I only played vs Grixis Shadow once and got slaughtered. Would probably not bring in Blood Moon. Maybe +4 Chalice, +2 Bontu's, -1 Manamorphose, -2 Faithless, -2 Cathartic, -1 Ritual? I've always had issues boarding vs Death's Shadow and Affinity and would appreciate input.
I used to have 1 Brutality in the main and 1 on the side but have cut them because, as you said, game 1 you need to be as fast as possible.
I still dislike Hugs and think it may be the worst card in the deck. There were many matches where Hugs were the first to side out, and obviously it's real bad vs Stubborn Denial/permission, which is part of why I liked having Brutality (in addition to its broad usefulness as well as being good cards in combo matchups that you are unfavored in like Storm and Ad Nauseam). I'm afraid of having too little discard outlets though. What do you think about Lightning Axe, which would enable instant-speed wins, kills hatebears and some Shadows/Anglers/Tasigur? I think I may try one of them out in the board
I'm also not convinced that Boseiju's needed in this meta. If we can't even use it against Grixis Shadows I don't believe its SB slot is justified.
As an aside, I've been pleasantly surprised with having more than two rituals per your list, but haven't been too impressed with the second manamorphose. I've found it to be a mediocre cycler in most situations and there haven't been many spots where I've needed Manamorphose to combo off. Perhaps I'm missing the main uses of the second manamorphose.
Lastly, I agree with your comment on picking and choosing the best lock pieces to bring in to avoid dilution. In that regard, I think you can afford to cut a chalice or a moon to fit in another hate piece on a different axis, IMO
Also forgot to comment on the subtle change in your sideboard that I've prevoiusly voiced in this thread - yes, I think Emrakul is largely unnecessary (at least right now in the meta)
I've played Lightning Axe before and was underwhelmed, although it's reasonable. I don't like Cathartic Reunion all that much but consider it a necessary evil to dig for combo pieces.
Manamorphose is just a mediocre cycler, but it's fairly risk-free to run it and it occasionally ramps you by a turn to splice Through the Breach or generates a kill from just red mana. Plus running two of them makes your sideboarding clean. I like having access to at least one in case I go off and need to create black mana; I really hate having to pass the turn and having Manamorphose reduces the chance of that happening.
As for sideboarding, I think Boseiju isn't necessary. I play Boseiju because I find that there are always crazies who play U/W Control regardless of how good it is. If you want to cut Boseiju, maybe play a third Pact of Negation? Pact of Negation has been brutal almost every time I've cast it. Same with Blood Moon, which is why I don't want to go below 3. When it's good it's really good.
I think I'm going to try out 1 or 2 Kozilek's Returns to try and catch creature lands and see how it goes.
Agree on Hugs being very mediocre but a necessary evil. Axe would provide great spot removal and likely the preferred route vs Grixis Shadows where they're more often than not trying to beat down with one threat. I think theoretically swarm strategies are covered by our Anger/KReturn slots which is why I suggested a lightning axe as an additional removal. I'm not sure though tbh, will try it out
I've spliced into TTB using manamorphose and it feels good, but i feel like that's a very rare occurence, and otherwise I think you'd be happier seeing a Night's Whisper instead of the 'phose in most other spots. In my experience the times where black mana was the bottleneck in going off asap on a turn where I had to go off has been a rarity too.
U/W control is actually pretty good right now and is popular (online anyway). However, those builds play 4 tec edges (or GQs) and 4 seas, so Boseiju is a really unreliable way to protect your combo vs them. I would definitely cut it for Pact if you want to go that route.
On the topic of Moons, what would you bring it in for? Here are my updated thoughts based on the MTGGOldfish meta breakdown. It feels like I've always been more down on Moon than the consensus. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding some of the common matchups
Grixis Shadows (yes, OTP, and only if they have not seen it yet. Hard to get 'em once they know, and the deck is obsecure enough they may not expect it post-board)
Affinity (nope)
Valakut Variants (yes)
Eldrazi Tron (Yes in all cases, but it's not that great with mind stones and maps)
UW controL (no)
Burn (no)
Gx Tron (yes, but don't expect it to be great. The 2-3 turns bought will likely win you the game anyways though)
Gifts storm (no)
Merfolk (no)
Lantern (no)
Bant Eldrazi (yes, although I've once landed a t1 moon and still lost to them)
D&T (no)
Death's Shadow Jund (yes, same caveats as Grixis)
Vizier Coco (no, mana dorks)
BGx (yes, OTP)
I've looked at my log and I'm like 1-9 vs Grixis Shadows online. And MTGO is infested with them sad times. Everything they do lines up really well with our game plan. Any tips on playing them?
