Took the deck to another 3-1 finish tonight, losing only to burn.
Honestly had difficulty against burn quite a bit, and I think I'm coming round to understanding why.
I'd previously been siding in thought-knot seers as well as my hate cards (timely reinforcements) but realise now it's too slow. I need to be packing 1 and 2 mana hate cards for the deck because in the three matches I've played against burn at tournaments they've had the turn 3 win every single time.
Tonight's games against burn were as follows:
Lose die roll, keep reasonable hand.
Opponent turn 1: guide, swing for 2
My turn: land, star
His turn: land, guide, swiftspear, swing for 5
My turn: land, mind stone (setting up for turn 3 win).
Opponents turn: boros charm, bolt, swing for lethal.
Post sideboard keep something that looks reasonable but ends up being kinda slow in the fullness of the game. Get turn 3-ed again without any real board presence.
Opponent was kind enough to play out a few more sideboard games and it seemed to work much better when I only sided in maybe 3 or 4 cards and kept the maindeck mostly unchanged.
So here's what I need:
A one-drop that gums up the board and can gain me life. Something like perimeter captain but an artifact, or green.
There must be something in green that can do the job.
Maybe I just jam Kor firewalker in the board and cross my fingers to draw a second coloured mana source like a terrarion haha.
Really though the matchup has seemed impossible so far. I need a really, gratuitously powerful sideboard hate card for one or two mana. Help me out guys.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern: G Tron, Vannifar, Jund, Druid/Vizier combo, Humans, Eldrazi Stompy (Serum Powder), Amulet, Grishoalbrand, Breach Titan, Turns, Eternal Command, As Foretold Living End, Elves, Cheerios, RUG Scapeshift
Battle at the bridge is the power-tech here. I can't claim to have thought of it, it appears in quite a few winning lists and shaheen soorani mentions it in his star city games deck tech.
However, I'm so sick of losing to Eidolon (and recognise that zoo style decks are also a problem) that I am running 3 and not the familiar 2 we're used to seeing.
I really want to be tagging their rushed turn 2 Eidolon for a bunch of life and setting the burn player back, giving me the time to get the combo underway and maybe even cast a second battle for more mana to completely seal the deal.
It seems much better than the alternatives (nuking your own artifacts with claim is a last ditch resort but it's not ideal! This is the reason why I've only opted for 2 claims and the rest of my all-purpose removal is abrupt decay).
Onto more wins! Let's go
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern: G Tron, Vannifar, Jund, Druid/Vizier combo, Humans, Eldrazi Stompy (Serum Powder), Amulet, Grishoalbrand, Breach Titan, Turns, Eternal Command, As Foretold Living End, Elves, Cheerios, RUG Scapeshift
Just went 6-2 in the MOCS Monthly, which is a decently competitive tournament. Here's a quick tournament report:
Round 1 - Grixis Delver (2-0)
Game 1: Have a good start with opal and darksteel, am able to drop Trawler turn 2, with an EE on 1, have Academy Ruins and enough mana to keep recurring Trawlers. Go off on turn 8, casting EE with x=7 to fetch Trawlers and go infinite. Low on time so just make a giant hangarback and win the next turn.
Game 2: Drop a turn 2 Defense Grid after he plays Tasigur. A KCI eats a Ceremonious Rejection for 3U, but I have another and Trawler in hand. Not guaranteed to go off, but get there with another EE on 7. Him tapping out lets me use defense grid in my chains. Again win on a giant Hangarback because of time.
Round 2 - Humans Company (0-2)
This matchup is miserable
Game 1 - Turn 3 Company for 2/1 Thalia, my draw is too awkward to overcome that, deal lethal on turn 5.
Game 2 - Another awkward draw, have to Nature's Claim rest in peace, turn 4 Company hits Kambala and Meddling Mage, which is very difficult to beat.
Round 3 - Eldrazi Tron (2-0)
Game 1 - Have Mox, but land light. They don't find a chalice and I have enough eggs that I probably won't miss turn 4. I don't miss, despite a Relic (Relic is seldom a problem).
Game 2 - They side in Ratchet Bomb, which does little. They cast chalice on turn 4, but I have KCI, 2x Trawler, a Mox, and Inventors' Fair, so I'm able to fetch EE and go off. End up killing them with Aether Grid, which is fun.
