Took a peek at the Ad Nasuem thread, still can't think of any way to hate them at all other then the out of no where Angel's Grace. Any tips?
Eidolon of Rhetoric, Leyline of Sanctity
Eidolon is good, Leyline doesn't help though since once they combo off and draw their whole deck, they will have an answer to Leyline. For this same reason, Worship doesn't help either. Thalia can slow down their game plan, including taxing their free spells post-combo (until Thalia eats slaughter pact). Kataki can toll their artifact mana as well. You can also aggressively ghost quarter them as some decklists don't run any basics. Gaddock Teeg is also another hatebear that stops them from casting their namesake card. Angel's grace really is the best trump vs them.
Alright guys, I'm gonna post my amazing list that almost never loses. I've just recently moved 2X gaddock teeg to the sideboard, and cut down to one sword in the main. Here's the list:
Looked up your last post just to make sure you are that guy claiming to have had super secret techs and stuff. Yea
super amazing list
, but what does it contribute just pasting it. The list is nothing new or innovative neither does it have any special tech. Rather explain your choices that are not standard pleas. E.g. why are you playing 3/Birds in addition to 4 Hierarch when your curve ends at 4? That makes for some massive bad topdecks (even with township)
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The great Eldrazi Overlords will return to the Modern World.
So with the lists running thalia or voice of resurgence, how do you guys that it helps in our game plan? Since I am pretty unsure about running either on my list.
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Standard : What is Stand-tart
Modern : Huh?
EDH : UBGW Thrasios / Tymna Combo UBGW // GRW Mayael Big Stuff GRW // GU Edric Timewalkers GU
This is the second video in my "What is aggro" series, breaking aggro into styles of play. One of them is Toolboxed, and I feature a list from DOLzero, so thought you might wanna check it out. The first video might be worth a watch too, just to get a better understanding of the format.
A little disappointing since I misplayed for the first loss and the second loss was a very close one, but all in all a good time and result. Let me know if you would like a breakdown of the matches or anything as such.
Ive found myself never needing relic to be honest and might replace that with a Thrun but any suggestions or ideas/discussion are welcome.
Round 1: 1-0
Melira Pod
Fairly straight forward match he could not get passed any of the hate and the games ended rather easily.
Round 2: 2-0
Splinter Twin Tempo
This came down to me having the path when he attempted to combo into a Sword of War and Peace and attacking to which he had no answer for.
Round 3: 3-0
American Control
I ended up winning this match by getting 3 Ghost Quarter in game 2 which destroyed my opponents mana base and Mark of Asylum on game 3 did the work, at the end of the game he revealed 2 Anger of the gods and a bolt in hand.
Round 4: 4-0
American Splinter Twin
Completely Destroyed my opponents mana base game 2 he could not recover. Game 3 was a turn 2 GQ and thalia turn 3 to slow him down. Got him to tap out with a swing and played choke. He lost after that resolved.
Round 5: 4-1
RUG Splinter Twin
Game 1 he combod out with no resistance, game 2 I resolved multiple smiters and he was forced to throw his twin pieces under the bus. Game 3 came down to top decks I was at 5 he was at 6 , he top decked the goyf and I got a land, safe to say it ended the game right there.
Round 6: 5-1
Jund
This match up is one of my favorites as it can go either way, but the 3 Mirran Crusader typically cannot be beaten in this match up especially when there's a sword on them.
Round 7: 6-1
GW death and taxes
The most awkward mirror, ended up winning game 2 by destroying his field with engineered explosives and swinging for lethal. Game 3 Hushwing Gryff equipped with a sword of light and shadow and a Linvala in play made sure he could not do anything about the sword or the creature.
Round 8
UR Twin less Control
This was an intersting brew he used pestermites to make it appear as though it was a twin deck which caught off many by surprise including myself. Game 1 I did manage to overrun him with a stirring wildwood. Game 2 I got burned and game 3 he played perfectly by dropping a turn 3 blood moon to which I did not have an answer, sadly the answer came the turn before he bolted for the win.
I was hoping to face more Pod as there was so much of it at the event but alas it seems I got all of the control decks, still I'm satisfied with the results.
