Here's a decklist my friend used last weekend for a PPTQ. It is unconventional and probably controversial but he almost piloted it to a Top 8 PPTQ (38 Players).
I lent him the deck to which he tweaked for his play style. His record was 3-2-1 but he could've gone 4-1-1 and possibly dominate the Top 8 and winning the tournament but due to confusion on the tournament prize structure he decided to have a concession with his last round opponent. I am part to blame as I did not brief him on the stakes and I left during round 5 as he thought after the swiss rounds that the tourney is over and the top 8 players are the winners. FYI, this is only his second Modern tournament (he rarely plays Modern as he plays Pauper) and was not familiar on how the tournament works.
We had a Draw for Round 1 as we were paired with another late competitor so I am left wondering of the possibilities had we arrived on time.
Apologies as I don't have the sideboard as he made the list on the fly. We initially talked about adding Blood Moon at the sideboard before the event but I guess he forgot and was pressured listing the deck and adjusting the sideboard.
I watched a couple of his games and I can tell that he can pilot the deck better had he had reps from it. This was the first time he used the deck by the way.
Acidic Slime - Was added because of the 2-in-1 effect without the drawback of Avalanche Riders. It was a great card against Death's Shadow due to Deathtouch.
Chandra, Pyromaster - This would have been Chandra, Torch of Defiance but due to budgetary reasons I had to settle with this.
Cinder Glade - This could've been the 4th Stompy Ground but I don't have it. I'd rather change it to a Forest as it is bad in an opening hand.
Windswept Heath - This was supposed to be 3 only and Wooded Foothills should be 4 instead.
I'm going to give this a try as we both feel the normal land destruction count on accepted Ponza lists are not enough. I'll see if I can borrow a Chandra, TOD but if not then I'll stick with the Pyromaster. The sideboard is a work in progress and there's a big chance that it will include Blood Moons.
I might go to 4 Acidic Slimes and cut the 2 Reclaiming Vines.
I like Abrade as it can hit an artifact because Affinity is slightly favored against us. If I'm able to get a set before the weekend, then the Lightning Bolts will be replaced.
My recommendation is to cut 2 Reclaiming Vines and 1 Roiling Terrain (although this is definitely cute) for 3 lands. 18 lands is not enough. The original lists I was playing had 21 lands and even that I thought was not enough. I've been playing 22 (with no birds) and am never looking back. Acidic slime is a card I've considered many times and it being able to remove a random enchantment is pretty sweet but...the body is useless. A 2/2 is too fragile to matter. Why the Grove? Seems like it would just be better if it was a forest.
I don't know about the lands to be honest as it seemed it hits the spot for me, I might go up to 19 and cut the Roiling Terrain if I do increase my land count. I actually told my friend that Roiling Terrain was cute but he did manage to kill an opponent with it(!). I wouldn't cut the Vines (this should have been Creeping Mold) as they've saved me a lot of times with their flexibility.
I know the BOPs are useless in essence of attacking the opponent unless you have a Kessig Wolf Run but doesn't it add to a guaranteed T2 land destruction if it is in your opening hand?
I thought of adding a Goblin Dark-Dwellers but I can't find any copy so we were stuck on the original list.
In defense of Acidic Slime I'd agree that it's just a 2/2 along with Avalanche Riders but it's usually a slow beater once it comes down, as when it usually comes down the opponent is out of lands and no creatures. The only removal spell that can remove it is Path to Exile. You can argue Lightning Bolt as well but that's on the decline. But how many one mana removal spell does an opponent have? 6-8 would be ideal if they are in Esper, Dimir, Jeskai and Boros colors and based on experience these two (Acidic Slime and Avalanche Riders) have already taken their fair share of opponent damage when they are the only creature aside from the dorks on the board. There were even times when my friend played that he is beating the opponent with the Arbor Elves. I also value its Deathtouch ability as Death's Shadow decks can play a creature for one mana and AS stops them and it can't by hit by Fatal Push.
Grove of the Burnwillows is just a borrowed strategy against Death's Shadow decks since I don't run Beast Within. I might remove because I might run Blood Moon in the side.
Hi I'm currently a Skred Red player but over the years I've picked up the various cards to make Ponza and I was hoping for some advice as I prepare for PPTQ's.
