Just (potentially) getting into pioneer, and I like this deck because it is the complete opposite of what I do in modern. New play experiences are cool.
I have a list, but I'm still not familiar enough with the format to know what's good and what isn't.
I’m trying to make a Karn list. A few questions for those who have played it:
- The idea is to get a 4-drop walker down on T2 as often as possible. Right now I’m on elf-sprawl because the Leyline builds seem like there’s too much a difference between hands with and without the line. This accurate? Is the power of the good hands worth it?
- is taking a cue from other turbo-Karn decks and playing spirit guides a good idea?
- I’m thinking about Chandra, Torch of Defiance as a backup threat to Karn. She ramps and draws cards, but doesn’t end the game super fast. Is there a better way to end games in this deck? Does it even need anything other than Karn?
Displacer is the stronger card, but that takes the deck into four "colors" as WUGC, which might be too much. Also I like the idea of bouncing a wolfbriar or something in response to a sweeper, because otherwise this deck gets bodied by them.
(Not that it's actually any good, or that I have the cards to play it...)
This is far from the best take on G Devotion, but it's so janky I want to try it out. The idea being to make a bunch of wolves, abuse ETB triggers with Temur Sabertooth, and win with Craterhoof or a Garruk Ult. That or Broko.
Basically the point of this is to abuse persist + great henge as much as possible. Creatures persisting back triggers the henge, and cancels the -1/-1 counter, which is good, so I threw in Temur Sabertooth to further trigger henge and reuse ETB triggers.
Heyo everyone. I went 3-4 in an MCQ. 57th of 124 is not the most exciting finish, but it was still fun and I learned some things.
Wins vs Bogles (2-0), Grixis Control(2-0), and Izzet Phoenix(2-0).
Losses vs Kiln Fiend(0-2), Bant Stoneforge Eldrazi(0-2), Titanshift(1-2), and Burn(1-2).
I made play mistakes at least twice. Vs. Eldrazi I had the chance to kill Eldrazi Displacer vs play Prime Time. I played primetime, and the Displacer stopped him from doing much of anything. Vs. Titanshift in game 3 I knew he was going to play Mwonvuli Acid-Moss, so I held up mana to call instead of playing overgrowth. What I should have done is called and played an arbor elf, so I had more mana to rebuild with later. That game was long, and came down to my opponent topdecking better than me, so that misplay definitely cost me the match. Oh well. Only way to get better is to play.
Changes to Deck:
- Move the mainboard Scooze to the side. I like having two of them, but graveyard decks are not so fast nor so prevalent anymore to warrant its inclusion in the main. I won't auto-lose game 1 without it.
- Replace Thragtusk and Champion with Kitchen Finks. Two of my losses (and both where bad play on my part was not involved) were to aggressive red decks. I was not stoked about either of those cards. Thragtusk sometimes isn't fast enough when opponents are bolting arbor elf, and these decks do not play enough creatures for Champion to shine. Sure, it's hard to get rid of, but so is finks, while being more immediately impactful.
- I wouldn't mind finding room for another Voracious Hydra or Knight of Autumn in the 75.
- There was a game I lost due to being gated on green b/c of blast zone, but there was another where I knocked off Slippery Bogle, Gladecover Scout, Ethereal Armor, and Rancor the same turn I dropped the zone, thanks to Garruk. I think the card is still worth the include, though it is not without risk. This has, however, convinced me not to up my non-forest count. Four is plenty.
- I still don't now if Shifting Ceratops is good or not. Didn't run into the matchups it's there for.
However, with Throne about to drop, I will try to modify the deck further with Once Upon a Time and Questing Beast. I think Once is a 3- or 4- of, and will be a huge consistency boost to a deck that needs to run a large number of mana dorks but hates seeing them late game. Questing Beast will be added to the tutor package, probably in the main. It is possible, if that card is good enough at hating out stupid planeswalkers, that I could drop Fiery Justice in favor of it and more Voracious Hydra. I'd rather have more creatures, but Justice gets the nod for now becuase it can answer both swarm creatures and T3feri. Post-ELD, I may be able to accomplish that via the toolbox alone, which makes Call that much better.
Or I could drop tooth and nail entirely and play 3 titans, 2-3 hydra, and 1-2 big eldrazi as the top end of a dedicated toolbox deck. Maybe throw in a few chords or pacts. If I build this version, I'd consider The Great Henge as a late game value engine.
