Honestly, the question I'm most interested in is whether the more valuable manland is Colonnade or Tar Pit. While the Colonnade is a bigger body and flies, the primary point of it seems to be the superior mana-fixing (black being a relative splash to the heavy WU)... but unblockability is pretty huge. Viksnins went with the Tar Pit but Fabiano only has a singleton with a full set of Colonnade. LC's posted decklist isn't running any. Have you tried using any Tar Pits, LC, and what were the results if so?
I've been cycling inbetween 2 Inquisition and 2 Celestial Purge in my board and haven't come to a definitive answer. I feel the Inquisitions can work in tandem with Duress, but I'm not quite sure. Purge is a hard card to give up, especially if All in Red starts burning it's way through standard. I'll keep you updated.
I won't question your wisdom regarding the first paragraph but I think you might be selling Inquisition short here. Inquisition should play nice with Duress even against other control decks. It's obviously not as good (no PWs except SURPRISE JACE BELEREN) but it can still hit their counters (...if they have one in-hand :uhh:). It could even be surprisingly useful against All in Red if you pull one early, being able to peek at their hand and ripping out their most precious card. (Hell's Thunder, Summons or Bushwhacker if they have the combo in-hand, possibly even pre-empt a T1 Guide if on the play with a Swamp/fetchland.)
Regarding AiR in particular, but possibly other quick aggro as well (is there any?), have you considered or tested Perimeter Captain? It's a one-drop if you can throw down a T1 Plains, can't be burned without getting in a block, and is also a good friend to fellow Defender Wall of Omens. You could maybe use a couple, combined with a split of Inquisition/Duress (so the former is available to SB in against cheap aggro), to increase your odds of having a Turn 1 play against AiR. It might even bear consideration over Firewalker, which is obviously superior in a vacuum but competes with the Wall as a two-drop and has a relatively difficult casting cost.
Like Lewis said, Pithing Needle is a bit too narrow to have much of a lasting effect and is weak to Oblivion Ring. Needle is not the answer for this deck.
I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss Pithing Needle. It's the most versatile SB card in Standard. It will certainly see increased play as the new-age PW Parade decks continue to catch steam and any deck running white will also match your O-Rings. I'm not going to list its extensive uses but, needless to say, it's useful against more than just Planeswalkers and they'll probably stick unless it's Vamps (no counter-O-Rings). I guess you'll just "play around it?" *shrug* Not much else you can do there.
I guess the real question is how much you're worried about the decks that will run it. Most Jund won't run it (no immediate CA, nevermind the incremental CA it costs the opponent... *ahem*) and have better things to side in (Duress, etc.), other control decks will simply attempt to out-Planeswalker you, and the new Red decks are all-in shooting for sub-Turn 4 kills. If we assume those are the biggest three decks to watch out for in the immediate future, then the "everything else" which would be playing Pithing Needle (Naya, Bant, Vamps, WW if it resurges) might be a non-issue.
I might also be talking out of my ass but my theory is usually stronger than my casual investment in the game would indicate.
Or you ramp with Knight of the White Orchid on the draw and play two creatures (4 Mana but Turn 3), or play down your Basilisk Collar... WW is pretty flexible when it comes to curving out. And responding to one of the above posts, Skyfisher is typically a weak Turn 2 play if your one-drop was a creature (but good if it was an equipment!).
I never had any luck with it personally, but 26 land is very high for a WW deck considering the "usual" aggro deck runs 23-24 land and a lot of WW variants even go below 20. Wescoe ran 25 with a miser's Emeria, though, so whatever floats your boat.
You might consider Dread Statuary over Tectonic Edge as well (wouldn't want both because they're both colorless), which has a relatively easy activation cost for the higher-land count WW decks and could overwhelm their land destruction/disruption effects. Lets you keep swinging through Wrath effects and is a great boon in control matchups...
That's not what I meant. I was asking whether I had to choose another card (i.e. "Pick Eel Umbra!") in order for my VETO to Realms Uncharted to be counted along with everyone else. That said, I think we all know what my preferred alternate would be now anyway... *ahem* *point*
As someone who is no more than a casual online player, the equipment theme remains a necessity so long as a Collared First Striker on defense is the only thing preventing WW from getting flat-out run over by a Sledged-up KotR, Scute Mob, or your favorite other superior creature in Naya / Bant / Junk (if the latter is still considered relevant). The equipment package is also a boon against Vampires, where loading up a White Knight and sitting back a couple sac-chumps lets you race Bloodwitch a lot easier than with a plain 2/2 WK, and gives you more ways to swing through walls in control matchups.
Emeria shouldn't be seeing play in WW builds. Most of the time you're never even going to play the seven other Plains required to turn it on. You won't see your singleton Emeria half the time, even in the longest games, and it'll just get shut down by Tectonic Edge or Spreading Seas + friends if you do see it (especially if you run without Skyfisher). Using multiples just slows down your early game with an undesirable CIPT land. Emeria is not good outside of a build dedicated for it, which a "weenie" build is not.