Basically I look at Skred as a reactive deck that does well against aggro decks (other than boggles), creature decks, and control decks but struggles against combo decks (Storm, Ad Nauseam, Scapeshift, Grishoalbrand) and all Tron Variants.
This is where I may need some correction but it appears that Ponza is a far more proactive deck that isn't quite as good against the aggro decks, creature decks, but gains a lot against Combo and Tron decks (faster ramp into more land destruction/disruption). Am I roughly correct about this assessment?
I really do like playing Skred but post-board I often side in Molten Rains and feel like a poor imitation of Ponza, so I'm considering the switch to Ponza.
There's a number of variations on this awesome deck, but the core remains more or less the same across most lists. 4 Arbor Elf; 4 Utopia Sprawl; and 0-2 Birds of Paradise cover the acceleration needed to play most of our disruption on turn two. Ideally you want to land Blood Moon on turn two, but a turn two Stone Rain or Mwonvuli Acid-Moss is also good. The key is to pick a colour and send all your disruption against that colour.
As for how we close the game, this is where we're most flexible. We don't only have the ramp for early disruption, but also use it to land 5 and 6 mana threats as early as turn three, bashing face fast and hard. Some of my favorites include Stormbreath Dragon; Inferno Titan; and Goblin Dark-Dwellers, but as I said, this is our most versatile section, but also the part we seem to debate over the most.
As for removal, I've seen lists that run only Bonfire of the Damned mainboard, with cards like Roast and Sudden Shock in the sideboard. Some lists even have a number of Lightning Bolt mainboard. Personally, I dislike Bonfire, but I understand that others prefer it. Partially because I mainboard 3 Goblin Dark-Dwellers, I use Mizzium Mortars instead of Bonfire, because it also doubles as a mainboard single target removal.
Primeval Light is a new addition to my sideboard. I noticed a rise in enchantment strategies recently, and while Back to Nature is more mana efficient, I don't want to run the risk of losing Moon and Sprawl.
I thought of adding a Goblin Dark-Dwellers but I can't find any copy so we were stuck on the original list.
A word of warning. While I am very pro Goblin Dark-Dwellers (I can't get over how good this card has been to me), I am fully aware that it is definitely a build around card. Don't just add it to your list, look over your list and see if it's worth adding. If you feel there's not enough targets for its etb effect, either don't add it, or edited your spells for it to use. Also, it doesn't grant flashback, so you can't pay for X on cards like Bonfire of the Damned, nor can you pay alternative costs like the Overload cost of Mizzium Mortars. You can, however, pay additional costs like Shattering Spree's Replicate.
another thing to mention. avalanche riders also strike me as underwhelming because you essentially pay 4 mana for a 2/2 with haste that time walks you if u wanna keep it around. I'd rather play that kicker goblin that pops non basics since you only have to pay for it once. i mean unless your deck is all about flicker effects...
I totally understand how Avalanche Riders leaves a bad impression of Timewalking yourself. But in defense of the card, you ideally play it if the opponent has only one land in play. If your opponent does not play any land on his/her turn then it's fine to pay the Echo cost in my opinion.
I do not treat him as a creature foremost but just a land destruction spell. If I play him when the opponent has more than one land then that means I've run out of land destruction spells or in need of a blocker.
@VampireChild85 - Thanks for the heads up on the GDD. If I do add them they'd be a couple and I'd think hard which cards need to go.
if you want to work with GDD you certainly need to change the make up of your spell suite. Blood Moon may not even work that well and becomes a 1 or 2 of, while you focus on re-using land destruction or value cards like molten rain or pulse of murasa alongside the usual suite of stone rains. You'll be dropping X value spells because they just don't work with your new plan. Maindeck bolts,or even Exquisite Firecrafts are attractive. Beast Within becomes questionable with so many red anti land options. Sweltering Suns becomes a super contender with the ability to cycle and then be used from the GY.
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if you want to work with GDD you certainly need to change the make up of your spell suite. Blood Moon may not even work that well and becomes a 1 or 2 of, while you focus on re-using land destruction or value cards like molten rain or pulse of murasa alongside the usual suite of stone rains. You'll be dropping X value spells because they just don't work with your new plan. Maindeck bolts,or even Exquisite Firecrafts are attractive. Beast Within becomes questionable with so many red anti land options. Sweltering Suns becomes a super contender with the ability to cycle and then be used from the GY.
