Against Titan Shift, do we sideboard in Teeg?
His only utility is to stop Scapeshift but the card is one of the win condition for Scapeshift...
And with the increased adaption of Terminus in UW control, that matchup has turned from fair to unfavorable. Any good sideboard cards available for that matchup?
Against Titan Shift, do we sideboard in Teeg?
His only utility is to stop Scapeshift but the card is one of the win condition for Scapeshift...
And with the increased adaption of Terminus in UW control, that matchup has turned from fair to unfavorable. Any good sideboard cards available for that matchup?
Yes, we do. As long as they cannot cast Scapeshift we can often win against Primeval Titans with Path to Exile or just by having a 6+ power first striker. Cards like Anger of the Gods and Lightning Bolt can deal with Gaddock Teeg, but if you can throw an Umbra and something else on it that's very difficult for them to deal with.
Against UW Control I'm really not sure, Terminus is very problematic. Gaddock Teeg is obviously great in the matchup, stopping Terminus, Cryptic Command, Teferi, and so on. Still, it dies to Path to Exile and many other cheap removal spells that they run, so it's not reliable. Other cards that has been good against control in the past like Guttural Response and Mana Tithe are also not reliable against Terminus. The best thing I can think of is splashing blue for Stubborn Denial.
Living end is a nightmare matchup...not too much you can do there...
It is indeed a terrible matchup. A guy from my LGS actually made a huge punt against him in Round 1 (despite actually being positive lifetime vs. this end boss {we know because he always brings it up}). If I played him instead, I would have been against UR Wizards. I doubt I could lose to that deck with Bogles. Also I saw 2 Humans mirrors on my left and on my right. That sucks when you would have played against any of the other 4 players right next to you or across from you. I gotta get that "tilty" feeling when that happens out of my head, like at Regionals when there were 4 Burn players next to me when I got eliminated by Living End to miss the win-and-draw-in.
I feel like the strategy is to apply pressure in case they don't have it, but save a creature and some Auras to rebuild. Kor Spiritdancer is really strong here because it helps you draw to rebuild strategies. Just try to Totem Armor it so it doesn't get worked by Beast Within. I feel like that's the strategy, along with drawing your Rest in Peace in games 2 and 3, lol.
Like MatsT said, Gaddock Teeg definitely comes in vs. Titanshift. I play Titanshift a lot, so I know the matchup from both sides very well. You want to put Gaddock Teeg out of Lightning Bolt/Sweltering Suns range, so it shuts off Scapeshift. If we get lifelink, we most likely can race a Primeval Titan and we should also keep in Path to Exile to make that possibility much more likely. If we can get multiple Leyline of Sanctity (haven't seen it yet, but in theory), it will be tough for them to find more than 1 Reclamation Sage to kill both. At this point, Valakut won't do anything to us, but still gets our creatures. It often can be enough to kill a medium sized Kor Spiritdancer.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
I played in a 19 person PPTQ today and lost in the top 4.
Round 1 vs. Jeskai. He was on the draw and played 2 lands and scooped on turn 3 with no way to win. I assumed he was UW Miracles because of 2 UW lands and Opt. Wrong. He was Jeskai. The next game goes about the "normal" way, but only 1 Cryptic. Usually they chain Cryptics, but only ` happened. I blocked 1 of 2 Snappies in case he did end up doing that, but he doesn't and loses. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. Tron. In the first game, I am on the play. It's the only thing that won it for me. I put pressure with an amazing opening hand and after a Karn and O Stone, I win by rebuilding my dude. Totem Armor saved him. In the next game, I got Ugined. I actually can't remember what else happened. I think I just didn't draw anything to increase my clock. An Ethereal Armor any time would have won it, but I guess that probably happens a lot. In the last game, I am on the play again and I get Gaddock Teeg and DOUBLE Stony Silence to get there easily. 2-1.
Round 3 vs. Affinity. We have a long drawn out game where consecutive Karn, Scion of Urzas saved him and my dude didn't get bigger. I got high on life, but he started attacking safely, so I sacrificed a Bogle with 2 Daybreak Coronet and a Rancor to get the Rancor back to try to draw Spirit Mantle to win with him at 2 life. I finally draw another Kor Spiritdancer and an Ethereal Armor into many Auras to draw most of my deck. I play Aura into Spirit Mantle the next turn and win. I am at 98 life after gaining 92 life (46/44 lifelink, Spirit Link creature). In the next game, I play Stony Silence and it slows him down. I have Rancor to get past Etched Champion and win soon after getting my dude bigger. 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Storm. We ID because double ID or ID/W/L makes it in. I hope to not face this deck in the top 8. 0-0-3.
Round 5 vs. D and T. We ID to make it in. I go to eat. I believe that I can win this one easily, but why chance it and why not eat?!?0-0-3.
Top 8 vs. Affinity. Same guy from Round 3. In the first game, I draw some blanks and lose to a lethal Blinkmoth Nexus with Ravager in play. Would have won it with a single Path to Exile because I had just drawn Daybreak Coronet off Spirit Mantle cast with a Kor Spiritdancer in play. Close! In the next game, I get my Spiritdancer blocked by Etched Champion, but respond with Path to Exile on an artifact. Then I Nature's Claim a Springleaf Drum, but he activates Inkmoth Nexus. I Path to Exile it and he loses that. In the final game, I had turn 2 Stony Silence and it slows him down enough for a Bogle to get there. 2-1.
Top 4 vs. Tron. Same guy from Round 2. I put pressure, but fail to see a lethal Ethereal Armor. He stabilizes with O Stone on my upkeep, but my Bogle lives and I tap 4 mana to bring back Gryff's Boon for lethal with him at 2. In the next game, I get him low and run out of gas. Ugin comes down and I lose. In the final game, we are top decking as we BOTH ran out of gas. I have 4 fetchlands and 2 Horizon Canopy in the yard. I have 6 lands in play. It's too much and I can't get even close to dropping his 12 point life total. O Stone killed my Gaddock Teeg because I lacked a Totem Armor. I think the Totem Armor would have won it because we were drawing to Ugin, the Spirit Dragon for him or Gaddock Teeg for me. Guess who got there first? He cast Ugin, the Spirit Dragon when I said, "whoever finds that card or Gaddock Teeg first wins." I scoop immediately and shake his hand. 1-2.
