Is Regal Caracal still even good vs Red ? Most of them will bring 4 Rampaging Ferocidon
You will probably want to Fumigate before casting Caracal, or maybe cast out their ferocidon and then cast the cat lord.
So fifth turn you will Fumigate and sixth turn drop the cat lord.
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I see more list running both Caracal and champions, so far that has worked best for me. Cats by themselves seems a bit fragile. When backed up by Champ's it seems to help a lot. And gives you a better chance of drawing them.
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Modern
Currently Playing UW UW Control/Miracles R Skred Red
Is anyone here running Ipnu Rivulet? I got the idea, but how are they actually working for you? And are you using them more to mill yourself to find your Approach or to mill your opponent?
WU Control this is very close to what I am running now with a lot of success (except the Rivulets). I have dropped Opt. It is a great card but like an article I read say, would you rather have a card that draws you gas or just add 4 more cards that are gas to your deck. Have not really missed it much. But still tinkering with the numbers.
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Modern
Currently Playing UW UW Control/Miracles R Skred Red
Opt helps in hitting your land drops and digging to Approach (2 cards deep for 1 mana). Personally, I was running Hieroglyphic Illumination before Ixalan for those reasons, and I've found Opt to be a great replacement.
I like Opt because it helps in the early game to find me the answer I need in a given moment without having to always cycle a spell that I may want to hold onto. To me it is like running a 56 card deck. I worry less about CA because GoG and Search are going to do that in combination with board wipes.
Here's my question: why run this over U/B? Scarab God is a beast, Fatal Push and Essence Extraction solve a lot of the problems this deck has. I am sitting on some expendable cash wondering whether to buy a couple Gideons or swap out white for black, honestly.
Don't take me wrong, I really like Opt but for me when I was testing, it was the easiest to replace with something else.
@BlueTronFTW, I have both decks, both right now are very strong. I am headed to the Atlanta GP in a month and to be honest really not sure which one I am taking. The biggest difference to me is that Approach just wins games if you 'durdle' long enough whereas U/B sometimes just stalls. On turn 7+ if the board is clear and both sides are just playing draw-go magic, Approach is favored, imo. Probably explaining that wrong but I hope you guys get the point. That and everyone knows that Scarab God is a beast right now and every deck seems to be splashing black just to run him. And everyone is now going to start running some hate for him mainboard. Actually because of Worlds last week, I feel Approach is in better shape now that U/B Control is 'the control deck' in standard, players are slowly starting to forget about us or at least have least hate maid and sideboard. I know that may be a little bit of a stretch but I liked it when Approach was a fringe deck.
But to answer you question Blue, my suggestion is download xMage and try both out. Jam 20-30 games to see which one you enjoy the most. I am on the fence but leaning towards Approach. Will see what the meta does the next few weeks and go from there. Just my nickel worth of advice, hope it helps.
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Modern
Currently Playing UW UW Control/Miracles R Skred Red
Last week I went 3-0, beating out Ram Red, Temur Energy, and a Jund Dinosaur brew. This week saw me going 3-1 beating out Jund Dinos (same guy as last week) and RG Dinos (+round 1 Bye), and losing to Ram Red (different guy from last week).
The biggest problem I find myself having against RR is activated abilities, namely Hazoret and Ramunap Ruins, so I'm considering putting some number of Sorcerous Spyglass in the side. It may not be enough, but RR can attack from so many angles that removing one of them may help. I really hope we get some kind of Witchbane Orb-like effect in the next set.
So, I went to an 8 man Standard tourney today which ran for 3 rounds and the prize was a box of Iconic Masters.
After the first two rounds, I was at 2-0 with the deck and the other guy approached me about splitting the one box prize in half and I agreed.
We then played the last round as usual and I beat him to finish 3-0 and coming in first with the U/W Approach of the Second Cats deck as posted on the first page of this thread.
