Congrats! The deck seems so good, but i feel that the strategy needs more countermaigc, you dont feel that need it?
You can always bring in more from the sideboard if you feel like you need it in a given matchup, but the deck taps out quite a lot so too many counterspells can be a bit awkward.
Could you write a report about the PPTQ? Was Languish intended or is it a replacement of Damnation?
Pretty cool list, it looks very strong.
Languish was intended since it wipes pretty much anything that you'd need it for, but doesn't kill your anglers or Tasigur.
I don't remember a lot of the details, but I played against Amulet Bloom, UW Tron, UR Twin and Jund in the swiss, then IDed into 2nd place and played against RUG Twin, Burn and Affinity. I'll try to write as much of the top 8 as I can remember. Game 1 of the quarters I landed a Mentor after he resolved a Keranos the turn before, (yes, it was maindeck,) then saved it from the keranos bolt and won a turn or two afterwards from the token's prowess triggers. Game 2 I misplayed really badly by not fetching any basics since I didn't expect Blood Moon from a 3 colour deck and lost very badly because of it. Game 3 I had enough basics that Blood Moon was a lot less effective and managed to grind him out with Souls tokens. Game 1 of the semis I lost to an early couple of Goblin Guides that I couldn't answer and he had enough burn to back them up. Game 2 I played an early tasigur and angler by ghost quartering my own land to get more delve (it felt like a sick play at the time) and he flooded enough for me to get there. Game 3 he kept a 4 land hand with 2 guides. I inquisitioned the 2nd one and his Atarka's Command then played a timely a few turns later and an angler afterwards to get there pretty comfortably. Game 1 of the finals I got really overrun by Signal Pests and almost stabilised, but he found an Etched Champion to kill me on about 4 life. I misboarded for game 2 and forgot to take out LotV, and almost got punished for it. He had a fairly slow start for affinity but then started beating down with Inkmoth Nexuses backed up by pests, and got me to 8 poison before I stabilised with souls and enough removal that I could win. Game 3 he had a start similar to game 1, but I had enough removal and a turn 2 stony silence so I managed to stay at 2 after landing a JAoT that singlehandedly pulled that game out for me. I almost got killed by a Whipflare that I didn't play around that killed 1.5 copies of Lingering Souls and a mentor, but the +1 on jace is good enough that I could rebuild and get there eventually. They were all the grindiest games I've ever played against affinity though!
Went 5-0 tonight at my LGS's Thursday night modern event. The store is quite competitive and I wasn't sure the meta, I haven't played much in the past month or two.
Game 1, he's on the play. All I remember is that he missed his 2nd land drop for a few turns despite cantripping for it quite a bit. Tasigur and souls tokens tore him apart. Not much to say, there's only so little you can do on one or two lands, even if you're playing Delver.
Game 2, he's on the play. I get stuck on 2 lands. He plays 2 delvers, and I manage to path one but he leaks my 2nd path and I'm unable to do anything as a flying Delver and Tasigur beat me down. I find my 3rd land but it's too late, as he has a terminate and there's no way I can make enough blockers to buy another turn.
Game 3, on the play. I land a turn 2 Angler (either t2 or t3) and begin beatdowns immediately. He kills it near the end but by this time I have souls tokens on board and he's too far dead to be able to make a comeback.
Match 2 VS Grixis Control
Game 1, he's mana screwed and I play a t2 Angler. That's all, folks.
Game 2, he keeps a (I guess) good hand that's lacking blue mana. By the time he has blue mana, I've already nearly killed him.
Match 3 VS Grixis Control (noticing a theme?)
I won 2-1, but don't have much written down for notes. I lost game 1, won game 2 by beating down with tarpit for 5 turns, and won game 3. Or something like that. They were all extremely grindy, uneventful games.
Brought in Jace, Negate, Thoughtseize, and 2 Celestial Purge.
Out went Mentors, Shadow of Doubt... and something else, can't remember.
Match 4 VS Grixis Control
Again, very long and grindy games.
Game 1 ends up I'm beating down with a Tasigur and I get him down to 4 life. He has cryptic in hand and my graveyard is empty.
"Move to combat?"
"Before combat, cryptic command blahblah"
"In response, activate Tasigur ability"
At this point I tap my deck, say "c'mon remand", and flip over a remand. Onto game 2!
Game 2 ends up in a pecuilar spot. I have a snap, a path, and an inquistion in hand with a very anemic graveyard. I inquisition him and he reveals a Cruel Ultimatum. Well *****. He goes 2 turns without drawing the last land he needs but I don't find a counter in time.
Game 3 very, very grindy game where we end up with Anglers and Tasigurs staring at each other. This game particulary sucked because I lacked white mana the ENTIRE GAME up until the very end, all while sitting on Lingering Souls and a useless Vault of the Archangel in play. I end up taking the game at 1 life by swinging all out, knowing he only has a land and a Dispel from Tasigur in his hand. I got very lucky this game, though. I kept either a good 1 lander or 2 lander. I fetched poorly assuming he had a blood moon and I missed the next two or three land drops.
Jace, thoughtseize, negates and celestial purges came in. Out came the usual junk.
Match 5 VS UR Twin
Really not much to note here. I made an early Angler and went beat downs. Killed his creature when he attempted to combo out.
Game 2 I brought in Jace and the usual cards. Early Angler into turn 4 Jace brought me to a quick victory. I felt safe playing Jace on 4 even though he had an Exarch out- I just ticked Jace up with a handful of removal knowing his combo couldn't kill me.
Overall, very happy with how the deck ran tonight. Grixis decks COULD NOT handle souls at all. Nothing felt better than watching my opponent sigh, tap red mana, and bolt a lingering souls token. I used to run 1 more slaughter pact, 2 more mentors, and some various other junky cute cards like Solemn Sorin and Zealous Persecution. I think if we want this archetype to be good, we have to focus on delve creatures, tempo, and hand disruption. As much as I really love mentor, I'm considering cutting it entirely as I sided it out every single match. Maybe it's better in a not-so-heavily-Grixis meta. Any suggestions on better replacements? Someone suggested Ashiok (another card I love) but with all these fat delve monsters running around, I don't think I'd ever steal a creature that wasn't named Snapcaster Mage.
Saving up for some Serum Visions. Not sure what I'll take out, but I think they'll REALLY help. I think I'll also pick up some LotVs too, maybe in place of the Mentor spot.
