I can maybe see Sower in an ulamog version of the deck, as it gives us a reason to want to ramp mana higher than 6-7. But endbringer can do something similar in drawing us 2 extra cards a turn, and has other utilities.
I have never been big on endless one, vanilla creatures are pretty underwhelming in modern(besides 1 mana 12/12s and 5/5s) and it gives opponents a great target for fatal push. If I have 4 eldrazi mana on turn 2 and no TKS to play, I think I'd want reshaper over a 4/4 endless one 9 times out of 10.
Understood. I run a single Ulamog so I may experiment with Sower in the Endbringer slot. Your point on Fatal Push and Endless One makes good sense.
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Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
As a lot of calls, it probably depends on your meta. For sure a 1/1 split would be the safest play. SGW is just so good when you are looking for gas and Hellbent.
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Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
I'm not a fan of Sanitarium, it has a massive downside when our hand is empty or has only 1-2 cards we really want to keep. It does enable early game filtering, but for both players which once again I don't think is how you win a game. If you make it to topdeck mode, both players empty hands or close to it, and you draw an expedition map, which would you prefer to get with it? Sanitarium or Wreckage? I'd choose Wreckage almost every single time, because that card alone can give me the card advantage to win. If I were to get Sanitarium instead, suddenly now the cards I'm letting my opponent see can drastically reduce the possibility that we pull ahead from Sanitarium. By playing Sanitarium over Wreckage you are basically saying you'd like slightly more early game play to your drawing land at the cost of an inconsistent effect on the game when you use it's nonmana ability.
Wreckage is very underrated. When you are hellbent with 8-10 lands on board, maybe multiple temples or 10-15+ mana with tron, and an empty or near empty hand, you have 1-4 Expedition maps to draw help you fetch the Wreckage and unless you have lands in your hand and draw more lands you'll soon be out-tempoing your opponent like crazy. Wreckage shines late game so much, when you've got all the mana in the world and you're looking for gas. And early game or if you have cards in hand, Wreckage is just a Wastes that sucks against blood moon and that's just fine. The card being useless 90% of games is absolutely worth the 10% of games where it is why you win. The downside is just not really existent outside of blood moon. Don't look at the card like it's bad because it doesn't effect many games, look at it like Karn and Endbringer that in a long grindy game that card alone can win it.
If you were to play Sanitarium, play only 1 copy because it is legendary. This isn't something like Eye of Ugin where you absolutely want it in the opener, you want it as a 1-of.
Personally I'd try a 1/1 split of SGW and Nephalia Academy or Buried Ruin over GRS. It would give you a little more flexibility as well.
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Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
I'd have to test it, but my feeling is that I wouldn't use Geier Reach Sanitarium with so many combo decks in the meta right now. Sea Gate Wreckage is just a colorless land most of the time, but when it's useful, it's great. And it never helps my opponent.
Second; To echo a comment made very recently, I think the current (general, not local) meta is at a point where oblivion sower becomes very good again.
It's no longer a crucial linchpin, ensuring you hit the mana needed to activate your eye of Ugin, but it matches up so well against a field of 4, 5 and 6 power creatures (while dodging most removal) that I'm struggling to see a reason not to run one or two of them in the deck. It's notably excellent in the mirror (a worthwhile consideration) or against land-heavy decks like control or scapeshift where you are more likely to hit lands to steal. 8 toughness is a real sweet spot right now, with all the gurmag anglers around and so forth.
I'll be testing a couple in my list and maybe (maaaybe) go back to trialling a single ulamog as a grind-beater if I'm building some incidental ramp into the deck like sower. Who knows. I realise one of the strengths of this deck is that it doesn't *need* the tron lands to present a powerful threat, but I've seen a trend lately of games going grindier and longer in modern, to the extent that a powerful singleton might be worth a shot (especially if I can somehow jam a single sanctum of Ugin into my list to fetch with map).
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Modern: G Tron, Vannifar, Jund, Druid/Vizier combo, Humans, Eldrazi Stompy (Serum Powder), Amulet, Grishoalbrand, Breach Titan, Turns, Eternal Command, As Foretold Living End, Elves, Cheerios, RUG Scapeshift
On the Oblivion Sower topic, those that run main deck Relic of Progenitus and 3 or 4 Ghost Quarter could see benefit as well. GQ a land, exile it with relic then swipe it with Sower. (Nasty play in the mirror btw) Then ramp into a big Ballista or Ulamog. Just a thought.
