Match 1 vs Bring to light, Scapeshift.
We have had many epic battles over the years.
Game 1: I countered his first attempt to go off and slammed a Sundering Titan setting him back too far.
Game 2: I stumbled on mana and he over ramped me.
Game 3: I had a choice between chalice on 4 and mindslaver, but he had the counter into bring to light (ass trophy on chalice) anyway.
Match 2 vs Burn
Game 1: He had a slow had for burn, I countered eidolon then he basically didn't draw anything of note before I ultimated Ugin and activated mindslaver
Game 2: He was stuck on 1 mana for almost all of the game, still put me under pressure with 1 drops but with only one per turn wasn't enough. ThoughtKnot seer stopped the attack (and removed some burn from his hand) Still it came down to if he could draw a land on the last turn.
Match 3 vs RW prison
Game 1: Oh look a blood moon into harozet turned out worse than me hard casting 2x wurmcoil engines.
Game 2: He mulled to 5 he didn't have blood moon and I just easily overpowered him.
Match 4 vs Mardu Vampires
Game 1: I drew 2x Walking ballista and just picked his board apart.
Game 2: I drew my removal and thought-knot seer (taking his removal) preventing him from getting through any damage on to me.
My store has a strange metagame, I didn't actually see much aggro deck people just playing whatever decks they like to play.
2-0 Against UR Phoenix: Close matches but relatively easy to win imo, repeal/cyclonic/Commit greatly delay their plans, together with a few counters on their manamorphoses + slamming Wurmcoil (fabricated) + Ballista (tolaria wested) closed both games.
2-0 Against UR Phoenix again: Opponent got stuck at 1 land in game one, still managed to put 3 phoenix in play at once, managed to survive by Dismembering one and countering one of the triggered abilities with nimble. Closed the game with Wurmcoil, as usual. Game 2, I countered fetch with nimble + next turn chalice on 1 pretty much closed the game.
2-0 Against 8 Rack: It looks like we have a pretty good MU. They were close to winning game one with 3 racks in play but fabricate + oStone gave me the game. Game 2 was a mul to 5 from opponent and I just had to counter a few smallpoxes + slam Wurm to get the easy victory.
2-1 Against Spirits: Really close games all of them. It's all about countering/killing lords in time and being careful about the freaking spellqueller. I have quite a lot of removal in my list and I basically managed to slam wurmcoil before getting killed. I still needed to repeal/keep killing spirits to not die in the race tho. One of the games I ended up fabricate + slaver locking him and the other I won the race by topdecking Ugin.
1-1 Agreed Draw. We didn't even play. I believe the guy played some kind of Grixis with Death's Shadow.
1-2 Top8 Quarter finals against URG Scapeshift. First match I got stuck at 4 lands for 3-4 turns and that pretty much killed my options to win any counter war. Second match I countered a couple of Scapeshifts and Through the breach, eventually slammed a Wurmcoil and rode it to victory. Nimble obstructionist saved me from a Vendillion's ability that would have killed me. Third match I was pretty okay, but he had a nut draw of remand, remand, vendillion, through the breach, emrakul, scapeshift, 2 natural valakuts. I simply didn't have that many answers.
Overall I am quite happy with the performance of the deck. I feel like we are well positioned against the new UR Phoenix, which is definitely a good thing, since it is becoming so popular. I feel like since I have so many removals, my MUs against control (or anything with control elements) have gotten relatively worse, but are still (somewhat) favorable.
Stars/comments:
Nimble Obstructionist: Gave me a few games, either countering fetches/other abilities or flash blocking flying threats.
Wurmcoil: MVP of our deck imo.
Fabricate: I substituted my Treasure Mage with it and I could not be happier with the decision. Being able to tutor pretty much anything in our deck clearly outweighs a body that is nowadays not relevant anymore in most matchups.
Second Oblivion Stone mainboard: It's almost never a dead draw. It felt really good, especially since my list does not have much board presence anyway.
Walking ballista: it never feels like a bad topdeck.
Sundering Titan: I included it instead of Plat Angel just for this tournament, and most of the times felt like even though it could have played a huge role in the match, I had another, more conclusive and safe way of beating my opponent. I prefer it over the angel, but I might substitute it for something else. It will probably shine much more against other type of decks anyway... I will keep testing it.
This is all, sorry for the long post! Let me know if you have any suggestions for my list (besides from the 2x Surgicals)!
Finally got to play again after being busy with finishing up school the last couple weeks. Went 4-0 at my home town store after not playing there for over a year.
Game One:
I didn't know what they were playing but they announced they were playing something spicy for everyone to hear. So I assumed it was some kind of combo deck and kept a hand with a few counterspells. They managed to get a blasting station into play but I kept them off the Enduring Renewal. I landed the mindslaver lock on turn 8.
Game Two:
Kept a kind of risky hand with surgical extraction in it. I didn't have any dismembers or repeals. Their turn one they play an ornithopter. i play land pass and then turn two, they played Ensoul Artifact. I didn't draw any removal.
Game Three:
I kept a hand with 4 lands, Thought-Knot Seer, Remand, and a Supreme Will. I managed to counter their turn three ensoul artifact. I play Thought-knot and taking blasting station when they have 3 renewals in hand and only 2 lands. I hit them a couple times and play a second one, taking Teferi. I attack for 8 with them at 11 and me having 7 lands. They don't block and I play a 3/3 Ballista for the kill.
Round 2: Abzan Tokens 2-1
Game 1:
I mulled to 5 and kept 3 lands, dismember and remand. I didn't see a third land till they have 4 2/2 vigilance tokens in play.
Sideboard:
In: 2 Negate, 1 spell snare, 1 EE
Out: 3 Dismember, 1 Field of Ruin.
Game 2:
I went tronland map. A different tron land turn 2. On the end of their turn 2 I cracked map and the assassin's trophied my land and then surgicaled it. I thought the game was over. But I managed to hold onto the game with a few strong repeals and an insane value overloaded cylconic rift. I end up playing a turn 9 Ugin off of 8 lands. and then followed up with a wurmcoil engine.
Sideboard:
I realized my mistake and wanted some thought-knots
In: 3 Thought-knot Seer
out: 1 map, 2 remand (I think)
Game 3:
I start off with a really medium hand. It had tron, mindslaver and 3 counter spells. I kept regardless and ended playing mindslaver turn 4 and cracking turn 5. I did this two turns in a row just as time walks until I drew a blue source. I eventually did and had another insane cyclonic rift. Then I chained thirsts into Thought-knots. I did some fancy repeal things to evade their Voice of Resurgence tokens and managed to take the game after drawing Ugin.
Round 3: Storm 2-0
I was on the draw and kept an okay hand but It had 2 dismember and a counter spell. I hit both of their first two dorks with those dismember. They try a mini go off to kill my 4/4 walking ballista and fizzle with my well timed remand. I get the ballista up to a 7/7 with them being stuck on two lands.
