that's a good report gahouf. my list is astonishingly similar to yours, except i'm not running serum visions and am instead going for anticipate or telling time and a boros charm (just trying it for fun). can't really decide which is better, as they're both basically the same thing. even my board is similar. i've been thinking about mindcensor vs shadow of doubt and knight errant vs big elspeth. they both have their merits, but the match up where i think it'd help the most, any bgx deck, big elspeth seems better. i'm not sure though, i still have to test some more.
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I just recently started playing the deck too and have fallen in love with it. I feel that with tight play, no match-up is scary. (though i personally find ways to mis-play against infect all the time, but that's my inexperience with the deck showing). I'm curious what other player's prefer as their long grindy game sideboard card. I see Keranos, god of storms in some lists and elspeth, sun's champion in others. Which do you prefer and why? I currently have both in my board but that is more indecision on my part as opposed to wanting a higher density of late game threats.
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Modern: WUBRGHumansWUBRG
EDH: WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG UGEdric, Spymaster of TrestUG
Has anyone given any thought to running Whirler Rogue as a one-of? It has the same effect of going wide that Pia and Kiran has, as well as the relevant flying. It can be value-blinked with Restoration Angel and the two Thopters can be tapped to make Geist unblockable. It seems like it could add a lot to the deck as a one-of, and I'm very interested in giving it a try.
Alright, so I've gotten quite a bit of testing in with Whirler Rogue, and I can safely say that it's a pretty great inclusion as a one-of so far. It has so many little things that I loved about it during testing, such as being able to block an Etched Champion and being a late-game bomb versus Abzan by going wide and getting Geist through Goyfs and Souls (Abzan especially seems to have a tough time when you resolve the card). Its pretty decent against both Jund and Grixis, as well, since it's at least a 2-for-1 there, and sometimes a 3-for-1. Blinking the thing with Resto is a scary prospect for any fair deck. It adds a lot of little things to the deck and those little things really added up from what I could tell.
In conclusion, I definitely think it's a card we need to be giving more attention to. Am I sure that it belongs here? No, not yet, but it's certainly very promising.
Alright, so I've gotten quite a bit of testing in with Whirler Rogue, and I can safely say that it's a pretty great inclusion as a one-of so far. It has so many little things that I loved about it during testing, such as being able to block an Etched Champion and being a late-game bomb versus Abzan by going wide and getting Geist through Goyfs and Souls (Abzan especially seems to have a tough time when you resolve the card). Its pretty decent against both Jund and Grixis, as well, since it's at least a 2-for-1 there, and sometimes a 3-for-1. Blinking the thing with Resto is a scary prospect for any fair deck. It adds a lot of little things to the deck and those little things really added up from what I could tell.
In conclusion, I definitely think it's a card we need to be giving more attention to. Am I sure that it belongs here? No, not yet, but it's certainly very promising.
I've generally had big trouble sticking any creature other than Geist of Saint Traft in Geist Midrange, so I heavily suspect that Pia and Kiran Nalaar are better than Whirler Rogue in your build. Opponents are forced to boot the primary body in order to stop Parents Nalaar for activating their ability once, while they can kill a single Whirler Rogue token and keep you from making anything unblockable more than once (at least until Resto blinks the Rogue). A Parents Nalaar ping plus a Bolt can outright kill an X/5. If you really need to race Tron, Parents Nalaar can realistically put out 6 damage the turn after it ETB, while Whirler Rogue always swings for 4 max.
Admittedly, Parents Nalaar have been feeling slow lately, and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar has been such a fantastically faster clock...
Alright, so I've gotten quite a bit of testing in with Whirler Rogue, and I can safely say that it's a pretty great inclusion as a one-of so far. It has so many little things that I loved about it during testing, such as being able to block an Etched Champion and being a late-game bomb versus Abzan by going wide and getting Geist through Goyfs and Souls (Abzan especially seems to have a tough time when you resolve the card). Its pretty decent against both Jund and Grixis, as well, since it's at least a 2-for-1 there, and sometimes a 3-for-1. Blinking the thing with Resto is a scary prospect for any fair deck. It adds a lot of little things to the deck and those little things really added up from what I could tell.
In conclusion, I definitely think it's a card we need to be giving more attention to. Am I sure that it belongs here? No, not yet, but it's certainly very promising.