Hi! congrats for your tournament, i hope you bring us more analysis
About the mentor, i play 2 in my deck, and feel so strong. Maybe, if you play 4 mentors and try to play around him, you can feel that its so weak to lightning and this stuff, but playing 2, you dont need him to win, but, if you cast it in turn 5 with counter backup or something, if the opponent doesnt kill him is sooo strong, and i dont recommend remove it for the main, although in a heavy grixis meta its too hard to keep him alive, i heavily recommend play 2.
In the serum visions business, i play 4 and feel great! And do a awesome job for the delver, but although you dont have delver, i think that you must run 4, removing maybe some removal.
Yeah, I think my main issue with wanting to cut mentor is that I've only (recently) played against removal heavy decks. I have had some great, grindy games where my opponent can't punch through and neither can I, and I end up sitting on 6+ monk tokens. I think I'll be keeping it at two. I'm considering dropping the cuts for Serum Visions, although I'm not 100% sure yet. Visions would be insanely useful, though. It'd make my mulligans feel less terrible and land-light openers less sketchy. 8 targeted removal+6 discard also feels like I might be going a bit overboard.
One thing I REALLY want to try is Pack Rat. Not sure if sideboard or mainboard, but I think it'd be a super useful card in the grindy matchups, although I think we're already in a good spot there, at least VS Grixis and Twin. I also don't want to make myself even weaker to Engineered Explosives but still... pack rat! That card is crazy.
The problem with Pack Rat is , as with Liliana of the Veil, You do not really want to discard cards if you are playing Mentors... The only cards you could discard are lands if you really are flooded or a discard when the opponent has no card, but this looks really situational.
On my side, I was wondering if somebody tried Bob? card advantage is cool for delve and Mentors, and the we could consider playing cards like LotV and Rats
The problem with Pack Rat is , as with Liliana of the Veil, You do not really want to discard cards if you are playing Mentors... The only cards you could discard are lands if you really are flooded or a discard when the opponent has no card, but this looks really situational.
As a counterpoint, it's also worth considering that discarding cards to Pack Rat fuels delve for Tasigur, Angler and Muderous Cut, while also giving you more options with Snapcaster. Likewise, Lingering Souls isn't terrible when it's in your graveyard.
Pack Rat also lets you play a more reactive game, choosing whether to copy your rat or save your card in hand depending on what the situation warrants. In fact, the more I think about it, the more it appeals to me as a one-of.
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Playing with proxied cards at sanctioned events is good, actually.
I still haven't try Cryptic so can't really comment on that^^ It's is a really good card, that's all I know
I do not like mana leak... the reason I find Remand better, is because in the late/mid game (mana leak: opponent pays 3, remand:opponent recast the spell) Remand makes you draw a card. 1 Negate, why not.
With 6 discard spells, 6-8 anti-creature and 2-4 Snaps, I think that we do not need more than 4 counters. Just to deal with non-creature spells, slow down combo, etc...
As a counterpoint, it's also worth considering that discarding cards to Pack Rat fuels delve for Tasigur, Angler and Muderous Cut, while also giving you more options with Snapcaster. Likewise, Lingering Souls isn't terrible when it's in your graveyard.
Pack Rat also lets you play a more reactive game, choosing whether to copy your rat or save your card in hand depending on what the situation warrants. In fact, the more I think about it, the more it appeals to me as a one-of.
Just thought now, Jace, Vryn's prodigy provides fuel for BOTH delve (looter ability) and for Mentors with the flashbacking of spells...
The problem with Pack Rat is , as with Liliana of the Veil, You do not really want to discard cards if you are playing Mentors... The only cards you could discard are lands if you really are flooded or a discard when the opponent has no card, but this looks really situational.
On my side, I was wondering if somebody tried Bob? card advantage is cool for delve and Mentors, and the we could consider playing cards like LotV and Rats
I don't know about you guys, but since switching to focus more on the delve creatures, I stopped valuing Mentor so high. Sure, the card is insane and can run away with the game on its own, but lately I just look at as adding "kicker 3, discard a card from your hand: if this spell was kicked, put a 1/1 monk token with prowess on the battlefield". When I was running 4 Mentors, I found it actually pretty hard to close a game unless I dropped a Mentor and spewed my hand out within a turn or two. I'm happy enough if I can get a token or two out of it, and maybe a removal spell or two so that my Tasigur or Angler is safe.
I dropped a Murderous Cut in favor of a Pack Rat in the mainboard and will be adding a Blood Baron of Viskopa to my sideboard. If my matches look like they did last week (4 grixis decks, 1 twin), I think it will be very useful.
The newest changes to the deck were: -1 Murderous Cut, +1 Pack rat in the mainboard and -1 Disenchant, -1 Supreme Verdict, +1 Languish +1 Blood Baron of Viskopa in the sideboard. I'm testing Rat and Baron, but I think Verdict is a straight upgrade in this deck. Verdicting away your Tasigur or Angler feels like a pretty bad nonbo when you have access to Languish.
Game 1 VS Traditional UR Twin
G1: On the play. This game was pretty long and grindy. I eventually landed a packrat and pitched two mentors. I had spent the earlier parts of the game beating down with lingering souls so I had him pretty low. My opponent kept chaining Crytpics to tap down my team but my Tar pits eventually won me the game. A minor misplay of not playing a land (intending to pitch it to a rat) kept me from winning the game a turn earlier. He had the combo in hand but not enough mana to Snap-cryptic-exarch during my combat phase.
IN: Thoughtseize, Jace, Negate,
OUT: Mentor x2, Shadow of Doubt
G2: This game is entirely my fault and I should have been able to win it. I had been thinking about Blood Moon the entire time I was sideboarding. For some stupid reason, I decide to drop souls on turn three instead of holding up Negate. Unfortunately, he had the Blood Moon. Fortunately, he mana screws himself and we spend the next smacking eachother with 1/x fliers. I leave 1 soul pack incase he decides to beat in with his pestermite and eat the 1 damage from his exarch. This goes on for about 6 turns before I find a second island for Jace. I tick Jace all the way up to 8 (by this time, his board state is Snap, Exarch, Pestermite) and consider what I could pull out with his ult. Presumably I can't grab anything that would allow me to combo out from either of our decks so I tick it up to 9 and pass. He finds twin without me having counter magic and he takes game 2. I had considered bringing in Languish and I think if I had, I would have won the match, being able to wipe his board, prevent his combo, and slowly take the game over with Jace. I'm sure he brought in Keranos too, so that would have been a useful steal.