Round 4 - Eldrazi Tron (2-0)
Game 1 - Turn 2 Chalice from them, but I've dropped 2 rocks and have EE in hand, so it isn't a problem. Plays another turn 3, but my Scrap Trawler lets me get it back. Have a hard time finding KCI so trade trawler with with a Matter Reshaper to get back two eggs (had double trawler). This let me get enough mana to Inventors' Fair into KCI and try to go off. I crack two sanctums to get the infinite mana creatures, but don't have any eggs, so have to pass with 2x trawler, KCI up. Game goes on for a couple more turns, he casts Karn, Reality Smasher, and TKS. Eventually resolve hangarback for X=14, which gives just enough to win over several turns and another Karn. At this point my clock was down to 6:22, so I'd have to win the next game more quickly.
Game 2 - 1 lander with Emrakul, but it has Stirrings and EE plus rocks, so I keep. Opponent Pithing Needles KCI, not knowing how cards work. Have time to EOT Fair for KCI, cast Emrakul on turn 5.
Round 5 - Affinity (1-2)
Game 1 - have a fast Mox/Darksteel start, combo him on turn 3 while at 19.
Game 2 - He clocks me with Cranial Plating, dealing lethal on turn 4.
Game 3 - Mulligan to 5, keep hand with Stirrings and Thoughtcast. Have to pop EE on 0 to not die on turn 3, and can't get there on my turn 4.
Round 6 - Burn (2-1)
Game 1 - Keep a slow hand that needs something to turn on my double Mox. He puts me to 5 before I untap, play KCI, and cast the Emrakul in hand.
Game 2 - He has a fast start and hits me with Eidolon when I'm at 4. Don't have a ton going on my side and quickly lose.
Game 3 - Keep a hand that'll let me turn three TKS, he's boarded in Rest In Peace, which seams like a bad idea, since it slows them. TKS provides enough resistance for me to try to go off on turn 5. I'm able to academy back my KCI and draw in response to Destructive Revelry, but pass the turn with KCI and Trawler at 11. He bolts my trawler, I get back Retriever, and he concedes.
Round 7 - Scapeshift (2-1)
Game 1 - knew I could wait until turn 4, so just setup with KCI and Trawler. He Titans turn 4, I go off in response.
Game 2 - I keep a terrible hand, watching the replay. I guess I thought TKS would be useful? He has turn 4 Titan, and I've got nothing, dying the next turn.
Game 3 - Mulligan to 5, scry KCI to the top. He pacts for Reclamation Sage on my Mox, which was annoying, since I could've KCI'd th next turn. He misses a land drop, giving me time. Turn 6 he resolves Titan, I combo in response.
Round 8 - Eldrazi Tron (2-0)
Game 1 - He is on the play and has tron into Reality Smasher and Chalice. I have EE, KCI, 2x Trawler in hand, so just blow his chalice and combo off. I Can't find a mana rock except spheres, and end up passing with a Trawler and 5/5 Hangarback. Next turn I draw another Trawler, eventually get Emrakul and win.
Game 2 - He has turn 2 chalice, but not much of a clock. I resolve KCI turn 3 and pass. Turn 4, use Inventor's Fair for EE, have a ton of rocks and go off.
Sad the next MOCS thing isn't Modern, but I think I'll try to dance in the next weekend thing. I'm pretty happy with the deck, and feel like it is well positioned in the online metagame. I only saw white once, and counters once.
How are you comboing in response? I think that phrase has a different meaning, instant speed, than you are using.
he means "I respond by going off in my turn" right?
He might not have English as his first language, many users are international on this site.
Good result btw. 6-2 would be enough to top-8 in many tournaments, on breakers. I don't know how mocs works though.
I've played the deck enough now that I feel like I'm beginning to see the subtle interplay within the deck & can intuitively swap numbers of cards around in the list & understand the impact it will have. I feel like I've also got a good handle on the lines & choices as well, although in friendly testing after work I've still been making dumb choices while tired, I haven't made a punt at a large tournament yet. Different scenario I guess.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern: G Tron, Vannifar, Jund, Druid/Vizier combo, Humans, Eldrazi Stompy (Serum Powder), Amulet, Grishoalbrand, Breach Titan, Turns, Eternal Command, As Foretold Living End, Elves, Cheerios, RUG Scapeshift
Honestly my favorite part of this build is that sometimes you don't need to combo at all, KCI just gets you there on mana. With graveyard hate as prevalent as it is right now I almost universally bring in the Wurms for game 2. I'm testing Ulamog because honestly 10 is an easy enough number and I'm generally liking how that's going. People are always surprised that this deck can win as a 'fair' deck.
