No extra buffs. They basically fill the spot of the gladecover scout for round 2. And then depending on the match up I'll take them put match 3 or fake them out. Most of the time people won't realise they are taking infect damage until it's too late so I don't want to draw attention to it until the last second so playing weird buffs would give it away.
It can be super tricky and some times you feel stupid. I had a match up against lilliana so I had to dump a bogle on the field as well to protect from sacing. Swing with two types of damage feels very silly.
I think in a local level you have to keep the bluff and mind games happening. If they are too afraid to side out removal in case of infect than they end up with a bunch of dead cards in hand.
Right on, man. That sounds just like what I used to run after Gitaxian Probe was banned and Infect fell off the map; kept all of my Spiritdancers and the 2x Glisteners in the SB at first, so opponents would be more inclined to board out all of their creature removal. How many copies do you run out of the board? That was one of the downsides to running it; it really took opponents by surprise, but I could never justify playing any more than two. Started back up at my second year of med school and I've had little/no chances to play Modern at my LGS w/in the last couple months, so I'm planning on bringing it back the next time I have a chance to play haha.
I have all 4 glisteners in the sideboard. Second game I have to draw them. I know it's super risky but it's been worth it so far. Playing bogles is usually a suprise in a lot of comps and mixing that in with infect and your really getting an edge with mind games.
I have all 4 glisteners in the sideboard. Second game I have to draw them. I know it's super risky but it's been worth it so far. Playing bogles is usually a suprise in a lot of comps and mixing that in with infect and your really getting an edge with mind games.
I bet. I'm looking forward to playing with the glisteners again; I think I'm going to start with three in the side. When you get a minute, do you mind posting your SB?
Well, after going 2-2 twice in the past 4 FNMs (1 loss was a scoop, but still), I decided to try Bogles again. Old faithful, lol. It seemed very good in the meta - Grixis Control, Zoo, several Jeskai decks, Merfolk, Dredge, Burn last week, Affinity, and several other decks. Literally, the only deck I didn't want to face was a friend that I drove there on BG Tron. I mean, I feel I have it narrowed to around 40/60 (probably closer to 30/70 if I'm being honest with myself), but it's still very tough!
Round 1 vs. Grixis Control. Yes! I was glad to play this one. This guy has beaten me the past 2 times we've played. He is pretty solid at playing this deck and RUG type Scapeshift variants, but know that I am the stronger player and I need to prove it. (Lol, maybe playing a matchup that is probably 90/10 doesn't really prove it though.) The last 4 Collected Companies that I cast against him (3 with Knightfall and 1 with Human Company), I have hit 2 total creatures. Yes, 2 creatures instead of the ceiling of 8. Well, enough background. On to the games. I do Bogle things in the first game. He does 4 Cryptic Command (1 on ScM) and then folds. In the next game, it is similar, but he gets a lot more CCs and burn. He ends up with all 4 Cryptic Command exiled from my Rest in Peace, 3 Kologhan's Command, 1 Engineered Explosives, and 2 Lightning Bolt. I stalled on 3 mana through the first 9 turns, which prevented me from dropping Kor Spiritdancer with some protection. The La Brea Tar Pit ends up killing me. Hmph! In the next game, I play Bogle type things. He digs and digs, but finds nothing of consequence. It's nice to finally be on the play. I end up with much more to rebuild in hand if needed, but dump my Auras for lethal on the final turn. Couldn't have sped the clock up earlier, so didn't do it earlier. I was a bit embarrassed to win only 2-1, but thankful for at least winning. 2-1.
Round 2 vs. UG Merfolk. He was paired up after losing to Foil Jund. I do Bogle things and race him in damage barely with Spirit Link and a key Path to Exile on 1 of his 2 Lords. In the next game, I keep a ridiculous hand with only 1 Razorverge Thicket as a land. He gets the Spreading Seas on my land on his turn 2 obviously and I can't find lands. I started the hand with 1 land and 1 Ethereal Armor. My first 4 draw steps were 1 land that also got Spreading Seas'd and 3 Ethereal Armor. Thankful for drawing all 4 Ethereal Armor when I can't cast them. You guys know how much I've played this deck - still it's the first time I drew all 4 Ethereal Armor, outside of testing once before. In the final game, I am on the play and I do Bogle things before he can get set up. I race, praying that the final 3 cards in his hand are not ALL Lords, which would be lethal through a chump by a naked Bogle. Two of them are, but the Vial does NOT put in a 3rd and I win. Presumably the last card in his hand was somewhat useless. 2-1.
Round 3 vs. Junk Midrange. The player was a bit salty in the end. I think I've beaten him all 6-7 times we've played and I've only played him at both of us at X-0 before. I basically have Bogle hands, am on the play finally, and turn 0 Leyline of Sanctity in the 2nd game. Pretty easy games for me, considering he didn't have the nearly 100% absent in Modern card - Abrupt Decay. In the 2nd game, I put some Auras on a Dryad Arbor and when he tapped for a Scavenging Ooze on turn 2, I fetched EoT and put some Auras on the Dryad Arbor, only 1 Umbra though. Having not played the deck in a while, I was a bit rusty and am not sure on a play. I could have gone more all-in a turn earlier so that if he draws fetch, he can't use it. It doesn't seem to matter anyway, as there is nothing that he's trying to get to 5 mana for. His first 4 lands were double Blooming Marsh, Forest, and Plains. He never drew Fatal Push to drop the Aura from my Arbor or Path to Exile, which I figured he sided out some number of and certainly doesn't have 4 of those WITH 4 Fatal Push. 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Foil Jund. He's a friend and he's tired. I kind of want to play it out, but since I can definitely understand having a long day on Friday, we just ID. 0-0-3.
I finish 3-0-1 with Bogles. I've noticed players at my FNM have given up on Death's Shadow for the past month or maybe even a bit longer. So, it really leaves an opening for Bogles and I'm certainly not scared of BGx decks, even if my past 14 matches or so had been around 50% only, sadly enough. Now, I will admit that this meta looks soft. It's part of the reason I ran Bogles again for the first time in a cool one. Last week after starting 2-0 (2-0,2-0) with Knightfall, I lost 1-2 to a newer player on Soul Sisters (pretty humiliating, especially with all the late life gain triggers) and then 1-2 to Burn. I needed to metagame a little, rather than just playing the more fun (for me) deck.
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Good to see you run with Bogles again and find success. Looking forward to future updates if you continue to roll with it. What does your list look like nowadays?
On a somewhat related note, I think the deck will see an uptick in play over the next few months simply due to the reprint of Canopy.
Good to see you run with Bogles again and find success. Looking forward to future updates if you continue to roll with it. What does your list look like nowadays?
On a somewhat related note, I think the deck will see an uptick in play over the next few months simply due to the reprint of Canopy.
I think if I ran this at a larger tournament, I would put in 4 Rest in Peace and maybe even a Grafdigger's Cage for Storm. I think we can often beat Empty the Warrens if that is even sided in. Besides if Gaddock Teeg doesn't get Bolted, it helps a lot against that and Past in Flames. My friend was running my Human Company deck and it had 2 RIP in that deck's SB, so I could only run 2 in Bogles' SB. I wanted 3 and I would have cut a Stony Silence.
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Good deal; sounds about right. Going off that note, any chance you'd be interested in helping to update the Bogles primer sometime before 2018? It's badly outdated and could use some sprucing up, although, I've thought that for over a year now and haven't been able to find the time to look into it. I'll have a nice two week break from med school during the holidays and thought it'd be a fun project. I've been playing the deck for a few years now, but have far less games under my belt compared to yourself and some others in this thread who'd be better able to breakdown certain matchups and sideboarding strategies. I am, however, a fairly talented writer and would enjoy putting together a new primer with updated decklists, matchups, etc based on the opinions of more talented/experienced pilots from this thread (those who are still around, anyhow). Shoot me a PM if you think you'd be interested. My schedule is slammed until December and I have no intentions of starting much before that, so no rush. Just something that popped into my head.
So, I ran Bogles at the San Diego, CA SCG Regionals at At Ease Games. 167 players. I thought it would be a good metachoice, but at States, there is no real meta.
Round 1 vs. Grixis Shadow. Kind of happy to see Grixis Shadow, since I missed it. Kind of sad to see it now that I'm on Bogles. Happy to play first in game 1 and play Leyline of Sanctity in game 2 before the game. This game stalls out a bit, as he made around 15 tokens with Young Pyromancer this game. I don't care much about that since I have 2 more Spirit Mantle and 4 Rancor in the deck. We trade chumps as he gets a super large Death's Shadow. A few turns later, he essentially loses the game when he does Thought Scour, dumping 2 more Death's Shadow in the graveyard. I guess it's not just me? That would leave Spirit Mantle as the only out. But I get Rancor and have enough to push through. He has to block with nearly everything since his Death's Shadow was on a (attacking) Bogle killing rampage. My board is set up to win next turn, with 2 more 1/1 Bogles and the big guy. He scoops. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. RW Prison. He played turn 2 Chalice of the Void on 1 and turn 3 Blood Moon into Anger of the Gods or Wrath of God in all 3 games on curve. I was on the play in game 2 and had 2 Umbras. That's pretty much all you need to know. It's funny because I literally thought I'd draw one good Aura to push through, but I didn't and turns 3-7 belonged to him, some Eldrazi, an Elesh Norn, and a Wurmcoil Engine. The next game is similar, but he has a bit less gas and I have the Aura to push through. In the last game, I have Gaddock Teeg. I draw another. I play it on turn 3 because there's not much threats before that. Luckily, he got stuck with double Gifts Ungiven in hand to go with 2 extra lands when a Bogle ran him over. 1-2.
