Interesting.. Something I don't understand, what's the use of the 2 izzet staticaster in the side?
Personally instead of the vendilion clique, Restoration Angel and Thundermaw Hellkite in the main, I would replace them with young pyromancer instead, and maybe add a few copy of Boros charm too. Boros charm giving the 4/4 angel of Geist double strike could easily steal the game.
Staticaster is for jund when it runs confidant, elves coco where a lot of their dudes are x/1's. Apparently can help in the affinity as well (not much but yeah)
Reprints the one card that people point to when saying that art objectifies women.
Well done Wizards.
Liliana does not objectify women in any way at all. We have gotten to a point in our society that every single picture of a women must be objectifying a women in some negative way......blah blah blah.. That is not the case. (((Sarcasm)))Picture of a girl drinking a milk shake, must be sex related and putting women down, picture of girl sitting on a beach, picture of a girl driving a car, picture of a girl on the moon at a new space station.)))
You have a picture of an attractive strong power women who girls dress up as for anime conventions. What more do you want? The picture is fine, happy to see a reprint. Sick of of seeing people claim that everything in existence must be putting women down. Then all I have to do is replace the word "women" with anything else to get the same mentality; fish, cats, arabs, blacks, jews, men, environment, whites, chinese, old people, etc. It doesn't matter what word I put in. Stop sucking life out of everything man. That artwork of her is awesome. Stop putting stuff down man. Just stop. If the picture was really as negative as you claim she would totally nude, in a kitchen, making sandwiches and giving blow jobs. Her abilities would be horrible as well. +1 do nothing -2 do nothing -6 do nothing. Instead liliana of the veil is an amazing planeswalker comparable to jace, the mind sculpter with great art to appreciate.
My suggestion listen to some comedy radio for a while, pandora is free, youtube is free there is something out there for you. ***** go make fun of somebody. The whole world is so serious and campaigning for some cause, or someones rights, everything is a hate crime, racist, sexist. blah blah blah.
"O no mcdonalds must be slandering a hate crime against skinny people every time they make a big mac." hahaha jeeze You're just someone perpetuating another groups negative perspective that they've made you believe is correct. Look at the picture for a hour and tell me what's wrong with it? I don't see anything.
I have heard vague rumors of a moustache-dispensing vending machine in a distant laundromat, across the street from a tattoo parlor. However, this information is shaky, and time is of the essence.
and maybe add a few copy of Boros charm too. Boros charm giving the 4/4 angel of Geist double strike could easily steal the game.
Better play would be to use Boros Charm as 4 damage burn. Using as double strike, a removal spell would put you down a card and 4 damage. It only starts paying off when you're able to successfully attack with a creature with 5 power or greater.
and maybe add a few copy of Boros charm too. Boros charm giving the 4/4 angel of Geist double strike could easily steal the game.
Better play would be to use Boros Charm as 4 damage burn. Using as double strike, a removal spell would put you down a card and 4 damage. It only starts paying off when you're able to successfully attack with a creature with 5 power or greater.
Making all your permanent indestructible would be good too..
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Current Deck(s): TappedOut Would love to have more input to improve!
Could Porphyry Nodes be good tech against Affinity, Elves, Merfolk, and Zoo? If you play it after their turn 1 (on our turn 1 or 2 depending on play/draw), they have to either skip their turn 2 and forfeit a creature or try and play through it. I suspect that some of the aggro decks can just ignore it but one mana to kill one of their creatures each turn, even their weakest creature, seems worth testing.
I'm not so sure about it being too slow for Elves. If you combine Nodes with your other removal, Elves won't be able to Mirror Entity/Ezuri to any great amount of damage meaning they'd have to nickel and dime you to death.
I'm trying to straddle the line between midrange and control with this. I really considered Geist, but ultimately decided that I like both Clique and Angel better. Flash is a big deal in a deck with this many counterspells, and the evasion is just as good. Also, blinking a Clique and having 6 flying power plus a 3-for-1 (blanking their removal, saving your Clique, plus getting an extra trigger) just feels so good.
Sleight of Hand is because I sold my Serum Visions because they're ridiculously overpriced. I like getting the card selection now anyway, it helps get a little more aggressive. If the price of Visions drops I may switch back, but they're close enough and I don't play often enough to care all that much.