Round 6: 5-1
Jund
This match up is one of my favorites as it can go either way, but the 3 Mirran Crusader typically cannot be beaten in this match up especially when there's a sword on them.
I find it interesting you say Crusader is so good against Jund. I played a tight match in my PTQ today versus Jund. I have x2 Mirran Crusader maindeck and one in the sideboard. The Crusader won me game 1 as I kept my opponent off red mana. But I chose not to side in the third Crusader because of Bolt and Anger of the Gods.
Today I played in the last PTQ for the season in Manchester, NH. It was another disappointing result - the second in the last two weeks (a combined 3-8). I highlighted a couple of scenarios that I'd be interested to hear some feedback on in bold. I went 2-5 today against the following matchups:
Round 1: UR Delver 0-2 (0-1 Overall)
In both games I lost when my opponent drew more Young Pyromancers than I drew Paths. In game 1, my opponent mulled to 5 but I made a bad keep with 2 Horizon Canopies that dealt 11 damage to me during the game. In game 2 I opened with Hierarch. On turn 2, I made a play that may have been greedy - what does everyone think about the following scenario: Opponent had a Steam Vents tapped and 1 basic Island untapped. Instead of playing Voice I chose to play Leonin Arbiter + GQ on Steam Vents to attack his mana. He had the Vapor Snag to bounce the Arbiter and was able to fetch the basic. I felt like Voice would've played better around Vapor Snag, but I led with Arbiter in case he was planning to Spell Snare since Voice was more important to me. I'm not sure if my play was wrong in that spot, but I did get punished for it.
A funny story about this game. I lost Round 1 of my PTQ two weeks ago to a Delver deck. I later saw my R1 opponent from today talking to my R1 opponent from two weeks. I went up to ask if they were friends. It turns out that my opponent had borrowed the deck from his friend to play today, so not only did I lose to the same decklist R1 in back to back PTQs, I lost to same physical cardboard in the hands of two different pilots.
Round 2: Junk 2-0 (1-1 Overall)
This match was a total breeze. Game 1 I had T2 Mirran Crusader with multiple exalted guys backed up with my miser Engineered Explosives in the main for his Lingering Souls. Nut draw versus Junk. Game 2 was more of an attrition game. I had the option to play Mirran Crusader on turn 3, but I didn't play it into a naked board in case he had Liliana. After playing out Thalia and Linvala I got Mirran Crusader online. I drew 2 paths to match his Dark Confidant and Tarmogoyf. Linvala, Mirran Crusader and Stirring Wildwood took a few turns to grind through his 8 Lingering Souls tokens but eventually got the job done.
Round 3: UWR 1-2 (1-2 Overall)
These games go very long. I would normally expect to feel disadvantaged against a control deck in the late game, but I often win games against UWR that go very late since we have lots of answers to their win conditions. Game one was one of those long attrition games. I was able to keep him off mana early but couldn't close the game quickly due to Lightning Helix. Eventually we got into topdeck mode and I had the last Restoration Angel standing for the win. Game 2 was a similarly long game that went to topdeck mode. I got him to 4 but he was able to hit some 2 for 1 answers off the top like Electrolyze and Cryptic. We only had 3 minutes on the clock for Game 3. I misplayed pretty badly trying to rush my turns. On turn 2, I had 3 mana and my opponent had just an Arid Mesa. I debated getting Mark of Asylum down under countermagic versus playing Aven Mindcensor. I felt like Mark of Asylum would be impactful enough in the matchup that getting it down would given me a big advantage. If I had passed and Mindcensored in response to his fetch, there's some chance he would still hit the land, but Asylum is guaranteed to turn off a lot of his removal. Unfortunately his hand was x2 Path and x2 Snapcaster, so none of my threats stuck. We went to time but I conceded to him because I was not in a winning position.
