I've been tinkering with Ayli recently and have soured on her. Will cut her, but currently debating Cast Out vs. Detention Sphere, since the instant speed and cycle of Cast Out is great, but Detention Sphere getting multiples is also great. Might tinkering with both.
I haven't yet; I've been looking for time to find out what I would actually counter in each matchup with it to see if it's worth a slot. Though it seems really good at counter a Scapeshift or an enabler in Ad Nauseum, I can't help but wonder if it's too easy for decks to kill.
Yeah, Leyline against the discard deck is a huge upside. You're basically discarding a card, which means if they draw one Seize/IoK, you've broken even and protected an important card (Probably a removal spell) and if they draw more than one Seize/IoK, you've generated card advantage. Obvious application in Storm, as well.
We talked about Monument a few pages ago. My evaluation is very similar to Wicked's: that the stuff you want to make cheaper (Ranger, Thune, Spectral) will still come out when they otherwise would have or later. It might be able to replace a land, but I'm not sure that's the best idea if you're playing enough 3+ cards to merit the monument. The extra lifegain trigger is interesting, and those creatures could be very large late game with a Thune. Test it, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.
Mentor is interesting since the Prowess could set up a kill shot if sequenced correctly. If you foresee yourself using it late game for a wave of creatures, you might also try Secure the Wastes. I used to adore casting that on my opponent's end step when I ran it, generating 5-6 creatures, untapping, and casting an Honor, and killing them.
I like Mistveil because it hedges against an empty library and gives me extra copies of important cards (Usually a Wrath effect or Anguished Unmaking.) I had Thraben in there, but never enjoyed it as much as I thought I would. I might try it, though there's nothing better than knowing that I pretty much can't lose at six mana. The Canonist split was because people in my meta were messing around with that Cheerios deck; you're probably right now that it's dead. Castigate is fine, but every removal spell other than Orzhov Charm exiles, so putting Castigate in further decreases my chance of Extirpating an important card out of their deck. Mindcensor is also fine against Scapeshift and other stuff, but I'm not sure I need two. Thanks for talking me through some things.
I can't say I like it too much, either. I'd just as soon run Return to the Ranks in mono-white if I needed more recursion. In multi-color, Orzhov Charm and Renegade Rallier do its job better. The strength of Proc, which is would be replacing, is the forecast. Casting Proc is a desperation play.
I've been putzing around with this Esper list and getting good results. I went 6-2 in side events at GP Vegas and have been a little above 60% with it since then at locals. I'm going to run it through some gauntlets this week before taking it to some PPTQs. I've lost to mana-screw a bit, but everything else seems to crumble to it. My sideboard is in a constant state of flux as per usual, though. Considering cutting a Ghostly and a Mindcensor for more range, but not sure what that is. Probably Thoughtseize so I can roll that out with the Extirpate against decks that die to the loss an important card. Let me know what you guys think.
But i still have troubles at FNM because there are too many people playing mono black, there is one guy that play literally mono removal, and then drops at turn 7-8 griselbrand and so on, first turns he smack my sisters with go for the throat, and if i cast spectral procession then he plays languish the next turn, he has won every single game since.
The second one plays Mono black devotion, he do de same trick, victim of nighr pridemate or ascendant and whatever i play, one day he doom blade and murder 6 tokens!!!, then play Asphodel twice and start beating with gurmag angler.
And the third one play aristocrats, he has not too much removal but Game 2 he bring 4 Tragic Slips, Languish, and Fatal Push, that plus 2 or 3 blood artist i can keep up with my lifegain.
Aside of this 3 matches i have been very succesfull with this deck, but in top i always face one of them and until now, this matches are unwinnable for me, i tried with Secure the wastes, Lingering Souls, Heliod, anything, some guy said that auriok champion will do trick, so i proxy 4 of them (i can't afford 80 bucks only for testing), but the result was no different, if i play turn 1 ascendant, turn 2 martyr , 3 turn auriok, they kill two of them with whatever removal, and then they play geth veredict or Gatekeeper of Malakir next turn.
I really enjoy this deck but this 3 people are insta lose, so i want to hear advices so i can overcome this situation.
What does your sideboard look like? How is the rest of the meta in your group?
If you can proxy then maybe thalia, guardian of thraben selfless spirit hope of ghirapur might help
It sounds like you might want to sideboard out some Paths and try to go for a quicker win, look for a win condition in your opening hand and try to race these decks. The have strong removal but at a cost our spells are cheap so we can flood a board forcing them to deal with multiple threats. Try to go wide and big at the same time. Attack into open boards as much as you can. Our lifegain is our defense. We can trade spirits for there good stuff.
I struggle against jund, and abzan decks for the same reason. They are not unbeatable but are grindy. Assume your first beater will die and look for the second win condition in your opening hand.
hope this helps.
If budget is a concern, a few maindeck Brave the Elements will stop their nonsense. You can cut some of your four-ofs (probably Martyr) down to three or even two to make it happen.
I'm of the same opinion of the Sunmare. If it was indestructible, it's a great closer. Since it's not, it's not better than Archangel, which is still the best finisher in the deck and I wouldn't run Sisters without it unless it was a budget call. Then, I would stay low to the ground like this build, curving out at 3 and running a lower land count.
Interesting that you'd like to bring in Push, because I've never felt the need for more than 4 removal slots main. Splitting them between Push and Path could be fine with fetches, but I think I'd rather always have the one that is a lock to get rid of the creature that's bugging me.
If you plan on using Return to the Ranks or any kind of recursion, sacing in response to the removal spell keeps that plan alive. Also stops Maelstrom Pulse from wiping all of your spirits. Fringe, but worth noting.
Yeah, Anguished solves a lot of the "I bring in X against Jund, Y against Affinity and Z against Merfolk. I don't know if it's worth moving into black if you're not already, but if you're already there, it makes a ton of sense to just have catch all answers and may be maindeckable.
I just saw it, as well. We still gain life, making it very hard for Infect to kill us, which might be worth Pridemate being a bear for the game. I typically side out big mana stuff against Infect, so Thune would be out of the deck anyway. Other decks might run it enough to completely kill infect for us. It also shuts down Gemstone Mine and similar lands, which are very important to Ad Nauseum. Interesting stuff.
As for the GP, I ended up going 4-5. Losses were to Jund, Mill(ugh), Lantern, Elves and a punt vs. Affinity. Wins came via Death Shadow (4C and Grixis), Dredge and Affinity. I'll hide my list (it's the same as a few posts up -1 Anguished and +1 Pithing Needle.) and results, but overall:
The tables at Day 2 were a bounty of Affinity, Burn, Dredge and other favorable matchups. Very excited to see a top 6 favorable, 1 medium and 1 bad match up. That's a good sign for the health of the deck.
Any game where I resolved Archangel of Thune was a game I won. I will reiterate my points I've made for a while about her being mandatory in the deck. She got a lot of deep, lofty sighs over the weekend.
Auriok Champion held my Jund opponent at bay long enough to almost die to his own Confidant and pestered Death's Shadow very well. Had I saw her against Dredge, she would have been great. Everyone who saw her on board commented on how well suited she is for the meta.
Serra got online frequently enough to merit her inclusion. She's great as a late game beater and a fetchable win condition that you can keep in hand after Rangering to go get her.
Sideboard felt great every round. I always had enough to bring in in every match up and many cards kept me alive (one even won me the game.) I don't think there was a single card that didn't make it in at least once. The only one I would reevaluate is Blessed Alliance now that Solemnity may just kill Infect for good. (Though BA is still a very strong card.)
Round 1: 2-0 Vs. Death's Shadow
I lead with Windbrisk Heights into Auriok on the play. Curve into Spectral and end the game on turn 4 by cheating in Archangel. Can I have that hand every game, please? Blessed, Leyline, and RiP come in for the Serras and one each of Lingering Souls, Honor and Spectral. I keep a hate filled hand with a turn-0 Leyline and my opponent sighs, showing me a hand of discard. We durdle at each other for a while, with him resolving a Liliana, The Last Hope and doing some other stuff until I can drop the Archangel and go after him.
Round 2: 2-0 vs. Dredge
He gets a little land stuck but is still able to generate a sizable clock early, chewing through my tokens and wiping some sisters off of the board with a Conflagrate I re-tool thanks to double Ranger and then top-deck the Archangel of Thune, casting it with two sisters to buy me enough life to turn the tables. Rest in Peace, Ghostly Prison and Wrath comes in at the expense of 3 token spells, an honor and I think a Serra? Not sure. I resolve the Rest in Peace turn 3 due to low land count and get two Bloodghast s out of his deck for it. It’s an easy smash from there.
Round 3: 1-2 Affinity
Game 1, we race – him with an Inkmoth and me with a Pridemate. Eventually, he goes for the Arcbound kill and I have the Path, untap and kill him. Stony, Ghostly, Wrath and Pithing Needle come in for one of each one-drop sister, both Aurioks, and a Pridemate. I keep a non-hate filled hand and end up drawing Pithing Needle and Stony in succession. His clock is fast thanks to Spellskite double equipped and an Aether Grid. Early in game, with three mana up, I go Honor into Needle on the Grid and swing out to get him to one and force him to start holding back, thinking “He can’t draw another Cranial Plating and he does just that and gets me.
Round 4: Affinity 2-1
Game 1, I keep a land heavy hand and get punished for it, as he goes wide and kills me through +1/+1 counters. Same sideboard plan gets me Game 2 through an early Pridemate with lots of Paths to back him up. Game three lingers for quite some time thanks to keeping a hate-filled hand. I slow him to a crawl and chip away, eventually forcing him to try to go wide enough to allow Ranger into Serra, Serra for the win in turns.
Round 5: Jund 0-2
He hits me with Inquisition into Thoughtseize into Veil to perfectly tempo any clock out of my hand. He bashes in with Pridemate shortly after. Leyline, Anguished, RiP and Wrath come in, out come Serras, 1 of each Token, 1 one-drop sister, and an Honor. I mull to five, but am able to draw hate for his slower hand and keep myself alive through Auriok Champion while he losses his Confidant luck and flips 2 and 3 drops long enough for me to think I have a chance to get him out. Eventually, he forces down two Goyfs to seal the deal, though.
Round 6: Elves 1-2
I get game 1 thanks to a very explosive Sister into Pridemate hand – he doesn’t have the combo and scoops. Ghostly, Wrath, Ethersworn and Eidolon come in for tokens. Both games, he’s able to get a fast enough infinite mana hand to kill me.
Round 7: Lantern 0-2:
Game 1, I concede to a turn 3 Bridge. Not much to do there. Bring in Anguished, Pithing Needle, Leyline and the storm hosers while siding out anything that adds counters or P/T. A Leyline Pithing Needle hand allows me to draw cards, but I never find an Anguished Unmaking. Late game, he’s able to break the Leyline and mill out both Anguisheds.
Round 8: Mill 1-2:
I was literally just complaining to my friend about how I was looking at a singleton Mistveil Plains before submitting my decklist and decided against it. Game 1, he plays some early Hedron Crabs to keep me off of mana and eventually finds answers for my Pridemate. Rest In Peace (He played a card that let him gain life for each creature in my graveyard, which saved his bacon game 1), and Leyline in for Aurioks and Lingering Souls. I kill him with double Pridemate really quickly. Game 3, he has double Archive Trap in response to my fetches. I hate Magic, sometimes.
Round 9: 2-0 Shadow
Plays out just like round one, but he doesn’t have green, so I never have to worry about Temur Battle Rage. Only notable is that I do get to wipe two Death Shadows by giving him four life with Blessed Alliance. He appreciated that a lot.
All in all, I think my misplays and mediocre keeps had more to do with my finish than anything else. I was still very happy that I chose the deck. My big future consideration is finding room for Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim, as she would have made that Lantern match a cinch and has relevance against other decks (especially white decks, as she can protect a better from a Path.) Let me know if you'd like to know anything about my sideboard choices! Sorry I didn't live the dream and put Sisters on the map, but I loved my time so much that I'll definitely be going to more GPs in the future. We'll get 'em!
The Leylines came back in after some discussions with people I trust that either they were going to be enough to slow Scapeshift down or I lose that game anyway. Ghostly Prison over Worship since any deck that can go wider than me can kill my creatures anyway (with the exception of Death's Shadow.)
I'm so pumped. Feeling really good after grinding a lot of testing match ups and finding ways to win despite all the nonsense. Even bad match ups are starting to get a little easier.
3-1 tonight with wins over Merfolk, Bogles, Esper Mentor and a loss to UWR. Went in on BW with 4 fetch, 1 shock, 1 basic for thoughtseize and anguished Unmaking out of the board I'll post the list when not on my phone.
Merfolk 2-0
I don't think this guy knew his deck very well and I used Spirits and honor to get wider than him quickly every game. Never needed the sideboard.
Bogles 2-1
Game 1, I resolve a Sister and a Spectral with double Path, but that doesn't do much against him. I bring in 8 cards (Repel, 2 seizes, 2 Unmaking, 2 Blessed, 1 Wrath) and don't need any of them as I use Tokens to stall as I land a Pridemate and Archangel and go to work, killing him because the lifegain is too good. Game three, I have to path my own Serra to get to worship mana, but we get there in time and eventually to wide with Thune.
2-1 Mentor.
Game 1, we trade back and forth hard as he resolves a Gideon, gets a 2/2 and a Tasigur, but I have Tokens + Honor. I eventually get an Auriok to blank his Tasigur and he bricks on his Tasigur flips so I win the race. Game 2, I go linear with Pridemate and he has a lot of pushes. Game three sees him have to spend his resources removing Aurioks and Pridemates, which leaves me with 2 Honors and a Lingering Souls. I wear his chumps eventually.
UWR. 0-2
I keep a one lander and chip him for a while until he draws all four Electrolyzes. He unloads a hand full of Bolts to try to kill me, but unwisely snaps one back while I have a sister, leaving me at one. I cast Lingering Souls and flash it back with two in hand to stabilize; he top decks a cryptic. Game 2, he rips three sraight Spell Quellers when we're both in top deck mode while I rip too many lands and Queller targets.
My favorite card is Serra Ascendant. It's so limited and restrictive in the decks you play it, but getting it online just excites my inner timmy so much.
We talked about Monument a few pages ago. My evaluation is very similar to Wicked's: that the stuff you want to make cheaper (Ranger, Thune, Spectral) will still come out when they otherwise would have or later. It might be able to replace a land, but I'm not sure that's the best idea if you're playing enough 3+ cards to merit the monument. The extra lifegain trigger is interesting, and those creatures could be very large late game with a Thune. Test it, but I wouldn't get my hopes up.
Mentor is interesting since the Prowess could set up a kill shot if sequenced correctly. If you foresee yourself using it late game for a wave of creatures, you might also try Secure the Wastes. I used to adore casting that on my opponent's end step when I ran it, generating 5-6 creatures, untapping, and casting an Honor, and killing them.
I've been putzing around with this Esper list and getting good results. I went 6-2 in side events at GP Vegas and have been a little above 60% with it since then at locals. I'm going to run it through some gauntlets this week before taking it to some PPTQs. I've lost to mana-screw a bit, but everything else seems to crumble to it. My sideboard is in a constant state of flux as per usual, though. Considering cutting a Ghostly and a Mindcensor for more range, but not sure what that is. Probably Thoughtseize so I can roll that out with the Extirpate against decks that die to the loss an important card. Let me know what you guys think.
4 Martyr of Sands
4 Ranger of Eos
2 Weathered Wayfarer
2 Kami of False Hope
2 Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim
2 Sun Titan
4 Orzhov Charm
3 Path to Exile
2 Anguished Unmaking
2 Wrath of God
2 Supreme Verdict
2 Proclamation of Rebirth
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Crucible of Worlds
4 Marsh Flats
4 Godless Shrine
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Plains
2 Emeria, The Sky Ruin
2 Mistveil Plains
1 Swamp
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Shambling Vent
2 Aven Mindcensor
2 Blessed Alliance
2 Ghostly Prison
2 Stony Silence
2 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Blood Baron of Vizkopa
If budget is a concern, a few maindeck Brave the Elements will stop their nonsense. You can cut some of your four-ofs (probably Martyr) down to three or even two to make it happen.
I'm of the same opinion of the Sunmare. If it was indestructible, it's a great closer. Since it's not, it's not better than Archangel, which is still the best finisher in the deck and I wouldn't run Sisters without it unless it was a budget call. Then, I would stay low to the ground like this build, curving out at 3 and running a lower land count.
I'm excited to see what you get from Athreos.
Yeah, Anguished solves a lot of the "I bring in X against Jund, Y against Affinity and Z against Merfolk. I don't know if it's worth moving into black if you're not already, but if you're already there, it makes a ton of sense to just have catch all answers and may be maindeckable.
As for the GP, I ended up going 4-5. Losses were to Jund, Mill(ugh), Lantern, Elves and a punt vs. Affinity. Wins came via Death Shadow (4C and Grixis), Dredge and Affinity. I'll hide my list (it's the same as a few posts up -1 Anguished and +1 Pithing Needle.) and results, but overall:
I lead with Windbrisk Heights into Auriok on the play. Curve into Spectral and end the game on turn 4 by cheating in Archangel. Can I have that hand every game, please? Blessed, Leyline, and RiP come in for the Serras and one each of Lingering Souls, Honor and Spectral. I keep a hate filled hand with a turn-0 Leyline and my opponent sighs, showing me a hand of discard. We durdle at each other for a while, with him resolving a Liliana, The Last Hope and doing some other stuff until I can drop the Archangel and go after him.
Round 2: 2-0 vs. Dredge
He gets a little land stuck but is still able to generate a sizable clock early, chewing through my tokens and wiping some sisters off of the board with a Conflagrate I re-tool thanks to double Ranger and then top-deck the Archangel of Thune, casting it with two sisters to buy me enough life to turn the tables. Rest in Peace, Ghostly Prison and Wrath comes in at the expense of 3 token spells, an honor and I think a Serra? Not sure. I resolve the Rest in Peace turn 3 due to low land count and get two Bloodghast s out of his deck for it. It’s an easy smash from there.
Round 3: 1-2 Affinity
Game 1, we race – him with an Inkmoth and me with a Pridemate. Eventually, he goes for the Arcbound kill and I have the Path, untap and kill him. Stony, Ghostly, Wrath and Pithing Needle come in for one of each one-drop sister, both Aurioks, and a Pridemate. I keep a non-hate filled hand and end up drawing Pithing Needle and Stony in succession. His clock is fast thanks to Spellskite double equipped and an Aether Grid. Early in game, with three mana up, I go Honor into Needle on the Grid and swing out to get him to one and force him to start holding back, thinking “He can’t draw another Cranial Plating and he does just that and gets me.
Round 4: Affinity 2-1
Game 1, I keep a land heavy hand and get punished for it, as he goes wide and kills me through +1/+1 counters. Same sideboard plan gets me Game 2 through an early Pridemate with lots of Paths to back him up. Game three lingers for quite some time thanks to keeping a hate-filled hand. I slow him to a crawl and chip away, eventually forcing him to try to go wide enough to allow Ranger into Serra, Serra for the win in turns.
Round 5: Jund 0-2
He hits me with Inquisition into Thoughtseize into Veil to perfectly tempo any clock out of my hand. He bashes in with Pridemate shortly after. Leyline, Anguished, RiP and Wrath come in, out come Serras, 1 of each Token, 1 one-drop sister, and an Honor. I mull to five, but am able to draw hate for his slower hand and keep myself alive through Auriok Champion while he losses his Confidant luck and flips 2 and 3 drops long enough for me to think I have a chance to get him out. Eventually, he forces down two Goyfs to seal the deal, though.
Round 6: Elves 1-2
I get game 1 thanks to a very explosive Sister into Pridemate hand – he doesn’t have the combo and scoops. Ghostly, Wrath, Ethersworn and Eidolon come in for tokens. Both games, he’s able to get a fast enough infinite mana hand to kill me.
Round 7: Lantern 0-2:
Game 1, I concede to a turn 3 Bridge. Not much to do there. Bring in Anguished, Pithing Needle, Leyline and the storm hosers while siding out anything that adds counters or P/T. A Leyline Pithing Needle hand allows me to draw cards, but I never find an Anguished Unmaking. Late game, he’s able to break the Leyline and mill out both Anguisheds.
Round 8: Mill 1-2:
I was literally just complaining to my friend about how I was looking at a singleton Mistveil Plains before submitting my decklist and decided against it. Game 1, he plays some early Hedron Crabs to keep me off of mana and eventually finds answers for my Pridemate. Rest In Peace (He played a card that let him gain life for each creature in my graveyard, which saved his bacon game 1), and Leyline in for Aurioks and Lingering Souls. I kill him with double Pridemate really quickly. Game 3, he has double Archive Trap in response to my fetches. I hate Magic, sometimes.
Round 9: 2-0 Shadow
Plays out just like round one, but he doesn’t have green, so I never have to worry about Temur Battle Rage. Only notable is that I do get to wipe two Death Shadows by giving him four life with Blessed Alliance. He appreciated that a lot.
All in all, I think my misplays and mediocre keeps had more to do with my finish than anything else. I was still very happy that I chose the deck. My big future consideration is finding room for Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim, as she would have made that Lantern match a cinch and has relevance against other decks (especially white decks, as she can protect a better from a Path.) Let me know if you'd like to know anything about my sideboard choices! Sorry I didn't live the dream and put Sisters on the map, but I loved my time so much that I'll definitely be going to more GPs in the future. We'll get 'em!
4 Soul's Attendant
4 Soul Warden
3 Serra Ascendant
3 Ranger of Eos
2 Auriok Champion
2 Archangel of Thune
4 Path to Exile
4 Spectral Procession
4 Lingering Souls
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Marsh Flats
2 Windbrisk Heights
1 Swamp
1 Godless Shrine
3 Anguished Unmaking
2 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
2 Blessed Alliance
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Wrath of God
The Leylines came back in after some discussions with people I trust that either they were going to be enough to slow Scapeshift down or I lose that game anyway. Ghostly Prison over Worship since any deck that can go wider than me can kill my creatures anyway (with the exception of Death's Shadow.)
I'm so pumped. Feeling really good after grinding a lot of testing match ups and finding ways to win despite all the nonsense. Even bad match ups are starting to get a little easier.
Merfolk 2-0
I don't think this guy knew his deck very well and I used Spirits and honor to get wider than him quickly every game. Never needed the sideboard.
Bogles 2-1
Game 1, I resolve a Sister and a Spectral with double Path, but that doesn't do much against him.
2-1 Mentor.
Game 1, we trade back and forth hard as he resolves a Gideon, gets a 2/2 and a Tasigur, but I have Tokens + Honor. I eventually get an Auriok to blank his Tasigur and he bricks on his Tasigur flips so I win the race. Game 2, I go linear with Pridemate and he has a lot of pushes. Game three sees him have to spend his resources removing Aurioks and Pridemates, which leaves me with 2 Honors and a Lingering Souls. I wear his chumps eventually.
UWR. 0-2
I keep a one lander and chip him for a while until he draws all four Electrolyzes. He unloads a hand full of Bolts to try to kill me, but unwisely snaps one back while I have a sister, leaving me at one. I cast Lingering Souls and flash it back with two in hand to stabilize; he top decks a cryptic. Game 2, he rips three sraight Spell Quellers when we're both in top deck mode while I rip too many lands and Queller targets.