The finals was an odd version of Humans that had Avacyn's Pilgrim and Spell Queller. That probably would have been a good matchup and a few good hands by me could have gotten me there. Damn! I just heard that Tron won and he's a friend as well, so I don't feel as badly. Still, kind of wanted my PPTQ season to be over abruptly (by winning).
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
I played in a 19 person PPTQ today and lost in the top 4.
Round 1 vs. Jeskai. He was on the draw and played 2 lands and scooped on turn 3 with no way to win. I assumed he was UW Miracles because of 2 UW lands and Opt. Wrong. He was Jeskai. The next game goes about the "normal" way, but only 1 Cryptic. Usually they chain Cryptics, but only ` happened. I blocked 1 of 2 Snappies in case he did end up doing that, but he doesn't and loses. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. Tron. In the first game, I am on the play. It's the only thing that won it for me. I put pressure with an amazing opening hand and after a Karn and O Stone, I win by rebuilding my dude. Totem Armor saved him. In the next game, I got Ugined. I actually can't remember what else happened. I think I just didn't draw anything to increase my clock. An Ethereal Armor any time would have won it, but I guess that probably happens a lot. In the last game, I am on the play again and I get Gaddock Teeg and DOUBLE Stony Silence to get there easily. 2-1.
Round 3 vs. Affinity. We have a long drawn out game where consecutive Karn, Scion of Urzas saved him and my dude didn't get bigger. I got high on life, but he started attacking safely, so I sacrificed a Bogle with 2 Daybreak Coronet and a Rancor to get the Rancor back to try to draw Spirit Mantle to win with him at 2 life. I finally draw another Kor Spiritdancer and an Ethereal Armor into many Auras to draw most of my deck. I play Aura into Spirit Mantle the next turn and win. I am at 98 life after gaining 92 life (46/44 lifelink, Spirit Link creature). In the next game, I play Stony Silence and it slows him down. I have Rancor to get past Etched Champion and win soon after getting my dude bigger. 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Storm. We ID because double ID or ID/W/L makes it in. I hope to not face this deck in the top 8. 0-0-3.
Round 5 vs. D and T. We ID to make it in. I go to eat. I believe that I can win this one easily, but why chance it and why not eat?!?0-0-3.
Top 8 vs. Affinity. Same guy from Round 3. In the first game, I draw some blanks and lose to a lethal Blinkmoth Nexus with Ravager in play. Would have won it with a single Path to Exile because I had just drawn Daybreak Coronet off Spirit Mantle cast with a Kor Spiritdancer in play. Close! In the next game, I get my Spiritdancer blocked by Etched Champion, but respond with Path to Exile on an artifact. Then I Nature's Claim a Springleaf Drum, but he activates Inkmoth Nexus. I Path to Exile it and he loses that. In the final game, I had turn 2 Stony Silence and it slows him down enough for a Bogle to get there. 2-1.
Top 4 vs. Tron. Same guy from Round 2. I put pressure, but fail to see a lethal Ethereal Armor. He stabilizes with O Stone on my upkeep, but my Bogle lives and I tap 4 mana to bring back Gryff's Boon for lethal with him at 2. In the next game, I get him low and run out of gas. Ugin comes down and I lose. In the final game, we are top decking as we BOTH ran out of gas. I have 4 fetchlands and 2 Horizon Canopy in the yard. I have 6 lands in play. It's too much and I can't get even close to dropping his 12 point life total. O Stone killed my Gaddock Teeg because I lacked a Totem Armor. I think the Totem Armor would have won it because we were drawing to Ugin, the Spirit Dragon for him or Gaddock Teeg for me. Guess who got there first? He cast Ugin, the Spirit Dragon when I said, "whoever finds that card or Gaddock Teeg first wins." I scoop immediately and shake his hand. 1-2.
The finals was an odd version of Humans that had Avacyn's Pilgrim and Spell Queller. That probably would have been a good matchup and a few good hands by me could have gotten me there. Damn! I just heard that Tron won and he's a friend as well, so I don't feel as badly. Still, kind of wanted my PPTQ season to be over abruptly (by winning).
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Is it the consensus to only put white leyline in sb now?
On the other hand, vs jund, abzan, mardu pyromancer with discards, I read somewhere that on the draw and mull to find key cards against them is pretty bad because they will just strip your key cards.
But bogles deck cannot win without a creature. So do you recommend mull to a creature/fetch or just let them cast discard and discard your auras in hoping to topdecking a critter?
I had just come across a game against jund where I had leyline, auras but no creature/fetch. Is that a mull? The leyline will stop discard, lili but any goyf will be problematic.
In the same matchup, I am facing the choice to whether path their dark confidant. I believe I should not in hindsight, because we are the aggro deck, can let them have the card advantage and dark con is costing them life. Path can be saved for goyf, and other blockers.
What do you think?
Yes, I believe Leyline of Sanctity should be in the SB. I literally did not use it or Rest in Peace today. I think ever since Grixis Shadow numbers and more specifically, Thoughtseize has gone down, then Leyline should be in the side. I rarely see Jund anymore, although it did make our Top 8, losing to the Tron deck that beat me in the top 4. I kind of wish that Jund was played more because I want to run Titanshift. It has similar matchups to Bogles, but is worse against Burn, which I had hoped to see today.
