hey deck building noob here, the speed belcher variation you posted looks interesting. what if you splashed black for infernal tutor and spoils of the vault to find your belcher easier and added lotus blooms to go off more consistently? i just threw something together on mtg deck builder http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/13-04-15-gJP-belcher/ . please give feedback.
I really like decks that go all in like that, I like the legacy belcher for that reason. Clearly the deck isnt optimized, i think some card ratios are off and im sure there are some cards that can be replaced with better ones. I do like how the shoul with chancellor+the landcycling beast help let you pay for spoils of the vault though.
I really like decks that go all in like that, I like the legacy belcher for that reason. Clearly the deck isnt optimized, i think some card ratios are off and im sure there are some cards that can be replaced with better ones. I do like how the shoul with chancellor+the landcycling beast help let you pay for spoils of the vault though.
There's a difference between going all in and autolosing some percentage of games to your own spells. Spoils is unplayable in a format with so much Burn and Affinity. The card would have to win you the game on the spot, which it doesn't even do because you can Spoils for a Belcher and still get blown up before you can cast/activate it. Shoal also feels really suboptimal here, because it's a combo that doesn't contribute to you winning the game and doesn't even synergize with your main combo. It's just to buy time and/or cast Spoils, which makes it a combo for a combo to get a combo. That sounds really unfocused to me.
I vastly prefer the RG version that builds in some interaction with Rough // Tumble, some cheap removal (Bolt, Skred, etc.), and can effectively use Blood Moon and other similar cards out of the sideboard. I agree the deck needs tuning overall, but black seems like a step in the wrong direction.
My primary thought of playing shoul was to be able to ditch chancellor/landcyclers so i could get the hellbent on the infernal tutor for the more guaranteed turn 4 activation of belcher with suspended lotus blooms. I am fairly new to modern, perhaps spoils of the vault would be a sideboard card against things like control mabye? Do you not think the cheap black removal is good enough to run like dismember/ doomblade/ disfigure? I like the idea of having a tutor to find sideboard cards easier as well. I notice not many of the decks in this forum run lotus bloom, doesnt the card play a similar function to simian spirit guide?
Something I've been curious about as of late, but haven't had the funds to investigate, is trying out a BG list again, since Tasigur and Gurmag Angler would love to eat your one-and-done ramp spells, and they can help stabilize the ground. What other black cards might squeeze in?
So I played this deck at a Modern event at my LGS the other day and went 2-2 beating Hatebears and Twin(!), losing to Storm and Merfolk.
My main observation from the night was that I got insanely lucky to beat Twin also that Merfolk is a really bad matchup. What can anyone recommend against Merfolk, I don't have Choke or Blood Moon (yet) but of the two Blood Moon looked more effective in my meta (the guys playing Merfolk are all splashing either white or black). Any other cards you guys would board in?
Also a couple of other cards I would be curious about your opinion on:
1) Gitaxian Probe: I am wondering if I would like this as a 1 of. It might just be a a crutch for me playing badly but I keep finding times when I really want to know for sure what I want to play around.
2) Chalice of the Void: This one probably sounds really weird as chalice on 1 is brutal against us. That said we can set Chalice on 2 or 3 fairly reasonably which seems like it could be good in some matchups. 0/2 vs Affinity seems good, 2/3 vs Twin seems pretty reasonable (either lock out counters or Exarch/Pestermite), 2 is insane vs Merfolk unless they have an active Vial. I came up with a big list here of things you can get with chalice on 2.
With Recross the Paths, if you have zero lands left in deck, you can rearrange your deck any way you want. It's functionally a tutor after you've fetched everything. Worried about not finding your belcher now that you've got seven lands? Just Recross and put all four on top of your library!
Questions are questions and learning is good. Besides, it takes a few reads of the card to realize just what it means when you've got an empty landbase.
Just a quick note. Personally I'm not playing many Recross the Paths in this meta. Its quite reasonable vs Abzan but against faster linear aggro decks it just doesn't do enough fast enough.
Hello, no comments in awhile so I thought I would chime in:
I often run out of cards in hand and was wondering if ensnaring bridge might be worth it. Also any thoughts on mainboard spellskites? I currently run the Gr list except -1 batterskull, -3 lightning bolt, -3 simian spirit guide, +4 wild cantor, +2 arbor elf, +1 search for tomorrow
the substitutions are mainly out of what I own but I do love wild cantor.
