First off I realize I'm doing something less normal than Vendilion Clique, and True-Name Nemesis. However I have a small Legacy tournament this Saturday and need some input if possible for a Bant build. I would expect a meta of: Death and Taxes, Punishing Fire decks [Lands, Punishing Thing, maybe Punishing Maverick], URx Delver [UR, then RUG, then Grixis], Infect, Eldrazi stompy, some crazy fringe combo decks [Cephalid Breakfast/Boo Berries, Cheerios, Alluren, Food Chain and maybe a Splinter Twin-y deck], and maybe a sprinkling of Sneak Show and a storm variant (possibly High Tide). Years ago I quit legacy, and these are the decks I used to play: Death and Taxes, 43 Lands (BUG+Mindslaver pre-Punishing Fire version), Cephalid Breafast, Burn, Manaless Dredge. When Modern was new I brewed a local shop level Bant deck with Cold-Eyed Selkie and a bunch of exalted and it was one of the most fun decks I ever played with the exception of matchups of Electrolyze. Since Bant is a tier 1.5 legacy deck in a meta of essentially no Electrolyze's (I've seen a forked bolt or two in UR delver), I'd like to try this out in Legacy.
The most important opening play is Noble Hierarch, and from there a turn two Cold-Eyed Selkie, Sanctum Prelate or Ardent Plea are my ideal plays I believe. I know Ardent Plea sounds like garbage to most people, but when I played it in Modern I liked the idea more than Shardless Agent since with all the Exalted triggers, an additional Exalted trigger (that survives most sweepers) was more beneficial than a 2/2.
T1: Hierarch
T2: Cold-Eyed Selkie
T3: Ardent Plea -> Qasali Pridemage // Hit for 4, draw 4, play land have Pridemage's disenchant up. Was one of my favorite fairly commmon openings when I played it in modern. Here the low end blue count is supplemented by this obnoxious amount of card draw to keep Force pitchable cards in hand.
Legacy though has additional insane lines like:
T1: Hierarch
T2: Sanctum Prelate
Which should be insane against the vast majority of match ups. IE: Name 1 against Delver and you just have to race a 12 creature deck, name 2 against Lands and shut off Life from the Loam and Punishing Fire. Also strong against Storm, Infect yada yada yada.
Meddling Mage is more Sanctum Prelates essentially as a card that requires knowledge of the format, but disables decks. I run Path to Exile over Swords to Plowshares simply because Swords to Plowshares is a good Meddling Mage name and my deck isn't on a mana denial plan anyways.
Anyways here are the cards I own and if you could swap them around for an ideal starting 60 (and any Standard cards are free game for SB as well like Tamiyo or Gideon). I want to try Rafiq though, that's one thing I really want to keep main, I used to use the three drop Ajani in Modern and double strike was an insane finisher.
Breaking down what 10 basics I should run would be a great help as well and I am definitely on 10 basics (like I will not be able to get more non basics for this tournament and I dont want to run the Standard duels, and because Basics do have upside as I've learned playing D&T).
Enchantments 4 Ardent Plea (I know people think this card is garbage, but I want to try it) 2 Spreading Seas (I know people also think this is garbage, but it makes Selkie unblockable and cantrips. Can color screw some decks but basically not since most people are Blue. It can make an Island out of an Inkmoth though. Also I don't have Wasteland, so this is my Land hate available, also can be cascaded into)
Instants 4 Force of Will (I think these are MB, and then SB out when they are bad) 2 Path to Exile (Over Swords to Plowshares, because Meddling Mage will often name Swords to Plowshares)
Artifacts 1 Umezawa’s Jitte (Core) 1 Batterskull (Core) 1 Sword of Feast and Famine (I prefer this sword to Fire and Ice since with Selkie I draw a lot of cards when things are going well [which is when swords work] and the untap to play more things is relevant. Also Pro-Green is relevant to chump Goyfs)
What about using energy into the planeswalker? Like the more times you minus her, the larger her Ult potentially becomes?
Chandra 1RR
+ 1 Exile the top card of your library, you may play it this turn. You may deal damage equal to the revealed card's converted mana cost to target creature.
