The four you kept in Round 4 is pretty dreamy actually. All-landers are fine once you get to five cards and lower so long as you have a Temple, and you even had a nice mix of utility lands too.
You should bring in the full sideboard against Junk. Needle on Lili is awesome and a second copy can even hit Ooze or Wildwood or something so it's not totally dead (or just replace a Needle they Decay). Cut the Copters if you expect Stony Silence. Other than that your plans are on point but remember to scout for Ensnaring Bridge vs. Burn; if you see it, bring in a pair of Bombs for Game 3.
Ensnaring Bridge out from burn was a good catch, didn't think it at all. Also that Junk matchup since they are more or less going to remove all early threats we deploy the Pithing Needle makes sense instead of Eldrazi Mimic.
I actually didn't mean to type "bad four of Ghost Quarter, Eldrazi Temple, Wreckage and Gemstone Caverns", there was another sentence before and I changed it when I remembered my starting hand correctly. That four hand definitely had chances with one top decked heavy threat, getting maybe some cards via Wreckage and hope that one Ghost Quarter buys enough time. Well you can't always get there if your opponent still plays perfect game even when you try to distract them
Didn't play copters but totally missed them against Junk (Mimic is so underwhelming when the game goes long). Copter is also good against Lingering souls those can wall Blinkmoths quite effectively.
the card itself really isn't worth the card board its printed on...does it serve a purpose? Sure its a blue 1 drop that might not be a 1/1. I would not put it in a list and expect to win a PTQ or GP though.
the card itself really isn't worth the card board its printed on...does it serve a purpose? Sure its a blue 1 drop that might not be a 1/1. I would not put it in a list and expect to win a PTQ or GP though.
Anyone have thoughts on Walking Ballista? It's getting good buzz in the Eldrazi Tron thread and I figure any decent looking colorless card is worth talking about.
I've built the deck and got a couple games in. Have to say this deck gets some...interesting draws. Very swingy. Some hands feel unbeatable but sometimes I seem to draw nothing but an endless stream of lands, Powders, too-late Chalices, and SSG.
Anyone have thoughts on Walking Ballista? It's getting good buzz in the Eldrazi Tron thread and I figure any decent looking colorless card is worth talking about.
I've built the deck and got a couple games in. Have to say this deck gets some...interesting draws. Very swingy. Some hands feel unbeatable but sometimes I seem to draw nothing but an endless stream of lands, Powders, too-late Chalices, and SSG.
Too expensive. Very few colorless cards are in fact worth talking about. Mulligan more.
the card itself really isn't worth the card board its printed on...does it serve a purpose? Sure its a blue 1 drop that might not be a 1/1. I would not put it in a list and expect to win a PTQ or GP though.
Nice that this thread has a primer now and good report on your tournament!
Did a competitive league today and went 5-0. Highlight: Won after getting T3 Emrakuled against Grishoalbrand.
Pretty much your list just a few changes main and side.
You may want to add some more informations about sideboarding in the primer. For example what you said about your "packages". This seems to be one of the less intuitive aspects of the deck (at least for me)
Thought I would add I also have had some small fnm successes with this deck... 4-0 with +20 folks...
The copter feels like a perfect addition.. and locally we have zero Though the Breach decks.
Have been 4-0ing or 3-1ing with this deck at FNM/TNM twice a week since I moved to Boston a few months ago. I think the deck just crushes at the smaller level since it eats random fair decks as well as jankier brews, which tend to be either slow or heavily focused around one-drops, and "gateway to the format" linear aggro decks like Infect, Burn, and Affinity. For the record, I'll only post searchable finishes in the primer thread, but am willing to include 5-0 leagues for the time being if any pop up.
the card itself really isn't worth the card board its printed on...does it serve a purpose? Sure its a blue 1 drop that might not be a 1/1. I would not put it in a list and expect to win a PTQ or GP though.
Went 3-1 at Monday Modern yesterday with my first time really playing the deck. Played Jordan's list except had a Tectonic Edge over a Mutavault. Mostly because I only have 1 Mutavault right now but my store also has lots of Tron players.
Round 1: Tron (of course). Lose 1-2
Game 1 I powder then mull to an ok 6. It would have been fine against a random midrange deck but was not nearly fast enough to beat Tron.
Game 2 I slow him down just barely enough with TKS+GQ to kill him the turn before he would stabilize with a Wurmcoil.