Round 4: Twin 2-1 (2-2 Overall)
(I couldn't tell if my opponent was Tarmotwin since I didn't see any green spells, but he had a lot of green fetches). In game 1, he wasn't familiar with what my deck was doing so I was able to surprise him with search hate and land destruction. Key to surprising opponents is saving Ghost Quarter in hand until resolving the Arbiter. In game 2, I had a commanding board position but was having trouble closing the game through his tempo plays tapping down my attackers. He was having trouble hitting land drops so I was trying to end the game quickly without dying to the combo. Down to 1 life, the opponent had 4 lands (all untapped) a Deceiver Exarch in play and 4-5 cards in hand. I had Qasali Pridemage, a Voice token, Loxodon Smiter, 4 untapped mana (1 Stirring Wildwood) and no cards in hand. I saw two lines: if I go to attacks, he can flash in a Pestermite/Exarch to tap the Smiter and then I don't have a good attack (he blocks Voice token with Exarch and trades Pestermite with Pridemage, leaving me dead to the combo). Or I can tap out to activate Stirring Wildwood, presenting 4 lethal attackers. This line leaves me vulnerable to Cryptic Command. (I suppose it also leaves me vulnerable to Pestermite/Exarch tapping a guy plus Bolt killing my Pridemage, but I was dead to this in either scenario). I activated my Stirring Wildwood and he had the Cryptic to tap my team plus Twin combo me on his turn. Game 3 was closer, I put him under pressure early and Thalia gave him trouble. He found a fourth land for Anger of the Gods but I was able to close the game before he got any offense going.
Round 5: Jund 1-2 (2-3 Overall)
These games were very tight. Overall, the matchup was much harder than the Junk matchup since Bolt/Anger don't get trumped by Mirran Crusader. Game 1 I was able to time Mindcensor to disrupt his fetches and ghost quarter his Raging Ravine so that he had no red sources to answer Mirran Crusader which took over the game. Game 2 I might have made a bad keep: 4 lands, Path, Hierarch, Smiter. Would you keep this on the draw? He IoK'd the Path and Terminated my turn 2 Smiter putting me quickly in top deck mode. Games 2 and 3 both went the same way - long attrition games that ended with him getting good value out of Courser of Kruphix and closing the game with Batterskull. I didn't see any of my three Qasali Pridemages which would've been good answers to either of those threats.
At the end of Game 3 I was way behind against a Dark Confidant and a 6/6 Scooze with Batterskull equipped. I had Thrun, Smiter, and Linvala in play. I only had 4 lands in play and a Thalia in hand - I debated playing it but figured I had no reason not to. I drew Engineered Explosives off the top but because of Thalia couldn't play it for 2 and activated it in the same turn. I played it out, and it got Abrupt Decayed before I could use it. Knowing that EE was my best out to his board, I could've kept Thalia in hand. Also, after I drew it, I should've waited a turn to chump with Thalia so that I could then play and activate it. Losing it to Abrupt Decay was very sloppy.
I was really unsure of my sideboarding in this matchup since I mostly see Junk these days. Against Junk I bring in my third Mirran Crusader and go up to three Engineered Explosives. Against Jund I decided to play only two Mirran Crusader and one Mark of Asylum. I only went to two Explosives post-board since Jund doesn't have Lingering Souls, but I always found it to be a good draw and would've liked the third.
Round 6: Burn 1-2 (2-4 Overall)
Now firmly in the bottom tables I decided to keep playing because the games were fun, close, and I was enjoying playing competitive magic against skilled players. Enter the Burn deck. She was playing the 3-color version with Boros Charm and Bump in the Night, so the search hate was relevant. In Game 1, I had lethal on my next attack and I was able to Ghost Quarter her down to 2 lands, but she had two 1-mana spells to kill me. In game 2, I Mindcensored in response to her fetch. She failed to find instead of bolting my bird before resolving the fetch (she didn't know that she could until I told her later). She ended up not finding a second land the rest of the game. In game 3 I never got much pressure on her, and she also played two Lightning Helix making it even harder. My opponent wasn't familiar with a lot of my cards and made some misplays, but she was able to burn me out.
Round 7: Burn 1-2 (2-5 Overall)
Another Burn deck in the loser's bracket. My opponent again wasn't familiar with a lot of my cards and made a number of misplays, but ultimately figure out how to point enough burn at my face to win the match (can you sense my saltiness to burn decks?).