- X Discard any number of cards and draw that many minus one. Add one Energy counter for X, and create an X/X token.
- 4 Chandra deals damage to each opponent and each creature that opponent controls equal to the number of Energy counters you control.
4 Loyalty
Something like that can create energy for other cards, and give a reason for saving energy up. She also can create creatures to man vehicles this way.
CMC 1 more than playability.
+ Flip a coin. Heads, Discard a card randomly, if it wasn't your favorite card draw a card, otherwise scoop. Tails, Deal one less damage than you'd like to, to target creature or player.
- Exile a card from your library, if you have enough mana to cast it, leave it in exile. Otherwise exile another card and destroy artifact, but only if opponents control no artifacts.
Ult: Almost kill your opponent, but still let them stabilize
That seems balanced for a red planeswalker.
In reality I'd love to see a low CMC red planeswalker that is competitive. Koth was amazing and I wish it existed outside of the CawBlade era, here's to hoping a Koth-esque power level planeswalker fits in the meta with Kaladesh.
Haha I did conspiracy2 with winnings too. The deck I felt weakest against wasn't the deck that beat me (round loss-wise) but a deck I beat 2-1, which was Bant Company. Reflector Mage was good against my Skin Invasion plan, but one game I got Skin Invasion on a Neonate (the self sac one) and the 3/4 body was clutch especially against Thalia's first strike. I think some blend of red can be a very good meta deck choice especially considering budget differences. I am not sure the exact tuning of the red deck to make it best, but it sounds like our two ways both have potential and that's always a good thing in a standard people often complain is stale.
Some minor tweaks to the list based on card availability, but I got 2nd at FNM with basically the list I posted earlier. I used Zurgos instead of the 2/1 since I couldn't get the new cards. I also used the common 0/3 tap ping guy over Chandra since I didn't have Chandra in paper. I also had no sideboard. Use two more Firecraft as well since I only had 3 Lightning Berserker and I cut a mountain.
Lost game 3 of the finals stuck on 1 land and a sick hand if I just drew the second land. Probably was a bit greedy though given we were 1 and 1.
Creatures
4x Falkenrath Gorger - 1 drop 2/1, with super minimal upside with Insolent Neonate but not really more upside than just any 2/1 for R
4x Insolent Neonate - 1 drop 1/1 menace, sac: discard a card and then draw a card. This is the madness enabler and self killing creature. Menace has been relevant too. Best creature in the deck imo.
4x Lightning Berserker - 1 drop 1/1 with firebreathing and dash. Another 1 drop, random haste and scaling into the late game is good.
4x Scourge Wolf - 2 drop 2/2 first strike, delerium double strike. This guy kinda sucks but first strike has been good pushing through zombies and using pump spells especially when you have 3 cards in the graveyard and instant kill them with pump spell enabling delirum into something like 6-14 damage.
2x Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh - Has been really good in games it lives a turn. I board these out game two almost everytime along with 2 mountains and bring in a mini sideboard package.
Instants
4x Otherworldly Outburst - Insanely good card. It is a mini combat trick, a 1 mana 3/2 and a counterspell in many ways in this deck.
4x Titan’s Strength - 1 mana 3 damage is good, scry is good late, and can basically 1 hit KO a guy with delirium wolf.
4x Fiery Temper - Lightning Bolt
Enchantments
4x Skin Invasion - Makes you little men resilient to Languish and sorcery speed removal. Becomes a 1 mana 3/4.
Sorcery
4x Incendiary Flow - Incernerate
2x Exquisite Firecraft - Late game reach and kills the otherwise practically unbeatable Kalitas. Talking about Kalitas first strike wolf is alright against Kalitas.
Lands
20x Mountain
Sideboard
3x Call of the Moon - Against slower decks that really struggle in the 2 spells a turn type of game this is pretty decent. Also good in a full aggro rush match where the 2/1 into this turn 2 is a 5/3 attacking every turn and often many "if you kill this you are going to deal with 3/2s or 3/4s type cards"
4x Dragon Fodder - When 2 1/1s for 2 mana is good, I board this in. Basically against red mirror match. 4 is way too many though. I think 1 or 2 is better and add the 1 mana instant that deals 4 to a blue or white create that is uncounterable.
