Works been crazy and I apologise for my long absence lol i have a few other streams on there 1 pre and post horizons are my last two league 5-0s that can be found on mtggoldfish, see the matches on my channel! I hope y'all enjoy it
Hey guys and gals I'll be streaming the mtgo modern playoffs on azorius this Saturday at 11am est. It'll be a good look at the future of the modern meta probably best preview before SCGPITT and you'll get to see my derpy ass stumble through matches against some of mtgos best hope to see y'all Saturday, I'm in the process of giving the channel a facelift in preparation
Twitch.tv enigmaNJ
TTR is good as a one of, slim applications but he does those things well. I'm back on stonies over hurkyls so he's necessary for vs prison at the very least.
TTR has been very solid vs control, mid-range,and prison I think if he ends up sticking around (still not sold completely) I think we could sculpt the board to abuse his +1 also in azorius. 4 thalia is great. Most decks usually answer the first making having the second to follow up crucial. I have two flex slots that are usually some combo of 4th thalia/1-2 remorseful/image/copter. Depends what I expect. My lgs has half the scg leaderboard as regulars.
I've also been testing azorius with ghost quarter. The 2-1 and 1-2 split with mutavault have been performing the best. Helps against Tron/Titan decks/controls man lands/affinity variants etc. Also good as extra blood moon insurance, against decks like gds that are light on basics the ghost quarters become wastelands very easily which makes thalia better late game against them
The best extra removal spell to compliment path is Declaration in stone. It's like a cross between path and deputy, we don't care about the clues and against decks like gds/phoenix with only like 10 creatures it really shines. Also against humans, and most if not all creature decks.
I was rooming with Alan in cleveland, stony just isn't worth it with the current artifact decks in the meta, hurkyls fits our plan better as our main concern is ensnaring bridge. Hurkyls when timed correctly will also get the job done vs affinity variants.
5-4 in the main, was live for day two through round 7, I got paired against Kat light (on phoenix) and beat her so that was cool. I also finished 5-4 in the classic almost made t32. Good weekend overall gained good experience and made some new friends
on the play I would probably bring in chalice and damping sphere with disdainful stroke if you run that, dec in stone shines here especially with kataki, deals with wurmcoil and ulamog very well.
post your current sideboard and I can make a little cheat sheet for you, i would be bringing in chalice vs phoenix variants, gds, storm (on 2), vs storm I cut kira path and a vial, vs gds I'll cut 2 paths 1 drogskol, and one vial, for 3 chalice and 1 dec in stone (dec in stone is almost needed if youre playing chalice). phoenix variants, 1 drogskol, 1 vial, 1 path, for chalices, then I'll also add eidolon of rhetoric(s), Dec in stone, and one damping sphere if on the play, ill cut a thalia, 1-2 deputy, and either a selfless or an additional vial for them. It also depends if I see pyromancer ascension or not.
Hey guys, my name is Evan Berg I've been putting up results with Azorius spirits in both paper and mtgo leagues (EnigmaNJ).I most recently top 8d two IQs in the same weekend March 23/24 the deck feels amazing right now and actually well positioned going forward despite Bant still being the more popular variant. I started playing spirits about a month and a half before the KCI ban, I first picked azorius as the "budget version" more than anything but I quickly fell in love with the deck, I'd always wanted to play an aether vial deck so I was stoked I was planning on picking up nobles and cocos eventually to play bant, never happened because azorius was such a blast to play with rattlechains shenanigans and being almost like a tempo taxes that could hold its own in the format.
Enough about that though, I started with a mostly stock azorius list
4x mausoleum wanderer
3x paths
4x vial
4x chains
3x selfless
2x phantasmal
4x supreme
3x thalia, guardian
4x queller
4x captain
1x Kira (always loved her in the deck even pre deputy)
2x nebelgast herald (my tech against humans since it was top dog at the time, soo good)
Grinding leagues everyday that I could and hitting an SCG or some form of 1k on saturdays, I began testing other versions as the meta evolved, mtgo is always different than paper meta-wise, and I like being a little more creative on mtgo because of the ease of access to all cards. Here are a few different lists I posted 5-0 with and explanations to the card choices.
This was my first, and oddest of them all. Right after Guilds came out on mtgo I wanted to test some cards I'd been thinking about from guilds (tithe taker, forbidding spirit) as well as some sideboard options (Fragmentize, Eidolon of rhetoric, remand), Spirit of the labyrinth was also getting a test run as a 2-of in the mainboard. I think I benefited a lot from people not knowing about tithe taker, it has two very relevant abilities and is a pseudo two-for-one, figuratively good dead or alive lol. Forbidding Spirit was great against humans/spirits but the meta was beginning to shift, I keep him in the maybeboard binder, card is powerful, and in a version with phantasmals could be great in a creature intensive meta. Eidolon was great and stuck in the sideboard from then until now, almost a necessity against gds/phoenix and combo decks amongst others. Spirit of the labyrinth was a little too squishy at the time, however now that Phoenix is down to one gut shot main in izzet, I think it could be viable in the mainboard at this time.
