I don't think is as competitive as other Taxes build but I enjoy brewing things and I wasn't really happy with other RW lists that I have seen before. I only played this in Xmage but it was really fun and better than I expected.
I wanted to fill the deck with a lot of must-answer threats that red provides: Grim Lavamancer, Goblin Rabblemaster and Pia and Kiran Nalaar will win the long game if they are left unchecked. Thanks to protection blinks, Thalia and of course Moon Man this happens quite often. Ajani Vengeant fills the taxing plan while also being a win condition by itself. Really, T3 Moon Man followed by T4 Ajani to start tapping out opponent is huge. 6 removal spells + Ajani's Helix + Flickerwisp + Pia makes combat really easy to attack with a huge Rabblemaster to close the game faster than in other builds
Pia Nalaar it's okay. By itself is worse than Blade Splicer, but flying tokens + mana sink + utility for topdecked Aether Vials makes her pretty good. Dire Fleet Daredevil was a little bit dissapointing.
As for SB, having access to 10 removal spells + 2 sweepers against creature decks is huge. Anger is worse than Settle but the -1 mana cost and the backup plan for RiP against Dredge convinced me to play it. As for Hazoret and Chandra, they're just another difficult to remove threat that can win the game alone, for grindy matchups. Maybe they even can make the cut to MB by cutting Ajani or P&K.
I just wanted to share this list and ask for your thoughts. I would be very pleased if someone tests it and has the blast that I had online with this list.
Hi guys! I found this post and the deck inmediately caught my attention. I have some of the pieces (read: manabase, Settle, some blink creatures) so I tested it in Xmage and fell in love. I'm going to build it on paper so I wanted to share my list and see what do you think of what can I improve.
Some notes:
- I prefer Champion of Wits over Court Hussar. Opinions are welcome here but I don't like the latter and Champion worked amazing in my testing.
- I wasn't impressed by Lone Missionary at first sight but is better than it looks.
- I like Resto an Clique. A lot. They improve matches when you need to be aggro and break board stalls. I think it's important to have something that speeds up the clock since I'm going to play at my LGS and I want to win, not to draw. The deck is fun and strong against some decks, but opponents aren't going to concede so I need to close the game.
- The sweepers split seems ok. Gearhulk in SB as 4th Wrath also looks fine with Emeria but I couldn't test it.
Now, some questions:
- Is the Crucible of Worlds package worth it? If so, what should I cut? I should go with +2 Field of Ruin, +1 Ghost Quarter and +1 Crucible of Worlds, but what -3 lands and -1 spell should I cut?
- My sideboard is a mess. I tried to build it with cards that I've got to make the initial investment a little bit cheaper. I'm not impressed by Damping Sphere. I understand that combo and Tron are horrible, but I don't think the deck pressures enough to make the artifact as impactful as it is in, i.e. Bant Spirits. Clique and Resto help to fix this but maybe is not enough.
- What about GY hate? I really dislike Tormod's Crypt and Ravenous Trap. What about a transformative plan with 2-3 Rest in Peace in sideboard and side-out our Titans with another wincons like Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, a couple of Angels and/or Elspeth, Sun's Champion? (Or even Jace and Teferi, but I can't afford them so it's out of the table for me). Sounds a little bit crazy but I think it could work. It's not like that the deck can't work without GY. It still has good interaction and those wincons are difficult to deal with.
The deck has legs IMO. It plays more tempo-oriented than other versions. Blink sheaningans with Displacer and Spell Queller or Reflector Mage work amazing and, if unchecked, win the game. Thalia and TKS have a lot of synergy with Queller. I don't think this is better than regular UW Spirits, but it's a fun brew and has better game against Midrange.
I wanted to try some more blue cards that I don't own atm: Kira, Vendilion Clique, Meddling Mage and Geist of Saint Traft. I think all of them are nice additions to the sideboard (even mainboard, meta dependant). I'm currently thinking about Venser, Shaper Savant as a 1-of in the place of the 4th Reflector Mage. It seems nice to have another way to get around Ensnaring Bridge or Worship and it's a good answer to combo, Tron and UW Control. Thoughts on it?
My biggest complain was not having a good 1 drop. I've test Mausoleum Wanderer but it was dissapointing: not always castable on turn 1, it doesn't get as big nor as fast as in Spirits and it's an awful topdeck. Thraben Inspector could be added in the flext spots, but I haven't found problems with the mana curve and Reflector Mage and Eldrazi package helps a lot to catch up aggro decks, so I'm sticking this way.
Also, in my testing I've found Phantasmal Image is garbage in the deck. Sounds great to copy TKS, Reflector Mage, Flickerwisp or Spell Queller. But this deck is not Humans: Vial is not sticking at 2 charge counters and Image loses a lot of value without instant speed. Also, we want creatures that we can blink with Displacer for protection and value.
As I said, sideboard can be improved, so I wanted to hear your thoughts guys. Tomorrow I'll bring this again to FNM (maybe adding Venser if I find it) and post results.
EDIT: I went 2-2. Not the best result, but not worse than my often results with Mono White. I've added a Venser to the main (moving the 4th Reflector to side) and a Ephara and a 3rd Mirran to the side, since I was expecting a lot of GBx at my LGS. I've cut Echoing Truth, a Blessed Alliance and Big Thalia.
0-2 vs Titanshift (actually 0-3 since we played another one for fun)
I don't understand how could this happen. I didn't see a Thalia in any of the three games and Leonin was Bolted twice a game. In game 1 I couldn't put pressure because I kept a hand not good against this kind of deck and in game two he forced me to hardcast Spell Queller to have a clock. I'm pretty sure I took bad lines of play and if I were more patient or read the game better it would have been so much better for me. Not everything was bad: Reflector Mage works amazing against a non-lethal Primeval Titan if you have enough threats to kill him before he can cast it again, and Spell Queller (not even his presence, only the open mana/vial to bring him to the battlefield) buys a lot of time. Next time I'll play against this deck it will be different for sure, since I've played really bad.
2-1 vs MonoG Tron.
I've lost the first game thanks to the die roll. Leonin would have insta-win the game on the play, but on the draw I was forced to GQ turn 2 his Urza land to not see a Wurmcoil on turn 3. I managed to stop Tron and stablish a board, but Oblivion Stone broke me. Game 2 was turn 2 Thalia into turn 3 Leonin + GQ into turn 4 TKS and won since he had a hand full of threats that he couldn't cast. Game 3 was long and he had an Ulamog in hand but only 9 mana to cast it. When he could cast it he was already dead: he killed my threats, but I've pathed Ulamog, draw-go, he casted Wurmcoil and EOT I've casted Queller with him at 1 life.
1-2 vs Bridgevine.
This is awful. Game 1, 5 zombies + Gargadon + Vengevine + 2 Bloodghast attacking by turn 3, gg easy. Game 2: Vial into RiP into TKS and gg easy. Game 3 I've mulliganed to find a RiP and wasn't lucky, he overwhelmed me again, not as hard as game 1 but enough to kill me fast. If this, along with the usual suspects of Hollow One and Dredge, grow in my local meta I'll probably bring 1 or 2 Remorseful Clerics in the main, since it's unwinnable any other way.