I dropped for Round 8 since I didn't want to continue the descent to madness - the fun rounds were over. I made a few in game misplays, but I felt my biggest mistakes all day might have been some of my mulligan/keep decisions.
Sometimes it's good to load up an junk/jund/uwr deck, an burn deck and an infect deck on cocktrice to test it out with hatebears to test it and find what keepable hands for both u and e opponents and u could learn roughly how their deck plays out, so ya will have some experience against the deck.
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Standard : What is Stand-tart
Modern : Huh?
EDH : UBGW Thrasios / Tymna Combo UBGW // GRW Mayael Big Stuff GRW // GU Edric Timewalkers GU
I'm disappointed to see Modern season go already. I got to play in 4 Modern events (GP Worcester, 2 PTQs and a 5K the day before one of the PTQs) and never quite had a finish I was happy with. In fact, I lost round 1 in all four tournaments so I never had a good start that made me feel like I could make it to the top tables. Those four loses all came against blue tempo decks (two losses to UWR Geist and two losses to UR Delver). The 5K was my best finish as I climbed back from a 1-2 start to finish 5-2.
Overall, I really enjoyed playing the deck. Once I added Mirran Crusaders to the 75, I felt much better about my Pod/Junk matchup. I only played against one UWR control deck, but the matchup felt fine. The weakest matchup of the top strategies feels like the blue tempo decks. The combination of pressure and counter/bounce spells is the way I would expect to beat a green deck and it seems to work. I wish I had a better matchup against Burn, as that is a deck I hate to lose to. I have a hard time convincing myself to dedicate many sideboard slots to Burn, but I hate losing to it. It's hard to find sideboard cards that improve the matchup but are versatile enough to be used elsewhere.
I found the manabase to be one of the weak points of the deck. Most of my mulligans were a result of not having the right colored sources to play out the hand. Horizon Canopy is a great fixer, but the life loss had a significant impact on my win % against my tougher matchups (UR Delver and Burn).
Baneslayer is a card that I've ignored, but it could be worth testing for me. Its cost makes it bad against counterspells, but if it sticks, it's hard to race. And burn can't beat a hit from it, but it doesn't come online until turn 4/5 and they do have Skullcrack/Flame of the Bloodhand so I don't know if its very good there either.
Did some testing against burn decks with the recent ptq list that won GP Kobe, the cards that i find relevant not only in burn but against others are..
Main Deck
Quasali Pridemage : Exalted triggers and Anti enchantment hate
Thalia : Slows burn down if she lives, also a good chump blocker against their 2/2's
Linvala : In a way shuts down list that runs grim lavamancer
Did some testing against burn decks with the recent ptq list that won GP Kobe, the cards that i find relevant not only in burn but against others are..
Main Deck
Quasali Pridemage : Exalted triggers and Anti enchantment hate
Thalia : Slows burn down if she lives, also a good chump blocker against their 2/2's
Linvala : In a way shuts down list that runs grim lavamancer
I board in Chalice of the Void on 1, and Spellskite. Turn 2 Loxodon or Scavenging Ooze with activations is also good versus them in my experience.
Just won the the Lantern IQ for this month, single elimination 4 rounds, only 11 players though.
I like this version, very happy with it.
Looks like a very solid list. Do you find that your GB/x and burn matchups are okay without specific hate (mirran crusader, kor firewalker etc.)? I tend to overcompensate for those a bit due to their prevalence.
Just won the the Lantern IQ for this month, single elimination 4 rounds, only 11 players though.
I like this version, very happy with it.
Looks like a very solid list. Do you find that your GB/x and burn matchups are okay without specific hate (mirran crusader, kor firewalker etc.)? I tend to overcompensate for those a bit due to their prevalence.
I think he prob set chalice at 1 to stop most of the burn spells, also chalice at 1 stop most of infect too.
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Standard : What is Stand-tart
Modern : Huh?
EDH : UBGW Thrasios / Tymna Combo UBGW // GRW Mayael Big Stuff GRW // GU Edric Timewalkers GU
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Eidolon of Rhetoric, Leyline of Sanctity
Eidolon is good, Leyline doesn't help though since once they combo off and draw their whole deck, they will have an answer to Leyline. For this same reason, Worship doesn't help either. Thalia can slow down their game plan, including taxing their free spells post-combo (until Thalia eats slaughter pact). Kataki can toll their artifact mana as well. You can also aggressively ghost quarter them as some decklists don't run any basics. Gaddock Teeg is also another hatebear that stops them from casting their namesake card. Angel's grace really is the best trump vs them.
2 Forest
2 Plains
4 Temple Garden
4 Razorverge Thicket
2 Gavony Township
4 Ghost Quarter
3 Horizon Canopy
1 Stirring Wildwood
4 Noble Hierarch
3 Birds of Paradise
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Scavenging Ooze
4 Leonin Arbiter
3 Qasali Pridemage
3 Loxodon Smiter
2 Mirran Crusader
3 Aven Mindcensor
2 Hushwing Gryff
2 Wilt-Leaf Liege
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
4 Path to Exile
1 Sword of War and Peace
Sideboard:
2 Stony Silence
1 Creeping Corrosion
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Mark of Asylum
2 Gaddock Teeg
2 Spellskite
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
2 Dismember
2 Engineered Explosives
Modern : Huh?
EDH : UBGW Thrasios / Tymna Combo UBGW // GRW Mayael Big Stuff GRW // GU Edric Timewalkers GU
Anywho, here ya go:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxSAXTJiGn8
Ended up with a record of 6-2 14th place.
The Decklist:
4x Noble Hierarch
2x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2x Voice of Resurgence
2x Qasali Pridemage
3x Scavenging Ooze
2x Gaddock Teeg
4x Leonin Arbiter
4x Loxodon Smiter
3x Mirran Crusader
3x Aven Mindcensor
2x Linvala, Keeper of Silence
2x Sword of War and Peace
Instants and Sorceries:
4x Path to Exile
Lands:
4x Razorverge Thicket
4x Temple Garden
4x Ghost Quarter
2x Tectonic Edge
1x Gavony Township
2x Stirring Wildwood
2x Horizon Canopy
1x Brushland
2x Forest
1x Plains
1x Stony Silence
1x Kataki, War's Wage
1x Sword of Light and Shadow
1x Hushwing Gryff
1x Torpor Orb
2x Choke
1x Fracturing Gust
1x Worship
1x Mark of Asylum
1x Aven Mindcensor
1x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
1x Relic of Progenitus
2x Engineered Explosives
A little disappointing since I misplayed for the first loss and the second loss was a very close one, but all in all a good time and result. Let me know if you would like a breakdown of the matches or anything as such.
Ive found myself never needing relic to be honest and might replace that with a Thrun but any suggestions or ideas/discussion are welcome.
Round 1: 1-0
Melira Pod
Fairly straight forward match he could not get passed any of the hate and the games ended rather easily.
Round 2: 2-0
Splinter Twin Tempo
This came down to me having the path when he attempted to combo into a Sword of War and Peace and attacking to which he had no answer for.
Round 3: 3-0
American Control
I ended up winning this match by getting 3 Ghost Quarter in game 2 which destroyed my opponents mana base and Mark of Asylum on game 3 did the work, at the end of the game he revealed 2 Anger of the gods and a bolt in hand.
Round 4: 4-0
American Splinter Twin
Completely Destroyed my opponents mana base game 2 he could not recover. Game 3 was a turn 2 GQ and thalia turn 3 to slow him down. Got him to tap out with a swing and played choke. He lost after that resolved.
Round 5: 4-1
RUG Splinter Twin
Game 1 he combod out with no resistance, game 2 I resolved multiple smiters and he was forced to throw his twin pieces under the bus. Game 3 came down to top decks I was at 5 he was at 6 , he top decked the goyf and I got a land, safe to say it ended the game right there.
Round 6: 5-1
Jund
This match up is one of my favorites as it can go either way, but the 3 Mirran Crusader typically cannot be beaten in this match up especially when there's a sword on them.
Round 7: 6-1
GW death and taxes
The most awkward mirror, ended up winning game 2 by destroying his field with engineered explosives and swinging for lethal. Game 3 Hushwing Gryff equipped with a sword of light and shadow and a Linvala in play made sure he could not do anything about the sword or the creature.
Round 8
UR Twin less Control
This was an intersting brew he used pestermites to make it appear as though it was a twin deck which caught off many by surprise including myself. Game 1 I did manage to overrun him with a stirring wildwood. Game 2 I got burned and game 3 he played perfectly by dropping a turn 3 blood moon to which I did not have an answer, sadly the answer came the turn before he bolted for the win.
I was hoping to face more Pod as there was so much of it at the event but alas it seems I got all of the control decks, still I'm satisfied with the results.
I find it interesting you say Crusader is so good against Jund. I played a tight match in my PTQ today versus Jund. I have x2 Mirran Crusader maindeck and one in the sideboard. The Crusader won me game 1 as I kept my opponent off red mana. But I chose not to side in the third Crusader because of Bolt and Anger of the Gods.
I'm not sure if I should have or not.
Round 1: UR Delver 0-2 (0-1 Overall)
In both games I lost when my opponent drew more Young Pyromancers than I drew Paths. In game 1, my opponent mulled to 5 but I made a bad keep with 2 Horizon Canopies that dealt 11 damage to me during the game. In game 2 I opened with Hierarch. On turn 2, I made a play that may have been greedy - what does everyone think about the following scenario: Opponent had a Steam Vents tapped and 1 basic Island untapped. Instead of playing Voice I chose to play Leonin Arbiter + GQ on Steam Vents to attack his mana. He had the Vapor Snag to bounce the Arbiter and was able to fetch the basic. I felt like Voice would've played better around Vapor Snag, but I led with Arbiter in case he was planning to Spell Snare since Voice was more important to me. I'm not sure if my play was wrong in that spot, but I did get punished for it.
A funny story about this game. I lost Round 1 of my PTQ two weeks ago to a Delver deck. I later saw my R1 opponent from today talking to my R1 opponent from two weeks. I went up to ask if they were friends. It turns out that my opponent had borrowed the deck from his friend to play today, so not only did I lose to the same decklist R1 in back to back PTQs, I lost to same physical cardboard in the hands of two different pilots.
Round 2: Junk 2-0 (1-1 Overall)
This match was a total breeze. Game 1 I had T2 Mirran Crusader with multiple exalted guys backed up with my miser Engineered Explosives in the main for his Lingering Souls. Nut draw versus Junk. Game 2 was more of an attrition game. I had the option to play Mirran Crusader on turn 3, but I didn't play it into a naked board in case he had Liliana. After playing out Thalia and Linvala I got Mirran Crusader online. I drew 2 paths to match his Dark Confidant and Tarmogoyf. Linvala, Mirran Crusader and Stirring Wildwood took a few turns to grind through his 8 Lingering Souls tokens but eventually got the job done.
Round 3: UWR 1-2 (1-2 Overall)
These games go very long. I would normally expect to feel disadvantaged against a control deck in the late game, but I often win games against UWR that go very late since we have lots of answers to their win conditions. Game one was one of those long attrition games. I was able to keep him off mana early but couldn't close the game quickly due to Lightning Helix. Eventually we got into topdeck mode and I had the last Restoration Angel standing for the win. Game 2 was a similarly long game that went to topdeck mode. I got him to 4 but he was able to hit some 2 for 1 answers off the top like Electrolyze and Cryptic. We only had 3 minutes on the clock for Game 3. I misplayed pretty badly trying to rush my turns. On turn 2, I had 3 mana and my opponent had just an Arid Mesa. I debated getting Mark of Asylum down under countermagic versus playing Aven Mindcensor. I felt like Mark of Asylum would be impactful enough in the matchup that getting it down would given me a big advantage. If I had passed and Mindcensored in response to his fetch, there's some chance he would still hit the land, but Asylum is guaranteed to turn off a lot of his removal. Unfortunately his hand was x2 Path and x2 Snapcaster, so none of my threats stuck. We went to time but I conceded to him because I was not in a winning position.
