MTG Salvation

I think Jake Haversat 5-0'd a competitive league (egadd2894 or soemthing like that) today. His MTGGoldfish tourney results show Amulet results going back two years and recent 4c Leovold results in Legacy, the archetype he top 8'd GP Vegas with. He played 74 of the same 75 as Bobby, except -1 Forest and +1 Grove. Bobby mentioned that Jake went -1 Bog -1 Walking Ballista for +1 Relic and +1 Grove at GP Vegas, so just an interesting change to note. Definitely don't like going down to 1 basic, but not sure where else to cut land, and I agree that the Bog main feels great right now. Also, the Walking Ballista is a lock card for me right now based solely on how much it helps vs affinity. Enjoy all!

http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/developing-competitive-modern/556715-amulet-titan?page=133

Hey! Welcome, nice to see another committed member playing the deck and soliciting feedback and sharing results. Here are some responses:
1) I prefer x4 because there are games where we need to win fast, such as Storm, Affinity, etc, and Azusa is one of the key pieces to getting a titan, or to transmute for/crack EE, or to play Walking Ballista. You can board it out against grindier match-ups, but having x3 and not seeing one against combo decks is basically a loss game 1 in my experience.
2) Batterskull seems okay, but I think a 4th Azusa is more important, like I said above. I think the fact you can't S-pact for it hurts a lot, because there are match-ups where you don't ever want to see this card, and there are match-ups where it's the all-star, and the best part of this deck is the ability to mitigate that variance through tutoring and card selection (getting lands out of deck, scrying/stirrings)
3) I'm on 3 Visions & 2 Relics, which seems good to me in combination with maindeck Bog, but I also run one Trinket Mage and don't post as good of results as some of the forum stalwarts. I think it depends on your meta - between 2-3 is probably the right answer.
4) I think you have most of your bases covered, but here are some thoughts your selections:
- I personally don't like Bonfire after testing. I pretty much think of what do I need to beat Affinity - Firespout only hits fliers or nonfliers, and Bonfire basically needs to be ripped off the top of the deck, and neither can hit an artifact land due to sorcery speed. I'm on Kozilek's Return and it feels much better - there aren't many decks I would rather have Bonfire or Firespout anymore.
- Thragtusk trades with Gurmag Angler and Tasigur,Bolt is at an all time low, and LotV is not as prevalent as in the past, so I think Thragtusk is definitely just better right now.
- I feel good against Jeskai Control and UW Control recently - I did before Relic, and turning off Snapcaster is just a bonus. I feel the same way about Dromoka as I do about Thrun - we don't really need to dedicate a sideboard card to a match-up we already are good in. If anything, just add another Tracker, since it's good in control match-ups as well as plenty of other match-ups.
- With x3 Azusa decreasing your chances at turn 3 titans and only two sideboard counterspells, I feel like your Scapeshift/Ad Nauseum/other combo deck matchup is pretty rough, but maybe I'm wrong.

You'll get better, you definitely learn a lot from experience with this deck, I am still seeing new lines frequently! Good luck!

I have been having really good results with the deck after cutting the serum visions for explores and going down to 3 Azusa and 1 tracker main and 28 lands
I had a a streak where I went 4-1 5-0 5-0. The only matchups that feel real bad are the abzan company matchup in my experience

@ekurkian do you play any number of grove of the burnwillows? Well done on the recent results!

2 . I play a main bog,gq and cavern

@daviusminimus Whoa, mind blown about Firespout! Still prefer the instant speed and ability to find with Stirrings of Kozilek's Return though. You are right though, they are all close.

@Zrifts against Grix Shadow decks, the logic is the amulets don't help that much anyway since discard spells will probably set you back a couple turns on the Titan plan anyway. What you really need in these attrition matches is a high density of threats, so when you are hellbent you increase your chances of topdecking, and sheer card advantage. The further benefit comes from the fact that you turn off the 2 for 1 mode of Kommand (destroying target artifact), which keeps the tempo more even.

@ekurkian Nice job! You running a list comparable to Bobby's? I've never seen you post your list.

Great report. I like the idea of having, Bojuka, GQ and CoS in main deck.
@Zrifts, what's the chalice trick??