2-1 vs GB Rock
Now that was the match I've wanted to test. In game 1 I won by pure tempo thanks to Quellering a Liliana and TKSeing another one. That and 2 Paths to his threats was enough to finish the game on turn 5. In game 2 he discarded me three times and put a fast clock with Tarmogoyf and Tracker very fast. Game 3 was a really fun game with good plays from both of us, Reflector + TKS synergies and topdeck war which I won by drawing a Mirran Crusader. Really fun and interactive match and I'm sure that it was really improved thanks to the blue splash.
In a nutshell, I love this UW Taxes. Maybe loses a couple of % points against Combo and Big Mana, but has a better scenario against linear Aggro (go wide like Elves is and forever will be the worst matchup for this archetype) and Midrange, so I'm happy with that.
I came back to 8 1-drops because Kessig Prowler was an awful topdeck and Narnam Renegade it's too slow without a consistent way to trigger Revolt (if i had 8 fetchlands and a couple of Canopies, I would run 4 of them without a doubt).
I'm doubtful with the flex slot in the side. I wanted to try Tireless Tracker vs BGx Midrange decks, but in a deck without fetchlands it probably wouldn't do a better job than Eternal Witness. Another option is to just run a 3rd Dungrove Elder. What do you think? Would you choose one of these 3 options or maybe you would put some anti-sweeper (Heroic Intervention) or anti-token (Ratchet Bomb)?
Hi, new Death & Taxes player here. I've put together some of the pieces of the deck and I'm going to buy little by little the less than 10 cards that I need.
This is the list I was planning to play (Mono White):
You may notice that some of SB cards are budget substitutes, that's because it's just a provisional sideboard until I buy Stony Silence, Rest in Peace, Gideon Ally of Zendikar, Settle the Wreckage and Kitchen Finks.
I have some questions for you:
1) I know that is IMPOSSIBLE to replace Thalia, but since is the only mainboard card that I don't own, I wanted to play the deck now at FNMs even if it isn't competitive, just for playtesting it and have some fun. I'm going to buy the full playset in the next few months, but what could I play in her place for now? Maybe some Dryad Militants and a copy of Hero of Bladehold?
2) Is Brimaz worth? Is one of the flex slots and I'm not sure about him. Seems strong, but I see that most of people don't run him. What do you think?
3) Is Eldrazi Displacer worth in this build? I find this guy really broken and I wanted to play a couple of them, but playtesting, I found that 3 mana without Eldrazi Temple seems like a lot to activate the blink ability.
4) Something to improve sideboard? I made it really quick and thinking about my local meta, so maybe I forgot something important.
Thank you and I hope that I'll learn a lot by reading all of you!
I'm happy with the list, but I'm thinking about some changes in the main:
-I'll try to go back to 8 1-drops cutting Kessig Prowler. 2 more creatures doesn't really improve my first turn (or I have the worst luck ever) and I don't really want to find them at topdeck. I've tested a sincle copy of Shaper's Sanctuary in the main for a while (inspired by some Infect lists) but, for sure, its place is the sideboard, so I'm going to try with a couple of Blossoming Defense, since it's only dead card in hand when I have no creatures, protects them from removal and pumps. There's nothing really special here, since a lot of people also tried this card and worked for them.
-I'm going to cut 1 Rancor to add 1 Nature's Way. Having another removal in the main seems great, and I'm not losing the trample on the way. Rancor is such a fantastic card, but sometimes I found with 2 or even 3 of them in hand and I didn't like it.
As for the sideboard, I have a list of maybe cards and some questions for you:
-Does Kitchen Finks do well against Burn and Zoo? I'm tired of running things like Life Goes On or Feed the Clan. Sure, they do their work great, but if I'm not facing Burn I'm not playing them (not the same for Pulse of Murasa, which really shines) and Burn is actually an OK matchup that I think that we can already race with the little help of Finks, which is by far a superior card to use in other matchups, such as Shadow, BGx midrange and Wrath decks. Do they work against Burn and Zoo or I'm wrong here? If I'd played them in my list, it would be as a 2of cutting Baloth and Feed the Clan.
-Shaper's Sanctuary deserves a place in the sideboard, but it's the Evolutionary Leap place. I'm in love with the second one, and I'm not really convinced what of the two is the best. This has already been discused, but what do you guys think? Heroic Intervention is also great, but only saves our creatures once and the matchups where I play these kind of cards are for sure not a race.
-Is Garruk Relentless a good SB card? I read in the old primer that it was great against control and midrange decks, but 4 cmc seems like a lot to me since in those matchups I'm adding Thrun and keeping Dungrove Elder and Rhonas. Maybe is it too greedy to run it in this build?
-Is Pithing Needle worth today in an average metagame or is it better to go in my last flex spot with something like Manglehorn or Eternal Witness
Yeah, that mainboard Darkblast should be the 4th Life from the Loam, it's a budget replacement that I'll change in the future if I need, but I really wanted to play the deck right now. Same for City of Brass, which should be another land, but I guess it's ok for the moment.
My questions:
1) I can't afford Thoughtseize and CB atm, so I was thinking about another discard spell (that I own) and use it until I buy them: is it better Duress or Inquisition of Kozilek. I understand that the job of Thoughtseize is to discard hate such as RiP, Cage, Anafenza... so I thought it would be better to run Inquisition since almost all playable cards are cmc3 or less. But I'm scared of those Leyline of the Voids, that's why I'm thinking about Duress insted of IoK. Also, I would add another copy of Darkblast.
2) What would you buy first? Thoughtseize or Collective Brutality?
3) The 3rd Mountain should be another land: Steam Vents, another Blood Crypt or Sheltered Thicket?
4) Isn't there anything better than Bojuka Bog for GY hate? I know that Leyline of the Void is powerful, but it would need 3 slots of the sideboard and I think that's a lot.
5) The last one: I don't have any Abrupt Decay, and I'm doubtful about it since a lot of people say that Maelstrom Pulse is better for this deck's SB. It's also more expensive, so it is worth it?
Today I finally made 3-1 with the same list as the other day. So happy with it.
Game 1 he mulliganed to 5, kept a mediocre hand and flooded, I curved very well and had a fast win.
Game 2 he started really well, two Displacers (I killed one with a Dismember), a Thought-Knot Seer, the one that flies and a Drowner of Hope. This last one could close the game really fast, but a Vines made Rhonas keep untap. Rhonas was an all-star in this match, since he could block to infinite, so the only way that he was hitting was by air and I landed two Avatar of the Resolute. In the last turn I attacked with a really huge army. He blinked my two Avatars, so Experiment One grew, blocked with everything he had, but thanks to Rhonas' ability I made letal damage.
I think the pairing is very similar to the Death&Taxes matchup: you need the biggest boys to win, and Vines of Vastwood helps a lot.
Side:
+2 Beast Within (I prefer a Kalonian Tusker in his board rather than bigger Eldrazies that make unfair things).
-2 Rancor
Game 1 he mulliganed to 5 and I was simply faster. Feels great to win this race.
Game 2 he had Tron by hand and played some Matter Reshapers that bringed an All Is Dust really fast, the rest is story.
Game 3 was insane: turn 1 Experiment One into turn 2 Strangleroot Geist into turn 3 Strangleroot Geist (no 3rd land). He discarded a Dismember with Thought-Knot Seer but I had in hand 2x Aspect of Hydra + Beast Within, so the next turn I hit by 10 with the unblocked Geist and let him to 2. He couldn't find the 5th mana to play a big Eldrazi, so he only could block one Geist.
