So I know it's really narrow to do a sideboard like this, but I'm going to tell you guys a story. You might have already heard of something like this, but I'm going to tell it anyways.
I watched a game earlier between a Living End deck and UR Storm. Storm player goes off before End player can cascade.
Game two is the part you guys want to hear. First few turns the End player cycles as per usual. Storm player takes turn and storms away until storm count is ready to kill, End player casts Violent Outburst. Storm player brushes it off, not thinking anything of it. End player Cascades into Grapeshot for the win.
I spoke with the End player after the round and he said that he literally boarded against storm because his good friend plays storm.
I don't know about you guys, but that is hilarious. And it's good sideboard tech if you play against a lot of storm. all you do is take out all your Living Ends and replace them with a couple grapeshots.
I'm probably going to get a lot of crap for this post but deal with it and don't hate on me.
Problem is that the UR storm player can still kill without necessarily using their grapeshot game 3 and without LE it's hard to put the pressure on them to prevent that.
I played a de on modo last day and went 3-1 (u can find the record on the zabulicaionut twitch).
I have the following questions:
1.When is the 4th SSG coming in?
2. How do u feel about the Blind Obedience vs the twin deck?
Thank you.
against twin generally damping matrix and dismember are better stoppers, that way you leave Living end itself in the deck. you want LE so you can wipe out there board presence altogether.
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Slaughter Games against Twin has always disappointed me. Even if it resolves, you're taking only half of their cards since they can use either Splinter Twin or Kiki-Jiki. Slaughter Games goes a bit better against decks like Scapeshift (or, sadly, us) that have one card that they *really* want to have and for which there is no replacement.
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Slaughter games is useful against decks that don't have redundancy in win conditions, like scapeshift. Slaughter games can get rid of the scapeshift, and then the deck frequently can't win (living end kills the boarded in titans). Against twin, which can combo you or just beat you down, it's horribly impractical.
So I finally had an opportunity to play some sanctioned Modern thanks to a little shop right by my house. They play 3 rounds and have a prize payout to anyone who’s X-1 or better. I admittedly don’t play Living End (or Modern in general) as often as I feel I should, so I decided to head into an unknown meta and see how well I could still pilot the deck.
Here was the sideboard I ran for last night’s event:
Usually I play some assorted jank in the last two slots, but given that I wasn’t familiar with the decks in the area, I decided to hedge a bit and run a couple Gnaw to the Bone in case it was just a bunch of kids jamming Burn. (Spoiler – it was not.)
I scouted the tables a little bit before things got underway and was surprised to see such a wide variety of decks – I don’t think any two people were playing the same deck! It was refreshing to see in the light of the whole “Modern is over, everything is Abzan” routine. But I digress. On to the matches!
Round 1 vs. BW Tokens
My first matchup was against Ken, one of the store employees. He was playing the tokens deck pretty much out of the box. I own the deck myself, so I had a pretty good idea of what to watch out for, including any stray Sorins he might have snuck in there as upgrades.
I keep a decent seven that has a couple of cyclers and a Fulminator Mage, but no cascade spell. He opens on Caves of Koilos into Plains, and casts Raise the Alarm on turn two. On his turn three, he slaps down an Honor of the Pure and begins to go to town on my life total. I cycle away, spending my third turn Fulminating his Caves. He adds a second Honor to the board and crunches in for six, dropping me to 7. Finally, I’m able to draw into a Demonic Dread to clear the field and drop a heap of fatties into play. Path to Exile takes care of one guy, but the rest soon overwhelm him. He never got above two lands in play the entire game.
SB: -2 Jungle Weaver, -1 Beast Within, -2 Street Wraith, -2 Monstrous Carabid
+2 Shriekmaw, +2 Anger of the Gods, +1 Jund Charm, +2 Ingot Chewer (expecting Relic of Progenitus)
He opens on a Windbrisk Heights against my double Fulminator hand. I’m feeling pretty good about this! I also have a Jund Charm in my hand, so I’m ready for the token swarm. I play a Blackcleave Cliffs, cycle a Carabid, and ship the turn back. He simply plays an Intangible Virtue on his second turn and passes. I know the Charm is going to need to see action soon. I draw and say go after playing Grove of the Burnwillows, having run out of cyclers. He runs out a Lingering Souls on turn three. I go into the tank for a bit, but decide not to Jund Charm his tokens EOT, hoping to get the second half of his spell in a later turn. Instead, I cast Fulminator Mage to kill his Heights. Sure enough, he flashes back his Lingering Souls and rumbles in with the first two Spirits. I cast my Charm to sweep his field. As soon as my opponent reaches for his mana I remember that Zealous Persecution is a card.
“Persecution here would be brutal,” I said. This freezes my opponent mid-maneuver (he’s got it), but he shrugs and nods kinda sheepishly as he casts the instant and hammers me for six. I attempt to recover with Anger of the Gods to clear the tokens for good, but his three-for-one token producers allow him to recover quickly even after I cast Living End, and I scoop to a Sorin, Solemn Visitor after cycling and drawing the last LE in my deck. Thems the breaks, I guess.
(An aside: I mention that I drew all of my LE’s, and the jittery fellow playing Grixis Delver next to me says “Well that’s why I don’t play Living End. Also you should really be playing Bow of Nylea to recycle your Living Ends.” Joke’s on him – I had a single Bow in my sideboard until three hours before the event. And real LE players never live in fear of drawing them all. )
I keep a seven that’s so unexciting I can’t remember what it was. He opens on turn 1 Windbrisk Heights again and plays Soul Warden on turn two.
And I’m just over here masturbating cycling.
The early turns are kinda fuzzy, but I remember him playing Honor of the Pure on turn 4 (after I Shriekmawed his Warden) and then casting a Relic of Progenitus, which I never saw in game two and thus removed my answers to. He exiles our ‘yards and goes for Spectral Procession. I cycle into my two remaining Shriekmaws and begrudgingly start hardcasting them to eat individual Spirit tokens. By this point, I’ve fallen to 5, and my opponent’s draws are a lot more powerful than mine, given that I’m now officially on the hardcast plan. He plays a Sorin, Lord of Innistrad and makes a token to block my Shriekmaws, which are racing his spirits. At the end of his turn, I Beast Within his Vampire token, replacing it with a beast. He comments on the oddity of the situation, as he is at 14 life against my two ‘Maws and the Beast allows him a lethal counterattack on his next turn. I shrug and shove my creatures into the red zone. He drops to 8. He casts an Honor of the Pure and goes to attack, so I respond by casting a second Beast Within on the Beast token, effectively shutting it down for a turn. His spirit hits me to 2. I untap, draw, and use my first three mana to cast a Fulminator Mage, which I use to pick off his sole untapped white source (Isolated Chapel). He doesn’t float mana, so I know the coast is clear. I swing in with my two Shriekmaws and exile a Simian Spirit Guide, tapping my two remaining lands to cast a Violent Outburst, sealing the win.
Result: Win, 2-1
Round 2 vs. GW Hatebears
Next up is Crystal, whom I saw narrowly defeat Mildly-Elitist Grixis Delver Man in round 1. I’m not looking forward to this matchup – despite her deck being predominantly creatures, I know I can expect Scavenging Ooze and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben to make a showing. We chat casually about the viability of Maverick in the Legacy metagame as we shuffle up for round 2.
