I feel like Sigarda, Heron's Grace belongs in here. maybe take out a journal and a graf mole.

Briarbridge Patrol

If you are grabbing a creature from Tamiyo's Journal search ability, you can put that creature on the battlefield at end step without paying mana cost.

RuneSlayer, thanks for your suggestion

Yup, I was thinking about it but there are several problems:

1. Putting that creature onto the battlefield won't trigger Bygone Bishop ability because it's not a cast.
2. Casting Briarbridge Patrol won't trigger Bygone Bishop ability because it costs more than .
3. It will require increasing Avg CMC.

But I can give it a try :)

@Bilabrin

I've tested this deck with Sigarda, Heron's Grace and it works awesome.

Thanks for you suggestion!

Weirding Wood. lets u play and crack journal a turn sooner. I second Briarbridge Patrol, seems strong, maybe stronger then Bygone Bishop.

@Entomo

Thanks for your suggestion. Had Weirding Wood in earlier versions. Have taken them out in favor of Hamlet Captain and Heron's Grace Champion.

Will try it in this version and let you know :)

@Entomo

Tried Weirding Wood again. Doesn't seem to work good unfortunately...

im taking this to game day looks too fun to not play

@TheSchmeeeth

Thanks :) Playing this deck for a month or so and I really like it.

It looks not so competitive but it was working fine on FNMs and it was definitely fun to play

Ghosty Hey, are you very successful when playing in FNM's? I would like to run a clue deck similar to this however and unable to make a decent deck.

@_FxZIONZ_

Quite successful, I'd say. I was only losing with super-mega-fast decks which are smashing an opponent in 3rd turn. If the game reaches turn 5-6, you'll most probably win. Especially if you have Tamiyo's Journal

There really is an absolute crap ton of life this deck can actually gain. Graf Mole is soooooooooooo good. +1!

@Indexxical – Especially with Tamiyo's Journal.

I had a situation when an opponent was attacking me with Dragonlord Ojutai and Ormendahl, Profane Prince having Always Watching on the battlefield. I had no creatures with Flying hence didn't block and healed 9 and then 18 lives (having 2 Graf Moles)

It's insane. I ran him back in the good old days of Sphinx's Tutelage in standard as a part of my investi-mill deck. 3 Graf Mole + Tamiyo's Journal kept up with my friend's dedicated life gain deck! Very understated card, but I can understand why.

Actually, would you mind taking a look at this idea I've been heavily throwing around for a while? I don't mess with green or white too much, so I was hoping for advice from someone who may know

Energized Hydras

Thanks if you ever get the chance to! Good luck on your deck, matey

You got my up vote. I love what your doing, I love the concept and even love the aspect of making it budget friendly yet competitive. If more ppl had your mindset it would be a much more creative format. I gotta say yes, Sigarda, Heron's Grace belongs in here. At the time I'm writing this she's just over ah buck, helps your humans and will probably finish the actual game off for you at that. Shell probably go up and see modern/commander play as well so ah play set for 4 bucks and some change is amazing right now. Again good work here.

I love the deck. Getting to turn 5 means the deck can officially go nuts, and I love it. The only problem I have with it is that there's no big threat to go get from Tamiyo's Journal. Sure, another Mole to gain life would be nice, but I feel like there needs to be a game-ender somewhere, even just a one-of. I know there was talk of putting in Sigarda, Heron's Grace, but maybe you could also think about throwing in a Verdurous Gearhulk

Sigarda, Heron's Grace protects not only him as the player but also the humans in the deck. Not to mention that she's a flyer so if the game has stalemated she has flying as evasion which can put you over the top for game ending damage. Maybe run Verdurous Gearhulk in the sideboard? I could see promise there, but Sigarda, Heron's Grace main board is ah must for him. He's got ALOT going for him here and I think she'll put him over the top.

@CSwissEllis7, komp

Thank you guys for your feedback.

