Question about using Dark Confidant in WB versions. For those playing Bob, I am looking to understand your experiences playing the card because it seems such a high risk to reward and therefore almost counter-intuitive for the deck, given that we have so many 3- and 4-drop cards and not much to compensate with lifegain. How often has Bob killed you in games? Do you find you side him out in a lot of match-ups? How has he won you games? Thus far, I have only played about a dozen or so matches. I have seen Bob (I have been playing 2 in the deck) in just a few games, and usually late, and he has been almost instantly removed. The one time he wasn't removed I effectively bolted myself with a 3-drop draw next turn and then got hit for 4 more with TKS....
I beat Eldrazi & Taxes, Merfolk, and Burn. Lost to BW Tokens and UR Gifts Storm. Overall still loving the deck. I only felt a little lost against the go wide tokens plan. Never drew Flaying Tendrils or Wrath of God. I am going to tinker again with lands, removing the Wastes though I did luckily remove a Blood Moon in Game 1 of the Burn match. May replace with either a Vault of the Archangel or another Mutavault. Sticking with Sideboard for now (though on the fence about swapping out one Blessed Alliance for another Collective Brutality and happy with the Main. Into another league this week.
I know this is the BW Eldrazi Processor thread.. but have any of you tried Mono Black Eldrazi Processor yet? With Ifnir Deadlands it really got me thinking and so I put together this list that I plan on playing at FNM tonight. Any suggestions or criticism is welcome!
...
I am certainly no expert on the deck, but I can tell you that I played for a while a deck that had no Tidehollow Sculler and replaced with Matter Reshaper as you have for the creature set. It was fine. I think there are two weaknesses by giving up white: 1) you lose Lingering Souls which has been a consistent performer for me, either to provide lots of blockers, or to win through the air. I would be tempted to say add Smuggler's Copter but you really have no good creatures to tap for it. I did see a list recently that placed top 8 somewhere that used Bitterblossom. 2) you lose white artifact hate in Stony Silence which has also been an important part of my deck. Not sure what to do there....
Otherwise, I think you have right mix of hand disruption and removal, but I would favor more of Inquisition over Thoughtseize since you don't have good ways to gain life otherwise.
MATCHES
M1 LOSS (1-2) vs Bogles. Game 1, couldn't overcome a Daybreak Coronet. Game2 I landed Ratchet Bomb and kept on 1. Opponent thought Spider Umbra would save his creature when I sac'd the Bomb. He was wrong and lost. Game3 I was ale to Disenchant two Coronets, but never saw my Surgical Extraction and lost when he landed his 3rd on his guy.
6/15/2010 If a spell or ability (such as Planar Cleansing) would destroy both an Aura with totem armor and the permanent it’s enchanting at the same time, totem armor’s effect will save the enchanted permanent from being destroyed. Instead, the spell or ability will destroy the Aura in two different ways at the same time, but the result is the same as destroying it once.
Sorry my bad, I went back reviewed the game. I set off the Bomb after attackers declared. Umbra did its thing and theGladecover Scout survived, but I then killed it with a blocker..... Nevertheless, the Bomb did its job on all the auras.
I like the feel of the MB and though the lands gave me colors/colorless when I needed, still not sure about the lands. Like the mutavaults, but thinking of putting Ghost Quarter back in and/or Vault of the Archangel. Maybe will cut one Shambling Vent.
MATCHES
M1 LOSS (1-2) vs Bogles. Game 1, couldn't overcome a Daybreak Coronet. Game2 I landed Ratchet Bomb and kept on 1. Opponent thought Spider Umbra would save his creature when I sac'd the Bomb. He was wrong and lost. Game3 I was ale to Disenchant two Coronets, but never saw my Surgical Extraction and lost when he landed his 3rd on his guy.
M2 WIN (2-0) vs. Affinity. Match is favorable and wen that way. Game1 established enough board presence to force him to sac a bunch of artifacts just to trade an Arcbound Ravagerwith a Reality Smasher. I then dropeed another and beat for win. Game 2 I landed Stony Silence on Turn 2 and then raced him for win.