Honestly my favorite part of this build is that sometimes you don't need to combo at all, KCI just gets you there on mana. With graveyard hate as prevalent as it is right now I almost universally bring in the Wurms for game 2. I'm testing Ulamog because honestly 10 is an easy enough number and I'm generally liking how that's going. People are always surprised that this deck can win as a 'fair' deck.
i'm not yet including a walking ballista in my 75. can you elaborate on why it's good against Death's shadow instaed of hangarback walker (which to all intents and purposes give you infinite blockers, right?)
hangarback, remember, is a card Eldrazi Tron brings in from the sideboard against grixis death's shadow specifically because it's good against them. How does ballista improve on this?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern: G Tron, Vannifar, Jund, Druid/Vizier combo, Humans, Eldrazi Stompy (Serum Powder), Amulet, Grishoalbrand, Breach Titan, Turns, Eternal Command, As Foretold Living End, Elves, Cheerios, RUG Scapeshift
Generally I use it to kill them directly. They tend to be so worried about the combo that they play aggressively and their life total goes down very low.
Ballista should also do well against CoCo decks, for instance vizier combo and elves.
I have a question regarding the sideboard once again. Are you guys running the 3 copies just against control or versus every deck that plays hate? Against burn nature's claim is superior but are you always boarding in 3 decays and 2 claims when you anticipate hate in the form of stony or RiP?
And could ratchet bomb be good for us versus aggro decks?
Explosives is better than ratchet bomb. It's faster & we can get it back with trawler.
Re; abrupt decay, I don't bring it in against burn, but instead bring it in against decks where I need to remove critical cards (such as stony silence or Kataki) and their likely aren't any other targets for nature's claim.
E.g. The coco decks and control decks, where snagging another permanent can mean the difference between winning and losing.
Nature's claim comes in against lantern, burn, affinity, the mirror, maybe Gx Tron and maybe occasionally I'll bring it in game 3 if I see something weird that needs removing. Mostly though it's those matchups only, so that's why I'm running 3 decay and only 2 claim. When you need it you need it, but it's narrow.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern: G Tron, Vannifar, Jund, Druid/Vizier combo, Humans, Eldrazi Stompy (Serum Powder), Amulet, Grishoalbrand, Breach Titan, Turns, Eternal Command, As Foretold Living End, Elves, Cheerios, RUG Scapeshift
I resisted changing the maindeck until I felt I had a statistically relevant sample size of games.
Now, after a bunch of games and tournaments, I'm certain that one everflowing chalice wasn't quite enough, and that mindstone, while versatile, isn't the all singing all dancing 2-drop we deserve. As a result I've gone up one chalice and down one mind stone so I've got 2 of each.
The general premise is that you need the ramp, but you also *really* need those 0 drops to keep the mana flowing while going off, and while I feel like maxing out on chalice would be overkill, I did need more than one. I'm going to resist further changes until I've tested the list with these changes quite a bit.
(I also got a set of signed moxes, signed Darksteel citadels and a foil signed Japanese mercadian masques forest to use as my one basic. Plus a foil misprints myr retriever and a regular foil one, both OG mirrodin)
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern: G Tron, Vannifar, Jund, Druid/Vizier combo, Humans, Eldrazi Stompy (Serum Powder), Amulet, Grishoalbrand, Breach Titan, Turns, Eternal Command, As Foretold Living End, Elves, Cheerios, RUG Scapeshift
I've been testing with 2x Courier's Capsule. You can activate it early and not worry about losing out. Functions in the combo for net 0 mana if it returns a star that then returns an opal. Once you see an Ichor Wellspring you just go for that instead. If we're going big and comboing off in full we usually have waaay too much mana anyway and this digs deeper.
I'm not 100% on it, but in general I like seeing it and I feel better about consistency.
Especially when we are fighting through a leyline, it can actually still draw cards.
Especially when we are fighting through a leyline, it can actually still draw cards.
doesn't everything else also do this?
i'm not a fan of the capsule, i have to say. I feel like there must be a better option from the modern card pool?
last night had a belter of a match - game 1 turn 2 kill... game 2 turn 2 KCI but i whiff my sequencing and can't cast the emrakul i've drawn. meh. game 3, turn 2 KCI and win again.
was insane.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Modern: G Tron, Vannifar, Jund, Druid/Vizier combo, Humans, Eldrazi Stompy (Serum Powder), Amulet, Grishoalbrand, Breach Titan, Turns, Eternal Command, As Foretold Living End, Elves, Cheerios, RUG Scapeshift
The majority of the cards in this deck have draw when they die triggers. That requires going to the graveyard.
Sounds like some great games. I'd have been terrified to have been across the table from you. IN my experience I actually love playing against combo, waiting to see if they wiff or pull it off.
We are not the same combo deck that Eggs once was. While it can happen a full 50 iterations to get Bitter Ordeal to matter is not a particularly easy win for us. It is also vulnerable to Leyline of Sanctity, I is much easier for us to Pyromatics 20 times than Gravestone that much. And then there are much better cards we could be doing it with.
Silence is a great card. Some lists have run it. Us being more inconsistency than during Egg's heyday it is hard to justify space for it, preferring to go all in. Though I look forward to the list that makes it work.
I took your list to an FNM tonight having never played a KCI list before and 4-0'd facing UW control, burn, burn, goblins.
Luck seemed to be with me in the burn matches with them not having a turn 3 kill and I was able to go 2-0 against all the aggro matches. The sideboard you've got here worked great. Battle at the Bridge was a house and TKS got me game 3 vs UW.
Battle at the bridge is the power-tech here. I can't claim to have thought of it, it appears in quite a few winning lists and shaheen soorani mentions it in his star city games deck tech.
However, I'm so sick of losing to Eidolon (and recognise that zoo style decks are also a problem) that I am running 3 and not the familiar 2 we're used to seeing.
I really want to be tagging their rushed turn 2 Eidolon for a bunch of life and setting the burn player back, giving me the time to get the combo underway and maybe even cast a second battle for more mana to completely seal the deal.
It seems much better than the alternatives (nuking your own artifacts with claim is a last ditch resort but it's not ideal! This is the reason why I've only opted for 2 claims and the rest of my all-purpose removal is abrupt decay).
Ive been having some success with my opal-less list (3-0 at a local satuday event) and want some help with it. I should be able to acquire some opals soon.
3x Inventors Fair
1x Academy Ruins
4x Darksteel Citadel
5x Forest
3x Sanctum of Ugin
1x Tendo Ice Bridge
Spells (43)
4x Everflowing Chalice
2x Hangarback Walker
4x Welding Jar (what i put in instead of opals)
4x Ancient Stirrings
3x Chromatic Sphere
4x Terrarion
4x Chromatic Star
4x Ichor Wellspring
2x Myr Retriever
2x Mind Stone
4x Scrap Trawler
4x Krark-Clan Ironworks
1x Walking Ballista
1x Emrakul, The Aeons Torn
Sideboard (11)
1x Ghiraphur AEther grid - for decks with stony, also good vs affinity
1x Battle at the Bridge - for Burn and other aggro decks
3x Nihil Spellbomb - For control, living end, gds, etc.
2x Defense Grid - for control decks. Only is good in a long game, can get bad if you cant manage to combo off
4x Nature's Claim - for Burn and decks like tron and skred with pesky artifacts and enchantments. A neat trick is claiming your darksteel citadel to just gain 4
Now in the last 4 slots there should be leylines of sanctities for discard heavy decks but i cant find anyone with them and i dont want to order them.
I would love some help with the sideboard if you guys can. My meta has some gds, janky t3 decks, burn, and some t2 decks
Ive been considering going up to 3 or 4 retrievers because of how happy i am to see them almost all the time. They make an infinite mana loop and you draw until ballista with 2 trawlers and are fine when you cant just make infinite mana. I would probably shave some number of chalice to make room.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Honestly had difficulty against burn quite a bit, and I think I'm coming round to understanding why.
I'd previously been siding in thought-knot seers as well as my hate cards (timely reinforcements) but realise now it's too slow. I need to be packing 1 and 2 mana hate cards for the deck because in the three matches I've played against burn at tournaments they've had the turn 3 win every single time.
Tonight's games against burn were as follows:
Lose die roll, keep reasonable hand.
Opponent turn 1: guide, swing for 2
My turn: land, star
His turn: land, guide, swiftspear, swing for 5
My turn: land, mind stone (setting up for turn 3 win).
Opponents turn: boros charm, bolt, swing for lethal.
Post sideboard keep something that looks reasonable but ends up being kinda slow in the fullness of the game. Get turn 3-ed again without any real board presence.
Opponent was kind enough to play out a few more sideboard games and it seemed to work much better when I only sided in maybe 3 or 4 cards and kept the maindeck mostly unchanged.
So here's what I need:
A one-drop that gums up the board and can gain me life. Something like perimeter captain but an artifact, or green.
There must be something in green that can do the job.
Maybe I just jam Kor firewalker in the board and cross my fingers to draw a second coloured mana source like a terrarion haha.
Really though the matchup has seemed impossible so far. I need a really, gratuitously powerful sideboard hate card for one or two mana. Help me out guys.
Battle at the bridge is the power-tech here. I can't claim to have thought of it, it appears in quite a few winning lists and shaheen soorani mentions it in his star city games deck tech.
However, I'm so sick of losing to Eidolon (and recognise that zoo style decks are also a problem) that I am running 3 and not the familiar 2 we're used to seeing.
I really want to be tagging their rushed turn 2 Eidolon for a bunch of life and setting the burn player back, giving me the time to get the combo underway and maybe even cast a second battle for more mana to completely seal the deal.
It seems much better than the alternatives (nuking your own artifacts with claim is a last ditch resort but it's not ideal! This is the reason why I've only opted for 2 claims and the rest of my all-purpose removal is abrupt decay).
Onto more wins! Let's go
Round 1 - Grixis Delver (2-0)
Game 1: Have a good start with opal and darksteel, am able to drop Trawler turn 2, with an EE on 1, have Academy Ruins and enough mana to keep recurring Trawlers. Go off on turn 8, casting EE with x=7 to fetch Trawlers and go infinite. Low on time so just make a giant hangarback and win the next turn.
Game 2: Drop a turn 2 Defense Grid after he plays Tasigur. A KCI eats a Ceremonious Rejection for 3U, but I have another and Trawler in hand. Not guaranteed to go off, but get there with another EE on 7. Him tapping out lets me use defense grid in my chains. Again win on a giant Hangarback because of time.
Round 2 - Humans Company (0-2)
This matchup is miserable
Game 1 - Turn 3 Company for 2/1 Thalia, my draw is too awkward to overcome that, deal lethal on turn 5.
Game 2 - Another awkward draw, have to Nature's Claim rest in peace, turn 4 Company hits Kambala and Meddling Mage, which is very difficult to beat.
Round 3 - Eldrazi Tron (2-0)
Game 1 - Have Mox, but land light. They don't find a chalice and I have enough eggs that I probably won't miss turn 4. I don't miss, despite a Relic (Relic is seldom a problem).
Game 2 - They side in Ratchet Bomb, which does little. They cast chalice on turn 4, but I have KCI, 2x Trawler, a Mox, and Inventors' Fair, so I'm able to fetch EE and go off. End up killing them with Aether Grid, which is fun.
Round 4 - Eldrazi Tron (2-0)
Game 1 - Turn 2 Chalice from them, but I've dropped 2 rocks and have EE in hand, so it isn't a problem. Plays another turn 3, but my Scrap Trawler lets me get it back. Have a hard time finding KCI so trade trawler with with a Matter Reshaper to get back two eggs (had double trawler). This let me get enough mana to Inventors' Fair into KCI and try to go off. I crack two sanctums to get the infinite mana creatures, but don't have any eggs, so have to pass with 2x trawler, KCI up. Game goes on for a couple more turns, he casts Karn, Reality Smasher, and TKS. Eventually resolve hangarback for X=14, which gives just enough to win over several turns and another Karn. At this point my clock was down to 6:22, so I'd have to win the next game more quickly.
