I do not have the time to write a primer, however I nonetheless want to take up the idea of a proper Bant Midrange Control deck. Most of the Bant or GWx Midrange decks I have seen are beatdown decks, often with a lot of ramp, and relying on Loxodon Smiter or Silverblade Paladin.
This variant is very much a Bant version of UW Flash and UWR Midrange, but I believe it has several significant advantages over both of those decks that come from Green Goodness
The Core
Creatures
Snapcaster Mage is an automatic 4-of because this decks runs almost nothing but Instant speed cards aside from the creatures.
Restoration Angel is also a 4-of because if you run White and mid-range, you run Resto! I hope you know why. If you don't, well, there are about a thousand discussion threads over many sites about why Resto is so important to mid-range.
Geist of Saint Traft, preferably 4-of, but you can squeak by on 3-of. Again, this card wins games and anything running UW that is not pure control benefits from it as a wincon.
Centaur Healer, the best common creature in the current rotation. Gain 3 life, get a 3/3 beater, for 3 mana? Run 3, maybe 4.
Thragtusk is a viable finisher, not necessarily as a 4-of, but 2-3 certainly. If that is the case, I would think 24 lands would be required, and maybe some ramp.
Sigarda, Host of Herons is the equivalent to Thundermaw Hellkite in UWR. It does not swing in to end the game, but frankly turn 5 end of game with Thundermaw is not per se common in my experience. The fact that it synergizes with Cavern calling Angels, eliminates opponent's sac effects, and is also Hexproof makes 1-2 of Sigarda a very reasonable finisher to round out the midrange game.
Loxodon Smiter is the elephant in the room. Ah, see what I did there? But really, why can't this deck use a 1GW 4/4 creature? Well, it can. This will require testing...
Instant Speed Spells
Syncopate is solid counter, and this deck loves counter.
Dissipate, even more solid counter. Not fast enough to replace a couple of Syncopate's, but better mid-late game.
Essence Scatter. Wow, who thought this was playable even? So many decks do not have a mana base that can support more than 2 Cavern of Souls and so many different creature types that we can counter creatures. Not so good against Zombies and GW Humans, but really good against a lot of other creature-heavy decks. Side out as needed, may become sideboard material soon.
Azorius Charm is draw, lifegain, and Time Walk. Seems good in this deck.
Selesnya Charm is IMNSHO the most amazing card right now. This card is almost single-handedly the reason to run Bant Midrange Control over UW Flash, UWR Midrange, and Esper Midrange (Centaur Healer is the second reason.) Understand why and you understand this deck. 1) It exiles creatures with 5+ power power, which not only handles fatties, but exiles stuff being pumped by Runechanter's Pike, also taking away potential Moorland Haunt fodder; 2) +2/+2 to target creature plus Trample, which makes Restoration Angel and Centaur Healer into Loxodon Smiter killers that survive that contact and makes Snappy trade with Smiter too; 3) A turn 2 2/2 is a nice way to take out early aggro, especially from Zombies and R(b)DW.
Unsummon is the one card I am on the fence about, but I think it remains very strong because it lets you not only bounce their stuff, but recycle your own creatures, which is no small thing.
Notice all of the Instant speed spells? Yep, that's right, this is a serious control deck with spot removal, draw, lifegain, and other control mainstays, but with real midrange tools as well, and IMO, they are superior to what UWR and UW have because they do a better job of eliminating big threats and helping us run over smaller threats.
Sorcery Speed Spells
I don't use Farseek, but I think it is a viable choice to make land drops more certain ad to ramp into stuff like a turn 3 Supreme Verdict. I think this is an important card if you run Alchemist's Refuge and Thragtusk and probably replaces Think Twice as a 3-of.
Supreme Verdict is a 2-of because it clears the field. We will have times where we are stuck and our opponent has put up some impressive threats and maybe a bunch of mana dorks. Uncounterable 4-mana hate is the way to go and for this deck, far superior to Terminus.
Selesnya Keyrune is not as nice as Rakdos Keyrune, but I think it is pretty good. A 3/3 creature is solid, and considering the ability to pump it with Selesnya Charm, it can do some work.
Yes, that's it in the main. If you are going to tap out on your turn, make sure you have nuked the board.
Cavern of Souls and Ghost Quarter are the most valuable colorless lands. I would run at least 1 Cavern, and GQ is optional. Even with 7 draw cards, 23 is the minimum land count and 24 is recommended. Admittedly we run nothing over 5 mana, but you want to be able to Snapcaster every card you play you need 6 mana.
Your side is always meta-conditional, but with the rise of the decks currently in standard, like UWR Midrange and UW flash, and a seeming boost to GW Aggro and GW Humans Aggro, and the continuing power of pure control, I am siding as follows:
Dispel is mandatory against UW(x) Midrange, including the mirror. I like 2.
Negate is money against Control and midrange not running Instant speed spells, like Jund and 4 Color Mid.
Rewind is so good with all of the creatures flashing in right now. Yes, 4 mana is rough, but 4 mana to get it all back so that you can counter or respond again on their turn, well, if you have played against UW Flash or UWR Midrange, you know how good this can be. You do not want Snappy or Resto flashing into an un-equipped Pike and you don't want them casting Snappy or GoST and equipping it because you had no open mana for that other counter spell.
Talrand, Sky Summoner because we run a ton of Instant speed stuff for cheap making lots of 2/2 flyers, and because no one running Slaughter Games calls this card. So you thought calling Restoration Angel and Snapcaster Mage was good enough to take out my wincons? Not even close sunshine. EDIT: With the rise of aggro, too slow.
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage is the only Planeswalker I have used so far, and she is good versus decks running stuff we don't always want to kill, like Thragtusk or Angel of Serenity, and she is also good against some Control decks. This is definitely one of the cards I am not sure about.
Garruk Relentless is viable as well, especially flipped, as 1/1 deathtouch is not irrelevant, sac to find a critter, and even the ultimate are all value decisions in ending the game.
Supreme Verdict because 4-of is needed against some aggro decks.
Detention Sphere is viable as a way to deal with resolved non-creature permanents, as well as token decks and as added removal for creature when playing aggro decks.
Faith's Shield is used in some UW Flash decks and it also allows you be unblockable for a turn by that lone blocker stopping GoST or to have your Resto Angel survive targeted removal when you want to block. I don't like it too much here, but hey, something to try.
Rest in Peace is used in some UW Flash decks where they just side out Snapcaster Mage to take away that graveyard.
Rhox Faithmender has real potential in a deck that drops and flashes lifegain creature quite frequently. +10 life from Thragtusk on a 1/5 blockers? Seems potentially ok. Wish it was a 2W drop though...
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben has also been used in UWR Midrange, while moving to other threats in order to play the beatdown against control decks. I certainly found it effective at times.
Feeling of Dread stops up to two attacking creatures for two turn or up to 4 in one turn, except Knight of Infamy; it does bait players into overextending; removes opponent's blockers to allow us to swing for damage; stops Hasted creatures for up to two turns; taps mana dorks.
Safe Passage per Gamester2488, Straight up stops Craterhoof Beheamoth, regardless of their creature count, for 1 turn; our attacking/blocking creatures don't die; stops damage from Knight of Infamy and other(?) pro white critters and spells; stops burn spells for 1 turn; stops Haste Creatures for 1 turn.
Divine Deflection Stops damage up to X to us or to our permanents, and redirects it to player, planeswalker or creature, allowing it to protect us, damage opponents, do X damage to opponent creature or planeswalker (note it says it deals X to "target creature or player, you may not distribute it to more than 1)
Rootborn Defenses stops damage and destruction effects to creatures (evades Supreme Verdict, unlike the other three); populates a token (in Bant and UWx decks using GoST, Lingering Souls and Moorland Haunt, this is pretty darn good); our attacking/blocking creatures don't die.
The basic design of the deck is to be DrawGo, but with more creature threats and the ability, like a tempo deck, to put out threats that do consistent damage. EDIT: However, unlike a DrawGo control deck, our Midrange deck is happy to drop a turn 3 creature and start doing work. Very little in the deck is not Instant speed, essentially Supreme Verdict and creatures, plus some sideboard material.
