So what do you guys think about Ranging Raptors? I like it, on looks, better than Farseek/Hunting Wilds. I imagine it will replace Wood Elves in Titanshift, and wonder what it could do for us, both RUG and BtL.
I've been loving Hour of Devastation in RUG. Not having a real boardwipe has always been a real pain for me in the archetype, and is one of the big reasons I've been playing BtL instead. It's not a Verdict and doesn't always kill Death's Shadow, but Hour kills Gideons and Lilianas as well, which has been really useful. Even got a Karn with it once. Thoughts, Purklefluff? (You're kinda the "expert" on Omenshift here)
So what do you guys think about Ranging Raptors? I like it, on looks, better than Farseek/Hunting Wilds. I imagine it will replace Wood Elves in Titanshift, and wonder what it could do for us, both RUG and BtL.
I've been loving Hour of Devastation in RUG. Not having a real boardwipe has always been a real pain for me in the archetype, and is one of the big reasons I've been playing BtL instead. It's not a Verdict and doesn't always kill Death's Shadow, but Hour kills Gideons and Lilianas as well, which has been really useful. Even got a Karn with it once. Thoughts, Purklefluff? (You're kinda the "expert" on Omenshift here)
Hmm!
Raptors; needing to be dealt damage means it's not unconditional land-fetching. Still kinda decent though? Just not necessarily where we want to be? Argh I am having a hard time evaluating this one. I'd say maybe not what we want.
Hour of devastation; hmmm-mmm! Tricky again! My gut says sideboard only. Our ramp can maybe allow us to cast it, whereas for other decks it's 100% too expensive. However, in most situations I'm fairly confident that anger of the gods would suffice.
I've had situations in the last six months when hour would have been amazing, such as facing down a Gideon and tokens, or a couple of reality smashers.
Sure, maybe 3 angers and 1 hour of devastation could be reasonable? Issue is that most of the hyper aggressive decks would kill you before you get the chance to cast hour. In the right metagame it could have its place.
I'm more excited about carnage Tyrant. Just a dope sideboard card. I'm considering running 2 of them as my board against the harder control lists that are cropping up these days in paper tournaments (and also a "hard" board presence when the right strategy is boarding out some amount of the combo or into a more creature heavy 60)
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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
What do you all think about Search for Azcanta in this deck? I've found that it's great as a 1-2-of in general, but multiples suck pretty hard. This seems like one of the few decks that can capitalize on a single post-transform activation of Azcanta, as opposed to most other decks that only get an edge after two activations. Scapeshift wants the ramp badly, too...
...but milling Mountains can be dicey, and this deck isn't the fastest at getting Threshold.
I've been having success lately with the list. I was more comfortable with the white splash, but for toolbox purposes, I'm more inclined toward the black splash now. Having 6 spot removal is sweet : Lightning Bolt is still relevant for lifegain issues on the otherside. I'm liking having 1 Pulse of Murasa to gain life (I was on 2 Lightning Helix before : Murasa is a great tech against Affinity and aggro deck to keep them at bay. Sultain Charm is also a great catch all card, most of the times more than Maelstrom Pulse. Having 6 hard counters mainboard (3 Remand and 3 Cryptic Command) is well balanced also. Farseek and Kodama's Reach give me the necessary reach to find the extra lands needed and 2 Wordly Counsel is great for digging.
2 Scapeshift is low, but having the digging needed to find it and also all of the toolbox cards is great to finish up games. Most of the times, I end up winning with 2 Obsinate Baloth on the board against BG/x or with Creeping Corosion against Lantern control. The combo is not always necessary to win and around 60-70% of the times, I win with a hate card tutored by Bring to Light. Main issue is to stall the game early for turn 1-3 and set up ramp spells also.
The sideboard is good. Slaughter Games is huge against combo. Wurmcoil Engine is a great wincondition that is hard to deal with for the opponent most of the times. The alternate combo with Madcap Experiment and Platinum Emperion is very surprising and has been an all star in midrange or control matchups so far. The single Anger of the Gods is good also to help up the single Damnation mainboard.
