It is so funny, because I just started working with this more linear version of the deck and the meta is making my Walkers version look better and better Oh well, it can't hurt to have a deeper understanding on how to play each and every version of devotion (and to know which meta's/match ups work best for each) so we can know what to play when.
On Stompy
You are absolutely right! I will get the Stompy info up there tonight. I have it in word form, just not formatted for the primer (but that won't take long). Kalas17 has a pretty darn good grasp on it. I would say the cards that work great in Stompy (that are not in the other versions) are Strangleroot Geist, Leatherback Baloth, Nylea, God of the Hunt, Rancor, and potentially Collected Company. This new meta may be good for Stompy. Strangleroot is just an absolutely busted card...it's just awesome. Rancor is also amazing in devotion. And you already know how good Leatherback can be...so you are already pretty close to a full deck with just those and the "core" of devotion.
Kalas17 is also on to something with Sarkhan Vol (haste enabler) and Genesis Hydra...this is going to be something many many devotion decks are going to have to play now that blue is back in Modern.
I'll post a list when I get home. I've been playing with pact and haven't felt 100% satisfied with it. It's obviously great when you can cast it and win the game - this happens a surprising amount of time, but most of those games you've already established a board, and aren't trying to stabilize. I've actually found that I prefer primal command. Often it gives your opponents a turn to do something, but it also often blanks that draw step, so it's a wash. The flexibility is key, since you can buy yourself time when you're under pressure. I did like hydra in the past, and now that I'm running more low drops and the possibility of permission, it's looking like an increasingly strong pick.
Kalas17 is also on to something with Sarkhan Vol (haste enabler) and Genesis Hydra...this is going to be something many many devotion decks are going to have to play now that blue is back in Modern.
The 4 Hydras main are mainly in there because a friend of mine is on Mono U Tron but thanks to unbans they might just have earned their place back over Wave. Also, I tried the Eidolon of Blossoms shell and it felt very VERY lackluster.
I'll post a list when I get home. I've been playing with pact and haven't felt 100% satisfied with it. It's obviously great when you can cast it and win the game - this happens a surprising amount of time, but most of those games you've already established a board, and aren't trying to stabilize. I've actually found that I prefer primal command. Often it gives your opponents a turn to do something, but it also often blanks that draw step, so it's a wash. The flexibility is key, since you can buy yourself time when you're under pressure. I did like hydra in the past, and now that I'm running more low drops and the possibility of permission, it's looking like an increasingly strong pick.
Cool thoughts on Pact vs. Command. I have played Chord recently and liked it too. It will be interesting to see which ends up being the "tutor of preference" (or if a tutor is even necessary). Primal Command certainly does more than just tutor; so there is that. With all of the artifacts that will be running around now; Command may once again be a premiere card for us.
Kalas17 is also on to something with Sarkhan Vol (haste enabler) and Genesis Hydra...this is going to be something many many devotion decks are going to have to play now that blue is back in Modern.
The 4 Hydras main are mainly in there because a friend of mine is on Mono U Tron but thanks to unbans they might just have earned their place back over Wave. Also, I tried the Eidolon of Blossoms shell and it felt very VERY lackluster.
Yeah...I tried everything I could to get Eidolon to work and I couldn't do it. It takes a TON of synergy to get a 4-drop 2/2 to work At 4-CMC you're talking multiple strong Planeswalkers, Polukranos, and many many other cards. There are amazing enchantments; and it honestly feels like a card we should be able to abuse. Maybe we just haven't found it yet...
Hello there.
If we are looking at blue modern, we should put back those traps back in our deck!
It works great with eternal witness and primeval titan. In deck with pact it is also good to have access to white for restoration angel.
I was running this kind of deck long time ago, and it was awsome in scapeshift/uwr meta. I was also one of few people that didnt hate playing vs control and had possitive win % vs them. Now with all those planeswalkers, shouldnt it be even better?