Round 4: Twin 2-1 (2-2 Overall)
(I couldn't tell if my opponent was Tarmotwin since I didn't see any green spells, but he had a lot of green fetches). In game 1, he wasn't familiar with what my deck was doing so I was able to surprise him with search hate and land destruction. Key to surprising opponents is saving Ghost Quarter in hand until resolving the Arbiter. In game 2, I had a commanding board position but was having trouble closing the game through his tempo plays tapping down my attackers. He was having trouble hitting land drops so I was trying to end the game quickly without dying to the combo. Down to 1 life, the opponent had 4 lands (all untapped) a Deceiver Exarch in play and 4-5 cards in hand. I had Qasali Pridemage, a Voice token, Loxodon Smiter, 4 untapped mana (1 Stirring Wildwood) and no cards in hand. I saw two lines: if I go to attacks, he can flash in a Pestermite/Exarch to tap the Smiter and then I don't have a good attack (he blocks Voice token with Exarch and trades Pestermite with Pridemage, leaving me dead to the combo). Or I can tap out to activate Stirring Wildwood, presenting 4 lethal attackers. This line leaves me vulnerable to Cryptic Command. (I suppose it also leaves me vulnerable to Pestermite/Exarch tapping a guy plus Bolt killing my Pridemage, but I was dead to this in either scenario). I activated my Stirring Wildwood and he had the Cryptic to tap my team plus Twin combo me on his turn. Game 3 was closer, I put him under pressure early and Thalia gave him trouble. He found a fourth land for Anger of the Gods but I was able to close the game before he got any offense going.
Round 5: Jund 1-2 (2-3 Overall)
These games were very tight. Overall, the matchup was much harder than the Junk matchup since Bolt/Anger don't get trumped by Mirran Crusader. Game 1 I was able to time Mindcensor to disrupt his fetches and ghost quarter his Raging Ravine so that he had no red sources to answer Mirran Crusader which took over the game. Game 2 I might have made a bad keep: 4 lands, Path, Hierarch, Smiter. Would you keep this on the draw? He IoK'd the Path and Terminated my turn 2 Smiter putting me quickly in top deck mode. Games 2 and 3 both went the same way - long attrition games that ended with him getting good value out of Courser of Kruphix and closing the game with Batterskull. I didn't see any of my three Qasali Pridemages which would've been good answers to either of those threats.
At the end of Game 3 I was way behind against a Dark Confidant and a 6/6 Scooze with Batterskull equipped. I had Thrun, Smiter, and Linvala in play. I only had 4 lands in play and a Thalia in hand - I debated playing it but figured I had no reason not to. I drew Engineered Explosives off the top but because of Thalia couldn't play it for 2 and activated it in the same turn. I played it out, and it got Abrupt Decayed before I could use it. Knowing that EE was my best out to his board, I could've kept Thalia in hand. Also, after I drew it, I should've waited a turn to chump with Thalia so that I could then play and activate it. Losing it to Abrupt Decay was very sloppy.
I was really unsure of my sideboarding in this matchup since I mostly see Junk these days. Against Junk I bring in my third Mirran Crusader and go up to three Engineered Explosives. Against Jund I decided to play only two Mirran Crusader and one Mark of Asylum. I only went to two Explosives post-board since Jund doesn't have Lingering Souls, but I always found it to be a good draw and would've liked the third.
Round 6: Burn 1-2 (2-4 Overall)
Now firmly in the bottom tables I decided to keep playing because the games were fun, close, and I was enjoying playing competitive magic against skilled players. Enter the Burn deck. She was playing the 3-color version with Boros Charm and Bump in the Night, so the search hate was relevant. In Game 1, I had lethal on my next attack and I was able to Ghost Quarter her down to 2 lands, but she had two 1-mana spells to kill me. In game 2, I Mindcensored in response to her fetch. She failed to find instead of bolting my bird before resolving the fetch (she didn't know that she could until I told her later). She ended up not finding a second land the rest of the game. In game 3 I never got much pressure on her, and she also played two Lightning Helix making it even harder. My opponent wasn't familiar with a lot of my cards and made some misplays, but she was able to burn me out.