That is a good question, I built the g/u version because I had most of the cards already. Ensnaring bridge seems good, especially against bogles which has been my biggest hard ship at my local FNM. I have one spellskite mainboarded and it works pretty well, but I am running fabricates and such to help find if I need to.
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Commander: UBG Tasigur, the lab enabler UR Planeswalker Control UBRW Breya's personal box of combos BRW Vampire beats, by Dre 1 Karn, where all lands are command towers UBR Inalla's Venser lock UBRGW Atog Atog contraption tribal WUB Xur's second chance UGW Derivi, bird tribal R Brother's Yamazaki BRG Prosh, the scourge of multiplayer GW Capt. Sisay's Deck Dumping Service UB All Your Spells do Belong to Me UG Tapioca Pearl BG Meren's grinder
I actually worry I'm not going to empty my hand fast enough for Bridge some amount of the time. As my 1 CMC searchers become lands they kind of clog my hand up which leaves one vulnerable to smaller stuff. As for Spellskite, I see no reason why you couldn't main 1, I like being more or less as combotastic as possible G1 and then bringing stuff in for G2/3 but if it works in your meta then go for it!
I use Ensnaring Bridge to pretty good effect in my I'm the King deck, but to keep it out and useful when I need it requires some supplemental cards this deck doesn't have room for. I am also concerned that if we found it soon enough and could keep it in play a 3 manna card that doesn't accelerate our end goal might hurt more than it helps.
I love bridge, and if we are thinking of slowing down the deck anyways I'd definitely want it, otherwise... needs testing.
On a slightly different note. How are people finding Nature's Claim as a sideboard card (if they are using it at all!).
I've had a couple of games now against aggressive decks, things like Bogles, Zoo, Affinity and U/W Merfolk where they are bringing in Stony Silence where I have had to bring in an answer, and the 4 life has been relevant in the race. Is it a necessary evil or would I be beter off running a 2 CMC card like Unravel the Æther?
I gave the primer RG version a shot last night on Xmage. Got 7-8 full sideboarded matches in, and damn is this deck a blast to play. @TheCommunistManatee, for me the Nature's Claims were great from the SB. I brought them in against anyone I thought would be bringing in Stony Silence or Leyline, as well as against Amulet Bloom to have a proactive line of play. I'd probably bring them in against Twin as well. I only had the lifegain be relevant once, where they would have died from a belch and didn't, but it didn't cost me the game. I think going up to the 2 CMC is a pretty big deal personally, it impacts how good it is against Remand significantly, which would've been an issue for me multiple times. It also opens up to Spell Snare, though I haven't seen that around as much, and it's worse against Spell Pierce.
So why 7 lands? It's not the best number for any goal I can think of, and I think that having 8 lands gives you the best chance of having exactly 1 land in your hand, which seems ideal.
8 lands was the target very early on, I was reluctant to give it up. But after a lot of testing it became clear that 7 lands is faster and as reliable.
So I just had a match against Twin online (which I won!) and i realised my Sideboard has a bit too much against Twin and I'm worried about diluting the deck.
So from the above I can (and have) brought in Nature's Claim, Pithing Needle, Defense Grid, Spellskite, Torpor Orb and Choke, which is 9 cards, that seems like a lot to be taking out of the deck. What does anyone else think I should be bringing in (and what should I take out) in what is traditionally one of our bad matchups.
On a related note, I'm considering -1 Thragtusk, -1 Torpor Orb, -1 Blood Moon, +3 Kitchen Finks in the board, kind of like the primer's board in order to have more game against burn, what does anyone else think?
I'm currently playing this build. I took a couple of tips from RG tron builds and added a sweeper. I also added some dig and deck filtering with tormenting voice I also added overgrown battlement to replace arbor elf and other dorks. It seems like most of the mana dorks in this build just get bolted before they get to do anything. The walls have been working out much better against any deck that used bolt as the main form of removal. The Firespout s are great with the high number of aggro decks around. It can buy you an extra turn or two to deploy a belcher. I also added tormenting voice for filtering and pitching those early Chancellor's that just sit in your hand. Although in the future, I'm going to change it to 4 faithless looting, to have a big more dig.