The reason I built the deck this specific way is because of the sideboard plan. I want the opponent to think I'm playing the more hardcore control version (which I am very close to) but still be able to close out game one in a reasonable amount of time. Ideally I win game one and the opponent sideboards for a long and grindy game, bringing in things like Keranos and Batterskull, and just generally going slower and higher-curve. Then I go to my sideboard:
After board I have 15 burn spells, plus Snapcasters and flash creatures. All those Jund and Grixis decks that are trying to play a long game are just too slow now. I'm not as fast as an actual burn deck, for sure, but I have the ability to end the game out of nowhere - EoT Boros Charm, Bolt, untap Snapcaster Boros Charm, Spike makes 14 damage.
One match I played against Grixis Twin went exactly to plan; after getting game one off the back of Bolts and Angels, I board for game two bringing out mostly the worse counterspells. When I Clique him on turn five, I see that he has Keranos, plus both parts of the Twin combo. I take Twin, knowing that if he taps out to jam Keranos into play then I win. He did exactly that, thinking the game was nowhere near over, and I untap to attack with Clique, then Lava Spike, Snapcaster Lava Spike for lethal.
Hallowed Moonlight stops Twin for a turn, counters Coco, counters Chord, counters an Aether Vial activation, and exiles a Restoration Angel blink target. Also it cantrips. Possibly 1-2 copies mainboard for the right meta (Elves and Abzan Company) and maybe some sideboard play.
Mizzium Meddler similar to spellskite but instead of sitting there and demanding an answer, it catches people off guard. Spellskite has uses against Burn, Infect, and Boggles by stealing their spells but is also useful against Twin combo. Meddler has much more application against Twin because it cannot repeatedly steal small spells, but instead comes in when Twin combos off and cannot be countered by Dispel or Spell Pierce or Spell Snare. Meddler also counters removal (including abrupt decay and LotV -2).
Overall neither of these cards will have big impacts but are worth consideration.
In addition to stopping Company, Chord, Aether Vial, and Resto+Snapcaster blinks, Hallowed also counters a Voice death trigger, a persisting Finks, a Through the Breach or Goryo's Vengeance Griselbrizzle, a Pyromancer token or two, a Vengevine, a Living End, a Lingering Souls, an Unburial Rites... Probably missing something. Card has some game. Harder to find room in the midrange version, but I think it performs quite well in the Shadow of Doubt/Anticipate/Serum Visions sort of slot. Might even be worth shaving the 3rd&4th Remand if you are running them.
Could an aggressive UWr list with only 3 or so counterspells run Abbot of Keral Keep? Is it worth testing? He is low impact, but he cantrips and is very aggressive.
I played FNM last night with Vjeran Horvat's 24th place GP Copenhagen list with only a few changes, mostly due to card availability. I'm not new to the deck, but it's been a while since I last played Jeskai Geist, and I've been on lists with less counter magic. My friend let me borrow 3x Cryptics and 3x Tarns so I was pretty excited.
So I subbed Gideon Jura into the main instead of Thundermaw (don't own).
Ran Shinka, the Blood-Soaked Keep and Glacial Fortress in place of 2x Colonnades.
And I ran 3x Tarn, 1x Polluted Delta instead of his 2x Tarn 2x Mesa.
Pretty minor changes in the main overall. I kept the side mostly the same save for 3-4 cards. I'd play Skites, but I don't own any and couldn't borrow anyone's. So I played 2x Fulminator Mages for *****s and giggles, and because Gideon was subbed into the main, I put Stormbreath Dragon in its place. My friends convinced me to cut the Batterskull for Outpost Siege. They were also the ones who suggested I run Gideon main over the Stormbreath. More on both of this later.
I went 3-0-1 that night, earning a Path to Exile. The draw I felt like I could've avoided if I didn't punt. lol
The match-ups:
Round 1 was against UB Faeries. Was a fun match, but mostly just a control tempo/grind-fest. V-Clique is amazing at forcing things through and helping me resolve Geist. Ride Geist to victory. Gideon actually came to be rather useful in game 2. Sniped a creature while also being a huge body that can avoid removal (until he uses his 0 anyway) proved to be nice. In this particular case, he was a nuisance and proved to be better than both Thundermaw and Stormbreath; I dropped him, +2. Then next turn when I animated him, I had the mana to counter his removal spells. Game 2 I had double Geist of Saint Traft; he Inquisitioned the first one. I remanded his second discard spell, then resolved Geist. Proceeded to beat face till he lost. Shinka's First Strike utility came up once here. Haha.
