The first week that I played it, I ended 1-3 (first match against some RG fringe deck, which I won, but then I had to play the mirror and 2 matches against Burn).
The second week I lost against Gx Tron, won a match against Burn, but then lost another match against Burn and had a draw in turns against MU Tron, ending 1-2-1
So, I am making some changes. I am taking out the Serum Visions and going just with 4 Opts, and replacing them with one extra land (Watery Grave) and a second TBR. I also changed the 2 copies of Tasigur, Golden Fang to Gurmag Angler to go with a full set. Even if they cost 1 more mana, I prefer a 5/5 over a 4/5... they are vulnerable to the same removal spells, but Angler is a slightly faster clock (1 turn faster), two more points of damage combined with TBR and I never found enough mana to use Tasigur's ability.
I have been on opt and visions on and off, visions just feels so much better when it comes to the 18 land count. If you're going to opt I suggest going to a 19 land count. We need to hit the land drops
I have been on opt and visions on and off, visions just feels so much better when it comes to the 18 land count. If you're going to opt I suggest going to a 19 land count. We need to hit the land drops
I decided to go to 19 lands because I was more frequently mana screwed than flooded. I guess it's because I was on the 4 opt/2 serum visions plan.
I'm happy that I am doing the right combination now.
BTW... any good suggestions in terms of Burn MUs? My LGS seems to have a lot of Burn in the current meta (I've seen 4 burn players out of 20-something people one night).
I have been going with the 2x Collective Brutality and completing the set of Stubborn Denials ... are EE/Tendrils good (in case I need to get rid of multiple 1 drop creatures) or should I just rely on hitting our 1-1 removal spells?
I used to play 1 copy of Murderous Cut when I played 8-Rack, just to kill Eidolon of the Great Revel, but with the amount of Delve creatures we play I don't see it as an option here.
I've been playing around with the 4 bauble/17 land version. I think 17 lands is acceptable. Bauble is fun. Makes for some good opening play with a serum and street wraith in hand. I think this build is more explosive in the early game. But doesn't have the late game as tradish grixis shadow. I was having little to no issues putting down a turn 2 angler. It felt almost more suicidey/infect with the 2 tbr in the main. I did notice with all the 3 cmc in the sideboars it was sometimes a struggle to find the third land. Would love to hear people's thoughts on the bauble version if anyone has toyed around with it.
Well, I've been trying it for the past 5 days online quite a bit and there are a couple of things I have noticed that have made me like the 17 land count but dislike the baubles.
I think they are absolutely amazing with a fetchland, they are almost a free opt in that scenario, you scry, and then draw next upkeep.
However, I have found them to be quite a bad draw later in the game, if you don't have a fetchland the best you can do with it is look at the opponent's top and draw next turn, where the draw might be a threat that you can't actually play and is susceptible to thoughtseize, if you crack in their turn its ok, but still its 1 turn later than a regular cantrip.
So my decision has been to try a list such as this:
Well, I've been trying it for the past 5 days online quite a bit and there are a couple of things I have noticed that have made me like the 17 land count but dislike the baubles.
I think they are absolutely amazing with a fetchland, they are almost a free opt in that scenario, you scry, and then draw next upkeep.
However, I have found them to be quite a bad draw later in the game, if you don't have a fetchland the best you can do with it is look at the opponent's top and draw next turn, where the draw might be a threat that you can't actually play and is susceptible to thoughtseize, if you crack in their turn its ok, but still its 1 turn later than a regular cantrip.
So my decision has been to try a list such as this:
I'm back and forth with 18 and 17 lands, just because I like the second Blood Crypt, but I'm still testing and I'll keep checking.
I dig the list. And really like the sideboard. Not as many 3 cmc. And I like rakdos charm. keep us posted if you like the 17 land without bauble. And if you notice any issues with 4 anglers. I liked the bauble because they really help with the turn 2 angler.
What's the thought on young pyromancer?? Is it worth 2 slots in the sideboard. Personally I don't think so. Maybe I'm using it wrong. Mainly brining it in against Control, grind decks. Liliana and such. The only thing I enjoy about young p Is that its an extra potential threat in the deck if it's not dealt with (especially when they bring in grave hate) and is it less useful in the sideboard with the bauble build due to less instant and sorceries?
How important is having Scalding Tarns? I'm thinking of transitioning to GDS from 5cDS, and im missing Tarns. Firstly i thought everyone plays 3-4 tarns, but now i see on MTG Goldfish meta website that the GDS list portrayed as T1 deck has 1 Tarn:
Anyone have thoughts on Dylan Donegan's SCG Columbus 4th place list? Sideboard Godless Shrine x 1 and Lingering Souls x 3. Otherwise a pretty standard list.
From my experience, Young Pyromancer and Pia and Kiran Nalaar can do just as much in most situations without being affected by Thalia and a smaller risk of getting locked out of the required colored mana. In addition, I don't think that Lingering Souls is well-positioned in the current metagame. Of the top decks, only Grixis Shadow and the weaker creature-based version of Jeskai Control are truly vulnerably to it. If you want to hate out those decks, you can just run extra spot removal or LotV, which are also good against a variety of other top decks in the format.
I do think bounce effects like echoing truth and vapor snag are worth considering further. They synergize really well with discard, and have secondary uses as protection for Shadow and reusing snapcaster mage.
So my line here would be:
-play fetch and pass, then play Thought Scour at the end of opponent's turn and then play Thoughtseize and Serum Visions on your turn
I'm not sure if this is correct. So what do you guys think about that?
Thoughtseize on turn 1 is so much better against an unknown opponent than Thoughtseize on turn 2. A turn 1 Expedition Map can often win them the game and if they have some discard of their own, you don't want to end up being the one who drives blindly.
Thoughtseize + 2 fetches means that, by turn 2, we know 7 out of the 8 cards our opponent has and can have a 1/1 Death's Shadow. With all this information, we can make more reasonable choices when casting Serum Visions or Opt than we can on turn 1.
Thought Scour would probably the last cantrip I cast in this situation, unless my turn 2 Death's Shadow dies quickly. In most cases, I would concentrate on getting the best cards to grow/protect my Shadow (Serum Visions/Opt). Thought Scour just gives me a random card. It's also noteworthy that I can mill my opponent with Thought Scour on turn 3 in case I really want the second card off my turn 2 Serum Visions. Or I can Opt then if I don't want to fill my opponent's graveyard with cards.
I think you need to play Discard spell on T1 all the time unless you are packing Serum Visions as you card selection, and you are in a 1 lander.
If you have 2 lands(or know you will have two lands by T2) then discard is step 1 almost all the time, unless the matchup specifically asks you to hold those(like grind mirrors or else).
If your card selection is Opt and you are on a 1 lander and you hand contains both Opt and TS/IOK, i think the line is still T1 discard since waiting and turn lets you see 1 more card and Opt lets you dig deeper for said land(in mainphase T2) than Serum Visions.
I hope i explained myself, the cantrips/discard thing in GDS is what makes it such a hard deck to pilot. If you somehow master that aspect, your winrate with Shadow will increase a lot.
Probably you're right about that you need to play discard on turn 1. As you mentioned turn 2 discard is a lot worse than turn 1 discard. It gives you an early information on your opponents hand which helps you to choose your next line of play as well as protect your hand from opponent's discard and hide information.
I don't agree with playing Serum Visions/Opt on turn 1 though. If you have only Thought Scour and Serum Visions/Opt without discard I'm pretty sure that playing Thought Scour on your first turn instead of Serums Visions/opt is correct line for the reasons I stated in my previous post. The only exception for this is when you're looking for a land; this is the case if you keep one lander. In this case maximizing your chances of drawing second land is more important than milling yourself or playing discard.
One thing to also consider is whether you are on the play or draw, how to most efficiently use your mana, and whether you already know what deck your opponent is on. On the play I would Scour, then TS, SV. The opponent would have drawn another card, and it is relatively low chance for an opposing explosive turn 1 play on the draw (with some obvious exceptions, e.g., affinity, turn 1 Thoughtseize, etc). In this case you can maximize the info that you are working with to optimize your plan.
I find it important to understand which decks certain leading lands will be a cue for as well when facing unknown opponents on the draw. Sometimes taking 5 right away is a liability or it may be best to wait a turn so that they are likier to have their pay off spell (e.g., TitanShift).
Hey guys! What's the Humans matchup like? Any tips or tricks? Recently started playing this deck and I find it to be a difficult matchup. Thank you in advance!
Hey guys! What's the Humans matchup like? Any tips or tricks? Recently started playing this deck and I find it to be a difficult matchup. Thank you in advance!
Haven't played against Humans... it seems that it's not become popular at my LGS yet.
Isn't this an opportunity for Young Pyromancer to be back in our 75? I mean, Humans grow wide and big at the same time... spawning blockers and then trying to go through with a big creature + TBR could be a good strategy.
I have had some problems with Ponza in my LGS, so that's why I'm already thinking on YP (I need blockers for Chameleon Colossus). Not sure if it helps against Humans.
Is it just me or is the meta super hard to beat with GDs now? Ive played GDS for about 6 months and am not a pro at it or anything, but I feel like my time learning the deck has not payed off. Its just so frustrating to play when im constantly either flooding or having 1 land only and can tripping into no threats. This last week ive played about 6-7 leagues doing no better than 3-2 in all the games, and played 2 tournaments going 2-4 both times..... Has anyone here just had a moment where the deck clicked and their win rate increased a lot? not sure If I should keep trying or just switch decks at this point.
Is it just me or is the meta super hard to beat with GDs now? Ive played GDS for about 6 months and am not a pro at it or anything, but I feel like my time learning the deck has not payed off. Its just so frustrating to play when im constantly either flooding or having 1 land only and can tripping into no threats. This last week ive played about 6-7 leagues doing no better than 3-2 in all the games, and played 2 tournaments going 2-4 both times..... Has anyone here just had a moment where the deck clicked and their win rate increased a lot? not sure If I should keep trying or just switch decks at this point.
I think you've experienced a very high rate of variance, which happens from time to time. My suggestion would be to play something else for a tournament or two and return to the deck later.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
--> Modern <-- RBUSplinter Twin (RIP)/DelverRBU UUUMono U TronUUU GRGGR TronGRG GWURKnight FallGWUR
GDS is remarkably consistent, it plays a significantly larger number of draw spells than most decks in the format. Hence why it feels you’re flooding often.
It is a tempo deck, it relies on a clock backed by efficient disruption to get the job done. It will not “lock up” games against most opponents, if that’s what you’re wanting then play Jeskai.
GDS is incredibly consistent at knocking the opponent off balance, sticking a large threat, and ending the game before the opponent can get back into it.
The current meta is slightly hostile because GDS has such a strong metagame presence. TitanShift plays roughly 10-12 payoff cards, half of which GDS struggles to interact with. Combine that with the fact they can just play their lands and kill you out of nowhere, and you have a tough matchup.
Jeskai plays efficient removal, ways to generate get card advantage, and potential to just burn you out of the game (preventing you from going ultra-fast) — you have yet another tricky matchup.
None of this means the deck is bad, or poorly positioned. It still had the highest number of players pulled through to Day 2 of the most recent Open.
Instead of asking “why can’t it be easier?” — ask yourself “how can I be better?”
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I decided to go to 19 lands because I was more frequently mana screwed than flooded. I guess it's because I was on the 4 opt/2 serum visions plan.
I'm happy that I am doing the right combination now.
BTW... any good suggestions in terms of Burn MUs? My LGS seems to have a lot of Burn in the current meta (I've seen 4 burn players out of 20-something people one night).
I have been going with the 2x Collective Brutality and completing the set of Stubborn Denials ... are EE/Tendrils good (in case I need to get rid of multiple 1 drop creatures) or should I just rely on hitting our 1-1 removal spells?
I used to play 1 copy of Murderous Cut when I played 8-Rack, just to kill Eidolon of the Great Revel, but with the amount of Delve creatures we play I don't see it as an option here.
Thanks again,
Daniel.
I think they are absolutely amazing with a fetchland, they are almost a free opt in that scenario, you scry, and then draw next upkeep.
However, I have found them to be quite a bad draw later in the game, if you don't have a fetchland the best you can do with it is look at the opponent's top and draw next turn, where the draw might be a threat that you can't actually play and is susceptible to thoughtseize, if you crack in their turn its ok, but still its 1 turn later than a regular cantrip.
So my decision has been to try a list such as this:
1x Blood Crypt
4x Bloodstained Mire
1x Island
4x Polluted Delta
3x Scalding Tarn
1x Steam Vents
1x Swamp
2x Watery Grave
Creatures (15)
4x Death's Shadow
4x Gurmag Angler
4x Snapcaster Mage
3x Street Wraith
4x Opt
4x Thought Scour
1x Serum Visions
1x Dismember
4x Fatal Push
2x Inquisition of Kozilek
1x Kolaghan's Command
1x Lightning Bolt
3x Stubborn Denial
2x Temur Battle Rage
1x Terminate
4x Thoughtseize
2x Ceremonious Rejection
1x Collective Brutality
2x Disdainful Stroke
1x Engineered Explosives
1x Flaying Tendrils
1x Kolaghan's Command
1x Kozilek's Return
2x Liliana of the Veil
2x Nihil Spellbomb
2x Young Pyromancer
I'm back and forth with 18 and 17 lands, just because I like the second Blood Crypt, but I'm still testing and I'll keep checking.
URBGrixis ControlBRUURBGrixis Death's ShadowBRU[
URBGrixis TwinBRUGWUGWx VizierGWU
UWRJeskai NahiriRWUGBBG RockBG
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-grixis-death-s-shadow#paper
Its the list from SCG Modern IQ Durham, 3rd Place
Thoughtseize + 2 fetches means that, by turn 2, we know 7 out of the 8 cards our opponent has and can have a 1/1 Death's Shadow. With all this information, we can make more reasonable choices when casting Serum Visions or Opt than we can on turn 1.
Thought Scour would probably the last cantrip I cast in this situation, unless my turn 2 Death's Shadow dies quickly. In most cases, I would concentrate on getting the best cards to grow/protect my Shadow (Serum Visions/Opt). Thought Scour just gives me a random card. It's also noteworthy that I can mill my opponent with Thought Scour on turn 3 in case I really want the second card off my turn 2 Serum Visions. Or I can Opt then if I don't want to fill my opponent's graveyard with cards.
If you have 2 lands(or know you will have two lands by T2) then discard is step 1 almost all the time, unless the matchup specifically asks you to hold those(like grind mirrors or else).
If your card selection is Opt and you are on a 1 lander and you hand contains both Opt and TS/IOK, i think the line is still T1 discard since waiting and turn lets you see 1 more card and Opt lets you dig deeper for said land(in mainphase T2) than Serum Visions.
I hope i explained myself, the cantrips/discard thing in GDS is what makes it such a hard deck to pilot. If you somehow master that aspect, your winrate with Shadow will increase a lot.
One thing to also consider is whether you are on the play or draw, how to most efficiently use your mana, and whether you already know what deck your opponent is on. On the play I would Scour, then TS, SV. The opponent would have drawn another card, and it is relatively low chance for an opposing explosive turn 1 play on the draw (with some obvious exceptions, e.g., affinity, turn 1 Thoughtseize, etc). In this case you can maximize the info that you are working with to optimize your plan.
I find it important to understand which decks certain leading lands will be a cue for as well when facing unknown opponents on the draw. Sometimes taking 5 right away is a liability or it may be best to wait a turn so that they are likier to have their pay off spell (e.g., TitanShift).
Haven't played against Humans... it seems that it's not become popular at my LGS yet.
Isn't this an opportunity for Young Pyromancer to be back in our 75? I mean, Humans grow wide and big at the same time... spawning blockers and then trying to go through with a big creature + TBR could be a good strategy.
I have had some problems with Ponza in my LGS, so that's why I'm already thinking on YP (I need blockers for Chameleon Colossus). Not sure if it helps against Humans.
- Daniel.
I think you've experienced a very high rate of variance, which happens from time to time. My suggestion would be to play something else for a tournament or two and return to the deck later.
RBU
Splinter Twin (RIP)/DelverRBUUUUMono U TronUUU
GRGGR TronGRG
GWURKnight FallGWUR
Legacy
GWBDark MaverickGWB
--> EDH <--
BWUErtai, the CorruptedBWU
It is a tempo deck, it relies on a clock backed by efficient disruption to get the job done. It will not “lock up” games against most opponents, if that’s what you’re wanting then play Jeskai.
GDS is incredibly consistent at knocking the opponent off balance, sticking a large threat, and ending the game before the opponent can get back into it.
The current meta is slightly hostile because GDS has such a strong metagame presence. TitanShift plays roughly 10-12 payoff cards, half of which GDS struggles to interact with. Combine that with the fact they can just play their lands and kill you out of nowhere, and you have a tough matchup.
Jeskai plays efficient removal, ways to generate get card advantage, and potential to just burn you out of the game (preventing you from going ultra-fast) — you have yet another tricky matchup.
None of this means the deck is bad, or poorly positioned. It still had the highest number of players pulled through to Day 2 of the most recent Open.
Instead of asking “why can’t it be easier?” — ask yourself “how can I be better?”
@Robo_Memer on Twitter, Twitch, Reddit, and YouTube
Feel free to PM me about Affinity decks in any format!