So the issue, is I would adore having copies of F. Mages, an actual Mana base, Leylines, etc. But I can't afford all those guys, I want to get them eventually, and so, my first question is what should I prioritize getting? Should I buy shocks and then Fulminators and Leylines? Or What?
My next question is on my Mana base, I had to spend a large quantity of money on other things, so I was just trying to make the cheapest workable land base, did I do a good job do you think? I had most lying around so I tried to make it good as I can.
I plan on doing a free LGS Modern Event this thursday to try it out for the first time. I haven't been to this store enough to learn the meta yet though. But I wanted to see what you guys thought
Personally I would suggest working on the mana base first, then the fulminator mages. You might find fetches more important than shocks initially. (You can still find the smoldering marshes with fetches for example).
Also, if you don't have the fulminator mages I would suggest against running stone rain as a replacement. Instead I would go to 3 beast within and add one more cycler in the main (possibly a 3rd Riders, but thats a lot of 4 mana spells at that point).
Additionally, I don't think the restless tomb is going to be large enough to matter / be worth running. With the mana base you have right now if you dont have a Wolf Run you might be better of just not running any utility lands just yet.
Personally I would suggest working on the mana base first, then the fulminator mages. You might find fetches more important than shocks initially. (You can still find the smoldering marshes with fetches for example).
I thought about that soon after posting, I may aim for a mix of Fetches and Shocks though, since the Battlelands still require 2 basics out to hit the field untapped. But you are right and they are still searchable.
Also, if you don't have the fulminator mages I would suggest against running stone rain as a replacement. Instead I would go to 3 beast within and add one more cycler in the main (possibly a 3rd Riders, but thats a lot of 4 mana spells at that point).
I actually really like this suggestion, I was kicking myself over giving them a beast in the case of early LD, but then realizing that its instant speed, and I'd be looking to LE soon after really wont this suggestion for me. SO I'm adding a Faerie and Beast Within MB, and replacing the Faerie I took out of the SB is Krosan Grip I think
Additionally, I don't think the restless tomb is going to be large enough to matter / be worth running. With the mana base you have right now if you dont have a Wolf Run you might be better of just not running any utility lands just yet.
I actually forgot that I had one in an EDH deck, So that's gonna be used for sure.
I played a list with 4 faerie before I had fulminators, the LD plan is great in some MUs but in others you’re happier not to.
Yeah I'm adding in a Faerie since Im taking out the Stone Rain, but I wanna keep the 3 Rider in the 75, the Land destruction is super nice in those matchups and I think I would prefer the flexibility over pure consistency.
100% fill out your mana base. Fetches and shocks are great and all, but you can probably get 6 fastlands (most lists play 6) for like $30 (3x each of Blooming Marsh and Copperline Gorge).
Here is how I tier lands for this deck, with budget alternatives:
Tier 1:
4x Verdant Catacombs
- Can be replaced by Bloodstained Mire/Wooded Foothills for half the cost. I used to run a 3/2 split of Mires to Foothills before I splurged on my Catacombs. Since you already have a Foothills, you are about $80 (or 1.75 Catacombs) away.
4x Blackcleave Cliffs
- can be replaced by the aforementioned Gorge/Marsh, and you can probably get a playset of either at the cost of one Cliffs. Alternatively you could play Sulfur Springs.
2x Grove of the Burnwillows
- Can be replaced with additional Gorges
Shocks
- These are not replaceable if you are running fetches but you only need 1 each of Blood Crypt, Overgrown Tomb and Stomping Ground. Generally the RTR shocks are cheaper than the RAV ones and you can get all three for about $10 a piece.
On the whole, you should not be playing any land that is likely to come into play tapped prior to land 4. It will cost you often, so I'd ditch all of the Evolving Wilds/Battle lands.
Final recommendation:
If you can spare $100 for mana before you play, I'd get 3x Copperline Gorge, 3x Blooming Marsh, 2x Bloodstained Mire and one of each shock. Then replace your battle lands, check lands and basic fetches. The pain lands are tolerable.
I really enjoy those Recommendations, thank you very much! Currently I don't have the $100 to spare, I just had to replace most of my car to get home, but hopefully with any luck I CAN spare that $100 for a mana base and those suggestions really helped point me to where I should be looking.
I'm thinking of picking up Living End, I was wondering what all of you thought of this list? I was originally on 18 lands plus 1 Archfiend but noticed most lists run 19 lands, so I dropped Archfiend in favor of an Urborg. I'd like to get practicing with the deck to possibly take it to a larger tournament in a few months.