Another really, really bad matchup that I win. It's obvius that the deck needs some help from the opponent like mulligans or bad drawings, but that's how this game works.
Side:
+2 Beast Within (same reasoning as the first round, but with added value to destroy lands)
+2 Deglamer (Batterskull, Wurmcoil Engine and, most important, Chalice of the Void)
+1 Pithing Needle (Expedition Map or, by topdeck, against Ugin)
-4 Rancor
-1 Dryad Militant (I needed to get the fat guys if I wanted to fight against theirs)
My opponent explained to me that this was his Pauper Zoo deck with some changes to be Modern-legal and some Fetchlands lend by a friend. It was surprisingly good and stable. Very fun game, since it was pure race.
Game 1 was a race that he managed to win. Wild Nacatl + Rancor + Qasali Pridemage was insane and he had some Bolts. Rhonas and Dungrove were at my hand and couldn't get to the battlefield.
Game 2 was another race, but this time I won it. Dryad + Geist + two Rancors.
Game 3: A Leatherback Baloth bought me some time, but he killed it with a weird Burn spell. I turned it back thanks to Pulse of Murasa (and, of course, the 6 life gain was decisive) and killed a 7/3 Nacatl with a Dismember. At that moment, he lost the race: I attacked with Geist & Baloth, he blocked Baloth and I played a +5 Aspect of Hydra. Even if he had an answer to that I had Vines at hand, so no problem.
Side (I didn't know how to sideboard against this, so I just changed cards as I were playing against Burn, I boarded out the 3cmc creatures because I wanted to race him, so the only one that was worth for that was Leatherback Baloth):
+1 Feed the Clan
+1 Pulse of Murasa
+1 Obstinate Baloth (maybe I dind't have to side in this)
+1 Scavenging Ooze
-3 Dungrove Elder
-1 Rhonas the Indomitable
A Jund build that played cards like the new Chandra or Courser of Kruphix and without 4-drops creatures. Really fun to play against him.
Game 1 he kept a hand with a removal and an Inqusition of Kozilek. I curved out well and by turn 4 he tapped to play Chandra, so I could play Aspect of Hydra without fear.
Game 2 I mulliganed to 5 and kept a hand with 4 Forests and 1 Dungrove Elder. Horrible. He just killed the rest of the creatures that entered the battlefield.
Game 3 is one of the best that I played in all this time. I managed to play a Scavenging Ooze and he just didn't drew the spells to kill it. His Tarmogoyf's were 1/2!, only lands were in the graveyard. Unfortunately, two Anger of the Gods and some Liliana of the Veil gave him he game by turn 14? 18? Really fun game and a great opponent. Courser of Kruphix is insane.
Sideboard:
+1 Scavenging Ooze
+2 Beast Within
+1 Dungrove Elder (I wish it was Thrun)
+2 Evolutionary Leap (great, great against this decks)
-3 Leatherback Baloth
-2 Dismember
-1 Rancor
He told me that I dind't had to side out the Dismembers since Dark Confidant and Courser of Kruphix were good targets: this is not only about Tarmogoyf. And I feel that Pithing Needle would be great against Liliana, who perhaps won the match. Well, I'll learn for the next time.
I'm happy with the way I played and with the results. I need to improve, but I after a lot of changes I feel that this 75 cards build (well, I'll add Thrun, the Last Troll and i wouldn't mind to run some fetchlands for Revolt issues) is the best for me.
Congrats on playing well. Nice game against GDS, that deck is usually hard to beat.
As for the Esper control... Dryad and Ooze are good to help prevent their snapcaster mage strategy. I also recommend watching opponent's grave closely if you have dryad in play, make sure they exile sorcery and instants put there while the dryad is alive.
Thanks for the advices. Dryad and Ooze work great against that deck, but he killed the first one and didn't allow me to bring in the second one haha.
P.S. Again, sorry for my english. Maybe I'm a little bit hard to read.
Heroic Intervention works great, but is for a single use and, most important, a Dispel stops it. That happened to me 3-4 times in a row, so I preffer to fill my hand and start again, which isn't difficult if they use the boardwipe on curve (they can't counterspell the new creatures that we play).
It is the first time that I play against any Scapeshift build, so I didn't really know how to play against it. I imagine that this version (RGWU) tries to control the opponent and later do de combo, but he just couldn't.
Game 1 I was really fast: Experiment One into Strangleroot Geist into Leatherback Baloth and the next turn Rancor + Vines.
Game 2 he kept a mediocre hand after mulligan and drew a lot of lands, which gave me the opportunity to curve out with big creatures and win fast.
Side:
+2 Beast Within (it stops the Valakut combo)
+1 Evolutionary Leap (trying it since he was going to side-in Anger of the Gods. Maybe a mistake)
+1 Dungrove Elder (against his Path and bounce spells)
-2 Dismember (no creatures and life-loss, obvius choice)
-2 Scavenging Ooze (no creatures in graveyards)
After the game, I talked with him and he said that I had to side-in Feed the Clan and Pulse of Murasa to answer when he were going to combo-of. I'll try the next time.
Game 1 he had a Mirran Crusader and a Thalia by turn 3, it was impossible to fight against that with small creatures.
Game 2 I started fast and he curved another Mirran Crusader, but thanks to Avatar of the Resolute's trample and Aspect+Vines, I managed to win by one big hit.
Game 3 was really balanced and it resolved on the draw. He had flying creatures and he exiled my Avatars. Just the same as the first game: my creatures were just so small.
Side:
+2 Beast Within (I prefer a 3/3 than most of their creatures, of course).
+1 Pithing Needle (Trying to have it in opening hand to Aether Vial, no luck).
+1 Dungrove Elder (Flickerwisp and Path)
-2 Scavenging Ooze (Same as the first round: too low number of creatures dying and no GY cards)
-1 Vines of Vastwood (Rancor and Aspect seem better in this matchup thanks to First Strike creatures)
-1 Leatherback Baloth (typical change BalothxDungrove)
I realiced that it was a mistake to cut the Baloth, because I needed the fatties to win the game, maybe I even had to side in Obstinated Baloth. What do you think about this?
Game 1 was nuts. He played 3 discard spells + a mulligan that I made. Even with that, I managed to keep two creatures on board that he didn't kill and I just won thanks to an Aspect of Hydra.
Game 2 I didn't saw any of the sideboard cards, but I had God-draws. Treetop Village was an all star here, since he emptied his hand really quick, so no removal for it.
Side:
+1 Dungrove Elder (Obvius choice)
+2 Evolutionary Leap (Same)
+1 Relic of Progenitus (Trying to avoid Delve)
+2 Beast Within (Same as D&T: I prefer to fight against a 3/3 than Tasigur or Death's Shadow)
-3 Leatherback Baloth
-3 Rancor
Awful.
Game 1 I started really well and he was at three life. He played 3 Cryptic Commands + flashbacked one with Snappy. He put 11 tokens on the battlefield so I couldn't do anything.
