Lingering Souls certainly shores up some weaknesses. I've definitely been loving the main deck scoozes I've been running. The mana seems so shaky with 3 colors + all the colorless. Probably why he's on 24 lands even after the ramp. Discard has its problems but the BG shell just seems powerful.
Keep the tourney reports coming! Going out for the Wed weekly and will report back.
I've been thinking about the 3 Ghost Quarters you have main. Oath of Nissa enables playing Lili on time. How much do you rely on that line? If those Oaths were Ancient Stirrings, would you run as many Quarters? I think maybe not.
oath's second ability doesn't come up too often to be honest. hitting BB isn't too hard but i did also add an urborg. Still though, when it's good it's good even if it only happens once in say 5 matches.
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Round 1 played Lantern control and got there in 3. Nothing real special here. I'm not as bothered by Lantern as some and the tools are definitely here to deal with it.
Round 2 I lost in 3 to a UWR Control deck. He wasn't running the Kiki combo but did have a Thundermaw Hellkite out of the board along with Ajani, Vengeant. This guy won 1 of the local PPTQs a while back so I was happy to do as well as I did. G3, he landed Ajani and I wiffed on a Stirrings. He was able to just pull ahead for the win.
Round 3 was vs Burn. G1 went as you would expect, but I totally missed when I should have started beating down. Probably wouldn't have saved me but a bit of an error none the less. G2 I kept a 2 lander but just didn't see another land. Just didn't want to wait around for that last round with work in the morning.
Some observations. First, I just can't quite get behind Matter Reshaper. I was only running 1 but I've been fishbowling it a lot and it seems in an awkward spot without Temple out. I'm not sure how to evaluate the replacement effect vs only being a 3/2. I know I should switch out the Scoozes and just try it a few times.
I had Lili, the Last Hope twice and just wished it was LotV. Back to 4 main with Last Hope in the side but this is going to be one of those things where I expect to be adjusting based on which of the 3 stores I happen to be at.
So wiffing on Stirrings got me thinking about it vs Oath of Nissa. In my build I think Oath just squeaks by with a higher percentage of hitting non-land targets. Yes, finding Eldrazi Temple is absolutely relevant but the enchantment in the yard is fuel for Goyf. Then it occurred to me that maybe it didn't need to be either or. As the number of cantrips goes up, the number of lands can go down. The Green cantrips lack the library manipulation of the Blue ones and it might be worse at sorcery speed but I wanted to give it a go.
Round 1 vs Goblins on the Draw
He got me good G1. G2 I stabilized and he scooped. G3 I mulled to 5 but had a nice curve. Tendrils on 3, Fulminator on 4 and just nuked his single land. He scooped to that and checked his top 2 cards which were both lands. He took it pretty well.
IN
3 Fulminators
2 Kalitas
2 Tendrils
Lili, Last Hope
Feed the Clan
Round 2 vs Abzan Junk w Flayer. I was on the play.
I love these super grindy matches! He answered my T3 LotV with 1 of his own. I was able to get his with decay and ultimated mine to take him from 4 to 2 lands. We were both Hellbent by now. Maybe I should have waited a turn to keep Lili but I was worried about a decay from him. His topdecks were a shade better than mine but I was a turn ahead and clinched the win. G2 he had Lili on T2 off a Hierarch. Turns out still good. I was stuck on a Ghost Quarter, a Temple and only one dual for too long and got beaten down by a couple of Flayers. Game 3 I couldn't find a threat off a T2 Stirrings, an Oath or a 2nd Stirrings. He was just ahead of me. Still, great matches that felt like I had outs.
IN
3 fulminators
Lili, Last Hope
OUT
2 Inquisition
Duress
Thoughtseize
Round 3 was vs a zoo variant brew running Burning Tree Emissary and Hidden Herbalists. Some builds also run Myr Superion but he wasn't. Had a bunch of goblins including Goblin Guide and the +1/+1 w Haste to your team one. I got hit for 11 on T2. Ouch. Game two was back to back TKS T3 & 4 and Tendrils to put it away. Game 3 was actually pretty cool. I stabilized, cleared his board and had a 7/7 Goyf. I go to 6 from a thoughtsieze to clear the way and he had a deflecting palm in response. Next turn is a 2nd Thoughtseize and this time it is Atarka's Command to take me to 1 but I still have the lethal attack for 7 from Scooze.
IN
2 Tendrils
2 Kalitas
Feed the Clan
1 Fulminator Mage
OUT
4 LotV
2 Reality Smasher
Round 4 vs Merfolk. I'm on the Draw.
I won this one in 2 pretty handily. I had a sketchy moment G1 where I attacked Smasher and TKS into a bunch of merfolk. He just took the 9 and then cracked back for 10. If he drew into a Lord it would have been bad news. I had double LotV and really expected him to double up on the TKS. As it was he took the Lili bait and I was actually able to stabilize as opposed to just thinking I had. Game 2 he mulled to 5, I had the discard and he flooded out.
IN
2 Tendrils
3 Fulminator Mage
2 Kalitas
OUT
4 LotV
2 Scooze
1 Duress
All in all, I'm pleased with the result. Sideboarding could have been better. I'm really not sure how running 6 of the cantrips went. I whiffed a bit but also had some good hits. Still had a mana screw and a bit of flooding. Maybe the full 8? Cut another land? Not sure how much to push it.
nice writeup it was informative! I'm not sure how much I like stirrings in your list to be honest. The likely hood of hitting a threat is actually pretty low with only 8 hits. Obviously it hits lands but a serious question as I don't play them is how often are you using stirrings to just find a land? I think I would try 3 stirrings 3 oath. Likely, won't make too much a difference but maybe switching the numbers around could prove a higher yield for you. I like the consideration of a full 8 cantrips. I have no idea if it's good but could be interesting as how much of the disruption/removal do you need vs making sure you can find your threats.
As for my testing I'm cutting a land and adding in Rhonas main. I have been testing him and he's pretty bonkers in fair matches which is majority of my meta. I had a nut draw of t1 discard, t2 reshaper, t3 rhonas, swing, t4 smasher and swing for 13 lol. I understand that card is swingy so I'll test him out but I cna see it just being too cute but giving guys trample would have won me a lot of games.
My second thing to test is 2 bitterblossom. I think would give me some extra reach. some decks can just lose to a t2 bitterblossom followed by disruption. Plus who doesn't want to live the dream of an 8/9 goyf. I dont think either of these choices are slam dunks. Most likely to try first and foremost is 5 lili main. I want to flip lilis and get the best chance of both online come the new rules change. Since I only have 1 i'll start 4/1. I dont think 6 lilis is right though unless you dump the reshaper.
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Ohhh!! Rhonas will be good against Tyrannosaurus Sue from the new set. There are some Summoner's Pact Ramp decks that will be running it for sure.
I've always thought BB is a good SB card for BG builds not running Bob. So good against control.
For Stirrings I have been whiffing a lot. 8 is too few targets but I do grab Temple a bit. The games with Temple are far and away better than those without and 5 cards is so deep. I'm at least going to load upon Oath even if I don't go more cantrip heavy.
r1 burn
g1 we both flood ridiculously hard but he ends up getting there. g2 and 3 were similar for me, lots of discard and quick hard beats and not much he could do. I think I may need another lifegain card of somekind I felt slightly lucky he just didn't have nut hands. I only drew 1 brutality in the match and was g3. it was obviously awesome. I love when burn boards in cards like path. I see it all the time and since I don't play burn it seems weird to me but what do I know.
1-0
r2 jeskai nahiri
g1 eventually nahiri gets resolved and I can't get through to kill her. emrakul puts me to 1 and I have a couple lands but can't assemble anything before he finds a snapcaster. g2 I get cavern of souls out and crush him. g3 i get some early interaction and he lands a geist which i untap and land liliana (haha) and deal with that. from there i just fit perfectly into the curves and manage to always kill the nahiri when it's played, and that was that.
