Dismember is a house in combat though. Turn a 1/1 or 2/2 Shadow into a 6/6 or greater, kill one attacker, block the other, untap and represent 12+ Damage with TBR.
You do realize what a pipe dream that is though, right?
On an unrelated note - I fear Humans might be everywhere from now on. If the hype doesn't subside we're in trouble. Best start maindecking that TBR playset.
Humans won’t be everywhere because a large portion of the top tier players won’t play/advocate playing a deck that gets absolutely wrecked by sweepers that are in every sideboard for top tier decks.
Dismember + your decks namesake is a Pipedream? Lolwut? That’s like, the most common scenario you’ll find. If you have a DS in play, and your opponent attacks with 2+ dudes (weirdly enough, every top tier deck except storm and titanShift do this consistently), this is now a line.
I don’t think humans will be as prevalent as people are hyping it to be. He had a strong run with a deck his opponents weren’t equipped to play against. All it takes is his decklist being published for people to know what they’re playing with. Strong deck, very weak to wraths.
UW control will probably be on an uptick this weekend to combat the go-wide decks (UG fish 5c Humans etc), scapeshift has a great time with these decks, and there is no reason why Storm wouldn’t just pack 5+ spot removal spells out of the board like they always do and kill the Meddling Mage and just go off.
It shouldn’t be a terrible MU for DS, deck plays ample removal so they can’t ride a Champion to GG and their “interactive” creatures aren’t exactly great.
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Humans won’t be everywhere because a large portion of the top tier players won’t play/advocate playing a deck that gets absolutely wrecked by sweepers that are in every sideboard for top tier decks.
Dismember + your decks namesake is a Pipedream? Lolwut? That’s like, the most common scenario you’ll find. If you have a DS in play, and your opponent attacks with 2+ dudes (weirdly enough, every top tier deck except storm and titanShift do this consistently), this is now a line.
I don’t think humans will be as prevalent as people are hyping it to be. He had a strong run with a deck his opponents weren’t equipped to play against. All it takes is his decklist being published for people to know what they’re playing with. Strong deck, very weak to wraths.
UW control will probably be on an uptick this weekend to combat the go-wide decks (UG fish 5c Humans etc), scapeshift has a great time with these decks, and there is no reason why Storm wouldn’t just pack 5+ spot removal spells out of the board like they always do and kill the Meddling Mage and just go off.
It shouldn’t be a terrible MU for DS, deck plays ample removal so they can’t ride a Champion to GG and their “interactive” creatures aren’t exactly great.
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Dismember + your decks namesake is a Pipedream? Lolwut? That’s like, the most common scenario you’ll find.
I don't know what a Lolwut is, but yes, blocking one attacker, killing the other, growing your Shadow and having TBR ready to go despite all the removal in the format is a pipe dream. Dismember will be a dead card more often than not.
I didn’t say you had TBR, I said you represent the damage with it. You force your opponent to answer your DS immediately because you can punish their combat phase with lethal.
I’m not going to argue, having dismember in your hand while you have a DS out is completely within realms of reason, and the opponent attacking with 2 creatures is also completely within the realm of reason.
Affinity will be attacking with a Plated up robot, Eldrazi will be pressing with some large dudes, GWx will press with Knight of the Reliquary, et al.
Even if dismember is killing a dude they left back to chump on the backswing, your guy grows by 4/4 and can tango with almost every creature in the format profitably.
Edit: just read through your posts for the last few months, you have a condescending attitude towards almost everyone you interact with. That’s distasteful for sure. I didn’t realize you were so pretentious as to truly believe you are 100% correct, 100% of the time.
If it makes you feel any better, a lot of us feel what you're saying Kodie.
On another note, is it appropriate to main deck bolt if we don't have our own Lilly to deal with attrition (complemented by the fact that it will be relevant elsewhere of course). Two bolts have felt fine but I don't know if there's better things I could be doing.
Keep the discussions on the cards and not the players please. If you have problems with someones posts then report them and let the mods handle it, rather than trying to do it yourself. This a warning to everyone.
Any thoughts on delver of secrets in the main. I feel like the deck is sometimes lacking threats. Especially after sideboard when people bring in graveyard Hate. Young P in the side just doesn't do it for me. Feels wonky.
