Finished day 1 of gp Atlanta at 7-2 with the list I posted earlier. 4z2 against energy, 2-0 against gpg, and won the mirror.
Gratz, I ended up 5-3-1, missed day 2 because of a lose to Temur on Round 9. Missed played some on my part and they had a great hand. The rest of the day I was 4-0 against Temur.
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Modern
Currently Playing UW UW Control/Miracles R Skred Red
Esper Approach just won Atlanta GP! Grand Prix Atlanta 2017 I saw a bunch of Approach decks, played against 2. Get ready for more mirror matches.
I think I talked to this guys while I was there. I ran into him on Saturday night after the event, he was running Esper and this sounds like his list. But I can't remember his name. If this is him, super nice guys. We talked about the Esper and Jeskai versions for a while.
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Currently Playing UW UW Control/Miracles R Skred Red
Played 3 Rounds in Friday FNM last week. Went 3-0 with UW Approach with Champions Main (4 Sunscourge, 2 Champion of Wits) against UW Approach (2-1), Mardu Vehicles (2-1), and Ramunap Red (2-0).
We obviously all feel that the hardest part of the game is the early game. I didn't think about putting in champions before going through this thread. The champions gain life, filter, and slow down the opponent. I understand that most lists run zero creatures to help leave your opponent's removal dead but I don't really care too much. It ties up their mana, slows down their plan and gets me closer to the cards I need.
I don't overly like Farm or Aether Meltdown but I haven't had the time to test the PT and GP lists with Harness Lightning and Fatal Push so right now I'm okay keeping my utility lands and having more untapped lands late in the game. I did really like farm but, as someone above mentioned, Skywhaler's Shot may be better. I didn't find too much time to Market but it could be practice. I overall just liked having removal at 2/3/4/5.
Round 1 vs Approach - I messed up game 1 by attacking with Gideon into a Settle with no protection. I don't know why I was in such a rush. Games two and three were super easy though bringing in all the creatures and negates and removing all removal except a Fumigate. It forced them to leave in removal for my creatures while I get to cut it all.
Round 2 vs Mardu - I lost game one to mana screw and he lost game two to Heart of Kiran flood. Game three was really good back and forth but I able to get Authority down turn one and another one a bit later. I like Authority in this matchup because it takes away the vehicle pseudo haste and helps with Scrapheap recursion. Got my Cast Outs on their Hazorets and eventually got there with more value.
Round 3 vs Ramunap Red (2 Ferocidon main) - Able to play 2 Sunscourge Champions and Eternalize 2 as well (discarded one to the other one). Winning game one was amazing. Game two was able to get an early Authority and ended the game with a second Regal Caracle.
The main card I wasn't too sure about was Gideon. He was good against Hazoret but more Cast Outs could've done the same. I'll keep him for now and see how it goes, but unsure what will happen.
Overall I was really happy with the list. I'll double check later for the last couple sideboard cards and to double check my numbers.
@Bauzzy - sweet looking deck and gratz on the nice finish.
I ended up going 5-3-1 at the GP, missing day 2 because of the one draw. I will do a write up of it later this afternoon.
Jeskai Approach Lists on MTGGoldFish and the GP Atl Esper list, IMO, are showing that players are starting to build decks based on the UWx Approach shell that lines up well with their meta and/or playing style. I really don't think there is going to be one 'right' list, in the end, there are going to be some core cards but a lot of variance in the different lists.
What is interesting, none of the 3 color lists are running any Gideon, instead are running Gearhulk main. I run 2 Gideon main and feel like they are one of the best cards against mirror/control matchups. And even against aggro or energy decks, they always seem to do a ton of work. Has anyone here cut them? If so, what are your thoughts?
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Game 2 was a 3-round win against a spicy Jund Energy deck playing Voltaic Brawler (remember that guy?). I misread it as 4-color energy after game 1 (won with double Approach) and sided in Jace's Defeat. He rolled me G2 with nut draws (T1 Attune, T2 Brawler, T3 Greenbelt Rampager, T4 double Scrapheap Scrounger). I had Solemnity in hand, but by the time I could have cast it, he really didn't need any more energy). I also realized that I hadn't seen any blue lands and boarded more correctly. G3 double approach.
Game 3 was a brutal loss to Ram Red. Won G1 (lifegain is awesome). He had me down to 7 life G2 and I thought I had control of the matchup, but after a boardwipe he slammed Sunscorched Desert, Earthshaker Khenra, and Lathnu Hellion to win out of nowhere. Game 3 got stuck on 2 lands (feels really bad).
Game 4 was 2-0 win against black aggro. G1 was easy control with double approach. G2 he resolved Lost Legacy and chose Fumigate rather than Approach. It was a strategic move on his part--he told me afterwards that he played a lot of Approach and he would often side them out completely G2 just to dodge Lost Legacy. Fair point, but if I resolve Lost Legacy against approach, I'm naming Approach 100% of the time. If I whiff, at least I know you don't have it and can focus on your alternate win cons...
Game 5 was a loss to mono white Vamps w/Oketra's Monument. Couldn't sweep his threats game 1, and hung in valiantly game 2 (including a fumigate at 2 life to go up to 7, and another fumigate at 1 life to go up to 6), but just couldn't get there.
It was my first time playing against serious competition and I learned a lot. 2 match losses were to lack of lands, and I wanted some more early interaction with creatures. I also felt that Renewed Faith underperformed, I was never upset to see Settle the Wreckage. Spell Pierce wasn't good (sided it in against mono-W to hopefully get counter Legion's Landing, but by the time I had it, he had tons of land and would have preferred Censor so I could cycle it).
For the next PPTQ, I switched Negate to Essence Scatter, took out Faith, added Gideon of the Trials, and upped the Settle the Wreckage. I also decided to test Treasure Map as a way to get to additional lands/mana (scry/flip). I didn't face any decks that really used the graveyard, so I also flipped the Scavenger Grounds/Field of Ruin ratio so I could have an extra way to kill the Legion's Landing flip and so that I could help mitigate not having enough white or blue lands (can kill one of their dual lands for whichever I'm missing).
Round 1 I was paired with my son so we decided to ID rather than one of us starting with a loss.