~
One of the other two guys from my shop who came down here made top 8. He's a great player, lots of respect for him. We don't get tournaments of this size around here very often, So I'm glad he did well.
This might be a lot of post for a decidedly middle-of-the-pack result, but I had fun and won't get to play another event like this for some time, so I thought I'd make the most of it.
About Throne spoilers:
I like that this set (and probably Theros as well) are about monocolor play. Hopefully we get something cool. What I'm most interested in at the moment is the cycle of lands with basic types that enter untapped if you have 3 others, and give an effect. We haven't seen a green one yet, and the downside of ETB tapped early might not be worth it, but I want to see what it does.
The last two weeks I have gone 1-2 and 3-0 with my Naya Call Tooth list. The first week I beat storm, lost to Tron, then lost to Esper Shadow (I got greedy and didn't play around Stubborn Denial when I should have, which cost me the match.)
Tonight I got the bye, then beat UW control, then beat Humans. Didn't drop a single game.
After a few tweaks, here's the list as it stands now.
Given that the format is full of Force of Negation, and my shop is full of Stubborn Denial, I decided to replace Nissa, Vital Force with more creatures. Her roles were recursion and haste threat, which has been split up between Eternal Witness and Shifting Ceratops. I played the dinosaur in the side tonight - only because I pulled it out of a pack and don't have a 4th Veil of Summer - but it over-performed. Trying in the main as to give call a haste target. The fact that it bodies humans and spirits is just gravy.
On the subject of Noble Hierarch tribal decks, they may come back now that they can't just be out-aggro'd by Hogaak and co. Between mainboard Voracious Hydra, Shifting Ceratops, and Fiery Justice, and sideboard Magus of the Moon, I should have no trouble with them. Tonight, hydra ate a Noble and a Gaddock Teeg, while Ceratops held down the fort. Also, calling hydra in response to meddling mage on call was fun.
As cool as Llanowar Tribe is, I think sticking to Garruk is what makes this deck work. Not needing GGG on turn two lets me do things like run Fiery Justice and a Blast Zone. Tonight, I ticked the Zone up to 3 after my UW opponent put two Overgrowths under Detention Sphere, then let it sit there daring him to cast a sword, Teferi, or Monastery Mentor.
What I'm expecting are KarnTCG decks (Tron and Whirza), Control and midrange decks trying Stoneforge, Humans and Spirits coming back with less Awoken Horror in the format, Monastery Swiftspear, and graveyard decks possibly jamming Burning Inquiry. I think this setup covers the bases, but I'd like to know what you guys think.
@Deruvid
Rhythm is a strong card, but I am specifically looking for something to hit with Eladamri's Call.
@Curdbros
How good has blast zone been for you? I'm wondering if I should put one in my deck. I have plenty of titans to fetch it with, but also intensive colored-mana requirements, though less so since I'm on Garruk over Tribe
Wayward Swordtooth
I made the same mistake, my whole post was full of references to Ravenous Hydra for a while. That's not a thing.
Anyway,
Currently I run a singleton Nissa, Vital Force in my Eladamri's Call list. She fills a dual role of recursion and haste threat, but the fact that I can't call her means I might just want to split her into an Eternal Witness and a haste threat somewhere in the 75. This is most often relevant against a control player that tapped low on their turn for a walker or a verdict, and I want to punish them for it.
Mistcutter Hydra and Shifting Ceratops
+ Protection from blue has extra utility in the matchup.
+ Both are mana sinks
- Pro blue doesn't do as much as I'd like. The protection stops them from getting bounced, but not pathed, settled, or verdicted.
Ravager Wurm
+ Big
+ Easy to get 2-for-1 by either fighting a creature+attack a walker, or attack walker+destroy Colonnade.
+ More utility in other matchups.
- Calling it requires 8 mana and is color-intensive.
- No evasion or protection.
Gaea's Revenge
+ Lots of Power
+ Hard to get rid of.
- Expensive.
- No trample.
Bloodbraid Elf
+ Not that expensive
- Green Devotion has a lot of poor cascade hits.
Vengevine
+ Recursive threats have tons of utility in other matchups.
