THE current aggro deck. You HAVE to have early answers starting turn 2 or your dead to it.
Actually it could be a few different builds, but yeah - hyper aggro. The only answers I can think of for it is Fog (but still take damage from freaking Hellrider) until a sweeper comes up. I guess thats why we are having this conversation. lol
Jund would obliterate this deck, 10+ sources of hand disruption and getting burned with large X spells, Dreadbore ... Just saying.
Agreed. More counters needed. But imo, control decks get murdered by jund in general if you dont have a Witchbane Orb that sticks. Hand disruption is bad enough (I HATE seeing Lili hit the board T3) but Slaughtergames is worse as it was meant to destroy control since we only have a few wincons.
edit - thoughts on this build? ORing and DSphere in it to deal with resolved walkers. fewer fogs, few snapcasters to replay counters and fogs. Tamiyo included here. Im between Jace MA and Jace AoT. MA is good for draw every turn and alternate mill wincon, AoT helps with aggro and can draw, but has to minus to do it.
Still working on SB. Input is welcome. Of note, I'd really like to fit Azorius Charm into the MD, but dont know how/where. Is Tamiyo unnecessary? Drop her plus 1 Sigarda for 3 A-Charms?
Actually it could be a few different builds, but yeah - hyper aggro. The only answers I can think of for it is Fog (but still take damage from freaking Hellrider) until a sweeper comes up. I guess thats why we are having this conversation. lol
Agreed. More counters needed. But imo, control decks get murdered by jund in general if they dont have a Witchbane Orb that sticks. Slaughtergames was meant to destroy control since we only have a few wincons.
edit - thoughts on this build? ORing and DSphere in it to deal with resolved walkers. fewer fogs, few snapcasters to replay counters and fogs. Tamiyo included here. Im between Jace MA and Jace AoT. MA is good for draw every turn and alternate mill wincon, AoT helps with aggro and can draw, but has to minus to do it.
Still working on SB. Input is welcome. Of note, I'd really like to fit Azorius Charm into the MD, but dont know how/where. Is Tamiyo unnecessary? Drop her plus 1 Sigarda for 3 A-Charms?
Looks pretty decent, although I tend to like Farseek for the color correction. But, I'm also playing Wolf Run in my build and more creatures. Rogue's Passage is an interesting choice. You'll have to let me know how that works out.
Looks pretty decent, although I tend to like Farseek for the color correction. But, I'm also playing Wolf Run in my build and more creatures. Rogue's Passage is an interesting choice. You'll have to let me know how that works out.
Absolutely - Farseek is hugely important if you are running the Wolf Run variant.
I flipped from Wolf Run to Rouge's Passage partially because of the color-correction issues (I like Farseek for general ramp and color correction but I felt like other spells would be more useful for the deck). I also flipped to Passage because the synergy with Sigarda is ridiculous - Hexproof, cant be sac'd, unblockable. It's also come up quite big even with Loxodon.
Any thoughts on my A-Charm question? Pulling Tamiyo and 1 Sigarda for 3 A-Charms?
Do you have an updated decklist you want to post? I'd really interested to see what others are doing.
I was looking to make a Bant Control Deck for our upcoming local Invitational Qualifer in May. I saw that not a single player played this type of deck so I thought I could make some waves...
Please give me your advice. I don't have all the cards yet so I haven't been able to test it but I want to see what everyone thinks before I got out and trade for and/or purchase the wrong things.
Sunday Standard Toury. (Edit) after looking at the Swiss info, about 35 people is more accurate #.
Field was mostly aggro. I would say ~10 scrubs aggro, ~10 Good Aggro, ~6 others (Including a Huminator combo, 2 Esper Mill, RUG Flash, Me with Bant Control)
I take notes on each match on my notepad to slow me down to think as much as to record progress.
I win all matches through the Swiss (6 rounds) and place 4rth.
Game1: I think this guy was a fairly new player as he was young and nervous, so I tried to chipper him up with some side comments and jokes as we shuffled. T1 he lays a plains into Champion. I land GO. him = Strom Noble / Attack. Me Land Farseek , GO. Him = lay that 3/2 for RW guy with battalion Swing for 3. Me Land Verdict GO. He frowns.. lays some small guys and hit me with a pillar. I'm off to the races with Thrags/Angels and a Revelation for 6 on t5 or 6. Game Me.
Side in 3 FOD and Verdict.
Game 2: I Auger on t2 to stop a 2/2 Strom. Bounce a Ash Zelot. Farseek into a flashed Rest Ang blocking a Hellrider. Thrag => THRAG. Good Game Me. Thragtusks Killed him.
Round2: Jund Control.
Game 1: We get to a high mana start with not alot of action. Land GO from both of us till t4 or so. We 1 for 1 our guys for a while and i counter a Returns for 5. He Dreadbores my Rest i Simic charm it. He Finally gets down Liliana on like T9. I have a Angle and a Beast Token. He has a Vamp Moehawk and Olivia in play from last turn, with 3 mana open. I lay Wolfrun, swing with both. He blocks Rest with Olivia and sucks from the token for +1/+1. Sel Charm gives Angle +2/+2 and eats Olivia, trample for 1. Wolf Run the Token to kill Liliana. He Makes me kill one of my guys on his turn and the token dies, swing with Moehawk. I main phase Rev for 8 and its GG after that. He dies to Angles + Wolf Run.