4x Infectious Bloodlust - When all they have is sorcery speed removal this card is pretty great. I usually bring this in against Liliana decks as well as black is mostly sorcery speed removal and the extra toughness helps against liliana.
2x Sparkmage’s Gambit - Against 1 toughness decks or decks that don't really play creatures until the mid-game and you can just make them not block.
2 Stensia Masquerade - I often board these in for Chandra when my opponents have a deck that can clog the ground with 1 and 2 toughness guys. In that situation the team first strike has been good for me. Gideon is a good example of when to swap Chandra for this. If you have 2/1s (including the firebreathing guy here) the knight gideon makes is basically game over, but with the first strike you can maintain pressure which has been clutch.
Cards I'd like to have access to in the sideboard are 2 more of Exquisite Firecraft. Some form of Lifegain hate, which I think is best served non-budget with a green splash and Atarka's Command. And possibly the 0/3 pinger that is similar to Chandra with an extra spells package for Liliana match ups.
Probably could work in a deck that top's out at something like Season's Past to re-buy the entire curve back, use the scry to reset the Jar back to relevance and that allows you to reach multiple spells in a turn a little faster possibly. Blue Green and the color with the best sweeper + removal (Black [languish, grasp of darkness], Red [Radiant Flames, Kozilek's Return, Nahiri's Wrath, burn] or White [Declaration in Stone, 5 drop sweepers]) would probably work. Use Pieces of the Puzzle (since the deck is Instants and Sorceries + Brain in a Jar) and Take Inventory to create a card advantage engine. Then at 4 you have Splendid Reclamation which likely has an Evolving Wilds in the graveyard plus a handful of lands from Pieces of the Puzzle that sort of card draw engine (digging toward's Season's Past to rebuild) probably would be a good shell for Brain in a Jar. If using Red as a splash potentially Geistblast would be a good consideration given it has utility even if dumped by Pieces of the Puzzle, and the graveyard ability can copy spells cast by the Jar using the mana you saved (double pieces = dig 10 pick 4, double red wraths = enough damage to take down large creatures, double Take inventory = draw 2 to 8 cards, double individual burn spells is often good enough in place of a wrath [as the are playing around your wrath's by not over extending, double pulse of Murasa = gain 12 life + regrow 2 lands to hand). Red also has decent X spells which are kinda cheat the Season's Past curve to make it scale better.
1. Distended Mindbender
- Four turn clock. This may seem irrelevant, but if the format devolves into who gets their Emerged Eldrazi out first, the one that has a full turn faster clock than the blue one (and both the blue and this one [the black] not only each semi-deal with the green Decimator of the Provinces, they also are in colors to better manage it). This ones quick discard is nothing to dismiss either, as if you win the Emerge race, they don’t get to follow you up. This card is the trump card in my opinion, and still incredibly powerful even if other emerge decks do not appear. A line like Duress, Grasp of Darkness/Ultimate Price, Three drop creature of choice, Distended Mindbreaker: is an insane curve where the opponent’s hand is crippled and you are left with a 4 turn clock.
2. Elder Deep-Fiend
- This will see play in most every tempo deck. This card has the power level to make blue a major player in standard (end of turn tap your team, attack for lethal [in spirits]). It also is a skill card as if timed correctly upkeep tapping the correct lands can time walk the opponent in some (more often than not) board states. With a realistic cost of 4 or 5 mana this is quiet easily a Mistbind Clique for standard, and that’s scary.
edit: I thought this was a 4/5, I now see it's a 5/6 that I've opened one and think it may be the best card in the set.
3. Nahiri's Wrath
- Each extra land drawn is another dead creature. This one sided board wipe should fit well into aggro decks to clear the path as they enter the mid game to close it out, and also potentially plays well in a midrange strategy that curves to 4, discards lands with a single midrange card, then rebuys all those lands with Splendid Reclamation.
4. Spell Queller and/or Mausoleum Wanderer
- Obviously these are two separate cards, and could find play outside of the spirits deck, specifically the Queller, but I believe these two additions will make Spirits a popular deck, also featuring Elder Deep-Fiend from this set to join the rest of standards spirits to make a Faeries impression.
