Maybe we are back! Trying to make the deck utilize Once Upon a Time, so emphasizing GW. Not sure if Chalice is the place to be, but if Amulet Titan is the deck to beat, this is great for us. I suppose if the world is mana dork.dec, then Chalice is great.
My build is very similar. Maindeck, I have -1 land, +1 Restoration Angel. Sideboard is a little different. I really like 2x Anger for Dredge, but Deafening Clarion is an interesting choice. With 2 sweepers, I think Torpor Orb is better than Tocatli, and it is easier to cast turn 1 which matters vs. Humans.
Despite many players thinking you can run Arbiter + SfM, I have to say, I think that is completely wrong. The inconsistency we get in a deck with no way to get out of its own mistakes can't play those games.
@pocaron19
Also a big fan of the deck, been playing it for a long time now.
My list is above.
It is a little different because of my excitement about Sunbaked Canyon and how absolutely meh Blast Zone has felt (we actually use up a lot of lands and R/RR is actually playable.) BZ feels much better in the more aggro Serum Powder Eldrazi build.
My flex slot is Eldrazi Obligator because it does a lot and it does it quickly. A 3/1 Haste creature is often a closer, but stealing a creature and having a haste creature has won me matches across several metas and feels especially good when your opponent thinks that can lock you out of the game with a single fatty (Death's Shadow, Wurmcoil Engine, Ulamog, the ceasless hunger, Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis, and so on.)
I favor staying at 25 lands with a heavy R content in order to be able to use RR cards in the sideboard, but also we need to get to 6 mana more consistently with Winds of Abandon.
I wish we could run Prismatic Vista, but alas, we are an Arbiter deck and methinks that would mess us up. Besides, Blood Moon is much less a thing than in Legacy.
In the sideboard, it is hard to decide on 4 Leyline vs. 3 RiP + 1 of something else. I don't like a card we literally have to mulligan into our opening hand. I could see +1 Winds of Abandon, that card has over-performed, so I would amend my sideboard in that way, even though casting RiP on turn 1 is not likely enough to stop Hogaak consistently and that stupid card often can fight through that too.
Other than that, I think Anger of the Gods is much stronger against Dredge and Hogaak than BZ and faster to the board and mostly better against any go-wide aggro strategy. Chandra is also mostly better than either CMC4 Karn (I know, I blaspheme), and Wear // Tear is just a little more flexible than Disenchant, but that is a 50/50 decision to me. I guess I like the possibility of destroying two things for one card.
RR is still a little iffy out of the SB, but 12 sources maindeck (not including possible GC on the draw) is far more than we have ever had and Prairie is going to be far more consistent now with 16 sources to use it. Anger seems really strong additionally against every GY deck, including Hogaak (not against Hogaak itself, obviously, but literally every other threat in their deck), including Phoneix, and it is very good vs. Humans, Spirits, etc.
I feel like Chandra is also just better, if we can sustain her, than Karn, Scion of Urza against Midrange and Control.
I wish I could fit more Obligator, as it can just steal wins and is a fine beater otherwise, but I don't know where I could find room. I'd have to go to 24 lands, probably, and dump Prairie, which probably weakens my SB plans too much.
Played Serum Powder Eldrazi last night and once again found it frustratingly mediocre. I never do as well with as I do with Death and Staxes.
Here's a question: If we run 12 R sources with with the possibility of hitting another on the draw, is Karn, Scion of Urza still the best planeswalker? What about Chandra, Torch of Defiance? I think we might have crossed into the zone of possibility.
Also, I always come back to Anger of the Gods. With this much R mana, it still seems like a really good choice against Dredge, Phoenix, Humans, Spirits, etc. I know Winds of Abandon is taking that spot thanks to Overload, but 6 mana is a LOT. How often are we casting it for 6?
Okay, match-ups, which ones do we worry about more?
Aggressive decks
Hogak and Dredge? Are we basically relying on 3 RiP and being able to play it ASAP? That isn't really secure against Hogak. Maybe we need something else? Dredge never felt particularly bad, but Hogank is worrisome.
RiP is great against both, but maybe needs to be Leyline of the Void? But then we lose if we don't find it? Anger would be great versus Dredge, not so good vs. Hogak.
Go-Wide Tribal? (Spirits feels dead, goblins is all on the ground, so not as worried, Merfolk doesn't really exist, so basically Humans. Do we need a 1-of Blast Zone for that match? Is the combination of Winds of Abandon + Tocatli Honor Guard good enough to improve the match? Anger would be very good.
Izzet Phoenix? Feels okay, I guess our only sideboard options are RiP or if we run Worship. Another place for Anger to shine.
Mono-R Phoenix? Kinda like Burn but better creatures, less-consistent game plan?? Burn was a better than 90/10 match for me, but they couldn't do the whole combo thing. This really might be a match for RiP to shut down their little recursion spell, but if we drop Chalice, boom... they're done. Another place for Anger to shine.
Infect? We can run Sudden Shock, which probably just beats them. Then again, we play Chalice, so... Another place for Anger to shine.
Hardened Scales? Is this still a deck? I guess. Our game plan is already good.
Control and Mid-Range Decks
Jund? Ugh. Welcome to Land of Grindy. Chalice is meh, Planeswalkers are dumb. I like Chandra + maybe 1-2 RiP.
UW or Jeskai Control? More Chandra, maybe Wear // Tear? Really depends on the start, if we end up in the late game, there is a good chance we lose.
Blast Zone doesn't feel great anywhere here, honestly, except Humans, and we have a plan for that. I would prefer Anger to Zone in our deck. Having played Blast Zone quite a bit, it is best if you have mana to ramp it quickly (you want to be able go from 1 to 3 counters the turn you drop it) or it is much worse. Spending two turns doing nothing and hoping to get it to 3 feels bad.
In fact, against the Aggro decks and Creature combo, Anger feels like it would be much better overall, especially with THG.
Where is Worship good? Not against any of the Control and Mid-range decks. Maybe okay versus combo? The aggressive decks (except Infect and Hardened Scales) can't really deal with it since they don't really kill our creatures, but then again, getting to 4 mana against them is not easy. I don't think I like Worship
EDIT: Day 1 of the Mythic Championship IV
Everyone not playing Hogaak is getting Hogaanked. Barring a another ban, this could push Izzet Phoenix and Humans out of the format. Our main enemies might be unfair GY decks and UW Control.
Blast Zone seems like a card poised to improve all of our worst match-ups. So taking Tom Medvec's list, here are my changes: I never liked Cavern of Souls in Modern, unless it is something like Humans, and I definitely don't like it here. Those are out, 2 Blast Zone in. Against the Tribals, BZ is fine since most of what we want it on is 1 (esp against Humans and Elves) or 3 (esp against Spirits), which means Tocatli tends to stay around. If the problem is Merfolk (it isn't), then we would want 2, but I mean, who does that? Crucible allows us to play it again too, which is quite nice.
@kysg
I didn't say "strictly better". To be "strictly better", it would have to deal with a resolved Ceratops, which it can't. But a card that allows us to play at instant speed with mana up rather than tapping out and using more mana for each activation is much better. Neither one makes me all warm and fuzzy. Ceratops resolving forces us to hope we can finish them by going wide.
@Mimicvat and kysg Aether Gust should be a 3-of in the sideboard. It doesn't deal with a resolved one, but it sure does put one on the stack back on top of their deck (it doesn't counter, so "cannot be countered" is irrelevant) and it time walks them. Much better than Transmogrifying Wand.
The trade-offs are fairly straightforward with a R build.
You gain Obligator, Chandra, and some good sideboard tools (Abrade and Anger of the Gods): Eldrazi Obligator is a very good card. I've used it in an Eldrazi Wr build and it was a good attacker that could just sneak wins out with 5 mana. Arguably the mana is much easier when you are not a 3 color build.
15+ R sources is good enough for 2 main Chandra and the sideboard choices. Rugged Prairie is probably worth trying as a 1-of to make RR easier.
What you lose are the tech lands (no Mutavault, no Blinkmoth, 1 GQ, 1 Scavenger Grounds) and Mono-color mana reliability.
I always like Anger of the Gods against the go-wide decks (Humans, Spirits, Goblins, Merfolk) all of which are oddly enough Tribal too, and also Creature Combo.
Aside from those two cards, however, I think R is pretty thin. I don't like Blood Moon, though I don't know how else they beat Tron decks, or Shatterstorm (With Abrade, do we need it for the Whir decks?), but that might be what they are forced into.
Another point, I think Warping Wail is potentially decent right now, and it is also an answer to Urza.
Still under the radar, not being talked about, but lookee here at Jack Champagne's list, 6th at the Worcester Classic.
I'd love to hear how the 3 Karn main went for him, that is a pretty big commitment to that line. I think I prefer the Karn, Scion of Urza approach main, but then the SB changes too since you can't run all of those singleton hate pieces.
On the other hand, also a very streamlined utility lands manabase, 0 Zhalfirin Void and 0 Scavenger Grounds. I think I would want the 3rd Blast Zone, but maybe I am wrong.
Despite many players thinking you can run Arbiter + SfM, I have to say, I think that is completely wrong. The inconsistency we get in a deck with no way to get out of its own mistakes can't play those games.
2 Deputy of Detention
4 Drogskol Captain
3 Giver of Runes
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
3 Rattlechains
1 Soulherder
4 Spell Queller
3 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Supreme Phantom
3 Unsettled Mariner
1 Teferi, Time Raveler
4 Aether Vial
1 Batterskull
2 Path to Exile
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
4 Flooded Strand
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Moorland Haunt
2 Mutavault
4 Seachrome Coast
2 Snow-Covered Island
2 Snow-Covered Plains
2 Waterlogged Grove
3 Damping Sphere
1 Deputy of Detention
2 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Kor Firewalker
3 Negate
2 Rest in Peace
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
4 Eldrazi Displacer
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Reality Smasher
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
Lands (24)
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Sunbaked Canyon
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Battlefield Forge
4 Plains
3 Gemstone Caverns
1 Wastes
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Dismember
2 Winds of Abandon
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of ??
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Tocatli Honor Guard
2 Stony Silence
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Wear // Tear
I feel like the Arbiter build beats the SFM build...
Also a big fan of the deck, been playing it for a long time now.
My list is above.
It is a little different because of my excitement about Sunbaked Canyon and how absolutely meh Blast Zone has felt (we actually use up a lot of lands and R/RR is actually playable.) BZ feels much better in the more aggro Serum Powder Eldrazi build.
My flex slot is Eldrazi Obligator because it does a lot and it does it quickly. A 3/1 Haste creature is often a closer, but stealing a creature and having a haste creature has won me matches across several metas and feels especially good when your opponent thinks that can lock you out of the game with a single fatty (Death's Shadow, Wurmcoil Engine, Ulamog, the ceasless hunger, Hogaak, Arisen Necropolis, and so on.)
I favor staying at 25 lands with a heavy R content in order to be able to use RR cards in the sideboard, but also we need to get to 6 mana more consistently with Winds of Abandon.
I wish we could run Prismatic Vista, but alas, we are an Arbiter deck and methinks that would mess us up. Besides, Blood Moon is much less a thing than in Legacy.
In the sideboard, it is hard to decide on 4 Leyline vs. 3 RiP + 1 of something else. I don't like a card we literally have to mulligan into our opening hand. I could see +1 Winds of Abandon, that card has over-performed, so I would amend my sideboard in that way, even though casting RiP on turn 1 is not likely enough to stop Hogaak consistently and that stupid card often can fight through that too.
Other than that, I think Anger of the Gods is much stronger against Dredge and Hogaak than BZ and faster to the board and mostly better against any go-wide aggro strategy. Chandra is also mostly better than either CMC4 Karn (I know, I blaspheme), and Wear // Tear is just a little more flexible than Disenchant, but that is a 50/50 decision to me. I guess I like the possibility of destroying two things for one card.
Between the Mythic Championship (22%+ of Day 2) amd the SCG Open (4 in the Top 8), I'm inclined to make that change.
Here is what I will be doing more testing with going forward.
4 Eldrazi Displacer
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Reality Smasher
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
1 Eldrazi Obligator
Lands (25)
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Sunbaked Canyon
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Battlefield Forge
4 Plains
3 Gemstone Caverns
1 Wastes
1 Rugged Prairie
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Dismember
2 Winds of Abandon
4 Leyline of the Void
3 Tocatli Honor Guard
2 Stony Silence
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Wear // Tear
RR is still a little iffy out of the SB, but 12 sources maindeck (not including possible GC on the draw) is far more than we have ever had and Prairie is going to be far more consistent now with 16 sources to use it. Anger seems really strong additionally against every GY deck, including Hogaak (not against Hogaak itself, obviously, but literally every other threat in their deck), including Phoneix, and it is very good vs. Humans, Spirits, etc.
I feel like Chandra is also just better, if we can sustain her, than Karn, Scion of Urza against Midrange and Control.
I wish I could fit more Obligator, as it can just steal wins and is a fine beater otherwise, but I don't know where I could find room. I'd have to go to 24 lands, probably, and dump Prairie, which probably weakens my SB plans too much.
I personally like this build and will probably try it out once my other 3 Sunbaked Canyon arrive.
Played Serum Powder Eldrazi last night and once again found it frustratingly mediocre. I never do as well with as I do with Death and Staxes.
Here's a question: If we run 12 R sources with with the possibility of hitting another on the draw, is Karn, Scion of Urza still the best planeswalker? What about Chandra, Torch of Defiance? I think we might have crossed into the zone of possibility.
Also, I always come back to Anger of the Gods. With this much R mana, it still seems like a really good choice against Dredge, Phoenix, Humans, Spirits, etc. I know Winds of Abandon is taking that spot thanks to Overload, but 6 mana is a LOT. How often are we casting it for 6?
Okay, match-ups, which ones do we worry about more?
Aggressive decks
Hogak and Dredge? Are we basically relying on 3 RiP and being able to play it ASAP? That isn't really secure against Hogak. Maybe we need something else? Dredge never felt particularly bad, but Hogank is worrisome.
RiP is great against both, but maybe needs to be Leyline of the Void? But then we lose if we don't find it? Anger would be great versus Dredge, not so good vs. Hogak.
Go-Wide Tribal? (Spirits feels dead, goblins is all on the ground, so not as worried, Merfolk doesn't really exist, so basically Humans. Do we need a 1-of Blast Zone for that match? Is the combination of Winds of Abandon + Tocatli Honor Guard good enough to improve the match? Anger would be very good.
Izzet Phoenix? Feels okay, I guess our only sideboard options are RiP or if we run Worship. Another place for Anger to shine.
Mono-R Phoenix? Kinda like Burn but better creatures, less-consistent game plan?? Burn was a better than 90/10 match for me, but they couldn't do the whole combo thing. This really might be a match for RiP to shut down their little recursion spell, but if we drop Chalice, boom... they're done. Another place for Anger to shine.
Infect? We can run Sudden Shock, which probably just beats them. Then again, we play Chalice, so... Another place for Anger to shine.
Hardened Scales? Is this still a deck? I guess. Our game plan is already good.
Control and Mid-Range Decks
Jund? Ugh. Welcome to Land of Grindy. Chalice is meh, Planeswalkers are dumb. I like Chandra + maybe 1-2 RiP.
UW or Jeskai Control? More Chandra, maybe Wear // Tear? Really depends on the start, if we end up in the late game, there is a good chance we lose.
Tron? More meh. Stony Silence and Wear // Tear.
Eldrazi Tron? Definitely Wear // Tear, Stony Silence (makes the Karn + Lattice bad, also good versus Ballista.
Whir/Urza Thopter Prison? Wear // Tear, Stony Silence, Chandra.
Combo, Think I'll Ignore you Decks
Scapeshift/Amulet Titan? Meh, another 50/50? Wear // Tear for Amulets, but not a lot else from the side.
Creature Combo? Tocatli stops ETBs, RiP stops graveyard recursion. Sweeper?
Blast Zone doesn't feel great anywhere here, honestly, except Humans, and we have a plan for that. I would prefer Anger to Zone in our deck. Having played Blast Zone quite a bit, it is best if you have mana to ramp it quickly (you want to be able go from 1 to 3 counters the turn you drop it) or it is much worse. Spending two turns doing nothing and hoping to get it to 3 feels bad.
In fact, against the Aggro decks and Creature combo, Anger feels like it would be much better overall, especially with THG.
Where is Worship good? Not against any of the Control and Mid-range decks. Maybe okay versus combo? The aggressive decks (except Infect and Hardened Scales) can't really deal with it since they don't really kill our creatures, but then again, getting to 4 mana against them is not easy. I don't think I like Worship
EDIT: Day 1 of the Mythic Championship IV
Everyone not playing Hogaak is getting Hogaanked. Barring a another ban, this could push Izzet Phoenix and Humans out of the format. Our main enemies might be unfair GY decks and UW Control.
Blast Zone took Humans from less than 20% to 30% or so, I think.
Blast Zone seems like a card poised to improve all of our worst match-ups. So taking Tom Medvec's list, here are my changes: I never liked Cavern of Souls in Modern, unless it is something like Humans, and I definitely don't like it here. Those are out, 2 Blast Zone in. Against the Tribals, BZ is fine since most of what we want it on is 1 (esp against Humans and Elves) or 3 (esp against Spirits), which means Tocatli tends to stay around. If the problem is Merfolk (it isn't), then we would want 2, but I mean, who does that? Crucible allows us to play it again too, which is quite nice.
Not sure we change much else.
4 Eldrazi Displacer
4 Leonin Arbiter
4 Reality Smasher
1 Restoration Angel
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
Lands (25)
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Plains
3 Gemstone Caverns
3 Shefet Dunes
2 Blast Zone
1 Wastes
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Dismember
1 Warping Wail
1 Crucible of Worlds
4 Tocatli Honor Guard
3 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
2 Worship
1 Warping Wail
2 Karn, Scion of Urza
I didn't say "strictly better". To be "strictly better", it would have to deal with a resolved Ceratops, which it can't. But a card that allows us to play at instant speed with mana up rather than tapping out and using more mana for each activation is much better. Neither one makes me all warm and fuzzy. Ceratops resolving forces us to hope we can finish them by going wide.
Aether Gust should be a 3-of in the sideboard. It doesn't deal with a resolved one, but it sure does put one on the stack back on top of their deck (it doesn't counter, so "cannot be countered" is irrelevant) and it time walks them. Much better than Transmogrifying Wand.
You gain Obligator, Chandra, and some good sideboard tools (Abrade and Anger of the Gods):
Eldrazi Obligator is a very good card. I've used it in an Eldrazi Wr build and it was a good attacker that could just sneak wins out with 5 mana. Arguably the mana is much easier when you are not a 3 color build.
15+ R sources is good enough for 2 main Chandra and the sideboard choices. Rugged Prairie is probably worth trying as a 1-of to make RR easier.
What you lose are the tech lands (no Mutavault, no Blinkmoth, 1 GQ, 1 Scavenger Grounds) and Mono-color mana reliability.
I always like Anger of the Gods against the go-wide decks (Humans, Spirits, Goblins, Merfolk) all of which are oddly enough Tribal too, and also Creature Combo.
Abrade has some nice uses.
Aside from those two cards, however, I think R is pretty thin. I don't like Blood Moon, though I don't know how else they beat Tron decks, or Shatterstorm (With Abrade, do we need it for the Whir decks?), but that might be what they are forced into.
Another point, I think Warping Wail is potentially decent right now, and it is also an answer to Urza.
I'd love to hear how the 3 Karn main went for him, that is a pretty big commitment to that line. I think I prefer the Karn, Scion of Urza approach main, but then the SB changes too since you can't run all of those singleton hate pieces.
On the other hand, also a very streamlined utility lands manabase, 0 Zhalfirin Void and 0 Scavenger Grounds. I think I would want the 3rd Blast Zone, but maybe I am wrong.
If you go Liquimetal Coating in the side, I think you want Crucible of Worlds too for the GQ recursion.