“Dude, I wasn’t expecting a Living End deck to show up tonight!” says one of the other players, proving once again that Living End is the deck that everyone acknowledges, yet somehow still ignores.
“Guess I’ll just make you answer this first, then,” she says. It was a good play, since I had no answers to it in my hand and was a turn short of sweeping the field. I start cycling in desperation for a Beast Within but end up taking a massive hit from the Sworded Hierarch before I can kill it. The time earned from the Sword plan gives her the chance to drop Thalia and freeze my cascade until turn 5, and by then it’s too late. Shriekmaw answers Thalia, but I die to the exalted Beast token and we’re on to game two.
SB: -2 Jungle Weaver, -2 Faerie Macabre, +2 Shriekmaw, +2 Anger of the Gods
This time I’m on the play, and I keep a quick hand that involves Street Wraith into Monstrous Carabid. She’s got the turn 1 Hierarch again, but I the first Shriekmaw answers it. She untaps and goes Horizon Canopy into Thalia. Thalia, meet Shriekmaw number two. She groans a bit, but has a second Thalia in play on turn four. Okay, fine. That one can stay. By the fifth turn, I’ve got a Wraith, a Pale Recluse, two ‘Maws, and a Carabid in the graveyard – enough for a very profitable LE – when she drops a Scavenging Ooze and uses her remaining green mana to eat my Recluse. I don’t have the fifth untapped land that I need to sweep the field through Thalia’s tax ability (damn you, Blackcleave Cliffs!), so I knock the top of my deck and rip… Simian Spirit Guide. Eh, good enough. I tap all of my lands and cast a four-mana Violent Outburst on my main phase, cascading into Living End. I exile SSG to allow LE onto the stack and we exchange cards in play, my newly minted Shriekmaw killing off the returning Thalia. She draws and plays a Qasali Pridemage, seemingly resigned to blocking my team. I draw and play Wooded Foothills. As I prepare to swing in with my team, she takes a moment to Ghost Quarter my fetchland. Stupidly, I crack it in response. In comes the Aven Mindcensor! I fail to find a land. Still before blocks, she Paths my Shriekmaw. I fail to find again. She untaps and plays a second GQ, tagging my Overgrown Tomb. Fail to find AGAIN. Man, that Mindcensor. As it stands, though, I’m able to keep crunching in and manage to get her down to zero before she can start attacking again.
SB: No changes
Meanwhile, at the next table, Mildly Elitist Grixis Delver Man is having an argument with his opponent, who is playing Nykthos Green (sweet deck, btw) and has him locked out with looping Primal Commands. MEGDM wants his opponent to just kill him, but Nykthos Man is just drawing out game 1 in the hopes of winning the match 1-0-1. Maybe it was kind of jerkish to draw out the game, but it was a valid strategy for a deck that would otherwise struggle against a tempo-oriented Delver strategy. Eventually Nykthos Man does swing in for the kill, only to go on to lose in 3 games. I felt kind of bad for him – MEGDM basically guilted him into ending Game 1 because he knew he was fast enough to win games 2-3, and I feel like Nykthos Man was angled out of a match win.
So here we are, on to game 3. Crystal opens with T1 Noble Hierarch again, turboing out small threats to keep pressure on me while I cycle up some goodies. Leonin Arbiter eventually hits the table, so I landcycle in response. At this point my hand is just lands and a Shriekmaw, so I don’t feel hampered by the Arbiter at all. Rather than kill it, I decide to sandbag my Violent Outburst for as long as possible, hoping to pressure her into Pathing her own creatures to find lands (which my back-to-back Fulminator Mages were feasting on). She doesn’t bite, and instead decides to Tectonic Edge my only green source before crashing in with her team. I float a green and cast Outburst at the end of her first main phase. After lamenting her inability to find a target for her Pridemage, she reluctantly pushes her creatures aside, and I pulverize her with my creatures on the next turn.
Result: Win, 2-1
Round 3 vs. Storm/Scapeshift Hybrid
The third round is against Mark. He and I had a lighthearted chat about our respective combo decks before the match started, and he seemed like a nice guy with a great mind for the game. Before I get to this one, let me just say that I really like this deck. Two different angles of attack, mostly non-interactive, and the card selections for each combo complement each other pretty well. He went to time against Mono-U Tron (which I was secretly hoping to face), and so I went in as a pair-down. The good news is I don’t have to face Mildly Elitist Grixis Delver Man. The bad news?
Well…do you see the deck he’s running? Storm is a miserable matchup for me, and I have no real sideboard plan against it. Scapeshift is equally difficult, based on my past experiences. Oh well, let’s do this thing!
Game 1 is dreadfully short. He opens on back-to-back suspended Search for Tomorrow, leading me to suspect he’s going for the Valakut kill, but once he assembles seven lands in play, he unleashes a flurry of cantrips/Explores/rituals and hits me with a lethal Grapeshot. Ugh.
I should note that, while I board out my Jungle Weavers in every match, I do not think they should be cut from the deck. 5/6’s with reach get there a surprisingly large amount of the time in Game 1 vs. most of the Modern metagame.
I open on an awkward seven – it has a Faerie Macabre which I’m hoping can be used to disrupt his storm kill, but it only has a Grove of the Burnwillows and a Temple Garden as its lands. Unfortunately, in the midst of the first few turns, he casts a Gitaxian Probe to clue himself in, so there goes the surprise value of the Faerie. To make matters worse, I miss my third land drop for two turns, eventually discarding a Fulminator Mage due to hand size. Definitely a greedy keep on my end, but I get what I deserve. Meanwhile, Mark is stringing together Search for Tomorrows and Explores, building up his land count for a lethal Scapeshift. I finally cycle up my third land (Verdant Catacombs) and decide that my best shot at winning is to keep my life total above 18, forcing him to get 8 lands in play for the combo. I fetch up a basic Swamp with my Catacombs, going to 19, and cast a Fulminator Mage. I leave it in play. Two turns later, he attempts the Scapeshift with 1 Valakut in play and seven other lands. I let him search up his second Valakut and seven other mountains, and then cascade with the Valakut triggers on the stack. Living End turns up, and with that on the stack, I pop my Fulminator on a nonbasic Mountain. Then I snipe two more when my creatures come back, putting him at five mountains and two Valakuts in play. My opponent nods in understanding as his triggers fail to deal damage. I wipe a bead of sweat from my brow. I’ve stopped the Scapeshift, now I just need to avoid getting stormed out. He finishes his turn with a Grapeshot for six, taking me to 13. On my end step, I pitch the Faerie to exile the Grapeshot and an Explore in his bin. He doesn’t scoop on the spot, so I know he’s got a second Grapeshot in his deck.
I untap and hit him with a pair of Deadshot Minotaurs, and he falls to 13. He churns through a Manamorphose and a Sleight of Hand before attempting Pyromancer’s Ascension. I cycle a Street Wraith in response and draw into a second Faerie. I tank for a bit, then eventually respond to Ascension by ditching a Faerie to exile Probe and Manamorphose, hoping to cut him off from as many cantrips as possible. “Those were good picks,” says Mark. I’m crossing my fingers as the tension builds – he’s digging furiously for his second Grapeshot, but doesn’t find it. I crash in with my Minotaurs and activate Kessig Wolf Run to pump one for lethal. We’re onto game 3!