I played this at a local Modern Tourney on Monday. I think it worked just as well as the original build in terms of consistency. The wall hung around longer than the other 1/1 dorks, and the sweeper was nice to have main decked.
I sided in Slaughter Games for a RUB Twin match, but I grabbed the wrong land by mistake, setting me turn behind and he Thought seized it from my hand. With all of the Land tutors, I had no problem getting the Red and Black in the slaughter games casting cost. I could have played it turn three and bought more time if I grabbed the right land. I should have grabbed a Stomping Ground with Safewright quest Went 1-2 in the RUB Twin match. Game 1 - Twin on turn 4. Game 2 - Charbelched turn 4 for 22 damage. Game 3 I had to mull down to 4 cards and he ThoughtSeize by lone land tutor, and never drew a land. I defenselessly took beats from Snap caster and Pestermite.
Vial Hatebears 1 - 2
Game 1 - Blasted with the Charbelcher
Game 2 - He sided in phrexian revokers naming Charbelcher, Restoration angel blinked out revokers saving them from my removal. Beat down by bears.
Game 3 - Could have gone either way. We both had a good board state and were in top deck mode. Couldn't draw a Firespout to with with wurmcoil engine. Chump blocked/Blinked my wurm coil and beat me with angels.
Made some bad sideboarding swaps in this match. I thought the games would go faster, so I sided out 2 Tormenting Voices, but I really could have used them to try and draw a Firespout to win and destroy the search hate.
Modern Mardu 2 - 0
Blasted with fast turn four and five charbelchers and good starting hands. Never quite got to see his deck bloom as the sweepers kept the pack rats and tokens at bay.
With the sweepers and walls, the aggro match up is a lot better than the standard build. I think after this I want to change the Tormenting voice to faithless looting and make it a 4-of. -1 Overgrown Battlement or -1 utopia sprawl as they are best when deciding to play a chancellor, but I'd rather play a wurmcoil or belcher most of the time. I may also want to change Rampant growth to Explore as I often have multiple lands in my hand from tutors and want more draw. For this build 4 wurmcoils work well.
I also can't decide if I would rather have the swamp MB and take out Stomping Ground all together as it's not really needed. This would give me another SB slot too.
Nice to see more interest in the thread! I really like the look of your list and think it has a lot of potential. I just had a couple of comments from my personal experience (feel free to disagree!).
I think the mountain is a very risky move given that we don't have much in the way of starting mana sources as is and we really need the first mana to be green! Similarly I'm not a fan of the swamp out of the board. I don't think Slaughter Games is worth it. Some of us are playing Simian Spirit Guide to help the splash (although it doesn't play so well with the rummage effects)
Overgrown Battlement is interesting and I can absolutely see the idea of having it over arbor elf but is it better than Birds of Paradise given that we are splashing?
I really really like the idea of Faithless Looting in some of the red flex spots. It seems like having more draw power could be really handy, might have to try that.
I actually played with two mountains instead of the one. I didn't really find that I was getting them in my starting hands that often. Expect for one time I drew two mountains! Over 100 games it may become less consistent that more forests, but I didn't really experience any issues in my playtesting or matches. I think faithless looting may help if you have to start with a mountain, but it may draw you into nothing. I thought about just having one mountain, but was worried about LD and ghost quarter.
I tried recross the paths and Simian spirit guide in other builds and I found them underwhelming. It seemed like the SSG either sat in my hand or got burned up on a countered card. That being said RCtP would have been useful in my Hate Bears match as I could have stacked a firespout for the win.
I'm really impressed with the utility of firespout. I was debating between it and Pyroclasm but decided that mama wasn't really an issue and wanted it to buy time. For me this has worked much better than bolt, which is why I decided on more walls. This pushes the deck to a more mid range turn area rather than explosive opening turns, but the late game is a better in my matches.
I would like another wind condition too, but I think a lot of utility from batterskull is lost with the walls. I never really had trouble drawing a win condition every game, but again over time it may not be that consistent.