Round 2 I lost to a Ram Red deck that ended up top 8ing. I got him round 1 (this deck is really good against everything game 1). Game 2 I was on the back foot the whole time and lost. Game 3 was interesting. I managed to stave him off for a long time with only one white mana source (had 2 or three wipes in hand that I couldn't cast). Had to cycle a desert, 2 cast outs, and a censor (and think I cast a ritual to draw), but couldn't get that plains until he played a desert that I could field of ruin. Felt better after that. I think I misplayed this one too...I let him resolve a Hazoret that I could have essence scattered (I think that I was planning on wiping the board again), and in retrospect, that was a big error. He didn't attack with Hazoret, and even though I had Gideon w/emblem, he managed to get me down to 0 life with creatures and then kill gideon with Chandra/Lightning Strike. He was a good player (think he had a 6-digit DCI number), and I might have won game 3, but I didn't...
Round 3 win vs. sultai energy. G1: feels good to be at 36 life and all they're casting is Hostage Takers. Fumigate them for fun, then double approach. G2 he started fast with Attune into Cub into Rishkar. I had the chance to desert's hold his Cub after he cast Rishkar, but decided to hold off a turn (why, I can't remember). When I tried to hold T4, he blossoming defensed. I might have been able to hang on for another turn, but decided to just scoop and take the game with the play. G3 was nervy until he decided to attack 3 creatures into my Torrential Gearhulk (including a 4/4 Ballista). He tried to pull the ballista back, but it was after he had declared and removed his hand, and the judge agreed that there's no take-backs. I think he tilted a bit after that. Win with double approach.
Round 4 loss to green-black energy. G1 win, G2 loss (he duress'd one fumigate, freebooted the other), and G3 was interesting. Lots of back and forth and lifegain, and it ended up being a topdeck war. He won the topdeck war. I got through about half of my deck without seeing a single Approach. Chalking this one up to variance.
Round 5 loss to RG dinos (I know, I know...). G1 easy win with double approach. G2 he played around settle hardcore and managed to beat me before I had enough lands to approach (I had to keep 4 open for the sweeper). G3 was savage. He nullified a fumigate with Heroic Intervention, but it's all good. Getting toward the late game with 18 life, feeling good. He has Huatli, a 3/3 dino token, and that 4/5 green dino on the board. Oh, and rhonas's monument (that will haunt me). Cast approach (had the second in hand). He makes his move with a ton of lands courtesy of settle. Ups Huatli for another token. Casts Gishath (ruh roh). Hits Regisaur Alpha with his Gishath ETB, gets a token. Casts some other dino and another creature that I don't even register because I can see my win slipping away. All the while pumping one of his dudes with the monument to make a 13/13 trample and a bunch of other hasty dinos. Savage. I had access to Settle before I approached (it was in the yard and had a Torrential Gearhulk in hand), but he was only sending one dude in per turn to play around settle, and it was a +2/+2 dude thanks to the monument, so I couldn't afford to dink around for much longer.
Round 6 win to Ram Red. 2-0. Ferocidon is a great Ixalan's Binding target.
Round 7 win to Mardu Vehicles. 2-0. All the removal and lockdown (desert's hold, Gideon). Also managed to Censor a Heart of Kiran (the best Censor I've ever cast).
The biggest challenges I've found in piloting this deck are (1) timing your sweepers to maximize value (and maintain life total) and (2) when to let the shields down for your first approach. Finding that balance is tricky against aggressive boards.
Cataclysmic Gearhulk has potential. I misplayed it the one turn I drew one, but I can see matchups where it would be great. 4/5 Vigilance is no joke.
Didn't face control, so didn't play Glyph Keeper or Jace's Defeat. I had avoided Authority of the Consuls because of all the lifegain I get with this deck anyway, but think it's necessary against aggro. Would have been a 1-mana hedge against the loss I faced in the 1st PPTQ to Lathnu Hellion and the dino loss.
Thinking that I'll take something like this to the GP this weekend:
Wow, this deck really impressed me. It felt like true "draw-go", IE playing at Instant speed and always leaving up mana to represent permission. The amount of cards the deck sees was something all my opponents commented on "that's pretty good, you just saw 4 cards at my end step". Baral out of the Sb was huge, he dealt 11 damage to my Temur opponent and allowed me to sculpt my hand in the process. Harnessed Lightining is such a welcome addition (especially in my meta, where Temur and Ramunap Red run rampant) to this shell. G2 against Temur, I'm on the draw but manage to remove a Cub and save myself tons of damage.
I will be taking this deck there and hoping for another top 8, with a run to the finals.
Mana was pretty stable, I loved having untapped mana Turns 1-4.
Also, congrats to everyone who played at GP Atlanta! We have a GP win in the books. My attention will shift to modern for GP Oklahoma, but I'm really liking this seasons PPTQ grind.
@recerxen - Gratz on the nice finish and welcome to Jeskai I agree 100% about Harness Lightning, it has made such a huge difference in the deck. I am still on the standard U/W list with a splash of red for it but the pure Draw-Go style looks very nice. How did the deck feel without Gideon and no Cast Outs? Did only running 2 Approachs give you any problems?
Watched Alex Lloyd on twitch pilot the Esper list and was very interested in see he left in Opt and Censor on almost every match. Not sure how he sideboarded. Would you mind letting us know your plan?
GP Atlanta was a blast, looking forward to GP Memphis in February and any PPTQs around this area until then.
At the Atlanta GP I went 5-3-1 with my Jeskai list, just missing day 2 by 2 points. The game 1 draw and g9 lose did me in. Over all the deck ran very well. Was really impressed with how smooth it played and never really felt like I was in an unfavorable matchup. Sometimes I just did not draw the cards I needed. Ended up playing 4 Glimmers, 3 Disallow and 5 board wipes (3 Settle, 2 Fumigate) main. Really liked the extra Glimmer, always seemed to have one when I needed it.
R1 (1-1) Temur 0-0-1
Game 1 - went very long, my opponent was playing slowly and we both played draw-go turns for a while after turn 10, about 30 minutes in, I finally found my Approach and ended it quickly after that.
Game 2 ended quickly with him drawing a great hand.
Game 3, he mulled to 5, looked up and saw there was less than 10 minutes left of the clock and started taking 2-3 minutes per turn to play. A judge came up and mentioned is speed of play but there was only a minutes left on the clock. I felt like I could have easily won that last game. The draw came back to bite me in the end.
R2 (2-0) U/R Control 1-0-1
G1 – fun game, we both countered a lot of each other’s stuff, finally I landed a Gideon and beat him down with it.
