Ironically, decks that you bring in RIP against (Mardu, Abzan) Ravager is bad against so oftentimes you take them out.
Dredge, Grishoalbrand and Storm are an issue that you keep in Ravager’s with RIP, but Dredge and Storm are such bad matchups that it’s fine to slow you down if you completely turn them off.
Having Synergy =/= a Good card. If you are only winning because of a Grafdiggers Cage against Lingering Souls decks, and they Ancient Grudge you, did the 1 extra damage for Plating really matter now that you can’t attack through souls? And if you are siding out Ravagers in some matchups does it really matter that you are taking up a 2 slot?
At the end of the day, RIP hoses decks harder than Cage does. You can absolutely run 1/1, and that’s fine. Do what you think is best. Sideboarding isn’t an exact science it’s a fluid art. So run 1/1. Or run 0/2 or 2/0.
When your hate card is an artifact, and your opponent is going to bring in artifact hate, you are going to have a bad time.
RIP is also good against Goyf, which helps against Abzan (gets rid of Souls, Goyf, and other aspects of the deck)
As for Rule of Law, it typically comes in against Storm and Living end. Again, those decks bring in artifact/creature hate usually so running Canonist or Eidolon of Rhetoric is worse than just slamming a rule of law. I personally don’t run it, but when storm was popular I did.
Why not just play melira pod, sub out sin collector and a card of your choice. Then add spike feeder and archangel of thune. I did and I've seen some great results sofar
My dilemma is not which combo to run. Its "do i want thoughtseize/more interaction or the midrange/combo deck"
Ok lets stop talking about bad cards in the main and lets start talking about how to improve the flex/sideboard slots.
Anyway. For me, personally, I'm going into a PTQ come the end of August and I'm between this deck and Affinity. I've been playing Affinity for longer, but Affinity has become a very popular beast in my area. Along with Affinity, I'm expecting BG Rock as the 2nd most popular deck I think.
Regardless, I'm trying to decide between Angel Pod and Melira Pod, with the following lists for both:
Burrenton Forge-Tender - Havent got to do too much with this card yet, so I'm unsure how good it will be.
Kataki - I want Affinity hate, not sure if this is the correct one or not.
Lingering Souls - Havent got to play too much with this card, so we'll see. Seems awesome though.
This is the one I'm leaning towards, however I realise Melira Pod is better vs. Affinity so I think what I SHOULD play is:
It's also just way too hard to read into top 8 results like this. For example, I'm not even convinced that B/W midrange is better than straight mono-black. Huey and Owen are on another level, the PT metagame is warped in a way that you might not expect elsewhere, and the entire tournament is subjects to swings of straight up variance. If a few things had gone differently (e.g. if Zachary Jesse hadn't 0-3'd the day 2 draft) we might be complaining about how stale the metagame is.
Isn't EVERY magic format ever subject to "swings of straight up variance"?
Yes, which is why you can't just look at a top-8 with no mono-black devotion and say "mono-black devotion is dead!" What would be really helpful would be statistics on the top 50 finishers, or even better, the decklists from the top xx players with the best *constructed* records (that is, ignoring the limited part of the PT).
Hey congrats Dyne. If it makes you feel any better you were the one I was cheering on once I heard an affinity player was making waves in the top tables that wasnt named Frank Karsten (whose list I have if anyone wants to see it, he finished 9th.)
your maindeck 4 Galvanic Blasts surprised me, and to start I would probably cut at least 1, if not 2 (which, looking back, you said) for 2 Thoughtcasts. It just helps a lot with consistency.
How do you feel about Welding Jar or do you feel its not needed?
Love the sideboard, however why the 1/1 Master/Champion split instead of 2 Etched Champions?
Also, what are your thoughts on Choke/Blood Moon main? And how was 2 Wear//Tear for you?
Dredge, Grishoalbrand and Storm are an issue that you keep in Ravager’s with RIP, but Dredge and Storm are such bad matchups that it’s fine to slow you down if you completely turn them off.
Having Synergy =/= a Good card. If you are only winning because of a Grafdiggers Cage against Lingering Souls decks, and they Ancient Grudge you, did the 1 extra damage for Plating really matter now that you can’t attack through souls? And if you are siding out Ravagers in some matchups does it really matter that you are taking up a 2 slot?
At the end of the day, RIP hoses decks harder than Cage does. You can absolutely run 1/1, and that’s fine. Do what you think is best. Sideboarding isn’t an exact science it’s a fluid art. So run 1/1. Or run 0/2 or 2/0.
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RIP is also good against Goyf, which helps against Abzan (gets rid of Souls, Goyf, and other aspects of the deck)
As for Rule of Law, it typically comes in against Storm and Living end. Again, those decks bring in artifact/creature hate usually so running Canonist or Eidolon of Rhetoric is worse than just slamming a rule of law. I personally don’t run it, but when storm was popular I did.
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And what about those times that the 1/1 actually is a 5/5 and wins you the game because of it? Hm?
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My dilemma is not which combo to run. Its "do i want thoughtseize/more interaction or the midrange/combo deck"
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Anyway. For me, personally, I'm going into a PTQ come the end of August and I'm between this deck and Affinity. I've been playing Affinity for longer, but Affinity has become a very popular beast in my area. Along with Affinity, I'm expecting BG Rock as the 2nd most popular deck I think.
Regardless, I'm trying to decide between Angel Pod and Melira Pod, with the following lists for both:
4 Birds of Paradise
1 Eternal Witness
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Murderous Redcap
3 Noble Hierarch
1 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Restoration Angel
1 Reveillark
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Shriekmaw
1 Spellskite
1 Spike Feeder
3 Voice of Resurgence
1 Wall of Roots
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Sin Collector
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Chord of Calling
4 Birthing Pod
3 Forest
3 Gavony Township
1 Godless Shrine
1 Marsh Flats
3 Misty Rainforest
2 Overgrown Tomb
4 Razorverge Thicket
1 Swamp
1 Temple Garden
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Thoughtseize
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
2 Lingering Souls
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Entomber Exarch
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Orzhov Pontiff
2 Dismember
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
Sideboard slots I'm definitely open to changing:
Burrenton Forge-Tender - Havent got to do too much with this card yet, so I'm unsure how good it will be.
Kataki - I want Affinity hate, not sure if this is the correct one or not.
Lingering Souls - Havent got to play too much with this card, so we'll see. Seems awesome though.
This is the one I'm leaning towards, however I realise Melira Pod is better vs. Affinity so I think what I SHOULD play is:
1 Eternal Witness
4 Kitchen Finks
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Murderous Redcap
3 Noble Hierarch
1 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Restoration Angel
1 Reveillark
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Shriekmaw
1 Spellskite
3 Voice of Resurgence
1 Wall of Roots
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Viscera Seer
1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Sin Collector
2 Chord of Calling
4 Birthing Pod
3 Forest
3 Gavony Township
1 Godless Shrine
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Overgrown Tomb
4 Razorverge Thicket
1 Swamp
1 Temple Garden
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Thoughtseize
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Entomber Exarch
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Orzhov Pontiff
2 Dismember
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Reclamation Sage
Thoughts?
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Which we'll get, just like every other Pro Tour
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You would've lost either way, unless I'm missing something here.
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your maindeck 4 Galvanic Blasts surprised me, and to start I would probably cut at least 1, if not 2 (which, looking back, you said) for 2 Thoughtcasts. It just helps a lot with consistency.
How do you feel about Welding Jar or do you feel its not needed?
Love the sideboard, however why the 1/1 Master/Champion split instead of 2 Etched Champions?
Also, what are your thoughts on Choke/Blood Moon main? And how was 2 Wear//Tear for you?
Good job on your finish by the way!
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I helped convince Karsten to play them and he finished 9th. Good job Frank!
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Affinity is the most unfairest fair deck there is.
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In a game where we play 1 land a turn, and draw 1 card a turn, making infinite 2/1's or drawing your whole deck in one turn is fair to you?
Ok
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I said it 2 weeks ago, and I stand by my decision.
Scapeshift and Affinity are my decks of choice, but if I had infinite money and infinite time to test, I would play Lingering Jund.
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Not much Pod, no Twin at the top tables from what I'm hearing, quite a bit of Tron.
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