black white horses updated with ixalan, still needs a lot of testing.
2x Legion's Landing changed to 2x Field of Ruin
1x Legion's Landing changed to 1x Gifted Aetherborn
Finally got some testing in at the last FNM. Tested against Mono red, the new sultai, and U/W approach;
Mono red: 5-0 Very heavily favored in my favor, lifegain and removal VS aggro, only close games were when Ruin Raider hit my 5 drops. Not much I can see that needs to be changed off of this match up.
Sultai: 1-2Not sure on this match up yet, lost 1 game to not having a removal spell for
The Scarab God
but the other games were more evenly matched. Hostage Taker is a bit of a problem though if I can't draw removal fast enough.
U/W Approach: 2-3Really bad match up before sideboard. Authority of the Consuls, Fumigate, Harsh Scrutiny, and Fatal Push don't do anything which leaves me with alot of dead draws. Duress is definitely a 4 of in the board for this match up. Only games I managed to win were due to Ruin Raider or indestructible horse tokens that my opponent couldn't get rid of.
A few notes
Kambal, Consul of Allocation did very well against mono red and U/W approach but didn't do much against sultai.
Legion's Landing was very disappointing. Had a very hard time flipping it in most of the 13 games and was a pretty bad draw late game.
Authority of the Consuls not very good against approach decks
Crested Sunmare
The reason behind the deck, 5/5 that makes indestructible 5/5s as long as I gain life. It can easily take over a game if your opponent can't find an answer for it fast or you can get two of them out at once. And it combos very well with cards like fumigate (if you have either 2 of them or a few tokens already) and Authority of the consuls.
Gifted Aetherborn
Wonderful card for a deck that wants to gain life. Lifelink? check. Low cost? check. Can trade with all the big scary things? check. Can really slow down some aggro decks as a 2/3 and can trigger raid without worrying to much about it dying. (who blocks deathtouchers anyway?) Only downside is the double black cost as that isn't always available turn two.
Aethersphere Harvester
Another really good card all around. Has flying, lifelink when you need it, is a 3/5 so can block those pesky glorybringers without dying, has a cheap crew cost so everything in the deck can crew it, and is a creature on command so It can dodge my fumigates.
Legion's Landing
One drop lifelinker that can later make an endless stream of 1/1 lifelinkers
Night Market Lookout
Another one drop life gainer, and one of the bigger reasons this deck isn't going the vampire route. similar to Vicious Conquistador but instead of being a 1/2 vampire it's a 1/1 with a life gain effect. It also works very well with Aethersphere Harvester as crewing drains for 1.
Ruin Raider
A Dark Confidant type of effect but at my end step and only if I attacked. Good use of all the life gain I should be getting and my only real card draw for this deck.
Walking Ballista
Great all around card, can remove creatures, burn players/planeswalkers, trigger revolt and raid, great when you get mana flooded but still useful with only a few lands. And great reveal off of Ruin Raider
Kambal, Consul of Allocation
I haven't seen any all creature lists so he always has a chance to activate but some match ups he really shines (especially main deck) Great vs control, especially the approach decks and not to bad against red deck wins as he can really slow them down.
Implement of Improvement
1 drop that gains life, replaces itself and triggers revolt.
Authority of the Consuls
1 drop that turns every creature an opponent plays into a possible horse for me. Also taps my opponents creatures which lets me get in with smaller creatures for raid triggers early on.
Fatal Push
obvious removal for any deck playing black
Fumigate
Board wipe with lifegain
Cast Out
removal for planeswalkers and gods which can also be cycled away early game
Harsh Scrutiny
gets rid of hard to deal with creatures before they hit the board (new big dino and torrential gearhulk) and scrys.
