About archangel of Thides, it is a great card. I used to play Windborn Muse during the eldrazi winter. There it perfomed quite well. Archangel of Thites passes the bolt test, and she does not function on taxing attackers when she is on the attack. Although her other abilaty can be a very good last turn push, and restoration angel can resett her defensive abilaty. Archangel of Thides is also better vs dredges confligerate that they use for removal, alongside abrupt decay.
That being said Jeff runs another filter land (red white) to make sure he does not screw on mana. This leaves out the option of a 4th colour, alongside the option of running good non-basic lands.
I have lost to archangel of thithes on gameday by an 'kid' oponent who gave it vigilance with an enchantment and 'went to town'. I can tell you that it is a card that can really make some matches much harder for the oponent.
Jeff also runs Ghostly Prison, a card that can be good vs a multitude of decks. Note that it does not protect planewalkers.
vulshok sorcerer takes the place of pointiff / izzet staticaster. As he pointed out, the cards he want static caster vs often have twisted image.
I feel like archangel of tithes is not necessary but the ghostly prisons I am definitely on board with. They also hit other decks in the format as well.
"Pick a role and run with it" is the exact opposite of what the deck does though. It does all roles okayish at best, but can pick betweem them!
Pretty much.
Jeff calls Kiki Chord "a bad combo deck, a bad aggro deck, a bad midrange deck, a bad hatebear deck" but the point is that it can switch roles fluidly depending on the circumstances. That's the beauty of Kiki Chord. If we try and go too far in one direction we become a worse version of [insert deck here].
"Pick a role and run with it" is the exact opposite of what the deck does though. It does all roles okayish at best, but can pick betweem them!
Pretty much.
Jeff calls Kiki Chord "a bad combo deck, a bad aggro deck, a bad midrange deck, a bad hatebear deck" but the point is that it can switch roles fluidly depending on the circumstances. That's the beauty of Kiki Chord. If we try and go too far in one direction we become a worse version of [insert deck here].
Which is why I don't see the point in chucking a bunch of aggro creatures in there that do nothing when they ETB.
Warning, long post (from phone, so no card tags... Sorry!), but in-depth important competitive discussion:
I watched Jeff Hoogland's interview with SCG, and he discusses the lack of kitchen finks, and emphasis on the evo-jump from 2cmc to 4cm, rather than 3 to 5.
It took a while to really "get" what he was saying, I'll be honest, but after some testing and genuine deck-soulsearching, I think he was right on the money.
It's so easy to see kitchen finks and just think "well it's a perfect fit"... I mean, duh, right? but despite having a positive interaction with evolution, it doesn't do what the deck wants to do. Too much has to go right for it to actually provide meaningful advantage in the early game (accepting that an on-curve finks on turn 3 is on average too low impact and slow for 90% of what the format is doing)
For instance:
- You need to have a turn 1 mana dork.
- It needs to survive(!)
- You then need to have eldritch evolution and kitchen finks in hand (because let's face it you're never going to waste a mana dork and a spell to evo-up a finks)
- And you need to have avoided any kind of creature removal or hand disruption up to and during your third turn.
Finks is the epitome of "decent", but I've seen people auto-include it in their decks because it feels right, which while tempting is probably wrong right now.
I'm currently rocking Hoogland's updated list from the recent big SCG tourney (with a couple of minor tweaks such as -1 baloth +1 siege rhino, that kind of thing) and the biggest conundrum I've faced from a deckbuilding perspective is the following:
Hoogland includes a single 6-drop in his list. I have been running an extra resto angel in its place to lower the curve and keep the list tight. I feel like I have needed something bigger though, on a few occasions.
The problem is that running a bigger creature pulls you more towards running wall of roots instead of wall of omens. And running wall of roots pulls you more towards running an extra chord of calling as well (the omens list only runs 2 because of a lack of wall of roots to power it out).
So should we stick with a grindy midrange style deck, utilising the card draw of omens instead of the probably-a-turn-faster wall of roots? And do we include a 6-drop?
This is an important thing for the deck to have locked down, because it changes the dynamic significantly.