I feel like g1 I really need to jam and hope they don't "have it", and post board we have to transition into a poor imitation of Legacy big red and jam a Moon or a chalice ahead of schedule.
SCGATL Classic 16th. I don't really like it, but it is interesting. Cutting the blue cantrips/gifts package in the Esper Goryo's deck seems real bad and Nahiri doesn't seem like it'd be worth it. and plus it's kind of a worse Grishoalbrand/Goryo's Vengeance deck with questionable speed/payoff
Creatures (4)
1 Bedlam Reveler
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Griselbrand
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
Planeswalkers (4)
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Nahiri, the Harbinger
Lands (23)
Main deck is really stock. The list is great against Affinity and Burn is not troublesome. Death's Shadow can come in the way, but discard is not that terrible. I'd be able to day 2 with it.
*I assume the bolts>pushes are for finishing off an opponent from an Emrakul hit? Assume that's why the Tar Pit is there as well
*Would be interested to see how Quicksilver Amulet does for you. When I tried them it never seemed to matter enough, but I can't put a finger on why
*What would be the reason for the full 4 thoughtseizes? I'd imagine some number of Brutalities should take their place as an additional discard outlet/general goodness
Edit:
*realized you have 2 brutalities main. Feels like some number of Izzet charms should be hugs, but not too sure
*I think you should have the Painful truths package somewhere on the side.
*I assume the bolts>pushes are for finishing off an opponent from an Emrakul hit? Assume that's why the Tar Pit is there as well
*Would be interested to see how Quicksilver Amulet does for you. When I tried them it never seemed to matter enough, but I can't put a finger on why
*What would be the reason for the full 4 thoughtseizes? I'd imagine some number of Brutalities should take their place as an additional discard outlet/general goodness
Edit:
*realized you have 2 brutalities main. Feels like some number of Izzet charms should be hugs, but not too sure
*I think you should have the Painful truths package somewhere on the side.
Izzet Charm is much better than hug in grixis. Having the extra modes of removal or counter is relevant. Bolt is absolutely there for finishing off the opponent (I've had way too many games where I hit with an early Emrakul only to durdle for too long, allowing my opponent to rebuild). Often times your opponent will shock as a T1 play which allows bolt + Emrakul to be lethal. Quicksilver Amulet is great against U based control in this style build, but I don't know if they are worth it in this meta. I used to run it in a R/B "control" list which was loaded with early game disruption and used the Griselbrand / Emrakul package as a finisher. That was when Ancestral Visions was unbanned and it seemed like everyone was trying it in some U based durdle deck.
Exactly xBattleSpawnx : the only thing that I wish for is having more Bolt. I'm really satisfied with 2 Brutality, 4 Izzet Charm seems a sweet spot also, But I'd like to have 4 Bolt for finishers. I know it would be probably worse because the draw and discard from Izzet Charm is so good, but I love having reach. Creeping Tar Pit has been good as a finisher also, so I shouldn't complain. About the manabase : I'm thinking about having 8 fetches only and running 2 Island (cutinng 1 Bloodstained Mire). Thoughts about all this?
4 Thoughtseize is to fight discard : we are vulnerable, so fight fire with fire. 4 Leyleine and 4 Thoughtseize and discard decks and we're in businness. I'd love to have some control package in the sideboard. Maybe something like :
Got slaughtered 1-3 at a PPTQ. Lost 1-2 to JundW shadows (was a turn away from winning), 1-2 to Amulet (got turn 3'd twice for 18 with turn 4 combos in hand+bojuka bog), beat burn and lost 1-2 to Abzan. I still feel OK about the deck - looking around there was a lot of Death's Shadows in the loser tables while the top tables was a heavy dose of control, midrange and dorky creature value strats. Hopefully as Death's Shadow starts to further be oppressed the hate will shift away from graveyard hate and Griselbrands have free reign again.
