Experimenting around and need advice with the lands. I already run a non-Athreos version that can get kills as early as turn 4 via Blood Artist triggers but I am just not satisfied on the Gavony Township / Shocks / Fetches / Buddy Lands distribution and in the back of my mind I'm wondering if I should just straight up run the Fast lands since the deck is very quick. I would also like to introduce my modern update of Junk Aristocrats from standard which was a big player during inni/rtr (well the end of it). The deck is highly synergistic and fairly resilient to removal. It would take many paragraphs to go over all the interactions and synergies this deck has but I don't feel like typing it out. I would rather release it to the wild and see if someone can make improvements upon it.
From my current testing at the local fnm this deck outraces affinity and the quick version of zoo (non-Athreos version). Like I stated earlier turn 4 happens sometimes and turns 5-7 is more likely. Anyways below is the version of the deck with Athreos. I'm going to spare you the pre-Athreos version of the deck since it included many updates and tunings with cards like goyf, lili and bob which do not synergize with the decks plan that much but can be added in your own testing for value (also liingering souls, forgot that one) but Athreos, I believe, was made for this deck.
29 CREATURES
4 Doomed Traveler / Birds of Paradise (have tried both and both are good here, BoP helps gavony activations while no one wants to block doomed traveler and he resets finks for W, also traveler get A LOT better with Athreos in the deck imo but I'm going to list them both here)
4 Blood Artist
4 Cartel Aristocrat
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben (only card that doesn't synergize with the deck's plan aside from the deck containing almost 30 creatures =P, thalia is here to help game 1 against control/combo until she gets reinforcements from SB)
4 Voice of Resurgence
4 Kitchen Finks
3 Varolz, the Scar-Stripped
3 Athreos
3 INSTANTS
3 Abrupt Decay
4 ENCHANTMENTS
4 Bitterblossom (makes the deck go nuts by providing endless sac fodder, you can substitute lingering souls here for $ reasons or you're not comfortable killing yourself)
24 LANDS
2 of which are gavony townships but can be changed to your liking
Cards that have been tested in the deck but just didn't make the cut in its current configuration:
Liliana - fantastic card in almost all matches but turn 2 this deck wants bitterblossom online or VoR on the battlefield, if you decide to run Bloodghast and lingering souls in the deck though, this card gets much better
Bob - you can honestly switch out thalia depending on your meta as most of the deck is 2 cmc and Bob will provide more cards for you to play
Goyf - really doesn't belong in this shell I believe
Bloodghast - almost perfect card for this deck except for whats on the upper right hand corner of the card. BB is difficult to assemble sometimes but if you ran BoP and slowed the deck down a little with lingering souls and liliana, bloodghast should be considered as you can happily sac him and/or discard him with lili
Chord of Calling - another fantastic card for the deck and I have had times where I cast this in response to verdict to fetch up Blood Artist and just drain for 7-13 life and win on the spot. The problem with the card in this shell is this deck for the most part isn't going to be holding back and you typically wont get enough lands to cast it reliably. I would recommend for the SB against other grindy decks so you can fetch up blood artist or a sac outlet for a pseudo combo kill.
Death's Shadow - unreliable and dead card without Varolz
So that's the deck. Tell me what you think and I would love feedback on lands to run as I don't normally play 3 color aggro decks in modern.
This deck can get very aggressive starts with the zombies, but it mainly relies on blood artist as the win-con. Teysa allows everything to be saced twice, and gravecrawler is a recursive creature to sac (diregraf ghoul and sculler are both zombies). This is a semi-aggressive deck, with some disruption, that can grind out wins.
I don't like bitterblossom in the main, while it does provide immense value here (especially with teysa), it is very slow and can end up being more of a burden than a source of CA. It is however great against control, g/b/x, and other grindy matchups.
I really don't see how your list can outrace affinity, this is a pretty slow deck. Sure you can sometimes get turn 4 wins, but they can sometimes get turn 3 wins, and they do nasty things like suit up a vault skirge with a cranial plating. So I have 3 stony silence for this matchup as well as against tron.
I really don't like varolz in your deck, it should be viscera seer if you just want the additional sac outlets.
I don't know how good athreos is yet, since he hasn't been released online yet, but I think he fits perfectly in here as either a CA engine or blood artist 5 and 6.
If MTG is a part of your life, the formats are like relationships:
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
Bitterblossom and Blood Artist make the affinity match much easier. BB just shuts off the air assault and Blood Artist makes Arcbound very risky for them in the matchup while allowing trades to be favorable for us. I mean they can trade their cranial plated skirge with my BB token any day and if you're really concerned about the lifelink just block and sac before dmg. This is the matchup I've faced the most and it usually turns into super grindy matchups as affinities haymaker draws aren't the least bit consistent. Honestly aggro decks have been the easiest matchups for the deck so far as the deck is very good at being defensive while affinity/zoo just aren't suited to blocking. Most of the creatures in the deck provide value when they die when Blood Artist isn't even present. I actually removed stony silence from my sideboard because I just found I didn't need it and just ran lingering souls to insure I have flyers to hold the early game down and for other heavy discard decks.
