Went 4-0 at FNM last night to earn a Fatal Push promo. To be honest, I don't have a decklist yet because I literally had half the cards still in the toploaders from the mail. When the LGS posted a picture of that promo I threw it all together about two hours beforehand.
R1: vs BG Sneks 2-0
Game 1: pretty basic, though I made one mistake of not playing cast out on a Nissa VOZ at the end of the turn he played it, preferring to go for Glimmer. Played Cast Out the following turn at sorcery speed on it and he proceeded to drop a green hulk to pump up a board to having like 12 total power. Fortunately, the digging from the earlier draw found me a Fumigate turn 6 which was followed by turn 7 Approach and the game wrapped up.
Game 2: not much worth talking about, he mulled to 6 and kept a 1-lander but didn't see another land until like turn 5. Even against this slow of a control deck by the time he could develop a board I had every answer needed.
R2: vs BW Zombies 2-1
Game 1: slow hand on his end, fumigate stopped the bleeding of a couple early creatures though and I was able to counter the rest until Approach won out
Game 2: lost like turn 5 while he was on the play...no chance lol.
Game 3: very close, as he was able to apply enough pressure without overcomitting that after turn 5 fumigate by me he proceeds to respond with double dread wanderer into lord of the accursed. Unfortunately for him I was able to play one of my 2 sideboarded Descend Upon the Sinful, and Approach won
R3: vs UR Control 2-0
Game 1: I barely remember besides that I cast the first one after a counter war over a draw spell on his end step, and the second approach turned out to be just a card or two deep so I was able to cycle into it the next turn.
Game 2: Funniest thing ever...turn 7 I Approach, which he allows to resolve. Then he follows by tapping out for Nicol Bolas...except I had the second Approach in hand already for the win.
R4: vs UW Spirits 2-0
I feel absolutely terrible about this game, because going into it 3-0 I was guaranteed a Promo, and I was celebrating with him because I assumed he was, too. Turns out, due to a couple of draws in earlier rounds I was the only person at 3-0 going into the final round...and my win put him one spot out of it. I don't feel bad about the mistake, but rather that I know both of us played rather lax assuming that it was all wrapped up.
Thoughts on the deck:
1. There was zero RDW at this event, which was probably good for me although it made Blessed Alliance a pretty lousy card.
2. I boarded in creatures in every game, at least a couple, but never won via any of them. Not saying I'm removing them but it was funny.
3. Nobody was really ready for the deck. I mean, everyone knew what it was after a few turns, but nobody really had a game plan against it.
Overall the deck was a blast and I'll keep using it. It feels like a throwback to old-school UW control.
Played against Temur Energy (2-0), Ramunap Red (0-2), Ramunap Red (2-0), UR Control (2-0), UW Control (2-0).
Thoughts:
Gideon of the Trials is amazing in control matchups. Shuts off opposing approaches, pressures opposing plainswalkers, shuts off creaturelands... if control is a bigger part of the meta going forward we probably want more copies in the sideboard. Against aggro decks he's ok-ish. He makes good hands great but he doesn't do much to save a bad hand by himself.
Westvale Abbey is a great land for us. It doesn't combo with Approach the way Ipnu Rivulet does but it shores up our weaknesses really nicely. It's great for breaking Gideon of the Trials stalemates and it's just nice when you can force your opponent to make the first move just by playing a land. I'm going to be sad to see it rotate.
Ramunap Red on the play pre-sideboard is a huge favorite against us. I honestly don't think we can beat their nut draw. Go out and win those die rolls, guys.
Summary Dismissal is in the sideboard to fight the ramp into Eldrazi menace running around standard. While I didn't run into any of those decks the card is fine as a bad disallow in control mirrors. Having Gearhulk available multiplies the impact of specialty instant cards.
I really feel like this deck is going to be viable for a while. It'll be interesting to see if Ixalan pushes us in a more Gearhulky direction (instant board wipes seem like a nice rebuy) or if the Approach plan stays viable. The other thing I feel like we might want to do is to play more hard counters but honestly I'm getting by ok without them. If you told me ahead of time I was never going to play against a red deck I would probably swap out the two Stasis Snare for Disallow though.
ETA: Put up a 5-0 this morning against UW Control (2-1), Ramunap Red (2-1), UB Reanimator (2-1), Ramunap Red (2-0), Temur Energy (2-0). Deck feels sweet.
I don't even particularly like the Sphinx right now. The card I'm going to miss from the sideboard is Dispel.
We're very well set up for rotation. You lose percentage points if you replace Blessed Alliance with Aether Meltdown but the deck is perfectly playable. As long as the Ixalan counters and white removal aren't complete garbage we should see a relative improvement in the deck compared to everybody else.
I will be very surprised if we don't get something comparable to Blessed Alliance, Immolating Glare and Stasis Snare. I think we still have 200+ cards to go, so not too worried about it. Will just have to wait another week or two. Same with Dispel, seems like that card has been in standard forever and always will be.
This just got spoiled Primal Amulet. Can't tell if this is going to be a little crazy or it is just a 'win-more' card. What do you guys think of it for our deck?
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This just got spoiled Primal Amulet. Can't tell if this is going to be a little crazy or it is just a 'win-more' card. What do you guys think of it for our deck?
It doesn't affect the board, and has to be played at sorcery speed. To me those are red flags. On my fourth turn I want to be trying to resolve Glimmer or Illuminations before wiping the board. The amulet seems more like a card for combo or ramp strategies.
I'm not sold on the idea of Primal Amulet, to be honest. I just want a reasonable replacement for Blessed Alliance and Descend Upon the Sinful/Immolating Glare.
Based on spoiled cards so far, I presume you guys are already working out a 75 post-rotation?
I will be very surprised if we don't get something comparable to Blessed Alliance, Immolating Glare and Stasis Snare. I think we still have 200+ cards to go, so not too worried about it. Will just have to wait another week or two. Same with Dispel, seems like that card has been in standard forever and always will be.
Interesting list. I could see Glare being useful. Especially against Temur. Whirler Virtuoso makes Blessed Alliance awkward and the easy way to lose winnable games against them is for Longtusk Cub to get out of control.
I do think it's a mistake to leave Gideon out of the 75. He's insane in the mirror and ranges from ok to very good against most decks.
I'm not sold on the idea of Primal Amulet, to be honest. I just want a reasonable replacement for Blessed Alliance and Descend Upon the Sinful/Immolating Glare.
Based on spoiled cards so far, I presume you guys are already working out a 75 post-rotation?
I'm excited about the mass path to exile effect. I don't really care about giving RDW three extra lands if it spares me taking six points or more of damage to the face. It may just be a matter of adding a couple Essence Scatter as additional counter options in the early game, too.
I do think it's a mistake to leave Gideon out of the 75. He's insane in the mirror and ranges from ok to very good against most decks.
I agree 100%, he has really helped my deck out. Against a lot of decks, he adds pressure they need to deal with, which buys us turns.
Not sold on Primal Amulet, just looks very interesting, maybe as a sideboard card for the longer games. Will have to play with it. Same with Settle the Wreckage, as a card to pull in from the SB, there are some decks where giving them a few extra lands would not be a big deal. And a 4 mana instant speed board wipe is kinda nice.
But still holding my breath waiting on the 2-3 mana instant spot removal cards. Can only hope for another Blessed.
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I like the look of your list a lot. Do you find Mono-Red matchup tough with only two authorities? I have also added another dismissal for the MonoRamp menace. I also completely missed the idea of running a gearhulk in the side as a way to get multiple instances of those type of effects. Will make that change for nats this weekend.
That is somebody else's list, though it is similar to what I've been running. I think the Gearhulk fever is spreading. I got rocked in the mirror in my last league by a UW list that brought Gearhulks in from the side.
I agree that going down from the four authorities is a little sketch. Maybe it works out if you keep the four Caracals in the side. Honestly our best bet is to prey on mediocre red hands but with a turn one authority you can sometimes even beat their good hands.
Interesting to see more decks running 4 Approachs. 3 has always seemed like a solid number for me but then again I am not 5-0'ing Competitive Leagues either. Same with 26 lands. I know we have 4 cycling lands but 25 has been really smooth for me.
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Went 3-1 tonight at a standard event with a slightly upgraded version of the deck (finally got Supreme Will and a Disallow for ramp matchups). I don't quite feel like typing as much as last time lol:
R1: Lost 1-2 vs Zombies...yeah game 3 he played a Gonti and snagged one of my board wipes where I never drew into another
R2: Beat black eldrazi 2-1 because 3 consecutive thought knot seer is fine
R3: Beat UW Panharmonicon 2-0
R4: Bye, good enough for me
Got a Polluted Delta and a leftover pack yielding a Champion of Wits. I am starting to lean towards adding a 2nd Gearhulk at some point in the near future. Card is awesome, but I don't think its worth 4 in the 75 as we just don't have as many crazy instants. The real play is just using it to flash back GoG after casting a first approach.
