At some point in a game you should realize that you aren't setting your opponent back by using ghost quarters or tec edges, even if you have an arbiter out. Sometimes this happens as early as turn 3 or 4. Save them to kill man-lands in the end game and you will have all the mana you need to activate the wreckage.
100% this. Only use GQ/Edge when you will gain advantage. Otherwise, hold onto the mana.
Still tinkering with microsplashes, etc. to try to find a balance I like. Still not sure what that is.
Streaming about Lingering Taxes if y'all are free.
Missed it, how'd it go?
he ran wb lingering taxes I missed the match he lost to death's shadow, beat affinity, ur delver and the 2nd death's shadow deck. Then lost a close super grindy match to mono white d&t
@chalupacabra yea went 3-2... Mostly because we experimented live on the stream with sb options and did not run cards we should have in the known meta. But even what that, I am fairly impressed with this rendition of the list.
R1 vs Death Shadow 1-2
G1 he literally had the nuts.
G2 lingering souls ran away with the game.
G3 I didn't draw very well through hand disruption early on.
R2 vs Affinity 2-0
G1 Was flickerwisp and path protecting lingering souls.
G2 Pontiff wreaked havoc.
R3 vs Death Shadow 2-1
Pretty much a reverse of the round 1 scenario.
R4 vs UR Delver 2-1
G1 I thought he was storm and played accordingly. Then thought he was Blood moon and played around it. Didn't see it so went back to original game plan. Then opps played blood moon.
G2-G3 Aether Vial just moonwalked through games.
R5 vs Mono-White DNT 1-2
G1 & G2 were grind fest and really boiled down to best draws win.
G3 was similar but the opps has a miser blinmoth (literally lol'ing as i type this) then plays "WRATH OF GOD", swings with single blink moth and attacks me to death. Semi-hilarious at the time it happened, fully hilarious now...
Ultimately, I think I did not give black enough credit as a support recently. I think with tweaking the deck could have got 4-1 (and maybe) a 5-0 from this league. I will continue to improve.
If you wanna watch the video check the stream out!
Sounds good, will have to check it out!
On review, Flagstones bringing land in tapped is a deal breaker...a basic Plains is working better for me here.
I took your advice and am experimenting with maindeck lifegain. I've also flipped back from Scavenger Grounds to Tectonic Edge in the 2-slot.
The sideboard is a bit of a mess, but if I feel the main is consistent enough, I'll sort it out then.
I do prefer Serra Avenger as a singleton. It reduces the awkward turn 2 plays that comes with 2-3 copies.
I still have mixed feelings on Dusk // Dawn. I've never particularly felt the need to side it in and I'm not even sure what the lines for doing so would be, as it interacts poorly with Golems, Resto, and Brimaz; and I find it almost impossibly difficult to cast when I need it.
I am however still just learning the deck. My question is about restoration angel. I find I almost never have 4 mana and I prefer my vials on 2 or even better 3 for wisp. I almost always board out 1 or 2 restos as I can never cast them. I am pretty aggressive with destroying lands though, which is what makes 4 mana difficult.
Should I be valuing 4 mana or a 4 counter vial more? Should I value them even more then destroying lands (except in like tron matchups)?
A lot of playing this deck well is just being able to situationally pivot to the best strategy for a given situation.
If you're not in a position to gain advantage from blasting lands, leave them down to cast creatures. If you can GQ your opponent out of mana, then it's okay to have an unused Resto in hand when you close out the game.
@chalupacabra I think Tec edge is too important in the current meta. I'd really fight to have at least 3 copies.
I ironically just won in a league because of shefet dunes yet again. My final score was 4-1 but my lost match was due to me timing out sick in the bathroom. (Reoccurring issues from my previous surgery).
I also noticed Burn has a major prescence that should not be ignored. Considering migrating some decent life gain affect to main deck. Finks or the new card from HOU might be reasonable inclusions.
The deck comfortably supports 9 colorless sources, which I feel works best as a 4-3-2 split. Ghost Quarter is uncontested for the 4-card slot, but I'm struggling to find my preference for the other two.
Tectonic Edge held the 3-slot for a while. It's not bad, but it's never particularly good either. It felt about the same at 2 copies as it did at 3.
Mutavault, on the other hand, is a freaking powerhouse alongside Blade Splicer. With 4 copies of the latter in the deck, it feels dead wrong not to utilize the former.
