Scapeshift has horrible burn, affinity, amulet, and infect match ups.
One of the better match ups in pod is gone.
For the deck to be better positioned, there need to be less turn 3/4 combo decks. The format needs to slow down, and it would help if the slow creature decks did not main deck thoughtseize. There needs to be more tron and control decks.
there was a Jund scapeshift list many pages back. Jund scapeshift might be more suited to the current meta game!
1cc discard would be a heck of a wrench in most turn 4 decks game 1.
I don't recall that list, and most likely I blocked that person.
This deck does not want discard. This deck wants to play 7-8 lands and scapeshift. Cards that don't let you do that make the deck less consistent.
Scapeshift has horrible burn, affinity, amulet, and infect match ups.
One of the better match ups in pod is gone.
For the deck to be better positioned, there need to be less turn 3/4 combo decks. The format needs to slow down, and it would help if the slow creature decks did not main deck thoughtseize. There needs to be more tron and control decks.
there was a Jund scapeshift list many pages back. Jund scapeshift might be more suited to the current meta game!
1cc discard would be a heck of a wrench in most turn 4 decks game 1.
I don't recall that list, and most likely I blocked that person.
This deck does not want discard. This deck wants to play 7-8 lands and scapeshift. Cards that don't let you do that make the deck less consistent.
I'm also trying to come up with (probably G/R) a midrange deck that just adds 2 valakut 10 mountains and 2 scapeshift for "I win" moments. I'm not really sure how to start. Titanshift seems to be just more of the same scapeshift rather then midrange deck with scapeshift. Any ideas? would huntmaster of the fells fit? kitchen finks? wurmcoil? knight of reliquary adding 4 more fetches? maybe even thragtusk(which is usually bad in modern I know).
The point being is I just picked up cryptic-scapeshift and love it but often I find myself sitting around at 5-7 mana between turns 4-6 waiting for scapeshift and want to make a secondary deck with a more proactive beatdown plan and scapeshift backup.
I feel like clutch of the undercity would be better than dimir house guard. Kind of like the old
"Nightshift" decks.
So what? Somekind of BUG Scapeshift list? It is an interesting thought experiment, and being able to Bolt them, set them back a permanent and tutor up our wincon all with (potentially) one card would make Clutch a viable card in those lists.
Losing Red loses us some of our best board control however, and I'm not sure that's a worthwhile trade off. Until Black gets some removal that can keep up with Bolt and Anger of the Gods in the early game, I'm not sure this is a viable plan.
Anyone interested in talking more about this should probably make a thread for it in Deck Creation though, since that old conversation was close enough to a thread derail as it was.
This version of Scapeshift really utilized Clutch of the Undercity to fetch up all of its 4-drop sideboard cards, like Baloth, Chain Reaction,
Sowing Salt, Slaughter Games, Shatterstorm, Mindbreak Trap, etc etc.
I like the flexibility of the card, since it can tutor, delay a threat, or bounce a land to gain mana advantage against a control deck.
It was a flash in the pan, but it worked out for those events. I often like to look back and see what worked a few years ago and see if it could be used again. With that
said, I am a huge proponent of having as many instant-cast effects as possible in this deck (and transmute is sorcery speed), since it doesn't operate on a proactive axis. Maybe I'll try it this weekend to see how it goes. After all, hard testing beats theorycrafting.
A BUG list seems very out of the question, red is too dominate of a color. you can't really get into other colors, green and red are too dominate for the combo, and adding colors beyond a 3rd makes the mana base even more questionable.
1 black for powering clutch of the undercity is viable because RUG and that card are blue dominate.
------------
reason i'm temped to turn to Jund is so I can run damnation and shut down aggro situations regardless of creature size.
and transmute dimir house guard for solutions and combo enabler seems really strong as well.
Got 13th of 49 (4-2) in a Super IQ today with this deck(w/ Gifts Ungiven). Definitely shelving this deck for now; burn is quite popular at the moment and that matchup is such a suffer.
Short report:
Round 1 vs. RUG Twin
G1: I keep a slightly sketchy 6, and have multiple turns toward the end to find Scapeshift or a way to find it, but never do.
G2: Again, I just never find Scapeshift and his Goyfs and other dudes just get there.
