A scapeshift list won a Modern Premier event a few days ago.
The interesting thing about it was that it cut some of the dig and counter spells for 4 Primeval Titans and 2 Prismatic Omen, which seems like a way to dodge hate by having a plan b.
Understand, Dredge is not really a Magic: The Gathering deck. When a card is playable in it, it doesn't mean it's a tournament playable card. It means it's playable in whatever crazy fantasy world that Dredge operates in.
He did says he's playing 4 Cryptic Command, so Harrow being an instant could be relevant. It's still a risky card, but it does work better with Draw-Go.
Interesting list, I have to wonder how often you start missing land drops though. I run 25 lands and still find that I miss the 7th land drop from time to time. Also, do you find main deck Boseiju to be good?
I've missed land drops quite a few times, but I've been hit even harder whenever I mana flood out after I get disrupted. Topdecking Search for Tomorrow instead of Scapeshift or even Serum Visions is the worst feeling in the world. If anything, I'm prone to cutting Wood Elves for business.
Maindeck Boseiju is meh. It's invaluable against blue decks, but then I get it against fast aggro and weep because it may as well not produce mana. I'm this close to cutting it for the fourth Misty Rainforest (which is what I initially pulled to test Boseiju).
You're probably the only scapeshift player who gets away with 23 lands. So few lands while you play oracle and explore, that makes no sense.
Cutting a wood elves and some random cards for more land will only do you good.
I based my version on Old Extended lists without Cryptic Command (see here and here). (The more Old Extended lists I stare at, the more I keep finding ones with 23-24 lands.)
I've had consistency problems with Modern Scapeshift versions with 25+ lands and only 4 cantrips. My current Big Controlling Scapeshift version does have 25 lands (and looks a lot like the versions that have performed in tournaments), but I'm still not convinced Scapeshift needs to play a very controlling version to win. I've found that merely being faster prevents needing to lean on Cryptic to stall the game out.
Explore has tested fine--it ramps me on Turn 2(-3) reliably enough for me to keep it, even with 23 lands. Even on Turn 4+ with only 4-6 lands, I'd rather have the cantrip because I may still not have Scapeshift. (It's in the 20-land RG Artifact Tron where Explore has failed me. I now play Prophetic Prism instead to support Slaughter Games in the board for that deck.)
Coiling Oracle is also fine--it has a body, it can do its part to take my opponent from 20 to 18 life, and the cantrip has been pretty good. It probably only ramps me 1/4-1/3 of the time, and it's slightly tricky to cast, but it hasn't failed me yet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dispel is OK. It's awesome against blue decks (again), but it rots against Jund, RG Artifact Tron, Pod, Affinity, and more. It's surprisingly good against RDW and Infect, though. Sometimes, I want to swap it with the boarded-out Muddle the Mixture, as it also hits LD and Blightning, but then I don't want all my disruption to die to Spell Snare.
I built my overall permission and removal suite--and my speed--to be like Exarch Twin's (~8 permission, ~3 removal). Because I've found my Scapeshift version and Exarch Twin behave similarly speed- and consistency-wise and Scapeshift is more resilient, I'm at a bit of a loss as to why Exarch Twin is still as popular as it currently is. Probably the best reasons I can think of are that Exarch Twin is much stronger against Slaughter Games and that it has a better RDW match-up than the current most popular Scapeshift version.
Coiling oracle is so weak in your version, it rarely contributes anything. often it will be an elvish visionary <= so awkward!
You say you prefer a faster scapeshift instead a scapeshift that needs disruption (cryptic), but then you're playing the wrong cards to combo consistently on t4. I'm absolutely sure you will perform if you cut 2 obsolete cards that don't contribute on getting you to win, for 2 lands. Explore and oracle will be thankful!
Ps: twin is miles better vs infect and that's why its regaining popularity.
Pps: when is your next large tournament, I wanna see how you perform with this...
On Twin vs. Infect: Grim Lavamancer...Spellskite...I believe you! Yeah, Spellskite is an absolute troll against Infect--it stops them from casting pump spells, forcing them to use Exalted, earlier Rancor, and Pendelhaven to force poison through. Now, Infect's explosiveness is gone.
On card choices:
Of course every card does its bit to win--otherwise, why are they still in the deck? For streamlining the deck further, I'm actually the closest to swapping out the often dead Dispel. Unfortunately, it will be for either protection or a cantrip (and it'll probably be protection). Coiling Oracle and Explore help me win on Turn 4 by cantripping into a Scapeshift and possibly ramping. For a deck that doesn't win with Scapeshift by Turn 4 with anything resembling consistency, there's RG Valakut Ramp. It's obviously an extreme example that plays 4 alternate win conditions call Primeval Titan, but it shows that without cantrips, you cannot rely on winning with one specific card at all.
On my next tournament:
Unfortunately, I only have the deck built on Cockatrice, and I'm not even sure when I'll have the time to participate in an online tournament (I'm still in university, I anticipate an internship this summer). Perhaps in a few years when I'm not busy with homework in the evening...
In a world with Abrupt Decay, Khalni Heart Garden and Prismatic Omen are not where I want to be. Garden was the first card I cut when building my list, it's a horrid topdeck, and even running 6 Fetchlands I found it slow.
As for Primetime, it just depends on the deck you want to run. That deck is fast, and can go over the top of Jund if needed, but it looks like it runs out of gas quickly, and has limited dig to find Scapeshift (Izzet Charm is no Peer through Depths). It's not how I'm going with the deck, but it's certainly interesting.
Slagstorm can sorta double as a burn spell if you need it...that's the best you're going to do as far as sweepers that aren't dead against non-aggro go.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
When you peer long enough through the depths, the depths peer also through you.
i'm pondering about replacing pyroclasm by something more versatile, but cannot think of anything. I'd like a sweeper in the MD, but pyroclasm being so dead against several matchups, it makes me puke :p!
Can anyone think of something more versatile? Less narrow, cycle-option or cantrip-option? I cannot think of anything...
Izzet Charm is nice for that, allows you to pitch dead draws. I don't know of any sweeper that cantrips or anything extra though.
I wouldn't stick Ancestral Vision in my fast build because it would hinder my ability to nail Turn 4-6 kills. Imagine topdecking this card at the exact wrong time...
I also tried Vision in a Wargate Scapeshift build when pyro314 suggested testing the ban list, and I found it lackluster there, too. Even though it's more controlling, topdecking it at bad times still wasn't worth it. I switched back to Serum Visions--it behaves more consistently.
Pretty cool I suppose. Seems to be completely tailored toward an aggro/pod meta though. Really is reaching back toward the original RG lists for scapeshift. Although I wonder why wargate isn't in there. The deck certainly has a pretty much rock wall of a sideboard though. White really does provide us with some cool toys.
I've been playing around with my RUG version of scapeshift lately and this is what I've been doing (super standard list, nothing cool about it)
Question? How quickly can this deck win with a nut draw? I'm asking because it just seems like it would be too slow against some of the faster combo decks.
Question? How quickly can this deck win with a nut draw? I'm asking because it just seems like it would be too slow against some of the faster combo decks.
I have personally never gotten a turn 4 win, many turn 5 wins though.
I've gotten the turn 4 win several times; it's not unlikely, especially if they shock or fetch themselves below 18. I also believe that I've gotten turn 4 with 8 lands at least once (since you can ramp + Shift on the same turn).
Game 1 he used quite a bit of hand disruption on me in the early game but did not have much to back it up outside of an Inkmoth Nexus. Eventually I was able to get Primeval Titan online and win the game from there.
Game 2 I sided in the extra copies of Obstinate Baloth and put two into play via a Wrench Mind. That was a good feeling. From there, I was able to stall until I got my combo online.
