Yeah I got smoked last night by Goblins (what) who were on fire all game, and had a really bad drawing game vs burn who played well. Sometimes it just doesn't work out, but i think our deck can handle these matchups if we draw well, but I'm always trying to come up with some kind of removal creature or cards for the board, I'm thinking that blessed alliance doesn't really cut it anymore even with the life gain clause on it. Reflector mage sometimes is great and sometimes not, like he's good vs big creatures but vs like one of 6 small goblins or elves feels terrible. Maybe we need more EE in the board in general, or some other thing that can blow up a bunch of these little guys....
Yeah I got smoked last night by Goblins (what) who were on fire all game, and had a really bad drawing game vs burn who played well. Sometimes it just doesn't work out, but i think our deck can handle these matchups if we draw well, but I'm always trying to come up with some kind of removal creature or cards for the board, I'm thinking that blessed alliance doesn't really cut it anymore even with the life gain clause on it. Reflector mage sometimes is great and sometimes not, like he's good vs big creatures but vs like one of 6 small goblins or elves feels terrible. Maybe we need more EE in the board in general, or some other thing that can blow up a bunch of these little guys....
Izzet Staticaster blows up most goblins and often more than one at a time. I've also found holding up Spell Queller for their Goblin/Reckless Bushwhacker to be particularly brutal. Even if they kill the Queller, they don't get the Kick/Surge bonus so all they get is a vanilla 1/1 or 2/1.
Reflector bouncing and trading (or drawing burn) is decent, but I've also had a lot of luck with Rhox War Monk. Big enough to dodge removal or demand a 2-for-1, eats aggro guys for breakfast, and the lifelink is super relevant. They can shut it down with Command in some game states, but even then it's either eating an attacker or saving you burn to the face.
Blessed Alliance is IMO more for Midrange matchups like Bant Eldrazi than for all-in aggro like Revolt Zoo/8-Whack.
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Playing UX Mana Denial until Modern gets the answers it needs.
WUBRG Humans BRW Mardu Pyromancer UW UW "Control" UR Blue Moon
Why do I like it? Because its fetchable with coco, hits the 2 cmc spot, its colorless, doesnt deplete our graveyard and has an activation cost instead of an etb effect (I am a sucker for torpor orb effects as I think they destroy decks that we sometimes have problems like bant eldrazi, zoo and elves). What do you think?
Yeah in my meta I think I'll give 1-2 war monk a try. Yeah blessed alliance is good basically for midrange which I can usually handle ok already with 3 reflector mage. I may drop it for more aggressive removal or war monk.
Side note: I'm tempted to try nahiri. Has anyone tried her? Helps us in a number of ways as removal-CA-threat that doesn't die to wrath, and even though the ultimate ain't great, I don't think we need her for that anyways unless to break a stalemate with tutoring for a knight for any reason. Maybe she comes in vs midrange, control? Any thoughts?
About Eli Kassis' deck choice. He was the middle seat in the Unified Modern event, which given the talk before the tournament most people assumed middle seat would be some sort of Death Shadow variant. (The idea being their match would finish sooner giving them the opportunity to help both teammates.) Regardless if he was correct or not, Eli metagamed to go very very wide with his list, a specific weakness vs Death's Shadow. He ran 8 dorks, 3 Selfless Spirits and 2 Gavony Townships for that exact reason; go wide.
The other Bant Knightfall deck in the top 8 ran Sacred Foundry, because his teammate, on Death Shadow, needed the Stomping Grounds. (same setup with Kassis' team)
I have switched out the Izzet Staticaster from my sideboard list in favor of a Ulvenwald Tracker. I know Izzet has won me games, it is a great card. But with the anthem affects in Merfolk and Elves, I want more removal in the form of a creature. A 1 drop on color who allows our naturally bigger creatures to trade when appropriate for us, targeted at specific creatures seems better than a blanket 1 damage ping.
What does everyone think of the new Gideon? I think it seems strong, especially if we can play it on turn 2. I'll probably test it as a 1 or a 2 of.
Gideon of the Trials 1WW
Planeswalker - Gideon
+1: Until your next turn, prevent all damage target permanent would deal.
0: Until end of turn, Gideon of the Trials becomes a 4/4 Human Soldier creature with indestructible that's still a planeswalker. Prevent all damage would be dealt to him this turn.
0: You get an emblem with "As long as you control a Gideon planeswalker, you can't lose the game and your opponents can't win the game."
Loyalty 3
I have switched out the Izzet Staticaster from my sideboard list in favor of a Ulvenwald Tracker. I know Izzet has won me games, it is a great card. But with the anthem affects in Merfolk and Elves, I want more removal in the form of a creature. A 1 drop on color who allows our naturally bigger creatures to trade when appropriate for us, targeted at specific creatures seems better than a blanket 1 damage ping.
I've been trying to make Tracker work since it was first spoilered. Seems like this may actually be a good spot for it. Especially fun with post-board Rhox War Monk.
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Playing UX Mana Denial until Modern gets the answers it needs.
WUBRG Humans BRW Mardu Pyromancer UW UW "Control" UR Blue Moon
New gideon makes revisiting the old knightfall nahiri build pretty enticing. I was thinking of revisiting it now that the meta has slowed as it is, and this just further incentivises it. I have a crazy build with 3 combos in it plus new gideon: saheeli/felidar, kotr/retreat and nahiri/emrakul. When I was playing nahiri knightfall before, it was pretty good (right before dredge got cathartic) and I even top8'd a ~50 person event with it. Gideon of the Trials would have been incredibly strong against the exact type of deck that were problematic (uninteractive linear decks like dredge). Sun titan in the build brings back multiple combo peices, while being a combo peice with saheeli.
Kinda crazy, maybe too much going on. But then again, it plays very strong cards and can kill surprisingly quickly. The combos peices all kinda work together as well, with oath of nissa acting as the glue that holds it together.
Something of note: I don't think Gideon is universally great in shutting down the Modern decks I think you're targeting. For example, I can't imagine Dredge or 8-Whack or Elves having a hard time dealing with him, and vs. Storm he just forces them to direct a couple Grapeshots at him. He doesn't stop Abzan Co. from gaining infinite life or killing with Murderous Redcap. He does shut down some combos, like Ad Nauseam pre-board, although they can still draw their deck to find the post-board Echoing Truth.
I'm not saying he's a garbage card, but being susceptible to both damage and board presence makes him vulnerable. That said, his +1 on top of the board presence we can generate is definitely a good combination, especially with dorks to power him out on turn 2.
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Playing UX Mana Denial until Modern gets the answers it needs.
WUBRG Humans BRW Mardu Pyromancer UW UW "Control" UR Blue Moon
The Nahiri-based, non-Company build of Knightfall was discussed here so I think it's probably fair game. It's an interesting list. 0 Path is certainly ambitious though. I might drop Emrakul (Sun Titan is big enough), 1 Retreat, 1 Gideon and 1 Birds for 4 Path and go from there. It's certainly crazy but intriguing as well.
Yeah that's just a starting point. No path does lean on nahiri for removal and retreat for some measure of defense. Abzan company gets along without removal maindeck a lot, which is where I'm basing that ambition. They are able to get away with it through consistent comboing, which is the theoretical basis (which may or may not be correct). Emrakul was planned to be in the SB, but I just jammed it maindeck for illustrative purposes.
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Modern Decks
KnightfallGWUR
Azorius Control UW
Burn RBG
Sun titan can bring back Gideon of the Trials, so losing him to stuff like conflag isn't really super concerning. Abzan company isn't really playing redcap anymore, so that is mostly a non-issue. Gideon of the Trials isn't expected to hold out forever, remember this is a combo deck just looking to end the game by assembling any of the 3 2-peice combo.
edit: lol not sure how that ended up as two different posts.
edit2: Also, this could just be janky - just toying with new cards
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Modern Decks
KnightfallGWUR
Azorius Control UW
Burn RBG
That card feels like it is win-more here, but hitting it off coco could break some board stalls. Seems like if Knightfall coco builds have enough creatures in play to make that card good, its already winning 95% of the time.
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Modern Decks
KnightfallGWUR
Azorius Control UW
Burn RBG
I'm wondering if nahiri is a good 1 of main in a normal knightfall list cutting a path or retreat or in the board too, not for the emrakul plan but just card adavantage, removal and annoying threat that doesn't die to most removal.
*Breaking News* According to mtg salvation, Jund is not a tier 1 deck!
Sorry.
No one answered, would Prowling Serpopard be any good a sideboard card?
Hard no. For the same reasons we don't play Loxodon Smiter anymore, this card is underwhelming. We have a strong matchup against counterspell decks anyway thanks to Voice, playing at instant speed and our own counterspells. Also, it dies to Bolt, which most blue-based decks also play.
*Breaking News* According to mtg salvation, Jund is not a tier 1 deck!
Sorry.
No one answered, would Prowling Serpopard be any good a sideboard card?
Hard no. For the same reasons we don't play Loxodon Smiter anymore, this card is underwhelming. We have a strong matchup against counterspell decks anyway thanks to Voice, playing at instant speed and our own counterspells. Also, it dies to Bolt, which most blue-based decks also play.
Ur right, i forgot about voice
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Are you too good for ego issues? If so call 1-800-EGOS, that's 1-800-EGOS. Call 1-800-EGOS today!
With a big tournament coming up
This sunday I went to another town's lgs to get more practice/ scout the meta. Turns out they have 8-10 storm players. Played against two, went 1-2 both times. Need some advice on the matchup, plus the sodebpard needs spme tech. Obviously a 1-of eidolon of rhetoric os going in. Anything else?
Izzet Staticaster blows up most goblins and often more than one at a time. I've also found holding up Spell Queller for their Goblin/Reckless Bushwhacker to be particularly brutal. Even if they kill the Queller, they don't get the Kick/Surge bonus so all they get is a vanilla 1/1 or 2/1.
GWU Knightfall Spirit Company GWU
GWB Abzan Evolution GWB
Blessed Alliance is IMO more for Midrange matchups like Bant Eldrazi than for all-in aggro like Revolt Zoo/8-Whack.
WUBRG Humans
BRW Mardu Pyromancer
UW UW "Control"
UR Blue Moon
http://imgur.com/a/nUme6
Why do I like it? Because its fetchable with coco, hits the 2 cmc spot, its colorless, doesnt deplete our graveyard and has an activation cost instead of an etb effect (I am a sucker for torpor orb effects as I think they destroy decks that we sometimes have problems like bant eldrazi, zoo and elves). What do you think?
Side note: I'm tempted to try nahiri. Has anyone tried her? Helps us in a number of ways as removal-CA-threat that doesn't die to wrath, and even though the ultimate ain't great, I don't think we need her for that anyways unless to break a stalemate with tutoring for a knight for any reason. Maybe she comes in vs midrange, control? Any thoughts?
The other Bant Knightfall deck in the top 8 ran Sacred Foundry, because his teammate, on Death Shadow, needed the Stomping Grounds. (same setup with Kassis' team)
I have switched out the Izzet Staticaster from my sideboard list in favor of a Ulvenwald Tracker. I know Izzet has won me games, it is a great card. But with the anthem affects in Merfolk and Elves, I want more removal in the form of a creature. A 1 drop on color who allows our naturally bigger creatures to trade when appropriate for us, targeted at specific creatures seems better than a blanket 1 damage ping.
Gideon of the Trials 1WW
Planeswalker - Gideon
+1: Until your next turn, prevent all damage target permanent would deal.
0: Until end of turn, Gideon of the Trials becomes a 4/4 Human Soldier creature with indestructible that's still a planeswalker. Prevent all damage would be dealt to him this turn.
0: You get an emblem with "As long as you control a Gideon planeswalker, you can't lose the game and your opponents can't win the game."
Loyalty 3
I've been trying to make Tracker work since it was first spoilered. Seems like this may actually be a good spot for it. Especially fun with post-board Rhox War Monk.
WUBRG Humans
BRW Mardu Pyromancer
UW UW "Control"
UR Blue Moon
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Oath of Nissa
3 Retreat to Coralhelm
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Felidar Guardian
2 Sun Titan
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4 Gideon of the Trials
4 Nahiri, the Harbinger
2 Wooded Foothills
3 Misty Rainforest
4 Windswept Heath
3 Forest
1 Plains
1 Breeding Pool
2 Temple Garden
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Stomping Ground
1 Kessig Wolf Run
1 Ghost Quarter
KnightfallGWUR
Azorius Control UW
Burn RBG
I'm not saying he's a garbage card, but being susceptible to both damage and board presence makes him vulnerable. That said, his +1 on top of the board presence we can generate is definitely a good combination, especially with dorks to power him out on turn 2.
WUBRG Humans
BRW Mardu Pyromancer
UW UW "Control"
UR Blue Moon
GWU Knightfall Spirit Company GWU
GWB Abzan Evolution GWB
KnightfallGWUR
Azorius Control UW
Burn RBG
edit: lol not sure how that ended up as two different posts.
edit2: Also, this could just be janky - just toying with new cards
KnightfallGWUR
Azorius Control UW
Burn RBG
KnightfallGWUR
Azorius Control UW
Burn RBG
Sorry.
No one answered, would Prowling Serpopard be any good a sideboard card?
Hard no. For the same reasons we don't play Loxodon Smiter anymore, this card is underwhelming. We have a strong matchup against counterspell decks anyway thanks to Voice, playing at instant speed and our own counterspells. Also, it dies to Bolt, which most blue-based decks also play.
Ur right, i forgot about voice
With a big tournament coming up
This sunday I went to another town's lgs to get more practice/ scout the meta. Turns out they have 8-10 storm players. Played against two, went 1-2 both times. Need some advice on the matchup, plus the sodebpard needs spme tech. Obviously a 1-of eidolon of rhetoric os going in. Anything else?
Here's the list:
4 noble hierarch
3 birds of paradise
2 qusali pridemage
1 selfless spirit
3 scavenging ooze
3 voice of resurgence
4 knight of the reliquary
4 spell queller
1 eternal witness
1 tireless tracker
1 vendilion clique
1 courser of kruphix
Noncreatures
4 path to exile
4 collected company
2 retreat to coralhelm
4 misty rainforest
4 windswept heath
1 flooded strand
1 ghost quarter
1 gavony township
1 horizon canopy
1 kessig wolf run
1 stomping ground
1 breeding pool
1 temple garden
1 hallowed fountain
3 forest
1 plains
1 island
3 blessed alliance
2 reflector mage
2 unified will
2 negate
1 eldritch evolution
1 stony silence
1 izzet staticaster
1 gaddock teeg
1 kataki, war's wage
1 vendilion clique
Cheers