Playing against those decks is tough. You have to have some semblance of pressure, some hate (hopefully and more importantly on the draw), and land. But you also cannot mull to much because of discard (unless you get Leyline of course), but then Lily's +1 also can get dead cards from them while getting cards from you. I do think that most of the time, unless you are killing super quickly and there's not too many chances for an out, you DO Path to Exile a Dark Confidant. Many times, especially after a mulligan, the opponent is relying on Dark Confidant living and when it doesn't, there hand doesn't do much. I used to think that we let it live quite often, but that's when I had more explosive hands. In most situations, you should probably Path it, although you have to also gauge what Bloodbraid Elf can Cascade into the turn after you Path Dark Confidant (Bob). Goyf is strong, but Bob can draw you Goyfs, as well as other hate cards like a singleton Engineered Explosives or who knows what.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
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"Don't believe everything you read on the internet." - Abraham Lincoln
Round 1 vs. Jeskai Geist. Had a solid hand. He tapped out for a Mantis Rider and had only a Steam Vents up. I draw and play a Daybreak Coronet for essentially an overwhelming advantage. In the next game, he went for the Mantis Rider again to race, so I had a choice to jam Daybreak Coronet or play Kor Spiritdancer of jam Gaddock Teeg and a Spider Umbra. I go the safe route with Gaddock Teeg and the Umbra and he shows me Settle the Wreckage and Cryptic Command after the game. He made a bad block with Geist of Saint Traft and Mantis Rider on my 6/6 Gaddock Teeg (a Daybreak Coronet on him as well), but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. I attacked with extra creatures to play around Blessed Alliance, as I felt it was the only thing that could beat me outside of Path to Exile potentially. But he would have played that a long time ago if he had it. He said he sided out Path because he forgot about Gaddock Teeg. Not playing that often vs. Bogles does that to you. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. BG Midrange. Last week when I lost in the top 4 to Tron, he was on Jund and lost in the top 8 to the same player, who also WON the PPTQ. In the first game, it is close after a mull by me and awkward draw for him. Liliana of the Veil would have won it any time because I could not draw 1 of 8 fetchlands in the deck! Got there with Rancors and Spider Umbras after he threw Goyf and Tasigur to chump. In the next game, he had a Golgari Charm in response to Rancor and with 6 cards again, I could not get back in it. I eventually got a 4/4 Bogle to go with a 1/1 Bogle and an Arbor, but he had a Goyf, Treetop Village, Tasigur, and a 4/4 Scooze that could get bigger at the expense of Goyf going down -1/-1. In the final game, he kept on 1 Swamp and Inquisition of Kozilek. My hand has a LOT of redundancy and he fails to find a 2nd land, although he did Fatal Push a Kor Spiritdancer and play 2 Mishra's Bauble that found no lands. Better lucky than good for me. 2-1.
Round 3 vs. Mono Green Tron. Friend got a deck registration error for 14 cards in the SB, but wanted to add Emrakul, the Promised End. So he started with a game loss, but got to be on the play for game 2 before SB. We go to game 2, where I curve out pretty strongly while he cracks 4 Chromatic Star and 1 Sphere and doesn't find turn 3 Tron OR turn 4 Tron, so I win easily with Rancors and Daybreak Coronet on a duder. 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Hollow Bois. Double ID guarantees top 8 and since I have very bad tiebreakers, I don't want to take a chance at playing for the top seed. 0-0-3.
Round 5 vs. KCI. Double ID guarantees top 8 and since I have very bad tiebreakers, I don't want to take a chance at playing for the top seed. Also I can get food. 0-0-3.
Top 8 vs. Burn. I mull to 6. He has Bolt for my Dryad Arbor with Spider Umbra and Searing Blaze to finish it off. I don't see a Bogle or Kor Spiritdancer and I lose to Goblin Guide not showing lands since I could have put Daybreak Coronet on the Dryad Arbor the turn before he Searing Blazed it. I mull to 5 in the next game and he has all the answers for Dryad Arbor with Umbra, and the 1/1 Vigilance broseph from Cartouche of Solidarity. He also has the burn as I draw a Kor Spiritdancer on the final turn. If he doesn't have a burn spell in 2 cards, I can potentially play a 1 drop Aura into 1 of the 2 Daybreak Coronets in hand. He does have the burn and I take 5 from the Lightning Helix and the Monastery Swiftspear for game. Not a good time to have 11 (bad) cards vs. 14. 0-2.
Disappointing finish. Got the best matchup for me all day, outside of Jeskai Geist, then mulled to 6 and 4 card nearly non functional hands. Got curved out. Hope he won!
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
What's up guys? Work has finally slowed a bit so I've been testing some online. I put together a list with 7-8 draw card auras and have been rolling. It's pretty interesting. I'd love for someone else to give it a go. I originally had the idea through frustrations playing against Tron. Not being able to get my bogle big enough before it was inevitably swept off the table. Realizing I had 3 turns to do literally whatever I wanted. I started suiting up the Bogles with the draw auras (Keen and Sixth Sense) and drawing massive amounts of cards... usually finding Stony or Teeg with an umbra with ease. I've been playing with it ever since. It just buries most decks in card advantage. I've been surprised. Even most of the creature based decks it seems to eventually overpower. I usually just draw into creatures at the very least, drop them down as chump blockers, and the race swings in my favor. Some of the real bad matchups I board a portion of them out but most of those have obvious things to bring in anyway. Maybe its been the luckiest 30 matches of my life, but I've been winning very consistently.
Round 1 vs. Jeskai Geist. Had a solid hand. He tapped out for a Mantis Rider and had only a Steam Vents up. I draw and play a Daybreak Coronet for essentially an overwhelming advantage. In the next game, he went for the Mantis Rider again to race, so I had a choice to jam Daybreak Coronet or play Kor Spiritdancer of jam Gaddock Teeg and a Spider Umbra. I go the safe route with Gaddock Teeg and the Umbra and he shows me Settle the Wreckage and Cryptic Command after the game. He made a bad block with Geist of Saint Traft and Mantis Rider on my 6/6 Gaddock Teeg (a Daybreak Coronet on him as well), but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. I attacked with extra creatures to play around Blessed Alliance, as I felt it was the only thing that could beat me outside of Path to Exile potentially. But he would have played that a long time ago if he had it. He said he sided out Path because he forgot about Gaddock Teeg. Not playing that often vs. Bogles does that to you. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. BG Midrange. Last week when I lost in the top 4 to Tron, he was on Jund and lost in the top 8 to the same player, who also WON the PPTQ. In the first game, it is close after a mull by me and awkward draw for him. Liliana of the Veil would have won it any time because I could not draw 1 of 8 fetchlands in the deck! Got there with Rancors and Spider Umbras after he threw Goyf and Tasigur to chump. In the next game, he had a Golgari Charm in response to Rancor and with 6 cards again, I could not get back in it. I eventually got a 4/4 Bogle to go with a 1/1 Bogle and an Arbor, but he had a Goyf, Treetop Village, Tasigur, and a 4/4 Scooze that could get bigger at the expense of Goyf going down -1/-1. In the final game, he kept on 1 Swamp and Inquisition of Kozilek. My hand has a LOT of redundancy and he fails to find a 2nd land, although he did Fatal Push a Kor Spiritdancer and play 2 Mishra's Bauble that found no lands. Better lucky than good for me. 2-1.
