Jan 11, 2018
Cut Ammit Eternal for Ghalta, Primal Hunger.
Eternal didn't attack for 5 unless it came in with haste. Even then only the first time. Not worth it.
Ghalta has amazing potential. I expect to play him on turn 5 normally, but there are several ways it could be turn 3. Very exciting.
Jan 22, 2018
Cut Glory-Bound Initiate for Berserk.
Been wanting to try berserk for a long time, and I finally got one. Initiate was fine, but attacking every other turn was counter intuitive.
Feb 5, 2018
Cut Worldly Tutor for Putrid Leech.
I feel like I have enough tutors that I can afford to cut one of them for another early threat. Leech is pretty much always a 2 mana 4/4. Hard to argue against that.
March 10, 2018
Cut Dryad Arbor and Gaea's Cradle for Sunpetal Grove and another Forest.
Both of these cards wern't really in the deck for a reason. Arbor just slowed me down. Gaea's Cradle is amazing, but it didn't do a whole lot in this deck. I hope to upgrade Sunpetal and Dragonskull for Filter lands once M25 comes out.
Also cut Aether Vial for Wild Nacatl
Aether vial had a tendency to just do nothing, even when played early. Wild Nacatl is virtually guaranteed to be a 3/3 with my mana base.
March 19, 2018
Cut Sunpetal Grove and
Dragonskull Summit for Fetid Heath and Twilight Mire.
I like filterlands more than the checklands. Pretty straight forward.
March 23, 2018
Cut Overwhelming Forces for Goblin Rabblemaster.
Forces is an awesome card, but just costs too much for this deck. Rabblemaster is a welcome addition that I have been looking to add for a while.
March 25, 2018
Cut Brutal Hordechief for Majestic Myriarch.
Hordechief is essentially a 5 drop in this deck. If it had haste I wouldn't be cutting it. Myriarch comes in at minimum as a 4/4 vigilance/haste. Expecting it to be a 6/6 or 8/8 doesn't seem unreasonable though.
April 2, 2018
Cut Bygone Bishop for Sylvan Library.
Bishop is good in theory, but you have to jump through too many hoops to draw a card. Sylvan Library is just a much better way to draw cards.
April 16, 2018
Cut Wild Nacatl and Hanweir Battlements
for Accorder Paladin and Pitiless Horde.
Nacatl is really only useful in the opening hand. After that it is too underwhelming. Battlements is often not a relevant land since it only taps for colourless. I don't think I'm hurting myself taking it out. The Paladin and the Horde are both excellent creatures that I have needed to find a home for.
April 19, 2018
Big shake up with the coming set. Cutting the following: Hero of Oxid Ridge, Odric, Lunarch Marshal, Sol Ring and Eladamri's Call.
Adding: Honored Crop-Captain, Steel Leaf Champion, Mox Amber and Wheel of Fortune.
The breakdown here is that cards that come out after turn 4 need to have a huge impact. Odric and hero didnt quite have that impact. Odric could, but only situationally. Honored Crop Captain and Steel Leaf Champion are both perfect examples of what I need in play before Saskia.
Eladamri's Call is a great card, but I think Wheel of fortune is more useful here. It allows me to reload my hand and keep up the pressure
Sol ring is the one Im less sure of, but Mox Amber can get Saskia into play on 3. I will have to test to see if I have enough legends to justify this.
April 22, 2018
Cut Tilonalli's Skinshifter for Shanna, Sisay's Legacy.
Skinshifter is either great or totally useless. Not much inbetween. Shanna is like a better version of Akroan Hoplite, which I've often considered adding.
May 9, 2018
Cut Merciless Eviction for Armageddon.
Merciless eviction was in the deck mainly for fear of artifact decks with darksteel forge. While it has helped, I dont see that very often.
Armageddon is a card that not only prevents board wipes, but also keeps me ahead to close out the game.
May 17, 2018
Cut Hanweir Garrison
and Queen Marchesa for City of Brass and Mana Confluence
After the other half of the meld was taken out, it was only a matter of time before Hanweir Garrison was taken out. Queen Marchesa was great for drawing a card later in the game, but just wasn't quite aggro enough for turn 5.
City of Brass and Mana Confluence were needed because 34 lands just wasn't enough.
May 19, 2018
Cut Smuggler's Copter for Triumph of the Hordes and Putrid Leech for Hatred.
Smugglers copter is a great card, but is smaller in power than mpst of my creatures. The card draw is great, but not reliable.
Triumph of the hordes is a way to win without having to deal so kuch damage. A turn 5 triumph can easily kill people in many situations.
Putred leech and Hatred both make use of the same finite resource. Hatred makes better use of it.
May 25, 2018
Cut Prowling Serpopard for Conqueror's Flail and Concordant Crossroads for Athreos, God of Passage.
Serpopard is rarely relevant and often does nothing. The flail does a better job and is more broadly useful. Crossroads isnt really helpful anymore, as most of my creatures at the top end have haste already. Athreos will be useful every time it is played, and backs it up with 5 power for 3 mana.
June 5, 2018
Cut Sword of Feast and Famine and Mox Amber for Phyrexian Arena and Tymna the Weaver.
I have started to get get too many equipment and one had to go. This sword does what I want less than the other two. Mox amber just doesnt have enough legends to turn it on in this deck.
Tymna and the arena are both needed card draw engines.
July 4, 2018
Cut Bloom Tender for Ranger of Eos
Bloom tender offers excellent ramp, but no fixing. Not exactly what the deck needs. Ranger of Eos offers an amazing turn 5 with several excellent creatures to tutor for.
July 27, 2018
Cut Farseek, Clifftop Retreat and Phyrexian Arena for Keen Sense, Mirri's Guile and Utopia Sprawl
My ongoing battle to lower my curve continues. There is nothing wrong with the spells I am cutting beyond their cmc. The land is one of the weaker ones, and 35 should be enough.
Utopia Sprawl may initially look like it lacks forests, but including fetchlands, I have 16 forests.
Keen Sense has great synergy with Saskia, drawing you two cards per hit instead of one.
Mirri's Guile offers excellent card selection. Its almost a second, cheaper, Sylvan Library.
July 29, 2018
Cut City of Brass for Polluted Delta.
Even off colour fetchlands are great with this mana base. I will also lose less life from a turn 1 delta vs turn 1 city of brass.
August 5, 2018
Cut Athreos, God of Passage and Nature's Lore for Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Thalia, Heretic Cathar.
Athreos has a powerful ability but is rarely attacking. Not something I want to be playing before Saskia. Natures lore isn't great at 2 cmc, and I have added more card draw lately. Should be ok to drop it.
Guardian Thalia is hurts my opponents much more than it does hurts me. Heretic Thalia slows down enemy casting and blocking. Very happy to have both of them in.
October 1, 2018
Cut Pitiless Horde for Bloodhall Ooze.
Pitiless horde was the weakest 5 power 3cmc creature I had. The Ooze gets big quickly for a small investment, even later in the game.
October 8, 2018
Cut Gisela, Blade of Goldnight, Ranger of Eos and Mana Confluence for Pelt Collector, Swiftblade Vindicator and Tajic, Legion's Edge.
Gisela was an especially hard cut to make, but she was just a bit too expensive. The only time she would be played is if the game is stalled, and she doesnt break that too well. Ranger is fine, but less impactful than I hoped. With my lowered cmc, dropped to 34 lands should be ok.
All three of the new cards are exactly what I want to be doing in the early game.
October 9, 2018
Cut Bitterblossom for Aurelia, Exemplar of Justice.
Bitterblossom is an excellent card, but isn't quite fast enough fir this deck. It only gives me 2 power by the time Saskia comes out if we are on curve.
Aurelia is an absolute bomb even on turn 5. Her ability to pump a creature when she comes in is what makes her truely viable.
October 13th, 2018
Cut Utter End for Assassin's Trophy.
Assassin's Trophy is just better than utter end.