Soldier Stompy (Tribal Tomb-Based Aggro)

[MGB]

Intro

This is a aggro deck based on the fast mana generated by Ancient Tomb and City of Traitors, alongside Chrome Mox. Like other Tomb-based aggro decks, it runs 4 Chalice of the Void and 3-4 Trinisphere as light disruption to pave way for its creatures.

Unlike other Tomb-based Stompy decks, this one has a tribal bent - particularly, the Soldier tribe. Why would you play Soldiers instead of, say, Sea Drake and Serendib Efreet (Faerie Stompy), or Gathan Raiders and Arc-Slogger (Dragon Stompy)? Because Soldiers have better creatures, for the most part, and with the printing of Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, they have a disruption element that can also attack.

With the printing of Cavern of Souls, this deck has (in my opinion) become viable in the current Legacy metagame. The synergies were always there before, but the printings of both Thalia and Cavern have given this deck a major boost. Cavern obviously has no downside whatsoever in this deck, as every nonland card is either an artifact or a Soldier.

Playing the Deck

If you are unfamiliar with this deck, you need to realize that the core of this deck outside of the Chalice/Trinisphere lock duo is one of the most efficient and deadly tribal enablers in the game: Preeminent Captain. This guy is basically a Goblin Lackey and Goblin Warchief rolled into one card. In a Tomb-based deck with Chrome Moxen, he can be cast as early as turn 1, and often on turn 2. A deck playing Chalice of the Void and Thalia can also help protect him from spot removal fairly effectively. When he has the opportunity to attack, he can single-handedly swing the game into your favor with one resolution of his trigger by bringing into play, for free, and immediately attacking, bombs such as Captain of the Watch, or card-advantage generators such as Enlistment Officer (the Soldier equivalent of Goblin Ringleader).

In situations where you don't draw Preeminent Captain or it is removed, then through the use of Ballyrush Banneret and Daru Warchief, alongside the sol-lands, you can cheat more soldiers into play at reduced cost and quickly hardcast Enlistment Officer and Captain of the Watch.

Often the best play, and one that wins easily against many of Legacy's decks, is a Turn 1 Chalice followed by a Preeminent Captain that begins to bring Soldiers into play.

Because most of the Soldiers have first strike, they have an immediate combat edge over most other creatures played in Legacy, especially if you can bring any of the 11-12 Lords into play.

My Decklist


5 Snow-Covered Plains
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Tomb
3 City of Traitors
2 Karakas

4 Chrome Mox
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Winter Orb

4 Ballyrush Banneret
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Enlistment Officer
3 Daru Warchief
3 Captain of the Watch
3 Porcelain Legionnaire
2 Veteran Swordsmith
2 Loxodon Gatekeeper
1 Gustcloak Savior


SB:

4 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Rest in Peace
4 Intrepid Hero
3 Damping Matrix


Decklist Notes

- There are many other interesting Soldiers to play, but after playtesting I've found that pumping with Lords is the best way to deal damage quickly. Two other Soldiers I've found worth playing, at times, are Etched Champion and Kor Hookmaster. Both have useful combat abilities, and can be substituted for the Swordsmith or the Ballyrush Banneret if you wish to do so. The problem with Champion is that it weakens Chrome Mox (less imprint targets) and it is very weak without its Metalcraft ability. The problem with Hookmaster is that its ability is very good in certain combat situations at establishing tempo, but is otherwise a mediocre creature (2/2) with primarily a stalling tactic.

- Another very interesting Soldier is Loxodon Gatekeeper, which is a tempo disruption piece. His ability is very useful, but unfortunately, he is too expensive at 2WW to land early, and thus competes with the other 4cc Soldiers such as Enlistment Officer and Daru Warchief. His ability is more useful in the early game than the late game. If he cost 2W, he would be an auto-include, but as it is, he's worth testing but is, in my opinion, not worthy of inclusion in the maindeck.

- Other lists will play Thorn of Amethyst instead of the Trinisphere, but I prefer Trinisphere over the Thorn because it disrupts most decks better. The downside to playing Trinisphere is that it negates some of the cost-cutting abilities of the Warchief and the Banneret. However, they can still make the Enlistment Officer and Captain of the Watch cheaper. Thorn is a valid option over Trinisphere, but difference between forcing a player to pay 3 mana for a Brainstorm / Swords to Plowshares / Noble Heirarch instead of just 2 mana is often the difference between winning and losing.

- Veteran Swordsmith is in the deck as a 3rd Lord over Field Marshal due to its larger body (3/2 vs 2/2) and its ability to be cast with only one white source in play. Similarly, Porcelain Legionnaire is important in this deck for its larger power (3/1) and its ability to be cast off of *one* sol-land. The importance of being able to cast things with minimal white sources in play is an important one in this deck that often will see a single Mox or a single Plains/Karakas/Cavern for multiple turns. You don't want to necessarily mulligan away a Chalice/Trinisphere hand because it doesn't contain a white source.

- The SB is tough to figure out, but I've settled on 4 graveyard hate (LotV), 4 combo/discard hate (LoS), 4 control / affinity hate (Serenity) and 3 more control hate (Armageddon). I want the best graveyard hate available, so I like Leyline, but obviously other ones are available. Serenity is not as effective as Sorcery-based artifact/enchantment hate, but it is infinitely easier to cast in this deck than something that requires multiple white sources. Often you need to cast this with only one white source in play. Regardless of whether you play Serenity or something else such as, say, Oblivion Ring, you absolutely need some answer to Ensnaring Bridge and Moat in the sideboard. Armageddon is pretty amazing if you resolve it against a control deck and you have creatures in play already.


Other decklists

Here are some other Soldier Stompy decklists:

Jon on this forum:



4 Ballyrush Banneret
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Field Marshal
4 Preeminent Captain
1 Brimaz, King of Orekos
4 Daru Warchief
4 Enlistment Officer
3 Captain of the Watch
1 Commander Esha
1 Gustcloak Savior
4 Suppression Field
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Chrome Mox
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Tomb
12 Plains


SB

2 Armageddon
2 Kor Firewalker
2 Ankh of Mishra
3 Oblivion Ring
3 Rest in Peace



Javier Flores, Mi Tesoro Liga Legacy Torneo 1º, 2nd of 26 players:


2 Karakas
12 Plains
4 Ancient Tomb

4 Chrome Mox
4 Chalice of the Void

4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Ballyrush Banneret
3 Loxodon Gatekeeper
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Field Marshal
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Daru Warchief
4 Captain of the Watch
3 Oblivion Ring


SB:

3 Thorn of Amethyst
4 Tormod's Crypt
4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Suppression Field
1 Oblivion Ring


http://www.thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.php?id=8052&iddeck=58703

Carlos Viejo, Big Legacy @ GP Madrid 2012, 9th of 234 players:


2 Karakas
3 Flagstones of Trokair
4 Ancient Tomb
9 Plains

4 Chrome Mox
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Thorn of Amethyst

4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Ballyrush Banneret
4 Captain of the Watch
4 Daru Warchief
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Field Marshal
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Suppression Field


SB:

3 Armageddon
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Tormod's Crypt
3 Oblivion Ring
4 Leyline of Sanctity


http://www.thecouncil.es/tcdecks/deck.php?id=7875&iddeck=57353

These lists tend to use Suppression Field more often, which is definitely an interesting strategy, but one that I found too often ineffective against decks that fetched in response to the Field being played.

These lists also do not feature Cavern of Souls, which was printed after their tournament showings.

[Infinitium]

Hey, I used to play this since Lorwyn block. Solid tier 2 material, but I'm not sure whether Thalia/Caverns can push it over the edge. Some quick pointers:

*Mirror Entity is the best soldier ever printed and has disgusting synergy with Preeminent Captain to boot (swinging for 10 on turn 2 or 20 on turn 3? Check.). No reason whatsoever not to run 4 of them. Seriously, the trifecta of (Preeminent) Captain/Entity/Officer are the only standalone good creatures in the deck and the reason to try and make this work.

*Disturbingly, Burrenton Bombardier is probably the best "Lord" available to the deck after Entity. It's an uncounterable combat trick in a deck full of first strikers, and it has evasion for carrying Jitte. As an added bonus, people fucking hate losing to it.

*Other than those two, the Lords available to Soldiers are just plain bad and should be avoided where possible. Captain of the Watch is especially bad in this regard as it relies way too much on Preeminent Captain to get into play at all.

*Mentor of the Meek adds another draw engine to the deck and carries Jitte about as well as anyone. 4-of.

*Consider Elspeth in place of Equipment; it's a very credible threat vs. control decks, stalls, draws cards with mentor, pitches to Mox and Shoal and is generally good times, dissynergy with caverns and Thalia nonwithstanding.

Added bonus: hilarious piece of synergy with Intrepid Hero .

*Shining Shoal is the best removal available to the deck - it's free (which is important since you typically only cast 1 spell/turn), a combat trick (which is important since your dudes suck individually) and can protect your dudes from burn in a pinch. Crib Swap is also an option since it can be drawn off Officer.

*Noble Templar is a white card for Chrome Mox or Shoal, a plains with a dualland start and a somewhat respectable body with Captain or in the lategame. Consider it as a 1-of.

*Ancient Den works well with Etched Champion. It still kind of sucks however.

*Trinisphere is bad in this deck. Even if you land it turn 1 on the play (which is statistically unlikely) the deck doesn't goldfish fast enough to consistently win before the opponent can get 3 lands and stabilize. Armageddon MD could work, but then you effectively forfeit Elspeth as the 4cc slot easily clutters. Simularily, Thalia probably isn't enough by herself without other mana deprivation strategies backing her up.

*Retribution of the Meek is an automatic include in the sideboard.

[MGB]

Hey, I used to play this since Lorwyn block. Solid tier 2 material, but I'm not sure whether Thalia/Caverns can push it over the edge. Some quick pointers:

*Mirror Entity is the best soldier ever printed and has disgusting synergy with Preeminent Captain to boot (swinging for 10 on turn 2 or 20 on turn 3? Check.). No reason whatsoever not to run 4 of them. Seriously, the trifecta of (Preeminent) Captain/Entity/Officer are the only standalone good creatures in the deck and the reason to try and make this work.


I playtested with Entity a while back and found that it required too high of a mana commitment. This deck is light on lands, and feeding the Entity every time you want to attack seemed counterproductive when you needed to be casting more Soldiers.



*Disturbingly, Burrenton Bombardier is probably the best "Lord" available to the deck after Entity. It's an uncounterable combat trick in a deck full of first strikers, and it has evasion for carrying Jitte. As an added bonus, people fucking hate losing to it.


I also playtested with this guy, and he's useful in that he is a Flying Soldier in a deck with very little real evasion, and the combat trick is neat, but in the end, he isn't as useful as a Lord because he can only pump one creature, and it opens you up to too many 2-for-1s if they remove the Soldier in response to the Reinforce. Bombardier is kind of like an Enchant Creature spell in that respect.



*Other than those two, the Lords available to Soldiers are just plain bad and should be avoided where possible. Captain of the Watch is especially bad in this regard as it relies way too much on Preeminent Captain to get into play at all.


If you run Ballyrush Banneret, and Daru Warchief, and you land a Sol land or two, you can cast it pretty easily, actually. He's the most powerful Soldier available if you can get it into play and almost immediately wins the game when he does.



*Mentor of the Meek adds another draw engine to the deck and carries Jitte about as well as anyone. 4-of.


Again, this guy ties up too much mana. 4 Enlistment Officer is enough of a draw engine for this deck.



*Consider Elspeth in place of Equipment; it's a very credible threat vs. control decks, stalls, draws cards with mentor, pitches to Mox and Shoal and is generally good times, dissynergy with caverns and Thalia nonwithstanding.


Elspeth is nice, but it's also kind of win-more in some respects. And its dissynergy with Thalia is pretty bad.



*Trinisphere is bad in this deck. Even if you land it turn 1 on the play (which is statistically unlikely) the deck doesn't goldfish fast enough to consistently win before the opponent can get 3 lands and stabilize. Armageddon MD could work, but then you effectively forfeit Elspeth as the 4cc slot easily clutters. Simularily, Thalia probably isn't enough by herself without other mana deprivation strategies backing her up.


The thing about Trinisphere is that if you land it turn 1 or turn 2, it's an almost immediate game-winner against alot of decks that rely on cheap cantrips. And against storm combo decks, it's basically a game-winner until they remove it. Many decks can never really "stabilize" with a Trinisphere on the board. It's worth it for this effect alone. Forcing them to pay 3 mana for Brainstorms and Swords to Plowshares is a huge win.

Thalia is super-important to this deck because it is a lock piece that also functions as a Soldier and an attacker. It's one of the main reasons to even bother with the Soldier tribe and I would never play less than 4 regardless of other lock pieces in or out of the deck.

Could you post your list in here so I could compare the two? I don't know if you've done alot of playtesting of this deck based on your suggestions - they seem more "casual" than competitive.

[nedleeds]

http://magiccards.info/scans/en/mm/15.jpg

Win.

[MGB]

Nice find. Didn't realize that card existed.

Don't know if it warrants space in the maindeck, or if it is significantly better than any of the SB cards, though.

This deck struggles most with heavy board control decks (Nic Fit, Pox, UW Blade Control, Planeswalker Stax) and this card does nothing to help that matchup.

[xifre]

Good thread! I also have a budget white weenie consisting of almost 16 soldiers which would generally make it a tribal deck...

These are some soldiers that i'm currently using:
Elite Vanguard
Kor Skyfisher (man this guy works hard!)
Daru Warchief
Whipcorder
Elite Javelineers
2cc instant card which creates 2 soldier tokens..

I'm planning to add basilisk collars just to make them more aggressive..

hope this helps... :P

[MGB]

Good thread! I also have a budget white weenie consisting of almost 16 soldiers which would generally make it a tribal deck...

These are some soldiers that i'm currently using:
Elite Vanguard
Kor Skyfisher (man this guy works hard!)
Daru Warchief
Whipcorder
Elite Javelineers
2cc instant card which creates 2 soldier tokens..

I'm planning to add basilisk collars just to make them more aggressive..

hope this helps... :P

No offense, but this is terrible.

The only reason to play this deck is the ability to put Soldiers in a Chalice/Trinisphere/Ancient Tomb/City of Traitors shell. You don't need to play any of these suboptimal soldiers.

This is actually a competitive deck. Your suggestions are all casual/budget-minded.

[jrw1985]

Porcelain Legionnaire should be the term for someone defeating a bout of constipation.

[Wanderlust]

Elite Vanguard
Kor Skyfisher


I found these interesting. They fit with the idea of taking the deck towards a lower mana curve that is less reliant on sol lands sticking around (see: Wasteland). I think Thorn of Amethyst, maybe Sphere of Resistance and/or Glowrider, coupled with mana-denial via our own Wastelands (and perhaps Rishadan Port) would be the reason to go this direction. I'll work on a decklist and report back.


The only reason to play this deck is the ability to put Soldiers in a Chalice/Trinisphere/Ancient Tomb/City of Traitors shell.

Trinisphere seems far from an auto-include to me.

[nedleeds]

Nice find. Didn't realize that card existed.

Don't know if it warrants space in the maindeck, or if it is significantly better than any of the SB cards, though.

This deck struggles most with heavy board control decks (Nic Fit, Pox, UW Blade Control, Planeswalker Stax) and this card does nothing to help that matchup.

It's a fine answer to thresh decks, shuts off Mongoose, Goyf, clique, Delver. If you are running the tappers (Gideon's Lawkeeper or Harrier) it's even better.

Defiant Hero is another favorite in my bad soldiers builds.

Edit: found an old list from Cockatrice


4 Porcelain Legionnaire
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Daru Warchief
4 Enlistment Officer
2 Umezawa's Jitte
3 Jötun Grunt
3 Kor Skyfisher
4 Elite Vanguard
4 Goldmeadow Harrier
4 Path to Exile
6 Plains
4 Marsh Flats
4 Flooded Strand
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Chrome Mox
2 Crackdown

[Greenpoe]

I would run a pair of Jitte's, if not main then perhaps in the SB. Also, I think you're underestimating Suppression Field, especially when combined with the other mana taxing effects. Suppression Field is pretty brutal against a lot more than just fetches, hence the 4x main in the list that placed in the GP. Although when you do land that early Suppression Field, it's a huge tempo-boost (i.e., game-winning).

[Zupponn]

This looks like a really cool deck. Prehaps Soltari Champion, Taj-Nar Swordsmith, Gerrard Capashen, or Loxodon Gatekeeper might be worth a look.

[MGB]

This looks like a really cool deck. Prehaps Soltari Champion, Taj-Nar Swordsmith, Gerrard Capashen, or Loxodon Gatekeeper might be worth a look.

I used to run a build with 4 Soltari Champion that focused instead of running "utility" Soldiers with special abilities (Etched Champion, etc). The problem with him is that blocking is usually more relevant than being unblocked. Running, say, 4 Veteran Swordsmith in his place is typically a better gameplan. If you play a different build that tries to exploit, say, equipment like Jitte or Swords, however, the unblockable ability is very useful. My other build was centered arond 4 Etched Champion and 4 Soltari Champion alongside the soldier core of Captain/Officer/Thalia, and then played 3-4 Jitte and maybe Swords alongside them. This is a more midrange-oriented build, however.

I loved Loxodon Gatekeeper's ability when I was testing him for several weeks, but his cost is just too high to make an early impact. His ablity is excellent early in the game, but loses its effectiveness as the game goes into the mid/late stages. This is a problem because he usually doesn't come down until later in the game, because the WW cost means he will either be put into play off a Preemeinent Captain or only when you have multiple white sources. If his cost was 2W instead of 2WW, he's probably be an auto-include. As it stands, he might be great in certain builds that focus more on mana denial (Winter Orb? Suppresion Field?) but in the aggro-combo type of build (Affinity-like), it's better to play a Lord in the 4cc slot that amplifies the soldiers already on the field. I still would like to test a different build based around Gatekeeper/Winter Orb/Root Maze type of abilities however.

Both Gerrard Capashen and Taj-Nar Swordsmith seem too mana intensive for this deck, which tries to operate on 18 lands and 4 moxen and needs to be flooding the battlefield with soldiers or disruption every turn.

[L10]

This is my variant of Soldier Stompy.


//Mana
12 Plains
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern Of Souls

//Engine
4 Pearl Medallion
4 Ballyrush Banneret
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Daru Warchief

//Lords
4 Field Marshal
4 Captain of the Watch

//Control
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Chalice of the Void

//Removal
4 Oblivion Ring

//Sideboard
3 Loxodon Gatekeeper
4 Suppression Field
4 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Tormod's Crypt


Pearl Medallion and Ballyrush Banneret really smooths out the high CMC of our soldiers. It seems many of you guys like Suppression Field and Trinisphere, but Oblivion Ring really helps on game one against an unknown deck IMO.

Sometimes I will have Pearl Medallion in my hand with only one Plains, and wish the Pearl Medallion was another Plains. Sometimes, I have Ancient Tomb and Pearl Medallion and remembered why it was so awesome. I think 20 lands on this build is sufficient too.

To be honest, I don't really know when I would rather have Suppression Field over Oblivion Ring. I side in 3 Loxodon Gatekeeper against Sneak Attack.

[Jon]

I have recently began to play this deck this last week. I have been playing a ton of mono white as of late, so I figured I would try soldier stompy.
This is the list I decided on for my meta:


4 Ballyrush Banneret
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Field Marshal
4 Preeminent Captain
1 Brimaz, King of Orekos
4 Daru Warchief
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Captain of the Watch
1 Lavinia of the Tenth
4 Suppression Field
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Chrome Mox
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Tomb
12 Plains


SB

1 Worship
3 Kor Firewalker
3 Holy Light
4 Oblivion Ring
2 Rest in Peace


Here is the matches I had this week

RD1- Joel - Cheerios
RD2- Wu - Dack Fayden Burn
RD3 - Mike - Death and Taxes
RD4 - Sean - Moon Stompy

RD1 G1 I lead Chalice on 1 and my opponent conceded. G2 He had the play and killed me. G3 He didnt know Glimpse was a must and he decked himself.
RD2 G1 I lead with Thalia Turn 1, He concedes after I dump my hand. G2 I play 2 Kor Firewalkers and start the beats, he TD's a Anarchy but I held a ringleader and rebuilt my army quickly
RD3 G1 I lead with Chalice on 1, Then quickly present a Preeminent Captain clock and he never had good attacks. G2 I just have a very strong Suppression field start and he cant win.
RD4 G1 / G2 Against the deck that relies on a quick Bloodmoon to carry it to a win, my pile of plains was good. I also played worship.

The deck is very strong and I plan on playing it until I get tired of it.

[Dihensoeur]

I have recently began to play this deck this last week. I have been playing a ton of mono white as of late, so I figured I would try soldier stompy.
This is the list I decided on for my meta:

4 Ballyrush Banneret
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Field Marshal
4 Preeminent Captain
1 Brimaz, King of Orekos
4 Daru Warchief
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Captain of the Watch
1 Lavinia of the Tenth
4 Suppression Field
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Chrome Mox
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Tomb
12 Plains

SB
1 Worship
3 Kor Firewalker
3 Holy Light
4 Oblivion Ring
2 Rest in Peace

Here is the matches I had this week

RD1- Joel - Cheerios
RD2- Wu - Dack Fayden Burn
RD3 - Mike - Death and Taxes
RD4 - Sean - Moon Stompy

RD1 G1 I lead Chalice on 1 and my opponent conceded. G2 He had the play and killed me. G3 He didnt know Glimpse was a must and he decked himself.
RD2 G1 I lead with Thalia Turn 1, He concedes after I dump my hand. G2 I play 2 Kor Firewalkers and start the beats, he TD's a Anarchy but I held a ringleader and rebuilt my army quickly
RD3 G1 I lead with Chalice on 1, Then quickly present a Preeminent Captain clock and he never had good attacks. G2 I just have a very strong Suppression field start and he cant win.
RD4 G1 / G2 Against the deck that relies on a quick Bloodmoon to carry it to a win, my pile of plains was good. I also played worship.

The deck is very strong and I plan on playing it until I get tired of it.

GG

There are only 13 cards in your Sideboard ?

If I can suggest you an idea, I think you need x3 Karakas for SneakShow MU, moreover Karakas can protect your legendary soldiers.

Regards,
Dihensoeur

[Jon]

I will look back at my notes and figure what card I failed to add to my SB!

Tonight I top 4'd Went 3-1-1. Will add report later. I played a maindeck Quan Sun, Lord of Wu!

[Jon]

I will look back at my notes and figure what card I failed to add to my SB!

Tonight I top 4'd Went 3-1-1. Will add report later. I played a maindeck Quan Sun, Lord of Wu!

So I am fairly certain on my main deck, where I am fuzzy is my SB...

Here is what I am currently running and would take to any large event.


2 Ethersworn Cannonist
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Disenchant
3 Thorn of Amethyst
3 Cursed Totem
1 Worship
1 Dong Zhou, the Tyrant


Any advice from you guys that have played it at large events? I really seem to have issues with Lingering Souls decks like Deadguy.

[Wilkin]

So I am fairly certain on my main deck, where I am fuzzy is my SB...

Here is what I am currently running and would take to any large event.


2 Ethersworn Cannonist
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Disenchant
3 Thorn of Amethyst
3 Cursed Totem
1 Worship
1 Dong Zhou, the Tyrant


Any advice from you guys that have played it at large events? I really seem to have issues with Lingering Souls decks like Deadguy.

Counci's Judgment perhaps? It can deal with the tokens and is a nice catch all for a lot of other non-land permanents.

It is double white to cast though.

[Megadeus]

Idon't think it has the maelstrom pulse ability of killing all with the same name.

[MGB]

I have recently began to play this deck this last week. I have been playing a ton of mono white as of late, so I figured I would try soldier stompy.
This is the list I decided on for my meta:


4 Ballyrush Banneret
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Field Marshal
4 Preeminent Captain
1 Brimaz, King of Orekos
4 Daru Warchief
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Captain of the Watch
1 Lavinia of the Tenth
4 Suppression Field
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Chrome Mox
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Tomb
12 Plains


SB

1 Worship
3 Kor Firewalker
3 Holy Light
4 Oblivion Ring
2 Rest in Peace


Here is the matches I had this week

RD1- Joel - Cheerios
RD2- Wu - Dack Fayden Burn
RD3 - Mike - Death and Taxes
RD4 - Sean - Moon Stompy

RD1 G1 I lead Chalice on 1 and my opponent conceded. G2 He had the play and killed me. G3 He didnt know Glimpse was a must and he decked himself.
RD2 G1 I lead with Thalia Turn 1, He concedes after I dump my hand. G2 I play 2 Kor Firewalkers and start the beats, he TD's a Anarchy but I held a ringleader and rebuilt my army quickly
RD3 G1 I lead with Chalice on 1, Then quickly present a Preeminent Captain clock and he never had good attacks. G2 I just have a very strong Suppression field start and he cant win.
RD4 G1 / G2 Against the deck that relies on a quick Bloodmoon to carry it to a win, my pile of plains was good. I also played worship.

The deck is very strong and I plan on playing it until I get tired of it.

Nice report, Jon. It's always cool to see people doing well with this underrated deck.

Have you tried playing City of Traitors to give you more explosive starts?

I personally dislike Suppression Field because it is so easy to play around (fetch in response, just flat-out pay 2 for Jace/Lili/Stoneforge activations), so I play 4 Winter Orb in that slot.

Winter Orb is really awesome vs. control decks like Miracles, and is generally decent in nearly every matchup except those decks that either don't need lands (Storm/Dredge) or play AEther Vial (Death n Taxes, Goblins). And with Thalia, it really slows opponents down, even more so than Suppression Field in my opinion. Additionally, if you play Loxodon Gatekeeper it's almost a mini-lock.

[nedleeds]

Suppression Field is the last card I'd cut. It shuts down planeswalkers, jitte, sfm, top, drs, vial, mother, port for the purposes of a deck that's trying to win in 3-4 attack steps. Having it on the play vs any 3 color deck is just gravy and sometimes an autowin. Winter Orb is OK, but this deck wants to tap out every turn.

[Dihensoeur]

Hi,
Has anyone tried Council's judgment ? It seems very powerful for this kind of deck.

[Wilkin]

Idon't think it has the maelstrom pulse ability of killing all with the same name.

Boo urns. Dang, I was hoping it could do that. Could have been worded a bit better.

As for dealing with Tokens, I though maybe Ratchet Bomb would be good....but it also kills Chalice of the Void and Chrome Mox.

Took a look at Soldiers that have reach. They kinda suck. Maybe just have a Jitte or 2 main.

[Tyrio]

Do you care about creature tokens at all? One lord and they're just chump blockers. It only becomes problematic if they have a SFM or equipment which is dealt with by killing them before they can dedicate 3 turns to putting into play and equipping the equipment or Suppression Field (plus turns to actually cast the token generator).

[MGB]

Suppression Field is the last card I'd cut. It shuts down planeswalkers, jitte, sfm, top, drs, vial, mother, port for the purposes of a deck that's trying to win in 3-4 attack steps. Having it on the play vs any 3 color deck is just gravy and sometimes an autowin. Winter Orb is OK, but this deck wants to tap out every turn.

The problem is that it doesnt' really shut down those cards, it just slows them down a bit.

I've lost so many games where Supp Field was in play and opponent just paid 2 mana to activate his jitte/planeswalker/vial and shrugged it off.

[Tyrio]

Jace and Liliana become significantly worse when you can't activate their abilities the turn they come down and force you to spend most of your mana the next turn activating their abilities. SFM can't be activated until turn 4 and equipping will take all of your 5th turn as well. Then there's the scenario where t1/t2 Field savages the 10 fetchlands each deck plays. It's obviously a poor topdeck 4-5 turns into the game, but this is the kind of deck that should already be well on the road to winning or losing by then.

[MGB]

Jace and Liliana become significantly worse when you can't activate their abilities the turn they come down and force you to spend most of your mana the next turn activating their abilities. SFM can't be activated until turn 4 and equipping will take all of your 5th turn as well. Then there's the scenario where t1/t2 Field savages the 10 fetchlands each deck plays. It's obviously a poor topdeck 4-5 turns into the game, but this is the kind of deck that should already be well on the road to winning or losing by then.

Supp Field is a decent card but I just don't know if it's maindeck material.

Think about this: When you play Supp Field, you are investing 1W and a card you drew into it. That means it is immediately card disadvantage unless it stops something. Just slowing something down makes it a tempo play, and at that point, you have invested 1W into it, so you need to force 2 mana payment just to break even on tempo, and you need to force them to pay 4 mana just to make a minor gain!

Whereas, if you play something like Phyrexian Revoker in its slot (which is what I do now), you are paying 2 mana to completely shut an opponent's card down. Additionally, you have a 2/1 body that attacks. By shutting down an opponent's card, you are even on card advantage (not at disadvantage like you are with Supp Field). And if the body is relevant for you, you have + card advantage.

And despite the look of this deck, it's not always a t2/3/4 win deck. This deck goes into the mid/late game quite frequently, and survives via the bomb Soldiers like Captain of the Watch and the Ringleader effect on Enlistment Officer. So for a deck that tries to play the late-game, Suppression Field is a marginal contribution whereas something like Phyrexian Revoker or Winter Orb have strong effects throughout the course of the game.

[Jon]

There is no way I would cut the Field for Revoker. Field can be pitched to Chrome Mox if need be, easily slammed turn 1 against most decks they fold, no interaction for the first few turns.

[MGB]

There is no way I would cut the Field for Revoker. Field can be pitched to Chrome Mox if need be, easily slammed turn 1 against most decks they fold, no interaction for the first few turns.

From your experience Suppression Field has performed alot better than it has for me evidently.

Have you tried playing City of Traitors and less double-W casting cost guys? What are your thoughts on doing that - i.e. playing 2+ City of Traitors instead of 2+ Plains, playing Veteran Swordsmith instead of Field Marshal and playing 2-3 Porcelain Legionnaire? Doing this makes the deck a bit more explosive and faster, imho.

Faster Chalice @ 1, Faster Preeminent Captain, and Porcelain Legionnaire comes out really quickly off a single Sol-Land and can even be free with Bannerets / Warchief in play. Swordsmith is almost as good as Field Marshal, and actually has more power himself, and while missing the first strike abliity is tough, it doesn't matter nearly as much because most of the soldiers already have First Strike (Thalia, Preeminent Captain, Enlistment Officer, Porcelain Legionnaire).

[Jon]

From your experience Suppression Field has performed alot better than it has for me evidently.

Have you tried playing City of Traitors and less double-W casting cost guys? What are your thoughts on doing that - i.e. playing 2+ City of Traitors instead of 2+ Plains, playing Veteran Swordsmith instead of Field Marshal and playing 2-3 Porcelain Legionnaire? Doing this makes the deck a bit more explosive and faster, imho.

Faster Chalice @ 1, Faster Preeminent Captain, and Porcelain Legionnaire comes out really quickly off a single Sol-Land and can even be free with Bannerets / Warchief in play. Swordsmith is almost as good as Field Marshal, and actually has more power himself, and while missing the first strike abliity is tough, it doesn't matter nearly as much because most of the soldiers already have First Strike (Thalia, Preeminent Captain, Enlistment Officer, Porcelain Legionnaire).

For myself, I dont like the Veteran Swordsmith. All my iterations of white weenie decks I ran always had problems with opposing Goyfs just shutting down my aggression which is why I really like the FS afforded to my whole team. Legionnaire is a option but I dont think I could actually cut anything for him. The 3 drop slot is packed full of great creatures and I dont think any of them are worse then Legionnaire.

[Megadeus]

To be fair, Legionnaire is really a 2 drop. A 3/1 for 2 that first strikes is pretty big game.

[MGB]

For myself, I dont like the Veteran Swordsmith. All my iterations of white weenie decks I ran always had problems with opposing Goyfs just shutting down my aggression which is why I really like the FS afforded to my whole team. Legionnaire is a option but I dont think I could actually cut anything for him. The 3 drop slot is packed full of great creatures and I dont think any of them are worse then Legionnaire.

For me, the first strike ability on Field Marshal is often redundant - Thalia, Enlistment Officer, Preeminent Captain all have first strike already. The only soldiers that really benefit are the Bannerets. The other non-first strike soldiers usually either have enough power as-is or are in there for other reasons (Captain of the Watch, Daru Warchief).

Anyway, if you are having problems with opposing Goyfs and Batterskulls and such, try playing 2-3 Gustcloak Savior. He's a bit expensive for what he does, but he's great if you flash him in off a Preeminent Captain, and cast-able with Bannerets. He basically just lets you attack without worrying about any blockers, and he can block a Delver in a pinch.

[zmayo]

Jon - I found the list interesting. Are you playing 61 cards maindeck, though? That's what it seems to add up to for me.

[haganbmj]

Jon - I found the list interesting. Are you playing 61 cards maindeck, though? That's what it seems to add up to for me.

Jon and I traded decks last night for the hell of it since the tournament attendance was so small.
I believe I was running 60 cards, with him having recently cut the Lavinia the Tenth such that the entire deck is 4-ofs with a Brimaz and 3 Chrome Moxen to round it out.

For me, Brimaz felt really powerful as a one man army, I might consider running a second. The deck felt underpowered when your opponent knew what to remove, so increasing the density of high impact cards might be worth looking at.

Sideboard was...
3 Kor Firewalker (+1 main because Jon hates Burn for whatever reason - I think 4 Chalice + 2 of these is probably sufficient)
1 Sanctimony
1 Worship
2 Armaggedon
2 Abolish
1 Disenchant
3 Oblivion Ring
2 ???

1-2 v Miracles
2-1 v BW Deadguy Ale with Humility in the board (we have so many people on Stoneforge+Bob+Lingering Souls shells locally - including myself most weeks)
2-1 v UB Tezzeret

Jon went 3-0 with Elves, which was interesting to watch.


The Miracles match was frustrating because he got some value game one out of Counterbalance (suppression field, ballyrush, thalia) and continued to find answers as a result. This deck has a hard time coming back when the board is clear against a Jace (or a Liliana for that matter). Games two and three though the potency of Chalice, Suppression Field, and Cavern of Souls was enough to keep me firmly ahead. The Field kept him from being able to fetch into Supreme Verdict and blanked his Top, closing out the game.
Game three he has a timely Terminus into an Entreat for 2, operating through Suppression Field and squeaking by on his available mana.

[Jon]

Jon - I found the list interesting. Are you playing 61 cards maindeck, though? That's what it seems to add up to for me.

I was playing 61, as I had an extra slot for Livinia of the Tenth / Sun Quan, Lord of Wu/ other funny soldiers.

I can see cutting a Captain or maybe a Marshall for another Brimaz, maybe even 2.

Elves was an interesting experience, I don't think I mulled one game, managed to glimpse chain on turn 5 of rounds against Deadguy. My lack of experience with the deck showed though my fetching and ordering of spells.

The SB is always in flux due to shifting meta, and building a SB the day of our locals to fight whatever decks I see.

[Dihensoeur]

Hi all,
I started to test a soldier stompy deck in cockatrix and I would like to have your opinion please.

MainDeck:
3 Karakas
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
9 Plains

1 Commander Eesha
2 Ballyrush Banneret
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
2 Daxos of Meletis
2 Kor Skyfisher
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Field Marshal
4 Lavinia of the Tenth
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

3 Chrome Mox
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Council's Judgment


EDIT: Lavinia of the Tenth is really a powerful card and I play it as a "spell". You gain time by "freezing" opponent's permanents (creatures, planeswalker, artifacts...) and so you can attack without any blockers which are enough to deal easily ~10 lifes or more. You can repeat it with the legendary rule and/or with Karakas (that can "lock" the opponent) or with the captain. It's, for me, a x4 must have.


Kor Skyfisher is to fight fly units like delver and its default can be using to get back Lavinia or Enlistment Officer otherwise a simple land.

Daxos of Meletis is almost unblockable in the Legacy (tarmo/delver) and enable us to gain life (lost by Ancient tomb by example) and to play opponent's deck easily (play a liliana/brainstorm...).

Karakas seems to be a must have in a soldier deck. It allows us to have a hate for SneakShow but it can protect legendary soldiers too (and there are many legendary soldier in Magic world).


Regards,
Dihensoeur

[Dihensoeur]

I tested 10 games vs Miracle.deck with a friend and won 8 times.

Lavinia of the Tenth is really a win card. It freezes Jace/sensei and all tokens. The lock loop with Karakas and/or the captain is very powerful.

Regards,
Dihensoeur

[Scott]

I really like the deck, Dihensoeur. I've only done limited testing, but so far it feels more fun and a bit more powerful than other Soldier Stompy builds I've looked at. Any sideboard yet? I'm definitely interested in any developments.

Redundant Legendary Lavinia of the Tenth in hand? No problem. Attack with one, second main phase play the second to Time Walk them, and bin the old one.

[Jon]

Hi all,
I started to test a soldier stompy deck in cockatrix and I would like to have your opinion please.

MainDeck:
3 Karakas
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
9 Plains

1 Commander Eesha
2 Ballyrush Banneret
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
2 Daxos of Meletis
2 Kor Skyfisher
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Field Marshal
4 Lavinia of the Tenth
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

3 Chrome Mox
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Council's Judgment


EDIT: Lavinia of the Tenth is really a powerful card and I play it as a "spell". You gain time by "freezing" opponent's permanents (creatures, planeswalker, artifacts...) and so you can attack without any blockers which are enough to deal easily ~10 lifes or more. You can repeat it with the legendary rule and/or with Karakas (that can "lock" the opponent) or with the captain. It's, for me, a x4 must have.


Kor Skyfisher is to fight fly units like delver and its default can be using to get back Lavinia or Enlistment Officer otherwise a simple land.

Daxos of Meletis is almost unblockable in the Legacy (tarmo/delver) and enable us to gain life (lost by Ancient tomb by example) and to play opponent's deck easily (play a liliana/brainstorm...).

Karakas seems to be a must have in a soldier deck. It allows us to have a hate for SneakShow but it can protect legendary soldiers too (and there are many legendary soldier in Magic world).


Regards,
Dihensoeur



Well I dont actually think that Councils Judgment is needed, not main anyway. The best card in the whole deck is Suppression Field. The only reason I decided to play the deck is that its the best Suppression Field deck. I think its a huge error not to play Captain of the Watch too, the card is such a powerhouse against most decks in the format. Commander Esha is cute to stop Delver but I don't think you need it. If you land a Suppression Field or Chalice against most Delver decks you are on cruise control as they cannot answer your creatures and you pressure them way more then they pressure you. I havent tested Daxos but I really hate to have more threats that get removed with low sweepers or bolt/stp without a chalice out.

[Jon]

Also my SB is now fairly set, non fluctuating between events.

3 Ankh of Mishra
3 Oblivion Ring
3 Cursed Totem
2 Abolish
2 Rest in Peace
2 Armageddon


I am pretty set on this SB.
Anhk is a beating against Miracles, Midrange, and any Durdle deck,

[FTW]

Idon't think it has the maelstrom pulse ability of killing all with the same name.

Consider Marrow Shards or Corrosive Gale to take out flying 1/1 tokens in a monoW deck.

EDIT: Between Ankh and Suppression Field, you basically make anyone running more than 4 fetchlands really start hating their own manabase.

[Dihensoeur]

I really like the deck, Dihensoeur. I've only done limited testing, but so far it feels more fun and a bit more powerful than other Soldier Stompy builds I've looked at. Any sideboard yet? I'm definitely interested in any developments.

Redundant Legendary Lavinia of the Tenth in hand? No problem. Attack with one, second main phase play the second to Time Walk them, and bin the old one.

My actual SideBoard is (but totally not tested):


2 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Rest in Peace
2 Ashen Rider
2 Ratchet Bomb
3 Holy Light
4 Leyline of Sanctity



Well I dont actually think that Councils Judgment is needed, not main anyway. The best card in the whole deck is Suppression Field. The only reason I decided to play the deck is that its the best Suppression Field deck. I think its a huge error not to play Captain of the Watch too, the card is such a powerhouse against most decks in the format. Commander Esha is cute to stop Delver but I don't think you need it. If you land a Suppression Field or Chalice against most Delver decks you are on cruise control as they cannot answer your creatures and you pressure them way more then they pressure you. I havent tested Daxos but I really hate to have more threats that get removed with low sweepers or bolt/stp without a chalice out.

I try Councils Judgment because I like to have control's cards but maybe there is better. Suppression Field can affect my Karakas and so stop me for lock loop, but I should probably try it to see.

Commander Eesha is fine to stop tarmo too in a bad situation, can go to kill planeswalker with no chance to be stopped and very strong (can't be killed by creatures/Decay/Bolt and Karakas to protect from Stp if no chalice), I really like the card (picture too :P) but I understand your point.

I'm testing actually Daxos, it sounds good on the paper for me. But not actually see it in battle, so I don't know if the card is really good or not.

Captain of the Watch: I removed it in order to have less soldiers with high cost. If Daxos is useless, I surely go back to Captain of the Watch. It's true that this captain works with Kor skyfisher too.


I didn't know Ankh of Mishra, it seems very good. I will surely test it.

Thanks you for your opinion.

Regards,
Dihensoeur

[Jon]

Managed to 3-1 our new Saturday Night Legacy event with the same list I have been running.


4 Ballyrush Banneret
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Field Marshal
4 Preeminent Captain
2 Brimaz, King of Orekos
4 Daru Warchief
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Captain of the Watch
4 Suppression Field
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Chrome Mox
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Tomb
12 Plains


SB

2 Armageddon
2 Kor Firewalker
3 Ankh of Mishra
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Rest in Peace


RD1 was a bye, gave me opportunity to chronicle the meta of the new weekly event. We had 19, this is what the field looked like!

2x Show and tell
Shardless
4 color pyro
12Post
2x D&T
BUG Delver
UR Delver
Green Stompy
Lands
Pox
Junk -bjhagen
4 Color Shit Dark Zoo - Megadeus
BG Into the North Depths -nedleeds
Myself
Mav
Punishing Jund

RD2 was against a local friend on Mono Black Pox, I was able to overload his removal with dudes, didn't draw relevant spells. 2-1 60/40
RD3 was against a local who I tend to play at every single SCG Event. He was on Jund and I knew it was going to be miserable. General value and punishing fire means I have no way to win. 1-2 30/70
RD4 was against a internet shardless build, Suppression Field made things hard G1, G2 Early Goyf and Deludge was great. G3 I had the nut. Ancient Tomb + Chrome Mox for a Preeminent Captain. Drew ringleader, cast ringleader into another plus lord. Attacked in a Brimaz. Next Turn cast lord, captained in a Daru Warcheif and killed him. 65/35


Once again Suppression Field was by far the best card all night. I will be cutting the Kor Firewalkers for more Rest in Peaces to shore up the jund match. I dont see how it is possible to cut Captain of the Watch. The card is soooo nut all the time. I will be keeping track of the weekly events in terms of whos on what so everyone can see what the meta looks like and can see why I made my choices. I may be writing a primer for it to supplement the one in the first post.

[haganbmj]

Junk -bjhagen

Once again Suppression Field was by far the best card all night. I will be cutting the Kor Firewalkers for more Rest in Peaces to shore up the jund match. I dont see how it is possible to cut Captain of the Watch. The card is soooo nut all the time. I will be keeping track of the weekly events in terms of whos on what so everyone can see what the meta looks like and can see why I made my choices. I may be writing a primer for it to supplement the one in the first post.

That's not even close to my username, lol

Suppression Field is just such a powerful effect in legacy. It gives you enough disruption to try and establish yourself.

(Both Deus and I also 3-1'd the event by the way - yay goodstuff decks)

[mox toaster]

Can I ask what you look for in a starting hand (let's say Game 1)?

[Dihensoeur]

Hi,

@Jon: I tested your list , and see I was wrong about Daru Warchief and Suppression Field.
I tought that Daru will be to expensive to cast but it's not the case at all and help us very much, so I added them in my deck.



I dont see how it is possible to cut Captain of the Watch. The card is soooo nut all the time.

I understood why you like so much Captain but I compared Lavinia of the Tenth and Captain of the Watch:
I played many games and when I was able to play Lavinia or Captain, I simulated what will happen if I play Lavinia and
what will happen if I play Captain.
On approximately 20 games:
In somes cases, Lavinia gives us the win, Captain not (the lavinia's lock is so powerful).
In very few cases, I was able to cast Lavinia and not Captain.
And all cases where Captain gives us the win, Lavinia will give us the win too but sometimes a little faster.

So, my conclusion is Lavinia > Captain.
Moreover, Lavinia is better than Captain for the Miracle MU.
That's why I will keep my decision about cutting Captain for Lavinia.

You should try Lavinia (don't forget that she stop abilities too like Shaman/Liliana/Jace/Sensei...).

Other point: Kor Skyfisher is very useful, you should try it too. It can easily put down Liliana when you can't attack her by the ground.
Its drawback is an advantage in this deck and allow us some tricks.





Play Absolute Law in order to fight Jund :P

[Megadeus]

Lavinia only triggers her ability when she enters for one turn. I can see the card being good, but better than captain of the watch?

[Dihensoeur]

Lavinia only triggers her ability when she enters for one turn. I can see the card being good, but better than captain of the watch?

I play Karakas x3 MainDeck.
We can trigger her ability many times (Lavinia + Karakas + Preeminent Captain by example) and so completely lock your opponent.

Her ability allows us to free attack without fear any defense or attack from the opponent (neither fear about Liliana), we can so deal many damage and/or destroy any planeswalker easily.
This free attack allows you often to kill in one shot.

Don't forget that Lavinia come often in midgame and so you have already some creatures in the battlefield (and opponent has not 20 lifes).

There are many situation where you can't really attack (by example, some Tarmo too big, some Baleful Strix) and so each players draw and put creatures without attack phase (except opponent with fly units and opponent's planeswalkers).
If you play Captain of the watch, either your key units (lords,...) will be killed and so you will deal few damages (and so die next turn), either you attack only with tokens and/or others that will be destroyed and, again, you will deal few damages.
Whereas, if you play Lavinia, you one shot or deal very critical damages (or kill planeswalker) and take "a safe turn" because opponent will not attack you.
It's an example among many. But you should try and see.

Lavinia is better to fight Miracle MU too than Captain of the watch.
Captain of the watch is almost useless for this MU:
- She can make a quick army after a wrath for Miracle OK but it's not enough.

Lavinia:
- She stop Sensei/Jace triggers and freeze Angels => I find this better and make the opponent in a bad situation.

The best thing about Lavinia is that you can lock but not only one time, but many time, and each time you lock, it's a very nightmare for opponents.

I found Lavinia better but only on the paper at the beginning, then Jon gives me the doubt by his results and reports (thanks and GG Jon !), so I tested and compared the cards.
And this experience showed me that Lavinia is really better than Captain of the watch.

I don't say that Captain of the watch is bad no, I saw its power. But I have no place to have both and so I choose Lavinia.

Regards,
Dihensoeur

[Megadeus]

fwiw, in your last post, Lavinia shouldn't affect emrakul in anyway unless I am mistaken.

[Tyrio]

fwiw, in your last post, Lavinia shouldn't affect emrakul in anyway unless I am mistaken.

Why wouldn't she?

[Megadeus]

"Detain each non-land permanent that your opponent controls with converted mana cost 4 or less."

[Tyrio]

Emrakul only costs 3 mana though.

[Dihensoeur]

Oh yeah. I wrote a mistake sorry. That doesn t change my opinion about Lavinia vs Captain.
If you still prefer Captain it's your choice. I just suggest Lavinia because I found it better.

[Jon]

Managed the 3-0-1 ID the last round of our local Saturday night event.

RD1- RUG Delver, G1 I over ran him with soldiers. G2 He RUG'd me. Game 3 I lead with a Chalice on 1, Thalia, then Brimaz and he couldnt cast anything.
RD2- ANT, Got him in 2, G2 hand was Chalice, Chalice, Thalia, Tomb, Preminent, Plains, Random. He Probes me and sighs. He was one Petal away from the T1 kill.
RD3- Food Chain Good games, really good friend and we have played the match alot. I was just able to over run him and pressure him before he could combo.
RD4- Anti Delver / Show and Derp.dec, nedleeds, we split for 25 credit each.

I picked up 2 pack foil Trinispheres plus have credit left over.

[MGB]

Jon, has the lack of Karakas in your list caused you any problems vs. Sneak n Show and reanimator decks?

In my testing you need at least 2 Karakas MD to beat those two decks consistently.

Also... if you want to write an updated primer for this deck incorporating everything you've learned so far, that would be really cool. I would love to put a primer in the opening post.

[Jon]

Jon, has the lack of Karakas in your list caused you any problems vs. Sneak n Show and reanimator decks?

In my testing you need at least 2 Karakas MD to beat those two decks consistently.

Also... if you want to write an updated primer for this deck incorporating everything you've learned so far, that would be really cool. I would love to put a primer in the opening post.

I am 6-0 versus S&T. I played against a very good S&T opponent last night who had T2 Show both games. Quietly slipped a suppression field in against his Griselbrand and Sneak. Then Karakas, took a hit, bounced it.

Here is my report from last night.

RD1 S&T, Vince, It was a pretty great beating. Suppression field and Karakas both games locked him out fairly quickly.
RD2 Miracles, Alphastrykr, He got game one off a uncontested Jace fighting through 2 Suppression fields. G2/3 was Chalice on 1, Suppression Fields, followed by men.
RD3 RUG, Alex, 2-0, Crushed. Chalice on 1 was the biggest beating, Commander Esha and Gustcloak Savior were instrumental in racing in the air.
RD4, Gobos, Grant, He was 2-1 and I was 3-0, I took the win and gave him store credit = to what he would get at 3-1. Didnt want to play anymore as I had a miserable headache.


4 Ballyrush Banneret
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Field Marshal
4 Preeminent Captain
1 Brimaz, King of Orekos
4 Daru Warchief
4 Enlistment Officer
3 Captain of the Watch
1 Commander Esha
1 Gustcloak Savior
4 Suppression Field
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Chrome Mox
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Tomb
12 Plains


SB

2 Armageddon
2 Kor Firewalker
2 Ankh of Mishra
3 Oblivion Ring
3 Rest in Peace


This is my updated list, I really feel super confident with it as it sits now. Ankh will be Cursed Totem for any open I attend.

Here is the breakdown of the meta for last night.

Maverick
UR Delverstill
Goblins
High Tide
Esper Blade
RUG Delver
Miracles x2
S&T
ANT
Omnitell
Sea Stompy
D&T x2
BUG Chain
Burn
Jund
12Post x2

I feel like we have a fairly good representation of a meta and I feel like my deck is fairly well tuned to beat all of them.

[Dihensoeur]

GG !


RD1 S&T, Vince, It was a pretty great beating. Suppression field and Karakas both games locked him out fairly quickly.


I don't understand, I can't see Karakas in your list. How many Karakas do you play ?



RD3 RUG, Alex, 2-0, Crushed. Chalice on 1 was the biggest beating, Commander Esha and Gustcloak Savior were instrumental in racing in the air.


So you tried Commander Eesha, what is your opinion about this card in all games ?

Will you try Lavinia ?

Regards,
Dihensoeur.

[Jon]

GG !



I don't understand, I can't see Karakas in your list. How many Karakas do you play ?



So you tried Commander Eesha, what is your opinion about this card in all games ?

Will you try Lavinia ?

Regards,
Dihensoeur.

I forgot I play one, as I have access to one.
I loved Esha all night, Even against miracles it can punch angels to death
I will try if I had access to more Karakas. I am in the process of getting the last 8 cards I dont own for the deck with winnings then I will start to pimp it with foreign language things.

[nedleeds]

Super minor quip, but given you can't play any tricks with it you should play Banishing Light. The obvious scenario is an opponent with just a top in play and you with a couple of guys. You can force him to draw with his top to deaden his draw or leverage a Chalice on 1 you've played on the draw without risking one of your own men.

[MGB]

I know you swear by it, but I don't even play Suppression Field in my version of this deck. Here's my list as it stands right now:

5 Snow-Covered Plains
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Tomb
3 City of Traitors
2 Karakas

4 Chrome Mox
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Winter Orb

4 Ballyrush Banneret
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Enlistment Officer
3 Daru Warchief
3 Captain of the Watch
3 Porcelain Legionnaire
2 Veteran Swordsmith
2 Loxodon Gatekeeper
1 Gustcloak Savior

SB:

4 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Rest in Peace
4 Intrepid Hero
3 Damping Matrix


- Damping Matrix is an underplayed card in this format vs. stuff like Stoneblade and Death n Taxes. I used to play Cursed Totem, but Matrix does more vs the popular decks while still being decent vs Elves and the like.

- I feel as if Winter Orb does more to affect opponent's tempo than Field does. It's only bad for me when I play vs. Vial decks or combo that doesn't care about mana (Dredge, Belcher,etc) and then I board it out and/or bring in Revoker and Matrix. Winter Orb when it's non-symmetrical is really great and this deck has many ways to make it non-symmetrical - Sol-Lands, Chrome Mox, Preeminent Captain putting stuff in for free, and Ballyrush Banneret/Daru Warchief cost-reduction effects.

- I like to get the most value I can get out of my mana-base. I feel as if Tomb/City is one of the stronger aspects of the deck so I play more of that and play more soldiers that can take advantage of it (with more colorless mana in their cost).

- I was playing Brimaz off and on but I'm testing Gatekeeper in his slot for his synergy with Winter Orb.

[Jon]

I know you swear by it, but I don't even play Suppression Field in my version of this deck. Here's my list as it stands right now:

5 Snow-Covered Plains
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Tomb
3 City of Traitors
2 Karakas

4 Chrome Mox
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Winter Orb

4 Ballyrush Banneret
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Enlistment Officer
3 Daru Warchief
3 Captain of the Watch
3 Porcelain Legionnaire
2 Veteran Swordsmith
2 Loxodon Gatekeeper
1 Gustcloak Savior

SB:

4 Phyrexian Revoker
4 Rest in Peace
4 Intrepid Hero
3 Damping Matrix


- Damping Matrix is an underplayed card in this format vs. stuff like Stoneblade and Death n Taxes. I used to play Cursed Totem, but Matrix does more vs the popular decks while still being decent vs Elves and the like.

- I feel as if Winter Orb does more to affect opponent's tempo than Field does. It's only bad for me when I play vs. Vial decks or combo that doesn't care about mana (Dredge, Belcher,etc) and then I board it out and/or bring in Revoker and Matrix. Winter Orb when it's non-symmetrical is really great and this deck has many ways to make it non-symmetrical - Sol-Lands, Chrome Mox, Preeminent Captain putting stuff in for free, and Ballyrush Banneret/Daru Warchief cost-reduction effects.

- I like to get the most value I can get out of my mana-base. I feel as if Tomb/City is one of the stronger aspects of the deck so I play more of that and play more soldiers that can take advantage of it (with more colorless mana in their cost).

- I was playing Brimaz off and on but I'm testing Gatekeeper in his slot for his synergy with Winter Orb.

Some of my observations on your suggestions.

-Field is directly responsible for over 75% of my wins. Winter Orb would not have ever been comparable to in in any of those matches. Not being able to activate Top, Jace, Lilianna, Fetch lands, Wasteland, Port, Vial, Mom, Knight are all key to winnings. Playing them main allow me to have better SB options.

-I never have issues with my mana base, I have tried toilet man and have been very disappointing in how he did.

-The single best card on my sideboard is Armageddon, I feel you should try it out.

[haganbmj]

Super minor quip, but given you can't play any tricks with it you should play Banishing Light. The obvious scenario is an opponent with just a top in play and you with a couple of guys. You can force him to draw with his top to deaden his draw or leverage a Chalice on 1 you've played on the draw without risking one of your own men.

I don't know why I even still carry Oblivion Rings with me. Absolutely the right choice.

[MGB]

Some of my observations on your suggestions.

-Field is directly responsible for over 75% of my wins. Winter Orb would not have ever been comparable to in in any of those matches. Not being able to activate Top, Jace, Lilianna, Fetch lands, Wasteland, Port, Vial, Mom, Knight are all key to winnings. Playing them main allow me to have better SB options.

-I never have issues with my mana base, I have tried toilet man and have been very disappointing in how he did.

-The single best card on my sideboard is Armageddon, I feel you should try it out.

We've had completely different results testing this deck. Weird.

- Field for me has been a boom or bust card. Sometimes you get it on turn 1 against a someone with a hand full of fetchlands and you win by default. But more than 70% of the time, I find myself casting Field at some point after T1, he cracks his fetch(s) in response, and then I sunk 1W and a card into something that sits there while he mostly plays around it. I.e. - if he plays Stoneforge mystic, he just taps 2 extra to play his batterskull and it slows him down a little bit but not much. If he places Jace, he gladly taps 2 to use his ability and still owns me with card advantage. If he plays Deathrite shaman, yes, it's hosed but then I still die to Goyfs and Lilis (that he gladly pays 2 for). It's just too easy to play around Field because it only forces a small tax on important activations. All those planeswalkers and pernicious deeds and stoneforge mystics are still there live and active, just a little bit slower. Yes, it blows out the all-fetchland hand but that doesn't happen as often in testing as it obviously has for you.

- I tried Armageddon for a while and was just shocked by how bad it was. Paying 3W for a sorcery in a deck that wants to lands Thalia as often as possible is just really miserable. And it isn't as easy to make asymmetrical as Winter Orb. I don't get Chrome Mox in every game and when I blow away ALL of my land I really hamper my game plan just as much as my opponent's. However, with Winter Orb, I still have access to one untapped land, and if I have Tomb or City in play, it's 2 mana whereas my opponent is only getting 1 mana. You should try Winter Orb - it's like an Armageddon for 2 mana instead that lets you exploit the symmetry with your 2 mana producing lands.

- Going back to Orb vs. Field - against control decks that play Sensei's Top I've found that Orb is actually more effective than Field. Because again, the later in the game it is, the easier it is for him to find 2 mana to activate a top or a jace or whatever else. Whereas the Orb forces a game state that is like turns 1-3 at every point in the game. When you lay down an Orb on a tapped out opponent, he has only access to 1 mana. Whenever he spends his mana, he is back to 1 mana again. And with Chalice and Thalia, that 1 mana is more constricted and less useful. If he is trying to twiddle his top with Orb in play, he can do little else. Whereas with Field, an opponent can have like 5-6 lands mid-game and happily pay 2 for a single fetchland activation and then he has a full grip of mana once again. And once he gets access to 5+ lands, the Field doesn't do much to affect his Sensei's Divining Top because he still has access to 3 more mana beyond that, and that keeps increasing as the game goes on all while he is digging with his Top.

[Jon]

4 Ballyrush Banneret
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Field Marshal
4 Preeminent Captain
1 Brimaz, King of Orekos
4 Daru Warchief
4 Enlistment Officer
3 Captain of the Watch
1 Commander Esha
1 Gustcloak Savior
4 Suppression Field
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Chrome Mox
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Tomb
2 Karakas
10 Plains


SB

3 Armageddon
2 Oblivion Ring
3 Banishing Light
2 Cursed Totem
1 Ajani, Caller of the Pride
1 Worship
3 Rest in Peace




Going to an IQ this weekend and taking the list with me. Hope to crush, Wish me luck.

[Dihensoeur]

Hi,

@Jon: Good Luk!

@MGB:
- Armageddon: I don't still tried the card, but I think the same. I can't find the utility except for Miracle MU, and as it's a good MU for me, I don't think I need this.

- Winter Orb: I tried a little the Orb but I don't like it. It's useful for control.deck like Miracle yes, but vs Shaman.deck I didn't find it useful. Opponents still have 2-3 untapped manas (shaman+land+new land) and so control me as there is no Orb, except that the Orb slow me.

- Field: I agree that we surely can find better than Suppression Field. I'm trying some cards like Thorn of amethyst.

- Thorn of amethyst: It seems better, and my tests (not finished) actually show me that Midrange.deck MUs are a little better or similar but Combo.deck MUs are more favorable. I surely play them in tournament if I don't find better.

[MGB]

Going to an IQ this weekend and taking the list with me. Hope to crush, Wish me luck.

Good luck Jon, I hope you rep this underrated deck well and help us Soldier players gain some respect in this format :)

BTW Try out Loxodon Gatekeeper. I've been testing him recently and just realized how useful he can be vs. alot of stuff in this format. He shuts down Sneak Attack completely! He holds back LEDs and Lotus Petals on a Storm turn... and he slows down Elves. Not to mention - Suppression Field + Gatekeeper in play is murder on people with Fetchlands.

[Dihensoeur]

BTW Try out Loxodon Gatekeeper. I've been testing him recently and just realized how useful he can be vs. alot of stuff in this format. He shuts down Sneak Attack completely! He holds back LEDs and Lotus Petals on a Storm turn... and he slows down Elves. Not to mention - Suppression Field + Gatekeeper in play is murder on people with Fetchlands.

I have some doubts about Loxodon Gatekeeper. Yes its ability seems good vs combo.deck and vs Fetchland, but:

VS Storm/Elves: It's difficult to imagine that you put Loxodon before they start combo (LED works even LED is tapped). But maybe with Chalice/Thalia (and Thorn?) we can gain enough time to put it. So the card is useless if you don't have a T1 Chalice/Thalia.
VS Sneak Attack: Becareful, this ability doesn't stop Sneak Attack (always tried with Blind Obedience), because "Sacrifice the creature at the beginning of the next end step", so opponents activate Sneak Attack's ability at the end of your turn and untap his creature during his turn and so can attack.

If we have to add him MD, it will probably replace Commander Eesha, but I don't think that Loxodon is better than Eesha.

[MGB]

I have some doubts about Loxodon Gatekeeper. Yes its ability seems good vs combo.deck and vs Fetchland, but:

VS Storm/Elves: It's difficult to imagine that you put Loxodon before they start combo (LED works even LED is tapped). But maybe with Chalice/Thalia (and Thorn?) we can gain enough time to put it. So the card is useless if you don't have a T1 Chalice/Thalia.
VS Sneak Attack: Becareful, this ability doesn't stop Sneak Attack (always tried with Blind Obedience), because "Sacrifice the creature at the beginning of the next end step", so opponents activate Sneak Attack's ability at the end of your turn and untap his creature during his turn and so can attack.

If we have to add him MD, it will probably replace Commander Eesha, but I don't think that Loxodon is better than Eesha.

Wow, I didn't realize that they could activate Sneak Attack during my end step and still make use of it. That sucks.

Still, I always feel as if disruption is more important on a creature than most other attributes. I was playing Brimaz in this slot who is obviously a bigger body and has a combat ability, but Gatekeeper is immune to Abrupt Decay, only has -1/-1, and also disrupts opponent. Only after first combat step does Brimaz really generate value, whereas Gatekeeper disrupts the second he enters play.

[Dihensoeur]

Wow, I didn't realize that they could activate Sneak Attack during my end step and still make use of it. That sucks.
Yes (u_u), I didn't realized it before a pro player explain to me.



Still, I always feel as if disruption is more important on a creature than most other attributes. I was playing Brimaz in this slot who is obviously a bigger body and has a combat ability, but Gatekeeper is immune to Abrupt Decay, only has -1/-1, and also disrupts opponent. Only after first combat step does Brimaz really generate value, whereas Gatekeeper disrupts the second he enters play.
I understand your point. It's not difficult to get a Gatekeeper so if it's really efficient, I will use it.

I'm using Commander Eesha in order to enhance our fly army (because fly units are a weakness of the deck) and Eesha is Decay/Bolt proof (StP proof with Karakas).
Moreover, Eesha can protect us from Tarmo/Grisel/... and can go kill easily a dangerous planeswalker like Liliana without fear about any defense.

Playing Gatekeeper instead of Brimaz is not too dangerous for your mana curve ?

[MGB]

Yes (u_u), I didn't realized it before a pro player explain to me.


I understand your point. It's not difficult to get a Gatekeeper so if it's really efficient, I will use it.

I'm using Commander Eesha in order to enhance our fly army (because fly units are a weakness of the deck) and Eesha is Decay/Bolt proof (StP proof with Karakas).
Moreover, Eesha can protect us from Tarmo/Grisel/... and can go kill easily a dangerous planeswalker like Liliana without fear about any defense.

Playing Gatekeeper instead of Brimaz is not too dangerous for your mana curve ?

2WW is more annoying, no doubt. That is the downside and it remains to be seen if he makes the curve too heavy.

BTW Eesha in my testing has just been very average. It is too defensive a card for this deck. How useful is its protection ability on the attack? Not very. If you are sitting back with a 2WW creature hoping to simply stalemate a Tarmogoyf, then I don't know if you are playing this deck correctly.

[Dihensoeur]

2WW is more annoying, no doubt. That is the downside and it remains to be seen if he makes the curve too heavy.

BTW Eesha in my testing has just been very average. It is too defensive a card for this deck. How useful is its protection ability on the attack? Not very. If you are sitting back with a 2WW creature hoping to simply stalemate a Tarmogoyf, then I don't know if you are playing this deck correctly.

Stalemate a Tarmogoyf is just a + but not the goal of this card.

We can see it as our TNN: unblockable and can't be managed by the opponent (or with many difficulty). Moreover we can upgrade its power to deal more damage.
For me, the most important with this card is to go kill easily Liliana.

[Jon]

4-2, good for 12th, lost to Elves. Report sometime when I am not exhausted.

[MGB]

4-2, good for 12th, lost to Elves. Report sometime when I am not exhausted.

Not too bad. I know Elves is a really tough matchup despite Chalice @ 1 hosing their whole deck. All it takes is a Viridian Shaman in their hand or one of their 4 GSZ to find him and then you're toast. AND they can still cast Natural Order even if you do manage to stick Chalice @ 1 for a while. If you want to improve the Elves matchup you basically have to play 3-4 Cursed Totem in the sideboard and even then it's still kind of rough.

I'm eagerly awaiting your report.

[Jon]

Still being lazy, report hopefully will be done by the weekend or something.

[Jon]

So here we go. The event I attended was a Star City Games IQ located in Dalton, Georgia. We had a total of 36? people show. In my group there was Brian (alphstrykr) on UWr Miracles, Anthony on UR Delverstill, Darrin on RUG Delver, Piper on Burn, Shaffer on Deathblade, and there were scattered others we knew. The room was very diverse, Jund, Belcher, Esperblade, Storm, Belcher, and even some moron on Soldiers.

The list I settled on is the following.

4 Ballyrush Banneret
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Field Marshal
4 Preeminent Captain
1 Brimaz, King of Orekos
4 Daru Warchief
4 Enlistment Officer
3 Captain of the Watch
1 Commander Esha
1 Gustcloak Savior
4 Suppression Field
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Chrome Mox
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Tomb
2 Karakas
10 Plains


SB

4 Holy Light
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Abolish
4 Banishing Light
3 Rest in Peace


Here are my matches I faced:

Round one, I sat down across from a familiar face. Jessie Butler is a grinder from somewhere in my area and his finishes speak for themselves. http://sales.starcitygames.com/deckdatabase/deckshow.php?p_first=Jessie&p_last=Butler

He was on Esperblade and I won the roll.
Game 1. I landed an early Chalice, into Field, and just rolled him the rest of the way. I felt like my deck functioned exactly as it was. There was no point in the game where he had a chance to turn the tide.
Game 2. Kept a heavy Chalice / Field hand. He lead on DRS so I played Field. He played a fetch and cast a DRS. I played another Field. He beat me with those 2 DRS from 16-0. Too much hate, too little pressure.
Game 3. Mull to 4. Lose.

0-1

Round two, Derrick is another grinder from Alabama and he was on Esperblade as well.
Game 1. Won the roll and kept a no lander. Chrome Mox x2, Captain of the Watch x2, Chalice, Thalia, Suppression Field. Yeah we got that one easy.
Game 2. He was able to get the DRS into SFM into Batterjunk and I died.
Game 3. Was long and "grindy" where he had a clique with a Jitte and I had an army of soldiers. Cards like Enlistment Officer were key to this victory.

1-1

Round three, John, Seemed to be fairly unfamiliar with Legacy due to the fact his area does not have a large community. Here is where I got salt. Elves.
Game 1/2 Chalice on 1, Buncha dudes, HERP DERP CRATERHOOF SO GOOD AT MAGIC.

1-2

Round four, Aaron, Seemed to not know legacy format, probably on a borrowed deck. Show and Derp.
Game 1. Chalice on 1, Suppression Field, and Preeminent Captain. We went to class and I dropped in a Captain of the Watch and he Emrakul'd. I killed him on the swing in.
Game 2. 6 Oblivion Rings off board. No chance.

2-2

Round five, Shaffer, I got paired down so he gave me the win. He is a local and a friend. Another Deathblade match.
Game 1/2 Suppression Field.

3-2

Round six, Piper, Burn, Local Friend.
Game 1/2 Chalice into Thalia into concession.

4-2

Overall the list was correct. Not sure how to improve the elves match. Hagan suggested just jam 4 Hushwing Gryff or Mindcensor off board to shut down GSZ / NO. I will be taking the same list to the SCG Open in Atlanta next week.

[ESG]

Overall the list was correct. Not sure how to improve the elves match. Hagan suggested just jam 4 Hushwing Gryff or Mindcensor off board to shut down GSZ / NO. I will be taking the same list to the SCG Open in Atlanta next week.

I would rank Suppression Field as the most valuable card against Elves. The deck runs a million fetchlands and has slim chances if you slam down a Turn 1 Suppression Field. Even a Turn 2 Field is potent. Elves flounders a lot as a deck if it can't generate its initial mana. In the same realm as Suppression Field is Leonin Arbiter. Elves doesn't run creature removal Game 1 and only has a couple Abrupt Decays postboard (assuming those haven't been supplanted by Reclamation Sage), so Leonin Arbiter can put Elves in a deep freeze before they get started. If they can't fetch, they can play spells, and if they can't play spells, their Gaea's Cradles are worthless. Thalia is decent as an attacker or as a blocker, and she works in concert with the tax plan, which is the main way I see you winning this matchup.

Aven Mindcensor is quite good due to all the tutoring Elves needs to do. If you have Mindcensor, Umezawa's Jitte is excellent because Elves has no fliers, although it's a bit awkward with Suppression Field. Chalice is great on the play and can be a blowout Game 1, but it isn't impressive on the draw, and it will be weaker postboard. Its best attribute is shutting off Glimpse of Nature, but that won't necessarily be in the deck after the first game. I depends on how the Elves player boards, since this isn't a common matchup by any means. I know you're running Rest in Peace in the sideboard, but you might experiment with Grafdigger's Cage, which would shut off Green Sun's Zenith and Natural Order. You could either sub them for Chalices or just play the nonbo.

Other things you could try:
Ghostly Prison: Basically turns off Craterhoof Behemoth due to requiring so much extra mana for an alpha strike. Complements the tax plan.
Windborn Muse: Same as Ghostly Prison, but it's also a good attacker and blocker. Probably too hard to get out early.
Cursed Totem: Turns off all their tricks and mana generation (minus Cradle) but doesn't stop Natural Order.
Linvala, Keeper of Silence: A brutal one-sided hoser. Slightly high CMC.
Blind Obedience: Turns off Craterhoof Behemoth and has the fringe benefit of the Extort mechanic.
Imposing Sovereign: Similar to Blind Obedience but is a dude.
Nevermore: Name Natural Order or Glimpse or whatever.
Suture Priest: This drains them whenever they play a creature, which is great if you make it to the midgame. It also makes Glimpse lines much riskier for them.
Ethersworn Canonist: Turns off Glimpse and Symbiote advantage.

[MGB]

I run 3 Damping Matrix in the sideboard primarily for Stoneblade and Death n Taxes, but also for Elves. It doesn't shut down their mana producers like a Cursed Totem would, but it still manages to slow them down by turning off Wirewood Symbiote and the like. And it's better against DnT than Cursed Totem.


I think the ideal sideboard hate for Elves would probably involve something that turns off deck-searching, which would stop GSZ and Natural Order. As ESG said above,Grafdigger's Cage in the sideboard might be worth exploring. It can't really be played with Chalice @ 1 but it does an admirable job of killing both GSZ and NO, and it is a great piece of hate vs Dredge and Reanimator as well. If only there was a soldier Aven Mindcensor that we could maindeck...

[Jon]

I run 3 Damping Matrix in the sideboard primarily for Stoneblade and Death n Taxes, but also for Elves. It doesn't shut down their mana producers like a Cursed Totem would, but it still manages to slow them down by turning off Wirewood Symbiote and the like. And it's better against DnT than Cursed Totem.


I think the ideal sideboard hate for Elves would probably involve something that turns off deck-searching, which would stop GSZ and Natural Order. As ESG said above,Grafdigger's Cage in the sideboard might be worth exploring. It can't really be played with Chalice @ 1 but it does an admirable job of killing
both GSZ and NO, and it is a great piece of hate vs Dredge and Reanimator as well. If only there was a soldier Aven Mindcensor that we could maindeck...

I think I am just gonna jam mindcensors in the SB for testing.

[MGB]

I think I am just gonna jam mindcensors in the SB for testing.

Try testing Loxodon Gatekeeper too. It can really slow them down if they have to wait a turn to make use of any elves they play.

Gatekeeper is pretty golden alongside Suppression Field vs. most decks too.

[snorlaxcom]

Having trouble with removal of goyfs. Any way to get a dude off the board? I'm trying cribswap now.

I do like Etched Champion more now. Is fun with mox, chalice, Legionnaire, and veteran's armaments. The equipment is sweet. You don't care for multiple Fields since it auto-equips any soldier that hits play and can be dropped for free from cost reducers. Great to hit off a ringleader, too. Cute trick of removing your own guy with cribswap and having the token trigger multiple equipments for a block.

I prefer field md because the effect stacks and multiple orbs do nothing. 1 field nerfs drs, top, and more importantly delays wastelands. This has allowed me to resolve spells trough tempo decks with taxing counters if I don't have a cavern and also preserves the cavern I do have in play. I may supplement the taxing strategy with an orb.

Damping matrix is good vs elves because it stops card draw engines, quirion ranger, and drs (no it is not a mana ability because drs targets). Combined with holy light that should be a solid board vs them. I like it as another way to cut off jitte, too. Wing Shards is not as consistent since they can top deck a NO.

Trying to work in a kor skyfisher or two. Card is nuts at getting CA. Replay ringleader and then use preeminent captain to cheat in a newly drawn soldier into play or pick up captain of the watch and replay it or cheat him in with preeminent captain. Skyfisher could be a useful sb card vs sweepers and CA decks like shardless.

[Jon]

Having trouble with removal of goyfs. Any way to get a dude off the board? I'm trying cribswap now.



First Strike Lord.

[MGB]

Having trouble with removal of goyfs. Any way to get a dude off the board? I'm trying cribswap now.


You can also play more Gustcloak Saviors. With Savior in play you can attack with impunity and not worry about taking hits, which is very useful if you want to attack with, say, Preeminent Captain but don't want it to die to a Goyf/Batterskull blocker, and/or you don't want their Batterskull to gain them life while you attack. With Savior in play you can let Preeminent Captain do his thing without worrying about it dying.

Additionally, you can try (as I have in the past) guys like Kor Hookmaster and Azorius Arrester. They can tap a Goyf down while you attack, and additionally work as a pseudo-ORing vs. SneaknShow.

[Jon]

I haven't played the deck in a few weeks, and I did not play the deck at the local open. Fear not, I will be working on an a new list and see if we can make some more BANG.

[dte]

So, my conclusion is Lavinia > Captain.
Moreover, Lavinia is better than Captain for the Miracle MU.
That's why I will keep my decision about cutting Captain for Lavinia.

You should try Lavinia (don't forget that she stop abilities too like Shaman/Liliana/Jace/Sensei...).


Another post:

Lavinia:
- She stop Sensei/Jace triggers and freeze Angels => I find this better and make the opponent in a bad situation.


Hello,

Lavinia is only half a Suppression Field vs SDT. The opponent just put it on top of his/her library in response, can terminus your Lavinia, etc... and replay it next turn.
If he/she has some mana, he may even put on the pile the scry trigger, then draw trigger, then scry trigger again if replay top is not needed.

[Dihensoeur]

Hello,

Lavinia is only half a Suppression Field vs SDT. The opponent just put it on top of his/her library in response, can terminus your Lavinia, etc... and replay it next turn.
If he/she has some mana, he may even put on the pile the scry trigger, then draw trigger, then scry trigger again if replay top is not needed.

I don't think that we can compare Lavinia with Suppression Field. Suppression Field doesn't stop Angel tokens and not really planeswalkers too.

Moreover, the point was to compare Lavinia and Captain of the Watch and explain why I find Lavinia > Captain of the watch. Yes, opponent can response with SDT + Terminus, it's the same for Captain of the watch except that the opponent has to respond immediately with SDT on Lavinia's ability instead of wait the right moment, and pray to find a Terminus.

[dte]

I don't think that we can compare Lavinia with Suppression Field. Suppression Field doesn't stop Angel tokens and not really planeswalkers too.

Moreover, the point was to compare Lavinia and Captain of the Watch and explain why I find Lavinia > Captain of the watch. Yes, opponent can response with SDT + Terminus, it's the same for Captain of the watch except that the opponent has to respond immediately with SDT on Lavinia's ability instead of wait the right moment, and pray to find a Terminus.

I just read the thread today and saw you repeated several time that Lavinia is good against miracles, mentionning that it shuts down SDT, which is plain wrong. I never tested the deck, which looks interesting, so I don't know at all if Lavinia is good or not and should be played over CotW, I just wanted to tell that this particular argument, which you repeated in 2-3 posts "Lavinia is good vs miracle because it shuts down SDT", was flawed.

Otherwise, to know if the card should be play, I believe that the thread users should believe you more than me, as you tested it and I didn't. But for the right reasons :)

[MGB]

Hey guys, I've been testing this a bit off and on (thinking about taking it to GP New Jersey) and the new card High Sentinels of Arashin has actually been pretty surprisingly effective for me in testing.

Some reasons:

a.) It's the most efficient 3/4 or bigger Flying Soldier in the game. 3W is not cheap by any means but in an Ancient Tomb/City of Traitors deck with Banneret effects and Preeminent Captain it's not bad at all. Gustcloak Savior is 4W for the same body but often is much harder to cast because that 1 extra mana means so much. 3W is so much easier to come by in this deck as you have it pretty early usually (Sol-Land + 2 Plains or Sol-Land + Plains + Mox).

b.) It blocks and kills flipped Delver and lives. Very few other Soldiers can claim to do that. This deck absolutely struggles heavily against early flipped Delver, and this is at least one not-atrocious answer.

c.) It can fly over blockers that the other Soldiers would struggle with. This deck often runs into scenarios wherein you need to do like 4-5 more damage to win but the opponent has finally landed some blockers or something like a Moat. This will close the deal much better than anything else you would run because of flying.

d.) Lastly, it's activated ability is sometimes relevant despite being generally overcosted. Think of the ability as "3W: Put a 2/2 Soldier token into play" because the Sentinels get +1/+1 for each +1/+1 counter in play, and the soldier you are targeting gets +1/+1 too, so essentially it generates 2 power and 2 toughness at instant speed for 3W. You don't want to be doing this early in the game but sometimes you have alot of mana in play mid/late-game and not much in your hand to spend it on, and this can act as a mana sink in those situations and provide some element of inevitability for an opponent who can't get it off the battlefield.

[Dihensoeur]

I just read the thread today and saw you repeated several time that Lavinia is good against miracles, mentionning that it shuts down SDT, which is plain wrong. I never tested the deck, which looks interesting, so I don't know at all if Lavinia is good or not and should be played over CotW, I just wanted to tell that this particular argument, which you repeated in 2-3 posts "Lavinia is good vs miracle because it shuts down SDT", was flawed.

Otherwise, to know if the card should be play, I believe that the thread users should believe you more than me, as you tested it and I didn't. But for the right reasons :)

Oh, OK your right for SDT, I'm maybe too excited by Lavinia ^_^.

@MGB:

b.) It blocks and kills flipped Delver and lives. Very few other Soldiers can claim to do that. This deck absolutely struggles heavily against early flipped Delver, and this is at least one not-atrocious answer.
=> Kor Skyfisher kill flipped Delver, cost only 2 and combo with Recruiter/Lavinia/Captain of the Watch/Lands...

High Sentinels of Arashin: sure that it's a great card. I personnally prefer Commander Eesha because it can stop card like Tarmogoyf and can attack planeswalker without fear any blockers like Baleful Strix, but I completely understand people that play Sentinels.

[MGB]

Oh, OK your right for SDT, I'm maybe too excited by Lavinia ^_^.

@MGB:

=> Kor Skyfisher kill flipped Delver, cost only 2 and combo with Recruiter/Lavinia/Captain of the Watch/Lands...

High Sentinels of Arashin: sure that it's a great card. I personnally prefer Commander Eesha because it can stop card like Tarmogoyf and can attack planeswalker without fear any blockers like Baleful Strix, but I completely understand people that play Sentinels.

You can't even compare Skyfisher to High Sentinels. 2/3 is soooo much different than 3/4. Blocking Delver without dying, attacking a 3-counter Jace, not dying to Lightning Bolt, etc. Additionally, High Sentinels is Abrupt Decay-proof. And the Skyfisher drawback (return permanent) is just terrible for tempo. I would never consider a card like Skyfisher.

[Redkid43]

So I saw Sam Black derp around with this deck and I seemed to like it a lot. I've been a big fan of Chalice decks for some time and this seems tons of fun. It also can be a turn faster than Death&Taxes which I actually like. Turn 1 Chalice or Thalia seems right up my ally.

My list, rough and open for critique. Sorry for no tags, on my phone :(

4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Preeminemt Captain
3 Aven Mindcensor
3 Daru Warchief
3 Captain of the Watch
2 Longbow Archer
1 Brimaz, King of Oreos
1 Commander Eesha
1 Gustcloak Savior

4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox
4 Suppression Field

9 Plains
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Wasteland
2 Karakas
1 City of Traitors

Sideboard
3 Banishing Light
3 Holy Light
3 Rest in Peace
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Magus of the Moat
1 Aven Cloudchaser
1 Wasteland


So...some explanations.
No Ballyrush is a concession to Delver. I wanted something a hit more tangible than cost reduction and more sturdy than a 2/1 with no other abilities. The WW cost for Longbow Archer seems egregious for the deck, but with more reliance of colored mana than other Chalice Argo decks I think it's okay.
I REALLY considered High Sentinels. But since we have no other way to put counters on our guys and with his ability costing lots more under Field, I shyed away. Gustcloak can stalemate big monsters and, more importantly, Goyf. Note that Goyf isn't a big menance as much as it used to be, but it's still a thing.
Mindcensor plays so well with Field and Thalia that I just had to play it.

So Magus of the Moat. First things first, I know it's not a Solider, but it's a human and a large chunk of our guys are humans. Cavern plays nice here--but honestly, this is the solution for Elves. Actual Moat or Ghostly Prision or a tax enchantment or any artifact is open to Decay and , more importantly with enchantments, Rec Sage. Magus trumps all of that. Decay proof, Sage proof. We have flyers with Eesha, Savior, and even Mindcensor. When they actually can't attack, we won. Who cares about our guys not attacking. Who cares if they Glimpse their face off. Got a way to beat Magus?

[MGB]

Are you DaPokPok on MTGO? Someone with that name has been doing pretty well in the Legacy dailies.

I actually *just* noticed Longbow Archer in that list and tried it out a little bit and have been pleasantly surprised at how effective it is vs. Delver decks. This deck would often die to early flipped Delvers even if it stabilizes the board, so having something that can block Delvers and is relatively cheap in terms of mana... is very useful. I can't believe I never noticed this card before, as I have scoured the list of Soldiers in Magic many times over in the past 3+ years.

I'm actually playing 4 Longbow Archers in my list now in addition to the 2 High Sentinels of Arashin and 1 Gustcloak Savior, which gives me 7 ways to block Delver profitably.

RE: Your list...

- Every time I try playing Wasteland in this deck I absolutely hate it. Not only the dis-synergy with Suppression Field but this deck just wants to be casting something with all of its mana nearly every turn, and not wasting lands to go 1-for-1 on opponent's lands. Just my opinion from playtesting.

- I can understand playing extra lands that have utility beyond tapping for mana however. I've been experimenting with Horizon Canopy as a 2-of in place of 2 non-land cards, as it can provide much needed white mana and then cycle away later in the game when not needed.

- I never liked Aven Mindcensor in any deck. I understand what its purpose is - hose fetchlands like Suppression Field - but I always found the "top 4" clause to be too beneficial to the opponent, and the effect overall is too redundant with Suppression Field. And obviously, it is not a Soldier.

- I don't really understand the Holy Light in the sideboard. I guess you're targeting Elves, Pyromancer and TNN with this? Seems a bit too specialized for my tastes. I've recently been testing Containment Priest as a 4-of in the sideboard as it can do multiple duty as hate for Elves (hoses GSZ+NO), Sneak'n'Show, Reanimator, and Dredge. Alongside Damping Matrix and Chalice it makes the Elves matchup more manageable. Has Holy Light been really solid for you in testing, though? I've never actually played it in any deck.

- Do you find the Pro:Creatures ability of Commander Eesha valuable? Because I would play High Sentinels of Arashin over Eesha pretty much all the time, because 3W is easier to cast than 2WW and the 3/4 body is much more valuable than the 2/4 body. Additionally, the token-making ability, while bad with Suppression Field, can randomly provide inevitability in the late-game when you are top-decking and have tons of mana open.

- I definitely like Magus of the Moat as a silver bullet against Elves - they simply cannot answer it in any way, as 90%+ of Elves lists have no way to answer a 4cc non-artifact, non-enchantment creature. But again, isn't it a bit too specialized for one matchup? Is there any other matchup where it comes in? I would probably play 1-2 in my sideboard if I had the room, though.

- How effective has Suppression Field been for you? I vacillate over its effectiveness. Alot of times, as I have said before in this thread, it either comes down early and blows them out or just sits there almost like a blank as they fetch in response and gladly pay 2 mana for their Jace/Lili/Stoneforge/Vial. I actually prefer playing with Winter Orb in the maindeck instead of Field as it often does the same thing (slow down the opponent) but affects them all the way into the late-game no matter how many lands they have in play. And with Winter Orb, you can play it mid-game/late-game when they're tapped out and affect them reactively. With Suppression Field, you almost have to cast it Turn1/Turn2 for it to be very effective. Topdecked Suppression Field kind of sucks, whereas topdecked Winter Orb can often be quite a shock for most opponents.

[Lejay]

Dapokpok is not on this forum. His name is Tristan Polzl and he posts as Pokpok on french forums.
He worked a lot on soldiers lately and benefited from my suggestions like I worked on sylvan plug and benefited from his help as we often discuss deckbuilding.

[Redkid43]

Magus, while being the nail in the coffin for Elves, would be very good in matchups where they play lots of creatures but have no removal for troublesome permanents. Example: Dredge. Most lists I've seen don't play a huge amount of creature removal outside of, say, Darkblast...sometimes. They would have to solely rely on Threshold-ed Putrid Imps and Narcos to do us in, and if they have to rely on those for victory we are probably going to win anyways. Speaking from experience, Manaless would be different because some builds (like my old one last summer) played Sickening Shoal mainboard to deal with DRS. It would probably be ok, perhaps to slow, against Goblins. Tempo decks with Bolt are a no-no. Merfolk for sure, if they are not playing Dismember...which I think it's a gamble if they are or aren't. It's worth it for the 1-2 slots anyways.

The lack of a full grip of Wastelands seems okay for me, I may shave 1 and replace it with...I don't know Flagstones or something. I rarely ever use it. You can really start denying mana with Field and it. But I understand your trepidation about it for sure.

Longbow Archers has been a super little guy! What a nice unknown find this was! Nice against Delver AND is a clock. :D

To each their own with Mindcensor. I like it, but it's not a major pillar in the deck. I'm sure you can cut it and shave some numbers for a lord or something.

I never understood why Damping Matrix was the be all, end all against Elves. I've found Magus WAY more effective. So they can't activate Symbiote, Ranger, and 2 abilities on Deathrite, but they can still make a ton of mana with Heritage Druid et al and still Glimpse their faces off and Natural Order for Hoof. It's also Decay and Sage fodder. It's more like a minor speed bump than a hate card, IMO. Chalice for sure is leagues better. Going forward, if Elves is still a very popular thing, we really need to make sure our hate can past the Decay test, Sage test, and longevity test. Magus does all 3: Can't get Decayed, cant' get Sage-ed, and is a problem if left for a long time.

Commander Eesha has been really nice. Consider it a 2nd copy for Gustcloak if you will, and that it can fend off lots of things with ease. High Sentinels has been on my watch list for some time.

As for Winter Orb vs Suppression Field: I understand both situations but consider this: A Jace player plays Jace and sits on your Winter Orb and exiles your deck. Now what? Haven't you already lost if Jace hits anyways, regardless of the card you use? And if we want to continuously be attacking with big dudes, under Orb, we get 1 attack in and can't augment our board by playing more stuff....Not a fan, but I see the argument and respect your opinion. If it works for you, do it.

Holy Light is for the non-white X/1 decks. It's enough of the meta to warrant 3 spots. We loose our Thalias, but I kill their TNNs. I'll take it.

4 Containment Priests seems a bit much...are the decks you listed a problem for you in local meta?

[Jon]

I am still astonished there is any consideration about playing Suppression Field. I just don't understand what cases you could find that you would not want a field... More the slowing your opponent down and hindering their progression it can win you the game. MODO doesn't do this deck justice, as I have had multiple people get 2+ GRV per match from Field alone.

I really like the list I have been playing for month, clean and simple. I respect others opinions but testing this style of deck on MODO doesn't give accurate results.

[pokpok]

Hello everyone, i just register myself to provide some explains to my soldier list. So it might apear using my name, i'm Dapokpok on mtgo or pokpok on french website.

To be honnest i'm not sure this deck is good, i mean the deck is great if you don't struggle on mana source flooded or screwed. But it still had some huge problem facing an all-answer opponent like force chalice, threat, removal to stop you in early then just win because they had more active spell than you or because you are dead at this point (agaisnt UR delver for example).

So first of all, my last list

4 Suppression Field
4 Chrome Mox
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Ancient Tomb
2 Wasteland
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Captain of the Watch
9 Plains
4 Cavern of Souls
1 Gustcloak Savior
3 Daru Warchief
4 Enlistment Officer
1 City of Traitors
2 Karakas
3 Aven Mindcensor
1 High Sentinels of Arashin
2 Kor Firewalker
SB: 2 Thorn of Amethyst
SB: 3 Rest in Peace
SB: 1 Null Rod
SB: 2 Oblivion Ring
SB: 2 Dawnbringer Charioteers
SB: 2 Tower of the Magistrate
SB: 2 Holy Light
SB: 1 Revoke Existence

This list is close compare to the one post by Sam Black on scg, some change were include. But i will start with beginning. The prison shell, cause if no one spit on thalia or chalice in this deck, there is some different trial on the use of suppression field or different prison 2-drop. At this point i just can't imagine playing winter orb in a deck that cast 4cc spell, when most of opponent cast 1cc spell, okay suppression field isn't great against UR delver, but it can provide you free win, and be a win condition or the right answer when opponent rely on top or vial to beat you.

Now i will explain my choice on creature, first of all the cut of ballyrush and field marshall, i wasn't exalted in the idea on playing a bad aggro deck with defensive strategy like the one provide by field marshall, and first strike ability seems really redoundant to me when 12 of you best soldiers already have it. Ballyrush run in the same idea of overextend yourself, die to pyroclasm do nothing agaisnt delver, die to pyromancer token. I keep playing daru warchief, cause this boy defend yourself against engineered plague, dread of night, pyroclasm.
Back to low cost creatures, by cutting field marshall and ballyrush, the deck goes really low on early threats, main problem appear to be the lack of good soldier using 1W as mana cost, same problem with 2W cost, because i couldn't find answer to this problem i had to change my request, that's why i use to play longbow archer, and now testing kor firewalker. At this point i'm not sure kor firewalker is the one this deck need, but deckbuilding is still open.
travel to 3cc creatures, field marshall leaving the deck, i use to search for some remplacement cause there was a huge hole in the curve after that, i wasn't able to find another usefull soldier. Brimaz was an option and honnestly i didn't test him, because he can't beat batterskull and because his cost might be annoying for a 3cc creature. Here we are with the only non soldier creature of the deck, quite a weird choice, but i really need some anwer to an early delver when i cast chalice, and opponent locked up. He just had to push his 3/2 flying to victory, which is really annoying no offense to the one who think swiftspear is the best one drop in the format. And elves isn't a good match, maybe you can notice it with the presence of magus of the moat in sideboard, who was there just to provide some solution agaisnt elves, before censor, you couldn't expect a win against such a resilient deck like elves, they just tutor for reclamation sage or NO with some fetched dryad and visionnary, now you can say you have an option against elves, chalice for one and censor, is praticaly game over for elve even post sideboard.
I still think this deck need some bolt proof hatedelver creature, that's why i'm playing the great high sentinelle and the tricky gustcloak, those two provide victory or get countered or removed. Which is a sign of a good card to my mind.

Now some add on manabase, common list use to play 18 lands, with no waste or no karakas, with 22 lands, this list is quite heavy on mana source. First of all, wasteland, for some the disynergy between waste and field is to big to be avoid. But to me, these cards complete each other, field is great when opponent had his fetchland, and poor when he has his dual, field delay opponent game plan by pressuring his mana base, so do waste, and these two works really well together, if you can waste the one non fetch land of an opponent even paying 3 mana, i promise it worth it. The only reason i don't play more waste is because i had to provide W mana for part of my game plan. And because agaisnt some deck you don't want chrome mox, that's also part of the reason you have 2 land in sideboard.

For sideboard, Oring i never face anyconfiguration where opponent trick my own ring and i had to ring my own card. To me these two cards are equal, play the one you like. Just some add, you can't play council's jugement, the card is really insane but WW non soldier, is something the deck can't afford consistently. That's the reason why i'm playing revoke existance over council.

Charioter, provide you a good game plan against UR or some other aggro strategy.

Tower, so far i always try to get some extra land in sideboard for match were i side out mox, i try some extra karakas, some wasteland, but with the rebirth of stoneforge strategy this card is huge, it decline when nemesis was printed, but if your opponent can assemblate nemesis and equipement i think you have already lose. And having some solution against SFM T2 is really nice.

Holy light, part of the strategy against UR, with chalice in play their main plan if they can't find smash is to get pyromancer and start making and army. it also provide solution agaisnt nemesis and give some help against elves.

Rip, thorn and null rod don't need description i think.

The deck is decent, but it's a high variance deck like all non-blue deck in the format, you can die because you find 5 land in a row or just because there wasn't your third mana source in the top4 cards. If you can avoid this problem the deck is correct against most of the current metagame, worst delver version run away (bug delver), shardless isn't anymore in top table

I won't appologyze for my poor english, but if you have some question, or add i will try to answer it.

[MGB]

I am still astonished there is any consideration about playing Suppression Field. I just don't understand what cases you could find that you would not want a field... More the slowing your opponent down and hindering their progression it can win you the game. MODO doesn't do this deck justice, as I have had multiple people get 2+ GRV per match from Field alone.


It's as simple as this:

Suppression Field is card disadvantage when you play it - i.e. it costs you a card and does nothing else beyond its taxing of opponent's activated abilities. So in order for it to be valuable at all, you absolutely *must* force multiple payments from its taxing effect. Here are the circumstances under which Field is usually played;

- If you affect *zero* abilities (not that uncommon - you play it on the draw on turn 2, for example, when opponent has already played a fetch or two and he just fetches in response to the Field being cast, and then has 1-2 more non-fetch lands in his hand) and opponent plays around it, you essentially have cast a blank card.

- If you only affect *one* ability (i.e. 2 mana) you are only even on tempo and still down 1 on card advantage, because you spent 1W to cast the Field.

- If you affect *two* abilities (4 mana) you are +2 mana on tempo and still down 1 on card advantage, which is better than the above two cases but extremely mediocre as a play in Legacy. Paying 2 mana to extract 4 mana from your opponent is barely better than playing a Spell Pierce that your opponent paid mana to waive.

- If you affect *three or more* abilities (6+ mana) you are +4 or more mana on tempo, down 1 on card advantage, but doing better by further affecting your opponent's mana curve. At this point Suppression Field actually becomes valuable, and only at this point.

Think about the gamut of Legacy decks you will face. It's pretty hard to guarantee three or more payments forced from a Field just by the very nature of the spell - it costs 1W and doesn't always come down early in the game. And when you are on the draw, you basically have to hope that your opponent topdecks more fetchlands and never topdecks normal lands, AND you have to hope your opponent is playing things like Deathrite Shaman or Jace or Stoneforge Mystic to further extract value from Field. And even then, later in the game, when they do have Jace or Stoneforge in play, and you have a field in play, the Field does *not* outright stop them from using those cards. If they have enough mana, they will gladly pay 2 more to use their powerful cards. Does it trouble them that much that they have to pay 3W to get their Batterskull rather than 1W? Or that Jace costs 2UU + 2 x #Turns rather than just 2UU? A little bit, but the power of these cards is such that even when they cost a little bit more, they can still wreck your day.

[Jon]

Jesus Christ are you actually trying to justify the idea of card advantage / disadvantage in a Chalice deck? Every time I get to slam a Field one T1 watch my opponent stumble as they die. There is no way I would consider cutting the card.

[MGB]

This list is close compare to the one post by Sam Black on scg, some change were include. But i will start with beginning. The prison shell, cause if no one spit on thalia or chalice in this deck, there is some different trial on the use of suppression field or different prison 2-drop. At this point i just can't imagine playing winter orb in a deck that cast 4cc spell, when most of opponent cast 1cc spell, okay suppression field isn't great against UR delver, but it can provide you free win, and be a win condition or the right answer when opponent rely on top or vial to beat you.


The key to understanding Winter Orb, in my mind, is that if you play 4 Ancient Tombs and 2+ City of Traitors, and 4 Chrome Moxen, you have ample ways to break the symmetry of the Orb in your favor. When they are untapping only 1 mana per turn, you are getting 2+ mana from your sources often.

Of course, Orb is not that great vs. low mana curve decks like Delver and the like, but it is surprisingly active even in those matchups. It is only truly bad vs. decks like Belcher, Dredge, and decks that have an active AEther Vial in play.

And of course, vs. mana-intensive decks such as Miracles, it is actually better than Suppression Field by a wide margin and is often the one card that enables you to beat that deck so easily. Winter Orb is simply the bane of Miracles' (or any other mana-heavy deck like Stoneblade, or Lands, or BUG Control) existence.




Now i will explain my choice on creature, first of all the cut of ballyrush and field marshall, i wasn't exalted in the idea on playing a bad aggro deck with defensive strategy like the one provide by field marshall, and first strike ability seems really redoundant to me when 12 of you best soldiers already have it. Ballyrush run in the same idea of overextend yourself, die to pyroclasm do nothing agaisnt delver, die to pyromancer token. I keep playing daru warchief, cause this boy defend yourself against engineered plague, dread of night, pyroclasm.


I agree with you that Field Marshal is suboptimal when most of these Soldiers already have first strike (Thalia, Preeminent, Enlistment, etc). Daru Warchief's +1/+2 is definitely valuable and its second benefit of reducing cost is extremely useful as well. I would never play less than 3 Warchiefs in this deck!

Ballyrush however is surprisingly underrated - he can make 4cc stuff come down a turn earlier and make 1W guys come out in multiples. I would hesitate to cut these as the cost-reducing element of this deck is one that gives it the ability to cast big expensive creatures even when Preeminent Captain is not in play.



Back to low cost creatures, by cutting field marshall and ballyrush, the deck goes really low on early threats, main problem appear to be the lack of good soldier using 1W as mana cost, same problem with 2W cost, because i couldn't find answer to this problem i had to change my request, that's why i use to play longbow archer, and now testing kor firewalker. At this point i'm not sure kor firewalker is the one this deck need, but deckbuilding is still open.


Have you considered playing Jotun Grunt maindeck? I play two of these. You can't play too many but 1-2 seems like the right number. They are a big body for a cheap cost and they have the secondary benefit of both shrinking Tarmogoyfs and stalling opponent's Treasure Cruises.

Also, I've been intrigued by playing Kor Skyfisher in this deck. The drawback isn't nearly as bad as you think if you can bounce stuff like Enlistment Officer for value or just bounce stuff like City of Traitors to replay for 2 more mana when you don't have a land in your hand.

Additionally, I've had success with Porcelain Legionnaire to some extent. He's really a 2 mana creature because you can cast him for 2 life + 2 colorless, and even cast him off one Sol-Land.



travel to 3cc creatures, field marshall leaving the deck, i use to search for some remplacement cause there was a huge hole in the curve after that, i wasn't able to find another usefull soldier. Brimaz was an option and honnestly i didn't test him, because he can't beat batterskull and because his cost might be annoying for a 3cc creature. Here we are with the only non soldier creature of the deck, quite a weird choice, but i really need some anwer to an early delver when i cast chalice, and opponent locked up. He just had to push his 3/2 flying to victory, which is really annoying no offense to the one who think swiftspear is the best one drop in the format. And elves isn't a good match, maybe you can notice it with the presence of magus of the moat in sideboard, who was there just to provide some solution agaisnt elves, before censor, you couldn't expect a win against such a resilient deck like elves, they just tutor for reclamation sage or NO with some fetched dryad and visionnary, now you can say you have an option against elves, chalice for one and censor, is praticaly game over for elve even post sideboard.


Chalice of the Void is very good against elves but you are correct in stating that it is still not a good matchup because they have so many good ways to find Reclamation Sage to destroy it.

I've found that playing Damping Matrix post-board slows them down a lot, and now that Containment Priest has been printed, I can play this guy in my sideboard for Show n Tell and *also* bring it in for the Elves matchup. 4 Chalice, 3-4 Damping Matrix and 4 Containment Priest (stopping Green Suns Zenith and Natural Order) provide enough of a threat density to adequately slow Elves down, imho.



I still think this deck need some bolt proof hatedelver creature, that's why i'm playing the great high sentinelle and the tricky gustcloak, those two provide victory or get countered or removed. Which is a sign of a good card to my mind.


I really like High Sentinels and in my version with Winter Orb instead of Field, the +1/+1 ability is surprisingly relevant as well.



Now some add on manabase, common list use to play 18 lands, with no waste or no karakas, with 22 lands, this list is quite heavy on mana source. First of all, wasteland, for some the disynergy between waste and field is to big to be avoid. But to me, these cards complete each other, field is great when opponent had his fetchland, and poor when he has his dual, field delay opponent game plan by pressuring his mana base, so do waste, and these two works really well together, if you can waste the one non fetch land of an opponent even paying 3 mana, i promise it worth it. The only reason i don't play more waste is because i had to provide W mana for part of my game plan. And because agaisnt some deck you don't want chrome mox, that's also part of the reason you have 2 land in sideboard.


Interesting conclusions. I simply have never liked Wasteland in this deck because I feel that the deck wants to spend mana every turn on its own guys and not spend it kiling opponent's lands.

Which decks do you feel Chrome Mox is bad against? I've never wanted to sideboard Moxen out as they give this deck explosiveness and then the card disadvantage can often be recuperated by Enlistment Officer later in the game.



For sideboard, Oring i never face anyconfiguration where opponent trick my own ring and i had to ring my own card. To me these two cards are equal, play the one you like. Just some add, you can't play council's jugement, the card is really insane but WW non soldier, is something the deck can't afford consistently. That's the reason why i'm playing revoke existance over council.

Charioter, provide you a good game plan against UR or some other aggro strategy.

Tower, so far i always try to get some extra land in sideboard for match were i side out mox, i try some extra karakas, some wasteland, but with the rebirth of stoneforge strategy this card is huge, it decline when nemesis was printed, but if your opponent can assemblate nemesis and equipement i think you have already lose. And having some solution against SFM T2 is really nice.


Another reason why I like Damping Matrix in the sideboard - it shuts down Stoneforge Mystic pretty hard because the only thing they can do with Mystic at that point is to fetch Batterskull and then hardcast it for 5 mana.



Holy light, part of the strategy against UR, with chalice in play their main plan if they can't find smash is to get pyromancer and start making and army. it also provide solution agaisnt nemesis and give some help against elves.

Rip, thorn and null rod don't need description i think.

The deck is decent, but it's a high variance deck like all non-blue deck in the format, you can die because you find 5 land in a row or just because there wasn't your third mana source in the top4 cards. If you can avoid this problem the deck is correct against most of the current metagame, worst delver version run away (bug delver), shardless isn't anymore in top table

I won't appologyze for my poor english, but if you have some question, or add i will try to answer it.

Thanks for all the input! Good luck with the deck and I hope you do well with it.

[MGB]

Jesus Christ are you actually trying to justify the idea of card advantage / disadvantage in a Chalice deck? Every time I get to slam a Field one T1 watch my opponent stumble as they die. There is no way I would consider cutting the card.

There is no doubt that if you get the hand of Chrome Mox, land, Suppresion Field, and you are on the play, and your opponent has one or less normal lands in hand and the rest are fetchlands and he does not topdeck normal lands for several turns...

I was going to say that if all those conditions are met that Suppression Field is an auto-win card. Of course it is. But do you see all of those conditions that have to be met? How often do you get that in a game? Are you going to mulligan to Mox+Field+Land on the play every time? And even when you do, will your opponent only have fetchlands in hand?

You have to look at the effectiveness of cards in the totality of all the circumstances. It's not enough to look at one corner case and say "wow, it really blows X out of the water when I get this combo". If that were the case, we'd be playing stuff like Lorescale Coatl in our Delver decks because of those <10% of situations when you play Coatl then Brainstorm and Ponder right after that, instead of those 70%+ situations where you just topdeck Coatl without your cantrips in hand.

I look at Suppression Field like the Lorescale Coatl of this deck. Sure, it's SICK as hell in those <10% or even <20% of situations that I described. It will give you an easy auto-win and you're on to game 2. But how often does that happen vs. the number of situations where: a.) you are on the draw and opponent has one fetchland he already played and cracks in response to your field and goes on to play a normal land or two b.) you topdeck Field after turn 3-4 and your opponent has enough mana to just pay 2 more for that Stoneforge activation easily or c.) other such situations in which Field comes down later or your opponent simply does not have fetchlands / activated abilities to play after you resolve the Field or just flat-out has enough mana to pay for them easily

Also, it's funny that you mention card advantage in terms of Chalice of the Void - as if Chalice of the Void decks have to just accept the fact that they are going to go negative on card advantage. I don't think this is the case at all. Chalice of the Void creates *massive* virtual card advantage by stopping a whole portion of the opponent's deck. Generating card advantage and just being mindful of card advantage in general is certainly not out of line for a Chalice deck at all.

[Jon]

We will never agree and thats fine. I have atributed more wins with my deck to Field then Chalice.

[Dziga Murnau]

Hello everyone, i just register myself to provide some explains to my soldier list. So it might apear using my name, i'm Dapokpok on mtgo or pokpok on french website.

To be honnest i'm not sure this deck is good, i mean the deck is great if you don't struggle on mana source flooded or screwed. But it still had some huge problem facing an all-answer opponent like force chalice, threat, removal to stop you in early then just win because they had more active spell than you or because you are dead at this point (agaisnt UR delver for example).

So first of all, my last list

4 Suppression Field
4 Chrome Mox
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Ancient Tomb
2 Wasteland
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Captain of the Watch
9 Plains
4 Cavern of Souls
1 Gustcloak Savior
3 Daru Warchief
4 Enlistment Officer
1 City of Traitors
2 Karakas
3 Aven Mindcensor
1 High Sentinels of Arashin
2 Kor Firewalker
SB: 2 Thorn of Amethyst
SB: 3 Rest in Peace
SB: 1 Null Rod
SB: 2 Oblivion Ring
SB: 2 Dawnbringer Charioteers
SB: 2 Tower of the Magistrate
SB: 2 Holy Light
SB: 1 Revoke Existence

pokpok, many thanks for registering and telling about the deck! It is real fun! So Charioteers are included only for being 2/4 flying delver-killing decay-proof soldiers? At first glance I tried hard to find some way to trigger their heroic ability in the list)

[Jon]

Commander Eesha, Gustcloak Savior....

[MGB]

Questions to all those who play this in person and not primarily online... What do you do with these situations and how often have they come up for you:

- Opponent doesn't notice Chalice @ 1 on the board and plays his Ponder/Brainstorm/etc. Do you say "Ponder/Brainstorm/etc Resolves. Trigger - Chalice"? And at that point there is no turning back for your opponent and he has lost the spell? Or do you generally give him the opportunity to "take it back"? What is the best way to handle this situation so that you are in the clear rules-wise and he loses his 1cc spell due to his own sloppiness?

- Opponent doesn't notice Cavern of Souls on the board and he plays Force of Will targeting your Soldier cast with Cavern mana. Do you say "Force of Will resolves"? If you want him to waste the Force of Will, you can let him resolve Force targeting your Soldier, but it just won't counter the Soldier. At that point, if you allow Force to resolve, he is locked into losing his Force and his pitched card for good, right? There are no ways for him to backtrack... or how do you ensure he can't backtrack? What is the best way to handle this so that you are in the clear rules-wise and he loses his Force of Will and his blue card?

- Opponent doesn't notice Suppression Field in play and begins to crack a fetchland. Do you let him search his library and then call a judge? Do you immediately inform him of the Suppression Field in play and the fact that he has to pay two mana to complete his action? What if he begins to put a Batterskull in play and doesn't have the extra mana to pay Field? Do you just agree to put the Batterskull back in his hand as if he never activated it? Once he starts fetching with his fetchland, has the game state progressed too far, and then he is liable to get a GRV? What is the best way to handle this so that you are in the clear rules-wise and he maybe gets a GRV from the judge?

[Undomian]

Questions to all those who play this in person and not primarily online... What do you do with these situations and how often have they come up for you:

- Opponent doesn't notice Chalice @ 1 on the board and plays his Ponder/Brainstorm/etc. Do you say "Ponder/Brainstorm/etc Resolves. Trigger - Chalice"? And at that point there is no turning back for your opponent and he has lost the spell? Or do you generally give him the opportunity to "take it back"? What is the best way to handle this situation so that you are in the clear rules-wise and he loses his 1cc spell due to his own sloppiness?

- Opponent doesn't notice Cavern of Souls on the board and he plays Force of Will targeting your Soldier cast with Cavern mana. Do you say "Force of Will resolves"? If you want him to waste the Force of Will, you can let him resolve Force targeting your Soldier, but it just won't counter the Soldier. At that point, if you allow Force to resolve, he is locked into losing his Force and his pitched card for good, right? There are no ways for him to backtrack... or how do you ensure he can't backtrack? What is the best way to handle this so that you are in the clear rules-wise and he loses his Force of Will and his blue card?

- Opponent doesn't notice Suppression Field in play and begins to crack a fetchland. Do you let him search his library and then call a judge? Do you immediately inform him of the Suppression Field in play and the fact that he has to pay two mana to complete his action? What if he begins to put a Batterskull in play and doesn't have the extra mana to pay Field? Do you just agree to put the Batterskull back in his hand as if he never activated it? Once he starts fetching with his fetchland, has the game state progressed too far, and then he is liable to get a GRV? What is the best way to handle this so that you are in the clear rules-wise and he maybe gets a GRV from the judge?

1) Your opponents are absolutely permitted to cast spells into your Chalice in hopes that you do not remember the trigger. It is your permanent, so it is entirely your responsibility to remember that it counters their spells. Also, I would not advise telling your opponent that their spells resolve before pointing out the Chalice trigger - a judge might take that the wrong way, since when the Chalice trigger properly triggers when they cast that spell, it never does resolve.

2) Force of Will will resolve, and it will fail to counter your uncounterable spell. That could actually be a desired effect if your opponent decides that they want to empty their hand of some cards for whatever reason, such as wanting less cards in hand for Ensnaring Bridge.

3) That's a GRV, and you would be right to call a judge on your opponent if they activated an ability without paying the additional cost at any serious tournament. That's not a trigger that you are forced to remember, so both you and your opponent need to remember that stuff costs more to use.

[MGB]

1) Your opponents are absolutely permitted to cast spells into your Chalice in hopes that you do not remember the trigger. It is your permanent, so it is entirely your responsibility to remember that it counters their spells. Also, I would not advise telling your opponent that their spells resolve before pointing out the Chalice trigger - a judge might take that the wrong way, since when the Chalice trigger properly triggers when they cast that spell, it never does resolve.

2) Force of Will will resolve, and it will fail to counter your uncounterable spell. That could actually be a desired effect if your opponent decides that they want to empty their hand of some cards for whatever reason, such as wanting less cards in hand for Ensnaring Bridge.

3) That's a GRV, and you would be right to call a judge on your opponent if they activated an ability without paying the additional cost at any serious tournament. That's not a trigger that you are forced to remember, so both you and your opponent need to remember that stuff costs more to use.

Thanks for the input.

In the Chalice situation, if I am faced with an opponent that simply forgot about my Chalice, and I want him to waste a card, the most effective way to take advantage of this situation is to simply say "Ponder/Brainstorm on the stack ... Chalice triggers.... Chalice trigger on the stack... resolves?"

[Undomian]

Thanks for the input.

In the Chalice situation, if I am faced with an opponent that simply forgot about my Chalice, and I want him to waste a card, the most effective way to take advantage of this situation is to simply say "Ponder/Brainstorm on the stack ... Chalice triggers.... Chalice trigger on the stack... resolves?"

Yeah, you just need to point out your Chalice triggers (and resolves, though it only very rarely will not) to counter their spell.

[Jon]

Make sure you call them on ALL GRVs so its properly recorded. They make multiple mistakes over the course of the day it will eventually turn into GLs.

[Jon]

http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/11/24/906cdf7281d684bbe8e1bfd6c60259b0.jpg http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/11/24/b230c272a339ff911edefc1ceb5c75e2.jpg http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/11/24/e9b8b5750412845262c72f153831b142.jpg http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/11/24/78be9be849e60eeee1a0d3cb0af0e1a1.jpg

Here is my current list, missing a fee cards to be single language.

[aesercos]

Mmm, T-Chinese (also, if you need Darus I think I have a couple extra).

How have Longbows been doing?

I waver between Field Marshals and Veteran Swordsmiths too. So much stuff has First Strike anyways.

[Jon]

I most certainly do, shoot me a PM and we will talk.

Longbow is ok, I am testing for delver match ups after a T1 Delver. Overall I am happy, I may go back to the full set of ballyrush or try Skyfisher. I am playing this in the Open Trial for SCGATL this weekend. If I 4-0 I will jam it, if not I will probably be a ape and jund it up.

I still prefer field marshall most of the time. I just like the way swordsmith looks.

[MGB]

That's funny that you have the singleton foil Gustcloak Savior. For some reason I picked one of those up at a local shop and I don't have a single other foil card in the deck.

I'm partial to the Snow-Covered Plains from original Ice Age myself, because the Christopher Rush art is so beautiful.

I half expected your deck to be completely foiled out!

[Jon]

I dislike foils unless old border.

[haganbmj]

- Opponent doesn't notice Chalice @ 1 on the board and plays his Ponder/Brainstorm/etc. Do you say "Ponder/Brainstorm/etc Resolves. Trigger - Chalice"? And at that point there is no turning back for your opponent and he has lost the spell? Or do you generally give him the opportunity to "take it back"? What is the best way to handle this situation so that you are in the clear rules-wise and he loses his 1cc spell due to his own sloppiness?

To further clarify this, the Ponder/Brainstorm will never "resolve" - that's the wrong word. Chalice triggers in response to them casting the spell, the Chalice trigger resolves and the spell is countered.
If your opponent tries to take back their action then call a judge and explain that they cast their spell and it was countered. That's how the game works; playing Magic properly doesn't make you rude.

All you should have to do is say "Chalice" or "Chalice Trigger" or something.

As Undomian was mentioning, you can miss your Chalice trigger. So your opponent is perfectly welcome to cast their Brainstorms with confidence, then if you let it happen you've just missed your beneficial trigger and the spell will resolve as if you didn't have Chalice in play.

[MGB]

I most certainly do, shoot me a PM and we will talk.

Longbow is ok, I am testing for delver match ups after a T1 Delver. Overall I am happy, I may go back to the full set of ballyrush or try Skyfisher. I am playing this in the Open Trial for SCGATL this weekend. If I 4-0 I will jam it, if not I will probably be a ape and jund it up.

I still prefer field marshall most of the time. I just like the way swordsmith looks.

So Jon, did you valiantly try to fight by the side of your soldiers or did you take the easy route and jund it up? :)

[Jon]

So Jon, did you valiantly try to fight by the side of your soldiers or did you take the easy route and jund it up? :)



I was a goddamn ape all weekend, Soldiers would have been crushed. It sucks ;(

[MGB]

I was a goddamn ape all weekend, Soldiers would have been crushed. It sucks ;(

You didn't top 8 with Jund... did you at least cash?

There's no guarantee that you would have been crushed if you had taken Soldiers. You might have done even better.

I know I'm going to take this deck to SCG Philly on Jan 11 and I plan on doing rather well with it. The only matchups it really has a problem with is Delver (sometimes), Stoneblade, and Death n Taxes. Now that Containment Priest has been printed, Elves is easier, and this deck has always done well vs. Miracles, ANT, Reanimator, Sneak'n'Show, and the like.

[Jon]

I monied, 47th place. Stupid Miracles Player.

Also I haven't tested Priest but I KNOW Magus of the Moat is the Stone Nuts against them.

[MD.Ghost]

Besides Lejays Gb(w)-Stompy Build i also switch to this "Soldier" version to compare both stompy strategies.

I liked "Dapokpok/Tristan Polzl" build and tested it against various matchups.

After a couple of games, i decided that i want -1 Kor Skyfisher (still good enough for mid-/late game bounce: Office, Captain, Grunt); -1 Aven Mindcensor (1 on the field is enough, it isn't a soldier and it's a very fragile creature)

Both slots are filled with +1 Captain of the Watch (Playset - creature performed so good) and +1 High Sentinels of Arashin (really good vs Burn based Removal, kills Delver, can be a finisher on its own if Suppression Field isnt avaible or simply not good enough)

//Creatures
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Captain of the Watch
3 Daru Warchief
2 Jötun Grunt
2 High Sentinels of Arashin
2 Aven Mindcensor
1 Kor Skyfisher

//Lands
9 Plains
4 Ancient Tomb
1 City of Traitors
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Karakas

//Spells
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox
4 Suppression Field
2 Oblivion Ring

//Sideboard
3 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Rest in Peace
2 Dawnbringer Charioteers
2 Holy Light
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Containment Priest
2 Winter Orb

At Sideboard i am unsure about 2 Oblivion Rings and 2 Holy Light - What worked good so far was Dawnbringer Charioteers vs Ux Delver, seems like a casual card but 2/4 Flying (Decay + Bolt proof) is just good here, because you can also add Cavern of Souls (against Counters) and Warchief/Captain (Pump) in the mix. Winter Orb also shined vs any Control Deck.

[MGB]

Wow. Magus of the Moat is such a great sideboard card. What a brilliant idea that was, whoever brought it up in here (Jon? PokPok?).

With Magus in the sideboard, you are essentially favored vs. Elves and Merfolk now, whereas before, it was a really tough matchup. There's no way for Elves and Merfolk (90%+ of lists) to deal with a Magus of the Moat.

Additionally, it's not bad against lots of other random "attack with non-flying dudes" decks. It's also great against Dredge.

[Jon]

Yup. The card is actually nuts. I still need to find my set of chinese ones.

[Lejay]

Wow. Magus of the Moat is such a great sideboard card. What a brilliant idea that was, whoever brought it up in here (Jon? PokPok?).
That would be me. I advised it to pokpok since he was desperate on the elves match-up. However he played it once and lost to drs activations in a glimpse sequence and never played it since then.

[Jon]

That would be me. I advised it to pokpok since he was desperate on the elves match-up. However he played it once and lost to drs activations in a glimpse sequence and never played it since then.

This is why we also play Suppression Field?

[Lejay]

This is why we also play Suppression Field?

Suppression field didn't matter, he was producing bazillions of mana.

[MGB]

Suppression field didn't matter, he was producing bazillions of mana.

That's why I prefer Damping Matrix in the sideboard. Just stops creatures and artifacts (non-mana) completely instead of just taxing.

[MD.Ghost]

After a lot of cockatrice games and some advice from my friend JPA (he faced PokPok a lot on MODO and feared Soldier Stompy a lot more than Lejays GBw build), i bought the deck for same real card games.

My current list:

// Deck: Soldier (60)

// Lands
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
1 City of Traitors
2 Karakas
9 Plains
1 Tower of the Magistrate

// Creatures
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
3 Captain of the Watch
3 Daru Warchief
4 Enlistment Officer
2 Gustcloak Savior
2 High Sentinels of Arashin
2 Jötun Grunt
2 Kor Hookmaster
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

// Spells
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox
4 Suppression Field

// Sideboard
SB: 2 Containment Priest
SB: 2 Dawnbringer Charioteers
SB: 2 Disenchant
SB: 2 Ghostly Prison
SB: 2 Oblivion Ring
SB: 2 Rest in Peace
SB: 2 Thorn of Amethyst
SB: 1 Timely Reinforcements

Some thoughts:

Elves aren't a problem in germany (besides julian23) and with more UR Delver, strong european Miracle Players and generally a rise of removal, i don't think Elves are the best meta choice now (which can be different in usa). So without Elves, Aven Mindcensor (no Soldier, dies easy to forked bolt etc.), Holy Light or the nice Magus of the Moat tech aren't necessary. Wastelands without Mindcensor also seems wrong here.

I feel that the deck struggles vs good midrange decks (and bug..), stoneforge into batterskull is hard to beat, if you can't get a timely suppression field online. Against Batterskull, TNNs, big Goys etc i included some solutions:

1 Tower of the Magistrate Maindeck as land number 21 (generally more lands, less mulligans, especially without ballyrush).

2 Gustcloak Savior - good body vs any Delver.dec, allow forceful attacks against, bskull, tnn, gofy etc.

2 Kor Hookmaster - worked better as my previous ORings, because Soldier (for officer, warchief, cavern, p.captain), tap down delver, germ, gofy right up to emrakul.

2 Disenchant (mainly for batterskull, but can also hit sneak attack and random stuff/matchups)

-------------

Other slots are here to fight the UR meta:

More Bolt-proof (also massacre, pyroclasm) Beater: Brimaz, Grunt, High Sentinells, Savior.

4 resilient Flyers vs Delver (High Sentinells, Savior) worked better for me compared to the WW-Archers, with 2 more Charioteers at side, Delver attacks can be stopped effective.

I don't liked Holy Light, because it only work (once) against Young Pyromancer & Friends, TNN without Equipment (or Merfolk-Lord) and some Elves or Infect-Creatures.

For me 2 Ghostly Prison are the right choice against swarms, only elves can answer it, but in this case, you should smash Magus of the Moat as a near perfect solution (if you also have enough flyers). Ghostly Prison also keeps Swiftspears, Delvers etc in check, because it prevents additional spell chains.

The random Timely Reinforcements worked surprisingly well, most first turn plays are lead with tomb-damage, lock-pieces like chalice, and removal/counter from your opponen. So it isn't uncommon to have less life than an opponnentand face an early threat - so 6 life (also nice to get out of burn range) and 3 soldiers (ready for lord -pump) seems good.

I will continue to play and develope the funny deck 2015 :smile:

[pokpok]

Sweet to see you find something to fill the curve for cc=3, i never try hookmaster, i think i will give her a shot. To my mind she was like jotun grunt a nice card, but not good enough to sail on current legacy sea.

Skull is really annoying that's why build some initiative wall was sometimes necessary, and that's why i use to play 2 tower in sideboard, sfm deck are quite slow to fight in legacy, they disrupt you just enough to put batterskull online, so if you have an answer to skull they will just sink, having only few nemesis to threaten you. So i use to side out chrome mox against them for tower, it happens to be a problem on W mana source, but we still keep 15 W sources for soldier, i admit we only had 11 that's why i wasn't playing council jugment in sideboard.

I was thinking on playing a second high sentinelle, mainly because it's a good solution against batterskull, and because it can win the game on it's own. But the only card i would have cut for it was the gustcloak, that's why i couldn't rise up this number. And decrease prob for my best interaction (preeminent into captain of the watch), was just out of mind. So if i test your option i think i won't play the second gustcloak over captain number 4.

Containment priest, didn't test her, mainly because they are just impossible to find online if you don't buy pack (ok, it's not a good explanation), but for sure if i remove censor i would play her.
Holy light was there for elves, and because it's also decent against UR, but ghostly is a huge solution against swiftspear and pyromancer, and it's still a good card to draw when you are facing 2 lethal delver, so i guess i will try them.

[MGB]

So I played this deck at SCG Philly this past weekend. Here's the list I played:


8 Plains
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
1 Karakas
1 Eiganjo Castle (this is meant to be another Karakas but I didn't obtain a second one in time for the tournament)

4 Chrome Mox

4 Chalice of the Void
2 Winter Orb

4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Enlistment Officer
3 Ballyrush Banneret
3 Longbow Archer
3 Daru Warchief
2 Jotun Grunt
2 Kor Skyfisher
2 High Sentinels of Arashin
1 Gustcloak Savior
2 Captain of the Watch

SB:
2 Containment Priest
3 Intrepid Hero
4 Damping Matrix
2 Winter Orb
3 Rest in Peace
1 Magus of the Moat



Round 1 vs. U/W/B Stoneblade: (Lost 1-2)
- Game 1: I kept a slow hand without much disruption but heavy on creatures. If I am not facing removal, I would win with Preeminent Captain into other stuff pretty easily. My opponent started off with Thoughtseize and took one of my soldiers, and then after I played Preeminent Captain, he Swords'd it promptly. After that it was a steady stream of Thoughtseize and Swords again, and finally he lands a Stoneforge Mystic into Batterskull. I drag it out too long (a theme this tournament - I should have just conceded long G1s when I didn't have a chance to win) and I fail to stick anything relevant.
- Game 2: I have Chalice @ 1 on the play on Turn 1, followed by Preeminent Captain into Captain of the Watch. This is essentially the "God" hand for this deck and wins 98% of the time it is played out this way.
- Game 3: I again have Chalice @ 1 early on, and then I play Jotun Grunt a while later. I am beating on him for a turn and then on a subsequent upkeep, I completely miss the Grunt cumulative upkeep payment. Dejected, I point it out and send the Grunt to the graveyard. The turn earlier he had played Liliana and made me sac a different creature, and now that the Grunt dies via my mistake, I have nothing to attack Lili with. If I had kept the Grunt in play, I could have killed Lili. I have Winter Orb in play, too, so his mana is severely constricted. His Lili is enough to stop me from developing a board presence and I later concede without much time left in the round. If I hadn't missed the Grunt trigger, I might have won, but he told me that we would have gone to time and drawn, because he had Supreme Verdict in hand and would have cast it when Winter Orb allowed him to untap four lands. If I hadn't missed the Grunt trigger, I definitely wouldn't have lost - I might have drawn, but there's no way he would have won. At the very least, if we had more time (If i had conceded G1 much sooner), I would be topdecking threats while he had nothing in play and a very small hand, and I had Chalice in play and Winter Orb.

Round 2 vs. Sneak 'n Show: (Lost 1-2)
- Game 1: I get Chalice @ 1 in play early and cast Grunt off a Cavern. He says "Uncounterable Grunt is Uncounterable!" which made me laugh for some reason. I am attacking him with Grunt and eating his graveyard, unaware of what he is playing, when he casts Show and Tell and puts Griselbrand into play. I think I have High Sentinels of Arashin in play as well at this point. His life total is low so he doesn't activate Griselbrand initially, but when it comes time for me to attack I obviously can't attack into it. On his turn, he attacks with Griselbrand and I am forced to keep chumping with my guys, including the High Sentinels. After this, his lifelink and card draw is just too much to overcome. Here's where I think some card choices made a difference. I was contemplating putting Commander Eesha into this deck but opted for Gustcloak + High Sentinels in those slots instead. Had my Sentinels been Commander Eesha in this situation, I could have chumped his Griselbrand indefinitely and he would be unable to gain life from it and draw any cards.
- Game 2: Post board I see Containment Priest and Chalice. He Show and Tells when I am tapped out but my Priest is still in my hand. I feel like I made a mistake, but he puts Sneak Attack into play, trying to play around Karakas. I put Priest into play and his Sneak Attack is turned off. A few turns later I get the win after he fails to find any answers to Priest.
- Game 3: I keep a great hand with Chalice of the Void @ 1 AND Containment Priest AND Intrepid Hero, and great mana. I feel like there is no way I should lose this game! I play Chalice @ 1 early which leads him to complain about my luck with drawing Chalices, I flash in Containment Priest early and start attacking with it while he just plays lands and a Sneak Attack. I eventually have Intrepid Hero in play, and a Winter Orb, and Containment Priest, and I am feeling confident. So on one turn, I am attacking with Priest and Intrepid Hero to do maximum damage. This is obviously, in hindsight, very stupid to do when Sneak Attack is in play. The whole point of Hero is to stay back and act as a deterrent to putting Emrakul/Griselbrand in play! On his turn, he waits until he gets enough mana, then he plays Fire//Ice (Fire) on my Priest, and then activates Sneak Attack to put Emrakul in play and wipe my board, after which I concede. If I had kept Hero untapped indefinitely, I would have stopped this line of play and probably won. Afterwards he tells me he also had Griselbrand in play, but I can't tell if he's telling the truth or not. If he had both Griselbrand and Emrakul in play, he would have had to wait one more turn to get enough mana to activate Sneak Attack twice, so I might have still lost even with Hero in play. I think if the Hero had been another Containment Priest, I could have just kept him in hand and then if the first Priest is killed, I could flash in the second after he activates Sneak Attack. Or if the Hero had been Banishing Light, I could have simply exiled the Sneak Attack proactively after he played it.

Round 3 vs. ANT: (Won 2-0)
- Game 1: My opponent is pretty distracted and probably not a great player, and he looks as if he's not even in the match. My early Chalice @ 1 on the play basically seals his fate and I don't see him play anything before the Soldiers kill him.
- Game 2: I again land Chalice @ 1 early and Thalia (I think), and he has a Dark Confidant in play doing nothing but helping me kill him. These were the easiest games of the entire day for me.

Round 4 vs. ANT: (Drew 1-1-1)
- Game 1: My opponent is some player of renown and has multiple big tournament top 8s under his belt, and kind of acts like I'm not worthy of being his opponent. However, we are both in the same scrub bracket at this point so "tough luck, you're going to have to play against non-standard decks at this point, buddy". On Turn 1, I play Plains or something else that telegraphs that I'm playing a white deck, and then on his turn he casts Cabal Therapy blind, naming Thalia. Low and behold, I have two Thalias in my hand, and next turn I was going to play Cavern of Souls -> Thalia. I smile a smile of defeat and bin them both. Next turn, I somehow topdeck ANOTHER Thalia and windmill slam it into play and suddenly he doesn't look nearly as smug. From this point on, I just keep playing guys and he doesn't have enough to get around Thalia before I kill him.
- Game 2: I have Chalice and Thalia in hand. I play Chalice @ 1 and on my EOT he promptly Abrupt Decays it. I later stick Thalia and some other Soldiers, and have him pretty low on life. He has plenty of lands in play, however, and he had recently Infernal Tutored for a Dark Ritual copy after revealing one from his hand. The turn before I would kill him, he goes off through Thalia with multiple rituals and then fetches Tendrils for just enough life loss to kill me (I had dropped to 14 or so life after Ancient Tomb activations.)
- Game 3: I have a Chalice of the Void in my hand but no Moxen or Sol-Lands. I have one-mana-producing lands in hand. I decide to keep the hand because Chalice is really important in the matchup and I don't want to risk going to smaller hands with no disruption or no lands. So he plays Cabal Therapy on his first turn after I pass, and names... CHALICE. Despite naming Thalia earlier, and not knowing my hand (or did he?)... Of course I am depressed and discard the Chalice. He doesn't have a quick combo kill, however, so I have time to land attackers such as a Jotun Grunt. I had Thalia and other guys in play too, but he had later cast Massacre and/or Pyroclasm. At some point in the game I have the ability to use Grunt's cumulative upkeep on a Cabal Therapy in his graveyard. I instead choose some other spell and a land, or something. Next turn he goes off with Empty the Warrens, with enough storm to generate 12 Goblin tokens. I have Enlistment Officer in my hand that he has seen from the previous Cabal Therapy, and he names it when he flashes back his Cabal Therapy by sacing a Goblin token. If I had put the Therapy on the bottom of his deck with Grunt, he would not be able to make this play and then next turn I could cast Officer to get more Soldiers in play, but instead I topdeck a land and am forced to sit back with Grunt and some other Soldier or two to block Goblin tokens. He is low on life and only attacks with 10 ( I think), and we get into this board situation where I can't attack and he can't attack, and then I can attack with 1-2 Soldiers and he has to hold back Goblins to block, and the game goes on long. Eventually the round goes to time, and just as I have enough Soldiers to attack him and kill him, the game has to be a draw. If I had been able to cast Enlistment Officer that turn after he goes off, I would have greatly accelerated my board presence enough to probably kill him before the game turned into a draw, so another mistake with Grunt's upkeep probably cost me the win in this match. Ross Merriam (friends with the player?) was standing behind me along with a substanial crowd (you tend to draw crowds when you're one of the last matches to finish in the round and you're playing a really weird deck that people rarey see at these tournaments) and chimed in to say to his friend "If you hadn't imprinted Dark Ritual on your Chrome Mox you could have made enough Goblin tokens to kill him!" So maybe he made a mistake that cost him the win as well.

Round 5 vs. U/B Helm / Tezzerator: (Won 2-1)
- Game 1: I have Ancient Tomb and two Chalices in hand, a bunch of Soldiers, and zero colored mana, and decide to keep it because we all know Chalice is just boss in this format. Unfortunately my opponent leads with an Ancient Tomb as well, and I quickly realize that Chalice is not what I want to see in this matchup at all. He plays some Dimir Signets and gets his colored mana online, and I am stuck with two Ancient Tombs and two Chalice of the Voids in play, one at 1 and one at 2. I eventually lose to his Tezzeret doing some nasty stuff.
- Game 2: I board out all four of my Chalices faster than you can blink. I bring in Damping Matrices and more Winter Orbs. This game,I don't remember exaclty how it went, but I remember winning pretty quickly somehow. Winter Orb did a ton of work in this matchup because it slows down his mana and prevents him from dropping bombs.
- Game 3: I land both Damping Matrix and Winter Orb again, and a Preeminent Captain. In this game I just out-tempo him and all he can manage to do is play Tezzeret or Jace ( don't remember which), which dies to my guys, and then he plays Helm of Obedience and targets me for X=1. He snags an Enlistment Officer for his board, and surprise, surprise, it doesn't reveal any Soldiers off the top of his deck. :) He is confused about his Helm being sacced after activation and getting creatures, so we get a discussion with the kindly Judge who gives him a game rules violation after looking up Helm's oracle text. I win a pretty easy match against a deck that usually is not a good matchup for Soldiers at all.

Round 6 vs. U/W Miracles: (Drew 1-1-1)
- Game 1: I get a fast start by putting a ton of dudes into play. I think I may have had Chalice @ 1 in this game, but I dont' remember for sure. All I know is that I was a turn away from killing him when he topdecks a blind Terminus and wipes my board, and then he uses his counterbalance to lock me out of the game as I am wishing for even one Cavern of Souls to pop up, but to no avail. Just like in Round 1, I drag Game 1 out of for WAY too long thinking I have a shot to win, but he lands Jace and has Countertop in play for several turns before I scoop. My thought process was that if I just get one Cavern of Souls, I can start powering out guys again, but instead I am forced to just play Enlistment Officer into counterbalance, which counters it with Jace reveal. Once I saw Jace, I should have gone to G2 immediately, but I am just so unaware of time passing in these tournaments because I am mostly an online player.
- Game 2: I board in more Winter Orbs and I think I had Chalice on the play on Turn 1, or maybe just Winter Orb. Regardless, I win this one quickly as he is unable to get much going with my Orbs/Chalices in play, and I think I had Thalia as well.
- Game 3: This one was quick, as I had Winter Orb early, I think, and we didn't have much time left so I tried to play fast. He keeps saying that this is going to "go to time no matter what". I fail to understand how he can be so confident when his life is low, and he goes and plays Peacekeeper, tapping out to do so. On my turn, I just drop a WInter Orb and watch him be forced to sacrifice it after he can only untap one land and thus can't pay the upkeep cost! I have the win in hand if I can just attack with Preeminent Captain. Unfortunately, he Swords to Plowshares the Preeminent Captain and the 1-2 other Soldiers I have in play aren't enough damage to kill him before our 5 turns are up. If he hadn't StPed the Captain or we had just a little bit more time, I probably win this game. Lesson learned: if you don't have a great chance to win a game vs. Miracles, concede that game ASAP to conserve time.

Round 7 vs. U/W/R Stoneblade/Pyromancer: (Won 2-1)
- Game 1: Now that I have the thoroughly mediocre record of 2-2-2, I am definitely facing the scrubs of the tournament. My opponent is an older guy who sounds like a really casual player as he explains to me that he just got back into Magic recently and borrowed this deck from a friend. He is asking basic questions about the game mechanics and making bad mistakes like chump blocking the wrong guys and missing out on making more profitable blocks. Nevertheless, this is a tough matchup and in Game 1 I just lose to True Name Nemesis x 2 despite landing Chalice @ 1 early on.
- Game 2: I again land Chalice @ 1 (I can't believe how often I got this early in my hand in this tournament) early on, and I just overrun him early without much resistance.
- Game 3: His Stoneforge Mystic and Batterskull are not enough to stop Preeminent Captain, and Daru Warchief, and Captain of the Watch and a bunch of other Soldiers.

Round 8 vs. U/G Infect: (Lost 1-2)
- Game 1: At this point I am just playing for fun and it doesn't bother me that I'm playing against Infect, but if I was actually playing for a day 2 spot I would be scared because this matchup is tough despite Chalice @ 1. This is exactly what happens as I lose to Blighted Agent beats, being unable to block his guys.
- Game 2: I am just faster than he is, as I attack him with Preeminent Captain putting Captain of the Watch into play.
- Game 3: I have Chalice @ 1 but it doesn't matter because of Blighted Agent and Invigorate.

After this I just decide to chil out for the remainder of the tournament and watch other people play and then leave the tournament hall early. I didn't really expect to make Day 2, and actually wanted to head home and do some stuff like watch football, so I wasn't really sad, but I knew in my heart that if I had played better and made less mistakes there is a strong chance that I could have made Day 2 and then who knows what happens after that.

There was a ton of Storm combo in this tournament so this field was actually pretty ripe for Soldiers to do well because 4 Chalice and 4 Thalia MD make it a favorable matchup for this deck. If I had made it into Day 2 I probably would have seen mostly U/R Delver and Storm Combo. There was very few B/G/x decks in this tournament, and only a few Stoneforge Mystic decks. So again, this field was great for Soldiers, so it is a bit disappointing not to have done better.

Going forward, If I'm to play this deck in a big tournament again, I think I need to make some structural changes. The sideboard probably needs to be streamlined by alot. I think I'd rather just have 4 Containment Priests and/or some Banishing Lights. Hero is interesting but can be too cute when Sneak'n'Show opponents play Pyroclasm and stuff. Additionally, Rest in Peace basically did nothing at all the entire time, and it sat in my hand doing nothing when i boarded it vs. Storm combo. I didn't see a single Dredge deck in this tournament at all when I was walking around watching matches. I also didn't see much RUG Delver or BUG Delver. I think if this metagame continues to look like this, you can just completely cut Rest in Peace from the sideboard and rely on Containment Priest in the Reanimator and Dredge matchups. I also think if I had played Commander Eesha in this deck I could have won some games I didn't. Eesha can block Batterskull all day, and can block Griselbrand as well.

I loved Jotun Grunt in this deck and think that 2 Grunts is really solid as long as people are filling their graveyard as fast as they can. You just have to remember their Cumulative Upkeep costs and what to target with those costs. :)

Ironically, I had prepared mostly by testing against UR Delver and UWR Delver before this tournament but didn't see a SINGLE DELVER the entire day. Of course, If I had done better early in the tournament and had been in the 3-0/4-0 brackets I probably would have seen more Delvers, but all of the Longbow Archers and Kor Skyfishers in the main deck just basically were no better than Grizzly Bears for all intensive purposes.

Overall, the deck felt really solid and fun. I think it can be competitive in the right hands, but because it is a Tier 2 deck, you basically have to really play almost flawlessly if you want to do well in a tournament like this. My lack of big tournament experience cost me (not conceding some games when I should have) and my many obvious play mistakes also cost me pretty dearly. The deck really felt as if it could have won every match (except the Infect match, which is just bad most of the time). I would like to play this deck in other big tournaments, but clearly I need to improve my skill level and understanding of tournament dynamics.

[FrankEGee88]

So I played this deck at SCG Philly this past weekend. Here's the list I played:


8 Plains
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
1 Karakas
1 Eiganjo Castle (this is meant to be another Karakas but I didn't obtain a second one in time for the tournament)

4 Chrome Mox

4 Chalice of the Void
2 Winter Orb

4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Enlistment Officer
3 Ballyrush Banneret
3 Longbow Archer
3 Daru Warchief
2 Jotun Grunt
2 Kor Skyfisher
2 High Sentinels of Arashin
1 Gustcloak Savior
2 Captain of the Watch

SB:
2 Containment Priest
3 Intrepid Hero
4 Damping Matrix
2 Winter Orb
3 Rest in Peace
1 Magus of the Moat



Round 1 vs. U/W/B Stoneblade: (Lost 1-2)
- Game 1: I kept a slow hand without much disruption but heavy on creatures. If I am not facing removal, I would win with Preeminent Captain into other stuff pretty easily. My opponent started off with Thoughtseize and took one of my soldiers, and then after I played Preeminent Captain, he Swords'd it promptly. After that it was a steady stream of Thoughtseize and Swords again, and finally he lands a Stoneforge Mystic into Batterskull. I drag it out too long (a theme this tournament - I should have just conceded long G1s when I didn't have a chance to win) and I fail to stick anything relevant.
- Game 2: I have Chalice @ 1 on the play on Turn 1, followed by Preeminent Captain into Captain of the Watch. This is essentially the "God" hand for this deck and wins 98% of the time it is played out this way.
- Game 3: I again have Chalice @ 1 early on, and then I play Jotun Grunt a while later. I am beating on him for a turn and then on a subsequent upkeep, I completely miss the Grunt cumulative upkeep payment. Dejected, I point it out and send the Grunt to the graveyard. The turn earlier he had played Liliana and made me sac a different creature, and now that the Grunt dies via my mistake, I have nothing to attack Lili with. If I had kept the Grunt in play, I could have killed Lili. I have Winter Orb in play, too, so his mana is severely constricted. His Lili is enough to stop me from developing a board presence and I later concede without much time left in the round. If I hadn't missed the Grunt trigger, I might have won, but he told me that we would have gone to time and drawn, because he had Supreme Verdict in hand and would have cast it when Winter Orb allowed him to untap four lands. If I hadn't missed the Grunt trigger, I definitely wouldn't have lost - I might have drawn, but there's no way he would have won. At the very least, if we had more time (If i had conceded G1 much sooner), I would be topdecking threats while he had nothing in play and a very small hand, and I had Chalice in play and Winter Orb.

Round 2 vs. Sneak 'n Show: (Lost 1-2)
- Game 1: I get Chalice @ 1 in play early and cast Grunt off a Cavern. He says "Uncounterable Grunt is Uncounterable!" which made me laugh for some reason. I am attacking him with Grunt and eating his graveyard, unaware of what he is playing, when he casts Show and Tell and puts Griselbrand into play. I think I have High Sentinels of Arashin in play as well at this point. His life total is low so he doesn't activate Griselbrand initially, but when it comes time for me to attack I obviously can't attack into it. On his turn, he attacks with Griselbrand and I am forced to keep chumping with my guys, including the High Sentinels. After this, his lifelink and card draw is just too much to overcome. Here's where I think some card choices made a difference. I was contemplating putting Commander Eesha into this deck but opted for Gustcloak + High Sentinels in those slots instead. Had my Sentinels been Commander Eesha in this situation, I could have chumped his Griselbrand indefinitely and he would be unable to gain life from it and draw any cards.
- Game 2: Post board I see Containment Priest and Chalice. He Show and Tells when I am tapped out but my Priest is still in my hand. I feel like I made a mistake, but he puts Sneak Attack into play, trying to play around Karakas. I put Priest into play and his Sneak Attack is turned off. A few turns later I get the win after he fails to find any answers to Priest.
- Game 3: I keep a great hand with Chalice of the Void @ 1 AND Containment Priest AND Intrepid Hero, and great mana. I feel like there is no way I should lose this game! I play Chalice @ 1 early which leads him to complain about my luck with drawing Chalices, I flash in Containment Priest early and start attacking with it while he just plays lands and a Sneak Attack. I eventually have Intrepid Hero in play, and a Winter Orb, and Containment Priest, and I am feeling confident. So on one turn, I am attacking with Priest and Intrepid Hero to do maximum damage. This is obviously, in hindsight, very stupid to do when Sneak Attack is in play. The whole point of Hero is to stay back and act as a deterrent to putting Emrakul/Griselbrand in play! On his turn, he waits until he gets enough mana, then he plays Fire//Ice (Fire) on my Priest, and then activates Sneak Attack to put Emrakul in play and wipe my board, after which I concede. If I had kept Hero untapped indefinitely, I would have stopped this line of play and probably won. Afterwards he tells me he also had Griselbrand in play, but I can't tell if he's telling the truth or not. If he had both Griselbrand and Emrakul in play, he would have had to wait one more turn to get enough mana to activate Sneak Attack twice, so I might have still lost even with Hero in play. I think if the Hero had been another Containment Priest, I could have just kept him in hand and then if the first Priest is killed, I could flash in the second after he activates Sneak Attack. Or if the Hero had been Banishing Light, I could have simply exiled the Sneak Attack proactively after he played it.

Round 3 vs. ANT: (Won 2-0)
- Game 1: My opponent is pretty distracted and probably not a great player, and he looks as if he's not even in the match. My early Chalice @ 1 on the play basically seals his fate and I don't see him play anything before the Soldiers kill him.
- Game 2: I again land Chalice @ 1 early and Thalia (I think), and he has a Dark Confidant in play doing nothing but helping me kill him. These were the easiest games of the entire day for me.

Round 4 vs. ANT: (Drew 1-1-1)
- Game 1: My opponent is some player of renown and has multiple big tournament top 8s under his belt, and kind of acts like I'm not worthy of being his opponent. However, we are both in the same scrub bracket at this point so "tough luck, you're going to have to play against non-standard decks at this point, buddy". On Turn 1, I play Plains or something else that telegraphs that I'm playing a white deck, and then on his turn he casts Cabal Therapy blind, naming Thalia. Low and behold, I have two Thalias in my hand, and next turn I was going to play Cavern of Souls -> Thalia. I smile a smile of defeat and bin them both. Next turn, I somehow topdeck ANOTHER Thalia and windmill slam it into play and suddenly he doesn't look nearly as smug. From this point on, I just keep playing guys and he doesn't have enough to get around Thalia before I kill him.
- Game 2: I have Chalice and Thalia in hand. I play Chalice @ 1 and on my EOT he promptly Abrupt Decays it. I later stick Thalia and some other Soldiers, and have him pretty low on life. He has plenty of lands in play, however, and he had recently Infernal Tutored for a Dark Ritual copy after revealing one from his hand. The turn before I would kill him, he goes off through Thalia with multiple rituals and then fetches Tendrils for just enough life loss to kill me (I had dropped to 14 or so life after Ancient Tomb activations.)
- Game 3: I have a Chalice of the Void in my hand but no Moxen or Sol-Lands. I have one-mana-producing lands in hand. I decide to keep the hand because Chalice is really important in the matchup and I don't want to risk going to smaller hands with no disruption or no lands. So he plays Cabal Therapy on his first turn after I pass, and names... CHALICE. Despite naming Thalia earlier, and not knowing my hand (or did he?)... Of course I am depressed and discard the Chalice. He doesn't have a quick combo kill, however, so I have time to land attackers such as a Jotun Grunt. I had Thalia and other guys in play too, but he had later cast Massacre and/or Pyroclasm. At some point in the game I have the ability to use Grunt's cumulative upkeep on a Cabal Therapy in his graveyard. I instead choose some other spell and a land, or something. Next turn he goes off with Empty the Warrens, with enough storm to generate 12 Goblin tokens. I have Enlistment Officer in my hand that he has seen from the previous Cabal Therapy, and he names it when he flashes back his Cabal Therapy by sacing a Goblin token. If I had put the Therapy on the bottom of his deck with Grunt, he would not be able to make this play and then next turn I could cast Officer to get more Soldiers in play, but instead I topdeck a land and am forced to sit back with Grunt and some other Soldier or two to block Goblin tokens. He is low on life and only attacks with 10 ( I think), and we get into this board situation where I can't attack and he can't attack, and then I can attack with 1-2 Soldiers and he has to hold back Goblins to block, and the game goes on long. Eventually the round goes to time, and just as I have enough Soldiers to attack him and kill him, the game has to be a draw. If I had been able to cast Enlistment Officer that turn after he goes off, I would have greatly accelerated my board presence enough to probably kill him before the game turned into a draw, so another mistake with Grunt's upkeep probably cost me the win in this match. Ross Merriam (friends with the player?) was standing behind me along with a substanial crowd (you tend to draw crowds when you're one of the last matches to finish in the round and you're playing a really weird deck that people rarey see at these tournaments) and chimed in to say to his friend "If you hadn't imprinted Dark Ritual on your Chrome Mox you could have made enough Goblin tokens to kill him!" So maybe he made a mistake that cost him the win as well.

Round 5 vs. U/B Helm / Tezzerator: (Won 2-1)
- Game 1: I have Ancient Tomb and two Chalices in hand, a bunch of Soldiers, and zero colored mana, and decide to keep it because we all know Chalice is just boss in this format. Unfortunately my opponent leads with an Ancient Tomb as well, and I quickly realize that Chalice is not what I want to see in this matchup at all. He plays some Dimir Signets and gets his colored mana online, and I am stuck with two Ancient Tombs and two Chalice of the Voids in play, one at 1 and one at 2. I eventually lose to his Tezzeret doing some nasty stuff.
- Game 2: I board out all four of my Chalices faster than you can blink. I bring in Damping Matrices and more Winter Orbs. This game,I don't remember exaclty how it went, but I remember winning pretty quickly somehow. Winter Orb did a ton of work in this matchup because it slows down his mana and prevents him from dropping bombs.
- Game 3: I land both Damping Matrix and Winter Orb again, and a Preeminent Captain. In this game I just out-tempo him and all he can manage to do is play Tezzeret or Jace ( don't remember which), which dies to my guys, and then he plays Helm of Obedience and targets me for X=1. He snags an Enlistment Officer for his board, and surprise, surprise, it doesn't reveal any Soldiers off the top of his deck. :) He is confused about his Helm being sacced after activation and getting creatures, so we get a discussion with the kindly Judge who gives him a game rules violation after looking up Helm's oracle text. I win a pretty easy match against a deck that usually is not a good matchup for Soldiers at all.

Round 6 vs. U/W Miracles: (Drew 1-1-1)
- Game 1: I get a fast start by putting a ton of dudes into play. I think I may have had Chalice @ 1 in this game, but I dont' remember for sure. All I know is that I was a turn away from killing him when he topdecks a blind Terminus and wipes my board, and then he uses his counterbalance to lock me out of the game as I am wishing for even one Cavern of Souls to pop up, but to no avail. Just like in Round 1, I drag Game 1 out of for WAY too long thinking I have a shot to win, but he lands Jace and has Countertop in play for several turns before I scoop. My thought process was that if I just get one Cavern of Souls, I can start powering out guys again, but instead I am forced to just play Enlistment Officer into counterbalance, which counters it with Jace reveal. Once I saw Jace, I should have gone to G2 immediately, but I am just so unaware of time passing in these tournaments because I am mostly an online player.
- Game 2: I board in more Winter Orbs and I think I had Chalice on the play on Turn 1, or maybe just Winter Orb. Regardless, I win this one quickly as he is unable to get much going with my Orbs/Chalices in play, and I think I had Thalia as well.
- Game 3: This one was quick, as I had Winter Orb early, I think, and we didn't have much time left so I tried to play fast. He keeps saying that this is going to "go to time no matter what". I fail to understand how he can be so confident when his life is low, and he goes and plays Peacekeeper, tapping out to do so. On my turn, I just drop a WInter Orb and watch him be forced to sacrifice it after he can only untap one land and thus can't pay the upkeep cost! I have the win in hand if I can just attack with Preeminent Captain. Unfortunately, he Swords to Plowshares the Preeminent Captain and the 1-2 other Soldiers I have in play aren't enough damage to kill him before our 5 turns are up. If he hadn't StPed the Captain or we had just a little bit more time, I probably win this game. Lesson learned: if you don't have a great chance to win a game vs. Miracles, concede that game ASAP to conserve time.

Round 7 vs. U/W/R Stoneblade/Pyromancer: (Won 2-1)
- Game 1: Now that I have the thoroughly mediocre record of 2-2-2, I am definitely facing the scrubs of the tournament. My opponent is an older guy who sounds like a really casual player as he explains to me that he just got back into Magic recently and borrowed this deck from a friend. He is asking basic questions about the game mechanics and making bad mistakes like chump blocking the wrong guys and missing out on making more profitable blocks. Nevertheless, this is a tough matchup and in Game 1 I just lose to True Name Nemesis x 2 despite landing Chalice @ 1 early on.
- Game 2: I again land Chalice @ 1 (I can't believe how often I got this early in my hand in this tournament) early on, and I just overrun him early without much resistance.
- Game 3: His Stoneforge Mystic and Batterskull are not enough to stop Preeminent Captain, and Daru Warchief, and Captain of the Watch and a bunch of other Soldiers.

Round 8 vs. U/G Infect: (Lost 1-2)
- Game 1: At this point I am just playing for fun and it doesn't bother me that I'm playing against Infect, but if I was actually playing for a day 2 spot I would be scared because this matchup is tough despite Chalice @ 1. This is exactly what happens as I lose to Blighted Agent beats, being unable to block his guys.
- Game 2: I am just faster than he is, as I attack him with Preeminent Captain putting Captain of the Watch into play.
- Game 3: I have Chalice @ 1 but it doesn't matter because of Blighted Agent and Invigorate.

After this I just decide to chil out for the remainder of the tournament and watch other people play and then leave the tournament hall early. I didn't really expect to make Day 2, and actually wanted to head home and do some stuff like watch football, so I wasn't really sad, but I knew in my heart that if I had played better and made less mistakes there is a strong chance that I could have made Day 2 and then who knows what happens after that.

There was a ton of Storm combo in this tournament so this field was actually pretty ripe for Soldiers to do well because 4 Chalice and 4 Thalia MD make it a favorable matchup for this deck. If I had made it into Day 2 I probably would have seen mostly U/R Delver and Storm Combo. There was very few B/G/x decks in this tournament, and only a few Stoneforge Mystic decks. So again, this field was great for Soldiers, so it is a bit disappointing not to have done better.

Going forward, If I'm to play this deck in a big tournament again, I think I need to make some structural changes. The sideboard probably needs to be streamlined by alot. I think I'd rather just have 4 Containment Priests and/or some Banishing Lights. Hero is interesting but can be too cute when Sneak'n'Show opponents play Pyroclasm and stuff. Additionally, Rest in Peace basically did nothing at all the entire time, and it sat in my hand doing nothing when i boarded it vs. Storm combo. I didn't see a single Dredge deck in this tournament at all when I was walking around watching matches. I also didn't see much RUG Delver or BUG Delver. I think if this metagame continues to look like this, you can just completely cut Rest in Peace from the sideboard and rely on Containment Priest in the Reanimator and Dredge matchups. I also think if I had played Commander Eesha in this deck I could have won some games I didn't. Eesha can block Batterskull all day, and can block Griselbrand as well.

I loved Jotun Grunt in this deck and think that 2 Grunts is really solid as long as people are filling their graveyard as fast as they can. You just have to remember their Cumulative Upkeep costs and what to target with those costs. :)

Ironically, I had prepared mostly by testing against UR Delver and UWR Delver before this tournament but didn't see a SINGLE DELVER the entire day. Of course, If I had done better early in the tournament and had been in the 3-0/4-0 brackets I probably would have seen more Delvers, but all of the Longbow Archers and Kor Skyfishers in the main deck just basically were no better than Grizzly Bears for all intensive purposes.

Overall, the deck felt really solid and fun. I think it can be competitive in the right hands, but because it is a Tier 2 deck, you basically have to really play almost flawlessly if you want to do well in a tournament like this. My lack of big tournament experience cost me (not conceding some games when I should have) and my many obvious play mistakes also cost me pretty dearly. The deck really felt as if it could have won every match (except the Infect match, which is just bad most of the time). I would like to play this deck in other big tournaments, but clearly I need to improve my skill level and understanding of tournament dynamics.
My buddy played you and said you wouldn't shake his hand and were "kind of an ass."

[MGB]

My buddy played you and said you wouldn't shake his hand and were "kind of an ass."

Which round was that?

I did refuse to shake hands vs. some people but mostly because I am trying to avoid getting sick this time of the year. It's Flu Season and I just try to avoid making contact with people in general - I really hope he didn't take it personally, because I didn't mean it that way at all.

[FrankEGee88]

Which round was that?

I did refuse to shake hands vs. some people but mostly because I am trying to avoid getting sick this time of the year. It's Flu Season and I just try to avoid making contact with people in general - I really hope he didn't take it personally, because I didn't mean it that way at all.
Ah, that makes more sense.

He was your round 2 opponent on SnS. I've been brewing this deck for a while, so he mentioned your build to me. He's like, the nicest guy I know though, which was why the handshake thing stood out to me.

[MGB]

Ah, that makes more sense.

He was your round 2 opponent on SnS. I've been brewing this deck for a while, so he mentioned your build to me. He's like, the nicest guy I know though, which was why the handshake thing stood out to me.

Yeah, he was actually very cool, and I was amused by the things he said - he recognized my archetype when he quipped "Ah! Soldier Stompy!" and the "Uncounterable Grunt is Uncounterable!"

I didn't intend to insult him in any way by refusing to shake hands or just my general demeanor - again, the shaking hands thing is due to flu season being outrageous right now, and if this tournament were in the summer time I wouldn't have any problem shaking hands before the match at all. I'm starting a new job tomorrow so I basically am trying to avoid being sick at any costs right now...

Regarding my demeanor - I try to say as little as possible and interact as little as possible during the match, because I'm naturally gregarious and friendly and I've found that I often do worse when I have friendly banter with my opponents. So I just try to keep the interaction at a minimum *during* the game, but after the games are finished, win or lose, I'll gladly discuss anything and everything and try to be as friendly as possible.

[FrankEGee88]

Yeah, he was actually very cool, and I was amused by the things he said - he recognized my archetype when he quipped "Ah! Soldier Stompy!" and the "Uncounterable Grunt is Uncounterable!"

I didn't intend to insult him in any way by refusing to shake hands or just my general demeanor - again, the shaking hands thing is due to flu season being outrageous right now, and if this tournament were in the summer time I wouldn't have any problem shaking hands before the match at all. I'm starting a new job tomorrow so I basically am trying to avoid being sick at any costs right now...

Regarding my demeanor - I try to say as little as possible and interact as little as possible during the match, because I'm naturally gregarious and friendly and I've found that I often do worse when I have friendly banter with my opponents. So I just try to keep the interaction at a minimum *during* the game, but after the games are finished, win or lose, I'll gladly discuss anything and everything and try to be as friendly as possible.
Ah, I can completely see where you're coming from. Sorry for the inquisition, and gratz on the new job. If you see us again, make sure to say hey. I'll get the first round of drinks. :)

[Moczoc]

Any updates here from the new set? Like Valorous Stance for SB?

[MGB]

Any updates here from the new set? Like Valorous Stance for SB?

Unfortunately the last playable Soldier that Wizards printed was probably High Sentinels of Arashin in the last set. There's really no Soldier in Fate Reforged that's good enough for Legacy, unfortunately.

Valorous Stance is completely unplayable in Legacy in basically any deck.

However, I do think I will be taking this deck to the 40 Duals tournament in Oaks, PA this weekend, so wish me luck with the new build adapted to the BUG metagame.

[MD.Ghost]

However, I do think I will be taking this deck to the 40 Duals tournament in Oaks, PA this weekend, so wish me luck with the new build adapted to the BUG metagame.

My latest list worked well in the TC-Meta, but now with BUG on the rise it seems like the worst BGx (including also Elves) Matchups are back - Decay, Wasteland, Gofy are all good against the common Soldier-Stompy stuff.

High Sentinels of Arashin seems like one of the best cards against BUG (decay and delver proof) - for me it seems that the best news are, that miracle is still one of the best decks and Soldier Stompy has a lot of tools to beat this deck (playsets: Cavern, Chalice, Thalia, SField, Officer, Captains etc.)

Waiting for your report (and adapted list!) from the tournament - hope you do well :wink:

[MGB]

I had a really rough day at the 40 Duals tournament yesterday. Probably my worst competitive showing in any Magic tournament ever.

Round 1 lost to UWR Delver 0-2. G1 He Forced my first Chalice then Spell Pierced the second and then ran out not one but two True Name Nemesis. G2 he Forced my Chalice, let Thalia resolve then played Stoneforge Mystic into Batterskull. I had enough first strikers to hold him off but then he played True Name Nemesis and TNN+Batterskull was unbeatable.

Round 2 beat "maCHOOga" from thesource playing 12post 2-1. G1 his deck did what his deck does with Candelabra and I had no chance. G2 and G3 I played stuff like Winter Orb and Preeminent Captain and got him before he could transition to his superior late-game. Really nice guy too, and he did much better overall in the tournament than I did.

Round 3 losing 0-2 to Miracles was the match that really just got to me this day. I was playing against some chubby greaseball playing Miracles. G1 I resolve Chalice @ 1 after having a first Chalice get Forced. I have Karakas in play, Thalia and Enlistment Officer in play attacking when he spins his top and sets up Terminus on his turn. He clearly says "Terminus trigger?" and shows the Terminus. I say "resolves", thinking of the trigger resolving. Of course he tells me that both Thalia and Officer have to go to bottom of the library, but I say I want to respond to the spell and target Thalia with Karakas. He looks at me and says "You said RESOLVE! You said RESOLVE!" as if he's caught a kid lying about his school grades in his report card to his parents. He calls over a judge, who then tells me that because I said "resolve" that I have to essentially get rid of Thalia and Officer without having any chance to respond. Of course I was on tilt after that, and later I just forgot a Jotun Grunt upkeep trigger for no reason and lost to Entreat the Angels. In G2 he has a ton of countermagic and my stuff like Chalice and Winter Orb all get countered. After the match he even has the nerve to stretch out his fat ham hock of a hand and smile a broad, s***-eating grin while saying "Good match!". For the record I watched this guy's matches the rest of the day and was satisfied that justice was served eventually, as he lost some really close matches the rest of the day to Delver decks and barely missed out on the top 8.

Round 4 losing 0-2 to Shardless BUG - I was disheartened by the previous round still, AND was playing against a bad matchup so I just wasn't into it, and his deck was probably better in a vacuum anyway. Both games involved creature standoffs where he had like 50 Tarmogoyfs in play and I couldn't attack, then he got value over the long run with Ancenstral Visions and the like.

After dropping I spent time watching Roland Chang play MUD and thought to myself that I might just have to abandon this deck and use the pieces I have to build MUD instead. It's either that or dramatically rebuild this into some configuration that isn't weak to all of the Wx Stoneforge and BGx Tarmogoyf decks running around. I don't know what would be involved but I think I need some different configuration of pieces to compete with this metagame. The problem with this deck is that now, post-bannings, there are more BGx, UWx, and Wastelands, Tarmogoyfs, Stoneforge Mystics, and Deathrite Shamans than ever before. It seems as if very few people are even playing Storm, Sneak'n'Show, and Miracles (just looking around the room), which traditionally were the three matchups this deck preyed upon. If the entire field is midrangey stuff with Batterskulls and Goyfs, then this deck definitely loses alot of appeal.

[maCHOOga]

I had a really rough day at the 40 Duals tournament yesterday. Probably my worst competitive showing in any Magic tournament ever.

Round 2 beat "maCHOOga" from thesource playing 12post 2-1. G1 his deck did what his deck does with Candelabra and I had no chance. G2 and G3 I played stuff like Winter Orb and Preeminent Captain and got him before he could transition to his superior late-game. Really nice guy too, and he did much better overall in the tournament than I did.

After dropping I spent time watching Roland Chang play MUD and thought to myself that I might just have to abandon this deck and use the pieces I have to build MUD instead. It's either that or dramatically rebuild this into some configuration that isn't weak to all of the Wx Stoneforge and BGx Tarmogoyf decks running around. I don't know what would be involved but I think I need some different configuration of pieces to compete with this metagame. The problem with this deck is that now, post-bannings, there are more BGx, UWx, and Wastelands, Tarmogoyfs, Stoneforge Mystics, and Deathrite Shamans than ever before. It seems as if very few people are even playing Storm, Sneak'n'Show, and Miracles (just looking around the room), which traditionally were the three matchups this deck preyed upon. If the entire field is midrangey stuff with Batterskulls and Goyfs, then this deck definitely loses alot of appeal.

Thanks for a shoutout! After starting 0-2, I was live for top 16 until my 3rd loss in the final round. You're deck was awesome.

I was a former MUD player. The deck is very good, but it's worst enemy is itself. That the only deck I've ever played where I could go 6-0 and 0-4 with the exact same build.

[Scott]

Something to test in Dragons of Tarkir:

Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit :w::w:
Legendary Creature - Spirit Soldier
Whenever another nontoken creature enters the battlefield under your control, bolster 1.
2/2
They tortured her for honoring her ancestors; now she walks among them.

[MGB]

I took this deck to Eternal Extravaganza 2 and went 6-3. I was basically one match win away from probably getting into the top-16 or at the very least top-24, but had to settle for top 50 instead unfortunately.

R1 - 2-1 vs UR Delver
R2 - 2-0 vs Mono Blue Stiflenaught
R3 - 2-1 vs UR Delver
R4 - 1-2 vs Sneak n Show
R5 - 1-2 vs Dark Maverick
R6 - 0-2 vs Lands
R7 - 2-0 vs Dredge
R8 - 2-1 vs UWB Stoneblade
R9 - 2-1 vs Mono Red Burn

The combination of flying blockers like Kor Skyfisher and of course Chalice of the Void was wonderful against the Delver decks I played against.

The problem I ran into vs. Sneak n Show and Lands was losing to their legendary win conditions. Despite playing 2 Karakas MD I didn't draw them enough to save me.

Vs. the Sneak deck, I had Containment Priest from the board in G3 but he cast a quick Show n Tell and I only had a single Ancient Tomb in play and could not cast Priest in response. In the past I ran Oblivion Ring and/or Intrepid Hero for that matchup and either would have been better in that scenario.

Vs. the Lands deck, I had Thalia and Chalice in play G1 and some semblance of control but lost when he just assembled Depths+Stage combo in his hand without tutoring for anything. In G2 I just mulled to oblivion looking for my Rest In Peace / Winter Orb/ Chalice and didn't find anything.

I feel as if I need to play at least 3 Karakas MD and even a 4th Karakas in the SB. It is simply too important to have answers to Sneak n Show Creatures and the Dark Depths token. In the future I will be going with this 3/1 split and then maxing out on 4 Karakas in post-board games to hopefully increase my win % against Sneak n Show, Reanimator, and Lands.

Other than that, I had alot of fun playing this deck. There is simply no better feeling than winning from behind by flooding the board with Soldier lords put into play off a Preeminent Captain.

[Michael Keller]

Nice job and it was a pleasure meeting you!

[MGB]

Nice job and it was a pleasure meeting you!

Likewise! You are one of the cooler people in the Magic community.

I am ordering 4 x copies of Preacher very soon. If I ever beat Lands (marit Lage) or Sneak'n'Show en route to the top 8 of any Legacy tournament in the future, I will owe you a cut of prize for this great suggestion that I never would have considered before. :)

[Scott]

Those Merfolk builds that use Chalice of the Void with Cursecatcher, partially because of the ability to bypass it with Aether Vial and Cavern of Souls, got me wondering if anyone's tried Dryad Militant, similarly shielded with Cavern of Souls and Preeminent Captain. That part should be fine, and it would fit into the Soldier builds I've seen that are tempo oriented, but I don't know if it's already been written off as not doing enough for the deck.

[MGB]

Those Merfolk builds that use Chalice of the Void with Cursecatcher, partially because of the ability to bypass it with Aether Vial and Cavern of Souls, got me wondering if anyone's tried Dryad Militant, similarly shielded with Cavern of Souls and Preeminent Captain. That part should be fine, and it would fit into the Soldier builds I've seen that are tempo oriented, but I don't know if it's already been written off as not doing enough for the deck.

I tried testing Dryad Militant and it just didn't seem to do enough. Sometimes the ability is relevant, sometimes he comes into play too late for it to matter. And when its ability isn't relevant, it's just a 2/1 for W, which is pretty mediocre in Legacy terms. Compare that to something like Ballyrush Banneret which is a 2/1 for 1W but its ability is always relevant because you're always casting soldiers. Or something like Kor Skyfisher which is 2/3 for 1W and even has a "drawback" (which sometimes is beneficial - bouncing Officers for card advantage), but has flying and can block Delvers all day or fly over blockers.

The most recent thing I've been testing is a red splash for Magus of the Moon and some interesting R/W Soldiers (Goblin Legionnaire, Thundersong Trumpeter, and Foundry Champion).

Here's a list I've been toying with that has a bit of an edge in some matchups where the mono white version didn't:


4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
1 Plains
2 Plateau
4 Windswept Heath
2 City of Traitors
2 Karakas

4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox

4 Preeminent Captain
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Commander Eesha
3 Daru Warchief
4 Enlistment Officer
3 Foundry Champion
4 Goblin Legionnaire
2 Jotun Grunt
3 Kor Skyfisher
4 Magus of the Moon

SB:

2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Containment Priest
3 Preacher
4 Rest in Peace
3 Damping Matrix
2 Blood Moon

[Barook]

How would this fit into the Soldier Stompy shell? It has synergy with Preeminent Captain:

Relic Hunter* :1::w:
Creature - Human Soldier
Renown 1 (When this creature deals combat damage to a player, if it isn't renowned, put a +1/+1 counter on it and it becomes renowned.)
When Relic Hunter becomes renowned, you may search your library for an Equipment card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
2/2

[MGB]

How would this fit into the Soldier Stompy shell? It has synergy with Preeminent Captain:

Relic Hunter* :1::w:
Creature - Human Soldier
Renown 1 (When this creature deals combat damage to a player, if it isn't renowned, put a +1/+1 counter on it and it becomes renowned.)
When Relic Hunter becomes renowned, you may search your library for an Equipment card, reveal it, put it into your hand, then shuffle your library.
2/2

I know I'll be testing it.

It's obviously weaker than Stoneforge Mystic but Mystic is maybe one of the five best creatures ever printed. The nice thing about this one is that it is a bit more aggressive than Mystic.

Obviously you have to play Jitte + some Sword in the deck now if you want to play this guy.


Additionally, this works really well in those builds that play Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit and High Sentinels of Arashin. Renown Hunter = more pump for High Sentinels.

[MD.Ghost]

I know I'll be testing it.

It's obviously weaker than Stoneforge Mystic but Mystic is maybe one of the five best creatures ever printed. The nice thing about this one is that it is a bit more aggressive than Mystic.

Obviously you have to play Jitte + some Sword in the deck now if you want to play this guy.

Additionally, this works really well in those builds that play Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit and High Sentinels of Arashin. Renown Hunter = more pump for High Sentinels.

The deck needs more good 2drops besides Thalia and while it isn't as powerfull as a Stoneforge (which isn't good here, no soldier, suppression field etc.), it has some potential:

Cavern = Counterproof
Chalice/Thalia = some protection against Removal
Captain = put into Play as an Attacker instead of waiting a turn
Ballyrush/Warchief = cost one less
Officer = Draw him as a Soldier
Warchief/Captain/etc. = pump him which makes him harder to block and later more aggressiv as a SfM
(and some synergie with the mentioned cards that uses +1/+1 counters)


The Problem is, which Equipment will be right, because this deck wants to use SField (it is so good vs Miracle! etc.) - so Jitte isnt the best idea.

[Poron]

it's already WR, what about Boros Charm?

you can save your creatures as well as dealing 4 damages instant speed when needed

[MGB]

The deck needs more good 2drops besides Thalia and while it isn't as powerfull as a Stoneforge (which isn't good here, no soldier, suppression field etc.), it has some potential:

Cavern = Counterproof
Chalice/Thalia = some protection against Removal
Captain = put into Play as an Attacker instead of waiting a turn
Ballyrush/Warchief = cost one less
Officer = Draw him as a Soldier
Warchief/Captain/etc. = pump him which makes him harder to block and later more aggressiv as a SfM
(and some synergie with the mentioned cards that uses +1/+1 counters)


The Problem is, which Equipment will be right, because this deck wants to use SField (it is so good vs Miracle! etc.) - so Jitte isnt the best idea.

I don't use SField at all in any of my builds. I've always found it to be an underwhelming card in testing because it only delays things, and doesn't actually stop anything, and it can be played around very easily. I've explained this to people many times in the past, but SField is only valuable if you extract at least 3+ payments out of opponents. If they fetch in response, and/or later in the game have 2 extra mana for their Stoneforges and Jaces, then the Field is just card disadvantage for you and at worst it's a blank that you drew and played. Occasionally you'll blow out the random all-fetchland hand when you play it on turn 1 with a Chrome Mox, but that's a small percentage of games.

And against Miracles, Winter Orb is actually better than Suppression Field because it slows EVERYTHING down for them, and not just fetchlands / Top. With Orb in play, they basically have to figure out some way to operate on 1-2 mana at all times, and then Thalia makes it even stronger. With Field in play, they still untap all of their lands late-game and will gladly pay 2 more mana for their Jace because it's not even a problem later on.

That's just my opinion... I know other players just love Suppression Field, but I do not like playing with it. So in my builds, equipment is perfectly viable, and if I were to play this new Soldier I think I'd just add 1 Jitte (the best), 1 Sword of Fire and Ice? and maybe another Sword, and/or a diferent Sword in the SB plus a Manriki-Gusari in the sideboard for opposing Stoneforge Mystics.

[MGB]

it's already WR, what about Boros Charm?

you can save your creatures as well as dealing 4 damages instant speed when needed

You want as few noncreature, nonsoldier spells as possible. In my testing I've discovered that to make the deck work you basically need at least 28 Soldiers, so if you're playing, say, 20 lands, that leaves you room for 12 other things. I need 4 Chrome Mox, so that leaves me 8 slots, and I obviously need 4 Chalice of the Void, so that leaves me with 4, which I need to shore up with additional disruption. In the RW build I play Magus of the Moon in that slot, and in the mono white builds I usually play Winter Orb, but you can play Suppression Field in that slot if you like that better... and in the build that will be testing this new Relic Hunter guy, I'll have to throw some equipment in that slot.

[Dihensoeur]

http://media-dominaria.cursecdn.com/avatars/71/771/635706740754025752.jpeg

[MGB]

http://media-dominaria.cursecdn.com/avatars/71/771/635706740754025752.jpeg

Looks too expensive. Is it better than Daru Warchief or Enlistment Officer or even Commander Eesha or High Sentinels of Arashin, all of which currently occupy the 4cc+ slot?

Of course, it has a nice tap-down effect vs. stuff like Tarmogoyf, Batterskull, and Emrakul, and it's nice that it doesn't require a tap to activate, meaning you can attack/block with this while still using its ability.

[Jon]

Still think Suppression Field is the nut. Although I have abandoned the soldiers to play Brainstorm and Living Wish. Good luck with the new cards.

[MGB]

Still think Suppression Field is the nut. Although I have abandoned the soldiers to play Brainstorm and Living Wish. Good luck with the new cards.

The only way I'd abandon playing Ancient Tomb decks for Brainstorm is if that Brainstorm was played alongside Ancient Tombs and/or City of Traitors. I.e. Omnitell.

I doubt your win % with Living Wish.dec will be significantly higher than it would with any Ancient Tomb deck. If you're going to play blue cards, why not just play the best blue decks in the format? I mean, if your goal is to just have the highest win possibility, play Miracles or Omnitell. If you're just going to end up in 66th place with a blue deck, you could do the same thing with a Stompy deck and at least have more fun doing it. :smile:

[Infinitium]

Looks too expensive. Is it better than Daru Warchief or Enlistment Officer or even Commander Eesha or High Sentinels of Arashin, all of which currently occupy the 4cc+ slot?

Definetly better than Warchief and Sentinels. If you have colored mana it allows you to Preeminent into solitary big blockers for one, and the ability to keep a creature tapped indefinetly is relevant against fair decks and assorted combo decks cheating fatties into play both.

[MGB]

So I took the RW version of this deck to the Legacy Premiere IQ in Baltimore this past weekend.

I felt like the deck did some things nicely, but still suffered from some inadequacies against the grindy mid-range type of decks. I also made some critical mistakes with mismanagement of the red mana to probably cost me matches too.

Here's the breakdown of the rounds:

R1 (0-2) vs Mono Black Pox: Just like the matchup looks like on paper is how it played out. This guy really hates on creatures with The Abyss, Smallpox, Innocent Blood, and Liliana. In G1 he had Dark Ritual -> Liliana on turn 1. In G2 he had Dark Ritual -> The Abyss on Turn 2.

R2 (1-2) vs UWB Stoneblade: I won G1 with a quick uncounterable Magus of the Moon and he had no outs. G2 He plays Stoneforge Mystic at some point early and I play a Goblin Legionnaire next turn. That turn I miss my land drop, so if I had instead hit a red-producing land drop for that turn, I could have pinged his Stoneforge and locked him out of playing Batterskull later. If only Legionnaire didn't require mana to activate... G3 I have two Windswept Heaths in play early and decide to proactively fetch for two basic Plains. I was fearing Stifle and/or Wasteland, and I also saw that he was fetching basics early. However, this was my major mistake of that game. I should have just fetched a Plateau and a Plains, because later on, I draw Magus and can't play him with the mana available. If I had instead had a Plateau on Turn 3-4, I could have cast Magus and locked him out of later fetchlands and the color black altogether. Instead, he resolves a couple of Baleful Strixes off Underground Seas and then uses a fetch to crack for a white source and plays Stoneforge Mystic. The game goes long but I eventually crumble under Batterskull and True Names. But really, if I resolve an early Magus I don't think he ever gets black or white sources. After the game I asked him if he played any Wastelands in his deck and he says "No", so I definitely made a critical error by fetching two basic Plains early.

R3 (2-1) vs Omnitell: G1 I land Turn 1 Chalice @ 1 and he scoops a few turns later after not playing much of anything. G2 I don't sideboard any combo hate because I put him on Delver, having not seen any combo cards in G1. He successfully Show and Tells me that game. G3 I keep a hand with Banishing Light and Thalia. Thalia slows him down and then when he finally plays his Show and Tell Banishing Light exiles his Omniscience and he doesn't have any answers.

R4 (2-1) vs RG Lands: G1 I have Magus of the Moon and he doesn't draw Punishing Fire, thus I win. G2 I have something similar but he floats GB and Abrupt Decays the Magus. G3 I have sideboarded Winter Orb that slows him down immensely, and I pay enough mana for Tabernacles to win with beats.

R5 (2-0) vs BUG Delver?: G1 I have early Magus and he didn't expect it, so he can't play anything else the rest of the game. G2 I think I get Rest in Peace in play and some other stuff and he can't handle it.

R6 (2-0) vs BUG Control?: G1 is grindy. I play early dudes and a Preeminent Captain. He has a Tarmogoyf and gets one into play later. The Captain eventually attacks with other guys in play and Foundry Champion burns out one of the Goyfs and then future attacks with Foundry Champion are pumped and kill extra Goyfs and eventually him. In G2 I land 2x Rest in Peace and all of his Deathrite Shamans and Tarmogoyfs are useless the rest of the game and I win easily.

R7 (2-0) vs UR Delver: G1 Goblin Legionnaire kills a flipped Delver, which let me live long enough to get more dudes into play and just present more combat damage than he was presenting to me. He doesn't draw any Lightning Bolts, too, which helps. G2 he spends a few early Lightning Bolts on Goblin Legionnaires, which was a mistake on his part, because that let me then play Preeminent Captain into bigger threats.

R8 (1-2) vs UBR Delver: Essentially at this point we're fighting for who can finish in the #20-#28 range and still get a cash prize. My opponent is a "Pro" player who scrubbed out of the Standard Open the day before and is playing the "best" Legacy deck. Knowing he's on URx Delver strategies, in G1 I snap-keep an Ancient Tomb, Chalice, stuff hand. After landing Ancient Tomb->Chalice@1 on Turn 1, and then Thalia and other creatures later, he just scoops. In G2 he gets Deathrite Shaman and Tasigur out very early with lots of cantrips filling the graveyard. I play some guys but it's not enough. in G3 I have an opening hand of Ancient Tomb, 2 x Cavern of Souls, Preeminent Captain, 2 xDaru Warchief, and Foundry Champion. Because I'm on the play and Chalice @ 1 is so important in this matchup, I think long and hard about shipping this hand back, but later just decide to keep it because, if the Captain sticks, I probably win, and I have an uncounterable Captain, and he snap-keeps his opening hand, so I suspect he kept a counterspell-heavy hand. That was my mistake in this game, I think, because instead of a counter-heavy hand, he kept a hand full of Delvers and Lightning Bolts. He bolts my Turn 2 Captain, flips Delver and begins beating, and my Ancient Tombs keep shocking me, and then I go to fetch a land later and he Double-Bolts me in response and I die. Of course, if I mulligan that hand, it could be even worse, but if I mulligan and get a Chalice + Mox + Land or Chalice + Sol-Land I win that game easily. And the key there was to realize, I think, that just Preeminent Captain+Warchief+Champion are not going to beat a deck that plays Lightning Bolts and Forked Bolts. I asked him after the game if he had any Force of Will in his opening hand and he sheepishly said "No".

I finished 5-3 in a small event which is pretty disappointing, but I feel like I learned a little bit more about the deck. If you're going to play the red splash, knowing when and how to fetch Plateaus vs. Plains is really important. Knowing when and how to mulligan hands that look tempting is really important. Magus of the Moon wins games single-handedly sometimes, but sometimes he's also just a liability. Additionally, Goblin Legionnaire is solid but would be just insane if it didn't require mana to active :smile:

[mgrinshpon]

R4 (2-1) vs RG Lands: G1 I have Magus of the Moon and he doesn't draw Punishing Fire, thus I win. G2 I have something similar but he floats GB and Abrupt Decays the Magus. G3 I have sideboarded Winter Orb that slows him down immensely, and I pay enough mana for Tabernacles to win with beats.

I'm your R4 Lands opponent. I was playing a fairly experimental version of 4 color lands. Here's the exact decklist: http://deckbox.org/sets/994870 If you are interested, don't be. It's terrible.

Our matchup is not indicative of a RG lands matchup- my deck is much less stable and consistent than RG lands. If there's a 3+ color lands deck that works well in this day and age, the pile I played isn't it. RG Lands is much more liable to find Punishing Fire since they run 4 Gamble and 4 Punishing Fire in addition to 2 Tranquil Thickets compared to my 3/3 split. Game 1 may have ended very differently had that been the case. Game 1, I mulliganed to 5 after drawing 7 and drawing 7 again (woops!). My opening hand was 2 Crop Rotations, 2 Maze of Iths, and a Smokestack. I likely should have mulliganed to 4. In any case, I boarded out Smokestack, Intuition, Bojuka Bog, Glacial Chasm, and something I didn't write down for 2 Krosan Grip and 3 Abrupt Decay. Game 2, I went for the Marit Lage since I was pretty confident that you were a Chalice deck not drawing Chalices and didn't have Swords to Plowshares. You boarded in 4 RiP and 2 Winter Orbs, I assume? Game 3, I think that not just going for the early kill Marit Lage and ignoring what you were doing was a mistake. I should have sideboarded in an extra Dark Depths/Thespian's Stage combo.

I'm no Lands expert (that was my first legacy event with more than ~20 people!) so take my advice with a grain of salt but if I'm playing RG lands, just RiP is manageable but a playset of that and 2 Winter Orbs is terrifying. The sideboard's collection of Krosan Grips are going to be heavily taxed and generally speaking, your deck has more questions than I have answers to. Many of your creatures have 3 toughness, as well, which is pretty great. If you ever get the chance to, Chalice on 2 is pretty much good game against a RG Lands player unless they happen to have drawn their limited number of Krosan Grips. An early Chalice on 1 is huge, too, since a RG Lands player can just go for the combo as early as possible. Chalice on 1 shuts off Crop Rotation. Your biggest struggle will be against a lands player just jamming an early Marit Lage which, again, RG Lands is much better at doing than my 76 card assortment of expensive and cacophonous cardboard.

Your deck is awesome, by the way! Glad to see you did well!

[MGB]

I'm your R4 Lands opponent. I was playing a fairly experimental version of 4 color lands. Here's the exact decklist: http://deckbox.org/sets/994870 If you are interested, don't be. It's terrible.

Our matchup is not indicative of a RG lands matchup- my deck is much less stable and consistent than RG lands. If there's a 3+ color lands deck that works well in this day and age, the pile I played isn't it. RG Lands is much more liable to find Punishing Fire since they run 4 Gamble and 4 Punishing Fire in addition to 2 Tranquil Thickets compared to my 3/3 split. Game 1 may have ended very differently had that been the case. Game 1, I mulliganed to 5 after drawing 7 and drawing 7 again (woops!). My opening hand was 2 Crop Rotations, 2 Maze of Iths, and a Smokestack. I likely should have mulliganed to 4. In any case, I boarded out Smokestack, Intuition, Bojuka Bog, Glacial Chasm, and something I didn't write down for 2 Krosan Grip and 3 Abrupt Decay. Game 2, I went for the Marit Lage since I was pretty confident that you were a Chalice deck not drawing Chalices and didn't have Swords to Plowshares. You boarded in 4 RiP and 2 Winter Orbs, I assume? Game 3, I think that not just going for the early kill Marit Lage and ignoring what you were doing was a mistake. I should have sideboarded in an extra Dark Depths/Thespian's Stage combo.

I'm no Lands expert (that was my first legacy event with more than ~20 people!) so take my advice with a grain of salt but if I'm playing RG lands, just RiP is manageable but a playset of that and 2 Winter Orbs is terrifying. The sideboard's collection of Krosan Grips are going to be heavily taxed and generally speaking, your deck has more questions than I have answers to. Many of your creatures have 3 toughness, as well, which is pretty great. If you ever get the chance to, Chalice on 2 is pretty much good game against a RG Lands player unless they happen to have drawn their limited number of Krosan Grips. An early Chalice on 1 is huge, too, since a RG Lands player can just go for the combo as early as possible. Chalice on 1 shuts off Crop Rotation. Your biggest struggle will be against a lands player just jamming an early Marit Lage which, again, RG Lands is much better at doing than my 76 card assortment of expensive and cacophonous cardboard.

Your deck is awesome, by the way! Glad to see you did well!

Hey! It was really nice meeting/playing against you.

I have to say, that from playing against Lands in testing and one other time (vs David Long at Eternal Extravaganza - who destroyed me in G1 by naturally drawing the Stage+Depths combo even though i had Chalice @ 1 in play shutting off half his hand, and then I mulliganed to oblivion in G2 and he just had the nuts with Gamble, moxen, then the combo)... the most terrifying thing about Lands is definitely the Marit Lage combo. My only answer, basically, is Karakas - which you can Wasteland or Port before you go for the combo - or landing my singleton Commander Eesha, which can block a Marit Lage indefinitely until it gets hit by Punishing Fire x 2. Essentially, yes, me not playing Swords to Plowshares means you definitely should prioritize the combo above all else. Of course, most white decks *do* play Swords, so in the future, you probably won't ever have to heed this advice again because you probably will never face this deck in a sanctioned tournament ever again, and the advice is a bit wrong-headed if you're facing Death n Taxes with its Swords to Plowshares and Flickerwisps! :smile:

[MGB]

Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2W

Legendary Creature - Human soldier.

First Strike.

Creatures and non-basic lands your opponents control come into play tapped.

3 / 2


Holy perfect card for this archetype, Batman!

[MD.Ghost]

Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2W

Legendary Creature - Human soldier.

First Strike.

Creatures and non-basic lands your opponents control come into play tapped.

3 / 2


Holy perfect card for this archetype, Batman!

Yes really good card if you have a deck that can play it turn 1-2. Open a Game with it can also prevent first turn removal so you can follow up with Chalice or Thalia 1.0 for more protection etc.

Still unsure about the right deck list, i think with Thalia 2.0 I don't want to use SField anymore which opens up many new stuff like playing Jitte, more karakas protection etc. I feel Winter Orb (as a sideboard card) is really good with the New thalia to break control decks. Unsure of this deck really needs Warchief or Ballyrush, both dont feel strong enough on it's own.

Maybe someone brew a new White Stompy Build with 8 Thalia and the good Eldrazi (Displacer, Seer, Smasher).

[MGB]

Yes really good card if you have a deck that can play it turn 1-2. Open a Game with it can also prevent first turn removal so you can follow up with Chalice or Thalia 1.0 for more protection etc.

Still unsure about the right deck list, i think with Thalia 2.0 I don't want to use SField anymore which opens up many new stuff like playing Jitte, more karakas protection etc. I feel Winter Orb (as a sideboard card) is really good with the New thalia to break control decks. Unsure of this deck really needs Warchief or Ballyrush, both dont feel strong enough on it's own.

Maybe someone brew a new White Stompy Build with 8 Thalia and the good Eldrazi (Displacer, Seer, Smasher).

I never really liked Suppression Field and I was playing 4 Winter Orb maindeck in my soldier list and actually had some top-32 finishes at relatively large (300+ people) Legacy tournaments with it.

Now, since the Eldrazi have been printed MAYBE it's better just to play White Eldrazi with Thalias, but Preeminent Captain was one of the main reasons to play Soldiers and Preeminent Captain is a better creature than every Eldrazi except maybe Thought Knot Seer, so I still think there is some reason maybe to play 8 Thalias in a Soldier shell.

[rufus]

I mentioned it in the spoiler thread, but I think that leveraging tribal synergies is all about leveraging the interactions between multiple tribal cards, and that the chalice/aggro game plan is more about either getting creatures that also shut down the opponent, or ones that can close out the game quickly on their own.

From that perspective, it doesn't really make sense to run the tribal enablers like Ballyrush Banneret or Daru Warchief which really only pay off when you swarm.

Maybe something like Ranger of Eos and a smattering of interesting 0 and 1 cmc bodies - there are soldiers like Kytheon,Herald of Anafenza, and Dryad Militant, or non-soldier utility critters like Planar Guide and Salvage Scout, and X creatures like Endless One to play around chalice.

[Redkid43]

The lords are good when you are dumping them into play with Preeminet Captain. Otherwise, they are hard to cast and take up spots where somewhat more cost effective creatures would be.


Has anyone tossed around the idea of 8 Thalia? Both can be in play at the same time because of different names and both work incredible in tandem with each other. Put some Suppression field in there and that seems nuts

Something like

8 Thalia
4 Preeminet Captain
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Captain of the Watch
1 Brimaz
1 Gustcloak Savior

4 Suppression Field
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox

4 Cavern
4 Tomb
4 City
3 Karakas
5 plains

[MD.Ghost]

I would go with something like this as a first brew:

// Lands
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
2 City of Traitors
1 Eiganjo Castle
2 Karakas
8 Plains

// Creatures
4 Captain of the Watch
4 Enlistment Officer
2 Gustcloak Savior
2 High Sentinels of Arashin
2 Kor Hookmaster // Flexslot
1 Kor Skyfisher // Flexslot
4 Preeminent Captain
2 Relic Seeker // Jötun Grunt
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thalia 2.0 NEW

// Spells
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox
2 Umezawa's Jitte

// Sideboard
2 Containment Priest
2 Crackdown
2 Holy Light
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Rest in Peace
2 Thorn of Amethyst // Warping Wail
2 Tsabo's Web // Winter Orb
1 Surgical Extraction // Flexslot

First Idea, without SField we can use Jitte and other Tools. Maindeck is mostly build around high value Soldiers instead of stuff like Warchief or Ballyrush. Relic Seeker is here for Jitte, because Jitte is Jitte especially with First Strike Creatures, Stompy-Land-Speed and Flying Soldiers (which don't die to Decay/Bolt^^)

Thalia 2.0 should be very strong here because you can play her turn 1 and naturally Soldiers had problems with early Gofy/BSkull and Thalia 2.0 buy at least one more turn. She is also nasty with Crackdown, Tsabo's Web and Winter Orb! Kor Hookmaster is here because he is solid vs Eldrazi/BGx Decks and can also work with Thalia 2.0 for another more lockdowns/turns.

Manabase should work well. If you like the risk to splash something i would test R for Nahiri because she can support this deck nice after Thalia 2.0 is out (kills stuff under Thalia/Hookmaster, draw cards if you have useless Mox/Thalia copies in hand and Ultimate with Captain of the Watch should be strong enough). Another idea is Green for Choke (and Library). Thalia 2.0 (or 1.0) and Choke should be a strong combo vs blue decks. So only downside for this underrated Tribe is that "Chalice Stompy" is currently "everywhere" (thanks to Eldrazi) so the meta is prepared to beat this game plan. Good news are, the monowhite version doesn't die to Blood Moon/Land Hate and with Thalia Duo and some Flyers even a Moat is beatable.

Afterall it would be interesting to compare this deck vs eldrazi stompy after Thalia 2.0 is out. The new Thalia is definite a huge push for the brave Soldiers.

[MGB]

Here's the list I will be testing with the new card:

4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
2 City of Traitors
3 Karakas
5 Plains
2 Horizon Canopy

3 Ballyrush Banneret
3 Captain of the Watch
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Gustcloak Savior
2 Kor Skyfisher
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thalia, Heretic Cathar

4 Chrome Mox
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Winter Orb

SB:
4 Rest in Peace
3 Damping Matrix
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Magus of the Moat
4 Banishing Light

[porcupinetreeman]

The only reason to play this deck is suppression field. The new Thalia should make this a solid tier 2 deck. I would start with something like this.

4 Chalice of the Void
4 Suppression Field

4 Captain of the Watch
4 Ballyrush Banneret
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Daru Warchief
2 Field Marshal
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Thalia 2.0
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

3 Karakas
7 Plains
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Chrome Mox
4 Cavern of Souls


SB:


1 Oblivion Ring
4 Rest in Peace
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Ravages of War
2 Armageddon

[MGB]

The only reason to play this deck is suppression field. The new Thalia should make this a solid tier 2 deck. I would start with something like this.


The primary reason to play this deck is actually Preeminent Captain. Captain is one of the most powerful creatures at 3 mana in the game if he's played in a deck with lots of Soldier card types. And of course, Thalia and Chalice.

Suppression Field is a very overrated card, imho. I've had much more success with Winter Orb in that slot in my soldier deck than Suppression Field.

[MD.Ghost]

SField is great in some cases, but since Thalia 2.0 also wrecks Fetches I see no reason to play SField, because our own Karakas is much better now. Jitte is very strong with all the First Strike Creatures and you can play a lot of more stuff like High Sentinels, Planeswalker, own Fetches with Splash etc.

[Jon]

I'm back. No idea what list I like more but now with new Thalia I am fine playing orb.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

[Fatal]

I seen few games with Thalia 2.0 and Suppresion field - both works great :-)

[TLK]

Soldier list made top 8 of a recent event.

http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=13150&d=276997&f=LE

[Xod]

For information about his losses. In the Top 8 hé lost against the reanimator deck. And he got 4-1 before the top 8, losing only to me, the Big Red deck. (I was very lucky)

[DarthVicious]

No Catapult Squad?

Edit: Metagame blah blah blah

[MGB]

For information about his losses. In the Top 8 hé lost against the reanimator deck. And he got 4-1 before the top 8, losing only to me, the Big Red deck. (I was very lucky)

And his Reanimator matchup would be improved if he was playing 4 Rest in Peace in SB and 3 Karakas MD like he probably should.

[s&s]

SField is great in some cases, but since Thalia 2.0 also wrecks Fetches I see no reason to play SField, because our own Karakas is much better now. Jitte is very strong with all the First Strike Creatures and you can play a lot of more stuff like High Sentinels, Planeswalker, own Fetches with Splash etc.

suppresion field is great against some key legacy cards which thalia 2.0 does not affect

against miracles it is a great asset against top, lategame it makes jace activations costly, it makes wirewood symbiote and the other utility elves and DRS near-impossible to use, it slows lands down a great deal, its usually pretty easy to remove a thalia through pf / molten vortex, but only the decks running abrupt decay have a counter to suppression field game 1 ..

it also comes out earlier then thalia 2.0 and protects from wasteland, seems important since the deck does have a chance to get wasted out and doesn't have the manipulation to do much about it after the fact

finally also stacks well with thalia 2.0 to make fetching even worse

i don't think it can be cut without significantly weakening the deck

[kwèk]

Soldier list made top 8 of a recent event.

http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=13150&d=276997&f=LE


Yeah I had a great run out there. LOL


Annyway... been tweaking and testing the deck for a while. I bought it years ago, because I've been playing all kinds of "stompy" variants. But Soldiers, for me, was the least impressive. I kinda went to Angel Stompy, and had some succes in small FNM-Legacy evenings.

http://tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=14050&iddeck=103349

Tweaked and played around with it... talked to Matthew quite a lot too (thanks for the help).


But with the emerging of "Thalia 2.0" (it's Britney B*tch), and my weird relationship with "Loxodon Gatekeeper"... I wanted to give it another try.
"Loxodon Gatekeeper" as an effect was great... as a body and his CMC were not. Ussually he came to late, and the 2/3 just wasn't that great in later top deck mode. At least Thalia comes with First Strike... and is a good clock by herself.

The Core of the deck... is pretty solid. You can't really change a lot about it.

Aggro stuff:

4x Preeminent Captain (Man... he can be really back breaking)
4x Captain of the Watch (With cost reducers, you can just cast it turn 4 sometimes)
4x Enlistment Officer (Just way to good to cut down on)
4x Daru Warchief (In my opinion way better then the Field Marshall, because of +2 Toughness, and reduces cost)
4x Ballyrush Banneret (Another cost Reducer, that is pretty weak on it's own)

2/3x Field Marshal (Pretty good in Creature Vs Creature match ups... making a wall of First Strikers till they all get vigilace, is pretty cool)

Disruption:

4x Chalice of the Void (way to good not to play MD)
4x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben (way to god not to play MD)
3/4x Thalia, Heretic Cathar (Good in a lot of match ups, but sometimes a bit over excessive... I cut down on 1)

Then there is a choice to make between:

4x Suppresion Field
OR
4x Thorn of Amethyst


Suppresion Field: Pretty good in a metagame with equipment and sensei's diving top. You can't really beat Equipment mainboard, because there is NO soldier that destroys artifacts (why... damned :cry:). Disrupting the Wastelands can also be a good thing... since your mana-base plan isn't the most solid. BUT, like I discussed with Matt and some other guys that play prisonlike effects, if you only want to hit the fetchlands... then Suppresion field should be boarded out. Why?

Just watch the 3th game of "Stephen Sachs Vs Andrew Boswell" SCG circuit 2013

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY7E4z7WikE

His opponent just draws the lands he needs, never fetches. Brainstorms put fetches back in the library... uses ponders to shuffle. Suppresion field was pretty much a dead card.

Thorn of Amethyst: Is always good if you play against a "non-creature" match up. (tempo games included) Thorn + Thalia 1.0 , creates a lot of time walks. The new thalia just helps time walking, while you keep hitting for 2, 5, 8, ... as you deploy the garrison.

This is the danger, but also the tactic that makes sure you stick in your roll. You are playing aggro, you don't want to answer stuff... you just want them not to play it, while you beat away. They have to answer your stuff, that's the game you want to play. You don't have the space to be a control match up... your core is aggro. You just prison a little bit, because if you don't (in legacy) you just loose. (plays a sad song on a small violin for "zoo")

If at anny point, you find yourself in a situation... that you need to answer in the form of a "non-creature"... then maybe it's time to shuffle it up and try not to get in the same position the next time you play.

This leaves you with at least 1/2 free/flex slot mainboard, depending on your choices. And 11/12 sideboard slots (since you want the Suppresion Field/Thorn of Amethysts in sideboard).

So the addaptions of the deck, need to go in SB, that's the place where you tweak the deck.

I have a love/hate relationship with Brimaz. That guy brings his own army... but you already have 2 legendary creatures in the form of Thalia. Sometimes They just get randomly bounced by the karakasses that are naturally flowing around. I also sometimes get stuck with thalia's in hand btw... that's why I kinda cut 1 out already. Having thalia 1.0 and 2.0 already in play... and then hitting another 2 thalias, and 2 lands, doesnt make you really happy, because in most cases you just want to swarm the board and bring the pain.


Yesterday... I experimented with "Ballyknock Trapper" instead of Brimaz mainboard.

http://magiccards.info/eve/en/2.html

It was pretty fun. LOL
Doesn't remove a threat like "O ring". But it has this little trick that D&T used to play with Sneak and Show. When they sneaked in an emrakull, D&T went for the Leonin Bola play. Now this is a 2/2 that costs only one W (which is important with cost reducers). If suppresion field is not online, you can tap a creature (end of turn), untap and tap a creature, play a white spell (untap)... and decide to attack or not. Against heavy beaters this is a great card. And when it gets Vigilance (Captain of the watch) you can declare him attacking, and before blockers tap another creature. 2nd mainphase play a creature and untap him for more tricks.

Similair effects can be found in the body of:

Master Decoy: http://magiccards.info/tp/en/241.html
Benalish Trapper: http://magiccards.info/in/en/8.html

If you wanna block fliers, or big guys that don't have trample or shroud/protection.

Trap Runner: http://magiccards.info/mm/en/55.html

It even blocks creatures that can't be blocked!!! (like Blighted Agent, if you can stall the game for so long)

All of these options keeps creatures on the table. If your creatures gets removed, their big guy will have a party.

Intrepid Hero: http://magiccards.info/query?q=intrepid+hero&v=card&s=cname

However... Kills them outright. But doesn't deal with Marit Lage or a Blightsteel Collosus or an Ulamog.


Just choices you have to make... but all these options can be hit by "enlistment officer", and you don't need to randomly draw them. And if they have no target to tap/block/kill, at least they can do some damadge... which still is your plan. Kill before you are killed.

The Umezawa's Jitte in the sideboard was just there for "Elves". Thalia 2.0 disrupts elves already, but "suppresion field" and "thorn of amethyst" don't really do enough. Also thalia 1.0 is just a 2/1 First strike in that match up. ... But I found out Elves have enough answers to the jitte, so I don't want to gamble on playing an answer, that can be to easily disrupted. (Bouncing elves with wirewood/sybiote / Just getting a reclamation sage)

Since we don't have anny real spot removal... Wirewood/symbiote pretty much makes Jitte a joke. So ... I've been testing with "Holy Light" which is a bit better I guess. It can be cast next to "Chalice of the Void" (which still is disrupting enougn) (http://magiccards.info/query?q=holy+light&v=card&s=cname)

Another card that can be really nice, but also a legend, is Commander Eesha (http://magiccards.info/query?q=commander+eesha&v=card&s=cname). Blocks most creatures for ever... and can't be abrupt decayed. Can't be bolted... So StP and Karakas are the best removal spells that are commonly used. In a BUG meta game she can do some serious damadge. Also, once she is all buffed up... she can swing for lethal, all on her own, since no one will be able to block her. Not even "Trap Runner" LOL.


Winter Orb... I love it. But I'm not sure if I would go beyond 2. Armageddon ussually is way to steep of a cost to pay because of thorn-effects. The fact that you only play 18/19 lands, makes your "land" top deck a lot worst then your opponents. But Thalia 2.0 + Winter Orb + Chrome Mox + Sol land + Cost reductions ... is pretty cool. You just wait till they tap out for something big... then you cast "winter orb", and it's almost feels like "armageddon", while you have your garrison in play.

What's cool about this deck, against "non-creature match ups" ... is that you higher the cost of their spells, while in the same time lowering the cost on your soldiers. You gain an enormous amount of tempo by just playing that game, and your creatures get huge pretty quick.


Right now my results in the past few weeks in little tournaments:


BLC-Trial: (31 players)

2-1 vs Dark Maverick (win)
2-1 vs Miracles (win)
1-2 vs Big Red (loss)
2-1 vs ANT (win)
2-0 vs BUG Opposition (win)

8th Finals: 0-2 vs Reanimator (loss)



Small tourney under friends (8 players)

1-2 vs Infect (loss)
2-0 vs Miracles (win)
2-1 vs GWr Enchantress (win)




FNM Legacy (14 players)

2-1 vs Miracles (win)
1-2 vs Cw Eldrazi (loss)
2-1 vs Black Stax (win)
2-0 vs Death and Taxes (win)



It's not stable... or a tier 1 deck. But it can deliver a punch. And testing it, makes me feel that it's better then "Eldrazi", which I considered the best stompy deck option since the new thalia came around. The "enlistment officer" + "Cavern of souls" just gives you that edge that the eldrazi deck hasn't... namely, drawing loads of cards after you run out of gas.

If you vial the enlistment officer in, with a "preemptive captain" trigger... you sometimes can just cast all the WX spells for 1 mana, because of costs reductions... making sure you have lethal on board the next turn.

But you lose to the same spells eldrazi loose too. "Moat" , "Humility" and "Ensnaring Bridge".
You can solve "Moat" with "Aven Cloudchaser" (http://magiccards.info/od/en/7.html) ... It's not great, but it flies, and it destroys an annoying enchantment (Omniscience/Sneak attack). Another problem could be "Torpor Orb" and "Hushwing Gryff"... since it cancels out a lot of the value triggers of creatures comming into play.

"True Name Nemesis" is also a problem... since you don't play blue, and can't counter it. Just make sure it NEVER EVER gets equiped. If it's not equiped, you can just swarm the True Name. "Holy Light" also solves the problem.

[ESG]

Great input on testing, kwèk, and thanks for sharing your results! But no need for quote marks on the card names.

It's interesting that you say you feel Soldier Stompy is not Tier 1 but is better than Eldrazi, when Eldrazi is generally considered a Tier 1 deck based on results.

[kwèk]

... Maybe we should "define" tier 1.

Annyways. I played Eldrazi too for a bit. I'm not an expert with it.
But I think the power of the Eldrazi deck is in it's opening. It can be more explosive then soldiers.


Turn 1: Eye of Ugin -> 1/2x Eldrazi Mimic
Turn 2: Eldrazi Temple -> Thought-Knot Seer (discard) + Hit for 4/8
Turn 3: Cavern of Souls -> Reality Smasher + Hit for 14/19

Is something Soldiers can't do.

This is also one of those openings that only works if they are undisrupted.
If anny of these plays gets disrupted, things turn sour for the eldrazi deck.
And with this opening, they havent deployed a chalice / thorn of amethyst. But they did discard one targeted card (which can be really rough).

Sometimes they play the soldier game, by deploying a chalice/thorn first. And play a tought-knot seer turn 2.

The Thought knot seer, turn 2 and sometimes turn 3 as well, was the reason of most of my wins with the deck. Reality smasher is a good card to finish tings off. But again. If your opponent kills your creatures or counters them (specially after sideboard)... the deck will run out of gas. They only have between 22-24 creatures... where Soldiers play between 28-30 ... and after sideboard (in my build right now) even 33. This makes your top decks a lot better to apply any form of pressure on the board. And with the 24 Eldrazi creatures, ussually 4 spirit guides are included.

When it comes to explosiveness, eldrazi has a better start if they have the right hand.
If you are looking at consistency... I honestly have the feeling Soldiers are more consistent, and can rebuild easier after your opponent found some answers.

[Sidneyious]

While not a soldier, I think mom would have a home here?

[Scott]

While not a soldier, I think mom would have a home here?

High bar for non-soldiers, high bar for 1 CMC spells, very high bar for something that's both. Nixed.

[Sidneyious]

High bar for non-soldiers, high bar for 1 CMC spells, very high bar for something that's both. Nixed.
But she provides much value for saving and swinging.

They need to get it before the untap, or 2for1 themselves which buys you time to get more beats in.

Also bait

[James718]

What does soldiers offer over Merfolk? Chalice Slivers?

[kwèk]

What does soldiers offer over Merfolk? Chalice Slivers?



Merfolk Vs Soldiers

Merfolks' opening is way less explosive then Soldiers.
- Soldiers can play a chalice for 1 on turn 1
- Soldiers can open with a Thalia OR a preeminent captain (that last one can spiral out of control quickly)
Merfolk plays counterspells... Soldiers disruptions comes from permanents. (not saying that annyone is better here... just saying that it's diffrent)
Merfolk has a creature, that it can copy that is pretty hard to answer (True Name Nemesis) ... Most of the soldiers are by themselves superior then every creature in the Merfolk deck except true name nemesis.
... I think the best thing of Merfolk, is the island walk.
... And the best thing the soldiers have, is the card draw. Enlistment Officers can get insane. If you get sweeped, the merfolk will have a lot harder time to rebuild then the soldiers will.
... And soldiers have First strike (which is way underrated)


Silvers vs Soldiers

- Opening of Soldiers is way more explosive
- Most soldiers, by themselves (alone) are better then the average silver by itself
- Probably the best thing slivers have is crystaline
- Best thing that soldiers have is the card draw + First Strike



I'm not sure, but comparing Soldiers to Slivers / Merfolk is also comparing 2 diffrent archetypes.

Slivers/Merfolk... more fall in the bracket of pure aggro decks, they don't run a lot of prison elements
While Soldiers, are still a stompy deck. They do get more and more powerfull if certain soldiers hit the field (just like slivers and merfolk) ... but the prison elements + explosive starts make soldiers just a bit diffrent.


Soldiers are more a halfbreed of Stompy And Goblins.
Goblins are more of a control deck, with aggro elements.
While Soldiers are more aggro, with prison elements.

A lot of the soldiers are just good stuff on their own... and don't need lords to bring them over the top


Preeminent Captain - 2/2 First Strike
Thalia, Guardian of thraben - 2/1 First strike
Thalia, Heretic Cathar - 3/2 First Strike
Daru Warchief - 2/3 (believe me, the 3 in toughness is better then a 2, mainly because of stuff like "disfigure" and "punishing fire")
Field Marshall - 2/3 First Strike


Gale Rider / Winged Sliver - 1/1 Flying
Striking Sliver - 1/1 First Strike
Crystaline Sliver - 2/2 Shroud
Predatory / Muscle / Sinew Sliver - 2/2
Hibernation Sliver - 2/2 Bounce


Except for True-Name Nemesis ... Merfolk is a bunch of Grizly Bears, untill they get a back up in.





When it comes to Goblins... Goblins have "Matron" , and Goblins that take care of almost everything (no enchantments). But their creatures have really bad stats in comparisson to soldiers. Soldiers has less card selection, which most probably gives them less card draw then goblins. We can't go "Matron" for "Enlistment officer" (damn the guys at MTG to decide that "imperial recruiter" is an "advisor" while he's cleary a "soldier" :mad: )

I guess Soldiers Hit harder while Goblins control the board better.

[MGB]

What does soldiers offer over Merfolk? Chalice Slivers?

The big draw for me that Soldiers always had were the following:

- Thalia, Guardian of Thraben: often uncounterable Thorn of Amethyst on a 2/1 body that can sometimes come down turn one off a Chrome Mox. Neither Merfolk nor Slivers have a creature as disruptive as this.

- Enlistment Officer: The power of a draw engine cannot be understated for an aggro/control deck such as this - it lets you win attrition matchups and matches against control decks with sweepers. Neither Merfolk nor Slivers have a card-draw engine in their deck.

- Preeminent Captain: In the soldier shell he is literally one of the most powerful creatures ever printed. The ability to gain massive tempo swings by cheating on mana and cheating on the "summoning sickness" clause for creatures is incredibly powerful. He is like a better Goblin Lackey in this deck, and neither Merfolk nor Slivers have anything that is comparable.

- Captain of the Watch: This is the ultimate "lord" creature. Yes, it's expensive but with Preeminent Captain and Sol-Lands it's manageable - and the ability to give +1/+1 vigilance *and* generate tokens (giving you a default 9/9 power toughness for 6 mana *and* bonuses to anyone already on the battlefield) is tremendous. Yes, both Merfolk and Slivers have good lords, but the "all in one" package of Captain of the Watch makes her arguably the best lord of them all.

Now don't get me wrong - Soldiers is far from demonstrably superior to Merfolk/Slivers as a whole - in fact, I think it's a weaker deck than both Merfolk and Slivers, but nevertheless, it has elements that are unique enough that those decks *don't* have (such as these that I mentioned above) that arguments can be made for playing Soldiers over those decks in certain metagames. And it's also a heck of a lot more fun to play.

[Amunshax]

http://www.starcitygames.com/article/33482_.html looks like here is the missing recruiter :)

[Fatal]

It's like a matron for soldiers :-)

[Jon]

Except its not.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

[MD.Ghost]

Pretty good, the deck already have Cavern, fast stompy mana 8x Thalia as a core. You can Mix up Captain, Warchief (it's a 1/1 ;)) and the real bonus: a lot of sideboard cards like Containment Priest, Revoker, Canonist etc.

Together with Officer this looks solid.

[Seraphix]

http://www.starcitygames.com/article/33482_.html looks like here is the missing recruiter :)

Does this deck really want the new pseudo-Recruiter?

The creature suite is more focused on power than versatility. I don't know of any "toolbox" Soldiers worth getting a la Stingscourger/Settler (I'll happily be wrong about this though), and without such cards diluting the deck with this mediocre body isn't justifiable.


Pretty good, the deck already have Cavern, fast stompy mana 8x Thalia as a core. You can Mix up Captain, Warchief (it's a 1/1 ;)) and the real bonus: a lot of sideboard cards like Containment Priest, Revoker, Canonist etc.

Together with Officer this looks solid.

This might be a different White Stompy shell rather than a Soldier-focused one.

[nedleeds]

Neither Merfolk nor Slivers have a card-draw engine in their deck..

Merfolk in fact has the exact same draw engine ... a ringleader.

[civet five]

Merfolk in fact has the exact same draw engine ... a ringleader.

I can't recall Tidal Courier being useful for anything...even searching up a singleton Rootwater Thief is dumb

[MD.Ghost]

// Deck: Soldier Stompy .dec (60)

// Lands
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
2 City of Traitors
2 Karakas
8 Plains

// Creatures
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
3 Recruiter of the Guard
3 Ballyrush Banneret
3 Captain of the Watch
2 Changeling Hero
2 Daru Warchief
1 Field Marshal
1 Kor Hookmaster
1 Flickerwisp

// Spells
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox

// Sideboard
SB: 1 Aegis of the Gods
SB: 1 Containment Priest
SB: 1 Intrepid Hero
SB: 1 Mangara of Corondor
SB: 1 Peacekeeper
SB: 1 Phyrexian Revoker
SB: 2 Rest in Peace
SB: 2 Surgical Extraction
SB: 2 Thorn of Amethyst
SB: 3 Suppression Field


First raw brew with our new Soldier. A lot of ideas to test. Flickerwisp as 1off non soldier tutor target against stuff like moat (but it also works well with Officer etc).

I included Hero because he can catch useless Ballyrush, Recruiter, multiple Thalia copies or Officer (which also saves the deck against Sweeper cards) and should also work with our little Captain.

What I like with recruiter is that you can fetch Warchief to power up the field.

Sideboard is full of useful tutorable targets and common stuff against most decks. SField is my flexslot, i can also see Winter Orb, Jitte etc here. Note that recruiter can also fetch Phyrexian Metamorph.

[MGB]

Wow! They printed a tutor soldier?!


First Thalia 2.0 and now this? They're just begging me to play this deck again!

[MD.Ghost]

Wow...after years Soldier got a lot of love now...first Thalia 2.0, now Recruiter and (today spoiler) Palace Jailer!

All fits very well together, Thalia works good vs Wasteland/Fetches etc, which means slow down most legacy decks and also protect your own stompy mana base. On top of it, it will prevent early blocks which helps to race (after all Soldier Stompy is an Aggro Deck).

Recruiter now hold the deck togehter. Yes he misses the Office(Ringleader) option, but you can create a very good toolbox with him and in thanks to the tribal synergies he is way more than a tutor with a 1/1 body. I like that he can tutor Daru Warchief.

Finally Palace Jailer:

http://mythicspoiler.com/cn2/cards/palacejailer.jpg

He comes with 2 relevant abilities, Monarch is a great way to draw more cards (for a deck which tends to empty his hand fast enough and afterall needs the right topdecks), but the ability to exile a creature is very important since soldier normally run zero removal (look at poor Kor Hookmaster). Sometimes you can't simply overrun your opponent so it is a great way to exile blockers/utility creatures.


uncounterable with Cavern, check
tutorable with new Recruiter, check
profit from our Lord buffs, check
cheaper with Ballyrush/Warchief, check
cheatable with P.Captain, check
doesnt matter if Jailer dies, check


See the list above (the same can count for Recruiter) it feels, that both cards are comparable to Deathrite Shaman. The Elf is played in every BGx Shell because he is very strong. Now all eyes look at DnT and some at White Eldrazi/Stompy to abuse the new Creatures. Afterall Deathrites best deck is his own tribe (Elves Combo) and i feel that Soldiers can show the real strength for Recruiter and Jailer.

[Infinitium]

You do realize your opponent becomes monarch if one of his attacks connect with you? Y'all should be playning Mirror Entity btw, it was what won me most games whe I played this deck back in Lorwyn block. Even threatening the pum allows you to put creatures through unblocked, and it wins the game within a few swings with Preeminent. Shining Shoal is a pretty good option as well given that you want to be playing creatures for the first few rounds of the game. Intrepid Hero loks like a good 1-of as well to force removal vs Tarmogoyf/ZombieFish and the like.

[MGB]

You do realize your opponent becomes monarch if one of his attacks connect with you? Y'all should be playning Mirror Entity btw, it was what won me most games whe I played this deck back in Lorwyn block. Even threatening the pum allows you to put creatures through unblocked, and it wins the game within a few swings with Preeminent. Shining Shoal is a pretty good option as well given that you want to be playing creatures for the first few rounds of the game. Intrepid Hero loks like a good 1-of as well to force removal vs Tarmogoyf/ZombieFish and the like.

Mirror Entity is too mana intensive from my testing. You want your lord effects to be as cheap as possible.

The "monarch" mechanic makes this new Jailer card not quite as good as Fiend Hunter, but...

it's still good against Show and Tell type strategies, especially as a tutor target. I don't know if you want 4 of these MD, but even something like 1 MD and 2-3 SB would be great now that Soldiers actually has a tutor guy.

[Kid]

http://media-dominaria.cursecdn.com/avatars/126/816/636085929848538138.png

More love for the soldier camp!

[MGB]

Got some testing in with the new cards on Cockatrice (because they aren't available on MTGO OR on Xmage yet).

This just in -

PALACE JAILER IS INSANE. I cannot emphasize this enough. This guy is stone-cold broken in this deck and in this format. Exile creatures? They don't come back when Jailer is removed? I get to draw an extra card every turn indefinitely as long as my opponent isn't attacking me (most decks don't have more than a few dudes, and some don't have any, and you have blockers for most of them)? Jailer gives this deck game against decks like Grixis Delver and other BGx decks that were otherwise tough matchups before the deck got actual removal. And he is maindeck hate for Show and Tell and Reanimator strategies as well. And he's never dead because he'll basically cantrip every time you cast him.

Sanctum Prelate is nice too, because you can just lock them out of spells at a certain point once you have Chalice @ 1 in play, and then name "two" witih Prelate - that was the downfall of this deck before because they could still do stuff like Abrupt Decay and PUnishing Fire, but if you name "two" with Prelate with Chalice @ 1 in play, alot of decks just completely collapse.

Recruiter is nice because he gets Jailer and Prelate when you need them.

[paradaxarada]

8 Plains
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
2 Karakas

4 Enlistment Officer
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
3 Recruiter of the Guard
3 Captain of the Watch
2 Ballyrush Banneret
2 Daru Warchief
2 Palace Jailer
1 Field Marshal

4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox
4 Suppression Field

[korstructure]

Did anyone see this random tweet by Julian Knab regarding the most recent BoM?

https://twitter.com/itsJulian23/status/774568737915699200

Any context or additional info from Julian or anyone else who was there? Who was it, how did they finish, etc?

Also, I have a general question about this deck: what keeps this deck from breaking through? From being more popular? From winning big events?

How much of it has to do with fundamental issues with the deck? How much is it that it's just not a popular deck/taken seriously by more players? Does this deck have unwinnable/terrible matchups?

I'm intrigued and I know you all have so much more experience with the deck, so I turn to you for your insight.

If I were to guess, I presume that there are three primary weaknesses: weakness to Wasteland, lack of disruption/interaction, and weakness to sweepers. Chrome Mox also offers some inherent card disadvantage (now shored up by Recruiter in addition to the already existing Ringleader). The weakness to Wasteland that this deck suffers from is similar to Eldrazi without having the super powerful standalone threats that Eldrazi has. This deck seems to need to preserve its mana to cast synergistic threats over multiple turns, some/most of those threats don't disrupt the opponent. That lack of disruption makes it nearly as weak to fast combo/creature-based combo as Goblins (with the notable exception of 4x Thalia, Guardian).

And lastly, this deck doesn't have the ability to comeback from a sweeper (Terminus, Toxic Deluge) like DnT. No instant-speed creatures at EOT, no Flickerwisp, no equipment package to make every body a dangerous one. I do recognize that it can draw raw cards, similar to how Goblins beats Miracles.

Mostly, I'm EXCITED about this archetype. It seems so fun and engaging. I want to really define the weaknesses so we can address them systematically.

Anyway, would love to hear your guys' insights! Thanks for reading.

[MD.Ghost]

I marked my answer "blue":


Did anyone see this random tweet by Julian Knab regarding the most recent BoM?

https://twitter.com/itsJulian23/status/774568737915699200

Any context or additional info from Julian or anyone else who was there? Who was it, how did they finish, etc?

Also, I have a general question about this deck: what keeps this deck from breaking through? From being more popular? From winning big events?

How much of it has to do with fundamental issues with the deck? How much is it that it's just not a popular deck/taken seriously by more players? Does this deck have unwinnable/terrible matchups?

I'm intrigued and I know you all have so much more experience with the deck, so I turn to you for your insight.

I guess the last years soldiers were simply underrated at legacy (issue with most non blue decks) and overall not strong enough compared to Tier 1 decks. Look at Goblins, you will find more players for the little guys but overall the deck is not really played (lucky for Miracle, since Goblins tend to destroy "The King of Legacy"). If you have only a few players for a deck, you have less result, especially since most "good" players tend to play with a blue Cantrip shell.

Like most Stompy Shells at the past, Soldiers also got some weakness: Not consistent enough, topdeck modus, weak vs BGx Decks (Gofy/Decay/Hymn/Strix/Liliana etc.) etc. and if you try a "brew" (like Soldiers) as an unexperienced player you will win no tropy since legacy can be a hard business (a lot of broken stuff, proven decks and experienced veterans)

Thanks to the prints of Thalia 2.0, Recruiter and Jailer the deck should be much stronger now!

If I were to guess, I presume that there are three primary weaknesses: weakness to Wasteland, lack of disruption/interaction, and weakness to sweepers.

1. Wasteland wasn't so bad at the past, because most builds run Suppression Field which was good vs Wasteland/Fetches etc. Now this deck has a playset of Thalia, Heretic Cathar which can be a Turn 1 play (so much stronger than DnT) and Thalia 2.0 has a huge impact, since she slow down the development of your opponent (and they will think twice if they use Wasteland in this case) and delay blockers. Both is huge, because afterall this is an Aggro deck (Tribal/Swarm). Thanks to Chrome Mox, it is save enough to run 8 Thalia(s).

2. Disruption/Interaction can still be an issue, but with Recruiter (a lot of silver bullets at side are avaible) you improve this with Cards like Palace Jailer (great one!). I also cut S.Field (thanks to Thalia 2.0) for a pair of Umezawa's Jitte (strong with so many First Strikers) which will also help to interact with your opponent.

3. Weakness to sweeper (besides Terminus) isn't true anymore. My version has 6(!) lords that will ensure that you will not die to any Pyroclasm/Kozilek's Return or Golgari Charm effects (more common now, thanks to DnT). So you have only respect Terminus and Toxic Deluge, but with 30+ Creatures, Officer and Recruiter to "Reload" that is not so problematic. Afterall you must play good enough, so don't unload your hand blindly into a Sweeper.

Chrome Mox also offers some inherent card disadvantage (now shored up by Recruiter in addition to the already existing Ringleader). The weakness to Wasteland that this deck suffers from is similar to Eldrazi without having the super powerful standalone threats that Eldrazi has. This deck seems to need to preserve its mana to cast synergistic threats over multiple turns, some/most of those threats don't disrupt the opponent. That lack of disruption makes it nearly as weak to fast combo/creature-based combo as Goblins (with the notable exception of 4x Thalia, Guardian).

Chrome Mox is not so bad most of the time, since you wan't speed (Chalice, Thalia(s), Captain are all strong T1 plays) and you have 8 legends as a pitch, with Recruiter and Officer you gain the advantage back later. Standalone Threats: You have Captain of the Watch and Palace Jailer that are both strong plays, but even Preeminent Captain can run wild if left unchecked.

Yes you are a little bit "weaker" vs Fast Combo compared to Eldrazi, but keep in mind that this deck has 10 options (6 Sollands, 4 Mox) to start the game with Thalia(s) or Chalice vs Combo and follow up with fast beats (much faster than a single delver vs combo). So you are much stronger than Goblins vs Combo. Note that a pair of Karakas will also matter vs some Combo decks. Thanks to Recruiter you can also play a lot of silver bullets vs Combo. Conclusion: I would not fear combo decks with soldiers - and you can always play additional cards like Mindbreak Trap (to ensure you get lockpieces down) or Warping Wail.

And lastly, this deck doesn't have the ability to comeback from a sweeper (Terminus, Toxic Deluge) like DnT. No instant-speed creatures at EOT, no Flickerwisp, no equipment package to make every body a dangerous one. I do recognize that it can draw raw cards, similar to how Goblins beats Miracles.

See above: Don't overextend blindly and you are fine. Note that you can try Warping Wail since most common Sweeper (Terminus, Pyroclasm, Toxic Deluge) are only Sorcery! Yes you sadly have no "Haste" (Vial/Goblin Speed) but you have cards like Captain of the Watch that can win games alone and will anger any Miracle player that cleared the board with Terminus the turn before^^

Mostly, I'm EXCITED about this archetype. It seems so fun and engaging. I want to really define the weaknesses so we can address them systematically.

Anyway, would love to hear your guys' insights! Thanks for reading.

I currently invest my time at playtest with Eldrazi & Taxes, but if i would play soldiers now the build would look like this (more or less):

8 Plains
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
2 Karakas

4 Enlistment Officer
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
3 Recruiter of the Guard
3 Captain of the Watch
3 Ballyrush Banneret
3 Daru Warchief
2 Palace Jailer

4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox
2 Umezawa's Jitte

Side:
1 Aegis of Gods
1 Aven Cloudchaser
1 Containment Priest
1 Faerie Macabre
1 Peacekeeper
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Sanctum Prelate
1 Elspeth, Knight Errant
2 Rest in Peace
2 Thorn of Amethyst
3 Swords to Plowshares

Note that i cut Suppression Field, but i guess it can be quite strong vs DnT (Vial/Mother/Stoneforge/Equipment/Waste/Port etc.) and Miracle etc. - after Thalia 2.0 i feel i don't need this card at maindeck, since it was only good early enough and afterall no soldier (officer) and no beater (topdecking more Fields was always bad). Feel free to cut Sideboard cards or prepare it for any local meta.

[korstructure]

Amazing response! Thank you, MD.

May I ask why you focus on Eldrazi and Taxes now? Is the deck stronger/does it show more promise?

I'm intrigued by the 8 Thalia archetype and it does seem like both Eldrazi and Soldiers could be viable directions.


I marked my answer "blue":



I currently invest my time at playtest with Eldrazi & Taxes, but if i would play soldiers now the build would look like this (more or less):

8 Plains
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
2 Karakas

4 Enlistment Officer
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
3 Recruiter of the Guard
3 Captain of the Watch
3 Ballyrush Banneret
3 Daru Warchief
2 Palace Jailer

4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox
2 Umezawa's Jitte

Side:
1 Aegis of Gods
1 Aven Cloudchaser
1 Containment Priest
1 Faerie Macabre
1 Peacekeeper
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Sanctum Prelate
1 Elspeth, Knight Errant
2 Rest in Peace
2 Thorn of Amethyst
3 Swords to Plowshares

Note that i cut Suppression Field, but i guess it can be quite strong vs DnT (Vial/Mother/Stoneforge/Equipment/Waste/Port etc.) and Miracle etc. - after Thalia 2.0 i feel i don't need this card at maindeck, since it was only good early enough and afterall no soldier (officer) and no beater (topdecking more Fields was always bad). Feel free to cut Sideboard cards or prepare it for any local meta.

[Seraphix]

Strictly easier to cast Fiend Hunter who's also a Soldier. Looks like a nice addition to this deck's options.

https://i.redd.it/9k0wp011xolx.png

[MGB]

Did anyone see this random tweet by Julian Knab regarding the most recent BoM?

https://twitter.com/itsJulian23/status/774568737915699200

Any context or additional info from Julian or anyone else who was there? Who was it, how did they finish, etc?

Also, I have a general question about this deck: what keeps this deck from breaking through? From being more popular? From winning big events?

How much of it has to do with fundamental issues with the deck? How much is it that it's just not a popular deck/taken seriously by more players? Does this deck have unwinnable/terrible matchups?

I'm intrigued and I know you all have so much more experience with the deck, so I turn to you for your insight.

If I were to guess, I presume that there are three primary weaknesses: weakness to Wasteland, lack of disruption/interaction, and weakness to sweepers. Chrome Mox also offers some inherent card disadvantage (now shored up by Recruiter in addition to the already existing Ringleader). The weakness to Wasteland that this deck suffers from is similar to Eldrazi without having the super powerful standalone threats that Eldrazi has. This deck seems to need to preserve its mana to cast synergistic threats over multiple turns, some/most of those threats don't disrupt the opponent. That lack of disruption makes it nearly as weak to fast combo/creature-based combo as Goblins (with the notable exception of 4x Thalia, Guardian).

And lastly, this deck doesn't have the ability to comeback from a sweeper (Terminus, Toxic Deluge) like DnT. No instant-speed creatures at EOT, no Flickerwisp, no equipment package to make every body a dangerous one. I do recognize that it can draw raw cards, similar to how Goblins beats Miracles.

Mostly, I'm EXCITED about this archetype. It seems so fun and engaging. I want to really define the weaknesses so we can address them systematically.

Anyway, would love to hear your guys' insights! Thanks for reading.


The weakness to Wasteland isn't as pronounced as you'd make it seem. Because the deck usually plays 5+ basic Plains and 4 Chrome Mox, it usually doesn't get locked out of white mana often by Wasteland. And getting a Tomb or City Wasted isn't as devastating to this deck because most of your threats are in the 2cc-4cc range.

I usually have a positive Miracles matchup with this deck because, again, in the long game, your Enlistment Officer will draw you enough cards to beat sweepers.

[Wilkin]

The weakness to Wasteland isn't as pronounced as you'd make it seem. Because the deck usually plays 5+ basic Plains and 4 Chrome Mox, it usually doesn't get locked out of white mana often by Wasteland. And getting a Tomb or City Wasted isn't as devastating to this deck because most of your threats are in the 2cc-4cc range.

I usually have a positive Miracles matchup with this deck because, again, in the long game, your Enlistment Officer will draw you enough cards to beat sweepers.

I would also guess Palace Jailer would be great in the matchup too. Even if the Jailer doesn't exile anyone, you will draw an extra card a turn until Miracles hits you with a dude.

[MGB]

New Fairgrounds Warden card is pretty sick. It's even more of what this deck needed - spot removal that can be drawn with Enlistment Officer and cheated into play with Preeminent Captain.

I'm playing a list right now that has 4 of these guys and 1-2 Palace Jailer MD to be tutored with Recruiter of the Guard. More Palace Jailer in the SB. This configuration gives you enough game to consistently defeat Delver/Tarmogoyf decks, and it makes stuff like Sneak 'n' Show a bye. The only thing this deck still struggles against is, well, Death'n'Taxes and Lands. 4 Phyrexian Revoker in SB and 2 Damping Matrix in SB should give you some ammunition to fight D'n'T, but you might just have to depend on the fast starts to beat Lands.


6 Snow-Covered Plains
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
2 Karakas

4 Chrome Mox
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Winter Orb

4 Enlistment Officer
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Fairgrounds Warden
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
3 Captain of the Watch
3 Daru Warchief
2 Recruiter of the Guard
2 Kor Skyfisher
1 Palace Jailer
1 Sanctum Prelate

SB:

4 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Damping Matrix
1 Sanctum Prelate
4 Rest in Peace
2 Kor Firewalker
2 Palace Jailer

[Wilkin]

New Fairgrounds Warden card is pretty sick. It's even more of what this deck needed - spot removal that can be drawn with Enlistment Officer and cheated into play with Preeminent Captain.

I'm playing a list right now that has 4 of these guys and 1-2 Palace Jailer MD to be tutored with Recruiter of the Guard. More Palace Jailer in the SB. This configuration gives you enough game to consistently defeat Delver/Tarmogoyf decks, and it makes stuff like Sneak 'n' Show a bye. The only thing this deck still struggles against is, well, Death'n'Taxes and Lands. 4 Phyrexian Revoker in SB and 2 Damping Matrix in SB should give you some ammunition to fight D'n'T, but you might just have to depend on the fast starts to beat Lands.


6 Snow-Covered Plains
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Tomb
2 City of Traitors
2 Karakas

4 Chrome Mox
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Winter Orb

4 Enlistment Officer
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Fairgrounds Warden
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
3 Captain of the Watch
3 Daru Warchief
2 Recruiter of the Guard
2 Kor Skyfisher
1 Palace Jailer
1 Sanctum Prelate

SB:

4 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Damping Matrix
1 Sanctum Prelate
4 Rest in Peace
2 Kor Firewalker
2 Palace Jailer


Cool. I saw Damping Matrix and was a bit puzzled until I noticed there are no Suppression Fields and Winter Orbs in their place. I guess from your experience the Fields are hit and miss in terms of effectiveness?

I'm also curious if you will try out Aerial Responder. A decent flyer with lifelink. I've noticed Aven Riftwatchers in lists in the past and I guess that Aerial Responder could be the successor? The double white could be a bit prohibitive though.

Can't wait for Kaladesh to come out so I can try out Soldier Stompy. Lol, all we need now is an Armageddon effect on a Soldier. Course that's never ever going to happen.

[Ralf]

Hello,

I'm currently testing the following list.

Some of you might find ideas that we could push even further:

2 Karakas
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
9 Plains

1 Daru Warchief
1 Field Marshal
1 Mirror Entity
1 Palace Jailer
2 Aerial Responder
2 Sunstrike Legionnaire
3 Recruiter of the Guard
4 Ballyrush Banneret
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thalia, Heretic Cathar

4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox

2 Shining Shoal


SB: 2 Thorn of Amethyst
SB: 2 Phyrexian Revoker
SB: 2 Rest in Peace
SB: 2 Ethersworn Canonist
SB: 2 Surgical Extraction
SB: 2 Council's Judgment
SB: 2 Umezawa's Jitte
SB: 1 Palace Jailer

Happy testing.

Ralf

[MGB]

Wow.

I think this deck is finally the real deal.

I've been testing extensively against tier decks with my latest posted list and even though it is not 100% optimized I literally have something like an 80% win rate against the field with most losses coming as the result of misplays or just grindy matches against bad matchups such as Death n Taxes or Lands.

The addition of Thalia 2.0, Fairgrounds Warden, Recruiter of the Guard, Sanctum Prelate, and Palace Jailer have really destroyed some of the obstacles that were in this deck's way in the past.

Fairgrounds Warden in particular is just insane as a 3 mana unconditional removal spell that can be a.) uncounterable b.) cheated into play for free c.) drawn by Enlistment Officer, and d.) actually attack and block as well.

Winter Orb + Thalia 2.0 is crazy good against alot of decks.

Recruiter is not really a 4-of because you lose tempo playing him but as a 2-of or even 3-of he can add much needed card selection.

I think this deck might actually be close to Tier 1 at this point, and I'd rather play this than Eldrazi.


** The key is this: before, this deck would wreck Storm and other combo decks, and post a good matchup against Miracles. But it would struggle against the BGx Delver/Tarmogoyf/Gurmag Angler decks on top of struggling against Lands and DnT. Now that Fairgrounds Warden and Palace Jailer have been printed, this deck wrecks Delver/Tarmogoyf/Gurmag Angler decks. The only remaining "bad" matchups are Lands and Death'n'Taxes, and D'n'T isn't as bad anymore now that you can play Recruiter->Revoker and Fairgrounds Warden/Palace Jailer for their problematic creatures. **

[korstructure]

That's exciting news, MGB. Congratulations.

What did your testing look like? How did you like your 4x Winter Orb setup - what was it like in matchups where it wasn't amazing?

It seems like the Turn 0/1 decks would still be hard (Belcher, Oops, TinFins, etc). Any thoughts on those?

And - what, specifically, do you think are the hardest parts of DnT and Lands? Is it the mana/land disruption? The removal (Jitte or PFire)? I'd love to work on ways to mitigate some of those weaknesses.



Wow.

I think this deck is finally the real deal.

I've been testing extensively against tier decks with my latest posted list and even though it is not 100% optimized I literally have something like an 80% win rate against the field with most losses coming as the result of misplays or just grindy matches against bad matchups such as Death n Taxes or Lands.

The addition of Thalia 2.0, Fairgrounds Warden, Recruiter of the Guard, Sanctum Prelate, and Palace Jailer have really destroyed some of the obstacles that were in this deck's way in the past.

Fairgrounds Warden in particular is just insane as a 3 mana unconditional removal spell that can be a.) uncounterable b.) cheated into play for free c.) drawn by Enlistment Officer, and d.) actually attack and block as well.

Winter Orb + Thalia 2.0 is crazy good against alot of decks.

Recruiter is not really a 4-of because you lose tempo playing him but as a 2-of or even 3-of he can add much needed card selection.

I think this deck might actually be close to Tier 1 at this point, and I'd rather play this than Eldrazi.


** The key is this: before, this deck would wreck Storm and other combo decks, and post a good matchup against Miracles. But it would struggle against the BGx Delver/Tarmogoyf/Gurmag Angler decks on top of struggling against Lands and DnT. Now that Fairgrounds Warden and Palace Jailer have been printed, this deck wrecks Delver/Tarmogoyf/Gurmag Angler decks. The only remaining "bad" matchups are Lands and Death'n'Taxes, and D'n'T isn't as bad anymore now that you can play Recruiter->Revoker and Fairgrounds Warden/Palace Jailer for their problematic creatures. **

[MGB]

That's exciting news, MGB. Congratulations.

What did your testing look like? How did you like your 4x Winter Orb setup - what was it like in matchups where it wasn't amazing?

It seems like the Turn 0/1 decks would still be hard (Belcher, Oops, TinFins, etc). Any thoughts on those?

And - what, specifically, do you think are the hardest parts of DnT and Lands? Is it the mana/land disruption? The removal (Jitte or PFire)? I'd love to work on ways to mitigate some of those weaknesses.

The Turn 0/1 decks are the same problem level for this deck as they are for every other Non-Force-of-Will deck in the format. Sometimes they just have the win on Turn 1 and you can't do anything about it.

The benefit of playing this deck over some other non-FoW decks such as DnT or Eldrazi is that you have Chrome Mox on top of Ancient Tomb and City of Traitors, and you have both Thalia and Chalice MD, so you can power out disruption on your first turn with a greater degree of consistency. Turn 2 Belcher/TinFins wins that would kill Death'n'Taxes might not work against this deck so easily, because you can play your Thalia a turn earlier than D'n'T if you have a Mox.

DnT is just naturally a problematic matchup due to Flickerwisp killing Chalice and Chrome Mox, and AEther Vial sidestepping alot of your disruption, and Chalice of the void and Thalia being suboptimal against their threats. Additionally, they have enough blockers and ways to kill you with Equipment that is hard to deal with. The solutions to this matchup are to maximize the use of the new removal soldiers (Fairgrounds Warden and Palace Jailer) and make liberal use of both Phyrexian Revoker and Damping Matrix. It will never be a good matchup, but hopefully with tight play you can at least manage to make it respectable.

Lands is a bad matchup because they have spot removal AND disruption, and can sidestep disruption with a quick combo kill. Winter Orb is a fine card against them unless they have the quick combo. The solution to this matchup is simply to have more explosive starts and/or find better disruption.

[korstructure]

Awesome replies, thank you.

Regarding the decklist itself - are you finding anything "loose" or "flexible"? What do you consider the cards that you'd be willing to swap out? And what are the bank of cards you'd like to put in, if possible? Lastly, what cards have you not yet explored but have considered?

Really excited about some positive Soldier news!


The Turn 0/1 decks are the same problem level for this deck as they are for every other Non-Force-of-Will deck in the format. Sometimes they just have the win on Turn 1 and you can't do anything about it.

The benefit of playing this deck over some other non-FoW decks such as DnT or Eldrazi is that you have Chrome Mox on top of Ancient Tomb and City of Traitors, and you have both Thalia and Chalice MD, so you can power out disruption on your first turn with a greater degree of consistency. Turn 2 Belcher/TinFins wins that would kill Death'n'Taxes might not work against this deck so easily, because you can play your Thalia a turn earlier than D'n'T if you have a Mox.

DnT is just naturally a problematic matchup due to Flickerwisp killing Chalice and Chrome Mox, and AEther Vial sidestepping alot of your disruption, and Chalice of the void and Thalia being suboptimal against their threats. Additionally, they have enough blockers and ways to kill you with Equipment that is hard to deal with. The solutions to this matchup are to maximize the use of the new removal soldiers (Fairgrounds Warden and Palace Jailer) and make liberal use of both Phyrexian Revoker and Damping Matrix. It will never be a good matchup, but hopefully with tight play you can at least manage to make it respectable.

Lands is a bad matchup because they have spot removal AND disruption, and can sidestep disruption with a quick combo kill. Winter Orb is a fine card against them unless they have the quick combo. The solution to this matchup is simply to have more explosive starts and/or find better disruption.

[square_two]

MGB, do you think that Fairgrounds Warden makes Jitte unnecessary, at least in the main? I just built MDGhost's list with I think 2 Jitte's and the Chalices as the only non creatures (outside of Moxen). Makes sense to adjust numbers and have more Soldiers double as removal, and have the ability to run more than the regular 4 Chalices.

I'm not sure about Winter Orb, would be curious to sum the number of decks it significantly impacts versus where it is a dead draw. One nice appeal that Suppression Field has is that it can be pitched to Chrome Mox at least.

Also, do you mind elaborating on Kor Skyfisher's uses?

[korstructure]

Skyfisher rebuys any of the CITP abilities, like Palace Jailer, Recruiter, Captain of the Watch, Enlistment Officer, etc.

It also has some cool tricks to generate mana with the sol lands, allows you to reset a Chalice, choose a new Revoker target, etc.



MGB, do you think that Fairgrounds Warden makes Jitte unnecessary, at least in the main? I just built MDGhost's list with I think 2 Jitte's and the Chalices as the only non creatures (outside of Moxen). Makes sense to adjust numbers and have more Soldiers double as removal, and have the ability to run more than the regular 4 Chalices.

I'm not sure about Winter Orb, would be curious to sum the number of decks it significantly impacts versus where it is a dead draw. One nice appeal that Suppression Field has is that it can be pitched to Chrome Mox at least.

Also, do you mind elaborating on Kor Skyfisher's uses?

[MGB]

Kor Skyfisher is the best flying soldier you can get for 2 mana, essentially. The drawback is a real drawback some of the time when you just have to bounce a land, but most of the time it's not really a "drawback" in that you can bounce a spare Chrome Mox that you played without imprint, or you can bounce something with a CITP trigger and re-use it.

The real purpose is simply to have a 2/3 flyer that can block Delver of Secrets (and give you yet another way to deal with Delvers) or just fly over blockers for the win.

[korstructure]

So what did your testing look like, MGB?

And how were Winter Orbs in the less-optimal matchups?


Kor Skyfisher is the best flying soldier you can get for 2 mana, essentially. The drawback is a real drawback some of the time when you just have to bounce a land, but most of the time it's not really a "drawback" in that you can bounce a spare Chrome Mox that you played without imprint, or you can bounce something with a CITP trigger and re-use it.

The real purpose is simply to have a 2/3 flyer that can block Delver of Secrets (and give you yet another way to deal with Delvers) or just fly over blockers for the win.

[MGB]

So what did your testing look like, MGB?

And how were Winter Orbs in the less-optimal matchups?


I'm still doing testing with the list.

Winter Orb is one of those cards that does something good nearly in every matchup. Even against a Delver deck you can occasionally tempo them out with a fast draw and they can only cast 1 thing per turn under Winter Orb + Thalia (1 or 2). Against some matchups where it's bad you just board em out for other hate pieces.

[square_two]

I played MD Ghost's list above for the first time against a friend with 12Post and High Tide. Insane how much power can be put out by Preeminent Captain. I'm eager to try MGB's idea and include more disruption, using the Fairgrounds Warden soldier/removal as a way to have a more compact list.

Saw a guy with a foil Warden at a pre-release event over the weekend but he left before I could bargain for a trade :frown:

[R3ndr0c]

So, I'm not sure why people like Winter Orb over Suppression Field. It's really bad early, if you don't have a Captain out, because you can't cast spells either much of the time. To risky to play in my opinion. I'd much rather play a single Hokori, Dust Drinker to fetch with Recruiter and play later after they tap out. I currently have 1 in my mainboard. Suppression Field does a lot of what Winter Orb is trying to do vs. opponents mana bases, and also it gets tons of other goodies, and can the effect stacks, so there's no harm running 4.


Current List:
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Flagstones of Trokair
2 Karakas
3 Plains
4 Ancient Tomb
4 City of Traitors
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Enlistment Officer
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox
4 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2 Recruiter of the Guard
4 Daru Warchief
4 Suppression Field
4 Fairgrounds Warden
1 Hokori, Dust Drinker
1 Phyrexian Revoker

SB: 2 Leyline of Sanctity
SB: 2 Rest in Peace
SB: 1 Phyrexian Revoker
SB: 1 Containment Priest
SB: 2 Sanctum Prelate
SB: 1 Leonin Relic-Warder
SB: 1 Aegis of the Gods
SB: 2 Crackdown
SB: 1 Gustcloak Savior
SB: 2 Dawnbringer Charioteers



FYI, I'm new to Source, always used MTGS, so I don't know how to card tag, and the announcement didn't help. Please help.

[ESG]

@R3ndr0c: For card tags, type "cards" inside square brackets [], then the card name, then "/cards" inside square brackets.

[TMPWDobs]

I've always run some number of disenchants in 75 deck has 0 answers to an ensnaring bridge and very few to a moat without.

[MGB]

I've always run some number of disenchants in 75 deck has 0 answers to an ensnaring bridge and very few to a moat without.

My solution is 2-3 Recruiter of the Guard MD and then play at least 2+ Leonin Relic-Warder in the SB.

[TLK]

Found this list on MTGtop8.com: http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=13757&f=LE

Took down a 20-person event.

4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Karakas
8 Plains
8 Ballyrush Banneret
4 Captain of the Watch
4 Daru Warchief
4 Enlistment Officer
2 Palace Jailer
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox
4 Suppression Field

1 Armageddon
2 Crackdown
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Holy Light
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Palace Jailer
2 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Ratchet Bomb
3 Rest in Peace

[ZEROorDIE]

Congrats, I like the list, do you mind posting what you went up against? the only MD removal you have is jailer, how did that feel?

any changes you would make?

[TLK]

Wish I could take credit for it, but it's not my list. Found it while I was browsing mtgtop8.

Hopefully the pilot stumbles upon this thread and shares his thoughts/tournament report.

[ZEROorDIE]

Gotcha, read that as you found the list and used it to take down a tournament

[kinda]

This deck was 7-1 at bazaar of moxen...beat my friend. Not sure how the last round went.

[H]

This deck was 7-1 at bazaar of moxen...beat my friend. Not sure how the last round went.

Pretty badly, he got ran over by 4c Delver. Looked like he kept some reasonable, but slow, hands and his opponent just had it all.

[kinda]

I still really want to see a list.

[TMPWDobs]

Was bored so compiled list of soldiers that I thought are "playable" Obviously some are better then others but thought I'd put together a list to maybe view ones that haven't been tested with yet.

1 Abzan Falconer
1 Aegis of the Gods
1 Aerial Responder
1 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
1 Archetype of Courage
1 Ballyrush Banneret
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
1 Captain of the Watch
1 Catapult Master
1 Catapult Squad
1 Commander Eesha
1 Consul's Lieutenant
1 Court Street Denizen
1 Crossbow Infantry
1 Daru Warchief
1 Dawnbringer Charioteers
1 Enlistment Officer
1 Expendable Troops
1 Fairgrounds Warden
1 Field Marshal
1 Goldnight Commander
1 High Sentinels of Arashin
1 Intrepid Hero
1 Jötun Grunt
1 Kor Firewalker
1 Loxodon Gatekeeper
1 Odric, Lunarch Marshal
1 Odric, Master Tactician
1 Palace Jailer
1 Precinct Captain
1 Preeminent Captain
1 Recruiter of the Guard
1 Stonehorn Dignitary
1 Sunstrike Legionnaire
1 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
1 Kor Skyfisher

[korstructure]

Eternal Weekend

Soldier Stompy on camera and "Mike Gouthro" is now 6-1. He's getting interviewed by Bob Maher. Says he didn't know the cards until a couple days ago.

He has Suppression Fields.

Hope he comes on here and posts about his experiences!

[TMPWDobs]

Eternal Weekend

Soldier Stompy on camera and "Mike Gouthro" is now 6-1. He's getting interviewed by Bob Maher. Says he didn't know the cards until a couple days ago.

He has Suppression Fields.

Hope he comes on here and posts about his experiences!

I was the miracle player who played against him round 8. He is a friend of mine I asked him if he was familiar with the source and he says he views it time from time but isn't a member. I made an honest mistake against him on camera with the brainstorm accidentally only put one card back. This was caused by me being very familiar with this list and know it's weakness to a resolved moat. When I brainstorm in my excitement of finding moat I made error of only putting one card back. This looks very bad on camera and ultimately lead to my dq. I understand the dq as the integrity of tournament is most important thing and judge being in awkward spot of not knowing if was honest mistake which I swear it was. I stand by my statement as the deck needs at least 2 disenchants as they are permanent answers to moat or an ebridge. Oring is nice since it hits planeswalkers but having been on matchup from both sides game 2 as miracles I'm boarding out my counterbalances for moat and wear/tears... I know he also played my friend on camera round 9 he ended 7-3 for a cash finish.

[MD.Ghost]

I was the miracle player who played against him round 8. He is a friend of mine I asked him if he was familiar with the source and he says he views it time from time but isn't a member. I made an honest mistake against him on camera with the brainstorm accidentally only put one card back. This was caused by me being very familiar with this list and know it's weakness to a resolved moat. When I brainstorm in my excitement of finding moat I made error of only putting one card back. This looks very bad on camera and ultimately lead to my dq. I understand the dq as the integrity of tournament is most important thing and judge being in awkward spot of not knowing if was honest mistake which I swear it was. I stand by my statement as the deck needs at least 2 disenchants as they are permanent answers to moat or an ebridge. Oring is nice since it hits planeswalkers but having been on matchup from both sides game 2 as miracles I'm boarding out my counterbalances for moat and wear/tears... I know he also played my friend on camera round 9 he ended 7-3 for a cash finish.

I would always put in stuff like Aven Cloudchaser and or Leonin Relic-Warder at my Side. Better than Disenchant simply because you can tutor them and profit from Cavern etc. Cloudchaser is the superior 1off Soldier Answer to Moat :laugh: since miracle is a very good and very common deck and moat is also solid vs Eldrazi etc I would put a answer at any pile of cards for big tournaments like the Eternal Weekend.

[MGB]

I was the miracle player who played against him round 8. He is a friend of mine I asked him if he was familiar with the source and he says he views it time from time but isn't a member. I made an honest mistake against him on camera with the brainstorm accidentally only put one card back. This was caused by me being very familiar with this list and know it's weakness to a resolved moat. When I brainstorm in my excitement of finding moat I made error of only putting one card back. This looks very bad on camera and ultimately lead to my dq. I understand the dq as the integrity of tournament is most important thing and judge being in awkward spot of not knowing if was honest mistake which I swear it was. I stand by my statement as the deck needs at least 2 disenchants as they are permanent answers to moat or an ebridge. Oring is nice since it hits planeswalkers but having been on matchup from both sides game 2 as miracles I'm boarding out my counterbalances for moat and wear/tears... I know he also played my friend on camera round 9 he ended 7-3 for a cash finish.

Why not play 2-3 Recruiter of the Guard MD and then 3-4 Leonin Relic-Warder in the SB?

[TMPWDobs]

Why not play 2-3 Recruiter of the Guard MD and then 3-4 Leonin Relic-Warder in the SB?

The concept is there but imo Leonin Relic-Warder is a liability if it gets swords/bounced with jace or venser the moat/bridge comes back. Sure It is a tutor-able answer but the miracle deck can still sit on a terminus or build up a mentor army behind the moat. Playing the matchup from both sides I believe this post board as miracles I bring in answer to chalice moat izzet static caster and EE. I cut counterbalance's and actually one top usually.

I could be wrong. I was strongly considering this deck for EW as it is super fun to play I just think it needs a permanent answer to moat/bridge.

I can get behind Aven Cloudchaser for moat answer but still need something for bridge. Against painter matchup is unless have fast start they can just sit behind a bridge.

[TMPWDobs]

The more I think about it if we are going tutor way I like Devout Witness it is disenchant on a stick. If going spell way I think council's judgement might be best since it can answers and problematic card artifacts/enchantments/planeswalkers.

[Kelv]

Hey everyone. I don't have any experience with this deck yet, but I'm tossing it together for a friend to run this weekend at an event, just wanted to see what people's thoughts were on the list I have. Probably about 40-ish people so no firm knowledge on what the meta will be, but it tends to be pretty fair, with a disproportionate amount of stoneblade, very little miracles, a good bit of shardless, 4c loam, and D+T, and a few jund players.

4 Cavern of Souls
4 Ancient Tomb
1 Karakas (Alas, I only have 1)
9 Plains

4 Chrome Mox
4 Suppression Field
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Ballyrush Banneret
4 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Preeminent Captain
2 Recruiter of the Guard
1 Fairgrounds Warden
4 Enlistment Officer
3 Daru Warchief
2 Palace Jailer
3 Captain of the Watch

SB:
3 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Rest in Peace
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Palace Jailer
1 Armageddon
1 Sanctum Prelate
1 Holy Light
1 Winter Orb
1 Leonin Relic-warder
1 Umezawa's jitte
1 Faerie Macabre

Certainly not sold on my sideboard (It was kinda tossed together), and the number of 3-ofs I currently have mainboard worries me a bit. I'm sort of thinking a list akin to one I saw posted earlier in the thread, with 0 bannerets, 2x city of traitors, 4x fairgrounds warden might work out better. I'll also add a second karakas for sure if I can find one to borrow before the event.

[Fjaulnir]

I just noticed this deck top-8ed a 67 player tournament in France, so that event seems big enough to be significant :) Enjoy!

http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=13996&d=282963&f=LE

[Khamul]

I just noticed this deck top-8ed a 67 player tournament in France, so that event seems big enough to be significant :) Enjoy!

http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=13996&d=282963&f=LE

What's even more notable, it's Nicolas Amans himself, who played Soldier Stompy at the Eternal Weekend.

Obviously, the Palace Guard might have been meant to be Palace Jailer. I see no reason to play the Guard.

This might not be the same list that was at the eternal weekend - I've seen him play Daru Warchief and Suppression Field on the stream. But judging from this list, it might be true that he hasn't played any Captain of the Watch during the eternal weekend. He lowered the curve for this list. Maybe that could be a legitimate approach... And I always wondered if playing some number of Catapult Squad could be the way to go instead of Suppression Field in a creature-heavy meta. And I also thought about playing Thalia's Lieutenant instead of Daru Warchief, as this guy always seems a bit overcosted to me.

Note the versatility of the lone Parallax Wave - it can remove up to four blockers (5 if you happen to have Thalia 2.0), and/or also rebuy you some etb triggers. It's especially bonkers with Thalia's Lieutenant - as he pumps the other soldiers and gets pumped up himself for every other one. Using Parallax wave like this on Enlistment Officer, Recruiter of the Guard, Palace Jailer and Thalia's Lieutenant (and a fifth soldier) just screams "VALUE!!!" :D

[kwèk]

Hi Guys... I played a 7th round tournament this weekend

Played almost the same list as I played last time... just changed the sideboard a bit. And I cut the City of traitors mainboard.


Mainboard

2x Palace Jailer
4x Ballyrush Banneret
4x Thalia, guardian of Thraben
4x Thalia, heretich Cathar
4x Preeminent Captain
4x Enlistment Officer
4x Daru Warchief
4x Captain of the Watch

4x Suppresion Field

4x Chalice of the Void
4x Chrome Mox

2x Karakas
4x Cavern of souls
4x Ancient Tomb
8x Plains


Sideboard

1x Aethersworn Cannonist
1x Powder Keg
1x Ratchet Bomb
1x Thorn of Amethyst
1x Holy Light
1x Oblivion Ring
1x Fairgrounds Warden
1x Aven Cloudchaser
1x Palace Jailer
2x Rest in Peace
2x Winter Orb
2x Crackdown




I went to 4-3-0
Most games were pretty one sided.


1. 2-0 vs Sneak Attack (start on the playl)
2. 2-0 vs Reanimator (start on the play)
3. 0-2 vs Bant Blade (start on the draw)
4. 0-2 vs Elves (start on the draw)
5. 2-0 vs Eldrazi (start on the draw)
6. 0-2 vs Burn (start on the draw)
7. 2-1 vs BR Reanimator (start on the playl)



1. Sneak Attack

1: I open with a Thalia, Guardian of Thraben with Cavern of Souls + Chrome Mox. Things kinda spiraled out of hand from that point on. I can cast Thalia, Heretic Cathar turn 2... It ended up with him finally playing Show and Tell putting Emrakull into play. I put Captain of the Watch into play. Next turn cast Daru Warchief and swing for 22 with enough bodies.

2: I had some quick presure again... Palace Jailer kinda played a big roll on hitting a show and tell Emrakull... Draw some cards... he just couldn't manage the pressure and I won.


2. Reanimator

Game 1 and 2 were pretty much the same. Thalia, Guardian of Thraben was huge. In both games he couldn't get a turn 1/2 reanimation. Stuff like Blazing Archon and Iona should scare soldier players. Tidespout Titan came into play once... but I jailed him.


3. Bant Blade

1: Was actually a good game... I just didn't get there. Had to take care of a TNN with Jitte... and the game was closer then it looked. Then he found Abrupt Decay for a 1 turn to late Suppresion Field. And lost.
2: I mulliganed to 5 ... the stomy disease. And lost because he got an early TNN with Jitte.


4. Elves

I believe this a tough match up... depends on if you get the chalice out early... and if he has the answer (yes / no) ... And how quick the other guy is.
I lost game 1... rather quick.
I lost game 2 because I mulliganed to 6 ... with a hand holding: Chalice of the Void , Ethersworn Cannonist , Fairgrounds Warden , Ratchet Bomb , Thalia, Heretic Cathar, Plains
So 1 lander + 1 scry ... but all the pieces I need to stop elves if I survive turn 1 and 2... so I kept. And only drew a land after 3 draws... lost after that.


5. Eldrazi

I actually never needed Crackdown... this wasn't even a game... I drew so manny cards with Officers + Jailers. I swung for 21 in the 2nd game somewhere in turn 5 or 6. That was kinda crazy, cause he had an Engineered Plague out on soldiers.


6. Burn

I couldn't find an early chalice... Thalia bit the dust a couple of times. First game I was beaten by 2x Goblin Guide + 1x Swiftspear + 1x Eidolon
. He was pretty quick. Second game I got burned to death with 2 mana spells. Searing blazes (2 of them) did a lot of damadge. I missed my Thorn of Amethysts


7. BR Reanimator

Okay... another reanimator. Scarry... but beatable. Just has to survive turn 1... and ge an early disruption piece out.
Game 1 I mulliganed to 4 (yes 4 ... because I knew I was playing against... and hand 7 or 6 were all mana light and no disruption. 5 was also just bad. So I had to. But I lost pretty hard too.
Game 2 I got Thalia 1.0 + Chalice going.
Game 3 I had Rest in Peace.
... that was the game.

[cosmiccoil]

New the the page and group. I have been on a version of soldier stompy for the last several months that I have thoroughly enjoyed and I thought I would share.

Creatures:24
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
4 Preeminent Captain
3 Recruiter of the Guard
4 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
2 Daru Warchief
1 Palace Jailer
1 Gustcloak Savior
4 Captain of the Watch

Spells:15
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Chrome Mox
4 Suppression Field
3 Armageddon

Lands:22
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
4 City of Traitors
3 Flagstones of Trokair
3 Karakas
4 Plains

Sideboard:15
1 Sanctum Prelate
1 Palace Jailer
2 Selfless Squire
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Rest in Peace
2 Council's Judgment
2 Elspeth, Sun's Champion

I definitely like the deck far more as a prison approach as opposed to an aggro one.

The Gustcloak in the main isn't essential. It used to be a second Brimaz and it can be a Mirror Entity.

I don't think Ballyrush should be in the deck, nor do I think Enlistment Officer works once you cut down on the number of total soldiers in the deck. Palace Jailer is a liability in the wrong matchups, so I keep it as a tutor target.

Karakas is just too important to not have in the deck, hence three of them. Yes, it becomes difficult to use with a Suppression Field in play. The matchups where it matters, though, are those in which you need it immediately, such as against SNT or Reanimator.

Armageddon has been absolutely key to maintaining an advantage and winning numerous games. Preeminent Captain into Armageddon is lights out against most decks. It also insulates you against your opponent drawing out of a lock. It synergizes perfectly with Suppression Field, thereby locking an opponent out of top-decked fetchlands or an active planeswalker. Opponents spend most of their countermagic on Suppression Field and Chalice, which opens up the chance to resolve Armageddon. Obviously the Flagstones are in the deck to provide a fast recovery.

The Swords in the board are a hedge against fair matchups and Eldrazi. They come in whenever I am boarding out Chalice. Bringing them in really helps against Eldrazi because they are left with a choice of bringing Chalice back in for game three or just conceding that the soldier deck has better removal.

Prelate is there for Storm. Jailer is in the board and main for SNT, Miracles and Reanimator. Elspeth comes in against Eldrazi, Miracles, and Shardless. Council's Judgment is there for any deck with a difficult permanent to overcome, such as Moat, Ensnaring Bridge, TNN, or an obnoxious piece of equipment. Selfless has won me games against Lands, Eldrazi, Elves, and SNT. It is such a good card when you are being overrun. Obviously the RIP are for graveyard decks, especially Lands, Dredge and Reanimator.

I hope this proved thought-provoking. This is the list I will be running at GP Louisville. Hope to see other soldier decks in the fray.

[MGB]

I've been having quite a bit of success playtesting this list online (on xmage):

4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Fairgrounds Warden
3 Ballyrush Banneret
2 Recruiter of the Guard
2 Daru Warchief
3 Enlistment Officer
1 Palace Jailer
3 Captain of the Watch

4 Chrome Mox
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Winter Orb

4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
2 City of Traitors
2 Horizon Canopy
2 Karakas
4 Snow-Covered Plains

SB:
1 Sanctum Prelate
1 Palace Jailer
2 Containment Priest
4 Rest in Peace
3 Leonin Relic-Warder
4 Damping Matrix



I think the way to make this deck really work is just to maximize the Thalia effect and mulligan nearly every hand until you have something that you can play on turn 1 = i.e. turn 1 chalice, turn 1 winter orb, turn 1 thalia (with a chrome mox), turn 1 preeminent captain...

The Fairgrounds Warden and Palace Jailers give you just enough removal that was missing before that you can out-tempo the fair decks through blockers. They are kind of blank against noncreature decks, of course, but Palace Jailer even can function as a pseudo-Enlistment Officer if they don't have creatures to attack back with.

If you can get one of the 12 main soldier threats in play early, you're usually pretty golden. Ballyrush Banneret is back in this deck over the flying soldiers because with 4 Fairgrounds Warden and 1 Palace Jailer MD, you have enough removal for Delver of Secrets that the flying guys aren't really needed as much. Ballyrush Banneret is very good at breaking Winter Orb symmetry too.

[MGB]

I recently made Top 4 at a Legacy $1k with the above list.

Here's what I faced:

Rd1: 2-1 vs. 12post: Winter Orb does the trick here, and Preeminent Captain is too fast a clock.
Rd2: 2-1 vs. Lands(!): Despite losing G1 to Glacial Chasm lock and then Marit Lage kill, in G2 and G3 Rest in Peace and Winter Orb both pull their weight, along with Thalia 2.0.
Rd3: 2-1 vs. Death'n'Taxes(!): Lost one game to a Sword of War and Peace but in the other two games guys like Fairgrounds Warden and Palace Jailer were amazing getting rid of his threats.
Rd4: 0-2 vs. Infect: Could have won G1 if I had untapped City of Traitors under Winter Orb so I could play Recruiter of the Guard -> fetch Jailer -> flash Jailer in on his Blighted Agent, but alas, I didn't. Tough matchup, but winnable.
Rd5: ID

Top8 Rd1: 2-1 vs. RW Painter: G1 he wins quickly with the combo, but in G2 and G3 I have copious hate (4 Damping Matrix, 3 Leonin Relic-Warder) that is too much for his deck to handle, along with the fast clock.
Top8 Rd2: 0-2 vs. Shardless BUG: This was the roughest match of the day. He just hit all of his abrupt decays and Lilis and ancestral visions and even my Rest in Peace from the board wasn't enough.

The deck feels strong. I don't know if it's strong enough to make a run at a really large tournament, but I definitely felt in control for most of the day. I mostly only lost games due to misplays on my own part, and except for the Top8 match against BUG Shardless I felt like even the games I lost I just barely lost. I like the way the deck plays and it's fun and exciting to play.

[TMPWDobs]

I recently made Top 4 at a Legacy $1k with the above list.

Here's what I faced:

Rd1: 2-1 vs. 12post: Winter Orb does the trick here, and Preeminent Captain is too fast a clock.
Rd2: 2-1 vs. Lands(!): Despite losing G1 to Glacial Chasm lock and then Marit Lage kill, in G2 and G3 Rest in Peace and Winter Orb both pull their weight, along with Thalia 2.0.
Rd3: 2-1 vs. Death'n'Taxes(!): Lost one game to a Sword of War and Peace but in the other two games guys like Fairgrounds Warden and Palace Jailer were amazing getting rid of his threats.
Rd4: 0-2 vs. Infect: Could have won G1 if I had untapped City of Traitors under Winter Orb so I could play Recruiter of the Guard -> fetch Jailer -> flash Jailer in on his Blighted Agent, but alas, I didn't. Tough matchup, but winnable.
Rd5: ID

Top8 Rd1: 2-1 vs. RW Painter: G1 he wins quickly with the combo, but in G2 and G3 I have copious hate (4 Damping Matrix, 3 Leonin Relic-Warder) that is too much for his deck to handle, along with the fast clock.
Top8 Rd2: 0-2 vs. Shardless BUG: This was the roughest match of the day. He just hit all of his abrupt decays and Lilis and ancestral visions and even my Rest in Peace from the board wasn't enough.

The deck feels strong. I don't know if it's strong enough to make a run at a really large tournament, but I definitely felt in control for most of the day. I mostly only lost games due to misplays on my own part, and except for the Top8 match against BUG Shardless I felt like even the games I lost I just barely lost. I like the way the deck plays and it's fun and exciting to play.

Grats on the finish. Where was the event at?

[MGB]

Grats on the finish. Where was the event at?

Stomping Grounds Games in Hatboro, PA...

[TMPWDobs]

Stomping Grounds Games in Hatboro, PA...

Nice few of my friends played in that event then others went to the 1k At TDG

[ChrisDissent]

Uping the thread a bit, as I recently picked the deck (MGB's list) for some games and found it impressive.
I'm usually playing eldrazi decks (Stompy or Ramp), and Soldiers felt more resilient than those decks (when a little less explosive), dodged problematic MUs like Blodd Moon's decks or fast combo (Karakas, fast Thalia) and still well positioned when facing creatures decks or midrange things.
Of course, my sample is small so far but I'll persevere to have a clearer idea if it's a good choice in the current meta.


I've been having quite a bit of success playtesting this list online (on xmage):

4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Preeminent Captain
4 Fairgrounds Warden
3 Ballyrush Banneret
2 Recruiter of the Guard
2 Daru Warchief
3 Enlistment Officer
1 Palace Jailer
3 Captain of the Watch

4 Chrome Mox
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Winter Orb

4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
2 City of Traitors
2 Horizon Canopy
2 Karakas
4 Snow-Covered Plains

SB:
1 Sanctum Prelate
1 Palace Jailer
2 Containment Priest
4 Rest in Peace
3 Leonin Relic-Warder
4 Damping Matrix



I think the way to make this deck really work is just to maximize the Thalia effect and mulligan nearly every hand until you have something that you can play on turn 1 = i.e. turn 1 chalice, turn 1 winter orb, turn 1 thalia (with a chrome mox), turn 1 preeminent captain...

The Fairgrounds Warden and Palace Jailers give you just enough removal that was missing before that you can out-tempo the fair decks through blockers. They are kind of blank against noncreature decks, of course, but Palace Jailer even can function as a pseudo-Enlistment Officer if they don't have creatures to attack back with.

If you can get one of the 12 main soldier threats in play early, you're usually pretty golden. Ballyrush Banneret is back in this deck over the flying soldiers because with 4 Fairgrounds Warden and 1 Palace Jailer MD, you have enough removal for Delver of Secrets that the flying guys aren't really needed as much. Ballyrush Banneret is very good at breaking Winter Orb symmetry too.

Are you still playing the deck ?
With the SDT ban, did you switch the Matrix for something more meta-relevant ? Winter Orb is still fine for you ?
If found that the manabase hurts a lot sometimes, and although I can figure the advantages of Canopies, I'll cut them for Plains for the next games.
Other than that, the other cards are always useful and the numbers are right. Nice job !

[menph]

http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=15203&d=292262&f=LE

here's a list that finished 2nd in a 30 player tournament.
i never tried the deck, but i like legacy stompies and this one looks funny

[MGB]

Uping the thread a bit, as I recently picked the deck (MGB's list) for some games and found it impressive.
I'm usually playing eldrazi decks (Stompy or Ramp), and Soldiers felt more resilient than those decks (when a little less explosive), dodged problematic MUs like Blodd Moon's decks or fast combo (Karakas, fast Thalia) and still well positioned when facing creatures decks or midrange things.
Of course, my sample is small so far but I'll persevere to have a clearer idea if it's a good choice in the current meta.



Are you still playing the deck ?
With the SDT ban, did you switch the Matrix for something more meta-relevant ? Winter Orb is still fine for you ?
If found that the manabase hurts a lot sometimes, and although I can figure the advantages of Canopies, I'll cut them for Plains for the next games.
Other than that, the other cards are always useful and the numbers are right. Nice job !

I've been testing the Red splash build lately.

Magus of the Moon x 4 MD is even better now that Recruiter of the Guard has been printed. And Goblin Legionaire is still good and fetchable by Recruiter!

And instead of Captain of the Watch, R/W Soldiers gets access to Foundry Champion, which is an amazing way to finish off the opponent (often uncounterable damage to the face) when he least expects it and thinks he has stabilized with a Moat or something silly like that.

I'm testing alot in preparation for GP: Vegas which I'm attending and I'm trying to decide right now whether to play some variant of Soldiers or my Big Eldrazi / Legend MUD deck.

[ChrisDissent]

Hi MGB !

Thx for the answer. Glad to see we're on the same decks :wink: but no GP for me
Due to the small sample size of my playtests, I'm inclined to think Soldiers is the better choice, as I wrecked Infect with it, Lands, had odds against Storm. Didn't played against BUG, Elves or Stoneblade yet and Reanimator felt meh though.

May I ask you to share your Boros list ? I understand if you want to keep the surprise for the GP, but I'm really intrigued by this new mixture, as the previous builds seemed already amazing.
Foundry Champion sounds really interesting, but Captain of the Watch is such a game breaker and little know by the opponents, so they often let resolve Preeminent and regret it soon after.
The cards don't deserve the same purposes I think.
Magus must be a beast right now with all those greedy manabases.

@menph : thx for sharing. Tried this one, but prefer MGB's one.