As requested, this is the basic shell of the deck I'm proposing. It is lacking one slot, but with shaving that could increase up to two, but that is because I do not know the Hammer deck as well as everyone else does. For additions, the deck could be given land destruction, mana reamp, kill conditions, and/or board wipe spells. But, again, that's where you guys come in.
Many thanks for Raystack for championing this deck. Punched my ticket to the SCG Invitational running a very slightly altered version of the deck at a 62 man LGS tourney yesterday. 7-1-1 record with the deck. I'll post a write up of the event later. Looks like a trip to Roanoke is in my future....now I have to find a standard deck I guess.
Well, I stand up next to a mountain
And I chop it down with the edge of my hand
- Jimi Hendrix
We got a new Voodoo Child swinging Koth judo chops at the Mountainside, Mvilla888: 7-1-1 in a 62 person tournament! I can't wait to add your performance to the Official Primer. Are they going to publish your decklist online? The real criminal element here is that you qualified for a Standard Premier Event. We were just about to get RED Prison/Hammer's Slammer on the main stage again in a Premier Tournament. Turns out there's not even a slight return for our deck, brotha gotta bring a whole new deck for the event. Robbery. I declare a Robbery!
So, you said that you did "a very slightly altered version" of the deck. My mind is racing. What are the differences?! I almost want to see you tease out the decklist. What and how were you preparing for the Main Event? My hunch: Roast...aaaaand Sun Droplet in the sideboard. Hmmm...I was revisiting Tezzeret's Gambit recently, but naaah. Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker? Did you do any main deck 1-drops in a deck with (4) Chalice of the Void? What about cards that barely made the cut? Do you have any regrets on your construction?
Anybody else wanna guess at how Mvilla888 crafted up his crimson hoosegow? Goofy, Narrowly focused or just plain outlandish, let's hear some voiceson what specific cards you'd guess our Mountainfolk Kin included this weekend. Survey Says:......
Since I got your attention and you want the tease....
The Invitational is the mixed Modern and standard event held at SCG June 30-July 2. So the deck will make an appearance this summer barring any hate or banning. Biggest issue is I haven't played Standard for years...ugh.
I did get one T1 concession for the fast Blood Moon play.
As for the tease...the MD was 56/60 cards your list above. The four cards I didn't in Claude were 2x Slagstorm, 1x Mind stone and 1x Crystal Ball. I did have a Mind stone, other cards were just not readily available locally.
I did run 2x Roast in the MD in place of the slagstorms. I'll leave the other two cards until I get home from work and let you think about them a bit. Will also sit down and do a tourney recap of the event.
Goooooaaaaaaaaallllll: Roast. My first guess confirmed - duplicate. No Slagstorm, eh? Although its importance seems apparent to me, few others in the Modern competitive community seem to agree. Did you feel that you would have benefited from a malleable Anger of the Gods? As for your drop on Mind Stone, that's purely a suit=to=taste decision. Crystal Ball? It does hover at my 59-60-61 slot for the main deck, but I have seen it drill me into victory so many times - it costs you one turn, but then earns you many more. I'd say, upon activation, I rearrange my scry cards at least 80% of the time.
O.K., you're asking me to guess the other 2. Hmmm...Following your theme, I'd say:
+1 Spellskite
+1 Ratchet Bomb
Sidenote to Spec.ops: tried Goblin Charbelcher and sure enough: Bricked on the 1st two attempts. Done. Out. Moving on.........way too variable, so I'm pussing out.
Tourney report in progress...life interfered with me finishing it last night.
I would have run Slagstormbut could not locate any before the tourney. Am still looking for them.
I'll spoil one of the other changes...Hammer of Purphorus. Thought it might be useful in the grindy games the deck produces. While it did help in a couple of games, I don't think it belongs here and will be looking for a change....likely Mind Stone if nothing else catches my eye.
SCG has posted the list. 3/19 Columbus IQ. They listed it as 'All in Red', so apologies to Raystack for me not putting his name on the list.
Last card in the 60 was Nahiri's Wrath. Only had one opportunity to cast it in a match against Deaths Shadow and would have been a blow out if he hadn't been able to bolt himself in response to grow the 2x Shadows in play.
Hope to have the report finished tonight for you guys to review.