I've been 2-0 against Affinity and 2-0 against Lantern Control and 2-1 against another deck (Abzan with some Wilt-Leaf).
It looks like most of the lists posted on here have the Madcap Experiment package included, and I'm not entirely sure why.
Its amazing against burn, which is helpful since burn is usually a tough MU. It also seems like it would be pretty helpful in the E Tron MU as they have horrible removal, but beyond that I don't see how its useful. Against control decks, I would rather save my resources protecting my Scapeshift; if a control deck lets Madcap Experiment resolve then they will most likely always have an answer to it in the form of removal.
I must be missing something here since so many people are including it
Good news everyone; I've invested in my first MTGO deck, and it's RUG scapeshift.
I've been playing since alpha, but never took the plunge online due to not wanting to buy my cards twice (and mtgo is terrible). I figured now was the time.
First experiences; mulled to five on the play against burn, F6ed through my first turn by accident (nearly spitting my coffee everywhere) and still somehow managed to win. Definitely a statistical outlier there.
Anyway I'll be posting results and stuff over the coming weeks. I don't have anything else to play with online so this is where I'll be focusing my efforts.
Notably; don't have chalices for the sideboard yet. Obviously it's a really important card so I'm trying to cope without, but everything else is 100% competitive about my list, no budget considerations apart from lack of chalice.
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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 included de combo Madcap-imperion in the original deck because there are a lot of fast decks in my game place: burn,merfolks, Eldrazi tron,zoo and RG Scapeshift (is good too), the combo give more time and win with scapeshift.
You only Bring to light to Madcap when you dead in next turn (if there ar alot of creatures and think he has a removal,search Damnation), the combo give me a lot of matches at first.
I recomended the combo at first and in other matches,sideboarding.
Okay that makes sense, I should use it as a line of defense in fast MU. I guess I was confused partly because someone mentioned on here how they brought it in against midrange and control MU, but I like your explanation a lot, thank you
The sideboard isnt the refined scalpel I've got in paper. IRL I've got chalices and engineered explosives, an extra anger and all the modern sideboard staples you could want. Online I've only got a few scraps I bought on Monday. It will change but counterflux, fracturing gust, anger and the creatures are locked in. Everything else is kind of fluid.
The maindeck may change around. I could drop the sleights for opts, or the worldly counsels and 1 sleight for a 3/3 split. I'm going to mess about and see how I feel over a few weeks.
The maindeck is fairly tight, there's not (and never really has been) a lot of room to manoeuvre in the RUG lists. In the past I've run some number of cliques, snapcasters, dig through times (when it was legal), peer through depths and all sorts of other bits instead of prismatic omen and titan, but I feel their inclusion makes the deck so much better. You've got the same wincon as the straight RG version of the deck but a much better game against combo and the mirror. As a downside running interaction means we're a turn slower but it usually works out.
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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 sideboard isnt the refined scalpel I've got in paper. IRL I've got chalices and engineered explosives, an extra anger and all the modern sideboard staples you could want. Online I've only got a few scraps I bought on Monday. It will change but counterflux, fracturing gust, anger and the creatures are locked in. Everything else is kind of fluid.
The maindeck may change around. I could drop the sleights for opts, or the worldly counsels and 1 sleight for a 3/3 split. I'm going to mess about and see how I feel over a few weeks.
The maindeck is fairly tight, there's not (and never really has been) a lot of room to manoeuvre in the RUG lists. In the past I've run some number of cliques, snapcasters, dig through times (when it was legal), peer through depths and all sorts of other bits instead of prismatic omen and titan, but I feel their inclusion makes the deck so much better. You've got the same wincon as the straight RG version of the deck but a much better game against combo and the mirror. As a downside running interaction means we're a turn or so slower but it usually works out.
