Thalia Stompy

[contra]

I've been pretty bored with the stock list lately so I decided to spice it up a bit. While it may not be the most competitive, it's tons of fun, and actually isn't too bad. There's actually a lot of card advantage here with recruiter, copter, jailer, and sfm. Going down to 3 temples feels right here with only 2 smashers. I've been impressed by how often turn 2 recruiter for jailer/priest/pontiff is just game against so many decks.

The spoiled Ixalan card Sorcerous Spyglass looks pretty bonkers in this shell... It's absolutely an auto include 4-of in this deck for me.

"As Sorcerous Spyglass enters the battlefield, look at an opponent’s hand, then choose any card name. Activated abilities of sources with the chosen name can’t be activated unless they’re mana abilities."

This thing is a pithing needle glued to a probe -perfect for all chalice decks. See your hand so I know how to sequence my plays and shut down your fetchland/depths combo/sneak attack/deathrite and the list goes on and on and on....



// 25 Land
4 Ancient Tomb
3 Eldrazi Temple
3 Karakas
2 City of Traitors
5 Plains
4 Wasteland
4 Cavern of Souls

// 23 Creature
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Reality Smasher
2 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Eldrazi Displacer
3 Stoneforge Mystic
2 Recruiter of the Guard
1 Palace Jailer
1 Containment Priest
1 Orzhov Pontiff

// 12 Artifact
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Mox Diamond
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Batterskull
2 Smuggler's Copter


// 15 Sideboard
2 Thorn of Amethyst
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Mangara of Corondor
1 Mirran Crusader
1 Faerie Macabre
1 Sanctum Prelate
2 Rest in Peace
2 Swords to Plowshares
2 Disenchant

[metronome2charisma]

For anyone that didn't see it
https://www.channelfireball.com/vide...eldrazi-taxes/

Also
http://eternalmagic.com.br/en/2017/0...azi-and-taxes/

[metronome2charisma]

I'm trying to build a version that is still great against combo but has a great delver and DnT matchup . I'm particularly looking for a build that has zero fat and every card is high impact . Ballista is the one card I'm not sure of . its really powerful but i'm not sure if its aggressive enough but i know its good against the named match ups. I feel like this build should have a ton of game against most of the field . Looking for input on this one guys, its playing a lot of cards i don't normally play
This is the list i'm going to test first . the Stoneforge package can be sub'd for 2 smugglers copters and a blade splicer.

10 artifact
4 Chalice of the Void
4 lotus petal
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 batterskull


25 Creature
4 Thought-Knot Seer
3 Reality smasher - Not the best with golem or against blood moon but over all a really powerful creature
3 Eldrazi Displacer
4 Walking Ballista
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Lodestone golem
2 Stoneforge mystic
2 Ethersworn Canonist
1 blade splicer
1 Palace jailer

25 Land
4 Ancient Tomb
3 Cavern of Souls
2 City of Traitors
4 Eldrazi Temple
3 Karakas
6 Plains
3 Wasteland

sb
2 thorn of amethyst
3 containment preist
1 holy light
3 faerie macabre
2 Disenchant
1 ratchet bomb
2 blessed alliance

INPUT.

[cdnza]

Are people playing SFM at the moment? For those that are, how has it been for you?

[MD.Ghost]

Are people playing SFM at the moment? For those that are, how has it been for you?

Nope - still a powerfull card but a) slow (and if this thread, even thalia 2.0 seemed not aggressiv enough), b) no human as a cc2 - which means fast - creature can be problematic c) equip/artifacts are hated g2-3 etc.

---------

My current list:

// 60 Maindeck

// 9 Artifact
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Mox Diamond
2 Umezawa's Jitte

// 26 Creature
4 Eldrazi Displacer
3 Reality Smasher
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Walking Ballista
3 Blade Splicer
2 Restoration Angel
2 Palace Jailer

// 25 Land
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
2 City of Traitors
4 Eldrazi Temple
2 Karakas
6 Plains
3 Wasteland


// 15 Sideboard
SB: 2 Thorn of Amethyst
SB: 2 Containment Priest
SB: 2 Orzhov Pontiff
SB: 2 Rest in Peace
SB: 3 Swords to Plowshares
SB: 2 Disenchant
SB: 2 Blessed Alliance


5-0 my last 5 matchups with it, first i cutted thalia 2.0 (still awesome vs lands, elves etc.) to try a more aggressiv game plan (ballista over revoker is already a solid step forward too), i loaded up a bit on "bombs" and think palace jailer and resto. angel are both still good cards if you play a white stompy deck. Angel will not only save some dudes against removal it will also like to catch splicer, Jailer or sided Pontiffs. Overall a cc4, 3/4 Flash, Flyer isnt so bad against various situations too.

@metronome2charisma

If you want to go with golems i would test the following version:

// 60 Maindeck

// 10 Artifact
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Mox Diamond
1 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Smuggler's Copter

// 25 Creature
4 Eldrazi Displacer
3 Reality Smasher
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Walking Ballista
3 Blade Splicer
3 Lodestone Golem

// 25 Land
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
2 City of Traitors
4 Eldrazi Temple
2 Karakas
5 Plains
4 Wasteland

// 15 Sideboard
SB: 2 Thorn of Amethyst
SB: 2 Containment Priest
SB: 2 Palace Jailer
SB: 2 Rest in Peace
SB: 3 Swords to Plowshares
SB: 2 Disenchant
SB: 2 Blessed Alliance

Golem+Splicer and more artifacts than old versions of it (see start of the Thread here), including Copter and Ballista (both solid T1 Plays etc.) - but keep in mind, that Golem isn't an answer to delver because nearly every delver decks has bolts and can stall with nasty beaters like Angler/TNN/Gofy or a horde of elemental tokens too. Against DnT Golem can be okay IF they not have a vial and needs to pay for creatures and must decide if they want blockers (in case of an 5power attacker) or manadenial etc.

[metronome2charisma]

Thanks Ghost. i've updated my list to reflect the changes with my preferences . I'll keep everyone updated .

my newest list for reference.


11 Non creature
4 Chalice of the Void
4 lotus petal
1 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Smuggler's Copter

25 Creature
4 Eldrazi Displacer
3 Reality Smasher
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Walking Ballista
2 Blade Splicer
2 Palace Jailer
1 restoration angel

25 Land
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
2 City of Traitors
4 Eldrazi Temple
3 Karakas
5 Plains
3 Wasteland

15 Sideboard
2 Thorn of Amethyst
3 Containment Priest
3 Fearie Macabre
1 Ratchet bomb
1 Disenchant
1 Forsake the Worldly
2 Blessed Alliance
2 holy light

[cdnza]

Nope - still a powerfull card but a) slow (and if this thread, even thalia 2.0 seemed not aggressiv enough), b) no human as a cc2 - which means fast - creature can be problematic c) equip/artifacts are hated g2-3 etc.

Thanks for the reply! How has Ballista been testing for you? I'm going to build a deck similar to this next week and I'm trying to figure out exactly what to play. I love the idea of playing cards like Blade Splicer which play well alongside Displacer. I notice people seem to have stopped playing Revoker too - do you ever miss having it?

edit: I wanted to ask you about that Corrupted Crossroads version of Eldrazi you were working on too from the other thread. Have you stopped playing that in favour of straight white versions like these?

[metronome2charisma]

Ballista is now a 4 of in my deck . started at 1 then slowly went to 4. Card is awesome. Against the creature match ups its almost like having 4 more jitte in your deck. Blade splicer as a 2 off has been solid.

[MD.Ghost]

Thanks for the reply! How has Ballista been testing for you? I'm going to build a deck similar to this next week and I'm trying to figure out exactly what to play. I love the idea of playing cards like Blade Splicer which play well alongside Displacer. I notice people seem to have stopped playing Revoker too - do you ever miss having it?

edit: I wanted to ask you about that Corrupted Crossroads version of Eldrazi you were working on too from the other thread. Have you stopped playing that in favour of straight white versions like these?

Ballista is super solid, it is very good in most cases and can be an early beater or finisher (even if you arent able to attack against bridge/tnn). Clearly a 4off because if you look back this deck is very removal light and also needed fast colorless stuff. Blade Splicer is often 2:1 and adds up 4 Power which is good for cc3. The bonus with displacer can be critical for your opponents removal, because the 3/3 body should be the common target, which leaves the little 1/1, but casting displacer later means trouble

Revoker simply is only a 2/1 which is blocked by some of his targets (DS, Mother etc.) too and is only good at an empty board (ANT; Belcher; Sneak Show etc.), which means i like him vs combo but we have enough other good cards against combo so i cutted him in favour of Ballista&Co.

