This week, still stunned from the Mythic performance last time out, I decided to play the deck in some queues on Magic Online and see how it performs against the rest of the field.
This is the decklist I chose to run, since there are no Rise of the Eldrazi cards yet on Magic Online.
Creatures (27)
- 4 Birds of Paradise
- 2 Ranger of Eos
- 3 Rafiq of the Many
- 4 Rhox War Monk
- 4 Noble Hierarch
- 2 Thornling
- 4 Knight of the Reliquary
- 4 Lotus Cobra
Planeswalkers (3)
Lands (19)
Spells (11)
Sideboard
The differences:
I adjusted the manabase to have the same amount of turn 1 Hierarch/Birds chances as I had when I played against UW. Ranger of Eos replaces Vengevine in both the sideboard and main deck. Vines of Vastwood replaces the Emerge Unscathed. Two Pithing Needles replace two Baneslayer Angels in the sideboard, to have some equity against Naya.
The following rounds are played in eight-man queues.
Round 1 versus Jund
I lose the die roll
Game 1
Opening hand: Sunpetal Grove, Stirring Wildwood, Forest, Noble Hierarch, Knight of the Reliquary, Vines of Vastwood, Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Easy keep.
He starts with Raging Ravine into Verdant Catacombs and Putrid Leech, while I draw two lands (Sejiri Steppe and Sunpetal Grove) and answer with a turn two Knight of the Reliquary. I am surprised when I untap with the Knight, as he only played another Leech and a Trace after attacking with his first Leech for two. I play my Elspeth, create a token, and pass the turn. I expect him not to play any removal on my guy, as he should be expecting Sejiri Steppe (unless he has Bloodbraid Elf). Worst case scenario? I can still search for a Green source and cast my Vines. He attacks the Elspeth with both the Leeches and I block both of them. When he pumps his Leech and I activate my Knight to search for a fetchland and fetch for a Forest, I am surprised that it survives once again — and even more surprised when he passes the turn. I draw Finest Hour but decide not to play it, and instead just attack with the Knight pumped up by Elspeth, and play my man land. This way I don’t think there is a possibility to lose the game. He untaps after taking the big punch and concedes.
1-0
-3 Rafiq of the Many
-3 Finest Hour
+2 Vapor Snare
+2 Baneslayer Angel
+1 Ranger of Eos
+1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
When I try to submit my deck, Magic Online tells me that I don’t own any Birds of Paradise, and when I try to relog there is a fatal error and I have to re-launch the program. So no sideboard for me for game 2. Awesome
Game2
He chooses to play first and takes a mulligan.
We see: Misty Rainforest, Forest, Sunpetal Grove, Stirring Wildwood, Celestial Colonnade, Knight of the Reliquary, Thornling.
This is far from the dream opening, but after he mulligans I think it is good enough, especially because of the two man lands.
He is happy with his six cards and starts with Savage Lands. I answer with the Wildwoods after drawing Ranger of Eos. He doesn’t have any turn 2 plays aside from the enters-the-battlefield-tapped manland, and neither do I. The only thing he does on turn 3 is cast a Trace of Abundance. I play my Knight. He Blightnings me and I discard two lands, pumping the Knight in the process. Deathmark takes out the Knight. I play my Ranger of Eos fetching a pair of Hierarchs. He plays another Blightning. My hand at this point is:
2 Thornling, 1 Rhox War Monk, 2 Noble Hierarch, with two man lands on the board.
I discard a Thornling and a Hierarch, which sets up some smooth upcoming turns if he doesn’t interact too much. I draw a fetchland and play it, my Hierarch, and my Rhox War Monk, attacking with Ranger for four. The next turn I draw another fetch and decide to only attack with the War Monk. It immediately gets Terminated by his last card in hand, and I can safely play my Thornling with some extra mana up. He untaps and concedes.
2-0/1-0
Round 2 versus Allies
I lose the die roll.
Game 1
Opening hand: Stirring Wildwood, Celestial Colonnade, 2 Forest, Thornling, Ranger of Eos, Elspeth
This hand is far too slow.
Six-card hand: 2 Misty Rainforest, Verdant Catacomb, Noble Hierarch, 2 Finest Hour
Not good, but better than five cards.
He opens with Hada Freeblade while I draw a Forest. I fetch up a Forest with the Catacombs and play my Hierarch. A turn 2 Oran-Rief Survivalist pumps up the Freeblade, and I take two. I draw a Knight of Reliquary and play it after fetching an Island. He doesn’t have a play and I draw another Knight, which I play after cracking another Fetchland. I end my turn to have a solid defence and start attacking next turn with Finest Hour. He plays Harabaz Druid, and I activate my Knight at the end of turn to pump it up twice. I untap, play my first Finest Hour, and start with the first big punch. He chumps the second attack of the Knight with the Survivalist in order to survive. He fetches up two Freeblades with the Ranger, and plays both. I search for a Colonnade with the untapped Knight. I finish him off with one of the many ways I have to do so.