Game 2 was even worse. I left him at 15 by turn 2 and he just played a Timely Reinforments. Next turn he played Lingering Souls. Turn after turn he killed most of my creatures, chumpblocked them or simply countered them. With Elspeth he finished with 15 tokens on the battlefield and he even refilled his hand (and life counter) with a X=5 Sphin'x Revelation. Really bad, really. The only one possitive thing that I keep of this pairing is that Evolutionary Leap works incredibily good: he didn't wanted to play boardwipes and every Path was a card in my hand. I'm sure that in the future this card will make me really happy.
Side:
+2 Evolutionary Leap
+1 Dungrove Elder
+1 Scavenging Ooze (Lingering Souls, the Delve counterspell, Snappy...)
+1 Relic of Progenitus (same as Scooze)
+1 Pithing Needle (Collonade and Elspeth)
-3 Leatherback Baloth
-1 Rancor
-2 Dismember
I wish that I have sleeved Ratchet Bomb yesterday haha.
I really liked the sideboard that I ran yesterday. I didn't play any lifegain cards, but there was some Burn players. Same for artifact-enchantment hate, since there was 2-3 Affinities. The only thing that I would change is cut the SB Dungrove Elder for Thrun, the Last Troll, but I need to buy it. My sideboard looks like a lot of 1-ofs, but most of them have the same purpose + an added value against some decks, so I like the idea
Also keep in mind that there are corner cases where Evolutionary Leap gives you options that Shaper's Sanctuary would not. Sacrificing your entire board in response to Living End comes to mind. I have also once avoided death against 8-Rack by Leap'ing a creature to have one more card in hand for The Rack triggers.
Wow, I couldn't imagine those cases. I'm surely going to give a chance to Evolutionary Leap. I run Heroic Intervention against boardwipes, but this is another way to go(good way to also not insta-lose against All Is Dust if the opponent doesn't have so many creatures ready to sweep).
As for lifegain, maybe I'll add another Scavenging Ooze instead of another graveyard-hate card. Scooze it's not the best vs Burn or GY strategies (low impact at the early game), but saving a slot in the sideboard thanks to the 2 for 1 could be really helpful. Thanks a lot.
What do you guys think is the correct number of SB cards against Burn in an average metagame? I usually run 3 cards (a split of Feed the Clan, Pulse of Murasa and Obstinate Baloth) + 2 Scavenging Ooze + Enchantment hate against Eidolon, but since it's a good matchup I'm thinking of removing one and sleeve an aditional Natural State, since I only run 2 artifact-hate cards and find them grindier than Burn.
Do you think Evolutionary Leap will be replaced by the new Shaper's Sanctuary for the same purpose? I'll definitely try Evolutionary Leap the next FNM, sounds really good.
Some explanations:
-Bojuka Bog in the main is simply because I wanted to add another card to sideboard and think that It wouldn't bother me a single tap-land. Couldn't test it, because i didn't played it.
-I only run 1Relentless Dead and 1 Geralf's Messenger because I haven't bought them. My idea is 4 Relentless Dead (cutting the Aetherborns) and 2 Geralf's (cutting a 1-drop). I also want to add 1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet in the main.
-Yahenni, Undying Partisan seems weird, but it's really strong against decks that doesn't play Path to Exile. Since in monoblack I don't have access to Cartel Aristocrat, this works well and can get really huge.
I went 2-2 at Tuesday and 2-2 again at FNM. Won against EldraTron (2-0) and UW Control (2-1), lost against EldraTron (1-2, really bad mulligan at 2nd and Chalice + Grafdigger's at 3rd) and RG Dredgevine (0-2). At FNM, won against Grixis Shadow (2-1) and Jund Shadow (2-0), lost against Bant Eldrazi (0-2) and GR Ponza (0-2... this deck is just really weird).
I wanted to ask about the sideboard, since I think that it can improve a lot. My worst matchups are against super aggro decks and -I didn't play a lot against them, but for clock reasons I could imagine- combo. Since Tron doesn't seem a really bad problem, I think I will cut the Smallpox. But what other improvements can I make?
Hi. New here. I wanted to share my Stompy decklist from the last few FNM's and ask for a little help to improve the main and side, since I feel the deck can improve.
* Yeah, I know Narnam Renegade should go with fetchlands, but I feel good with the elf as it is. Great with a Rancor and as a blocker against Burn or Shadow.
In the last 4 FNM's, I went:
2-2 (1-2 vs UB Mill, 2-1 vs Burn, 2-1 vs Elves, 1-2 vs Jeskai Saheeli)
2-2 (1-2 vs GW Tron, 2-0 vs Dredge, 2-1 vs Zombies, 1-2 vs Jeskai Saheeli)
2-2 (2-1 vs Bogles, 2-0 vs Burn, 1-2 vs Knightfall, 0-2 vs Eldrazi Tron)
1-3 (1-2 vs Grixis Shadow, 0-2 vs Living End, 1-2 vs Grixis Shadow, 2-0 vs Elves)
In the first 3 FNM's, I ran two Ghost Quarters (without Baloths) in main. They didn't do bad, but they also got me stucked in some matches. I'd like to improve sideboard (I've bought Pithing Needle, Ratchet Bomb and Relic of Progenitus, so they are going to be in). I also want to know how do you do against Elves, EldraTron and Grixis Shadow, since I feel that they are my worst matchps. Any ideas?
4 Inspiring Vantage
4 Sacred Foundry
8 Plains
1 Mountain
4 Ghost Quarter
2 Horizon Canopy
Spells (11):
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Path to Exile
4 Aether Vial
1 Ajani Vengeant
2 Grim Lavamancer
2 Dire Fleet Daredevil
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Flickerwisp
2 Goblin Rabblemaster
1 Pia Nalaar
3 Magus of the Moon
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
3 Restoration Angel
1 Hazoret the Fervent
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2 Stony Silence
2 Abrade
2 Rest in Peace
2 Damping Sphere
2 Path to Exile
2 Anger of the Gods
I don't think is as competitive as other Taxes build but I enjoy brewing things and I wasn't really happy with other RW lists that I have seen before. I only played this in Xmage but it was really fun and better than I expected.
I wanted to fill the deck with a lot of must-answer threats that red provides: Grim Lavamancer, Goblin Rabblemaster and Pia and Kiran Nalaar will win the long game if they are left unchecked. Thanks to protection blinks, Thalia and of course Moon Man this happens quite often. Ajani Vengeant fills the taxing plan while also being a win condition by itself. Really, T3 Moon Man followed by T4 Ajani to start tapping out opponent is huge. 6 removal spells + Ajani's Helix + Flickerwisp + Pia makes combat really easy to attack with a huge Rabblemaster to close the game faster than in other builds
Pia Nalaar it's okay. By itself is worse than Blade Splicer, but flying tokens + mana sink + utility for topdecked Aether Vials makes her pretty good. Dire Fleet Daredevil was a little bit dissapointing.
As for SB, having access to 10 removal spells + 2 sweepers against creature decks is huge. Anger is worse than Settle but the -1 mana cost and the backup plan for RiP against Dredge convinced me to play it. As for Hazoret and Chandra, they're just another difficult to remove threat that can win the game alone, for grindy matchups. Maybe they even can make the cut to MB by cutting Ajani or P&K.
I just wanted to share this list and ask for your thoughts. I would be very pleased if someone tests it and has the blast that I had online with this list.
