Hi everyone, here I come with a brew of mines that I wish to develop for non-budget competitive play. One thing that stroke me is that UG is the only one combination of colors that does not exist in Modern, except Infect which doesn't feel UG at all. So here we go.
This deck is pretty hard to play, since there is always the possiblity to play from the hand or from the top. Luckily, there are tons of ways to change the top card if we dislike it.
The main goal is to dump everything we can every turn to produce a massive CA. While the Courser and the Vizier does the same job as the Magus, the greatest combo we can make is Magus+Prophet.
The general outline will be likewise :
T1 : dork
T2 : manipulating the top card with Halimar Depths then playing Coiling oracle into ramp OR Courser of Kruphix
T3 : manipulate the top card with Nissa, play something
T4 : play 2-3 spells and 1 land (2 with Nissa)
T5+ : keep going
If you can play the top card of your deck : play it unless you prefer something in your hand
If you can't play the top card of your deck : try to change it with a fetchland, Nissa, Halimar Depths, Coiling Oracle. If you can't, just play something from your hand, as commoners do.
This decks is also the natural shell for Nissa, Steward of Elements:
- the +2 : scries to get a playable card on the top. Works to settle the card we're gonna draw next turn and the one we're gonna play from the top of the libary. Never scry down a land if you get a Courser of kruphix out. Put it in second place : you're gonna draw the first card then play the land from the top of the library
- the 0 : you exactly know what's your topdeck since you're playing with the top card of your deck revealed. Avoids surprises and allows to generate free lands/creatures
- the -6 : can be cast regularly from Nissa with x=8/9 , or just by doing the +2 few times. Allows to get a kill on a statemate
Card choices
Lands are self-explanatory. 6 forests and 2 islands because we need lots of green on the begining, and nothing costs lots of blue execpt the Magus. Halimar depths is prefered to Temple of Mystery because it digs deeper in the deck and makes you sure to know what you're gonna hit (very important for Coiling Oracle and the 0 of Nissa).
There are 6 hard counters maindeck (2 snakes + 4 dissolve). Dissolve allows to scry, which is good when we want to play with the top of the deck. Prefer it to Disallow. I tried to get 4 snakes maindeck previously, as it plays really well with the Vizier, but in the end I never need so many counters, except against combo.
Oracle of Mul Daya and Azusa, Lost and Seeking : allow for very explosive starts, but I gound them very weak to block (which is what we want) and do not add so much value. Can be tried again.
River Hoopoe : never laugh at him at a Hoopoe. Limited AND Modern staple (yes!!), generates ton of CA and life gain if you have prophet of Kruphix in play. Allows you to get out the top dard of your library if it's not for your taste. Gets free wins against burn (blocks and lifegain), scapeshift (the first scape***** is countered, then we get back to more than 20 life), blocks some Signal pest and has flying to get damage thanks to the Hiearach.
Prophet of Kruphix : banned in multiplayer EDH, we get the maximum of her in this shell where we hardly miss any opportunities to play our cards. Fragile, and since we draw lots, 1-of seems a good place.
Curse of the Swine : we can get easily tons of mana, which often makes a 2/3 for 1.
Match-ups
The sideboard is the most hard thing to do. UG doesn't have the right colors to fight against big creatures (hi, Death Shadow!!). We can work with Beast Within, Pongify, Rapid Hybridization. Reality Shift seems to be the more exciting one.
Burn : if we can stick a courser of kruphix to block and gain life, we're safe. Side out some Magus to get more Hoopoes.
Affinity : side-in Natural State and Siege of Reclamation. I've never won against them.
Control of any kind : get some Hoopoes there. You're always gonna outvalue them. Don't forget that the birds are really good chumpblockers.
Wide aggro : good luck bro :\
Combo : you got plenty of counters, it shall be good
Discussions
I'm eager to get this deck to work in a competitive level. One mind doesn't seem to be enough to make the worst combination of colors work.
I hope you enjoyed the presentation, and let's get to work !
I sided out all the Magus, the Mystic Snakes, Nissa, Dissolve and the Prophet of Kruphix, which are hardly relevant on a fast matchup as this one. Instead, I sided in Reclamation Sage (+3), Natural State (+4), Reality shift (+3) and Curse of the Swine (+1), Rive Hoopoe (+2).
