I'm not a fan of the white cards. It seems like its set up to beat humans or hollow one, but firespout has always been more than enough to beat humans for me, and I'd rather just be fast against hollow one than morph into a wrath deck. Kabira crossroads also just seems like a worse fountain. Porphyry nodes seems exceptionally bad, given that most of our creatures are often the ones with the least power, 1/1 snakes and 1/2 azuas and 0/1 plants, that we have to play to get the engine moving while their 2/2 humans or 4/4 hollow ones get to beat on us for free.
THIS 100X!!! If you don't agree with this then there is no amount of logic that will ever convince you that good, non-oppressive, combos should be allowed. If you don't agree with it then just don't play this game, and you certainly shouldn't feel entitled to make any comment on ban lists ever.
Everybody talks about how ancient stirrings should be the next card banned. I don't want that debate to start here, but where would this deck go if that were to happen?
I saw that list. I think I am going to try a trinket mage instead of my one of reclamation sage and see how it is doing but I dont really want to take out an explore or land for another.
I have seen Zacama in some lists. That looks fun for fnm but not sure if it is optimal. Does it help any of our bad match ups?
I saw that list. I think I am going to try a trinket mage instead of my one of reclamation sage and see how it is doing but I dont really want to take out an explore or land for another.
I have seen Zacama in some lists. That looks fun for fnm but not sure if it is optimal. Does it help any of our bad match ups?
I've played 3 4-5 round modern tourneys since I last posted about Zacama. I don't really see the draw to it in the main. The only time it actually got me there was against humans when I needed removal and walking ballista was named by meddling mage. Though in that situation I could have made it a priority to transmute for EE if I didnt have zacama in the deck. I really like the card but I don't see it helping in any match ups. We have radiant fountain for lifegain, we have silver bullets for both creatures or artifacts/enchantments. If it could shoot pw or players then it would be a shoe in. I'm playing some games with a few friends tomorrow who basically have a gauntlet and I am going to keep Zacama in for now. After that I am going to try a trinket mage in place of it.
Sigarda is just a super flexible sideboard slot. Its great against burn, midrange, and control. It can make an army in an instant, protects the hand, and prevents you from getting burned out. Hardened scales is the best deck in the format in my opinion, and much harder than normal affinity. Our board wipes are not super effective so we just have to race. I got blown out one game by my opponent moving modular triggers after first strike damage to eat my guy. Having the extra vesuva was clutch, let me copy my opponents man lands to stall out the game and swing for the win.
Hello fellow amulet players, I have a couple of questions regarding how to handle and manage some kind of match ups i find interesting in the new meta (bare in mind that i am currently on a three months sleep due to work stuff):
The first MU that I want to touch is the new UW Control/Miracles. Playing against Ux is usually simple or at least straightforward: try to land a titan asap, maybe through cavern and have it go coast to coast. However, with the introduction of Terminus and Field of Ruins in the mix, I feel that the match up is now a little more complicated and requires a dedicate approach to be handled in a correct way. My main plan is to try to stick a Cavern through a all the manabase denial and use it to cast a Titan and bouncing it back asap, saving for the next one. Often a single Titan is not enough to win the game, due to the multiple way to clear the board of UW (Terminus, PtE, Teferi, Sphere, wraths and so on), so the chain is quite recommended. Have you had any troubles with this match up? How do you handle it? Have you ever found yourself in soft spot without any relevant threats left in the deck? If so, how did you manage to stick a win? Did you found any relevant sideboard strategies to fight this match up?
The second match up that I want to touch is the new Hardened Scales. Personally, i have never played against it but i can see it as a real contender. In this case I am looking for information regarding the game against this particular deck: is it just a pure race for the kill? Can you contain their plan or you just need to brute force it through? In this case, the same sideboard plan for any artifact based deck is still relevant (Abrades, sweepers and son on)?
Overall, any new technologies compared to three months ago for the change of the meta?
Thank you all for your insights.
One of the big reasons I have switched back to hive mind is having a threat that can't be terminused/pathed. If you really want to have a card dedicated to UW gaea's revenge or carnage tyrant are probably your best bets. Another game-plan is to try and set up two slayer's strongholds and try and grind them out with plant tokens, sounds weird but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I would also keep in your amulets, you can't really afford to lose velocity vs them anymore.
So revenge forces a board wipe and hits for 8 the turn it comes down. Haste and "hexproof" is a good combo for pushing the issue.
What's the reason for not liking hive mind post bloom banning?
