Me Likey Mucho. Finally, the proper application of Smallpox! The construction is so clean and elementary, that it almost makes you want to kick yourself for not thinking of it first.
I had taken something of a break from MTG for a little while to focus on some personal things, but I had kept a close eye on everything in the Modern circuit, particularly the uprising of these new Eldrazi decks. I've spent some time in the last week figuring out the best way for our archetype to combat this deck, as well as improving our matchup against Affinity at the same time. Those two decks combined are easily 65%+ of the format right now, if not more, in competitive play. If we add in Tron, this number increases to 75%+.
After toying around with the landbase and the creatures, as well as which removal spells are optimal at the moment, I've made a list of cards that have both increased and decreased in "overall value" in the last two months. When I say "overall value," I am referring to how well the cards perform against the entire field as a whole. With the banning of Splinter Twin, many of the stellar cards in the deck that have been used to combat the long game that Twin used to play are no longer necessary. Furthermore, decks like Grixis and Jund that existed to combat Twin have seen much less play over the course of the last month or so. Once the Pro Tour decklists hit, it was pretty clear what the format would be looking like for the immediate future.
This is how I feel about some of the current cards:
Wrench Mind - Decrease in value. Still playable, but I have moved on at the moment, due to the current metagame. Abbot of Keral Keep - Increase in value. Card advantage from Red against decks that lack heavy card advantage is very strong. Bloodghast - Major Decrease in value. Does not impact the board state enough to keep up right now. Kolaghan's Command - Decrease in value. Strong card, but does not present a major threat against Eldrazi, and is still somewhat slow against Affinity in many cases. Shattering Spree - Increase in value. This seems to be where I would like to be while combatting Affinity out of the sideboard. Inquisition of Kozilek - Decrease in value. Same as always against the format, except that it doesn't hit Eldrazi as hard as I would like. Path to Exile - Major Increase in value. Technically we're not Mardu, but right now, the change is necessary.
With that last statement, Path to Exile is the card that I would like to showcase in my current recommended build:
I'm aware that this deck looks a little bit strange, and it is pretty solidly a BR deck but the W splash is a little bit larger than usual, making the deck have a Mardu appearance. This is, however, the list with the best strengths against the format from what I have tested.
With the Eldrazi matchup, I have found much more success simply getting rid of the opponent's creatures than I have trying to fight their landbase. At its core, Eldrazi is still a creature deck, and while many players are exclaiming that the deck is too powerful and warrants an emergency ban, I feel that the best way to deal with the deck while it is still around is to simply play against it the way creature decks were made to be beaten. Mass removal is very difficult for the deck to get through, and while many players right now might think that Wrench Mind or Blood Moon are better options against Eldrazi, the deck surprisingly has an easy time playing around those cards more times than not.
Take a look at the removal suite in the main here. 4 Terminate and 4 Path to Exile? These are coupled with a Dreadbore as well as 4 Lightning Bolt and 2 Murderous Cut. This means there are FIFTEEN main deck removal spells to get rid of cards like Thought-Knot Seer, Reality Smasher, Eldrazi Mimic and Endless One. We actually have access to the two best removal spells against Eldrazi overall, which are Terminate and Path to Exile, and we really should be using them. Also, as an added bonus, Liliana of the Veil is the best possible card for getting rid of a lone Reality Smasher. There are not a lot of decks that I can confidently say have a decent time playing against Eldrazi, but the decks literally do not bother me. The games are close often times, but very winnable for this decklist.
As for Affinity, to be perfectly honest I feel like this list destroys Affinity, especially after sideboarding. In addition to the unconditional removal spells, the deck has a hard time playing through Pyroclasm, and if you hit a Shattering Spree at any point in time, it's pretty much game over for them. Wear // Tear is also a fine card in the matchup, because in addition to simply being a Shatter effect, it also can take out the Ghirapur Aether Grid and stop the opponent from winning by attrition.
My sideboard here is not without flaws. Two copies of Nihil Spellbomb might not be necessary right now if you wanted to try to force the Blood Moon or any other tech cards for the opponents. Orzhov Pontiff is a card to consider, as an example, to deal with Affinity, Infect, and other X/1 cards in the format. This is just a simple guideline with a lot of current answers, and a very strong record against Affinity.
So basically, I dropped by to tell you all to not give up hope. If anything, this archetype is well positioned in the current Eldrazi metagame.