Sideboard:
IN; everything but the spatial contortions
Out: 3 wurmcoil engine, 2 Field of ruin, 2 Map, 1 Ugin, 1 oblivion stone, 1 Supreme Will, (unsure about the last card)
Game 2:
My opening hand has 3 lands, spell snare, negate, remand, dismember. They go off and I managed to play around them being able to flashback Past in Flames and cast things in their graveyard and stop the storm counter at 15. I then hit them for 7 turns in a row with snapcaster mage. I draw basically all of my countermagic and the tormod's crypt. It was just enough to get there.
Round 3: 2-1 Living End
Game 1: They play a turn 2 fulminator mage, hit me with it then next turn and cast Demonic dread second main saccing it in response. I didn't have the counter spell.
SideBoard:
IN: 3 Surgical Extraction, 1 Tormod's Crypt 2 Negate, 3 Thought-Knot Seer
OUT: 2 Walking Ballista, 2 Field of Ruin, 1 Map, 1 Mindslaver, 3 Dismember
I opted not to have dismember because their threats are basically all recursive If my opponent gets to do their thing, and if they aren't i'm probably winning
Game 2:
I keep an okay hand that has a ton of counter magic. They casted a turn 2 fulminator again and hit my academy ruins. I didn't want to do it the hard way but we did. I played a turn 5 Mindslaver and cracked it basically annihilating their hand. I managed to play runner thought-knots. and they scoop it up. I fetched and got to see their deck and didn't see Ricochet Trap so I knew my counterspells had the all clear.
Game 3:
I mull to 6 and keep a great hand with tron, island, negate and surigical. they hit me a fulminator 5 turns in a row and conceal my academy ruins. I play a wurmcoil and they Violent Outburst with it on the stack. I surgical the 3 Monstrous Carabid and 2 Fulminator Mage in their yard, with it on the stack leaving them with only 2 Horror of the Broken Lands and an Ingot Chewer that gets my oblivion stone. we go back and forth with me casting wurmcoil engine every other turn. I eventually get enough lands to play Ugin for all 8 mana. I minus 5 him and still continue to wurmcoil engine chain.
MVP: Academy Ruins and Thought-Knot Seer
I love TKS to bring in against basically everything but midrange. No one expects the thoughtseize and sizable blocker games 2 and 3. Winning FNM felt great after being unable to play modern 3 weeks in a row.
So I found out that there's a Modern GP coming up in my area, and decided (possibly against my better judgment) to get back into Modern (hadn't played in ~2 years) with my Ug list, which I was rather happy with - before my hiatus, I felt like there were more games I lost due to pilot error than because the deck was incapable of it. I played a small shop tourney (3 rounds) last night to a 2-1 finish. I'll have my list and a better report either edited in or posted later tonight or tomorrow.
Very brief report:
Round 1: Izzet Phoenix - win 2-0
Round 2: Bant Humans - loss 1-2
Round 3: Amulet Titan - win 2-0 (MVP was opponent dropping Cavern and triumphantly declaring "Titan" as creature type in Game 2)
I feel like the one game I won against Humans was almost a fluke - they were mildly screwed, and the turn I went on the offensive a flashed-in Elder Deep-Fiend sealed the deal - but Game 1 was a massacre (Game 3 was closer, and could possibly have been winnable if I made other decisions before the blowout play). What do we do against those quick decks that are either often uncounterable (Humans) or have control of their own (Spirits, I guess)? I'll have my list up later, so I wonder if I'm not including the right cards, or if I just got unlucky and didn't get the things I needed when I needed them...
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xMage: Jankmaster Commander - Now Playing WUBSen Triplets - "If you shake my hand, better count your fingersBUWRHomura, Human AscendantRRGBorborygmos EnragedGRURMelek, Izzet ParagonRU
Commander - Still Brewing BRGGyrus, Waker of CorpsesGRBURSaheeli, the GiftedRUWRJor Kadeen, the PrevailerRW
Been a while, but figured I'd post real quick. Kept using the spreadsheet method for tweaking the deck, have had a decent amount of success with the deck. It's been a blast to play So, first, here's my current list:
Key things of note are the three Chalice of the Void main, two Anticipate main, three Filigree Familiar in the side and three Silent Arbiter in the side. Everything else is probably pretty expected. The Chalice are working great, and you can even see in Pierakor's videos how well they perform, though I don't know that we need four. I've been testing two Anticipate due to the data, and they've been great. We often don't have an end-step play on an opponent's turn when we have two mana open, unless we happen to have a Map in play. This allows for some early digging, when we don't have the mana to cast Thirst for Knowledge. I've been happy every time I've cast it, and I don't think that any more than two is correct.
The Filigree Familiars and Silent Arbiters in the side have been great against grindy matchups and/or creature-heavy matchups. I always want an Arbiter against decks like Elves, Merfolk, Spirits, Humans, Dredge...and the toughness being five is very good. It's been great in stalling the board until I can just hit my land drops (or assemble Tron) to play a haymaker. Familiar's been very good against aggressive decks, like Burn, and decks where counters don't help a whole heck of a lot (Cavern of Souls decks, decks with lots of discard, etc.).
It's been a while since I last played Modern, so some choices are leftovers from what I thought worked ~2 years ago. Some things I feel like I'm ready to let go of, having played the tourney (Solemn) and some are definite improvements (Ballista was absolutely fantastic).
Tourney report (sadly, without SB info)
R1 - Izzet Phoenix 2-0
Game 1 was won by Ballista, Game 2 by a non-looped Mindslaver wrecking their hand/board. MVP was Spatial Contortion so the Phoenixes didn't stick around too long.
R2 - Bant Humans 1-2
Game 1 was an absolute massacre. Game 2 the guy was mana-screwed, so by the time I went on the offensive, a flashed in Elder Deep-Fiend was effectively a Time Walk. Game 3 was close - Thalia, Guardian of Thraben kept me off-curve, so I dropped my Silent Arbiter turn 4 instead of Aetherize-ing his board. My "mistake" was dropping Thragtusk the next turn instead of holding up mana, since I forgot that Reflector Mage was a thing and his board went around 'tusk for lethal.
R3 - Amulet Titan 2-0
Counters are good, as are colorless threats that let me hold up countermana. Walking Ballista got there game 1. Game 2 was closer until he dropped Cavern of Souls naming Titan (I reconfirmed if that's what he wanted twice) and naturally, the big green Giant got countered.
Takeaways:
- I worry about having a better game 1 against aggro - I'm thinking of dropping Solemn in favor of something like a mainboard Aetherize or Wail since there are a surprising amount of creatures and Wail targets running around.
- My sideboard needs an extreme makeover, and I feel like that's grounds for another post, after I have some time to think about it.
I had an idea of 'hate' artifacts that I could search for with Gifts/Fabricate and be able to recover with Academy Ruins. I'm not running Chalice in part because it's super expensive, and in part because I feel like I don't know the format well enough to play it well.
