So my main issue with affinity is that I'm using way too many resources trying to keep Crainial Plating off his guys while I try to find my Kolaghan's Command and even then mainboard Etched Champs are annoying as well. But the biggest issue is that sideboarded in Ghirapur Æther Grid. I cannot deal with that card obviously besides thoughtseizing it and hoping for the best. Should I just fold to that card or maybe splash white for some hate? Any advice?
With this list, it sounds like you simply need some more practice in the matchup. Between the copies of Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Terminate, Anger of the Gods, and Kolaghan's Command, Affinity should quite honestly be one of the best matchups for you in the room.
As for how to win with your card choices, the best advice that I can give is to play the match more defensively. With your list, it might be tempting to jam a Dark Confidant on turn two or a Goblin Rabblemaster on turn three, but this should almost never be the case unless your opponent is off to a miserable start. The most important creature cards to deal with are Signal Pest and Steel Overseer. It might seem like Arcbound Ravager is one of the scariest creatures in the matchup, but since you are playing 4x Terminate, it's not as rough for you. Kalitas destroys that card, to be honest, and invalidates it in many ways.
Be sure to keep hands that have at least two removal spells, and play a reactive game for the first three turns. Once you get to the point where you have 3 or 4 mana, then you play a creature and leave up mana for a removal spell. Your last resort is generally jamming the bigger creatures. Kalitas can come down early if you are against an Arcbound Ravager, but be careful so that the opponent doesn't put all their counters on an Inkmoth Nexus in response. I have a matchup guide to beating Affinity on the original post, and would recommend you read that to see which cards of theirs you are most susceptible to.
As for your issue with Ghirapur Aether Grid, remember that three mana can be difficult for Affinity to get to when you are playing removal spells, and if you continually destroy their artifacts, then Aether Grid can't do a lot of damage to you while you try to take over the game with a Goblin Rabblemaster or a Kalitas. If you're still having issues playing against Affinity after some more practice and strategy, I would recommend putting another copy of By Force into your sideboard. Torpor Orb as a sideboard card seems like a strange choice in today's metagame, and might be metagame-specific to your LGS, so I would recommend making that switch if necessary.
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So my main issue with affinity is that I'm using way too many resources trying to keep Crainial Plating off his guys while I try to find my Kolaghan's Command and even then mainboard Etched Champs are annoying as well. But the biggest issue is that sideboarded in Ghirapur Æther Grid. I cannot deal with that card obviously besides thoughtseizing it and hoping for the best. Should I just fold to that card or maybe splash white for some hate? Any advice?
With this list, it sounds like you simply need some more practice in the matchup. Between the copies of Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Terminate, Anger of the Gods, and Kolaghan's Command, Affinity should quite honestly be one of the best matchups for you in the room.
As for how to win with your card choices, the best advice that I can give is to play the match more defensively. With your list, it might be tempting to jam a Dark Confidant on turn two or a Goblin Rabblemaster on turn three, but this should almost never be the case unless your opponent is off to a miserable start. The most important creature cards to deal with are Signal Pest and Steel Overseer. It might seem like Arcbound Ravager is one of the scariest creatures in the matchup, but since you are playing 4x Terminate, it's not as rough for you. Kalitas destroys that card, to be honest, and invalidates it in many ways.
Be sure to keep hands that have at least two removal spells, and play a reactive game for the first three turns. Once you get to the point where you have 3 or 4 mana, then you play a creature and leave up mana for a removal spell. Your last resort is generally jamming the bigger creatures. Kalitas can come down early if you are against an Arcbound Ravager, but be careful so that the opponent doesn't put all their counters on an Inkmoth Nexus in response. I have a matchup guide to beating Affinity on the original post, and would recommend you read that to see which cards of theirs you are most susceptible to.
As for your issue with Ghirapur Aether Grid, remember that three mana can be difficult for Affinity to get to when you are playing removal spells, and if you continually destroy their artifacts, then Aether Grid can't do a lot of damage to you while you try to take over the game with a Goblin Rabblemaster or a Kalitas. If you're still having issues playing against Affinity after some more practice and strategy, I would recommend putting another copy of By Force into your sideboard. Torpor Orb as a sideboard card seems like a strange choice in today's metagame, and might be metagame-specific to your LGS, so I would recommend making that switch if necessary.
You mention keeping in Rabblemaster against affinity, why is that the case? Wouldn't you rather play a better finisher against them? Especially when you board in stuff like damnation and flaying tendrils?
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Decks I play:
Modern:
BR Control
Grixis Bloo
EDH:
Food Chain Prossh
Land Wipe Maelstrom Wanderer
Selvala, Hearth of the Wilds Eldrazi
If you see affinity as a big amount of creatures needed to be wipe with damnation and stuff you would be investing too much resources in removal and not being able to skirmish damage. With the spot removal /artifact and creature, you can keep your quick creatures (even gifted aetherborn) and deal damage to being able to win by attrition.
If you see affinity as a big amount of creatures needed to be wipe with damnation and stuff you would be investing too much resources in removal and not being able to skirmish damage. With the spot removal /artifact and creature, you can keep your quick creatures (even gifted aetherborn) and deal damage to being able to win by attrition.
So should I not be boarding in my wipes then? I've always thought that in this matchup we were the defender not the aggressor.
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Decks I play:
Modern:
BR Control
Grixis Bloo
EDH:
Food Chain Prossh
Land Wipe Maelstrom Wanderer
Selvala, Hearth of the Wilds Eldrazi
Have some time on my hands, so I'll do my usual look-over for the announced cards thus far in Ixalan.
Ashes of the Abhorrent: The latest 1W hose-something enchantment. The lifegain rider effect looks like it'd give the card a Modern push, I'd expect to see this in sideboards going forward. Slightly more versatile thanks to the lifegain, so it might show up in a greater number of sideboards as a result.
Conqueror of Battle: Someday, there's going to be a really stupid deck with all the "this guy and pals" creature cards, probably a combo deck instead of like Caw-Blade, but until that deck comes along, whatever.
Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle: Bloodghast and Mardu decklists have always been bandied around in this thread, so this guy caught my attention. The Bloodghast + Kalitas combo was already fun times, and we have more than a few other Vampire options such as Insolent Neonate (admittedly a pet card of mine) and Olivia. However, 2/2 stats soils the idea. If dropped t3, let's say with a relatively comfortable situation like with Bloodghast and Insolent Neonate already on the field, he has very poor odds of lasting more than a single turn, and all you end up with is a pair of lifelink 1/1s. You're much better off with Lingering Souls if all you want are tokens, and we have much better 3-drop options. That being said, he provides chump blockers in equal proportion to attacking vampires, and those chump blockers are splendid fuel for Kalitas, but he's overall too conditional in my view to really consider, unless more standout vampires are revealed in Ixalan. Stick to Young Pyromancer and/or Lingering Souls.
Search for Azcanta / Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin: "if X cards are in your graveyard" is always a red flag on cards, Modern decks sure have no trouble there. I wouldn't be surprised to see this in a draw-go deck, giving Blue a pseudo Scry-1 on turn 3 followed by a de facto ramp and outlet for end-of-turn mana. That it still has a helpful effect even in the worst-case scenarios makes it feel reliable, since card filtration during any sort of "oh crap I'm not drawing anything I need" situation is always valuable.
Arguel's Blood Fast / Temple of Aclazotz: The card that prompted me to think "hey I oughta write that card lookover post I always do". "Daredevil" decks could certainly set this up and running, and the combination with Death's Shadow is kind of funny to me, since if DS bites it you can just sac him in response to whatever's pointed at him and regain a life buffer. But the more interesting potential I see here is with Phyrexian mana and cards we're already familiar with. High toughness isn't a quality we tend to prioritize past the "can survive insert-red-spell-here" benchmarks, but we're not lacking either. The Delve creatures, aforementioned Death's Shadow, and of course our usual beaters all have appreciable stats, and being able to sac after declaring blockers or in response to a kill spell is always welcome. What really gets my attention, however, is how modal it is. This is a promising "deck grease" card for making the early game more aggressive and then making the late game more stable. Fetchland into untapped Shockland into Thoughtseize is a pretty easy suicidal turn one, and we have no shortage whatsoever of options for transforming this. My verdict: Promising enough to warrant experimenting with.
Growing Rites of Itlimoc / Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun: "Gaea's Cradle in Modern" is enough to get anybody's attention. Requires 4+ creatures to transform, and against us, that's a tall order. I regard this as a promising thing to see if it takes off in the Zoo or Elf decks, since we're equipped to handle it while other decks aren't so well-off. These transforming enchantments-into-lands are all very good, as you can see, but whether any sneak into Modern remains up in the air. They all have conditions that are significantly easier to activate in this format, which precedent has always shown is a factor worth paying attention to.
You mention keeping in Rabblemaster against affinity, why is that the case? Wouldn't you rather play a better finisher against them? Especially when you board in stuff like damnation and flaying tendrils?
I mentioned it because it is your most likely win condition in the deck you posted. Even if you play defense, you still need to win the game at some point. But yes, you are primarily the defender. The reason I don't like board wraths against Affinity, especially Flaying Tendrils, is that they can load everything up on an Arcbound Ravager and Master of Etherium can simply be big enough to live. They are also usually very expensive single-creature removal spells, because your other removal should be putting them at a low amount.
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What's everyone's experience with Slaughter Games as potential sideboard tech? Is it used as an alternative to Surgical Extraction? It's recently been included in the sideboard of one of the placing decks on MTG Goldfish.
if you're playing BR i feel like it should be an auto include as a one of. Another alternative i've been seeing for combo deck is Lost Legacy. Seems alright, idk if the trade off is worth it though.
I think it's a pretty sweet card. I'm going to give it a whirl in my sideboard. It will be nice to bring in against control, combo, and graveyard decks.
Your build is becoming more and more validated as time goes on (unless this was you). Recent 4-0 on MTGO. I believe this is similar to your current list.
Yeah, that list is very similar to the build I have been running for some time now. It feels pretty good to see this deck get some genuine recognition and placings. There's also videos of folks from Starcity Games and MTG Goldfish playing the deck on Youtube.
My deck is slightly different from the above. I've decided to go with the full play set of Lightning Bolts, and instead of 3 Liliana's and a Chandra, I have Kalitas and Hazoret as additional threats.
I've been playing against Tier 1 decks on XMage and I am generally able to get the victory (except against E-Tron). Blood Moon is a very powerful card at the moment, and it can give you a huge advantage over Control decks and Titan Shift.
Went 4-0 with updated demigod list. I know many have moved off of this build but my meta is very coco/eldrazi/shadow heavy. 2-1 vs 4c death shadow, 2-1 vs coco combo, 2-0 vs eldrazi tron, 2-0 vs affinity
Rakdos Control
Instant
2 x Kolaghan's Command
3 x Fatal Push
3 x Terminate
Land
2 x Smoldering Marsh
1 x Arid Mesa
4 x Polluted Delta
4 x Bloodstained Mire
3 x Dragonskull Summit
2 x Blood Crypt
2 x Marsh Flats
5 x Swamp
Planeswalker
2 x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 x Liliana of the Veil
Legend
1 x Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 x Olivia Voldaren
Enchantment
4 x Blood Moon
Creature
4 x Demigod of Revenge
2 x Hangarback Walker
Sorcery
3 x Damnation
2 x Thoughtseize
1 x Dreadbore
4 x Inquisition of Kozilek
4 x Faithless Looting
Sideboard
2 x Collective Brutality
2 x Anger of the Gods
2 x Dragon's Claw
2 x Extirpate
2 x Ratchet Bomb
2 x Rakdos Charm
2 x Molten Rain
1 x Kolaghan's Command
Match is high varience for me. Main board hand disruption goes a long way. And game 1 blood moon can lock them out. Game 2/3 ratchet bomb on 2 goes a long way. Some times they just go off turn 3 on the play and there isnt much you can do.