I'm thinking of picking up Living End, I was wondering what all of you thought of this list? I was originally on 18 lands plus 1 Archfiend but noticed most lists run 19 lands, so I dropped Archfiend in favor of an Urborg. I'd like to get practicing with the deck to possibly take it to a larger tournament in a few months.
Someone I played on Xmage back when Amonkhet just came out had them to keep the opponent from recovering after LE. Basically a board wipe. I'm between that or 2 Lost Legacy instead.
I played almost 2 years with the old deck (without amonkhet), but since I had build another deck, I left the living end.
I want to play with him again, but I'm kind of lost, I set up this list and I'm hoping for help: https://deckstats.net/decks/74507/852201-living-end
My meta(in quantity order ):
- BW Tokens (the reason for 3 Archfiend of Ifnir)
- Big Mana Decks: Tron and Eldrazi Tron
- Valakut
- Goblins
- Company Decks
- Jund and Junk
- Merfolk
Your meta would cause me to run at least a Shriekmaw main, maybe two. I don't think Rotbeast is a card for this deck. Architects of Will is strictly better IMO if you want a mono black cycler.
I'd also strongly consider a Dismember or two main since Burn isn't a thing but Eldrazi and CoCo and Merfolk are.
I agree with Ken here, any meta that isn’t over-saturated with Deaths Shadow would have me jamming 1-2 Shriekmaw in the MB. I currently play 2 myself and it’s wonderful, especially against the 5C humans deck that’s popular right now (cute thalia/meddling Mage ya got there).
If you’re on the blood moon plan, make sure you have a forest in the deck for casting half your interactive spells post-board. It’s a huge setback to ONLY be able to cascade at sorcery speed.
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Don't side out the combo. Yes, they run Chalice and Relic, but you are running Ingot Chewers for this very reason. Don't bother hitting a Relic with your Chewer unless you are about to go off because you can always sandbag your cyclers for after they pop Relic. For those not familiar with this line of play, when you put Living End on the stack and pass priority, they have to pop Relic in response. You can let the trigger resolve and then hold priority after it resolves and cycle a bunch of creatures to fill the yard before LE resolves.
Personally, I've been on the Blood Moon board plan for the last 6 months. It's great against Tron. Additionally, I run 1 Kolaghan's Command main board to give me another answer to artifacts. Shriekmaw shines here, as does Fulminator Mage.
The best card to cut IMO is Monstrous Carabid. It often experiences its drawback in this matchup.
Someone I played on Xmage back when Amonkhet just came out had them to keep the opponent from recovering after LE. Basically a board wipe. I'm between that or 2 Lost Legacy instead.
I missed this post earlier. I can't think of decks that can rebuild quickly after a Living End. Black/White tokens is one of our very best matchups, so I don't see a need to add Archfiend for that. Affinity can get around our Livng End with Ravager, but Faerie Macabre eating it is a clean answer that prevents them from getting too powerful. Maybe some of the CoCo decks would warrant it, but if I was really planning on a meta of CoCo decks, I'd be upping the Anger of the Gods count and maindecking multiple Shriekmaw.
I've tested Archfiend and he is just too slow. With our high power upgrades to the deck, we often just need 1 swing to seal the game. I often want 2 random cyclers in my yard over the demon.
I haven’t tested him personally, but every time I have seen lists jamming him on MTGO it just seems so clunky. The only deck that can potentially make us want it is Affinity, but as you said - Faerie just handles that problem altogether, for 0 mana.
Regarding Eldrazi Tron:
Do NOT side out the combo!! If they have Relic, you have several ways to play around it. If they’re sitting comfortably behind chalice, you just hit it EOT and untap to Combo. They play 2 warping wail max and they typically aren’t a deck that leaves a ton of mana up, so EOT Beast Within a Temple or a Tron piece to take them off mana is also a very reliable strategy.
Typically you don’t want to cycle as much until you’re ready to Combo because your guys are basically able to go head-to-head with theirs when hardcasted, so you save the combo until the last possible minute and then jam. They typically board out Ballista so they don’t have much reach post board.
Stick to your plan and execute.
Tuesday Night Magic Report 3-1
R1: RW Burn
Keep a solid hand that can cascade at any point (Fetch and 2 SSG) with no cascade spell in the top 8 cards.
G2 I trimmed down the Fat but I don’t have much for Burn. Haven’t seen it in AGES at LGS and overall I just accept it as a miserable MU. Gets a quick t4 victory against my t3 24 power LE. Them’s the beats.