I disagree on the Moon assessment. While Goblin wants more 3 or less spells, Moon is too good to remove. I run 4 Moons and 3 Goblins and have had no problems with it.
if you want to work with GDD you certainly need to change the make up of your spell suite. Blood Moon may not even work that well and becomes a 1 or 2 of, while you focus on re-using land destruction or value cards like molten rain or pulse of murasa alongside the usual suite of stone rains. You'll be dropping X value spells because they just don't work with your new plan. Maindeck bolts,or even Exquisite Firecrafts are attractive. Beast Within becomes questionable with so many red anti land options. Sweltering Suns becomes a super contender with the ability to cycle and then be used from the GY.
I disagree on the Moon assessment. While Goblin wants more 3 or less spells, Moon is too good to remove. I run 4 Moons and 3 Goblins and have had no problems with it.
When I ran GDD i found there was a shortage of slots for targets. 2-3 more spell targets may not seem like much, but its like playing Delver with 25 vs 28 instants/sorceries in the deck. You can feel it across a large number of games. Moon doesn't become bad per se, but it becomes less good compared to maximizing your synergy. I do believe I was last experimenting with how many Acid-Moss I wanted versus Moons, both of which aren't GDD targets and are certainly strong effects in the deck overall.
And.... that's how I ended up not using GDD in the end, because some of the strongest spells just don't work with the threats, and I didn't like to play GDD with no targets, which will happen very often when your main deck already has 4 moon, 10 ramp and 8-10 other threats taking up 24-26 slots.
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A lot of the time due to the nature of our deck GDD is good enough anyway. 5 mana 4/4 menace might not sound like much but when your opponent is locked out I will kill them just the same.
i'm slowly buying into the deck, just bought 3 copies of bloodmoon yesterday, the rest of the deck will come soon after..hopefully by christmas i will have the deck completed..
i've noticed that acidic slime hasn't been seeing a lot of play lately..could someone explain why to someone who is still learning the deck, thanks..
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"I am the purifier, the light that clears all shadows."
—Seal inscription
if you want to work with GDD you certainly need to change the make up of your spell suite. Blood Moon may not even work that well and becomes a 1 or 2 of, while you focus on re-using land destruction or value cards like molten rain or pulse of murasa alongside the usual suite of stone rains. You'll be dropping X value spells because they just don't work with your new plan. Maindeck bolts,or even Exquisite Firecrafts are attractive. Beast Within becomes questionable with so many red anti land options. Sweltering Suns becomes a super contender with the ability to cycle and then be used from the GY.
I disagree on the Moon assessment. While Goblin wants more 3 or less spells, Moon is too good to remove. I run 4 Moons and 3 Goblins and have had no problems with it.
When I ran GDD i found there was a shortage of slots for targets. 2-3 more spell targets may not seem like much, but its like playing Delver with 25 vs 28 instants/sorceries in the deck. You can feel it across a large number of games. Moon doesn't become bad per se, but it becomes less good compared to maximizing your synergy. I do believe I was last experimenting with how many Acid-Moss I wanted versus Moons, both of which aren't GDD targets and are certainly strong effects in the deck overall.
And.... that's how I ended up not using GDD in the end, because some of the strongest spells just don't work with the threats, and I didn't like to play GDD with no targets, which will happen very often when your main deck already has 4 moon, 10 ramp and 8-10 other threats taking up 24-26 slots.
this is basically how i felt about gdd. i tended to have to pay it without generating value and it felt wasted every time. plus it turns your opponents grave hate on. the more cards you can obsolete from your opponent, the better.
i've noticed that acidic slime hasn't been seeing a lot of play lately..could someone explain why to someone who is still learning the deck, thanks..
Acidic Slime remains a plausible card, both because of the deathtouch and the ability to hit artifacts and enchantments in a pinch. But there are much better options. At five mana, it's underwhelming in both its roles. It's awfully expensive LD, so it doesn't help with early mana denial. And it's underwhelming as a creature, because it's a mere 2/2 that's more susceptible to removal than our better threats.
