In my previous article I talked about a deck that is probably not a part of anyone’s gauntlet. Now I’m writing about a deck that is on the fringe of testing against. While Soul Sisters had a bit of popularity right before Scars of Mirrodin hit, it was never a major part of the meta. It was doomed to be another Conley Woods creation (many of which are traps that I have fallen into) that percolated in the back of people’s minds but would never have a solid place. Soul Sisters is the deck from Conley that has come closest to challenging this trend as his Magical Christmas Land deck and U/B Persecutor deck ended up quite lacking. The removal of Soul Warden from the format cut Soul Sisters short, but now it has a chance again with Suture Priest and Phyrexian Metamorph. Are those two cards enough to get it there?

Let’s be honest, those aren’t the cards that let Soul Sisters come in 9th place at Starcity Games Louisville. First, the decklist:

Maindeck:

Artifacts
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Sword of War and Peace

Artifact Creatures
4 Phyrexian Metamorph
3 Spellskite

Creatures
4 Ajani’s Pridemate
4 Leonin Relic-Warder
4 Serra Ascendant
4 Soul’s Attendant
3 Squadron Hawk
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Suture Priest

Basic Lands
8 Plains

Lands
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Glimmerpost
4 Kabira Crossroads
1 Seachrome Coast
3 Tectonic Edge

The deck has Squadron Hawks, Stoneforge Mystics, Batterskull, and Swords. Curiously enough those cards are also in another deck in the format. The best deck in the format. The reason why I think Soul Sisters has a chance in the meta is that rather than taking a reactive approach, it is taking the much less seen proactive approach. The two big decks are Caw Blade and Splinter Twin, and Vampires appears to be making a name for itself as well. Looking at a couple other lists we see the way Caw Blade deals with the Splinter combo is with Mana Leak, Spell Pierce, Into the Roil, Dismember, and Spellskite. Spellskite is the only proactive answer Caw Blade has to Splinter Twin, as it’s quite difficult to win by casting Splinter Twin when there is an opposing Spellskite on the board. Reactive answers to Splinter Twin are often not a guaranteed thing either, as Grixis builds will get around them with hand disruption, and UR builds run a good amount of counter-magic. Spell Pierce is also unable to hit Deceiver Exarch so keeping two mana untapped is almost always necessary past turn 3 or 4. Thus, on paper Splinter Twin should have a pretty fair time against Caw Blade. The problem is Caw Blade has had months of tweaking allowed to it so that it could become the monstrosity it is now. Splinter Twin hasn’t existed very long. Over time the list will get tighter and either it will be a deck or it won’t. For now Mike Flores’ first place finish at the TCG event qualifies it as a deck enough to warrant significant testing and consideration while deck building.

Coming back to the proactive elements of Soul Sisters, we have cards like Suture Priest and Soul’s Attendant. Both of these cards stop Splinter Twin from happening and the fact there are four of each gives the deck a lot of insurance against the combo. They both dodge Duress and come down early which are fairly pertinent. Throw in the three Spellskites and you have eleven main deck answers to a deck, not to mention the synergy between Spellskite and, well, all of your more important creatures. At least against Splinter Twin, Soul Sisters is in a good spot, which is impressive for an aggro deck. But what about Caw Blade? Four main decked Leonin Relic-Warders gives outs to Batterskull as well as Swords while also being a combo with Phyrexian Metamorph + Suture Priest/Soul Warden. Once you have infinite life the only thing you have to worry about are those pesky Inkmoth Nexuses, but the three Tectonic Edge (should probably be four?) and the one Mortarpod in the board help against that. I guess you also have to worry about Jace, but then again Jace is that guy you always have to worry about. With Caw Blade players focusing more on the mirror, board sweepers are less prevalent, though that may change given aggro’s recent success in Denver. Lightning Bolt is feeling the same way, but what’s even better is that the decks which still run Lightning Bolt are also the decks you have the best match up against. Soul Sisters is meant to beat aggro. Pumping up an Ajani’s Pridemate while gaining life is brutal for aggro. Add in Batterskull, Sword of War and Peace, and an infinite life gain combo, aggro’s chances are slim.

On paper Soul Sisters looks quite good. Neil Michalares’ 9th place finish at Louisville may prompt greater testing as the meta begins to shape itself, but the deck seems solid enough to at least be Tier 2. If Brian Kibler considers Stoneforge Mystic to be the best white creature in Magic then you have to be doing something right playing it. Batterskull seeing play in Legacy should also hint at its power level, though the hate for the card is far less in the eternal format. However, going only on this logic means you should add Jace and then you arrive at… Caw-Blade. While it may seem I’m trying to sell you on playing “not-Caw-Blade” the synergy the deck has with the developing meta is quite interesting. The deck is not as fluid, since you could take it apart as Stoneforge Package + Squadron Hawks picking up Swords + Gain Life beats + Infinite Life Combo. Basically the deck construction went something like “Hey Suture Priest could be Soul Warden… Yea and there’s also this infinite life gain combo… But there are still some spots where removal used to be… Let’s just add Stoneforge and Squadron Hawk.” While that may not be the best way to build a deck, it managed to survive past the one-weekly-article-by-Conley-Woods-and-then-never-to-see-the-light-of-day-again fate. Hopefully Soul Sisters will be coming to a gauntlet near you, but if it doesn’t, well at least Conley Woods will be famous for other things.