I've had a lot of success with Jazal Goldmane in the last couple months. I use a token strategy that's very understated, and most cards that make the tokens are good on their own (Sacred Mesa, Mobilization, Shrine of Loyal Legions, various Planeswalkers, some creatures with ETB/combat triggers, etc.), and I don't ignore the Mono-W staples like Sun Titan. Many games I play look like this:
1. Ramp, recursion engine, apply pressure, instant speed tokens, Jazal FTW turns 10-20.
2. Early aggro creatures, build tokens, Jazal FTW turns 5-7.
3. Slow start (get ignored), get a token engine, play defense, eventually swarm/Jazal if I can get there.
My favorite tech piece that people always ignore is Altar of Dementia. I've won with milling against Ensnaring Bridge and Tristoni life gain, and the sacrifice outlet is always useful against Mind Control and exiling.
Jazal is great because I can be the aggressor throughout most of the game if I get a fast hand, or I can play slow and defensive with great Mono-W cards, or sometimes pull out wins from nowhere even with a very complicated or clogged-up board state. It's nice having the flexibility when many people assume I can only play aggro with Jazal. THE most helpful bit of advice from this primer was the realization I don't need to play ten different board clears! Made my deck building much better from the days of Teneb, the Harvester Good Stuff.
Do I need to sacrifice a Pegasus creture to my Sacred Mesa each upkeep, or will the enchantment stick around if I sac a creature to something else, say, an Altar of Dementia
This primer is excellent! I made some changes to my terrible Nahiri deck based on this info and it made a world of difference. I use Jazal now, and despite having bit a bit a token focus, it is head and shoulders above where it used to be. I'd love to see the OP flesh it out even further.
I feel like Delve doesn't help this deck much, especially if you're trying to profit from Circular Logic. Seems like the deck wants to play more like Delver by putting out a threat for cheap (at instant speed, woot woot) and protecting it. If that's the case, why not play mono-U Delver instead of splitting two colors?
My build is very much a control deck and I still run Mangara and mono-white despite the recent shift for green. I really think people forget how useful Mangara can be, and he is really only terrible in a meta dominated by combo/aggro. Most metas, however, run a lot of midrange decks.
I agree that Arbiter needs to be a 4-of, and Thalia is fantastic as well. I run 3 myself but would definitely consider running 4 next time I shift my list around. Also, with as much Tron running around in your meta as you have, I'd probably replace a Plains for a 4th Tech Edge. Double Tech-Edges on turn 4 is a blow out against anybody.
Mask of memory, currently running 2, but I think 1 is enough. Is a dead draw in multiples never had the need to double mask; Is also a dead draw against fast aggro or combo (Infect, etc), Cant afford to tap 3 mana in those MU.
If you hit your second Mask, discard it to the first Mask. Problem solved It's typically very useful when it does come around, that having two is really nice.
Part of why this is inherently different from Maverick (which is an aggro deck) is because of card choices like Arbiter (which make this more of a control deck). What this deck does is nickle and dime the **** out of your opponent to make them stumble and stutter as you drop creatures that are full of value, which is why we play so many creatures with come into play abilities. Almost every one of our creatues screw with our opponent or offer some sort of mini-ability.
I would say that the modern version has to play a bit more aggro than the legacy version, but I believe this version stopped trying to be the legacy deck almost a year ago. It had to become its own beast. Arbiter was a choice that was almost left out because SFM was originally an option; the second she got banned, it opened the window for him and we never looked back. The meta is so dependent on fetching and searching and cantripping and this deck doesn't need to do any of it, making Arbiter a powerhouse in our deck more than setting up stip mines and path to exile combos. This is the reason why he's stayed in a lot of lists where Mangara didn't; because he's more than cutesy set ups for the few cards in your deck that interact with him.
For instance, if that Eggs deck that rolled the ProTour had been matched against a solid DnT list, it would have gotten raped. Everything our deck does shuts that deck down. I've had plenty of games against decks like Eggs where I had to ask them what they were playing after the match because Arbiter and Thalia like effects prevented them from really doing anything. That's what this deck does.
I understand why people come in and think the cards are terrible because a lot of them are terrible on an individual basis, but they all have a certain sense of synergy that makes them incredibly strong together. Hacking and slashing to make this deck an aggro deck is a bad idea because there are so many decks that play that game better. Maverick doesn't have the necessary tools to be strong in the ways that it is in Legacy. Knight of the Reliquary isn't quite as good without bomb lands like Maze of Ith and Gaea's Cradle. In this format, she's pretty much just a dumb beater and there are plenty of better ones.
Couldn't have said it better myself and I agree 100% on this. I don't think Maverick is our "bigger, more successful" brother. I think D&T is strictly better positioned in the Modern meta and has been for some time.
I can vouch for Canonist, as Aidan did. I've been running 3 Thalia, 2 Canonist in my main for some time now (mono-W) and love getting them both out. It's funny that most people will assume Canonist is the main hate bear in your deck if they see her game 1. She messes up your opponents tempo almost as much as Thalia, and completely hoses a few strategies in Tier 1 & 2 decks.
Meddling Mage seems very appealing in UW. The card advantage is just great if they can't remove her since they'll be durdling around with dead cards in hand when she's at her best.
I'm not sure that UW needs or has a better option than Mask of Memory for card draw. It's really quite good.
Mark, have you considered Spellstutter Sprite in your list running Mutavaults?
1. Ramp, recursion engine, apply pressure, instant speed tokens, Jazal FTW turns 10-20.
2. Early aggro creatures, build tokens, Jazal FTW turns 5-7.
3. Slow start (get ignored), get a token engine, play defense, eventually swarm/Jazal if I can get there.
My favorite tech piece that people always ignore is Altar of Dementia. I've won with milling against Ensnaring Bridge and Tristoni life gain, and the sacrifice outlet is always useful against Mind Control and exiling.
Jazal is great because I can be the aggressor throughout most of the game if I get a fast hand, or I can play slow and defensive with great Mono-W cards, or sometimes pull out wins from nowhere even with a very complicated or clogged-up board state. It's nice having the flexibility when many people assume I can only play aggro with Jazal. THE most helpful bit of advice from this primer was the realization I don't need to play ten different board clears! Made my deck building much better from the days of Teneb, the Harvester Good Stuff.
In before 1,000.
3 Essence Warden
4 Essence of the Wild
4 Eternal Witness
4 Lotus Cobra
2 Magus of the Candelabra
1 Rushwood Herbalist
2 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Loxodon Warhammer
4 Natural Order
4 Nature's Lore
2 Rampant Growth
4 Springjack Pasture
Convinced. I'll be testing it out over Kataki over the next few weeks. So does everyone side out their Vials/Masks to fit it in?
My build is very much a control deck and I still run Mangara and mono-white despite the recent shift for green. I really think people forget how useful Mangara can be, and he is really only terrible in a meta dominated by combo/aggro. Most metas, however, run a lot of midrange decks.
I agree that Arbiter needs to be a 4-of, and Thalia is fantastic as well. I run 3 myself but would definitely consider running 4 next time I shift my list around. Also, with as much Tron running around in your meta as you have, I'd probably replace a Plains for a 4th Tech Edge. Double Tech-Edges on turn 4 is a blow out against anybody.
If you hit your second Mask, discard it to the first Mask. Problem solved
Couldn't have said it better myself and I agree 100% on this. I don't think Maverick is our "bigger, more successful" brother. I think D&T is strictly better positioned in the Modern meta and has been for some time.
Meddling Mage seems very appealing in UW. The card advantage is just great if they can't remove her since they'll be durdling around with dead cards in hand when she's at her best.
I'm not sure that UW needs or has a better option than Mask of Memory for card draw. It's really quite good.
Mark, have you considered Spellstutter Sprite in your list running Mutavaults?