Additionally I have been looking at potential 5 and 6 drops to top out the curve and evolve into. Jeff was running ruric thar. I reckon either grave titan, sun titan or inferno titan could be even better choices. I like ruric, but i have been left wondering which matchups it's supposed to really target, seeing as every singleton in the deck has a sort of "silver bullet" vibe. What does ruric tend to beat that, say, an inferno titan doesn't? And grave titan? My big want when playtesting was a 6-drop that could upgrade one of my 4cmc guys into a sort of "army in a can". Lots of blockers or even lots of removal, tacked onto a single creature. Hornet Queen would be ideal if she didn't cost a million mana, so grave titan seems the next best thing.
Finally I've found some real inconsistencies in the deckbuilding of this archetype that nobody is questioning and we need to shine a light on these small things that can make the difference between winning and losing.
1) qasali pridemage vs reclamation sage
Hoogland runs pridemage but let's examine this. Exalted is nice, sure. It has to sac itself to get any value from the destroy effect, which means it can't be evolved if you want to 'merc a troublesome artifact and once you've used it (and it's gone) it doesn't tap for convoke. Moreover, flickering with resto angel or Kiki does basically nothing, so it really seems to stick out as a poor choice of the two besr available options. Rec sage synergies with every effect in the deck, and can be evolved away once it's done its job, where pridemage is an awkward non-bo. I believe sage is a superior choice.
Shriekmaw vs nekrataal
Nekrataal can be chorded out for 1 less mana, evolved from a 2-drop (which is the key evo-jump in the deck, not the slower 3-to-5), and most importantly it interacts with reveillark! Shriekmaw doesn't at all, which seems like a huge oversight. I haven't had any difficulty hard-casting the card on the odd occasion I've drawn it. It's another fringe option for those who splash black and it seems to be (from testing not theorising) the superior choice.
Obstinate baloth vs siege rhino
Interesting one this, but if you're in black already, rhino is generally a better choice. Blinking/copying it results in some serious damage through board stalls and the 5 toughness (and trample!) helps break through chumps. It plays the lifegain game well enough to be good against burn. The discard clause on baloth is basically meaningless if you only run 1 and you're hoping to evolve it out rather than regularly topdeck it.
So anyway those are my thoughts. I'm a big pod player from before the ban, and an academic/analyst so I tend to break stuff down quite specifically. I'd appreciate some additional comments on this stuff because I feel like if the deck irons out all these minor anti-synergies and unoptimised builds then we could have a proper tier 1 contender over the next few months.
With Hoogland's list, Birds is there to go t2 2-drop tapland, t3 4-drop.
The problem with main-deck Rec Sage is that it really, really sucks without a target. Pridemage is at least reasonable in matchups without artifacts. Also, if you only play one, Pridemage can kill Graffdigger's Cage off of Chord, so it seems more relevant. Granted, Rec Sage is better at what it does, but it's really bad otherwise, and I don't think that it's where we want to be.
With Hoogland's list, Birds is there to go t2 2-drop tapland, t3 4-drop.
The problem with main-deck Rec Sage is that it really, really sucks without a target. Pridemage is at least reasonable in matchups without artifacts. Also, if you only play one, Pridemage can kill Graffdigger's Cage off of Chord, so it seems more relevant. Granted, Rec Sage is better at what it does, but it's really bad otherwise, and I don't think that it's where we want to be.
Well frankly I dont think either need to be in the main board, but i see the reasoning.
If you were going to definitely include 1 mainboard, pridemage has less variance.
But seeing as Rec sage is just 100% better in synergy with the rest of the deck, i'd rather run a sage in the board and have something a bit more general in the main.
I chose to replace Hoogland's pridemage with an Aven Mindcensor. Seems good so far.
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Modern: G Tron, Vannifar, Jund, Druid/Vizier combo, Humans, Eldrazi Stompy (Serum Powder), Amulet, Grishoalbrand, Breach Titan, Turns, Eternal Command, As Foretold Living End, Elves, Cheerios, RUG Scapeshift
Against red decks, you're usually pretty fine with them bolting your bird. Jund/Jekai now have less removal for your other cards, and Zoo/Burn wasted a spell and possibly a turn on killing it. Against Jund and Jeskai, some number of birds are usually boarded out, because the games go long and they're terrible top-decks. Also, the Voice token is usually higher impact then a finks with a -1/-1 counter. Voice can be returned with Reveillark as well.