The deck hasn't been slow for me at all. Typically have 3-6 creatures on the board turn 5 and if I happen to have Blood Artist with sac outlet or Chord of Calling (when I ran it) to fetch up artist/sac outlet and sac your board for the final points of dmg(Doomed Traveler, VoR, Finks can be sac'ed twice). The only times the deck hasn't been fast for me is against affinity and zoo where the early turns I can't afford to attack until I can build up the board a bit as they have more reach in their decks with burns and pumps. So yeah, maybe 'race' is the wrong choice to use as I don't turn everything sideways like they do but force the game into a grind and leverage my creatures ability to easily flip from being defensive to going on the offense which they cannot.
I don't want more sac outlets for the deck and I don't want viscera seer b/c he's just not a threat on his own. In its current configuration I have 7 sac outlets and haven't had much trouble drawing one by the time it matters. I didn't want the deck to be dependent on winning via Blood Artist and that's why I don't run Seer. As for Varolz, he has been fantastic so far. He's difficult as hell to remove, he can remove the -1/-1 counters on finks, he gets value out of the gy when you have nothing else to do with your mana for a turn and he allows the deck to transition very nicely into the mid game if you are running into a lot of counterspells or need him or cartel to start trading favorably with bigger creatures.
Bitterblossom can be slow sometimes and occasionally I'll use the flyers to grind out games but it's usually better suited from my experience for just sac'ing to cartel and varolz so you don't need to lose board position to give varolz regen or cartel pro-something for a turn. Imagine Varolz said 'pay 1 life to give Varolz regen'. That's how BB is usually utilized. And when I don't have to sac I get to swing with the flyers.
Anyways, I'd like to hear your reasoning on certain cards as I believe that shells like mine and yours have a lot of promise by preying on the fact that modern is heavily reliant on removal and decks like these basically flip that on its head by just getting value out of sac'ing our creatures ourselves.
Ive been doing some testin with my own list. It's very similar to yours, but I run a single Deaths Shadow. It's amazing with Athreos out, and gives you an alternate win con wwith Varolz if he's in the graveyard.
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Been testing various cards for a Junk GWB token/Aristocrat deck. Just thought I would list some cards I am running through. Abzan Ascendancy is the key spark here since it acts as both a quasi-Anthem/quasi-Teysa that can also work well in multiples. I think a focus on tokens and cheap creature recurssion in force is the way to go and to test. (Immortal Servitude , Return to the Ranks, Ranger of Eos ,Proclamation of Rebirth.)
From my current testing at the local fnm this deck outraces affinity and the quick version of zoo (non-Athreos version). Like I stated earlier turn 4 happens sometimes and turns 5-7 is more likely. Anyways below is the version of the deck with Athreos. I'm going to spare you the pre-Athreos version of the deck since it included many updates and tunings with cards like goyf, lili and bob which do not synergize with the decks plan that much but can be added in your own testing for value (also liingering souls, forgot that one) but Athreos, I believe, was made for this deck.
29 CREATURES
4 Doomed Traveler / Birds of Paradise (have tried both and both are good here, BoP helps gavony activations while no one wants to block doomed traveler and he resets finks for W, also traveler get A LOT better with Athreos in the deck imo but I'm going to list them both here)
4 Blood Artist
4 Cartel Aristocrat
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben (only card that doesn't synergize with the deck's plan aside from the deck containing almost 30 creatures =P, thalia is here to help game 1 against control/combo until she gets reinforcements from SB)
4 Voice of Resurgence
4 Kitchen Finks
3 Varolz, the Scar-Stripped
3 Athreos
3 INSTANTS
3 Abrupt Decay
4 ENCHANTMENTS
4 Bitterblossom (makes the deck go nuts by providing endless sac fodder, you can substitute lingering souls here for $ reasons or you're not comfortable killing yourself)
24 LANDS
2 of which are gavony townships but can be changed to your liking
Cards that have been tested in the deck but just didn't make the cut in its current configuration:
Liliana - fantastic card in almost all matches but turn 2 this deck wants bitterblossom online or VoR on the battlefield, if you decide to run Bloodghast and lingering souls in the deck though, this card gets much better
Bob - you can honestly switch out thalia depending on your meta as most of the deck is 2 cmc and Bob will provide more cards for you to play
Goyf - really doesn't belong in this shell I believe
Bloodghast - almost perfect card for this deck except for whats on the upper right hand corner of the card. BB is difficult to assemble sometimes but if you ran BoP and slowed the deck down a little with lingering souls and liliana, bloodghast should be considered as you can happily sac him and/or discard him with lili
Chord of Calling - another fantastic card for the deck and I have had times where I cast this in response to verdict to fetch up Blood Artist and just drain for 7-13 life and win on the spot. The problem with the card in this shell is this deck for the most part isn't going to be holding back and you typically wont get enough lands to cast it reliably. I would recommend for the SB against other grindy decks so you can fetch up blood artist or a sac outlet for a pseudo combo kill.
Death's Shadow - unreliable and dead card without Varolz
So that's the deck. Tell me what you think and I would love feedback on lands to run as I don't normally play 3 color aggro decks in modern.
Here's where I'm at:
4 Godless Shrine
2 Isolated Chapel
4 Marsh Flats
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Plains
3 Swamp
1 Vault of the Archangel
Creatures: 33
4 Diregraf Ghoul
4 Gravecrawler
4 Viscera Seer
4 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Blood Artist
4 Cartel Aristocrat
4 Dark Confidant
3 Teysa, Orzhov Scion
2 Athreos, God of Passage
3 Thoughtseize
4 Path to Exile
2 Disenchant
3 Stony Silence
4 Leyline of the Void
4 Fulminator Mage
2 Bitterblossom
This deck can get very aggressive starts with the zombies, but it mainly relies on blood artist as the win-con. Teysa allows everything to be saced twice, and gravecrawler is a recursive creature to sac (diregraf ghoul and sculler are both zombies). This is a semi-aggressive deck, with some disruption, that can grind out wins.
I don't like bitterblossom in the main, while it does provide immense value here (especially with teysa), it is very slow and can end up being more of a burden than a source of CA. It is however great against control, g/b/x, and other grindy matchups.
I really don't see how your list can outrace affinity, this is a pretty slow deck. Sure you can sometimes get turn 4 wins, but they can sometimes get turn 3 wins, and they do nasty things like suit up a vault skirge with a cranial plating. So I have 3 stony silence for this matchup as well as against tron.
I really don't like varolz in your deck, it should be viscera seer if you just want the additional sac outlets.
I don't know how good athreos is yet, since he hasn't been released online yet, but I think he fits perfectly in here as either a CA engine or blood artist 5 and 6.
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
The deck hasn't been slow for me at all. Typically have 3-6 creatures on the board turn 5 and if I happen to have Blood Artist with sac outlet or Chord of Calling (when I ran it) to fetch up artist/sac outlet and sac your board for the final points of dmg(Doomed Traveler, VoR, Finks can be sac'ed twice). The only times the deck hasn't been fast for me is against affinity and zoo where the early turns I can't afford to attack until I can build up the board a bit as they have more reach in their decks with burns and pumps. So yeah, maybe 'race' is the wrong choice to use as I don't turn everything sideways like they do but force the game into a grind and leverage my creatures ability to easily flip from being defensive to going on the offense which they cannot.
I don't want more sac outlets for the deck and I don't want viscera seer b/c he's just not a threat on his own. In its current configuration I have 7 sac outlets and haven't had much trouble drawing one by the time it matters. I didn't want the deck to be dependent on winning via Blood Artist and that's why I don't run Seer. As for Varolz, he has been fantastic so far. He's difficult as hell to remove, he can remove the -1/-1 counters on finks, he gets value out of the gy when you have nothing else to do with your mana for a turn and he allows the deck to transition very nicely into the mid game if you are running into a lot of counterspells or need him or cartel to start trading favorably with bigger creatures.
Bitterblossom can be slow sometimes and occasionally I'll use the flyers to grind out games but it's usually better suited from my experience for just sac'ing to cartel and varolz so you don't need to lose board position to give varolz regen or cartel pro-something for a turn. Imagine Varolz said 'pay 1 life to give Varolz regen'. That's how BB is usually utilized. And when I don't have to sac I get to swing with the flyers.
Anyways, I'd like to hear your reasoning on certain cards as I believe that shells like mine and yours have a lot of promise by preying on the fact that modern is heavily reliant on removal and decks like these basically flip that on its head by just getting value out of sac'ing our creatures ourselves.
i discovered a Combo which is playable with your lists.
I opened a new thread: http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/modern-deck-creation/557359-athreos-blood-artist-and-viscera-seer-combo
The only thing that have to be changed is the inclusion of Ornithopter
Green @ it's best
Wouldn't they just pay 3 life and stop the "combo"?
Also, I want this thread to continue! I loved that deck, and have a feeling it's not missing that much to be competitive.
JundBGR
RW Blood MoonRW
Pauper
Delver U
Elves G
Control B
Commander
Edgar Markov BRW
Captain Sisay GW
Niv-Mizzet, Parun UR
Tymna and Ravos WB
thats why he's using a zero cost creature such as ornithopter; recast it for free, sac it again
if you're working with 24 lands, based on what I can see: