I was also thinking about putting it back in the sideboard. It's been a while since I've even seen a Spellskite. Any thoughts on the new leaks? Stabilization Orb and Karn, Scion of Urza seem interesting.
So, who tf HYPED for new Karn? The folks that sporadically play Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas, Hazoret, the Fervent and Thought-Knot Seer have proven that 1-2 4 CMC cards are manageable, and it's even colorless. At face value, he makes at least 2 Master of Etherium tokens (minus the group pump) and is left with 1 loyalty. He also makes us even more resilient against removal and wraths when coupled with Nexi. His +1 and -1 are pure card advantage, and the fact that the opponent chooses which card we draw, while bad, is mitigated by his -1.
An example scenario: We need to win real quick because opponent is stabilizing, and our only way of doing so is with a Plating-equipped Nexus through the air. We have Karn in the field. Now, if the top 3 cards of our library are, say, Plating, Memnite and a Land, we draw a Plating and it's all cool and fine, we win. But let's suppose that it's Memnite, Plating and Land instead. We draw Memnite, curse the RNG gods, and activate Karn's +1, revealing Plating and a Land. The opponent will obviously give us the Land while exiling the Plating. And that's okay, because if we die next turn, we would have died anyways, Karn or not, due to not drawing the plating. But then next turn, you simply -1 and recover the Plating (that you would've drew next turn anyways, yeah), but you also dug 2 cards deeper in the process, so now you have a Plating and whatever you topdecked. And if we simply need any critter after a wrath, Karn is pretty good at doing so, as almost half of our deck are creatures.
I was also thinking about putting it back in the sideboard. It's been a while since I've even seen a Spellskite. Any thoughts on the new leaks? Stabilization Orb and Karn, Scion of Urza seem interesting.
I like them both. Orb vs storm is fine but I’d rather have rule of law. Karn looks deece, out of the board maybe
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I'm thinking about cutting all 2 of my Memnites and running a total of 3 Welding Jars in the main. Memnite is almost never relevant, and welding jar is almost always relevant. Might be important to note that my meta is very removal-heavy.
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currently playing
(Modern)
RG RG Titanshift RG WUBR Affinity WUBR x Eldrazi Tron x UG Tropical Merfolk UG
In my 40-person LGS event tonight, there were 8 Jund decks and 5 affinity decks undefeated going into r2. I got to play and watch a ton of that MU today (I dropped after first round, just wasn’t feeling it today and wanted to jam Standard for the PPTQ tomorrow)
Robot players who sat back, played a grindy game, and played around the utmost amount of outs did exceedingly well. The ones who just went full-on Reptar and balls to the wall (typically the less experienced pilots, but not always) didn’t do so well. The removal decks slow you down, then play some “catch up” spells.
Creeping corrosion/shatterstorm are both real sideboard cards for these BGx decks, not to mention Ancient Grudge and other classic hosers. Because the meta has “narrowed” they can play more cards that just blow the MU wide open, which means we need to have a concrete gameplan when we face these decks.
Personally, as I’ve said before, my gameplan is to side out the weak cards and play haymakers. I’ve been testing -4 Pest -4 skirge -2 memnite for +2 bitterblossom +1 Champion +1 Grid +2 blood moon +2 Thoughtseize +2 spellskite.
With the Jund decks moving to 4 lightning bolt and eschewing fatal push almost altogether, Spellskite has been a House. It also draws Liliana the Last Hope activations, which can be huge in playing to the mid game.
Note that spellskite is also the one of the best cards you have vs Burn, Bogles, and the Mirror. I played a mirror match last week where I resolved t1 bitterblossom and t2 spellskite to my opponent’s t2 Grid. I was able to lock his Grid activations down almost the entire game while I built an army of flyers.
If someone were to go the other direction and decide to just play the fastest game possible, I think it could very easily be time to revisit the actual affinity cards: frogmite, myr enforcer and thoughtcast. Contested war zone perhaps? The entire deck could just play as much to the board as possible, loses a little play but gains a ton of speed.
That version basically beats stony silence, so you’re worried about the removal at that point. And since you’re plan is to be dumping 7 permanents turn 1, the deck could be playing 3-4 welding jar with ease.
Just some thoughts — I’ve got a few hundred play points to spare so Im willing to run it through a couple leagues if anyone is down to contribute to the project!
I don’t play blasts anymore, I’m playing 3 Bomat Courier instead. It’s been a godsend in the Midrange and Control MUs. Which means I only have the 2 colored spells in the MB (master), so it’s less of a worry when SBing.
Also I cut those ones because they are the ones that individually are pretty weak; Pest is the worst possible creature to topdeck, and if they’re killing all your things it ends up being pretty meh. Skirge I cut because paying 2 life for a guy that is more than likely going to die ends up hurting us, especially when we’re aiming to play a longer game.
However in recent testing I’ve been keeping Skirge in, because it’s the only way to keep our life total safe once bitterblossom lands. I don’t know for sure, I’ve been testing other decks with the Jund resurgence magnified at LGS level — 40 ppl and 8+ on Jund is pretty rough magic
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I don’t know I think Jeskai is pretty easy, I haven’t ever lost to it with affinity — and that’s playing vs it at LGS 2 a week and a ton on the SCG tour.
I also am undefeated vs Mardu Pyromancer and Storm in comp REL, with my comp REL losses coming to Eldrazi Tron, UW control, Burn, Jund once, and random gotcha decks (Jeskai ascendancy got me after my t3 G1 and g3 on the play, I had him to 1 and 2 life respectively — decks like that) sprinkled in.
Regarding bomat over blast; very bold, but it provides another must-answer threat. Almost like 3 more playoff spells, and the only time it’s dead are in slow hands. I’ve been cutting him in post board games where I bring all the enchantments in, over cutting skirge recently. All worth testing!
So borrowed Affinity for the IQ Glassboro over the weekend. I was originally going to play Mardu Pyromancer but a friend of mine let me run his Affinity Deck. The turnout was like 87 people if i remember correctly. Some people legit had to play in a pizza shop that was across the street. I ended up going 4-2 taking 11th place which I was pretty stoked about since it was my second time piloting the deck and my first non-FNM tournament. Not going to lie, some matches I got lucky with my topdecks saving me from misplays. But the deck felt pretty solid in the meta. I remember my matches but not into much detail.
Round 1:GW Tron (2-1)
Round 2: Grixis Death Shadow (2-1)
Round 3: Naya Burn (2-1)
Round 4: Affinity (2-1) The mirror made me slighly brain-dead, and i made one of the biggest misplays i've ever made while playing magic
Round 5: Jund (0-2) This was rough, just always saw answers to everything i played
Round 6: BW Eldrazi (1-2) Matchup is hard because they can block etched champion and can displace away lethal swings as well as ravager counters. Game 3 he drops thought knot turn 2 ripping my aether grid from my hand and drops stony silence the next turn
With the rise of Jund now in Modern thanks to Bloodbraid Elf. Affinity needs to step up it's game. As of recently, I have having 1 Hazoret the Fervent mainboard and wow, it has been doing the deck really good. Being indestructible is a huge plus because it gets around pretty all non-Path to Exile removal. We pretty much always have close to 0 cards in hand always, might as well take advantage of it.
I have an IQ coming up and I want to try to things out. I've tempted to switch out Ethersworn Canonist for Rule of Law, just incase I come across from Storm players at the IQ. Their is a lot of creature removal in Modern so Ethersworn Canonist is a spicy sideboard option but in actuality, doesn't cut it. Storm hasn't been big in my area so I may cut it out completely an replace for a 2nd Ancient Grudge.
For IQ, I'm thinking about this for the Sideboard:
Storm is good but usually Affinity can win quicker for them to set up. So I decided to cut out Rule of Law for a 2nd Rest in Peace.
I've been thinking about changing mainboard of the deck for adding all three Etched Champion and cutting one Memnite since it honestly really only there to chip damage when possible, Cranial Plating pumping, and Springleaf Drum helper in mana production.
What does everyone think? Any recommendations, critiques, thoughts? All are welcome!
I’m definite adding a third mainboard Etched Champion and cutting a Memnite, once that hits the field, pretty much our best way to get in there for damage to our opponent or in this case now days, against a Jace, the Mind Sculptor. I do admit, it’ll be odd for cutting a turn one 0 drop for a 3 drop eventually.
I’ll tell you have it does tomorrow at my meta’s Modern Monday tournaments.