SB: No changes
At this point, I’m just happy that I managed to steal a game from my worst nightmare of a matchup. Now I’m on the draw and expecting to get goldfished. I throw back an unkeepable seven and keep a six of Faerie Macabre, Monstrous Carabid, Street Wraith, Demonic Dread, and two lands. He doesn’t open with a turn 1 suspended Search for Tomorrow, so I breathe a small sigh of relief. I play a land and cycle my Carabid, drawing a Deadshot Minotaur. He peeks at my hand with Probe and grimaces when he draws his cantrip card. Maybe he’s drawing conflicting pieces? I can only hope. I cycle into another Carabid and Minotaur on my next turn – the last one turns up a Gnaw to the Bone. Mark starts his fifth turn with a Desperate Ritual, into a Pyromancer’s Ascension, into an Explore, into – Empty the Warrens for eight?! I’m a bit taken back by this, but I say okay and Gnaw for 8 life at the end of his turn. I draw a Street Wraith and cycle it immediately, which brings up Beast Within. I decide to go for Demonic Dread now, and exile a Simian Spirit Guide to get to six mana, which allows me to respond to LE with the flashback on Gnaw for more life, putting me up to 37. Mark goes to start his turn with an Explore, but I respond to the Ascension trigger by casting Beast Within on his enchantment. He nods and bins Ascension, then casts a second Empty for six goblins and passes. It takes a couple of turns to get past his goblin chump blockers, but somehow, someway, I got there.
I earned a cool $40 in store credit for my trouble (which I promptly blew on Standard stuff because reasons.)
Result: Win, 2-1
Needless to say, I was very impressed at my performance, particularly in the last round. Some closing thoughts:
-I was happy to have Simian Spirit Guide in my deck again. Being a turn faster or having that one extra mana was clutch. No turn 2 Fulminators, but I’m sure my day will come.
-Shriekmaw was an absolute all-star. It’s probably correct to start more of them in place of the Faerie Macabres that I’ve been maindecking since forever, but what can I say? I’m a miser.
-Gnaw to the Bone was surprisingly good. I’ve been known to favor Brindle Boar over it, but against the dreaded Storm/Scapeshift mashup, that extra 4-6 life and second casting really helped.
-God damn, I love Living End.
this is just a stretch of the imagination but 1 card i saw was Corpseweft, being the deck that we are we have the creature cards necessary to fuel this enchantment. exiling creature cards is part of the activation cost so it is unlikely an opponent could exile the graveyard and take away from you making the big zombie token.
-the zombie token is where the problem lies, its just a vanilla.
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I was hoping for a better form of Screamreach Brawler that could be dashed in for early interaction at under 3 mana, while having a casting cost that does not mess up living end. Too bad
round 1 mono black,
round 2 control
round 3 aggro of some kind. (finally got the fulminator mage + splinter twin combo online. killed his man lands) (otherwise text book living end both games, had to keep blockers up he had undying and persist creatures that could kill me on attack back both games.)
round 4 tokens
round 5 Dredge, tough match up.
Dredge match up is horrid, Since dredge pukes creatures into its graveyard your almost forced to persue the back up plan of hard casting. key interaction is don't let them keep a lotleth troll on the field. it sort of a race too game 1. in some cases you want to let them combo out there swarm so you can violent outburst on the combo step and rest the field in your favor. but gotta draw that in the first place.
games 2 and 3, graveyard hate is important.
my current sideboarding it,
trying 1 Grafdigger's Cage in the sideboard so I can cascade into it. then bring in blood moon and anger of the gods. Anger can keep there smaller creatures managed. blood moon locked them down from being able to persue a back up plan of hard casting all there stuff. Fulminator mage doing the same thing as blood moon of course.
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monastery siege........ I got a lot of posts denouncing this card, but now i'm having second thoughts. it could be the discard engine non-cycling living end decks need.
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this is just a stretch of the imagination but 1 card i saw was Corpseweft, being the deck that we are we have the creature cards necessary to fuel this enchantment.
Yo I gotta say I think I like this card, but it almost feels like it could be its own deck right? You could use the same cycling base to fill the yard and draw into Corpseweft, the same mana acceleration to get it all down faster and if you actually cut living end and instead run this as a wincon you no longer have to care about CMC. Not sure what I would do at that point if CMC opened up but I can easily see starting with:
4 Corpseweft
4 Street Wraith
4 Monsterous Carabid
4 Deadshot Minotaur
4 Architechts of will
4 Fulminator Mage
4 Simian Spirit Guide
10 creature cards plus a fling effect and thats gg. something like Fatal Frenzy. wish Temur Battle Rage cost so 3cc...or maybe thats a good thing is it below 3???
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We had a new player this week and he didn't know it was going to be modern for this FNM. He isn't new to the game and had a pretty standard jeskai token lists (minus the treasure cruises of course).
Game 1
He beats me down with mantis rider a few turns while struggle to get a cascade spell. I finally do and save myself a turn. He then plays Mantis Rider and lightning strike to kill me.
Game 2
I Cycle and play fulminator mages, however all he plays is basics (typical). Lucky for me he finds no red sources of mana and cast gnaw to the bone for 10 life, and then living end into a huge board.
Sideboard:
-1 shriekmaw
-1 Pestermite
+2 Gnaw to the bone
Game 3
Turn 3 he taps out to play mantis Rider, I EoT Deceiver into Twin.
2-1
Round 2 - Affinity
Game 1
He has a slow start and I cascade into a few spiders and street wraiths, a few combat steps later and I win. He did have an arch bound ravager on the field but didn't know about sacrificing his creatures in response, I didn't tell him after this either.
Game 2
He plays a turn one ornithopter and a turn two steel overseer, I evoke ingot chewer, targeting overseer. Fulminator mage took out one of his lands and then living end next turn left him with nothing, he scoops.
2-0
Round 3 - Naya Midrange/Aggro
Game 1
He starts off with a Noble Hierarch and then puts a rancor on it, unfortunately I get a turn 3 hierarch and turn 4 twin.
So after this game I think that he is playing a bant hexproof deck I helped him brew a few weeks back. I dont side in anything since I am pretty confident with my main deck for this match up.
Game 2
I get a hand with three lands, deceiver and two street wraiths. He plays an experiment one and passes. I play and land and pass. He attacks and Ghor-Clan Rampages the experiment one. Fast foreword after a few turns and I have a fulminator out with a splinter twin and destroy two lands in a row, then next turn make a copy and sac both to destroy two more lands, then cascade into living end to bring back the fulminator + army to destroy his last land. He scoops
2-0
Round 4 - Ad Nauseam
Game 1
He mulls to 6 and has a turn 1 Leyline of Sanctity, so he effectively mulls to 5. This game isn't that exciting, i get a turn 2 Fulminator and destroy his only land. Next turn the same, and the next turn. After that I cycle and cascade. He scoops.
