I went:
2-1 vs Bant Eldrazi (Lost dice roll)
2-1 vs G/W Tron (Won dice roll)
2-1 vs Grixis Delver (Lost dice roll)
Eldrazi was a difficult match. I sided in the riders of Gavony, but didn't draw into it. In the end, I lost game 1, won game 2 by just out tempoing my opponent with strong humans + bouncing a reality smasher with reflector mage. It looked like I was going to lose game 3 as well, but I got lucky with a double mantis rider Collected Company that swung it in my favour.
G/W Tron was pretty straightforward. I won turn 4 with an explosive start while he had trouble drawing into his lands and spent a lot of mana on searches. On game 2, I drew a slow start on the draw and got board cleared by an early Ugin. Game 3, he had the lands that he needed in his opening hand, but I started with Champion of the Parish, drew Thalia and played her on curve, delaying his third land. On turn 4 I played meddling mage, calling Ugin the Spirit Dragon, then won on turn 5.
I lost game 1 against Grixis when I drew nothing but a few 1 drops that kept dying to lightning bolt/fatal push/terminate + an overload of non-fetch lands + a renegade rallier while my opponent quickly summoned a Tassigur. On game 2, I managed to play threats faster than he could remove them with them and overwhelmed him. Game 3 was looking like game 1 did in the beginning, but this time when he tapped out to play fast 5/5 delve creatures, I had a reflector mage in hand the first time, and a collected company into double champion of the parish the second time. It ended in a race where Lyev Sky Knight stopped his blocker while my other creatures ended the game. Game 1 was totally my fault for not mulliganing.
Findings:
Renegade Rallier was close to dead in both games that I drew it, but both times that I drew it were games in which I didn't draw any fetch lands (Game 1 vs Eldrazi, Game 2 vs Grixis). It might be a sign that 8 fetches aren't enough to reliably trigger him. Perhaps replacing some of the basic lands with Arid Mesas would help if I were willing to pay for them.
Skyship Plunderer never did anything particularly amazing. He got through an attack that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to make against Eldrazi, but I'm not sure that the 2 damage was what won the game. It might be that Lyev Skyknight, Path to Exile, Thalia Heretic Cathar, and Reflector Mage are enough to get around blockers.
Both Thalias did much better than I expected them to, I might increase the count of them.
I didn't draw the Skyknight often, but when I did, it proved excellent when racing, detaining a larger blocker against both Tron and Grixis and allowing me to seal the game.
Lightning Bolt vulnerability was less of a problem than expected. The entire deck is boltable, and with Noble Hierarch, Champion of the Parish, and Thalia's Lieutenant being so threatening if unanswered, they usually acted as lightning rods that drew removal before the Sky Knight or Mantis Rider entered the field, and Mantis Rider usually got in a hit anyway as most of the time I happened to play him on a turn that my opponent was tapped out on.
I would absolutely never cut Mantis Rider, Reflector Mage, or Collected Company. They're the main sources of tempo swings that I needed in order to outrace when on the draw.
Disclaimer: I only got into Magic during Eldritch Moon, and this is the first modern deck that I've built and it was my first modern set of games against actual competitive decks. I know my sideboard is pretty awful, I'm working on getting some better options, but I wanted to give it a try with what I had (I focused on getting my main deck cards first).
Spells:
4x Champion of the Parish
4x Noble Hierarch
4x Thalia's Lieutenant
3x Skyship Plunderer
1x Mayor of Avabruk
2x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1x Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2x Lyev Skyknight
2x Renegade Rallier
4x Reflector Mage
4x Mantis Rider
4x Path to Exile
4x Collected Company
Lands:
4x Cavern of Souls
4x Flooded Strand
4x Windswept Heath
1x Breeding Pool
1x Sacred Foundry
3x Plains
3x Forest
1x Island
Sideboard:
- 3x Mana Leaks
- 1x Remand
- 1x Riders of Gavony
- 3x Soul Warden
- 4x Dromoka's Command
- 2x Meddling Mage
- 1x Archangel Avacyn
I went:
2-1 vs Bant Eldrazi (Lost dice roll)
2-1 vs G/W Tron (Won dice roll)
2-1 vs Grixis Delver (Lost dice roll)
Eldrazi was a difficult match. I sided in the riders of Gavony, but didn't draw into it. In the end, I lost game 1, won game 2 by just out tempoing my opponent with strong humans + bouncing a reality smasher with reflector mage. It looked like I was going to lose game 3 as well, but I got lucky with a double mantis rider Collected Company that swung it in my favour.
G/W Tron was pretty straightforward. I won turn 4 with an explosive start while he had trouble drawing into his lands and spent a lot of mana on searches. On game 2, I drew a slow start on the draw and got board cleared by an early Ugin. Game 3, he had the lands that he needed in his opening hand, but I started with Champion of the Parish, drew Thalia and played her on curve, delaying his third land. On turn 4 I played meddling mage, calling Ugin the Spirit Dragon, then won on turn 5.
I lost game 1 against Grixis when I drew nothing but a few 1 drops that kept dying to lightning bolt/fatal push/terminate + an overload of non-fetch lands + a renegade rallier while my opponent quickly summoned a Tassigur. On game 2, I managed to play threats faster than he could remove them with them and overwhelmed him. Game 3 was looking like game 1 did in the beginning, but this time when he tapped out to play fast 5/5 delve creatures, I had a reflector mage in hand the first time, and a collected company into double champion of the parish the second time. It ended in a race where Lyev Sky Knight stopped his blocker while my other creatures ended the game. Game 1 was totally my fault for not mulliganing.
Findings:
Renegade Rallier was close to dead in both games that I drew it, but both times that I drew it were games in which I didn't draw any fetch lands (Game 1 vs Eldrazi, Game 2 vs Grixis). It might be a sign that 8 fetches aren't enough to reliably trigger him. Perhaps replacing some of the basic lands with Arid Mesas would help if I were willing to pay for them.
Skyship Plunderer never did anything particularly amazing. He got through an attack that I otherwise wouldn't have been able to make against Eldrazi, but I'm not sure that the 2 damage was what won the game. It might be that Lyev Skyknight, Path to Exile, Thalia Heretic Cathar, and Reflector Mage are enough to get around blockers.
Both Thalias did much better than I expected them to, I might increase the count of them.
I didn't draw the Skyknight often, but when I did, it proved excellent when racing, detaining a larger blocker against both Tron and Grixis and allowing me to seal the game.
Lightning Bolt vulnerability was less of a problem than expected. The entire deck is boltable, and with Noble Hierarch, Champion of the Parish, and Thalia's Lieutenant being so threatening if unanswered, they usually acted as lightning rods that drew removal before the Sky Knight or Mantis Rider entered the field, and Mantis Rider usually got in a hit anyway as most of the time I happened to play him on a turn that my opponent was tapped out on.
I would absolutely never cut Mantis Rider, Reflector Mage, or Collected Company. They're the main sources of tempo swings that I needed in order to outrace when on the draw.
Disclaimer: I only got into Magic during Eldritch Moon, and this is the first modern deck that I've built and it was my first modern set of games against actual competitive decks. I know my sideboard is pretty awful, I'm working on getting some better options, but I wanted to give it a try with what I had (I focused on getting my main deck cards first).