** 1st Place (split) in an SCG IQ with a total attendance of 62 people **
For all the times that this deck rolls into competitive events, unless we've got a lot of silent fans smooching pickles, there is a consistent theme: winning. Looking forward to that tourney report, Hoss! And, would love to hear some other stories from our Hammer-Fisted brethren. Who else is locking it down?
Nahiri's Wrath...hmmmm, I don't see it. It does have the advantage of hand-dumping down to get 'hellbent' as well as offering us a rare opportunity to just straight up kill a phat dude like Primeval Titan that can slip the uppercut of Roast. My guess for your "red damaged based spell" was Bonfire of the Damned which I have tried with some success (also an easy dump downer with Ensnaring Bridge).
Thanks Raystack. Not sure Nahiri's Wrath stays, was ok as a possible hand dump spell and alolmost was amazing. My preference in deck building is to go for more consistency and fewer 1-ofs in decks as they are just so random, but overall the deck is very consistent. So a couple of one offs don't hurt overall.
My plan is to play the deck at the Invitational. Just need to see if the upcoming set gives us any cool toys for the deck. And I need to replace my four white boardered Moons with some snazzy new black boardered ones.
Report is written, will post when I get home.
Tourney Recap: 62 players, 6 rounds, cut to top 8
The details are a bit fuzzy on the games, as the deck plays out pretty consistently game after game, I’ll make comments specific to the match as I remember them.
RD 1 – vs Boggles: Win 1-0 (2-0 games)
Bridge shut him down from attacking, his Life total went 20-18-11-4, but for the life of me I can’t remember what would have caused 7 point life chunks to end game 1 that quickly. Game 2 was about Blood Moon locking him off colored mana and Chandra dealing 2 points over multiple turns while he pinked at her with a 1/1 to keep her from going ultimate.
Rd 2 – vs Ad Nauseum: Win 2-0 (4-0)
Locked him out with an early Blood Moon pinked away with Chandra, She went ultimate and he dropped Phyrexian Unlife to buy a couple of turns, but between Chandra’s emblem offering up 5 damage and a couple of Thopter tokens, he conceded with lethal poison damage coming in. Game 2 was more the same, Blood Moon and Chandra going the distance.
Rd 3 – vs Elves: Win 3-0 (6-1)
Won the die roll and got run over by a horde of elves, with Shaman of the Pack providing the final blow. Game 2 was won on the back of double Anger of the Gods and repeated shots from the Thopters and Chandra. Game 3 was pretty epic, as it was back and forth with me slowing him down with a Chalice on 1 and Blood Moon restricting his colored mana. Double Bridge held off his army of Elves while I plinked away with Chandra and some Thopters. He finally drew into Shaman again and hit me for 7, taking me to four. I top decked a Chalice with enough mana to set it on 3, causing him to scoop with another Shaman in hand that would have won him the game the next turn.
Rd 4 – vs Hardened Affinity: Lost 0-2 (6-3)
Kept a weak hand with 4 lands and Blood Moon and Bridge, was dead before I could get the Bridge down and drop my hand as I mana flooded this game. G2 was much the same, as this was the one match all day that the deck just did not perform well at all against the speed that an Affinity deck can run one over.
Rd 5 – vs Death’s Shadow Aggro: Win 2-1 (8-4)
Lost the die roll, saw him do his thing without a Bridge in sight…went from 20-17-9-dead without much of a fight. G2 was the instant concession from my turn 1 Blood Moon. G3 was a bit of the same, as a T2 Blood Moon slowed him down, Bridge shortly thereafter and he never did a point of damage to me.
Rd 6 – vs Death’s Shadow Aggro: Win 2-1 (10-5)
This was a win and in for both of us, as a draw would lock us out of the T8 most likely. I was sitting in 10th at this point and he was at 12th, so we opted to play for the spot. He wins the die roll and starts to do his thing, I have the T2 Blood Moon to slow him down and he never does a point of damage to me. He gets his revenge in game two as I never see a Bridge and he kills me from 20 with two Death’s Shadows. This was the one game that Nahiri’s Wrath almost stole the game, as he had two Shadow’s out and I cast the Wrath, pitching an extra Blood Moon and Magma Jet to do 5 damage to both 3/3 Shadow’s, his last card in hand is a Bolt that he fires at himself to save both creatures and kills me on the crack back. G3 saw an early Bridge and Chandra/Thopters do their thing.
