Definitely see the arguments against benalish and I will agree it is a huge long shot to see play.
The reason I like dauntless so much is that I am currently having a great time running kytheon, hero of akros (in the flex 3 drop slot that used to be Big Thalia) and I view the body guard as an upgrade as it's text will often be more relevant than kytheon.
I am trying to look at things through the lens that a dead opponent doesn't cast removal and that we need more aggression not more disruption to win on the play.
You are probably right that damping sphere will be at most a two of in the side board but I think you are looking at dauntless bodyguard wrong. It isn't a bad to way to fizzle removal its a 2/1 for 1 that happens to have other text. In that sense deputy is way worse since it can't be played on t1 or from a vial on one.
In terms of benalish marshal, the reason it is better than thraben doom sayer is it can help enable attacks and push through damage the turn it comes down. It isn't supposed to sit on the field for a long time. Think of it as a 3 toughness kessig malcontents.
@Headminerve I expect to run 2-3 copies of damping sphere SB. Tron is such a bad match up for us and I definitely like its incidental hate against control.
I personally am excited for Dauntless bodyguard, I think the one thing that they got right at the pro tour was that we need a few more one drops and I would much rather run dauntless bodyguard than my current one of Kython, Hero of Akros.
benalish marshal could be cool as well as 3 drop to help us turn the curve. I generally dislike 3 drops that aren't good top decks but I am open to the possiblity.
@patbou bodyguard's first ability is a replacement ability so your opponent can't respond to it. They can kill a creature while dauntless is on the stack but you can just choose another. This means bodyguard is less good as a t2 vial target but it overall has the advantage of being a one drop.
I think the deck needs to skew a bit more towards the low end of the curve to have a shot at burning out the jace decks before they set up their value engines.
I went 2-2 at a 32 player tournament last week - my losses were to Jeskai control and GB Tron, I beat a budget burn build and a BW Planewalker control deck.
Anyone got any tips vs Jeskai control or GB tron? both decks run a whole bunch of removal and go over us pretty easily. I am thinking Gaddock Teeg maybe for tron but in general I feel like i need to be faster. Adding Kytheon seems like a good start but anyone got any other additions?
I played vs zoo this week - just bring in as much removal as you can and replace your meddling mages and fun-of three drop with anafenza. V
I played vs titanshift this week but I don't think we have a great match up there. I might switch back to fiend hunters if this stays prevalent (over dismembers). I did bring in kambal in this match up and he was pretty solid. Making every ramp spell a drain 2 definitely helped race and increased the number of lands they needed for a lethal shift.
Ive been brewing with this deck for a few weeks and I thought I would share some of my experiences. I would really prefer the deck become a bit faster but without a 3rd lord the deck just cant get there.
I also tried to replace meddling mage with a few cards. Kari Zev, Skyship raider was good but it made me feel like I had too many legendary creatures and wasn't able to get in enough. Hamlet captain and Voltaic Brawler were good but the deck isn't fast enough to give up the disruption from meddling mage. I also tried experiment one instead of noble hierarch but it never became bigger than a 3/3 so it felt lack luster compared to t2 mantis rider.
One thing that did work well is Magus of the Moon in the SB. It may sound wierd but with the number of times that this deck can empty its hand by turn three playing a blood moon can be fairly one sided as we are out of spells to cast and who fetches basics vs a 5 color deck?
To continue the discussion about xathrid vs selfless: both have their positives and negatives but I think we actually want vial on 3 more than 2. Our 3 drops like reflector mage, big thalia and izzet staticaster have much bigger impact off aether than our 2 drops. for 2 drops vial just cheats on mana but for 3 drops it gets us value. Also getting 3 lands vs 2 is a real concern especially with canopy. (note I play with 19 lands)
The reason I like dauntless so much is that I am currently having a great time running kytheon, hero of akros (in the flex 3 drop slot that used to be Big Thalia) and I view the body guard as an upgrade as it's text will often be more relevant than kytheon.
I am trying to look at things through the lens that a dead opponent doesn't cast removal and that we need more aggression not more disruption to win on the play.
In terms of benalish marshal, the reason it is better than thraben doom sayer is it can help enable attacks and push through damage the turn it comes down. It isn't supposed to sit on the field for a long time. Think of it as a 3 toughness kessig malcontents.
I personally am excited for Dauntless bodyguard, I think the one thing that they got right at the pro tour was that we need a few more one drops and I would much rather run dauntless bodyguard than my current one of Kython, Hero of Akros.
benalish marshal could be cool as well as 3 drop to help us turn the curve. I generally dislike 3 drops that aren't good top decks but I am open to the possiblity.
I think the deck needs to skew a bit more towards the low end of the curve to have a shot at burning out the jace decks before they set up their value engines.
Anyone got any tips vs Jeskai control or GB tron? both decks run a whole bunch of removal and go over us pretty easily. I am thinking Gaddock Teeg maybe for tron but in general I feel like i need to be faster. Adding Kytheon seems like a good start but anyone got any other additions?
I played vs titanshift this week but I don't think we have a great match up there. I might switch back to fiend hunters if this stays prevalent (over dismembers). I did bring in kambal in this match up and he was pretty solid. Making every ramp spell a drain 2 definitely helped race and increased the number of lands they needed for a lethal shift.
I also tried to replace meddling mage with a few cards. Kari Zev, Skyship raider was good but it made me feel like I had too many legendary creatures and wasn't able to get in enough. Hamlet captain and Voltaic Brawler were good but the deck isn't fast enough to give up the disruption from meddling mage. I also tried experiment one instead of noble hierarch but it never became bigger than a 3/3 so it felt lack luster compared to t2 mantis rider.
One thing that did work well is Magus of the Moon in the SB. It may sound wierd but with the number of times that this deck can empty its hand by turn three playing a blood moon can be fairly one sided as we are out of spells to cast and who fetches basics vs a 5 color deck?
To continue the discussion about xathrid vs selfless: both have their positives and negatives but I think we actually want vial on 3 more than 2. Our 3 drops like reflector mage, big thalia and izzet staticaster have much bigger impact off aether than our 2 drops. for 2 drops vial just cheats on mana but for 3 drops it gets us value. Also getting 3 lands vs 2 is a real concern especially with canopy. (note I play with 19 lands)