I've been playing around with decklists the last couple days, and this is the first iteration of my transformational Abzan list I'm going to be testing over the next week or so:
My first iteration had 3 Souls, 4 Smiters, 4 Rhinos, 1 Path, and 23 land with 1 Township and 2 Treetops, but after some testing I found that the colour requirements were too intensive, and the deck felt a bit light on lands.
I ended up cutting 1 Smiter and 1 Rhino to ease the colour requirements a little, adding a Tasigur and a 2nd Township. Cutting the Smiter and Rhino make the mana easier, and Tasigur adds a bit of card advantage that was lacking with 0 Bob. Cutting the Path for 5th discard spell helps Tasigur delve, and adds some additional disruption / protection for the already hard to remove threats in the deck while aiding delve. I feel that 0 Path is correct with few good targets, and referencing pre-unbanning lists seems to validate that decision.
For the sideboard I tried to pick the most versatile cards I could which I feel is important when only 7 slots are not committed to the transformational sideboard. The other non-gifts slots are targeting the matchups I felt were the weakest, Choke for blue control and Damnation for Humans / Company / Eldrazi Aggro. I think Collected Brutality, Stony Silence, and Engineered Explosives can be brought in against a lot of decks which seems like a good place to be with a limited number of flex slots in the SB.
My current concerns are:
Choke may be too narrow, or not good enough against blue control if non-Island lands are common enough. Some other source of card advantage or threat might be better? Considerations are a Liliana, The Last Hope, Thrun, the Last Troll, 2nd Tasigur, the Golden Fang or another discard spell instead?
Post-board Gifts Ungiven into reanimated Terastodon may not be fast enough to deal with Tron lands.
I've been playing Jund since the unbanning, but this list looks like it'd be a really tough matchup. Smiters and Rhinos line up well against removal, and as always Lingering Souls is very powerful and along with Smiter line up well against Liliana of the Veil. Hierarchs enable some pretty powerful plays, T2 Smiter or Souls, T3 Rhino, and being able to push through opposing Goyfs with exalted.
Seeing the hierarchs reminded me of this Abzan list I ran into day 2 of GP Van 2015, probably one of the heights of Jund's popularity prior to the unbanning, when Abzan was rising as the trump to Jund.
Obviously a lot of this deck is very out of place in the current meta, but I think the climate of Jund popularity is similar, and ideas can be taken from it. It's gotten me seriously thinking about trying to find a middle ground between the two lists, incorporating the transformational Gifts sideboard package.
The cost of the package as a whole is pretty low, mainboard you only need 1 Watery Grave to supplement the blue from Hierarchs. Sideboard you commit ~8 slots to the package, to add a completely unfair (and hopefully surprise) gameplan to the deck.
Iona seems like she ends the game against burn / combo, potentially blue decks (although Jace bounce hurts), and even Jund when naming black. Elesh Norn similarly seems like game over for any small creature deck. Terastodon for Tron / land decks.
I'm going to start roughing out a starting point for a list, but wanted to get some initial feedback on my thinking early on. Do you think there's potential in the transformational gifts package? If yes, are there other/better gifts targets to consider? I'm really interested to hear some thoughts.
Shaun Maclaren running 3 bolts and 1 Lavamancer in MD yesterday.
Where can I find this list? I'm very interested in the possibility of trading one Bolt for Grim Lavamancer. I played him in my MB a few years ago and he was awesome. I'd like to see what the rest of Shaun's list looked like.
Willy Edel just 4-0'd a daily with a straight GB list playing a 3/3/3 split of Fulminator Mages, Courser of Kruphix and Dark Confidants. Is there any merit to this list over the white splash?
You lose a lot of great sideboard cards, and don't get Siege Rhino. I imagine the pros are that you have a better game one versus Tron with so many Fulminator Mages main, your UWr matchup might not lose many percentage points with Bobs, Coursers and Fulminators, but I imagine your aggro matchups get significantly worse. I don't see how this list is going to win many game ones vs Zoo. Better mana is a plus as well.
The sideboard is interesting as well. Not sure exactly what the Leyline of the Void are for. I'm guessing potential Dredge shenanigans. Harmonize is also sweet.
Definitely something to think about. Maybe it's the Willy Edel factor that makes this deck good, but it seems like something to consider.
Gerry Thompson posted a list in his SCG article on premium today running one Ajani Steadfast as the only non-Liliana planeswalker. Is he on to something?
I've been running a Garruk Wildspeaker, which has been really good for me, essentially only costing 2 mana a lot of the time, and "ulting" the turn after he comes down. However Ajani seems like it could help against our bad game 1 aggro matchups. Gaining 5 off a Rhino or a Goyf is pretty enticing, and putting counters on Lingering Souls tokens would likely be game ending. He's really bad on an empty board though, and makes removal better by targeting a specific creature.
1 Abrupt Decay
3 Fatal Push
Sorceries (11)
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
4 Lingering Souls
2 Maelstrom Pulse
Planeswalkers (4)
4 Liliana of the Veil
Creatures (17)
4 Noble Hierarch
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Loxodon Smiter
3 Siege Rhino
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Land (24)
1 Forest
1 Plains
2 Swamp
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Godless Shrine
1 Temple Garden
1 Watery Grave
1 Polluted Delta
4 Marsh Flats
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Blooming Marsh
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Treetop Village
1 Twilight Mire
2 Gavony Township
1 Choke
2 Collective Brutality
1 Damnation
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Stony Silence
4 Gifts Ungiven
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Terastodon
1 Unburial Rites
My first iteration had 3 Souls, 4 Smiters, 4 Rhinos, 1 Path, and 23 land with 1 Township and 2 Treetops, but after some testing I found that the colour requirements were too intensive, and the deck felt a bit light on lands.