1-0
Round 2 vs. Soul Sisters
I knew he was playing soul sisters and that it would be a tough match and I was right. He led off with a turn one Serra Ascendant into a Martyr of Sands turn two. I couldn't beat it, so I lost quickly.
Game 2 was similar except I cast pyroclasm twice to slow him down, but his Ajani's Pridemates were too big and I died to them before I could combo off.
1-1
Round 3 vs. Goryo's Vengeance Reanimator
Game 1 he didn't have much going on and I was able to combo off. He actually got to the point where he could actually hard cast a Griselbrand. He drew a bunch of cards but had no way to give it haste and I won the next turn.
Game 2 I sided in my Grafdigger's Cage and extra copy of Remand. He tried to put an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn with the shuffle trigger on the stack into play via Goryo's Vengeance. Luckily I sided in my extra Remand and left the mana up to stop it. From there, he didn't have much going on and I eventually killed him with Scapeshift.
2-1
Round 4 vs. Affinity
I knew he was playing affinity because we frequently play EDH together. The first game I was able to delay him enough to get Primeval Titan online and kill his small creatures. I think he had a pretty weak draw that game.
Second game I sided in my Creeping Corrosions but never saw it or Pyroclasm. It was still ok, because I was able to Remand a key Cranial Plating and delay him enough to combo off the turn before he was going to kill me.
3-1
I really liked playing the deck and I think I did ok giving that it was my first time to pilot it. I need to think of some good sideboard options for soul sisters for the future.
Went 4-0 in a daily this morning and figured I'd share my list. I used to play the UG Cryptic Command version, but I felt like it wasn't active enough.
I like the Firespout/Bolt split in the main over the typical 4 Pyroclasm, as I found in a few losing events that I would have preferred to have the 3 damage. Some people play 3 Farseek/3 Omen; I was on 4 Farseek/2 Omen so I shaved a Farseek for the 5th burn spell.
Re. the board, I like the 3/1 Baloth/Finks split (Finks coming down earlier against burn and aggro really helps), though I do want to maybe find room for a Boseiju or two... it might be the Cage and/or the Pyroclasm, but we'll see.
Round 1 - RB Bob Burn
Game 1 he played a Deathrite Shaman and two Bobs with GRB lands, so I though he might be Jund, but he also fetched two basic Mountains, so I figured burn splashing Deathrite was more likely. Fortunately Obstinate Baloth comes in for both matchups, so I was able to hedge during boarding. Two uneventful games that I easily won.
2-0, 1-0
Round 2 - UR Twin
Game 1 he has a Spellskite in play but is never really close to comboing. I win with a Scapeshift for 12 triggers vs. his 16 life and after a short judge call to explain how Scapeshift works he realises he's dead.
Game 2 I drew about fifteen actual lands and a Gitaxian Probe let him know it was safe to combo me.
Game 3 was quite a grind. I set up a turn where I have a Spellskite in play to his Pestermite and Counterfluxed his Kiki-Jiki, leaving him with three mana to my 10 and Scapeshift+Snapcaster in my hand. I go for it on my turn, figuring all he can have is Remand+Spell Pierce. He Remands, I replay it into his 1 mana, he has Pact of Negation. He can't kill me the following turn because he won't have 5 mana for Kiki, so next turn I Snapcast Scapeshift and he has another Remand. We go to turns, and I topdeck another Scapeshift on turn 2 which sticks.
2-1, 2-0
Round 3 - UWR Twin
Game 1 was fairly uneventful, as he just played flash guys and burn and I drew no way to stop him from killing me or to accelerate my kill. My hand when I died was 2 land, 3 Scapeshift.
Game 2 he won the counter war over Scapeshift and then topdecked Kiki-Jiki to kill me.
0-2, 2-1
Round 4 - BUG Midrange
Game 1 I mulled to 5 with 1 land and never cast a spell.
