Hello all, this is my take on RW Sisters.
ETB effects
-Soul's Attendant: Classic. gains life on every etb. want as many of these out as we can get. beware Pyroclasm/sweepers.
-Soul Warden: sisters do what sisters do.
-Impact Tremors: pretty much the exact opposite of a sister. Once you get one of these down you become the aggressor.
-Purphoros, God of the Forge: staple 2 Impact Tremors together.
BOUNCERS
-Kor Skyfisher:
-Whitemane Lion: cast whitemane. it hits the field. etb effects trigger. whitemane ability resolves. use it to return whitemane. repeat as much as mana allows. though leaving up 2 extra man can also be good as you can use whitemane to save other creatures if you opponent tries to use removal.
IMPORTANT NOTE ON LION: Their abilities do not target. This is both a good and a bad thing for us. if an opponent casts a Lightning Bolt in response to Whitemane Lion's ETB ability, he would die and then the ability would resolve. which means we still have to return a creature to our hands. However, if the opponent cast's bolt targeting a lion, and we respond with another Whitemane Lion we can use the new whitemane to return the old whitemane. bolt fizzles due to lack of target. old whitemane ability resolves and you can return the new lion.
essentially your opponent wasted a card and some mana.
Tilonalli's Summoner: New addition and i'm still trying it out. It will never survive attacking. if it does, your opponent has already lost the game. but the spike in power you get after playing this thing is terrifying. the ability to tap out and create a handful of tokens to trigger your impact tremors and sisters is very strong even if the tokens went away. The pure efficiency of being able to tap 6 mana to get 5 1/1s attacking, gaining 10 life and dealing 5 damage is downright disgusting. the fact that i get to keep the tokens is icing on the cake. but like any creature is has several key weaknesses. notably Fatal Push. but hey, it's basically and "answer me or die" kind of creature which i can use as another mana sink late game like my Whitemane Lions.
-Norin the Wary: a god amongst men. a very scared god. this card does work. cast a spell? etb trigger. you attack me? etb trigger. you dont do anything on your turn because you can't afford the etb trigger? 1 red for Time Walk? also know that Norin comes in at the end step. so if he comes in at the end of your opponents turn, you can attack with him to trigger his ability on your turn. This is useful for when you want get your etb triggers but need to keep up mana for support cards, and can't risk attacking with other creatures.
SUPPORT
-Lightning Bolt: required red card is required.
-Path to Exile: required white card is required.
Wall of Omens: draws and blocks. sometimes you need some time to assemble a more stable board presence. you can also return this with one of the bouncers. this can be useful when you have extra bouncers in hand but you need some etb trigger cards (or you seek the power of the god known as Norin).
Slaughter the Strong: one of the newest additions and possibly one of my favorites. gets around indestructible ulamogs. wipes the board of pesky boggles. clears out a chunk of the board of any value midrange deck. makes sure that those 6/6 death's shadows and 5/6 gear hulks all have a nice trip to the grave. oh and i don't know that i've ever lost a creature to it. weird playing a 3 mana one sided Wrath of God. yeah i don't always clean up their entire field, but thats the price of keeping my board pristine and paying less mana. worth it IMO.
Blood Moon: yeah i play it in the main. Yeah it can hurt me a bit sometimes. but have you ever watched all the blood drain from a multicolored deck player's face when you drop this on turn 3? let me tell you, it's worth all the pain.
LAND
No fetches because i don't need to fix my mana much, and i don't necessarily want to thin my deck either (not that 4 fetches in the 60 would do that much. nor do i feel like dropping money on messas)
Battlefield Forge/Inspiring Vantage/Clifftop Retreat: mostly here to make sure i have red when i need it.
SIDEBOARD
I'm looking to tweak some of the cards in the deck, and i need to solidify the sideboard. i know my sideboard doesn't deal with a lot of specific threats right now, but i think that's mostly just because i haven't spent enough time working out what the win percentage for this deck is against the most popular ones in the meta, and which ones improve the most from having a sideboard slot or two dedicated to them.
Lightning Helix: versatile. its extra copies of lightning bolt and can help me even the scores against aggressive/midrange strategies that try and value me out. now i can take out a creature and stabilize my health a little bit so that i can survive long enough to assemble my board.
Ajani's Pridemate: a build your own Tarmogoyf. helps to beat down some decks when you're just not getting there with the damage you have in the deck.
Leyline of Sanctity: burn/discard/something else i don't like. no you can't do that.
Auriok Champion: Extremely resilient sister. Bolt proof. push proof. terminate proof. blocks Death's Shadow and Gurmag Angler for days. i prefer it over Kor Firewalker even in burn matchups. it just feels better.
Stony Silence: i'm very sure what affinity is, and yes i hate you to.
Wear: Chalice of the Void on 2 and other various trouble cards that stony doesn't hit. if Chalice of the Void is on one, you can still cast an Impact Tremors then fuse this card to destroy chalice and tremors. you're now extremely far behind in terms of tempo, but i would argue it's sometimes worth it if you can resolve a norin that same turn.
MAYBEBOARD
ajani vengent: a reasonable card for a boros midrange deck. not sure where exactly it fits in the 75.
elspeth, knight-errent: this or ajani. probably not both. it fits the token theme better, but ajani feels like he is more powerful in the spot.
Ranger of Eos: powerful card. searches up a sister and norin. that alone is something i'd love to do in this deck. but is it what i want to spend 4 mana to do when i could cast Whitemane Lion twice? im not sure.
Serra Ascendant: seems strong, but this isnt a full blown sisters deck and i don't always hit 30. but if ranger goes in, this card could follow as something to tutor up if my life is high and i need a finisher.
-Genesis Chamber: builds blockers and it's almost a bouncer as well. solid card. but try not to play it unless you know you can follow it up. otherwise it will only help your opponent.
Kher Keep: provides a chump in a pinch, also triggers etb. no need to tempt the legend rule, so only 1.
STRATEGY
The main idea behind the deck is synergy. the power of the board is stronger than the sum of the cards on it. A single sister is nothing, but pair her with norin and an impact tremors and all of a sudden we have a small engine that will slowly drain your opponent dry. add in a purphoros or a few more sisters and now we get into the real value. from there you just need a summoner/norin/lion and you can close out the game.
early game don't be afraid to attack with your sisters. if they have a 2/1 Dark Confidant they are not going to block you're 1/1 sister. if they do, you probably came out ahead in that trade. don'y worry about losing combat race, if you can get in with your sisters do so. you have the life gain to make up for their creatures getting in. getting in for even a few points early game can make a world of difference.
mid-game is sort of when you've set up a stable board presence. 3 sisters and an impact is a great spot to be in. at this point you should probably hold off on playing more sisters in certain matchups so as not to overextend yourself. keep Whitemane Lion hidden as long as possible. always try and leave 2 mana open for him. If not for the threat of damage, then because you threaten to blank any removal spell sent your way.
late game is really anytime when you have 2+ damage from etbs and a way of producing a large number of etbs, be it through the summoner in a burst or norin/whitemane over time. at this point it's all about waiting. with 2+ dmg per etb and a whitemane you basically have (1) deal 1 damage to each opponent as a repeatable effect which is insane. don't feel you have to tap out each turn to get max damage. pretend you have a second one in hand in case your opponent is thinking about Lightning Bolting it. maybe you do have another and that extra 2 mana will save you.
General Tips:
An opening hand with norin and Inspiring Vantage is basically keep able right there. especially against control where they have no answers to a resolved norin. also note you can redirect damage from Impact Tremors to a planeswalker they control. this is especially important with one's like Liliana, the Last Hope who has an activated ability that kills norin. it's okay to not utilize open mana for Whitemane Lion in order to keep your opponent from realizing you have it. Also take advantage of the fact that your opponent might be confused about what to sideboard in against you. if you are losing game 1 badly, concede so they don't get to see more of you list. keep them in the dark. will update more later.
please feel free to comment and criticize my deck. This deck has proven to be surprisingly competitive and i wish to make it more so. If you have card suggestions, feel free to mention them. Please try to suggest what you'd take out for them, cutting cards from the deck is the hardest part for me. if you have better suggestions for the sideboard or tips on how i should deal with control, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. the only time i can survive against control is with a T1 norin.