I played a standard list with 2 bruatlities, 3 chalices, 2 Moons, 2 Reckonings 3 pacts and a Kreturn. Think I may replace a pact for a Read the bones - There are barely any matchups where you'd want 3 pacts nowadays.
I took my list to a normal event and quickly 0-2ed losing to Grixis Death's Shadow twice. That matchup is as terrible as Infect used to be (maybe worse) and I would just hope to dodge it.
I retooled my sideboard and played a modern FNM going 4-0 beating Mono Red Goblins, Counters Company, RG Scapeshift, and Elves, giving me back some confidence.
I took this list (same as before with a retooled sideboard) to a 34 player PPTQ on Saturday:
Round 1: Affinity
G1: Opponent starts fast. I Breach out a Worldspine on Turn 3 but opponent can survive the next turn and is attacking with Cranial Plating on a flyer and will kill next turn. I topdeck Goryo's on Griselbrand to fly over for the kill.
G2: We both draw horribly. My opponent gets out a Karn and I combo off with Griselbrand but fizzle badly. I also punt by attacking the face and not the Karn and end up losing to it.
G3: I combo off turn 3. This is getting repetitive.
4-1
Round 6: Blue Moon
My opponent refuses to draw as he is 4-0-1 and locked for Top 8 already. He's playing for seeding.
G1: I test the waters with an end step Nourishing Shoal for 11 splicing Goryo's Vengeance (pitching an SSG) on Griselbrand on turn 3 into open mana. Shockingly it resolves and I kill.
-1 Manamorphose, -3 Cathartic Reunion, -2 Desperate Ritual, +2 Pact of Negation, +1 Boseiju, +3 Chalice of the Void
G2: My opponent taps out for an Electrolyze and I respond by killing him. On turn 3 obviously. Apparently he was putting me to 15 to Breach out Emrakul to kill me next turn.
5-1, 1st seed going into top 8 (other 7 decks are Burn, Monogreen Tron, RG Scapeshift, Affinity, Monoblue Tron, Eldrazi Tron, Blue Moon)
Top 8: Burn
G1: I discard the wrong card to Faithless Looting causing me to be unable to Breach out Griselbrand. I may have been dead to double Eidolon anyway but it was a horrendous misplay on my part.
-3 Night's Whisper, -1 Manamorphose, -1 Faithless Looting, +3 Chalice of the Void, +2 Pact of Negation
G2: My opponent has a Goblin Guide but I kill him on turn 2 with Griselbrand. I have to draw my entire library to do it.
G3: I keep Temple, Breach, Worldspine, Worldspine, Ritual, Shoal, Faithless. My opponent leads on Goblin Guide and I miss on land from the trigger. I play Temple and see SSG leaving it on top, taking another hit. I cast Looting and miss on land and pass. Opponent attacks with Goblin Guide and I hit a Swamp from its trigger. He taps out to burn me and I Shoal splicing Breach to Worldspine him for exact due to fetch and shock life loss.
Top 4: Affinity
G1: Both of our decks stumble. Opponent draws a Ravager, activates Inkmoth using a Springleaf Drum, and dumps 4 counters on an Inkmoth but has to sacrifice down to an Ornithopter and no other lands. I need to fade a mana source for one turn or die to poison counters. Opponent draws Mox Opal but doesn't have Metalcraft!!!! I kill on turn 5 with Griselbrand.
G2: I have a turn 2 Goryo's Vengeance for Griselbrand in my opener. However, opponent plays Grafdigger's Cage turn 1. Opponent kept double Blinkmoth, Signal Pest, Grafdigger's Cage, three other lands apparently. I spend time setting up a Breach while being beat down by the creature lands and a second Signal Pest. I Breach out a Griselbrand and go off enough to be at 15ish life and set up Breach for Borborygmos Enraged next turn for the kill.
Finals: Monoblue Tron
My opponent isn't going to the RPTQ and concedes to me.
I got a load of turn 3 kills (and 1 turn 2 kill). Finally a win for the good guys!
If you wanted to use mine as reference, I'd probably play a third Pact of Negation in the sideboard and cut the Boseiju if you want to use my list as reference. The decks that have a bunch of counterspells play Tectonic Edge or Ghost Quarter, so Boseiju is already ineffective.