@Eldrazi yes i have found any real Splash better than the simple colorless Versions but i still tinker with different ideas of the tentacle stuff.

Ballista is now a 4 of in my deck . started at 1 then slowly went to 4. Card is awesome. Against the creature match ups its almost like having 4 more jitte in your deck. Blade splicer as a 2 off has been solid.

Yeah - clearly a good improvment for this deck, even if you cant abuse it with displacer, but it adds up quickly if you have 4 Ballista, 4 Displacer and 2 Jailer at main - this alone can be a good start against various creatures, add sideboard removal spells and you get a good amount of removal stuff.

------

I lately tinkered around with various splashes/ideas.

For me the Blade Splicer/Angel Version is very solid and aggressiv - works good so far.

I also brewed up with little U Splash for Trinket Mage (tutors Ballista, Chalice, Mox/Petal, B.Collar or T.Crypt from Side etc.) or little Bomberman-Style with 2 Auriok Salvager (to get back Ballista) and Lotus Petal over Mox. Alot of room for some ideas IF you dont fear Moon effects.

[cris_rj]

Ballista is super solid, it is very good in most cases and can be an early beater or finisher (even if you arent able to attack against bridge/tnn). Clearly a 4off because if you look back this deck is very removal light and also needed fast colorless stuff. Blade Splicer is often 2:1 and adds up 4 Power which is good for cc3. The bonus with displacer can be critical for your opponents removal, because the 3/3 body should be the common target, which leaves the little 1/1, but casting displacer later means trouble

Revoker simply is only a 2/1 which is blocked by some of his targets (DS, Mother etc.) too and is only good at an empty board (ANT; Belcher; Sneak Show etc.), which means i like him vs combo but we have enough other good cards against combo so i cutted him in favour of Ballista&Co.

@Eldrazi yes i have found any real Splash better than the simple colorless Versions but i still tinker with different ideas of the tentacle stuff.



Yeah - clearly a good improvment for this deck, even if you cant abuse it with displacer, but it adds up quickly if you have 4 Ballista, 4 Displacer and 2 Jailer at main - this alone can be a good start against various creatures, add sideboard removal spells and you get a good amount of removal stuff.

------

I lately tinkered around with various splashes/ideas.

For me the Blade Splicer/Angel Version is very solid and aggressiv - works good so far.

I also brewed up with little U Splash for Trinket Mage (tutors Ballista, Chalice, Mox/Petal, B.Collar or T.Crypt from Side etc.) or little Bomberman-Style with 2 Auriok Salvager (to get back Ballista) and Lotus Petal over Mox. Alot of room for some ideas IF you dont fear Moon effects.

Can you share your bomberman/monoWeldrazi list ? Bouth are my pets decks !

[metronome2charisma]

Got 5th at an EE gold satellite. Feel like if i would've played a little better i coulda beat my u/r delver opponent in top 8. Deck was great all day.

[cris_rj]

Got 5th at an EE gold satellite. Feel like if i would've played a little better i coulda beat my u/r delver opponent in top top 8. Deck was great all day.

Deck build ?

[metronome2charisma]

Deck build ?

Posted above.

[keys]

I've been playing Ballista a lot recently as well and have been pleased with how well it fits in this deck. The ability to pay 2 to remove lots of annoying things like Delver, Pyromancer, Strix, opposing Thalias or Flickerwisps, as well as machine-gun things down in the late game is just gravy. By adding Ballista, it's allowed me to trim down the number of Jittes to 1 (multiples are bad, and it's a nonbo with Thalia/Thorn). If I ever have 4 mana, Ballista feels like the better play 90% of the time, as it enables Copter and can shoot things as soon as it enters play. Sure, you can split the cost of Jitte over 2 turns but in my experience you want to be playing creatures if you're still on 1-2 lands. 4 Ballista 0 Jitte might be correct.

I'm still skeptical of Jailer (double white is hard), Blade Splicer (too cute), and Restoration Angel (not human, so similar problem as Jailer). Thalia, Heretic Cathar is still performing well for me in those slots. She really helps close out games fast when you're on the offensive, removing blockers and keeping the mana-denial plan active.

Here's my current list:

3 Walking Ballista
3 Phyrexian Revoker (3rd Revoker could also be the 4th Ballista)
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Eldrazi Displacer
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Reality Smasher
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Mox Diamond
2 Smuggler's Copter
1 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Ancient Tomb
3 City of Traitors
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Cavern of Souls
3 Wasteland
2 Karakas
5 Plains

Sideboard:
4 Swords to Plowshares
3 Containment Priest
2 Rest in Peace
2 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Disenchant
1 Blessed Alliance
1 Holy Light

In the sideboard, I keep switching back and forth between Faerie and RiP, and tinkering with the number of Priests. I still think 4 StP is correct. Disenchants could be Cast Outs or the 2W cycling disenchant. Still testing Blessed Alliance and Holy Light which are both quite situational.

[cdnza]

I've just about got all the pieces I was missing for the deck, so should get to take it for a test run in the next week finally. I want to try Stoneforge Mystic out to start with but I realise that most of you have dropped it from the deck by now. Here's what I was going to start with:

4 Eldrazi Displacer
4 Reality Smasher
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Thought-Knot Seer
3 Walking Ballista
1 Palace Jailer
1 Containment Priest
3 Stoneforge Mystic

4 Chalice of the Void
3 Mox Diamond
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Batterskull

4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
1 City of Traitors
4 Eldrazi Temple
3 Karakas
5 Plains
4 Wasteland

Sideboard (15)
1 Containment Priest
2 Disenchant
2 Faerie Macabre
2 Holy Light
1 Palace Jailer
2 Rest in Peace
3 Swords to Plowshares
2 Thorn of Amethyst

I should have all the other cards people have been posting about lately too so will experiment but want to play with the vanilla deck a bit to start with. I have been thinking more and more about Smuggler's Copter now that we seem to be on Ballista though.

[keys]

The main issue with SFM is that your creatures are fat enough to win in combat versus most fair decks anyway. Thalia 2.0 helps a lot in this respect by clearing a path through blockers. In my experience, equiping ends up slowing you down when you could be sinking mana into Displacer and controlling the board that way. For this reason I think SFM is better in control decks like Quellblade which actually want to play defense and stabilize with the lifegain.

You really only have to worry about TNN (maybe Goyf sometimes) and SFM doesn't help you there.

The other issue with SFM is it's not a human so it can be awkward to cast early with only 10-11 non Caverns white sources.

Try out the SFM package and then try Copters. Also, I still like Revokers as an answer DRS, walkers, and as support in the combo matchup.

[cdnza]

The main issue with SFM is that your creatures are fat enough to win in combat versus most fair decks anyway. Thalia 2.0 helps a lot in this respect by clearing a path through blockers. In my experience, equiping ends up slowing you down when you could be sinking mana into Displacer and controlling the board that way. For this reason I think SFM is better in control decks like Quellblade which actually want to play defense and stabilize with the lifegain.

You really only have to worry about TNN (maybe Goyf sometimes) and SFM doesn't help you there.

The other issue with SFM is it's not a human so it can be awkward to cast early with only 10-11 non Caverns white sources.

Try out the SFM package and then try Copters. Also, I still like Revokers as an answer DRS, walkers, and as support in the combo matchup.

Yeah, I see what you're saying. If I cut the three SFMs and the Batterskull I get 4 slots. Could become the 4th Ballista, 2 copters and a 3rd Thalia2?

[MGB]

Got 5th at an EE gold satellite. Feel like if i would've played a little better i coulda beat my u/r delver opponent in top 8. Deck was great all day.

Wow where are the EE satellites? I can't find info on these at all. I was wondering if there were any in the PA area I could attend.

[Barook]

Since Ballista is getting more popular, I have to ask again:

If decks run both Ballista and SFM in sufficient numbers, wouldn't a single Basilisk Collar a good idea? Ballista turns into a killing machine while Thalias get combat supremacy with it and Reality Smasher makes blocks really looking silly. SFM also helps getting around Chalice @1, if necessary.

[keys]

Since Ballista is getting more popular, I have to ask again:

If decks run both Ballista and SFM in sufficient numbers, wouldn't a single Basilisk Collar a good idea? Ballista turns into a killing machine while Thalias get combat supremacy with it and Reality Smasher makes blocks really looking silly. SFM also helps getting around Chalice @1, if necessary.

I might try it out as a SB option. In a lot of the matchups where you want it (Eldrazi, D&T, etc.) you are boarding Chalice out, so it could work.