Just wondering - where has the discussion about Scryb Ranger gone? Has Scryb largely been replaced by Goyf in terms of cmc? Lists running Harrier/Mom/KotR would obviously benefit most, but he is still a great creature that allows lots of fun things.
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Just wondering - where has the discussion about Scryb Ranger gone? Has Scryb largely been replaced by Goyf in terms of cmc? Lists running Harrier/Mom/KotR would obviously benefit most, but he is still a great creature that allows lots of fun things.
Lavamancers are a good target, and I certainly choose them at times. But I have three Grunts in the main and the fourth in the SB. They do a decent job of limiting the effectiveness of Lavamancers. Moreover, we have Mothers of Runes. If she comes out first she can pretty much shut down a Lavamancer until I can deal with it in some other way. Ah, sometimes it works out that way and sometimes nothing works. But the point is that there really is no other way to deal with Pridemages, while Lavamancers can be got around.
EDIT: I think that Scryb Ranger reeks of the Danger of Cool Things.
I've tested Scryb Ranger in my Wg build, in the place of Flickerwisp, as they serve a similar purpose and Flickerwisp's WW cost is a little hard to get sometimes. It has some very interesting uses, like enabling mom and mangara to be used twice per turn. Many times I find Mangara to be too slow, and Scryb Ranger fixes it somehow.
Also, it is a game-winner versus merfolk, and good at blocking Rhox War Monks. The problem is that it is lackluster in many matches, like Zoo and Goblins.
I believe it deserves some slots, depending on your meta.
I've done a lot of testing and Leonin Arbiter as well as Phyrexian Revoker prove to amazing inclusions to the deck. I don't think Mirran Crusader is good enough for legacy, even if you are doing a mono white version like I run. There are already planty of cards that require 3 mana and with the non mono white builds out there the double white could be problematic at times and vials don't show up at the begining of every game.
Hello,
Im a long time lurker is DT threads but never posted since i don't have a playsets of karakas now i've gotten i wanted to build a Wg taxes. Here is my initial deck build. It doesn't have tricks or shenanigans as compared to mono w DT.
Comments and suggestions are welcome, thank you in advance.
Lands [21]
1 Forest
1 Gaea's Cradle
2 Plains
2 Karakas
4 Savannah
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wasteland
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Flooded Strand
1 Temple Garden
Creatures [28]
3 Mother of Runes
3 Noble Hierarch
3 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Serra Avenger
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Mangara of Corondor
2 Mirran Crusader
3 Knight of the Reliquary
Spells [11]
4 AEther Vial
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
Sideboard Choices
3 Gaddock Teeg
3 Oblivion Ring
3 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Enlightened Tutor
1 Bojuka Bog
3 Cataclysm
2 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Aura of Silence
2 Thorn of Amethyst
3 Ghostly Prison
2 Pithing Needle
2 Null Rod
I used 3 Mirran Crusaders tonight in the slot that was previously 3 Kitchen Finks tonight. Must say, I LOVED using him. Nobody really gave a damn when he hit the field, until Crusader started coming for their face. Speaking of, split 1st for the 2nd week in a row, which makes me 4 of 5 in past weeks.
Kitchen Finks had his bright side on Zoo MU, Mirran Crusader is still poor against them (even lavamancer can kill it..).
I testing new side against Zoo
I put in:
3 Path to Exile
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
I'm testing Path's because I'm playing with Arbiters, also good Zoo pilot will fetch for basics (3 basics so all of them basics).
So Finks is better because of one matchup? If I was worried about Lavamancers I would not be playing a deck with: Flickerwisp, Mangara, Mom, and all the other goodies that die to shock.
Are you running Wastelands and Ports? If so, putting mana denial alongside cards that give them lands seems like a really bad choice.