Game 2 - 1 lander with Emrakul, but it has Stirrings and EE plus rocks, so I keep. Opponent Pithing Needles KCI, not knowing how cards work. Have time to EOT Fair for KCI, cast Emrakul on turn 5.
Round 5 - Affinity (1-2)
Game 1 - have a fast Mox/Darksteel start, combo him on turn 3 while at 19.
Game 2 - He clocks me with Cranial Plating, dealing lethal on turn 4.
Game 3 - Mulligan to 5, keep hand with Stirrings and Thoughtcast. Have to pop EE on 0 to not die on turn 3, and can't get there on my turn 4.
Round 6 - Burn (2-1)
Game 1 - Keep a slow hand that needs something to turn on my double Mox. He puts me to 5 before I untap, play KCI, and cast the Emrakul in hand.
Game 2 - He has a fast start and hits me with Eidolon when I'm at 4. Don't have a ton going on my side and quickly lose.
Game 3 - Keep a hand that'll let me turn three TKS, he's boarded in Rest In Peace, which seams like a bad idea, since it slows them. TKS provides enough resistance for me to try to go off on turn 5. I'm able to academy back my KCI and draw in response to Destructive Revelry, but pass the turn with KCI and Trawler at 11. He bolts my trawler, I get back Retriever, and he concedes.
Round 7 - Scapeshift (2-1)
Game 1 - knew I could wait until turn 4, so just setup with KCI and Trawler. He Titans turn 4, I go off in response.
Game 2 - I keep a terrible hand, watching the replay. I guess I thought TKS would be useful? He has turn 4 Titan, and I've got nothing, dying the next turn.
Game 3 - Mulligan to 5, scry KCI to the top. He pacts for Reclamation Sage on my Mox, which was annoying, since I could've KCI'd th next turn. He misses a land drop, giving me time. Turn 6 he resolves Titan, I combo in response.
Round 8 - Eldrazi Tron (2-0)
Game 1 - He is on the play and has tron into Reality Smasher and Chalice. I have EE, KCI, 2x Trawler in hand, so just blow his chalice and combo off. I Can't find a mana rock except spheres, and end up passing with a Trawler and 5/5 Hangarback. Next turn I draw another Trawler, eventually get Emrakul and win.
Game 2 - He has turn 2 chalice, but not much of a clock. I resolve KCI turn 3 and pass. Turn 4, use Inventor's Fair for EE, have a ton of rocks and go off.
Sad the next MOCS thing isn't Modern, but I think I'll try to dance in the next weekend thing. I'm pretty happy with the deck, and feel like it is well positioned in the online metagame. I only saw white once, and counters once.
1 Aether Hub
4 Ancient Stirrings
4 Chromatic Sphere
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Darksteel Citadel
2 Engineered Explosives
4 Chromatic Star
1 Forest
2 Hangarback Walker
4 Ichor Wellspring
2 Inventors' Fair
4 Krark-Clan Ironworks
4 Mox Opal
4 Sanctum of Ugin
4 Scrap Trawler
4 Spire of Industry
1 Thoughtcast
2 Everflowing Chalice
1 Mind Stone
4 Terrarion
2 Myr Retriever
3 Defense Grid
2 Ghirapur Aether Grid
4 Nature's Claim
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Hangarback Walker
2 Thought-Knot Seer
he means "I respond by going off in my turn" right?
He might not have English as his first language, many users are international on this site.
Good result btw. 6-2 would be enough to top-8 in many tournaments, on breakers. I don't know how mocs works though.
I've played the deck enough now that I feel like I'm beginning to see the subtle interplay within the deck & can intuitively swap numbers of cards around in the list & understand the impact it will have. I feel like I've also got a good handle on the lines & choices as well, although in friendly testing after work I've still been making dumb choices while tired, I haven't made a punt at a large tournament yet. Different scenario I guess.
I agree Walking Ballista is our best friend verses Death's Shadow but how many to run is tough.
i'm not yet including a walking ballista in my 75. can you elaborate on why it's good against Death's shadow instaed of hangarback walker (which to all intents and purposes give you infinite blockers, right?)
hangarback, remember, is a card Eldrazi Tron brings in from the sideboard against grixis death's shadow specifically because it's good against them. How does ballista improve on this?