4 Flooded Strand
3 Windswept Heath
3 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
2 Field of Ruin
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Irrigated Farmland
1 Prairie Stream
7 Plains
1 Island
Creatures:
4 Wall of Omens
3 Lone Missionary
3 Sun Titan
3 Champion of Wits
2 Restoration Angel
1 Vendilion Clique
4 Flickerwisp
4 Path to Exile
4 Spreading Seas
3 Detention Sphere
1 Settle the Wreckage
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Wrath of God
2 Gideon of the Trials
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Cataclysmic Gearhulk
1 Celestial Purge
3 Negate
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
2 Stony Silence
2 Damping Sphere
1 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
Some notes:
- I prefer Champion of Wits over Court Hussar. Opinions are welcome here but I don't like the latter and Champion worked amazing in my testing.
- I wasn't impressed by Lone Missionary at first sight but is better than it looks.
- I like Resto an Clique. A lot. They improve matches when you need to be aggro and break board stalls. I think it's important to have something that speeds up the clock since I'm going to play at my LGS and I want to win, not to draw. The deck is fun and strong against some decks, but opponents aren't going to concede so I need to close the game.
- The sweepers split seems ok. Gearhulk in SB as 4th Wrath also looks fine with Emeria but I couldn't test it.
Now, some questions:
- Is the Crucible of Worlds package worth it? If so, what should I cut? I should go with +2 Field of Ruin, +1 Ghost Quarter and +1 Crucible of Worlds, but what -3 lands and -1 spell should I cut?
- My sideboard is a mess. I tried to build it with cards that I've got to make the initial investment a little bit cheaper. I'm not impressed by Damping Sphere. I understand that combo and Tron are horrible, but I don't think the deck pressures enough to make the artifact as impactful as it is in, i.e. Bant Spirits. Clique and Resto help to fix this but maybe is not enough.
- What about GY hate? I really dislike Tormod's Crypt and Ravenous Trap. What about a transformative plan with 2-3 Rest in Peace in sideboard and side-out our Titans with another wincons like Gideon, Ally of Zendikar, a couple of Angels and/or Elspeth, Sun's Champion? (Or even Jace and Teferi, but I can't afford them so it's out of the table for me). Sounds a little bit crazy but I think it could work. It's not like that the deck can't work without GY. It still has good interaction and those wincons are difficult to deal with.
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Adarkar Wastes
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Ghost Quarter
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Moorland Haunt
2 Plains
1 Island
D&T Core
4 Aether Vial
4 Path to Exile
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Leonin Arbiter
3 Flickerwisp
4 Eldrazi Displacer
3 Thought-Knot Seer
UW Splash
4 Spell Queller
4 Reflector Mage
Flex spots
2 Selfless Spirit
1 Blade Splicer
2 Stony Silence
1 Leonin Relic-Warder
2 Rest in Peace
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Worship
1 Echoing Truth
1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2 Mirran Crusader
1 Selfless Spirit
2 Blessed Alliance
The deck has legs IMO. It plays more tempo-oriented than other versions. Blink sheaningans with Displacer and Spell Queller or Reflector Mage work amazing and, if unchecked, win the game. Thalia and TKS have a lot of synergy with Queller. I don't think this is better than regular UW Spirits, but it's a fun brew and has better game against Midrange.
I wanted to try some more blue cards that I don't own atm: Kira, Vendilion Clique, Meddling Mage and Geist of Saint Traft. I think all of them are nice additions to the sideboard (even mainboard, meta dependant). I'm currently thinking about Venser, Shaper Savant as a 1-of in the place of the 4th Reflector Mage. It seems nice to have another way to get around Ensnaring Bridge or Worship and it's a good answer to combo, Tron and UW Control. Thoughts on it?
My biggest complain was not having a good 1 drop. I've test Mausoleum Wanderer but it was dissapointing: not always castable on turn 1, it doesn't get as big nor as fast as in Spirits and it's an awful topdeck. Thraben Inspector could be added in the flext spots, but I haven't found problems with the mana curve and Reflector Mage and Eldrazi package helps a lot to catch up aggro decks, so I'm sticking this way.
Also, in my testing I've found Phantasmal Image is garbage in the deck. Sounds great to copy TKS, Reflector Mage, Flickerwisp or Spell Queller. But this deck is not Humans: Vial is not sticking at 2 charge counters and Image loses a lot of value without instant speed. Also, we want creatures that we can blink with Displacer for protection and value.
As I said, sideboard can be improved, so I wanted to hear your thoughts guys. Tomorrow I'll bring this again to FNM (maybe adding Venser if I find it) and post results.
EDIT: I went 2-2. Not the best result, but not worse than my often results with Mono White. I've added a Venser to the main (moving the 4th Reflector to side) and a Ephara and a 3rd Mirran to the side, since I was expecting a lot of GBx at my LGS. I've cut Echoing Truth, a Blessed Alliance and Big Thalia.
0-2 vs Titanshift (actually 0-3 since we played another one for fun)
I don't understand how could this happen. I didn't see a Thalia in any of the three games and Leonin was Bolted twice a game. In game 1 I couldn't put pressure because I kept a hand not good against this kind of deck and in game two he forced me to hardcast Spell Queller to have a clock. I'm pretty sure I took bad lines of play and if I were more patient or read the game better it would have been so much better for me. Not everything was bad: Reflector Mage works amazing against a non-lethal Primeval Titan if you have enough threats to kill him before he can cast it again, and Spell Queller (not even his presence, only the open mana/vial to bring him to the battlefield) buys a lot of time. Next time I'll play against this deck it will be different for sure, since I've played really bad.
2-1 vs MonoG Tron.
I've lost the first game thanks to the die roll. Leonin would have insta-win the game on the play, but on the draw I was forced to GQ turn 2 his Urza land to not see a Wurmcoil on turn 3. I managed to stop Tron and stablish a board, but Oblivion Stone broke me. Game 2 was turn 2 Thalia into turn 3 Leonin + GQ into turn 4 TKS and won since he had a hand full of threats that he couldn't cast. Game 3 was long and he had an Ulamog in hand but only 9 mana to cast it. When he could cast it he was already dead: he killed my threats, but I've pathed Ulamog, draw-go, he casted Wurmcoil and EOT I've casted Queller with him at 1 life.
1-2 vs Bridgevine.
This is awful. Game 1, 5 zombies + Gargadon + Vengevine + 2 Bloodghast attacking by turn 3, gg easy. Game 2: Vial into RiP into TKS and gg easy. Game 3 I've mulliganed to find a RiP and wasn't lucky, he overwhelmed me again, not as hard as game 1 but enough to kill me fast. If this, along with the usual suspects of Hollow One and Dredge, grow in my local meta I'll probably bring 1 or 2 Remorseful Clerics in the main, since it's unwinnable any other way.
2-1 vs GB Rock
Now that was the match I've wanted to test. In game 1 I won by pure tempo thanks to Quellering a Liliana and TKSeing another one. That and 2 Paths to his threats was enough to finish the game on turn 5. In game 2 he discarded me three times and put a fast clock with Tarmogoyf and Tracker very fast. Game 3 was a really fun game with good plays from both of us, Reflector + TKS synergies and topdeck war which I won by drawing a Mirran Crusader. Really fun and interactive match and I'm sure that it was really improved thanks to the blue splash.
