Relative to the Kronberger List of 4 Color Loam, this deck is more 'on board'. It favors a faster and more proactive gameplan and also has a less strained manabase. The larger green sun's zenith package alleviates the decks threat density problems, and prevents it from falling behind in the early game.
The number of Bobs is flexible. Unlike the rest of the deck, they are high power level but low synergy, so cutting one does not hurt much. I believe that 4 bobs is usually not needed. Many of our hard matchups aim to reduce our life total quickly, and this deck has so many other sources of card advantage I just end up with extra bobs in my hand. Also, the second Library is just better than the 4th bob.
Good Matchups:
Most delver decks: They are very soft to Chalice on 1, their wasteland+daze game does not work against us, our removal matches up well against their permission, and most of our threats beat theirs. Newer delver decks with Young Pyro and DRS are more of a challenge, as DRS makes their mana stronger than ours, and Young Pyro is sort of an answer to chalice. Despite this the matchup is still quite favorable.
Miracles: We are favored both in the early game by presenting them with must-answer spells as well as in the lategame where we crush them with the massive card advantage of life from the loam or punishing fire. Chalice+Teeg is answered only by very specific 1ofs. The games we lose are the ones where they play a fast Clique, Jace, Entreat, or Mentor on an empty board with protection.
Storm decks: As usual, wasteland and chalice are good here. Teeg also seals the deal. Post board we have enough of a density of cards that we can have 2 pieces of hate on the board by T3, sometimes by T2.
Elves: Chalice is insane here. Teeg is basically a lock with it out (G1). Punishing fire is also very good. Post board we have board wipes and sometimes 2ish hate permanents. If they play Packmaster or go for a fast NO into something huge and scary we could end up losing. The matchup is won or lost on tempo, so prioritize T1 acceleration very highly.
Eldrazi: This matchup is all about Knight. If you stick a knight, it quickly outgrows their threats and can do sow while dismantling their mana.
Death and Taxes: Card advantage + removal here is key. The deck is weak to Jund, so we are doing out best Jund impression. protect your mana base, and destroy early vials ASAP. Postboard STP, Rec Sage and Deluge make this matchup more positive.
Even or Slightly Positive Matchups:
Sneak and Show: Show and Tell is not safe to cast as a Knight or Karakas undoes all their work. Chalice + Wasteland help. Teeg is good against the Sneak attack. Despite all this they can power through most of our disruption. Postboard both players have savage SB cards and the game might just come down to who drew more. The Omni version of the deck tilts the matchup more in Sneak's favor.
Moon Decks: Mox diamond and/or fetchlands(on the play, forest on the draw) are what make a hand keepable in this matchup. As long as you have those and a game plan you are okay. If we get caught without a diamond or access to our forest then we are in trouble although it isn't necessarily game over. If we do have it: whatever their gameplan is, it isn't good enough. The Sneak Attack deck is a notable exception.
Lands: Chalice hedges against their best draws but what matters most here is the knight. Untapping with a knight should tilt the matchup in your favor. Getting a Scavenging Ooze and activating it on the right cards (always make it a 3/3 first) can also win the game.
Uxx Midrange: Our matchup against the average midrange deck is usually decent, but some of these decks are built to dodge wasteland + chalice. They are forced to answer every knight we can play. The Kronberger version should be better against decks like Shardless BUG because it is built to grind better than this list.
Dredge and Reanimator: This is a grave-hate check. If you have it and see it, you win (even if it only buys a few turns) and if you do not have it you rely on drawing on DRS or Scooze.
Infect: The deck's main strength is its speed. Sometimes they have the T2 kill. It is vital to have early interaction. The longer the game goes for more favored we are. This is one of the only matchups where I board out a Sylvan Library
Bad Matchups:
Omnitell: Our only interaction is Chalice + racing mainboard and that is not enough. Post board we have ~3 cards for them which are usually not enough. We can win if they spend too much time cantripping.
Burn: Chalice is a large part of your plan here. If you hold up wastelands for the Price of Progress and have a fast start (T2 4/4 knight eventually getting Marit Lage) you can win. Slow starts, especially ones not containing Chalice are not gonna win.
ETC: This deck is bad against less-known decks. Basically, if you are not sure what the opponent is doing, you are likely to lose. If they are playing threats that dodge Decay/Pfire (like Nic Fit), we are unfavored.
Fair Graveyard decks: If we don't have the right grave hate, decks like Zombardment can easily outgrind us.
Sideboard:
The sideboard shown here is almost certainly what was playing 1-2 weeks ago. I have an addiction to sideboard jank so my actual board tends to have random nonsense I'm testing
