On Another Wave

"It's like a green Ponder," Jason said in reference to Oath of Nissa. I told him that this is exactly how people thought of it when it was in Standard.

Oath has been outstanding. It has made more opening hands worth keeping and helped in midgame situations when I need to filter cards and it hits off of a Kamahl's Druidic Vow. Which means that for X into the KDV, I get to dig through an extra 3 cards!

This has been successful enough that I think I can settle this deck. I played against storm decks piloted by Fuz and once I knew what I needed to go for (Arashi against the UR deck, artifact destruction against the UW one), my chances for success improved dramatically. Yes, Fuz had land issues in one of our matchups but that's the point: Oath of Nissa made sure I wasn't having those issues and he didn't have that same luxury.

There was also the UR game where he cast four Ponders and found land but that's another story.

Similarly, I found that Monster's increased consistency was effective against Jason as well. Against decks that didn't offer any interaction (that is, they didn't kill my creatures), even if I got stonewalled, I was able to fire off a KDV for 5, 6 or more (one epic game, I hit six for six on my Vow and that was pretty sweet).

The games last night against Matt playing Death and Taxes sealed it: I put up solid showings against a deck that is well tuned. In game three, I had a Forest, two Oaths and two Heart Wardens which means all I need to do is hit a second land and I'm good.

Matt had Rishadan Port and my Oaths revealed one land out of six cards. I never got past two lands.

I mean. Variance, am I right?

Still, Matt also seemed to believe that Monster was going in the right direction and said that I should really try to play another Oath if I can. Sword of Animist hasn't been doing all that I hoped, so I'm going to cut that for the Oath, and that leaves me here:

1 Sword of the Chosen
2 Emerald Medallion
2 Rhonas's Monument
1 Bow of Nylea
2 Mox Amber

1 Iwamori of the Open Fist
1 Jugan, the Rising Star
1 Mirri, Cat Warrior
1 Silvos, Rogue Elemental
3 Reki, the History of Kamigawa
2 Arashi, the Sky Asunder
4 Heart Warden
1 Omnath, Locus of Mana
1 Yeva, Nature's Herald
3 Traxos, Scourge of Kroog
1 Nylea, God of the Hunt
1 Oviya Pashiri, Sage Lifecrafter

3 Oath of Nissa

19 Forest
1 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
1 Yavimaya Hollow

2 Vivien Reid
1 Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury

2 Time of Need
3 Kamahl's Druidic Vow