G3: With about 3 minute left in the match we try to play as fast as possible. I keep a weak 6 and he keeps 7. I had fetched turn 1 for a basic. Ultimately I think this choice is what cost me the game. if I had fetched for a b/x shock I could have dropped an early Angler and put him on a clock. I grabbed a basic and played Souls. Blood Moon came down the next turn and we spent a few turns smacking each other with x/1s before he assembled combo and killed me.
I think had I been a better pilot I could have taken game 2, but it's hard to say with how little of our hands we could actually play. I'm not very upset with how the games went, just disappointed that I couldn't focus on a clear line of play my opponent could have been on.
Game 2 VS Grixis Control
Against an opponent from last week.
G1: Very unexciting game. I missplay by not dropping a land before going to flashback Souls and get Mana Leaked. I could have Spell Snared his leak and beat him down before he found any relevant cards. I got stuck with 2 mentors in hand on 3 lands for a bit too, which definitely did not help. Very glad I'm only playing two now. He landed a Tasigur and then a Angler and I couldn't find removal to deal with them before finally running out of chump blockers.
IN: Thoughtseize, 2x Negate, 1x Blood Baron
Out: 2x Mentor, Slaughter Pact, Pack Rat (I think, can't remember)
G2: I play an island and pass. He serum visions and leaves both on top. I thoughtscour him and he loses a Visions and another good card. I'm not very sure if I should ever be thoughtscouring my opponent if they're playing a deck that can utilize the delve, but it just feels right. I follow up with a discard spell, then another the following turn+lingering souls. I proceed to beat his face in with my tokens. I think I drop an Angler or Tasigur, Its a bit hazy, but souls did 90% of the work.
G3: Souls tokens. Really I have nothing to say besides that. I played souls, flashed back souls, and hit him for 2-4 every turn before he started throwing good removal at them. He drops a Tasigur and gets an activation (2 lands in an empty GY) before I path it. I think I played an Angler+Tasigur which both died, but by the time he was at low (5~) life, he had so few cards in hand and I was sitting on enough removal to just kill and push through all that was left. Blood Baron came down near the end and didn't accomplish anything besides being a nail in his coffin.
I think I discarded a Blood Moon from his hand one of the post-board games, can't remember.
Ultimately, I think we have to try REAL hard to lose this matchup. I'm 7-0 so far (5x control, 1x delver, 1x twin) vs this shard. I think it'd be fair to say we're 60-70% favored to win. Lingering Souls is such a key card for us here.
Match 3 vs Red Jank
I saw my opponent playing the previous round so I had a little idea of what he was on.
G1: I start the game on the play with a discard spell see one mountain, vexing devil, pyromancer, a bolt, a land destruction spell, avarice dragon, and moltensteel dragon. I take the devil because my hand is removal light and pass to him. He bolts me and passes back. Next turn he finds a second mountain and plays pyromancer. I'm forced to path it before it gets out of control and then his next turn he finds another mountain and blows up a land. I'm not worrying at all until he drops the Moltensteel Dragon- I haven't found any removal spells, counters, or lingering souls. I play a Tasigur and he crashes in for like 7. Next turn, I again fail to find removal and he pumps it up, going low to kill me.
IN: 2x Celestial Purge, 1x Flashfreeze, 3x Timely Reinforcements
OUT: 2x Thoughtseize, 2x Mentor, 1x Shadow of Doubt (no fetches on his side), 1x Pack Rat
G2: I mulligan to 5 and keep 3 lands, Tasigur, thought scour. He does nothing until turn 3 where he drops a Blood Moon. I have no one to blame but myself, I figured my opponent would not have access to that card so I did not play around it. It didn't matter though, as I drew 4-5 lands before he killed me. I managed to Snapcaster a timely reinforcements while he had a Moltensteel Dragon out but it was too little too late. He paid Phyrexian Mana till he was down to 2 life to kill me.
Not sure what to say about this game. I think it'd be an easy win if I drew removal spells or counters, game 1 was just unlucky. Game 2 was just a mess, I maybe should have mulled to 4 but I wasn't too happy with that idea. I should have played about Blood Moon better too, I was too arrogant thinking he wouldn't have it. I drew a few basics to work around it but flooding out guaranteed that I wasn't going to win this match. It was an interesting deck, I guess, it played similiar to burn but with pyromancers/BIG DARGONS for... some reason. Kind of glad he won though, he was an old vet getting back into Magic and it's always nice to see newer players. I'll be less sad about a loss if it means we get a new regular on modern night.
Game 4 VS Affinity
The boogeyman. From all the horror stories I've been reading for nearly a year and a half, I'm kind of worried. I've only played this matchup one other time, but that was a casual match. Anyways, I win dice roll and I'm on the play.
G1: Turn one I play an island, pass. He drops 6 cards onto the field. None of them cranial plating, though. My hand is insanely good. 2x Souls, 2x Path, a Thoughtscour and another land. I scour end of turn and we're off to the races. It takes him 3-4 turns for him to find a cranial plating, and by this time I've been building souls up. He attacked his 1/1 into my souls and I made a quick chump block. I pathed his other 1/1 and he was left with Ornithopters to equip to. Traded two souls into each of those and I had the game in a lock. Dropped a packrat and killed him two or three turns later.
G2: I keep a STRONG one lander. Stony Silence, multiple paths, multiple thoughtseizes. He spews out 3-4 cards turn 1. My turn 1, I fetch out a Godless Shrine and thoughtseize. I take an arcbound ravager I think. His t2 he plays a spellskite and passes. My t2 I miss land again and path one of his dudes which he redirects to the skite. t3 I finally find my land and quickly drop my Stony Silence. 6-7 turns later I take the match.
I think I sideboarded effectively this game. My reasoning is that remand... isn't good here. Most of their spells cost 0-1 mana. Mentor is too slow.
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I'm satisfied with how tonight went. Pack Rat was pretty fun to play with and most players were ooo'ing and ah'ing about the inclusion, mentioning how they've been talking about either wanting to play pack rat themselves or have it see more modern play. I'm still not sure what match ups are best to include it in. Blood Baron, again, was cool but didn't do much. I'll keep him in for next week and if I don't see Grixis everywhere again, I'll drop him back out.
I'd like to test out 1x Stubborn Denial in the mainboard but I'm not sure over what. I think the force spike mode would be useful every now and then and ferocious should be live more often than not.
