Originally Posted by
Hanni
As far as TNN vs Mentor is concerned, they do different things which I don't think are easily comparable. In the right spot, Mentor can be very resilient to spot removal. It's also much better when you can Probe/Therapy to clear the way first, or can protect it for a turn.
TNN is much stronger against heavy spot removal decks, and against decks with a slower clock. TNN is more vulnerable to sweep effects... TNN is vulnerable to Zealous Persecution, Marsh Casualties, Golgar Charm, etc, where Mentor is not.
Running Deluge in the board when you play TNN is a non-bo, whereas it becomes an option if you play Mentor.
TNN is vulnerable to Pyroblast, where Mentor is not. Mentor is vulnerable to Sulfur Elemental or Dread of Night, where TNN is not.
TNN is more vulnerable to Diabolic Edict and Drop of Honey. Mentor is more vulnerable to Abrupt Decay.
TNN is atrocious against combo decks, where Mentor is fantastic. TNN is better in an aggro/tempo approach, whereas Mentor is better in a control approach.
Mentor has the ability to bring you back from losing board states in a way TNN never could, but requires a deck composition that is heavy in non-land, non-creature spells, and requires that you have the resources to do it. TNN is a better topdeck when you are empty-handed.
So the point is that it's not really cut and dry. Both have pros and cons. I like both approaches. I've had great success with Bant Deathblade, and I've had great success with Mentor Deathblade. I don't think either approach is better than the other.