I agree that slaughter games is really risky, but it maybe worth it. My meta has some scapeshift decks too. I wanted to give it a try, although I misplayed and lost my opportunity to cast it. Also, no one sees it coming in this deck. I figured if I side it in and its a dead card I could pitch it for TV or faithless looting
Also, turn 1 thoughtseize can be brutal for this deck.
Honestly 99% of the time I'm happy to be Ghost Quartered
I really would drop the mountain for a forest for consistency (some cleverer person than I did the maths on how many turn 1 green sources we need to keep a good number of 7 card hands).
I think the upside of Recross the Paths is just so much higher than Rampant Growth myself, though I do sympathise about SSG, he does get thrown away in what feels like wasteful fashion quite often.
The reason people here tend to be pro-Batterskull is that it is more resilient and cheaper than Wurmcoil.
I'm glad you like Firespout, I've got two Pyroclasm in my list atm that might become spouts down the line....
Double posting! (bit of a change of topic + 2 days later doesn't count right?)
So first things first, FNM report. I got crushed.
Round 1: Affinity
This matchup is still just awful for us, didn't see my Lightning Bolts or Pyroclasms game 1 and they stayed elusive game 2, presumably hanging out with Fracturing Gust and Nature's Claim at the bottom of my library it also didn't help that my opponent got early Cranial Plating both games but that is what the deck is trying to do so I can't complain too much.
I also boarded in Blood Moon because the man lands are a beating for us, my opponent said she thought this was a bad move, thoughts?
0-1
Round 2: Skred Red
This seemed really easy, my opponent never seemed to find enough pressure to worry me and got stuck on lands in game 2 whilst I drew a pretty slow hand but had time to set up for two belcher activations.
1-1
Round 3: Goryo-Breach
I feel like my opponent drew better than average both games here getting a turn 2 kill in the first game and turn 1 kill on the draw in game 2. He was playing the Borborygmos Enraged combo version rather than the Emrakul, the Aeons Torn/Fury of the Horde version. Not much else to say, didn't get to play much magic here
1-2
Round 4: Abzan Company
This match felt like it could have gone a few different ways. I landed a Belcher game 1 with two lands left in deck, they Collected Companyed at end of turn and flipped Quasali Pridemage. I got to activate in upkeep and hit them for 5 before they blew up Blecher and mopped me up two turns later.
Game 2 I kept a slightly slower hand, bot my Belcher Thoughtseized and never drew another threat (wiffing on three Ancient Stirrings along the way!)
1-3
TL;DR not a great week for me However, since then I've been playing around on XMage trying out a few bits and bobs and have come to some conclusions.
1) Recross the Paths never seems to be relevant.
Ok so this isn't actually on XMage but I kept track of the Rampant Growth I use to test it and I never really seem to end up in situations where it would actually be useful. The idea is sound but I think it is just too much durdle.
2) Firespout is the real deal
I tried replacing my bolts with the spouts and found them to be excellent. they don't kill man lands which is less than ideal but the sweeper effect has been relevant for me more often. Even against Inkmoth Nexus deck I think I like it better, being great at wiping Affinity and at least able to get other Infect dudes in a bit of an ambush.
3) Faithless Looting works surprisingly well
With Recross going i felt like I did want another effect to dig into my deck, but one that was relevant before you were totally set up. Looting has been performing really nicely for me. Once you have three mana I don't mind ditching our Lay of the Lands to get other stuff and discarding Chancellor of the Tangle often feels like a free draw.
With all this in mind here is where I currently am at.
UB Tezzerator
UBW Gifts
B 8Rack
Legacy
RB Goblins
There's a difference between going all in and autolosing some percentage of games to your own spells. Spoils is unplayable in a format with so much Burn and Affinity. The card would have to win you the game on the spot, which it doesn't even do because you can Spoils for a Belcher and still get blown up before you can cast/activate it. Shoal also feels really suboptimal here, because it's a combo that doesn't contribute to you winning the game and doesn't even synergize with your main combo. It's just to buy time and/or cast Spoils, which makes it a combo for a combo to get a combo. That sounds really unfocused to me.
I vastly prefer the RG version that builds in some interaction with Rough // Tumble, some cheap removal (Bolt, Skred, etc.), and can effectively use Blood Moon and other similar cards out of the sideboard. I agree the deck needs tuning overall, but black seems like a step in the wrong direction.
My main observation from the night was that I got insanely lucky to beat Twin also that Merfolk is a really bad matchup. What can anyone recommend against Merfolk, I don't have Choke or Blood Moon (yet) but of the two Blood Moon looked more effective in my meta (the guys playing Merfolk are all splashing either white or black). Any other cards you guys would board in?
Also a couple of other cards I would be curious about your opinion on:
1) Gitaxian Probe: I am wondering if I would like this as a 1 of. It might just be a a crutch for me playing badly but I keep finding times when I really want to know for sure what I want to play around.
2) Chalice of the Void: This one probably sounds really weird as chalice on 1 is brutal against us. That said we can set Chalice on 2 or 3 fairly reasonably which seems like it could be good in some matchups. 0/2 vs Affinity seems good, 2/3 vs Twin seems pretty reasonable (either lock out counters or Exarch/Pestermite), 2 is insane vs Merfolk unless they have an active Vial. I came up with a big list here of things you can get with chalice on 2.
Any thoughts?
I often run out of cards in hand and was wondering if ensnaring bridge might be worth it. Also any thoughts on mainboard spellskites? I currently run the Gr list except -1 batterskull, -3 lightning bolt, -3 simian spirit guide, +4 wild cantor, +2 arbor elf, +1 search for tomorrow
the substitutions are mainly out of what I own but I do love wild cantor.
UBG Tasigur, the lab enabler UR Planeswalker Control
UBRW Breya's personal box of combos BRW Vampire beats, by Dre
1 Karn, where all lands are command towers UBR Inalla's Venser lock
UBRGW Atog Atog contraption tribal WUB Xur's second chance
UGW Derivi, bird tribal R Brother's Yamazaki
BRG Prosh, the scourge of multiplayer GW Capt. Sisay's Deck Dumping Service
UB All Your Spells do Belong to Me UG Tapioca Pearl
BG Meren's grinder
I love bridge, and if we are thinking of slowing down the deck anyways I'd definitely want it, otherwise... needs testing.
GModern Belcher
GGreen Deck Wins
3I'm the King
RBlazeTron
I've had a couple of games now against aggressive decks, things like Bogles, Zoo, Affinity and U/W Merfolk where they are bringing in Stony Silence where I have had to bring in an answer, and the 4 life has been relevant in the race. Is it a necessary evil or would I be beter off running a 2 CMC card like Unravel the Æther?
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Modern:
Fateseal Control | Current Version on TappedOut
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GModern Belcher
GGreen Deck Wins
3I'm the King
RBlazeTron
For reference here is my deck:
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Wall of Roots
3 Simian Spirit Guide
3 Wurmcoil Engine
4 Chancellor of the Tangle
4 Safewright Quest
4 Lay of the Land
4 Caravan Vigil
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Ancient Stirrings
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Recross the Paths
4 Goblin Charbelcher
2 Batterskull
2 Pyroclasm
6 Forest
1 Stomping Grounds
and here is my sideboard
1 Pithing Needle
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Defense Grid
1 Spellskite
2 Torpor Orb
3 Blood Moon
1 Choke
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Thragtusk
So from the above I can (and have) brought in Nature's Claim, Pithing Needle, Defense Grid, Spellskite, Torpor Orb and Choke, which is 9 cards, that seems like a lot to be taking out of the deck. What does anyone else think I should be bringing in (and what should I take out) in what is traditionally one of our bad matchups.
On a related note, I'm considering -1 Thragtusk, -1 Torpor Orb, -1 Blood Moon, +3 Kitchen Finks in the board, kind of like the primer's board in order to have more game against burn, what does anyone else think?
Awhile back someone mentioned serum powder, I haven't tried it, has anyone else?
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Caravan Vigil
4 Firespout
4 Lay of the Land
2 Rampant Growth
4 Safewright Quest
3 Tormenting Voice
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Chancellor of the Tangle
4 Overgrown Battlement
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Wall of Roots
4 Wurmcoil Engine
5 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Stomping Ground
2 Choke
3 Nature's Claim
2 pithing needle
2 Slaughter Games
1 Swamp
2 Tormod's Crypt
1 Torpor Orb
I'm currently playing this build. I took a couple of tips from RG tron builds and added a sweeper. I also added some dig and deck filtering with tormenting voice I also added overgrown battlement to replace arbor elf and other dorks. It seems like most of the mana dorks in this build just get bolted before they get to do anything. The walls have been working out much better against any deck that used bolt as the main form of removal. The Firespout s are great with the high number of aggro decks around. It can buy you an extra turn or two to deploy a belcher. I also added tormenting voice for filtering and pitching those early Chancellor's that just sit in your hand. Although in the future, I'm going to change it to 4 faithless looting, to have a big more dig.
I played this at a local Modern Tourney on Monday. I think it worked just as well as the original build in terms of consistency. The wall hung around longer than the other 1/1 dorks, and the sweeper was nice to have main decked.
I sided in Slaughter Games for a RUB Twin match, but I grabbed the wrong land by mistake, setting me turn behind and he Thought seized it from my hand. With all of the Land tutors, I had no problem getting the Red and Black in the slaughter games casting cost. I could have played it turn three and bought more time if I grabbed the right land. I should have grabbed a Stomping Ground with Safewright quest Went 1-2 in the RUB Twin match. Game 1 - Twin on turn 4. Game 2 - Charbelched turn 4 for 22 damage. Game 3 I had to mull down to 4 cards and he ThoughtSeize by lone land tutor, and never drew a land. I defenselessly took beats from Snap caster and Pestermite.
Vial Hatebears 1 - 2
Game 1 - Blasted with the Charbelcher
Game 2 - He sided in phrexian revokers naming Charbelcher, Restoration angel blinked out revokers saving them from my removal. Beat down by bears.
Game 3 - Could have gone either way. We both had a good board state and were in top deck mode. Couldn't draw a Firespout to with with wurmcoil engine. Chump blocked/Blinked my wurm coil and beat me with angels.
Made some bad sideboarding swaps in this match. I thought the games would go faster, so I sided out 2 Tormenting Voices, but I really could have used them to try and draw a Firespout to win and destroy the search hate.
Modern Mardu 2 - 0
Blasted with fast turn four and five charbelchers and good starting hands. Never quite got to see his deck bloom as the sweepers kept the pack rats and tokens at bay.
With the sweepers and walls, the aggro match up is a lot better than the standard build. I think after this I want to change the Tormenting voice to faithless looting and make it a 4-of. -1 Overgrown Battlement or -1 utopia sprawl as they are best when deciding to play a chancellor, but I'd rather play a wurmcoil or belcher most of the time. I may also want to change Rampant growth to Explore as I often have multiple lands in my hand from tutors and want more draw. For this build 4 wurmcoils work well.
I also can't decide if I would rather have the swamp MB and take out Stomping Ground all together as it's not really needed. This would give me another SB slot too.
First of all I'd change the Rampant Growth into Recross the Paths, they really really do help against the grindy match-ups.
I think the mountain is a very risky move given that we don't have much in the way of starting mana sources as is and we really need the first mana to be green! Similarly I'm not a fan of the swamp out of the board. I don't think Slaughter Games is worth it. Some of us are playing Simian Spirit Guide to help the splash (although it doesn't play so well with the rummage effects)
Overgrown Battlement is interesting and I can absolutely see the idea of having it over arbor elf but is it better than Birds of Paradise given that we are splashing?
I really really like the idea of Faithless Looting in some of the red flex spots. It seems like having more draw power could be really handy, might have to try that.
Personally I'd like 1 more win condition, and maybe a Batterskull/Wurmcoil Engine split.
As I said these are all just my opinion, if things are working for you then thats great! I'd love to hear your thoughts on what I've said.
I tried recross the paths and Simian spirit guide in other builds and I found them underwhelming. It seemed like the SSG either sat in my hand or got burned up on a countered card. That being said RCtP would have been useful in my Hate Bears match as I could have stacked a firespout for the win.
I'm really impressed with the utility of firespout. I was debating between it and Pyroclasm but decided that mama wasn't really an issue and wanted it to buy time. For me this has worked much better than bolt, which is why I decided on more walls. This pushes the deck to a more mid range turn area rather than explosive opening turns, but the late game is a better in my matches.
