In the week leading up to the Open we were testing maindeck Leyline of Sanctity, but that did not work out. With the meta shift away from Burn and Jund, Leylines weren't as relevant as we imagined. There might be a time and a meta for it, but it's not now. With that, we started testing Glint-Nest Cranes late Thursday, and it proved very promising.
Both Mike and I got the infinite challenge weekend. First challenge on Saturday:
Round 1: Jund (2-0)
Don't have a lot of notes on this one. I see my opp got me down to nine, but Inventors' Fair started gaining me life and I stabilized. Mike Maz talked with me about what he started doing for sideboarding vs. Jund - siding out all of his discard. I tried it, and it worked perfectly. My game two notes show that my opp did zero damage to me, my notes show my life total at 21. I think I stopped counting Fair triggers just to speed up.
Round 2: Burn (0-2)
Game one my opp mulls to six. Opp plays a turn one Goblin Guide. I Inquisition and see a hand of land, Guide, three Eidolon of the Great Revels. This looks poopy. I grab a Revel, end up losing extremely quickly. Game two I get the lock with Bridge, but my opp has a single Grim Lavamancer hitting me. I'm trying to keep my opp off of burn spells while digging to an answer and just not seeing one that'll help in time. I end up having to self mill with all rocks and sac Lantern to shuffle myself to hope for one of my six outs (three Brutality, three Pyroclasm). I get a Brutality, play on two modes (discard and kill Lavamancer). I have Ruins and the mana to cast Lantern back for the lock, just need the opp to blank on one draw. Opp draws a Bolt and kills me.
Round 3: Bant Eldrazi (2-0)
Easy match game one. I do get hit to 18 but Cranes and Spellskite blocked for me while I dug to a Bridge. I start gaining life back and seal it up with a Bridge. Game two I get the lock, but opp is able to "mill" me by using Eldrazi Displacer and Thought-Knot Seer. I do have two Spellskites, but I'm limited on blue mana. I end up getting enough blue mana to blank Displacer and get a Needle for Displacer for the win.
Intentional draw for round four for prizes. Opp was on Enduring Ideal, and I'm super happy we do the draw. I'm not sure that this is a bad matchup, but it's grindy as crap. We play one game for funsies and he plays out Suppression Field, Suppression Field, Ideal into Leyline of Sanctity, Runed Halo (naming Codex Shredder), Form of the Dragon.
Challenge Two:
Round 1: Abzan Combo (2-0)
Needle on Seer and easy lock. Game two was closer, opp was very close to combo off, but Brutality bought me time by killing Melira. My notes show that I ended the game at 34. The Glint-Nest Cranes helped in this by digging for Grafdigger's Cage and blocking cards that would otherwise sneak under Bridge.
Round 2: Red Prison (2-1)
Game one was easy enough win, Needle on Koth, lay the lock. Fair gets me back up to 20 life. Game two my opp plays a turn one Chalice of the Void. I forget if I was missing green mana for Quiet Disrepair or if I had the green and had to wait for Disrepair, but eventually I got both and played Disrepair on the Chalice. I forget the trigger to kill Chalice, have a hand of Needle, three Shredder, two Stirrings. Pass turn, opp draws, uses Chandra and reveals a Wear/Tear and takes out my Disrepair I can't find another answer to Chalice quickly enough and lose. Game three I take a hit from Fanatic of Mogis, but lay Bridge and lock quickly enough, Needle Chandra. I'm running slim on mill rocks, but Fair is keeping me in the game with the life gain. Opp plays two more Fanatics for some more burn, but it's not enough to keep up with Fair before I completely lock him out.
Round 3: Grishoalbrand (2-0)
Game one I get an early lock, but opp is able to dig some with Faithless Looting. I end up taking a large hit from Borborygmos Enraged, going down to nine. Stabilize with lock and Bridge, Surgical on Faithless Looting to make sure there's no tricks he could draw into. Game two my opp plays Looting on turn one, discarding Griselbrand and a land. I draw and think. Me - "I don't think you would have sided in Pact of Negation, but...I'd rather not risk it." I surgical his Griselbrands, see a Pact of Negation and Goryo's Vengeance in hand. End up playing Needle naming Boborygmos Enraged, locked opp out. End up getting opp to five life. He uses Nourishing Shoal to go back up to 16, then more Crane beats down to four and he concedes.