Game 2 was quite interesting. I Izzet Charm an early Thoughtseize, leaving him forced to take an Obstinate Baloth which he then has to use a Maelstrom Pulse on. He strips/Extirpates my Scapeshifts, so I'm left hoping for his Bob to kill him. It pings him all the way down to 1 before a Batterskull starts evening it out. He ends up at 7 when I draw Electrolyze, face him with it, and draw a Bolt to put him to 2. He flips a Goyf.
Game 3 he ends up Thoughtseizing another Baloth after Mana Leaking my Cryptic Command. He plays a Liliana and I have one card left in hand: the lethal Scapeshift. I plant the seed of his having to race his own Bob and he forces me to sacrifice my Baloth rather than using the +1. He attacks for 6, I untap and win.
2-1, 3-1
Round 5 - Wargate Shift
Game 1 he has a Prismatic Omen and a Boseiju in play, so I go for it when I can but he has the counter. He untaps and Shifts for 6 to win.
Game 2 I get ahead on lands and cast multiple Cryptics to bounce his. I win the fight over my lethal Scapeshift.
Game 3 he opens on a Leyline of Sanctity that I'll have to remove or bounce. I end up using an Izzet Charm to force him to tap out to counter my end-step Teferi so that I can untap, Cryptic his Leyline, draw an untapped land, and shift for 8. If he had bounced one of my lands instead of drawing a card with Cryptic this line wouldn't have been open, but I get there.
2-1, 4-1
Round 6 - UWR midrange/control
None of the 4-1s can safely draw in, so it's time to win one more.
Game 1 I Scapeshift for exactly lethal but my opponent has a Lightning Helix to live at 3. He untaps and scoops even though I have no Mountains left in my deck.
Game 2 he fights over a Geist of Saint Traft when I have five lands, I guess not seeing the land-Farseek-Shift for 18 line that I have available.
2-0, 5-1
Top 8 - Four-colour Jund
I'm the top seed, so I get to play first throughout the top 8.
Game 1 he has a Bob live almost the entire game but doesn't hit any hand disruption except a first-turn Inquisition, so I kill him.
Game 2 he Thoughtseizes me and takes Inferno Titan rather than Scapeshift, and the Scapeshift races his two Goyfs.
2-0, 6-1
Top 4 - UWR Twin (rematch)
Game 1 I cast 4 Peers (one off a Snapcaster) after he casts an Exarch on his own end-step (I guess because I was tapped low) and finally find the Scapeshift.
Game 2 I stall on 3 lands and have to hold up Counterflux to protect against Kiki-Jiki (I have Spellskite in play but he has Exarch) while he burns me. Eventually I'm low enough that I have to start countering burn spells, and he has the Kiki.
Game 3 he plays the flash game again, beating down with a Resto Angel. I attempt a Teferi but he Remands and I have to go for it on the last turn with only 1 counter to protect. He has two. Post-game analysis: I think I had to play Teferi when he tapped low at my end step for Resto, accepting that I would be dead to Kiki (I could have left up a Stomping Ground to represent Nature's Claim (which I had) and Bolt (which I didn't)) and try to protect that way. Close match either way.
1-2, 6-2
So I'm back to the blue list for now, still playing with that flex slot (Electrolyze for this event) and reconsidering how to play post-board games against UWR Twin. Everything else was fairly straightforward.
The interesting thing about it was that it cut some of the dig and counter spells for 4 Primeval Titans and 2 Prismatic Omen, which seems like a way to dodge hate by having a plan b.
Modern:
Something new every week
Legacy:
Something new everyweek
GWBJunk TokensBWG
Modern
GURScapeshiftRUG
BGRDredgevineRGB
URSTORM!RU
UWTezzeret ControlWU
Legacy
BWStonebladeWB
BUGBUG ControlGUB
GWBJunk TokensBWG
Modern
GURScapeshiftRUG
BGRDredgevineRGB
URSTORM!RU
UWTezzeret ControlWU
Legacy
BWStonebladeWB
BUGBUG ControlGUB
I've missed land drops quite a few times, but I've been hit even harder whenever I mana flood out after I get disrupted. Topdecking Search for Tomorrow instead of Scapeshift or even Serum Visions is the worst feeling in the world. If anything, I'm prone to cutting Wood Elves for business.
Maindeck Boseiju is meh. It's invaluable against blue decks, but then I get it against fast aggro and weep because it may as well not produce mana. I'm this close to cutting it for the fourth Misty Rainforest (which is what I initially pulled to test Boseiju).
I based my version on Old Extended lists without Cryptic Command (see here and here). (The more Old Extended lists I stare at, the more I keep finding ones with 23-24 lands.)
I've had consistency problems with Modern Scapeshift versions with 25+ lands and only 4 cantrips. My current Big Controlling Scapeshift version does have 25 lands (and looks a lot like the versions that have performed in tournaments), but I'm still not convinced Scapeshift needs to play a very controlling version to win. I've found that merely being faster prevents needing to lean on Cryptic to stall the game out.
Explore has tested fine--it ramps me on Turn 2(-3) reliably enough for me to keep it, even with 23 lands. Even on Turn 4+ with only 4-6 lands, I'd rather have the cantrip because I may still not have Scapeshift. (It's in the 20-land RG Artifact Tron where Explore has failed me. I now play Prophetic Prism instead to support Slaughter Games in the board for that deck.)
Coiling Oracle is also fine--it has a body, it can do its part to take my opponent from 20 to 18 life, and the cantrip has been pretty good. It probably only ramps me 1/4-1/3 of the time, and it's slightly tricky to cast, but it hasn't failed me yet.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dispel is OK. It's awesome against blue decks (again), but it rots against Jund, RG Artifact Tron, Pod, Affinity, and more. It's surprisingly good against RDW and Infect, though. Sometimes, I want to swap it with the boarded-out Muddle the Mixture, as it also hits LD and Blightning, but then I don't want all my disruption to die to Spell Snare.
I built my overall permission and removal suite--and my speed--to be like Exarch Twin's (~8 permission, ~3 removal). Because I've found my Scapeshift version and Exarch Twin behave similarly speed- and consistency-wise and Scapeshift is more resilient, I'm at a bit of a loss as to why Exarch Twin is still as popular as it currently is. Probably the best reasons I can think of are that Exarch Twin is much stronger against Slaughter Games and that it has a better RDW match-up than the current most popular Scapeshift version.
On Twin vs. Infect:
Grim Lavamancer...Spellskite...I believe you! Yeah, Spellskite is an absolute troll against Infect--it stops them from casting pump spells, forcing them to use Exalted, earlier Rancor, and Pendelhaven to force poison through. Now, Infect's explosiveness is gone.
On card choices:
Of course every card does its bit to win--otherwise, why are they still in the deck? For streamlining the deck further, I'm actually the closest to swapping out the often dead Dispel. Unfortunately, it will be for either protection or a cantrip (and it'll probably be protection). Coiling Oracle and Explore help me win on Turn 4 by cantripping into a Scapeshift and possibly ramping. For a deck that doesn't win with Scapeshift by Turn 4 with anything resembling consistency, there's RG Valakut Ramp. It's obviously an extreme example that plays 4 alternate win conditions call Primeval Titan, but it shows that without cantrips, you cannot rely on winning with one specific card at all.
On my next tournament:
Unfortunately, I only have the deck built on Cockatrice, and I'm not even sure when I'll have the time to participate in an online tournament (I'm still in university, I anticipate an internship this summer). Perhaps in a few years when I'm not busy with homework in the evening...
As for Primetime, it just depends on the deck you want to run. That deck is fast, and can go over the top of Jund if needed, but it looks like it runs out of gas quickly, and has limited dig to find Scapeshift (Izzet Charm is no Peer through Depths). It's not how I'm going with the deck, but it's certainly interesting.
GWBJunk TokensBWG
Modern
GURScapeshiftRUG
BGRDredgevineRGB
URSTORM!RU
UWTezzeret ControlWU
Legacy
BWStonebladeWB
BUGBUG ControlGUB
Izzet Charm is nice for that, allows you to pitch dead draws. I don't know of any sweeper that cantrips or anything extra though.
GWBJunk TokensBWG
Modern
GURScapeshiftRUG
BGRDredgevineRGB
URSTORM!RU
UWTezzeret ControlWU
Legacy
BWStonebladeWB
BUGBUG ControlGUB
test
I also tried Vision in a Wargate Scapeshift build when pyro314 suggested testing the ban list, and I found it lackluster there, too. Even though it's more controlling, topdecking it at bad times still wasn't worth it. I switched back to Serum Visions--it behaves more consistently.
Only if you are ready for delver to be everywhere... as much as i'd LOVE ponder/preordain to be legal, the format would be miserable.
I've been playing around with my RUG version of scapeshift lately and this is what I've been doing (super standard list, nothing cool about it)
4 scapeshift
2 farseek
1 firespout
4 search for tomorrow
3 serum visions
instants
2 lightning bolt
2 izzet charm
4 remand
3 cryptic command
4 peer through depths
4 sakura-tribe elder
2 snapcaster mage
3 spellskite
1 pyroclasm
2 firespout
2 batterskull
1 wurmcoil engine
4 obstinate baloth
3 ancient grudge
Currently playing:
GCasual 8-post
R Casual Land Destruction
UBRWG Legacy Dredge
WGB Modern Melira Pod
RUG EDH
UGr Scapeshift can win with a Turn 4 "nut" draw:
- Turn 1: Land, Search for Tomorrow suspend (Land count at EOT = 1)
- Turn 2: Land, Farseek (Land count at EOT = 3)
- Turn 3: Land, Search for Tomorrow resolves, Sakura-Tribe Elder, sac STE (Land count at EOT = 6)
- Turn 4: Land, Bolt opponent, Scapeshift (Land count at EOT = 7)
Since the ramp and Bolt are redundant, the "nut" draw happens more often than you think.I have personally never gotten a turn 4 win, many turn 5 wins though.
I've gotten the turn 4 win several times; it's not unlikely, especially if they shock or fetch themselves below 18. I also believe that I've gotten turn 4 with 8 lands at least once (since you can ramp + Shift on the same turn).
UW UW Gideon Control WU
UWR Loose Control RWU
GR Scapeshift RG
RU Storm UR
3 Breeding Pool
3 Forest
1 Island
3 Misty Rainforest
6 Mountain
2 Steam Vents
4 Stomping Grounds
3 Valaku, the Molten Pinnacle
Creatures (10)
2 Obstinate Baloth
4 Primeval Titan
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Farseek
3 Izzet Charm
4 Pyroclasm
3 Remand
4 Scapeshift
4 Search for Tomorrow
Enchantments (3)
3 Prismatic Omen
2 Creeping Corrosion
2 Dispel
4 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Obstinate Baloth
1 Remand
2 Sowing Salt
2 Spellskite
I didn't have the Scalding Tarns or I would have played them.
Here is a round by round:
Round 1 vs. Black Infect
I have never played against this deck before. It uses a good amount of hand disruption in the form of Raven's Crime, Wrench Mind, Funeral Charm, etc. in addition to Phyrexian Crusader, Phyrexian Vatmother, and Inkmoth Nexus to kill the opponent.
Game 1 he used quite a bit of hand disruption on me in the early game but did not have much to back it up outside of an Inkmoth Nexus. Eventually I was able to get Primeval Titan online and win the game from there.
Game 2 I sided in the extra copies of Obstinate Baloth and put two into play via a Wrench Mind. That was a good feeling. From there, I was able to stall until I got my combo online.
1-0
Round 2 vs. Soul Sisters
I knew he was playing soul sisters and that it would be a tough match and I was right. He led off with a turn one Serra Ascendant into a Martyr of Sands turn two. I couldn't beat it, so I lost quickly.
