If you're running any blue, I would always include 1 island MB, so your Attunes become potential blue sources. Along with Hubs and Servants, you're basically guaranteed access to blue even without the fastlands.
Having run versions with both Woodland Wanderer and Bristling Hydra, I would place a very high priority in at least 3 Hydras, whether that's at the cost of Hellions or another card--there's a lot of removal going around, especially in black. In my case, I only own one Tireless Tracker, so I can pretty easily fit all three (Hellion+Wanderer+Hydra) and that's worked fairly well for me.
Re: Saheeli Rai, the energy-generation trick is nice but I'm just not convinced she has the impact the deck wants from its planeswalkers, at least in the midrange version. Despite her low cost, the deck wants to be playing creatures, not planeswalkers, until turn 4 or 5, and at that point I'd rather have Jace or Nissa. The copy she generates is at best a 4/4 that nets you two energy, while Nissa can put out a 5/5 from an empty board with her +1 and Jace lets you draw the card you scry. And their ults are both useful.
Went 3-0 with my deck posted above today. The local meta continues to be odd, with half the field plating RG energy in various incarnations and the rest a mix of aggro and midrange. I played against R/W aggro (lost first game on turn 4 to Exemplar/Copter, then shut them down in games 2/3 with Weaver/Bombardment), B/colorless Eldrazi (suffered against heavy removal in game 1, brought in most of my SB spells to push through 2 and 3; he also wound up starved for black mana in game 3), and Tamiyo midrange (my favorite match, challenging but rewarding games). The planeswalkers really paid off in the third match--I managed to ult Nissa, triggered the emblem almost every turn for the rest of the game, and topdecked Jace about four turns later to bounce their only blocker and save me from death by flyer the following turn.
All in all I'm quite happy with the deck as it stands. The mix of Hydras and Wanderers proved valuable in all matchups--perfect balance of resilience and beatdown. Might try out a second Jace (picked one up with my prize credit) but I'm not sure it makes sense with my relatively aggressive meta.
Yeah, I think you're right on Duskwatch Recruiter. For your deck, I'd definitely drop the Appetite for the Unnatural--with your build, you ought to be countering any artifacts that can't be answered more efficiently with burn or Natural State.
Here's what I settled on for this week. The local meta remains something of a wildcard with more players expected over last week, so I've kept a little more variety than I might usually (e.g. running both Hydra and Wanderer).
The manabase looks alright to me; being able to fetch the island with Attune to Aether plus the handful of fastlands alleviates any real consistency concerns. I haven't played against a great number of control decks but in my experience so far you don't need that much blue; I'm currently running a total of 6 Negate and Ceremonious Rejection (usually 1 Negate MB and 2/3 of both in the SB) and that plus a copy of Jace, Unraveler of Secrets for staying power has been enough for me. Locally, I have more trouble with the hyper-aggressive R/W decks, so half of my sideboard is Weavers and Galvanic Bombardment. You've been able to hold off the aggressive decks with just Harnessed Lightning and Incendiary Flow?
I see you've slimmed down the top end of the deck--no Gearhulk, no Skysovereign. How's that working out for you? I'm rather attached to Skysovereign myself but am not entirely convinced that the Gearhulk is superior to a planeswalker or another 3- or 4-drop.
Starting to revise my deck for tomorrow's Showdown...does anyone have thoughts on Duskwatch Recruiter as a budget substitute for Tireless Tracker? I've struggled a little bit with draw power in the past, and my 1 copy of Key to the City isn't cutting it. Alternatively, I just got a copy of Fevered Visions, but my understanding is that it's a terrible play vs. aggro, where I need the draw power the most since I'm going through so many cheap burns.
Nature's Way combined with Bristling Hydra does fill a similar role to the Wildwood Wanderer, and isn't a terrible tradeoff with Incendiary Flow since it doubles as removal. I may have to try that out next weekend.
I make use of both Skysovereign and the Gearhulk, but I think I'd agree that the boat typically does more for me. The ability to target a planeswalker can really help out in a tight spot.
I'm not convinced Revolutionary Rebuff is that great. Maybe it's my local meta, but most cards I'd really want to counter are either artifacts or can be handled with Blossoming Defense. The main exceptions that come to mind are Gideon or Fumigate, in which case Negate or Spell Shrivel is preferable.
I couldn't imagine cutting Harnessed Lightning in favor of Blossoming Defense; it's the deck's only mainboard answer to Copter and serves as an energy source in a pinch. Not to say they aren't both valuable cards in the right circumstances; but I'd rather not guarantee a loss in game 1 vs aggro, since it's already a tough matchup.
Thanks! Went into the tourney blind but mostly saw midrange and aggro. Almost all UW flash and GR energy; we'll see if that holds next week, they're expecting higher attendance without the holiday weekend. In any case, I favored Woodland Wanderer based on my reading here--I figured the deck needs the help against GB delirium more than control. And the trample/vigilance combo has certainly served me well so far.
Noidman, I would argue strongly in favor of Blossoming Defense, at least as a one- or two-of, and the inclusion of blue. I only run one Defense mainboard, with two more on the sideboard vs. removal-heavy decks, and I can't think of a single instance yesterday where I was holding one and didn't get a chance to use it. Thanks to Aether Hub, Attune with Aether and Servant of the Conduit, it's super easy to splash blue with the inclusion of a single Island and maybe one or two Botanical Sanctums. It can even be useful in some non-control matchups--for example, I sided in Ceremonious Rejection against GR Pummeler to make absolutely sure I always had an answer in hand.
