So here's a question. With GP Pittsburgh next weekend, with about ~1,000 modern players expected, how do you build your 75 to deal the best with the decks you are more likely to see. Playing modern at my LGS is much different than at any GP and as such, I will probably build my deck differently. I expect more burn, affinity and Jund/Junk than I see at my locals. However,I would be interested to see everyone's choices, especially the sideboard.
I would have some number of kitchen finks and voice of resurgence on me as I'd expect path to not be played as much. Qasali Pridemage would probably be another mvp to have around. With so many multi colored creatures I would play wilt leaf liege along side elspeth, knight errant as my curve toppers.
So here's a question. With GP Pittsburgh next weekend, with about ~1,000 modern players expected, how do you build your 75 to deal the best with the decks you are more likely to see. Playing modern at my LGS is much different than at any GP and as such, I will probably build my deck differently. I expect more burn, affinity and Jund/Junk than I see at my locals. However,I would be interested to see everyone's choices, especially the sideboard.
I will actually be bringing hatebears to that GP as well.
My personal recommendation is to go through the Tier 1 listing on here and get an idea of what cards in your main and side are important in those matchups and generally what your plan to beat them is. Make sure you aren't terribly weak vs any of them in particular. If I think I might be lacking in sideboard or mainboard cards then I will change things around until I am satisfied I have a solid plan against these decks first.
Then I would take a look at some of the more popular Tier 2 decks and roughly plan out how you would deal with those. The ones that I am taking extra care to make sure I can handle currently are Living End, Variations on CoCo/Podless Pod/Junk combo, Scapeshift, Elves, and grix control. I expect to see these in fairly large numbers over the weekend.
EDIT: Oh and definitely keep in mind that Blood Moon will likely have quite a showing since word is people are anticipating high attendance of Tron and Bloom Titan. That card can just destroy us sometimes so its always something to keep watch for.
I'm still liking the 4th Collected Company in the main. Though I do side 1 out in some matchups, having access to the 4th is very good in grindy matchups. I've liked having 4x Eternal Witness in the 75 for similar reasons.
Just found out the local store is having a store credit tournament today where 4-0 gets $70 in credit, so I'm not going to be trying out new cards that I haven't used before. I'm going with a more traditional list this time, stuck on what to run in the side. Affinity used to be rampant but I haven't seen it in months. I have seen Dredge, Knightfall, Scapeshift, and UW Control as the most common decks with an occasional Lantern Control, Burn, and Soul Sisters.
Took the list below to 4-0 at FNM last night. The biggest differences between my deck and a lot of the lists I see are Aether Vial instead of Collected Company and opting for two Crucible of Worlds in the main. As a result, the deck is a bit less explosive but also less subject to variance. Vialing in library-search hate is just so much better to me than the hope of finding the right bear at the right time off Company. In fact, by the end of the match opponents become so scared of an untapped Vial on 2 or 3 that they begin playing around it when they don't need to. And finding a Crucible of Worlds, Ghost Quarter, and Aven Mindcensor and/or Leonin Arbiter is just devastating. I won several games after effectively Strip Mineing opponents 5-6 times. I should also note that the lack of artifact hate in the sideboard is due to a lack of Affinty in local meta. The one-of Baneslayer Angel was a last minute include. I never drew it.
Match 2: U/R Twin (2-0 Win)
I love this matchup. The opponent could not deal with Leonin Arbiter in game 1. Landed a Choke in game 2. Both games were the quintessential Hatebears Sorry-You-Don't-Get-To-Play-Magic-Tonight type of affairs. So satisfying.
Match 4: Jund (2-1 Win)
Got blown out game 1 in typical value-Jund fashion (Curse you, Liliana of the Veil). Voice of Resurgence and Restoration Angel were the all-stars in games 2-3. Blanked a kill spell with Resto in Game 2. Closed out game 3 by flashing her in mid-combat to grow a Voice token that Tarmogoyf unknowingly blocked. Proceeded to open an expedition Arid Mesa in prize pack. Sweet, sweet victory.
Notes:
Surprisingly, the manabase supports Arcangel of Tithes. When she comes down, she's an MVP. I'm also unsure about Goblin Ruinblaster but he's fairly decent so far? Also, T1 bolt is so important that I was considering playing Red just for that. Chandra is also much better than she seems at first glance.
So how are my matchups?
Infect: Almost Free
Tron: Good
Burn: Good
Amulet: Good
Twin: Fair
Jund: Fair
Affinity: G1 it's awful. Postboard it's poor.
Merfolk: Unwinnable
Creature decks: Terrible
Delver: Good
Storm: Free
Random Combo: Good
I think R/W has some promise. There's a guy at my LGS who brings it from time to time and does well, though I don't really know specifics of the build.
Looking at your list I think I want to love Ajani Vengeant and Chandra, Pyromaster but <insert argument about Thalia and Vryn Wingmare tax here>. If I had to pick one it would be Ajani, and I would probably keep him at 2 max.
Alternatively you could put them in the board. I could definitely see bringing in something along their lines against decks that dont particularly care about you taxing their non creature spells. For that matter, Ajani Steadfast could be an option here, too.
Creature-wise, the Goblin Ruinblaster is probably too cute. There's enough real LD and Pseudo LD through search hate in your build that you dont want to be paying 4 cmc to blow up yet another land (or not) and get a 2/1 creature that isn't very scary. Similar thought on Ethersworn Canonist; he hurts some decks but others really dont care.
Instead, I would look at 4 Boros Reckoner to replace those, moving some canonists to the board if they help in your meta. Boros Reckoner in many ways is a mini Phyrexian Obliterator; its hard to remove it via bolt or combat damage and also not lose something in the process if you're the opponent. 3 power first strike is also pretty strong on its own in modern in many matches.