I've generally had big trouble sticking any creature other than Geist of Saint Traft in Geist Midrange, so I heavily suspect that Pia and Kiran Nalaar are better than Whirler Rogue in your build. Opponents are forced to boot the primary body in order to stop Parents Nalaar for activating their ability once, while they can kill a single Whirler Rogue token and keep you from making anything unblockable more than once (at least until Resto blinks the Rogue). A Parents Nalaar ping plus a Bolt can outright kill an X/5. If you really need to race Tron, Parents Nalaar can realistically put out 6 damage the turn after it ETB, while Whirler Rogue always swings for 4 max.
Admittedly, Parents Nalaar have been feeling slow lately, and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar has been such a fantastically faster clock...
I mean, I originally tested Parents Nalaar as a one-of for the same idea I've tested Whirler Rogue - the ability to go wide versus certain match-ups. It's entirely possible that Pia and Kiran Nalaar is just better in this deck, and it's also possible that we don't want either. That is, however, why we test instead of basing things on pure speculation. Both cards do almost the same things - it all comes down to which of the activated abilities seems to be best. So far, I've favored Whirler Rogue's ability to get Geist through over PKN's shock ability. It's very relevant that you can use Whirler Rogue's ability the turn it comes down, which means that you can curve Geist into Whirler Rogue and get Geist through a blocker sometimes. That usually means you can get an activation out of it before them bolting one of the tokens becomes relevant. Again, though, their main addition to the deck is the ability to go wide. The two cards are so close to eachother, and I think Whirler Rogue synergizes with the deck better so far.
I've only had two days to test so far, though, and that's no where near enough to be calling either card good in the shell yet. So, only time will tell.
Sideboard (15)
1x Batterskull
1x Celestial Purge
2x Mana Leak
1x Wrath of God
1x Leyline of Sanctity
4x Lingering Souls
1x Mulldrifter
1x Stony Silence
3x Wear / Tear
My end results: I went 2-2 but lost horribly one matchup to a misplay. Notes below:
Round 1 vs Atarka Burn
I lost game one on the draw and won game two on the play with an early Tasigur. Game three my opponent got me to four life after I cleared his board and cleaned him out with Geist and Colonnade
(1-0)
Round 2 vs Melira Company
I horribly lost game one due to bad mulliganning and misplay against voice of resurgence. Game two he combo-ed out thanks to collected company and chord of calling. I need dispels in the sideboard.
(1-1)
Round 3 vs Blitzkreig (B/R discard deck)
Game one he resolved a turn 2 mindwrench into a turn 3 Liliana and turn 4 blightning and turn 5 phyrexian obliterator. Somehow I won. I top decked burn spells to kill Liliana and a path to kill obliterator. Colonnade won me the game. Game two he won quickly. Game three I (bravely, foolishly) played Geist on turn three. He did not play Liliana and I won and I remanded his languish two turns in a row for the win.
(2-1)
Round 4 vs Kiki Junk Combo
I won game one off of geist, snapcaster, and electrolyze vs his mana dorks. Game two I mulliganed down to five and it showed. Game three I made a play mistake and it cost me the game. My opponent was at two life and I had crackling doom and kolaghan's command in hand. I cracked my fetchland and forgot to fetch a black source. I did nothing for two turns (and didn't draw a black land, fetch land, bolt, or helix either to end the game) and lost to a kiki jiki and resto angel combo.
(2-2)
Since then I've added dispel to the sideboard as it would have been fantastic in each matchup except the discard deck.
Thoughts on the black splash:
Tasigur is a beast. I almost want a 3rd in the deck because he is that good.
Crackling Doom and K-Command are fantastic. Lingering Souls in the side is great vs Liliana and flooded. I sided them in each matchup.
The only issue is I did lose a game because I fetched the wrong color mana. Kind of what happened to GreatNate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7Z7jDrRNJ4 here. I am running a black source for each relevant shock though.
I can definitely use mulligan and sideboard help and would appreciate criticism on my list.
Sideboard (15)
1x Batterskull
1x Celestial Purge
2x Mana Leak
1x Wrath of God
1x Leyline of Sanctity
4x Lingering Souls
1x Mulldrifter
1x Stony Silence
3x Wear / Tear
My end results: I went 2-2 but lost horribly one matchup to a misplay. Notes below:
Round 1 vs Atarka Burn
I lost game one on the draw and won game two on the play with an early Tasigur. Game three my opponent got me to four life after I cleared his board and cleaned him out with Geist and Colonnade
(1-0)
Round 2 vs Melira Company
I horribly lost game one due to bad mulliganning and misplay against voice of resurgence. Game two he combo-ed out thanks to collected company and chord of calling. I need dispels in the sideboard.