Here's a mini tourney report:
Round 1 - VS - G/R/U - Dinos/Glorybringer - 2-0
I won both games because he didn't cast anything for the first 4 turns, I'm not sure why he was so slow but that gave me enough time to set up my lands and I got Search for Azcanta out on the second turn in the first game and the fourth turn in the 2nd game and it helped a lot. I won both games by casting Approach a second time.
Round 2 - VS - G/U/R Energy - Hydra/Glorybringer/Confiscation Coup - 2-1
I won the first game by casting approach two times as usual. I lost the second game because at 5 lands I discarded two lands to Champion of Wits and then I didn't draw any more lands for the next 6-7 turns, so it was my mistake and so he beat me down slowly. I won the 3rd game by casting Approach two times again, this game I managed to flip both my Thaumatic Compasses into spires of orazca and my opponent was shocked to find out that the lands are not legendary and I can have two of them in play. The two lands held off his 2 Glorybringers for 2 turns, which was enough for me to draw my Approach the second time and win.
We agreed to split the prize box but we played anyways and the first game was super grindy as usual since it's control on control and I think he is running more counterspells than me. I managed to outdraw him and with about 10-12 cards left in my library I cast Approach the second time with Negate back-up in my hand to win the game.
Game 2 was funny because he sideboarded exactly as I thought he would and I put my sideboard cards geared to beat him in and because of that I ended up beating him down with a Regal Caracal, 2 Cat tokens and Champion of Wits, so it's the only game that I won by damage and not by casting Approach.
He actually saw Sunscourge champion and Champion of wits in the first game, but in the second game he still chose to side out 2 Pushes, 2 Vraska's Contempt and 2 Essence scatters for some Gontis, Duresses and some other cards.
He didn't know that I sideboarded in 4 Regal Caracals, 3 Vizier of Deferment and 1 Vizier of many faces, so he was surprised when I started to cast creatures on turn 3 and he had to either try to counter them or kill them individually while also fighting through my counters. Unfortunately, he didn't have a mass removal spell so he died to the creatures quickly.
After this short 3 round tourney here are the MVPs of the deck:
1. Approach of the second sun - The namesake of the deck, it won me every game except the last one which I won through creature beatdown actually. I firmly believe that 3 Approaches is the best number to have in this deck.
2. Champion of Wits - he was the bees' knees, and I managed to eternalize him at least once in every game, I can't say that I miss glimmer at all and am much happier to be playing him instead.
3. Settle the wreckage - very good against opponents that attack with only 1 or 2 creatures, the fact that they get a land doesn't mean that much when you can Exile a scarab god, or even a bristling hydra or glorybringer. I never regretted casting it even once, and it works great to get rid of even just one creature.
4. Thaumatic Compass- after casting Approach and tapping out it's great to be able to flip this and know I can "Fog" a creature the next turn and I am safe from that attack until I can untap again. In one game I flipped this on turn 6 (flipped search for azcanta the same turn) and on turn 7 I cast and flipped the 2nd compass so I had two lands to keep opp's creatures from attacking so I was able to keep 2 Glorybringers at bay for a couple of turns.
5. Search for Azcanta - worked amazingly when it came out on turn 2 but it's also very useful even later in the game, an impressive card before it flips. After it flipped I didn't use it for its ability too often but just as a source of blue mana.
Can't wait to play some more with this deck and surprise some more opponents with my crazy sideboard plan, also it was great to discover that my gamble on playing Thaumatic Compass worked and the card worked perfectly exactly as planned.
I thought I would face some mono-red decks but no one was playing that out of the 7 other people in the tourney, so against G/U Energy or G/U/R Dinos or U/B control this deck doesn't have much to be afraid off and should win relatively easily.
Fastest tourney I ever won! Now I have to wait till November when the set comes out and collect my 12 packs.
Here's the decklist again witht he updated sideboard which I played today:
Hey all, quick write up. Played the MTGO PTQ yesterday, and went 2-3 drop. The good news? I won every single G1, the bad news? Players are prepared to beat Wrath style control deck by upping their counter suite from the energy side. The Sultai Energy match up is especially difficult after SB'ing.
What did I beat?