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STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Doesn't seem better than Relic on first inspection but it does activate for "free". A card draw seems better than a scry but scry 1 could be better at times. Still a bit of a non-bo with Chalice.
Its a good dilemma to have. Relic still seems the go to card but I guess we can wait and see.
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Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Doesn't seem better than Relic on first inspection but it does activate for "free". A card draw seems better than a scry but scry 1 could be better at times. Still a bit of a non-bo with Chalice.
Its a good dilemma to have. Relic still seems the go to card but I guess we can wait and see.
I'm getting quite a bit of serious attention from my son concerning Sentinel Totem over Tormod's crypt (disclaimer: he's a modern hardcore eldrazitron player) ..... in LEGACY DnT sideboard against reanimator decks. The reasoning: it's better than relic because:
- sentinel totem: turn 1 -- scry + nuke GY's
- vs relic : turn 1 -- nearly useless rid 1 GY card not of your choice, turn 2 nuke GY's draw card (too late)
- vs tormod's crypt: turn 1 -- cast for 0 no other value + nuke GY's
I will listen to his advice and have this deck tested with it first thing next month.
Could it bump a copy of Batterskull or Basilisk Collar from some lists? I'm leaning towards NO but wanted to see what others thought.
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Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Had a PPTQ today, went 4-2, but that wasn't good enough. Top 8 was a clean cut draw by everyone, so all of the top 8 were 5-1-1. I thought I was going to squeak into the top 8 with good tie-breakers. I think I got 10th place
I struggled all the way up until registration of whether to go into Abzan or Eldrazi Tron, but decided that being pro-active seemed better
I had--some of the most atrocious matchups I've seen in a while, I don't know how I didn't just drop. Abzan was a really horrible choice for the meta, too. Grixis Shadow was surprisingly absent, since we have so many people who play the deck on our FNM's.
Just a quick report, I didn't hit top 8 so getting too detailed feels silly.
Round 1: Bant Eldrazi--I play chalice for 1, get a thought-knot and strip his Skyspawner for ramp. He tries to stirring with my ramp, countered. He plays EE to blow it, then stirrings. It benefited me since I could play map, ramp into Tron mana and get there. Game 2 he rolls me. Game 3 I natural against him but his hand is good. I manage to get there with just enough with Endbringer denying him to block and ratchet to keep him off displacer.
Round 2: Titanshift. I had turn 3 natural Karn and Endbringer. He curves out perfectly and wins. Game 2 I mull to 6, Turn 2 Thought-Knot Seer into turn 3 Smasher is too much. Game 3 I mull to 6, keep an ok hand of turn 3 Thought-Knot on the draw, I draw the missing tron land and another Thought-Knot to play 2 on turn 4.
Round 3: Eldrazi & Tax's (heavier eldrazi version)--Mull to 5, his hand is slow, I natural Tron into a large Ballista but he kills it with a maindeck ratchet bomb. Endbringer looks like it's going to stabilize me but he topdecks path and then casts 4 lingering souls. Felt like I lost to variance and nearly won from a 5 hand opener. Game 2 my hand has all three tron lands, though-knot and 1x Ballista. I take 1 of 2 thought-knots, he does the same back and takes my Ballista, and I just draw nothing but lands.
Round 4: Skred--I go into matter reshapers, into Smashers into Endbringer. Game 2 He beats me down with Gobblin Rabblemaster, Koth, and Stormbreathe. His hand was the nuts and curved perfectly. Game 3 Turn 3 Tron, He plays Koth, I smasher it to death. He plays Chandra, I pithing needled it. All three games I had a plains/map/mindstone to play around blood moon.
Round 5: Ad Naus, I play chalice for 1, turn 2 Reshaper, Ballista. This was my only mistake, but not a huge 1, I let him resolve a slight of hand with chalice in play. I was titled from being paired against Ad Naus. Beat him down game 2. I blew him out playing chalice for zero on his lotus; he said he cut the 3 copies of it, too. Game 3 my opener is awful, it's 2 chalices with no pressure or fast lands. Mull to 5, a do nothing game where I got some hits in with Reshaper and Smasher.
