The Banner features Cards not Commonly Seen in Today's Blitzkrieg Decks - Ideas on B/R Disruption & Power Beaters are All Welcome
I. Introduction
Blitzkrieg has undergone a Renaissance. Newly released cards have been revolutionary, providing multiple Premier Event top finishes. With roots in B/G Rock, Jund, and 8rack, Blitzkrieg began its development with a top 16 finish in a 250-Person, Modern IQ on February 1st, 2015 by MTGsalvation poster, Smashpacman, Pete Casella. It has since grown into a veritable war machine featuring creatures that never existed when this thread began. The signature hallmarks of a Blitzkrieg deck are the following:
This deck thrives on winning the war of attrition. The overwhelming disruption generated by voluminous hand shredding, targeted creature kill, adaptable sniping powers ofLiliana of the Veil, interminable crushing powers ofShrieking Affliction and the tank-like firepower of the monsters that inhabit our stables culminate into an orchestrated symphony of destruction that can only be described as Shock and Awesome or...Blitzkrieg.
To some extent, this is a discard deck that can aggressively press for the win. It is possible, because the opponent will be ill-equipped to hold up against the onslaught. Why? Well, he has a choice to make, as his hand is being shredded by 2-for-1 pick your poison effects. Does he A.) pursue his own win-cons by casting his creatures/ench./artifacts that effect his win or B.) hold 'answer' cards like Path to Exile or Abrupt Decay? He can't do both. Like Serpentor often remarked after a heavy assault by Cobra, "The G.I. Joes are in complete disarray". So, yes, our tanks will keep firing, the grenades will provide hand pressure, and the blightning bolts will finish the mission.
II. Card Choices
Spells:
Kolaghan's Command, Blightning and Wrench Mind: This 2-for-1 discard mechanic is also referred to as a Mind Rot Spell. By running both of these spells and maxing up to (4) of each, I refer to this combo as the 'Power Discard Suite'. Maxing these avenues with the synergy that they garner from each other is supreme disruption. Whatever threats our opponent can get on the board will be ill-suited to deal with tanks like an Obliterator or Gurmag Angler which is soon to follow. In the consideration of discard cards, it's important to evaluate their Cost and Impact. Wrench is perfectly positioned as a major disruptor for 2-cmc, because we want to trade 2-for-1 on turn two if we can. Blightning shares the role, and the extra mana cost justifies the Lava Spike ability. These Mind Rot effects are critical in a discard build and Red/Black provides that brilliant ramp with (8) of them. What is so great is that, If after turn three, you have fired 5 cards out of their hands, then the door is creaking open for a bomb to be dropped (Phyrexian Obliterator, Gurmag Angler, and Liliana of the Veil). EDIT: Blightning has Fallen Out of Favor as a 4-of in the Current Game State.
Inquisition of Kozilek and Thoughtseize: Let's consider 1 drops for a discard deck. Which ones and how many? The kings of the mountain haven't been unseated. O.K. But, how many? Well, consider this: If you could play any amount of these two cards, how many would you play? Is your answer 4 and 4 by virtue of the fact the max is, indeed, 4 and 4? Would you prefer 5 and 5 or 5 and 3? It's called the law of diminishing returns. The first discard spell is the best, and subsequent spells gradually decline in impactfulness as the game progresses until you reach a state of Top-Decking. So, it's 6+ on these specific spells.
Terminate and Lightning Bolt: They are mainstays in any red/black deck. As for the terminate count vs. the lightning bolt count: Terminate delivers a better answer than Lightning bolt these days: Tarmogoyf, Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Siege Rhino, restoration angel, arcbound ravager, primeval titan, and Thought-Knot Seer to name a few. Blitzkrieg needs to get into the mid-late game to survive, as the early game is all about raining lightning from above (disruption). When the opponent is in disarray, then we can enact a soft-lock, pressing attack against a bedraggled opponent.
Creatures:
Demigod of Revenge: Few brutes in Red/Black have this much to offer. Flying (evasion) for 5 with Haste is crushing, but the uncounterable trigger of bringing in multiples from the graveyard is game ending. Early draws of Demigod get pitched to Faithless Looting or a sneakily fast Bedlam Reveler.
Phyrexian Obliterator: This Sum***** is the answer to the riddle of the Walking Wall. So it goes, What If......You could play Ensnaring Bridge, but it cost 4 instead of 3? The advantage: You can keep as many cards in your hand as you want. The disadvantage: You can still be attacked from the air, and from unblockable creatures. Not good enough? O.K. What if you can also attack with this new bridge, and it's a 5/5. Interested? Not there yet? I'll add trample. Getting Closer? Fine, for every point of damage that this new bridge receives from an opponent, that opponent must sac that number of permanents...Terrific, just sign here, and you can take home your Phyrexian Obliterator today!
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet: This beefy little truckster changes the gamescape. Graveyard recursion and Burn/Aggro decks have to contend with our beauties' ability to cripple their plans. Sure, we'd all love to see a 4 on the left side of the P/T indicator, but he does his job.
Nyxathid: He is our Tarmogoyf. Against decks like Affinity and Burn, he's an absolute beast in no time. He can be somewhat meek against decks that don't empty their hands that quickly, Combo and Control, however we are favored against that style of deck.
Grim Lavamancer: He is a human lightning bolt machine. As a 1/1, he seems to live a lot longer than folks would guess, and his recurring shock ability is a handgun set to automatic.
Gurmag Angler: He is an absolute rock for an accelerated casting cost. A vanilla beater, but not one to be trifled with. If you're going the route of fetchlands and faithless looting, look at this guy twice.
Bloodghast: Operating off the 'free creature' paradigm, he can shine in a deck that boasts Faithless Looting and Liliana of the Veil. Should he be hardcast, there are few creatures more underwhelming than a 2/1 non-blocker without evasion. Nonetheless, his recurrence during the course of normal play (along with some delayed fetch land firing) proves his worth. It's rarely seen in our decklists, however the dredge mechanic can take this guy even higher up the cool scale.
Young Pyromancer: He's been appearing in lists since the beginning, and for good reason. Just as he shines in U/R Delver lists, the Pyromancer benefits by a plethora of instant/sorcery spells being cast throughout the game. The elemental tokens provide a growing army of attackers/blockers in the war of attrition.
Abbot of Keral Keep: He is the gas for our war engine. Along with Prowess benefit, he extends our lines of attack with resource replenishment - a welcome topdeck to a hellbent Blitzkrieg player.
III. Matchups
The deck is marvelously adaptable against most decks. Blitzkrieg aims for early disruption which can't be recovered from due to a lack of card drawing by the opponent in this current meta. Card drawing is at an all time low for our opponents. The rise of Infect and Burn and Death's Shadow and Affinity keeps the blue-control decks which feature cards like Thirst for Knowledge, Think Twice, and Sphinx's Revelation down. That said, blue control decks don't generally cause that much trouble for us.
What does it mean to deck construction when draw engines are not available? It means that the opponent has to build with redundancies. The build must be consistent with a lot of 4-ofs, since they can't count on digging/drawing into fanciful answers. This reduces the power of cards like raven's crime. For us to force an opponent to discard any one card of their choosing isn't that big of a deal for them, as their deck is more resilient to both non-specific discard and a less than optimal draw of 7 cards at the game start. Therefore, we need to bomb their hand. When you force an opponent to lose two cards to your one card, then you are gaining in the attrition war.
Wrench Mind and a follow-up Blightning will wreck a person's hand and their gameplan. A good example of this is seen in a match up against a deck which is back on the rise: Nahiri Decks. They laugh at Raven's Crime as they position themselves to go off, but if you hit them with a couple wrench or blightning, then they have to choose between the Nahiri in their hand or the land needed to cast it. So, the overall approach in defeating your opponent is:
A.) specified discard or sniper removal up front
B.) fat discard to follow and.....
C.): Big Creatures/Dogged Ground Troops that Recur-Populate and/or Shrieking Affliction.
Nyxathid, for instance, obviously benefits from big discard, and he will most likely not be met with anti-creature cards when he lands. This is because 8rack is so well known, not unknown, and many will identify us as running that deck, and change their playstyle accordingly. It can create a backfire for the opponent, because beating Blitzkrieg requires different tactics than 8rack. This will play into our hand in game 1, and work wonders for us after sideboard. What do I mean by this?? In order to beat 8rack, one simply needs to keep (3) cards in their hand. That's it. Against us, such a purposeful slowdown of an opponent's gameplan is actually self-defeating. When they hold back their own win-conditions because they don't want to let their hand go too low, we can accelerate, unfettered, into our win-conditions (creature attack being one of them).
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The Following Matchup Analysis has been Composed by Pete Casella, Smashpacman.
THIS GUIDE REFERS TO PILOTING AN 'DEMIGOD BLITZKRIEG' STYLE DECK IN THE SUMMER OF 2017
Death's Shadow has become this bizarre boogeyman in the format, where it is considered one of the "best" decks in the format, yet still finds a way to be a fragile and beatable deck simply by allowing the opponent to nearly kill themselves before truly posing a threat in the majority of matchups. For us, we already have a good amount of removal for their Death's Shadow and Tarmogoyf copies in the main deck, and Demigod of Revenge is a great way to quickly swing an entire game to our win column in a single turn. I believe we have a better matchup against this deck than most of the format, and after sideboarding, it gets better in some ways but worse in others. If the opponent has not seen that we are on a Blood Moon plan, we are on a huge advantage going into the second game. They are not always prepared to fetch a basic land, but if they do have up the mana and the Abrupt Decay, then the Blood Moon plan won't always work. Fortunately, we have an enormous amount of removal. After sideboard, it gets a bit better. I like a few copies of Thoughtseize in the post-board games just to help hit their strong sideboard pieces, but not the full three package, or we wind up needing to topdeck a threat or removal spell later in the game and run too high of a risk of drawing a useless discard spell at that time. If this was a Grixis Shadow list, I would board in the third Thoughtseize over another Faithless Looting to hit their counterspells.
I'm getting this one out of the way early, because it is a miserable matchup, as you might imagine when you pit a Control deck against a Burn deck. We need a decent amount of luck to win this set, and playing a game where you take risks is the most appropriate way to win the set. If you can live until Turn 6 or 7, which is fairly ambitious, then you can usually steal the game. Beyond that, you will tend to die early. Removal heavy hands and Blood Moon are not bad options, but an already-bad matchup has just gotten worse with Boros Burn becoming the popular choice of Burn lists lately, meaning that Blood Moon has four less cards it can prevent from killing us. Landing a Kalitas on turn four is critical, and an early Inquisition of Kozilek is also essential. The only way that you will win without those cards are during the oddity draws that Burn has where they play multiple creatures into our multiple removal spells, and then simply can't answer a Bedlam Reveler, Chandra, Torch of Defiance, or Demigod of Revenge. Their strongest card is usually Boros Charm, but beware of the Searing Blaze that you can stick in their hand if your win condition becomes Chandra. Sometimes they won't cast a spell for a few turns and as soon as you cast any creature, they will kill you instantly. Fulminator Mage can keep the greedy Burn keeps down post-board if you're lucky, and there is also a leg to stand on with Surgical Extraction. When the theory is "that only works situationally," sometimes you need to get lucky. A turn one Inquisition of Kozilek into a turn two Surgical Extraction that hits an additional copy of any card in their hand is a HUGE mini-victory. The best I can say for this matchup is to practice your outs, and good luck!
