Played a 3-rounder tonight with the same 75 (swapped the wrath to a verdict). Went 3-0, 6-0 in games, beat bloodbraid jund, scapeshift, and burn. Lost all three die rolls. I think I'm pretty close to settled on this list--probably going to keep messing with the timely reinforcements slot, the sideboard, and the dimir charm/3rd knot slots. So far dimir charm has been straight gas, either counterspell or ultimate price basically every time. I used it once with a jace on board + a snapcaster shown from hand to draw a concession.
I wouldn't mainboard halo, and the fact that it doesn't protect JTMS isn't even part of that consideration. Runed halo is just too narrow. Yeah, it's great when it's great, but it's not "good enough enough of the time". There are just better cmc2 removal spells.
I contrast this to leyline, which has about as many decks where it's really great, but in matchups where it isn't it still stops a wider array of threats/problems than halo can.
The other comment I have on your list is that you're very soft in the wincons department. Creaturelands really aren't reliable win conditions any longer, Snapcaster obviously also dies to everything. That leaves you in the position of 2 jace and a secure the wastes. I think you might find over time that this is actually few enough that opponents will reliably beat you just by answering all of your threats, in any game where for whatever reason your secure the wastes has to get burned early or is answered. Not a huge gripe, but I think that was a big part of the reason why Secure builds played two copies.
Yes, I am a local area mod. WELP. GOOD LIFE CHANGES ALL HAPPEN AT ONCE AND SOME ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE
Primary Decks:
Modern: Esper Draw-Go
Legacy: RUG Lands
EDH: Sidisi turn-3 storm
Of course, this thread was pretty much built on the "you don't have to play 1 mana cantrips to be successful" and with search and jace being new card advantage engines, and think twice always being the weak link, playing neither is appealing.
I was considering Think Twice a cantrip. It's technically more than that, but basically it's a card that helps hit land drops and has a bit more value late game.
It was mentioned back when the unbans happened that a complete overhaul would happen after we get data from the next few opens/GPs.
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Yes, I am a local area mod. WELP. GOOD LIFE CHANGES ALL HAPPEN AT ONCE AND SOME ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE
Primary Decks:
Modern: Esper Draw-Go
Legacy: RUG Lands
EDH: Sidisi turn-3 storm
Shaheen Soorani posted a sweet list on Star City. Obviously, it runs 3x Souls, but it’s sniffing at the borders of where most of the posted decks on this page have been.
Shaheen Soorani posted a sweet list on Star City. Obviously, it runs 3x Souls, but it’s sniffing at the borders of where most of the posted decks on this page have been.
That deck seemed pretty suspect to me. 8 spot removal spells and 2 sweepers, as if he was a Jeskai list.
Shaheen is a fan of overloading on bombs and hoping his opponents don't recover.
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Yes, I am a local area mod. WELP. GOOD LIFE CHANGES ALL HAPPEN AT ONCE AND SOME ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE
Primary Decks:
Modern: Esper Draw-Go
Legacy: RUG Lands
EDH: Sidisi turn-3 storm
TBH I've always felt that Shaheen is not a good Modern control player. He's decent at playing the decks, but he builds some pretty bad piles. His UW list pre-Jace had no Spreading Seas. Personally I take his decks with a grain of salt usually
I look at shaheens list in every format to figure out what the biggest possible impact sideboard cards are for every match, because that's how he builds his decks--piles of the biggest impact cards. With little or no regard for having a cohesive deck or gameplan in a matchup he doesn't pre-plan bombs for.
If you look at his mtgo results, he's pretty consistently worse than most of the dedicated modern control streamers. Donny is probably a 60% winrate in competitive leagues if he puts in the reps on Esper. That's as good as shaheen's usual win rate in paper events, which have a softer field and a wider variety of decks.
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Yes, I am a local area mod. WELP. GOOD LIFE CHANGES ALL HAPPEN AT ONCE AND SOME ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE
Primary Decks:
Modern: Esper Draw-Go
Legacy: RUG Lands
EDH: Sidisi turn-3 storm
I look at shaheens list in every format to figure out what the biggest possible impact sideboard cards are for every match, because that's how he builds his decks--piles of the biggest impact cards. With little or no regard for having a cohesive deck or gameplan in a matchup he doesn't pre-plan bombs for.
If you look at his mtgo results, he's pretty consistently worse than most of the dedicated modern control streamers. Donny is probably a 60% winrate in competitive leagues if he puts in the reps on Esper. That's as good as shaheen's usual win rate in paper events, which have a softer field and a wider variety of decks.
I don’t think the leagues are stronger fields than Day 2 of GPs or the PT — where he’s been spotted a dozen times.
Maintaining a high winrate on MTGO is cool and all, but the prize payout for T8 a premier event is exponentially higher. So Test online, tweak, and play your heart out — but don’t treat it as canon.
As an aside: I’ve never seen someone skip their entire turn in a paper event, or yield through lethal combat, or suddenly stop responding for 10 minutes and then lose. The field is soft
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Feel free to PM me about Affinity decks in any format!
If I had to rank them in terms of competitive level:
1. PT
2. GP Day 2
3. MODO Premier Events
4. MODO Leagues
5. GP Day 1/Random 1K
6. FNM
Basically in 4-6 you get repeatedly paired up with a bunch of random players that may or may not be competitive. MODO tends to have more experienced players due to the ease of repititions, and Day 1 of the GP or random local tourneys bring out more Spikes than usual. MODO Premier events and Day 2 of GPs are where you consistently see grinders and semi pros. Obviously the PT has the highest bar to entry.
Without insulting anybody...you can't compare Shaheen to a streamer that isn't even a MODO grinder. He's still a professional Magic player, even if he has to fight for his PT invites. I agree that his decks are consistently on the "Blue Jund" end of the spectrum, but that doesn't take away from his results.
I agree with those rankings but would insert open day 2's at 4.5.
Most of shaheens modern play is modo or opens--he only has five modern GP's, with one 11-4, one mediocre day 2 (+1 win over losses) and three failures to day 2. (Data from mtg elo project)
Shaheen is not a strong modern player. He's much much stronger as a standard/legacy player.
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Yes, I am a local area mod. WELP. GOOD LIFE CHANGES ALL HAPPEN AT ONCE AND SOME ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE
Primary Decks:
Modern: Esper Draw-Go
Legacy: RUG Lands
EDH: Sidisi turn-3 storm
Yeah honestly, many pros are good at Standard and Limited, and they wanna expand to Modern. They already assume they're great at it, and they're a decent player because they're a pro, but it's not enough to supplement the experience Modern demands.
2x Celestial Colonnade
2x Creeping Tar Pit
1x Field of Ruin
4x Flooded Strand
1x Godless Shrine
2x Hallowed Fountain
2x Island
2x Marsh Flats
2x Plains
2x Polluted Delta
2x Swamp
1x Watery Grave
Instant (13)
3x Fatal Push
3x Opt
3x Path to Exile
2x Remand
2x Spell Snare
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
3x Lingering Souls
4x Serum Visions
1x Supreme Verdict
2x Thoughtseize
Creature (7)
3x Monastery Mentor
2x Snapcaster Mage
2x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Planeswalker (4)
1x Gideon of the Trials
2x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1x Liliana of the Veil
2x Blessed Alliance
1x Collective Brutality
2x Extirpate
1x Liliana's Defeat
1x Liliana, the Last Hope
2x Negate
2x Rest in Peace
2x Stony Silence
2x Vendilion Clique
Current Decks
Standard : WB Orzhov Vampires BW GUB Sultai Constrictor BUG
Brawl : GB Hapatra, Vizier of Poisons BG
Modern : GB Golgari Elves BG GR Atarka Goblins RG
Pauper : W Heroic W GB Delve BG
I contrast this to leyline, which has about as many decks where it's really great, but in matchups where it isn't it still stops a wider array of threats/problems than halo can.
The other comment I have on your list is that you're very soft in the wincons department. Creaturelands really aren't reliable win conditions any longer, Snapcaster obviously also dies to everything. That leaves you in the position of 2 jace and a secure the wastes. I think you might find over time that this is actually few enough that opponents will reliably beat you just by answering all of your threats, in any game where for whatever reason your secure the wastes has to get burned early or is answered. Not a huge gripe, but I think that was a big part of the reason why Secure builds played two copies.
Yes, I am a local area mod.WELP. GOOD LIFE CHANGES ALL HAPPEN AT ONCE AND SOME ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVEPrimary Decks:
Modern: Esper Draw-Go
Legacy: RUG Lands
EDH: Sidisi turn-3 storm
Yes, I am a local area mod.WELP. GOOD LIFE CHANGES ALL HAPPEN AT ONCE AND SOME ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVEPrimary Decks:
Modern: Esper Draw-Go
Legacy: RUG Lands
EDH: Sidisi turn-3 storm
Yes, I am a local area mod.WELP. GOOD LIFE CHANGES ALL HAPPEN AT ONCE AND SOME ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVEPrimary Decks:
Modern: Esper Draw-Go
Legacy: RUG Lands
EDH: Sidisi turn-3 storm
UWR Control
BR Hollow One
If you look at his mtgo results, he's pretty consistently worse than most of the dedicated modern control streamers. Donny is probably a 60% winrate in competitive leagues if he puts in the reps on Esper. That's as good as shaheen's usual win rate in paper events, which have a softer field and a wider variety of decks.
Yes, I am a local area mod.WELP. GOOD LIFE CHANGES ALL HAPPEN AT ONCE AND SOME ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVEPrimary Decks:
Modern: Esper Draw-Go
Legacy: RUG Lands
EDH: Sidisi turn-3 storm
I don’t think the leagues are stronger fields than Day 2 of GPs or the PT — where he’s been spotted a dozen times.
Maintaining a high winrate on MTGO is cool and all, but the prize payout for T8 a premier event is exponentially higher. So Test online, tweak, and play your heart out — but don’t treat it as canon.
As an aside: I’ve never seen someone skip their entire turn in a paper event, or yield through lethal combat, or suddenly stop responding for 10 minutes and then lose. The field is soft
@Robo_Memer on Twitter, Twitch, Reddit, and YouTube
Feel free to PM me about Affinity decks in any format!
1. PT
2. GP Day 2
3. MODO Premier Events
4. MODO Leagues
5. GP Day 1/Random 1K
6. FNM
Basically in 4-6 you get repeatedly paired up with a bunch of random players that may or may not be competitive. MODO tends to have more experienced players due to the ease of repititions, and Day 1 of the GP or random local tourneys bring out more Spikes than usual. MODO Premier events and Day 2 of GPs are where you consistently see grinders and semi pros. Obviously the PT has the highest bar to entry.
Without insulting anybody...you can't compare Shaheen to a streamer that isn't even a MODO grinder. He's still a professional Magic player, even if he has to fight for his PT invites. I agree that his decks are consistently on the "Blue Jund" end of the spectrum, but that doesn't take away from his results.
Most of shaheens modern play is modo or opens--he only has five modern GP's, with one 11-4, one mediocre day 2 (+1 win over losses) and three failures to day 2. (Data from mtg elo project)
Shaheen is not a strong modern player. He's much much stronger as a standard/legacy player.
Yes, I am a local area mod.WELP. GOOD LIFE CHANGES ALL HAPPEN AT ONCE AND SOME ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVEPrimary Decks:
Modern: Esper Draw-Go
Legacy: RUG Lands
EDH: Sidisi turn-3 storm
UWR Control
BR Hollow One
Esper draw go Control!
Twitch stream: http://www.twitch.tv/pimpdonny
UWR Control
BR Hollow One