Super tired right now, but I'm running 61 because I can't make a cut. Sometimes you just need to tutor up an army in a can. Prime time is the best mid range threat, and I'd consider going to two hydras or cutting wolfbriar for a second. I never seem to tutor for wolfbriar, but it fills out the curve very efficiently. It can easily take over the game by itself, and with nissa or garruk it's typically game - obviously it's game with craterhoof as well. I was running 4 pacts, but you can't cast it early, and that's obviously a poor position to be in. I think command is better, but can be clunky itself - you can at least cast it and then take a turn off, whereas often with pact you can't cast the threat you tutor for early, then have to take another turn off to pay for it. I will say I wasn't originally running wolfbriar, but it seems to be a solid role player/curve filler. I've also tried cutting primevals, but they make getting to the late game easy. Again, I started with 4 burning-tree, but it can be so bad late or without nykthos. I've recently been happy with geist and finks since they essentially draw another copy of themselves and cast it again and you don't lose devotion. Perhaps finks is better since persist works better with nissa than undying, but haste and cmc 2 are not irrelevant. Sideboard is in flux now, but generally is geared towards grinding more or stopping hyper aggression. For a while I had E witness in the main to chain with command, but I moved it to the side since it's slow.
The main avenues to victory are to play a big threat or to go wide, and the decks ability to pivot is very strong. Nissa seems to be a great avenue for this - she can stall the board, aid in going wide, and pump up a bunch of dorks. If the plants were eldrazi spawn she'd be busted I think. The deck's strength and weakness is the fact that it leverages a bunch of dorks - tooth and nail doesn't have as strong a plan b of attacking with a bunch of plants, birds, and elves.
I know how much it hurts to get a g wave counterd but control is not that bad if it get to the point were control is really popular we can always mainboard some boseiju who shelters all and say no to counter spells.
Keep in mind Vexing Shusher if the meta goes to blue control. I also wonder if a control heavy meta would make Banefire something to look at again.
I found an amazing video and a website discussed in the video on how to make decks better. The real gem of it is that it explains the statistics involved in making a Magic deck. This website allows you to figure out those statistics without having to do the complicated math. If you've already studied statistics, you can go right to the site and have fun. http://stattrek.com/online-calculator/hypergeometric.aspx
I'm a little confused by goggs talk on Primal command vs. Summoner's Pact. If your complaint about Summoner's Pact is that it can't be used to summon an early creature, it is much less likely that you can use a Primal Command to summon an early creature. Summoner's Pact is the search spell that is most likely to enable a player to get that creature out asap. Perhaps it was just the sleepiness talking.
Here's what I see in Pact vs. Command. Pact seems in-arguably better if your focus is on playing Craterhoof for the win. My thoughts are that, while my deck isn't interactive, if I can Craterhoof on turn 4 consistently, it doesn't really need to be interactive because I already won. Also note that if you successfully Hoof an opponent to death, pact literally costs 0 as you don't have another upkeep after that. Pact also seems like it may be better for those focusing on Primeval Titan. Note that when you use pact to get Primetime to search up a Nykthos/Wolf Run, pact is practically a free tutor. If you use pact to get Primetime and play Primetime, you add 2 devotion to your board which nets you two mana through Nykthos. You can still use Wolf run to tap for a mana to pay pact's cost. So in a sense, Pact really only cost you 1 mana to play! If you didn't have a pact to use, you couldn't have gotten Primetime which means no nykthos/no devotion/other land, which means you still don't have access to that mana that you would have gained from playing Pact into Primeval Titan.
These are the only two creatures that I can see Pact>Primal Command, but if you're gameplan is to get out those two creatures for a win asap, then Pact>>Primal Command. I can see command working better in a toolbox version. I still play Command in my sideboard in case I need Graveyard hate or my opponent's deck is way faster than mine. Usually however if I'm going to win, I destroy my opponent before I feel like I need to interact with them. The other thing to consider is that Pact only retrieves green creatures which can sometimes be detrimental if you need to get a Spellskite.
Since we are on tutors, Chord of Calling is not good if you are going the Craterhoof route as you want to play Choof on your turn, so there is no upside to Chord vs. Pact considering that card.