Intentional draw for round four for prizes. Opp was on Faeries, we played a bit, with me offering sideboard suggestions and whatnot. He was going to originally side in Leyline of the Void against me, siding out Spell Snare and removal, but I pointed out that it's mostly a dead card and that he should not. We play one pre-sideboard, and two post. Game one I didn't realize that I could Needle Smuggler's Copter and lost due to that. Game two got the lock, game three lost to copter beats. Happy we did the intentional draw, although I think I would have been okay had I realized I could Needle Copter and hadn't helped him with sideboarding against me
Sunday Modern Classic:
Round 1: Suicide Bloo (2-0)
Opp seemed really salty as soon as he realized I was on Lantern. Judge started watching us, and as soon as the judge left, opp's play slowed down. Game one opp gets me down to four with a good swing from Thing in the Ice before I stabilize with Bridge and lock. Opp is left trying to race Fair with Burn, which doesn't happen thanks to the lock. Game two opp plays turn one Swiftspear followed by turn two Kataki. I pay for everything and take damage, but stabilize with lock at three life. Fair gets me back up, opp gets a set of runners through the lock and ends up with an active Ascension and a Grapeshot in hand. Opp gets another great set of runners and ends up drawing a Gitaxian Probe with me at eight life. He tries to Probe to draw a Remand, forcing me to shuffle it away with Lantern. He draws and thinks for a while before playing the 2nd Ascension he drew and Grapeshots me for five. He's got 13 cards left in library and I know the only outs he has are Lightning Helix. I blind mill like crazy and Surgical Extraction Helix, check his library again just to be sure, he's dead. He ends up conceding after thinking a bit.
Round 2: Abzan Combo (1-1-1)
Game one my opp plays Archangel of Thune. I Needle Spike Feeder just in case, which works perfectly because opp had Chord. Opp is able to find an answer for Bridge and swings in for the win. Game two goes longer, opp tries to play it out (and is playing VERY slowly). I wanted to keep opp on lands to make it so that he had zero reasons to think, but couldn't get it. End up milling opp out. Game three I get the lock easily enough, opp is completely dead, but opp is again taking advantage of every possible trigger announcement to drag out the game and we go to time and get a draw. We had multiple judges watching this game (including the head judge), as we were the last one. He never got a slow play or stall call. I asked the head judge afterwards if I should have asked him to intervene, but he said that as long as the opponent has cards to play, the opp can legally play them. The opp just made sure to make every play and trigger call last 5-10 seconds.
Round 3: Jund (1-2)
Game one I win easily enough with a lock with Bridge. Opp had a chance to exile Bridge with Ooze, but forgot and I was able to Ruins it. Game two I draw the only discard spell I'd left in and saw Lili, Pulse, Kolaghan's Command, Dark Confidant, Ancient Grudge, Cliffs, Mire. I grab the Grudge hoping to draw a Cage soon and leave my opp with higher casting spells for a bit. I Needle Lili, play Jar and lay a Bridge. I keep a Bridge and Shredder in hand in case my opp plays Command on something and I don't want him to Pulse my Bridges. Opp ends up trying to Pulse Needle but Jar saves it, then opp takes out Bridge. I play a Spellskite and another Bridge and hold him off for a bit. He plays a 2nd Dark Confidant and goes down to five life very quickly, ends up bolting his own Confidant and eating it with Ooze to go up to six before using Abrupt Decay on my Bridge and swinging for the win. I drew lands while all of this was happening. Game three I misplay pretty badly. I get the lock, just need a Bridge, his only threats are Scavenging Ooze and Raging Ravine. I self-mill a Ghost Quarter to try to dig for a Bridge, not realizing he has a Ravine in play. I end up losing to Ravine beats while digging for a Bridge.
Round 4: Abzan Midrange (0-2)
Opp was very cool guy I get beat pretty hard and fast by Tarmogoyfs and Grim Flayer, but I have Lantern/Shredders and a Spellskite and Crane to soak up some damage. I sac Fair to get a Bridge to stabilize, but opp has Seige Rhino in hand to finish me off. Game two my opp is able to discard my Bridge, I get Ruins and Ruins it once, opp gets Fulminator Mage for my Ruins and takes out Bridge, I draw lands and lose. I did have Shredder in play and was hoping to use it at instant speed to grab my Bridge back, but I didn't get the lands to do it until the turn I died.
