For this post, I'll be using the style of the previous Green post (going by casting cost), for the Blue and White cards, since they are the colors that fill out the "Bant" shard. There may be some green cards here, but they will be cards that are Green/White, or Green/Blue, that I would only play if I was also playing Blue or White.
Casting Cost:1
I'd be pretty sad if this card made the deck, since we can play something like Young Wolf, which is very close to being directly superior.
It is an aggressive creature, but it is NOT a one-drop.
Worth keeping in mind, moreso the less creatures we have to get in the way before turn 4.
It is superb against removal, because it is very easy to leave up, and is virtually guaranteed to be a mana advantage (You get a Thragtusk, they get to spend mana to not kill your guy, you spend one mana and a card)
The problem with this is against mass removal, because it does nothing at all there.
Also, this is only a one-drop, in that it allows you to cast two spells turns 4-6 (or threaten to do so). That it can't be cast before turn 3 or so is not really an advantage that helps keep you alive turns 1-3.
This is the card I like the most so far, but it is a card that helps you make more than one play, or generate surprise blocks, or kill planeswalkers. It isn't really an early play, when you lay out your mana.
Not Considered: Erase (Sideboard vs. Rancor?), Thought Scour, Outwit, Dispel.
There's no Tragic Slips, or Pillar of Flames to be found here. This means we'd better be picking the pace up on 2-3, or we'll be looking at 3-4 creatures attacking us, while we are waiting to cast a no-value Restoration Angel on four and hoping it resolves.
Also, Cloudshifting an Angel of Serenity for the perma-exile is a lot more realistic than Restoration Angeling one... (since one is prevented by game rule =) )
Casting Cost: 2
Initial verdict on this guy is "No", but he might make it in if the focus of the deck changes.
However, we might be able to play something like 1x of this guy, to go with ~10 spells we'd be happy to flash back.
It's not great against bounce, is uncastable with Cavern or utility lands, but it gets the party started, and how.
It is weak to bounce effects, but surprisingly non-terrible against Azorius Charm, since we pretty much don't want to draw this again, if it got Charmed.
It blocks Geist, it brick-walls any one-drop, and it brings the pain against control, without giving us ultra-weak draws late-game. (3 damage a turn is at least reasonable). It also trades with either side of a Thrag, and is immune to Pillar. Not bad for a two drop!
He's a good defensive body, with a semi-relevant creature type, and is surprisingly castable on a mono-dual mana base.
This and Thalia block Geist, so that's something. But they get outclassed once we get to the land of the 'Tusk.
People are playing Goblin Electomancer in standard, and for good reason. Having a inverse-electromancer, at a super easy casting cost, that is also good against aggro, is not terrible.
It's a bit weak to one-damage removal, but if it slows our control opponent down while we smack them around for a bit, that's something. It doesn't hold up well at all late-game, but if we had this lady, we'd be hoping to not get to there...
Thalia does make Syncopate, Dissipate, and other counters quite poor, but so does Cavern (A card I want to four-of more and more as I see feature matches play out)
Angel of Serenity loops? No thanks. Thragtusk recursion? Nah. Olivia Voldaren growing to unmanageable levels? Nope. Wolfyr Silverheart? Thanks for turning on my "Swords to Plowshares" with no downside...
This also blocks and trades with pretty much any one or two drop out of the aggressive decks. What doesn't it work well against? Well, things between 2/3 and 4/*, when we don't have a board presence. If we have anything, from a 'Tusk down, it kills the creature again (providing nothing goes awry).
I really like this card, I imagine it would be hard to argue against having it as at least a one-of.
That feels horrid to me.
The lifelink mode on this is almost irrelevant when you have 'Tusk in your deck, so we actually only have two modes to start with, drawing a card, and Griptiding a guy.
Griptide for UW is awesome against one and two drops, that increasingly become bad topdecks, even on turn two or three. It can be a full-on time-walk as your board position compared to theirs becomes more and more disparate. The bad part is that for cards that function in the end-game, Griptide is terrible. 'Tusk, any Angel, Olivia, any Sphinx, and you're not in great shape with this play.
Azorious Charm can be any other card, but unfortunately from what I've seen, that is the mode this gets used in the most, and once you start with that as a baseline, why don't you just pay UW less for your spell, and actually play a card that matters in your deck? (I know, it's fine against "Aggro", and is never dead, but I think we're a little addicted to the possibilities "three options" provide, and a little less attentive to what they actually offer to our deck when we put this card in.)