2-0
r3 elves
g1 i have double temple but and land t2 goyf, t3 smasher, t4 smasher and get there. g2 i have a sketchy mana base but potentially a solid hand. I have night of soul's betrayal and flaying tendrils but only 1 black source and 2 colorless. thankfully he doesn't do much t1 and 2. and my t3 I play GQ and kill my temple to get green to play oath of nissa hoping to dig for a black source. I get there. from here he needs to not find a lord. so his turn he cocos and hits 2 mana dorks and hits me for 11. I untap and flaying tendrils like 9-10 guys lol. from there it's night of souls btrayal, into both lilianas. felt so good.
3-0
r4 bant value evolution
these were more fun of games than anything. g1 he goes huge early with a lotus cobra and gets suntitan out on his t3, my t2, and then phantasmal image the titan again and has this ridiculous board. i lose lol. g2-3-4 all go my way very very easily. with cage and other hate cards there's not much he can do outside hope to essentially get nut draws like he did game 1. he didn't and honestly the games were pretty easy. kinda drives home the point i may need somehting in the board for big creatures or permanents. maybe another pulse or a murderous cut or something. I suppose even a slaughter pact could be solid too.
4-0
All in all a great night. deck played well I didn't make many mistakes, and played well against elves. I played to my outs and got rewarded. Nothing new with the deck other than playing a fun of bitterblossom as my 61st. I'm going to cut it I feel like if I want to play that card it should be as a 2 of, which could very well be good in the deck. If they weren't 30 I would try that. Maybe I can borrow one to test. Going to cut rhonas in the sb too I think. I never really had the chance to play him and I think he may be win more. Trample is relevant in many board states but I picked up my second foil lili last hope as my prize and given new rules change gonna put her in the sb. I did have a couple games were both lilis were out and let me tell you that feels super good. I don't think it's right to run 2 last hope main though. Some matches she bad.
I love this deck
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Nice writeup. BB is probably a sideboard card. I run 2 Pulse in my 75. I think 1 is definitely legit. I've been eyeing a 3rd if the local meta ever slows down.
I've been out of the loop for a couple of weeks. I did do some testing with 6-7 cantrips. It's too many. This is a proactive deck that really needs to be doing something Turns 1-3, not sculpting our hand. Just enough cantrips to reload, or find a threat off a top deck, is the sweet spot I think. Harmonize was brought up but I think that's going down the rabbit hole. At the end of the day I think this is a bit of a demanding, if not greedy, manabase and the ability to color fix in the first turn or 2 if needs be is solid.
I'll be bringing this to an SCG Regional event next month. I think I need to be running a Cavern. Ceremonious Rejection is brutal.
That makes sense on the cantrips, before this I was big into sultai midrange and I've had games with multiple serum visions and thoughtscours and sometimes they just don't do anything. There's no way harmonize would be good in this deck. Having to tap out and do nothing on t4 could just mean we die. If anything it could be great in the SB for grindy matches. It's a cool card but there's a reason it's not really played.
I actually don't think the mana is that bad or greedy. Sure, you will have games where you have to mull due to the colorless lands but that's the price you pay for a colored eldrazi deck. That being said, we have blooming marsh, llanowar wastes and twilight mires. I will concede if you are playing a more green heavy list it will be much harder than a more black list as urborg is amazing. I've been loving the 1 of cavern and still highly considering a second. Naming goyf or scooze is still legitimate but not being able to cast spells off it is still a real thing. If I find GQs aren't super needed or there's too many blue decks in my meta I'll do a 2/2 split of cavern and gq.
For a while I toyed around with nobles and birds in my list. I forget why I cut them. t2 lili and a much higher chance of t2 eldrazi can make the difference in a lot of matches. I think it was mostly birds don't do much outside being explosive where as noble has utility but her fixing is bad. Could still be worth revisiting.
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HA! Birds! I was seriously looking at Birds as a 2 drop after discard in a BG Descent into Madness deck. Then I discovered Eldrazi... I guess you could do an easy swap with Oath/Stirrings. I think it's worse. Yes, you can ramp but you still need C to cast the Eldrazi which a Birds or Noble can't do. Having said that, I'm always in favor of Elves of Deep Shadow. But only the Dark art.
To be honest, I think T1 discard is better than T2 LotV in a vacuum. But she is a great Plan B.
So B on 1, G on 2, BB on 3, C on 4.
And that's at 24 lands for a 70-80% chance of hitting your 4th land drop by T4. 22-23 Lands seems to be the better place to be.
To do that you're looking at 19 black sources, 13 green sources and 11 colorless sources. Oath of Nissa certainly helps for casting Lili on 3 but I'd rather be playing a threat on T2. Although Discard + Oath after T1 Discard is a great play. I'm not sure how to evaluate Urborg, tomb of Yawgmoth here but it certainly helps. So you can cut into all that black but probably at the expense of slowing down a turn or 2. I've cut the utility land package in favor of consistency. (Part of that is that I don't get to play a whole lot and and would rather give up games to Tron and Celestial Colonnade instead of mana screw.) So maybe not greedy, but needing to make the choice at all seems demanding.
I've been missing a suite of manlands in this deck. Unfortunately, the only real spot I see for them is swapping out the Blooming Marshes for Hissing Quagmires but I think the speed is way more important. I can see swapping out 1, maybe 2.
I totally agree on the lack of good manlands. It really is one of the biggest problems with the deck. There's also another good one in treetop village although it's only a green land but it's a solid one.
small report. Same deck as usual, I adjusted couple of my cards as per my previous post
r1 storm
I got really mana screwed in this match and had to mull a LOT. I still somehow managed to take it down in g3. I was glad to have lost legacy. Not too much to say otherwise. This matchup feels kinda 50-50.
1-0
r2 storm
storm again blech. I again have to mull both games and get mana screwed again g1. I had lethal on board but he managed to pull it off g1. g2 I mull to 6 keep an ok hand but get my TKS remanded t3 and then he goes off...I didn't see a single SB card felt bad but it is what it is. Bad side of variance so far halfway through the tourney.
1-1
r3 burn
Both games weren't even close. Some discard with fast beats. He kept killing my reshapers and they flipped into things like liliana and a 4/5 goyf so that was fun. Not sure why I'm beating burn so easily lately. I feel like I shouldn't especially considering I have very minimal lifegain. Something to think about though.
2-1
r4 WB eldrazi processors
These games were also very easy for me. I played around his relics, and just drew better than him I guess. I feel like I'm favored but maybe it's like 60-40. It felt much easier than that but I was just always ahead. I was afraid of lingering souls but thankfully he didn't rip a million of them. Otherwise my guys are just so much bigger than his on average. I drew well too, sometimes you are just on the right side of variance.
3-1
I can't complain with another 3-1 finish. I mulliganed a LOT and was mana screwed in multiple games although not really color screwed. I can't draw any real conclusions from that exactly but it felt bad for sure. Otherwise, it's so fun playing this list as it's disruptive and slams really hard and quickly. I may need to look into 1-2 more GY hate cards. Storm is still brutal matchup as there's always a solid possibility I don't draw tons of disruption or a timely removal spell and just die.
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R1 - Aetherworks Marvel. I guess this was a standard port but he was also running Through the Breach. He got me G1 when I was stuck on 2 lands for 7 or turns. I got there pretty easily in the next 2. I initially thought this would be rather slow and even boarded in a Phyrexian Arena for G2. I took it out for G3.
1-0
R2 - Nykthos Green. This guy has been on various versions of Green Nykthos forever. He also won a PPTQ. I lost in 3 but kept a really shaky hand on a Mull to 6 in G2 and had a misplay G3. G2 was a 1 lander with an Oath and a Smasher on the Draw but no early pressure. G3, I fetched out my basics but then got stuck on swamp, forest, GQ in the mid-game long enough for him to inch ahead. He does have Blood Moon in the side but didn't bring it in. I should have fetched out a dual and I think I would have been OK. I could have used the GQ to fetch out a basic if Blood Moon came dowm.
