Have you considered running Restoration Angel over cloudshift? It can be much more relevant late game(and just in general), especialy after a board wipe. It also synergizes with Thalia better post board. Maybe 3 angels and 1 cloudshift?

I do like Restoration Angel but I will never have the mana to pull off the things that I can do with Cloudshift with the Angel.

4 Mana + Fiend Hunter + Cloudshift = 1 Perm. Exiled creature and another locked down.

6 Mana + Zealous Conscripts and a creature target + Cloudshift = Permanently kept stolen creature.

Cloudshift also lets me save key players early or taking advantage of tap outs to bounce Kessig Malcontents and similar to get max damage with minimal investment.

While that's true, I would try maybe one or two if you haven't. The deck is fast, but unless you really make sure not to puke out your hand, t4 or 5 board wipe is really devistating. Afterward it'd be way better to draw a 3/4 Flyer than a cloudshift.

That is a good point and I will be sure to give it a shot in the near future.

main board Thalia, Guardian of Thraben its too good in the current meta not to be main boarded

@Azure124

The big problem with that idea, as I see it, is that it shoots me in the foot in terms of pacing. I can't bond things for Lifelink or Haste ( Nearheath Pilgrim , Lightning Mauler ) or play Gather the Townsfolk on turn two if I lay out Thalia, Guardian of Thraben which will slow me down and it will make my Townsfolk, Cloudshift s, Bonfire of the Damned s and Pillar of Flame s all annoyingly more expensive which will further mess with my pacing.

Just siding her in is proving to be harder than just playing through kill spells so far although I don't deny that she has great utility and that I need to focus on bringing her in more often.

I would add a card:Conjurer's Closet, just for that extra win condition against tough opponents. I see you use Kessig Malcontents and Zealous Conscripts just like I do in my decks, and I've found card:Conjurer's Closet to be a huge asset. Sure it is expensive, but that's one flicker each and every turn!

Well worth it in my book. :)

Sorry for the double post.

I forgot to add a reminder that with card:Conjurer's Closet, Cavern of Souls can't add mana to play it out. In my deck I found that to be a problem since I want card:Conjurer's Closet out as soon as possible. I have a lot fewer creatures than you in your deck so I ended up ditching the Cavern of Souls , but it is actually quite the sacrifice.

On the other hand if speed is not of the essence, then I guess it doesn't matter. Just something I thought you might like to be aware of from the start. :/

Why can't one use mana from Cavern to cast Conjurer's Closet?

Yeah... Why can't you?

Good question... I guess I didn't read the card properly and stand corrected. But thanks, now I guess I'll add it to my own deck.

Haha, there goes 80 bucks. Glad I helped. xD

Have you considered using Thatcher Revolt ? Could be useful in pumping the Champion of the Parish for a second turn 4/4 creature.

Considering that Hero of Oxid Ridge is going to rotate soon, have you considered using Hellrider for a more aggro approach?

+1 all the same.

Sorry, I meant 3rd turn 4/4 creature using the Thatcher Revolt to pump the Champion of the Parish .

@rayrand

I have definitely considered both, I still need to give Thatcher Revolt more consideration but I have shied away from it because the tokens won't last for Kessig Malcontents to get a bonus and it isn't a Tribal sorcery unfortunately so Cavern of Souls won't help against control. (That would likely be a 3rd turn 6/6 by the way, as I probably am gonna Gather the Townsfolk on the turn prior. Which sounds nice but I don't think my Champion of the Parish is gonna survive that long unless they are going to lose anyway.)

When it comes to the Hero of Oxid Ridge I feel like he got the serious short end of the stick and he is leaps and bounds better than his price-tag would suggest. I feel the chump-evasion is brutally powerful with so many decks running things like Delver of Secrets  ^Flip (unflipped obviously), Birds of Paradise , Llanowar Elves , Arbor Elf , Augur of Bolas , Aven Squire and parallel tokens of all varieties.

The difference between them taking the damage directly or by semi-evasion could have won me a few games but the increase in damage that the Hero can bring to the table as the creatures reach their mark is most impressive in my opinion. Most of the exceptions to that rule are only 1 ofs or 2 ofs on the field and thusly they take a savage thrashing all the way if they aren't outright removed by my Fiend Hunter s or stolen by my Zealous Conscripts .

When Scars Block rotates I think I will likely play Hellrider but, then again, maybe either Gruul or Rakdos will give me a shiny new 4 drop which would be even better in my build.

Thank you, everyone for all your comments!

@Corvus_corax

Sorry for taking a while to respond. I spaced out on it. :P

Anyway, I will definitely consider the closet because the repeat bouncing could be rockin' in the deck. My main worry is that it costs 5 and could slow the deck down which would hurt a lot.

@rayrand I also forgot to include Fog Bank in that list.

I was testing the deck against some decks and the worst match up seemed to be fast aggro builds that have some form of removal available ie. Huntmaster of the Fells  ^Flip or Oblivion Ring one thing i noticed is that Kessig Malcontents was underwhelming if you are forced to block frequently/ early game. Smelt should take the place of Ancient Grudge in side board since you cant flash back. Normally I would side out Pillar of Flame for Thalia, Guardian of Thraben pillar doesn't hurt delver or control as much as thalia would

@Azure124

When it comes to your results I'm honestly confused. (Except for Smelt I didn't fiddle with the sideboard much since M13 was released and that should get replaced ASAP.)

I have found Delver and R/G aggro to both have huge trouble with Pillar of Flame as it exiles the Huntmaster of the Fells  ^Flip and Delver of Secrets  ^Flip in one shot preventing them from doing much else. It also gets Strangleroot Geist efficiently. Against control they could probably get sided out although I have noticed a variety of control decks either running card:Geralf's Messenger or Fog Bank respectively to play hob with decks like mine. I've found this to be a solid answer to that as well which makes me inclined to keep them.

The Kessig Malcontents could likely go for something else but I am not sure what else as I have, honestly, had very little issue with them.

I've already illustrated how I feel about Mainboarding Thalia, Guardian of Thraben as she makes all of my noncreature spells decidedly non-aggro at the trade-off of having a decent creature that is a big fat target. In a lot of cases I've noticed that I pay two and then it slows me down and then they pay 1 ( Gut Shot ) or 2 ( Doomblade et cetera.) and continue on their merry way.

Regardless of what ends up happening, thanks a lot for testing the deck for me. I appreciate it.

I see a Sudden Disappearance in the horizon. Boros had plenty of etb effects in the first Ravinca. Maybe you could make use of it?

And if your on the fence about Kessig Malcontents , try Riot Ringleader .

Well, I'm not really too on the fence about it. I mean, I would like it if it was a 3/2 or any other sorts of things. If I replaced it I would probably go with Fervent Cathar because he has haste plus an effect. He is the only 3 drop hasty human in Standard that I am aware of.

It would be awesome if Sudden Disappearance gets some fodder. I already liked Ghostway haha.

I have a question... Why don't you play Hero of Bladehold ??

@beforecombatdamage

I actually answer that question in the description, the other Hero is in here because I happened to own a full playset already.

I'M SO SORRY!!! PRETEND I KNEW THAT... D:

iLOVEthe deck though!

No worries! haha

Glad to hear it, thanks! :)