In a nutshell, I love this UW Taxes. Maybe loses a couple of % points against Combo and Big Mana, but has a better scenario against linear Aggro (go wide like Elves is and forever will be the worst matchup for this archetype) and Midrange, so I'm happy with that.
19 Forest
2 Treetop Village
Creatures:
4 Experiment One
4 Dryad Militant
4 Avatar of the Resolute
4 Strangleroot Geist
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Dungrove Elder
4 Steel Leaf Champion
1 Rhonas the Indomitable
4 Aspect of Hydra
4 Rancor
3 Vines of Vastwood
1 Blossoming Defense
2 Dismember
2 Damping Sphere
2 Pithing Needle
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Feed the Clan
1 Pulse of Murasa
2 Deglamer
1 Manglehorn
1 Shaper's Sanctuary
1 Flex Slot
I came back to 8 1-drops because Kessig Prowler was an awful topdeck and Narnam Renegade it's too slow without a consistent way to trigger Revolt (if i had 8 fetchlands and a couple of Canopies, I would run 4 of them without a doubt).
I'm doubtful with the flex slot in the side. I wanted to try Tireless Tracker vs BGx Midrange decks, but in a deck without fetchlands it probably wouldn't do a better job than Eternal Witness. Another option is to just run a 3rd Dungrove Elder. What do you think? Would you choose one of these 3 options or maybe you would put some anti-sweeper (Heroic Intervention) or anti-token (Ratchet Bomb)?
This is the list I was planning to play (Mono White):
2 Shefet Dunes
4 Tectonic Edge
4 Ghost Quarter
12 Plains
Spells:
4 Aether Vial
2 Smuggler's Copter
4 Path to Exile
Creatures:
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Leonin Arbiter
2 Selfless Spirit
4 Blade Splicer
4 Flickerwisp
4 Restoration Angel
1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
2 Aven Mindcensor
2 Blessed Alliance
2 Mirran Crusader
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Leonin Relic-Warder
1 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Kor Firewalker
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Oblivion Ring
You may notice that some of SB cards are budget substitutes, that's because it's just a provisional sideboard until I buy Stony Silence, Rest in Peace, Gideon Ally of Zendikar, Settle the Wreckage and Kitchen Finks.
I have some questions for you:
1) I know that is IMPOSSIBLE to replace Thalia, but since is the only mainboard card that I don't own, I wanted to play the deck now at FNMs even if it isn't competitive, just for playtesting it and have some fun. I'm going to buy the full playset in the next few months, but what could I play in her place for now? Maybe some Dryad Militants and a copy of Hero of Bladehold?
2) Is Brimaz worth? Is one of the flex slots and I'm not sure about him. Seems strong, but I see that most of people don't run him. What do you think?
3) Is Eldrazi Displacer worth in this build? I find this guy really broken and I wanted to play a couple of them, but playtesting, I found that 3 mana without Eldrazi Temple seems like a lot to activate the blink ability.
4) Something to improve sideboard? I made it really quick and thinking about my local meta, so maybe I forgot something important.
Thank you and I hope that I'll learn a lot by reading all of you!
I've been playing this list for a while, which gave me average/good results at 4 rounds FNM (2-2 and a couple of 3-1):
19 Forest
1 Treetop Village
Creatures:
4 Experiment One
4 Dryad Militant
2 Kessig Prowler
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Avatar of the Resolute
2 Scavenging Ooze
3 Leatherback Baloth
3 Dungrove Elder
1 Rhonas the Indomitable
4 Vines of Vastwood
4 Rancor
3 Aspect of Hydra
2 Dismember
2 Beast Within
1 Natural State
2 Deglamer
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Feed the Clan
1 Pulse of Murasa
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Thrun, the last Troll
2 Evolutionary Leap
1 Manglehorn / Eternal Witness (Flex Spot)
I'm happy with the list, but I'm thinking about some changes in the main:
-I'll try to go back to 8 1-drops cutting Kessig Prowler. 2 more creatures doesn't really improve my first turn (or I have the worst luck ever) and I don't really want to find them at topdeck. I've tested a sincle copy of Shaper's Sanctuary in the main for a while (inspired by some Infect lists) but, for sure, its place is the sideboard, so I'm going to try with a couple of Blossoming Defense, since it's only dead card in hand when I have no creatures, protects them from removal and pumps. There's nothing really special here, since a lot of people also tried this card and worked for them.
-I'm going to cut 1 Rancor to add 1 Nature's Way. Having another removal in the main seems great, and I'm not losing the trample on the way. Rancor is such a fantastic card, but sometimes I found with 2 or even 3 of them in hand and I didn't like it.
As for the sideboard, I have a list of maybe cards and some questions for you:
-Does Kitchen Finks do well against Burn and Zoo? I'm tired of running things like Life Goes On or Feed the Clan. Sure, they do their work great, but if I'm not facing Burn I'm not playing them (not the same for Pulse of Murasa, which really shines) and Burn is actually an OK matchup that I think that we can already race with the little help of Finks, which is by far a superior card to use in other matchups, such as Shadow, BGx midrange and Wrath decks. Do they work against Burn and Zoo or I'm wrong here? If I'd played them in my list, it would be as a 2of cutting Baloth and Feed the Clan.
-Shaper's Sanctuary deserves a place in the sideboard, but it's the Evolutionary Leap place. I'm in love with the second one, and I'm not really convinced what of the two is the best. This has already been discused, but what do you guys think? Heroic Intervention is also great, but only saves our creatures once and the matchups where I play these kind of cards are for sure not a race.
-Is Garruk Relentless a good SB card? I read in the old primer that it was great against control and midrange decks, but 4 cmc seems like a lot to me since in those matchups I'm adding Thrun and keeping Dungrove Elder and Rhonas. Maybe is it too greedy to run it in this build?
-Is Pithing Needle worth today in an average metagame or is it better to go in my last flex spot with something like Manglehorn or Eternal Witness
This is the list that I'm going to play and I have some questions about it:
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Stomping Ground
1 Blood Crypt
3 Copperline Gorge
2 Dakmor Salvage
2 City of Brass
3 Mountain
1 Ghost Quarter
Enablers:
4 Faithless Looting
4 Cathartic Reunion
4 Insolent Neonate
4 Stinkweed Imp
3 Life from the Loam
3 Golgari Thug
1 Darkblast
Creatures
4 Prized Amalgam
4 Bloodghast
4 Narcomoebas
1 Haunted Dead
Other spells
3 Conflagrate
1 Driven // Despair
2 Lightning Axe
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Gnaw to the Bone
1 Bojuka Bog
3 Nature's Claim
1 Abrupt Decay
3 Thoughtseize
2 Collective Brutality
Yeah, that mainboard Darkblast should be the 4th Life from the Loam, it's a budget replacement that I'll change in the future if I need, but I really wanted to play the deck right now. Same for City of Brass, which should be another land, but I guess it's ok for the moment.
My questions:
1) I can't afford Thoughtseize and CB atm, so I was thinking about another discard spell (that I own) and use it until I buy them: is it better Duress or Inquisition of Kozilek. I understand that the job of Thoughtseize is to discard hate such as RiP, Cage, Anafenza... so I thought it would be better to run Inquisition since almost all playable cards are cmc3 or less. But I'm scared of those Leyline of the Voids, that's why I'm thinking about Duress insted of IoK. Also, I would add another copy of Darkblast.
