I don't think we want leyline here, and my reasoning is, we are an interactive deck, and can probably live long enough to see and resolve an anger of the gods. If we dont, then oh well, thats how that matchup plays. Having a leyline requires me to have it in the opening hand, or mull for it,both of which im not a big fan of. Even then id have 3 dead cards in my deck. (sure its not actually "dead" but a t4 leyline against dredge is pretty bad most times.)
Thought Scour has been amazing. There are those rare times when they mill a land and I get punished for it, but the pros vastly outweighs the cons.
I can understand not playing TS in certain builds. I feel that it's necessary in a list like Burkharts, though.
I also agree that Leyline of the Void is not great, especially since you can get blown out by Natures Claim. Surgical Extraction has earned a permanent slot in my SB because it's amazing against dredge and useful against other decks too. EoT Surgical + Snap-Surgical, all for two mana, feels great. Anger of the Gods is also really good of course
I'm seeing a lot of 5-0 Burkhart lists popping up on MTGO. Looks like the list is working like a cog wheel. He (Corey) played the deck enough that he found a 60 card list (possibly all 75) that works well for the moment. Most of the lists are identical save 1 EE that was swapped for either the 4th Fulminator Mage or another Dispel. Even if it is tier 7 (jokingly of course) it is putting up some results. Keeps us all from abandoning it I think. I'm pretty happy I decided to trade/buylist into it.
Commander GUR Maelstrom Wanderer BWU Sydri, Galvanic Genius BGB Meren of Clan Nel Toth WGW Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith RRR Feldon of the Third Path WWW Heliod, God of the Sun
Saying that Leyline is bad because of Nature's Claim is just wrong though.
it's not plain wrong since there are other hate cards that dredge can't interact with. if you're putting narrow hate cards in your SB they really do need to make or break the match most of the time. I don't have a comment on how good or bad Leyline is, but I prefer my other answers.
Rest in Peace is a great card against them, and Jeskai plays it as a staple now against Dredge. Should they be bad as well? Is Snap bad because of Spell Snare? We should judge a card for what it does, for its CMC and for what it's worth, not for what it dies against.
you just said it yourself didn't you. RIP is better against nature's claim since it exiles graveyards when it enters the battlefield. this and cheaper CMC make it a better topdeck against dredge as well.
I can see the point in which Leyline is bad if you don't have it in your opening hand, but it's also good against other decks and it doesn't hit us at all.
it's good against what decks? the only real deck I can think of is lantern, and it's not very high impact in that MU to say the least. other decks are extremely fringe. the fact leyline doesn't disrupt us is completely irrelevant since none of our dredge hate cards do.
I haven't used mtgsalvation since the Splinter Twin banning, and I was really floundering for a good deck idea that suits my play style until I saw Burkhart's list place top 8 at two GPs. And now it's picking up steam on MTGO, which means it can survive a constantly fluctuating meta. This is great. The deck feels powerful in so many match-ups. It's very similar to what Twin players were doing post-board towards the end... except with Ancestral Vision closing the door.
Burkhart mentioned in his article that 1 EE and the 2 Countersquall are flex spots in his list. These were previously 1 Dreadbore, 1 Negate, and 1 Remand before he even learned that Countersquall was a card. He also stated that he played these cards because he was expecting a lot of Death's Shadow, Affinity, and TitanShift.
What are our options here in varying metas? I certainly like the 1 EE, and I plan to keep that, but the 2 Countersquall just don't seem right in aggressive metas. Burkhart suggested Dismember, Negate, Spell Snare, Essence Extraction, and Devour Flesh. Spell Pierce seems like a decent option, allowing Turn 1 Ancestral Vision, Turn 2 Serum Visions + hold up mana. Has anyone tried hand disruption in his list? 2 Inquisition of Kozilek, for example? What about Mana Leak? Terminate #4? Anger of the Gods? Do we even want to be losing counterspells?
Obviously everyone's response is going to be different, but basically I'm asking this: what are you guys trying in these spots for your meta and why?
I haven't used mtgsalvation since the Splinter Twin banning, and I was really floundering for a good deck idea that suits my play style until I saw Burkhart's list place top 8 at two GPs. And now it's picking up steam on MTGO, which means it can survive a constantly fluctuating meta. This is great. The deck feels powerful in so many match-ups. It's very similar to what Twin players were doing post-board towards the end... except with Ancestral Vision closing the door.