What the Deck Isn't This is not Delverless Delver. It is Bant Midrange, emphasizing control, exactly akin to UWR Midrange and UW Flash, which are also midrange decks. They seem like aggro control/tempo, but they are not really because they lack a 1 cmc threat like Delver of Secrets, nor do they run nearly as many cantrips (Delver ran 12 cantrips on average) and they lack Delver's very fast mana curve with few lands (Delver decks ran 17-21 lands with 35 or more of their cards being 1-2 cmc.) NOTE: By "cantrip" I don't mean a draw card that replaces itself (1-for-1 draw), I mean a 1 mana, or 1 Phyrexian mana, draw card that draws one card, e.g. Ponder, Thought Scour, Gitaxian Probe, Preordain, and Visions of Beyond. This may not be quite technically correct, but it makes a big difference between say a Delver deck and UW Flash.
This is not Bant Control.
- Bant control runs little counter-magic (2 Syncopate, or 4 Dissipate and no Snapcaster Mage)
- Bant control runs large finishers, like 4 Thragtusk and 2 Angel of Serenity, though it runs quite a few creatures compared to UWR Control because it is a 'board state domination' Control deck, not permission. Bant control operates more like Innistrad Solar Flare, which ran 4 Sun Titan, 4 Phantasmal Image, 2-4 Lingering Souls, 1-2 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobyte and 2-4 Blade Splicer or UB Tezzeret Control, which also made lots of creatures. The recent versions do tend towards pre-Innistrad Solar Flare with fewer creatures and a little more counter.
- Bant Control runs 4-7 sweepers main deck, not 2-4 in the whole 75 like current midrange (Jund, UWR, 4-Color, UW all run, at most, 2-4 sweepers of varying effectiveness, primarily Supreme Verdict, Bonfire of the Damned or Mizzium Mortars.)
- Bant Control taps out for other removal, like Detention Sphere and for Planeswalkers like Jace, Architect of Thought.
What the Deck Is
Midrange is not just beatdown, but has three modes: beatdown, balanced, and control, expressing all the possibilities of midrange.
If anyone wants to know what the difference between pure Control, Midrange Control, and Aggro Control are, I highly recommend the thread below and the listed articles for a better understanding. It will help your deck design, your play, and also help you grasp why this is a midrange variant.
Right now, there are many Midrange decks fitting between these two modes, making Midrange really competitive and prolific. Beatdown Midrange has Bant decks that are Smiter-based or Human-based, and a smattering of non-Bant GWx variants, using lots of creatures and ramp. Reanimator is also essentially Midrange Beatdown.
Control Midrange has UW Flash, UWR Midrange, Esper Midrange, and Bant Midrange, all of which are essentially new and variations on a theme: heavy counter-magic with different tech (pike, bounce, and draw heavy in UW Flash; heavy burn plus Thundermaw Hellkite and Zealous Conscripts as finishers in UWR and so on.
In terms of matchups, I think this design is very strong against most of the field, doing well against the decks UW Flash and American Midrange are good against, but with better games against aggro and midrange beatdown decks because of Centaur Healer and Selesnya Charm.
Here is my decklist, which I used to win the local tournament on sunday 3-0-1 (draw into top 4), and then 1-0-1 split the prize. It was out of 13 people, I had 1 game loss and all games were against players, no byes.
I have also updated some stuff because I think the deck is open to a lot of variation, though I started out with only what I was using in making it as DrawGo as possible, but it can utilize at least two cards for ramp, a bigger ending threat, and novel Planeswalker choices.
EDIT: Added another Creature: Loxodon Smiter. Seems plenty viable as a 3-drop.
Note this version dumps Syncopate because all of the ramp decks make Syncopate pretty bad after the third turn, running 4 Dissipate and 1 Rewind instead.
@Go.dec
My feeling is that Flash stretches the limits of Midrange Control. I'm a little surprised you went with Relentless instead of Runechanter's Pike because of Augur of Bolas. I only really like Augur with Pike and 20+ Instant/Sorcery. What motivated that choice?
I'm looking at where the meta is going and I expect the SCG Baltimore Open to showcase a lot of aggro and midrange beatdown and the dominant control deck to be Bant, with all of it's field control and creature power. I think UWR Control is pretty much out of the picture, for example.
I like your sideboard and I am testing a new creature line-up using Loxodon Smiter main because it is efficient against both UWx Midrange Control/Flash and GWx Midrange Beatdown, with Centaur Healer in the side replacing Tamiyo and 1 Rewind. I may try to find a way to fit Rewind back in because it is so awesome right now...
I think Rest in Peace is the way to go because of what I am expecting to see at the SCG Baltimore Open.
This is the deck set I expect to see, with a feel as to how we matchup...
Midrange Beatdown: Deck: GW Midrange. Tons of creatures, including Loxodon and mana dorks, and 2 maindeck spells, Selesnya Charm and Rancor. Get's out of Syncopate range quickly. Syncopate is basically not good once they have dropped 2 mana dorks. Matchup: Of the UWx Midrange Control, I think we have the best game. We run enough Wrath effects, we can slow them down, and drop creatures that go toe-to-toe. Since we can counter their creature and non-creature spells and we have draw power, I feel like we have the advantage if go go into the beats. This is the matchup where I see Snapcaster possibly coming out.
Deck: 4-Color Reanimator. This deck is so fast to generate really big, over the top threats and it gets out of Syncopate range really quickly. Matchup: Wrath, lifegain, and both charms will be crucial. Do not underestimate the value of Selesnya Charm in exiling a fatty and Rest in Peace as a way to simply punish them. Also, the Deathrite Shaman version will force us to to find ways to clear those out very, very quickly. 2-3 Shaman on the board is devastating without Supreme Verdict in hand, while Rest in Peace hurts them far more than it hurts us.
Deck: GW Humans. This is a rough matchup primarily because of Silverblade Paladin and the ease of running 4 Cavern of Souls and calling human. Matchup: Wrath, wrath, wrath. Selesnya Charm remains awesome. Counter-magic will not be terribly helpful against creatures unless you are lucky enough that they get now Caverns. Save it for Rancors, Faith's Shield, and Planeswalkers.
Deck: Jund/4-Color (RBWG) Midrange. This is our best midrange match, except for sided in Slaughter Games and Thragtusk. Matchup: Here's the thing, they will call Resto, Snappy, and or GoST, so diversify your threats. Unlike all the other UWx decks, we can really draw on a lot. I have Centaur Healer, Resto, Geist, Snapcaster, Talrand, Sky Summoner, and Loxodon Smiter in my 75 and they never are ready for Talrand. Don't waste time on stopping them from casting Slaughter Games, just make it somewhat irrelevant through threat diversity. Otherwise, winning means stopping two cards: Thragtusk and, if they run it, Disciple of Bolas, which is just a sick card giving Jund and 4-Color Midrange a creature-based Sphinx's Revelation. Countermagic remain relevant because they run so many different threats that they can only cover a couple even with 2-3 Cavern of Souls in play.
Deck: Junk Tokens. Pretty annoying. Even when you wipe their board, they can rebuild quickly. Matchup: Counter everything you can. Be the control deck. Don't try to 1-for-1 their tokens with removal, they generate way too many to do that. I think this is a tough match for us, much as Reanimator is tough.
Midrange Control Deck: UWx Flash. Even more control-like than UWx Midrange. Almost everything except Augur of Bolas comes in EoT. Feel free to counter Augur, it is a PITA in this deck. The key problem is Runchanter's Pike. Matchup: Better for us than for UWR because of Loxodon Smiter, Centaur Healer, and Selesnya Charm. Piked creature means nothing to us with S-Charm in effect. Feel free to side in Rewind, Dispel, and Negate and take out Syncopate, and then be the beater. You can even go RiP on them and make Pike worthless`and aggro it up to be the Bant Beatdown deck.
Deck: UWx Midrange. UWR, Esper, and the mirror. UWR is us with Burn tech rather than G tech. Watch out for Thundermaw Hellkite and Zealous Conscripts. Esper has Lingering Souls, good instant speed removal against our Resto and Snappy, and Vault of the Archangel. Matchup: UWR can burn us out, so make sure you have lifegain in gear. Game 1 is in our favor because they rarely main Supreme Verdict while we should have two. It really depends on whether or not they run Cavern how to approach the other games, either being the control deck or going towards the beatdown deck.
Bant mirror is tough. Luck, good sideboarding, out-playing.
Esper is the tougher match for us, but I think we can race them with Smiter. Thankfully at this stage they tend to have mana issues.
I feel like we win the UWx matchups, though Flash is more our enemy than UWR Midrange.