I may stream/ record a league with the deck . I've been doing really well with it

Hey all, I brewed up a version of the deck I wanted to share, pic attached. I'm building around Saheeli and Titan, and am having fun with the current list. I included 4 Sakura-Tribe Elder along with the sakura-tribe scout because Saheeli has the ability to copy one, which I can then sacrifice to grab a basic land. With 4 basics, I'm much less worried about Blood Moon, which hosed me terribly in the past. In the side, Thragtusk, Reclamation Sage, and Hornet Queen also synergize well with Saheeli, getting us more ETBs, including 4 more hornets that stick around after the first trade off. I haven't played a league yet with this version, but will soon.

@ekurkian @daviusminmus isit okay to post the current list you playing? im thinking of buying into the deck online i think i need to get more practice for the pptq.

Ive been on this

@Zrifts I'm on 3 Azusa and in the past few months have cut allll the visions for explores and took out sanctums for 2 groves and explore has been really really good for me. it makes up for not having 4 Azusa while avoiding the double Azusa hands more often and with multiple amulets its a ritual that cantrips

@ekurkian thanks!
i noticed you didnt play any relic of progenitnus. i have read the previous comments saying the relics were quite good against the field, esp against those deck we are bad against e.g. storm. is this a meta-call, or does the playset of explores help with this decision?
i also noticed your enchantment removal package. it has been a while since i see seal of primordium in SB. again, meta-call or simply a better card?

@davis thanks!
i would assume the 4 serum visions in your decklist are relics.
could you talk about the 3 swan songs? i assume they are for the combo matchups (storm, ad nauseum etc), but is it necessary to play 3 copies? same with @ekurkian's SB, which runs 1 blue pact and 2 swan. my concern here is with the amt of blue sources we currently have now that groves are confirmed maindeck over botanical scantum. i hav also always liked the 2nd engineered explosives in the SB.

Played a friendly league to a 4-1 result today, losing only to this weird rogue implement/ensoul artifact deck. I found a bug that negatively affected my game. Cavern on "Scout" would not cast Sakura-Tribe Scout, nor would shaman. It seems in preparation for Ixalan(pure speculation), the only type that matters is the first. You have to name Snake to get her to cast thru cavern. Also, Vesuva copying Cavern of Souls isn't working. Naming "Monk" also doesn't work for Azusa.

Hey guys just reporting in after a weekly modern night on Tuesday. Went 4-0 and the deck felt good, although I was lucky to go a full 4-0 as I made a couple of misplays. As always I'm here to accept any advice that people may have!



Match 1 Vs. Mono-Blue Tron (2-1)

Game 1 was on the draw and kept an opener of Amulet, Amulet, Gemstone Mine, Azusa, Azusa, Simic, Summoners Pact. A remand on my t2 azusa slowed me down immensely as I had sandbagged my simic to my hand. t3 azusa got countered again and i finally resolved the second from my hand but tron was already online and mindslaver and a wurmcoil finished me off. Probalby misplayed this as I should have expected a counter on t2 and kept the simic on the field, but the hand was too tempting to play linearly.

Game 2. On the play. Kept hand of Scout, Titan, Pact, Tolaria West, Engineered Explosives, Bounceland, Forest. I played slower off of a scout start with no amulet and transfmuted for cavern of souls while ramping. He opened playing a spellkite and starting to build tron. I found 2 amulets and a pact of negation in the meantime off draw steps and then won in a signle turn by dropping his spellkskite with an EE to clear the path for a titan.

Game 3. On the draw. Kept hand of Scout, Amulet, Tolaria West, Bounceland, Gemstone Mine, Cavern of Souls, Summoner's Pact. He doesn't find tron early and I dropped my titan on turn 3 and attacked 8 while fetching Tolaria West and returning it to my hand with a simic. Next turn he taps out to drop Platinum Angel but I transmute for pact to find my reclamation sage and win next turn.

Match 2 Vs. 4-Colour (?) Slivers (2-1)

Game 1. On the draw. Kept a hand of Scout, Scout, Titan, Bounceland, Bounceland, Forest, Sunhome. This was not a close game as he had 4x 4/4 flying regenerating deathtouch creatures on the field on turn 4 when I played my titan and then swung for lethal the next turn.

Game 2. On the play. Kept hand of Amulet, Amulet, Scout, Titan, Bounceland, Forest, Crumbling Vestige. His start was not as fast as the last game and my start was pretty ideal. It was a quick game.

