Im considering to cut the last mana rock, as it was MIA in all of my games but did not even miss it, I still run a lot of basic lands so Blood Moon decks should not be a problem.
Im also cutting Twincast and Archmage, since the field has a lot of aggro lately, these cards often did not have targets.
Tamiyo just sat in my hand most if the time, wishing it was another wipe or removal
With the current meta, I wish WoTC prints another 4CMC wrath. But it seems that they're veering away from it. So, I'm going to try out either Rout or End Hostilities.
So I played in yesterdays GP Manila Duel Commander Side event tournament.
There were 27 players. Ranking and points based prize structure. We played 5-swiss rounds.
Round 1 vs animar <not sure? >
Opponent received a round 1 loss for not appearing on time.
We did no get to play and I won by default.
Round 2 vs The Mimeoplasm
G1: Draw go for a couple of turns, but dust bowl ate some of his lands. He attempted to cast reanimate on griselbrand, but I had negate to stop it. He cast necromancy on the same turn, but I had the force spike (worked because dust bowl reduced him to 4 lands). On his next turn he had snapcaster mage on reanimate, and griselbrand resolved, and he drew 7 cards but took 15 life already, which made his life now down to 13 (damage from underground river). On my turn I cast sower of temptation on griselbrand which resolved even if he drew another 7 cards. I drew 7 cards too, and he scooped when i equipped the sower with a sofaf to protect it.
G2: He had an early bazaar of baghdad, and I cast GST and weathered wayfarer on my 4th turn. He attempts toxic deluge on his next turn, but I have force of will and he doesn't have counters. He was able to use dance of the dead on sylvan primordial eventually, but detention sphere removed it. My attack was stopped when he used venser to bounce my detention sphere. I was able to cast dungeon geist to stop the sylvan primordial, and I got in enough damage to finish him off from the flyer.
Round 3 vs Animar
G1: turn 1 dork, turn 2 animar finished me off when he became 7/7, and trample from Nylea (god). I never got to draw a sweeper, even after digging through time, and eventually lost game 1.
G2: Early GST, after countering his mana dork with force spike, then countered Animar too. Parallax Tide followed, removing 3 of his lands. Then preordain revealed Stifle - sealing the game as he had no lands, and GST had the Jitte equipped by now.
G3: Turn 1 dork and turn 2 Animar again! I was able to stabilize by returning animar and countered his drake via cryptic commands 2 modes. I had aven mindcensor for his birthing pod, but he had the worldly tutor for flametongue kavu. My Restoration Angel and Stoneforge Mystic got killed by his Flametongue Kavu being Cloned, and Mercurial Pretender copied it on consecutive turns. Banisher Priest with Jitte and Sofaf turned things around for me, but I ran out of time, and turns, as he was down to 11 life, I was at 4 life, and I could have swung for lethal if I had another turn. Match ended in a draw.
Round 4 vs Anafenza
G1: He overcommits on creatures, Day of Judgement wipes the board. GST goes to town afterwards with Sword in hand.
G2: he swarms me again early, but Journey to Nowhere, Oblivion Ring, and counters delay his attack. I was able to stabilize with GST holding the Jitte, and start chipping away at his life points. He drew a lot of lands, and I was able to hold off with counters on Anafenza. He dies to GST a few turns later.
Round 5 vs Geist of Saint Traft (mirror match)
He was at 4-0-0; I was at 3-0-1; so we agreed to split the prizes, and that he will win to get maximum prize. He will give me 24 ktk packs, and he got 48 packs. But we decided to play it out to see who would really win.
G1: He had a turn 2 Stoneforge Mystic, getting SOFAI, but I had Disenchant to answer it. Journey to Nowhere took out his SFM. Then I tried to cast GST first, and I was able to counter it. I stick my General into play, as he only has cryptic command, while I have spell pierce. He had the mana leak but was playing aggressively as he wanted to bounce the enchantment, and return his SFM to play as well as countering my general. Then I make it unblockable with aqueous form. His life total goes down to half, but he was able to sweep my board with wrath of god. I pull away by recasting Geist, and rquipping with SoFaI.
