[Deck] Death and Taxes

I'm considering going up to 24 land myself.

I'm also torn on main deck revokers. They never seem to do enough when it comes to combat (except dying, they do that very well) and whatever I name with them tends to be irrelevant unless its Sneak Attack or Jace. I've been playing with 3 Grand Abolisher in that slot and so far they've been ok more often than not.

I've also been testing Godsend in the SoF&I slot and its kinda... awesome. Getting it equipped basically means you dominate the combat step regardless whose turn it is, especially with active moms. Serra Avenger loves it too. I suppose the biggest reason I'm playing around with it is it doesn't need to connect to the opponent to give you its best advantages, even if you stick it on a Wisp and never attack, your opponent is playing around it.

Other than that my list is pretty standard.

4 Mom, Stoneforge, Thalia, Flickerwisp
3 Avenger, Mirran Crusader, Grand Abolisher
2 Mangara

4 Vial, Swords
1 Jitte, Batterskull, Godsend

9 Plains
4 Karakas, Port, Wasteland
2 Flagstones (might include the 3rd, but I'm at 61 cards already)

Sideboard has 2 Cataclysm and an Etutor toolbox.

Also excuse the shorthand, I'm posting from my phone.

@Fry
Fwiw, iatee was quite supportive, albeit skeptical. The main concern then, as it has been over the last few days, was "Don't we need more 1-drops, not fewer?"

I had nothing to say on the matter.

Bahra was on the more 1-drops side.

Finn called you an 397hole. Really, he did. It was horribly rude. j/k.

So I don't think anyone was bagging on you really.

I'm intrigued, but also not convinced. Imperial can get away with it easier because you can fetch Mom, but on the other hand, I love Land + Vial -> Mom or Cavern + Mom so much that I would be hard pressed to want to drop to 3 as much as the idea intrigues me. I think 2 Phyrexian Revoker/3 SfM is better than 3 Mom if you need room, but that doesn't make 3 Mom a really interesting idea.

Alternate 1-drop: Mana Tithe (Yes, that's a joke. Yes I am only kidding. If someone uses it and goes Top 8 and big event, I will hate you for eternity.)

You can fetch Mom, but there is a huge difference between a turn 4 Mom and a t1 Mom, whereas Revoker is often the kinda card you want later in the game when you have a target in mind. Forcing your opponent to spend their an early turn killing Mom is a pretty big tempo play, and if they kept a hand with no removal they're just screwed.

Still, it's pretty terrible to draw multiple Moms vs Miracles or Eldrazi.

Other 1 drops with theoretical potential:
Alaborn Zealot / Loyal Sentry
Champion of the Parish
Gideon's Lawkeeper
Grim Lavamancer
Planar Guide
Thraben Inspector

I don't think our yard / red sources can support Grim Lavamancer, which is unfortunate since it's the effect we want the most. Loyal Sentry / Zealot doesn't seem terrible in the Eldrazi era. Not sure they're really much worse than Fiend Hunter.

Planar Guide is super janky and it's really a 4 drop, but having the ability to flickering your whole board seems powerful in a board stall.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by redtwister

Alternate 1-drop: Mana Tithe (Yes, that's a joke. Yes I am only kidding. If someone uses it and goes Top 8 and big event, I will hate you for eternity.)

---

Funny thing about your joke... It's not Legacy, but I play it as a 4 of in my Modern version, I've won many games due to it, countering Karn Liberated gives you a special feeling inside, also counters Living End rather nicely, and it's beautiful when it counters a Cryptic Command... Not to mention Liliana of the Veil getting countered
Gives you pretty decent game for the first game against a combo deck, more than if you don't have it. I've also gone to the top 8 of many 20-30 player Modern tournaments with it too.

Maybe not as much of a joke as you think it is ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by iatee

Other 1 drops with theoretical potential:
Alaborn Zealot / Loyal Sentry
Champion of the Parish
Gideon's Lawkeeper
Grim Lavamancer
Planar Guide
Thraben Inspector

I don't think our yard / red sources can support Grim Lavamancer, which is unfortunate since it's the effect we want the most. Loyal Sentry / Zealot doesn't seem terrible in the Eldrazi era. Not sure they're really much worse than Fiend Hunter.

Planar Guide is super janky and it's really a 4 drop, but having the ability to flickering your whole board seems powerful in a board stall.

