FoolofaTook
02-19-2014, 01:29 AM
With the unbanning of Wild Nacatl and Bitterblossom I decided to put together a Naya Aggro Control list to exploit the changes in the meta. I wanted good aggro and good control and I wanted the list to have a favorable match up against most of the prominent lists in the meta. I think this list meets those qualifications.
I've played twenty matches on MTGO with it over the last 6 days (the changes to the B&R list did not take effect online until 2/12) and the list has gone 16-4 against a mixed bag of lists that included lists like Scapeshift, UBx Faeries, Naya Zoo, Gruul Zoo, UWR Control and Merfolk alongside the usual list of developmental suspects. It plays well so far and other than Scapeshift I don't have a match up that really scares me at this point.
The list can use some refinement and it is constantly shifting by a card here and there but it feels fairly close to optimal at this point.
Naya Aggro Control
Creatures
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Scavenging Ooze
3 Dryad Militant
3 Skinshifter
3 Qasali Pridemage
3 Ghor-Clan Rampager
2 Kird Ape
Instants
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
3 Path to Exile
Planeswalker
3 Garruk Wildspeaker
Lands
4 Arid Mesa
2 Verdant Catacombs
4 Sacred Foundry
3 Stomping Ground
2 Temple Garden
2 Ravaging Ravine
2 Treetop Village
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Encroaching Wastes
1 Forest
1 Plains
Sideboard
4 Krosan Grip
4 Leyline of Punishment
3 Gruul Charm
3 Celestial Purge
1 Path to Exile
The list is designed with a general aggro control approach in mind. Get down a little beater. Beat some or see it removed. Have plenty of removal to clear a path for it if it sticks. Get down another cheap creature quickly if it is removed. Finish up with some hoarded instant damage when the opponent taps out under the pressure. Rarely do I want more than 2 creatures on the board. There's nothing I can do to prevent a turn 4 sweep except have 2 more creatures ready to drop after it. The manlands provide mid game pressure and some play in the late game if things have gotten bogged down.
The reason it works is that it puts pressure on all sorts of lists and it preys on particular cards that are popular in the metagame.
Dryad Militant seems like a slightly underpowered card in the Modern meta. However it preys on Snapcaster Mage and Pyromancer Ascension. It can cause breaks in play for cards like Life from the Loam. It can shut down some of the flashback strategies that people use in combo. How does it prey on a deck like UWR or Pyromancer's Ascension? It gets removed quickly but the card that removed it is in exile instead of the graveyard and so some of the lists steam is vented off early on. After seeing the militant at work Snapcaster Mage tends to get cast by the opponent at the end of my first turn where they have 2 mana available, to be used as a beater instead of waiting for something to be put in the graveyard to make it a 2 for 1. How does it prey on Pyromancer's Ascension? I drop it turn 1 and they bolt it losing the bolt in the process. If I drop another beater turn 1 they'll often find a way to scry, draw, cantrip, etc on turn 1 and then bolt on turn 2 with both cards safely in the graveyard for their plan.
Ok, so the militant is just a 3-of in the list and is kind of random in early effect. Scavenging Ooze is another card that messes with the opponent's graveyard. So main deck the list has 7 things that kind of slow graveyard based development. It's not a perfect control but it doesn't have to be. It just has to show up half the time to make the graveyard a favorable match up. The list is going to aggro somebody to death pretty quickly most of the time. It just needs 4 or 5 turns to make that work.
Skinshifter is another card that seems a bit underwhelming. However it preys on Bitterblossom, by trampling through tokens, and Infect-based strategies, by blocking and threatening a bolt, helix or path if they overload on the pump spells. It blocks Tarmogoyf all day long and then turns around and hits for 4 the next turn. It's not a perfect fit for the Modern power structure but it fits well enough against many strategies to make it a strong card overall. Goyf can get very frustrated against Bitterblossom and watches helplessly as Inkmoth Nexus flies overhead. Another often played card that the shifter is good against is Vendilion Clique. Skinshifter stops trampling damage dead in it's tracks. Got a Wild Nacatl or Treetop Village with a Gor-Clan Rampager in hand? A 0/8 plant keeps the spell in hand and the situation under control. A goyf is dead in most cases in that situation and the board unsettled.
Qasali Pridemage helps against Birthing Pod. It helps against Bitterblossom and Pyromancer's Ascension. It helps against Affinity. It gives the boost to trampling Skinshifters and Treetop Villages. It's generally very useful in this meta. Krosan Grip comes out of the sideboard when needed to try to get things really under control. Again, the list is not looking to win 8 and 9 turn games. It wants to win by turn 5 or so. Control does not need to be perfect, just somewhat effective.
Ghor-Clan Rampager is not counterable. It can be Stifled once it is on the stack but very few lists are playing stack altering effect in the main deck. It's a huge boost for damage on an attacking creature and it helps remove otherwise troublesome blockers while getting damage through. With 2 creatures on the table when she lands and one opposing blocker Liliana of the Veil is the one who is dead, not me.
The Kird Ape's are just Wild Nacatl 5 and 6. I started with 4 of them in the list and then moved down to 2 gradually as I pared creatures out of it. I had 4 Dryad Militants initially also but my hand was clogged with 1cc creatures and I found that they were tripping all over each other to get on the board, allowing bigger creatures to arrive on the other side and slow things down. I was also tapping out all the time and the list likes to have a mana or two open at the end of the opponent's turn. So out went 3 creatures and in came 3 Path to Exile and suddenly everything was working just right. I may put a militant back in the sideboard. When it's good it's very good.
Garruk Wildspeaker is the weakest card in the list in my opinion. He gives the list some staying power and is good in the Zoo mirror but he takes forever to land. I tried Ajani Vengeant and he was even worse since I almost always tapped out on turn 4 for him and that just sucks these days. Tapping out at the end of the opponent's turn is fine but doing it on your turn is asking for a loss. At least Garruk gives you 2 land to work with after he lands. I've looked for better options, including 3 goyfs, and they just didn't do the same thing in terms of mid game control. I moved in some Knight of the Reliquary for a few games and did not like the results. Too slow for what the list is trying to do. I've contemplated replacing Garruk with Thrun, the Last Troll. That may be where things wind up in the end. The opponent can't make the mistake of attacking Thrun though and there are times when I drop Garruk hoping that he is where the Celestial Colonnade is going next turn to give me some time to regain control. Often that is what happens.
The 3 removal lands are for Tron, Infect and UW-based Control. They give some options in games that would otherwise get out of hand by turn 6 or 7 if events were left to themselves. Not a perfect solution by any means but they're another of the little edges of the list that can shine at times and make an unworkable matchup ok.
I can see the list shifting some as the meta shifts. Right now it seems to have things pretty much under control.
I've played twenty matches on MTGO with it over the last 6 days (the changes to the B&R list did not take effect online until 2/12) and the list has gone 16-4 against a mixed bag of lists that included lists like Scapeshift, UBx Faeries, Naya Zoo, Gruul Zoo, UWR Control and Merfolk alongside the usual list of developmental suspects. It plays well so far and other than Scapeshift I don't have a match up that really scares me at this point.
The list can use some refinement and it is constantly shifting by a card here and there but it feels fairly close to optimal at this point.
Naya Aggro Control
Creatures
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Scavenging Ooze
3 Dryad Militant
3 Skinshifter
3 Qasali Pridemage
3 Ghor-Clan Rampager
2 Kird Ape
Instants
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
3 Path to Exile
Planeswalker
3 Garruk Wildspeaker
Lands
4 Arid Mesa
2 Verdant Catacombs
4 Sacred Foundry
3 Stomping Ground
2 Temple Garden
2 Ravaging Ravine
2 Treetop Village
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Encroaching Wastes
1 Forest
1 Plains
Sideboard
4 Krosan Grip
4 Leyline of Punishment
3 Gruul Charm
3 Celestial Purge
1 Path to Exile
The list is designed with a general aggro control approach in mind. Get down a little beater. Beat some or see it removed. Have plenty of removal to clear a path for it if it sticks. Get down another cheap creature quickly if it is removed. Finish up with some hoarded instant damage when the opponent taps out under the pressure. Rarely do I want more than 2 creatures on the board. There's nothing I can do to prevent a turn 4 sweep except have 2 more creatures ready to drop after it. The manlands provide mid game pressure and some play in the late game if things have gotten bogged down.
The reason it works is that it puts pressure on all sorts of lists and it preys on particular cards that are popular in the metagame.
Dryad Militant seems like a slightly underpowered card in the Modern meta. However it preys on Snapcaster Mage and Pyromancer Ascension. It can cause breaks in play for cards like Life from the Loam. It can shut down some of the flashback strategies that people use in combo. How does it prey on a deck like UWR or Pyromancer's Ascension? It gets removed quickly but the card that removed it is in exile instead of the graveyard and so some of the lists steam is vented off early on. After seeing the militant at work Snapcaster Mage tends to get cast by the opponent at the end of my first turn where they have 2 mana available, to be used as a beater instead of waiting for something to be put in the graveyard to make it a 2 for 1. How does it prey on Pyromancer's Ascension? I drop it turn 1 and they bolt it losing the bolt in the process. If I drop another beater turn 1 they'll often find a way to scry, draw, cantrip, etc on turn 1 and then bolt on turn 2 with both cards safely in the graveyard for their plan.
Ok, so the militant is just a 3-of in the list and is kind of random in early effect. Scavenging Ooze is another card that messes with the opponent's graveyard. So main deck the list has 7 things that kind of slow graveyard based development. It's not a perfect control but it doesn't have to be. It just has to show up half the time to make the graveyard a favorable match up. The list is going to aggro somebody to death pretty quickly most of the time. It just needs 4 or 5 turns to make that work.
Skinshifter is another card that seems a bit underwhelming. However it preys on Bitterblossom, by trampling through tokens, and Infect-based strategies, by blocking and threatening a bolt, helix or path if they overload on the pump spells. It blocks Tarmogoyf all day long and then turns around and hits for 4 the next turn. It's not a perfect fit for the Modern power structure but it fits well enough against many strategies to make it a strong card overall. Goyf can get very frustrated against Bitterblossom and watches helplessly as Inkmoth Nexus flies overhead. Another often played card that the shifter is good against is Vendilion Clique. Skinshifter stops trampling damage dead in it's tracks. Got a Wild Nacatl or Treetop Village with a Gor-Clan Rampager in hand? A 0/8 plant keeps the spell in hand and the situation under control. A goyf is dead in most cases in that situation and the board unsettled.
Qasali Pridemage helps against Birthing Pod. It helps against Bitterblossom and Pyromancer's Ascension. It helps against Affinity. It gives the boost to trampling Skinshifters and Treetop Villages. It's generally very useful in this meta. Krosan Grip comes out of the sideboard when needed to try to get things really under control. Again, the list is not looking to win 8 and 9 turn games. It wants to win by turn 5 or so. Control does not need to be perfect, just somewhat effective.
Ghor-Clan Rampager is not counterable. It can be Stifled once it is on the stack but very few lists are playing stack altering effect in the main deck. It's a huge boost for damage on an attacking creature and it helps remove otherwise troublesome blockers while getting damage through. With 2 creatures on the table when she lands and one opposing blocker Liliana of the Veil is the one who is dead, not me.
The Kird Ape's are just Wild Nacatl 5 and 6. I started with 4 of them in the list and then moved down to 2 gradually as I pared creatures out of it. I had 4 Dryad Militants initially also but my hand was clogged with 1cc creatures and I found that they were tripping all over each other to get on the board, allowing bigger creatures to arrive on the other side and slow things down. I was also tapping out all the time and the list likes to have a mana or two open at the end of the opponent's turn. So out went 3 creatures and in came 3 Path to Exile and suddenly everything was working just right. I may put a militant back in the sideboard. When it's good it's very good.
Garruk Wildspeaker is the weakest card in the list in my opinion. He gives the list some staying power and is good in the Zoo mirror but he takes forever to land. I tried Ajani Vengeant and he was even worse since I almost always tapped out on turn 4 for him and that just sucks these days. Tapping out at the end of the opponent's turn is fine but doing it on your turn is asking for a loss. At least Garruk gives you 2 land to work with after he lands. I've looked for better options, including 3 goyfs, and they just didn't do the same thing in terms of mid game control. I moved in some Knight of the Reliquary for a few games and did not like the results. Too slow for what the list is trying to do. I've contemplated replacing Garruk with Thrun, the Last Troll. That may be where things wind up in the end. The opponent can't make the mistake of attacking Thrun though and there are times when I drop Garruk hoping that he is where the Celestial Colonnade is going next turn to give me some time to regain control. Often that is what happens.
The 3 removal lands are for Tron, Infect and UW-based Control. They give some options in games that would otherwise get out of hand by turn 6 or 7 if events were left to themselves. Not a perfect solution by any means but they're another of the little edges of the list that can shine at times and make an unworkable matchup ok.
I can see the list shifting some as the meta shifts. Right now it seems to have things pretty much under control.