I drop after this to play in the last Modern Challenge of the weekend.
Round 1: Death and Taxes (2-0)
Super easy. Needle Ghost Quarter, play Bridge with lock. Opp's only out was Flickerwisp, which I do not let him draw. Game two opp gets me down to seven before I'm able to stabilize, but again, pretty easy matchup.
Round 2: Eight-whack (0-2)
Opp has a blazing fast hand, kills me for exactsies the turn before I stabilize. Game two opp has an awesome hand (I Brutality his turn one play and discard a Smash to Smithereens). I dig but find no Bridge or Pyroclasm and just lose. Crane did some blocking and digging, but the Bridges where hiding pretty far down. Cool kid though, very nice
Round 3: Lantern Mirror with Mike Maz! (0-2)
Mike's hand is strictly better than mine, he wins it in short order. Game two I realize I've forgotten to side out Bridges. I almost get there with Crane beats, but I mess up and try to Decay his Crucible instead of his Crane blocker.
Round 4: Tron (2-1)
Last match of the weekend. Opp is super cool, very fun to talk with, part of a large group there. If any of you are reading this, it was awesome meeting you all! Game one lose very quickly. Game two I'm able to keep him on lands, end up using Thoughtseize to take out the Ulamog he was building up for. I end up getting him to four life with Crane beats before he scoops. Game three I draw the following hand:
Opp mulls to five. I keep it, draw a Blooming Marsh. I play out nearly my entire hand. My opp tries to Jedi me into letting him draw a land, I mill it. Opp is stuck on one land. I Stirrings, find a Pyxis, pay Pyxis, a land slips through. My top card is Stirrings. I draw Stirrings, play it, grab a Ghost Quarter. Opp gets runners and finds another land, plays an Expedition Map. My top card is Glint-Nest Crane. I play Crane, find a Needle, name Map. A land slips through. My top card is Stirrings. Draw Stirrings, grab a Shredder, my top card is Stirrings. No more lands or spells that grab lands slip through. Turns out opp had two Nature's Claims in hand. Opp tries to use them on the Needle naming Map, but the two Jars I had in my opener saves it and I gain lots of life. Opp doesn't draw any more land. I end up using Surgical to remove the rest of the land from his library.
So it was a pretty fun weekend I met lots of other Lantern players there, and lots of other really cool people on all sorts of awesome decks. Glint-Nest Crane and Inventors' Fair both overperformed this weekend (although my notes are scarce, I can absolutely say I'm impressed by both). Mike and I talked on the way back about maybe going up to four Cranes (they're that good!).
I hope this was somewhat interesting and helpful. I plan on messaging the admins so that I can update the primer with the new information, hopefully have that done very soon. But I need sleep after a long day of piloting Lantern (it's almost 1am). Good night!
I am an absolute fan of Crane now. It overperformed for me this weekend, and I want to start testing four main. I'm keeping my Pyroclasm in the board, though. I respect Sam Black, but he also said that Collective Brutality is bad for the deck, which I've found to be completely wrong. It also did wonders for me this weekend. He likes to blind-mill himself without having ways to recur what he mills. With people playing lots of graveyard hate these days, that feels like waiting for disaster. If I'd done that this weekend, I'd have two more losses (Tron opp played Surgical Extraction and Red Prison opp played Rest in Peace).
The Cranes do whiff sometimes, but the thing about that is that, when they do, they just dug us four cards closer to the artifact we want (usually Bridge, Lantern, or Needle). With the Cranes and Stirrings combined, we are essentially filtering our deck extremely quickly, and stacking our deck from the bottom up. Cards are sometimes stuck in our hand for a bit with all of this, but the Cranes block any creatures with the power to sneak under anyways. This also sets us up to power through and get multiple Bridges, rather than just one. Additionally, the Cranes set up a real clock for our opponents. I can't express how happy I've been with them, and I wish I'd discovered their power sooner. I'll have a few videos up this coming weekend with them. I kind of want to make room for another land, and I might just add one as a 61st card (nod to you, mikemaz). Probably a Darksteel Citadel, since Cranes can grab them, turns on Fair and Opal quicker, and keeps Glimmervoids safe. With all the filtering we have between the Cranes and Stirrings, there should be little to no worry about a 61st card diluting the list in any significant way.