Burkhart mentioned in his article that 1 EE and the 2 Countersquall are flex spots in his list. These were previously 1 Dreadbore, 1 Negate, and 1 Remand before he even learned that Countersquall was a card. He also stated that he played these cards because he was expecting a lot of Death's Shadow, Affinity, and TitanShift.
What are our options here in varying metas? I certainly like the 1 EE, and I plan to keep that, but the 2 Countersquall just don't seem right in aggressive metas. Burkhart suggested Dismember, Negate, Spell Snare, Essence Extraction, and Devour Flesh. Spell Pierce seems like a decent option, allowing Turn 1 Ancestral Vision, Turn 2 Serum Visions + hold up mana. Has anyone tried hand disruption in his list? 2 Inquisition of Kozilek, for example? What about Mana Leak? Terminate #4? Anger of the Gods? Do we even want to be losing counterspells?
Obviously everyone's response is going to be different, but basically I'm asking this: what are you guys trying in these spots for your meta and why?
In my opinion playing Inquisitions on top of 4 Serum Visions, 4 Scours and 4 Ancestrals is too many cards that don't trade mana for mana.
I kind of like the Countersqualls in Burkhart's list. If I wasn't allowed to play them I'd probably play mana leaks instead.
there is never a perfect answer. I value counterspells very highly though. they're not your terrible against aggro either. Countersquall is stellar against burn, for example. it does interact against infect too.
EDIT: I just remembered Burkhart's list only plays 3 terminates, I'd add 4th
I haven't used mtgsalvation since the Splinter Twin banning, and I was really floundering for a good deck idea that suits my play style until I saw Burkhart's list place top 8 at two GPs. And now it's picking up steam on MTGO, which means it can survive a constantly fluctuating meta. This is great. The deck feels powerful in so many match-ups. It's very similar to what Twin players were doing post-board towards the end... except with Ancestral Vision closing the door.
Burkhart mentioned in his article that 1 EE and the 2 Countersquall are flex spots in his list. These were previously 1 Dreadbore, 1 Negate, and 1 Remand before he even learned that Countersquall was a card. He also stated that he played these cards because he was expecting a lot of Death's Shadow, Affinity, and TitanShift.
What are our options here in varying metas? I certainly like the 1 EE, and I plan to keep that, but the 2 Countersquall just don't seem right in aggressive metas. Burkhart suggested Dismember, Negate, Spell Snare, Essence Extraction, and Devour Flesh. Spell Pierce seems like a decent option, allowing Turn 1 Ancestral Vision, Turn 2 Serum Visions + hold up mana. Has anyone tried hand disruption in his list? 2 Inquisition of Kozilek, for example? What about Mana Leak? Terminate #4? Anger of the Gods? Do we even want to be losing counterspells?
Obviously everyone's response is going to be different, but basically I'm asking this: what are you guys trying in these spots for your meta and why?
I cut 1 EE and 1 countersquall for 2 leaks. I find that the 2 leaks are a better catchall up until visions comes off of suspend. Yes its considerably weak late game, but decks are so greedy right now, they mostly tap out midgame anyway, and suddenly leaks are live again. Ive had a bunch of games the past week where i was able to save.my cryptic because the power spell was countered by a measly leak.
Saying that Leyline is bad because of Nature's Claim is just wrong though.
Rest in Peace is a great card against them, and Jeskai plays it as a staple now against Dredge. Should they be bad as well? Is Snap bad because of Spell Snare? We should judge a card for what it does, for its CMC and for what it's worth, not for what it dies against.
I can see the point in which Leyline is bad if you don't have it in your opening hand, but it's also good against other decks and it doesn't hit us at all.
Surgical seems a bit unsatisfying for what it does, I've seen many Dredge matchups in which SE did almost nothing to something at most. Ravenous Trap and Leyline are hard counters to Dredge, while SE is a more generic answer, good against many other decks but not excellent.
By the way, a card that could go in the SB easily.
I was referring to the dredge matchup specifically when I mentioned Natures Claim. A lot of lists are running 4 in their sideboards now, so it is a legitimate concern.