Sideboard:
-1 Pestermite
-1 Living End
+2 Slaughter Games
Game 2
Less exciting than last game, he combos off turn 4 and there isnt anything i can do about it.
Game 3
I keep a hand with 3 lands, a splinter twin, cycler and a slaughter games. I hope he doesn't go off by turn 4, he doesnt and i cast Slaughter Games naming 'Ad Nauseam'. He scoops.
2-1
Round 5 - G/R Tron
Game 1
He gets a turn 3 Karn and Turn 4 Ugin. GG
Game 2
He has a much slower start and i am able to pitch a few cards before turn 3 and then cascade into a few guys, giving him a 2 turn clock. He doesnt draw anything useful.
Game 3
This was a very close game. I cycle a lot (i am at 11 life just from my own lands/wraiths) and turn 4 he plays an Oblivion Stone. Next turn I tap out to play a fulminator and destroy on of his tron lands, not allowing him to activate the stone. I play a land untapped and pass the turn. He does nothing and passes the turn. I EoT exile 2 Simian Spirit Guides and Tap my one land for Green mana and play violent outburst, putting 21 points of damage on the board. I swing for the win on my turn.
2-1
Overall score: 5-0
Overall thoughts on the deck:
I had a ton of fun with the deck and it performed really well. I never struggled with the blue splash with 6 fetches (7 including Pale Recluse) and 3 shocks.
I had a few close games and got lucky a few times, and I most likely made a few mistakes along the way. The splinter twin splash definately helps against the graveyard hate. A lot of people thought it was okay to tap out on turn 3 to play something not knowing I could win instantly.
10/10
Would play at a PPTQ.
im a big fan of splashing into splinter twin, but how is it against burn, amulet, abzan and splinter twin ? and what is the sideboard you will go for with todays meta ?
and i think todays meta we will se alot of blood moon, if that resolves its a instant loose, if we cant tap out for beast within (with that decklist)
We had a new player this week and he didn't know it was going to be modern for this FNM. He isn't new to the game and had a pretty standard jeskai token lists (minus the treasure cruises of course).
Game 1
He beats me down with mantis rider a few turns while struggle to get a cascade spell. I finally do and save myself a turn. He then plays Mantis Rider and lightning strike to kill me.
Game 2
I Cycle and play fulminator mages, however all he plays is basics (typical). Lucky for me he finds no red sources of mana and cast gnaw to the bone for 10 life, and then living end into a huge board.
Sideboard:
-1 shriekmaw
-1 Pestermite
+2 Gnaw to the bone
Game 3
Turn 3 he taps out to play mantis Rider, I EoT Deceiver into Twin.
2-1
Round 2 - Affinity
Game 1
He has a slow start and I cascade into a few spiders and street wraiths, a few combat steps later and I win. He did have an arch bound ravager on the field but didn't know about sacrificing his creatures in response, I didn't tell him after this either.
Game 2
He plays a turn one ornithopter and a turn two steel overseer, I evoke ingot chewer, targeting overseer. Fulminator mage took out one of his lands and then living end next turn left him with nothing, he scoops.
2-0
Round 3 - Naya Midrange/Aggro
Game 1
He starts off with a Noble Hierarch and then puts a rancor on it, unfortunately I get a turn 3 hierarch and turn 4 twin.
So after this game I think that he is playing a bant hexproof deck I helped him brew a few weeks back. I dont side in anything since I am pretty confident with my main deck for this match up.
Game 2
I get a hand with three lands, deceiver and two street wraiths. He plays an experiment one and passes. I play and land and pass. He attacks and Ghor-Clan Rampages the experiment one. Fast foreword after a few turns and I have a fulminator out with a splinter twin and destroy two lands in a row, then next turn make a copy and sac both to destroy two more lands, then cascade into living end to bring back the fulminator + army to destroy his last land. He scoops
2-0
Round 4 - Ad Nauseam
Game 1
He mulls to 6 and has a turn 1 Leyline of Sanctity, so he effectively mulls to 5. This game isn't that exciting, i get a turn 2 Fulminator and destroy his only land. Next turn the same, and the next turn. After that I cycle and cascade. He scoops.
Sideboard:
-1 Pestermite
-1 Living End
+2 Slaughter Games
Game 2
Less exciting than last game, he combos off turn 4 and there isnt anything i can do about it.
Game 3
I keep a hand with 3 lands, a splinter twin, cycler and a slaughter games. I hope he doesn't go off by turn 4, he doesnt and i cast Slaughter Games naming 'Ad Nauseam'. He scoops.
2-1
Round 5 - G/R Tron
Game 1
He gets a turn 3 Karn and Turn 4 Ugin. GG
Game 2
He has a much slower start and i am able to pitch a few cards before turn 3 and then cascade into a few guys, giving him a 2 turn clock. He doesnt draw anything useful.
Game 3
This was a very close game. I cycle a lot (i am at 11 life just from my own lands/wraiths) and turn 4 he plays an Oblivion Stone. Next turn I tap out to play a fulminator and destroy on of his tron lands, not allowing him to activate the stone. I play a land untapped and pass the turn. He does nothing and passes the turn. I EoT exile 2 Simian Spirit Guides and Tap my one land for Green mana and play violent outburst, putting 21 points of damage on the board. I swing for the win on my turn.
2-1
Overall score: 5-0
Overall thoughts on the deck:
I had a ton of fun with the deck and it performed really well. I never struggled with the blue splash with 6 fetches (7 including Pale Recluse) and 3 shocks.
I had a few close games and got lucky a few times, and I most likely made a few mistakes along the way. The splinter twin splash definately helps against the graveyard hate. A lot of people thought it was okay to tap out on turn 3 to play something not knowing I could win instantly.
10/10
Would play at a PPTQ.
im a big fan of splashing into splinter twin, but how is it against burn, amulet, abzan and splinter twin ? and what is the sideboard you will go for with todays meta ?
and i think todays meta we will se alot of blood moon, if that resolves its a instant loose, if we cant tap out for beast within (with that decklist)
once you land basic swamp forest and/or island your mana is ok under a blood moon. usually I fetch or cycle for these basics based on what cards are in my hand at the time. It would be ideal to have all three of them, but that doesn't happen every game for me, and its turned out to be ok when I'm lurking to put my own blood moon into play 90% of the games I've landed blood moon. I've had like 1 blue white red match where they had basics after I landed blood moon and the match still got away from me.
I've used it extensively in the past, it flips the game state. Some might call it win more, but I call it "insurance" against people beating you even after you've LE'd for the win.
lately i've experimented with Sorin, Solemn Visitor and he has accomplished a similar ends for me. I only run 1 in my main board. 2 would be just as good. what makes him good is the life link stays until next turn, and it's plus 1/0. which is better than the other white black sorin.
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We had a new player this week and he didn't know it was going to be modern for this FNM. He isn't new to the game and had a pretty standard jeskai token lists (minus the treasure cruises of course).
Game 1
He beats me down with mantis rider a few turns while struggle to get a cascade spell. I finally do and save myself a turn. He then plays Mantis Rider and lightning strike to kill me.
Game 2
I Cycle and play fulminator mages, however all he plays is basics (typical). Lucky for me he finds no red sources of mana and cast gnaw to the bone for 10 life, and then living end into a huge board.
