible vs most decks, except Burn. Combo decks like Scapeshift, Reanimator and Through the Breach decks with kill you at 20 or 7 life it doesn't matter. Aggro decks you think might be an issue (like Bant Eldrazi and Affinity), but they aren't as much of an issue as you think, because this deck is faster and pumps out so many creatures so we have blockers, and deter them from turning sideways with all creatures because we threaten lethal on the backswing. I've been looking for Sideboard cards for straight Burn decks, and I'm looking at Disciple of Griselbrand or Jaddi Lifestrider. I think Lifestrider is ambitious to cast in time, whereas I can Chord or cast Disciple quickly. I think this card could be lethal vs burn especially, or any other matchup in which I could use some life gain, and sacrificing a few creatures won't be an issue for us. If they focus on killing creatures instead of me, I'm less worried, because we draw a lot of creatures. Burn deck don't side in Sweepers luckily. This matchup doesn't seem great, but not unwinnable. I haven't played it yet.
@Dennis, Aether Vial is not good in my version at all, it's not fantastic even on turn 1, and it's a horrible draw. Also, Essence warden is only good on turn 1 in the matchups she would be used for, granted she doesn't get killed, which is unlikely. Another bad draw.
I'm winning a tremendous amount with this deck. The only decks that are REAL issues are decks mainboarding Anger of the Gods, which are not common at all, also when the Cockatrice shuffler gives me 20 spells in a row, then I lose.
I've taken out the Dryad Arbor for a maindeck Fulminator Mage, and I'm running 3 cavern instead of 4
Current Sideboard:
The spirit is good vs Anger and Proclasm, I can chord or cast him off of Cavern. The one card in here that I question, is the Mindsparker, I can't think of any matchups where I REALLY want to include him over a Fulminator. It seems great, but it weak to removal. All the other cards are very good at serving their purpose reliably.
I've played this deck a lot on Cockatrice, and I'm confident enough to purchasing it and sleeving it up for an FMN and maybe bring it to a bigger tourney. Most of the deck is just bot a hundred bucks minus the Fulminator's the lands and the Blood Moon.
A few more cards for consideration:
Gaddock Teeg - shuts down Damnation, Supreme Verdict and Wrath of God and Scapeshift, unfortunately white mana, but we can Chord it. Might be better than Selfless Spirit because it can shut down Scapeshift as well, but I doubt it.
Kataki, War's Wage - since affinity is seems to be very popular and does well, this guy is an option
Spellskite - vs Infect, I do think this one is necessary for the SD to just give us a big edge in that matchup. I doubt I would want to side this in vs Jund, or any other Red/x midrange/control decks, but it might be good
Melira, Sylvok Outcast - against infect, probably better vs infect since they run Twisted image and other Spellskite removal
Toughest matchup by far is the R/U/W control deck that did well in a big tourney recently. It main decks Anger and has tons of spot removal.
Best cards against us, ranked:
1. Anger of the Gods, Engineered Explosives
2. Pyroclasm, and any Wrath
I'm not sure you realized how dangerous this card is your yourself. So much so that I don't think it's playable.
All my deck really needs is maybe 1 turn to get some ramp and power out creatures, and SSG does just that. I take many 1 land hands that have Simian Spirit guide and a couple cantrips with maybe a Visionary, because I'm confident I will draw into lands or another SSG, or a Beastcaller or a Bosk Banneret. The odds are in my favor. With Bosk Banneret Beastcaller becomes a one drop mana dork with haste! That's better than any dork out there.
Here's is an example of how the deck works.
Turn 1: play land and pitch SSG and maybe a cantrip or two, play Emmissary, into Beastcaller into Flamekin put Rageforger on top
Turn 2: Draw the Rageforger, play another land tap 2 lands and Beastcaller and play Rageforger, swing for 7
Turn 3: either drop a rage forger in hand and basically win on the spot, or if you don't have it, hit with 1 or 2 guys, drop 1 or 2 guys and Chord for 1 at the end of opponents turn putting a Flamekin in play and Rageforger on top
Turn 4: Draw and cast Rageforger and swing for a million
The issue here is decks that run sweepers, but I'd say Anger of the Gods is even better against us the Pyroclasm or Damnation. Bosk Banneret already survives a pyrcoclasm, and if I drop a Rage Forger the Emissaries can live too. On the play it's much less scary facing these cards, because I can buff up my creatures to survive them. But it's much easier to drop two Rageforgers and get all my 1/1's to 3/3's than it is to get them to 4/4's, which is why Anger is more dangerous. Of course if my guys are 3/3's that means my opponent is one attack step from being dead most likely, but they might cast Anger before I get to attack. I can find a Fulminator Mage to keep them off black mana or a 4th land to prevent them from casting Damnation, already an expensive card. I think this strat is the best chance of beating Anger of the Gods.
Also, Engineered Explosives for 2 is basically a board wipe most of the time. This deck is fast enough that they shouldn't have enough mana to play it and crack it in the same turn, so siding in an Ingot Chewer vs decks siding EE is probably wise.
Spot removal from Jund and Junk decks is not great unless cast before we can chain bunch of creatures into play. Bolting a Bosk on turn 1 can slow the deck down quite a bit.
Dryad Arbor might be the odd man out, and I'm not sure it's worth it, although it is really nice to fetch for it with Chord when I want some more mana on the next turn. It also serves a purpose as a blocker against fast aggro decks, or a creature to sac vs Liliana. Removing it frees up some mainboard tech.
More Sideboard options and other interesting cards:
Loaming Shaman - right now the deck has no graveyard hate, we can chord into this guy fairly easily and he's not too hard to cast
Scavenging Ooze - great card that synergies with Rageforger and can make himself fat while disrupting GV shenanigans
Fulminator Mage - I've moved one to the mainboard, and I might replace the Blood Moons with more of these guys, he turns off Tron is good vs Scapeshift and keep opponents down from casting sweepers, or any spell in general. So basically he's good against any deck, and really good against some decks. The fact that he's a Shaman and an Elemental is huge.
I just found this card Pendelhaven Elder which could potentially be a sideboard option vs. red sweepers, but I think playing around them might just be better. Fulminator Mage is probably just better at protecting from Anger or Damnation. Although this guy might be a 1-of for the SD.
Shaman of the Great Hunt - it's seems great, but it's expensive and is more likely to win the game the turn after it enters the battlefield which is too slow in my books. This might be a sideboard for some grindier matchup.
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker - not impossible to cast, it is a shaman, cute with Rageforger, definitely a win morecard though
Sapling of Colfenor - for a grindy matchup against decks not running Path
Sylvok Replica - another Reclamation Sage that we don't have to hold in our hand or fetched for the right moment.
Nullmage Shepherd - this guys might be great as a sideboard card vs Affinity and maybe some OP Artifact deck that emerges from Kaladesh
So I kind of ask myself, if I'm thinking of running one-of Shamans for the Sideboard, why can't I just look outside the Shaman creatures type for a creature that is just better at doing what I'm trying to do. I've though of Selfless Spirit as an answer to sweepers. We have mana fixers and Chord to play it.
If I have a Tunnel Ignus on the battlefield and my opponent casts Scapeshift after playing a land for the turn, fetching Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and a bunch of mountains, do the triggers from Tunnel Ignus resolve before the triggers from Valakut, in turn killing my opponent? I assume so due to APNAP, I just wanted to make sure.
Also, and trickier, if my opponent has NOT played a land for the turn, but casts Scapeshift, fetching Valakut and mountains, does my Tunnel Ignus trigger at all???