Round 3 vs. UW Tron. He is an old Magic acquaintance who now lives in San Diego, so we only see each other at these types of tournaments. He played a lot of Red before, but has also played Affinity or Tron recently. I mull a hand with Kor Spiritdancer because I am scared it gets Bolted and I lose. He ends up on Tron, so it's really a race (not that anybody didn't say that about most Modern matchups). 2-1
Round 4 vs. Affinity. I'm pretty glad to play this guy since he knocked me out of a PPTQ a while back with Twin when I ran Bogles in round 5 after I lost to the Twin that I loaned to a friend in Round 1. I ended up 6-2 that PPTQ, losing to both Twins. In the first game, his start is slow, which makes my non-lifelink start not to bad. But I get Rancor and smash through Arcbound Ravager sacrifices. In the next game, I have double Stony Silence and no lands. I might have kept if I had a Slippery Bogle, but no. Six cards has me at 1 land and both Stony Silence again. I keep and lose on 1 land when he does Spell Pierce on my Path to Exile. My Bogle could never get big enough to block a Ravager at first, then a Master of Etherium. I heard that Spell Pierce is a hard counter for a non-creature when you're on 1 land. In the final game, I get Kor Spiritdancer again and go all-out. On turn 3, he scoops it up as the Spiritdancer dances to the sky! 2-1.
Round 5 vs. Bant Eldrazi. Poor guy. He played mana dork and E Temple into ... Eldrazi Displacer. He literally didn't play anything that interacted with my big Bogle and I saved Spirit Mantle as usual to swoop up lethal. The next game is similar, but he has to block with all 3 Displacer, a Scion, and a Skyspawner. But he doesn't and I show him Path to Exile for lethal since the big Bogle has Rancor. 2-0.
Round 6 vs. Living End. In the first game, the normal double Street Wraith, double Desert Cerodon, EoT Violent Outburst into Living End on my turn 3. In the next game, I have a GOOD hand. I go on a Spiritdancer and he does the Demonic Dread this time. He must have been so unlucky to not have Green mana for presumably some number of Violent Outburst in hand since he had to SSG it. It's my turn 4 and I then replay Bogle, Rancor, Daybreak Coronet. See what I mean by a good hand? It gets there easily. In the next game, I'm trying to race another turn 4 Living End with Bogle, double Ethereal Armor, but I make a big mistake here. Huge punt and no real reason to do it, other than thinking he doesn't have the answer again. I dump my hand of an extra Bogle and Kor Spiritdancer in case he EoT exile SSG X 2 Beast Within 2 of his lands to swing past my 1 Bogle for lethal. I had Rest in Peace out at the time. He does his 2nd Violent Outburst to wipe my board, then cast Archfiend of Ifnir. My next draw was Rancor, which may have gotten me to another Aura to kill him the turn before he kills me, although he probably would cast another creature, so I'd need a really good Aura. Anyway, dumb punt. No reason to run out the Spiritdancer. If he has those double Beast Within that he saved AND double SSG, he probably deserves to win. I punt my way out of a potential top 8. 1-2
Round 7 vs. Burn. My first match where I didn't mulligan once. Also was happy to see Burn, but not as happy after I'm out of top 8 contention. In the first game, I have Spirit Link and an Aura. She didn't have Eidolon of the Great Revel and you can guess how this game went. I felt like she might Skullcrack into Skullcrack into triple Lightning Bolt to win, but she didn't have even the 2nd Skillcrack. In the next game, I make the Bogle big. I swing and she thinks she chumps with a Grim Lavamancer (My dude has Rancor, Dyabreak Coronet, and others). I tell her it has trample. I'm thinking maybe she hopes I don't do the correct damage because she had Skillcrack and if her next 3 cards after drawing are Lightning Bolt, Lighning Bolt, Lightning Bolt or any Lava Spike type stuff, it's over. Not sure if she didn't know what Rancor does or was trying to give herself a chance to get to game 3... 2-0.
Round 8 vs. Abzan Counter Company. He does no mana dork. He does turn 2 Devoted Druid. I Path to Exile, considering the chance of another Devoted Druid - 3 out of 49 cards left in deck. Never do this calculation. It will rarely be poor for your opponent and if it is, the win will be too easy to remember it. He does do EoT CoCo for Devoted Druid and Kitchen Finks. Then he draws and plays Vizier of Remedies and Rhonas. Good game sir! In the next game I cast turn 2 Gaddock Teeg. Then I start suiting up a Bogle while he essentially looks at 3 dead cards in his hand. In the next game, it is similar to the first game, except I kept on Kor Spiritdancer, hoping to draw into Teeg, Path to Exile, or Rest in Peace in that order. I don't and he does double Chord of Calling after Bop into K Finks, then plays Duskwatch Recruiter he finds his buddy, Mr. Ballista. If I have to lose out on top 16 and $100, there's no other way that I'd want to go but the smooth nut draw of a Company deck in all 3 games, but foiled by Gaddock Teeg in one. This may have been the first time I've ever gotten Teeg against a Company deck; possibly 2nd or 3rd out of 100 matches or more with Bogles. I think if you have Company in your meta and want to beat it, you run 4 Teeg so that they Path to Exile, then Company, lol. 1-2.
5-3, 41st place. I fail to get top 16 for $100, but am oddly happy to finally see a CoCo deck. When I was playing Titanshift and other CoCo decks, I hardly ever saw these decks, except for Elves twice (which usually beat my CoCo decks). I literally wanted to see 4 rounds of CoCo and 5 rounds of E Tron since I really missed playing against those decks. I have no recent experience and have to play in a RPTQ next Sunday.
*Just a few questions about anecdotal evidence. I played a PPTQ with Titanshift where the Living End opponent didn't have Living End on turn 3 in 2 games. Other than that, they have had Living End on turn 3 in at least 95% of the games. I don't want to do the math because I'm scared to know the answer, but does this happen quite often? Admittedly I'm only talking about fewer than 20 matches though, so probably in 15 or so matches.
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Good stuff. Prison is such a miserable matchup. Unlucky seeing that. That might be the worst matchup in modern.
I ran hexproof yesterday as well. I was 4-1, lost the 6th round, and then dropped at 5-2. I had some work to do so I couldn't really stay and play without a chance for top8. I grinded through titanshift 3 times, beat jund once, and lost to control and faeries. I lost to neverending blessed alliances in the control match and just had a total deck malfunction against faeries. I might have been able to stabilize against a different deck but the mulligans were severely punished by discard and liliana. I was really happy with the deck overall. I play three keen sense in the main and continue to think it's the most underplayed card in hexproof. Yes, it is a horrible topdeck, no argument from me there. I can't count the number of times it has kept me in games that I have no business being in. I usually side out most of them on the draw depending on how early the opposing deck has a creature down. Other notables from the tourney were spirit link and cartouche. Cartouche was just awesome. I play two and might go up to three. It seems to give alot of unforeseen problems to opponents. Twice yesterday I pathed the token to avoid mana screw. Not a great play but much better than the alternative of pathing a tribe elder, ha. I played one spirit link in the SB and was very happy with it. I have always known about this card but have been a little skeptical seeing as though it offers no power boost. I was very happy with it. It had a similar feel to keen sense. I felt I was winning races that I had no business winning. Nothing ground breaking, just wanted to give my official endorsement :). I used to be strictly against cards like keen sense and spirit link but it just doesn't seem like hexproof can race anymore. The meta is just too big, fast, and good. I think the utility auras offer a nice alternative in certain matchups. Lastly, MVP was and always is the Spiritdancer. I've suited that thing up a million times and I'm still surprised how quickly it wins. Hope everyone had fun yesterday!!
In the spirit of more boggle content I will post my thoughts on SCG regionals in Chicago this weekend. I finished 6-3, #37 out of about 300. I don't have my notes so a few of the rounds are hazy. When I get home I will attempt to update for accuracy and games. Anyhow, about 300 people showed up and it was a great time. Shout out to Nerd Rage Gaming for putting on a good one.
Match 1: W - Golgari.. Eldritch oooze? (https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/776087#paper)
Match 2: L - 8 Rack
Match 3: W - Burn
Match 4: W - Affinity
Match 5: W - Merfolk
Match 6: W - Humans
Match 7: L - Storm
Match 8: W - U/W Control
Match 9: L - Living End
Match 1 (W) - I am not super sure what this deck was. It was running noose constrictor, lotleth troll and at one point I saw a Griselbrand in the graveyard so I assumed this was some sort of reanimator deck. I am pretty sure I boarded in rest in peace but I just ran my opponent over. That will teach them to run BG without any targeted discard or liliana's
Match 2 (L) - 8 rack. Match goes to 3. Cartouche of solidarity providing a guy was great, I was always able to stay in front of my opponents lili's - against 8 rack, lili lacks creature protection so you just fade 1 sac trigger and kill her and keep on moving. I outplayed my opponent at every turn this match (no one expects mana tithe or silence) up until game 3. In game three I had an early bogle with a cartouche of solidarity. I stupidly swung my token into a blinkmoth and then, although I was able to rebuild twice, was unable to close it out. Had I kept dude back I never would have been behind in creatures and would have won the match. Live and learn!
Match 3 (W) - Burn - this was a weiiiiiiird burn match. First off, at no point did I ever see a red creature. Moving on to the games, in game 1 I remember at one point, my opponent had 3 mana up on my end step and just untapped and drew. I guess they must have flooded. Game 2, was what really made the texture of the match weird. So my opener is a boggle, a coronet, an umbra and some lands and boggles. All I want to do is make a big boggle and do it... so turn 2 I umbra up my boggle and cast another boggle. Swing for 2. Opponent destructive revelries my umbra. Sigh. Pass the turn it is draw go. Turn 3, I top deck and cast some 1 drop umbra and another boggle. Swing 3 - opponent fetches and destructive revelries my 1 drop enchantment again.. ok... I might have played a dryad arbor here. Anyhow, by the end of the game I am swinging with 4 boggles and an arbor every turn. He has resorted to using deflecting palm on my 1/1's. TWICE. Eventually he dies to a horde of 1/1 boggles. Apparently he kept a hand loaded with SB hate - I saw 3 revelry and 2 palms in this game. Felt bad for my opponent because a more experienced player I think would have let me make my big boggle, deflecting palm it TWICE and then destructive revelry away the coronet and 2 other enchantments and that would be about lethal.
