@tophat118, I am running a 23 land version with 3 MD Spellskites, and I have had no mana related issues. @False_Shepard, you can see my decklist on Page 317. Cutting Talismans are a bad idea, you need the mana ramp sometimes. The worst you can do is cut one and have two in your deck.
I'm also still on the 23 land 3 talisman build with no mana issues. 4-0'd a small modern event last night (BW Tokens, Affinity, Esper Control with Delve finishers, and UR twin). I think i still need to work on my affinity matchup. I weirdly tend to win game 1 and then lose games 2 and 3? I easily could have lost game 3 against the affinity player due to a fast start with double thought cast and not drawing into hurkyl's or Aetherize but he played around too many answers and I slavered at 1, he top decked into a ravager and ragescooped before i saced his board, but if he hadn't played around me having removal so hard i easily would have lost that game.
Im basically praying to play against twin every matchup.
Question @ those running 2+ Ugin: Do you guys keep any number in against affinity? Obviously he can't board wipe but he can bolt problem dudes and kill ensouls, and threatens ult. I have been siding him out but since affinity is so rough I've been really considering what my exact sideboard plan should be.
I like Mizzium Meddler. People are playing Spellskite main and I would say Meddler is roughly at the same maindeck playability. Spellskite can be played earlier but doesn't have the reactive component with flash. I believe Spellskite performs the role better just because you can fabricate into it, discard it to TfK, ... but I am still going to test Meddler.
I don't think it's worth playing competitive magic and letting people's grumpiness get in the way. This deck's Slaver wincon is really the main draw to it in my book.
So my lgs don't like the slaver lock. Should I just add more like forgemaster. Temple of the falce god? Over the lock parts?
If they don't like it because it's working, too bad for them. I hate playing against Affinity and Liliana of the Veil, but I can't reasonably expect people to stop playing them because of that. If you regularly go to time in your matches you should probably learn to play the deck faster, but if that isn't the case then don't change anything.
I was going to start wring this post when my decklist had been posted on the mothership, but there seems to have been a slip-up. My list got tossed in with the other tron decks in the metagame breakdown, and was represented in the article(s) by our distant cousin GR tron in the Archetype Exemplar article. Though I did get a sentence mentioning my deck in the initial archetype breakdown. http://magic.wizards.com/en/events/coverage/gpcop15/day-2-metagame-grand-prix-copenhagen-2015-2015-06-21
As I mentioned in a previous post I went day two with the list. I was 7-2, with one bye after day one. Day two I did somewhat worse, finishing 3-3 for a final standing of 106th. Doing worse on day two might be expected given I was now meeting better players, and when I asked them of their experience, most had already been on a day two before.
I was playing the following deck. It is something of a departure from the lists posted here recently. I'm not running any Anticipates, nor am I running Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. Instead I am running a higher number of artifacts than most, to get real card advantage out of Thirst for Knowledge every single time. I'm also running Gifts Ungiven, which is somewhere between being Thirst five and six and being thirst with a kicker, they both turn one nonland card into two nonland cards. To support the extra card draw I have supplied the deck with good amounts of ramp, running two Talismans, an Everflowing Chalice, a Gemstone Caverns and even a Wayfarer's Bauble to get up to 4 mana quickly. Everflowing in particular have been really good, and I only cast it for less than two counters once during the entire Friday and main event. That it doesn't produce blue isn't the end of the world, but can potentially be an annoyance. In any case you should already be playing enough blue sources from lands to not need to rely on Talismans staying on the table. I will probably write another post in a weeks time discussing what I think of potential cards choices, or go more in depth on my own if you have questions.
On Friday I played two scheduled events, of 5 rounds each. I went 4-1 in both of them, and felt confident on my deck choice for the weekend. The last minute testing of Everflowing Chalice looked promising and I decided to play it in the main event.
I'm working on incomplete notes so I'll piece together as much as possible, but I'm still hazy on a few parts.