I’m definite adding a third mainboard Etched Champion and cutting a Memnite, once that hits the field, pretty much our best way to get in there for damage to our opponent or in this case now days, against a Jace, the Mind Sculptor. I do admit, it’ll be odd for cutting a turn one 0 drop for a 3 drop eventually.
I’ll tell you have it does tomorrow at my meta’s Modern Monday tournaments.
Ive been on 3 Champion/2master/2 memnite MB for a long time, it’s never felt wrong. Hazoret is interesting, curious to hear how he pans out. I’ll be testing with 1/1 split at TNM
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Hazoret main is quite interesting, enough so where I'd be willing to give it a try in a more general meta. Post-unbans I made room for a 3rd Champion so if you're content with Hazoret, shave a Memnite as mentioned. I like the direction of your sideboard; aside from a few things it isn't too different from my own:
Hopping on the Sanctuary hype, and it's been average so far. Going forward I will probably shave one for a Bitterblossom, or try to find room for 2 in the board; I really feel like it's an ace against UWx control and Jund.
Well to report how the tournament went, the 3rd Etched Champion mainboard is really good, more ways to get in when needed and block when needed as well. Definitely gonna keep it in. Hazoret the Fervent mainboard is still amazing and throws people off all the time, I had match where my opponent just didn't know what to do against it. I did shave a Memnite for the 3rd Etched Champion. The one thing I hate and I really mean hate is that my meta is super anti-Affinity in sideboard and pretty much everyone that runs white, will always run Stony Silence. More often than not, I just can't through it. Last night I had it in hand but I couldn't cast it because I had none white producing lands and just couldn't get rid of it in time. Been making me worry about playing Affinity for the IQ this Saturday. I may play Merfolk because I know that deck that best, plus it hates hard on Jund and any deck that runs more than 2 colors. Even my Dredge deck is starting to sound viable as well. Hard to say. What do you think is competitive for an IQ? Dredge, Affinity, or Merfolk?
Ive been on 3 Champion/2master/2 memnite MB for a long time, it’s never felt wrong. Hazoret is interesting, curious to hear how he pans out. I’ll be testing with 1/1 split at TNM
Master is generally worth more than 5 dmg if she sticks, but I see where you’re coming from. I’ve been meaning to test her but haven’t yet — been testing standard for a few weeks for the SCG event
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Master is generally worth more than 5 dmg if she sticks, but I see where you’re coming from. I’ve been meaning to test her but haven’t yet — been testing standard for a few weeks for the SCG event
Master of Etherium is amazing when it sticks around and can be a huge threat by itself or by pumping others. One of the reasons why I shifted to one in the mainboard is because it can ruin matches where they may run mainboard Ensnaring Bridge. At that point not even Ornithopter with the help of Signal Pest can get there. Granted, very few decks right now run mainboard Ensnaring Bridge; however, when one or two of them show up, ehhh, it sucks.
Standard is in a good place now, I love the Energy style decks even after the banning of Attune with Aether, just haven't given my time for it because Modern is in such an interesting place where Bloodbraid Elf got unbanned and now Jace, the Mind Sculptor is now apart of the format for the first time.
I don’t think the meta is *that* hostile. Clunky BBE/JTmS decks aren’t gonna get any points unless they’re genuinely well-built, at which point they’re still increasing their curves to accommodate those spells. (Read: they have fewer slots for interactive spells and more clunky hands).
My partner and I have tested a ton of the BBE Jund MU in the last few weeks, the inclusion of Bolt > Push for most of the lists makes our deck better than it used to be vs them. Their 4drop is better now (BBE is marginally better than Huntmaster/Kalitas) but they’re playing 4 now, so fewer interactive pieces. Color me excited for them to have higher CMCs to flip off their Bobs.
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URGifts StormUR
URBlue MoonUR
URKiln FiendUR
BURStormBUR
An example scenario: We need to win real quick because opponent is stabilizing, and our only way of doing so is with a Plating-equipped Nexus through the air. We have Karn in the field. Now, if the top 3 cards of our library are, say, Plating, Memnite and a Land, we draw a Plating and it's all cool and fine, we win. But let's suppose that it's Memnite, Plating and Land instead. We draw Memnite, curse the RNG gods, and activate Karn's +1, revealing Plating and a Land. The opponent will obviously give us the Land while exiling the Plating. And that's okay, because if we die next turn, we would have died anyways, Karn or not, due to not drawing the plating. But then next turn, you simply -1 and recover the Plating (that you would've drew next turn anyways, yeah), but you also dug 2 cards deeper in the process, so now you have a Plating and whatever you topdecked. And if we simply need any critter after a wrath, Karn is pretty good at doing so, as almost half of our deck are creatures.
Thanks to DNC from Heroes of the Plane Studios for the sig
Check my Pauper Cube!
I like them both. Orb vs storm is fine but I’d rather have rule of law. Karn looks deece, out of the board maybe
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(Modern)
RG RG Titanshift RG
WUBR Affinity WUBR
x Eldrazi Tron x
UG Tropical Merfolk UG
(Pauper)
G Elves G
WURG Affinity WURG
Robot players who sat back, played a grindy game, and played around the utmost amount of outs did exceedingly well. The ones who just went full-on Reptar and balls to the wall (typically the less experienced pilots, but not always) didn’t do so well. The removal decks slow you down, then play some “catch up” spells.
Creeping corrosion/shatterstorm are both real sideboard cards for these BGx decks, not to mention Ancient Grudge and other classic hosers. Because the meta has “narrowed” they can play more cards that just blow the MU wide open, which means we need to have a concrete gameplan when we face these decks.
Personally, as I’ve said before, my gameplan is to side out the weak cards and play haymakers. I’ve been testing -4 Pest -4 skirge -2 memnite for +2 bitterblossom +1 Champion +1 Grid +2 blood moon +2 Thoughtseize +2 spellskite.
With the Jund decks moving to 4 lightning bolt and eschewing fatal push almost altogether, Spellskite has been a House. It also draws Liliana the Last Hope activations, which can be huge in playing to the mid game.
Note that spellskite is also the one of the best cards you have vs Burn, Bogles, and the Mirror. I played a mirror match last week where I resolved t1 bitterblossom and t2 spellskite to my opponent’s t2 Grid. I was able to lock his Grid activations down almost the entire game while I built an army of flyers.
If someone were to go the other direction and decide to just play the fastest game possible, I think it could very easily be time to revisit the actual affinity cards: frogmite, myr enforcer and thoughtcast. Contested war zone perhaps? The entire deck could just play as much to the board as possible, loses a little play but gains a ton of speed.
That version basically beats stony silence, so you’re worried about the removal at that point. And since you’re plan is to be dumping 7 permanents turn 1, the deck could be playing 3-4 welding jar with ease.
Just some thoughts — I’ve got a few hundred play points to spare so Im willing to run it through a couple leagues if anyone is down to contribute to the project!
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Also I cut those ones because they are the ones that individually are pretty weak; Pest is the worst possible creature to topdeck, and if they’re killing all your things it ends up being pretty meh. Skirge I cut because paying 2 life for a guy that is more than likely going to die ends up hurting us, especially when we’re aiming to play a longer game.
However in recent testing I’ve been keeping Skirge in, because it’s the only way to keep our life total safe once bitterblossom lands. I don’t know for sure, I’ve been testing other decks with the Jund resurgence magnified at LGS level — 40 ppl and 8+ on Jund is pretty rough magic
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We already have a rather nice MU vs control. The exception to this is Jeskai. Jeskai just.. it's not even fair lol.
So I guess if you're facing a lot of midrange (thank you BBE for this wonderful shift..), then it's a defendable stance for sure
I also am undefeated vs Mardu Pyromancer and Storm in comp REL, with my comp REL losses coming to Eldrazi Tron, UW control, Burn, Jund once, and random gotcha decks (Jeskai ascendancy got me after my t3 G1 and g3 on the play, I had him to 1 and 2 life respectively — decks like that) sprinkled in.
Regarding bomat over blast; very bold, but it provides another must-answer threat. Almost like 3 more playoff spells, and the only time it’s dead are in slow hands. I’ve been cutting him in post board games where I bring all the enchantments in, over cutting skirge recently. All worth testing!
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Round 1:GW Tron (2-1)
Round 2: Grixis Death Shadow (2-1)
Round 3: Naya Burn (2-1)
Round 4: Affinity (2-1) The mirror made me slighly brain-dead, and i made one of the biggest misplays i've ever made while playing magic
Round 5: Jund (0-2) This was rough, just always saw answers to everything i played
Round 6: BW Eldrazi (1-2) Matchup is hard because they can block etched champion and can displace away lethal swings as well as ravager counters. Game 3 he drops thought knot turn 2 ripping my aether grid from my hand and drops stony silence the next turn
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Ahh yes, my favorite line... 😉
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Here is my deck as of right now:
4 Cranial Plating
4 Mox Opal
4 Springleaf Drum
Creatures (27):
4 Arcbound Ravager
2 Etched Champion
1 Hazoret the Fervent
1 Master of Etherium
3 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
4 Steel Overseer
4 Vault Skirge
4 Galvanic Blast
Lands (17):
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Mountain
4 Spire of Industry
1 Ancient Grudge
2 Blood Moon
1 Dispatch
1 Etched Champion
1 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Ghirapur Aether Grid
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Rest in Peace
2 Thoughtseize
2 Wear // Tear
1 Whipflare
I have an IQ coming up and I want to try to things out. I've tempted to switch out Ethersworn Canonist for Rule of Law, just incase I come across from Storm players at the IQ. Their is a lot of creature removal in Modern so Ethersworn Canonist is a spicy sideboard option but in actuality, doesn't cut it. Storm hasn't been big in my area so I may cut it out completely an replace for a 2nd Ancient Grudge.
For IQ, I'm thinking about this for the Sideboard:
2 Blood Moon
1 Etched Champion
2 Ghirapur Aether Grid
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Rest in Peace
2 Thoughtseize
2 Wear // Tear
1 Whipflare
Storm is good but usually Affinity can win quicker for them to set up. So I decided to cut out Rule of Law for a 2nd Rest in Peace.
I've been thinking about changing mainboard of the deck for adding all three Etched Champion and cutting one Memnite since it honestly really only there to chip damage when possible, Cranial Plating pumping, and Springleaf Drum helper in mana production.
What does everyone think? Any recommendations, critiques, thoughts? All are welcome!
I’ll tell you have it does tomorrow at my meta’s Modern Monday tournaments.
Ive been on 3 Champion/2master/2 memnite MB for a long time, it’s never felt wrong. Hazoret is interesting, curious to hear how he pans out. I’ll be testing with 1/1 split at TNM
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Well to report how the tournament went, the 3rd Etched Champion mainboard is really good, more ways to get in when needed and block when needed as well. Definitely gonna keep it in. Hazoret the Fervent mainboard is still amazing and throws people off all the time, I had match where my opponent just didn't know what to do against it. I did shave a Memnite for the 3rd Etched Champion. The one thing I hate and I really mean hate is that my meta is super anti-Affinity in sideboard and pretty much everyone that runs white, will always run Stony Silence. More often than not, I just can't through it. Last night I had it in hand but I couldn't cast it because I had none white producing lands and just couldn't get rid of it in time. Been making me worry about playing Affinity for the IQ this Saturday. I may play Merfolk because I know that deck that best, plus it hates hard on Jund and any deck that runs more than 2 colors. Even my Dredge deck is starting to sound viable as well. Hard to say. What do you think is competitive for an IQ? Dredge, Affinity, or Merfolk?
Used to be on 2 Master of Etherium but then I tried Hazoret the Fervent and wow, it is really game changing. One thing for sure, no one is expecting it at all. The only real removal for her is anything at exiles, such as Path to Exile and Celestial Purge.
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Master of Etherium is amazing when it sticks around and can be a huge threat by itself or by pumping others. One of the reasons why I shifted to one in the mainboard is because it can ruin matches where they may run mainboard Ensnaring Bridge. At that point not even Ornithopter with the help of Signal Pest can get there. Granted, very few decks right now run mainboard Ensnaring Bridge; however, when one or two of them show up, ehhh, it sucks.
Standard is in a good place now, I love the Energy style decks even after the banning of Attune with Aether, just haven't given my time for it because Modern is in such an interesting place where Bloodbraid Elf got unbanned and now Jace, the Mind Sculptor is now apart of the format for the first time.
My partner and I have tested a ton of the BBE Jund MU in the last few weeks, the inclusion of Bolt > Push for most of the lists makes our deck better than it used to be vs them. Their 4drop is better now (BBE is marginally better than Huntmaster/Kalitas) but they’re playing 4 now, so fewer interactive pieces. Color me excited for them to have higher CMCs to flip off their Bobs.
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Modern
UGWRB Humans
G Mono-Green Tron
UWBR Ad Nauseam