Yes, I think we've earned a place in Developing Competitive - our deck's placed higher than Skred Red, for example. We have better CA. Better resilience and access to their main piece - Blood Moon. We may not have put up as many results as SKRed, but what we have put up is over higher quality than Jund.
I'm not seeing enough results yet. Winning a local 1K is good but we need more than that.
This is a deck I've been keeping my eye on. It looks fun. Question though how do you guys deal with and how often are you hosed by enchantments hitting the board against you? I play some mono black also and it's always a concern of mine as something like Ratchet Bomb just seems too slow to deal with stuff like that.
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FREE MODERN. Break the Standard link.
I play Magic: the Gathering, not Magic: the Commandering.
This is a deck I've been keeping my eye on. It looks fun. Question though how do you guys deal with and how often are you hosed by enchantments hitting the board against you? I play some mono black also and it's always a concern of mine as something like Ratchet Bomb just seems too slow to deal with stuff like that.
Since we're usually playing 8 fetch lands, whenever Enchantments become super prominent, the ability to play a Godless Shrine in the deck for sideboard Wear // Tear is a very easy splash. Usually the decks that are enchantment-heavy don't get hit that hard by Blood Moon anyway, so it gives us the luxury to board it out.
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Modern: BR Control BR Standard: Temur Energy RUG Pauper: Fireball Black B Commander: Kaervek the MercilessBR
Ever a fan of the 2-for-1 'power discard suite', I have to wonder: Does the introduction of 1-cmc kill [sorely lacking in our color], Fatal Push, allow for the traditional elements of this deck to prosper? It allows for early game control. And - like Aleixarboix observes, if control/combo starts to shift in the meta to the forefront, we could find ourselves in the driver's seat. Delverofthemany asks about Fatal Push as well and puts up a construction - just wish you'd format your deck list, so that it's readable for us.
Start the deck list with [deck*] and end the deck list with [/deck*] - but, remove the asterisk from the tagging. You can go back to your post and hit edit to make the change. Anybody else got some juice to share??.
Been watching from the shadows of this thread for many years. It's an awesome deck idea. Something I'll deff buy eventually. Red and black are my favorite colors. Been playing mardu burn for a long time.
Just have a few questions though. What about bedlam reveler? Does it have a place? And Khalitas vs gurmag angler what's the better choice?
And finally what are some recent note worthy placings for the deck?
Hello, everyone it has been a while since I have posted in this thread.
I ran this deck back when it was still obliterator. Recently I have wanted to get back into magic but I gave my collection to a family member after I quit.
What is the current state of this Deck? Also what would be a good version to test that didn't cost 600-1000?
How has the 2x- Thoughtseize been working out for you? I really like this version but I feel like I would rather those slots be faithless lootings or an extra Liliana+Anger. Heck, even Bedlam Reveler for extra gas.
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"Eye of twilight, give us sight. Take our offer, give us might. Make our power tears of night." -Dark Ritual, Mercadian Masques
Hey guys, I really like this deck idea. I'm curious about the reasoning behind Faithless Looting over Cathartic Reunion. Is the CMC worth only drawing two cards? Do you find yourself using the flashback often?
Thanks!
Hey guys, I really like this deck idea. I'm curious about the reasoning behind Faithless Looting over Cathartic Reunion. Is the CMC worth only drawing two cards? Do you find yourself using the flashback often?
Thanks!
You're not drawing cards, you're filtering cards. Looting is better at filtering. The idea is often to get Demigods into the graveyard. Looting facilitates that, Reunion does not (since you have to discard before drawing which doesn't allow you to pitch whatever you drew).
You definitely want to include pyroclasm or anger of the gods somewhere in your deck, to counter strategies that go wide and flood the board. I would cut shrieking affliction altogether, on average it represents about as much damage as your Dark Confidant will be doing to you every turn, and 3 copies means you will probably only see one a game. It's not worth diluting your 60 to be able to squeeze in another win condition that you won't be able to execute reliably.
Since you are already running some recursive threats in Lingering Souls, you might want to consider doubling down on that. Collective Brutality is a discard spell and a burn spell in one if you can pitch something to the yard, like say, Bloodghast or Lingering Souls, or an extra land. If you include Bloodghast I would cut some nyxathids and up the Kalitas count due to their super fun synergy. (I would actually do this anyway, there's too much aggro running around to be playing Confidant without a reliable way to regain life.