(1-1)
Round 3 vs Blitzkreig (B/R discard deck)
Game one he resolved a turn 2 mindwrench into a turn 3 Liliana and turn 4 blightning and turn 5 phyrexian obliterator. Somehow I won. I top decked burn spells to kill Liliana and a path to kill obliterator. Colonnade won me the game. Game two he won quickly. Game three I (bravely, foolishly) played Geist on turn three. He did not play Liliana and I won and I remanded his languish two turns in a row for the win.
(2-1)
Round 4 vs Kiki Junk Combo
I won game one off of geist, snapcaster, and electrolyze vs his mana dorks. Game two I mulliganed down to five and it showed. Game three I made a play mistake and it cost me the game. My opponent was at two life and I had crackling doom and kolaghan's command in hand. I cracked my fetchland and forgot to fetch a black source. I did nothing for two turns (and didn't draw a black land, fetch land, bolt, or helix either to end the game) and lost to a kiki jiki and resto angel combo.
(2-2)
Since then I've added dispel to the sideboard as it would have been fantastic in each matchup except the discard deck.
Thoughts on the black splash:
Tasigur is a beast. I almost want a 3rd in the deck because he is that good.
Crackling Doom and K-Command are fantastic. Lingering Souls in the side is great vs Liliana and flooded. I sided them in each matchup.
The only issue is I did lose a game because I fetched the wrong color mana. Kind of what happened to GreatNate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7Z7jDrRNJ4 here. I am running a black source for each relevant shock though.
I can definitely use mulligan and sideboard help and would appreciate criticism on my list.
I, too, have decided on the black splash after some time, since Abzan and Jund are extremely heavy in my meta. Crackling Doom is an absolute beast of a card. I keep an updated list on tappedout which I have linked in my signature, if you're curious to see a similar list. I can definitely offer some criticism on your list - mostly on the sideboard, which could definitely use some work.
Main Deck:
1. I'm definitely on the side that encourages running some amount of Serum Visions in the deck. It really helps the deck consistency-wise and makes our BGx match-up better by allowing us to set up our draws and recover from discard. I'm currently on 3, which I think is the correct number.
Sideboard:
1. You have a few-too-many sideboard slots devoted to grindy match-ups. Lingering Souls is an amazing card in a number of match-ups, and you already have a Keranos, God of Storms main, as well as two Tasigur, the Golden Fang. You definitely don't need the Batterskull or the Mulldrifter. Batterskull isn't great against Jund or Grixis, since they both have Kolaghan's Command to deal with it. Mulldrifter is pretty iffy in general, especially since you only have one K-Command for the synergies therein. It's also probably just not where Geist wants to be. I could also see cutting down to three Lingering Souls.
2. Those two Mana Leak should probably be Dispel, though I do see in your post that you decided to add Dispel to the board anyhow. The one-of Leyline of Sanctity isn't doing much for you. I can see why you would run an effect like that, considering the fact that you seem to have some very discard-focused decks in your meta. If you really feel you need that effect, I would run at least 3 to improve the consistency of having it in your opening hand (a turn four Leyline of Sanctity is just way too late). Stony Silence should be at least a 2-of, since it's something you want in your opening hand to jam on turn 2 against Affinity and Tron. If you don't want to increase the number there, I'd suggest running an artifact sweeper such as Shatterstorm in its place.
That's pretty much it for the criticism, since everything else I could offer is personal preference (such as playing V-Clique instead of Tasigur). I hope I could help!
Thanks for the feedback SuperKikoni. I adjusted my sideboard accordingly and dropped to 3 Lingering Souls in the side.
About Serum Visions: I know if I run 3 I can cut a land, but what would the other 2 cuts be? I feel that I've won a few games just off of always having gas and burn top deck. I think Helix might be the worst card in the deck, but the life gain is huge.
With the main deck list noted above at my local FNM here's my report:
Round 1 vs Grixis Control
I won game one after killing his looter Jace and Gurmag Angler and Liliana with bolts and paths. Restoration Angel and Snapcaster behind Remands won the game. Game two Geist protected by Lingering Souls tokens (vs Liliana) won the game. I'm very comfortable with this matchup. I think it is in our favor since their Tasigurs and Anglers die to Path and Crackling Dooms. Liliana is the only threat that scares me.
(1-0)
Round 2 vs B/W Tokens
I won game one off of Geist and Restoration angel to protect him. I remanded his token generators and Crackling Doom'd his Sorrin to kill the Sorrin and the 2/2 vampire. Game two was a bit more painful since he had lots of tokens in play and Vault of the Archangel in play to block my geist and snapcaster. I had to electrolyze, bolt, and then triple lighting helix to kill six 1/1 flyers to clear his board. Certainly not optimal but it allowed me to win with 2 geist hits. I would have tried burning him but he didn't hurt himself off his mana at all. This is not a great matchup.
(2-0)
Round 3 vs Merfolk
I'd never played Merfolk before so this was interesting. Game one I rode a geist to victory and burned his merfolk out as I was on the play. Game two he swarmed pretty hard and I could not do manage his unblockable merfolk. Him spreading seas my colonnade didn't help either. This was my first loss. Game three my opponent was stuck at two lands and I cast crackling doom 3 times (once off snapcaster). Crackling doom vs spellskite is fantastic. I feel very comfortable with this matchup. I think it is favorable.
(3-0)
Round 4 vs Naya Stompy
Although technically we split for packs we still played. Electrolyze is great against mana dorks and Crackling doom and path trump Loxodon Smiter and KOTR and Goyf. I feel again favorable in this matchup.
(4-0)
So that's 4-0 at a local FNM. To make it even sweeter, the above players filled out the rest of the top 5. They only lost to me tonight.
I think this deck is in a great spot in the meta as its competitive against almost every deck. Looking at http://www.mtggoldfish.com/metagame/modern#paper I feel that the only scary Tier 1 matchups are Bloom Amulet (although Crackling Doom is great against Emrakul) and RG Tron.
My thought process is that most people will pull all of their targeted removal out after seeing Geist, leaving them very weak to Twin combo. This transformational sideboard should do a lot to improve the Tron and Affinity matchups. Remand, Serum Visions, and Cryptic all help dig through the deck and should make finding combo pieces semi-reliable.
Don't sideboard into the Twin combo. You dilute your midrange plan too much to try and achieve it, and the deck is not optimal to be pulling off the combo. Instead of 10 sideboard slots for a combo which dies to BGx just as bad, why wouldn't we sideboard a Watery Grave/Blood Crypt and Crackling Doom? It'd be a hell lot more effective.
How has Boros Charm been working for you? Lucas Hytel ran it as a one of in his super burn you out version of the deck (http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=9945&d=257360&f=MO) and I've been intrigued with it. With snapcaster it is an 8 point swing or it protects geist or counters terminates/ghost quarters. It is a turn 2 play that does not affect the board though which is why I want to know how it has been faring for you.
How has Boros Charm been working for you? Lucas Hytel ran it as a one of in his super burn you out version of the deck (http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=9945&d=257360&f=MO) and I've been intrigued with it. With snapcaster it is an 8 point swing or it protects geist or counters terminates/ghost quarters. It is a turn 2 play that does not affect the board though which is why I want to know how it has been faring for you.
That's not my deck But imo it actually looks good in a midrange deck, indestructibility is also a useful mode.
When you board into twin, you don't care about the midrange plan anymore. You are now a combo deck. Maybe not as consistent as twin itself, but as I said, you have plenty of card filtering.
Obviously you don't side into twin against BGx! It is primarily a means to beat Affinity and Tron with more consistency. I'm sure there are other matchups that could be improved as well.
1. Serum visions smooths out bad starting hands and mulligans.
2. Serum visions helps post-sideboarded games by reaching to your hate cards.
3. I was not casting serum visions until turn 3 or later. We are not grixis or blue jund so we are not fetch, shocking, turn 1 serum visions and turn 2 we want the threat of counter spells up. I was only casting it turns 1 through 3 if I was in trouble or knew my opponent's deck was much much slower than me.
So then another question what do you cut for it? Are you cutting gas? I sampled cutting down 1 land and 1 electrolyze to add 2 serum visions. Sometimes it was nice, sometimes it wasn't. I really feel it's matchup dependent. This deck is not as inherently powerful as other decks (see jund/abzan) and instead its power lies in its ability to outrush slower decks and outlast faster decks. This deck is entirely dependent on having a capable pilot. The slower games, the more controlling matchups is where serum visions truly shined. See GreatNate's comment ("One thing I've considered is that as my build has gotten more controlling (swapping 2x Remand for 2x Leak, adding 2 Cryptic), Serum Visions stock has risen. The reason is, when your on the all proactive burn em' plan, you're affected less by not having the selection/draw because all you want to do is draw gas, so being as redundant as possible means the selection is less important. However, when you're more of a traditional Aggro/Control deck the selection Serum Visions provides becomes incredibly valuable.")