1-1
R3 - Fish. I stabilized G1 but then lost to a top deck Spreading Seas. Another sketchy Keep on 6 and it punished me. Again, a fine hand but nothing going on early.
1-2
R4 - Storm. My opening hand was Temple, GQ, 2 Matter Reshapers, a Smasher, LotV and a Pulse. I was on the play and kept it. He had the T3 kill. G2 I just curved Discard, Goyf, TKS, Smasher and had him dead by T4. It might have been a tad greedy as I went with Smasher instead of Discard, but the kill was on board and he would have needed to go off at instant speed without one of the cost reducers. G3 I was able to get a Scooze off an Oath pretty early into double Liliana. He dropped a Blood Moon but I already had 1 basic out, GQ and Oath. I fished out my swamp with the GQ and was able to get the second Lili out because of Oath. I Surgical ExtractionPast in Flames when he tapped out to storm LotV. He said he should have just scooped there but we played it out. I found green creatures and started beating down.
2-2
So a bit of a meh performance but totally my own fault. This deck really needs to be doing something early. I'm keeping hands with good mid to late game play and it's just not good enough. I was originally iffy on 23 lands but felt good about it as I mulled a bit and kept some 2 landers. Maybe a second GQ instead of the Cavern though. That might just be one of those Meta calls in real time depending on who happens to show up.
I'm surprised you're not playing the Desert lands. They're basically dual lands for Eldrazi's, sure they wont hit all 3 colors, but Colorless is basically a color for these eldrazi decks
r1 jund
both games I have double temple hands very early and just fight through his stuff and draw like a boss. Was super fun...for me. I even got to lili last hope emblem him.
1-0
r2 abzan
g1 lose to lingering souls. g2 I fight through some souls and beat down. g3 smasher is MVP and rip him off the top to get through and kill his lili at 5. From there he's on the back foot the rest of the time.
2-0
r3 affinity
I never cobble anything together after a mull to 5 and stuck on 1 land. I figured I had a temple and literally any land in 3 looks and I'll probably be ok. I conceeded when i missed 4 times. g2 I dont see any SB cards and he just goes ham sammich on me. We play another for fun and I beat him. So i figure the match is hard but certainly beatable if my cards line up. They didn't this time but it feels far from hopeless.
2-1
r4 jeskai control
g1 cavern of souls and big dudes get me there. g2 I lose to too many counters and no real gas. Geist grinds me out. g3 my cards line up perfectly vs what he is doing and I just curve out hard on him and finish with the ol' smasher into smasher off the top. I'm soooooo glad I put in another cavern over GQ. I think for now I'll stay at a 2-2 split.
3-1
I ended in 4th and we decided to split instead of playing it out. I mulled way less than last week so it's possible my curve is perfect as is but I can see an argument for 23 lands. I have a feeling if we had an actual good manland I would want 23 easy. Not sure quagmire is good enough. Have been debating mutavault or treetop village but I dunno. Hashep oasis seems interesting but the lifeloss is real issue as is double green reliably when I need it. Dub black is much easier for me than dub green.
Smasher has been easy MVP for me this week. I still haven't figured out the best SB yet and I doubt I will. Mainboard seems very good to me. So far haven't wanted to change a thing. Shadow of doubt was cute but didn't do much in the jeskai match I had it but I know I am pretty hard loser to scapeshift type decks. I may switch back to lost legacy for combo matches. Too much to plan for in Modern not sure which kind of matches I should just not even attempt to combat. Golgari charm was fine but not super relevant, cant decide if I want that or seal of primordium.
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23 lands with 4 Smashers seems right. With only 3, 22 lands seems fine. Treetop is a great man-land but not here. I think Quagmire is it. Sure, Mutavault, if you wanted to cut a QC or Cavern....
Torpor Orb? Also, you were really high on Lost Legacy. Losing it doesn't seem to help the Storm matchup. I like it with only the 2 Scavenging oozes.
How have you been liking the 3-2 Lili split with 4 main? I'm running a 4-1 split with all 5 main. Probably should trim back to 4 main.
I love the numbers I think as is for the walkers. I def don't like 3-2 main. I would do 4-1 for sure before that. I'm still undecided about 2nd hope. There are a decent number of matchups like control and midrange I'm not sad to have it. Some matches it's super bad but I like boarding into another when needed. I'm not sure I can fit another lili into my main. I'm so tight on slots as is.
I'm still all over with lost legacy. In general I do love it but it doesn't do a much outside of very specific matchups. Even then scapeshift is diversifying so only like storm and ad nauseum really get crippled by it. I'm trying different things to see if I can get something more versitile. Maybe some surgicals are just better. So far torpor orb is only for decks like counters company and uw control. some other random decks too it can be good against. I'll probably still cut it.
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r1 jeskai control
deck is full of geists, counters and spell quellers. I just played around those things best I can g1 and dodged the necessary removal to get there. g2 I have a damnation in hand and just keep baiting out other cards like TKS and thank god he keeps quellering them. I then get him with damnation after eh taps out to get in for huge. I get 3 quellers and a geist. From there it was elementary
1-0
r2 krark clan ironworks combo
this is a scrap trawler based combo deck. not much to say g1 I had disruption enough to slow him down while I beat down. g2 he combos me pretty easily. g3 I get him to dead on board with very very few outs. He manages to rip pretty much exactly what he needs to get 4 mana and play ironworks. Perhaps he had more live draws than I thought but he does a billion things after taking forever and ends up dumping 2 wurmcoils on to the field. it was impressive but super lucky. oh well. I should have mulled more aggressively for my GY hate cards.
1-1
r3 elves
g1 i have enough removal and kill him easily. g2 the opposite and I get overwhelmed super super quick. g3 we both have semi slow hands but then he barfs out a bunch of dudes and we kinda stare at each other. he ends up swinging into me thinking he has lethal but I have 1 singular scavenging ooze trigger to keep me at 1 and kill him on crack back.
2-1
r4 boggles
not much to say here. g1 liliana wins. g2 I get destroyed by kor spiritdancer. g3 things look grim but a timely damnation saves my butt and it's hard for him to reassemble.
3-1
top 8 match vs naya bushwhacker zoo
g1 we both just play duded and I can't get out pace him and he just has too many guys and alphas me. g2 I slog through guys and eventually get to the point My guys out class his and he can't catch up. here's the problem g3 on the draw...well it goes as I expect. I keep a hand with lots of removal but on his t2 my t1 after i killed a guy he goes burning-tree, burning-tree goblin bishwhacker swing for 8. from there, I'm so far behind he keeps nickle and diming me until pretty much any bolt, atarka's command or ghor-clan rampager kills me. Eventually 1 does. This match is super hard. especially on the draw it feels near impossible without wipes. I'm going to add another flaying tendrils in sb as i've noticed an uptick in things like elves in my meta. wish there was a black anger of the gods. frustrating there isn't one.
3-2
I was hoping to play Rich Shay in the top 8 but the pairing went a different way. I had some mana color issues in my last couple of games which didn't prevent me from just losing but held me back enough to probably sealed my doom. I think it's just a casualty of this kind of deck. I wish there were more lands that allow for colorless AND colors. I need to pick up some twilight mire with my winnings. All in all I can't complain too much. I think I'm zoning in on an appropriate SB for my weak matchups. wish I could get more testing in but my play time is limited. Things I'm going to find room for:
1-2 twilight mire
1 flaying tendrils (bontu's reckoning or damnation) SB
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I had some mana color issues in my last couple of games which didn't prevent me from just losing but held me back enough to probably sealed my doom. I think it's just a casualty of this kind of deck. I wish there were more lands that allow for colorless AND colors. I need to pick up some twilight mire with my winnings. All in all I can't complain too much. I think I'm zoning in on an appropriate SB for my weak matchups. wish I could get more testing in but my play time is limited. Things I'm going to find room for:
1-2 twilight mire
1 flaying tendrils (bontu's reckoning or damnation) SB
Was it the utility lands or not being able to find your colors? I really like Twilight Mire. 1 is ok. Temple + Mire is awkward.