Chalice of the Void is completely and totally uncuttable. Having Chalices gives you a huge matchup swing vs any deck with a bunch of one drops (Burn, Elves, Lantern). I also sometimes board them in vs UW Control as they'll have Path/Dispel/Grafdigger's Cage after board. A Chalice on 1 wins vs random low-curve decks and also can take random things like Living End completely by surprise.
don't forget that the most popular control deck UW control, in addition to tec edges and GQs, have spreading seas as well, which just doesn't work as it comes into play tapped. I think Boseiju right now is completely unplayable.
I've been testing Reckonings and so far it seems alright. I've been in many spots where they had to discard it or I was happy slamming it. Still not 100% sure though so I will keep testing
i love pact more than anyone but I'm doubting whether we should have the third pact. I am struggling to find spots where I'd bring in the third pact, but this may be because I have brutalities in the SB which serve a similar role.
vs grixis shadows you're on the chalice plan and do not want to dilute too much (plus maybe reckoning too
vs Storm I think 2 is a good number, especially if you are bringing in EE or chalice too
vs Burn I don't want more than 2 and certainly i would make room for brutalities first, then chalices probably
vs UW control, yes I would want all the pacts
to me it doesn't seem like pact is applicable against a wide enough range of matchups that I'd want 3 of them in for me to have the third.
I board in pacts and brutalities for sure in favor of hugs and rituals. chalice is a bit more debatable - SVs/paths/condemns/snares aren't what you worry about here. blocking dispels and cages are nice though. I'd almost want to put it on two for negates/leaks/RIPs/Snapcasters. Generally speaking though I think the matchup is pretty good and I think I would not want to dilute my deck too much
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4 Temple of Malice
3 Mountain
5 Swamp
2 Blackcleave Cliff
1 Blood Crypt
4 Griselbrand
2 Borborgymos Enraged
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Worldspine Wurm
4 Night's Whisper
4 Goryo's Vengeance
4 Through the Breach
3 Desperate Ritual
1 Manamorphose
3 Cathartic Reunion
4 Nourishing Shoal
2 Pact of Negation
1 Collective Brutality
2 Bontu's Last Reckoning
2 Shattering Spree
2 Blood Moon
1 Kozilek's Return
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Engineered Explosives
3 Chalice of the Void
I used to have 1 Brutality in the main and 1 on the side but have cut them because, as you said, game 1 you need to be as fast as possible.
I still dislike Hugs and think it may be the worst card in the deck. There were many matches where Hugs were the first to side out, and obviously it's real bad vs Stubborn Denial/permission, which is part of why I liked having Brutality (in addition to its broad usefulness as well as being good cards in combo matchups that you are unfavored in like Storm and Ad Nauseam). I'm afraid of having too little discard outlets though. What do you think about Lightning Axe, which would enable instant-speed wins, kills hatebears and some Shadows/Anglers/Tasigur? I think I may try one of them out in the board
I'm also not convinced that Boseiju's needed in this meta. If we can't even use it against Grixis Shadows I don't believe its SB slot is justified.
As an aside, I've been pleasantly surprised with having more than two rituals per your list, but haven't been too impressed with the second manamorphose. I've found it to be a mediocre cycler in most situations and there haven't been many spots where I've needed Manamorphose to combo off. Perhaps I'm missing the main uses of the second manamorphose.
Lastly, I agree with your comment on picking and choosing the best lock pieces to bring in to avoid dilution. In that regard, I think you can afford to cut a chalice or a moon to fit in another hate piece on a different axis, IMO
I've played Lightning Axe before and was underwhelmed, although it's reasonable. I don't like Cathartic Reunion all that much but consider it a necessary evil to dig for combo pieces.
Manamorphose is just a mediocre cycler, but it's fairly risk-free to run it and it occasionally ramps you by a turn to splice Through the Breach or generates a kill from just red mana. Plus running two of them makes your sideboarding clean. I like having access to at least one in case I go off and need to create black mana; I really hate having to pass the turn and having Manamorphose reduces the chance of that happening.
As for sideboarding, I think Boseiju isn't necessary. I play Boseiju because I find that there are always crazies who play U/W Control regardless of how good it is. If you want to cut Boseiju, maybe play a third Pact of Negation? Pact of Negation has been brutal almost every time I've cast it. Same with Blood Moon, which is why I don't want to go below 3. When it's good it's really good.
I think I'm going to try out 1 or 2 Kozilek's Returns to try and catch creature lands and see how it goes.
I've spliced into TTB using manamorphose and it feels good, but i feel like that's a very rare occurence, and otherwise I think you'd be happier seeing a Night's Whisper instead of the 'phose in most other spots. In my experience the times where black mana was the bottleneck in going off asap on a turn where I had to go off has been a rarity too.
U/W control is actually pretty good right now and is popular (online anyway). However, those builds play 4 tec edges (or GQs) and 4 seas, so Boseiju is a really unreliable way to protect your combo vs them. I would definitely cut it for Pact if you want to go that route.
On the topic of Moons, what would you bring it in for? Here are my updated thoughts based on the MTGGOldfish meta breakdown. It feels like I've always been more down on Moon than the consensus. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding some of the common matchups
Grixis Shadows (yes, OTP, and only if they have not seen it yet. Hard to get 'em once they know, and the deck is obsecure enough they may not expect it post-board)
Affinity (nope)
Valakut Variants (yes)
Eldrazi Tron (Yes in all cases, but it's not that great with mind stones and maps)
UW controL (no)
Burn (no)
Gx Tron (yes, but don't expect it to be great. The 2-3 turns bought will likely win you the game anyways though)
Gifts storm (no)
Merfolk (no)
Lantern (no)
Bant Eldrazi (yes, although I've once landed a t1 moon and still lost to them)
D&T (no)
Death's Shadow Jund (yes, same caveats as Grixis)
Vizier Coco (no, mana dorks)
BGx (yes, OTP)
I feel like g1 I really need to jam and hope they don't "have it", and post board we have to transition into a poor imitation of Legacy big red and jam a Moon or a chalice ahead of schedule.
Creatures (4)
1 Bedlam Reveler
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Griselbrand
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
Planeswalkers (4)
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Nahiri, the Harbinger
Lands (23)
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Swamp
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Concealed Courtyard
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Godless Shrine
4 Marsh Flats
2 Sacred Foundry
2 Shambling Vent
Spells (29)
1 Engineered Explosives
3 Path to Exile
2 Terminate
1 Anger of the Gods
3 Collective Brutality
1 Damnation
1 Dreadbore
4 Faithless Looting
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Lingering Souls
2 Thoughtseize
2 Tormenting Voice
3 Unburial Rites
Sideboard
2 Fulminator Mage
2 Blood Moon
3 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Stony Silence
1 Anguished Unmaking
2 Blessed Alliance
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Wear
1 Anger of the Gods
4 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Griselbrand
4 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Spells (28)
4 Faithless Looting
4 Goryo's Vengeance
4 Izzet Charm
4 Serum Visions
4 Sleight of Hand
4 Through the Breach
2 Collective Brutality
2 Lightning Bolt
4 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Bloodstained Mire
2 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Darkslick Shores
2 Steam Vents
1 Blood Crypt
1 Watery Grave
1 Island
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
4 Thoughtseize
4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Anger of the Gods
2 Quicksilver Amulet
2 Pact of Negation
Main deck is really stock. The list is great against Affinity and Burn is not troublesome. Death's Shadow can come in the way, but discard is not that terrible. I'd be able to day 2 with it.
Comments are welcomed!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
*Would be interested to see how Quicksilver Amulet does for you. When I tried them it never seemed to matter enough, but I can't put a finger on why
*What would be the reason for the full 4 thoughtseizes? I'd imagine some number of Brutalities should take their place as an additional discard outlet/general goodness
Edit:
*realized you have 2 brutalities main. Feels like some number of Izzet charms should be hugs, but not too sure
*I think you should have the Painful truths package somewhere on the side.
Izzet Charm is much better than hug in grixis. Having the extra modes of removal or counter is relevant. Bolt is absolutely there for finishing off the opponent (I've had way too many games where I hit with an early Emrakul only to durdle for too long, allowing my opponent to rebuild). Often times your opponent will shock as a T1 play which allows bolt + Emrakul to be lethal. Quicksilver Amulet is great against U based control in this style build, but I don't know if they are worth it in this meta. I used to run it in a R/B "control" list which was loaded with early game disruption and used the Griselbrand / Emrakul package as a finisher. That was when Ancestral Visions was unbanned and it seemed like everyone was trying it in some U based durdle deck.