Match 4 (W) - Affinity - I remember this one being close and going to 3. Throughought the match, including game 3, my opponent was having a hard time keeping track of enchantments and their effects. At one point had them facing him so he could read them and I think he wanted me to play that way. I allowed this positioning for a minute or so so he had ample time to read the board but then I re-organized my enchantments into a more haphazard pile. I know it feels bad as a player to be less than communicative but in boggles, combat math if some of OUR hidden information. As such, it is in our best interest to layout our enchantments in ways that are a little more complicated for OP to read. For me this means not grouping duplicate enchantments together on my creature "stack", having the enchantments overlapping each other on the physical board and having my boggle on top of his pants. Anyhow, long story short my opponent had me dead in G3 a myriad ways but never got there because he thought I had reach. Amusingly the only green enchantment I had down was a rancor. So just as I lost an early match to misplay, I got one here due to opponent misplay. I'll take it. I asked my opponent what they were seeing after the game and it was one of those times I wish I had kept it to myself - my opponent was polite but clearly realizing this is a hell of a feel bad mid tourney.
Match 5 (W) - Mono U Merfolk - Played against this great young dude who was 6-0 with fish at last years regionals before going 0-3. It was one of the big storylines last year, anyhow... Bogglers always say merfolk is a good matchup but I find it to be pretty poor. For whatever reason I am ALWAYS loosing to spreading seas. In this match however lifelink + spirit mantle was able to get it done. Opponent was never able to spreading seas me in a tempo positive manner. In one game I landed the spirit link + coronet as well for the double gains. I think I was at like 119 life at one point due to opponent chump blocking with an un-ending stream of merfolk. This one went to 3.
Match 6 (W) - humans - Humans has a great clock against an un-interactive deck like ours but aside from a kitesail freebooter, NO interaction. To me this match up is all about getting lifelink asap and jamming. I am extremely high on spirit mantle in boggles and lifelink + spirit mantle is pretty much GG for humans decks.
Match 7 (L) - storm - Storm is just so consistent. I think I took this one to 3. I know in the last game I lost through a leyline; as my opponent was going off they were able to draw into some bounce spell for the leyline. It was one of those games where opponent has a storm count of like 23 and at least after 10 minutes of not playing magic I was allowed to leave heh.
Match 8 (W) - u/w control - This match was very very close. Went to 3. In either game 1 or 2 I was able to mana tithe a cryptic before attacks and that seemed to be enough. Supreme verdict is still a beating. More on the meta call there in general notes below. In game 3, I had a big spirit dancer and opponent was at like 3 life. He had a bunch of cards and mana. Spirit dancer dies returning 2 rancor to my hand. I play an arbor dryad from my hand in the second main, before passing back and UGH you know that hopeless feel. Opponent draws with 6 mana including 1 plains and immediately spreading seas my dryad arbor and then pass it back. So I go ahead and rancor up the arbor. Opponent then has the look of someone who made a terrible misplay. They expected that arbor was no longer a dude. But it was, so I cast the second rancor. Opponent has really slumped into their hand. They opt but don't find anything. I get in there for the kill. What I hadn't realized until after the game was that the opponent had used their only white source to cast spreading seas. They had a blessed alliance in hand. Opponent mumbled under his breath "what bs" but was cordial enough otherwise so no complaints.
Match 9 (L) - Living End - This one was brutal. Blown out in 2. We can't clock them nearly quick enough when they can go off with simian spirit guide turn 2. The only thing I should have done different given the horrendous nature of this combo would have been to mull more aggressively for a rest in peace. Worth going down to 4 or 5 to get in this scenario I think... If we land a RIP they have to wait till like turn 5 to start hard casting stuff which is plenty of time for us to draw and build.
General thoughts:
1. For me the MVP of this deck is 100% spirit mantle. All I want to do is attack my opponents life and gain life. This card enables both unimpeded. I played 2 but I actually like 3 in the list. Just lack a 3d in paper.
2. Cartouche of solidarity is the real deal. It isn't that we need to keep people off of liliana every game but in the ones we do this card does such a good job. The additional utility in a reasonable path target should also not be understated. In the matches where you need mana acceleration, your 1/1 token is likely not super important. It came up for me this weekend, especially running 19 lands.
3. Which leads me to a weird place... Umbra's. Are some percent of Umbra's now a flex slot? There is kind of a weird meta call now between the two umbra's + cartouche. In a jund / abzan / lili meta we want cartouches. In a U/W, U/B or other board wipe meta's we want umbras. Previously spider umbra felt like the lower priority umbra with the decrease in infect but at this point I am into 4 spider umbra's (some protection against inkmoth nexus) and some number of hyena umbra. It might be more correct to get off of unflinching courage instead.
4. 19 lands - it mostly worked out but I had to keep a number of slow 1 mana hands. I think I am going back up to 20. Probably another thicket.
5. I was pretty happy with my sideboard. My basic flex slots are the silence and 2 mana tithes. Silence was great against 8 rack but otherwise did not show up when it was needed. Spirit link #2 was swell. Gaddock Teague never really needed to do any work except vs. Storm where he never got a chance to do any work. I still like it though as an out to tron which will always be lurking around the top/mid/bottom tables I could see trying a piece of creature tech like Eidolon of Rhetoric or Kataki, war's wage.
In the spirit of more boggle content I will post my thoughts on SCG regionals in Chicago this weekend. I finished 6-3, #37 out of about 300. I don't have my notes so a few of the rounds are hazy. When I get home I will attempt to update for accuracy and games. Anyhow, about 300 people showed up and it was a great time. Shout out to Nerd Rage Gaming for putting on a good one.
Match 1: W - Golgari.. Eldritch oooze? (https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/776087#paper)
Match 2: L - 8 Rack
Match 3: W - Burn
Match 4: W - Affinity
Match 5: W - Merfolk
Match 6: W - Humans
Match 7: L - Storm
Match 8: W - U/W Control
Match 9: L - Living End
Match 1 (W) - I am not super sure what this deck was. It was running noose constrictor, lotleth troll and at one point I saw a Griselbrand in the graveyard so I assumed this was some sort of reanimator deck. I am pretty sure I boarded in rest in peace but I just ran my opponent over. That will teach them to run BG without any targeted discard or liliana's
Match 2 (L) - 8 rack. Match goes to 3. Cartouche of solidarity providing a guy was great, I was always able to stay in front of my opponents lili's - against 8 rack, lili lacks creature protection so you just fade 1 sac trigger and kill her and keep on moving. I outplayed my opponent at every turn this match (no one expects mana tithe or silence) up until game 3. In game three I had an early bogle with a cartouche of solidarity. I stupidly swung my token into a blinkmoth and then, although I was able to rebuild twice, was unable to close it out. Had I kept dude back I never would have been behind in creatures and would have won the match. Live and learn!
Match 3 (W) - Burn - this was a weiiiiiiird burn match. First off, at no point did I ever see a red creature. Moving on to the games, in game 1 I remember at one point, my opponent had 3 mana up on my end step and just untapped and drew. I guess they must have flooded. Game 2, was what really made the texture of the match weird. So my opener is a boggle, a coronet, an umbra and some lands and boggles. All I want to do is make a big boggle and do it... so turn 2 I umbra up my boggle and cast another boggle. Swing for 2. Opponent destructive revelries my umbra. Sigh. Pass the turn it is draw go. Turn 3, I top deck and cast some 1 drop umbra and another boggle. Swing 3 - opponent fetches and destructive revelries my 1 drop enchantment again.. ok... I might have played a dryad arbor here. Anyhow, by the end of the game I am swinging with 4 boggles and an arbor every turn. He has resorted to using deflecting palm on my 1/1's. TWICE. Eventually he dies to a horde of 1/1 boggles. Apparently he kept a hand loaded with SB hate - I saw 3 revelry and 2 palms in this game. Felt bad for my opponent because a more experienced player I think would have let me make my big boggle, deflecting palm it TWICE and then destructive revelry away the coronet and 2 other enchantments and that would be about lethal.
Match 4 (W) - Affinity - I remember this one being close and going to 3. Throughought the match, including game 3, my opponent was having a hard time keeping track of enchantments and their effects. At one point had them facing him so he could read them and I think he wanted me to play that way. I allowed this positioning for a minute or so so he had ample time to read the board but then I re-organized my enchantments into a more haphazard pile. I know it feels bad as a player to be less than communicative but in boggles, combat math if some of OUR hidden information. As such, it is in our best interest to layout our enchantments in ways that are a little more complicated for OP to read. For me this means not grouping duplicate enchantments together on my creature "stack", having the enchantments overlapping each other on the physical board and having my boggle on top of his pants. Anyhow, long story short my opponent had me dead in G3 a myriad ways but never got there because he thought I had reach. Amusingly the only green enchantment I had down was a rancor. So just as I lost an early match to misplay, I got one here due to opponent misplay. I'll take it. I asked my opponent what they were seeing after the game and it was one of those times I wish I had kept it to myself - my opponent was polite but clearly realizing this is a hell of a feel bad mid tourney.
Match 5 (W) - Mono U Merfolk - Played against this great young dude who was 6-0 with fish at last years regionals before going 0-3. It was one of the big storylines last year, anyhow... Bogglers always say merfolk is a good matchup but I find it to be pretty poor. For whatever reason I am ALWAYS loosing to spreading seas. In this match however lifelink + spirit mantle was able to get it done. Opponent was never able to spreading seas me in a tempo positive manner. In one game I landed the spirit link + coronet as well for the double gains. I think I was at like 119 life at one point due to opponent chump blocking with an un-ending stream of merfolk. This one went to 3.
Match 6 (W) - humans - Humans has a great clock against an un-interactive deck like ours but aside from a kitesail freebooter, NO interaction. To me this match up is all about getting lifelink asap and jamming. I am extremely high on spirit mantle in boggles and lifelink + spirit mantle is pretty much GG for humans decks.
Match 7 (L) - storm - Storm is just so consistent. I think I took this one to 3. I know in the last game I lost through a leyline; as my opponent was going off they were able to draw into some bounce spell for the leyline. It was one of those games where opponent has a storm count of like 23 and at least after 10 minutes of not playing magic I was allowed to leave heh.
Match 8 (W) - u/w control - This match was very very close. Went to 3. In either game 1 or 2 I was able to mana tithe a cryptic before attacks and that seemed to be enough. Supreme verdict is still a beating. More on the meta call there in general notes below. In game 3, I had a big spirit dancer and opponent was at like 3 life. He had a bunch of cards and mana. Spirit dancer dies returning 2 rancor to my hand. I play an arbor dryad from my hand in the second main, before passing back and UGH you know that hopeless feel. Opponent draws with 6 mana including 1 plains and immediately spreading seas my dryad arbor and then pass it back. So I go ahead and rancor up the arbor. Opponent then has the look of someone who made a terrible misplay. They expected that arbor was no longer a dude. But it was, so I cast the second rancor. Opponent has really slumped into their hand. They opt but don't find anything. I get in there for the kill. What I hadn't realized until after the game was that the opponent had used their only white source to cast spreading seas. They had a blessed alliance in hand. Opponent mumbled under his breath "what bs" but was cordial enough otherwise so no complaints.
Match 9 (L) - Living End - This one was brutal. Blown out in 2. We can't clock them nearly quick enough when they can go off with simian spirit guide turn 2. The only thing I should have done different given the horrendous nature of this combo would have been to mull more aggressively for a rest in peace. Worth going down to 4 or 5 to get in this scenario I think... If we land a RIP they have to wait till like turn 5 to start hard casting stuff which is plenty of time for us to draw and build.
General thoughts:
1. For me the MVP of this deck is 100% spirit mantle. All I want to do is attack my opponents life and gain life. This card enables both unimpeded. I played 2 but I actually like 3 in the list. Just lack a 3d in paper.
2. Cartouche of solidarity is the real deal. It isn't that we need to keep people off of liliana every game but in the ones we do this card does such a good job. The additional utility in a reasonable path target should also not be understated. In the matches where you need mana acceleration, your 1/1 token is likely not super important. It came up for me this weekend, especially running 19 lands.
3. Which leads me to a weird place... Umbra's. Are some percent of Umbra's now a flex slot? There is kind of a weird meta call now between the two umbra's + cartouche. In a jund / abzan / lili meta we want cartouches. In a U/W, U/B or other board wipe meta's we want umbras. Previously spider umbra felt like the lower priority umbra with the decrease in infect but at this point I am into 4 spider umbra's (some protection against inkmoth nexus) and some number of hyena umbra. It might be more correct to get off of unflinching courage instead.
4. 19 lands - it mostly worked out but I had to keep a number of slow 1 mana hands. I think I am going back up to 20. Probably another thicket.
5. I was pretty happy with my sideboard. My basic flex slots are the silence and 2 mana tithes. Silence was great against 8 rack but otherwise did not show up when it was needed. Spirit link #2 was swell. Gaddock Teague never really needed to do any work except vs. Storm where he never got a chance to do any work. I still like it though as an out to tron which will always be lurking around the top/mid/bottom tables I could see trying a piece of creature tech like Eidolon of Rhetoric or Kataki, war's wage.
Ok, that is all I got!
Great report and good stuff at the tourney. I wanted to reply because of the umbra/cartouche dilemma. I feel the exact same way. I am down to 6. 4 Hyena and 2 Spider. That's only my split because I play Keen Sense. I have to have first strike. Anyways, I went through the same thing when building my list for regionals. I hate cutting umbras because it's so nice to have in combat and against sweepers. With modern as wide open as it is right now, I bet you could run as little as three and be fine one weekend and run eight the next weekend and need everyone of them. I think it's just going to be guess/judgement call until the dust settles from the new set.
I love silence. I use it all the time. Good for you for playing with it. It has tons of sneaky applications. I like bring it in against blessed alliance. It's about the only card that stops it.
As for the lands... I have always played 20 but have been very tempted to shave one. There was a top 8 list at one of the regonals that ran 18!! Bogles is the type of deck that is going to have to run a little luckier than others to win. I have no problem with 19 lands. Although 19 with unflinching courage in there might be pushing it a bit.
RPTQ with a last minute change to Bogles. I was all set to run Titanshift, but notice at least 12 players that I know personally playing good matchups, like Control decks, Zoo, and Affinity. I write down the deck list right during the player meeting. 75 players for 7 rounds.
Round 1 vs. Humans. Collins Mullen's list. I lose game 2 due to him doing Freebooter and Meddling Mage on my double Rancor and I drew another Rancor. A mull didn't help. Then I get lifelink in the final game and win. I sided 0 cards. 2-1.
Round 2 vs. Affinity. The guy I hitched a ride from, just him and me. Grand Prix Portland winner from last year. He rolls a 9. I roll an 8. That's it. He made the top 8. 1-2.
Round 3 vs. Jund. A mull to 6 loses me the game. He is stuck on his first 3 land drops, but Dark Confidant draws him 2 lands and he has gas. I play 7 lands out in play, sacrificing 2 Horizon Canopy and lose. This was a 1 land keep! The next game is similar, but he beats me down with 2 Scavenging Ooze. I did have Rest in Peace this game, but double Ooze and Dark Confidant kill me eventually. Seven lands in play, but none are Horizon Canopy. Mulls to 6 apparently don't do well when draw steps are only lands... He made the top 8 too. 0-2.
Round 4 vs. Grixis Shadow. Not much to say here. He played 2 Death's Shadow all 3 games. He made me discard an Aura twice in games 1 and 3 when Leyline of Sanctity was not out and I drew 2 Auras the whole game. Not strong enough to beat a double Shadow by turns 2 to 3 draw. He promptly dropped at X-2 after beating me. 1-2.
Round 5 vs. Humans. Similar to Round 1. He has a super strong hand in game 1. I do too. Easy win with lifelink. In the next game, I kept a 2 land hand, he played turn 2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, and I never drew another land and didn't have many Auras until it was too late too. Drew and played 2 Kor Spiritdancer before I drew an Aura. In the last game, I start slowly, but after having 2 Kor Spiritdancer in play again, I draw an Aura and find Daybreak Coronet the following turn. 2-1.
Round 6 vs. Junk. In the first game after a mulligan, I keep a hand vulnerable to Fatal Push. He literally has all the Fatal Pushes for Dryad Arbor with Umbras, then for a topdecked Kor Spiritdancer, Liliana of the Veil, Siege Rhino into double Tarmogoyf. This deck is really good at drawing game 1 Goyfs. In the next game, I play Leyline of Sanctity and fetch Dryad Arbor into Kor Spiritdancer. When he taps out for Grim Flayer, I go to town on the Kor Spiritdancer and despite Maelstrom Pulse killing another later one and an Umbra off the main one, I get there pretty easily. Didn't see a hexproof duder. In the final game, he blocks a 9/7 Bogle with a 6/7 Tarmogoyf, then I go to first strike damage. He tried to take back the block. I hold him to it, especially after his Liliana of the Veil killed my Dryad Arbor previously and Abrupt Decay killed Spirit Mantle to stop lethal while Maelstrom Pulse knocked another Aura off earlier. I actually drew 2 Rancor in a row this game! But he draws his 2nd Liliana of the Veil the turn before lethal (2 turns later obviously) and then makes Scooze big and plays gas while I play nothing. I at least made him think about the 2nd Lily with a fetch, but alas, I only run 1 Dryad Arbor nowadays. I used to run 2 for the longest time, but you don't expect to see 8 Liliana of the Veil in a 7 rounds tournament nowadays. I hadn't played against BGx whenever I've run Titanshift recently. 1-2.
Round 7 vs. Humans. I mull to 4 and barely trudge over the finish line. I thought he was going to play a 2nd Mantis Rider for sure, but he didn't. In the next game, I sandbag Spirit Mantle and he doesn't get Freebooter in time. An earlier one didn't see it, unfortunately for him. I cross the finish line with Kor Spiritdancer. 2-0.
3-4. I literally got demolished. I would like to say that I wish I had stayed on Titanshift, but I'm positive I avoid the BGx easy matchup and probably draw no hate and lose to Affinity in round 2 anyway. Modern has me really down recently. It seems like whenever I try to metagame, it just works out terribly. My Affinity friend told me that he saw gobs of Humans and Jeskai after he won round 1 in 5 minutes. I was pretty sure that I wouldn't play against Jeskai, but figured I wouldn't play against Humans either (lucky matchup for me when I'm X-2 or worse).
Friend I came with got paired against the mirror Affinity match in the top 8 and his opponent drew better than him after 2 mulligans by him in two games. Really rough day for him. Felt worse for him, losing in the round that qualifies him for the Pro Tour again.
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Running a pretty standard list. 3 spider, 3 hyena, 2 spirit mantle, 3 spiritdancer 3 unflinching courage (to get around chalice on 1). 19 lands (2 Plains 1 forest.) plus 1 arbor.
SB
3 Gaddock Teeg
2 Mindbreak Trap
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
2 Seal of Primordium
4 Leyline of Sanctity
I've been Playing MTGO a lot lately. When I say a lot, I mean a lot lately, like whenever I get a chance. I feel with the mindbreaks, RIP's and teeg's the storm match up is winnable in 3 games. But i'm wondering if maindecking leylines is worthwhile sacrificing the explosivity. But i also know that multiples late game when you want an aura is just dead. Burn is pretty winnable with the lifegain. GDS is usually winnable unless they get multiple death's shadow. Control is on the upswing and can be winnable when you land big auras after they tap out, but that's a really incremental damage game. I'm about 35 friendly leagues deep on playing this list and I'm just looking to spike discussion on how we play in this meta. (hoping no one scours the fringe deck salvation forums) I feel bogles is a really solid deck at the moment and is well positioned to pull a bunch of wins.