Round 3 vs. Mono Green Tron. Friend got a deck registration error for 14 cards in the SB, but wanted to add Emrakul, the Promised End. So he started with a game loss, but got to be on the play for game 2 before SB. We go to game 2, where I curve out pretty strongly while he cracks 4 Chromatic Star and 1 Sphere and doesn't find turn 3 Tron OR turn 4 Tron, so I win easily with Rancors and Daybreak Coronet on a duder. 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Hollow Bois. Double ID guarantees top 8 and since I have very bad tiebreakers, I don't want to take a chance at playing for the top seed. 0-0-3.
Round 5 vs. KCI. Double ID guarantees top 8 and since I have very bad tiebreakers, I don't want to take a chance at playing for the top seed. Also I can get food. 0-0-3.
Top 8 vs. Burn. I mull to 6. He has Bolt for my Dryad Arbor with Spider Umbra and Searing Blaze to finish it off. I don't see a Bogle or Kor Spiritdancer and I lose to Goblin Guide not showing lands since I could have put Daybreak Coronet on the Dryad Arbor the turn before he Searing Blazed it. I mull to 5 in the next game and he has all the answers for Dryad Arbor with Umbra, and the 1/1 Vigilance broseph from Cartouche of Solidarity. He also has the burn as I draw a Kor Spiritdancer on the final turn. If he doesn't have a burn spell in 2 cards, I can potentially play a 1 drop Aura into 1 of the 2 Daybreak Coronets in hand. He does have the burn and I take 5 from the Lightning Helix and the Monastery Swiftspear for game. Not a good time to have 11 (bad) cards vs. 14. 0-2.
Disappointing finish. Got the best matchup for me all day, outside of Jeskai Geist, then mulled to 6 and 4 card nearly non functional hands. Got curved out. Hope he won!
Burn is supposingly a good matchup.
Though I had playtested all afternoon with a good burn player (top 64ed a GP), and the matchup seems not as good as I once thought
The matchup is a race and lifegain is godlike, but they have no lifegain, deflecting palm, destructive revelry so the matchup is not THAT lopsided as one imagined though should still favor bogles.
What's up guys? Work has finally slowed a bit so I've been testing some online. I put together a list with 7-8 draw card auras and have been rolling. It's pretty interesting. I'd love for someone else to give it a go. I originally had the idea through frustrations playing against Tron. Not being able to get my bogle big enough before it was inevitably swept off the table. Realizing I had 3 turns to do literally whatever I wanted. I started suiting up the Bogles with the draw auras (Keen and Sixth Sense) and drawing massive amounts of cards... usually finding Stony or Teeg with an umbra with ease. I've been playing with it ever since. It just buries most decks in card advantage. I've been surprised. Even most of the creature based decks it seems to eventually overpower. I usually just draw into creatures at the very least, drop them down as chump blockers, and the race swings in my favor. Some of the real bad matchups I board a portion of them out but most of those have obvious things to bring in anyway. Maybe its been the luckiest 30 matches of my life, but I've been winning very consistently.
Curiosity type of auras are interesting. My only concern is that they do nth to boost the size of the bogles. And in many matchup, size is really important as it determines whether we can attack past their blockers. We already have a lot of draw power out of spiritdancer.
Btw, are you testing in mtgo leagues?
What's up guys? Work has finally slowed a bit so I've been testing some online. I put together a list with 7-8 draw card auras and have been rolling. It's pretty interesting. I'd love for someone else to give it a go. I originally had the idea through frustrations playing against Tron. Not being able to get my bogle big enough before it was inevitably swept off the table. Realizing I had 3 turns to do literally whatever I wanted. I started suiting up the Bogles with the draw auras (Keen and Sixth Sense) and drawing massive amounts of cards... usually finding Stony or Teeg with an umbra with ease. I've been playing with it ever since. It just buries most decks in card advantage. I've been surprised. Even most of the creature based decks it seems to eventually overpower. I usually just draw into creatures at the very least, drop them down as chump blockers, and the race swings in my favor. Some of the real bad matchups I board a portion of them out but most of those have obvious things to bring in anyway. Maybe its been the luckiest 30 matches of my life, but I've been winning very consistently.
Curiosity type of auras are interesting. My only concern is that they do nth to boost the size of the bogles. And in many matchup, size is really important as it determines whether we can attack past their blockers. We already have a lot of draw power out of spiritdancer.
Btw, are you testing in mtgo leagues?
Yeah, friendly leagues. I'm definitely not saying it's the best iteration of the deck by any means. There's plenty of room for concern :). I was just dicking around trying things and it has worked really well for me so far. Of the matches I have played, I have certainly lost a few and top decking a keen sense can be pretty bad. I've just been surprised at how well it preforms. In the past I have subbed Keen sense in and out frequently but have never taken it to the extreme of playing 3-4 sixth sense as well. I've been testing it in a deck with a 2-2 cut between spiritdancers and ledgewalkers and a full set of Gryff's Boon. I have just pounded tron and control in multiple games that I had no business winning. The other upside is mulligans. With as much as the deck mulls, the draw auras can really smooth things out and catch up fast with some of the mulls to 5,4,3. Like I said.. just anxious for someone else to try it out and see if they have any luck.
Burn is supposingly a good matchup.
Though I had playtested all afternoon with a good burn player (top 64ed a GP), and the matchup seems not as good as I once thought
The matchup is a race and lifegain is godlike, but they have no lifegain, deflecting palm, destructive revelry so the matchup is not THAT lopsided as one imagined though should still favor bogles.
Yep. I don't know if I mentioned it in my post, but I literally audibled from Titanshift to Bogles that very day since it looked like there were 3 Burn players (although 1 of them played Hardened Scales Affinity instead). Titanshift is a solid 50/50 vs. Burn, whereas Bogles has to be near 70/30 vs. Burn.