Abzan Tokens 2-1 (We are very favored here)
Temur Energy (2-0 they do not have access to Duress, hence your hand doesn't get shredded)
Losses? 2x to Sultai Energy and 1x to B/R aggro.
I've worked a lot on this deck, and am at a point of concession. The meta has shaped up to be hostile towards wrath style control, and resolving a 7cmc win con against other control decks is a losing angle. Running a little spot removal could help but it's not going to shore up the SB issues the deck has and the control G1 match ups. What can we do to improve things? Some spot removal and hard counters are necessary. I'd take a look at the lists that 5-0 and adjust from there.
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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
@racerxen - Against any deck that I think I am not going to be able to get there with Approach, then I bring my Cat's and Champs. My current list runs 3 Gideons and 2 Gearhulks main, then when I bring in 4 cats and 2 champs (similar plans as xaltair) to make creature beatdown plan A. Similar sideboard against Ramp Red. So far that has worked well for me but I have not gone up against too many of the Sultai decks yet.
Hey all, quick write up. Played the MTGO PTQ yesterday, and went 2-3 drop. The good news? I won every single G1, the bad news? Players are prepared to beat Wrath style control deck by upping their counter suite from the energy side. The Sultai Energy match up is especially difficult after SB'ing.
What did I beat?
Abzan Tokens 2-1 (We are very favored here)
Temur Energy (2-0 they do not have access to Duress, hence your hand doesn't get shredded)
Losses? 2x to Sultai Energy and 1x to B/R aggro.
I've worked a lot on this deck, and am at a point of concession. The meta has shaped up to be hostile towards wrath style control, and resolving a 7cmc win con against other control decks is a losing angle. Running a little spot removal could help but it's not going to shore up the SB issues the deck has and the control G1 match ups. What can we do to improve things? Some spot removal and hard counters are necessary. I'd take a look at the lists that 5-0 and adjust from there.
Check out my tourney report and wild sideboard that I'm running, that should answer your question on how to beat counter decks in game 2.
The U/B opp I played yesterday cast duress first turn and second turn to take negate and approach.
He looked smug until the third turn when I cast sunscourge champion, fourth turn champion of wits and fifth turn regal Caracal.
He died to beats a couple of turns later while I went up to 30 life.
The deck turns into W/U mid-range after sideboard running about 16 creatures, some counters and wrath effects, as well as some card draw in champion of wits.
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A pretty interesting list just took 5th-8th place at MTGO Standard PTQ - 10/14/17. Kefnet the Mindful and Primal Amulet mainboard and take a look at the sideboard. Must have worked pretty well for him because most of the rest of the field was Ramp Red and Entergy decks.
Im going to junp into another competitive league tonight. i wasnt worried about those match ups, i won against tokens amd temur. it was sultai energy, with both duress and negate/ spell pierce back up that did me in, 2x at that. b/r aggro was tough because i drew 0 settle the wreckage in both games.
I think what this weekend of nationals showed us is that the deck is viable. My small sampling from mtgo ptq isnt enough data. I was thinking that we need more threats after board against control, kefnet did come to mind. It is moments like this when we miss spell queller.
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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
IMHO every build of this deck should run 1-2 Field of Ruin in the mainboard, since it's a ridiculously versatile card.
Kills Ramunap Ruins, kills flip lands like Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin in the mirror match, though it's most interesting use that I've found is against temur.
Most temur/4 color builds only run 1 island, often relying on Botanical/Spirebluff to produce blue mana. In games 2 and 3 they'll almost always leave enough mana open to cast negate on approach, oftentimes their only source of blue mana being a single dual land. If they already have a tapped island out, you can use Ruin on that dual land so they no longer have blue mana avaliable until their next untap, giving you clearance to cast Second Sun without fear of negation.
I've been struggling against the new Mardu Vehicles deck that essentially is the same deck but runs Bomat Courier instead of Thraben Inspector. Nothing I bring in seems to slow them down enough for me to win. Any suggestions?