This used to be an incredibly favorable matchup, but gone are the days of Devoted Druid comboing with Ezuri, Renegade Leader, and in are the days of Shaman of the Pack triggers. Of course, Devoted Druid has a new playmate with Vizier of Remedies, but that's an entirely different deck. The strategy here is simple: DO NOT LET THE ELVES LIVE. Elvish Archdruid and Heritage Druid are the most dangerous when left unchecked, but an Inquisition of Kozilek onto a Chord of Calling or a Dwynen's Elite can be backbreaking. Anger of the Gods will also usually win you the game. Just don't get arrogant and always expect them to have the Collected Company off of the top of the deck. If you are always prepared for it, they won't steal games. Also, Blood Moon is not the worst card against this deck in many circumstances, but it's also not the best. Post-board you obviously board in the hate, but I like to swap out a pair of the Blood Moons so you don't flood with multiple copies of the card, and Thoughtseize is your next-best option to take away out-of-hand Collected Company copies and Chord of Calling copies. Luckily for me, I have Elf master and local Chicagoland legend Johnny Ostrem to test against, so I know the matchup very well. I will warn you though that this is one of the most important matchups to be versed in, because if you aren't prepared you will get run over.
This is one of your best matchups in the entire format. You are essentially built to dumpster Affinity, running main deck copies of both Kolaghan's Command and Anger of the Gods to prevent their early explosive draws, while also running Lightning Bolt, Fatal Push and Terminate to get you to the third turn and begin removing any value plays they have. Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet also stonewalls the Arcbound Ravager plan. Post-sideboard especially when you have even more artifact hate, just beware of large swings with Cranial Plating and make sure you can race Etched Champion, and you're home free just about every game. Faithless Looting comes out because there's no need to dig for cards that are good in the matchup if just about every nonland card can win you the game. If you wanted to keep in the playset of Inquisition of Kozilek, feel free, and simply board out a Demigod of Revenge or a Bedlam Reveler. The percentages are hard to test on those cards because the deck scarcely loses to Affinity no matter which of those cards you swamp in or out.
This is a very strange, very volatile matchup. Chalice of the Void on turn two (countering your 1CMC spells) can be back-breaking, especially when they're on the play. On the other hand, a topdeck Chandra, Torch of Defiance after they cast Thought-Knot Seer can swing the game so far in your favor that they often times won't come back from it. Unfortunately, the ball is definitely in their court overall unless you can stick a turn three Blood Moon. That's pretty much the major game plan against this deck. The sideboard gives you access to some more unconditional removal against them, particularly the Dreadbore that can hit their big creatures and their Karn Liberated, and the Liliana of the Veil that can make the game very difficult for them if you can avoid Reality Smasher. Thoughtseize is also a big help. If you have the lead enough to deal with Reality Smasher, then the matchup is manageable, but if not, this is a rough one. Beware all of their nasty threats and do what you can to get Blood Moon into play. Also, always board out of Bedlam Reveler, because more times than not, the Relic of Progenitus out of their sideboard will be difficult enough to deal with when casting Demigod of Revenge.
This is essentially playing against an all-in combo deck. They have the colors to theoretically board in both their own hand disruption as well as their own hand protection, usually with Leyline of Sanctity and Thoughtseize. The first game will come down to whether or not a Blood Moon keeps them off of their necessary colors, and hopefully you can also hit a Pentad Prism with a Kolaghan's Command or hit an Angel's Grace with an Inquisition of Kozilek. This is a very luck-based first game, and you have to hope they don't combo off on you. The sideboard can be very different, and very difficult. We don't have a truly good way to get rid of Leyline of Sanctity if they stick one on us, so our Plan B needs to be targeting their lands with Fulminator Mage and Blood Moon, and simply killing them before they can recover. Sometimes you need to risk hitting a pair of Demigod of Revenge to put a serious clock on their game plan. Also, the Engineered Explosives comes in out of the board to hit their Pentad Prism, any sideboard cards that they board in to hate on our graveyard such as Relic of Progenitus or Pithing Needle, and if we're very lucky, we can destroy their Lotus Bloom upon resolution if we take their win condition out of their hand. In the event that you are splashing the one Godless Shrine for sideboard options, the three colors can also make Engineered Explosives destroy a Phyrexian Unlife. However, I don't believe the white splash is necessary for the current overall metagame, but it is worth noting. Overall for the matchup, if they can't stop the hand disruption, we can usually go the distance. This is still not a matchup we really want to see, however.
This matchup is a good-news, bad-news matchup. The good news is that a Blood Moon in the first four or five turns in Game 1 will usually win the game every time, and Blood Moon is essentially the anti-Scapeshift card. The bad news is that a good amount of the sideboard for their deck is specifically designed to destroy Blood Moon in the post-sideboard games, and the percentages swing heavily in their favor for Game 2 and, if necessary, Game 3. The plan is simple, you want to Inquisition of Kozilek their early ramp spells and Blood Moon them as soon as possible. This might sound similar to most combo matchups, such as Ad Nauseum, but this matchup comes with a moderate amount of interactive Magic. Their Plan B is a strong one in Primeval Titan and Obstinate Baloth, and some lists as of late have Chandra, Torch of Defiance and even the occasional Nahiri, the Harbinger as ways to win the game as well. Terminate is a necessary card in this matchup to leave in post-board, because Courser of Kruphix or Oracle of Mul Daya going unchecked can give them an insurmountable lead. This matchup for them is no different than the majority of their matchup spread, which is that the most likely way for Titan Shift to lose is to draw poorly, even though the percentage of times they will draw poorly is higher than the average deck. That is the life of ramp-deck players. At least we have Blood Moon, and many other decks simply do not.
This matchup is certainly one for the grinders. Inquisition of Kozilek is the most important card in the matchup, as garnering information from the opponent during the matchup is extremely important. The first match is heavily in your favor, as both players have a similar game plan with removal spells into difficult-to-remove threats, but Demigod of Revenge is so much better than anything the opposition can throw at you during a Game 1. Kolaghan's Command can recur Demigod of Revenge if you only see one of them in the game, Pia and Kiran Nalaar provides multiple threats, and Terminate takes out the majority of their creatures. If you take too much early damage, however, a few Snapcaster Mage into Lightning Bolt casts from your opponent will usually kill you, so be careful. A lot of this matchup hinges on the post-sideboard games. Cards like Faithless Looting and Anger of the Gods do not do enough in the matchup. Faithless Looting technically generates negative card advantage, and Anger of the Gods can only exile a Snapcaster Mage at best. On the other hand, the sideboard cards are extremely good, and there are a lot of interesting interactions in this matchup. Rakdos Charm removing the graveyard can prevent the Snapcaster Mage and Kolaghan's Command value that the opponent can generate, often times establishing a large lead, and can also remove a Grafdigger's Cage if the opponent happens to be playing one. Liliana of the Veil is an incredible card in this matchup, as the opponent will generally hinge on card advantage, and the minus ability from Liliana of the Veil can force a Tasigur, the Golden Fang or a Gurmag Angler to be sacrificed. Liliana, the Last Hope can recur creatures from the graveyard, and unchecked can force a lot of resources out of the opponent to remove. Thoughtseize is just as important as Inquisition of Kozilek for finding information, and a Blood Moon can simply end a game against three-color decks as always. If the opponent is playing and fetching for several basics, Game 3 can also let you board out a few Blood Moon copies for the Lightning Bolt copies you boarded out initially. It depends on the opponent and the flow of the first and second game. Overall, if you can avoid graveyard hate and stop the Snapcaster Mage and Kolaghan's Command chains, the matchup should be very winnable. Just be patient with spells and don't fire off important spells too soon.
This is the most tilting matchup for me personally across all formats. Playing against Tron is absolutely miserable, because they can play a Karn Liberated or a Wurmcoil Engine on turn three without ever casting another spell. Ancient Stirrings essentially functions as a Green version of Ponder, except it digs two cards deeper than Ponder does (Ponder, by the way, is banned in Modern). Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger is an unbelievable card, and can be cast on turn four behind a Karn Liberated if their draw is perfect, and easily still by turn five or six, which is usually plenty for them to win against a control deck. If we manage to dodge those bullets, they still have Ugin, the Spirit Dragon to lean on. The only way to win this matchup is to slam a Blood Moon on them before they assemble Urza's Mine, Urza's Power Plant, and Urza's Tower together, which is very easy for them to do with Ancient Stirrings, Chromatic Sphere, Chromatic Star, and especially Expedition Map digging them to their necessary pieces. Even if we manage to get a Blood Moon down early, we still need to kill them before turn seven, when they can still easily cast creatures that are nothing short of nuclear for us. Post-sideboard, things get even worse, when they bring in Relic of Progenitus to disrupt the ability to get multiple Demigod of Revenge into play early. Our strategy after the first game is to jam every threat possible into play, as well as hit an Oblivion Stone or (if we're really lucky) an Expedition Map with a Rakdos Charm or Kolaghan's Command. This matchup is generally brutal, and with the Red-Green Tron decks slowly shifting over to the Green-White strategy, they even have Path to Exile to deal with Demigod of Revenge. Miserable matchup, take risks and hope for the best.
Now that Devoted Druid and Vizier of Remedies is a viable combo of cards and is seeing results at large tournaments, it's time to respect the deck. Their general game plan is to have infinite mana, while also having an infinite life combo, and the deck similar to the old Abzan Collected Company shell. If we can prevent their infinite combo cards from being on the battlefield from the same time, then we shouldn't have trouble winning the game. Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is also an excellent way to prevent the infinite life combo that revolves around Viscera Seer from happening, and also makes it much easier to permanently remove a Kitchen Finks. As long as the opponent isn't able to combo off, then we should win the majority of games. However, Collected Company and Chord of Calling are incredibly dangerous cards to play against, particularly at instant-speed. If you can get a lead in the game, be sure to leave up as much instant-speed removal as possible, or your lead can suddenly turn into an immediate loss. After sideboard, having some additional all-purpose removal spells isn't the worst plan, and while Blood Moon is okay against the deck, they will likely play around it after the first game, and flooding multiple Blood Moon copies is a very bad thing. The only thing it tends to do in the matchup is turn off Gavony Township. Just stick to your game plan, as our matchup against the deck is pretty solid as long as we have our removal spells.