T8 - #3 seed
Quarter-finals vs Ad Nauseum: Win 2-1 (12-6)
Game 1, Blood moon locks up his mana and Chalice locks out many of his cards, he’s never able to cast anything of note and I win sitting at 20. I mulligan on the draw G2 and he crushes me. G3 the deck does what it does and Chandra takes him down bit by bit. Blowing up his artifacts with Shattering Spree was key in keeping him off colored mana.
Semi-Finals vs Hardened Affinity (rematch): Win 2-1 (14-6)
G1 I’m able to hide behind an early bridge and win the game at 18 life after his mulligan to 4, drops his hand on T1 with Land, Mox, Ornithopter and Springleaf Drum. He doesn’t do much else and I’m able to steal the win on his mulligans and poor draw. Game 2 saw me blow up three artifacts on T3 with a Shattering Spree and never look back. Bridge and Chalice lock out his hand and Chandra finally arrives to do the rest.
Finals would have been against Sultai Death’s Shadow, but it was late, we split the prizes and both walked out happy with our envelopes to the Invitational.
Sadly the same thing happened to me in my playtesting on Xmage when it comes to goblin charbelcher. I'm glad I didn't buy this card as I have very consistently wiffed on hitting 2 - 3 cards before hitting a land. The best it did was hit an anger of the gods so i got to deal 6 to my opponent but in that moment, I would have rather killed all his merfolk instead. Arguably, charbelcher cost me the game on that one. I filled the spot with a main deck goblin rabblemaster and haven't looked back.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern - Pyro Prison
Modern - GW Tron
Modern - Mono G Tron
Modern - RWg Burn
Commander - Yisan, The Wanderer Bard cEDH build
Commander - Edric, Spymaster of Trest - Budget/Casual list - complete
Commander - Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis - $35 Budget upgrade
Commander - Edgar Markov - $150 upgrade
It's FNM tonight - Who else is bellowing, "Back to your Cell. Lights Out!!!"
Again, marvelous finish by Mvilla888. In the past 5 months, that's our 3rd published finish, Top 8, in a premier tournament . Not bad for a small band of guerrilla warriors. Again, / Prison has gotten the press and the followers, but I wouldn't trade any of my Main Deck Red-Strong spells for their Pale Moon spells. As for games 2 and 3? I think I prefer a transformative sideboard into something more aggressive rather than turtling up even more behind walls. Opponent's have sideboard tricks too, and if you're bringing more of the same.....might be even easier for them to target and knock down that Jenga tower.
So, here's the decklist that earned a shared win at a Starcitygames IQ in the Columbus, capitol of Ohio - the 7th most populated State in The Union. Li'l Trivia for ya
Sideboard Spotlight: Surgical Extraction.
This is new to the thread, Mike. How well did it work out, and when did you bring it in? At first blush, it seems out of place simply because we play no discard spells. Second blush, it seems askew since we play (4) Chalice of the Void. So, in order for this to work, 2 things need to happen:
1.) The opponent needs to be spilling cards of importance into their graveyard
2.) We need to be facing a deck that isn't bothered by Chalice, thus we've taken them out in games 2/3.
Premium Matchups: Dredge and Grishoalbrand/Reanimator [somewhat conflicting since Chalice on 2 kills Goryo's Vengeance, but we also want to bring in a couple Grafdigger's Cage which doesn't jive with Chalice.]
Favorable Matchups: U/R Storm and Lantern Control: Although Surgical Extraction can be titanic, Chalice of the Void is actually stronger here. Also, I would list Grixis Control as a favorable matchup for Surgical.
Notable Matchup: Abzan Company. It's our worst matchup. The chance to break their cycling combos is tasty, although they don't graveyard dump in playstyle.
Ultimately, I am leaning towards a pass on the extraction. Maybe just 1 instead of 2?
Never brought the extractions in...was hoping to use them to disrupt any Tron or control dish decks by snagging an anti-artifact spell or such. Likely will be something more useful the next time I get a chance to play.
