I know I said I despised this deck in THS block, but it's gained a lot since then and has a lot more play to it. It's still a little midrangey for my tastes but I've said I want to further increase my range from just control, combo and aggro, into midrange as well. Plus if something's just the best way to go about something then it's hard to argue with, which I think a deck of this style will be. I do feel like of all decks that suffer from 60-card-syndrome, it's this, since Sultai colours have just so many good cards and it makes making the important cuts really difficult.
For what it's worth, there's no Thoughtseize in the main since I dislike it when I can't cast it turn 1, and it can really be a depressing topdeck later in the game since it's harder to play a load of card draw in Sultai colours. It also restricts the usage of Read the Bones which I feel is strictly superior to Divination in this style of deck, where you've got life buffers and real threats you're trying to dig into and not just hitting land drops.
Villainous Wealth might just be a pipe dream, but it seems impossible to beat if you stick one for 5 or 6 most of the time.
I dislike Prognostic Sphinx in this deck because it's depressingly slow at killing the opponent. This does mean my approach is a little more weak to Elspeth, but the deck wasn't efficient at dealing with her when it had Sphinx either. It just happened to match up ok against her and the Soldier tokens could do serious work even after she died. I feel like Sagu Mauler is far enough a step up from Sphinx that it's a much better threat. The deck also gained Nissa, which I also prefer as a threat to end the game. Obviously Ashiok remains because he's a much cheaper win condition that can put momentum vastly in your favour.
The sideboard is kinda just a jumble of cards that will have uses across the board and isn't finalised. A Back to nature might be necessary in it, for example, among other things like Restock, Sultai Ascendancy, more Sagu Maulers, etc. There are just so many options in these colours it's unreal.
Also, and this might be entirely wrong, I really don't think Urborg is good in this list. It isn't fetchable by Polluted Delta, and if I remove a Swamp for it, then if I draw a single basic Island or Swamp one of my Deltas can become dead if I don't also find the Urborg. Not to mention the mana's almost perfect without it.
Creatures:
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Courser of Kruphix
2 Sagu Mauler
Planeswalkers:
3 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
3 Kiora, the Crashing Wave
3 Nissa, Worldwaker
Sorceries:
2 Read the Bones
1 Villainous Wealth
Instants:
3 Bile Blight
4 Hero's Downfall
2 Sultai Charm
1 Murderous Cut
2 Dig Through Time
Lands:
4 Opulent Palace
4 Temple of Malady
4 Temple of Mystery
4 Polluted Delta
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 Llanowar Wastes
3 Forest
3 Swamp
2 Island
Sideboard:
1 Liliana Vess
3 Thoughtseize
2 Extinguish All Hope
1 Garruk, Apex Predator
3 Disdainful Stroke
1 Negate
4 Drown in Sorrow
For what it's worth, there's no Thoughtseize in the main since I dislike it when I can't cast it turn 1, and it can really be a depressing topdeck later in the game since it's harder to play a load of card draw in Sultai colours. It also restricts the usage of Read the Bones which I feel is strictly superior to Divination in this style of deck, where you've got life buffers and real threats you're trying to dig into and not just hitting land drops.
Villainous Wealth might just be a pipe dream, but it seems impossible to beat if you stick one for 5 or 6 most of the time.
I dislike Prognostic Sphinx in this deck because it's depressingly slow at killing the opponent. This does mean my approach is a little more weak to Elspeth, but the deck wasn't efficient at dealing with her when it had Sphinx either. It just happened to match up ok against her and the Soldier tokens could do serious work even after she died. I feel like Sagu Mauler is far enough a step up from Sphinx that it's a much better threat. The deck also gained Nissa, which I also prefer as a threat to end the game. Obviously Ashiok remains because he's a much cheaper win condition that can put momentum vastly in your favour.
The sideboard is kinda just a jumble of cards that will have uses across the board and isn't finalised. A Back to nature might be necessary in it, for example, among other things like Restock, Sultai Ascendancy, more Sagu Maulers, etc. There are just so many options in these colours it's unreal.
Also, and this might be entirely wrong, I really don't think Urborg is good in this list. It isn't fetchable by Polluted Delta, and if I remove a Swamp for it, then if I draw a single basic Island or Swamp one of my Deltas can become dead if I don't also find the Urborg. Not to mention the mana's almost perfect without it.
Creatures:
4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Courser of Kruphix
2 Sagu Mauler
Planeswalkers:
3 Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
3 Kiora, the Crashing Wave
3 Nissa, Worldwaker
Sorceries:
2 Read the Bones
1 Villainous Wealth
Instants:
3 Bile Blight
4 Hero's Downfall
2 Sultai Charm
1 Murderous Cut
2 Dig Through Time
Lands:
4 Opulent Palace
4 Temple of Malady
4 Temple of Mystery
4 Polluted Delta
1 Yavimaya Coast
1 Llanowar Wastes
3 Forest
3 Swamp
2 Island
Sideboard:
1 Liliana Vess
3 Thoughtseize
2 Extinguish All Hope
1 Garruk, Apex Predator
3 Disdainful Stroke
1 Negate
4 Drown in Sorrow