2) What would you buy first? Thoughtseize or Collective Brutality?
3) The 3rd Mountain should be another land: Steam Vents, another Blood Crypt or Sheltered Thicket?
4) Isn't there anything better than Bojuka Bog for GY hate? I know that Leyline of the Void is powerful, but it would need 3 slots of the sideboard and I think that's a lot.
5) The last one: I don't have any Abrupt Decay, and I'm doubtful about it since a lot of people say that Maelstrom Pulse is better for this deck's SB. It's also more expensive, so it is worth it?
Thank you and sorry for my english.
Game 2 he started really well, two Displacers (I killed one with a Dismember), a Thought-Knot Seer, the one that flies and a Drowner of Hope. This last one could close the game really fast, but a Vines made Rhonas keep untap. Rhonas was an all-star in this match, since he could block to infinite, so the only way that he was hitting was by air and I landed two Avatar of the Resolute. In the last turn I attacked with a really huge army. He blinked my two Avatars, so Experiment One grew, blocked with everything he had, but thanks to Rhonas' ability I made letal damage.
I think the pairing is very similar to the Death&Taxes matchup: you need the biggest boys to win, and Vines of Vastwood helps a lot.
Side:
+2 Beast Within (I prefer a Kalonian Tusker in his board rather than bigger Eldrazies that make unfair things).
-2 Rancor
Game 2 he had Tron by hand and played some Matter Reshapers that bringed an All Is Dust really fast, the rest is story.
Game 3 was insane: turn 1 Experiment One into turn 2 Strangleroot Geist into turn 3 Strangleroot Geist (no 3rd land). He discarded a Dismember with Thought-Knot Seer but I had in hand 2x Aspect of Hydra + Beast Within, so the next turn I hit by 10 with the unblocked Geist and let him to 2. He couldn't find the 5th mana to play a big Eldrazi, so he only could block one Geist.
Another really, really bad matchup that I win. It's obvius that the deck needs some help from the opponent like mulligans or bad drawings, but that's how this game works.
Side:
+2 Beast Within (same reasoning as the first round, but with added value to destroy lands)
+2 Deglamer (Batterskull, Wurmcoil Engine and, most important, Chalice of the Void)
+1 Pithing Needle (Expedition Map or, by topdeck, against Ugin)
-4 Rancor
-1 Dryad Militant (I needed to get the fat guys if I wanted to fight against theirs)
Game 1 was a race that he managed to win. Wild Nacatl + Rancor + Qasali Pridemage was insane and he had some Bolts. Rhonas and Dungrove were at my hand and couldn't get to the battlefield.
Game 2 was another race, but this time I won it. Dryad + Geist + two Rancors.
Game 3: A Leatherback Baloth bought me some time, but he killed it with a weird Burn spell. I turned it back thanks to Pulse of Murasa (and, of course, the 6 life gain was decisive) and killed a 7/3 Nacatl with a Dismember. At that moment, he lost the race: I attacked with Geist & Baloth, he blocked Baloth and I played a +5 Aspect of Hydra. Even if he had an answer to that I had Vines at hand, so no problem.
Side (I didn't know how to sideboard against this, so I just changed cards as I were playing against Burn, I boarded out the 3cmc creatures because I wanted to race him, so the only one that was worth for that was Leatherback Baloth):
+1 Feed the Clan
+1 Pulse of Murasa
+1 Obstinate Baloth (maybe I dind't have to side in this)
+1 Scavenging Ooze
-3 Dungrove Elder
-1 Rhonas the Indomitable
Game 1 he kept a hand with a removal and an Inqusition of Kozilek. I curved out well and by turn 4 he tapped to play Chandra, so I could play Aspect of Hydra without fear.
Game 2 I mulliganed to 5 and kept a hand with 4 Forests and 1 Dungrove Elder. Horrible. He just killed the rest of the creatures that entered the battlefield.
Game 3 is one of the best that I played in all this time. I managed to play a Scavenging Ooze and he just didn't drew the spells to kill it. His Tarmogoyf's were 1/2!, only lands were in the graveyard. Unfortunately, two Anger of the Gods and some Liliana of the Veil gave him he game by turn 14? 18? Really fun game and a great opponent. Courser of Kruphix is insane.
Sideboard:
+1 Scavenging Ooze
+2 Beast Within
+1 Dungrove Elder (I wish it was Thrun)
+2 Evolutionary Leap (great, great against this decks)
-3 Leatherback Baloth
-2 Dismember
-1 Rancor
He told me that I dind't had to side out the Dismembers since Dark Confidant and Courser of Kruphix were good targets: this is not only about Tarmogoyf. And I feel that Pithing Needle would be great against Liliana, who perhaps won the match. Well, I'll learn for the next time.
I'm happy with the way I played and with the results. I need to improve, but I after a lot of changes I feel that this 75 cards build (well, I'll add Thrun, the Last Troll and i wouldn't mind to run some fetchlands for Revolt issues) is the best for me.
Thanks for the advices. Dryad and Ooze work great against that deck, but he killed the first one and didn't allow me to bring in the second one haha.
P.S. Again, sorry for my english. Maybe I'm a little bit hard to read.
As for Eldritch Evolution, WrenchMind said everything. It's an interesting card, but not for the same purpose that Evolutionary Leap has.
1 Treetop Village
19 Forest
Creatures:
4 Experiment One
4 Dryad Militant
2 Narnam Renegade
4 Avatar of the Resolute
4 Strangleroot Geist
2 Scavenging Ooze
3 Dungrove Elder
3 Leatherback Baloth
1 Rhonas the Indomitable
3 Aspect of Hydra
4 Vines of Vastwood
4 Rancor
2 Dismember
2 Deglamer
1 Natural State
1 Feed the Clan
1 Pulse of Murasa
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Evolutionary Leap
1 Dungrove Elder
2 Beast Within
1 Pithing Needle
Game 1 I was really fast: Experiment One into Strangleroot Geist into Leatherback Baloth and the next turn Rancor + Vines.
Game 2 he kept a mediocre hand after mulligan and drew a lot of lands, which gave me the opportunity to curve out with big creatures and win fast.
Side:
+2 Beast Within (it stops the Valakut combo)
+1 Evolutionary Leap (trying it since he was going to side-in Anger of the Gods. Maybe a mistake)
+1 Dungrove Elder (against his Path and bounce spells)
-2 Dismember (no creatures and life-loss, obvius choice)
-2 Scavenging Ooze (no creatures in graveyards)
After the game, I talked with him and he said that I had to side-in Feed the Clan and Pulse of Murasa to answer when he were going to combo-of. I'll try the next time.
Game 2 I started fast and he curved another Mirran Crusader, but thanks to Avatar of the Resolute's trample and Aspect+Vines, I managed to win by one big hit.
Game 3 was really balanced and it resolved on the draw. He had flying creatures and he exiled my Avatars. Just the same as the first game: my creatures were just so small.
Side:
+2 Beast Within (I prefer a 3/3 than most of their creatures, of course).
+1 Pithing Needle (Trying to have it in opening hand to Aether Vial, no luck).