Round 7: Burn 1-2 (2-5 Overall)
Another Burn deck in the loser's bracket. My opponent again wasn't familiar with a lot of my cards and made a number of misplays, but ultimately figure out how to point enough burn at my face to win the match (can you sense my saltiness to burn decks?).
I dropped for Round 8 since I didn't want to continue the descent to madness - the fun rounds were over. I made a few in game misplays, but I felt my biggest mistakes all day might have been some of my mulligan/keep decisions.
Modern : Huh?
EDH : UBGW Thrasios / Tymna Combo UBGW // GRW Mayael Big Stuff GRW // GU Edric Timewalkers GU
Overall, I really enjoyed playing the deck. Once I added Mirran Crusaders to the 75, I felt much better about my Pod/Junk matchup. I only played against one UWR control deck, but the matchup felt fine. The weakest matchup of the top strategies feels like the blue tempo decks. The combination of pressure and counter/bounce spells is the way I would expect to beat a green deck and it seems to work. I wish I had a better matchup against Burn, as that is a deck I hate to lose to. I have a hard time convincing myself to dedicate many sideboard slots to Burn, but I hate losing to it. It's hard to find sideboard cards that improve the matchup but are versatile enough to be used elsewhere.
I found the manabase to be one of the weak points of the deck. Most of my mulligans were a result of not having the right colored sources to play out the hand. Horizon Canopy is a great fixer, but the life loss had a significant impact on my win % against my tougher matchups (UR Delver and Burn).
Baneslayer is a card that I've ignored, but it could be worth testing for me. Its cost makes it bad against counterspells, but if it sticks, it's hard to race. And burn can't beat a hit from it, but it doesn't come online until turn 4/5 and they do have Skullcrack/Flame of the Bloodhand so I don't know if its very good there either.
Side Board
Leyline of sanctity : Need no other explaination, Also good against Scapeshift
Mark of Asylum : Make burn's target removal invalid esp Searing Blood, Also good against Anger of the Gods
Angel's Grace : Saves u for a turn, also good for Ad Nauseam / Scapeshift
Rule of Law : Stops them from Double/Triple Lava spike or Double/Triple suspending Rift Bolt, Also good for storm.
Main Deck
Quasali Pridemage : Exalted triggers and Anti enchantment hate
Thalia : Slows burn down if she lives, also a good chump blocker against their 2/2's
Linvala : In a way shuts down list that runs grim lavamancer
Modern : Huh?
EDH : UBGW Thrasios / Tymna Combo UBGW // GRW Mayael Big Stuff GRW // GU Edric Timewalkers GU
I board in Chalice of the Void on 1, and Spellskite. Turn 2 Loxodon or Scavenging Ooze with activations is also good versus them in my experience.
Oh yeah i missed that too!
Modern : Huh?
EDH : UBGW Thrasios / Tymna Combo UBGW // GRW Mayael Big Stuff GRW // GU Edric Timewalkers GU
GW Hatebears
4 Noble Heirarch
4 Qasali Pridemage
3 Voice of Resurgence
4 Loxodon Smiter
2 Wilt-Leaf Liege
3 Scavenging Ooze
4 Leon Arbiter
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
3 Aven Mindcencor
3 Hushwing Grff
2 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
4 Path to Exile
Lands 22:
4 Ghost Quarter
2 Tectonic Edge
2 Stirring Wildwood
3 Horizon Canopy
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Temple Garden
1 Plains
2 Forest
2 Engineered Explosives
3 Chalice of the Void
2 Spellskite
1 Hushwing Grff
1 Gaddock Teeg
3 Stony Silence
1 Rest in Peace
2 Condemn
I like this version, very happy with it.
Looks like a very solid list. Do you find that your GB/x and burn matchups are okay without specific hate (mirran crusader, kor firewalker etc.)? I tend to overcompensate for those a bit due to their prevalence.
I think he prob set chalice at 1 to stop most of the burn spells, also chalice at 1 stop most of infect too.
Modern : Huh?
EDH : UBGW Thrasios / Tymna Combo UBGW // GRW Mayael Big Stuff GRW // GU Edric Timewalkers GU