Re: UW:
UW Control is in my extensive experience the single worst matchup. Granted, I played it mostly during the Eldrazi era, where they had 5 main deck sweepers and 4 Path got complemented by D-Sphere and Condemn...I'll keep saying it, the nature of our decks makes us very, very bad against Wrath of God effects. I've played this matchup 10+ times and won 10-20% of the games. the UW control variant seems to be playing the thopter synergy. I agree that a single well-timed boardwipe will blow us out of the water, but considering the game yesterday, I know I have a chance to win if I drew either a vial or cavern because that will help set an advantage for us, negating their counterspells. But in the end, luck...
Re: Specific cards: Gideon, Ally of Zendikar comes in solely against Jund, Abzan, Mardu, that kind of deck for me. And i strongly believe it's our best SB card for those matchups. I've played the matchups plenty of times. Never lost after casting this. Yes, but 2-offs seems to clutter the 4-drop slot. I'm playing Chameleon Colossus as well. If it doesn't work then I'll bring back up to 2 Gideons. But for the moment, 1-1 split on Gideon and Chameleon Colossus is my current sideboard
Suppression Field will hurt you too, beware. You have 6 Fetch lands and 4 Vials. Plus, what "Major combo decks" are you fighting with it? The biggest combo decks in the meta are Scapeshift, Abzan Coco, Kiki Chord and Infect. It's a dead card against 2 and you can do much better against the creature decks (Path for example) Admittedly I overlooked that, but in G2 onwards I usually will side out Vials. In all my games so far, I only see 1-2 fetches per game. Either because the games don't drag that long, and/or 4 encampment and 4 caverns will precede over fetches in drawing odds. (sadly enough, against UW, NONE of the fetches, Cavern nor ally encampment came out..)
Furthermore, it's also a mindset to sacrifice. Suppression field may hurt me, but if I can shut down combo decks like coco abzan, kiki chord, grishoalbrand, why not? Against other decks like TRON and affinity it works well for the early game. Also, Field effectively soft-lock thopter combo. As repeat, yes, it may hurt me, but I personally think the sacrifice is necessary to stop the opponent.
Boros Charm is a card I can't justify main decking. My creature count is at 28 and I will never go lower...Vial/CoCo help the strategy MUCH more and it's really far behind Path in a competition for the last few slots... It's a test trial to see if it works, and it does work. But against grinder MUs or hard-to-push damage through games, the last 4 damage or the other 2 modes works. On paper. I'm quite split in whether to MD it after yesterday's games. I feel the deck got heavy in the mana base, requiring more fixing though topdecking it is actually good. So I'm split.
Why do you expect Torpor Orb out of Grishoalbrand's Sideboard? I've barely ever seen it there. Go check their forums or mtgtop8...there's an average of 0.1 copies in the sideboard apparently. I don't know, I'm a scaredy cat and I just fear Torpor Orb and hushwing gryff in all decks
UW Control:
Yeah, UW these days should be less bad. Them running Thopter/Sword is better for us than them running more sweepers and more removal. I was very much thinking of the deck back in the Eldrazi era of a month or so ago.
Gideon:
You're right, 2 total copies of Gideon/Colossus should be enough. I run 1 Gideon 0 Colossus personally...
Field:
The generally played hate cards here would be Rest in Peace which shuts off Thopter/Sword, Melira Combo and Grishoalbrand while also being very good against the Snapcaster/Tasigur/GDD/Goyf decks or Stony Silence which shuts off Affinity, Tron and Thopter/Sword (and your vial :/)
Torpor Orb:
I see. I've lost to Torpor Orb a few times, it's not really a common card though. Unless you know your local players to bring them in, you shouldn't board in hate specifically for them unless you see them in G2...
Draw Spells:
Assuming 28 creatures, Lead the Stampede hits 2.33 on average. Gambit hits 2 every time. The card quality from Lead will always be better. You'll have 3 mana in play so won't necessarily want lands. Lead the Stampede will give you 2.33 creatures, Gambit 2 random cards. I think that's enough of an edge to make Lead better than the Proliferate makes Gambit. So it's Lead the Stampede for me. I'd evaluate it differently in a Scales build with 20+ creatures that get counters though...although, there I'd probably run Inspiring Call anyways.
Thanks fo the solid analysis. I'm taking a break over the next 2 weeks because of work-related matters. Meantime, I'll KIV on lead the stampede as a 2-off instead of 1-off I am currently playing.
For the moment, I'll stick to MB boros charm. But it doesn't work, those will be dropped for 2 lead the stampede.
changed up the mana base to ensure a better RWfixing for boros charm. a split on fetches 1-2-2 (mesa, wooded, heath) gives a better colour fixing, taking to account that my sideboard is also quite heavy on red as well. 5th basic land is added to ensure I get the basic lands in the event of path to exile removals or simply because to fetch a basic land.
I decided to drop 1 lantern scout because of the heavy 3 mana drops I have. 4 kabira, 2 firemantle and a single lantern scout give 7 pieces, which should be optimal in an aggro deck. In replacement of the slot, I decided to try 1x Kor bladewhirl for more combat tricks. Let's see how that works out.
"Field:
The generally played hate cards here would be Rest in Peace which shuts off Thopter/Sword, Melira Combo and Grishoalbrand while also being very good against the Snapcaster/Tasigur/GDD/Goyf decks or Stony Silence which shuts off Affinity, Tron and Thopter/Sword (and your vial :/)"
Okay, I'm convinced to run 2 rest in peace instead. However, against TRON, the sideboard now seems lackluster. Nevertheless, aggression should pressure them out since I'm running boros charm mainboard.
With 50 matches under this version's belt, I feel pretty good about the main points and finally posting something instead of just lurking. Especially now that Eldrazi winter is over and I don't have to fight through all the anti-Eldrazi hate. The complete match record and design notes are over at WurG Vial Allies on TappedOut.
Current record is 28-22-2 at 9 Thursday Night Modern 4 round tournaments, 4 challenge matches, an SCG IQ, and SCG states. Records against deck types I've played at least 3 times are: Eldrazi 0-2-1 (3-5-1); Infect 2-2 (4-5); Jund 4-1 (10-7); Junk 2-1 (5-4); Merfolk 2-2 (6-5); Scapeshift/Loam 1-2 (4-4); Splinter Twin 1-2 (2-4); Zoo/Naya 3-0 (6-1).
A few thoughts on how this one might differ a little
19 lands seems just fine, but it means I'm not using R or U for anything except allies I can also cast with Cavern and Encampment. Having fewer lands also balances out having a few more non-creature spells.
The Captain's Claws have worked well (especially triggering Battlesinger/Evangel/Ondu), and I've been a lot happier with it than I was with Hardened Scales. On turn 1 I want vial, on turn 2 harabaz, and this is just fine on 3 or later since those other two have helped cast things.
I haven't played around with Eerie Interlude or Return to the Ranks much at all yet, and will either mess around with them here, or put together a straightforward scales-allies deck to shake things up (Naya? Abazan? no-U? -- any thoughts?).
Went 2-0-1 during Swiss today, then lost during the semi-finals. Small event, only 8 players, so not exactly telling results:
- Round 1, won 2-0 against mono-green ramp. Not exactly shocking when you can walk around them with Kabira Evangel.
- Round 2, won 2-0 against Abzan Midrange Control. I won game 1 on the strength of 2 things: a) I opted to mainboard 2 Leyline of Sanctitys exactly for this matchup, and b) he mulliganed down to 5, and while I didn't have natural Leyline in my opening hand, I drew one turn 2 and, because I cast a Noble Hierarch on turn 2, I was able to drop it turn 3. Then game two I got him with a hand that had no aggression but lots of stopping power. I had natural Leyline in play turn 1, and then I was able to Path to Exile both a Tarmogoyf and a Voice of Resurgence. After that, I was able to fade creatures off the top, triggering everything I played every turn.
- Round 3, I ID'd with Infect.
Alas, in the semi-finals of top 4, I lost to Tron. I won game one because, while he had natural Tron in hand, he didn't have anything to play with it except Oblivion Stone, which he would have cast and activated turn 4. He sandbagged it masterfully, playing a non-tron land on turn 3, bit I was able to do lethal next turn, so he never got it down. I lost game 2 and 3 to turn 2 Torpor Orb, being unable to find a piece of artifact removal both games. Game 3 I was able to get some good damage in thanks to Mirror Entity, but then he dropped World Breaker to both stonewall me and blow up my Stony Silence. I dropped a couple more guys the next turn in hopes that I could go wide the turn after that with Mirror Entity, but then he dropped Karn and exiled it. That was pretty much it, and Tron went on to beat a different Abzan Midrange Control deck in the finals.
Anyone have thought of adding 4 halimar excavators for the extra push to remove or limit opponents' resources? It seems tempting against a lot of decks on paper.
yea something similar to the first link. Sea gate loremaster? I love that card but how good is that in modern? It's good if you have 2-3 ally creatures on board, if not it's a pretty sad card for 5 mana.
