I posted this in a different GW thread yesterday because I didn't see this one. I've had pretty good success with Humans over the last month and here's what I'm currently playing.
"Before I post my list, which is gonna look kinda wonky due to a couple one-of cards, I need to preface by saying that I've been playing it, with a few changes every week, for a little over a month. My local shop is full of high caliber players, Lauren Nolen and Adam Prosak both play there, and I myself have an SCG Open T8, T16, and T32 and missed money at an Invitational by one win. In the past month I've placed 1st of 39, 3rd of 34, 12th of 40, 3rd of 42, and 3rd of 25.
I played the following list yesterday and am going to make some changes before the nest time I play it.
I used to play Smiters main but since they aren't a human it caused more trouble than they were ultimately worth. They're still great in the side for RDW, because they have to 2 for 1 them and they can block Nobles, and other aggro match ups. I also used to play Nightshade Peddler as a 3 of main because they're really good with first strikers especially if they have a Rancor, but they just weren't aggressive enough.
For the record Thragtusk is absolutely terrible in this deck. He's not aggressive at all and the only time you MIGHT want him is against control because of all the wrath effects.
The Revenge of the Hunted is a throwback to my Dungrove days and can get there out of nowhere almost every time. That being said it, I played it yesterday because I forgot to take it out after I lent the deck to a friend and he played it. It's going to be something else, I'm just not sure what yet.
Thalia is nowhere near as good as she used to be. Against control she isn't aggressive enough and keeps you from playing everything else that you want to against them, like Rancor and Nevermore. She's going to become 2 more Faith's Shield because my meta is currently overrun by RDW and I HATE getting Azorious Charmed.
Bant control is the toughest MU for this deck by far. In fact, if I recall correctly, the only other deck that I've lost to is OmniDoor ThragFire after he boarded into Life Gain R Us. I lost to the mirror once before too, but I wasn't playing Silverblades at that point because I didn't have them."
I've been playing Mono Green for the last 3 months and have lost about 12 matches at very competitive shops, playing an average of twice a week. Unfortunately you don't get to play GSZ and just tutor up whatever you need at the moment, but the creatures are good enough that you should be able to push through most other decks, especially if you splash a little black for Vault of the Archangel.
If you're a good player I really think you can do great things with GW. You'll need to tweak card choices on a very regular basis to keep up with your metagame, but that's true with most decks.
I don't think you auto lose to control at all. The key, like everyone else said, is to not over extend. Thragtusk gives you a dude after he dies. Garruk, Primal Hunter gives you a dude EVERY TURN and lets you draw cards! Triumph of Ferocity gives you lots of cards. Thalia is a pain for them. [car]Rancor[/card] lets you play one dude and beat face until they have to answer it, and then you just play another and drop Rancor on it. T2 Loxodon Smiter with a rancor the next is pretty tough for them to deal with.
I've been playing Mono G for the last two and a half months and now that Dungrove Elder is gone I figured that GW is the next logical progression. Vault of the Archangel is too good in this kind of deck not to play so here I am splashing B.
I haven't got to test this list a whole lot, except against UR Delver. Pre-board I only lost one game, out of ten, and I had mulled to 5. Post board it was probably about 60-40. I had misboarded for most of those thinking that Rest in Peace wasn't very good against him, turns out it really is, and he had a full suite of Essence Scatter because it's the only way he beat this and ramp.
I decided to go with a more aggro approach because I really don't want to have to play Ranger's Path and/or have my dorks survive to play the threats in my opening hand.
I know my 75 is going to look crazy but there's a reason for all the numbers and so far they seem to work really well. I have been thinking about trying to find room for Trostani because I think she would be an absolute house, but I'm not sure what I would cut and the WW can be problematic on turn 3/4.
The 2 Woodland Cemetary could, and maybe should, be Isolated Chapel, but then I would probably want at least one of the Forests to be a Plains.
Knight of Glory and Rest in Peace are for Zombies, with the added bonus that RIP actually is fairly decent against UR Delver. Thalia, Triumph, and Garruk are for dedicated control decks. Sigarda, Collective Blessing, and the rest of the charms are for the mirror and ramp strategies. I'm not real sure yet what comes out in each MU but that will come with testing.
I've been playing Mono G for the last two and a half months and now that Dungrove Elder is gone I figured that GW is the next logical progression. Vault of the Archangel is too good in this kind of deck not to play so here I am splashing B.
I haven't got to test this list a whole lot, except against UR Delver. Pre-board I only lost one game, out of ten, and I had mulled to 5. Post board it was probably about 60-40. I had misboarded for most of those thinking that Rest in Peace wasn't very good against him, turns out it really is, and he had a full suite of Essence Scatter because it's the only way he beat this and ramp.
I decided to go with a more aggro approach because I really don't want to have to play Ranger's Path and/or have my dorks survive to play the threats in my opening hand.
I know my 75 is going to look crazy but there's a reason for all the numbers and so far they seem to work really well. I have been thinking about trying to find room for Trostani because I think she would be an absolute house, but I'm not sure what I would cut and the WW can be problematic on turn 3/4.
The 2 Woodland Cemetary could, and maybe should, be Isolated Chapel, but then I would probably want at least one of the Forests to be a Plains.
Knight of Glory and Rest in Peace are for Zombies, with the added bonus that RIP actually is fairly decent against UR Delver. Thalia, Triumph, and Garruk are for dedicated control decks. Sigarda, Collective Blessing, and the rest of the charms are for the mirror and ramp strategies. I'm not real sure yet what comes out in each MU but that will come with testing.
As for Deathrite Shaman he's good and could be worth a board slot, though I think RIP is probably better where you want it. He will rarely ever produce mana for you and especially not on the second turn when you want to playing that three drop. You have to keep mana open and hope that he doesn't die before the ability is relevant and I just don't see it happening all that often. I think real dorks and Farseek are better.
Does Shimian Specter actually exile the card you pick from their hand as well as any other copies they have in their hand/library/graveyard, or does it always leave one in their hand. Some folks were having this conversation at a draft last night and I think because it doesn't "other cards with this name" that all the copies go.
How do auras work with Humility? It's my understanding that the creature will still get the any pluses to P/T but lose any abilities the aura would grant.
If I have a Humility on the table and my opponent plays an Eternal Witness, does the Witness' trigger resolve letting him get a card from his yard or does he just have a 1/1?
I think the answer is he get's the card because the trigger goes on the stack before the Witness loses it's abilities, but I'm usually wrong about humility.
Let's use Hornet Queen because it's a set amount and she doesn't pump them up. Is Hornet Queen a 7/7, 1 for her and 4 for the other guys, and each token a 17/17 because they all come into play at the same time and see each others triggers or are they just 5/5s?
What if I have a Doubling Season in play also? The queen becomes a 20/20 and her minions are???
When I was playing on a regular basis I played them both. I played them both into the money at all 4 SCG Opens I attended and was one win away from money at the Indy Invitational.
"Before I post my list, which is gonna look kinda wonky due to a couple one-of cards, I need to preface by saying that I've been playing it, with a few changes every week, for a little over a month. My local shop is full of high caliber players, Lauren Nolen and Adam Prosak both play there, and I myself have an SCG Open T8, T16, and T32 and missed money at an Invitational by one win. In the past month I've placed 1st of 39, 3rd of 34, 12th of 40, 3rd of 42, and 3rd of 25.
I played the following list yesterday and am going to make some changes before the nest time I play it.
4 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Mayor of Avabruck
4 Precinct Captain
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Silverblade Paladin
2 Sublime Archangel
3 Riders of Gavony
1 Wolfir Silverheart
2 Selesnya Charm
4 Rancor
2 Faith's Shield
4 Temple Garden
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Gavony Township
5 Plains
4 Forest
1 Faith's Shield
1 Selesnya Charm
1 Sublime Archangel
2 Rootborn Defenses
2 Sigarda, Host of Herons
4 Loxodon Smiter
2 Nevermore
2 Rest in Peace
I used to play Smiters main but since they aren't a human it caused more trouble than they were ultimately worth. They're still great in the side for RDW, because they have to 2 for 1 them and they can block Nobles, and other aggro match ups. I also used to play Nightshade Peddler as a 3 of main because they're really good with first strikers especially if they have a Rancor, but they just weren't aggressive enough.
For the record Thragtusk is absolutely terrible in this deck. He's not aggressive at all and the only time you MIGHT want him is against control because of all the wrath effects.
The Revenge of the Hunted is a throwback to my Dungrove days and can get there out of nowhere almost every time. That being said it, I played it yesterday because I forgot to take it out after I lent the deck to a friend and he played it. It's going to be something else, I'm just not sure what yet.
Thalia is nowhere near as good as she used to be. Against control she isn't aggressive enough and keeps you from playing everything else that you want to against them, like Rancor and Nevermore. She's going to become 2 more Faith's Shield because my meta is currently overrun by RDW and I HATE getting Azorious Charmed.
Bant control is the toughest MU for this deck by far. In fact, if I recall correctly, the only other deck that I've lost to is OmniDoor ThragFire after he boarded into Life Gain R Us. I lost to the mirror once before too, but I wasn't playing Silverblades at that point because I didn't have them."
If you're a good player I really think you can do great things with GW. You'll need to tweak card choices on a very regular basis to keep up with your metagame, but that's true with most decks.
I don't think you auto lose to control at all. The key, like everyone else said, is to not over extend. Thragtusk gives you a dude after he dies. Garruk, Primal Hunter gives you a dude EVERY TURN and lets you draw cards! Triumph of Ferocity gives you lots of cards. Thalia is a pain for them. [car]Rancor[/card] lets you play one dude and beat face until they have to answer it, and then you just play another and drop Rancor on it. T2 Loxodon Smiter with a rancor the next is pretty tough for them to deal with.