G2 – I had more counters than he did and was able to bait a lot of counters early. When I cast my 2nd Approach, he only had 1 Negate left, which I countered.
R3 (2-0) U/W Approach 2-0-1
G1 – Pretty normal mirror match up, I landed an Approach on turn 7. That put him behind, he was never able to cast his because if it.
G2 – I boarded in all my dudes. Turn 3 Gideon, Turn 4 Gideon, Turn 5 Glorybringer, Turn 6 Glyph Keeper, Turn 7 Gearhulk. He just could not deal with everything, pretty easy win.
R4 (1-2) Sultai Energy 2-1-1
G1 – Pretty standard game, easily win.
G2 – Duress, Cub, Constrictor, Cub, Hydra with 3 Attunes mixed in, it was over very quickly
G3 – Miss played this game and it cost me. Kept the board clear until turn 5-6. He had a Constrictor in play and around 8-10 energy. He played a cub. I thought I could harness lightning it after it landed but when I tried he was able to pump it out of range. I should have bolted the constrictor instead. Not sure I would have taken the game if I did but would have at least given me a chance. First loss of the day.
R5 (2-1) Temur 3-1-1
Really don’t remember and didn’t have any notes written down about it. Played Temur all day, they started to run together after a while.
R6 (1-2) Temur 3-2-1
Same here, don’t remember the details except G3. I was stuck on 3 lands, held him off for a while but didn’t draw my 4th land until turn 7-8 and was dead at that point. Second loss of the day.
R7 (2-0) Temur 4-2-1
G1 – standard stuff, played 2nd Approach on turn 8.
G2 – Brought in all dudes again, just ran over him. Temur cannot deal with a Glorybringer.
At this point realized if I win the next 2, I go to day 2 but so does the guy sitting next to me.
R8 (1-0) Esper Approach 5-2-1
G1 – Very long, about 35 minutes long. I landed an early Approach. I think that is the key when playing mirror matchup’s game 1. After that, he could never tap out to play his. Finally with a hand full of cards and about 15 mana on the board, I went for it. Played Approach, he disallowed, I disallowed, and he then cast 3 Censors in a row which I played 1 for each. Kind of funny but he was salty at this point.
G2 – He let a Gideon land pretty early then played Cast Out on it. I Ixalan’s Binding his Cast Out and made a Gideon emblem. A few turns later I countered his first Gearhulk. With only a few minutes left to go in the match, he played his 2nd gearhulk. I let it resolve, then double Harnessed Lightning to kill it. He looked over at his friends that were sitting next to him (guessing there matches were already over) and said ‘There is no way I can win, is there?’ They asked if that was his last gearhulk. He got up and walked away from the table without answering. They had to pick up his cards for him. He was pissed.
Everyone at the table had the same record at this point, so everyone there was in and win.
R9 (1-2) Temur 5-3-1
G1 – Pretty happy to see the Blue/Green land drop game one. I felt like I was in good shape against Temur. Game ended quickly with me winning on turn 9.
G2 – He drew a great hand, mine was pretty slow. He won very quickly.
G3 – Same as G2. He drew the cards and I didn’t.
We talked after the game and said he had 2 great hands the last 2 games. I shake his hand and wished him luck day 2. All you can do.
Over all very pleased with the deck. I misplayed some and it cost me but always felt like I could win any round. I did avoid Red all day but with the added burn mainboard, I felt like it would be a good matchup.
Star of the day had to be Harness Lightning, it just did so much work all day. Spot removal for just about everything was very strong. Also The Locust God. He was awesome from the sideboard. Need to learn how to play him better but he won games for me when he hit the board. Will bump him up to a 2 slot in my SB to make sure I draw him when I side him in.
Changes – Bringing in a bunch of dudes on game 2 worked a few times but really feel like the standard sideboard stagey would be more consistent and will go back to that. Will keep a few bombs but go back to more of a controlling sideboard.
Censor just felt underwhelming all day. Everyone seemed to play around it and I think I countered something with it only 1-2 times all day Saturday. I think I sided it out every game. Not sure what I am going to do moving forward.
Funny story of the tournament. On Friday during one of the 4 round events (trying to get 2 byes on Saturday) was playing against B/W Tokens. I kept the board clear and was able to land a Gideon on turn 6-7. 2 turns later, I cast my first Approach. He played Cast Out on my Gideon, then played Lost Legacy naming Approach. After taking all my Approach’s he looked at me and said ‘Want to go to game 2?’ I had an Ixalan’s Binding, 2 Disallows and some land in my hand. I said ‘No, let play this out’. Next round I Ixalan’ed his cast out, then beat him down with Gideon over the next 5 turns. He scooped his cards and stormed off.
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Modern
Currently Playing UW UW Control/Miracles R Skred Red
Hey all, I've been testing Alex Floyd's Esper version and have been having trouble sideboarding. I'm not sure when to bring in the creature plan, when to shave/cut approaches, and when to shave the card advantage engine (Searches and Glimmers). I'm also unsure of what our sideboard plan should be in the mirror match. Any tips or suggestions? Is there any general rule to follow for the creature plan?
Most of the time, everyone says cut 2 Search and 4 Censor to make room for stuff. But after watching Alex play Sunday, that is not what he did. So kinda in the same boat. Still working on a decent SB plan for the new Draw-Go style lists, either Jeskai or Esper because other than Fatal Push and Harness Lightning, they are almost the same mainboard.
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I dont usually cut censors. Hitting land drops is curcial and at times you will censor something, it feels glorious. The best thing is when you have two in hand to cycle one then when they tap out the second one is huge
I've playing this deck - the UW variant - for a while and I took it to a PPTQ yesterday, with 49 players. I finished at 14th after losing my win-and-in match in the 6th round (got mana screwed both games, never drew past the fourth land), but I really like this deck.
Desert's Hold is a hidden gem. All my opponents got confused and had to read it everytime it was cast. The same goes for Thaumatic Compass, such a powerful effect once it flipped to Maze of Ith mode.
Gideon of the Trials was also pretty useful, specially when you get to resolve it on third turn. Did his job in stalling the board and soaked up some damage. I'm using two mainboard and thinking about finding a slot for a third copy in sideboard.
One card I want to test is Cataclysmic Gearhulk. What do you guys think about it?
I tried Cataclysmic Gearhulks and think there could be potential, but only with certain builds of this deck (namely, builds that don’t rely as heavily on enchantment-based removal). Not much value when the creatures they choose to sacrifice are under Desert’s Hold, or if you have a couple copies of Cast Out out. If you can afford to wait till turn 5 to cast your Holds/Cast Outs and slam CG then, it might be good, but in that situation it seems like there’s not enough pressure in the first place...
I've playing this deck - the UW variant - for a while and I took it to a PPTQ yesterday, with 49 players. I finished at 14th after losing my win-and-in match in the 6th round (got mana screwed both games, never drew past the fourth land), but I really like this deck.
Desert's Hold is a hidden gem. All my opponents got confused and had to read it everytime it was cast. The same goes for Thaumatic Compass, such a powerful effect once it flipped to Maze of Ith mode.
Gideon of the Trials was also pretty useful, specially when you get to resolve it on third turn. Did his job in stalling the board and soaked up some damage. I'm using two mainboard and thinking about finding a slot for a third copy in sideboard.
One card I want to test is Cataclysmic Gearhulk. What do you guys think about it?
Maindeck deserts and Thaumatic Compass are not new tech, if you check out my decklist from the 1st page of this thread (I started the thread) you will see that I've been running Thaumatic Compass in this deck for over a month now, it was enough to win me a local tourney about a month ago and half a box of Iconic Masters.
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I've been a fan of using desert's in the UW versions for a while. Gideon is very useful and can win a game on his own. One point of concern I have for your list is your mana base. 12 W sources seems pretty greedy. 15 U is okay...but in a 2 color deck I would think you want to have at least 16+ W to cast your Gideons, Settle's and Fumigate's in time. Your Sb also includes 4 Regal Caracal, yet another double WW card. I think you need at least 4 more W sources in your mana base.
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Standard Arena: Eh? Gruul or Die
Modern: Decks I'm playing right now: G Mono Green Tron (34-10-3 paper record, only SCG/Regionals/PPTQ record) C Eldrazi Tron (9-5) UG Infect RW Burn
What did you generally side out and bring in against the field with Jeskai. Been on Alex Lloyd's esper list for about a fortnight but I'm just really not feeling the benefit of running black outside of scarab god out of the side. Push just feels underwhelming when you're sitting there with a 3/4 cmc creature facing you down with no way of turning revolt on.
I know Compass isn't a new tech and never claimed it was - your lists here inspired me to use it, thanks for it! -, but people are not used to them in my meta, so it's pretty unknown tech around here. In fact, I've never seen any other player here using it.
About my mana base, you got a good point and I'll look into it. What do you suggest? It's hard to cut the colorless lands because they are really useful against a couple of matches - Field of Ruin is specially handy in the mirror, destroying opposing Azcanta. Maybe the Hostile Desert can bite the dust this time, never got the chance to use it anyway.
Went 4-1 in a Last Chance Trial at GP Portland today. Lost to Jeskai Approach in the final game. Deck performs really well against the meta. Faced Black/Red aggro (win in 2), UW GPG (win in 2), UW Drake Haven (win, more on this later), and Mardu (win in 3).
Regarding the Drake Haven deck, it's tricky to play against. Turns into a war of the Cast Outs. He took game 1, and game 2 went to turns. I managed to bludgeon him with Kefnet, the Mindful for the win.
Here's the hilarious part: under the sudden death rules for the event (which didn't allow draws), the first change in life wins the game. So first player to gain life wins, first player to lose life loses. I didn't think of a sideboard strategy for this scenario (and there was much joking about wishing I had 4 Bomat Courier in the sideboard). I knew he had 4 Renewed Faith in the main, so I felt pretty unfavored. I draw a hand for the ages: Authority of the Consuls, Kefnet, Gideon of the Trials, Desert's Hold, and all the mana I need (including Desert of the True). He's on play, mulls to 6: land, pass. Me: land, pass. Him: land, OPT, pass. Me: land, pass. Him, land, cycle Cast Out, pass. Me: Kefnet, pass. Him: land, pass. Me: swing for 5? GG. He was a totally cool dude and took it really well, but what a heartbreaking way to lose.
The Jeskai matchup left me thinking I needed another SB option against control, so I think I'm going to roll with Glyph Keeper and see how it goes. Riddleform was a contender too, but I polled some of the folks I play with, and it was unanimous that GK is the way to go...
The Jeskai set up is pretty good. Main deck Harnessed Lightning is a great addition.
Abrade and GloryBringer out of the sideboard is awsome.
Chandra seems like it could be great too.
@Departure1993 - Both the newer Draw-Go style decks are almost identical. Red runs Harness and Black runs push. I like the Jeskai version because the mana base feels smoother the first 4-6 turns and usually I can sequence my lands so the 1 or 2 that do come in tapped, does not mean I can't cast what I need to. Whereas Esper, it feels like a lot of games, it is turn 4-5 before I have the mana I need. Plus I like Harness Lightning better than Fatal Push both are good just personal preference on my part. Either way, the early spot removal makes a very big difference.
As far as sideboarding:
Temur - 2 Options
Option 1 In
+2 Jace's Defeat
+3-4 Negate
+2 Gearhulk ?
Option 1 out
-2 Search (Really like the card but just not great in this matchup)
-4 Censor (On the draw, this loses a lot of it's value as a counter)
Or
Some combination of these depends on how much you want to board in.
-2 Search
-1 Gideon
-1 Pull
-2 Disallow
-1 Cast Out
Option 2 In
+2 Gearhulk
+2 Glorybringer
+2 Glyph Keeper
+1 Locust God
+2 Abrade
Option 1 out is pretty standard, but someone posted the second list of cards to board out and I have been liking the results. As far as bringing in, 6 extra counters should mean you can get your Approach home and the Gearhulks make everything easier as well as being another threat. But Option 2 means you don't care about Approach and are just going to beat them down with dudes. This has worked really well on game 2 after they have removed most of their removal. Depending on the game 1 and who I am playing I will side in dudes on Game 2 if I don't get there, I will swap back to the Approach plan. It puts them under a lot of pressure to make decisions while not knowing what I am playing.
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Modern
Currently Playing UW UW Control/Miracles R Skred Red
Retired BU Faeries RGW Naya Burn BW B/W Tokens
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Good job, did the sentinel totem wreck GPG in your games or you didn't really need to side it in?
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Gratz, I ended up 5-3-1, missed day 2 because of a lose to Temur on Round 9. Missed played some on my part and they had a great hand. The rest of the day I was 4-0 against Temur.
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
Sentinel totem was great, but it's already a pretty good matchup, so I'm not sure it's worth the sideboard slot.
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=11439737#post11439737
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I think I talked to this guys while I was there. I ran into him on Saturday night after the event, he was running Esper and this sounds like his list. But I can't remember his name. If this is him, super nice guys. We talked about the Esper and Jeskai versions for a while.
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
We obviously all feel that the hardest part of the game is the early game. I didn't think about putting in champions before going through this thread. The champions gain life, filter, and slow down the opponent. I understand that most lists run zero creatures to help leave your opponent's removal dead but I don't really care too much. It ties up their mana, slows down their plan and gets me closer to the cards I need.
I don't overly like Farm or Aether Meltdown but I haven't had the time to test the PT and GP lists with Harness Lightning and Fatal Push so right now I'm okay keeping my utility lands and having more untapped lands late in the game. I did really like farm but, as someone above mentioned, Skywhaler's Shot may be better. I didn't find too much time to Market but it could be practice. I overall just liked having removal at 2/3/4/5.
Round 1 vs Approach - I messed up game 1 by attacking with Gideon into a Settle with no protection. I don't know why I was in such a rush. Games two and three were super easy though bringing in all the creatures and negates and removing all removal except a Fumigate. It forced them to leave in removal for my creatures while I get to cut it all.
Round 2 vs Mardu - I lost game one to mana screw and he lost game two to Heart of Kiran flood. Game three was really good back and forth but I able to get Authority down turn one and another one a bit later. I like Authority in this matchup because it takes away the vehicle pseudo haste and helps with Scrapheap recursion. Got my Cast Outs on their Hazorets and eventually got there with more value.
Round 3 vs Ramunap Red (2 Ferocidon main) - Able to play 2 Sunscourge Champions and Eternalize 2 as well (discarded one to the other one). Winning game one was amazing. Game two was able to get an early Authority and ended the game with a second Regal Caracle.
The main card I wasn't too sure about was Gideon. He was good against Hazoret but more Cast Outs could've done the same. I'll keep him for now and see how it goes, but unsure what will happen.
Overall I was really happy with the list. I'll double check later for the last couple sideboard cards and to double check my numbers.
2 Champion of Wits
2 Gideon of the Trials
2 Search for Azcanta
2 Approach of the Second Sun
3 Settle the Wreckage
2 Cast Out
2 Farm // Market
3 Aether Meltdown
1 Pull From Tomorrow
3 Supreme Will
1 Disallow
1 Essence Scatter
25 Lands including:
2 Field of Ruin
Sideboard
3 Regal Caracle
2 Vizier of Many Faces
3 Negate
1 Hour of Revelation
1 Glyph Keeper
1 Kefnet the Mindful
I ended up going 5-3-1 at the GP, missing day 2 because of the one draw. I will do a write up of it later this afternoon.
Jeskai Approach Lists on MTGGoldFish and the GP Atl Esper list, IMO, are showing that players are starting to build decks based on the UWx Approach shell that lines up well with their meta and/or playing style. I really don't think there is going to be one 'right' list, in the end, there are going to be some core cards but a lot of variance in the different lists.
What is interesting, none of the 3 color lists are running any Gideon, instead are running Gearhulk main. I run 2 Gideon main and feel like they are one of the best cards against mirror/control matchups. And even against aggro or energy decks, they always seem to do a ton of work. Has anyone here cut them? If so, what are your thoughts?
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
3 Cast Out
4 Desert's Hold
1 Ixalan's Binding
2 Search for Azcanta
Instant
4 Censor
3 Hieroglyphic Illumination
2 Negate
3 Renewed Faith
4 Ritual of Rejuvenation
2 Settle the Wreckage
3 Approach of the Second Sun
4 Fumigate
Land
1 Desert of the Mindful
2 Scavenger Grounds
1 Field of Ruin
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Ipnu Rivulet
4 Irrigated Farmland
3 Island
6 Plains
2 Forsake the Worldly
1 Hour of Revelation
2 Jace's Defeat
2 Negate
2 Solemnity
3 Spell Pierce
3 Torrential Gearhulk
Started off with a loss to Black/Red aggro (Night Market Lookout, Yahenni, Undying Partisan, Aethersphere Harvester, Scrapheap Scrounger, Hazoret the Fervent, etc.). I think I could have won this one, but nerves got to me and I misplayed a sweeper when he had Yahenni and a Harvester on board G1. G2 got stuck on 3 lands (feels bad).
Game 2 was a 3-round win against a spicy Jund Energy deck playing Voltaic Brawler (remember that guy?). I misread it as 4-color energy after game 1 (won with double Approach) and sided in Jace's Defeat. He rolled me G2 with nut draws (T1 Attune, T2 Brawler, T3 Greenbelt Rampager, T4 double Scrapheap Scrounger). I had Solemnity in hand, but by the time I could have cast it, he really didn't need any more energy). I also realized that I hadn't seen any blue lands and boarded more correctly. G3 double approach.
Game 3 was a brutal loss to Ram Red. Won G1 (lifegain is awesome). He had me down to 7 life G2 and I thought I had control of the matchup, but after a boardwipe he slammed Sunscorched Desert, Earthshaker Khenra, and Lathnu Hellion to win out of nowhere. Game 3 got stuck on 2 lands (feels really bad).
Game 4 was 2-0 win against black aggro. G1 was easy control with double approach. G2 he resolved Lost Legacy and chose Fumigate rather than Approach. It was a strategic move on his part--he told me afterwards that he played a lot of Approach and he would often side them out completely G2 just to dodge Lost Legacy. Fair point, but if I resolve Lost Legacy against approach, I'm naming Approach 100% of the time. If I whiff, at least I know you don't have it and can focus on your alternate win cons...
Game 5 was a loss to mono white Vamps w/Oketra's Monument. Couldn't sweep his threats game 1, and hung in valiantly game 2 (including a fumigate at 2 life to go up to 7, and another fumigate at 1 life to go up to 6), but just couldn't get there.
It was my first time playing against serious competition and I learned a lot. 2 match losses were to lack of lands, and I wanted some more early interaction with creatures. I also felt that Renewed Faith underperformed, I was never upset to see Settle the Wreckage. Spell Pierce wasn't good (sided it in against mono-W to hopefully get counter Legion's Landing, but by the time I had it, he had tons of land and would have preferred Censor so I could cycle it).