I ended up cutting 1 Smiter and 1 Rhino to ease the colour requirements a little, adding a Tasigur and a 2nd Township. Cutting the Smiter and Rhino make the mana easier, and Tasigur adds a bit of card advantage that was lacking with 0 Bob. Cutting the Path for 5th discard spell helps Tasigur delve, and adds some additional disruption / protection for the already hard to remove threats in the deck while aiding delve. I feel that 0 Path is correct with few good targets, and referencing pre-unbanning lists seems to validate that decision.
For the sideboard I tried to pick the most versatile cards I could which I feel is important when only 7 slots are not committed to the transformational sideboard. The other non-gifts slots are targeting the matchups I felt were the weakest, Choke for blue control and Damnation for Humans / Company / Eldrazi Aggro. I think Collected Brutality, Stony Silence, and Engineered Explosives can be brought in against a lot of decks which seems like a good place to be with a limited number of flex slots in the SB.
My current concerns are:
4 Liliana of the Veil
Creature (19)
1 Dark Confidant
4 Loxodon Smiter
4 Noble Hierarch
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Siege Rhino
4 Tarmogoyf
Sorcery (9)
3 Lingering Souls
2 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Thoughtseize
Instant (6)
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Dismember
3 Fatal Push
4 Blooming Marsh
1 Forest
1 Godless Shrine
1 Marsh Flats
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Plains
1 Stirring Wildwood
2 Swamp
1 Temple Garden
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
1 Choke
2 Collective Brutality
4 Fulminator Mage
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Golgari Charm
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Path to Exile
2 Stony Silence
I've been playing Jund since the unbanning, but this list looks like it'd be a really tough matchup. Smiters and Rhinos line up well against removal, and as always Lingering Souls is very powerful and along with Smiter line up well against Liliana of the Veil. Hierarchs enable some pretty powerful plays, T2 Smiter or Souls, T3 Rhino, and being able to push through opposing Goyfs with exalted.
Seeing the hierarchs reminded me of this Abzan list I ran into day 2 of GP Van 2015, probably one of the heights of Jund's popularity prior to the unbanning, when Abzan was rising as the trump to Jund.
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Siege Rhino
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Planeswalkers (4)
4 Liliana of the Veil
Lands (24)
1 Forest
1 Plains
2 Swamp
2 Gavony Township
1 Godless Shrine
4 Marsh Flats
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Polluted Delta
1 Temple Garden
2 Treetop Village
2 Twilight Mire
4 Verdant Catacombs
1 Watery Grave
1 Batterskull
3 Abrupt Decay
4 Path to Exile
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Lingering Souls
3 Thoughtseize
1 Batterskull
3 Aven Mindcensor
1 Terastodon
2 Stony Silence
4 Gifts Ungiven
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Unburial Rites
Obviously a lot of this deck is very out of place in the current meta, but I think the climate of Jund popularity is similar, and ideas can be taken from it. It's gotten me seriously thinking about trying to find a middle ground between the two lists, incorporating the transformational Gifts sideboard package.
The cost of the package as a whole is pretty low, mainboard you only need 1 Watery Grave to supplement the blue from Hierarchs. Sideboard you commit ~8 slots to the package, to add a completely unfair (and hopefully surprise) gameplan to the deck.
Iona seems like she ends the game against burn / combo, potentially blue decks (although Jace bounce hurts), and even Jund when naming black. Elesh Norn similarly seems like game over for any small creature deck. Terastodon for Tron / land decks.
I'm going to start roughing out a starting point for a list, but wanted to get some initial feedback on my thinking early on. Do you think there's potential in the transformational gifts package? If yes, are there other/better gifts targets to consider? I'm really interested to hear some thoughts.
Shaun's list is on his twitter here: https://twitter.com/ShaunMcLaren/status/970462809396883456
From his 30 Days of Streaming marathon, for anyone wanting more Jund video content, there's VODs of his streams on his Twitch too.
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Scavenging Ooze
3 Fulminator Mage
3 Dark Confidant
3 Courser of Kruphix
Spells (19)
4 Liliana of the Veil
4 Abrupt Decay
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
2 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Dismember
1 Duress
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Tectonic Edge
3 Treetop Village
3 Swamp
2 Forest
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Woodland Cemetery
2 Marsh Flats
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Windswept Heath
1 Twilight Mire
3 Obstinate Baloth
3 Leyline of the Void
2 Damnation
1 Drown in Sorrow
1 Duress
1 Creeping Corrosion
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Harmonize
1 Fulminator Mage
1 Dark Confidant
Decklist here
Willy Edel just 4-0'd a daily with a straight GB list playing a 3/3/3 split of Fulminator Mages, Courser of Kruphix and Dark Confidants. Is there any merit to this list over the white splash?
You lose a lot of great sideboard cards, and don't get Siege Rhino. I imagine the pros are that you have a better game one versus Tron with so many Fulminator Mages main, your UWr matchup might not lose many percentage points with Bobs, Coursers and Fulminators, but I imagine your aggro matchups get significantly worse. I don't see how this list is going to win many game ones vs Zoo. Better mana is a plus as well.
The sideboard is interesting as well. Not sure exactly what the Leyline of the Void are for. I'm guessing potential Dredge shenanigans. Harmonize is also sweet.
Definitely something to think about. Maybe it's the Willy Edel factor that makes this deck good, but it seems like something to consider.
I've been running a Garruk Wildspeaker, which has been really good for me, essentially only costing 2 mana a lot of the time, and "ulting" the turn after he comes down. However Ajani seems like it could help against our bad game 1 aggro matchups. Gaining 5 off a Rhino or a Goyf is pretty enticing, and putting counters on Lingering Souls tokens would likely be game ending. He's really bad on an empty board though, and makes removal better by targeting a specific creature.