- Play pattern makes me worried about overextending into verdict.
- Can't do anything stupid with it w/out discard outlets.
Grand Warlord Radha
+ Makes mana
- Not sure the deck goes wide enough to make good use of the ability.
That seems like most of the relevant haste creatures for us. I am leaning towards Ravager Wurm or Shifting Ceratops as of now, but I'd like to hear what you guys think. Did I miss any I should consider?
To answer the question about lands from earlier, seems like there's not much a reason to play Peatland or Grove when you could just play Horizon Canopy and stay in color, but beyond that, Blast Zone or Ghost Quarter/Field of Ruin. Gavony Township is also a card, but maybe not the right fit for this deck.
Without Prime Time in the deck, can you consistently find these utility lands?
How has Gaddock Teeg worked for you? What matchups do you like to bring him in for?
Pretty much the same stuff I've been doing for a while, but with some tweaks to the toolbox and the addition of Fiery Justice as a removal spell. It is definitely unorthodox and taxing on my mana, but I was impressed with the card all night. For a WRG deck that doesn't care about the opponent's life total, The card offers huge flexibility at taking down creature swarms, early mana dorks, and planeswalkers alike.
I switched back to Garruk over Kiora and Tribe to give myself a little more grind. It worked out pretty well for me.
There were only 4 people there, so we all played each other.
R1 vs Tron
G1 was long and back-and forth, and I almost threw it away misplaying an Emrakul, the Promised End trigger, but I managed to get back in the game by reanimating World Breaker. I used my Giver of Runes to keep the big eldrazi alive for long enough to finish the game.
G2 An early Magus of the Moon slowed him down. I played a Titan, let him spend his turn using O-stone on it and the magus, then Entwined a T&N.
2-0, 1-0
Generally felt pretty happy with my side boarding for this match. Between 3 Damping Spheres and an assortment of Call targets, it it hard for a tron player to keep their lands assembled in post-board games.
R2 vs UW control
G1 I stuck an early Garruk and made a few beasties for value. The fun part was Fiery Justice killing a Teferi, Time Ravelerand Wall of Omens. Opponent was not expecting that, and eventually died to the unanswered Garruk.
G2 Got locked out by Teferi + Knowledge Pool. Oof.
G3 was long and complicated, and one of the funnest games I've played in a while. Early in the game, I lost a counter war - Garruk>Dovin's Veto>Veil of Summer>Force of Negation pitching Supreme Verdict, but the fact that my opponent had used so many cards allowed me to land a titan, get wolf run, and attack him down to 4 before the titan got hit with another verdict. Later this game I justice'd his Teferi, got it countered by a hardcast force, so I just threw a second justice and cleared the walker. Won that game with Gaddock Teeg and Kessig Wolf Run, with my opponent out of answers.
4-1, 2-0
This is not the best matchup for me, but I retooled the deck to fight it better. Veil of Summer is very good, and Garruk over Kiora or Tribe helps here. Whether this was a fluke or a sign that this is a better matchup, I can't tell yet.
It should be noted that I cast Thrun in game two, and he got eaten by Spell Queller.
R3 vs Bant value Tooth and Nail
This is the first time I've run into another T&N player in the wild, though his approach was much different from mine. He had Xenagos+Aeons Torn, but also Iona+Painter's Servant out of the board, Knight of the Reliquary, Countermagic, Primal Command+Ewit, and Grand Architect+Pili-pala. I like the idea of playing a value-oriented game, but this list felt like it had too many 2-ofs and needed some focusing.
G1 I die to fast Tooth and Nail.
G2 He dies to fast Tooth and Nail.
G3 we did standard green devotion stuff for the first few turns. After his 3rd turn he had Arbor Elf, Sprawl, Garruk, and a beast token. I justice'd away the Garruk and Elf, but he plays another Garruk. I landed a Garruk of my own, then called Knight of Autumn to get rid of the Sprawl and stop him from going off. My next draw was Hydra, which was a 15/16 and ate his only creature. GG.
Not a lot to mention in this matchup, which is obviously not one I prepared for. I brought in two Veils because I knew he would board in counters, but never saw or needed them in the other games.
6-2, 3-0.