Sideboard:
-1 shriekmaw
-1 Pestermite
+2 Gnaw to the bone
Game 3
Turn 3 he taps out to play mantis Rider, I EoT Deceiver into Twin.
2-1
Round 2 - Affinity
Game 1
He has a slow start and I cascade into a few spiders and street wraiths, a few combat steps later and I win. He did have an arch bound ravager on the field but didn't know about sacrificing his creatures in response, I didn't tell him after this either.
Game 2
He plays a turn one ornithopter and a turn two steel overseer, I evoke ingot chewer, targeting overseer. Fulminator mage took out one of his lands and then living end next turn left him with nothing, he scoops.
2-0
Round 3 - Naya Midrange/Aggro
Game 1
He starts off with a Noble Hierarch and then puts a rancor on it, unfortunately I get a turn 3 hierarch and turn 4 twin.
So after this game I think that he is playing a bant hexproof deck I helped him brew a few weeks back. I dont side in anything since I am pretty confident with my main deck for this match up.
Game 2
I get a hand with three lands, deceiver and two street wraiths. He plays an experiment one and passes. I play and land and pass. He attacks and Ghor-Clan Rampages the experiment one. Fast foreword after a few turns and I have a fulminator out with a splinter twin and destroy two lands in a row, then next turn make a copy and sac both to destroy two more lands, then cascade into living end to bring back the fulminator + army to destroy his last land. He scoops
2-0
Round 4 - Ad Nauseam
Game 1
He mulls to 6 and has a turn 1 Leyline of Sanctity, so he effectively mulls to 5. This game isn't that exciting, i get a turn 2 Fulminator and destroy his only land. Next turn the same, and the next turn. After that I cycle and cascade. He scoops.
Sideboard:
-1 Pestermite
-1 Living End
+2 Slaughter Games
Game 2
Less exciting than last game, he combos off turn 4 and there isnt anything i can do about it.
Game 3
I keep a hand with 3 lands, a splinter twin, cycler and a slaughter games. I hope he doesn't go off by turn 4, he doesnt and i cast Slaughter Games naming 'Ad Nauseam'. He scoops.
2-1
Round 5 - G/R Tron
Game 1
He gets a turn 3 Karn and Turn 4 Ugin. GG
Game 2
He has a much slower start and i am able to pitch a few cards before turn 3 and then cascade into a few guys, giving him a 2 turn clock. He doesnt draw anything useful.
Game 3
This was a very close game. I cycle a lot (i am at 11 life just from my own lands/wraiths) and turn 4 he plays an Oblivion Stone. Next turn I tap out to play a fulminator and destroy on of his tron lands, not allowing him to activate the stone. I play a land untapped and pass the turn. He does nothing and passes the turn. I EoT exile 2 Simian Spirit Guides and Tap my one land for Green mana and play violent outburst, putting 21 points of damage on the board. I swing for the win on my turn.
2-1
Overall score: 5-0
Overall thoughts on the deck:
I had a ton of fun with the deck and it performed really well. I never struggled with the blue splash with 6 fetches (7 including Pale Recluse) and 3 shocks.
I had a few close games and got lucky a few times, and I most likely made a few mistakes along the way. The splinter twin splash definately helps against the graveyard hate. A lot of people thought it was okay to tap out on turn 3 to play something not knowing I could win instantly.
10/10
Would play at a PPTQ.
im a big fan of splashing into splinter twin, but how is it against burn, amulet, abzan and splinter twin ? and what is the sideboard you will go for with todays meta ?
and i think todays meta we will se alot of blood moon, if that resolves its a instant loose, if we cant tap out for beast within (with that decklist)
once you land basic swamp forest and/or island your mana is ok under a blood moon. usually I fetch or cycle for these basics based on what cards are in my hand at the time. It would be ideal to have all three of them, but that doesn't happen every game for me, and its turned out to be ok when I'm lurking to put my own blood moon into play 90% of the games I've landed blood moon. I've had like 1 blue white red match where they had basics after I landed blood moon and the match still got away from me.
I've used it extensively in the past, it flips the game state. Some might call it win more, but I call it "insurance" against people beating you even after you've LE'd for the win.
lately i've experimented with Sorin, Solemn Visitor and he has accomplished a similar ends for me. I only run 1 in my main board. 2 would be just as good. what makes him good is the life link stays until next turn, and it's plus 1/0. which is better than the other white black sorin.
but doesnt the deck want beat within in it ? or can someone explain me why it isnt included ?
We had a new player this week and he didn't know it was going to be modern for this FNM. He isn't new to the game and had a pretty standard jeskai token lists (minus the treasure cruises of course).
Game 1
He beats me down with mantis rider a few turns while struggle to get a cascade spell. I finally do and save myself a turn. He then plays Mantis Rider and lightning strike to kill me.
Game 2
I Cycle and play fulminator mages, however all he plays is basics (typical). Lucky for me he finds no red sources of mana and cast gnaw to the bone for 10 life, and then living end into a huge board.
Sideboard:
-1 shriekmaw
-1 Pestermite
+2 Gnaw to the bone
Game 3
Turn 3 he taps out to play mantis Rider, I EoT Deceiver into Twin.
2-1
Round 2 - Affinity
Game 1
He has a slow start and I cascade into a few spiders and street wraiths, a few combat steps later and I win. He did have an arch bound ravager on the field but didn't know about sacrificing his creatures in response, I didn't tell him after this either.
Game 2
He plays a turn one ornithopter and a turn two steel overseer, I evoke ingot chewer, targeting overseer. Fulminator mage took out one of his lands and then living end next turn left him with nothing, he scoops.
2-0
Round 3 - Naya Midrange/Aggro
Game 1
He starts off with a Noble Hierarch and then puts a rancor on it, unfortunately I get a turn 3 hierarch and turn 4 twin.
So after this game I think that he is playing a bant hexproof deck I helped him brew a few weeks back. I dont side in anything since I am pretty confident with my main deck for this match up.
Game 2
I get a hand with three lands, deceiver and two street wraiths. He plays an experiment one and passes. I play and land and pass. He attacks and Ghor-Clan Rampages the experiment one. Fast foreword after a few turns and I have a fulminator out with a splinter twin and destroy two lands in a row, then next turn make a copy and sac both to destroy two more lands, then cascade into living end to bring back the fulminator + army to destroy his last land. He scoops
2-0
Round 4 - Ad Nauseam
Game 1
He mulls to 6 and has a turn 1 Leyline of Sanctity, so he effectively mulls to 5. This game isn't that exciting, i get a turn 2 Fulminator and destroy his only land. Next turn the same, and the next turn. After that I cycle and cascade. He scoops.
Sideboard:
-1 Pestermite
-1 Living End
+2 Slaughter Games
Game 2
Less exciting than last game, he combos off turn 4 and there isnt anything i can do about it.
Game 3
I keep a hand with 3 lands, a splinter twin, cycler and a slaughter games. I hope he doesn't go off by turn 4, he doesnt and i cast Slaughter Games naming 'Ad Nauseam'. He scoops.
