TheVanished

What deck do you run alfred?

and no i havent. but it seems interesting. ill have to go look at it

So not auto correct, im just an idiot XD but not force of will. its force of vigor. the green enchantment destruction spell.

And im not entirely sure. Off the top of my head one of the dark depths decks took first, and then i think there were some splinter twin decks, and some oko decks. Ill see if i can contact the guy who runs it and see if he still has the standings.

And off the top of my head i dont think there were any eldrazi decks alfred. unfortunately.

Second games were just as bad as the first tbh. I would bring in all 4 Leylines (sanctity, not void) and i forgot to mention, but i actually moved 2 of the missteps mainboard before the tourney in playtesting. but i would also bring in the third copy. Even if i did land the sanctity, they would usually bring in Force of Nature and Chalice of the Void. It felt pretty unwinnable. My friend brought the deck, and we play tested pretty much all day before the tournament. In all of 50ish games we played, I maybe won 4 or 5. mostly due to luck.

So idk if you guys are interested in hearing the match results, but if you are: here you go.

both of my first two matchups were against dark depths deks (the only ones there too :'( ). It feels kinda like playing against a really fast jund deck with regular ad naus.... basically unwinnable. the discard just kinda fucks the deck over, and having to use angel's grace to live the marit lage just feels bad.

my game three was against a regular modern control deck which just kinda shit on me.

that being said, the deck as the list above feels pretty awful tbh. You spend a LOT more time looking for your combo, and then once you get it, it feels like you need more mana than usual. The deck almost never threatens a kill until about turn 6ish. Which in no-ban world is faaaaaaar too slow. I may try to play a different version of ad naus next time around, based more on the pre-ssg ban list next time, but we shall see.

but thanks for the input guys :)

its not standard legal

Im really excited to play it. Im only missing like 6 cards now, so it should be ready for next fnm, and im pumped!

So, I know this deck is old, and the idea is probably done with... But I want to know your thoughts on this...

https://www.mtgvault.com/thevanished/decks/honorable-challenge/

I agree, but I didn't put it in for a few reasons: It only targets creatures. I'd rather have a spell that can hit my opponent for the last few bits of damage if need be. It's 3 cmc, like a looooot of the deck, and if you want to keep re-using it, it costs more mana, which isn't that great when the rest of your deck is massive, high-cost creatures.

Switch Keening Stone for Fraying Sanity. Half the cost, always active. I would also recommend cutting some islands, or other lands, for Field of Ruin.

You've got to remember, the instants can target creatures too. They're not just for hurting your opponent, they also double as creature removal. They also work for controlling your own life total. Say your opponent manages to put you to 13 while you're tapped out? On your upkeep, with Trisk's trigger on the stack, bolt yourself, then you don't lose. Not my first choice, but it is a possibility.

On the other hand, I do love me some tree. I just worry that it's too slow. You have to wait a full two turns with tree on the board before you can win with it. That gives them two turns to find an answer, of which there are a TON more of in modern.

Gives forerunner indestructible so he doesnt die from damage, so you can keep the polyraptor combo going

Tresspasser's Curse in the sideboard would do nicely.

Some more cool stuff! Thanks again!

Oh, before I go any further, let me mention. This deck isn't built in real life. I was interested in the idea, so I put together the best list I could come up with online. It's not likely it will be built anytime soon either, as I am a poor college student atm. ANYWAY, that said:

First note: Zetalpa's indestructible. So we don't really care about board wipes, or not having creatures, because eventually we're going to be able to cast our commander. After that, we just have to deal stopping her from being exiled or shuffled ,etc., which is what all the protection from certain color cards do. That being said, I did put in Balan, because you're right, backup plans are a REALLY good thing to have ;)

Its funny you bring up tokens, because my original thought with this deck was to use tokens and cards like Eidolon, Sigil, etc. to buff Zetalpa. After these changes though, I've moved away from that to focus on value artifacts and the like.
Planeswalkers on the other hand, I didn't even check out. I do love the two you mentioned. I made room for Nahiri, But I sideboarded Elispeth, because of price. (I didn't really mention but I'm kinda striving to keep the deck under $100 just incase I ever do decide to build it.) As well as the gods, I totally spaced on them too. I do enjoy them, but I would rather leave them out to focus on the artifact theme, but if I do add anything else, it will probably be one of them.

I didn't include Planar collapse because it's too easy to play around, and even if it does make it back to me, most of my opponents are going to be smart enough to wait to play their good guys, or they're going to remove it.

I decided to put in Oreskos, but in commander especially, where the bouncelands are so common, getting full value of him is going to be hard. I originally put in Conqueror's Flail in this spot, but I'm switching it out due to its price.

Well of Lost dreams almost immediately went in, because I tried to focus on good lifegain artifacts and enchantments, so that's going to increase the power of this deck a ton. (and yes, any EDH deck NEEDS a TON of card draw)

Cradle of Vitality just blew me away. That card might as well read when you attack, pay 1W, quadruple the power of Zeptala.

Again, thanks for the advice!

Wow, thanks for all the advice!

I've edited the deck based on your suggestions, let me know what you think.

I was a little iffy on worldslayer, and then I realized it virtually gives you a lot of free turns to wipe out opponents with your commander... now I like it a lot. I did add in more boardwipes, and got rid of the creatures that don't help as much. And I think I added all of the artifacts you suggested, and dropped some of the instants. However, I like the instants a lot, because commander has significantly more ways to exile creaures, so I want to be able to save Zetalpa. Also, what you said about anthen effects makes sense, I dropped most of those.

Yeah, he's a pretty penny. It makes sense tho, because of how good he is.

Thanks for the feedback!

A) Deck was built before the ban, I haven't had a chance to update it until now. But as to your energy output question, there is no output, he was simply a card draw engine that could return later as a 4/4 flying. Dropped the rogue, Strategic and Champion up to 4 ofs.
B) Costly isn't only to trigger the flip, you can also use it to dodge a Vraska's contempt, to throw a small guy into the graveyard so you can make him bigger with scarab god, to get extra- extra value out of Champion, to activate World Shapers death ability, and so on. I actually think I had most of those cards in the deck originally, but cut them for other stuff. I do like the idea of having a sac outlet, but I don't like having to trade something for it, as the list is already pretty tight as is.
C) Check the sideboard? 4x Negate, 3x Lost Legacy, 2x Kitesail. Games 2 and 3 are going to be extremely rough for control matchups. Plus this deck can go a lot more aggro vs. Those archetypes because our smaller creatures are still really good.
D??) I'm not entirely sure what you're trying to say here, but I feel like the deck could use some narrowing. In both the reanimation and the win cons. I feel like 8 reanimators is a lot, and 5 wins is a little too little. As to being a stompy deck, thats why I'm not running the white elder dino per say. If we get screwed on reanimation side, we can at least try to live to hard cast our bombs.

I would add the r/g dino who deals 1 damage to everything when he enters, and maybe Heroic Intervention for some protection from boardwipes

Yeah, I realize that part, but it essentially stops the damage.

one with the wind

Let me know how it goes if you do!