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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 played with it in Bring to Light and the card is good. I thought I'd already made a post about it.
It actually made me somewhat comfortable with dropping a Scapeshift and the Farseek. It's a good card, although a tad slow. I don't think more than 2 will ever be correct.
I've played RUG Scapeshift in 2012-2013 and managed to qualify for PT Dragonmaze (in an epic 1h30 mirror match final where I mull to 5 on g3) and then I kinda of abandon the deck for other archetypes because infect was going rampant (I was already arguing with people that Sleight of Hand was the optimal cantrip hehe), only going back to it from time to time. Now is the time for me to get back to my weapon of choice! I've scrolled the last few pages and I still have some questions concerning your (excellent) build, that I'm playtesting for few days already. I'm myself a huge fan of Prismatic Omen.
First of all, what is the logic of doing a 3/1 split between Titans and HoP? Why not just play 4 Titans?
Is Pyroclasm's still a consideration for the maindeck since you play no Lightning Bolt nor Izzet charm for early interaction to fight against a quick Devoted Druid (super popular in my area)? Spell Queller comes to mind as a game changer I guess...
I've tried 4 Opt in the Sleight slots and it's been awsome so far. Being able to keep a counter up (at least bluff) is crucial and gave me the one more land drop I needed on many occasions.
As for the SB, you seem to be convinced about the 2x Counterflux slot. I'm not sure why since it's not the best counterspell to protect a Scapeshift or Titan (they can just counter again) and keeping a Counterflux and a Remand back up is kinda pricey. Why not play Negate instead? Is there a match up where you want to side in Counterflux for creatures other than Titanshift? Even UR Storm can win on turn 3.
This will sound like a stupid question but do you side out the Opts/Sleights when you side in Chalices?
I've played RUG Scapeshift in 2012-2013 and managed to qualify for PT Dragonmaze (in an epic 1h30 mirror match final where I mull to 5 on g3) and then I kinda of abandon the deck for other archetypes because infect was going rampant (I was already arguing with people that Sleight of Hand was the optimal cantrip hehe), only going back to it from time to time. Now is the time for me to get back to my weapon of choice! I've scrolled the last few pages and I still have some questions concerning your (excellent) build, that I'm playtesting for few days already. I'm myself a huge fan of Prismatic Omen.
First of all, what is the logic of doing a 3/1 split between Titans and HoP? Why not just play 4 Titans?
Is Pyroclasm's still a consideration for the maindeck since you play no Lightning Bolt nor Izzet charm for early interaction to fight against a quick Devoted Druid (super popular in my area)? Spell Queller comes to mind as a game changer I guess...
I've tried 4 Opt in the Sleight slots and it's been awsome so far. Being able to keep a counter up (at least bluff) is crucial and gave me the one more land drop I needed on many occasions.
As for the SB, you seem to be convinced about the 2x Counterflux slot. I'm not sure why since it's not the best counterspell to protect a Scapeshift or Titan (they can just counter again) and keeping a Counterflux and a Remand back up is kinda pricey. Why not play Negate instead? Is there a match up where you want to side in Counterflux for creatures other than Titanshift? Even UR Storm can win on turn 3.
This will sound like a stupid question but do you side out the Opts/Sleights when you side in Chalices?
What is you razor sharp sb looks like nowadays?
Thanks in advance,
The Exalted
hey bud, thanks for the questions.
i'm coming round to the idea of building the deck a little differently. I've been playing it a bit online and have had issues there with the mtgo meta that I wasn't having in paper magic. since then, i've gone through a variety of tests and experiments, such as running lightning bolts main, pyroclasm, opt, and a whole host of different tweaks. I also noticed that the titans & hour of promise have looked far worse online than they have in paper.
the reasons for this aren't totally clear. Titans have always been good in paper because firstly they form a brilliant wincon when combined with prismatic omen, but they also jump you from 6 to 8 mana instantly for beating those opponents who are above 18 life, with no prismatic on the field. Where titan hasn't been so good is when you've got a bunch of islands in play and no prismatic, and it's effectively a big dude that ramps you a bit. this seems to have been a much more prominent situation online than it ever was in paper, and I feel like perhaps the sheer number of reps i'm able to achieve online has exposed some sort of underlying weakness in the deck which wasn't clear before. I've certainly had games where I had a clear pathway into omen + hour but those are few and far between. My original logic for including the 1 hour over the 4th titan was a case of lowering the curve in case I was being disrupted in my game plan. in a sense, it fills this role well! but perhaps that's not what the deck actually needs.
I've been leaning slightly away from the current build of the deck, and the sideboard, and looking at how it can improve. I've been tweaking in paper alongside friends, as I have all the cards necessary to build whatever I want in paper, and online I don't really have a collection to speak of.
i'll let you know how it goes. progress is slow. I'd appreciate any findings that you make and we can have an open discussion about how to tweak and improve the list going forward.
full disclosure - my main mdoern deck at the moment swings between Vizier CoCo and Eldrazi Tron. RUG-shift is my backup "fun" deck which can occasionally just completely destroy an FNM. I would begin to question certain aspects of it in terms of pure competitiveness though because of a lack of 1-mana interaction. perhaps some number of spell snare/pierce, snapcaster mage, bolt and similar could help - in a sense i'm suggesting stripping the deck back to the sorts of builds it used to run when Splinter Twin was legal i.e. a UR control deck with ramp and a one-card kill. I'd remove the titans/omens for this in order to fit it all together. I'm not saying it's correct but i'm thinking in the current field, hitting your opponent's turn 1 and 2 plays with some strong interaction is often the pathway to victory for a deck like this.
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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'm now playing the following and would like some advice from you guys on some matchups. Here's my list (would need some improvement maybe, you guys tell me):
I'm satisfied with the mainboard, but the only thing that concerns me with playing white rather than black is the lack of a catch-all card like Maelstrom Pulse or Sultai Charm. Repeal feels subpar to me so I'm not playing it. Here's my question also : the decks I'm facing the most are Affinity, Storm and U-Tron. What would you guys change in the 75 to deal with them ? Would black be a better option ?
I'm now playing the following and would like some advice from you guys on some matchups. Here's my list (would need some improvement maybe, you guys tell me):
I'm satisfied with the mainboard, but the only thing that concerns me with playing white rather than black is the lack of a catch-all card like Maelstrom Pulse or Sultai Charm. Repeal feels subpar to me so I'm not playing it. Here's my question also : the decks I'm facing the most are Affinity, Storm and U-Tron. What would you guys change in the 75 to deal with them ? Would black be a better option ?
Thanks for the insights!
Hello! To answer your first concern, I believe that Beast Within is a card you could be interested in. Compared to Maelstrom Pulse there are a few downsides: Beast Within gives your opponent a 3/3 Beast and Beast Within cannot hit multiple cards with a single casting. However, if you are in need of a card to resolve troublesome permanents, it is worth a copy in the mainboard to be tutored by Bring to Light.
The only reason I could see for changing to the black splash would be Slaughter Games. If Storm's giving you trouble, then minor disruption into a T3-T4 Slaughter Games on Past in Flames is typically game. For Affinity, Shatterstorm has you covered IMO. Sadly, I haven't played this deck enough to get a better feel for U-Tron, so you are on your own for that one.
What is the consensus on Supreme Will now that we have had some time with it? I was at GP Portland last weekend and I was able to jam some games with it. I only saw it twice in my two 8man pods. One time I mana leaked an opponents Snapcaster Mage to tap him out and combo him the next turn. The other time I just used it EOT to dig 4. My current list plays 2.
I am in the process of dusting off my Modern skills and coming back with my favorite deck ever printed (RUGx Scapeshift). I never truly left the format as I would always stay updated and read. I have been extremely pleased with the MB. 3x Lightning Bolts/Repeal have been a nod to the ever increasing aggro decks in the format and being able to spot removal problematic creatures early on. Looking at you Storm...(Izzet Charm pulling double duty, as a 1 of its great). I do have some lingering questions.
As you may notice the SB is at 16 cards. The Chalice of the Voids are a test and surprisingly enough it hasn't showed up yet. Off all 16 cards, what would you cut to make the sideboard a solid 15?
I saw this list and it really made me miss the good 'ole days of straight RUG Scapeshift. I do question the lack of Supreme Wills. I think 2 is a great number for any U Scapeshift list. It allows us to dig while holding up an answer if we are desperate. I also think not having the 4th Cryptic Command in that sort of build is a crime. Nothing is sweeter than a turn 3 Cryptic.
Search for Azcanta is definitely getting some hype. UW Control lists seem to be using it to their advantage. My two fears about it in our list is that we normally do not want to be binning lands and that it is very slow. But filtering our draws (discarding those unneeded late-game ramp spells) seems great. I also like that SFA also acts as a faux Farseek during the late game. Yes, we have to wait a turn for it to flip and ramp but that doesn't seem like the worst thing we can be doing.
I am still on the Bring to Light as I think it is more powerful than the RUG lists. But I am looking forward to the day where RUG can make its return.
I've been loving Hour of Devastation in RUG. Not having a real boardwipe has always been a real pain for me in the archetype, and is one of the big reasons I've been playing BtL instead. It's not a Verdict and doesn't always kill Death's Shadow, but Hour kills Gideons and Lilianas as well, which has been really useful. Even got a Karn with it once. Thoughts, Purklefluff? (You're kinda the "expert" on Omenshift here)
Hmm!
Raptors; needing to be dealt damage means it's not unconditional land-fetching. Still kinda decent though? Just not necessarily where we want to be? Argh I am having a hard time evaluating this one. I'd say maybe not what we want.
Hour of devastation; hmmm-mmm! Tricky again! My gut says sideboard only. Our ramp can maybe allow us to cast it, whereas for other decks it's 100% too expensive. However, in most situations I'm fairly confident that anger of the gods would suffice.
I've had situations in the last six months when hour would have been amazing, such as facing down a Gideon and tokens, or a couple of reality smashers.
Sure, maybe 3 angers and 1 hour of devastation could be reasonable? Issue is that most of the hyper aggressive decks would kill you before you get the chance to cast hour. In the right metagame it could have its place.
I'm more excited about carnage Tyrant. Just a dope sideboard card. I'm considering running 2 of them as my board against the harder control lists that are cropping up these days in paper tournaments (and also a "hard" board presence when the right strategy is boarding out some amount of the combo or into a more creature heavy 60)
...but milling Mountains can be dicey, and this deck isn't the fastest at getting Threshold.
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Snapcaster Mage
Spells (29)
4 Fatal Push
2 Lightning Bolt
1 Farseek
3 Remand
2 Worldly Counsel
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Pulse of Murasa
4 Search for Tomorrow
1 Sultai Charm
3 Cryptic Command
1 Damnation
2 Scapeshift
4 Bring to Light
1 Blood Crypt
1 Breeding Pool
1 Cinder Glade
2 Forest
3 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Mountain
1 Overgrown Tomb
4 Steam Vents
4 Stomping Ground
1 Sunken Hollow
1 Swamp
2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
2 Dispel
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Negate
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Pulse of Murasa
1 Creeping Corrosion
1 Crumble to Dust
1 Madcap Experiment
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Slaughter Games
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Platinum Emperion
I've been having success lately with the list. I was more comfortable with the white splash, but for toolbox purposes, I'm more inclined toward the black splash now. Having 6 spot removal is sweet : Lightning Bolt is still relevant for lifegain issues on the otherside. I'm liking having 1 Pulse of Murasa to gain life (I was on 2 Lightning Helix before : Murasa is a great tech against Affinity and aggro deck to keep them at bay. Sultain Charm is also a great catch all card, most of the times more than Maelstrom Pulse. Having 6 hard counters mainboard (3 Remand and 3 Cryptic Command) is well balanced also. Farseek and Kodama's Reach give me the necessary reach to find the extra lands needed and 2 Wordly Counsel is great for digging.
2 Scapeshift is low, but having the digging needed to find it and also all of the toolbox cards is great to finish up games. Most of the times, I end up winning with 2 Obsinate Baloth on the board against BG/x or with Creeping Corosion against Lantern control. The combo is not always necessary to win and around 60-70% of the times, I win with a hate card tutored by Bring to Light. Main issue is to stall the game early for turn 1-3 and set up ramp spells also.
The sideboard is good. Slaughter Games is huge against combo. Wurmcoil Engine is a great wincondition that is hard to deal with for the opponent most of the times. The alternate combo with Madcap Experiment and Platinum Emperion is very surprising and has been an all star in midrange or control matchups so far. The single Anger of the Gods is good also to help up the single Damnation mainboard.
I've been 2-0 against Affinity and 2-0 against Lantern Control and 2-1 against another deck (Abzan with some Wilt-Leaf).
Comments are welcomed!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Its amazing against burn, which is helpful since burn is usually a tough MU. It also seems like it would be pretty helpful in the E Tron MU as they have horrible removal, but beyond that I don't see how its useful. Against control decks, I would rather save my resources protecting my Scapeshift; if a control deck lets Madcap Experiment resolve then they will most likely always have an answer to it in the form of removal.
I must be missing something here since so many people are including it
I've been playing since alpha, but never took the plunge online due to not wanting to buy my cards twice (and mtgo is terrible). I figured now was the time.
First experiences; mulled to five on the play against burn, F6ed through my first turn by accident (nearly spitting my coffee everywhere) and still somehow managed to win. Definitely a statistical outlier there.
Anyway I'll be posting results and stuff over the coming weeks. I don't have anything else to play with online so this is where I'll be focusing my efforts.
Notably; don't have chalices for the sideboard yet. Obviously it's a really important card so I'm trying to cope without, but everything else is 100% competitive about my list, no budget considerations apart from lack of chalice.
Okay that makes sense, I should use it as a line of defense in fast MU. I guess I was confused partly because someone mentioned on here how they brought it in against midrange and control MU, but I like your explanation a lot, thank you
UW UW Gideon Control WU
UWR Loose Control RWU
GR Scapeshift RG
RU Storm UR
I'm off/on with Opt. I have my playset (including foils in paper) and I'm trying the list with/without to see how well it works.
Here's what I'm currently playing:
4x search for tomorrow
3x prismatic omen
1x hour of promise
4x scapeshift
3x primeval titan
4x remand
4x sleight of hand
2x worldly counsel
4x cryptic command
4x valakut, the molten pinnacle
4x misty rainforest
4x steam vents
4x stomping ground
1x cinder glade
1x mountain
1x breeding pool
1x flooded Grove
2x forest
3x island
1x Surrak dragonclaw
1x carnage Tyrant
1x crumble to dust
2x fracturing gust
2x counterflux
3x obstinate baloth
1x anger of the gods
1x Izzet Staticaster
2x relic of Progenitus
1x whatever I feel like
The sideboard isnt the refined scalpel I've got in paper. IRL I've got chalices and engineered explosives, an extra anger and all the modern sideboard staples you could want. Online I've only got a few scraps I bought on Monday. It will change but counterflux, fracturing gust, anger and the creatures are locked in. Everything else is kind of fluid.
The maindeck may change around. I could drop the sleights for opts, or the worldly counsels and 1 sleight for a 3/3 split. I'm going to mess about and see how I feel over a few weeks.
The maindeck is fairly tight, there's not (and never really has been) a lot of room to manoeuvre in the RUG lists. In the past I've run some number of cliques, snapcasters, dig through times (when it was legal), peer through depths and all sorts of other bits instead of prismatic omen and titan, but I feel their inclusion makes the deck so much better. You've got the same wincon as the straight RG version of the deck but a much better game against combo and the mirror. As a downside running interaction means we're a turn slower but it usually works out.
It actually made me somewhat comfortable with dropping a Scapeshift and the Farseek. It's a good card, although a tad slow. I don't think more than 2 will ever be correct.
First of all, what is the logic of doing a 3/1 split between Titans and HoP? Why not just play 4 Titans?
Is Pyroclasm's still a consideration for the maindeck since you play no Lightning Bolt nor Izzet charm for early interaction to fight against a quick Devoted Druid (super popular in my area)? Spell Queller comes to mind as a game changer I guess...
I've tried 4 Opt in the Sleight slots and it's been awsome so far. Being able to keep a counter up (at least bluff) is crucial and gave me the one more land drop I needed on many occasions.
As for the SB, you seem to be convinced about the 2x Counterflux slot. I'm not sure why since it's not the best counterspell to protect a Scapeshift or Titan (they can just counter again) and keeping a Counterflux and a Remand back up is kinda pricey. Why not play Negate instead? Is there a match up where you want to side in Counterflux for creatures other than Titanshift? Even UR Storm can win on turn 3.
This will sound like a stupid question but do you side out the Opts/Sleights when you side in Chalices?
What is you razor sharp sb looks like nowadays?
Thanks in advance,
The Exalted
hey bud, thanks for the questions.
i'm coming round to the idea of building the deck a little differently. I've been playing it a bit online and have had issues there with the mtgo meta that I wasn't having in paper magic. since then, i've gone through a variety of tests and experiments, such as running lightning bolts main, pyroclasm, opt, and a whole host of different tweaks. I also noticed that the titans & hour of promise have looked far worse online than they have in paper.
the reasons for this aren't totally clear. Titans have always been good in paper because firstly they form a brilliant wincon when combined with prismatic omen, but they also jump you from 6 to 8 mana instantly for beating those opponents who are above 18 life, with no prismatic on the field. Where titan hasn't been so good is when you've got a bunch of islands in play and no prismatic, and it's effectively a big dude that ramps you a bit. this seems to have been a much more prominent situation online than it ever was in paper, and I feel like perhaps the sheer number of reps i'm able to achieve online has exposed some sort of underlying weakness in the deck which wasn't clear before. I've certainly had games where I had a clear pathway into omen + hour but those are few and far between. My original logic for including the 1 hour over the 4th titan was a case of lowering the curve in case I was being disrupted in my game plan. in a sense, it fills this role well! but perhaps that's not what the deck actually needs.
I've been leaning slightly away from the current build of the deck, and the sideboard, and looking at how it can improve. I've been tweaking in paper alongside friends, as I have all the cards necessary to build whatever I want in paper, and online I don't really have a collection to speak of.
i'll let you know how it goes. progress is slow. I'd appreciate any findings that you make and we can have an open discussion about how to tweak and improve the list going forward.
full disclosure - my main mdoern deck at the moment swings between Vizier CoCo and Eldrazi Tron. RUG-shift is my backup "fun" deck which can occasionally just completely destroy an FNM. I would begin to question certain aspects of it in terms of pure competitiveness though because of a lack of 1-mana interaction. perhaps some number of spell snare/pierce, snapcaster mage, bolt and similar could help - in a sense i'm suggesting stripping the deck back to the sorts of builds it used to run when Splinter Twin was legal i.e. a UR control deck with ramp and a one-card kill. I'd remove the titans/omens for this in order to fit it all together. I'm not saying it's correct but i'm thinking in the current field, hitting your opponent's turn 1 and 2 plays with some strong interaction is often the pathway to victory for a deck like this.