2-1
Round 5 - G/R Tron
Game 1
He gets a turn 3 Karn and Turn 4 Ugin. GG
Game 2
He has a much slower start and i am able to pitch a few cards before turn 3 and then cascade into a few guys, giving him a 2 turn clock. He doesnt draw anything useful.
Game 3
This was a very close game. I cycle a lot (i am at 11 life just from my own lands/wraiths) and turn 4 he plays an Oblivion Stone. Next turn I tap out to play a fulminator and destroy on of his tron lands, not allowing him to activate the stone. I play a land untapped and pass the turn. He does nothing and passes the turn. I EoT exile 2 Simian Spirit Guides and Tap my one land for Green mana and play violent outburst, putting 21 points of damage on the board. I swing for the win on my turn.
2-1
Overall score: 5-0
Overall thoughts on the deck:
I had a ton of fun with the deck and it performed really well. I never struggled with the blue splash with 6 fetches (7 including Pale Recluse) and 3 shocks.
I had a few close games and got lucky a few times, and I most likely made a few mistakes along the way. The splinter twin splash definately helps against the graveyard hate. A lot of people thought it was okay to tap out on turn 3 to play something not knowing I could win instantly.
10/10
Would play at a PPTQ.
Currently I don't own 3 out of the 4 foothills. Can I sub for another fetch?
Problem is that the UR storm player can still kill without necessarily using their grapeshot game 3 and without LE it's hard to put the pressure on them to prevent that.
It is hilarious nonetheless though.
against twin generally damping matrix and dismember are better stoppers, that way you leave Living end itself in the deck. you want LE so you can wipe out there board presence altogether.
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If Twin is what ails you, try Sudden Death in the sideboard.
Also, the grapeshot plan only works once.
Here was the sideboard I ran for last night’s event:
3 Ricochet Trap
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Gnaw to the Bone
2 Shriekmaw
1 Faerie Macabre
1 Jund Charm
Usually I play some assorted jank in the last two slots, but given that I wasn’t familiar with the decks in the area, I decided to hedge a bit and run a couple Gnaw to the Bone in case it was just a bunch of kids jamming Burn. (Spoiler – it was not.)
I scouted the tables a little bit before things got underway and was surprised to see such a wide variety of decks – I don’t think any two people were playing the same deck! It was refreshing to see in the light of the whole “Modern is over, everything is Abzan” routine. But I digress. On to the matches!
Round 1 vs. BW Tokens
My first matchup was against Ken, one of the store employees. He was playing the tokens deck pretty much out of the box. I own the deck myself, so I had a pretty good idea of what to watch out for, including any stray Sorins he might have snuck in there as upgrades.
I keep a decent seven that has a couple of cyclers and a Fulminator Mage, but no cascade spell. He opens on Caves of Koilos into Plains, and casts Raise the Alarm on turn two. On his turn three, he slaps down an Honor of the Pure and begins to go to town on my life total. I cycle away, spending my third turn Fulminating his Caves. He adds a second Honor to the board and crunches in for six, dropping me to 7. Finally, I’m able to draw into a Demonic Dread to clear the field and drop a heap of fatties into play. Path to Exile takes care of one guy, but the rest soon overwhelm him. He never got above two lands in play the entire game.
SB: -2 Jungle Weaver, -1 Beast Within, -2 Street Wraith, -2 Monstrous Carabid
+2 Shriekmaw, +2 Anger of the Gods, +1 Jund Charm, +2 Ingot Chewer (expecting Relic of Progenitus)
He opens on a Windbrisk Heights against my double Fulminator hand. I’m feeling pretty good about this! I also have a Jund Charm in my hand, so I’m ready for the token swarm. I play a Blackcleave Cliffs, cycle a Carabid, and ship the turn back. He simply plays an Intangible Virtue on his second turn and passes. I know the Charm is going to need to see action soon. I draw and say go after playing Grove of the Burnwillows, having run out of cyclers. He runs out a Lingering Souls on turn three. I go into the tank for a bit, but decide not to Jund Charm his tokens EOT, hoping to get the second half of his spell in a later turn. Instead, I cast Fulminator Mage to kill his Heights. Sure enough, he flashes back his Lingering Souls and rumbles in with the first two Spirits. I cast my Charm to sweep his field. As soon as my opponent reaches for his mana I remember that Zealous Persecution is a card.
“Persecution here would be brutal,” I said. This freezes my opponent mid-maneuver (he’s got it), but he shrugs and nods kinda sheepishly as he casts the instant and hammers me for six. I attempt to recover with Anger of the Gods to clear the tokens for good, but his three-for-one token producers allow him to recover quickly even after I cast Living End, and I scoop to a Sorin, Solemn Visitor after cycling and drawing the last LE in my deck. Thems the breaks, I guess.
(An aside: I mention that I drew all of my LE’s, and the jittery fellow playing Grixis Delver next to me says “Well that’s why I don’t play Living End. Also you should really be playing Bow of Nylea to recycle your Living Ends.” Joke’s on him – I had a single Bow in my sideboard until three hours before the event. And real LE players never live in fear of drawing them all. )
SB: -1 Faerie Macabre, +1 Beast Within, -2 Ingot Chewer, +2 Monstrous Carabid
I keep a seven that’s so unexciting I can’t remember what it was. He opens on turn 1 Windbrisk Heights again and plays Soul Warden on turn two.
And I’m just over here
masturbatingcycling.The early turns are kinda fuzzy, but I remember him playing Honor of the Pure on turn 4 (after I Shriekmawed his Warden) and then casting a Relic of Progenitus, which I never saw in game two and thus removed my answers to. He exiles our ‘yards and goes for Spectral Procession. I cycle into my two remaining Shriekmaws and begrudgingly start hardcasting them to eat individual Spirit tokens. By this point, I’ve fallen to 5, and my opponent’s draws are a lot more powerful than mine, given that I’m now officially on the hardcast plan. He plays a Sorin, Lord of Innistrad and makes a token to block my Shriekmaws, which are racing his spirits. At the end of his turn, I Beast Within his Vampire token, replacing it with a beast. He comments on the oddity of the situation, as he is at 14 life against my two ‘Maws and the Beast allows him a lethal counterattack on his next turn. I shrug and shove my creatures into the red zone. He drops to 8. He casts an Honor of the Pure and goes to attack, so I respond by casting a second Beast Within on the Beast token, effectively shutting it down for a turn. His spirit hits me to 2. I untap, draw, and use my first three mana to cast a Fulminator Mage, which I use to pick off his sole untapped white source (Isolated Chapel). He doesn’t float mana, so I know the coast is clear. I swing in with my two Shriekmaws and exile a Simian Spirit Guide, tapping my two remaining lands to cast a Violent Outburst, sealing the win.
Result: Win, 2-1
Round 2 vs. GW Hatebears
Next up is Crystal, whom I saw narrowly defeat Mildly-Elitist Grixis Delver Man in round 1. I’m not looking forward to this matchup – despite her deck being predominantly creatures, I know I can expect Scavenging Ooze and Thalia, Guardian of Thraben to make a showing. We chat casually about the viability of Maverick in the Legacy metagame as we shuffle up for round 2.
“Dude, I wasn’t expecting a Living End deck to show up tonight!” says one of the other players, proving once again that Living End is the deck that everyone acknowledges, yet somehow still ignores.