Scavenger Grounds is currently a test card in the 2-slot. I'm not really sold on it, but it's a curiousity, at least. Ultimately, I'm probably better off with something else there as I just don't think it's fast enough at what it does.
I've been toying with moving Auriok Champion to the main for a while now. The way I see it, this deck has 6 flex slots, which I've been filling with
I've been toying with Serra Avenger and Selfless Spirit in this slot, but it might be worth running 2 maindeck Champions. They go great with all the flickering and the card is best buds with Brimaz. It also stonewalls Death's Shadow decks; is a nightmare for Jund, Junk, and Dredge; and improves game 1 against Burn. It also neuters any of Storm's creature-based finishers and shuts down Copycat hopefuls.
Who knows?
On an unrelated note, I'm down with the idea of using options that are not Stony Silence out of the board, as I want my Vials and Clues, but I'm just not sure there's another answer against Affinity that's effective enough.
To bring up another topic for discussion, recently I've been experimenting with between 1 and 2 Flagstones of Trokair in place of 1/2 Plains in my pretty standard list and I feel that it is a subtle but occasionally relevant and positive change. I'm not suggesting any LD shenanigans or anything, and I know that it is stricktly worse against Blood Moon than Plains, but I've often found myself in a scenario where GQ'ing myself to get another white source to play something like Flickerwisp or Crusader makes sense.
It definitely makes more sense to me than the 1-of Eiganjo Castle most people play. I'd replace that rather than a Plains.
I want to tell you that Shefet Dunes was bad, however, the card performed extremely well. Multiple times it put creatures out of range inside of important combat steps while also preventing me from getting worked in combat due to the potential back swing. The Walkers in the board also played a huge part of winning this league. They stopped Death Shadows and Black Red Moon from out grinding me.
...
Let me know what you think of Shefet Dunes!
-Catmix
It's one of my favorite new additions to the deck. I am a little concerned about numbers between Horizon Canopy and Shefet Dunes, however, especially with the lack of built-in lifegain in Monowhite.
Still not really feeling the microsplash for Lingering Souls/Shambling Vent. Probably just going to flip this thing to Monowhite. If so, manabase is, oddly, the primary concern.
Can't decide if I like Scavenger Grounds here or not. As much as I like the "free" graveyard hate, is there ever a case where turn 3 is fast enough?
Either way, Shefet Dunes is great. Would run it even without other deserts.
Have settled on a favorite B microsplash build, though I'm sure the sideboard could use work. I'm still not convinced it's good, however. Essentially, in the original list, Lingering Souls was used at the spot in the curve where current lists use Restoration Angel which, with the current tech available to this deck, it's simply wrong to play less than 4 of.
Cool list. What don't you like about lingering souls that made you want to take it out? Seems awesome in this meta.
The card is great, but it means having a much more fickle manabase. With so many token producers already there to address Lili, I'm not sure that destabilizing the mana is worth it.
After playing last week, have been wondering if the B microsplash was necessary. Also toying around with something a player at the shop suggested regarding the new lands.
Basically same deck, minus Souls, more consistent manabase, Game 1 answers to graveyard strategies, and a team pump to come over the top. It also has a curve closer to traditional D&T curves and addresses a wide field, while taking advantage of the strengths of the Mery list and most of the strengths of deathandcatmix's old Lingering Taxes list.
I'm really liking him with Courser/Azusa/CoCo/Chord in a non-D&T brew right now, but I'm worried I'm going to find it lackluster when going back to D&T and "1-land-drop-per-turn".
I've been using Rub-A-Dub E-Dub/Crucibeast in a Stevens-style CoCo deck as well. I don't think it really fits D&T either.
I've come to feel the same way about THC and Mindcensor. Amazing Turn 2 drops for hating on ramp and creature-driven decks in a deck packed with Birds and Hierarchs, but without a deck that gets to 3 on the 2nd turn consistently, they're of questionable value.
Canonist's effect always confuse me and she was a card that i had and didn't get her potencial. Kinda used the Eidolon of Rhetoric instead.
It just depends on how fast you need to cast it, mana acceleration, etc. In WG I'd consider Eidolon, but in Monowhite the lower cost makes Canonist usually the better choice.
I really liked your list, mainly sb. Need to study very well how to sideboarded for some matches.
I think it's my weakness as a player. Never know what get in or out, but following the tread i got some ideas. Next month i hope to play GP with a mono white version and if i did i'll report.