5. Gisela, the Broken Blade
- This card is powerful enough on it’s own to be a player. Someone will use the other card to make it meld, which would just end games. Lifeline is relevant in any life gain theme decks (was a BW theme in Zendikar, and there are some cards in this set that also care so there might be a deck). Just on it’s own, it seem like a good curve topper in aggro and a fine mid-range creature to stabilize.
6. Splendid Reclamation
- With limited graveyard hate, still a relevant fetch land in standard with Evolving Wilds, and numerous ways to get cards into the graveyard this should act as a very effect ramp spell.
7. Noose Constrictor
- If this and Day's Undoing can build a Temur tempo deck of some sort with like Fiery Temper I could see that being popular until Day’s Undoing rotates. I don’t think this card has much staying power past rotation though, but who knows what’s coming in the future.
8. Take Inventory
- It’s sorcery speed and doesn’t count copies in your opponents graveyard, but this Accumulated Knowledge variant should see play, and always as a four of.
9. Lone Rider // It That Rides as One
If gaining 3 life isn’t hard (once again mentioning the life gain theme as referenced with Gisela) this aggressive little guy is a beast. 2 mana for a 4/4 lifelink, first strike, trampler is way past normal power levels and the first fuels future flips so a life gain engine isn’t required (just a one time 3+ life gain ).
10. Vexing Scuttler
Most likely this does not belong on this list, however Mnemonic Walls have seen play before often making looping control strategies. This one however can reduce it’s casting cost to 1CMC (unlikely, more often something like 3 or 4 mana) and has a 4/5 body. This could compete for slots with Goblin Dark Dwellers if the CMC restriction or color of Dark Dwellers is unappealing or the additional toughness is relevant (Languish // Grasp of Darkness format).
Honorable Mention: Tree of Perdition - Once Painlands rotate, if there is no reasonable way to alter your life total at instant speed this could be an on color half of an instant win combo deck with Triskaidekaphobia. Oddly though it would be awful in a mirror match, but I guess that’s what decks stocked with removal deal with.
Not really on theme with enchanments, but the landfall angel can bring it back as well. I haven't played in months so I apologize for not remembering the name off the top of my head but it's normal landfall return a permanent to you hand from the graveyard, if plains return to battlefield. If I remember right it's a 7 drop, so perhaps it would be some form of esper enchanments solarflare with a mini reanimation theme and lots of early game looting.
Attached image. Potential dredge creature, works well with the mythic 2drop zombie as well.
EDIT: Geralf's Masterpiece is another one it could work with. I initially forgot about that creature, but if there is enough dredge like cards in this format this could be a real thing.
then my finisher is usually a pair of Kalastria Nightwatch. Fill in the other 10 cards or so with draft playables and you will win quiet a few matches as the stalling of the wall/life strategy into the repeatable removal is really strong. The best card against it so far has been the 7/6 hexproof trampler.
The guy's talking about Necromantic Summons need to remember it's not only your graveyard that it can reanimate from. This is important because it's less dead than normal and requires little to no set up. Either you have had something die, or you have killed something relevant of their's and now you reanimate it better than before for yourself assuming the removal spell and another have given you spell mastery.
You can use Defiant Strike though to get that Ancestral Recall type effect with a goblin token army (not that it has to be tribal or anything just an example).
The most important opening play is Noble Hierarch, and from there a turn two Cold-Eyed Selkie, Sanctum Prelate or Ardent Plea are my ideal plays I believe. I know Ardent Plea sounds like garbage to most people, but when I played it in Modern I liked the idea more than Shardless Agent since with all the Exalted triggers, an additional Exalted trigger (that survives most sweepers) was more beneficial than a 2/2.
T1: Hierarch
T2: Cold-Eyed Selkie
T3: Ardent Plea -> Qasali Pridemage // Hit for 4, draw 4, play land have Pridemage's disenchant up. Was one of my favorite fairly commmon openings when I played it in modern. Here the low end blue count is supplemented by this obnoxious amount of card draw to keep Force pitchable cards in hand.