Side in 2 Sigarda/2 Orbs.
G2: I Draw and have Sig and Orb in opening hand with a Negate Farseek 3 lands. Nice. He t4 tries Liliana . Negate. Sigarda Next Turn. He frowns and reads her... frowns more. He plays a Nighthawk and Farseeks. I lay Witchorb and he rubs his face ... After that he basicly does nothing. I let Liliana resolve to be Sphered. He plays a Huntmaster. I Rev for 6 at EOT and then Verdict. He never gets a foothold over the Orb and I just bury him in CA. My game. He shows me 2 duresses, 2 slaughter games, a player sac effect and something else that was dead due to orb.
Round3: Jund Aggro.
Game1: He wins roll and goes Land Go. Same here. He Lays land Strangleroot Giest, take 2. I play an Auger. He kills auger and plays rancor! Take 4. I play land Farseek for 4rth land. He lays land Duress, gets my verdict, haste Boar. Take7. Next turn he Hell Riders me and I think I die to a Spear.
Side in 3 FoD 2 Sigarda
Game2. I draw and have a FoD in my grip with 3 or 4 lands. He gets a slow draw and I double farseek to 5 land quickly. His turn he plays a nighthawk. I play a Thragtusk. He Dreadbores the thrag. plays another nighthawk. I FOD them. Token Swing. He duresses me and gets my terminus. We kill guys for a turn or 2. He tries to returns me, i counter. He Lays a Boar and attempts a rancor. I bounce in response. But do still take 3.I lay a thrag. He Slaughter games me for Verdict. Gets my 3. I top deck a Sigarda and play it. He kinda stalls looking at it. I Rev for alot then just go on Wolf Run Beats plan. I win like 5 to zero. Kinda close.
Game 3. Kinda crappy but he gets mana screwed on 3 lands. I find 2 FOD and some other control stuff. Stick a Thrag backed up with a counter and a Rest angle in my hand when he tries to Dreadbore. When he finally does find a 4rth land to lay a Aristricrat, I'm already at 8 land and EOT a Rev for 5. I just get too far infront of him for him to catch up.
Round 4: My Opponent dont show up. Think he was not going to make top 8 or something so he just dropped. 4-0 for me!
Round 5: Esper Control
Game1: Guy was really quite, like stonewalling. He went land go land go land go while i land + Farseeked. Turn 5 i try a auger. Find a Rev. I make a 2/2 knight token with my Sel charm at EOT. Drop Wolf run and proceed hitting him for 7 a turn. he Verdicts. I play guys, he kills guys and starts the milling with a drownyard. I Rev for 5 with negate backup. counter fight.. I draw 5 and he is tapped. Play a Auger and a Thrag. He Scoops. kinda weird match.
Side in 2 Sigarda, Garuuk, 2 Counterflux.
Game2: Basically i carry on with Play a guy and Wolf run him at you. 1 for 1 his CA. Counterflux his Rev and just ride Wolf Run + 1 guy. he tries a Snap Caster into a Verdict to get rid of my Sigarda. I Simic charm bounce it back to my hand. I play it again. He Verdicts Again off of top deck i assume. As he is looking cold on counters I Rev for 7. I drop 2 guys a turn for next 2 turns and he just scoops. 5-0 me.
Round6: RWU Flash/Control. Intentional Draw into Top 8.
Top8 : Vs Gruul Aggro.
Game1. I play T2 auger. he plays T2 Ash Zealot. I Farseek on T3. He plays a Boar and swings in, I take 3. i still dont have a 4rth land drop ...He plays Emissary into Lightening Mauler. Swing for 9. Topdeck a shockland so i can Verdict. Im at like 5 life. He plays a Strangleroot giest swings. I topdeck a check land for Thragtusk! He does not have an answer for it i think as he plays a Rancor and burns the thrag. Swing in and trample 1. Giest comes back and he re-rancors it. I lay a land, Thrag #2. He sits on the giest 2 turns ( i think he gets land). while i Restore the Thrag for 5 more life. He is out of gas and i take the game.
Side in 3 FOD and Verdict.
Game2: FOD wins me the game here. He curves well but i had 1 FOD on my opener and found another around turn 3 or 4 with a Auger. I just keep tapping his guys and and auger blocking til I have 6 land to Verdict with which gets 4 of his guys. I flash in a Resto to block a haste boar and protect a Thrag / Resto as i Wolf Run him with the angle. I eventually Rev for 6. Game Me.
Top4 Semi Finals. VS Naya Aggro (Blitz?)
Game 1. He comes out like crazy fast. Experiment One. Then Emissary into lightening mauler. Then haste Boar. Finishes me off with Hellrider.