It's instant speed, which enables blowouts well. It kills Detention Sphere and Oblivion Ring, which are really the only way to interact with resolved planeswalkers.
It also doubles as a removal spell early, for beasts, or to "counter" a blocking Restoration Angel. It "deals" with planeswalkers in the same way Angel of Serenity "deals" with creatures.
It's easy to cast, instant speed, is good early, and good late. What more do we want in a card? It's a very solid one-of, and two is not out of the realm of possibility.
Unfortunately, this really seems like a do-nothing, that just leads you to want to do more do-nothings. It feels better than Azorius Charm to me, but it still doesn't actually have any effect on the board on turn two, which we may not be able to afford.
Compare cards like Cyclonic Rift, Selesnya Charm, or Call of the Conclave to Think Twice, and you see why I hesitate to pull the trigger on this option for a two-drop....
Not Considered: Desperate Ravings (U/R), Negate (Sideboard), Peel From Reality (Solid, but requires destroying your own board presence, and requires them to have a creature to work), Redirect (UU), Knight of Glory (SB vs Black), Rest in Peace (SB vs reanimation), Izzet Charm, Bonds of Faith, Serra Avenger.
Summary of the 2's:
Call of the Conclave, Selesnya Charm, and Cyclonic Rift are all very powerful, and sometimes very versatile spells, that pull the deck in different directions, and provide things that mono-Green is not giving us. Removal, Removal, and a big critter. This is our opening line from the deck, and will set the mood for what we want further down the line...
Casting Cost: 3
This is a strong anti-aggro card, that I'd want at least a couple of in the main-deck, since it is one of the least dead options for that sort of match-up. The creature types on this could be better, but that won't make or break this card.
It does have some advantages over Centaur Healer, especially in this meta. For one, it blocks Centaur Healer, and lives to tell the tale. (As well as Messengers, Manglers, Beast Tokens, etc)
It also "can't be countered", eliminating perhaps the only disadvantage of Centaur Healer (creature types)
The only discard spells in the format that could turn on the Smiter's ability are Liliana +1, and Rakdos' Return. Those are certainly not irrelevant. As much as I like the Healer, the calls of "SMITE!" may be heard from games I'm in...
This feels like a sideboard card, against the right kinds of control decks. They must answer this, in particular ways, or die. Starting as early as turn three. Good luck!
It punishes multiple one-mana creature draws, which our deck is likely weak to.
It answers a planeswalker in a 1:1 way.
It perminantly kills tokens.
It breaks up recursion loops.
I want plenty of these in my deck, as a stabilization play against aggro that isn't anywhere near dead against control.
I don't understand why people would play O-Ring in a format with Detention Sphere. It doesn't make any sense. If you O-Ring my Detention Sphere (literally the only thing that you could do with O-Ring that you couldn't with Detention Sphere), then I just Detention Sphere your O-Ring, and you're back where we started, except now I get the option to upgrade what I targetted.
If you're going to play something to counteract Detention Sphere, make sure it doesn't lose straight-up to Detention Sphere itself!
If you want a versitile answer that can kill Spheres, pick Acidic Slime, Ray of Revelation, Sundering Growth, Bramblecrush, Planar Cleansing or just go over the top with a planeswalker of your own (Tamayo, big Garruk). Don't play a card for a scenario where that card is specifically terrible.
Not considered: Cackling Counterpart (Cloudshift), Dissipate (Cavern), Ghostly Flicker (Cloudshift), Scroll Theif, Stealer of Secrets (Thragtusk), Arctic Aven (LoL), Fettergeist (matches poorly with angel, doesn't work positively with anything in the deck), Ajani, Emancipation Angel (Restoration Angel), Fiend Hunter, Intrepid Hero, Lingering Souls, Mentor of the Meek (not enough targets, hopefully. Centaurs are the new spirits)
Casting Cost: 4
It saves your guys from removal, wins pretty much any combat with anything that costs less than it, reuses enter the battlefield or leave the battlefield effects, resets undying, provides multiple surprise blockers, the list of positives to this card go on and on.
And it's freaking huge for it's cost! It makes some planeswalkers unplayable just by existing in the format, and plenty of people play those cards anyway! It doesn't die to the red removal, it isn't bad against the blue removal. It eats many of the green creatures for breakfast (mmm, centaur) The only mark on it's record is that it can't save itself, and it isn't good against mass removal.
Just think about it, would you rather wrath away two creatures, or play a single one that invalidates theirs? Do you want to have to overload on this type of effect so you aren't steamrolled by Geist of Saint Traft, or would you rather just play a 3/3(or larger!) for GW, that simply invalidates it?