Dryad Militant - have to say, I'm not a huge fan. Some people love it, I'm just not one of them. I'd probably replace her with 4 Judge's Familiar as they help in many more random situations and fly, which is certainly not irrelevant. Curving Familiar -> Thalia - > Wingmare is also pretty fun to do against a lot of decks.
I love Archangel of Tithes and would definitely be playing her here. She's a house.
I think R/W has some promise. There's a guy at my LGS who brings it from time to time and does well, though I don't really know specifics of the build.
Looking at your list I think I want to love Ajani Vengeant and Chandra, Pyromaster but <insert argument about Thalia and Vryn Wingmare tax here>. If I had to pick one it would be Ajani, and I would probably keep him at 2 max.
You're right that the tax becomes relevant. The problem is running out of gas late-game, and Chandra draws cards.
Alternatively you could put them in the board. I could definitely see bringing in something along their lines against decks that dont particularly care about you taxing their non creature spells. For that matter, Ajani Steadfast could be an option here, too.
I don't like Ajani Steadfast, simply because Elspeth Knight-Errant exists and she gives the guy flying.
Creature-wise, the Goblin Ruinblaster is probably too cute. There's enough real LD and Pseudo LD through search hate in your build that you dont want to be paying 4 cmc to blow up yet another land (or not) and get a 2/1 creature that isn't very scary. Similar thought on Ethersworn Canonist; he hurts some decks but others really dont care.
You're probably right about Goblin Ruinblaster, but I still like Ethersworn Canonist. It's a card that in some Matchups says "Destroy Target Deck" and it's really good at hosing Infect, Amulet, and Snapcaster Mage. I'm considering taking out the Ruinblasters and going back to four Archangel.
Instead, I would look at 4 Boros Reckoner to replace those, moving some canonists to the board if they help in your meta. Boros Reckoner in many ways is a mini Phyrexian Obliterator; its hard to remove it via bolt or combat damage and also not lose something in the process if you're the opponent. 3 power first strike is also pretty strong on its own in modern in many matches.
Boros Reckoner is a card I considered, but I decided against it because my deck isn't quite fast enough to really care if he dies to bolt and hits them for three.
Dryad Militant - have to say, I'm not a huge fan. Some people love it, I'm just not one of them. I'd probably replace her with 4 Judge's Familiar as they help in many more random situations and fly, which is certainly not irrelevant. Curving Familiar -> Thalia - > Wingmare is also pretty fun to do against a lot of decks.
The militant has done a lot of work actually. I usually get in six damage with a T1 militant per game, which is enormous. People don't consider her worth killing, and instead spend their spells killing your other creatures, then they realize all their spells are in exile.
The problem with Judge's Familiar is that you have to actually sacrifice it sometimes, but usually you don't want to. If all goes according to plan, it behaves like a Thalia, but sometimes they barge right into it to make you sac it. Then it's basically trading 1-for-1 with a spell. Sometimes, it's a card that's not worth trading with, like Serum Visions, which they can cast right into it. Also, the tax makes them essentially lose 1 mana per turn, not one mana per spell, which is very different.
If you're insistent on having a creature that blows up land what about Fulminator Mage or Avalanche Riders? Have you considered Pia and Kiran Nalaar as an option? Does die to Bolt but gives you 4 power worth of creatures, 2 of which is flying, for 4 mana. Can also use P&KN to snipe out creatures or fling those tokens for damage.
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If you're insistent on having a creature that blows up land what about Fulminator Mage or Avalanche Riders? Have you considered Pia and Kiran Nalaar as an option? Does die to Bolt but gives you 4 power worth of creatures, 2 of which is flying, for 4 mana. Can also use P&KN to snipe out creatures or fling those tokens for damage.
The problem with Fulminator Mage is that he doesn't stick around after you blow up a land. In that sense he's tax-deductible Stone Rain or a Gray Ogre. This is not the kind of deck that wants to beat face with a 2/2 and then blow up a utility land the way a Grixis Control deck would.
As for Avalanche Riders, the echo makes him essentially a 4mana Molten Rain.
I think I'd have to differ with that opinion, at least as it relates to Hellrider and Hero of Bladehold. At least if P&K eats it you still have two flying colorless tokens left around.
Agree that Elspeth is probably better than Ajani Steadfast and she's also the reason I typically dont run him, either. Brain fart on my suggestion. Boros Reckoner dies to bolt but that can many times mean that something on their side dies too. I'm ok running Canonist in the 75 but unless there were tons of decks it kills I just dont see it worth running in the main.
Good luck with the build though - report back as it evolves.
So, got home from GP Pittsburgh a bit ago and decided post the matchups while they are fresh. I ended up with a pretty unexciting 4-3 finish though in the last round I was in line to use the bathroom and by the time I got out I was a minute and a half past the round start. Bad time to find out that instead of a 3-10min tourny it was a 0-10 and resulted in an auto game loss, An unfortunate note to end on but all said and done I would prefer that than losing my third match (7-2 and higher go day two) in the ninth round.
The day before the tournament I went through the data with some friends and we decided that there was going to be quite a bit of zoo (Holy hell there was tons), tron (Not as much as we expected but all of them seemed to do well including our friend who made day two with it), twin (we expected this as a meta call vs tron and bloom), jund (also tons), and possibly a resurgence of scapeshift since bring to light adds new dimensions to the deck (This didnt end up happening though it was represented a bit). So I created my sideboard with that in mind.
I should mention that I havnt looked at official stats from the tournament but those are just from our pooled observations as a group (11 of us).
For reference here is the deck-list I ended up registering.
Not a great start at all to be honest. This guy was running a very interesting mix of that UW azorious value deck with black thrown in for lingering souls and the gifts reanimation/value package.
G1: He was on the play with a T2 wall of omens which I followed with an arbiter and then a thalia so I could start attacking through for damage. Long game short he pathed all three of the more substantial threats I was able to manage up until he gifted for elesh norn and unburial. I played baneslayer after that with gavony and mana out to still make it a contest but on the next turn he drew the fourth path and that was that.