Don't forget about Burning Tree Emmissary+Summoner's pact combo! She has been my mvp so many times for providing 2 extra mana to have enough for Prime Time or Choof on turns 3-4. She is also the only card I can think of that makes having multiple Summoner's pacts in your hand a good thing (but risky if your opponent times their counter right). I can see the benefits of all the other tutors mentioned, but pact is the only one that is free the turn you plan on winning.
I see the reasons you have for puting pact above primal but burn and delver are still alive and kicking and gaining 7 life off primal has saved my ass so many times that i still main board the comand and switch to pact if i know i wont need the life.
I'm a little confused by goggs talk on Primal command vs. Summoner's Pact.
In my experience the games that you'd cast summoner's pact and immediately win you can also immediately win if you cast primal command and wait a turn. However the games where you can't profitably pact for craterhoof - maybe you're behind and trying to stabilize, maybe you don't have a critical mass of creatures - casting pact and then taking the following turn off is much worse than casting command (which has an effect that turn) and going for it the following turn.
So, yes pact is better if you can cast craterhoof and win, but in any other situation it feels worse.
Ahh yes. I have run into that problem more often in previous incarnations. I noticed that the deck did run into problems where I had Pact or Hoof in hand early on but not enough creatures to punch through lethal damage. Instead of going to Primal Command I put in a bunch of Strangleroot Geist, Kitchen Finks, Nissa, Voice of Zendikar and a couple of Xenagos. I seem to always have the creatures to pull of an early Craterhoof now a days.
Someone else made a good point a couple of posts back (sorry forgot the name.) If you're running Summoner's Pact, keep Primal Command in the sideboard. It's versatility is much needed in some match ups.
1. The fact that the plant tokens are 0/1 (as a birds) is HUGE against Tezzerator and Lantern Control (anything playing Ensnaring Bridge. I had multiple games won o. Large stalls because I could Wolf-Run a 0-power creature after declaring it an attacker.
2. On the discussion of Pact vs. Command; I think they are just very different cards for slightly different decks. Summoners Pact is tely meant for pure speed. Playing BTE, Primeval Titan, and Craterhoof are the "big three" for pact decks. There are all sorts of crazy things you can do with BTE to speed things up; and knowing you have essentially 7-8 copies of Prime Time and 3-6 copies of Craterhoof really smooths the lines out to ensure the second you hit the mana you've got the card you want.
Primal Command on the other hand is more for disruptive decks wanting to grind the opponent down until they hit their haymaker. it's slower; but it also us card advantage (where Pact is not). It has multiple uses (and being able to bounce a non-creature is going to be even better than it was before) so it's obviously far more versatile. This is to be expected. As things slow down and become less linear; they become slightly less consistent, far more versatile, and more resilient. Command decks tend to play more copies of Witness, Dismember, and other utility creatures.
Both cards are spectacular...just different (and really meant for different decks despite having the same general core).
3) I'm not sure there will ever be a better combo of 6, 7, 8 than that of Primeval Titan, Hornet Queen, Craterhoof Behemoth
4) I was sincerely close to taking out the Pacts and just playing Uvenwald Hydras if counters were everywhere (and play Caverns/traps, "creature spells can't be countered" permanents, etc.). Even a "worse Prime Time" may still be good for us. That, and reach is interesting...
5) The thopter foundry / sword of the meek combo seems better to me than ancestral visions...I think it may have more of an impact. This makes Polukranos, World Eater, Bonfire of the Damned, and even Izzet Staticaster (for Chord decks) even better. And of course Creeping Corrosion. Artifact and "swarm" hate will be needed.
6) Since more "swarm" hate will see play; we kinda have to be sure we can go both wide and tall. Fortunately Kessig Wolf Run makes this very possible.
7) Tooth and Nail will struggle a little more with the "new meta" if counters are more prevalent; but by no means is it drastic...and the deck is still playable/competitive. Land hate hurts T&N most; and we may see less of it now that Eldrazi and Tron took a hit. This could easily offset it...that and Summoning Trap is a great card for T&N to abuse (probably more so than any other devotion deck).
