I've been having some of the same problems with colored costs, especially when I get 2 filters and no other lands...
So I thought maybe we could replace a 2 filter lands with 2x reflecting pool. Whatcha think? There's always a danger you could draw both pools and no other lands in your opening grip, but it's not all that likely. Perhaps just 1 atleast to take the edge off the filter numbers?
Definitely worth considering. I do really like filter lands when going off, because you can afford to go off a lot earlier, but It's not a bad idea.
Speaking of mana, I'm starting to question how much White contributes to the eck. The only white spells in the list are Martial Coup and Unburial Rites, both of which it can potentially do without. Might a straight U/R build be effective?
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^ and rest for the weary, but i get your point. Martial Coup is effective in the deck because it's both a win condition and a sweeper in 1 card, which makes it stellar in the affinity and RDW matchup. I'd start by asking yourself what the decks weakest matchups are, and if getting rid of white to put in more cards relevant to those matchups would be feasible, because as it stands all the white cards are clearly geared towards beating fast aggro (except unburial rites + iona, which i think might be worth its slots still unless you have a better idea for how to deal with mono and 2 color decks, it IS only 3 slots for the whole package, even if it takes white).
I might get rid of the RW filter lands altogether still, but keep the 2 Wx shocklands just for unburial rites. In fact, that actually works out perfectly, since you'd just replace those filters with reflecting pools, and keep the UR filters at 4of. Voila, stable manabase, and you'll still be able to cast unburial rites. Of course, still need to replace coup and rest...
Just ran the newest version through the gauntlet. I'm really liking the idea of Merchant Scroll as a way to tutor out Gifts OR a counterspell OR some of your silver bullets. Too Cute?
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Another local modern tourney tomorrow. Looks like 4 rounds of swiss before top 8. Winner gets a Goyf. I'm going to try a version with Merchant Scroll unless something changes between now and noon tomorrow.
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Got knocked out in Semis. Attendance was smaller, so prizes were just a bunch of Innistrad Packs. I got 3.
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I was working on this between rounds, so I managed to get it done pretty quickly. That said, I'm almost certain there are typos, mistakes, etc. all over this, so don't be surprised if some bit of math doesn't check out.
Merchant Scroll in Modern:
Before I start, the list:
I changed around some cards that were underperforming (for instance, I nearly always wanted Timely Reinforcements over Rest for the Weary), and added in a few cards to grab with Merchant Scroll. Yes, the list is 61 cards. I have no idea what to cut.
Round 1 vs. Boros:
Game 1 I went land, land Merchant Scroll for Gifts, land into Pyretic Ritual for Gifts Ungiven (getting Seething Song, Desperate Ritual, Pyretic Ritual, Past in Flames), turn 4 Seething Song, Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose finding land, land, Past in Flames, Pyretic Ritual, Pyretic Ritual, Desperate Ritual, Seething Song, Seething Song, Manamorphose, Gifts for Empty the Warrens, Grapeshot, Snapcaster Mage, Seething Song, he gives me Seething Song and Grapeshot, I Seething Song, Merchant Scroll for Remand, Grapeshot, Remand the original Grapeshot, cast it again for 30 damage, bringing him well into the negatives. Whoa.
Game 2 I kept a 2 lander with double Seething Song, Past in Flames, and Empty the Warrens, and never draw the third land.
Game 3 I again managed a turn-3 gifts, but without the Seething Song already in hand decided to just go for some card advantage. I stick first a Timely Reinforcements, then a Slagstorm to wipe his board after he breaks through the tokens. A few turns later, I go off with a massive Empty the Warrens.
1-0
Round 2 vs. UB delver:
Game 1: I two-for-one him with a Firespout on turn 3 to kill a Dark Confidant and unflipped Delver, then Gifts on Turn 4 (off a Desperate Ritual). I wait a turn to get countermana up, then storm him out.
Game 2: Another turn 4 win, with basically the same sequence of plays. He went for the Empty the Warrens, since he knew I had remand for game one. Apparently, he actually did have a singleton Damnation in the deck (god knows why), and so he wasn’t COMPLETELY dead.
2-0
Round 3 vs. BUG delver (What is it with Delver of Secrets?)