For the next PPTQ, I switched Negate to Essence Scatter, took out Faith, added Gideon of the Trials, and upped the Settle the Wreckage. I also decided to test Treasure Map as a way to get to additional lands/mana (scry/flip). I didn't face any decks that really used the graveyard, so I also flipped the Scavenger Grounds/Field of Ruin ratio so I could have an extra way to kill the Legion's Landing flip and so that I could help mitigate not having enough white or blue lands (can kill one of their dual lands for whichever I'm missing).
2 Treasure Map
Enchantment
3 Cast Out
4 Desert's Hold
1 Ixalan's Binding
2 Search for Azcanta
Instant
3 Censor
3 Hieroglyphic Illumination
2 Essence Scatter
3 Ritual of Rejuvenation
3 Settle the Wreckage
3 Approach of the Second Sun
4 Fumigate
Land
1 Desert of the True
1 Scavenger Grounds
2 Field of Ruin
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Ipnu Rivulet
4 Irrigated Farmland
3 Island
6 Plains
2 Gideon of the Trials
2 Cataclysmic Gearhulk
2 Fragmentize
2 Glyph Keeper
1 Hour of Revelation
3 Jace's Defeat
2 Negate
3 Torrential Gearhulk
Round 1 I was paired with my son so we decided to ID rather than one of us starting with a loss.
Round 2 I lost to a Ram Red deck that ended up top 8ing. I got him round 1 (this deck is really good against everything game 1). Game 2 I was on the back foot the whole time and lost. Game 3 was interesting. I managed to stave him off for a long time with only one white mana source (had 2 or three wipes in hand that I couldn't cast). Had to cycle a desert, 2 cast outs, and a censor (and think I cast a ritual to draw), but couldn't get that plains until he played a desert that I could field of ruin. Felt better after that. I think I misplayed this one too...I let him resolve a Hazoret that I could have essence scattered (I think that I was planning on wiping the board again), and in retrospect, that was a big error. He didn't attack with Hazoret, and even though I had Gideon w/emblem, he managed to get me down to 0 life with creatures and then kill gideon with Chandra/Lightning Strike. He was a good player (think he had a 6-digit DCI number), and I might have won game 3, but I didn't...
Round 3 win vs. sultai energy. G1: feels good to be at 36 life and all they're casting is Hostage Takers. Fumigate them for fun, then double approach. G2 he started fast with Attune into Cub into Rishkar. I had the chance to desert's hold his Cub after he cast Rishkar, but decided to hold off a turn (why, I can't remember). When I tried to hold T4, he blossoming defensed. I might have been able to hang on for another turn, but decided to just scoop and take the game with the play. G3 was nervy until he decided to attack 3 creatures into my Torrential Gearhulk (including a 4/4 Ballista). He tried to pull the ballista back, but it was after he had declared and removed his hand, and the judge agreed that there's no take-backs. I think he tilted a bit after that. Win with double approach.
Round 4 loss to green-black energy. G1 win, G2 loss (he duress'd one fumigate, freebooted the other), and G3 was interesting. Lots of back and forth and lifegain, and it ended up being a topdeck war. He won the topdeck war. I got through about half of my deck without seeing a single Approach. Chalking this one up to variance.
Round 5 loss to RG dinos (I know, I know...). G1 easy win with double approach. G2 he played around settle hardcore and managed to beat me before I had enough lands to approach (I had to keep 4 open for the sweeper). G3 was savage. He nullified a fumigate with Heroic Intervention, but it's all good. Getting toward the late game with 18 life, feeling good. He has Huatli, a 3/3 dino token, and that 4/5 green dino on the board. Oh, and rhonas's monument (that will haunt me). Cast approach (had the second in hand). He makes his move with a ton of lands courtesy of settle. Ups Huatli for another token. Casts Gishath (ruh roh). Hits Regisaur Alpha with his Gishath ETB, gets a token. Casts some other dino and another creature that I don't even register because I can see my win slipping away. All the while pumping one of his dudes with the monument to make a 13/13 trample and a bunch of other hasty dinos. Savage. I had access to Settle before I approached (it was in the yard and had a Torrential Gearhulk in hand), but he was only sending one dude in per turn to play around settle, and it was a +2/+2 dude thanks to the monument, so I couldn't afford to dink around for much longer.
Round 6 win to Ram Red. 2-0. Ferocidon is a great Ixalan's Binding target.
Round 7 win to Mardu Vehicles. 2-0. All the removal and lockdown (desert's hold, Gideon). Also managed to Censor a Heart of Kiran (the best Censor I've ever cast).
The biggest challenges I've found in piloting this deck are (1) timing your sweepers to maximize value (and maintain life total) and (2) when to let the shields down for your first approach. Finding that balance is tricky against aggressive boards.
Cataclysmic Gearhulk has potential. I misplayed it the one turn I drew one, but I can see matchups where it would be great. 4/5 Vigilance is no joke.
Didn't face control, so didn't play Glyph Keeper or Jace's Defeat. I had avoided Authority of the Consuls because of all the lifegain I get with this deck anyway, but think it's necessary against aggro. Would have been a 1-mana hedge against the loss I faced in the 1st PPTQ to Lathnu Hellion and the dino loss.
Thinking that I'll take something like this to the GP this weekend:
2 Torrential Gearhulk
Enchantment
3 Cast Out
3 Desert's Hold
1 Ixalan's Binding
2 Search For Azcanta
Instant
3 Censor
2 Essence Scatter
3 Hieroglyphic Illumination
4 Ritual of Rejuvenation
3 Settle the Wreckage
2 Gideon of the Trials
Sorcery
3 Approach of the Second Suns
4 Fumigate
Land
1 Desert of the True
2 Field of Ruin
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Ipnu Rivulet
4 Irrigated Farmland
3 Island
6 Plains
1 Scavenger Grounds
3 Authority of the Consuls
2 Cataclysmic Gearhulk
2 Fragmentize
2 Glyph Keeper
1 Hour of Revelation
3 Jace's Defeat
2 Negate
Beat Temur Energy 2-0
Beat UB Gift 2-1.
Deck played well, and will be taking this list to this weekend's PPTQ:
4 Irrigated Farmland
4 Glaicial Fortress
4 Spirebluff Canal
4 Inspiring Vantage
4 Aether Hub
5 Island
1 Plains
Enchantment (2)
2 Search for Azcanta
Creatures (2)
2 Torrential Gearhulk
3 Opt
4 Censor
4 Harnessed Lighting
4 Disallow
4 Glimmer of Genius
3 Settle the Wreckage
2 Fumigate
2 Approach of the Second Sun
1 Pull from Tomorrow
1 Commit//Memory
3 Fiery Cannonade
3 Negate
1 Jace's Defeat
1 Torrential Gearhulk
1 The Locust God
3 Baral, Chief of Compliance
1 Pull from Tomorrow
2 Abrade
Wow, this deck really impressed me. It felt like true "draw-go", IE playing at Instant speed and always leaving up mana to represent permission. The amount of cards the deck sees was something all my opponents commented on "that's pretty good, you just saw 4 cards at my end step". Baral out of the Sb was huge, he dealt 11 damage to my Temur opponent and allowed me to sculpt my hand in the process. Harnessed Lightining is such a welcome addition (especially in my meta, where Temur and Ramunap Red run rampant) to this shell. G2 against Temur, I'm on the draw but manage to remove a Cub and save myself tons of damage.
I will be taking this deck there and hoping for another top 8, with a run to the finals.
Mana was pretty stable, I loved having untapped mana Turns 1-4.
Also, congrats to everyone who played at GP Atlanta! We have a GP win in the books. My attention will shift to modern for GP Oklahoma, but I'm really liking this seasons PPTQ grind.
Modern: Decks I'm playing right now:
G Mono Green Tron (34-10-3 paper record, only SCG/Regionals/PPTQ record)
C Eldrazi Tron (9-5)
UG Infect
RW Burn
Watched Alex Lloyd on twitch pilot the Esper list and was very interested in see he left in Opt and Censor on almost every match. Not sure how he sideboarded. Would you mind letting us know your plan?
GP Atlanta was a blast, looking forward to GP Memphis in February and any PPTQs around this area until then.
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
R1 (1-1) Temur 0-0-1
Game 1 - went very long, my opponent was playing slowly and we both played draw-go turns for a while after turn 10, about 30 minutes in, I finally found my Approach and ended it quickly after that.
Game 2 ended quickly with him drawing a great hand.
Game 3, he mulled to 5, looked up and saw there was less than 10 minutes left of the clock and started taking 2-3 minutes per turn to play. A judge came up and mentioned is speed of play but there was only a minutes left on the clock. I felt like I could have easily won that last game. The draw came back to bite me in the end.
R2 (2-0) U/R Control 1-0-1
G1 – fun game, we both countered a lot of each other’s stuff, finally I landed a Gideon and beat him down with it.
G2 – I had more counters than he did and was able to bait a lot of counters early. When I cast my 2nd Approach, he only had 1 Negate left, which I countered.
R3 (2-0) U/W Approach 2-0-1
G1 – Pretty normal mirror match up, I landed an Approach on turn 7. That put him behind, he was never able to cast his because if it.
G2 – I boarded in all my dudes. Turn 3 Gideon, Turn 4 Gideon, Turn 5 Glorybringer, Turn 6 Glyph Keeper, Turn 7 Gearhulk. He just could not deal with everything, pretty easy win.
R4 (1-2) Sultai Energy 2-1-1
G1 – Pretty standard game, easily win.
G2 – Duress, Cub, Constrictor, Cub, Hydra with 3 Attunes mixed in, it was over very quickly
G3 – Miss played this game and it cost me. Kept the board clear until turn 5-6. He had a Constrictor in play and around 8-10 energy. He played a cub. I thought I could harness lightning it after it landed but when I tried he was able to pump it out of range. I should have bolted the constrictor instead. Not sure I would have taken the game if I did but would have at least given me a chance. First loss of the day.
R5 (2-1) Temur 3-1-1
Really don’t remember and didn’t have any notes written down about it. Played Temur all day, they started to run together after a while.
R6 (1-2) Temur 3-2-1
Same here, don’t remember the details except G3. I was stuck on 3 lands, held him off for a while but didn’t draw my 4th land until turn 7-8 and was dead at that point. Second loss of the day.
R7 (2-0) Temur 4-2-1
G1 – standard stuff, played 2nd Approach on turn 8.
G2 – Brought in all dudes again, just ran over him. Temur cannot deal with a Glorybringer.
At this point realized if I win the next 2, I go to day 2 but so does the guy sitting next to me.
R8 (1-0) Esper Approach 5-2-1
G1 – Very long, about 35 minutes long. I landed an early Approach. I think that is the key when playing mirror matchup’s game 1. After that, he could never tap out to play his. Finally with a hand full of cards and about 15 mana on the board, I went for it. Played Approach, he disallowed, I disallowed, and he then cast 3 Censors in a row which I played 1 for each. Kind of funny but he was salty at this point.
G2 – He let a Gideon land pretty early then played Cast Out on it. I Ixalan’s Binding his Cast Out and made a Gideon emblem. A few turns later I countered his first Gearhulk. With only a few minutes left to go in the match, he played his 2nd gearhulk. I let it resolve, then double Harnessed Lightning to kill it. He looked over at his friends that were sitting next to him (guessing there matches were already over) and said ‘There is no way I can win, is there?’ They asked if that was his last gearhulk. He got up and walked away from the table without answering. They had to pick up his cards for him. He was pissed.
Everyone at the table had the same record at this point, so everyone there was in and win.
R9 (1-2) Temur 5-3-1
G1 – Pretty happy to see the Blue/Green land drop game one. I felt like I was in good shape against Temur. Game ended quickly with me winning on turn 9.
G2 – He drew a great hand, mine was pretty slow. He won very quickly.
G3 – Same as G2. He drew the cards and I didn’t.
We talked after the game and said he had 2 great hands the last 2 games. I shake his hand and wished him luck day 2. All you can do.
Over all very pleased with the deck. I misplayed some and it cost me but always felt like I could win any round. I did avoid Red all day but with the added burn mainboard, I felt like it would be a good matchup.
Star of the day had to be Harness Lightning, it just did so much work all day. Spot removal for just about everything was very strong. Also The Locust God. He was awesome from the sideboard. Need to learn how to play him better but he won games for me when he hit the board. Will bump him up to a 2 slot in my SB to make sure I draw him when I side him in.
Changes – Bringing in a bunch of dudes on game 2 worked a few times but really feel like the standard sideboard stagey would be more consistent and will go back to that. Will keep a few bombs but go back to more of a controlling sideboard.
