Premodern testing, just for funzies (as usual.) Credit for this deck goes to Marco Amateis, who placed 16th with it at the 2018 European Premodern Championships in Genoa.
This deck is amazingly flexible and surprisingly controlling thanks to Burning Wish and a variety of sweeping effects. I'm afraid the deck might be not hitting it's full potential though, as it has many answers to aggro but maybe not enough fast solutions against the combo meta that is getting even tighter these days. What if Astral Slide doesn't show up? Are there enough cycling effects to land the draw?
Also, really impressed by how well this deck cleans up in the current meta, considering it runs at about a tenth of the cost of the decks it can beat down. Sweet!
Testing commences...
15/12/2019: In looking over the list a little, I'm not sure if I can completely agree with all the sideboard choices, or the sheer amount of sweepers in the mainboard. Also, why not Seal of Cleansing instead of Disenchant for it's utility against the almighty U/W Standstill? Let's keep it simple for now.
- 1 Meltdown, - 1 Pulverize, +2 Shatterstorm
Also added Temple of the False God after reviewing old R/W Astral Slide lists in Extended archives.
16/12/2019: Maybe I can resolve the sweeper issue with some cards that have more mainboard applications, yielding functional first-game draws. Having 3xWrath of Gods just seems like it would be a shame of a draw against Dementia Drake.
-3 Wrath of God, -2 Slice and Dice, +1 Akroma's Vengeance, +3 Starstorm, +1 Flametongue Kavu. Looks like this adjustment will bring the price down quite a bit too.
18/12/2019: A couple of ideas have come to pass, one of which is not moving towards the Naya split by adding green, it's not really worth it just for Hystrodon, Krosan Cloudscraper and Krosan Tusker, as good as they all are. The new mana split would make the deck a bit less consistent, and way more expensive due to the new pain/fetch land price tags. No thanks.
The other thing is the addition of 2xSwords to Plowshares in the main and 1x Gamble on the side. The Gamble will allow for a Burning Wish to tutor for anything right from the mainboard on game one, which is why I cut Astral Slide down to a 3x. I count 24 cycling effects, and we now have extra Flametongue Kavu, and Starstorm for a flexible mainboard sweeper. Question is, what can we do on game one against combo decks that might even give us the first five turns as a way out? We need flexible mainboard disruption, maybe even more than some of the other things we have going on right now, like Renewed Faith.
21/12/2019: The day of Rush: 2112. Nice. I made several changes over the lat few days but to summarize, I made some attempts to double down on the things that I really like, while keeping away from dead draws in what is a pretty diverse and increasingly controlly/comboish meta. Any wrath effects need to have cycling clout, so 2x Starstorm and 1x Slice and Dice is the final count. No more Akroma business, as 4WW for "Vengeance" is just too little, too late. It also hits our own enchantments. Swords to Plowshares now has a solid place, to deal with the stubborn critters roaming about in midrange decks, and it can be tutored for a hefty cost of Burning Wish to Gamble...that's the other thing, the deck now has 4x wishes to dig for solid answers. I'll continue to look for great sideboard answers to the current meta but I think it's pretty good right now.
Final note: I'm moving out one mountain for a Blasted Landscape so we can get the cycle count up to 26. Fire away!
18/4/2020: After continuously getting beaten down by captain Hen-war and his diabolical horde of insidious multiplayer decks (that have very little to do with the actual premodern meta) I thought I'd tweak things a tiny, tiny little bit.
- 1 Flametongue Kavu, +1 Wrath of God
...and in the sideboard...
-1 Cleansing Meditation, -1 Gerrard's Wisdom, -1 Hammer of Bogardan, -1 Pillage, -1 Morningtide
+1 Meltdown, +4 Disenchant
Let's see if it pays off! The hope is to further brace myself against aggro and sligh strategies, without making the deck as controlling as the original list.
7/5/2020: After looking over TOO MANY old Astral Slide lists from Extended archives and current premodern, I made a slight change to the mainboard with - 1 Starstorm and +1 Slice and Dice...honestly, Slice just seems like it's worth the small tempo sacrifice in the beginning to cycle the extra card back into your hand, and if you really need a wipe on turn two, you could always cross your fingers to Burning Wish a Pyroclasm from the sideboard.