Best of luck!
The advantage of the list above is that it has incredibly simple sideboard lines.
About Ethersworn Canonist: Can i activate my Via in response a violent outburs or another combo-card to stop them? I'm thinking to use '-1 copies in sideboard because my local meta has a few combo decks (Livind End, Ad Nauseam, Storm...)
Yes, in fact I did this earlier tonight.
So I had the rare opportunity to play some competitive magic. 40-player event, capped at 4 rounds. I went 3-1.
I don't get why multiple people have been talking about the most recent deck lists as if its something different than the norm. If you go back and look through the old primers this deck is 90% the same as what was being played back then. Swap Aven Mindcensor/Kitchen Finks for Mirrin Crusader and boom same deck. You have to go way back to when people were playing student of warfare and 3x Linvalla maindeck to consider it different.
You are absolutely right. The actual Mono W D&T is mostly similar to previous version except for Crusader and Inspector but that's because the core plan (LD and taxing)of the deck is as effective as always with all the decks running with greedy mana bases and lots of cheap spells.
Our toy doesn't change too much is the meta whose turns around a lot. The Jund subsitution for DS decks is the real deal. The rest of the meta is more or less the same (except for the banned ones): Affinity, Storm Version X.0, Burn, Tron Version X.0, Scapeshift decks.
Like I said before, the meta is balanced enough to be at a point where we don't need the tricks we've had to adopt from other decks to address unbalanced metas. We can go back to doing what we do. What I'm trying to figure out is what the best things are to adopt from
My favorite take on this deck is still your old Lingering Taxes deck with Mirran Crusader, etc. The success of all these similar lists tells me I can bring that to the table again...with a few new pieces of tech, such as Concealed Courtyard and Thraben Inspector. If I felt confident that King Kitty is playable in the current meta, I'd drop a pair of those in here and consider pushing Champion to the main just so I can abuse all the token-based lifegain.
Still tinkering with microsplashes, etc. to try to find a balance I like. Still not sure what that is.
On review, Flagstones bringing land in tapped is a deal breaker...a basic Plains is working better for me here.
I took your advice and am experimenting with maindeck lifegain. I've also flipped back from Scavenger Grounds to Tectonic Edge in the 2-slot.
Death & TaxesMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
4 Ghost Quarter
3 Horizon Canopy
7 Plains
3 Mutavault
4 Shefet Dunes
2 Tectonic Edge
Creatures (29):
2 Auriok Champion
4 Blade Splicer
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
4 Flickerwisp
2 Mirran Crusader
4 Restoration Angel
1 Serra Avenger
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Aether Vial
Instants (4):
4 Path to Exile
1 Auriok Champion
2 Dusk // Dawn
3 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Grafdigger's Cage
4 Relic of Progenitus
3 Stony Silence
I do prefer Serra Avenger as a singleton. It reduces the awkward turn 2 plays that comes with 2-3 copies.
I still have mixed feelings on Dusk // Dawn. I've never particularly felt the need to side it in and I'm not even sure what the lines for doing so would be, as it interacts poorly with Golems, Resto, and Brimaz; and I find it almost impossibly difficult to cast when I need it.
If you're not in a position to gain advantage from blasting lands, leave them down to cast creatures. If you can GQ your opponent out of mana, then it's okay to have an unused Resto in hand when you close out the game.
Tectonic Edge held the 3-slot for a while. It's not bad, but it's never particularly good either. It felt about the same at 2 copies as it did at 3.
Mutavault, on the other hand, is a freaking powerhouse alongside Blade Splicer. With 4 copies of the latter in the deck, it feels dead wrong not to utilize the former.
Scavenger Grounds is currently a test card in the 2-slot. I'm not really sold on it, but it's a curiousity, at least. Ultimately, I'm probably better off with something else there as I just don't think it's fast enough at what it does.
I've been toying with moving Auriok Champion to the main for a while now. The way I see it, this deck has 6 flex slots, which I've been filling with
Who knows?
On an unrelated note, I'm down with the idea of using options that are not Stony Silence out of the board, as I want my Vials and Clues, but I'm just not sure there's another answer against Affinity that's effective enough.
That used to be one of my favorite cards in the deck. It's one of my favorite new additions to the deck. I am a little concerned about numbers between Horizon Canopy and Shefet Dunes, however, especially with the lack of built-in lifegain in Monowhite.
Still not really feeling the microsplash for Lingering Souls/Shambling Vent. Probably just going to flip this thing to Monowhite. If so, manabase is, oddly, the primary concern.
4 Ghost Quarter
3 Horizon Canopy
3 Mutavault
6 Plains
2 Scavenger Grounds
4 Shefet Dunes
Either way, Shefet Dunes is great. Would run it even without other deserts.
Have settled on a favorite B microsplash build, though I'm sure the sideboard could use work. I'm still not convinced it's good, however. Essentially, in the original list, Lingering Souls was used at the spot in the curve where current lists use Restoration Angel which, with the current tech available to this deck, it's simply wrong to play less than 4 of.
4 Concealed Courtyard
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Plains
2 Scavenger Grounds
2 Shambling Vent
4 Shefet Dunes
3 Mutavault
Creatures (26):
4 Blade Splicer
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
4 Flickerwisp
2 Mirran Crusader
4 Restoration Angel
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Aether Vial
Instants (4):
4 Path to Exile
Sorceries (3):
3 Lingering Souls
3 Auriok Champion
2 Dusk // Dawn
3 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Mirran Crusader
1 Relic of Progenitus
3 Stony Silence
4 Ghost Quarter
10 Plains
2 Scavenger Grounds
4 Shefet Dunes
3 Mutavault
Creatures (29):
4 Blade Splicer
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
4 Flickerwisp
3 Mirran Crusader
4 Restoration Angel
1 Serra Avenger
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Aether Vial
Instants (4):
4 Path to Exile
3 Auriok Champion
2 Dusk // Dawn
3 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Relic of Progenitus
3 Stony Silence
Needs Canopies, but that'll have to wait.
I've come to feel the same way about THC and Mindcensor. Amazing Turn 2 drops for hating on ramp and creature-driven decks in a deck packed with Birds and Hierarchs, but without a deck that gets to 3 on the 2nd turn consistently, they're of questionable value.
The advantage of the list above is that it has incredibly simple sideboard lines.
4 Concealed Courtyard
4 Ghost Quarter
2 Godless Shrine
6 Plains
3 Mutavault
2 Shambling Vent
2 Tectonic Edge
Creatures (28):
3 Blade Splicer
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
4 Flickerwisp
3 Mirran Crusader
3 Restoration Angel
2 Serra Avenger
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thraben Inspector
4 Leonin Arbiter
3 Aether Vial
Instants (4):
4 Path to Exile
Sorceries (2):
2 Lingering Souls
3 Auriok Champion
2 Dusk // Dawn
3 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Rest in Peace
3 Stony Silence
So I had the rare opportunity to play some competitive magic. 40-player event, capped at 4 rounds. I went 3-1.
3 Concealed Courtyard
4 Ghost Quarter
2 Godless Shrine
2 Horizon Canopy
4 Plains
3 Mutavault
2 Shambling Vent
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Vault of the Archangel
Creatures (26):
3 Blade Splicer
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
4 Flickerwisp
2 Mirran Crusader
4 Restoration Angel
2 Serra Avenger
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Thraben Inspector
4 Leonin Arbiter
3 Aether Vial
Instants (4):
4 Path to Exile
Sorceries (4):
1 Dusk // Dawn
3 Lingering Souls
3 Auriok Champion
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
1 Dusk // Dawn
3 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Mirran Crusader
2 Rest in Peace
3 Stony Silence
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Eiganjo Castle
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Horizon Canopy
9 Plains
4 Tectonic Edge
Creatures (29):
4 Blade Splicer
4 Flickerwisp
2 Mirran Crusader
1 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Restoration Angel
1 Serra Avenger
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thraben Inspector
1 Weathered Wayfarer
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Aether Vial
Instants (4):
4 Path to Exile
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Dusk // Dawn
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Mirran Crusader
4 Relic of Progenitus
3 Stony Silence
2 Sunlance
1 Eiganjo Castle
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Godless Shrine
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Plains
3 Mutavault
3 Tectonic Edge
Creatures (25):
2 Aven Mindcensor
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
4 Flickerwisp
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
3 Mirran Crusader
2 Orzhov Pontiff
3 Serra Avenger
2 Spellskite
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Leonin Arbiter
4 Aether Vial
Instants (4):
4 Path to Exile
Sorceries (4):
4 Lingering Souls
4 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Dismember
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Hallowed Moonlight
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Rest in Peace
3 Stony Silence
1 Worship