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I used to play a list similar to yours @DasNekros, it feels a blast to play! I'd like to hear your thoughts on World Breaker, as it always felt strong to me while having Gifts Ungiven and Life from the Loam. I remember that back in the day you compared it to Sundering Titan and wurmcoil, but now I feel like "reach" can be an important keyword and it's more flexible than the titan (at least from my experience).
Also, I'd like to report back on my testings on Kozilek's Return and my version of Ur Tron in general, as it proved itself a funny interesting experiment.
I couldn't practice each matchup extensively, but I have faced a decent number of decks:
G Tron 1-0
GW Aura 2-0
Martyr Proc 0-2
GR Ponza 1-2
Bant Eldrazi 2-1
UB Mill 1-1
Humans 2-1
Storm 2-1
Overall I felt like G Tron was still a tough matchup even with Alpine Moon + chalice on 1, and games are harder when the opponent keeps on destroying my lands as it happened with Martyr and Ponza. Mill isn't easy either. Elder Deep-Fiend was decent but only once it has been a better Torrential Gearhulk, i.e. when I could cast it on turn 4. I think I will go back to gearhulk. Kozilek's Return has been good against each creature deck I faced, mainly because it's an instant and this allows to play around triggers of the likes of Champion of the Parish, Thalia's Lieutenant and Knight of Autumn. Playing it once at the right moment won me a whole game against humans (the other win was due to Ugin).
It has been bad only against Serra Ascendant so far, and opponent had it both games.
I will keep testing, but I feel like the card fits well with the playstyle of the deck and strongly helps in situations that a mono blue deck struggles to handle.
P.S: I didn't post the list because it's just a pierakor-style list with some small twists for testing or personal preference, like all of us do, except it also has 3 Kozilek's Return MB + 2 Alpine Moon SB. I will post what I played if someone is interested.
I don't recall comparing World Breaker to Titan, but that definitely sounds like something I would have done When I was updating my list for the tourney, I actually ended up cutting the Titan, despite my irrational love for it. Looking at World Breaker now, I am tempted to run a copy in the main, as it always has a target and isn't sometimes awkward like Titan. I also definitely appreciate the built-in recursion (making it Giftable) and the ability to synergize with Loam. At the same time, it would be a candidate for an easy SB swap for Nature's Claim for faster answers and Damping Sphere. I think I like it. Reach can definitely be relevant in a meta with Spirits, Mantis Riders and Phoenixes...
I used to brew a bunch of differently-colored Tron lists before, so I would definitely be interested in seeing your Ur list. What do you mean by "pierakor-style"?
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Thank you for your interest!
With that expression I meant a list based on 4 chalices in the 75 and multiple copies of the same threats (wurmcoils and ugin). Also only 1 Mindslaver. In facts, the similarities end there, as I made some card choices that he has historically advised against; those are the small twists I pondered about, I explain better below.
4 Shocklands: often I don't have a turn 1 play, so I can just play those tapped to save some life.
Signet is in because my manabase is more vulnerable to color screw.
Trinket Mage package: I feel less in need of Walking Ballista; EE on 2 feels good enough; it can tutor chalice. Also, I wanted to be able to cast EDF even without tron, so with the alternative cost of sacrificing a creature.
3 EDF: big flashy body. They were intentionally a bit too many, I wanted to see how often it could trigger Kozilek's return from the gy. Unfortunately it didn't happen quite as often as I hoped.
3 Thirst for Knowledge + 1 Champion of Wits: even if champion does not draw 3, it can provide a blocking body in those matchups where counters are less effective, while also digging at the same time. Also, it's good from the gy when out of cards, and it's a creature to be sacrificed to EDF. Playing 1 was such a small cost.
Sanctum of Ugin: this was a test. In my mind, after reaching tron and with a stable position, I would cast a win condition (possibly Ugin or big Ballista or even EDF) having an EDF to back it up the following turn. Chaining EDF into EDF can gain a lot of tempo, if that's what you need. Also, it is just a way to make sure that the opponent gets overwhelmed by hard-to-answer threats, as it often tutored Wurmcoil.
Alpine Moon: such a great card that won me several games. This hates on opposing trons and valakuts without harming us. I also brought it in against bant eldrazi as a way to stop whichever effect is the most annoying at the moment (Cavern of Souls, Eldrazi Temple, Ghost Quarter). If you know that your opponent uses one specific strip mine effect, this can act as a protection. It also stops manlands. I was lacking some kind of interaction with lands in the mainboard.
Kozilek's Return: I don't want to repeat myself, but I feel like this belongs here.
Moving on, several improvements can be made and I believe the big octopus is OK but not exceptional in the mainboard. I'd like to find a better interaction with Kozilek's return to be fit in this deck
I've never had an issue with it but my sample size it quite small. I'm currently 3-0(6-0) vs it. A well timed counter spell and making sure they never really get off the ground is vital. Early pressure from a snapcaster or small ballista is enough if you have the right amount of tempo and counters.
So I played another 3-round shop tourney this past Friday, this time 3-0ing it! I intend to play GP Toronto in 3 weeks with this list (or whatever else it gets tweaked into), so if any of you are on MTGO with non-blue-tron decks, I'd love to play against you to learn how to play against other meta decks (Spirits, KCI, Hollow One, etc). As always, any and all discussion/comments/suggestions
The tourney itself was pretty unremarkable. I once again forgot my notebook at home and wasn't keeping track of how exactly I boarded. Hopefully, next Friday I'll have it with me.
Round 1: Abzan 2-0. Game 1 was won by keeping in line with the whole "one activation of Mindslaver is enough to wreck them". Game 2 I used a boarded-in Elder Deep-fiend to Time Walk them and pulled way ahead because of it.
Round 2: Humans 2-0 (or 2-1? I don't remember, but it may well have been a quick and painless death). The guy was not playing well, but it was still rough. Obviously, different pilot would have made different decisions, so we don't know what would have happened. Game 1 I managed to Gifts my way out of a silly boardstate, keep myself at 1 life for several turns with Wurmcoil Engine, and drag the game into a Mindslaver lock. Game 2 I used some new (to me, at least) tech in Displacement Wave to reset the board (including a Damping Sphere and bait the Meddling Mage to name that and run right into an Aetherize. Again, I ended up dropping to 1 life, but I pulled through.
Round 3: GW Hatebears 2-0. Walking Ballista was MVP in game 1, and was recycled by Ruins once or twice. Game 2 I was slowed down by Gaddock Teeg keeping me off Mindslaver and Ugin, but then I started dropping Wurmcoils and it went uphill from there. Tapped out with both on the attack to bait Leonin Arbiter and Teeg to counterattack, but I was holding the Nature's Claim for surprise blockers.
Notable inclusions areHaven of the Spirit Dragon, World Breaker:
-Haven of the Spirit Dragon was brought up in conversation last week. Its purpose is the third ability to recur Ugin, which makes it safer to try to grab him with Gifts, since I can also gain access to Life from the Loam.