I've played that Bushwacker Zoo matchup a few times. Flaying Tendrils is the way to beat it. Another spot where I think Maelstrom Pulse can do some work over Abrupt Decay.
I'm definitely going to do my best to find a twilight mire. I think it was mostly just variance. Having like a solid 8 colorless lands sometimes It's just gonna happen. I think having GQ and cavern is worth the random times I get color screwed. Maybe that's just poor thinking though.
I did wish I had a second pulse. I think that would be a great sb card as well. Maybe over something like needle since they fill similar roles. hmm
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r1 jund and r2 abzan
Both being similar decks I'll briefly lump them together. For jund it's usually a pretty solid matchup as they don't have path and burn is only so good. Both matches my opponent mulled to 5 one game. I just got ahead in both of my games vs these gentleman and there was nothing they could do to come back. I was afraid of souls as always but I did well enough to either play around it or rip a scooze to eat one in the GY. Otherwise nothing really of note. Killed threats, and beat down. I did get to emblem lili vs the abzan player that's always fun
2-0
r3 jeskai control
pretty standard geist control list with spell quellers. Both games were very easy it seemed. discard and throught-knots just did so much work. I didnt see cavern g1 but I saw it late g2.
3-0
r4 elves
g1 I slowely keep him off elves going 1 for 1 and was lucky enough to get in there faster than he could assemble. g2 I just got overrun so hard. g3 was some back and forth of removal vs filling the board. A very well placed flaying tendrils and I clear the way to victory.
4-0
top 4: death and taxes
This is a great player and I always have such a tough time beating him regardless of what he plays. g1 I mull to five but keep an ok hand for 5. We stalemate rather quick with his first strike holding off any good attacks I have and I just get killed in the air. g2 I have the right remval and fast beats and finish him before he can do too much trickery. g3 I mull to 6 and keep a real sketch hand. I have 1 temple and that's it but a real strong hand otherwise should I draw literally any land, preferably a colored source. I scry a temple on top so I'm all aboard the t2 tks train. I do just that and he paths it so I get a swamp. I play some more things but literally never draw another land. I had plenty of removal to win should I draw anything. I don't and lose to 2 flickerwisps. bleh.
4-1
bonus round: UG merfolk
g1 I have decay for his vial, into a goyf into a push to clear his guy. Untap tks a lord, swing, play smasher and win. g2 he draws 4 mutavaults and dies in a few turns. brutal lol how often does one ever draw 4 of the same card in a game. Just his luck to draw the colorless source haha. We play again for fun. This game things are far more even. I draw pretty well and have a decay for the spreading seas. he has 2 lords and the g explore guy. He smartly doesn't attack into me but I still decay the seas and get a 4/5. I play a scooze and eat some guys. then liliana to snag a vial before she dies so now I have a 6/7 goyf and a 4/4 ooze. Next turn I untap and cast smasher. from there it wasn't hard to clean up before he dies.
5-1
good weekend of magic. I played decent and this deck again performed. I think I'm honing in on a better board but I still just need to jam a bunch of games against my hard matches like tron and various aggro/swarm decks and see what happens. I'm comfortable with the midrange decks and some other various linear decks. I think my next step is to try out a couple hissing quagmires. I'm not thrilled with the enters tapped honestly but I think a semi evasive creature may just be worth it.
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Modern: BG eldrazi midrange BWG Abzan value evolution BUG BUG Midrange
Nice. Maybe the catacombs for the Hissing Quagmires? Given our 3rd "color" is colorless, it isn't like they fix so much anyway. Then they just fish out a basic for blood moon which seems on the decline. Worst case is GQ in response to fish out a basic if no Decay in hand when it comes down to float a green for.
I've been hanging with wargaming friends lately so no reports from me, sorry to say.
it's all good Seems like it's just us in this thread for now anyways. I wish I could afford this on mtgo and get some "real results" I'm not saying my matches weren't legit but there's far more tier 1 decks. I think for now I'm either going to do 1 of 2 things to test the hissing quagmire. I don't want to just cut catacombs for 1 reason, fatal push. I have few ways to activate revolt and maybe that's not a huge deal but sometimes it's very relevant. Otherwise, they are indeed suboptimal. For now, I can't seem to part with them. Leaning towards option 2. The mana is indeed tough in this deck. This deck needs a manland though.
Yes! Good call on Revolt. I think 61 cards is just wrong. Too spiky of me perhaps but I do believe in tough cuts. Try option 2. The only real place for them to go is in that Blooming Marsh spot. I'm not sure whether the man-land is worth the tempo, but again testing.
I would play a lot more if I had moto. I'm on a Mac and would need the computer and THEN the actual cards. The other option that occurred to me was to get a streamer to try out the deck since they have access to the cards. I posted it to the facebook Eldrazi group and sent the list to the Turn One Thoughtseize guys, but there wasn't much interest.
went 3-1 again played against an interesting mix of decks this week.
r1: elreazi tron. Played 3 games the 2 I won where kinda close but discard and liliana and huge goyfs got me there. This match up certainly is more winnable than normal tron lists. Long as I don't get too behind it's do able. Nothing too exciting to report on it.
1-0
r2 8 rack: got destroyed. On the poor side of variance as I was stuck on 2 lands g2 and eventually got hit by smallpox. I don't have much to SB against this deck either. Just have to hope to have what I need. This may be a deck I hope to avoid. He seemed favorable for sure. I'll be adding back in explosives for sure. I think over charm. Means I don't have a great way to deal with a moon but I didn't before either. I could play a seal of primordium. I like it pumps goyf and can be flipped off reshaper. not being instant speed like naturalize or nature's claim is a thing to consider.
1-1
r3 skred red: I dont have a ton of ways to deal with a chandra or koth let alone them with a blood moon. Due to cutting back to 2 catacombs finding a basic is no guarantee. Regardless I held my own with the removal I had and beat down and disrupted best I could. When I dodged moon I have a fighting chance but long as I have some prep I can potentially beat a moon. Then again, it's a hell of a card vs me.
2-1
r4 vengevine, death shadow, hallow one deck: Another deck that dodges my removal pretty well. My opponent drew a lot of lands throughout the match so there's that. Leyline seemed good but they can play around it so I get a lot of value but it's not an end all be all. Think overall it's good enough to use as I got enough time to get there. Smasher was MVP this match. love that card.
3-1
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Current Decks:
Modern: BG eldrazi midrange BWG Abzan value evolution BUG BUG Midrange
Tiny Leaders: BW Athreos Zombies
Commander: BG Gitrog Monster
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Keep the tourney reports coming! Going out for the Wed weekly and will report back.
I've been thinking about the 3 Ghost Quarters you have main. Oath of Nissa enables playing Lili on time. How much do you rely on that line? If those Oaths were Ancient Stirrings, would you run as many Quarters? I think maybe not.
Modern: BG eldrazi midrange
BWG Abzan value evolution
BUG BUG Midrange
Tiny Leaders: BW Athreos Zombies
Commander: BG Gitrog Monster
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Scavenging Ooze
1 Matter Reshaper
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Reality Smasher
Spells
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Thoughtseize
2 Abrupt Decay
3 Fatal Push
2 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Ancient Stirrings
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
3 Polluted Delta
2 Verdant Catacombs
1 Misty Rainforest
3 Blooming Marsh
2 Overgrown Tomb
3 Llanowar Wastes
1 Twilight Mire
1 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Wastes
4 Eldrazi Temple
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Damnation
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Flaying Tendrils
3 Fulminator Mage
1 Liliana of the Veil
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Imp's Mischief
1 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Shadow of Doubt
1 Surgical Extraction
Round 1 played Lantern control and got there in 3. Nothing real special here. I'm not as bothered by Lantern as some and the tools are definitely here to deal with it.
