[DTW] Bant Survival

[Waikiki]

Hi guys, Live from madrid I currently made day 2 with a 7 to 2 in rounds. I saw alot of other survival players which was really nice!

[Blitzbold]

Hi guys, Live from madrid I currently made day 2 with a 7 to 2 in rounds. I saw alot of other survival players which was really nice!

Go mate!

[Blitzbold]

Double post 4tw.

Wizards published the undefeated decks from day 1 of GP: Madrid. Among them there also was Bant Survival:


Nicola Landoni
Grand Prix Madrid 2010

Main Deck

1 Flooded Strand
1 Forest
1 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Plains
2 Savannah
1 Taiga
3 Tropical Island
1 Tundra
1 Volcanic Island
3 Windswept Heath
(19 lands)

1 Eternal Witness
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Loyal Retainers
4 Noble Hierarch
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Rafiq of the Many
3 Rhox War Monk
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
4 Tarmogoyf
1 Vendilion Clique
(18 creatures)

4 Brainstorm
3 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Ponder
4 Survival of the Fittest
4 Swords to Plowshares
(23 other spells)

Sideboard
1 Ethersworn Canonist
3 Firespout
2 Gaddock Teeg
2 Krosan Grip
1 Llawan, Cephalid Empress
2 Relic of Progenitus
3 Spell Pierce
1 Tormod's Crypt


Most of the cards seem fairly standatd, but there are also some details which catched my eye:

- Daze x3 instead of Spell Snare
- Ponder x4 (!)
- just 1 Pridemage and no Trygon Predator
- Volcanic MD + Firespouts SB

[miR]

its really ponder necessary on this deck? i mean with brainstorm i think its enought!.. and he have only 1 pridemage.. in this format there are alot of airtifacts or enchantment like another survival, painters,counterbalance...affinity...chalice of the void...staxx.. ect.. i think with 1 its not enought

Kindly touch up your posting skills. This one is quite awful. - Bardo

[Blitzbold]

I thought that most of us agreed that 2 Ponder is the right numer - if you choose to run any at all. I'd guess the way he built his deck he is nearly independent of SotF. With that much cantrips I don't geht why he is still playing 4 of those, though, as they seem to be more like a backup plan for him.

[arebennian]

Double post 4tw.
Wizards published the undefeated decks from day 1 of GP: Madrid. Among them there also was Bant Survival:

Where?

[Blitzbold]

Where?

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazin...day1undefeated

[Esper3k]

Yeah, I just saw the undefeated lists.

Keep up the good work, guys!

[arebennian]

Thanks for that.
I'll restrain myself and go talk about the decks that I'm excited about in the Madrid thread.

EDIT: Go WAIKIKI FTW!

[Esper3k]

Nicola Landoni got a mini feature match against Tomoharu Saito in the coverage!

[Waikiki]

Ok guys I was going for top 32 but I brainfarted my last match. Sleep is really needed which I didn´t gain. Too bad

I end up 50th with 12 4 1.

My list ran 3 ponders and 3 meddling mage maindeck.

I will leave for holland in a few hours.

[Esper3k]

Ok guys I was going for top 32 but I brainfarted my last match. Sleep is really needed which I didn´t gain. Too bad

I end up 50th with 12 4 1.

My list ran 3 ponders and 3 meddling mage maindeck.

I will leave for holland in a few hours.

Congrats, dude. Playing all those rounds of MTG is a real marathon!

I look forward to reading your thoughts about the tournament.

[Waikiki]

I did not take any notes but my matchups where:

Day 1:
2-0 merfolk
2-0 MBA
2-0 ? (I only saw Show and tell g2, g1 he mulled to 3 and dies without playing anything)
1-2 UG merfolk
0-2 Bant aggro with elspeth + jace
2-0 enchantress
2-0 enchantress
2-0 CB top (no pro)
2-0 ANT (ledless)

Day 2:
2-1 Faery stompy
2-0 Zoo
2-0 ANT
1-1 Goblins
1-2 Merfolk (with spellstutter)
2-0 GB Rock
2-0 CB Top
1-2 Belcher (This was my own stupiditiy + lack of sleep I should have won this easily)

I really enjoyed the GP. Altho it was very crowded it shows that legacy is really appreciated by the players so hopefully wizards will give the format more attention.

My list

// Lands
1 [P3] Plains (3)
2 [P3] Forest (2)
4 [ON] Windswept Heath
4 [A] Tropical Island
2 [A] Savannah
4 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest
1 [P3] Island (1)

// Creatures
1 [MM] Squee, Goblin Nabob
4 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
3 [ARB] Qasali Pridemage
4 [ALA] Rhox War Monk
4 [CFX] Noble Hierarch
3 [PS] Meddling Mage
1 [ZEN] Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 [P3] Loyal Retainers
1 [BOK] Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
1 [JU] Wonder

// Spells
4 [EX] Survival of the Fittest
4 [CST] Brainstorm
4 [AL] Force of Will
4 [CST] Swords to Plowshares
3 [LRW] Ponder

// Sideboard
SB: 3 [ZEN] Spell Pierce
SB: 2 [TSP] Krosan Grip
SB: 2 [LRW] Gaddock Teeg
SB: 1 [TO] Llawan, Cephalid Empress
SB: 2 [FD] Engineered Explosives
SB: 2 [CFX] Path to Exile
SB: 3 [IN] Dueling Grounds

Things I am considdering: Getting the sprites back in / Getting 2 cliques in / redoing the sideboard. I did not miss daze nor spell snare the entire day.

[gustha]

I'm testing more or less a list similar to yours. Why not trying a 2/1 split b/w meddling mages and gaddock teeg?

Gratz for the finish!

[Blitzbold]

Teeg blocks your own Forces so for example combo can do a lot of things and then only needs to ged rid of Teeg + cast something a single FoW won't stop.

[kkoie]

I modified my Bant Survival deck last week to the following list and have been testing it out. Before I was having issues with some decks, like merfolk and my countertop matchup was having problems. But with the addition of tops and counterbalance, my match-up against some decks have improved. I know that countertop tends to not interact well with survival, but so far I have not had many mana issues. And tops have been a boon to the deck I think. I also noticed that in control match-ups, leading with counterbalance instead of survival helps in that it either baits their countermagic, or if they don't have a counter, helps protect my survival when I cast it the following turn. Anyway here is the list I have been currently testing... thoughts??

4 Noble H.
2 Q. Pridemage
4 Tarmagoyf
1 Eternal Witness
1 Kira
1 Loyal Retainers
3 Rhox War-Monk
1 Squee
1 Trinket Mage
1 Iona

4 Counterbalance
4 Survival of the Fittest
2 S.D.Top
4 Brainstorm
4 Force of Will
4 Swords to Plowshares

4 Misty Rainforest
3 Windswept Heath
4 Tropical Island
2 Savannah
1 Tundra
2 Forest
2 Island
1 Plains

Sideboard
2 Krosan Grip
3 Path to Exile (tempted to splash one volcanic and make these firespouts)
1 Engineered Explosives (I'm prob going to cut this)
1 Pithing Needle
1 Relic of P.
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Genesis
1 G.Teeg
1 L.C.Emperess
1 Meddling Mage
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Trigon Predator


I'm sure I will get verbally slapped for even trying tops and counterbalance. But it was suggested by a friend and I figured ok why not try it. And so far it hasn't been all that bad. Though there are some decks I'm still having problems with (mostly fast aggro).

[Waikiki]

What exactly does CB top improve to your merfolk matchup ?

[kkoie]

Assuming I can nullify their vials, it keeps their merfolk from resolving.

[Waikiki]

Goodluck with that ;)

CB decks have a problem with merfolk so far I know and they chose to add firespout for them. Also merfolk is too fast to let you get CB top up and running and their casting cost difference is big.

I would not advise on running CB top.

[godryk]

Well, after playing GP Madrid and dropping after my third defeat (I was very tired) I decided I'm dropping the Snare/Daze slot and start testing Waikiki's list and see what happens. After playing Snare for weeks, this last week I changed my mind and tested Daze, that finally got into my final decklist for the GP. Though they had some use all day long, they weren't quite spectacular. MM can be a nice inclusion, as it improves the MD combo matchup as well as being usefull against certain things. What I need to test is how to use it against things like Zoo and tribal decks.

Though I'll test that list, there's another card I have in mind, Sylvan Library, which is being used to a certain success in some Bant Aggro decks. I think it's a very strong card to draw while we get to drop Survival and comboes nicely with Rhox War Monk. For example, Lluis Restoy top 8'ed at Madrid with a Bant Aggro list with Library, after having with succes with it in the Catalan Legacy League. With 8 fetchlands, Ponder and Survival of the Fittest, I feel like testing it as a 2-of.