Hello fellow amulet players, I have a couple of questions regarding how to handle and manage some kind of match ups i find interesting in the new meta (bare in mind that i am currently on a three months sleep due to work stuff):
The first MU that I want to touch is the new UW Control/Miracles. Playing against Ux is usually simple or at least straightforward: try to land a titan asap, maybe through cavern and have it go coast to coast. However, with the introduction of Terminus and Field of Ruins in the mix, I feel that the match up is now a little more complicated and requires a dedicate approach to be handled in a correct way. My main plan is to try to stick a Cavern through a all the manabase denial and use it to cast a Titan and bouncing it back asap, saving for the next one. Often a single Titan is not enough to win the game, due to the multiple way to clear the board of UW (Terminus, PtE, Teferi, Sphere, wraths and so on), so the chain is quite recommended. Have you had any troubles with this match up? How do you handle it? Have you ever found yourself in soft spot without any relevant threats left in the deck? If so, how did you manage to stick a win? Did you found any relevant sideboard strategies to fight this match up?
Personally I believe Slayers' Stronghold is the most important land in this matchup and the one you should be trying to protect at all costs. UWx lists are generally counter light compared to removal; there's gonna be 3-4 Cryptics, 1-2 Logic Knot, and maybe 1-2 "soft" counters (Spell Snare, Mana Leak). It's a lot easier to resolve a threat than it is keeping it on the battlefield. I try to keep Stronghold around to make any creature enough a beater and to punish tap-outs or situations where you have Pact of Negation backup for a Titan. I also believe Bojuka Bog should be one of the first lands you tutor for; exiling PtE, Cryptics, and turning off Azcanta is really key to not get overwhelmed by Snapcaster loops turns 5-6 (when you should be kinda even on resources at worst if you want to win). Post-board, I just bring in Relics and more threats; Tireless Tracker is a house here. Again, controlling their yard is big because it's how they accrue enough card advantage to outmuscle your threats. Academy Ruins is a spicy tech for UWx matchups too because you can loop Ballista as a recurring threat; they won't be interacting with your yard and can't exile Ballista easily at all. Field of Ruin isn't too wild to play around unless they have Crucible of Worlds, you just gotta make sure to save Stronghold.
Hey all,
I'm looking at Assassin's Trophy and wondering about the future of Amulet Titan. I dont think it will ruin us but will definitely have to be played and built around. Do we add more basics, start games more conservatively, or even join the crowd and add more black sources and throphies of our own? Looking forward to hearing your expertise.
Thanks davius,
As more of a historical / hypothetical question, have we ever had to run chalice / ramunap excavator against heavy LD? Green pact for ramunap with an Azusa out seems spicy.
I have seen Zacama in some lists. That looks fun for fnm but not sure if it is optimal. Does it help any of our bad match ups?
I have seen Zacama in some lists. That looks fun for fnm but not sure if it is optimal. Does it help any of our bad match ups?
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1297741#paper
R1 2-1 vs Storm
R2 2-0 vs Enchantress
R3 2-0 vs Aggro Scapeshift
R4 2-0 Vs can't remember
R5 1-2 vs Hardened Scales
T8 2-0 vs Burn
T4 2-1 vs burn
Finals 2-1 vs Hardened Scales
One of the big reasons I have switched back to hive mind is having a threat that can't be terminused/pathed. If you really want to have a card dedicated to UW gaea's revenge or carnage tyrant are probably your best bets. Another game-plan is to try and set up two slayer's strongholds and try and grind them out with plant tokens, sounds weird but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. I would also keep in your amulets, you can't really afford to lose velocity vs them anymore.
What's the reason for not liking hive mind post bloom banning?
Personally I believe Slayers' Stronghold is the most important land in this matchup and the one you should be trying to protect at all costs. UWx lists are generally counter light compared to removal; there's gonna be 3-4 Cryptics, 1-2 Logic Knot, and maybe 1-2 "soft" counters (Spell Snare, Mana Leak). It's a lot easier to resolve a threat than it is keeping it on the battlefield. I try to keep Stronghold around to make any creature enough a beater and to punish tap-outs or situations where you have Pact of Negation backup for a Titan. I also believe Bojuka Bog should be one of the first lands you tutor for; exiling PtE, Cryptics, and turning off Azcanta is really key to not get overwhelmed by Snapcaster loops turns 5-6 (when you should be kinda even on resources at worst if you want to win). Post-board, I just bring in Relics and more threats; Tireless Tracker is a house here. Again, controlling their yard is big because it's how they accrue enough card advantage to outmuscle your threats. Academy Ruins is a spicy tech for UWx matchups too because you can loop Ballista as a recurring threat; they won't be interacting with your yard and can't exile Ballista easily at all. Field of Ruin isn't too wild to play around unless they have Crucible of Worlds, you just gotta make sure to save Stronghold.
I'm looking at Assassin's Trophy and wondering about the future of Amulet Titan. I dont think it will ruin us but will definitely have to be played and built around. Do we add more basics, start games more conservatively, or even join the crowd and add more black sources and throphies of our own? Looking forward to hearing your expertise.
As more of a historical / hypothetical question, have we ever had to run chalice / ramunap excavator against heavy LD? Green pact for ramunap with an Azusa out seems spicy.