The matchup felt stronger against the flyers, beeing able to stabilize their artifacts with ease.
Tectonic edge felt useless against their inkmoths, since he never had more than 3 lands and a mox. Since I easily get tons of mana, I'm gonna try Encroaching Wastes instead.
I have a casual UG Skill Borrower deck, and I can tell you that by far the best card in the deck is Fa'Adiyah Seer. It basically reads "T: Draw a card" most of the time.
Also, how about Reason // Believe? We'd probably want more crazy creatures to cheat into play if we're going that route, though.
The art of Fa'Adiyah Seer is beautifull, but why shall it be better than Courser of Kruphix or Magus of the Future ? I don't see why
Reason/Believe is a nice idea, I thought lot of it, but in the end we don't have any huge creature that we would like be cheating in. Which creature would you even consider, that works with our gameplan ? Call of the Wild is extremely expensive too
If we really want to go the combo way, we can play the following
Ramp lots till we can get Trinket Mage into Planar Portal. All this to fetch the only Primal Surge in the deck, which would give all our cards onto the battlefieild. Then we get some creatures with haste that does the job, like Craterhoof Behemoth.
But that would ask so much mana that hardcasting Emrakul would be easier. Tron also seems more efficient.
I've been ranking up Reality Shift since it is an instant. Putting some more main, and one more Curse of the Swine maindeck too.
Yeah, it might not be better than Courser. However, it can get a land off the top of your deck if you've already played one, and it can also just mill non-lands that you don't want.
I added one scavenging ooze mb and another one in sb for lifegain and big blockers, also as graveyard hate (our only one).
So here I got some more data to share :
Affinity : 1-2
The first game was impossible to me, because of its flyers. The best card there was the hoopoe and reality shift.
Second game I won easily, siding in all the artifact hate I could, removing the magus and the counters, which are inefective on early game.
On third game I lost due to a double cranial plating topdeck on Etched Champion.
The match-up still felt pretty solid post-board, I want to try it a bit more.
RG Scapeshift with no Titan : 2-0
I just countered his scapeshifts with my 6 maindeck counters. If not countered, I was able to survive due to the lifegain of Courser.
RG Titan Shift : 2-1 / 1-2
Two different games. Side in reality shift to have a chance. The titan is really hard to deal with if not countered or exiled right away. Felt like a really hard match-up.
BW midrange : 0-2
The guy just spawned lots of flying tokens that I had no choice to deal with. He played lots of wraths that made me very vulnerable.
UB mill : 2-1 / 0-2
First version played fraying sanity, it was really tough. I sided in all the enchantment hate to destroy it. Since we're supposed to play lots of cards in order to win, we just accelerate their startegy. An eldrazi could be an option in sb against that specific matchup.
BR midrange : 2-1
The usual package of discard+spot removal. Our deck is very decent in aiming to the CA-race. Side out Magus which are too slow to get the Hoopoe which is a perfect blocker against bob and random *****, draws cards and gain life back.
UG Tron : 1-0
He was not able to assemble the tron early on. Once assembled, I destroyed it with my lands, and then countered everything that was cast. He scooped after game 1.
UW control : 2-1
We win the CA war with almost no problem. Getting us lands with pte just makes our draws more consisten with Nissa and the Vizier. Also enables the hoopoe.
All in all, I feel like the Hoopoe is a must-have. The deck works pretty nicely if not stopped, and wins often the long game. I haven't played against burn yet, but I'm sure it's the deck with the best match-up over there. Scavenging Ooze seems a good card a 1/2 of.
UPDATE :
Elves : 0-2
He got a weird build of elves with lords only. In the end, he manged to beat me down, while I kept a wvery poor hand. On game 2 the got forestwalk, nothing to be done. It felt pretty hopeless match-up. I don't see what you make it better :\
WUR control : 1-0
He scooped in the middle of the first game, when he saw I had an amazing CA over him (20 more cards drawn than him). If control gets more place in the metagame, this deck is appealing to beat them with a 80% winrate ballpark.