Wrench mind I would cut altogether. The general consensus seems to be that it's too slow, and there are too many artifacts running around to really be worth it. Maybe throw some Lilianas in its place.
In summation:
-Nyxathid
-Shrieking Affliction
+Kalitas
+Bloodghast
+Collective Brutality
-Wrench mind
+Liliana
-Harsh scrutiny
+Push
+Pyroclasm or Anger of the Gods
Maybe try some of those in whatever amount feels good and see how it does?
If you aren't absolutely married to Confidant, Faithless looting works well.
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"Eye of twilight, give us sight. Take our offer, give us might. Make our power tears of night." -Dark Ritual, Mercadian Masques
Got to play SCG Regionals this past weekend. Deck did pretty well, would have finished Top 32 at X-2 but I conceded to a friend of mine that I got paired against in the 9th round, as he was paired down to me and had a possibility of Top 8. The key change for what I've been playing was Liliana, the Last Hope. That card was absolutely nuts. Here's the list I played:
- Temple of Malice as a one-of is more useful then not useful. Only extremely rarely is the tapped land source detrimental to the game, but the scry is incredibly valuable, especially when the deck can dig fairly deep with Faithless Looting and Chandra, Torch of Defiance.
- Liliana, the Last Hope is an insanely powerful card and good in many circumstances. It's a win condition in its own right, can oppress any decks that are aggressive, and is better in far more matchups than Liliana of the Veil. Since the deck has a solid Control matchup, LTLH has found a home in the main deck.
- Shattering Spree was not necessary for the sideboard, as the Affinity matchup is actually about 80/20 in our favor when running 2+ Kolaghan's Command, 4 Lightning Bolt, 2+ Terminate, and any number of Fatal Push greater than zero.
- We don't have as many ways to trigger Fatal Push as you would think. 8 fetch lands is not a lot, and getting stuck in positions where a Kalitas or a Kitchen Finks needs to be Fatal Pushed is a bad spot to be in without a fetch land. It's a good card but I don't currently believe we need more than two of them.
- As stated above, the Control matchups are very good. Liliana of the Veil is also seemingly unhelpful in those matchups. This deck requires maximum use of resources, and despite similarities with Jund, does not function as similarly well as a Jund deck with Liliana of the Veil. She is only for niche matchups out of the sideboard currently.
- The 3rd Kolaghan's Command in the maindeck has proven to be an excellent use of a slot. The card is just more powerful as the meta evolves, especially in this deck. Bringing back creatures from the graveyard is a game-winning strategy all too frequently.
- Having 3 Thoughtseize in the sideboard is now necessary because of the return of Abzan Coco, and other ways to help defeat that deck might be useful now. Grafdigger's Cage is an option once again.
- Dreadbore might not be the best option for dealing with Planeswalkers. Currently have that slot, as well as the Hangarback Walker slot (which will likely be removed soon) down to Dreadbore, Hero's Downfall, and To The Slaughter.
That's all I got. For those wondering about my matchup spread, I beat Jeskai Control twice, UB Control, Zoo, and two different Grixis decks. My losses were to Titan Shift and possibly the luckiest sequence I've ever seen from a Kiki Chord player. I'll take it for a day's work.
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Modern: BR Control BR Standard: Temur Energy RUG Pauper: Fireball Black B Commander: Kaervek the MercilessBR
Hey guys, I'm testing this deck at the moment, but I don't have enough Blood Moon (I only have 2) atm.
Do you think that Blood Moon is a must have for this brew? What do you suggest in place of the other 2 Blood Moon?
@Montez I'm running 3 moons, 2 chandra. Might want to consider new lili or another fatal push. If you can't/don't want to run 3/4 moons run cards to make the other parts of your deck more consistent.
I have been playing and tuning this deck too for a while now. I don't think you want to run both kalitas and bedlam reveler. Also Kalitas would require a splash into a 3rd colour, something a blood moon deck probably doesn't want to do. Honestly, bedlam is much better in my opinion in this deck then gurmag or khalitas. The tempo gain from the card is really good. A top deck late game bedlam can represent a 2 for 1 which is pretty huge late game. (block a 4/4, cast removal from the 3 cards drawn, ez 2 for 1). Bedlam also helps mitigate dead draws against decks by being able to dump the useless half of our deck. Finally it dodges 3/4 most common removal spells in the format, even while usually costing 2-4 mana. (bolt, abrupt, push, dies to path of course.) Honestly I can't praise this card enough, it plays very well in many matchup's. The only time I would probably bring it out is vs a deck like scapeshift or tron. Our interaction isn't too good vs these types of decks and our clock is far too slow. I would probably go -all revelers, -bolts, -pushs, +land destruction, +thoughtseize, +LotV. Not to mention there is still some residual graveyard hate in the format which while yes, hits both delve and bedlam, at least bedlam's other 2 abilities are still relevant.
