MTG Salvation

I wanted Jarad to be good, i really did. Same goes for Nath of the Gilt-leaf.

I feel like even if Jarad cost BGG, he probably still wouldn't make the cut. You already have a few things for mass destruction, like Ezuri regeneration or Chord for Selfless Spirit (and BfT for Red based). I realize that Damnation doesn't allow for regeneration, so throw Ezuri out of the equation there, but Damnation is rarely played anyway. I'd be more worried about Anger of the Gods or even Kozilek's Return out of the Shadow SB.

Question for y'all. Those who run the strict GB version, have you ever done a combination of Thoughtseize and Abrupt Decay in the SB? Worked well in Legacy, but maybe it's not best here.

Quote from FoodChainGoblins »

I feel like even if Jarad cost BGG, he probably still wouldn't make the cut. You already have a few things for mass destruction, like Ezuri regeneration or Chord for Selfless Spirit (and BfT for Red based). I realize that Damnation doesn't allow for regeneration, so throw Ezuri out of the equation there, but Damnation is rarely played anyway. I'd be more worried about Anger of the Gods or even Kozilek's Return out of the Shadow SB.

Question for y'all. Those who run the strict GB version, have you ever done a combination of Thoughtseize and Abrupt Decay in the SB? Worked well in Legacy, but maybe it's not best here.

No i don't do noncreature silver bullets unless they are a serious instawin: Fracturing Gust, for example. The reason being that the 15 slots are so efficiently used by 1-ofs that can be chorded for, that I feel very inefficient if I need multiples of noncreature spells to only gain incremental advantage. For example, what am I trying to do with an abrupt decay? If I'm worried about Death's shadow, then I need to count on drawing it, so do I run 4? If I do run 4, who do I board out without hitting my plan A too badly? So this train of thought will instead lead me to board a single Narnam Renegade or Glissa, the traitor.

When it comes to thoughtseize, we're typically trying to catch boardwipes or combo, which can be caught with Selfless spirit or silver bullet creatures such as Eidolon of Rhetoric. All this using 4 mainboard spells, which means we can toolbox or go for the kill without compromising our 60 cards significantly.

Makes sense. I guess Legacy Elves also has more "draw power" to get through the deck with Glimpse of Nature and Elvish Visionary/Wirewood Symbiote to find noncreature spells.

Has anyone tried sin collector out of the board against the unfair matchups? been kicking around in my head and it seems great

Quote from MarcWizard »

Quote from FoodChainGoblins »

I feel like even if Jarad cost BGG, he probably still wouldn't make the cut. You already have a few things for mass destruction, like Ezuri regeneration or Chord for Selfless Spirit (and BfT for Red based). I realize that Damnation doesn't allow for regeneration, so throw Ezuri out of the equation there, but Damnation is rarely played anyway. I'd be more worried about Anger of the Gods or even Kozilek's Return out of the Shadow SB.

Question for y'all. Those who run the strict GB version, have you ever done a combination of Thoughtseize and Abrupt Decay in the SB? Worked well in Legacy, but maybe it's not best here.

No i don't do noncreature silver bullets unless they are a serious instawin: Fracturing Gust, for example. The reason being that the 15 slots are so efficiently used by 1-ofs that can be chorded for, that I feel very inefficient if I need multiples of noncreature spells to only gain incremental advantage. For example, what am I trying to do with an abrupt decay? If I'm worried about Death's shadow, then I need to count on drawing it, so do I run 4? If I do run 4, who do I board out without hitting my plan A too badly? So this train of thought will instead lead me to board a single Narnam Renegade or Glissa, the traitor.

When it comes to thoughtseize, we're typically trying to catch boardwipes or combo, which can be caught with Selfless spirit or silver bullet creatures such as Eidolon of Rhetoric. All this using 4 mainboard spells, which means we can toolbox or go for the kill without compromising our 60 cards significantly.

Wow, I've never thought of it that way! Awesome stuff.

Looking for criticisms on my Abzan landbase and board, I got Chords, Selfless Spirit, Ooze and Eternal Witness main.

