We have what, ten answers to the combo in the main? We should have an answer more often than they have the combo. If the game goes long, we are very heavily favored. The critical turn four is when we need an answer or they need to go for it.
Two 5-round tournaments, two 4-1 results (well, two IDs in the last round that we played out and I won).
Thursday night, I played a 5-round tournament with my old list. Friday, I changed things up a bit and tried out the Crumble to Dust plan.
Thursday:
Round 1: 2-0 vs Grixis Delver
Not much to say here, the matchup is fantastic.
Round 2: 2-0 vs UW Control
I think he was on the Yuuya Watanabe list. Very difficult for us to lose here too.
Round 3: 1-2 vs Merfolk
Game 1 I got the combo on turn 4, games 2 and 3 he had Vials on 1 and an aggressive start. Game 2 I didn't draw a third land and he used Spreading Seas to great effect. Game 3 was pretty close, but his Merrow Reejerey with Spellskite to stop my Path to Exile ended up exactly killing me the turn before I would win. Unfortunately, I never found a Worship.
Round 4: 2-0 vs Naya Zoo
Seriously, most decks in Modern are practically a bye for this deck.
Round 5: 2-1 vs RG Tron
Game 1 he got there with turn 3, 4, and 5 Karn. Game 2 I won on the back of a key Fulminator Mage activation setting him back the turn before he would start using Eye of Ugin and I managed to kill him the turn he got Wurmcoil Engine online because Evolutionary Leap was allowing me to prevent lifelink. Game 3 I won with an early Stony Silence and Thoughtseize into aggression.
Round 1: 0-2 vs Bogles
For some reason, I keep having bad luck against this deck on paper. I've beaten it 100% of the time online with this deck. Game 1 I kept a two-land hand and never saw my third land. Game 2 I kept a three-land hand and never drew a spell.
Round 3: 2-0 vs UW Tron
Game 1 I had some early aggression that his turn 4 Karn Liberated did little to stop. He made a misplay by attempting to exile Kitchen Finks while I had Evolutionary Leap, but he had no chance anyway. Game 2 I won with Fulminator Mage and some attacking with Siege Rhino.
Round 4: 2-0 vs Naya Zoo
See Round 4 from Thursday.
Round 5: 2-0 vs UW Control
See Round 2 from Thursday.
Overall, I really am liking this deck's position in the metagame, especially if we can improve our bad matchups with Crumble to Dust while not hurting our good matchups. Missing Worship is unlikely to matter as it's at its best in matchups where we're already fine. Merfolk can win through it with Vapor Snag, but not through it plus creatures plus Evolutionary Leap, though that requires quite a bit of setup.
I'll go through the list and figure out what I want in the main and board over the next few days. I have a medical school exam on Tuesday, so that will probably be the first day I put real effort into it.
Preliminary list (Friday tournament list) - manabase probably needs work at the very least:
I retooled the manabase and cut the double-white dudes because we weren't supporting them well. With this new manabase, we will have 15 black sources (17 counting Birds as a half like Frank Karsten), 16 Green sources (19 counting dorks), 12 White sources (15 counting dorks) and 9 Red sources (11 counting dorks) for a functional manabase.
That list looks really interesting, I really want to try it, but I have no Bob's yet Would you recommend something to replace it, or you think it is just that good?
They're actually pretty optional. I forgot that the reason I was on 3 Abrupt Decay was because I didn't have a Slaughter Pact to put in on paper, I think it should be a 2/1 split. There are a lot of possible 'replacements' for the Confidants, but they obviously don't do the same thing.
The reason I started running Bobs was because people tend to kill the turn-1 mana dork on reflex, which you can punish really hard by dropping a Confidant on turn 2. If they don't have another removal spell, it feels difficult to lose from there.
You could try Strangleroot Geist. Strangleroot Geist can be sacrificed twice to Evolutionary Leap thanks to undying. By the waywhat are your thoughts on Restoration Angel? She seems pretty good here,she resets undying or persist creatures like Strangleroot Geist and Kitchen Finks with her enters-the-battlefield (ETB) ability. She reuses ETB triggered abilities of creatures like Orzhov Pontiff,Siege Rhino,Murderous Redcap, Reclamation Sage. She can also be flashed in at instant speed to blank targeted removal as well or act as a blocker.