---

I used to have Goldmeadow Harrier in my sideboard against things like Sneak and Show. Grim Lavamancer in an interesting I idea I hadn't thought of before, I think I may try to squeeze 1 into my main board. I'm playing 2 Plateau and 3 Magus, so it shouldn't be too bad to have the red mana available for the ability. Definitely something I think is worth trying out.

I think we can force the R if we really need it for Lavamancer, I just don't think our yard fills up reliably enough in the first few turns, which is when the card is the most potent. We don't have very many fetchlands, we play literally 4 instants/sorceries. Stuff ends up in our graveyard when it dies or gets countered or there's some Wastelanding going on, but you can't count on any of that.

But, like everything, worth trying. Some variant that could fit in multiple Lavamancers would have fantastic game against Infect/Elves/the mirror.

It undoubtedly does what this deck wants. Fuel for the Lavamancer is always going to be the issue. I doubt it can be profitably run in this deck.

Hey guys, copying over my report from MTGS just for reference

Hey guys, figured I'd do a writeup for GP Columbus. I finished 10-5.

[deck]
Lands (23)
11 Plains
1 Horizon Canopy
4 Wasteland
4 Rishadan Port
3 Karakas

Creatures (26)
4 Mother of Runes
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Stoneforge Mystic
3 Serra Avenger
3 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Mirran Crusader
4 Flickerwisp
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos

Spells (11)
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 AEther Vial
1 Umezawa’s Jitte
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of Fire and Ice

Sideboard
2 Path to Exile
2 Containment Priest
2 Council’s Judgment
2 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Rest in Peace
1 Sword of War and Peace
2 Pithing Needle
2 Wilt-Leaf Liege
[/deck]

I came into the event with a list very close to Medea's 75, I was running really hot at the regional level with GW Taxes... but I felt like I didn't need such buffed up numbers for my blue matchups when I really needed the Green sideboard slots for my double white casting cost bullets. I believed that overall, this would soften my matchups against Delver/Miracles but improve my other matchups like Eldrazi/Burn.

Round 1 - bye
1-0
Round 2 - bye
2-0

Round 3 - Enchantress
Game 1 my opponent mulls to 5, and does nothing except play a basic island and seal of removal. I'm not entirely sure what he's on but i put him on Enchantress, in come the judgements. Game 2 He plays a few fetches and doesn't do anything until casting an Enchantress's Presence turn 3. I judgment it, he plays Elephant Grass, I play a Revoker on his Seal of Primordium and stick a SoWaP on it and the game ends before he is able to do anything else despite having several cards in hand. Very strange round.
3-0

Round 4 - Eldrazi
Game 1 my opponent keeps a land light hand, so I wasteland/port him out of the game with air beats backed by a Jitte in case anything goes wrong. Game 2 he gets the nut draw of Chalice on 1, turn 2 mimic mimic TKS and I die in 2 turns lol. Game 3 my keep is an unbelievably absurd 7 consisting of 2x rish port, wasteland, 2x stp 2x Path. I don't draw a white source for 3 turns but my mana disruption prevents him from not having anything more than a mimic in play by the time my 4 removal spells are online. Yeah... his hand after I killed his 4 threats was just a few dismembers and warping wails that I quickly worked through.
4-0

Round 5 - Grixis Delver
Game 1 my opponent misses a very large number of Pyromancer triggers which would have presented lethal... I quietly sit there hoping he continues to forget, and eventually find a Batterskull to stabilize. Game 2 he has a multi daze draw and I stall on lands for a bit. Gurmag comes into play the turn before I find Rest in Peace... feels bad. Game 3 he goes Dread of Night into double Delver and darkblast... yeah okay I guess.
4-1

Round 6 - Aggro Loam
Game 1 my opponent keeps a nonbasic heavy hand with mox diamond, I stall him quickly with a Thalia and then slowly chew at his mana. A flickerwisp on his mox diamond sealed the game up. Game 2 my opponent sets up Exploration quickly and kills all my dudes before slamming double KOTR. I have a rest in peace to handle it but don't find another threat and die to a pair of 2/2s (now I know how D&T opponents feel!). Game 3 I jam RIP on 2 and he proceeds to go to discard for a few turns in a row as I have the port + wasteland lockout going strong. He discards a few Life from the Loams and DRSes, then shakes my hand showing me a grip of white spells with no white source anywhere to be seen :/
5-1