Only bad Polymorph players will be running Emrakul; Iona or Progenitus are still their best options, depending on the opponent, and Iona will be what WW players see played against them.
Honestly, straight WW (no splash) against Polymorph feels like virtual auto-loss. Luminarch Ascension doesn't work because it's too slow and eats bounce before it'll ever get online. You have to be able to race them down before Polymorph + counter backup comes online, which means you want more bodies (i.e. Sanctifiers is good, Journey / O-Ring / Ascension are all bad) or you need some sort of pinger already on the board so they can't counter it. Post-Iona, there's no colorless answer short of All Is Dust and good luck reaching 7 Mana to cast that before you lose. Has anyone considered some of these "jank" options?
Blazing Torch: It can come in under Negate on Turn 1 (and can't be Dispelled) and can be fetched with Stoneforge Mystic. (Then you can hold Mystic back to tap with it while your more damaging creatures keep swinging!) If you play it later and force a counter from them, that's one less counter they have for Path.
Ethersworn Canonist: Is a bear, which gets around their noncreature countermagic and helps you race, and the casting restriction on it prevents them from responding to your Path if you have one to play.
Silence: The closest thing to a non-jank option we have, cast it on their upkeep to force out a counter and give yourself an extra turn to race.
Short of that, I don't know what else can be done other than to play a more aggressive build (Steppe Lynx, fetches) if your WW build is more mid-range. It's either that or splash, similar to how Firewalker forced a lot of existing RDW players to splash black. If your first creature down is CMC 2, you've probably already lost as you won't be able to push enough damage through to force chumps or successfully swing around Iona if she comes down.
The Rampart also increases potential Vent Sentinel shenanigans if that comes our way in the other two packs. That said, I think I'd rather the Guard Duty just because we didn't grab the last one. -_- One is a lot better than zero.
At any rate, VETO Realms Uncharted. Do I have to pick one of the other cards to make my vote count on this? RU is completely unplayable in Limited, I don't care if Swamp is taken over it let alone a playable. (Well okay, RU is a better unplayable than Swamp because it's actually worth a couple bucks...)
The very last pack, Puncturing Light got beat out by Sporecap Spider because of some unknown nonsense, yet this time Puncturing Light- (Line-Slinger) beat out Sporecap Spider+ (Guard Duty). The only possible justification I can see for these last two picks is that the creatures are potential bodies to be buffed by Gigantomancer whereas the noncreatures spells aren't but beyond that, the spells are superior and the creatures are less likely to be playable in the final product.
Ancient Stirrings wouldn't have actually been a terrible pick if we foresee this deck going in the Rampdrazi direction. (So far it lacks direction and we don't have any Eldrazi bombs yet, but the deck vaguely appears that it might end up slow and going that way.) It's not the worst card in the world.
Note that Linvala won't prevent Unearth, as creature cards in the graveyard aren't actually creatures until they're already back on the board. In other news, Linvala's ability is not entirely useless against Jund even if they don't side in MotWH -- it still shuts down SGC and prevents Leech from pumping to beat your non-White Knight bears.
Not only is Pithing Needle more versatile, also being a huge boon in control matchups against Planeswalkers, it's arguably better than Linvala against Naya/Bant anyway because it can shut down the equipment that makes their creatures dangerous in the first place. A Sparkmage without its Collar isn't much better than completely pingless (still goes to your head for 1 but oh well) and Linvala does nothing against a Sledged up KotR beefed up with a couple Fetches naturally in the 'yard. Linvala's 3/4 Flying body, while notable, is not worth the loss in versatility and I'm just not sure there's room for her in the SB after adding Needles as well. Even as a complement to Needles in those matchups, conservative play with DoJ in the board would probably be just as helpful while also having applications elsewhere against other decks. (Allies, Elfdrazi, possibly the mirror, possibly Vamps as an out to Bloodwitch.) or use Relic of Progenitus to shrink KotR with fringe application against the rare Crypt Combo or OtV deck. Pithing Needle is still better than Linvala against Jund as well, being able to shut down Garruk if necessary and not being vulnerable to their creature removal. (It's Pulse or bust.)
tl;dr -- I just don't think she fits in most WW sideboards. Pithing Needle is a better option and most lists won't have room to run her as Needles 5-6 or whatever.
I heard about that, Sycik. I heard you also lost that game, no? (Not dogging on you, just seems kinda funny that you can get a bazillion of those things in play and still somehow lose.)
I won't question your wisdom regarding the first paragraph but I think you might be selling Inquisition short here. Inquisition should play nice with Duress even against other control decks. It's obviously not as good (no PWs except SURPRISE JACE BELEREN) but it can still hit their counters (...if they have one in-hand :uhh:). It could even be surprisingly useful against All in Red if you pull one early, being able to peek at their hand and ripping out their most precious card. (Hell's Thunder, Summons or Bushwhacker if they have the combo in-hand, possibly even pre-empt a T1 Guide if on the play with a Swamp/fetchland.)
