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Thread: Bant Retreat to Coralhelm

  1. #41

    Re: Bant Retreat to Coralhelm

    Rhox War Monk got boarded out every time, except vs. 1 zoo matchup. He's great there, though. He feels like a fine game 1 card that's easy to board out for more specific hate after game 1. I have not played vs. burn or a Delver list yet, but he seems good there.
    Geist and Rafiq have been all-stars. They naturally play well with Retreat, and KotR can find Kessig Wolf Run to push Rafiq damage through. And with all the exalted in the deck, sometimes 5 or 6 power + double strike just happens to be good enough.

    I have indeed had to ship a couple of hands due to double colorless sources(and the hand would have been fine if either was a green source), but I'm unwilling to give up either of them just yet. The mid/late game functionality is too powerful. Titan can get Stomping Ground + Sunhome when he enters, which presents at least 12 the next turn, while turning all of your 2+ power creatures into legitimate threats if he gets removed. Slayers' Stronghold combines well with Ojutai, but also allows Knight to attack and pump herself.

    If I had to cut one though, I would cut Slayers' Stronghold. Of course, everything I say has to be taken with a grain of salt as I've only played the deck for a week. More testing is always useful.

  2. #42
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    Re: Bant Retreat to Coralhelm

    Cool, what about cutting Minamo? It's awesome that it gives blue, but that's almost effectively a colorless mana most of the time and having Slayers + Minamo is a bit redundant.

    The more I think about Rafiq the more I like him, so I'm gonna shove a copy into the list. Probably replace one of the Primal Commands and drop them down to 2. Playing him the turn you're comboing out with Knight is actually better than just pumping for +4 with kessig and gives you another threat in case something somehow happens and you don't kill them.

    Geist still seems a bit odd to me, without pumping his power at all I feel like he'll just die to chump blocks and Pyroclasms (tron) but I guess I haven't tried to push the Retreat angle with him as hard as I can. I usually stall with it and fetchlands until I can land a bomb, whereas your strategy looks like you'll just tap down blockers and try to push your own clock faster. I'll see if I can fit a couple in to see how that works out.

    Also I wanted to ask about the Dromoka slot. I'm using Negates there because they can deal with Path + Terminate or the random O stone or opponent's combo, and Dromoka handles burn and lets you fight with other creatures. Did Dromoka's Command do as much as you'd hoped? Seems good in a grindy midrange metagame but not so much against stuff that just tries to go broken strategies on you.

  3. #43
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    Re: Bant Retreat to Coralhelm

    Glad to see there are people actually putting some work in on this deck. I've continued my testing and have been thinking about the following:

    Primal Command has been less impressive over time. It's almost always used as gain 7 + tutor for a creature. In many of those cases, I'd rather just have drawn a creature to start with. For the time being, I've replaced one of my Primal Commands with Batterskull. That card is insane. It is a beast on its own, but it also turns your late game Birds of Paradise into real threats and giving Dragonlord Ojutai vigilance and lifelink is insane. I'm tempted to replace the other Command with a powerful equipment. I like Sword of Fire and Ice, but the protection from blue means you can't use Retreat to Coralhelm to untap the equipped creature. Sword of Feast and Famine could actually be ridiculous, if the equipped creature has double strike, the untapping of your lands after the first strike may very well allow for another activation of Slayers' Stronghold or Wolf Run for a some extra points and, if the opponent isn't dead, they've discarded 2 cards. Maybe SoFF is a sideboard card?

    I've also been considering splashing a single black source into the manabase (along with the Birds of Paradise and Lotus Cobras) and replacing Primal Command with Bring to Light. For now, it seems like too much of a stretch, but if there were another powerful 4-drop as a target (in addition to the existing 5-drop bombs), I'd be interested.

    I wedged a Minamo, School at Water's Edge into my list and, while it's great when it's great, it's also a bit clunky and just doesn't come up all that often. Slayers' Stronghold is just better most of the time. If you're running more legendary creatures, Minamo might be more worthwhile, but I'm not sold at the moment. I also agree that Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion is great/necessary. I actually prefer it to Kessig Wolf Run. Double strike is just such a potent ability that has both offensive and defensive applications. That said, I think Wolf Run is a necessary evil, as sometimes you just need to swing through a body.

    My favorite card in the 75 currently is Izzet Staticaster. When it's good, it's sooooo good. Also, the ability to untap it with Retreat makes it extremely potent and nobody ever seems to see it coming.

    I had been thinking about playing some more powerful 3-drops (e.g. Geist of Saint Traft or Loxodon Smiter), but I realized that I'm usually taking turn 2 to play more mana ramp, unless I have the KotR with Retreat in hand. I'm really looking more for the 5+ mana on turn 3 than I am 3 mana on turn 2.

  4. #44

    Re: Bant Retreat to Coralhelm

    Quote Originally Posted by CaptainTwiddle View Post
    I need a change of pants. I had not thought of this.

    As for Dromoka's Command, it's been fine. You can fight Twin's creatures, and have your dork fight theirs in "mirrors". I've never been a fan of maindeck Negate in modern because when it's bad it's really, really bad.
    Geist often is bigger than 2/2 on the attack with all the Exalted the deck has.

    My sideboard is as follows:

    1 Creeping Corrosion
    1 Izzet Staticaster(was Fracturing Gust)
    2 Krosan Grip
    1 Pithing Needle
    3 Meddling Mage
    1 Scavenging Ooze
    2 Spellskite
    1 Dismember
    2 Dispel
    1 Negate


    Of course, it's somewhat tailored to my local meta. Also, a single Sacred Foundry seems like it might be good if we're playing all 3 colorless lands, so if Minamo is on the chopping block...
    Last edited by Darjeeling; 10-11-2015 at 09:38 AM.

  5. #45
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    Re: Bant Retreat to Coralhelm

    Quote Originally Posted by Darjeeling View Post
    As for Dromoka's Command, it's been fine...

    My sideboard is as follows:

    1 Creeping Corrosion
    1 Izzet Staticaster(was Fracturing Gust)
    2 Krosan Grip
    1 Pithing Needle
    3 Meddling Mage
    1 Scavenging Ooze
    2 Spellskite
    1 Dismember
    2 Dispel
    1 Negate


    ...Also, a single Sacred Foundry seems like it might be good if we're playing all 3 colorless lands.
    Thanks for sharing. I too have been a fan of Dromoka's Command. I'm running 2 copies currently and am almost always glad to have it in hand. Dismember seems like a really good sideboard option. I've often found myself just wanting another piece of removal and it was hard to find something on color. I thought about Lightning Bolt, but I didn't want to rely on the splash color.

    My manabase currently looks like this:

    3 Forest
    1 Plains
    3 Breeding Pool
    1 Horizon Canopy
    1 Kessig Wolf Run
    1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge*
    4 Misty Rainforest
    1 Slayers' Stronghold
    2 Stomping Ground
    1 Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
    2 Temple Garden
    4 Windswept Heath

    Minamo, as discussed previously, is sort of the flex slot. I've thought about making it either a Hallowed Fountain, Sacred Foundry, or another Breeding Pool. If it's another shockland, it should be one that can be sacrificed to Knight of the Reliquary. For the sake of overall numbers, I'm liking either W/R or W/U options, but they suffer from a similar problem as Minamo, in that they don't allow us to cast a mana dork on turn one.

    As for the sideboard, I keep changing it. There are just so many options available. Because of the inclusion of Primal Command in the maindeck, I've leaned a bit heavier on silver bullet creatures. I mentioned in a previous post about possibly running Bring to Light. If I actually take that step, then running powerful instant/sorcery bullets becomes a bit more appealing. Here is my current board:

    Sideboard
    1 Ancient Grudge
    1 Aven Mindcensor - may change, as having 1 doesn't allow it to show up reliably enough
    1 Bojuka Bog
    1 Choke - may cut as it does affect some of my own lands and there just aren't that many decks that this really hoses currently
    1 Creeping Corrosion
    1 Dragonlord Dromoka
    2 Ghost Quarter - these are here for Tron/Amulet, but I haven't played those matches much, so these slots have felt wasted
    1 Izzet Staticaster
    1 Keranos, God of Storms - newest addition. haven't used it yet, but it seems powerful vs control or against the Lantern of Insight deck
    1 Scavenging Ooze
    1 Selesnya Charm - this will likely become Dismember, as the removal mode was almost exclusively what would be used
    1 Sigarda, Host of Herons - this was intended as tech against Liliana of the Veil, but with all the mana dorks, she's not that scary
    1 Thragtusk
    1 Thrun, the Last Troll

  6. #46
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    Re: Bant Retreat to Coralhelm

    So guys I've been working on a list that's doing pretty well -- testing it with friends that are all strong players with a variety of decks.
    Here's the List:
    4 Knight Of The Reliquary
    4 Lotus Cobra
    4 Birds Of Paradise
    4 Primeval Titan

    4 Serum Visions
    3 Remand
    2 Sleight Of Hand
    1 Sphinx's Revelation
    2 Cryptic Command
    4 Path To Exile
    4 Retreat To Coralhelm

    1 Kessig Wolf Run
    1 Stomping Ground
    4 Windswept Heath
    4 Misty Rainforest
    1 Breeding Pool
    1 Hallowed Fountain
    2 Temple Garden
    1 Sejiri Steppe
    1 Rogue's Passage
    2 Forest
    2 Flooded Strand
    2 Island
    2 Plains

    The Board is kind of a toss up:
    3 Stony Silence
    3 Qasali Pridemage
    2 Spellskite
    1 Bojuka Bog
    3 Admonition Angel
    1 Jace, Architect Of Thought
    2 Scavenging Ooze


    Could use some feedback on the board mostly.
    Honestly the mainboard is doing strong but... it is a few cards off. I know someone else will know how to make it right.

  7. #47
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    Re: Bant Retreat to Coralhelm

    Quote Originally Posted by thedogue View Post
    So guys I've been working on a list that's doing pretty well -- testing it with friends that are all strong players with a variety of decks.
    Here's the List:
    4 Knight Of The Reliquary
    4 Lotus Cobra
    4 Birds Of Paradise
    4 Primeval Titan

    4 Serum Visions
    3 Remand
    2 Sleight Of Hand
    1 Sphinx's Revelation
    2 Cryptic Command
    4 Path To Exile
    4 Retreat To Coralhelm

    1 Kessig Wolf Run
    1 Stomping Ground
    4 Windswept Heath
    4 Misty Rainforest
    1 Breeding Pool
    1 Hallowed Fountain
    2 Temple Garden
    1 Sejiri Steppe
    1 Rogue's Passage
    2 Forest
    2 Flooded Strand
    2 Island
    2 Plains

    The Board is kind of a toss up:
    3 Stony Silence
    3 Qasali Pridemage
    2 Spellskite
    1 Bojuka Bog
    3 Admonition Angel
    1 Jace, Architect Of Thought
    2 Scavenging Ooze


    Could use some feedback on the board mostly.
    Honestly the mainboard is doing strong but... it is a few cards off. I know someone else will know how to make it right.
    This build seems a little more "all in" in the KotR + Retreat combo. I'd consider cutting some of the cantrips (e.g. Sleight of Hand) for Commune with the Gods. I also think you want 1-3 additional turn 1 mana dorks. Running the full 4 Cobras offsets the lack of a T1 dork a bit, but you want that T3 combo win when you can get it. I'm curious about Cryptic Command, as it seems a bit slow and clunky in this shell. I'm also wondering how Sphinx's Revelation has been. That was another card I had been considering at a x1, but I figured if I was generating enough mana to make it good, I was probably already doing really powerful things.

  8. #48
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    Re: Bant Retreat to Coralhelm

    Different playstyle, but this is what I've been playing the last couple of weeks with fairly good results. Definitely still some changes to be made though, the creature count is currently too low for Coco for example.

    4 Noble Hierarch
    4 Birds of Paradise
    4 Qasali Pridemage
    4 Knight of the Reliquary
    3 Geist of Saint Traft
    2 Eternal Witness

    3 Retreat to Coralhelm

    2 Dromoka’s Command
    4 Path to Exile
    2 Unified Will
    4 Collected Company

    2 Elspeth, Knight Errant

    4 Misty Rainforest
    4 Windswept Heath
    3 Flooded Strand
    1 Ghost Quarter
    1 Sejiri Steppe
    1 Gavony Township
    2 Forest
    1 Plains
    2 Temple Garden
    2 Breeding Pool
    1 Hallowed Fountain

    SB
    2 Stony Silence
    2 Negate
    2 Dispel
    1 Unified Will
    3 Kor Firewalker
    2 Spellskite
    1 Bojuka Bog
    1 Ghost Quarter
    1 Sigarda
    Quote Originally Posted by CutthroatCasual View Post
    Storm was killed by Leovold
    Quote Originally Posted by LegacyIsAnEternalFormat View Post
    The power of blue is overrated...I personally play Jund and I consistently top 4 FNMs with it.

  9. #49
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    Re: Bant Retreat to Coralhelm

    Quote Originally Posted by Dissection View Post
    Different playstyle, but this is what I've been playing the last couple of weeks with fairly good results. Definitely still some changes to be made though, the creature count is currently too low for Coco for example.

    4 Noble Hierarch
    4 Birds of Paradise
    4 Qasali Pridemage
    4 Knight of the Reliquary
    3 Geist of Saint Traft
    2 Eternal Witness

    3 Retreat to Coralhelm

    2 Dromoka’s Command
    4 Path to Exile
    2 Unified Will
    4 Collected Company

    2 Elspeth, Knight Errant

    4 Misty Rainforest
    4 Windswept Heath
    3 Flooded Strand
    1 Ghost Quarter
    1 Sejiri Steppe
    1 Gavony Township
    2 Forest
    1 Plains
    2 Temple Garden
    2 Breeding Pool
    1 Hallowed Fountain

    SB
    2 Stony Silence
    2 Negate
    2 Dispel
    1 Unified Will
    3 Kor Firewalker
    2 Spellskite
    1 Bojuka Bog
    1 Ghost Quarter
    1 Sigarda
    This is another interesting take. With respect to the creature count being too low for Collected Company, that's going to be something hard to manage in a deck that wants to play at least 3 copies of Retreat to Coralhelm. If you're going to run CoCo, I'd probably only run 3 copies (similar to the Naya Company decks) and trim most of your non-Path to Exile spells by 1. Tarmogoyf and Scavenging Ooze seem like reasonable, if generic, inclusions. I may also swap out a Geist, a Witness, and a Pridemage for Loxodon Smiters; they're a little more robust than Geist when you aren't playing a ton of removal and they're awesome against Liliana of the Veil.

    Now that I'm thinking about it, I might try out a version that essentially takes the Naya Company deck and swaps the Red for Blue. I could see Scythe Leopard being a reasonable Wild Nacatl analog in the same color slot (though Steppe Lynx is generally more powerful).

  10. #50
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    Re: Bant Retreat to Coralhelm

    Quote Originally Posted by CaptainTwiddle View Post
    This is another interesting take. With respect to the creature count being too low for Collected Company, that's going to be something hard to manage in a deck that wants to play at least 3 copies of Retreat to Coralhelm. If you're going to run CoCo, I'd probably only run 3 copies (similar to the Naya Company decks) and trim most of your non-Path to Exile spells by 1. Tarmogoyf and Scavenging Ooze seem like reasonable, if generic, inclusions. I may also swap out a Geist, a Witness, and a Pridemage for Loxodon Smiters; they're a little more robust than Geist when you aren't playing a ton of removal and they're awesome against Liliana of the Veil.

    Now that I'm thinking about it, I might try out a version that essentially takes the Naya Company deck and swaps the Red for Blue. I could see Scythe Leopard being a reasonable Wild Nacatl analog in the same color slot (though Steppe Lynx is generally more powerful).
    You're right about CoCo, I'll be trimming one for sure.

    Elspeth has been huge, so I'll stick with two for now. The Dromoka's Commands have been solid too. They weren't originally in the deck, but 4 PtE wasn't enough removal. Not sure if there is a creature with 3cmc in bant colours that could serve as removal?

    The Unified Wills can certainly be moved to the SB. These two slots need to be creatures really. I've tried Goyfs, Ooze and Smiters already, all were subpar. Goyf is usually too small in this deck (land, creature, instant at best...not including elspeth here as that's very rare), Ooze isn't aggressive enough to fit the playstyle of the deck and Smiter was the worst of the 3 drops I was playing. It's important not to overload on just ones and threes too as the deck is incredibly clunky without a manadork. I think I'll try adding two goyfs back in, not thrilled about it though. Qasali started as a 2-of actually and has been bumped up to 3, then 4. It's amazing in this deck. Witness has been performing incredibly well too, almost enough to warrant a third copy. The synergy with CoCo is pretty devastating in midrange matchups.

    Geist plays incredibly well with 8 exalted creatures and elspeth. I've won more games with him than anything else actually.

    I made a mistake on the list btw, not sure how the discrepancy came about but there are 2 ooze in the SB.
    Quote Originally Posted by CutthroatCasual View Post
    Storm was killed by Leovold
    Quote Originally Posted by LegacyIsAnEternalFormat View Post
    The power of blue is overrated...I personally play Jund and I consistently top 4 FNMs with it.

  11. #51
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    Re: Bant Retreat to Coralhelm

    Quote Originally Posted by Dissection View Post
    Not sure if there is a creature with 3cmc in bant colours that could serve as removal?
    Fiend Hunter and Banisher Priest come to mind, but I'm not sure they're where you'd want to be, as they aren't particularly aggressive and they're fragile. That said, being able to CoCo into creature removal is pretty sweet. You could also try something like Lyev Skyknight, which might be OK with all the exalted in the deck (that 1 toughness is concerning, but Flickerwisp sees play, so why not?).

  12. #52

    Re: Bant Retreat to Coralhelm

    In my build I'm playing 2-4 coiling oracle 2 scavenging ooze 4 noble heirarch 4 knight and a spicy 4 of vinelasher kudzu. The kudzu has impressed me alot when I combo off due to being an auxiliary knight I'm also playing 2 oujatais command to rebuy value 2 drops.

    Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

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    Re: Bant Retreat to Coralhelm

    Quote Originally Posted by foilpollouteddelta View Post
    In my build I'm playing 2-4 coiling oracle 2 scavenging ooze 4 noble heirarch 4 knight and a spicy 4 of vinelasher kudzu. The kudzu has impressed me alot when I combo off due to being an auxiliary knight I'm also playing 2 oujatais command to rebuy value 2 drops.
    I'm intrigued by Coiling Oracle, especially in a build running Courser of Kruphix, as you can set it up for optimal land/draw plays. As for Vinelasher Kudzu, it's a card that I have considered for a more Zoo-esque build, but I don't know that it really matters much in a more midrange shell, because if the opponent has removal for the KotR, they're just going to kill it immediately, thereby preventing Kudzu from growing much. Granted, it is a reasonable 2-drop that can grow with the help of KotR, but if I were in the market for something like that, I'd probably just retool a list to include Tarmogoyf. Ojutai's Command seems like a reason able card, if you've got relevant 2-drops.

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    Re: Bant Retreat to Coralhelm

    I just wanted to post my updated list and share some thoughts I've been having.

    Knightfall (I like this as a deck name, as the whole Bant thing didn't really work w/ the inclusion of Red and 4-Color Retreat was boring)
    CREATURES
    1 Baneslayer Angel
    4 Birds of Paradise
    3 Courser of Kruphix
    1 Dragonlord Ojutai
    4 Knight of the Reliquary
    2 Lotus Cobra
    4 Noble Hierarch
    2 Primeval Titan
    2 Qasali Pridemage
    1 Rafiq of the Many
    SPELLS
    1 Ajani Steadfast - new addition*
    1 Batterskull
    2 Dromoka's Command
    4 Path to Exile
    4 Retreat to Coralhelm
    LAND
    3 Forest
    1 Plains
    3 Breeding Pool
    1 Horizon Canopy
    1 Kessig Wolf Run
    1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge - not satisfied with this*
    4 Misty Rainforest
    1 Slayers' Stronghold
    2 Stomping Ground
    1 Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
    2 Temple Garden
    4 Windswept Heath

    Sideboard
    1 Ancient Grudge
    1 Bojuka Bog
    1 Bribery
    1 Creeping Corrosion
    1 Crumble to Dust
    1 Dismember
    1 Dragonlord Dromoka
    1 Izzet Staticaster
    1 Keranos, God of Storms
    1 Scavenging Ooze
    1 Spell Pierce
    1 Spellskite
    1 Stubborn Denial
    1 Thragtusk
    1 Thrun, the Last Troll

    I cut Primal Command, as it was just too slow/clunky. I ended up gaining life and tutoring most of the time, so something like Thragtusk just seems like it'd be better in that slot. I wanted to bring the curve down a bit, so I went with Ajani Steadfast. He is a very powerful card and has a lot of synergy with Ojutai. I'm concerned that his +1 ability is a bit redundant with my top end threats. It's very good with a KotR, but a little less so with a Baneslayer/Batterskull. His -2 ability may be helpful go wide with mana dorks. I haven't drawn him yet since adding him. Time will tell. It does make me wonder if I should just be running more Ojutai in the deck, as some many of the inclusions in the list are partially justified by "it's awesome with Ojutai." Minamo is the other main culprit. If I'm going to run a land that only produces blue, it should be a basic island.

    Before I settled on trying Ajani, I was really running through some mental loops for a reasonable inclusion. Here are some things I considered, some of which go a little deep.

    Wood Elves - You can ramp to this on T2 and follow up with another mana dork, allowing 6 mana on turn 3.
    Woodland Bellower - This can tutor up a KotR or other, less impressive creatures, or possibly...
    Mwonvuli Beast Tracker - This could be found by Bellower and then finds Primeval Titan. It's probably not worth it just yet, but if we get a few more reasonable things to search for, it may be. It's on my watch list.
    Sakura-Tribe Elder - I like this a lot. It's another way to trigger landfall during your opponent's turn and it's a 2-drop. However, I'd want to run at least 1 more basic land to include even 1 of these.
    Eternal Witness - Standard value option, but this deck doesn't necessarily end up with much it it's graveyard, aside from lands.
    Explore/Farseek - More ramp and at the 2-drop slot.
    Yavimaya Dryad - This is probably getting way too cute, but giving an opponent a forest and then attacking with the unblockable dryad that gets buffed with exalted, by your lands, and can wear a Batterskull...It would lead to some good stories at least.

    I might also just want to add one more Dromoka's Command to the maindeck, as it's been really good in almost any situation.
    Last edited by CaptainTwiddle; 10-28-2015 at 02:41 PM.

  15. #55
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    Re: Bant Retreat to Coralhelm

    Quote Originally Posted by Dissection View Post
    Different playstyle, but this is what I've been playing the last couple of weeks with fairly good results. Definitely still some changes to be made though, the creature count is currently too low for Coco for example.

    4 Noble Hierarch
    4 Birds of Paradise
    4 Qasali Pridemage
    4 Knight of the Reliquary
    3 Geist of Saint Traft
    2 Eternal Witness

    3 Retreat to Coralhelm

    2 Dromoka’s Command
    4 Path to Exile
    2 Unified Will
    4 Collected Company

    2 Elspeth, Knight Errant

    4 Misty Rainforest
    4 Windswept Heath
    3 Flooded Strand
    1 Ghost Quarter
    1 Sejiri Steppe
    1 Gavony Township
    2 Forest
    1 Plains
    2 Temple Garden
    2 Breeding Pool
    1 Hallowed Fountain

    SB
    2 Stony Silence
    2 Negate
    2 Dispel
    1 Unified Will
    3 Kor Firewalker
    2 Spellskite
    1 Bojuka Bog
    1 Ghost Quarter
    1 Sigarda
    I've always wondered if there was a Bant Geist Deck. Heirarch + Geist + Dromoka's Command + Gavony just seems too good to pass up. I like that you have 2 strategies here: beat down with Geist or Knight or combo off with Retreat and Knight.

  16. #56
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    Re: Bant Retreat to Coralhelm

    Quote Originally Posted by Timber View Post
    I've always wondered if there was a Bant Geist Deck. Heirarch + Geist + Dromoka's Command + Gavony just seems too good to pass up. I like that you have 2 strategies here: beat down with Geist or Knight or combo off with Retreat and Knight.
    The deck wins with Geist beats more than anything else actually. With the eight exalted creatures, Elspeth to jump him and as you say command and Gavony he's very hard to answer.

    This is where I am at the moment. Constantly updating...

    I'm torn between Smiters and Goyfs. Both aren't great, but have big butts for command to be stable removal.

    4 Noble Hierarch
    4 Birds of Paradise
    4 Qasali Pridemage
    4 Knight of the Reliquary
    3 Geist of Saint Traft
    2 Eternal Witness
    3 Loxodon Smiter

    3 Retreat to Coralhelm

    2 Dromoka’s Command
    4 Path to Exile
    3 Collected Company

    2 Elspeth, Knight Errant

    4 Misty Rainforest
    4 Windswept Heath
    3 Flooded Strand
    1 Ghost Quarter
    1 Sejiri Steppe
    1 Gavony Township
    2 Forest
    1 Plains
    2 Temple Garden
    2 Breeding Pool
    1 Hallowed Fountain

    SB
    2 Stony Silence
    1 Dispel
    3 Unified Will
    3 Kor Firewalker
    2 Spellskite
    1 Bojuka Bog
    1 Ghost Quarter
    1 Scavenging Ooze
    1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
    Quote Originally Posted by CutthroatCasual View Post
    Storm was killed by Leovold
    Quote Originally Posted by LegacyIsAnEternalFormat View Post
    The power of blue is overrated...I personally play Jund and I consistently top 4 FNMs with it.

  17. #57
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    Re: Bant Retreat to Coralhelm

    @Dissection: That lists looks pretty cool. What are good/bad match-ups so far?

    Loxodon Smiter has the advantage of being significantly cheaper money-wise.

  18. #58

    Re: Bant Retreat to Coralhelm

    Hi,
    Currently playing this deck since Retreat to Coralhelm is reveled in 4 FNMs.
    Record of 11W-3L-0D.

    Current List :

    4 Noble Hierarch
    2 Birds of Paradise
    4 Loxodon Smitter
    4 Voice of Resurgence
    4 Knight of the Reliquary
    3 Qasali Pridemage
    3 Geist of Saint Traft
    2 Scavenging Ooze
    2 Eternal Witness

    3 Retreat to Coralhelm
    3 Collected Compagny
    4 Path to Exil

    4 Misty Rainforest
    4 Windswept Heath
    2 Breeding pool
    1 Hallowed fountain
    2 Temple Garden
    2 Stomping Ground
    1 Sejiri Steppe
    1 Kessig Wolf Run
    1 Ghost quarter
    2 Forest
    2 Plain
    MU were :
    1 Lantern control
    2 Splinter Twin
    2 Bogle
    2 Grixis Control
    1 Grixis Delver
    1 Merfolk
    1 Tron
    2 Jund
    1 "random" (monoB aggro zombie)
    1 RDW
    Loses are against :
    - Bogle, the first time I meet the deck lose the first on misplay (don't keep the PtE on top with the coralhelm scry and the only creature he add was a Kor Spiritdancer) and don't it a single enchant hate in the 2nd.
    - Jund, first time Lilianas were just sac effect for 3 (because of 2 smiter in hand) but the second time Jund got to much creature hate, things the deck don't really like.
    - Merfolk the first game he win on aggro, the second I start comboing off, he tells me that he can't do anything so I just end up by attacking with a big KotR without keeping safety net (Fetch and Plain/Forest on board, sejiri and fetchable land in Library). Response to attack phase -> Harbinger of the tides ... It was a friend and don't wan't to cry out in a friendly event, but explained him that he cannot win this game if he don't tell me that he cannot do anything. But I feel like Merfolk isn't a really good MU.

    Sideboard change over time

    There is a lot of bogle (and a good splinter twin always here to 3-0 or 4-0 if I don't play against him ^^) in the FNM metagame so it's look like this for these events :

    - 3 Back to Nature
    - 3 Dromoka's command
    - 3 Spellskite
    - 2 Ancient Grudge
    - 1 Kataki
    - 2 Kor Firewalker
    - 1 Ghost Quarter
    There is obviously at least 3 slot (BtN) that are subject to change over metagame.
    I'm either not fond of Kataki.

    thanks for reading, waiting for comments ^^

  19. #59
    Member

    Join Date

    Feb 2009
    Location

    Jacksonville FL
    Posts

    11

    Re: Bant Retreat to Coralhelm

    I been trying more of a fauna shamen approach by making emrakul a silver bullet. 2 of them creates a nifty loop.
    Two the New Three

  20. #60
    Member

    Join Date

    Jan 2013
    Location

    Madison, WI
    Posts

    327

    Re: Bant Retreat to Coralhelm

    After taking some time away from various Knightfall lists, I thought I'd revisit the archetype now that some new tools have been introduced to the format. Here's my current list.

    Knightfall/4-Color Retreat
    CREATURES
    1 Archangel of Thune
    4 Birds of Paradise
    1 Courser of Kruphix
    1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
    1 Eternal Witness
    1 Kitchen Finks
    4 Knight of the Reliquary
    2 Lotus Cobra
    1 Noble Hierarch
    1 Reclamation Sage
    1 Reveillark
    1 Sakura-Tribe Scout
    1 Spike Feeder
    4 Voice of Resurgence
    SPELLS
    1 Commune with the Gods
    4 Eldritch Evolution
    2 Nahiri, the Harbinger
    3 Path to Exile
    3 Retreat to Coralhelm
    LAND
    1 Breeding Pool
    1 Flooded Strand
    3 Forest
    1 Hallowed Fountain
    1 Kessig Wolf Run
    2 Misty Rainforest
    2 Plains
    1 Sacred Foundry
    1 Stomping Ground
    1 Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
    3 Temple Garden
    4 Windswept Heath
    2 Wooded Foothills

    The namesake combo of Knight + Retreat is here. As for lands, I'm running Kessig Wolf Run and Sunhome as my combo/kill lands. I'm considering cutting the Wolf Run though, as I've yet to actually use it in a combo finish. Sunhome lets you easily close the game after tapping all of your opponents creatures down. Wolf Run may be better in a world with lots of tokens, which we may be entering, as Dredge with Bridge from Below is now a thing.

    There are some additional combos in the list as well. Nahiri + Emrakul is a known, powerful combo. Nahiri is also just a solid value engine and lets us dig for our combo pieces and dump excess lands into the yard to buff Knight. She also combos with Retreat to tap down and then exile opposing creatures. The other combo in the list is Archangel of Thune + Spike Feeder. Angel is a powerful card in and of itself and Feeder is reasonable utility (note that you can remove it's counters to allow it to die, thereby removing opposing Bridge from Belows, if needed).

    Eldritch Evolution is a new tool for this deck. It allows you to turn a turn 1 mana creature into a Knight on turn 2, allowing for more consistent turn 3 combos. It also lets you turn random 3 drop creatures into Archangel to pursue that combo. Voice of Resurgence is an incredible value card and is oftentimes upgraded when sacrificed to Evolution. Another corner case that I've already had come up is that I was able to ultimate Nahiri, putting Emrakul into play. Despite the annihilator and 15 damage, my opponent wasn't dead and had one creature left on board to finish me off, except I was able to cast Eldritch Evolution, sac'ing Emrakul, shuffling itself back into my library, and tutor it back into play to stick around and play defense.

    Some quick notes on other cards:

    Courser of Kruphix - Solid value creature that allows you to combo with Knight and offsets damage from your fetch/shock lands.
    Lotus Cobra - Allows you to ramp your mana to as much as 8 on turn 3, powering out Archangel of Thune for a quick alternate combo finish. Also, having Cobra in play for the Knight + Retreat combo lets you generate mana without losing life so you can still activate Sunhome/Wolf Run for the win.
    Reclamation Sage - General utility creature, but I picked Sage over Qasali Pridemage, as having a CMC of 3 allows you to Evolve it into a 5 drop, namely Archangel or...
    Reveillark - Another powerful value creature that can just close games. It gets back dead Knights and most other things.
    Sakura-Tribe Scout - Oftentimes this is just going to be mana dork no. 6, but it has the upside of being able to make landfall on your opponent's turn, allowing Retreat to tap down potential attackers. You can also use Retreat to untap the Scout to empty all the lands from your hand into play.
    Commune with the Gods - I wanted some additional dig/cantrip in the deck, but found myself with only 1 slot. Commune digs 5 cards deep for Knight or Retreat, or any other creature you want/need. You can also use it to dump lands into the yard to bolster Knights or dump Emrakul to shuffle pieces back in for potential rebuys (note: there is a potential nonbo of shuffling your yard in and shrinking your Knights, but you never "have" to make that happen).

    My sideboard is as of yet undetermined, as the format has been rather freshly shaken up. It's mostly 1-ofs, facilitated by Eldritch Evolution. Some notable inclusions for the time being are Keranos, God of Storms (powerful Evolution target for grindy games) and Izzet Staticaster (poweful against certain wide strategies and combos nicely with Retreat).

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