This is a strange matchup, and there are so many random tools to know against the Living End matchup...far too many to list in a short matchup guide. The short version is that Lightning Bolt doesn't hit a lot of the creatures in their deck, such as Deadshot Minotaur, Street Wraith, and Pale Recluse, and 99% of the time it also misses their Fulminator Mage copies, the 1% coming when you have nothing but basic lands in play. This is a very strange matchup. If you can Inquisition of Kozilek their Violent Outburst or Demonic Dread, and they fail to find another copy, you can run them over. That is the dream scenario, and will not happen in most games. The best strategy for toppling them in Game 1 is to use Faithless Looting to get your creatures into the graveyard as fast as possible. If you can combat their Living End by bringing back creatures as well, you can often times steal a game, especially on the back of Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet paired with in-hand removal spells such as Terminate and, to a much lesser extent, Lightning Bolt and Fatal Push when they have legitimate targets to hit. After sideboarding, this matchup becomes much easier. If you can get to your Rakdos Charm and simply be ready for any graveyard recursion, you will win most of the time. Surgical Extraction is also helpful, but will not be nearly as effective since it does not exile an entire graveyard. Fulminator Mage can also keep them off of slow hands. The Plan C in this matchup as a whole is to slam a Blood Moon and hope that they cannot cast their Cascade spells, but the real victory card will always be Rakdos Charm in this matchup. It is so brutal for them at instant speed that it is honestly worth using multiple mulligans to find one.
This is a variation on my current build. I include it here, because it earned a top 14% of the field finish (36th place of 248 competitors) at a StarCityGames Modern Invitational Qualifier on September 13th, 2015. There are a couple varieties (this style and the other is more of a delve/fetchland/faithless looting-accelerated play focus). This approach is more of a 'traditional ramp' representation of the archetype with a pronounced defensive posturing.
NOTE: On this day, I uncharacteristically included (2) Ensnaring Bridge in the Main Deck for Game 1 usage only. They were sided out against almost certain SB hate in games 2 & 3. Up-To-Date, Modern Blitzkrieg builds rarely use ensnaring bridge.
The original deck which top 16-ed in a field of 250 competitors at a Starcitygames Premier IQ in February of 2015 in Indianapolis, IN & started the fire of Blitzkrieg can be seen as the final entry in the following post.
Please refer to the following post for more examples of Blitzkrieg decklists
Sleeve up, Gas Up, and Roll Out the Tanks. Blitzkrieg is the Right Deck at the Right Time.
This deck put up a 4-1 finish at an FNM this Summer, 2015 by DarkHelmet709. It's innovation is the use of a 3-cmc cap, 4 dark confidant, and 4 nyxathid.
This deck, by acc95, effectively brings together 2 titans of Blitzkrieg: Phyrexian Obliterator and Gurmag Angler while maintaining a wicked level of discard.
This deck is entirely new and admittedly untested in battle, but it earns a viewing because it "Broke the 4 Minute Mile". For the first time, we are seeing Dredge combined with Delve and Faithless Looting in a Blitzkrieg deck. Lot of exciting synergies!
NOTE: This seedling deck top 16-ed in a field of 250 competitors at an Starcitygames Premier IQ in Indianapolis in February of 2015, and the creator, Pete Casella, candidly stated it was a rough, early draft. So, there is nowhere to go but up!
Discard: High
Lightning: High
Rack: Middle
Attack: Middle
Defense: Middle
The strikethrough has been fixed - clerical error. As for the list that is the strongest, it's too early to tell. We're looking at a deckstyle in its infancy. It's a little bit B/x Rock, Jund, and 8rack, but the overall strength of Blitzkrieg is found in the underpinnings of its card superiority set against the backdrop of discard in a draw-light modern meta. Nyxathid plays like a black Tarmogoyf. Phyrexian Obliterator plays like a Panzer tank and/or an alternate ensnaring bridge.
The question about Spellskite is niche. It's a one-of (you rarely want to see 2 in hand) in my build, and therefore deserves little attention - compared to the overall design. In brief, it answers small aggro creature attack, bogles-infect-affinity-burn, twin, and fills the spare 2-cmc slot. In addition, it serves to protect my key assets: ensnaring bridge, phyrexian obliterator, Liliana of the Veil, and shrieking affliction. Lastly, it serves as a linchpin in the balance between Obliterator and Bridge. In my game progression, I have to dance around the non-bo that is Ensnaring Bridge and Phyrexian Obliterator (each is tremendously powerful in its own right, but they are always at odds). Spellskite? Well, I let him lead.
I prefer Raystack's over the original one, except for Shrieking Affliction as I've always seen it as win-more card (if they're at 0-1 card your plan is already going well).
Why did you choose it, isn't The Rack strictly superior?
And what about a split between bolts and terminates, how did you come to 2-4
Happy to see this begun. Don't know if i favor the black/red list or another yet, but look forward to some actual development and intelligent conversation regarding it.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The answer is purple because ice cream has no bones.
Ashkainjm is correct...to a degree. Ensnaring Bridge and a Tank (read: Nyxathid or Phyrexian Obliterator) don't have to be mutually exclusive in the main deck. They do play well together in the sandbox. One is better than the other in defeating a given top tier deck out there. I've mapped the spectrum (more detail will be added to the primer soon!), and it's pretty close to an even split. But, you don't which way to go until a round 1 tussle begins. So, you either summon some beef to dole out beats, or turtle up behind a bridge. In the case that you turtle up, you still cast your Tank creatures to serve as a bulwark behind the bridge - no non-evasive creature will attack into an Obliterator. In the case that you go aggressive, the inclusion of bridge is only hogging up three slots. For all the shutdown that it can potentially create (but missed in this given game), three slots is a baaaaahgain. Remember, there isn't much artifact kill in game 1.
This brings me to the question raised by Gm13p. Why Shrieking Affliction over The Rack? Again, I don't run any rack, so my only artifacts are (3) Ensnaring Bridge and (1) Spellskite. The marvelous answer is my transformative sideboard. In games 2 and 5 of last week's FNM, I faced decks that had red in them. It's a popular enough color in this meta, and will run things like Ancient Grudge, Shatterstorm, and Smash to Smithereens). So, in Round 2 of game 2, after the opponent saw wrench mind and shrieking affliction get played, but no The Rack, he obviously assumed it was in there, and that I was going to pursue a classic 8rack win strategy. When I sideboarded, all of my artifacts came out and an 'extra creatures/extra removal' package came in. In came Nyxathid and Olivia Voldaren and Hero's Downfall. It worked brilliantly. After repeated hand shreddings, my opponent held onto an Ancient Grudge as his last card, because of his intense fear of cards that didn't exist: Bridge and Rack. There were Ancient Grudges everywhere in rounds 2 and 5 and they were totally blanked! My deck has no artifacts after game 1 (if the matchup calls for that approach). Similarly, the opponent will take out almost all of his creature kill in game 2, so my big'uns roll through their lines of defense like a 4th of July parade.
Finally, the terminate count vs. the lightning bolt count: I've done a lot of testing on this deck in a short period of time. Terminate delivers a better answer than Lightning bolt these days: Tarmogoyf, Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Siege Rhino, restoration angel, arcbound ravager, and deceiver exarch to name a few. Blitzkrieg needs to get into the mid-late game to survive, as my early game is all about raining lightning from above (disruption). When the opponent is in disarray, then I can enact a soft-lock, pressing attack or bridge up. The bolt helps in so many ways, but it's just a little too weak in this meta. Conversely, discard is seeing an uptick in usage: Abzan, Jund, B/W Souls, Rock, and so many others. We are taking it to the next level with 'power discard suite': 2-for-1s, Liliana of the Veil and Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace.
So, sleeve up, gas up, and let the tanks roll. Take Blightning Rack for a spin! It's the right deck at the right time.
With 4 Liliana of the Veil and up to 2 Rix Maadi, I'm surprised there isn't something to offset the symmetry a little bit. Either a card like Raven's Crime that works out of the graveyard, or some dredge cards to take advantage of the fact that you're filling up your yard as well. I suppose Ensnaring Bridge and the Rack/Shrieking Affliction do a decent enough job of breaking the symmetry?
To me, Raven's Crime is, "I throw away my draw step, and a resource, and tap a land...you: throw away a card you didn't see fit to use last turn". This is not a winning attrition play. Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace is a perpetual raven's crime (even on an empty hand!) and a land - soooo much better.
Yes, the suggestion wasn't that you play Raven's Crime, necessarily. You have 6 cards that force you to discard in the deck. But nothing in the deck to take advantage of the fact that you're putting cards in the graveyard. You know, cards with flashback, retrace, dredge, unearth etc...It's possible that there aren't any that really fit what you're trying to do, but whenever I have a deck with 4 Liliana, I can't help but want some synergistic cards to go along with her (like Lingering Souls, Bloodghast, Snapcaster Mage, etc.).
Sweet a new thread. I will certainly be helping out as much as I can. This Friday is my next modern fnm, so I hope to continue with the list that I used a few weeks ago. I will have a better understanding of the next come Friday and Saturday morning.
Glad to see some familiar faces! Welcome aboard, Peoples. Eggshen raises an excellent point about graveyard resources. It's an unexploited field of opportunity. Delve: I've considered Tasigur, the Golden Fang (tombstalker and gurmag angler are too expensive), but settled on Nyxathid instead. For removal, Murderous Cut is an option, but I like Hero's Downfall more. I don't know, but would love to get some more tinkering done in this area.
@airmanmaki: I really dig your deck as the quintessential 'creatureless/bolt' deck of this thread, and am anxious to hear how things turn out. My main concern is its heavy reliance on Ensnaring Bridge. If the bridge doesn't hit and stick, I can see that you might get run over. But, that's a common perception of this build that I'm even coming to terms with as an inaccurate assessment. The epic discard removes so many creature threats before they even hit the board, that your removal can often handle the situation as you continue to lob damage at the opponent's face.
This will be what I will run in a GPT this sunday. A more deliberate approach, avoiding utility lands to avoid getting blanked by my own blood moon. Meta is infect, burn, abzan, affinity, twin, scapeshift. In order of proliference. Any thoughts?
@Semenelin: That's a novel approach. I would definitely up the ensnaring bridge count to 4 with this style of construction. I've thought about Sygg, river cutthroat as well as a sideboard card. It's a neat answer to burn, and decent early blocker. As for its attack potential under a bridge, it's pretty much rubbish - what creature can't withstand a 1-powered creature attack? The only creature that can exploit that kind of scenario with the ease of survival is Master of Cruelties, and I'm not ready to see him added to a build just yet.
Ashkainjm is right about considering grim lavamancer for your build. Phyrexian Obliterator, as your sole creature and 1 of only 2 4-cmc spells, feels very out of place. Make that into your 4th bridge. Also, if do opt to run Raven's Crime, I've found that it's best as a 4-of or a 0-of, and it that case, dropping the trading post would be wise. I've only seen that card work in high mana-generating decks, like Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas constructions.
Let me know what you think. I played it in two modern events this week to get ready and I think my only losses have been to my own stupid mistakes and drawing too many lands. Other than that, I have had some really close games and I think Bitterblossom adds a lot to the deck to act as both blockers and attackers. I would really like to use Kolaghan's Command over Blightning because I feel like it has more uses and it affects the board. However, I ordered them on ebay (kind of dumb) and I have to wait until next week until they come in. Also, Graven Cairns should be Bloodstained Mire in order to be able to fetch at least 2 swamps before I play Blood Moon but those got lost in the mail.
Great new thread and primer! I own most of the cards in the lists most especially the fetches and shocks. I only need to get those bridges and creatures and see if I could try playing this awesome new deck.
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@darkhelmet: welcome to the ruckus. Best of luck in your upcoming tourney, and it's great to hear that you brought it in previous engagements, but lost to missteps. That happens with any deck, and it's the easiest mistake to fix.
As for land, graven cairns is square peg in a round hole. The only reason why you'd use that card is if you had spells that are 2RR and 2BB. An example would be Anger of the Gods and Liliana of the Veil. You don't. That means you are best served by a normal dual land. EDIT: You are RIGHT. You stated that you are going fetch over the filter land - this is a placeholder in your decklist. Sorry, but at least, it's an opportunity to discuss why such an application is a mistake.
I do strongly believe that the 'power discard suite' shouldn't be minimized: (4) Wrench Mind and (4) Blightning. Kolaghan's Command is a curiosity. It has it's applications. I basically view it, in a best case scenario, as the B/R version of U/R Electrolyze. Still, it's individual modular effects price out at 1.5 cmc per spell, while Blightning gives you (3) individual spells for the cost of (1) spell: (2) raven's crime and (1) lava spike. Just my humble, but I think (3) blood moon is aggressive. Decks run more basics, and fetch more wisely when facing a 2-color deck in game 2 than you might think. And, (2) Olivia is similarly scrote out. Consider Darkblast or Drown in Sorrow - particularly with your low land count.
(22) total land with that many fetches feels a little low, but you are capping your mana-curve at (3), so that does give you deck-room to allow for new cards like bitterblossom. Interesting Tech. Let us know how your personal add works out!
As for SB, I would be careful about Rakdos Charm populating a (3) spot. I've seen it listed as a (4). I've tried at (2). And, now, my list has it as (0). Just consider that it does not work against Twin. They are ready for it, and will tap down your disparate colored mana to allow for a fire-off. It's cool against Affinity and Graveyard decks, but so are the existing card pool elements that you already have.
Hi all, and thanks Raystack for putting up a new thread. I'm glad that this archetype now has a foundation. The Tempo style of the deck, I feel, is much more suited for the current Modern metagame than traditional 8-Rack.
I'll have a lot more for you guys soon. I just wanted to reply to pizzap real quick and let him know that my decklist in Indianapolis had the name "Rackdos" on it.
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Modern: BR Control BR Standard: Temur Energy RUG Pauper: Fireball Black B Commander: Kaervek the MercilessBR
So I've been testing a B/R build that turned into more of a Blood Moon deck. Reason being that 4 racks is too little to compliment with our discard suite so they were cut from the list completely. Phyrexian Obliterator was also cut due to the difficulty in playing them after resolving a Blood Moon.
So I've been testing a B/R build that turned into more of a Blood Moon deck. Reason being that 4 racks is too little to compliment with our discard suite so they were cut from the list completely. Phyrexian Obliterator was also cut due to the difficulty in playing them after resolving a Blood Moon.
Testing Kolaghan's Command in replace of blightnings. Can be considered a flexspot.
I was thinking 'will you get enough mana to cast Demigod of Revenge' with this build. This is because of the land search cards that reduce the chances of finding lands if you use their abilities. This basically means you are playing a longer game plan in the hopes of doing an alpha strike to finish in one turn.
To me it is probably Tombstalker that doesn't really fit in the deck. Sure it is big flying creature, it doesn't provide much else. Mogis, God of Slaughter would be a better fit, it will either be doing two damage or controlling the battlefield, also with all those mana symbols, it can easily be turned into a creature.
So I've been testing a B/R build that turned into more of a Blood Moon deck. Reason being that 4 racks is too little to compliment with our discard suite so they were cut from the list completely. Phyrexian Obliterator was also cut due to the difficulty in playing them after resolving a Blood Moon.
Testing Kolaghan's Command in replace of blightnings. Can be considered a flexspot.
I was thinking 'will you get enough mana to cast Demigod of Revenge' with this build. This is because of the land search cards that reduce the chances of finding lands if you use their abilities. This basically means you are playing a longer game plan in the hopes of doing an alpha strike to finish in one turn.
To me it is probably Tombstalker that doesn't really fit in the deck. Sure it is big flying creature, it doesn't provide much else. Mogis, God of Slaughter would be a better fit, it will either be doing two damage or controlling the battlefield, also with all those mana symbols, it can easily be turned into a creature.
Yeah this deck tries to grind an attrition game and keep the opponent off-balanced with blood moon. The early turns are spent dismantling their hand and killing threats. Liliana of the veil or Blood Moon comes out on turn 3. Demigod of Revenge is super sweet as it can be discarded to Lili if needed and can be recurred.
True the manabase is still in beta. I merely copied Lee Shi Tian's "Blue Moon" mana base and added an extra swamp. As for tombstalker, 3 could be a bit too many I agree. But with fetches and early game discard along with Lili, the our graveyard fills up quite a bit.
Im trying out threats than can close the game quickly once their manabase is in shambles. The creatures I've tested all passes the abrupt decay / bolt test.
@darkhelmet: welcome to the ruckus. Best of luck in your upcoming tourney, and it's great to hear that you brought it in previous engagements, but lost to missteps. That happens with any deck, and it's the easiest mistake to fix.
As for land, graven cairns is square peg in a round hole. The only reason why you'd use that card is if you had spells that are 2RR and 2BB. An example would be Anger of the Gods and Liliana of the Veil. You don't. That means you are best served by a normal dual land. EDIT: You are RIGHT. You stated that you are going fetch over the filter land - this is a placeholder in your decklist. Sorry, but at least, it's an opportunity to discuss why such an application is a mistake.
I do strongly believe that the 'power discard suite' shouldn't be minimized: (4) Wrench Mind and (4) Blightning. Kolaghan's Command is a curiosity. It has it's applications. I basically view it, in a best case scenario, as the B/R version of U/R Electrolyze. Still, it's individual modular effects price out at 1.5 cmc per spell, while Blightning gives you (3) individual spells for the cost of (1) spell: (2) raven's crime and (1) lava spike. Just my humble, but I think (3) blood moon is aggressive. Decks run more basics, and fetch more wisely when facing a 2-color deck in game 2 than you might think. And, (2) Olivia is similarly scrote out. Consider Darkblast or Drown in Sorrow - particularly with your low land count.
(22) total land with that many fetches feels a little low, but you are capping your mana-curve at (3), so that does give you deck-room to allow for new cards like bitterblossom. Interesting Tech. Let us know how your personal add works out!
As for SB, I would be careful about Rakdos Charm populating a (3) spot. I've seen it listed as a (4). I've tried at (2). And, now, my list has it as (0). Just consider that it does not work against Twin. They are ready for it, and will tap down your disparate colored mana to allow for a fire-off. It's cool against Affinity and Graveyard decks, but so are the existing card pool elements that you already have.
I think I will switch out 2 the Olivia Voldaren for 2 Anger of the Gods since it hits more creatures than drown in sorrow. And the reason I took out 1 Blightning was due to the fact that I am afraid of having a lot of 3-drops in my opening hand. I figured it was the weakest 3-drop when compared to Liliana of the Veil and Nyxathid. I still feel like I draw too many lands with my deck as it currently is. Should I add more man-lands like Lavaclaw Reaches and take out Bitterblossom? The reason why I suggested something like Dark Confidant in the other thread was because I feel like I run out of gas if I don't topdeck well and that provides ways to do that anyway. Another land I was thinking about was Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace.
Also, I think Kolaghan's Command deserves some testing before we dismiss it. I think Blightning is more limited because it can't hit creatures and doesn't always get two cards. Whereas command hits creatures, artifacts, can instant-speed discard, and can grab a Nyxathid or Grim Lavamancer back into your hand.
Blitzkrieg has undergone a Renaissance. Newly released cards have been revolutionary, providing multiple Premier Event top finishes. With roots in B/G Rock, Jund, and 8rack, Blitzkrieg began its development with a top 16 finish in a 250-Person, Modern IQ on February 1st, 2015 by MTGsalvation poster, Smashpacman, Pete Casella. It has since grown into a veritable war machine featuring creatures that never existed when this thread began. The signature hallmarks of a Blitzkrieg deck are the following:
The Lightning:
Early Disruption: 1-for-1 Surgical Hand Strikes (Inquisition of Kozilek & Thoughtseize) and 1-for-1 Threat Neutralizers (Lightning Bolt, Fatal Push & Terminate)
Power Discard Suite: 2-for-1 Card Economy Assassins (Most Notably Kolaghan's Command, Wrench Mind & Blightning)
The War:
Tanks: Low-Cost, High-Powered Beaters (Gurmag Angler, Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet, Phyrexian Obliterator and Nyxathid)
Ground Troops: Battlefield Stabilizing Ground'n'Pounders (Young Pyromancer, Bloodghast, and Abbot of Keral Keep)
This deck thrives on winning the war of attrition. The overwhelming disruption generated by voluminous hand shredding, targeted creature kill, adaptable sniping powers of Liliana of the Veil, interminable crushing powers of Shrieking Affliction and the tank-like firepower of the monsters that inhabit our stables culminate into an orchestrated symphony of destruction that can only be described as Shock and Awesome or...Blitzkrieg.
To some extent, this is a discard deck that can aggressively press for the win. It is possible, because the opponent will be ill-equipped to hold up against the onslaught. Why? Well, he has a choice to make, as his hand is being shredded by 2-for-1 pick your poison effects. Does he A.) pursue his own win-cons by casting his creatures/ench./artifacts that effect his win or B.) hold 'answer' cards like Path to Exile or Abrupt Decay? He can't do both. Like Serpentor often remarked after a heavy assault by Cobra, "The G.I. Joes are in complete disarray". So, yes, our tanks will keep firing, the grenades will provide hand pressure, and the blightning bolts will finish the mission.
II. Card Choices
Spells:
Kolaghan's Command, Blightning and Wrench Mind: This 2-for-1 discard mechanic is also referred to as a Mind Rot Spell. By running both of these spells and maxing up to (4) of each, I refer to this combo as the 'Power Discard Suite'. Maxing these avenues with the synergy that they garner from each other is supreme disruption. Whatever threats our opponent can get on the board will be ill-suited to deal with tanks like an Obliterator or Gurmag Angler which is soon to follow. In the consideration of discard cards, it's important to evaluate their Cost and Impact. Wrench is perfectly positioned as a major disruptor for 2-cmc, because we want to trade 2-for-1 on turn two if we can. Blightning shares the role, and the extra mana cost justifies the Lava Spike ability. These Mind Rot effects are critical in a discard build and Red/Black provides that brilliant ramp with (8) of them. What is so great is that, If after turn three, you have fired 5 cards out of their hands, then the door is creaking open for a bomb to be dropped (Phyrexian Obliterator, Gurmag Angler, and Liliana of the Veil).
EDIT: Blightning has Fallen Out of Favor as a 4-of in the Current Game State.
Inquisition of Kozilek and Thoughtseize: Let's consider 1 drops for a discard deck. Which ones and how many? The kings of the mountain haven't been unseated. O.K. But, how many? Well, consider this: If you could play any amount of these two cards, how many would you play? Is your answer 4 and 4 by virtue of the fact the max is, indeed, 4 and 4? Would you prefer 5 and 5 or 5 and 3? It's called the law of diminishing returns. The first discard spell is the best, and subsequent spells gradually decline in impactfulness as the game progresses until you reach a state of Top-Decking. So, it's 6+ on these specific spells.
Terminate and Lightning Bolt: They are mainstays in any red/black deck. As for the terminate count vs. the lightning bolt count: Terminate delivers a better answer than Lightning bolt these days: Tarmogoyf, Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Siege Rhino, restoration angel, arcbound ravager, primeval titan, and Thought-Knot Seer to name a few. Blitzkrieg needs to get into the mid-late game to survive, as the early game is all about raining lightning from above (disruption). When the opponent is in disarray, then we can enact a soft-lock, pressing attack against a bedraggled opponent.
Demigod of Revenge: Few brutes in Red/Black have this much to offer. Flying (evasion) for 5 with Haste is crushing, but the uncounterable trigger of bringing in multiples from the graveyard is game ending. Early draws of Demigod get pitched to Faithless Looting or a sneakily fast Bedlam Reveler.
Bedlam Reveler: Like Demigod of Revenge, he dances well with faithless looting. He presents a stout body with prowess and offers an ancestral recall for a hellbent player. The high CMC is easily mitigated with our proliferation of sorcery/instant spells.
Phyrexian Obliterator: This Sum***** is the answer to the riddle of the Walking Wall. So it goes, What If......You could play Ensnaring Bridge, but it cost 4 instead of 3? The advantage: You can keep as many cards in your hand as you want. The disadvantage: You can still be attacked from the air, and from unblockable creatures. Not good enough? O.K. What if you can also attack with this new bridge, and it's a 5/5. Interested? Not there yet? I'll add trample. Getting Closer? Fine, for every point of damage that this new bridge receives from an opponent, that opponent must sac that number of permanents...Terrific, just sign here, and you can take home your Phyrexian Obliterator today!
Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet: This beefy little truckster changes the gamescape. Graveyard recursion and Burn/Aggro decks have to contend with our beauties' ability to cripple their plans. Sure, we'd all love to see a 4 on the left side of the P/T indicator, but he does his job.
Nyxathid: He is our Tarmogoyf. Against decks like Affinity and Burn, he's an absolute beast in no time. He can be somewhat meek against decks that don't empty their hands that quickly, Combo and Control, however we are favored against that style of deck.
Grim Lavamancer: He is a human lightning bolt machine. As a 1/1, he seems to live a lot longer than folks would guess, and his recurring shock ability is a handgun set to automatic.
Gurmag Angler: He is an absolute rock for an accelerated casting cost. A vanilla beater, but not one to be trifled with. If you're going the route of fetchlands and faithless looting, look at this guy twice.
Bloodghast: Operating off the 'free creature' paradigm, he can shine in a deck that boasts Faithless Looting and Liliana of the Veil. Should he be hardcast, there are few creatures more underwhelming than a 2/1 non-blocker without evasion. Nonetheless, his recurrence during the course of normal play (along with some delayed fetch land firing) proves his worth. It's rarely seen in our decklists, however the dredge mechanic can take this guy even higher up the cool scale.
Young Pyromancer: He's been appearing in lists since the beginning, and for good reason. Just as he shines in U/R Delver lists, the Pyromancer benefits by a plethora of instant/sorcery spells being cast throughout the game. The elemental tokens provide a growing army of attackers/blockers in the war of attrition.
Abbot of Keral Keep: He is the gas for our war engine. Along with Prowess benefit, he extends our lines of attack with resource replenishment - a welcome topdeck to a hellbent Blitzkrieg player.
The deck is marvelously adaptable against most decks. Blitzkrieg aims for early disruption which can't be recovered from due to a lack of card drawing by the opponent in this current meta. Card drawing is at an all time low for our opponents. The rise of Infect and Burn and Death's Shadow and Affinity keeps the blue-control decks which feature cards like Thirst for Knowledge, Think Twice, and Sphinx's Revelation down. That said, blue control decks don't generally cause that much trouble for us.
What does it mean to deck construction when draw engines are not available? It means that the opponent has to build with redundancies. The build must be consistent with a lot of 4-ofs, since they can't count on digging/drawing into fanciful answers. This reduces the power of cards like raven's crime. For us to force an opponent to discard any one card of their choosing isn't that big of a deal for them, as their deck is more resilient to both non-specific discard and a less than optimal draw of 7 cards at the game start. Therefore, we need to bomb their hand. When you force an opponent to lose two cards to your one card, then you are gaining in the attrition war.
Wrench Mind and a follow-up Blightning will wreck a person's hand and their gameplan. A good example of this is seen in a match up against a deck which is back on the rise: Nahiri Decks. They laugh at Raven's Crime as they position themselves to go off, but if you hit them with a couple wrench or blightning, then they have to choose between the Nahiri in their hand or the land needed to cast it. So, the overall approach in defeating your opponent is:
A.) specified discard or sniper removal up front
B.) fat discard to follow and.....
C.): Big Creatures/Dogged Ground Troops that Recur-Populate and/or Shrieking Affliction.
Nyxathid, for instance, obviously benefits from big discard, and he will most likely not be met with anti-creature cards when he lands. This is because 8rack is so well known, not unknown, and many will identify us as running that deck, and change their playstyle accordingly. It can create a backfire for the opponent, because beating Blitzkrieg requires different tactics than 8rack. This will play into our hand in game 1, and work wonders for us after sideboard. What do I mean by this?? In order to beat 8rack, one simply needs to keep (3) cards in their hand. That's it. Against us, such a purposeful slowdown of an opponent's gameplan is actually self-defeating. When they hold back their own win-conditions because they don't want to let their hand go too low, we can accelerate, unfettered, into our win-conditions (creature attack being one of them).
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The Following Matchup Analysis has been Composed by Pete Casella, Smashpacman.
THIS GUIDE REFERS TO PILOTING AN 'DEMIGOD BLITZKRIEG' STYLE DECK IN THE SUMMER OF 2017
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Jund Death's Shadow Matchup
Important Cards - Fatal Push, Inquisition of Kozilek, Terminate, Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
Sideboard Strategy - +1 Dreadbore, +1 Engineered Explosives, +2 Thoughtseize, +1 Liliana of the Veil-3 Anger of the Gods, -2 Faithless Looting
Death's Shadow has become this bizarre boogeyman in the format, where it is considered one of the "best" decks in the format, yet still finds a way to be a fragile and beatable deck simply by allowing the opponent to nearly kill themselves before truly posing a threat in the majority of matchups. For us, we already have a good amount of removal for their Death's Shadow and Tarmogoyf copies in the main deck, and Demigod of Revenge is a great way to quickly swing an entire game to our win column in a single turn. I believe we have a better matchup against this deck than most of the format, and after sideboarding, it gets better in some ways but worse in others. If the opponent has not seen that we are on a Blood Moon plan, we are on a huge advantage going into the second game. They are not always prepared to fetch a basic land, but if they do have up the mana and the Abrupt Decay, then the Blood Moon plan won't always work. Fortunately, we have an enormous amount of removal. After sideboard, it gets a bit better. I like a few copies of Thoughtseize in the post-board games just to help hit their strong sideboard pieces, but not the full three package, or we wind up needing to topdeck a threat or removal spell later in the game and run too high of a risk of drawing a useless discard spell at that time. If this was a Grixis Shadow list, I would board in the third Thoughtseize over another Faithless Looting to hit their counterspells.
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Burn Matchup
Important Cards - Inquisition of Kozilek, Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
Sideboard Strategy - +1 Engineered Explosives, +1 Liliana of the Veil, +1 Fulminator Mage, +1 Surgical Extraction, -3 Anger of the Gods, -1 Terminate,
I'm getting this one out of the way early, because it is a miserable matchup, as you might imagine when you pit a Control deck against a Burn deck. We need a decent amount of luck to win this set, and playing a game where you take risks is the most appropriate way to win the set. If you can live until Turn 6 or 7, which is fairly ambitious, then you can usually steal the game. Beyond that, you will tend to die early. Removal heavy hands and Blood Moon are not bad options, but an already-bad matchup has just gotten worse with Boros Burn becoming the popular choice of Burn lists lately, meaning that Blood Moon has four less cards it can prevent from killing us. Landing a Kalitas on turn four is critical, and an early Inquisition of Kozilek is also essential. The only way that you will win without those cards are during the oddity draws that Burn has where they play multiple creatures into our multiple removal spells, and then simply can't answer a Bedlam Reveler, Chandra, Torch of Defiance, or Demigod of Revenge. Their strongest card is usually Boros Charm, but beware of the Searing Blaze that you can stick in their hand if your win condition becomes Chandra. Sometimes they won't cast a spell for a few turns and as soon as you cast any creature, they will kill you instantly. Fulminator Mage can keep the greedy Burn keeps down post-board if you're lucky, and there is also a leg to stand on with Surgical Extraction. When the theory is "that only works situationally," sometimes you need to get lucky. A turn one Inquisition of Kozilek into a turn two Surgical Extraction that hits an additional copy of any card in their hand is a HUGE mini-victory. The best I can say for this matchup is to practice your outs, and good luck!
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Elves Matchup
Important Cards - Lightning Bolt, Inquisition of Kozilek, Fatal Push, Terminate
Sideboard Strategy - +1 Anger of the Gods, +1 Liliana, the Last Hope, +1 Liliana of the Veil, +2 Thoughtseize, -3 Kolaghan's Command, -2 Blood Moon,
This used to be an incredibly favorable matchup, but gone are the days of Devoted Druid comboing with Ezuri, Renegade Leader, and in are the days of Shaman of the Pack triggers. Of course, Devoted Druid has a new playmate with Vizier of Remedies, but that's an entirely different deck. The strategy here is simple: DO NOT LET THE ELVES LIVE. Elvish Archdruid and Heritage Druid are the most dangerous when left unchecked, but an Inquisition of Kozilek onto a Chord of Calling or a Dwynen's Elite can be backbreaking. Anger of the Gods will also usually win you the game. Just don't get arrogant and always expect them to have the Collected Company off of the top of the deck. If you are always prepared for it, they won't steal games. Also, Blood Moon is not the worst card against this deck in many circumstances, but it's also not the best. Post-board you obviously board in the hate, but I like to swap out a pair of the Blood Moons so you don't flood with multiple copies of the card, and Thoughtseize is your next-best option to take away out-of-hand Collected Company copies and Chord of Calling copies. Luckily for me, I have Elf master and local Chicagoland legend Johnny Ostrem to test against, so I know the matchup very well. I will warn you though that this is one of the most important matchups to be versed in, because if you aren't prepared you will get run over.
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Affinity Matchup
Important Cards - Kolaghan's Command, Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
Sideboard Strategy - +3 Rakdos Charm, +1 Engineered Explosives, +1 Ratchet Bomb, -4 Faithless Looting, -1 Inquisition of Kozilek
This is one of your best matchups in the entire format. You are essentially built to dumpster Affinity, running main deck copies of both Kolaghan's Command and Anger of the Gods to prevent their early explosive draws, while also running Lightning Bolt, Fatal Push and Terminate to get you to the third turn and begin removing any value plays they have. Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet also stonewalls the Arcbound Ravager plan. Post-sideboard especially when you have even more artifact hate, just beware of large swings with Cranial Plating and make sure you can race Etched Champion, and you're home free just about every game. Faithless Looting comes out because there's no need to dig for cards that are good in the matchup if just about every nonland card can win you the game. If you wanted to keep in the playset of Inquisition of Kozilek, feel free, and simply board out a Demigod of Revenge or a Bedlam Reveler. The percentages are hard to test on those cards because the deck scarcely loses to Affinity no matter which of those cards you swamp in or out.
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Eldrazi Tron Matchup
Important Cards - Inquisition of Kozilek, Terminate, Blood Moon, Chandra, Torch of Defiance
Sideboard Strategy - +1 Dreadbore, +1 Liliana of the Veil, +1 Fulminator Mage, +1 Surgical Extraction, +3 Thoughtseize, -1 Fatal Push, -1 Anger of the Gods, -2 Inquisition of Kozilek, -1 Bedlam Reveler, -2 Faithless Looting
This is a very strange, very volatile matchup. Chalice of the Void on turn two (countering your 1CMC spells) can be back-breaking, especially when they're on the play. On the other hand, a topdeck Chandra, Torch of Defiance after they cast Thought-Knot Seer can swing the game so far in your favor that they often times won't come back from it. Unfortunately, the ball is definitely in their court overall unless you can stick a turn three Blood Moon. That's pretty much the major game plan against this deck. The sideboard gives you access to some more unconditional removal against them, particularly the Dreadbore that can hit their big creatures and their Karn Liberated, and the Liliana of the Veil that can make the game very difficult for them if you can avoid Reality Smasher. Thoughtseize is also a big help. If you have the lead enough to deal with Reality Smasher, then the matchup is manageable, but if not, this is a rough one. Beware all of their nasty threats and do what you can to get Blood Moon into play. Also, always board out of Bedlam Reveler, because more times than not, the Relic of Progenitus out of their sideboard will be difficult enough to deal with when casting Demigod of Revenge.
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Ad Nauseum Matchup
Important Cards - Inquisition of Kozilek, Blood Moon, Kolaghan's Command
Sideboard Strategy - +3 Thoughtseize, +1 Liliana of the Veil, +1 Surgical Extraction, +1 Fulminator Mage, +1 Engineered Explosives, -2 Terminate, -3 Fatal Push, -3 Anger of the Gods
This is essentially playing against an all-in combo deck. They have the colors to theoretically board in both their own hand disruption as well as their own hand protection, usually with Leyline of Sanctity and Thoughtseize. The first game will come down to whether or not a Blood Moon keeps them off of their necessary colors, and hopefully you can also hit a Pentad Prism with a Kolaghan's Command or hit an Angel's Grace with an Inquisition of Kozilek. This is a very luck-based first game, and you have to hope they don't combo off on you. The sideboard can be very different, and very difficult. We don't have a truly good way to get rid of Leyline of Sanctity if they stick one on us, so our Plan B needs to be targeting their lands with Fulminator Mage and Blood Moon, and simply killing them before they can recover. Sometimes you need to risk hitting a pair of Demigod of Revenge to put a serious clock on their game plan. Also, the Engineered Explosives comes in out of the board to hit their Pentad Prism, any sideboard cards that they board in to hate on our graveyard such as Relic of Progenitus or Pithing Needle, and if we're very lucky, we can destroy their Lotus Bloom upon resolution if we take their win condition out of their hand. In the event that you are splashing the one Godless Shrine for sideboard options, the three colors can also make Engineered Explosives destroy a Phyrexian Unlife. However, I don't believe the white splash is necessary for the current overall metagame, but it is worth noting. Overall for the matchup, if they can't stop the hand disruption, we can usually go the distance. This is still not a matchup we really want to see, however.
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Titan Shift Matchup
Important Cards - Blood Moon, Inquisition of Kozilek
Sideboard Strategy - +1 Fulminator Mage, +1 Liliana of the Veil, +1 Surgical Extraction, -3 Anger of the Gods
This matchup is a good-news, bad-news matchup. The good news is that a Blood Moon in the first four or five turns in Game 1 will usually win the game every time, and Blood Moon is essentially the anti-Scapeshift card. The bad news is that a good amount of the sideboard for their deck is specifically designed to destroy Blood Moon in the post-sideboard games, and the percentages swing heavily in their favor for Game 2 and, if necessary, Game 3. The plan is simple, you want to Inquisition of Kozilek their early ramp spells and Blood Moon them as soon as possible. This might sound similar to most combo matchups, such as Ad Nauseum, but this matchup comes with a moderate amount of interactive Magic. Their Plan B is a strong one in Primeval Titan and Obstinate Baloth, and some lists as of late have Chandra, Torch of Defiance and even the occasional Nahiri, the Harbinger as ways to win the game as well. Terminate is a necessary card in this matchup to leave in post-board, because Courser of Kruphix or Oracle of Mul Daya going unchecked can give them an insurmountable lead. This matchup for them is no different than the majority of their matchup spread, which is that the most likely way for Titan Shift to lose is to draw poorly, even though the percentage of times they will draw poorly is higher than the average deck. That is the life of ramp-deck players. At least we have Blood Moon, and many other decks simply do not.
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Grixis Control Matchup
Important Cards - Inquisition of Kozilek, Demigod of Revenge, Blood Moon, Terminate, Pia and Kiran Nalaar
Sideboard Strategy - +1 Liliana of the Veil, +1 Liliana, the Last Hope, +3 Thoughtseize, +3 Rakdos Charm, +1 Dreadbore, +1 Surgical Extraction, -4 Faithless Looting, -3 Anger of the Gods, -2 Fatal Push, -1 Lightning Bolt
This matchup is certainly one for the grinders. Inquisition of Kozilek is the most important card in the matchup, as garnering information from the opponent during the matchup is extremely important. The first match is heavily in your favor, as both players have a similar game plan with removal spells into difficult-to-remove threats, but Demigod of Revenge is so much better than anything the opposition can throw at you during a Game 1. Kolaghan's Command can recur Demigod of Revenge if you only see one of them in the game, Pia and Kiran Nalaar provides multiple threats, and Terminate takes out the majority of their creatures. If you take too much early damage, however, a few Snapcaster Mage into Lightning Bolt casts from your opponent will usually kill you, so be careful. A lot of this matchup hinges on the post-sideboard games. Cards like Faithless Looting and Anger of the Gods do not do enough in the matchup. Faithless Looting technically generates negative card advantage, and Anger of the Gods can only exile a Snapcaster Mage at best. On the other hand, the sideboard cards are extremely good, and there are a lot of interesting interactions in this matchup. Rakdos Charm removing the graveyard can prevent the Snapcaster Mage and Kolaghan's Command value that the opponent can generate, often times establishing a large lead, and can also remove a Grafdigger's Cage if the opponent happens to be playing one. Liliana of the Veil is an incredible card in this matchup, as the opponent will generally hinge on card advantage, and the minus ability from Liliana of the Veil can force a Tasigur, the Golden Fang or a Gurmag Angler to be sacrificed. Liliana, the Last Hope can recur creatures from the graveyard, and unchecked can force a lot of resources out of the opponent to remove. Thoughtseize is just as important as Inquisition of Kozilek for finding information, and a Blood Moon can simply end a game against three-color decks as always. If the opponent is playing and fetching for several basics, Game 3 can also let you board out a few Blood Moon copies for the Lightning Bolt copies you boarded out initially. It depends on the opponent and the flow of the first and second game. Overall, if you can avoid graveyard hate and stop the Snapcaster Mage and Kolaghan's Command chains, the matchup should be very winnable. Just be patient with spells and don't fire off important spells too soon.
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Tron Matchup
Important Cards - Blood Moon, Kolaghan's Command, Faithless Looting
Sideboard Strategy - +3 Thoughtseize, +1 Surgical Extraction, +1 Fulminator Mage, +1 Liliana of the Veil, +1 Sulfur Elemental, +1 Dreadbore, +3 Rakdos Charm, -3 Anger of the Gods, -2 Fatal Push, -3 Terminate, -3 Lightning Bolt
This is the most tilting matchup for me personally across all formats. Playing against Tron is absolutely miserable, because they can play a Karn Liberated or a Wurmcoil Engine on turn three without ever casting another spell. Ancient Stirrings essentially functions as a Green version of Ponder, except it digs two cards deeper than Ponder does (Ponder, by the way, is banned in Modern). Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger is an unbelievable card, and can be cast on turn four behind a Karn Liberated if their draw is perfect, and easily still by turn five or six, which is usually plenty for them to win against a control deck. If we manage to dodge those bullets, they still have Ugin, the Spirit Dragon to lean on. The only way to win this matchup is to slam a Blood Moon on them before they assemble Urza's Mine, Urza's Power Plant, and Urza's Tower together, which is very easy for them to do with Ancient Stirrings, Chromatic Sphere, Chromatic Star, and especially Expedition Map digging them to their necessary pieces. Even if we manage to get a Blood Moon down early, we still need to kill them before turn seven, when they can still easily cast creatures that are nothing short of nuclear for us. Post-sideboard, things get even worse, when they bring in Relic of Progenitus to disrupt the ability to get multiple Demigod of Revenge into play early. Our strategy after the first game is to jam every threat possible into play, as well as hit an Oblivion Stone or (if we're really lucky) an Expedition Map with a Rakdos Charm or Kolaghan's Command. This matchup is generally brutal, and with the Red-Green Tron decks slowly shifting over to the Green-White strategy, they even have Path to Exile to deal with Demigod of Revenge. Miserable matchup, take risks and hope for the best.
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Selesnya Company Matchup
Important Cards - Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Terminate, Inquisition of Kozilek, Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
Sideboard Strategy - +3 Thoughtseize, +1 Surgical Extraction, +1 Engineered Explosives, -3 Faithless Looting, -2 Blood Moon
Now that Devoted Druid and Vizier of Remedies is a viable combo of cards and is seeing results at large tournaments, it's time to respect the deck. Their general game plan is to have infinite mana, while also having an infinite life combo, and the deck similar to the old Abzan Collected Company shell. If we can prevent their infinite combo cards from being on the battlefield from the same time, then we shouldn't have trouble winning the game. Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet is also an excellent way to prevent the infinite life combo that revolves around Viscera Seer from happening, and also makes it much easier to permanently remove a Kitchen Finks. As long as the opponent isn't able to combo off, then we should win the majority of games. However, Collected Company and Chord of Calling are incredibly dangerous cards to play against, particularly at instant-speed. If you can get a lead in the game, be sure to leave up as much instant-speed removal as possible, or your lead can suddenly turn into an immediate loss. After sideboard, having some additional all-purpose removal spells isn't the worst plan, and while Blood Moon is okay against the deck, they will likely play around it after the first game, and flooding multiple Blood Moon copies is a very bad thing. The only thing it tends to do in the matchup is turn off Gavony Township. Just stick to your game plan, as our matchup against the deck is pretty solid as long as we have our removal spells.
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Living End Matchup
Important Cards - Terminate, Inquisition of Kozilek, Faithless Looting, Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
Sideboard Strategy - +3 Rakdos Charm, +1 Surgical Extraction, +1 Liliana, the Last Hope, +1 Fulminator Mage, -2 Fatal Push, -3 Lightning Bolt
This is a strange matchup, and there are so many random tools to know against the Living End matchup...far too many to list in a short matchup guide. The short version is that Lightning Bolt doesn't hit a lot of the creatures in their deck, such as Deadshot Minotaur, Street Wraith, and Pale Recluse, and 99% of the time it also misses their Fulminator Mage copies, the 1% coming when you have nothing but basic lands in play. This is a very strange matchup. If you can Inquisition of Kozilek their Violent Outburst or Demonic Dread, and they fail to find another copy, you can run them over. That is the dream scenario, and will not happen in most games. The best strategy for toppling them in Game 1 is to use Faithless Looting to get your creatures into the graveyard as fast as possible. If you can combat their Living End by bringing back creatures as well, you can often times steal a game, especially on the back of Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet paired with in-hand removal spells such as Terminate and, to a much lesser extent, Lightning Bolt and Fatal Push when they have legitimate targets to hit. After sideboarding, this matchup becomes much easier. If you can get to your Rakdos Charm and simply be ready for any graveyard recursion, you will win most of the time. Surgical Extraction is also helpful, but will not be nearly as effective since it does not exile an entire graveyard. Fulminator Mage can also keep them off of slow hands. The Plan C in this matchup as a whole is to slam a Blood Moon and hope that they cannot cast their Cascade spells, but the real victory card will always be Rakdos Charm in this matchup. It is so brutal for them at instant speed that it is honestly worth using multiple mulligans to find one.
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November, 2016 - Florida: 1K Event, 1st Place Finish with a Featured Review by Professional Player, Frank Lepore:
http://www.numotgaming.com/modern-monday-br-control/
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
4 Demigod of Revenge
2 Bedlam Reveler
4 Blood Moon
2 Liliana of the Veil
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Faithless Looting
4 Terminate
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Kolaghan's Command
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Blood Crypt
1 Temple of Malice
1 Graven Cairns
1 Smoldering Marsh
5 Swamp
1 Mountain
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Anger of the Gods
2 Thoughtseize
1 Sulfur Elemental
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Kolaghan's Command
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Slaughter Games
2 Hangarback Walker
2 Rakdos Charm
1 Shattering Spree
May 20th, 2016 - Grand Prix Charlotte: Day 1, Undefeated 9-0
4 Liliana of the Veil
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
CREATURES
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
2 Goblin Dark-Dwellers
1 Pack Rat
SORCERY
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
2 Night's Whisper
1 Dark Petition
2 Boom // Bust
1 Damnation
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Terminate
1 Hero's Downfall
ENCHANTMENT
4 Blood Moon
LAND (24)
4 bloodstained mire
2 blood crypt
4 verdant catacombs
2 graven cairns
2 mountain
9 swamp
1 dragonskull summit
1 damnation
1 hero's downfall
2 anger of the gods
2 kolaghan's command
1 grave titan
1 sudden shock
1 engineered explosives
2 vandalblast
3 leyline of the void
1 spellskite
August 28th, 2016 - Grand Prix in Guangzhou on - 9th Place of 946 Decks
4 hangarback walker
4 thought-knot seer
3 reality smasher
3 wasteland strangler
2 kalitas, traitor of ghet
SORCERY
1 dreadbore
1 thoughtseize
3 inquisition of kozilek
INSTANT
4 lightning bolt
3 terminate
2 kolaghan's command
1 slaughter pact
4 relic of progenitus
2 ratchet bomb
LAND
4 blackcleave cliffs
4 sulfurous springs
2 blood crypt
4 eldrazi temple
4 mutavault
2 ghost quarter
2 swamp
1 mountain
1 dreadbore
1 kolaghan's command
2 thoughtseize
1 ghost quarter
2 engineered explosives
1 grafdigger's cage
1 slaughter games
1 shatterstorm
1 shriekmaw
2 endbringer
2 magma spray
Following a Classic Obliterator Design, this is my current build.:
4 Phyrexian Obliterator
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2 Nyxathid
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Shrieking Affliction
3 Terminate
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Dreadbore
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Engineered Explosives
4 Wrench Mind
3 Blightning
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
2 Kolaghan's Command
3 Blood Crypt
3 Dragonskull Summit
2 Lavaclaw Reaches
2 Bloodstained Mire
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Ghost Quarter
3 Blood Moon
2 Night of Souls' Betrayal
2 Nyxathid
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Torpor Orb
2 Flaying Tendrils
1 Dreadbore
1 Grafdigger's Cage
This is a variation on my current build. I include it here, because it earned a top 14% of the field finish (36th place of 248 competitors) at a StarCityGames Modern Invitational Qualifier on September 13th, 2015. There are a couple varieties (this style and the other is more of a delve/fetchland/faithless looting-accelerated play focus). This approach is more of a 'traditional ramp' representation of the archetype with a pronounced defensive posturing.
NOTE: On this day, I uncharacteristically included (2) Ensnaring Bridge in the Main Deck for Game 1 usage only. They were sided out against almost certain SB hate in games 2 & 3. Up-To-Date, Modern Blitzkrieg builds rarely use ensnaring bridge.
4 Phyrexian Obliterator
1 Batterskull
4 Liliana of the Veil
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
3 Shrieking Affliction
2 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Terminate
3 Lightning Bolt
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Blightning
4 Wrench Mind
2 Thoughtseize
4 Blood Crypt
3 Dragonskull Summit
3 Lavaclaw Reaches
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Ghost Quarter
3 Nyxathid
2 Night of Souls' Betrayal
2 Shatterstorm
1 Slaughter Games
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Pharika's Cure
1 Languish
1 Torpor Orb
1 Crumble to Dust (At Tourney: Sowing Salt)
The original deck which top 16-ed in a field of 250 competitors at a Starcitygames Premier IQ in February of 2015 in Indianapolis, IN & started the fire of Blitzkrieg can be seen as the final entry in the following post.
Banner Design by Fat_Buddha
This space is reserved for Blitzkrieg decks that are noteworthy for their performance, or they are sparking a mutation that shows Top-Tier potential.
This deck put up Back-To-Back 4-1 Finishes at its FNM in March of 2016 by DelveroftheMany. It has all the key attributes of a successful Angler build.
4 Bloodghast
4 Gurmag Angler
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Faithless Looting
4 Terminate
4 Kolaghan's Command
3 Thoughtseize
1 Duress
1 Darkblast
1 Murderous Cut
1 Godless Shrine
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Polluted Delta
3 Dragonskull Summit
4 Swamp
1 Mountain
1 Urborg Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Pyroclasm
3 Blood Moon
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Wear/ Tear
2 Timely Reinforcements
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Dreadbore
This deck put up a 4-1 finish at an FNM this Summer, 2015 by DarkHelmet709. It's innovation is the use of a 3-cmc cap, 4 dark confidant, and 4 nyxathid.
4 Nyxathid
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Thoughtseize
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Wrench Mind
4 Terminate
2 Blightning
2 Kolaghan's Command
4 Liliana of the Veil
4 Swamp
4 Polluted Delta
1 Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace
2 Lavaclaw Reaches
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Blood Moon
2 Surgical Extraction
3 Dragon's Claw
2 Ratchet Bomb
2 Anger of the Gods
3 Rakdos Charm
This deck, by acc95, effectively brings together 2 titans of Blitzkrieg: Phyrexian Obliterator and Gurmag Angler while maintaining a wicked level of discard.
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Lavaclaw Reaches
1 Ghost Quarter
8 Swamp
2 Gurmag Angler
3 Phyrexian Obliterator
3 Shrieking Affliction
2 Lightning Bolt
4 Terminate
4 Liliana of the Veil
4 Blightning
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Sign in Blood
3 Thoughtseize
4 Wrench Mind
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Nyxathid
2 Night of Souls' Betrayal
1 Drown in Sorrow
1 Pharika's Cure
2 Pyroclasm
2 Shatterstorm
2 Slaughter Games
1 Sowing Salt
This deck is entirely new and admittedly untested in battle, but it earns a viewing because it "Broke the 4 Minute Mile". For the first time, we are seeing Dredge combined with Delve and Faithless Looting in a Blitzkrieg deck. Lot of exciting synergies!
4 Gurmag Angler
3 Young Pyromancer
3 Golgari Thug
Spells
4 Wrench Mind
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Faithless Looting
3 Smallpox
3 Blightning
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Terminate
2 Thoughtseize
3 Shrieking Affliction
Lands
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Blood Crypt
3 Dragonskull Summit
3 Polluted Delta
2 Swamp
2 Dakmor Salvage
1 Mountain
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Blood Moon
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Rakdos Charm
1 Terminate
1 Kolaghan's Command
1 Torpor Orb
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Fulminator Mage
NOTE: This seedling deck top 16-ed in a field of 250 competitors at an Starcitygames Premier IQ in Indianapolis in February of 2015, and the creator, Pete Casella, candidly stated it was a rough, early draft. So, there is nowhere to go but up!
Discard: High
Lightning: High
Rack: Middle
Attack: Middle
Defense: Middle
4 Liliana of the Veil
4 The Rack
1 Liliana's Caress
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Murderous Cut
4 Terminate
4 Blightning
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Thoughtseize
4 Wrench Mind
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Blood Crypt
1 Godless Shrine
2 Graven Cairns
2 Lavaclaw Reaches
4 Marsh Flats
1 Verdant Catacombs
4 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Dismember
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Wear/Tear
3 Duress
3 Pyroclasm
Which of the lists do you think is the strongest? And how good is Nyxathid? And isn't a one-of Spellskite a bit foolish?
Have you considered going Grixis for access to tricks like Notion Thief?
Modern: Eldrazi CB,
strikethroughhas been fixed - clerical error. As for the list that is the strongest, it's too early to tell. We're looking at a deckstyle in its infancy. It's a little bit B/x Rock, Jund, and 8rack, but the overall strength of Blitzkrieg is found in the underpinnings of its card superiority set against the backdrop of discard in a draw-light modern meta. Nyxathid plays like a black Tarmogoyf. Phyrexian Obliterator plays like a Panzer tank and/or an alternate ensnaring bridge.The question about Spellskite is niche. It's a one-of (you rarely want to see 2 in hand) in my build, and therefore deserves little attention - compared to the overall design. In brief, it answers small aggro creature attack, bogles-infect-affinity-burn, twin, and fills the spare 2-cmc slot. In addition, it serves to protect my key assets: ensnaring bridge, phyrexian obliterator, Liliana of the Veil, and shrieking affliction. Lastly, it serves as a linchpin in the balance between Obliterator and Bridge. In my game progression, I have to dance around the non-bo that is Ensnaring Bridge and Phyrexian Obliterator (each is tremendously powerful in its own right, but they are always at odds). Spellskite? Well, I let him lead.
I prefer Raystack's over the original one, except for Shrieking Affliction as I've always seen it as win-more card (if they're at 0-1 card your plan is already going well).
Why did you choose it, isn't The Rack strictly superior?
And what about a split between bolts and terminates, how did you come to 2-4
Thanks
This brings me to the question raised by Gm13p. Why Shrieking Affliction over The Rack? Again, I don't run any rack, so my only artifacts are (3) Ensnaring Bridge and (1) Spellskite. The marvelous answer is my transformative sideboard. In games 2 and 5 of last week's FNM, I faced decks that had red in them. It's a popular enough color in this meta, and will run things like Ancient Grudge, Shatterstorm, and Smash to Smithereens). So, in Round 2 of game 2, after the opponent saw wrench mind and shrieking affliction get played, but no The Rack, he obviously assumed it was in there, and that I was going to pursue a classic 8rack win strategy. When I sideboarded, all of my artifacts came out and an 'extra creatures/extra removal' package came in. In came Nyxathid and Olivia Voldaren and Hero's Downfall. It worked brilliantly. After repeated hand shreddings, my opponent held onto an Ancient Grudge as his last card, because of his intense fear of cards that didn't exist: Bridge and Rack. There were Ancient Grudges everywhere in rounds 2 and 5 and they were totally blanked! My deck has no artifacts after game 1 (if the matchup calls for that approach). Similarly, the opponent will take out almost all of his creature kill in game 2, so my big'uns roll through their lines of defense like a 4th of July parade.
Finally, the terminate count vs. the lightning bolt count: I've done a lot of testing on this deck in a short period of time. Terminate delivers a better answer than Lightning bolt these days: Tarmogoyf, Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Siege Rhino, restoration angel, arcbound ravager, and deceiver exarch to name a few. Blitzkrieg needs to get into the mid-late game to survive, as my early game is all about raining lightning from above (disruption). When the opponent is in disarray, then I can enact a soft-lock, pressing attack or bridge up. The bolt helps in so many ways, but it's just a little too weak in this meta. Conversely, discard is seeing an uptick in usage: Abzan, Jund, B/W Souls, Rock, and so many others. We are taking it to the next level with 'power discard suite': 2-for-1s, Liliana of the Veil and Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace.
So, sleeve up, gas up, and let the tanks roll. Take Blightning Rack for a spin! It's the right deck at the right time.
@airmanmaki: I really dig your deck as the quintessential 'creatureless/bolt' deck of this thread, and am anxious to hear how things turn out. My main concern is its heavy reliance on Ensnaring Bridge. If the bridge doesn't hit and stick, I can see that you might get run over. But, that's a common perception of this build that I'm even coming to terms with as an inaccurate assessment. The epic discard removes so many creature threats before they even hit the board, that your removal can often handle the situation as you continue to lob damage at the opponent's face.
4 the rack
2 shrieking affliction
Control/utility
1 trading post
4 liliana of the veil
3 ensnaring bridge
1 phyrexian obliterator
4 terminate
3 lightning bolt
Discard
4 Inquisition of kozilek
1 thoughtseize
3 raven's crime
4 wrench mind
4 blightning
3 blood crypt
3 temple of malice
3 dragonskull summit
1 mountain
9 swamp
3 blood moon
2 rakdos charm
2 extirpate
2 slagstorm
3 phyrexian obliterator
1 shatterstorm
2 darkblast
Ashkainjm is right about considering grim lavamancer for your build. Phyrexian Obliterator, as your sole creature and 1 of only 2 4-cmc spells, feels very out of place. Make that into your 4th bridge. Also, if do opt to run Raven's Crime, I've found that it's best as a 4-of or a 0-of, and it that case, dropping the trading post would be wise. I've only seen that card work in high mana-generating decks, like Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas constructions.
I am going to a Modern SCG IQ this Sunday and I am planning on bringing this deck:
2 Grim Lavamancer
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Thoughtseize
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Wrench Mind
4 Terminate
3 Blightning
2 Bitterblossom
4 The Rack
4 Liliana of the Veil
4 Swamp
4 Polluted Delta
2 Mutavault
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Blood Crypt
2 Bloodstained Mire
3 Blood Moon
4 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Olivia Voldaren
1 Blightning
3 Rakdos Charm
Let me know what you think. I played it in two modern events this week to get ready and I think my only losses have been to my own stupid mistakes and drawing too many lands. Other than that, I have had some really close games and I think Bitterblossom adds a lot to the deck to act as both blockers and attackers. I would really like to use Kolaghan's Command over Blightning because I feel like it has more uses and it affects the board. However, I ordered them on ebay (kind of dumb) and I have to wait until next week until they come in. Also, Graven Cairns should be Bloodstained Mire in order to be able to fetch at least 2 swamps before I play Blood Moon but those got lost in the mail.
Modern:
BRBightning RackBR
RGoblinsR
WBDeath and TaxesWB
Legacy:
BPoxB
As for land, graven cairns is square peg in a round hole. The only reason why you'd use that card is if you had spells that are 2RR and 2BB. An example would be Anger of the Gods and Liliana of the Veil. You don't. That means you are best served by a normal dual land. EDIT: You are RIGHT. You stated that you are going fetch over the filter land - this is a placeholder in your decklist. Sorry, but at least, it's an opportunity to discuss why such an application is a mistake.
I do strongly believe that the 'power discard suite' shouldn't be minimized: (4) Wrench Mind and (4) Blightning. Kolaghan's Command is a curiosity. It has it's applications. I basically view it, in a best case scenario, as the B/R version of U/R Electrolyze. Still, it's individual modular effects price out at 1.5 cmc per spell, while Blightning gives you (3) individual spells for the cost of (1) spell: (2) raven's crime and (1) lava spike. Just my humble, but I think (3) blood moon is aggressive. Decks run more basics, and fetch more wisely when facing a 2-color deck in game 2 than you might think. And, (2) Olivia is similarly scrote out. Consider Darkblast or Drown in Sorrow - particularly with your low land count.
(22) total land with that many fetches feels a little low, but you are capping your mana-curve at (3), so that does give you deck-room to allow for new cards like bitterblossom. Interesting Tech. Let us know how your personal add works out!
As for SB, I would be careful about Rakdos Charm populating a (3) spot. I've seen it listed as a (4). I've tried at (2). And, now, my list has it as (0). Just consider that it does not work against Twin. They are ready for it, and will tap down your disparate colored mana to allow for a fire-off. It's cool against Affinity and Graveyard decks, but so are the existing card pool elements that you already have.
I'll have a lot more for you guys soon. I just wanted to reply to pizzap real quick and let him know that my decklist in Indianapolis had the name "Rackdos" on it.
Standard: Temur Energy RUG
Pauper: Fireball Black B
Commander: Kaervek the Merciless BR
"Always Bolt the Bird."
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Polluted Delta
3 blood crypt
11 swamp
1 mountain
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 thoughtseize
Instant
2 kolaghan's command
4 lightning bolt
4 terminate
4 liliana of the veil
Creature
4 demigod of revenge
3 exava, rakdos blood witch
3 tombstalker
1 olivia voldaren
4 Blood Moon
Testing Kolaghan's Command in replace of blightnings. Can be considered a flexspot.
I was thinking 'will you get enough mana to cast Demigod of Revenge' with this build. This is because of the land search cards that reduce the chances of finding lands if you use their abilities. This basically means you are playing a longer game plan in the hopes of doing an alpha strike to finish in one turn.
To me it is probably Tombstalker that doesn't really fit in the deck. Sure it is big flying creature, it doesn't provide much else. Mogis, God of Slaughter would be a better fit, it will either be doing two damage or controlling the battlefield, also with all those mana symbols, it can easily be turned into a creature.
Yeah this deck tries to grind an attrition game and keep the opponent off-balanced with blood moon. The early turns are spent dismantling their hand and killing threats. Liliana of the veil or Blood Moon comes out on turn 3. Demigod of Revenge is super sweet as it can be discarded to Lili if needed and can be recurred.
True the manabase is still in beta. I merely copied Lee Shi Tian's "Blue Moon" mana base and added an extra swamp. As for tombstalker, 3 could be a bit too many I agree. But with fetches and early game discard along with Lili, the our graveyard fills up quite a bit.
Im trying out threats than can close the game quickly once their manabase is in shambles. The creatures I've tested all passes the abrupt decay / bolt test.
You dont draw as many cards as blue moon to consistently hit mana like that deck does.
Thirst for Knowledge % to hit artifact
I think I will switch out 2 the Olivia Voldaren for 2 Anger of the Gods since it hits more creatures than drown in sorrow. And the reason I took out 1 Blightning was due to the fact that I am afraid of having a lot of 3-drops in my opening hand. I figured it was the weakest 3-drop when compared to Liliana of the Veil and Nyxathid. I still feel like I draw too many lands with my deck as it currently is. Should I add more man-lands like Lavaclaw Reaches and take out Bitterblossom? The reason why I suggested something like Dark Confidant in the other thread was because I feel like I run out of gas if I don't topdeck well and that provides ways to do that anyway. Another land I was thinking about was Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace.
Also, I think Kolaghan's Command deserves some testing before we dismiss it. I think Blightning is more limited because it can't hit creatures and doesn't always get two cards. Whereas command hits creatures, artifacts, can instant-speed discard, and can grab a Nyxathid or Grim Lavamancer back into your hand.
Modern:
BRBightning RackBR
RGoblinsR
WBDeath and TaxesWB
Legacy:
BPoxB