Side 3 FOD and Verdict
Game 2. I get a Auger out for blocks on a Champ of the Periah. Bounce 2 guys with Simic and Az charms. however he still is pressuring me well and gets me to 10 fast. Turn 5 i Verdict 3 guys. His Turn he Double Tangleroot giests. I Det Shere them. He lays down his own Wolf Run and starts pressuring me with haste guys + wolf run. I get out Thragtusk and it quckly dies. Flash Angle blocks a Hellrider. he stalls one turn sitting on the Strangleroot with me on an angle. I Rev for like 8 and he skull cracks me to 6! However i draw 8. Another Rev FOD and Thragtusk being in it. Thrag takes him out. My Game.
Game 3. I Lost this game due to not mulling to get early interaction. I kept a hand with Verdict, Thrag, Rev, something and Land. T1 he ExperOne. Me= Land Go. Him Burning Tree into Burning tree into Lightening mauler. Me Ouch, land go. Then he plays Strangleroot and swing for like 10? I Verdict on my t4. Giest returns and he adds a Ash Zelot to it. = Loss for Me.
Overall I was happy with my performance. I could tell I needed more practice with it as there is just so many options inside Bant Control. I made at least 2 game mistakes, 1 being not mulling in the Semis. It seemed solid Vs every Deck i faced. Luckily the Humanator deck was put out of top 8 buy the RWU Flash Control deck. That is one match I am intimidated by, but I never played it.
Things of Note:
Sigarda and Witch Orb kills jund decks. I was impressed by their effectiveness.
You MUST slow down/interact with Gruul and Blitz on turn 2 and 3.
Simic Charm did well. at least 4 times I used it to effectivly to advance board state. Used all modes. Not alot of large guys for the Exile effect on Sel Charm, I mostly use the +2 and the knight token for blocks/flash attacks.
I did not miss Garruk or any other planeswalkers.
The Esper matchup was kinda weird. Did not seem hard to me. Lay a constant stream of threats and wolf run them.
Aggro seemed winnable each game. I need more practice Vs Aggro. And more Practice mulling.
from my control deck, and am going to post my updated list later on when i get home.
I have played Bant Control variants consecutively for 4fnm's in a row, each time I have top 4'ed with only 1 night almost losing the top 4 spot due to newbie Green/Red blitz.
I am trying to get Sigarda back, but i Dont want to get resto or thragtusk back due to the fact that i REALLY dislike thragtusk, and I think i have proved that bant decks can work consecutively without him lol
from my control deck, and am going to post my updated list later on when i get home.
I have played Bant Control variants consecutively for 4fnm's in a row, each time I have top 4'ed with only 1 night almost losing the top 4 spot due to newbie Green/Red blitz.
I am trying to get Sigarda back, but i Dont want to get resto or thragtusk back due to the fact that i REALLY dislike thragtusk, and I think i have proved that bant decks can work consecutively without him lol
I am really interested to see what you'll come up with without Thraggy or Resto Angel.
This is all from memory, but This is the basic point of my Bant Control list. It has early game creatures for aggro help until i board sweep and it also lets them dump there hand early if they want to take care of my early game creatures. Some decks just lose to Geist when i play her and thats why she is mainboard.
Late game options are the obvious ones of course, Aetherling is a boss as well as A.O.S.
Blood Baron is my new Thragtusk, and the Pro White + Black makes this guy one annoying person to take care of. Lifelink alongside it, makes it a great card for me in my current meta.
To be Honest my sideboard needs help, I have currently
I am thinking about my current meta and to be honest the only things i see are:
-A LOT of Naya, Boros or G/R Aggro/Blitz Variants,
-Junk with Voice of Resurgence,
-a very few Junk Reanimator's,
-a few Intangible Virtue Decks,
-1 American Control deck and
-1 Esper Control deck,
-2 or 3 rogue decks thrown in there
I want my deck to work without Thragtusk or Restoration Angel, so with this in mind please do your best/worst at helping me with this deck.
My meta is ridiculously aggro/creature based right now, so as you see there are a ton of ways for me to slow down there creature count.
I've added red to my list for the Izzet Charm and the Turn // Burn. And yes it isn't a mistake, there is only the izzet charms that can counter stuff.
Maybe my list counts towards 4 color midrange more but for now i still feel like its bant control just a different kind of control. It doesn't have counter magic but it controls the board in other ways.
Any comments or Questions please feel free to leave them. I dont run Thragtusk or Restoation Angel[/CARD] just because im tired of the Hardcore hype of it to be honest, i want to show control can still win without Thraggy or Resto.
This is my current brew for a bant control deck. I've limited myself some on boardwipes for more utility of Mimic, Aetherling of course dodges these if the board is heavy on opponent's side. Aimed to build this deck without Snappys or Fishers as they will be rotating relatively soon. Post rotation, Thrag will be dropped for Centaur Healer, or some other decent ETB value card. Dissipate will probably be cycled out for the reprinted Disperse to aid with planeswalker/VoR control.
So far it is pretty solid, haven't had much chance to play it in the mirror, though the one time I did, SB'd Council of the Absolute choosing Sphinx Revelation, mimic'd council next turn and just started naming their deck.
