Magic: The Gathering Thread XXV: 3 Vorthoses barely clinging to sanity and 45 Spikes

[Man_Over_Game]

Ramp and Atraxa lists usually still have a must answer effect or permanent. You'd be surprised what a Naturalize here or a Path there will do to those decks. The archetype itself isn't limited to playing lower power levels, it just doesn't offer much for competitive. If you'd like to post your list, I'm sure we could help you to bring it up a bit. It might also help if we knew how you were losing the game.

My guess from what you've said thus far is that your Feather list is a collection of cards that interact with Feather, some ramp, some threats, and some removal, but your list doesn't internally synergise well, doesn't construct an end game engine, and you don't have enough card draw. You probably are finding yourself missing land 4, castimg Swords on something, playing a Guttersnipe, and then dying to XYZ.

It used things like Smothering Tithe, Land Tax, or Birgi to fuel a ton of mana as needed, and then I just played instants on my own creatures every turn that would let me draw cards (Expedite, Defiant Strike, etc) which return to my hand at the start of the next player's turn. Then it'd use things like Aria of Flame, Aetherflux Reservoir, or even a horde of monks from Monastery Mentor to overwhelm the enemy.

Although I realize that stuff like Vandalblast or Aura of Silence can probably go a long way.

Generally, the way I end up losing is either because the Atraxa deck ends up landing a single infect (he has several unblockable creatures and instant effects), followed by proliferating in various ways, or the Kamahl deck ends up with an overwhelming force sooner than I can deal with (Doubling Season + Howl of the Nightpack + Kamahl's Overrun-on-a-stick = a lot of damage).