Tell us more about the deck. I think it’s landlight at first glance and the kingpin/4 battle at bridge seem odd at first blush. Also lots of planeswalkers.
Updates on the U/W/r list... Talked to some Jeskai pilots about super high impact W/r cards and they all mentioned Wear/Tear. Which just happens to fix a lot of problematic cards we face! Instant speed W to kill a RiP or Stony is deeec, especially when its flip side is relevant against Affinity/Tron/Lantern/KCI/etc. I'll keep playing with the list. I almost wonder if 1 Teferi/1 Karn is the optimal place to be with the planeswalkers.
@boomforest thanks for the reply! I like to keep the deck B/U nothing G/R/W really impressed me too much. I don't know if I need more lands.. I have a mulligan here or there but I think I hit my land drops pretty consistently there are a total of 18 lands pentad and 3 Mox opals. As for the battle at bridge It seams to be pretty helpful against creature heavy decks like goblins, elves, affinity which I play fairly often. The extra life gain and taking out a key creature early on helps to survive a couple extra turns until things get rolling. I will sideboard them out for graveyard hate for matchups against dredge or storm both also heavy in my meta. I like the planeswalkers because I fell like the deck is still missing something to help get the combo out sooner, Jace helps but he mostly distracts opponents and buys time if needed, same thing with Liliana for the most part. I know I could go more on the brutalities or the ideas unbound but they don't feel right to cast so often id rather see of a planeswalker could stick. If there are any other cards you could suggest for those spots I would love to hear them as well, if there is a better land configuration you would suggested I would love to hear that as well!
@boomforest thanks for the reply! I like to keep the deck B/U nothing G/R/W really impressed me too much. I don't know if I need more lands.. I have a mulligan here or there but I think I hit my land drops pretty consistently there are a total of 18 lands pentad and 3 Mox opals. As for the battle at bridge It seams to be pretty helpful against creature heavy decks like goblins, elves, affinity which I play fairly often. The extra life gain and taking out a key creature early on helps to survive a couple extra turns until things get rolling. I will sideboard them out for graveyard hate for matchups against dredge or storm both also heavy in my meta. I like the planeswalkers because I fell like the deck is still missing something to help get the combo out sooner, Jace helps but he mostly distracts opponents and buys time if needed, same thing with Liliana for the most part. I know I could go more on the brutalities or the ideas unbound but they don't feel right to cast so often id rather see of a planeswalker could stick. If there are any other cards you could suggest for those spots I would love to hear them as well, if there is a better land configuration you would suggested I would love to hear that as well!
Agree with boom; you’re running 3 less lands than most people and more planes walkers/3+ cc cards. Results bias is a real thing. Also agree with boom on battle; it’s great in a few matchups but worse than CB most of the time. 3 surgical is a lot, especially with 3 other GY cards in your side. Highly recommend Graf main and maybe a GQ to go with the Surgicals if you insist on playing all of them.
Thanks for the feedback @trav34, I feel like the point of the pentads and the Mox opals was to be able to run less lands, if I bump up to 21 Id be running close to most other 2 color decks that run no mana rocks.. I guess it wouldn't hurt to go up one. If so what would you switch out? The reason for the Surgicals is because storm is a horrible matchup for me I have at least 3 people playing it at my LGS. I will probably replace Liliana with a Graf based on your feedback and side her in when I know the graveyard isn't a threat and The reason for no GQ is I have only ever had one Tron match up, but I know I should definitely put them in the sideboard.
Why you try to seek an “optiumum” number of lands you’re doing so because you’re trying to shave down the percentage of times you’ll be dead in the water by missing your curve. By having light lands you’ll be able to have decent games most of the time, but your percentage of having a total dog game goes up - which drastically lowers your chances of doing well in a long (i.e. value) tournament setting.
I think mana rocks affect the number of lands you need, but not one-in-one-out and that’s not even mentioning pentad prism which is more of an accelerant than a traditional rock.
While I celebrate the ideas unbound I think they do much better in a deck where you could have your whole hand dumped by turn three. It shines as a velocity cantrip - where planeswalkers don’t want to work in a high velocity build, they typically thrive in a high interaction build low velocity build.
last time i tried different version of thopter/sword combo shell and last one - epser - is quiet interesting.
i want to share it with you ! maybe it will affect your point of view on deck or maybe someone will figure better cards for this shell.
3 Fatal Push
2 Path to Exile
4 Thought Scour
2 Thoughtseize
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Collective Brutality
4 Lingering Souls
3 Whir of Invention
3 Liliana of the Veil
3 Thraben Inspector
1 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Smuggler's Copter
4 Thopter Foundry
2 Sword of the Meek
Sideboard:
2 Disenchant
1 Dispel
2 Echoing Truth
1 Flaying Tendrils
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Negate
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Torpor Orb
Strategy for game is to put in graveyard as much as you can using thought scour, brutality, copter and lili. we want to hit sword and souls. 3 copy of whir are used alomst only for foundry. im thinking to cut whir to 2 copy (small numebr or artifacts do not help to cast it).
i played this list on one local tournament - score: 2:2:0.
i lost to matchs due to not drawing lands. another two matches was very fun. T1 traben + T2 copter o yeah ! t2 tasigur post side vs jeskai control - shiet ! so good! souls + foundry combo vs mardy pyro ? damn man !
im excited but calm down, this list need some tweeks and this is version 0.1
let me know what you think. i will try to fit 2 copy of ideas unbound.
If you're running thought scour, you absolutely should be running 4 swords, 1-2 tasigur main deck, and snapcaster mages. You're approximating an esper midrange list, which is fine. I'd cut the inspectors first (as you have plenty of good 1-drops) and thten 1 brutality and 1 copter for snappies and more swords. Extra swords are fine withh lingering souls (helps win souls battles against mardu).
I've been playing with snapcasters recently, and I like them a good deal. Im playing 5 discard, 3 visions, 3 push, 2 brutality, 1 muddle, and 4 whir.
@Madmartig0n: Boomforest makes a good point. Talisman's and Mox Opals should really only be counted has half sources. In addition to that you can't count them as many sources until they would be functional. For example you can't count Talisman of Dominance as a source or as fixing for your 2 cmc cards. Mox Opal is a significantly more complex but I typically generalize it and guess it won't be active until the end of my turn 2.