She wins the roll and opens with a Forest into Noble Hierarch. I play Verdant Catacombs and pass. She drops a Horizon Canopy and tanks for a minute before eventually playing out a Sword of War and Peace.
“Guess I’ll just make you answer this first, then,” she says. It was a good play, since I had no answers to it in my hand and was a turn short of sweeping the field. I start cycling in desperation for a Beast Within but end up taking a massive hit from the Sworded Hierarch before I can kill it. The time earned from the Sword plan gives her the chance to drop Thalia and freeze my cascade until turn 5, and by then it’s too late. Shriekmaw answers Thalia, but I die to the exalted Beast token and we’re on to game two.
SB: -2 Jungle Weaver, -2 Faerie Macabre, +2 Shriekmaw, +2 Anger of the Gods
This time I’m on the play, and I keep a quick hand that involves Street Wraith into Monstrous Carabid. She’s got the turn 1 Hierarch again, but I the first Shriekmaw answers it. She untaps and goes Horizon Canopy into Thalia. Thalia, meet Shriekmaw number two. She groans a bit, but has a second Thalia in play on turn four. Okay, fine. That one can stay. By the fifth turn, I’ve got a Wraith, a Pale Recluse, two ‘Maws, and a Carabid in the graveyard – enough for a very profitable LE – when she drops a Scavenging Ooze and uses her remaining green mana to eat my Recluse. I don’t have the fifth untapped land that I need to sweep the field through Thalia’s tax ability (damn you, Blackcleave Cliffs!), so I knock the top of my deck and rip… Simian Spirit Guide. Eh, good enough. I tap all of my lands and cast a four-mana Violent Outburst on my main phase, cascading into Living End. I exile SSG to allow LE onto the stack and we exchange cards in play, my newly minted Shriekmaw killing off the returning Thalia. She draws and plays a Qasali Pridemage, seemingly resigned to blocking my team. I draw and play Wooded Foothills. As I prepare to swing in with my team, she takes a moment to Ghost Quarter my fetchland. Stupidly, I crack it in response. In comes the Aven Mindcensor! I fail to find a land. Still before blocks, she Paths my Shriekmaw. I fail to find again. She untaps and plays a second GQ, tagging my Overgrown Tomb. Fail to find AGAIN. Man, that Mindcensor. As it stands, though, I’m able to keep crunching in and manage to get her down to zero before she can start attacking again.
SB: No changes
Meanwhile, at the next table, Mildly Elitist Grixis Delver Man is having an argument with his opponent, who is playing Nykthos Green (sweet deck, btw) and has him locked out with looping Primal Commands. MEGDM wants his opponent to just kill him, but Nykthos Man is just drawing out game 1 in the hopes of winning the match 1-0-1. Maybe it was kind of jerkish to draw out the game, but it was a valid strategy for a deck that would otherwise struggle against a tempo-oriented Delver strategy. Eventually Nykthos Man does swing in for the kill, only to go on to lose in 3 games. I felt kind of bad for him – MEGDM basically guilted him into ending Game 1 because he knew he was fast enough to win games 2-3, and I feel like Nykthos Man was angled out of a match win.
So here we are, on to game 3. Crystal opens with T1 Noble Hierarch again, turboing out small threats to keep pressure on me while I cycle up some goodies. Leonin Arbiter eventually hits the table, so I landcycle in response. At this point my hand is just lands and a Shriekmaw, so I don’t feel hampered by the Arbiter at all. Rather than kill it, I decide to sandbag my Violent Outburst for as long as possible, hoping to pressure her into Pathing her own creatures to find lands (which my back-to-back Fulminator Mages were feasting on). She doesn’t bite, and instead decides to Tectonic Edge my only green source before crashing in with her team. I float a green and cast Outburst at the end of her first main phase. After lamenting her inability to find a target for her Pridemage, she reluctantly pushes her creatures aside, and I pulverize her with my creatures on the next turn.
Result: Win, 2-1
Round 3 vs. Storm/Scapeshift Hybrid
The third round is against Mark. He and I had a lighthearted chat about our respective combo decks before the match started, and he seemed like a nice guy with a great mind for the game. Before I get to this one, let me just say that I really like this deck. Two different angles of attack, mostly non-interactive, and the card selections for each combo complement each other pretty well. He went to time against Mono-U Tron (which I was secretly hoping to face), and so I went in as a pair-down. The good news is I don’t have to face Mildly Elitist Grixis Delver Man. The bad news?
Well…do you see the deck he’s running? Storm is a miserable matchup for me, and I have no real sideboard plan against it. Scapeshift is equally difficult, based on my past experiences. Oh well, let’s do this thing!
Game 1 is dreadfully short. He opens on back-to-back suspended Search for Tomorrow, leading me to suspect he’s going for the Valakut kill, but once he assembles seven lands in play, he unleashes a flurry of cantrips/Explores/rituals and hits me with a lethal Grapeshot. Ugh.
SB: -2 Jungle Weaver, -1 Demonic Dread, -1 Deadshot Minotaur, +2 Gnaw to the Bone, +1 Faerie Macabre, +1 Jund Charm
I should note that, while I board out my Jungle Weavers in every match, I do not think they should be cut from the deck. 5/6’s with reach get there a surprisingly large amount of the time in Game 1 vs. most of the Modern metagame.
I open on an awkward seven – it has a Faerie Macabre which I’m hoping can be used to disrupt his storm kill, but it only has a Grove of the Burnwillows and a Temple Garden as its lands. Unfortunately, in the midst of the first few turns, he casts a Gitaxian Probe to clue himself in, so there goes the surprise value of the Faerie. To make matters worse, I miss my third land drop for two turns, eventually discarding a Fulminator Mage due to hand size. Definitely a greedy keep on my end, but I get what I deserve. Meanwhile, Mark is stringing together Search for Tomorrows and Explores, building up his land count for a lethal Scapeshift. I finally cycle up my third land (Verdant Catacombs) and decide that my best shot at winning is to keep my life total above 18, forcing him to get 8 lands in play for the combo. I fetch up a basic Swamp with my Catacombs, going to 19, and cast a Fulminator Mage. I leave it in play. Two turns later, he attempts the Scapeshift with 1 Valakut in play and seven other lands. I let him search up his second Valakut and seven other mountains, and then cascade with the Valakut triggers on the stack. Living End turns up, and with that on the stack, I pop my Fulminator on a nonbasic Mountain. Then I snipe two more when my creatures come back, putting him at five mountains and two Valakuts in play. My opponent nods in understanding as his triggers fail to deal damage. I wipe a bead of sweat from my brow. I’ve stopped the Scapeshift, now I just need to avoid getting stormed out. He finishes his turn with a Grapeshot for six, taking me to 13. On my end step, I pitch the Faerie to exile the Grapeshot and an Explore in his bin. He doesn’t scoop on the spot, so I know he’s got a second Grapeshot in his deck.
