Dies to Removal

Funny...we're here talking about toning down high priests and Van Lunen pops up in the article LK pointed at and says high priest is well-positioned to play as a 4-of. Trying to shoot a moving target, metagaming is...

Yeah, I really don't know.

I'm thinking about running Martel's list from PT: Montreal -4 Boros Reckoner +4 Vampire Nighthawk tonight at FNM. I'm really not sure if that'll be better than what I have been playing though.

Another reason VNH is good, it can trade up with a 3/3 Stromkirk Noble, or prevent a smaller
noble from attacking. Haven't heard back from the PTQ top 8 guy yet, but I suspect that may be one of the reasons for non-humans.

I tried the decklist I mentioned above, and it was just plain terrible. VNH is too hard to cast, and too slow vs fast Aggro. It made really good hands awkward, and was completely uncastable when I needed it. When I could cast it, it was kind of low impact. I went 1-2 at FNM with losses to Blitz and a RUG Aggro home brew. Beat UWR midrange. I will be swiftly returning to my previous main deck and I'll continue to tweak the SB.

TLDR; Vampire Nighthawk isn't good in this deck.

This may be a dumb question, but should KoI be sided out VS Blitz? I side it out against RDW / Gruul, but Blitz runs white and runs 8-12 (Champion of the Parish, Boros Elite, Boros Reckoner) white creatures, so pro white might be more relevant. I've been leaving it in, but getting Roflstomped, so maybe I'm doing it wrong? Do you guys leave them in or side them out? I find they sometimes have a hard time chumping because of Trample too.

Scrubbed out at FNM (1-2) again. Two loses to blitz. At least the games were close. Both were 1-2, and I had them the next turn, but they had Ghor Clan Rampager to make my blocks useless. One win vs Humanator. Really tired of playing blitz at my LGS. Completely over represented. I'm going to go back to something closer to Martell's build, since he beat Blitz all day at the Pro Tour, so I think it's better for my meta.

Reckoner helps the matchup, but no version of Aristocrats has a favourable blitz matchup.

Reckoner helps the matchup, but no version of Aristocrats has a favourable blitz matchup.

Is there a way to make it favourable? Martell played blitz like 7 times at the Pro Tour and won, so I've got to think there is hope. I'm going to try the list from GP Rio on Friday. If I go to the GPT on Saturday (still undecided) I might run the list the got second place in the Modo PTQ this week. The GPT's have more control and otherwise favourable match ups.

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Digital/Ma ... rn/5264065

Yes, but you would have to really dedicate your sideboard.

Remember that prior to the ranking changes, Martell was the top ranked constructed player in the world. His results in one event are not indicative of the matchup at all.

Yes, but you would have to really dedicate your sideboard.

Remember that prior to the ranking changes, Martell was the top ranked constructed player in the world. His results in one event are not indicative of the matchup at all.

Fair enough. Other than the Reckoners, what do you think can help the m/u out? I dedicated 6 SB (4x Nearheath Pilgrim, 2x Rhox Faithmender) slots last week, and it was close, but not quite there. While I wouldn't do it in a larger tournament, I'm thinking of going full retard at my LGS and tuning the MD just for Blitz.

Something like:

[deck]Lands (24)
4 Blood Crypt
2 Cavern of Souls
2 Clifftop Retreat
4 Godless Shrine
4 Isolated Chapel
3 Plains
4 Sacred Foundry
1 Vault of the Archangel

nCreatures (29)
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Cartel Aristocrat
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Doomed Traveler
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
4 Nearheath Pilgrim
2 Silverblade Paladin
3 Skirsdag High Priest

Spells (7)
2 Lingering Souls
2 Orzhov Charm
2 Tragic Slip
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad


Sideboard (15)
2 Blasphemous Act
2 Lingering Souls
2 Mark of Mutiny
3 Obzedat, Ghost Council
2 Rhox Faithmender
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
2 Tragic Slip
1 War Priest of Thune
[/deck]

Cheap removal and Faithmender. Not Sorin, he isn't good against aggro.

I actually generally have an even matchup versus blitz, though that's because I playtest against that deck a lot with anything I sleeve up and I know that deck in and out. The key to fighting them is aggressively 1-for-1ing them. Current versions of the deck only play searing spear for removal, so you don't have to worry about tricks. Just out attrition there deck. Once you can generally win with demon tokens, though anything will work once they're playing experiment one's of the top and your drawing actual spells.