Round 7 - Reanimator
Game 1 I start the beatdowns early, and my opponent is forced to commit a play. He chooses to go for Griselbrand and draws 14 cards but dies after I show him the Karakas I sandbagged. Game 2 I die to turn 1 Sire of Insanity :P (Unmask target myself, Reanimate). I actually did draw Path on the final turn of the game, but the lands I drew before that were double rish port haha. Game 3 My Opponent makes an early Archetype, but I'm not really worried because he is stalled on lands and I have Thalia/Karakas ready to chumpblock forever. I have 4 lands in play (port is one of them) so I know I can hold him off doing anything relevant while trying to draw my Council's Judgment. Eventually I find it and he dies.
6-1

Round 8 - Burn
Game 1 my opponent has a really fast creature start, I have to expend my STPs stopping Goblin guides from running me over (as all my creatures got burned out)... eventually he sticks a Grim Lavamancer. I finally start to get a Jitte going but he draws fireblast off the top to kill the Brimaz I was about to attach Jitte to. Game 2 I do a really sick job of playing around Price of Progress and just generally playing safe... he makes a play where he goes to searing blaze my Revoker while I am at 4 and I tank deciding if I just go to 1 or if I want to STP my dude to go up to 3. I decide to swords my dude and the decision pays off as his hand is Price of Progress smash smash but no artifacts in play and only 1 nonbasic on my end. Insanely close game that was also quickly finished off by Brimaz. Game 3 is more of the same business with Brimaz carrying my ass hard, except this time my removal heavy hand actually lined up perfectly with his creatures. I was at 15 when I untapped with a brimaz in play and eventually I slam Canonist and he scoops.
7-1

Round 9 - Miracles
This was an incredibly tight match overall and I had a ton of fun playing it. Game 1 I pressure him early on with Revoker on Top, Thalia, and ports doing work. He finds a bunch of removal but the threats keep streaming along and he stumbles on mana for a while before eventually dying to a Mirran Crusader + Mom combo. Game 2 I get him to a point where I have vial in play and can win if I find any flier off the top of my deck within 2 turns as he has a Mentor online and spitting out little guys... I brick on the draws and go to game 3. Game 3 is a mega grindfest where I have an early SOFI chugging away and force him to 1 for 1 my board while I slowly stockpile a hand + a manabase of taxation. The game comes down to a final turn where my opponent slips up a little and forgets about Thalia (this actually happened a few times, it was a really long day so there were a few sloppy moments)... I jam Thalia and quickly suit up a SoWaP and SoFaI onto her while he is tapped out and force him to have exactly Terminus (3 of which were in the bin). Instead he takes a line where he kills my SoFaI and leaves himself exactly 3 mana open at 1 life. I tank on his EOT trying to figure out what the 1 card in his hand is... he keeps spinning top in his upkeep to dig for goodies so I'm not sure it's even a goodie. As soon as I go to combat and he shows me Snapcaster Mage I realize that he hasn't accounted for Thalia. He goes to flashback STP and I remind him that Thalia is in play... so he wants to go to blocks and I show him my own STP. (dunno why he even took that line when STP couldn't target Thalia to begin with)
8-1

Round 10 - BUG Delver
My opponent mulls down game 1 and shows me Delta, Trop, Wasteland, Goyf, before scooping his cards. I put him on BUG Delver and he kills me game 2 with double True Name lol... oops, in come the judgements. Game 3 I mull to 5 and keep 2 lands RIP Thalia Vial. He needles my vial, dazes my thalia, dazes my RIP, and runs off with a double Delver draw as I proceed to draw all my 3 drops. Oh well.
8-2

Round 11 - Miracles (Sam Roukas)
I sit down across from Sam and put him on Miracles, having seen him play on the SCG tour before. We make some small-talk about deck choices for this GP and he says he's been testing Shardless/Infect or something haha. Anyways I put him on Miracles. Game 1 I mull to 5 and keep a hand with some lands and like 3 threats. All 3 threats meet STPs and I proceed to draw all 4 of my swords to plowshares as he gets a Jace online and moving upwards. Game 2 I mull to 5 again and only have 2 threats which meet, IIRC, a FoW and a swords respectively. He quickly dispatches of me with Mentor as I proceed to draw 8 lands in a row.
8-3