I'm going to be honest. I was getting ready to give up on the deck. There was a three-month window where the deck was exceptional and destroyed the top decks in the format. Jund and Affinity would get crushed, Tron was nowhere to be found, and most tempo decks revolved around Delver of Secrets. Now, with the emergence of more Collected Company decks, the existence of Eldrazi Tron, and Death's Shadow variants running around with extra graveyard hate, the deck simply wasn't as well positioned as I wanted. The disruption is still off the charts and the deck has incredibly strong matchups against a lot of fringe and creature based strategies, but it wasn't getting the job done against a good amount of the rest of Modern variety. I'm aware that Modern is an INCREDIBLY variant format, but the percentages have gotten smaller and smaller and I was on the verge of shelving the deck.
Then it happened. My version of the deck finally has gotten what it needed!
And it wasn't even a new card.
It was a rules change.
With the new Planeswalker rule changing them into Legendary Planeswalker cards that can co-exist with other versions of themselves, I have new life in terms of powerful win conditions. I have waited a long time for the ability to play a good Rakdos walker, but giving me the ability to play multiple Liliana and Chandra copies will absolutely suffice.
The first thing I will be trying on September 29th, when the rules change takes effect, will be the following list...
One thing I have learned for supplementary creature lately is that Pia and Kiran Nalaar has been simply incredible, particularly with Kolaghan's Command backup. Any other matchup where the opponent is playing a decent amount of removal will get obliterated by that combination of cards. Meanwhile, Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet has been severely under-performing in a large number of matchups. He's very good against some matchups, but simply not good enough in too many matchups to justify a main deck slot anymore. If the third Pia and Kiran Nalaar winds up being too much, I might spring for a copy of Night's Whisper for some card advantage. For graveyard interaction, the one Gurmag Angler can steal a large number of games early on if the opponent cannot answer it, but playing multiples of the card can be very awkward and make you get stuck in super sub-optimal positions. Also, it gets around Grafdigger's Cage out of the sideboard when necessary, as Delve doesn't get hurt by too much by graveyard hate if it is only one card.
I am still torn on the 23rd land slot. It will be Graven Cairns for now with this build because I want as few tapped sources as possible when curving into higher-cost Planeswalkers, but I am not entirely opposed to a copy of Lavaclaw Reaches finding its way back into the deck as a mana sink, or running Canyon Slough as a singleton for the times that I fetch at the end-of-turn as well as having a late-game cycle.
This new version gives some very cool interactions. For example, sticking a turn four Chandra, Torch of Defiance can lead to a turn five Chandra, Flamecaller. Both cards can do it all. They lead to card advantage, can remove creatures, and can single-handedly win the game. Also, playing back-to-back Liliana walkers in any order can lead to having a pair of Planeswalkers out by turn four with backup from Fatal Push or Lightning Bolt. I've considered Sorin Markov and Chandra, Pyromaster as alternate card choices for this list, but I don't think they are strong enough.
The sideboard is still a work in progress. I might want the fourth Anger of the Gods, or a copy of Damnation, but creature decks with multiple creatures are not as common anymore, and the ones that are can be stopped easily by a single removal spell to slow them down (Elves, for example). I've moved away from Sulfur Elemental because Lingering Souls is not as common of a card as it used to be. Big Game Hunter is a test slot and could easily be a third Collective Brutality. I am also open to unique suggestions for more difficult matchups.
That's all for now. Keep gearing up for Ixalan.
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Hey, long time lurker and first time poster here. I haven't played an awful lot of modern, so I'm not claiming to be great at the game, but I thought I might add my experiences with the deck. I played at a modern tournament in the Nationals about 200 strong the other day. I placed somewhere around the 90th mark, so not a notable performance, but I have strong faith in the deck - not so much my ability haha.
My decklist was very much based off the list that user steven11788 showed a few pages back. I've only ever played one other variant with Demigod of Revenge, but it just didn't seem as strong as I felt like I was often out of cards due to the card disadvantage of Faithless Looting and every deck running graveyard hate.
Deck thoughts
I have really strong faith in the deck, I think it's very able, dealing with so many decks efficiently and with the added bonus of the opponent never knowing what I'm playing. My list can be improved, maybe another LotV and an improved land base. But money. For the same reason I probably would have run Fulminator Mage and another Thoughtseize in the sideboard.
Mainboarding 4 Relic of Progenitus has proved fantastic at so many fnm's and assumed a similar pattern at this modern event. However, with so much graveyard hate floating around, I think people have started to float away from graveyard orientated decks. If this continues to do so, I may drop them. Nevertheless, with Eternal Scourge, I am very glad to have mained at least 3. This was especially relevant in the U/W control matchup where those two cards won me the game. I must have cast it at least 20 times that game. I think I undervalued the scourge, often siding one or two out, but control decks simply can't deal with such an eternal threat.
Batterskull and Wurmcoil Engine finishers are awesome. Not only because I bloody love the cards, but because of how hard batterskull is to deal with compared to Pia and Kiran or a planeswalker. The lifelink is what makes them such a threat and just stops decks trying to win by board presence in there tracks. I'm not taking these beautiful cards out. Actually maybe wurmcoil because I'm sick of it being path'd. Even if they side in artifact removal, the batterskull bounce avoids it and Pack Rat provides an alternative win.
Sideboard thoughts
It was a semi thrown together sideboard with a little for everyone. I only ever sided in nahiri and wear // tear one game, in which I +1'd chandra to exile my godless shrine. I will be taking out the white as I think enchantment removal simply isn't necessary and is too difficult to pull off. I'd rather the two slots for something else. It was against U/W Control, but I needed more red sources because Spreading Seas, and what's to say he simply won't do that to the godless shrine. nah m8/10.
I never sided Dragon's Claw as no burn or storm match ups. However, of the small sample size of 3 burn matchups with this deck, I've won all of them with early spot removal and lifesteal. Probably be keeping them as even though I won the games, it was close and I might not always draw Kalitas.
I never had any good targets for Surgical Extraction so I'm not entirely sure about it.
I don't really see myself siding in Slaughter Games, apart from living end decks, Ad Nauseam or even Bloomless Titan and Valukut. I'm unsure about this card, but will continue to run it until I get a proper test.
