One last fine-tuning for U/W Spirits.
Standard Deck Help forum
Posted on July 28, 2016, 12:31 a.m. by ComradeJim270
One of the nice things about having multiple people with Pro Tour top 8s who frequent your LGS is that you can get some good deckbuilding advice from them (and I've also found they're good folks, for the most part).
The most recent bit of professional advice I've gotten was that my Spirits deck would benefit from replacing some number of Anafenzas or Essence Flux with two more copies of Selfless Spirit.
The question then is which/how many of the Anas or Fluxes? Do I cut Anafenza, with her tricky mana requirements but her tremendous impact if dropped early? Or do I cut Essence Flux, because I already have plentiful protection for my spirits and ways to bounce them?
It's a tricky question, and I'd love to hear opinions on it.
Getting into the Spirit of Things
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ComradeJim270 says... #3
Yeah... it taps a dude or gives something hexproof, but... meh. I might actually run some in the SB if that works out, but I think cutting them for Selfless Spirit is a solid plan.
July 29, 2016 11:18 p.m.
I agree. I think Essence Flux in Spirits should be thought of as basically a "give hexproof" card with a minor upside, which is pretty reactionary. I don't think it's a bad card--sometimes it's a blowout against removal--but it's just too situational to want a full playset.
Good luck with tuning!
July 29, 2016 11:36 p.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #5
Thanks! I'll test Essence Flux over the next week, and very likely cut it entirely. That should leave me room for the two extra Spirits and possibly another counterspell or removal spell.
July 30, 2016 12:55 a.m.
Heya, I've been tinkering with my own U/W spirits. I've been doing lots of testing in the last week. Yesterday I brought it my LGS and when 4-0 with it. I was hoping to get some feedback from anyone willing :)
As for your deck ComradeJim270 here's my thoughts:
Stasis Snare would be better in the side if at all in the 75 because the goal should be not to let your opponent resolve creatures in the first place or, if they do, control them via Nebelgast Herald, Unsubstantiate and that kind of thing. In my matches the opponents creatures aren't really a problem.
Planar Outburst should be relegated to the side, especially because it's a sorcery but also because against some decks it's basically a dead card. For instance B/w Control and Temurge to some degree. I like it in the side, but not the main.
Anticipate is an interesting card, I've contemplated using it myself but I just don't like it enough to run it in my 75. I find that because of the way the deck plays. Your tempo gain is good enough that you don't need cards to dig per se. I could be wrong here but it didn't impress me as much as I had hoped during my testing. I'm guessing that's why you run 2x instead of more?
I find that Elder Deep-Fiend is such a powerhouse in this kind of deck to wrap things up. You tap down their board, swing lethal. Happens quite a bit at 4CMC.
I run 2x Archangel Avacyn Flip because of her ability to flip and board wipe.
Combo Avacyn with 4x Selfless Spirit for on-demand board wipes that you can protect yourself from. Not to mention that it also protects you from Kozilek's Return. That one is everywhere it seems along with Languish but this deck doesn't really have to worry about it does it?
For the sideboard I'm running things a little differently it seems. You have a more broad approach. I focused down on what I needed for my particular meta.
3x Blessed Alliance when dealing with aggro decks / burn.
3x Negate to deal with decks that run primarily spells over creatures.
3x Unsubstantiate to deal with decks that either have spells that I would prefer to just cost them tempo or decks that have creatures I want to bounce back to hand. W/r humans for example with the thalia's lieutenants that get massive. Reflector Mage is great for this as well.
2x Collective Effort for decks with key enchantments. Starfield of Nyx or Harmless Offering decks for example. Or if the opponent has no means of interaction, I can bring them in to buff my whole team and improve my clock.
2x Planar Outburst as a just in case for decks that go particularly wide.
2x Summary Dismissal for decks that run Emrakul, the Promised End or even just Eldrazi with Kozilek's Return. Being able to exile the creature, stop any abilities on cast + counter the trigger on Kozilek's Return can't be diminished. It wins games.
I think you could take a few cards from your sideboard and condense it a bit more because of some redundant stuff. But maybe that's just me :)
August 12, 2016 11:14 a.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #7
Thanks for the input!
A second Avacyn in the main and a second Dismissal in the board is something I've been strongly considering. Elder Deep-Fiend is cool, but I ultimately decided it's trying to do the same thing as Avacyn is here, but isn't as good at it.
Anticipate is awesome, and you should try it. It really makes the deck run more smoothly.
As regards sweepers, running a couple mainboard works wonders. Much of the metagame for Standard is still creature-heavy and if you look at lists that are placing well this is pretty standard. I believe two main, two side is ideal. You're right that an additional Negate in the sideboard does feel like a good idea now, though.
I think in this deck the escalate spells ask too much while doing too little.
Your list is interesting and I can comment on it later if you like!
August 12, 2016 12:38 p.m.
Absolutely, please do :) I look forward to any feedback.
I would like to discuss you thoughts on Elder Deep-Fiend a little more though. How do you find they do the same thing? I find that granting indestructible to my team and tapping down 4 permanents and turning a small body into a big one kind of act as 2 different things. For instance, sometimes avacyn just can't get me there because she's a single body. However Deep-fiend is able to essentially give me the equivalent of Time Walk. In my last match against B/W control, I tapped down 4 out of 5 lands on the opponents upkeep making it impossible for him to play anything. Against creature decks, whatever creatures he can resolve / keep on the board to matter, I can tap them and swing for big numbers or even lethal in some cases. Avacyn can board wipe provided a condition is met. But that's not an immediate benefit. I run both in my deck, so of course I value both but I don't think you can say that they do the same thing.
August 12, 2016 12:58 p.m.
ComradeJim270 says... #9
They might not be mechanically the same, but they serve very similar roles; they help control the board in the late-game and provide a strong finisher. I feel Avacyn does the job more effectively in most situations and would be inclined to just run more copies rather than Deep-Fiend. It's possible a Deep-Fiend could make its way into the SB, though.
abby315 says... #2
Essence Flux for sure, unless you find you can't cast Anafenza reliably (but at two colors, probably should be okay!) Essence Flux is in the class of cards that is "situationally great, sometimes completely dead" and you should cut down on those where possible (unless your deck is built around exploiting gnarly ETB effects, but the minor ones in spirits are probably not worth it).
July 29, 2016 4:19 p.m.