Game 3 I have what would normally be a nut draw against Tron with a T1 Chalice (off Gemstone) into GQ+threats, but he has natural Tron on 6 cards and ignores my Chalice with two Sylvan Scryings and naturally draws Wurmcoil+O-Stone. Tron is the topdeck champ for a reason.
Round 2: Kiki Chord. Win 2-1
Game 1 I have two chalice that are useless against his deck and he locks me out with a Magus of the Moon. I rip nothing but TKS and Smasher for 5 turns in a row with a looter scooter out.
Game 2 I keep a removal + Relic heavy hand and stop him from doing anything relevant. I follow up with a pair of Smashers.
Game 3 I T0 Gut Shot his Bird and he never draws a second land.
Round 3: Affinity. Win 2-0
Game 1 He spews out most of his hand T1 but he never draws a payoff card. I get a Chalice on 2 to make sure he can't resolve one anyways.
Game 2 He keeps a slow hand and I surprise him by Dismembering his Inkmoth off a SSG. When he gets another land I "Wasteland" it with GQ and his hand is full of 2 and 3 drops. I think my opponent made a big mistake by not mulling here.
Round 4: Infect. Win 2-1
Game 1: Luckily, I win the die roll and get a Chalice out on my T2. I successfully race his one infect-er with a Mimic but he almost gets there with a Viridian Corrupter on my Chalice.
Game 2: This is a very strange game. I get out ALL FOUR of my Chalices and a bunch of removal to stall. However, I can't draw a single Eldrazi, Manland, or Ghost Quarter and I die to a Become Immense-ed Inkmoth. I think I misplayed by putting one of the Chalices on 3. I didn't have a way to answer Virdian Corrupter at the time but I also locked myself out of Dismember. I also pitched a Mimic to Gemstone Mine when I should have pitched a Ratchet Bomb. I had a Chalice + Spatial Contortion to buy time so the Bomb wasn't needed.
Game 3: Much to my opponent's chagrin, I get another fast Chalice. I make a mistake by Dismembering his Noble Hierach since I think he is light on mana but hes not and he gets me to 9 poison with Become Immense +Inkmoth. I manage to pull it out with Smasher beats despite forgetting he only has 3 lands when I left a Tec Edge up...
Overall Thoughts
The deck was fun and felt powerful. Gemstone Caverns just isn't a fair card in a Chalice deck and getting to bend the fundamental rules of magic before the game even starts was great. Another thing I noticed is the deck is very transformable post board. In 3 of my 4 matches I changed from an aggro deck trying to exploit unfair cards to a mostly fair midrange-y removal deck. You really have to change your mindset between games and knowing who's the beatdown is extra important for this deck. My opponents also didn't know how to play against the deck at all and made bad decisions. 5/7 will continue to sling the deck.
Right now the only change I'm going to make is to cut a Sea Gate Wreckage for a Mutavault. I never even got close to using Wreckage and drawing more than one felt miserable. Still not 100% sold on the Gut Shots but I'll keep them in for now.
Played another four round modern yesterday with the same list as before.
First round vs Eldrazi Tron 1-2
This matchup feels quite miserable since Chalice and Ghost Quarter won't do so much and if I can't draw douple temple nuts it is pretty much GG. First game I ghost Quartered couple of times but he played multiple Reshapers and Smasher and I conceded. Second game I had the nuts for Mimic into Seer into Smasher. Third game he has the double temple nuts and I had five with one temple. I lost the third game after he played turn two and three Seers into natural tron and Batterskull.
Round two vs cheeri0s 2-0
Not much to say about this: Chalice for zero and beatdown.
Round three vs RWB Restore Balance 2-1
I had all the time one creature and one manland with GQ, Temple and Serum Powder. Opponemt kept himself at three lands thanks to this. He pmayed couple of planeswalkers but Scourge and Reshaper are just too hard to deal with. Game two I lost since he suspended turn one Gargadon and threatened me by turn two Cascade into Balance, can't revover from that. Game three I played Chalice for zero and raced him with Seer, Smasher and little dudes.
Round four vs Merfolk 0-2
Didn't draw nuts and lost to multiple Harbingers and lords. Game one and two were very similar: I didnt have super aggro starts and he played only harbingers and silvergrils into triple lord alpha strikes. Not much I can do
I would call that Eldrazi Tron is not favorable matchup unless we draw the nuts. If we even play mimic into turn two Seer with Spirit Guide but have no real follow-up, we will just lose to their consistency. The main problem here is in my opinipn that GQ and Chalice does nothing against them.
Restore Balance: -4 Dismember, +2 Needles, +2 Relics (I saw an Emrakul shuffling his GY back couple of times.. Dunno what I was thinking)
Merfolk: -4 Chalice -4 Scourges -1 Spirit Guide (tapper merfolk and harbinger exiled two times my two Scourges) -1 Spirit Guide, +3 Bombs, +4 Spatials, +2 Needles (for vials.. Did nothing since my opponent played only tempe creatures)
Bring in Gut Shot vs. Merfolk. Silvergill is actually their best creature, and you also want to kill Catcher on sight. I would cut all the Guides and keep some number of Scourge because it's great with Powder in matchups where we bring in all our removal.
I actually like GQ a lot vs. Eldrazi Tron, but Dismember is definitely our best card here. GQ only works if we open aggressive starts, so Powder and Scourge are very important in this MU. I think you boarded well though. Eldrazi mirrors are annoying because they frequently come down to who opens more Temples :/
the card itself really isn't worth the card board its printed on...does it serve a purpose? Sure its a blue 1 drop that might not be a 1/1. I would not put it in a list and expect to win a PTQ or GP though.
Merfolk player is good friend of mine and he is splashing collective comppany in his fish dunno if gutshots would have done any difference there since I blew his board with Ratchet Bomb but he still played triple lord into harbinger. I think I just should have mulliganed more aggressively to find more blazing start because if fish doesn't get screwed (flood or mana screw) I can't win without an unfair start.
Merfolk player is good friend of mine and he is splashing collective comppany in his fish dunno if gutshots would have done any difference there since I blew his board with Ratchet Bomb but he still played triple lord into harbinger. I think I just should have mulliganed more aggressively to find more blazing start because if fish doesn't get screwed (flood or mana screw) I can't win without an unfair start.
Maybe not in that game then, but it's great in the matchup.
the card itself really isn't worth the card board its printed on...does it serve a purpose? Sure its a blue 1 drop that might not be a 1/1. I would not put it in a list and expect to win a PTQ or GP though.
Wow this deck was fun, I ended up going 3-1 at a 60 person FNM here in Dallas, TX. I was toying with this deck idea or going to add a little white for the Leonin Arbiter, because a turn 1 arbiter is pretty rough to get around. Especially for tron decks, which seems to a be a rough match up but I went the colorless route. Only have 3 chalice of the void so I played one more matter reshaper which I never saw the whole night and I only had 2 blinkmoth nexus so I added 2 tectonic edge and was huge a couple games.
Match 1
Colorless Stompy vs Valakut scapeshift 1-2
Powder opening hand,
got a fast start but he was just a little faster to combo off, so he got game 1. Game 2 I was just too fast and was able to get a chalice for 2 using simian spirit guide and that slowed him way down. Game 3 happened the same way but I literally missed it by one turn for the win. The guy I was playing works at the shop and was very impressed with the deck and basically laughed and when I kept playing powder to get the right cards. I probably should of been more aggressive with GQ but I was worried about him getting mountains. Leonin arbiter would of been a big help if I went that route.
Match 2
Colorless Stompy vs Grixis Delver, 2-0
Game 1, he was on the play and got a devler out, then I chaliced for one and basically shutting him down, so I then dismember his delver and went to work.
Game 2, he played serum vision turn 1, then I chaliced for 1 and that just shut him down. I pretty much powder every time I got the chance to get the most aggressive hand I could
Match 3
Colorless Stompy vs Naya Burn 2-0
Game was simple, chalice for 1 and that pretty shut him down till I got a thought-knot out and reality smasher. Eternal scourage was a beast in these games. The match was over in 12 mins
Match 4
Colorless stompy vs R/G Ponza, w/ Madcap Experiment combo 2-0
So this game was really fun because I was playing my buddy and I know how to wreck this deck, I will say madcap experiment is rough match and actually a rough matchup.
Game 1: basically powder till I can be really aggressive, I used GQ to destroy his utopia sprawl lands and dismember his weenie creature because that is how it ramps. I got him down to 4 life and he got the madcap off but i basically just used Smuggler's copter to find the second dismember to get rid of platinum experiment.
Game 2: I was able to keep him off red mana with GQ and Tectonic edge before could get blood moon out but I ended getting a Grafdigger's Cage turn 1 to shut down madcap.
So overall this deck was great and really fun to play, I never really played endless one or matter reshaper but they have their spot. Smuggler's copter was awesome for cycling through the deck. I never once used sea gate wreckage, but it never hurts playing it. I think the sideboard could be updated, but I felt like I had one of the the best decks around and I had people watching me the whole time and asking questions. You just to be aggressive mulling even if you dont have a powder. Everytime I powder, my hands were always pretty aggressive.