Wrath effects are extremely powerful. They catch you up from otherwise unwinnable board states. But ladies and gentlemen, we are living in the days of Thragtusk and Geralf's Messenger, not to mention Lotleth Troll, Gravecrawler, and other undying creatures. A sweeper just doesn't do what it used to against aggro, and is at best a Detention Sphere against control.
I'd want one, or perhaps two, to provide a way out from otherwise unwinnable board states, but it's not an instant, it doesn't interact well with the key threats of this age, and it is pretty slow. Verdict into Tusk is fine, but Angel into Tusk is better, and some of the new planeswalkers are pretty hard to deal with. We want to be able to punish mana creatures, aggro, and tokens, but that's a job for our whole deck, not a few key cards we hang our hopes on. Playing (bigger, better) creatures is a great way to kill aggro decks off, which is the approach I'd like to take.
He finds you lands, sweepers, or threats, as long as either you are willing to take one card instead of two, or all the cards are good, or your opponent doesn't know your game plan.
The biggest problem with Jace is that you just can't use his -2 as much as you'd want. You can only use it once in the first two turns even on an empty board, and only twice in the first four turns even with no opposition, if you want to keep him around. Perhaps non-obviously, you can only use a -2 every third round when it is being cancelled out by a +1 twice. This is no Jace TMS, where a +2 allowed you to unsummon two more times.
Sorin, and Thragtusk are particularly awkward against this Jace, since even with his +1 he's relatively difficult to keep alive unless you have a board presense. So, What I'd advocate to other aspiring wizards is that you play some creatures, to keep him alive, rather than counterspells, which generally don't.
If we were making more of a tempo aggro rush, against people playing expensive, non-Thragtusk, non-Restoration-Angel creatures, this would be quite a bit better.
A sideboard card at best, certainly, but it could be a 1-2-of there.
It's not great against future Restoration Angels, or as a topdeck when you're losing, so we can't go too crazy on this, but if our opponents plan is to play a Thragtusk, Angel of Serenity, or Olivia, and win with just that, we can prevent that single threat from winning the game necessarily with a Martial Law.
This is a good compliment to a sweeper based strategy as well, since we don't necessarily always have to sweep the board against one threat, it forces people to overextend.
Not considered: Amass the Components (Revelation), Bone to Ash, Clone, Dungeon Geists, Essense Backlash (R), Evil Twin, Talrand's Invocation (Restoration Angel), Angel of Jubilation, Divine Reckoning, Odrich, Master Tactician, Riders of Gavony, Sorin, Lord of Innistrad (Black)
Casting Cost: 5
As a legend, we don't want anything like maxing out on this guy/gal, but this makes a pretty good play for a one-of, or a card out of the board against removal heavy decks.
P.S.: Hexproof is stupid. (not fun)
Three blockers, 5 power for 5 mana by itself, across multiple targets/card names, is a pretty good start. Vigilance is a good ability to keep you safe from haste creatures, or counter-swings, and evasive attackers are good in a ground stall (which this creates)
This does a reasonable job against Thragtusk, or as reasonable as can be expected. It's weak to wrath if you play your stuff out, but is a reasonable single-card threat.
The problem is that it is weak against counterspells, which we intend to be strong against, especially counterspells that exile (aka the most popular kind). It's also not that great against Jace (though it is pretty good against any other planeswalker)
It competes a bit with Entreat the Angels, with Entreat being much higher impact if it happens, and Devotion being easier to make happen, but lower impact.
If our finisher is the 'Hoof, this near-guarantees a win...
Tamiyo is actually a bit easier to cast in a heavy-shock mana base, and has a similar immense loyalty, with the possibility of card draw that we see out of Garruk, P.H.
Both are really exceptional. They both handle Thragtusk, Tamiyo is better against fliers, Garruk is better at killing your opponent, and potentially better at drawing cards.
Both work very well with the rest of the cards in the deck, they appreciate blockers, and attack your opponent on a different front, that quickly becomes untenable. If your opponent taps out to do something, this is the follow up you want.
Not considered: Jace, Memory Adept (other 5-cc planeswalkers win faster/easier), Search the city (silly), Thoughtflare (red), Devastation Tide (Cyclonic Rift), Angelic Overseer, Unburial Rites (Black)
These cards all do a good job of giving even more options at the 5-slot, to suppliment Thragtusk, Big Garruk, and Acidic Slime out of Green. Again, it's not hard to find powerful 5-drops, but it is hard to find the ones that your deck needs to solve a difficult probelm, or to put the game away, and that's what these cards should be doing.
Casting Cost: 6
Blinking this guy is obviously insane, but he is a "6", so he'd better be winning the game in short order, and on that measure, Armada Wurm does offer quite a bit.
It gives value vs removal, it forces a sweeper, and it does an okay job vs. Thragtusk (not great, but okay)
If the board is anything close to even, it should not be for much longer after you play this spell. As with any of these 6's, I wouldn't play more than one, but it's yet another crazy threat, that attacks on a similar but skewed front.
+3/+3 is also "just right" for how much it is pumping. It puts Thragtusk and Beast out of trading with Thragtusk range. It allows Restoration Angel to kill Angel of Serenity (and live).
It does cost 6 to cast naturally, and is strongly contrasted with Supreme Verdict in terms of what your opponent can to do to stop you. (If Terminus resolves, they can't, Supreme will always resolve, but the creatures may still trouble you)
If we are playing Angel of Serenity on our side, the advantage of Terminus may be a liability, but hopefully we won't have more than a couple of either of these, if we are going with a more creature-heavy stratagem.
This is a very risky card to play with. We are very likely to be playing some planeswalkers, and enchantments, so this is by no means free, but I like what this is trying to do, so it's worth listing here.
Not Considered: Isperia, Supreme Judge (4 toughness (Mortars), drawing cards is not what we're looking for out of a 6cc creature...), Niv Mizzet (Red, requires an untap, and then a ton of mana), Deadeye Navigator (requires an untap, poor vs sweepers), Sudden Disappearance (Thragtusk for the opponent means it's not a "Sleep"), Spelltwine (cute, but that's that)
Casting Cost: 7+
It is also particularly difficult for you to play correctly, since there are just so many possibilities for the Angel, so many things you can do...
In addition, it is truly enormous. It kills virtually any other card on either list in a one on one fight. It flies, it protects planeswalkers superbly well. I would really want to play two of these, for the pure shenanigans that can occur.
I'm pretty sure the right play most of the time is to exile your OWN Thragtusks and co.
However, you have to ask yourself if this guy does his job any better than Angel of Serenity does, and most likely, the answer is no. Angel of Serenity is also an Angel, making Angel-Beast a pretty easy name for the first two Caverns, which makes your huge drops that much more likely to resolve.
Also, drawing cards is good, but winning the game is better.
Hard-cast, this is one of the more powerful things you can do, and can often put the game away, which is what we want out of a 7, but we can't overdo it on this, or we won't have anything worth doing on the extra turn we have.
Not Considered: Archon of the Triumverate (doesn't really stop your opponent from attacking, doesn't hit as hard), Sphynx of Uthuun (Want to win, not draw more cards), Nicol Bolas (too hard to cast pre-Gatecrash), Gizela (Red), Avecyn (not impactful enough, embarrassing vs Terminus, Detention Sphere)
Casting Cost: X's
The problem with using any sort of counterspell is that:
1) It's reactive, can't do it, and play a Thragtusk.
2) It doesn't actually necessarily help you win.
3) It's reactive, you can't kill their Thragtusk after the fact.
4) Cavern of Souls exists.
5) A lot of cards nowadays have "Can't be countered" in them, and perhaps not surprisingly, a lot of these are being played.
In some ways, this card is similar to "Negate" to me, in that if your opponent is on Caverns, all it's going to counter is non-creatures anyway.
It is nice to have actual interaction with your opponent, to maintain your board position against a Terminus, or prevent a planeswalker from sticking on a relatively open board.
I'm not wild about Syncopate, but it's a very real option to try to fill the two-drop slot.
It can take you out of "burn range", keep you alive through an attack, or draw you into what you need to win.
It is very slow, and needs to be for quite a bit of mana for it to be effective, and is not amazing in multiples, or in your opening hand, so I would be looking to play 1-2 of these, not do anything crazy. It is also super-weak to Syncopate, and really any sort of counterspell from your opponent.
Summary:
There are some very powerful spells in this list, but while listing some very powerful (and expensive) spells is fun, it was not really my intent. What we need out of these other colors are maybe a finisher, and definately some things to do before we cast our Thragtusk.I think Bant offers at least three pretty good options at the "2" slot, and a couple very good "3"s, and which one is chosen there effects decisions up the line. Those decisions will likely be far more impactful of our success with the deck than whether we play Tamayo or Garruk....
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