I wanted another one drop creature, very badly lol, so after scouring gatherer for a few days I stumbled upon Siren Stormtsmer (I had not been playing magic at all during amonkhet, ixalan, and most of dominaria standards so I didn't know much about those sets. She was great in the briefly midrange/phoenix heavy meta that I was experiencing at this time,had flying evasion fittingly, and had a better turn aside stapled to her that didn't require tapping to activate. I still think shes a gem, and with dredge falling off a little in overall percentage I could see myself playing her in the 75 again sometime in the near future. Eidolon was also in the main as the influx phoenix continued.This was my first league with Deputy of Detention also, which has proven to become a staple in our deck as well as humans. I still think reflector is better for bant because of coco but DoD has been firmly slotted as a 2-3 of mainboard card for me ever since this league. Siren is also very playable. dovin ban was never seen and never really needed juries out there.
Curious obsession is great, I took this same list to t32 at the NJ regionals, when humans was still dominant this version felt ideal. With phoenix decks now all over, it isnt as good but if the meta shifts away I'll be playing this again. Hurkyl's was amazing out of the board, I was talking to an old friend who played fish in the past, I remembered the card during our chat he helped me identify the name. Its proven invaluable since and has become a staple in my board. Stony actually isnt that good right now so going forward I shifted my artifact to two hurkyl's or two and one kataki if I expect a lot of whir/affinity/tron. Alliance is also great if youre expecting a lot of burn/gds/amulet titan. Stroke has proven to be the best counterspell out of the board for Azorius in particular as in some matches we don't want to develop our board quickly which could be awkward with unified will. Stroke also covers/overlaps with queller almost ideally, just feels good overall, all-star against amulet titan/tron/combo can be used against gurmsg angler decks as well.
These are my most recent results, two IQs in one weeekend, topped both, went into the bernardsville IQ at top seed to boot. I also used this list at the philadelphia open and started 5-1 before variance took me out. Unfortunately I saw bad variance in both quarterfinal rounds of the Iqs as well and was unable to advance further.
remorseful cleric overperformed all weekend as I played against a lot of dredge, it allowed me to steal game ones on multiple occasions in what couldve easily been blowouts in those occasions had I not had it.
Declaration in stone is extremely good right now, I highly recommend it to combat humans/gds/phoenix/dredge/affinity/tron/amulet/mirrors sometimes giving the opponent a land with path feels really bad, dec in stone feels better and although sorcery speed it feels more like a two mana maelstrom pulse in white than anything most of the times you cast it, and being two mana it doesnt even feel bad as a 1-1, bonus synergy with kataki/hurkyls.
Chalice of the void is a very powerful addition I unfortunately did not play against many decks that it was good against that weekend so I felt like I had a 12 card sideboard for the majority of it, shoutout to therift on discord for being the mastermind behind it, I will be playing this version in larger events (with an additional cavern of souls) going forward. Chalice is incredibly well positioned in the current meta.
Going forward I've been experimenting with 3 captain and 2 kira in the mainboard and it has actually been performing very well as phoenix has taken over my local metagame pretty heavily. I am also exxperimenting with a full set of thalia in the mainboard as she is incredibly powerful right now and a key card in many matchups.
Thank you for skimming/reading I apologise for the length of this post, but I've been meaning to become more active on these forums for a while, and I wanted to share my experiences. You can look forward to normal sized posts in the future
Hey great showing and great post! I'm curious as to your Mulligan decisions, I'm still learning this version so any advice on mulls would be worth it's weight in gold. I play a simic Mana base with whirs but the majority of our decks overlap. thanks!
I've been having success with echoing truth in the sideboard..I'm also on the simic/whir build of the deck. Truth does triple duty in dealing with Stony/rip, chalice on 1, and creature matchups. It's a hose against mardu pyro, and can even catch humans off guard. The second piece of spice I've been experimenting with is hour of revelation, it's a planar cleansing effect that we can cast for triple white more often than the full www3, (costs www if there's a total of 10 or more nonlands on the field). The procedure is to cast, hold priority, crack chromatics/terrarions if need be for the www and allow it to resolve. If done this way you can get around the 10 nonlands clause, and still have a 3 Mana cleansing. Thoughts?
