I am thinking of putting together Mardu pyromancer, but I am not a very serious constructed player so I tend to mize on expensive lands and $50 planeswalkers. I play 90% limited but it's cool to have a modern deck around. I loved playing boros burn in standard with YP.
How bad is it to sub 2 Dragonskull Summit for 2 Blackcleave Cliffs? Is 10 fetches enough or do I need 12? (mizing 2 of mesa/flats, keeping the 8 cheap ones)
Apologies for not reading 241 pages above this...
The liliana people are on the fence about, you can probably get away with not running it, and either running a 3rd push, a 3rd bloodmoon, or a 2nd dreadbore in its place. I splurged for one, but only one.
I never really considered using Dragonskull summit as a budget cliffs, I'd have to run some hands with it. Traditionally the budget fill in is 3rd blood crypt, 2nd sacred foundry, and one extra swamp and mountain.
10-12 fetches is way too many, the stock list plays 4 bloodstained mire and 4 marsh flats. Since the key point of our fetches is that they all get swamps, polluted delta's $19 price tag compared decently to the $39 of marsh flats.
If you're wanting to play this deck this way, you're also going to need replacements for the stock 3 leyline of the void and 2 engineered explosives in the sideboard. I had reasonable success with Nihil spellbomb as my GY hate of choice, and for a sweeper your best bet on the cheap would be Anger of the Gods.
Having a Liliana in the main deck is only proving itself to be more valuable as time comes on. So far two top pro players are running her, and some local LGS tournaments are producing high win rates.
It is still probably a meta call, but there are cards I'd rather cut out than her.
I think there may be some potential. On one hand, it's amazing against tron because it shuts off the tronlands turn 1 (This is going to come up a lot, but it does stop the tron lands because they check for land's type, not the land's name. The easy way to prove this is that mine and tower refer to controlling an "Urza's Power-plant" with a hyphen. The card name doesn't have the hyphen, the typeline does.)
I think an easier way to recognize this is that the text literally says: "If you control an Urza's Tower Plant..." If it would check by card name the text would say: "If you control Urza's Power Plant..." without "an". This obviously means its not checking for card names because the word "an" suggests that there could be technically more of that type wheras a card name is printed exactly once only.
That's a fair assessment now that I've had a nap to sort things out. I think the reason I kept it against jund was he never saw a single basic or fetchland game 1, and maybe if I get lucky I can just lock him out. Most of the time I was bringing in the other 2 fatal push and anger of the gods, only twice did wear//tear come in (bogles and burn), only once did kambal come in (burn), and only once did surgical come in (dredge). I also suppose there is some value in having a card you can discard with no real consequences game 1.
For which reason did you bring in Wear//Tear against Burn? I only could imagine hitting Eidolon, but since we are basically a mono removal deck this doesn't make much sense imo.
I rarely see Leyline or Bridge from Burn actually. Bridge seems especially weird. If they actually do run it, alright, but it seems very weird.
I like KCommand quite a bit vs. Burn, in topdeck mode it can safe you by letting them discard a Rift Bolt, any haste creature or Lava Spike at instant speed. Its just that if I loose to burn, its to topdecked burn spells, so I like that extra angle of attack. Of course you can also just die if its an instant burn spell.
It's definitely an odd one but it does happen. According to the current mtggoldfish page for burn, 41% of the burn winner's meta have 2x Ensnaring Bridge in their sideboard.
I would generally don't rush on Looting. Don't just always play it if you are able to, the most important factor is in my mind the knowledge of what you are actually facing. Before that I usually don't cast Looting at all. The only exception is when I need to find landdrops.
Speaking about landdrops, I would keep all lands until I have 3 lands. I think if you have 2 lands in hand and play turn 1 Looting, drawing you a third land and a spell, discarding a land is quite greedy and you can easily be punished for it.
@Ayiluss what does your list look like right now? How many Blood Moons? Any Manamorphose? If I remember correctly, you don't play any Lili PWs in the main right?
Man, i new Mardu player and my list is very similar of your list,but i dont have Marsh Flats,i replace it for Polluted Delta,and i runing 1 dreadbore and 2 LOTV MB, you think runing 3 Deltas and one Árid Mesa is better? And I no have second copie to EE is so expensive in my country, I replace it for Anger, is good?