I still like to try the white variant for the arbiter and thalia, those creatures may be better than matter reshape and endless one. I feel like this deck wants to play a little control for the very first couple of turns then you step on the gas. At least arbiter would be interesting with GQ in the deck.
Highlights:
- I won Game 1 against Ponza with an opener of 3 Guide, 2 Dismember, 1 Temple on the back of a turn-two Simian Spirit Guide.
- I won Game 3 of that match after looting through a fair chunk of the deck with two active Copters (which eventually got Grudged on the same turn), but failing to find a fourth land drop for most of it.
- In Round 7, my opponent had turn three Geist into turn four Steel of the Godheadboth games! Pretty sure that sequence is unbeatable....
TJ will be featuring a deck tech on their website, which I'll cross-post here when it goes up. Also happy to write up a more detailed report over the next few days if there is enough interest.
the card itself really isn't worth the card board its printed on...does it serve a purpose? Sure its a blue 1 drop that might not be a 1/1. I would not put it in a list and expect to win a PTQ or GP though.
Yeah I would like to see a more detailed report if it is possible? I am curious how this deck does against Deathly Shadows, Bant Eldrazi, Dredge, and Merfolk. I haven't had a chance to play against those deck, so if you have any advice I am interested.
Played again tonight and got completely crushed. Really making me re-think if the deck is any good in my meta.
Round 1: Valakut lose 0-2. Terrible match up is terrible. Lost game 1 because I couldn't draw enough Eldrazi to trigger Mimic. Lost game 2 despite playing T2 Thought-Knot and blowing up two Valakuts.
Round 2: Elves lose 0-2. Both games I can't get a usable hand even with multiple powders and mulligans. He quickly overwhelms me.
I also playtested against UW Spirits and got wrecked as well (losing another T2 Thought-Knot game). Had problems getting playable hands here as well.
While I had fun playing the deck there's just too much variance between good hands and terrible hands for my liking. The deck is very bad if you can't get to a Temple or play Chalice early against a deck that cares about it. My meta doesn't have many decks that are weak to chalice either. I was lucky to get paired against the only 2 players that cared a lot about Chalice last week. Eldrazi Mimic has also been pretty mediocre for me. Without a Temple casting it feels terrible, it often times comes down too late to matter, or never gets enough triggers to be any good.
Right now, I think Eldrazi-Tron is the more favorable colorless Eldrazi deck in the meta and I can't justify running this over it. It was a fun experiment and I hope the meta shifts in a way one day that makes me want to bring it out.
Ross Merriam also just did a Daily Digest on the deck after Brent Del Pinto took my current list (-1 SGW, +1 Radiant Fountain) to a 5th place finish at an SCG IQ. It's starting! Updated the primer with this new result.
the card itself really isn't worth the card board its printed on...does it serve a purpose? Sure its a blue 1 drop that might not be a 1/1. I would not put it in a list and expect to win a PTQ or GP though.
A any experience with living end? Haven't had the chance to run this against it, but I suppose chalice on 0 coupled with relic and our naturally fast clock is no problem.
Hope to make this to next fnm so I can finally run it on paper. I've got about a 60% win rate on MTGO so far against a lot of the field, but I've seen a lot of fringe decks in the competitive queues lately.
Is the abzan sideboard plan the same as jund? (Everything comes in) Lots of BGx at my LGS, but I didn't see any deaths shadow last Friday (I ran bant eldrazi unfortunately and didn't do so well against living end, or GB Tron). I'll be taking this version out next week since I know it a bit better than bant anyway.
A any experience with living end? Haven't had the chance to run this against it, but I suppose chalice on 0 coupled with relic and our naturally fast clock is no problem.
Hope to make this to next fnm so I can finally run it on paper. I've got about a 60% win rate on MTGO so far against a lot of the field, but I've seen a lot of fringe decks in the competitive queues lately.
Is the abzan sideboard plan the same as jund? (Everything comes in) Lots of BGx at my LGS, but I didn't see any deaths shadow last Friday (I ran bant eldrazi unfortunately and didn't do so well against living end, or GB Tron). I'll be taking this version out next week since I know it a bit better than bant anyway.
Tips for merfolk?
Vs. Abzan is a little different from Jund, especially if you expect Stony Silence from Abzan. In that case, cut all the Powders and two Copters. Both decks are good matchups for us, and so is DSJ.