-World Breaker was brought up several posts above - it eats a problem permanent on cast (and it's never a dead cast since it can eat lands too), and recurs itself, which is bonus points since it doesn't need a package to show up in a Gifts package. I sent Thragtusk to the board for this, and I suspect that the final GP list will have 1 of each of these between main and board - I haven't decided whether I want more help vs aggro (tusk) or recursive threat/removal (Breaker) in game 1.
-Silent Arbiter came in to replace Solemn to help with aggro game 1 - though now that I'm looking at the above Tusk vs Breaker argument, I can't help but think Tusk is a bit more helpful than Arbiter game 1 and I should move Arbiter back to the board. Tusk gains life, takes bigger things down, and leaves a body when removed, while Arbiter just slows the game down enough for me to stabilize.
The sideboard underwent some changes too. I removed Oblivion Sower and Platinum Angel and Negate to try to address the concern of fast aggro. Humans was my one loss last time, so I just went with "what could be good against Humans" and found a thread in the main Modern forum where someone suggested Displacement Wave. I was curious enough to try it out, so I picked up a couple copies and 1 Aetherspouts to "blow out aggro". In hindsight, I feel like between Aetherize and the creatures, and now D-Wave the Aetherspouts is probably overkill and is the weakest link. But I really do like Displacement Wave, and feel like it warrants a revisit (if it hasn't recently). Again, perhaps I'm zoning in on Humans too hard, but the Wave seems pretty good in the matchups where you board it in - and the kicker (pun intended) is that you can set what you bounce (make the X low enough to bounce blockers, and get in with the Wurmcoil Engine!). Even considering X=2, it pretty much resets the board vs Humans, Hardened Scales, Lantern Control (X=3 if you need to remove the Bridge), and technically just the UU can blast tokens. Sorcery-speed, true, but the idea is to buy time vs the fast decks, so this can be an option. I intend to continue testing it.
Speaking of sideboard, I was hoping to get some insight and thoughts on how to make it better. I feel like the deck has pretty good game against the field, and just needs help against fast aggro/combo. I am thinking of cutting Jester's Cap and Aetherspouts (at least), but I am historically terrible at compiling sideboards and planning a 15 to cover several matchups. Any tips?
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If you can afford surgical extraction I highly recommend them.the card is insane vs a lot modern. Just remember it only comes in against graveyard combo decks (and Tron if you are blowing up their lands). Not vs everything like a lot of people like to do.
So I had played blue tron when I 1st got into modern, which was when the decks best days seemed to be behind it. That being said i loved the deck and saw an awful lot of value in it. The format has such a weakness for chalice its hard not to love this deck. I've bounced around a bit playing storm, Phoenix, amulet, ponza etc, and was thinking about going back to blue tron and see how it fares. IIRC here was a list I was running before or at least close to it.
I know I have a couple head scratchers in here but it seemed decent last time i ran it. The biggest thing was the spell pierce. My original take on the deck was not enough happening on T1. It allowed too many fast decks to get under you. 3 SP in the main gave you some action for T1 besides ExMap. In a T3 or T4 format. Doing nothing for a turn just wasnt acceptable. I'm glad I saw someone else talk about the filagree familiar. My meta has a lot of burn and that card is just a winner in that match. I also didn't like the talismans, the solemn, or snap caster. Those cards feel very slow and mana intensive on turns we need to be very proactive.
I would love some input on my build as pertains to the current meta.
I'm curious at no tolaria west in that list, especially with 4 chalice and 3 ballista in it. I'm also wondering about the two crucible in the list. I think we have enough game against control that even one is sometimes not needed. A great turn one play against more of the meta is dismember, a good card against burn (at least the creatures) is spatial contortion.
When you spreading seas them it looks like you might have Ceremonious Rejection and maybe a remand? I think that in the current turn and your knowledge of their hand, you might have made the right play. But I think conservatively you could have held up the ceremonious for the karn/ulamog. and still had a land left. Played your island and try to survive from there. The opps hand was so full of gas it was unlikely for you to win anyway but this line might have given you a turn or two more to get out of it.
U Tron takes 1st place in SCG IQ Little Rock. I assume it's a small tourney, but still, the rest of the decks are:
Burn, Burn, Living End, Bogles, Storm, Goblins, Burn.
What did Jeff Hoogland say, U tron can't win past quick decks?
Yeah.
I don't agree with the list that one for 'general use' but it seems pretty clear why mainboard removal, Batterskull, Kefnet etc. were good in that meta.
2 Walking ballista
1 Snapcaster mage
1 Treasure mage
2 Wurmcoil engine
1 Torrential gearhulk
1 Platinum Angel
1 Sundering Titan
Artifacts (8)
1 chalice of the void
4 expedition map
2 relic of progenitus
1 oblivion stone
Instants (16)
3 condescend
3 repeal
3 remand
1 cyclonic rift
1 spatial contortion
3 thirst for knowledge
1 supreme will
1 Dismember
2 Ugin, the spirit dragon
Land (24)
12 tron lands
7 Island
2 Field of ruin
1 Academy Ruins
1 River of Tears
1 Gemstone caverns
2 Grafdigger's cage
1 Surgical extraction
2 Spatial Contortion
2 Spreading Seas
1 Dismember
2 Thought-Knot Seer
1 Mindslaver
1 Ghost quarter
2 Aetherise
1 Summary Dismissal
Match 1 vs Bring to light, Scapeshift.
We have had many epic battles over the years.
Game 1: I countered his first attempt to go off and slammed a Sundering Titan setting him back too far.
Game 2: I stumbled on mana and he over ramped me.
Game 3: I had a choice between chalice on 4 and mindslaver, but he had the counter into bring to light (ass trophy on chalice) anyway.
Match 2 vs Burn
Game 1: He had a slow had for burn, I countered eidolon then he basically didn't draw anything of note before I ultimated Ugin and activated mindslaver
Game 2: He was stuck on 1 mana for almost all of the game, still put me under pressure with 1 drops but with only one per turn wasn't enough. ThoughtKnot seer stopped the attack (and removed some burn from his hand) Still it came down to if he could draw a land on the last turn.
Match 3 vs RW prison
Game 1: Oh look a blood moon into harozet turned out worse than me hard casting 2x wurmcoil engines.
Game 2: He mulled to 5 he didn't have blood moon and I just easily overpowered him.
Match 4 vs Mardu Vampires
Game 1: I drew 2x Walking ballista and just picked his board apart.
Game 2: I drew my removal and thought-knot seer (taking his removal) preventing him from getting through any damage on to me.
My store has a strange metagame, I didn't actually see much aggro deck people just playing whatever decks they like to play.
