MTG Salvation

Quote from ekienhol »

I tried mariners online before deciding to go with diffusions. I am realizing now that online is a terrible indicator to how a deck will perform in paper because the shuffler is awful online. Perhaps mariner is the right call, time will tell. I am please to report the IQ went well on Sunday, I finished 4-2 and 11th out of 42. No top 8 and no deck posting but a good showing.

Good record, still. Same list from last time?
If meta shifts to a more point-removal one, I will switch to Diffusion.
Meanwhile, format is so crazy I will stick to Mariner.
Any consideration for the sideboard? I find Leyline nonsensical after the bans.

Yeah, I haven't updated that list after the bans. I'll likely swap them out for ravenous traps but only 2 and jam 2 of something else in there. Thinking of going up to 3 harmonic side. Maybe a Hivelord.

Quote from ekienhol »

Yeah, I haven't updated that list after the bans. I'll likely swap them out for ravenous traps but only 2 and jam 2 of something else in there. Thinking of going up to 3 harmonic side. Maybe a Hivelord.

Sorcerous Spyglass could be a nice addition for fighting planeswalkers and artifact strategies.
Harmonic is cool, but there's a bit of tension when running alongside Vial and Chalice.

I took both my Coco list and Chalice lists to SCG open in Dallas this weekend. Coco went 3-4 drop in the main event, Chalice went 4-4 in the classic.

Coco list:
L 0-2 vs G tron
L 1-2 vs Humans
W 2-0 vs uw spirits
W 2-0 vs infect
W 2-0 vs Naya Wrenn
L 1-2 vs G tron
L 0-2 vs living end

Chalice list:
W 2-1 vs mardu stoneblade
W 2-0 vs UW control
W 2-1 vs uw spirits
W 2-1 vs burn***
L 1-2 vs jund
L 0-2 vs gifts storm
L 1-2 vs amulet titan
L 0-2 vs jeskai stoneblade

*** In game 3 vs burn, it came down to me at 2 life, opponent at 10 life, opponent controls only lands and an eidolon of the great revel, I only control a chalice for 1, a chalice for 2, and lands including mutavault. We played the draw, discard, pass game for 8-10 turns. I built up a yard of creatures and got my lands in play up to 7. On the final turn of the game I top decked an 8th land, played it, unearthed a dregscape, 2 predatory's and a galerider to fly over for victory. Everything went to crap after that so I feel I used up all my luck in that match.

Funny thing to mention Spyglass, the night before the classic I was looking over the chalice list and made a sideboard change. I took out the grave hate I intended to run (2 ravenous traps) and replaced them with 2 Pithing Needles. I got to needle a Jace vs uw controil and a Stoneforge Mystic vs jeskai stoneblade.

Sad to hear.
Any thoughts you want to share about current list?

Chalice build is meta dependant, with Phoenix gone from top positions it is weaker for sure
Chalice is good against Death Shadow, Infect. Semi good vs Whirza, Affinity, Storm, Ad Nauseam. I cant say its even semi good vs Burn, its playable, but Burn is fast and supposedly already played its threats before you want to counter them with Chalice. Now it even hedges its Bolts with another 3 cmc spell.
In my opinion Chalice is more of a sideboard card now. In many matchups it doesnt do much and without much interaction we just need to be fast, meaning more 1 drops which are not going well with Chalice.

I agree with Timba, the Chalice list was built for a meta that no longer exists. I will keep the list around but its time to move on to find something for the new meta. If the meta ever goes back to phoenix type decks again, I'll be ready. I really did love that deck as it turned the corner so hard and fast to kill even taking turns off to vial and chalice.

I still find chalice very reliable, even only for shutting down Bolt/Path/Push/Stirrings. Against Infect, Storm and Burn it gives us a edge that we didn't have before.
I will continue testing this list, as is the most reliable I have played since a long time ago.

I took the chalice list to another IQ today in Little Rock AR.

Finished 4-2.

L 0-2 vs dice factory (mana screw both games)
BYE
L 1-2 vs uw stoneblade
W 2-1 vs uw stoneblade
W 2-0 vs sultai control
W 2-0 vs gw eldrazi stoneblade

The list may still have legs...
5-2 at MCQ
4-2 at IQ in KC
4-4 at SCG classic
4-2 at IQ in LR

Perhaps changing up the sideboard will help. Also considering phantasmal image for main vs leeching sliver.

Deafening Silence what do you think about this? Could be very good for us

only playable in builds with fetches AND mana slivers
still hard to cast, but effect is powerful to make room for a pair in sideboards

or maybe playing 4x manaweft and 4x gemhide mmm, this card can really change a match mmm

Saffron Olive on Slivers
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/much-abrew-slivers-modern-magic-online

Did some testing with this list. Dropped Chalice due to monetary circunstances.

Eldratron 1-1
Jund 2-0
Eldrazi and Taxes 2-0
UR Arcanist Wizards 0-2

-As I said in the past, Dregscape Sliver is very cool even in main, providing virtual card advantage
-Manaweft Sliver, despite being weak, provides incredibly explosive starts, especially combined with Cloudshredder Sliver
-Unsettled Mariner continues to amaze me. In the four matchups I have been playing, It has stopped Thought-Knot Seer, Walking Ballista, Lightning Bolt, Path To Exile and Tidehollow Sculler.