Any thoughts on delver of secrets in the main. I feel like the deck is sometimes lacking threats. Especially after sideboard when people bring in graveyard Hate. Young P in the side just doesn't do it for me. Feels wonky.
I don't think there's room to add Delver and make sure you can still reliably flip it at the same time.
The gameplay is very different as well between Shadow and Delver. Delver + Pyro want you to land threats, then protect them with spells and amass board presence, whereas Shadow wants you to spend the first few turns casting as many spells as possible to set up a threat that's then impossible to answer.
As such, I think you have to go either/or, not both in one shell. I've tested Pyro in the sideboard as well but never felt like it was gonna help me win the game more than an additional TBR would. You don't really want it against swarm decks because it just delays the inevitable, and if you wanna race you just go more aggressive with your life totals and rely on TBR to push through damage. I don't think Pyro makes sense with Shadow (although I really wish it did).
Ya it is a different play style. Probably not better at all lol. I just feel like the deck is missing something . and i hate losing life to never hit a shadow. I took out 4 Street wraith for the 4 delver (3 snappy) . And ran 2 dismember to help with the life loss.
I feel like Delver would be a possibility if Gitaxian Probe hadn't been banned. Street Wraith being a creature instead of a instant/sorcery makes Delver too inconsistent to flip. As others have pointed out, even if Gitaxian Probe was legal and in Street Wraith's spot, Delver and Death's Shadow still wouldn't work too well together as the two decks have different play styles. Maybe you could try to squeeze in some Bolts in the removal spot for added reach if you're having problems with too little threats.
Quick Modern night report, went 1-3. Faced Esper Zur (2-1), Scapeshift (0-2), UW Control (1-2), Amulet Titan (0-2).
I Really felt the variance last night. Against Scapeshift I lost g1 due to not seeing any threats, despite going through a good chuck of my deck. G2 I keep a 1 lander with cyclers, and I never saw the second one. Had a great opening line with Seize + Surgical on my opponent's Titan that slowed him down enough for the game to go turn 6+. Against Amulet on g2, 3 turns of Thoughtseize didn't stop the singleton Chameleon Colossus on top of my opponent's deck. Oh well.
These parings really punish the deck and they are not necessarily representative of my meta. Another player faced 4 matches of Burn, for example. It may be the case for packing Disdainful Strokes on my SB. Is holding a 2 mana counterspell clunky when we're usually operating on 3 mana? Do you guys recommend reevaluating strategies or giving it another go?
Also, how often do you get punished by keeping a hand with no big threats, but lots of cantrips?
Ya it is a different play style. Probably not better at all lol. I just feel like the deck is missing something . and i hate losing life to never hit a shadow. I took out 4 Street wraith for the 4 delver (3 snappy) . And ran 2 dismember to help with the life loss.
I think an important part of playing the deck is recognizing when being conservative with your life is necessary. I avoid life loss when I have delve hands as much as possible until I have access to DS, and instead play as if I'm Blue Jund until I can then the corner. Some games against aggressive strategies this is irrelevant, but it at least buys you a couple turns to draw into what you need.
Hey thanks to everyone who answered my question. Could you give me some feedback on this list?
...
That singleton Opt looks out of place. I'd consider swapping a Kom for a second. It'll help with the consistency of your deck. You could also just keep the Kom and swap the land back in for Opt. The SB looks pretty good.
Not really a fan of Temur Battle Rage. But it really gives us an "oops" win when match is already unfavored. Been testing against Abzan Midrange, Burn, Elves and Scapshifts. 2 copies in the 75 is a must now.
SB I am currently testing:
2 TBR
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Collective Brutality
1 K Command (1 more in MB)
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 LotV
1 Engineered Explosives
What is the consensus on 2x Surgical Extraction in the SB these days? I own two copies, so I'm including them just because I have them and I like the card... but it seems like maybe it has fallen out of favor. (especially if you don't run land destruction alongside them)
SB I am currently testing:
2 TBR
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Collective Brutality
1 K Command (1 more in MB)
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 LotV
1 Engineered Explosives
What is the consensus on 2x Surgical Extraction in the SB these days? I own two copies, so I'm including them just because I have them and I like the card... but it seems like maybe it has fallen out of favor. (especially if you don't run land destruction alongside them)
It's too unreliable for my liking in anything but a Dredge-heavy metagame.