A common theme of our all-star creatures is they are immune to a great number of cheap, relevant removal spells. Consider our options of Chameleon Colossus, Inferno Titan, and Stormbreath Dragon. Then look at some of the removal spells floating around: Lightning Bolt, Fatal Push, Path to Exile. All of the above creatures survive at least two of these three spells, and represent much more pressing threats to the opponent.
Our plan is to deny mana early, while ramping into resilient, strong creatures. Acidic Slime is trying to sit in the middle ground, but ends up not really participating in either half of this plan.
if you want to work with GDD you certainly need to change the make up of your spell suite. Blood Moon may not even work that well and becomes a 1 or 2 of, while you focus on re-using land destruction or value cards like molten rain or pulse of murasa alongside the usual suite of stone rains. You'll be dropping X value spells because they just don't work with your new plan. Maindeck bolts,or even Exquisite Firecrafts are attractive. Beast Within becomes questionable with so many red anti land options. Sweltering Suns becomes a super contender with the ability to cycle and then be used from the GY.
I disagree on the Moon assessment. While Goblin wants more 3 or less spells, Moon is too good to remove. I run 4 Moons and 3 Goblins and have had no problems with it.
When I ran GDD i found there was a shortage of slots for targets. 2-3 more spell targets may not seem like much, but its like playing Delver with 25 vs 28 instants/sorceries in the deck. You can feel it across a large number of games. Moon doesn't become bad per se, but it becomes less good compared to maximizing your synergy. I do believe I was last experimenting with how many Acid-Moss I wanted versus Moons, both of which aren't GDD targets and are certainly strong effects in the deck overall.
And.... that's how I ended up not using GDD in the end, because some of the strongest spells just don't work with the threats, and I didn't like to play GDD with no targets, which will happen very often when your main deck already has 4 moon, 10 ramp and 8-10 other threats taking up 24-26 slots.
this is basically how i felt about gdd. i tended to have to pay it without generating value and it felt wasted every time. plus it turns your opponents grave hate on. the more cards you can obsolete from your opponent, the better.
But also you could think that you are making them think about more angles to defend. If they can have a narrow focus it makes it much easier to play our deck.
But also you could think that you are making them think about more angles to defend. If they can have a narrow focus it makes it much easier to play our deck.
My assessment is that it's not worth the slots. My list is pretty tight and the GDD just doesn't have that big of an impact on the board for what it brings to the table. It doesn't interact with our best spells either, like someone said earlier.
There is a change I would consider making to the board though and that is the colossus. GDS is starting to adapt to all the hate and some of them are now running Young Pyromancer in the board. This totally blanks our plan.
I guess the next step is to find a creature that is both protection from black AND red. But it's just a 2/2, sadly.
I've been testing some with Ponza, thanks for all the good discussion and deck lists.
I've noticed that mid-game there can be dead draws (extra Blood Moons, land destruction when you really need a creature, &tc.). Has anyone experiment with adding Cathartic Reunion to the mainboard? I've also found it helpful on turn 3 or 4 to not miss an important land drop. Two seems like a good number, I haven't played it much yet but I've never drawn it and found it unwelcome.
PPTQ today. I will write up a report in victory or defeat!
Looking forward to your feedback. But if you win, people might start to take notice haha
FYI: I'm starting to come around to the idea that Chandra is a 4 of. That card alone will win you more games that would otherwise be unwinnable. I think it's more than worth testing.
My record going into the pptq was 12-3. I had won the local modern night 3 out of the last 4 weeks. I was pumped and primed. 30 players.
Match 1 vs Bant knightfall.
I lose the die roll 11-10, then get steamrolled by an angry bunch of mana dorks, Thalias and Thalia's lieutenants. I started the game with a bonefire in hand, but never saw a mana dork, and when I drew my 2nd bonefire it was T2. GG
Game 2 and I was in a stable situation. He passes to me on turn 4 with 4 mana up, I smell coco. I had GDD lightning bolt and anger of the gods in hand, 3 mana on board. He has a thalias lt and a noble heirarch with 1 counter. I bolt the heirarch, he casts coco in response. I sit, silently hoping he hits sweet FA or maybe a spell queller or something. He hits DOUBLE thalias lt. GG.
Match 2 vs Eldrazi tron.