I loved Walking Ballista when he showed up on the board. Ability to shoot critters or face and keep reloading seemed really useful...I'd actually think of adding a second in the 75 rather than dismiss from the deck.
I'd also consider a second Koth I think, maybe a 3/2 balance between Chandra/Koth. His ultimate ends the game so quick behind a Bridge/Moon lock, which I think is critical for a prison deck. Most of my games were won plinking away with Chandra for 2 points a turn hoping the opponent didn't hit an out.
Overdue updates finally performed! Headers, Matchups, Keystone Cards, and more.....shoosh, some of that indulgent babble that I've had up for over a year was just embarrassing. I suppose it just took the time of watching this thread and the archetype develop before putting up some rock solid opinions and suggestions for optimal play. But, we've made it, mountainfolk:
In the last 5 months, (3) tournament reports rolled in from folks competing in premium tournaments, and we made Top 8 in every one - including a tie for 1st and a 2nd place finish:
FNM
It wasn't a big, or even medium sized, tournament last Sunday, but Between the Hammer and the Anvil put up another Tourney win: 3-0.
R1: Thopter Tezzeret - Prison vs. Prison. Round 1 win came from Koth of the Hammer and the 2nd derived from Pia and Kiran Nalaar / Goblin Rabblemaster beats off the back of a land shutdown (blood moon)
R2: Jund - Blood Moon, early and often. It's a critical part of beating the ultimate fair deck.
R3: Fairie Tokens - Ensnaring Bridge and Blood Moon were crippling.
Something Wicked this Way Shuffles...
Things are slowing way down, as I am seeing the meta. Infect and Affinity just do not register as even the slightest hassle - Zoo either. Maybe I'm being a bit arrogant, but I am far more concerned about Abzan/Grixis Control. To that end, I've shaved my Magma Jet count down to (2). Too often, I find myself bolting the face for 2 just to get a double scry in - If i really need more creature control (beyond 4 bridge, 3 Piran, 2 Jet, 1 Roast & other agents of disruption, I have my sideboarded Anger of the Gods and Ratchet Bomb). Otherwise, let's get it on!
Deck Updates
This is where I've gone since we last saw a slightly altered version of my deck take down that Columbus, OH Starcitygames IQ. New Blood: A.) Tormenting Voice. A succinct 2-drop. The primary reason that card was sharted upon before was the need to be hellbent for Ensnaring Bridge (i.e. Infect and Affinity). Now? I don't mind sandbagging a card in the late game, and I certainly don't mind 2-for-2 grooming in the early game. B.) 4th Desperate Ritual: It replaced the Mind Stone. More than anything, Blood Moon has risen in effectiveness & getting it out ASAP is paramount - thus the ritual is back. C.) Pithing Needle in the SB. Oh, how I deplore this card, but there are just enough targets around that I'll swallow this jagged little pill: Opposing Planeswalkers & Walking Ballista plus Engineered Explosives on top of the usual Tron/Affinity offenders tipped the scales.
Raystack, love the changes, as it looks more streamlined imho. One question, when boarding in shatter spree against affinity (not sure what else it comes in against), what do you find you normally set Chalice on against affinity decks? Also, I brought Spree in against the deaths Shadow decks to mess up their mana artifacts...do you do the same?
On the play, drop that Chalice of the Void on '0'. If they haven't ramped to tossing out 2-cmc threats, then do all you can to get a Chalice of the Void on '2'. It's devastating for them. The only 1-drops that are problematic are Galvanic Blast and Signal Pest. When you pull a Shattering Spree, it should be good game scenario - unless they toss their chips all onto an arcbound ravager in response [Ensnaring Bridge / Spellskite Need Apply]. Nay on the Death's Shadow deck question.
Otherwise [and, I know you know this - owing your query to a quick response], I bring in Shattering Spree against G/x and Blue Tron, Ad Nauseam and Lantern. Shattering Spree is one of the wisest additions that Octopusman made to "Bloody Humans's" Sideboard {listed in the OP}. Free Win Red and the like will be seen using Vandalblast and Shatterstorm
Also: Welcome Walked! Did you unleash RED hell at your FNM?