Round 1: 2-1 vs. Jund
Game 1 I take a mulligan to 6 and keep a good hand. He has Decay for my Blademaster and Pulse for double Battlesinger. But I get him low quickly. We both run out of resources, I eventually draw another Battlesinger and with him at 2 it's lethal. Game 2 I mull to 6 again. He has good answers for all my threats and I eventually get Kolaghan's Commanded with Evangel, Battlesinger, Path in hand. I decide I need both my creatures to win. He then slams Kalitas and starts taking over the game. Perhaps my decision was wrong. Regardless, I have a final turn to draw Collected and hit a Battlesinger + anything to swing for lethal. I actually draw CoCo, but no Battlesinger. Game 3 I get under him. hard. I win T4 through Bolt, Goyf, Scooze.
Round 2: 0-2 vs. Mono White Death and Taxes (guy ends up winning)
This is the game I feel I should have won. This matchup is far better than the one vs. Jund which is even-ish...basically they have to have T3 Blade Splicer followed by multiple Flicker effects for the following turns, because nothing they play matters other than lots of First striking Golems. Saw his list later. It's 3 Blade Splicer, 4 Flickerwisp, 2 Restoration Angel. Both games he had T3 Splicer, G1 he had 3 flicker effects, G2 he had 4. Meanwhile on my side: 0 Collected Company, 0 Akoum Battlesinger, 0 Path to Exile to remove the Splicers in both games. Ah well...
Round 3: 0-2 vs. RG Tron
Well, I lost the die roll (3rd time this tournament lol) and on the draw the matchup is pretty bad. I mull to 5 G1 and keep a hand that's ok, but unlikely to kill him on T3 or T4. Turns out he kept Tower, Tower, Mine, Power Plant, Karn, Ugin, Ulamog...yeah...not winning that.
G2 I mull to 6 and keep a 1 land hand that wins on T4 guaranteed with a 2nd land on the scry, T2 or T3 draw. Regardless of their T3 play of Karn or Wurmcoil or whatever...yeah, didn't draw the land.
Round 4: 2-0 vs. Naya Zoo
Creature decks. Easy really. Not much to talk about...your creatures grow bigger, they often can't block, you have instant speed tricks with Vial and Coco and they don't...
Round 5: 2-0 vs. Eldrazi Taxes
G1 I had 1 land and 2 Vials. All game. Still happy with it though, he was a friend of mine and drew 8 or 9 lands instead which was definitely worse. I mean, I won with 3 Coco and Path in hand that I couldn't cast but still less dead cards than all his excess lands.
G2 we both started fairly slowly. Twice that game he vialled in a hand disruption creature on my draw step and both times I responded with CoCo. The second time after just drawing it. Was pretty lucky that game. Ended the game the second time that happened with 2 Battlesingers and a Clone of them in play and +6/+0 across 6 or 7 creatures...
Looks good. I'm quite surprised that you actually beat Jund. I have never won RG Tron and Jund to date with my deck. RG Tron and Eldrazi is a terrible MU for us. I guess we probably have to cater at least 2 slots against Tron variants.
Side note: I have tried captain's claw and the final verdict is this: It slows us down by 1 turn (if played on t2), but it makes up for the next turn attack to drop a free 1/1 body. In theory, it is best with akoumn battlesinger or good with any of the Ally that gives you evasion. 1-2 off is probably okay. I'll keep testing for more results and I'll post it here. So far, I haven't been doing well with the deck lately. I'm tuning the sideboard to level the chance against these MUs, which IMO is the worst MU in the meta now
I have a very decent win rate vs. Jund...I think it's like 60-70% in 10+ matches...Their game plan is to just grind out a card advantage plan with lots of 1 for 1 trading going on. You have a good amount of tricks (Vial, Ally Encampment) to effectively counter some of their cards and something like Collected Company is a beating for them. And we have the added benefit of playing a deck that can just nut draw and go under pretty much anything...SB threats like Gideon, Ally of Zendikar are amazing too. I've never seen them beat the card...
Tron is bad, yes. It got worse now that they're all playing Kozilek's Return...it used to be literally play/draw decided. Because you have a very good chance of killing them on T4 on the play up to which point they barely interact, if at all. But you have barely any chance of beating O-Stone/Ugin on the draw...
The problem is it's hard to hate out. I don't think Crumble to Dust is for us. If we're on the play we want to spend that T4 ending the game, on the draw we've probably just lost our board and it won't matter anyway...I've tried Stony Silence which can do a great job against them. But whenever I have it they just have 0 Eggs or Stones or Maps and just go natural tron, Karn, Ugin every time...Tron is the only deck other than UW Control I have a negative win rate against.
Infect/Grishoalbrand really don't seem to be popular here. I imagine Infect is a pretty bad matchup...as long as they don't stumble and the infected they're relying on has evasion, so Nexus/Agent, they'll just be faster than us.
Grishotlbrand similar, all we can hope is that they lose to themselves because they are quite inconsistent. And our matchup isn't especially bad, I mean we provide a very solid clock against combo...
Creature decks are basically always favourable. Colourless Creatures less so. I've never lost a game to Death & Taxes where they haven't gone T3 Splicer and flickered it at least twice...that matchup is good. A lot of their cards just don't matter...We barely get taxed by Leonin Arbiter since we only run 4 fetches and can just crack one on T1 if we have it...only helps their Paths/GQs...Thalia isn't good against a deck with 28 creatures...Dryad Militant, Judge's Familiar, Aven Mindcensor follow the same train of thought. A lot of their cards are just bad in the matchup.
Mill I have no clue. Assuming they run Crypt Incursion and Ensnaring Bridge (as lists I've seen lately do) we'll likely lose. If they're straight up milling us we'll just be faster.
I have a very decent win rate vs. Jund...I think it's like 60-70% in 10+ matches...Their game plan is to just grind out a card advantage plan with lots of 1 for 1 trading going on. You have a good amount of tricks (Vial, Ally Encampment) to effectively counter some of their cards and something like Collected Company is a beating for them. And we have the added benefit of playing a deck that can just nut draw and go under pretty much anything...SB threats like Gideon, Ally of Zendikar are amazing too. I've never seen them beat the card... Yes... I boarded those cards, but... bad draw. Also, the pilot of the deck I faced is a very skilled player so I really take my hat off him. Faced him a few times but my win rate is 0. In fact, I just somehow never draw into any of my sideboard threats like Chameleon Colossus and Gideon against them... Return to the Ranks is technically a good card against them, but the timing to use the card is crucial. Especially against S.Ooze around...
Tron is bad, yes. It got worse now that they're all playing Kozilek's Return...it used to be literally play/draw decided. Because you have a very good chance of killing them on T4 on the play up to which point they barely interact, if at all. But you have barely any chance of beating O-Stone/Ugin on the draw...
The problem is it's hard to hate out. I don't think Crumble to Dust is for us. If we're on the play we want to spend that T4 ending the game, on the draw we've probably just lost our board and it won't matter anyway...I've tried Stony Silence which can do a great job against them. But whenever I have it they just have 0 Eggs or Stones or Maps and just go natural tron, Karn, Ugin every time...Tron is the only deck other than UW Control I have a negative win rate against. Tron variants is by far the most hated MUs for me. Still need to find a way to play around them. Somehow. Yes, I was discussing with friends who played Tron. Crumble/sowing salt is not really a good card against them. The best bet is still Stony Silence. But that alone stalls until we can beat them or they just simply natural tron us. More work to be done here. I'll look into the MTG collections for other possible tech. Maybe Gaddock Teeg as a start?
Infect/Grishoalbrand really don't seem to be popular here. I imagine Infect is a pretty bad matchup...as long as they don't stumble and the infected they're relying on has evasion, so Nexus/Agent, they'll just be faster than us.
Grishotlbrand similar, all we can hope is that they lose to themselves because they are quite inconsistent. And our matchup isn't especially bad, I mean we provide a very solid clock against combo... I'll say 50-50 overall against combo? If I (we) manage to pressure quickly, I think it's a good chance we can easily take advantage of their inconsistency and win? I won against Infect once. Just keep blocking if possible. Don't bother about removing their creatures. We are light on removals; just smash in. They will be easily overwhelmed by turns 4-5, forcing them to go on the defensive. Once Kabira Evangel lands, it's game over for them. The only concern about blighted agent and Inkmoth is that they are somewhat a turn slower than the elf dude. They also won't necessarily blow out their pumps and evasion if you don't remove their creatures. The evasion is there to protect their creatures. Pump spells to win the block and make their creature survive. Hence, I think we may have a decent game against them. Just watch out for the unorthodox players which goes all or nothing.
Grishoalbrand is quite consistent once they draw into one of their pieces. It's a glass cannon deck. I went 1-2 against an experienced pilot of the deck. He mentioned that Grave hate will flat out stop the deck, but the reliance should be on the damage pressure. I always say these during games, "I only can win by being faster than you." I think this really applies to a lot if not most of the games I faced.
Creature decks are basically always favourable. Colourless Creatures less so. I've never lost a game to Death & Taxes where they haven't gone T3 Splicer and flickered it at least twice...that matchup is good. A lot of their cards just don't matter...We barely get taxed by Leonin Arbiter since we only run 4 fetches and can just crack one on T1 if we have it...only helps their Paths/GQs...Thalia isn't good against a deck with 28 creatures...Dryad Militant, Judge's Familiar, Aven Mindcensor follow the same train of thought. A lot of their cards are just bad in the matchup. Generally Creature MUs will be a favourable match. I agree with this statement. We can out-grind Eldrazi, but maybe brick-walled against the Tron variant and regarding D&T I have yet to face them. I did face a variant of Eldrazi D&T. Ally can easily outgrind like any creature deck. I'll look into that more when I have more data regarding the D&T MU.
Mill I have no clue. Assuming they run Crypt Incursion and Ensnaring Bridge (as lists I've seen lately do) we'll likely lose. If they're straight up milling us we'll just be faster. Yes, I have yet to play against them. On paper, Return to the Ranks will be an all-star here. The sideboard tech will be rather interesting actually
Side note, I went 3-0 again in my modern event. 2-0 actually, with the last game split with the win to my favour.
I think I am more or less pretty settled with the list, except for a few changes. Firstly, Captain's claw is still a card which hangs very closely to being cut. I managed to play it once in my round 2. While it did work like how it was supposed to work on paper, I have to face the realisation that attrition is very high in Modern. The card is strong to push steam in the late game where the board is pretty weak and we are off top-decking, but in the early game, it's a very dull card compared to having another ally or Collected Company. Regardless, it's still a considerable choice which needs more data before making a decision.
Round 1: Tempered Steel deck (2-1)
Basically this deck revolves around 2 cards: Tempered Steel and Salvage Titan. It's a very kinky combo, but very powerful when played right. Well, the deck is not really tuned well as compared to the Affinity counterpart, so it got wrecked pretty easily. I went 2-1 because I made a mistake to drop a shockland, bringing myself to 6 life. Salvage titan is 6/4, so by removing my only blocker, he got through and won that game. However in my last game, the board became overwhelmed on my side and he could not deal it. I had a path to exile on hand to remove the salvage titan on the board and basically just aggro-ed to win.
Round 2: Jeskai Harbinger (2-1)
Well, this is a very interesting MU. This is the game that I cast captain's claw and this is the reason why it didn't work as well as I wanted it to. In the first game I lost due to the number of bolts, paths, helix and a frick'n Nahiri on board. I just scooped the first game once Nahiri hits 8 loyalty. Games 2 was pretty straightforward. Drop ally with aether vial and Cavern of souls, seal the deal with lantern scout and just swing in for ample damage and gain life beyond reach. Third game is a very close fight. I managed to punch in a bit of damage before the opponent managed to stabilize and got rid of my ally. The pivotal point is when I dropped a Kabira Evangel with Akoum Battlesinger. As I declared attack with the two, the opponent decided to drop 2 path to exile straight on my 2 creatures. I almost wanted to sweep the board allowing the spell to resolve, but I then remembered I had a Kazandu Blademaster on board with a aether vial at 2 charge counters. So I managed to save everyone by dropping him on board and gained protection against white. The rest of the match is just more removals until I'm left with a single ally. I top-decked a firemantle mage and swung in for lethal with my opponent having just 1 Vendilion clique unable to block.
I'm pretty set that if I were to run removals, a 2-1 or 1-2 split of path to exile would be the way to do it. I have tried running 3 in main and that probably just clutters the space for collected company. I ran 3 in the side in the previous iteration and it is very effective in the draw rate and it's rather well balanced with the ratio of non-creatures to collected company hit rate. However, having absolutely no removals in the main renders some of my MUs to be really bad when I just need 1 or 2 removals to clear the way. At the moment, path to exile is the best removal. I may try condemn but it's rather limited as compared to the former.
Lead the stampede is decent but it is falling out of favour for me in a lot of MU. It does its job and when combined with Harabaz Druid. However, I feel that too many hoops had to be jumped through before I can actually get the value out of it. I'll probably relegate it to the sideboard or disregard it completely.
So for now, I probably put my re-worked list to be as shown below:
Another quick update for today's event. I went 1-2 overall.
Round 1: Jund (1-2)
For some *****ty reason, I just cannot draw into Gideon or Chameleon colossus. Period. I manage to outrace my opponent in G2, but just fall flat in game 3 with NO appearance of Kabira evangel.
Round 2: Dredgevine (2-0)
Quite a cakewalk if Vengevine is not in the graveyard. The whole deck revolves getting them into play. Their aggressive tech is also not as explosive nor as consistent as ally. G2 Gnaw to bone is really an irritating card with them gaining 10 life easily. But, I easily punched hard enough with him eventually running out of gnaws to gain life. I also had Lantern scout on the board to gain life against his offensive.
Round 3: Elves (0-2)
No chance. They are faster than us. I had a glimmer of hope in G2 when my opponent was at 2 life. I was hoping hard to top-deck another collected company or Kabira evangel to seal the game. But, no...... Kabira Evangel did not appear. My opponent managed to gain life up to 7 life with essence warden and recovered the board. From there, It's just a downhill. a joraga warcaller kicked 5x is simply a game ender for me.
In a lot of my games, I am getting land flooded and getting not the correct answers. Regardless, I'm still happy with the deck with a few exceptions
Captain's claw is proven to be a dead card. I know this comment will draw a lot of disagreement, but hear me out. It's a win-more card which it will benefit with things on board already giving you some advantage. The purpose of this card is to out-grind the opponent. But, in many cases where I have this card, the out-grind doesn't perform. In all cases I wished I rather have path to exile or lead the stampede. Secondly, it is ideal against midrange deck. But, let's face realistic play. Attrition spells are all-time high and in fact, those MUs which captain's claw is supposed to be good against do not need the card at all. In the games which captain's claw is ideal, I won without it. In fact, there was never once I was hoping to draw into captain's claw. Hence, for the reasons above, Captain's claw is now removed from my 75.
Path to exile works decent as a 1-2 split. With regards to the removal of captain's claw, I'll change up to a 2-1 split. For the remaining slot, I'll try either boros charm or Lead the Stampede as a replacement. Those 2 cards are for attrition matches like Jund and Tron, where the removals are high. I'm leaning in favor of boros charm for the utility, but Lead the stampede helps to refill the hand in late games. More on this while I test them out.
With the changes, my decklist should look something like this:
On a side note, I may test 2-3x Halimar excavator to wreck games. The option to mill my opponent and limit their options while pressuring them is very tempting actually.
Another quick update for today's event. I went 1-2 overall.
Round 1: Jund (1-2)
For some *****ty reason, I just cannot draw into Gideon or Chameleon colossus. Period. I manage to outrace my opponent in G2, but just fall flat in game 3 with NO appearance of Kabira evangel.
Round 2: Dredgevine (2-0)
Quite a cakewalk if Vengevine is not in the graveyard. The whole deck revolves getting them into play. Their aggressive tech is also not as explosive nor as consistent as ally. G2 Gnaw to bone is really an irritating card with them gaining 10 life easily. But, I easily punched hard enough with him eventually running out of gnaws to gain life. I also had Lantern scout on the board to gain life against his offensive.
Round 3: Elves (0-2)
No chance. They are faster than us. I had a glimmer of hope in G2 when my opponent was at 2 life. I was hoping hard to top-deck another collected company or Kabira evangel to seal the game. But, no...... Kabira Evangel did not appear. My opponent managed to gain life up to 7 life with essence warden and recovered the board. From there, It's just a downhill. a joraga warcaller kicked 5x is simply a game ender for me.
In a lot of my games, I am getting land flooded and getting not the correct answers. Regardless, I'm still happy with the deck with a few exceptions
Captain's claw is proven to be a dead card. I know this comment will draw a lot of disagreement, but hear me out. It's a win-more card which it will benefit with things on board already giving you some advantage. The purpose of this card is to out-grind the opponent. But, in many cases where I have this card, the out-grind doesn't perform. In all cases I wished I rather have path to exile or lead the stampede. Secondly, it is ideal against midrange deck. But, let's face realistic play. Attrition spells are all-time high and in fact, those MUs which captain's claw is supposed to be good against do not need the card at all. In the games which captain's claw is ideal, I won without it. In fact, there was never once I was hoping to draw into captain's claw. Hence, for the reasons above, Captain's claw is now removed from my 75.
Path to exile works decent as a 1-2 split. With regards to the removal of captain's claw, I'll change up to a 2-1 split. For the remaining slot, I'll try either boros charm or Lead the Stampede as a replacement. Those 2 cards are for attrition matches like Jund and Tron, where the removals are high. I'm leaning in favor of boros charm for the utility, but Lead the stampede helps to refill the hand in late games. More on this while I test them out.
With the changes, my decklist should look something like this:
On a side note, I may test 2-3x Halimar excavator to wreck games. The option to mill my opponent and limit their options while pressuring them is very tempting actually.
I think that to include Kalastria Healer is a great way to face against most matchups and also playing one/two rally the ancestors would surprise some decks.
I think that to include Kalastria Healer is a great way to face against most matchups and also playing one/two rally the ancestors would surprise some decks.
This is a beatdown deck. Kalastria Healer does a worse job than our other 2 drops at what we're trying to accomplish and Rally the Ancestors gives the deck a combo finish after our creatures have already died...which is neat, but not where we're taking this. If we want a similar effect, it's permanent recursion out of the sideboard for grindy matchups, cards like Return to the Ranks.
@xxDSJJxx: Too much to quote everything I think. Thanks for the continuous input.
I'm still very happy with the main deck removal I'm running (4 Path). Lead the Stampede has good and bad matchups, as you said, so I think if I'm to run it, it'll be a sideboard thing. Still actually haven't tried a Return to the Ranks in the board because for some reason I don't have one and the store doesn't have one and I've never really bothered to order one...but should be a good SB card too.
And I do agree with you that Captain's Claws doesn't cut it in modern. It's been my opinion since the first few testing games...
Also agree with most matchup analysis...a few comments:
I've actually just played Dredge for two events (4-0, 3-1) and it feels very powerful. I ran a Gargadon/Bridge list, no Vengevine/Bloodghast rubbish...I dunno, it felt really strong...
I've played Elves 3 times (win, win, draw). Kabira Evangel usually ends the game on the spot. I have never lost to them being faster than me, but have won by being faster a few times. I think the only game I lost was in the draw. G1, took 43 minutes, saw 26 cards from my library and no Evangels or I would have won. Combat every turn was math whether he could activate Ezuri, Renegade Leader twice or three times...kept swinging back with lifelink and he'd just regenerate blockers...he eventually got enough mana to overrun I think 4 times and won. (G2 I attacked for 18 T3 and won T4 for a draw). So from my experience it's not faster than us. This is a matchup where I think I really profit from running Path main for those Ezuris/Warcallers...
Also got some testing done against the Bant Eldrazi list that popped up all over SCG lately...It's like 80-20 in our favour pre sideboard. We're just so much faster than them and by the time they put out Smasher/Seer we have 4/5s or 5/5s or bigger...Post board they get Timely Reinforcements and Engineered Explosives which can tilt the matchup, but overall I still think we're favoured even though we have to board out our best card (Evangel)...
Hard as I might try to avoid, but I'm really blaming luck in some of my games. I can go through almost an entire night of MTG without seeing the cards I need, so I guess luck is really a factor in games as well.
I'll test 2-1 split of my paths this week. It should work better now that I'm running 2 pieces. The third piece is sideboard against more irritating MUs. But, as of now, I think 2 should be the minimum.
I haven't seen the Gargadon/Bridge list. But, Vengevine/Bloodghast list is basically just to dig out for the Venegevine and using zombies and Bloodghast to play early game attrition and recurring bodies. I think the list is quite self-conflicting in what it does, but it is explosive. When it plans to do gets activated, the board and damage can be quite explosive. Then again, if it doesn't, the deck is a sitting duck for us.
Eldrazi MUs I would think it's a rather straight-forward MU. It's only the Tron variant (and all forms of Tron) that gives me problems.
Disastrous day for today. I technically went 0-2 but my score reflected is 2-1 (got a bye and last opponent gave me the win as I was paired down).
Round 1: Titanfall
I'm not fast enough. I realised my deck is not really lacking in anything, but a favorable draw. I'm still not drawing the cards I need. I won game 1 quite easily. But, games 2 and 3 is just getting land jam and tilt when my opponent played scapeshift and through the breach to Emrakul to win the game. Life gain works. But, it's just the draws that are costing me games.
Round 2: Bye
Round 3: UR Breach / Blue Moon
Not too sure what is the proper name of the deck. This deck plays through the breach, blood moon, counterspells. I don't have the push to get through damage, but the opponent is desperate enough to play anger of the gods twice to clear the game. I suppose that the deck is doing okay for the match as for this game I'm not playing seriously so I really cannot comment much on this game as a proper match-up analysis.
Overall, this may be the worst performance my deck has put up. I found myself siding out Kor Bladewhirl the most in my games 2 and 3. Hence, I'll drop that and move ondu cleric back up to Mainboard. However, I'm not too keen on playing 2 pieces mainboard. Probably 1-1 split in main and side. This leaves another slot free, which I'm contemplating to play either of the following:
For now, path to exile takes the slot as the 3rd piece in the deck.
As for sideboard, I'll need to have a relook and rework it completely. It's not that it is a bad sideboard, but I just feel that there are better slots and cards to be utilized. For instance against TRON MU, one of the worst MU IMO, the sideboard is not really properly tuned to level the playing field.
Edit:
Reworked the deck by looking at the past discussions and also to analyse my older lists and other successful lists to see what works, and what doesn't.
Changes
1x Jwari Shapeshifter <-> Kor Bladewhirl
The latter is fine, but I think that I would want the 5th copy of Akoum Battlesinger / Kazandu Blademaster / etc.
1x Ondu Cleric (Mainboard)
Ondu Cleric is proven in my meta and in most games to be a solid grind engine. A 1-1 split in my deck as too many of him can also clutter the 2-drop and reduce my deck's attack power.
1x Reflecting Pool <-> 1x Mountain
I'm testing this out. I may drop this and put back Mountains if I have a harder time casting my sideboard cards. But, theoretically, it should work better.
Sideboard (15)
2x Boros Charm
Against decks are either heavy in attrition or I require utility. Probably against MUs with heavy board-wipes like TRON, U/X controls, R/x combo, and maybe against Jund(?)
1x Kataki, War's Wage ---> TukTuk scrapper
I can swear by Tuktuk... He's incredibly powerful against not affinity. Tuktuk is best against lantern control decks. As I don't really see that deck around, Kataki takes the slot. But, I'll swap interchangeably for those 2 cards.
1x Lead the Stampede
Against grindy games. I really need this card to refuel my hand.
2x Stony Silence -----> Up 1
Better hate against most artifact MUs, and TRON.
1x Wear / Tear -----> Drop 1
Not so good against tron. But losing 1 means lesser stuff against boggles...
Comment on what you think about the changes. I'll test this in the next event.
Jwari Shapeshifter is a 2 drop I've had good success with personally and isn't yet in your list, maybe you could try that. I board them out against removal heavy decks, but having an additional copy of your best ally (Battlesinger whenever possible) is sick. You obviously know how good Battlesinger is especially in multiples and this for me acts like copies 5 and 6...
Yes, he's blue. I run Vial, Coco, 4 Cavern, 4 Encampment, 1 Reflecting Pool and 2 Druids that can get him into play. Never a problem...
Jwari Shapeshifter is a 2 drop I've had good success with personally and isn't yet in your list, maybe you could try that. I board them out against removal heavy decks, but having an additional copy of your best ally (Battlesinger whenever possible) is sick. You obviously know how good Battlesinger is especially in multiples and this for me acts like copies 5 and 6...
Yes, he's blue. I run Vial, Coco, 4 Cavern, 4 Encampment, 1 Reflecting Pool and 2 Druids that can get him into play. Never a problem...
Yes, I've added 1 pc in the main (cos I only have 1 pc) to fill up the slot from the kor bladewhirl. I may do some testing tonight if I am free.
Kor Bladewhirl is usally also the first spot I look at when I consider swapping out Allies. The first strike effect do come in handy though when you have Akoum Battlesinger. Sometimes I found myself holding back Battlesinger from attacking due to it being chump blocked by a 1/1 token. Perhaps Akoum Battlesinger is that important that we need to support it even more with ex Bladewhirl?
Normally I'll just smash head in regardless of 1/1 chump blockers. It's a risky strategy, but there are times the 1/1 will come back to haunt you (pun intended) if you just let it stay there. But really, it depends on what deck you face and the application of strategy will differ.
xxDSJJxx, only just saw your Edit...didn't notice it at first as it's quite a bit up the page now...nevertheless:
MB looks solid I think. Definitely should have the 4th Windswept Heath over the Wooded Foothills now you've cut the Mountain since Heath gets every single target while Foothills can't get basic plains...
SB obviously still brewing for all of us and meta dependant...so I'll just ask:
Normally I'll just smash head in regardless of 1/1 chump blockers. It's a risky strategy, but there are times the 1/1 will come back to haunt you (pun intended) if you just let it stay there. But really, it depends on what deck you face and the application of strategy will differ.
Cloudshift is barely ever better than just an additional Ally creature in my experience...Eerie Interlude the same...it saves us from wraths though, but we can barely ever afford to leave 3 mana open anyways...a SB card at max for me...
xxDSJJxx, only just saw your Edit...didn't notice it at first as it's quite a bit up the page now...nevertheless:
MB looks solid I think. Definitely should have the 4th Windswept Heath over the Wooded Foothills now you've cut the Mountain since Heath gets every single target while Foothills can't get basic plains...
Yea, I'll be tuning the nick-nacks such as that. I agree that wooded Foothills has dropped in favour once I switched out Mountain for Reflecting Pool. But the switch is not confirmed. I'll try to come up with a solid deck analysis once I confirm the changes.
SB obviously still brewing for all of us and meta dependant...so I'll just ask:
Why Pithing Needle? I still swear by this card as a catch-all in a lot of decks. It's not the best hate to a lot of decks, but it does it hard in the right decks. The option to pith planeswalkers, manlands, fetchlands (if necessary) or their main cards (kiki jiki) is a good enough reason to run it.
Why Chameleon Colossus over 2nd Gideon, Ally of Zendikar? Rising in the Dredge strategies around is my main reason. It's a free 4/4 walk-over them. (If they have vengevines out, you're either on-par, winning, or getting wrecked already.) But the pro-black is good enough to earn a slot against Jund, Abzan, B/x strategies, Dredge, etc. I don't play 2 gideon as well because for fact that I'm trying to reduce the double white mana. The double green from colossus is easier to cast due to it being an ally as well.
Removal? (Don't you just lose to Abzan CoCo with only 2 removal spells in the 75? Might not be prevalent near you...) I mentioned that having 4 paths would clutter the mainboard. I'm not too sure if this happens to you, but running 3 paths, 4 coco, 4 vials starts to clutter the odds for coco. Maybe my shuffling luck, but I would think 2 is the number to go with now. If I need to up to 3, I'll make a slight modification.
A note on my meta is that I have to be prepared to face mtgtop8 deck builds and at the same time be prepared for janky decks that can win/lose out of nowhere. Hence my sideboard is tuned to adapt to a very general meta overall.
Cheers
Normally I'll just smash head in regardless of 1/1 chump blockers. It's a risky strategy, but there are times the 1/1 will come back to haunt you (pun intended) if you just let it stay there. But really, it depends on what deck you face and the application of strategy will differ.
Haha, reminds me of my Druid, triple Battlesinger, Shapeshifter draw that lost to Timely Reinforcements into Engineered Explosives...feels bad man In that scenerio, I woudn't smash my head in. The three soldiers are there to brickwall already. But if say that the same three tokens is the opponent's strategy to go aggressive, the strategy to smash in to force them into blocking may be a good choice. End result may be the same, but it's the decision and choice. It's really hard to explain this based on a single scenerio
Cloudshift is barely ever better than just an additional Ally creature in my experience...Eerie Interlude the same...it saves us from wraths though, but we can barely ever afford to leave 3 mana open anyways...a SB card at max for me... Sorry, but I can say without testing that eerie interlude is not even worthy of a SB slot. Too many hoops to jump through to even consider it as viable. If you are going to spend the mana to save your dudes, Boros charm or even brave the elements works better at lower cost.
Adaptive automaton fall out of favor due to it being a 3-slot, giving a static buff. It's good until your opponent removes it. The power of ally is that their buffs are permanent in the form of +1/+1 counters rather than static anthems. Also, at 3 drop, like Steelblade7 mentioned of the 3 other all cards, Those are significantly better in most games and scenerios
UW Control is in my extensive experience the single worst matchup. Granted, I played it mostly during the Eldrazi era, where they had 5 main deck sweepers and 4 Path got complemented by D-Sphere and Condemn...I'll keep saying it, the nature of our decks makes us very, very bad against Wrath of God effects. I've played this matchup 10+ times and won 10-20% of the games.
the UW control variant seems to be playing the thopter synergy. I agree that a single well-timed boardwipe will blow us out of the water, but considering the game yesterday, I know I have a chance to win if I drew either a vial or cavern because that will help set an advantage for us, negating their counterspells. But in the end, luck...
Re: Specific cards:
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar comes in solely against Jund, Abzan, Mardu, that kind of deck for me. And i strongly believe it's our best SB card for those matchups. I've played the matchups plenty of times. Never lost after casting this.
Yes, but 2-offs seems to clutter the 4-drop slot. I'm playing Chameleon Colossus as well. If it doesn't work then I'll bring back up to 2 Gideons. But for the moment, 1-1 split on Gideon and Chameleon Colossus is my current sideboard
Suppression Field will hurt you too, beware. You have 6 Fetch lands and 4 Vials. Plus, what "Major combo decks" are you fighting with it? The biggest combo decks in the meta are Scapeshift, Abzan Coco, Kiki Chord and Infect. It's a dead card against 2 and you can do much better against the creature decks (Path for example)
Admittedly I overlooked that, but in G2 onwards I usually will side out Vials. In all my games so far, I only see 1-2 fetches per game. Either because the games don't drag that long, and/or 4 encampment and 4 caverns will precede over fetches in drawing odds. (sadly enough, against UW, NONE of the fetches, Cavern nor ally encampment came out..)
Furthermore, it's also a mindset to sacrifice. Suppression field may hurt me, but if I can shut down combo decks like coco abzan, kiki chord, grishoalbrand, why not? Against other decks like TRON and affinity it works well for the early game. Also, Field effectively soft-lock thopter combo. As repeat, yes, it may hurt me, but I personally think the sacrifice is necessary to stop the opponent.
Boros Charm is a card I can't justify main decking. My creature count is at 28 and I will never go lower...Vial/CoCo help the strategy MUCH more and it's really far behind Path in a competition for the last few slots...
It's a test trial to see if it works, and it does work. But against grinder MUs or hard-to-push damage through games, the last 4 damage or the other 2 modes works. On paper. I'm quite split in whether to MD it after yesterday's games. I feel the deck got heavy in the mana base, requiring more fixing though topdecking it is actually good. So I'm split.
Why do you expect Torpor Orb out of Grishoalbrand's Sideboard? I've barely ever seen it there. Go check their forums or mtgtop8...there's an average of 0.1 copies in the sideboard apparently.
I don't know, I'm a scaredy cat and I just fear Torpor Orb and hushwing gryff in all decks
RIP: GWU Midrange (2012-2013) | GWR Ally (2014-2016)
RIP: GWU Midrange (2012-2013) | GWR Ally (2014-2016)
Yeah, UW these days should be less bad. Them running Thopter/Sword is better for us than them running more sweepers and more removal. I was very much thinking of the deck back in the Eldrazi era of a month or so ago.
Gideon:
You're right, 2 total copies of Gideon/Colossus should be enough. I run 1 Gideon 0 Colossus personally...
Field:
The generally played hate cards here would be Rest in Peace which shuts off Thopter/Sword, Melira Combo and Grishoalbrand while also being very good against the Snapcaster/Tasigur/GDD/Goyf decks or Stony Silence which shuts off Affinity, Tron and Thopter/Sword (and your vial :/)
Torpor Orb:
I see. I've lost to Torpor Orb a few times, it's not really a common card though. Unless you know your local players to bring them in, you shouldn't board in hate specifically for them unless you see them in G2...
Draw Spells:
Assuming 28 creatures, Lead the Stampede hits 2.33 on average. Gambit hits 2 every time. The card quality from Lead will always be better. You'll have 3 mana in play so won't necessarily want lands. Lead the Stampede will give you 2.33 creatures, Gambit 2 random cards. I think that's enough of an edge to make Lead better than the Proliferate makes Gambit. So it's Lead the Stampede for me. I'd evaluate it differently in a Scales build with 20+ creatures that get counters though...although, there I'd probably run Inspiring Call anyways.
For the moment, I'll stick to MB boros charm. But it doesn't work, those will be dropped for 2 lead the stampede.
4x Ally Encampment
1x Arid Mesa
4x Cavern of Souls
1x Forest
2x Mountain
2x Plains
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Stomping Ground
1x Temple Garden
2x Windswept Heath
2x Wooded Foothills
Artifact (4)
4x AEther Vial
4x Akoum Battlesinger
3x Expedition Envoy
2x Firemantle Mage
4x Hada Freeblade
2x Harabaz Druid
4x Kabira Evangel
4x Kazandu Blademaster
1x Kor Bladewhirl
1x Lantern Scout
4x Oran-Rief Survivalist
Instant (6)
2x Boros Charm
4x Collected Company
1x Ancient Grudge
1x Chameleon Colossus
1x Electrickery
1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2x Ondu Cleric
3x Path to Exile
2x Rest in Peace
1x Return to the Ranks
1x Tuktuk Scrapper
2x Wear / Tear
changed up the mana base to ensure a better RWfixing for boros charm. a split on fetches 1-2-2 (mesa, wooded, heath) gives a better colour fixing, taking to account that my sideboard is also quite heavy on red as well. 5th basic land is added to ensure I get the basic lands in the event of path to exile removals or simply because to fetch a basic land.
I decided to drop 1 lantern scout because of the heavy 3 mana drops I have. 4 kabira, 2 firemantle and a single lantern scout give 7 pieces, which should be optimal in an aggro deck. In replacement of the slot, I decided to try 1x Kor bladewhirl for more combat tricks. Let's see how that works out.
"Field:
The generally played hate cards here would be Rest in Peace which shuts off Thopter/Sword, Melira Combo and Grishoalbrand while also being very good against the Snapcaster/Tasigur/GDD/Goyf decks or Stony Silence which shuts off Affinity, Tron and Thopter/Sword (and your vial :/)"
Okay, I'm convinced to run 2 rest in peace instead. However, against TRON, the sideboard now seems lackluster. Nevertheless, aggression should pressure them out since I'm running boros charm mainboard.
RIP: GWU Midrange (2012-2013) | GWR Ally (2014-2016)
4x Akoum Battlesinger
4x Hada Freeblade
3x Harabaz Druid
3x Jwari Shapeshifter
4x Kabira Evangel
4x Kazandu Blademaster
2x Mirror Entity
4x Oran-Rief Survivalist
Artifact (6)
4x AEther Vial
2x Captain's Claws
4x Collected Company
3x Path to Exile
Land (19)
4x Ally Encampment
1x Breeding Pool
4x Cavern of Souls
2x Forest
1x Plains
1x Stomping Ground
2x Temple Garden
4x Windswept Heath
(3 Ondu Cleric + 12 more)
2x Eerie Interlude
2x Firemantle Mage
2x Kataki, War's Wage
2x Leyline of Sanctity
1x Mark of Asylum
1x Melira, Sylvok Outcast
3x Natural State
3x Ondu Cleric
2x Pithing Needle
2x Rest in Peace
1x Seal of Primordium
2x Spellskite
2x Stony Silence
1x Worship
Current record is 28-22-2 at 9 Thursday Night Modern 4 round tournaments, 4 challenge matches, an SCG IQ, and SCG states. Records against deck types I've played at least 3 times are: Eldrazi 0-2-1 (3-5-1); Infect 2-2 (4-5); Jund 4-1 (10-7); Junk 2-1 (5-4); Merfolk 2-2 (6-5); Scapeshift/Loam 1-2 (4-4); Splinter Twin 1-2 (2-4); Zoo/Naya 3-0 (6-1).
A few thoughts on how this one might differ a little
I haven't played around with Eerie Interlude or Return to the Ranks much at all yet, and will either mess around with them here, or put together a straightforward scales-allies deck to shake things up (Naya? Abazan? no-U? -- any thoughts?).
Thanks in advance for any suggested tweaks!
- Round 1, won 2-0 against mono-green ramp. Not exactly shocking when you can walk around them with Kabira Evangel.
- Round 2, won 2-0 against Abzan Midrange Control. I won game 1 on the strength of 2 things: a) I opted to mainboard 2 Leyline of Sanctitys exactly for this matchup, and b) he mulliganed down to 5, and while I didn't have natural Leyline in my opening hand, I drew one turn 2 and, because I cast a Noble Hierarch on turn 2, I was able to drop it turn 3. Then game two I got him with a hand that had no aggression but lots of stopping power. I had natural Leyline in play turn 1, and then I was able to Path to Exile both a Tarmogoyf and a Voice of Resurgence. After that, I was able to fade creatures off the top, triggering everything I played every turn.
- Round 3, I ID'd with Infect.
Alas, in the semi-finals of top 4, I lost to Tron. I won game one because, while he had natural Tron in hand, he didn't have anything to play with it except Oblivion Stone, which he would have cast and activated turn 4. He sandbagged it masterfully, playing a non-tron land on turn 3, bit I was able to do lethal next turn, so he never got it down. I lost game 2 and 3 to turn 2 Torpor Orb, being unable to find a piece of artifact removal both games. Game 3 I was able to get some good damage in thanks to Mirror Entity, but then he dropped World Breaker to both stonewall me and blow up my Stony Silence. I dropped a couple more guys the next turn in hopes that I could go wide the turn after that with Mirror Entity, but then he dropped Karn and exiled it. That was pretty much it, and Tron went on to beat a different Abzan Midrange Control deck in the finals.
Not the most insightful post, I know.
GGG [Primer] Omnath, Big Green Beatstick Machine GGG
RIP: GWU Midrange (2012-2013) | GWR Ally (2014-2016)
Or this - http://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-allies-25978#online ?
RIP: GWU Midrange (2012-2013) | GWR Ally (2014-2016)
RIP: GWU Midrange (2012-2013) | GWR Ally (2014-2016)
Went 3-2. Could have easily been 4-1 and Top4, but sometimes you just aren't lucky.
List:
4 Expedition Envoy
4 Hada Freeblade
4 Akoum Battlesinger
4 Kazandu Blademaster
2 Jwari Shapeshifter
2 Harabaz Druid
4 Kabira Evangel
2 Firemantle Mage
2 Lantern Scout
Non-Creatures (12)
4 Aether Vial
4 Collected Company
4 Path to Exile
4 Ally Encampment
4 Cavern of Souls
1 Reflecting Pool
4 Windswept Heath
2 Temple Garden
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Forest
2 Plains
1 Mutavault
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Stony Silence
1 Rest in Peace
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Wear // Tear
1 Jwari Shapeshifter
2 Lantern Scout
1 Firemantle Mage
1 Reckless Bushwhacker
1 Boros Charm
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Qasali Pridemage
Round 1: 2-1 vs. Jund
Game 1 I take a mulligan to 6 and keep a good hand. He has Decay for my Blademaster and Pulse for double Battlesinger. But I get him low quickly. We both run out of resources, I eventually draw another Battlesinger and with him at 2 it's lethal. Game 2 I mull to 6 again. He has good answers for all my threats and I eventually get Kolaghan's Commanded with Evangel, Battlesinger, Path in hand. I decide I need both my creatures to win. He then slams Kalitas and starts taking over the game. Perhaps my decision was wrong. Regardless, I have a final turn to draw Collected and hit a Battlesinger + anything to swing for lethal. I actually draw CoCo, but no Battlesinger. Game 3 I get under him. hard. I win T4 through Bolt, Goyf, Scooze.
Round 2: 0-2 vs. Mono White Death and Taxes (guy ends up winning)
This is the game I feel I should have won. This matchup is far better than the one vs. Jund which is even-ish...basically they have to have T3 Blade Splicer followed by multiple Flicker effects for the following turns, because nothing they play matters other than lots of First striking Golems. Saw his list later. It's 3 Blade Splicer, 4 Flickerwisp, 2 Restoration Angel. Both games he had T3 Splicer, G1 he had 3 flicker effects, G2 he had 4. Meanwhile on my side: 0 Collected Company, 0 Akoum Battlesinger, 0 Path to Exile to remove the Splicers in both games. Ah well...
Round 3: 0-2 vs. RG Tron
Well, I lost the die roll (3rd time this tournament lol) and on the draw the matchup is pretty bad. I mull to 5 G1 and keep a hand that's ok, but unlikely to kill him on T3 or T4. Turns out he kept Tower, Tower, Mine, Power Plant, Karn, Ugin, Ulamog...yeah...not winning that.
G2 I mull to 6 and keep a 1 land hand that wins on T4 guaranteed with a 2nd land on the scry, T2 or T3 draw. Regardless of their T3 play of Karn or Wurmcoil or whatever...yeah, didn't draw the land.
Round 4: 2-0 vs. Naya Zoo
Creature decks. Easy really. Not much to talk about...your creatures grow bigger, they often can't block, you have instant speed tricks with Vial and Coco and they don't...
Round 5: 2-0 vs. Eldrazi Taxes
G1 I had 1 land and 2 Vials. All game. Still happy with it though, he was a friend of mine and drew 8 or 9 lands instead which was definitely worse. I mean, I won with 3 Coco and Path in hand that I couldn't cast but still less dead cards than all his excess lands.
G2 we both started fairly slowly. Twice that game he vialled in a hand disruption creature on my draw step and both times I responded with CoCo. The second time after just drawing it. Was pretty lucky that game. Ended the game the second time that happened with 2 Battlesingers and a Clone of them in play and +6/+0 across 6 or 7 creatures...
Side note: I have tried captain's claw and the final verdict is this: It slows us down by 1 turn (if played on t2), but it makes up for the next turn attack to drop a free 1/1 body. In theory, it is best with akoumn battlesinger or good with any of the Ally that gives you evasion. 1-2 off is probably okay. I'll keep testing for more results and I'll post it here. So far, I haven't been doing well with the deck lately. I'm tuning the sideboard to level the chance against these MUs, which IMO is the worst MU in the meta now
Watchlist: (I haven't fought these decks yet)
RIP: GWU Midrange (2012-2013) | GWR Ally (2014-2016)
Tron is bad, yes. It got worse now that they're all playing Kozilek's Return...it used to be literally play/draw decided. Because you have a very good chance of killing them on T4 on the play up to which point they barely interact, if at all. But you have barely any chance of beating O-Stone/Ugin on the draw...
The problem is it's hard to hate out. I don't think Crumble to Dust is for us. If we're on the play we want to spend that T4 ending the game, on the draw we've probably just lost our board and it won't matter anyway...I've tried Stony Silence which can do a great job against them. But whenever I have it they just have 0 Eggs or Stones or Maps and just go natural tron, Karn, Ugin every time...Tron is the only deck other than UW Control I have a negative win rate against.
Infect/Grishoalbrand really don't seem to be popular here. I imagine Infect is a pretty bad matchup...as long as they don't stumble and the infected they're relying on has evasion, so Nexus/Agent, they'll just be faster than us.
Grishotlbrand similar, all we can hope is that they lose to themselves because they are quite inconsistent. And our matchup isn't especially bad, I mean we provide a very solid clock against combo...
Creature decks are basically always favourable. Colourless Creatures less so. I've never lost a game to Death & Taxes where they haven't gone T3 Splicer and flickered it at least twice...that matchup is good. A lot of their cards just don't matter...We barely get taxed by Leonin Arbiter since we only run 4 fetches and can just crack one on T1 if we have it...only helps their Paths/GQs...Thalia isn't good against a deck with 28 creatures...Dryad Militant, Judge's Familiar, Aven Mindcensor follow the same train of thought. A lot of their cards are just bad in the matchup.
Mill I have no clue. Assuming they run Crypt Incursion and Ensnaring Bridge (as lists I've seen lately do) we'll likely lose. If they're straight up milling us we'll just be faster.
Side note, I went 3-0 again in my modern event. 2-0 actually, with the last game split with the win to my favour.
4x Ally Encampment
1x Arid Mesa
4x Cavern of Souls
1x Forest
1x Mountain
2x Plains
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Stomping Ground
1x Temple Garden
3x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Foothills
Instant (4)
4x Collected Company
4x Akoum Battlesinger
3x Expedition Envoy
1x Firemantle Mage
4x Hada Freeblade
2x Harabaz Druid
4x Kabira Evangel
4x Kazandu Blademaster
2x Kor Bladewhirl
2x Lantern Scout
4x Oran-Rief Survivalist
Artifact (5)
4x AEther Vial
1x Captain's Claws
1x Lead the Stampede
1x Ancient Grudge
1x Chameleon Colossus
1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2x Ondu Cleric
2x Path to Exile
1x Pithing Needle
1x Rest in Peace
2x Return to the Ranks
1x Stony Silence
1x Tuktuk Scrapper
2x Wear / Tear
I think I am more or less pretty settled with the list, except for a few changes. Firstly, Captain's claw is still a card which hangs very closely to being cut. I managed to play it once in my round 2. While it did work like how it was supposed to work on paper, I have to face the realisation that attrition is very high in Modern. The card is strong to push steam in the late game where the board is pretty weak and we are off top-decking, but in the early game, it's a very dull card compared to having another ally or Collected Company. Regardless, it's still a considerable choice which needs more data before making a decision.
Round 1: Tempered Steel deck (2-1)
Basically this deck revolves around 2 cards: Tempered Steel and Salvage Titan. It's a very kinky combo, but very powerful when played right. Well, the deck is not really tuned well as compared to the Affinity counterpart, so it got wrecked pretty easily. I went 2-1 because I made a mistake to drop a shockland, bringing myself to 6 life. Salvage titan is 6/4, so by removing my only blocker, he got through and won that game. However in my last game, the board became overwhelmed on my side and he could not deal it. I had a path to exile on hand to remove the salvage titan on the board and basically just aggro-ed to win.
Round 2: Jeskai Harbinger (2-1)
Well, this is a very interesting MU. This is the game that I cast captain's claw and this is the reason why it didn't work as well as I wanted it to. In the first game I lost due to the number of bolts, paths, helix and a frick'n Nahiri on board. I just scooped the first game once Nahiri hits 8 loyalty. Games 2 was pretty straightforward. Drop ally with aether vial and Cavern of souls, seal the deal with lantern scout and just swing in for ample damage and gain life beyond reach. Third game is a very close fight. I managed to punch in a bit of damage before the opponent managed to stabilize and got rid of my ally. The pivotal point is when I dropped a Kabira Evangel with Akoum Battlesinger. As I declared attack with the two, the opponent decided to drop 2 path to exile straight on my 2 creatures. I almost wanted to sweep the board allowing the spell to resolve, but I then remembered I had a Kazandu Blademaster on board with a aether vial at 2 charge counters. So I managed to save everyone by dropping him on board and gained protection against white. The rest of the match is just more removals until I'm left with a single ally. I top-decked a firemantle mage and swung in for lethal with my opponent having just 1 Vendilion clique unable to block.
I'm pretty set that if I were to run removals, a 2-1 or 1-2 split of path to exile would be the way to do it. I have tried running 3 in main and that probably just clutters the space for collected company. I ran 3 in the side in the previous iteration and it is very effective in the draw rate and it's rather well balanced with the ratio of non-creatures to collected company hit rate. However, having absolutely no removals in the main renders some of my MUs to be really bad when I just need 1 or 2 removals to clear the way. At the moment, path to exile is the best removal. I may try condemn but it's rather limited as compared to the former.
Lead the stampede is decent but it is falling out of favour for me in a lot of MU. It does its job and when combined with Harabaz Druid. However, I feel that too many hoops had to be jumped through before I can actually get the value out of it. I'll probably relegate it to the sideboard or disregard it completely.
So for now, I probably put my re-worked list to be as shown below:
4x Ally Encampment
1x Arid Mesa
4x Cavern of Souls
1x Forest
1x Mountain
2x Plains
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Stomping Ground
1x Temple Garden
3x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Foothills
Artifact (5)
4x AEther Vial
1x Captain's Claws
4x Akoum Battlesinger
3x Expedition Envoy
1x Firemantle Mage
4x Hada Freeblade
2x Harabaz Druid
4x Kabira Evangel
4x Kazandu Blademaster
2x Kor Bladewhirl
2x Lantern Scout
4x Oran-Rief Survivalist
Instant (5)
4x Collected Company
1x Path to Exile
1x Ancient Grudge
1x Chameleon Colossus
1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2x Ondu Cleric
2x Path to Exile
1x Pithing Needle
1x Rest in Peace
2x Return to the Ranks
1x Stony Silence
1x Tuktuk Scrapper
2x Wear / Tear
RIP: GWU Midrange (2012-2013) | GWR Ally (2014-2016)
Round 1: Jund (1-2)
For some *****ty reason, I just cannot draw into Gideon or Chameleon colossus. Period. I manage to outrace my opponent in G2, but just fall flat in game 3 with NO appearance of Kabira evangel.
Round 2: Dredgevine (2-0)
Quite a cakewalk if Vengevine is not in the graveyard. The whole deck revolves getting them into play. Their aggressive tech is also not as explosive nor as consistent as ally. G2 Gnaw to bone is really an irritating card with them gaining 10 life easily. But, I easily punched hard enough with him eventually running out of gnaws to gain life. I also had Lantern scout on the board to gain life against his offensive.
Round 3: Elves (0-2)
No chance. They are faster than us. I had a glimmer of hope in G2 when my opponent was at 2 life. I was hoping hard to top-deck another collected company or Kabira evangel to seal the game. But, no...... Kabira Evangel did not appear. My opponent managed to gain life up to 7 life with essence warden and recovered the board. From there, It's just a downhill. a joraga warcaller kicked 5x is simply a game ender for me.
In a lot of my games, I am getting land flooded and getting not the correct answers. Regardless, I'm still happy with the deck with a few exceptions
With the changes, my decklist should look something like this:
4x Ally Encampment
1x Arid Mesa
4x Cavern of Souls
1x Forest
1x Mountain
2x Plains
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Stomping Ground
1x Temple Garden
3x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Foothills
Instant (6)
4x Collected Company
2x Path to Exile
4x Akoum Battlesinger
3x Expedition Envoy
1x Firemantle Mage
4x Hada Freeblade
2x Harabaz Druid
4x Kabira Evangel
4x Kazandu Blademaster
2x Kor Bladewhirl
2x Lantern Scout
4x Oran-Rief Survivalist
Artifact (4)
4x AEther Vial
1x Ancient Grudge
1x Boros Charm
1x Chameleon Colossus
1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2x Ondu Cleric
1x Path to Exile
1x Pithing Needle
1x Rest in Peace
2x Return to the Ranks
1x Stony Silence
1x Tuktuk Scrapper
2x Wear / Tear
On a side note, I may test 2-3x Halimar excavator to wreck games. The option to mill my opponent and limit their options while pressuring them is very tempting actually.
RIP: GWU Midrange (2012-2013) | GWR Ally (2014-2016)
I think that to include Kalastria Healer is a great way to face against most matchups and also playing one/two rally the ancestors would surprise some decks.
This is a beatdown deck. Kalastria Healer does a worse job than our other 2 drops at what we're trying to accomplish and Rally the Ancestors gives the deck a combo finish after our creatures have already died...which is neat, but not where we're taking this. If we want a similar effect, it's permanent recursion out of the sideboard for grindy matchups, cards like Return to the Ranks.
@xxDSJJxx: Too much to quote everything I think. Thanks for the continuous input.
I'm still very happy with the main deck removal I'm running (4 Path). Lead the Stampede has good and bad matchups, as you said, so I think if I'm to run it, it'll be a sideboard thing. Still actually haven't tried a Return to the Ranks in the board because for some reason I don't have one and the store doesn't have one and I've never really bothered to order one...but should be a good SB card too.
And I do agree with you that Captain's Claws doesn't cut it in modern. It's been my opinion since the first few testing games...
Also agree with most matchup analysis...a few comments:
I've actually just played Dredge for two events (4-0, 3-1) and it feels very powerful. I ran a Gargadon/Bridge list, no Vengevine/Bloodghast rubbish...I dunno, it felt really strong...
I've played Elves 3 times (win, win, draw). Kabira Evangel usually ends the game on the spot. I have never lost to them being faster than me, but have won by being faster a few times. I think the only game I lost was in the draw. G1, took 43 minutes, saw 26 cards from my library and no Evangels or I would have won. Combat every turn was math whether he could activate Ezuri, Renegade Leader twice or three times...kept swinging back with lifelink and he'd just regenerate blockers...he eventually got enough mana to overrun I think 4 times and won. (G2 I attacked for 18 T3 and won T4 for a draw). So from my experience it's not faster than us. This is a matchup where I think I really profit from running Path main for those Ezuris/Warcallers...
Also got some testing done against the Bant Eldrazi list that popped up all over SCG lately...It's like 80-20 in our favour pre sideboard. We're just so much faster than them and by the time they put out Smasher/Seer we have 4/5s or 5/5s or bigger...Post board they get Timely Reinforcements and Engineered Explosives which can tilt the matchup, but overall I still think we're favoured even though we have to board out our best card (Evangel)...
I'll test 2-1 split of my paths this week. It should work better now that I'm running 2 pieces. The third piece is sideboard against more irritating MUs. But, as of now, I think 2 should be the minimum.
I haven't seen the Gargadon/Bridge list. But, Vengevine/Bloodghast list is basically just to dig out for the Venegevine and using zombies and Bloodghast to play early game attrition and recurring bodies. I think the list is quite self-conflicting in what it does, but it is explosive. When it plans to do gets activated, the board and damage can be quite explosive. Then again, if it doesn't, the deck is a sitting duck for us.
Eldrazi MUs I would think it's a rather straight-forward MU. It's only the Tron variant (and all forms of Tron) that gives me problems.
RIP: GWU Midrange (2012-2013) | GWR Ally (2014-2016)
Round 1: Titanfall
I'm not fast enough. I realised my deck is not really lacking in anything, but a favorable draw. I'm still not drawing the cards I need. I won game 1 quite easily. But, games 2 and 3 is just getting land jam and tilt when my opponent played scapeshift and through the breach to Emrakul to win the game. Life gain works. But, it's just the draws that are costing me games.
Round 2: Bye
Round 3: UR Breach / Blue Moon
Not too sure what is the proper name of the deck. This deck plays through the breach, blood moon, counterspells. I don't have the push to get through damage, but the opponent is desperate enough to play anger of the gods twice to clear the game. I suppose that the deck is doing okay for the match as for this game I'm not playing seriously so I really cannot comment much on this game as a proper match-up analysis.
Overall, this may be the worst performance my deck has put up. I found myself siding out Kor Bladewhirl the most in my games 2 and 3. Hence, I'll drop that and move ondu cleric back up to Mainboard. However, I'm not too keen on playing 2 pieces mainboard. Probably 1-1 split in main and side. This leaves another slot free, which I'm contemplating to play either of the following:
For now, path to exile takes the slot as the 3rd piece in the deck.
As for sideboard, I'll need to have a relook and rework it completely. It's not that it is a bad sideboard, but I just feel that there are better slots and cards to be utilized. For instance against TRON MU, one of the worst MU IMO, the sideboard is not really properly tuned to level the playing field.
Edit:
Reworked the deck by looking at the past discussions and also to analyse my older lists and other successful lists to see what works, and what doesn't.
4x Akoum Battlesinger
3x Expedition Envoy
1x Firemantle Mage
4x Hada Freeblade
2x Harabaz Druid
1x Jwari Shapeshifter
4x Kabira Evangel
4x Kazandu Blademaster
2x Lantern Scout
1x Ondu Cleric
4x Oran-Rief Survivalist
Instant (6)
4x Collected Company
2x Path to Exile
4x Ally Encampment
1x Arid Mesa
4x Cavern of Souls
1x Forest
1x Reflecting Pool
2x Plains
1x Sacred Foundry
1x Stomping Ground
1x Temple Garden
3x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Foothills
Artifact (4)
4x AEther Vial
1x Ancient Grudge
2x Boros Charm
1x Chameleon Colossus
1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1x Kataki, War's Wage
1x Lead the Stampede
1x Ondu Cleric
1x Pithing Needle
1x Rest in Peace
2x Return to the Ranks
2x Stony Silence
1x Wear / Tear
Changes
1x Jwari Shapeshifter <-> Kor Bladewhirl
The latter is fine, but I think that I would want the 5th copy of Akoum Battlesinger / Kazandu Blademaster / etc.
1x Ondu Cleric (Mainboard)
Ondu Cleric is proven in my meta and in most games to be a solid grind engine. A 1-1 split in my deck as too many of him can also clutter the 2-drop and reduce my deck's attack power.
1x Reflecting Pool <-> 1x Mountain
I'm testing this out. I may drop this and put back Mountains if I have a harder time casting my sideboard cards. But, theoretically, it should work better.
Sideboard (15)
2x Boros Charm
Against decks are either heavy in attrition or I require utility. Probably against MUs with heavy board-wipes like TRON, U/X controls, R/x combo, and maybe against Jund(?)
1x Kataki, War's Wage ---> TukTuk scrapper
I can swear by Tuktuk... He's incredibly powerful against not affinity. Tuktuk is best against lantern control decks. As I don't really see that deck around, Kataki takes the slot. But, I'll swap interchangeably for those 2 cards.
1x Lead the Stampede
Against grindy games. I really need this card to refuel my hand.
2x Stony Silence -----> Up 1
Better hate against most artifact MUs, and TRON.
1x Wear / Tear -----> Drop 1
Not so good against tron. But losing 1 means lesser stuff against boggles...
Comment on what you think about the changes. I'll test this in the next event.
RIP: GWU Midrange (2012-2013) | GWR Ally (2014-2016)
Yes, he's blue. I run Vial, Coco, 4 Cavern, 4 Encampment, 1 Reflecting Pool and 2 Druids that can get him into play. Never a problem...
Yes, I've added 1 pc in the main (cos I only have 1 pc) to fill up the slot from the kor bladewhirl. I may do some testing tonight if I am free.
Normally I'll just smash head in regardless of 1/1 chump blockers. It's a risky strategy, but there are times the 1/1 will come back to haunt you (pun intended) if you just let it stay there. But really, it depends on what deck you face and the application of strategy will differ.
RIP: GWU Midrange (2012-2013) | GWR Ally (2014-2016)
Adaptive Automaton can also be good for the permanent boost against (Pyroclasm).
I would use him over Ondu Cleric (especially with 2x Lantern Scouts in the deck already).
MB looks solid I think. Definitely should have the 4th Windswept Heath over the Wooded Foothills now you've cut the Mountain since Heath gets every single target while Foothills can't get basic plains...
SB obviously still brewing for all of us and meta dependant...so I'll just ask:
Why Pithing Needle?
Why Chameleon Colossus over 2nd Gideon, Ally of Zendikar?
Removal? (Don't you just lose to Abzan CoCo with only 2 removal spells in the 75? Might not be prevalent near you...)
Cheers
Haha, reminds me of my Druid, triple Battlesinger, Shapeshifter draw that lost to Timely Reinforcements into Engineered Explosives...feels bad man
Cloudshift is barely ever better than just an additional Ally creature in my experience...Eerie Interlude the same...it saves us from wraths though, but we can barely ever afford to leave 3 mana open anyways...a SB card at max for me...
Adaptive Automaton is a solid enough 3 drop that I have contemplated running too. But I want to keep the curve way down. It can't really replace any 1- or 2drops and 3 is basically full of Kabira Evangel / Lantern Scout / Firemantle Mage
Adaptive automaton fall out of favor due to it being a 3-slot, giving a static buff. It's good until your opponent removes it. The power of ally is that their buffs are permanent in the form of +1/+1 counters rather than static anthems. Also, at 3 drop, like Steelblade7 mentioned of the 3 other all cards, Those are significantly better in most games and scenerios
RIP: GWU Midrange (2012-2013) | GWR Ally (2014-2016)
Is anyone keen in an Ally-theme deck tutorial channel on Youtube?
I'm contemplating a few ideas as followed:
RIP: GWU Midrange (2012-2013) | GWR Ally (2014-2016)