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Modern: BR Control BR Standard: Temur Energy RUG Pauper: Fireball Black B Commander: Kaervek the MercilessBR
Concise and Prescient Writeup, Smashpacman. I dig the shrewd maneuverings from discard to titanic levels of creature removal. My infatuation with power discard notwithstanding, the accurate identification of the current meta is, indeed, creatures. Be it Eldrazi, Affinity, Infect, Zoo, Merfolk, or Burn...they're everywhere. Essentially, the creature heavy design has been elevated at a feverish pace to keep up with Eldrazi. As you've identified, the linear approaches of creature attack, exhibited by the majority of tournament level decks, can best be handled by overwhelming creature removal.
It is prudent to note that such an all-in approach of anti-creature tech will struggle against combo/control/long-form constructions. Tron, Ad Nauseam, Reanimator, Patriot, Tokens, and Abzan's card advantage (collected company, eternal witness, lingering souls) will provide trouble. With 2-for-1 discard, you can equitably battle all comers (creature or non-creature based decks). So, Wrench Mind must have been a hard card to walk away from. Nonetheless, I follow the logic of actively targeting and building against the absolute top-tier, tournament level decks with your design. Good Luck, Dude, and keep us posted!
@Aleixarboix - thanks for the reply! I didn't realize it was your deck. Good on ya. Do you have a sideboard to share? How has the deck been able to handle the Eldrazi Menace??
It is prudent to note that such an all-in approach of anti-creature tech will struggle against combo/control/long-form constructions. Tron, Ad Nauseam, Reanimator, Patriot, Tokens, and Abzan's card advantage (collected company, eternal witness, lingering souls) will provide trouble. With 2-for-1 discard, you can equitably battle all comers (creature or non-creature based decks). So, Wrench Mind must have been a hard card to walk away from. Nonetheless, I follow the logic of actively targeting and building against the absolute top-tier, tournament level decks with your design. Good Luck, Dude, and keep us posted!
At the moment, it is possible that Rest in Peace wants a slot in the sideboard, though Nihil Spellbomb does the trick without losing card advantage most of the time and the use of the graveyard isn't too strong to deal with in the testing.
Stony Silence is going a step too far, as Affinity can scarcely deal with a deck playing 4 Lightning Bolt and 4 Path to Exile in the main deck, on top of Wear //Tear, Shattering Spree and Pyroclasm in the sideboard. It's strange to say, but I actually feel like we are favored against Affinity.
Lightning Helix actually seems like a very good plan. I'm not sure what card I want for life gain against Burn. Maybe Rest for the Weary? The weak link right now in testing has been Fulminator Mage. Without more than one Kolaghan's Command, Fulminator Mage is simply weaker than I would like it to be.
My favorite hate card right now, that also might have a slot over Timely Reinforcements, is Hallowed Moonlight. This is if the Abzan decks become active again.
I miss Wrench Mind all the time, but the decks it performed the best against are seeing the least play, or have been banned. Twin's gone, less Grixis, and almost zero Jund. It's okay against Burn sometimes, but if they have extra lands it's not worth the turn. I'm not sure how good it is against Eldrazi, because many times they just pitch the spare Eye of Ugin or whatever.
We'll see how Eldrazi performs statistically in the next month. If it stays around permanently, then staying on removal.deck is probably the best option for now.
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Modern: BR Control BR Standard: Temur Energy RUG Pauper: Fireball Black B Commander: Kaervek the MercilessBR
Nyxathid seems pretty legit against Eldrazi. They have a pretty hard time dealing with creatures bigger than 5/5. If you cut Angler for it, you could even perhaps run Dark Confidant.
That's how I doooz it, Silasw. Unfortunately, Eldrazi decks run (4) Dismember which cuts down my Phyrexian Obliterators...at a cost of 4 of their life. This Blitzkrieg variant is more 'fair' as it goes heavy on discard and enjoys the fruits of 4-cmc spells (particularly the sideboard). Remorseless Punishment has been punishing. Overall, I'm not convinced this approach is the answer to beating Eldrazi. What really is? Did anyone else hear about the guy that ran test trials of a top-tier Type 1 Vintage deck against Modern Eldrazi. The results were close to 50/50. Aye, Aye, Aye. Turn 2 Thought-Knot Seer is just obscene.
This deck is the real deal! At my lgs the really good players have nearly all switched to control strategies, either Grixis or UWR variants. Last night I played a little tourney of about 24 players and went 4-1. Bloodghast was an insane allstar all night long against these control decks. Turn 1 faithless looting to discard 1-2 Bloodghasts can make many control players roll their eyes, lol. My single loss came down to the very wire where I got my oppenent down to 2 life and by chance he top decked Timely Reinforecments to go back up to 8 and stabilized. And against the other 4 decks, at times it didn't even feel like I was playing a game with all the discard and removal the deck runs. The deck feels very well positioned imo.
Here were my matches.
2-0 vs Kiki Control
1-2 vs UWR control
2-1 vs Affinity
2-0 vs Combo Elves
2-0 vs Grixis Control
- - -
4x- Young Pyromancer
4x- Bloodghast
3x- Gurmag Angler
1x- Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1x- Pack Rat (Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet will go here once it arrives)
I didn't really want to run the full playset of Anglers but I did want 4 delve fatties. Tasigur is cheaper to play and it helps play around cards that target cards with the same name like Maelstrom Pulse, Surgical Extraction, Echoing Truth and etc.
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Modern UMerfolk WDeath and Taxes BRBliztkrieg GStompy
- - -
"Rock is overpowered. Paper is fine."
-Scissors
Love your list, any particular reason for running the 1-of Duress over TS?
And what would you replace Olivia in the side with?
And do you side in timely against other decks than burn/affinity?
Thanks! The 1 of Duress is to be able to play 5 discard cards spells against burn when siding out those painful Thoughtseizes. And it seemed to be very good against Control decks so as to take early Cryptic Commands and Planeswalkers.
Regarding Olivia I say if you have the card she definitely deserves a spot in the board. She single handedly won me the Elves match and feels very good against lots of others. But if I did decide to replace her it would definitely be with a second Pia and Kiran Naalar. So much value and there's no real profitable way to deal with the card other than mass removal; also it pairs soo very well with the playset of K. Commands.
And regarding Timely Reinforcements it's there namely for Burn/ Goblin matchups but the card has also done tremendous work against Zoo/ Collected company and Merfolk decks as well.
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Modern UMerfolk WDeath and Taxes BRBliztkrieg GStompy
- - -
"Rock is overpowered. Paper is fine."
-Scissors
This isn't really a dredge deck, and losing a bulk of 5 cards without filtering through them a la Faithless seems bad to me. T2 Angler seems strong up front, but that means we didn't use discard on T1, meaning our opponent probably has a removal spell in hand, which puts us out several cards for a play that didn't advance the game.
I want to ensure that my opponent's hand is anemic as **** before I drop a win condition on the table.
You've got very little card advantage or draw, and eventually if you keep trading 1-1 you're going to lose because your opponent is top decking collected company or sphinx's rev and you're top decking thoughtseize or young pyro. 2-1s like wrench mind or card draw like sign in blood would probably shore things up a lot
The deck already has the ability to play a T2 Gurmag Angler, on curve. Turn one, fetch land and cast Inquisition of Kozilek or Thoughtseize. Turn two, fetch land and cast Faithless Looting to fill up the graveyard and delve away the two fetch lands, the spell from turn one, the two cards discarded to Faithless Looting and the Faithless Looting itself.
This comes up frequently as a correct play as well, without needing Stinkweed Imp to fill the yard.
Against Tron, this is almost always the correct play. Put them on a three turn clock to answer the Gurmag Angler. If they do not have an Oblivion Stone or a Karn, then they are in deep trouble. They also have to trade their Ugin to get rid of it.
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Modern: BR Control BR Standard: Temur Energy RUG Pauper: Fireball Black B Commander: Kaervek the MercilessBR
Gotta Agree with Dressedspring1, as well as your self-analysis Druggyjesus. First, your matchups were monstrously tough.
ROUND 1: Sounds like you were well-positioned for this match. Although Mono-Green is no pushover as their creatures are simply big. That's especially true if they play some card advantage spells like Rancor, Strangleroot Geist, Genesis Wave, and Harmonize. However, you were running a creature-removal design, so you are better positioned to take these guys down. I use cards in my sideboard that don't lend themselves to your 'Ground Troops Build': Languish and Night of Souls' Betrayal. Hmmm...how about Engineered Explosives?
ROUND 2: Historically, we wreck UW Control. Easily. But, it is rough when you, like Dressed pointed out, aren't running the 2-for-1 game. Path to Exile and selective counterspelling as well as their card advantage can put them in the driver's seat. Wrench Mind does wonders in such matchups. Again, your build has a lot of creature kill cards which they tend to sidestep as they get rolling towards a high land count. As Smashpacman advocates, overwhelming creature kill will knock out a majority of the top tier decks....but not control nor combo. So, just a rock covered by paper - not much you can do.
ROUND 3: Tron.....yeeeeah. Tron.
ROUND 4: Smash has repeatedly cited this match up as the single worst matchup for Angler Blitzkrieg. Answers lie elsewhere: Engineered Explosives, Languish, and Ensnaring Bridge. Back in my early days of playing this deck, Obliterator Blitzkrieg, I did hedged bets of bridge and panzers, and would repeatedly smash the hell out of soul sisters. One bridge, one Liliana, one shrieking affliction.