Thanks for the tournament review, and congrats for the result, the most important thing is feel good playing a deck. Your build have some interesting things like vault of the archangel and creeping tar. But i feel 22 lands maybe are too much lands. Im running 19, but i will put 1 more, think that 20 lands is perfect. For sure, i will try pack rat, but i have only 2 snapcasters in my build and seems fine. The shadow of doubt in the main seems fine too, i played it in my esper control and works properly, but maybe i will put 1 in the sideboard.
I don't run Serum Visions (yet) so I think a higher land count is necessary. Tar Pit has been an MVP in many, many games and Vault has been... ok. When it's good, it's game winning. Any other time it's a colorless or a mountain. I like Shadow although most players at my LGS play around it without even knowing I have it so I usually just cantrip it- although it is nice vs amulet bloom!
I finally got the chance to play my deck for the first time yesterday, and quickly came to the same conclusion that most of you have - Monastery Mentor just dies too easily. He probably goes better in the type of deck that Shaheen Soorani wrote about today: http://www.starcitygames.com/article/31424_Modern-Mentor.html
Played at FNM today with an updated but untuned delve-version, went 1-2-1 but had a fun time playing the deck. Some quick thoughts. Jace, Vryn's Prodigy is better than people are giving it credit for, I played two copies and was never unhappy to draw him. I'm thinking of giving Monastery Siege a try as a one-of, both modes seem pretty decent in a delve-deck. I'm debating whether I need 21 or 22 lands, played 21 tonight and it felt borderline. Will probably test something like this going forward:
I like this deck a lot. However, I'm not a fan of the maindeck Dispel and Murderous Cut seems a bit hard on the graveyard, after Lingering Souls, Snapcaster Mage, Gurmag Angler, and Tasigur. Have you considered using Victim of Night instead of Cut? I also thought of an Esper counterpart to Grixis "Control" today
The deck's maindeck is mostly designed to beat the other interactive decks of the format. Twin, Grixis, Jund, and Junk have huge problems against Lingering Souls. Hurmag Angler and Tasigur are simply massive, and Bitterblossom is unbeatable for blue decks and forces BGx decks to keep in Abrupt Decay against me or lose. It also has 9 removal spells that kill anything in those decks plus 4 Snapcaster Mages, which along with the countermagic should be enough to kill every threat that can't just be outclassed by a big delve creature. The Gifts plan in the sideboard fixes most of the noninteractive matchups, as Burn basically can't win if I find a Gifts+Iona in time, Infect, Elves, and Abzan Company physically can't win past Elesh Norn, Merfolk has huge problems with Norn, and Terastodon can slow down Tron enough to win. Any thoughts or suggestions?
Hello, I've been lurking this thread for months while playing Esper Mentor. I have tried builds without Mentor, running 2x Geist of Saint Traft and 2-3x Gurmag Angler. I've also tried some Restoration / Blade Splicer builds of a similar deck.
There are so many cards available to Esper colors that do interested and varied things, I really believe in this archetype's potential to become something.
I think that Jace, Vryn's Prodigy might have a place in a more traditional Esper Mentor build, so I put together this list last night:
This build is more interested in recurring spells for Mentor triggers or value than it is in delve fatties.
I think that Sorin, Lord of Innistrad provides more consistent benefit than Solemn Visitor in a harder Mentor / Tokens build. Solemn Visitor seems better in a Gurmag Angler build. That being said, they are of relatively comparable strength and I still don't think it's clear that one is strictly better all of the time. Getting an emblem or two is great, though, as it can't be interacted with at all. When Solemn Visitor dies, his buff goes too. This may be a reason to play 2x Solemn Visitor, or one of each Sorin. Lord of Innistrad has some easy-to-overlook synergy with Creeping Tar-Pit, which I still believe is one of the stronger cards in this archetype.
A playset of Serum Visions is why this deck can even attempt to run off of 21 lands. If I was not playing Serum Visions, I would be playing 23-24 lands. It's not clear to me which approach is actually better, but I think that Jace, Vryn's Prodigy incentivizes you to play sorcery speed cantrips, as an easy thing to recur for value.
Cards I kind of want to be playing but don't know where they fit:
Remand: Maybe just better in that cantrip slot than Serum Visions, but interacts poorly with Jace in comparison, and makes mana harder.
Darkblast: Another piece to throw into our graveyard engine. I could see a one-of being worth it, when our graveyard is functioning as an extension of our hand, being the " pseudo 6 snapcaster mage" deck.
Cryptic Command: Grixis Control, a similar deck in some ways, plays this awesome card. It seems like we should be playing it?
Ojutai's Command: Grixis Control also plays Kolaghans Command. This card is worse than that card, but with Jace and Snapcaster, Ojutai's Command may have some legit value applications in a deck with a slightly larger manabase. I think it's interesting.
Geist of Saint Traft: An amazing threat in a deck with this much "unconditional" removal. Maybe even a one-of in a Mentor build, just to be a threat that lives through many of the easy answers to Mentor.
Gideon Jura: I think he's strong. I dunno. Maybe in a bigger build.
I haven't, but it's hard to imagine that Day's Undoing is a card this deck wants. It eliminates all our delve fuel, nullifies Snapcaster Mage and ends the turn, meaning you can't even use the prowess to buff Monastery Mentor. I guess I'm just not sure what the point would be. That being said, I haven't tried it, so take all that with a grain of salt
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Playing with proxied cards at sanctioned events is good, actually.
Placed 1st in a (very) small FNM level event today with this build of Esper Mentor. I played against:
Round 1: R/U/G Delver.
Won in 3, games were grindy. Got a clutch Timely Reinforcements off that won me a game. Won Game 3 in another grindy game. Souls / Tasigur / Tar-Pit. Lost game 1 to a quick Delver flip into a second Delver / Bolts.
Round 2: Grixis Control
Won in 2, matchup felt great. He just didn't stick creatures and lost to Mentor in game 1. In Game 2 he Slaughter Pact-ed naming Mentor and I won with Spirits, Sorin, and Tar-Pit. Games were pretty slow. Felt good.
I have a lot of sideboard action against this deck, and I hit both my Celestial Purges and also cast Blood-Baron, although it got Rending Volley'd. Feels like a good matchup, though.
Round 3: Infect
Won in 3.
In game 1 I went Serum Visions into double Slaughter Pact after casting an Inquisition and a Thoughtseize to pick apart his hand. It got me there for eventual Lingering Souls / Snap / Tar-Pit victory. I really shouldn't be winning game 1 of this matchup, in my opinion, but it was a very ideal draw.