M3 WIN (2-0) vs Dredge. Game1 had solid curve a got a Loam from my Tidehollow Sculler. Kept him off lands. I let him beat with his 2Bloodghast and I raced with my guys and won. Game2 I landed a T1 Relic of Progenitus and exiled his lands and Conflagrate. Cracked the relic with a couple Narcomoeba on stack, Surgical'd his Darkblast. With no dredgers in graveyard, it was easy beat for win.
M4 LOSS (0-2) vs Dredge. Game1, he did his ting and my hand was too slow. Game2 I landed a T2 Rest in Peace, but then saw 12 (!) lands in a row, including by cracking a couple relics. I had only 1 creature (Strangler) which died early to blocking duty. I lost to a single Bloodghast beat plus Conflagrate at end.
M5 WIN (2-0) vs. 5Color Death Shadow. Game 1, he landed a T1 Goblin Guide, which did its thing both in giving me cards and not doing a lot of damage, while I proceeded to strip his hand with disruption. Eventually Path'd his Guide (he had no basic lands, which was great! And got in with big guys for the win. Game 2 he got me to 4 before I was able to stabilize. Two Wasteland Strangler took care of a Monastery Swiftspear and DS. Path'd rest and beats for win.
As for Sideboard, it is still a work in progress. Like the idea of the Knight of Glory but perhaps will replace the 2 for either 2 Mirran Crusader (I know the issue of double white mana) or another Collective Brutality and either Blessed Alliance, Flaying Tendrils or Cast Out. I only play MTGO so want to keep open options. Seem to struggle a lot with planeswalkers, so Cat out may be a good option. Comments or suggestions welcome, also from those who play creatures or planeswalkers in sideboard as to how they help in our tougher matches.
Thanks Jim, at the moment, I am switching my sideboard almost every league as I want to try out what is best. I've just scored my second 5-0 league a few hours ago with the following sideboard:
Thanks for the write-up and glad to see the results. I am still getting used to playing midrange after a very long spell playing aggro decks. Some reflections.... I used Fragmentize but ultimately shifted over to Disenchant because I was seeing a lot of Chalice of the Void and wanted to keep out of the 1-drop slot while also gaining instant speed. Not seeing Chalice so much anymore, but not sure if the mana trade-off is worth it. I tried Gideon, Sorin, Kalitas and ultimately abandoned for reasons set out earlier. But Sorin was the best of them for me. Seemed more controlish which ultimately was where I didn't want to be. Otherwise I agree with all your other choices, though I have been trying out Worship. Still more testing to see if its worth it. Finally, toying with idea of Auriok Champion in pace of Knight of Glory as get benefit against red decks too and some lifegain.
Thanks for the write ups Reymon27 and congrats on the consistent results. Could you give some ideas about your sideboarding? I am also interested about how you feel using Gideon. I tried him before and felt he was best against fair decks which are already favorable matches for us. What matchups do you bring Kalitas in for?
MTGO League Result 2-3 Not greatest results. Lost to Affinity twice (never saw sideboard cards, but lost in 3 games each match); Lost to Burn in 3 games, and beat Burn (2-0) and GW Elves (2-0). Deck as above.
Thank you for the tournament report! I'm hearing more and more people who split between Tidehollow and Matter Reshaper. Maybe I'm also going to give that a try. The only thing that, without having played it, I like less about it is that I lose potential turn 2 plays with this change.
Thoughts on this?
I do feel our curve isn't as sweet when not playing 4 Scullers, but after playing a league with no scullers, I really overall wasn't missing. We have plenty of hand disruption, removal or relics to keep us busy on first 2 turns. I am cheating by playing 2, so far ok. I am almost never sad to see a reshaper, since it replaces itself.
MTGO League Result 3-2 I tried a revised deck in league and beat Jeskai Saheeli, Bant Eldrazi & Grixis Death Shadow. Lost to Grixis Death Shadow and Counters Company. The deck:
Match 1 - LOSS (1-2) to Counters Company. Game 1, I was overwhelmed by multiple CoCo's. Dn't remember all Sideboarding, but did bring in Cage, Wrath, Worship, Surgical, and Flaying Tendrils. Game 2, Flaying Tendrils was key to wipe his board and I beat for win. Game 3 really close. Got his life to 1, but he Chorded for Fiend to exile my TKS and got a CoCo with extra card. His CoCo brought in Duskwatch Recruiter and Qasali which blew up by Sculler and returned another CoCo to him; so I scooped.