Round 2 was against Grixis Delver. I found that match-up to be pretty good/fun and reasonable. Didn't feel like I was really out of the game. Game 1 was just playing draw-go and trying to win the mana advantage and just keeping his board clear. V-Clique again was amazing in this match-up for forcing plays and seeing his hand. Gideon showed up again here, after Vclique would strip him of counter-magic and making sure the coast was clear. Gideon cut down a Gurmag Angler, then proceeded to swing once or twice for game alongside Clique and burn spells. Game 2 he was on the land destruction plan with Molten Rain and Fulminator Mages. Got rekt and lost. Game 3 came down to the wire, but in the end I was able to stave off the beats and kill him with Restoration Angel and Celestial Colonnade.
Round 3 was against Collected Company.dec. I misplayed a lot this match. Idk how I was missing so many things. But chaining Cryptic Commands over and over proved to be real strong. In the end, I made some more misplays and lost game 1. God...I punted real hard. Several times I had victory but managed to fudge it. Game 2 was real close as he has a better start. Gideon and Monastery Mentor came into play this game. Mentor built up 3 tokens, and Gideon forced him to either tap for mana or swing with his field of Hierarchs and 2/1's and 3/2's. He kinda just took all of it and lived. I cracked back with all the tokens, Geist (and angel), Gideon, Snapcaster, while pumping the tokens twice with Electrolyze and Cryptic Command. Barely beat him with only a minute or two left on the clock, earning me the draw. lol Doesn't really do any favors here. Got to test out Mentor here so that was pretty cool.
Round 4 was against Infect. Game 1 I died to Dryad Arbor + Wild Defiance + millions of pumps. Game 2 was real close but I stave off the poison then finally win. Game 3 was like game 2. Idk, just typical Infect match-up stuff. Wear//Tear was awesome. Tectonic Edge was great. Though, Spellskites would have been pretty nice in this match-up; however, it was also a chance for me to test out Fulminator Mage. All night, I never brought it in...kinda wish I had tried it here, because it's an out to Inkmoth Nexus (and Arbor kek), while also serving as a body to block creatures for x amount of time. Somewhat better than VClique here...I think? Maybe not optimal, but would've been cool to try. Wish I had tried it at least.
Overall, seems Gideon is nice because he's versatile in what he can offer and he does dodge a lot of removal right up until the swing. Hopefully by then you exhaust them of resources. I'll probably keep him main. Though I really do want to test those other bombs more (Thundermaw, Stormbreath, Baneslayer, Batterskull). The reason why I cut the Batterskull ultimately was because I was afraid that the meta was gonna be more Grixis-heavy with all the Kolaghan's Commands running around. Maybe this is the wrong line of thinking. Cuz maybe it's still good enough against stuff like Junk and Burn that it warrants a slot? Idk. Well, in any case, all I know was that the Stormbreath Dragon and Outpost Siege from the side were a little anemic. I feel like in the case of the Dragon, it's a lot better just to have main or none at all. I wonder if it's better vs. stuff like Jund and Junk...where maybe all you really want to do is land bombs left and right? Perhaps that's where I bring it in? lol
My friends suggested Outpost Siege for decks like Jund where the attrition battle and out-valuing people is really important. I was skeptical but I went along with it. I never sided it in, so I can't say for sure how good it would've been; however, in the match-ups that I played tonight, I felt like I had other stuff I'd rather side in first. Then there wasn't anything I really wanted to cut. And finally, I wasn't really convinced by this card's power enough to really justify playing it. Idk, seems nice to play for value, but I feel like a number of the cards in this deck are pretty time-sensitive (READ: 9 counter spells). The stuff like burn can be mindlessly casted if need be, but for me, it seems a lot better to time those spells better. Same goes for other cards like Wear//Tear; I think I'd rather have that card hidden in my hand instead of having it get exiled then being forced to play it right then or losing it. In any case, I feel like I should've replaced this card with Izzet Staticaster instead or like...Chandra, Pyromaster at the very least. That might be just better, because her ping 1 damage isn't irrelevant (although, she still suffers from the same problems that Siege suffers from, I think). Maybe I should experiment that slot with Venser, Shaper Savant or Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir? Or maybe just re-add Batterskull back in. A third Clique would be nice too...
Fulminator Mages were aight...I guess. They were fill-ins mostly and also to prep for the Tron match-up. I don't have much experience vs. that deck, so I'm not sure if this helps at all. Haha.
I feel like Engineered Explosives is a necessary evil; didn't seem to be very impressive and I hardly ever wanted to side it in all night. Though, probable good enough against Bogles that it warrants it. I can't really think of any deck outside of it that I'd care to see it in. This is because token strategies usually just get hosed by Staticaster and Electrolyzes. On the flip side is that it's versatile and is in there, "just in case."