The match up would depend greatly on the configuration of your build. Some list include Aether Meltdown, Cast Out or Ixalan's Bidding as "removal". If vehicles is coming up in your area (or mtgo, I've played against, and beaten it), it may be time to jam some Hour of Revelation which is looking better and better. What U/W lacks is efficient early removal, if we had our version of Fatal Push we would be fine.
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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
Hour of Revelation is way too slow. It is probably good against Tokens, but not good enough to be maindeckable and not close to being good in the Mardu matchup. I think Slash of Talons is the best bet against the deck, but even that only buys you a little time if you have to use it on Scrapheap Scrounger.
My main concern is that Authority of the Consuls has been underwhelming in the match up. It feels like since you have less spot removal that the card isn't nearly as good at buying time as it used to be.
Hour of Revelation is way too slow. It is probably good against Tokens, but not good enough to be maindeckable and not close to being good in the Mardu matchup. I think Slash of Talons is the best bet against the deck, but even that only buys you a little time if you have to use it on Scrapheap Scrounger.
My main concern is that Authority of the Consuls has been underwhelming in the match up. It feels like since you have less spot removal that the card isn't nearly as good at buying time as it used to be.
What I've been doing in matches against any sort of aggro like that, Mardu included, is basically board in a ridiculous amount of lifegain and hope I get to it before I lose the game.
It's not really worth it to try to make your turn 1-5 much better, I find it to be a better gameplan to just reinforce the power of your deck on turn 4-5 and hope that you can get there. What Authority does is allows you to more consistently get to turns 4-5, where you have access to your fumigates, settles and caracals that will give them too much to deal with.
Slash of talons is fine, but I don't like investing that much into early turn interaction apart from things like Censor/Authority.
@xaltair, i took your deck through a league and went 3-2. i played 3 straight BW tokens decks and could only win one of them. i played a mirror match and just outdrew him. won that. last one was against sultai energy and beat him in 2, even without casting approach in the 2nd game. i like the deck but just probably played wrong. i think in the 2nd of the 3 tokens games, i could have won if i fumigated instead of what i did. i think i could have got there. i do really like the deck though.
After looking at all the versions of this deck, both here and on other sites, and playing a lot of them, I am quickly coming to the conclusion that there is not one 'correct' decklist. Depending on your play style and meta, 2 different Approach list can have 15-20 cards difference main and sideboard and both do great.
Most seem to run some amount of Gideon of the Trials, Torrential Gearhulk and Regal Caracal main board and side as there creatures. Other run more, like xaltair's list. It is kinda cool there are so many different ways to run this deck and still get results.
Look at all the different list on MtgTop8.com. Sorry to get off on a tangent, just thought it was interesting. Back to your regularly scheduled programming now.
@xaltair, i took your deck through a league and went 3-2. i played 3 straight BW tokens decks and could only win one of them. i played a mirror match and just outdrew him. won that. last one was against sultai energy and beat him in 2, even without casting approach in the 2nd game. i like the deck but just probably played wrong. i think in the 2nd of the 3 tokens games, i could have won if i fumigated instead of what i did. i think i could have got there. i do really like the deck though.
Thanks for the info, I don't even know what the B/W tokens deck is.
My deck was built to be able to beat both Monored Aggro and Control decks (mirror, U/B) in game 1, and after sideboarding also destroying those decks in game 2.
AS I mentioned in my short 3 round tourney report on this page I beat an R/G/U midrange aggro deck, an R/G/U energy deck and a straight U/B control deck with the scarab god without much issues, and I played horrendously, not having had a chance to play this U/W deck since May of this year.
I still managed to go 3-0 and win the tourney because the deck was good enough to take apart these decks mentioned above without much trouble.
I'm sure playing it differently would probably increase the chances of beating the tokens deck and I'll take a look at that deck to see what it's about, but I built the deck to play it here at my local LGS in Tokyo, and the people here are playing midrange or control decks with some random people trying mono red beats.