The issue for me is that I didn't have a Bogle (or Scout). I didn't feel like mulling deeper to a Bogle would get me there (ie. a hand with land, land, Bogle, Spider Umbra). I didn't feel like a hand like that beat Burn, so I tried to rely on my deck and having that extra card. Sometimes Burn doesn't actually have 2 kill spells for creatures or chooses not to point them there. So, I felt like fetching Dryad Arbor and putting an Umbra was the best I could do in these games and pray that the deck delivers. Unfortunately, I was constrained on lands as well as creatures, having to fetch for Dryad Arbor. I was constrained on cards. The sad part is when I shuffled from mulligans and fetches, I would see a clump of fewer than 20 cards with 5-6 Bogles in there. So I shuffled a bit extra. Didn't help. This is the deck. Bogles could technically have a "90/10 matchup" vs. a deck, but not win 90 matches out of 100 because of variance. Probably would be closer to 70-75.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
For anyone who hates mulligans or discard, loves drawing cards or splashing for a color, or just wants to add a tiny bit of versatility - Abundant Growth was a core card in the RtR Standard version of Bant hexproof.
It does more than you think. Not the best card if you need to maintain the fastest possible tempo of course, but you probably won't be able to appreciate it fully if you don't try it out.
Edit: Specifically I feel that it is frequently a better choice than Keen Sense. I think any decks that play Keen Sense or splash blue for Curious Obsession would do well to try Abundant Growth instead.
Advantages: The main advantage is in keeping hands. A creatureless hand that includes two abundant growths is very playable. A creatureless hand that includes two keen sense is probably not. You can play it when you don't have a creature on the board and it gives you a card draw right away rather than making you wait until you deal damage. Keen Sense - in comparison provides no direct advantages over Abundant Growth until after the second time you deal damage to your opponent which raises the spectre of Keen Sense being a bit of a "win more" card. The mana filtering of Abundant Growth isn't particularly important but it doesn't hurt. It will occasionally ease the double white mana for Coronet. Abundant Growth also usually stays on the board when your creature gets killed. Post-wipe your Ethereal Armors are better. If you have multiples of Abundant Growth then a single Ethereal Armor could be worth as much as +5/+5 on the turn immediately after a board wipe. Abundant Growth makes Ethereal Armor a better card. Abundant Growth also improves your topdecking problems. It can act like a cantrip and is essentially almost a mulligan for an unhelpful topdecks in the later rounds. It reduces by 4 the number of cards that you pray you're not gonna hit every time you need something specific.
Abundant Growth is imho the strangest card to never get discussed for Bogles. It is terrific.
Abundant Growth was never a core card in Bant Hexproof. mtgtop8.com puts the average number of copies at 0.2, so basically 1 in 5 decks ran a single copy. That's not exactly relevant for Modern Bogles though.
In modern, I feel like this card does way too little. The point with Keen Sense is that against a grindy deck with few creatures, it can run away with the game and create a continuous source of card advantage. If someone is trying to leverage Mana Leaks, Logic Knots and Cryptic Commands against you, drawing an extra card every turn will win you the game. Not so with Abundant Growth, which is basically a do-nothing card in those matchups that slow you down but that the opponent has no need to counter or deal with. Remember that a card that draws two cards provides card advantage, but a card that draws just 1 card provides no card advantage at all. I'm not sure exactly what matchups Abundant Growth would be good in? It always slows you down and doesn't provide any card advantage.
That being said, I've never liked Keen Sense either as I feel that it's a win more card. If you are already connecting with a creature to the face you are already winning the game, and Keen Sense doesn't at all help you get to that point. Something like a Cartouche of Solidarity of Gryff's Boon will actually let you attack through or around blockers, while Keen Sense can often be embarrassing in those situation. If you are arguing that the Keen Sense can come down early and help you draw into more auras, I would probably prefer replacing it with something like Unflinching Courage that is a slower but extremely powerful card. Unflinching Courage will most of the time have a bigger impact than whatever you can draw from a Keen Sense.
Reid Duke made a great choice back in Worlds 2013 to play 4 Keen Sense and 0 Path to Exile maindeck, because 7 of his 15 opponents were playing Jeskai Control. That's probably the only tournament in history where Keen Sense has been worth it.
Unflinching courage is exactly the card that replaced Abundant Growth. Click through the link in my signature. I had responsibility for that primer. I think I remember talking to you too. In standard I would say that Unflinching Courage was clearly the right choice but oddly in Modern I don't feel great about the 3cmc cost. Nevertheless I don't actually intend to suggest Abundant Growth for everyone who plays Bogles. Just that if you are seeking out card draw maybe what you really want is cycling, thinning and consistency.
This is one of those decks that either works or it doesn't. Growth maybe sacrifices a few percent of power for a few percent extra consistency. I don't strongly feel that it's a worthwhile trade but it might make sense in certain contexts.
His only utility is to stop Scapeshift but the card is one of the win condition for Scapeshift...
And with the increased adaption of Terminus in UW control, that matchup has turned from fair to unfavorable. Any good sideboard cards available for that matchup?
Yes, we do. As long as they cannot cast Scapeshift we can often win against Primeval Titans with Path to Exile or just by having a 6+ power first striker. Cards like Anger of the Gods and Lightning Bolt can deal with Gaddock Teeg, but if you can throw an Umbra and something else on it that's very difficult for them to deal with.
Against UW Control I'm really not sure, Terminus is very problematic. Gaddock Teeg is obviously great in the matchup, stopping Terminus, Cryptic Command, Teferi, and so on. Still, it dies to Path to Exile and many other cheap removal spells that they run, so it's not reliable. Other cards that has been good against control in the past like Guttural Response and Mana Tithe are also not reliable against Terminus. The best thing I can think of is splashing blue for Stubborn Denial.
It is indeed a terrible matchup. A guy from my LGS actually made a huge punt against him in Round 1 (despite actually being positive lifetime vs. this end boss {we know because he always brings it up}). If I played him instead, I would have been against UR Wizards. I doubt I could lose to that deck with Bogles. Also I saw 2 Humans mirrors on my left and on my right. That sucks when you would have played against any of the other 4 players right next to you or across from you. I gotta get that "tilty" feeling when that happens out of my head, like at Regionals when there were 4 Burn players next to me when I got eliminated by Living End to miss the win-and-draw-in.
I feel like the strategy is to apply pressure in case they don't have it, but save a creature and some Auras to rebuild. Kor Spiritdancer is really strong here because it helps you draw to rebuild strategies. Just try to Totem Armor it so it doesn't get worked by Beast Within. I feel like that's the strategy, along with drawing your Rest in Peace in games 2 and 3, lol.
Like MatsT said, Gaddock Teeg definitely comes in vs. Titanshift. I play Titanshift a lot, so I know the matchup from both sides very well. You want to put Gaddock Teeg out of Lightning Bolt/Sweltering Suns range, so it shuts off Scapeshift. If we get lifelink, we most likely can race a Primeval Titan and we should also keep in Path to Exile to make that possibility much more likely. If we can get multiple Leyline of Sanctity (haven't seen it yet, but in theory), it will be tough for them to find more than 1 Reclamation Sage to kill both. At this point, Valakut won't do anything to us, but still gets our creatures. It often can be enough to kill a medium sized Kor Spiritdancer.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Round 1 vs. Jeskai. He was on the draw and played 2 lands and scooped on turn 3 with no way to win. I assumed he was UW Miracles because of 2 UW lands and Opt. Wrong. He was Jeskai. The next game goes about the "normal" way, but only 1 Cryptic. Usually they chain Cryptics, but only ` happened. I blocked 1 of 2 Snappies in case he did end up doing that, but he doesn't and loses. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. Tron. In the first game, I am on the play. It's the only thing that won it for me. I put pressure with an amazing opening hand and after a Karn and O Stone, I win by rebuilding my dude. Totem Armor saved him. In the next game, I got Ugined. I actually can't remember what else happened. I think I just didn't draw anything to increase my clock. An Ethereal Armor any time would have won it, but I guess that probably happens a lot. In the last game, I am on the play again and I get Gaddock Teeg and DOUBLE Stony Silence to get there easily. 2-1.
Round 3 vs. Affinity. We have a long drawn out game where consecutive Karn, Scion of Urzas saved him and my dude didn't get bigger. I got high on life, but he started attacking safely, so I sacrificed a Bogle with 2 Daybreak Coronet and a Rancor to get the Rancor back to try to draw Spirit Mantle to win with him at 2 life. I finally draw another Kor Spiritdancer and an Ethereal Armor into many Auras to draw most of my deck. I play Aura into Spirit Mantle the next turn and win. I am at 98 life after gaining 92 life (46/44 lifelink, Spirit Link creature). In the next game, I play Stony Silence and it slows him down. I have Rancor to get past Etched Champion and win soon after getting my dude bigger. 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Storm. We ID because double ID or ID/W/L makes it in. I hope to not face this deck in the top 8. 0-0-3.
Round 5 vs. D and T. We ID to make it in. I go to eat. I believe that I can win this one easily, but why chance it and why not eat?!?0-0-3.
Top 8 vs. Affinity. Same guy from Round 3. In the first game, I draw some blanks and lose to a lethal Blinkmoth Nexus with Ravager in play. Would have won it with a single Path to Exile because I had just drawn Daybreak Coronet off Spirit Mantle cast with a Kor Spiritdancer in play. Close! In the next game, I get my Spiritdancer blocked by Etched Champion, but respond with Path to Exile on an artifact. Then I Nature's Claim a Springleaf Drum, but he activates Inkmoth Nexus. I Path to Exile it and he loses that. In the final game, I had turn 2 Stony Silence and it slows him down enough for a Bogle to get there. 2-1.
Top 4 vs. Tron. Same guy from Round 2. I put pressure, but fail to see a lethal Ethereal Armor. He stabilizes with O Stone on my upkeep, but my Bogle lives and I tap 4 mana to bring back Gryff's Boon for lethal with him at 2. In the next game, I get him low and run out of gas. Ugin comes down and I lose. In the final game, we are top decking as we BOTH ran out of gas. I have 4 fetchlands and 2 Horizon Canopy in the yard. I have 6 lands in play. It's too much and I can't get even close to dropping his 12 point life total. O Stone killed my Gaddock Teeg because I lacked a Totem Armor. I think the Totem Armor would have won it because we were drawing to Ugin, the Spirit Dragon for him or Gaddock Teeg for me. Guess who got there first? He cast Ugin, the Spirit Dragon when I said, "whoever finds that card or Gaddock Teeg first wins." I scoop immediately and shake his hand. 1-2.
The finals was an odd version of Humans that had Avacyn's Pilgrim and Spell Queller. That probably would have been a good matchup and a few good hands by me could have gotten me there. Damn! I just heard that Tron won and he's a friend as well, so I don't feel as badly. Still, kind of wanted my PPTQ season to be over abruptly (by winning).
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Round 1 vs. Jeskai. He was on the draw and played 2 lands and scooped on turn 3 with no way to win. I assumed he was UW Miracles because of 2 UW lands and Opt. Wrong. He was Jeskai. The next game goes about the "normal" way, but only 1 Cryptic. Usually they chain Cryptics, but only ` happened. I blocked 1 of 2 Snappies in case he did end up doing that, but he doesn't and loses. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. Tron. In the first game, I am on the play. It's the only thing that won it for me. I put pressure with an amazing opening hand and after a Karn and O Stone, I win by rebuilding my dude. Totem Armor saved him. In the next game, I got Ugined. I actually can't remember what else happened. I think I just didn't draw anything to increase my clock. An Ethereal Armor any time would have won it, but I guess that probably happens a lot. In the last game, I am on the play again and I get Gaddock Teeg and DOUBLE Stony Silence to get there easily. 2-1.
Round 3 vs. Affinity. We have a long drawn out game where consecutive Karn, Scion of Urzas saved him and my dude didn't get bigger. I got high on life, but he started attacking safely, so I sacrificed a Bogle with 2 Daybreak Coronet and a Rancor to get the Rancor back to try to draw Spirit Mantle to win with him at 2 life. I finally draw another Kor Spiritdancer and an Ethereal Armor into many Auras to draw most of my deck. I play Aura into Spirit Mantle the next turn and win. I am at 98 life after gaining 92 life (46/44 lifelink, Spirit Link creature). In the next game, I play Stony Silence and it slows him down. I have Rancor to get past Etched Champion and win soon after getting my dude bigger. 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Storm. We ID because double ID or ID/W/L makes it in. I hope to not face this deck in the top 8. 0-0-3.
Round 5 vs. D and T. We ID to make it in. I go to eat. I believe that I can win this one easily, but why chance it and why not eat?!?0-0-3.
Top 8 vs. Affinity. Same guy from Round 3. In the first game, I draw some blanks and lose to a lethal Blinkmoth Nexus with Ravager in play. Would have won it with a single Path to Exile because I had just drawn Daybreak Coronet off Spirit Mantle cast with a Kor Spiritdancer in play. Close! In the next game, I get my Spiritdancer blocked by Etched Champion, but respond with Path to Exile on an artifact. Then I Nature's Claim a Springleaf Drum, but he activates Inkmoth Nexus. I Path to Exile it and he loses that. In the final game, I had turn 2 Stony Silence and it slows him down enough for a Bogle to get there. 2-1.
Top 4 vs. Tron. Same guy from Round 2. I put pressure, but fail to see a lethal Ethereal Armor. He stabilizes with O Stone on my upkeep, but my Bogle lives and I tap 4 mana to bring back Gryff's Boon for lethal with him at 2. In the next game, I get him low and run out of gas. Ugin comes down and I lose. In the final game, we are top decking as we BOTH ran out of gas. I have 4 fetchlands and 2 Horizon Canopy in the yard. I have 6 lands in play. It's too much and I can't get even close to dropping his 12 point life total. O Stone killed my Gaddock Teeg because I lacked a Totem Armor. I think the Totem Armor would have won it because we were drawing to Ugin, the Spirit Dragon for him or Gaddock Teeg for me. Guess who got there first? He cast Ugin, the Spirit Dragon when I said, "whoever finds that card or Gaddock Teeg first wins." I scoop immediately and shake his hand. 1-2.
The finals was an odd version of Humans that had Avacyn's Pilgrim and Spell Queller. That probably would have been a good matchup and a few good hands by me could have gotten me there. Damn! I just heard that Tron won and he's a friend as well, so I don't feel as badly. Still, kind of wanted my PPTQ season to be over abruptly (by winning).
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)On the other hand, vs jund, abzan, mardu pyromancer with discards, I read somewhere that on the draw and mull to find key cards against them is pretty bad because they will just strip your key cards.
But bogles deck cannot win without a creature. So do you recommend mull to a creature/fetch or just let them cast discard and discard your auras in hoping to topdecking a critter?
I had just come across a game against jund where I had leyline, auras but no creature/fetch. Is that a mull? The leyline will stop discard, lili but any goyf will be problematic.
In the same matchup, I am facing the choice to whether path their dark confidant. I believe I should not in hindsight, because we are the aggro deck, can let them have the card advantage and dark con is costing them life. Path can be saved for goyf, and other blockers.
What do you think?
Playing against those decks is tough. You have to have some semblance of pressure, some hate (hopefully and more importantly on the draw), and land. But you also cannot mull to much because of discard (unless you get Leyline of course), but then Lily's +1 also can get dead cards from them while getting cards from you. I do think that most of the time, unless you are killing super quickly and there's not too many chances for an out, you DO Path to Exile a Dark Confidant. Many times, especially after a mulligan, the opponent is relying on Dark Confidant living and when it doesn't, there hand doesn't do much. I used to think that we let it live quite often, but that's when I had more explosive hands. In most situations, you should probably Path it, although you have to also gauge what Bloodbraid Elf can Cascade into the turn after you Path Dark Confidant (Bob). Goyf is strong, but Bob can draw you Goyfs, as well as other hate cards like a singleton Engineered Explosives or who knows what.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Round 1 vs. Jeskai Geist. Had a solid hand. He tapped out for a Mantis Rider and had only a Steam Vents up. I draw and play a Daybreak Coronet for essentially an overwhelming advantage. In the next game, he went for the Mantis Rider again to race, so I had a choice to jam Daybreak Coronet or play Kor Spiritdancer of jam Gaddock Teeg and a Spider Umbra. I go the safe route with Gaddock Teeg and the Umbra and he shows me Settle the Wreckage and Cryptic Command after the game. He made a bad block with Geist of Saint Traft and Mantis Rider on my 6/6 Gaddock Teeg (a Daybreak Coronet on him as well), but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. I attacked with extra creatures to play around Blessed Alliance, as I felt it was the only thing that could beat me outside of Path to Exile potentially. But he would have played that a long time ago if he had it. He said he sided out Path because he forgot about Gaddock Teeg. Not playing that often vs. Bogles does that to you. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. BG Midrange. Last week when I lost in the top 4 to Tron, he was on Jund and lost in the top 8 to the same player, who also WON the PPTQ. In the first game, it is close after a mull by me and awkward draw for him. Liliana of the Veil would have won it any time because I could not draw 1 of 8 fetchlands in the deck! Got there with Rancors and Spider Umbras after he threw Goyf and Tasigur to chump. In the next game, he had a Golgari Charm in response to Rancor and with 6 cards again, I could not get back in it. I eventually got a 4/4 Bogle to go with a 1/1 Bogle and an Arbor, but he had a Goyf, Treetop Village, Tasigur, and a 4/4 Scooze that could get bigger at the expense of Goyf going down -1/-1. In the final game, he kept on 1 Swamp and Inquisition of Kozilek. My hand has a LOT of redundancy and he fails to find a 2nd land, although he did Fatal Push a Kor Spiritdancer and play 2 Mishra's Bauble that found no lands. Better lucky than good for me. 2-1.
Round 3 vs. Mono Green Tron. Friend got a deck registration error for 14 cards in the SB, but wanted to add Emrakul, the Promised End. So he started with a game loss, but got to be on the play for game 2 before SB. We go to game 2, where I curve out pretty strongly while he cracks 4 Chromatic Star and 1 Sphere and doesn't find turn 3 Tron OR turn 4 Tron, so I win easily with Rancors and Daybreak Coronet on a duder. 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Hollow Bois. Double ID guarantees top 8 and since I have very bad tiebreakers, I don't want to take a chance at playing for the top seed. 0-0-3.
Round 5 vs. KCI. Double ID guarantees top 8 and since I have very bad tiebreakers, I don't want to take a chance at playing for the top seed. Also I can get food. 0-0-3.