I played with Wasteland and Ghostly Quarter, remember that gives them land is rather not always, every good Zoo pilot facing Wastelands goes to basics, then after fetching all of them u have clear way. PtE is for fatties which are quite problematic (Goyfs/KotR). I can see that Mirrian Crusader is good on in one MU U/b/g Thresh nothing more.. I used 2 Terravores in this slot they're much better, they always bigger than opponent KotR's and have tremple so in mirror they shines bacuase even protection don't save u.
Btw Finks also helps in Burn/Boros MU which isn't so good.
A Zoo pilot who fetches basics as a rule is not a good one. When they do that I tap their green with Ports
Mirran crusader is good but from my experience he is a win more card. Once again though he is good but I do not know if he has a real place in mono D&T.
I played a W/g version last night at our weekly tournament. 13 players.
Lands - 22
4 Plains
1 Forest
4 Savannah
2 Horizon Canopy
3 Karakas
4 Wasteland
4 Windswept Heath
Creatures - 26
4 Mother of Runes
2 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Serra Avenger
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Mangara of Corondor
2 Flickerwisp
2 Mirran Crusader
Artifacts - 6
4 Aether Vial
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
Instants - 4
4 Swords to Plowshares
Enchantments - 2
2 Sylvan Library
Sideboard
3 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Krosan Grip
3 Path to Exile
2 Jotun Grunt
2 Cataclysm (last minute addition since I had 2 open spots and didn't know what to add.)
1 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Faerie Macabre
Round 1 vs. Junk/Rock (Budget version, no Goyfs)
Main thing worth note was game 2 where he only had a Swamp and a Top out after I Wasted one of his lands. I then Vial in a Revoker (naming Top) which shuts him out of the game.
1-0; 2-0
Round 2 vs. NO CounterTop
Game 1 we both mull, him to 5 and me to 4 keeping despite no land. I topdeck a land and eventually more from there and recover rather well. The main play worth noting was him having Counterbalance out and I cast a Mirran Crusader. He says it resolves then backtracks to reveal for Counterbalance which reveals a Trygon. If it wasn't a casual event I wouldn't have let him take it back. I end up dying to a Noble Hierarch when I made an error and attacked with my Knight with SoLaS on it which was chump blocked.
Game 2 the deck does what it does best and I have removal for all his threats til I kill him.
Game 3 was back and forth putting us both in top deck mode near the end. He gets mana flooded and I eventually get rid of his final creature and take the round shortly after. He never drew a Natural Order in any of the games.
2-0; 4-1
Round 3 vs. Deadguy Ale
Game 1 he was stuck on 2 Swamps for most of the game. He slowly kills himself with Bitterblossom while I speed it up with Avenger with SoLaS.
Game 2 he leads with a Plains and a turn 2 Scrubland and Bitterblossom. I Waste the Scrubland on my turn and he never draws another black source from there. SoLaS comes through again as does Revoker naming SoLaS which had had from Stoneforge.
3-0; 6-1
Round 4 vs. R/g Goblins
Intentional Draw to split 1st & 2nd. He didn't want to at first which I would have been fine with, but then I think he realized there was no reason not to since the prize difference was only +/-$5 from the split amount. We played it out anyways just to see.
3-0-1
Game 1 I made a play mistake with Flickerwisp. He played Tin Street Hooligan and I Vialed in Wisp to bounce my Vial in response to it being targeted instead of in response to it being cast which would have made him kill his own Vial. Ringleader gives him the card advantage and win.
Game 2 I have more removal now and SoFaI pretty much ends it for him.
Game 3 was more removal and Revoker locking out his Incinerators. We both end up in topdeck mode, but I have Library and take a hit for 4 twice to end the game.
Individual card thoughts:
Mirran Crusader - I agree with others that its a win-more card. The times I had it in play it was just a target and never had any effect other than them wasting a removal spell on it. I'll be cutting these.
Sylvan Library - Was great every time I had it as was to be expected. Kinda surprised I don't see it more often in the W/g builds.