Affinity : 0-3
That matchup is almost impossible, since we're light on removals and we plan the long run. He esaily snitches with Blighted Agent that we cannot block. 5 turns later, we got lots of CA but no way to interact to interact with him gameplan. I do not see any sideboard card that could help us there.
Hi everyone, here I come with a brew of mines that I wish to develop for non-budget competitive play. One thing that stroke me is that UG is the only one combination of colors that does not exist in Modern, except Infect which doesn't feel UG at all. So here we go.
I guess you're getting the vibe, now ?
The cons :
3 Vizier of the Menagerie
4 Magus of the Future
4 Courser of Kruphix
Dorks
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Coiling Oracle
Control
2 Mystic Snake
2 River Hoopoe
4 Dissolve
2 Curse of the Swine
Wincons
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
1 Prophet of Kruphix
Lands
3 Breeding Pool
4 Lumbering Falls
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Island
6 Forest
2 Halimar Depths
2 Tectonic Edge
4 Natural State
3 Reclamation Sage
2 River Hoopoe
3 Reality Shift
2 Curse of the Swine
1 Prophet of Kruphix
The main goal is to dump everything we can every turn to produce a massive CA. While the Courser and the Vizier does the same job as the Magus, the greatest combo we can make is Magus+Prophet.
The general outline will be likewise :
T1 : dork
T2 : manipulating the top card with Halimar Depths then playing Coiling oracle into ramp OR Courser of Kruphix
T3 : manipulate the top card with Nissa, play something
T4 : play 2-3 spells and 1 land (2 with Nissa)
T5+ : keep going
If you can play the top card of your deck : play it unless you prefer something in your hand
If you can't play the top card of your deck : try to change it with a fetchland, Nissa, Halimar Depths, Coiling Oracle. If you can't, just play something from your hand, as commoners do.
This decks is also the natural shell for Nissa, Steward of Elements:
- the +2 : scries to get a playable card on the top. Works to settle the card we're gonna draw next turn and the one we're gonna play from the top of the libary. Never scry down a land if you get a Courser of kruphix out. Put it in second place : you're gonna draw the first card then play the land from the top of the library
- the 0 : you exactly know what's your topdeck since you're playing with the top card of your deck revealed. Avoids surprises and allows to generate free lands/creatures
- the -6 : can be cast regularly from Nissa with x=8/9 , or just by doing the +2 few times. Allows to get a kill on a statemate
Halimar depths is prefered to Temple of Mystery because it digs deeper in the deck and makes you sure to know what you're gonna hit (very important for Coiling Oracle and the 0 of Nissa).
There are 6 hard counters maindeck (2 snakes + 4 dissolve). Dissolve allows to scry, which is good when we want to play with the top of the deck. Prefer it to Disallow. I tried to get 4 snakes maindeck previously, as it plays really well with the Vizier, but in the end I never need so many counters, except against combo.
Oracle of Mul Daya and Azusa, Lost and Seeking : allow for very explosive starts, but I gound them very weak to block (which is what we want) and do not add so much value. Can be tried again.
River Hoopoe : never laugh at him at a Hoopoe. Limited AND Modern staple (yes!!), generates ton of CA and life gain if you have prophet of Kruphix in play. Allows you to get out the top dard of your library if it's not for your taste. Gets free wins against burn (blocks and lifegain), scapeshift (the first scape***** is countered, then we get back to more than 20 life), blocks some Signal pest and has flying to get damage thanks to the Hiearach.
Prophet of Kruphix : banned in multiplayer EDH, we get the maximum of her in this shell where we hardly miss any opportunities to play our cards. Fragile, and since we draw lots, 1-of seems a good place.
Craterhoof Behemoth and Genesis Wave : the first one a gamebreaker. The second one seemed too weak to make the cut.
Curse of the Swine : we can get easily tons of mana, which often makes a 2/3 for 1.
Burn : if we can stick a courser of kruphix to block and gain life, we're safe. Side out some Magus to get more Hoopoes.
Affinity : side-in Natural State and Siege of Reclamation. I've never won against them.
Control of any kind : get some Hoopoes there. You're always gonna outvalue them. Don't forget that the birds are really good chumpblockers.
Wide aggro : good luck bro :\
Combo : you got plenty of counters, it shall be good
I hope you enjoyed the presentation, and let's get to work !
