Alright, so the rest of the VOW update is here for me. Well, truth be told it was here just slightly after christmas, but doing an actual update on the list is super hard on mobile, and I've only just got back on a usable (read: non-work related) computer now.
I should preface that I'm now at the point that all of the changes I'm making here are arguable for and against, which in one way is great, in that we've got SO many great options, and in another is terrible, in that it makes lasting changes a lot harder to decide on. These ones, I think I have right, but I'm open to discussion as there are some cards dropping out that you could consider staples. Anyway, here's where I'm at:
Alright, so the creature adds and the big flashy enchantment we all knew were coming. It does represent a rise in the curve to some degree, but I think it mostly balances out, so it shouldn't be too significant. The counter additions, firstly with
Fierce Guardianship and secondly with
Delay, I wanted to improve and these seemed right. The former should be pretty golden with Varina, as even if she does die, more often than not I'll let her get caught up in mass reanimation anyway. The latter I think will just be nice to knock someone off of going off, as most of the time when that spell does finally resolve it's not going to be of much use 3 turns later. I think it's comparable with
Arcane Denial in terms of a counter with upside, I just want to try this for not giving away as much.
Crypt of Agadeem and
Fabled Passage are more utility, and the Crypt should be good value here and there. Given it plays into what we're wanting to do, it should perform. The Passage I think I can justify purely for having the breadth of basics in the deck from having a more budget land base. That may change over time, but for now I think it'll do fine.
Generous Gift and
Hour of Revelation I've pulled in favour of more stack interaction as above. I think it represents a risk as there is at least some chance I'll struggle to hold up appropriate amounts of mana to justify an element of draw-go, but the changes represent a slight drop in CMC anyway, so it may well balance out. I mentioned earlier
Festering Mummy was a place holder, and its place is now taken, no issues there. I've no major synergy with
Putrid Imp at present other than it being cheap to cast and for me I don't think that's enough right at the minute. The only additional utility I can see it having is as a way to fill the yard with its discard ability, but that seems like it would vary so I think I'm ok losing it.
Death Baron and
Undead Warchief represent 2 of the 3 last pieces of tribal pump in the deck. I'm ok losing the Baron to some degree (although deathtouch
is good for combat) but the Warchief could be questioned. I think the rationalisation is that the
1 reduction isn't all that significant for early zombies, and those are the ones that are clutch for a consistent game, and that combat isn't what ends most of my games. It
can, but it's much more of a grind and not easily done, so I think overall the utility of Warchief is in areas that I'm not hugely wanting to maximise.
I'm relatively happy with all of this, but mostly a lot happier to have everything collated finally and be able to actually get some games in. As always, sound off if you think there's something I've missed here.