Legacy though has additional insane lines like:
T1: Hierarch
T2: Sanctum Prelate
Which should be insane against the vast majority of match ups. IE: Name 1 against Delver and you just have to race a 12 creature deck, name 2 against Lands and shut off Life from the Loam and Punishing Fire. Also strong against Storm, Infect yada yada yada.
Meddling Mage is more Sanctum Prelates essentially as a card that requires knowledge of the format, but disables decks. I run Path to Exile over Swords to Plowshares simply because Swords to Plowshares is a good Meddling Mage name and my deck isn't on a mana denial plan anyways.
Anyways here are the cards I own and if you could swap them around for an ideal starting 60 (and any Standard cards are free game for SB as well like Tamiyo or Gideon). I want to try Rafiq though, that's one thing I really want to keep main, I used to use the three drop Ajani in Modern and double strike was an insane finisher.
Breaking down what 10 basics I should run would be a great help as well and I am definitely on 10 basics (like I will not be able to get more non basics for this tournament and I dont want to run the Standard duels, and because Basics do have upside as I've learned playing D&T).
4 Noble Hierarch (Core)
3 Qasali Pridemage (Core [for me])
1 Gaddock Teeg (Possible SB)
4 Meddling Mage (Core, but may shave)
3 Stoneforge Mystic (Core)
4 Cold-Eyed Selkie (I want to run these)
2 Sanctum Prelate (Core, I don't know why someone wouldn't play these, maybe up my numbers to include more copies. I am thinking a 2/2 split MB/SB)
1 Rafiq of the Many (I want to test this as my finisher)
Enchantments
4 Ardent Plea (I know people think this card is garbage, but I want to try it)
2 Spreading Seas (I know people also think this is garbage, but it makes Selkie unblockable and cantrips. Can color screw some decks but basically not since most people are Blue. It can make an Island out of an Inkmoth though. Also I don't have Wasteland, so this is my Land hate available, also can be cascaded into)
Instants
4 Force of Will (I think these are MB, and then SB out when they are bad)
2 Path to Exile (Over Swords to Plowshares, because Meddling Mage will often name Swords to Plowshares)
1 Umezawa’s Jitte (Core)
1 Batterskull (Core)
1 Sword of Feast and Famine (I prefer this sword to Fire and Ice since with Selkie I draw a lot of cards when things are going well [which is when swords work] and the untap to play more things is relevant. Also Pro-Green is relevant to chump Goyfs)
Lands (the landbase I own)
4 Flooded Strand
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Karakas
1 Horizon Canopy
2 Savannah
1 Tropical Island
2 Tundra
10 Basics
2 Sanctum Prelate
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Flusterstorm
1 Rest in Peace
2 Detention Sphere
2 Spellskite
1 Llawan, Cephalid Empress
2 Supreme Verdict
2 True-Name Nemesis
Chandra 1RR
+ 1 Exile the top card of your library, you may play it this turn. You may deal damage equal to the revealed card's converted mana cost to target creature.
- X Discard any number of cards and draw that many minus one. Add one Energy counter for X, and create an X/X token.
- 4 Chandra deals damage to each opponent and each creature that opponent controls equal to the number of Energy counters you control.
4 Loyalty
Something like that can create energy for other cards, and give a reason for saving energy up. She also can create creatures to man vehicles this way.
+ Flip a coin. Heads, Discard a card randomly, if it wasn't your favorite card draw a card, otherwise scoop. Tails, Deal one less damage than you'd like to, to target creature or player.
- Exile a card from your library, if you have enough mana to cast it, leave it in exile. Otherwise exile another card and destroy artifact, but only if opponents control no artifacts.
Ult: Almost kill your opponent, but still let them stabilize
That seems balanced for a red planeswalker.
In reality I'd love to see a low CMC red planeswalker that is competitive. Koth was amazing and I wish it existed outside of the CawBlade era, here's to hoping a Koth-esque power level planeswalker fits in the meta with Kaladesh.
Lost game 3 of the finals stuck on 1 land and a sick hand if I just drew the second land. Probably was a bit greedy though given we were 1 and 1.