Round 2 I lost in 3 to a UWR Control deck. He wasn't running the Kiki combo but did have a Thundermaw Hellkite out of the board along with Ajani, Vengeant. This guy won 1 of the local PPTQs a while back so I was happy to do as well as I did. G3, he landed Ajani and I wiffed on a Stirrings. He was able to just pull ahead for the win.
Round 3 was vs Burn. G1 went as you would expect, but I totally missed when I should have started beating down. Probably wouldn't have saved me but a bit of an error none the less. G2 I kept a 2 lander but just didn't see another land. Just didn't want to wait around for that last round with work in the morning.
Some observations. First, I just can't quite get behind Matter Reshaper. I was only running 1 but I've been fishbowling it a lot and it seems in an awkward spot without Temple out. I'm not sure how to evaluate the replacement effect vs only being a 3/2. I know I should switch out the Scoozes and just try it a few times.
I had Lili, the Last Hope twice and just wished it was LotV. Back to 4 main with Last Hope in the side but this is going to be one of those things where I expect to be adjusting based on which of the 3 stores I happen to be at.
So wiffing on Stirrings got me thinking about it vs Oath of Nissa. In my build I think Oath just squeaks by with a higher percentage of hitting non-land targets. Yes, finding Eldrazi Temple is absolutely relevant but the enchantment in the yard is fuel for Goyf. Then it occurred to me that maybe it didn't need to be either or. As the number of cantrips goes up, the number of lands can go down. The Green cantrips lack the library manipulation of the Blue ones and it might be worse at sorcery speed but I wanted to give it a go.
Here's the deck I ran tonight to a 3-1 finish:
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Scavenging Ooze
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Reality Smasher
Spells
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
1 Duress
2 Abrupt Decay
3 Fatal Push
2 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Ancient Stirrings
2 Oath of Nissa
4 Liliana of the Veil
2 Polluted Delta
2 Verdant Catacombs
1 Misty Rainforest
3 Blooming Marsh
2 Overgrown Tomb
3 Llanowar Wastes
1 Twilight Mire
1 Swamp
1 Forest
1 Wastes
4 Eldrazi Temple
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Feed the Clan
2 Flaying Tendrils
3 Fulminator Mage
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Collective Brutality
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
1 Creeping Corrosion
1 Shadow of Doubt
1 Surgical Extraction
Round 1 vs Goblins on the Draw
He got me good G1. G2 I stabilized and he scooped. G3 I mulled to 5 but had a nice curve. Tendrils on 3, Fulminator on 4 and just nuked his single land. He scooped to that and checked his top 2 cards which were both lands. He took it pretty well.
IN
3 Fulminators
2 Kalitas
2 Tendrils
Lili, Last Hope
Feed the Clan
OUT
4 Smasher
1 Duress
2 Thoughtseize
1 Decay
1 LotV
Round 2 vs
AbzanJunk w Flayer. I was on the play.I love these super grindy matches! He answered my T3 LotV with 1 of his own. I was able to get his with decay and ultimated mine to take him from 4 to 2 lands. We were both Hellbent by now. Maybe I should have waited a turn to keep Lili but I was worried about a decay from him. His topdecks were a shade better than mine but I was a turn ahead and clinched the win. G2 he had Lili on T2 off a Hierarch. Turns out still good. I was stuck on a Ghost Quarter, a Temple and only one dual for too long and got beaten down by a couple of Flayers. Game 3 I couldn't find a threat off a T2 Stirrings, an Oath or a 2nd Stirrings. He was just ahead of me. Still, great matches that felt like I had outs.
IN
3 fulminators
Lili, Last Hope
OUT
2 Inquisition
Duress
Thoughtseize
Round 3 was vs a zoo variant brew running Burning Tree Emissary and Hidden Herbalists. Some builds also run Myr Superion but he wasn't. Had a bunch of goblins including Goblin Guide and the +1/+1 w Haste to your team one. I got hit for 11 on T2. Ouch. Game two was back to back TKS T3 & 4 and Tendrils to put it away. Game 3 was actually pretty cool. I stabilized, cleared his board and had a 7/7 Goyf. I go to 6 from a thoughtsieze to clear the way and he had a deflecting palm in response. Next turn is a 2nd Thoughtseize and this time it is Atarka's Command to take me to 1 but I still have the lethal attack for 7 from Scooze.
IN
2 Tendrils
2 Kalitas
Feed the Clan
1 Fulminator Mage
OUT
4 LotV
2 Reality Smasher
Round 4 vs Merfolk. I'm on the Draw.
I won this one in 2 pretty handily. I had a sketchy moment G1 where I attacked Smasher and TKS into a bunch of merfolk. He just took the 9 and then cracked back for 10. If he drew into a Lord it would have been bad news. I had double LotV and really expected him to double up on the TKS. As it was he took the Lili bait and I was actually able to stabilize as opposed to just thinking I had. Game 2 he mulled to 5, I had the discard and he flooded out.
IN
2 Tendrils
3 Fulminator Mage
2 Kalitas
OUT
4 LotV
2 Scooze
1 Duress
All in all, I'm pleased with the result. Sideboarding could have been better. I'm really not sure how running 6 of the cantrips went. I whiffed a bit but also had some good hits. Still had a mana screw and a bit of flooding. Maybe the full 8? Cut another land? Not sure how much to push it.
As for my testing I'm cutting a land and adding in Rhonas main. I have been testing him and he's pretty bonkers in fair matches which is majority of my meta. I had a nut draw of t1 discard, t2 reshaper, t3 rhonas, swing, t4 smasher and swing for 13 lol. I understand that card is swingy so I'll test him out but I cna see it just being too cute but giving guys trample would have won me a lot of games.
My second thing to test is 2 bitterblossom. I think would give me some extra reach. some decks can just lose to a t2 bitterblossom followed by disruption. Plus who doesn't want to live the dream of an 8/9 goyf. I dont think either of these choices are slam dunks. Most likely to try first and foremost is 5 lili main. I want to flip lilis and get the best chance of both online come the new rules change. Since I only have 1 i'll start 4/1. I dont think 6 lilis is right though unless you dump the reshaper.
Modern: BG eldrazi midrange
BWG Abzan value evolution
BUG BUG Midrange
Tiny Leaders: BW Athreos Zombies
Commander: BG Gitrog Monster
I've always thought BB is a good SB card for BG builds not running Bob. So good against control.
For Stirrings I have been whiffing a lot. 8 is too few targets but I do grab Temple a bit. The games with Temple are far and away better than those without and 5 cards is so deep. I'm at least going to load upon Oath even if I don't go more cantrip heavy.
2 scavenging ooze
4 tarmogoyf
4 matter reshaper
4 thought-knot seer
3 reality smasher
spells
3 inquisition of kozilek
3 thoughtseize
3 fatal push
2 abrupt decay
1 collective brutality
3 liliana of the veil
1 liliana, the last hope
4 oath of nissa
1 bitterblossom
4 llanowar wastes
3 verdant catacombs
1 overgrown tomb
1 swamp
1 forest
4 eldrazi temple
3 ghost quarter
1 cavern of souls
1 urborg, tomb of yawgmoth
3 Blooming marsh
3 lost legacy
3 fulminator mage
1 flaying tendrils
1 pithing needle
1 collective brutality
1 damnation
1 engineered explosives
2 grafdigger's cage
1 creeping corrosion
1 Rhonas, the indomitable
r1 burn
g1 we both flood ridiculously hard but he ends up getting there. g2 and 3 were similar for me, lots of discard and quick hard beats and not much he could do. I think I may need another lifegain card of somekind I felt slightly lucky he just didn't have nut hands. I only drew 1 brutality in the match and was g3. it was obviously awesome. I love when burn boards in cards like path. I see it all the time and since I don't play burn it seems weird to me but what do I know.
1-0
r2 jeskai nahiri
g1 eventually nahiri gets resolved and I can't get through to kill her. emrakul puts me to 1 and I have a couple lands but can't assemble anything before he finds a snapcaster. g2 I get cavern of souls out and crush him. g3 i get some early interaction and he lands a geist which i untap and land liliana (haha) and deal with that. from there i just fit perfectly into the curves and manage to always kill the nahiri when it's played, and that was that.
2-0
r3 elves
g1 i have double temple but and land t2 goyf, t3 smasher, t4 smasher and get there. g2 i have a sketchy mana base but potentially a solid hand. I have night of soul's betrayal and flaying tendrils but only 1 black source and 2 colorless. thankfully he doesn't do much t1 and 2. and my t3 I play GQ and kill my temple to get green to play oath of nissa hoping to dig for a black source. I get there. from here he needs to not find a lord. so his turn he cocos and hits 2 mana dorks and hits me for 11. I untap and flaying tendrils like 9-10 guys lol. from there it's night of souls btrayal, into both lilianas. felt so good.
3-0
r4 bant value evolution
these were more fun of games than anything. g1 he goes huge early with a lotus cobra and gets suntitan out on his t3, my t2, and then phantasmal image the titan again and has this ridiculous board. i lose lol. g2-3-4 all go my way very very easily. with cage and other hate cards there's not much he can do outside hope to essentially get nut draws like he did game 1. he didn't and honestly the games were pretty easy. kinda drives home the point i may need somehting in the board for big creatures or permanents. maybe another pulse or a murderous cut or something. I suppose even a slaughter pact could be solid too.
4-0
All in all a great night. deck played well I didn't make many mistakes, and played well against elves. I played to my outs and got rewarded. Nothing new with the deck other than playing a fun of bitterblossom as my 61st. I'm going to cut it I feel like if I want to play that card it should be as a 2 of, which could very well be good in the deck. If they weren't 30 I would try that. Maybe I can borrow one to test. Going to cut rhonas in the sb too I think. I never really had the chance to play him and I think he may be win more. Trample is relevant in many board states but I picked up my second foil lili last hope as my prize and given new rules change gonna put her in the sb. I did have a couple games were both lilis were out and let me tell you that feels super good. I don't think it's right to run 2 last hope main though. Some matches she bad.
I love this deck
Modern: BG eldrazi midrange
BWG Abzan value evolution
BUG BUG Midrange
Tiny Leaders: BW Athreos Zombies
Commander: BG Gitrog Monster
I've been out of the loop for a couple of weeks. I did do some testing with 6-7 cantrips. It's too many. This is a proactive deck that really needs to be doing something Turns 1-3, not sculpting our hand. Just enough cantrips to reload, or find a threat off a top deck, is the sweet spot I think. Harmonize was brought up but I think that's going down the rabbit hole. At the end of the day I think this is a bit of a demanding, if not greedy, manabase and the ability to color fix in the first turn or 2 if needs be is solid.
I'll be bringing this to an SCG Regional event next month. I think I need to be running a Cavern. Ceremonious Rejection is brutal.
I actually don't think the mana is that bad or greedy. Sure, you will have games where you have to mull due to the colorless lands but that's the price you pay for a colored eldrazi deck. That being said, we have blooming marsh, llanowar wastes and twilight mires. I will concede if you are playing a more green heavy list it will be much harder than a more black list as urborg is amazing. I've been loving the 1 of cavern and still highly considering a second. Naming goyf or scooze is still legitimate but not being able to cast spells off it is still a real thing. If I find GQs aren't super needed or there's too many blue decks in my meta I'll do a 2/2 split of cavern and gq.
For a while I toyed around with nobles and birds in my list. I forget why I cut them. t2 lili and a much higher chance of t2 eldrazi can make the difference in a lot of matches. I think it was mostly birds don't do much outside being explosive where as noble has utility but her fixing is bad. Could still be worth revisiting.
Modern: BG eldrazi midrange
BWG Abzan value evolution
BUG BUG Midrange
Tiny Leaders: BW Athreos Zombies
Commander: BG Gitrog Monster
To be honest, I think T1 discard is better than T2 LotV in a vacuum. But she is a great Plan B.
https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/how-many-lands-do-you-need-to-consistently-hit-your-land-drops/
https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/frank-analysis-how-many-colored-mana-sources-do-you-need-to-consistently-cast-your-spells/
So B on 1,
G on 2,
BB on 3,
C on 4.
And that's at 24 lands for a 70-80% chance of hitting your 4th land drop by T4. 22-23 Lands seems to be the better place to be.
To do that you're looking at 19 black sources, 13 green sources and 11 colorless sources. Oath of Nissa certainly helps for casting Lili on 3 but I'd rather be playing a threat on T2. Although Discard + Oath after T1 Discard is a great play. I'm not sure how to evaluate Urborg, tomb of Yawgmoth here but it certainly helps. So you can cut into all that black but probably at the expense of slowing down a turn or 2. I've cut the utility land package in favor of consistency. (Part of that is that I don't get to play a whole lot and and would rather give up games to Tron and Celestial Colonnade instead of mana screw.) So maybe not greedy, but needing to make the choice at all seems demanding.
I've been missing a suite of manlands in this deck. Unfortunately, the only real spot I see for them is swapping out the Blooming Marshes for Hissing Quagmires but I think the speed is way more important. I can see swapping out 1, maybe 2.
small report. Same deck as usual, I adjusted couple of my cards as per my previous post
r1 storm
I got really mana screwed in this match and had to mull a LOT. I still somehow managed to take it down in g3. I was glad to have lost legacy. Not too much to say otherwise. This matchup feels kinda 50-50.
1-0
r2 storm
storm again blech. I again have to mull both games and get mana screwed again g1. I had lethal on board but he managed to pull it off g1. g2 I mull to 6 keep an ok hand but get my TKS remanded t3 and then he goes off...I didn't see a single SB card felt bad but it is what it is. Bad side of variance so far halfway through the tourney.
1-1
r3 burn
Both games weren't even close. Some discard with fast beats. He kept killing my reshapers and they flipped into things like liliana and a 4/5 goyf so that was fun. Not sure why I'm beating burn so easily lately. I feel like I shouldn't especially considering I have very minimal lifegain. Something to think about though.
2-1
r4 WB eldrazi processors
These games were also very easy for me. I played around his relics, and just drew better than him I guess. I feel like I'm favored but maybe it's like 60-40. It felt much easier than that but I was just always ahead. I was afraid of lingering souls but thankfully he didn't rip a million of them. Otherwise my guys are just so much bigger than his on average. I drew well too, sometimes you are just on the right side of variance.
3-1
I can't complain with another 3-1 finish. I mulliganed a LOT and was mana screwed in multiple games although not really color screwed. I can't draw any real conclusions from that exactly but it felt bad for sure. Otherwise, it's so fun playing this list as it's disruptive and slams really hard and quickly. I may need to look into 1-2 more GY hate cards. Storm is still brutal matchup as there's always a solid possibility I don't draw tons of disruption or a timely removal spell and just die.
Modern: BG eldrazi midrange
BWG Abzan value evolution
BUG BUG Midrange
Tiny Leaders: BW Athreos Zombies
Commander: BG Gitrog Monster
R1 - Aetherworks Marvel. I guess this was a standard port but he was also running Through the Breach. He got me G1 when I was stuck on 2 lands for 7 or turns. I got there pretty easily in the next 2. I initially thought this would be rather slow and even boarded in a Phyrexian Arena for G2. I took it out for G3.
1-0
R2 - Nykthos Green. This guy has been on various versions of Green Nykthos forever. He also won a PPTQ. I lost in 3 but kept a really shaky hand on a Mull to 6 in G2 and had a misplay G3. G2 was a 1 lander with an Oath and a Smasher on the Draw but no early pressure. G3, I fetched out my basics but then got stuck on swamp, forest, GQ in the mid-game long enough for him to inch ahead. He does have Blood Moon in the side but didn't bring it in. I should have fetched out a dual and I think I would have been OK. I could have used the GQ to fetch out a basic if Blood Moon came dowm.