I actually generally have an even matchup versus blitz, though that's because I playtest against that deck a lot with anything I sleeve up and I know that deck in and out. The key to fighting them is aggressively 1-for-1ing them. Current versions of the deck only play searing spear for removal, so you don't have to worry about tricks. Just out attrition there deck. Once you can generally win with demon tokens, though anything will work once they're playing experiment one's of the top and your drawing actual spells.

So should Skirsdag High Priest be a three of when I want to focus on this m/u?

I was looking at this list and thinking it might have a little more game vs blitz.



kazuyamishima (4-0)
Standard Daily #5264115 on 04/05/2013

[deck]
4 Blood Crypt
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Dragonskull Summit
4 Godless Shrine
4 Isolated Chapel
2 Plains
4 Sacred Foundry
1 Swamp
1 Vault of the Archangel
24 lands

4 Cartel Aristocrat
4 Champion of the Parish
4 Doomed Traveler
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
3 Knight of Infamy
2 Silverblade Paladin
3 Skirsdag High Priest
2 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Zealous Conscripts
28 creatures

3 Lingering Souls
3 Orzhov Charm
2 Tragic Slip
8 other spells

Sideboard
1 Cathedral Sanctifier
2 Mark of Mutiny
2 Obzedat, Ghost Council
2 Rhox Faithmender
1 Sever the Bloodline
2 Slaughter Games
2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
2 Tragic Slip
1 Vampire Nighthawk
15 sideboard cards
[/deck]

With this list I think the SB plan is probably (but I could be wrong):

+1 Cathedral Sanctifier, + 2 Rhox Faithmender, +2 [card:
7fat21ui]Tragic Slip[/card], +1 Vampire Nighthawk
-2Zealous Conscripts, -2 Silverblade Paladin, -1 Lingering Souls, -1 Falkenrath Aristocrat

What do you guys think? I appreciate any advice, since I feel like I'm losing to this m/u way too much. The versions I typically play against do have some tricks in the form of Selesnya Charm and Ghor-clan Rampager. Last week I for Boros Reckoner / Blasphemous Act-ed FTL too.

@LP Are you running a stock list, or have you tweaked it?

I had a bad experience with VNH but I thonk I didn't have eniugh black sources. Going to give it another go.

Okay...so evidently windstrider and I weren't totally in left field with our "combo/sac" focus on The Aristocrats. Here's a Top 4 deck from PTQ Kansas City this past Saturday, and it's within a couple of cards of the deck we teched out:

[deck]Collector's Cache-PTQ Kansas City - Michael Hart

LAND
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Godless Shrine
4 Blood Crypt
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Dragonskull Summit
1 Clifftop Retreat
2 Plains
1 Cavern of Souls

CREATURES
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
4 Boros Reckoner
3 Skirsdag High Priest
4 Blood Artist
4 Cartel Aristocrat
4 Doomed Traveller

SPELLS
4 Lingering Souls
1 Orzhov Charm
3 Blasphemous Act
3 Tragic Slip
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
1 Dreadbore

SIDEBOARD
1 Blasphemous Act
3 Slaughter Games
3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
1 Tragic Slip
2 Underworld Connections
1 Dreadbore[/deck]

Another take on the same theme also made Top 8:

[deck]
Collector's Cache PTQ
Kansas City-Cole Griffith

LAND
4 Godless Shrine
4 Dragonskull Summit
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Cavern of Souls
4 Blood Crypt
2 Plains
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Sacred Foundry

CREATURES
3 Skirsdag High Priest
4 Blood Artist
4 Doomed Traveller
4 Cartel Aristocrat
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat

SPELLS
2 Orzhov Charm
4 Tragic Slip
3 Blasphemous Act
4 Lingering Souls

SIDEBOARD
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
2 Underworld Connections
2 Electrickery
3 Mark of Mutiny
1 Cavern of Souls
2 Obdezat, Ghost Council
1 Olivia Voldaren[/deck]

Okay...so evidently windstrider and I weren't totally in left field with our "combo/sac" focus on The Aristocrats. Here's a Top 4 deck from PTQ Kansas City this past Saturday, and it's within a couple of cards of the deck we teched out:

[deck]Collector's Cache-PTQ Kansas City - Michael Hart

LAND
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Godless Shrine
4 Blood Crypt
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Dragonskull Summit
1 Clifftop Retreat
2 Plains
1 Cavern of Souls