I haven't got to test this list a whole lot, except against U R Delver. Pre-board I only lost one game, out of ten, and I had mulled to 5. Post board it was probably about 60-40. I had misboarded for most of those thinking that Rest in Peace wasn't very good against him, turns out it really is, and he had a full suite of Essence Scatter because it's the only way he beat this and ramp.
I decided to go with a more aggro approach because I really don't want to have to play Ranger's Path and/or have my dorks survive to play the threats in my opening hand.
I know my 75 is going to look crazy but there's a reason for all the numbers and so far they seem to work really well. I have been thinking about trying to find room for Trostani because I think she would be an absolute house, but I'm not sure what I would cut and the WW can be problematic on turn 3/4.
4 Centaur Healer
4 Loxodon Smiter
4 Deadbridge Goliath
2 Restoration Angel
2 Thragtusk
3 Wolfir Silverheart
4 Rancor
2 Selesnya Charm
4 Farseek
6 Forest
4 Overgrown Tomb
2 Woodland Cemetary
4 Temple Garden
4 Sunpetal Grove
3 Vault of the Archangel
1 Gavony Township.
3 Knight of Glory
3 Thalia
1 Sigarda
1 Collective Blessing
2 Rest in Peace
2 Triumph of Ferocity
2 Selesnya Charm
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
The 2 Woodland Cemetary could, and maybe should, be Isolated Chapel, but then I would probably want at least one of the Forests to be a Plains.
Knight of Glory and Rest in Peace are for Zombies, with the added bonus that RIP actually is fairly decent against UR Delver. Thalia, Triumph, and Garruk are for dedicated control decks. Sigarda, Collective Blessing, and the rest of the charms are for the mirror and ramp strategies. I'm not real sure yet what comes out in each MU but that will come with testing.
I haven't got to test this list a whole lot, except against U R Delver. Pre-board I only lost one game, out of ten, and I had mulled to 5. Post board it was probably about 60-40. I had misboarded for most of those thinking that Rest in Peace wasn't very good against him, turns out it really is, and he had a full suite of Essence Scatter because it's the only way he beat this and ramp.
I decided to go with a more aggro approach because I really don't want to have to play Ranger's Path and/or have my dorks survive to play the threats in my opening hand.
I know my 75 is going to look crazy but there's a reason for all the numbers and so far they seem to work really well. I have been thinking about trying to find room for Trostani because I think she would be an absolute house, but I'm not sure what I would cut and the WW can be problematic on turn 3/4.
4 Centaur Healer
4 Loxodon Smiter
4 Deadbridge Goliath
2 Restoration Angel
2 Thragtusk
3 Wolfir Silverheart
4 Rancor
2 Selesnya Charm
4 Farseek
6 Forest
4 Overgrown Tomb
2 Woodland Cemetary
4 Temple Garden
4 Sunpetal Grove
3 Vault of the Archangel
1 Gavony Township.
3 Knight of Glory
3 Thalia
1 Sigarda
1 Collective Blessing
2 Rest in Peace
2 Triumph of Ferocity
2 Selesnya Charm
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
The 2 Woodland Cemetary could, and maybe should, be Isolated Chapel, but then I would probably want at least one of the Forests to be a Plains.
Knight of Glory and Rest in Peace are for Zombies, with the added bonus that RIP actually is fairly decent against UR Delver. Thalia, Triumph, and Garruk are for dedicated control decks. Sigarda, Collective Blessing, and the rest of the charms are for the mirror and ramp strategies. I'm not real sure yet what comes out in each MU but that will come with testing.
As for Deathrite Shaman he's good and could be worth a board slot, though I think RIP is probably better where you want it. He will rarely ever produce mana for you and especially not on the second turn when you want to playing that three drop. You have to keep mana open and hope that he doesn't die before the ability is relevant and I just don't see it happening all that often. I think real dorks and Farseek are better.
How do auras work with Humility? It's my understanding that the creature will still get the any pluses to P/T but lose any abilities the aura would grant.
Example: Rafiq of the Many has a Steel of the Godhead on him. He is a 3/3 with no abilities correct?
I think the answer is he get's the card because the trigger goes on the stack before the Witness loses it's abilities, but I'm usually wrong about humility.
2 Phyrexian Obliterator
3 Abyssal Persecutor
Honorable mentions: Tombstalker, Juzam Djinn, Shriekmaw, and Gatekeeper of Malakir.
Let's use Hornet Queen because it's a set amount and she doesn't pump them up. Is Hornet Queen a 7/7, 1 for her and 4 for the other guys, and each token a 17/17 because they all come into play at the same time and see each others triggers or are they just 5/5s?
What if I have a Doubling Season in play also? The queen becomes a 20/20 and her minions are???
2. There's no such thing as legendary damage. I'm pretty sure that only combat damage counts towards the 21 General damage threshold.