Yeah, just follow Thraben U’s insights on matchups. I’d say Reanimator is in our favor, but they can go off turn 1.Originally Posted by Boneflute
Strix was the reason for sword of light and shadow over war and peace as the additional equipment. 4 stp, 4 mom and 2 pro strix equipment should make it a somewhat manageable problem game 1. If i feel so inclined i can go up to 7 one mana removals for it post board. I'll test it in the next couple weeks.
@ colo having multiple sources of lifelink on the battlefield is gonna swing tight creature races. The leonin would have been so awesome if it had a slightly different template so it could remove a tnn
So this is my how I sideboard with Death & Taxes on magic online, where there is Reanimator everywhere. (From the view point of a shameless Reanimator player.)
Out:
-4 Stoneforge Mystic
-1 Umezawa's Jitte
-1 Batterskull
-1 Sword of Fire and Ice
-3 Serra Avenger
-2 Mirran Crusader
In:
+2 Rest in Peace
+2 Path to Exile
+2 Council's Judgment
+1 Containment Priest
+2 Ethersworn Canonist
+1 Surgical Extraction
+1 Sactum Prelate
+1 Pithing Needle
The other 3 sideboard cards are 2x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and 1x Sword of War and Peace.
The main deck is super stock, nothing cute. Pithing Needles naming fetch lands can be back-breaking. I am beginning to really like 1 Pithing Needle in the sideboard come to think of it....
MTGO: Cucaracha_GiganteCurrently Playing:Maverick. D&T.Reanimator.
BURN.
@Boneflute
RB Reanimator is one of the few matchups where I sideboard in most of my board. You're right to be boarding in a boat load of cards.
My records show that I'm 5-0 with RW Taxes and 7-4 with WW Taxes. The matchup feels favorable to me by quite a bit, but you'll drop games to their most powerful starts with little to say about it.
I’m at GP Vegas grinding side events, and I cannot say enough good things about Brightling. It is the way and the light and the truth. I’m 8-3-1 and Brightling has been an MVP. It improved my game against grindy decks like Lands, Czech Pile, and Miracle because it’s so hard to kill. It stabilized the board against aggressive decks like delver and burn. It sneaks under Ensnaring Bridges and escapes Drops of Honey. True-Name Nemesis has to hang back on defense because it can’t race the lifelink. I just keep finding more cool things it does. It sloughs off bolts and Barbarian Rings with ease.
This is blasphemous hyperbole, but actually asked myself if I even need Batterskull since Brightling does the same thing for less. This is a crazy idea that I don’t think I’ll pursue, but the fact that I asked that question tells you how well Brightling has performed.
When I first saw Brightling, it seemed like a good Batterskull replacement. Thanks for sharing this information.
MTGO: Cucaracha_GiganteCurrently Playing:Maverick. D&T.Reanimator.
BURN.
Brightling fills a lot of Batterskull's roles, but I don't think I'd want to drop the latter unless my meta was saturated with K. Commands. If I did, I'd also likely cut a SFM, and devote these two slots to a 24th land and 3rd Brightling.
Reanimator feels like a solid 50-50, where you lose some games instantly, and always feel on the edge of your seat for the rest. I typically cut my SFM + Equipment (7), Crusaders (3), and a pair of Flickerwisps, bringing in 3 RiP, 2 PtE, 2 CJ, 2 Canonist, 1 Containment Priest, 1 Recruiter, and 1 LRW. Yes, that is 12 cards swapping in, and I'm okay with that: I'm replacing slower threats with disruption, removal, or cards that basically just win on the spot.
4 Avenger + 4 Brightling would indeed be weak to Strix, but I'm not sure that's the end of the world. The problem from my perspective is that it probably requires cutting other elements, and I really don't like looking at openers or early draws with multiple Avengers or Brightlings. 3 and 3 seems feasible, though.
Opposing Brightlings represent interesting conundrums. In the mirrors, they partially act like equipment or Mother of Runes: a card that you can Revoker off, and may have to, but has some symmetrical impact. Linvala is a possibility, but that's a pretty narrow answer overall (and opposing Karakas makes it questionable anyway). It has the potential to be really powerful against us in Miracles, but it's probably not their best choice in other matchups, and they have limited white mana anyway which compromises the ability to cast/use it and still hold up removal. I think I'm just going to roll with it, since I already bring in Sword of War and Peace in those matchups. If it becomes more prominent, I'll counter-strategize further.
Hey guys,
Today I tested Brightling in my LGS Sunday tournament. Sadly lost in the finals vs Omni-Sneak. Went 4-0 through the swiss rounds:
R1 Grixis Delver: 2-0
R2 BG Turbo Depths: 2-0
R3 BUG Shadow: 2-0
R4 UW Miracles: 2-0
Here the list:
MAINDECK (60):
4 x Mother of Runes
4 x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 x Stoneforge Mystic
2 x Phyrexian Revoker
4 x Flickerwisp
2 x Recruiter of the Guard
2 x Mirran Crusader
2 x Brightling
2 x Vryn Wingmare
1 x Sanctum Prelate
1 x Palace Jailer
4 x Aether Vial
4 x Swords to Plowshares
1 x Sword of Fire and Ice
1 x Umezawa's Jitte
4 x Wasteland
4 x Rishadan Port
12 x Plains
3 x Karakas
SIDEBOARD (15):
2 x Path to Exile
2 x Council's Judgment
2 x Cataclysm
1 x Palace Jailer
1 x Sanctum Prelate
1 x Leonin Relic-Warder
2 x Containment Priest
2 x Ethersworn Canonist
2 x Rest in Peace
I'm playing with no Batterskull and 3 x SFM from like 3 weeks before GP Birmingham and I really did not missed it. I think right now it's great against no more than Burn, Eldrazi, Team America and Grixis Delver (especially G1)... There are a lot of efficient answers floating around and it's like a terrible card to open. It requieres more mana than ever in a metagame with more answers than ever and is less definitive than ever. For sure it'd change if WotC bans DRS soon.
Seems like Brightling could replace it greatly but let's see, I'll keep playtesting it for future big events comming soon. Sadly I'll do it IRL because we won't have it in MTGO soon
Today I only played Brightling vs Miracles both games and was great. But once I established my gameplay around Vial and the monarchy, so I'd have won the round even without it probably.
In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except DEATH & TAXES
Just a thought, but if you're running Avengers and Shalai in any relevant capacity, wouldn't Lyra Dawnbringer be a decent Batterskull replacement? Granted, you can't search her up or cheat her into play, but how often did you find yourself hardcasting Batterskull? My answer would be 'often enough to consider'.
A more dramatic issue that should be discussed is the lack of effectiveness of Port. And Wasteland, for that matter, although it is necessary vs Marit Lage decks. I've been considering Ancient Tomb in place of Port myself.
I disagree that port is ineffective. I've heard a lot of DnT players say what you are saying, but I've never had that experience. Its only gotten better for me since I started playing multiple Wingmare alongside Thalia. Does it become less effective in the late game? Sure, but now I have another use for it in the form of Brightling pump.
The Brightling iteration is this far my favorite DnT version since the printing of Recruiter of the Guard.
Decided to try Brightling today. I had already kicked out cavern, so I just dropped an Avenger and a Crusader for two copies and my flex 61 slot for a 24th land. Went 4-0-1, then lost in the QF to UR dread delver because I forgot how to mulligan game 3. Brightling was only relevant in one game, but it was in hand in a few other games where it was a good ace up the sleeve should my opponent have an answer for my board (they didn't).
The idea behind this manabase of 6 fetches, 5 basics and 2 duals is that it maximizes the odds of you being able to cast pontiff when necessary, while also maximizing your chances of finding the proper basics against moon, PoP and back to basics.
Lands(24):
5 Plains
2 Scrubland
4 Flooded Strand
2 Windswept Heath
3 Karakas
4 Wasteland
4 Rishadan Port
Creatures(26):
3 Mother of Runes
1 Judge's Familiar
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Serra Avenger
4 Flickerwisp
2 Recruiter of the Guard
2 Brightling
1 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Mirran Crusader
1 Sanctum Prelate
Other(11):
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Aether Vial
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Batterskull
Sideboard(15):
2 Rest in Peace
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Council's Judgment
2 Path to Exile
1 Blessed Alliance
1 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Leonin Relic-Warder
1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
1 Pithing Needle
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Surgical Extraction
R1: Sneaky show 2-0
G1: He goes for show and tell into griselbrand turn 3. I drop revoker and karakas (sandbagged) it next turn.
G2: He goes for show and tell into emrakul turn 4 (thalia), I drop karakas (sandbagged) next turn. He then pyroclasms my board away (including revoker on sneak attack), except for Brightling. I deal 5 with Brightling next turn, putting him at 3, and decide not to waste and just play a wisp, so I have 7 permanents if he were to have a sneak into emrakul. He has an abrade for only one of the two creatures and scoops.
R2: Eldrazi stompy 2-1
G1: He forces me to plow a board of mimic and revoker (on vial) as he equips jitte to mimic. I plow revoker, then wisp jitte away and block mimic to death with mom. But he can waste my port and then cast his follow-up of endbringer and metamorph copying endbringer.
G2: He starts slow, using ratchet bomb to blow up my vial and warping wail to eat my revoker locking it down. I pontiff away his mimic, he follows with smasher. I hardcast jitte and connect with pontiff to get counters. The following turn he casts another smasher and a spellskite, putting me to five. I cast Thalia HC, attack with pontiff again and equip jitte (4 counters) to Thalia. He can't attack into it, so I attack him next turn. He double blocks and dismembers her, so I remove two counters to allow her to survive, then the other two to kill one smasher with first strike, then remove one I get from the trigger so she survives the damage from the second one. I can use the last jitte counter to stabilize at 2 life after his next attack and then cast council's judgment to seal the game.
G3: He starts off with ballista, which I remove with Leonin Relic-Warder. His second play is jitte, after which I disrupt his mana with port as it's evident he's short on land. Eventually, after I forego porting for extra pressure, he manages to get jitte online, but I have an overwhelming board presence at this point (and a council's to remove it in my turn).
R3: Moon stompy 2-0
G1: Thalia is a real, big pain for this deck. He had a chalice start and moon a turn or two later, but I had two basics by that point and a wisp to deal with chalice, after which I can plow his P&K. He scoops when I drop Prelate with mom protection.
G2: 2 sulfur elementals slow me down (taking thalia, recruiter mom and wisp; first one got plowed before the second one could be cast), but they don't kill Prelate (which I recruited) and I don't take the bait of attacking into it. My follow-up is council for his elemental and a revoker to ensure a lethal clock next turn and he fails to draw an answer that is not a noncreature CMC4.
R4: Food chain 2-0 (downpaired)
G1: I keep a hand with triple mom. He can deal with 1 through a ballista (which I plow), but the others stabilize the board with flyers and batterskull. I wisp SFM for SOFI, but he manages to thoughtseize it. I can recruit for revoker (on food chain - he had already used one ballista and I had a plow for a second one) the turn before he can combo off and flyers + double mom ensure my clock (all of his flyers, i.e. clique, strix and griffin, are blue). After 4 turns or so, I find my fifth land for batterskull equip and he scoops.
G2: He gets stuck on 2 lands, whereas I get wisp + sofi by turn 4.
R5: D&T ID
QF: UR dreadnought delver 1-2
G1: I get early double vial, with double recruiter, and outgrind anything he throws at me. First recruiter finds a pontiff for true-name, second a wisp for dreadnought.
G2: He starts with two lavamancers, which I have to plow and path. His follow-up is standstill, which I immediately break, allowing him to find all tools to finish me off (i.e. nought + 2x removal and 2x stifle). I used LRW on dreadnought to play around daze, allowing him to bolt it next turn, followed by another stifle and another bolt on the wisp I just played, allowing him to beat for exactly 13 with his unflipped delver.
G3: I keep a slow hand (mom, path, 4 land, skull) and have to path a lavamancer again. This gives him the mana advantage to land delver and standstill, which I'm forced to break again. I fail to regain the initiative, keeping my only threat wisp behind for his inevitable dreadnought after all that card advantage. I can plow his delver after 6 or so damage, but fail to find an answer to his true-name. There was a funky interaction when he wasted my wasteland, making me waste his fetchland, after which he fetched and tried to Teferi's Response my wasteland ability. I managed to convince the judge that this doesn't work, because my wasteland ability has no legal target and Teferi's Response requires its target to have one.
So, yeah, except for the terrible keep in the QF, I can't really complain. I got lucky beating food chain anyway. Brightling saw little action, and the fact that you want to keep mana open for it is awkward. Its CMC defaults to even more than 3, which is nice against the midrange grinds, but very awkward against everything else (i.e. delver, combo, stompy). I can't say I was ever unhappy to see it today, but I didn't see it often either. It might also be time to go for 4 mom and no bird again, but I'm hesitant to let go of my little humorless mascot... It's also much better against combo than mom is and this sort of build has issues against some combo decks.
You can't fetch Lyra with stoneforge and if you don't have skull, stoneforge becomes much, much less impressive against aggro.
I don't think Brightling is a replacement for Batterskull. Batterskull is, in this deck, a mana efficient card. It's the cheapest thing you can get off of SFM and the least vulnerable to removal (can be bounced, can't be decayed). Brightling is much slower and more vulnerable to things like strix, true-name, angler and sweepers - in particular game 1 where artifact removal is still quite rare.
If you're not playing specific answers like Surgical or Faerie, the match-up is very poor in my experience (BR, you barely see UB anymore). The odds of not losing to a turn 1 griselbrand are very low and the odds of them getting that are very high. You are favored if they don't have the nuts, but the deck is designed to quite consistently have the nuts. You're more likely to eat up dredge than BR without fast and narrow grave hate, I'd say.
Opposing brightlings are no more a problem than mirran crusader, brimaz or the like. Mirror matches revolve around the value of equipment, mom, tempo and evasion, not creature bulk. Miracles will never play it, because they already have the perfect white 3-drop they could dream of.Opposing Brightlings represent interesting conundrums. In the mirrors, they partially act like equipment or Mother of Runes: a card that you can Revoker off, and may have to, but has some symmetrical impact. Linvala is a possibility, but that's a pretty narrow answer overall (and opposing Karakas makes it questionable anyway). It has the potential to be really powerful against us in Miracles, but it's probably not their best choice in other matchups, and they have limited white mana anyway which compromises the ability to cast/use it and still hold up removal. I think I'm just going to roll with it, since I already bring in Sword of War and Peace in those matchups. If it becomes more prominent, I'll counter-strategize further.
Lyra is terrible. Batterskull can be searched, cheated into play, attached, and bounced. Lyra gets sucked under from Terminous. All they have to do is kill Shalai then they can target Lyra. In the mirror or against Maverick she just gets bounced. Nothing like tapping 5 out to play her and get dazed. Awful idea man. 🤮
Also, Port is awesome. Active port with Thalia against OmniSneak and other blue decks is such a great feeling. One of the big bonuses about D&T is that we don’t take damage from our lands. Just about every other deck does. Why would you want to give away that advantage?
Last edited by jwl3gg; 06-17-2018 at 07:10 PM.
Lyra was just a suggestion for a build heavy on Angels, she's like a Baneslayer with a higher upside. She also can't be Decayed, plus she has no fear of KCommand whatsoever.
Stoneforge is too slow a lot of the time, and your line of play is almost always telegraphed. Even if they don't see Batterskull off the trigger, they're still expecting it.
There are times when the "telegraphed" play is a blessing. It involves misinformation. It happens when you naturally draw Mystic and Batterskull. You fetch the Jitte and the opponent swings into your Batterskull-carrying-germ because they think the attack is safe. A lesser version can happen if you draw into the Jitte where the opponent overextends figuring a Batterskull is coming.
"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job."
"Politicians are like diapers. They should be changed often and for the same reason."
"Governing is too important to be left to people as silly as politicians."
"Politicians were mostly people who'd had too little morals and ethics to stay lawyers."
My thoughts on Resplendent Angel is that some people will like it, but I do not. Lifegain is not easily accessible in this deck, at least not in the capacity of 5 a turn. Can it be done? Yes. Will it be good enough? On my opinion, no.
Feels win-more. If I'm getting in for 5 a turn, am I not probably winning anyway?
Feels like you sum it up nicely. We don't have space for generic beaters (non-hatebears) that don't have metagame-geared evasion caracteristics. Maybe it could compete with Serra Avenger, but then again, Avenger is though to beat, and when comparing similar CMC, Brightling seems better.
I mean, Brimaz is probably better than this.
Resplendent Angel certainly looks interesting, but the only "easy enabler" we have is Brightling. I largely agree with @Medea_'s take on this card: high-upside, reasonably aggressive body, but the 3-drop slot is pretty crowded, it will be hard for us to activate, and if we decide to go in an equipment-less direction we will need better 2-drops to replace SFM before this is viable.
When the price drops off, I will likely grab a pair of these for the long-run possibilities.
That's a good idea if they do go low enough. That card has a high chance of going in soul sisters in modern, though, and will obviously see a TON of play in standard with all the angels seeing print. In standard there is now 3 highly playable angels, and in ascending tempo cmc's, 3 drop (Resplendent), 4 drop (Shalai) 5 drop (Lyra).
My guess is that they will be pricey for the foreseeable future.
Well, the angel enables itself if you spend the mana. The +2/+2 part is not as interesting as the card advantage part, but this card's achilles heel is its need to stick around until the end step. If I am facing D+T, I would love to see my opponent tap out six mana on their turn to deal two extra damage to me. I just have to time my removal right to make it a terrible investment. For my money, Brightling is the better late game investment.
On that note, I got some results in from the weekend about Brightling and Shalai. A friend took 3x Shalai to Las Vegas for side events and a single Brightling. In three events, he lost a single match. He said that Brightling won a game, and had generally positive feedback on it. It remains to be seen whether it is better than what comes out for it. Shalia was a bomb all weekend. Their inability to interact with D+T creatures makes for a new level of the prison component that feels new and very powerful. Mother of Runes and Shalai is essentially a lock. Karakas can also fill in for this role in a pinch, or even Flickerwisp of course. Bottom line is that none of the decks he faced, including lands with recurring Punishing Fire, had any cards to reasonably deal with her. Their inability to interact with D+T creatures makes for another level of the prison component that feels very powerful. He credits her with owning games in a new way for this deck.
This is the testing list we tried out:
4 Mother of Runes
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Flickerwisp
2 Recruiter of the Guard
1 Sanctum Prelate
1 Brightling
1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
3 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
4 Aetheri Vial
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
4 Swords to Plowshares
23 lands
sb:
I don't entirely remember.
"Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job."
"Politicians are like diapers. They should be changed often and for the same reason."
"Governing is too important to be left to people as silly as politicians."
"Politicians were mostly people who'd had too little morals and ethics to stay lawyers."
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