Game 3. On the draw. Kept hand of Scout, Courser, Serum Visions, EE, Titan, Bounceland, Botanical Sanctum, Gemstone Mine. This was a loooong game in which I managed to remove some key slivers with EE before dropping a safe titan only to have it face down against another swarm of 3/3 or 4/4 flying deathtouch creatures. Luckily courser of kruphix had netted me enough life over the game so that he could not threaten lethal on one swing, and I had 2 titans with lethal on the board myself if he tapped too many blockers. It turns out this stalemate ended when I top-decked Bonfire of the Damned with X=14, which was lethal and also killed all his slivers to boot!

Match 3 Vs. Vizier/Devoted Druid with Evolution/Company (2-1)

Game 1. On the play. Kept hand of Tolaria West, Scout, Ancient Stirrings, Serum Visions, Amulet, Bounceland, Forest. He opened up slowly but on t3 tutored a devoted druid via eldritch evolution so I knew what was up for next turn. I transmuted for Walking ballista and shut him out of the game before finding a titan to close it out.

Game 2. On the draw. He found his combo on t3 despite me nailing a vizier with dismember.

Game 3. On the play. Crazy hand of Amulet, Amulet, Azusa, Walking Ballista, Botanical Sanctum, Simic, Tolaria West. My Turn 2 was - Play Second Amulet, Play Azusa, Make 9 mana, drop Walking Ballista fr x=8. Game shortly thereafter.

Match 4 Vs Esper Control (2-1)

Game 1 On the draw. Mulliganed to 6 and kept a sketchy hand of gemstone mine, scout, amulet, pact, serum visions, ancient stirrings. slow start combined with double spreading seas on my later dual lands kept me off balance before he dealt with my titans and finished the game by discarding my summoners pact and dropping Elspeth, Sun's Champion

Game 2 On the play. Mulliganed to 6 and kept a good hand of Cavern, Azusa, Amulet, Simic, Serum Visions, Botanical Sanctum. He didn't have a spreading seas to deal with my cavern of souls, and despite having a path for my first titan, the 2nd and 3rd resolved and went to attack steps to win the game.

Game 3 On the draw. This game also went long but my opponent was losing concentration and played very quickly. I had seen him play to turns almost all of his matches. I managed to resolve and gain value from Tireless Tracker after he blew both his paths in his opener on titans. In the end he discarded my hand down to 0 using esper charm and got rid of my board, but luckily I topdecked a tolaria west which I used to get a Walking Ballista and ping for the final 4 or 5 life.

Primal Command: Got boarded out regularly, but then again never saw the match-ups that it's in for (death's shadow, burn, dredge, living end etc). It was a useful topdeck against Esper Control as I used the bounce to library / shuffle graveyard into library modes to remove an Elspeth, which also turned off all his snapcasters. I also to get rid of an Oblivion Stone with a fate counter on it with those modes. If I saw it against Slivers I would have loved the draw but that wasn't to be. I'll be persisting with it until I hit some DS decks to test it against since I cannot run groves. In the meantime it seems serviceable against other decks. Having the additional main board out against problematic permanents is nice.

Creeping corrosion in the sideboard is there for affinity mainly but also lantern and ironworks combos, which see regular play here. I took Nissa, Steward of Elements out of my sideboard this week and I actually missed having her against both Mono-U Tron and Esper Control, she would have been one of my first sideboards in.

Bonfire of the damned only made one appearance and it was a spectacular, game-winning one. I'm just waiting for it to be terrible because I know that it is such a high variance card, especially in your opening hand.

I only used Academy Ruins ability once - against Esper Control when he made me discard Walking Ballista, I then returned it to my library the next turn. Little impact otherwise. Will keep testing with it.

Hello everybody! Reporting in after my first FNM in years (I usually work Friday nights) which I thoroughly enjoyed playing to a 3-1 (1 bye). Made some minor adjustments to Tuesdays list after considering what's been said on the forum here and the feel from Tuesday.

Main adjustments are;
-1 Tireless Tracker MD (moved to SB)
-1 Primal Command MD (removed from deck)
+2 Relic of Progenitus MD (moved from sideboard)
+1 Nissa, Steward of Elements (added to sideboard)

Losing tracker MD is painful for me but I wanted to squeeze in Relic MD given its strength against the current field. Primal command also gets trimmed to 1 copy. Nissa gets her spot back in the sideboard after last Tuesdays match-ups proved to be predominantly control.