Round 6: Burn--when he played a turn 1 grim I felt good, it's a slow start. I played chalice for 1 and 2, I play Thought-Knot and 2 Smashers. He tried to activate grim spells casting into chalice. Game 2, I stabilize with a turn 2 Reshaper, Turn 3 Thought-Knot, Turn 4 Chalice for 2, another Thought-Knot. I played around his palm and never even thought of taking it, it meant 1 less spell to my face.
I was a little bummed I didn't make top 8, especially with the horrible matchups I saw throughout. I felt like my tie-breakers were good, I beat 2 of the players who hit top 8, and lost against 1 that was in the top 8. The Eldrazi Tax player was 9th place, I believe. I honestly thought I played really well, sequenced well, kept good hands and knew when to mulligan. The only mistake I honestly could recall was letting slight of hand resolve against me, I don't think I was winning that game though. Modern has a lot of variance, I'm sure my opponents didn't feel good seeing turn 3 fatties either.
I don't think Eldrazi Tron was a bad call, the other Eldrazi Tron player hit top 8, along with the Bant Eldrazi Player I beat. I think I just faced some atrocious pairings, minus Death and Tax's and Burn.
Worth a shot in the 60 or 75? Bump out a Basilisk Collar? Already enough mana ramp no need for more? Thoughts?
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Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Worth a shot in the 60 or 75? Bump out a Basilisk Collar? Already enough mana ramp no need for more? Thoughts?
Interesting card, but I'm not feeling it in this deck. Our only trampler is Smasher, and we have no evasion. Plus 4 total mana to activate... and something would have to be removed to make room. Collar has so much synergy with Endbringer and Ballista. If it only had to do damage and not combat damage to a player, I would feel differently. Also, there might be times you just want to keep your +damage.
I'd probably test a Sword before testing this. Would be interested in hearing if others test it though.
I'm sure it will see some play in Standard. Not sure where it might fit in Modern.
My LGS had a PPTQ during Modern season, which never happens, and I absolutely had to attend. While I was torn between Elves and Eldrazi Tron, I ended up going with what I thought was the better deck. My friends were on Storm, Ponza, Burn, and Amulet so I figured if the rest of the metagame was similar to my group of friends, I'd be pretty well off on E-Tron. Without any further hemming and hawing, I grabbed my deckbox and started testing against the field.
The Emrakul in the board was originally supposed to be an Oblivion Stone, but my local store didn't have any so I sleeved it up last-minute as a concession to possible control. So I didn't field what I consider a perfect list, but I went into round 1 feeling confident.
Matches
Round 1 vs Jeskai Geist W 2-0
My Round 1 opponent was not a local, so I had no idea what he was on.
G1: I kept a solid 7 and he played a Celestial Colonnade tapped. I assembled Tron on turn 4 through no disruption, and cast my Conduit of Ruin, using the trigger to put Ulamog on the top of the deck. He conceded, saying he couldn't beat the cast trigger.
G2: Nothing much to say here, he just never saw a third land while I found lands to cast my spells. Not a real game of Magic, unfortunately.
Round 2 vs Storm L 1-2
G1: I landed a turn 3 TKS and a turn 4 Chalice on 2 and beat down while he didn't storm off.
G2: I really feel like I should have won this game, but I played as well as I think I could have. He storms off and empties 12 goblins onto the field a turn before I can land Chalice on 2, but I respond with a Platinum Angel and TKS. He responds to the trigger by making a gifts pile with Shattering Spree in it, I give him the Spree and take it with the trigger. The next turn, he does the same thing and I once again take the Shattering spree. This whole time, he's been beating me down with goblins to -2, but I've got him to 3 with Platinum Angel lethal in the air. With exactly one draw step and no cards in hand, he draws his only remaining copy of Shattering Spree to win.
G3: I keep a shaky 6 that has the ability to cast most of my spells if I see one more land and has game even if I don't. He struggles through a Chalice on 1 for a while while I look for a land to cast TKS and he beats down with Electromancers; he's flooded and I'm screwed. Eventually he draws Gifts before I see land and it's curtains.