Side: I sided in the Torpor orb, Rest in piece, and Choke
G2: I have a weird opener with 4 lands, Choke, Collected Company, and baneslayer in it. I decided to keep on the ground that one of the lands was a gavony. Turn 3 on the play I get choke remanded and on T4 I pass turn with four open and resolve CC on his end stranding one of his fetchlands with an Arbiter and thalia (i was really hoping for smiter or brimaz here since a wall of omens was already down). On my turn I resolve the choke and then begin the beatdown.
The usual control and stuff happened with the significant plays being a wrath of god to clear out a scavenging ooze (It ate one his lingering) plus the thalia and arbiter with a sun titan landing the next turn to get back the wall of omens and since I didn't see a path that game it was pretty much done from there.
Also worth mentioning that in the end he had 3 Plains, 2 Celestial Collonnade, 1 BW Shock, and two tapped islands with choke doing pretty much nothing to stop his deck.
Thoughts: There wasn't really anything I was not prepared to handle, to be honest. At the risk of mis-attributing the blame I honestly feel like my hands ended up matching poorly with his control and as a result it just rolled over my deck. There are two things that slightly bother me though. My opener in the second game was not very aggressive and relied overly on choke which is what likely lost the game for me. And also in the second game I might have held off on the Scooze but I made the call to play it since he was also at gifts mana and if he didn't have a sweep he was dead inside two turns.
This match I felt kinda bad for my opponent since he never really had terrible hands but I just had all the answers I needed and pretty much stomped on the deck hard.
G1: I am on the play with a T1 noble into a T2 brimaz and start swinging in for bunches of damage. After a remand on a pridemage (Letting me resolve a voice after) from me he goes for the combo on the end of my T4 and his T5 but got blown out with a dromokas command (I didn't show him but I had path backup as well). He died on the crackback since to cast his pestermite he gave me a voice token and I had brimaz kitties.
Side: I sided in the torpor Orb, Ghostly Prison, Burrenton Forge Tender, Dromokas Command, Linvala, and choke. Also worth noting I do side out thalia in this matchup since I tend to find her lackluster in stopping the things that matter and often I need all my mana for the hate.
G2: Turn two he remands a voice from me which lets me resolve a ghostly prison on T3. He goes exarch into splinter twin on his T4 anyway and long story short he never find an answer to prison but I end up killing the full combo three different times and winning off of a smiter.
Thoughts: Not much to say here the deck is quite strong vs twin and while these were a bit easier than what usually plays out I am very confidant going into that matchup.
G1: Not a ton to say here he leads with a T2 Confidant after T1 inquisition to see my hand and discard my thalia. I don't see removal the whole game and he closes it out after 6 turns or so with the plethora of advantage from confidant.
Side: I sided in Rest in Piece, Burrenton Forge Tender, 2 Mirran Crusaders, Linvala, and dromoka's Command.
G2: This one goes pretty grindy with us trading some removal (I Dromoka's his confidant and path his Tarmogoyf while he decayed my smiter and bolted arbiter and scooze). The end result is him edicting away my last creature while I have a smiter and baneslayer in hand and he has no creatures. I draw a land and play the baneslayer and pass. He draws a manland, plusses the liliana only to have me dump the smiter on his face for the win on the next attack.
G3: This game was one of the closest I have had in awhile. He starts off with a confidant to match my arbiter. I path it and the game proceeds in typical jund fashion from there. Fast Forward he is at 2 life, has around 5 lands or so, and a liliana on 1. I have three lands (Generous use of horizon canopy here) and a dromoka's command in hand. I pass the turn and he draws a land plays it, activates raging ravine putting me down to 6 (dead next turn) and DOES NOT PLUS LILIANA since I had showed him both wilt lief and smiter last game. I untap draw a temple garden put myself down to 4 and pass. He draws an abrupt decay, activates ravine, I respond with CC and find a mirran crusader to block and then swing in for the win.
Thoughts: Jund is jund and will never change. Dark confidant is my number 1 priority to get off board since in games 1 and 3 it generated some amount of value almost losing me game three and absolutely losing me game 1. Also worth noting this match tends to swing towards whoever keeps a scooze alive longest as well.
G1: Not terribly much to say. We traded some removal with me eventually winning off the back of a pair of lieges through his tarmogoyfs
Side: See the match above.
G2: This game I actually felt a bit bad for him. After the fun and interactive game one I basically steamrolled him after he used a decay on my T2 smiter I landed a mirran crusader protected by burrenton forge tender and then when he had two tarmogoyfs out I played rest in piece only for him to draw the other two tarmogoyfs in the next few turns and then die.
G1: I had the usual mix of hate with a smiter to attack but none of it really ended up being relevant after he went hierarch into lingering souls into 2 lieges and I never saw a path or dromokas command.
Side: I sided in rest in piece, 2 mirran crusaders, Linvala, Dromokas command, 1 engineered explosive, and ghostly prison.
G2: This one was at least a game with me landing a T2 Crusader he didn't have and answer to. After a grindy match he ended up with 5 mana dorks on the field, three fully played lingering souls, and the turn before I would have gotten lethal he drew wilt lief liege and was was able to kill me.
Thoughts: Abzan in general really wasn't on my radar so I had not devoted a ton of thought to the match and as a result he really caught me off guard.
This has to be the most hilarious win I have ever gotten in a large scale tournament.
G1: I was feeling a bit down after my second loss so seeing him suspend the lotus T1 was a kick in the gut since I regard ad naus as one of our worst matchups. He plays his mana acceleration T2 (The one he can pull counters off of for mana) and I play a thalia and pass. he doesn't do much T3 while I play a third land and attack with thalia then passing not expecting much.