Merfolk is a lot harder. My tip is kill everything you can. Bring in Gut Shot for Curse and Silvergill. Bomb is a beating against them. TKS is pretty weak in this matchup but Scourge is plenty good at blocking/attacking and hard for them to remove (not many targeting effects). Smasher is our best threat in the matchup. Lots of ways to side (depending on what you feel most comfortable taking out), but I like something like this:
IMO Mimic is better than Endless but still worse than our other threats. Reshaper at least trades with an x/2. I'd rather have Guide in this matchup (despite no Chalice) to allow me to keep removal-heavy hands that lack Temple, since it lets us spit out Smasher on turn four or whatever regardless. Seas also turns off our Temples so we don't want to aggressively mulligan into the land. Needle on Vial is lights out a with a couple creatures.
the card itself really isn't worth the card board its printed on...does it serve a purpose? Sure its a blue 1 drop that might not be a 1/1. I would not put it in a list and expect to win a PTQ or GP though.
I played lot of test games vs Affinity today and must say that the game one feels very bad. Chalice for zero does like nothing if I can't draw even a semi blazing hand and without Chalice I need multiple Dismembers and a blazing fast start ( almost like the nut draw). I guess game two and threw are much better with Bombs, Gut Shots and Needles. How do you guys auggest to board in this matchup?
Is it like -4 Scourges, -4 Powders, -1 Reshaper +3 Bombs, + 2 Gut Shots, + 2 Spatials, +2 Needles
Is Needle even good because at the time you land it they are most likely going to all in with Ravager or Plating anyway? It stops Overseers and manlands tho.
I guess you have to shave some Chalices also when on the draw.
I played lot of test games vs Affinity today and must say that the game one feels very bad. Chalice for zero does like nothing if I can't draw even a semi blazing hand and without Chalice I need multiple Dismembers and a blazing fast start ( almost like the nut draw). I guess game two and threw are much better with Bombs, Gut Shots and Needles. How do you guys auggest to board in this matchup?
Is it like -4 Scourges, -4 Powders, -1 Reshaper +3 Bombs, + 2 Gut Shots, + 2 Spatials, +2 Needles
Is Needle even good because at the time you land it they are most likely going to all in with Ravager or Plating anyway? It stops Overseers and manlands tho.
I guess you have to shave some Chalices also when on the draw.
Keep Powder and Scourge (instead of Mimic). Game 1 is rough as is true for most decks in Modern against Affinity, post-board is very good for us. board plans in my articles, check primer
the card itself really isn't worth the card board its printed on...does it serve a purpose? Sure its a blue 1 drop that might not be a 1/1. I would not put it in a list and expect to win a PTQ or GP though.
Ensnaring Bridge out from burn was a good catch, didn't think it at all. Also that Junk matchup since they are more or less going to remove all early threats we deploy the Pithing Needle makes sense instead of Eldrazi Mimic.
I actually didn't mean to type "bad four of Ghost Quarter, Eldrazi Temple, Wreckage and Gemstone Caverns", there was another sentence before and I changed it when I remembered my starting hand correctly. That four hand definitely had chances with one top decked heavy threat, getting maybe some cards via Wreckage and hope that one Ghost Quarter buys enough time. Well you can't always get there if your opponent still plays perfect game even when you try to distract them
Didn't play copters but totally missed them against Junk (Mimic is so underwhelming when the game goes long). Copter is also good against Lingering souls those can wall Blinkmoths quite effectively.
Modern
WUBRG
Bro. Looking forward to your article tomorrow!
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=111585
Congrats too.
Counter-Cat
Colorless Eldrazi Stompy
Also, I'm happy to announce this thread is now a primer! Check out the first post 😬
Counter-Cat
Colorless Eldrazi Stompy
I've built the deck and got a couple games in. Have to say this deck gets some...interesting draws. Very swingy. Some hands feel unbeatable but sometimes I seem to draw nothing but an endless stream of lands, Powders, too-late Chalices, and SSG.
Counter-Cat
Colorless Eldrazi Stompy
Did a competitive league today and went 5-0. Highlight: Won after getting T3 Emrakuled against Grishoalbrand.
Pretty much your list just a few changes main and side.
You may want to add some more informations about sideboarding in the primer. For example what you said about your "packages". This seems to be one of the less intuitive aspects of the deck (at least for me)
The copter feels like a perfect addition.. and locally we have zero Though the Breach decks.
Counter-Cat
Colorless Eldrazi Stompy
Round 1: Tron (of course). Lose 1-2
Game 1 I powder then mull to an ok 6. It would have been fine against a random midrange deck but was not nearly fast enough to beat Tron.
