Any tips on dealing with Atarka Zoo? Burn is an easy matchup, but the mix of burn and Guides, Eidolons, and Swiftpears is brutal.
Post sideboard the matchup doesn't seem to improve much: I bring in 3 fogs and a wrath, but they bring in Destructive Revelry. They seem to consistently goldfish us in 3-4 turns. I considered bringing in Leylines, but I'm not sure it's worth it since it's not a pure burn deck.
Thoughts?
Timely Reinforcements works excellent against them. It can also provide you 4 more lives against eidolon
Thoughts on the new Madcap Experiment + Platinum Emperion? Maybe instead of Phyrexian Unlife. It costs 1 more mana but gives the deck an alternative win. Unless Ad Nauseam doesn't work with Emperion, but it does, right?
Horrible. Cast Madcap Experiment loose 20 lives and put a Pentad Prism Without Counters in play.
the version with 4 lingering souls in sb?
i almost give up that version since all GBX playing lingering souls in sb now
i am considering playng gifts ungiven package in sb instead.....need some test
Pretty much that one.
Well I noted the same against junk, they are also playing Lingering Souls and that is quite annoying. But let me tell you that our matchup vs jund feels quite better. Maybe I can find a silver bullet against Junk (which can be tutored with BTL). Any Idea?
I'm planning my deck for tomorrow's PPTQ at our LGS. I'm afraid I will face a lot of abzan/jund and also aggro matchups like infect, burn and death's shadow... Opinions?
Hi, I am also going to play a PPTQ at my local LGS this weekend. In my case I afraid of Jund and Infect too, so Ill try something similar to the Joe Lam version that plays bring to light and some silver bullets in sb (and also Lingering Souls!).
But if you are going to go traditional list, Ill tell you that Im not very fond of Leylines. They are only good on the opening hand, and against heavy discard hands from our opponents (who will know that we are sb leylines). Also there is a huge cost of putting 4 bad early,mid, and late draws in our deck and increasing the average cost of the cards punishes our Ad Nauseams for "value" (which is something that occurs quite often). Ill preffer leaving those 4 slots for Elspelths/Grave Titans/Painful Truths and Timely Reinforcements (my trump card against burn/eidolon decks).
Well at last the cards arrived and got my Lantern Control deck complete (except for infernal tutor). Played a Modern Tournament at my LGS and went 5-0!!! I also did not lost any game!!, 9-0 Record on games!!
My list was pretty much the same of Sam Black except no Pyroclasm-no Infernal Tutor- No pyxis Main Board, and playing with 2 spellbombs (I love them), 2 Spellskites and 1 Extra Land (GW fastland).
My pairings were:
1) Rogue Esper Reveilark-Body Double-Viscera Seer Combo: Strange deck, I belive a brew. It had some tricky cards that made me loose lives when it entered the bf and the obviously combo. I had to play surgical extraction to view the decklist and then knew what to needle. 2-0
2) UWR control. First matchup he drew a lot of bolts and got me to 3 but then I locked him. Second one was a bit rough because he surgicaled my coddex shredder and Finally "won" with a lock with 2 lanterns/spellskite/academy ruins/bridge/welding jar. (really time was out but I had the game locked and his only shatterstorm was exiled with my hide//seek). 1-0
3) Grishoalbrand: LOL. First turn tsize+surgical extraction for an easy win. Repeated same on second match (I sb a third surgical). 2-0
4) Infect: First one he keeps with a risky hand, he floods a little, I kill his only creature with a Pyrite and then he never got the chance of drawing another one. Second game He plays 1/1 infect, me Pyrite, He pumps and hits for 8 infect, me Pyroclasm, he plays inkmoth nexus, me first tsize (he responds with natural claim to my pyrite) I see no creature except for other inkmoth, Play pithing needle for inkmoth... GG. 2-0
5) Affinity: First one was difficult but needle won the game when I was at 4. The second one he didnt stand any chance...
My SB was a bit strange, 1 Natural Claim, 1 Hide//Seek, 1 Pithing Needle; 1 Pyroclasm; 1 Surgical Extraction; 1 Graffidigger's Cage; 2 Welding Jar;4 Sun Droplet and 3 Timely Reinforcements. I only played one time against a RB burn, won based on turn two droplet and turn 3 timely (thats why I run GW fastland).
Well it is not the best report, but just wanted to comment it!!
So Yesterday I borrowed some cards and could play it for the very first. It was a bit tough since I was not sure about what to keep and what to ship back, and what card to sb out. Anyways the deck played well and I got 3-1-1 result.
1) UWr Control: 1-1 Draw
It felt like a winnable matchup (I got the third match almost locked and we went to turns), but lost to a resolved keranos second game.
2) Grixis Midrange: 0-2 Lost
Quite difficult, I made a risky play with pithing needle to his polluted delta and then I lost to a topdecked jace turn 2 (my bad!). Second game he resolved tasigur early and protected him from bridges with lots of counterspells.
3) Living End: 2-0 Win
First game was pretty easy, only one land destroyed with fulminator and I played a lot of bridges. Second match LOL!! Incredible! I started discarding his cards and revealing a hand with 2 fulminators which I named with pithing needle on second turn, then mox opal, bell and played pyrite. Turn three he topdecks Kataki which I Killed later with pyrite but I lost all my artifacts except a bell. I draw bell and I tried to lock him, In the mean time he evokes two ignot chewer kill some artifacts I draw 2 bridges, mill a living end etc... Finally when I was almost going to lock him he plays the only card I didnt knew from his hand... violent outbrust, I activate my 2 mill rocks but only mill one living end... knowing I was going to loose to the third living end I let the cascade resolve and then... lol STONY SILENCE. It shut me off (I had sb out abrupt decays!! remember It was my first time with lantern lol!). Next turn I draw and my lantern reveals a SURGICAL EXTRACTION ON TOP. Next turn I cast it for living end and was game over, I got two bridges in play and he only had 1 more ignot chewer in deck as artifact hate.
4) Genesis Wave wit old Ulamog: 2-1 Conceded
First game I won easily.
Second I lost horribly, 4 creeping corrosion+4 eternal witness...
Third game he conceded because he had a bad record (1-2) and I had a chance with my draw on first round.
5) Affinity: Pretty easy, abrupt decay for plating and pyrite spellbombs gave me first game.
Second one was quite easy, turn one pithing needle for ravager, turn two topdecked and played a tsize revealing 2 cranial platings and a ravager (only a signal pest and plating in play), discarded ravager and cast another needle for plating. GG.
Still ok with my 3x timely reinforcements for the burn matchup
Hey, I am waiting for some cards to arrive and Ill finish the deck. My only concern right now is the burn Matchup, I was thinking using sun droplets and Timely reinforcements. How did they roll for you? Did they were timely enough?
Hi there! I just realized I wasnt the only one playing a Monowhite Eldrazi kind of deck!. I will share my decklist which is a bit more control oriented:
As I said Before the idea is pretty much the same but with a more "control" edge. It has some nice plays like T1 Plains T2 plains, T3 not playing a land and casting silkwrap to their threat, and T4 Lion, Bring plains, play mage network and start adding counters... Or T4 hedron network, turn 5 quarantine field for 2 targets.
On the selection of the Lands: Mage-Ring Network is incredible. It ramps us a lot and let us make big plays some turns before or with less lands. I found it quite relevant and remember you can remove X counters and keep some for use in other turns. It also can be used on coloured spells which is a BIG advantage against shrine of the forsaken gods Blighted Steppe Only a 1-of. Its not great, but on the matchups that is good, is GREAT. It wins games all by itself. Note: I havent tested the land that win lives by colourless. Sanctum of Ugin Quite Irrelevant, but a nice form of advantage on the late grindy games. Spawning Bed Another source of Advantage in some games. It also can put some blockers if we are in a hurry.
Note that these utility lands lets us to return from graveyard enchantments like quarantine field with Emeria on play.
On the Selection of the creatures: We dont have much to say about Emeria, Knight, and Ulamog, they are the core of the deck. Hangarback Walker Is a good T2 defensive play, a Good threat on the long game and a colorless creature that can activate Sanctum of Ugin. I play 2 of them and may use some on the board. Blight Herder I like the card, but 4 of them feels too much. Its good against control decks because cant get countered (the 3 tokens we produce) and it also protects us against dromoka charm... But dromoka charm isnt too much dangerous as we can always sac the silkwrap with their hangarback... Conduct of Ruin We are playing control on this list. We need advantage. This cards gives us a blocker/attacker, and fetches for our best finisher. Felidar Sovereign Felidar is a strong play against aggro (almost gg if you resolve one against RG) and if unanswered a nice blocker vs abzan. One off and one more on SB for that games against aggro. Archangel of Tithes I only play one because of the WWW. This card is great for deffensive and for offensive. With angel in play, if our opponents want to block and protect they planeswalker they now need to leave mana open (that was a very common situation in my games).
Spells: The 12 enchantment suite less one stasis snare (because I dont know what to take out)
2 Planar Outburst let us have some answer against unfavorable board situations and also puts a 4/4 with haste. Hedron Archive Is the glue of the deck. It lets us ramp, get advantage, and also we can do nasty things with Emeria...
1 Ugin, The spirit dragon This card feels wrong with so many enchantment removal. However is a nice win-con, and with 2 blight herders, it gets better.
1Secure the wastes This one is a bit random, but its quite flexible. A nice finisher in the late game and a good card for chumpblocks on the early. Also is really unexpected.
On the SB: We have 11 cards that make the Atarka matchup quite difficult for them on game 2 and 3. Mastery is for control matchups, and Gideon is a Card I want to test also. Surge of Righteousness also serves a role against Mantis Rider, Kholagans and annoying shambling vents.
I tested the deck mostly against Dark jacekai, Abzan Control, Atarka Red and a Mardu dragon List with very good results (Won every game against dark jacekai, pretty even vs Abzan control, won every game with sb against atarka red and it felt quite even but a bit disfavoured against the mardu dragons). I still have to test it against Esper control decks.
I find that a way to solve the problem of exiling to many lands/ or want to play fetchlands/getting more reach that 33 damage may be to run as wincon 1 conflagrate along with the 1 lightning storm. Other plan could be Lab Maniac but I do not like the idea that it needs one more mana to combo.
Not knowing your list I changed my adrian sullivan list to a one quite close to yours (see below). How is PLA doing for you? I never liked it except for the mirror and probably prefer to play 3 Ashiok main.
Sullivan didn't do too well the last grand prix, too bad that he wasn't on feature match - I'd have loved to see him play some games with all his scry lands and take notes on how he makes use of liliana vess...
True we played almost the same deck!.
PLA was never my favourite card, but I still keep him in the deck because of his inevitability against control decks (Sometimes the best way to win against them is to play around his removals until you reach the place where PLA enters and win in some turns) and because it can give you valuable lives against decks who got controlled but have reach (Minired, Jeskai, some RG and Rhinos decks...). In my list I only run 4-5 counterspells maindeck and sometimes that rhino will ETB...
I played a lot with Liliana but I finally put her back because it was too slow against aggro and wasnt very useful against control (and if you ever play liliana facing an ashiok you will know :P). Anyways it isnt a bad card, but if the meta is full of Atarka red...
Finally Im thinking about doing some changes for next pptq this sunday:
+1 Silence the Believers -1 Ultimate price (I know is always nice to kill a dragon paying 2, but lot of the times I found price almost useless, and Silence great, specially against den protector decks like whidisi or abzan)
Maybe Replace some Dissolves for Dissipates in order to shut down annoying recursion mechanics like Dragon lands, Raptors, or Den protectors.
Making a better SB against Minired/Atarka Red strategies... I still dont know if Drown in Sorrow is what we want against them, lot of the times it felt dead against the 1/2 with prowess or facing dash creatures. Im thinking about puting more Jorubais, Pharikas Cure or going tottally nuts with Omenspeakers and Masters of waves...
The mini report:
Round 1: Won 1-0 against yasooka style of UB. Pretty easy first match, specially with 2 ashioks and fighting against no-ojultai style of dragons
Round 2: Won 2-1 against RG Agro with dragons... Tough match, it was decided when on the third game I decided to keep an ashiok from a DTT after watching he left his top card (after scrying with a temple). Played ashiok and exiled a Nissa that would have wrecked me.
Round 3: Won 2-0 against the new Sidisi whip. Another relative tough match, I know I have a better matchup than the other Esper dragons. They run a lot of den protectors and raptors, but I have 2 Perilous vault main...
Round 4: Lost 2-1 against Sidisi Whip. Second match I needed just 4 cards to mill him (with ashiok in play)...
Round 5: Won 2-0 against oldy Jeskai
Round 6: ID with Esper Dragons player
Top 8: Fiest round: Won 2-0 against double mulligan to 5 Mardu... This is a strange deck, that innovates playing 4 mardu charms which are quite good against us (instant duress ftw!)... Last time he had won against me at a local GPT.
Second Round: Lost 2-0 against Abzan Aggro... Lot of Rakshashas and an unexpected valorous stance game 2 gave him the match (and later the tournament)...
Well, be my guest if you want to make any comment or advice. I believe my list in particular has a better matchup against sidisi os midrange gw decklists (thanks to perilous vault), and a different angle when playing against esper dragons (because of the maindeck ashioks). Also it has a worst time when it comes to play against Rg with atarka comand...
It's good in the mirror, but it's not where I'd want to be against any other deck.
I think clock is better than Ashiok in the mirror and against Aggro. Against midrange, downing Ashiok is awesome, of course, but if they aren't in a position to kill Ashiok does it matter what th wincondition you have online is?
Um, ok. Please cite some statistics or win percentages.
Says the person who claimed Grindclock dies to removal and Ashiok's more survivable.
It was an opinion and I can lay it out more clearly perhaps.
Grindclock is #1 win condition in the mirror. It evades all removal (even most counterspells due to its speed).
None of our win conditions help against aggro, but at least clock makes T4 Dig marginally more reliable.
Against midrange, if we're ahead then it doesn't matter what win condition we have online. If we're behind, then Ashiok's going to be mill 3 gain 5 life or mill 3 target opponent discards a hero's downfall. Maybe the first mode is enough to stabilize and Ashiok could be better here. But maybe getting a clock that can't be attacked going is just as good.
My point is that Grindclock is the best we can do against very fast and very slow decks, and side midrange is a BigDog to us, it really doesn't matter what we run against them. If this is true, then Grindclock should be our main win conditions with more suitable win conditions coming in against Aggro and midrange. It also makes the mirror rounds byes since we win game 1 often and don't get to finish any other games.
*shrug*
Your claim only "proves" that grindclock is better than ashiok. But this is not the same as saying it is the best win con. If 1) you think ashiok is #1 and 2) you buy into your claims (which seem reasonable to me) then yes, clock is #1. But i still prefer PLA/tasigur/silumgar/ugin as win cons. Here is my thinking:
Control decks should not have "win cons". They should have defensive spells that so happen to inevitably win the game (yes, this is a subjective opinion, but hey, all opinions are! By "inevitability", resiliency is implied.
PLA is a flash blocker that blocks mostly anything, dies to mostly nothing, and gains life/scry by bouncing lands. It so happens to eventually beat down your opponent: defensive, resilient, quick clock. I give it an A.
Silumgar is a blocker sometimes, a wrath on a stick other times. Also, super resilient. But since his defensive powers are less than PLA, so I prefer PLA.
Tasigur is also a blocker, but gains card advantage that can help you defend vs any threat they throw at you. Of course, the quality of the cards you get through Tasigur is not always top notch. Also, unless one Tasi gets another, not very resilient in matchups involving downfall/silence.
Ugin is a wrath/Sphinx revelation for 7 that eventually will burn your opponent. But, as with the others, not quite very resilient vs certain opponents.
One other card i'm dying to test is Torrent elemental. I never played with it, but i played against it and it seems a pain in the rear. 3/5 is a reasonable defensive blocker, it flies, it's hard to get rid of (neither exile nor destroy effects truly get rid of it.) Time will tell, but for now I stick to PLA. I did dabble a bit in a G splash (as per my previous posts) and jeskai. They offer good options for controlling the more aggro decks as well. But as far as pure UB goes I stick with PLA.
Silumgar is WAY BETTER blocker than PLA. It has hexproof and flying. And both these are relevant. Against red decks it can block non-monstruous dragons (and sometimes bait the monstruous so we can in response kill them), mantis riders and wingmate rocs. Lot of times I tried to play PLA to block and in response get it back in my hand because of a Heros Downfall or Valorous stance... The only creature that it does not reliable block is Rakshasha Deathdealer when the opponent has 8+ mana
So, I played in the Chicago 5K this weekend, and have a loose report for everyone. The Retribution Tech worked swimmingly, especially with supplemental Murderous cuts. I had outs and strong cards against whatever roadblocks my opponent put up, it all felt very strong.
First of all congratulations for the good record. Then, did you feel 2 whips was good? I tested your decklist a whenever I lost it was because I was unable to find retribution or whip in time. I believe we may play 1 more whip and 1 less creature, 28 creatures is still a good number!
Timely Reinforcements works excellent against them. It can also provide you 4 more lives against eidolon
Horrible. Cast Madcap Experiment loose 20 lives and put a Pentad Prism Without Counters in play.
Pretty much that one.
Well I noted the same against junk, they are also playing Lingering Souls and that is quite annoying. But let me tell you that our matchup vs jund feels quite better. Maybe I can find a silver bullet against Junk (which can be tutored with BTL). Any Idea?
The List:
1 Laboratory Maniac
4 Serum Visions
4 Bring to Light
1 Lightning Storm
3 Pact of Negation
3 Sleight of Hand
4 Angel's Grace
4 Ad nauseam
4 Lotus Bloom
4 Pentad Prism
3 Phyrexian Unlife
2 City of Brass
3 Gemstone Mine
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Island
2 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
1 Dreadship Reef
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Breeding Pool
1 Watery Grave
1 Godless Shrine
1 Temple of Plenty
1 Temple of Mystery
1 Temple of Enlightenment
1 Temple of Deceit
1 Tolaria West
3 Lingering Souls
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Sigarda, Heron's Grace
2 Crovax, Ascendant Hero
2 Holy Day
3 Timely Reinforcements
2 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Supreme Verdict
3-2 in league winning against burn jund and tron. Losing to junk and infect.
On pptq I made top 8 after 4-0-1 (won vs jeskai control, tron, affi and titanshift).
Then lost against burn con top8.
List seemed pretty solid and sigarda's won me like 4 games.
Hi, I am also going to play a PPTQ at my local LGS this weekend. In my case I afraid of Jund and Infect too, so Ill try something similar to the Joe Lam version that plays bring to light and some silver bullets in sb (and also Lingering Souls!).
But if you are going to go traditional list, Ill tell you that Im not very fond of Leylines. They are only good on the opening hand, and against heavy discard hands from our opponents (who will know that we are sb leylines). Also there is a huge cost of putting 4 bad early,mid, and late draws in our deck and increasing the average cost of the cards punishes our Ad Nauseams for "value" (which is something that occurs quite often). Ill preffer leaving those 4 slots for Elspelths/Grave Titans/Painful Truths and Timely Reinforcements (my trump card against burn/eidolon decks).
Sorry for my bad english!
My list was pretty much the same of Sam Black except no Pyroclasm-no Infernal Tutor- No pyxis Main Board, and playing with 2 spellbombs (I love them), 2 Spellskites and 1 Extra Land (GW fastland).
My pairings were:
1) Rogue Esper Reveilark-Body Double-Viscera Seer Combo: Strange deck, I belive a brew. It had some tricky cards that made me loose lives when it entered the bf and the obviously combo. I had to play surgical extraction to view the decklist and then knew what to needle. 2-0
2) UWR control. First matchup he drew a lot of bolts and got me to 3 but then I locked him. Second one was a bit rough because he surgicaled my coddex shredder and Finally "won" with a lock with 2 lanterns/spellskite/academy ruins/bridge/welding jar. (really time was out but I had the game locked and his only shatterstorm was exiled with my hide//seek). 1-0
3) Grishoalbrand: LOL. First turn tsize+surgical extraction for an easy win. Repeated same on second match (I sb a third surgical). 2-0
4) Infect: First one he keeps with a risky hand, he floods a little, I kill his only creature with a Pyrite and then he never got the chance of drawing another one. Second game He plays 1/1 infect, me Pyrite, He pumps and hits for 8 infect, me Pyroclasm, he plays inkmoth nexus, me first tsize (he responds with natural claim to my pyrite) I see no creature except for other inkmoth, Play pithing needle for inkmoth... GG. 2-0
5) Affinity: First one was difficult but needle won the game when I was at 4. The second one he didnt stand any chance...
My SB was a bit strange, 1 Natural Claim, 1 Hide//Seek, 1 Pithing Needle; 1 Pyroclasm; 1 Surgical Extraction; 1 Graffidigger's Cage; 2 Welding Jar;4 Sun Droplet and 3 Timely Reinforcements. I only played one time against a RB burn, won based on turn two droplet and turn 3 timely (thats why I run GW fastland).
Well it is not the best report, but just wanted to comment it!!
1) UWr Control: 1-1 Draw
It felt like a winnable matchup (I got the third match almost locked and we went to turns), but lost to a resolved keranos second game.
2) Grixis Midrange: 0-2 Lost
Quite difficult, I made a risky play with pithing needle to his polluted delta and then I lost to a topdecked jace turn 2 (my bad!). Second game he resolved tasigur early and protected him from bridges with lots of counterspells.
3) Living End: 2-0 Win
First game was pretty easy, only one land destroyed with fulminator and I played a lot of bridges. Second match LOL!! Incredible! I started discarding his cards and revealing a hand with 2 fulminators which I named with pithing needle on second turn, then mox opal, bell and played pyrite. Turn three he topdecks Kataki which I Killed later with pyrite but I lost all my artifacts except a bell. I draw bell and I tried to lock him, In the mean time he evokes two ignot chewer kill some artifacts I draw 2 bridges, mill a living end etc... Finally when I was almost going to lock him he plays the only card I didnt knew from his hand... violent outbrust, I activate my 2 mill rocks but only mill one living end... knowing I was going to loose to the third living end I let the cascade resolve and then... lol STONY SILENCE. It shut me off (I had sb out abrupt decays!! remember It was my first time with lantern lol!). Next turn I draw and my lantern reveals a SURGICAL EXTRACTION ON TOP. Next turn I cast it for living end and was game over, I got two bridges in play and he only had 1 more ignot chewer in deck as artifact hate.
4) Genesis Wave wit old Ulamog: 2-1 Conceded
First game I won easily.
Second I lost horribly, 4 creeping corrosion+4 eternal witness...
Third game he conceded because he had a bad record (1-2) and I had a chance with my draw on first round.
5) Affinity: Pretty easy, abrupt decay for plating and pyrite spellbombs gave me first game.
Second one was quite easy, turn one pithing needle for ravager, turn two topdecked and played a tsize revealing 2 cranial platings and a ravager (only a signal pest and plating in play), discarded ravager and cast another needle for plating. GG.
Hey, I am waiting for some cards to arrive and Ill finish the deck. My only concern right now is the burn Matchup, I was thinking using sun droplets and Timely reinforcements. How did they roll for you? Did they were timely enough?
19 Plains
3 Mage-Ring Network
1 Blighted Steppe
1 Spawning Bed
1 Sanctum of Ugin
CREATURES 16
4 Knight of the white orchid
2 Hangarback Walker
2 Blight Herder
2 Emeria Shepherd
2 Conduct of Ruin
2 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
1 Felidar Sovereign
1 Archangel of Tithes
4 Hedron Archive
4 Quarantine Field
4 Silkwrap
3 Stasis Snare
2 Planar Outburst
1 Ugin, The Spirit Dragon
1 Secure the Wastes
4 Arashin Cleric
3 Surge of righteousness
3 Mastery of the Unseen
1 Stasis Snare
1 Felidar Sovereign
1 Secure the Wastes
2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar (maybe)
As I said Before the idea is pretty much the same but with a more "control" edge. It has some nice plays like T1 Plains T2 plains, T3 not playing a land and casting silkwrap to their threat, and T4 Lion, Bring plains, play mage network and start adding counters... Or T4 hedron network, turn 5 quarantine field for 2 targets.
On the selection of the Lands: Mage-Ring Network is incredible. It ramps us a lot and let us make big plays some turns before or with less lands. I found it quite relevant and remember you can remove X counters and keep some for use in other turns. It also can be used on coloured spells which is a BIG advantage against shrine of the forsaken gods
Blighted Steppe Only a 1-of. Its not great, but on the matchups that is good, is GREAT. It wins games all by itself. Note: I havent tested the land that win lives by colourless.
Sanctum of Ugin Quite Irrelevant, but a nice form of advantage on the late grindy games.
Spawning Bed Another source of Advantage in some games. It also can put some blockers if we are in a hurry.
Note that these utility lands lets us to return from graveyard enchantments like quarantine field with Emeria on play.
On the Selection of the creatures: We dont have much to say about Emeria, Knight, and Ulamog, they are the core of the deck.
Hangarback Walker Is a good T2 defensive play, a Good threat on the long game and a colorless creature that can activate Sanctum of Ugin. I play 2 of them and may use some on the board.
Blight Herder I like the card, but 4 of them feels too much. Its good against control decks because cant get countered (the 3 tokens we produce) and it also protects us against dromoka charm... But dromoka charm isnt too much dangerous as we can always sac the silkwrap with their hangarback...
Conduct of Ruin We are playing control on this list. We need advantage. This cards gives us a blocker/attacker, and fetches for our best finisher.
Felidar Sovereign Felidar is a strong play against aggro (almost gg if you resolve one against RG) and if unanswered a nice blocker vs abzan. One off and one more on SB for that games against aggro.
Archangel of Tithes I only play one because of the WWW. This card is great for deffensive and for offensive. With angel in play, if our opponents want to block and protect they planeswalker they now need to leave mana open (that was a very common situation in my games).
Spells: The 12 enchantment suite less one stasis snare (because I dont know what to take out)
2 Planar Outburst let us have some answer against unfavorable board situations and also puts a 4/4 with haste.
Hedron Archive Is the glue of the deck. It lets us ramp, get advantage, and also we can do nasty things with Emeria...
1 Ugin, The spirit dragon This card feels wrong with so many enchantment removal. However is a nice win-con, and with 2 blight herders, it gets better.
1Secure the wastes This one is a bit random, but its quite flexible. A nice finisher in the late game and a good card for chumpblocks on the early. Also is really unexpected.
On the SB: We have 11 cards that make the Atarka matchup quite difficult for them on game 2 and 3. Mastery is for control matchups, and Gideon is a Card I want to test also. Surge of Righteousness also serves a role against Mantis Rider, Kholagans and annoying shambling vents.
I tested the deck mostly against Dark jacekai, Abzan Control, Atarka Red and a Mardu dragon List with very good results (Won every game against dark jacekai, pretty even vs Abzan control, won every game with sb against atarka red and it felt quite even but a bit disfavoured against the mardu dragons). I still have to test it against Esper control decks.
Please leave your comments and ideas!!
CYA!
True we played almost the same deck!.
PLA was never my favourite card, but I still keep him in the deck because of his inevitability against control decks (Sometimes the best way to win against them is to play around his removals until you reach the place where PLA enters and win in some turns) and because it can give you valuable lives against decks who got controlled but have reach (Minired, Jeskai, some RG and Rhinos decks...). In my list I only run 4-5 counterspells maindeck and sometimes that rhino will ETB...
I played a lot with Liliana but I finally put her back because it was too slow against aggro and wasnt very useful against control (and if you ever play liliana facing an ashiok you will know :P). Anyways it isnt a bad card, but if the meta is full of Atarka red...
Finally Im thinking about doing some changes for next pptq this sunday:
+1 Silence the Believers -1 Ultimate price (I know is always nice to kill a dragon paying 2, but lot of the times I found price almost useless, and Silence great, specially against den protector decks like whidisi or abzan)
Maybe Replace some Dissolves for Dissipates in order to shut down annoying recursion mechanics like Dragon lands, Raptors, or Den protectors.
Making a better SB against Minired/Atarka Red strategies... I still dont know if Drown in Sorrow is what we want against them, lot of the times it felt dead against the 1/2 with prowess or facing dash creatures. Im thinking about puting more Jorubais, Pharikas Cure or going tottally nuts with Omenspeakers and Masters of waves...
Finished 3rd-4th in my local pptq, 4-1-1 on the swiss and then lost on the second match of the top8.
4 Dig Through Time
4 Temple of Deceit
4 Dismal Backwater
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Hero's Downfall
4 Bile Blight
2 Perilous Vault
4 Dissolve
3 Island
4 Swamp
1 Pearl Lake Ancient
1 Silumgar, the Drifting Death
1 Crux of Fate
2 Jace's Ingenuity
3 Radiant Fountain
1 AEtherspouts
3 Opulent Palace
1 Negate
2 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
1 Anticipate
1 Foul-Tongue Invocation
1 Silence the Believers
1 Ultimate Price
1 Temple of Mystery
1 Thoughtseize
1 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1 Negate
3 Drown in Sorrow
2 Thoughtseize
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Jorubai Murk Lurker
2 Pharika's Cure
1 Stratus Dancer
The mini report:
Round 1: Won 1-0 against yasooka style of UB. Pretty easy first match, specially with 2 ashioks and fighting against no-ojultai style of dragons
Round 2: Won 2-1 against RG Agro with dragons... Tough match, it was decided when on the third game I decided to keep an ashiok from a DTT after watching he left his top card (after scrying with a temple). Played ashiok and exiled a Nissa that would have wrecked me.
Round 3: Won 2-0 against the new Sidisi whip. Another relative tough match, I know I have a better matchup than the other Esper dragons. They run a lot of den protectors and raptors, but I have 2 Perilous vault main...
Round 4: Lost 2-1 against Sidisi Whip. Second match I needed just 4 cards to mill him (with ashiok in play)...
Round 5: Won 2-0 against oldy Jeskai
Round 6: ID with Esper Dragons player
Top 8: Fiest round: Won 2-0 against double mulligan to 5 Mardu... This is a strange deck, that innovates playing 4 mardu charms which are quite good against us (instant duress ftw!)... Last time he had won against me at a local GPT.
Second Round: Lost 2-0 against Abzan Aggro... Lot of Rakshashas and an unexpected valorous stance game 2 gave him the match (and later the tournament)...
Well, be my guest if you want to make any comment or advice. I believe my list in particular has a better matchup against sidisi os midrange gw decklists (thanks to perilous vault), and a different angle when playing against esper dragons (because of the maindeck ashioks). Also it has a worst time when it comes to play against Rg with atarka comand...
Silumgar is WAY BETTER blocker than PLA. It has hexproof and flying. And both these are relevant. Against red decks it can block non-monstruous dragons (and sometimes bait the monstruous so we can in response kill them), mantis riders and wingmate rocs. Lot of times I tried to play PLA to block and in response get it back in my hand because of a Heros Downfall or Valorous stance... The only creature that it does not reliable block is Rakshasha Deathdealer when the opponent has 8+ mana
First of all congratulations for the good record. Then, did you feel 2 whips was good? I tested your decklist a whenever I lost it was because I was unable to find retribution or whip in time. I believe we may play 1 more whip and 1 less creature, 28 creatures is still a good number!