Thalia Stompy

[EunB]

I also shaved 4th Thalia's (both ones) since it's not good in D&T mirror - too many times I get multiple Thalia's and stuck without a real thread.

I like shaving a 4th THC but I think Thalia 1.0 is necessary as 4-of to really solidify our combo matchup. I will often side out all 4 Thalia 1.0 as it is the weakest creature, but I think any first striker is okay vs D&T (assuming they don't have the Karakas to make them worthless).

I don't know why I wrote that (probably because I typed up this post before I had my coffee) I was planning on testing Armageddon in this list, that's why flagstone.

Makes sense, is that based on the D&T list that was floating around recently with 4 Flagstones and 3 SB 'Geddon? I think that strategy works better in vial decks, though we are slightly able to leverage it due to our sol lands and mox diamonds.

also, I trimmed a Displacer because it really doesn't do anything in multiples. I want to see one, maybe 2 per game.

Thalia actually does nothing in multiples since she's legendary, so if we're not cutting her I don't know about cutting Displacer. Multiple Displacers also let you blink each other to save them from removal, and 3/3s are decent beaters.

I suppose going to three Smasher is reasonable, but with how well this deck slows your opponent, and the 10 sol lands and 3 mox I'm playing, I haven't had any issues casting reality Smasher.

edit: when I started this list I was playing three Karakas, but had to many scenarios where I had 2 in my first 10 cards and that was no bueno

I agree with your desire to play as many Smasher as we can. Closing out games in 2 turns is absolutely what the deck needs. I really like Karakas since it's so good vs so many matchups and can save our Thalias. Any extraneous ones we draw can also be pitched to Mox Diamond.

[Fatal]

I agree with this assessment.



Why are you being condescending? I'm a competitive player. I've been contributing to this site for six years. Posting my experience with a card, pros and cons, is not misinformation. How is it that your armchair analysis alone is worth more than the analysis of someone who has played a card in real matches? I think it's valuable to hear people's experience.

Again, I'm not hyping a card. I simply provided my experiences with Declaration, contributing to the general discussion on removal options. You and Fatal then dismissed it without any testing. I'm not saying you need to play it.

@ESG - sorry I have very little time to make decent tests, not sure is it worth, vs what creatures you need hard removal ?

1)Overgrowth Tarmogoyfs
2) Creatures which are attacking you (infect & Tempo) and you can't generate faster clock
3) Functional creatures like Dark Confidant/Shaman
4) Cheated fatties

Declaration don't work on some creatures in infect (Nexus), it doesn't work under opponent hexproof so 2) is miss, same for 4 (targeting)

So only 1) and 3) left
Both can be puzzled by RIP (works much better on BUG and it's more permanent) and Warping Wail (which has more functions).

I only see 1 conditional advantage Declaration in sort of answer vs EtW. If my meta would be infected with Belcher/TES I would use it. But I met much more TNN, Infect, Burn, S&T.. that's why I use Warping Wail, RiP and Blessed Alliance.

If you face grind matchup like Shardless BUG you choose one of 2 strategies against them:
- Tempo them out
- Grind them out
Which one you choose depends on your hand. Declaration dismiss second one, Blessed Alliance dismiss first one, that's why I don't even side in Blessed Alliance vs Shardless BUG.

I use it vs Tempo Delver decks, where turn 1 delver can outrace my clock.

Edit: Missed Knight of the Reliquary which would be second reason, but on the other side you have Marit Token. (again RiP should be more considered)

[iostream]

So only 1) and 3) left
Both can be puzzled by RIP (works much better on BUG and it's more permanent) and Warping Wail (which has more functions).

1) Rest in Peace is a fine card to bring in, but it's not a sufficient plan. All the Goyf and Knight decks run Abrupt Decays. You need to be able to actually answer those creatures if the RiP plan goes south.

2) You'd like something against YP and Mentor tokens, and none of the spot removal spells do anything against those. This is admittedly not solved cleanly by Declaration in Stone, as it still leaves the token generator alive, but short of running a Wrath effect or something, I don't know what better answers exist. Ratchet Bomb? Holy Light?!

[Fatal]

1) Rest in Peace is a fine card to bring in, but it's not a sufficient plan. All the Goyf and Knight decks run Abrupt Decays. You need to be able to actually answer those creatures if the RiP plan goes south.

2) You'd like something against YP and Mentor tokens, and none of the spot removal spells do anything against those. This is admittedly not solved cleanly by Declaration in Stone, as it still leaves the token generator alive, but short of running a Wrath effect or something, I don't know what better answers exist. Ratchet Bomb? Holy Light?!

Ok understand your need - we need a sweeper:
1) Which kill tokens and token generator
2) Which doesn't kill your resolved creature
3) Which has no more then 4 cmc and no other color then white or colorless.