1-1
R3 - Fish. I stabilized G1 but then lost to a top deck Spreading Seas. Another sketchy Keep on 6 and it punished me. Again, a fine hand but nothing going on early.
1-2
R4 - Storm. My opening hand was Temple, GQ, 2 Matter Reshapers, a Smasher, LotV and a Pulse. I was on the play and kept it. He had the T3 kill. G2 I just curved Discard, Goyf, TKS, Smasher and had him dead by T4. It might have been a tad greedy as I went with Smasher instead of Discard, but the kill was on board and he would have needed to go off at instant speed without one of the cost reducers. G3 I was able to get a Scooze off an Oath pretty early into double Liliana. He dropped a Blood Moon but I already had 1 basic out, GQ and Oath. I fished out my swamp with the GQ and was able to get the second Lili out because of Oath. I Surgical Extraction Past in Flames when he tapped out to storm LotV. He said he should have just scooped there but we played it out. I found green creatures and started beating down.
2-2
So a bit of a meh performance but totally my own fault. This deck really needs to be doing something early. I'm keeping hands with good mid to late game play and it's just not good enough. I was originally iffy on 23 lands but felt good about it as I mulled a bit and kept some 2 landers. Maybe a second GQ instead of the Cavern though. That might just be one of those Meta calls in real time depending on who happens to show up.
EDIT: I suppose Rockdrazi it is...
Modern Tallowisp Spirits - A Modern Tallowisp Deck UW
Eldrazi Ninjas - Summoning Octopus Jutsu YYYYAAAHHHH!
STANDARD
Naban Wizards
2 scavenging ooze
4 tarmogoyf
4 matter reshaper
4 thought-knot seer
3 reality smasher
spells
3 inquisition of kozilek
3 thoughtseize
3 fatal push
2 abrupt decay
1 collective brutality
3 liliana of the veil
1 liliana, the last hope
4 oath of nissa
4 llanowar wastes
3 verdant catacombs
1 overgrown tomb
1 swamp
1 forest
4 eldrazi temple
2 ghost quarter
2 cavern of souls
1 urborg, tomb of yawgmoth
3 Blooming marsh
1 golgari charm
1 torpor orb
1 shadow of doubt
3 fulminator mage
1 flaying tendrils
1 pithing needle
1 collective brutality
1 damnation
1 engineered explosives
2 grafdigger's cage
1 creeping corrosion
1 liliana, the last hope
r1 jund
both games I have double temple hands very early and just fight through his stuff and draw like a boss. Was super fun...for me. I even got to lili last hope emblem him.
1-0
r2 abzan
g1 lose to lingering souls. g2 I fight through some souls and beat down. g3 smasher is MVP and rip him off the top to get through and kill his lili at 5. From there he's on the back foot the rest of the time.
2-0
r3 affinity
I never cobble anything together after a mull to 5 and stuck on 1 land. I figured I had a temple and literally any land in 3 looks and I'll probably be ok. I conceeded when i missed 4 times. g2 I dont see any SB cards and he just goes ham sammich on me. We play another for fun and I beat him. So i figure the match is hard but certainly beatable if my cards line up. They didn't this time but it feels far from hopeless.
2-1
r4 jeskai control
g1 cavern of souls and big dudes get me there. g2 I lose to too many counters and no real gas. Geist grinds me out. g3 my cards line up perfectly vs what he is doing and I just curve out hard on him and finish with the ol' smasher into smasher off the top. I'm soooooo glad I put in another cavern over GQ. I think for now I'll stay at a 2-2 split.
3-1
I ended in 4th and we decided to split instead of playing it out. I mulled way less than last week so it's possible my curve is perfect as is but I can see an argument for 23 lands. I have a feeling if we had an actual good manland I would want 23 easy. Not sure quagmire is good enough. Have been debating mutavault or treetop village but I dunno. Hashep oasis seems interesting but the lifeloss is real issue as is double green reliably when I need it. Dub black is much easier for me than dub green.
Smasher has been easy MVP for me this week. I still haven't figured out the best SB yet and I doubt I will. Mainboard seems very good to me. So far haven't wanted to change a thing. Shadow of doubt was cute but didn't do much in the jeskai match I had it but I know I am pretty hard loser to scapeshift type decks. I may switch back to lost legacy for combo matches. Too much to plan for in Modern not sure which kind of matches I should just not even attempt to combat. Golgari charm was fine but not super relevant, cant decide if I want that or seal of primordium.
Modern: BG eldrazi midrange
BWG Abzan value evolution
BUG BUG Midrange
Tiny Leaders: BW Athreos Zombies
Commander: BG Gitrog Monster
Torpor Orb? Also, you were really high on Lost Legacy. Losing it doesn't seem to help the Storm matchup. I like it with only the 2 Scavenging oozes.
How have you been liking the 3-2 Lili split with 4 main? I'm running a 4-1 split with all 5 main. Probably should trim back to 4 main.
I'm still all over with lost legacy. In general I do love it but it doesn't do a much outside of very specific matchups. Even then scapeshift is diversifying so only like storm and ad nauseum really get crippled by it. I'm trying different things to see if I can get something more versitile. Maybe some surgicals are just better. So far torpor orb is only for decks like counters company and uw control. some other random decks too it can be good against. I'll probably still cut it.
Modern: BG eldrazi midrange
BWG Abzan value evolution
BUG BUG Midrange
Tiny Leaders: BW Athreos Zombies
Commander: BG Gitrog Monster
2 scavenging ooze
4 tarmogoyf
4 matter reshaper
4 thought-knot seer
3 reality smasher
spells
3 inquisition of kozilek
3 thoughtseize
3 fatal push
2 abrupt decay
1 collective brutality
3 liliana of the veil
1 liliana, the last hope
4 oath of nissa
4 llanowar wastes
3 verdant catacombs
1 overgrown tomb
1 swamp
1 forest
4 eldrazi temple
2 ghost quarter
2 cavern of souls
1 urborg, tomb of yawgmoth
3 Blooming marsh
1 golgari charm
3 leyline of the void
3 fulminator mage
1 flaying tendrils
1 pithing needle
1 collective brutality
1 damnation
1 engineered explosives
2 grafdigger's cage
1 liliana, the last hope
r1 jeskai control
deck is full of geists, counters and spell quellers. I just played around those things best I can g1 and dodged the necessary removal to get there. g2 I have a damnation in hand and just keep baiting out other cards like TKS and thank god he keeps quellering them. I then get him with damnation after eh taps out to get in for huge. I get 3 quellers and a geist. From there it was elementary
1-0
r2 krark clan ironworks combo
this is a scrap trawler based combo deck. not much to say g1 I had disruption enough to slow him down while I beat down. g2 he combos me pretty easily. g3 I get him to dead on board with very very few outs. He manages to rip pretty much exactly what he needs to get 4 mana and play ironworks. Perhaps he had more live draws than I thought but he does a billion things after taking forever and ends up dumping 2 wurmcoils on to the field. it was impressive but super lucky. oh well. I should have mulled more aggressively for my GY hate cards.
1-1
r3 elves
g1 i have enough removal and kill him easily. g2 the opposite and I get overwhelmed super super quick. g3 we both have semi slow hands but then he barfs out a bunch of dudes and we kinda stare at each other. he ends up swinging into me thinking he has lethal but I have 1 singular scavenging ooze trigger to keep me at 1 and kill him on crack back.
2-1
r4 boggles
not much to say here. g1 liliana wins. g2 I get destroyed by kor spiritdancer. g3 things look grim but a timely damnation saves my butt and it's hard for him to reassemble.