Post-game thoughts:
1) Calling a creature generally means that it will come down one turn after it would if drawn naturally, so Call is better finding hatebears than big beaters, as cheap creatures can still be deployed reasonably quickly. The highest CMC I played in my call-board tonight was 4, and I relied on Titan (and Ravenous Hydra) to bring the heavy hits.
2) I didn't see Nissa all night. She fills two roles in the deck: reanimator and haste threat, but the fact that I can't call her means she should probably just be an eternal witness. I could put a haste creature like Ravager Wurm or something in the sideboard.
3) Fiery Justice was crazy good. Strains my mana, yes, but i'm not sure I care.
4) Creatures I liked: Voracious Hydra, World Breaker, Knight of Autumn, Giver of Runes.
Creatures I'm not sure about: Loaming Shaman, Thrun, Gaddock Teeg.
Anyway, let me know with any comments or suggestions.
If I were to use Fiend Artisan to sac a Woodfall Primus, grabbing a Restoration Angel, would primus be back on the battlefield when the angel's ETB resolves?
Thanks
Problem with those builds is that they didn't work well if your opener doesn't have a leyline. This might be a fix.
Just (potentially) getting into pioneer, and I like this deck because it is the complete opposite of what I do in modern. New play experiences are cool.
I have a list, but I'm still not familiar enough with the format to know what's good and what isn't.
3 Tireless Tracker
1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
1 Murderous Rider
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Walking Ballista
1 World Breaker
4 Thoughtseize
3 Fatal Push
1 Sign in Blood
2 Abrupt Decay
3 Assassin's Trophy
1 Read the Bones
1 Vraska's Contempt
2 Languish
3 Dark Petition
1 Seasons Past
1 Vraska, Relic Seeker
3 Fabled Passage
3 Blooming Marsh
2 Temple of Malady
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Hissing Quagmire
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Castle Locthwain
2 Field of Ruin
1 Blast Zone
4 Forest
5 Swamp
2 Lovestruck Beast
3 Shifting Ceratops
1 Sorcerous Spyglass
2 Broken Bond
1 The Elderspell
1 Golgari Charm
1 Crypt Incursion
2 Ashiok, Dream Render
1 Casualties of War
- The idea is to get a 4-drop walker down on T2 as often as possible. Right now I’m on elf-sprawl because the Leyline builds seem like there’s too much a difference between hands with and without the line. This accurate? Is the power of the good hands worth it?
- is taking a cue from other turbo-Karn decks and playing spirit guides a good idea?
- I’m thinking about Chandra, Torch of Defiance as a backup threat to Karn. She ramps and draws cards, but doesn’t end the game super fast. Is there a better way to end games in this deck? Does it even need anything other than Karn?
Thanks
Had not thought of that.
Displacer is the stronger card, but that takes the deck into four "colors" as WUGC, which might be too much. Also I like the idea of bouncing a wolfbriar or something in response to a sweeper, because otherwise this deck gets bodied by them.
(Not that it's actually any good, or that I have the cards to play it...)
It got me thinking, what if we took the wolf thing further?
Bant Wolves
4 Utopia Sprawl
2 Birds of Paradise
2 Gilded Goose
4 Oko, Thief of Crowns
4 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Nightpack Ambusher
3 Wolfbriar Elemental
2 Tolsimir, Friend to Wolves
4 Eladamri's Call
2 Temur Sabertooth
1 Frilled Mystic
1 Acidic Slime
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
2 Breeding Pool
2 Temple Garden
6 Green Fetch
8 Forest
This is far from the best take on G Devotion, but it's so janky I want to try it out. The idea being to make a bunch of wolves, abuse ETB triggers with Temur Sabertooth, and win with Craterhoof or a Garruk Ult. That or Broko.
Great Henge-Powered Nonsense
4 Utopia Sprawl
3 Overgrowth
4 Garruk Wildspeaker
4 Eladamri's Call
2 Vivien, Arkbow Ranger
3 The Great Henge
3 Kitchen Finks
1 Temur Sabertooth
3 Voracious Hydra
3 Woodfall Primus
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
6 Green Fetch
2 Temple Garden
1 Stomping Ground
7 Forest
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Blast Zone
Sideboard is extra creatures to be fetched with Call or Vivien, Hornet Queen, Scavenging Ooze, etc.
Basically the point of this is to abuse persist + great henge as much as possible. Creatures persisting back triggers the henge, and cancels the -1/-1 counter, which is good, so I threw in Temur Sabertooth to further trigger henge and reuse ETB triggers.
Wins vs Bogles (2-0), Grixis Control(2-0), and Izzet Phoenix(2-0).
Losses vs Kiln Fiend(0-2), Bant Stoneforge Eldrazi(0-2), Titanshift(1-2), and Burn(1-2).
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Overgrowth
3 Garruk Wildspeaker
3 Primeval Titan
3 Tooth and Nail
1 Xenagos, God of Revels
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
4 Eladamri's Call
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Eternal Witness
1 Knight of Autumn
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Voracious Hydra
2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Blast Zone
2 Temple Garden
2 Stomping Ground
4 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
7 Forest
Side
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Collector Ouphe
1 Auriok Champion
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Shifting Ceratops
1 Thragtusk
1 World Breaker
2 Damping Sphere
I made play mistakes at least twice. Vs. Eldrazi I had the chance to kill Eldrazi Displacer vs play Prime Time. I played primetime, and the Displacer stopped him from doing much of anything. Vs. Titanshift in game 3 I knew he was going to play Mwonvuli Acid-Moss, so I held up mana to call instead of playing overgrowth. What I should have done is called and played an arbor elf, so I had more mana to rebuild with later. That game was long, and came down to my opponent topdecking better than me, so that misplay definitely cost me the match. Oh well. Only way to get better is to play.
Changes to Deck:
- Move the mainboard Scooze to the side. I like having two of them, but graveyard decks are not so fast nor so prevalent anymore to warrant its inclusion in the main. I won't auto-lose game 1 without it.
- Replace Thragtusk and Champion with Kitchen Finks. Two of my losses (and both where bad play on my part was not involved) were to aggressive red decks. I was not stoked about either of those cards. Thragtusk sometimes isn't fast enough when opponents are bolting arbor elf, and these decks do not play enough creatures for Champion to shine. Sure, it's hard to get rid of, but so is finks, while being more immediately impactful.
- I wouldn't mind finding room for another Voracious Hydra or Knight of Autumn in the 75.
- There was a game I lost due to being gated on green b/c of blast zone, but there was another where I knocked off Slippery Bogle, Gladecover Scout, Ethereal Armor, and Rancor the same turn I dropped the zone, thanks to Garruk. I think the card is still worth the include, though it is not without risk. This has, however, convinced me not to up my non-forest count. Four is plenty.
- I still don't now if Shifting Ceratops is good or not. Didn't run into the matchups it's there for.
However, with Throne about to drop, I will try to modify the deck further with Once Upon a Time and Questing Beast. I think Once is a 3- or 4- of, and will be a huge consistency boost to a deck that needs to run a large number of mana dorks but hates seeing them late game. Questing Beast will be added to the tutor package, probably in the main. It is possible, if that card is good enough at hating out stupid planeswalkers, that I could drop Fiery Justice in favor of it and more Voracious Hydra. I'd rather have more creatures, but Justice gets the nod for now becuase it can answer both swarm creatures and T3feri. Post-ELD, I may be able to accomplish that via the toolbox alone, which makes Call that much better.
Or I could drop tooth and nail entirely and play 3 titans, 2-3 hydra, and 1-2 big eldrazi as the top end of a dedicated toolbox deck. Maybe throw in a few chords or pacts. If I build this version, I'd consider The Great Henge as a late game value engine.
~
One of the other two guys from my shop who came down here made top 8. He's a great player, lots of respect for him. We don't get tournaments of this size around here very often, So I'm glad he did well.
This might be a lot of post for a decidedly middle-of-the-pack result, but I had fun and won't get to play another event like this for some time, so I thought I'd make the most of it.
I like that this set (and probably Theros as well) are about monocolor play. Hopefully we get something cool. What I'm most interested in at the moment is the cycle of lands with basic types that enter untapped if you have 3 others, and give an effect. We haven't seen a green one yet, and the downside of ETB tapped early might not be worth it, but I want to see what it does.
The last two weeks I have gone 1-2 and 3-0 with my Naya Call Tooth list. The first week I beat storm, lost to Tron, then lost to Esper Shadow (I got greedy and didn't play around Stubborn Denial when I should have, which cost me the match.)
