Thank you. Played it at FNM yesterday. Lost 2-0 to a U/W control deck first round, won 2-1 in a mirror match 2nd rd, swept a mono U deck third, and thanks to mana issues, I got swept in the 4th. Played in a tournament today wen 3-1, going 2-0 in each of the first three rounds, before succumbing to another U/W control deck in the finals. First match I got mana screwed, second match I got mana flooded. Have another tournament tomorrow and may run it one last time for awhile.
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With the Precinct Captain and Rogue's Passage, you get a 1/1 token when you successfully deal damage to a player. Now, if you have Parallel Lives in play, you get 2 1/1. They can be used to chump block, thus saving your creature cards for attacking and populating. As for Trostani, I never really see the value in having more than 2 copies of any legendary. I know it increases your chances of pulling one, but as you can only have one in play at a time, they also clog up your deck. I mostly agree with you on the Grove of the Guardian. However, I have popped that thing on turn 4 and 5 before. With the Selesnya Charm, you can give it trample, have an 8/8 blocker, or use the Rogue's Passage to have an unblockable 8/8. Of course, I run Arbor Elves and Avacyn's Pilgrims in my populate deck for ramping, which may make a huge difference for me as opposed to you.I have yet to include Rogue's Passage, mostly because I have been working on a G/W Aggro deck. But I'm planning on playing my deck at FNM this week (didn't get to last week) and I should have it in there by then. Here's my populate deck: http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=394122
Nice deck. I would drop one Trostani and add in another Wayfaring Temple, then I would main deck Grove of the Guardian and Find a way to fit in Rogue's Passage to help make your Wayfaring Temple unblockable, which can increase your chances to populate. If you do add the Passage, take a good, hard look at Precinct Captain for the same reasons as Wayfaring Temple. B/R Aggro will be hard to deal with so some Knight of Glory may be a helpful sideboard card. I would also consider throwing in one more RIP , 1-2 more Loxodon Smiter (which also helps with Black discard decks) the Dryad Militant, Thalia, and Oblivion Ring into the sideboard to help against control decks.
Thanks for commenting on my deck. I saw yours earlier and thought it was a good deck. As you stated, it is very interesting to see different takes on the the same deck idea. http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=395544 I think I'm going to like mine very much once I get all of the cards for it. I just wish I could fit in the Ambush Viper. With the Flash and Deathtouch, that card just screams Aggro. it also becomes another form of removal, even though you are likely using it as a sort of sack creature.
I would reduce the amount of Rootborn Defenses and rplace them with the Druid's Deliverance. I have found the Rootborn Defenses not to help as much as the Deliverances. Here is what I did with my deck: http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=394122
Lox Smiter is a great card to sideboard in this type of deck, because if you run up against heavy control or discard type decks, it gives you an answer. For the main deck, I believe that Precinct Captain is a much better main deck choice. He fits with the theme So much better. 4 Grove of the Guardians is too much. You really should not have more than 1 in this deck. You are going to find that popping it for the 8/8 elemental will not happen often and you are shorting yourself with much needed mana, by having so many in there. I would ditch 3 of the Groves and 2 of the Wilds and replace them with 1 Temple Garden, 3 Sunpetal Groves, and 1 Rogue's Passage. Rogue's Passage will help you populate, when you make the Wayfaring Temple and/or the Precinct Captain "Unblockable" You are better off removing the Centaur's Heralds for either Arbor Elves or Avacyn's Pilgrim. The Heralds are too mana intensive for what they offer, IMHO. And I'm of the same opinion when it comes to the Guildmage. If you are willing to tap a creature for mana, replace the Axbane Guardians with Somberwald Sages. I generally prefer creatures who's abilities are triggered when they come in to play as opposed to when something occurs during gameplay. I think the Attended Knights are great options for this deck, especially if you get Parallel Lives. Lastly, you may find that having 4 Selesnya's Charms and 2 Rootborn Defenses is better. The Charms have more uses and give your deck much-needed flexibility.
If you want better graveyard removal, why not include the Dryad Militant and Rest in Peace in your sideboard?
While I think that the Crusader of Odric would work well in the deck, I would consider replacing them with Attended Knight. For the same cost, you get a 2/2 First Strike creature that produces a 1/1 token when it comes in to play. This would give you more populating options, and feed the Wayfaring Temples better. Especially if you already have Growing Ranks in play. Your opponents aren't going to sit there and let you grow too many creatures. I think you should main deck Druid's Deliverance and possibly the Armada Wurm. Also worth considering: my populate deck had some issues with U control and graveyard recursion. So sideboarding Judge's Familiar and Rest in Peace may be worth serious consideration. Good luck, it's still a nice populate deck.
I could use some advice on this deck. Gonn use it this week at FNM: Population of Selesnya : http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=392369
Thanks for commenting on my deck! http://www.mtgvault.com/ViewDeck.aspx?DeckID=392369&DeckCommentID=294458 I did some playtesting tonight and found that any graveyard recursion really gave me problems. As such, it might be a GREAT idea to sideboard Rest In Peace. Also, as someone suggested, Gavony Township helps with anything that makes your tokens -1/-1. I kind of found the Guildmage to be too mana-intensive. You can use 3 Call of the Conclaves and get 3 3/3 Centaurs for what you pay for her first ability and there are several cheaper spells that allow you to populate.
How do you think this would run with 20 lands?
Have you considered using Call of the Conclave? 1G/1W and you have a 3/3 Centaur. Also, you can ramp up with Arbor Elf and Avacyn's Pilgrim. Also, if you want to gain life to stall until you bust loose, why not add Heroes' Reunion? For 1G/1W you get 7 life and it's an instant. I like Eyes in Skies also, but you may also consider Midnight haunting, which costs 1 Colorless Mana less than Eyes. Sure you lose the ability to populate, but you do get 2 1/1 fliers so ( I think) it's a fair trade off.
Have you considered traing out the Accorder Paladins for Hamlet Captains? I had the Paladins in my deck but they were often Geistflamed or incinerated because of their 1 def. Hamlets seem to have a little more longevity and provide bonuses on offense and defense. Also, taking out 1 Honor of the Pure for Overrun, would give you a kill card. With the Blade Splicers and the Heroes, that could be NASTY. I have the Elites in my Sideboard, but might main deck them because I have come across too much Infect. Another possibility is adding Mentor of the Meek, to help with card advantage. I have them in my main deck but am going to run without them tonight, to see how the deck fares. Another suggestion is considering adding Gideon's Avenger and Gideon's Lawkeeper (or Avacynian Priest) to get a nice three card combo with Gideon. Tap a target creature with the Lawkeeper or Priest, put a +1/+1 counter on the Avenger and use Gideon to destroy them. Works pretty well even if you don't get the Avenger in play. Other than that, it seems like a pretty good deck.