Deck and SB guide, effective 2/1/23 (Plus Nahiri Discussion!)

Hi everyone, got a bit of a treat for you this month! Not one, but FOUR updated lists for February. The first list will be what I would play right now, and the other 3 are variants that I will try with Nahiri, the Unforgiving.

After making that video with Travis, I got to thinking "why not just play mono white main, and then splash U and G in the sb?" which is where I've landed. I think the WW, UW stock, and Wg haywire builds are all good and defensible, but this is what I would play right now. As a note, I also am trying a new SB guide format. Let me know what y'all think!

Mono White (bant splash)

SB Guide

Of course, make sure to adjust your mid-match decisions based on the specifics of any list you face and use this as a guideline, rather than a hard and fast rule!

Current Deck Configuration Notes:

-Mono White Main - Being able to very cleanly grab basic plains game 1 is a nice benefit, and you can adjust your plans for post-board games much more easily in the blind.

-22 land - 23 land was fine, but I'm a bit too greedy and wanted another spell. 23 land is very defensible, but I would almost never go down to 21.

-1 Outfitter - Still kind of hate the card, but it does its job pretty well. I don't really like 2, but 1 has been a treat.

-2 Memnites - Trading with Monkey is good, and I don't mind having the extra 0's to improve my early metalcraft numbers and ways to leverage drum/paradise mantle.

-2 Giver, 3 Skill - with the reduction in pierce from the main, moving an extra skill to the main has been nice to accommodate both the blue and green splashes in the SB.

-1 Paradise Mantle - Mantle is back, and I still really like the card. While it's turn 1 appearance is worse than drum, it is better on almost every other turn of the game.

-0 Relics/GY hate - Still very happy with this

-2 Lavinia/1 Drannith - Not only is she still excellent against Cascade and 4C Elementals, but with her stopping Leyline Binding, she continues to be one of your best tools. I have split with Drannith because Drannith does a good job hating on cascade while also fighting against Underworld Breach. I trimmed the numbers a bit this month since I'm not seeing as much cascade.

-No "fair" equipment (cyst/sword) - the adoption of Outfitter and the extra Memnites mean that I like pushing the combo more.

-3 Sanctifier: With the piles of RB decks running around, Sanctifier has overperformed. Additionally, she does a ton of work against Murktide as a bonus.

Additionally, here are the three places I will likely try to start with Nahiri:

Boros Hammer

Jeskai Hammer

Naya Hammer

A couple things to note about the Nahiri builds:

-I don't know which build will be the best, or if we will ultimately want Nahiri at all. At this point, it is all theory.

-I trimmed the 3rd skill and 2nd memnite from all of these lists, since Nahiri acts as additional ways to gain advantage, so the outright protection is less important.

-Nettlecyst plays pretty poorly with Nahiri's 0 ability, also costs 3 mana, and I already wasn't a huge fan, so I cut it.

-"Flex" cards that play well with Nahiri's 0: Kor Outfitter, Kaldra (via SFM), Haywire Mite, Giver, Gingerbrute.

-As we are trying to test Nahiri, I want to construct my deck with her in mind, which is why you see most of the above changes across all versions.

Red cards I am NOT playing in the Red splash that people will/have asked about:

-Ragavan: having reliable red mana on T1 without further mutilating our manabase is very difficult. Additionally, we don't have ways to clear blockers, so Ragavan is much more likely to be a Savannah Lions than a Deathrite Shaman.

-Wear//Tear: I think that March/Ending are likely better, but Wear//Tear is definitely worthy of consideration.

-Magnetic Theft: Don't play this card, it sucks. I will not be taking additional questions at this time.

-Cacophany Scamp: This new 1/1 is very fragile, doesn't synergize with anything except getting a hammer on it, and doesn't even have evasion. Hard pass.