Game 2 I slow him down just barely enough with TKS+GQ to kill him the turn before he would stabilize with a Wurmcoil.
Game 3 I have what would normally be a nut draw against Tron with a T1 Chalice (off Gemstone) into GQ+threats, but he has natural Tron on 6 cards and ignores my Chalice with two Sylvan Scryings and naturally draws Wurmcoil+O-Stone. Tron is the topdeck champ for a reason.
Round 2: Kiki Chord. Win 2-1
Game 1 I have two chalice that are useless against his deck and he locks me out with a Magus of the Moon. I rip nothing but TKS and Smasher for 5 turns in a row with a looter scooter out.
Game 2 I keep a removal + Relic heavy hand and stop him from doing anything relevant. I follow up with a pair of Smashers.
Game 3 I T0 Gut Shot his Bird and he never draws a second land.
Round 3: Affinity. Win 2-0
Game 1 He spews out most of his hand T1 but he never draws a payoff card. I get a Chalice on 2 to make sure he can't resolve one anyways.
Game 2 He keeps a slow hand and I surprise him by Dismembering his Inkmoth off a SSG. When he gets another land I "Wasteland" it with GQ and his hand is full of 2 and 3 drops. I think my opponent made a big mistake by not mulling here.
Round 4: Infect. Win 2-1
Game 1: Luckily, I win the die roll and get a Chalice out on my T2. I successfully race his one infect-er with a Mimic but he almost gets there with a Viridian Corrupter on my Chalice.
Game 2: This is a very strange game. I get out ALL FOUR of my Chalices and a bunch of removal to stall. However, I can't draw a single Eldrazi, Manland, or Ghost Quarter and I die to a Become Immense-ed Inkmoth. I think I misplayed by putting one of the Chalices on 3. I didn't have a way to answer Virdian Corrupter at the time but I also locked myself out of Dismember. I also pitched a Mimic to Gemstone Mine when I should have pitched a Ratchet Bomb. I had a Chalice + Spatial Contortion to buy time so the Bomb wasn't needed.
Game 3: Much to my opponent's chagrin, I get another fast Chalice. I make a mistake by Dismembering his Noble Hierach since I think he is light on mana but hes not and he gets me to 9 poison with Become Immense +Inkmoth. I manage to pull it out with Smasher beats despite forgetting he only has 3 lands when I left a Tec Edge up...
Overall Thoughts
The deck was fun and felt powerful. Gemstone Caverns just isn't a fair card in a Chalice deck and getting to bend the fundamental rules of magic before the game even starts was great. Another thing I noticed is the deck is very transformable post board. In 3 of my 4 matches I changed from an aggro deck trying to exploit unfair cards to a mostly fair midrange-y removal deck. You really have to change your mindset between games and knowing who's the beatdown is extra important for this deck. My opponents also didn't know how to play against the deck at all and made bad decisions. 5/7 will continue to sling the deck.
Right now the only change I'm going to make is to cut a Sea Gate Wreckage for a Mutavault. I never even got close to using Wreckage and drawing more than one felt miserable. Still not 100% sold on the Gut Shots but I'll keep them in for now.
First round vs Eldrazi Tron 1-2
This matchup feels quite miserable since Chalice and Ghost Quarter won't do so much and if I can't draw douple temple nuts it is pretty much GG. First game I ghost Quartered couple of times but he played multiple Reshapers and Smasher and I conceded. Second game I had the nuts for Mimic into Seer into Smasher. Third game he has the double temple nuts and I had five with one temple. I lost the third game after he played turn two and three Seers into natural tron and Batterskull.
Round two vs cheeri0s 2-0
Not much to say about this: Chalice for zero and beatdown.
Round three vs RWB Restore Balance 2-1
I had all the time one creature and one manland with GQ, Temple and Serum Powder. Opponemt kept himself at three lands thanks to this. He pmayed couple of planeswalkers but Scourge and Reshaper are just too hard to deal with. Game two I lost since he suspended turn one Gargadon and threatened me by turn two Cascade into Balance, can't revover from that. Game three I played Chalice for zero and raced him with Seer, Smasher and little dudes.
Round four vs Merfolk 0-2
Didn't draw nuts and lost to multiple Harbingers and lords. Game one and two were very similar: I didnt have super aggro starts and he played only harbingers and silvergrils into triple lord alpha strikes. Not much I can do
I would call that Eldrazi Tron is not favorable matchup unless we draw the nuts. If we even play mimic into turn two Seer with Spirit Guide but have no real follow-up, we will just lose to their consistency. The main problem here is in my opinipn that GQ and Chalice does nothing against them.