Match 1 Vs. Affinity (2-1)

Game 1. On the Play. Kept hand of Serum Visions, Relic of Progenitus, Azusa, Simic, Gemstone Mine, Sunhome, Tolaria West

Fast-ish game. He had sprigleaf, signal pest, opal, double cranial plating, next turn steel overseer. I didn't last long.

OUT
- Primal Command
- 2x Relic of Progenitus
- 1x Pact of Negation
- 1x Cavern of Souls
IN
- Creeping Corrosion
- Pyroclasm
- Kozilek's Return
- Hornet Queen
- Ghost Quarter

Game 2. On the Play, Kept Scout, Amulet, Creeping Corrosion, Engineered Explosives, Gemstone Mine, Simic, Forest.

I opened with scout, he opened with sprigleaf drum and passed turn. I played out amulet and Academy Ruins and ramped a bit more with scout. His 2nd turn he dumped his hand with steel overseer, opal, cranial, and signal pest (i think). Next turn I dropped Creeping Corrosion and wiped the board, then dropped EE for 0 sunburst and sat staring at his inkmoth nexus daring it to move! Good feels. Next turn I found T-West and the game was over soon after that with all his gas gone.

Game 3. On the Draw. Kept hand of Amulet, Scout, Stirrings, Titan, Simic, Academy Ruins, Botanical Sanctum

He opens with thoughtsieze, taking titan, then surgical extraction on titan. OUCH. I play out a fairly fast ramp with Scout/Amulet and find a T-West with ancient stirrings, which I then transmute for Walking Ballista. Next turn he has a small army and his blinkmoth nexus is a 4/4 thanks to an early steel overseer, I'm on 8 life after his attack step. During my next turn I draw into a Summoner's Pact, but I have enough mana to wipe his team with Ballista so I proceed to do so, with Academy ruins and Simic untapped. His blinkmoth is still an issue. His next attack step sees me go to 4 life. In his EoT I return ballista to my library and draw it, but with 7 mana on the field I Pacted for Hornet Queen and resolved it. I spend the next 3 turns beating face with Hornets and a large ballista hoping he didn't draw galvanic blast, and he didn't!

Match 2 Vs. Jund (0-2)

Game 1 on the Draw. Kept hand of, Simic, Forest, Gemstone Mine, Tolaria West, Stirrings, Scout, Azusa

He shredded me with discard and my scout got pushed early. He rode a a goyf and a bob to the win.

OUT
- 2x Sakura-Tribe Scout
- 1x Azusa, Lost but Seeking
- 1x Amulet of Vigor
- 1x Cavern of Souls
IN
- 1x Nissa, Steward of Elements
- 1x Tireless Tracker
- 1x Hornet Queen
- 1x Bojuka Bog
- 1x Courser of Kruphix

Game 2. On the play drew 6 lands and a Sakura Scout, mulliganed to 6 and kept a hand of Serum Visions, Ancient Stirrings, Amulet of Vigor, Summoners Pact, Botanical Sanctum, Tolaria West.

I played out my amulet turn 1 and on his turn he played Thoughtsieze and made me discard pact. I had kept what I see as a fairly discard-proof hand and I had Tolaria west to back up the pact so I felt good about this start. Turn 2 I cantripped and found not much, but unfortunately the mana didn't work out for me to transmute this turn so ended. Next turn he dropped liliana, and although I had Titan in hand and I found a khalini garden with my T-west to break through Lili, he terminated one of my plant tokens to ensure I couldn't keep a titan. I lost an uphil battle of CA as I topdecked into nothing and lost to another 2 goyfs.


Match 3 Vs. Gifts/Goryo's Reanimator (2-1)

Game 1. On the play kept a nut hand of Scout, Amulet, Amulet, Titan, Forest, Gruul Turf, Crumbling Vestige. He did play IOK to make me discard my second amulet but I still had the t3 TItan and rode it to victory.

OUT
- 1x Engineered Explosives
- 1x Walking Ballista
- 1x Radiant Fountain
IN
- 1x Bojuka Bog
- 2x Swan Song

Game 2. Kept a decent hand involving a scout and serum visions, stirrings, tolaria and lands. I transmuted for pact while ramping and also found an azusa which got countered. Then on T4 EoT he found Iona and Unburial Rights through Gifts Ungiven, then played Iona on his next turn locking me out of green. I couldn't find a walking ballista and play it for 14 mana in time to deal with the angel...

Game 3. Mulliganed to 6 to keep Relic, Amulet, Scout, Academy Ruins, Simic, Gemstone Mine.

I started with my scout and then on 2nd turn dropped my amulet, to which he responded with disenchant (a card I dont often see these days!). I proceeded to drop my relic afterwards. The game goes on for some turns and I know I am locking him out of gifts by keeping mana open for Relic so I continue to do so and in the meantime find a Pact of Negation and a Titan, and also return my amulet to the top of my library using academy ruins. With mana held for relic and a Pact of Negation in hand I know I am safe to go for the win and do so without trouble.

Match 4 Vs. Taking Turns (BYE)
The player had dropped after his 3rd round match.

I have a lot of work to do tightening my play and seeing alternate lines but the deck is feeling really enjoyable. Academy ruins impressed me tonight, as did Creeping Corrosion vs Affinity. Did not miss Primal Command in any match-ups, even against Gifts/Goryo's Reanimator the fact that it wasn't instant speed rendered it useless as a graveyard hate tool. Glad I cut the 2nd copy but will as usual persist with 1 copy to see more results before making a decision on how maindeckable it is.

Any criticism or advice is welcome, I still consider myself a bit of a novice in this format and with this deck.

I like your approach to the deck.

I'm unsure if not playing Grove of the Burnwillows and 3 azusa, lost but seeking, is still better to run serum visions over explore.

I like to suggest you on the jund matchup, remove, all amulet of vigor and sakura tribe scout, and add threats and ruric tar from the sideboard.

Regards!

Hey Talgardo thanks for the suggestions! I did board out 1 Amulet, 1 Scout, and 1 Azusa for the Jund match-up but maybe I could more aggressively sideboard in this manner. A problem is my lack of threats out of the sideboard (Nissa is better as a threat vs Control than vs Jund).

The 3 Azusa I am looking to bump up to 4 when I get my hands on another copy (I definately see the argument of 4x as a boon vs. Combo decks).

With the disclaimer that I've never tested Groves, I must admit I've never been 100% sold on the Grove of the Burnwillows plan because it makes it harder to combo (and therefore win) vs the field (outside of Shadow). If we give the field a free pass for shocking and fetching, or we raise an opponent over 20 life, then the fact that our deck can do 16 or 20 damage in one swing becomes much less relevant. T-West is more reliable with Botanical Sanctum, and running Serum Visions makes the combo elements of the deck much, much more consistent than Explore ever will.

Those above are the logical arguments for running Botanical Sanctums over Grove of the Burnwillows.

Another logical one is that I can't afford them and I'm a paper-only player currently, so until I ACTUALLY test them, please defer to those who have tested both builds

If my 2 or 3 stores I play at turn in to GDS and JDS hellholes I might fork out the money for a playset but until then I'm stuck with G/U and Serum Visions

I haven't been playing online much (no time), but I've gone 3-1 at my LGS both of the last two weeks, and probably should have been 4-0 both weeks as I'm still finding new lines every week. The maindeck Relics are great, but being able to transmute consistently on turn 3, reliably pay PoN upkeep costs, and the card advantage power of Serum Visions has me firmly in the non-Groves camp. The only way I'm bringing the Groves in is if I play in a tourney I'm positive is saturated with Shadow variants. It's a hard match-up, but with the maindeck Relics and maindeck Trinket Mage, plus the Colossus in the board, the match-up feels even enough to permit it. Transmuting on turn 3 has won me a couple match-ups by itself (finding GQ vs normal Tron, finding EE against Affinity), plus with the ability to find Chalice from the board, I think it turns Lantern and Ad Nauseum match-ups from bad to even/good. Trinket Mage has also won me games by itself - I've found it very helpful because in match-ups where you're behind you can you can find an Amulet and race, otherwise you find EE/Ballista/Relic/Chalice, which is amazing card selection and against certain match-ups it's the perfect card to take over the board. It was a pet card before, but with maindeck Relics, it has earned its spot in my 75. My list is below, and in the current meta I'm not changing anything in the 75, every match has felt winnable (against everyone but G/R Ponza/Blood Moons - screw all that stuff).

Keep up the good work everybody, I read all your posts!