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
6 Island
3 River of Tears
2 Field of Ruin
1 Tolaria West
1 Academy Ruins
4 Urza's Tower
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Mine
Creatures
2 Walking Ballista
2 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Sundering Titan
1 Nimble Obstructionist
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Torrential Gearhulk
4 Condescend
2 Remand
3 Thirst for Knowledge
2 Supreme Will
2 Repeal
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Commit|Memory
1 Fabricate
2 Dismember
1 Spatial Contortion
Artifacts
1 Mindslaver
4 Expedition Map
Sweepers
2 Oblivion Stone
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
2 Dismember
2 Spatial Contortion
1 Aetherize
1 Graffdigger's Cage
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Negate
1 Spell Snare
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Spreading Seas
1 Summary Dismissal
2-0 Against UR Phoenix: Close matches but relatively easy to win imo, repeal/cyclonic/Commit greatly delay their plans, together with a few counters on their manamorphoses + slamming Wurmcoil (fabricated) + Ballista (tolaria wested) closed both games.
2-0 Against UR Phoenix again: Opponent got stuck at 1 land in game one, still managed to put 3 phoenix in play at once, managed to survive by Dismembering one and countering one of the triggered abilities with nimble. Closed the game with Wurmcoil, as usual. Game 2, I countered fetch with nimble + next turn chalice on 1 pretty much closed the game.
2-0 Against 8 Rack: It looks like we have a pretty good MU. They were close to winning game one with 3 racks in play but fabricate + oStone gave me the game. Game 2 was a mul to 5 from opponent and I just had to counter a few smallpoxes + slam Wurm to get the easy victory.
2-1 Against Spirits: Really close games all of them. It's all about countering/killing lords in time and being careful about the freaking spellqueller. I have quite a lot of removal in my list and I basically managed to slam wurmcoil before getting killed. I still needed to repeal/keep killing spirits to not die in the race tho. One of the games I ended up fabricate + slaver locking him and the other I won the race by topdecking Ugin.
1-1 Agreed Draw. We didn't even play. I believe the guy played some kind of Grixis with Death's Shadow.
1-2 Top8 Quarter finals against URG Scapeshift. First match I got stuck at 4 lands for 3-4 turns and that pretty much killed my options to win any counter war. Second match I countered a couple of Scapeshifts and Through the breach, eventually slammed a Wurmcoil and rode it to victory. Nimble obstructionist saved me from a Vendillion's ability that would have killed me. Third match I was pretty okay, but he had a nut draw of remand, remand, vendillion, through the breach, emrakul, scapeshift, 2 natural valakuts. I simply didn't have that many answers.
Overall I am quite happy with the performance of the deck. I feel like we are well positioned against the new UR Phoenix, which is definitely a good thing, since it is becoming so popular. I feel like since I have so many removals, my MUs against control (or anything with control elements) have gotten relatively worse, but are still (somewhat) favorable.
Stars/comments:
Nimble Obstructionist: Gave me a few games, either countering fetches/other abilities or flash blocking flying threats.
Wurmcoil: MVP of our deck imo.
Fabricate: I substituted my Treasure Mage with it and I could not be happier with the decision. Being able to tutor pretty much anything in our deck clearly outweighs a body that is nowadays not relevant anymore in most matchups.
Second Oblivion Stone mainboard: It's almost never a dead draw. It felt really good, especially since my list does not have much board presence anyway.
Walking ballista: it never feels like a bad topdeck.
Sundering Titan: I included it instead of Plat Angel just for this tournament, and most of the times felt like even though it could have played a huge role in the match, I had another, more conclusive and safe way of beating my opponent. I prefer it over the angel, but I might substitute it for something else. It will probably shine much more against other type of decks anyway... I will keep testing it.
This is all, sorry for the long post! Let me know if you have any suggestions for my list (besides from the 2x Surgicals)!
Cheers
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
6 Island
1 Tolaria West
2 Field of Ruin
1 Academy Ruins
3 River Of Tears
Creatures (8)
4 Walking Ballista
1 Snapcaster Mage
3 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Spells (20)
4 Condescend
3 Repeal
3 Remand
3 Dismember
1 Cyclonic Rift
2 Supreme Will
4 Thirst For Knowledge
Artifacts(6)
3 Expedition Map
1 Oblivion Stone
2 Mindslaver
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Tormod's Crypt
3 Surgical Extraction
1 Spell Snare
2 Negate
4 Spatial Contortion
3 Thought-Knot Seer
Round 1: 2-1 vs A brew revolving around Blasting Station and Enduring Renewal
Game One:
I didn't know what they were playing but they announced they were playing something spicy for everyone to hear. So I assumed it was some kind of combo deck and kept a hand with a few counterspells. They managed to get a blasting station into play but I kept them off the Enduring Renewal. I landed the mindslaver lock on turn 8.
Sideboard:
In: 2 Surgical Extraction, 2 Negate, 3 Thought-Knot Seer
Out: 3 Wurmcoil engine, 1 Map, 1 Field of Ruin, 2 Dismember
Game Two:
Kept a kind of risky hand with surgical extraction in it. I didn't have any dismembers or repeals. Their turn one they play an ornithopter. i play land pass and then turn two, they played Ensoul Artifact. I didn't draw any removal.
Game Three:
I kept a hand with 4 lands, Thought-Knot Seer, Remand, and a Supreme Will. I managed to counter their turn three ensoul artifact. I play Thought-knot and taking blasting station when they have 3 renewals in hand and only 2 lands. I hit them a couple times and play a second one, taking Teferi. I attack for 8 with them at 11 and me having 7 lands. They don't block and I play a 3/3 Ballista for the kill.
Round 2: Abzan Tokens 2-1
Game 1:
I mulled to 5 and kept 3 lands, dismember and remand. I didn't see a third land till they have 4 2/2 vigilance tokens in play.
Sideboard:
In: 2 Negate, 1 spell snare, 1 EE
Out: 3 Dismember, 1 Field of Ruin.
Game 2:
I went tronland map. A different tron land turn 2. On the end of their turn 2 I cracked map and the assassin's trophied my land and then surgicaled it. I thought the game was over. But I managed to hold onto the game with a few strong repeals and an insane value overloaded cylconic rift. I end up playing a turn 9 Ugin off of 8 lands. and then followed up with a wurmcoil engine.
Sideboard:
I realized my mistake and wanted some thought-knots
In: 3 Thought-knot Seer
out: 1 map, 2 remand (I think)
Game 3:
I start off with a really medium hand. It had tron, mindslaver and 3 counter spells. I kept regardless and ended playing mindslaver turn 4 and cracking turn 5. I did this two turns in a row just as time walks until I drew a blue source. I eventually did and had another insane cyclonic rift. Then I chained thirsts into Thought-knots. I did some fancy repeal things to evade their Voice of Resurgence tokens and managed to take the game after drawing Ugin.
Round 3: Storm 2-0
I was on the draw and kept an okay hand but It had 2 dismember and a counter spell. I hit both of their first two dorks with those dismember. They try a mini go off to kill my 4/4 walking ballista and fizzle with my well timed remand. I get the ballista up to a 7/7 with them being stuck on two lands.