He pays the thalia tax off of suspend for the lotus and plays as follows: 2 Mana for Angel's grace, 6 mana for ad-Nauseum (Leaving him with zero mana left on board). He flips the deck and has to exile 4 simian spirit guides for the lightning storm. With the lethal storm on stack I tap three mana and cast DROMOKA"S COMMAND and he cant pay the thalia tax for pact of negation!!! (He was not happy since he had no idea that was something he should play around).
Side: In goes the extra dromoka's command (Usually just there for the phyrexian unlife), 2 engineered explosives, stony silence, 2 mirran crusader (faster clock with exalted), and choke.
G2: This game is a bit more interactive with me having a T1 hierarch followed by T2 arbiter with his T1 suspended lotus and T2 some sort of dig I forget which. The game goes a bit longer than usual and I end up with a thalia, arbiter, Spellskite, and smiter on board with lethal next turn. He has something like 6 lands after I had quartered (He exiled a simian to search), and tec edged one. He has two cards in his hand and I have 3 while holding a land for lightning storm and I think I had a wilt liefe and something else.
The end of my turn he pays for thalia and slaughter pacts her (I let it got through since he has so much mana) On his turn in response to the pact trigger he casts angel's grace and then spoils from the vault to exile until he hits ad naus. On his way there it hits 4-5 more land. He casts ad naus, flips his deck, and then destroys my spell skite (Sucks since I was hoping to win off of its disruption but he sided for it). With the lethal storm on the stack I figured I don't have anything to lose and I discard my land to try and redirect the storm back to him. He spend a minute searching through his hand/deck AND SCOOPS!! Turns out he didn't have any more land left in the deck!!!!
He was not very happy but by far the funniest win I've had in a major tournament.
This round was super sucky since as I mentioned at the top I was stuck in line at the bathrooms (Down the hall from the actual room) and did not realize the round had been announced until I walked back in and found it a minute already started. This resulted in a game loss and I was pretty pissed.
G1/2: He was playing 4c scapeshift with a white splash. I land an early arbiter and start swinging in for damage. He starts playing some dig spells while I assemble a brimaz and a smiter to help with the beatdown. I get him down to 5 but then (Main deck since we did not sideboard) he plays a timely reinforcements with one card in hand. I swing in putting him back down to 4 and he untaps plays a shock and then plays scapeshift for the win.
Overall: I never felt like the deck was not performing as I would want it to. The two legitimate matches I lost didn't feel hopeless at all and most likely I can attribute them to their deck lists begin favored over mine and the inherent variance in magic matching their hands well with mine.
Cheers all and I hope to hear from anyone else who went!
That list looks more like A GW aggro creature deck with Thalia/Arbiter than "hatebears." Is that fairly typical?
The difference between "GW Aggro" and "Hatebears" is a distinction that tends to vary from person to person. Generally they end up with similar lists but I would say to distinguish a true Hatebear deck look for the core of 4 Ghost Quarter, 4 Leonin Arbiter, 4 Loxodon Smiter, and some amount of Thalia, Scooze, and pridemage in the maindeck.
A true GW aggro list would not be running 4 ghost quarter in favor of probably 2-3 Townships, it would have a more aggressive curve, and the creatures would be chosen more for their efficiency than for the disruption they cause to the opponent. With the list I posted for reference it would drop dromoka's, spellskite, go down to 1 or 2 scoozes, drop baneslayer, finks, add more voice, ect...
Case in point if you look at the decklist from GP pitts that went to the top 8 with Craig Wescoe at the helm LINK they list it out as an aggro deck but it is pretty clearly a hatebear list and will play out as such with each element in the deck doing something to disrupt the opponents gameplan while chipping away at their life total.
I'm actively maintaining a comprehensive article to help explain to new cube players how some complex vintage level cards work in a cube environment. Vintage Cube Cards Explained
hi, im new in this thread and planning to build GW hatebears. Why not use a set of selesnya charm in mainboard? its a combat trick card at instant speed.
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I tried it a while back on a whim and found it better than I had expected. I still ultimately cut it, and given that I can have something like Dromoka's Command for the same cost that is what I would run over it.
I will actually be bringing hatebears to that GP as well.
My personal recommendation is to go through the Tier 1 listing on here and get an idea of what cards in your main and side are important in those matchups and generally what your plan to beat them is. Make sure you aren't terribly weak vs any of them in particular. If I think I might be lacking in sideboard or mainboard cards then I will change things around until I am satisfied I have a solid plan against these decks first.
Then I would take a look at some of the more popular Tier 2 decks and roughly plan out how you would deal with those. The ones that I am taking extra care to make sure I can handle currently are Living End, Variations on CoCo/Podless Pod/Junk combo, Scapeshift, Elves, and grix control. I expect to see these in fairly large numbers over the weekend.
EDIT: Oh and definitely keep in mind that Blood Moon will likely have quite a showing since word is people are anticipating high attendance of Tron and Bloom Titan. That card can just destroy us sometimes so its always something to keep watch for.
GUGEdric, Spymaster of Trest - Elfball
WUBOloro, Ageless Ascetic- Doomsday!
RWUEphara, God of the Polis - Blink + Control
GBGGlissa, the Traitor - Stax & Lands
URGMaelstrom Wanderer - Goodstuff RUG
RGWMayael the Anima - Timmy
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher - The One Hit Wonder
RGWMarath, Will of the Wild - Old-school Enchantress Hate
RWRAurelia, the Warleader - Equipment Aggro
GGGReki, the History of Kamigawa - Legends + Banding
UBRSedris, the Traitor King - Creatures with : Ability
BUBPhenax, God of Deception - Mill
*Sidenote, I specifically excluded infinite combos from all these decks with the exception of Marath and the squirrel nest + Earthcraft combo.
Looking for something Aggressive in modern? Try - BR Aggro
2x Aven Mindcensor
1x Brimaz, King of Oreskos
3x Eternal Witness
2x Kitchen Finks
4x Leonin Arbiter
4x Loxodon Smiter
4x Noble Hierarch
1x Qasali Pridemage
1x Scavenging Ooze
3x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3x Voice of Resurgence
3x Forest
1x Gavony Township
4x Ghost Quarter
3x Horizon Canopy
3x Plains
4x Razorverge Thicket
2x Stirring Wildwood
4x Temple Garden
[Instant]
4x Collected Company
4x Path to Exile
1x Burrenton Forge-Tender
2x Dromoka's Command
1x Engineered Explosives
1x Eternal Witness
2x Ghostly Prison
1x Kataki, War's Wage
2x Phyrexian Revoker
1x Qasali Pridemage
1x Scavenging Ooze
2x Spellskite
1x Sunlance
I'm still liking the 4th Collected Company in the main. Though I do side 1 out in some matchups, having access to the 4th is very good in grindy matchups. I've liked having 4x Eternal Witness in the 75 for similar reasons.
WUBR [url=http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/06-04-17-ad-nauseam/]Ad Nauseam WUBR
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Razorverge Thicket
3 Temple Garden
2 Forest
2 Plains
1 Gavony Township
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Stirring Wildwood
3 Birds of Paradise
2 Noble Hierarch
4 Leonin Arbiter
3 Voice of Resurgence
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Qasali Pridemage
4 Loxodon Smiter
2 Kitchen Finks
2 Aven Mindcensor
1 Mirran Crusader
2 Wilt-Leaf Liege
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Dromoka's Command
3 Collected Company
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Gaddock Teeg
2 Rest In Peace
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Dawn Charm
1 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
1 Stony Silence
1 Spellskite
2 Choke
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Fracturing Gust
Match 1: Grishoalbrand (2-1 Win)
I knew what opponent was on, and was happy to get Scavenging Ooze out early in game 1. I opted to not dump my hand and keep green mana open to eat a looted Griselbrand. Instead, I was punished by Through the Breach and Worldspine Wurm. In games 2 and 3, however, Thalia, Guardian of Thraben and Crucible of Worlds+Ghost Quarter sealed the deal. Pithing Needle was also clutch.
Match 2: U/R Twin (2-0 Win)
I love this matchup. The opponent could not deal with Leonin Arbiter in game 1. Landed a Choke in game 2. Both games were the quintessential Hatebears Sorry-You-Don't-Get-To-Play-Magic-Tonight type of affairs. So satisfying.
Match 3: Grixis Twin (2-0 Win)
Another great matchup. Game 1, I forced opponent into killing a Leonin Arbiter on my turn with Voice of Resurgence out. The token ended the game promptly. I found Crucible of Worlds, Ghost Quarter, and Aven Mindcensor in game 2. Opponent needed to draw one of his last two Lightning Bolts and didn't. Another Twin player thwarted.
Match 4: Jund (2-1 Win)
Got blown out game 1 in typical value-Jund fashion (Curse you, Liliana of the Veil). Voice of Resurgence and Restoration Angel were the all-stars in games 2-3. Blanked a kill spell with Resto in Game 2. Closed out game 3 by flashing her in mid-combat to grow a Voice token that Tarmogoyf unknowingly blocked. Proceeded to open an expedition Arid Mesa in prize pack. Sweet, sweet victory.
3 Aven Mindcensor
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Leonin Arbiter
2 Loxodon Smiter
3 Scavenging Ooze
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Vryn Wingmare
3 Voice of Resurgence
2 Restoration Angel
1 Baneslayer Angel
4 Path to Exile
4 Aether Vial
2 Crucible of Worlds
Lands (23)
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Razorverge Thicket
2 Stirring Wildwood
2 Tectonic Edge
4 Temple Garden
1 Forest
2 Plains
3 Kitchen Finks
2 Qasali Pridemage
2 Gaddock Teeg
2 Rest in Peace
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Celestial Purge
1 Mirran Crusader
1 Pithing Needle
1 Sunlance
1 Choke
4x Dryad Militant
4x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4x Leonin Arbiter
2x Ethersworn Canonist
4x Vryn Wingmare
2x Aven Mindcensor
2x Goblin Ruinblaster
2x Archangel of Tithes
2x Ajani Vengeant
2x Chandra, Pyromaster
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Path to Exile
Lands: 24
4x Sacred Foundry
4x Clifftop Retreat
4x Battlefield Forge
4x Ghost Quarter
2x Tectonic Edge
5x Plains
1x Mountain
4x Wear // Tear
3x Rest in Peace
3x Mark of Asylum
2x Dismember
3x Pyroclasm
Notes:
Surprisingly, the manabase supports Arcangel of Tithes. When she comes down, she's an MVP. I'm also unsure about Goblin Ruinblaster but he's fairly decent so far? Also, T1 bolt is so important that I was considering playing Red just for that. Chandra is also much better than she seems at first glance.
So how are my matchups?
Infect: Almost Free
Tron: Good
Burn: Good
Amulet: Good
Twin: Fair
Jund: Fair
Affinity: G1 it's awful. Postboard it's poor.
Merfolk: Unwinnable
Creature decks: Terrible
Delver: Good
Storm: Free
Random Combo: Good
EDH - GU Kruphix, God of Horizons, WB Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts, GUR Surrak Dragonclaw, WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores, R Purphoros, God of the Forge, RW Archangel Avacyn
Looking at your list I think I want to love Ajani Vengeant and Chandra, Pyromaster but <insert argument about Thalia and Vryn Wingmare tax here>. If I had to pick one it would be Ajani, and I would probably keep him at 2 max.
Alternatively you could put them in the board. I could definitely see bringing in something along their lines against decks that dont particularly care about you taxing their non creature spells. For that matter, Ajani Steadfast could be an option here, too.
Creature-wise, the Goblin Ruinblaster is probably too cute. There's enough real LD and Pseudo LD through search hate in your build that you dont want to be paying 4 cmc to blow up yet another land (or not) and get a 2/1 creature that isn't very scary. Similar thought on Ethersworn Canonist; he hurts some decks but others really dont care.
Instead, I would look at 4 Boros Reckoner to replace those, moving some canonists to the board if they help in your meta. Boros Reckoner in many ways is a mini Phyrexian Obliterator; its hard to remove it via bolt or combat damage and also not lose something in the process if you're the opponent. 3 power first strike is also pretty strong on its own in modern in many matches.
Dryad Militant - have to say, I'm not a huge fan. Some people love it, I'm just not one of them. I'd probably replace her with 4 Judge's Familiar as they help in many more random situations and fly, which is certainly not irrelevant. Curving Familiar -> Thalia - > Wingmare is also pretty fun to do against a lot of decks.
I love Archangel of Tithes and would definitely be playing her here. She's a house.
You're right that the tax becomes relevant. The problem is running out of gas late-game, and Chandra draws cards.
I don't like Ajani Steadfast, simply because Elspeth Knight-Errant exists and she gives the guy flying.
You're probably right about Goblin Ruinblaster, but I still like Ethersworn Canonist. It's a card that in some Matchups says "Destroy Target Deck" and it's really good at hosing Infect, Amulet, and Snapcaster Mage. I'm considering taking out the Ruinblasters and going back to four Archangel.
Boros Reckoner is a card I considered, but I decided against it because my deck isn't quite fast enough to really care if he dies to bolt and hits them for three.
The militant has done a lot of work actually. I usually get in six damage with a T1 militant per game, which is enormous. People don't consider her worth killing, and instead spend their spells killing your other creatures, then they realize all their spells are in exile.
The problem with Judge's Familiar is that you have to actually sacrifice it sometimes, but usually you don't want to. If all goes according to plan, it behaves like a Thalia, but sometimes they barge right into it to make you sac it. Then it's basically trading 1-for-1 with a spell. Sometimes, it's a card that's not worth trading with, like Serum Visions, which they can cast right into it. Also, the tax makes them essentially lose 1 mana per turn, not one mana per spell, which is very different.
EDH - GU Kruphix, God of Horizons, WB Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts, GUR Surrak Dragonclaw, WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores, R Purphoros, God of the Forge, RW Archangel Avacyn
The problem with Fulminator Mage is that he doesn't stick around after you blow up a land. In that sense he's tax-deductible Stone Rain or a Gray Ogre. This is not the kind of deck that wants to beat face with a 2/2 and then blow up a utility land the way a Grixis Control deck would.
As for Avalanche Riders, the echo makes him essentially a 4mana Molten Rain.
Pia and Kiran are also not high-impact enough, compared to other high-impact game-ending 4drops like Hero of Bladehold, Hellrider, or Archangel of Tithes.
EDH - GU Kruphix, God of Horizons, WB Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts, GUR Surrak Dragonclaw, WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores, R Purphoros, God of the Forge, RW Archangel Avacyn
I think I'd have to differ with that opinion, at least as it relates to Hellrider and Hero of Bladehold. At least if P&K eats it you still have two flying colorless tokens left around.
Agree that Elspeth is probably better than Ajani Steadfast and she's also the reason I typically dont run him, either. Brain fart on my suggestion. Boros Reckoner dies to bolt but that can many times mean that something on their side dies too. I'm ok running Canonist in the 75 but unless there were tons of decks it kills I just dont see it worth running in the main.
Good luck with the build though - report back as it evolves.
The day before the tournament I went through the data with some friends and we decided that there was going to be quite a bit of zoo (Holy hell there was tons), tron (Not as much as we expected but all of them seemed to do well including our friend who made day two with it), twin (we expected this as a meta call vs tron and bloom), jund (also tons), and possibly a resurgence of scapeshift since bring to light adds new dimensions to the deck (This didnt end up happening though it was represented a bit). So I created my sideboard with that in mind.
I should mention that I havnt looked at official stats from the tournament but those are just from our pooled observations as a group (11 of us).
For reference here is the deck-list I ended up registering.
4 Noble Hierarch
2 Spellskite
2 Voice of Resurgence
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Scavenging Ooze
3 Qasali Pridemage
4 Leonin Arbiter
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
4 Loxodon Smiter
2 Wilt-Leaf Liege
1 Baneslayer Angel
4 Path to Exile
2 Dromoka's Command
1 Collected Company
//Lands (23)
2 Forest
2 Plains
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Brushland
2 Stirring Wildwood
1 Gavony Township
1 Tectonic Edge
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Temple Garden
4 Razorverge Thicket
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Mirran Crusader
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Torpor Orb
1 Stony Silence
1 Rest in Peace
1 Ghostly Prison
1 Choke
1 Dromoka's Command
1 Fracturing Gust
-- Round 1 - LOSS - Esper Gifts - 0|1 --
Not a great start at all to be honest. This guy was running a very interesting mix of that UW azorious value deck with black thrown in for lingering souls and the gifts reanimation/value package.
G1: He was on the play with a T2 wall of omens which I followed with an arbiter and then a thalia so I could start attacking through for damage. Long game short he pathed all three of the more substantial threats I was able to manage up until he gifted for elesh norn and unburial. I played baneslayer after that with gavony and mana out to still make it a contest but on the next turn he drew the fourth path and that was that.
Side: I sided in the Torpor orb, Rest in piece, and Choke
G2: I have a weird opener with 4 lands, Choke, Collected Company, and baneslayer in it. I decided to keep on the ground that one of the lands was a gavony. Turn 3 on the play I get choke remanded and on T4 I pass turn with four open and resolve CC on his end stranding one of his fetchlands with an Arbiter and thalia (i was really hoping for smiter or brimaz here since a wall of omens was already down). On my turn I resolve the choke and then begin the beatdown.
The usual control and stuff happened with the significant plays being a wrath of god to clear out a scavenging ooze (It ate one his lingering) plus the thalia and arbiter with a sun titan landing the next turn to get back the wall of omens and since I didn't see a path that game it was pretty much done from there.
Also worth mentioning that in the end he had 3 Plains, 2 Celestial Collonnade, 1 BW Shock, and two tapped islands with choke doing pretty much nothing to stop his deck.
Thoughts: There wasn't really anything I was not prepared to handle, to be honest. At the risk of mis-attributing the blame I honestly feel like my hands ended up matching poorly with his control and as a result it just rolled over my deck. There are two things that slightly bother me though. My opener in the second game was not very aggressive and relied overly on choke which is what likely lost the game for me. And also in the second game I might have held off on the Scooze but I made the call to play it since he was also at gifts mana and if he didn't have a sweep he was dead inside two turns.
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-- Round 2 - WIN - UR Twin - 1|1 --
This match I felt kinda bad for my opponent since he never really had terrible hands but I just had all the answers I needed and pretty much stomped on the deck hard.
G1: I am on the play with a T1 noble into a T2 brimaz and start swinging in for bunches of damage. After a remand on a pridemage (Letting me resolve a voice after) from me he goes for the combo on the end of my T4 and his T5 but got blown out with a dromokas command (I didn't show him but I had path backup as well). He died on the crackback since to cast his pestermite he gave me a voice token and I had brimaz kitties.
Side: I sided in the torpor Orb, Ghostly Prison, Burrenton Forge Tender, Dromokas Command, Linvala, and choke. Also worth noting I do side out thalia in this matchup since I tend to find her lackluster in stopping the things that matter and often I need all my mana for the hate.
G2: Turn two he remands a voice from me which lets me resolve a ghostly prison on T3. He goes exarch into splinter twin on his T4 anyway and long story short he never find an answer to prison but I end up killing the full combo three different times and winning off of a smiter.
Thoughts: Not much to say here the deck is quite strong vs twin and while these were a bit easier than what usually plays out I am very confidant going into that matchup.
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-- Round 3 - WIN - Jund - 2|1 --
G1: Not a ton to say here he leads with a T2 Confidant after T1 inquisition to see my hand and discard my thalia. I don't see removal the whole game and he closes it out after 6 turns or so with the plethora of advantage from confidant.
Side: I sided in Rest in Piece, Burrenton Forge Tender, 2 Mirran Crusaders, Linvala, and dromoka's Command.
G2: This one goes pretty grindy with us trading some removal (I Dromoka's his confidant and path his Tarmogoyf while he decayed my smiter and bolted arbiter and scooze). The end result is him edicting away my last creature while I have a smiter and baneslayer in hand and he has no creatures. I draw a land and play the baneslayer and pass. He draws a manland, plusses the liliana only to have me dump the smiter on his face for the win on the next attack.
G3: This game was one of the closest I have had in awhile. He starts off with a confidant to match my arbiter. I path it and the game proceeds in typical jund fashion from there. Fast Forward he is at 2 life, has around 5 lands or so, and a liliana on 1. I have three lands (Generous use of horizon canopy here) and a dromoka's command in hand. I pass the turn and he draws a land plays it, activates raging ravine putting me down to 6 (dead next turn) and DOES NOT PLUS LILIANA since I had showed him both wilt lief and smiter last game. I untap draw a temple garden put myself down to 4 and pass. He draws an abrupt decay, activates ravine, I respond with CC and find a mirran crusader to block and then swing in for the win.
Thoughts: Jund is jund and will never change. Dark confidant is my number 1 priority to get off board since in games 1 and 3 it generated some amount of value almost losing me game three and absolutely losing me game 1. Also worth noting this match tends to swing towards whoever keeps a scooze alive longest as well.
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-- Round 4 - WIN - Jund - 3|1 --
Bleh jund again. Still, better than facing tron.
G1: Not terribly much to say. We traded some removal with me eventually winning off the back of a pair of lieges through his tarmogoyfs
Side: See the match above.
G2: This game I actually felt a bit bad for him. After the fun and interactive game one I basically steamrolled him after he used a decay on my T2 smiter I landed a mirran crusader protected by burrenton forge tender and then when he had two tarmogoyfs out I played rest in piece only for him to draw the other two tarmogoyfs in the next few turns and then die.
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-- Round 5 - LOSS - Little Kid Abzan - 3|2 --
G1: I had the usual mix of hate with a smiter to attack but none of it really ended up being relevant after he went hierarch into lingering souls into 2 lieges and I never saw a path or dromokas command.
Side: I sided in rest in piece, 2 mirran crusaders, Linvala, Dromokas command, 1 engineered explosive, and ghostly prison.
G2: This one was at least a game with me landing a T2 Crusader he didn't have and answer to. After a grindy match he ended up with 5 mana dorks on the field, three fully played lingering souls, and the turn before I would have gotten lethal he drew wilt lief liege and was was able to kill me.
Thoughts: Abzan in general really wasn't on my radar so I had not devoted a ton of thought to the match and as a result he really caught me off guard.
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-- Round 6 - WIN - Ad-Nauseum - 4|2 --
This has to be the most hilarious win I have ever gotten in a large scale tournament.
G1: I was feeling a bit down after my second loss so seeing him suspend the lotus T1 was a kick in the gut since I regard ad naus as one of our worst matchups. He plays his mana acceleration T2 (The one he can pull counters off of for mana) and I play a thalia and pass. he doesn't do much T3 while I play a third land and attack with thalia then passing not expecting much.
He pays the thalia tax off of suspend for the lotus and plays as follows: 2 Mana for Angel's grace, 6 mana for ad-Nauseum (Leaving him with zero mana left on board). He flips the deck and has to exile 4 simian spirit guides for the lightning storm. With the lethal storm on stack I tap three mana and cast DROMOKA"S COMMAND and he cant pay the thalia tax for pact of negation!!! (He was not happy since he had no idea that was something he should play around).
Side: In goes the extra dromoka's command (Usually just there for the phyrexian unlife), 2 engineered explosives, stony silence, 2 mirran crusader (faster clock with exalted), and choke.
G2: This game is a bit more interactive with me having a T1 hierarch followed by T2 arbiter with his T1 suspended lotus and T2 some sort of dig I forget which. The game goes a bit longer than usual and I end up with a thalia, arbiter, Spellskite, and smiter on board with lethal next turn. He has something like 6 lands after I had quartered (He exiled a simian to search), and tec edged one. He has two cards in his hand and I have 3 while holding a land for lightning storm and I think I had a wilt liefe and something else.
The end of my turn he pays for thalia and slaughter pacts her (I let it got through since he has so much mana) On his turn in response to the pact trigger he casts angel's grace and then spoils from the vault to exile until he hits ad naus. On his way there it hits 4-5 more land. He casts ad naus, flips his deck, and then destroys my spell skite (Sucks since I was hoping to win off of its disruption but he sided for it). With the lethal storm on the stack I figured I don't have anything to lose and I discard my land to try and redirect the storm back to him. He spend a minute searching through his hand/deck AND SCOOPS!! Turns out he didn't have any more land left in the deck!!!!
He was not very happy but by far the funniest win I've had in a major tournament.
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-- Round 7 - LOSS - 4c Scapeshift - 4|3 --
This round was super sucky since as I mentioned at the top I was stuck in line at the bathrooms (Down the hall from the actual room) and did not realize the round had been announced until I walked back in and found it a minute already started. This resulted in a game loss and I was pretty pissed.
G1/2: He was playing 4c scapeshift with a white splash. I land an early arbiter and start swinging in for damage. He starts playing some dig spells while I assemble a brimaz and a smiter to help with the beatdown. I get him down to 5 but then (Main deck since we did not sideboard) he plays a timely reinforcements with one card in hand. I swing in putting him back down to 4 and he untaps plays a shock and then plays scapeshift for the win.
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Overall: I never felt like the deck was not performing as I would want it to. The two legitimate matches I lost didn't feel hopeless at all and most likely I can attribute them to their deck lists begin favored over mine and the inherent variance in magic matching their hands well with mine.
Cheers all and I hope to hear from anyone else who went!
GUGEdric, Spymaster of Trest - Elfball
WUBOloro, Ageless Ascetic- Doomsday!
RWUEphara, God of the Polis - Blink + Control
GBGGlissa, the Traitor - Stax & Lands
URGMaelstrom Wanderer - Goodstuff RUG
RGWMayael the Anima - Timmy
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher - The One Hit Wonder
RGWMarath, Will of the Wild - Old-school Enchantress Hate
RWRAurelia, the Warleader - Equipment Aggro
GGGReki, the History of Kamigawa - Legends + Banding
UBRSedris, the Traitor King - Creatures with : Ability
BUBPhenax, God of Deception - Mill
*Sidenote, I specifically excluded infinite combos from all these decks with the exception of Marath and the squirrel nest + Earthcraft combo.
Looking for something Aggressive in modern? Try - BR Aggro
EDH - GU Kruphix, God of Horizons, WB Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts, GUR Surrak Dragonclaw, WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores, R Purphoros, God of the Forge, RW Archangel Avacyn
The difference between "GW Aggro" and "Hatebears" is a distinction that tends to vary from person to person. Generally they end up with similar lists but I would say to distinguish a true Hatebear deck look for the core of 4 Ghost Quarter, 4 Leonin Arbiter, 4 Loxodon Smiter, and some amount of Thalia, Scooze, and pridemage in the maindeck.
A true GW aggro list would not be running 4 ghost quarter in favor of probably 2-3 Townships, it would have a more aggressive curve, and the creatures would be chosen more for their efficiency than for the disruption they cause to the opponent. With the list I posted for reference it would drop dromoka's, spellskite, go down to 1 or 2 scoozes, drop baneslayer, finks, add more voice, ect...
Case in point if you look at the decklist from GP pitts that went to the top 8 with Craig Wescoe at the helm LINK they list it out as an aggro deck but it is pretty clearly a hatebear list and will play out as such with each element in the deck doing something to disrupt the opponents gameplan while chipping away at their life total.
GUGEdric, Spymaster of Trest - Elfball
WUBOloro, Ageless Ascetic- Doomsday!
RWUEphara, God of the Polis - Blink + Control
GBGGlissa, the Traitor - Stax & Lands
URGMaelstrom Wanderer - Goodstuff RUG
RGWMayael the Anima - Timmy
BRGProssh, Skyraider of Kher - The One Hit Wonder
RGWMarath, Will of the Wild - Old-school Enchantress Hate
RWRAurelia, the Warleader - Equipment Aggro
GGGReki, the History of Kamigawa - Legends + Banding
UBRSedris, the Traitor King - Creatures with : Ability
BUBPhenax, God of Deception - Mill
*Sidenote, I specifically excluded infinite combos from all these decks with the exception of Marath and the squirrel nest + Earthcraft combo.
Looking for something Aggressive in modern? Try - BR Aggro
How about Return to the Ranks? Seems like late-game card advantage against control decks like Jund.
EDH - GU Kruphix, God of Horizons, WB Teysa, Envoy of Ghosts, GUR Surrak Dragonclaw, WBG Ghave, Guru of Spores, R Purphoros, God of the Forge, RW Archangel Avacyn
Infraction for Spam ~Lantern
Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i