I'm working on getting more Colonnades, though at the moment 2 seems fine. I've had enough luck with hitting the card; usually will draw into it sometime leading up to 5-6 mana. And the untapped mana potential of Shinka and Glacial have proven to be a boon. 4 is probably right, though it'd be nice of someone tried to sell me on this. I've done 1 and 2 in the past, with stuff like Loothouse and never really had a problem, probably making me biased. Even though I'm trying not to be. Kek
Monastery Mentor was pretty awesome. I've been trying this card in Legacy sideboards and stuff. And it kinda has the same appeal in this Modern sideboard as well. There's definitely something to be said about the surprise factor of it coming out in the post-board games. Makes those redundant burn spells and counters generate a lot of value and the tokens can end games real fast (much like in the game vs. Collected Company; 9 damage from those damn things). He can be awkward if you're sitting on a couple counters instead of action spells, but that's not even a bad position to be in.
I definitely like the numbers in this list. 3 Helix, 3 Electrolyze, 3 Geist, 2 Clique, and only 2 Resto felt perfect. This backed with the 9 counter spells proved to generate a lot of play and interactions with opponents. I especially like that I felt like I had card draw with this deck. In the past, it'd feel like the deck would run out of gas, but I feel the inclusion of 3x Cryptics is right.
Tl;dr: Vjeran Horvat's list is pretty spot-on; I really wouldn't have changed anything if I didn't have to. I think Gideon main over Thundermaw is slightly better, and 2x Colonnades isn't THAT bad (sell me pls! lol), but yeah...I like the list.
Reprints the one card that people point to when saying that art objectifies women.
Well done Wizards.
Liliana does not objectify women in any way at all. We have gotten to a point in our society that every single picture of a women must be objectifying a women in some negative way......blah blah blah.. That is not the case. (((Sarcasm)))Picture of a girl drinking a milk shake, must be sex related and putting women down, picture of girl sitting on a beach, picture of a girl driving a car, picture of a girl on the moon at a new space station.)))
You have a picture of an attractive strong power women who girls dress up as for anime conventions. What more do you want? The picture is fine, happy to see a reprint. Sick of of seeing people claim that everything in existence must be putting women down. Then all I have to do is replace the word "women" with anything else to get the same mentality; fish, cats, arabs, blacks, jews, men, environment, whites, chinese, old people, etc. It doesn't matter what word I put in. Stop sucking life out of everything man. That artwork of her is awesome. Stop putting stuff down man. Just stop. If the picture was really as negative as you claim she would totally nude, in a kitchen, making sandwiches and giving blow jobs. Her abilities would be horrible as well. +1 do nothing -2 do nothing -6 do nothing. Instead liliana of the veil is an amazing planeswalker comparable to jace, the mind sculpter with great art to appreciate.
My suggestion listen to some comedy radio for a while, pandora is free, youtube is free there is something out there for you. ***** go make fun of somebody. The whole world is so serious and campaigning for some cause, or someones rights, everything is a hate crime, racist, sexist. blah blah blah.
"O no mcdonalds must be slandering a hate crime against skinny people every time they make a big mac." hahaha jeeze You're just someone perpetuating another groups negative perspective that they've made you believe is correct. Look at the picture for a hour and tell me what's wrong with it? I don't see anything.
I have heard vague rumors of a moustache-dispensing vending machine in a distant laundromat, across the street from a tattoo parlor. However, this information is shaky, and time is of the essence.
I played FNM last night with Vjeran Horvat's 24th place GP Copenhagen list with only a few changes, mostly due to card availability. I'm not new to the deck, but it's been a while since I last played Jeskai Geist, and I've been on lists with less counter magic. My friend let me borrow 3x Cryptics and 3x Tarns so I was pretty excited.
I too have had success with the list, exact same one straight up except for some sideboard changes. In my experience Thundermaw Hellkite just ends the game if he resolves and swings. Faster than Gideon Jura, but less versatile in the types of situations it can work. For Game 1, Thundermaw is almost always better to end the game ASAP. Then, Game 2 when you know what you're up against, you can side in Gideon from the SB if it works better in the matchup than Thundermaw (or can help in addition to Thundermaw against grindy decks). Personally I'm actually running Keranos, God of Storms over Gideon at the moment but I'm not actually sure which is better for this list. Time and testing will tell. Also, I've switched to Ghost Quarter over Tectonic Edge from the original list. Tec Edge is just too slow for the current format in my opinion.
