MTG Salvation

Are you looking specifically to drop them onto the battlefield or put them in your hand?

Battlefield. I want to ramp up my land count.

Quote from DrWorm

I have been looking for a deck to make use of Koth for the past few days and I was directed in this direction. There are a lot of good ideas here, but I was wondering if there had been any thought of splashing greed for land tutors to up the land count? Granted, this idea really banks on Koth, and that might be too narrow, but just wondered if anyone had any thoughts.

You could run stuff like Stomping Ground for a green splash with Koth. You can go a couple different routes with the deck. Some people go for a more control route with stuff like Pyroclasm and Blood Moon. Others go with more creatures in mind and run stuff like Kargon Dragonlord and Figure of Destiny that can grow very quickly with Koth's ramp ability and a bunch of mountains.

Koth is an amazing clock but you have to protect him and thats where ensnaring bridge/leyline come in. The idea is really you get a soft lock in place to get you enough time to get koths ultimate. Its great when you get all the pieces but 2 turns is really all you need.

I've just started playing modern and decided to give a shot at a UR version of Blood Moon. Blue gives us ways to better protect ou mana denial strategies and opens up great sideboard cards for any match-up:

Tournament report with the following list :



Round 1 (0-2) (Soul Sisters)
Match 1: Starting hand with 2 Blood Moon and not much else. Just got rolled over without much opposition from me.

Sideboard:
-4 Blood Moon
+2 Ensnaring Bridge
+1 Pyroclasm
+1 Spell Pierce (Repeal would have been a better choice)

Match 2: Got the board locked down with a Ensnaring Bridge and casted Wildfire 2 times to keep my opponent in check. With 7 cards left in my library I still didn't draw any Koth or Tamiyo of the game. My opponent was finally able to attack a few times with 1 power creatures because of a Spell Pierce I couldn't get rid of. Maybe get another Koth in the deck?

Round 2 (1-2) (Living End)
Match 1: He got on a good start cascading into living end turn 3. Was able to stabilize with Blood Moon and Ensnaring Bridge to finish the game with Koth.

Sideboard:
-3 Pyroclasm
+1 Squelch
+2 Relic of Progenitus
+2 Ensnaring Bridge

Match 2: Got down Koth too late and got rolled over by his army.

Match 3: Was able to lock him down but he was able to destroy 2 Ensnaring Bridge before I could draw Koth, again...

Round 3: (2-1) (UR Storm)
Match 1: Got a Koth early and could have got the game if not for multiple misplays. Opponent went off.

Sideboard:
-3 Pyroclasm
-1 Ensnaring Bridge
+2 Spell Pierce
+2 Counterflux

Match 2 and 3: Quickly took over both games with Koth, countering his stuff.

Round 4: Bye

Impressions: The deck has some good potential but needs tweaking. For too much matchs I was waiting for my finisher while the board was locked. Those could have been a easy win if I'd have drawn Koth. While Tamiyo can be a good answer vs some treats, she's really slow to ultimate and by then you need to have drawn a Bolt to get the win. Koth is much better but I can't see the deck having any succes with only 1 finisher. We'd be vulnerable to Pithing Needle and Revoker or Extirpate effects, and those seems to be main deck more and more in the current meta.

Here's my expected changes at this point:
-1 Wildfire
-1 Tamiyo
-1 land
+1 or +2 Koth?
+1 Ral Zarek? Would like some suggestions here...

Thanks for any comments or advice!

I put this beast together in meatspace:

This is a result of me using what I had on-hand rather than building an optimal list, which I am fine with because I can't know what an optimal list is until I do much testing. Clearly Solifuge is not optimal for this deck, and after some testing I think that Encampment takes from my snow count more than it helps. Though that is hard to say because I have so few opportunities to test in meatspace.

That is the crux of my problem, so I want to build this on MTGO too because I can test to my heart's content. I have most of the cards already, but there are a few that I will not be able to include just due to cost and I need some help with replacing them. The $$ cards are obviously Boros Reckoner and Thundermaw Hellkite, which are my two best wincons aside from Koth.

What I need are some relatively economical beaters. I was thinking about Spitemare so as to keep skredding for the face possible, but it is slow and it almost seems better to go with Stuffy Doll for the indestructibility. Then again stuffy does not do a lot else.

Other thoughts were Young Pyromancer, though if i go that route I should probably run Ensnaring Bridge too.

So, whatcha thinkin?
**************************2 hours later*************************
So I put together my MTGO brew and did some preliminary testing that proved that there is potential (at least to me). Here is the build:

The thing I am really liking about this build is it really feels like a control style red deck. With some smart burn and an indestructible ground pounder you can often get Koth to 6 (or 5 you don't mind losing it) surprisingly fast, and from there the game often becomes inevitable. Chandra, Pyromaster is really nice here- I almost want a third, but I will do more testing. I am rarely all that intent on getting her to ultimate, rather that +0 is pretty great and plays very well with Magma Jet and Ensnaring Bridge.

Here's the list that I've been testing:

After keeping this deck on the back burner for a long time, I've decided to bring it back with some updated card choices that weren't available when I first developed the deck two years ago. Here is my first go at revamping the old list. I'll probably make some adjustments as I play more with the deck in the current meta.

Holy Crap! Onslaught fetches being reprinted is giving me the chance to run Black in this deck!! The previous build has literally been sitting in my deck box, being unplayed since I sleeved it up. Lets see what we can do with Terminate in the mix!

Dol I would play another Stone Rain over Magus since we dont typically have access to Chalice to protect him. Do you have suggestions for a build using Figure of Destiny and Kargan Dragonlord with Stormbreath? Try 1 Dismember and 1 Slaughter Pact main.

Dragonlord and Figure are good options if you're looking for mana sinks, however their vulnerability to Abrupt Decay, even post level up, makes them not the best choices.

I would consider another Stone Rain over Magus. He is basically Blood Moon #5, but his vulnerability to our sweepers is not good.

On a side note: a buddy played this deck against me and after sweeping my board on turn 3, he dropped Koth on t4 and smacked me in the face for 4. The following turn he dropped a land, -2 Koth for double Stormbreath Dragon and just crushed me. It was sick.

Have you thought about using U instead of B?
I know it's been done, but there are some great cards you're missing out on(Electrolyze, as well as draw power(Serum Visions for example).

Anyway.

I feel you should have Night's Whisper, Reforge the Soul, or some sort of draw. You're seriously lacking in draw power, and judging based off of your list and the fact that none of your cards replace themselves, you run out of cards fairly quickly. The new Sarkhan is pretty sweet, has draw capabilities, can take out creatures, and can shell out decent damage by himself. I'd say use him instead of a few of your hasty dragons.

You've added B, so why not use it for more than one card?
Blightning would be a good option to roll with, since it only requires one B as well.

Have you tried running Ghost Quarter and Tectonic Edge?
GQ can pull out their basics for you to destroy with Tec Edge or Molten Rain. Find some room for Crucible of Worlds, and you would have them on a nice lock.

There honestly isn't any reason for you to have 8 basic mountains. I can see 4 for Paths and GQ's throughout the game incase you need a mountain, but other than that, I don't see the point. You'd be better off adding an extra swamp or two along with a few Tec Edges.

I'm not a big fan of your one-of Desperate Ritual. Is there a reason why you only use one?

The best draw is Tezzeret's Gambit. Buff Koth and draw cards is never a bad thing. I was considering Moltensteel Dragon.Big flyer that dodges Decay...course you pay 4 life for it.

I didn't know this concept was still a thing. Got bored and came up with a list:



Trinisphere could be a silly consideration.

I like this list, but it never feels like it does anything. The lands are controlled pretty well, then I sit there waiting for some way for my opponent to die. Although I am capable of resolving a turn one Molten Rain, the cards required to make this possible result in me running out a significant amount of gas. Zo-Zu seems like more of a gig idea and probably won't make a huge impact otherwise.

Trinisphere is surprisingly powerful. Especially if you can get it out on turn 2 via Ritual. It's super effective vs Burn and Delver, which is all over the place right now.