G2: He sticks GST early with cavern, and mysticL tutor during his upkeep, taking Armageddon won jim the game as I only had SFM in play and could not equip he SoFAI on the kor artificer.
G3: First few turns were a blur. I remember him getting just a few lands, and I attack with GST early, but he was able to block it. I eventually get Meddling Mage with Jitte but he uses another sweeper on it. My cavern was on wizard and I drew Sower of Temptation, and he flew over the defense with Jitte in tow. I won the third game flying with Sower holding the Jitte!
Great tournament, even though I had to face 2 friends early (mimeo, and anafenza). It was a blast to get to play again, and win a lot of packs!!! I also bought a lot of new cards, including council's judgement which I will now put in the deck <probably replacing submerge>.
I have been checking on the Fate Reforged spoilers, and have seen some interesting cards:
Valorous Stance - saves GST or another creature for 1 turn (acts as a counter), for the first mode, or kills something big for the 2nd mode. Not really too promising or flexible as a removal, but the first mode is relevant in some game situations.
Lightform - at first I thought you could enchant GST with it when it comes into play, but reading it again says that the card on top of your library will be the first card to be enchanted. It will add an evasive lifelink creature for 3 mana, and after that it won't really be giving you anything much. Spectral Flight would work better if I just need flying, or Griffin Guide at 3CMC for that matter. Probably will not be played in this deck.
Monastery Mentor - it crops out 1/1 prowess tokens which is strong, as we have a lot of non-creature spells. It does die easily, as it is only 2/2, and Brimaz also adds tokens without the prowess having to be triggered. It looks interesting, but I don't think this is the right deck for this type of card.
Blue hasn't added any good cards yet. Hope we get something for the deck in this upcoming set.
Which of the new cards from fate reforged do you guys think that might be possible new additions to the deck?
I'm actually trying to look at older cards that we can use as a solution to the recently rising number of aggro decks *cough* Anafenza *cough*.
We really need another boardwipe. Rout and End Hostilities are way too slow. Has anyone tried using Ætherize in their 99? Any insight/comment on this one?
I tested Comeuppance, and it's better than Aetherize, as it can kill their creatures outright, except for those with toughness higher than the creatures power. It's currently out of my list again as I can't find a slot for it right now. I would use it before I put in Aetherize, if you are looking at 4 CMC instant answers to aggro decks.
Ugin is pretty good, but I second Gaviro's opinion that he is not the right planeswalker/finisher for this deck. He's better in ramp-style commanders who can consistently cast him each game they get to draw him. If you are already at 8 mana with GST, you're either winning already, or losing completely.
I've seen some players running terminus. I'm hesitant to put it in the deck since I'm light on lands. If you run 38-40 lands, I think you can consistently cast it, even for the full cost. Having both brainstorm, & JTMS doesn't really guarantee that you will get to draw any of the 2 along wih terminus at he right time in the same game consistently. I'd still much rather have something I can realistically cast on a consistent basis most of the time, given I don't reach 6 mana in my testing consistently by turn 6. In any case, it's still a good option to consider and test as an additional sweeper!
Changes:
+Day of Judgment: I wasn't running this card because when I started playing again, aggro didn't exist. I guess it's time to run the 3rd wrath (hope there's gonna be a 4th)
+Plains: Who doesn't like having lands in their opener?
+Comeuppance: Testing as a solution versus the aggro heavy meta
-Steelshaper's Gift: A dead tutor
-Azorius Signet: Yes, it breaks my heart to take this out but having another Plains is better
-Grand Abolisher: He's just a bear. Not enough control/permission decks to warrant his inclusion
I'm hoping to test my list this coming weekend.
PS: It's my New Year's resolution to buy a Tundra this year.