I think you're pretty spot on with the other SB notes, though. I'm glad Monastery Mentor has done you well as I haven't had the opportunity to test it (in paper or online). I'll give him a try if I can get my hands on one.
I'm also gonna try testing the 3-4x Serum Visions lists and even though I saw GreatNate's videos and the list in action, I still worry that it might make awkward scenarios where you don't know what to do with your mana (3 drop and serum/2 mana counterspell and serum in hand, etc). I'll still give it a shot because it's had success.
Check out some Magic Gameplay and Commentary videos here, including Modern Grixis, Jeskai, and Esper videos as well as some Standard and Drafts too: My YouTube Channel!
I played FNM last night with Vjeran Horvat's 24th place GP Copenhagen list with only a few changes, mostly due to card availability. I'm not new to the deck, but it's been a while since I last played Jeskai Geist, and I've been on lists with less counter magic. My friend let me borrow 3x Cryptics and 3x Tarns so I was pretty excited.
I too have had success with the list, exact same one straight up except for some sideboard changes. In my experience Thundermaw Hellkite just ends the game if he resolves and swings. Faster than Gideon Jura, but less versatile in the types of situations it can work. For Game 1, Thundermaw is almost always better to end the game ASAP. Then, Game 2 when you know what you're up against, you can side in Gideon from the SB if it works better in the matchup than Thundermaw (or can help in addition to Thundermaw against grindy decks). Personally I'm actually running Keranos, God of Storms over Gideon at the moment but I'm not actually sure which is better for this list. Time and testing will tell. Also, I've switched to Ghost Quarter over Tectonic Edge from the original list. Tec Edge is just too slow for the current format in my opinion.
I think you're pretty spot on with the other SB notes, though. I'm glad Monastery Mentor has done you well as I haven't had the opportunity to test it (in paper or online). I'll give him a try if I can get my hands on one.
I'm also gonna try testing the 3-4x Serum Visions lists and even though I saw GreatNate's videos and the list in action, I still worry that it might make awkward scenarios where you don't know what to do with your mana (3 drop and serum/2 mana counterspell and serum in hand, etc). I'll still give it a shot because it's had success.
Access to Serum Visions is 100% worth it.
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Thoughts? Sideboard for Twin, Reanimator, Breach, Tokens, Collected Company, Melira Combos?
C Kozilek C
GB Gitrog GB
G Titania G
WU Brago WU
GB MerenGB
Duel Commander Decks
UR Keranos UR
BRG Jund BRG
GR Tron GR GW Tron GW
C Eldrazi Tron (SB) C
BG Lantern Control BG
UW Control (SB) UW
Not great against twin, but decent enough for the other matchups.
I would like your opinion on this deck list of mine.
I'm not sure of the mana curve, turn 3 could be heavy.
maybe Geist of Saint Traft is to much ? idk
maybe Young Pyromancer could be better ?
I thought I could add 1 or 2 Monastery Siege against burn but mostly to protect my Mentor.
3 Snapcaster Mage
4 Monastery Mentor
3 Geist of Saint Traft
Spells (26)
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
4 Path to Exile
4 Serum Visions
4 Remand
2 Electrolyse
1 Sphinx's Revelation
3 Cryptic Command
3 Arid Mesa
3 Scalding Tarn
2 Flooded Strand
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Steam Vents
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Celestial Colonnade
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Mystic Gate
2 Tectonic Edge
2 Island
1 Plain
1 Mountain
Interesting.. Something I don't understand, what's the use of the 2 izzet staticaster in the side?
Personally instead of the vendilion clique, Restoration Angel and Thundermaw Hellkite in the main, I would replace them with young pyromancer instead, and maybe add a few copy of Boros charm too. Boros charm giving the 4/4 angel of Geist double strike could easily steal the game.
Something like this:
4 Delver of Secrets
3 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Young Pyromancer
2 Boros Charm
3 Gitaxian Probe
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Lightning Helix
2 Mana Leak
3 Path to Exile
4 Remand
4 Serum Visions
2 Spell Snare
3 Hallowed Fountain
3 Island
1 Moorland Haunt
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Polluted Delta
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
1 Ajani Vengeant
2 Blood Moon
2 Dispel
2 Negate
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Rending Volley
1 Spell Pierce
1 Spellskite
2 Wear // Tear
TappedOut
Would love to have more input to improve!
Better play would be to use Boros Charm as 4 damage burn. Using as double strike, a removal spell would put you down a card and 4 damage. It only starts paying off when you're able to successfully attack with a creature with 5 power or greater.