In game 2 he had a reasonable hand and ended up winning with a might of old krosa on Inkmoth, after vapor snagging my spirit blocker. This was a good game, though, and still pretty close. If I had kept one more spirit up to block I may have still won.
In game 3 I cast "away" to make him sacrifice his inkmoth and he just like, never drew another land. I won with Snap / Spirit beats.
All in all, the deck felt good. Far / Away kind of Overperformed, Monastery Mentor was barely cast, and Jace was cast once, eating a removal spell immediately. I am okay with him eating a removal spell, though.
I am feeling good about running 21 lands with 4 tar-pits. I think the Pit is a super important piece of the deck, and I also think that 4x Serum Visions with 4x Thought Scour is enough to hit with 21 lands consistently. It also gives us more room for spells while also playing Jace. I like 3 Mentor because we don't NEED him to win, and we don't necessarily want to draw 2, but his power is there.
Anyway, I need to test this build more, but I like it and will keep playing it for now. Sorry for my crappy tournament report, but I'm tired, and it was a tiny tournament anyway.
You can always bring in more from the sideboard if you feel like you need it in a given matchup, but the deck taps out quite a lot so too many counterspells can be a bit awkward.
Languish was intended since it wipes pretty much anything that you'd need it for, but doesn't kill your anglers or Tasigur.
I don't remember a lot of the details, but I played against Amulet Bloom, UW Tron, UR Twin and Jund in the swiss, then IDed into 2nd place and played against RUG Twin, Burn and Affinity. I'll try to write as much of the top 8 as I can remember. Game 1 of the quarters I landed a Mentor after he resolved a Keranos the turn before, (yes, it was maindeck,) then saved it from the keranos bolt and won a turn or two afterwards from the token's prowess triggers. Game 2 I misplayed really badly by not fetching any basics since I didn't expect Blood Moon from a 3 colour deck and lost very badly because of it. Game 3 I had enough basics that Blood Moon was a lot less effective and managed to grind him out with Souls tokens. Game 1 of the semis I lost to an early couple of Goblin Guides that I couldn't answer and he had enough burn to back them up. Game 2 I played an early tasigur and angler by ghost quartering my own land to get more delve (it felt like a sick play at the time) and he flooded enough for me to get there. Game 3 he kept a 4 land hand with 2 guides. I inquisitioned the 2nd one and his Atarka's Command then played a timely a few turns later and an angler afterwards to get there pretty comfortably. Game 1 of the finals I got really overrun by Signal Pests and almost stabilised, but he found an Etched Champion to kill me on about 4 life. I misboarded for game 2 and forgot to take out LotV, and almost got punished for it. He had a fairly slow start for affinity but then started beating down with Inkmoth Nexuses backed up by pests, and got me to 8 poison before I stabilised with souls and enough removal that I could win. Game 3 he had a start similar to game 1, but I had enough removal and a turn 2 stony silence so I managed to stay at 2 after landing a JAoT that singlehandedly pulled that game out for me. I almost got killed by a Whipflare that I didn't play around that killed 1.5 copies of Lingering Souls and a mentor, but the +1 on jace is good enough that I could rebuild and get there eventually. They were all the grindiest games I've ever played against affinity though!
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
1 Marsh Flats
2 Watery Grave
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Godless Shrine
1 Vault of the Archangel
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Darkslick Shores
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Plains
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Gurmag Angler
2 Monastery Monk
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Instants and Sorceries - 27
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
4 Lingering Souls
4 Thoughtscour
4 Path to Exile
2 Remand
2 Spell Snare
2 Murderous Cut
1 Dismember
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Shadow of Doubt
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
2 Negate
2 Celestial Purge
1 Flashfreeze
1 Supreme Verdict
2 Disenchant
3 Timely Reinforcements
2 Stony Silence
Match 1 VS Grixis Delver
Game 1, he's on the play. All I remember is that he missed his 2nd land drop for a few turns despite cantripping for it quite a bit. Tasigur and souls tokens tore him apart. Not much to say, there's only so little you can do on one or two lands, even if you're playing Delver.
OUT: Mentor x2, Shadow of Doubt x1
IN: Celestial Purge x2, Negate x1
Game 2, he's on the play. I get stuck on 2 lands. He plays 2 delvers, and I manage to path one but he leaks my 2nd path and I'm unable to do anything as a flying Delver and Tasigur beat me down. I find my 3rd land but it's too late, as he has a terminate and there's no way I can make enough blockers to buy another turn.
Game 3, on the play. I land a turn 2 Angler (either t2 or t3) and begin beatdowns immediately. He kills it near the end but by this time I have souls tokens on board and he's too far dead to be able to make a comeback.
Match 2 VS Grixis Control
Game 1, he's mana screwed and I play a t2 Angler. That's all, folks.
Game 2, he keeps a (I guess) good hand that's lacking blue mana. By the time he has blue mana, I've already nearly killed him.
Match 3 VS Grixis Control (noticing a theme?)
I won 2-1, but don't have much written down for notes. I lost game 1, won game 2 by beating down with tarpit for 5 turns, and won game 3. Or something like that. They were all extremely grindy, uneventful games.
Brought in Jace, Negate, Thoughtseize, and 2 Celestial Purge.
Out went Mentors, Shadow of Doubt... and something else, can't remember.
Match 4 VS Grixis Control
Again, very long and grindy games.
Game 1 ends up I'm beating down with a Tasigur and I get him down to 4 life. He has cryptic in hand and my graveyard is empty.
"Move to combat?"
"Before combat, cryptic command blahblah"
"In response, activate Tasigur ability"
At this point I tap my deck, say "c'mon remand", and flip over a remand. Onto game 2!
Game 2 ends up in a pecuilar spot. I have a snap, a path, and an inquistion in hand with a very anemic graveyard. I inquisition him and he reveals a Cruel Ultimatum. Well *****. He goes 2 turns without drawing the last land he needs but I don't find a counter in time.
Game 3 very, very grindy game where we end up with Anglers and Tasigurs staring at each other. This game particulary sucked because I lacked white mana the ENTIRE GAME up until the very end, all while sitting on Lingering Souls and a useless Vault of the Archangel in play. I end up taking the game at 1 life by swinging all out, knowing he only has a land and a Dispel from Tasigur in his hand. I got very lucky this game, though. I kept either a good 1 lander or 2 lander. I fetched poorly assuming he had a blood moon and I missed the next two or three land drops.
Jace, thoughtseize, negates and celestial purges came in. Out came the usual junk.