Good luck to you all and may the auras always be in your favor.
Welcome aboard, Lurker. Your best friend for talk on how to play the current meta will be @foodChainGoblins. He's pretty active on the boards and this primer, but he grinds out tons of events and posts great write ups whenever he chooses to play Bogles. If you haven't already, you should definitely go back a few pages and read his last 2-3 reports.
I can't speak on MTGO as I only play paper Magic and I'm not sure what decks you're more likely to encounter on MODO vs paper. However from the sound of it, it seems like Storm is an issue lol. Do you play any sources of blue mana for Mindbreak Trap or just use its alternate cost? Also, a complete 75 would be helpful to see what you're running exactly. I dropped unflinching a long time ago, but if Chalice is more prevalent on MODO then that's a smart choice. Thanks to Chalice being outrageously expensive, I don't see it as much as I used to, however, I still play against it occassionally and in those instances I've opted to go with a diverse suite of artifact removal ranging b/w 1cmc & 3cmc. Additionally, I've recently toyed around with Solemnity as a potential niche response.
In regards to main-decking Leylines, I was in that same pickle for a while, going back and forth on the issue. I've settled on a 2-2 split and it hasn't been terribly bad. It still stinks not having it in your opening 7, but it's phenomenal when we do have it and I now there's only 1 more somewhere in my library compared to 3 more dead draws. If anything, I'd suggest testing various ratios in order to get a feel for it and decide what you're most comfortable with. My meta is chalked full of hand disruption, Burn, LotV, etc, so I've found it to be more advantageous than not.
Hey Guys! Haven't played MTG, much less modern, most of the year, and was thinking about getting back into bogles. I have some value trades and was looking to upgrade my bogles to make it a little more competative and was hoping I could get some pointers on where the best place to start would be and what is good in the current meta. Here's what I currently have built that has served me pretty well last year:
Do people not use Open the Armory at all anymore? I was thinking about starting out with Horizon Canopy and Gaddock Teeg since they seem to have dipped in price recently.
Hey Guys! Haven't played MTG, much less modern, most of the year, and was thinking about getting back into bogles. I have some value trades and was looking to upgrade my bogles to make it a little more competative and was hoping I could get some pointers on where the best place to start would be and what is good in the current meta. Here's what I currently have built that has served me pretty well last year:
Do people not use Open the Armory at all anymore? I was thinking about starting out with Horizon Canopy and Gaddock Teeg since they seem to have dipped in price recently.
You seem to be pretty much finished with the non-land maindeck, so you're not far away. The manabase can certainly use some work though. You only have 11 lands that can cast a turn 1 Bogle and that's way too low. I'd say 15 is a minimum but personally I prefer 18-19. As you say Horizon Canopy has dropped in price recently so it could be a good pickup, but more important and less expensive is Razorverge Thicket (picking up a 4th Windswept Heath wouldn't hurt either).
These are pretty much all straightforward upgrades with similar effects but just better versions of it. I would also recommend removing Unflinching Courage and Spirit Mantle, in my opinion they're not great in the sideboard. They're pretty all-round so they're decent to good in the maindeck, but in the sideboard you want stronger cards that can really impact a matchup. The more expensive auras also generally get worse after sideboard as they're vulnerable to removal and sort of clunky. In their place I would naturally suggest 4 Leyline of Sanctity, which has always been great.
If you're on a budget I would start with the Razorverge Thickets, then get the semi-cheap sideboard cards like Stony Silence and Rest in Peace, then try to get Horizon Canopies.
Thanks for the great tips for moving forward, I really appreciate it! Could you just give me a quick list of the ideal manabase with that procedure of obtaining said cards? like, do I still keep the 2 wooded foothills if I get the fourth windswept? And it looks like most people play 4 canopys?
And are there any preferred auras? Or is it all pretty much up to preferance at this point? are people using the white Cartouche?
Also, saw some people talking about running glistener? Sounds like an awesome game 2 trick! what would you take out for it? A hexproof? spiritdancer? mixture of things?
When I played before I wasn't super good, this deck is great at running itself, so I didn't really sideboard to play too intelligently, but that's kinda what I'm looking to change now.
Again, thanks for all the help!
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It can be super tricky and some times you feel stupid. I had a match up against lilliana so I had to dump a bogle on the field as well to protect from sacing. Swing with two types of damage feels very silly.
I think in a local level you have to keep the bluff and mind games happening. If they are too afraid to side out removal in case of infect than they end up with a bunch of dead cards in hand.
Link to Discord server where anybody from MTGS can keep up with thread topics while everything is being sorted out with the new site.
I bet. I'm looking forward to playing with the glisteners again; I think I'm going to start with three in the side. When you get a minute, do you mind posting your SB?
Link to Discord server where anybody from MTGS can keep up with thread topics while everything is being sorted out with the new site.
Round 1 vs. Grixis Control. Yes! I was glad to play this one. This guy has beaten me the past 2 times we've played. He is pretty solid at playing this deck and RUG type Scapeshift variants, but know that I am the stronger player and I need to prove it. (Lol, maybe playing a matchup that is probably 90/10 doesn't really prove it though.) The last 4 Collected Companies that I cast against him (3 with Knightfall and 1 with Human Company), I have hit 2 total creatures. Yes, 2 creatures instead of the ceiling of 8. Well, enough background. On to the games. I do Bogle things in the first game. He does 4 Cryptic Command (1 on ScM) and then folds. In the next game, it is similar, but he gets a lot more CCs and burn. He ends up with all 4 Cryptic Command exiled from my Rest in Peace, 3 Kologhan's Command, 1 Engineered Explosives, and 2 Lightning Bolt. I stalled on 3 mana through the first 9 turns, which prevented me from dropping Kor Spiritdancer with some protection. The La Brea Tar Pit ends up killing me. Hmph! In the next game, I play Bogle type things. He digs and digs, but finds nothing of consequence. It's nice to finally be on the play. I end up with much more to rebuild in hand if needed, but dump my Auras for lethal on the final turn. Couldn't have sped the clock up earlier, so didn't do it earlier. I was a bit embarrassed to win only 2-1, but thankful for at least winning. 2-1.
Round 2 vs. UG Merfolk. He was paired up after losing to Foil Jund. I do Bogle things and race him in damage barely with Spirit Link and a key Path to Exile on 1 of his 2 Lords. In the next game, I keep a ridiculous hand with only 1 Razorverge Thicket as a land. He gets the Spreading Seas on my land on his turn 2 obviously and I can't find lands. I started the hand with 1 land and 1 Ethereal Armor. My first 4 draw steps were 1 land that also got Spreading Seas'd and 3 Ethereal Armor. Thankful for drawing all 4 Ethereal Armor when I can't cast them. You guys know how much I've played this deck - still it's the first time I drew all 4 Ethereal Armor, outside of testing once before. In the final game, I am on the play and I do Bogle things before he can get set up. I race, praying that the final 3 cards in his hand are not ALL Lords, which would be lethal through a chump by a naked Bogle. Two of them are, but the Vial does NOT put in a 3rd and I win. Presumably the last card in his hand was somewhat useless. 2-1.
Round 3 vs. Junk Midrange. The player was a bit salty in the end. I think I've beaten him all 6-7 times we've played and I've only played him at both of us at X-0 before. I basically have Bogle hands, am on the play finally, and turn 0 Leyline of Sanctity in the 2nd game. Pretty easy games for me, considering he didn't have the nearly 100% absent in Modern card - Abrupt Decay. In the 2nd game, I put some Auras on a Dryad Arbor and when he tapped for a Scavenging Ooze on turn 2, I fetched EoT and put some Auras on the Dryad Arbor, only 1 Umbra though. Having not played the deck in a while, I was a bit rusty and am not sure on a play. I could have gone more all-in a turn earlier so that if he draws fetch, he can't use it. It doesn't seem to matter anyway, as there is nothing that he's trying to get to 5 mana for. His first 4 lands were double Blooming Marsh, Forest, and Plains. He never drew Fatal Push to drop the Aura from my Arbor or Path to Exile, which I figured he sided out some number of and certainly doesn't have 4 of those WITH 4 Fatal Push. 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Foil Jund. He's a friend and he's tired. I kind of want to play it out, but since I can definitely understand having a long day on Friday, we just ID. 0-0-3.
I finish 3-0-1 with Bogles. I've noticed players at my FNM have given up on Death's Shadow for the past month or maybe even a bit longer. So, it really leaves an opening for Bogles and I'm certainly not scared of BGx decks, even if my past 14 matches or so had been around 50% only, sadly enough. Now, I will admit that this meta looks soft. It's part of the reason I ran Bogles again for the first time in a cool one. Last week after starting 2-0 (2-0,2-0) with Knightfall, I lost 1-2 to a newer player on Soul Sisters (pretty humiliating, especially with all the late life gain triggers) and then 1-2 to Burn. I needed to metagame a little, rather than just playing the more fun (for me) deck.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)On a somewhat related note, I think the deck will see an uptick in play over the next few months simply due to the reprint of Canopy.
Link to Discord server where anybody from MTGS can keep up with thread topics while everything is being sorted out with the new site.
I just stuck with the same list from before.
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Horizon Canopy
1 Dryad Arbor
2 Razorverge Thicket
3 Temple Garden
1 Snow-Covered Forest
1 Snow-Covered Plains
4 Gladecover Scout
4 Kor Spiritdancer
4 Rancor
4 Ethereal Armor
4 Spider Umbra
3 Hyena Umbra
1 Spirit Link
1 Gryff's Boon
3 Spirit Mantle
4 Daybreak Coronet
1 Unflinching Courage
3 Path to Exile
3 Stony Silence
2 Rest in Peace
4 Seal of Primordium
2 Gaddock Teeg
I think if I ran this at a larger tournament, I would put in 4 Rest in Peace and maybe even a Grafdigger's Cage for Storm. I think we can often beat Empty the Warrens if that is even sided in. Besides if Gaddock Teeg doesn't get Bolted, it helps a lot against that and Past in Flames. My friend was running my Human Company deck and it had 2 RIP in that deck's SB, so I could only run 2 in Bogles' SB. I wanted 3 and I would have cut a Stony Silence.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Link to Discord server where anybody from MTGS can keep up with thread topics while everything is being sorted out with the new site.
Round 1 vs. Grixis Shadow. Kind of happy to see Grixis Shadow, since I missed it. Kind of sad to see it now that I'm on Bogles. Happy to play first in game 1 and play Leyline of Sanctity in game 2 before the game. This game stalls out a bit, as he made around 15 tokens with Young Pyromancer this game. I don't care much about that since I have 2 more Spirit Mantle and 4 Rancor in the deck. We trade chumps as he gets a super large Death's Shadow. A few turns later, he essentially loses the game when he does Thought Scour, dumping 2 more Death's Shadow in the graveyard. I guess it's not just me? That would leave Spirit Mantle as the only out. But I get Rancor and have enough to push through. He has to block with nearly everything since his Death's Shadow was on a (attacking) Bogle killing rampage. My board is set up to win next turn, with 2 more 1/1 Bogles and the big guy. He scoops. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. RW Prison. He played turn 2 Chalice of the Void on 1 and turn 3 Blood Moon into Anger of the Gods or Wrath of God in all 3 games on curve. I was on the play in game 2 and had 2 Umbras. That's pretty much all you need to know. It's funny because I literally thought I'd draw one good Aura to push through, but I didn't and turns 3-7 belonged to him, some Eldrazi, an Elesh Norn, and a Wurmcoil Engine. The next game is similar, but he has a bit less gas and I have the Aura to push through. In the last game, I have Gaddock Teeg. I draw another. I play it on turn 3 because there's not much threats before that. Luckily, he got stuck with double Gifts Ungiven in hand to go with 2 extra lands when a Bogle ran him over. 1-2.
Round 3 vs. UW Tron. He is an old Magic acquaintance who now lives in San Diego, so we only see each other at these types of tournaments. He played a lot of Red before, but has also played Affinity or Tron recently. I mull a hand with Kor Spiritdancer because I am scared it gets Bolted and I lose. He ends up on Tron, so it's really a race (not that anybody didn't say that about most Modern matchups). 2-1
Round 4 vs. Affinity. I'm pretty glad to play this guy since he knocked me out of a PPTQ a while back with Twin when I ran Bogles in round 5 after I lost to the Twin that I loaned to a friend in Round 1. I ended up 6-2 that PPTQ, losing to both Twins. In the first game, his start is slow, which makes my non-lifelink start not to bad. But I get Rancor and smash through Arcbound Ravager sacrifices. In the next game, I have double Stony Silence and no lands. I might have kept if I had a Slippery Bogle, but no. Six cards has me at 1 land and both Stony Silence again. I keep and lose on 1 land when he does Spell Pierce on my Path to Exile. My Bogle could never get big enough to block a Ravager at first, then a Master of Etherium. I heard that Spell Pierce is a hard counter for a non-creature when you're on 1 land. In the final game, I get Kor Spiritdancer again and go all-out. On turn 3, he scoops it up as the Spiritdancer dances to the sky! 2-1.
Round 5 vs. Bant Eldrazi. Poor guy. He played mana dork and E Temple into ... Eldrazi Displacer. He literally didn't play anything that interacted with my big Bogle and I saved Spirit Mantle as usual to swoop up lethal. The next game is similar, but he has to block with all 3 Displacer, a Scion, and a Skyspawner. But he doesn't and I show him Path to Exile for lethal since the big Bogle has Rancor. 2-0.
Round 6 vs. Living End. In the first game, the normal double Street Wraith, double Desert Cerodon, EoT Violent Outburst into Living End on my turn 3. In the next game, I have a GOOD hand. I go on a Spiritdancer and he does the Demonic Dread this time. He must have been so unlucky to not have Green mana for presumably some number of Violent Outburst in hand since he had to SSG it. It's my turn 4 and I then replay Bogle, Rancor, Daybreak Coronet. See what I mean by a good hand? It gets there easily. In the next game, I'm trying to race another turn 4 Living End with Bogle, double Ethereal Armor, but I make a big mistake here. Huge punt and no real reason to do it, other than thinking he doesn't have the answer again. I dump my hand of an extra Bogle and Kor Spiritdancer in case he EoT exile SSG X 2 Beast Within 2 of his lands to swing past my 1 Bogle for lethal. I had Rest in Peace out at the time. He does his 2nd Violent Outburst to wipe my board, then cast Archfiend of Ifnir. My next draw was Rancor, which may have gotten me to another Aura to kill him the turn before he kills me, although he probably would cast another creature, so I'd need a really good Aura. Anyway, dumb punt. No reason to run out the Spiritdancer. If he has those double Beast Within that he saved AND double SSG, he probably deserves to win. I punt my way out of a potential top 8. 1-2
Round 7 vs. Burn. My first match where I didn't mulligan once. Also was happy to see Burn, but not as happy after I'm out of top 8 contention. In the first game, I have Spirit Link and an Aura. She didn't have Eidolon of the Great Revel and you can guess how this game went. I felt like she might Skullcrack into Skullcrack into triple Lightning Bolt to win, but she didn't have even the 2nd Skillcrack. In the next game, I make the Bogle big. I swing and she thinks she chumps with a Grim Lavamancer (My dude has Rancor, Dyabreak Coronet, and others). I tell her it has trample. I'm thinking maybe she hopes I don't do the correct damage because she had Skillcrack and if her next 3 cards after drawing are Lightning Bolt, Lighning Bolt, Lightning Bolt or any Lava Spike type stuff, it's over. Not sure if she didn't know what Rancor does or was trying to give herself a chance to get to game 3... 2-0.
Round 8 vs. Abzan Counter Company. He does no mana dork. He does turn 2 Devoted Druid. I Path to Exile, considering the chance of another Devoted Druid - 3 out of 49 cards left in deck. Never do this calculation. It will rarely be poor for your opponent and if it is, the win will be too easy to remember it. He does do EoT CoCo for Devoted Druid and Kitchen Finks. Then he draws and plays Vizier of Remedies and Rhonas. Good game sir! In the next game I cast turn 2 Gaddock Teeg. Then I start suiting up a Bogle while he essentially looks at 3 dead cards in his hand. In the next game, it is similar to the first game, except I kept on Kor Spiritdancer, hoping to draw into Teeg, Path to Exile, or Rest in Peace in that order. I don't and he does double Chord of Calling after Bop into K Finks, then plays Duskwatch Recruiter he finds his buddy, Mr. Ballista. If I have to lose out on top 16 and $100, there's no other way that I'd want to go but the smooth nut draw of a Company deck in all 3 games, but foiled by Gaddock Teeg in one. This may have been the first time I've ever gotten Teeg against a Company deck; possibly 2nd or 3rd out of 100 matches or more with Bogles. I think if you have Company in your meta and want to beat it, you run 4 Teeg so that they Path to Exile, then Company, lol. 1-2.
5-3, 41st place. I fail to get top 16 for $100, but am oddly happy to finally see a CoCo deck. When I was playing Titanshift and other CoCo decks, I hardly ever saw these decks, except for Elves twice (which usually beat my CoCo decks). I literally wanted to see 4 rounds of CoCo and 5 rounds of E Tron since I really missed playing against those decks. I have no recent experience and have to play in a RPTQ next Sunday.
*Just a few questions about anecdotal evidence. I played a PPTQ with Titanshift where the Living End opponent didn't have Living End on turn 3 in 2 games. Other than that, they have had Living End on turn 3 in at least 95% of the games. I don't want to do the math because I'm scared to know the answer, but does this happen quite often? Admittedly I'm only talking about fewer than 20 matches though, so probably in 15 or so matches.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)I ran hexproof yesterday as well. I was 4-1, lost the 6th round, and then dropped at 5-2. I had some work to do so I couldn't really stay and play without a chance for top8. I grinded through titanshift 3 times, beat jund once, and lost to control and faeries. I lost to neverending blessed alliances in the control match and just had a total deck malfunction against faeries. I might have been able to stabilize against a different deck but the mulligans were severely punished by discard and liliana. I was really happy with the deck overall. I play three keen sense in the main and continue to think it's the most underplayed card in hexproof. Yes, it is a horrible topdeck, no argument from me there. I can't count the number of times it has kept me in games that I have no business being in. I usually side out most of them on the draw depending on how early the opposing deck has a creature down. Other notables from the tourney were spirit link and cartouche. Cartouche was just awesome. I play two and might go up to three. It seems to give alot of unforeseen problems to opponents. Twice yesterday I pathed the token to avoid mana screw. Not a great play but much better than the alternative of pathing a tribe elder, ha. I played one spirit link in the SB and was very happy with it. I have always known about this card but have been a little skeptical seeing as though it offers no power boost. I was very happy with it. It had a similar feel to keen sense. I felt I was winning races that I had no business winning. Nothing ground breaking, just wanted to give my official endorsement :). I used to be strictly against cards like keen sense and spirit link but it just doesn't seem like hexproof can race anymore. The meta is just too big, fast, and good. I think the utility auras offer a nice alternative in certain matchups. Lastly, MVP was and always is the Spiritdancer. I've suited that thing up a million times and I'm still surprised how quickly it wins. Hope everyone had fun yesterday!!
4 windswept heath
2 misty rainforst
3 razorverge thicket
4 horizon canopy
3 temple garden
1 forest
1 plains
1 arbor dryad
Creatures
4 boggle
4 scout
4 spiritdancer
4 path to exile
Enchantments
4 rancor
4 ethereal armor
4 daybreak coronet
4 spider umbra
3 hyena umbra
2 cartouche of solidarity
1 Gryff's Boon
2 spirit mantle
1 unflinching courage
2 rest in peace
4 leyline of sanctity
3 seal of primordium
1 stony silence
2 mana tithe
1 silence
1 spirit mantle
1 gaddock teague
Rough accounting of rounds:
Match 1: W - Golgari.. Eldritch oooze? (https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/776087#paper)
Match 2: L - 8 Rack
Match 3: W - Burn
Match 4: W - Affinity
Match 5: W - Merfolk
Match 6: W - Humans
Match 7: L - Storm
Match 8: W - U/W Control
Match 9: L - Living End
Match 1 (W) - I am not super sure what this deck was. It was running noose constrictor, lotleth troll and at one point I saw a Griselbrand in the graveyard so I assumed this was some sort of reanimator deck. I am pretty sure I boarded in rest in peace but I just ran my opponent over. That will teach them to run BG without any targeted discard or liliana's
Match 2 (L) - 8 rack. Match goes to 3. Cartouche of solidarity providing a guy was great, I was always able to stay in front of my opponents lili's - against 8 rack, lili lacks creature protection so you just fade 1 sac trigger and kill her and keep on moving. I outplayed my opponent at every turn this match (no one expects mana tithe or silence) up until game 3. In game three I had an early bogle with a cartouche of solidarity. I stupidly swung my token into a blinkmoth and then, although I was able to rebuild twice, was unable to close it out. Had I kept dude back I never would have been behind in creatures and would have won the match. Live and learn!
Match 3 (W) - Burn - this was a weiiiiiiird burn match. First off, at no point did I ever see a red creature. Moving on to the games, in game 1 I remember at one point, my opponent had 3 mana up on my end step and just untapped and drew. I guess they must have flooded. Game 2, was what really made the texture of the match weird. So my opener is a boggle, a coronet, an umbra and some lands and boggles. All I want to do is make a big boggle and do it... so turn 2 I umbra up my boggle and cast another boggle. Swing for 2. Opponent destructive revelries my umbra. Sigh. Pass the turn it is draw go. Turn 3, I top deck and cast some 1 drop umbra and another boggle. Swing 3 - opponent fetches and destructive revelries my 1 drop enchantment again.. ok... I might have played a dryad arbor here. Anyhow, by the end of the game I am swinging with 4 boggles and an arbor every turn. He has resorted to using deflecting palm on my 1/1's. TWICE. Eventually he dies to a horde of 1/1 boggles. Apparently he kept a hand loaded with SB hate - I saw 3 revelry and 2 palms in this game. Felt bad for my opponent because a more experienced player I think would have let me make my big boggle, deflecting palm it TWICE and then destructive revelry away the coronet and 2 other enchantments and that would be about lethal.
Match 4 (W) - Affinity - I remember this one being close and going to 3. Throughought the match, including game 3, my opponent was having a hard time keeping track of enchantments and their effects. At one point had them facing him so he could read them and I think he wanted me to play that way. I allowed this positioning for a minute or so so he had ample time to read the board but then I re-organized my enchantments into a more haphazard pile. I know it feels bad as a player to be less than communicative but in boggles, combat math if some of OUR hidden information. As such, it is in our best interest to layout our enchantments in ways that are a little more complicated for OP to read. For me this means not grouping duplicate enchantments together on my creature "stack", having the enchantments overlapping each other on the physical board and having my boggle on top of his pants. Anyhow, long story short my opponent had me dead in G3 a myriad ways but never got there because he thought I had reach. Amusingly the only green enchantment I had down was a rancor. So just as I lost an early match to misplay, I got one here due to opponent misplay. I'll take it. I asked my opponent what they were seeing after the game and it was one of those times I wish I had kept it to myself - my opponent was polite but clearly realizing this is a hell of a feel bad mid tourney.
Match 5 (W) - Mono U Merfolk - Played against this great young dude who was 6-0 with fish at last years regionals before going 0-3. It was one of the big storylines last year, anyhow... Bogglers always say merfolk is a good matchup but I find it to be pretty poor. For whatever reason I am ALWAYS loosing to spreading seas. In this match however lifelink + spirit mantle was able to get it done. Opponent was never able to spreading seas me in a tempo positive manner. In one game I landed the spirit link + coronet as well for the double gains. I think I was at like 119 life at one point due to opponent chump blocking with an un-ending stream of merfolk. This one went to 3.
Match 6 (W) - humans - Humans has a great clock against an un-interactive deck like ours but aside from a kitesail freebooter, NO interaction. To me this match up is all about getting lifelink asap and jamming. I am extremely high on spirit mantle in boggles and lifelink + spirit mantle is pretty much GG for humans decks.
Match 7 (L) - storm - Storm is just so consistent. I think I took this one to 3. I know in the last game I lost through a leyline; as my opponent was going off they were able to draw into some bounce spell for the leyline. It was one of those games where opponent has a storm count of like 23 and at least after 10 minutes of not playing magic I was allowed to leave heh.
Match 8 (W) - u/w control - This match was very very close. Went to 3. In either game 1 or 2 I was able to mana tithe a cryptic before attacks and that seemed to be enough. Supreme verdict is still a beating. More on the meta call there in general notes below. In game 3, I had a big spirit dancer and opponent was at like 3 life. He had a bunch of cards and mana. Spirit dancer dies returning 2 rancor to my hand. I play an arbor dryad from my hand in the second main, before passing back and UGH you know that hopeless feel. Opponent draws with 6 mana including 1 plains and immediately spreading seas my dryad arbor and then pass it back. So I go ahead and rancor up the arbor. Opponent then has the look of someone who made a terrible misplay. They expected that arbor was no longer a dude. But it was, so I cast the second rancor. Opponent has really slumped into their hand. They opt but don't find anything. I get in there for the kill. What I hadn't realized until after the game was that the opponent had used their only white source to cast spreading seas. They had a blessed alliance in hand. Opponent mumbled under his breath "what bs" but was cordial enough otherwise so no complaints.
Match 9 (L) - Living End - This one was brutal. Blown out in 2. We can't clock them nearly quick enough when they can go off with simian spirit guide turn 2. The only thing I should have done different given the horrendous nature of this combo would have been to mull more aggressively for a rest in peace. Worth going down to 4 or 5 to get in this scenario I think... If we land a RIP they have to wait till like turn 5 to start hard casting stuff which is plenty of time for us to draw and build.
General thoughts:
1. For me the MVP of this deck is 100% spirit mantle. All I want to do is attack my opponents life and gain life. This card enables both unimpeded. I played 2 but I actually like 3 in the list. Just lack a 3d in paper.
2. Cartouche of solidarity is the real deal. It isn't that we need to keep people off of liliana every game but in the ones we do this card does such a good job. The additional utility in a reasonable path target should also not be understated. In the matches where you need mana acceleration, your 1/1 token is likely not super important. It came up for me this weekend, especially running 19 lands.
3. Which leads me to a weird place... Umbra's. Are some percent of Umbra's now a flex slot? There is kind of a weird meta call now between the two umbra's + cartouche. In a jund / abzan / lili meta we want cartouches. In a U/W, U/B or other board wipe meta's we want umbras. Previously spider umbra felt like the lower priority umbra with the decrease in infect but at this point I am into 4 spider umbra's (some protection against inkmoth nexus) and some number of hyena umbra. It might be more correct to get off of unflinching courage instead.
4. 19 lands - it mostly worked out but I had to keep a number of slow 1 mana hands. I think I am going back up to 20. Probably another thicket.
5. I was pretty happy with my sideboard. My basic flex slots are the silence and 2 mana tithes. Silence was great against 8 rack but otherwise did not show up when it was needed. Spirit link #2 was swell. Gaddock Teague never really needed to do any work except vs. Storm where he never got a chance to do any work. I still like it though as an out to tron which will always be lurking around the top/mid/bottom tables I could see trying a piece of creature tech like Eidolon of Rhetoric or Kataki, war's wage.
Ok, that is all I got!
Great report and good stuff at the tourney. I wanted to reply because of the umbra/cartouche dilemma. I feel the exact same way. I am down to 6. 4 Hyena and 2 Spider. That's only my split because I play Keen Sense. I have to have first strike. Anyways, I went through the same thing when building my list for regionals. I hate cutting umbras because it's so nice to have in combat and against sweepers. With modern as wide open as it is right now, I bet you could run as little as three and be fine one weekend and run eight the next weekend and need everyone of them. I think it's just going to be guess/judgement call until the dust settles from the new set.
I love silence. I use it all the time. Good for you for playing with it. It has tons of sneaky applications. I like bring it in against blessed alliance. It's about the only card that stops it.
As for the lands... I have always played 20 but have been very tempted to shave one. There was a top 8 list at one of the regonals that ran 18!! Bogles is the type of deck that is going to have to run a little luckier than others to win. I have no problem with 19 lands. Although 19 with unflinching courage in there might be pushing it a bit.
Round 1 vs. Humans. Collins Mullen's list. I lose game 2 due to him doing Freebooter and Meddling Mage on my double Rancor and I drew another Rancor. A mull didn't help. Then I get lifelink in the final game and win. I sided 0 cards. 2-1.
Round 2 vs. Affinity. The guy I hitched a ride from, just him and me. Grand Prix Portland winner from last year. He rolls a 9. I roll an 8. That's it. He made the top 8. 1-2.
Round 3 vs. Jund. A mull to 6 loses me the game. He is stuck on his first 3 land drops, but Dark Confidant draws him 2 lands and he has gas. I play 7 lands out in play, sacrificing 2 Horizon Canopy and lose. This was a 1 land keep! The next game is similar, but he beats me down with 2 Scavenging Ooze. I did have Rest in Peace this game, but double Ooze and Dark Confidant kill me eventually. Seven lands in play, but none are Horizon Canopy. Mulls to 6 apparently don't do well when draw steps are only lands... He made the top 8 too. 0-2.
Round 4 vs. Grixis Shadow. Not much to say here. He played 2 Death's Shadow all 3 games. He made me discard an Aura twice in games 1 and 3 when Leyline of Sanctity was not out and I drew 2 Auras the whole game. Not strong enough to beat a double Shadow by turns 2 to 3 draw. He promptly dropped at X-2 after beating me. 1-2.
Round 5 vs. Humans. Similar to Round 1. He has a super strong hand in game 1. I do too. Easy win with lifelink. In the next game, I kept a 2 land hand, he played turn 2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben, and I never drew another land and didn't have many Auras until it was too late too. Drew and played 2 Kor Spiritdancer before I drew an Aura. In the last game, I start slowly, but after having 2 Kor Spiritdancer in play again, I draw an Aura and find Daybreak Coronet the following turn. 2-1.
Round 6 vs. Junk. In the first game after a mulligan, I keep a hand vulnerable to Fatal Push. He literally has all the Fatal Pushes for Dryad Arbor with Umbras, then for a topdecked Kor Spiritdancer, Liliana of the Veil, Siege Rhino into double Tarmogoyf. This deck is really good at drawing game 1 Goyfs. In the next game, I play Leyline of Sanctity and fetch Dryad Arbor into Kor Spiritdancer. When he taps out for Grim Flayer, I go to town on the Kor Spiritdancer and despite Maelstrom Pulse killing another later one and an Umbra off the main one, I get there pretty easily. Didn't see a hexproof duder. In the final game, he blocks a 9/7 Bogle with a 6/7 Tarmogoyf, then I go to first strike damage. He tried to take back the block. I hold him to it, especially after his Liliana of the Veil killed my Dryad Arbor previously and Abrupt Decay killed Spirit Mantle to stop lethal while Maelstrom Pulse knocked another Aura off earlier. I actually drew 2 Rancor in a row this game! But he draws his 2nd Liliana of the Veil the turn before lethal (2 turns later obviously) and then makes Scooze big and plays gas while I play nothing. I at least made him think about the 2nd Lily with a fetch, but alas, I only run 1 Dryad Arbor nowadays. I used to run 2 for the longest time, but you don't expect to see 8 Liliana of the Veil in a 7 rounds tournament nowadays. I hadn't played against BGx whenever I've run Titanshift recently. 1-2.
Round 7 vs. Humans. I mull to 4 and barely trudge over the finish line. I thought he was going to play a 2nd Mantis Rider for sure, but he didn't. In the next game, I sandbag Spirit Mantle and he doesn't get Freebooter in time. An earlier one didn't see it, unfortunately for him. I cross the finish line with Kor Spiritdancer. 2-0.
3-4. I literally got demolished. I would like to say that I wish I had stayed on Titanshift, but I'm positive I avoid the BGx easy matchup and probably draw no hate and lose to Affinity in round 2 anyway. Modern has me really down recently. It seems like whenever I try to metagame, it just works out terribly. My Affinity friend told me that he saw gobs of Humans and Jeskai after he won round 1 in 5 minutes. I was pretty sure that I wouldn't play against Jeskai, but figured I wouldn't play against Humans either (lucky matchup for me when I'm X-2 or worse).
Friend I came with got paired against the mirror Affinity match in the top 8 and his opponent drew better than him after 2 mulligans by him in two games. Really rough day for him. Felt worse for him, losing in the round that qualifies him for the Pro Tour again.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Link: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-regional-ptq-2017-11-19
Winner: Dredge
Runner-up: Dredge
Top8:
Dredge: 2
RG Ponza: 1
Burn: 1
Affinity: 1
B/W Eldrazi & Taxes: 1
Infect: 1
Bogles: 1
Top32:
5c Humans: 5
Dredge: 3
Burn: 3
Grixis Shadow: 3
Affinity: 2
B/W Eldrazi and Taxes: 2
Abzan Devoted Company: 2
Jeskai Queller: 2
RG Ponza: 1
Infect: 1
Bogles: 1
UR Kiki Exarch: 1
Lantern Prison: 1
UR Through The Breach: 2
Jund DS: 1
RUGB(4c-No White) Delver: 1
BG Tron: 1
BWR Midrange: 1
Link to Discord server where anybody from MTGS can keep up with thread topics while everything is being sorted out with the new site.
First time poster.
Running a pretty standard list. 3 spider, 3 hyena, 2 spirit mantle, 3 spiritdancer 3 unflinching courage (to get around chalice on 1). 19 lands (2 Plains 1 forest.) plus 1 arbor.
SB
3 Gaddock Teeg
2 Mindbreak Trap
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
2 Seal of Primordium
4 Leyline of Sanctity
I've been Playing MTGO a lot lately. When I say a lot, I mean a lot lately, like whenever I get a chance. I feel with the mindbreaks, RIP's and teeg's the storm match up is winnable in 3 games. But i'm wondering if maindecking leylines is worthwhile sacrificing the explosivity. But i also know that multiples late game when you want an aura is just dead. Burn is pretty winnable with the lifegain. GDS is usually winnable unless they get multiple death's shadow. Control is on the upswing and can be winnable when you land big auras after they tap out, but that's a really incremental damage game. I'm about 35 friendly leagues deep on playing this list and I'm just looking to spike discussion on how we play in this meta. (hoping no one scours the fringe deck salvation forums) I feel bogles is a really solid deck at the moment and is well positioned to pull a bunch of wins.
Good luck to you all and may the auras always be in your favor.
I can't speak on MTGO as I only play paper Magic and I'm not sure what decks you're more likely to encounter on MODO vs paper. However from the sound of it, it seems like Storm is an issue lol. Do you play any sources of blue mana for Mindbreak Trap or just use its alternate cost? Also, a complete 75 would be helpful to see what you're running exactly. I dropped unflinching a long time ago, but if Chalice is more prevalent on MODO then that's a smart choice. Thanks to Chalice being outrageously expensive, I don't see it as much as I used to, however, I still play against it occassionally and in those instances I've opted to go with a diverse suite of artifact removal ranging b/w 1cmc & 3cmc. Additionally, I've recently toyed around with Solemnity as a potential niche response.
In regards to main-decking Leylines, I was in that same pickle for a while, going back and forth on the issue. I've settled on a 2-2 split and it hasn't been terribly bad. It still stinks not having it in your opening 7, but it's phenomenal when we do have it and I now there's only 1 more somewhere in my library compared to 3 more dead draws. If anything, I'd suggest testing various ratios in order to get a feel for it and decide what you're most comfortable with. My meta is chalked full of hand disruption, Burn, LotV, etc, so I've found it to be more advantageous than not.
Link to Discord server where anybody from MTGS can keep up with thread topics while everything is being sorted out with the new site.
4x Slippery Bogle
4x Gladecover Scout
4x Kor Spiritdancer
Spells
3x Path to Exile
3x Gryff's Boon
4x Hyena Umbra
4x Ethereal Armor
4x Rancor
4x Spider Umbra
4x Daybreak Coronet
2x Spirit Mantle
1x Dray Arbor
4x Sunpetal Grove
3x Windswept Heath
2x Wooded Foothills
4x Temple Garden
4x Plains
2x Forest
3x Naturalize
2x Unflinching Courage
2x Relic of Progenitus
2x Qasali iPridemage
1x Gelid Shackles
2x Spirit Mantle
2x Hallowed Moonlight
Do people not use Open the Armory at all anymore? I was thinking about starting out with Horizon Canopy and Gaddock Teeg since they seem to have dipped in price recently.
You seem to be pretty much finished with the non-land maindeck, so you're not far away. The manabase can certainly use some work though. You only have 11 lands that can cast a turn 1 Bogle and that's way too low. I'd say 15 is a minimum but personally I prefer 18-19. As you say Horizon Canopy has dropped in price recently so it could be a good pickup, but more important and less expensive is Razorverge Thicket (picking up a 4th Windswept Heath wouldn't hurt either).
The sideboard could use some changes. What I would look to change is:
Naturalize -> Seal of Primordium
Relic of Progenitus -> Rest in Peace
Qasali Pridemage -> Stony Silence
Hallowed Moonlight -> Gaddock Teeg
Gelid Shackles -> Path to Exile
These are pretty much all straightforward upgrades with similar effects but just better versions of it. I would also recommend removing Unflinching Courage and Spirit Mantle, in my opinion they're not great in the sideboard. They're pretty all-round so they're decent to good in the maindeck, but in the sideboard you want stronger cards that can really impact a matchup. The more expensive auras also generally get worse after sideboard as they're vulnerable to removal and sort of clunky. In their place I would naturally suggest 4 Leyline of Sanctity, which has always been great.
If you're on a budget I would start with the Razorverge Thickets, then get the semi-cheap sideboard cards like Stony Silence and Rest in Peace, then try to get Horizon Canopies.
MTGO/MTGA: Tyclone
My Primers ~ GWx Vizier Company ~ Knightfall ~ RG Eldrazi ~ Green's Sun's Zenith
More Brews ~ Modern Four Horsemen ~ Gitrog Dredge
And are there any preferred auras? Or is it all pretty much up to preferance at this point? are people using the white Cartouche?
Also, saw some people talking about running glistener? Sounds like an awesome game 2 trick! what would you take out for it? A hexproof? spiritdancer? mixture of things?
When I played before I wasn't super good, this deck is great at running itself, so I didn't really sideboard to play too intelligently, but that's kinda what I'm looking to change now.
Again, thanks for all the help!