8. If the meta becomes both more Counter-heavy and "Attrition-y" than Genesis Hydra becomes extremely good. A scaleable 2-for-1 that still has value when countered is definitely worth keeping an eye on.
I'm not sure Pact and Command really compete. Command is a toolbox in itself, and is present in most builds for reasons (catch-all permanent removal, incidental anti-Burn, lockout). It's more of a control card. Pact is more aggressive, generally favoring decks that want to race to an explosive finish or utilize a creature toolbox. I think that each deck has an obvious preference, depending on the other cards in the build.
Hey guys, I've been reading through this thread and thinking about making the move into Devotion.
My question is regarding finishers. It seems Tooth and Nail is the majority favorite as far as competitive finishers go. I have seen some Genesis Wave decks as well. I'm just wondering if there was a reason/meta where one finisher would be chosen over another.
Mostly because they're different decks. T&N decks generally focus very heavily on hitting that 9th mana, and often play cards only useful for that gameplan. Hardcasting Emerkul is possible, though not likely. However, if they get there, they basically just win.
Wave fits better into decks with more varied offense. A Wave has to be bigger to guarantee a win, but can still have a major impact on its own at 6-8 mana without needing to specifically build around it (though it can do even better if it is built around).
In effect, while Wave and T&N fill similar purposes and shouldn't be played together, they are both viable, but thrive in different builds (and consequently, in different metagames).
I'm not sure Pact and Command really compete. Command is a toolbox in itself, and is present in most builds for reasons (catch-all permanent removal, incidental anti-Burn, lockout). It's more of a control card. Pact is more aggressive, generally favoring decks that want to race to an explosive finish or utilize a creature toolbox. I think that each deck has an obvious preference, depending on the other cards in the build.
Pact and command compete in the sense that there are only so many slots for these type of cards in the deck. I'm starting to believe more firmly that command is where I want to be. As I mentioned earlier, it's better in more scenarios than pact.
@Myrciak:
Crumble to Dust is still probably good against Tron, though Blood Moon may be better. Tron decks actually got a lot more dangerous, since their unnatural predator (Eldrazi) has gotten weaker. Turn 3 Karn is going to beat T&N usually, so you still want a way to disrupt.
Otherwise, the metagame will shift. This is the first time we've gotten to play without a tier 0 deck warping everything, Twin being gone, and both Visions and SotM being back. That changes enough to make this a poor situation to bet in. That said, Choke doesn't seem like a bad guess.
@goggs:
I've seen decks make room for both, particularly toolbox builds (3-5 Pact/Chord, 1-2 Command). I'm at 3 Command (no Pact/Chord, 3 Wave instead), because I play a more control-oriented deck. Control decks crave card advantage and flexible answers, both of which Primal Command is.
Satyr is pretty huge in T&N. Generally it plays around using lots of enchantments like Utopia Sprawl and Overgrowth on a single land, and satyr is a cheap way to untap those. Kiora costs 2 more mana, and while her -2 is relevant, at that mana cost it's competing against cards like harmonize.
Hi
I'm a newbie here, and i was wondering if anybody got a reliable way to use Kiora, Master of the depths?
I'm leaning toward a Tooth and Nails variant, and i'm not very fan of those satyrs...reason is, if i'm going to have a permanent-based land-untapper, why not taking her instead?
The minus ability is a plus , being able to "fetch" an hydra or a titan...
And...let's face it, Island opens new horizons^^ isn't it the most played Magic card?^^
Kiora, Master of the Depths is technically your Garruk Wildspeaker 5-8 in Decks that splash Blue instead of Red (Xenagos, the Reveler being Garruk 5-8 in Red).