4x Falkenrath Gorger
4x Insolent Neonate
4x Lightning Berserker
4x Scourge Wolf
2x Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh
Instant
4x Otherworldly Outburst
4x Titan’s Strength
4x Fiery Temper
4x Skin Invasion
Sorcery
4x Incendiary Flow
2x Exquisite Firecraft
Land
20x Mountain
3x Call of the Moon
4x Dragon Fodder
4x Infectious Bloodlust
2x Sparkmage’s Gambit
2 Stensia Masquerade
Creatures
4x Falkenrath Gorger - 1 drop 2/1, with super minimal upside with Insolent Neonate but not really more upside than just any 2/1 for R
4x Insolent Neonate - 1 drop 1/1 menace, sac: discard a card and then draw a card. This is the madness enabler and self killing creature. Menace has been relevant too. Best creature in the deck imo.
4x Lightning Berserker - 1 drop 1/1 with firebreathing and dash. Another 1 drop, random haste and scaling into the late game is good.
4x Scourge Wolf - 2 drop 2/2 first strike, delerium double strike. This guy kinda sucks but first strike has been good pushing through zombies and using pump spells especially when you have 3 cards in the graveyard and instant kill them with pump spell enabling delirum into something like 6-14 damage.
2x Chandra, Fire of Kaladesh - Has been really good in games it lives a turn. I board these out game two almost everytime along with 2 mountains and bring in a mini sideboard package.
Instants
4x Otherworldly Outburst - Insanely good card. It is a mini combat trick, a 1 mana 3/2 and a counterspell in many ways in this deck.
4x Titan’s Strength - 1 mana 3 damage is good, scry is good late, and can basically 1 hit KO a guy with delirium wolf.
4x Fiery Temper - Lightning Bolt
Enchantments
4x Skin Invasion - Makes you little men resilient to Languish and sorcery speed removal. Becomes a 1 mana 3/4.
Sorcery
4x Incendiary Flow - Incernerate
2x Exquisite Firecraft - Late game reach and kills the otherwise practically unbeatable Kalitas. Talking about Kalitas first strike wolf is alright against Kalitas.
Lands
20x Mountain
Sideboard
3x Call of the Moon - Against slower decks that really struggle in the 2 spells a turn type of game this is pretty decent. Also good in a full aggro rush match where the 2/1 into this turn 2 is a 5/3 attacking every turn and often many "if you kill this you are going to deal with 3/2s or 3/4s type cards"
4x Dragon Fodder - When 2 1/1s for 2 mana is good, I board this in. Basically against red mirror match. 4 is way too many though. I think 1 or 2 is better and add the 1 mana instant that deals 4 to a blue or white create that is uncounterable.
4x Infectious Bloodlust - When all they have is sorcery speed removal this card is pretty great. I usually bring this in against Liliana decks as well as black is mostly sorcery speed removal and the extra toughness helps against liliana.
2x Sparkmage’s Gambit - Against 1 toughness decks or decks that don't really play creatures until the mid-game and you can just make them not block.
2 Stensia Masquerade - I often board these in for Chandra when my opponents have a deck that can clog the ground with 1 and 2 toughness guys. In that situation the team first strike has been good for me. Gideon is a good example of when to swap Chandra for this. If you have 2/1s (including the firebreathing guy here) the knight gideon makes is basically game over, but with the first strike you can maintain pressure which has been clutch.
Cards I'd like to have access to in the sideboard are 2 more of Exquisite Firecraft. Some form of Lifegain hate, which I think is best served non-budget with a green splash and Atarka's Command. And possibly the 0/3 pinger that is similar to Chandra with an extra spells package for Liliana match ups.
- Four turn clock. This may seem irrelevant, but if the format devolves into who gets their Emerged Eldrazi out first, the one that has a full turn faster clock than the blue one (and both the blue and this one [the black] not only each semi-deal with the green Decimator of the Provinces, they also are in colors to better manage it). This ones quick discard is nothing to dismiss either, as if you win the Emerge race, they don’t get to follow you up. This card is the trump card in my opinion, and still incredibly powerful even if other emerge decks do not appear. A line like Duress, Grasp of Darkness/Ultimate Price, Three drop creature of choice, Distended Mindbreaker: is an insane curve where the opponent’s hand is crippled and you are left with a 4 turn clock.