SB were like this:
Tron: -4 Chalice, +2 Needle +2 Contortion
Cheeri0s: -3 Reshaper -4 Scourge, +4 Spatials +3 Bombs
Restore Balance: -4 Dismember, +2 Needles, +2 Relics (I saw an Emrakul shuffling his GY back couple of times.. Dunno what I was thinking)
Merfolk: -4 Chalice -4 Scourges -1 Spirit Guide (tapper merfolk and harbinger exiled two times my two Scourges) -1 Spirit Guide, +3 Bombs, +4 Spatials, +2 Needles (for vials.. Did nothing since my opponent played only tempe creatures)
Modern
WUBRG
I actually like GQ a lot vs. Eldrazi Tron, but Dismember is definitely our best card here. GQ only works if we open aggressive starts, so Powder and Scourge are very important in this MU. I think you boarded well though. Eldrazi mirrors are annoying because they frequently come down to who opens more Temples :/
Counter-Cat
Colorless Eldrazi Stompy
Modern
WUBRG
Counter-Cat
Colorless Eldrazi Stompy
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Eldrazi Mimic
4 Eternal Scourge
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Reality Smasher
2 Endless One
2 Matter Reshaper
Artifacts (9)
3 Chalice of the Void
4 Serum Powder
2 Smuggler’s Copter
4 Dismember
Lands (23)
4 Eldrazi Temple
3 Gemstone Caverns
4 Ghost Quarter
2 Blinkmoth Nexus
2 Mutavault
3 Sea Gate Wreckage
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 tectonic edge
4 Relic of Progenitus
4 Spatial Contortion
3 Ratchet Bomb
2 grafdigger's cage
2 warping wail
2 Wastes
Match 1
Colorless Stompy vs Valakut scapeshift 1-2
Powder opening hand,
got a fast start but he was just a little faster to combo off, so he got game 1. Game 2 I was just too fast and was able to get a chalice for 2 using simian spirit guide and that slowed him way down. Game 3 happened the same way but I literally missed it by one turn for the win. The guy I was playing works at the shop and was very impressed with the deck and basically laughed and when I kept playing powder to get the right cards. I probably should of been more aggressive with GQ but I was worried about him getting mountains. Leonin arbiter would of been a big help if I went that route.
Match 2
Colorless Stompy vs Grixis Delver, 2-0
Game 1, he was on the play and got a devler out, then I chaliced for one and basically shutting him down, so I then dismember his delver and went to work.
Game 2, he played serum vision turn 1, then I chaliced for 1 and that just shut him down. I pretty much powder every time I got the chance to get the most aggressive hand I could
Match 3
Colorless Stompy vs Naya Burn 2-0
Game was simple, chalice for 1 and that pretty shut him down till I got a thought-knot out and reality smasher. Eternal scourage was a beast in these games. The match was over in 12 mins
Match 4
Colorless stompy vs R/G Ponza, w/ Madcap Experiment combo 2-0
So this game was really fun because I was playing my buddy and I know how to wreck this deck, I will say madcap experiment is rough match and actually a rough matchup.
Game 1: basically powder till I can be really aggressive, I used GQ to destroy his utopia sprawl lands and dismember his weenie creature because that is how it ramps. I got him down to 4 life and he got the madcap off but i basically just used Smuggler's copter to find the second dismember to get rid of platinum experiment.
Game 2: I was able to keep him off red mana with GQ and Tectonic edge before could get blood moon out but I ended getting a Grafdigger's Cage turn 1 to shut down madcap.
So overall this deck was great and really fun to play, I never really played endless one or matter reshaper but they have their spot. Smuggler's copter was awesome for cycling through the deck. I never once used sea gate wreckage, but it never hurts playing it. I think the sideboard could be updated, but I felt like I had one of the the best decks around and I had people watching me the whole time and asking questions. You just to be aggressive mulling even if you dont have a powder. Everytime I powder, my hands were always pretty aggressive.
I still like to try the white variant for the arbiter and thalia, those creatures may be better than matter reshape and endless one. I feel like this deck wants to play a little control for the very first couple of turns then you step on the gas. At least arbiter would be interesting with GQ in the deck.
R1: Affinity (2-1)
R2: Grixis Delver (2-0)
R3: BUG Delirium (2-0)
R4: RG Ponza (2-1)
R5: Grixis Delver (2-0)
R6: ID
Top 8
R7: Bant Spirits (0-2)
Highlights:
- I won Game 1 against Ponza with an opener of 3 Guide, 2 Dismember, 1 Temple on the back of a turn-two Simian Spirit Guide.