Brought this deck to Standard Showdown today after reading this thread over the last couple of weeks. Played against UW flash (2-1), RW aggro (1-2), and GR pummeler (2-1) for a 2nd place finish. Quite happy with the deck's performance overall; the loss to Electrostatic Pummeler was a perfect hand on their part in the first game, and the loss to the UW deck was a fluke where I drew nothing but Servants and Attunes, probably should have mulliganed. Tireless Tracker was outstanding when he made it into play; unfortunately I only own the one copy. I may try to work a little more draw power into the deck, maybe switch out Oath of Nissa for Glimmer of Genius. Never used the Spell Shrivels, but I think I'll keep them in in case of Aetherworks Marvel or Gearhulks.
The RW deck was more problematic, and I'm not sure how to adjust the deck to handle it. I won the first game without too much trouble, sided in the Galvanic Bombardments, and proceeded to lose handily to Gideon, Ally of Zendikar + Pia Nalaar in both subsequent games. Managed to kill one of them with some combination of trample and haste but that wasn't enough. How do you all handle that matchup?
Re: Saheeli Rai, the energy-generation trick is nice but I'm just not convinced she has the impact the deck wants from its planeswalkers, at least in the midrange version. Despite her low cost, the deck wants to be playing creatures, not planeswalkers, until turn 4 or 5, and at that point I'd rather have Jace or Nissa. The copy she generates is at best a 4/4 that nets you two energy, while Nissa can put out a 5/5 from an empty board with her +1 and Jace lets you draw the card you scry. And their ults are both useful.
All in all I'm quite happy with the deck as it stands. The mix of Hydras and Wanderers proved valuable in all matchups--perfect balance of resilience and beatdown. Might try out a second Jace (picked one up with my prize credit) but I'm not sure it makes sense with my relatively aggressive meta.
Here's what I settled on for this week. The local meta remains something of a wildcard with more players expected over last week, so I've kept a little more variety than I might usually (e.g. running both Hydra and Wanderer).
2 Longtusk Cub
4 Servant of the Conduit
4 Voltaic Brawler
4 Lathnu Hellion
1 Tireless Tracker
3 Bristling Hydra
2 Woodland Wanderer
1 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
Planeswalkers (3)
1 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets
2 Nissa, Vital Force
Instant(7)
1 Blossoming Defense
4 Harnessed Lightning
2 Negate
4 Attune with Aether
2 Incendiary Flow
Enchantment (2)
2 Oath of Nissa
Land (21)
4 Aether Hub
3 Botanical Sanctum
4 Game Trail
5 Forest
1 Island
4 Mountain
1 Blossoming Defense
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Clip Wings
4 Galvanic Bombardment
2 Natural State
2 Negate
2 Weaver of Lightning
I see you've slimmed down the top end of the deck--no Gearhulk, no Skysovereign. How's that working out for you? I'm rather attached to Skysovereign myself but am not entirely convinced that the Gearhulk is superior to a planeswalker or another 3- or 4-drop.
Starting to revise my deck for tomorrow's Showdown...does anyone have thoughts on Duskwatch Recruiter as a budget substitute for Tireless Tracker? I've struggled a little bit with draw power in the past, and my 1 copy of Key to the City isn't cutting it. Alternatively, I just got a copy of Fevered Visions, but my understanding is that it's a terrible play vs. aggro, where I need the draw power the most since I'm going through so many cheap burns.
I make use of both Skysovereign and the Gearhulk, but I think I'd agree that the boat typically does more for me. The ability to target a planeswalker can really help out in a tight spot.
I'm not convinced Revolutionary Rebuff is that great. Maybe it's my local meta, but most cards I'd really want to counter are either artifacts or can be handled with Blossoming Defense. The main exceptions that come to mind are Gideon or Fumigate, in which case Negate or Spell Shrivel is preferable.
All junk in the local prize packs, unfortunately.
The RW deck was more problematic, and I'm not sure how to adjust the deck to handle it. I won the first game without too much trouble, sided in the Galvanic Bombardments, and proceeded to lose handily to Gideon, Ally of Zendikar + Pia Nalaar in both subsequent games. Managed to kill one of them with some combination of trample and haste but that wasn't enough. How do you all handle that matchup?
4 Longtusk Cub
4 Servant of the Conduit
4 Voltaic Brawler
4 Lathnu Hellion
1 Tireless Tracker
4 Woodland Wanderer
2 Verdurous Gearhulk
Planeswalkers
2 Nissa, Vital Force
Artifact
1 Key to the City
1 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
1 Blossoming Defense
4 Harnessed Lightning
Sorcery
4 Attune with Aether
1 Incendiary Flow
Enchantment
2 Oath of Nissa
Land
4 Aether Hub
2 Botanical Sanctum
4 Game Trail
6 Forest
1 Island
4 Mountain
2 Blossoming Defense
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Clip Wings
4 Galvanic Bombardment
3 Natural State
2 Spell Shrivel