Vs. Aggro, usually able to stabilize the board post turn 3 on the draw, turn 4-5 Plasm Capture off a 3 CMC or so, into either an Aetherling the next turn or an Urban Evolution for ramping and card advantage. Gruul aggro gets pithing needle sideboarded in for great effect against Ghor-Clan Rampager, and other bloodrushers. Hasty decks get Blind Obedience which slows them effectively, and allows to ping of extort here and there.
Definitely still in development, but it's a fun deck, especially when an unopposed Thragtusk gets a Mimic on it, then a Mimic on that Mimic.
This is my current brew for a bant control deck. I've limited myself some on boardwipes for more utility of Mimic, Aetherling of course dodges these if the board is heavy on opponent's side. Aimed to build this deck without Snappys or Fishers as they will be rotating relatively soon. Post rotation, Thrag will be dropped for Centaur Healer, or some other decent ETB value card. Dissipate will probably be cycled out for the reprinted Disperse to aid with planeswalker/VoR control.
So far it is pretty solid, haven't had much chance to play it in the mirror, though the one time I did, SB'd Council of the Absolute choosing Sphinx Revelation, mimic'd council next turn and just started naming their deck.
Vs. Aggro, usually able to stabilize the board post turn 3 on the draw, turn 4-5 Plasm Capture off a 3 CMC or so, into either an Aetherling the next turn or an Urban Evolution for ramping and card advantage. Gruul aggro gets pithing needle sideboarded in for great effect against Ghor-Clan Rampager, and other bloodrushers. Hasty decks get Blind Obedience which slows them effectively, and allows to ping of extort here and there.
Definitely still in development, but it's a fun deck, especially when an unopposed Thragtusk gets a Mimic on it, then a Mimic on that Mimic.
Thoughts?
Very interesting list, how do you find it runs without Farseek? I would love to free up those four slots. Personal preference I would throw 4 Think Twice in.
It runs well without farseek, even against faster decks. My wife plays a rakdos deck wins, and I can usually keep pace with it (typical game I run down to 7-10 life left, stabilize board, sphinx/thrag/etc. and into control mode). As far as ramping though, I typically use plasm capture to ramp into my next turn and either put the mana into an Aetherling, Sphinx Revelation (reserving mana for counters and using her mana to power it is fun), or into an Urban Evolution. While the farseek would be nice to help even out the mana and adjust my curve if needed, I built this deck with a mind to post-rotation. Same goes with think twice, I think it's the most efficient card advantage right now, hoping for something better in the rest of the m14 spoiler... might have to wait to Theros though.
Urban Evolution I think is just a great card, even at the 3GU cost because you get not only a draw mechanic, but ability to drop an extra land as well. I wish it was only 2GU, or, at its current cost and an instant, but, can't have everything.
So far it's run fairly well though, haven't played it against any Naya Blitz deck, that I'm sure will be a tough match up, as it does take a little bit to stabilize the board state. Against Junk Rites, America Midrange, RDW/Rakdos Deck Wins, U/B Zombies and Humanimator, I typically come out on top. Biggest thing I've run into is if I have to say "you know, I'm not sure, but I think I'll play it" I make that an automatic mulligan.
This is my current brew for a bant control deck. I've limited myself some on boardwipes for more utility of Mimic, Aetherling of course dodges these if the board is heavy on opponent's side. Aimed to build this deck without Snappys or Fishers as they will be rotating relatively soon. Post rotation, Thrag will be dropped for Centaur Healer, or some other decent ETB value card. Dissipate will probably be cycled out for the reprinted Disperse to aid with planeswalker/VoR control.
So far it is pretty solid, haven't had much chance to play it in the mirror, though the one time I did, SB'd Council of the Absolute choosing Sphinx Revelation, mimic'd council next turn and just started naming their deck.
Vs. Aggro, usually able to stabilize the board post turn 3 on the draw, turn 4-5 Plasm Capture off a 3 CMC or so, into either an Aetherling the next turn or an Urban Evolution for ramping and card advantage. Gruul aggro gets pithing needle sideboarded in for great effect against Ghor-Clan Rampager, and other bloodrushers. Hasty decks get Blind Obedience which slows them effectively, and allows to ping of extort here and there.
Definitely still in development, but it's a fun deck, especially when an unopposed Thragtusk gets a Mimic on it, then a Mimic on that Mimic.
Thoughts?
I can't help but feel 4 thrags 2 aetherling is the way to go. Also dissapate is 4 of instead of 3 of those and 3 cancel. 2 cancel 4 dissipate.
Yeah, I haven't updated my list, but it now runs 3-of on Thrag, Aetherling, and Mimic. Added 3-of terminus to deal with my local aggro-heavy meta (creates tears on the miracle), still a little tedious, but I've had decent luck, I definitely need to test drive it some more. Still considering some cards out of M14, but haven't made any solid picks.