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You do realize what a pipe dream that is though, right?
On an unrelated note - I fear Humans might be everywhere from now on. If the hype doesn't subside we're in trouble. Best start maindecking that TBR playset.
Abzan Traverse / Traverse Shadow / UR Kiki
Dismember + your decks namesake is a Pipedream? Lolwut? That’s like, the most common scenario you’ll find. If you have a DS in play, and your opponent attacks with 2+ dudes (weirdly enough, every top tier deck except storm and titanShift do this consistently), this is now a line.
I don’t think humans will be as prevalent as people are hyping it to be. He had a strong run with a deck his opponents weren’t equipped to play against. All it takes is his decklist being published for people to know what they’re playing with. Strong deck, very weak to wraths.
UW control will probably be on an uptick this weekend to combat the go-wide decks (UG fish 5c Humans etc), scapeshift has a great time with these decks, and there is no reason why Storm wouldn’t just pack 5+ spot removal spells out of the board like they always do and kill the Meddling Mage and just go off.
It shouldn’t be a terrible MU for DS, deck plays ample removal so they can’t ride a Champion to GG and their “interactive” creatures aren’t exactly great.
@Robo_Memer on Twitter, Twitch, Reddit, and YouTube
Feel free to PM me about Affinity decks in any format!
Dismember + your decks namesake is a Pipedream? Lolwut? That’s like, the most common scenario you’ll find. If you have a DS in play, and your opponent attacks with 2+ dudes (weirdly enough, every top tier deck except storm and titanShift do this consistently), this is now a line.
I don’t think humans will be as prevalent as people are hyping it to be. He had a strong run with a deck his opponents weren’t equipped to play against. All it takes is his decklist being published for people to know what they’re playing with. Strong deck, very weak to wraths.
UW control will probably be on an uptick this weekend to combat the go-wide decks (UG fish 5c Humans etc), scapeshift has a great time with these decks, and there is no reason why Storm wouldn’t just pack 5+ spot removal spells out of the board like they always do and kill the Meddling Mage and just go off.
It shouldn’t be a terrible MU for DS, deck plays ample removal so they can’t ride a Champion to GG and their “interactive” creatures aren’t exactly great.
@Robo_Memer on Twitter, Twitch, Reddit, and YouTube
Feel free to PM me about Affinity decks in any format!
I don't know what a Lolwut is, but yes, blocking one attacker, killing the other, growing your Shadow and having TBR ready to go despite all the removal in the format is a pipe dream. Dismember will be a dead card more often than not.
Abzan Traverse / Traverse Shadow / UR Kiki
I’m not going to argue, having dismember in your hand while you have a DS out is completely within realms of reason, and the opponent attacking with 2 creatures is also completely within the realm of reason.
Affinity will be attacking with a Plated up robot, Eldrazi will be pressing with some large dudes, GWx will press with Knight of the Reliquary, et al.
Even if dismember is killing a dude they left back to chump on the backswing, your guy grows by 4/4 and can tango with almost every creature in the format profitably.
Edit: just read through your posts for the last few months, you have a condescending attitude towards almost everyone you interact with. That’s distasteful for sure. I didn’t realize you were so pretentious as to truly believe you are 100% correct, 100% of the time.
Goodbye and good luck
@Robo_Memer on Twitter, Twitch, Reddit, and YouTube
Feel free to PM me about Affinity decks in any format!
On another note, is it appropriate to main deck bolt if we don't have our own Lilly to deal with attrition (complemented by the fact that it will be relevant elsewhere of course). Two bolts have felt fine but I don't know if there's better things I could be doing.
What's your sideboard plan against Rack / Pox decks?
Abzan Traverse / Traverse Shadow / UR Kiki
MTGO/MTGA: Tyclone
My Primers ~ GWx Vizier Company ~ Knightfall ~ RG Eldrazi ~ Green's Sun's Zenith
More Brews ~ Modern Four Horsemen ~ Gitrog Dredge
But Gurmag, Tasigur, and DS are just going to outclass it every time
@Robo_Memer on Twitter, Twitch, Reddit, and YouTube
Feel free to PM me about Affinity decks in any format!