In T&N Running more than 4 Garruks is not very popular since you really only need to reach the "Magic 9" and cheaper enchants get you there faster. But there are always the more traditional lists if you really want to use Kiora
On Stompy
You are absolutely right! I will get the Stompy info up there tonight. I have it in word form, just not formatted for the primer (but that won't take long). Kalas17 has a pretty darn good grasp on it. I would say the cards that work great in Stompy (that are not in the other versions) are Strangleroot Geist, Leatherback Baloth, Nylea, God of the Hunt, Rancor, and potentially Collected Company. This new meta may be good for Stompy. Strangleroot is just an absolutely busted card...it's just awesome. Rancor is also amazing in devotion. And you already know how good Leatherback can be...so you are already pretty close to a full deck with just those and the "core" of devotion.
Kalas17 is also on to something with Sarkhan Vol (haste enabler) and Genesis Hydra...this is going to be something many many devotion decks are going to have to play now that blue is back in Modern.
The 4 Hydras main are mainly in there because a friend of mine is on Mono U Tron but thanks to unbans they might just have earned their place back over Wave. Also, I tried the Eidolon of Blossoms shell and it felt very VERY lackluster.
Cool thoughts on Pact vs. Command. I have played Chord recently and liked it too. It will be interesting to see which ends up being the "tutor of preference" (or if a tutor is even necessary). Primal Command certainly does more than just tutor; so there is that. With all of the artifacts that will be running around now; Command may once again be a premiere card for us.
Excited to see your list!
Yeah...I tried everything I could to get Eidolon to work and I couldn't do it. It takes a TON of synergy to get a 4-drop 2/2 to work
If we are looking at blue modern, we should put back those traps back in our deck!
It works great with eternal witness and primeval titan. In deck with pact it is also good to have access to white for restoration angel.
I was running this kind of deck long time ago, and it was awsome in scapeshift/uwr meta. I was also one of few people that didnt hate playing vs control and had possitive win % vs them. Now with all those planeswalkers, shouldnt it be even better?
4 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Stomping Ground
1 Kessig Wolf Run
11 Forest
CMC 1 (15)
4 Arbor Elf
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Oath of Nissa
4 Strangleroot Geist
2 Burning-Tree Emissary
CMC 3 (5)
3 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
2 Kitchen Finks
CMC 4 (4)
4 Garruk Wildspeaker
Win Conditions (10)
3 Primal Command
3 Genesis Hydra
1 Craterhoof Behemoth
1 Primeval Titan
1 Wolfbriar Elemental
1 Hornet Queen
Super tired right now, but I'm running 61 because I can't make a cut. Sometimes you just need to tutor up an army in a can. Prime time is the best mid range threat, and I'd consider going to two hydras or cutting wolfbriar for a second. I never seem to tutor for wolfbriar, but it fills out the curve very efficiently. It can easily take over the game by itself, and with nissa or garruk it's typically game - obviously it's game with craterhoof as well. I was running 4 pacts, but you can't cast it early, and that's obviously a poor position to be in. I think command is better, but can be clunky itself - you can at least cast it and then take a turn off, whereas often with pact you can't cast the threat you tutor for early, then have to take another turn off to pay for it. I will say I wasn't originally running wolfbriar, but it seems to be a solid role player/curve filler. I've also tried cutting primevals, but they make getting to the late game easy. Again, I started with 4 burning-tree, but it can be so bad late or without nykthos. I've recently been happy with geist and finks since they essentially draw another copy of themselves and cast it again and you don't lose devotion. Perhaps finks is better since persist works better with nissa than undying, but haste and cmc 2 are not irrelevant. Sideboard is in flux now, but generally is geared towards grinding more or stopping hyper aggression. For a while I had E witness in the main to chain with command, but I moved it to the side since it's slow.
The main avenues to victory are to play a big threat or to go wide, and the decks ability to pivot is very strong. Nissa seems to be a great avenue for this - she can stall the board, aid in going wide, and pump up a bunch of dorks. If the plants were eldrazi spawn she'd be busted I think. The deck's strength and weakness is the fact that it leverages a bunch of dorks - tooth and nail doesn't have as strong a plan b of attacking with a bunch of plants, birds, and elves.
Anyway, I have to go to sleep now.