Game 1: I get a lucky turn 4 Martial Coup after he taps out for a Sword of Feast and Famine. He doesn’t recover.
Game 2: He gets a Delver and plays draw-go for the rest of the game. I try to break through, but he had no less than 6 counters.
Game 3: He mulls to 5. You can’t mull to 5 against this deck. I’ve seen vintage decks that are worse at punishing mulligans than this deck. I Remand him twice, and soon after blow him out with an Empty the Warrens for 20 goblin tokens.
3-0
Round 4 vs. U/W Tron. Same player as last tourney.
Game 1: He gets a turn 4 Myr Battlesphere. I get a turn 4 Martial Coup. He recovers with an Academy Ruins, but he made a play error earlier (making a Hallowed Fountain etb untapped), so I manage to outrace him. A Magma Jet finishes the game for me.
Game 2: He gets a Chalice of the Void set to 2 down, but I sided in Unburial Rites and killed him with Iona.
4-0
TOP 8: The top 4 were 5 matches this time, but Quarterfinals was just 3.
Quarters: U/R Storm
Game 1: he starts with Serum Visions, and follows it with Pyromancer Ascension, which I Spell Snare. He doesn’t draw any more business for a few turns, and while he’s digging I start sculpting my hand. On turn 6, I go off, killing him with Grapeshot.
Game 2: I Merchant Scroll for Trickbind on turn 2 and he snap concedes. His build post-board had 0 outs to Trickbind, and 0 ways to win once I had it in my hand. I’m not sure what he was doing in the Quarters playing storm with no way to beat Trickbind, but whatever.
Semis: G/U...Something
Game 1: He starts with Search for Tomorrow, Sakura Tribe Elder, and Harrow. Huh. I start setting up the kill, as I have plenty of mana and no countermagic to stop whatever he’s ramping into, and turn 4 he plays: Rampant Growth, Early Harvest, Magus of the Future, Manamorphose (off the top), Serum Visions (taking a land off the top) and just starts cycling through his deck. Eventually he sets up a loop with Gaea’s Blessing and Early Harvest and hits me with a massive Blue Sun’s Zenith for the kill.
Game 2: This time, I come armed with Combusts. He gets a similar curve, taps 5 on turn 5 (right after I go off for 16 Empty the Warrens Tokens), and plays... TIME REVERSAL? This guy is something else. Anyways, he beats me through the Combusts, this time finishing with Manamorphose into Empty the Warrens for 24.
Game 3: This time, I have the Remand at the right time, and kill him fairly quickly.
Game 4: I go off on turn 4, finishing with a Grapeshot. If you’re wondering, it was pretty much the exact same line of play as M1G1, except that I didn’t have or need Merchant Scroll.
Game 5: This was a nail biter. I keep a hand with a pile of countermagic and no business, and fizzle him with a well-timed Gigadrowse into Combust. I draw a Past in Flames, but have no way to win with it. Eventually, he gets a Treetop Village and kills me with it. I have no way to deal with it.
Well, that was the end of that. My semis opponent went on to win the tournament, with the deck he calls “RMPT”, or “Real Men Play Time Reversal”.
Final Thoughts: Merchant Scroll was quite strong throughout the day. However, it significantly changed the deck’s strategy while the rest of the deck didn’t keep up. Look at how many turn-4 wins I got. The deck has gotten much faster and more aggressive with this new addition, but many of the cards were defensive in nature. This is the list I would play now:
Fundamentally, this deck can’t go off earlier than turn 4, and even then there’s a fundamental limit to how often it can to that. This puts a limit to how agressive we can be while building and playing the deck. That said, with Merchant Scroll, the deck has gone from turn 6-7 win on average to a turn 5 win on average. The deck is clearly viable, but has some hard-to-address flaws. I will, however, say that I’m hardly a pro-tour level player, have never even top-8ed a ptq, but with this deck I’ve beaten some fairly strong fields and gotten VERY good showings. This deck is definitely quite strong, and while I wouldn’t recommend playing it at a ptq, I wouldn’t be ashamed to play it at one myself.
Please wait two days between doubleposts, thanks!
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Blue, and to a lesser extent White, versions of Affinity can be very trying to this deck, as can Blue Zoo or manycolored Delver. Basically, I've had a problem where people can recover from an Iona.
