MTG Salvation

That is the problem with Rock decks: running value creatures and hand and board interaction means that as the game starts to stall, you are left vulnerable to really good trump plays from the top deck.

I tried different splashes and keep coming back to Sultai. Scarab God is just too good to not run one or more and hostage taker is still good against so many decks. Lost Legacy helps the top deck problem and, combined with Duress, can be back breaking to combo decks.

Walking Ballista, while undoubtedly good, seems to be underwhelming for me. One or more is called for, but I don't know if I would run 4. I think I have better plays early to midgame.

Bristling Hydra is still good. While it gets outclassed, it is still a good come from behind card that should be looking at in some number.

Has anyone played versus Grixis lists? I played two last night and lost badly both times. Admittedly, I kept a poor hand in one of the games. One list ran whirler and the other was a control build.

While I wasn't mana screwed and the colors worked out, I was forced in one game to rely heavily on aether hub. I don't think that attune would have made a difference in that matchup, however. Hostage Taker was difficult to manage given their removal suite.

Those of you running Siphoner without more energy: how do you manage to power the card draw?

I feel like we lack early game interaction. Most of the listed builds for straight GB are basically gloried stompy lists and a Sultai build has interaction, but lacks the staying mana power to really do anything with it.

While attune was awesome and Rogue Refiner was great, I don't think that we need to be straight GB. Given the value cards in standard, Scarab God and Glorybringer really stand out to me along with Chandra. The problem is that Jund just doesn't have a great mana base. Just messing around with the mana base for Sultai, I think that it is still pretty stable even without attune. Servant of the Conduit is just more important if you go Sultai, and it generates energy for other cards pretty well. I might cut Cubs completely for Ballistas, but I really question any decklist that has any energy not running Hydras. Even a one time use of its energy to get hex proof can be enough to out tempo your opponent. And the threat it displays is huge.

Jadelight Ranger, absent energy, might even be better than Rogue Refiner. Filtering out two lands is not trivial and the potential 3/2 or 4/3 body is as good as Refiner ever was.

If one does go straight GB and drops most of the energy cards, then you can't run Siphoner. There is also that to consider.

Why aren't the nissa from kaladesh or amonkhet played in this deck?

I guess I am not getting rid of my bridges then.

Thanks for the update. I was wondering these about bridge.

If you really want to punish a deck like 8 rack, play into it. Run some delve creatures in your side board and things that recur from the graveyard. Life gain effects will prolong the game.

I have been running Liliana, The Last Hope as a 2-3 of in my 75 for resilience against removal. It can activate delve, remove, and helps against the control match ups because they don't expect it. When you land it, they have a hard time removing it.

Separate topic,
Can someone give some evidence about our extant Tier 1 match-ups? I am afraid I don't have much. I noticed they have Jund as Tier 2. Obviously Tron is still bad, but can anyone give more insight into Eldrazi or DS Aggro? I have played some Eldrazi and it seemed close to 50-50 pre and post board got worse (possibly because my board was not well adjusted to Eldrazi), but I don't think my perception is that accurate.

My burn deck runs 2 Ensnaring Bridges in the side. Beware.

If you play tightly with the deck and keep your goal to preserve your life total, I can't think of a standard build that will lose to burn on average Game 1. Just weather the storm and if you have tokens on the battlefield and they have one or two cards in hand, you will probably win.

I second that about bridge. I have thought about running it, between our mulligan strategy and massive throughput of cards we can find ourselves with no cards in hand quickly. The only issue i can forsee is hate cards.

I would never cut a procession for a timely. Timely is just not reliable enough. I have been in burn matches where my opponent had more creatures and less life than me or where I had more creatures and life than them.

The thing you have to realize about life gain versus a deck like burn is that it doesn't do anything if they can still out clock it. Timely gives you 6 life, which is essentially two cards in a burn deck. In the late burn game plan, that is two draws or two turns. If you can't close out the game in those two turns, then you didn't buy anything. That is why cards like Sorin, Auriok Champion, and Vault of the Archangel are so good in tokens versus burn and other decks: they are sources of incremental and long term life gain. Burrenton Forge Tender and Auriok Champion also do blocking duty and negate the creature suite for burn.

I echo the sentiment re: pyromancer. Good gameplay makes it a very powerful card.

2-3 Lili main and either increase the counts of Gideon or Sorin main IMO over the other options.

I am speculating, but I bet Colonnade gets reprinted in MM3. I'm betting Nahiri comes down in price too but later. If you don't want to wait as long maybe start with Nahiri and see what gets spoiled. I also lack the Nahiri package and Emrakul.

It isn't necessarily a bad top deck and can in fact be good. If the game is stalled out and I draw into one, play it, and my opponent has no removal then I am up a threat. Next turn, there is a fair chance that I can chain some card draw effects to get more value out of him.

Besides, it gives an optional way of winning the game. We rely on Delver or Delve creatures often, this lets us go wide. That can be tough to deal with.

Personally, I run as many Shrines and BW lands as I can. I don't like 4 or even 3 concealed courtyard because they kept ETB tapped late game when I needed 4 mana. 2 seems good and it synergies better than Isolated Chapel.

On a side note, while we all reference and read articles by the pros, I think it is also important to realize that with the exception of a few, most of the pros focus on standard and (by their own admission) their knowledge of modern and legacy and other formats is more limited. This isn't to say that they don't know anything or shouldn't be listened to, but rather that there are regular contributors to modern forums whose opinions I take rather seriously because I know they grind modern a lot. Several regular contributors here, for example, I may not agree with, but I also listen to their opinions and respect their judgement. I think that they have a lot of good insights and a lot of experiencing grinding BW tokens (certainly more than I do). IMO they are the experts on the archetype, even more so than some of the pros who picked up the deck for a weekend. I mean, I Craig Wescoe and Melissa De Tora, but I don't always agree with them and where they take the deck. I use the ideas I read about in my own brews to see if the deck gets better. I have my own preferences, and sometimes I don't like the tweak or the card interactions and abandon it.

My point is that there are plenty of experts on MTG Salvation. They aren't all pros.