I sided out all the Magus, the Mystic Snakes, Nissa, Dissolve and the Prophet of Kruphix, which are hardly relevant on a fast matchup as this one. Instead, I sided in Reclamation Sage (+3), Natural State (+4), Reality shift (+3) and Curse of the Swine (+1), Rive Hoopoe (+2).
The matchup felt stronger against the flyers, beeing able to stabilize their artifacts with ease.
Tectonic edge felt useless against their inkmoths, since he never had more than 3 lands and a mox. Since I easily get tons of mana, I'm gonna try Encroaching Wastes instead.
Also, how about Reason // Believe? We'd probably want more crazy creatures to cheat into play if we're going that route, though.
Reason/Believe is a nice idea, I thought lot of it, but in the end we don't have any huge creature that we would like be cheating in. Which creature would you even consider, that works with our gameplan ?
Call of the Wild is extremely expensive too
If we really want to go the combo way, we can play the following
Ramp lots till we can get Trinket Mage into Planar Portal. All this to fetch the only Primal Surge in the deck, which would give all our cards onto the battlefieild. Then we get some creatures with haste that does the job, like Craterhoof Behemoth.
But that would ask so much mana that hardcasting Emrakul would be easier. Tron also seems more efficient.
I've been ranking up Reality Shift since it is an instant. Putting some more main, and one more Curse of the Swine maindeck too.
Nissa,Wastwood Seer could be a nice addition, but instead of what ?
So here I got some more data to share :
Affinity : 1-2
The first game was impossible to me, because of its flyers. The best card there was the hoopoe and reality shift.
Second game I won easily, siding in all the artifact hate I could, removing the magus and the counters, which are inefective on early game.
On third game I lost due to a double cranial plating topdeck on Etched Champion.
The match-up still felt pretty solid post-board, I want to try it a bit more.
RG Scapeshift with no Titan : 2-0
I just countered his scapeshifts with my 6 maindeck counters. If not countered, I was able to survive due to the lifegain of Courser.
RG Titan Shift : 2-1 / 1-2
Two different games. Side in reality shift to have a chance. The titan is really hard to deal with if not countered or exiled right away. Felt like a really hard match-up.
BW midrange : 0-2
The guy just spawned lots of flying tokens that I had no choice to deal with. He played lots of wraths that made me very vulnerable.
UB mill : 2-1 / 0-2
First version played fraying sanity, it was really tough. I sided in all the enchantment hate to destroy it. Since we're supposed to play lots of cards in order to win, we just accelerate their startegy. An eldrazi could be an option in sb against that specific matchup.
BR midrange : 2-1
The usual package of discard+spot removal. Our deck is very decent in aiming to the CA-race. Side out Magus which are too slow to get the Hoopoe which is a perfect blocker against bob and random *****, draws cards and gain life back.
UG Tron : 1-0
He was not able to assemble the tron early on. Once assembled, I destroyed it with my lands, and then countered everything that was cast. He scooped after game 1.
UW control : 2-1
We win the CA war with almost no problem. Getting us lands with pte just makes our draws more consisten with Nissa and the Vizier. Also enables the hoopoe.
All in all, I feel like the Hoopoe is a must-have. The deck works pretty nicely if not stopped, and wins often the long game. I haven't played against burn yet, but I'm sure it's the deck with the best match-up over there.
Scavenging Ooze seems a good card a 1/2 of.
UPDATE :
Elves : 0-2
He got a weird build of elves with lords only. In the end, he manged to beat me down, while I kept a wvery poor hand. On game 2 the got forestwalk, nothing to be done. It felt pretty hopeless match-up. I don't see what you make it better :\
WUR control : 1-0
He scooped in the middle of the first game, when he saw I had an amazing CA over him (20 more cards drawn than him). If control gets more place in the metagame, this deck is appealing to beat them with a 80% winrate ballpark.
Affinity : 0-3
That matchup is almost impossible, since we're light on removals and we plan the long run. He esaily snitches with Blighted Agent that we cannot block. 5 turns later, we got lots of CA but no way to interact to interact with him gameplan. I do not see any sideboard card that could help us there.