Round 12 - Miracles
At this point I am pretty tilted as I have been playing pretty scared the last 2 matches and also had a sequence of really awkward draws... no help comes my way as I mull to 5 game 1 and run face first into a jammed turn 3 mentor with no removal. My opponent doesn't find a 4th land but does find 2 tops to start making a billion dudes. I die on something like turn 5 or 6, turbomiracles ftw. Game 2 I mull to 5, get my Thalia forced, and fail to draw a 3rd land instead drawing Sofi, sowap, batterskull, and both brimazes. Once again Mentor gets there.
8-4

Round 13 - Shardless
Now I'm really really deflated as my reasonable day 1 performance has deteriorated into an utter trainwreck... my opponent doesn't seem all too cheerful either as I try to make smalltalk with him and he does nothing more than smile shyly back at me. I draw a bunch of STPs for his threats game 1 and start the mana denial plan quickly. Eventually he has nothing in play and draws runner runner Ancestrals as I kill him before they come off suspend. No decays in the top 3 :( Game 2 I drew the nuts and have a quick RIP to nullify his double goyf draw. He tries to start denying me cards with Lili but I have the WLL ready, WLL into double crusader and he scoops em up.
9-4

Round 14 - Esper Deathblade
Game 1 my opponent goes to 6 and doesn't do anything except play delta -> underground sea -> DRS. I kill his Deathrite and he never draws another land. Funny enough, he goes to discard due to hand size, shows me Lingering Souls... then decides he wants to concede. I initially thought he was maybe Grixis Delver but after seeing Souls I figured he was likely deathblade... so in come the Judgements. Game 2 I draw the judgement exactly on time for True Name but don't have much pressure of my own, so he makes another TNN and sticks a Jitte on it. Yikes. Game 3 my opponent mulls to 5 and manages to find all of the basics in his deck naturally! He makes a stoneforge-> get batterskull play and I wasteland his tundra knowing he is topdecking for a land... and he draws the plains to hit batterskull lol. Luckily I have judgment in hand and a Brimaz follows up for the kill.
10-4

Round 15 - Grixis Delver
Playing against a local guy, I am pretty tired and my result is pretty much irrelevant at this point so I'm just messing around. Game 1 I mull to 5 and die to a double daze double delver draw (sounds familiar...) Game 2 he goes dread of night turn 1 after I keep a 7 with Karakas, Wasteland, RIP, Thalia, Mom, Vial, flickerwisp. My turn 2 RIP gets dazed and then I draw 5 threes in a row while my opponent decides to play with his food and watch me suffer. He gets to 6 lands total and casts a Painful truths with 2 YP and 6 tokens in play on top of 5 cards in hand... ouch.
10-5

Overall I think I could have played a lot lot tighter and done a much better job staying focused and unfazed by bad rolls. Draws were not the best but a lot of the hands I mulled likely could have gotten there on 6 (in the spots where I mulled to 5, I was basically never going to win but keeping 6 at least gave me a chance to scry what I needed on top). Sideboarding was also super questionable, I made a few bad decisions and had a few blanks in my hands during critical turns. The deck felt pretty solid but I really wish I had Cataclysm a few times to catch me up when I was really behind... but maybe the idea is to not fall that far behind in the first place. I made a couple aggressive Wasteland/port plays that may have been wrong but overall my other sequencing was generally decent.

Sorry for letting you guys down, I really really thought I could convert my day 1 into a top 8 berth but the meticulous play from Saturday just slipped up on Sunday. The deck was great though, can't fault it at all for my poor play.

Biggest slops were:
- Not playing cataclysm in the board
- No Gideon (I tested it for a while before and he was insane, but I got lazy and didn't try to figure out which slots to cut)
- Maindeck batterskull messed me up several times when I drew it naturally
- Bad sideboarding choices, still need to learn the deck honestly
- Kept some sketchy hands and probably mulled ones that were fine
- Tilt in the early rounds of day 2

Went 6-3 at Eternal Extravaganza.

Tried the same list I played at GP Columbus minus one Batterskull, one Mom in the main + Fiend Hunter + Mirran Crusader, with this sb: 3 Path to Exile, Bskull, Crusader, Relic Warder, Fiendslayer, Sparkmage, Priest, Pia/Kiran, 2 Ethersworn, 2 RIP.

R1 Imperial Painter (2-0) (1-0)

Renowned painter player Jack Kitchen. Cool dude, said he reads this thread sometimes. I was happy to be playing Painter since even if I lost g1 my sb games were gonna be really strong w/ 7 STP effects + Relic Warder. Didn't need them in the end since I had strong Vial draws.