- I won Game 3 of that match after looting through a fair chunk of the deck with two active Copters (which eventually got Grudged on the same turn), but failing to find a fourth land drop for most of it.
- In Round 7, my opponent had turn three Geist into turn four Steel of the Godhead both games! Pretty sure that sequence is unbeatable....
TJ will be featuring a deck tech on their website, which I'll cross-post here when it goes up. Also happy to write up a more detailed report over the next few days if there is enough interest.
Counter-Cat
Colorless Eldrazi Stompy
Round 1: Valakut lose 0-2. Terrible match up is terrible. Lost game 1 because I couldn't draw enough Eldrazi to trigger Mimic. Lost game 2 despite playing T2 Thought-Knot and blowing up two Valakuts.
Round 2: Elves lose 0-2. Both games I can't get a usable hand even with multiple powders and mulligans. He quickly overwhelms me.
I also playtested against UW Spirits and got wrecked as well (losing another T2 Thought-Knot game). Had problems getting playable hands here as well.
While I had fun playing the deck there's just too much variance between good hands and terrible hands for my liking. The deck is very bad if you can't get to a Temple or play Chalice early against a deck that cares about it. My meta doesn't have many decks that are weak to chalice either. I was lucky to get paired against the only 2 players that cared a lot about Chalice last week. Eldrazi Mimic has also been pretty mediocre for me. Without a Temple casting it feels terrible, it often times comes down too late to matter, or never gets enough triggers to be any good.
Right now, I think Eldrazi-Tron is the more favorable colorless Eldrazi deck in the meta and I can't justify running this over it. It was a fun experiment and I hope the meta shifts in a way one day that makes me want to bring it out.
http://modernnexus.com/weird-science-dissecting-moderns-eldrazi-decks/
Ross Merriam also just did a Daily Digest on the deck after Brent Del Pinto took my current list (-1 SGW, +1 Radiant Fountain) to a 5th place finish at an SCG IQ. It's starting! Updated the primer with this new result.
Counter-Cat
Colorless Eldrazi Stompy
A any experience with living end? Haven't had the chance to run this against it, but I suppose chalice on 0 coupled with relic and our naturally fast clock is no problem.
Hope to make this to next fnm so I can finally run it on paper. I've got about a 60% win rate on MTGO so far against a lot of the field, but I've seen a lot of fringe decks in the competitive queues lately.
Is the abzan sideboard plan the same as jund? (Everything comes in) Lots of BGx at my LGS, but I didn't see any deaths shadow last Friday (I ran bant eldrazi unfortunately and didn't do so well against living end, or GB Tron). I'll be taking this version out next week since I know it a bit better than bant anyway.
Tips for merfolk?
Modern: Bogles // 8-Whack/Goblins // UW Titan // Hollow One // Affinity // Dredge
EDH: Nissa, Vastwood Seer // Atraxa, Praetor's Voice // Meren of Clan Nel Toth
Merfolk is a lot harder. My tip is kill everything you can. Bring in Gut Shot for Curse and Silvergill. Bomb is a beating against them. TKS is pretty weak in this matchup but Scourge is plenty good at blocking/attacking and hard for them to remove (not many targeting effects). Smasher is our best threat in the matchup. Lots of ways to side (depending on what you feel most comfortable taking out), but I like something like this:
+4 Contortion
+3 Bomb
+2 Gut Shot
+2 Needle
-1 Guide
-4 Chalice
-2 Endless
-4 Mimic
IMO Mimic is better than Endless but still worse than our other threats. Reshaper at least trades with an x/2. I'd rather have Guide in this matchup (despite no Chalice) to allow me to keep removal-heavy hands that lack Temple, since it lets us spit out Smasher on turn four or whatever regardless. Seas also turns off our Temples so we don't want to aggressively mulligan into the land. Needle on Vial is lights out a with a couple creatures.
Counter-Cat
Colorless Eldrazi Stompy
Is it like -4 Scourges, -4 Powders, -1 Reshaper +3 Bombs, + 2 Gut Shots, + 2 Spatials, +2 Needles
Is Needle even good because at the time you land it they are most likely going to all in with Ravager or Plating anyway? It stops Overseers and manlands tho.
I guess you have to shave some Chalices also when on the draw.
Modern
WUBRG
Counter-Cat
Colorless Eldrazi Stompy