I untap and hit him with a pair of Deadshot Minotaurs, and he falls to 13. He churns through a Manamorphose and a Sleight of Hand before attempting Pyromancer’s Ascension. I cycle a Street Wraith in response and draw into a second Faerie. I tank for a bit, then eventually respond to Ascension by ditching a Faerie to exile Probe and Manamorphose, hoping to cut him off from as many cantrips as possible. “Those were good picks,” says Mark. I’m crossing my fingers as the tension builds – he’s digging furiously for his second Grapeshot, but doesn’t find it. I crash in with my Minotaurs and activate Kessig Wolf Run to pump one for lethal. We’re onto game 3!
SB: No changes
At this point, I’m just happy that I managed to steal a game from my worst nightmare of a matchup. Now I’m on the draw and expecting to get goldfished. I throw back an unkeepable seven and keep a six of Faerie Macabre, Monstrous Carabid, Street Wraith, Demonic Dread, and two lands. He doesn’t open with a turn 1 suspended Search for Tomorrow, so I breathe a small sigh of relief. I play a land and cycle my Carabid, drawing a Deadshot Minotaur. He peeks at my hand with Probe and grimaces when he draws his cantrip card. Maybe he’s drawing conflicting pieces? I can only hope. I cycle into another Carabid and Minotaur on my next turn – the last one turns up a Gnaw to the Bone. Mark starts his fifth turn with a Desperate Ritual, into a Pyromancer’s Ascension, into an Explore, into – Empty the Warrens for eight?! I’m a bit taken back by this, but I say okay and Gnaw for 8 life at the end of his turn. I draw a Street Wraith and cycle it immediately, which brings up Beast Within. I decide to go for Demonic Dread now, and exile a Simian Spirit Guide to get to six mana, which allows me to respond to LE with the flashback on Gnaw for more life, putting me up to 37. Mark goes to start his turn with an Explore, but I respond to the Ascension trigger by casting Beast Within on his enchantment. He nods and bins Ascension, then casts a second Empty for six goblins and passes. It takes a couple of turns to get past his goblin chump blockers, but somehow, someway, I got there.
I earned a cool $40 in store credit for my trouble (which I promptly blew on Standard stuff because reasons.)
Result: Win, 2-1
Needless to say, I was very impressed at my performance, particularly in the last round. Some closing thoughts:
-I was happy to have Simian Spirit Guide in my deck again. Being a turn faster or having that one extra mana was clutch. No turn 2 Fulminators, but I’m sure my day will come.
-Shriekmaw was an absolute all-star. It’s probably correct to start more of them in place of the Faerie Macabres that I’ve been maindecking since forever, but what can I say? I’m a miser.
-Gnaw to the Bone was surprisingly good. I’ve been known to favor Brindle Boar over it, but against the dreaded Storm/Scapeshift mashup, that extra 4-6 life and second casting really helped.
-God damn, I love Living End.
another magic set and more modern neglect!
this is just a stretch of the imagination but 1 card i saw was Corpseweft, being the deck that we are we have the creature cards necessary to fuel this enchantment. exiling creature cards is part of the activation cost so it is unlikely an opponent could exile the graveyard and take away from you making the big zombie token.
-the zombie token is where the problem lies, its just a vanilla.
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still the same list as before.
round 1 mono black,
round 2 control
round 3 aggro of some kind. (finally got the fulminator mage + splinter twin combo online. killed his man lands) (otherwise text book living end both games, had to keep blockers up he had undying and persist creatures that could kill me on attack back both games.)
round 4 tokens
round 5 Dredge, tough match up.
Dredge match up is horrid, Since dredge pukes creatures into its graveyard your almost forced to persue the back up plan of hard casting. key interaction is don't let them keep a lotleth troll on the field. it sort of a race too game 1. in some cases you want to let them combo out there swarm so you can violent outburst on the combo step and rest the field in your favor. but gotta draw that in the first place.
games 2 and 3, graveyard hate is important.
my current sideboarding it,
trying 1 Grafdigger's Cage in the sideboard so I can cascade into it. then bring in blood moon and anger of the gods. Anger can keep there smaller creatures managed. blood moon locked them down from being able to persue a back up plan of hard casting all there stuff. Fulminator mage doing the same thing as blood moon of course.
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monastery siege........ I got a lot of posts denouncing this card, but now i'm having second thoughts. it could be the discard engine non-cycling living end decks need.
Twitter- RogueSource.
Decks: "Name one! I probably got it built In one of these boxes."
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Vintage will rise again! Buy a Mox today!
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[I]Some call it dig through time, when really your digging through CRAP!
Merfolk! showing magic players what a shower is since Lorwyn!
I'm so glad I dumped Kessig Wolf Run/Dryad Arbor for that last night. Has anyone else found similar success with Vault of the Archangel?
Yo I gotta say I think I like this card, but it almost feels like it could be its own deck right? You could use the same cycling base to fill the yard and draw into Corpseweft, the same mana acceleration to get it all down faster and if you actually cut living end and instead run this as a wincon you no longer have to care about CMC. Not sure what I would do at that point if CMC opened up but I can easily see starting with:
4 Corpseweft
4 Street Wraith
4 Monsterous Carabid
4 Deadshot Minotaur
4 Architechts of will
4 Fulminator Mage
4 Simian Spirit Guide
Http://www.fantasticneighborhood.com/
Comedy gaming podcast. Listening to it makes you cool.
Twitter- RogueSource.
Decks: "Name one! I probably got it built In one of these boxes."
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Vintage will rise again! Buy a Mox today!
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[I]Some call it dig through time, when really your digging through CRAP!
Merfolk! showing magic players what a shower is since Lorwyn!
im a big fan of splashing into splinter twin, but how is it against burn, amulet, abzan and splinter twin ? and what is the sideboard you will go for with todays meta ?
and i think todays meta we will se alot of blood moon, if that resolves its a instant loose, if we cant tap out for beast within (with that decklist)
unlike Hadouken's list, I run blood moon in my sideboard. blood moon essentially turns on splinter twin and Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. So I wouldn't call it an instant lose by any means...
once you land basic swamp forest and/or island your mana is ok under a blood moon. usually I fetch or cycle for these basics based on what cards are in my hand at the time. It would be ideal to have all three of them, but that doesn't happen every game for me, and its turned out to be ok when I'm lurking to put my own blood moon into play 90% of the games I've landed blood moon. I've had like 1 blue white red match where they had basics after I landed blood moon and the match still got away from me.
I've used it extensively in the past, it flips the game state. Some might call it win more, but I call it "insurance" against people beating you even after you've LE'd for the win.
lately i've experimented with Sorin, Solemn Visitor and he has accomplished a similar ends for me. I only run 1 in my main board. 2 would be just as good. what makes him good is the life link stays until next turn, and it's plus 1/0. which is better than the other white black sorin.
Twitter- RogueSource.
Decks: "Name one! I probably got it built In one of these boxes."
---------------------------------------------------
Vintage will rise again! Buy a Mox today!
---------------------------------------------------
[I]Some call it dig through time, when really your digging through CRAP!
Merfolk! showing magic players what a shower is since Lorwyn!
but doesnt the deck want beat within in it ? or can someone explain me why it isnt included ?
Currently I don't own 3 out of the 4 foothills. Can I sub for another fetch?
So surprised and disappointed that some of them have started stapling Twin cards onto the deck's face so they can play with other cards.