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Snapcaster Mage
Spells (28)
4 Bring to Light
4 Remand
4 Search for Tomorrow
3 Cryptic Command
3 Lightning Bolt
2 Path to Exile
2 Scapeshift
2 Worldly Counsel
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Farseek
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Pulse of Murasa
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Steam Vents
4 Stomping Ground
2 Breeding Pool
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Temple Garden
1 Cinder Glade
2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
3 Island
2 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Dispel
2 Lightning Helix
2 Negate
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Krosan Grip
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Crumble to Dust
1 Madcap Experiment
2 Obstinate Baloth
1 Shatterstorm
1 Platinum Emperion
I'm satisfied with the mainboard, but the only thing that concerns me with playing white rather than black is the lack of a catch-all card like Maelstrom Pulse or Sultai Charm. Repeal feels subpar to me so I'm not playing it. Here's my question also : the decks I'm facing the most are Affinity, Storm and U-Tron. What would you guys change in the 75 to deal with them ? Would black be a better option ?
Thanks for the insights!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Hello! To answer your first concern, I believe that Beast Within is a card you could be interested in. Compared to Maelstrom Pulse there are a few downsides: Beast Within gives your opponent a 3/3 Beast and Beast Within cannot hit multiple cards with a single casting. However, if you are in need of a card to resolve troublesome permanents, it is worth a copy in the mainboard to be tutored by Bring to Light.
The only reason I could see for changing to the black splash would be Slaughter Games. If Storm's giving you trouble, then minor disruption into a T3-T4 Slaughter Games on Past in Flames is typically game. For Affinity, Shatterstorm has you covered IMO. Sadly, I haven't played this deck enough to get a better feel for U-Tron, so you are on your own for that one.
Good luck!
Modern Decks:
UThing in the Ice Taking TurnsU
WURGBring to Light ScapeshiftWURG
Storm crow descending, winter unending.
Storm crow departing, summer is starting.
Thoughts?
As you may notice the SB is at 16 cards. The Chalice of the Voids are a test and surprisingly enough it hasn't showed up yet. Off all 16 cards, what would you cut to make the sideboard a solid 15?
List below:
2x Breeding Pool
1x Cinder Glade
2x Forest
3x Island
4x Misty Rainforest
1x Mountain
1x Overgrown Tomb
4x Steam Vents
4x Stomping Ground
1x Swamp
2x Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
1x Watery Grave
4x Cryptic Command
1x Izzet Charm
3x Lightning Bolt
4x Remand
1x Repeal
2x Supreme Will
Sorcery (13)
4x Bring to Light
1x Damnation
1x Farseek
3x Scapeshift
4x Search for Tomorrow
Creature (6)
4x Sakura-Tribe Elder
2x Snapcaster Mage
1x Anger of the Gods
3x Chalice of the Void
1x Crumble to Dust
2x Dispel
1x Engineered Explosives
1x Maelstrom Pulse
2x Nature's Claim
1x Negate
3x Obstinate Baloth
1x Shatterstorm
edit: Should specify I am playing mostly online. Meta is wide.
I saw this list and it really made me miss the good 'ole days of straight RUG Scapeshift. I do question the lack of Supreme Wills. I think 2 is a great number for any U Scapeshift list. It allows us to dig while holding up an answer if we are desperate. I also think not having the 4th Cryptic Command in that sort of build is a crime. Nothing is sweeter than a turn 3 Cryptic.
Search for Azcanta is definitely getting some hype. UW Control lists seem to be using it to their advantage. My two fears about it in our list is that we normally do not want to be binning lands and that it is very slow. But filtering our draws (discarding those unneeded late-game ramp spells) seems great. I also like that SFA also acts as a faux Farseek during the late game. Yes, we have to wait a turn for it to flip and ramp but that doesn't seem like the worst thing we can be doing.
I am still on the Bring to Light as I think it is more powerful than the RUG lists. But I am looking forward to the day where RUG can make its return.