Round 3 vs Colored Eldrazi Tron L 0-2
This is a local who I knew was building this because he was asking around for Temples and Tron lands at FNM two days before. I went in knowing my sideboard plan and expecting to do well, because my list is tuned to beat the mirror without sacrificing much to Death's Shadow and friends.
G1: Natural T3 Tron while I keep a slower hand than he does. Beats from a Wurmcoil and a Void Winnower end the game fast.
G2: I never see a third land while he hits Tron on turn 3. I chalk this whole match up to variance and wouldn't be salty about this if my opponent wasn't so condescending 90% of the time he's at the store.
Round 4 vs Storm W 2-1
This is my friend on storm, and we both need to win to be alive for top 8, so this is for all the marbles. We both have tested against each other extensively and play pretty much optimally the whole time. Notably, he couldn't find Shattering Sprees for his sideboard so he has Wear/Tear, which I'm thrilled about.
G1: I keep a 2-lander with a Temple and 2 Reshapers, end up at 26 attacking him down to 3. He has one turn to win, and he can only storm up to 9. He follows up with Grapeshot for 10 from the graveyard, grapeshot for 11 from hand, remand, grapeshot for 13. GG.
G2: Turn 4 Chalice on 2 spells his doom, though amusingly a chalice for 3 that I played to turn on Sea Gate Wreckage catches his singleton Blood Moon in his hand.
G3: I mull to Chalice and 4 lands, he starts slowly, and his Electromancer beats can't beat Chalice on 2.
Round 5 vs Burn W 2-1
This is my friend on Burn, and it's his first Modern tournament ever (he's actually borrowing half the deck from an acquaintance who's queued for PT Rivals already) and he's alive for top 8. Once again, we're both at do-or-die territory, but I feel really confident about Burn.
G1: Guide keeps revealing lands, but it's not enough to stabilize me. Searing Blaze on both my Reshapers lets Guide attack for the last two points of damage.
G2: I open a 7 with 2 chalices and 2 lands; perfect. He gets Revelry for the first one, and I follow up with a second and then Karn his only green source. After the game, he reveals a hand with 6 1-cost spells in it.
G3: I put down a Ballista on 2 and he uses his Revelry on it, which gives me breathing room to deploy a Batterskull that he can't answer and close out the game with a 7/6 vigilant lifelinking Reshaper.
Top 8 vs Merfolk L 0-2
I got lucky with my 9 points, as the two 7-point people went to turns and drew, leaving me to squeak into top 8 as the 8th seed.
G1: I hadn't expected him to be on Merfolk, because I'd gotten him confused with the other guy from the same store, who was on Storm. I kept a 7 on the merit of Chalice because of this, and Aether Vial nullified the Chalice. Beatdowns ensued, and I almost outraced him with a well-timed smasher.
G2: I keep a hand with T3 Tron and All is dust and pray for no Seas. He kept a hand with no Seas and drew two. Beatdowns don't go well for me after that.
All in all, I think my meta choice was good and that I played well in all 5 rounds and Top 8, and I got a lot of good sideboarding advice from some very friendly opponents. While I really wanted that RPTQ invite, a friend got it so I can't be too mad and I think this prepared me very well for SCG Louisville next weekend.
Hello Eldrazi friends. I just popped in to ask advice on how to try to improve this matchup. I'm going to SCG Louisville this weekend and want to be adequately prepared. I'll be playing basically Jon Rosum's Jeskai Queller mainboard (for those unfamiliar) with some sideboard changes as needed. I feel like the plan of Rejection + Verdict + Disdainful Stroke has failed me enough in the past that I'd like to try something different.
How do you guys, as Eldrazi Tron players, feel about the matchup? Is it bad enough for me that you think it's worth me even trying to board differently for it? I've made considerations for even playing Blood Moon or Magus of the Moat to try to handle the matchup (the later of which is definitely bad, but it was just a thought).
Hello Eldrazi friends. I just popped in to ask advice on how to try to improve this matchup. I'm going to SCG Louisville this weekend and want to be adequately prepared. I'll be playing basically Jon Rosum's Jeskai Queller mainboard (for those unfamiliar) with some sideboard changes as needed. I feel like the plan of Rejection + Verdict + Disdainful Stroke has failed me enough in the past that I'd like to try something different.