I found an amazing video and a website discussed in the video on how to make decks better. The real gem of it is that it explains the statistics involved in making a Magic deck. This website allows you to figure out those statistics without having to do the complicated math. If you've already studied statistics, you can go right to the site and have fun. http://stattrek.com/online-calculator/hypergeometric.aspx
If you don't know statistics, watch the video and it will explain the math enough that you can use the site. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bf6MYyOojBw
I'm a little confused by goggs talk on Primal command vs. Summoner's Pact. If your complaint about Summoner's Pact is that it can't be used to summon an early creature, it is much less likely that you can use a Primal Command to summon an early creature. Summoner's Pact is the search spell that is most likely to enable a player to get that creature out asap. Perhaps it was just the sleepiness talking.
Here's what I see in Pact vs. Command. Pact seems in-arguably better if your focus is on playing Craterhoof for the win. My thoughts are that, while my deck isn't interactive, if I can Craterhoof on turn 4 consistently, it doesn't really need to be interactive because I already won. Also note that if you successfully Hoof an opponent to death, pact literally costs 0 as you don't have another upkeep after that. Pact also seems like it may be better for those focusing on Primeval Titan. Note that when you use pact to get Primetime to search up a Nykthos/Wolf Run, pact is practically a free tutor. If you use pact to get Primetime and play Primetime, you add 2 devotion to your board which nets you two mana through Nykthos. You can still use Wolf run to tap for a mana to pay pact's cost. So in a sense, Pact really only cost you 1 mana to play! If you didn't have a pact to use, you couldn't have gotten Primetime which means no nykthos/no devotion/other land, which means you still don't have access to that mana that you would have gained from playing Pact into Primeval Titan.
These are the only two creatures that I can see Pact>Primal Command, but if you're gameplan is to get out those two creatures for a win asap, then Pact>>Primal Command. I can see command working better in a toolbox version. I still play Command in my sideboard in case I need Graveyard hate or my opponent's deck is way faster than mine. Usually however if I'm going to win, I destroy my opponent before I feel like I need to interact with them. The other thing to consider is that Pact only retrieves green creatures which can sometimes be detrimental if you need to get a Spellskite.
Since we are on tutors, Chord of Calling is not good if you are going the Craterhoof route as you want to play Choof on your turn, so there is no upside to Chord vs. Pact considering that card.
In my experience the games that you'd cast summoner's pact and immediately win you can also immediately win if you cast primal command and wait a turn. However the games where you can't profitably pact for craterhoof - maybe you're behind and trying to stabilize, maybe you don't have a critical mass of creatures - casting pact and then taking the following turn off is much worse than casting command (which has an effect that turn) and going for it the following turn.
So, yes pact is better if you can cast craterhoof and win, but in any other situation it feels worse.
Someone else made a good point a couple of posts back (sorry forgot the name.) If you're running Summoner's Pact, keep Primal Command in the sideboard. It's versatility is much needed in some match ups.
1. The fact that the plant tokens are 0/1 (as a birds) is HUGE against Tezzerator and Lantern Control (anything playing Ensnaring Bridge. I had multiple games won o. Large stalls because I could Wolf-Run a 0-power creature after declaring it an attacker.
2. On the discussion of Pact vs. Command; I think they are just very different cards for slightly different decks. Summoners Pact is tely meant for pure speed. Playing BTE, Primeval Titan, and Craterhoof are the "big three" for pact decks. There are all sorts of crazy things you can do with BTE to speed things up; and knowing you have essentially 7-8 copies of Prime Time and 3-6 copies of Craterhoof really smooths the lines out to ensure the second you hit the mana you've got the card you want.
Primal Command on the other hand is more for disruptive decks wanting to grind the opponent down until they hit their haymaker. it's slower; but it also us card advantage (where Pact is not). It has multiple uses (and being able to bounce a non-creature is going to be even better than it was before) so it's obviously far more versatile. This is to be expected. As things slow down and become less linear; they become slightly less consistent, far more versatile, and more resilient. Command decks tend to play more copies of Witness, Dismember, and other utility creatures.