Twitch.tv enigmaNJ
List
http://www.starcitygames.com/decks/129143
Enough about that though, I started with a mostly stock azorius list
4x mausoleum wanderer
3x paths
4x vial
4x chains
3x selfless
2x phantasmal
4x supreme
3x thalia, guardian
4x queller
4x captain
1x Kira (always loved her in the deck even pre deputy)
2x nebelgast herald (my tech against humans since it was top dog at the time, soo good)
Grinding leagues everyday that I could and hitting an SCG or some form of 1k on saturdays, I began testing other versions as the meta evolved, mtgo is always different than paper meta-wise, and I like being a little more creative on mtgo because of the ease of access to all cards. Here are a few different lists I posted 5-0 with and explanations to the card choices.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1597839#paper
This was my first, and oddest of them all. Right after Guilds came out on mtgo I wanted to test some cards I'd been thinking about from guilds (tithe taker, forbidding spirit) as well as some sideboard options (Fragmentize, Eidolon of rhetoric, remand), Spirit of the labyrinth was also getting a test run as a 2-of in the mainboard. I think I benefited a lot from people not knowing about tithe taker, it has two very relevant abilities and is a pseudo two-for-one, figuratively good dead or alive lol. Forbidding Spirit was great against humans/spirits but the meta was beginning to shift, I keep him in the maybeboard binder, card is powerful, and in a version with phantasmals could be great in a creature intensive meta. Eidolon was great and stuck in the sideboard from then until now, almost a necessity against gds/phoenix and combo decks amongst others. Spirit of the labyrinth was a little too squishy at the time, however now that Phoenix is down to one gut shot main in izzet, I think it could be viable in the mainboard at this time.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1635688#paper
I wanted another one drop creature, very badly lol, so after scouring gatherer for a few days I stumbled upon Siren Stormtsmer (I had not been playing magic at all during amonkhet, ixalan, and most of dominaria standards so I didn't know much about those sets. She was great in the briefly midrange/phoenix heavy meta that I was experiencing at this time,had flying evasion fittingly, and had a better turn aside stapled to her that didn't require tapping to activate. I still think shes a gem, and with dredge falling off a little in overall percentage I could see myself playing her in the 75 again sometime in the near future. Eidolon was also in the main as the influx phoenix continued.This was my first league with Deputy of Detention also, which has proven to become a staple in our deck as well as humans. I still think reflector is better for bant because of coco but DoD has been firmly slotted as a 2-3 of mainboard card for me ever since this league. Siren is also very playable. dovin ban was never seen and never really needed juries out there.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1673915#paper
Curious obsession is great, I took this same list to t32 at the NJ regionals, when humans was still dominant this version felt ideal. With phoenix decks now all over, it isnt as good but if the meta shifts away I'll be playing this again. Hurkyl's was amazing out of the board, I was talking to an old friend who played fish in the past, I remembered the card during our chat he helped me identify the name. Its proven invaluable since and has become a staple in my board. Stony actually isnt that good right now so going forward I shifted my artifact to two hurkyl's or two and one kataki if I expect a lot of whir/affinity/tron. Alliance is also great if youre expecting a lot of burn/gds/amulet titan. Stroke has proven to be the best counterspell out of the board for Azorius in particular as in some matches we don't want to develop our board quickly which could be awkward with unified will. Stroke also covers/overlaps with queller almost ideally, just feels good overall, all-star against amulet titan/tron/combo can be used against gurmsg angler decks as well.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1744059#paper
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1742479#paper
These are my most recent results, two IQs in one weeekend, topped both, went into the bernardsville IQ at top seed to boot. I also used this list at the philadelphia open and started 5-1 before variance took me out. Unfortunately I saw bad variance in both quarterfinal rounds of the Iqs as well and was unable to advance further.
remorseful cleric overperformed all weekend as I played against a lot of dredge, it allowed me to steal game ones on multiple occasions in what couldve easily been blowouts in those occasions had I not had it.
Declaration in stone is extremely good right now, I highly recommend it to combat humans/gds/phoenix/dredge/affinity/tron/amulet/mirrors sometimes giving the opponent a land with path feels really bad, dec in stone feels better and although sorcery speed it feels more like a two mana maelstrom pulse in white than anything most of the times you cast it, and being two mana it doesnt even feel bad as a 1-1, bonus synergy with kataki/hurkyls.
Chalice of the void is a very powerful addition I unfortunately did not play against many decks that it was good against that weekend so I felt like I had a 12 card sideboard for the majority of it, shoutout to therift on discord for being the mastermind behind it, I will be playing this version in larger events (with an additional cavern of souls) going forward. Chalice is incredibly well positioned in the current meta.
Going forward I've been experimenting with 3 captain and 2 kira in the mainboard and it has actually been performing very well as phoenix has taken over my local metagame pretty heavily. I am also exxperimenting with a full set of thalia in the mainboard as she is incredibly powerful right now and a key card in many matchups.
Thank you for skimming/reading I apologise for the length of this post, but I've been meaning to become more active on these forums for a while, and I wanted to share my experiences. You can look forward to normal sized posts in the future