C Kozilek C
GB Gitrog GB
G Titania G
WU Brago WU
GB MerenGB
Duel Commander Decks
UR Keranos UR
BRG Jund BRG
GR Tron GR GW Tron GW
C Eldrazi Tron (SB) C
BG Lantern Control BG
UW Control (SB) UW
Making all your permanent indestructible would be good too..
TappedOut
Would love to have more input to improve!
Also for those running black splash, thoughts on Countersquall in the SB over negate?
C Kozilek C
GB Gitrog GB
G Titania G
WU Brago WU
GB MerenGB
Duel Commander Decks
UR Keranos UR
BRG Jund BRG
GR Tron GR GW Tron GW
C Eldrazi Tron (SB) C
BG Lantern Control BG
UW Control (SB) UW
https://youtu.be/Mk7MSWKJJX0?list=PLaUnM24uNg0AX-ifDAzxNJZIsJB_qSpG8
C Kozilek C
GB Gitrog GB
G Titania G
WU Brago WU
GB MerenGB
Duel Commander Decks
UR Keranos UR
BRG Jund BRG
GR Tron GR GW Tron GW
C Eldrazi Tron (SB) C
BG Lantern Control BG
UW Control (SB) UW
4 Restoration Angel
2 Vendilion Clique
4 Mana Leak
3 Remand
2 Spell Snare
2 Cryptic Command
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
1 Izzet Charm
3 Sleight of Hand
3 Path to Exile
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Arid Mesa
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Steam Vents
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Celestial Colonnade
1 Cascade Bluffs
1 Clifftop Retreat
3 Island
2 Plains
1 Mountain
I'm trying to straddle the line between midrange and control with this. I really considered Geist, but ultimately decided that I like both Clique and Angel better. Flash is a big deal in a deck with this many counterspells, and the evasion is just as good. Also, blinking a Clique and having 6 flying power plus a 3-for-1 (blanking their removal, saving your Clique, plus getting an extra trigger) just feels so good.
Sleight of Hand is because I sold my Serum Visions because they're ridiculously overpriced. I like getting the card selection now anyway, it helps get a little more aggressive. If the price of Visions drops I may switch back, but they're close enough and I don't play often enough to care all that much.
The reason I built the deck this specific way is because of the sideboard plan. I want the opponent to think I'm playing the more hardcore control version (which I am very close to) but still be able to close out game one in a reasonable amount of time. Ideally I win game one and the opponent sideboards for a long and grindy game, bringing in things like Keranos and Batterskull, and just generally going slower and higher-curve. Then I go to my sideboard:
3 Boros Charm
2 Spell Pierce
2 Blood Moon
2 Wear/Tear
1 Spellskite
After board I have 15 burn spells, plus Snapcasters and flash creatures. All those Jund and Grixis decks that are trying to play a long game are just too slow now. I'm not as fast as an actual burn deck, for sure, but I have the ability to end the game out of nowhere - EoT Boros Charm, Bolt, untap Snapcaster Boros Charm, Spike makes 14 damage.
One match I played against Grixis Twin went exactly to plan; after getting game one off the back of Bolts and Angels, I board for game two bringing out mostly the worse counterspells. When I Clique him on turn five, I see that he has Keranos, plus both parts of the Twin combo. I take Twin, knowing that if he taps out to jam Keranos into play then I win. He did exactly that, thinking the game was nowhere near over, and I untap to attack with Clique, then Lava Spike, Snapcaster Lava Spike for lethal.
Hallowed Moonlight stops Twin for a turn, counters Coco, counters Chord, counters an Aether Vial activation, and exiles a Restoration Angel blink target. Also it cantrips. Possibly 1-2 copies mainboard for the right meta (Elves and Abzan Company) and maybe some sideboard play.
Mizzium Meddler similar to spellskite but instead of sitting there and demanding an answer, it catches people off guard. Spellskite has uses against Burn, Infect, and Boggles by stealing their spells but is also useful against Twin combo. Meddler has much more application against Twin because it cannot repeatedly steal small spells, but instead comes in when Twin combos off and cannot be countered by Dispel or Spell Pierce or Spell Snare. Meddler also counters removal (including abrupt decay and LotV -2).
Overall neither of these cards will have big impacts but are worth consideration.
Modern: R Skred -- WBG Melira Co -- URW Nahiri Control
Legacy: R Mono Red Burn -- UWB Stoneblade
Commander: R Krenko, Mob Boss -- WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon -- WUBRG Maze’s End
Other: R No Rares Red (Standard) -- URC Izzet Tron (Pauper)
Modern: R Skred -- WBG Melira Co -- URW Nahiri Control
Legacy: R Mono Red Burn -- UWB Stoneblade
Commander: R Krenko, Mob Boss -- WUBRG Scion of the Ur-Dragon -- WUBRG Maze’s End
Other: R No Rares Red (Standard) -- URC Izzet Tron (Pauper)
Pretty sure most of you have seen the list.
I didn't have:
Main:
Thundermaw Hellkite
Celestial Colonnade x2
Arid Mesa x2
Board:
Spellskite x2
So I subbed Gideon Jura into the main instead of Thundermaw (don't own).
Ran Shinka, the Blood-Soaked Keep and Glacial Fortress in place of 2x Colonnades.
And I ran 3x Tarn, 1x Polluted Delta instead of his 2x Tarn 2x Mesa.
Pretty minor changes in the main overall. I kept the side mostly the same save for 3-4 cards. I'd play Skites, but I don't own any and couldn't borrow anyone's. So I played 2x Fulminator Mages for *****s and giggles, and because Gideon was subbed into the main, I put Stormbreath Dragon in its place. My friends convinced me to cut the Batterskull for Outpost Siege. They were also the ones who suggested I run Gideon main over the Stormbreath. More on both of this later.
I went 3-0-1 that night, earning a Path to Exile.
The match-ups:
Round 2 was against Grixis Delver. I found that match-up to be pretty good/fun and reasonable. Didn't feel like I was really out of the game. Game 1 was just playing draw-go and trying to win the mana advantage and just keeping his board clear. V-Clique again was amazing in this match-up for forcing plays and seeing his hand. Gideon showed up again here, after Vclique would strip him of counter-magic and making sure the coast was clear. Gideon cut down a Gurmag Angler, then proceeded to swing once or twice for game alongside Clique and burn spells. Game 2 he was on the land destruction plan with Molten Rain and Fulminator Mages. Got rekt and lost. Game 3 came down to the wire, but in the end I was able to stave off the beats and kill him with Restoration Angel and Celestial Colonnade.
Round 3 was against Collected Company.dec. I misplayed a lot this match. Idk how I was missing so many things. But chaining Cryptic Commands over and over proved to be real strong. In the end, I made some more misplays and lost game 1. God...I punted real hard. Several times I had victory but managed to fudge it. Game 2 was real close as he has a better start. Gideon and Monastery Mentor came into play this game. Mentor built up 3 tokens, and Gideon forced him to either tap for mana or swing with his field of Hierarchs and 2/1's and 3/2's. He kinda just took all of it and lived. I cracked back with all the tokens, Geist (and angel), Gideon, Snapcaster, while pumping the tokens twice with Electrolyze and Cryptic Command. Barely beat him with only a minute or two left on the clock, earning me the draw. lol Doesn't really do any favors here. Got to test out Mentor here so that was pretty cool.
Round 4 was against Infect. Game 1 I died to Dryad Arbor + Wild Defiance + millions of pumps. Game 2 was real close but I stave off the poison then finally win. Game 3 was like game 2. Idk, just typical Infect match-up stuff. Wear//Tear was awesome. Tectonic Edge was great. Though, Spellskites would have been pretty nice in this match-up; however, it was also a chance for me to test out Fulminator Mage. All night, I never brought it in...kinda wish I had tried it here, because it's an out to Inkmoth Nexus (and Arbor kek), while also serving as a body to block creatures for x amount of time. Somewhat better than VClique here...I think? Maybe not optimal, but would've been cool to try. Wish I had tried it at least.