G1 I build a board of double Revoker (Grindstone) double Mom. He has Painter on blue, Top and Grindstone in play, figured I could play super safe and not even lose to a string of 2 Blasts so I chipped damage in pretty slowly with only one Mom giving stuff pro-blue. Eventually get a Jitte and he has to use the one Blast he did have to prevent it from getting online. Had no Plains and was Magused by him (and later by myself) so my STPs in hand were dead, but didn't matter because I had t1 Vial.
G2 Double Wasteland cut him off mana early and he had to burn a Tutor on Great Furnace. I had a Vial, Fiend Huntered his Servant and got double Revoker again. I had an attack with Revoker+Revoker+Fiend Hunter+Recruiter and got a bit wrecked by a Bolt-Fiend Hunter as he got to eat one of the Revokers with his 1/3, but I wanted to put pressure on him (completely safe attack is for 2, slightly risky attack is for 6) and Bolt was the only thing that was gonna punish me. Flickered the Fiend Hunter in response to Bolt, so it still was a one-for-one, but I feel a lot safer with 2 Revokers on board vs Painter rather than one. Eventually he gets a Bridge out and dumps his hand but I have a naturally drawn Mangara lock to deal with it. Having that one-of Mangara is super relevant for grindy prison effect games, and it's not particularly hard to find it with 4 Recruiters + 4 Flicker effects.

R2 Elves (0-2) (1-1)

G1 I have a Wasteland/Fetch/Thalia/SfM/Stuff hand that I decide to mull because I'm on the draw, had no t1 play and not amazing mana, plus he's mulling, so I wanted to see if I could hit a Vial. My 6 is Thalia/Plains/STP/no other land, pretty bad but I keep it vs unknown. He mulls to 5 and has a slow start, but I don't draw any real interaction after t1 StP an Elf, t2 play Thalia and he has a strong Glimpse. I don't remember if he went off on t4 or t5, but I'm pretty sure I was favored to win if I just kept the t2 SfM 7. Probably woulda kept it on the play, since I wouldn't have known he was mulliganing / I could better afford to miss a t1 play.
G2 I get out a Cunning Sparkmage from my opening hand t3 and hit his t3 Dryad Arbor. I have Vial on 3 and a lot of lands / Ports / Recruiter. He has Decay for Sparkmage so I can't just win on easy mode. I have a Sofi in hand, I EOT Recruit for a Kor Skyfisher and bounce the Recruiter on my turn, leaving up Vial on 3 and the ability to Recruit for + play a Containment Priest at instant speed + cast and equip Sofi to a flyer next turn. Don't get the chance, he goes off with a Glimpse. End of my turn 5 he returned his DRS to hand which made me regret not getting Ethersworn - (signals a Glimpse turn) - so instead of even holding up C Priest I had to port his Cradle - he had (or drew) another. Ultimately I could only choose Ethersworn or Priest and I picked the wrong door. C Priest hits more stuff (Order/GSZ), both of which can be used to destroy Ethersworn, so I think I probably didn't make a mistake, but I had good cards and felt like I lost a winnable game.

R3 LED Dredge (0-2) (1-2)

G1 He's playing Lotus Petals so his build is extra fast. Pretty sure he had all 4 Bridges in the yard by turn 2.
G2 I mull a 7 with nothing relevant to a 6 with two Ports and Rest in Peace. He t1 Therapies Rest in Peace and has another super fast start. I wasn't drawing white for a few turns anyway. Dredge...

R4 Enchantress (2-0) (2-2)

G1 I'm on the play have a Vial, 2 Recruiters, Wastelands, Cavern. T3 Recruit for Thalia, Vial it in, t4 Recruit for Wingmare, Vial it in, Wasteland his non-basic. He scoops. I like having exactly one Wingmare in the deck because if gives you the option to tutor up a stax board like that when the situation is appropriate - but if you only play 1 you don't suffer as much from the x/1 curse g2/g3. It's easy to side it out.
G2 I have another Vial hand. He fetches a basic plains and E tutors for Suppression Field. His opening was a lot of Dual lands and I have enough mana to pay the Field tax each turn and Vial in a Magus t4. He can't do much without green for the rest of the game.