Everything about my opponent was tilting. An obese salty person, who played lands in front of spells. It was my pleasure to turn them into mountains game 1, and then finish her off with a Stormbreath dragon
Game 2 was less good. Mulled to 6, and was a turn behind the game all game. She landed reshaper and TKS before I mooned, and when I played the stormbreath she had the all is dust
Game 3. FINALLY!!! A good hand with dorks and LD, no threats. But I rated it 7.5/10 (x2 land, x3 LD, sprawl, bonefire.
Turn 2 I blow up her 1 land. Turn 3 I blow up her 1 land, turn 4 I blow up her 1 land, turn 5 I moon her (still no threats) and she never misses a land drop as she casts rachet bomb, smasher smasher. GG. 9 lands. FML
Match 3 vs Bant knightfall. Again
Game 1 was super close. I got my opponent to 4 with chandra and bonefires, but he's turned the corner and is coming back hard. He paths a mana dork and I fetch. There was a stormbreath on top of my library because ******* of course there was. He wins the game on 1 life.
Game 2, turn 4 stormbreath. GG
Game 3. He starts agressivley, but is running out of gas, I stabilize with a stormbreath and pass. On 11 life. He has4 creatues (3 of them white) with 6 power between them. He casts a pre combat coco. Hits double thalias LT. Kills me.
At this point I obviously can't top 8 and would rather commit suicide than play another game of magic today. I drop.
Can't win em all I guess. I had a lvl 1 judge who is a buddy of mine watch all my games. he told me I made no strict misplays ( I think I agree)and no obviously wrong keep/mull decisions. Sometimes modern just beats you.
My recommendation is to cut 2 Reclaiming Vines and 1 Roiling Terrain (although this is definitely cute) for 3 lands. 18 lands is not enough. The original lists I was playing had 21 lands and even that I thought was not enough. I've been playing 22 (with no birds) and am never looking back. Acidic slime is a card I've considered many times and it being able to remove a random enchantment is pretty sweet but...the body is useless. A 2/2 is too fragile to matter. Why the Grove? Seems like it would just be better if it was a forest.
I don't know about the lands to be honest as it seemed it hits the spot for me, I might go up to 19 and cut the Roiling Terrain if I do increase my land count. I actually told my friend that Roiling Terrain was cute but he did manage to kill an opponent with it(!). I wouldn't cut the Vines (this should have been Creeping Mold) as they've saved me a lot of times with their flexibility.
I know the BOPs are useless in essence of attacking the opponent unless you have a Kessig Wolf Run but doesn't it add to a guaranteed T2 land destruction if it is in your opening hand?
I thought of adding a Goblin Dark-Dwellers but I can't find any copy so we were stuck on the original list.
In defense of Acidic Slime I'd agree that it's just a 2/2 along with Avalanche Riders but it's usually a slow beater once it comes down, as when it usually comes down the opponent is out of lands and no creatures. The only removal spell that can remove it is Path to Exile. You can argue Lightning Bolt as well but that's on the decline. But how many one mana removal spell does an opponent have? 6-8 would be ideal if they are in Esper, Dimir, Jeskai and Boros colors and based on experience these two (Acidic Slime and Avalanche Riders) have already taken their fair share of opponent damage when they are the only creature aside from the dorks on the board. There were even times when my friend played that he is beating the opponent with the Arbor Elves. I also value its Deathtouch ability as Death's Shadow decks can play a creature for one mana and AS stops them and it can't by hit by Fatal Push.
Grove of the Burnwillows is just a borrowed strategy against Death's Shadow decks since I don't run Beast Within. I might remove because I might run Blood Moon in the side.
As for how we close the game, this is where we're most flexible. We don't only have the ramp for early disruption, but also use it to land 5 and 6 mana threats as early as turn three, bashing face fast and hard. Some of my favorites include Stormbreath Dragon; Inferno Titan; and Goblin Dark-Dwellers, but as I said, this is our most versatile section, but also the part we seem to debate over the most.
As for removal, I've seen lists that run only Bonfire of the Damned mainboard, with cards like Roast and Sudden Shock in the sideboard. Some lists even have a number of Lightning Bolt mainboard. Personally, I dislike Bonfire, but I understand that others prefer it. Partially because I mainboard 3 Goblin Dark-Dwellers, I use Mizzium Mortars instead of Bonfire, because it also doubles as a mainboard single target removal.