0-1, 0-2
R2: GR Big Creature Ramp
I wasn’t really sure what he was doing but he played R and G lands for 4 turns without casting any ramp, used Fulminator Mage on T2 and t3 to remove G sources, t4 Beast Within his Land EOT and cycle, his t5 I put lethal on board.
Didn’t know his list so I just brought in 2 K Grip and swapped out 2 Faerie Macabre. He leads with a t1 mana elf, T2 hexproof 0/3 mama dork, t3 two more, his EOT I destroyed a land with Beast Within and untapped to put 12 power on board. He scooped.
1-1, 2-2
R3: 8-Tree Zoo
He explained his deck as similar to 8-rack in that it has 8 copies of an effect (Burning Tree Emissary) after we played, it was just abysmal for him. He puts me to 7 and 9 in the two games respectively, but I was never out of reach of winning the game. His last turn he put 3 more guys into play and Surged the +1/+1 Goblin into my Violent Outburst for the concession. Swapped 2 Faeries for 2 Blood Moons for a freebie but didn’t matter.
2-1, 4-2
R4: BR Reanimator
Good buddy of mine, he was paired up and had no possibility of prize support so he gave me the concession. We played it out anyway, he got a t1 win both games. Didn’t mull for 4 faerie postboard and got punished 🤷🏻♂️
“3-1”, “6-2” officially
2-2, 4-4 in reality
If MU against Reanimator had been for prize support, would’ve mulled much heavier for Faerie as they can’t race us very quickly with the Breach.
Honestly, 2 Archfiend is a great addition in the deck and, from personal experience, wouldn't run any less or any more than 2. It puts a sweep on small aggro decks such as the "rising" variants of Human tribal but also gives us an almost reliable clear for decks that use things such as lingering souls or even burn. Sounds weird I used the term "almost reliable" but honestly magic is 70% luck and 30% skill. Whether you draw your cyclers or not depends on the magic gods.
As for E-Tron, that match up is a living nightmare. Turn 1 Urza land into Relic and Chalice cast on 0. A dirty opener that seals a game. If the stars align right and we can Fulm their lands we have a slightly better chance of winning but odds will always be against us. E-Tron is almost an auto lose for this deck given how many ways they're able to deal with our threats and how fast they can deal with them as well (Turn 2/3 TKS into turn 3/4 Reality Smasher.. Erg).
Burn is another.. rough match for us Game 1 unless your hand is pure gas. Game 2, side in Gnaw's and watch them cry as their gas drains. They can't bolt our creatures if you run the correct cyclers. I've started running 3 Gnaw's SB specifically because they're crucial to draw into against burn. Lately, burn has been SB Relics to counter graveyard decks but those are easy workarounds.
Lately I have been having some serious success with this deck even though 2 of the top decks blow us out or near blow us out. Storm is an EASY match-up for us once they gifts. Put Past in Flames and Grapeshot into the GY and Faerie it OR Slaughter Games their Grapeshot's and then Empty the Warrens. Titanscape we can outrace sometime and our creatures are as big and scary as their Prime Titan. Fulm Valakut, run basics to get around Blood Moon and it's GG. Also did I mention our Affinity match-up is great? Aggro decks go wide. We make them crumble easy. Death Shadow is.. Just Faerie stuff. It's not as aggressive as past variants.
I’m not sure you’ve ever actually played against ANY of those opponents (or at least, not Good pilots)
Archfiend vs Humans: if I wish resolve a Living End, you’re much better positioned to have 2 Fat Guys on the board vs just the one Archfiend, because they won’t be putting much into play after sweeper that is relevant facing down X/4s. Shriekmaw is actually significantly better against them, it kills thalia and meddling Mage before you go off.
Archfiend vs Burn: I would 100% ALWAYS rather be able to race with more creatures than be able to sweep their Potential second rally. You ARE aware that living end will alreadyclear the board of their dudes when it resolves right?
Archfiend vs Lingering Souls: any deck that plays Lingering Souls, is probably just dead on board to a bunch of dudes, but they probably play Path to Exile for just one dude (archfiend)
Vs Eldrazi Tron: Yes if they kept a hand with Chalice and Relic (a 2-of at best) and somehow knew you’re on Living End, instead of developing their hand, you MIGHT have a problem. That’s why we play typically 3 “Destroy Target Hate piece” cards in our MB (Beast Within, recently Kolaghan’s Command which has been an all-star). We also play 16 cyclers to dig us towards our answers, whereas they play zero ways to dig towards theirs. Post board we have 3-4 Ingot Chewers, access to K Grip for Relic potentially... it’s bad for us, but not worst nightmare bad. In fact, I reserve that for...