Aggro Deck: R(b)DW. Fast and very unpleasant if you keep the wrong hand. Matchup: You gotta know when to mulligan. Counter-magic is great. Trolling them with A-Charm is great. Lifegain is great. I think this is a good match because we get so much lifegain. Don't overextend, make them overextend. They will run out of cards long before you do.
Deck: RB Zombies. "It burns us, it burns us!" UWR Midrange does better than us thanks to Pillar of Flame and Searing Spear. Matchup: You will take some damage. That's just going to happen. However, Centaur Healer is great here. Replace GoST with the CH and see good effects. Keep some counter for their R stuff, but not a lot. Ample lifegain using CH and A-Charm should be enough. Not as fast as GB Zombies.
Deck: GB Zombies. So fast, so dirty, so cheap. Matchup: Again, a better match for UWR than for us, but don't be afraid to S-charm and A-Charm repeatedly. Unsummon when they try to equip Rancor if you can't simply counter Rancor. Bait them by attacking with stuff to see if they expect the S-Charm. Talrand is a beast here because we can generate a lot of blocking. CH also comes in to counter the effects of Geralf's Messenger.
Zombie Match Note: Rest in Peace is not worth using against Zombies. Don't do it, we want Snapcaster shenanigans here much more than we want it against 4-Color Reanimator or even UW Flash.
Control Deck: Bant Control. Board Control extraordinaire. Good luck keeping threats up. I would be worried about Sam Black's version with 4 Sphinx's Revelation and fewer creatures. This deck draws and gains life and has 4 Dissipate. Matchup: This is a pretty good match for all of the UWx Flash/Midrange Control. They don't run much we can't stop, though they do ramp. Don't overextend and let your countermagic do it's work. Always counter their Sphinx's Revelation. We out-draw and out-counter them and we have a lot of quality creatures.
Deck: UWR Control. Not expecting to see a lot of it, but still. Matchup: This should be completely in our favor. Be the DrawGo deck. Side in more counter-magic. Flash in stuff to kill Tamiyo.
Deck: Gerry Adams' weird UW Control with no wincon. Matchup:Dissipate or SyncopateElixir of Immortality, counter everything else. Game over? I don't know, I'm so not scared of this.
So, our worst matchups?
GW Beatdown decks, human or not. They are technically mid-range decks that in fact curve amazingly quickly and can end games by turn 4-5 pretty consistently.
Reanimator, a deck no one likes to play except the even faster RbDW and Zombie decks.
Best matchups?
Control decks.
Jund Midrange.
RbDW.
Other UWx Midrange/Flash.
Why Bant?
If GW Beatdown and Reanimator are tough for us, they are horrid for UW Flash and UWR Midrange. We can take out big creatures easily, go Loxodon for Loxodon, Wrath the board game 1, etc. We also have the best lifegain.
UW Flash is better against decks we already beat. UWR Midrange has the advantage against Zombies, but I think GW Beatdown and Reanimator are the bigger threats for Baltimore in December.
UW Flash was the hot deck for a moment, but I think Bant Midrange Control and UWR Midrange are going to do better. UW Flash is already causing four things to happen:
1. Cavern returns. If every deck runs 2-4 Cavern of Souls, UW Flash will be in big trouble.
2. GWx Beatdown decks (midrange that plays like aggro thanks to ramp) are going to get a boost because Flash can't do much about the dorks and can't keep up with the speed of decks dropping Tun 2 Smiter or running 3-4 Caverns and lots of Humans. These decks weren't that good with Bant and UWR Control running 4-7 sweepers and all manner of Planeswalkers and tech (and Bant running 4 Thragtusk and 2 Angel of Serenity), but they basically can't beat UW Flash and UWR Midrange, so now the field is open.
3. Midrange decks running Deathrite Shaman main are going to get a boost, or rather, Jund Mid, 4-Color Mid (Jund + White), and 4-Color Reanimator are going to run Deathrite Shaman Main and that will be bad for UW Flash. These decks were already strong against UWR control, which is now gone. With minor adjustments, they hump UW Flash.
4. Aggro decks are going to come back because RbDW, BG Zombies, and RB Zombies, as well as the less popular aggro variants play very well against UW Flash and UWR Control and Bant Control are weaker.
Kamahl's report from Seattle and my experiences in the Baltimore scene seem to confirm this, as well as some of the upticks on TCG Player Top 8. I expect to see a nutty amount of anti-UW Flash decks at the Baltimore Open in 10 days and I am banking that we are well positioned, if we know what our strengths and weaknesses are.
What does this mean?
UWR Midrange has a strong game against decks mentioned in points 3 and 4. Pillar of Flame, Searing Spear, and Mizzium Mortars all help a lot, both against undying stuff and mana dorks. I still think the deck is still weak to GWx Beatdown and it will struggle against UW Flash. To go forward, it needs a better game against GW Beatdown (Midrange and Midrange Humans) in particular and I think we will see UW Flash drop off so that a loss here or there to it won't be as critical.
Bant Midrange does not have the early creature removal of UWR, however, it has better creatures for the aggro and beatdown match-ups. Thundermaw Hellkite is great, especially against Control, but Loxodon Smiter and Centaur Healer fit a different purpose. I'm preferring that combo to Thundermaw and Geist of Saint Traft versus Aggro and Midrange Beatdown. Bant also has better targeted large-creature removal, which is more important in a meta filled with Thragtusk, Thundermaw, Piked creatures, Reanimator fatties, and Angel of Serenity. We can take hits from Zombies and RbDW and then heal up and manage the late game.
Anyway, I think Supreme Verdict is more important than targeted removal at the moment, and Sphinx's Revelation is just money for non-aggro/non-beatdown decks. I think Sam Black's article for SCG is pretty much right on.
There is one major exception at the moment to the limited value of targeted removal: Deathrite Shaman. That bad boy needs to be bounced, countered, and killed in any way possible lest Reanimator and Jund and 4-Color Midrange just trounce us with it. Also, if Bx aggro decks with Geralf's Messenger become huge again, which is exactly what I am predicting, Pillar's value goes up exponentially. Advantage UWR Midrange on that front.
Both decks may find themselves no longer running Essence Scatter, but I don't see counter going below 5 (I'm suggesting 4 Dissipate and 1 Rewind in Bant with Snapcaster Mages. If it does, we'll fortify in other areas (Charms, Unsummon, Revelation are all possible) with those two open slots.
All this should mean re-thought Bant Control coming back as the control deck against Aggro and Beatdown Midrange, which is good for UWR Midrange and Bant Midrange Control.
I'll try to make it up there. With an uptick in Aristocrat decks, maybe this version is better suited to deal with it than others because of the Unsummons.
I can't say enough how important playing this like a draw-go deck is. I went 1-2-1 yesterday almost solely on the basis of my own mistakes, which I can list easily enough:
1. With 6 mana open, and Rewind and Dissipate in hand against a deck with no counter spells, use Rewind first. Seriously, I messed that up and it cost me a round because it cost me the only game we played, which went 50 minutes and into the third turn of time.
2. Don't keep mana with no U source. Seriously, just don't.
3. In a match with a control deck, don't be the first one to tap out on your turn. Easy, right?
If it was not for those four things, I would have been 3-0-1...
I did not play a single aggro deck yesterday.
Round 1 - UWR control (Mistakes 2 and 3, game 1 and 2 respectively.)
Round 2 - 4-Color Heartless Summoning (Mistakes 1 and 4)
Round 3 - 4-Color Control
Round 4 - Grixis Control (Mistakes 3 and 4)
Needless to say, I will not likely play 3 of the 4 decks in this list at the Open in Baltimore, so Sunday was near useless for testing...
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Standard
Tempo Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
Still not sure about Feeling of Dread. It tested well for me last night, but it feels a bit too situational. 1 Runechanter's Pike and a 4th Supreme Verdict?? 5 Wrath might be okay right now and Pike isn't dead against control at least. Or one of those and a 4th Snapcaster Mage again.
Might make 1 Centaur Healer into a Rhox Faithmender for synergy and super lifegain with a 1/5 lifelink body. 1/5 is no joke in this meta, and gaining 2 life per block is also quite good.
Would love to find the room for a single Alchemist's Refuge, but it is not really useful until I have 6 mana, which seems a little late. Better in Bant control ramping with Farseek.
Made this deck in about five minutes by taking top placing uwr tempo lists, switching from red to green, and dumping the best creatures in the format so far in one deck. The charms are extremely versatile and are meant to be abused.
To be honest, I think there will be a bant tempo/midrange list dominating really soon, bant feels pretty broken
It's easy to abuse the Thragtusk - Restoration Angel - Eot unsummon restoration angel, flash her back in - Snapcaster unsummon restoration angel, flash her back in shenanigans too.
@synack
Wolfir, while an interesting idea, isn't good enough IMO. Simply having Flash doesn't cut it because it doesn't do anything. Not that Regenerate isn't good, but it doesn't have much synergy with Snapcaster Mage or Restoration Angel. 1GG also seems rough. However, if it works, that would be excellent.
Essence Scatter is no longer playable, not even sideboard really. Find something else to do with those two slots.
Syncopate has lost value with all the ramp/mana dork decks out there crushing it. Dissipate is the main deck choice now.
2 Rewind is 1 too many. 1 might be too much, but 2 are definitely too much.
This is a deck I saw on the net yesterday, it won a trial tournament there. I tested it yesterday and I went 4-0 against BR, 3-0 against RDW, and 1-0 against GW. Good matchup with other control/midrange decks because of the ramp aspect of it.
What caught my attention is the TEN mass removals the deck utilizes. It was build specifically for aggro.
I'm not saying that it's the best or it's going to be the deck to beat in the future but it's very interesting.
Bant Control by WickedSystem
Lands:
4 Temple Garden
4 Sunpetal Grove
2 Hinterland Harbor
7 Forest
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
5 Plains
Creatures:
4 Restoration Angel
4 Thragtusk
4 Angel of Serenity
4 Centaur Healer
4 Armada Wurm
Sideboard:
2 Cavern of Souls
2 Sigarda, Host of Herons
3 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
4 Rest in Peace
4 Borderland Ranger
I tweaked the main a little bit and put Centaur on the main and relegated Borderland to the side. The race is bad for aggro decks with the amount of life gain. Then there's the mass removals that just ruin their strategies completely.
I was very consistent with this yesterday:
Resto on Armada.
And my opponents can't decide whether to kill my Serenity because the replacement is another round of Thragtusks/Armada and Resto.
The deck is very solid. Kudos to the creator. I think the sideboard needs a little improvement and that's why I'm sharing it here.
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Gonna leave this account now cause many friends have access on this one and had posted in the past.
Thanks, seems like it belongs in Bant something, but not here really. I suppose with the epic amount of board-wipe, it is a "board control" control deck even more than the current Bant Control, but it definitely is not midrange with all those 5, 6 and 7 drops.
Interesting deck though, very linear plan: creatures, ramp, wrath, recycle with Angel of Serenity. I suppose if you draw into enough ramp dead draws should not be too much of an issue.
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Standard
Tempo Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
This is the deck I have been testing out a lot recently. I am really digging the deck. I opted out of the flashback cards/snapcaster in favor of Rest in Peace which will absolutely destroy Reanimator decks. Also, if you are concerned about those decks without using RiP, I would suggest some Syncopate to help early game. If they tap out for Rites or anything, a quick 2 mana counter to exile their card really slows em down.
I know it has more 5 drops than you like, but being able to drop them consistently with Farseek keeps you in the right threat timing. The sideboard seems to cover the vast meta, but as you already said, GW Aggro/midrange seems to be one of the harder matchups. My LGS has a couple really strong GW decks, and Supreme Verdict seems to be the strongest card we have for that match up with Azorius Charm or Loxodon Smiter coming next.
No, I think the midrange control version just isn't strong enough with all of the Cavern of Souls returning and your turn towards a more balanced midrange deck with a mix of beatdown and control is fine.
I do think Geist is less important than Sphinx's Revelation and I prefer Azorius Charm to Selesnya in this, despite its value in beatdown. I would therefore switch them in MD/SD.
Terminus is necessary somewhere in the deck right now. Top 25 at Baltimore, and 16 were some form of Aggro, especially Rakdos meaning Haste and Undying shenanigans.
Private Mod Note
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Standard
Tempo Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
I haven't tested against RDW/RakDW yet so not sure how well my list will fare. Is undying mechanic seeing play besides Geralf and Stangeroot? If you are talking about Unleashed, GoST can play a bigger role since they wont be blocking and have to race 6 damage a turn minimum. My other main deck is RDW, and it has a HARD time with GW decks, especially if they drop Centaur Healer down, +3 Life is huge against it. Smiter can also play a big role, 3 drop 4/4 is hard to deal with in RDW.
Cavern is returning unfortunately, but thats why we have sideboards, including another Verdict and Azorius Charm to slow down aggression. D-Sphere / O-ring are awesome answers to resolved threats as well.
I am honestly considering swapping GoST with 2 Sphinx's Rev and 2 Smiter main deck. GoST has been underwhelming in my deck lately.
I have been doing a little bit of testing with a sort of midrange bant list. I had been playing bant control until now but decided it wasnt quite for me. This is currently what I am testing out:
Elvish Visionary: he has been a solid add. He is cheap to cast and allows me to multi task my turns later in the game while giving me something useful to do in the early. One of the more important aspects on him is that he often gives me a decent target for Restoration Angel that nobody really ever wants to spot remove. He gives me some protection for my planeswalkers and slows down aggro as well. He is solid defense vs Liliana's sacrifice effect as well.
Wolfir Avenger: I found that it gives me something to deal with some of the x/3 guys running arround. His regen is a nice option to block a thragtusk or beast token and it gives me something not white vs zombies Knights. He is hard on the manabase so I run him a bit lightly still.
Selesnya Charm with more creatures in the list the buff here is actually quite good. Due to the nature of all the flash guys the buff here becomes more reasonable to save vs some of the red damage effects as well. The versatility is huge in this list though.
Collective Blessing sort of my new tech card for vs some other midrange decks. Trading Elvish Visionaries with Thragtusks seems solid and as of currently there is little enchantment hate being used.
Private Mod Note
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I have officially moved to MTGNexus. I just wanted to let people know as my response time to salvation decks being bumped is very hit or miss.
This variant is very much a Bant version of UW Flash and UWR Midrange, but I believe it has several significant advantages over both of those decks that come from Green Goodness
The Core
Creatures
Restoration Angel is also a 4-of because if you run White and mid-range, you run Resto! I hope you know why. If you don't, well, there are about a thousand discussion threads over many sites about why Resto is so important to mid-range.
Geist of Saint Traft, preferably 4-of, but you can squeak by on 3-of. Again, this card wins games and anything running UW that is not pure control benefits from it as a wincon.
Centaur Healer, the best common creature in the current rotation. Gain 3 life, get a 3/3 beater, for 3 mana? Run 3, maybe 4.
Thragtusk is a viable finisher, not necessarily as a 4-of, but 2-3 certainly. If that is the case, I would think 24 lands would be required, and maybe some ramp.
Sigarda, Host of Herons is the equivalent to Thundermaw Hellkite in UWR. It does not swing in to end the game, but frankly turn 5 end of game with Thundermaw is not per se common in my experience. The fact that it synergizes with Cavern calling Angels, eliminates opponent's sac effects, and is also Hexproof makes 1-2 of Sigarda a very reasonable finisher to round out the midrange game.
Loxodon Smiter is the elephant in the room. Ah, see what I did there? But really, why can't this deck use a 1GW 4/4 creature? Well, it can. This will require testing...
Instant Speed Spells
Dissipate, even more solid counter. Not fast enough to replace a couple of Syncopate's, but better mid-late game.
Essence Scatter. Wow, who thought this was playable even? So many decks do not have a mana base that can support more than 2 Cavern of Souls and so many different creature types that we can counter creatures. Not so good against Zombies and GW Humans, but really good against a lot of other creature-heavy decks. Side out as needed, may become sideboard material soon.
Azorius Charm is draw, lifegain, and Time Walk. Seems good in this deck.
Selesnya Charm is IMNSHO the most amazing card right now. This card is almost single-handedly the reason to run Bant Midrange Control over UW Flash, UWR Midrange, and Esper Midrange (Centaur Healer is the second reason.) Understand why and you understand this deck. 1) It exiles creatures with 5+ power power, which not only handles fatties, but exiles stuff being pumped by Runechanter's Pike, also taking away potential Moorland Haunt fodder; 2) +2/+2 to target creature plus Trample, which makes Restoration Angel and Centaur Healer into Loxodon Smiter killers that survive that contact and makes Snappy trade with Smiter too; 3) A turn 2 2/2 is a nice way to take out early aggro, especially from Zombies and R(b)DW.
Think Twice because draw and CA is your friend.
Unsummon is the one card I am on the fence about, but I think it remains very strong because it lets you not only bounce their stuff, but recycle your own creatures, which is no small thing.
Sphinx's Revelation is amazing because we need card draw and lifegain.
Notice all of the Instant speed spells? Yep, that's right, this is a serious control deck with spot removal, draw, lifegain, and other control mainstays, but with real midrange tools as well, and IMO, they are superior to what UWR and UW have because they do a better job of eliminating big threats and helping us run over smaller threats.
Sorcery Speed Spells
Supreme Verdict is a 2-of because it clears the field. We will have times where we are stuck and our opponent has put up some impressive threats and maybe a bunch of mana dorks. Uncounterable 4-mana hate is the way to go and for this deck, far superior to Terminus.
Selesnya Keyrune is not as nice as Rakdos Keyrune, but I think it is pretty good. A 3/3 creature is solid, and considering the ability to pump it with Selesnya Charm, it can do some work.
Yes, that's it in the main. If you are going to tap out on your turn, make sure you have nuked the board.
Lands
Glacial Fortress, Hinterland Harbor, and Sunpetal Grove are your dual lands, and IMO you run 4/4/2. Feel free to check it by the numbers.
Cavern of Souls and Ghost Quarter are the most valuable colorless lands. I would run at least 1 Cavern, and GQ is optional. Even with 7 draw cards, 23 is the minimum land count and 24 is recommended. Admittedly we run nothing over 5 mana, but you want to be able to Snapcaster every card you play you need 6 mana.
Alchemist's Refuge is a weird little card, but one I think that might be okay if you are willing to find a way to get consistent land drops and/or ramp. Instant speed Supreme Verdict, Detention Sphere, Centaur Healer and Farseek are all pretty good.
Sideboard
Dispel is mandatory against UW(x) Midrange, including the mirror. I like 2.
Negate is money against Control and midrange not running Instant speed spells, like Jund and 4 Color Mid.
Rewind is so good with all of the creatures flashing in right now. Yes, 4 mana is rough, but 4 mana to get it all back so that you can counter or respond again on their turn, well, if you have played against UW Flash or UWR Midrange, you know how good this can be. You do not want Snappy or Resto flashing into an un-equipped Pike and you don't want them casting Snappy or GoST and equipping it because you had no open mana for that other counter spell.
Talrand, Sky Summoner because we run a ton of Instant speed stuff for cheap making lots of 2/2 flyers, and because no one running Slaughter Games calls this card. So you thought calling Restoration Angel and Snapcaster Mage was good enough to take out my wincons? Not even close sunshine. EDIT: With the rise of aggro, too slow.
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage is the only Planeswalker I have used so far, and she is good versus decks running stuff we don't always want to kill, like Thragtusk or Angel of Serenity, and she is also good against some Control decks. This is definitely one of the cards I am not sure about.
Jace Memory Adept would be a viable alternative here as a wincon.
Garruk Relentless is viable as well, especially flipped, as 1/1 deathtouch is not irrelevant, sac to find a critter, and even the ultimate are all value decisions in ending the game.
Supreme Verdict because 4-of is needed against some aggro decks.
Purify the Grave for Reanimator decks. 2-of.
1 Sundering Growth for enchantments and artifacts.
Detention Sphere is viable as a way to deal with resolved non-creature permanents, as well as token decks and as added removal for creature when playing aggro decks.
Faith's Shield is used in some UW Flash decks and it also allows you be unblockable for a turn by that lone blocker stopping GoST or to have your Resto Angel survive targeted removal when you want to block. I don't like it too much here, but hey, something to try.
Witchbane Orb is a valid option against RB, Jund and 4-color decks using RB because of Slaughter Games.
Rest in Peace is used in some UW Flash decks where they just side out Snapcaster Mage to take away that graveyard.
Rhox Faithmender has real potential in a deck that drops and flashes lifegain creature quite frequently. +10 life from Thragtusk on a 1/5 blockers? Seems potentially ok. Wish it was a 2W drop though...
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben has also been used in UWR Midrange, while moving to other threats in order to play the beatdown against control decks. I certainly found it effective at times.
Feeling of Dread stops up to two attacking creatures for two turn or up to 4 in one turn, except Knight of Infamy; it does bait players into overextending; removes opponent's blockers to allow us to swing for damage; stops Hasted creatures for up to two turns; taps mana dorks.
Safe Passage per Gamester2488, Straight up stops Craterhoof Beheamoth, regardless of their creature count, for 1 turn; our attacking/blocking creatures don't die; stops damage from Knight of Infamy and other(?) pro white critters and spells; stops burn spells for 1 turn; stops Haste Creatures for 1 turn.
Divine Deflection Stops damage up to X to us or to our permanents, and redirects it to player, planeswalker or creature, allowing it to protect us, damage opponents, do X damage to opponent creature or planeswalker (note it says it deals X to "target creature or player, you may not distribute it to more than 1)
Rootborn Defenses stops damage and destruction effects to creatures (evades Supreme Verdict, unlike the other three); populates a token (in Bant and UWx decks using GoST, Lingering Souls and Moorland Haunt, this is pretty darn good); our attacking/blocking creatures don't die.
The basic design of the deck is to be DrawGo, but with more creature threats and the ability, like a tempo deck, to put out threats that do consistent damage. EDIT: However, unlike a DrawGo control deck, our Midrange deck is happy to drop a turn 3 creature and start doing work. Very little in the deck is not Instant speed, essentially Supreme Verdict and creatures, plus some sideboard material.
What the Deck Isn't
This is not Delverless Delver. It is Bant Midrange, emphasizing control, exactly akin to UWR Midrange and UW Flash, which are also midrange decks. They seem like aggro control/tempo, but they are not really because they lack a 1 cmc threat like Delver of Secrets, nor do they run nearly as many cantrips (Delver ran 12 cantrips on average) and they lack Delver's very fast mana curve with few lands (Delver decks ran 17-21 lands with 35 or more of their cards being 1-2 cmc.) NOTE: By "cantrip" I don't mean a draw card that replaces itself (1-for-1 draw), I mean a 1 mana, or 1 Phyrexian mana, draw card that draws one card, e.g. Ponder, Thought Scour, Gitaxian Probe, Preordain, and Visions of Beyond. This may not be quite technically correct, but it makes a big difference between say a Delver deck and UW Flash.
This is not Bant Control.
- Bant control runs little counter-magic (2 Syncopate, or 4 Dissipate and no Snapcaster Mage)
- Bant control runs large finishers, like 4 Thragtusk and 2 Angel of Serenity, though it runs quite a few creatures compared to UWR Control because it is a 'board state domination' Control deck, not permission. Bant control operates more like Innistrad Solar Flare, which ran 4 Sun Titan, 4 Phantasmal Image, 2-4 Lingering Souls, 1-2 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobyte and 2-4 Blade Splicer or UB Tezzeret Control, which also made lots of creatures. The recent versions do tend towards pre-Innistrad Solar Flare with fewer creatures and a little more counter.
- Bant Control runs 4-7 sweepers main deck, not 2-4 in the whole 75 like current midrange (Jund, UWR, 4-Color, UW all run, at most, 2-4 sweepers of varying effectiveness, primarily Supreme Verdict, Bonfire of the Damned or Mizzium Mortars.)
- Bant Control taps out for other removal, like Detention Sphere and for Planeswalkers like Jace, Architect of Thought.
What the Deck Is
Midrange is not just beatdown, but has three modes: beatdown, balanced, and control, expressing all the possibilities of midrange.
If anyone wants to know what the difference between pure Control, Midrange Control, and Aggro Control are, I highly recommend the thread below and the listed articles for a better understanding. It will help your deck design, your play, and also help you grasp why this is a midrange variant.
So what exactly is a 'Mid-range' deck...?
The Midrange Archetype
Revisiting the Strategic Moment
The Strategic Moment
Right now, there are many Midrange decks fitting between these two modes, making Midrange really competitive and prolific.
Beatdown Midrange has Bant decks that are Smiter-based or Human-based, and a smattering of non-Bant GWx variants, using lots of creatures and ramp. Reanimator is also essentially Midrange Beatdown.
Balanced Midrange has Jund and 4-color, with a mix of ramp, removal, creatures, burn and also hand/deck/Graveyard control via Slaughter Games, Rakdos Charm, Appetite for Brains, Rakdos's Return, etc.)
Control Midrange has UW Flash, UWR Midrange, Esper Midrange, and Bant Midrange, all of which are essentially new and variations on a theme: heavy counter-magic with different tech (pike, bounce, and draw heavy in UW Flash; heavy burn plus Thundermaw Hellkite and Zealous Conscripts as finishers in UWR and so on.
I recommend viewing the other UWx Midrange Threads:
Esper Midrange
UWR Tempo
UW Tempo
In terms of matchups, I think this design is very strong against most of the field, doing well against the decks UW Flash and American Midrange are good against, but with better games against aggro and midrange beatdown decks because of Centaur Healer and Selesnya Charm.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
4 Temple Garden
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hinterland Harbor
2 Sunpetal Grove
2 Island
1 Plains
1 Forest
1 Cavern of Souls
Creatures 15
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Restoration Angel
4 Centaur Healer
3 Selesnya Charm
3 Azorius Charm
3 Think Twice
2 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Dissipate
2 Syncopate
2 Essence Scatter
2 Unsummon
Sorcery 2
2 Supreme Verdict
2 Supreme Verdict
2 Dispel
2 Negate
2 Rewind
2 Talrand, Sky Summoner
2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
2 Purify the Grave
1 Sundering Growth
I have also updated some stuff because I think the deck is open to a lot of variation, though I started out with only what I was using in making it as DrawGo as possible, but it can utilize at least two cards for ramp, a bigger ending threat, and novel Planeswalker choices.
EDIT: Added another Creature: Loxodon Smiter. Seems plenty viable as a 3-drop.
EDIT: Variation
4 Temple Garden
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hinterland Harbor
2 Sunpetal Grove
2 Island
1 Plains
1 Forest
1 Cavern of Souls
Creatures 15
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Restoration Angel
4 Loxodon Smiter
3 Selesnya Charm
3 Azorius Charm
3 Think Twice
2 Sphinx's Revelation
4 Dissipate
1 Rewind
2 Essence Scatter
2 Unsummon
Sorcery 2
2 Supreme Verdict
2 Supreme Verdict
2 Dispel
2 Negate
1 Rewind
2 Talrand, Sky Summoner
3 Centaur Healer
2 Rest in Peace
1 Sundering Growth
Note this version dumps Syncopate because all of the ramp decks make Syncopate pretty bad after the third turn, running 4 Dissipate and 1 Rewind instead.
I think there is even a variation without Geist of Saint Traft altogether, which could involve mainboard 3 Centaur Healer or 2 Talrand, Sky Summoner and 1 Supreme Verdict or Sphinx's Revelation in it's place, and then some additional sideboard material.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
2 Plains
4 Island
4 Hinterland Harbor
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Temple Garden
4 Hallowed Fountain
3 Augur of Bolas
4 Restoration Angel
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Garruk Relentless
2 Supreme Verdict
1 Rewind
2 Think Twice
2 Unsummon
3 Dissipate
3 Azorius Charm
3 Selesnya Charm
3 Sphinx’s Revelation
2 Detention Sphere
2 Terminus
2 Rest in Peace
3 Negate
3 Centaur Healer
3 Loxodon Smiter
I'm not sure if it's really midrange or just Flash Bant honestly. But as usual we are on a similar wavelength.
My feeling is that Flash stretches the limits of Midrange Control. I'm a little surprised you went with Relentless instead of Runechanter's Pike because of Augur of Bolas. I only really like Augur with Pike and 20+ Instant/Sorcery. What motivated that choice?
I'm looking at where the meta is going and I expect the SCG Baltimore Open to showcase a lot of aggro and midrange beatdown and the dominant control deck to be Bant, with all of it's field control and creature power. I think UWR Control is pretty much out of the picture, for example.
I like your sideboard and I am testing a new creature line-up using Loxodon Smiter main because it is efficient against both UWx Midrange Control/Flash and GWx Midrange Beatdown, with Centaur Healer in the side replacing Tamiyo and 1 Rewind. I may try to find a way to fit Rewind back in because it is so awesome right now...
I think Rest in Peace is the way to go because of what I am expecting to see at the SCG Baltimore Open.
This is the deck set I expect to see, with a feel as to how we matchup...
Midrange Beatdown:
Deck: GW Midrange. Tons of creatures, including Loxodon and mana dorks, and 2 maindeck spells, Selesnya Charm and Rancor. Get's out of Syncopate range quickly. Syncopate is basically not good once they have dropped 2 mana dorks.
Matchup: Of the UWx Midrange Control, I think we have the best game. We run enough Wrath effects, we can slow them down, and drop creatures that go toe-to-toe. Since we can counter their creature and non-creature spells and we have draw power, I feel like we have the advantage if go go into the beats. This is the matchup where I see Snapcaster possibly coming out.
Deck: 4-Color Reanimator. This deck is so fast to generate really big, over the top threats and it gets out of Syncopate range really quickly.
Matchup: Wrath, lifegain, and both charms will be crucial. Do not underestimate the value of Selesnya Charm in exiling a fatty and Rest in Peace as a way to simply punish them. Also, the Deathrite Shaman version will force us to to find ways to clear those out very, very quickly. 2-3 Shaman on the board is devastating without Supreme Verdict in hand, while Rest in Peace hurts them far more than it hurts us.
Deck: GW Humans. This is a rough matchup primarily because of Silverblade Paladin and the ease of running 4 Cavern of Souls and calling human.
Matchup: Wrath, wrath, wrath. Selesnya Charm remains awesome. Counter-magic will not be terribly helpful against creatures unless you are lucky enough that they get now Caverns. Save it for Rancors, Faith's Shield, and Planeswalkers.
Deck: Jund/4-Color (RBWG) Midrange. This is our best midrange match, except for sided in Slaughter Games and Thragtusk.
Matchup: Here's the thing, they will call Resto, Snappy, and or GoST, so diversify your threats. Unlike all the other UWx decks, we can really draw on a lot. I have Centaur Healer, Resto, Geist, Snapcaster, Talrand, Sky Summoner, and Loxodon Smiter in my 75 and they never are ready for Talrand. Don't waste time on stopping them from casting Slaughter Games, just make it somewhat irrelevant through threat diversity. Otherwise, winning means stopping two cards: Thragtusk and, if they run it, Disciple of Bolas, which is just a sick card giving Jund and 4-Color Midrange a creature-based Sphinx's Revelation. Countermagic remain relevant because they run so many different threats that they can only cover a couple even with 2-3 Cavern of Souls in play.
Deck: Junk Tokens. Pretty annoying. Even when you wipe their board, they can rebuild quickly.
Matchup: Counter everything you can. Be the control deck. Don't try to 1-for-1 their tokens with removal, they generate way too many to do that. I think this is a tough match for us, much as Reanimator is tough.
Midrange Control
Deck: UWx Flash. Even more control-like than UWx Midrange. Almost everything except Augur of Bolas comes in EoT. Feel free to counter Augur, it is a PITA in this deck. The key problem is Runchanter's Pike.
Matchup: Better for us than for UWR because of Loxodon Smiter, Centaur Healer, and Selesnya Charm. Piked creature means nothing to us with S-Charm in effect. Feel free to side in Rewind, Dispel, and Negate and take out Syncopate, and then be the beater. You can even go RiP on them and make Pike worthless`and aggro it up to be the Bant Beatdown deck.
Deck: UWx Midrange. UWR, Esper, and the mirror. UWR is us with Burn tech rather than G tech. Watch out for Thundermaw Hellkite and Zealous Conscripts. Esper has Lingering Souls, good instant speed removal against our Resto and Snappy, and Vault of the Archangel.
Matchup: UWR can burn us out, so make sure you have lifegain in gear. Game 1 is in our favor because they rarely main Supreme Verdict while we should have two. It really depends on whether or not they run Cavern how to approach the other games, either being the control deck or going towards the beatdown deck.
Bant mirror is tough. Luck, good sideboarding, out-playing.
Esper is the tougher match for us, but I think we can race them with Smiter. Thankfully at this stage they tend to have mana issues.
I feel like we win the UWx matchups, though Flash is more our enemy than UWR Midrange.
Aggro
Deck: R(b)DW. Fast and very unpleasant if you keep the wrong hand.
Matchup: You gotta know when to mulligan. Counter-magic is great. Trolling them with A-Charm is great. Lifegain is great. I think this is a good match because we get so much lifegain. Don't overextend, make them overextend. They will run out of cards long before you do.
Deck: RB Zombies. "It burns us, it burns us!" UWR Midrange does better than us thanks to Pillar of Flame and Searing Spear.
Matchup: You will take some damage. That's just going to happen. However, Centaur Healer is great here. Replace GoST with the CH and see good effects. Keep some counter for their R stuff, but not a lot. Ample lifegain using CH and A-Charm should be enough. Not as fast as GB Zombies.
Deck: GB Zombies. So fast, so dirty, so cheap.
Matchup: Again, a better match for UWR than for us, but don't be afraid to S-charm and A-Charm repeatedly. Unsummon when they try to equip Rancor if you can't simply counter Rancor. Bait them by attacking with stuff to see if they expect the S-Charm. Talrand is a beast here because we can generate a lot of blocking. CH also comes in to counter the effects of Geralf's Messenger.
Zombie Match Note: Rest in Peace is not worth using against Zombies. Don't do it, we want Snapcaster shenanigans here much more than we want it against 4-Color Reanimator or even UW Flash.
Control
Deck: Bant Control. Board Control extraordinaire. Good luck keeping threats up. I would be worried about Sam Black's version with 4 Sphinx's Revelation and fewer creatures. This deck draws and gains life and has 4 Dissipate.
Matchup: This is a pretty good match for all of the UWx Flash/Midrange Control. They don't run much we can't stop, though they do ramp. Don't overextend and let your countermagic do it's work. Always counter their Sphinx's Revelation. We out-draw and out-counter them and we have a lot of quality creatures.
Deck: UWR Control. Not expecting to see a lot of it, but still.
Matchup: This should be completely in our favor. Be the DrawGo deck. Side in more counter-magic. Flash in stuff to kill Tamiyo.
Deck: Gerry Adams' weird UW Control with no wincon.
Matchup: Dissipate or Syncopate Elixir of Immortality, counter everything else. Game over? I don't know, I'm so not scared of this.
So, our worst matchups?
GW Beatdown decks, human or not. They are technically mid-range decks that in fact curve amazingly quickly and can end games by turn 4-5 pretty consistently.
Reanimator, a deck no one likes to play except the even faster RbDW and Zombie decks.
Best matchups?
Control decks.
Jund Midrange.
RbDW.
Other UWx Midrange/Flash.
Why Bant?
If GW Beatdown and Reanimator are tough for us, they are horrid for UW Flash and UWR Midrange. We can take out big creatures easily, go Loxodon for Loxodon, Wrath the board game 1, etc. We also have the best lifegain.
UW Flash is better against decks we already beat. UWR Midrange has the advantage against Zombies, but I think GW Beatdown and Reanimator are the bigger threats for Baltimore in December.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
1. Cavern returns. If every deck runs 2-4 Cavern of Souls, UW Flash will be in big trouble.
2. GWx Beatdown decks (midrange that plays like aggro thanks to ramp) are going to get a boost because Flash can't do much about the dorks and can't keep up with the speed of decks dropping Tun 2 Smiter or running 3-4 Caverns and lots of Humans. These decks weren't that good with Bant and UWR Control running 4-7 sweepers and all manner of Planeswalkers and tech (and Bant running 4 Thragtusk and 2 Angel of Serenity), but they basically can't beat UW Flash and UWR Midrange, so now the field is open.
3. Midrange decks running Deathrite Shaman main are going to get a boost, or rather, Jund Mid, 4-Color Mid (Jund + White), and 4-Color Reanimator are going to run Deathrite Shaman Main and that will be bad for UW Flash. These decks were already strong against UWR control, which is now gone. With minor adjustments, they hump UW Flash.
4. Aggro decks are going to come back because RbDW, BG Zombies, and RB Zombies, as well as the less popular aggro variants play very well against UW Flash and UWR Control and Bant Control are weaker.
Kamahl's report from Seattle and my experiences in the Baltimore scene seem to confirm this, as well as some of the upticks on TCG Player Top 8. I expect to see a nutty amount of anti-UW Flash decks at the Baltimore Open in 10 days and I am banking that we are well positioned, if we know what our strengths and weaknesses are.
What does this mean?
UWR Midrange has a strong game against decks mentioned in points 3 and 4. Pillar of Flame, Searing Spear, and Mizzium Mortars all help a lot, both against undying stuff and mana dorks. I still think the deck is still weak to GWx Beatdown and it will struggle against UW Flash. To go forward, it needs a better game against GW Beatdown (Midrange and Midrange Humans) in particular and I think we will see UW Flash drop off so that a loss here or there to it won't be as critical.
Bant Midrange does not have the early creature removal of UWR, however, it has better creatures for the aggro and beatdown match-ups. Thundermaw Hellkite is great, especially against Control, but Loxodon Smiter and Centaur Healer fit a different purpose. I'm preferring that combo to Thundermaw and Geist of Saint Traft versus Aggro and Midrange Beatdown. Bant also has better targeted large-creature removal, which is more important in a meta filled with Thragtusk, Thundermaw, Piked creatures, Reanimator fatties, and Angel of Serenity. We can take hits from Zombies and RbDW and then heal up and manage the late game.
Anyway, I think Supreme Verdict is more important than targeted removal at the moment, and Sphinx's Revelation is just money for non-aggro/non-beatdown decks. I think Sam Black's article for SCG is pretty much right on.
There is one major exception at the moment to the limited value of targeted removal: Deathrite Shaman. That bad boy needs to be bounced, countered, and killed in any way possible lest Reanimator and Jund and 4-Color Midrange just trounce us with it. Also, if Bx aggro decks with Geralf's Messenger become huge again, which is exactly what I am predicting, Pillar's value goes up exponentially. Advantage UWR Midrange on that front.
Both decks may find themselves no longer running Essence Scatter, but I don't see counter going below 5 (I'm suggesting 4 Dissipate and 1 Rewind in Bant with Snapcaster Mages. If it does, we'll fortify in other areas (Charms, Unsummon, Revelation are all possible) with those two open slots.
All this should mean re-thought Bant Control coming back as the control deck against Aggro and Beatdown Midrange, which is good for UWR Midrange and Bant Midrange Control.
EDIT:
Excellent GP Bochum report from Stasis UWR Results at GP
Also, note the Top 16 report Bochum GP Top 16
Here was the deck count in the Day 2 for Bochum
G/W Aggro 31
Jund 22
Zombies 19
Bant Control 18
Reanimator 17
U/W Flash 16
Mono Red Aggro 16
U/W/R Geist Midrange 15
U/W Aggro 10
Esper Control 6
G/W/B Tokens 5
U/W Delver 4
Naya midrange 3
Hexproof Bant 2
Hoof, there it is! 2
Staticaster/Peddler Jund 2
White Weenie 2
U/W Control 2
G/R Midrange 1
G/W/B Midrange 1
G/W/R Aggro 1
R/U/G Soulbond 1
U/W Nivmagus Elemental 1
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
I live in Baltimore, I'll be at the Open for sure.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
1. With 6 mana open, and Rewind and Dissipate in hand against a deck with no counter spells, use Rewind first. Seriously, I messed that up and it cost me a round because it cost me the only game we played, which went 50 minutes and into the third turn of time.
2. Don't keep mana with no U source. Seriously, just don't.
3. In a match with a control deck, don't be the first one to tap out on your turn. Easy, right?
4. Talrand, Sky Summoner is just bad in this deck. If you want an alternate finisher use Sigarda, Host of Herons or Thragtusk.
If it was not for those four things, I would have been 3-0-1...
I did not play a single aggro deck yesterday.
Round 1 - UWR control (Mistakes 2 and 3, game 1 and 2 respectively.)
Round 2 - 4-Color Heartless Summoning (Mistakes 1 and 4)
Round 3 - 4-Color Control
Round 4 - Grixis Control (Mistakes 3 and 4)
Needless to say, I will not likely play 3 of the 4 decks in this list at the Open in Baltimore, so Sunday was near useless for testing...
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
REVISED: 11/29.
4 Temple Garden
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hinterland Harbor
3 Sunpetal Grove
2 Island
1 Plains
2 Cavern of Souls
Creatures 14
3 Snapcaster Mage
3 Centaur Healer
4 Restoration Angel
4 Thragtusk
4 Azorius Charm
4 Think Twice
3 Sphinx's Revelation
4 Dissipate
1 Unsummon
2 Feeling of Dread
Sorcery 4
3 Supreme Verdict
1 Terminus
2 Dispel
2 Negate
3 Selesnya Charm
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Staff of Nin
1 Erase
1 Detention Sphere
1 Terminus
2 Rest in Peace
Still not sure about Feeling of Dread. It tested well for me last night, but it feels a bit too situational. 1 Runechanter's Pike and a 4th Supreme Verdict?? 5 Wrath might be okay right now and Pike isn't dead against control at least. Or one of those and a 4th Snapcaster Mage again.
Might make 1 Centaur Healer into a Rhox Faithmender for synergy and super lifegain with a 1/5 lifelink body. 1/5 is no joke in this meta, and gaining 2 life per block is also quite good.
Would love to find the room for a single Alchemist's Refuge, but it is not really useful until I have 6 mana, which seems a little late. Better in Bant control ramping with Farseek.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Restoration Angel
3 Thragtusk
Instants (20)
4 Unsummon
3 Think Twice
4 Azorius Charm
4 Selesnya Charm
2 Dissipate
2 Syncopate
1 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Runechanter's Pike
Enchantments: (1)
1 Detention Sphere
Lands (23)
1 Evolving Wilds
2 Island
1 Plains
1 Forest
1 Moorland Haunt
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hinterland Harbor
2 Sunpetal Grove
4 Temple Garden
4 Hallowed Fountain
1 Runechanter's Pike
2 Rest in Peace
1 Detention Sphere
2 Negate
2 Dissipate
2 Dungeon Geists
3 Supreme Verdict
2 Jace, Memory Adept
Made this deck in about five minutes by taking top placing uwr tempo lists, switching from red to green, and dumping the best creatures in the format so far in one deck. The charms are extremely versatile and are meant to be abused.
To be honest, I think there will be a bant tempo/midrange list dominating really soon, bant feels pretty broken
It's easy to abuse the Thragtusk - Restoration Angel - Eot unsummon restoration angel, flash her back in - Snapcaster unsummon restoration angel, flash her back in shenanigans too.
4 Resoration Angel
4 Wolfir Avenger
4 Azouris Charm
2 Syncopate
2 Dissipate
2 Essence Scatter
4 Think Twice
4 Thoughtscour
2 Rewind
1 Sphinx's Revelation
2 Selesnya Charm
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Temple Garden
4 Glacial Fortress
3 Sunpetal Grove
4 Hinterland Harbour
4 Islands
1 Ray of Revelation
2 Negate
3 Supreme Verdict
3 Detention Sphere
4 Geist of St Traft
2 Unsummon
Wolfir, while an interesting idea, isn't good enough IMO. Simply having Flash doesn't cut it because it doesn't do anything. Not that Regenerate isn't good, but it doesn't have much synergy with Snapcaster Mage or Restoration Angel. 1GG also seems rough. However, if it works, that would be excellent.
Essence Scatter is no longer playable, not even sideboard really. Find something else to do with those two slots.
Syncopate has lost value with all the ramp/mana dork decks out there crushing it. Dissipate is the main deck choice now.
2 Rewind is 1 too many. 1 might be too much, but 2 are definitely too much.
That's ok, now you have space for more Sphinx's Revelation and Supreme Verdict. I think two of each main is necessary.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
What caught my attention is the TEN mass removals the deck utilizes. It was build specifically for aggro.
I'm not saying that it's the best or it's going to be the deck to beat in the future but it's very interesting.
Lands:
4 Temple Garden
4 Sunpetal Grove
2 Hinterland Harbor
7 Forest
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
5 Plains
Creatures:
4 Restoration Angel
4 Thragtusk
4 Angel of Serenity
4 Centaur Healer
4 Armada Wurm
Spells:
4 Farseek
2 Ranger's Path
3 Terminus
4 Supreme Verdict
3 Planar Cleansing
Sideboard:
2 Cavern of Souls
2 Sigarda, Host of Herons
3 Trostani, Selesnya's Voice
4 Rest in Peace
4 Borderland Ranger
I tweaked the main a little bit and put Centaur on the main and relegated Borderland to the side. The race is bad for aggro decks with the amount of life gain. Then there's the mass removals that just ruin their strategies completely.
I was very consistent with this yesterday:
Resto on Armada.
And my opponents can't decide whether to kill my Serenity because the replacement is another round of Thragtusks/Armada and Resto.
The deck is very solid. Kudos to the creator. I think the sideboard needs a little improvement and that's why I'm sharing it here.
Interesting deck though, very linear plan: creatures, ramp, wrath, recycle with Angel of Serenity. I suppose if you draw into enough ramp dead draws should not be too much of an issue.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
3 Centaur Healer
4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Restoration Angel
2 Sigarda, Host of Herons
4 Thragtusk
Enchantments - 5
4 Detention Sphere
1 Oblivion Ring
Instants/Sorceries - 14
2 Dissipate
4 Farseek
3 Selesnya Charm
3 Supreme Verdict
2 Syncopate
2 Forest
2 Island
2 Plains
4 Glacial Fortess
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Hinterland Harbor
2 Sunpetal Grove
4 Temple Garden
2 Loxodon Smiter
2 Rest in Peace
3 Azorius Charm
2 Dispel
2 Negate
3 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Supreme Verdict
This is the deck I have been testing out a lot recently. I am really digging the deck. I opted out of the flashback cards/snapcaster in favor of Rest in Peace which will absolutely destroy Reanimator decks. Also, if you are concerned about those decks without using RiP, I would suggest some Syncopate to help early game. If they tap out for Rites or anything, a quick 2 mana counter to exile their card really slows em down.
I know it has more 5 drops than you like, but being able to drop them consistently with Farseek keeps you in the right threat timing. The sideboard seems to cover the vast meta, but as you already said, GW Aggro/midrange seems to be one of the harder matchups. My LGS has a couple really strong GW decks, and Supreme Verdict seems to be the strongest card we have for that match up with Azorius Charm or Loxodon Smiter coming next.
I do think Geist is less important than Sphinx's Revelation and I prefer Azorius Charm to Selesnya in this, despite its value in beatdown. I would therefore switch them in MD/SD.
Terminus is necessary somewhere in the deck right now. Top 25 at Baltimore, and 16 were some form of Aggro, especially Rakdos meaning Haste and Undying shenanigans.
Tempo
Modern
Eldrazi and Staxes
Whir Prison
Legacy
5c Humans
DnT
"I'm a lead farmer... !" Quote ruined due to policy.
Cavern is returning unfortunately, but thats why we have sideboards, including another Verdict and Azorius Charm to slow down aggression. D-Sphere / O-ring are awesome answers to resolved threats as well.
I am honestly considering swapping GoST with 2 Sphinx's Rev and 2 Smiter main deck. GoST has been underwhelming in my deck lately.
4 Elvish Visionary
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Wolfir Avenger
4 Restoration Angel
3 Thragtusk
SPELLS
4 Selesnya Charm
3 Negate
2 Sphinx's Revelation
4 Detention Sphere
1 Collective Blessing
3 Jace, Architect of Thought
2 Garruk, Primal Hunter
LAND
3 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Sunpetal Grove
4 Temple Garden
2 Hinterland Harbor
2 Island
3 Forest
2 Cavern of Souls
3 Centaur Healer
3 Purify the Grave
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Collective Blessing
1 Negate
3 Plummet
1 Snapcaster Mage
A few notes on the list:
Elvish Visionary: he has been a solid add. He is cheap to cast and allows me to multi task my turns later in the game while giving me something useful to do in the early. One of the more important aspects on him is that he often gives me a decent target for Restoration Angel that nobody really ever wants to spot remove. He gives me some protection for my planeswalkers and slows down aggro as well. He is solid defense vs Liliana's sacrifice effect as well.
Wolfir Avenger: I found that it gives me something to deal with some of the x/3 guys running arround. His regen is a nice option to block a thragtusk or beast token and it gives me something not white vs zombies Knights. He is hard on the manabase so I run him a bit lightly still.
Selesnya Charm with more creatures in the list the buff here is actually quite good. Due to the nature of all the flash guys the buff here becomes more reasonable to save vs some of the red damage effects as well. The versatility is huge in this list though.
Collective Blessing sort of my new tech card for vs some other midrange decks. Trading Elvish Visionaries with Thragtusks seems solid and as of currently there is little enchantment hate being used.
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[Modern] Allies