You took the words from my mouth. The meta just seems so...nondescript. Granted I've had arena for about 6 months so maybe this is just the end of the honeymoon period.

Few things are more miserable than the BO1 metagame ...

Since there's nothing that beats both White/Red aggro & Esper, the meta feels like it's just those three decks going at it. You could either play those three decks, or you could play something else and concede once the opponent plays a land if it's your bad matchup. Hurray!

CGB posted a vid for the game 3 deck his friend took to mythic that was specifically designed to beat mono red and Esper. I'll look for the vid/decklist and post when I have a min

MTGNerdGirl's Ghalta Tempo Stompy

4 Llanowar Elves (DAR) 168
4 Steel Leaf Champion (DAR) 182
4 Jadelight Ranger (RIX) 136
4 Nullhide Ferox (GRN) 138
3 Ghalta, Primal Hunger (RIX) 130
4 Merfolk Branchwalker (XLN) 197
4 Wildgrowth Walker (XLN) 216
2 Hydroid Krasis (RNA) 183
13 Forest (XLN) 279
3 Island (XLN) 267
4 Breeding Pool (RNA) 246
4 Hinterland Harbor (DAR) 240
3 Negate (RIX) 44
2 Thorn Lieutenant (M19) 203
2 Spell Pierce (XLN) 81


Deck discussion and gameplay:

Intriguing. I might give that a try sometime, lacking some rares right now and rather hesitant to commit wildcards.

In retrospect it seems to me like Mortify was a brutal card to print. Maindeck enchantment removal makes so many strategies less effective. I guess keeping Wilderness Reclamation in check is good (that card is so close to being busted), but taking out Experimental Frenzy & Conclave Tribunal, not to mention Search for Azcanta, is big game.

I played two series against this deck (or what looks like this deck) with Temur Reclamation. First game they just outright conceded to Rekindling Phoenix. Second game Phoenix again held the ground until he landed Ghalta, but by that point I had Ooze going as well and I won smoothly. The deck does seem weak to these two cards - Phoenix blocks well and chumps Nullhide Ferox indefinitely, so it's really only Ghalta that's a problem, and that card can be countered (since it can't be cast early, if I'm stabilizing behind a Phoenix, I can afford to hold up mana).

The other series was stranger. They were U/G, but had Frilled Mystic, Vivien, Mass Manipulation, explore creatures, and Nullhide Ferox. Game 1 I didn't draw interaction and died in short order, game 2 I cleanly forgot about Vivien and lost smoothly after going for Wilderness Reclamation because "what can he do to punish me anyway" and opponent countered + resolved Vivien. Would still have been close since I was able to resolve Ooze and Phoenix later (RIP Negate) but he had Mass Manipulation for both creatures and it was over. I think I'd be favored without the mistake.

But then this was BO3. BO1 is presumably very different.

Yeah, it doesn't have answers for Phoenix. It was for duo standard, specifically to answer Esper and mono red matchups. Doesn't even have a sideboard. If your Bo1 meta is plagued with those two decks (and mono white), this should be good there.

I wonder if your 2nd matchup was someone trying to tool it for Bo3 play? Mass Manipulation could be an attempt to deal with Phoenix/Drakes/Krasis stuff MTGNerdGirl's wasn't designed to deal with.

**** Esper and the Thought Erasure into Thief of Sanity curve on the play!!

Hate that curve soooo much. Short of having Spell Pierce and an untapped blue land on turn 1, all my counterplay is one turn too late: I can't Expansion the Thought Erasure, I can't Sinister Sabotage the Thief ...

I mean, that's why it was printed. Because enchantments are very powerful. Its necessary hate

Well yeah, but doesn't mean I have to like it.

Also Thief of Sanity should go die in a fire, that's another one of those "if you can't answer this immediately you lose" cards, connecting with it is more powerful than Teferi's +1 ...

Do you think, Thief of Sanity can fix the Sultai matchup vs Reclamation? Or is that a matchup-specific issue vs Esper? For Sultai I don't see how he'd change anything.

The Red Sunrise!!

Chandra is back!




So she gives RDW a one Lava Axe unless you can deal with her directly... buying some time to the grown creatures and possibly drawing you a card... this girl is HOT and I never see her coming!

yay mono red aggro!!! LOVE IT. What does the chart represent? Usage of Chandra?

Just price... but that says a lot, and 2 Us is really cheap... the whole deck is so cheap!!

A nice visual overview:
https://aetherhub.com/Article/The-War-o ... eta-Week-1

These lists have me salivating. A lot of good, fun-looking options. This one in particular: https://aetherhub.com/Deck/Featured/108551

Hell yeah, that Selesnya list looks awesome

Will it work? I don't know. Green has been solid for a while carrying both Sultai (previously Golgari) and Gruul. I consider the aggro matchup roughly the same for all these decks. But how about midrange and control? Can Oketra and Tolsimir trump Krasis? Our favorite flying fish not only draws a bunch of cards - that aspect is uncounterable. Maybe Bant is a necessary evolution of the deck - not only to include Krasis but also to get 3-feri to fix the Reclamation matchup.

You mean like this deck: https://aetherhub.com/Deck/Public/108932

Yes. But I doubt this will be the final form. How does it stop aggro? Also the mana looks clunky, I'd say Frilled Mystic is taking the blue splash too far - rather have more green sources for consistency, though the card is bonkers. But who am I to comment on a top8 deck?

I beat that Bant deck with the Seleysna deck yesterday. It's pretty sweet. I lost to white aggro though. Destroyed control.