Sigarda, Heron's Grace and Verdurous Gearhulk are awesome and Sigarda, Heron's Grace was performing well but there is a big problem with them though. This deck struggles playing against aggro style since most of spells have high CMC. Was playing recently with Aggro Madness Vampires (utilizing Stensia Masquerade, Call the Bloodline, Smuggler's Copter and some flying vampires) and I had no chance to cast a CMC spell (although I had them in my hand) cuz I had to sacrifice Clues to generate tokens (Ulvenwald Mysteries) and put counters on Thalia's Lieutenant and Bloodbriar to be able to defend. Finally, I've managed to win but that was very tough.

Hence a question to you – could you please suggest anything cheaper in terms of CMC?

@CSwissEllis7, komp

BTW another big pain is when opponent runs flying creatures. I need also some place for Aim High, Mighty Leap or Nature's Way or Clip Wings.

Any suggestion how to deal with this?

Plummet run that and done. There is no more straight forward and effective removal in the game/standard in general then Plummet. Instant speed and kills thing for 2 mana like Archangel Avacyn  ^Flip, you can't hope for more then that. Angelic Gift is there to give your humans wings and card draw, a highly underrated card in the format. As far as the dilemma w/ the deck being slow...id say you have 2 choices:

1.) Go all in on the "clue" theme and play GREEN/BLUE, the support you have and being able to truly go all in with the Clue theme is unparalleled at that point and its amazing how Graf Mole shines in a deck like this. If clues is what truly got you going on this deck Id say go with this version. Once you commit to it fully in GREEN/BLUE it opens up a whole other tool box of possibilities for you. I have a friend who runs this and he might be having more fun with this deck then Ive ever had in my entire MTG life lol. Its such a smooth deck/experience for him and consistent w/ a good win ratio.

2.) Go all in to your humans sub theme and go GREEN/WHITE. It turns into a aggro deck at that point BUT A VERY FAST AND POWERFUL one. It the current version I run. There is a huge chunk of the modern human deck in this version such as Thalia's Lieutenant and Thraben Inspector etc, and thats the efficiency part of the deck. The green splash that gives Tireless Tracker room in the deck is the real work horse here. A card that gives card draw and rewards you for it?! Insane. Tireless Tracker has a modern future. In this version of the deck she really shines along with Thalia's Lieutenant. These 2 cards win games together. You'll lose some of the clue aspect in this build as its focused on the aggro.

Or.... you could try to mash both into a Bant build with cards such as Tamiyo, Field Researcher but this option completely lacks the budget angle, and is unnecessary for what you want to accomplish I think.

@komp

Thanks for such a great answer and suggestions! Gonna stick with GW variant and make this deck a bit more aggro

Appreciate your help!

I've been running a deck based on the concepts in this one for a couple months and love it. I also discovered going more all-in to humans makes it much more competitive and mainboarded Immolating Glare to buy time to get your profit-makers set up. My differences from this current version are as follows and for these reasons:

1) Mainboard creatures - I run 22 total using no less than 3 of Thraben, Lieutenant, Bygone, Mole, Tracker and Hamlet Captain. With 4 Graf Mole at a lower CMC than Heron's Grace I tend to have enough opportunity for life gain. Mole doesn't fall to Harnessed Lightning or Fiery Temper or Scrapheap Scrounger and that's important against aggressive decks.

2) Mainboard spells - I've also included Immolating Glare but added 2 Expose Evil (3rd in sideboard) because it really helps clear the way of the biggest blockers to make combat match-ups difficult for them, especially if I've got a lot of Human tokens that were pumped with the Collective Effort or Lieutenant. Expose Evil gets me to their planeswalkers that are often one of the biggest problems and with the Investigate part, in a mid-game situation means your not down any cards. It's also enjoyable to watch a 10/10 Colossus and his twin turn sideways and just run right past them with your armada.

I'm trying out Blossoming Defense as a time buyer against the aggressive decks with lots of early removal and doing so in lieu of Confront the Unknown. While it doesn't investigate it does put a crimp in their plans to clear out a high toughness blocker like Mole.