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I've recently started playing this deck and I have to say so far I'm impressed. I'll be taking it to a PPTQ this weekend and I'll let y'all know how I do. Here's my current list:
---U/W Approach---
25 Lands
4 Irrigated Farmland
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Ipnu Rivulet
2 Field of Ruin
6 Plains
5 Islands
---17 Instants---
4 Censor
3 Disallow
4 Glimmer of Genius
2 Settle the Wreckage
4 Supreme Will
---10 Enchantments---
3 Aether Meltdown
4 Cast Out
3 Search for Azcanta
---6 Sorceries---
3 Approach of the Second Sun
3 Fumigate
---2 Artifacts---
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
---Sideboard---
3 Authority of the Consul
2 Glyph Keeper
1 Jace's Defeat
4 Negate
4 Regal Caracal
1 Settle the Wreckage
Spyglass is new tech I haven't tried yet but my theory is it's good in every matchup as there are so many powerful abilities across every archetype right now. Also, against control/temur post board the ability to see if the coast is clear for Approach (or see what counter magic they're holding or eat a counter) is great
the bw tokens is hidden stockpile and anointed procession. lots of servos and tokesn and embalm dudes. i feel like it's a little show against them because they seem to always get a ***** ton more creatures on the field by their next turn. you don't always have an answer to them. i'm sure there are lists online.
the bw tokens is hidden stockpile and anointed procession. lots of servos and tokesn and embalm dudes. i feel like it's a little show against them because they seem to always get a ***** ton more creatures on the field by their next turn. you don't always have an answer to them. i'm sure there are lists online.
The game shouldn't be that hard to win, we have 3 Cast outs main deck to deal with their anointed procession and we can also counter some of their important spells and just bide our time until we can reach 7 mana and cast approach.
I think after sideboarding we can add the 2 forsake the worldly in, as well as 2 more negates so we'll have a playset to counter their important spells and maybe even the 2 Gideon's interventions and name whatever card is the most damaging to us.
I know we can't name tokens but if their name is soldier or whatever token that may work, or just board in all of our creatures and beat them down. IF we can beat U/B which has a lot more counters and is more resilient then we should be able to beat the tokens deck.
Either that or just add a couple of River's Rebuke or Hour of Revelation in the sideboard.
You will probably want to Fumigate before casting Caracal, or maybe cast out their ferocidon and then cast the cat lord.
So fifth turn you will Fumigate and sixth turn drop the cat lord.
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Mtg Lifestyle
It may be okay to cut 1 Cat, but it seems like a necessary SB card in many match ups.
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
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
WU Control this is very close to what I am running now with a lot of success (except the Rivulets). I have dropped Opt. It is a great card but like an article I read say, would you rather have a card that draws you gas or just add 4 more cards that are gas to your deck. Have not really missed it much. But still tinkering with the numbers.
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
Here's my question: why run this over U/B? Scarab God is a beast, Fatal Push and Essence Extraction solve a lot of the problems this deck has. I am sitting on some expendable cash wondering whether to buy a couple Gideons or swap out white for black, honestly.
@BlueTronFTW, I have both decks, both right now are very strong. I am headed to the Atlanta GP in a month and to be honest really not sure which one I am taking. The biggest difference to me is that Approach just wins games if you 'durdle' long enough whereas U/B sometimes just stalls. On turn 7+ if the board is clear and both sides are just playing draw-go magic, Approach is favored, imo. Probably explaining that wrong but I hope you guys get the point. That and everyone knows that Scarab God is a beast right now and every deck seems to be splashing black just to run him. And everyone is now going to start running some hate for him mainboard. Actually because of Worlds last week, I feel Approach is in better shape now that U/B Control is 'the control deck' in standard, players are slowly starting to forget about us or at least have least hate maid and sideboard. I know that may be a little bit of a stretch but I liked it when Approach was a fringe deck.
But to answer you question Blue, my suggestion is download xMage and try both out. Jam 20-30 games to see which one you enjoy the most. I am on the fence but leaning towards Approach. Will see what the meta does the next few weeks and go from there. Just my nickel worth of advice, hope it helps.