What do you guys think about a SB (specifically only for GP Las Vegas) of

I don't get to play modern much unless a big tournament comes to town, but I'm still running a fetch based manabase for G/B. So I'm running:

• 4 Cavern of Souls
  
• 4 Forest
  
• 4 Gilt-Leaf Palace
  
• 4 Windswept heath
  
• 1 Overgrown Tomb
  
• 1 Pendelhaven
  

Which has been working for me. I normally don't end up stumbling on mana; just on the fact that when I do company I whiff more then most (I have terrible luck). My sideboard; while more than likely not optimized for the current meta; only has 2 cards in it that I can't cast if they end up in my opening hand (Burrenton Forge-Tender and Kataki, War's Wage) but they are both creatures that I can Cord for if needed. The rest of my sideboard can be cast via my existing manabase and only contains 4 non-creature spells.

Psy

I think that I would cut the path from your board. I think if you were to run it, it would be best if you had at least two. That way if you see one off of a collected company, you have a chance at getting the next one still.

I would agree with the people that say that creatures in the side are better because you can get them off of a company or via chord of calling. I don't agree that you shouldn't run spells in your sideboard, though. Are they less than ideal? Possibly, but I've been in some games where I don't get a chord or a company and have to draw all my answer or start with them. I think running a couple fetches in an abzan variant helps to potentially fix your Mana to help you cast those spells you side in.

What's the opinion on spellskite now a days? I see a lot of lists pushing it to the side and some cutting it from the 75 altogether.

Quote from MunkeyDunkey »

What's the opinion on spellskite now a days? I see a lot of lists pushing it to the side and some cutting it from the 75 altogether.

I'm not really the best to ask because I'm not a dedicated Elves player and still have a lot to learn on playing the deck, but I feel like it's a bit weak right now.

In theory, it possibly protects our key creatures from removal (coming in the form of Fatal Push usually), but it doesn't seem to play out that way. It works well with those Heritage Druid hands where we can empty out our hand, put 1-2 big threats (Elvish Archdruid/Ezuri), and then also cast him to protect those. But it has been very mediocre in other situations. There are situations where you can Chord for him to protect some creature, but with 1 extra mana/creature, why not just Chord for another copy of the creature?

Quote from MunkeyDunkey »

What's the opinion on spellskite now a days? I see a lot of lists pushing it to the side and some cutting it from the 75 altogether.

It lets you beat bogles and infect in game 1. It can also be used to save ezuri sometimes (i've done it a couple times). If there are no infect or bogles in your meta, then there's little point to it. (I have both in my meta so the skite is still there)

Got 1st place in my LGS' Cash Modern. I've been running with Juza's list for a week now and I really like it. Here is the list for reference.


G1: 2-0 Budget Burn
-1 Chord, -1 Vizier, -1 Ezuri | +2 Finks, +1 Scooze
He ran mono red and didn't have the tools to outpace me. Went infinite the 1st game and won through beatdown on the 2nd.

R2: 2-1 Temur Shadow
-4 Chord, -1 Llanowar Elves | +4 Path, +1 Scooze
G1 was grindy and had me playing defensively till I drew Ezuri with 2 Druids out for infinite. G2 I mulled to 5 and beat me down with 3 goyfs. G3 Path was an allstar and secured my win. Chord is dead against him because of counterspells and discard. I believe Death's Shadow decks are a big reason for why Juza ran 4 paths on the side.

R3: 2-0 Creatures Toolbox (No Devoted Druid)
-2 Visionary, -1 Dwynen's Elite, -1 Archdruid | +2 Revoker, +1 Scooze, +1 Aven
G1 I had to take a risk by tapping out to set myself up for a win on T4. Luckily she whiffed on a CoCo and I won with infinite. G2 she had 2 paths in hand but that was before I chorded in a Revoker naming Viscera Seer. It stalled long enough to draw my wincons.

R4: 2-0 Abzan Midrange
-2 Chord, -1 Llanowar, -1 Mystic, -1 Vizier | +3 Paths, +1 Scooze, +1 Revoker
G1 he tapped out on his T4 and with the winning pieces in my hand I went infinite with two druids out. G2 I won with an early path removing his fat Goyf which bought me enough time to draw a Company. I cast it on his EoT grabbing Ezuri and Archdruid. He had one mana up and a fatal push but no revolt to kill either threat. I won on my turn.

Thoughts:
I'm thinking about adding another Kataki in the SB for GP Vegas. I hear they're going to make a big appearance but idk what I would take out. I've also thought about an alt-win con like Mirror Entity instead of a 4th Ezuri but Ezuri's synergy with Druid cannot be underestimated and I believe that's why Juza ran 4. I'd just hate to lose to Pithing Needle and it would help against Living End.

Does being on the play/draw affect how and what you board in and out?

Attended a 61-man, 6-round event yesterday. Here's the report and the decklist.



Round 1: v Abzan Company (favored) DRAW
G1: He tried beating me down with Voice of Resurgence while I build my board up. He ended losing the race as I overran him after building a board of 5 little elves and Archdruid.
G2: This really wasn't his best match-up as he saw next to no action. Maybe kept a bad hand?
1-0

Round 2: v RW Prison? (not sure) PLAY
G1: T1 he laid down a Leyline of Sanctity so I knew he was some sort of pillowfort deck. Then he put Gideon of Trials t3. We had a bit of a shake-up since I played Shaman t2 and we both missed the Leyline. We decided to not call a judge and keep the game as is. T4 kill here.
G2: He had a really oppressive hand. Pithing Needle, Blood Moon, Runed Halo, Stasis Snare. I had two Shamans on the board and he was down to 11 when he cast Halo. I also held another Shaman with no other wincons in sight. Fortunately, I drew a Lead into Rec Sage attacking and then slamming down Shaman for the win
2-0

Round 3: Burn (50-50) DRAW
G1: He got me down to one with Guide and Swiftspear + spells while he was still at a healthy 13. He had no cards in hand and no board so I cast Coco at his end step getting two Archdruids while holding an Ezuri.
G2: Mull'd to 6 while he mull'd to 5. His hand was really explosive plus his live draws. Didn't manage to get a board going.
G3: T1 mystic, T2 heritage, nettle into dwynen's and Archdruid. He scooped. He had all creatures in his hand and literally no spells.
3-0

Round 4: Death and Taxes (favored) PLAY
G1: He got me down to 5 by beating my face with Flickerwisp and Copter. At T4, I had a pretty wide board just without Ezuri. Drew one, swung for 30+ dmg
G2: I Rec Sage'd his Vial t2, he plays a Copter and Leonin Arbiter. He tried Ghost Quartering my land. I dismembered his arbiter in response. He played another Copter next turn. Swung for lethal T4
4-0

Round 5: Affinity (slightly unfavored) DRAW
G1: Mull'd to 5, kept the game close despite being down two cards and being on the draw. He managed to close me out with Etched Champion. He missed lethal though as I couldn't have blocked Champion with him having a lot of stuff plus Ravager on board. Would've won if I had one more turn.
G2: Kataki, Fracturing Gust blowout.
G3: I mull's a bad hand into a REALLY good hand, potentially killing T3. He opened up with Vault Skirge, me with Elvish Mystic. 2nd turn he put glimmervoid , attacked and passed. I should've known better since this was a hand Affinity players doesn't keep. T2 I laid down Heritage, Dwynen's into Archdruid, clutching an Ezuri which was lethal next turn. Next turn, he Whipflares me. I should've thought harder. I was too excited about my hand and him having one creature. I didn't suspect him having Whipflare. *GOD THIS STILL MAKES ME SALTY AS F*CK JUST TYPING IT HERE*
4-1

Round 6:
I got paired down last round so my chances of top 8 was slim if we drew. My opponent begged me to not play the game but he wanted to top 8 (douchebag move, I know) so we decided to split the prizes. Got 3x my entry fee plus tons of experience. Moving forward, that Affinity round was a lesson to be learned. Hopefully, those of you that read this will learn from it too. It really sucks. Lol.
4-2

Changes that I'm planning to make:
Mainboard: none
Sideboard: maybe find a room for one more Reclamation Sage. Kitchen Finks was an all-star all day. I'm thinking of adding Creeping Corrosion. Maybe removing Glissa.

Overall, I'm happy with the consistency of the deck, except for that mulligan to 5 versus Affinity. I think this was due to me having randomly deckchecked as the Judges piled my stuff together. Fetches and shocks didn't matter that much vs Burn as long as you know how to manage your life total as a resource rather than being defesive all the time. That Affinity blowout though. Damn.

EDIT: I'm too lazy to put in how I sideboarded. If you got any questions, feel free to ask.

The SCG Modern Open is in Charlotte this weekend and I was able to attend This was only the 3rd time I've played Modern since I started back playing again almost 2 years ago. I have 3 decks that I could have played: G/B Elves (which I built last year for GP Charlotte); G/R Tron and G/B Tron. I've been trying to figure which of the 3 to play for the last few weeks. I've had some say play G/B Tron and others have suggest Elves since I have at least played it in a tournament before. Last night I decided on Elves.

While I didn't do as well as I wanted; I ended up going 3-4 and then dropped due to wife agro. I had fun which for me was the goal and to continue to learn how to play the deck. I started out terrible at 0-4 and my goal was to at least win one match. Of my 4 losses; only 1 was a blowout and that was round 2 against Titan Breach. Neither of the two games were close.

My other 3 losses went to 3 games; and in match 1; game 3 I got stuck on 1 land; still got to a board state so that I could turn 4 coco and my end of turn coco was 5 lands and a Elvish Mystic. I never saw another land and he slowly removed my ability to make mana on his turn and I died with 2 Ezuri's; 2 Cords and a Rec Sage in hand with no way to cast any of them

Match 3 was against burn and I took game one due to dual Shaman triggers on the same turn. Game 2 he had the nuts and I couldn't keep anything on the board. Game 3 was close He got me down to 4 and I had him on 5. I messed up and didn't attack on turn because my board was 2 dorks; a Shaman (that was played that turn) and an Archdruid. I was facing down a Guide and 3 open mana. Thinking back on it now; my feeling at the time was I was worried that if I attacked with both dorks he could take the 4 damage going down to 1 and then I was worried about the swing back if he played a haste creature and a burn spell. Next turn I did attack and he blocked the arch druid and then deflecting palm my Shaman for the exact damage for the kill. He pointed out my misplay the previous turn and I took it as a learning experience.

Match 4 was against a 4C Burn Deck w/DS. I took game 1 pretty easy since he didn't drawn anything and I killed him with back to back Shaman Triggers taking him from 17 to 0 over the two turns. I never saw the burn spells game 1 so I wasn't sure what to side in. Game 2 I got him down to 7 before he ended up with 3 Death Shadows; a Wild Nacatl; played enough removal to where I was dead the next turn. I never saw a coco or cord this game. Game 3 I think I kept a so-so hand and his 1st turn he pushed my dork, turn 2, he played Nacatl and LB my dork, turn 3 he played another 2 Nacatl's, then LB my elf. Turn 4 he played a DS and pushed my Elf. Needless to say he had the nuts and it was rough.

I'm now 0-4 and determined to at least win one match.

I then played Lantern Control and won 2-0. Both games through an Ensnaring Bridge and with the opponent having an empty hand. Game 1 I got him down to 7 before I could not longer attach and just played my elfs until I was able to draw a cord and corded in a Shaman for 8 damage. Game 2 I sided in Rec Sages and drew both of them. Getting him down to 8 when he played the bridge and then me blowing it up and attacking him down to 2. He didn't draw an answer on his turn and scooped.

I'm now 1-4 and happy I won a match. Next two matches were against burn and I ended up winning both of them 2-0. Both times I was able to out race them in both games and both players kept a removal heavy 1 land hand game 2 and never saw their 2nd land until I had enough of a board presence to win the game the next turn.

So I went 3-4 matches and 9 and 10 in games. Overall I feel that I was in each of the matches except for 1; and if luck when my way in 3 of the matches I could have had a better record and would have continued to play instead of dropping.

Psy

Here's my latest version of combo elves:



Pretty different from most of these lists.

Quote from Larriepogi »

Attended a 61-man, 6-round event yesterday. Here's the report and the decklist.

Rancormaniac's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
4 Llanowar Elves 4 Elvish Mystic 4 Heritage Druid 4 Dwynen's Elite 4 Elvish Archdruid 4 Shaman of the Pack 3 Nettle Sentinel 3 Ezuri, Renegade Leader 2 Elvish Visionary 1 Selfless Spirit 1 Eternal Witness	1 Lead the Stampede 3 Chord of Calling 4 Collected Company 4 Cavern of Souls 4 Gilt-Leaf Palace 3 Windswept Heath 1 Temple Garden 1 Overgrown Tomb 2 Horizon Canopy 1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx 2 Forest	Sideboard 1 Phyrexian Revoker 1 Spellskite 1 Scavenging Ooze 1 Kataki, War's Wage 1 Glissa, the Traitor 1 Reclamation Sage 1 Eidolon of Rhetoric 1 Elvish Champion 3 Kitchen Finks 1 Chameleon Colossus 2 Dismember 1 Fracturing Gust

Round 1: v Abzan Company (favored) DRAW
G1: He tried beating me down with Voice of Resurgence while I build my board up. He ended losing the race as I overran him after building a board of 5 little elves and Archdruid.
G2: This really wasn't his best match-up as he saw next to no action. Maybe kept a bad hand?
1-0

Round 2: v RW Prison? (not sure) PLAY
G1: T1 he laid down a Leyline of Sanctity so I knew he was some sort of pillowfort deck. Then he put Gideon of Trials t3. We had a bit of a shake-up since I played Shaman t2 and we both missed the Leyline. We decided to not call a judge and keep the game as is. T4 kill here.
G2: He had a really oppressive hand. Pithing Needle, Blood Moon, Runed Halo, Stasis Snare. I had two Shamans on the board and he was down to 11 when he cast Halo. I also held another Shaman with no other wincons in sight. Fortunately, I drew a Lead into Rec Sage attacking and then slamming down Shaman for the win
2-0

Round 3: Burn (50-50) DRAW
G1: He got me down to one with Guide and Swiftspear + spells while he was still at a healthy 13. He had no cards in hand and no board so I cast Coco at his end step getting two Archdruids while holding an Ezuri.
G2: Mull'd to 6 while he mull'd to 5. His hand was really explosive plus his live draws. Didn't manage to get a board going.
G3: T1 mystic, T2 heritage, nettle into dwynen's and Archdruid. He scooped. He had all creatures in his hand and literally no spells.
3-0

Round 4: Death and Taxes (favored) PLAY
G1: He got me down to 5 by beating my face with Flickerwisp and Copter. At T4, I had a pretty wide board just without Ezuri. Drew one, swung for 30+ dmg
G2: I Rec Sage'd his Vial t2, he plays a Copter and Leonin Arbiter. He tried Ghost Quartering my land. I dismembered his arbiter in response. He played another Copter next turn. Swung for lethal T4
4-0

Round 5: Affinity (slightly unfavored) DRAW
G1: Mull'd to 5, kept the game close despite being down two cards and being on the play. He managed to close me out with Etched Champion. He missed lethal though as I couldn't have blocked Champion with him having a lot of stuff plus Ravager on board. Would've won if I had one more turn.
G2: Kataki, Fracturing Gust blowout.
G3: I mull's a bad hand into a REALLY good hand, potentially killing T3. He opened up with Vault Skirge, me with Elvish Mystic. 2nd turn he put glimmervoid , attacked and passed. I should've known better since this was a hand Affinity players doesn't keep. T2 I laid down Heritage, Dwynen's into Archdruid, clutching an Ezuri which was lethal next turn. Next turn, he Whipflares me. I should've thought harder. I was too excited about my hand and him having one creature. I didn't suspect him having Whipflare. *GOD THIS STILL MAKES ME SALTY AS F*CK JUST TYPING IT HERE*
4-1

Round 6:
I got paired down last round so my chances of top 8 was slim if we drew. My opponent begged me to not play the game but he wanted to top 8 (douchebag move, I know) so we decided to split the prizes. Got 3x my entry fee plus tons of experience. Moving forward, that Affinity round was a lesson to be learned. Hopefully, those of you that read this will learn from it too. It really sucks. Lol.
4-2

Changes that I'm planning to make:
Mainboard: none
Sideboard: maybe find a room for one more Reclamation Sage. Kitchen Finks was an all-star all day. I'm thinking of adding Creeping Corrosion. Maybe removing Glissa.

Overall, I'm happy with the consistency of the deck, except for that mulligan to 5 versus Affinity. I think this was due to me having randomly deckchecked as the Judges piled my stuff together. Fetches and shocks didn't matter that much vs Burn as long as you know how to manage your life total as a resource rather than being defesive all the time. That Affinity blowout though. Damn.

EDIT: I'm too lazy to put in how I sideboarded. If you got any questions, feel free to ask.

Hello kabayan! I'm planning to shift from GB to Abzan Elves but I don't have access to Cavern of Souls and Horizon Canopy. I will run a list of elves and bullets a bit similar to yours so maybe you can give some advise on what I can use as alternatives for my mana base. I have a set of Windswept Heath, Gilt-Leaf Palace and Razorverge Thicket. I can also get an Overgrown Tomb and Temple Garden easy. Any input will be appreciated

Quote from ketoglutarate »

some time ago we went into a discussion about the best goldfishing possible. Here's what is possible with Throne of the God Pharaoh:

It's just...so...beautiful