I watched Jeff Hoogland's interview with SCG, and he discusses the lack of kitchen finks, and emphasis on the evo-jump from 2cmc to 4cm, rather than 3 to 5.
It took a while to really "get" what he was saying, I'll be honest, but after some testing and genuine deck-soulsearching, I think he was right on the money.
It's so easy to see kitchen finks and just think "well it's a perfect fit"... I mean, duh, right? but despite having a positive interaction with evolution, it doesn't do what the deck wants to do. Too much has to go right for it to actually provide meaningful advantage in the early game (accepting that an on-curve finks on turn 3 is on average too low impact and slow for 90% of what the format is doing)
For instance:
- You need to have a turn 1 mana dork.
- It needs to survive(!)
- You then need to have eldritch evolution and kitchen finks in hand (because let's face it you're never going to waste a mana dork and a spell to evo-up a finks)
- And you need to have avoided any kind of creature removal or hand disruption up to and during your third turn.
Finks is the epitome of "decent", but I've seen people auto-include it in their decks because it feels right, which while tempting is probably wrong right now.
I'm currently rocking Hoogland's updated list from the recent big SCG tourney (with a couple of minor tweaks such as -1 baloth +1 siege rhino,
Siege Rhino is better than Baloth if you run black imo. Remember the Abzan Rhino Pod days? Yeah. It's also great to have the choice between Rhino and P&K when evolving a 2-drop. Does your opponent play anger/pyroclasm/etc? get Rhino and the floor is a 6-point lifeswing and a hard to remove huge body with trample.
Hoogland includes a single 6-drop in his list. I have been running an extra resto angel in its place to lower the curve and keep the list tight. I feel like I have needed something bigger though, on a few occasions.
The problem is that running a bigger creature pulls you more towards running wall of roots instead of wall of omens. And running wall of roots pulls you more towards running an extra chord of calling as well (the omens list only runs 2 because of a lack of wall of roots to power it out).
So should we stick with a grindy midrange style deck, utilising the card draw of omens instead of the probably-a-turn-faster wall of roots? And do we include a 6-drop?
This is an important thing for the deck to have locked down, because it changes the dynamic significantly.
Additionally I have been looking at potential 5 and 6 drops to top out the curve and evolve into. Jeff was running ruric thar. I reckon either grave titan, sun titan or inferno titan could be even better choices. I like ruric, but i have been left wondering which matchups it's supposed to really target, seeing as every singleton in the deck has a sort of "silver bullet" vibe. What does ruric tend to beat that, say, an inferno titan doesn't? And grave titan? My big want when playtesting was a 6-drop that could upgrade one of my 4cmc guys into a sort of "army in a can". Lots of blockers or even lots of removal, tacked onto a single creature. Hornet Queen would be ideal if she didn't cost a million mana, so grave titan seems the next best thing.
I personally think 6-drops are too hard to reliably cast so I don't run one, but if I did it would be Ruric Thar. He is a silver bullet in that he shuts down any combo deck that relies on casting multiple spells, and the very worst thing that can happen is that he gets removed and the opponent takes 6.
If you're looking for a 5-drop that just wins games, I recommend Sigarda. I don't like Sun Titan because Reveillark seems like it has better GY synergies. Inferno Titan might be ok. Grave Titan is too hard to cast because of BB, which brings me to the next point.
Shriekmaw vs nekrataal
Nekrataal can be chorded out for 1 less mana, evolved from a 2-drop (which is the key evo-jump in the deck, not the slower 3-to-5), and most importantly it interacts with reveillark! Shriekmaw doesn't at all, which seems like a huge oversight. I haven't had any difficulty hard-casting the card on the odd occasion I've drawn it. It's another fringe option for those who splash black and it seems to be (from testing not theorising) the superior choice.