CREATURES
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
4 Boros Reckoner
3 Skirsdag High Priest
4 Blood Artist
4 Cartel Aristocrat
4 Doomed Traveller

SPELLS
4 Lingering Souls
1 Orzhov Charm
3 Blasphemous Act
3 Tragic Slip
1 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
1 Dreadbore

SIDEBOARD
1 Blasphemous Act
3 Slaughter Games
3
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
1 Tragic Slip
2 Underworld Connections
1 Dreadbore[/deck]

Another take on the same theme also made Top 8:

[deck]
Collector's Cache PTQ Kansas City-Cole Griffith

LAND
4 Godless Shrine
4 Dragonskull Summit
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Cavern of Souls
4 Blood Crypt
2 Plains
4 Isolated Chapel
4 Sacred Foundry

CREATURES
3 Skirsdag High Priest
4 Blood Artist
4 Doomed Traveller
4 Cartel Aristocrat
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat

SPELLS
2 Orzhov Charm
4 Tragic Slip
3 Blasphemous Act
4 Lingering Souls

SIDEBOARD
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
2 Underworld Connections
2 Electrickery
3 Mark of Mutiny
1 Cavern of Souls
2 Obdezat, Ghost Council
1 Olivia Voldaren[/deck]

That's Brad Nelson's Aristocrats: Act 2 isn't it?

I imagine Act 2 is a lot better in the midrange / aggro matches, but loses some to the control matches, no? I'm really not a fan of Blood Artist at all, but
I understand him in this deck. It's a lot more combo-ish.

Have you been playing the human heavy version of the Aristocrats as well? If so, which do you prefer?

Should I add Act 2 to the Primer?

I hadn't realized that someone had actually "standardized" the build...that makes sense as to why it showed up at PTQ. As I told LK in discussing it, the "BA Squared" build is more of a "party crasher"; if you drop it into an unsuspecting and unprepared meta, it does well because no one is sideboarding for a combo damage/lifedrain deck. That being said, once it's on the radar, it's much easier to hate out than the traditional build as Witchbane Orb pulls the rug out from under the engines. It could be added to the Primer with the caveat that it plays totally differently, with the focus on comboing off for big damage and lifeswings rather than as a multi-avenue aggro deck.

Jacob Van Lunen did a write up on the deck. Apparently your matchups get flipped. He said that esper and jund where fairly tough matchups but Junk Reanimator was a bye for instance.

Also, on Sally Kazuya Mishima actually talks about his deck in the aristocrats thread and I think the gave some boarding advice.

http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showpost ... stcount=82

It figures...here I thought we were playing with a novel idea and now the concept is center-stage. I may still try to sneak it in at FNM to see who's paying attention...

I've playtested the deck and it seems like something you would enjoy. I will stick to regular old aristocrats.

^ the sooner people stop trying to say VNH is a good card, the sooner my headache will stop. The card isn't good in the current format and won't ever be. Maybe next time.

^ the sooner people stop trying to say VNH is a good card, the sooner my headache will stop. The card isn't good in the current format and won't ever be. Maybe next time.

What are you referring to, Z? VNH doesn't appear in Act 2, though he has been played in some "regular" Aristocrats lists. I don't see him having application in either.

Discussion at the top of the page.

Discussion at the top of the page.

Yeah my tired eyes caught that after...I tried to delete my bonehead post but you'd already answered. <facepalm>

The version with Nighthawks have been 4-0ing some dailies for what that's worth. I just want to improve my m/u vs Blitz. Thought the lifegain might help.

What do you guys think of fiend hunter vs blitz? They don't have much removal so you could exile a dude and then have a 1/3 wall for their 2/x's.

Or just stick with faithmender? I think fiend hunter might be better.

Fiend hunter is very viable. The fact that it's a human that can be played off of cavern is value and by stacking triggers, you can permanently exile things by sacking it to any of your aristocrats.

Fiend hunter is very viable. The fact that it's a human that can be played off of cavern is value and by stacking triggers, you can permanently exile things by sacking it to any of your aristocrats.

It was so - so. I'm thinking I'm going to go in a very different direction with transformational SB. Will post the list up here once I've got it worker out.

In other news, I had a pretty good weekend Magic-wise.

FNM (3-0) 1st place. Played Junk Rites (2-1), Esper (2-0), and Blitz (2-0). Vs Blitz, I was an absolute luck sack and drew all four reckoners G1.