Games:
I can go into much more detail if it's helpful, but for now I'll decide to not bore you with my entire life story of the event.
2x Affinity (lose and draw) (realistically should have won both)
2x Tron (win and lose) (kinda volatile match up, I'm happy with winning one)
1x Infect (win) (spot removal and hand disruption make for an easy game)
1x Skred (lose) (same playstyle, hard to deal with Koth's)
1x Bushwacker Zoo (win) (just a slower burn really, a good match up)
1x U/W Control (win) (easy game, easy life)
Collective Brutality is better about 95% of the time in the sideboard over Dragon's Claw. My personal hatred for the Burn archetype has led to extensive testing on this. If they have any creature that is alive against a turn two Collective Brutality, then you will almost always get to use the full modes and essentially set them back three turns. I'm also glad to hear you were winning the games you played against that deck, because the matchup is honestly in their favor. Collective Brutality will also be much more useful in other matchups, where Dragon's Claw pretty much only is worthwhile against Burn and maybe Skred.
I would recommend an extra copy of Wear // Tear if you are splashing for Godless Shrine. Crumble to Dust is often times too slow and won't do what it needs to do in the matchup. You're better off making that swap.
No copies of Lightning Bolt? I know many people are favoring it less and dropping down to three, but zero seems quite bold.
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Thanks for the advice man. Yeah I totally see how collective brutality is just strictly better. Will definitely swap dragon's claw for it!
With regards to lightning bolt, as I said I have played a demigod variant in which I ran 4 copies; but honestly, I didn't really miss them. I value terminates, pushes and k commands more. Pushes deal with pretty much everything lightning bolt deals with and more. Personal favourites include pushing an obliterator or a thought knot seer. In terms of removal, I see your list runs everything mine has minus the bolts. Without the bolts, I would take a bit more damage early on, but as soon as I drop the batterskull or wurmcoil, none of that matters because of the lifelink. All about that value life with board clears and k-commands.
You're right, Crumble to Dust didn't really do much. I pulled it off once against Tron (somehow managed to lose that game lol), but it basically did the same thing as blood moon so there's not much point.
Okay, I think I'll run with the godless shrine a bit more so I can get some more playtesting with it.
I've been playing Rakdos Moon for the past month or so and it is such a blast to play. I am remaining on the Demigod strategy, as I don't see enough GY hate in my meta to effect it much. Even when they land their GY hate, I still am happy to cast a 5/4 Flying & Haste if I can keep the board clear.
I just wanted to say I'm heading to the SCG Modern Classic this weekend, my first competitive tournament. I'll be bringing 2 Pithing Needles, and think that might be the right call with the new Planeswalker rule change. 3 may be even better, but I feel safer with 2 so as to not skew my other match-ups too much.
I did have one question, however. I am going to test Gemstone Caverns, and I was curious if anyone else has had success with it in this build. In my limited experience, I don't dislike being on the draw (though I would still prefer to be on the play) and Gemstone Caverns can be used to provide even more advantage even when on the draw (beyond just the card advantage). Having to exile a card doesn't seem like as huge a deal as some other decks, as even after sideboard I can usually find cards I don't want quite as much in that particular match-up, though maybe that says more about my inability to make a good sideboard, heh.
I've been playing Rakdos Moon for the past month or so and it is such a blast to play. I am remaining on the Demigod strategy, as I don't see enough GY hate in my meta to effect it much. Even when they land their GY hate, I still am happy to cast a 5/4 Flying & Haste if I can keep the board clear.
I just wanted to say I'm heading to the SCG Modern Classic this weekend, my first competitive tournament. I'll be bringing 2 Pithing Needles, and think that might be the right call with the new Planeswalker rule change. 3 may be even better, but I feel safer with 2 so as to not skew my other match-ups too much.
I did have one question, however. I am going to test Gemstone Caverns, and I was curious if anyone else has had success with it in this build. In my limited experience, I don't dislike being on the draw (though I would still prefer to be on the play) and Gemstone Caverns can be used to provide even more advantage even when on the draw (beyond just the card advantage). Having to exile a card doesn't seem like as huge a deal as some other decks, as even after sideboard I can usually find cards I don't want quite as much in that particular match-up, though maybe that says more about my inability to make a good sideboard, heh.
To be honest, I've never personally thought about Gemstone Caverns. The ability to jam a turn two Blood Moon on the opponent seems very strong against any deck with issues against the card (i.e. Tron, Abzan, Control). After that, the Gemstone Caverns is simply a Mountain.
I think I might do some testing with that card as well. Cool idea.
As for Pithing Needle, I understand fully the necessity in dealing with Planeswalkers. I've put a Dreadbore in my main deck as of late, as it is still very good against Death's Shadow decks and most problematic creatures. I would also recommend increasing the Thoughtseize count in your list if Planeswalkers are giving you that amount of difficulty. Pithing Needle is a decent answer if you know what Planeswalkers to name, but it can be removed and the opponent can then give you serious problems with little difficulty. I prefer permanent solutions, such as Thoughtseize, Dreadbore, and To The Slaughter. Even Hero's Downfall is playable presently.
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I understand your points, and fully accept that you're more than likely correct. I am running 1 mainboard To The Slaughter and have gone back and forth on Dreadbore for weeks now. I may test Pithing Needle anyways, just because of its flexibility. Although, the more I think about it, the less convinced I am. Being a sideboard card, the only other 2 matchups (besides PW heavy control/midrange) I can think of offhand that they would be decent in are MU's I already feel pretty comfortable with - Counters Company and Affinity. I would bring them in for Devoted Druid, Arcbound Ravager and the like. Could see it being a little bit helpful against Knight of the Reliquary as well.
That being said, I am currently on 2 Anger of the Gods mainboard and 1 Damnation sideboard, so horizontal decks don't scare me quite as much as Eldrazi Tron or Grixis (as I feel Grixis can outspeed me with Snapbolt G1 at least, and G2 as well if I can't draw into any Rakdos Charms or take apart their hand quickly enough). Dreadbore may just be better in both of those matchups due to adding in even more creature removal and being able to hit the planeswalkers in the Tron decks that still run them as their top end.