0-1
Round 2 vs. Mono Green Devotion/Ramp
G1: I set him back early with bolts and remands but just cannot find Scapeshift for the life of me. He Tooth and Nails for Xenagod + Emrakul and I wonder if I'm going to win even a single game today.
G2: Standard on the play with search for tomorrow + 3 remands game. I kill him quickly on 7 lands.
G3: I stall a bit on 4 lands, but manage to set him back by cryptic bouncing the the land with overgrowth on it. He lands a Defense Grid and I tap down to put 2 Tribe Elders in play and represent the win the following turn. He overgrowths a land, then taps out for 7 mana to Tooth and Nail "mode is put 2 creatures from my hand into play". I have a brief heart attack but he only puts Emrakul in and passes the turn. Untap and kill him.
1-1
Round 3 vs. Burn
G1: He mulls to 4 on the play but gets land + 2 Goblin Guides. I barely manage to eke out the win.
G2: I see none of my sideboard cards until Baloth on the very last turn, but he has Skullcrack. I get Blightning'd somewhere in this game, as well as Kolaghan's Command'd, which take 2 Scapeshifts from my hand, and I couldn't find a 3rd.
G3: I have an early Spellskite, but he has Kolaghan's Command for face + destroy skite. Game goes downhill from there and I lose in short order.
1-2
Round 4 vs. Jund
G1: I get up to 6 lands with Gifts Ungiven in hand + my 7th land, but he has Scavenging Ooze and 4 lands of his own. On his turn, he taps down to 2 for Bob, then eats something in my endstep, then cracks his fetch. I respond with Gifts for Snap + Revival + Cryptic/Land + Scapeshift and hide the Scapeshift on top of my deck. Next turn, he's dead.
G2: Thoughtseize and Liliana of the Veil are good cards.
G3: He gets me down to 1 with me at 6 lands and the 7th in hand, but he was at 19. Topdecked Bolt for the win.
2-2
Round 5 vs. BUG Control
G1: He gets an early Ashiok and the first activation gets one of my Valakuts. I try to respond with Tamiyo, but she eats a Mana Leak. Over the next 5 turns, he doesn't hit the 2nd Valakut, but does manage to hit 3 of my Scapeshifts. I can't find the 4th one and die to Snapcaster + Tar Pit.
G2: I ramp hard and go off with plenty of counter backup.
G3: I'm on the draw and keep Misty Rainforest, Remand, Remand, Negate, Teferi, Anticipate, Tribe Elder. He leads with IOK taking Search and I miss the 2nd land drop on my 2nd turn, but find it the turn after that and steadily progress my boardstate. He never manages to get any pressure down, but does field a Spellskite to make things tricky. I bait counterspells in the lategame with EOT Teferi and EOT Gifts when I already had 2 Scapeshifts in hand(would've just found more permission anyway). I go off on 8 lands, and he did have some blue sources up, but he had put himself to 13 from lands/thoughtseizes and can't stop it all.
3-2
Round 6 vs. UR Twin
G1: Remands keep him at bay while I ramp and eventually just start throwing Scapeshifts down when I see that he doesn't have enough mana to play both an enabler AND have 2 counters.
G2: In the midgame, he starts trying to resolve an exarch on my upkeep, but remand stops this. Eventually I get 3 green sources and he can't stop the Scapeshift even with the tapdown.
4-2
I end up 13th, with my R1 loss at 12th and my R3 loss at 8th.
Some decks have to top 8, it's not always going to be the same X decks due to variance, match ups, player skill, etc... If you want to spike a tournament, you're looking to play the deck that will give you the best win percentage, and that's rarely going to be scapeshift.
Yes bolt and gifts are overly debated. People are not using the search function. I agree, bolt is not good since it rarely helps you resolve a winning scapeshift. I agree gifts versions are clunky and make you run situational cards (noxious revival). Additionally gifts versions make you prone to graveyard hate.
Courser and goyfs main deck were playable in the cruise era, when there were less removal spells that could kill them. Now there are more decays/paths, which makes courser/goyf pretty bad. One of the benefits of the deck was the virtual card advantage you got from making your opponent's removal dead draws.
Some decks have to top 8, it's not always going to be the same X decks due to variance, match ups, player skill, etc... If you want to spike a tournament, you're looking to play the deck that will give you the best win percentage, and that's rarely going to be scapeshift.
I think people are starting to go back to Tron and UWR Control which means that Scape will become a tiny bit better. If you happen to enter a tournament full of those decks you can spike it really hard. I remember playing on a 100+ player tournament with GR Tron and around 50% of the Meta was Control/Midrange and Jund (pre-Khans). I had the bad luck to catch the only few Burn and Scape players. But with this meta two scape players topped.
This was to say that the meta for Scape to be good is returning again and it's not that difficult to spike a tournament with Scapeshift, imo.
Yes that is the one of the very few instances where scapeshift would be a good choice.
Either way, I wasn't thinking about overloading on creatures. I thought about using 2/3 Coursers only, which are good agaisnt blue-based grinds and aggro/burn. Besides Courser can also generate card advantage which can potentially nulify the disadvantage or turning on their removal.
FWIW, I've played Esper Control with 2 Tasigur, where the same argument can be made and I've been loving it.
On another note, what people think of the new Surrak? I've read a few people tried but no one wrote a good report on their feelings playing the card.
The way to beat burn is to play a different deck, not to play 2-3 coursers. It's a fine card on the play, on the draw it's pretty bad. You're favored vs blue strategies, so I don't see the need to play courser.
Tasigur does not die to abrupt decay, and you can play it on 5 mana to get value. Courser is not something you want to cast on turn 4-5. You want to cast it on turn 3 (hopefully you ramped before then) and then win 2-3 turns later. The strategy of esper and scapeshift are different, in addition to the removal spells that affect the creatures. Tasigur in esper control and courser in scapeshift is not a good comparison and not a strong reason to justify courser main deck in scapeshift.
Surrak dragonclaw ? I've thought about playing that card, but it's not as versatile as other fat creatures you can play. I try to fit that card in the sideboard of all my temur decks (blue moon, twin, shift), but it just gets cut for cards that do more in other match ups.
Hey everyone! Check out this Jundshift deck by stoppre31 that 4-0'd today's daily. The sideboard is nasty is with all that hate. Anyway, I know it's not in RUG colors but it's still Scapeshift. This is a pretty sick list.
Sorry if this doesn't belong here.
So I'm interested in picking up Scapeshift, but I'm curious as to what you long-term players think will be reprinted in MM15 that I should hold off on buying until it's spoiled. I'm mostly concerned about Scapeshift itself and Remands, since I'm pretty sure Snapcaster won't be reprinted.
The problem I have with the jund scapeshift deck is that it's inconsistent. The cyptic command scapeshift lists usually goldfish around turns 5-7. Half the cards in the deck don't help you with scapeshift. It looks fun, but I don't think it's something you take to a real tournament. If you want to play a creature deck with scapeshift, i think the breach/titan one is better. Since it has less dead cards when you're on the valakut plan. Also the other issue with the jund deck, is that it still is weak to fast aggro. It doesn't solve any of the weaknesses that cryptic shift has.
Remand should be a lock for reprint in MM15. Scapeshift probably should be reprinted as well. If you're more concerned about money than playing, i'd wait.
Snapcaster won't be reprinted in MM15 since it is not in the time frame of MM15. Only cards from 8th edition to New Phyrexia will be reprinted.
Hello everyone, I started playing Modern recently and I builded the Breach/Titan variance of Scapeshift, now i'm building the original one and I have a couple of questions to the more experienced players. My meta as a lot of Burn / Twin, and a couple of Tron/Abzan/Blue Moon/Control/Midrange.
1. Why this deck doesn't run 4 Snapcasters ? I'm using 2 Mana Leak for the combo decks, but i think 4 Snapcasters should be here, i would cut the Mana Leaks for them.
2. What decks Firespout should be used for ? The only deck i see it useful is Zoo/Affinity, against Burn/Esper/Ub, I prefer the Bolts.
3. When should i side in creatures ? Baloths is a no brainer against Dicards and Burn, but the Batter/Titan is a little confusing to me. My line of thought on Game 2 is to completly give up on my combo, the enemy will still focus on it, but i will just play like a control deck and drop threats that he will ignore because he wants to save counters.