Personally I've found Surgical to be great in my local meta, because I play against a lot of graveyard based combo, scapeshift, and tron.
I really like Surgical against tron and valalut decks when combined with Fulminator Mage. Being able to basically end the game turn 3 by blowing up one of their lands and extracting it is just awesome.
I haven't used mtgsalvation since the Splinter Twin banning, and I was really floundering for a good deck idea that suits my play style until I saw Burkhart's list place top 8 at two GPs. And now it's picking up steam on MTGO, which means it can survive a constantly fluctuating meta. This is great. The deck feels powerful in so many match-ups. It's very similar to what Twin players were doing post-board towards the end... except with Ancestral Vision closing the door.
Burkhart mentioned in his article that 1 EE and the 2 Countersquall are flex spots in his list. These were previously 1 Dreadbore, 1 Negate, and 1 Remand before he even learned that Countersquall was a card. He also stated that he played these cards because he was expecting a lot of Death's Shadow, Affinity, and TitanShift.
What are our options here in varying metas? I certainly like the 1 EE, and I plan to keep that, but the 2 Countersquall just don't seem right in aggressive metas. Burkhart suggested Dismember, Negate, Spell Snare, Essence Extraction, and Devour Flesh. Spell Pierce seems like a decent option, allowing Turn 1 Ancestral Vision, Turn 2 Serum Visions + hold up mana. Has anyone tried hand disruption in his list? 2 Inquisition of Kozilek, for example? What about Mana Leak? Terminate #4? Anger of the Gods? Do we even want to be losing counterspells?
Obviously everyone's response is going to be different, but basically I'm asking this: what are you guys trying in these spots for your meta and why?
In my opinion playing Inquisitions on top of 4 Serum Visions, 4 Scours and 4 Ancestrals is too many cards that don't trade mana for mana.
I kind of like the Countersqualls in Burkhart's list. If I wasn't allowed to play them I'd probably play mana leaks instead.
there is never a perfect answer. I value counterspells very highly though. they're not your terrible against aggro either. Countersquall is stellar against burn, for example. it does interact against infect too.
EDIT: I just remembered Burkhart's list only plays 3 terminates, I'd add 4th
That's a fair point about the IoKs. I don't think any of those spells are worth dropping for IoK either. 4th Terminate and a Mana Leak seems like a decent possibility for an aggressive meta, especially if most of them are Eldrazi-based. What do you think about Spell Pierce? It's a lot more mana efficient for those early turns, but I worry about playing them against Scapeshift or Ad Nauseum.
I cut 1 EE and 1 countersquall for 2 leaks. I find that the 2 leaks are a better catchall up until visions comes off of suspend. Yes its considerably weak late game, but decks are so greedy right now, they mostly tap out midgame anyway, and suddenly leaks are live again. Ive had a bunch of games the past week where i was able to save.my cryptic because the power spell was countered by a measly leak.
Hmm, I'm not sure I'd want to cut EE from the main. Mana Leak does seem like one of the best options for replacing Countersquall with another counterspell. Were those power spells you were countering creatures or would Countersquall have served the same purpose? Would Spell Pierce have worked?
Well, I cut the 2 Countersquall for 1 new Liliana and.... 1 Jace, Architect of Thought.
Haven't testing results yet, but my meta is full of aggro atm. I think these two can give me more value instead of the Countersquall sitting constantly in my hand.
Will post up if I did some testing next week.
I can see Jace putting in work. He's constantly squeezing his way into my sideboard packages. I'm not sure that we want to tap out on turn 3 or 4 against any deck right now, though. I'd rather hold up Snapcaster, Kolaghan's Command or Cryptic Command.
I think Countersquall is perfect in Burkharts list, because you REALLY don't want to draw mana leaks in the late game. Countersquall being live at all points in the game is huge for a deck looking to grind the opponents strategy into nothing over the course of a (usually) long game.
That being said, while it's not great against Zoo and those types of decks, I think it's worth the risk because of the potential payoff it provides.
However, if you know your meta is absolutely full of these types of decks, Mana Leak is probably worth switching over to. I don't think you want to play less than 2 counters in the 2CMC slot because they are very much needed in combo matchups. Inquisition is not great in this build because we already have a lot of important 1-drops.
