11/12/18:
Took this deck to SCG Regionals over the weekend and went 6-2. 161 players and I was ranked 22nd. Here are the matchups:
Round 1: 0-2 vs U/R Tempo Wizards (0-1)
He wins the die roll and plays t1 Delver. I turn 2 bitterblossom and follow up with a Pride of the clouds. The turn before he dies I get double bolted to death. Game 2 I get him down to 2 but he bolt snap bolts me to death the turn before I have lethal yet again :)
Round 2: 1-2 vs Hardened Scales Affinity (0-2)
He plays t1 Hardened Scales and I die relatively quickly. I had just changed my MB to have 3 Path to Exile instead of 3 Fatal Push and didn't have the white mana to Path his early threat. I also started with 2 Aether Vials and then immediately drew a third. Game 2 I mull to 5 and still don't see one of my 3 stony silences. Luckily I draw one and hes stuck with a WB on 1 and a steel overseer that he cant use. Game 3 I mull to 4 after seeing very few lands in previous hands as well as no SB cards. He boarded for an expected Stony by playing nothing turn 1, turn 2 Metallic Mimic, turn 3 Matallic Mimic. I have spellstutter sprite mana open and after he plays his 2nd mimic he plays an Arcbound Worker that gets countered, however he plays a Hangerback Walker for 0 and it gets 2 counters. I die to beats.
Round 3: 2-0 vs Infect (1-2)
Starting at 0-2 I was pretty demoralized and would have dropped if my friend hadn't gone 2-0. My deck has a good match up vs Infect though and I was able to disrupt my opponent enough to win. Notable plays in this round was my opponent deciding to pay the mana instead of the life for a Mutagenic Growth which means she didnt have the tax to pay when I sacced Mausoleum Wanderer to counter a lethal Become Immense. Game 2 I also spell quelled a Distortion Strike or I surely would have lost.
Round 4: 2-0 vs Bant Spirits (2-2)
We both play a t1 Mausoleum Wanderer but I have the advantage since he doesn't know I'm not on regular spirits. I T2 Kitesail Freebooter and take his Coco. I note he has 2 Drogskol Captains. He plays 1 captain into a Spell Queller and resolves his other. I stick a Favorable winds and he attacks with a Mausoleum Wanderer declaring 3 damage which means he missed his trigger when he played Supreme Phantom. I called a Judge just to clarify the missed trigger as I have a free block with my 3/4 Spell Queller. After the judge confirms that its a 3/3 I point out my queller is a 3/4 and doesnt die when blocked. After this my opponent got VERY aggressive with me and was clearly extremely upset at his performance for the day. By far the worst interaction I've ever had with a player. I was informed later that he used to play at pro tours and is known to be a complete asshole. Overall my opponent made about 5 mistakes in the games. A notable play was a clutch Zealous Persecution letting me trade favorably (this is one of the main matchups for that card).
Round 5: 2-1 vs Ad Nauseum (3-2)
Game 1 I had to mulligan down to 5 and he found his combo pretty quick. I freebooted him at one point but he didnt had Ad Naus yet so all I could take was a phyrexian unlife. The good news is this might be the best matchup my deck has, and after sideboarding 2 Kiras and a the 4th Kitesail there was little chance he was going to win.
Round 6: 2-1 vs Humans (4-2)
Game 1 he had a strong start with a Champion of the Parish followed up with a Mantis rider and it got out of control too quickly. Game 2 I had an EE and he was on 1 land with 2 aether vials. A scoop happened quick after I popped EE. Game 3 he played nothing on turn 1 and just a thalia's lieutenant turn 2. My deck preys on everything except fast starts and I was able to control it from there while pressing with threats.
Round 7: 2-1 vs Miracles (5-2)
This is a friend of mine and we just had this matchup at our weekly LGS where he barely beat me 2-1. This day I was luckier however. My biggest advantages throughout the tournament is that no one knew what deck I was playing, but this guy has played vs it a dozen times. We had pretty 1-sided games 1 and 2 but game three ended up being very close. I knew he had terminus in his hand but he only had 5 lands. I had Kitesail Freebooted a Path and knew he'd get it back when he did get off a terminus. He -3 Teferi on my Favorable Winds taking my lethal away the next turn and I had a choice to make: Kill Teferi and take him to 2 hps or ignore Teferi and take him to 1. I opted to kill Teferi which let him flip his Search for Azcanta for the 6th land he needed to Terminus. He did not have any open mana however, and I vialed in a Spellstutter Sprite at his end step. I top decked Sorin (1 of 3 possible top decks that would win me the game) and I got to tease him all the way of the 2 hr trip home that I knocked him out of prizes :P
Round 8: 2-0 vs Jeskai Control (6-2)
I freebooter a Lightning Helix and apply pressure and disruption the rest of Game 1. Game 2 he had a slow start and again my deck preys on that so it was a pretty easy win. My opponent didn't talk much and just seemed like he wasn't into magic anymore that day.
I won $50 for being in the top 32 and bought dinner for my friend (different friend from round 7) who placed 33rd. I had the worst tie breakers so I was at the bottom of the 6-2s. All of top 8 was X-1-1. Overall I was happy with my deck's performance. I am going to be trying out an Esper Gifts package with it soon (-4 Vial, -4 Prides, +1 Unburial Rites, +3 Gifts, +1 Elesh Norn, +1 Lingering Souls, +2 Lands) and see how that goes.
9/24/18:
Lost my win-and-in at the PPTQ on Saturday going 3-2.
Round 1: 0-1 U/R Through the Breach (0-2)
Game one I flooded hard and game two I kept a 2 lander and never drew another. Had lethal the next turn but he drew the other half of his combo. Spell Queller not being able to hit TTB is always rough.
Round 2: 1-1 Mardu Pyromancer (2-1)
Game one I start with tons of disruption he doesn't do much. Game two he got down early pyromancers and I had put him on the wrong deck and didn't sideboard correctly. Game three was pretty close but we finished just before time. Zealous Persecution does work in this matchup.
Round 3: 2-1 Infect (2-1)
Game one she won the die roll and played t1 noble. I started with a push in hand and kept open black mana. She played a blighted agent and when I went to push it she cast blossoming defense. I probably should have just waited for 3 free mana with push/sprite but I probably would have either been dead by that point or she would have had two protection spells anyway. Game two I pushed her t1 glistener elf and turn 2 creature as well. Game 3 I had to remove 3 or 4 infect creatures and had a close win.
Round 4: 3-1 Affinity (2-1)
He wins the die roll and dumps 5 cards on t1. He plays the last card in his hand a couple turns later which is a Karn that I spell queller. With no cards in hand I feel pretty safe dropping a Bitterblossom and Pride of the Clouds on my turn 4. Next turn he top decks galvanic blast killing the Spell Queller and getting his Karn back. Starts making tokens and runs me over from there. Game 2 I turn 2 Kitesail away his grid and then out tempo him. Game 3 I keep a hand with stony silence. He his turn 1 play is weak followed by a turn 2 Steel Overseer. I drop Stony on my turn and can see he loses all interest in the game from here on out. Easy cruise to victory as I look at his hand and see 3 Etheriums and 1 Karn but he only has 2 tapable mana sources the rest of the game.
Round 5: 3-2 Bant Spirits (0-1-1)
Game one he plays a t1 mausoleum wanderer and im feeling pretty good about the match. I have removal for his wanderer and supreme phantom. I play a Pride of the Clouds which should theoretically be the best card I have in the matchup. He spell quellers my kitesail freebooter and attacks with it next turn. I go to block with my 2/2 pride and then flash in spellstutter for the trade. I think this is the turn that cost me the game as I should have just let the pride get really big. The freebooter sees no noncreature spells in his hand. On his turn he phantasmal images my freebooter to see the 1 card in my hand... Sorin.
A few turns later we get into a stand off knowing each other has spell quellers. I fatal push his image and get back sorin only to have him image my freebooter again and take it right back. Meanwhile he makes a ton of tokens off moorland haunt and I am seriously missing my Favorable Winds while my bitterblossom is making a 1/1 every turn and I get off a few Forecast triggers from Pride. I didn't feel like leaving up mana for my spellstutter was super relevant since he had caverns and aethervials out, but then he top decked coco and it was over from there as he hits a geist and phantom following up with another phantom the next turn off the top.
Game two I remove his turn 1 wanderer and turn 2 supreme phantom again. I sideboarded 2 Bontu's for this PPTQ and killed 3 creatures off of it as well. Unforunately he makes tons of moorland haunt tokens again. I have him down to 5 health with a spellstutter and vendilion clique out and he is top decking. I declared attacks holding priority to cast zealous persecution to kill his two tokens and expect a moorland haunt activation to stop lethal. Instead he plays his top decked spell queller and trades his tokens for my creatures. I suddenly feel really dumb for not playing around that by playing the spell before I declared attackers. A few turns later my draws are land, vial, land and I am surprised to hear the round has ended. I had advantage over him in Turns and believe I would have finished him off, but unfortunately no time for a game 3.
Overall I was pretty happy with the performance of the deck and my play, but I definitely felt mentally fatigued going into the last round and that showed with several mistakes. I'm seriously considering boarding in RIP for Moorland haunt when I play vs spirits since both PPTQs I lost to those tokens.
I had switched out the seachrome coasts for the 7th and 8th fetchland for this tournament as well as made my sideboard much more narrow vs the expected meta (3 RIP, 3 Stony, 2 Damping, 1 EE, 2 Path, 2 Bontus, 2 Unified Will). I never got to use Vault of the Arcahngel's activation which I was hoping for in spirits/humans matchups. I am considering some additional changes to the deck. I feel like Vendilion Clique has under-performed.