Sideboard:
IN; everything but the spatial contortions
Out: 3 wurmcoil engine, 2 Field of ruin, 2 Map, 1 Ugin, 1 oblivion stone, 1 Supreme Will, (unsure about the last card)
Game 2:
My opening hand has 3 lands, spell snare, negate, remand, dismember. They go off and I managed to play around them being able to flashback Past in Flames and cast things in their graveyard and stop the storm counter at 15. I then hit them for 7 turns in a row with snapcaster mage. I draw basically all of my countermagic and the tormod's crypt. It was just enough to get there.
Round 3: 2-1 Living End
Game 1: They play a turn 2 fulminator mage, hit me with it then next turn and cast Demonic dread second main saccing it in response. I didn't have the counter spell.
SideBoard:
IN: 3 Surgical Extraction, 1 Tormod's Crypt 2 Negate, 3 Thought-Knot Seer
OUT: 2 Walking Ballista, 2 Field of Ruin, 1 Map, 1 Mindslaver, 3 Dismember
I opted not to have dismember because their threats are basically all recursive If my opponent gets to do their thing, and if they aren't i'm probably winning
Game 2:
I keep an okay hand that has a ton of counter magic. They casted a turn 2 fulminator again and hit my academy ruins. I didn't want to do it the hard way but we did. I played a turn 5 Mindslaver and cracked it basically annihilating their hand. I managed to play runner thought-knots. and they scoop it up. I fetched and got to see their deck and didn't see Ricochet Trap so I knew my counterspells had the all clear.
Game 3:
I mull to 6 and keep a great hand with tron, island, negate and surigical. they hit me a fulminator 5 turns in a row and conceal my academy ruins. I play a wurmcoil and they Violent Outburst with it on the stack. I surgical the 3 Monstrous Carabid and 2 Fulminator Mage in their yard, with it on the stack leaving them with only 2 Horror of the Broken Lands and an Ingot Chewer that gets my oblivion stone. we go back and forth with me casting wurmcoil engine every other turn. I eventually get enough lands to play Ugin for all 8 mana. I minus 5 him and still continue to wurmcoil engine chain.
MVP: Academy Ruins and Thought-Knot Seer
I love TKS to bring in against basically everything but midrange. No one expects the thoughtseize and sizable blocker games 2 and 3. Winning FNM felt great after being unable to play modern 3 weeks in a row.
Very brief report:
Round 1: Izzet Phoenix - win 2-0
Round 2: Bant Humans - loss 1-2
Round 3: Amulet Titan - win 2-0 (MVP was opponent dropping Cavern and triumphantly declaring "Titan" as creature type in Game 2)
I feel like the one game I won against Humans was almost a fluke - they were mildly screwed, and the turn I went on the offensive a flashed-in Elder Deep-Fiend sealed the deal - but Game 1 was a massacre (Game 3 was closer, and could possibly have been winnable if I made other decisions before the blowout play). What do we do against those quick decks that are either often uncounterable (Humans) or have control of their own (Spirits, I guess)? I'll have my list up later, so I wonder if I'm not including the right cards, or if I just got unlucky and didn't get the things I needed when I needed them...
xMage: Jankmaster
Commander - Now Playing
WUBSen Triplets - "If you shake my hand, better count your fingersBUW RHomura, Human AscendantR RGBorborygmos EnragedGR URMelek, Izzet ParagonRU
Commander - Still Brewing
BRGGyrus, Waker of CorpsesGRB URSaheeli, the GiftedRU WRJor Kadeen, the PrevailerRW
// 9 Artifact
4 Expedition Map
3 Chalice of the Void
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Mindslaver
// 5 Creature
1 Torrential Gearhulk
1 Walking Ballista
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Platinum Angel
1 Wurmcoil Engine
// 21 Instant
4 Condescend
3 Remand
3 Supreme Will
3 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Commit // Memory
3 Repeal
2 Spatial Contortion
2 Anticipate
4 Urza's Tower
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
7 Island
1 Academy Ruins
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1 Field of Ruin
1 Tolaria West
1 Gemstone Caverns
// 1 Planeswalker
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
// 1 Artifact
1 Grafdigger's Cage
// 6 Creature
3 Filigree Familiar
3 Silent Arbiter
// 3 Enchantment
3 Spreading Seas
// 5 Instant
3 Negate
1 Spatial Contortion
1 Surgical Extraction
Key things of note are the three Chalice of the Void main, two Anticipate main, three Filigree Familiar in the side and three Silent Arbiter in the side. Everything else is probably pretty expected. The Chalice are working great, and you can even see in Pierakor's videos how well they perform, though I don't know that we need four. I've been testing two Anticipate due to the data, and they've been great. We often don't have an end-step play on an opponent's turn when we have two mana open, unless we happen to have a Map in play. This allows for some early digging, when we don't have the mana to cast Thirst for Knowledge. I've been happy every time I've cast it, and I don't think that any more than two is correct.
The Filigree Familiars and Silent Arbiters in the side have been great against grindy matchups and/or creature-heavy matchups. I always want an Arbiter against decks like Elves, Merfolk, Spirits, Humans, Dredge...and the toughness being five is very good. It's been great in stalling the board until I can just hit my land drops (or assemble Tron) to play a haymaker. Familiar's been very good against aggressive decks, like Burn, and decks where counters don't help a whole heck of a lot (Cavern of Souls decks, decks with lots of discard, etc.).
Lantern Control
(with videos)
Uc Tron
Netdecking explained
Netdecking explained, Part 2
On speculators and counterfeits
On Interaction
Every single competitive deck in existence is designed to limit the opponent's ability to interact in a meaningful way.
Record number of exclamation points on SCG homepage: 71 (6 January, 2018)
"I don't want to believe, I want to know."
-Carl Sagan
4 Urza's Tower
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Mine
4 Breeding Pool
4 Island
2 Verdant Catacombs
1 Academy Ruins
1 Forest
Instant: 20
4 Condescend
4 Repeal
4 Remand
3 Thirst for Knowledge
2 Spatial Contortion
2 Gifts Ungiven
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Life from the Loam
1 Fabricate
1 Sylvan Scrying
Artifact: 6
4 Expedition Map
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Mindslaver
Creature: 6
2 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Walking Ballista
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Thragtusk
2 Nature's Claim
2 Warping Wail
2 Aetherize
1 Jester's Cap
1 Silent Arbiter
1 Platinum Angel
1 Oblivion Sower
1 Elder Deep-Fiend
1 Spell Snare
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Negate
It's been a while since I last played Modern, so some choices are leftovers from what I thought worked ~2 years ago. Some things I feel like I'm ready to let go of, having played the tourney (Solemn) and some are definite improvements (Ballista was absolutely fantastic).
Tourney report (sadly, without SB info)
R1 - Izzet Phoenix 2-0
Game 1 was won by Ballista, Game 2 by a non-looped Mindslaver wrecking their hand/board. MVP was Spatial Contortion so the Phoenixes didn't stick around too long.
R2 - Bant Humans 1-2
Game 1 was an absolute massacre. Game 2 the guy was mana-screwed, so by the time I went on the offensive, a flashed in Elder Deep-Fiend was effectively a Time Walk. Game 3 was close - Thalia, Guardian of Thraben kept me off-curve, so I dropped my Silent Arbiter turn 4 instead of Aetherize-ing his board. My "mistake" was dropping Thragtusk the next turn instead of holding up mana, since I forgot that Reflector Mage was a thing and his board went around 'tusk for lethal.
R3 - Amulet Titan 2-0
Counters are good, as are colorless threats that let me hold up countermana. Walking Ballista got there game 1. Game 2 was closer until he dropped Cavern of Souls naming Titan (I reconfirmed if that's what he wanted twice) and naturally, the big green Giant got countered.
Takeaways:
- I worry about having a better game 1 against aggro - I'm thinking of dropping Solemn in favor of something like a mainboard Aetherize or Wail since there are a surprising amount of creatures and Wail targets running around.
- My sideboard needs an extreme makeover, and I feel like that's grounds for another post, after I have some time to think about it.
I had an idea of 'hate' artifacts that I could search for with Gifts/Fabricate and be able to recover with Academy Ruins. I'm not running Chalice in part because it's super expensive, and in part because I feel like I don't know the format well enough to play it well.
xMage: Jankmaster
Commander - Now Playing
WUBSen Triplets - "If you shake my hand, better count your fingersBUW RHomura, Human AscendantR RGBorborygmos EnragedGR URMelek, Izzet ParagonRU
Commander - Still Brewing
BRGGyrus, Waker of CorpsesGRB URSaheeli, the GiftedRU WRJor Kadeen, the PrevailerRW
Also, I'd like to report back on my testings on Kozilek's Return and my version of Ur Tron in general, as it proved itself a funny interesting experiment.
I couldn't practice each matchup extensively, but I have faced a decent number of decks:
G Tron 1-0
GW Aura 2-0
Martyr Proc 0-2
GR Ponza 1-2
Bant Eldrazi 2-1
UB Mill 1-1
Humans 2-1
Storm 2-1
Overall I felt like G Tron was still a tough matchup even with Alpine Moon + chalice on 1, and games are harder when the opponent keeps on destroying my lands as it happened with Martyr and Ponza. Mill isn't easy either.
Elder Deep-Fiend was decent but only once it has been a better Torrential Gearhulk, i.e. when I could cast it on turn 4. I think I will go back to gearhulk.
Kozilek's Return has been good against each creature deck I faced, mainly because it's an instant and this allows to play around triggers of the likes of Champion of the Parish, Thalia's Lieutenant and Knight of Autumn. Playing it once at the right moment won me a whole game against humans (the other win was due to Ugin).
It has been bad only against Serra Ascendant so far, and opponent had it both games.
I will keep testing, but I feel like the card fits well with the playstyle of the deck and strongly helps in situations that a mono blue deck struggles to handle.
P.S: I didn't post the list because it's just a pierakor-style list with some small twists for testing or personal preference, like all of us do, except it also has 3 Kozilek's Return MB + 2 Alpine Moon SB. I will post what I played if someone is interested.
I used to brew a bunch of differently-colored Tron lists before, so I would definitely be interested in seeing your Ur list. What do you mean by "pierakor-style"?
xMage: Jankmaster
Commander - Now Playing
WUBSen Triplets - "If you shake my hand, better count your fingersBUW RHomura, Human AscendantR RGBorborygmos EnragedGR URMelek, Izzet ParagonRU
Commander - Still Brewing
BRGGyrus, Waker of CorpsesGRB URSaheeli, the GiftedRU WRJor Kadeen, the PrevailerRW
With that expression I meant a list based on 4 chalices in the 75 and multiple copies of the same threats (wurmcoils and ugin). Also only 1 Mindslaver. In facts, the similarities end there, as I made some card choices that he has historically advised against; those are the small twists I pondered about, I explain better below.
4 Expedition Map
3 Thirst for Knowledge
2 Izzet Signet
Cheap interaction
2 Chalice of the Void
4 Condescend
2 Remand
2 Repeal
2 Dismember
3 Kozilek's Return
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Engineered Explosives
Non-creature Win Conditions
2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
1 Mindslaver
2 Wurmcoil Engine
3 Elder Deep-Fiend
1 Walking Ballista
1 Trinket Mage
1 Champion of Wits
Lands
12 Urza lands
1 Academy Ruins
1 Tolaria West
1 Sanctum of Ugin
4 Steam Vents
4 Island
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Tormod's Crypt
3 Thought-Knot Seer
3 Nimble Obstructionist
2 Alpine Moon
2 Chalice of the Void
1 Crucible of Worlds
So:
- 4 Shocklands: often I don't have a turn 1 play, so I can just play those tapped to save some life.
- Signet is in because my manabase is more vulnerable to color screw.
- Trinket Mage package: I feel less in need of Walking Ballista; EE on 2 feels good enough; it can tutor chalice. Also, I wanted to be able to cast EDF even without tron, so with the alternative cost of sacrificing a creature.
- 3 EDF: big flashy body. They were intentionally a bit too many, I wanted to see how often it could trigger Kozilek's return from the gy. Unfortunately it didn't happen quite as often as I hoped.
- 3 Thirst for Knowledge + 1 Champion of Wits: even if champion does not draw 3, it can provide a blocking body in those matchups where counters are less effective, while also digging at the same time. Also, it's good from the gy when out of cards, and it's a creature to be sacrificed to EDF. Playing 1 was such a small cost.
- Sanctum of Ugin: this was a test. In my mind, after reaching tron and with a stable position, I would cast a win condition (possibly Ugin or big Ballista or even EDF) having an EDF to back it up the following turn. Chaining EDF into EDF can gain a lot of tempo, if that's what you need. Also, it is just a way to make sure that the opponent gets overwhelmed by hard-to-answer threats, as it often tutored Wurmcoil.
- Alpine Moon: such a great card that won me several games. This hates on opposing trons and valakuts without harming us. I also brought it in against bant eldrazi as a way to stop whichever effect is the most annoying at the moment (Cavern of Souls, Eldrazi Temple, Ghost Quarter). If you know that your opponent uses one specific strip mine effect, this can act as a protection. It also stops manlands. I was lacking some kind of interaction with lands in the mainboard.
- Kozilek's Return: I don't want to repeat myself, but I feel like this belongs here.
Moving on, several improvements can be made and I believe the big octopus is OK but not exceptional in the mainboard. I'd like to find a better interaction with Kozilek's return to be fit in this deckThe tourney itself was pretty unremarkable. I once again forgot my notebook at home and wasn't keeping track of how exactly I boarded. Hopefully, next Friday I'll have it with me.
Round 1: Abzan 2-0. Game 1 was won by keeping in line with the whole "one activation of Mindslaver is enough to wreck them". Game 2 I used a boarded-in Elder Deep-fiend to Time Walk them and pulled way ahead because of it.
Round 2: Humans 2-0 (or 2-1? I don't remember, but it may well have been a quick and painless death). The guy was not playing well, but it was still rough. Obviously, different pilot would have made different decisions, so we don't know what would have happened. Game 1 I managed to Gifts my way out of a silly boardstate, keep myself at 1 life for several turns with Wurmcoil Engine, and drag the game into a Mindslaver lock. Game 2 I used some new (to me, at least) tech in Displacement Wave to reset the board (including a Damping Sphere and bait the Meddling Mage to name that and run right into an Aetherize. Again, I ended up dropping to 1 life, but I pulled through.
Round 3: GW Hatebears 2-0. Walking Ballista was MVP in game 1, and was recycled by Ruins once or twice. Game 2 I was slowed down by Gaddock Teeg keeping me off Mindslaver and Ugin, but then I started dropping Wurmcoils and it went uphill from there. Tapped out with both on the attack to bait Leonin Arbiter and Teeg to counterattack, but I was holding the Nature's Claim for surprise blockers.
Here's the new list!
4 Urza's Tower
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Mine
4 Breeding Pool
3 Island
2 Verdant Catacombs
1 Academy Ruins
1 Forest
1 Haven of the Spirit Dragon
Instant: 20
4 Condescend
4 Repeal
4 Remand
3 Thirst for Knowledge
2 Spatial Contortion
2 Gifts Ungiven
1 Cyclonic Rift
1 Life from the Loam
1 Fabricate
1 Sylvan Scrying
Artifact: 6
4 Expedition Map
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Mindslaver
Creature: 6
2 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Walking Ballista
1 Silent Arbiter
1 World Breaker
2 Nature's Claim
2 Warping Wail
2 Aetherize
2 Displacement Wave
1 Jester's Cap
1 Elder Deep-Fiend
1 Spell Snare
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Thragtusk
1 Aetherspouts
Notable inclusions areHaven of the Spirit Dragon, World Breaker:
-Haven of the Spirit Dragon was brought up in conversation last week. Its purpose is the third ability to recur Ugin, which makes it safer to try to grab him with Gifts, since I can also gain access to Life from the Loam.
-World Breaker was brought up several posts above - it eats a problem permanent on cast (and it's never a dead cast since it can eat lands too), and recurs itself, which is bonus points since it doesn't need a package to show up in a Gifts package. I sent Thragtusk to the board for this, and I suspect that the final GP list will have 1 of each of these between main and board - I haven't decided whether I want more help vs aggro (tusk) or recursive threat/removal (Breaker) in game 1.
-Silent Arbiter came in to replace Solemn to help with aggro game 1 - though now that I'm looking at the above Tusk vs Breaker argument, I can't help but think Tusk is a bit more helpful than Arbiter game 1 and I should move Arbiter back to the board. Tusk gains life, takes bigger things down, and leaves a body when removed, while Arbiter just slows the game down enough for me to stabilize.
The sideboard underwent some changes too. I removed Oblivion Sower and Platinum Angel and Negate to try to address the concern of fast aggro. Humans was my one loss last time, so I just went with "what could be good against Humans" and found a thread in the main Modern forum where someone suggested Displacement Wave. I was curious enough to try it out, so I picked up a couple copies and 1 Aetherspouts to "blow out aggro". In hindsight, I feel like between Aetherize and the creatures, and now D-Wave the Aetherspouts is probably overkill and is the weakest link. But I really do like Displacement Wave, and feel like it warrants a revisit (if it hasn't recently). Again, perhaps I'm zoning in on Humans too hard, but the Wave seems pretty good in the matchups where you board it in - and the kicker (pun intended) is that you can set what you bounce (make the X low enough to bounce blockers, and get in with the Wurmcoil Engine!). Even considering X=2, it pretty much resets the board vs Humans, Hardened Scales, Lantern Control (X=3 if you need to remove the Bridge), and technically just the UU can blast tokens. Sorcery-speed, true, but the idea is to buy time vs the fast decks, so this can be an option. I intend to continue testing it.
Speaking of sideboard, I was hoping to get some insight and thoughts on how to make it better. I feel like the deck has pretty good game against the field, and just needs help against fast aggro/combo. I am thinking of cutting Jester's Cap and Aetherspouts (at least), but I am historically terrible at compiling sideboards and planning a 15 to cover several matchups. Any tips?
xMage: Jankmaster
Commander - Now Playing
WUBSen Triplets - "If you shake my hand, better count your fingersBUW RHomura, Human AscendantR RGBorborygmos EnragedGR URMelek, Izzet ParagonRU
Commander - Still Brewing
BRGGyrus, Waker of CorpsesGRB URSaheeli, the GiftedRU WRJor Kadeen, the PrevailerRW
3 remand
3 repeal
3 spell pierce
4 condeacend
2 gifts ungiven
1 cyclonic rift
4 thirst for knowledge
Artifacts
4 expedition map
2 wurmcoil engine
2 walking ballista
1 mindslaver
1 crucible of worlds
1 oblivion stone
3 chalice of the void
2 Ugin, the spirit dragon
Lands
12 Urza land
7 island
3 ghost quarter
1 burried ruin
1 academy ruins
1 crucible of worlds
1 walking ballista
1 wurmcoil engine
4 filigree familiar
1 chalice of the void
3 surgical extraction
3 displacement wave
1 sphinx of the final word
I know I have a couple head scratchers in here but it seemed decent last time i ran it. The biggest thing was the spell pierce. My original take on the deck was not enough happening on T1. It allowed too many fast decks to get under you. 3 SP in the main gave you some action for T1 besides ExMap. In a T3 or T4 format. Doing nothing for a turn just wasnt acceptable. I'm glad I saw someone else talk about the filagree familiar. My meta has a lot of burn and that card is just a winner in that match. I also didn't like the talismans, the solemn, or snap caster. Those cards feel very slow and mana intensive on turns we need to be very proactive.
I would love some input on my build as pertains to the current meta.
spell snare is also pretty strong right now, counters phoenix's busted draws by getting manamorphose and thing in the ice.
A tale of 2 trons. Sadly died, and I definitely made some bad decisions on game 3.
I know my hand was a little hard to see, but if anyone can tell me what would've been better plays on game 3, do let me know!
U Tron takes 1st place in SCG IQ Little Rock. I assume it's a small tourney, but still, the rest of the decks are:
Burn, Burn, Living End, Bogles, Storm, Goblins, Burn.
What did Jeff Hoogland say, U tron can't win past quick decks?
Yeah.
I don't agree with the list that one for 'general use' but it seems pretty clear why mainboard removal, Batterskull, Kefnet etc. were good in that meta.