One strength of Pithing Needle that I just thought of is the ability to lock them out of using Karn Liberated quicker than you would if you had Dreadbore. That, and if you only had the one Dreadbore in hand, then Karn Liberated could simply exile it and you wouldn't have it to answer with anymore.
I was debating for a while to go up 1 Thoughtseize, though, and I think you have me convinced. There's too much floating around these days that I don't want the opponent to have that Inquisition of Kozilek misses. I think I will swap to either a 3-3 split or 4-3 (IoK-TS) split for my deck.
Edit: Oh! And Pithing Needle can turn off Relic of Progenitus, which is nice for the Demigod variant.
For reference here is my current idea for what I'm bringing on Sunday:
I like that list, it is very similar to what I would be running if I was on the Demigod of Revenge plan today. The only recommendation that I have is to include a one-of Gurmag Angler. If you're playing Faithless Looting, you will have plenty to Delve away, and that 5/5 beatdown zombie fish has won me a ridiculous 33% of games it has been cast in, mostly without support from any other win conditions. I also think Ob Nixilis Reignited is interesting, but find Chandra, Torch of Defiance to bring the same card engine for one less mana and without the cost of life. However, with your current Planeswalker split, what you are running seems good. Good luck this weekend.
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"Always Bolt the Bird."
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Were you talking to me? If so what do you mean?
Modern:
BR Control
Grixis Bloo
EDH:
Food Chain Prossh
Land Wipe Maelstrom Wanderer
Selvala, Hearth of the Wilds Eldrazi
With this list, it sounds like you simply need some more practice in the matchup. Between the copies of Fatal Push, Lightning Bolt, Terminate, Anger of the Gods, and Kolaghan's Command, Affinity should quite honestly be one of the best matchups for you in the room.
As for how to win with your card choices, the best advice that I can give is to play the match more defensively. With your list, it might be tempting to jam a Dark Confidant on turn two or a Goblin Rabblemaster on turn three, but this should almost never be the case unless your opponent is off to a miserable start. The most important creature cards to deal with are Signal Pest and Steel Overseer. It might seem like Arcbound Ravager is one of the scariest creatures in the matchup, but since you are playing 4x Terminate, it's not as rough for you. Kalitas destroys that card, to be honest, and invalidates it in many ways.
Be sure to keep hands that have at least two removal spells, and play a reactive game for the first three turns. Once you get to the point where you have 3 or 4 mana, then you play a creature and leave up mana for a removal spell. Your last resort is generally jamming the bigger creatures. Kalitas can come down early if you are against an Arcbound Ravager, but be careful so that the opponent doesn't put all their counters on an Inkmoth Nexus in response. I have a matchup guide to beating Affinity on the original post, and would recommend you read that to see which cards of theirs you are most susceptible to.
As for your issue with Ghirapur Aether Grid, remember that three mana can be difficult for Affinity to get to when you are playing removal spells, and if you continually destroy their artifacts, then Aether Grid can't do a lot of damage to you while you try to take over the game with a Goblin Rabblemaster or a Kalitas. If you're still having issues playing against Affinity after some more practice and strategy, I would recommend putting another copy of By Force into your sideboard. Torpor Orb as a sideboard card seems like a strange choice in today's metagame, and might be metagame-specific to your LGS, so I would recommend making that switch if necessary.
Standard: Temur Energy RUG
Pauper: Fireball Black B
Commander: Kaervek the Merciless BR
"Always Bolt the Bird."
You mention keeping in Rabblemaster against affinity, why is that the case? Wouldn't you rather play a better finisher against them? Especially when you board in stuff like damnation and flaying tendrils?
Modern:
BR Control
Grixis Bloo
EDH:
Food Chain Prossh
Land Wipe Maelstrom Wanderer
Selvala, Hearth of the Wilds Eldrazi
So should I not be boarding in my wipes then? I've always thought that in this matchup we were the defender not the aggressor.
Modern:
BR Control
Grixis Bloo
EDH:
Food Chain Prossh
Land Wipe Maelstrom Wanderer
Selvala, Hearth of the Wilds Eldrazi
Ashes of the Abhorrent: The latest 1W hose-something enchantment. The lifegain rider effect looks like it'd give the card a Modern push, I'd expect to see this in sideboards going forward. Slightly more versatile thanks to the lifegain, so it might show up in a greater number of sideboards as a result.
Conqueror of Battle: Someday, there's going to be a really stupid deck with all the "this guy and pals" creature cards, probably a combo deck instead of like Caw-Blade, but until that deck comes along, whatever.
Mavren Fein, Dusk Apostle: Bloodghast and Mardu decklists have always been bandied around in this thread, so this guy caught my attention. The Bloodghast + Kalitas combo was already fun times, and we have more than a few other Vampire options such as Insolent Neonate (admittedly a pet card of mine) and Olivia. However, 2/2 stats soils the idea. If dropped t3, let's say with a relatively comfortable situation like with Bloodghast and Insolent Neonate already on the field, he has very poor odds of lasting more than a single turn, and all you end up with is a pair of lifelink 1/1s. You're much better off with Lingering Souls if all you want are tokens, and we have much better 3-drop options. That being said, he provides chump blockers in equal proportion to attacking vampires, and those chump blockers are splendid fuel for Kalitas, but he's overall too conditional in my view to really consider, unless more standout vampires are revealed in Ixalan. Stick to Young Pyromancer and/or Lingering Souls.
Search for Azcanta / Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin: "if X cards are in your graveyard" is always a red flag on cards, Modern decks sure have no trouble there. I wouldn't be surprised to see this in a draw-go deck, giving Blue a pseudo Scry-1 on turn 3 followed by a de facto ramp and outlet for end-of-turn mana. That it still has a helpful effect even in the worst-case scenarios makes it feel reliable, since card filtration during any sort of "oh crap I'm not drawing anything I need" situation is always valuable.