GPT: Peking (13 players I think) (2-1-1) Top 8, lost for 7th / 8th.

Round 1: Played RUG Tempo (1-2) Crazy draws but one Blaspemous Act ends him. Game 1 he got me because he nut
drew. Game 2 I got him because I swept. Game three, I have no red source for sweep.

Round 2: Played Aristocrats w/ Act 2 transformational sideboard (2-0). Had a good conversation with the guy after about the transformational sideboard, and I think I'll be going in that direction.

Round 3: UWR Reckoner Control (2-0). Normal beatdown.

Round 4: ID vs Connoley Wood's B/r control. Played for fun, won the first game, then got deck checked.

Top 8.

In the top 8, the person with the better record from the swiss gets to go first (like the pro tour) now. When the hell did that start?

Round 1: Vs Blitz (0-2) Same player as the night before. G1 was came down to him top decking Ghor Clan FTW, I had lethal the next turn. Game 2 I was stuck on 3, and had the game if I hit 4 lands, but never did.

SNM (3-0) 1st Place. Played Esper (2-1), Esper (2-1), and Boros (2-0).

The deck is favoured in every non-aggro match up. With that in mind, I think it is time for the Act 2 transformational sideboard
to focus on the Aggro M/U's, and swing them heavily in our favour. I'm still working out the logistics, but I think it is possible. I guess the better question is, should I just play act 2? The problem is, Blitz is rampant, and Esper is on the rise, and neither Act 1 or Act 2 is good against both. I'll post a list / mini-primer tonight.

EDIT: Swamped with work, sorry for the delay.

Johnny, what's your current list with SB? Already in this thread?

The Aristocrats Act 3

So this is the Aristocrats Act 3 mini-primer. Sorry it took so long, but I’m a junior high school teacher and last week was the first week of the new school year.

Inspiration:

Last weekend I played in a GP:T and in the second round I played what appeared to be a mirror match. He had a slow start, but eventually got out a lot of the regular players we expect in Act 1. The game was close, but I was able to edge him out with a well-timed Zealous Conscripts. Game 2, I sideboarded for the mirror, but on Turn 2 he played a Blood Artist, rather than a Knight of Infamy. He got the raised eye-brow from me, and my, WTF bells were going off. He never found the Blasphemous Act, and I steam rolled when I curved out, but after the match I
asked him about the deck. He had come to the same conclusion that I had, that the deck’s only bad match-up was Naya Blitz. I had been playing the Boros Reckoner-less version of the deck for weeks, but had recently put my reckoners back in, since Blitz were the only matches I was losing. Blitz also represents about 50% of the meta at my LGS, and I’d estimate 30% of the meta in my city.. Beyond that, I was dedicating 6 sideboard slots to fast aggro, focussing on life gain. However, my opponent had a different approach, and packed the transformational sideboard to make Act 1 into Act 2. I now believe this is the most elegant solution if you have a meta like mine.

Why not play Act 1 or Act 2? Aren’t you just a bad version of those decks?

As I mentioned, my local meta is skewed toward Blitz, and I feel the need to improve that match rather than accepting it as a bad match up when it seems to be the most popular deck here. If Blitz was all I was
concerned with, I would likely just play Act 2. However, my meta also has a heavy Esper presence, which I would estimate at about 25%. In any given GP:T I play Esper twice, and Burning-Tree Emissarydecks three times. As I’m sure most of you are aware, Aristocrats Act 1 basically can’t lose post-sideboard against Esper. Act 2 is actually really bad against Esper. I don’t want to lose those “Byes” vs Esper. Act 2 on the other hand, is almost auto-win vs. Blitz and fast aggro. The other match-ups in the meta don’t concern me as much, because I am consistently winning them. I believe Act 1 is the better of the two versions against the majority of the field. More importantly, it is a deck I like to play. Act 1 is where I want to be, but without the soft underbelly that fast aggro can take advantage of. It is not as good at Act 2-ing as Act 2 is, but some compromises must be made.

What do you have to give up?

Not a lot. 2 sideboard slots (I used the
GY hate slots, since I never really need them vs. Junk anyway with 3-4 steal effects and 8 sacrifice effects), the 1x odd-ball Restoration Angel(never liked the one of resto much anyway) and 1 x MB Zealous Conscripts. Since this is something I typically dislike in multiples, it’s no big deal to me. Z’s RDW last year had it as a 1 of too, so it can’t be totally crazy.