+1 Dungrove Elder (Flickerwisp and Path)
-2 Scavenging Ooze (Same as the first round: too low number of creatures dying and no GY cards)
-1 Vines of Vastwood (Rancor and Aspect seem better in this matchup thanks to First Strike creatures)
-1 Leatherback Baloth (typical change BalothxDungrove)
I realiced that it was a mistake to cut the Baloth, because I needed the fatties to win the game, maybe I even had to side in Obstinated Baloth. What do you think about this?
Game 1 was nuts. He played 3 discard spells + a mulligan that I made. Even with that, I managed to keep two creatures on board that he didn't kill and I just won thanks to an Aspect of Hydra.
Game 2 I didn't saw any of the sideboard cards, but I had God-draws. Treetop Village was an all star here, since he emptied his hand really quick, so no removal for it.
Side:
+1 Dungrove Elder (Obvius choice)
+2 Evolutionary Leap (Same)
+1 Relic of Progenitus (Trying to avoid Delve)
+2 Beast Within (Same as D&T: I prefer to fight against a 3/3 than Tasigur or Death's Shadow)
-3 Leatherback Baloth
-3 Rancor
Game 1 I started really well and he was at three life. He played 3 Cryptic Commands + flashbacked one with Snappy. He put 11 tokens on the battlefield so I couldn't do anything.
Game 2 was even worse. I left him at 15 by turn 2 and he just played a Timely Reinforments. Next turn he played Lingering Souls. Turn after turn he killed most of my creatures, chumpblocked them or simply countered them. With Elspeth he finished with 15 tokens on the battlefield and he even refilled his hand (and life counter) with a X=5 Sphin'x Revelation. Really bad, really. The only one possitive thing that I keep of this pairing is that Evolutionary Leap works incredibily good: he didn't wanted to play boardwipes and every Path was a card in my hand. I'm sure that in the future this card will make me really happy.
Side:
+2 Evolutionary Leap
+1 Dungrove Elder
+1 Scavenging Ooze (Lingering Souls, the Delve counterspell, Snappy...)
+1 Relic of Progenitus (same as Scooze)
+1 Pithing Needle (Collonade and Elspeth)
-3 Leatherback Baloth
-1 Rancor
-2 Dismember
I wish that I have sleeved Ratchet Bomb yesterday haha.
I really liked the sideboard that I ran yesterday. I didn't play any lifegain cards, but there was some Burn players. Same for artifact-enchantment hate, since there was 2-3 Affinities. The only thing that I would change is cut the SB Dungrove Elder for Thrun, the Last Troll, but I need to buy it. My sideboard looks like a lot of 1-ofs, but most of them have the same purpose + an added value against some decks, so I like the idea
Wow, I couldn't imagine those cases. I'm surely going to give a chance to Evolutionary Leap. I run Heroic Intervention against boardwipes, but this is another way to go(good way to also not insta-lose against All Is Dust if the opponent doesn't have so many creatures ready to sweep).
As for lifegain, maybe I'll add another Scavenging Ooze instead of another graveyard-hate card. Scooze it's not the best vs Burn or GY strategies (low impact at the early game), but saving a slot in the sideboard thanks to the 2 for 1 could be really helpful. Thanks a lot.
Do you think Evolutionary Leap will be replaced by the new Shaper's Sanctuary for the same purpose? I'll definitely try Evolutionary Leap the next FNM, sounds really good.
19 Swamp
1 Bojuka Bog
Creatures:
4 Gravecrawler
3 Diregraf Ghoul
2 Cryptbreaker
3 Bloodsoaked Champion
1 Relentless Dead
3 Gifted Aetherborn
4 Bloodghast
3 Blood Artist
2 Blood Scrivener
2 Diregraf Colossus
1 Geralf's Messenger
1 Yahenni, Undying Partisan
2 Smuggler's Copter
2 Blasting Station
2 Go for the Throat
3 Victim of Night
1 Geth's Verdict
1 Dark Salvation
2 Dragon's Claw
1 Bontu's Last Reckoning
1 Killing Wave
3 Duress
1 Lost Legacy
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Pithing Needle
1 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Viscera Seer
2 Smallpox
Some explanations:
-Bojuka Bog in the main is simply because I wanted to add another card to sideboard and think that It wouldn't bother me a single tap-land. Couldn't test it, because i didn't played it.
-I only run 1Relentless Dead and 1 Geralf's Messenger because I haven't bought them. My idea is 4 Relentless Dead (cutting the Aetherborns) and 2 Geralf's (cutting a 1-drop). I also want to add 1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet in the main.
-Yahenni, Undying Partisan seems weird, but it's really strong against decks that doesn't play Path to Exile. Since in monoblack I don't have access to Cartel Aristocrat, this works well and can get really huge.
I went 2-2 at Tuesday and 2-2 again at FNM. Won against EldraTron (2-0) and UW Control (2-1), lost against EldraTron (1-2, really bad mulligan at 2nd and Chalice + Grafdigger's at 3rd) and RG Dredgevine (0-2). At FNM, won against Grixis Shadow (2-1) and Jund Shadow (2-0), lost against Bant Eldrazi (0-2) and GR Ponza (0-2... this deck is just really weird).
I wanted to ask about the sideboard, since I think that it can improve a lot. My worst matchups are against super aggro decks and -I didn't play a lot against them, but for clock reasons I could imagine- combo. Since Tron doesn't seem a really bad problem, I think I will cut the Smallpox. But what other improvements can I make?
*Budget reasons, I'll run Collective Brutality and Damnation in the future.
Thanks, and sorry for my english.
1 Treetop Village
4 Experiment One
4 Dryad Militant
2 Narnam Renegade
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Avatar of the Resolute
2 Scavenging Ooze
3 Leatherback Baloth
3 Dungrove Elder
1 Rhonas the Indomitable
4 Vines of Vastwood
4 Rancor
2 Dismember
1 Dungrove Elder
2 Beast Within
2 Deglamer
1 Feed the Clan
1 Pulse of Murasa
1 Obstinate Baloth
2 Fog
1 Heroic Intervention
2 Great Sable Stag
1 Gut Shot
1 Ghost Quarter
* Yeah, I know Narnam Renegade should go with fetchlands, but I feel good with the elf as it is. Great with a Rancor and as a blocker against Burn or Shadow.
In the last 4 FNM's, I went:
2-2 (1-2 vs UB Mill, 2-1 vs Burn, 2-1 vs Elves, 1-2 vs Jeskai Saheeli)
2-2 (1-2 vs GW Tron, 2-0 vs Dredge, 2-1 vs Zombies, 1-2 vs Jeskai Saheeli)
2-2 (2-1 vs Bogles, 2-0 vs Burn, 1-2 vs Knightfall, 0-2 vs Eldrazi Tron)
1-3 (1-2 vs Grixis Shadow, 0-2 vs Living End, 1-2 vs Grixis Shadow, 2-0 vs Elves)
In the first 3 FNM's, I ran two Ghost Quarters (without Baloths) in main. They didn't do bad, but they also got me stucked in some matches. I'd like to improve sideboard (I've bought Pithing Needle, Ratchet Bomb and Relic of Progenitus, so they are going to be in). I also want to know how do you do against Elves, EldraTron and Grixis Shadow, since I feel that they are my worst matchps. Any ideas?
Thanks and sorry for my english.