1. Most lists run les than 4 snaps because they want more protection/cantrips. The list I'm working on will only have 2 Snapcasters because my metagame is more creature heavy, thus wanting to have mainboard creature hate.
2. Firespout is what lets you win against almost any aggro. Kills everything in Jund but a flipped Huntmaster and a Goyf. Kills tokens, fish, robots, Infect's dudes and more. Some prefer it sideboard, I prefer it mainboard but my meta is creature heavy.
1) This deck wins on turns 4-8. Having multiple snapcasters in your hand is a liability. You're not really going to tempo people out or go long like twin or UWR decks. There are some tournament winning lists that play 3 snapcasters though.
2) small creature decks, geist decks, i don't like sweepers versus burn, it's too slow.
3) bring in creatures against blood moon decks and grindy decks. If the twin players is on the combo plan, then creatures are bad. So it's situational
I would never side out scapeshift unless you know your opponent has multiple slaughter games/surgical extractions
I like bolt vs twin, unless you know they don't have pestermites.
Against burn, I would remove all remands before taking out the cryptics. Cryptic can help you stabilize.
I like to side out Scapeshifts when the games tend to get grindy, there is the risk of drawing 5+ Mountains thus making the combo bad.
What do you guys think of the sideboard ?
I wonder if 3 Baloths is a good number, i think it's great agaisnt Liliana and Burn, not sure if i should switch to Huntmaster. Inferno Titan is also a card that wins games, but i wonder if Wurmcoil wouldn't be better, i saw some decks on TCG States running both of them, not sure what i should do.
There is another card that i saw making some sideboard on blue decks, Monastery Siege, it seems really good against Burn.
I would really avoid siding out Scapeshifts as much as possible. even against grindy decks, you can sometimes force a scapeshift through counters before the game goes too long. Failing that, it's still possible to win with 5+ mountains, unless your opponent has gained some life. It just requires a more creative use of scapeshift.
Search your library for any six Mountains and Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle for a total of 18 points of damage.
Forgive the completely newb question here. I'm obviously not understanding how Valakut works?
You get to 7 lands, sacrifice all 7, so now you have no lands. You search up Valakut and 6 mountains. You play Valakut. You then play Search your library for any six Mountains and Valakut,you then play a mountain, but have no others, so valakut does no damage. You then play a 2nd mountain, you only have one other, not 5 others, so valakut does no damage, and so on and so on until you play the 6th mountain, at this point you have 5 other mountains so valakut does 3 damage...
I like to side out Scapeshifts when the games tend to get grindy, there is the risk of drawing 5+ Mountains thus making the combo bad.
What do you guys think of the sideboard ?
I assume you know this but you can still combo them out with very few mountains in the deck (3 mountains in the deck can still deal 18 with double Valakut),
so completely running out of mountains is rarely a problem (unless you end up having to Scapeshift away their board to not die).
Your sideboard looks good, but I don't like 2 Swan Songs since often you need to use it defensively and provide your opponent with a clock on you.
My sideboard is more creature-based and I don't run Batterskull (2 Baloth, 2 Thragtusk, 1 Teferi, 1 Sower, 1 Clique, 1 Keranos, 1 Jace AoT -- I also run Huntmaster in the main since its generally good in a lot of matchups and helps with Burn), so I can shift to a more midrange/value plan when needed. I don't run Feed the Clan, I tend to lean on Huntmaster and all the other lifegain
creatures since its hard to make FtC actually gain the full 10 in our deck. Inferno Titan is obviously good, but I like the more resilient/value creature
approach. I also never liked Nature's Claim in Scapeshift since them gaining life is a real issue. I run a single Krosan Grip, Ancient Grudge and Shatterstorm.
Blood Moon is not typically a problem if you get around it accordingly by getting basics and then just bounce it / Krosan it when ready. Wurmcoil is less good
now with all the BGx decks running Path which is why I tend to use creatures with a relevant ETB effect.
Monastery Siege is a nice idea, but its terribly slow vs Burn (its usually a 1of in the sideboard so its highly unlikely you can drop it at a relevant time) and not really good vs anything else. I will only play such narrow cards if resolving them means typically winning the game (Shatterstorm).