Matchups:
Round 1 vs Grixis Control 2-0
Round 2 vs UR Twin 2-1
Round 3 vs UR Twin 2-0
Round 4 vs RG Tron 2-1
Round 5 vs RG Tron 2-0
Round 6 vs Grixis Twin 2-0
Round 7 ID
Round 8 ID
Top 8 vs GW Hatebears 2-1
Top 4 vs Nacatl Burn 1-2 (didn't draw any lands in game 3, flooded in game 2 but still won, kept a sketchy hand g1)
Match Report:
Round 1: 2-0 vs Grixis Control. He ripped apart my hand with triple discard, landed an early Grim Lavamancer and Jace, Vryn's Prodigy that I never answered, flashed back many spells, and...promptly lost. This matchup is hilariously bad for them, as their deck cannot beat a resolved Evolutionary Leap. He made me discard my first Leap, but I Chorded for Witness to get it back. I also played very poorly in game 1, with such highlights as using Leap when I knew he had Inquisition of Kozilek in his hand, and when he was targeting Kitchen Finks with the Shock mode of Kolaghan's Command and me with the discard mode when I had no cards in hand (this binned my Murderous Redcap, which would have enabled me to win much more quickly).
Sideboarding: Largely unnecessary. I boarded in Path to Exile to answer Tasigur and potentially Olivia Voldaren. I also boarded in Eidolon of Rhetoric to stop him from playing multiple spells per turn and to embarrass Snapcaster Mage. I won game 2 quite easily after resolving my Eidolon.
Round 2: 2-1 vs UR All-In Twin. Game 1, I drew no answers to the combo and lost. Game 2, I Fulminated his second land and he never really recovered. Game 3, I got an early Spellskite that he was forced to Dismember, then I put pressure on and held up Abrupt Decay for the combo.
Round 3: 2-0 vs UR Twin. This was my deck that I lent my friend Alex, who also Top 4'd the event. Game 1 I had Abrupt Decay and pressure. Game 2 was very interesting because I had a strange manabase and was not able to fetch for basics, but he also had no basics, so I wasn't particularly worried about Blood Moon. On something like turn 5, he went Island, Blood Moon, and my only colored source was a Birds of Paradise. I had a Scavenging Ooze for pressure, and it was a 3/3. On his sixth turn, he Bolted my Scavenging Ooze with a Pestermite in play during his first main phase. I tapped Birds for a green to keep the Scooze alive, he went for Splinter Twin and I had the Slaughter Pact. He was trying to play around Path to Exile and dying to my Scavenging Ooze, but didn't realize I was running the Pact. I still think it was slightly better to hit the Bird on his draw step, so there is a zero percent chance he gets 2-for-1'd. I later answered the Blood Moon with Dromoka's Command and won.
Round 4: 2-1 vs RG Tron. Game 1 I had a chance to win with my turn 1 Birds, turn 2 Lingering Souls with Chord of Calling in hand to fetch the maindeck Fulminator. However, I didn't draw my third land, so I put as much on the board as I could to play around Karn Liberated, and he had the red source and Pyroclasm. I didn't want to show any more of my deck, so I conceded with just a Noble Hierarch and Chord of Calling in hand and two lands in play.
I boarded in my Fulminators, a Path, two Stony Silence, two Crumble to Dust, and Burrenton Forge-tender. I boarded out the Lingering Souls, a Voice(meant to board out both), and my Leaps (they're bad with Fulminator and unnecessary in the matchup) and some other redundant cards (not mana dorks! turn 2 Fulminator is important!). I turn 1 Thoughtseized him and saw a very risky keep of 2 Urza's Power Plant, Wurmcoil Engine, three Sylvan Scrying and Chromatic Star. I took the Star, landed a Stony Silence, played a Rhino, and killed him quickly. Game 3 was very interesting because he got Tron a couple of times and Nature's Claimed my first Stony Silence, but I had the second one. I Thoughtseized an Ugin and won a grindy affair involving several Fulminator Mages. At one point, he used Firespout to weaken my board presence of Voice of Resurgence and Kitchen Finks with no counters, but this probably cost him the game as it was his one chance to resolve Karn Liberated and answer my Stony Silence. I still think I was favored to win even if he played Karn there, but the Firespout was surely an error.
Round 5: 2-0 vs RG Tron. This was a match against a locally well-known two-time State Champion. I was on the play and kept a risky seven knowing he's on Tron and we're likely going to game two soon. I kept Gavony Township, Forest, Plains, Swamp, Temple Garden, Slaughter Pact, Lingering Souls. I ended up winning after he mulliganed to 6, I drew Fulminator Mage, Abrupt Decay(which hit his Expedition Map), and Siege Rhino. I boarded correctly this time taking out both Voice of Resurgence and won game 2 after Fulminating 3 lands, Thoughtseizing, and putting on a lot of pressure.
Round 6: 2-0 vs Grixis Twin. He didn't draw Splinter Twin when he needed it Game 2. Game 1 he never had a chance as I put on a lot of pressure and was holding up Slaughter Pact.
Round 7 + 8: ID
Top 8: 2-1 vs GW Hatebears. G1 was very easy as I just developed a board presence and put on pressure. G2 I mulliganed, kept a sketchy one-lander on the draw, and died to his early aggression. G3 looked like it could go poorly as he had a good board presence and I had to Slaughter Pact a Blade Splicer in response to his Restoration Angel targeting it, but I assembled my combo and gained a billion life.
Top 4: 1-2 vs Nacatl Burn. Game 1 I didn't know what he was on and kept a risky hand with Dark Confidant that would have been quite good in any other matchup. He had a great start with two Atarka's Command and two Monastery Swiftspear to go with his Wild Nacatl and Boros Charm to kill me. Game 2 I flooded really hard, drew four lands in a row, and drew Siege Rhino right before I would have been dying. He had a Eidolon of the Great Revel that limited his options as his life total dwindled, and my Murderous Redcap and Viscera Seer locked him out of playing any spell or attacking after he answered my Siege Rhino with a block and a Bolt. Game 3 I kept a two-lander and never drew my third land, which would have at any point enabled me to just win by casting Siege Rhino and Eidolon-locking him with his own Great Revel (and my Rhetoric).
The 4th Fulminator should likely be the 3rd Crumble to Dust anyway, I just ran it because I didn't have the third Crumble. The maindeck Fulminator won me quite a few games.
Dark Confidant is there because everyone and their mother likes to Bolt the Bird, which is a huge mistake if you follow it up Confidantly and they don't have an answer. You don't always have the other cards, also.
The only thing I'm missing from your list is the confidants. Been running Kiki Chord and Leap variations for a little bit, but I might hop back on the bandwagon. Leap is such a good card.
According to TCGPlayer, the deck is called Abzan Collected Company (how???) and on SCG it's Abzan Chord (makes a bit more sense, but Leap is the real key card and other decks play Chord)
I usually play Resto over the 3rd Rhino in this style of deck, and then the 3rd Rhino, 4th Rhino, 2nd Resto in that order, but it's preference. Having access to at least two Rhinos is really good.
Resto is expensive and doesn't necessarily do anything but get outmatched by cheaper creatures. Sometimes she's fantastic, sometimes she's awful. She's almost always a bad flip off of Confidant, where I don't mind at all revealing a Rhino (unless I'm at exactly 4 or virtual 4)
I'll probably be playing some version of this in tomorrow's Modern Mayhem tournament on MTGO. If I could get my hardware to work properly, I'd stream it, but it's not likely that will happen.
Things ended up not going as planned. Round 1 I probably misplayed to lose to a weird Esper Delve deck, though his draws in game 3 were extremely good (he had 3 Snapcasters and 2 Gurmag Anglers to my 11 lands 4 spells). Round 2 I beat Infect, and round 3 I picked up my first ever (probably - with this deck) loss to Abzan because his draws were very much better than mine and I had mana issues both games (flood in game 1, missed 4th and 5th land drop in g2 that would have easily won the game then drew nothing but land)
Hi @cbgirardo, I have a couple of questions about this deck:
Can this work without fulminator mages and Dark Confidants? I want to build something like this but I don't have any of the former and it's not likely that I will get them anytime soon.
I like playing Co-Co Anafenza, but it is a bit unreliable for my liking. Do you have similar issues with this deck?
Thanks
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-Currently playing:
Modern Project AnafenzaBGW
Modern KnightfallGRUW
Recently bought 4x tarmogoyf. Considering what to play next.
-Proud Selesnyan Guildmage and Dromoka's Follower.
Dark Confidant is totally optional like I've said. I wouldn't expect to beat Tron, Amulet, or Scapeshift without Fulminators, but you could try 4x Crumble to Dust and some number of Aven Mindcensor to try to offset that. I haven't experienced inconsistencies like with Company, because Leap is a much lower variance card. It always hits exactly one creature.
Tidehollow is neat with Leap, but Sin Collector always exiles. The fact that it only hits instants and sorceries is a drawback. Also, Tidehollow sets up more chances to get 2-for-1'd by Kolaghan's Command as it is an artifact.
I hadn't thought of using Vials in this deck. I'll try it out. Thanks for the idea!
About the combo: It's pretty much something that's just nice to have rather than your Plan A. I comboed two or three times at SCG:KC, and it's how I won my quarterfinal match.
I'm trying a Vial version online. I haven't quite figured out the right mix of creatures, spells, and lands yet, but so far it's been going okay. I have a tendency to never draw Vials, unfortunately, but it has let me play games when I never see a third land and still win.
I recently tried this deck online out of frustration of junk CoCo's inconsistency. Played a couple of matches against jund, grixis, and other not-as-popular decks. The jund games I played (3 matches) were really funny. It's like the matchup is borderline-unwinnable for them. One guy stripped my hand pretty much of all the action from my opening hand and I ended up topdecking so much value cards that he just ended up running out of stuff to deal with the threats. I imagine the junk version of GBx decks would have just a hard a time as well.
I might just get myself some more leaps on paper to try this deck out some more with our playgroup this weekend. We have 2 guys playing big-land decks (bloom and Gr tron). Looking forward to how differently this deck matches up against those decks as compared to the regular junk CoCo.
I played cbgirardo's list from that event he top 4ed. Haven't tried squeezing in vials yet. How are those working out for you guys?
Not really a Pod type list but I saw some mention Æther Vial and decided to post something I did in an old thread, Vial basically replaces the mana dorks:
-Æther Vial is the way to go with Leap imho.
-Athreos, God of Passage could provide another value angle.
-Also, with Leap in play we could do the permanent exile trick with Tidehollow Sculler.
-Thug allows for "tutor" effect once it gets going.
-All other creatures are just value, like Witness helps us get things back.
-Commune helps to find Leap, Athreos or some value creature, also our other method of getting cards in the yard for Golgari Thug, or a Lingering Souls to flashback.
Not really a Pod type list but I saw some mention Æther Vial and decided to post something I did in an old thread, Vial basically replaces the mana dorks:
-Æther Vial is the way to go with Leap imho.
-Athreos, God of Passage could provide another value angle.
-Also, with Leap in play we could do the permanent exile trick with Tidehollow Sculler.
-Thug allows for "tutor" effect once it gets going.
-All other creatures are just value, like Witness helps us get things back.
-Commune helps to find Leap, Athreos or some value creature, also our other method of getting cards in the yard for Golgari Thug, or a Lingering Souls to flashback.
-Would try and find room for 2x Sorin.
I really liked the 'pod-style' lists being discussed because it doesn't really rely on gy interactions as much.
I mean yes, there are a lot of good synergies that use the gy, but not really "putting all the eggs in that one basket", if I'm making any sense.
Kinda stingy about your semi-dredge plan because it kinda folds a lot more to gy hate than the 'pod-style' lists being discussed.
Vials are interesting. I'm not yet sure if they're better or worse. Running fewer mana dorks means you're less likely to t2 a Finks against decks like Burn, but in testing against Burn last night the vials were very good when I had them.
I also tested against Tron, lost game 1, boarded out all of the Vials and a bunch of dead cards, brought in 11 sideboard cards and crushed him in g2 and g3 with Crumble to Dust and Stony Silence.
Just played against Tron online and won the match despite somehow misclicking and leaving a Stony Silence in the board. The matchup is really quite good as it's hard to lose postboard games (about as hard as it is to win preboard games!)
Two 5-round tournaments, two 4-1 results (well, two IDs in the last round that we played out and I won).
Thursday night, I played a 5-round tournament with my old list. Friday, I changed things up a bit and tried out the Crumble to Dust plan.
Thursday:
Round 1: 2-0 vs Grixis Delver
Not much to say here, the matchup is fantastic.
Round 2: 2-0 vs UW Control
I think he was on the Yuuya Watanabe list. Very difficult for us to lose here too.
Round 3: 1-2 vs Merfolk
Game 1 I got the combo on turn 4, games 2 and 3 he had Vials on 1 and an aggressive start. Game 2 I didn't draw a third land and he used Spreading Seas to great effect. Game 3 was pretty close, but his Merrow Reejerey with Spellskite to stop my Path to Exile ended up exactly killing me the turn before I would win. Unfortunately, I never found a Worship.
Round 4: 2-0 vs Naya Zoo
Seriously, most decks in Modern are practically a bye for this deck.
Round 5: 2-1 vs RG Tron
Game 1 he got there with turn 3, 4, and 5 Karn. Game 2 I won on the back of a key Fulminator Mage activation setting him back the turn before he would start using Eye of Ugin and I managed to kill him the turn he got Wurmcoil Engine online because Evolutionary Leap was allowing me to prevent lifelink. Game 3 I won with an early Stony Silence and Thoughtseize into aggression.
Friday:
The list changes were as follows:
Main: -1 Razorverge Thicket -1 Lingering Souls +1 Stomping Ground +1 Fulminator Mage
Sideboard: -2 Worship -1 Fulminator Mage +3 Crumble to Dust
Round 1: 0-2 vs Bogles
For some reason, I keep having bad luck against this deck on paper. I've beaten it 100% of the time online with this deck. Game 1 I kept a two-land hand and never saw my third land. Game 2 I kept a three-land hand and never drew a spell.
Round 2: 2-1 vs RG Tron
Game 1 he had turn 4 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. Game 2 I won with turn 1 Birds of Paradise into turn 2 Stony Silence plus Thoughtseize into Kitchen Finks and Rhino beats. Game 3 I won with turn 3 Crumble to Dust.
Round 3: 2-0 vs UW Tron
Game 1 I had some early aggression that his turn 4 Karn Liberated did little to stop. He made a misplay by attempting to exile Kitchen Finks while I had Evolutionary Leap, but he had no chance anyway. Game 2 I won with Fulminator Mage and some attacking with Siege Rhino.
Round 4: 2-0 vs Naya Zoo
See Round 4 from Thursday.
Round 5: 2-0 vs UW Control
See Round 2 from Thursday.
Overall, I really am liking this deck's position in the metagame, especially if we can improve our bad matchups with Crumble to Dust while not hurting our good matchups. Missing Worship is unlikely to matter as it's at its best in matchups where we're already fine. Merfolk can win through it with Vapor Snag, but not through it plus creatures plus Evolutionary Leap, though that requires quite a bit of setup.
I'll go through the list and figure out what I want in the main and board over the next few days. I have a medical school exam on Tuesday, so that will probably be the first day I put real effort into it.
Preliminary list (Friday tournament list) - manabase probably needs work at the very least:
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
2 Forest
2 Gavony Township
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Temple Garden
1 Godless Shrine
1 Plains
1 Razorverge Thicket
1 Stomping Ground
1 Swamp
1 Twilight Mire
Creatures: 26
3 Birds of Paradise
3 Kitchen Finks
2 Dark Confidant
2 Noble Hierarch
2 Siege Rhino
2 Voice of Resurgence
1 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
1 Eternal Witness
1 Fulminator Mage
1 Liliana, Heretical Healer
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Spellskite
1 Viscera Seer
1 Wall of Roots
3 Abrupt Decay
3 Chord of Calling
3 Evolutionary Leap
3 Lingering Souls
3 Crumble to Dust
3 Thoughtseize
2 Fulminator Mage
2 Path to Exile
2 Stony Silence
1 Burrenton Forge-tender
1 Dromoka's Command
1 Scavenging Ooze
I retooled the manabase and cut the double-white dudes because we weren't supporting them well. With this new manabase, we will have 15 black sources (17 counting Birds as a half like Frank Karsten), 16 Green sources (19 counting dorks), 12 White sources (15 counting dorks) and 9 Red sources (11 counting dorks) for a functional manabase.
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
2 Gavony Township
2 Forest
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Swamp
1 Godless Shrine
1 Marsh Flats
1 Plains
1 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
1 Twilight Mire
Creatures: 26
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Noble Hierarch
1 Viscera Seer
2 Dark Confidant
2 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
2 Voice of Resurgence
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Spellskite
1 Wall of Roots
3 Kitchen Finks
1 Eternal Witness
1 Fulminator Mage
1 Liliana, Heretical Healer
1 Orzhov Pontiff
2 Siege Rhino
1 Murderous Redcap
3 Abrupt Decay
3 Chord of Calling
3 Evolutionary Leap
3 Lingering Souls
3 Crumble to Dust
3 Thoughtseize
2 Fulminator Mage
2 Path to Exile
2 Stony Silence
1 Burrenton Forge-tender
1 Dromoka's Command
1 Scavenging Ooze
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
That list looks really interesting, I really want to try it, but I have no Bob's yet
The Confidants replaced the fourth Lingering Souls and Linvala, Keeper of Silence. I don't think the current manabase or metagame supports or requires Linvala, so the last card could be another two-drop creature (Scavenging Ooze, another Voice of Resurgence, etc).
The reason I started running Bobs was because people tend to kill the turn-1 mana dork on reflex, which you can punish really hard by dropping a Confidant on turn 2. If they don't have another removal spell, it feels difficult to lose from there.
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
List here http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=95321
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
2 Gavony Township
2 Forest
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Swamp
1 Godless Shrine
1 Marsh Flats
1 Plains
1 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
1 Twilight Mire
Creatures: 26
3 Birds of Paradise
2 Noble Hierarch
1 Viscera Seer
2 Dark Confidant
2 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
2 Voice of Resurgence
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Spellskite
1 Wall of Roots
3 Kitchen Finks
1 Eternal Witness
1 Fulminator Mage
1 Liliana, Heretical Healer
1 Orzhov Pontiff
2 Siege Rhino
1 Murderous Redcap
3 Chord of Calling
3 Evolutionary Leap
3 Lingering Souls
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Slaughter Pact
3 Fulminator Mage
3 Thoughtseize
2 Crumble to Dust
2 Path to Exile
2 Stony Silence
1 Burrenton Forge-tender
1 Dromoka's Command
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
Matchups:
Round 1 vs Grixis Control 2-0
Round 2 vs UR Twin 2-1
Round 3 vs UR Twin 2-0
Round 4 vs RG Tron 2-1
Round 5 vs RG Tron 2-0
Round 6 vs Grixis Twin 2-0
Round 7 ID
Round 8 ID
Top 8 vs GW Hatebears 2-1
Top 4 vs Nacatl Burn 1-2 (didn't draw any lands in game 3, flooded in game 2 but still won, kept a sketchy hand g1)
Match Report:
Round 1: 2-0 vs Grixis Control. He ripped apart my hand with triple discard, landed an early Grim Lavamancer and Jace, Vryn's Prodigy that I never answered, flashed back many spells, and...promptly lost. This matchup is hilariously bad for them, as their deck cannot beat a resolved Evolutionary Leap. He made me discard my first Leap, but I Chorded for Witness to get it back. I also played very poorly in game 1, with such highlights as using Leap when I knew he had Inquisition of Kozilek in his hand, and when he was targeting Kitchen Finks with the Shock mode of Kolaghan's Command and me with the discard mode when I had no cards in hand (this binned my Murderous Redcap, which would have enabled me to win much more quickly).
Sideboarding: Largely unnecessary. I boarded in Path to Exile to answer Tasigur and potentially Olivia Voldaren. I also boarded in Eidolon of Rhetoric to stop him from playing multiple spells per turn and to embarrass Snapcaster Mage. I won game 2 quite easily after resolving my Eidolon.
Round 2: 2-1 vs UR All-In Twin. Game 1, I drew no answers to the combo and lost. Game 2, I Fulminated his second land and he never really recovered. Game 3, I got an early Spellskite that he was forced to Dismember, then I put pressure on and held up Abrupt Decay for the combo.
Round 3: 2-0 vs UR Twin. This was my deck that I lent my friend Alex, who also Top 4'd the event. Game 1 I had Abrupt Decay and pressure. Game 2 was very interesting because I had a strange manabase and was not able to fetch for basics, but he also had no basics, so I wasn't particularly worried about Blood Moon. On something like turn 5, he went Island, Blood Moon, and my only colored source was a Birds of Paradise. I had a Scavenging Ooze for pressure, and it was a 3/3. On his sixth turn, he Bolted my Scavenging Ooze with a Pestermite in play during his first main phase. I tapped Birds for a green to keep the Scooze alive, he went for Splinter Twin and I had the Slaughter Pact. He was trying to play around Path to Exile and dying to my Scavenging Ooze, but didn't realize I was running the Pact. I still think it was slightly better to hit the Bird on his draw step, so there is a zero percent chance he gets 2-for-1'd. I later answered the Blood Moon with Dromoka's Command and won.
Round 4: 2-1 vs RG Tron. Game 1 I had a chance to win with my turn 1 Birds, turn 2 Lingering Souls with Chord of Calling in hand to fetch the maindeck Fulminator. However, I didn't draw my third land, so I put as much on the board as I could to play around Karn Liberated, and he had the red source and Pyroclasm. I didn't want to show any more of my deck, so I conceded with just a Noble Hierarch and Chord of Calling in hand and two lands in play.
I boarded in my Fulminators, a Path, two Stony Silence, two Crumble to Dust, and Burrenton Forge-tender. I boarded out the Lingering Souls, a Voice(meant to board out both), and my Leaps (they're bad with Fulminator and unnecessary in the matchup) and some other redundant cards (not mana dorks! turn 2 Fulminator is important!). I turn 1 Thoughtseized him and saw a very risky keep of 2 Urza's Power Plant, Wurmcoil Engine, three Sylvan Scrying and Chromatic Star. I took the Star, landed a Stony Silence, played a Rhino, and killed him quickly. Game 3 was very interesting because he got Tron a couple of times and Nature's Claimed my first Stony Silence, but I had the second one. I Thoughtseized an Ugin and won a grindy affair involving several Fulminator Mages. At one point, he used Firespout to weaken my board presence of Voice of Resurgence and Kitchen Finks with no counters, but this probably cost him the game as it was his one chance to resolve Karn Liberated and answer my Stony Silence. I still think I was favored to win even if he played Karn there, but the Firespout was surely an error.
Round 5: 2-0 vs RG Tron. This was a match against a locally well-known two-time State Champion. I was on the play and kept a risky seven knowing he's on Tron and we're likely going to game two soon. I kept Gavony Township, Forest, Plains, Swamp, Temple Garden, Slaughter Pact, Lingering Souls. I ended up winning after he mulliganed to 6, I drew Fulminator Mage, Abrupt Decay(which hit his Expedition Map), and Siege Rhino. I boarded correctly this time taking out both Voice of Resurgence and won game 2 after Fulminating 3 lands, Thoughtseizing, and putting on a lot of pressure.
Round 6: 2-0 vs Grixis Twin. He didn't draw Splinter Twin when he needed it Game 2. Game 1 he never had a chance as I put on a lot of pressure and was holding up Slaughter Pact.
Round 7 + 8: ID
Top 8: 2-1 vs GW Hatebears. G1 was very easy as I just developed a board presence and put on pressure. G2 I mulliganed, kept a sketchy one-lander on the draw, and died to his early aggression. G3 looked like it could go poorly as he had a good board presence and I had to Slaughter Pact a Blade Splicer in response to his Restoration Angel targeting it, but I assembled my combo and gained a billion life.
Top 4: 1-2 vs Nacatl Burn. Game 1 I didn't know what he was on and kept a risky hand with Dark Confidant that would have been quite good in any other matchup. He had a great start with two Atarka's Command and two Monastery Swiftspear to go with his Wild Nacatl and Boros Charm to kill me. Game 2 I flooded really hard, drew four lands in a row, and drew Siege Rhino right before I would have been dying. He had a Eidolon of the Great Revel that limited his options as his life total dwindled, and my Murderous Redcap and Viscera Seer locked him out of playing any spell or attacking after he answered my Siege Rhino with a block and a Bolt. Game 3 I kept a two-lander and never drew my third land, which would have at any point enabled me to just win by casting Siege Rhino and Eidolon-locking him with his own Great Revel (and my Rhetoric).
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
Dark Confidant is there because everyone and their mother likes to Bolt the Bird, which is a huge mistake if you follow it up Confidantly and they don't have an answer. You don't always have the other cards, also.
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
Resto is expensive and doesn't necessarily do anything but get outmatched by cheaper creatures. Sometimes she's fantastic, sometimes she's awful. She's almost always a bad flip off of Confidant, where I don't mind at all revealing a Rhino (unless I'm at exactly 4 or virtual 4)
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
Can this work without fulminator mages and Dark Confidants? I want to build something like this but I don't have any of the former and it's not likely that I will get them anytime soon.
I like playing Co-Co Anafenza, but it is a bit unreliable for my liking. Do you have similar issues with this deck?
Thanks
Modern Project AnafenzaBGW
Modern KnightfallGRUW
Recently bought 4x tarmogoyf. Considering what to play next.
-Proud Selesnyan Guildmage and Dromoka's Follower.
-Level 1 Judge
Tidehollow is neat with Leap, but Sin Collector always exiles. The fact that it only hits instants and sorceries is a drawback. Also, Tidehollow sets up more chances to get 2-for-1'd by Kolaghan's Command as it is an artifact.
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
About the combo: It's pretty much something that's just nice to have rather than your Plan A. I comboed two or three times at SCG:KC, and it's how I won my quarterfinal match.
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
I might just get myself some more leaps on paper to try this deck out some more with our playgroup this weekend. We have 2 guys playing big-land decks (bloom and Gr tron). Looking forward to how differently this deck matches up against those decks as compared to the regular junk CoCo.
I played cbgirardo's list from that event he top 4ed. Haven't tried squeezing in vials yet. How are those working out for you guys?
Not really a Pod type list but I saw some mention Æther Vial and decided to post something I did in an old thread, Vial basically replaces the mana dorks:
Rough Draft:
4x Golgari Thug
4x Doomed Traveler
3x Voice of Resurgence
3x Tidehollow Sculler
2x Eternal Witness
1x Athreos, God of Passage
4x Æther Vial
4x Lingering Souls
4x Commune with the Gods
3x Evolutionary Leap
2x Abrupt Decay
3x Path to Exile
23 Lands
-Æther Vial is the way to go with Leap imho.
-Athreos, God of Passage could provide another value angle.
-Also, with Leap in play we could do the permanent exile trick with Tidehollow Sculler.
-Thug allows for "tutor" effect once it gets going.
-All other creatures are just value, like Witness helps us get things back.
-Commune helps to find Leap, Athreos or some value creature, also our other method of getting cards in the yard for Golgari Thug, or a Lingering Souls to flashback.
-Would try and find room for 2x Sorin.
Twitch: gamerchamp
Modern: UGrand Architect, UBTezzeret Control, UBWRG Bridge From Below (Dredge)
Legacy: UWGTrue-Name Bant
I really liked the 'pod-style' lists being discussed because it doesn't really rely on gy interactions as much.
I mean yes, there are a lot of good synergies that use the gy, but not really "putting all the eggs in that one basket", if I'm making any sense.
Kinda stingy about your semi-dredge plan because it kinda folds a lot more to gy hate than the 'pod-style' lists being discussed.
imho.
I also tested against Tron, lost game 1, boarded out all of the Vials and a bunch of dead cards, brought in 11 sideboard cards and crushed him in g2 and g3 with Crumble to Dust and Stony Silence.
Just played against Tron online and won the match despite somehow misclicking and leaving a Stony Silence in the board. The matchup is really quite good as it's hard to lose postboard games (about as hard as it is to win preboard games!)
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
Cool concept though