Match 5 VS UR Twin
Really not much to note here. I made an early Angler and went beat downs. Killed his creature when he attempted to combo out.
Game 2 I brought in Jace and the usual cards. Early Angler into turn 4 Jace brought me to a quick victory. I felt safe playing Jace on 4 even though he had an Exarch out- I just ticked Jace up with a handful of removal knowing his combo couldn't kill me.
Overall, very happy with how the deck ran tonight. Grixis decks COULD NOT handle souls at all. Nothing felt better than watching my opponent sigh, tap red mana, and bolt a lingering souls token. I used to run 1 more slaughter pact, 2 more mentors, and some various other junky cute cards like Solemn Sorin and Zealous Persecution. I think if we want this archetype to be good, we have to focus on delve creatures, tempo, and hand disruption. As much as I really love mentor, I'm considering cutting it entirely as I sided it out every single match. Maybe it's better in a not-so-heavily-Grixis meta. Any suggestions on better replacements? Someone suggested Ashiok (another card I love) but with all these fat delve monsters running around, I don't think I'd ever steal a creature that wasn't named Snapcaster Mage.
Saving up for some Serum Visions. Not sure what I'll take out, but I think they'll REALLY help. I think I'll also pick up some LotVs too, maybe in place of the Mentor spot.
Yeah, I think my main issue with wanting to cut mentor is that I've only (recently) played against removal heavy decks. I have had some great, grindy games where my opponent can't punch through and neither can I, and I end up sitting on 6+ monk tokens. I think I'll be keeping it at two. I'm considering dropping the cuts for Serum Visions, although I'm not 100% sure yet. Visions would be insanely useful, though. It'd make my mulligans feel less terrible and land-light openers less sketchy. 8 targeted removal+6 discard also feels like I might be going a bit overboard.
One thing I REALLY want to try is Pack Rat. Not sure if sideboard or mainboard, but I think it'd be a super useful card in the grindy matchups, although I think we're already in a good spot there, at least VS Grixis and Twin. I also don't want to make myself even weaker to Engineered Explosives but still... pack rat! That card is crazy.
On my side, I was wondering if somebody tried Bob? card advantage is cool for delve and Mentors, and the we could consider playing cards like LotV and Rats
As a counterpoint, it's also worth considering that discarding cards to Pack Rat fuels delve for Tasigur, Angler and Muderous Cut, while also giving you more options with Snapcaster. Likewise, Lingering Souls isn't terrible when it's in your graveyard.
Pack Rat also lets you play a more reactive game, choosing whether to copy your rat or save your card in hand depending on what the situation warrants. In fact, the more I think about it, the more it appeals to me as a one-of.
Blue lives don't matter in the slightest.
Is'nt it the description of a SB card then?
I do not like mana leak... the reason I find Remand better, is because in the late/mid game (mana leak: opponent pays 3, remand:opponent recast the spell) Remand makes you draw a card. 1 Negate, why not.
Have somebody tried Deprive?
With 6 discard spells, 6-8 anti-creature and 2-4 Snaps, I think that we do not need more than 4 counters. Just to deal with non-creature spells, slow down combo, etc...
Just thought now, Jace, Vryn's prodigy provides fuel for BOTH delve (looter ability) and for Mentors with the flashbacking of spells...
I don't know about you guys, but since switching to focus more on the delve creatures, I stopped valuing Mentor so high. Sure, the card is insane and can run away with the game on its own, but lately I just look at as adding "kicker 3, discard a card from your hand: if this spell was kicked, put a 1/1 monk token with prowess on the battlefield". When I was running 4 Mentors, I found it actually pretty hard to close a game unless I dropped a Mentor and spewed my hand out within a turn or two. I'm happy enough if I can get a token or two out of it, and maybe a removal spell or two so that my Tasigur or Angler is safe.
I dropped a Murderous Cut in favor of a Pack Rat in the mainboard and will be adding a Blood Baron of Viskopa to my sideboard. If my matches look like they did last week (4 grixis decks, 1 twin), I think it will be very useful.
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
1 Marsh Flats
2 Watery Grave
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Godless Shrine
1 Vault of the Archangel
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Darkslick Shores
2 Island
1 Swamp
1 Plains
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Gurmag Angler
2 Monastery Mentor
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1 Pack Rat
Instants and Sorceries - 26
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
4 Lingering Souls
4 Thought scour
4 Path to Exile
2 Remand
2 Spell Snare
1 Murderous Cut
1 Dismember
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Shadow of Doubt
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
2 Negate
2 Celestial Purge
1 Flashfreeze
1 Languish
1 Disenchant
1 Blood Baron of Viskopa
3 Timely Reinforcements
2 Stony Silence
The newest changes to the deck were: -1 Murderous Cut, +1 Pack rat in the mainboard and -1 Disenchant, -1 Supreme Verdict, +1 Languish +1 Blood Baron of Viskopa in the sideboard. I'm testing Rat and Baron, but I think Verdict is a straight upgrade in this deck. Verdicting away your Tasigur or Angler feels like a pretty bad nonbo when you have access to Languish.
Game 1 VS Traditional UR Twin
G1: On the play. This game was pretty long and grindy. I eventually landed a packrat and pitched two mentors. I had spent the earlier parts of the game beating down with lingering souls so I had him pretty low. My opponent kept chaining Crytpics to tap down my team but my Tar pits eventually won me the game. A minor misplay of not playing a land (intending to pitch it to a rat) kept me from winning the game a turn earlier. He had the combo in hand but not enough mana to Snap-cryptic-exarch during my combat phase.
IN: Thoughtseize, Jace, Negate,
OUT: Mentor x2, Shadow of Doubt
G2: This game is entirely my fault and I should have been able to win it. I had been thinking about Blood Moon the entire time I was sideboarding. For some stupid reason, I decide to drop souls on turn three instead of holding up Negate. Unfortunately, he had the Blood Moon. Fortunately, he mana screws himself and we spend the next smacking eachother with 1/x fliers. I leave 1 soul pack incase he decides to beat in with his pestermite and eat the 1 damage from his exarch. This goes on for about 6 turns before I find a second island for Jace. I tick Jace all the way up to 8 (by this time, his board state is Snap, Exarch, Pestermite) and consider what I could pull out with his ult. Presumably I can't grab anything that would allow me to combo out from either of our decks so I tick it up to 9 and pass. He finds twin without me having counter magic and he takes game 2. I had considered bringing in Languish and I think if I had, I would have won the match, being able to wipe his board, prevent his combo, and slowly take the game over with Jace. I'm sure he brought in Keranos too, so that would have been a useful steal.
G3: With about 3 minute left in the match we try to play as fast as possible. I keep a weak 6 and he keeps 7. I had fetched turn 1 for a basic. Ultimately I think this choice is what cost me the game. if I had fetched for a b/x shock I could have dropped an early Angler and put him on a clock. I grabbed a basic and played Souls. Blood Moon came down the next turn and we spent a few turns smacking each other with x/1s before he assembled combo and killed me.
I think had I been a better pilot I could have taken game 2, but it's hard to say with how little of our hands we could actually play. I'm not very upset with how the games went, just disappointed that I couldn't focus on a clear line of play my opponent could have been on.
Game 2 VS Grixis Control
Against an opponent from last week.
G1: Very unexciting game. I missplay by not dropping a land before going to flashback Souls and get Mana Leaked. I could have Spell Snared his leak and beat him down before he found any relevant cards. I got stuck with 2 mentors in hand on 3 lands for a bit too, which definitely did not help. Very glad I'm only playing two now. He landed a Tasigur and then a Angler and I couldn't find removal to deal with them before finally running out of chump blockers.
IN: Thoughtseize, 2x Negate, 1x Blood Baron
Out: 2x Mentor, Slaughter Pact, Pack Rat (I think, can't remember)
G2: I play an island and pass. He serum visions and leaves both on top. I thoughtscour him and he loses a Visions and another good card. I'm not very sure if I should ever be thoughtscouring my opponent if they're playing a deck that can utilize the delve, but it just feels right. I follow up with a discard spell, then another the following turn+lingering souls. I proceed to beat his face in with my tokens. I think I drop an Angler or Tasigur, Its a bit hazy, but souls did 90% of the work.
G3: Souls tokens. Really I have nothing to say besides that. I played souls, flashed back souls, and hit him for 2-4 every turn before he started throwing good removal at them. He drops a Tasigur and gets an activation (2 lands in an empty GY) before I path it. I think I played an Angler+Tasigur which both died, but by the time he was at low (5~) life, he had so few cards in hand and I was sitting on enough removal to just kill and push through all that was left. Blood Baron came down near the end and didn't accomplish anything besides being a nail in his coffin.
I think I discarded a Blood Moon from his hand one of the post-board games, can't remember.
Ultimately, I think we have to try REAL hard to lose this matchup. I'm 7-0 so far (5x control, 1x delver, 1x twin) vs this shard. I think it'd be fair to say we're 60-70% favored to win. Lingering Souls is such a key card for us here.
Match 3 vs Red Jank
I saw my opponent playing the previous round so I had a little idea of what he was on.
G1: I start the game on the play with a discard spell see one mountain, vexing devil, pyromancer, a bolt, a land destruction spell, avarice dragon, and moltensteel dragon. I take the devil because my hand is removal light and pass to him. He bolts me and passes back. Next turn he finds a second mountain and plays pyromancer. I'm forced to path it before it gets out of control and then his next turn he finds another mountain and blows up a land. I'm not worrying at all until he drops the Moltensteel Dragon- I haven't found any removal spells, counters, or lingering souls. I play a Tasigur and he crashes in for like 7. Next turn, I again fail to find removal and he pumps it up, going low to kill me.
IN: 2x Celestial Purge, 1x Flashfreeze, 3x Timely Reinforcements
OUT: 2x Thoughtseize, 2x Mentor, 1x Shadow of Doubt (no fetches on his side), 1x Pack Rat
G2: I mulligan to 5 and keep 3 lands, Tasigur, thought scour. He does nothing until turn 3 where he drops a Blood Moon. I have no one to blame but myself, I figured my opponent would not have access to that card so I did not play around it. It didn't matter though, as I drew 4-5 lands before he killed me. I managed to Snapcaster a timely reinforcements while he had a Moltensteel Dragon out but it was too little too late. He paid Phyrexian Mana till he was down to 2 life to kill me.
Not sure what to say about this game. I think it'd be an easy win if I drew removal spells or counters, game 1 was just unlucky. Game 2 was just a mess, I maybe should have mulled to 4 but I wasn't too happy with that idea. I should have played about Blood Moon better too, I was too arrogant thinking he wouldn't have it. I drew a few basics to work around it but flooding out guaranteed that I wasn't going to win this match. It was an interesting deck, I guess, it played similiar to burn but with pyromancers/BIG DARGONS for... some reason. Kind of glad he won though, he was an old vet getting back into Magic and it's always nice to see newer players. I'll be less sad about a loss if it means we get a new regular on modern night.
Game 4 VS Affinity
The boogeyman. From all the horror stories I've been reading for nearly a year and a half, I'm kind of worried. I've only played this matchup one other time, but that was a casual match. Anyways, I win dice roll and I'm on the play.
G1: Turn one I play an island, pass. He drops 6 cards onto the field. None of them cranial plating, though. My hand is insanely good. 2x Souls, 2x Path, a Thoughtscour and another land. I scour end of turn and we're off to the races. It takes him 3-4 turns for him to find a cranial plating, and by this time I've been building souls up. He attacked his 1/1 into my souls and I made a quick chump block. I pathed his other 1/1 and he was left with Ornithopters to equip to. Traded two souls into each of those and I had the game in a lock. Dropped a packrat and killed him two or three turns later.
IN: 1x Thoughtseize, 1x Disenchant, 2x Stony Silence
OUT: 2x Mentor, 2x Remand
G2: I keep a STRONG one lander. Stony Silence, multiple paths, multiple thoughtseizes. He spews out 3-4 cards turn 1. My turn 1, I fetch out a Godless Shrine and thoughtseize. I take an arcbound ravager I think. His t2 he plays a spellskite and passes. My t2 I miss land again and path one of his dudes which he redirects to the skite. t3 I finally find my land and quickly drop my Stony Silence. 6-7 turns later I take the match.
I think I sideboarded effectively this game. My reasoning is that remand... isn't good here. Most of their spells cost 0-1 mana. Mentor is too slow.
_________________________
I'm satisfied with how tonight went. Pack Rat was pretty fun to play with and most players were ooo'ing and ah'ing about the inclusion, mentioning how they've been talking about either wanting to play pack rat themselves or have it see more modern play. I'm still not sure what match ups are best to include it in. Blood Baron, again, was cool but didn't do much. I'll keep him in for next week and if I don't see Grixis everywhere again, I'll drop him back out.