The beauty of Shriekmaw is that it's secretly a 2-drop removal spell that can be tutored and comes with an evasive body if you're willing to pay more mana. Nekrataal only has a 4-mana mode and the body is irrelevant. It is also very hard to cast at BB (Most lists run one black land)
Ari lax has just posted a deck tech, game series and end wrap over on scarcity and YouTube.
His wrap is the most interesting. He begins to start changing the deck towards the same conclusions Jeff has been making.
Notably after the first match he made a point about needing the curve to be lower. At the end he made a point about removing the 6-drop slot.
He also speaks about the conflict between wall of omens and wall of roots, and orzhov pontiff.
I watched his whole series and felt that the deck hugely benefits from anafenza the foremost. He was so focused on the Glen Elendra inclusion that he didn't really look outside at which cards would be winning the game for him at particular clutch moments. From this and the fact that pontiff and rhino are just so good, I can't help but feel like black is the best splash colour right now. In coming months it will probably change but right now, black is the new black.
I'm with him on the whole "this isn't a pure chord deck any more" sentiment, and he drops a chord (down to 2) at the end.
In other parallel news, Jeff Hoogland also posted a newer version of the deck in a video series. In the latest version he gets rid of the 6-drop, replacing it with a third resto angel (called it!) and generally the deck is fast approaching something similar to the last versions of birthing pod before it saw a ban - I.e. Big grindy rhino (or pia/kiran) value with an available combo win to protect against linear nonsense decks.
I really like it. This deck is bordering on the most interesting thing in modern right now. Birthing pod was a fun, amazing and interactive deck, despite having too much of a percentage on the format. If this is even a shade of the original master, we're probably onto something.
I watched Jeff Hoogland's interview with SCG, and he discusses the lack of kitchen finks, and emphasis on the evo-jump from 2cmc to 4cm, rather than 3 to 5.
Can't find the interview. Does anyone have a link, please?
i really like shriekmaw... it's really good as extra removal when you need to play the bad jund deck role... i've been going back and forth on whether to put it in the main since it's a 5 drop that doesn't actually mess up your curve too much in most games... i would say it's also vastly superior to nekrataal for mana reasons...
I'm taking this list to a PPTQ tomorrow and really have no idea what to expect, but one thing is for sure - I want to shore up my Jeskai Control matchup as much as possible without sacrificing too much sideboard space. It's nigh-unbeatable for me and I'm growing increasingly frustrated with it.
I've included Pithing Needle mainly so I can name Nahiri / Colonnade in that matchup whilst still having relevant targets in a few others. Phyrexian Revoker is just going to eat a Bolt / Path / Helix so I passed on it.
Slaughter Games is there to name Snapcaster Mage (and Lightning Storm in Ad Nauseam, etc). I'm not expecting any Infect so I've cut Melira from the sideboard. Any pointers?
That was a good run-down of most of the titans, but how about Primeval Titan as the sole six drop to search up Gavony Township and thin the deck while beating face?
Have you considered Thrun instead of Sigarda? Sigarda flying is a big upside, but if they run Supreme Verdict and not Wrath of God it's very hard for them to get rid of Thrun. Also, uncounterability can matter once in a while, when you draw it naturally.
Obviously Sigarda is better against Liliana though. It's a pity there isn't really sideboard space for both.
Yeah, I go back and forth. Thrun is a bit lackluster against Jund though, whereas Sigarda usually just ends the game unless they have Damnation or are already so far ahead that you don't really have an out anyway.
That was a good run-down of most of the titans, but how about Primeval Titan as the sole six drop to search up Gavony Township and thin the deck while beating face?
Negligible ETB value really, what if you don't have that much on the board to begin with? He's gonna get you a Gavony and another land, then eat a Path. Quite a waste of six mana for what he does - at least the other Titans do something more meaningful when they enter.
Overall, Gavony Township doesn't seem quite as good anymore now that we're running EE.
If the double black cost of grave titan is too much, Broodmate Dragon fills a similar role, although it doesn't snowball out of control like titan does if unanswered.
Against Jeskai, I had found the matchup previously 50/50 when it was just 4 chord. I guess evolution just makes the deck a lot weaker toward blue decks.
Also is everyone off GQ and on 22 lands? I've still been on the 23rd land of GQ/Gavony and have consistently found that GQ been amazing. Being able to easily kill manlands/utility lands or just flat deny color off greedy decks feels great.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZZavyDDV5I
About archangel of Thides, it is a great card. I used to play Windborn Muse during the eldrazi winter. There it perfomed quite well. Archangel of Thites passes the bolt test, and she does not function on taxing attackers when she is on the attack. Although her other abilaty can be a very good last turn push, and restoration angel can resett her defensive abilaty. Archangel of Thides is also better vs dredges confligerate that they use for removal, alongside abrupt decay.
That being said Jeff runs another filter land (red white) to make sure he does not screw on mana. This leaves out the option of a 4th colour, alongside the option of running good non-basic lands.
I have lost to archangel of thithes on gameday by an 'kid' oponent who gave it vigilance with an enchantment and 'went to town'. I can tell you that it is a card that can really make some matches much harder for the oponent.
Jeff also runs Ghostly Prison, a card that can be good vs a multitude of decks. Note that it does not protect planewalkers.
vulshok sorcerer takes the place of pointiff / izzet staticaster. As he pointed out, the cards he want static caster vs often have twisted image.
Pretty much.
Jeff calls Kiki Chord "a bad combo deck, a bad aggro deck, a bad midrange deck, a bad hatebear deck" but the point is that it can switch roles fluidly depending on the circumstances. That's the beauty of Kiki Chord. If we try and go too far in one direction we become a worse version of [insert deck here].
GWU Knightfall Spirit Company GWU
GWB Abzan Evolution GWB
Which is why I don't see the point in chucking a bunch of aggro creatures in there that do nothing when they ETB.
Abzan Traverse / Traverse Shadow / UR Kiki
I watched Jeff Hoogland's interview with SCG, and he discusses the lack of kitchen finks, and emphasis on the evo-jump from 2cmc to 4cm, rather than 3 to 5.
It took a while to really "get" what he was saying, I'll be honest, but after some testing and genuine deck-soulsearching, I think he was right on the money.
It's so easy to see kitchen finks and just think "well it's a perfect fit"... I mean, duh, right? but despite having a positive interaction with evolution, it doesn't do what the deck wants to do. Too much has to go right for it to actually provide meaningful advantage in the early game (accepting that an on-curve finks on turn 3 is on average too low impact and slow for 90% of what the format is doing)
For instance:
- You need to have a turn 1 mana dork.
- It needs to survive(!)
- You then need to have eldritch evolution and kitchen finks in hand (because let's face it you're never going to waste a mana dork and a spell to evo-up a finks)
- And you need to have avoided any kind of creature removal or hand disruption up to and during your third turn.
Finks is the epitome of "decent", but I've seen people auto-include it in their decks because it feels right, which while tempting is probably wrong right now.
I'm currently rocking Hoogland's updated list from the recent big SCG tourney (with a couple of minor tweaks such as -1 baloth +1 siege rhino, that kind of thing) and the biggest conundrum I've faced from a deckbuilding perspective is the following:
Hoogland includes a single 6-drop in his list. I have been running an extra resto angel in its place to lower the curve and keep the list tight. I feel like I have needed something bigger though, on a few occasions.
The problem is that running a bigger creature pulls you more towards running wall of roots instead of wall of omens. And running wall of roots pulls you more towards running an extra chord of calling as well (the omens list only runs 2 because of a lack of wall of roots to power it out).
So should we stick with a grindy midrange style deck, utilising the card draw of omens instead of the probably-a-turn-faster wall of roots? And do we include a 6-drop?
This is an important thing for the deck to have locked down, because it changes the dynamic significantly.
Additionally I have been looking at potential 5 and 6 drops to top out the curve and evolve into. Jeff was running ruric thar. I reckon either grave titan, sun titan or inferno titan could be even better choices. I like ruric, but i have been left wondering which matchups it's supposed to really target, seeing as every singleton in the deck has a sort of "silver bullet" vibe. What does ruric tend to beat that, say, an inferno titan doesn't? And grave titan? My big want when playtesting was a 6-drop that could upgrade one of my 4cmc guys into a sort of "army in a can". Lots of blockers or even lots of removal, tacked onto a single creature. Hornet Queen would be ideal if she didn't cost a million mana, so grave titan seems the next best thing.
Finally I've found some real inconsistencies in the deckbuilding of this archetype that nobody is questioning and we need to shine a light on these small things that can make the difference between winning and losing.
1) qasali pridemage vs reclamation sage
Hoogland runs pridemage but let's examine this. Exalted is nice, sure. It has to sac itself to get any value from the destroy effect, which means it can't be evolved if you want to 'merc a troublesome artifact and once you've used it (and it's gone) it doesn't tap for convoke. Moreover, flickering with resto angel or Kiki does basically nothing, so it really seems to stick out as a poor choice of the two besr available options. Rec sage synergies with every effect in the deck, and can be evolved away once it's done its job, where pridemage is an awkward non-bo. I believe sage is a superior choice.
Shriekmaw vs nekrataal
Nekrataal can be chorded out for 1 less mana, evolved from a 2-drop (which is the key evo-jump in the deck, not the slower 3-to-5), and most importantly it interacts with reveillark! Shriekmaw doesn't at all, which seems like a huge oversight. I haven't had any difficulty hard-casting the card on the odd occasion I've drawn it. It's another fringe option for those who splash black and it seems to be (from testing not theorising) the superior choice.
Obstinate baloth vs siege rhino
Interesting one this, but if you're in black already, rhino is generally a better choice. Blinking/copying it results in some serious damage through board stalls and the 5 toughness (and trample!) helps break through chumps. It plays the lifegain game well enough to be good against burn. The discard clause on baloth is basically meaningless if you only run 1 and you're hoping to evolve it out rather than regularly topdeck it.
So anyway those are my thoughts. I'm a big pod player from before the ban, and an academic/analyst so I tend to break stuff down quite specifically. I'd appreciate some additional comments on this stuff because I feel like if the deck irons out all these minor anti-synergies and unoptimised builds then we could have a proper tier 1 contender over the next few months.
The problem with main-deck Rec Sage is that it really, really sucks without a target. Pridemage is at least reasonable in matchups without artifacts. Also, if you only play one, Pridemage can kill Graffdigger's Cage off of Chord, so it seems more relevant. Granted, Rec Sage is better at what it does, but it's really bad otherwise, and I don't think that it's where we want to be.
Well frankly I dont think either need to be in the main board, but i see the reasoning.
If you were going to definitely include 1 mainboard, pridemage has less variance.
But seeing as Rec sage is just 100% better in synergy with the rest of the deck, i'd rather run a sage in the board and have something a bit more general in the main.
I chose to replace Hoogland's pridemage with an Aven Mindcensor. Seems good so far.
Very well-put.
Siege Rhino is better than Baloth if you run black imo. Remember the Abzan Rhino Pod days? Yeah. It's also great to have the choice between Rhino and P&K when evolving a 2-drop. Does your opponent play anger/pyroclasm/etc? get Rhino and the floor is a 6-point lifeswing and a hard to remove huge body with trample.
I personally think 6-drops are too hard to reliably cast so I don't run one, but if I did it would be Ruric Thar. He is a silver bullet in that he shuts down any combo deck that relies on casting multiple spells, and the very worst thing that can happen is that he gets removed and the opponent takes 6.
If you're looking for a 5-drop that just wins games, I recommend Sigarda. I don't like Sun Titan because Reveillark seems like it has better GY synergies. Inferno Titan might be ok. Grave Titan is too hard to cast because of BB, which brings me to the next point.
The beauty of Shriekmaw is that it's secretly a 2-drop removal spell that can be tutored and comes with an evasive body if you're willing to pay more mana. Nekrataal only has a 4-mana mode and the body is irrelevant. It is also very hard to cast at BB (Most lists run one black land)
GWU Knightfall Spirit Company GWU
GWB Abzan Evolution GWB
http://www.wizardryfoundry.com
Current Deck:
His wrap is the most interesting. He begins to start changing the deck towards the same conclusions Jeff has been making.
Notably after the first match he made a point about needing the curve to be lower. At the end he made a point about removing the 6-drop slot.
He also speaks about the conflict between wall of omens and wall of roots, and orzhov pontiff.
I watched his whole series and felt that the deck hugely benefits from anafenza the foremost. He was so focused on the Glen Elendra inclusion that he didn't really look outside at which cards would be winning the game for him at particular clutch moments. From this and the fact that pontiff and rhino are just so good, I can't help but feel like black is the best splash colour right now. In coming months it will probably change but right now, black is the new black.
I'm with him on the whole "this isn't a pure chord deck any more" sentiment, and he drops a chord (down to 2) at the end.
In other parallel news, Jeff Hoogland also posted a newer version of the deck in a video series. In the latest version he gets rid of the 6-drop, replacing it with a third resto angel (called it!) and generally the deck is fast approaching something similar to the last versions of birthing pod before it saw a ban - I.e. Big grindy rhino (or pia/kiran) value with an available combo win to protect against linear nonsense decks.
I really like it. This deck is bordering on the most interesting thing in modern right now. Birthing pod was a fun, amazing and interactive deck, despite having too much of a percentage on the format. If this is even a shade of the original master, we're probably onto something.
Can't find the interview. Does anyone have a link, please?
Follow the link for nice cheap clothing.
Playing:
Death's Shadow Jund
Played:
Kiki Chord, Zoo variants, Goblins, Burn
-1 Pia & Kiran Nalaar, -1 Obstinate Baloth
+1 Shriekmaw, +1 Siege Rhino
I'm taking this list to a PPTQ tomorrow and really have no idea what to expect, but one thing is for sure - I want to shore up my Jeskai Control matchup as much as possible without sacrificing too much sideboard space. It's nigh-unbeatable for me and I'm growing increasingly frustrated with it.
I've included Pithing Needle mainly so I can name Nahiri / Colonnade in that matchup whilst still having relevant targets in a few others. Phyrexian Revoker is just going to eat a Bolt / Path / Helix so I passed on it.
Slaughter Games is there to name Snapcaster Mage (and Lightning Storm in Ad Nauseam, etc). I'm not expecting any Infect so I've cut Melira from the sideboard. Any pointers?
1 Fire-Lit Thicket
2 Forest
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Mountain
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Plains
1 Raging Ravine
2 Razorverge Thicket
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
1 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
Creatures
1 Anafenza, the Foremost
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Eternal Witness
1 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
1 Noble Hierarch
1 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
1 Qasali Pridemage
2 Restoration Angel
1 Reveillark
1 Ruric Thar, the Unbowed
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Selfless Spirit
1 Shriekmaw
1 Siege Rhino
1 Spellskite
4 Voice of Resurgence
3 Wall of Omens
2 Chord of Calling
4 Eldritch Evolution
3 Path to Exile
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Celestial Purge
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Fulminator Mage
1 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Lightning Helix
1 Path to Exile
1 Pithing Needle
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Slaughter Games
1 Thragtusk
Abzan Traverse / Traverse Shadow / UR Kiki
Yeah, I go back and forth. Thrun is a bit lackluster against Jund though, whereas Sigarda usually just ends the game unless they have Damnation or are already so far ahead that you don't really have an out anyway.
Negligible ETB value really, what if you don't have that much on the board to begin with? He's gonna get you a Gavony and another land, then eat a Path. Quite a waste of six mana for what he does - at least the other Titans do something more meaningful when they enter.
Overall, Gavony Township doesn't seem quite as good anymore now that we're running EE.
Abzan Traverse / Traverse Shadow / UR Kiki
Modern
Value Town
Amulet Titan
Legacy
4C Loam
My Peasant Cube
http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/11667
Also is everyone off GQ and on 22 lands? I've still been on the 23rd land of GQ/Gavony and have consistently found that GQ been amazing. Being able to easily kill manlands/utility lands or just flat deny color off greedy decks feels great.