Here's the list I use when not experimenting:
4x Arbor Elf
1x Birds of Paradise
3x Goblin Dark-Dwellers
3x Inferno Titan
3x Obstinate Baloth
2x Stormbreath Dragon
Sorceries (12)
4x Mizzium Mortars
3x Mwonvuli Acid-Moss
1x Primal Command
4x Stone Rain
2x Beast Within
Planeswalkers (1)
1x Chandra, Flamecaller
Enchantments (8)
4x Blood Moon
4x Utopia Sprawl
Land (21)
9x Forest
1x Mountain
1x Cinder Glade
2x Stomping Ground
4x Windswept Heath
4x Wooded Foothills
1x Thragtusk
2x Kitchen Finks
1x Thrun, the Last Troll
3x Anger of the Gods
1x Creeping Corrosion
2x Crumble to Dust
1x Primeval Light
2x Destructive Revelry
2x Relic of Progenitus
Primeval Light is a new addition to my sideboard. I noticed a rise in enchantment strategies recently, and while Back to Nature is more mana efficient, I don't want to run the risk of losing Moon and Sprawl.
I've managed to knock BoP down to 1x in my list, with 21 lands. I might try this 22 lands, 0 BoP idea.
A word of warning. While I am very pro Goblin Dark-Dwellers (I can't get over how good this card has been to me), I am fully aware that it is definitely a build around card. Don't just add it to your list, look over your list and see if it's worth adding. If you feel there's not enough targets for its etb effect, either don't add it, or edited your spells for it to use. Also, it doesn't grant flashback, so you can't pay for X on cards like Bonfire of the Damned, nor can you pay alternative costs like the Overload cost of Mizzium Mortars. You can, however, pay additional costs like Shattering Spree's Replicate.
I do not treat him as a creature foremost but just a land destruction spell. If I play him when the opponent has more than one land then that means I've run out of land destruction spells or in need of a blocker.
@VampireChild85 - Thanks for the heads up on the GDD. If I do add them they'd be a couple and I'd think hard which cards need to go.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
When I ran GDD i found there was a shortage of slots for targets. 2-3 more spell targets may not seem like much, but its like playing Delver with 25 vs 28 instants/sorceries in the deck. You can feel it across a large number of games. Moon doesn't become bad per se, but it becomes less good compared to maximizing your synergy. I do believe I was last experimenting with how many Acid-Moss I wanted versus Moons, both of which aren't GDD targets and are certainly strong effects in the deck overall.
And.... that's how I ended up not using GDD in the end, because some of the strongest spells just don't work with the threats, and I didn't like to play GDD with no targets, which will happen very often when your main deck already has 4 moon, 10 ramp and 8-10 other threats taking up 24-26 slots.
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
http://mtgtop8.com/event?e=16581&d=302495&f=MO
i'm slowly buying into the deck, just bought 3 copies of bloodmoon yesterday, the rest of the deck will come soon after..hopefully by christmas i will have the deck completed..
i've noticed that acidic slime hasn't been seeing a lot of play lately..could someone explain why to someone who is still learning the deck, thanks..
—Seal inscription
this is basically how i felt about gdd. i tended to have to pay it without generating value and it felt wasted every time. plus it turns your opponents grave hate on. the more cards you can obsolete from your opponent, the better.
Acidic Slime remains a plausible card, both because of the deathtouch and the ability to hit artifacts and enchantments in a pinch. But there are much better options. At five mana, it's underwhelming in both its roles. It's awfully expensive LD, so it doesn't help with early mana denial. And it's underwhelming as a creature, because it's a mere 2/2 that's more susceptible to removal than our better threats.
A common theme of our all-star creatures is they are immune to a great number of cheap, relevant removal spells. Consider our options of Chameleon Colossus, Inferno Titan, and Stormbreath Dragon. Then look at some of the removal spells floating around: Lightning Bolt, Fatal Push, Path to Exile. All of the above creatures survive at least two of these three spells, and represent much more pressing threats to the opponent.
Our plan is to deny mana early, while ramping into resilient, strong creatures. Acidic Slime is trying to sit in the middle ground, but ends up not really participating in either half of this plan.
But also you could think that you are making them think about more angles to defend. If they can have a narrow focus it makes it much easier to play our deck.
My assessment is that it's not worth the slots. My list is pretty tight and the GDD just doesn't have that big of an impact on the board for what it brings to the table. It doesn't interact with our best spells either, like someone said earlier.
There is a change I would consider making to the board though and that is the colossus. GDS is starting to adapt to all the hate and some of them are now running Young Pyromancer in the board. This totally blanks our plan.
I guess the next step is to find a creature that is both protection from black AND red. But it's just a 2/2, sadly.
I've noticed that mid-game there can be dead draws (extra Blood Moons, land destruction when you really need a creature, &tc.). Has anyone experiment with adding Cathartic Reunion to the mainboard? I've also found it helpful on turn 3 or 4 to not miss an important land drop. Two seems like a good number, I haven't played it much yet but I've never drawn it and found it unwelcome.
It's fine as I'll have more time to complete my missing pieces and there's a saving grace as there is a Modern event tomorrow.
Looking forward to your feedback. But if you win, people might start to take notice haha
FYI: I'm starting to come around to the idea that Chandra is a 4 of. That card alone will win you more games that would otherwise be unwinnable. I think it's more than worth testing.
Here's my most updated list.
4 Mwonvuli Acid-Moss
4 Stone Rain
Creatures
2 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Inferno Titan
1 Wurmcoil Engine
4 Arbor Elf
2 Thragtusk
Other
2 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Primal Command
3 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Abrade
4 Utopia Sprawl
2 Relic of Progenitus
4 Blood Moon
10 Forest
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Mountain
2 Stomping Ground
1 Sheltered Thicket
1 Creeping Corrosion
3 Anger of the Gods
3 Trinisphere
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
2 Chameleon Colossus
2 Choke
1 Beast Within
2 Crumble to Dust
Match 1 vs Bant knightfall.
I lose the die roll 11-10, then get steamrolled by an angry bunch of mana dorks, Thalias and Thalia's lieutenants. I started the game with a bonefire in hand, but never saw a mana dork, and when I drew my 2nd bonefire it was T2. GG
Game 2 and I was in a stable situation. He passes to me on turn 4 with 4 mana up, I smell coco. I had GDD lightning bolt and anger of the gods in hand, 3 mana on board. He has a thalias lt and a noble heirarch with 1 counter. I bolt the heirarch, he casts coco in response. I sit, silently hoping he hits sweet FA or maybe a spell queller or something. He hits DOUBLE thalias lt. GG.
Match 2 vs Eldrazi tron.
Everything about my opponent was tilting. An obese salty person, who played lands in front of spells. It was my pleasure to turn them into mountains game 1, and then finish her off with a Stormbreath dragon
Game 2 was less good. Mulled to 6, and was a turn behind the game all game. She landed reshaper and TKS before I mooned, and when I played the stormbreath she had the all is dust
Game 3. FINALLY!!! A good hand with dorks and LD, no threats. But I rated it 7.5/10 (x2 land, x3 LD, sprawl, bonefire.
Turn 2 I blow up her 1 land. Turn 3 I blow up her 1 land, turn 4 I blow up her 1 land, turn 5 I moon her (still no threats) and she never misses a land drop as she casts rachet bomb, smasher smasher. GG. 9 lands. FML
Match 3 vs Bant knightfall. Again
Game 1 was super close. I got my opponent to 4 with chandra and bonefires, but he's turned the corner and is coming back hard. He paths a mana dork and I fetch. There was a stormbreath on top of my library because ******* of course there was. He wins the game on 1 life.
Game 2, turn 4 stormbreath. GG
Game 3. He starts agressivley, but is running out of gas, I stabilize with a stormbreath and pass. On 11 life. He has4 creatues (3 of them white) with 6 power between them. He casts a pre combat coco. Hits double thalias LT. Kills me.
At this point I obviously can't top 8 and would rather commit suicide than play another game of magic today. I drop.
Can't win em all I guess. I had a lvl 1 judge who is a buddy of mine watch all my games. he told me I made no strict misplays ( I think I agree)and no obviously wrong keep/mull decisions. Sometimes modern just beats you.