Well since I dont understand why should I want crucible and
Any deck that runs Ghost Quarter can consider Crucible a fantastic card. You never miss a land drop, and pretty soon, in the current Modern format, they run out of lands. Hardest lock there is.
I think I still like Pyroclasm. It helps buy time until we play Bridge, and even after Bridge it kills stuff like Signal Pest/Ornithopter/Noble Hierarch, and wipes an Abzan Combo board so they don't get an infinite combo going before we get a Needle to shut it down.
Glint-nest crane turns on searing blaze in a way that makes me uncomfortable. I have a feeling that the BUG lists are more vulnerable to burn variants party because of this.
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@Chipsinabox: It does turn on Searing Blaze, but that's where we have to decide risk vs. reward. I'm willing to turn on the 33rd most played spell in Modern (it's not even in the top 100 cards played, had to go to noncreature spell specific) in order to play a creature that blocks close to half of the top 50 creatures played in Modern (and lives!) and digs for
[1] A card that neutralizes virtually all of the creatures played in Modern (Ensnaring Bridge)
[2] A card that neutralizes activated abilities of our choice (Pithing Needle)
[3] A card that stabilizes our manabase (Mox Opal)
[4] One of our lock pieces (Lantern of Insight/Codex Shredder/Ghoulcaller's Bell)
[5] One of many sideboard cards that can shut down an opponents' deck or attempt to remove/bypass our lock (Grafdigger's Cage, Welding Jar, Sun Droplet...)
[6] Even when it whiffs, digs us closer to the above cards
Alright, i'm convinced. I will need to find room for some number of Glint-Nest Crane in my mainboard.
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A little part of me feels so warm that people are starting to play with Glint-Nest Crane :')
My favorite part about Crane is that even if it misses, you are left with a very relevant blocker. Many times when I play it, the body is what I really need, and the search effect just feels like a bonus (that happens to hit fairly consistently).
So when evaluating Crane, I think its best to think of it as a Blocker with potential upside rather then a dig effect with a body.
what would you guys do here? no information of my opponents hand and we have played a land this turn
also it might have been a misplay to play the void before stirrings, I was not thinking clearly but very minor. still a potential mistake
ATTACHMENTS
lantern vs tron
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To see the world in a grain of sand, and to see heaven in a wild flower, hold infinity in the palm of your hands, and eternity in an hour. - William Blake
It was not delight, not wonder that arose among us, it was the peace of heaven. He who has thought most deeply loves what is most alive. - Friedrich Holderlin
And I find that most of the time Collective Brutality does the job of holding off until you get Ensnaring Bridge well enough. I think that ditching Pyroclasm could make the deck skew comfortably towards a more Blue or Black direction.
@Gul_Dukat: I would probably take Needle and name Oblivion Stone. I agree with Kerotan1989 that if the opponent has Karn, then they'll likely try to exile Needle or Lantern, in which case you can play Tezzeret next turn and kill Karn. If you name Karn instead of Oblivion Stone, then the opponent can not only blow up your board with it, but it will also remove your Glimmervoid, which is crippling. The opponent may have Ugin or World Breaker as well, but both of those are also answered by Tezzeret (dig for Bridge or attack with a Lantern). You will hopefully draw a land next turn to play Tezzeret (you can mill yourself into one).
It is a rough spot to be in, either way, but that's what I'd likely do.
4 Lantern of Insight
4 Codex Shredder
3 Ghoulcaller's Bell
1 Pyxis of Pandemonium
4 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Spellskite
3 Pithing Needle
Non-Artifact:
3 Glint-Nest Crane
2 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Collective Brutality
2 Surgical Extraction
4 Ancient Stirrings
2 Abrupt Decay
4 Mox Opal
4 Glimmervoid
2 Blooming Marsh
2 Darkslick Shores
1 Botanical Sanctum
2 Inventors' Fair
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Academy Ruins
1 Forest
1 Swamp
3 Welding Jar
2 Sun Droplet
1 Quiet Disrepair
1 Seal of Primordium
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Pyroclasm
1 Pithing Needle
In the week leading up to the Open we were testing maindeck Leyline of Sanctity, but that did not work out. With the meta shift away from Burn and Jund, Leylines weren't as relevant as we imagined. There might be a time and a meta for it, but it's not now. With that, we started testing Glint-Nest Cranes late Thursday, and it proved very promising.
Both Mike and I got the infinite challenge weekend. First challenge on Saturday:
Round 1: Jund (2-0)
Don't have a lot of notes on this one. I see my opp got me down to nine, but Inventors' Fair started gaining me life and I stabilized. Mike Maz talked with me about what he started doing for sideboarding vs. Jund - siding out all of his discard. I tried it, and it worked perfectly. My game two notes show that my opp did zero damage to me, my notes show my life total at 21. I think I stopped counting Fair triggers just to speed up.
Round 2: Burn (0-2)
Game one my opp mulls to six. Opp plays a turn one Goblin Guide. I Inquisition and see a hand of land, Guide, three Eidolon of the Great Revels. This looks poopy. I grab a Revel, end up losing extremely quickly. Game two I get the lock with Bridge, but my opp has a single Grim Lavamancer hitting me. I'm trying to keep my opp off of burn spells while digging to an answer and just not seeing one that'll help in time. I end up having to self mill with all rocks and sac Lantern to shuffle myself to hope for one of my six outs (three Brutality, three Pyroclasm). I get a Brutality, play on two modes (discard and kill Lavamancer). I have Ruins and the mana to cast Lantern back for the lock, just need the opp to blank on one draw. Opp draws a Bolt and kills me.
Round 3: Bant Eldrazi (2-0)
Easy match game one. I do get hit to 18 but Cranes and Spellskite blocked for me while I dug to a Bridge. I start gaining life back and seal it up with a Bridge. Game two I get the lock, but opp is able to "mill" me by using Eldrazi Displacer and Thought-Knot Seer. I do have two Spellskites, but I'm limited on blue mana. I end up getting enough blue mana to blank Displacer and get a Needle for Displacer for the win.
Intentional draw for round four for prizes. Opp was on Enduring Ideal, and I'm super happy we do the draw. I'm not sure that this is a bad matchup, but it's grindy as crap. We play one game for funsies and he plays out Suppression Field, Suppression Field, Ideal into Leyline of Sanctity, Runed Halo (naming Codex Shredder), Form of the Dragon.
Challenge Two:
Round 1: Abzan Combo (2-0)
Needle on Seer and easy lock. Game two was closer, opp was very close to combo off, but Brutality bought me time by killing Melira. My notes show that I ended the game at 34. The Glint-Nest Cranes helped in this by digging for Grafdigger's Cage and blocking cards that would otherwise sneak under Bridge.
Round 2: Red Prison (2-1)
Game one was easy enough win, Needle on Koth, lay the lock. Fair gets me back up to 20 life. Game two my opp plays a turn one Chalice of the Void. I forget if I was missing green mana for Quiet Disrepair or if I had the green and had to wait for Disrepair, but eventually I got both and played Disrepair on the Chalice. I forget the trigger to kill Chalice, have a hand of Needle, three Shredder, two Stirrings. Pass turn, opp draws, uses Chandra and reveals a Wear/Tear and takes out my Disrepair
Round 3: Grishoalbrand (2-0)
Game one I get an early lock, but opp is able to dig some with Faithless Looting. I end up taking a large hit from Borborygmos Enraged, going down to nine. Stabilize with lock and Bridge, Surgical on Faithless Looting to make sure there's no tricks he could draw into. Game two my opp plays Looting on turn one, discarding Griselbrand and a land. I draw and think. Me - "I don't think you would have sided in Pact of Negation, but...I'd rather not risk it." I surgical his Griselbrands, see a Pact of Negation and Goryo's Vengeance in hand. End up playing Needle naming Boborygmos Enraged, locked opp out. End up getting opp to five life. He uses Nourishing Shoal to go back up to 16, then more Crane beats down to four and he concedes.