I don't think there's room to add Delver and make sure you can still reliably flip it at the same time.
The gameplay is very different as well between Shadow and Delver. Delver + Pyro want you to land threats, then protect them with spells and amass board presence, whereas Shadow wants you to spend the first few turns casting as many spells as possible to set up a threat that's then impossible to answer.
As such, I think you have to go either/or, not both in one shell. I've tested Pyro in the sideboard as well but never felt like it was gonna help me win the game more than an additional TBR would. You don't really want it against swarm decks because it just delays the inevitable, and if you wanna race you just go more aggressive with your life totals and rely on TBR to push through damage. I don't think Pyro makes sense with Shadow (although I really wish it did).
Abzan Traverse / Traverse Shadow / UR Kiki
I Really felt the variance last night. Against Scapeshift I lost g1 due to not seeing any threats, despite going through a good chuck of my deck. G2 I keep a 1 lander with cyclers, and I never saw the second one. Had a great opening line with Seize + Surgical on my opponent's Titan that slowed him down enough for the game to go turn 6+. Against Amulet on g2, 3 turns of Thoughtseize didn't stop the singleton Chameleon Colossus on top of my opponent's deck. Oh well.
These parings really punish the deck and they are not necessarily representative of my meta. Another player faced 4 matches of Burn, for example. It may be the case for packing Disdainful Strokes on my SB. Is holding a 2 mana counterspell clunky when we're usually operating on 3 mana? Do you guys recommend reevaluating strategies or giving it another go?
Also, how often do you get punished by keeping a hand with no big threats, but lots of cantrips?
This is the list I'm running for reference:
4 Polluted Delta
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Scalding Tarn
2 Watery Grave
2 Blood Crypt
1 Steam Vents
1 Island
1 Swamp
Creatures (16)
4 Death's Shadow
2 Gurmag Angler
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Street Wraith
4 Fatal Push
2 Terminate
2 Kolaghan's Command
4 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Serum Visions
4 Thought Scour
2 Stubborn Denial
2 Temur Battle Rage
2 Stubborn Denial
2 Collective Brutality
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Surgical Extraction
3 Ceremonious Rejection
I appreciate your comments and suggestions!
BUR Grixis Death's Shadow/Control BUR & WBC Eldrazi & Taxes WBC
EDH:
UG Edric, Spymaster of Goodstuff UG
2x Blood Crypt
4x Bloodstained Mire
1x Island
4x Polluted Delta
3x Scalding Tarn
1x Steam Vents
1x Swamp
2x Watery Grave
Sorceries 10
2x Inquisition of Kozilek
4x Serum Visions
4x Thoughtseize
4x Fatal Push
2x Kolaghan's Command
1x Opt
3x Stubborn Denial
2x Terminate
4x Thought Scour
Creatures 16
4x Death's Shadow
2x Gurmag Angler
4x Snapcaster Mage
4x Street Wraith
2x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
2x Ceremonious Rejection
2x Collective Brutality
1x Disdainful Stroke
1x Izzet Staticaster
1x Kozilek's Return
1x Liliana of the Veil
1x Liliana, the Last Hope
2x Nihil Spellbomb
1x Stubborn Denial
1x Temur Battle Rage
2x Young Pyromancer
I think an important part of playing the deck is recognizing when being conservative with your life is necessary. I avoid life loss when I have delve hands as much as possible until I have access to DS, and instead play as if I'm Blue Jund until I can then the corner. Some games against aggressive strategies this is irrelevant, but it at least buys you a couple turns to draw into what you need.
That singleton Opt looks out of place. I'd consider swapping a Kom for a second. It'll help with the consistency of your deck. You could also just keep the Kom and swap the land back in for Opt. The SB looks pretty good.
2 TBR
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Collective Brutality
1 K Command (1 more in MB)
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 LotV
1 Engineered Explosives
What is the consensus on 2x Surgical Extraction in the SB these days? I own two copies, so I'm including them just because I have them and I like the card... but it seems like maybe it has fallen out of favor. (especially if you don't run land destruction alongside them)
It's too unreliable for my liking in anything but a Dredge-heavy metagame.
Abzan Traverse / Traverse Shadow / UR Kiki