I have been playing and tuning this deck too for a while now. I don't think you want to run both kalitas and bedlam reveler. Also Kalitas would require a splash into a 3rd colour, something a blood moon deck probably doesn't want to do. Honestly, bedlam is much better in my opinion in this deck then gurmag or khalitas. The tempo gain from the card is really good. A top deck late game bedlam can represent a 2 for 1 which is pretty huge late game. (block a 4/4, cast removal from the 3 cards drawn, ez 2 for 1). Bedlam also helps mitigate dead draws against decks by being able to dump the useless half of our deck. Finally it dodges 3/4 most common removal spells in the format, even while usually costing 2-4 mana. (bolt, abrupt, push, dies to path of course.) Honestly I can't praise this card enough, it plays very well in many matchup's. The only time I would probably bring it out is vs a deck like scapeshift or tron. Our interaction isn't too good vs these types of decks and our clock is far too slow. I would probably go -all revelers, -bolts, -pushs, +land destruction, +thoughtseize, +LotV. Not to mention there is still some residual graveyard hate in the format which while yes, hits both delve and bedlam, at least bedlam's other 2 abilities are still relevant.
TLDR: Bedlam Reveler > delve creatures.
Um, you keep talking about Kalitas but it is clear you are mistaking it for Tasigur. Tasigur is the delve creature that requires splashing blue or green. Kalitas is the 2BB legendary vampire that causes opponents creatures to exile instead of going to the graveyard, giving you zombie tokens that you can sacrifice (along with any other zombie or vampire you control) to give Kalitas +1/+1 counters.
You are correct, I ****ed up thanks for pointing it out. Kalitas is also really good for the deck and I am running 2. survives bolt, lifelink is good, exile clause is relevant. The one thing with the current creature package is I wish we had a way to go a little lower to the ground, something like a 2/3 drop that doesn't die to anger but still synergies.
This is a midrange list I'm trying to put together and I would appreciate some insight.
With regards to Mindwrack Demon, I would say that we hit Delirium about half the time. But hitting it consistently is more or less important. Mindwrack Demon just enables so much for the deck while dodging bolt, Abrupt Decay and even Dismember if played off of Olivia. Trample is relevant against spirit tokens and he should dramatically hasten our opponent's clock with or without Olivia.
Haakon, Stromgald Scourge and Nameless Inversion becomes fairly oppressive against creature-based strategies and being able to recur Olivia, Mobilized for War is just icing.
Speaking of Olivia, she isn't required for the deck to function, but she does seem to fit with what the deck is trying to do. She acts as a discard outlet for Haakon, and she gives our beaters haste. And while she dies to bolt, it doesn't really matter because she can be recast with Haakon in the yard.
I have high hopes for this list but all suggestions and critiques are welcome.
Got to play SCG Regionals this past weekend. Deck did pretty well, would have finished Top 32 at X-2 but I conceded to a friend of mine that I got paired against in the 9th round, as he was paired down to me and had a possibility of Top 8. The key change for what I've been playing was Liliana, the Last Hope. That card was absolutely nuts. Here's the list I played:
- Temple of Malice as a one-of is more useful then not useful. Only extremely rarely is the tapped land source detrimental to the game, but the scry is incredibly valuable, especially when the deck can dig fairly deep with Faithless Looting and Chandra, Torch of Defiance.
- Liliana, the Last Hope is an insanely powerful card and good in many circumstances. It's a win condition in its own right, can oppress any decks that are aggressive, and is better in far more matchups than Liliana of the Veil. Since the deck has a solid Control matchup, LTLH has found a home in the main deck.
- Shattering Spree was not necessary for the sideboard, as the Affinity matchup is actually about 80/20 in our favor when running 2+ Kolaghan's Command, 4 Lightning Bolt, 2+ Terminate, and any number of Fatal Push greater than zero.