Living End Vs Scapeshift/Storm: These are actually really bad for us. Sure, we Combo pretty damn consistently, but Dread is shut off against Scapeshift and against Storm they have maindeck Remand and can just kill you on their turn when you put lethal on the table.
Living End vs Affinity: This is L I T E R A L L Y one of our very worst matchups. They sacrifice all of their dudes to Arcbound Ravager with Living End on the stack and then it all comes back, their Cranial Plating on an Inkmoth just kills you anyway, and post-board they have access to countermagic and discard. This was the deck that kept living End in check back during its inception, clearly you’ve not played against it much. They don’t have to go wide, they have 8 manlands and they can put all of their dudes in the yard with ravager and put his modular trigger on the stack, to make a giant flying vault skirge with lifelink.
Deaths Shadow is super close, in my 5-2 LCQ run yesterday (finished 11th) I played against it 4 times, won three. Grixis is harder than 5C but both are vulnerable to Blood Moon. I beat two 5C lists and 1 Grixis list, lost to the Grixis list that ended up making top 8. The MU hinges on Fulminator Mage and slowing them down enough to hardcast your guys G1, you have to play very tight and take the low-risk lines as often as possible. On t3 if they have U mana up, you Jam the Mage and nuke it. They typically only play 2-3 U sources, total of 6-8 sources, so you’ll cripple them quickly with 2 Fulminator mages. Faerie is Better used to keep their Goyfs small than waiting for the Kcommand or Snap they probably don’t even play. Vs 5C you keep Shriekmaw in, vs Grixis the card is actually garbage
from my observation of the latest major tournament list, i noticed the list has dropped archfiend of ifnir in favor of the old hurly-burly deadshot minotaur. i never liked the archfiend, 2 cyclers are sub optimal. the only exception is pale recluse because it helped out if you are missing a forest but even then i only have 1 on my mainboard.
i am sure you should run faerie macabre in that slot. this little fairy tend to be underestimated by most but i find it extremely useful against most modern decks. you should always have a minimal of 2 in your mainboard.
about affinity matchup : its only bad for us if they have arcbound ravager. if they dont have it its a breeze. after sideboard we have ingot chewer which is a huge eff you card to affinity player, kolaghan's command which kill 2 of their guys or if you are in affinity heavy meta you have shatterstorm as an option.
i am genuinely more worried about burn matchup because affinity takes some skill to play but burn is such a coin flip (that is unfavorable to us) even a third grader can kill you game 1 and you got nothing to say for it.
G1 I’m on the play, he puts 13 power into play T2 and my t3 I cascade to wipe it up. G2 he has archdruid, dwynen’s elite, a token, Heritage Druid, and a mystic in play which represents chord of calling for GG ask I EOT cycle, untap, street wraith x2 and Exile SSG for cascade and GG.
R2 UW Control 0-2
I get cocky and try to jam t3, he ends up cutting me off Green with Seas and Tec Edges and I lose a very long game. G2 is pretty much the same, except he has counter spells for three consecutive game-Enders (2 cascade spells and a blood moon). Long drawn out loss.
R3 RW Prison 2-0
This MU was so ridiculously easy, comparatively. He leads with a t1 RW scryland, I Lead with Street wraith on my turn and play a wooded foothills. He verbally puts me on the 5C Shadow deck he lost to first round, untaps and slams Chalice for 1. EOT I grab Crypt, cycle a ceradon, untap and play another fetch. He plays a blood moon, I grab a swamp, cycle 2 times, my turn I play a forest from hand and pass. He plays a Simian Spirit Guide and I cascade EOT for GG. G2 he goes to 6, Chalice on 0 (I have Chewer in hand) Land, pass. I draw, fetch land, pass (to let him think he’s safe; also have K Command in hand, so ideally I’ll kill Chalice EOT when he cant play another). He exiles SSG and puts blood moon into play, I grab swamp and let it resolve. My turn I play a “mountain” and chew the Chalice (drew another), he plays out a SSG again, EOT I cycle, untap and dread the Guide for GG.