I would like another wind condition too, but I think a lot of utility from batterskull is lost with the walls. I never really had trouble drawing a win condition every game, but again over time it may not be that consistent.
I agree that slaughter games is really risky, but it maybe worth it. My meta has some scapeshift decks too. I wanted to give it a try, although I misplayed and lost my opportunity to cast it. Also, no one sees it coming in this deck. I figured if I side it in and its a dead card I could pitch it for TV or faithless looting
Also, turn 1 thoughtseize can be brutal for this deck.
I really would drop the mountain for a forest for consistency (some cleverer person than I did the maths on how many turn 1 green sources we need to keep a good number of 7 card hands).
I think the upside of Recross the Paths is just so much higher than Rampant Growth myself, though I do sympathise about SSG, he does get thrown away in what feels like wasteful fashion quite often.
The reason people here tend to be pro-Batterskull is that it is more resilient and cheaper than Wurmcoil.
I'm glad you like Firespout, I've got two Pyroclasm in my list atm that might become spouts down the line....
So first things first, FNM report. I got crushed.
This matchup is still just awful for us, didn't see my Lightning Bolts or Pyroclasms game 1 and they stayed elusive game 2, presumably hanging out with Fracturing Gust and Nature's Claim at the bottom of my library it also didn't help that my opponent got early Cranial Plating both games but that is what the deck is trying to do so I can't complain too much.
I also boarded in Blood Moon because the man lands are a beating for us, my opponent said she thought this was a bad move, thoughts?
0-1
Round 2: Skred Red
This seemed really easy, my opponent never seemed to find enough pressure to worry me and got stuck on lands in game 2 whilst I drew a pretty slow hand but had time to set up for two belcher activations.
1-1
Round 3: Goryo-Breach
I feel like my opponent drew better than average both games here getting a turn 2 kill in the first game and turn 1 kill on the draw in game 2. He was playing the Borborygmos Enraged combo version rather than the Emrakul, the Aeons Torn/Fury of the Horde version. Not much else to say, didn't get to play much magic here
1-2
Round 4: Abzan Company
This match felt like it could have gone a few different ways. I landed a Belcher game 1 with two lands left in deck, they Collected Companyed at end of turn and flipped Quasali Pridemage. I got to activate in upkeep and hit them for 5 before they blew up Blecher and mopped me up two turns later.
Game 2 I kept a slightly slower hand, bot my Belcher Thoughtseized and never drew another threat (wiffing on three Ancient Stirrings along the way!)
1-3
TL;DR not a great week for me However, since then I've been playing around on XMage trying out a few bits and bobs and have come to some conclusions.
1) Recross the Paths never seems to be relevant.
Ok so this isn't actually on XMage but I kept track of the Rampant Growth I use to test it and I never really seem to end up in situations where it would actually be useful. The idea is sound but I think it is just too much durdle.
2) Firespout is the real deal
I tried replacing my bolts with the spouts and found them to be excellent. they don't kill man lands which is less than ideal but the sweeper effect has been relevant for me more often. Even against Inkmoth Nexus deck I think I like it better, being great at wiping Affinity and at least able to get other Infect dudes in a bit of an ambush.
3) Faithless Looting works surprisingly well
With Recross going i felt like I did want another effect to dig into my deck, but one that was relevant before you were totally set up. Looting has been performing really nicely for me. Once you have three mana I don't mind ditching our Lay of the Lands to get other stuff and discarding Chancellor of the Tangle often feels like a free draw.
With all this in mind here is where I currently am at.
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Wall of Roots
3 Simian Spirit Guide
3 Wurmcoil Engine
4 Chancellor of the Tangle
Spells
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Caravan Vigil
2 Faithless Looting
4 Lay of the Land
4 Safewright Quest
4 Utopia Sprawl
3 Firespout
4 Goblin Charbelcher
2 Batterskull
6 Forest
1 Stomping Ground
2 Nature's Claim
1 Pithing Needle
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Defense Grid
1 Spellskite
1 Torpor Orb
2 Blood Moon
1 Choke
3 Kitchen Finks
1 Fracturing Gust