Actually it could be a few different builds, but yeah - hyper aggro. The only answers I can think of for it is Fog (but still take damage from freaking Hellrider) until a sweeper comes up. I guess thats why we are having this conversation. lol
Agreed. More counters needed. But imo, control decks get murdered by jund in general if you dont have a Witchbane Orb that sticks. Hand disruption is bad enough (I HATE seeing Lili hit the board T3) but Slaughtergames is worse as it was meant to destroy control since we only have a few wincons.
edit - thoughts on this build? ORing and DSphere in it to deal with resolved walkers. fewer fogs, few snapcasters to replay counters and fogs. Tamiyo included here. Im between Jace MA and Jace AoT. MA is good for draw every turn and alternate mill wincon, AoT helps with aggro and can draw, but has to minus to do it.
3x Loxodon Smiter
2x Sigarda, Host of Herons
3x Snapcaster Mage
Lands - 25
4x Glacial Fortress
3x Hinterland Harbor
4x Sunpetal Grove
3x Temple Garden
4x Hallowed Fountain
4x Breeding Pool
3x Rogue's Passage
4x Fog
2x Clinging Mists
3x Supreme Verdict
2x Terminus
3x Dissipate
3x Sphinx's Revelation
Planeswalkers - 7
3x Garruk, Primal Hunter
2x Jace, Memory Adept
2x Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
2x Oblivion Ring
1x Detention Sphere
Still working on SB. Input is welcome. Of note, I'd really like to fit Azorius Charm into the MD, but dont know how/where. Is Tamiyo unnecessary? Drop her plus 1 Sigarda for 3 A-Charms?
TBD...
Looks pretty decent, although I tend to like Farseek for the color correction. But, I'm also playing Wolf Run in my build and more creatures. Rogue's Passage is an interesting choice. You'll have to let me know how that works out.
Absolutely - Farseek is hugely important if you are running the Wolf Run variant.
I flipped from Wolf Run to Rouge's Passage partially because of the color-correction issues (I like Farseek for general ramp and color correction but I felt like other spells would be more useful for the deck). I also flipped to Passage because the synergy with Sigarda is ridiculous - Hexproof, cant be sac'd, unblockable. It's also come up quite big even with Loxodon.
Any thoughts on my A-Charm question? Pulling Tamiyo and 1 Sigarda for 3 A-Charms?
Do you have an updated decklist you want to post? I'd really interested to see what others are doing.
TBD...
I was looking to make a Bant Control Deck for our upcoming local Invitational Qualifer in May. I saw that not a single player played this type of deck so I thought I could make some waves...
Please give me your advice. I don't have all the cards yet so I haven't been able to test it but I want to see what everyone thinks before I got out and trade for and/or purchase the wrong things.
Thanks!!!
Creatures
Geist of Saint Traft x 3
Sigarda, Host of Herons x 2
Augor of Bolas x 4
Enchantments
Oblivion Ring x 2
Detention Sphere x 2
Instants/Sorceries
Azorius Charm x 3
Sphinx's Revelation x 3
Rootborn Defenses x 3
Dissipate x 3
Supreme Verdict x 4
Think Twice x 2
Planeswalkers
Garruk, Primal Hunter x 1
Jace, Architect of Thought x 2
Gideon, Champion of Justice x 2
Lands
Hallowed Fountain x 4
Glacial Fortress x 4
Temple Garden x 4
Sunpetal Grove x 2
Breeding Pool x 4
Hinterland Harbor x 2
Rogue's Passage x 3
Ghost Quarter x 1
Sideboard
Rest in Peace x 2
Jace, Memory Adept x 1
Misthollow Griffin x 2
Judge's Familiar x 2
Garruk, Primal Hunter x 1
Dissipate x 1
Planar Cleansing x 2
Oblivion Ring x 1
Detention Sphere x 1
Witchbane Orb x 2
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=486779
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Sunday Standard Toury. (Edit) after looking at the Swiss info, about 35 people is more accurate #.
Field was mostly aggro. I would say ~10 scrubs aggro, ~10 Good Aggro, ~6 others (Including a Huminator combo, 2 Esper Mill, RUG Flash, Me with Bant Control)
I take notes on each match on my notepad to slow me down to think as much as to record progress.
I win all matches through the Swiss (6 rounds) and place 4rth.
Deck
Beats
4 Thragtusk
1 Snapcaster Mage
4 Restoration Angel
3 Augur of Bolas
1 Angel of Serenity
4 Farseek
4 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Supreme Verdict
1 Terminus
2 Detention Sphere
1 Negate
3 Dissipate
1 Selesnya Charm
2 Simic Charm
1 Azorius Charm
4 Temple Garden
3 Sunpetal Grove
4 Hinterland Harbor
3 Glacial Fortress
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Kessig Wolf Run
3 Breeding Pool
1 Steam Vents
2 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Supreme Verdict
2 Counterflux
3 Feeling of Dread
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Garruk, Primal Hunter
3 Purify the Grave
2 Witchbane Orb
Round1 : VS. Boros.
Game1: I think this guy was a fairly new player as he was young and nervous, so I tried to chipper him up with some side comments and jokes as we shuffled. T1 he lays a plains into Champion. I land GO. him = Strom Noble / Attack. Me Land Farseek , GO. Him = lay that 3/2 for RW guy with battalion Swing for 3. Me Land Verdict GO. He frowns.. lays some small guys and hit me with a pillar. I'm off to the races with Thrags/Angels and a Revelation for 6 on t5 or 6. Game Me.
Side in 3 FOD and Verdict.
Game 2: I Auger on t2 to stop a 2/2 Strom. Bounce a Ash Zelot. Farseek into a flashed Rest Ang blocking a Hellrider. Thrag => THRAG. Good Game Me. Thragtusks Killed him.
Round2: Jund Control.
Game 1: We get to a high mana start with not alot of action. Land GO from both of us till t4 or so. We 1 for 1 our guys for a while and i counter a Returns for 5. He Dreadbores my Rest i Simic charm it. He Finally gets down Liliana on like T9. I have a Angle and a Beast Token. He has a Vamp Moehawk and Olivia in play from last turn, with 3 mana open. I lay Wolfrun, swing with both. He blocks Rest with Olivia and sucks from the token for +1/+1. Sel Charm gives Angle +2/+2 and eats Olivia, trample for 1. Wolf Run the Token to kill Liliana. He Makes me kill one of my guys on his turn and the token dies, swing with Moehawk. I main phase Rev for 8 and its GG after that. He dies to Angles + Wolf Run.
Side in 2 Sigarda/2 Orbs.
G2: I Draw and have Sig and Orb in opening hand with a Negate Farseek 3 lands. Nice. He t4 tries Liliana . Negate. Sigarda Next Turn. He frowns and reads her... frowns more. He plays a Nighthawk and Farseeks. I lay Witchorb and he rubs his face ... After that he basicly does nothing. I let Liliana resolve to be Sphered. He plays a Huntmaster. I Rev for 6 at EOT and then Verdict. He never gets a foothold over the Orb and I just bury him in CA. My game. He shows me 2 duresses, 2 slaughter games, a player sac effect and something else that was dead due to orb.
Round3: Jund Aggro.
Game1: He wins roll and goes Land Go. Same here. He Lays land Strangleroot Giest, take 2. I play an Auger. He kills auger and plays rancor! Take 4. I play land Farseek for 4rth land. He lays land Duress, gets my verdict, haste Boar. Take7. Next turn he Hell Riders me and I think I die to a Spear.
Side in 3 FoD 2 Sigarda
Game2. I draw and have a FoD in my grip with 3 or 4 lands. He gets a slow draw and I double farseek to 5 land quickly. His turn he plays a nighthawk. I play a Thragtusk. He Dreadbores the thrag. plays another nighthawk. I FOD them. Token Swing. He duresses me and gets my terminus. We kill guys for a turn or 2. He tries to returns me, i counter. He Lays a Boar and attempts a rancor. I bounce in response. But do still take 3.I lay a thrag. He Slaughter games me for Verdict. Gets my 3. I top deck a Sigarda and play it. He kinda stalls looking at it. I Rev for alot then just go on Wolf Run Beats plan. I win like 5 to zero. Kinda close.
Game 3. Kinda crappy but he gets mana screwed on 3 lands. I find 2 FOD and some other control stuff. Stick a Thrag backed up with a counter and a Rest angle in my hand when he tries to Dreadbore. When he finally does find a 4rth land to lay a Aristricrat, I'm already at 8 land and EOT a Rev for 5. I just get too far infront of him for him to catch up.
Round 4: My Opponent dont show up. Think he was not going to make top 8 or something so he just dropped. 4-0 for me!
Round 5: Esper Control
Game1: Guy was really quite, like stonewalling. He went land go land go land go while i land + Farseeked. Turn 5 i try a auger. Find a Rev. I make a 2/2 knight token with my Sel charm at EOT. Drop Wolf run and proceed hitting him for 7 a turn. he Verdicts. I play guys, he kills guys and starts the milling with a drownyard. I Rev for 5 with negate backup. counter fight.. I draw 5 and he is tapped. Play a Auger and a Thrag. He Scoops. kinda weird match.
Side in 2 Sigarda, Garuuk, 2 Counterflux.
Game2: Basically i carry on with Play a guy and Wolf run him at you. 1 for 1 his CA. Counterflux his Rev and just ride Wolf Run + 1 guy. he tries a Snap Caster into a Verdict to get rid of my Sigarda. I Simic charm bounce it back to my hand. I play it again. He Verdicts Again off of top deck i assume. As he is looking cold on counters I Rev for 7. I drop 2 guys a turn for next 2 turns and he just scoops. 5-0 me.
Round6: RWU Flash/Control. Intentional Draw into Top 8.
Top8 : Vs Gruul Aggro.
Game1. I play T2 auger. he plays T2 Ash Zealot. I Farseek on T3. He plays a Boar and swings in, I take 3. i still dont have a 4rth land drop ...He plays Emissary into Lightening Mauler. Swing for 9. Topdeck a shockland so i can Verdict. Im at like 5 life. He plays a Strangleroot giest swings. I topdeck a check land for Thragtusk! He does not have an answer for it i think as he plays a Rancor and burns the thrag. Swing in and trample 1. Giest comes back and he re-rancors it. I lay a land, Thrag #2. He sits on the giest 2 turns ( i think he gets land). while i Restore the Thrag for 5 more life. He is out of gas and i take the game.
Side in 3 FOD and Verdict.
Game2: FOD wins me the game here. He curves well but i had 1 FOD on my opener and found another around turn 3 or 4 with a Auger. I just keep tapping his guys and and auger blocking til I have 6 land to Verdict with which gets 4 of his guys. I flash in a Resto to block a haste boar and protect a Thrag / Resto as i Wolf Run him with the angle. I eventually Rev for 6. Game Me.
Top4 Semi Finals. VS Naya Aggro (Blitz?)
Game 1. He comes out like crazy fast. Experiment One. Then Emissary into lightening mauler. Then haste Boar. Finishes me off with Hellrider.
Side 3 FOD and Verdict
Game 2. I get a Auger out for blocks on a Champ of the Periah. Bounce 2 guys with Simic and Az charms. however he still is pressuring me well and gets me to 10 fast. Turn 5 i Verdict 3 guys. His Turn he Double Tangleroot giests. I Det Shere them. He lays down his own Wolf Run and starts pressuring me with haste guys + wolf run. I get out Thragtusk and it quckly dies. Flash Angle blocks a Hellrider. he stalls one turn sitting on the Strangleroot with me on an angle. I Rev for like 8 and he skull cracks me to 6! However i draw 8. Another Rev FOD and Thragtusk being in it. Thrag takes him out. My Game.
Game 3. I Lost this game due to not mulling to get early interaction. I kept a hand with Verdict, Thrag, Rev, something and Land. T1 he ExperOne. Me= Land Go. Him Burning Tree into Burning tree into Lightening mauler. Me Ouch, land go. Then he plays Strangleroot and swing for like 10? I Verdict on my t4. Giest returns and he adds a Ash Zelot to it. = Loss for Me.
Overall I was happy with my performance. I could tell I needed more practice with it as there is just so many options inside Bant Control. I made at least 2 game mistakes, 1 being not mulling in the Semis. It seemed solid Vs every Deck i faced. Luckily the Humanator deck was put out of top 8 buy the RWU Flash Control deck. That is one match I am intimidated by, but I never played it.
Things of Note:
Sigarda and Witch Orb kills jund decks. I was impressed by their effectiveness.
You MUST slow down/interact with Gruul and Blitz on turn 2 and 3.
Simic Charm did well. at least 4 times I used it to effectivly to advance board state. Used all modes. Not alot of large guys for the Exile effect on Sel Charm, I mostly use the +2 and the knight token for blocks/flash attacks.
I did not miss Garruk or any other planeswalkers.
The Esper matchup was kinda weird. Did not seem hard to me. Lay a constant stream of threats and wolf run them.
Aggro seemed winnable each game. I need more practice Vs Aggro. And more Practice mulling.
I recently got rid of
- Thragtusk,
- Restoration Angel,
- Sigarda, Host of Herons,
from my control deck, and am going to post my updated list later on when i get home.I have played Bant Control variants consecutively for 4fnm's in a row, each time I have top 4'ed with only 1 night almost losing the top 4 spot due to newbie Green/Red blitz.
I am trying to get Sigarda back, but i Dont want to get resto or thragtusk back due to the fact that i REALLY dislike thragtusk, and I think i have proved that bant decks can work consecutively without him lol
Thanks you very much DarkNightCavalier for the Sig.
I am really interested to see what you'll come up with without Thraggy or Resto Angel.
3 Centaur Healer
2 Blood Baron of Vizkopa
1 Prime Speaker Zegana
2 Aetherling
2 Angel of Serenity
4 Farseek
3 Terminus
2 Supreme Verdict
2 Syncopate
3 Azorius Charm
1 Selesnya Charm
2 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Detention Sphere
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
3 Breeding Pool
4 Hallowed Fountain
3 Temple Garden
3 Hinterland Harbor
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Sunpetal Grove
1 Overgrown Tomb/Ghostly Shrine
1 Plains
1 island
This is all from memory, but This is the basic point of my Bant Control list. It has early game creatures for aggro help until i board sweep and it also lets them dump there hand early if they want to take care of my early game creatures. Some decks just lose to Geist when i play her and thats why she is mainboard.
Late game options are the obvious ones of course, Aetherling is a boss as well as A.O.S.
Blood Baron is my new Thragtusk, and the Pro White + Black makes this guy one annoying person to take care of. Lifelink alongside it, makes it a great card for me in my current meta.
To be Honest my sideboard needs help, I have currently
2 Witchbane Orb
1 Terminus
1 Oblivion Ring
2 Syncopate
1 Selesnya Charm
2 Armada Wurm
1 Acidic Slime
1 Progenitor Mimic
2 Elixir of Immortality
2 Feeling of Dread
I am thinking about my current meta and to be honest the only things i see are:
-A LOT of Naya, Boros or G/R Aggro/Blitz Variants,
-Junk with Voice of Resurgence,
-a very few Junk Reanimator's,
-a few Intangible Virtue Decks,
-1 American Control deck and
-1 Esper Control deck,
-2 or 3 rogue decks thrown in there
I want my deck to work without Thragtusk or Restoration Angel, so with this in mind please do your best/worst at helping me with this deck.
Thanks you very much DarkNightCavalier for the Sig.
Well i updated my list when it got CRUSHED last Friday, i like it a lot more now than i ever did.
My meta is ridiculously aggro/creature based right now, so as you see there are a ton of ways for me to slow down there creature count.
I've added red to my list for the Izzet Charm and the Turn // Burn. And yes it isn't a mistake, there is only the izzet charms that can counter stuff.
Maybe my list counts towards 4 color midrange more but for now i still feel like its bant control just a different kind of control. It doesn't have counter magic but it controls the board in other ways.
I also have 3 Geist of Saint Traft that will take the place of a mix of Centaur Healers and the Loxodon Smiters if this friday is Standard.
Any comments or Questions please feel free to leave them. I dont run Thragtusk or Restoation Angel[/CARD] just because im tired of the Hardcore hype of it to be honest, i want to show control can still win without Thraggy or Resto.
Thanks you very much DarkNightCavalier for the Sig.
4x Aetherling
4x Progenitor Mimic
2x Thragtusk
Spells
3x Azorius Charm
3x Dissipate
3x Essence Scatter
2x Cancel
4x Render Silent
3x Sphinx's Revelation
3x Plasm Capture
4x Supreme Verdict
3x Urban Evolution
4x Breeding Pool
4x Hinterland Harbor
4x Hallowed Fountain
4x Glacial Fortress
4x Temple Garden
2x Sunpetal Grove
3x Dispel
2x Pithing Needle
2x Blind Obedience
2x Cyclonic Rift
2x Terminus
2x Council of the Absolute
2x Angel of Serenity
This is my current brew for a bant control deck. I've limited myself some on boardwipes for more utility of Mimic, Aetherling of course dodges these if the board is heavy on opponent's side. Aimed to build this deck without Snappys or Fishers as they will be rotating relatively soon. Post rotation, Thrag will be dropped for Centaur Healer, or some other decent ETB value card. Dissipate will probably be cycled out for the reprinted Disperse to aid with planeswalker/VoR control.
So far it is pretty solid, haven't had much chance to play it in the mirror, though the one time I did, SB'd Council of the Absolute choosing Sphinx Revelation, mimic'd council next turn and just started naming their deck.
Vs. Aggro, usually able to stabilize the board post turn 3 on the draw, turn 4-5 Plasm Capture off a 3 CMC or so, into either an Aetherling the next turn or an Urban Evolution for ramping and card advantage. Gruul aggro gets pithing needle sideboarded in for great effect against Ghor-Clan Rampager, and other bloodrushers. Hasty decks get Blind Obedience which slows them effectively, and allows to ping of extort here and there.
Definitely still in development, but it's a fun deck, especially when an unopposed Thragtusk gets a Mimic on it, then a Mimic on that Mimic.
Thoughts?
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GWLambs and LionsWG
GMono-Green BeatsG
Testing: BGRock VariantGB
GWBJanky JunkGWB
UWGMimic BantrolUWG
BWApostleypse NowBW
Very interesting list, how do you find it runs without Farseek? I would love to free up those four slots. Personal preference I would throw 4 Think Twice in.
Urban Evolution I think is just a great card, even at the 3GU cost because you get not only a draw mechanic, but ability to drop an extra land as well. I wish it was only 2GU, or, at its current cost and an instant, but, can't have everything.
So far it's run fairly well though, haven't played it against any Naya Blitz deck, that I'm sure will be a tough match up, as it does take a little bit to stabilize the board state. Against Junk Rites, America Midrange, RDW/Rakdos Deck Wins, U/B Zombies and Humanimator, I typically come out on top. Biggest thing I've run into is if I have to say "you know, I'm not sure, but I think I'll play it" I make that an automatic mulligan.
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GWLambs and LionsWG
GMono-Green BeatsG
Testing: BGRock VariantGB
GWBJanky JunkGWB
UWGMimic BantrolUWG
BWApostleypse NowBW
I can't help but feel 4 thrags 2 aetherling is the way to go. Also dissapate is 4 of instead of 3 of those and 3 cancel. 2 cancel 4 dissipate.
UBRBLACK ROSE COMMANDERUBR
WURGBTrades - Looking for ABU Duals, Fetches, Ect. Have Liliana otV, Snapcaster Mages, Chrod of Calling, Alters!WURGB
Commander
Omnath, Locus of Mana
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GWLambs and LionsWG
GMono-Green BeatsG
Testing: BGRock VariantGB
GWBJanky JunkGWB
UWGMimic BantrolUWG
BWApostleypse NowBW