That said: I feel that this is at a crossroads. Not whether or not serum visions should be in the deck (I've already outlined why it deserves a spot) the question I think each pilot needs to answer with each deck is: Is my deck the more proactive-burn-them-out deck (like Hytel's list http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=9945&d=257360&f=MO) or is it a more controlling deck that runs cryptic commands? I agree with GreatNate: if you are going the more controlling route then serum visions is fantastic. But if you are splashing black and running 13+ burn spells then you just want to draw gas and the selection is less important. For comparison: GreatNate's list in his article runs 4 bolt, 3 helix, and 3 electrolyze. Hytel's list runs 4 bolt, 4 helix, 3 crackling doom, 3 electrolyze, 1 boros charm, and 1 kolaghan's command. In Hytel's case the redundancy of his burn/removal does not care as much about selection of future draws when it has the capability of killing its opponent so much faster.
So I think the conversation of to serum or not to serum is entirely based on the deck's overall plan. Is it more burn/aggro (probably running either crackling doom or boros charm) or is it more grindy/control (probably running mana leak/spell snare, cryptic command)?
I personally have been running 3 Serum Visions since I built my version of the deck and I love them in the deck, it is great for helping after boarding as you said to help hit powerful hate cards. It smoothes out some otherwise clunky hands which is key with this deck because mulling hurts this deck more than a lot of others. I run 24 lands, with the 3 visions and vary rarely have mana issues. I also run 2 cryptics, 2 remand, 2 leak and 2 snare for my counter suite, and has been good, though at times leak feels the worst of the bunch. I find 4 bolt, 3 helix, 2 electroylzye to be plenty of burn for the burn their face plan with snappies and thhe card drawing, selection I have. Also I feel visions allows me to only run 3 geists and avoid a lot of those awkward double geist hand by scrying one away. I do not currently splash black, but may consider trying it just to see.
Abbreviated: If you run cryptic commands and lots of counters then serum visions is fantastic and absolutely necessary. If you run more than 13 burn spells... it might not be needed because all that deck cares about it drawing redundant gas.
Which actually makes me ask the question:
Are these two separate decks? The UWr midrange control list and the UWRb midrange burn list play a lot of similar cards but their play styles are very different. It's almost like Jund and Abzan running similar cards/finishers (liliana, tarmogoyf, scavenging ooze, abrupt decay, bob, tasigur, thoughtseize, inquisition of kozilek, maelstrom pulse) but have slightly different takes on it.
Does anyone else feel this way: That the more proactive burn it out version is a different deck than the list that runs cryptic command? I feel it's important to note this distinction of play.
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WUBRGHumansWUBRG
EDH:
WBGKarador, Ghost ChieftainWBG
UGEdric, Spymaster of TrestUG
The list I'll be testing:
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
3 Lightning Helix
2 Mana Leak
2 Remand
1 Spell snare
1 Cryptic Command
2 Electrolyze
3 Serum Visions
Creatures: 14
4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
3 Restoration Angel
1 Whirler Rogue
4 Celestial Colonnade
3 Flooded Strand
2 Arid Mesa
3 Scalding Tarn
2 Island
1 Plains
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Eiganjo Castle
2 Steam Vents
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Sulfur Falls
2 Wear // Tear
2 Kor Firewalker
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Keranos, God of Storms
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2 Dispel
1 Shatterstorm
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Celestial Purge
1 Valorous Stance
1 Counterflux
Modern Decks:
Grixis Twin
Abzan/Junk Midrange
In conclusion, I definitely think it's a card we need to be giving more attention to. Am I sure that it belongs here? No, not yet, but it's certainly very promising.
Modern Decks:
Grixis Twin
Abzan/Junk Midrange
I've generally had big trouble sticking any creature other than Geist of Saint Traft in Geist Midrange, so I heavily suspect that Pia and Kiran Nalaar are better than Whirler Rogue in your build. Opponents are forced to boot the primary body in order to stop Parents Nalaar for activating their ability once, while they can kill a single Whirler Rogue token and keep you from making anything unblockable more than once (at least until Resto blinks the Rogue). A Parents Nalaar ping plus a Bolt can outright kill an X/5. If you really need to race Tron, Parents Nalaar can realistically put out 6 damage the turn after it ETB, while Whirler Rogue always swings for 4 max.