If my meta was nothing but small creatures, I would switch over to a counter-less build with Jace VP, and the full set of IoK.
Just went 3-0 at my LGS beating Grixis delver 2-0, Lantern Control 2-0 and Ad Nauseum 2-1. I played the Burhart list one to one, no changes. Deck felt, for another week, so powerful. I just love to play it. The previous time I had only lost to 1 drop zoo in pretty close matches.
Overall I don't think I would change anything, the 2 life of countersquall are relevant way too often and not having mana leak is not that terrible because of the amount of removals we play.
So here is what I'm running, unfortunately my local meta is very burn heavy, so it's essentially lose game 1, and pray that the board slots help. I love the list, I love the play-style, I love it in every match but burn and Tron. I don't want to give up on it, because of how much I'm enjoying the deck, but it's essentially a 1-3 deck at FNM every single time due to the meta. I would welcome any advice, criticism, smacks on the head, encouragement, or whatever at this point. Because this evening I was testing with a buddy who runs burn, could not win a game, not even getting in to turn 4-5 so I could regain control, just terrible hands on my part and damn near perfect hands on his part. Match one, I get paired with him, match two I get the bye, I found my thoughts headed in the direction of bad sportsmanship so I went ahead and dropped, drove home, cracked a beer, and wrote this post.
I know it needs Scalding Tarn, however that's not really in the budget right now, but it's the first upgrade I pick up when I have the chance. Any other ideas I am more than welcome to consider, thanks!
So here is what I'm running, unfortunately my local meta is very burn heavy, so it's essentially lose game 1, and pray that the board slots help. I love the list, I love the play-style, I love it in every match but burn and Tron. I don't want to give up on it, because of how much I'm enjoying the deck, but it's essentially a 1-3 deck at FNM every single time due to the meta. I would welcome any advice, criticism, smacks on the head, encouragement, or whatever at this point. Because this evening I was testing with a buddy who runs burn, could not win a game, not even getting in to turn 4-5 so I could regain control, just terrible hands on my part and damn near perfect hands on his part. Match one, I get paired with him, match two I get the bye, I found my thoughts headed in the direction of bad sportsmanship so I went ahead and dropped, drove home, cracked a beer, and wrote this post.
I know it needs Scalding Tarn, however that's not really in the budget right now, but it's the first upgrade I pick up when I have the chance. Any other ideas I am more than welcome to consider, thanks!
If there is a lot of burn I would suggest cut Shadow of Doubt and 1 Cryptic Command and play at least 2 Collective Brutality mainboard. Your win % will increase significantly. You also really need Serum visions in there, your card draw/selection is really low.
If there is a lot of burn I would suggest cut Shadow of Doubt and 1 Cryptic Command and play at least 2 Collective Brutality mainboard. Your win % will increase significantly. You also really need Serum visions in there, your card draw/selection is really low.
I hate Serum Visions but I think that almost all lists still need to run it. This deck would go a long way by cutting Shadow of Doubt (not that much Scapeshift or tutors) and some of the creatures like Jace or PWs like Lilly. Lilly and Cryptic don't particularly play well together. Maybe your localized meta needs Lilly for all the Boggles but in that case you should just sleeve up Jund and go to town.
If there is a lot of burn I would suggest cut Shadow of Doubt and 1 Cryptic Command and play at least 2 Collective Brutality mainboard. Your win % will increase significantly. You also really need Serum visions in there, your card draw/selection is really low.
I hate Serum Visions but I think that almost all lists still need to run it. This deck would go a long way by cutting Shadow of Doubt (not that much Scapeshift or tutors) and some of the creatures like Jace or PWs like Lilly. Lilly and Cryptic don't particularly play well together. Maybe your localized meta needs Lilly for all the Boggles but in that case you should just sleeve up Jund and go to town.
you are crazy, Serum Visions is literally the only reason to play modern!
If there is a lot of burn I would suggest cut Shadow of Doubt and 1 Cryptic Command and play at least 2 Collective Brutality mainboard. Your win % will increase significantly. You also really need Serum visions in there, your card draw/selection is really low.
I hate Serum Visions but I think that almost all lists still need to run it. This deck would go a long way by cutting Shadow of Doubt (not that much Scapeshift or tutors) and some of the creatures like Jace or PWs like Lilly. Lilly and Cryptic don't particularly play well together. Maybe your localized meta needs Lilly for all the Boggles but in that case you should just sleeve up Jund and go to town.