Tonight I got the bye, then beat UW control, then beat Humans. Didn't drop a single game.
After a few tweaks, here's the list as it stands now.
4 Arbor Elf
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Overgrowth
3 Garruk Wildspeaker
3 Primeval Titan
3 Tooth and Nail
1 Xenagos, God of Revels
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
4 Eladamri's Call
1 Giver of Runes
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Shifting Ceratops
1 Voracious Hydra
1 World Breaker
2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Blast Zone
2 Temple Garden
2 Stomping Ground
4 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
7 Forest
Side
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Collector Ouphe
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Eternal Witness
1 Knight of Autumn
2 Thragtusk
2 Damping Sphere
1 Giver of Runes
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Voracious Hydra
1 World Breaker
2 Collector Ouphe
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Knight of Autumn
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Shifting Ceratops
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
3 Damping Sphere
What I'm expecting are KarnTCG decks (Tron and Whirza), Control and midrange decks trying Stoneforge, Humans and Spirits coming back with less Awoken Horror in the format, Monastery Swiftspear, and graveyard decks possibly jamming Burning Inquiry. I think this setup covers the bases, but I'd like to know what you guys think.
Rhythm is a strong card, but I am specifically looking for something to hit with Eladamri's Call.
@Curdbros
How good has blast zone been for you? I'm wondering if I should put one in my deck. I have plenty of titans to fetch it with, but also intensive colored-mana requirements, though less so since I'm on Garruk over Tribe
Wayward Swordtooth
I made the same mistake, my whole post was full of references to Ravenous Hydra for a while. That's not a thing.
Anyway,
Currently I run a singleton Nissa, Vital Force in my Eladamri's Call list. She fills a dual role of recursion and haste threat, but the fact that I can't call her means I might just want to split her into an Eternal Witness and a haste threat somewhere in the 75. This is most often relevant against a control player that tapped low on their turn for a walker or a verdict, and I want to punish them for it.
Mistcutter Hydra and Shifting Ceratops
+ Protection from blue has extra utility in the matchup.
+ Both are mana sinks
- Pro blue doesn't do as much as I'd like. The protection stops them from getting bounced, but not pathed, settled, or verdicted.
Ravager Wurm
+ Big
+ Easy to get 2-for-1 by either fighting a creature+attack a walker, or attack walker+destroy Colonnade.
+ More utility in other matchups.
- Calling it requires 8 mana and is color-intensive.
- No evasion or protection.
Gaea's Revenge
+ Lots of Power
+ Hard to get rid of.
- Expensive.
- No trample.
Bloodbraid Elf
+ Not that expensive
- Green Devotion has a lot of poor cascade hits.
Vengevine
+ Recursive threats have tons of utility in other matchups.
- Play pattern makes me worried about overextending into verdict.
- Can't do anything stupid with it w/out discard outlets.
Gruul Spellbreaker
+ Shuts down Settle the Wreckage
+ Trample
- Not sure what else that ability is good for.
Regisaur Alpha
+ Two bodies.
- Just a dumb beater.
Grand Warlord Radha
+ Makes mana
- Not sure the deck goes wide enough to make good use of the ability.
That seems like most of the relevant haste creatures for us. I am leaning towards Ravager Wurm or Shifting Ceratops as of now, but I'd like to hear what you guys think. Did I miss any I should consider?
Veil of Summer is excellent.
To answer the question about lands from earlier, seems like there's not much a reason to play Peatland or Grove when you could just play Horizon Canopy and stay in color, but beyond that, Blast Zone or Ghost Quarter/Field of Ruin. Gavony Township is also a card, but maybe not the right fit for this deck.
Without Prime Time in the deck, can you consistently find these utility lands?
How has Gaddock Teeg worked for you? What matchups do you like to bring him in for?
4 Arbor Elf
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Overgrowth
3 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Nissa, Vital Force
3 Primeval Titan
3 Tooth and Nail
1 Xenagos, God of Revels
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
4 Eladamri's Call
1 Giver of Runes
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Voracious Hydra
1 World Breaker
2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Kessig Wolf Run
2 Temple Garden
2 Stomping Ground
4 Windswept Heath
2 Wooded Foothills
8 Forest
Side
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Collector Ouphe
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Loaming Shaman
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Knight of Autumn
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
3 Veil of Summer
3 Damping Sphere
Pretty much the same stuff I've been doing for a while, but with some tweaks to the toolbox and the addition of Fiery Justice as a removal spell. It is definitely unorthodox and taxing on my mana, but I was impressed with the card all night. For a WRG deck that doesn't care about the opponent's life total, The card offers huge flexibility at taking down creature swarms, early mana dorks, and planeswalkers alike.
I switched back to Garruk over Kiora and Tribe to give myself a little more grind. It worked out pretty well for me.
There were only 4 people there, so we all played each other.
R1 vs Tron
G1 was long and back-and forth, and I almost threw it away misplaying an Emrakul, the Promised End trigger, but I managed to get back in the game by reanimating World Breaker. I used my Giver of Runes to keep the big eldrazi alive for long enough to finish the game.
G2 An early Magus of the Moon slowed him down. I played a Titan, let him spend his turn using O-stone on it and the magus, then Entwined a T&N.
2-0, 1-0
Generally felt pretty happy with my side boarding for this match. Between 3 Damping Spheres and an assortment of Call targets, it it hard for a tron player to keep their lands assembled in post-board games.
R2 vs UW control
G1 I stuck an early Garruk and made a few beasties for value. The fun part was Fiery Justice killing a Teferi, Time Ravelerand Wall of Omens. Opponent was not expecting that, and eventually died to the unanswered Garruk.
G2 Got locked out by Teferi + Knowledge Pool. Oof.
G3 was long and complicated, and one of the funnest games I've played in a while. Early in the game, I lost a counter war - Garruk>Dovin's Veto>Veil of Summer>Force of Negation pitching Supreme Verdict, but the fact that my opponent had used so many cards allowed me to land a titan, get wolf run, and attack him down to 4 before the titan got hit with another verdict. Later this game I justice'd his Teferi, got it countered by a hardcast force, so I just threw a second justice and cleared the walker. Won that game with Gaddock Teeg and Kessig Wolf Run, with my opponent out of answers.
4-1, 2-0
This is not the best matchup for me, but I retooled the deck to fight it better. Veil of Summer is very good, and Garruk over Kiora or Tribe helps here. Whether this was a fluke or a sign that this is a better matchup, I can't tell yet.
It should be noted that I cast Thrun in game two, and he got eaten by Spell Queller.
R3 vs Bant value Tooth and Nail
This is the first time I've run into another T&N player in the wild, though his approach was much different from mine. He had Xenagos+Aeons Torn, but also Iona+Painter's Servant out of the board, Knight of the Reliquary, Countermagic, Primal Command+Ewit, and Grand Architect+Pili-pala. I like the idea of playing a value-oriented game, but this list felt like it had too many 2-ofs and needed some focusing.
G1 I die to fast Tooth and Nail.
G2 He dies to fast Tooth and Nail.
G3 we did standard green devotion stuff for the first few turns. After his 3rd turn he had Arbor Elf, Sprawl, Garruk, and a beast token. I justice'd away the Garruk and Elf, but he plays another Garruk. I landed a Garruk of my own, then called Knight of Autumn to get rid of the Sprawl and stop him from going off. My next draw was Hydra, which was a 15/16 and ate his only creature. GG.
Not a lot to mention in this matchup, which is obviously not one I prepared for. I brought in two Veils because I knew he would board in counters, but never saw or needed them in the other games.
6-2, 3-0.
Post-game thoughts:
1) Calling a creature generally means that it will come down one turn after it would if drawn naturally, so Call is better finding hatebears than big beaters, as cheap creatures can still be deployed reasonably quickly. The highest CMC I played in my call-board tonight was 4, and I relied on Titan (and Ravenous Hydra) to bring the heavy hits.
2) I didn't see Nissa all night. She fills two roles in the deck: reanimator and haste threat, but the fact that I can't call her means she should probably just be an eternal witness. I could put a haste creature like Ravager Wurm or something in the sideboard.
3) Fiery Justice was crazy good. Strains my mana, yes, but i'm not sure I care.
4) Creatures I liked: Voracious Hydra, World Breaker, Knight of Autumn, Giver of Runes.
Creatures I'm not sure about: Loaming Shaman, Thrun, Gaddock Teeg.
Anyway, let me know with any comments or suggestions.