Intentional draw for round four for prizes. Opp was on Faeries, we played a bit, with me offering sideboard suggestions and whatnot. He was going to originally side in Leyline of the Void against me, siding out Spell Snare and removal, but I pointed out that it's mostly a dead card and that he should not. We play one pre-sideboard, and two post. Game one I didn't realize that I could Needle Smuggler's Copter and lost due to that. Game two got the lock, game three lost to copter beats. Happy we did the intentional draw, although I think I would have been okay had I realized I could Needle Copter and hadn't helped him with sideboarding against me
Sunday Modern Classic:
Round 1: Suicide Bloo (2-0)
Opp seemed really salty as soon as he realized I was on Lantern. Judge started watching us, and as soon as the judge left, opp's play slowed down. Game one opp gets me down to four with a good swing from Thing in the Ice before I stabilize with Bridge and lock. Opp is left trying to race Fair with Burn, which doesn't happen thanks to the lock. Game two opp plays turn one Swiftspear followed by turn two Kataki. I pay for everything and take damage, but stabilize with lock at three life. Fair gets me back up, opp gets a set of runners through the lock and ends up with an active Ascension and a Grapeshot in hand. Opp gets another great set of runners and ends up drawing a Gitaxian Probe with me at eight life. He tries to Probe to draw a Remand, forcing me to shuffle it away with Lantern. He draws and thinks for a while before playing the 2nd Ascension he drew and Grapeshots me for five. He's got 13 cards left in library and I know the only outs he has are Lightning Helix. I blind mill like crazy and Surgical Extraction Helix, check his library again just to be sure, he's dead. He ends up conceding after thinking a bit.
Round 2: Abzan Combo (1-1-1)
Game one my opp plays Archangel of Thune. I Needle Spike Feeder just in case, which works perfectly because opp had Chord. Opp is able to find an answer for Bridge and swings in for the win. Game two goes longer, opp tries to play it out (and is playing VERY slowly). I wanted to keep opp on lands to make it so that he had zero reasons to think, but couldn't get it. End up milling opp out. Game three I get the lock easily enough, opp is completely dead, but opp is again taking advantage of every possible trigger announcement to drag out the game and we go to time and get a draw. We had multiple judges watching this game (including the head judge), as we were the last one. He never got a slow play or stall call. I asked the head judge afterwards if I should have asked him to intervene, but he said that as long as the opponent has cards to play, the opp can legally play them. The opp just made sure to make every play and trigger call last 5-10 seconds.
Round 3: Jund (1-2)
Game one I win easily enough with a lock with Bridge. Opp had a chance to exile Bridge with Ooze, but forgot and I was able to Ruins it. Game two I draw the only discard spell I'd left in and saw Lili, Pulse, Kolaghan's Command, Dark Confidant, Ancient Grudge, Cliffs, Mire. I grab the Grudge hoping to draw a Cage soon and leave my opp with higher casting spells for a bit. I Needle Lili, play Jar and lay a Bridge. I keep a Bridge and Shredder in hand in case my opp plays Command on something and I don't want him to Pulse my Bridges. Opp ends up trying to Pulse Needle but Jar saves it, then opp takes out Bridge. I play a Spellskite and another Bridge and hold him off for a bit. He plays a 2nd Dark Confidant and goes down to five life very quickly, ends up bolting his own Confidant and eating it with Ooze to go up to six before using Abrupt Decay on my Bridge and swinging for the win. I drew lands while all of this was happening. Game three I misplay pretty badly. I get the lock, just need a Bridge, his only threats are Scavenging Ooze and Raging Ravine. I self-mill a Ghost Quarter to try to dig for a Bridge, not realizing he has a Ravine in play. I end up losing to Ravine beats while digging for a Bridge.
Round 4: Abzan Midrange (0-2)
Opp was very cool guy
I drop after this to play in the last Modern Challenge of the weekend.
Round 1: Death and Taxes (2-0)
Super easy. Needle Ghost Quarter, play Bridge with lock. Opp's only out was Flickerwisp, which I do not let him draw. Game two opp gets me down to seven before I'm able to stabilize, but again, pretty easy matchup.
Round 2: Eight-whack (0-2)
Opp has a blazing fast hand, kills me for exactsies the turn before I stabilize. Game two opp has an awesome hand (I Brutality his turn one play and discard a Smash to Smithereens). I dig but find no Bridge or Pyroclasm and just lose. Crane did some blocking and digging, but the Bridges where hiding pretty far down. Cool kid though, very nice
Round 3: Lantern Mirror with Mike Maz! (0-2)
Mike's hand is strictly better than mine, he wins it in short order. Game two I realize I've forgotten to side out Bridges. I almost get there with Crane beats, but I mess up and try to Decay his Crucible instead of his Crane blocker.
Round 4: Tron (2-1)
Last match of the weekend. Opp is super cool, very fun to talk with, part of a large group there. If any of you are reading this, it was awesome meeting you all! Game one lose very quickly. Game two I'm able to keep him on lands, end up using Thoughtseize to take out the Ulamog he was building up for. I end up getting him to four life with Crane beats before he scoops. Game three I draw the following hand:
Opp mulls to five. I keep it, draw a Blooming Marsh. I play out nearly my entire hand. My opp tries to Jedi me into letting him draw a land, I mill it. Opp is stuck on one land. I Stirrings, find a Pyxis, pay Pyxis, a land slips through. My top card is Stirrings. I draw Stirrings, play it, grab a Ghost Quarter. Opp gets runners and finds another land, plays an Expedition Map. My top card is Glint-Nest Crane. I play Crane, find a Needle, name Map. A land slips through. My top card is Stirrings. Draw Stirrings, grab a Shredder, my top card is Stirrings. No more lands or spells that grab lands slip through. Turns out opp had two Nature's Claims in hand. Opp tries to use them on the Needle naming Map, but the two Jars I had in my opener saves it and I gain lots of life. Opp doesn't draw any more land. I end up using Surgical to remove the rest of the land from his library.
So it was a pretty fun weekend
I hope this was somewhat interesting and helpful. I plan on messaging the admins so that I can update the primer with the new information, hopefully have that done very soon. But I need sleep after a long day of piloting Lantern (it's almost 1am). Good night!
Lantern Control
(with videos)
Uc Tron
Netdecking explained
Netdecking explained, Part 2
On speculators and counterfeits
On Interaction
Every single competitive deck in existence is designed to limit the opponent's ability to interact in a meaningful way.
Record number of exclamation points on SCG homepage: 71 (6 January, 2018)
"I don't want to believe, I want to know."
-Carl Sagan
Lantern Control
(with videos)
Uc Tron
Netdecking explained
Netdecking explained, Part 2
On speculators and counterfeits
On Interaction
Every single competitive deck in existence is designed to limit the opponent's ability to interact in a meaningful way.
Record number of exclamation points on SCG homepage: 71 (6 January, 2018)
"I don't want to believe, I want to know."
-Carl Sagan
Here's his list:
4 Ancient Stirrings
1 Collective Brutality
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Surgical Extraction
4 Codex Shredder
1 Crucible of Worlds
4 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Ghoulcaller's Bell
4 Lantern of Insight
4 Mox Opal
3 Pithing Needle
1 Pyxis of Pandemonium
1 Aether Hub
4 Blooming Marsh
2 Botanical Sanctum
1 Darkslick Shores
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Glimmervoid
2 Inventors' Fair
1 Swamp
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Collective Brutality
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Thoughtseize
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Seal of Primordium
2 Spellskite
1 Sun Droplet
2 Welding Jar
He apparently had not played lantern before. This list he worked on with Sam Black. I believe his losses were to Bant Eldrazi, RG Tron, and Burn..
Of this list, the simplest changed I'd make is to swamp 1 Botanical Sanctum and 1 Swamp for 1 Darkslick Shores and 1 Forest. You want to be able to cast a Seal of Primordium under a blood moon.
Other decklists (9th - 64th place) from GP Dallas: http://magic.wizards.com/en/events/coverage/gpdfw16/9-64-decklists-2016-11-06
4 Mox Opal
4 Glimmervoid
2 Darkslick Shores
2 Blooming Marsh
1 Botanical Sanctum
2 Inventors' Fair
2 Academy Ruins
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Forest
1 Swamp
Creatures:
4 Glint-Nest Crane
1 Spellskite
4 Lantern of Insight
4 Codex Shredder
3 Ghoulcaller's Bell
1 Pyxis of Pandemonium
4 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Pithing Needle
Spells:
4 Ancient Stirrings
3 Collective Brutality
2 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Pithing Needle
3 Pyroclasm
1 Quiet Disrepair
1 Seal of Primordium
2 Sun Droplet
2 Surgical Extraction
3 Welding Jar
The Cranes do whiff sometimes, but the thing about that is that, when they do, they just dug us four cards closer to the artifact we want (usually Bridge, Lantern, or Needle). With the Cranes and Stirrings combined, we are essentially filtering our deck extremely quickly, and stacking our deck from the bottom up. Cards are sometimes stuck in our hand for a bit with all of this, but the Cranes block any creatures with the power to sneak under anyways. This also sets us up to power through and get multiple Bridges, rather than just one. Additionally, the Cranes set up a real clock for our opponents. I can't express how happy I've been with them, and I wish I'd discovered their power sooner. I'll have a few videos up this coming weekend with them. I kind of want to make room for another land, and I might just add one as a 61st card (nod to you, mikemaz). Probably a Darksteel Citadel, since Cranes can grab them, turns on Fair and Opal quicker, and keeps Glimmervoids safe. With all the filtering we have between the Cranes and Stirrings, there should be little to no worry about a 61st card diluting the list in any significant way.
Lantern Control
(with videos)
Uc Tron
Netdecking explained
Netdecking explained, Part 2
On speculators and counterfeits
On Interaction
Every single competitive deck in existence is designed to limit the opponent's ability to interact in a meaningful way.
Record number of exclamation points on SCG homepage: 71 (6 January, 2018)
"I don't want to believe, I want to know."
-Carl Sagan
Any deck that runs Ghost Quarter can consider Crucible a fantastic card. You never miss a land drop, and pretty soon, in the current Modern format, they run out of lands. Hardest lock there is.
Lantern Control
(with videos)
Uc Tron
Netdecking explained
Netdecking explained, Part 2
On speculators and counterfeits
On Interaction
Every single competitive deck in existence is designed to limit the opponent's ability to interact in a meaningful way.
Record number of exclamation points on SCG homepage: 71 (6 January, 2018)
"I don't want to believe, I want to know."
-Carl Sagan
Multiplayer Cube
[1] A card that neutralizes virtually all of the creatures played in Modern (Ensnaring Bridge)
[2] A card that neutralizes activated abilities of our choice (Pithing Needle)
[3] A card that stabilizes our manabase (Mox Opal)
[4] One of our lock pieces (Lantern of Insight/Codex Shredder/Ghoulcaller's Bell)
[5] One of many sideboard cards that can shut down an opponents' deck or attempt to remove/bypass our lock (Grafdigger's Cage, Welding Jar, Sun Droplet...)
[6] Even when it whiffs, digs us closer to the above cards
I'm good to go on that risk.
Lantern Control
(with videos)
Uc Tron
Netdecking explained
Netdecking explained, Part 2
On speculators and counterfeits
On Interaction
Every single competitive deck in existence is designed to limit the opponent's ability to interact in a meaningful way.
Record number of exclamation points on SCG homepage: 71 (6 January, 2018)
"I don't want to believe, I want to know."
-Carl Sagan
MODERN – LANTERN (aka Fateseal or Barbershop)
Primer – Subreddit – Facebook – Decklist – Gameplay
Thnkr's Content: Gameplay – Datasheet
Each eye sees a different possibility for tomorrow.
CWUBBCCCCCCCBGBGBGCCCCCCCGGURC
My favorite part about Crane is that even if it misses, you are left with a very relevant blocker. Many times when I play it, the body is what I really need, and the search effect just feels like a bonus (that happens to hit fairly consistently).
So when evaluating Crane, I think its best to think of it as a Blocker with potential upside rather then a dig effect with a body.
also it might have been a misplay to play the void before stirrings, I was not thinking clearly but very minor. still a potential mistake
It was not delight, not wonder that arose among us, it was the peace of heaven. He who has thought most deeply loves what is most alive. - Friedrich Holderlin
1907 Constructed Rating on Magic Online.
OLD SCHOOL 93/94 «The Pain Train» Black Sligh, Esper «Machine Gun» Artifacts, Jund «Psycho» Ponza-Disko.
It is a rough spot to be in, either way, but that's what I'd likely do.
How did it play out?
Lantern Control
(with videos)
Uc Tron
Netdecking explained
Netdecking explained, Part 2
On speculators and counterfeits
On Interaction
Every single competitive deck in existence is designed to limit the opponent's ability to interact in a meaningful way.
Record number of exclamation points on SCG homepage: 71 (6 January, 2018)
"I don't want to believe, I want to know."
-Carl Sagan