When it comes to Magic, there's few things I like more than brewing up new ideas. After seeing Caleb Durward showcase some of his ideas on Channel Fireball, I figured I'd go to the drawing board to see if I could make cards like Silumgar's Scorn work in Modern.
When it comes to playing control, many player demoan about the lack of Counterspell in the format. Scorn can become that...if you jump through the hoops of having a Dragon in play or in hand. Otherwise, it's a Force Spike that costs an extra mana. While not terrible and still has early game applications, it's not exactly the best thing to do in the early turns in the game, and you can get hamstrung if you dont have the right pieces.
Fortunately, there are ways to circumvent this. You could just jam your deck full of Dragons and call it a day, but in a fast format like Modern you can't afford to sit there with a hand full of five and six drops. Changelings, however, can help fulfill those requirements by virtue of them being every creature type. Nameless Inversion is a functional Last Gasp. Crib Swap can exile big threats. And even Mutavault can do in a pinch.
Put it all together, and you get something like this:
The deck is a work in progress--the mana base in particular is an area that needs work to be more consistent--but it looks promising on paper. Ojutai, while doesn't take over a game as soon as it hits the board, can generate enough card advantage to put you ahead for good, and when combined with Minamo can be a resilient threat. 8 Dragon cards in the main, combined with 2 Mutavault, should be enough to reliably turn on Scorn. Crib Swap has been a nice way to deal with Tarmogoyf, who love the presence of tribal spells in the grave. Inversion deals with manlands and cheap threats, while Anticipate and Esper Charm filter and dig us deeper towards our good stuff.
The "Dragon package" in the sideboard looks weird, but puts in work against Abzan which will more often than not turn into a topdecking war, and allows us to side out some Nameless Inversions without hurting the Dragon count.
If anyone has any suggestions, let me know. Like I said, it's a work in progress, but I would like to make this work. I'm probably going to bring it to my store's Modern FMN this week to give it a whirl. Even if it falls completely on its face, I just want to actually see if I can make Scorn work. Besides, who can resist cast Dragons?
EDIT: Made some changes to the mana base, trying to see if Mutavault is really necessary for the inconsistency is brings. Also going down to 2 Spell Snare in favor of adding a third wrath; most of my problems in testing stem from getting overrun early.
EDH GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG UBRNicol Bolas and his SuperfriendsPawnsUBR
Modern UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW WUBRGHumansWUBRG BGMidrangeBG
I was thinking about different Dragon decks recently as well and came up with an Esper list so I'll share as well. Haven't tested it much yet, though I've been testing Jund and Grixis Dragons decks and currently think Grixis might be the best. But for now here's an Esper list:
I could be wrong but Foul Tongue Invocation seems key to the deck, picking off creatures (including Bogles, lone 'Goyf or Tasigur, Deceiver Exarch, Emrakul...) while gaining significant life. Crib Swap plus Illness in the Ranks seems fun. Jace also helps against tokens and Exarch. Path is usually standard but I'm not sure I want too many cards that are dead against non-creature decks and I'm already playing Invocations and Inversions, and Wraths. Vapor Snag might be just as good anyway. Post results if you played that FNM!
I thought of Foul-Tongue Invocation, but if I was going to run an effect like that I'd probably just go with Tribute to Hunger, and it would probably be relegated to the sideboard. Tribute gives you all the upside of Invocation without having to jump through hoops.
I'm hoping to play this list on Friday, I just have to find a Minamo or two in time. No one I've talked to seems to own one.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
EDH GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG UBRNicol Bolas and his SuperfriendsPawnsUBR
Modern UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW WUBRGHumansWUBRG BGMidrangeBG
You played JESUS?!?! I heard none of his guys stay in the graveyard, and once you think you have him beat he ALWAYS comes back to win within three turns. I like...WORSHIP him.