Both cards are spectacular...just different (and really meant for different decks despite having the same general core).
3) I'm not sure there will ever be a better combo of 6, 7, 8 than that of Primeval Titan, Hornet Queen, Craterhoof Behemoth
4) I was sincerely close to taking out the Pacts and just playing Uvenwald Hydras if counters were everywhere (and play Caverns/traps, "creature spells can't be countered" permanents, etc.). Even a "worse Prime Time" may still be good for us. That, and reach is interesting...
5) The thopter foundry / sword of the meek combo seems better to me than ancestral visions...I think it may have more of an impact. This makes Polukranos, World Eater, Bonfire of the Damned, and even Izzet Staticaster (for Chord decks) even better. And of course Creeping Corrosion. Artifact and "swarm" hate will be needed.
6) Since more "swarm" hate will see play; we kinda have to be sure we can go both wide and tall. Fortunately Kessig Wolf Run makes this very possible.
7) Tooth and Nail will struggle a little more with the "new meta" if counters are more prevalent; but by no means is it drastic...and the deck is still playable/competitive. Land hate hurts T&N most; and we may see less of it now that Eldrazi and Tron took a hit. This could easily offset it...that and Summoning Trap is a great card for T&N to abuse (probably more so than any other devotion deck).
8. If the meta becomes both more Counter-heavy and "Attrition-y" than Genesis Hydra becomes extremely good. A scaleable 2-for-1 that still has value when countered is definitely worth keeping an eye on.
Modern: Merfolk UU // Green Devotion GG // SkRed Red RR
Legacy: Death & Taxes WW // Burn RR // Death's Shadow Delver UB
Commander: Brago UW // Karlov WB
My question is regarding finishers. It seems Tooth and Nail is the majority favorite as far as competitive finishers go. I have seen some Genesis Wave decks as well. I'm just wondering if there was a reason/meta where one finisher would be chosen over another.
Thanks
Wave fits better into decks with more varied offense. A Wave has to be bigger to guarantee a win, but can still have a major impact on its own at 6-8 mana without needing to specifically build around it (though it can do even better if it is built around).
In effect, while Wave and T&N fill similar purposes and shouldn't be played together, they are both viable, but thrive in different builds (and consequently, in different metagames).
Modern: Merfolk UU // Green Devotion GG // SkRed Red RR
Legacy: Death & Taxes WW // Burn RR // Death's Shadow Delver UB
Commander: Brago UW // Karlov WB
Pact and command compete in the sense that there are only so many slots for these type of cards in the deck. I'm starting to believe more firmly that command is where I want to be. As I mentioned earlier, it's better in more scenarios than pact.
Crumble to Dust is still probably good against Tron, though Blood Moon may be better. Tron decks actually got a lot more dangerous, since their unnatural predator (Eldrazi) has gotten weaker. Turn 3 Karn is going to beat T&N usually, so you still want a way to disrupt.
Otherwise, the metagame will shift. This is the first time we've gotten to play without a tier 0 deck warping everything, Twin being gone, and both Visions and SotM being back. That changes enough to make this a poor situation to bet in. That said, Choke doesn't seem like a bad guess.
@goggs:
I've seen decks make room for both, particularly toolbox builds (3-5 Pact/Chord, 1-2 Command). I'm at 3 Command (no Pact/Chord, 3 Wave instead), because I play a more control-oriented deck. Control decks crave card advantage and flexible answers, both of which Primal Command is.
Modern: Merfolk UU // Green Devotion GG // SkRed Red RR
Legacy: Death & Taxes WW // Burn RR // Death's Shadow Delver UB
Commander: Brago UW // Karlov WB
Kiora, Master of the Depths is technically your Garruk Wildspeaker 5-8 in Decks that splash Blue instead of Red (Xenagos, the Reveler being Garruk 5-8 in Red).
In T&N Running more than 4 Garruks is not very popular since you really only need to reach the "Magic 9" and cheaper enchants get you there faster. But there are always the more traditional lists if you really want to use Kiora