Admittedly, Parents Nalaar have been feeling slow lately, and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar has been such a fantastically faster clock...
I mean, I originally tested Parents Nalaar as a one-of for the same idea I've tested Whirler Rogue - the ability to go wide versus certain match-ups. It's entirely possible that Pia and Kiran Nalaar is just better in this deck, and it's also possible that we don't want either. That is, however, why we test instead of basing things on pure speculation. Both cards do almost the same things - it all comes down to which of the activated abilities seems to be best. So far, I've favored Whirler Rogue's ability to get Geist through over PKN's shock ability. It's very relevant that you can use Whirler Rogue's ability the turn it comes down, which means that you can curve Geist into Whirler Rogue and get Geist through a blocker sometimes. That usually means you can get an activation out of it before them bolting one of the tokens becomes relevant. Again, though, their main addition to the deck is the ability to go wide. The two cards are so close to eachother, and I think Whirler Rogue synergizes with the deck better so far.
I've only had two days to test so far, though, and that's no where near enough to be calling either card good in the shell yet. So, only time will tell.
Modern Decks:
Grixis Twin
Abzan/Junk Midrange
I rocked a UWRb geist list to my local FNM recently and wanted your feedback and to post my results. This was my first ever modern event.
Lands (25)
4x Arid Mesa
1x Blood Crypt
4x Celestial Colonnade
4x Flooded Strand
1x Godless Shrine
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Island
1x Mountain
1x Plains
2x Sacred Foundry
1x Scalding Tarn
2x Steam Vents
1x Sulfur Falls
1x Watery Grave
Creatures (14)
4x Geist of Saint Traft
1x Keranos, God of Storms
3x Restoration Angel
4x Snapcaster Mage
2x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Instants (21)
2x Crackling Doom
2x Electrolyze
1x Kolaghan's Command
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Lightning Helix
4x Path to Exile
4x Remand
Sideboard (15)
1x Batterskull
1x Celestial Purge
2x Mana Leak
1x Wrath of God
1x Leyline of Sanctity
4x Lingering Souls
1x Mulldrifter
1x Stony Silence
3x Wear / Tear
My end results: I went 2-2 but lost horribly one matchup to a misplay. Notes below:
Round 1 vs Atarka Burn
I lost game one on the draw and won game two on the play with an early Tasigur. Game three my opponent got me to four life after I cleared his board and cleaned him out with Geist and Colonnade
(1-0)
Round 2 vs Melira Company
I horribly lost game one due to bad mulliganning and misplay against voice of resurgence. Game two he combo-ed out thanks to collected company and chord of calling. I need dispels in the sideboard.
(1-1)
Round 3 vs Blitzkreig (B/R discard deck)
Game one he resolved a turn 2 mindwrench into a turn 3 Liliana and turn 4 blightning and turn 5 phyrexian obliterator. Somehow I won. I top decked burn spells to kill Liliana and a path to kill obliterator. Colonnade won me the game. Game two he won quickly. Game three I (bravely, foolishly) played Geist on turn three. He did not play Liliana and I won and I remanded his languish two turns in a row for the win.
(2-1)
Round 4 vs Kiki Junk Combo
I won game one off of geist, snapcaster, and electrolyze vs his mana dorks. Game two I mulliganed down to five and it showed. Game three I made a play mistake and it cost me the game. My opponent was at two life and I had crackling doom and kolaghan's command in hand. I cracked my fetchland and forgot to fetch a black source. I did nothing for two turns (and didn't draw a black land, fetch land, bolt, or helix either to end the game) and lost to a kiki jiki and resto angel combo.
(2-2)
Since then I've added dispel to the sideboard as it would have been fantastic in each matchup except the discard deck.
Thoughts on the black splash:
Tasigur is a beast. I almost want a 3rd in the deck because he is that good.
Crackling Doom and K-Command are fantastic. Lingering Souls in the side is great vs Liliana and flooded. I sided them in each matchup.
The only issue is I did lose a game because I fetched the wrong color mana. Kind of what happened to GreatNate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7Z7jDrRNJ4 here. I am running a black source for each relevant shock though.
I can definitely use mulligan and sideboard help and would appreciate criticism on my list.
I, too, have decided on the black splash after some time, since Abzan and Jund are extremely heavy in my meta. Crackling Doom is an absolute beast of a card. I keep an updated list on tappedout which I have linked in my signature, if you're curious to see a similar list. I can definitely offer some criticism on your list - mostly on the sideboard, which could definitely use some work.
Main Deck:
1. I'm definitely on the side that encourages running some amount of Serum Visions in the deck. It really helps the deck consistency-wise and makes our BGx match-up better by allowing us to set up our draws and recover from discard. I'm currently on 3, which I think is the correct number.
Sideboard:
1. You have a few-too-many sideboard slots devoted to grindy match-ups. Lingering Souls is an amazing card in a number of match-ups, and you already have a Keranos, God of Storms main, as well as two Tasigur, the Golden Fang. You definitely don't need the Batterskull or the Mulldrifter. Batterskull isn't great against Jund or Grixis, since they both have Kolaghan's Command to deal with it. Mulldrifter is pretty iffy in general, especially since you only have one K-Command for the synergies therein. It's also probably just not where Geist wants to be. I could also see cutting down to three Lingering Souls.
2. Those two Mana Leak should probably be Dispel, though I do see in your post that you decided to add Dispel to the board anyhow. The one-of Leyline of Sanctity isn't doing much for you. I can see why you would run an effect like that, considering the fact that you seem to have some very discard-focused decks in your meta. If you really feel you need that effect, I would run at least 3 to improve the consistency of having it in your opening hand (a turn four Leyline of Sanctity is just way too late). Stony Silence should be at least a 2-of, since it's something you want in your opening hand to jam on turn 2 against Affinity and Tron. If you don't want to increase the number there, I'd suggest running an artifact sweeper such as Shatterstorm in its place.
That's pretty much it for the criticism, since everything else I could offer is personal preference (such as playing V-Clique instead of Tasigur). I hope I could help!
Modern Decks:
Grixis Twin
Abzan/Junk Midrange
About Serum Visions: I know if I run 3 I can cut a land, but what would the other 2 cuts be? I feel that I've won a few games just off of always having gas and burn top deck. I think Helix might be the worst card in the deck, but the life gain is huge.
With the main deck list noted above at my local FNM here's my report:
Round 1 vs Grixis Control
I won game one after killing his looter Jace and Gurmag Angler and Liliana with bolts and paths. Restoration Angel and Snapcaster behind Remands won the game. Game two Geist protected by Lingering Souls tokens (vs Liliana) won the game. I'm very comfortable with this matchup. I think it is in our favor since their Tasigurs and Anglers die to Path and Crackling Dooms. Liliana is the only threat that scares me.
(1-0)
Round 2 vs B/W Tokens
I won game one off of Geist and Restoration angel to protect him. I remanded his token generators and Crackling Doom'd his Sorrin to kill the Sorrin and the 2/2 vampire. Game two was a bit more painful since he had lots of tokens in play and Vault of the Archangel in play to block my geist and snapcaster. I had to electrolyze, bolt, and then triple lighting helix to kill six 1/1 flyers to clear his board. Certainly not optimal but it allowed me to win with 2 geist hits. I would have tried burning him but he didn't hurt himself off his mana at all. This is not a great matchup.
(2-0)
Round 3 vs Merfolk
I'd never played Merfolk before so this was interesting. Game one I rode a geist to victory and burned his merfolk out as I was on the play. Game two he swarmed pretty hard and I could not do manage his unblockable merfolk. Him spreading seas my colonnade didn't help either. This was my first loss. Game three my opponent was stuck at two lands and I cast crackling doom 3 times (once off snapcaster). Crackling doom vs spellskite is fantastic. I feel very comfortable with this matchup. I think it is favorable.
(3-0)
Round 4 vs Naya Stompy
Although technically we split for packs we still played. Electrolyze is great against mana dorks and Crackling doom and path trump Loxodon Smiter and KOTR and Goyf. I feel again favorable in this matchup.
(4-0)
So that's 4-0 at a local FNM. To make it even sweeter, the above players filled out the rest of the top 5. They only lost to me tonight.
I think this deck is in a great spot in the meta as its competitive against almost every deck. Looking at http://www.mtggoldfish.com/metagame/modern#paper I feel that the only scary Tier 1 matchups are Bloom Amulet (although Crackling Doom is great against Emrakul) and RG Tron.
4x Geist of Saint Traft
4x Snapcaster Mage
2x Thundermaw Hellkite
2x Chandra, Pyromaster
4x Boros Charm
2x Electrolyze
1x Vapor Snag
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Lightning Helix
4x Path to Exile
3x Remand
4x Flooded Strand
2x Scalding Tarn
2x Sulfur Falls
2x Steam Vents
2x Sacred Foundry
2x Hallowed Fountain
2x Island
2x Mountain
2x Plains
My thought process is that most people will pull all of their targeted removal out after seeing Geist, leaving them very weak to Twin combo. This transformational sideboard should do a lot to improve the Tron and Affinity matchups. Remand, Serum Visions, and Cryptic all help dig through the deck and should make finding combo pieces semi-reliable.
UWR Control
Legacy:
W D&T
How is lightning angel working for you?
How has Boros Charm been working for you? Lucas Hytel ran it as a one of in his super burn you out version of the deck (http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=9945&d=257360&f=MO) and I've been intrigued with it. With snapcaster it is an 8 point swing or it protects geist or counters terminates/ghost quarters. It is a turn 2 play that does not affect the board though which is why I want to know how it has been faring for you.
That's not my deck But imo it actually looks good in a midrange deck, indestructibility is also a useful mode.
Obviously you don't side into twin against BGx! It is primarily a means to beat Affinity and Tron with more consistency. I'm sure there are other matchups that could be improved as well.
1. Serum visions smooths out bad starting hands and mulligans.
2. Serum visions helps post-sideboarded games by reaching to your hate cards.
3. I was not casting serum visions until turn 3 or later. We are not grixis or blue jund so we are not fetch, shocking, turn 1 serum visions and turn 2 we want the threat of counter spells up. I was only casting it turns 1 through 3 if I was in trouble or knew my opponent's deck was much much slower than me.
So then another question what do you cut for it? Are you cutting gas? I sampled cutting down 1 land and 1 electrolyze to add 2 serum visions. Sometimes it was nice, sometimes it wasn't. I really feel it's matchup dependent. This deck is not as inherently powerful as other decks (see jund/abzan) and instead its power lies in its ability to outrush slower decks and outlast faster decks. This deck is entirely dependent on having a capable pilot. The slower games, the more controlling matchups is where serum visions truly shined. See GreatNate's comment ("One thing I've considered is that as my build has gotten more controlling (swapping 2x Remand for 2x Leak, adding 2 Cryptic), Serum Visions stock has risen. The reason is, when your on the all proactive burn em' plan, you're affected less by not having the selection/draw because all you want to do is draw gas, so being as redundant as possible means the selection is less important. However, when you're more of a traditional Aggro/Control deck the selection Serum Visions provides becomes incredibly valuable.")
That said: I feel that this is at a crossroads. Not whether or not serum visions should be in the deck (I've already outlined why it deserves a spot) the question I think each pilot needs to answer with each deck is: Is my deck the more proactive-burn-them-out deck (like Hytel's list http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=9945&d=257360&f=MO) or is it a more controlling deck that runs cryptic commands? I agree with GreatNate: if you are going the more controlling route then serum visions is fantastic. But if you are splashing black and running 13+ burn spells then you just want to draw gas and the selection is less important. For comparison: GreatNate's list in his article runs 4 bolt, 3 helix, and 3 electrolyze. Hytel's list runs 4 bolt, 4 helix, 3 crackling doom, 3 electrolyze, 1 boros charm, and 1 kolaghan's command. In Hytel's case the redundancy of his burn/removal does not care as much about selection of future draws when it has the capability of killing its opponent so much faster.
So I think the conversation of to serum or not to serum is entirely based on the deck's overall plan. Is it more burn/aggro (probably running either crackling doom or boros charm) or is it more grindy/control (probably running mana leak/spell snare, cryptic command)?
Abbreviated: If you run cryptic commands and lots of counters then serum visions is fantastic and absolutely necessary. If you run more than 13 burn spells... it might not be needed because all that deck cares about it drawing redundant gas.
Which actually makes me ask the question:
Are these two separate decks? The UWr midrange control list and the UWRb midrange burn list play a lot of similar cards but their play styles are very different. It's almost like Jund and Abzan running similar cards/finishers (liliana, tarmogoyf, scavenging ooze, abrupt decay, bob, tasigur, thoughtseize, inquisition of kozilek, maelstrom pulse) but have slightly different takes on it.
Does anyone else feel this way: That the more proactive burn it out version is a different deck than the list that runs cryptic command? I feel it's important to note this distinction of play.