R4 Jeskai 2-0
This is actually a good friend of mine and we’ve played TOO many times. He knows what his game plan should be, but his 6 doesn’t quite reflect it. I play my way around his countermagic with EOT Beast Within (countered) into Fulminator Mage to hit his Colonnade and leave him stuck on only 2 lands. EOT his next turn I cast kommand, getting Fulminator back and making him discard, I untap and nuke him down to just island. The next EOT I cascade for 13 power and ride it to GG.
G2 I whiffed on lands for awhile, his spell Queller is on a Fulminator Mage and whittles me down to 8 life, I’ve baited out a couple counter spells with EOT Beast Within and kommand but he’s still got a full grip. I’ve got a huge yard, 30 power, I’m finally on 4 lands with SSG in hand and a ricochet Trap, eot I outburst and he counters it with Negate (he immediately understands his misplay) and when I try to let him take it back he says no it’s fine I have surgical anyway (3 horrors in yard) so I ricochet Trap surgical to rip his own celestial purge out of the yard. Even if he had played it correctly I still got 16 power into play and he was at 15 life, with no white sources because I get my Fulminator Mage back to nuke the last one. So either way a victory, but definitely a misplay.
3-1 for the night!
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RBGLiving EndRBG
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4 Desert Cerodon
3 Street Wraith
4 Horror of the Broken Lands
4 Monstrous Carabid
3 Simian Spirit Guide
2 Avalanche Riders
2 Faerie Macabre
1 Shriekmaw
1 Archfiend of Ifnir
1 Deadshot Minotaur
1 Pale Recluse
2 Beast Within
2 Stone Rain
4 Violent Outburst
3 Demonic Dread
1 Kari Zev's Expertise
2 Smoldering Marsh
1 Sheltered Thicket
1 Wooded Foothills
2 Sulpherous Springs
1 Karplusan Forest
1 Woodland Cemetary
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Evolving Wilds
1 Terramorphic Expanse
1 Gemstone Mine
1 Svogthos, the Restless Tomb
1 Forest
2 Mountain
3 Swamp
For The Sideboard I have:
2 Faerie Macabre
2 Brindle Boar
2 Slaughter Games
1 Ricochet Trap
1 Krosan Grip
1 Shriekmaw
1 Archfiend of Ifnir
1 Beast Within
1 Avalanche Riders
So the issue, is I would adore having copies of F. Mages, an actual Mana base, Leylines, etc. But I can't afford all those guys, I want to get them eventually, and so, my first question is what should I prioritize getting? Should I buy shocks and then Fulminators and Leylines? Or What?
My next question is on my Mana base, I had to spend a large quantity of money on other things, so I was just trying to make the cheapest workable land base, did I do a good job do you think? I had most lying around so I tried to make it good as I can.
I plan on doing a free LGS Modern Event this thursday to try it out for the first time. I haven't been to this store enough to learn the meta yet though. But I wanted to see what you guys thought
Also, if you don't have the fulminator mages I would suggest against running stone rain as a replacement. Instead I would go to 3 beast within and add one more cycler in the main (possibly a 3rd Riders, but thats a lot of 4 mana spells at that point).
Additionally, I don't think the restless tomb is going to be large enough to matter / be worth running. With the mana base you have right now if you dont have a Wolf Run you might be better of just not running any utility lands just yet.
Hope that helps.
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I thought about that soon after posting, I may aim for a mix of Fetches and Shocks though, since the Battlelands still require 2 basics out to hit the field untapped. But you are right and they are still searchable.
I actually really like this suggestion, I was kicking myself over giving them a beast in the case of early LD, but then realizing that its instant speed, and I'd be looking to LE soon after really wont this suggestion for me. SO I'm adding a Faerie and Beast Within MB, and replacing the Faerie I took out of the SB is Krosan Grip I think
I actually forgot that I had one in an EDH deck, So that's gonna be used for sure.
Yeah I'm adding in a Faerie since Im taking out the Stone Rain, but I wanna keep the 3 Rider in the 75, the Land destruction is super nice in those matchups and I think I would prefer the flexibility over pure consistency.
Here is how I tier lands for this deck, with budget alternatives:
Tier 1:
4x Verdant Catacombs
- Can be replaced by Bloodstained Mire/Wooded Foothills for half the cost. I used to run a 3/2 split of Mires to Foothills before I splurged on my Catacombs. Since you already have a Foothills, you are about $80 (or 1.75 Catacombs) away.
4x Blackcleave Cliffs
- can be replaced by the aforementioned Gorge/Marsh, and you can probably get a playset of either at the cost of one Cliffs. Alternatively you could play Sulfur Springs.