I'd like to test out 1x Stubborn Denial in the mainboard but I'm not sure over what. I think the force spike mode would be useful every now and then and ferocious should be live more often than not.
I don't run Serum Visions (yet) so I think a higher land count is necessary. Tar Pit has been an MVP in many, many games and Vault has been... ok. When it's good, it's game winning. Any other time it's a colorless or a mountain. I like Shadow although most players at my LGS play around it without even knowing I have it so I usually just cantrip it- although it is nice vs amulet bloom!
Decks I'm playing in Modern right now:
URB Grixis Reveler (http://www.mtgvault.com/supast4r7/decks/modern-grixis-reveler/)
UB Faeries (http://www.mtgvault.com/supast4r7/decks/ub-fae-2/)
UW Azorious Control (http://www.mtgvault.com/supast4r7/decks/modern-ojutai-control-2/)
I like this deck a lot. However, I'm not a fan of the maindeck Dispel and Murderous Cut seems a bit hard on the graveyard, after Lingering Souls, Snapcaster Mage, Gurmag Angler, and Tasigur. Have you considered using Victim of Night instead of Cut? I also thought of an Esper counterpart to Grixis "Control" today
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Dismember
3 Mana Leak
4 Path to Exile
2 Spell Snare
4 Thought Scour
4 Victim of Night
4 Lingering Souls
4 Serum Visions
3 Biiterblossom
1 Darkslick Shores
4 Flooded Strand
1 Godless Shrine
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
1 Plains
4 Polluted Delta
2 Swamp
2 Vault of the Archangel
2 Watery Grave
1 Terastodon
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
2 Countersquall
4 Gifts Ungiven
2 Languish
3 Timely Reinforcements
1 Unburial Rites
The deck's maindeck is mostly designed to beat the other interactive decks of the format. Twin, Grixis, Jund, and Junk have huge problems against Lingering Souls. Hurmag Angler and Tasigur are simply massive, and Bitterblossom is unbeatable for blue decks and forces BGx decks to keep in Abrupt Decay against me or lose. It also has 9 removal spells that kill anything in those decks plus 4 Snapcaster Mages, which along with the countermagic should be enough to kill every threat that can't just be outclassed by a big delve creature. The Gifts plan in the sideboard fixes most of the noninteractive matchups, as Burn basically can't win if I find a Gifts+Iona in time, Infect, Elves, and Abzan Company physically can't win past Elesh Norn, Merfolk has huge problems with Norn, and Terastodon can slow down Tron enough to win. Any thoughts or suggestions?
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.
There are so many cards available to Esper colors that do interested and varied things, I really believe in this archetype's potential to become something.
I think that Jace, Vryn's Prodigy might have a place in a more traditional Esper Mentor build, so I put together this list last night:
2x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
3x Monastery Mentor
2x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4x Snapcaster Mage
Instant:
2x Murderous Cut
4x Path to Exile
2x Slaughter Pact
2x Spell Snare
Sorcery:
4x Thought Scour
2x Thoughtseize
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
4x Serum Visions
4x Lingering Souls
1x Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Land:
4x Creeping Tar Pit
4x Flooded Strand
1x Godless Shrine
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Marsh Flats
2x Island
1x Plains
1x Swamp
4x Polluted Delta
1x Vault of the Archangel
1x Watery Grave
1x Blood Baron of Vizkopa
2x Celestial Purge
2x Countersquall
1x Curse of Death's Hold
2x Disenchant
1x Dispel
2x Far / Away
1x Flashfreeze
3x Timely Reinforcements
Some choices:
Cards I kind of want to be playing but don't know where they fit:
Will post list and brief report later today.
Blue lives don't matter in the slightest.
Round 1: R/U/G Delver.
Won in 3, games were grindy. Got a clutch Timely Reinforcements off that won me a game. Won Game 3 in another grindy game. Souls / Tasigur / Tar-Pit. Lost game 1 to a quick Delver flip into a second Delver / Bolts.
Round 2: Grixis Control
Won in 2, matchup felt great. He just didn't stick creatures and lost to Mentor in game 1. In Game 2 he Slaughter Pact-ed naming Mentor and I won with Spirits, Sorin, and Tar-Pit. Games were pretty slow. Felt good.
I have a lot of sideboard action against this deck, and I hit both my Celestial Purges and also cast Blood-Baron, although it got Rending Volley'd. Feels like a good matchup, though.
Round 3: Infect
Won in 3.
In game 1 I went Serum Visions into double Slaughter Pact after casting an Inquisition and a Thoughtseize to pick apart his hand. It got me there for eventual Lingering Souls / Snap / Tar-Pit victory. I really shouldn't be winning game 1 of this matchup, in my opinion, but it was a very ideal draw.
In game 2 he had a reasonable hand and ended up winning with a might of old krosa on Inkmoth, after vapor snagging my spirit blocker. This was a good game, though, and still pretty close. If I had kept one more spirit up to block I may have still won.
In game 3 I cast "away" to make him sacrifice his inkmoth and he just like, never drew another land. I won with Snap / Spirit beats.
All in all, the deck felt good. Far / Away kind of Overperformed, Monastery Mentor was barely cast, and Jace was cast once, eating a removal spell immediately. I am okay with him eating a removal spell, though.
I am feeling good about running 21 lands with 4 tar-pits. I think the Pit is a super important piece of the deck, and I also think that 4x Serum Visions with 4x Thought Scour is enough to hit with 21 lands consistently. It also gives us more room for spells while also playing Jace. I like 3 Mentor because we don't NEED him to win, and we don't necessarily want to draw 2, but his power is there.
Anyway, I need to test this build more, but I like it and will keep playing it for now. Sorry for my crappy tournament report, but I'm tired, and it was a tiny tournament anyway.
2x Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
3x Monastery Mentor
2x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4x Snapcaster Mage
Instant:
2x Murderous Cut
4x Path to Exile
2x Slaughter Pact
2x Spell Snare
Sorcery:
4x Thought Scour
2x Thoughtseize
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
4x Serum Visions
4x Lingering Souls
1x Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Land:
4x Creeping Tar Pit
4x Flooded Strand
1x Godless Shrine
1x Hallowed Fountain
1x Marsh Flats
2x Island
1x Plains
1x Swamp
4x Polluted Delta
1x Vault of the Archangel
1x Watery Grave
1x Blood Baron of Vizkopa
2x Celestial Purge
2x Countersquall
1x Curse of Death's Hold
2x Disenchant
1x Dispel
2x Far / Away
1x Flashfreeze
3x Timely Reinforcements