SB:
1 Wurmcoil Engine
3 Obstinate Baloth
2 Dismember
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Natural State
2 Nature's Claim
1 Krosan Grip
2 Chalice of the Void
1 Crumble to Dust
1 Relic of Progenitus
There were a lot of cards from my list that weren't optimal. I'm in professional school and haven't played Modern for a long while. I realized that morning that I misplaced a foothills, apparently, and would swap another fetch out for the final copy. I wasn't crazy about coursers or angers main, and would consider swapping those 4 out for 1 omen, 1-2 roast, 1-2 bolt. I had too many enchantment/artifact removal spells in the sb and would put the angers there in the place of 2. I'd cut the crumble unless I expected the mirror, as I realized I didn't need or want it against Tron.
I played against 3 varieties of GW creature combos, 3 Eldrazi Tron, 1 Merfolk, and 1 UW spirits. There was a fair amount of death's shadow in attendance, including some of the better players, but it surprisingly wasn't abundant in the top tables. T8 consisted of me, 2 Eldrazi tron (semi and final opponents), UW spirits, GW counter combo (quarters opponent), burn, BW tokens, and what I think was Esper Death's Shadow.
I won a 50 person pptq running this yesterday. It was my first time playing in quite some time, so my list was pretty untuned but I wanted to try some things out. I played 2 Coursers (which I sided out a lot - they weren't good), a Chanda ToD, 6 removal (2 bolt, 2 anger, 2 roast), no pacts, 2 omens, and 4 hour of promise.
I've just read the last couple of pages, but honestly some people just seem clueless.
Ponder and preordain were not just good because of Twin. In fact, if they came back, Storm would benefit from that far more than Twin does. These cards make card selection incredibly easy, making any degenerate strategy that much better.
There was a comment made about Sword of the Meek being unbannable but not yet because there aren't many control decks. Hah. If SotM was unbanned, control would be the biggest beneficiary. It's a combo with Thopter Foundry, but the result of the combo is much different from the infinite combos you see from Twin or Melira, or even stuff like Storm or Scapeshift.
I am trading for pile A. I feel like I may be losing some value here, but I already have playsets of everything I'm trading away, and don't yet have a playset of Bobs. Would this be a mistake?
Chord of Calling has gone up about 5-6 bucks in the last week, up 10 in the last month. While Melira Pod is clearly one of the best modern decks, it's the only deck that plays it, and not as a 4-of. What am I missing?
His:
Watery grave
Breeding pool
Thoughtseize
2 Courser of Kruphix
2 Temple of Plenty
My:
Noble Hierarch
A is made up of cards I lack playsets of and would like to have in standard, albeit with no immediate deck needs. B is my 5th Noble. Prices favor A by about 5 bucks, but I'm unsure about trading a hard to find modern staple for much more easily obtained standard cards (though I feel most will retain value for a while).
The second deck is definitely better than the first. As mentioned, the Sovereign seems pretty out of place, and the blind obedience is generally more of a SB card. I am not super fond of multiple Doom Blades in the maindeck. I think Either Ultimate Price or more Devour Flesh would be better. I am actually fine with Liliana, as it is an additional card advantage engine. If you've got a Pack Rat in play you shouldn't have to worry about ultimating her, as 2 Rats a turn gets out of hand very fast. That said, I think I would want a little more card draw, probably with another Connections in the maindeck.
I actually think your deck has a very powerful core, and would not want to change much to it. I think Esper Control and Red Burn will be two of the most popular decks (along with Black Devotion and Jund Monsters), and think Sin Collector would be awesome to come in along with Duress from the SB.
I can see populate cards being potentially underrated at first. If there are cards that produce good tokens at common, anything with populate could be strong. It's not hard to imagine Rootborn Defenses as a 2-for-1 or better.
I've got what I feel is a pretty average list of accomplishments. I've T8'ed a couple ptqs and cash tournaments, but I've never qualified, and never felt any level of dominance over the game.
4 Primeval Titan
4 Scapeshift
4 Hour of Promise
4 Search for Tomorrow
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Farseek
2 Lightning Bolt
2 Prismatic Omen
2 Courser of Kruphix
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
4 Valakut
3 Wooded Foothills
2 Arid Mesa
1 Misty Rainforest
4 Stomping Ground
2 Cinder Glade
1 Sheltered Thicket
3 Forest
7 Mountain
SB:
1 Wurmcoil Engine
3 Obstinate Baloth
2 Dismember
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Natural State
2 Nature's Claim
1 Krosan Grip
2 Chalice of the Void
1 Crumble to Dust
1 Relic of Progenitus
There were a lot of cards from my list that weren't optimal. I'm in professional school and haven't played Modern for a long while. I realized that morning that I misplaced a foothills, apparently, and would swap another fetch out for the final copy. I wasn't crazy about coursers or angers main, and would consider swapping those 4 out for 1 omen, 1-2 roast, 1-2 bolt. I had too many enchantment/artifact removal spells in the sb and would put the angers there in the place of 2. I'd cut the crumble unless I expected the mirror, as I realized I didn't need or want it against Tron.
I played against 3 varieties of GW creature combos, 3 Eldrazi Tron, 1 Merfolk, and 1 UW spirits. There was a fair amount of death's shadow in attendance, including some of the better players, but it surprisingly wasn't abundant in the top tables. T8 consisted of me, 2 Eldrazi tron (semi and final opponents), UW spirits, GW counter combo (quarters opponent), burn, BW tokens, and what I think was Esper Death's Shadow.
Ponder and preordain were not just good because of Twin. In fact, if they came back, Storm would benefit from that far more than Twin does. These cards make card selection incredibly easy, making any degenerate strategy that much better.
There was a comment made about Sword of the Meek being unbannable but not yet because there aren't many control decks. Hah. If SotM was unbanned, control would be the biggest beneficiary. It's a combo with Thopter Foundry, but the result of the combo is much different from the infinite combos you see from Twin or Melira, or even stuff like Storm or Scapeshift.
2 Theros. Seeing major play in every format will drive price more than art.
B, easily.
A in a close one.
My Dilemma:
A:
4x Dark Confidant (RAV)
Kitchen Finks
B:
Scalding Tarn
Dark Confidant (MM)
Noble Hierarch
Wurmcoil Engine
Verdant Catacombs
I am trading for pile A. I feel like I may be losing some value here, but I already have playsets of everything I'm trading away, and don't yet have a playset of Bobs. Would this be a mistake?
His:
Watery grave
Breeding pool
Thoughtseize
2 Courser of Kruphix
2 Temple of Plenty
My:
Noble Hierarch
A is made up of cards I lack playsets of and would like to have in standard, albeit with no immediate deck needs. B is my 5th Noble. Prices favor A by about 5 bucks, but I'm unsure about trading a hard to find modern staple for much more easily obtained standard cards (though I feel most will retain value for a while).
I actually think your deck has a very powerful core, and would not want to change much to it. I think Esper Control and Red Burn will be two of the most popular decks (along with Black Devotion and Jund Monsters), and think Sin Collector would be awesome to come in along with Duress from the SB.
I can see populate cards being potentially underrated at first. If there are cards that produce good tokens at common, anything with populate could be strong. It's not hard to imagine Rootborn Defenses as a 2-for-1 or better.
I've got what I feel is a pretty average list of accomplishments. I've T8'ed a couple ptqs and cash tournaments, but I've never qualified, and never felt any level of dominance over the game.