How do you guys, as Eldrazi Tron players, feel about the matchup? Is it bad enough for me that you think it's worth me even trying to board differently for it? I've made considerations for even playing Blood Moon or Magus of the Moat to try to handle the matchup (the later of which is definitely bad, but it was just a thought).
I think rosums list was tuned specifically to have a better time against us, the matchup is very close possibly swinging 52/48 in your favour. It of course will depend what list the eldrazi tron player but I don't think you will go far wrong with the list you have
I honestly don't think I've felt like the matchup is even minoring favored from my side of it. The only matches I've been able to get off of opponents have been when they've stumbled, but that's always come at their own hand and had little to do with my gameplan. Maybe I'm misevaluating the matchup though. Or I could be boarding incorrectly.
Hello Eldrazi friends. I just popped in to ask advice on how to try to improve this matchup. I'm going to SCG Louisville this weekend and want to be adequately prepared. I'll be playing basically Jon Rosum's Jeskai Queller mainboard (for those unfamiliar) with some sideboard changes as needed. I feel like the plan of Rejection + Verdict + Disdainful Stroke has failed me enough in the past that I'd like to try something different.
How do you guys, as Eldrazi Tron players, feel about the matchup? Is it bad enough for me that you think it's worth me even trying to board differently for it? I've made considerations for even playing Blood Moon or Magus of the Moat to try to handle the matchup (the later of which is definitely bad, but it was just a thought).
Should be a pretty good matchup for you. I've not done that well against Jeskai. You seem to have all the tools to beat us.
Blood Moon can be good and will win you some games, no doubt, but it's not a silver bullet and doesn't seem like a good fit with three colors.
Elspeth is powerful but seems kinda slow. Nahiri can be pretty hard to deal with, but she may not fit your plan.
Electrolyze doesn't really scare me.
Other than that, I'd try really hard to counter Reality Smashers...
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I have never been big on endless one, vanilla creatures are pretty underwhelming in modern(besides 1 mana 12/12s and 5/5s) and it gives opponents a great target for fatal push. If I have 4 eldrazi mana on turn 2 and no TKS to play, I think I'd want reshaper over a 4/4 endless one 9 times out of 10.
WG G/W Tron GW
BG G/B Tron GB
GG Mono G Tron GG
RG G/R Tron GR
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Wreckage is very underrated. When you are hellbent with 8-10 lands on board, maybe multiple temples or 10-15+ mana with tron, and an empty or near empty hand, you have 1-4 Expedition maps to draw help you fetch the Wreckage and unless you have lands in your hand and draw more lands you'll soon be out-tempoing your opponent like crazy. Wreckage shines late game so much, when you've got all the mana in the world and you're looking for gas. And early game or if you have cards in hand, Wreckage is just a Wastes that sucks against blood moon and that's just fine. The card being useless 90% of games is absolutely worth the 10% of games where it is why you win. The downside is just not really existent outside of blood moon. Don't look at the card like it's bad because it doesn't effect many games, look at it like Karn and Endbringer that in a long grindy game that card alone can win it.
If you were to play Sanitarium, play only 1 copy because it is legendary. This isn't something like Eye of Ugin where you absolutely want it in the opener, you want it as a 1-of.
WG G/W Tron GW
BG G/B Tron GB
GG Mono G Tron GG
RG G/R Tron GR
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Second; To echo a comment made very recently, I think the current (general, not local) meta is at a point where oblivion sower becomes very good again.
It's no longer a crucial linchpin, ensuring you hit the mana needed to activate your eye of Ugin, but it matches up so well against a field of 4, 5 and 6 power creatures (while dodging most removal) that I'm struggling to see a reason not to run one or two of them in the deck. It's notably excellent in the mirror (a worthwhile consideration) or against land-heavy decks like control or scapeshift where you are more likely to hit lands to steal. 8 toughness is a real sweet spot right now, with all the gurmag anglers around and so forth.
I'll be testing a couple in my list and maybe (maaaybe) go back to trialling a single ulamog as a grind-beater if I'm building some incidental ramp into the deck like sower. Who knows. I realise one of the strengths of this deck is that it doesn't *need* the tron lands to present a powerful threat, but I've seen a trend lately of games going grindier and longer in modern, to the extent that a powerful singleton might be worth a shot (especially if I can somehow jam a single sanctum of Ugin into my list to fetch with map).