Aetherflux Reservoir - with all the clue sacs to Mole I not uncommonly have ridiculous life totals but cant push through Grafwidows or other token generators like Gideon. 1 copy in the mainboard as an alternate win condition. This is the only card with CMC more than 3 in the mainboard.

3) Flying defense weakness is a moderate problem. Copters on turn 2 and indestructible Avacyn's, Ormendahl's and Emrakuls all fall nicely to a timely-played Clip Wings and that's why I prefer it over Plummet. Most decks don't run a lot of flyers, but when they do those are the problem ones that only go the graveyard with Clip Wings (Stasis Snare can detain them but it costs more and it can be destroyed).

4) Sideboard differences - 2 Fragmentizes at the moment, no Root Out. The problem artifacts to take out are mostly 4 CMC or less - Copters and Panharmonicon are the ones I don't want sticking around.

I don't run high CMC cards like Journal or Enchant Creature spells like Gryff's Boon or Angelic Gift - too susceptible to removal or bounce spells that leave you with a card disadvantage. Instead I have 2 Fumigates for when things get desperate and if you have Mysteries out you get some value out of your creatures dying besides the life gain from the spell itself.

@crhousel

Thanks for your feedback! I like this kind of comments!

I should definitely try out your modification. Previously, this deck has been much slower but I managed to make it more aggro with Humans tribal theme (see this update). Still, it can perform very well if you have good opening hand (yesterday won against Madness Vampires at T5 cuz I was very lucky to get 2 Thalia's Lieutenants and 2 Thraben Inspectors). If you don't you will be smashed before 4th turn by any aggro deck.

How competitive is the variation you're running?

The deck holds its own against all archetypes in the Tournament Practice queue online. The matchup that is most difficult is probably BG Delirium but even there, short of mana hose, it's probably right around a 50% win percentage if you know what to look for from your opponent and how to respond when those threats come down.

Planeswalkers, flying creatures and mana hose are probably the most common problems but that's why the adjustments in the previous post have been so helpful.

General strategies as follows.

UW flash - they are playing for tempo, Blossoming Defense keeps your cards from being bounced by Reflector Mage, Bygone Bishop trumps or defends against everything but copters and Avacyn and that's why you play Clip Wings. Expose Evil and Immolating Glare slows them down if you can't stick anything in the early game.

BG delirium - don't fear the Flayer, let him get delirium and them take him out with Collected Effort while also pumping your army.

Emrakul defense - watch the card type count and mana and play out any cards of your hand that would be destructive to your own army (Collective Effort primarily) a turn or two before Emrakul can be cast or played with Marvel and have a Clip Wings ready if you suspect it's coming down soon. One game it played twice in a row and each time Clip Wings took it out.

UW Control - they have only 1 or 2 creature sets really, save your Collective Efforts for them and pummel with all the low CMC cards and clues you draw. Glimmer of Genius, and Gearhulk flashback mid game is inferior to all the clue draws this deck generates.

Red defense - even if I can cast a creature first, I will almost always lay down Mysteries first and then cast the creature so when Harnessed Lighting hits, all they've done is essentially traded a removal card for the ability to convert your creature into a clue that could in turn come back as another creature. Be very cautious of Radiant Flames, if you know they have them try to match the number of creatures you have on board that would die to it to the number your opponent has so you don't get too far behind on card count when it is played.

White defense - watch out for Cataclysmic Gearhulk. If they have them and you have a Tracker with clues on the table, keep the Tracker and choose to let all your clues get sacrificed to pump up your Tracker and get free cards without having to pay the 2 to crack each clue! So cool, I saw somebody else do this to themselves, they played the GC and kept it and their Tracker and ended up with 7 cards from a hand of zero, a massive Tracker and essentially a clear path to their opponent. I don't suggest playing the Gearhulk myself as it doesn't fit the synergy for this deck.

interesting how has this deck worked out for you so far? Also check my deck out it is somewhat similar to yours but different at the same time http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/29-12-16-uLR-gw-humans/