I've run into some that drop vial and others that don't drop vial. I think you bring drev in anyway because they probably aren't dropping spreading seas. I can understand keeping eidolon if you think they get rid of vial, though.
@rothgar: I think your assessment on Affinity is wrong, because hoping for their hand vomit to be T2 or T3 implies they probably kept a very weak hand. Eidolon is the first card I side out vs affinity even on the play in game 2.
Against Tron, it only has value on the play because you can get a few shocks in off of Maps/Scrying/Stirrings etc, but after that point the effect is one sided. I drop Eidolon here as well. I can see keeping it against Bant Eldrazi, but I'd probably side it out there as well.
I also tend to drop it vs Fish because Vial doesn't care about it, so it's left as a blocker and one sided effect.
I agree with most of your other assessments, and I think siding it out in 4-ish matchups of 12+ is definitely not a reason to drop the card entirely.
@lurplez: You should leave it in against Junk and Jund because nearly everything they play is 3cmc or less.
Actually, I leave it in against Fish because many pilots board out the vials in game 2. One of the rationales I heard was that they are expecting us to board in artifact hate, so they board the artifacts out hoping to blank those cards. Perhaps the Fish pilots I've spoken to are simply bad.
I would say they are. You never, ever drop Vials against Burn as Merfolk. That's a terrible idea. It's acceleration which helps the Merfolk deck keep pace with Burn in the first 4 turns, and that ensures that you can drop a Master of Waves to turn the corner at a healthy life total. Furthermore, Naya Burn's artifact removal will never be totally blanked, because Spreading Seas will still be in the deck. It's just bad strategy on the part of the Merfolk player. Don't base your decisions on your opponents being bad.
Hey, looking for some input with my burn deck. My new LGS is looking to sponsor 4 people for GP Vegas. Would like some insight so I can get there. Currently in the lead after 2 weeks of qualifying events.
Fish (extra Seas, Chalice)
GW Taxes
U Tron (Chalice)
Jeskai Nahiri
Aggro Pox / R Burn
Infect / Affinity / Naya Burn
B Devotion / Naya Burn
Jeskai Ascendancy
Faeries / Grishoalbrand
RG Tron (Baloth)
Gen Wave (Leyline, Finks) / Jeskai Ascendancy / Bushwhacker Zoo
Abzan Coco
Affinity
Jund
Lantern
Bogles / Naya Burn
Bogles
Dredge
Pretty open field, I guess. Palm looks good against Infect and Bogles (2-3/19), maybe 1 against Jeskai Nahiri. Blood, Lavamancer, and Helix look good against Fish, Taxes, Aggro Pox, Burn, Faeries, Bushwhacker Zoo, Coco, Affinity, Infect (6-10/19). Path looks good against all of the above + Trons, Dredge, and Jund (10-14/19). Skullcrack looks good against Fish (to shave a color for Seas and Master), Trons, Jeskai Nahiri, Burn, Jund, and Bogles (7-9/19), and Revelry looks good against Trons, Fish?, Leyline decks, and Lantern? (4-5/19).
How do you think the deck should be adjusted to attack this meta?
I'm thinking that Palm looks weak, so I should cut to 1-2 copies. Path looks very good, so maybe 3-4 copies. Skullcrack and all of the anti-aggro cards are good at 1-3 copies probably. Revelry likely needs to get shaved to 2-3. I'm not sure if I need GY hate for this meta. Grishoalbrand might have been sold, so really have 1 Dredge and splash hate against Jund. Maybe I can justify 1 RIP for both, or ignore the GY against Jund and run 1 Trap?
Hey, looking for some input with my burn deck. My new LGS is looking to sponsor 4 people for GP Vegas. Would like some insight so I can get there. Currently in the lead after 2 weeks of qualifying events.
I'm thinking that Palm looks weak, so I should cut to 1-2 copies. Path looks very good, so maybe 3-4 copies. Skullcrack and all of the anti-aggro cards are good at 1-3 copies probably. Revelry likely needs to get shaved to 2-3. I'm not sure if I need GY hate for this meta. Grishoalbrand might have been sold, so really have 1 Dredge and splash hate against Jund. Maybe I can justify 1 RIP for both, or ignore the GY against Jund and run 1 Trap?
Hey, looking for some input with my burn deck. My new LGS is looking to sponsor 4 people for GP Vegas. Would like some insight so I can get there. Currently in the lead after 2 weeks of qualifying events.
Fish (extra Seas, Chalice)
GW Taxes
U Tron (Chalice)
Jeskai Nahiri
Aggro Pox / R Burn
Infect / Affinity / Naya Burn
B Devotion / Naya Burn
Jeskai Ascendancy
Faeries / Grishoalbrand
RG Tron (Baloth)
Gen Wave (Leyline, Finks) / Jeskai Ascendancy / Bushwhacker Zoo
Abzan Coco
Affinity
Jund
Lantern
Bogles / Naya Burn
Bogles
Dredge
Pretty open field, I guess. Palm looks good against Infect and Bogles (2-3/19), maybe 1 against Jeskai Nahiri. Blood, Lavamancer, and Helix look good against Fish, Taxes, Aggro Pox, Burn, Faeries, Bushwhacker Zoo, Coco, Affinity, Infect (6-10/19). Path looks good against all of the above + Trons, Dredge, and Jund (10-14/19). Skullcrack looks good against Fish (to shave a color for Seas and Master), Trons, Jeskai Nahiri, Burn, Jund, and Bogles (7-9/19), and Revelry looks good against Trons, Fish?, Leyline decks, and Lantern? (4-5/19).
How do you think the deck should be adjusted to attack this meta?
I'm thinking that Palm looks weak, so I should cut to 1-2 copies. Path looks very good, so maybe 3-4 copies. Skullcrack and all of the anti-aggro cards are good at 1-3 copies probably. Revelry likely needs to get shaved to 2-3. I'm not sure if I need GY hate for this meta. Grishoalbrand might have been sold, so really have 1 Dredge and splash hate against Jund. Maybe I can justify 1 RIP for both, or ignore the GY against Jund and run 1 Trap?
I'd never drop Deflecting Palm, since it gives me free wins against decks that try to beat me down with fatties (Jeskai Nahiri, Tron), but I can see your reasoning. I'd drop the extra Grim Lavamancer and the Searing Blood for 2 copies of a sweeper, either Volcanic Fallout or Anger of the Gods. When facing go-wide decks like Fish or any variant of D&T a sweeper does a world of good and Anger is even good against Dredge. If you dislike the Dredge matchup like I do you could drop 1 Palm and 1 Revelry for 2 copies of Rest in Peace or alternatively [c]Grafdigger's Cage[/s] if you want to prepare for CoCo decks even though I don't think that matchup is a problem.
Question : Kor firewalker is good vs mirror, but it's strong vs anything else ?
And what's the best between Rift Bolt and Lava Spike ?
Kor Firewalker isn't really too strong against any other decks except perhaps Skred Red. That's the reason I no longer run them in my sideboard.
Which one is better between Rift Bolt and Lava Spike depends heavily on the context but generally I'd give the edge to Rift Bolt for being able to hit both creatures and players. Both should be a full 4-of in your main deck. When it comes to sideboarding, if you have to be fast then you generally want to cut Rift Bolt first but when you need to have enough removal you may want to cut the Lava Spikes instead.
The trick behind sideboarding is actually understanding your deck and the matchup you're facing. Evaluate all the cards in the deck in the context of the matchup, figure out which card is the worst and replace it with the best cards in your sideboard if those sideboard cards are actually better in the matchup. Then look at the new state of the deck and make sure you've not diluted your main win condition too much. You can read as many sideboarding guides as you like but until you understand the why of it all you'll always be a step behind other players of a deck.
Searing Blaze.... Is a real maindek card 100%? I try with Lightning Helix in main and 0 Searing. Why? Because Helix are 3 damage for sure 100%. Blaze are dead card in many matchups, bad news.... When Blaze are good, they shinning, but When are dead card are very awful and can do it lose the game....
Thoughts? Sorry for me english!
Yes, Searing Blaze is maindeck-worthy right now. You're on to something in that it's meta-dependent (for example, it's not a maindeck card in Legacy), but Modern is crawling with creatures right now, and most of them die to a Bolt effect, so the Blaze is pure value.
I think that is very risky eat your own cards in hand. Blaze vs Tron, Valakut, Nauseam, Boogles, TitanBreach, Jeskai Control.... Are 99% deadcards. Or when you have Blaze in hand but no landfall. I think that Helix is more sure and underrated IMO.
I understand your concern, but those matchups are much less common than the likes of Affinity, Dredge, Infect, and Jund, where Searing Blaze grades out as good to great. Lightning Helix is a good card, and you should play it, but I think it comes off the sideboard in this metagame.
I still think that 1-2 Inspiring Vantages over basic Mountains is a reasonable call, even in Nacatl Burn. You don't always draw Wild Nacatl, and painless access to W is handy, especially postboard. I wouldn't cut a Sacred Foundry for one, but I would trim basics.
Why don't we see more lists with Inspiring Vantage? Seems like a strong choice instead of a third/fourthSacred Foundry
Preface that I don't play Nacatl. I immediately swapped out my 3rd Foundry for Inspiring Vantage. I think it's a no-brainer. The times that I need a 4th untapped land are rare and the times that I need to fetch a 3rd white source are also rare.
I don't think that reducing the basic mountain count is necessarily right. Atleast going below 3. We run an average of 12 fetches with 8 fetchable lands. Plus people keep path against us we want a couple mountains for go get. I definately wouldn't go below 2 basics, I'd consider removing a fetch or two first.
I'm considering adding a Searing Blood since aggro decks are huge right now, but are there any cards missing I should consider?
I've done 2 searing blood in the side for certain tournaments and have liked it. But i think it is kinda meta dependant.
In a meta where creature-heavy decks are prevalent I'd rather run two copies of a sweeper. Volcanic Fallout if there's a lot of Fish in your meta or Anger of the Gods if there's Dredge players.
What did you side in against dredge ?
What about Bonfire of the Damned ?
Dredge: Nothing because I think Burn can often just win that race. If I had a Dredge heavy meta, I'd play Grafdigger's Cage or Rest in Peace. Anger of the Gods is a maybe, but I'd rather hose them than set them back for a little bit.
Bonfire: Not even remotely worth considering. Miracles are awful in Burn. We don't have any card selection to ensure Miracle, so you're looking at 7 mana to match Anger of the Gods with a bonus 3 damage to the face. You've lost if you're sitting on 7 mana against an aggro deck. Even off of Miracle it's 4 mana to match Anger.
I'm testing Grafdigger's Cage, because it's also great against the likes of Abzan Company. But yeah, Burn can win that race provided they don't draw the stone-cold nuts.
I'm considering adding a Searing Blood since aggro decks are huge right now, but are there any cards missing I should consider?
I've done 2 searing blood in the side for certain tournaments and have liked it. But i think it is kinda meta dependant.
I've decided to fill the last spot with a second Grim Lavamancer. I feel that the matchups you want him he can be the best card in the deck, and he fills a similar role to Searing Blood
Personally I think there's nothing better than Rakdos Charm against dredge. They pack tons of anti-hate for stuff like RIP and Cage but can't do anything against an instant speed grave whipe. It also has the added bonus of being a massive lava axe if they blow up quick and is a versitile answer for seveal other decks aswell. I know most people prefer Naya but I've never liked the Cat and I certainly don't fear dredge with 3 Charm in my board. Very impresed with Mardu overall given how good most decks are at blocking or killing creatures in the current meta. Going more spell heavy rather than focusing on creatures feels great.
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"Of course you should fight fire with fire. You should fight everything with fire." —Jaya Ballard, task mage
Personally I think there's nothing better than Rakdos Charm against dredge. They pack tons of anti-hate for stuff like RIP and Cage but can't do anything against an instant speed grave whipe. It also has the added bonus of being a massive lava axe if they blow up quick and is a versitile answer for seveal other decks aswell. I know most people prefer Naya but I've never liked the Cat and I certainly don't fear dredge with 3 Charm in my board. Very impresed with Mardu overall given how good most decks are at blocking or killing creatures in the current meta. Going more spell heavy rather than focusing on creatures feels great.
There's no need to pull Wild Nacatl into a discussion about graveyard hate. It has no relevance here. Rakdos Charm is an interesting option for Mardu, if you think your hate will get counter-hated you could consider Ravenous Trap for both Mardu and Naya instead of Rest in Piece or Grafdigger's Cage but I'm not convinced it's necessary. If Dredge manages to deal with RiP that's fine: it already exiled their graveyard and kept them from developing their board for a while. That's usually all Burn needs to be able to turn the corner.
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I would say they are. You never, ever drop Vials against Burn as Merfolk. That's a terrible idea. It's acceleration which helps the Merfolk deck keep pace with Burn in the first 4 turns, and that ensures that you can drop a Master of Waves to turn the corner at a healthy life total. Furthermore, Naya Burn's artifact removal will never be totally blanked, because Spreading Seas will still be in the deck. It's just bad strategy on the part of the Merfolk player. Don't base your decisions on your opponents being bad.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Current list:
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Wild Nacatl
4 Eidolon of the Great Revel
1 Grim Lavamancer
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lava Spike
4 Searing Blaze
4 Boros Charm
4 Atarka's Command
3 Rift Bolt
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Scalding Tarn
2 Stomping Ground
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Copperline Gorge
2 Mountain
1 Searing Blood
1 Grim Lavamancer
2 Path to Exile
2 Lightning Helix
2 Skullcrack
4 Destructive Revelry
Current local meta (and hate I've seen):
Fish (extra Seas, Chalice)
GW Taxes
U Tron (Chalice)
Jeskai Nahiri
Aggro Pox / R Burn
Infect / Affinity / Naya Burn
B Devotion / Naya Burn
Jeskai Ascendancy
Faeries / Grishoalbrand
RG Tron (Baloth)
Gen Wave (Leyline, Finks) / Jeskai Ascendancy / Bushwhacker Zoo
Abzan Coco
Affinity
Jund
Lantern
Bogles / Naya Burn
Bogles
Dredge
Pretty open field, I guess. Palm looks good against Infect and Bogles (2-3/19), maybe 1 against Jeskai Nahiri. Blood, Lavamancer, and Helix look good against Fish, Taxes, Aggro Pox, Burn, Faeries, Bushwhacker Zoo, Coco, Affinity, Infect (6-10/19). Path looks good against all of the above + Trons, Dredge, and Jund (10-14/19). Skullcrack looks good against Fish (to shave a color for Seas and Master), Trons, Jeskai Nahiri, Burn, Jund, and Bogles (7-9/19), and Revelry looks good against Trons, Fish?, Leyline decks, and Lantern? (4-5/19).
How do you think the deck should be adjusted to attack this meta?
I'm thinking that Palm looks weak, so I should cut to 1-2 copies. Path looks very good, so maybe 3-4 copies. Skullcrack and all of the anti-aggro cards are good at 1-3 copies probably. Revelry likely needs to get shaved to 2-3. I'm not sure if I need GY hate for this meta. Grishoalbrand might have been sold, so really have 1 Dredge and splash hate against Jund. Maybe I can justify 1 RIP for both, or ignore the GY against Jund and run 1 Trap?
Palm wrecks Bogles. I hate it.
Link to Discord server where anybody from MTGS can keep up with thread topics while everything is being sorted out with the new site.
I'd never drop Deflecting Palm, since it gives me free wins against decks that try to beat me down with fatties (Jeskai Nahiri, Tron), but I can see your reasoning. I'd drop the extra Grim Lavamancer and the Searing Blood for 2 copies of a sweeper, either Volcanic Fallout or Anger of the Gods. When facing go-wide decks like Fish or any variant of D&T a sweeper does a world of good and Anger is even good against Dredge. If you dislike the Dredge matchup like I do you could drop 1 Palm and 1 Revelry for 2 copies of Rest in Peace or alternatively [c]Grafdigger's Cage[/s] if you want to prepare for CoCo decks even though I don't think that matchup is a problem.
Kor Firewalker isn't really too strong against any other decks except perhaps Skred Red. That's the reason I no longer run them in my sideboard.
Which one is better between Rift Bolt and Lava Spike depends heavily on the context but generally I'd give the edge to Rift Bolt for being able to hit both creatures and players. Both should be a full 4-of in your main deck. When it comes to sideboarding, if you have to be fast then you generally want to cut Rift Bolt first but when you need to have enough removal you may want to cut the Lava Spikes instead.
The trick behind sideboarding is actually understanding your deck and the matchup you're facing. Evaluate all the cards in the deck in the context of the matchup, figure out which card is the worst and replace it with the best cards in your sideboard if those sideboard cards are actually better in the matchup. Then look at the new state of the deck and make sure you've not diluted your main win condition too much. You can read as many sideboarding guides as you like but until you understand the why of it all you'll always be a step behind other players of a deck.
I understand your concern, but those matchups are much less common than the likes of Affinity, Dredge, Infect, and Jund, where Searing Blaze grades out as good to great. Lightning Helix is a good card, and you should play it, but I think it comes off the sideboard in this metagame.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
You need the Sacred Foundry for the Wild Nacatl. If you aren't running Nacatls, then by all means use a few Inspiring Vantages.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
Preface that I don't play Nacatl. I immediately swapped out my 3rd Foundry for Inspiring Vantage. I think it's a no-brainer. The times that I need a 4th untapped land are rare and the times that I need to fetch a 3rd white source are also rare.
4 Destructive Revelry
2 Lightning Helix (4 in 75)
2 Deflecting Palm
2 Skullcrack (4 in 75)
I'm considering adding a Searing Blood since aggro decks are huge right now, but are there any cards missing I should consider?
I've done 2 searing blood in the side for certain tournaments and have liked it. But i think it is kinda meta dependant.
In a meta where creature-heavy decks are prevalent I'd rather run two copies of a sweeper. Volcanic Fallout if there's a lot of Fish in your meta or Anger of the Gods if there's Dredge players.
Dredge: Nothing because I think Burn can often just win that race. If I had a Dredge heavy meta, I'd play Grafdigger's Cage or Rest in Peace. Anger of the Gods is a maybe, but I'd rather hose them than set them back for a little bit.
Bonfire: Not even remotely worth considering. Miracles are awful in Burn. We don't have any card selection to ensure Miracle, so you're looking at 7 mana to match Anger of the Gods with a bonus 3 damage to the face. You've lost if you're sitting on 7 mana against an aggro deck. Even off of Miracle it's 4 mana to match Anger.
Legacy: Merfolk U; Shadow UB; Eldrazi Stompy C
Pauper: Delver U
Vintage: Merfolk U
Primers:
I've decided to fill the last spot with a second Grim Lavamancer. I feel that the matchups you want him he can be the best card in the deck, and he fills a similar role to Searing Blood
There's no need to pull Wild Nacatl into a discussion about graveyard hate. It has no relevance here. Rakdos Charm is an interesting option for Mardu, if you think your hate will get counter-hated you could consider Ravenous Trap for both Mardu and Naya instead of Rest in Piece or Grafdigger's Cage but I'm not convinced it's necessary. If Dredge manages to deal with RiP that's fine: it already exiled their graveyard and kept them from developing their board for a while. That's usually all Burn needs to be able to turn the corner.