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Doesn't seem better than Relic on first inspection but it does activate for "free". A card draw seems better than a scry but scry 1 could be better at times. Still a bit of a non-bo with Chalice.
So many choices…
Relic of Progenitus
Crook of Condemnation
Sentinel Totem
Tormod's Crypt
Its a good dilemma to have. Relic still seems the go to card but I guess we can wait and see.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
I'm getting quite a bit of serious attention from my son concerning Sentinel Totem over Tormod's crypt (disclaimer: he's a modern hardcore eldrazitron player) ..... in LEGACY DnT sideboard against reanimator decks. The reasoning: it's better than relic because:
- sentinel totem: turn 1 -- scry + nuke GY's
- vs relic : turn 1 -- nearly useless rid 1 GY card not of your choice, turn 2 nuke GY's draw card (too late)
- vs tormod's crypt: turn 1 -- cast for 0 no other value + nuke GY's
I will listen to his advice and have this deck tested with it first thing next month.
Conqueror's Galleon Conqueror's Foothold
Could it bump a copy of Batterskull or Basilisk Collar from some lists? I'm leaning towards NO but wanted to see what others thought.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
I struggled all the way up until registration of whether to go into Abzan or Eldrazi Tron, but decided that being pro-active seemed better
I had--some of the most atrocious matchups I've seen in a while, I don't know how I didn't just drop. Abzan was a really horrible choice for the meta, too. Grixis Shadow was surprisingly absent, since we have so many people who play the deck on our FNM's.
Just a quick report, I didn't hit top 8 so getting too detailed feels silly.
Round 1: Bant Eldrazi--I play chalice for 1, get a thought-knot and strip his Skyspawner for ramp. He tries to stirring with my ramp, countered. He plays EE to blow it, then stirrings. It benefited me since I could play map, ramp into Tron mana and get there. Game 2 he rolls me. Game 3 I natural against him but his hand is good. I manage to get there with just enough with Endbringer denying him to block and ratchet to keep him off displacer.
Round 2: Titanshift. I had turn 3 natural Karn and Endbringer. He curves out perfectly and wins. Game 2 I mull to 6, Turn 2 Thought-Knot Seer into turn 3 Smasher is too much. Game 3 I mull to 6, keep an ok hand of turn 3 Thought-Knot on the draw, I draw the missing tron land and another Thought-Knot to play 2 on turn 4.
Round 3: Eldrazi & Tax's (heavier eldrazi version)--Mull to 5, his hand is slow, I natural Tron into a large Ballista but he kills it with a maindeck ratchet bomb. Endbringer looks like it's going to stabilize me but he topdecks path and then casts 4 lingering souls. Felt like I lost to variance and nearly won from a 5 hand opener. Game 2 my hand has all three tron lands, though-knot and 1x Ballista. I take 1 of 2 thought-knots, he does the same back and takes my Ballista, and I just draw nothing but lands.
Round 4: Skred--I go into matter reshapers, into Smashers into Endbringer. Game 2 He beats me down with Gobblin Rabblemaster, Koth, and Stormbreathe. His hand was the nuts and curved perfectly. Game 3 Turn 3 Tron, He plays Koth, I smasher it to death. He plays Chandra, I pithing needled it. All three games I had a plains/map/mindstone to play around blood moon.
Round 5: Ad Naus, I play chalice for 1, turn 2 Reshaper, Ballista. This was my only mistake, but not a huge 1, I let him resolve a slight of hand with chalice in play. I was titled from being paired against Ad Naus. Beat him down game 2. I blew him out playing chalice for zero on his lotus; he said he cut the 3 copies of it, too. Game 3 my opener is awful, it's 2 chalices with no pressure or fast lands. Mull to 5, a do nothing game where I got some hits in with Reshaper and Smasher.
Round 6: Burn--when he played a turn 1 grim I felt good, it's a slow start. I played chalice for 1 and 2, I play Thought-Knot and 2 Smashers. He tried to activate grim spells casting into chalice. Game 2, I stabilize with a turn 2 Reshaper, Turn 3 Thought-Knot, Turn 4 Chalice for 2, another Thought-Knot. I played around his palm and never even thought of taking it, it meant 1 less spell to my face.
I was a little bummed I didn't make top 8, especially with the horrible matchups I saw throughout. I felt like my tie-breakers were good, I beat 2 of the players who hit top 8, and lost against 1 that was in the top 8. The Eldrazi Tax player was 9th place, I believe. I honestly thought I played really well, sequenced well, kept good hands and knew when to mulligan. The only mistake I honestly could recall was letting slight of hand resolve against me, I don't think I was winning that game though. Modern has a lot of variance, I'm sure my opponents didn't feel good seeing turn 3 fatties either.
I don't think Eldrazi Tron was a bad call, the other Eldrazi Tron player hit top 8, along with the Bant Eldrazi Player I beat. I think I just faced some atrocious pairings, minus Death and Tax's and Burn.
Worth a shot in the 60 or 75? Bump out a Basilisk Collar? Already enough mana ramp no need for more? Thoughts?
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Interesting card, but I'm not feeling it in this deck. Our only trampler is Smasher, and we have no evasion. Plus 4 total mana to activate... and something would have to be removed to make room. Collar has so much synergy with Endbringer and Ballista. If it only had to do damage and not combat damage to a player, I would feel differently. Also, there might be times you just want to keep your +damage.
I'd probably test a Sword before testing this. Would be interested in hearing if others test it though.
I'm sure it will see some play in Standard. Not sure where it might fit in Modern.
Reminds me of Staff of Domination. Staff seems better?
The Galleon has some extra versatility as a blocker (Crew at instant speed, turn that TKS into a 2/10).
4 Expedition Map
4 Chalice of the Void
2 Mind Stone
1 Basilisk Collar
Creature (20)
2 Endbringer
4 Matter Reshaper
4 Reality Smasher
4 Thought-Knot Seer
3 Walking Ballista
1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
1 Platinum Angel
1 Conduit of Ruin
2 Dismember
Land (24)
4 Eldrazi Temple
3 Ghost Quarter
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
2 Wastes
1 Nephalia Academy
1 Westvale Abbey
1 Sea Gate Wreckage
Planeswalker (1)
1 Karn Liberated
Sorcery (2)
2 All Is Dust
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Ratchet Bomb
3 Relic of Progenitus
1 Pithing Needle
1 Batterskull
2 Hangarback Walker
1 Walking Ballista
1 Emrakul, the Promised End
2 Warping Wail
1 Karn Liberated
The Emrakul in the board was originally supposed to be an Oblivion Stone, but my local store didn't have any so I sleeved it up last-minute as a concession to possible control. So I didn't field what I consider a perfect list, but I went into round 1 feeling confident.
Matches
Round 1 vs Jeskai Geist W 2-0
My Round 1 opponent was not a local, so I had no idea what he was on.
G1: I kept a solid 7 and he played a Celestial Colonnade tapped. I assembled Tron on turn 4 through no disruption, and cast my Conduit of Ruin, using the trigger to put Ulamog on the top of the deck. He conceded, saying he couldn't beat the cast trigger.
G2: Nothing much to say here, he just never saw a third land while I found lands to cast my spells. Not a real game of Magic, unfortunately.
Round 2 vs Storm L 1-2
G1: I landed a turn 3 TKS and a turn 4 Chalice on 2 and beat down while he didn't storm off.
G2: I really feel like I should have won this game, but I played as well as I think I could have. He storms off and empties 12 goblins onto the field a turn before I can land Chalice on 2, but I respond with a Platinum Angel and TKS. He responds to the trigger by making a gifts pile with Shattering Spree in it, I give him the Spree and take it with the trigger. The next turn, he does the same thing and I once again take the Shattering spree. This whole time, he's been beating me down with goblins to -2, but I've got him to 3 with Platinum Angel lethal in the air. With exactly one draw step and no cards in hand, he draws his only remaining copy of Shattering Spree to win.
G3: I keep a shaky 6 that has the ability to cast most of my spells if I see one more land and has game even if I don't. He struggles through a Chalice on 1 for a while while I look for a land to cast TKS and he beats down with Electromancers; he's flooded and I'm screwed. Eventually he draws Gifts before I see land and it's curtains.
Round 3 vs Colored Eldrazi Tron L 0-2
This is a local who I knew was building this because he was asking around for Temples and Tron lands at FNM two days before. I went in knowing my sideboard plan and expecting to do well, because my list is tuned to beat the mirror without sacrificing much to Death's Shadow and friends.
G1: Natural T3 Tron while I keep a slower hand than he does. Beats from a Wurmcoil and a Void Winnower end the game fast.
G2: I never see a third land while he hits Tron on turn 3. I chalk this whole match up to variance and wouldn't be salty about this if my opponent wasn't so condescending 90% of the time he's at the store.
Round 4 vs Storm W 2-1
This is my friend on storm, and we both need to win to be alive for top 8, so this is for all the marbles. We both have tested against each other extensively and play pretty much optimally the whole time. Notably, he couldn't find Shattering Sprees for his sideboard so he has Wear/Tear, which I'm thrilled about.
G1: I keep a 2-lander with a Temple and 2 Reshapers, end up at 26 attacking him down to 3. He has one turn to win, and he can only storm up to 9. He follows up with Grapeshot for 10 from the graveyard, grapeshot for 11 from hand, remand, grapeshot for 13. GG.
G2: Turn 4 Chalice on 2 spells his doom, though amusingly a chalice for 3 that I played to turn on Sea Gate Wreckage catches his singleton Blood Moon in his hand.
G3: I mull to Chalice and 4 lands, he starts slowly, and his Electromancer beats can't beat Chalice on 2.
Round 5 vs Burn W 2-1
This is my friend on Burn, and it's his first Modern tournament ever (he's actually borrowing half the deck from an acquaintance who's queued for PT Rivals already) and he's alive for top 8. Once again, we're both at do-or-die territory, but I feel really confident about Burn.
G1: Guide keeps revealing lands, but it's not enough to stabilize me. Searing Blaze on both my Reshapers lets Guide attack for the last two points of damage.
G2: I open a 7 with 2 chalices and 2 lands; perfect. He gets Revelry for the first one, and I follow up with a second and then Karn his only green source. After the game, he reveals a hand with 6 1-cost spells in it.
G3: I put down a Ballista on 2 and he uses his Revelry on it, which gives me breathing room to deploy a Batterskull that he can't answer and close out the game with a 7/6 vigilant lifelinking Reshaper.
Top 8 vs Merfolk L 0-2
I got lucky with my 9 points, as the two 7-point people went to turns and drew, leaving me to squeak into top 8 as the 8th seed.
G1: I hadn't expected him to be on Merfolk, because I'd gotten him confused with the other guy from the same store, who was on Storm. I kept a 7 on the merit of Chalice because of this, and Aether Vial nullified the Chalice. Beatdowns ensued, and I almost outraced him with a well-timed smasher.
G2: I keep a hand with T3 Tron and All is dust and pray for no Seas. He kept a hand with no Seas and drew two. Beatdowns don't go well for me after that.
All in all, I think my meta choice was good and that I played well in all 5 rounds and Top 8, and I got a lot of good sideboarding advice from some very friendly opponents. While I really wanted that RPTQ invite, a friend got it so I can't be too mad and I think this prepared me very well for SCG Louisville next weekend.
How do you guys, as Eldrazi Tron players, feel about the matchup? Is it bad enough for me that you think it's worth me even trying to board differently for it? I've made considerations for even playing Blood Moon or Magus of the Moat to try to handle the matchup (the later of which is definitely bad, but it was just a thought).
UW Control
UWR Geist
UWR Control
I honestly don't think I've felt like the matchup is even minoring favored from my side of it. The only matches I've been able to get off of opponents have been when they've stumbled, but that's always come at their own hand and had little to do with my gameplan. Maybe I'm misevaluating the matchup though. Or I could be boarding incorrectly.
UW Control
UWR Geist
UWR Control
Should be a pretty good matchup for you. I've not done that well against Jeskai. You seem to have all the tools to beat us.
Blood Moon can be good and will win you some games, no doubt, but it's not a silver bullet and doesn't seem like a good fit with three colors.
Elspeth is powerful but seems kinda slow. Nahiri can be pretty hard to deal with, but she may not fit your plan.
Electrolyze doesn't really scare me.
Other than that, I'd try really hard to counter Reality Smashers...