4 Thoughtseize is to fight discard : we are vulnerable, so fight fire with fire. 4 Leyleine and 4 Thoughtseize and discard decks and we're in businness. I'd love to have some control package in the sideboard. Maybe something like :
4 Thoughtseize
4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Anger of the Gods
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Dispel
2 Pact of Negation
Cheers!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
I played a standard list with 2 bruatlities, 3 chalices, 2 Moons, 2 Reckonings 3 pacts and a Kreturn. Think I may replace a pact for a Read the bones - There are barely any matchups where you'd want 3 pacts nowadays.
I retooled my sideboard and played a modern FNM going 4-0 beating Mono Red Goblins, Counters Company, RG Scapeshift, and Elves, giving me back some confidence.
I took this list (same as before with a retooled sideboard) to a 34 player PPTQ on Saturday:
1 Polluted Delta
4 Temple of Malice
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Blood Crypt
4 Swamp
2 Mountain
4 Simian Spirit Guide
2 Borborygomos Enraged
4 Griselbrand
4 Worldspine Wurm
3 Cathartic Reunion
3 Desperate Ritual
4 Goryo's Vengeance
2 Manamorphose
3 Night's Whisper
4 Through the Breach
4 Nourishing Shoal
3 Chalice of the Void
3 Blood Moon
3 Bontu's Last Reckoning
2 Pact of Negation
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
1 Kozilek's Return
1 Shattering Spree
1 Engineered Explosives
Round 1: Affinity
G1: Opponent starts fast. I Breach out a Worldspine on Turn 3 but opponent can survive the next turn and is attacking with Cranial Plating on a flyer and will kill next turn. I topdeck Goryo's on Griselbrand to fly over for the kill.
-3 Night's Whisper, -1 Manamorphose, -2 Cathartic Reunion, +3 Bontu's Last Reckoning, +1 Shattering Spree, +1 Kozilek's Return, +1 Engineered Explosives
G2: I Goryo's a Griselbrand on turn 3 and kill.
1-0
Round 2: Merfolk
G1: Opponent mulls to 5 but leads on Cursecatcher and Lord of Atlantis. I kill with Griselbrand on turn 3.
-3 Night's Whisper, -1 Manamorphose, -3 Cathartic Reunion, +3 Bontu's Last Reckoning, +1 Engineered Explosives, +2 Pact of Negation, +1 Kozilek's Return (maybe a mistake)
G2: My opponent leads on Aether Vial and two lords while I stare at my Kozilek's Return but I topdeck reanimation and kill on turn 3.
2-0
Round 3: Eldrazi Tron
G1: My opponent plays a Thought-Knot Seer and a Relic of Progenitus and I die.
-2 Manamorphose, -1 Desperate Ritual, -3 Cathartic Reunion, +3 Blood Moon, +3 Bontu's Last Reckoning.
G2: I finally cast Bontu's Last Reckoning! Twice! I lose horribly as I get stuck on 3 lands and no combo pieces.
2-1
Round 4: Naya Through the Breach
G1: My opponent leads with Valakut and Sakura-Tribe Elder. I lead with killing him on turn 3 with Griselbrand.
-1 Manamorphose, -2 Cathartic Reunion, +3 Blood Moon
G2: I lead with turn 3 Worldspine Wurm. My opponent can kill with Through the Breach for Primeval Titan but fetches the wrong lands and loses.
3-1
Round 5: Monogreen Tron
G1: Opponent leads on tron lands and I lead on killing him turn 3 with Griselbrand.
-1 Manamorphose, -2 Cathartic Reunion, +3 Blood Moon
G2: We both draw horribly. My opponent gets out a Karn and I combo off with Griselbrand but fizzle badly. I also punt by attacking the face and not the Karn and end up losing to it.
G3: I combo off turn 3. This is getting repetitive.
4-1
Round 6: Blue Moon
My opponent refuses to draw as he is 4-0-1 and locked for Top 8 already. He's playing for seeding.
G1: I test the waters with an end step Nourishing Shoal for 11 splicing Goryo's Vengeance (pitching an SSG) on Griselbrand on turn 3 into open mana. Shockingly it resolves and I kill.
-1 Manamorphose, -3 Cathartic Reunion, -2 Desperate Ritual, +2 Pact of Negation, +1 Boseiju, +3 Chalice of the Void
G2: My opponent taps out for an Electrolyze and I respond by killing him. On turn 3 obviously. Apparently he was putting me to 15 to Breach out Emrakul to kill me next turn.
5-1, 1st seed going into top 8 (other 7 decks are Burn, Monogreen Tron, RG Scapeshift, Affinity, Monoblue Tron, Eldrazi Tron, Blue Moon)
Top 8: Burn
G1: I discard the wrong card to Faithless Looting causing me to be unable to Breach out Griselbrand. I may have been dead to double Eidolon anyway but it was a horrendous misplay on my part.
-3 Night's Whisper, -1 Manamorphose, -1 Faithless Looting, +3 Chalice of the Void, +2 Pact of Negation
G2: My opponent has a Goblin Guide but I kill him on turn 2 with Griselbrand. I have to draw my entire library to do it.
G3: I keep Temple, Breach, Worldspine, Worldspine, Ritual, Shoal, Faithless. My opponent leads on Goblin Guide and I miss on land from the trigger. I play Temple and see SSG leaving it on top, taking another hit. I cast Looting and miss on land and pass. Opponent attacks with Goblin Guide and I hit a Swamp from its trigger. He taps out to burn me and I Shoal splicing Breach to Worldspine him for exact due to fetch and shock life loss.
Top 4: Affinity
G1: Both of our decks stumble. Opponent draws a Ravager, activates Inkmoth using a Springleaf Drum, and dumps 4 counters on an Inkmoth but has to sacrifice down to an Ornithopter and no other lands. I need to fade a mana source for one turn or die to poison counters. Opponent draws Mox Opal but doesn't have Metalcraft!!!! I kill on turn 5 with Griselbrand.
-3 Night's Whisper, -1 Manamorphose, -2 Cathartic Reunion, +3 Bontu's Last Reckoning, +1 Kozilek's Return, +1 Shattering Spree, +1 Engineered Explosives
G2: I have a turn 2 Goryo's Vengeance for Griselbrand in my opener. However, opponent plays Grafdigger's Cage turn 1. Opponent kept double Blinkmoth, Signal Pest, Grafdigger's Cage, three other lands apparently. I spend time setting up a Breach while being beat down by the creature lands and a second Signal Pest. I Breach out a Griselbrand and go off enough to be at 15ish life and set up Breach for Borborygmos Enraged next turn for the kill.
Finals: Monoblue Tron
My opponent isn't going to the RPTQ and concedes to me.
I got a load of turn 3 kills (and 1 turn 2 kill). Finally a win for the good guys!
EDIT - fixed spelling errors from phoneposting
What's your current decklist?
If you wanted to use mine as reference, I'd probably play a third Pact of Negation in the sideboard and cut the Boseiju if you want to use my list as reference. The decks that have a bunch of counterspells play Tectonic Edge or Ghost Quarter, so Boseiju is already ineffective.
Chalice of the Void is completely and totally uncuttable. Having Chalices gives you a huge matchup swing vs any deck with a bunch of one drops (Burn, Elves, Lantern). I also sometimes board them in vs UW Control as they'll have Path/Dispel/Grafdigger's Cage after board. A Chalice on 1 wins vs random low-curve decks and also can take random things like Living End completely by surprise.
i love pact more than anyone but I'm doubting whether we should have the third pact. I am struggling to find spots where I'd bring in the third pact, but this may be because I have brutalities in the SB which serve a similar role.
vs grixis shadows you're on the chalice plan and do not want to dilute too much (plus maybe reckoning too
vs Storm I think 2 is a good number, especially if you are bringing in EE or chalice too
vs Burn I don't want more than 2 and certainly i would make room for brutalities first, then chalices probably
vs UW control, yes I would want all the pacts
to me it doesn't seem like pact is applicable against a wide enough range of matchups that I'd want 3 of them in for me to have the third.