9/18/18:
4-0 at FNM last night after many adjustments to the deck. 2-0 vs RW legendary tribal, 2-1 vs Counters Company, 2-0 vs 8-rack, and round 4 my opponent conceded. Sorin won me games vs RW and CoCo. Smugglers Coptor won me a game vs 8-rack. These both replaced favorable winds, which would not have won me those games. I have a feeling i'm going to miss FW in certain situations, but so far so good.
I took the deck to a PPTQ on Saturday before I re-added Sorin and added Copter. I went 3-3 with all three losses going 1-2. Slivers (!?), Martyr Proc (!?), and UW spirits. In all three rounds my 1 win vs them were huge blowouts, but my losses were pretty one-sided as well.
I am going to one or two PPTQs this weekend. Will report back with how they go.
7/13/18:
The last tournaments I went to I went 3-1, 3-1, and 1-2 drop. Both tournaments I went 3-1 in I lost in the finals to land screw. The deck still feels very powerful but it lacks a main-board answer to Ensnaring Bridge which is frustrating.
I have swapped out one of the favorable winds to put back in Sorin as the lifelink has been sorely missed.
5/29/18:
Went 4-0 and won the tournament at my LGS. We had 24 players and some pretty competitive decks. Matches were U/W Flash Control (2-0), Affinity (2-1), Humans (2-1), and Grixis DS (2-1).
Affinity: Game 1 he got out two cranial plating super quick and I scooped. Game 2 and 3 I Mulled down to 6 both games to try to find Stony Silence but didn't. I drew it not very far into the games though and was able to win off of them.
Humans: Game 1 he copied my Pride of the Clouds with a Phantasmal Image and barely squeaked out the win vs me. Game 2 I went to 6 and kept Aether Vial, Bitterblossom, Spellstutter, Vendilion Clique, and 2 Lands. He scooped on turn 5 I think. Game 3 I kept a hand with Bitterblossom and Detention Sphere. He kept a 1 land hand with Ather Vial which I D Sphered on t3 and he never drew a third land.
GDS: Game 1 I didn't draw lands in my first two hands and went to 5. He pushed my Pride and ran me over with a Gurmag angler pretty quick. Games 2 and 3 I got out bitterblossoms and it was pretty much over from there.
I am considering cutting one of the Favorable Winds but will have to test it a bit more. I drew two F. Winds with no flyers out vs GDS Game 1 and it felt really bad.
5/15/18:
Went 1-2 and drop Monday vs Mardu Pyromancer (1-2), Mill (2-0), and Elves (0-2). Pyro and Elves are pretty difficult if they have good starts and I dont have sideboard cards. 4 RiP in my sideboard didnt help in games 2 and 3 vs Pyro and while I had the bontus vs Elves in game 2 he had a slow start and I decided to race him. I had lethal on him next turn but he top decked an Ezuri for the win.
5/13/18:
Played in a small 8-man tournament at a new shop on Friday and went 3-0. 2-0 vs 8-Rack, 2-0 vs Storm, 2-1 vs Elves.
This was the same 8-rack deck from two weeks ago and even before I put in Leylines I have a pretty big advantage. Storm player didn't know what he was up against and was shocked when I kitesailed him twice. Game two I got out a damping sphere and he had no answers for it. I don't know how I beat elves other than getting lucky honestly. I needed a turn 3 Bontus and happened to draw the right land.
The deck feels really good with it's current configuration. No changes for now.
5/8/18:
Went 3-1 last night. 2-1 Vs Tezzerator, 2-0 vs 8-Rack, 1-2 vs Burn, 2-0 vs Grishoalbrand. I believe this puts my total record with the deck at 21-7-1 at my LGS.
Both games I lost vs Burn I didn't draw a 2nd land. First game I didn't know what he was on and I kept a risky 1 lander with an Aether Vial and a Bitterblossom. Third game I mulled to 5 for Leyline and had one land and never saw another.
I removed a Clique for a fourth Darkslick shores which brings me up to 20 lands. I also replaced the Steel of the Godhead for a 2nd Collective Brutality.
I've considered removing the cliques altogether for 2 more Selfless Spirits, but will leave them for now.
5/1/18:
after putting up multiple 3-1 results I won the Modern tournament last night at my LGS. Rounds were officially 2-0 vs Mardu Pyromancer, 2-0 vs Bogles, 2-0 vs 8-Rack, 2-0 vs Scapeshift.
Most recent changes I made to the deck was removing Sorin, Solemn Visitor and one Selfless spirit and added a Collective Brutality and a Steel of the Godhead. I never drew Steel last night but Collective definitely won me a game. Being able to discard extra lands or Aether Vials later in the game was pretty clutch.