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
2 Gideon of the Trials
Instants (18)
4 Censor
4 Opt
4 Glimmer of Genius
2 Supreme Will
2 Settle the Wreckage
1 Essence Scatter
1 Disallow
Sorceries (6)
3 Approach of the Second Sun
3 Fumigate
4 Cast Out
3 Aether Meltdown
2 Search for Azcanta
Lands (25)
4 Island
5 Plains
4 Ipnu Rivulet
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Irrigated Farmland
2 Aether Hub
1 Desert of the Mindful
1 Field of Ruin
4 Authority of the Consuls
3 Negate
3 Torrential Gearhulk
3 Regal Caracal
1 Essence Scatter
1 Search for Azcanta
Last week I went 3-0, beating out Ram Red, Temur Energy, and a Jund Dinosaur brew. This week saw me going 3-1 beating out Jund Dinos (same guy as last week) and RG Dinos (+round 1 Bye), and losing to Ram Red (different guy from last week).
The biggest problem I find myself having against RR is activated abilities, namely Hazoret and Ramunap Ruins, so I'm considering putting some number of Sorcerous Spyglass in the side. It may not be enough, but RR can attack from so many angles that removing one of them may help. I really hope we get some kind of Witchbane Orb-like effect in the next set.
So, I went to an 8 man Standard tourney today which ran for 3 rounds and the prize was a box of Iconic Masters.
After the first two rounds, I was at 2-0 with the deck and the other guy approached me about splitting the one box prize in half and I agreed.
We then played the last round as usual and I beat him to finish 3-0 and coming in first with the U/W Approach of the Second Cats deck as posted on the first page of this thread.
Here's a mini tourney report:
Round 1 - VS - G/R/U - Dinos/Glorybringer - 2-0
I won both games because he didn't cast anything for the first 4 turns, I'm not sure why he was so slow but that gave me enough time to set up my lands and I got Search for Azcanta out on the second turn in the first game and the fourth turn in the 2nd game and it helped a lot. I won both games by casting Approach a second time.
Round 2 - VS - G/U/R Energy - Hydra/Glorybringer/Confiscation Coup - 2-1
I won the first game by casting approach two times as usual. I lost the second game because at 5 lands I discarded two lands to Champion of Wits and then I didn't draw any more lands for the next 6-7 turns, so it was my mistake and so he beat me down slowly. I won the 3rd game by casting Approach two times again, this game I managed to flip both my Thaumatic Compasses into spires of orazca and my opponent was shocked to find out that the lands are not legendary and I can have two of them in play. The two lands held off his 2 Glorybringers for 2 turns, which was enough for me to draw my Approach the second time and win.
Round 3 - VS- U/B control - Scarab God/Torrential Gearhulk - 2-0
We agreed to split the prize box but we played anyways and the first game was super grindy as usual since it's control on control and I think he is running more counterspells than me. I managed to outdraw him and with about 10-12 cards left in my library I cast Approach the second time with Negate back-up in my hand to win the game.
Game 2 was funny because he sideboarded exactly as I thought he would and I put my sideboard cards geared to beat him in and because of that I ended up beating him down with a Regal Caracal, 2 Cat tokens and Champion of Wits, so it's the only game that I won by damage and not by casting Approach.
He actually saw Sunscourge champion and Champion of wits in the first game, but in the second game he still chose to side out 2 Pushes, 2 Vraska's Contempt and 2 Essence scatters for some Gontis, Duresses and some other cards.
He didn't know that I sideboarded in 4 Regal Caracals, 3 Vizier of Deferment and 1 Vizier of many faces, so he was surprised when I started to cast creatures on turn 3 and he had to either try to counter them or kill them individually while also fighting through my counters. Unfortunately, he didn't have a mass removal spell so he died to the creatures quickly.
After this short 3 round tourney here are the MVPs of the deck:
1. Approach of the second sun - The namesake of the deck, it won me every game except the last one which I won through creature beatdown actually. I firmly believe that 3 Approaches is the best number to have in this deck.
2. Champion of Wits - he was the bees' knees, and I managed to eternalize him at least once in every game, I can't say that I miss glimmer at all and am much happier to be playing him instead.