From my game experience you kill tokens only only if you have to - (lethal dmg), every other time killing token generator has much more EV+.

I made research and found this one:

Portcullis

Ok, how it works - If there are 2 creatures on battlefield (other then entering) each creature entered battlefield is exiled as long as Portocullis leaves battlefield. So it's basically a lock so opponent can't add additional tokens. So it's not a kill but solution to token producing as long as you have 2 or more creatures. This card is very powerful, it can lock completely battlefield even against S&T.
Actually I would like to get answer from good judge how interact S&T when both players put creatures and battlefield state already have two creatures. I assume that both creatures are exiled, but if there is only one creature on battlefield before S&T ?
probably - again both creatures are exiled since "You check the count of the number of creatures on the battlefield again during resolution. The creature will not be exiled if the count is 2 or less." since there will be 3 creatures both entered will be exiled - this one is debatable since after exiling one of them we get fail at checking on resolution - so question which will be exiled.

This card can be double edged sword since if opponent kill one of your creatures and then cast next one, you will be locked. I think since we have one of the biggest creatures on table (compared to other non-cheated threads) we should get advantage on table then when opponent is forced to block we just lock totally option to cast blockers.

This card can be also very good against Shardless BUG - decay proof, etc. I wouldn't recommend this against D&T since it has very poor interaction against Flickerwisp - if he exiling our creature that creature will be exiled after with Portcullis - actually I could be very good sb for D&T against any other creature base decks.

I used this card in EDH in my UW stax, it was a mess in multiplayer games since this close most ways to cast creatures at all. Important note learned it doesn't stop creatures to trigger when entering the battlefield - it's not replacement so, creature enter the battlefield then it's exiled. I would like to discuss about that card as SB option vs swarms and probably S&T/Sneak Attack.

----
Other option which doesn't realize 3) requirement is Contagion Engine slow and ineffective other also slow but probably much more effective will be Austere Command it overcosted but works great.

Other option which doesn't realize 2) is Nevinyrral's Disk

[EunB]

Another option is Holy Light. Only thing it kills in our list is Revoker and is good vs YP and TNN. Obviously bad vs Mentor tokens and D&T.

We can also reduce some of our Plains count for Caves of Koilos to commit to the Orzhov Pontiff splash.

[EunB]

Small local tournament report (12 players, 4 rounds) -- same list I posted on last page (-1 THC +1 Smasher).

Round 1 -- Reanimator:

G1: He forces my chalice on one, but I have a 2nd. I get out 2 Thalias and quickly beat him to death.

G2: I keep Thalia 1.0, Containment Priest, RIP, Chalice and 2 lands. I elect to cast RIP turn 2 while he represented Entomb after Pondering as I felt it was the most impactful card. Turn 3 he did nothing, so I cast a Chalice on 1 to prevent him from digging for a Decay or Show & Tell (since he didn't cast one on t3). Turn 4 he jams a Helm of Obedience and I don't draw a Revoker so I die.

G3: Quick Thalia into TKS into Prelate on 4 to hedge against Massacre ends the game.

SB: in: 2 Containment Priest 3 RIP 1 Blessed Alliance (for Archetype of Endurance) out: 3 Reality Smasher 1 Jitte 2 Displacer

Smasher and Displacer are too slow even on the play vs Combo.

1-0, 2-1 in games

Round 2 -- D&T:

G1: I turn 1 Chalice and then beat him down quickly with TKS and Reality Smasher, Warping Wailing away a SFM in the process. He equipped a Jitte to a Thalia 1.0 the turn before dying.

G2: Another quick one. Smasher beats and Displacer clear the way to victory.

SB: in: 2 Disenchant 2 Spatial Contortion 2 Containment Priest out: 4 Chalice of the Void 2 Sanctum Prelate

Flickerwisp and his Caverns make my Chalice weaker so I accept that my guys will get Plowed and aim for the long game.

2-0, 4-1 in games

Round 3 -- Food Chain:

G1: I lose the die roll and lead Temple go. He Manipulates Fate on turn 2 and overruns me with Griffins while I stare at a hand of 3 Reality Smashers and a TKS that I can't cast. I had the option of ditching a Cavern to Mox Diamond on T1 and holding up Warping Wail but elected to keep the Cavern to fight through his FoW. That probably lost me that game.

G2: T1 Displacer, T2 TKS, and a Reality Smasher closes it out.

G3: I turn 2 TKS and take a Baleful Strix, but he Shardless cascades into a 2nd. I elect to jam my Smasher into it anyway putting him at 9, and cast another TKS taking a Deluge. My 2 Thought Knots then stare down a board of 2 Shardless and 2 DRS and I don't feel like I can attack profitably into it. I wait for a Displacer or Jailer or removal spell to show up but I brick off on lands. He draws Manipulate Fate and starts casting Griffins. At 14 life facing 6 power in the air I find a Jailer and exile a 3/3 Genesis Hydra just to try to attack and draw off Monarch. He takes Monarch in the air next turn, and puts me to 8 while casting his 3rd Griffin. I draw a Spatial Contortion and swing all in. He double blocks one TKS with 2 shardless and the other with a DRS and Griffin. I Contortion the DRS and he exiles a spell putting me to 6, taking 2 from the Jailer and giving me back Monarch. I have one Monarch draw to find a Blessed Alliance but brick on land and die to 9 power of fliers.

SB: in: 2 disenchant 2 spatial contortion 2 blessed alliance out: 4 chalice of the void 2 sanctum prelate

Chalice and Prelate not at their best here. Prelate would only be good on 2 which shuts off a lot of my own interaction. I think I win this match if I win the die roll.

2-1, 5-3 in games

Round 4 -- RUG Delver:

G1: He pierces my chalice on 1, but I have a 2nd which locks him out of half his deck. He cast a goyf which I chump/Karakas bounce with Thalia 1.0 while I buy some time digging for more lands. He plays a 2nd goyf, so I play THC and take 6 damage down to 11. He casts a 3rd goyf and I recast Thalia 1.0. He casts a Mongoose into chalice to grow the goyfs and swings with all 3, so I double block 1 and take 8 down to 3. Next turn I cast a Palace Jailer off an ancient tomb to exile a goyf and run away with the game from there, ending the game at 1 life.

G2: He dazes my t2 chalice, then casts a mongoose and starts pecking away at my life total 1 hp at a time. I cast a THC which he dismembers, then cast another which he Forces. EOT he bolts me and attacks again. On my turn I've got tomb plains waste waste in play and Palace Jailer Blessed Alliance and I think TKS in hand. I can't really play any of the creatures due to life total so I waste his Volc and get hit by his last card which is another bolt putting me to 3. On his turn he swings with Goose and I Blessed Alliance it. He pierces, so I tap tomb putting myself to 1. I draw a cavern, so set it to human and play a displacer. He plays delver next turn. I draw a Prelate and have a choice to make. He's tapped out with one trop so I decide to put Prelate on 1 rather than displace the delver to play around Stifle. He whiffs on the trigger and I cast Jailer to exile the Delver and win quickly from there. In retrospect I probably should've just kept up displacer mana since the odds of him flipping delver are higher than the odds of him having a stifle in hand.

SB: in: 3 RIP, 2 Spatial Contortion 2 Blessed Alliance out: 3 Reality Smasher 2 Phyrexian Revoker 2 Thalia 1.0

Smasher again too slow, Revoker has 0 targets, and Thalia 1.0 slows my interactive spells down especially if I'm getting wastelanded.

Overall 3-1, 7-3 in games good enough for 2nd place (undefeateds split 1st) and ~$40 in store credit.

Every match felt winnable, my slow starts were salvageable and powerful enough to compete with my opponent and my fast starts were just completely broken and nearly impossible for my opponent to come back from. I like the sideboard, I like the mainboard, and I love playing this deck.

I didn't get to cast Declaration in Stone all night, nor did I play any decks that I would side Elspeth in vs. I still feel they're tools I would like access to so they will stay for now. MVP of the night was Palace Jailer for sure. Aside from vs Food Chain I felt extremely far ahead everytime I resolved him.

[square_two]

MVP of the night was Palace Jailer for sure. Aside from vs Food Chain I felt extremely far ahead everytime I resolved him.

Really glad to continue hearing this! And thanks for the report.

[Fatal]

Lodestone Golem works wounderful vs Food Chain :-) specially with first strike - key to winning vs them is tempo. Disenchants also works good.

[thefreakaccident]

Lodestone Golem is a beast, as long as you survive to get him out.

[ZEROorDIE]

Lodestone Golem is a beast, as long as you survive to get him out.

as much as I love Lodestone Golem, I don't really think it has a place in this deck(Thalia stompy). I've played it with good results in a much more prison oriented version of this deck(7 Thalia, 4 Lodestone 4 sphere,) but this build will slow your opponents considerably and an easy to remove, low impact threat like Lodestone is not ideal.

I think we have a solid creature base with 2-4 flex slots and now we need to iron out the removal package, test vehicles and consolidate the list of potential sideboard cards.

[hofzge]

Weekly feedback from the LGS / This time i tested Smuggler's Copter an Declaration in Stone:

Land (25)
4x Ancient Tomb
4x Cavern of Souls
2x City of Traitors
4x Eldrazi Temple
1x Horizon Canopy
2x Karakas
4x Plains
4x Wasteland

Instant (3)
1x Dismember
2x Warping Wail

Creature (22)
4x Eldrazi Displacer
2x Phyrexian Revoker
2x Reality Smasher
2x Sanctum Prelate
4x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4x Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4x Thought-Knot Seer

4x Chalice of the Void
4x Mox Diamond
2x Smuggler's Copter

Sideboard (15)
2x Declaration in Stone
1x Disenchant
1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
3x Leyline of Sanctity
3x Rest in Peace
2x Tsabo's Web
1x Umezawa's Jitte
1x War Priest of Thune

2-1 win against Nic Fit (Henning)

1-2 loss against Infect (Alexander)

2-0 win against BR Reanimator (Matej)


Smuggler's Copter was MVP in nearly every single game I played - It seems like it was made for our deck - the mana cost, the looting, the flying...

I did not like the Declarations at all even aginst Reanimator. It is a clunky spell - maybe I will replace them with Dismembers and Blessed Alliances.

[Fatal]

That's the twisted version W/G/R :-)

http://sales.starcitygames.com//deck...?DeckID=108692

Don't understand:
1 Mimic - really why?
3 Eye - with only 25 lands - it's mean so many times muligan and unplayable hands like Eye + any colorless and all white hand.
1 World Breaker -for sure too random to have proper impact - intension was probably Eye Bullet but it's really slow to search and cast even with 2 sowers.
4 Flametongue Kavu in sb with 4 Kozilek Return - this mean "synergy"

Nothing against Bridge/Moon (cluncky mana base) Moon turn 1-2 is autolose/Moat or even answer vs any creatures/equipments etc.

Not sure how this deck made top8.

[Cire]

That's the twisted version W/G/R :-)

http://sales.starcitygames.com//deck...?DeckID=108692

Don't understand:
1 Mimic - really why?
3 Eye - with only 25 lands - it's mean so many times muligan and unplayable hands like Eye + any colorless and all white hand.
1 World Breaker -for sure too random to have proper impact - intension was probably Eye Bullet but it's really slow to search and cast even with 2 sowers.
4 Flametongue Kavu in sb with 4 Kozilek Return - this mean "synergy"

Nothing against Bridge/Moon (cluncky mana base) Moon turn 1-2 is autolose/Moat or even answer vs any creatures/equipments etc.

Not sure how this deck made top8.

That deck basically took WRG lists from Eldrazi stompy from earlier this year, added in Flametounge Tech that W/R eldrazi has been running, then decided to do Ulmog and Sower as per recent colorless builds, then decided to transition to Thalia Stompy. . . it's a beautiful mess. I love it.

[EunB]

Went 7-3 at Eternal Weekend. Variance/unlucky draws aside I was close to being 9-1; only one match was unwinnable. Will provide a report on Monday.

[Fatal]

Went 7-3 at Eternal Weekend. Variance/unlucky draws aside I was close to being 9-1; only one match was unwinnable. Will provide a report on Monday.

Solid result, congrats. Interesting which match was unwinable.

[iostream]

Also went 7-3 at Eternal Weekend. Definitely felt like my three losses were my fault and it was really only my lack of practice and skill level that was holding me back. Copter and Jailer are gas. This deck feels special. Will say a few more words in the coming days.

[pocari79]

Went 7-3 at Eternal Weekend. Ran the list I previously posted before except for a couple changes in the sideboard to shore up the combo matchups as my friend played in a bunch of legacy side events on Friday and faced pretty much every single different combo deck.

6 Plains
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Wasteland
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Karakas
1 City of Traitors
4 Mox Diamond
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Umezawa's Jitte
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Eldrazi Displacer
4 Thought-Knot Seer
3 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Reality Smasher
2 Sanctum Prelate
1 Palace Jailer
2 Warping Wail

Sideboard:
3 Swords to Plowshares
3 Rest in Peace
2 Orzhov Pontiff
2 Disenchant
2 Containment Priest
1 Trinisphere
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Council's Judgment

Round 1 - Brian (Mentor Miracles)
I punt pretty hard game 1 and lose because of it and then game 3, every time I resolve a chalice on 1, he had the answer the next turn (either engineered explosives or wear//tear). Not exactly the start I wanted..

0-1 (1-2)

Round 2 - Taylor (Miracles)
I win game 1 pretty fast and was not sure what kind of build he is on as I've seen drastically different sideboard plans so game 2 I decide to side like he's on Mentors and I get punished as he's on the heavy enchantment plan with Blood Moons and Energy Fields. Game 3 I sideboard in all my enchantment removal and I won when he tried to miracle a Terminus when I had open mana and Displacer and Seer in play.

1-1 (3-3)

Round 3 - Scott (Sneak/Show)
He didn't have a fast hand on turn 1 and I was just able to hate him out. Game 2 he resolves a turn 1 Show and Tell putting in a Gristlebrand and I'm just trying to draw into a Karakas or a removal spell and I didn't. Game 3 he didn't have a fast hand and I was able to resolve a Thought-Knot to take his threat and then get fast beats for the win.

2-1 (5-4)

Round 4 - Edward (Grixis Delver)
Game 1 I manage to resolve a Chalice on 1 and that just slowed him down enough that I was able to get in a bunch of attacks before he manages to cast an Angler. Game 2 was unfortunate as he's on the play, mulls to 5, scrys to the top and then just passes the turn without playing a land. It was not much of a game as I resolve a turn 1 Thalia 1.0, then a Thought-knot Seer taking a removal spell and then turn 3 Palace Jailer exiling a Delver.

3-1 (7-4)

Round 5 - Erik (Manaless Dredge)
I hardly have anything in game 1 to interact with him and he rolls me over quick. Game 2, I think I could have played this better, I don't really remember if my opening hand had a Thalia 1.0 or not but I started the game with a turn 1 Revoker on Phantasmagorian and tried to resolve a turn 2 Containment Priest that got Forced. I remember casting a Thalia 1.0 the next turn and don't remember if I was able to cast Thalia the previous turn to turn off his force? Anyways, I try to stall out the game as he's on a slow dredge with only a Golgari Thug but I don't draw anything relevant either. I cast a Palace Jailer as soon as I'm able to and draw around 6 cards and hit nothing and just pretty much lose to Vengeful Pharoahs. After the game, I look at the top of my deck and there's like 8 more mana sources on top. Oh well, sometimes you just can't win.

3-2 (7-6)

Round 6 - Daniel (Burn)
Both games, I resolve a Chalice on 1 but I draw no Mox Diamonds or basic lands or Wastelands and I just died to Price of Progress for 8 multiple times both games. Sigh. Very frustrating games.

3-3 (7-8)

Round 7 - William (Dredge)
Game 1, he mulls to 5 or 6 and wasn't able to dredge for much before my Smasher and Though-Knot got there. Game 2, he casts turn 1 Therapy naming Thalia 1.0 and whiffs. I was then able to resolve a turn 1 Rest in Peace, turn 2 Displacer, turn 3 Containment Priest and then just started exiling his hardcast Imps and Thugs.

4-3 (9-8)

Round 8 - Chad (???)
He was a no-show. The guy beside me also had a no-show so I ended up playing him in a 1 game fun match cause we both wanted to play some magic. It turns out he was on Sneak/Show and I make a misplay when he casts a Show and Tell and I have the option to play an Ancient Tomb to turn my Displacer active or to play a Karakas to bounce a legend back and I end up putting in the Karakas in play. He puts in an Omniscience and then casts an Emrakul and I'm like damn, if I put in an Ancient Tomb, I would have been able to keep on Displacing Emrakul
before it ever attacks. Good to know for next time.

5-3 (11-8)

Round 9 - Leian (Sneak/show)
I thought I had game 1 locked up after he Show and Telled in an Emrakul and I put in a Displacer with mana up. I was able to Displace the Emrakul multiple times and on his last turn, he's able to cast a Cunning Wish for a Trickbind to stifle the Displacer activation and I got killed in 1 shot by Emrakul thanks to damage from my Ancient Tombs. Game 2 I just stomp him, I was able to take away his threat and then he didn't play a spell. Game 3, he's able to resolve a turn 1 show and tell putting in Omniscience while I put in a Thought-Knot seeing that he has bricks and I just had to race him before he found a fatty and he just couldn't find a fatty in the next two turns.

6-3 (13-9)

Round 10 - Bruce (Grixis Delver)
He's fairly new to legacy and that showed when he tried to Daze a Thalia that 1) was cast from a Cavern of Souls naming Human and 2) was also cast with an Ancient Tomb so I also had 1 colorless floating to pay for Daze if I wanted to. He also tried to cast a Lightning Bolt after Prelate resolved thinking that the number I choose goes on the stack but I told him that doesn't use the stack and if he wanted to cast a bolt, he'd have to do it when Prelate was on the stack. Mistakes aside, this matchup always feels like it's heavily in our favor and I don't remember any difficulty beating him.

7-3 (15-9)

Afterthoughts:
The deck still feels really strong and the only thing I'd change up in the maindeck would be the Warping Wails. Sometimes they feel just totally mediocre but then once in a while they end up countering a key Terminus or Show and Tell and then it just feels incredible so I'm really not sure what I can replace it with.

Miracles also no longer feels like an easy win. It seems like all builds now run some main deck Engineered Explosives so resolving an early Chalice on 1 doesn't feel as good. Plus if you don't know what gameplan your opponent is on game 2, you could be sideboarding totally wrong. I saw a ton of Moats, Blood Moons, Back to Basics and Energy Fields. It feels like Disenchant is no longer good enough. Maybe it's time for Serenity? It probably won't be this varied in a local meta but it's something to look out for.

The Pontiffs were the real deal. I never got to sideboard them in but my friend who ran the exact 75+1 was playing against matchups where he was getting blowouts with the Pontiffs so I'll be leaving them in.

Sneak/show was also not as easy as a matchup as I expected as they now usually Show and Tell in Omnisciences which makes our usual hate cards like Containment Priest and Karakas not as good. I was trying out Trinispheres because of this but it just slows them down by one turn which sometimes is not enough. Not too sure what else we can try here.

[EunB]

Been busy, but here's my short writeup from Eternal Weekend. 7-3 seems to be the trend here.

6 Plains
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Wasteland
4 Cavern of Souls
2 Karakas
1 City of Traitors
3 Mox Diamond
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Warping Wail
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Eldrazi Displacer
4 Thought-Knot Seer
2 Phyrexian Revoker
3 Reality Smasher
2 Sanctum Prelate
3 Palace Jailer

Sideboard:
3 Rest in Peace
2 Winter Orb
2 Disenchant
2 Containment Priest
2 Blessed Alliance
2 Spatial Contortion
1 Elspeth, Knight Errant
1 Declaration in Stone

Round 1 - Michael (D&T)
I revoker a Vial, cast TKS, THC and then Jitte to close it out. G2 was a bad keep with no white sources and I die quickly. G3 I cast t2 and t3 TKS and close it out.

1-0 (2-1)

Round 2 - Boston (Grixis Delver)
I get out a Prelate on one and Jail his Angler to take g1. G2 Prelate on one gets there again and I avoid some delver flips to buy enough time to cast Jailer to close it out.

2-0 (4-1)

Round 3 - Travis (Eldrazi)
T1 THC, then Displacer Jitte and Smasher end the game quickly. In game 2 I was wastelanded and didn't draw more land, losing despite getting out a T1 Displacer. Game 3 I cast t2 THC, then Displacer. I wastelanded a Karakas, but he never drew a colorless source and died with Urborg/Eye and TKS in hand.

3-0 (6-2)

Round 4 - Christopher (Imperial Painter)
He casts Blood Moon, Ensnaring Bridge, then Painter/Jaya and destroys my one white source. Game two I chalice on one but brick off on lands while he gets out a quick Magus, then Fiery Confluences my Jitte, Chalice on 1 and Mox Diamond. I die quickly after that. This was the one matchup I felt completely helpless against.

3-1 (6-4)

Round 5 - Alex (Aluren)
He Thoughtseized a TKS, but I went Thalia 1.0 into Smasher and won quickly afterwards. Game 2 I was stuck on 2 land and just did nothing. Game 3 I got t1 Chalice, but was stuck on 2 land again for a while. Ripped a land to cast TKS stealing the Aluren he was going to cast next turn, then next turn cast a Smasher to take the victory.

4-1 (8-5)

Round 6 - Colin (D&T)
Drew 3 moxes game 1 and no lands beyond the two that were in my hand. Port kept me locked out. Game 2 he Wastelanded me twice and again I drew zero lands beyond my opening hand. This is one of my better matchups so it was frustrating to lose this one to mana screw.

4-2 (8-7)

Round 7 - Richie (Shardless)
Game one THC is an all star and carries the game despite me getting stuck on 3 land again and bricking off on Mox Diamonds (I seriously hated this card by this point in the day). Once I finally found a 4th land TKS closed it out quickly. Game 2 I drew zero lands for 4-5 turns for the Smasher in my hand that would kill him. Game 3 I went turn 2 TKS turn 3 TKS that got Maelstrom Pulsed. He drew about 10 cards off of multiple AV, but 2x Displacer found victory as my opp. revealed a hand of about 6 lands. Tough for him.

5-2 (10-8)

Round 8 - Nathan (Grixis Delver)
By this time I was fatigued so my notes (and play) began to suffer. Game one he Therapied 2 Thalias and won the race off of a last-turn Delver flip. Game two I got a T2 Prelate and Wastelanded him twice. Game 3 I had the game locked up with a Chalice on 1 and a Displacer/Thalia out until I missed my Chalice trigger and let him resolve Bolt on my Displacer. I then had to Thalia/Karakas block an Angler for much of the game surviving until I could find a Palace Jailer and put it away.

6-2 (12-9)

Round 9 - Joseph (Reanimator)
I mulled to 5 and he went t1 Griselbrand. I waited for a Karakas but it never showed up. Game 2 I cast Containment Priest, Prelate on 2 (he showed Collective Brutality g1) and 2x TKS. Game 3 he Forced my Chalice on 1, then shuffled off Ponder into Entomb/Exhume Inkwell Leviathan. I didn't draw any Blessed Alliance so died. This round was also winnable and just variance at play.

6-3 (13-11)

Round 10 - James (Infect)
I wasteland him twice and he just doesn't draw any more land. Game two I get a displacer out that basically prevents him from doing anything and quickly beat him down with it and Thalias.

7-3 (15-11)

Afterthoughts:

The way I constructed the deck was purposefully greedy because I wanted my best cards in larger numbers with the mindset of luck wins tournaments. This mindset probably cost me the D&T match since I was stuck on 2-3 lands with multiple 4-5 drops in hand. My curve was just too high. Going forward my plan is to shave 1 Jailer, 1 Thalia 1.0, and 1 Smasher for 1 Dismember and 2 Smuggler's Copter. Jailer as the only source of CA and large creature removal was sketchy at times, though I never lost a game where he resolved interestingly. Copter seems like a great bridge to the late game and the deck desperately needs card filtering and early-game filtering at that. Since I'm going to be cutting creatures for spells, Thalia 1.0 is an easy one to shave at least for now. Another option is to just stick with 8 Thalia since THC is one of the best cards in the deck, but with no Chrome Mox to pitch extras to I fear drawing 4-5 Thalias in one game.

10 rounds in one day is simply too much.

I wouldn't change anything in my Sideboard. Blessed Alliance is just so versatile and saved me from multiple Marit Lages in side events.

Palace Jailer is at its best when other people aren't playing it. Soldier Stompy getting on camera and doing work with it is bad news, since it's no longer basically an unconditional removal spell/howling mine. If Jailers stock falls so does this decks, unfortunately.

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Don't have time to write up a full report, so I'll just say what I won and lost again and give some brief comments:

2 Containment Priest
4 Eldrazi Displacer
2 Palace Jailer
2 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Reality Smasher
2 Smuggler's Copter
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Thalia, Heretic Cathar
4 Thought-Knot Seer
2 Warping Wail
3 Mox Diamond
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Ancient Tomb
4 Cavern of Souls
4 Eldrazi Temple
2 Karakas
7 Plains
4 Wasteland

Sideboard
2 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Batterskull
1 Umezawa's Jitte
2 Spatial Contortion
1 Declaration in Stone
2 Armageddon
1 Disenchant
2 Pithing Needle
2 Rest in Peace
1 Trinisphere

wins: Jund, UR Delver, 12-Post, Colorless Eldrazi, D+T, Esper Deathblade, Miracles
losses: D+T, RUG Delver, Lands

Comments:

- The maindeck felt very close to perfect. Maybe the third Mox Diamond should be a Flagstones of Trokair to help enable sideboard Armageddon or maybe another cheap creature. I was basically never able to profitably cast the second Mox Diamond I drew. I tried a City of Traitors in side events on Sunday and it was a failed experiment. Basically hated seeing it every time and always wished it were a white source. Lotus Petal might also be a consideration. But overall, I'm becoming more skeptical that we need a ton of fast mana. It obviously makes certain draws unbeatable, but I think this deck is closer to D+T than it is to Colorless Eldrazi. I don't think we need to mulligan to a big turn 1 play like Colorless Eldrazi does.

- I really could have gone 10-0 with this deck. My losses were narrow ones that were basically due to not having adequate practice with those matchups; not deploying things in the right order, not understanding what is important in the matchup at different stages of the game, that kind of thing. Every matchup felt so winnable. I just didn't put in the reps to execute properly.

- I know I'm running a bunch of nonstandard choices, so here are my opinions about them:

1) Palace Jailer was incredible. It drew me like 30 cards over the course of the day. I lost monarch only once, and it just didn't matter. I'm so happy I didn't run any Dismembers.
2) Smuggler's Copter also performed very well, winning me many races I otherwise could not have possibly won in ways that are not obvious at first glance. This card is so good at holding onto tempo. For instance, in my match against colorless Eldrazi, I found out that Displacer + Copter + one Displacer activation each turn just flat out beats 2 opposing Thought-Knot Seers in the damage race. Displacer + any other creature except Reality Smasher would have failed that test.
3) Maindeck Containment Priest surprises decks in so many random ways. I think it has just enough utility to be an acceptable game 1 card.
4) Armageddon is incredible versus Miracles. Running 7 Plains makes From the Ashes and Back to Basics look really embarrassing a lot of the time.

- We don't have outs to Colorless Eldrazi's most insane nut draws. If they keep a hand that's even a little clunky, Thalia 2 and Displacer get there, but we are just like every other deck in that we don't have much play against turn 2 Reality Smasher.

- The sideboard needs a bit of work:

1) Trinisphere isn't needed. I know my sampling of the metagame was super fair, but the predominant combo decks right now are Storm and Sneak/Show, and as pocari79 observes, Trinisphere is not good against Sneak/Show. I would rather play Thorn of Amethyst (and I don't really want to play Thorn of Amethyst).

2) Stoneforge Mystic was reasonable, although I never got to make a Germ. It mostly fetched up Jitte. Batterskull is a really risky thing to fetch against most fair decks since you only have 2 Stoneforges, so if your first gets bolted or plowed, you don't have enough extra copies as backup - Batterskull ends up rotting in your hand, especially under Thalia or against Wasteland. Even in matchups where a resolved Batterskull is a game winner it can be risky. For instance, RUG Delver and certain version of Grixis can Stifle the Living Weapon trigger, which is such a tempo killer. I think Sword of Fire and Ice might be a better secondary target in the board. That would also allow one to have a good plan against True-Name Nemesis decks, which I expect to gain popularity since Jarvis top 8'd with one. But if I'm not running Batterskull, why am I playing Stoneforge Mystic again? Just as a tutor? That seems like a bad use of SB space. I want to cut these.

3) Disenchant should be Seal of Cleansing. I didn't like Disenchant in testing, but thought I should have at least one of that effect just in case. But I realized the problem is that I don't want to hold up mana basically ever. I think I might want to test two to make sure that's the reason why I hated Disenchant in testing. It's attractive as an out to Omniscience now that it's popular in Sneak/Show, and it helps deal with Aether Vial, which was an issue in my D+T games.

4) Key to the City was suggested by my teammate as further counterplay against TNN and as another random filtering effect for grindy matchups, and I think that it could be good. I am aware that I sound like a crazy person who is trying to jam as many Standard cards into his Legacy deck. But I think this might be one of those cards that just does enough to be terrific.

The deck still feels really strong and the only thing I'd change up in the maindeck would be the Warping Wails. Sometimes they feel just totally mediocre but then once in a while they end up countering a key Terminus or Show and Tell and then it just feels incredible so I'm really not sure what I can replace it with.

Miracles also no longer feels like an easy win. It seems like all builds now run some main deck Engineered Explosives so resolving an early Chalice on 1 doesn't feel as good. Plus if you don't know what gameplan your opponent is on game 2, you could be sideboarding totally wrong. I saw a ton of Moats, Blood Moons, Back to Basics and Energy Fields. It feels like Disenchant is no longer good enough. Maybe it's time for Serenity? It probably won't be this varied in a local meta but it's something to look out for.

The Pontiffs were the real deal. I never got to sideboard them in but my friend who ran the exact 75+1 was playing against matchups where he was getting blowouts with the Pontiffs so I'll be leaving them in.

Sneak/show was also not as easy as a matchup as I expected as they now usually Show and Tell in Omnisciences which makes our usual hate cards like Containment Priest and Karakas not as good. I was trying out Trinispheres because of this but it just slows them down by one turn which sometimes is not enough. Not too sure what else we can try here.

I agree Wail is not the most exciting card, but I think all three effects are situationally useful in almost every matchup. I think it's just barely good enough.

Miracles was indeed tougher in my testing, which is why I was packing Armageddon. I think it really is the solution. The deck is so good at getting ahead and drawing out all their counterspells early that Armageddon actually does resolve pretty often. You just have to make sure you have a decent clock on board before you jam it.

Pontiffs are interesting, although I am terrified that they are uncastable. Isn't it a card that you want primarily for D+T? It seems really tough to successfully jam it through all their mana disruption.

Showing in Omniscience is indeed a problem, but I think it's almost the only way we lose against Sneak/Show. The rest of the deck is pretty good at stopping the other lines. Seal of Cleansing obviously helps, but if you don't like it, I think it's acceptable to concede that specific line. They don't always have it.

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I wouldn't change anything in my Sideboard. Blessed Alliance is just so versatile and saved me from multiple Marit Lages in side events.

Palace Jailer is at its best when other people aren't playing it. Soldier Stompy getting on camera and doing work with it is bad news, since it's no longer basically an unconditional removal spell/howling mine. If Jailers stock falls so does this decks, unfortunately.

I actually hated Blessed Alliances when I tested them, but I was bringing them in as a generic removal spell even against things like D+T, and in that capacity it was horrible. Is this a specific countermeasure to Marit Lage and cheated fatties? Or do you use them in other contexts.

I agree that if Jailer becomes universally recognized as good, it starts to look a lot worse. But I will keep jamming them until I see the metagame shift.