Knight of the Reliquary - I'm torn between cutting these completely or cutting just 1. With 3 Karakas and Sylvan, I don't really see myself needing the land ability. And without evasion he just gets blocked by random crap. This is the main reason I went with Avenger over Goyf. If I cut all 4 of these, it'll be for Goyfs.
Flickerwisp - I like the 3/1 Flying body for a beater but the flicker ability never really did much for me so I'll probably cut these as well. Scryb Ranger seems interesting as a replacement since it would let me use Mangara or MoR twice a turn but I think there are better options to use. Would Aven Mindcensor be worth considering.
I run a GW list aswell. I'd like to share my experience of those cards you mentioned.
• Library cantrips - i don't run any in my list maybe you could try sensei or mirri's guile as i think they are a much better choice over sylvan since you rarely use to take extra cards from sylvan.
• Kotr - i only run 3 bec of the following reasons:
a. not as big as other kotr's who runs tons of fetches so he would normally come out at 4/4 not bad.
b. if your opponent has lots of blockers his just a library filter or a way of fetching karakas or wasteland, etc.
c. needs a full turn to be effective.
• Flickerwisp - i dont run him bec i find his ability lack luster without an online vial set at 3. it can block anything.., without exalted triggers seems like a weak beater. At worse its a 2cc 3/1 flyer. But i run 4 serra avenger in its place.
• Mirran Sader - i run 2 of this, the right number for me is 3 more than it seems abit off. Its not a win more card for me its a card that will be dangerous later on if not dealt. Thats his role for me. his a decent blocker against zoo. When any equipment his the board and your opponent has no removal sader will wreak havoc once it get equipped on. For me if acts like a removal magnet is not bad as it could free up your other threats .
I am playing with Version B/W. I splash to black because de sidebord is very strong againg combos and I can use Bob in main deck doing more draws.
My list
Lands [21]
1 Swamp
5 Plains
3 Karakas
4 Scrublands
4 Marsh Flats
4 Wasteland
Creatures [26]
4 Dark Confidant (Bob)
4 Mother of Runes
3 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Serra Avenger
3 Leonin Relic-Warder
3 Mirran Crusade
3 Mangara of Corondor
2 Perimeter Captain
Spells [13]
4 AEther Vial
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
2 Senseis Divining Top
Sideboard Choices
3 Enlightened Tutor
1 Tormodīs Crypt
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Null Rod
1 Chalice of the Void
2 Extirpate
2 Perish
3 Duress
I had a good performance against combos in second match and deck using green creatureas to beat. Mirran cruzader is fantastic when equiped and can kill a opponent in 2 rounds. This creature so block Goyf, Relicary, dont kill firespot (pro green) and with mother of runes in game dont die.
I trying improve sideboard and would like sugestions and coments.
Thanks
Okay ... Maybe I will try him again. I got 3rd at the Jupiter games tourney back in January (22 2011) with this list
Land 22
4x savannah
4x windswept heath
2x horizon canopy
2x plains
1x flagstones of trokair
1x forest
4x wasteland
Creatures 27
4x mother of runes
4x tarmogoyf
4x qasali pridemade
3x sotneforge mystic
2x jotun grunt
3x gaddock teeg
3x mangara of corondor
4x knight of the reliquary
Spells 11
4x swords to plowshares
4x aether vial
1x umezawas jitte
1x Sword of fire and ice
1x sword of light and shadow
SB
3x krosan grip
3x burrenton-forge tender
3x orims chant
3x ethersworn canonist
2x pithing needle
1x jotun grunt
I am thinking if I play this deck again I will add the crusader because I think there will be even more green being played because of green sun zenith. But we will see I might just play the white D&T instead if testing is not successful with mirran sader.
Nothing is really wrong with the build I have been playing it for a long time now but I did not really play it in tournaments because survival was in the meta. Now that its gone this deck is great. I just want to explore other options. I mean the deck works and its great but could it be better?
There are some problems I have noticed though. Losing rishidian port is sort of a big problem. You have big creatures but sometimes you have a flood of lands and ports would be helpful in situations like those. But for the most part the deck gets there in terms of winning in my meta.
Your Mana Base looks slightly questionable. I personally feel that 3x Savannah is more than enough for the GW version of the deck. Additionally I think that Flagstones of Trokair while effective in the mono-white version of the deck, is fairly risky in the GW. This is especially true if you should for whatever reason come up against a Blood Moon oriented deck and have your 19 Non-Basic Lands turned against you. Also you forgot to list what I assume is your 4x Karakas? Personally I think one only needs 3x Karakas, especially if they are running Knight's of the Reliquary in the deck.
I would personally replace the Jotun Grunts with Serra Avengers, and maybe replace 2 other cards with Serra Avengers (the two you replace is 100% up to you though). Your main deck non-creature spells look about right however.
In your sideboard, you have 6 cards designated for the purpose of combating Combo decks. Are they really that big a threat in your meta? Also, have you considered an Enlightened Tutor or Worldly Tutor Sideboard build?
Yeah your right. I ran 3 karakas. After the tourney I took out flagstones and put in another plains upping the plains to 4. Also I changed my list so it runs 4x serra avenger now. I also have changed my board since. Its like you read my mind. I took out grunt. He was only good in situations where I did not have tarmogoyf and my opponent had tarmogoyf. So yeah. I have tried the enlightened board in the past but did not like it. I am not denying that its not good but I personally chose not to use it.
Im looking into building this deck. I love the power it is gaining and am seeing how well positioned it is becoming in the changing metagame. I definitly think that the green splash is awesome as it gives you power over other creature decks. What I am thinking is wether or not the black splash is worth it. You get a better SB, thoughtseize, and Bob. My worries is wether these cards are necessary, the instability you gain from the mana base and that dark confidant is weak, when it comes to putting in damage.
I am personally not all that thrilled with the black splash. For one thing, Dark Confident will often times do more damage to you, than he does to your opponent. Additionally Thoughtseize and Dark Confidant combined make the Burn match up considerably worse (and considering that the Burn match up is one of the more baseline match ups for the format why would you want to make that match up worse?). All told I would rather just stick to a GW or a Mono-White build.
Is there a reason the GW builds of DnT aren't running Phyrexian Revoker (or at least in the main)?
I'm not sure what you mean here. In my opinion, the point of Dark Confidant is that he draws cards and thus provides an advantage over your opponent. If he attacks and deals damage, that's just a bonus.
Why is Burn a baseline match-up for the format? Also, you play Stoneforge Mystic and plenty of equipment, which is good against that deck (think Umezawa's Jitte). Don't some versions play Burrentown Forge-Tender as well?
I would consider Burn a "baseline" deck since its a cheap and consistant deck. Chances are, in a local event, burn will be around if you have new players or if people can't afford decks with playsets of $10+ cards.
True... Burn, being really cheap to put together, plus with the release of FnL premium deck is always present in tourneys... in 2 tournaments I've recently played... I played against burn 3 times... I went 2-1... I was thinking, wouldn't putting in a Dragon's Claw in the sb to solidify the match to the point that you can't possibly lose be worth 1 slot? I don't know, maybe it's just me but I recently opened up 3 slots in my sb because I found the relic-warders to be underwhelming... and I'm seriously considering putting in a miser's dragon's claw just to shove it to all the burn players... what do you guys think?
I cannot imagine running my deck without Black. Besides Dark Confidant, you get Thoughtseize and Tidehollow Sculler and Engineered Plague in the board. I have never had an issue with the mana base and enjoy the additional power. Dark Confidant alone is a good enough reason to run black. The rest is just amazing extras.
I get a lot of flak in both this thread and the Deadguy thread because my list is basically a mix of the two so both threads have problems with them. But I love my list.
3 Mother of Runes
4 Dark Confidant
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Squadron Hawk
3 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Aether Vial
4 Thoughtseize
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Vindicate
1 Umezawe's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
4 Marsh Flats
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Windswept Heath
4 Scrubland
2 Bayou
2 Savannah
1 Plains
1 Swamp
4 Wasteland
Sideboard is fairly specific for local meta:
4 Path to Exile
3 Engineered Plague
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
2 Gaddock Teeg
2 Duress
2 Krosan Grip
1 Mother of Runes
Yay, another person who is secretly in love with Squadron Hawk~! Admittedly, I think you almost have to concentrate on SFM/Equipment (would cost you another 2 slots, likely), to make those birds pimp enough to work. I'd be half tempted to the lose Goyfs for the 4th SFM/3rd equipment and Vindicates 3&4 .
peace,
4eak
Tarmogoyf has been pretty good for me, but I see your point. I would take out Vindicate for more SFM/Equipment before losing Goyfs though. Equipment is a very, very important part of this list, so more would probably be a good idea. I would think about a land out for another equipment maybe. 3 SFM has been pretty solid, but it really sucks to lose an equipment.
Split for 1st again last night with an updated version of the GW build I played last week:
4 Plains
1 Forest
4 Savannah
2 Horizon Canopy
4 Windswept Heath
3 Karakas
4 Wasteland
4 Mother of Runes
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Serra Avenger
3 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Mangara of Corondor
4 Swords to Plowshares
4 Aether Vial
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Bonehoard
2 Sylvan Library
Sideboard:
3 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Krosan Grip
1 Tariff
3 Path to Exile
1 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Faerie Macabre
Tariff was due to Natural Order/Show and Tell not being too uncommon to see and I only had 1.
Round 1 vs. BW Vial
Not sure what makes a deck qualify as a version of Death and Taxes, so I'm just calling his deck that.
Main thing worth note was him Vialing in Sculler during my draw step and taking the Vial I just drew. I had Library out though and still got a card even though it cost me 4 life. He won that game, but he was at 2 life when it ended. Game 1 I didn't drop below 19 and Game 3 was 18.
He was also using Soltari Priest in place of Avenger since he didn't have Avengers. The 2 damage from that is what ended up killing me game 2.
1-0; 2-1
Round 2 vs. Standardish GU Polymorph
Game 1 was pretty fast so I didn't know what he was doing aside from ramping mana. Then between games Mass Polymorph came to mind as to what he was doing.
Game 2 his Polymorphs pretty much turned into more mana creatures. Mass Polymorph resulted in giving him Ulamog and Iona (naming White). StP in my hand is useless with Iona out, but thankfully Mangara was out and active (didn't have a Karakas) so what would have normally ended the game only gave him 10 life.
2-0; 4-1
Round 3 vs. Mono White Life Gain
Note: He's a decent player despite what the deck type makes you think.
Game 1 took awhile since he was running lots of maindeck removal (Wrath, Day, Path, StP) with the lifegain. I have more threats than he has removal though and take the win after dealing a total of 43 damage throught the game.
Game 2 I had boarded out 2 Knights and a Pridemage in favor of 3 Paths since I know he had Ascendants from game 1 and that was the only win condition I saw. This game showed how persistent his deck was since it still took me forever to kill him despite Wasting his Kabira Crossroads and removing Plains (and other things at times) with Mangara+Karakas before he finally removed it. I knew my life wasn't an issue, so I took the hit from Library a few times during the game. He played Felidar Sovereign twice, but both times it was met with StP/Path. After all of his life gain, I ended up dealing him a total of 89 damage to get the win. Bonehoard was great here for the short time it was on the board (he disenchanted it) since it was giving my Avenger +7/+7 which helped against the life gain.
3-0; 6-1
Round 4 vs. R/g Goblins
Same guy as last week.
Split for first and 2nd again but played it out for fun.
3-0-1; 6-1-1
Game 1 I slowly kill myself with Horizon Canopy but eventually pull out the win with 3 life to spare.
Game 2: He hits me hard one turn with Piledriver, but he runs out of gas and I recover with Avengers and a 10/10 Germ put in by Stoneforge.
Sylvan Library - Still loving the card advantage, especially when I know I can afford to take the hit for multiple cards.
Bonehoard - I liked this much more than I expected. Its obviously not good early on outside of a chump blocker, but mid-late game is where it shines since there will likely be plenty of creatures in the graveyard. I'd much rather have this equipped to an Avenger over a Jitte. Despite how good Jitte is, I typically only bring it in for aggro matches if I know they're running it as well just to blank their copy, otherwise I'll SfM up a Sword first.
i find bonehoard to be a lovely idea, i have to try this myself
and congratulations on the finish
@Whippoorwill
Grats on the finish !!
Just wondering have you tried out Sensei's Divining Top or mirri's guile over slyvan library ? And also don't you find your build abit slow... im running GnT aswell but i have 3 noble and 1 gaes cradle to boost my mana.
@Bonehoard
Very interesting indeed.. i may have to try it aswell but i wouldn't cut jitte for it what i'd cut is Sols.., jitte can easily deal with horde of 1/1 blockers, you don't have always the luxury of evasion thus i still find jitte very useful.
@ALL GnT users
Don't you feel the need for noble heirarch ? I've tried removing them but i felt the deck played out slowly and had mana issues especially with no vial on the board.
Thanks.
Re: Sylvan Library/Mirri's Guile/Sensei's Divining Top:
I thought about Mirri's Guile (I think you had suggested it last week), but I like the option of drawing extra cards if needed. I've drawn cards off it enough times to keep it in there instead of Guile. Top I hadn't considered and honestly it seems worse without Bob since I have to pay the mana to use it, for that I would rather use Guile.
Re: Noble Hierarch & Gaea's Cradle:
I really don't like the idea of Hierarch and Cradle since the deck isn't that mana intensive, especially since I dropped my mana curve considerably over the build I played last week. Now most things cost 2 for me so Hierach would be dead for the most part outside of turn 1-2 unless I change the deck considerably to fit things in like Elspeth and/or Baneslayer which benefit more from the mana accel.
If you want to play bad cards for a fringe matchup, try CoP:Red or Aegis of Honor.
Really ? in my playtesting i found the deck to be somewhat mana intensive our build is almost similar. Here's my build
Lands [21]
1 Forest
1 Gaea's Cradle
2 Plains
2 Karakas
4 Savannah
4 Windswept Heath
1 Flooded Strand
4 Wasteland
2 Horizon Canopy
Creatures [28]
3 Mother of Runes
3 Noble Hierarch
3 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Serra Avenger
4 Qasali Pridemage
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Mangara of Corondor
2 Mirran Crusader
3 Knight of the Reliquary
Spells [11]
4 AEther Vial
4 Swords to Plowshares
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
i ran 7 3cc creatures as compared to 6 with you. you also run sylvan library it could serve as a cantrip in searching for lands when needed via fetch or kotr.
It's not like I want to play them for no reason, it's just that the number of burn in my area is ridiculously absurd because of the freaking premium deck release which might justify 1 slot to push that match to impossible to lose... no matter what you say about burn, it can still win games (i know it's not likely to win tourneys) and hey, it's not like we roll over that deck anyway... in any case, i found an even better card against burn...
WARMTH! Can't wait to get this out against a burn opponent... Hahaha
CoP:Red will be always better, it also useful vs Goblin MU.
CoP: Red also works against Progenitus, so it has that going for it as well.
Looking at the list it is quite similar, so it might just be me then. I've never really worried about having enough mana as long as I've had 2 lands that tap for colored mana. And like you mentioned, Library helps make sure I get lands when I needed it.
If anything though, I would add Hierarch but not Cradle since the amount of Green mana needed is minimal and it would mainly be used for equipment casting/equipping.