3. Settle the wreckage - very good against opponents that attack with only 1 or 2 creatures, the fact that they get a land doesn't mean that much when you can Exile a scarab god, or even a bristling hydra or glorybringer. I never regretted casting it even once, and it works great to get rid of even just one creature.
4. Thaumatic Compass- after casting Approach and tapping out it's great to be able to flip this and know I can "Fog" a creature the next turn and I am safe from that attack until I can untap again. In one game I flipped this on turn 6 (flipped search for azcanta the same turn) and on turn 7 I cast and flipped the 2nd compass so I had two lands to keep opp's creatures from attacking so I was able to keep 2 Glorybringers at bay for a couple of turns.
5. Search for Azcanta - worked amazingly when it came out on turn 2 but it's also very useful even later in the game, an impressive card before it flips. After it flipped I didn't use it for its ability too often but just as a source of blue mana.
Can't wait to play some more with this deck and surprise some more opponents with my crazy sideboard plan, also it was great to discover that my gamble on playing Thaumatic Compass worked and the card worked perfectly exactly as planned.
I thought I would face some mono-red decks but no one was playing that out of the 7 other people in the tourney, so against G/U Energy or G/U/R Dinos or U/B control this deck doesn't have much to be afraid off and should win relatively easily.
Fastest tourney I ever won! Now I have to wait till November when the set comes out and collect my 12 packs.
Here's the decklist again witht he updated sideboard which I played today:
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Irrigated Farmland
2 Hostile Desert
1 Ipnu Rivulet
1 Shefet Dunes
6 Island
7 Plains
Creatures(8)
2 Kefnet the mindful
3 Sunscourge Champion
3 Champion of Wits
2 Search for Azcanta
3 Cast out
Artifacts(2)
2 Thaumatic Compass
Spells(21)
4 Essence Scatter
2 Negate
2 Supreme Will
2 Disallow
2 Pull from Tomorrow
3 Settle the Wreckage
3 Fumigate
3 Approach of the Second Sun
4 Regal Caracal
3 Vizier of Deferment
1 Vizier of Many Faces
1 Legion's Landing
2 Forsake the Worldly
2 Negate
2 Gideon's Intervention (I'm testing this, I sided it in but didn't get to cast it today)
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Mtg Lifestyle
What did I beat?
Abzan Tokens 2-1 (We are very favored here)
Temur Energy (2-0 they do not have access to Duress, hence your hand doesn't get shredded)
Losses? 2x to Sultai Energy and 1x to B/R aggro.
I've worked a lot on this deck, and am at a point of concession. The meta has shaped up to be hostile towards wrath style control, and resolving a 7cmc win con against other control decks is a losing angle. Running a little spot removal could help but it's not going to shore up the SB issues the deck has and the control G1 match ups. What can we do to improve things? Some spot removal and hard counters are necessary. I'd take a look at the lists that 5-0 and adjust from there.
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
This is very close to what I am running now. W/U Approach on MtgGoldfish
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
Check out my tourney report and wild sideboard that I'm running, that should answer your question on how to beat counter decks in game 2.
The U/B opp I played yesterday cast duress first turn and second turn to take negate and approach.
He looked smug until the third turn when I cast sunscourge champion, fourth turn champion of wits and fifth turn regal Caracal.
He died to beats a couple of turns later while I went up to 30 life.
The deck turns into W/U mid-range after sideboard running about 16 creatures, some counters and wrath effects, as well as some card draw in champion of wits.
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Mtg Lifestyle
W/U APPROACH by duckinhispants
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
I think what this weekend of nationals showed us is that the deck is viable. My small sampling from mtgo ptq isnt enough data. I was thinking that we need more threats after board against control, kefnet did come to mind. It is moments like this when we miss spell queller.
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
Kills Ramunap Ruins, kills flip lands like Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin in the mirror match, though it's most interesting use that I've found is against temur.
Most temur/4 color builds only run 1 island, often relying on Botanical/Spirebluff to produce blue mana. In games 2 and 3 they'll almost always leave enough mana open to cast negate on approach, oftentimes their only source of blue mana being a single dual land. If they already have a tapped island out, you can use Ruin on that dual land so they no longer have blue mana avaliable until their next untap, giving you clearance to cast Second Sun without fear of negation.
Super cool card.
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
My main concern is that Authority of the Consuls has been underwhelming in the match up. It feels like since you have less spot removal that the card isn't nearly as good at buying time as it used to be.
What I've been doing in matches against any sort of aggro like that, Mardu included, is basically board in a ridiculous amount of lifegain and hope I get to it before I lose the game.
Specically, I've been doing 4 Regal Caracal, 2 Sunscourge Championand 3 Authority of the Consuls as well as a 3rd Fumigate to go with the 2 that I have in the mainboard.
It's not really worth it to try to make your turn 1-5 much better, I find it to be a better gameplan to just reinforce the power of your deck on turn 4-5 and hope that you can get there. What Authority does is allows you to more consistently get to turns 4-5, where you have access to your fumigates, settles and caracals that will give them too much to deal with.
Slash of talons is fine, but I don't like investing that much into early turn interaction apart from things like Censor/Authority.
Most seem to run some amount of Gideon of the Trials, Torrential Gearhulk and Regal Caracal main board and side as there creatures. Other run more, like xaltair's list. It is kinda cool there are so many different ways to run this deck and still get results.
Look at all the different list on MtgTop8.com. Sorry to get off on a tangent, just thought it was interesting. Back to your regularly scheduled programming now.
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
Thanks for the info, I don't even know what the B/W tokens deck is.
My deck was built to be able to beat both Monored Aggro and Control decks (mirror, U/B) in game 1, and after sideboarding also destroying those decks in game 2.
AS I mentioned in my short 3 round tourney report on this page I beat an R/G/U midrange aggro deck, an R/G/U energy deck and a straight U/B control deck with the scarab god without much issues, and I played horrendously, not having had a chance to play this U/W deck since May of this year.
I still managed to go 3-0 and win the tourney because the deck was good enough to take apart these decks mentioned above without much trouble.
I'm sure playing it differently would probably increase the chances of beating the tokens deck and I'll take a look at that deck to see what it's about, but I built the deck to play it here at my local LGS in Tokyo, and the people here are playing midrange or control decks with some random people trying mono red beats.
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Mtg Lifestyle
---U/W Approach---
25 Lands
4 Irrigated Farmland
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Ipnu Rivulet
2 Field of Ruin
6 Plains
5 Islands
---17 Instants---
4 Censor
3 Disallow
4 Glimmer of Genius
2 Settle the Wreckage
4 Supreme Will
---10 Enchantments---
3 Aether Meltdown
4 Cast Out
3 Search for Azcanta
---6 Sorceries---
3 Approach of the Second Sun
3 Fumigate
---2 Artifacts---
2 Sorcerous Spyglass
---Sideboard---
3 Authority of the Consul
2 Glyph Keeper
1 Jace's Defeat
4 Negate
4 Regal Caracal
1 Settle the Wreckage
Spyglass is new tech I haven't tried yet but my theory is it's good in every matchup as there are so many powerful abilities across every archetype right now. Also, against control/temur post board the ability to see if the coast is clear for Approach (or see what counter magic they're holding or eat a counter) is great
https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/legions-landing-is-worth-finding-a-home-for/
The game shouldn't be that hard to win, we have 3 Cast outs main deck to deal with their anointed procession and we can also counter some of their important spells and just bide our time until we can reach 7 mana and cast approach.
I think after sideboarding we can add the 2 forsake the worldly in, as well as 2 more negates so we'll have a playset to counter their important spells and maybe even the 2 Gideon's interventions and name whatever card is the most damaging to us.
I know we can't name tokens but if their name is soldier or whatever token that may work, or just board in all of our creatures and beat them down. IF we can beat U/B which has a lot more counters and is more resilient then we should be able to beat the tokens deck.
Either that or just add a couple of River's Rebuke or Hour of Revelation in the sideboard.
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Mtg Lifestyle