Match 2 - WIN (2-0) to Bant Eldrazi. Strangler was the card that processed each game to exile an Eldrazi from Sculler and kill a Displacer. Game 2 was a top deck war, but Mutavault shone as the extra attacker to the win. Don't remember sideboarding as I didn't take notes.
Match 3 - WIN vs Jeskai Saheeli (2-0). Game 1 Relic was the star to prevent any graveyard shenanigans. Game 2 Souls got me there. He played a Leyline of Sanctity, but I didn't draw the hate for it, but no matter. Sideboarding: + Cage, +2 Disenchant, + Worship, + 2 Blessed Alliance. - 2 Strangler, - 3 Relic, -1 Ratchet Bomb. Not sure if I boarded correctly. Let me know what you would have done.
Match 4 - LOSS to Grixis Death Shadow (1-2). Game 1 was smooth for him as I flooded and he went to plan. Game 2, went T3 TKS into T4 Smasher and he was short on creatures and removal. Game 3 was brutal for me. I mulled to 5 (no lander; then 1 mutavault), but had good cards on the 5 plus the draw. He went T1 Thoughtseize, T2 Collected Brutality, then eventually Kolaghan's Command, Snapcaster Kolaghan's Command to wreck everything. Wasnt pretty. Sideboarding: +Cage, 2 Blessed Alliance, 1 Worship, 1 Surgical; -1 Herder, -2 Sculler, -2 Matter Reshaper.
Match 5 - WIN(2-1) vs GDS. Game 1 was easy for him as I was stuck on 2 lands. Game 2 had 2 Temples and 2 TKS dealt so was T2 T3 TKS. Easy win. Game 3 went long. Top decked multiple Souls to hold off an early Tasiger. Survived late game activations with careful and lucky picking. Eventually got there with a top decked Path to remove a newly played 8/8 Shadow which let me attack with more fliers for the eventual win.
All-in-all liking the deck, but not sure about the Lands. 2 Mutavaults seem right as does 1 Ghost Quarter since I play Fulminator Mages in the side. I am torn between another Shambling Vent in place of either Wastes or Vault. I like the toobox approach tot he lands when they are out. So far, I also like the 2-of with Sculler and Matter Reshaper - I always like getting a card either in Reshaper dies. In fact it was the blocking of Reshaper that gave me the Path in last game of last match for the win. Finally, I am mixed about sideboard. Not sure to put in more cards to help unfavorable matches or go for cards that make close matches more winnable. For example the 3 Fulminators.....
Running wiht Tidehollow Sculler today, still not happy wiht teh build - 2:1.
Really believing that Matter Reshaper is teh way to head on!
Hey Polymorph. After my last go in the league with Matter Reshaper I am back testing Tidehollow Sculler. So far, can be really good, or really bad. Wondering about a 2/2 split of the two cards rather than 4-of. Will do some more Tourney Practice Room on MODO and then jump into a league Monday. So far today with 4 Scullers, I have beaten Lantern, WG Coco, and Elves. Lost to Taking Turns, Eldrazi Tron, and W.
League Result 2-3
So I played a league with the deck I listed in the post #2453 earlier on this page. I really feel the deck is competitive despite the end result. I beat Grixis DS twice, but lost to Gifts Storm, Dredge and Scapeshift.
Match 1 vs Gifts Storm L(0-2) This was a tough match-up. I was able to get in beaters and bring life total down, but never drew a Relic in either game or any of sideboard cards Cage to stop graveyard, nor Wrath nor Ratchet Bomb in second game to deal with his Warrens. Sideboarding: -2 Path, -1 Herder, -1 Strangler; +1 Wrath, +2 Ratchet Bomb, +1 Cage.