3-1
top 8 match vs naya bushwhacker zoo
g1 we both just play duded and I can't get out pace him and he just has too many guys and alphas me. g2 I slog through guys and eventually get to the point My guys out class his and he can't catch up. here's the problem g3 on the draw...well it goes as I expect. I keep a hand with lots of removal but on his t2 my t1 after i killed a guy he goes burning-tree, burning-tree goblin bishwhacker swing for 8. from there, I'm so far behind he keeps nickle and diming me until pretty much any bolt, atarka's command or ghor-clan rampager kills me. Eventually 1 does. This match is super hard. especially on the draw it feels near impossible without wipes. I'm going to add another flaying tendrils in sb as i've noticed an uptick in things like elves in my meta. wish there was a black anger of the gods. frustrating there isn't one.
3-2
I was hoping to play Rich Shay in the top 8 but the pairing went a different way. I had some mana color issues in my last couple of games which didn't prevent me from just losing but held me back enough to probably sealed my doom. I think it's just a casualty of this kind of deck. I wish there were more lands that allow for colorless AND colors. I need to pick up some twilight mire with my winnings. All in all I can't complain too much. I think I'm zoning in on an appropriate SB for my weak matchups. wish I could get more testing in but my play time is limited. Things I'm going to find room for:
1-2 twilight mire
1 flaying tendrils (bontu's reckoning or damnation) SB
Modern: BG eldrazi midrange
BWG Abzan value evolution
BUG BUG Midrange
Tiny Leaders: BW Athreos Zombies
Commander: BG Gitrog Monster
Was it the utility lands or not being able to find your colors? I really like Twilight Mire. 1 is ok. Temple + Mire is awkward.
I've played that Bushwacker Zoo matchup a few times. Flaying Tendrils is the way to beat it. Another spot where I think Maelstrom Pulse can do some work over Abrupt Decay.
I did wish I had a second pulse. I think that would be a great sb card as well. Maybe over something like needle since they fill similar roles. hmm
Modern: BG eldrazi midrange
BWG Abzan value evolution
BUG BUG Midrange
Tiny Leaders: BW Athreos Zombies
Commander: BG Gitrog Monster
That's just where testing comes in.
2 scavenging ooze
4 tarmogoyf
4 matter reshaper
4 thought-knot seer
3 reality smasher
spells
3 inquisition of kozilek
3 thoughtseize
3 fatal push
2 abrupt decay
1 collective brutality
3 liliana of the veil
1 liliana, the last hope
4 oath of nissa
4 llanowar wastes
3 verdant catacombs
1 overgrown tomb
1 swamp
1 forest
4 eldrazi temple
2 ghost quarter
2 cavern of souls
1 urborg, tomb of yawgmoth
3 Blooming marsh
1 golgari charm
3 leyline of the void
3 fulminator mage
2 flaying tendrils
1 pithing needle
1 collective brutality
1 damnation
1 engineered explosives
2 grafdigger's cage
r1 jund and r2 abzan
Both being similar decks I'll briefly lump them together. For jund it's usually a pretty solid matchup as they don't have path and burn is only so good. Both matches my opponent mulled to 5 one game. I just got ahead in both of my games vs these gentleman and there was nothing they could do to come back. I was afraid of souls as always but I did well enough to either play around it or rip a scooze to eat one in the GY. Otherwise nothing really of note. Killed threats, and beat down. I did get to emblem lili vs the abzan player that's always fun
2-0
r3 jeskai control
pretty standard geist control list with spell quellers. Both games were very easy it seemed. discard and throught-knots just did so much work. I didnt see cavern g1 but I saw it late g2.
3-0
r4 elves
g1 I slowely keep him off elves going 1 for 1 and was lucky enough to get in there faster than he could assemble. g2 I just got overrun so hard. g3 was some back and forth of removal vs filling the board. A very well placed flaying tendrils and I clear the way to victory.
4-0
top 4: death and taxes
This is a great player and I always have such a tough time beating him regardless of what he plays. g1 I mull to five but keep an ok hand for 5. We stalemate rather quick with his first strike holding off any good attacks I have and I just get killed in the air. g2 I have the right remval and fast beats and finish him before he can do too much trickery. g3 I mull to 6 and keep a real sketch hand. I have 1 temple and that's it but a real strong hand otherwise should I draw literally any land, preferably a colored source. I scry a temple on top so I'm all aboard the t2 tks train. I do just that and he paths it so I get a swamp. I play some more things but literally never draw another land. I had plenty of removal to win should I draw anything. I don't and lose to 2 flickerwisps. bleh.
4-1
bonus round: UG merfolk
g1 I have decay for his vial, into a goyf into a push to clear his guy. Untap tks a lord, swing, play smasher and win. g2 he draws 4 mutavaults and dies in a few turns. brutal lol how often does one ever draw 4 of the same card in a game. Just his luck to draw the colorless source haha. We play again for fun. This game things are far more even. I draw pretty well and have a decay for the spreading seas. he has 2 lords and the g explore guy. He smartly doesn't attack into me but I still decay the seas and get a 4/5. I play a scooze and eat some guys. then liliana to snag a vial before she dies so now I have a 6/7 goyf and a 4/4 ooze. Next turn I untap and cast smasher. from there it wasn't hard to clean up before he dies.
5-1
good weekend of magic. I played decent and this deck again performed. I think I'm honing in on a better board but I still just need to jam a bunch of games against my hard matches like tron and various aggro/swarm decks and see what happens. I'm comfortable with the midrange decks and some other various linear decks. I think my next step is to try out a couple hissing quagmires. I'm not thrilled with the enters tapped honestly but I think a semi evasive creature may just be worth it.
Modern: BG eldrazi midrange
BWG Abzan value evolution
BUG BUG Midrange
Tiny Leaders: BW Athreos Zombies
Commander: BG Gitrog Monster
I've been hanging with wargaming friends lately so no reports from me, sorry to say.
1: play 61 cards:
+2 hissing
-1 catacombs
2:
+2 hissing
-1 catacombs
-1 blooming marsh
Modern: BG eldrazi midrange
BWG Abzan value evolution
BUG BUG Midrange
Tiny Leaders: BW Athreos Zombies
Commander: BG Gitrog Monster
I would play a lot more if I had moto. I'm on a Mac and would need the computer and THEN the actual cards. The other option that occurred to me was to get a streamer to try out the deck since they have access to the cards. I posted it to the facebook Eldrazi group and sent the list to the Turn One Thoughtseize guys, but there wasn't much interest.
r1: elreazi tron. Played 3 games the 2 I won where kinda close but discard and liliana and huge goyfs got me there. This match up certainly is more winnable than normal tron lists. Long as I don't get too behind it's do able. Nothing too exciting to report on it.
1-0
r2 8 rack: got destroyed. On the poor side of variance as I was stuck on 2 lands g2 and eventually got hit by smallpox. I don't have much to SB against this deck either. Just have to hope to have what I need. This may be a deck I hope to avoid. He seemed favorable for sure. I'll be adding back in explosives for sure. I think over charm. Means I don't have a great way to deal with a moon but I didn't before either. I could play a seal of primordium. I like it pumps goyf and can be flipped off reshaper. not being instant speed like naturalize or nature's claim is a thing to consider.
1-1
r3 skred red: I dont have a ton of ways to deal with a chandra or koth let alone them with a blood moon. Due to cutting back to 2 catacombs finding a basic is no guarantee. Regardless I held my own with the removal I had and beat down and disrupted best I could. When I dodged moon I have a fighting chance but long as I have some prep I can potentially beat a moon. Then again, it's a hell of a card vs me.
2-1
r4 vengevine, death shadow, hallow one deck: Another deck that dodges my removal pretty well. My opponent drew a lot of lands throughout the match so there's that. Leyline seemed good but they can play around it so I get a lot of value but it's not an end all be all. Think overall it's good enough to use as I got enough time to get there. Smasher was MVP this match. love that card.
3-1
Modern: BG eldrazi midrange
BWG Abzan value evolution
BUG BUG Midrange
Tiny Leaders: BW Athreos Zombies
Commander: BG Gitrog Monster