It's my New Year's resolution to buy a Tundra this year.
That's the spirit! buy TMS too!
I'd argue JTMS is more important than the land upgrade (and cheaper).
Yeah. I'd have to agree. The thing here is I have a shared cardpool for all my EDH decks (multiplayer and duel). Just a box of singletons. I believe I'll get more mileage with the land over the PW since I can run it in other decks.
It's my New Year's resolution to buy a Tundra this year.
That's the spirit! buy TMS too!
I'd argue JTMS is more important than the land upgrade (and cheaper).
Yeah. I'd have to agree. The thing here is I have a shared cardpool for all my EDH decks (multiplayer and duel). Just a box of singletons. I believe I'll get more mileage with the land over the PW since I can run it in other decks.
I'd have to agree. I still lack a tundra, but I haven't noticed it much. Jace however is a necessary piece.
Go for it Chainzero! Get Tundra + JtMS and never look back.
Abolisher can always slot back in when the metagame shifts to more blue decks. There won't be any additional 4cmc white sweeepers printed in standard anymore from what I've been reading. But 3 wrath effects and the Parallax Wave works well for me.
On a side note, I played in a 3-rd mini tournament last night, and came out with a 2-1 record. Rd 1 vs Thrun, lost 0-2 as both games he had GSZ for dryad arbor on turn 1, and Lotus Petal into Thrun on turn 2! Got clocked with commander damage as I wasn't able to sweep early enough - nim deathmantle intimidate on thrun finished me off game 1, then o-naginata trample on thrun for game 2! Won vs Anafenza 2-0 for Rd 2. Early sweeper clears his board, then GST with equipment and Geddon took it home game 1, as he took 6 damage early from his Tarnished Citadel. Game 2 was won by Aqueous form, and some blockers vs his creatures sealed the win, as i outraced him. Rd 3 was a bye, and I finished 4th due to low tie-breaks.
Tested against Surrak as well, and that deck is a little bit like Maelstrom Wanderer without the mana rocks ramping. But he has a lot of big creatures, and can finish you off with wildfire and other similar effects. You can out-race him though when on the play as long as you can get GST some evasion.
So almost every deck that uses the combat step in duel commander would likely be sleeving this up, if they could spare a slot in the 99 -
Hero's Blade 2
Artifact -- Equipment (U)
Equipped creature gets +3/+2.
Whenever a legendary creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may attach Hero's Blade to it.
Equip 4 The best swords are forged with dragonfire.
I like it, and will test the card out before FRF is released.
So almost every deck that uses the combat step in duel commander would likely be sleeving this up, if they could spare a slot in the 99 -
Hero's Blade 2
Artifact -- Equipment (U)
Equipped creature gets +3/+2.
Whenever a legendary creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may attach Hero's Blade to it.
Equip 4 The best swords are forged with dragonfire.
I like it, and will test the card out before FRF is released.
Hero's Blade is actually pretty useless. You're paying six mana to equip if you're not living the dream and casting Geist (which makes this terrible to draw after you've played Geist) and it doesn't actually do anything. +3/+2 isn't worth it. I'd MUCH rather play Pike and get First Strike, which I consider to be more valuable than a butt.
Each piece of equipment needs to be good on its own, since they're literally useless without creature presence. Hero's Blade fails that test miserably, despite the cute interaction of T2 blade T3 Geist.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Tantarus: It didn't make the gaka greifer level, so it should be fine
GWU Thrasios, Triton Hero//Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa GWU
Draft my Modern Pauper Cube
Out:
In:
Im considering to cut the last mana rock, as it was MIA in all of my games but did not even miss it, I still run a lot of basic lands so Blood Moon decks should not be a problem.
Im also cutting Twincast and Archmage, since the field has a lot of aggro lately, these cards often did not have targets.
Tamiyo just sat in my hand most if the time, wishing it was another wipe or removal
Will test the changes after the holidays
Working. LOLz.