Well, Serum Visions is our only form of card selection. It is no preordain but we need have to play it whether we like it or not. If preordain gets unbanned (#istillhope) then things will be quite different and this deck will get an incredible boost. Till then, yes, all lists need to run it.
I cut 1 EE and 1 countersquall for 2 leaks. I find that the 2 leaks are a better catchall up until visions comes off of suspend. Yes its considerably weak late game, but decks are so greedy right now, they mostly tap out midgame anyway, and suddenly leaks are live again. Ive had a bunch of games the past week where i was able to save.my cryptic because the power spell was countered by a measly leak.
Hmm, I'm not sure I'd want to cut EE from the main. Mana Leak does seem like one of the best options for replacing Countersquall with another counterspell. Were those power spells you were countering creatures or would Countersquall have served the same purpose? Would Spell Pierce have worked?
@egon hey, not all times it was a creature, but some notable ones were thought knot, smasher, primeval titan, arcbound ravager, etc etc. Sometimes, spell pierce would have been better, espescially early game, but the turns 3-6 is where mana leak serves its best purpose for me, after which the cryptic soft lock gets really stronk.
watched a bit of Burkhart's stream and now I really wanna start playing something very similar to his as it makes me miss playing Grixis Control, has anyone had success with his version of the deck?
watched a bit of Burkhart's stream and now I really wanna start playing something very similar to his as it makes me miss playing Grixis Control, has anyone had success with his version of the deck?
His list has been growing in popularity. There's been a couple top 8s at SCG tournaments, along with a few daily 5-0s and a 5-2 finish in a PTQ. All of these were using basically the same list. I've been playing with it recently, and it's great. I've only lost one match so far against one of my testing buddies on Eldrazi & Taxes.
Even the bad matchups for this deck are winnable, I've beaten tron and dredge twice now since switching to this list by winning both post-board games. I'm loving this list and I won't be putting it down for a while. It does take some practice to play optimally, but that's just part of the fun.
watched a bit of Burkhart's stream and now I really wanna start playing something very similar to his as it makes me miss playing Grixis Control, has anyone had success with his version of the deck?
Commander GUR Maelstrom Wanderer BWU Sydri, Galvanic Genius BGB Meren of Clan Nel Toth WGW Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith RRR Feldon of the Third Path WWW Heliod, God of the Sun
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Thought Scour has been amazing. There are those rare times when they mill a land and I get punished for it, but the pros vastly outweighs the cons.
I also agree that Leyline of the Void is not great, especially since you can get blown out by Natures Claim. Surgical Extraction has earned a permanent slot in my SB because it's amazing against dredge and useful against other decks too. EoT Surgical + Snap-Surgical, all for two mana, feels great. Anger of the Gods is also really good of course
BGX Midrange
URX Control
GURB Grixis/Jund Shadow
RBG Dredge
xUx U Ballista Tron
Commander
GUR Maelstrom Wanderer
BWU Sydri, Galvanic Genius
BGB Meren of Clan Nel Toth
WGW Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith
RRR Feldon of the Third Path
WWW Heliod, God of the Sun
it's not plain wrong since there are other hate cards that dredge can't interact with. if you're putting narrow hate cards in your SB they really do need to make or break the match most of the time. I don't have a comment on how good or bad Leyline is, but I prefer my other answers.
you just said it yourself didn't you. RIP is better against nature's claim since it exiles graveyards when it enters the battlefield. this and cheaper CMC make it a better topdeck against dredge as well.
it's good against what decks? the only real deck I can think of is lantern, and it's not very high impact in that MU to say the least. other decks are extremely fringe. the fact leyline doesn't disrupt us is completely irrelevant since none of our dredge hate cards do.
to reiterate, I'm not for or against leyline
Youtube Channel
Burkhart mentioned in his article that 1 EE and the 2 Countersquall are flex spots in his list. These were previously 1 Dreadbore, 1 Negate, and 1 Remand before he even learned that Countersquall was a card. He also stated that he played these cards because he was expecting a lot of Death's Shadow, Affinity, and TitanShift.