Game 2 was similar except I cast pyroclasm twice to slow him down, but his Ajani's Pridemates were too big and I died to them before I could combo off.
1-1
Round 3 vs. Goryo's Vengeance Reanimator
Game 1 he didn't have much going on and I was able to combo off. He actually got to the point where he could actually hard cast a Griselbrand. He drew a bunch of cards but had no way to give it haste and I won the next turn.
Game 2 I sided in my Grafdigger's Cage and extra copy of Remand. He tried to put an Emrakul, the Aeons Torn with the shuffle trigger on the stack into play via Goryo's Vengeance. Luckily I sided in my extra Remand and left the mana up to stop it. From there, he didn't have much going on and I eventually killed him with Scapeshift.
2-1
Round 4 vs. Affinity
I knew he was playing affinity because we frequently play EDH together. The first game I was able to delay him enough to get Primeval Titan online and kill his small creatures. I think he had a pretty weak draw that game.
Second game I sided in my Creeping Corrosions but never saw it or Pyroclasm. It was still ok, because I was able to Remand a key Cranial Plating and delay him enough to combo off the turn before he was going to kill me.
3-1
I really liked playing the deck and I think I did ok giving that it was my first time to pilot it. I need to think of some good sideboard options for soul sisters for the future.
1 Breeding Pool
3 Forest
1 Island
2 Misty Rainforest
6 Mountain
3 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
4 Stomping Grounds
4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
4 Primeval Titan
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
Instants/Sorceries (24)
3 Farseek
3 Firespout
4 Izzet Charm
2 Lightning Bolt
4 Remand
4 Scapeshift
4 Search for Tomorrow
2 Prismatic Omen
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Cavern of Souls
1 Combust
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Kitchen Finks
3 Nature's Claim
1 Negate
3 Obstinate Baloth
1 Pyroclasm
2 Sowing Salt
I like the Firespout/Bolt split in the main over the typical 4 Pyroclasm, as I found in a few losing events that I would have preferred to have the 3 damage. Some people play 3 Farseek/3 Omen; I was on 4 Farseek/2 Omen so I shaved a Farseek for the 5th burn spell.
Re. the board, I like the 3/1 Baloth/Finks split (Finks coming down earlier against burn and aggro really helps), though I do want to maybe find room for a Boseiju or two... it might be the Cage and/or the Pyroclasm, but we'll see.
UW UW Gideon Control WU
UWR Loose Control RWU
GR Scapeshift RG
RU Storm UR
The list:
2 Breeding Pool
2 Flooded Grove
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Steam Vents
4 Stomping Ground
2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
3 Island
2 Forest
2 Mountain
Creature (6)
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Scapeshift
4 Search for Tomorrow
2 Farseek
2 Firespout
Instant (17)
4 Peer Through Depths
4 Remand
3 Cryptic Command
3 Izzet Charm
2 Lightning Bolt
1 Electrolyze
4 Obstinate Baloth
2 Spellskite
2 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
1 Counterflux
1 Dispel
1 Negate
1 Krosan Grip
1 Nature's Claim
1 Inferno Titan
1 Lightning Bolt
Game 1 he played a Deathrite Shaman and two Bobs with GRB lands, so I though he might be Jund, but he also fetched two basic Mountains, so I figured burn splashing Deathrite was more likely. Fortunately Obstinate Baloth comes in for both matchups, so I was able to hedge during boarding. Two uneventful games that I easily won.
2-0, 1-0
Round 2 - UR Twin
Game 1 he has a Spellskite in play but is never really close to comboing. I win with a Scapeshift for 12 triggers vs. his 16 life and after a short judge call to explain how Scapeshift works he realises he's dead.
Game 2 I drew about fifteen actual lands and a Gitaxian Probe let him know it was safe to combo me.