2x Grove of the Burnwillows
- Can be replaced with additional Gorges
Shocks
- These are not replaceable if you are running fetches but you only need 1 each of Blood Crypt, Overgrown Tomb and Stomping Ground. Generally the RTR shocks are cheaper than the RAV ones and you can get all three for about $10 a piece.
On the whole, you should not be playing any land that is likely to come into play tapped prior to land 4. It will cost you often, so I'd ditch all of the Evolving Wilds/Battle lands.
Final recommendation:
If you can spare $100 for mana before you play, I'd get 3x Copperline Gorge, 3x Blooming Marsh, 2x Bloodstained Mire and one of each shock. Then replace your battle lands, check lands and basic fetches. The pain lands are tolerable.
RBGLiving EndRBG
EDH
UFblthpU
BRXantchaRB
BGVarolzGB
URWZedruuWRU
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/821698#paper
Seems like a pretty stock list. No glaring issues, though I don't know what the Archfiend in the sideboard is for.
RBGLiving EndRBG
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I want to play with him again, but I'm kind of lost, I set up this list and I'm hoping for help:
https://deckstats.net/decks/74507/852201-living-end
My meta(in quantity order ):
- BW Tokens (the reason for 3 Archfiend of Ifnir)
- Big Mana Decks: Tron and Eldrazi Tron
- Valakut
- Goblins
- Company Decks
- Jund and Junk
- Merfolk
I Want to use Moon(for big mana and valakut)
I'd also strongly consider a Dismember or two main since Burn isn't a thing but Eldrazi and CoCo and Merfolk are.
RBGLiving EndRBG
EDH
UFblthpU
BRXantchaRB
BGVarolzGB
URWZedruuWRU
If you’re on the blood moon plan, make sure you have a forest in the deck for casting half your interactive spells post-board. It’s a huge setback to ONLY be able to cascade at sorcery speed.
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Personally, I've been on the Blood Moon board plan for the last 6 months. It's great against Tron. Additionally, I run 1 Kolaghan's Command main board to give me another answer to artifacts. Shriekmaw shines here, as does Fulminator Mage.
The best card to cut IMO is Monstrous Carabid. It often experiences its drawback in this matchup.
RBGLiving EndRBG
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I missed this post earlier. I can't think of decks that can rebuild quickly after a Living End. Black/White tokens is one of our very best matchups, so I don't see a need to add Archfiend for that. Affinity can get around our Livng End with Ravager, but Faerie Macabre eating it is a clean answer that prevents them from getting too powerful. Maybe some of the CoCo decks would warrant it, but if I was really planning on a meta of CoCo decks, I'd be upping the Anger of the Gods count and maindecking multiple Shriekmaw.
I've tested Archfiend and he is just too slow. With our high power upgrades to the deck, we often just need 1 swing to seal the game. I often want 2 random cyclers in my yard over the demon.
RBGLiving EndRBG
EDH
UFblthpU
BRXantchaRB
BGVarolzGB
URWZedruuWRU
I haven’t tested him personally, but every time I have seen lists jamming him on MTGO it just seems so clunky. The only deck that can potentially make us want it is Affinity, but as you said - Faerie just handles that problem altogether, for 0 mana.
Regarding Eldrazi Tron:
Do NOT side out the combo!! If they have Relic, you have several ways to play around it. If they’re sitting comfortably behind chalice, you just hit it EOT and untap to Combo. They play 2 warping wail max and they typically aren’t a deck that leaves a ton of mana up, so EOT Beast Within a Temple or a Tron piece to take them off mana is also a very reliable strategy.
Typically you don’t want to cycle as much until you’re ready to Combo because your guys are basically able to go head-to-head with theirs when hardcasted, so you save the combo until the last possible minute and then jam. They typically board out Ballista so they don’t have much reach post board.
Stick to your plan and execute.
Tuesday Night Magic Report 3-1
R1: RW Burn
Keep a solid hand that can cascade at any point (Fetch and 2 SSG) with no cascade spell in the top 8 cards.
G2 I trimmed down the Fat but I don’t have much for Burn. Haven’t seen it in AGES at LGS and overall I just accept it as a miserable MU. Gets a quick t4 victory against my t3 24 power LE. Them’s the beats.
0-1, 0-2
R2: GR Big Creature Ramp
I wasn’t really sure what he was doing but he played R and G lands for 4 turns without casting any ramp, used Fulminator Mage on T2 and t3 to remove G sources, t4 Beast Within his Land EOT and cycle, his t5 I put lethal on board.