What do you gain?

A deck with no bad match-ups. While the deck likely isn’t as good at Act 2 as Brad Nelson’s Act 2 is, we can’t quite squeeze in the full set of Lingering Souls/ Skirsdag Highpriest. As I said above, some compromises must be made.

The Deck List

Creatures (28)[deck]
4x Champion of the Parish
4x Doomed Traveller
4x Cartel Aristocrat
3x Knight of Infamy
2x Skirsdag Highpriest
4x Boros Reckoner
2x Silverblade Paladin
4x Falkenrath
Aristocrat
1x Zealous Conscripts

Spells (8)
3x Tragic Slip
2x Orzhov Charm
3x Lingering Souls

Land (24)
3x Cavern of Souls
4x Blood Crypt
4x Sacred Foundry
4x Godless Shrine
4x Isolated Chapel
1x Dragonskull Summit
1x Clifftop Retreat
2x Plains
1x Vault of the Archangel

Sideboard (15)
2x Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
2x Obzedat Ghost Council
4x Blasphemous Act
4x Blood Artist
2x Mark of Mutiny
1x Tragic Slip [/deck]

Sideboarding Guide:

Esper:
-2Skirsdag Highpriest, -1 Zealous Conscripts, -1 Tragic Slip
+ 2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, +2 Obzedat, Ghost Council

Jund:
-4 Champion of the Parish, -3 Knight of Infamy
+2 Mark of Mutiny, +2 [card]Obzedat,
Ghost Council[/card], +2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, +1 Tragic Slip

Blitz:
-4 Champion of the Parish, -3 Knight of Infamy, - 2 Silverblade Paladin, - 1 Zealous Conscripts, -1x Cavern of Souls
+4 Blasphemous Act, +4 Blood Artist, +1 Tragic Slip, +2 Mark of Mutiny(reckoner 5+6.)

RDW / Gruul : See vs. blitz

UWR:
-2 Skirsdag Highpriest, (You: EoT, sac a guy, tap tap tap, make a demon! Them: Untap, Verdict! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL,You: FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUU) -3 Lingering Souls(because Thundermaw)
+2 [card]Obzedat,
Ghost Council[/card], +1 Tragic Slip, +2 Mark of Mutiny(looking to take Thundermaws)

Junk: Not sure, but I think it depends if you see Lingering Souls in Game 1 or not.

No Lingering Souls(play aggro):
-2 Orzhov Charm-1 Lingering Souls
+2 Mark of Mutiny, +1 Tragic Slip

With Lingering Souls(play combo):
-4 Champion of the Parish, -3 Knight of Infamy, - 2 Silverblade Paladin, - 1 Zealous Conscripts, -1x Cavern of Souls
+4 Blasphemous Act, +4 Blood Artist, +1 Tragic Slip, +2 [
card]Mark of Mutiny[/card]

Mirror: Do not go Act 2 on the play like my opponent did. On the draw… maybe.
-3 Knight of Infamy(dodges Orzhov Charm, but eats non-morbid Tragic Slip)
+1 Tragic Slip, +2 Mark of Mutiny.

Bant:
-2 Skirsdag Highpriest (verdict), -4 Champion of the Parish(Azoruis Charm…yuck)
+2 Mark of Mutiny, +2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, +2 Obzedat, Ghost Council.

Do not flashback your Lingering Souls until they sweep and prepare to GRIND.

Dega Control: See Jund.

Hope this was helpful. Think about
sleeving it up if you want to try a traditional Aristocrats deck that has a strong Aggro SB plan. Thanks for reading.

Silverblade Paladin seems incredibly low-impact in this deck. The majority of your creatures are pro-white or have 2 or less power (or require humans tribal draws to surpass that state). I guess my big question is why run a 3cc relatively low-impact 2/2 Enchantment instead of more Lingering Souls, or some number of maindeck Blasphemous Act?
Alternatively, what about Harvest Pyre as a bad removal spell/combo card with Reckoner?

As a spitball idea, what does this deck gain or lose from Dragon's Maze?

Silverblade Paladin seems incredibly low-impact in this deck. The majority of your creatures are pro-white or have 2 or less power (or require humans tribal draws to surpass that state). I guess my big question is why run a 3cc relatively low-impact 2/2 Enchantment instead of more Lingering Souls, or some number of maindeck Blasphemous Act?
Alternatively, what about Harvest Pyre as a bad removal spell/combo card with Reckoner?

As a spitball idea, what does this deck gain or lose from Dragon's Maze?

As far as I can tell, we get nothing from DGM.

Impact depends on how the meta shapes up, but I don't think it will change much.

Silverblade Paladin is HIGH impact. It can bond to KoI (Pro white doesn't
effect bond) Falkenrath Aristocrat, a large Champion of the Parish or a demon token. It gives the deck a lot of speed / reach. I thought about cutting it for +1 Lingering Souls / + 1 Skirsdag Highpriest, but it's been consistently good. It's another "must kill" threat against most decks. It helps the deck close games out.

My issue with mainboard Blasphemous Act / Harvest Pyre is the deck is already packed. HP is very narrow and only really improves one match where we are already heavily favoured. Blasphemous Act is not a card I want when going aggro, because it's often a dead card and punishes us as much as our opponents. I don't like cards that aren't independently good as a rule, and I don't think MB Act is where we want to be.

In the mirror and against blitz, I'm not sure about you boarding out KoI. Against blitz especially, KoI can just fog champion all day until they draw removal. Not sure about the mirror as I haven't done much testing lately(been playing Junk), but I'd imagine being able to attack past almost everything has got to be worth something.

In the mirror and against blitz, I'm not sure about you boarding out KoI. Against blitz especially, KoI can just fog champion all day until they draw removal. Not sure about the mirror as I haven't done much testing lately(been playing Junk), but I'd imagine being able to attack past almost everything has got to be worth something.

I was siding him out because I was siding in 4x sweepers.

After more play testing, I have given up on Act 3.

I've been punting all my G1's with the Act 1 MB, and winning all my G2+G3's with the transformational board into Act 2. Therefore, I'm just biting the bullets and playing Act 2. Esper is still a concern in larger tournaments, but I feel this list is reasonably balanced.

I'm now
running this list:

Marijn Lybaert's The Aristocrats
Standard – Winner, WMCQ Belgium

[deck]Lands (24)
4 Blood Crypt
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Clifftop Retreat
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Godless Shrine
4 Isolated Chapel
2 Plains
4 Sacred Foundry

Creatures (21)
4 Blood Artist
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Cartel Aristocrat
4 Doomed Traveler
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
1 Zealous Conscripts

Spells (15)
3 Blasphemous Act
4 Lingering Souls
1 Orzhov Charm
4 Tragic Slip
3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad

Sideboard (15)
2 Assemble the Legion
2 Dreadbore
2 Electrickery
2 Intangible Virtue
3 Mark of Mutiny
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Obzedat, Ghost Council[/deck]


Have only tested against Jund, but it worked well. I'm not sure about sideboarding yet. I know what I want to bring in, but I'm scratching my head as to what comes out.

Here's what I've worked out.

Aristocrats Act 2 Sideboarding Guide

VS Blitz
-4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
+2 Dreadbore, +2 Electrickery

VS Esper
-4 Tragic Slip, -3 Blaspemous Act, -1 Orzhov Charm
+2 Obzedat Ghost Council, +2 Assemble the Legion, +2 Intangible Virtue, + 2 Oblivion Ring

VS Jund
-3 Blaspemous Act, -4 Blood Artist
+2 Obzedat Ghost Council, +3 Mark of Mutiny, +2 [card]
Dreadbore[/card]

VS UWR
-4 Blood Artist, -3 Blaspemous Act, -1 Orzhov Charm
+2 Obzedat Ghost Council, +2 Assemble the Legion, +2 Intangible Virtue, +2 Dreadbore

VS Junk Rites
-3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, -1 Orzhov Charm, -1 Tragic Slip
+3 Mark of Mutiny, +2 Electrickery

VS Bant
-3 Blasphemous Act, -4 Tragic Slip, -4 Blood Artist
+2 Assemble the Legion, +2 Intangible Virtue, +2 [card]
Obzedat, Ghost Council[/card], +3 Mark of Mutiny, +2 Oblivion Ring

VS Gruul
-4 Lingering Souls
+2 Dreadbore, +2 Oblivion Ring

VS Mirror
-3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad, -4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
+2 Oblivion Ring, +2 Electrickery, +3 Mark of Mutiny

Had a quick read through of your analysis, cannot find any faults!

Had a quick read through of your analysis, cannot find any faults!

Thanks Z.

I have been thinking about the blitz match up, and I really like Mark of Mutiny for their reckoners. It esentially gives you more of your combo pieces. Also finding Sorin too slow to be relevant. They can just ignore him for the most part. He's awesime if you can do a T3 Lingering Souls into T4 emblem, but I think you generally want blaspemous act in T4.

With that in mind, I think it makes sense to update the plan to:

-4 Falenrath Aristocrat, -1 Zealous Conscripts, -2 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
+3 Mark of Mutiny, +2 electrickery, + 2 dreadbore

Bringing in Marks when you're taking out half of your sacrifice outlets, especially in a matchup where if you fall substantially behind on board you just lose, doesn't sound appealing. You're effectively going all-in on the combo kill at that point ~ now; I don't have any experience in the matchup, so maybe that is realistic? Mark doesn't really impact the board, which is the same problem with Sorin; so maybe it will be a slight upgrade, but I doubt a substantial one, outside the combo-element.

Maybe it is the case that your Naya Blitz opponent is routinely at or around 13 anyway? I know they're pretty aggressively hurting themselves, so you probably don't need much to snag a win I suppose. Worth testing.

Mark sounds terrible against blitz. I'd just board +2 electrickery, +2 dreabore and I'd have a 5th act in the board and take out sorins and conscripts, and a falkenrath. In my testing, I've found that you win be either resolving blood artists and making/blocking with a million tokens before winning with whatever(reckoner/artist+act or any aristocrat when they're at a low life total and you can alpha+sac everything). You really don't want anything that doesn't gum up the board or kill guys.

Also, I haven't seen a blitz list play reckoner...ever. Even if they have it though, you have cartel which makes it a non-issue at least while you're on the defensive.

Mark sounds terrible against blitz. I'd just board +2 electrickery, +2 dreabore and I'd have a 5th act in the board and take out sorins and conscripts, and a falkenrath. In my testing, I've found that you win be either resolving blood artists and making/blocking with a million tokens before winning with whatever(reckoner/artist+act or any aristocrat when they're at a low life total and you can alpha+sac everything). You really don't want anything that doesn't gum up the board or kill guys.

Also, I haven't seen a blitz list play reckoner...ever. Even if they have it though, you have cartel which makes it a non-issue at least while you're on the defensive.

That must be a regional difference, because they all run it here.

nWent 3-0 at FNM this week, with wins against R/b aggro, Jund, and RDW. I added Sire of Insanity to the sideboard, since I think it's pretty big against [card]Sphinx's Revelation[/card] decks, but I never ended up playing and control. Other than tha, I don't think we get any help from dragon's maze really.

My current 75 is now:

[deck]Lands (24)
4 Blood Crypt
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Clifftop Retreat
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Godless Shrine
4 Isolated Chapel
2 Plains
4 Sacred Foundry

Creatures (21)
4 Blood Artist
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Cartel Aristocrat
4 Doomed Traveler
4 Falkenrath Aristocrat
1 Zealous Conscripts

Spells (15)
3 Blasphemous Act
4 Lingering Souls
1 Orzhov Charm
4 Tragic Slip
3 Sorin, Lord of Innistrad

Sideboard (15)
2 Assemble the Legion
2 Dreadbore
2 Electrickery
2 Sire of Insanity
3 Mark of Mutiny
2 Oblivion Ring
2 Obzedat, Ghost Council[/deck]

I might end up dropping Assemble the Legion next. Not sure
how the meta will shape up and what we might need those slots for. I do think it's a lot less appealing without Intangible Virtue though.

Those of you with more playtesting than I with Act 2, do you find the Sorins are good or bad against Blitz?

I have been reading a bunch of articles and some say they suck against Blitz yet others board them in against Blitz

I noticed neither of your new lists runs Silverblade Paladin. :smugdog:
Have you tried Obzadad in your Conscripts slot at all or is the miser's Conscripts taking games? I can understand that Conscripting the game away is a real thing that happens a real number of times, my question is more a matter of if the resiliency and packaged win condition of Dad is worth the slot when the entire rest of your deck requires some puzzle-piecing. It also combos with Blasphemous Act.

I don't think silverblade is good at alll without Champs and KoI and just overall more aggro deck like how Act 1 is.

I am making the Obzedat/Conscripts switch myself in the sideboard. Obzedat seems to fit into Act 2 really well since you are often grinding out life totals.