@Farban: The relativly low amount of red cards, imo, isnt because the red cards are bad, or we don't want them, but because space in the deck is really tight and for the amount of space we can allocate to "offcolor" cards the red ones are the best bang for our buck.
Having 1-2 Command maindeck and potentially access to more commands, anger of the gods, Kozilek's return, By force, Temur Battle Rage helps immensly in a lot of popular matchups right now.
Due to space being scarce our "offcolor" cards have to 1) have a significant impact in low numbers and 2) have applications in a broad number of matchups.
The second point is why I believe red is the better spash color right now: all of the above mentioned cards are high impact without being super narrow like for example Stony Silence.
On the other hand, while the maindeck white cards (Souls and Path) are more powerful than the red ones, they also require you to allocate a lot of space to them to make it worth.
Playing 1-2 Path to exile or 1-2 Lingering Souls just feels wrong to me, dunno.
Lastly, why not just straight up UB? for one, especially if you dont play cards like Deprive, the 3rd color is pretty much free. You don't want more basics and you are getting at least 3 colors of mana from your fetchlands alone since you want ~12 fetchies anyway.
Further you want 5 shocklands most of the time so you`ll get a 3rd color that way anyway also.
UB also has huge holes in their sideboard cards which makes a 3rd color worth it.
One of the biggest reasons to play red is terminate, which kills Delve creatures without a major downside. Without red, you have to rely on stuff like dismember, murderous cut, and go for the throat, which all have major downsides. White has path, but it turns out that ramping the opponent isn't so great either, and the red SB cards are better for UB shadow shells.
Hey guys, this weekend i played 2 pptq with grixis death shadow.
First one i did 4-1-1 into top 8. The only game i lost in the swiss was against abzan midrange. Removal+liliana of the veil+ lingering is a real nightmare, i couldnt do anything that reound so i lost 0 2. I play 2 ltlh +2 temur battle rage+ kozileks return+ staticaster in the side but i didnt find any of them.
In the cuarterfinals i had to play vs another abzan midrange and same as last round, coulnt do anything, lingerings won the game and i didnt get any sideboard, i went 0-2 again.
Next day i played another pptq and this time i went 4-2 into top 16. In the swiss i lost to a doran abzan that played a cmc3 ajani which gave double strike+ flying and a 2colorless+green x/x with hexproof with x being number of forests in play , i couldnt do anything about this, he also played vines of vastwood, spellskite and so, so nothing to do, i went 0 2. Next game i had to play against another abzan midrange which finished quickly with another 0 2.
I don´t know guys but i feel abzan midrange is our worst matchup after bw tokens. I dont know what to do, half my side is prepared for abzan but still i cannot beat that deck. Any tips or sideboard guide?
Its fine to dedicated slots to combat x/1s, no shame in that, but you can do better. If you are thinking of playing Sulfur Elemental, just play Izzet Staticaster instead. It is good against Souls but mops up Noble Hierarchs and Thalias, and craps on Affinity.
My favorite card against Souls is still Liliana the Last Hope, and she is a beast in other matchups as well. Lingering Souls has always been the bane of all types of fair decks, but you don't have to play bad cards to fight it.
Its fine to dedicated slots to combat x/1s, no shame in that, but you can do better. If you are thinking of playing Sulfur Elemental, just play Izzet Staticaster instead. It is good against Souls but mops up Noble Hierarchs and Thalias, and craps on Affinity.
My favorite card against Souls is still Liliana the Last Hope, and she is a beast in other matchups as well. Lingering Souls has always been the bane of all types of fair decks, but you don't have to play bad cards to fight it.
Agreed with this, you don't have to play super niche cards since we already have versatile answers. It's not an easy matchup but I don't advise diluting your sideboard just for specifically lingering souls. Sounds like you had good sideboard cards you just didn't find them which is unfortunate but it happens.
Also corey burkhart posted up a poll for his next cfb video and storm beat grixis shadow by 2% which is frustrating. Would have been really interesting to see him play the deck, he talks through his lines very well so it would have been fun to watch.
Has there been a lack of ppl playing the deck, from the various lgs im going to, im the only one playing the deck. Seems after the meta was adjusted for it, its not nearly as dominant as ppl thought
Has there been a lack of ppl playing the deck, from the various lgs im going to, im the only one playing the deck. Seems after the meta was adjusted for it, its not nearly as dominant as ppl thought
Yeah I think once the band wagon of "best deck in the format" started to die down people jumped onto the next craze. I've seen people that were on shadow for what seemed like a month or 2 now on company, e tron or the new vengevine deck. This is generally a good thing, not having everyone and their grandmother on it puts less of a target on it's back both for other decks as well as any ban list potential.
I also like this change as I've only been on shadow recently and one of the biggest things keeping me from it was that I had no interest in constant mirror matches. Now at my lgs I'm basically the only shadow player and it's nice to face a constant variety of matchups. The only deck in my meta that multiple people are on consistently is burn but I actually like playing that matchup so I'm not complaining.
what do you think about including 1 ashiok the nightmare weaver in the side? I think that against some pairings can help a lot, those midrange matchups and the plan may be to include some liliana of the veil / the last hope but ashiok.
what do you think about including 1 ashiok the nightmare weaver in the side? I think that against some pairings can help a lot, those midrange matchups and the plan may be to include some liliana of the veil / the last hope but ashiok.
What do you think?
I don't think Ashiok is right for this format if I'm honest. The reason that both Lilianas see play is that they both come down and affect the active areas of the game (Board, hands and graveyards) immediately. Ashiok needs at least a full turn to affect the board in a meaningful way, and that's only if you don't whiff of the top of your opponent's library (as in exile zero creatures in the first try).
Ultimately Ashiok's gameplan is too random - you know if you play Liliana of the Veil that you can either force a discard or a sacrifice, which will affect the game in a meaningful way. there is too much variance when you play Ashiok, and modern is not the place to be gambling on the top of your opponent's library.
Throughout all 4 Matches Deprive was absolutly amazing, to be fair all the matchups were perfect for the card.
Round 1 vs Eldrazi Tron (2:0)
Game 1: I manage to counter his first Threat with deprive (TKS) and a couple resolved creatures quickly finish him while more counterspells protect me from whatever he might try.
Game 2: He nut draws me but i nut draw back. He goes double temple TKS but it runs into a rejection. Next round he tries TKS again but it too runs into a deprive. Eventually he resoves a couple of matter reshapers but I find a Shadow and delve fatty and overrun him with additional counters in hand.
Round 2 vs RG Valakut (2:0)
Game 1: The main reason for Deprive's inclusion in the deck. It won me game 1 by countering a Titan he pacted for after I stripped all other payoff cards with discard.
Game 2: Similar to game 1 but this time i get to counter his camelion colossus and have to terminate the Titan. Luckily he was dead on the crackback.
Round 3 vs Burn (2:0)
Game 1: I am terrible at playing this matchup so I was expecting to get my ass handed to me, however I drew a both deprives and a stub which made G1 surprisingly easy.
Game 2: started the game with a Thoughtseize, IoK and Brutality and finished it with a shadow with a counter for whatever outs he might have had.
Round 4 vs Ad Nauseam (2:1)
Game 1: Contrary to the Burn matchup I expected to have this be a easy win however G1 i drew no hand disruption and he managed to combo me through a counterspell by turn 4.
Game 2: He opens with leyline however I drew multiple counterspells and Snapcasters which allowed me to beat him regardless.
Game 3: This time he didnt have leyline and I drew both counters and Discard. No real contest here.
Overall I was super happy with my List and even though those were some of the dream matchups for deprive I have been very impressed with the card in grixis shadow for a while now.
The drawback of picking up a Land dosn't matter at all most of the time and and sometimes even is a upside (about as often as it is a real downside in my expirience so far)
The biggest issue with it is the UU cost but especially with both Tron and Valakut variants being very popular right now I feel like it should be worth a concideration.
Thanks for reading.
cheers
Hey there,
Thanks for the write up. I'm trying a similar list but with Deprives in the side - never thought about moving to the maindeck.
One very specific question for you: I also shaved a Blood Crypt to run Deprive, but differ in the replacement. I now run 3x Watery Grave, 1x Vents, 1x Crypt. You seem to have gone -1x Crypt +1x Vents. Why did you choose Vents over Grave? I think the importance of turn 1 B far outweighs needing red, although our list also differs in that I go -1x Bolt +1x Push.
Three questions I'd love some feedback on and to know if anyone else has tested:
1. Has anyone toyed with going down to 3x Snapcaster? I know the kneejerk reaction of "Snap is one of the best cards in Modern why would you ever cut it" is strong, but in general I don't want to see more than 2, especially not early. When coupled with the heavy reliance on Delve creatures, my yard is often pretty sparse. We don't play a lot of 3-4 mana cards for a reason - we're a 18-19 land deck (with usually only 7 fetchables (5 Shcoks and 2 basics) and Thought Scour potentially knocking some of those out). Coupled with the fact that in 3-4 weeks of playing the deck I've never once Snap-K Command-Snap as 5 mana is SO much in this deck and requires getting to pretty late in the game - usually I just want to end as much as possible.
I've been thinking of going -1x Snapcaster +1x Claim // Fame.
2. Similar to the first question, I've been thinking of running down to 1x K. Command in the main and 0 in the side (current 2x MD and 0x SB). Again, it's exspenive - maybe moving to 1x MB and 1x SB would be better?
3. I often see 2x Collective Brutality in the board. What matchups do you bring these in? What modes do you often use? I would imagine -2/-2 and discard, but when are you using this? Dork based matchups (NH, Birds, etc.)? Burn?
I've been thinking of going -1x Snapcaster +1x Claim // Fame.
I think there's a good case for only 3 Snapcaster; I'm trying it out myself at the moment. However, I don't think Claim // Fame is a worthwhile addition. Marc Tobiasch gives a pretty succinct explanation why here.
I've been thinking of going -1x Snapcaster +1x Claim // Fame.
I think there's a good case for only 3 Snapcaster; I'm trying it out myself at the moment. However, I don't think Claim // Fame is a worthwhile addition. Marc Tobiasch gives a pretty succinct explanation why here.
- 1x Snapcaster
- 1x Sleight of Hand
- 1x Kolaghan's Command
I'm pretty sold on the cuts - I agree that 4x Snap is usually too many, I think that Sleight of Hand is just straight not a good card, and Kolaghan's Command is expensive - I'm fine having 1x MD and 1x SB.
What I'm not sure on is the replacements though. The Deprives have actually been great in my testing, going from 1x SB to 2x SB to 2x MD. They could be Leaks or Snares if warranted, but I like having just a catchall answer at all points in the game. This leaves really one flex slot - the Claim // Fame. What do you think should be there? I want a business spell, and I've toyed between these options:
- 1x Sleight of Hand (Don't like as I mentioned above)
- 1x Opt (better than Sleight, but not sure it's worth a slot)
- 1x Claim // Fame (rebuys Snaps and GDS. I think of it as a cheaper replacement for K. Command)
- 1x Discard (Inquisition or Duress)
- 1x LotV (don't like as it's expensive and I'm looking to be aggressive)
- 1x Counterspell (Snare most likely, potentially Spell Pierce / Stubborn Denial which has the added benefit of freeing up a sideboard slot)
What I'm not sure on is the replacements though. The Deprives have actually been great in my testing, going from 1x SB to 2x SB to 2x MD. They could be Leaks or Snares if warranted, but I like having just a catchall answer at all points in the game. This leaves really one flex slot - the Claim // Fame. What do you think should be there? I want a business spell, and I've toyed between these options:
- 1x Sleight of Hand (Don't like as I mentioned above)
- 1x Opt (better than Sleight, but not sure it's worth a slot)
- 1x Claim // Fame (rebuys Snaps and GDS. I think of it as a cheaper replacement for K. Command)
- 1x Discard (Inquisition or Duress)
- 1x LotV (don't like as it's expensive and I'm looking to be aggressive)
- 1x Counterspell (Snare most likely, potentially Spell Pierce / Stubborn Denial which has the added benefit of freeing up a sideboard slot)
Any insights?
If not for the Deprives--which I haven't gotten to try out myself, but would like to--I would advocate for the first LotV. Given them, I think I would start with Opt. Also, I'm not a big fan of the card, but I exactly one maindeck Temur Battle Rage can be reasonable.
What I'm not sure on is the replacements though. The Deprives have actually been great in my testing, going from 1x SB to 2x SB to 2x MD. They could be Leaks or Snares if warranted, but I like having just a catchall answer at all points in the game. This leaves really one flex slot - the Claim // Fame. What do you think should be there? I want a business spell, and I've toyed between these options:
- 1x Sleight of Hand (Don't like as I mentioned above)
- 1x Opt (better than Sleight, but not sure it's worth a slot)
- 1x Claim // Fame (rebuys Snaps and GDS. I think of it as a cheaper replacement for K. Command)
- 1x Discard (Inquisition or Duress)
- 1x LotV (don't like as it's expensive and I'm looking to be aggressive)
- 1x Counterspell (Snare most likely, potentially Spell Pierce / Stubborn Denial which has the added benefit of freeing up a sideboard slot)
Any insights?
If not for the Deprives--which I haven't gotten to try out myself, but would like to--I would advocate for the first LotV. Given them, I think I would start with Opt. Also, I'm not a big fan of the card, but I exactly one maindeck Temur Battle Rage can be reasonable.
Not a fan of the Battle Rage really - I typically am winning if I'm gotten a creature to stick. I want cards to help make it stick or grind them back.
Have you tested Opt? Just don't see it being a big benefit to the deck since a lot of what we do is Sorc speed (discard and creatures) - yes, holding up a counter is nice (and might push builds towards a more Deprive / Counter focued build, potentially dropping IoK), but is Scry 1 really that great?
Have you tested Opt? Just don't see it being a big benefit to the deck since a lot of what we do is Sorc speed (discard and creatures) - yes, holding up a counter is nice (and might push builds towards a more Deprive / Counter focued build, potentially dropping IoK), but is Scry 1 really that great?
I have not tested it yet, and I agree that it's significant less exciting in this deck than in many other decks in Modern, but presently it's the first thing that I would test.
The instant speed not only plays well with the maindeck counters, but also sideboard ones, as well as instant speed removal. It also gives you the minor advantage of being able to postpone filtering until after seeing how your opponent's turn has played out.
Hi guys new death's shadow player here. I've just picked up the deck about 2 weeks ago and have played in 2 fnms with ok results.
I started with Dylan Donegans list that sided young pyromancers and played sleights of hands in the main.
From the little bit of testing I've done I really don't like yp in the deck at all.
I was wondering if anyone has some experience with the card and could tell me how it's done for them.
Also is there a good one card answer to chameleon Colossus that we can play or do we have to hope to hit it with discard or counter it?
Hi guys new death's shadow player here. I've just picked up the deck about 2 weeks ago and have played in 2 fnms with ok results.
I started with Dylan Donegans list that sided young pyromancers and played sleights of hands in the main.
From the little bit of testing I've done I really don't like yp in the deck at all.
I was wondering if anyone has some experience with the card and could tell me how it's done for them.
Also is there a good one card answer to chameleon Colossus that we can play or do we have to hope to hit it with discard or counter it?
It's interesting that you aren't a fan of young pyromancer, but are looking for a way to deal with chameleon colossus. YP is a great way to deal with the colossus as the stream of 1/1's can easily overwhelm it. Overall I like having additional threats in the board for grindy matches. There may be a better option than YP, but I have been having good luck with them for now. Some folks were using pia and kiran nalaar for a while and seemed like it was solid. It is a bit high on the mana curve, but in a 19 land build it seems like a reasonable option.
1) To beat Lingering Souls midrange decks, put Pia and Kiran Nalaar in your SB. It's your best bet to go toe to toe with them. Liliana, the Last Hope helps too, but she takes some time to deal with all 4 tokens. For most purposes, btw, I like P&K a lot better than Young Pyromancer. The main exception is vs fast go wide decks like Elves, but notably P&K is better against affinity because flying matters a lot, and so does blocking Etched Champion. P&K is essentially the best way to win grindy matchups, including the mirror, Jund, Abzan, and control decks. YP can do it, but topdecking a YP on an empty board with an empty hand is pretty lackluster. Not so with P&K.
2) Going down to 3 Snapcasters is something I've been doing for awhile. I essentially cut one for a MD Liliana of the Veil (and another LotV in one of the flex spots). You delve away your entire graveyard a lot and don't often get a ton of mana together to Snap + K Command, so Snapcaster is not as good here as it has been in other blue tempo decks in modern (e.g. Twin, or UWR Geist).
3) Collective Brutality is primarily for Burn, Storm, and Chord/Coco decks where 2+ modes are very good. It also functions as additional removal vs Affinity, Merfolk (notably kills Master of Waves), Elves, and in similar matchups, and as additional discard vs. Ad Nauseum, Valakut (though it may not always come in here, depends on the 75 I think), and a variety of other spell based combo decks.
4) Liliana of the Veil deals with Chameleon Colossus, and is very good in the MD (note some Valakut decks MD a Colossus).
5) Claim to Fame seems real bad in this shell. There are only 7-8 targets, and you can't afford to have spells stuck in your hand in the early game waiting for something to happen before you can use them. Snapcaster already has that problem somewhat, but at least all it requires is you to hit 3+ mana and have cast some spells. Claim to Fame requires your creatures to die (not get pathed), or get milled by Thought Scour. Good luck.
I've been jamming 3 LoTV main, taking the list written by PVVDR and playing GDS Jund style. I kinda missed mainboard Denials but it has been working fine so far.
The flexspots are
1 Lightning Bolt
1 IoK
1 LotV
I've seen Rob Chase's list and he basically does the same thing. I'll try this version, but I'm also a little bit of worried cos Denial is good against many decks. What's your opinion?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
One of the biggest reasons to play red is terminate, which kills Delve creatures without a major downside. Without red, you have to rely on stuff like dismember, murderous cut, and go for the throat, which all have major downsides. White has path, but it turns out that ramping the opponent isn't so great either, and the red SB cards are better for UB shadow shells.
I'm tempted to play bad cards such as Sulfur Elemental and 2 Forked Bolt on the side.
Its fine to dedicated slots to combat x/1s, no shame in that, but you can do better. If you are thinking of playing Sulfur Elemental, just play Izzet Staticaster instead. It is good against Souls but mops up Noble Hierarchs and Thalias, and craps on Affinity.
My favorite card against Souls is still Liliana the Last Hope, and she is a beast in other matchups as well. Lingering Souls has always been the bane of all types of fair decks, but you don't have to play bad cards to fight it.
Agreed with this, you don't have to play super niche cards since we already have versatile answers. It's not an easy matchup but I don't advise diluting your sideboard just for specifically lingering souls. Sounds like you had good sideboard cards you just didn't find them which is unfortunate but it happens.
Also corey burkhart posted up a poll for his next cfb video and storm beat grixis shadow by 2% which is frustrating. Would have been really interesting to see him play the deck, he talks through his lines very well so it would have been fun to watch.
Yeah I think once the band wagon of "best deck in the format" started to die down people jumped onto the next craze. I've seen people that were on shadow for what seemed like a month or 2 now on company, e tron or the new vengevine deck. This is generally a good thing, not having everyone and their grandmother on it puts less of a target on it's back both for other decks as well as any ban list potential.
I also like this change as I've only been on shadow recently and one of the biggest things keeping me from it was that I had no interest in constant mirror matches. Now at my lgs I'm basically the only shadow player and it's nice to face a constant variety of matchups. The only deck in my meta that multiple people are on consistently is burn but I actually like playing that matchup so I'm not complaining.
what do you think about including 1 ashiok the nightmare weaver in the side? I think that against some pairings can help a lot, those midrange matchups and the plan may be to include some liliana of the veil / the last hope but ashiok.
What do you think?
I don't think Ashiok is right for this format if I'm honest. The reason that both Lilianas see play is that they both come down and affect the active areas of the game (Board, hands and graveyards) immediately. Ashiok needs at least a full turn to affect the board in a meaningful way, and that's only if you don't whiff of the top of your opponent's library (as in exile zero creatures in the first try).
Ultimately Ashiok's gameplan is too random - you know if you play Liliana of the Veil that you can either force a discard or a sacrifice, which will affect the game in a meaningful way. there is too much variance when you play Ashiok, and modern is not the place to be gambling on the top of your opponent's library.
Hey there,
Thanks for the write up. I'm trying a similar list but with Deprives in the side - never thought about moving to the maindeck.
One very specific question for you: I also shaved a Blood Crypt to run Deprive, but differ in the replacement. I now run 3x Watery Grave, 1x Vents, 1x Crypt. You seem to have gone -1x Crypt +1x Vents. Why did you choose Vents over Grave? I think the importance of turn 1 B far outweighs needing red, although our list also differs in that I go -1x Bolt +1x Push.
Three questions I'd love some feedback on and to know if anyone else has tested:
1. Has anyone toyed with going down to 3x Snapcaster? I know the kneejerk reaction of "Snap is one of the best cards in Modern why would you ever cut it" is strong, but in general I don't want to see more than 2, especially not early. When coupled with the heavy reliance on Delve creatures, my yard is often pretty sparse. We don't play a lot of 3-4 mana cards for a reason - we're a 18-19 land deck (with usually only 7 fetchables (5 Shcoks and 2 basics) and Thought Scour potentially knocking some of those out). Coupled with the fact that in 3-4 weeks of playing the deck I've never once Snap-K Command-Snap as 5 mana is SO much in this deck and requires getting to pretty late in the game - usually I just want to end as much as possible.
I've been thinking of going -1x Snapcaster +1x Claim // Fame.
2. Similar to the first question, I've been thinking of running down to 1x K. Command in the main and 0 in the side (current 2x MD and 0x SB). Again, it's exspenive - maybe moving to 1x MB and 1x SB would be better?
3. I often see 2x Collective Brutality in the board. What matchups do you bring these in? What modes do you often use? I would imagine -2/-2 and discard, but when are you using this? Dork based matchups (NH, Birds, etc.)? Burn?
I think there's a good case for only 3 Snapcaster; I'm trying it out myself at the moment. However, I don't think Claim // Fame is a worthwhile addition. Marc Tobiasch gives a pretty succinct explanation why here.
So here's my current list: https://deckbox.org/sets/1678099
The flex spots I see are:
+ 2x Deprive
+ 1x Claim // Fame
- 1x Snapcaster
- 1x Sleight of Hand
- 1x Kolaghan's Command
I'm pretty sold on the cuts - I agree that 4x Snap is usually too many, I think that Sleight of Hand is just straight not a good card, and Kolaghan's Command is expensive - I'm fine having 1x MD and 1x SB.
What I'm not sure on is the replacements though. The Deprives have actually been great in my testing, going from 1x SB to 2x SB to 2x MD. They could be Leaks or Snares if warranted, but I like having just a catchall answer at all points in the game. This leaves really one flex slot - the Claim // Fame. What do you think should be there? I want a business spell, and I've toyed between these options:
- 1x Sleight of Hand (Don't like as I mentioned above)
- 1x Opt (better than Sleight, but not sure it's worth a slot)
- 1x Claim // Fame (rebuys Snaps and GDS. I think of it as a cheaper replacement for K. Command)
- 1x Discard (Inquisition or Duress)
- 1x LotV (don't like as it's expensive and I'm looking to be aggressive)
- 1x Counterspell (Snare most likely, potentially Spell Pierce / Stubborn Denial which has the added benefit of freeing up a sideboard slot)
Any insights?
If not for the Deprives--which I haven't gotten to try out myself, but would like to--I would advocate for the first LotV. Given them, I think I would start with Opt. Also, I'm not a big fan of the card, but I exactly one maindeck Temur Battle Rage can be reasonable.
Not a fan of the Battle Rage really - I typically am winning if I'm gotten a creature to stick. I want cards to help make it stick or grind them back.
Have you tested Opt? Just don't see it being a big benefit to the deck since a lot of what we do is Sorc speed (discard and creatures) - yes, holding up a counter is nice (and might push builds towards a more Deprive / Counter focued build, potentially dropping IoK), but is Scry 1 really that great?
I have not tested it yet, and I agree that it's significant less exciting in this deck than in many other decks in Modern, but presently it's the first thing that I would test.
The instant speed not only plays well with the maindeck counters, but also sideboard ones, as well as instant speed removal. It also gives you the minor advantage of being able to postpone filtering until after seeing how your opponent's turn has played out.
I started with Dylan Donegans list that sided young pyromancers and played sleights of hands in the main.
From the little bit of testing I've done I really don't like yp in the deck at all.
I was wondering if anyone has some experience with the card and could tell me how it's done for them.
Also is there a good one card answer to chameleon Colossus that we can play or do we have to hope to hit it with discard or counter it?
It's interesting that you aren't a fan of young pyromancer, but are looking for a way to deal with chameleon colossus. YP is a great way to deal with the colossus as the stream of 1/1's can easily overwhelm it. Overall I like having additional threats in the board for grindy matches. There may be a better option than YP, but I have been having good luck with them for now. Some folks were using pia and kiran nalaar for a while and seemed like it was solid. It is a bit high on the mana curve, but in a 19 land build it seems like a reasonable option.
1) To beat Lingering Souls midrange decks, put Pia and Kiran Nalaar in your SB. It's your best bet to go toe to toe with them. Liliana, the Last Hope helps too, but she takes some time to deal with all 4 tokens. For most purposes, btw, I like P&K a lot better than Young Pyromancer. The main exception is vs fast go wide decks like Elves, but notably P&K is better against affinity because flying matters a lot, and so does blocking Etched Champion. P&K is essentially the best way to win grindy matchups, including the mirror, Jund, Abzan, and control decks. YP can do it, but topdecking a YP on an empty board with an empty hand is pretty lackluster. Not so with P&K.
2) Going down to 3 Snapcasters is something I've been doing for awhile. I essentially cut one for a MD Liliana of the Veil (and another LotV in one of the flex spots). You delve away your entire graveyard a lot and don't often get a ton of mana together to Snap + K Command, so Snapcaster is not as good here as it has been in other blue tempo decks in modern (e.g. Twin, or UWR Geist).
3) Collective Brutality is primarily for Burn, Storm, and Chord/Coco decks where 2+ modes are very good. It also functions as additional removal vs Affinity, Merfolk (notably kills Master of Waves), Elves, and in similar matchups, and as additional discard vs. Ad Nauseum, Valakut (though it may not always come in here, depends on the 75 I think), and a variety of other spell based combo decks.
4) Liliana of the Veil deals with Chameleon Colossus, and is very good in the MD (note some Valakut decks MD a Colossus).
5) Claim to Fame seems real bad in this shell. There are only 7-8 targets, and you can't afford to have spells stuck in your hand in the early game waiting for something to happen before you can use them. Snapcaster already has that problem somewhat, but at least all it requires is you to hit 3+ mana and have cast some spells. Claim to Fame requires your creatures to die (not get pathed), or get milled by Thought Scour. Good luck.
The flexspots are
1 Lightning Bolt
1 IoK
1 LotV