Overall, you were not dealt a winning hand of opponents. A lot can be gained by practice with this deckstyle. Faithless Looting puts early pressure on yourself to choose the right path, and knowing what to let go of in the war of attrition as the game marches on isn't as easy as one would think. And, then there is the targeted discard. So, keep at it DruggyJesus....and thanks for the share, dude.
As for Sideboard, I'd avoid the lifegain [unless it kalitas, traitor of ghet], and just ratchet up the aggro. Move away from very high cmc spells without some sort of card draw (faithless looting serve to keep you at 3-4 land tops). I like the complement of cards that you selected overall.
Christ above, i should just get rid of my Eye of Ugin before the banhammer drops.
I would imagine a Smallpox/Crack the Earth strategy might contend well with that degenerate deck.
If there is a banning, I think it'd be Eldrazi Temple. Eye doesn't break the deck along and it's used in Tron. If anything, and if they still do it, they could restrict Eye of Ugin.
I can think of cards to slow them down so we can stabilize - Blood Moon and Ghostly Prison. I think Pyromancer is mandatory, so we can go wide and match up any bit at all.
I think the deck lacks draw ability. That's something that needs resolved.
So I started the forum from the beginning and a guy says he wsa plying with Demigod of Revenge as his big beats. Raystack shot it down, understandably, because he didn't have ways to get it into the graveyard to benefit from their return.
I see the deck has since tilted towards playing those Faithless Looting and think this...
for a deck light on draws (if you're not Faithless Looting) it could be an add. And if you were to rely on 4 Sygg, Fiery Impulse could be an option considering we're 75% ins/sor. I know, it's a shock, but by the time you've got time to cast Sygg... then why would you be casting Sygg?
I'm thinking about this version with white splash in main only for sb-options and red splash for Terminate and Rix Maadi in main.
24 lands for smallpox, raven's crime options
Lili and Rix Maadi + sb wear/tear for Leyline
And I want to try Fish+Timely Reinforcements against burn and infect instead Bridges
Went 2-2 tonight. Beat UB mill pretty handily, lost horribly to UR eldrazi, played against zoo where a wrench mind put a Loxodon and a wilt leaf liege in play on turn 2, letting him swing for 14 on t2... I lost. Round 3 I played burn edh felt very much like a dice roll kind of matchup. On the play I felt very favoured, on the draw I felt like I couldn't catch up. Luckily I won the roll and went first in two of the games, giving me the win in 3. Wrench mind is amazing in this matchup, as is Nyxathid because they usually go hellbent very quickly. Pretty new to the deck but I'm really happy with how it plays.
Has anyone tried gatekeeper of malakir? I'm running 4 of them and while it's still early in my time with the deck I feel like it does what we want to be doing. Kills something on etb, and gives us a 2/2 in the exchange.
Went 2-2 tonight. Beat UB mill pretty handily, lost horribly to UR eldrazi, played against zoo where a wrench mind put a Loxodon and a wilt leaf liege in play on turn 2, letting him swing for 14 on t2... I lost. Round 3 I played burn edh felt very much like a dice roll kind of matchup. On the play I felt very favoured, on the draw I felt like I couldn't catch up. Luckily I won the roll and went first in two of the games, giving me the win in 3. Wrench mind is amazing in this matchup, as is Nyxathid because they usually go hellbent very quickly. Pretty new to the deck but I'm really happy with how it plays.
Has anyone tried gatekeeper of malakir? I'm running 4 of them and while it's still early in my time with the deck I feel like it does what we want to be doing. Kills something on etb, and gives us a 2/2 in the exchange.
What is your decklist? I am actually trying Gatekeeper still need to playtest but I like him so far.
I'm thinking about this version with white splash in main only for sb-options and red splash for Terminate and Rix Maadi in main.
24 lands for smallpox, raven's crime options
Lili and Rix Maadi + sb wear/tear for Leyline
And I want to try Fish+Timely Reinforcements against burn and infect instead Bridges
Ensnaring Bridge right now is very powerful against a lot of deck so I would not cut it. Timely is a great sb card though. I think you should have a look at the 8rack thread or 8 Rackdos thread this is more what you are looking for!
My reasoning for the gatekeepers and funeral charms was that they make top decks a little bit better by having more versatility than just discard or removal. Gatekeeper swings for 2, and funeral charm aside from being an instant you can play on your opponents draw step, also works pretty well for removal hitting mana dorks, snapcaster, mimics, bob and once in a while (though not often, honestly) the pump can push in that last 2 points of damage.
Again, the list needs a lot more testing, so while this is my reasoning behind card choices, I can't say with any certainty that they actually work without more testing. I feel good about it in principle though, in the 39 non land cards we have 19 that have some use in removing creatures, 14 creatures, 15 cards that can serve as discard, and 12 cards that represent 2-1 card advantage not including Bob. From my little testing I've done (8 rounds over two events) I think there's potential here
Is there a specific reason why you are not running any Inquisition of Kozilek (Budget)? I find 4 thoughtseize to be a lot especially with some bobs. I would rather have 4 inquisition and 2 thoughtseize or something like this. Also, I think Jonny is right I would probably add 1-2 murderous cut instead of a couple of Gatekeeper, 4 seems a lot.
Thoughtseize is a concession to Eldrazi, but honestly I'm not sure that matchup is winnable anyway, so I have the inquisitions I could swap in. I think there's merit to cutting 1-2 gatekeepers for removal, I'm always happy to see one but hands with 2 feel clunky. I wouldn't run cut due to Bob, but I would gladly see how the list runs with more victims or goats in the spot.
Has anyone thought of Nivmagus Elemental as a one drop? Gets huge off late game discard we can't use... or that we don't have to use due to rix maadi, ravens crime and Liliana.
Me Likey Mucho. Finally, the proper application of Smallpox! The construction is so clean and elementary, that it almost makes you want to kick yourself for not thinking of it first.
Mardu Pox gives you:
(4) Bloodghast
(4) Faithless Looting
(4) Lingering Souls
(2) Gurmag Angler
Plus, it employs the Power Discard Suite: Blightning and Wrench Mind.
Wondrous. Where was this found? Does it have an associated write-up or tourney showing? Unfortunately, Me No Habla Espanol.
I had taken something of a break from MTG for a little while to focus on some personal things, but I had kept a close eye on everything in the Modern circuit, particularly the uprising of these new Eldrazi decks. I've spent some time in the last week figuring out the best way for our archetype to combat this deck, as well as improving our matchup against Affinity at the same time. Those two decks combined are easily 65%+ of the format right now, if not more, in competitive play. If we add in Tron, this number increases to 75%+.
After toying around with the landbase and the creatures, as well as which removal spells are optimal at the moment, I've made a list of cards that have both increased and decreased in "overall value" in the last two months. When I say "overall value," I am referring to how well the cards perform against the entire field as a whole. With the banning of Splinter Twin, many of the stellar cards in the deck that have been used to combat the long game that Twin used to play are no longer necessary. Furthermore, decks like Grixis and Jund that existed to combat Twin have seen much less play over the course of the last month or so. Once the Pro Tour decklists hit, it was pretty clear what the format would be looking like for the immediate future.
This is how I feel about some of the current cards:
Wrench Mind - Decrease in value. Still playable, but I have moved on at the moment, due to the current metagame.
Abbot of Keral Keep - Increase in value. Card advantage from Red against decks that lack heavy card advantage is very strong.
Bloodghast - Major Decrease in value. Does not impact the board state enough to keep up right now.
Kolaghan's Command - Decrease in value. Strong card, but does not present a major threat against Eldrazi, and is still somewhat slow against Affinity in many cases.
Shattering Spree - Increase in value. This seems to be where I would like to be while combatting Affinity out of the sideboard.
Inquisition of Kozilek - Decrease in value. Same as always against the format, except that it doesn't hit Eldrazi as hard as I would like.
Path to Exile - Major Increase in value. Technically we're not Mardu, but right now, the change is necessary.
With that last statement, Path to Exile is the card that I would like to showcase in my current recommended build:
4 Young Pyromancer
3 Gurmag Angler
2 Liliana of the Veil
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
4 Faithless Looting
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
4 Terminate
1 Dreadbore
2 Murderous Cut
1 Kolaghan's Command
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Arid Mesa
1 Marsh Flats
2 Blood Crypt
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Godless Shrine
3 Swamp
1 Mountain
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Sulfur Elemental
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Shattering Spree
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Fulminator Mage
2 Wear // Tear
2 Nihil Spellbomb
3 Pyroclasm
I'm aware that this deck looks a little bit strange, and it is pretty solidly a BR deck but the W splash is a little bit larger than usual, making the deck have a Mardu appearance. This is, however, the list with the best strengths against the format from what I have tested.
With the Eldrazi matchup, I have found much more success simply getting rid of the opponent's creatures than I have trying to fight their landbase. At its core, Eldrazi is still a creature deck, and while many players are exclaiming that the deck is too powerful and warrants an emergency ban, I feel that the best way to deal with the deck while it is still around is to simply play against it the way creature decks were made to be beaten. Mass removal is very difficult for the deck to get through, and while many players right now might think that Wrench Mind or Blood Moon are better options against Eldrazi, the deck surprisingly has an easy time playing around those cards more times than not.
Take a look at the removal suite in the main here. 4 Terminate and 4 Path to Exile? These are coupled with a Dreadbore as well as 4 Lightning Bolt and 2 Murderous Cut. This means there are FIFTEEN main deck removal spells to get rid of cards like Thought-Knot Seer, Reality Smasher, Eldrazi Mimic and Endless One. We actually have access to the two best removal spells against Eldrazi overall, which are Terminate and Path to Exile, and we really should be using them. Also, as an added bonus, Liliana of the Veil is the best possible card for getting rid of a lone Reality Smasher. There are not a lot of decks that I can confidently say have a decent time playing against Eldrazi, but the decks literally do not bother me. The games are close often times, but very winnable for this decklist.
As for Affinity, to be perfectly honest I feel like this list destroys Affinity, especially after sideboarding. In addition to the unconditional removal spells, the deck has a hard time playing through Pyroclasm, and if you hit a Shattering Spree at any point in time, it's pretty much game over for them. Wear // Tear is also a fine card in the matchup, because in addition to simply being a Shatter effect, it also can take out the Ghirapur Aether Grid and stop the opponent from winning by attrition.
My sideboard here is not without flaws. Two copies of Nihil Spellbomb might not be necessary right now if you wanted to try to force the Blood Moon or any other tech cards for the opponents. Orzhov Pontiff is a card to consider, as an example, to deal with Affinity, Infect, and other X/1 cards in the format. This is just a simple guideline with a lot of current answers, and a very strong record against Affinity.
So basically, I dropped by to tell you all to not give up hope. If anything, this archetype is well positioned in the current Eldrazi metagame.
Standard: Temur Energy RUG
Pauper: Fireball Black B
Commander: Kaervek the Merciless BR
"Always Bolt the Bird."
Huzzah for (15) removal spells!
I noticed the lack of some of white's most prevalently seen cards: Lingering Souls, Stony Silence, and Rest in Peace. Since burn is such a *****er, maybe Lightning Helix can find some space in your 75?
It is prudent to note that such an all-in approach of anti-creature tech will struggle against combo/control/long-form constructions. Tron, Ad Nauseam, Reanimator, Patriot, Tokens, and Abzan's card advantage (collected company, eternal witness, lingering souls) will provide trouble. With 2-for-1 discard, you can equitably battle all comers (creature or non-creature based decks). So, Wrench Mind must have been a hard card to walk away from. Nonetheless, I follow the logic of actively targeting and building against the absolute top-tier, tournament level decks with your design. Good Luck, Dude, and keep us posted!
@Aleixarboix - thanks for the reply! I didn't realize it was your deck. Good on ya. Do you have a sideboard to share? How has the deck been able to handle the Eldrazi Menace??
At the moment, it is possible that Rest in Peace wants a slot in the sideboard, though Nihil Spellbomb does the trick without losing card advantage most of the time and the use of the graveyard isn't too strong to deal with in the testing.
Stony Silence is going a step too far, as Affinity can scarcely deal with a deck playing 4 Lightning Bolt and 4 Path to Exile in the main deck, on top of Wear //Tear, Shattering Spree and Pyroclasm in the sideboard. It's strange to say, but I actually feel like we are favored against Affinity.
Lightning Helix actually seems like a very good plan. I'm not sure what card I want for life gain against Burn. Maybe Rest for the Weary? The weak link right now in testing has been Fulminator Mage. Without more than one Kolaghan's Command, Fulminator Mage is simply weaker than I would like it to be.
My favorite hate card right now, that also might have a slot over Timely Reinforcements, is Hallowed Moonlight. This is if the Abzan decks become active again.
I miss Wrench Mind all the time, but the decks it performed the best against are seeing the least play, or have been banned. Twin's gone, less Grixis, and almost zero Jund. It's okay against Burn sometimes, but if they have extra lands it's not worth the turn. I'm not sure how good it is against Eldrazi, because many times they just pitch the spare Eye of Ugin or whatever.
We'll see how Eldrazi performs statistically in the next month. If it stays around permanently, then staying on removal.deck is probably the best option for now.
Standard: Temur Energy RUG
Pauper: Fireball Black B
Commander: Kaervek the Merciless BR
"Always Bolt the Bird."
4 Phyrexian Obliterator
2 Dark Confidant
2 Nyxathid
3 Liliana of the Veil
2 Shrieking Affliction
1 Remorseless Punishment
4 Terminate
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Slaughter Pact
4 Wrench Mind
4 Blightning
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
4 Blood Crypt
3 Dragonskull Summit
3 Lavaclaw Reaches
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Night of Souls' Betrayal
2 Languish
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Blood Moon
1 Shatterstorm
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Dreadbore
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Nyxathid
1 Olivia Voldaren
I would imagine a Smallpox/Crack the Earth strategy might contend well with that degenerate deck.
Here were my matches.
2-0 vs Kiki Control
1-2 vs UWR control
2-1 vs Affinity
2-0 vs Combo Elves
2-0 vs Grixis Control
- - -
4x- Young Pyromancer
4x- Bloodghast
3x- Gurmag Angler
1x- Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1x- Pack Rat (Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet will go here once it arrives)
4x- Lightning Bolt
4x- Inquisition of Kozilek
4x- Faithless Looting
4x- Terminate
4x- Kolaghan's Command
3x- Thoughtseize
1x- Duress
1x- Darkblast
1x- Murderous Cut
3x- Bloodcrypt
1x- Godless Shrine
4x- Bloodstained Mire
4x- Polluted Delta
3x- Dragonskull Summit
4x- Swamp
1x- Mountain
1x- Urborg Tomb of Yawgmoth
------
3x- Pyroclasm
2x- Nihil Spellbomb
2x- Wear/ Tear
2x- Timely Reinforcements
2x- Crumble to Dust
1x- Olivia Voldaren
1x- Pia Kiran Nalaar
1x- Engineered Explosives
1x- Dreadbore
UMerfolk
WDeath and Taxes
BRBliztkrieg
GStompy
- - -
"Rock is overpowered. Paper is fine."
-Scissors
I didn't really want to run the full playset of Anglers but I did want 4 delve fatties. Tasigur is cheaper to play and it helps play around cards that target cards with the same name like Maelstrom Pulse, Surgical Extraction, Echoing Truth and etc.
UMerfolk
WDeath and Taxes
BRBliztkrieg
GStompy
- - -
"Rock is overpowered. Paper is fine."
-Scissors
Thanks! The 1 of Duress is to be able to play 5 discard cards spells against burn when siding out those painful Thoughtseizes. And it seemed to be very good against Control decks so as to take early Cryptic Commands and Planeswalkers.
Regarding Olivia I say if you have the card she definitely deserves a spot in the board. She single handedly won me the Elves match and feels very good against lots of others. But if I did decide to replace her it would definitely be with a second Pia and Kiran Naalar. So much value and there's no real profitable way to deal with the card other than mass removal; also it pairs soo very well with the playset of K. Commands.
And regarding Timely Reinforcements it's there namely for Burn/ Goblin matchups but the card has also done tremendous work against Zoo/ Collected company and Merfolk decks as well.
UMerfolk
WDeath and Taxes
BRBliztkrieg
GStompy
- - -
"Rock is overpowered. Paper is fine."
-Scissors
I want to ensure that my opponent's hand is anemic as **** before I drop a win condition on the table.
The deck already has the ability to play a T2 Gurmag Angler, on curve. Turn one, fetch land and cast Inquisition of Kozilek or Thoughtseize. Turn two, fetch land and cast Faithless Looting to fill up the graveyard and delve away the two fetch lands, the spell from turn one, the two cards discarded to Faithless Looting and the Faithless Looting itself.
This comes up frequently as a correct play as well, without needing Stinkweed Imp to fill the yard.
Against Tron, this is almost always the correct play. Put them on a three turn clock to answer the Gurmag Angler. If they do not have an Oblivion Stone or a Karn, then they are in deep trouble. They also have to trade their Ugin to get rid of it.
Standard: Temur Energy RUG
Pauper: Fireball Black B
Commander: Kaervek the Merciless BR
"Always Bolt the Bird."
ROUND 1: Sounds like you were well-positioned for this match. Although Mono-Green is no pushover as their creatures are simply big. That's especially true if they play some card advantage spells like Rancor, Strangleroot Geist, Genesis Wave, and Harmonize. However, you were running a creature-removal design, so you are better positioned to take these guys down. I use cards in my sideboard that don't lend themselves to your 'Ground Troops Build': Languish and Night of Souls' Betrayal. Hmmm...how about Engineered Explosives?
ROUND 2: Historically, we wreck UW Control. Easily. But, it is rough when you, like Dressed pointed out, aren't running the 2-for-1 game. Path to Exile and selective counterspelling as well as their card advantage can put them in the driver's seat. Wrench Mind does wonders in such matchups. Again, your build has a lot of creature kill cards which they tend to sidestep as they get rolling towards a high land count. As Smashpacman advocates, overwhelming creature kill will knock out a majority of the top tier decks....but not control nor combo. So, just a rock covered by paper - not much you can do.
ROUND 3: Tron.....yeeeeah. Tron.
ROUND 4: Smash has repeatedly cited this match up as the single worst matchup for Angler Blitzkrieg. Answers lie elsewhere: Engineered Explosives, Languish, and Ensnaring Bridge. Back in my early days of playing this deck, Obliterator Blitzkrieg, I did hedged bets of bridge and panzers, and would repeatedly smash the hell out of soul sisters. One bridge, one Liliana, one shrieking affliction.
Overall, you were not dealt a winning hand of opponents. A lot can be gained by practice with this deckstyle. Faithless Looting puts early pressure on yourself to choose the right path, and knowing what to let go of in the war of attrition as the game marches on isn't as easy as one would think. And, then there is the targeted discard. So, keep at it DruggyJesus....and thanks for the share, dude.
As for Sideboard, I'd avoid the lifegain [unless it kalitas, traitor of ghet], and just ratchet up the aggro. Move away from very high cmc spells without some sort of card draw (faithless looting serve to keep you at 3-4 land tops). I like the complement of cards that you selected overall.
If there is a banning, I think it'd be Eldrazi Temple. Eye doesn't break the deck along and it's used in Tron. If anything, and if they still do it, they could restrict Eye of Ugin.
I can think of cards to slow them down so we can stabilize - Blood Moon and Ghostly Prison. I think Pyromancer is mandatory, so we can go wide and match up any bit at all.
I think the deck lacks draw ability. That's something that needs resolved.
I see the deck has since tilted towards playing those Faithless Looting and think this...
1 Pack Rat
4 Bloodghast
3 Smallpox
That's 12 ways to get it into your graveyard, besides death.
I was also looking at Sygg, River Cutthroat and noticed this bit...
Shrieking Affliction hits for 3
Lighting Bolt hits for 3
Blightning hits for 3
for a deck light on draws (if you're not Faithless Looting) it could be an add. And if you were to rely on 4 Sygg, Fiery Impulse could be an option considering we're 75% ins/sor. I know, it's a shock, but by the time you've got time to cast Sygg... then why would you be casting Sygg?
Cancel last.
24 lands for smallpox, raven's crime options
Lili and Rix Maadi + sb wear/tear for Leyline
And I want to try Fish+Timely Reinforcements against burn and infect instead Bridges
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Godless Shrine
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Marsh Flats
4 Swamp
1 Rix Maadi, Dungeon Palace
2 Mutavault
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
1 Duress
4 Wrench Mind
2 Raven's Crime
4 Smallpox
4 Terminate
4 Shrieking Affliction
4 The Rack
4 Ensnaring Bridge
sb
1 Darkblast
2 Pyroclasm
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Timely Reinforcements
2 Gurmag Angler
2 Wear/Tear
1 Nyxathid
1 Stony Silence
Has anyone tried gatekeeper of malakir? I'm running 4 of them and while it's still early in my time with the deck I feel like it does what we want to be doing. Kills something on etb, and gives us a 2/2 in the exchange.
What is your decklist? I am actually trying Gatekeeper still need to playtest but I like him so far.
Ensnaring Bridge right now is very powerful against a lot of deck so I would not cut it. Timely is a great sb card though. I think you should have a look at the 8rack thread or 8 Rackdos thread this is more what you are looking for!
Threats
4 Nyxathid
4 young pyromancer
2 dark confidant
Removal
4 gatekeeper of malakir
4 terminate
4 lightning bolt
2 victim of night
Discard
4 thoughtseize
3 funeral charm
4 wrench mind
2 Blightning
2 kolaghans command
21 lands
My reasoning for the gatekeepers and funeral charms was that they make top decks a little bit better by having more versatility than just discard or removal. Gatekeeper swings for 2, and funeral charm aside from being an instant you can play on your opponents draw step, also works pretty well for removal hitting mana dorks, snapcaster, mimics, bob and once in a while (though not often, honestly) the pump can push in that last 2 points of damage.
Again, the list needs a lot more testing, so while this is my reasoning behind card choices, I can't say with any certainty that they actually work without more testing. I feel good about it in principle though, in the 39 non land cards we have 19 that have some use in removing creatures, 14 creatures, 15 cards that can serve as discard, and 12 cards that represent 2-1 card advantage not including Bob. From my little testing I've done (8 rounds over two events) I think there's potential here
Is there a specific reason why you are not running any Inquisition of Kozilek (Budget)? I find 4 thoughtseize to be a lot especially with some bobs. I would rather have 4 inquisition and 2 thoughtseize or something like this. Also, I think Jonny is right I would probably add 1-2 murderous cut instead of a couple of Gatekeeper, 4 seems a lot.