Round one: Bye from Planeswalker Points
1-0
Round two: Infect. Not a great matchup, but I had kept an initial hand with Repeal and Snapcaster allowing me to keep him from doing any poising damage before turn 6 or so in game one. In game two I lock him down with Chalice of the Void for one, and a Platinum Angel. He seemed somewhat inexperienced with his deck, but a win is a win.
2-0
Round three: Affinity. He gets off to a quick start game one, and I can't keep up. I tap out to activate Oblivon Stone, and he kills me with a Galanic Blast in response. Game two goes much the same. He Thoughtseized away my Hurkyl's Recall and empties his hand on the table. 0-2
2-1
Round four: Ad Nauseam. Not a deck I've had much practice against, whenever I've played against it online I've lost the first game, then won the two next. I figured it would be much the same now.
He wins the first one after I try to Repeal his newly cast Lotus Bloom in his upkeep, which is met by Ad Nauseam for which I Remand. He counters with a Pact of Negation for a win. Had I instead Remanded his Lotus Bloom I would have had a few more turns to set something up, but I'm unsure about the right play here.
For game two I take in pairs of Chalice of the Void and Spell Snare to deal with his mana and countermagic. In the game I cast chalice for zero the turn before his Lotus Bloom comes off suspend countering it and preventing him from using his pacts. This wins me the game. Game three I start with a Chalice in hand and manage to put two of them on the table within a couple of turns. For one and two respectively. Sadly he topdecks Phyrexian Unlife the turn after I get chalice for one, allowing him to still combo off if he has an Ad Nauseam. I find myself on 4 lands, of which one is blue, a Gifts Ungiven in hand but with absolutely no pressure nor counterspells. If he had Ad Nauseam he can just kill me outright. I make the play of casting Gifts Ungiven to grab counterspells, and he comboes in response. Had I instead just waited he wouldn't have gone for the kill for a few turns, but it's doubtful I would have had counterspells myself by then. In any case I believe in hindsight that had I waited I would have had slightly higher chances. In the end it turns out my mistake wouldn't have mattered as he had a Gigadrowse on hand which would have tapped down my blue mana, even through a Chalice of the void. Though even here it's possible that he wouldn't have won, as he said something that suggested he didn't know the replications don't get countered. 1-2
2-2
Round five: Living End?? I can't find much notes for this one, but I won 2-0 without him dealing damage to me. Only thing I remember is that I started with Gemstone Caverns on the table both games, I feel it's hard to lose when I do.
3-2
Round Six: Collected Company with Anafenza, low on combo pieces. I get down an early Wurmcoil in game one and ride it to victory. Game two is a long and drawn out affair and I lose with little time left on the clock. I make a strong start but time gets called before we finish. My opponent concedes to me once he realizes that I'm on 9 points, where he is only on 8, having already drawn twice after only five rounds! 2-1
4-2
Round Seven: Grixis control. We trade resources for a while, but I win via Thirst for Knowledge and Gifts Ungiven giving me more resources than him. In game two he gets a really early Tasigur which he keeps alive through my Dismembers using a couple of Dispels. In game three I force through a Wurmcoil in the mid game and ride it to victory. 2-1
5-2
Round eight: UR Twin. No much notable happens in this match. U Tron just does what U Tron does. Trade resources until I'm on 4 life, where I assemble a Slaver Lock. I see his sideboard is light on permission, and go to the next game, which I win via an early Wurmcoil 2-0
6-2