R5 White/Green Eldrazi (2-1) (3-2)

G1 I lead with a Flooded Strand pass, he t1 Chalices. I t2 Jitte and I pray he doesn't have a t2 TKS since I probably win if he doesn't. He plays t2 Matter Reshaper and my T3 Magus basically ends the game. He casts a Jitte t3, but I had Thalia Jitte'd up t4.
G2 He has Double TKS but I keep a hand with one land 3 removal spells + Relic Warder. Definitely on the sketch side of keeps, but Relic Warder eats a theoretical Chalice and 3 removal spells is really strong. Killing his t2 TKS gets me my second land. Eventually I get his Jitte off the board with Relic Warder and I have my own Jitte on board, so I feel slightly ahead but he draws into Reality Smasher x2 and kills me before I can get anything out of it.
G3 Mull a slow 7 to an unplayable 6 to a 5 card hand with Vial Magus and 3 non-lands. Keep it, scry SfM to the bottom, pass my first turn without playing anything, draw into a Plains t2 though and Vial'd out Magus eventually ends the game. Turned out he kept a sketchy 6 too (his first 3 lands were Cavern) - I wouldn't have been able to beat a good hand. I think a 5 card no land Vial hand is almost certainly better than the vast majority of 4 card hands, especially with the scry rule.

R6 Miracles (2-0) (4-2)

Super nice guy I had talked with a bit at another event, so I knew he was on Miracles and was pretty happy to get the matchup.

G1 I have double Vial early, Cavern and a million Recruiters, he has...Countertop. Revoker on Top gets Terminused, so I just Recruiter for it again. He has 3 mana open and casts Snapcaster, attempting to STP my Sofi'd Recruiter, I Vial-3 Recruiter for Vial-2 Thalia in response, something of a blowout.
G2 I chip in for early damage, eventually get a Vial on 3, he gets out a Mentor and JTMS but Flickerwisp + Sofi is enough to kill him.

R7 Lands (0-2) (4-3)

G1 He has a fast Manabonds + Loam start, then dredges literallly more than half of his deck looking for a copy of Dark Depths. I'm just sitting there hoping I can draw into Magus / Recruiter / Vial before he hits something since he doesn't have any Punishing Fires in the yard either. Eventually he finds the Depths.
G2 I mull to Magus, Faerie Macabre, which seems really good in theory. I have to immediately eat his first Loam with Macabre, because he has a Manabonds yet again and I can't afford to let him get a ton of lands out. Have to then play out Magus without any protection because I don't think I'll have the mana to after t3 and he has the Punishing Fire in hand. I draw into RIP a turn too late.

R8 D+T (2-1) (5-3)

G1 I have a Cavern Thalia Magus hand which is extremely strong against an unknown blue opponent, but extremely bad against D+T. I lose to he has Vial + SfM + Jitte and I don't.
G2 Cunning Sparkmage makes another appearance. He Revokers it eventually, but I have removal for Revoker. He draws into two Council's Judgments but I just have too many relevant cards at that point.
G3 Playing a million removal spells pays off because I have to Path + STP his t2 mom just so I can Fiend Hunter the next Mom he plays. I Vial-Relic Warder his Jitte, Karakas bounce his Thalia and chip in for damage until I decide to Vial in my Flickerwisp just as a beater to finish him off.

R9 Lands

G1 He's massively ahead with Manabonds+Loam, and finally presents the combo on board when I draw Magus and play the Plateau I've been sandbagging. I actually missed a land drop to sandbag the Plateau and it slowed my development. I couldn't cast a Wingmare one turn, which in turn let him Loam faster and it also slowed the clock I was presenting. Anyway, he makes a 20/20 in response to my Magus but I have a STP. He would not have lost the game if he played optimally, he knew that and was annoyed at himself. He had Punishing Fires in his graveyard that he just didn't take the time to get back because my board couldn't attack past double Maze of Ith and he was just super focused on comboing.
G2 Vial, RIP, Path, Wastelands/Port/Plains. Play the RIP early for low value because I actually draw into my second. Path his Tireless Tracker and get in with Thalia and whatever other random creatures I draw.

6-3 was good for $100 credit and I got a foil Magus + a Null Rod and Grim Lavamancer for my other deck (UR Delver) / to help decrease the supply of Null Rods in the world.