Arguel's Blood Fast / Temple of Aclazotz: The card that prompted me to think "hey I oughta write that card lookover post I always do". "Daredevil" decks could certainly set this up and running, and the combination with Death's Shadow is kind of funny to me, since if DS bites it you can just sac him in response to whatever's pointed at him and regain a life buffer. But the more interesting potential I see here is with Phyrexian mana and cards we're already familiar with. High toughness isn't a quality we tend to prioritize past the "can survive insert-red-spell-here" benchmarks, but we're not lacking either. The Delve creatures, aforementioned Death's Shadow, and of course our usual beaters all have appreciable stats, and being able to sac after declaring blockers or in response to a kill spell is always welcome. What really gets my attention, however, is how modal it is. This is a promising "deck grease" card for making the early game more aggressive and then making the late game more stable. Fetchland into untapped Shockland into Thoughtseize is a pretty easy suicidal turn one, and we have no shortage whatsoever of options for transforming this. My verdict: Promising enough to warrant experimenting with.
Growing Rites of Itlimoc / Itlimoc, Cradle of the Sun: "Gaea's Cradle in Modern" is enough to get anybody's attention. Requires 4+ creatures to transform, and against us, that's a tall order. I regard this as a promising thing to see if it takes off in the Zoo or Elf decks, since we're equipped to handle it while other decks aren't so well-off. These transforming enchantments-into-lands are all very good, as you can see, but whether any sneak into Modern remains up in the air. They all have conditions that are significantly easier to activate in this format, which precedent has always shown is a factor worth paying attention to.
I mentioned it because it is your most likely win condition in the deck you posted. Even if you play defense, you still need to win the game at some point. But yes, you are primarily the defender. The reason I don't like board wraths against Affinity, especially Flaying Tendrils, is that they can load everything up on an Arcbound Ravager and Master of Etherium can simply be big enough to live. They are also usually very expensive single-creature removal spells, because your other removal should be putting them at a low amount.
Standard: Temur Energy RUG
Pauper: Fireball Black B
Commander: Kaervek the Merciless BR
"Always Bolt the Bird."
Your build is becoming more and more validated as time goes on (unless this was you). Recent 4-0 on MTGO. I believe this is similar to your current list.
http://decks.tcgplayer.com/magic/modern/dapokpok/b-r-moon-rat/1291340
Standard: Temur Energy RUG
Pauper: Fireball Black B
Commander: Kaervek the Merciless BR
"Always Bolt the Bird."
Yeah, that list is very similar to the build I have been running for some time now. It feels pretty good to see this deck get some genuine recognition and placings. There's also videos of folks from Starcity Games and MTG Goldfish playing the deck on Youtube.
My deck is slightly different from the above. I've decided to go with the full play set of Lightning Bolts, and instead of 3 Liliana's and a Chandra, I have Kalitas and Hazoret as additional threats.
I've been playing against Tier 1 decks on XMage and I am generally able to get the victory (except against E-Tron). Blood Moon is a very powerful card at the moment, and it can give you a huge advantage over Control decks and Titan Shift.
Here is my current list: https://deckstats.net/decks/83317/743746-black-moon
Here's a list of decks that have placed recently: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-b-r-pack-rat-40136
Rakdos Control
Instant
2 x Kolaghan's Command
3 x Fatal Push
3 x Terminate
Land
2 x Smoldering Marsh
1 x Arid Mesa
4 x Polluted Delta
4 x Bloodstained Mire
3 x Dragonskull Summit
2 x Blood Crypt
2 x Marsh Flats
5 x Swamp
Planeswalker
2 x Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 x Liliana of the Veil
Legend
1 x Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 x Olivia Voldaren
Enchantment
4 x Blood Moon
Creature
4 x Demigod of Revenge
2 x Hangarback Walker
Sorcery
3 x Damnation
2 x Thoughtseize
1 x Dreadbore
4 x Inquisition of Kozilek
4 x Faithless Looting
Sideboard
2 x Collective Brutality
2 x Anger of the Gods
2 x Dragon's Claw
2 x Extirpate
2 x Ratchet Bomb
2 x Rakdos Charm
2 x Molten Rain
1 x Kolaghan's Command
Also how do we do against shapeshift? And other combo decks?
I'm going to be honest. I was getting ready to give up on the deck. There was a three-month window where the deck was exceptional and destroyed the top decks in the format. Jund and Affinity would get crushed, Tron was nowhere to be found, and most tempo decks revolved around Delver of Secrets. Now, with the emergence of more Collected Company decks, the existence of Eldrazi Tron, and Death's Shadow variants running around with extra graveyard hate, the deck simply wasn't as well positioned as I wanted. The disruption is still off the charts and the deck has incredibly strong matchups against a lot of fringe and creature based strategies, but it wasn't getting the job done against a good amount of the rest of Modern variety. I'm aware that Modern is an INCREDIBLY variant format, but the percentages have gotten smaller and smaller and I was on the verge of shelving the deck.
Then it happened. My version of the deck finally has gotten what it needed!
And it wasn't even a new card.
It was a rules change.
With the new Planeswalker rule changing them into Legendary Planeswalker cards that can co-exist with other versions of themselves, I have new life in terms of powerful win conditions. I have waited a long time for the ability to play a good Rakdos walker, but giving me the ability to play multiple Liliana and Chandra copies will absolutely suffice.
The first thing I will be trying on September 29th, when the rules change takes effect, will be the following list...
1 Gurmag Angler
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughseize
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Fatal Push
3 Terminate
3 Kolaghan's Command
2 Anger of the Gods
4 Blood Moon
3 Liliana of the Veil
2 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Chandra, Flamecaller
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Verdant Catacombs
2 Marsh Flats
2 Blood Crypt
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Smoldering Marsh
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
5 Swamp
1 Mountain
1 Graven Cairns
1 Anger of the Gods
2 Collective Brutality
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Dreadbore
1 To The Slaughter
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Big Game Hunter
One thing I have learned for supplementary creature lately is that Pia and Kiran Nalaar has been simply incredible, particularly with Kolaghan's Command backup. Any other matchup where the opponent is playing a decent amount of removal will get obliterated by that combination of cards. Meanwhile, Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet has been severely under-performing in a large number of matchups. He's very good against some matchups, but simply not good enough in too many matchups to justify a main deck slot anymore. If the third Pia and Kiran Nalaar winds up being too much, I might spring for a copy of Night's Whisper for some card advantage. For graveyard interaction, the one Gurmag Angler can steal a large number of games early on if the opponent cannot answer it, but playing multiples of the card can be very awkward and make you get stuck in super sub-optimal positions. Also, it gets around Grafdigger's Cage out of the sideboard when necessary, as Delve doesn't get hurt by too much by graveyard hate if it is only one card.