You absolutely want to hit 4 lands on turn 4 so that you can cast Tezzeret and keep emptying your hand for the 3 ensnaring bridges. This means you need ~24 sources and right now you have ~20. In addition to that all but 2 of them should produce blue in order to cast Whir of Invention on time. My recommend mana configuration for you would look something like this:
2x Talisman of Dominance
2x Pentad Prism
2x Mox Opal
If you did away with JTMS you could cut the 5 off color fetches for an off color dual and 4x Spire of Industry to enable a sideboard splash but in order to get the most out of JTMS you need a critical mass of fetchlands.
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U/B Tezzeret Control
Sultai Midrange
Anything Innovative
Played in a 55 person PPTQ to a 4-2 finish. Unfortunately top 8 was 5-1 or better.
Lost against: Humans and Storm
Round 2: In the Storm matchup we had an absurdly durdly G1 where we both drew literally 6+ lands in a row. It was hilarious to see two combo(ish) decks playing to T12 or so. He eventually went off and all I had was a Cryptic that doesn't actually stop storm. G2 I went infinite on T4 with the Krark combo and he conceded. G3 was probably the only interesting one. We had a bit of back and forth, me pathing the dork, him trying to get a Gifts off into a Metallic Rebuke. Eventually I held up 2 Path, Cryptic, and Whir going into T6 with 3 of my lands open, a Sword, a Bauble, and an active Opal. He has a dork up and 4 lands so I decide to Path on his first spell to force some mana/spell commitment. Apparently his entire hand is instants and he storms off in response to the path and finishes with a deterministic Gifts. I had Damping Sphere in the deck and it would have won on the spot whirring for it, but I just figured Remand was auto lose whereas Path might get ~2 instants in response (not 6!). Upon reflection I should have at least just Pathe'd on the upkeep if that was my plan.
In the human match he had Kitesail/Mantis in basically every game. G1 was Kitesail/Kitesal/Mantis/Mantis etc. G2 I was able to win on a mull to 5 off a T2 Torpor orb. My opponent actually cast a Mantis Rider and copied it with Phantasmal Image on T3 and I went to 12. Eventually I went to 1 before I could whir for a bridge. A turn or two later I drew part of the combo and he conceded. In G3 it was literally Vial, Kitesail, Kitesail, Thalia GoT, Thalia Heretic, Rec Sage, Mantis, and Thalia's Lieutenant. The Heretic prevented my Glimmervoid from entering untapped which prevented a Whir for x=4 (because of Thalia) for Bridge on the most important turn. My normal meta lacks humans so it's hard to get a read on how fast/disruptive this deck actually is, but definitely underplayed and likely to keep picking up as people recognize its power.
The wins:
At first I thought Burn would be rough for the U/W/r version of the deck, but counterspells as backup allows you to be surprisingly liberal searching for the combo on T1-T3. My usual games are, find part of combo + kill threats, then around 6-8 life start focusing on countering spells and finding a window to finish the combo and make at least 3 life from it. The guy I was playing with also kept some no creature hands so I actually won the first of these games at 7 life, and the other I dropped to 9 before recovering. Saccing my own foundry to prevent smash to smithereens and then pathing that thopter were both relevant to avoiding damage and blanking his artifact hate. A lack of Revelry indicates that this was a budget version of the deck, but I don't think it's any less effective against us. Revelry is more about killing Leylines etc.
Jund is probably only being played by Reid Duke and people unwilling to sell their overpriced cards, but this was an enjoyable 2-1. G1 I quickly assembled the combo and a 2/3 thopter just happens to trade with a 3/2 hasty boy named Bloodbraid. In G2 a decent amount of hand disruption followed by Liliana OtV stripped my hand and a pair of Tarmogoyfs killed me before much could be assembled. G3 I had a disgusting T1 with Opal + Land + Jar + Bauble + Foundry. From there I drew into 2 Whir's in a row. I ended up Whiring for a needle in response to Liliana, and slamming the combo the next turn.
Control decks often don't know what to make of us. Do they max out on Stony + Wear/Tear? Whir and Rebuke still work just fine, and Karn presents a very hard to deal with threat. Which deck has inevitability is a tough question. I won this 2-0 but that might have been partly due to unfamiliarity by my opponent and a Jeskai deck tuned to killing the linear proactive decks of the format. My opponent also seemed to think Karn was a minor threat and bolted and helixed me rather than Karn when I was at ~10 life.
Affinity is a 75%ish matchup for me. Some removal + chumping + Cryptic Tap + Bridge etc just makes this game a nightmare to navigate for them. If they don't have a 1 or 0 power creatures they have very little leeway to operate past a bridge. Having said that, we still went to 3 games with the final board state in G3 being 2 bridges, welding jar, bauble, Thopter/Sword combo, and about 7 lands against Ornithopter, Memnite, Ravager, Etched Champion, 2 Cranials, Bloodmoon, and maybe 5 lands. I stabilized on 6 life/2 infect and just kept building while trying to keep my hand under 2 cards and he conceded the turn before I was swinging with 11 thopters.
It was interesting to me that I put 3 Ceremonious in my sideboard because of how hard Tron is and didn't see Tron all day. Wear//Tear and Aether Grid were also not hugely important cards but I think they are useful in a bigger tournament. Really I feel like the mainboard performed very well between the U cost Mana Leak, Mishra's Bauble + fetch lands, and Cryptic delaying games/keeping opponents on tilt. Karn is still slightly better than Tezz to me, as is Glimmervoid vs Spire. Settle is probably the only Wipe worth playing 1-2 copies in the SB, and Revoker is still a house but I play it alongside Needle now for more flexibility.
(quick note before i start so people dont eat me alive - Yes, i know i need more opals, im working on it. theyre expensive. Second, yes I know the manabase is wonky and it needs a fix. maybe more green sources. Yes, I know witchbane orb main is strange but it helps against my local meta a lot. Yes, i know the sideboard is janky and it was more for testing than anything else really (except the polymorph tech, thats the spiciest ***** on here). Yes I know I need more swords, 2 more are coming sometime this/next week. Theyre rare as f*ck here in australia)
Posting again with some results of my newest venture, sultai tezzerator. I decided I was losing badly to opposing permanent-based decks so I splashed green for some of the most powerful spells in modern - Ancient stirrings, abrupt decay, and maelstrom pulse. This means I play a lot more reactively (I entirely cut any sort of hand disruption as it just honestly felt weak and a waste of mana, and was ALWAYS a feelsbadman when grinding out with ensnaring bridge/thopters) and can fight through a lot tougher matchups. Being able to abrupt decay/maelstrom key tron pieces (maps/spheres/ostone/ballista, and the big threats like karn and ugin), or remove an opposing blood moon (pentads are godly for allowing this), or removing detention spheres/opposing planeswalkers against control. Ultimately i feel so much stronger adding green and I dont feel i lose any sort of consistency with 3c.
The highlight is obviously ancient stirrings - this card is busted and i guarantee it will be banned soon, so im having my fun with it before it goes. It hits almost all artifacts (just not thopter foundry but I often have this in hand with 3x in deck) and most importantly can fix mana in a greedy hand by grabbing a land, mox or other cheap artifact, or later on digging for a sword/other answer. I have never whiffed on a stirrings so far and it never feels bad seeing one. I can easily enough get the G through fetches, shocks, opal or pentad (same goes for the decay and maelstrom). Maelstrom, on a side note, acts as a pseudo boardwipe against token strategies or repetitive tribal decks like humans, elves or merfolk.
However, the downside to this splash is we often play greedier hands and rely on fetch-shocking much more in the early game, which can put us at risk against burn or other hyperaggressive strategies. Often its not enough to kill me though and the removal/digging it provides means we can stabilize so much more easily and overwhelm with thopters.
Ultimately I feel great about this - and its put up results. After going sultai, I immediately saw improvements in my results and much better games - it is harder for us to get blown out and they provide so many outs that I really only lose to bad draws/hands or excessive discard effects (jund/mardu/8rack can be very tricky matchups) since im not running the ideas unbound package.
Dont diss the damn time sieve. that card has won me so many games where thopters just arent enough (especially other wincons that dont involve life or attacking). It also prevents durdling and attacking, giving the opponent time to find an answer. Definitely always keep 1 mainboard, never more or less though.
That said, 2 weeks ago I went 3-0-1 at my local FNM and came second, only behind a 4-0 affinity(?) player. I dont have a full report for that night but I know I went against Tron round 1, and tied by going to time on game 3 (was lucky, i was probably going to lose). I also went against UW control (abrupt decaying blood moons/detention spheres feels so GOOD), went against affinity and pulled a win thanks to abrupt decay hitting key stuff. I also played jund that night and was able to beat the tempo. Felt good being able to remove so many of their threats. Overall it was an excellent night, unwinnable without green splash.
Now the interesting part: just tonight I went 3-0 at a local modern tournament, and came first out of some 26 people. The report is as follows:
Round 1: R/G Tron
Game 1: I went into this fully expecting to go 0-2, as it was a good friend who is very experienced with tron. I get wiped out game 1 with a slow hand and simply not enough interaction, he gets turn 3 tron and goes to town. I whiff by maesltrom pulsing a world breaker, forgetting its return to hand text was from GY not battlefield, i could have won had I not have done that. Tron does its thing and he casts ulamog. Im done.
Sideboard: Out slow/irrelevant stuff (-1 tezz, -1 ratchet bomb, -2 push, -2 abrupt), In removal and 2xdamping spheres/padeem/pithing/herald/maelstrom.
Game 2: I draw a pretty fast hand with 2x welding jar and go to work spamming my hand down. He gets tron turn 3 but im able to whir for a damping sphere (after him reminding me damping sphere really isnt that good. I didnt buy it.) He then proceeds to never be able to remove the damping sphere and tries some O-stone shenanigans, but i pithing it. he starts playing other threats and I eventually assemble thoptersword after durdling behind bridge. I topdeck a whir and grab a time sieve, and go infinite. he concedes after seeing sieve and proving that i win.
No change to sideboard.
Game 3: Im nervous since hes first and I have a less explosive hand. It, however, has a natural damping sphere and a sword, which is perfect. I do some digging and durdling, sitting behind damping sphere to protect me. I land a tezz and a bridge and he gets a walking ballista. He starts pinging tezz so he cant ult, and then proceeds to natures claim my thopter foundry, and then kills tezz. I get another foundry and eventually go infinite again, with removal here and there. Pretty tense and pretty close.
Result: 2-1 to me. 1-0 record. Did pretty well considering i had no tron hate besides damping spheres and another pithing, but he whiffed a bit here and there (natures claimed the wrong things, didnt see enough sideboard hate) but i just outplayed him in the end.
Round 2: R/W Burn
Game 1: I again went in with a heavy heart assuming it would be an easy 0-2 loss, considering I have never won a game against burn properly. He was also a good friend and we were joking about how he was playing ape magic (his favourite kind of magic). Game 1 I get annihilated by swiftspears and eidolons, he baited out an abrupt on the swiftspear and slammed an eidolon i had no reponse to. I basically killed myself after that and going to his turn with 8 life, no protection and an eidolon on the field, he flashes 2 bolts and thats game. Ouchies. Bad matchup.
Sideboard: Out slow stuff, out pithing and stuff, in fast stuff and removal/padeem
Game 2: I had a ridiculously explosive 7-card hand. I have a mishras, an opal, a breeding pool, ancient stirrings, foundry and some other bits and pieces. I turn 1 dump my hand, dig with stirrings, find a 2nd mishras, activate metalcraft and pass the turn. He plays a swiftspear for 1 dmg. My turn i play some stuff and slam a foundry. It then goes back and forth with typical burn stuff, but i eventually topdeck a battle at the bridge while on about 6 life, and nuke his eidolon into the shadow realm, gaining some 6-7 health. he concedes there as the lifegain was too strong. Whew, close one.
No sideboard changes.
Game 3: I had a not-as-fast 6 card hand and was on the draw, so was expecting a blowout. He has an explosive hand but then starts going into topdeck mode. He removes a foundry early on but i simply replace it with a second one in my hand. im stuck at 3 lands and hes getting flooded so its a race to see who can get the impactful cards. I eventually whir with the help of a stored pentad prism and with a witchbane orb on the table its kind of hard for him to kill me. soon my lifegain is too much and he concedes. I cant believe i did it, i beat burn! Hooray for fast hands and early thoptersword!
Result: 2-1 to me, with a 2-0 record. Battle at the bridge was an mvp here, as well as good old thoptersword. Stabilizing hyper-early is key.
Round 3: U/B Zombie Hunt
Game 1: I was scared going into this match. I was expecting a very good player playing either tron, affinity, or some midrange (mardu,jund) as thats what dominates our meta. Turns out, it was zombie hunt. He had managed to go 2-0 against elves and against control (?) and was now against me. Much to my delight this deck is a hard counter to zombie hunt. Game 1 I have an average unexplosive start and he lands treasure hunt. Bad luck for him, he topdecks zombie infestation and thus gets basically nothing in hand. the next turn i slam a bridge and empty my hand. He says he'll wait a few more turns before conceding as he has some zombies on board. he cant do anything. He concedes.
Lul. Sideboard: Basically boarded in the abrupt and second pithing, and removed the slower stuff. It didnt really matter, he had a 1 card sideboard (a single collective brutality)
Game 2: I draw a perfect 7 with a turn 1 pithing needle. Even on the play his COBru cant hit me so I slam the t1 needle and thats game. I felt bad.
Results: 2-0 to me. 3-0 record. I felt so bad for taking away the 3-0 from the spiciest, best meme deck there that night. It wouldve been glorious. But i like winning more. Tezzerator unfortunately is just a hard counter to that deck.
overall it was a great night, awesome fun and won overall. Felt good and again sultai just feels natural. i highly advocate some others to try my list or some sort of variation and tell me what they think. Honestly it makes the deck so much more resistant and dynamic. If only there was a way to tutor for the removal.
Nice, I am also going in the Green route I am happy to see ancient stirrings working well for you. I am hoping it solves the problem of the awkward time spent behind the bridge trying to assemble the combo!!!
Finally tried out some Faithless Looting. It makes the mana a pain but seems to be worth the effort. Honestly I want to play Memnite now as well and just start jamming 2/3's for free. Maybe Bomat Courier as another way to fill yard and dig for combo?
The problem with a card like Bomat Courier that just gives you a 1/1 is that, even in the best-case scenario of resurrecting a sword turn 2, the result isn't progressing our game-plan. We can get a super-fast 2/3 on board, sure, but then what? We're not racing with combat damage, we're assembling a combo that wins slowly and with inevitability. Also, 1-drops are important insofar as they are cards we can play and should play on turn 1. If your 1 drop is usually coming down on turn 2 after you cast looting, then it's more like a 2-drop only less powerful.
The best card that I've found to "resurrect" a binned sword for free is Chromatic Star, which cantrips and doesn't turn on opponents' removal. My most recent list that I've been jamming on MTGO plays 4 stars, and I'm not even playing looting in that build. Star on turn one with foundry turn 2 is a nice play, because it offers card advantage while digging into your deck.
Yea, after I added the Memnites I quickly trimmed it down to 2 copies. Maybe I'll goto just 1. I've been jamming a single star but I'll try a couple and see how that goes as well.
Round one I match up agains R affinity: Game one I push his only threat, assemble my combo, and win. Game two I get a bridge down after he already has a master of etherium out and has pumped with steel overseer, can't attack and has no outs. Affinly feels like a good match up. 2-0
1-0 overall
Round 2 I match up against affinity again(blue this time): He wins game after I tap out at 4 life to assemble the combo and he galvanic blasts me. This possibly could have been avoided, but it is my fault. Game 2 I get down a bridge early and win with the combo (nothing to note). Game 3 I turn one inquisition him and take his only non blue threat and take his only non blue threat, win with the combo. 2-1
2-0 overall
Round 3 is Blue Red Control with jace and thing in the ice: Game one I get out the combo quick and he scoops. Game two I have to fight through a lot of counters and after all of that his third blood moon (I decay the first two) when I have 2 whir and 1 tez in hand, rough, I loose to jace ultimate. Game 3 three I am able to assemble the combo and whir for a KCI to go infinite and he scoops. 2-1
3-0 overall
Round 4 is evolve agro deck: Top table. I actually feel like this is a good match up for me, but I end up loosing in two games because he kills me in 4 turns both games and I have poor draws. 0-2 have like 40 minutes left, I get some pizza
3-1 overall
Round 5: Burn: We are ranked 3 and 4, draw into top 8
3-1-1 overall, make cut to top 8.
First round of top 8: on the draw: I am up agains hallow one: I think this is another good match up. Game one I am able to fatal push his threats and keep the combo though lots of burning inquiry. I turn the corner and win at like 5 life. Game two I toss down two bridges and a welding jar after turn one grafdiggers cage, he has no outs(only two ancient grudge and used one to hit a foundry) I win several turns later. 2-0
Top 4: Against Grixis control: on the play: I think this match is neutral to bad, but my best friend plays the deck and am super familiar with the match up. Game one he tries to get value off of young pyromancer, thopter sword is more value, I win after a war of attrition. Game two he just keeps casting K command and snap caster, wins with 2 big fish. Game 3 is a grind again but I am able to stabilize with the combo, he taps out to cast snap K command, I whir for KCI and win by going infinite. 2-1
Finals: Up against Evolve again on the draw: game one he is just a little faster than me again and with the help of burn spells and lots of threats takes it. Game 2 he keeps a hand with low aggression but a lot of interaction on 6. I have a killer hand and assemble the combo to win, took a little long though because I sided out KCI for witchbane orb to keep my curve down for bridge but I can no longer go infinite. Game 3 he turn two stony's me, I have a polluted delta and a bauble on the board. I respond by fetching for a breeding pool and cracking the bauble. Draw exactly a polluted delta and a abrupt decay off the two draws, decay the stony, assemble the combo that I had in hand, win after a drawn out game of creating thopters. I was for sure lucky to get an out in that game 3. 2-1
So yeah won my first PPTQ that I ever attend going 6-1-1! I am pretty happy with the deck list overall, I think that I will continue tweaking the side to adjust to the meta. I like the plane walkers in the main because it give the deck a second angle and helps against control. Also with combo running around there is a lot of surgical extractions in decks and without the walkers that hurts when you get surprised with it out the side. I am super happy with the battle at the bridge, mainly for the mass life gain.
Sorry that the report isn't super detailed, I am ex hosted after today. Feel free to ask questions about my deck and such, always looking to improve. I don't own this deck on MTGO though so I am not well versed in more fringe match ups.
Thanks for all the support from this thread, I could not have tuned my deck this much without it. I am stoked to keep playing my favorite deck at RPTQ season in december!
I like the list and congrats on taking one down. It seems like everyone has largely cut the bullets such as witchbane/cage/pithing needle from the main, understanding that the combo/bridge/planeswalkers win by themselves.
I assume Inquisition over Thoughtseize is simply to make the Burn matchup practically un-loseable, and 2 fatal push in the 75 (rather than 4) recognizes that Bridge is far more important to beating creatures than 1 mana interaction.
My main differences at this point would be to play Opt rather than Serum because I very often like to Bauble myself on T1 + fetch (or not fetch), and opt gives something to do on my opponents turn. I also like Nihil Spellbomb over Relic, but that seems to be a preference kind of thing.
Re: Opt/visions + bauble. Having both a fetch and non-fetch in your starting hand neutralizes this problem. Bauble your library, and then either play the fetch or the non-fetch before playing visions, depending on whether you want your toodeck.
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If anyone would like to give me feed back on my list id be glad to hear it
Creature
1 Contraband Kingpin
Land
1 Glimmervoid
2 Island
1 Swamp
3 Darkslick Shores
4 Watery Grave
4 Polluted Delta
1 Inventors' Fair
1 Spire of Industry
Artifact
3 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Welding Jar
1 Darksteel Citadel
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Pentad Prism
1 Pithing Needle
3 Sword of the Meek
4 Thopter Foundry
3 Mox Opal
Instant
4 Whir of Invention
Sorcery
3 Ideas Unbound
4 Thoughtseize
2 Collective Brutality
4 Battle at the Bridge
Planeswalker
3 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
1 Liliana of the Veil
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Sideboard
2 Padeem, Consul of Innovation
1 Academy Ruins
1 Welding Jar
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Tormod's Crypt
2 Damping Sphere
3 Surgical Extraction
1 Collective Brutality
2 Damnation
U/B Faeries
U/B Tezzerator
U/B Faeries
U/B Tezzerator
Agree with boom; you’re running 3 less lands than most people and more planes walkers/3+ cc cards. Results bias is a real thing. Also agree with boom on battle; it’s great in a few matchups but worse than CB most of the time. 3 surgical is a lot, especially with 3 other GY cards in your side. Highly recommend Graf main and maybe a GQ to go with the Surgicals if you insist on playing all of them.
U/B Faeries
U/B Tezzerator
I think mana rocks affect the number of lands you need, but not one-in-one-out and that’s not even mentioning pentad prism which is more of an accelerant than a traditional rock.
While I celebrate the ideas unbound I think they do much better in a deck where you could have your whole hand dumped by turn three. It shines as a velocity cantrip - where planeswalkers don’t want to work in a high velocity build, they typically thrive in a high interaction build low velocity build.
All just theories though!
last time i tried different version of thopter/sword combo shell and last one - epser - is quiet interesting.
i want to share it with you ! maybe it will affect your point of view on deck or maybe someone will figure better cards for this shell.
1 Marsh Flats
4 Polluted Delta
2 Seachrome Coast
2 Darkslick Shores
2 Watery Grave
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sunken Ruins
2 Buried Ruin
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Plains
3 Fatal Push
2 Path to Exile
4 Thought Scour
2 Thoughtseize
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Collective Brutality
4 Lingering Souls
3 Whir of Invention
3 Liliana of the Veil
3 Thraben Inspector
1 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Smuggler's Copter
4 Thopter Foundry
2 Sword of the Meek
Sideboard:
2 Disenchant
1 Dispel
2 Echoing Truth
1 Flaying Tendrils
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Negate
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Torpor Orb
Strategy for game is to put in graveyard as much as you can using thought scour, brutality, copter and lili. we want to hit sword and souls. 3 copy of whir are used alomst only for foundry. im thinking to cut whir to 2 copy (small numebr or artifacts do not help to cast it).
i played this list on one local tournament - score: 2:2:0.
i lost to matchs due to not drawing lands. another two matches was very fun. T1 traben + T2 copter o yeah ! t2 tasigur post side vs jeskai control - shiet ! so good! souls + foundry combo vs mardy pyro ? damn man !
im excited but calm down, this list need some tweeks and this is version 0.1
let me know what you think. i will try to fit 2 copy of ideas unbound.
cheers !
I've been playing with snapcasters recently, and I like them a good deal. Im playing 5 discard, 3 visions, 3 push, 2 brutality, 1 muddle, and 4 whir.
You absolutely want to hit 4 lands on turn 4 so that you can cast Tezzeret and keep emptying your hand for the 3 ensnaring bridges. This means you need ~24 sources and right now you have ~20. In addition to that all but 2 of them should produce blue in order to cast Whir of Invention on time. My recommend mana configuration for you would look something like this:
1x Swamp
1x Inventor's Fair
4x Polluted Delta
3x Watery Grave
4x Darkslick Shores
1x Sunken Ruins
2x Island
1x Swamp Fetchland
4x Island Fetchland
2x Talisman of Dominance
2x Pentad Prism
2x Mox Opal
If you did away with JTMS you could cut the 5 off color fetches for an off color dual and 4x Spire of Industry to enable a sideboard splash but in order to get the most out of JTMS you need a critical mass of fetchlands.
Sultai Midrange
Anything Innovative
Played in a 55 person PPTQ to a 4-2 finish. Unfortunately top 8 was 5-1 or better.
Lost against: Humans and Storm
Round 2: In the Storm matchup we had an absurdly durdly G1 where we both drew literally 6+ lands in a row. It was hilarious to see two combo(ish) decks playing to T12 or so. He eventually went off and all I had was a Cryptic that doesn't actually stop storm. G2 I went infinite on T4 with the Krark combo and he conceded. G3 was probably the only interesting one. We had a bit of back and forth, me pathing the dork, him trying to get a Gifts off into a Metallic Rebuke. Eventually I held up 2 Path, Cryptic, and Whir going into T6 with 3 of my lands open, a Sword, a Bauble, and an active Opal. He has a dork up and 4 lands so I decide to Path on his first spell to force some mana/spell commitment. Apparently his entire hand is instants and he storms off in response to the path and finishes with a deterministic Gifts. I had Damping Sphere in the deck and it would have won on the spot whirring for it, but I just figured Remand was auto lose whereas Path might get ~2 instants in response (not 6!). Upon reflection I should have at least just Pathe'd on the upkeep if that was my plan.
In the human match he had Kitesail/Mantis in basically every game. G1 was Kitesail/Kitesal/Mantis/Mantis etc. G2 I was able to win on a mull to 5 off a T2 Torpor orb. My opponent actually cast a Mantis Rider and copied it with Phantasmal Image on T3 and I went to 12. Eventually I went to 1 before I could whir for a bridge. A turn or two later I drew part of the combo and he conceded. In G3 it was literally Vial, Kitesail, Kitesail, Thalia GoT, Thalia Heretic, Rec Sage, Mantis, and Thalia's Lieutenant. The Heretic prevented my Glimmervoid from entering untapped which prevented a Whir for x=4 (because of Thalia) for Bridge on the most important turn. My normal meta lacks humans so it's hard to get a read on how fast/disruptive this deck actually is, but definitely underplayed and likely to keep picking up as people recognize its power.
The wins:
At first I thought Burn would be rough for the U/W/r version of the deck, but counterspells as backup allows you to be surprisingly liberal searching for the combo on T1-T3. My usual games are, find part of combo + kill threats, then around 6-8 life start focusing on countering spells and finding a window to finish the combo and make at least 3 life from it. The guy I was playing with also kept some no creature hands so I actually won the first of these games at 7 life, and the other I dropped to 9 before recovering. Saccing my own foundry to prevent smash to smithereens and then pathing that thopter were both relevant to avoiding damage and blanking his artifact hate. A lack of Revelry indicates that this was a budget version of the deck, but I don't think it's any less effective against us. Revelry is more about killing Leylines etc.
Jund is probably only being played by Reid Duke and people unwilling to sell their overpriced cards, but this was an enjoyable 2-1. G1 I quickly assembled the combo and a 2/3 thopter just happens to trade with a 3/2 hasty boy named Bloodbraid. In G2 a decent amount of hand disruption followed by Liliana OtV stripped my hand and a pair of Tarmogoyfs killed me before much could be assembled. G3 I had a disgusting T1 with Opal + Land + Jar + Bauble + Foundry. From there I drew into 2 Whir's in a row. I ended up Whiring for a needle in response to Liliana, and slamming the combo the next turn.
Control decks often don't know what to make of us. Do they max out on Stony + Wear/Tear? Whir and Rebuke still work just fine, and Karn presents a very hard to deal with threat. Which deck has inevitability is a tough question. I won this 2-0 but that might have been partly due to unfamiliarity by my opponent and a Jeskai deck tuned to killing the linear proactive decks of the format. My opponent also seemed to think Karn was a minor threat and bolted and helixed me rather than Karn when I was at ~10 life.
Affinity is a 75%ish matchup for me. Some removal + chumping + Cryptic Tap + Bridge etc just makes this game a nightmare to navigate for them. If they don't have a 1 or 0 power creatures they have very little leeway to operate past a bridge. Having said that, we still went to 3 games with the final board state in G3 being 2 bridges, welding jar, bauble, Thopter/Sword combo, and about 7 lands against Ornithopter, Memnite, Ravager, Etched Champion, 2 Cranials, Bloodmoon, and maybe 5 lands. I stabilized on 6 life/2 infect and just kept building while trying to keep my hand under 2 cards and he conceded the turn before I was swinging with 11 thopters.
It was interesting to me that I put 3 Ceremonious in my sideboard because of how hard Tron is and didn't see Tron all day. Wear//Tear and Aether Grid were also not hugely important cards but I think they are useful in a bigger tournament. Really I feel like the mainboard performed very well between the U cost Mana Leak, Mishra's Bauble + fetch lands, and Cryptic delaying games/keeping opponents on tilt. Karn is still slightly better than Tezz to me, as is Glimmervoid vs Spire. Settle is probably the only Wipe worth playing 1-2 copies in the SB, and Revoker is still a house but I play it alongside Needle now for more flexibility.
U/B Faeries
U/B Tezzerator
(quick note before i start so people dont eat me alive - Yes, i know i need more opals, im working on it. theyre expensive. Second, yes I know the manabase is wonky and it needs a fix. maybe more green sources. Yes, I know witchbane orb main is strange but it helps against my local meta a lot. Yes, i know the sideboard is janky and it was more for testing than anything else really (except the polymorph tech, thats the spiciest ***** on here). Yes I know I need more swords, 2 more are coming sometime this/next week. Theyre rare as f*ck here in australia)
Decklist: https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/modern-sultai-tezzerator/?cb=1532434815
2x Ensnaring Bridge
4x Mishra's Bauble
1x Mox Opal
1x Nihil Spellbomb
4x Pentad Prism
1x Pithing Needle
1x Ratchet Bomb
1x Sword of the Meek
3x Thopter Foundry
1x Time Sieve
2x Welding Jar
1x Witchbane Orb
4x Ancient Stirrings
1x Maelstrom Pulse
4x Darkslick Shores
1x Forest
1x Inventors' Fair
3x Island
2x Misty Rainforest
4x Polluted Delta
1x Swamp
3x Watery Grave
3x Abrupt Decay
2x Fatal Push
4x Whir of Invention
3x Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
1x Batterskull
1x Battle at the Bridge
2x Damping Sphere
1x Dismember
1x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1x Glissa, the Traitor
1x Grafdigger's Cage
1x Herald of Anguish
1x Maelstrom Pulse
1x Padeem, Consul of Innovation
1x Pithing Needle
1x Polymorph
1x Relic of Progenitus
Posting again with some results of my newest venture, sultai tezzerator. I decided I was losing badly to opposing permanent-based decks so I splashed green for some of the most powerful spells in modern - Ancient stirrings, abrupt decay, and maelstrom pulse. This means I play a lot more reactively (I entirely cut any sort of hand disruption as it just honestly felt weak and a waste of mana, and was ALWAYS a feelsbadman when grinding out with ensnaring bridge/thopters) and can fight through a lot tougher matchups. Being able to abrupt decay/maelstrom key tron pieces (maps/spheres/ostone/ballista, and the big threats like karn and ugin), or remove an opposing blood moon (pentads are godly for allowing this), or removing detention spheres/opposing planeswalkers against control. Ultimately i feel so much stronger adding green and I dont feel i lose any sort of consistency with 3c.
The highlight is obviously ancient stirrings - this card is busted and i guarantee it will be banned soon, so im having my fun with it before it goes. It hits almost all artifacts (just not thopter foundry but I often have this in hand with 3x in deck) and most importantly can fix mana in a greedy hand by grabbing a land, mox or other cheap artifact, or later on digging for a sword/other answer. I have never whiffed on a stirrings so far and it never feels bad seeing one. I can easily enough get the G through fetches, shocks, opal or pentad (same goes for the decay and maelstrom). Maelstrom, on a side note, acts as a pseudo boardwipe against token strategies or repetitive tribal decks like humans, elves or merfolk.
However, the downside to this splash is we often play greedier hands and rely on fetch-shocking much more in the early game, which can put us at risk against burn or other hyperaggressive strategies. Often its not enough to kill me though and the removal/digging it provides means we can stabilize so much more easily and overwhelm with thopters.
Ultimately I feel great about this - and its put up results. After going sultai, I immediately saw improvements in my results and much better games - it is harder for us to get blown out and they provide so many outs that I really only lose to bad draws/hands or excessive discard effects (jund/mardu/8rack can be very tricky matchups) since im not running the ideas unbound package.
Dont diss the damn time sieve. that card has won me so many games where thopters just arent enough (especially other wincons that dont involve life or attacking). It also prevents durdling and attacking, giving the opponent time to find an answer. Definitely always keep 1 mainboard, never more or less though.
That said, 2 weeks ago I went 3-0-1 at my local FNM and came second, only behind a 4-0 affinity(?) player. I dont have a full report for that night but I know I went against Tron round 1, and tied by going to time on game 3 (was lucky, i was probably going to lose). I also went against UW control (abrupt decaying blood moons/detention spheres feels so GOOD), went against affinity and pulled a win thanks to abrupt decay hitting key stuff. I also played jund that night and was able to beat the tempo. Felt good being able to remove so many of their threats. Overall it was an excellent night, unwinnable without green splash.
Now the interesting part: just tonight I went 3-0 at a local modern tournament, and came first out of some 26 people. The report is as follows:
Round 1: R/G Tron
Game 1: I went into this fully expecting to go 0-2, as it was a good friend who is very experienced with tron. I get wiped out game 1 with a slow hand and simply not enough interaction, he gets turn 3 tron and goes to town. I whiff by maesltrom pulsing a world breaker, forgetting its return to hand text was from GY not battlefield, i could have won had I not have done that. Tron does its thing and he casts ulamog. Im done.
Sideboard: Out slow/irrelevant stuff (-1 tezz, -1 ratchet bomb, -2 push, -2 abrupt), In removal and 2xdamping spheres/padeem/pithing/herald/maelstrom.
Game 2: I draw a pretty fast hand with 2x welding jar and go to work spamming my hand down. He gets tron turn 3 but im able to whir for a damping sphere (after him reminding me damping sphere really isnt that good. I didnt buy it.) He then proceeds to never be able to remove the damping sphere and tries some O-stone shenanigans, but i pithing it. he starts playing other threats and I eventually assemble thoptersword after durdling behind bridge. I topdeck a whir and grab a time sieve, and go infinite. he concedes after seeing sieve and proving that i win.
No change to sideboard.
Game 3: Im nervous since hes first and I have a less explosive hand. It, however, has a natural damping sphere and a sword, which is perfect. I do some digging and durdling, sitting behind damping sphere to protect me. I land a tezz and a bridge and he gets a walking ballista. He starts pinging tezz so he cant ult, and then proceeds to natures claim my thopter foundry, and then kills tezz. I get another foundry and eventually go infinite again, with removal here and there. Pretty tense and pretty close.
Result: 2-1 to me. 1-0 record. Did pretty well considering i had no tron hate besides damping spheres and another pithing, but he whiffed a bit here and there (natures claimed the wrong things, didnt see enough sideboard hate) but i just outplayed him in the end.
Round 2: R/W Burn
Game 1: I again went in with a heavy heart assuming it would be an easy 0-2 loss, considering I have never won a game against burn properly. He was also a good friend and we were joking about how he was playing ape magic (his favourite kind of magic). Game 1 I get annihilated by swiftspears and eidolons, he baited out an abrupt on the swiftspear and slammed an eidolon i had no reponse to. I basically killed myself after that and going to his turn with 8 life, no protection and an eidolon on the field, he flashes 2 bolts and thats game. Ouchies. Bad matchup.
Sideboard: Out slow stuff, out pithing and stuff, in fast stuff and removal/padeem
Game 2: I had a ridiculously explosive 7-card hand. I have a mishras, an opal, a breeding pool, ancient stirrings, foundry and some other bits and pieces. I turn 1 dump my hand, dig with stirrings, find a 2nd mishras, activate metalcraft and pass the turn. He plays a swiftspear for 1 dmg. My turn i play some stuff and slam a foundry. It then goes back and forth with typical burn stuff, but i eventually topdeck a battle at the bridge while on about 6 life, and nuke his eidolon into the shadow realm, gaining some 6-7 health. he concedes there as the lifegain was too strong. Whew, close one.
No sideboard changes.
Game 3: I had a not-as-fast 6 card hand and was on the draw, so was expecting a blowout. He has an explosive hand but then starts going into topdeck mode. He removes a foundry early on but i simply replace it with a second one in my hand. im stuck at 3 lands and hes getting flooded so its a race to see who can get the impactful cards. I eventually whir with the help of a stored pentad prism and with a witchbane orb on the table its kind of hard for him to kill me. soon my lifegain is too much and he concedes. I cant believe i did it, i beat burn! Hooray for fast hands and early thoptersword!
Result: 2-1 to me, with a 2-0 record. Battle at the bridge was an mvp here, as well as good old thoptersword. Stabilizing hyper-early is key.
Round 3: U/B Zombie Hunt
Game 1: I was scared going into this match. I was expecting a very good player playing either tron, affinity, or some midrange (mardu,jund) as thats what dominates our meta. Turns out, it was zombie hunt. He had managed to go 2-0 against elves and against control (?) and was now against me. Much to my delight this deck is a hard counter to zombie hunt. Game 1 I have an average unexplosive start and he lands treasure hunt. Bad luck for him, he topdecks zombie infestation and thus gets basically nothing in hand. the next turn i slam a bridge and empty my hand. He says he'll wait a few more turns before conceding as he has some zombies on board. he cant do anything. He concedes.
Lul. Sideboard: Basically boarded in the abrupt and second pithing, and removed the slower stuff. It didnt really matter, he had a 1 card sideboard (a single collective brutality)
Game 2: I draw a perfect 7 with a turn 1 pithing needle. Even on the play his COBru cant hit me so I slam the t1 needle and thats game. I felt bad.
Results: 2-0 to me. 3-0 record. I felt so bad for taking away the 3-0 from the spiciest, best meme deck there that night. It wouldve been glorious. But i like winning more. Tezzerator unfortunately is just a hard counter to that deck.
Players:
1 - Tezzerator (me)
2 - Reveille (5C Bugle)
3 - Burn
4 - UW Eldrazi Taxes
5 - Burn (R2 Opp)
6 - Elves
7 - Zombie Hunt (R3 Opp)
8 - Grixis Shadow
9 - UW Spirits
10 - BG Elf Stompy
11 - Storm
12 - Hollow One
13 - GR Knight of the Reliquary
14 - Bad UW (No Teferi)
15 - Mardu Pyromancer
16 - Tron (R1 Opp)
16 - UR Enigma
18 - Grixis Delver
19 - Bant Knightfall
20 - UW Control
21 - Burn
22 - Titanshift
23 - Titanshift
24 - Bogles (Slippery)
25 - BR Madness
26 - Icy Moon
overall it was a great night, awesome fun and won overall. Felt good and again sultai just feels natural. i highly advocate some others to try my list or some sort of variation and tell me what they think. Honestly it makes the deck so much more resistant and dynamic. If only there was a way to tutor for the removal.
Thanks Everyone!
-Deleno.
U/B Faeries
U/B Tezzerator
The best card that I've found to "resurrect" a binned sword for free is Chromatic Star, which cantrips and doesn't turn on opponents' removal. My most recent list that I've been jamming on MTGO plays 4 stars, and I'm not even playing looting in that build. Star on turn one with foundry turn 2 is a nice play, because it offers card advantage while digging into your deck.
My deck list is:
2 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Fatal Push
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Serum Visions
4 Whir of Invention
4 Mishra's Bauble
3 Mox Opal
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Pentad Prism
3 Sword of the Meek
4 Thopter Foundry
3 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Krark-Clan Ironworks
2 Search for Azcanta
1 Academy Ruins
1 Breeding Pool
4 Darkslick Shores
2 Glimmervoid
1 Inventors' Fair
2 Island
4 Polluted Delta
3 Spire of Industry
1 Swamp
2 Watery Grave
1 Welding Jar
1 Battle at the Bridge
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Pithing Needle
2 Thoughtseize
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Damping Sphere
1 Torpor Orb
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Damnation
1 Witchbane Orb
Round one I match up agains R affinity: Game one I push his only threat, assemble my combo, and win. Game two I get a bridge down after he already has a master of etherium out and has pumped with steel overseer, can't attack and has no outs. Affinly feels like a good match up. 2-0
1-0 overall
Round 2 I match up against affinity again(blue this time): He wins game after I tap out at 4 life to assemble the combo and he galvanic blasts me. This possibly could have been avoided, but it is my fault. Game 2 I get down a bridge early and win with the combo (nothing to note). Game 3 I turn one inquisition him and take his only non blue threat and take his only non blue threat, win with the combo. 2-1
2-0 overall
Round 3 is Blue Red Control with jace and thing in the ice: Game one I get out the combo quick and he scoops. Game two I have to fight through a lot of counters and after all of that his third blood moon (I decay the first two) when I have 2 whir and 1 tez in hand, rough, I loose to jace ultimate. Game 3 three I am able to assemble the combo and whir for a KCI to go infinite and he scoops. 2-1
3-0 overall
Round 4 is evolve agro deck: Top table. I actually feel like this is a good match up for me, but I end up loosing in two games because he kills me in 4 turns both games and I have poor draws. 0-2 have like 40 minutes left, I get some pizza
3-1 overall
Round 5: Burn: We are ranked 3 and 4, draw into top 8
3-1-1 overall, make cut to top 8.
First round of top 8: on the draw: I am up agains hallow one: I think this is another good match up. Game one I am able to fatal push his threats and keep the combo though lots of burning inquiry. I turn the corner and win at like 5 life. Game two I toss down two bridges and a welding jar after turn one grafdiggers cage, he has no outs(only two ancient grudge and used one to hit a foundry) I win several turns later. 2-0
Top 4: Against Grixis control: on the play: I think this match is neutral to bad, but my best friend plays the deck and am super familiar with the match up. Game one he tries to get value off of young pyromancer, thopter sword is more value, I win after a war of attrition. Game two he just keeps casting K command and snap caster, wins with 2 big fish. Game 3 is a grind again but I am able to stabilize with the combo, he taps out to cast snap K command, I whir for KCI and win by going infinite. 2-1
Finals: Up against Evolve again on the draw: game one he is just a little faster than me again and with the help of burn spells and lots of threats takes it. Game 2 he keeps a hand with low aggression but a lot of interaction on 6. I have a killer hand and assemble the combo to win, took a little long though because I sided out KCI for witchbane orb to keep my curve down for bridge but I can no longer go infinite. Game 3 he turn two stony's me, I have a polluted delta and a bauble on the board. I respond by fetching for a breeding pool and cracking the bauble. Draw exactly a polluted delta and a abrupt decay off the two draws, decay the stony, assemble the combo that I had in hand, win after a drawn out game of creating thopters. I was for sure lucky to get an out in that game 3. 2-1
So yeah won my first PPTQ that I ever attend going 6-1-1! I am pretty happy with the deck list overall, I think that I will continue tweaking the side to adjust to the meta. I like the plane walkers in the main because it give the deck a second angle and helps against control. Also with combo running around there is a lot of surgical extractions in decks and without the walkers that hurts when you get surprised with it out the side. I am super happy with the battle at the bridge, mainly for the mass life gain.
Sorry that the report isn't super detailed, I am ex hosted after today. Feel free to ask questions about my deck and such, always looking to improve. I don't own this deck on MTGO though so I am not well versed in more fringe match ups.
Thanks for all the support from this thread, I could not have tuned my deck this much without it. I am stoked to keep playing my favorite deck at RPTQ season in december!
I assume Inquisition over Thoughtseize is simply to make the Burn matchup practically un-loseable, and 2 fatal push in the 75 (rather than 4) recognizes that Bridge is far more important to beating creatures than 1 mana interaction.
My main differences at this point would be to play Opt rather than Serum because I very often like to Bauble myself on T1 + fetch (or not fetch), and opt gives something to do on my opponents turn. I also like Nihil Spellbomb over Relic, but that seems to be a preference kind of thing.