Attune with Aether gives us early energy that offers a lot of flexibility, plus it makes sure we hit early land drops. With that turn 1 we can shoot down a heart of kiran with harnessed lightning on turn 2. It also gives us access to Natural Obsolecense as a great way to get rid of scrapheap scrounger or vehicles in general, plus two evasive threats in Bristling Hydra and Lumbering Falls. The sideboard doesn't add much extra, but it can if you want.
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Top 16 - 2012 Indiana State Championships Currently Playing: GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
so first time standard player since abzan midrange was good. Question. Is running incendiary flow over magma spray worth the extra mana so you can get more aggressive with your torrential gearhulk? I often find myself with not enough to flash back on an empty board and the decision to just keep waiting or flash in my gearhulk for beats rather than for value.
The way I see it, playing deck at instant speed "draw-go" style is the key. I tried both incendiary flow and magma spray. I think being open for Spray to deal with an early threat or mana dork, while simultaneously having counterspell or anticipate is better, because tapping out early is scary. I currently run 4 harnessed lightning and 3 magma spray. The real downside is being unable to hit planeswalkers. So yesterday I got 2 commit // memory for this, but have to test them out yet.
so first time standard player since abzan midrange was good. Question. Is running incendiary flow over magma spray worth the extra mana so you can get more aggressive with your torrential gearhulk? I often find myself with not enough to flash back on an empty board and the decision to just keep waiting or flash in my gearhulk for beats rather than for value.
2 for 1's are very very important to you with your gearhulks.
so first time standard player since abzan midrange was good. Question. Is running incendiary flow over magma spray worth the extra mana so you can get more aggressive with your torrential gearhulk? I often find myself with not enough to flash back on an empty board and the decision to just keep waiting or flash in my gearhulk for beats rather than for value.
thanks everyone, didn't even notice incendiary flow was a sorcery. There really isn't a good replacement for either magma spray or harnessed lightning it seems, unfortunately. spray needed for the exile clause and harnessed lightning for bigger toughness creatures. It's really unfortunate too, because there were plenty of places where getting aggressive with a gearhulk would have been lights out, but really didn't want to not get value off it. I probably should just run it out, though, like you do with snapcaster, as pressure seems better than waiting around for them to topdeck something. I guess if you had like 4 or 5 counterspells, you could just hide behind them, but as a control deck, I like to pressure opponents as soon as I can, even if it means sacrificing value (ambush viper snapcaster is a real skill to know when to use). Standard is a bit weirder though, as more decks seem to have dead removal in hand for your hulk that you need to counter. anyway, thanks again.
Mardu is a tough out, but much more salvageable than previous versions of RUG Dynavolt thanks to Magma Spray. Brutal Expulsion is the truth too. BG Constrictor can be a chore depending on their draw, Confiscation Coup does work but mostly you're hoping their starts are smedium or worse. More aggressive decks aren't nearly as hard to beat though, their permanent types aren't really diverse and their critters aren't big.
Marvel feels very easy, especially the Bant controlling version of Marvel, which is the best-positioned version right now. You can't sit back on your ass forever, but you'll have plenty enough time to squeeze a Gearhulk thru and win off of it.
Other control decks are a damn bye. Sometimes you get lucky and stick a Tower on 3 and put them under the gun fast, other times you start hitting them with Lumbering Falls on turn 23 and they can't actually beat the card. Postboard you get the 1-2 freeroll punch of Bristling Hydra and Sphinx of the Final Word, Tireless Tracker for some grind, and you even get Kefnet the Mindful as the only realistic answer to a Sphinx in the entire world. (Clip Wings will also do it, but I felt I was going too deep. I did get someone though, it was fantastic.) Kefnet is also another free-win card in the control mirror, for that matter.
Deck's weakness is Mardu and BG Constrictor, but Marvel is gonna sit on them this weekend at the PT and hopefully scale back those decks' metagame shares. If they do, this is probably the best control deck in the format.
Phoenix: Disallow lets you counter a planeswalker ult, a marvel activation, an ulamog trigger (either the "on attack" or "on cast" ones) or a cryptbreaker activation. It's incredibly powerful and very much an upgrade.
Also from scouring through all the decks, I found a UR control list that went 8-2 in the constructed rounds. Not sure if we still want to add green, but I'm going to be playing with something very similar to this list for a bit.