2. Elder Deep-Fiend
- This will see play in most every tempo deck. This card has the power level to make blue a major player in standard (end of turn tap your team, attack for lethal [in spirits]). It also is a skill card as if timed correctly upkeep tapping the correct lands can time walk the opponent in some (more often than not) board states. With a realistic cost of 4 or 5 mana this is quiet easily a Mistbind Clique for standard, and that’s scary.
edit: I thought this was a 4/5, I now see it's a 5/6 that I've opened one and think it may be the best card in the set.
3. Nahiri's Wrath
- Each extra land drawn is another dead creature. This one sided board wipe should fit well into aggro decks to clear the path as they enter the mid game to close it out, and also potentially plays well in a midrange strategy that curves to 4, discards lands with a single midrange card, then rebuys all those lands with Splendid Reclamation.
4. Spell Queller and/or Mausoleum Wanderer
- Obviously these are two separate cards, and could find play outside of the spirits deck, specifically the Queller, but I believe these two additions will make Spirits a popular deck, also featuring Elder Deep-Fiend from this set to join the rest of standards spirits to make a Faeries impression.
5. Gisela, the Broken Blade
- This card is powerful enough on it’s own to be a player. Someone will use the other card to make it meld, which would just end games. Lifeline is relevant in any life gain theme decks (was a BW theme in Zendikar, and there are some cards in this set that also care so there might be a deck). Just on it’s own, it seem like a good curve topper in aggro and a fine mid-range creature to stabilize.
6. Splendid Reclamation
- With limited graveyard hate, still a relevant fetch land in standard with Evolving Wilds, and numerous ways to get cards into the graveyard this should act as a very effect ramp spell.
7. Noose Constrictor
- If this and Day's Undoing can build a Temur tempo deck of some sort with like Fiery Temper I could see that being popular until Day’s Undoing rotates. I don’t think this card has much staying power past rotation though, but who knows what’s coming in the future.
8. Take Inventory
- It’s sorcery speed and doesn’t count copies in your opponents graveyard, but this Accumulated Knowledge variant should see play, and always as a four of.
9. Lone Rider // It That Rides as One
If gaining 3 life isn’t hard (once again mentioning the life gain theme as referenced with Gisela) this aggressive little guy is a beast. 2 mana for a 4/4 lifelink, first strike, trampler is way past normal power levels and the first fuels future flips so a life gain engine isn’t required (just a one time 3+ life gain ).
10. Vexing Scuttler
Most likely this does not belong on this list, however Mnemonic Walls have seen play before often making looping control strategies. This one however can reduce it’s casting cost to 1CMC (unlikely, more often something like 3 or 4 mana) and has a 4/5 body. This could compete for slots with Goblin Dark Dwellers if the CMC restriction or color of Dark Dwellers is unappealing or the additional toughness is relevant (Languish // Grasp of Darkness format).
Honorable Mention: Tree of Perdition - Once Painlands rotate, if there is no reasonable way to alter your life total at instant speed this could be an on color half of an instant win combo deck with Triskaidekaphobia. Oddly though it would be awful in a mirror match, but I guess that’s what decks stocked with removal deal with.
EDIT: Geralf's Masterpiece is another one it could work with. I initially forgot about that creature, but if there is enough dredge like cards in this format this could be a real thing.
A normal draft core for me when I draft this archetype has been:
2 Pathway Arrows
1 Fortified Rampart
3 Stone Haven Medic
1 Serene Steward
2 Nirkana Assassin
1 Malakir Familiar
then my finisher is usually a pair of Kalastria Nightwatch. Fill in the other 10 cards or so with draft playables and you will win quiet a few matches as the stalling of the wall/life strategy into the repeatable removal is really strong. The best card against it so far has been the 7/6 hexproof trampler.
T1: Goblin Glory Chaser
T2: Goblin Piledriver or Dragon Fodder
T3: Wild Slash+2drop or Hordeling Outburst
T4: Zada, Hedron Grinder
T5: Defiant Strike = alpha strike+reload hand