Elesh Norn both still gets you a 3- or 4-for-one when it gets taken out, and you can hardcast it if it's in your opener, which means it's never a dead card. That said, I'm no longer sure it's the right card for the job.
Perhaps it's time to bring in The Cavalry...
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I've found that you never want to spend a ritual on Earthquake, which makes it flat-out inferior to Timely. I mean, imagine a Gifts pile like: Timely Reinforcements, Seething Song, Martial Coup, Past in Flames on turn 3 off of a Desperate Ritual. Your aggro opponent will never recover. Switch out the Timely for Earthquake, and suddenly you're within burn range after you wipe their board, and you've probably used your Seething Song. It's also much worse in a not-quite-lethal Past in Flames turn (usually, that's what happens in the late game if you cast a Defensive Gifts, where you don't have the means for a kill, but something like a few Rituals, Slagstorm, and Timrely in your grave, and you set yourself so far ahead in Card Advantage they can never REALLY recover, but you haven't killed them). Jin-Gitaxias seems almost obvious, and I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier. Trust me, no other deck in Modern can better take advantage of drawing 7 cards. It feels so unfair, when you pass the turn with 2 mana up, a hand full of countermagic, a Past in Flames, some rituals, and an absolutely STACKED graveyard. Also, Wipe Away deserved a slot in the main.
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jin seems like a catch all, as unburial doesn't really let us win right there and then. So between him, iona, and cenobite, I guess you could say quite a few bases are covered. Let us know what your testing with him yields. And I take it wipeaway is a meta decision?
It's there because otherwise, this deck has a lot of trouble with the hate that people bring in, things like Rule of Law, Ethersworn Canonist, etc. I'd much rather play Chain of Vapor, but such is life.
Oh, and a shout out to wizards: If you ever reprint Brain Freeze, this deck WILL be banworthy. Personal Guarantee.
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ah, so it DOES address 1 of the quasi-issues of the deck: running out of steam. And the other bonus is that EoT gifts, untap -> unburial lets you "dig" for an answer to rule of law type hate. Huh. Smaller package than running 4 different bounce spells MD i guess =) Path an issue though? Granted they'll be in top deck mode, but if they have it there and then, I don't think you can really spell pierce your way of it if they are slow rolling against you.
What are the hate cards that have caused you grief outside of rule of law/cannonist?
Well, you don't want to just run out out as a hail-mary. It's in some ways like Past in Flames, you want to first develop your position so you get it to last until your end step. Once that happens, winning is perfunctory.
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I've already replaced Vapor Snag with Repeal, but I haven't published that list. Engineered Explosives is a dangerous trap for this deck, and I will explain why in a primer I'm working on right now.
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I'm really surprised at not seeing more heads in here, to be honest. The deck seems a lot more capable than it looks on paper after playing a few games with it. Albeit, difficult to use and very dependent on reading your opponent, but versatile enough to stand against quite a few decks.
And what trap would EE represent? The only thing I can think of is that if you play it, while also running gifts, it make me think of academy ruins. But that's completely getting away from the heart of the deck and seems like it'd end up being too clunky for the current configuration.
Well, yes, but there's another thing.
Basically, this deck can't always just win when it sticks a Past in Flames. In my experience, about a quarter of the time it will use the first Past in Flames to generate massive card advantage, often wiping the board and gaining a pile of life, and recasting the Gifts Ungiven to set up a SECOND Past in Flames, which actually kills the opponent. In these situations, it's critical that all the answers you cast earlier in the game were reasonably costed instants and sorceries, to allow for Past in Flames recursion. That's why I didn't like Earthquake: you had to dedicate to many rituals to casting and recasting it, making a storm kill too difficult. I haven't tested EE, but I think that the potential for recasting other mass removal spells makes it not the right fit. That's also why I haven't included cards like Lotus Bloom. Though there's no real way to take advantage of it in this format, this deck is basically required to play almost exclusively instants and sorceries (incidentally, if you really want to beat this deck, I'd start by fiddling around with Muddle the Mixture.)
I agree. The deck is extremely strong. I mean, obviously it's not tier-1 or even close, but that doesn't change the fact that out of a combination of surprise, a very strong strategy and a lot of practice my teammates have tried and failed to beat it.
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Who cares if EE is recursive? It's another really efficient sweeper. Either your opponent gives you the EE, or he gives you some other dangerous card. You need to test this card.
Perhaps I'm not seeing the forest for the trees here. I'll test it in my next gauntlet run.
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A very deceptively strong card you should test is Increasing Vengeance. It's strong in fighting stack wars, and it's bonkers when you're going off. There seems to be a problem with continuing a combo turn after the first PiF turn, since it usually ends in relying on Warrens or resetting the board and resolving a second Gifts for a later, more complete combo turn. Increasing Vengeance does a few things to ail this.
For starters, it's going to copy a ritual before the PiF if you have it in your hand, or it's going to copy something in response to a counter spell, so it's good at leading up to the PiF. It's just very relevant against decks which interact with you on the stack, and uncontested power against decks which cannot interact with you on the stack.
After you stick a Yawg Will, it has flashback for RR, and will double-copy something at that low rate. This means generating +8 red mana off a Seething Song copy or generating +2 mana and +2 cards off a Manamorphose, or *gasp* double-Forking a Gifts Ungiven.
So, instead of focusing so much on playing defense with Gifts #1, you could be stacking piles like:
PiF
Increasing Vengeance
Seething Song
Desperate Ritual/Manamorphose
Which, combined with a maybe a couple of useful cards in your hand, will likely kill your opponent outright on the very next turn.
It's also relevant that you can fight through a Relic or Tormod's Crypt by casting Past in Flames on your combo turn, then Forking your PiF in response to their artifact's activation. Your rituals are all instants, anyways, and so is Gifts Ungiven. You could theoretically go off almost entirely at instant speed by flashing back Gifts, finding more Forks, and ending the Gifts chain by putting a Quicken and a Grapeshot into the pile. You Fork PiF one last time (or let one of the double copies resolve one last time), and then Quicken-->Grapeshot from the graveyard for lethal. Pretty sweet, huh? That's Solidarity status, right there.
May have a little surprise for you. Old Vintage Player just quit, donated 2 pieces of power to the store, a beta Mox Jet and an unlimited Time Walk. The Mox Jet already got sold, but there's talk of a Time Walk finding its way into a prize pile next time there's a big enough turnout at a tournament. There's a Modern Tournament tomorrow, and that Time Walk is going to be the first prize if over 100 players show up. I'm going to post a tournament report with current lists.
There's something to your suggestion. I may try it as a singleton. Snapcaster Mage was underperforming anyways.
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Dropped in finals in maybe the closest match I've ever played (against, believe it or not, the mirror match). I'll post a tournament report when I have time, which may be a while.
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So I thought maybe we could replace a 2 filter lands with 2x reflecting pool. Whatcha think? There's always a danger you could draw both pools and no other lands in your opening grip, but it's not all that likely. Perhaps just 1 atleast to take the edge off the filter numbers?
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Speaking of mana, I'm starting to question how much White contributes to the eck. The only white spells in the list are Martial Coup and Unburial Rites, both of which it can potentially do without. Might a straight U/R build be effective?
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I might get rid of the RW filter lands altogether still, but keep the 2 Wx shocklands just for unburial rites. In fact, that actually works out perfectly, since you'd just replace those filters with reflecting pools, and keep the UR filters at 4of. Voila, stable manabase, and you'll still be able to cast unburial rites. Of course, still need to replace coup and rest...
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Merchant Scroll in Modern:
Before I start, the list:
1 Island
2 Arid Mesa
4 Cascade Bluffs
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Reflecting Pool
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Steam Vents
4 Desperate Ritual
3 Pyretic Ritual
3 Seething Song
4 Manamorphose
4 Merchant Scroll
3 Gifts Ungiven
2 Past in Flames
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Earthquake
1 Firespout
1 Slagstorm
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Magma Jet
1 Gigadrowse
3 Remand
3 Spell Pierce
2 Spell Snare
1 Martial Coup
1 Grapeshot
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Unburial Rites
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
3 Combust
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 Remand
2 Shattering Spree
1 Trickbind
3 Vendilion Clique
1 Wipe Away
I changed around some cards that were underperforming (for instance, I nearly always wanted Timely Reinforcements over Rest for the Weary), and added in a few cards to grab with Merchant Scroll. Yes, the list is 61 cards. I have no idea what to cut.
Round 1 vs. Boros:
Game 1 I went land, land Merchant Scroll for Gifts, land into Pyretic Ritual for Gifts Ungiven (getting Seething Song, Desperate Ritual, Pyretic Ritual, Past in Flames), turn 4 Seething Song, Pyretic Ritual, Manamorphose finding land, land, Past in Flames, Pyretic Ritual, Pyretic Ritual, Desperate Ritual, Seething Song, Seething Song, Manamorphose, Gifts for Empty the Warrens, Grapeshot, Snapcaster Mage, Seething Song, he gives me Seething Song and Grapeshot, I Seething Song, Merchant Scroll for Remand, Grapeshot, Remand the original Grapeshot, cast it again for 30 damage, bringing him well into the negatives. Whoa.
Game 2 I kept a 2 lander with double Seething Song, Past in Flames, and Empty the Warrens, and never draw the third land.
Game 3 I again managed a turn-3 gifts, but without the Seething Song already in hand decided to just go for some card advantage. I stick first a Timely Reinforcements, then a Slagstorm to wipe his board after he breaks through the tokens. A few turns later, I go off with a massive Empty the Warrens.
1-0
Round 2 vs. UB delver:
Game 1: I two-for-one him with a Firespout on turn 3 to kill a Dark Confidant and unflipped Delver, then Gifts on Turn 4 (off a Desperate Ritual). I wait a turn to get countermana up, then storm him out.
Game 2: Another turn 4 win, with basically the same sequence of plays. He went for the Empty the Warrens, since he knew I had remand for game one. Apparently, he actually did have a singleton Damnation in the deck (god knows why), and so he wasn’t COMPLETELY dead.
2-0
Round 3 vs. BUG delver (What is it with Delver of Secrets?)
Game 1: I get a lucky turn 4 Martial Coup after he taps out for a Sword of Feast and Famine. He doesn’t recover.
Game 2: He gets a Delver and plays draw-go for the rest of the game. I try to break through, but he had no less than 6 counters.
Game 3: He mulls to 5. You can’t mull to 5 against this deck. I’ve seen vintage decks that are worse at punishing mulligans than this deck. I Remand him twice, and soon after blow him out with an Empty the Warrens for 20 goblin tokens.
3-0
Round 4 vs. U/W Tron. Same player as last tourney.
Game 1: He gets a turn 4 Myr Battlesphere. I get a turn 4 Martial Coup. He recovers with an Academy Ruins, but he made a play error earlier (making a Hallowed Fountain etb untapped), so I manage to outrace him. A Magma Jet finishes the game for me.
Game 2: He gets a Chalice of the Void set to 2 down, but I sided in Unburial Rites and killed him with Iona.
4-0
TOP 8: The top 4 were 5 matches this time, but Quarterfinals was just 3.
Quarters: U/R Storm
Game 1: he starts with Serum Visions, and follows it with Pyromancer Ascension, which I Spell Snare. He doesn’t draw any more business for a few turns, and while he’s digging I start sculpting my hand. On turn 6, I go off, killing him with Grapeshot.
Game 2: I Merchant Scroll for Trickbind on turn 2 and he snap concedes. His build post-board had 0 outs to Trickbind, and 0 ways to win once I had it in my hand. I’m not sure what he was doing in the Quarters playing storm with no way to beat Trickbind, but whatever.
Semis: G/U...Something
Game 1: He starts with Search for Tomorrow, Sakura Tribe Elder, and Harrow. Huh. I start setting up the kill, as I have plenty of mana and no countermagic to stop whatever he’s ramping into, and turn 4 he plays: Rampant Growth, Early Harvest, Magus of the Future, Manamorphose (off the top), Serum Visions (taking a land off the top) and just starts cycling through his deck. Eventually he sets up a loop with Gaea’s Blessing and Early Harvest and hits me with a massive Blue Sun’s Zenith for the kill.
Game 2: This time, I come armed with Combusts. He gets a similar curve, taps 5 on turn 5 (right after I go off for 16 Empty the Warrens Tokens), and plays... TIME REVERSAL? This guy is something else. Anyways, he beats me through the Combusts, this time finishing with Manamorphose into Empty the Warrens for 24.
Game 3: This time, I have the Remand at the right time, and kill him fairly quickly.
Game 4: I go off on turn 4, finishing with a Grapeshot. If you’re wondering, it was pretty much the exact same line of play as M1G1, except that I didn’t have or need Merchant Scroll.
Game 5: This was a nail biter. I keep a hand with a pile of countermagic and no business, and fizzle him with a well-timed Gigadrowse into Combust. I draw a Past in Flames, but have no way to win with it. Eventually, he gets a Treetop Village and kills me with it. I have no way to deal with it.
Well, that was the end of that. My semis opponent went on to win the tournament, with the deck he calls “RMPT”, or “Real Men Play Time Reversal”.
Final Thoughts: Merchant Scroll was quite strong throughout the day. However, it significantly changed the deck’s strategy while the rest of the deck didn’t keep up. Look at how many turn-4 wins I got. The deck has gotten much faster and more aggressive with this new addition, but many of the cards were defensive in nature. This is the list I would play now:
1 Island
2 Arid Mesa
4 Cascade Bluffs
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Reflecting Pool
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Steam Vents
4 Desperate Ritual
3 Pyretic Ritual
4 Seething Song
4 Manamorphose
4 Merchant Scroll
3 Gifts Ungiven
2 Past in Flames
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Earthquake
1 Firespout
1 Slagstorm
1 Vapor Snag
1 Gigadrowse
2 Remand
3 Spell Pierce
3 Spell Snare
1 Martial Coup
1 Grapeshot
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Unburial Rites
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
3 Combust
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
2 Remand
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Trickbind
3 Vendilion Clique
1 Wipe Away
Fundamentally, this deck can’t go off earlier than turn 4, and even then there’s a fundamental limit to how often it can to that. This puts a limit to how agressive we can be while building and playing the deck. That said, with Merchant Scroll, the deck has gone from turn 6-7 win on average to a turn 5 win on average. The deck is clearly viable, but has some hard-to-address flaws. I will, however, say that I’m hardly a pro-tour level player, have never even top-8ed a ptq, but with this deck I’ve beaten some fairly strong fields and gotten VERY good showings. This deck is definitely quite strong, and while I wouldn’t recommend playing it at a ptq, I wouldn’t be ashamed to play it at one myself.
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Kors
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
Also, TIME REVERSAL!!!! Mad props to that guy.
Wicked showing, karona. The pile is starting to look a lot more streamlined, too. Iona still seems pretty tech, all things considered =P
Was there ever a time you wanted elesh? It didn't seem like it, what did you see at the tournament that might have warranted him?
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Elesh Norn both still gets you a 3- or 4-for-one when it gets taken out, and you can hardcast it if it's in your opener, which means it's never a dead card. That said, I'm no longer sure it's the right card for the job.
Perhaps it's time to bring in The Cavalry...
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
1 Island
2 Arid Mesa
4 Cascade Bluffs
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Reflecting Pool
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Steam Vents
4 Desperate Ritual
3 Pyretic Ritual
4 Seething Song
4 Manamorphose
4 Merchant Scroll
3 Gifts Ungiven
2 Past in Flames
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Firespout
1 Slagstorm
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Vapor Snag
1 Wipe Away
2 Remand
3 Spell Pierce
3 Spell Snare
1 Martial Coup
1 Grapeshot
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Unburial Rites
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
3 Combust
1 Gigadrowse
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
2 Remand
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Trickbind
3 Vendilion Clique
I've found that you never want to spend a ritual on Earthquake, which makes it flat-out inferior to Timely. I mean, imagine a Gifts pile like: Timely Reinforcements, Seething Song, Martial Coup, Past in Flames on turn 3 off of a Desperate Ritual. Your aggro opponent will never recover. Switch out the Timely for Earthquake, and suddenly you're within burn range after you wipe their board, and you've probably used your Seething Song. It's also much worse in a not-quite-lethal Past in Flames turn (usually, that's what happens in the late game if you cast a Defensive Gifts, where you don't have the means for a kill, but something like a few Rituals, Slagstorm, and Timrely in your grave, and you set yourself so far ahead in Card Advantage they can never REALLY recover, but you haven't killed them). Jin-Gitaxias seems almost obvious, and I can't believe I didn't think of it earlier. Trust me, no other deck in Modern can better take advantage of drawing 7 cards. It feels so unfair, when you pass the turn with 2 mana up, a hand full of countermagic, a Past in Flames, some rituals, and an absolutely STACKED graveyard. Also, Wipe Away deserved a slot in the main.
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
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Oh, and a shout out to wizards: If you ever reprint Brain Freeze, this deck WILL be banworthy. Personal Guarantee.
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
What are the hate cards that have caused you grief outside of rule of law/cannonist?
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You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
Have you considered Silence?
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
And what trap would EE represent? The only thing I can think of is that if you play it, while also running gifts, it make me think of academy ruins. But that's completely getting away from the heart of the deck and seems like it'd end up being too clunky for the current configuration.
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Basically, this deck can't always just win when it sticks a Past in Flames. In my experience, about a quarter of the time it will use the first Past in Flames to generate massive card advantage, often wiping the board and gaining a pile of life, and recasting the Gifts Ungiven to set up a SECOND Past in Flames, which actually kills the opponent. In these situations, it's critical that all the answers you cast earlier in the game were reasonably costed instants and sorceries, to allow for Past in Flames recursion. That's why I didn't like Earthquake: you had to dedicate to many rituals to casting and recasting it, making a storm kill too difficult. I haven't tested EE, but I think that the potential for recasting other mass removal spells makes it not the right fit. That's also why I haven't included cards like Lotus Bloom. Though there's no real way to take advantage of it in this format, this deck is basically required to play almost exclusively instants and sorceries (incidentally, if you really want to beat this deck, I'd start by fiddling around with Muddle the Mixture.)
I agree. The deck is extremely strong. I mean, obviously it's not tier-1 or even close, but that doesn't change the fact that out of a combination of surprise, a very strong strategy and a lot of practice my teammates have tried and failed to beat it.
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
A very deceptively strong card you should test is Increasing Vengeance. It's strong in fighting stack wars, and it's bonkers when you're going off. There seems to be a problem with continuing a combo turn after the first PiF turn, since it usually ends in relying on Warrens or resetting the board and resolving a second Gifts for a later, more complete combo turn. Increasing Vengeance does a few things to ail this.
For starters, it's going to copy a ritual before the PiF if you have it in your hand, or it's going to copy something in response to a counter spell, so it's good at leading up to the PiF. It's just very relevant against decks which interact with you on the stack, and uncontested power against decks which cannot interact with you on the stack.
After you stick a Yawg Will, it has flashback for RR, and will double-copy something at that low rate. This means generating +8 red mana off a Seething Song copy or generating +2 mana and +2 cards off a Manamorphose, or *gasp* double-Forking a Gifts Ungiven.
So, instead of focusing so much on playing defense with Gifts #1, you could be stacking piles like:
PiF
Increasing Vengeance
Seething Song
Desperate Ritual/Manamorphose
Which, combined with a maybe a couple of useful cards in your hand, will likely kill your opponent outright on the very next turn.
It's also relevant that you can fight through a Relic or Tormod's Crypt by casting Past in Flames on your combo turn, then Forking your PiF in response to their artifact's activation. Your rituals are all instants, anyways, and so is Gifts Ungiven. You could theoretically go off almost entirely at instant speed by flashing back Gifts, finding more Forks, and ending the Gifts chain by putting a Quicken and a Grapeshot into the pile. You Fork PiF one last time (or let one of the double copies resolve one last time), and then Quicken-->Grapeshot from the graveyard for lethal. Pretty sweet, huh? That's Solidarity status, right there.
There's something to your suggestion. I may try it as a singleton. Snapcaster Mage was underperforming anyways.
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
And is quicken something you've tested, or is this some arm-chair magic, INS?
I admit, I've always wanted to find a viable way to abuse quicken (for as long as it has existed), so I'm curious.
would we need any more than 2 IV ya think? That seems like the right number, to me.
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You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.