Modern - Pyro Prison
Modern - GW Tron
Modern - Mono G Tron
Modern - RWg Burn
Commander - Yisan, The Wanderer Bard cEDH build
Commander - Edric, Spymaster of Trest - Budget/Casual list - complete
Commander - Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis - $35 Budget upgrade
Commander - Edgar Markov - $150 upgrade
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
4x Goblin Charbelcher
4x Ensnaring Bridge
4x Lantern of Insight
4x Codex Shredder
4x Ghoulcaller's Bell
4x Blood Moon
4x Ghirapur Aether Grid
4x Pyroclasm
4x Mox Opal
4x Gemstone Caverns
16x Mountain
As requested, this is the basic shell of the deck I'm proposing. It is lacking one slot, but with shaving that could increase up to two, but that is because I do not know the Hammer deck as well as everyone else does. For additions, the deck could be given land destruction, mana reamp, kill conditions, and/or board wipe spells. But, again, that's where you guys come in.
YOUTUBE CHANNEL: GOBOTS
And I chop it down with the edge of my hand
We got a new Voodoo Child swinging Koth judo chops at the Mountainside, Mvilla888: 7-1-1 in a 62 person tournament! I can't wait to add your performance to the Official Primer. Are they going to publish your decklist online? The real criminal element here is that you qualified for a Standard Premier Event. We were just about to get RED Prison/Hammer's Slammer on the main stage again in a Premier Tournament. Turns out there's not even a slight return for our deck, brotha gotta bring a whole new deck for the event. Robbery. I declare a Robbery!
So, you said that you did "a very slightly altered version" of the deck. My mind is racing. What are the differences?! I almost want to see you tease out the decklist. What and how were you preparing for the Main Event? My hunch: Roast...aaaaand Sun Droplet in the sideboard. Hmmm...I was revisiting Tezzeret's Gambit recently, but naaah. Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker? Did you do any main deck 1-drops in a deck with (4) Chalice of the Void? What about cards that barely made the cut? Do you have any regrets on your construction?
Anybody else wanna guess at how Mvilla888 crafted up his crimson hoosegow? Goofy, Narrowly focused or just plain outlandish, let's hear some voices on what specific cards you'd guess our Mountainfolk Kin included this weekend. Survey Says:......
The Invitational is the mixed Modern and standard event held at SCG June 30-July 2. So the deck will make an appearance this summer barring any hate or banning. Biggest issue is I haven't played Standard for years...ugh.
I did get one T1 concession for the fast Blood Moon play.
As for the tease...the MD was 56/60 cards your list above. The four cards I didn't in Claude were 2x Slagstorm, 1x Mind stone and 1x Crystal Ball. I did have a Mind stone, other cards were just not readily available locally.
I did run 2x Roast in the MD in place of the slagstorms. I'll leave the other two cards until I get home from work and let you think about them a bit. Will also sit down and do a tourney recap of the event.
O.K., you're asking me to guess the other 2. Hmmm...Following your theme, I'd say:
+1 Spellskite
+1 Ratchet Bomb
Orrrrrr, the more obvious selection:
+2 Anger of the Gods
Sidenote to Spec.ops: tried Goblin Charbelcher and sure enough: Bricked on the 1st two attempts. Done. Out. Moving on.........way too variable, so I'm pussing out.
I would have run Slagstormbut could not locate any before the tourney. Am still looking for them.
I'll spoil one of the other changes...Hammer of Purphorus. Thought it might be useful in the grindy games the deck produces. While it did help in a couple of games, I don't think it belongs here and will be looking for a change....likely Mind Stone if nothing else catches my eye.
One card to go.....what could it be.....
Hint, it is a red damage based spell.
Last card in the 60 was Nahiri's Wrath. Only had one opportunity to cast it in a match against Deaths Shadow and would have been a blow out if he hadn't been able to bolt himself in response to grow the 2x Shadows in play.
Hope to have the report finished tonight for you guys to review.
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=112406
** 1st Place (split) in an SCG IQ with a total attendance of 62 people **
For all the times that this deck rolls into competitive events, unless we've got a lot of silent fans smooching pickles, there is a consistent theme: winning. Looking forward to that tourney report, Hoss! And, would love to hear some other stories from our Hammer-Fisted brethren. Who else is locking it down?