Censor just felt underwhelming all day. Everyone seemed to play around it and I think I countered something with it only 1-2 times all day Saturday. I think I sided it out every game. Not sure what I am going to do moving forward.
Funny story of the tournament. On Friday during one of the 4 round events (trying to get 2 byes on Saturday) was playing against B/W Tokens. I kept the board clear and was able to land a Gideon on turn 6-7. 2 turns later, I cast my first Approach. He played Cast Out on my Gideon, then played Lost Legacy naming Approach. After taking all my Approach’s he looked at me and said ‘Want to go to game 2?’ I had an Ixalan’s Binding, 2 Disallows and some land in my hand. I said ‘No, let play this out’. Next round I Ixalan’ed his cast out, then beat him down with Gideon over the next 5 turns. He scooped his cards and stormed off.
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
C Long Live Eldrazi C
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
Here is the deck that I have been having fun with.
4x censor
2x Search for Azcanta
2x Negate
4x desert's Hold
4x Ritual of Rejuvenation
3x Renewed Faith
4x cast Out
3x Settle the wreckage
3x Hieroglyphic Illumination
3x Fumigate
Lands - 25
4x Glacial fortress
4x Irrigated Farmland
4x Ipnu Rivulet
8x Plains
5 Island
Cycle quickly. Fog your opponent with life gain.
Key wins include: Mono Black Aggro, RW Aggro, Sultai Energy
C Long Live Eldrazi C
I've playing this deck - the UW variant - for a while and I took it to a PPTQ yesterday, with 49 players. I finished at 14th after losing my win-and-in match in the 6th round (got mana screwed both games, never drew past the fourth land), but I really like this deck.
Desert's Hold is a hidden gem. All my opponents got confused and had to read it everytime it was cast. The same goes for Thaumatic Compass, such a powerful effect once it flipped to Maze of Ith mode.
Gideon of the Trials was also pretty useful, specially when you get to resolve it on third turn. Did his job in stalling the board and soaked up some damage. I'm using two mainboard and thinking about finding a slot for a third copy in sideboard.
One card I want to test is Cataclysmic Gearhulk. What do you guys think about it?
Anyway, here's the list I ran:
Lands
4x Irrigated Farmlands
4x Glacial Fortress
2x Field of Ruin
1x Scavenger Grounds
4x Ipnu Rivulet
1x Shefet Dunes
5x Island
3x Plains
1x Hostile Desert
Planeswalker
2x Gideon of the Trials
Instants
4x Glimmer of Genius
4x Censor
2x Essence Scatter
3x Settle the Wreckage
3x Supreme Will
3x Fumigate
3x Approach of the Second Sun
Enchantments
1x Ixalan's Binding
3x Cast Out
3x Desert's Hold
2x Search for Azcanta
Artifacts
2x Thaumatic Compass
2x Torrential Gearhulk
1x Ixalan's Binding
4x Regal Caracal
3x Negate
2x Jace's Defeat
3x Sunscourge Champion
Maindeck deserts and Thaumatic Compass are not new tech, if you check out my decklist from the 1st page of this thread (I started the thread) you will see that I've been running Thaumatic Compass in this deck for over a month now, it was enough to win me a local tourney about a month ago and half a box of Iconic Masters.
Check out my Youtube channel where I upload MTG content videos twice a week!
Mtg Lifestyle
Modern: Decks I'm playing right now:
G Mono Green Tron (34-10-3 paper record, only SCG/Regionals/PPTQ record)
C Eldrazi Tron (9-5)
UG Infect
RW Burn
About my mana base, you got a good point and I'll look into it. What do you suggest? It's hard to cut the colorless lands because they are really useful against a couple of matches - Field of Ruin is specially handy in the mirror, destroying opposing Azcanta. Maybe the Hostile Desert can bite the dust this time, never got the chance to use it anyway.
Regarding the Drake Haven deck, it's tricky to play against. Turns into a war of the Cast Outs. He took game 1, and game 2 went to turns. I managed to bludgeon him with Kefnet, the Mindful for the win.
Here's the hilarious part: under the sudden death rules for the event (which didn't allow draws), the first change in life wins the game. So first player to gain life wins, first player to lose life loses. I didn't think of a sideboard strategy for this scenario (and there was much joking about wishing I had 4 Bomat Courier in the sideboard). I knew he had 4 Renewed Faith in the main, so I felt pretty unfavored. I draw a hand for the ages: Authority of the Consuls, Kefnet, Gideon of the Trials, Desert's Hold, and all the mana I need (including Desert of the True). He's on play, mulls to 6: land, pass. Me: land, pass. Him: land, OPT, pass. Me: land, pass. Him, land, cycle Cast Out, pass. Me: Kefnet, pass. Him: land, pass. Me: swing for 5? GG. He was a totally cool dude and took it really well, but what a heartbreaking way to lose.
The Jeskai matchup left me thinking I needed another SB option against control, so I think I'm going to roll with Glyph Keeper and see how it goes. Riddleform was a contender too, but I polled some of the folks I play with, and it was unanimous that GK is the way to go...
The Jeskai set up is pretty good. Main deck Harnessed Lightning is a great addition.
Abrade and GloryBringer out of the sideboard is awsome.
Chandra seems like it could be great too.
C Long Live Eldrazi C
As far as sideboarding:
Temur - 2 Options
Option 1 In
+2 Jace's Defeat
+3-4 Negate
+2 Gearhulk ?
Option 1 out
-2 Search (Really like the card but just not great in this matchup)
-4 Censor (On the draw, this loses a lot of it's value as a counter)
Or
Some combination of these depends on how much you want to board in.
-2 Search
-1 Gideon
-1 Pull
-2 Disallow
-1 Cast Out
Option 2 In
+2 Gearhulk
+2 Glorybringer
+2 Glyph Keeper
+1 Locust God
+2 Abrade
Out
-3 Supreme
-2 Fumigate
-2 Search
-2 Approach
-2 Censor
Play with the numbers as needed.
Option 1 out is pretty standard, but someone posted the second list of cards to board out and I have been liking the results. As far as bringing in, 6 extra counters should mean you can get your Approach home and the Gearhulks make everything easier as well as being another threat. But Option 2 means you don't care about Approach and are just going to beat them down with dudes. This has worked really well on game 2 after they have removed most of their removal. Depending on the game 1 and who I am playing I will side in dudes on Game 2 if I don't get there, I will swap back to the Approach plan. It puts them under a lot of pressure to make decisions while not knowing what I am playing.
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens