[SCD] Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

[apple713]

Thalia, Guardian of Thraben

she is great for aggro decks so that they don't get blown out by combo decks. Since she can be protected with mother of runes , that means that she'll not be answered easily by the other decks. The list of decks she affects is

High tide
ANT
TES
Belcher
ONMI-derp <----complete blow out if protected.
are there other combo's going on? enchantress....

S&T & other decks that cantrip, including rug, UR, miracles, UB tempo decks with stifle
Shardless (slows the cascade very minimally but still)


as a creature, a 2/1 first strike blocks like a champion and can at least put some pressure on the opponent while slowing them down. creatures she interacts with in a beneficial way include

deathrite shaman
delver of secrets
shardless agent
baleful strix
mishras factory
flickerwisp
stoneforge mystic
bloodbraid elf
dark confidant


meddling mage
ethersworn canonist



Her drawbacks include, slowing you down if you play anything other than creatures. sucks in multiples. I've found she is best as a 3x. Gets bounced/protected by karakas. Gets blown out by dread of night which is being run by ANT players.

she has many applications but are there similar substitutes against combo decks, (ethersworn canonist)?

Clearly she isnt the best aggro creature but it seems like she gives a lot of value


Open for discussion

I guess the true question to be asked is, are there alternatives to her or is she just the go to card for aggro decks to combat tempo and combo?

[Barook]

I don't really see the point of this thread - Thalia is great against control and combo, but less stellar against creature-heavy decks or an opposing Karakas.


ONMI-derp <----complete blow out if protected.
Except Omni doesn't really care - they'll just cast a 4 mana S&T and blow you out of the water with :1: "free" spells in the next turn, no matter how much protection you have.

[Tao]

I am not sure where you are going with this thread because it is well known that Thalia is pretty awesome. Maverick and Death and Taxes play her.

To add to the OP: Another reason aside from hosing Combo why she is good - and the reason why she can't be replaced by Canonist to answer that question - is the tempo she gains against decks that are less creature heavy which is at the moment almost the entire format, from RUG to Miracles. Cards like Daze, Force of Will and Abrupt Decay are so good because of how cost effective they are but Thalia stops that and is able to pull D&T/Maverick way ahead on Tempo. Making everything else from Brainstorm (and other Cantrips) to Jace cost more also helps in that regard, especially in combination with Wasteland.

So in the "list of decks she affects" you can pretty much add the entire format except for Tribal Aggro and Maverick/D&T.

[apple713]

I am not sure where you are going with this thread because it is well known that Thalia is pretty awesome. Maverick and Death and Taxes play her.

To add to the OP: Another reason aside from hosing Combo why she is good - and the reason why she can't be replaced by Canonist to answer that question - is the tempo she gains against decks that are less creature heavy which is at the moment almost the entire format, from RUG to Miracles. Cards like Daze, Force of Will and Abrupt Decay are so good because of how cost effective they are but Thalia stops that and is able to pull D&T/Maverick way ahead on Tempo. Making everything else from Brainstorm (and other Cantrips) to Jace cost more also helps in that regard, especially in combination with Wasteland.

So in the "list of decks she affects" you can pretty much add the entire format except for Tribal Aggro and Maverick/D&T.

I've edited the main post to ask are there alternatives to her or is she simply the BEST?

[Tombstalker]

Shes the best at what she does. Any alternative would actually be considered complimentary to her, such is the mentality of Death and Taxes.

[Bed Decks Palyer]

Glowrider

[TheInfamousBearAssassin]

I'm actually not sure why D&T doesn't run Glowrider, it seems like an effect that gets better in multiples.

[Humphrey]

I used to run a 2-2 split in Maverick.


Besides, even Goblins started to run Thalia..

[Barook]

I'm actually not sure why D&T doesn't run Glowrider, it seems like an effect that gets better in multiples.
Higher cost, significantly worse in combat and sucks in match-ups where Thalia isn't relevant anyway.

[Finn]

What Barook said. But more generally, control decks can't keep all their eggs in one basket. Where Thalia is subpar, Glowrider is just about unplayable.