Overall:

- 3 Moms never felt like it hurt me, but it's hard to say because I saw them quite frequently and they were always good. Got my 2 power creatures past a 1/3 Painter, ate STPS vs Miracles, protected my Magus from O-Ring vs Enchantress. Not convinced that 3 is right outside of any super-Eldrazi invested meta, even if it opens up another tutor slot.
- I wanted to test Weathered Wayfarer but I didn't have the guts to do it at a real event. I don't remember there being any spots where I was thinking "I really wish I had a Weathered Wayfarer."
- Rarely wanted Batterskull, sided it in a few times but the only time it was going to be relevant it was TKS'd. Eldrazi's the only real aggro deck I played though.
- The 3 Paths came in for 7/9 matches (Not Miracles and Enchantress, but an upgrade for STP vs Lands) and having 7 one mana removal spells + Fiend Hunter was awesome vs creature decks. I played 0 Delver, which was odd. And after 15 rounds vs no Storm at GP Columbus, I played 0 Storm here too. Another Ethersworn would be nice vs Elves, but I don't think playing 3 is necessary these days.
- I don't think I misplayed that often. My loss to Dredge was in God's hands (whatever God Dredge players pray to.) Elves, I think I slightly messed up. My Lands loss was due to very explosive hands, Manabonds + Loam is really hard to race without a Vial. A very large % of Lands games I've lost with this deck have been because of Manabonds hands. I still like the matchup overall, and if you play 3 Magus in the 75 it's even better.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by redtwister

@nmks and Thomas
Can you talk a little about your sideboarding? What made you like these choices and what decks do you see them as being strongest against? How hard/easy were they to cast? What were they replacing, if it isn't obvious?

nmks:
- Crackdown
- 0 Rest in Peace/2 Surgical Extraction (I'm assuming 1 Faerie Macabre helped with that decision)
- 2 Ratchet Bomb

Thomas:
- Gideon

Congratulations to you both and thank you both for sharing your time and experience!

---

I felt that Crackdown was also good against Delver decks, while being the star in the Eldrazi match up. I didn't actually get to cast it in the tournament, but it got taken away once by Thought-Knot Seer.

After testing those zero mana graveyard hate cards I was sold, it's usually enough to remove one set of a card against opponents that use graveyard as a resource (like Reanimator or Lands). And as mentioned before, Faerie Macabre is a 2 power creature so it can be fetched with Recruiter. I think the only meaningful downside by not playing RiPs is not being able to shrink Goyfs to 0/1 and Mongooses to 1/1. (But Temur Delver isn't that bad match up so the upsides from switching to zero mana hate cards are way bigger than the downsides.) And the fact that using those cards cost nothing gives us more mana to build 'our game' while having an answer to their doings. I also like the Surgical against Miracles since you can remove all the remaining Terminus' from the opponent, which means you can over extend as much as you like. It also shuffles opponents Top to his/her deck if he used it to cast the Terminus.

I see the Bomb as a very versatile removal. Against Delver decks it could easily take two creatures from the opponent, against Elves it can be even better (though it's not always fast enough). Against Eldrazi it destroys Chalices if opponent has left them in and the Endless Ones. Against Miracles it can be ticked up to four if you feel like Counterbalance won't be a threat anymore, but it can also be used to get rid of Angels or Monks. It's business versus many decks.

Currently I have changed a Kor Firewalker and a Crackdown to a Elspeth, Knight-Errant and to a Gideon, Ally of Zendikar because of Miracles. I don't think one Firewalker is enough against Burn even with Recruiters (just have to avoid the deck in tournaments) and the Crackdown as a one off that can't be searched felt a little too random. Haven't done any testing with the changes yet, though.

I am surprised that with Pia/Kiran main you feel like you need anything else for Miracles. Usually just sticking that card in my deck post-board feels like more than enough. A late game Pia/Kiran means you'll probably have Karakas + Cavern or Vial, and that setup is actually scarier for Miracles than an Elspeth/Gideon. If I wanted another piece of Miracles hate, I would try and make it another bomby-tutorable creature rather than a card you have to topdeck, though I haven't been able to find one that compares with Pia/Kiran. Rakka Mar was a card I wanted to try after seeing it in the MTGO legendary cube - it's a super fast clock, goes wide and is legendary...but doesn't attack from as many angles as Pia/Kiran.

Agree about Kor Firewalker. Burn is just a bad matchup but unlike other bad matchups like Elves/Infect, the anti-burn SB cards so niche that it makes more sense to hope to dodge it. Recruitering for Kor Firewalker is too slow to win you the game. Fiendslayer Paladin has felt like a decent compromise anti-burn card - it's not as good as Kor Firewalker, but it also can come in 5x as often, and I really like it vs Grixis Delver.

I haven't played Ratchet Bomb since the rule change, I think Relic-Warder is better than Ratchet Bomb when it comes to eating Chalices and Path is better for killing Delvers. Ratchet Bomb does end up being randomly good though. I'm actually surprised you aren't playing Relic-Warder, that guy has entered 'can't cut' territory in my board. Having a tutorable disenchant has been so important for me, and when it eats Chalices/Vials it doesn't even matter if it dies later.

At this point these are cards I personally consider 'core' SB cards since they're all effects you want on demand:
- At least 2 Ethersworn
- Cunning Sparkmage
- Faerie Macabre
- Relic-Warder
- Containment Priest

So, tutorable storm-deck hate, pinger, grave-hate, disenchant, snt/reanimate hate. And I think you want tutorable removal (Fiend Hunter) and tutorable late-game bomb (Pia/Kiran) somewhere in the 75.

From there I think you need

- Something for Delver (multiple Paths seems better than any given creature, since like Burn, Recruiting is slow and you need immediate answers)
- Something for Eldrazi, though Magus is already kinda that something. I have been toying with Serene Master, which is effectively a 2 mana Magus of the Moat. I think if Goyf weren't a x/x+1 this card would be much better, it's annoying that it can't eat the default legacy beater. Can still block it though.

I wish there were a tutorable answer for TNN that didn't require playing black, but I don't think there is one. I guess Magus of the Moat. It's a shame Marble Titan isn't a 2/3.

My testing with 3 Moms has made me think that it's not really where we want to be, the card is simply too good and it's not even 0 value vs Eldrazi, where Dismember is their out to Magus. Weathered Wayfarer also has yet to do anything for me.

Another thing I've been thinking about is trying a single Simian Spirit Guide in the board. One of the ways this deck still loses is not being fast enough, and worst case scenario we can even hardcast the dude. Is it crazy for a control deck to waste resources (and a sideboard slot) like that? T1 Caverned Thalia....

@nmks
Yeah, I guess my worry with moving from RiP to Surgical is Goyf+DRS more than anything. Not being able to shut off DRS can be really bad versus BUG, Jund, 4Color Delver, etc. I suppose you judge your meta and go from there. I do like the way it manages combo better.

Revoker is the 2nd best card in this deck. His deeds are unpraised, his song often goes unsung.

https://66.media.tumblr.com/5814e250...qiypmg_540.jpg fair one :-) (and yep, it works together with the "old" Thalia

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Wasteland

https://66.media.tumblr.com/5814e250...qiypmg_540.jpg fair one :-) (and yep, it works together with the "old" Thalia

---

Yes, new thalia looks absurd vs fetch land specifically. Upgraded body mindcensor + creature utility seems promising.

I think she could find a home in a more tempo version of dnt, mono white heavy on avengers, similar to the original Michael Derczo lists with wingmare.

I don't think imperial is interested but I could be wrong if she proves powerful enough on her own.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Wasteland

https://66.media.tumblr.com/5814e250...qiypmg_540.jpg fair one :-) (and yep, it works together with the "old" Thalia

---

2W
Legendary Creature - Human Soldier

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

3/2

I think this card is going to be a beast. I like it so much that I think my new strategy for beating Elves is to have 3 or 4 of these in the main and just put some Spirit Guides in the sideboard.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Wasteland

https://66.media.tumblr.com/5814e250...qiypmg_540.jpg fair one :-) (and yep, it works together with the "old" Thalia

---

This really seems legit, I have always been a little underwhelmed by Wingmare...... I may have to start playing mono white again!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Finn

I think this card is going to be a beast. I like it so much that I think my new strategy for beating Elves is to have 3 or 4 of these in the main and just put some Spirit Guides in the sideboard.

---

It'll prevent some blow outs, but is probably no more than a speedbump in the face of Nettle Sentinel. And without Spirit Guides it comes down T3 at best. You sure that's such a good idea Elves? Even if you win G2, they're on the play G3.

Kinda seems like The Danger Of Cool Things, as far as specifically Elves! is concerned. I think it'd do more work vs. Eldrazi. Screw haste, Reality Smasher!