- We don't have as many ways to trigger Fatal Push as you would think. 8 fetch lands is not a lot, and getting stuck in positions where a Kalitas or a Kitchen Finks needs to be Fatal Pushed is a bad spot to be in without a fetch land. It's a good card but I don't currently believe we need more than two of them.
- As stated above, the Control matchups are very good. Liliana of the Veil is also seemingly unhelpful in those matchups. This deck requires maximum use of resources, and despite similarities with Jund, does not function as similarly well as a Jund deck with Liliana of the Veil. She is only for niche matchups out of the sideboard currently.
- The 3rd Kolaghan's Command in the maindeck has proven to be an excellent use of a slot. The card is just more powerful as the meta evolves, especially in this deck. Bringing back creatures from the graveyard is a game-winning strategy all too frequently.
- Having 3 Thoughtseize in the sideboard is now necessary because of the return of Abzan Coco, and other ways to help defeat that deck might be useful now. Grafdigger's Cage is an option once again.
- Dreadbore might not be the best option for dealing with Planeswalkers. Currently have that slot, as well as the Hangarback Walker slot (which will likely be removed soon) down to Dreadbore, Hero's Downfall, and To The Slaughter.
That's all I got. For those wondering about my matchup spread, I beat Jeskai Control twice, UB Control, Zoo, and two different Grixis decks. My losses were to Titan Shift and possibly the luckiest sequence I've ever seen from a Kiki Chord player. I'll take it for a day's work.
I have two of them sleeved up and ready to go, if the time ever comes where they are a necessity. To be honest though, playing 4 copies of Blood Moon has been more than enough land disruption. If the opponent is playing heavily around Blood Moon, then boarding into Fulminator Mage is a possibility. I've got some sideboard slots that I'm not fully sold on.
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Modern: BR Control BR Standard: Temur Energy RUG Pauper: Fireball Black B Commander: Kaervek the MercilessBR
Got to play SCG Regionals this past weekend. Deck did pretty well, would have finished Top 32 at X-2 but I conceded to a friend of mine that I got paired against in the 9th round, as he was paired down to me and had a possibility of Top 8. The key change for what I've been playing was Liliana, the Last Hope. That card was absolutely nuts. Here's the list I played:
- Temple of Malice as a one-of is more useful then not useful. Only extremely rarely is the tapped land source detrimental to the game, but the scry is incredibly valuable, especially when the deck can dig fairly deep with Faithless Looting and Chandra, Torch of Defiance.
- Liliana, the Last Hope is an insanely powerful card and good in many circumstances. It's a win condition in its own right, can oppress any decks that are aggressive, and is better in far more matchups than Liliana of the Veil. Since the deck has a solid Control matchup, LTLH has found a home in the main deck.
- Shattering Spree was not necessary for the sideboard, as the Affinity matchup is actually about 80/20 in our favor when running 2+ Kolaghan's Command, 4 Lightning Bolt, 2+ Terminate, and any number of Fatal Push greater than zero.
- We don't have as many ways to trigger Fatal Push as you would think. 8 fetch lands is not a lot, and getting stuck in positions where a Kalitas or a Kitchen Finks needs to be Fatal Pushed is a bad spot to be in without a fetch land. It's a good card but I don't currently believe we need more than two of them.
- As stated above, the Control matchups are very good. Liliana of the Veil is also seemingly unhelpful in those matchups. This deck requires maximum use of resources, and despite similarities with Jund, does not function as similarly well as a Jund deck with Liliana of the Veil. She is only for niche matchups out of the sideboard currently.
- The 3rd Kolaghan's Command in the maindeck has proven to be an excellent use of a slot. The card is just more powerful as the meta evolves, especially in this deck. Bringing back creatures from the graveyard is a game-winning strategy all too frequently.
- Having 3 Thoughtseize in the sideboard is now necessary because of the return of Abzan Coco, and other ways to help defeat that deck might be useful now. Grafdigger's Cage is an option once again.
- Dreadbore might not be the best option for dealing with Planeswalkers. Currently have that slot, as well as the Hangarback Walker slot (which will likely be removed soon) down to Dreadbore, Hero's Downfall, and To The Slaughter.
That's all I got. For those wondering about my matchup spread, I beat Jeskai Control twice, UB Control, Zoo, and two different Grixis decks. My losses were to Titan Shift and possibly the luckiest sequence I've ever seen from a Kiki Chord player. I'll take it for a day's work.
I'm digging this. I'm trying to get my hands on some LtLH, glad to hear this confirmation. How many would you say is justifiable maindeck?
I'm new to this archetype so this might be a stupid question, but how good is demigod? It's something I've always wanted to play, but assumed he was suboptimal and never committed. And how has bedlam reveler been treating you?
-2 Bedlam reveler, +2 stormbreath dragon. I find I am waiting for Bedlam to cost RR way too often and am forced to fire off removal spells or k commands at the wrong time to not lose the cards to the wheel effect. I do like this card and it was a hard toss up, however with the inclusion of spirit guides I find stormbreath just wins more often than bedlam does.
-4 Demigod of Revenge, +4 Pack Rats. They play oddly similarly often able to produce the same amount of damage (or close to) by turn 5. I like the added consistency of Rats and the ability to dump an uncastable kalitas/Lili to make a serious threat. T1 Inq take removal, t2 rat can be very powerful and going all in on rat can sometimes win you games against unprepared players. Also for consistency reasons, sometimes you never see the 5 mana needed for a demigod and its a dead card in your hand whereas stormbreath + rat can at least get you another rat.
-1 Pia, -2 anger of the gods, +3 Simian Spirit Guides. I like T3 bloodmoons and all, but being able to t1 bloodmoon someone, even game 2 when they know to fetch basics can literally just win you the game. I was testing with oona's blackguard one game and I literally beat down with a 1/1 for 20 turns vs a guy locked out of blue/black mana in grixis who never drew a bolt. Simian can also ramp out your dragons and even hit face as a 2/2. It works as a multiplier effect on blood moon. When moon is good simian makes it even better, when its bad, well simian is almost a dead draw. (but at least it can still be a rat/dragon!) In bad moon matchups (RDW) I'd side out the moons and apes for walkers and more interaction probably.
-1 land, +1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet. Simian allows me to be a bit greedier. A kalitas hitting the board can stonewall so many creature decks and the lifegain is relevant. All around great card that I wanted to see a bit more often.
Sideboard cards are more tuned to the local meta here, people like affinity and elves for some reason. While others are hardcore control players. I may consider putting the extra Kalitas in the board and bringing up another anger if it seems needed.
Further considerations: Terminate vs fatal push. Since my meta is mainly aggro or control (with manlands) I like the 2nd push over the 3rd terminate for situations where I need a clutch flashback looting into push t4. or something like that.
Cockatrice testing: Mainly been playing t2ish decks and a few brews. I have not lost to any brews. Notable loses are to esper control (1 hour long match, probably would have went to time in official tournement.), Tron where I unluckly ran into mana problems both games (also punted by scrying moon to the top after a mull to 6 with 2 guides in hand and fetched turn 1 like an idiot. -____-) Also lost a pair of matches to scapeshift and eldrazi tron.
Notable standout performances:
Flame girl, rats, monkey's, moons and dragons.
Seriously, Chandra is SOO good in some matchup's. If you're durdling around vs her, she can easily generate a ton of value and her ult is pretty much game over if you have any time. Right now I have 2 listed, I may want a second loTV or LtLH but $$$.
Pack Rat wins games. Oh, your running no interaction... lemme just bolt that bird, drop a pack rat, drop a rat, drop a rat, terminate your threat. Oh your dead? oh that was fun!
Blood Moon. Well.. duh I guess. Card is why we are playing this deck.
As stated, T1 blood moon from monkey sacrifice is fun.
Dragon dodges: bolt, push, path, sphere. Dies to: Terminate, dismember. With people cutting terminates for push, this plays RIGHT into dragons... claws? Blocks: junds deck, affinity fliers, abzan's deck, tks, kalitas. notably doesn't block: prime time, reality smasher, gurmag angler. Which really, if these are getting dropped vs me, I have 3 mainboard outs to them soooo odds are your ****ed anyways. Thanks for reading all, suggestions appreciated!
I'm not seeing enough results yet. Winning a local 1K is good but we need more than that.
I play Magic: the Gathering, not Magic: the Commandering.
Since we're usually playing 8 fetch lands, whenever Enchantments become super prominent, the ability to play a Godless Shrine in the deck for sideboard Wear // Tear is a very easy splash. Usually the decks that are enchantment-heavy don't get hit that hard by Blood Moon anyway, so it gives us the luxury to board it out.
Standard: Temur Energy RUG
Pauper: Fireball Black B
Commander: Kaervek the Merciless BR
"Always Bolt the Bird."
UMerfolk
WDeath and Taxes
BRBliztkrieg
GStompy
- - -
"Rock is overpowered. Paper is fine."
-Scissors
Here is where I am so far on the changes:
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Terminate
3 Fatal Push
3 Kolaghan's Command
3 Collective Brutality
2 Thoughtseize
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Liliana of the Veil
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Polluted Delta
3 Bloodcrypt
2 Dragonskull Summit
8 Swamp
2 Mountain
UMerfolk
WDeath and Taxes
BRBliztkrieg
GStompy
- - -
"Rock is overpowered. Paper is fine."
-Scissors
Ever a fan of the 2-for-1 'power discard suite', I have to wonder: Does the introduction of 1-cmc kill [sorely lacking in our color], Fatal Push, allow for the traditional elements of this deck to prosper? It allows for early game control. And - like Aleixarboix observes, if control/combo starts to shift in the meta to the forefront, we could find ourselves in the driver's seat. Delverofthemany asks about Fatal Push as well and puts up a construction - just wish you'd format your deck list, so that it's readable for us.
Start the deck list with [deck*] and end the deck list with [/deck*] - but, remove the asterisk from the tagging. You can go back to your post and hit edit to make the change. Anybody else got some juice to share??.
Just have a few questions though. What about bedlam reveler? Does it have a place? And Khalitas vs gurmag angler what's the better choice?
And finally what are some recent note worthy placings for the deck?
I ran this deck back when it was still obliterator. Recently I have wanted to get back into magic but I gave my collection to a family member after I quit.
What is the current state of this Deck? Also what would be a good version to test that didn't cost 600-1000?
How has the 2x- Thoughtseize been working out for you? I really like this version but I feel like I would rather those slots be faithless lootings or an extra Liliana+Anger. Heck, even Bedlam Reveler for extra gas.
Thanks!
You're not drawing cards, you're filtering cards. Looting is better at filtering. The idea is often to get Demigods into the graveyard. Looting facilitates that, Reunion does not (since you have to discard before drawing which doesn't allow you to pitch whatever you drew).
You definitely want to include pyroclasm or anger of the gods somewhere in your deck, to counter strategies that go wide and flood the board. I would cut shrieking affliction altogether, on average it represents about as much damage as your Dark Confidant will be doing to you every turn, and 3 copies means you will probably only see one a game. It's not worth diluting your 60 to be able to squeeze in another win condition that you won't be able to execute reliably.
Since you are already running some recursive threats in Lingering Souls, you might want to consider doubling down on that. Collective Brutality is a discard spell and a burn spell in one if you can pitch something to the yard, like say, Bloodghast or Lingering Souls, or an extra land. If you include Bloodghast I would cut some nyxathids and up the Kalitas count due to their super fun synergy. (I would actually do this anyway, there's too much aggro running around to be playing Confidant without a reliable way to regain life.
Wrench mind I would cut altogether. The general consensus seems to be that it's too slow, and there are too many artifacts running around to really be worth it. Maybe throw some Lilianas in its place.
In summation:
-Nyxathid
-Shrieking Affliction
+Kalitas
+Bloodghast
+Collective Brutality
-Wrench mind
+Liliana
-Harsh scrutiny
+Push
+Pyroclasm or Anger of the Gods
Maybe try some of those in whatever amount feels good and see how it does?
If you aren't absolutely married to Confidant, Faithless looting works well.
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=111521
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Faithless Looting
1 Fatal Push
3 Terminate
3 Kolaghan's Command
3 Anger of the Gods
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
4 Blood Moon
4 Demigod of Revenge
2 Bedlam Reveler
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Blood Crypt
1 Graven Cairns
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Smoldering Marsh
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Temple of Malice
5 Swamp
1 Mountain
2 Liliana of the Veil
1 Dreadbore
1 Sulfur Elemental
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Hangarback Walker
1 Engineered Explosives
3 Thoughtseize
3 Rakdos Charm
1 Anger of the Gods
Notes from the tournament about the list:
- Temple of Malice as a one-of is more useful then not useful. Only extremely rarely is the tapped land source detrimental to the game, but the scry is incredibly valuable, especially when the deck can dig fairly deep with Faithless Looting and Chandra, Torch of Defiance.
- Liliana, the Last Hope is an insanely powerful card and good in many circumstances. It's a win condition in its own right, can oppress any decks that are aggressive, and is better in far more matchups than Liliana of the Veil. Since the deck has a solid Control matchup, LTLH has found a home in the main deck.
- Shattering Spree was not necessary for the sideboard, as the Affinity matchup is actually about 80/20 in our favor when running 2+ Kolaghan's Command, 4 Lightning Bolt, 2+ Terminate, and any number of Fatal Push greater than zero.
- We don't have as many ways to trigger Fatal Push as you would think. 8 fetch lands is not a lot, and getting stuck in positions where a Kalitas or a Kitchen Finks needs to be Fatal Pushed is a bad spot to be in without a fetch land. It's a good card but I don't currently believe we need more than two of them.
- As stated above, the Control matchups are very good. Liliana of the Veil is also seemingly unhelpful in those matchups. This deck requires maximum use of resources, and despite similarities with Jund, does not function as similarly well as a Jund deck with Liliana of the Veil. She is only for niche matchups out of the sideboard currently.
- The 3rd Kolaghan's Command in the maindeck has proven to be an excellent use of a slot. The card is just more powerful as the meta evolves, especially in this deck. Bringing back creatures from the graveyard is a game-winning strategy all too frequently.
- Having 3 Thoughtseize in the sideboard is now necessary because of the return of Abzan Coco, and other ways to help defeat that deck might be useful now. Grafdigger's Cage is an option once again.
- Dreadbore might not be the best option for dealing with Planeswalkers. Currently have that slot, as well as the Hangarback Walker slot (which will likely be removed soon) down to Dreadbore, Hero's Downfall, and To The Slaughter.
That's all I got. For those wondering about my matchup spread, I beat Jeskai Control twice, UB Control, Zoo, and two different Grixis decks. My losses were to Titan Shift and possibly the luckiest sequence I've ever seen from a Kiki Chord player. I'll take it for a day's work.
Standard: Temur Energy RUG
Pauper: Fireball Black B
Commander: Kaervek the Merciless BR
"Always Bolt the Bird."
My Modern decks:
B/R/G Living End G/R/B
G/R Tron R/G
U/W/G/R Gargageddon R/G/W/U
R/W/G Naya Burn G/W/R
Do you think that Blood Moon is a must have for this brew? What do you suggest in place of the other 2 Blood Moon?
Thanks for the help!
TLDR: Bedlam Reveler > delve creatures.
Um, you keep talking about Kalitas but it is clear you are mistaking it for Tasigur. Tasigur is the delve creature that requires splashing blue or green. Kalitas is the 2BB legendary vampire that causes opponents creatures to exile instead of going to the graveyard, giving you zombie tokens that you can sacrifice (along with any other zombie or vampire you control) to give Kalitas +1/+1 counters.
With regards to Mindwrack Demon, I would say that we hit Delirium about half the time. But hitting it consistently is more or less important. Mindwrack Demon just enables so much for the deck while dodging bolt, Abrupt Decay and even Dismember if played off of Olivia. Trample is relevant against spirit tokens and he should dramatically hasten our opponent's clock with or without Olivia.
Haakon, Stromgald Scourge and Nameless Inversion becomes fairly oppressive against creature-based strategies and being able to recur Olivia, Mobilized for War is just icing.
Speaking of Olivia, she isn't required for the deck to function, but she does seem to fit with what the deck is trying to do. She acts as a discard outlet for Haakon, and she gives our beaters haste. And while she dies to bolt, it doesn't really matter because she can be recast with Haakon in the yard.
I have high hopes for this list but all suggestions and critiques are welcome.
2x Blood Crypt
4x Bloodstained Mire
2x Graven Cairns
5x Mountain
3x Smoldering Marsh
7x Swamp
Sorcery (8)
4x Faithless Looting
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
Instant (13)
2x Fatal Push
2x Kolaghan's Command
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Nameless Inversion
2x Terminate
4x Bloodghast
3x Haakon, Stromgald Scourge
2x Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
3x Mindwrack Demon
4x Olivia, Mobilized for War
2x Collective Brutality
4x Pyroclasm
2x Rakdos Charm
1x Terminate
2x Thoughtseize
1x Wrench Mind
I have two of them sleeved up and ready to go, if the time ever comes where they are a necessity. To be honest though, playing 4 copies of Blood Moon has been more than enough land disruption. If the opponent is playing heavily around Blood Moon, then boarding into Fulminator Mage is a possibility. I've got some sideboard slots that I'm not fully sold on.
Standard: Temur Energy RUG
Pauper: Fireball Black B
Commander: Kaervek the Merciless BR
"Always Bolt the Bird."
I'm digging this. I'm trying to get my hands on some LtLH, glad to hear this confirmation. How many would you say is justifiable maindeck?
I'm new to this archetype so this might be a stupid question, but how good is demigod? It's something I've always wanted to play, but assumed he was suboptimal and never committed. And how has bedlam reveler been treating you?
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Dragonskull Summit
4 Polluted Delta
5 Swamp
1 Temple of Malice
4 Blood Moon
4 Faithless Looting
2 Fatal Push
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Kolaghan's Command
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Terminate
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
4 Pack Rat
2 Stormbreath Dragon
3 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
2 Shattering Spree
2 Slaughter Games
2 Thoughtseize
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Crumble to Dust
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Fulminator Mage
Card Choice Reasoning:
-2 Bedlam reveler, +2 stormbreath dragon. I find I am waiting for Bedlam to cost RR way too often and am forced to fire off removal spells or k commands at the wrong time to not lose the cards to the wheel effect. I do like this card and it was a hard toss up, however with the inclusion of spirit guides I find stormbreath just wins more often than bedlam does.
-4 Demigod of Revenge, +4 Pack Rats. They play oddly similarly often able to produce the same amount of damage (or close to) by turn 5. I like the added consistency of Rats and the ability to dump an uncastable kalitas/Lili to make a serious threat. T1 Inq take removal, t2 rat can be very powerful and going all in on rat can sometimes win you games against unprepared players. Also for consistency reasons, sometimes you never see the 5 mana needed for a demigod and its a dead card in your hand whereas stormbreath + rat can at least get you another rat.
-1 Pia, -2 anger of the gods, +3 Simian Spirit Guides. I like T3 bloodmoons and all, but being able to t1 bloodmoon someone, even game 2 when they know to fetch basics can literally just win you the game. I was testing with oona's blackguard one game and I literally beat down with a 1/1 for 20 turns vs a guy locked out of blue/black mana in grixis who never drew a bolt. Simian can also ramp out your dragons and even hit face as a 2/2. It works as a multiplier effect on blood moon. When moon is good simian makes it even better, when its bad, well simian is almost a dead draw. (but at least it can still be a rat/dragon!) In bad moon matchups (RDW) I'd side out the moons and apes for walkers and more interaction probably.
-1 land, +1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet. Simian allows me to be a bit greedier. A kalitas hitting the board can stonewall so many creature decks and the lifegain is relevant. All around great card that I wanted to see a bit more often.
Sideboard cards are more tuned to the local meta here, people like affinity and elves for some reason. While others are hardcore control players. I may consider putting the extra Kalitas in the board and bringing up another anger if it seems needed.
Further considerations: Terminate vs fatal push. Since my meta is mainly aggro or control (with manlands) I like the 2nd push over the 3rd terminate for situations where I need a clutch flashback looting into push t4. or something like that.
Cockatrice testing: Mainly been playing t2ish decks and a few brews. I have not lost to any brews. Notable loses are to esper control (1 hour long match, probably would have went to time in official tournement.), Tron where I unluckly ran into mana problems both games (also punted by scrying moon to the top after a mull to 6 with 2 guides in hand and fetched turn 1 like an idiot. -____-) Also lost a pair of matches to scapeshift and eldrazi tron.
Notable standout performances:
Flame girl, rats, monkey's, moons and dragons.
Seriously, Chandra is SOO good in some matchup's. If you're durdling around vs her, she can easily generate a ton of value and her ult is pretty much game over if you have any time. Right now I have 2 listed, I may want a second loTV or LtLH but $$$.
Pack Rat wins games. Oh, your running no interaction... lemme just bolt that bird, drop a pack rat, drop a rat, drop a rat, terminate your threat. Oh your dead? oh that was fun!
Blood Moon. Well.. duh I guess. Card is why we are playing this deck.
As stated, T1 blood moon from monkey sacrifice is fun.
Dragon dodges: bolt, push, path, sphere. Dies to: Terminate, dismember. With people cutting terminates for push, this plays RIGHT into dragons... claws? Blocks: junds deck, affinity fliers, abzan's deck, tks, kalitas. notably doesn't block: prime time, reality smasher, gurmag angler. Which really, if these are getting dropped vs me, I have 3 mainboard outs to them soooo odds are your ****ed anyways. Thanks for reading all, suggestions appreciated!