I wouldn't bring it to a money tournament but I just make these decks for the local shop meta, and "Dies to LB" is not as important because people are playing all kinds of brews, lots of GW decks, storm, eggs, merfolk, whatever else. Making a bolt cost 3 seems decent anyway, and if it survives until you untap that's a solid position, especially with Mutavaults. Probably not good anyway but I'm testing it with the extra dragons for now. Tribute to Hunger doesn't seem as good but even if it is, just trying to push the dragon theme anyway
I thought of Foul-Tongue Invocation, but if I was going to run an effect like that I'd probably just go with Tribute to Hunger, and it would probably be relegated to the sideboard. Tribute gives you all the upside of Invocation without having to jump through hoops.
I'm hoping to play this list on Friday, I just have to find a Minamo or two in time. No one I've talked to seems to own one.
I heavily prefer Foul-Tongue Invocation over Tribute to Hunger in Dragon deck maindecks because I usually gain less than 4 life from TtH and FTI still gains 4 life even if my opponent has nothing to sac (relevant against Burn, Scapeshift, UWR/Twin/other midrange-like URx decks).
This is the list I'm planning on trying out soon. I'm trying to take the Tezzerator deck I made and using it as a mid-game plan until the dragons show up. I haven't done any testing yet but i think it could fix the weaknesses my tezz deck had with late game power.
This is the list I'm planning on trying out soon. I'm trying to take the Tezzerator deck I made and using it as a mid-game plan until the dragons show up. I haven't done any testing yet but i think it could fix the weaknesses my tezz deck had with late game power.
I thought of Foul-Tongue Invocation, but if I was going to run an effect like that I'd probably just go with Tribute to Hunger, and it would probably be relegated to the sideboard. Tribute gives you all the upside of Invocation without having to jump through hoops.
I'm hoping to play this list on Friday, I just have to find a Minamo or two in time. No one I've talked to seems to own one.
I heavily prefer Foul-Tongue Invocation over Tribute to Hunger in Dragon deck maindecks because I usually gain less than 4 life from TtH and FTI still gains 4 life even if my opponent has nothing to sac (relevant against Burn, Scapeshift, UWR/Twin/other midrange-like URx decks).
I did not consider that. I may add a couple Invocations to the side board to see how they play out. There is this one guy in my meta who plays Thrun.dec...
As for Icefall Regent, I wouldn't say he's Modern unplayable. Yes, he dies to bolt--but bolt now costs three mana. If Burn spends three mana to kill my flier I'll be ecstatic. As for decks like Grixis Delver and Twin, making them pay extra mana makes Silumgar's Scorn and our counterspells in general better; they won't have as many resources to respond with. I wouldn't go as far to say he's an all-star, but I wouldn't be averse to running him as a 1 or 2 of in some lists.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
EDH GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG UBRNicol Bolas and his SuperfriendsPawnsUBR
Modern UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW WUBRGHumansWUBRG BGMidrangeBG
The deck runs 3 Anticipate, 3 Esper Charm, 2 Sphinx's Revelation, and 2 Dragonlord Ojutai for card drawing and filtering. That's not even including the Cryptics or the Snapcasters which can flashback any of the above (save Ojutai). Honestly that's only one card fewer than what I run in my traditional UW Control list, so I don't see where or how I could add more. Everything else I see here seems mandatory to the deck's function. If you have any suggestions though, I'm open to them.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
EDH GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG UBRNicol Bolas and his SuperfriendsPawnsUBR
Modern UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW WUBRGHumansWUBRG BGMidrangeBG
This is probably colored by my meta (a lot of land hate), but I'm not a fan of versions that basically rely on Mutavault to turn on Scorn. At that point, I may as well play Cancel or something. You can still occasionally reveal an Ojutai or something, and Scorn is fantastic at protecting your dragon when it's tapped, but its flexibility feels a bit limited in my opinion.
However, I do love the tempo feel of the list. Spellstutter Sprite is one of my favorite creatures ever. I've been testing a more dragon-centric version that loads up on Remand and such to basically let me survive till turn 5 when I can drop an Ojutai and start going to town.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
EDH GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG UBRNicol Bolas and his SuperfriendsPawnsUBR
Modern UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW WUBRGHumansWUBRG BGMidrangeBG
Some quick thoughts:
--the deck needs Minamo, School at Water's Edge. I couldn't get one before the event and I wound up suffering my only loss of the day due to Combust.
--Strangely enough, Esper Charm felt like the weakest link in the main deck. Drawing two cards is nice, as is the option for Mind Rotting someone, but at three mana it felt like there were other things I wanted to be doing. The deck feels more like a tempo deck, and Charm feels more suited to a draw-go archetype.
--Timely put in work as usual. Invocation was some cute tech I added in at the last minute to combat the hexproof decks I sometimes see and as additional lifegain versus aggro, and I liked it. I may swap out the Charms for the Invocation just to have a slightly better mainboard against aggro match-ups.
--Drifting Death was to combat the Lingering Souls/Young Pyromancer/random x/1s, but I really don't see many of them. I'm considering adding a second Dragonlord Silumgar or even extra countermagic like Disdainful Stroke to help against Tron with splash damage against things like Tasigur, Twin, Rhino.
--Casting Crux with an Ojutai on board on "Destroy all non-Dragons" mode is the dirtiest thing ever.
--I really, really hate Combust. Literally had a grip of seven--SEVEN--counterspells and I could do nothing but watch my Ojutai die.
EDH GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG UBRNicol Bolas and his SuperfriendsPawnsUBR
Modern UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW WUBRGHumansWUBRG BGMidrangeBG
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
When it comes to playing control, many player demoan about the lack of Counterspell in the format. Scorn can become that...if you jump through the hoops of having a Dragon in play or in hand. Otherwise, it's a Force Spike that costs an extra mana. While not terrible and still has early game applications, it's not exactly the best thing to do in the early turns in the game, and you can get hamstrung if you dont have the right pieces.
Fortunately, there are ways to circumvent this. You could just jam your deck full of Dragons and call it a day, but in a fast format like Modern you can't afford to sit there with a hand full of five and six drops. Changelings, however, can help fulfill those requirements by virtue of them being every creature type. Nameless Inversion is a functional Last Gasp. Crib Swap can exile big threats. And even Mutavault can do in a pinch.
Put it all together, and you get something like this:
2 Dragonlord Ojutai
4 Path to Exile
2 Spell Snare
3 Anticipate
4 Silumgar's Scorn
4 Nameless Inversion
3 Esper Charm
2 Crib Swap
2 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Cryptic Command
3 Supreme Verdict
4 Flooded Strand
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Watery Grave
1 Godless Shrine
1 Isolated Chapel
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
3 Celestial Colonnade
1 Creeping Tar Pit
3 Plains
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Baneslayer Angel
1 Dragonlord Silumgar
1 Silumgar, the Drifting Death
1 Crib Swap
1 Dispel
2 Negate
2 Stony Silence
1 Disenchant
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Celestial Purge
3 Timely Reinforcements
The deck is a work in progress--the mana base in particular is an area that needs work to be more consistent--but it looks promising on paper. Ojutai, while doesn't take over a game as soon as it hits the board, can generate enough card advantage to put you ahead for good, and when combined with Minamo can be a resilient threat. 8 Dragon cards in the main, combined with 2 Mutavault, should be enough to reliably turn on Scorn. Crib Swap has been a nice way to deal with Tarmogoyf, who love the presence of tribal spells in the grave. Inversion deals with manlands and cheap threats, while Anticipate and Esper Charm filter and dig us deeper towards our good stuff.
The "Dragon package" in the sideboard looks weird, but puts in work against Abzan which will more often than not turn into a topdecking war, and allows us to side out some Nameless Inversions without hurting the Dragon count.
If anyone has any suggestions, let me know. Like I said, it's a work in progress, but I would like to make this work. I'm probably going to bring it to my store's Modern FMN this week to give it a whirl. Even if it falls completely on its face, I just want to actually see if I can make Scorn work. Besides, who can resist cast Dragons?
EDIT: Made some changes to the mana base, trying to see if Mutavault is really necessary for the inconsistency is brings. Also going down to 2 Spell Snare in favor of adding a third wrath; most of my problems in testing stem from getting overrun early.
GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW
UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW
UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG
UBRNicol Bolas and his Super
friendsPawnsUBRModern
UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW
WUBRGHumansWUBRG
BGMidrangeBG
2 Snapcaster Mage
1 Silumgar, the Drifting Death
1 Dragonlord Ojutai
2 Icefall Regent
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Spellskite
4 Silumgar's Scorn
3 Foul Tongue Invocation
3 Nameless Inversion
2 Crib Swap
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Narset Transcendent
2 Cryptic Command
2 Spell Snare
4 Serum Visions
1 Wrath of God
1 Supreme Verdict
2 Remand
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
1 Marsh Flats
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Watery Grave
1 Godless Shrine
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Faerie Conclave
2 Mutavault
3 Island
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Drowned Catacomb
1 Plains
1 Swamp
3 Illness in the Ranks
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Phyrexian Unlife
2 Mindbreak Trap
1 Supreme Verdict
2 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Hibernation
1 Disenchant
I could be wrong but Foul Tongue Invocation seems key to the deck, picking off creatures (including Bogles, lone 'Goyf or Tasigur, Deceiver Exarch, Emrakul...) while gaining significant life. Crib Swap plus Illness in the Ranks seems fun. Jace also helps against tokens and Exarch. Path is usually standard but I'm not sure I want too many cards that are dead against non-creature decks and I'm already playing Invocations and Inversions, and Wraths. Vapor Snag might be just as good anyway. Post results if you played that FNM!
I'm hoping to play this list on Friday, I just have to find a Minamo or two in time. No one I've talked to seems to own one.
GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW
UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW
UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG
UBRNicol Bolas and his Super
friendsPawnsUBRModern
UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW
WUBRGHumansWUBRG
BGMidrangeBG
EDIT : Oh, and Icefall Regent is definitely not modern playable solely due to Lightning Bolt.
My 180 Modern Bordered Only Cube
I heavily prefer Foul-Tongue Invocation over Tribute to Hunger in Dragon deck maindecks because I usually gain less than 4 life from TtH and FTI still gains 4 life even if my opponent has nothing to sac (relevant against Burn, Scapeshift, UWR/Twin/other midrange-like URx decks).
2 solemn Simulacrum
2 Dragonlord Ojutai
1 Dragonlord Silumgar
1 Silumgar, the Drifting Death
2 Stell Hellkite
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Condescend
1 Pithing Needle
1 Azorious Signet
1 Dimir Signet
1 Orzhov Signet
2 Remand
4 Silumgar's Scorn
2 Crib Swap
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
3 Crux of Fate
4 Flooded Strand
1 Marsh Flats
1 Polluted Delta
2 Godless Shrine
2 Hallowed Fountain
3 Watery Grave
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
2 Mutavault
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Island
2 Plains
1 Swamp
2 solemn Simulacrum
2 Dragonlord Ojutai
1 Dragonlord Silumgar
1 Silumgar, the Drifting Death
2 Stell Hellkite
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Condescend
1 Pithing Needle
1 Azorious Signet
1 Dimir Signet
1 Orzhov Signet
2 Remand
4 Silumgar's Scorn
2 Crib Swap
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
3 Crux of Fate
4 Flooded Strand
1 Marsh Flats
1 Polluted Delta
2 Godless Shrine
2 Hallowed Fountain
3 Watery Grave
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
2 Mutavault
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Island
2 Plains
1 Swamp
I did not consider that. I may add a couple Invocations to the side board to see how they play out. There is this one guy in my meta who plays Thrun.dec...
As for Icefall Regent, I wouldn't say he's Modern unplayable. Yes, he dies to bolt--but bolt now costs three mana. If Burn spends three mana to kill my flier I'll be ecstatic. As for decks like Grixis Delver and Twin, making them pay extra mana makes Silumgar's Scorn and our counterspells in general better; they won't have as many resources to respond with. I wouldn't go as far to say he's an all-star, but I wouldn't be averse to running him as a 1 or 2 of in some lists.
GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW
UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW
UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG
UBRNicol Bolas and his Super
friendsPawnsUBRModern
UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW
WUBRGHumansWUBRG
BGMidrangeBG
The deck runs 3 Anticipate, 3 Esper Charm, 2 Sphinx's Revelation, and 2 Dragonlord Ojutai for card drawing and filtering. That's not even including the Cryptics or the Snapcasters which can flashback any of the above (save Ojutai). Honestly that's only one card fewer than what I run in my traditional UW Control list, so I don't see where or how I could add more. Everything else I see here seems mandatory to the deck's function. If you have any suggestions though, I'm open to them.
GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW
UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW
UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG
UBRNicol Bolas and his Super
friendsPawnsUBRModern
UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW
WUBRGHumansWUBRG
BGMidrangeBG
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=84369
2 Spellskite
2 Dragonlord Ojutai
2 Restoration Angel
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
4 Spellstutter Sprite
Spells (21)
3 Silumgar's Scorn
2 Valorous Stance
2 Supreme Verdict
1 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Anticipate
4 Path to Exile
2 Cryptic Command
3 Remand
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
4 Flooded Strand
2 Plains
2 Island
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Steam Vents
1 Mystic Gate
4 Mutavault
2 Seachrome Coast
4 Celestial Colonnade
1 Scalding Tarn
2 Wear // Tear
1 Supreme Verdict
2 Stony Silence
2 Spellskite
1 Dispel
1 Celestial Purge
2 Kitchen Finks
2 Aven Mindcensor
1 Flashfreeze
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
Obviously this list is inspired by the list that Jeff Hoogland posted
However, I do love the tempo feel of the list. Spellstutter Sprite is one of my favorite creatures ever. I've been testing a more dragon-centric version that loads up on Remand and such to basically let me survive till turn 5 when I can drop an Ojutai and start going to town.
GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW
UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW
UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG
UBRNicol Bolas and his Super
friendsPawnsUBRModern
UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW
WUBRGHumansWUBRG
BGMidrangeBG
3 Dragonlord Ojutai
1 Dragonlord Silumgar
Instants
4 Path to Exile
4 Remand
4 Silumgar's Scorn
4 Anticipate
3 Nameless Inversion
3 Esper Charm
1 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Cryptic Command
Sorceries
2 Supreme Verdict
1 Crux of Fate
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Watery Grave
1 Godless Shrine
1 Isolated Chapel
2 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
1 Drowned Catacomb
3 Island
2 Plains
1 Swamp
3 Celestial Colonnade
1 Creeping Tar Pit
3 Timely Reinforcements
2 Foul-Tongue Invocation
1 Wrath of God
1 Crib Swap
1 Silumgar, the Drifting Death
2 Negate
1 Dispel
2 Disenchant
2 Stony Silence
Some quick thoughts:
--the deck needs Minamo, School at Water's Edge. I couldn't get one before the event and I wound up suffering my only loss of the day due to Combust.
--Strangely enough, Esper Charm felt like the weakest link in the main deck. Drawing two cards is nice, as is the option for Mind Rotting someone, but at three mana it felt like there were other things I wanted to be doing. The deck feels more like a tempo deck, and Charm feels more suited to a draw-go archetype.
--Timely put in work as usual. Invocation was some cute tech I added in at the last minute to combat the hexproof decks I sometimes see and as additional lifegain versus aggro, and I liked it. I may swap out the Charms for the Invocation just to have a slightly better mainboard against aggro match-ups.
--Drifting Death was to combat the Lingering Souls/Young Pyromancer/random x/1s, but I really don't see many of them. I'm considering adding a second Dragonlord Silumgar or even extra countermagic like Disdainful Stroke to help against Tron with splash damage against things like Tasigur, Twin, Rhino.
--Casting Crux with an Ojutai on board on "Destroy all non-Dragons" mode is the dirtiest thing ever.
--I really, really hate Combust. Literally had a grip of seven--SEVEN--counterspells and I could do nothing but watch my Ojutai die.
GWSelvala and the Return to HumanityGW
UWDragonlord Ojutai, Control's Elder DragonUW
UBGTasigur, the God-Pharaoh's Gift to EDHUBG
UBRNicol Bolas and his Super
friendsPawnsUBRModern
UWUW Control/Midrange/Bad JundUW
WUBRGHumansWUBRG
BGMidrangeBG