Overall, seems Gideon is nice because he's versatile in what he can offer and he does dodge a lot of removal right up until the swing. Hopefully by then you exhaust them of resources. I'll probably keep him main. Though I really do want to test those other bombs more (Thundermaw, Stormbreath, Baneslayer, Batterskull). The reason why I cut the Batterskull ultimately was because I was afraid that the meta was gonna be more Grixis-heavy with all the Kolaghan's Commands running around. Maybe this is the wrong line of thinking. Cuz maybe it's still good enough against stuff like Junk and Burn that it warrants a slot? Idk. Well, in any case, all I know was that the Stormbreath Dragon and Outpost Siege from the side were a little anemic. I feel like in the case of the Dragon, it's a lot better just to have main or none at all. I wonder if it's better vs. stuff like Jund and Junk...where maybe all you really want to do is land bombs left and right? Perhaps that's where I bring it in? lol
My friends suggested Outpost Siege for decks like Jund where the attrition battle and out-valuing people is really important. I was skeptical but I went along with it. I never sided it in, so I can't say for sure how good it would've been; however, in the match-ups that I played tonight, I felt like I had other stuff I'd rather side in first. Then there wasn't anything I really wanted to cut. And finally, I wasn't really convinced by this card's power enough to really justify playing it. Idk, seems nice to play for value, but I feel like a number of the cards in this deck are pretty time-sensitive (READ: 9 counter spells). The stuff like burn can be mindlessly casted if need be, but for me, it seems a lot better to time those spells better. Same goes for other cards like Wear//Tear; I think I'd rather have that card hidden in my hand instead of having it get exiled then being forced to play it right then or losing it. In any case, I feel like I should've replaced this card with Izzet Staticaster instead or like...Chandra, Pyromaster at the very least. That might be just better, because her ping 1 damage isn't irrelevant (although, she still suffers from the same problems that Siege suffers from, I think). Maybe I should experiment that slot with Venser, Shaper Savant or Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir? Or maybe just re-add Batterskull back in. A third Clique would be nice too...
Fulminator Mages were aight...I guess. They were fill-ins mostly and also to prep for the Tron match-up. I don't have much experience vs. that deck, so I'm not sure if this helps at all. Haha.
I feel like Engineered Explosives is a necessary evil; didn't seem to be very impressive and I hardly ever wanted to side it in all night. Though, probable good enough against Bogles that it warrants it. I can't really think of any deck outside of it that I'd care to see it in. This is because token strategies usually just get hosed by Staticaster and Electrolyzes. On the flip side is that it's versatile and is in there, "just in case."
I'm working on getting more Colonnades, though at the moment 2 seems fine. I've had enough luck with hitting the card; usually will draw into it sometime leading up to 5-6 mana. And the untapped mana potential of Shinka and Glacial have proven to be a boon. 4 is probably right, though it'd be nice of someone tried to sell me on this. I've done 1 and 2 in the past, with stuff like Loothouse and never really had a problem, probably making me biased. Even though I'm trying not to be. Kek
Monastery Mentor was pretty awesome. I've been trying this card in Legacy sideboards and stuff. And it kinda has the same appeal in this Modern sideboard as well. There's definitely something to be said about the surprise factor of it coming out in the post-board games. Makes those redundant burn spells and counters generate a lot of value and the tokens can end games real fast (much like in the game vs. Collected Company; 9 damage from those damn things). He can be awkward if you're sitting on a couple counters instead of action spells, but that's not even a bad position to be in.
I definitely like the numbers in this list. 3 Helix, 3 Electrolyze, 3 Geist, 2 Clique, and only 2 Resto felt perfect. This backed with the 9 counter spells proved to generate a lot of play and interactions with opponents. I especially like that I felt like I had card draw with this deck. In the past, it'd feel like the deck would run out of gas, but I feel the inclusion of 3x Cryptics is right.
Tl;dr: Vjeran Horvat's list is pretty spot-on; I really wouldn't have changed anything if I didn't have to. I think Gideon main over Thundermaw is slightly better, and 2x Colonnades isn't THAT bad (sell me pls! lol), but yeah...I like the list.
I too have had success with the list, exact same one straight up except for some sideboard changes. In my experience Thundermaw Hellkite just ends the game if he resolves and swings. Faster than Gideon Jura, but less versatile in the types of situations it can work. For Game 1, Thundermaw is almost always better to end the game ASAP. Then, Game 2 when you know what you're up against, you can side in Gideon from the SB if it works better in the matchup than Thundermaw (or can help in addition to Thundermaw against grindy decks). Personally I'm actually running Keranos, God of Storms over Gideon at the moment but I'm not actually sure which is better for this list. Time and testing will tell. Also, I've switched to Ghost Quarter over Tectonic Edge from the original list. Tec Edge is just too slow for the current format in my opinion.
I think you're pretty spot on with the other SB notes, though. I'm glad Monastery Mentor has done you well as I haven't had the opportunity to test it (in paper or online). I'll give him a try if I can get my hands on one.
I'm also gonna try testing the 3-4x Serum Visions lists and even though I saw GreatNate's videos and the list in action, I still worry that it might make awkward scenarios where you don't know what to do with your mana (3 drop and serum/2 mana counterspell and serum in hand, etc). I'll still give it a shot because it's had success.
Access to Serum Visions is 100% worth it.