Didn’t know his list so I just brought in 2 K Grip and swapped out 2 Faerie Macabre. He leads with a t1 mana elf, T2 hexproof 0/3 mama dork, t3 two more, his EOT I destroyed a land with Beast Within and untapped to put 12 power on board. He scooped.
1-1, 2-2
R3: 8-Tree Zoo
He explained his deck as similar to 8-rack in that it has 8 copies of an effect (Burning Tree Emissary) after we played, it was just abysmal for him. He puts me to 7 and 9 in the two games respectively, but I was never out of reach of winning the game. His last turn he put 3 more guys into play and Surged the +1/+1 Goblin into my Violent Outburst for the concession. Swapped 2 Faeries for 2 Blood Moons for a freebie but didn’t matter.
2-1, 4-2
R4: BR Reanimator
Good buddy of mine, he was paired up and had no possibility of prize support so he gave me the concession. We played it out anyway, he got a t1 win both games. Didn’t mull for 4 faerie postboard and got punished 🤷🏻♂️
“3-1”, “6-2” officially
2-2, 4-4 in reality
If MU against Reanimator had been for prize support, would’ve mulled much heavier for Faerie as they can’t race us very quickly with the Breach.
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As for E-Tron, that match up is a living nightmare. Turn 1 Urza land into Relic and Chalice cast on 0. A dirty opener that seals a game. If the stars align right and we can Fulm their lands we have a slightly better chance of winning but odds will always be against us. E-Tron is almost an auto lose for this deck given how many ways they're able to deal with our threats and how fast they can deal with them as well (Turn 2/3 TKS into turn 3/4 Reality Smasher.. Erg).
Burn is another.. rough match for us Game 1 unless your hand is pure gas. Game 2, side in Gnaw's and watch them cry as their gas drains. They can't bolt our creatures if you run the correct cyclers. I've started running 3 Gnaw's SB specifically because they're crucial to draw into against burn. Lately, burn has been SB Relics to counter graveyard decks but those are easy workarounds.
Lately I have been having some serious success with this deck even though 2 of the top decks blow us out or near blow us out. Storm is an EASY match-up for us once they gifts. Put Past in Flames and Grapeshot into the GY and Faerie it OR Slaughter Games their Grapeshot's and then Empty the Warrens. Titanscape we can outrace sometime and our creatures are as big and scary as their Prime Titan. Fulm Valakut, run basics to get around Blood Moon and it's GG. Also did I mention our Affinity match-up is great? Aggro decks go wide. We make them crumble easy. Death Shadow is.. Just Faerie stuff. It's not as aggressive as past variants.
Archfiend vs Humans: if I wish resolve a Living End, you’re much better positioned to have 2 Fat Guys on the board vs just the one Archfiend, because they won’t be putting much into play after sweeper that is relevant facing down X/4s. Shriekmaw is actually significantly better against them, it kills thalia and meddling Mage before you go off.
Archfiend vs Burn: I would 100% ALWAYS rather be able to race with more creatures than be able to sweep their Potential second rally. You ARE aware that living end will alreadyclear the board of their dudes when it resolves right?
Archfiend vs Lingering Souls: any deck that plays Lingering Souls, is probably just dead on board to a bunch of dudes, but they probably play Path to Exile for just one dude (archfiend)
Vs Eldrazi Tron: Yes if they kept a hand with Chalice and Relic (a 2-of at best) and somehow knew you’re on Living End, instead of developing their hand, you MIGHT have a problem. That’s why we play typically 3 “Destroy Target Hate piece” cards in our MB (Beast Within, recently Kolaghan’s Command which has been an all-star). We also play 16 cyclers to dig us towards our answers, whereas they play zero ways to dig towards theirs. Post board we have 3-4 Ingot Chewers, access to K Grip for Relic potentially... it’s bad for us, but not worst nightmare bad. In fact, I reserve that for...
Living End Vs Scapeshift/Storm: These are actually really bad for us. Sure, we Combo pretty damn consistently, but Dread is shut off against Scapeshift and against Storm they have maindeck Remand and can just kill you on their turn when you put lethal on the table.
Living End vs Affinity: This is L I T E R A L L Y one of our very worst matchups. They sacrifice all of their dudes to Arcbound Ravager with Living End on the stack and then it all comes back, their Cranial Plating on an Inkmoth just kills you anyway, and post-board they have access to countermagic and discard. This was the deck that kept living End in check back during its inception, clearly you’ve not played against it much. They don’t have to go wide, they have 8 manlands and they can put all of their dudes in the yard with ravager and put his modular trigger on the stack, to make a giant flying vault skirge with lifelink.