What are our options here in varying metas? I certainly like the 1 EE, and I plan to keep that, but the 2 Countersquall just don't seem right in aggressive metas. Burkhart suggested Dismember, Negate, Spell Snare, Essence Extraction, and Devour Flesh. Spell Pierce seems like a decent option, allowing Turn 1 Ancestral Vision, Turn 2 Serum Visions + hold up mana. Has anyone tried hand disruption in his list? 2 Inquisition of Kozilek, for example? What about Mana Leak? Terminate #4? Anger of the Gods? Do we even want to be losing counterspells?
Obviously everyone's response is going to be different, but basically I'm asking this: what are you guys trying in these spots for your meta and why?
In my opinion playing Inquisitions on top of 4 Serum Visions, 4 Scours and 4 Ancestrals is too many cards that don't trade mana for mana.
I kind of like the Countersqualls in Burkhart's list. If I wasn't allowed to play them I'd probably play mana leaks instead.
there is never a perfect answer. I value counterspells very highly though. they're not your terrible against aggro either. Countersquall is stellar against burn, for example. it does interact against infect too.
EDIT: I just remembered Burkhart's list only plays 3 terminates, I'd add 4th
Youtube Channel
I cut 1 EE and 1 countersquall for 2 leaks. I find that the 2 leaks are a better catchall up until visions comes off of suspend. Yes its considerably weak late game, but decks are so greedy right now, they mostly tap out midgame anyway, and suddenly leaks are live again. Ive had a bunch of games the past week where i was able to save.my cryptic because the power spell was countered by a measly leak.
I was referring to the dredge matchup specifically when I mentioned Natures Claim. A lot of lists are running 4 in their sideboards now, so it is a legitimate concern.
Personally I've found Surgical to be great in my local meta, because I play against a lot of graveyard based combo, scapeshift, and tron.
I really like Surgical against tron and valalut decks when combined with Fulminator Mage. Being able to basically end the game turn 3 by blowing up one of their lands and extracting it is just awesome.
BGX Midrange
URX Control
That's a fair point about the IoKs. I don't think any of those spells are worth dropping for IoK either. 4th Terminate and a Mana Leak seems like a decent possibility for an aggressive meta, especially if most of them are Eldrazi-based. What do you think about Spell Pierce? It's a lot more mana efficient for those early turns, but I worry about playing them against Scapeshift or Ad Nauseum.
Hmm, I'm not sure I'd want to cut EE from the main. Mana Leak does seem like one of the best options for replacing Countersquall with another counterspell. Were those power spells you were countering creatures or would Countersquall have served the same purpose? Would Spell Pierce have worked?
I can see Jace putting in work. He's constantly squeezing his way into my sideboard packages. I'm not sure that we want to tap out on turn 3 or 4 against any deck right now, though. I'd rather hold up Snapcaster, Kolaghan's Command or Cryptic Command.
That being said, while it's not great against Zoo and those types of decks, I think it's worth the risk because of the potential payoff it provides.
However, if you know your meta is absolutely full of these types of decks, Mana Leak is probably worth switching over to. I don't think you want to play less than 2 counters in the 2CMC slot because they are very much needed in combo matchups. Inquisition is not great in this build because we already have a lot of important 1-drops.
If my meta was nothing but small creatures, I would switch over to a counter-less build with Jace VP, and the full set of IoK.
BGX Midrange
URX Control
Overall I don't think I would change anything, the 2 life of countersquall are relevant way too often and not having mana leak is not that terrible because of the amount of removals we play.