Top 16 - 2012 Indiana State Championships Currently Playing: GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
a lot to digest in that list. trying to use a bit of the xerox rule. I like the illuminations though and it's something I've been thinking about for a long time. Seems good to cycle early to hit lands drops and then flashback with gearhulk. Can't imagine censor as only a 3, though, especially with the 24 land situation.
3 sweltering suns might be a bit much. I'm also very skeptical of thing in the ice as well. I think at this point Kefnet is a must as along with final word sphinx. Also only one copy of commit is interesting especially as I felt that card gaining stock.
This list seems somewhat preboarded and geared towards beating what they expected was the level 0 deck: zombies.
Both kefnet and hieroglyphics have been underwhelming for me. Kefnet is maybe ok in control mirror if your on the play and can resolve him before counterspell mana is up, but outside of that he's basically useless, as your never going to have 7 cards against aggro and 4 mana to draw 1 is a horrible rate. Against control I'd just up my number of sphinx of final word, as it really is the control hoser.
Break out cards in amonkhet for me have been sweltering suns, censor, scatter, and pull from tomorrow. Pull especially has been amazing, just grind an opponent down to no threats and pull for 6-8, feels amazing.
I think straight u/r is in a great place right now. Just the other day I responded to a hardcast ulamog with a gearhulk, flashback disallow on cast trigger, then scatter on the ulamog. Opponent immediately tapped out so I do like our match against marvel, we can really box them in and just take control. Obviously some games they have the turn 4 mog and we just have no counter magic in hand, but I suspect we're favored overall
The only thing I'm worried about is too many dispossions running arsound, so I think a strong sideboard plan for that card is needed, either a different finisher, or multiples of invasive surgery.
I've been thinking about adding Fevered Visions to the control build. I miss Thermo-thing! I also think its a fun way to put pressure on our opponent while we sit back and counter everything. I am still not sure how to deal with Ulamog though...
I am working with a Temur control list and just blasted my local FNM here with the deck. I also play it online and I really love the green elements specifically against control. My green MVP's:
1 - Attune with the Aether : The reason to play green. It smooths your draws out and gives you way way more consistency within your opening hands.
2 - Greenbelt Rampager : Oh man this elephant, if you get in early against control decks they will end up exposing themselves and using way too much in a way of resources to stop this nuisance. He's kind of annoying to play but I use a lot of energy cards.
3 - Dissenter's Deliverance : Instant-speed artifact removal and cycles for a green. I have only been using 2 or 3 in my sideboard but I'm considering adding a fourth copy. Because it cycles you can main deck it.
So far apart from the above I have used Servant of the Conduit which apart from getting out an early Torrential Gearhulk is kinda meh. Nissa, Steward of the Elements has been a real fun card for me, if you play her on turn 3 a lot of decks have a hard time dealing with her/chipping her down. Lastly, Bristling Hydra - if you prefer to go more towards control/midrange, he really helps shore up the U/R and U/W control matches.
I've been thinking about adding Fevered Visions to the control build. I miss Thermo-thing! I also think its a fun way to put pressure on our opponent while we sit back and counter everything. I am still not sure how to deal with Ulamog though...
Fevered Visions might work against another control deck, but against other aggro-midrange (which is really 90% of everyone else right now), you'll just give them gas. Not worth it.
I've been thinking about adding Fevered Visions to the control build. I miss Thermo-thing! I also think its a fun way to put pressure on our opponent while we sit back and counter everything. I am still not sure how to deal with Ulamog though...
I am working with a Temur control list and just blasted my local FNM here with the deck. I also play it online and I really love the green elements specifically against control. My green MVP's:
1 - Attune with the Aether : The reason to play green. It smooths your draws out and gives you way way more consistency within your opening hands.
2 - Greenbelt Rampager : Oh man this elephant, if you get in early against control decks they will end up exposing themselves and using way too much in a way of resources to stop this nuisance. He's kind of annoying to play but I use a lot of energy cards.
3 - Dissenter's Deliverance : Instant-speed artifact removal and cycles for a green. I have only been using 2 or 3 in my sideboard but I'm considering adding a fourth copy. Because it cycles you can main deck it.
So far apart from the above I have used Servant of the Conduit which apart from getting out an early Torrential Gearhulk is kinda meh. Nissa, Steward of the Elements has been a real fun card for me, if you play her on turn 3 a lot of decks have a hard time dealing with her/chipping her down. Lastly, Bristling Hydra - if you prefer to go more towards control/midrange, he really helps shore up the U/R and U/W control matches.
I know that green adds a lot of power and versatility to the deck, but I'm not sure what to cut for those sorts of cards. Do you have a list we can see?
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Top 16 - 2012 Indiana State Championships Currently Playing: GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
I threw this list together in the casual section for a guy who wanted a deck with Sage of Ancient Lore. I figured I'd throw in on this thread to maybe give another list to discuss.
My deck mentioned above on this page, my most common matchups have been control decks (Mono-Blue variants, UW/UB/UR as well as the new BR control decks that are popping up online). I haven't faced a lot of Mono black Zombies yet nor have I seen much in the way of Mardu Vehicles online (although I 2-0'd Mardu Vehicles in paper FNM with this same deck).
Some card choices:
Greenbelt Rampager functions as a complete pest in the early game whereas Lathnu Hellion has sort of a dual purpose of being very annoying to a lot of decks and a complete surprise to a bunch of other ones. Usually I can stick one or both and hide behind a counterspell and ride them to victory - in fact this is the most common way the deck wins. Bristling Hydra is great against certain matchups such as U/W but when he's weak he's still a 4 power threat who can get bigger, I have been thinking about moving him to the sideboard though.
The deck is still functions great as a straight control deck with 9 maindeck counters and 5 more in the board. We're also running the traditional 4 Harnessed Lightning and 3 Magma Spray for our burn suite, honestly I sometimes feel we could go down to 2 or even 0 Magma Spray as it's a dead card against a lot of decks. 3 Torrential Gearhulk do all the heavy lifting late game against pretty much everything.
What I really want to talk about is Nissa, Steward of the Elements. While in theory you want to play her for 8 and just ultimate her for the win, she's a zillion times better to just stick her on turn 3 in a creatureless board state and in fact it's kind of hard to lose if you get this to happen. Sure they can maybe stick a creature but odds are you are going to zap it and counter anything else after that, they are kind of screwed while you scry. Both of her other abilities are fantastic although her 0 kind of has to be set up as we're running so many instants/sorceries.
Nissa is an all star. She has won me several games. I agree with playing her turns 3 or 4. It throws off your opponent and allows you to stack your deck.
I really believe tower is well psotioned right now. In my meta I am 6-2, six being tourney wins and two being 2nd or worse. The deck seems to Catch people off guard and can play well with aggro.
So I took this to game day and went 2-2. I think most of the losses were not being as intimately familiar with all the new stuff as I want to be, but I still think this has potential as a tier 1.5 to tier 2 deck.
R1 vs. 4C Marvel
Game 1 I devote everything into keeping marvel from hitting the table. But that leaves me with no creatures and eventually his servants of the conduit and rogue refiners were able to cash in 20 damage the hard way. Game 2 is a constant struggle that ends up timing us out. He asks me to scoop since I can't possibly win, but I make him grind out the 1-0-1 instead, partially out of spite.
(0-1, 0-1-1)
R2 vs. GR Pummeler
Both games of this match pretty much went as follows: He plays a threat, I attempt the burn the threat, he gives the threat hexproof in response. He saw all 4 copies of blossoming defense in both games and used them to great effect.
(0-2, 0-3-1)
R3 vs. Sultai Marvel
This guy was running Willie Jensen's list from the PT that went 7-2, and it looked a lot like a cross between GB Delirium and 4C Marvel, so I had to hybridize my boarding scheme to adapt. Game 1 I managed to stick an early dynavolt tower and cashed that in for 7 hits. Game 2 I manage to whittle him down through Liliana, after swinging for lethal he spins marvel to find the 1-of noxious gearhulk, killing torrential and putting him out of lethal damage range. I can't push through the last two points of damage and decide to concede with 6 minutes left on the clock. He misses his turn 3 land drop, so I feel safe tapping out turn 4 for bristling hydra. He disposses's torrential gearhulk but I manage to push 20 damage through in the first turn of extras.
(1-2, 2-4-1)
R4. vs. Zombies
I kind of felt bad for this guy, he apparently had been flooding all day and this match was no different. I prioritize burning his dudes one by one, and eventually glorybringer comes online and roasts him. Game 2 I side in radiant flames and Incendiary Flow and he never really could get going. Dark Salvation for 6 to kill a gearhulk is okay, but when I radiant flames them all away it's nowhere near as good.
(2-2, 4-4-1)
Overall I think we have an okay matchup with Marvel. It's not great and we have to very much be on the defensive, but I think it's very realistic to be 45/55 or better. Zombies if you pack tools for the board it can be very advantageous to us if we're willing to grind it out. Mardu is still a hard out, but I don't know if we should expect to see it much more.
I am working on a list with Nissa, taking a cue from Mizral, but we'll see how it turns out.
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Top 16 - 2012 Indiana State Championships Currently Playing: GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
So I've been playing for the past months, trying to catch all FNMs, Showdowns and Gamedays where I can. For the life of mine I can't win a single round against Mardu. I'm rarely salty about losses, but Mardu denying me top-8 for both Gamedays and some Showdowns frustrated me a lot -_-
As for some of my experiences:
Recently I dropped Dynavolt Tower and went full draw-go control. I feel it's not worth tapping out early and too late to cast in later game, or maybe rather needs to be Temur instead of just UR. I may be wrong. Now I often have huge loads of unspent energy.
Was trying 1 Jace, Unraveler of Secrets, but it felt more like a win-more card. Tapping out for him rarely felt worth it, only when I'm significantly ahead, and he's not needed anyway. I replace him with a Confirm Suspicions, and it felt amazing, almost like "counter target spell, draw three cards" in this deck sometimes. Though it may be too slow, dunno.
Can't find 4th Gearhulk and Fumaroles, seems no one has any more here. So I'm worried I'm lacking threats in the mainboard. Was thinking of testing something else. Niblis of Frost sounded good on paper, but usually catches removal right away. Thought about moving Thing in the Ice to the mainboard, though Fatal Push is very real more often than not.
Commit // Memory is the only good way to deal with resolved planeswalkers, though it means I'm almost dead. If I don't topdeck a Negate, that Gideon quickly comes back for revenge.
Deck usually trades 1-for-1 until resolving Sweltering Suns or Torrential Gearhulk later. And winning through a sheer card advantage vs topdeck mode in late game. Even a single resolved 2-cmc creature when opponent is on the play often have enough time to punish me while I'm countering the rest. Brutal Expulsion was cool against zombies, though maybe I should replace them with 2 more Sweltering Suns?
I admit I suck at sideboarding. Tried to make Trail of Evidence work in long grind or mirrors, but haven't managed yet. Confiscation Coup felt like a win-more once again if you can afford tapping out like that.
In the end it doesn't even matterGideon, Ally of Zendikar and Heart of Kiran just prey on me so hard I wish they issued more banning, though it won't happen. It requires very different answers, and they also can just go wide and swarm me. Hate those decks without any real idea behind them, just beating everyone up with hyper-effective mythic rare threats. One upside is that I've never had any real problems with Scrapheap Scrounger
I admit I'm not a particulary good player, decent at best. This deck showed me medium results so far. 2-1, 2-2, 2-3 depending on the number of rounds in a tournament. Had another player playing very similar build, he said he's frustrated and dropping it in favor of zombies. Also that Kefnet, the Minful haven't worked good for him.
I think kefnet is a house and if dropped turn 3 can single handily win the game.
As for mardu If I was you I would up my negates to 4 and play a couple glory bringers. Glorybringer is a good answer to Gideon and provides and fantastic clock. Mardu Vehicles isn't our best match up but it is manageable with some tight play. Release the gremlins can do some serious work as well if you want to go for a heavy sideboard against that deck. Gremlins is also solid against marvelworks decks so its got some other potential.
I think kefnet is a house and if dropped turn 3 can single handily win the game.
As for mardu If I was you I would up my negates to 4 and play a couple glory bringers. Glorybringer is a good answer to Gideon and provides and fantastic clock. Mardu Vehicles isn't our best match up but it is manageable with some tight play. Release the gremlins can do some serious work as well if you want to go for a heavy sideboard against that deck. Gremlins is also solid against marvelworks decks so its got some other potential.
I have to test Kefnet myself, cannot confirm or deny yet. Though from my experience I rarely have 6 or 7 cards in hand vs aggro, because they are forcing me to play all my answers quickly. Also tapping out turn 3 is scary. That's why I dropped Dynavolt Towers until I ever decide to go full Temur energy heavy.
- Agreed on Dynavolt tower. It's fantastic in some matchups but a trap in others, I play 2 in the sideboard.
- I really think Jace is just too slow and doesn't do enough.
- If you are sticking with U/R, a 4th Gearhulk I feel is kind of necessary. Good luck getting another.
- Commit // Memory is awesome but not your only option. Glorybringer is the best option overall but also there's Lathnu Hellion if you are using a lot of energy cards to support him. Personally I absolutely love the Hellion he comes down early with the pain, usually forces out removal which you shouldn't really care about since he costs you energy, and he's big enough to smack a Gideon in the face and kill him right off.
- In those aggro match-ups you will need some form of early game defense, I agree. Shielded Aether Thief is not a bad card for this job if you are sticking with U/R.
Most of your criticisms are exactly why I added green, I feel the mono Blue and U/R lists are just not quite as well positioned at present. Cards such as Nissa, Steward of the Elements, Greenbelt Rampager, Dissenter's Deliverance, and Bristling Hydra provide you more game against those matchups you are bad against without (hopefully!) sacrificing too much on the match-ups you were already good against.
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Currently Playing:
GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG
RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR
RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
Clan Contest 3 Mafia - Mafia Co-MVP
Sorcery speed cards I currently run are 4 dynavolt tower and 1 Jace, unraveler of secrets in mainboard, 2 thing in the ice in sideboard. Though I might cut some of these. Also got 2 release the gremlins, but surprisingly my LGS is very light on vehicle decks, so not sure they'll see a lot of use.
Modern: UR Bloo
2 for 1's are very very important to you with your gearhulks.
Gearhulk only flashes back Instants
4 Torrential Gearhulk
3 Dynavolt Tower
Removal (12)
4 Magma Spray
4 Harnessed Lightning
1 Aether Meltdown
1 Dissenter's Deliverance
1 Brutal Expulsion
1 Commit // Memory
Counterspells (8)
3 Void Shatter
1 Disallow
2 Negate
2 Essence Scatter
4 Glimmer of Genius
2 Pull From Tomorrow
Mana (27)
4 Attune with Aether
4 Aether Hub
4 Botanical Sanctum
4 Spirebluff Canal
2 Lumbering Falls
3 Forest
3 Mountain
3 Island
2 Radiant Flames
3 Bristling Hydra
2 Tireless Tracker
1 Kefnet the Mindful
1 Sphinx of the Final Word
1 Summary Dismissal
1 Negate
3 Dispel
1 Confiscation Coup
Mardu is a tough out, but much more salvageable than previous versions of RUG Dynavolt thanks to Magma Spray. Brutal Expulsion is the truth too. BG Constrictor can be a chore depending on their draw, Confiscation Coup does work but mostly you're hoping their starts are smedium or worse. More aggressive decks aren't nearly as hard to beat though, their permanent types aren't really diverse and their critters aren't big.
Marvel feels very easy, especially the Bant controlling version of Marvel, which is the best-positioned version right now. You can't sit back on your ass forever, but you'll have plenty enough time to squeeze a Gearhulk thru and win off of it.
Other control decks are a damn bye. Sometimes you get lucky and stick a Tower on 3 and put them under the gun fast, other times you start hitting them with Lumbering Falls on turn 23 and they can't actually beat the card. Postboard you get the 1-2 freeroll punch of Bristling Hydra and Sphinx of the Final Word, Tireless Tracker for some grind, and you even get Kefnet the Mindful as the only realistic answer to a Sphinx in the entire world. (Clip Wings will also do it, but I felt I was going too deep. I did get someone though, it was fantastic.) Kefnet is also another free-win card in the control mirror, for that matter.
Deck's weakness is Mardu and BG Constrictor, but Marvel is gonna sit on them this weekend at the PT and hopefully scale back those decks' metagame shares. If they do, this is probably the best control deck in the format.
GW ~ Angels ~ WG
Modern:
RBW ~ Shadowmancer ~ WBR
Legacy:
BUG ~ Shadow Delver ~ GUB
Modern: UR Bloo
Also from scouring through all the decks, I found a UR control list that went 8-2 in the constructed rounds. Not sure if we still want to add green, but I'm going to be playing with something very similar to this list for a bit.
4 Torrential Gearhulk
Sorceries (3)
3 Sweltering Suns
Instants (29)
4 Magma Spray
4 Harnessed Lightning
3 Censor
3 Negate
2 Essence Scatter
3 Disallow
1 Void Shatter
4 Glimmer of Genius
4 Hieroglyphic Illumination
1 Pull from Tomorrow
4 Spirebluff Canal
4 Wandering Fumarole
4 Aether Hub
4 Mountain
8 Island
1 Negate
1 Essence Scatter
4 Thing in the Ice
3 Dynavolt Tower
3 Dispel
1 Commit//Memory
1 Brutal Expulsion
1 Glorybringer
Currently Playing:
GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG
RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR
RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
Clan Contest 3 Mafia - Mafia Co-MVP
3 sweltering suns might be a bit much. I'm also very skeptical of thing in the ice as well. I think at this point Kefnet is a must as along with final word sphinx. Also only one copy of commit is interesting especially as I felt that card gaining stock.
This list seems somewhat preboarded and geared towards beating what they expected was the level 0 deck: zombies.
Break out cards in amonkhet for me have been sweltering suns, censor, scatter, and pull from tomorrow. Pull especially has been amazing, just grind an opponent down to no threats and pull for 6-8, feels amazing.
I think straight u/r is in a great place right now. Just the other day I responded to a hardcast ulamog with a gearhulk, flashback disallow on cast trigger, then scatter on the ulamog. Opponent immediately tapped out so I do like our match against marvel, we can really box them in and just take control. Obviously some games they have the turn 4 mog and we just have no counter magic in hand, but I suspect we're favored overall
The only thing I'm worried about is too many dispossions running arsound, so I think a strong sideboard plan for that card is needed, either a different finisher, or multiples of invasive surgery.
1 - Attune with the Aether : The reason to play green. It smooths your draws out and gives you way way more consistency within your opening hands.
2 - Greenbelt Rampager : Oh man this elephant, if you get in early against control decks they will end up exposing themselves and using way too much in a way of resources to stop this nuisance. He's kind of annoying to play but I use a lot of energy cards.
3 - Dissenter's Deliverance : Instant-speed artifact removal and cycles for a green. I have only been using 2 or 3 in my sideboard but I'm considering adding a fourth copy. Because it cycles you can main deck it.
So far apart from the above I have used Servant of the Conduit which apart from getting out an early Torrential Gearhulk is kinda meh. Nissa, Steward of the Elements has been a real fun card for me, if you play her on turn 3 a lot of decks have a hard time dealing with her/chipping her down. Lastly, Bristling Hydra - if you prefer to go more towards control/midrange, he really helps shore up the U/R and U/W control matches.
Fevered Visions might work against another control deck, but against other aggro-midrange (which is really 90% of everyone else right now), you'll just give them gas. Not worth it.
C Long Live Eldrazi C
I know that green adds a lot of power and versatility to the deck, but I'm not sure what to cut for those sorts of cards. Do you have a list we can see?
Currently Playing:
GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG
RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR
RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
Clan Contest 3 Mafia - Mafia Co-MVP
4 Spirebluff Canal
4 Botanical Sanctum
4 Lumbering Falls
4 Aether Hub
6 Island
3 Mountain
2 Sage of Ancient Lore
2 Kefnet the Mindful
4 Glimmer of Genius
4 Harnessed Lightning
4 Magma Spray
2 Commit // Memory
3 Disallow
3 Negate
2 Sweltering Suns
3 Censor
3 Dynavolt Tower
4x Aether Hub
3x Botanical Sanctum
4x Forest
5x Island
2x Lumbering Falls
3x Mountain
2x Spirebluff Canal
Planeswalker (2)
2x Nissa, Steward of Elements
Instant (20)
3x Censor
3x Commit
2x Disallow
4x Glimmer of Genius
4x Harnessed Lightning
3x Magma Spray
1x Negate
2x Bristling Hydra
3x Greenbelt Rampager
3x Lathnu Hellion
3x Torrential Gearhulk
Sorcery (4)
4x Attune with Aether
2x Confiscation Coup
2x Dispel
2x Dissenter's Deliverance
2x Dynavolt Tower
2x Essence Scatter
2x Manglehorn
1x Negate
2x Radiant Flames
My deck mentioned above on this page, my most common matchups have been control decks (Mono-Blue variants, UW/UB/UR as well as the new BR control decks that are popping up online). I haven't faced a lot of Mono black Zombies yet nor have I seen much in the way of Mardu Vehicles online (although I 2-0'd Mardu Vehicles in paper FNM with this same deck).
Some card choices:
Greenbelt Rampager functions as a complete pest in the early game whereas Lathnu Hellion has sort of a dual purpose of being very annoying to a lot of decks and a complete surprise to a bunch of other ones. Usually I can stick one or both and hide behind a counterspell and ride them to victory - in fact this is the most common way the deck wins. Bristling Hydra is great against certain matchups such as U/W but when he's weak he's still a 4 power threat who can get bigger, I have been thinking about moving him to the sideboard though.
The deck is still functions great as a straight control deck with 9 maindeck counters and 5 more in the board. We're also running the traditional 4 Harnessed Lightning and 3 Magma Spray for our burn suite, honestly I sometimes feel we could go down to 2 or even 0 Magma Spray as it's a dead card against a lot of decks. 3 Torrential Gearhulk do all the heavy lifting late game against pretty much everything.
What I really want to talk about is Nissa, Steward of the Elements. While in theory you want to play her for 8 and just ultimate her for the win, she's a zillion times better to just stick her on turn 3 in a creatureless board state and in fact it's kind of hard to lose if you get this to happen. Sure they can maybe stick a creature but odds are you are going to zap it and counter anything else after that, they are kind of screwed while you scry. Both of her other abilities are fantastic although her 0 kind of has to be set up as we're running so many instants/sorceries.
I really believe tower is well psotioned right now. In my meta I am 6-2, six being tourney wins and two being 2nd or worse. The deck seems to Catch people off guard and can play well with aggro.
R1 vs. 4C Marvel
Game 1 I devote everything into keeping marvel from hitting the table. But that leaves me with no creatures and eventually his servants of the conduit and rogue refiners were able to cash in 20 damage the hard way. Game 2 is a constant struggle that ends up timing us out. He asks me to scoop since I can't possibly win, but I make him grind out the 1-0-1 instead, partially out of spite.
(0-1, 0-1-1)
R2 vs. GR Pummeler
Both games of this match pretty much went as follows: He plays a threat, I attempt the burn the threat, he gives the threat hexproof in response. He saw all 4 copies of blossoming defense in both games and used them to great effect.
(0-2, 0-3-1)
R3 vs. Sultai Marvel
This guy was running Willie Jensen's list from the PT that went 7-2, and it looked a lot like a cross between GB Delirium and 4C Marvel, so I had to hybridize my boarding scheme to adapt. Game 1 I managed to stick an early dynavolt tower and cashed that in for 7 hits. Game 2 I manage to whittle him down through Liliana, after swinging for lethal he spins marvel to find the 1-of noxious gearhulk, killing torrential and putting him out of lethal damage range. I can't push through the last two points of damage and decide to concede with 6 minutes left on the clock. He misses his turn 3 land drop, so I feel safe tapping out turn 4 for bristling hydra. He disposses's torrential gearhulk but I manage to push 20 damage through in the first turn of extras.
(1-2, 2-4-1)
R4. vs. Zombies
I kind of felt bad for this guy, he apparently had been flooding all day and this match was no different. I prioritize burning his dudes one by one, and eventually glorybringer comes online and roasts him. Game 2 I side in radiant flames and Incendiary Flow and he never really could get going. Dark Salvation for 6 to kill a gearhulk is okay, but when I radiant flames them all away it's nowhere near as good.
(2-2, 4-4-1)
Overall I think we have an okay matchup with Marvel. It's not great and we have to very much be on the defensive, but I think it's very realistic to be 45/55 or better. Zombies if you pack tools for the board it can be very advantageous to us if we're willing to grind it out. Mardu is still a hard out, but I don't know if we should expect to see it much more.
I am working on a list with Nissa, taking a cue from Mizral, but we'll see how it turns out.
Currently Playing:
GBStandard - Golgari Safari MidrangeBG
RBWModern - Mardu PyromancerWBR
RLegacy - Good Old Fashioned BurnR
Clan Contest 3 Mafia - Mafia Co-MVP
3 Magma Spray
4 Harnessed Lightning
3 Sweltering Suns
4 Censor
2 Essence Scatter
2 Negate
2 Void Shatter
2 Disallow
1 Confirm Suspicions
2 Commit // Memory
4 Glimmer of Genius
2 Pull From Tomorrow
3 Torrential Gearhulk
1 Niblis of Frost
lands (26)
3 Mountain
10 Island
3 Highland Lake
2 Wandering Fumarole
4 Spirebluff Canal
4 Aether Hub
2 Dragonmaster Outcast
2 Brutal Expulsion
2 Thing in the Ice
2 Aether Meltdown
2 Dispel
1 Negate
1 Confiscation Coup
1 Summary Dismissal
1 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Trail of Evidence
So I've been playing for the past months, trying to catch all FNMs, Showdowns and Gamedays where I can. For the life of mine I can't win a single round against Mardu. I'm rarely salty about losses, but Mardu denying me top-8 for both Gamedays and some Showdowns frustrated me a lot -_-
As for some of my experiences:
In the end
it doesn't even matterGideon, Ally of Zendikar and Heart of Kiran just prey on me so hard I wish they issued more banning, though it won't happen. It requires very different answers, and they also can just go wide and swarm me. Hate those decks without any real idea behind them, just beating everyone up with hyper-effective mythic rare threats. One upside is that I've never had any real problems with Scrapheap ScroungerI admit I'm not a particulary good player, decent at best. This deck showed me medium results so far. 2-1, 2-2, 2-3 depending on the number of rounds in a tournament. Had another player playing very similar build, he said he's frustrated and dropping it in favor of zombies. Also that Kefnet, the Minful haven't worked good for him.
Modern: UR Bloo
C Long Live Eldrazi C
As for mardu If I was you I would up my negates to 4 and play a couple glory bringers. Glorybringer is a good answer to Gideon and provides and fantastic clock. Mardu Vehicles isn't our best match up but it is manageable with some tight play. Release the gremlins can do some serious work as well if you want to go for a heavy sideboard against that deck. Gremlins is also solid against marvelworks decks so its got some other potential.
I have to test Kefnet myself, cannot confirm or deny yet. Though from my experience I rarely have 6 or 7 cards in hand vs aggro, because they are forcing me to play all my answers quickly. Also tapping out turn 3 is scary. That's why I dropped Dynavolt Towers until I ever decide to go full Temur energy heavy.
I've had 2 Release the Gremlins is SB before, haven't cast it even a single time. Switched to Aether Meltdown, which hoses both Heart of Kiran and Scrapheap Scrounger. Though they can replay Heart due to legendary rule.
Glorybringer is a good idea I guess. Too bad I've missed both Gamedays' top-8
As for Negate, I've thought of it too. Maybe it's a good idea to bring 2 more after sideboarding in place of 2 Censor.
Modern: UR Bloo
- Agreed on Dynavolt tower. It's fantastic in some matchups but a trap in others, I play 2 in the sideboard.
- I really think Jace is just too slow and doesn't do enough.
- If you are sticking with U/R, a 4th Gearhulk I feel is kind of necessary. Good luck getting another.
- Commit // Memory is awesome but not your only option. Glorybringer is the best option overall but also there's Lathnu Hellion if you are using a lot of energy cards to support him. Personally I absolutely love the Hellion he comes down early with the pain, usually forces out removal which you shouldn't really care about since he costs you energy, and he's big enough to smack a Gideon in the face and kill him right off.
- In those aggro match-ups you will need some form of early game defense, I agree. Shielded Aether Thief is not a bad card for this job if you are sticking with U/R.
Most of your criticisms are exactly why I added green, I feel the mono Blue and U/R lists are just not quite as well positioned at present. Cards such as Nissa, Steward of the Elements, Greenbelt Rampager, Dissenter's Deliverance, and Bristling Hydra provide you more game against those matchups you are bad against without (hopefully!) sacrificing too much on the match-ups you were already good against.