Nahiri's Wrath...hmmmm, I don't see it. It does have the advantage of hand-dumping down to get 'hellbent' as well as offering us a rare opportunity to just straight up kill a phat dude like Primeval Titan that can slip the uppercut of Roast. My guess for your "red damaged based spell" was Bonfire of the Damned which I have tried with some success (also an easy dump downer with Ensnaring Bridge).
My plan is to play the deck at the Invitational. Just need to see if the upcoming set gives us any cool toys for the deck. And I need to replace my four white boardered Moons with some snazzy new black boardered ones.
Report is written, will post when I get home.
The details are a bit fuzzy on the games, as the deck plays out pretty consistently game after game, I’ll make comments specific to the match as I remember them.
RD 1 – vs Boggles: Win 1-0 (2-0 games)
Bridge shut him down from attacking, his Life total went 20-18-11-4, but for the life of me I can’t remember what would have caused 7 point life chunks to end game 1 that quickly. Game 2 was about Blood Moon locking him off colored mana and Chandra dealing 2 points over multiple turns while he pinked at her with a 1/1 to keep her from going ultimate.
Rd 2 – vs Ad Nauseum: Win 2-0 (4-0)
Locked him out with an early Blood Moon pinked away with Chandra, She went ultimate and he dropped Phyrexian Unlife to buy a couple of turns, but between Chandra’s emblem offering up 5 damage and a couple of Thopter tokens, he conceded with lethal poison damage coming in. Game 2 was more the same, Blood Moon and Chandra going the distance.
Rd 3 – vs Elves: Win 3-0 (6-1)
Won the die roll and got run over by a horde of elves, with Shaman of the Pack providing the final blow. Game 2 was won on the back of double Anger of the Gods and repeated shots from the Thopters and Chandra. Game 3 was pretty epic, as it was back and forth with me slowing him down with a Chalice on 1 and Blood Moon restricting his colored mana. Double Bridge held off his army of Elves while I plinked away with Chandra and some Thopters. He finally drew into Shaman again and hit me for 7, taking me to four. I top decked a Chalice with enough mana to set it on 3, causing him to scoop with another Shaman in hand that would have won him the game the next turn.
Rd 4 – vs Hardened Affinity: Lost 0-2 (6-3)
Kept a weak hand with 4 lands and Blood Moon and Bridge, was dead before I could get the Bridge down and drop my hand as I mana flooded this game. G2 was much the same, as this was the one match all day that the deck just did not perform well at all against the speed that an Affinity deck can run one over.
Rd 5 – vs Death’s Shadow Aggro: Win 2-1 (8-4)
Lost the die roll, saw him do his thing without a Bridge in sight…went from 20-17-9-dead without much of a fight. G2 was the instant concession from my turn 1 Blood Moon. G3 was a bit of the same, as a T2 Blood Moon slowed him down, Bridge shortly thereafter and he never did a point of damage to me.
Rd 6 – vs Death’s Shadow Aggro: Win 2-1 (10-5)
This was a win and in for both of us, as a draw would lock us out of the T8 most likely. I was sitting in 10th at this point and he was at 12th, so we opted to play for the spot. He wins the die roll and starts to do his thing, I have the T2 Blood Moon to slow him down and he never does a point of damage to me. He gets his revenge in game two as I never see a Bridge and he kills me from 20 with two Death’s Shadows. This was the one game that Nahiri’s Wrath almost stole the game, as he had two Shadow’s out and I cast the Wrath, pitching an extra Blood Moon and Magma Jet to do 5 damage to both 3/3 Shadow’s, his last card in hand is a Bolt that he fires at himself to save both creatures and kills me on the crack back. G3 saw an early Bridge and Chandra/Thopters do their thing.
T8 - #3 seed
Quarter-finals vs Ad Nauseum: Win 2-1 (12-6)
Game 1, Blood moon locks up his mana and Chalice locks out many of his cards, he’s never able to cast anything of note and I win sitting at 20. I mulligan on the draw G2 and he crushes me. G3 the deck does what it does and Chandra takes him down bit by bit. Blowing up his artifacts with Shattering Spree was key in keeping him off colored mana.
Semi-Finals vs Hardened Affinity (rematch): Win 2-1 (14-6)
G1 I’m able to hide behind an early bridge and win the game at 18 life after his mulligan to 4, drops his hand on T1 with Land, Mox, Ornithopter and Springleaf Drum. He doesn’t do much else and I’m able to steal the win on his mulligans and poor draw. Game 2 saw me blow up three artifacts on T3 with a Shattering Spree and never look back. Bridge and Chalice lock out his hand and Chandra finally arrives to do the rest.
Finals would have been against Sultai Death’s Shadow, but it was late, we split the prizes and both walked out happy with our envelopes to the Invitational.
Enjoy and thanks all.
Modern - GW Tron
Modern - Mono G Tron
Modern - RWg Burn
Commander - Yisan, The Wanderer Bard cEDH build
Commander - Edric, Spymaster of Trest - Budget/Casual list - complete
Commander - Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis - $35 Budget upgrade
Commander - Edgar Markov - $150 upgrade
Again, marvelous finish by Mvilla888. In the past 5 months, that's our 3rd published finish, Top 8, in a premier tournament . Not bad for a small band of guerrilla warriors. Again, / Prison has gotten the press and the followers, but I wouldn't trade any of my Main Deck Red-Strong spells for their Pale Moon spells. As for games 2 and 3? I think I prefer a transformative sideboard into something more aggressive rather than turtling up even more behind walls. Opponent's have sideboard tricks too, and if you're bringing more of the same.....might be even easier for them to target and knock down that Jenga tower.
So, here's the decklist that earned a shared win at a Starcitygames IQ in the Columbus, capitol of Ohio - the 7th most populated State in The Union. Li'l Trivia for ya
3 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Spellskite
1 Walking Ballista
1 Magus of the Moon
4 Simian Spirit Guide
Planeswalkers (5)
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Koth of the Hammer
Lands (22)
18 Mountain
2 Mutavault
2 Gemstone Caverns
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Blood Moon
3 Desperate Ritual
4 Magma Jet
1 Hammer of Purphoros
1 Nahiri's Wrath
2 Roast
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Ratchet Bomb
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Surgical Extraction
3 Anger of the Gods
1 Roast
2 Shattering Spree
Sideboard Spotlight: Surgical Extraction.
This is new to the thread, Mike. How well did it work out, and when did you bring it in? At first blush, it seems out of place simply because we play no discard spells. Second blush, it seems askew since we play (4) Chalice of the Void. So, in order for this to work, 2 things need to happen:
1.) The opponent needs to be spilling cards of importance into their graveyard
2.) We need to be facing a deck that isn't bothered by Chalice, thus we've taken them out in games 2/3.
Premium Matchups: Dredge and Grishoalbrand/Reanimator [somewhat conflicting since Chalice on 2 kills Goryo's Vengeance, but we also want to bring in a couple Grafdigger's Cage which doesn't jive with Chalice.]
Favorable Matchups: U/R Storm and Lantern Control: Although Surgical Extraction can be titanic, Chalice of the Void is actually stronger here. Also, I would list Grixis Control as a favorable matchup for Surgical.
Notable Matchup: Abzan Company. It's our worst matchup. The chance to break their cycling combos is tasty, although they don't graveyard dump in playstyle.
Ultimately, I am leaning towards a pass on the extraction. Maybe just 1 instead of 2?
Card Spotlight or
Walking Ballista
I say Nay. Sure, she has her moments. But, lately I've had wandering eyes.
I loved Walking Ballista when he showed up on the board. Ability to shoot critters or face and keep reloading seemed really useful...I'd actually think of adding a second in the 75 rather than dismiss from the deck.
I'd also consider a second Koth I think, maybe a 3/2 balance between Chandra/Koth. His ultimate ends the game so quick behind a Bridge/Moon lock, which I think is critical for a prison deck. Most of my games were won plinking away with Chandra for 2 points a turn hoping the opponent didn't hit an out.
Count me in; all I needed to pickup was a singleton koth. If everything arrives in time I'll be giving this a run next FNM.
Make me proud!
Hopefully I get something local soon. This deck has my complete focus for Modern.
Mvilla888, grats on your finish! Loved the report.
Overdue updates finally performed! Headers, Matchups, Keystone Cards, and more.....shoosh, some of that indulgent babble that I've had up for over a year was just embarrassing. I suppose it just took the time of watching this thread and the archetype develop before putting up some rock solid opinions and suggestions for optimal play. But, we've made it, mountainfolk:
In the last 5 months, (3) tournament reports rolled in from folks competing in premium tournaments, and we made Top 8 in every one - including a tie for 1st and a 2nd place finish:
FNM
It wasn't a big, or even medium sized, tournament last Sunday, but Between the Hammer and the Anvil put up another Tourney win: 3-0.
R1: Thopter Tezzeret - Prison vs. Prison. Round 1 win came from Koth of the Hammer and the 2nd derived from Pia and Kiran Nalaar / Goblin Rabblemaster beats off the back of a land shutdown (blood moon)
R2: Jund - Blood Moon, early and often. It's a critical part of beating the ultimate fair deck.
R3: Fairie Tokens - Ensnaring Bridge and Blood Moon were crippling.
Something Wicked this Way Shuffles...
Things are slowing way down, as I am seeing the meta. Infect and Affinity just do not register as even the slightest hassle - Zoo either. Maybe I'm being a bit arrogant, but I am far more concerned about Abzan/Grixis Control. To that end, I've shaved my Magma Jet count down to (2). Too often, I find myself bolting the face for 2 just to get a double scry in - If i really need more creature control (beyond 4 bridge, 3 Piran, 2 Jet, 1 Roast & other agents of disruption, I have my sideboarded Anger of the Gods and Ratchet Bomb). Otherwise, let's get it on!
Deck Updates
This is where I've gone since we last saw a slightly altered version of my deck take down that Columbus, OH Starcitygames IQ. New Blood: A.) Tormenting Voice. A succinct 2-drop. The primary reason that card was sharted upon before was the need to be hellbent for Ensnaring Bridge (i.e. Infect and Affinity). Now? I don't mind sandbagging a card in the late game, and I certainly don't mind 2-for-2 grooming in the early game. B.) 4th Desperate Ritual: It replaced the Mind Stone. More than anything, Blood Moon has risen in effectiveness & getting it out ASAP is paramount - thus the ritual is back. C.) Pithing Needle in the SB. Oh, how I deplore this card, but there are just enough targets around that I'll swallow this jagged little pill: Opposing Planeswalkers & Walking Ballista plus Engineered Explosives on top of the usual Tron/Affinity offenders tipped the scales.
Hammering Forward....
Creatures (6)
3 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Walking Ballista
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Spellskite
Accelerators (9)
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Desperate Ritual
1 Tormenting Voice
Enchantments (4)
4 Blood Moon
Removal (5)
2 Magma Jet
2 Slagstorm
1 Roast
4 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Koth of the Hammer
Artifacts (9)
4 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Chalice of the Void
1 Crystal Ball
Lands (22)
18 Mountains
2 Mutavault
2 Gemstone Caverns
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Shattering Spree
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Roast
1 Pithing Needle
1 Witchbane Orb
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Magus of the Moon
On the play, drop that Chalice of the Void on '0'. If they haven't ramped to tossing out 2-cmc threats, then do all you can to get a Chalice of the Void on '2'. It's devastating for them. The only 1-drops that are problematic are Galvanic Blast and Signal Pest. When you pull a Shattering Spree, it should be good game scenario - unless they toss their chips all onto an arcbound ravager in response [Ensnaring Bridge / Spellskite Need Apply]. Nay on the Death's Shadow deck question.
Otherwise [and, I know you know this - owing your query to a quick response], I bring in Shattering Spree against G/x and Blue Tron, Ad Nauseam and Lantern. Shattering Spree is one of the wisest additions that Octopusman made to "Bloody Humans's" Sideboard {listed in the OP}. Free Win Red and the like will be seen using Vandalblast and Shatterstorm
Also: Welcome Walked! Did you unleash RED hell at your FNM?
Thoughts?
Modern - GW Tron
Modern - Mono G Tron
Modern - RWg Burn
Commander - Yisan, The Wanderer Bard cEDH build
Commander - Edric, Spymaster of Trest - Budget/Casual list - complete
Commander - Kynaios and Tiro of Meletis - $35 Budget upgrade
Commander - Edgar Markov - $150 upgrade