Match2 vs GDS W (2-0) I really feel this deck is made to beat GDS. Star was Souls for sure. In Game 2, Cage shut down Snapcaster and Blessed ALliance forced sac of Gurmag Angler. Sideboarding: -1 Shaper, -2 Strangler, -2 Brutality; +2 Blessed Alliance, +1 Wrath, +1 Cage, +1 Fulminator Mage.
Match 3 vs GDS W (2-0) Much like previous match, but was a grind. Sorin helped. Souls still the stars. A late game Herder created too many creatures for his low life total (was stuck with a 11/11 DS).
Match 4 vs Dredge L (1-2) This was a tough loss. Both games I lost I never saw a Relic or and PtE for his creatures. I still made it a game with Vault keeping life total up while removing his creatures, and Matter Reshaper was useful replacing itself. But couldn't get there without the graveyard hate. Game 1, I flooded (ended with 13 lands on field). Game 2, I successfully kept dredgers out of graveyard with Relic and PtE and Thought-Knot Seer. Got there with beaters. Game 3 was much like game 1 with no relic or cage showing up. I could have won on my last play if I drew a Relic as I had Wrath in hand and enough mana to cast relic, wrath and then exile all with Relic with triggers for recursion on stack. But it didn't come. I can see how Kalitas could be useful in this MU. Sideboarding: -2 Strangler, -2 Fatal Push; +2 Blessed Alliance, +1 Cage; +1 Wrath.
Match 5 vs Scapeshift L (0-2) Game 1 I drew few lands and could have Ghost Quarter'd his Valakut, but I didn't as I was hoping for one maore land to cast my 2 Smashers. Never saw the Temple. Game 2, was overwhelmed as he ramped and went off, also with benefit of playing a Tracker that could trade with my smasher. Just didn't get there before he went off.
All in all, happy with the deck, tho Sorin wasn't much of a factor overall. Also not sure if this aggro plan is better than Sculler. There were times where I definitely wished I had a sculler over the Reshaper or 1 Scourge, so will tinker some more.
Latest Testing I have been testing a list, which is along the lines of Polymorph's latest posts, and I am very happy with it. I have only tested in MTGO Tourney Practice Room, but I have gone 7-0 over last matches going 14-2 in games. I have beaten Affinity, Jeskai control, Grixis DS, Grixis Control twice, Jund, Mono-W. I find not having to struggle to get WB on T2 helpful and I am still exiling enough cards for Strangler or Herder. So far Matter Reshaper has been just okay, but I don't think any other card fits. I might try going back to 2 Scullers, but only after I run a few leagues, which I hope to do soon. I am happy with the land package. Sea Gate Wreckage has been relevant as have Mutavaults. I think numbers are just right.
Thanks for posting this. Would you give a few pointers on how you sideboard against various decks?
4 Concealed Courtyard
1 Godless Shrine
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Shambling Vent
1 Plains
2 Swamp
4 Eldrazi Temple
2 Mutavault
1 Wastes
1 Marsh Flats
4 Reality Smasher
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Wasteland Strangler
2 Eldrazi Displacer
4 Relic of Progenitus
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
1 Collective Brutality
4 Path to Exile
2 Fatal Push
4 Lingering Souls
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Worship
2 Fulminator Mage
2 Disenchant
1 Flaying Tendrils
2 Mirran Crusader
2 Blessed Alliance
1 Wrath of God
I beat Eldrazi & Taxes, Merfolk, and Burn. Lost to BW Tokens and UR Gifts Storm. Overall still loving the deck. I only felt a little lost against the go wide tokens plan. Never drew Flaying Tendrils or Wrath of God. I am going to tinker again with lands, removing the Wastes though I did luckily remove a Blood Moon in Game 1 of the Burn match. May replace with either a Vault of the Archangel or another Mutavault. Sticking with Sideboard for now (though on the fence about swapping out one Blessed Alliance for another Collective Brutality and happy with the Main. Into another league this week.
...
I am certainly no expert on the deck, but I can tell you that I played for a while a deck that had no Tidehollow Sculler and replaced with Matter Reshaper as you have for the creature set. It was fine. I think there are two weaknesses by giving up white: 1) you lose Lingering Souls which has been a consistent performer for me, either to provide lots of blockers, or to win through the air. I would be tempted to say add Smuggler's Copter but you really have no good creatures to tap for it. I did see a list recently that placed top 8 somewhere that used Bitterblossom. 2) you lose white artifact hate in Stony Silence which has also been an important part of my deck. Not sure what to do there....
Otherwise, I think you have right mix of hand disruption and removal, but I would favor more of Inquisition over Thoughtseize since you don't have good ways to gain life otherwise.
Let us know how it goes!
Here is the deck I played:
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Concealed Courtyard
1 Godless Shrine
1 Plains
2 Swamp
2 Mutavault
1 Marsh Flats
4 Eldrazi Temple
2 Shambling Vent
1 Fetid Heath
1 Wastes
Spells
1 Collective Brutality
4 Path to Exile
2 Fatal Push
4 Lingering Souls
3 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Relic of Progenitus
1 Ratchet Bomb
Creatures
3 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Reality Smasher
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Wasteland Strangler
2 Eldrazi Displacer
2 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Knight of Glory
2 Fulminator Mage
1 Wrath of God
1 Flaying Tendrils
2 Disenchant
1 Blessed Alliance
I like the feel of the MB and though the lands gave me colors/colorless when I needed, still not sure about the lands. Like the mutavaults, but thinking of putting Ghost Quarter back in and/or Vault of the Archangel. Maybe will cut one Shambling Vent.
MATCHES
M1 LOSS (1-2) vs Bogles. Game 1, couldn't overcome a Daybreak Coronet. Game2 I landed Ratchet Bomb and kept on 1. Opponent thought Spider Umbra would save his creature when I sac'd the Bomb. He was wrong and lost. Game3 I was ale to Disenchant two Coronets, but never saw my Surgical Extraction and lost when he landed his 3rd on his guy.
M2 WIN (2-0) vs. Affinity. Match is favorable and wen that way. Game1 established enough board presence to force him to sac a bunch of artifacts just to trade an Arcbound Ravagerwith a Reality Smasher. I then dropeed another and beat for win. Game 2 I landed Stony Silence on Turn 2 and then raced him for win.
M3 WIN (2-0) vs Dredge. Game1 had solid curve a got a Loam from my Tidehollow Sculler. Kept him off lands. I let him beat with his 2Bloodghast and I raced with my guys and won. Game2 I landed a T1 Relic of Progenitus and exiled his lands and Conflagrate. Cracked the relic with a couple Narcomoeba on stack, Surgical'd his Darkblast. With no dredgers in graveyard, it was easy beat for win.
M4 LOSS (0-2) vs Dredge. Game1, he did his ting and my hand was too slow. Game2 I landed a T2 Rest in Peace, but then saw 12 (!) lands in a row, including by cracking a couple relics. I had only 1 creature (Strangler) which died early to blocking duty. I lost to a single Bloodghast beat plus Conflagrate at end.
M5 WIN (2-0) vs. 5Color Death Shadow. Game 1, he landed a T1 Goblin Guide, which did its thing both in giving me cards and not doing a lot of damage, while I proceeded to strip his hand with disruption. Eventually Path'd his Guide (he had no basic lands, which was great! And got in with big guys for the win. Game 2 he got me to 4 before I was able to stabilize. Two Wasteland Strangler took care of a Monastery Swiftspear and DS. Path'd rest and beats for win.
As for Sideboard, it is still a work in progress. Like the idea of the Knight of Glory but perhaps will replace the 2 for either 2 Mirran Crusader (I know the issue of double white mana) or another Collective Brutality and either Blessed Alliance, Flaying Tendrils or Cast Out. I only play MTGO so want to keep open options. Seem to struggle a lot with planeswalkers, so Cat out may be a good option. Comments or suggestions welcome, also from those who play creatures or planeswalkers in sideboard as to how they help in our tougher matches.
Thanks for the write-up and glad to see the results. I am still getting used to playing midrange after a very long spell playing aggro decks. Some reflections.... I used Fragmentize but ultimately shifted over to Disenchant because I was seeing a lot of Chalice of the Void and wanted to keep out of the 1-drop slot while also gaining instant speed. Not seeing Chalice so much anymore, but not sure if the mana trade-off is worth it. I tried Gideon, Sorin, Kalitas and ultimately abandoned for reasons set out earlier. But Sorin was the best of them for me. Seemed more controlish which ultimately was where I didn't want to be. Otherwise I agree with all your other choices, though I have been trying out Worship. Still more testing to see if its worth it. Finally, toying with idea of Auriok Champion in pace of Knight of Glory as get benefit against red decks too and some lifegain.
I do feel our curve isn't as sweet when not playing 4 Scullers, but after playing a league with no scullers, I really overall wasn't missing. We have plenty of hand disruption, removal or relics to keep us busy on first 2 turns. I am cheating by playing 2, so far ok. I am almost never sad to see a reshaper, since it replaces itself.
3 Concealed Courtyard
1 Godless Shrine
2 Plains
2 Swamp
2 Mutavault
1 Marsh Flats
1 Shambling Vent
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Eldrazi Temple
1 Wastes
1 Vault of the Archangel
2 Matter Reshaper
4 Wasteland Strangler
4 Thought-Knot Seer
3 Reality Smasher
1 Blight Herder
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
4 Path to Exile
2 Fatal Push
1 Collective Brutality
4 Lingering Souls
4 Relic of Progenitus
1 Ratchet Bomb
2 Stony Silence
2 Blessed Alliance
1 Worship
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Wrath of God
3 Fulminator Mage
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Flaying Tendrils
Match 1 - LOSS (1-2) to Counters Company. Game 1, I was overwhelmed by multiple CoCo's. Dn't remember all Sideboarding, but did bring in Cage, Wrath, Worship, Surgical, and Flaying Tendrils. Game 2, Flaying Tendrils was key to wipe his board and I beat for win. Game 3 really close. Got his life to 1, but he Chorded for Fiend to exile my TKS and got a CoCo with extra card. His CoCo brought in Duskwatch Recruiter and Qasali which blew up by Sculler and returned another CoCo to him; so I scooped.
Match 2 - WIN (2-0) to Bant Eldrazi. Strangler was the card that processed each game to exile an Eldrazi from Sculler and kill a Displacer. Game 2 was a top deck war, but Mutavault shone as the extra attacker to the win. Don't remember sideboarding as I didn't take notes.
Match 3 - WIN vs Jeskai Saheeli (2-0). Game 1 Relic was the star to prevent any graveyard shenanigans. Game 2 Souls got me there. He played a Leyline of Sanctity, but I didn't draw the hate for it, but no matter. Sideboarding: + Cage, +2 Disenchant, + Worship, + 2 Blessed Alliance. - 2 Strangler, - 3 Relic, -1 Ratchet Bomb. Not sure if I boarded correctly. Let me know what you would have done.
Match 4 - LOSS to Grixis Death Shadow (1-2). Game 1 was smooth for him as I flooded and he went to plan. Game 2, went T3 TKS into T4 Smasher and he was short on creatures and removal. Game 3 was brutal for me. I mulled to 5 (no lander; then 1 mutavault), but had good cards on the 5 plus the draw. He went T1 Thoughtseize, T2 Collected Brutality, then eventually Kolaghan's Command, Snapcaster Kolaghan's Command to wreck everything. Wasnt pretty. Sideboarding: +Cage, 2 Blessed Alliance, 1 Worship, 1 Surgical; -1 Herder, -2 Sculler, -2 Matter Reshaper.
Match 5 - WIN(2-1) vs GDS. Game 1 was easy for him as I was stuck on 2 lands. Game 2 had 2 Temples and 2 TKS dealt so was T2 T3 TKS. Easy win. Game 3 went long. Top decked multiple Souls to hold off an early Tasiger. Survived late game activations with careful and lucky picking. Eventually got there with a top decked Path to remove a newly played 8/8 Shadow which let me attack with more fliers for the eventual win.
All-in-all liking the deck, but not sure about the Lands. 2 Mutavaults seem right as does 1 Ghost Quarter since I play Fulminator Mages in the side. I am torn between another Shambling Vent in place of either Wastes or Vault. I like the toobox approach tot he lands when they are out. So far, I also like the 2-of with Sculler and Matter Reshaper - I always like getting a card either in Reshaper dies. In fact it was the blocking of Reshaper that gave me the Path in last game of last match for the win. Finally, I am mixed about sideboard. Not sure to put in more cards to help unfavorable matches or go for cards that make close matches more winnable. For example the 3 Fulminators.....
Welcome comments and suggestions
So I played a league with the deck I listed in the post #2453 earlier on this page. I really feel the deck is competitive despite the end result. I beat Grixis DS twice, but lost to Gifts Storm, Dredge and Scapeshift.
Match 1 vs Gifts Storm L(0-2) This was a tough match-up. I was able to get in beaters and bring life total down, but never drew a Relic in either game or any of sideboard cards Cage to stop graveyard, nor Wrath nor Ratchet Bomb in second game to deal with his Warrens. Sideboarding: -2 Path, -1 Herder, -1 Strangler; +1 Wrath, +2 Ratchet Bomb, +1 Cage.
Match2 vs GDS W (2-0) I really feel this deck is made to beat GDS. Star was Souls for sure. In Game 2, Cage shut down Snapcaster and Blessed ALliance forced sac of Gurmag Angler. Sideboarding: -1 Shaper, -2 Strangler, -2 Brutality; +2 Blessed Alliance, +1 Wrath, +1 Cage, +1 Fulminator Mage.
Match 3 vs GDS W (2-0) Much like previous match, but was a grind. Sorin helped. Souls still the stars. A late game Herder created too many creatures for his low life total (was stuck with a 11/11 DS).
Match 4 vs Dredge L (1-2) This was a tough loss. Both games I lost I never saw a Relic or and PtE for his creatures. I still made it a game with Vault keeping life total up while removing his creatures, and Matter Reshaper was useful replacing itself. But couldn't get there without the graveyard hate. Game 1, I flooded (ended with 13 lands on field). Game 2, I successfully kept dredgers out of graveyard with Relic and PtE and Thought-Knot Seer. Got there with beaters. Game 3 was much like game 1 with no relic or cage showing up. I could have won on my last play if I drew a Relic as I had Wrath in hand and enough mana to cast relic, wrath and then exile all with Relic with triggers for recursion on stack. But it didn't come. I can see how Kalitas could be useful in this MU. Sideboarding: -2 Strangler, -2 Fatal Push; +2 Blessed Alliance, +1 Cage; +1 Wrath.
Match 5 vs Scapeshift L (0-2) Game 1 I drew few lands and could have Ghost Quarter'd his Valakut, but I didn't as I was hoping for one maore land to cast my 2 Smashers. Never saw the Temple. Game 2, was overwhelmed as he ramped and went off, also with benefit of playing a Tracker that could trade with my smasher. Just didn't get there before he went off.
All in all, happy with the deck, tho Sorin wasn't much of a factor overall. Also not sure if this aggro plan is better than Sculler. There were times where I definitely wished I had a sculler over the Reshaper or 1 Scourge, so will tinker some more.
Hope this helps. Comments welcome.
So here's the list:
3 Caves of Koilos
2 Concealed Courtyard
2 Godless Shrine
4 Eldrazi Temple
3 Marsh Flats
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Shambling Vent
2 Mutavault
1 Sea Gate Wreckage
2 Plains
1 Swamp
Creatures
1 Blight Herder
3 Matter Reshaper
3 Reality Smasher
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Wasteland Strangler
1 Eternal Scourge
4 Path to Exile
2 Fatal Push
3 Thoughtseize
2 Collective Brutality
4 Relic of Progenitus
4 Lingering Souls
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
2 Disenchant
3 Stony Silence
2 Anguished Unmaking
1 Pithing Needle
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
2 Ratchet Bomb
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Wrath of God
2 Blessed Alliance
Welcome any thoughts/comments/suggestions.