Regarding AiR in particular, but possibly other quick aggro as well (is there any?), have you considered or tested Perimeter Captain? It's a one-drop if you can throw down a T1 Plains, can't be burned without getting in a block, and is also a good friend to fellow Defender Wall of Omens. You could maybe use a couple, combined with a split of Inquisition/Duress (so the former is available to SB in against cheap aggro), to increase your odds of having a Turn 1 play against AiR. It might even bear consideration over Firewalker, which is obviously superior in a vacuum but competes with the Wall as a two-drop and has a relatively difficult casting cost.
I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss Pithing Needle. It's the most versatile SB card in Standard. It will certainly see increased play as the new-age PW Parade decks continue to catch steam and any deck running white will also match your O-Rings. I'm not going to list its extensive uses but, needless to say, it's useful against more than just Planeswalkers and they'll probably stick unless it's Vamps (no counter-O-Rings). I guess you'll just "play around it?" *shrug* Not much else you can do there.
I guess the real question is how much you're worried about the decks that will run it. Most Jund won't run it (no immediate CA, nevermind the incremental CA it costs the opponent... *ahem*) and have better things to side in (Duress, etc.), other control decks will simply attempt to out-Planeswalker you, and the new Red decks are all-in shooting for sub-Turn 4 kills. If we assume those are the biggest three decks to watch out for in the immediate future, then the "everything else" which would be playing Pithing Needle (Naya, Bant, Vamps, WW if it resurges) might be a non-issue.
I might also be talking out of my ass but my theory is usually stronger than my casual investment in the game would indicate.
You might consider Dread Statuary over Tectonic Edge as well (wouldn't want both because they're both colorless), which has a relatively easy activation cost for the higher-land count WW decks and could overwhelm their land destruction/disruption effects. Lets you keep swinging through Wrath effects and is a great boon in control matchups...
Honestly, straight WW (no splash) against Polymorph feels like virtual auto-loss. Luminarch Ascension doesn't work because it's too slow and eats bounce before it'll ever get online. You have to be able to race them down before Polymorph + counter backup comes online, which means you want more bodies (i.e. Sanctifiers is good, Journey / O-Ring / Ascension are all bad) or you need some sort of pinger already on the board so they can't counter it. Post-Iona, there's no colorless answer short of All Is Dust and good luck reaching 7 Mana to cast that before you lose. Has anyone considered some of these "jank" options?
Blazing Torch: It can come in under Negate on Turn 1 (and can't be Dispelled) and can be fetched with Stoneforge Mystic. (Then you can hold Mystic back to tap with it while your more damaging creatures keep swinging!) If you play it later and force a counter from them, that's one less counter they have for Path.
Ethersworn Canonist: Is a bear, which gets around their noncreature countermagic and helps you race, and the casting restriction on it prevents them from responding to your Path if you have one to play.
Silence: The closest thing to a non-jank option we have, cast it on their upkeep to force out a counter and give yourself an extra turn to race.
Short of that, I don't know what else can be done other than to play a more aggressive build (Steppe Lynx, fetches) if your WW build is more mid-range. It's either that or splash, similar to how Firewalker forced a lot of existing RDW players to splash black. If your first creature down is CMC 2, you've probably already lost as you won't be able to push enough damage through to force chumps or successfully swing around Iona if she comes down.
At any rate, VETO Realms Uncharted. Do I have to pick one of the other cards to make my vote count on this? RU is completely unplayable in Limited, I don't care if Swamp is taken over it let alone a playable. (Well okay, RU is a better unplayable than Swamp because it's actually worth a couple bucks...)
Ancient Stirrings wouldn't have actually been a terrible pick if we foresee this deck going in the Rampdrazi direction. (So far it lacks direction and we don't have any Eldrazi bombs yet, but the deck vaguely appears that it might end up slow and going that way.) It's not the worst card in the world.
Not only is Pithing Needle more versatile, also being a huge boon in control matchups against Planeswalkers, it's arguably better than Linvala against Naya/Bant anyway because it can shut down the equipment that makes their creatures dangerous in the first place. A Sparkmage without its Collar isn't much better than completely pingless (still goes to your head for 1 but oh well) and Linvala does nothing against a Sledged up KotR beefed up with a couple Fetches naturally in the 'yard. Linvala's 3/4 Flying body, while notable, is not worth the loss in versatility and I'm just not sure there's room for her in the SB after adding Needles as well. Even as a complement to Needles in those matchups, conservative play with DoJ in the board would probably be just as helpful while also having applications elsewhere against other decks. (Allies, Elfdrazi, possibly the mirror, possibly Vamps as an out to Bloodwitch.) or use Relic of Progenitus to shrink KotR with fringe application against the rare Crypt Combo or OtV deck. Pithing Needle is still better than Linvala against Jund as well, being able to shut down Garruk if necessary and not being vulnerable to their creature removal. (It's Pulse or bust.)
tl;dr -- I just don't think she fits in most WW sideboards. Pithing Needle is a better option and most lists won't have room to run her as Needles 5-6 or whatever.