1-0
+2 Baneslayer Angel
-2 Thornling
Game 2
Opening hand: Stirring Wildwood, Celestial Colonnade, Noble Hierarch, Lotus Cobra, Rhox War Monk, Rafiq of the Many, Ranger of Eos
Even though I can’t play the Hierarch on turn 1, I think I am forced to keep.
He once again starts with a Freeblade into Survivalist. My first two draw steps are pretty much blanks (Elspeth and Cobra), and he pumps up his forces with Harabaz Druid. I draw a Forest and play one of the two Cobras and the War Monk. He plays Turntimber Ranger and another Freeblade, for a pretty impressive force, and I go down to two life. I draw another War Monk but there is no way I survive next turn, and I concede.
1-1
-2 Ranger of Eos
+2 Vapor Snare
Game 3
Opening hand: Celestial Colonnade, Island, Birds of Paradise, Knight of the Reliquary, Rafiq of the Many, Elspeth, Finest Hour
He keeps.
Six-card hand: Verdant Catacombs, Misty Rainforest, Sejiri Steppe, Birds of Paradise, Noble Hierarch, Rhox War Monk
I start with a turn 1 Hierarch. He has the Freeblade once again. I draw Finest Hour and play the Monk. He once again has the Survivalist. I draw Cobra and play the Bird and the Cobra, so I can play Finest Hour with Sejiri Steppe next turn. The Monk gets in for 4. He plays another Freeblade and attacks with his two Allies. I play my Steppe and the Finest Hour and the Rhox comes in for two punches. He untaps, passes, and the Birds of Paradise finishes him off.
4-1/2-0
Round 3 versus Jund
I win the die roll
Game 1
Opening Hand: Sejiri Steppe, 3 Sunpetal Grove, Rhox War Monk, Rafiq of the Many, Elspeth
Ship.
He keeps.
Six-card hand: Sejiri Steppe, 2 Misty Rainforest, Birds of Paradise, Lotus Cobra, Rafiq of the Many.
I start the game with a turn 1 Bird. He plays Savage Lands. I draw another Bird, and play the Cobra and the Bird. He plays a Leech. I draw another Cobra, play it and Rafiq of the Many, and attack with the Cobra, leaving Sejiri Steppe as my only card in hand. He trades the Leech and two life points with one of the Cobras. Rafiq dies to Terminate. I draw Hierarch and attack for 3. Bloodbraid Elf reveals another Leech, and he gets in for 3. I draw Colonnade and one of the Birds gets in for one. He has another Elf, revealing Thrinax, and I trade my Lotus Cobra with an Elf, taking 7 in the progress. I draw Ranger of Eos, play it and fetch two Hierarchs. I play one of them, and one of the Birds gets in for two. He Blightnings me, attacks, and Lightning Bolt finishes me off.
0-1
-3 Rafiq of the Many
-3 Finest Hour
+1 Sphinx of Jwar Isle
+1 Ranger of Eos
+2 Baneslayer Angel
+2 Vapor Snare
Game 2
Opening Hand: Verdant Catacombs, Sunpetal Grove, Island, Vines of Vastwood, 2 Elspeth
With the Vines and the two Elspeth (which I am unsure I can cast) and the rather slow hand, I think this is a mulligan.
He keeps.
Six-card hand: 2 Verdant Catacomb, Celestial Colonnade, Sunpetal Grove, Knight of the Reliquary, Ranger of Eos
I start with Colonnade and pass. He plays a man land of his own. I draw another Colonnade but play a Fetch land, so my turn 3 Knight is Bolt-proof. He Rampant Growths and I play my 4/4 Knight. The Knight dies to Deathmark, and he also plays Putrid Leech. I play my freshly-drawn Elspeth and pass the turn. Bloodbraid Elf cascades into Sprouting Thrinax and Lightning Bolt finishes Elspeth off. I play my Ranger, fetch up two Hierarchs, and play one of them. The Ranger trades with the Elf, and he plays another Thrinax and another man land. I draw a War Monk and play the Monk, the Hierarch, the Colonnade, and a previously drawn Bird, leaving me with zero cards and a lot of trouble. He attacks with a Leech only and I take four, then he plays Master of the Wild Hunt. I draw another land and one of the Colonnades gets in for six. Malakir Bloodwitch makes sure I don’t make a comeback, and I concede after drawing yet another land.
0-2
4-3/2-1
Before joining another queue, I cook myself a delicious pasta meal.
Queue 2
Round 1 versus Polymorph (?)
I win the die roll.
Game 1
Opening hand: Misty Rainforest, Verdant Catacombs, 2 Celestial Colonnade, 2 Noble Hierarch, Finest Hour.
I like keeping hands with turn 3 Finest Hour.
I draw Lotus Cobra and play turn 2 Cobra and Hierarch. He taps out to play Spreading Seas (off Scalding Tarn and Mountain), and Lotus Cobra attacks for 13. He untaps, writes “wow,” and concedes.
1-0
+1 Ranger of Eos
+4 Negate
-4 Rhox War Monk
-1 Vines of Vastwood
Game 2
He keeps.
Opening hand: 3 Celestial Colonnade, Stirring Wildwood, Ranger of Eos, 2 Negate
Not really what I want to be doing.
Six-card hand: Misty Rainforest, Forest, Noble Hierarch, Ranger of Eos, Negate, Elspeth
Much better.
He starts with Halimar Depths and Controlled Instincts on the Hierarch. On my second turn I play one of my two drawn Forests, and pass. He plays Khalni Garden and Ponder. I play Celestial Colonnade and pass again, fearing Polymorph. He plays Goblin Assault and passes. I draw Cobra, play it and a fetch land, but the Cobra gets immediately Bolted. I still play my Elspeth, and he plays another Goblin Assault, and his Goblin trades with my soldier. Ranger of Eos fetches up two Hierarchs, and the one I am able to play gets Flashfreezed. I create another token and summon another Hierarch, after drawing another Elspeth, and pass. I draw Thornling, and Negate the Flashfreeze he was trying to play. Elspeth creates another token and is ready to Ultimate next turn. Thornling catches Controlled Instinct as well. Elspeth ultimates, and the next Elspeth creates another token. Ranger of Eos starts doing the dirty work. He plays another Khalni Garden, and the Thornling attacks for 15 thanks to Elspeth.
2-0
6-3/3-1
Round 2 versus Mythic
I lose the die roll.
Game 1
Opening Hand: 2 Verdant Catacombs, Misty Rainforest, Forest, Island, Lotus Cobra, Finest Hour.
He keeps.
Once again, I keep because I can play Finest Hour turn 3.
He starts with Hierarch into second turn Colonnade, Bird, and another Hierarch. I play my Cobra. He plays Knight of Reliquary and I draw my own, and a Rafiq. I play my own Knight and pass. He plays Finest Hour, and I die.
0-1
+2 Baneslayer Angel
+2 Vapor Snare
+1 Negate
-1 Vines of Vastwood
-2 Thornling
-2 Ranger of Eos
Game 2
Opening hand: Forest, 2 Sunpetal Grove, Lotus Cobra, 2 Elspeth, Vapor Snare
I keep, while he goes down to five.
His first play is a turn 1 Hierarch, which I answer with my Cobra. His only play on turn 2 is another Hierarch, and I play my Elspeth. He plays Knight of the Reliquary, which I steal with my Vapor Snare. He plays Jace and bounces the Knight. Jace dies to the Cobra, and another token gets created. He plays a third Hierarch and replays the Knight. I summon Rhox War Monk and create another token with Elspeth instead of attacking, since it is ready to ultimate and I have a backup Planeswalker. He plays Finest Hour, attacks once, and passes. I Ultimate my first Elspeth and play the second, pumping up the Rhox and swing for six. His Knight searches out a fetchland at end of turn, and cracks it immediately, putting him down to six. He untaps, plays Vapor Snare on the Rhox, and concedes.
1-1
-1 Negate
-1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
+2 Qasali Pridemage
Game 3
Opening hand: Stirring Wildwood, Celestial Colonnade, Birds of Paradise, Lotus Cobra, Rhox War Monk, Rafiq of the Many, Vapor Snare
After he took a mulligan, I decided to keep my hand.
He starts with Stirring Wildwood and I draw my Forest to cast a turn 1 Birds. I draw Baneslayer Angel and answer his Cobra with one of my own, and pass the turn after playing the Colonnade. He plays Jace and bounces my Cobra. I play a land and the War Monk. Jace bounces my Rhino and he plays two Knight of the Reliquary. Bad news. He plays Baneslayer Angel the next turn, after the only thing I did was replay my Rhino, and I concede after drawing a blank.
1-2
7-5/3-2
The result seems pretty mediocre, but I still think that the deck should perform really well in almost any metagame, and you should definitely try it! Mythic is currently changing due to Eldrazi Conscription, so get an online taste of the original while you still can!
Thanks for reading…
Manu B