Deaths Shadow is super close, in my 5-2 LCQ run yesterday (finished 11th) I played against it 4 times, won three. Grixis is harder than 5C but both are vulnerable to Blood Moon. I beat two 5C lists and 1 Grixis list, lost to the Grixis list that ended up making top 8. The MU hinges on Fulminator Mage and slowing them down enough to hardcast your guys G1, you have to play very tight and take the low-risk lines as often as possible. On t3 if they have U mana up, you Jam the Mage and nuke it. They typically only play 2-3 U sources, total of 6-8 sources, so you’ll cripple them quickly with 2 Fulminator mages. Faerie is Better used to keep their Goyfs small than waiting for the Kcommand or Snap they probably don’t even play. Vs 5C you keep Shriekmaw in, vs Grixis the card is actually garbage
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i am sure you should run faerie macabre in that slot. this little fairy tend to be underestimated by most but i find it extremely useful against most modern decks. you should always have a minimal of 2 in your mainboard.
about affinity matchup : its only bad for us if they have arcbound ravager. if they dont have it its a breeze. after sideboard we have ingot chewer which is a huge eff you card to affinity player, kolaghan's command which kill 2 of their guys or if you are in affinity heavy meta you have shatterstorm as an option.
i am genuinely more worried about burn matchup because affinity takes some skill to play but burn is such a coin flip (that is unfavorable to us) even a third grader can kill you game 1 and you got nothing to say for it.
R1 Elves 2-0
G1 I’m on the play, he puts 13 power into play T2 and my t3 I cascade to wipe it up. G2 he has archdruid, dwynen’s elite, a token, Heritage Druid, and a mystic in play which represents chord of calling for GG ask I EOT cycle, untap, street wraith x2 and Exile SSG for cascade and GG.
R2 UW Control 0-2
I get cocky and try to jam t3, he ends up cutting me off Green with Seas and Tec Edges and I lose a very long game. G2 is pretty much the same, except he has counter spells for three consecutive game-Enders (2 cascade spells and a blood moon). Long drawn out loss.
R3 RW Prison 2-0
This MU was so ridiculously easy, comparatively. He leads with a t1 RW scryland, I Lead with Street wraith on my turn and play a wooded foothills. He verbally puts me on the 5C Shadow deck he lost to first round, untaps and slams Chalice for 1. EOT I grab Crypt, cycle a ceradon, untap and play another fetch. He plays a blood moon, I grab a swamp, cycle 2 times, my turn I play a forest from hand and pass. He plays a Simian Spirit Guide and I cascade EOT for GG. G2 he goes to 6, Chalice on 0 (I have Chewer in hand) Land, pass. I draw, fetch land, pass (to let him think he’s safe; also have K Command in hand, so ideally I’ll kill Chalice EOT when he cant play another). He exiles SSG and puts blood moon into play, I grab swamp and let it resolve. My turn I play a “mountain” and chew the Chalice (drew another), he plays out a SSG again, EOT I cycle, untap and dread the Guide for GG.
R4 Jeskai 2-0
This is actually a good friend of mine and we’ve played TOO many times. He knows what his game plan should be, but his 6 doesn’t quite reflect it. I play my way around his countermagic with EOT Beast Within (countered) into Fulminator Mage to hit his Colonnade and leave him stuck on only 2 lands. EOT his next turn I cast kommand, getting Fulminator back and making him discard, I untap and nuke him down to just island. The next EOT I cascade for 13 power and ride it to GG.
G2 I whiffed on lands for awhile, his spell Queller is on a Fulminator Mage and whittles me down to 8 life, I’ve baited out a couple counter spells with EOT Beast Within and kommand but he’s still got a full grip. I’ve got a huge yard, 30 power, I’m finally on 4 lands with SSG in hand and a ricochet Trap, eot I outburst and he counters it with Negate (he immediately understands his misplay) and when I try to let him take it back he says no it’s fine I have surgical anyway (3 horrors in yard) so I ricochet Trap surgical to rip his own celestial purge out of the yard. Even if he had played it correctly I still got 16 power into play and he was at 15 life, with no white sources because I get my Fulminator Mage back to nuke the last one. So either way a victory, but definitely a misplay.
3-1 for the night!
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