Top 8 vs. Burn. I mull to 6. He has Bolt for my Dryad Arbor with Spider Umbra and Searing Blaze to finish it off. I don't see a Bogle or Kor Spiritdancer and I lose to Goblin Guide not showing lands since I could have put Daybreak Coronet on the Dryad Arbor the turn before he Searing Blazed it. I mull to 5 in the next game and he has all the answers for Dryad Arbor with Umbra, and the 1/1 Vigilance broseph from Cartouche of Solidarity. He also has the burn as I draw a Kor Spiritdancer on the final turn. If he doesn't have a burn spell in 2 cards, I can potentially play a 1 drop Aura into 1 of the 2 Daybreak Coronets in hand. He does have the burn and I take 5 from the Lightning Helix and the Monastery Swiftspear for game. Not a good time to have 11 (bad) cards vs. 14. 0-2.
Disappointing finish. Got the best matchup for me all day, outside of Jeskai Geist, then mulled to 6 and 4 card nearly non functional hands. Got curved out. Hope he won!
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Burn is supposingly a good matchup.
Though I had playtested all afternoon with a good burn player (top 64ed a GP), and the matchup seems not as good as I once thought
The matchup is a race and lifegain is godlike, but they have no lifegain, deflecting palm, destructive revelry so the matchup is not THAT lopsided as one imagined though should still favor bogles.
Curiosity type of auras are interesting. My only concern is that they do nth to boost the size of the bogles. And in many matchup, size is really important as it determines whether we can attack past their blockers. We already have a lot of draw power out of spiritdancer.
Btw, are you testing in mtgo leagues?
Yeah, friendly leagues. I'm definitely not saying it's the best iteration of the deck by any means. There's plenty of room for concern :). I was just dicking around trying things and it has worked really well for me so far. Of the matches I have played, I have certainly lost a few and top decking a keen sense can be pretty bad. I've just been surprised at how well it preforms. In the past I have subbed Keen sense in and out frequently but have never taken it to the extreme of playing 3-4 sixth sense as well. I've been testing it in a deck with a 2-2 cut between spiritdancers and ledgewalkers and a full set of Gryff's Boon. I have just pounded tron and control in multiple games that I had no business winning. The other upside is mulligans. With as much as the deck mulls, the draw auras can really smooth things out and catch up fast with some of the mulls to 5,4,3. Like I said.. just anxious for someone else to try it out and see if they have any luck.
Yep. I don't know if I mentioned it in my post, but I literally audibled from Titanshift to Bogles that very day since it looked like there were 3 Burn players (although 1 of them played Hardened Scales Affinity instead). Titanshift is a solid 50/50 vs. Burn, whereas Bogles has to be near 70/30 vs. Burn.
The issue for me is that I didn't have a Bogle (or Scout). I didn't feel like mulling deeper to a Bogle would get me there (ie. a hand with land, land, Bogle, Spider Umbra). I didn't feel like a hand like that beat Burn, so I tried to rely on my deck and having that extra card. Sometimes Burn doesn't actually have 2 kill spells for creatures or chooses not to point them there. So, I felt like fetching Dryad Arbor and putting an Umbra was the best I could do in these games and pray that the deck delivers. Unfortunately, I was constrained on lands as well as creatures, having to fetch for Dryad Arbor. I was constrained on cards. The sad part is when I shuffled from mulligans and fetches, I would see a clump of fewer than 20 cards with 5-6 Bogles in there. So I shuffled a bit extra. Didn't help. This is the deck. Bogles could technically have a "90/10 matchup" vs. a deck, but not win 90 matches out of 100 because of variance. Probably would be closer to 70-75.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)It does more than you think. Not the best card if you need to maintain the fastest possible tempo of course, but you probably won't be able to appreciate it fully if you don't try it out.
Edit: Specifically I feel that it is frequently a better choice than Keen Sense. I think any decks that play Keen Sense or splash blue for Curious Obsession would do well to try Abundant Growth instead.
Advantages: The main advantage is in keeping hands. A creatureless hand that includes two abundant growths is very playable. A creatureless hand that includes two keen sense is probably not. You can play it when you don't have a creature on the board and it gives you a card draw right away rather than making you wait until you deal damage. Keen Sense - in comparison provides no direct advantages over Abundant Growth until after the second time you deal damage to your opponent which raises the spectre of Keen Sense being a bit of a "win more" card. The mana filtering of Abundant Growth isn't particularly important but it doesn't hurt. It will occasionally ease the double white mana for Coronet. Abundant Growth also usually stays on the board when your creature gets killed. Post-wipe your Ethereal Armors are better. If you have multiples of Abundant Growth then a single Ethereal Armor could be worth as much as +5/+5 on the turn immediately after a board wipe. Abundant Growth makes Ethereal Armor a better card. Abundant Growth also improves your topdecking problems. It can act like a cantrip and is essentially almost a mulligan for an unhelpful topdecks in the later rounds. It reduces by 4 the number of cards that you pray you're not gonna hit every time you need something specific.
Abundant Growth is imho the strangest card to never get discussed for Bogles. It is terrific.
In modern, I feel like this card does way too little. The point with Keen Sense is that against a grindy deck with few creatures, it can run away with the game and create a continuous source of card advantage. If someone is trying to leverage Mana Leaks, Logic Knots and Cryptic Commands against you, drawing an extra card every turn will win you the game. Not so with Abundant Growth, which is basically a do-nothing card in those matchups that slow you down but that the opponent has no need to counter or deal with. Remember that a card that draws two cards provides card advantage, but a card that draws just 1 card provides no card advantage at all. I'm not sure exactly what matchups Abundant Growth would be good in? It always slows you down and doesn't provide any card advantage.
That being said, I've never liked Keen Sense either as I feel that it's a win more card. If you are already connecting with a creature to the face you are already winning the game, and Keen Sense doesn't at all help you get to that point. Something like a Cartouche of Solidarity of Gryff's Boon will actually let you attack through or around blockers, while Keen Sense can often be embarrassing in those situation. If you are arguing that the Keen Sense can come down early and help you draw into more auras, I would probably prefer replacing it with something like Unflinching Courage that is a slower but extremely powerful card. Unflinching Courage will most of the time have a bigger impact than whatever you can draw from a Keen Sense.
Reid Duke made a great choice back in Worlds 2013 to play 4 Keen Sense and 0 Path to Exile maindeck, because 7 of his 15 opponents were playing Jeskai Control. That's probably the only tournament in history where Keen Sense has been worth it.
This is one of those decks that either works or it doesn't. Growth maybe sacrifices a few percent of power for a few percent extra consistency. I don't strongly feel that it's a worthwhile trade but it might make sense in certain contexts.