I just came from 2 tourneys yesterday, Team DC and an 8-man pod. No new techs yet but some cards are in the chopping block:
-Grand Abolisher - Like what you've mentioned, there's little to no permission currently.
-Steelshaper's Gift
GWU Thrasios, Triton Hero//Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa GWU
Draft my Modern Pauper Cube
Sad to see those 2 cards go from the list, but GST can win without them in our current meta.
@Jajapogi - my list is about 11 posts before yours. Feel free to copy paste it.
Share your thoughts, and changes here as well once you get to play some games.
GWU Thrasios, Triton Hero//Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa GWU
Draft my Modern Pauper Cube
There were 27 players. Ranking and points based prize structure. We played 5-swiss rounds.
Round 1 vs animar <not sure? >
Opponent received a round 1 loss for not appearing on time.
We did no get to play and I won by default.
Round 2 vs The Mimeoplasm
G1: Draw go for a couple of turns, but dust bowl ate some of his lands. He attempted to cast reanimate on griselbrand, but I had negate to stop it. He cast necromancy on the same turn, but I had the force spike (worked because dust bowl reduced him to 4 lands). On his next turn he had snapcaster mage on reanimate, and griselbrand resolved, and he drew 7 cards but took 15 life already, which made his life now down to 13 (damage from underground river). On my turn I cast sower of temptation on griselbrand which resolved even if he drew another 7 cards. I drew 7 cards too, and he scooped when i equipped the sower with a sofaf to protect it.
G2: He had an early bazaar of baghdad, and I cast GST and weathered wayfarer on my 4th turn. He attempts toxic deluge on his next turn, but I have force of will and he doesn't have counters. He was able to use dance of the dead on sylvan primordial eventually, but detention sphere removed it. My attack was stopped when he used venser to bounce my detention sphere. I was able to cast dungeon geist to stop the sylvan primordial, and I got in enough damage to finish him off from the flyer.
Round 3 vs Animar
G1: turn 1 dork, turn 2 animar finished me off when he became 7/7, and trample from Nylea (god). I never got to draw a sweeper, even after digging through time, and eventually lost game 1.
G2: Early GST, after countering his mana dork with force spike, then countered Animar too. Parallax Tide followed, removing 3 of his lands. Then preordain revealed Stifle - sealing the game as he had no lands, and GST had the Jitte equipped by now.
G3: Turn 1 dork and turn 2 Animar again! I was able to stabilize by returning animar and countered his drake via cryptic commands 2 modes. I had aven mindcensor for his birthing pod, but he had the worldly tutor for flametongue kavu. My Restoration Angel and Stoneforge Mystic got killed by his Flametongue Kavu being Cloned, and Mercurial Pretender copied it on consecutive turns. Banisher Priest with Jitte and Sofaf turned things around for me, but I ran out of time, and turns, as he was down to 11 life, I was at 4 life, and I could have swung for lethal if I had another turn. Match ended in a draw.
Round 4 vs Anafenza
G1: He overcommits on creatures, Day of Judgement wipes the board. GST goes to town afterwards with Sword in hand.
G2: he swarms me again early, but Journey to Nowhere, Oblivion Ring, and counters delay his attack. I was able to stabilize with GST holding the Jitte, and start chipping away at his life points. He drew a lot of lands, and I was able to hold off with counters on Anafenza. He dies to GST a few turns later.
Round 5 vs Geist of Saint Traft (mirror match)
He was at 4-0-0; I was at 3-0-1; so we agreed to split the prizes, and that he will win to get maximum prize. He will give me 24 ktk packs, and he got 48 packs. But we decided to play it out to see who would really win.
G1: He had a turn 2 Stoneforge Mystic, getting SOFAI, but I had Disenchant to answer it. Journey to Nowhere took out his SFM. Then I tried to cast GST first, and I was able to counter it. I stick my General into play, as he only has cryptic command, while I have spell pierce. He had the mana leak but was playing aggressively as he wanted to bounce the enchantment, and return his SFM to play as well as countering my general. Then I make it unblockable with aqueous form. His life total goes down to half, but he was able to sweep my board with wrath of god. I pull away by recasting Geist, and rquipping with SoFaI.
G2: He sticks GST early with cavern, and mysticL tutor during his upkeep, taking Armageddon won jim the game as I only had SFM in play and could not equip he SoFAI on the kor artificer.
G3: First few turns were a blur. I remember him getting just a few lands, and I attack with GST early, but he was able to block it. I eventually get Meddling Mage with Jitte but he uses another sweeper on it. My cavern was on wizard and I drew Sower of Temptation, and he flew over the defense with Jitte in tow. I won the third game flying with Sower holding the Jitte!
Great tournament, even though I had to face 2 friends early (mimeo, and anafenza). It was a blast to get to play again, and win a lot of packs!!! I also bought a lot of new cards, including council's judgement which I will now put in the deck <probably replacing submerge>.
Valorous Stance - saves GST or another creature for 1 turn (acts as a counter), for the first mode, or kills something big for the 2nd mode. Not really too promising or flexible as a removal, but the first mode is relevant in some game situations.
Lightform - at first I thought you could enchant GST with it when it comes into play, but reading it again says that the card on top of your library will be the first card to be enchanted. It will add an evasive lifelink creature for 3 mana, and after that it won't really be giving you anything much. Spectral Flight would work better if I just need flying, or Griffin Guide at 3CMC for that matter. Probably will not be played in this deck.
Monastery Mentor - it crops out 1/1 prowess tokens which is strong, as we have a lot of non-creature spells. It does die easily, as it is only 2/2, and Brimaz also adds tokens without the prowess having to be triggered. It looks interesting, but I don't think this is the right deck for this type of card.
Blue hasn't added any good cards yet. Hope we get something for the deck in this upcoming set.
Which of the new cards from fate reforged do you guys think that might be possible new additions to the deck?
We really need another boardwipe. Rout and End Hostilities are way too slow. Has anyone tried using Ætherize in their 99? Any insight/comment on this one?
GWU Thrasios, Triton Hero//Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa GWU
Draft my Modern Pauper Cube
GWU Thrasios, Triton Hero//Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa GWU
Draft my Modern Pauper Cube
1 Geist of Saint Traft
//ARTIFACTS - MANA
1 Talisman of Progress
//ARTIFACTS - EQUIPMENT
1 Batterskull
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Umezawa's Jitte
//CREATURES
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Banisher Priest
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
1 Dungeon Geists
1 Kor Sanctifiers
1 Meddling Mage
1 Mirran Crusader
1 Mother of Runes
1 Restoration Angel
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Thassa, God of the Sea
1 True-Name Nemesis
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
//INSTANTS
1 Brainstorm
1 Comeuppance
1 Counterspell
1 Daze
1 Delay
1 Dig Through Time
1 Disenchant
1 Force Spike
1 Enlightened Tutor
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Force of Will
1 Into the Roil
1 Mana Leak
1 Mana Tithe
1 Memory Lapse
1 Miscalculation
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Path to Exile
1 Psionic Blast
1 Remand
1 Spell Pierce
1 Spell Snare
1 Stifle
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Tithe
1 Trickbind
1 Armageddon
1 Council's Judgment
1 Day of Judgment
1 Ponder
1 Preordain
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Treasure Cruise
1 Wrath of God
//ENCHANTMENTS
1 Aqueous Form
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Land Tax
1 Nevermore
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Parallax Tide
1 Parallax Wave
1 Steel of the Godhead
//PLANESWALKERS
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
//BASIC LANDS
6 Island
6 Plains
//NON BASIC LANDS
1 Adarkar Wastes
1 Arid Mesa
1 Celestial Colonnade
1 Cephalid Coliseum
1 Command Tower
1 Dust Bowl
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Faerie Conclave
1 Flagstones of Trokair
1 Flooded Strand
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Marsh Flats
1 Mishra's Factory
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Moorland Haunt
1 Mystic Gate
1 Nimbus Maze
1 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Seachrome Coast
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Windswept Heath
Changes:
+Day of Judgment: I wasn't running this card because when I started playing again, aggro didn't exist. I guess it's time to run the 3rd wrath (hope there's gonna be a 4th)
+Plains: Who doesn't like having lands in their opener?
+Comeuppance: Testing as a solution versus the aggro heavy meta
-Steelshaper's Gift: A dead tutor
-Azorius Signet: Yes, it breaks my heart to take this out but having another Plains is better
-Grand Abolisher: He's just a bear. Not enough control/permission decks to warrant his inclusion
I'm hoping to test my list this coming weekend.
PS: It's my New Year's resolution to buy a Tundra this year.
GWU Thrasios, Triton Hero//Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa GWU
Draft my Modern Pauper Cube
Do it asap!
That's the spirit! buy TMS too!
I'd argue JTMS is more important than the land upgrade (and cheaper).
Yeah. I'd have to agree. The thing here is I have a shared cardpool for all my EDH decks (multiplayer and duel). Just a box of singletons. I believe I'll get more mileage with the land over the PW since I can run it in other decks.
GWU Thrasios, Triton Hero//Sidar Kondo of Jamuraa GWU
Draft my Modern Pauper Cube
I'd have to agree. I still lack a tundra, but I haven't noticed it much. Jace however is a necessary piece.
Abolisher can always slot back in when the metagame shifts to more blue decks. There won't be any additional 4cmc white sweeepers printed in standard anymore from what I've been reading. But 3 wrath effects and the Parallax Wave works well for me.
On a side note, I played in a 3-rd mini tournament last night, and came out with a 2-1 record. Rd 1 vs Thrun, lost 0-2 as both games he had GSZ for dryad arbor on turn 1, and Lotus Petal into Thrun on turn 2! Got clocked with commander damage as I wasn't able to sweep early enough - nim deathmantle intimidate on thrun finished me off game 1, then o-naginata trample on thrun for game 2! Won vs Anafenza 2-0 for Rd 2. Early sweeper clears his board, then GST with equipment and Geddon took it home game 1, as he took 6 damage early from his Tarnished Citadel. Game 2 was won by Aqueous form, and some blockers vs his creatures sealed the win, as i outraced him. Rd 3 was a bye, and I finished 4th due to low tie-breaks.
Tested against Surrak as well, and that deck is a little bit like Maelstrom Wanderer without the mana rocks ramping. But he has a lot of big creatures, and can finish you off with wildfire and other similar effects. You can out-race him though when on the play as long as you can get GST some evasion.
Hero's Blade 2
Artifact -- Equipment (U)
Equipped creature gets +3/+2.
Whenever a legendary creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may attach Hero's Blade to it.
Equip 4
The best swords are forged with dragonfire.
I like it, and will test the card out before FRF is released.
Hero's Blade is actually pretty useless. You're paying six mana to equip if you're not living the dream and casting Geist (which makes this terrible to draw after you've played Geist) and it doesn't actually do anything. +3/+2 isn't worth it. I'd MUCH rather play Pike and get First Strike, which I consider to be more valuable than a butt.
Each piece of equipment needs to be good on its own, since they're literally useless without creature presence. Hero's Blade fails that test miserably, despite the cute interaction of T2 blade T3 Geist.
EDH:
RNorin the WaryR <-Link! (Primer - Mono Red Control)
GUEdric, Spymaster of TrestUG <- Link! (Mini-Primer - Dredge)
Duel Commander:
WUGeist of Saint TraftUW <- Link! (Aggro-Control)
BGSkullbriar, the Walking GraveGB <- Link! (Aggro)
BUGDamia, Sage of StoneGUB <- Link! (Extinction Control)
Church of the Wary