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Modern:
Mardu Pyromancer
Grixis Shadow
Traverse Shadow
Jund
Abzan
The Rock
I personally have to be honest, I have basically no idea if I like LoTV main or side and if I like LtLH main or side. I do know I want LtLH in my 75. I think I also want 1-2 LoTV in my 75, but no idea where to put them.
2 BM is where I also am right now, I think this is enough.
It seems like you have to have ~8 ways to fetch sacred foundry if you are playing Kambal in the board (vs. storm). Even that seems light. Kambal is no good on turn 4 or 5 is it? You are already dead?
FlyingDelver, do you still feel UW Control is a good matchup?
If yes, can you explain why and which strategies and cards maindeck and/or sideboard seem to help the most?
Its close but I think we are slightly favoured. Lingering Souls is hard to deal with for them, since you need to cast one half and start attacking. As soon as they use a sweeper you can cast the second half and clock the opponent again.
Really good is discard and especially one which can snag Cryptic and PWs. Discard also helps to clear the way for Reveler. If you get to resolve multiple revelers its pretty hard for them to keep up unless they run Sphinx's Revelation.
I would only cast YP if I know my opponent doesn't have removal or if I get guaranteed value out of him.
Always think in CA. You want to get 2-for-1 anywhere you can. YP with a trigger is a 2 for 1, Souls is even more than that, KCommand can be a 2-for-1, Thoughtseizing a Cryptic is basically a 2-for-1 since Cryptic is a 2-for1 card by itself. Reveler is ideally a 4-for-1 which is insane. If you grind yourself through the resources of your opponent then you are in a good shape.
Yeah I side Blood Moon out against UW. That allows me to bring in all Wear // Tear, which really help against RIP/Azcanta/Detention Sphere/Spreading Seas and so on.
So I was experimenting with Dragon's Clawin the board as a two of for Burn. I figured between them and my own red spells it would be deece but after testing yesterday it just didn't perform as well as I'd hope. With that in mind what tech do we have for burn besides Collective Brutality? Or is this just one of those match ups we accept as an uphill battle?
Thinking another Blood Moon for the tron, human, and others. Leaves one slot left. I could add a third Collective Brutality for a full playset in the 75. Not sure. Any thoughts? I see a lot of Nihil Spellbombs running around but haven't had that come up in my area as a need.
So I was experimenting with Dragon's Clawin the board as a two of for Burn. I figured between them and my own red spells it would be deece but after testing yesterday it just didn't perform as well as I'd hope. With that in mind what tech do we have for burn besides Collective Brutality? Or is this just one of those match ups we accept as an uphill battle?
Thinking another Blood Moon for the tron, human, and others. Leaves one slot left. I could add a third Collective Brutality for a full playset in the 75. Not sure. Any thoughts? I see a lot of Nihil Spellbombs running around but haven't had that come up in my area as a need.
Do you side in Kambal? If they bolt him, you save 5 life, and deal 2 to them.
I did, I just didn't see him in time or if I did they had lethal regardless of his drain. He is one of my weaker sideboard pieces I feel like though I'd like to give it a few more chances.
Molten Rain i can understand more since it can target basics and adds to Reveler's count. But When do you want to hit basics?I can see it being good against valakut decks. It seems so narrow.
If they have basics and BM is not very useful we can ditch it in many ways anyway.
The pro's are playing them, so there must be enough reasons. But apparently i'm missing them...
If you have Blood Moon out, and the other guy has 1-2 basics out, hitting their basic land can take them off of a color completely.
Regarding planeswalkers, either LoTV or LtLH, (I don't like Nahiri) I think we don't want more than one in the MD. They both have their use but not being instant/sorcery makes them worse. Instants and sorceries have better synergy with the deck and it's therefore better to play one of those over Liliana.
I think thats a good rule of thumb, I agree with that.
Having a Liliana in the main deck is only proving itself to be more valuable as time comes on. So far two top pro players are running her, and some local LGS tournaments are producing high win rates.