Round nine: Grixis Twin, player has some 160+ pro points. I'm on the draw with two tron lands, a Talisman, a Mindslaver as well as some permission and draw. My turn two signet resolves through his open blue mana. Over the next few turns I take 4-5 damage from my signet, but it's worth it, as I get to dig myself down to early tron and Mindslaver. I cast his Snapcaster, kill Snapcaster and discard a Tasigur with his Kholagan's Command. Smooth sailing for the rest of that game. I expect him to take out Splinter Twins, and bolts, and instead go for Kholagan's Command and Tasigur value game two. I take out Talismans, Platinum angel and a mindslaver to get space for another Wurmcoil, some Dismember and Spell Snare. I think my matchup is becoming better after sideboarding. In game two he goes for a combo kill but gets two for oned by Dismember on his Deceiver Exarch. After this I tap myself out completely for several turns to dig for cards and to resolve a Wurmcoil. When the Wurmcoil is on the table and the dust settles I find myself without countermagic, a repeal and a thirst on hand. He's on one card and 5-6 mana. One turn he taps himself out completely to bounce/draw on my Wurmcoil, which is then answered by me Repealing it. I figured that if I could draw just a single counterspell and keep him of any cards I would win the game. Turns out I was, and on to day two! 2-0
7-2
DAY 2
Round ten: Jund. I repeal his early plays and manage to put down an early Mindslaver, he scoops in response to activation. In with Wurmcoil and Snares, out with Talismans that die to hate. Game two goes pretty well too, I get down an early Wurmcoil ride it to victory. 2-0
8-2
Round eleven: Infect. This opponent does everything right and kills me quickly without interaction in game one. I grab Chalice of the Void from my sideboard as well as Dismember and win the next game using a Platinum Angel. Game three he gets a good start, and kills me when he Probes and sees I can't stop his pump. 1-2
8-3. No top 8 for me.
Round twelve. Grixis twin. He wins two quick games where he curves nicely against my clunky hands. 0-2
8-4.
Round thirteen. Temur Moon. I start of thinking this is Tarmo-twin, but the Pestermites and Exarches never come. Instead I face Vernillion Cliques and Goyf. I keep them off the table for a while. On my penultimate turn set up for a Mindslaver cast+activation the by casting Everflowing Chalice for 3, putting me at 10 mana when I play land next turn. He lets the chalice resolve. On my turn I cast the Mindslaver leaving a single blue, and some tron lands open, but no set. He Remands it, keeping me off mana to activate it. I remand back. He let's it resolve as I can't activate it even if I have a land that gives one. I play my final tron land and activate. He concedes upon me asking to see his sideboard in his turn. Game two he curves out well with Goyf and clique. In game three he mulligans to 5, and plays only fetchlands the first three turns of the game. At the end of my fourth turn he cracks a fetch. I Squelch it, he frowns a bit, fetches his two other lands, and Mana Leaks my Squelch. I return with a Spell Snare. On his turn he doesn't play another land, and never recovers. 2-1
9-4
Round fourteen: Grixis. Few notes. I win 2-0 without going under 10 life.
10-4
At this point I have the highest finish on day two of anyone in my play group. I was at that point ranked 88th and I was thinking of whether I should be trying to draw the next game or not. I come to the conclusion that if I offer a draw I'm not guaranteed to win prizes, which goes only to the top 100. This seemed reasonable as I had jumped over 40 spots since winning against the Grixis player in round fourteen. In the end I decide to play to have a chance at a pro point, despite offering to draw might lead to higher prizes on average.
Round fifteen: BW tokens. I ask my opponent if he wants to draw, which he doesn't find particularly attractive, likely also thinking he risks getting just outside of prizes. He's on the play and I go to 6. On turn one he Inquisitions me, takes my early interaction and sets up a hard to deal clock through a Bitterblossom on turn two. Loss. Game two I'm on the play but have to mull again, this time to only five cards. I deal with his early interaction, but in the end I flood out. 0-2
Final score: 10-5 for a standing of 106th. When standings are announced I see that drawing would have been safe.
I'm interested in Gemstone Caverns. The card has never seemed great to me. I feel removing a card to start with it in play will just set us further back rather than leapfrog us ahead by that much.
Can anybody shed some lights on it's pros/cons for me?
On the draw it starts you both turn one at seven cards. The upside is that you can still remand and condescend their threats on turn one instead of two. This matters because in a situation where you don't have the gem stone but you have remand, you might not be able to counter an early creature but with a gemstone you could.
Edit because phone.
Yeah, the Ad Nauseam missplay annoyed me the entire weekend. I had time to think it through, I just didn't...
The loss to tokens isn't that weird, those hand disruption spells gets really effective when you've started mulling low. In game two I think He had multiple inquisitions which stripped me of having any spells at all.
I can't find much notes from the Grixs twin game I lost, but I think I died to beatdown from Tasigurs, where most of the damage actually came from me casting Dismembers on them. There was definitively more than one cast.
Gemstone Caverns has been really nice. It effectively gives you the choice of being on the play by exiling one card of your choice from the opening hand. This card is frequently going to be a land card you don't need, like a duplicate tron land. We run 27+ lands/maps in the deck, we're going to flood out if we cast draw spells and don't do anything special. Alternatively you can exile a duplicate spell like a second Repeal, or a finisher you know wont get relevant for quite some time. Being on the play with 6 cards and one out of two Mindslavers exiled is far preferable to being on the draw with 7 cards while desperate for early interaction. So far I've been keeping track of how it impacts mulligans, and so far I've had to mulligan an opening hand due to lacking blue once or twice, but have dozens upon dozens of games where the extra land increased my win chances by 30% or more. Some seeming almost unwinnable without the Caverns
I haven't tested with Mana Leak, but I think I prefer Remand by a fair margin. Remand covers the downsides of and enhances our other counterspells. Mainly through hitting land drops easier, and efficiently dealing with Flashback spells. One way it enhances Condescend is that if you have both Remand and Condescend on your hand at the same time in the mid game it's easier to assemble a hard counter than with Mana Leak and Condescend. If you Remand their first spell they will likely have to pay more than two mana to recast it, putting them in range for a hard counter with Condescend. Another way is that that cycling on Remand is really valuable when looking for tron lands, something that isn't quite as easy to get in my list that doesn't run Anticipate. Any amount of extra lands makes Condescend more powerful too.
There's also the advantage in Remanding your own spells which is pretty often free card advantage.
Twin in particular is somewhat of a special case. We really want to have more hard counters in our deck than they have Pestermites and Deceiver Exarch. Though given that we already have a good matchup against them I don't think switching to Mana leak is worth it to get a small advantage against that one deck.
I'm strongly convinced that Remand is better than Mana Leak against Twin. They almost never win in the first five turns, and can pay for Mana Leak most of the time when it matters.
99% of the time I get draw this part of the deck. I can control I got tron and extra I hold a part to get a part. They let me keep my plays cause I'm not drawing cou ter magic.
I start the combo. Some scoop after 3 turns of this.
One wants to be a *"""!
So I want to control then pound face. I can slaver to tap them out, but cheaper options abound. I'm willing to conform to what they like as long as I can say no all the way to win.
I don't understand the problem. They scoop when you lock them? That's what they should do, otherwise you can look at their sideboard and run them out of cards in the deck. Just say you're putting mindslaver on top, and show the lands you're using to do so, and you'll never have to draw another card. Keep their lands tapped, draw a card, discard once they get to 7. It doesn't take more than a couple of minutes to do this for their entire deck.
First time poster and would like to introduce myself.
I've been playing competitive card games for about 5 years now, starting with yugioh and transitioning to pokemon tcg, and now am trying my first hand ever at magic the gathering.
I decided to play modern as I'm still playing other games competitively, and the idea of playing a format where I don't have to keep up with ever changing decks looks like a huge pro for me as I don't want to keep investing in new stuff. After looking around at the format I built my first ever magic deck yesterday night at the card shop. Mono U Tron. Control style has always been my favorite type of play (specifically when it refers to yugioh and hearthstone), and just the idea of playing huge boss monsters is awesome. Also helps that the deck is relatively cheap compared to what you COULD be playing in this format.
I wanted to post my decklist here and get advice on where I should look to not only further refine my list but my play as well. I want to preface that I do not know how to create decklists with links that I see people post here, so please forgive my ignorance.
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Tolaria West
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1 Academy Ruins
4 Urza's Tower
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Mine
9 Island
From my initial testing I have a few comments on it. Firstly, 3 treasure mage is enouph, you really only resolve him once a game if that. Repeal and Fabricate seemed like meh cards but I can see where they shine, it just never came up. I have no idea what Oboro is for honestly
What are yalls thoughts and suggestions? Most of what I have learned so far has come from this thread, so thanks for the amazing discussions and I look forward to learning this deck with yall!
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Legacy: BUWRG Manaless Dredge
Im basically praying to play against twin every matchup.
Question @ those running 2+ Ugin: Do you guys keep any number in against affinity? Obviously he can't board wipe but he can bolt problem dudes and kill ensouls, and threatens ult. I have been siding him out but since affinity is so rough I've been really considering what my exact sideboard plan should be.
1. Mizzium Meddler - a blue spellskite with flash? http://www.mtgsalvation.com/cards/magic-origins/25368-mizzium-meddler
2. Send to Sleep - a two cmc spell that can slow down opponent and a big bonus with inst/sorc in graveyard? http://www.mtgsalvation.com/cards/magic-origins/25388-send-to-sleep
I dont know about MB but I think they may have some SB potential?
Youtube Channel
My stream:
www.twitch.tv/pierakor
My Disco:
https://discord.gg/gTt6xHd
UW Ephara Hatebears [Primer], GB Gitrog Lands, BRU Inalla Combo-Control, URG Maelstrom Wanderer Landfall
If they don't like it because it's working, too bad for them. I hate playing against Affinity and Liliana of the Veil, but I can't reasonably expect people to stop playing them because of that. If you regularly go to time in your matches you should probably learn to play the deck faster, but if that isn't the case then don't change anything.
I was going to start wring this post when my decklist had been posted on the mothership, but there seems to have been a slip-up. My list got tossed in with the other tron decks in the metagame breakdown, and was represented in the article(s) by our distant cousin GR tron in the Archetype Exemplar article. Though I did get a sentence mentioning my deck in the initial archetype breakdown.
http://magic.wizards.com/en/events/coverage/gpcop15/day-2-metagame-grand-prix-copenhagen-2015-2015-06-21
As I mentioned in a previous post I went day two with the list. I was 7-2, with one bye after day one. Day two I did somewhat worse, finishing 3-3 for a final standing of 106th. Doing worse on day two might be expected given I was now meeting better players, and when I asked them of their experience, most had already been on a day two before.
I was playing the following deck. It is something of a departure from the lists posted here recently. I'm not running any Anticipates, nor am I running Ugin, the Spirit Dragon. Instead I am running a higher number of artifacts than most, to get real card advantage out of Thirst for Knowledge every single time. I'm also running Gifts Ungiven, which is somewhere between being Thirst five and six and being thirst with a kicker, they both turn one nonland card into two nonland cards. To support the extra card draw I have supplied the deck with good amounts of ramp, running two Talismans, an Everflowing Chalice, a Gemstone Caverns and even a Wayfarer's Bauble to get up to 4 mana quickly. Everflowing in particular have been really good, and I only cast it for less than two counters once during the entire Friday and main event. That it doesn't produce blue isn't the end of the world, but can potentially be an annoyance. In any case you should already be playing enough blue sources from lands to not need to rely on Talismans staying on the table. I will probably write another post in a weeks time discussing what I think of potential cards choices, or go more in depth on my own if you have questions.
4x Expedition Map
1x Everflowing Chalice
2x Talisman of Dominance
1x Oblivion Stone
1x Wayfarer's Bauble
1x Snapcaster Mage
2x Treasure Mage
1x Solemn Simulacrum
Interaction
4x Condescend
4x Remand
3x Repeal
1x Cyclonic Rift
1x Spell Burst
Card Draw
4x Thirst for Knowledge
2x Gifts Ungiven
2x Mindslaver
1x Platinum Angel
1x Sundering Titan
1x Wurmcoil Engine
Lands
4x Urza's Mine
4x Urza's Power Plant
4x Urza's Tower
4x Island
3x Snow-Covered Island
1x Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1x Gemstone Caverns
1x Academy Ruins
1x Tectonic Edge
1x AEtherspouts
2x Chalice of the Void
1x Crucible of Worlds
3x Dismember
1x Ghost Quarter
2x Hurkyl's Recall
1x Negate
2x Spell Snare
1x Squelch
1x Wurmcoil Engine
On Friday I played two scheduled events, of 5 rounds each. I went 4-1 in both of them, and felt confident on my deck choice for the weekend. The last minute testing of Everflowing Chalice looked promising and I decided to play it in the main event.
I'm working on incomplete notes so I'll piece together as much as possible, but I'm still hazy on a few parts.
Round one: Bye from Planeswalker Points
1-0
Round two: Infect. Not a great matchup, but I had kept an initial hand with Repeal and Snapcaster allowing me to keep him from doing any poising damage before turn 6 or so in game one. In game two I lock him down with Chalice of the Void for one, and a Platinum Angel. He seemed somewhat inexperienced with his deck, but a win is a win.
2-0
Round three: Affinity. He gets off to a quick start game one, and I can't keep up. I tap out to activate Oblivon Stone, and he kills me with a Galanic Blast in response. Game two goes much the same. He Thoughtseized away my Hurkyl's Recall and empties his hand on the table. 0-2
2-1
Round four: Ad Nauseam. Not a deck I've had much practice against, whenever I've played against it online I've lost the first game, then won the two next. I figured it would be much the same now.
He wins the first one after I try to Repeal his newly cast Lotus Bloom in his upkeep, which is met by Ad Nauseam for which I Remand. He counters with a Pact of Negation for a win. Had I instead Remanded his Lotus Bloom I would have had a few more turns to set something up, but I'm unsure about the right play here.
For game two I take in pairs of Chalice of the Void and Spell Snare to deal with his mana and countermagic. In the game I cast chalice for zero the turn before his Lotus Bloom comes off suspend countering it and preventing him from using his pacts. This wins me the game. Game three I start with a Chalice in hand and manage to put two of them on the table within a couple of turns. For one and two respectively. Sadly he topdecks Phyrexian Unlife the turn after I get chalice for one, allowing him to still combo off if he has an Ad Nauseam. I find myself on 4 lands, of which one is blue, a Gifts Ungiven in hand but with absolutely no pressure nor counterspells. If he had Ad Nauseam he can just kill me outright. I make the play of casting Gifts Ungiven to grab counterspells, and he comboes in response. Had I instead just waited he wouldn't have gone for the kill for a few turns, but it's doubtful I would have had counterspells myself by then. In any case I believe in hindsight that had I waited I would have had slightly higher chances. In the end it turns out my mistake wouldn't have mattered as he had a Gigadrowse on hand which would have tapped down my blue mana, even through a Chalice of the void. Though even here it's possible that he wouldn't have won, as he said something that suggested he didn't know the replications don't get countered. 1-2
2-2
Round five: Living End?? I can't find much notes for this one, but I won 2-0 without him dealing damage to me. Only thing I remember is that I started with Gemstone Caverns on the table both games, I feel it's hard to lose when I do.
3-2
Round Six: Collected Company with Anafenza, low on combo pieces. I get down an early Wurmcoil in game one and ride it to victory. Game two is a long and drawn out affair and I lose with little time left on the clock. I make a strong start but time gets called before we finish. My opponent concedes to me once he realizes that I'm on 9 points, where he is only on 8, having already drawn twice after only five rounds! 2-1
4-2
Round Seven: Grixis control. We trade resources for a while, but I win via Thirst for Knowledge and Gifts Ungiven giving me more resources than him. In game two he gets a really early Tasigur which he keeps alive through my Dismembers using a couple of Dispels. In game three I force through a Wurmcoil in the mid game and ride it to victory. 2-1
5-2
Round eight: UR Twin. No much notable happens in this match. U Tron just does what U Tron does. Trade resources until I'm on 4 life, where I assemble a Slaver Lock. I see his sideboard is light on permission, and go to the next game, which I win via an early Wurmcoil 2-0
6-2
Round nine: Grixis Twin, player has some 160+ pro points. I'm on the draw with two tron lands, a Talisman, a Mindslaver as well as some permission and draw. My turn two signet resolves through his open blue mana. Over the next few turns I take 4-5 damage from my signet, but it's worth it, as I get to dig myself down to early tron and Mindslaver. I cast his Snapcaster, kill Snapcaster and discard a Tasigur with his Kholagan's Command. Smooth sailing for the rest of that game. I expect him to take out Splinter Twins, and bolts, and instead go for Kholagan's Command and Tasigur value game two. I take out Talismans, Platinum angel and a mindslaver to get space for another Wurmcoil, some Dismember and Spell Snare. I think my matchup is becoming better after sideboarding. In game two he goes for a combo kill but gets two for oned by Dismember on his Deceiver Exarch. After this I tap myself out completely for several turns to dig for cards and to resolve a Wurmcoil. When the Wurmcoil is on the table and the dust settles I find myself without countermagic, a repeal and a thirst on hand. He's on one card and 5-6 mana. One turn he taps himself out completely to bounce/draw on my Wurmcoil, which is then answered by me Repealing it. I figured that if I could draw just a single counterspell and keep him of any cards I would win the game. Turns out I was, and on to day two! 2-0
7-2
DAY 2
Round ten: Jund. I repeal his early plays and manage to put down an early Mindslaver, he scoops in response to activation. In with Wurmcoil and Snares, out with Talismans that die to hate. Game two goes pretty well too, I get down an early Wurmcoil ride it to victory. 2-0
8-2
Round eleven: Infect. This opponent does everything right and kills me quickly without interaction in game one. I grab Chalice of the Void from my sideboard as well as Dismember and win the next game using a Platinum Angel. Game three he gets a good start, and kills me when he Probes and sees I can't stop his pump. 1-2
8-3. No top 8 for me.
Round twelve. Grixis twin. He wins two quick games where he curves nicely against my clunky hands. 0-2
8-4.
Round thirteen. Temur Moon. I start of thinking this is Tarmo-twin, but the Pestermites and Exarches never come. Instead I face Vernillion Cliques and Goyf. I keep them off the table for a while. On my penultimate turn set up for a Mindslaver cast+activation the by casting Everflowing Chalice for 3, putting me at 10 mana when I play land next turn. He lets the chalice resolve. On my turn I cast the Mindslaver leaving a single blue, and some tron lands open, but no set. He Remands it, keeping me off mana to activate it. I remand back. He let's it resolve as I can't activate it even if I have a land that gives one. I play my final tron land and activate. He concedes upon me asking to see his sideboard in his turn. Game two he curves out well with Goyf and clique. In game three he mulligans to 5, and plays only fetchlands the first three turns of the game. At the end of my fourth turn he cracks a fetch. I Squelch it, he frowns a bit, fetches his two other lands, and Mana Leaks my Squelch. I return with a Spell Snare. On his turn he doesn't play another land, and never recovers. 2-1
9-4
Round fourteen: Grixis. Few notes. I win 2-0 without going under 10 life.
10-4
At this point I have the highest finish on day two of anyone in my play group. I was at that point ranked 88th and I was thinking of whether I should be trying to draw the next game or not. I come to the conclusion that if I offer a draw I'm not guaranteed to win prizes, which goes only to the top 100. This seemed reasonable as I had jumped over 40 spots since winning against the Grixis player in round fourteen. In the end I decide to play to have a chance at a pro point, despite offering to draw might lead to higher prizes on average.
Round fifteen: BW tokens. I ask my opponent if he wants to draw, which he doesn't find particularly attractive, likely also thinking he risks getting just outside of prizes. He's on the play and I go to 6. On turn one he Inquisitions me, takes my early interaction and sets up a hard to deal clock through a Bitterblossom on turn two. Loss. Game two I'm on the play but have to mull again, this time to only five cards. I deal with his early interaction, but in the end I flood out. 0-2
Final score: 10-5 for a standing of 106th. When standings are announced I see that drawing would have been safe.
Can anybody shed some lights on it's pros/cons for me?
Edit because phone.
Send to sleep too situational. Without cantrip the prospect of just tap two is bad. Repeal or aetherize better.
Losses to Grixis Twin, Ad Nauseam, and WB Tokens are surprising as all are excellent matchups.
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
The loss to tokens isn't that weird, those hand disruption spells gets really effective when you've started mulling low. In game two I think He had multiple inquisitions which stripped me of having any spells at all.
I can't find much notes from the Grixs twin game I lost, but I think I died to beatdown from Tasigurs, where most of the damage actually came from me casting Dismembers on them. There was definitively more than one cast.
Gemstone Caverns has been really nice. It effectively gives you the choice of being on the play by exiling one card of your choice from the opening hand. This card is frequently going to be a land card you don't need, like a duplicate tron land. We run 27+ lands/maps in the deck, we're going to flood out if we cast draw spells and don't do anything special. Alternatively you can exile a duplicate spell like a second Repeal, or a finisher you know wont get relevant for quite some time. Being on the play with 6 cards and one out of two Mindslavers exiled is far preferable to being on the draw with 7 cards while desperate for early interaction. So far I've been keeping track of how it impacts mulligans, and so far I've had to mulligan an opening hand due to lacking blue once or twice, but have dozens upon dozens of games where the extra land increased my win chances by 30% or more. Some seeming almost unwinnable without the Caverns
There's also the advantage in Remanding your own spells which is pretty often free card advantage.
Twin in particular is somewhat of a special case. We really want to have more hard counters in our deck than they have Pestermites and Deceiver Exarch. Though given that we already have a good matchup against them I don't think switching to Mana leak is worth it to get a small advantage against that one deck.
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
I start the combo. Some scoop after 3 turns of this.
One wants to be a *"""!
So I want to control then pound face. I can slaver to tap them out, but cheaper options abound. I'm willing to conform to what they like as long as I can say no all the way to win.
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
I've been playing competitive card games for about 5 years now, starting with yugioh and transitioning to pokemon tcg, and now am trying my first hand ever at magic the gathering.
I decided to play modern as I'm still playing other games competitively, and the idea of playing a format where I don't have to keep up with ever changing decks looks like a huge pro for me as I don't want to keep investing in new stuff. After looking around at the format I built my first ever magic deck yesterday night at the card shop. Mono U Tron. Control style has always been my favorite type of play (specifically when it refers to yugioh and hearthstone), and just the idea of playing huge boss monsters is awesome. Also helps that the deck is relatively cheap compared to what you COULD be playing in this format.
I wanted to post my decklist here and get advice on where I should look to not only further refine my list but my play as well. I want to preface that I do not know how to create decklists with links that I see people post here, so please forgive my ignorance.
3 Treasure Mage
2 Ugin
2 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Sundering Titan
1 Platinum Angel
4 Condescend
4 Thirst For knowledge
4 Remand
4 Expedition Map
3 Repeal
2 Mindslaver
2 Fabricate
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Spell Burst
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Tolaria West
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1 Academy Ruins
4 Urza's Tower
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Mine
9 Island
From my initial testing I have a few comments on it. Firstly, 3 treasure mage is enouph, you really only resolve him once a game if that. Repeal and Fabricate seemed like meh cards but I can see where they shine, it just never came up. I have no idea what Oboro is for honestly
What are yalls thoughts and suggestions? Most of what I have learned so far has come from this thread, so thanks for the amazing discussions and I look forward to learning this deck with yall!