Explosives is better than ratchet bomb. It's faster & we can get it back with trawler.
Re; abrupt decay, I don't bring it in against burn, but instead bring it in against decks where I need to remove critical cards (such as stony silence or Kataki) and their likely aren't any other targets for nature's claim.
E.g. The coco decks and control decks, where snagging another permanent can mean the difference between winning and losing.
Nature's claim comes in against lantern, burn, affinity, the mirror, maybe Gx Tron and maybe occasionally I'll bring it in game 3 if I see something weird that needs removing. Mostly though it's those matchups only, so that's why I'm running 3 decay and only 2 claim. When you need it you need it, but it's narrow.
Now, after a bunch of games and tournaments, I'm certain that one everflowing chalice wasn't quite enough, and that mindstone, while versatile, isn't the all singing all dancing 2-drop we deserve. As a result I've gone up one chalice and down one mind stone so I've got 2 of each.
The general premise is that you need the ramp, but you also *really* need those 0 drops to keep the mana flowing while going off, and while I feel like maxing out on chalice would be overkill, I did need more than one. I'm going to resist further changes until I've tested the list with these changes quite a bit.
(I also got a set of signed moxes, signed Darksteel citadels and a foil signed Japanese mercadian masques forest to use as my one basic. Plus a foil misprints myr retriever and a regular foil one, both OG mirrodin)
I'm not 100% on it, but in general I like seeing it and I feel better about consistency.
Especially when we are fighting through a leyline, it can actually still draw cards.
doesn't everything else also do this?
i'm not a fan of the capsule, i have to say. I feel like there must be a better option from the modern card pool?
last night had a belter of a match - game 1 turn 2 kill... game 2 turn 2 KCI but i whiff my sequencing and can't cast the emrakul i've drawn. meh. game 3, turn 2 KCI and win again.
was insane.
Sounds like some great games. I'd have been terrified to have been across the table from you. IN my experience I actually love playing against combo, waiting to see if they wiff or pull it off.
Silence is a great card. Some lists have run it. Us being more inconsistency than during Egg's heyday it is hard to justify space for it, preferring to go all in. Though I look forward to the list that makes it work.
Luck seemed to be with me in the burn matches with them not having a turn 3 kill and I was able to go 2-0 against all the aggro matches. The sideboard you've got here worked great. Battle at the Bridge was a house and TKS got me game 3 vs UW.
Thanks for putting a great list into my hands!
OMG, I don´t know about the sideboard... But the 60 in main deck... This list is freaking insane.
FYI I made one more change and swapped 1 nature's claim for a seal of primordium, because chalice of the void on 1 is a beating.
Have fun!
3x Inventors Fair
1x Academy Ruins
4x Darksteel Citadel
5x Forest
3x Sanctum of Ugin
1x Tendo Ice Bridge
Spells (43)
4x Everflowing Chalice
2x Hangarback Walker
4x Welding Jar (what i put in instead of opals)
4x Ancient Stirrings
3x Chromatic Sphere
4x Terrarion
4x Chromatic Star
4x Ichor Wellspring
2x Myr Retriever
2x Mind Stone
4x Scrap Trawler
4x Krark-Clan Ironworks
1x Walking Ballista
1x Emrakul, The Aeons Torn
Sideboard (11)
1x Ghiraphur AEther grid - for decks with stony, also good vs affinity
1x Battle at the Bridge - for Burn and other aggro decks
3x Nihil Spellbomb - For control, living end, gds, etc.
2x Defense Grid - for control decks. Only is good in a long game, can get bad if you cant manage to combo off
4x Nature's Claim - for Burn and decks like tron and skred with pesky artifacts and enchantments. A neat trick is claiming your darksteel citadel to just gain 4
Now in the last 4 slots there should be leylines of sanctities for discard heavy decks but i cant find anyone with them and i dont want to order them.
I would love some help with the sideboard if you guys can. My meta has some gds, janky t3 decks, burn, and some t2 decks
Ive been considering going up to 3 or 4 retrievers because of how happy i am to see them almost all the time. They make an infinite mana loop and you draw until ballista with 2 trawlers and are fine when you cant just make infinite mana. I would probably shave some number of chalice to make room.