One big problem I've been having is a resolved Planewalker. We have so few ways to pressure it. I'm currently playing an Oblivion Ring/Detention Sphere/Banishing Light package to have some sort of "hard" answer for them once they are on the board, but I'm not in love with it.
Which planeswalker are you having trouble with? McWinSauce played Celestial Purge, Snap, Faith's Fetters Gifts to beat Liliana of the Veil.
I can't think of any other important ones, but Celestial Colonnade is excellent at killing higher cmc planeswalkers.
The problem ones are Karn and Flip Jace. RG tron is just going to be a tough matchup anyways, but I do like having the triple o-ring package here, as well as Disdainful Strokes out of the side.
Flip Jace has been particularly annoying, as he can flip before you have a good way to deal with the creature half, and pathing a two drop in the control mirror feels especially bad, even more so after sideboard when they can keep you off of tron with Fulminator Mages. If he sits on the board unanswered it can be hard to get ahead, especially if they are running a lot of hand disruption. Again the O-Rings have been solid here, as they lack a lot of ways to remove an enchantment and have a few single permanents I always want an answer for.
The downside to them is not being able to run Ugin, but he hasn't been performing particularly well in my local meta full of RG Tron, Bx Eldrazi, Affinity, Burn, and various combo decks anyways. He was good in the midrange matchups, but I feel fairly favoured in those anyways.
I've been considering shaving on the tron lands a little bit, this build of the deck does a great job of playing as traditional UW control until it can get tron online eventually.
Unfortunately Ulamog is a cast trigger so reanimating him won't really affect the board in that way, Terrastadon is better for that. Actually fortunately considering the mess it would make in Grishoalbrand type decks and how Ulamog works with remand/counter spells in general. Though to be honest someone was talking about Remanding their own Ulamog to get more cast triggers super late game and that sounded fairly disgusting. Though there are certain match-up where we just want to end the game as quickly as possible and a T4/T5 reanimated Ulamog would probably do that.
I was more considering him in the place of Ugin.
I've been quite happy with Newlamog. 10 mana is quite doable, unless you had natural tron you can generally cast him as soon as you get it online. Being cheaper than Emrakul also means you can add him to gifts piles fairly early, knowing your opponent is forced to send him to the graveyard or else probably lose the game, while not being completely dead once he is in there. Sometimes a 10/10 indestructible that still kills even through chump blockers is all you need. He also gives you a bit of game against gr tron if you can hold off the karn for a few turns and then break up their own tron, or Bx Eldrazi by shutting off their Sol lands, especially as a counter to the inevitability of their Eye of Ugin. Before I played newlamog I had to wait until postboard to be able to mess with their mana.
One big problem I've been having is a resolved Planewalker. We have so few ways to pressure it. I'm currently playing an Oblivion Ring/Detention Sphere/Banishing Light package to have some sort of "hard" answer for them once they are on the board, but I'm not in love with it.
The problem with Painter's Servant is you have to have it + gifts for Iona to be effective. If it sticks it's powerful, but it won't always happen in time. I've been boarding out Iona for Terastadon and leaving in Elesh Norn, as without a removal spell (s)he? holds off most of their creatures until you have time to get something together. The Terastadon is a little sketchy, as unlike with RG Tron they can still get him off of the table after you blow up their sol lands. The best use for him I've found has been wrathing the Eldrazi player, and then using Terastadon on my own permanents to close out the game ASAP. If they have an Eye of Ugin I would blow it up, and then two of my own permanents. I like the idea of Disdainful Stroke, especially if the new builds are slacking on the Ulamog count.
Have any of you had much chance to play against the Bx Eldrazi deck? I faced it for the first time at FNM last night and it seemed like a nightmare matchup.
Main deck Ghost Quarters and Tectonic Edges, Surgical Extractions and Relic of Progenitus, on-cast Eldrazi triggers, disruption with Thought-Knot Seer, and inevitability with 2 to 4 Eye of Ugin.
I've been trying to think of cards that can help this matchup, as the deck is proving to be very popular. Haven't had any good ideas yet though.
My problem with your list is that you play too many terrible cards to enable your Processors.
I would love to play Ruination Guide, but I just don't see how to make it consistent enough without giving up too much.
I've been messing around with a slightly different take on Grixis that feels fairly powerful so far.
I strongly suspect Vile Aggregate is a good card. He will usually attack for three on turn four, which is medium-average for a three drop, and he only goes up from there. He also blocks like a champion, even the big, bad Siege Rhino can't get through him. I'm also a big fan of the one-of Spawning Bed or Foundry of the Consuls. With Ruination Guide and Ghostfire Blade in the deck, two/three colourless 1/1's can be a real threat in the late game after drawing too many lands.
I'm not in love with Abbot of Keral Keep, being coloured isn't great in this deck. But I just don't see any other two drops that I am happy with, and his effect has the potential to be very good.
No tangolands to reduce the risk of having them in the opening hand and playing it tapped. Of course Magical Christmasland, T2 total 8 damage, T3 another 9 damage.
I like what you're doing. Being super-aggressive seems like the way to go.
I think the deck wants exactly one Cinderglade so that every fetchland can fix your mana, but no more than that.
1) You really don't want to be running Mana Confluence in a deck like this. Your deck has no way of gaining life, and you're only dealing damage to yourself every single time you activate it. Against ANY deck that carries burn spells, you're making it even easier for them to burn you alive. You'd be better off just running +3 Forests in place of Mana Confluence because you won't take any damage by using them, and you have the same chance of drawing them as Confluence. Heck, even more so because you can tutor for them with Wooded Foothills.
I don't disagree that this will deal a lot of damage, but I believe it is necessary if you want to be splashing an allied colour. This deck cannot afford temples or more forests. Without the GR pain land Mana confluence is the only option. While you will occaisionaly lose games to the damge, the hyper aggressive nature of this deck should either end the game or you weren't winning anyways before the damage becomes overwhelming. Maybe it's just not worth it period and Atarka's Command has to go, but if I'm splashing green the confluences are a must. I played a lot of Saito's R/B aggro list last season which also had four Mana Confluence, so I do have a bit of experience with racing the damage from your land. Also in decks this heave with red mana symbols, Pain Lands would only do slightly less than Mana Confluence anyways.
2) You need to be running 2-3 Roasts maindeck. There's no questions or arguments to be made about it! Smile Currently, you have no way to deal with uber popular 5 Toughness creatures, such as meta and tournament staples Siege Rhino and Tasigur, the Golden Fang. With your current build, you'd have to waste 2 burn spells on average just to remove them from the battlefiled, which puts you at card disadvantage. I'd recommend dropping -2 Wild Slash and -1 Lightning Strike to fit it in. My 2 cents.
Game one all of your removal needs to be able to go to the opponents face. This has been a fact for mono red probably forever. My deck goes extremely wide, as well as "counters" the lifegain from one or two Rhinos. Loosing creatures to single blocks by creatures I can't burn out is something I expect, and is mitigated by the token theme. While I will absolutely be playing a high number of Roasts in my sideboard, I do not believe it should be in the manindeck for this style of monored.
After tonight, I am still on board for the fetchlands. They are great for making sure you do not get flooded, and making sure you can shuffle when you are getting bad top deck. Also, sold on Hordeling Outburst as at least a one of. That card allowed to keep the pressure up following board wipes in a way i would not have been able to otherwise.
How are you supposed to know when you are getting a bad topdeck? The fetches only hurt you.
Anyways, here is the list I'm trying. I'm back to going under/wider, at the same time. No maindeck Searing Blood currently, just because it might be good or it might be awful in the new meta. Atarka's Command as Skullcrack as well as a lethal pump spell with all of my one drops and tokens. I might make room for a few Zurgo's, currently undecided. Thoughts and suggestions? I'll be posting the sideboard after I try to decide what the meta will look like a little better than I currently do.
The Modern Ad Nauseam mirror is pretty bad as well. You end up casting your Simian Spirit Guides and hitting each other in the face, as you can't combo off in case they happen to have an Angel's Grace in their hand.
Aww yeah, casting the value Ad Nauseams just to get all the Spirit Guides out of your deck and in play.
It's important to remember that players who think that they are good at magic will gravitate towards a strategy like GBx, where they can use their skill to make the best of having no real bad match ups. And at a Pro Tour you can expect a higher than usual number of players who think they are good at magic.
Just got back from a pptq, managed to top 8 with a deck after forgetting to put Sylvan Caryatids in. Couldn't figure out why I had four extra slots..
Ended up being pretty good though, Wayfinder pulled some serious weight and having more relevant draws in Game 1s was pretty big. I'll probably be going back to Caryatids though in the future.
The problem ones are Karn and Flip Jace. RG tron is just going to be a tough matchup anyways, but I do like having the triple o-ring package here, as well as Disdainful Strokes out of the side.
Flip Jace has been particularly annoying, as he can flip before you have a good way to deal with the creature half, and pathing a two drop in the control mirror feels especially bad, even more so after sideboard when they can keep you off of tron with Fulminator Mages. If he sits on the board unanswered it can be hard to get ahead, especially if they are running a lot of hand disruption. Again the O-Rings have been solid here, as they lack a lot of ways to remove an enchantment and have a few single permanents I always want an answer for.
The downside to them is not being able to run Ugin, but he hasn't been performing particularly well in my local meta full of RG Tron, Bx Eldrazi, Affinity, Burn, and various combo decks anyways. He was good in the midrange matchups, but I feel fairly favoured in those anyways.
Here is my list for referance:
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
1x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
4x Azorious Signet
1x Talisman of Progress
2x Expedition Map
4x Path to Exile
4x Gifts Ungiven
4x Thirst for Knowledge
2x Condescend
2x Remand
1x Spellburst
1x Sphinx's Revelation
1x Wrath of God
1x Day of Judgement
1x Supreme Verdict
1x Detention Sphere
1x Oblivion Ring
1x Banishing Light
1x Unburial Rights
2x Hallowed Fountain
2x Seachrome Coast
1x Island
1x Plains
1x Snow-Covered Island
1x Snow-Covered Plains
1x Ghost Quarter
4x Urza's Tower
4x Urza's Mine
4x Urza's Powerplant
2x Relic of Progenitus
2x Celestial Purge
2x Disdainful Stroke
2x Spreading Seas
1x Disenchant
1x Pithing Needle
1x Terastodon
1x Dispel
1x Negate
I've been considering shaving on the tron lands a little bit, this build of the deck does a great job of playing as traditional UW control until it can get tron online eventually.
I've been quite happy with Newlamog. 10 mana is quite doable, unless you had natural tron you can generally cast him as soon as you get it online. Being cheaper than Emrakul also means you can add him to gifts piles fairly early, knowing your opponent is forced to send him to the graveyard or else probably lose the game, while not being completely dead once he is in there. Sometimes a 10/10 indestructible that still kills even through chump blockers is all you need. He also gives you a bit of game against gr tron if you can hold off the karn for a few turns and then break up their own tron, or Bx Eldrazi by shutting off their Sol lands, especially as a counter to the inevitability of their Eye of Ugin. Before I played newlamog I had to wait until postboard to be able to mess with their mana.
One big problem I've been having is a resolved Planewalker. We have so few ways to pressure it. I'm currently playing an Oblivion Ring/Detention Sphere/Banishing Light package to have some sort of "hard" answer for them once they are on the board, but I'm not in love with it.
Main deck Ghost Quarters and Tectonic Edges, Surgical Extractions and Relic of Progenitus, on-cast Eldrazi triggers, disruption with Thought-Knot Seer, and inevitability with 2 to 4 Eye of Ugin.
I've been trying to think of cards that can help this matchup, as the deck is proving to be very popular. Haven't had any good ideas yet though.
I would love to play Ruination Guide, but I just don't see how to make it consistent enough without giving up too much.
I've been messing around with a slightly different take on Grixis that feels fairly powerful so far.
I strongly suspect Vile Aggregate is a good card. He will usually attack for three on turn four, which is medium-average for a three drop, and he only goes up from there. He also blocks like a champion, even the big, bad Siege Rhino can't get through him. I'm also a big fan of the one-of Spawning Bed or Foundry of the Consuls. With Ruination Guide and Ghostfire Blade in the deck, two/three colourless 1/1's can be a real threat in the late game after drawing too many lands.
I'm not in love with Abbot of Keral Keep, being coloured isn't great in this deck. But I just don't see any other two drops that I am happy with, and his effect has the potential to be very good.
I'll get to do some real testing this week.
1x Island
3x Mountain
4x Polluted Delta
2x Shivan Reef
3x Smoldering Marsh
1x Spawning Bed / Foundry of the Consuls
3x Sunken Hollow
2x Swamp
4x Abbot of Keral Keep
4x Dust Stalker
4x Forerunner of Slaughter
4x Hangarback Walker
2x Pia and Kiran Nalaar
3x Ruination Guide
3x Vile Aggregate
4x Ghostfire Blade
2x Brutal Expulsion
2x Kolaghan's Command
2x Ultimate Price
3x Duress
2x Encase in Ice
3x Magma Spray
2x Outpost Siege
2x Roast
I like what you're doing. Being super-aggressive seems like the way to go.
I think the deck wants exactly one Cinderglade so that every fetchland can fix your mana, but no more than that.
And
http://magic.wizards.com/en/events/coverage/ptori/deck-tech-blue-red-ensoul-artifact-2015-08-01
http://i.imgur.com/8xYpCwv.png
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=81900
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I don't disagree that this will deal a lot of damage, but I believe it is necessary if you want to be splashing an allied colour. This deck cannot afford temples or more forests. Without the GR pain land Mana confluence is the only option. While you will occaisionaly lose games to the damge, the hyper aggressive nature of this deck should either end the game or you weren't winning anyways before the damage becomes overwhelming. Maybe it's just not worth it period and Atarka's Command has to go, but if I'm splashing green the confluences are a must. I played a lot of Saito's R/B aggro list last season which also had four Mana Confluence, so I do have a bit of experience with racing the damage from your land. Also in decks this heave with red mana symbols, Pain Lands would only do slightly less than Mana Confluence anyways.
Game one all of your removal needs to be able to go to the opponents face. This has been a fact for mono red probably forever. My deck goes extremely wide, as well as "counters" the lifegain from one or two Rhinos. Loosing creatures to single blocks by creatures I can't burn out is something I expect, and is mitigated by the token theme. While I will absolutely be playing a high number of Roasts in my sideboard, I do not believe it should be in the manindeck for this style of monored.
Thanks for the suggestions though!
How are you supposed to know when you are getting a bad topdeck? The fetches only hurt you.
Anyways, here is the list I'm trying. I'm back to going under/wider, at the same time. No maindeck Searing Blood currently, just because it might be good or it might be awful in the new meta. Atarka's Command as Skullcrack as well as a lethal pump spell with all of my one drops and tokens. I might make room for a few Zurgo's, currently undecided. Thoughts and suggestions? I'll be posting the sideboard after I try to decide what the meta will look like a little better than I currently do.
4x Foundry Street Denizen
4x Monastery Swiftspear
4x Lightning Berserker
4x Firedrinker Satyr
Spells-25
4x Dragon Fodder
4x Hordeling Outburst
4x Stoke the Flame
4x Lightning Strike
4x Wild Slash
3x Atarka's Command
1x Hall of Triumph
4x Wooded Foothills
3x Mana Confluence
1x Forest
11x Mountain
Aww yeah, casting the value Ad Nauseams just to get all the Spirit Guides out of your deck and in play.
Ended up being pretty good though, Wayfinder pulled some serious weight and having more relevant draws in Game 1s was pretty big. I'll probably be going back to Caryatids though in the future.