I think the deck is great by now. Is very explosive and contundent, few decks play sweepers or can stop a deployed board, having 8 flying slivers is amazing, and our medium stats have been increased with Mariner and Dregscape.
Probably I will change Frenetic Sliver for Diffusion Sliver in side, due to Frenetic being too slow, too mana demandant and Wrath effects being low in the format.

More testing:
Affinity 2-0
Twiddle Storm 2-0
Whirza 0-2 (Though matchup, lose even with Armonic on field)

Vizier druid 1-2 (Mulligan to 4 hurts)
Blue Tron 2-1 (Both games won thanks to Dregscape Sliver, that dude is gas)
I still miss Chalice, being poor sucks

-Moving necrotic to side, as is very powerful but narrow
-Adding more 1-drops in the form of Sidewinder
-Adding 3x Diffusion, as Mariner effect has been very powerful (and because I cannot afford Chalices)

Things I miss after more testing:
More true lords. Leeching does a very good job, but almost every sliver being 1/1 make things complicated sometimes
Mana slivers and their explosive starts, but more 2-drop 1/1 is not my cup of tea. Diffusion and Manaweft fights for some slots, as both seem very powerful.

Who do you think is better Dregscape Sliver or Unsettled Mariner?
How is Gemstone Mine performing? Canopy lands? Ziggurat?
Also could you accumulate more data before posting please. With 2-3 matches per post it will take a full page before we get to reliable statistics

We don't have any card draw besides horizon lands, and the Unearth that Dregscape provides is a kind of virtual card advantage (since we are recycling slivers where the opponent, presumably, spent removal) for an acceptable cost. Reanimating one or two slivers in a turn (more or less the average I have been reanimating) could be devastating, even if it is for a lord, a key ability like flying or just one more beater. Besides, mind that the reanimated sliver has haste.
Against control and grindy matchups, it shines. Against aggro decks, is just a decent beater that can provide value in case one of our slivers gets killed. Basically, we are more resilient to removal in a way that fits the beatdown plan.

Mariner is like Diffusion, but with two important differences: stats are better (which matters a lot) and protection covers all our permanents and ourselves.
The problem with Diffusion was that it was weak, and its ability would be useless in non-point-removal matchups. Mariner solves both problems nicely. Even when the opponent is not targeting our slivers, Mariner could be useful: hand hate (discard, Thought-Knot Seer), land destruction (Field of Ruin, Ghost Quarter), Liliana -2, direct damage (Mariner is basically a Thalia, Guardian of Thraben against burn), Valakut, Ballista, artifact hate... the list is very long.
And if its role is relegated to lower the opponent lives, it truly does a better job than Diffusion.

I don't think Dregscape and Mariner could be compared one with the other. They fill different roles in the deck, and I think both are a nice inclusion. Numbers can vary, but I would not be less than 3 of each (and I am very comfortable with 4 mariners). If I have to choose, I think will bet for Mariner, but I am not sure.

About lands: Gemstone and Ziggurat are poor replacements of Cavern of Souls. Gemstone is somewhat acceptable, Ziggurat is horrible when we try to activate mutavault, unearth, sliver hive or cast Aether Vial.
Horizon Lands have been very good (card drawing helps a lot) but I would set the number to 3. Don't think of them as color fixers: they are just card drawers that don't provide tempo loss. I would not rely on them to construct the manabase.
If you can afford them, pick x4 Caverns, x4 Sliver Hives and x4 Unclaimed Territory. With 3 Horizon lands and 1-2 Gemstone Mine if there are still slots, the manabase is perfetcly fine. If you can, avoid ziggurat.

(sorry for the multiple post, I was making updates as I was playing, and I thought some activity will be good for the forum)

Getting really excited for this weekend and SCG Regionals. Taking the Sedge Chalice list in my signature. Been testing and feeling really good about this list.

Id replace Sacred Foundry with Temple Garden, it still provides colors for your double color cards Cloudshredder Sliver, Unsettled Mariner and it provides green mana which is important to cast mana slivers.
Second Plains is superfluous imo, Id replace it with other basic (Forest?), shockland, fetch, Unclaimed Territory or Mutavault
Also I like 2 Relics as gravehate, they can cycle for 2 which is nice for some matchups (maybe you want to lower Vials count for grindy matchup or Chalices do nothing in some matchup)
Good luck

GP Columbus didnt go as planned for me but I did get to meet up with a couple other sliver players.

I ended up going 1-5 drop in main event, losing to grixis shadow 3 times.

I played side events though. 2-1 with pioneer slivers and 3-0 with legacy slivers.

I just saw a video on Youtube with 4 Sorin, Imperious Bloodlord, 4 Morophon, the Boundless, 4 Sliver Legion and tutors.

https://decks.tcgplayer.com/magic/modern/meryn/sorin-sliver-combo/1363792?utm_source=merynmtg&utm_medium=merynmtg&utm_term=&utm_content=magic&utm_campaign=affiliate

Really interesting a fun I have to say.

Lots of recent activity on MTGO!

We had a Sorin/Morophon combo sliver deck go 5-0 this week in a league (will be posted in the next deck list dump) and we had an all-in aggro version make top 20 in the MTGO modern challenge last weekend.

I did a thing yesterday...

https://www.reddit.com/r/ModernMagic/comments/ffdziv/scg_regionals_kansas_city_top_8_with_slivers/