UB Faeries (15-6-0)
UWR Control (10-5-1)/Kiki Control/Midrange/Harbinger
UBR Cruel Control (6-4-0)/Grixis Control/Delver/Blue Jund
UWB Control/Mentor
UW Miracles/Control (currently active, 14-2-0)
BW Eldrazi & Taxes
RW Burn (9-1-0)
I do (academic) research on video games and archaeology! You can check out my open access book here: https://www.sidestone.com/books/the-interactive-past
4x Ancestral Vision
2x Countersquall
4x Cryptic Command
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
3x Kolaghan's Command
4x Lightning Bolt
1x Shadow of Doubt
2x Spell Snare
3x Terminate
Planeswalkers
3x Liliana of the Veil
Creatures
2x Goblin Dark-Dwellers
3x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
1x Pia and Kiran Nalaar
3x Snapcaster Mage
1x Blackcleave Cliffs
1x Blood Crypt
4x Bloodstained Mire
2x Creeping Tar Pit
1x Darkslick Shores
3x Island
1x Mountain
4x Polluted Delta
2x Steam Vents
1x Sulfur Falls
1x Swamp
1x Watery Grave
1x Anger of the Gods
1x Countersquall
1x Damnation
1x Dispel
2x Dragon's Claw
1x Engineered Explosives
1x Izzet Staticaster
2x Leyline of the Void
3x Molten Rain
2x Spellskite
So here is what I'm running, unfortunately my local meta is very burn heavy, so it's essentially lose game 1, and pray that the board slots help. I love the list, I love the play-style, I love it in every match but burn and Tron. I don't want to give up on it, because of how much I'm enjoying the deck, but it's essentially a 1-3 deck at FNM every single time due to the meta. I would welcome any advice, criticism, smacks on the head, encouragement, or whatever at this point. Because this evening I was testing with a buddy who runs burn, could not win a game, not even getting in to turn 4-5 so I could regain control, just terrible hands on my part and damn near perfect hands on his part. Match one, I get paired with him, match two I get the bye, I found my thoughts headed in the direction of bad sportsmanship so I went ahead and dropped, drove home, cracked a beer, and wrote this post.
I know it needs Scalding Tarn, however that's not really in the budget right now, but it's the first upgrade I pick up when I have the chance. Any other ideas I am more than welcome to consider, thanks!
UB Faeries (15-6-0)
UWR Control (10-5-1)/Kiki Control/Midrange/Harbinger
UBR Cruel Control (6-4-0)/Grixis Control/Delver/Blue Jund
UWB Control/Mentor
UW Miracles/Control (currently active, 14-2-0)
BW Eldrazi & Taxes
RW Burn (9-1-0)
I do (academic) research on video games and archaeology! You can check out my open access book here: https://www.sidestone.com/books/the-interactive-past
I hate Serum Visions but I think that almost all lists still need to run it. This deck would go a long way by cutting Shadow of Doubt (not that much Scapeshift or tutors) and some of the creatures like Jace or PWs like Lilly. Lilly and Cryptic don't particularly play well together. Maybe your localized meta needs Lilly for all the Boggles but in that case you should just sleeve up Jund and go to town.
you are crazy, Serum Visions is literally the only reason to play modern!
I agree with the criticism though.
Youtube Channel
UB Faeries (15-6-0)
UWR Control (10-5-1)/Kiki Control/Midrange/Harbinger
UBR Cruel Control (6-4-0)/Grixis Control/Delver/Blue Jund
UWB Control/Mentor
UW Miracles/Control (currently active, 14-2-0)
BW Eldrazi & Taxes
RW Burn (9-1-0)
I do (academic) research on video games and archaeology! You can check out my open access book here: https://www.sidestone.com/books/the-interactive-past
Hmm, I'm not sure I'd want to cut EE from the main. Mana Leak does seem like one of the best options for replacing Countersquall with another counterspell. Were those power spells you were countering creatures or would Countersquall have served the same purpose? Would Spell Pierce have worked?
@egon hey, not all times it was a creature, but some notable ones were thought knot, smasher, primeval titan, arcbound ravager, etc etc. Sometimes, spell pierce would have been better, espescially early game, but the turns 3-6 is where mana leak serves its best purpose for me, after which the cryptic soft lock gets really stronk.
Even the bad matchups for this deck are winnable, I've beaten tron and dredge twice now since switching to this list by winning both post-board games. I'm loving this list and I won't be putting it down for a while. It does take some practice to play optimally, but that's just part of the fun.
BGX Midrange
URX Control
Which stream would that be? Nevermind, found it.
http://www.channelfireball.com/videos/channel-burkhart-modern-grixis-control/
GURB Grixis/Jund Shadow
RBG Dredge
xUx U Ballista Tron
Commander
GUR Maelstrom Wanderer
BWU Sydri, Galvanic Genius
BGB Meren of Clan Nel Toth
WGW Nazahn, Revered Bladesmith
RRR Feldon of the Third Path
WWW Heliod, God of the Sun