Hey man, thanks for the feedback.
Sure you can still combo with more lands, just poiting out that the combo becomes weaker on longer games.
Regarding the sideboard, the swan songs seem like a good counter trick, leave one island open, Amulet and Twin will think "haha he has a dispel, gg", the token thing really sucks, a 2/2 flyer does put you in a clock, especially with Vendilions and Pestermites.
About the creatures, i REALLY would like to see your list with Huntermasters on the MB, he is one of my favorite cards in MTG and i would love to use him more often, but since G1 we just want to combo ASAP he didin't seem to fit the theme.
Thragtusk seems loot slow for me, not sure if he is in there for Burn or some other stuff like Control too.
Inferno Titan is like Huntmaster, i just love to play him, the problem is that he is really easy to get rid off, but if the opponent can't you will probably win the game, i also agree on the Wurmocil, too many paths lately.
Not a big fan of Nature's Claim either but people always tell me it's better than Krosan because of CMC, there is like 1-2 Affinity decks on my meta so Ancient Grudge/Shatterstorm seemed unecessary.
I'm still brewing the SB so i'm open to all sorts of ideas, like i said, i expect a lot of Burn / Twin / Abzan variances on the next tournament (MM1 box as a prize).
Forgive the completely newb question here. I'm obviously not understanding how Valakut works?
All the lands enter play at the same time.
So after SS resolves, the game checks for any triggers as a result. Each mountain will see 5 other mountains + Valakut in play when they enter the battlefield. This causes Valakut to trigger and check for 5 other mountains, which it does see, and then deals 3 damage to a target. This repeats for each mountain dealing 18 damage.
I don't recall that list, and most likely I blocked that person.
This deck does not want discard. This deck wants to play 7-8 lands and scapeshift. Cards that don't let you do that make the deck less consistent.
Had to dig for the original post.
but this was the JunD list I remembered from way back.
For some reason i thought there was discard spells in the list but seeing it now there isn't 1cc discard.
"Nightshift" decks.
So what? Somekind of BUG Scapeshift list? It is an interesting thought experiment, and being able to Bolt them, set them back a permanent and tutor up our wincon all with (potentially) one card would make Clutch a viable card in those lists.
Losing Red loses us some of our best board control however, and I'm not sure that's a worthwhile trade off. Until Black gets some removal that can keep up with Bolt and Anger of the Gods in the early game, I'm not sure this is a viable plan.
Anyone interested in talking more about this should probably make a thread for it in Deck Creation though, since that old conversation was close enough to a thread derail as it was.
Here's a link to the thread:
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/modern-archives/modern-archives-deck-creation/220240-nightshift
This version of Scapeshift really utilized Clutch of the Undercity to fetch up all of its 4-drop sideboard cards, like Baloth, Chain Reaction,
Sowing Salt, Slaughter Games, Shatterstorm, Mindbreak Trap, etc etc.
I like the flexibility of the card, since it can tutor, delay a threat, or bounce a land to gain mana advantage against a control deck.
It was a flash in the pan, but it worked out for those events. I often like to look back and see what worked a few years ago and see if it could be used again. With that
said, I am a huge proponent of having as many instant-cast effects as possible in this deck (and transmute is sorcery speed), since it doesn't operate on a proactive axis. Maybe I'll try it this weekend to see how it goes. After all, hard testing beats theorycrafting.
A BUG list seems very out of the question, red is too dominate of a color. you can't really get into other colors, green and red are too dominate for the combo, and adding colors beyond a 3rd makes the mana base even more questionable.
1 black for powering clutch of the undercity is viable because RUG and that card are blue dominate.
------------
reason i'm temped to turn to Jund is so I can run damnation and shut down aggro situations regardless of creature size.
and transmute dimir house guard for solutions and combo enabler seems really strong as well.
Short report:
Round 1 vs. RUG Twin
G1: I keep a slightly sketchy 6, and have multiple turns toward the end to find Scapeshift or a way to find it, but never do.
G2: Again, I just never find Scapeshift and his Goyfs and other dudes just get there.
0-1
Round 2 vs. Mono Green Devotion/Ramp
G1: I set him back early with bolts and remands but just cannot find Scapeshift for the life of me. He Tooth and Nails for Xenagod + Emrakul and I wonder if I'm going to win even a single game today.
G2: Standard on the play with search for tomorrow + 3 remands game. I kill him quickly on 7 lands.
G3: I stall a bit on 4 lands, but manage to set him back by cryptic bouncing the the land with overgrowth on it. He lands a Defense Grid and I tap down to put 2 Tribe Elders in play and represent the win the following turn. He overgrowths a land, then taps out for 7 mana to Tooth and Nail "mode is put 2 creatures from my hand into play". I have a brief heart attack but he only puts Emrakul in and passes the turn. Untap and kill him.
1-1
Round 3 vs. Burn
G1: He mulls to 4 on the play but gets land + 2 Goblin Guides. I barely manage to eke out the win.
G2: I see none of my sideboard cards until Baloth on the very last turn, but he has Skullcrack. I get Blightning'd somewhere in this game, as well as Kolaghan's Command'd, which take 2 Scapeshifts from my hand, and I couldn't find a 3rd.
G3: I have an early Spellskite, but he has Kolaghan's Command for face + destroy skite. Game goes downhill from there and I lose in short order.
1-2
Round 4 vs. Jund
G1: I get up to 6 lands with Gifts Ungiven in hand + my 7th land, but he has Scavenging Ooze and 4 lands of his own. On his turn, he taps down to 2 for Bob, then eats something in my endstep, then cracks his fetch. I respond with Gifts for Snap + Revival + Cryptic/Land + Scapeshift and hide the Scapeshift on top of my deck. Next turn, he's dead.
G2: Thoughtseize and Liliana of the Veil are good cards.
G3: He gets me down to 1 with me at 6 lands and the 7th in hand, but he was at 19. Topdecked Bolt for the win.
2-2
Round 5 vs. BUG Control
G1: He gets an early Ashiok and the first activation gets one of my Valakuts. I try to respond with Tamiyo, but she eats a Mana Leak. Over the next 5 turns, he doesn't hit the 2nd Valakut, but does manage to hit 3 of my Scapeshifts. I can't find the 4th one and die to Snapcaster + Tar Pit.
G2: I ramp hard and go off with plenty of counter backup.
G3: I'm on the draw and keep Misty Rainforest, Remand, Remand, Negate, Teferi, Anticipate, Tribe Elder. He leads with IOK taking Search and I miss the 2nd land drop on my 2nd turn, but find it the turn after that and steadily progress my boardstate. He never manages to get any pressure down, but does field a Spellskite to make things tricky. I bait counterspells in the lategame with EOT Teferi and EOT Gifts when I already had 2 Scapeshifts in hand(would've just found more permission anyway). I go off on 8 lands, and he did have some blue sources up, but he had put himself to 13 from lands/thoughtseizes and can't stop it all.
3-2
Round 6 vs. UR Twin
G1: Remands keep him at bay while I ramp and eventually just start throwing Scapeshifts down when I see that he doesn't have enough mana to play both an enabler AND have 2 counters.
G2: In the midgame, he starts trying to resolve an exarch on my upkeep, but remand stops this. Eventually I get 3 green sources and he can't stop the Scapeshift even with the tapdown.
4-2
I end up 13th, with my R1 loss at 12th and my R3 loss at 8th.
1 Eternal Witness
2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
Sorcery
4 Scapeshift
4 Search for Tomorrow
Instant
4 Cryptic Command
4 Remand
3 Anticipate
3 Gifts Ungiven
2 Izzet Charm
2 Lightning Bolt
1 Noxious Revival
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
Lands
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Steam Vents
4 Stomping Ground
2 Breeding Pool
2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
1 Yavimaya Coast
2 Island
2 Mountain
1 Forest
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Snow-Covered Forest
1 Snow-Covered Mountain
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Batterskull
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
2 Spellskite
2 Obstinate Baloth
2 Firespout
1 Fracturing Gust
2 Krosan Grip
2 Dispel
1 Negate
Legacy- Miracles, Aluren
My favorite win conditions cost 4 mana and are sorcery speed.
Yes bolt and gifts are overly debated. People are not using the search function. I agree, bolt is not good since it rarely helps you resolve a winning scapeshift. I agree gifts versions are clunky and make you run situational cards (noxious revival). Additionally gifts versions make you prone to graveyard hate.
Courser and goyfs main deck were playable in the cruise era, when there were less removal spells that could kill them. Now there are more decays/paths, which makes courser/goyf pretty bad. One of the benefits of the deck was the virtual card advantage you got from making your opponent's removal dead draws.
Yes that is the one of the very few instances where scapeshift would be a good choice.
The way to beat burn is to play a different deck, not to play 2-3 coursers. It's a fine card on the play, on the draw it's pretty bad. You're favored vs blue strategies, so I don't see the need to play courser.
Tasigur does not die to abrupt decay, and you can play it on 5 mana to get value. Courser is not something you want to cast on turn 4-5. You want to cast it on turn 3 (hopefully you ramped before then) and then win 2-3 turns later. The strategy of esper and scapeshift are different, in addition to the removal spells that affect the creatures. Tasigur in esper control and courser in scapeshift is not a good comparison and not a strong reason to justify courser main deck in scapeshift.
Surrak dragonclaw ? I've thought about playing that card, but it's not as versatile as other fat creatures you can play. I try to fit that card in the sideboard of all my temur decks (blue moon, twin, shift), but it just gets cut for cards that do more in other match ups.
Sorry if this doesn't belong here.
1 Grave Titan
2 Huntmaster of the Fells
2 Inferno Titan
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
Sorcery 13
1 Explore
1 Maelstrom Pulse
4 Scapeshift
4 Search for Tomorrow
3 Thoughtseize
Instant 13
4 Abrupt Decay
1 Go for the Throat
2 Kolaghan's Command
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Murderous Cut
1 Terminate
4 Blood Crypt
2 Forest
3 Mountain
2 Overgrown Tomb
4 Stomping Ground
1 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
3 Verdant Catacombs
3 Wooded Foothills
2 Boil
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
2 Choke
1 Dragon's Claw
3 Duress
4 Obstinate Baloth
1 Shatterstorm
1 Slaughter Games
UR Storm
RBG Dredge
EDH:
UR Mizzix
GB Gitrog
WB Daxos
Remand should be a lock for reprint in MM15. Scapeshift probably should be reprinted as well. If you're more concerned about money than playing, i'd wait.
Snapcaster won't be reprinted in MM15 since it is not in the time frame of MM15. Only cards from 8th edition to New Phyrexia will be reprinted.
This is my current deck :
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Search for Tomorrow
4 Scapeshift
4 Cryptic Command
4 Remand
4 Lightning bolt
3 Anticipate
2 Mana Leak
2 Izzet Charm
2 Repeal
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Steam Vents
4 Stomping Ground
2 Breeding Pool
2 Flooded Grove
2 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
3 Island
2 Forest
2 Mountain
2 Swan Song
2 Nature's Claim
2 Feed the Clan
1 Batterskull
2 Inferno Titan
1 Dispel
1 Negate
Now for the questions:
1. Why this deck doesn't run 4 Snapcasters ? I'm using 2 Mana Leak for the combo decks, but i think 4 Snapcasters should be here, i would cut the Mana Leaks for them.
2. What decks Firespout should be used for ? The only deck i see it useful is Zoo/Affinity, against Burn/Esper/Ub, I prefer the Bolts.
3. When should i side in creatures ? Baloths is a no brainer against Dicards and Burn, but the Batter/Titan is a little confusing to me. My line of thought on Game 2 is to completly give up on my combo, the enemy will still focus on it, but i will just play like a control deck and drop threats that he will ignore because he wants to save counters.
This is what i ussualy do:
Burn: - 4 Cryptic, -2 Scapeshift , -2 Remand, +3 Baloth, +2 Feed the Clan, +1 Dispel, +1 Batterskull, +1 Negate
Twin : -4 Lightning Bolt, -2 Repeal, -2 Scapeshift, +2 Swan Song, +1 Negate, +1 Dispel, +1 Batterskull, +2 Obstinate Baloth
Tron : -2 Repeal, -1 Lightning Bolt, +1 Negate, + 2 Inferno Titan
Junk-Abzan-Jund : -4 Lightning Bolt, -2 Izzet Charm, +3 Obstinate Baloth, +1 Batterskull, +2 Inferno Titan
Amulet : -2 Repeal,-2 Izzet Charm, +2 Swan Song, +1 Dispel, +1 Negate
Control,Midrange Stuff: -4 Lightning Bolt, -2 Repeal, -2 Scapeshift, +3 Obstinate Baltoh, +1 Batterskull, +1 Dispel, +1 Negate, +2 Inferno Titan
This is baically what i would do against these decks, PLEASE feel free to lecture me, i really have no idea what i'm doing agains't some stuff.
2. Firespout is what lets you win against almost any aggro. Kills everything in Jund but a flipped Huntmaster and a Goyf. Kills tokens, fish, robots, Infect's dudes and more. Some prefer it sideboard, I prefer it mainboard but my meta is creature heavy.
UR Storm
RBG Dredge
EDH:
UR Mizzix
GB Gitrog
WB Daxos
2) small creature decks, geist decks, i don't like sweepers versus burn, it's too slow.
3) bring in creatures against blood moon decks and grindy decks. If the twin players is on the combo plan, then creatures are bad. So it's situational
I would never side out scapeshift unless you know your opponent has multiple slaughter games/surgical extractions
I like bolt vs twin, unless you know they don't have pestermites.
Against burn, I would remove all remands before taking out the cryptics. Cryptic can help you stabilize.
I like to side out Scapeshifts when the games tend to get grindy, there is the risk of drawing 5+ Mountains thus making the combo bad.
What do you guys think of the sideboard ?
I wonder if 3 Baloths is a good number, i think it's great agaisnt Liliana and Burn, not sure if i should switch to Huntmaster. Inferno Titan is also a card that wins games, but i wonder if Wurmcoil wouldn't be better, i saw some decks on TCG States running both of them, not sure what i should do.
There is another card that i saw making some sideboard on blue decks, Monastery Siege, it seems really good against Burn.
Modern
Value Town
Amulet Titan
Legacy
4C Loam
My Peasant Cube
http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/11667
Forgive the completely newb question here. I'm obviously not understanding how Valakut works?
You get to 7 lands, sacrifice all 7, so now you have no lands. You search up Valakut and 6 mountains. You play Valakut. You then play Search your library for any six Mountains and Valakut,you then play a mountain, but have no others, so valakut does no damage. You then play a 2nd mountain, you only have one other, not 5 others, so valakut does no damage, and so on and so on until you play the 6th mountain, at this point you have 5 other mountains so valakut does 3 damage...
What am I missing here?
Hey man, thanks for the feedback.
Sure you can still combo with more lands, just poiting out that the combo becomes weaker on longer games.
Regarding the sideboard, the swan songs seem like a good counter trick, leave one island open, Amulet and Twin will think "haha he has a dispel, gg", the token thing really sucks, a 2/2 flyer does put you in a clock, especially with Vendilions and Pestermites.
About the creatures, i REALLY would like to see your list with Huntermasters on the MB, he is one of my favorite cards in MTG and i would love to use him more often, but since G1 we just want to combo ASAP he didin't seem to fit the theme.
Thragtusk seems loot slow for me, not sure if he is in there for Burn or some other stuff like Control too.
Inferno Titan is like Huntmaster, i just love to play him, the problem is that he is really easy to get rid off, but if the opponent can't you will probably win the game, i also agree on the Wurmocil, too many paths lately.
Not a big fan of Nature's Claim either but people always tell me it's better than Krosan because of CMC, there is like 1-2 Affinity decks on my meta so Ancient Grudge/Shatterstorm seemed unecessary.
I'm still brewing the SB so i'm open to all sorts of ideas, like i said, i expect a lot of Burn / Twin / Abzan variances on the next tournament (MM1 box as a prize).
All the lands enter play at the same time.
So after SS resolves, the game checks for any triggers as a result. Each mountain will see 5 other mountains + Valakut in play when they enter the battlefield. This causes Valakut to trigger and check for 5 other mountains, which it does see, and then deals 3 damage to a target. This repeats for each mountain dealing 18 damage.