It is still probably a meta call, but there are cards I'd rather cut out than her.
I think an easier way to recognize this is that the text literally says: "If you control an Urza's Tower Plant..." If it would check by card name the text would say: "If you control Urza's Power Plant..." without "an". This obviously means its not checking for card names because the word "an" suggests that there could be technically more of that type wheras a card name is printed exactly once only.
I personally always bring in Wear // Tear against burn. Generally speaking, the sideboard always has some combination of Rest in Peace, Ensnaring Bridge or Leyline of Sanctity. Failing this it is always live against Eidolon of the Great Revel and can replace Kolaghan's Command to lower our overall curve.
I like KCommand quite a bit vs. Burn, in topdeck mode it can safe you by letting them discard a Rift Bolt, any haste creature or Lava Spike at instant speed. Its just that if I loose to burn, its to topdecked burn spells, so I like that extra angle of attack. Of course you can also just die if its an instant burn spell.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-burn-46478#paper
They can get hellbent pretty quickly and it is really handy against a big chunk of the meta.
As a general rule, I think that you want to use your discard before you start looting, but even that's context dependant.
Speaking about landdrops, I would keep all lands until I have 3 lands. I think if you have 2 lands in hand and play turn 1 Looting, drawing you a third land and a spell, discarding a land is quite greedy and you can easily be punished for it.
Mardu Pyromancer
Grixis Shadow
Traverse Shadow
Jund
Abzan
The Rock
2 BM is where I also am right now, I think this is enough.
If yes, can you explain why and which strategies and cards maindeck and/or sideboard seem to help the most?
CETronC
WUBGRHumansWUBGR
UMerfolkU
GU
InfectGURBGx
DredgeRBGxIts close but I think we are slightly favoured. Lingering Souls is hard to deal with for them, since you need to cast one half and start attacking. As soon as they use a sweeper you can cast the second half and clock the opponent again.
Really good is discard and especially one which can snag Cryptic and PWs. Discard also helps to clear the way for Reveler. If you get to resolve multiple revelers its pretty hard for them to keep up unless they run Sphinx's Revelation.
I would only cast YP if I know my opponent doesn't have removal or if I get guaranteed value out of him.
Always think in CA. You want to get 2-for-1 anywhere you can. YP with a trigger is a 2 for 1, Souls is even more than that, KCommand can be a 2-for-1, Thoughtseizing a Cryptic is basically a 2-for-1 since Cryptic is a 2-for1 card by itself. Reveler is ideally a 4-for-1 which is insane. If you grind yourself through the resources of your opponent then you are in a good shape.
My current sideboard is
2x Dragon's Claw
1x Blood Moon
2x Molten Rain
1x Dreadbore
2x Surgical Extraction
2x Kambal, Consul of Allocation
1x Anger of the Gods
2x Wear//Tear
2x Collective Brutality
Thinking another Blood Moon for the tron, human, and others. Leaves one slot left. I could add a third Collective Brutality for a full playset in the 75. Not sure. Any thoughts? I see a lot of Nihil Spellbombs running around but haven't had that come up in my area as a need.
Do you side in Kambal? If they bolt him, you save 5 life, and deal 2 to them.
WBC Eldrazi & Taxes CBW
UR Keep on Cantripin' (UR Phoenix) RU
WU Surprise! It's not UW Control! (UW Midrange) UW
BG The Rock, Straight BG
U Mono-Blue Fish U
RBW Mardu Pyromancer BWR
RG Rabble! Rabble! (GR Blood Moon Aggro) GR
Legacy
W Death & Taxes W
If you have Blood Moon out, and the other guy has 1-2 basics out, hitting their basic land can take them off of a color completely.
WBC Eldrazi & Taxes CBW
UR Keep on Cantripin' (UR Phoenix) RU
WU Surprise! It's not UW Control! (UW Midrange) UW
BG The Rock, Straight BG
U Mono-Blue Fish U
RBW Mardu Pyromancer BWR
RG Rabble! Rabble! (GR Blood Moon Aggro) GR
Legacy
W Death & Taxes W
I think thats a good rule of thumb, I agree with that.