Also the UW checkland will help a ton with the mana.
Hi dude, i hope one to help me to sideboard plan, versus the meta ( temur, ub control, ramp, vehi, Ramunap red, jeskai god), cuz i have national on 2 weeks
thanks for help
I personally like the 1/1 split with the Sphinx. Both cards are very good but versatility helps and i like one ofs in control lists due to the huge card draw
Hi dude, i hope one to help me to sideboard plan, versus the meta ( temur, ub control, ramp, vehi, Ramunap red, jeskai god), cuz i have national on 2 weeks
thanks for help
Ramunap Red: -2 Approach, -2 Glimmer of Genius, -2 Censor; +4 Authority of the Consuls, +2 Torrential Gearhulk
The name of the game is stabilizing the board until you can go get your win condition. If you get the turn one authority down your win percentage shoots up. I think I've only ever lost when somebody got me with a color-wheel breaking bomb like Thought-Knot Seer or Warping Wail. I'd mulligan from 7 if you don't have Authority or Blessed Alliance. If you don't have Authority you are basically hoping for them to have a bad hand, much like you are in game one.
If you expect a lot of red you should have some Regal Caracal action in the sideboard.
Temur: +2 Descend Upon the Sinful, +1 Negate, +1 Dispel, -4 Censor
Usually I'm on the draw against them, since the matchup is so good in game one. You basically want to play so that you don't get beat by one negate. Blessed Alliance is kind of meh against them but you don't want to die to a turn two Longtusk Cub and you can usually make blessed alliance good eventually after a sweeper.
You generally want to fire off your first approach against them ASAP. Then it's all about crafting the moment when you can resolve Approach #2. Often this will involve using Westvale Abbey or Gideon to force them to do something. Also, once the first approach resolves your Supreme Will becomes nearly a hard counter--if they pay for it then they will usually only have one counter up for your approach.
The way you lose is usually to The Scarab God. It's also possible to get aggro'ed out of the game. You keep the sweepers in to guard against a Gifted Aetherborn swarm and upgrade to Descend Upon the Sinful as counter-scarab tech (either to exile the god or to deny him fuel). I bring in only one Gearhulk and I am pretty conservative about exposing it to counters or letting it get killed. It's good value but you don't want to feed their Scarab God. I've lost games where the opponent was completely out of gas except for Scarab God on my Gearhulk. Feels bad, man.
You need access to Fumigate in case of a Caracal swarm or a Sphinx of the Final Word. For that reason I would also not scry the first Fumigate you see to the bottom. Don't cast or cycle anything as long as you have your next land drop in your hand for the first seven turns. Once somebody casts an Approach the cat and mouse game can begin. If your opponent casts the first Approach ideally you play Gideon, emblem, and stay patient. Don't try to cast your approach until you aren't dead to Cast Out + Approach. Do keep up your own Cast Out so you can get your opponent if they're too aggressive. If you don't have Gideon then I wouldn't cast your first approach until you can do it with two counters up. Impatience will get you beat.
If you cast the first approach then you want to ride the threat of a second approach to victory. Don't just jam approach #2 unless they tap out. I've won a lot of mirrors by dint of Gearhulk/Abbey/Gideon beatdowns in sideboarded games because the opponent can't tap out for fear of approach #2.
I am preparing for nats and I've been testing both online and on paper. Here are some thoughts:
- 26 lands + 4 Approach seems like the best combination. I frequently played my cycling lands because it's so important not to lose land drops. I've lost so many favorable matchups due to missing crucial land drops.
- Immolating Glare is very good. Blessed Alliance has been clunky for me at times, so I started testing the 3 Alliance/ 2 Glare split and have never changed it even though I have made several other changes since the deck first appeared.
- jacobk's list is very good. I think at least one Gideon of the Trials is correct. Not sure about the Ramunap matchup though. Without Linvala, the Preserver and/or Regal Caracal, you are forced to mulligan into Authority of the Consuls or you just lose. Even then, mulliganing to 5 while trying to reach 7 mana as soon as possible might not be enough to stay alive, even with the Authority down.
- I tested mana rocks as well to accelerate the deck. They were decent enough, but I changed my mind immediately after an Abrade smashed my turn 4 Hedron Archive. Lesson learned: Don't give your opponent targets for their dead cards in the first game
Has anyone tested Spell Queller? I used to play them but was discouraged by the Fumigate nonbo and in matchups where you side out Fumigate, Negates are also effective (having both Negate and Queller in the sb is too many slots).
Corey Burkhart playing UW Approach. Channel Corey - Standard U/W Approach (Deck Tech & Matches) Played against Mono-Red, Temur, New Perspective? and BG Constrictor. I really like watching him play because he explains his thought lines very well.
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His match against New Perspectives highlights the power of the missing Gideon of the Trials. I've always found that matchup to be pretty favorable.
That is the first time I have seen that deck, so was not really sure what it was trying to do the whole time until he went off. But the last few weeks, Gideon has quietly been one of the super stars of my deck.
R1: vs BG Sneks 2-0
Game 1: pretty basic, though I made one mistake of not playing cast out on a Nissa VOZ at the end of the turn he played it, preferring to go for Glimmer. Played Cast Out the following turn at sorcery speed on it and he proceeded to drop a green hulk to pump up a board to having like 12 total power. Fortunately, the digging from the earlier draw found me a Fumigate turn 6 which was followed by turn 7 Approach and the game wrapped up.
Game 2: not much worth talking about, he mulled to 6 and kept a 1-lander but didn't see another land until like turn 5. Even against this slow of a control deck by the time he could develop a board I had every answer needed.
R2: vs BW Zombies 2-1
Game 1: slow hand on his end, fumigate stopped the bleeding of a couple early creatures though and I was able to counter the rest until Approach won out
Game 2: lost like turn 5 while he was on the play...no chance lol.
Game 3: very close, as he was able to apply enough pressure without overcomitting that after turn 5 fumigate by me he proceeds to respond with double dread wanderer into lord of the accursed. Unfortunately for him I was able to play one of my 2 sideboarded Descend Upon the Sinful, and Approach won
R3: vs UR Control 2-0
Game 1: I barely remember besides that I cast the first one after a counter war over a draw spell on his end step, and the second approach turned out to be just a card or two deep so I was able to cycle into it the next turn.
Game 2: Funniest thing ever...turn 7 I Approach, which he allows to resolve. Then he follows by tapping out for Nicol Bolas...except I had the second Approach in hand already for the win.
R4: vs UW Spirits 2-0
I feel absolutely terrible about this game, because going into it 3-0 I was guaranteed a Promo, and I was celebrating with him because I assumed he was, too. Turns out, due to a couple of draws in earlier rounds I was the only person at 3-0 going into the final round...and my win put him one spot out of it. I don't feel bad about the mistake, but rather that I know both of us played rather lax assuming that it was all wrapped up.
Thoughts on the deck:
1. There was zero RDW at this event, which was probably good for me although it made Blessed Alliance a pretty lousy card.
2. I boarded in creatures in every game, at least a couple, but never won via any of them. Not saying I'm removing them but it was funny.
3. Nobody was really ready for the deck. I mean, everyone knew what it was after a few turns, but nobody really had a game plan against it.
Overall the deck was a blast and I'll keep using it. It feels like a throwback to old-school UW control.
7 Plains
4 Irrigated Farmland
4 Prairie Stream
2 Port Town
1 Westvale Abbey
4 Censor
4 Blessed Alliance
4 Supreme Will
4 Glimmer of Genius
3 Hieroglyphic Illumination
4 Cast Out
4 Fumigate
4 Approach of the Second Sun
2 Gideon of the Trials
4 Authority of the Consuls
3 Torrential Gearhulk
3 Negate
1 Dispel
2 Summary Dismissal
2 Descend Upon the Sinful
Played against Temur Energy (2-0), Ramunap Red (0-2), Ramunap Red (2-0), UR Control (2-0), UW Control (2-0).
Thoughts:
Gideon of the Trials is amazing in control matchups. Shuts off opposing approaches, pressures opposing plainswalkers, shuts off creaturelands... if control is a bigger part of the meta going forward we probably want more copies in the sideboard. Against aggro decks he's ok-ish. He makes good hands great but he doesn't do much to save a bad hand by himself.
Westvale Abbey is a great land for us. It doesn't combo with Approach the way Ipnu Rivulet does but it shores up our weaknesses really nicely. It's great for breaking Gideon of the Trials stalemates and it's just nice when you can force your opponent to make the first move just by playing a land. I'm going to be sad to see it rotate.
Ramunap Red on the play pre-sideboard is a huge favorite against us. I honestly don't think we can beat their nut draw. Go out and win those die rolls, guys.
Summary Dismissal is in the sideboard to fight the ramp into Eldrazi menace running around standard. While I didn't run into any of those decks the card is fine as a bad disallow in control mirrors. Having Gearhulk available multiplies the impact of specialty instant cards.
I really feel like this deck is going to be viable for a while. It'll be interesting to see if Ixalan pushes us in a more Gearhulky direction (instant board wipes seem like a nice rebuy) or if the Approach plan stays viable. The other thing I feel like we might want to do is to play more hard counters but honestly I'm getting by ok without them. If you told me ahead of time I was never going to play against a red deck I would probably swap out the two Stasis Snare for Disallow though.
ETA: Put up a 5-0 this morning against UW Control (2-1), Ramunap Red (2-1), UB Reanimator (2-1), Ramunap Red (2-0), Temur Energy (2-0). Deck feels sweet.
But have any option for Sphinx of the Final Word SB ? or we gonna really loose this slot against control?
Between Kefnet, Gideon and Glyph Keepers we already got a good post-rotation for SB, all depends on what Ixalan brings us from there.
We're very well set up for rotation. You lose percentage points if you replace Blessed Alliance with Aether Meltdown but the deck is perfectly playable. As long as the Ixalan counters and white removal aren't complete garbage we should see a relative improvement in the deck compared to everybody else.
UW Approach - Top 5 at GP Turin. Interesting that he ran 3 Glare's main board.
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Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
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It doesn't affect the board, and has to be played at sorcery speed. To me those are red flags. On my fourth turn I want to be trying to resolve Glimmer or Illuminations before wiping the board. The amulet seems more like a card for combo or ramp strategies.
Based on spoiled cards so far, I presume you guys are already working out a 75 post-rotation?
Interesting list. I could see Glare being useful. Especially against Temur. Whirler Virtuoso makes Blessed Alliance awkward and the easy way to lose winnable games against them is for Longtusk Cub to get out of control.
I do think it's a mistake to leave Gideon out of the 75. He's insane in the mirror and ranges from ok to very good against most decks.
I'm excited about the mass path to exile effect. I don't really care about giving RDW three extra lands if it spares me taking six points or more of damage to the face. It may just be a matter of adding a couple Essence Scatter as additional counter options in the early game, too.
I agree 100%, he has really helped my deck out. Against a lot of decks, he adds pressure they need to deal with, which buys us turns.
Not sold on Primal Amulet, just looks very interesting, maybe as a sideboard card for the longer games. Will have to play with it. Same with Settle the Wreckage, as a card to pull in from the SB, there are some decks where giving them a few extra lands would not be a big deal. And a 4 mana instant speed board wipe is kinda nice.
But still holding my breath waiting on the 2-3 mana instant spot removal cards. Can only hope for another Blessed.
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I like the look of your list a lot. Do you find Mono-Red matchup tough with only two authorities? I have also added another dismissal for the MonoRamp menace. I also completely missed the idea of running a gearhulk in the side as a way to get multiple instances of those type of effects. Will make that change for nats this weekend.
I agree that going down from the four authorities is a little sketch. Maybe it works out if you keep the four Caracals in the side. Honestly our best bet is to prey on mediocre red hands but with a turn one authority you can sometimes even beat their good hands.
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R Skred Red
Retired
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R1: Lost 1-2 vs Zombies...yeah game 3 he played a Gonti and snagged one of my board wipes where I never drew into another
R2: Beat black eldrazi 2-1 because 3 consecutive thought knot seer is fine
R3: Beat UW Panharmonicon 2-0
R4: Bye, good enough for me
Got a Polluted Delta and a leftover pack yielding a Champion of Wits. I am starting to lean towards adding a 2nd Gearhulk at some point in the near future. Card is awesome, but I don't think its worth 4 in the 75 as we just don't have as many crazy instants. The real play is just using it to flash back GoG after casting a first approach.
Also the UW checkland will help a ton with the mana.
thanks for help
Based on my list:
7 Plains
4 Irrigated Farmland
4 Prairie Stream
2 Port Town
1 Westvale Abbey
4 Censor
4 Blessed Alliance
4 Supreme Will
4 Glimmer of Genius
3 Hieroglyphic Illumination
4 Cast Out
4 Fumigate
4 Approach of the Second Sun
2 Gideon of the Trials
4 Authority of the Consuls
3 Torrential Gearhulk
3 Negate
1 Dispel
2 Summary Dismissal
2 Descend Upon the Sinful
Ramunap Red: -2 Approach, -2 Glimmer of Genius, -2 Censor; +4 Authority of the Consuls, +2 Torrential Gearhulk
The name of the game is stabilizing the board until you can go get your win condition. If you get the turn one authority down your win percentage shoots up. I think I've only ever lost when somebody got me with a color-wheel breaking bomb like Thought-Knot Seer or Warping Wail. I'd mulligan from 7 if you don't have Authority or Blessed Alliance. If you don't have Authority you are basically hoping for them to have a bad hand, much like you are in game one.
If you expect a lot of red you should have some Regal Caracal action in the sideboard.
Temur: +2 Descend Upon the Sinful, +1 Negate, +1 Dispel, -4 Censor
Usually I'm on the draw against them, since the matchup is so good in game one. You basically want to play so that you don't get beat by one negate. Blessed Alliance is kind of meh against them but you don't want to die to a turn two Longtusk Cub and you can usually make blessed alliance good eventually after a sweeper.
UB Control: +1 Dispel, +3 Negate, +2 Summary Dismissal, +1 Torrential Gearhulk, +2 Descend Upon the Sinful; -4 Blessed Alliance, -3 Fumigate, -1 Stasis Snare, -1 Approach
You generally want to fire off your first approach against them ASAP. Then it's all about crafting the moment when you can resolve Approach #2. Often this will involve using Westvale Abbey or Gideon to force them to do something. Also, once the first approach resolves your Supreme Will becomes nearly a hard counter--if they pay for it then they will usually only have one counter up for your approach.
The way you lose is usually to The Scarab God. It's also possible to get aggro'ed out of the game. You keep the sweepers in to guard against a Gifted Aetherborn swarm and upgrade to Descend Upon the Sinful as counter-scarab tech (either to exile the god or to deny him fuel). I bring in only one Gearhulk and I am pretty conservative about exposing it to counters or letting it get killed. It's good value but you don't want to feed their Scarab God. I've lost games where the opponent was completely out of gas except for Scarab God on my Gearhulk. Feels bad, man.
Overall this matchup has been pretty good for me.
Mirror match: +1 Dispel, +3 Negate, +2 Summary Dismissal, +3 Torrential Gearhulk; -4 Blessed Alliance, -2 Fumigate, -2 Stasis Snare, -1 Approach
You need access to Fumigate in case of a Caracal swarm or a Sphinx of the Final Word. For that reason I would also not scry the first Fumigate you see to the bottom. Don't cast or cycle anything as long as you have your next land drop in your hand for the first seven turns. Once somebody casts an Approach the cat and mouse game can begin. If your opponent casts the first Approach ideally you play Gideon, emblem, and stay patient. Don't try to cast your approach until you aren't dead to Cast Out + Approach. Do keep up your own Cast Out so you can get your opponent if they're too aggressive. If you don't have Gideon then I wouldn't cast your first approach until you can do it with two counters up. Impatience will get you beat.
If you cast the first approach then you want to ride the threat of a second approach to victory. Don't just jam approach #2 unless they tap out. I've won a lot of mirrors by dint of Gearhulk/Abbey/Gideon beatdowns in sideboarded games because the opponent can't tap out for fear of approach #2.
- 26 lands + 4 Approach seems like the best combination. I frequently played my cycling lands because it's so important not to lose land drops. I've lost so many favorable matchups due to missing crucial land drops.
- Immolating Glare is very good. Blessed Alliance has been clunky for me at times, so I started testing the 3 Alliance/ 2 Glare split and have never changed it even though I have made several other changes since the deck first appeared.
- jacobk's list is very good. I think at least one Gideon of the Trials is correct. Not sure about the Ramunap matchup though. Without Linvala, the Preserver and/or Regal Caracal, you are forced to mulligan into Authority of the Consuls or you just lose. Even then, mulliganing to 5 while trying to reach 7 mana as soon as possible might not be enough to stay alive, even with the Authority down.
- I tested mana rocks as well to accelerate the deck. They were decent enough, but I changed my mind immediately after an Abrade smashed my turn 4 Hedron Archive. Lesson learned: Don't give your opponent targets for their dead cards in the first game
Has anyone tested Spell Queller? I used to play them but was discouraged by the Fumigate nonbo and in matchups where you side out Fumigate, Negates are also effective (having both Negate and Queller in the sb is too many slots).
I know it will flop really hard, but I'm going to try a prison approach using Protection of the Hekma and Dampening Pulse.
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That is the first time I have seen that deck, so was not really sure what it was trying to do the whole time until he went off. But the last few weeks, Gideon has quietly been one of the super stars of my deck.
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UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens