Black Bant (Post-Survival)

[Dreamer]

What I came up with when my old 4-color list was killed by the Survival ban and the Esper concoction designed to replace it proved frustrating to play with. It's based on an older incarnation of the 4-color Survival list, but modernized and un-Survivalized.
So far it has proven to be a really pleasant deck to play, although I'll certainly have to upgrade the lands for a tournament, at least.

//Meat

Birds of Paradise
Arbor Elf

Sakura-Tribe Elder
Wall of Roots
Shriekmaw
Tidehollow Sculler
Qasali Pridemage

Aven Mindcensor
Aven Riftwatcher
Mulldrifter
Kitchen Finks
Eternal Witness
Great Sable Stag
Vendilion Clique
Knight of the Reliquary
Rhox War Monk

Glen Elendra Archmage
Oracle of Mul Daya
Venser, Shaper Savant
Sower of Temptation
Mystic Snake

Body Double
Reveillark
Baneslayer Angel
Karmic Guide

//Other permanents

Sensei's Divining Top

Sword of the Meek
Bitterblossom
Sylvan Library
Thopter Foundry

Oblivion Ring
Pernicious Deed
Jace Beleren

Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Garruk Wildspeaker

//Spells

Swords to Plowshares
Path to Exile
Worldly Tutor
Ancestral Vision

Negate
Mana Leak
Remand
Memory Lapse
Muddle the Mixture
Counterspell
Farseek
Life from the Loam
Demonic Tutor

Intuition
Compulsive Research
Vindicate
Maelstrom Pulse
Bant Charm

Gifts Ungiven
Fact or Fiction
Careful Consideration
Damnation
Wrath of God

Primal Command
Tidings
Force of Will
Worm Harvest

Martial Coup

//Lands
5x Island
4x Plains
4x Forest
1x Swamp

Reflecting Pool
Seaside Citadel

Verdant Catacombs
Marsh Flats
Arid Mesa
Misty Rainforest
Scalding Tarn
Polluted Delta
Windswept Heath
Flooded Strand

Lonely Sandbar
Secluded Steppe
Tranquil Thicket
Barren Moor

Temple Garden
Hallowed Fountain
Breeding Pool
Watery Grave
Overgrown Tomb
Godless Shrine
Tropical Island

Stirring Wildwood
Maze of Ith
Academy Ruins
Wasteland
Tectonic Edge



TODO/Thinking:
Get a Noble Hierarch
Include Brainstorm or Impulse, perhaps?
More acceleration?
Regrowth?

Deckstats.net analysis: http://deckstats.net/deck-98864-192a717dfb91e1c5bf5e77b19dc50cf8-en.html

[Dreamer]

Will be testing the following this Friday:
- Seaside Citadel
- Oracle of Mul Daya
- Karmic Guide
+ Celestial Colonnade
+ Chameleon Colossus
+ Overbeing of Myth

The last one is more than a little suspect, but the idea of a big beater that draws cards is nice. Dunno if it should be something more consistent. Probably should, but I've no idea what, exactly. Brainstorm or Regrowth might be good, but so might about a hundred other cards.

So far, I'm really missing the ridiculousness of Natural Order, but I'm afraid the current creature base just can't sustain it.

[Dreamer]

New build! Some of the old stuff is still there, like Loam engine and Thopter combo, but the overall direction of the deck is far more aggro than control. It also has a lovely I Win -button again in the form of Natural Order.

What I'm wondering now is if I should just drop black altogether. I love Demonic Tutor and the extra solve-alls, but cutting black would free space for all sorts of oddness in the manabase. (The stability isn't really an issue in my experience) The trouble is finding good removal to replace Vindicate and Maelstrom Pulse.

//Meat
Llanowar Elves
Fyndhorn Elves
Birds of Paradise
Loam Lion
Wild Nacatl

River Boa
Knight of the White Orchid
Plaxmanta
Watchwolf
Qasali Pridemage
Stoneforge Mystic

Aven Mindcensor
Kitchen Finks
Eternal Witness
Great Sable Stag
Knight of the Reliquary
Rhox War Monk
Mirror Entity
Mulldrifter

Glen Elendra Archmage
Wilt-Leaf Liege
Loxodon Hierarch
Chameleon Colossus
Wickerbough Elder

Oversoul of Dusk
Baneslayer Angel
Karmic Guide
Reveillark
Body Double
Progenitus

//Other permanents
Sensei's Divining Top
Land Tax

Sylvan Library
Sword of the Meek
Thopter Foundry
Journey to Nowhere

Oblivion Ring
Jace Beleren
Sword of Fire and Ice
Sword of Light and Shadow

Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Garruk Wildspeaker
Ajani Goldmane

//Spells
Swords to Plowshares
Path to Exile
Worldly Tutor

Demonic Tutor
Life from the Loam
Negate
Regrowth

Vindicate
Maelstrom Pulse
Bant Charm
Congregation at Dawn

Gifts Ungiven
Fact or Fiction
Harmonize
Armageddon
Wrath of God
Natural Order

Primal Command
Treachery
Worm Harvest

//Land
4x Plains
5x Forest
3x Island
1x Swamp

Reflecting Pool
Seaside Citadel

Verdant Catacombs
Marsh Flats
Arid Mesa
Misty Rainforest
Scalding Tarn
Polluted Delta
Windswept Heath
Flooded Strand

Lonely Sandbar
Secluded Steppe
Tranquil Thicket

Temple Garden
Hallowed Fountain
Breeding Pool
Watery Grave
Overgrown Tomb
Godless Shrine
Tropical Island

Stirring Wildwood
Celestial Colonnade
Treetop Village
Faerie Conclave
Academy Ruins
Volrath's Stronghold
Wasteland
Tectonic Edge

[Nastaboi]

Looks decent. I like that you have kept the black splash light enough, four cards "just because I can". One could argue adding Shriekmaw, or playing just Demonic and Stronghold, but the splash is fine as it is.

IMO you should play Empyrial Archangel instead of Progenitus. It's just as "I win" as Progenitus against aggro, and being hardcastable is huge.

Creatures: too many critters with no abilities expect "bigger than you" for my taste. You're missing goodies like Noble Hierarch (though you mentioned you don't have one), Venser, Sower, Trygon Predator, Vendilion Clique, Trinket Mage. You have cut some of the very cards that made the deck good in the first place. And you need Venser or Riftwing Cloudskate or similar to combo out with Reveillark. Also, Intuition. Tarmogoyf is good enough to run just for his P/T if you can afford one.

Spells: I don't think Thopter combo is any good here, needs more controllish shell and artifacts. Journey is ok but maybe not needed, Ajani is better with smaller creatures, lone Negate is random and harmonize... stick with your plan and play creatures that create CA. Wrath with over 30 creatures? I dislike Worm Harvest, but if it works for you, fine. You also have nothing to hose graveyard, I'd play at least Trinket+Relic/Furnace/Crypt and maybe Stonecloaker. EE also, and do add that Brainstorm.

Manas: I'd cut Conclave and Citadel for Wooded Bastion and Flooded Grove. You could try Horizon Canopy if you like. Then cut basics for spells, acceleration maybe. 41 lands is too much, 36 is more than enough. Abusing mulligan rule lets you cheat on land count like that.

Hope I didn't miss anything vital.

[Dreamer]

Yeah, I had slight pangs about the lack of control effects in the new build. (Dunno if it's due to playing too much UW lark back in TS-Lor?)
Will see what I can do about the creature section.

The Journey is there to add more exiling removal - I have a reanimator deck in the metagame that might prove problematic with the lessened amount of countermagic and discard. One thing that might be fun is kicking the thopters out and bringing the Squirrels back - it also re-enables Zur as a must-answer bomb that solves everything and tutors up a lethal combo.

[Dreamer]

Reworked the deck again. A lot of your suggestions turned out to be quite relevant. It's fun how the deck has nearly come full circle - the list looks surprisingly much like the old Survival build, but a little less engine hell and more honest beatdown. Cut both Natural Order and Wilt-Leaf Liege so I can concentrate on playing good men instead of green men, and eliminate a dead draw.

//Meat
Llanowar Elves
Arbor Elf
Birds of Paradise
Loam Lion

Mesmeric Fiend
Knight of the White Orchid
Plaxmanta
Tidehollow Sculler
Qasali Pridemage
Stoneforge Mystic

Aven Mindcensor
Kitchen Finks
Eternal Witness
Great Sable Stag
Knight of the Reliquary
Rhox War Monk
Mirror Entity
Vendilion Clique
Trinket Mage

Glen Elendra Archmage
Venser, Shaper Savant
Loxodon Hierarch
Zur the Enchanter
Wickerbough Elder
Sower of Temptation

Shriekmaw
Mulldrifter
Oversoul of Dusk
Baneslayer Angel
Karmic Guide
Reveillark
Body Double


//Other permanents
Tormod's Crypt
Sensei's Divining Top
Land Tax

Sylvan Library
Earthcraft
Journey to Nowhere

Oblivion Ring
Squirrel Nest
Recurring Nightmare
Jace Beleren
Sword of Fire and Ice
Sword of Light and Shadow

Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Garruk Wildspeaker

//Spells
Swords to Plowshares
Path to Exile
Worldly Tutor
Brainstorm
Duress

Demonic Tutor
Life from the Loam
Negate
Regrowth

Vindicate
Maelstrom Pulse
Bant Charm
Congregation at Dawn
Intuition

Gifts Ungiven
Fact or Fiction
Armageddon

Primal Command
Treachery
Worm Harvest

//Land
3x Plains
3x Forest
3x Island
1x Swamp

Reflecting Pool
Flooded Grove
Wooded Bastion

Verdant Catacombs
Marsh Flats
Arid Mesa
Misty Rainforest
Scalding Tarn
Polluted Delta
Windswept Heath
Flooded Strand

Lonely Sandbar
Secluded Steppe
Tranquil Thicket

Temple Garden
Hallowed Fountain
Breeding Pool
Watery Grave
Overgrown Tomb
Godless Shrine
Tropical Island

Stirring Wildwood
Celestial Colonnade
Treetop Village

Volrath's Stronghold
Wasteland
Tectonic Edge

[Dreamer]

Got my hands on Hierarch, so:
- Loam Lion
+ Noble Hierarch

[Vazdru]

Here is the list I've played in Hanau.

I've reached place 12 out of 142 and stayed undefeated the whole tourney (5-0-3  )


Recent changes after that three draws:

Rafiq for Counterspell (Counterspell was the last-minute-include instead of Shackles)
Ohran Viper for Eladamr's Call


I've had my draws vs Jund-Control, 5C-Aggro-Control, Mono Black Control. In two of these matches i needed just one more turn to win it.

Victories vs UWB-Control, GW-Big Guys Aggro, Firestarter with 5C-Goodstuff, Bant, UG

(Again - like in iserlohn where Firestarter won Manadrain because better tiebreaker and I've got Figure  ) I was able to beat Firestarter but he advanced to Quarterfinals... thx to my victory?!? in last round vs UG (so he had 1,5% better tiebracker vs 9th malz77).


// Lands
   1 [ZEN] Arid Mesa
   1 [ B] Bayou
   1 [ON] Bloodstained Mire
   1 [WWK] Bojuka Bog
   1 [ON] Flooded Strand
   4 [RAV] Forest (4)
   6 [CHK] Island (1)
   1 [OV] Library of Alexandria
   1 [ON] Lonely Sandbar
   1 [ZEN] Marsh Flats
   1 [ZEN] Misty Rainforest
   4 [MM] Plains (2)
   1 [ON] Polluted Delta
   1 [R] Savannah
   1 [ZEN] Scalding Tarn
   1 [8E] Swamp (3)
   1 [ON] Tranquil Thicket
   1 [ U] Tropical Island
   1 [R] Tundra
   1 [ B] Underground Sea
   1 [ZEN] Verdant Catacombs
   1 [TE] Wasteland
   1 [ON] Windswept Heath
   1 [ON] Wooded Foothills

// Creatures
   1 [WWK] Arbor Elf
   1 [FUT] Aven Mindcensor
   1 [M10] Baneslayer Angel
   1 [M10] Birds of Paradise
   1 [LRW] Doran, the Siege Tower
   1 [FD] Eternal Witness
   1 [ON] Exalted Angel
   1 [EVE] Glen Elendra Archamge
   1 [SHM] Kitchen Finks
   1 [CFX] Knight of the Reliquary
   1 [TSP] Looter il-Kor
   1 [ZEN] Lotus Cobra
   1 [RAV] Loxodon Hierarch
   1 [CFX] Noble Hierarch
   1 [ARB] Qasali Pridemage
   1 [ON] Ravenous Baloth
   1 [ALA] Rhox War Monk
   1 [CHK] Sakura-Tribe Elder
   1 [TSB] Shadowmage Infiltrator
   1 [LRW] Shriekmaw
   1 [LRW] Sower of Temptation
   1 [PLC] Stonecloaker
   1 [FUT] Tarmogoyf
   1 [FD] Trinket Mage
   1 [DIS] Trygon Predator
   1 [MOR] Vendilion Clique
   1 [FUT] Venser, Shaper Savant
   1 [MI] Wall of Roots
   1 [EVE] Wicker-Bough Elder
   1 [ALA] Rafiq of the Many
   1 [CS] Ohran Viper

// Spells
   1 [TSP] Ancestral Vision
   1 [US] Back to Basics
   1 [IA] Brainstorm
   1 [MM] Bribery
   1 [FD] Condescend
   1 [LRW] Cryptic Command
   1 [U ] Demonic Tutor
   1 [ALA] Elspeth Knight-Errant
   1 [FD] Engineered Explosives
   1 [IN] Fact or Fiction
   1 [AL] Force of Will
   1 [LRW] Garruk Wildspeaker
   1 [CHK] Gifts Ungiven
   1 [TE] Intuition
   1 [WWK] Jace, the Mind Sculptor
   1 [RAV] Life from the Loam
   1 [ARB] Maelstrom Pulse
   1 [LG] Mana Drain
   1 [9E] Mana Leak
   1 [UL] Miscalculation
   1 [SH] Mox Diamond
   1 [CFX] Path to Exile
   1 [AP] Pernicious Deed
   1 [WL] Phyrexian Furnace
   1 [LRW] Primal Command
   1 [A] Regrowth
   1 [CHK] Sensei's Divining Top
   1 [DS] Sword of Fire and Ice
   1 [4E] Swords to Plowshares
   1 [MR] Thirst for Knowledge
   1 [OD] Upheaval
   1 [AP] Vindicate
   1 [ B] Wrath of God
   1 [LRW] Oblivion Ring

Btw. I've build that deck the night before the tourney in Hanau and written the decklist 2 o'clock am