I am still torn on the 23rd land slot. It will be Graven Cairns for now with this build because I want as few tapped sources as possible when curving into higher-cost Planeswalkers, but I am not entirely opposed to a copy of Lavaclaw Reaches finding its way back into the deck as a mana sink, or running Canyon Slough as a singleton for the times that I fetch at the end-of-turn as well as having a late-game cycle.
This new version gives some very cool interactions. For example, sticking a turn four Chandra, Torch of Defiance can lead to a turn five Chandra, Flamecaller. Both cards can do it all. They lead to card advantage, can remove creatures, and can single-handedly win the game. Also, playing back-to-back Liliana walkers in any order can lead to having a pair of Planeswalkers out by turn four with backup from Fatal Push or Lightning Bolt. I've considered Sorin Markov and Chandra, Pyromaster as alternate card choices for this list, but I don't think they are strong enough.
The sideboard is still a work in progress. I might want the fourth Anger of the Gods, or a copy of Damnation, but creature decks with multiple creatures are not as common anymore, and the ones that are can be stopped easily by a single removal spell to slow them down (Elves, for example). I've moved away from Sulfur Elemental because Lingering Souls is not as common of a card as it used to be. Big Game Hunter is a test slot and could easily be a third Collective Brutality. I am also open to unique suggestions for more difficult matchups.
That's all for now. Keep gearing up for Ixalan.
Standard: Temur Energy RUG
Pauper: Fireball Black B
Commander: Kaervek the Merciless BR
"Always Bolt the Bird."
My decklist was very much based off the list that user steven11788 showed a few pages back. I've only ever played one other variant with Demigod of Revenge, but it just didn't seem as strong as I felt like I was often out of cards due to the card disadvantage of Faithless Looting and every deck running graveyard hate.
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
3 Eternal Scourge
2 Pack Rat
1 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Batterskull
4 Relic of Progenitus
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Fatal Push
2 Terminate
1 Dreadbore
2 Kolaghan's Command
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Anger of the Gods
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Marsh Flats
3 Blood Crypt
2 Smoldering Marsh
1 Foreboding Ruins
2 Mountain
1 Godless Shrine
9 Swamp
2 Dragon's Claw
1 Thoughtseize
1 Collective Brutality
1 Wear // Tear
1 Nahiri, the Harbinger
1 Crumble to Dust
1 By Force
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Slaughter Games
1 Pithing Needle
1 Fatal Push
1 Damnation
1 Kolaghan's Command
1 Collective Brutality
Deck thoughts
I have really strong faith in the deck, I think it's very able, dealing with so many decks efficiently and with the added bonus of the opponent never knowing what I'm playing. My list can be improved, maybe another LotV and an improved land base. But money. For the same reason I probably would have run Fulminator Mage and another Thoughtseize in the sideboard.
Mainboarding 4 Relic of Progenitus has proved fantastic at so many fnm's and assumed a similar pattern at this modern event. However, with so much graveyard hate floating around, I think people have started to float away from graveyard orientated decks. If this continues to do so, I may drop them. Nevertheless, with Eternal Scourge, I am very glad to have mained at least 3. This was especially relevant in the U/W control matchup where those two cards won me the game. I must have cast it at least 20 times that game. I think I undervalued the scourge, often siding one or two out, but control decks simply can't deal with such an eternal threat.
Batterskull and Wurmcoil Engine finishers are awesome. Not only because I bloody love the cards, but because of how hard batterskull is to deal with compared to Pia and Kiran or a planeswalker. The lifelink is what makes them such a threat and just stops decks trying to win by board presence in there tracks. I'm not taking these beautiful cards out. Actually maybe wurmcoil because I'm sick of it being path'd. Even if they side in artifact removal, the batterskull bounce avoids it and Pack Rat provides an alternative win.
Sideboard thoughts
It was a semi thrown together sideboard with a little for everyone. I only ever sided in nahiri and wear // tear one game, in which I +1'd chandra to exile my godless shrine. I will be taking out the white as I think enchantment removal simply isn't necessary and is too difficult to pull off. I'd rather the two slots for something else. It was against U/W Control, but I needed more red sources because Spreading Seas, and what's to say he simply won't do that to the godless shrine. nah m8/10.
I never sided Dragon's Claw as no burn or storm match ups. However, of the small sample size of 3 burn matchups with this deck, I've won all of them with early spot removal and lifesteal. Probably be keeping them as even though I won the games, it was close and I might not always draw Kalitas.
I never had any good targets for Surgical Extraction so I'm not entirely sure about it.
I don't really see myself siding in Slaughter Games, apart from living end decks, Ad Nauseam or even Bloomless Titan and Valukut. I'm unsure about this card, but will continue to run it until I get a proper test.
Games:
I can go into much more detail if it's helpful, but for now I'll decide to not bore you with my entire life story of the event.
2x Affinity (lose and draw) (realistically should have won both)
2x Tron (win and lose) (kinda volatile match up, I'm happy with winning one)
1x Infect (win) (spot removal and hand disruption make for an easy game)
1x Skred (lose) (same playstyle, hard to deal with Koth's)
1x Bushwacker Zoo (win) (just a slower burn really, a good match up)
1x U/W Control (win) (easy game, easy life)
Collective Brutality is better about 95% of the time in the sideboard over Dragon's Claw. My personal hatred for the Burn archetype has led to extensive testing on this. If they have any creature that is alive against a turn two Collective Brutality, then you will almost always get to use the full modes and essentially set them back three turns. I'm also glad to hear you were winning the games you played against that deck, because the matchup is honestly in their favor. Collective Brutality will also be much more useful in other matchups, where Dragon's Claw pretty much only is worthwhile against Burn and maybe Skred.
I would recommend an extra copy of Wear // Tear if you are splashing for Godless Shrine. Crumble to Dust is often times too slow and won't do what it needs to do in the matchup. You're better off making that swap.
No copies of Lightning Bolt? I know many people are favoring it less and dropping down to three, but zero seems quite bold.
Standard: Temur Energy RUG
Pauper: Fireball Black B
Commander: Kaervek the Merciless BR
"Always Bolt the Bird."
Thanks for the advice man. Yeah I totally see how collective brutality is just strictly better. Will definitely swap dragon's claw for it!
With regards to lightning bolt, as I said I have played a demigod variant in which I ran 4 copies; but honestly, I didn't really miss them. I value terminates, pushes and k commands more. Pushes deal with pretty much everything lightning bolt deals with and more. Personal favourites include pushing an obliterator or a thought knot seer. In terms of removal, I see your list runs everything mine has minus the bolts. Without the bolts, I would take a bit more damage early on, but as soon as I drop the batterskull or wurmcoil, none of that matters because of the lifelink. All about that value life with board clears and k-commands.
You're right, Crumble to Dust didn't really do much. I pulled it off once against Tron (somehow managed to lose that game lol), but it basically did the same thing as blood moon so there's not much point.
Okay, I think I'll run with the godless shrine a bit more so I can get some more playtesting with it.
I've been playing Rakdos Moon for the past month or so and it is such a blast to play. I am remaining on the Demigod strategy, as I don't see enough GY hate in my meta to effect it much. Even when they land their GY hate, I still am happy to cast a 5/4 Flying & Haste if I can keep the board clear.
I just wanted to say I'm heading to the SCG Modern Classic this weekend, my first competitive tournament. I'll be bringing 2 Pithing Needles, and think that might be the right call with the new Planeswalker rule change. 3 may be even better, but I feel safer with 2 so as to not skew my other match-ups too much.
I did have one question, however. I am going to test Gemstone Caverns, and I was curious if anyone else has had success with it in this build. In my limited experience, I don't dislike being on the draw (though I would still prefer to be on the play) and Gemstone Caverns can be used to provide even more advantage even when on the draw (beyond just the card advantage). Having to exile a card doesn't seem like as huge a deal as some other decks, as even after sideboard I can usually find cards I don't want quite as much in that particular match-up, though maybe that says more about my inability to make a good sideboard, heh.
To be honest, I've never personally thought about Gemstone Caverns. The ability to jam a turn two Blood Moon on the opponent seems very strong against any deck with issues against the card (i.e. Tron, Abzan, Control). After that, the Gemstone Caverns is simply a Mountain.
I think I might do some testing with that card as well. Cool idea.
As for Pithing Needle, I understand fully the necessity in dealing with Planeswalkers. I've put a Dreadbore in my main deck as of late, as it is still very good against Death's Shadow decks and most problematic creatures. I would also recommend increasing the Thoughtseize count in your list if Planeswalkers are giving you that amount of difficulty. Pithing Needle is a decent answer if you know what Planeswalkers to name, but it can be removed and the opponent can then give you serious problems with little difficulty. I prefer permanent solutions, such as Thoughtseize, Dreadbore, and To The Slaughter. Even Hero's Downfall is playable presently.
Standard: Temur Energy RUG
Pauper: Fireball Black B
Commander: Kaervek the Merciless BR
"Always Bolt the Bird."
That being said, I am currently on 2 Anger of the Gods mainboard and 1 Damnation sideboard, so horizontal decks don't scare me quite as much as Eldrazi Tron or Grixis (as I feel Grixis can outspeed me with Snapbolt G1 at least, and G2 as well if I can't draw into any Rakdos Charms or take apart their hand quickly enough). Dreadbore may just be better in both of those matchups due to adding in even more creature removal and being able to hit the planeswalkers in the Tron decks that still run them as their top end.
One strength of Pithing Needle that I just thought of is the ability to lock them out of using Karn Liberated quicker than you would if you had Dreadbore. That, and if you only had the one Dreadbore in hand, then Karn Liberated could simply exile it and you wouldn't have it to answer with anymore.
I was debating for a while to go up 1 Thoughtseize, though, and I think you have me convinced. There's too much floating around these days that I don't want the opponent to have that Inquisition of Kozilek misses. I think I will swap to either a 3-3 split or 4-3 (IoK-TS) split for my deck.
Edit: Oh! And Pithing Needle can turn off Relic of Progenitus, which is nice for the Demigod variant.
For reference here is my current idea for what I'm bringing on Sunday:
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
4 Blood Moon
1 Chandra, Flamecaller
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Liliana of the Veil
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Ob Nixilis Reignited
2 Anger of the Gods
3 Faithless Looting
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Night's Whisper
2 Thoughtseize
3 Fatal Push
1 Kolaghan's Command
3 Terminate
1 To the Slaughter
2 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Canyon Slough
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Gemstone Caverns
1 Graven Cairns
1 Mountain
2 Polluted Delta
1 Smoldering Marsh
6 Swamp
2 Verdant Catacombs
1 Boil
3 Collective Brutality
1 Damnation
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Kolaghan's Command
2 Pithing Needle
3 Rakdos Charm
1 Stormbreath Dragon
1 Surgical Extraction
I like that list, it is very similar to what I would be running if I was on the Demigod of Revenge plan today. The only recommendation that I have is to include a one-of Gurmag Angler. If you're playing Faithless Looting, you will have plenty to Delve away, and that 5/5 beatdown zombie fish has won me a ridiculous 33% of games it has been cast in, mostly without support from any other win conditions. I also think Ob Nixilis Reignited is interesting, but find Chandra, Torch of Defiance to bring the same card engine for one less mana and without the cost of life. However, with your current Planeswalker split, what you are running seems good. Good luck this weekend.
Standard: Temur Energy RUG
Pauper: Fireball Black B
Commander: Kaervek the Merciless BR
"Always Bolt the Bird."