Game 3 was quite a grind. I set up a turn where I have a Spellskite in play to his Pestermite and Counterfluxed his Kiki-Jiki, leaving him with three mana to my 10 and Scapeshift+Snapcaster in my hand. I go for it on my turn, figuring all he can have is Remand+Spell Pierce. He Remands, I replay it into his 1 mana, he has Pact of Negation. He can't kill me the following turn because he won't have 5 mana for Kiki, so next turn I Snapcast Scapeshift and he has another Remand. We go to turns, and I topdeck another Scapeshift on turn 2 which sticks.
2-1, 2-0
Round 3 - UWR Twin
Game 1 was fairly uneventful, as he just played flash guys and burn and I drew no way to stop him from killing me or to accelerate my kill. My hand when I died was 2 land, 3 Scapeshift.
Game 2 he won the counter war over Scapeshift and then topdecked Kiki-Jiki to kill me.
0-2, 2-1
Round 4 - BUG Midrange
Game 1 I mulled to 5 with 1 land and never cast a spell.
Game 2 was quite interesting. I Izzet Charm an early Thoughtseize, leaving him forced to take an Obstinate Baloth which he then has to use a Maelstrom Pulse on. He strips/Extirpates my Scapeshifts, so I'm left hoping for his Bob to kill him. It pings him all the way down to 1 before a Batterskull starts evening it out. He ends up at 7 when I draw Electrolyze, face him with it, and draw a Bolt to put him to 2. He flips a Goyf.
Game 3 he ends up Thoughtseizing another Baloth after Mana Leaking my Cryptic Command. He plays a Liliana and I have one card left in hand: the lethal Scapeshift. I plant the seed of his having to race his own Bob and he forces me to sacrifice my Baloth rather than using the +1. He attacks for 6, I untap and win.
2-1, 3-1
Round 5 - Wargate Shift
Game 1 he has a Prismatic Omen and a Boseiju in play, so I go for it when I can but he has the counter. He untaps and Shifts for 6 to win.
Game 2 I get ahead on lands and cast multiple Cryptics to bounce his. I win the fight over my lethal Scapeshift.
Game 3 he opens on a Leyline of Sanctity that I'll have to remove or bounce. I end up using an Izzet Charm to force him to tap out to counter my end-step Teferi so that I can untap, Cryptic his Leyline, draw an untapped land, and shift for 8. If he had bounced one of my lands instead of drawing a card with Cryptic this line wouldn't have been open, but I get there.
2-1, 4-1
Round 6 - UWR midrange/control
None of the 4-1s can safely draw in, so it's time to win one more.
Game 1 I Scapeshift for exactly lethal but my opponent has a Lightning Helix to live at 3. He untaps and scoops even though I have no Mountains left in my deck.
Game 2 he fights over a Geist of Saint Traft when I have five lands, I guess not seeing the land-Farseek-Shift for 18 line that I have available.
2-0, 5-1
Top 8 - Four-colour Jund
I'm the top seed, so I get to play first throughout the top 8.
Game 1 he has a Bob live almost the entire game but doesn't hit any hand disruption except a first-turn Inquisition, so I kill him.
Game 2 he Thoughtseizes me and takes Inferno Titan rather than Scapeshift, and the Scapeshift races his two Goyfs.
2-0, 6-1
Top 4 - UWR Twin (rematch)
Game 1 I cast 4 Peers (one off a Snapcaster) after he casts an Exarch on his own end-step (I guess because I was tapped low) and finally find the Scapeshift.
Game 2 I stall on 3 lands and have to hold up Counterflux to protect against Kiki-Jiki (I have Spellskite in play but he has Exarch) while he burns me. Eventually I'm low enough that I have to start countering burn spells, and he has the Kiki.
Game 3 he plays the flash game again, beating down with a Resto Angel. I attempt a Teferi but he Remands and I have to go for it on the last turn with only 1 counter to protect. He has two.
1-2, 6-2
UW UW Gideon Control WU
UWR Loose Control RWU
GR Scapeshift RG
RU Storm UR