Speaking from experience, monastery mentor isn't really worth it. Occasionally he'll take over a game, but most of the time he's just kinda there, and you'd usually want to do something else instead of play him. Ojutai is the business though, try to get some
Started picking up this deck after Memphis because it looked like something fun I'd enjoy playing. Just finished it this week and topped FNM, a PPTQ, and an IQ in the same weekend. Only lost 4 matches out of all 3 tournaments. Once to GW which seems almost unwinnable unless they keep a bad hand and I draw like god, once to temur midrange because knuckleblade, knuckleblade, polukranos, sarkhan gets there lol, and twice to mono red because of eidolon or because they were just faster than me. Red is still a decent matchup though. Usually all you have to do is get a soulfire or seeker to stick for a turn or two
Now that UR delver isn't as widespread, is it still worth playing Sword of Fire and Ice? I've been thinking about switching it for Feast and Famine. I still don't know legacy that well, so I'm not sure if that's the right decision
The 3 popular swords are all used for different but very specific reasons. Its not as much a "meta" call as it is a "deck construction call"
For example: if you True-Name is bad for your deck and you need more ways to get past it Fire/Ice is good. But if you already have a lot of evasion, Light and Shadow allows you to get ahead in the race assuming you were behind.
Maybe true-name is not a problem for you, but grindy decks are? Fire/Ice and Feast/Famine are both good things to allow you to maintain card parity vs those decks. Fire/Ice is better at getting ahead on card advantage while Feast/Famine is better at getting ahead on tempo (because you can start casting 2 things a turn)
If you have a hard time vs Death and Taxes or want to transform into a grindy deck vs fair decks, Light and Shadow is a strong trump while if you want to have a powerful must answer threat vs miracles Fire/Ice is very good at making even Birds of Paradise a fast clock.
Have a hard time keeping creatures in play? Light and Shadow
Have an easy time gumming up the board? Fire and Ice
etc...
Yes, there is a meta call as well--but its much more important that you use the sword that best leverages the strategy your deck is already employing.
I guess that makes sense. I've always looked at the swords as protection first and the ability is a bonus. I still haven't played enough games of legacy to know which ability fits my deck best. Sneak & show seems almost unwinnable to me since I don't have a karakas to keep emrakul off the table. Here's what I've been playing for the last month or two
Now that UR delver isn't as widespread, is it still worth playing Sword of Fire and Ice? I've been thinking about switching it for Feast and Famine. I still don't know legacy that well, so I'm not sure if that's the right decision
Why would you run probe when you could run IOK, thoughtseize, or duress to take something and see what they have?
I'm still working on getting the deck together. I own probes, don't own serum visions which is what I had planned to run in their spot, and I'd rather invest in the expensive stuff first like liliana and damnation before I worry about picking up smalls like serum visions. I don't plan on going to any big modern events until GP Charlotte, so I've got a lot of time to tweak it
This is my Sultai Control Deck. Damnit I will make use of Villainous Wealth of it kills me. Thoughts? Feedback? I haven't played it yet with Silumgar and Garruk. The deck has done well for me up til now, so I'm hoping those are improvements.
Is Rakshasa's Secret really good enough to have any? Main board no less? I would just as soon play Liliana Vess unless there is some huge thing I'm missing.
It doesn't affect the board at all, so you don't plan on playing it early; if you plan on playing it late then it might as well be Liliana. Is mill two that relevant? I get that it's a 2-for-1, but Mind Rot has never been relevant to standard if I recall.
Maybe I should just be testing the deck myself, but I'm a little surprised it's in there.
It forces your opponent to make difficult decisions based on their hand. And if a deck drops a lot of stuff on board early, then playing it turn 3-4 their hand is either lands or more threats, so you either make them discard threats or slow down their curve by getting rid of the lands. And it puts 3 cards in the yard for your delve engine.
I haven't tried out the delve build yet,but I saw on camera where the dude started to play a land, paused a second, and kept it in hand just incase Gerard dropped a secrets
I originally had gifts in here going for all 5 colors, but that ended up being too slow. I used to play Gifts control for a while before my old locals closed. Just now getting back into modern and wanted to try something a bit faster, gifts just seemed like it took too much setting up
Trash for Treasure seems funny, but the deck would have to change a lot for it
Was looking through some notebooks of old decklists and found frites from innistrad/scars. I loved playing that deck, so I thought I'd try a modern version of it. Any ideas on how I can improve this?
The card I'm most unsure of is Vhitu Ghazi. I may drop it for a 3rd cavern of souls when I can get one. Its also been awhile since I've played modern, so the side will most likely change a bit. Any ideas or suggestions would be great, but modern isn't huge in my area, so I won't have a lot of chances to test this
4 Seeker of the Way
4 Soulfire Grand Master
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
Spells
4 Outpost Siege
4 Chained to the Rocks
4 Hordeling Outburst
4 Stoke the Flames
3 Lightning Strike
4 Wild Slash
1 Valorous Stance
4 Battlefield Forge
4 Temple of Triumph
3 Evolving Wilds
4 Plains
9 Mountain
3 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker
3 Mastery of the Unseen
2 Erase
2 Valorous Stance
3 Arc Lightning
Started picking up this deck after Memphis because it looked like something fun I'd enjoy playing. Just finished it this week and topped FNM, a PPTQ, and an IQ in the same weekend. Only lost 4 matches out of all 3 tournaments. Once to GW which seems almost unwinnable unless they keep a bad hand and I draw like god, once to temur midrange because knuckleblade, knuckleblade, polukranos, sarkhan gets there lol, and twice to mono red because of eidolon or because they were just faster than me. Red is still a decent matchup though. Usually all you have to do is get a soulfire or seeker to stick for a turn or two
This thread already exists (here). Thread locked.
I guess that makes sense. I've always looked at the swords as protection first and the ability is a bonus. I still haven't played enough games of legacy to know which ability fits my deck best. Sneak & show seems almost unwinnable to me since I don't have a karakas to keep emrakul off the table. Here's what I've been playing for the last month or two
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Stoneforge Mystic
4 Mother of Runes
4 Deathrite Shaman
1 Containment Priest
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Dryad Arbor
Equipment
1 Umezawa's Jitte
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Batterskull
Spells
4 Green Sun's Zenith
3 Abrupt Decay
3 Swords to Plowshares
1 Sylvan Library
3 Wasteland
2 Cavern of Souls
3 Verdant Catacombs
1 Marsh Flats
4 Windswept Heath
1 Savannah
1 Temple Garden
1 Scrubland
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Bojuka Bog
2 Plains
1 Forest
2 Ethersworn Canonist
1 Containment Priest
3 Duress
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Choke
1 Krosan Grip
2 Zealous Persecution
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Pithing Needle
2 Burrenton Forge-Tender
I started off on McDarby's list and have been changing it to my personal tastes
I'm still working on getting the deck together. I own probes, don't own serum visions which is what I had planned to run in their spot, and I'd rather invest in the expensive stuff first like liliana and damnation before I worry about picking up smalls like serum visions. I don't plan on going to any big modern events until GP Charlotte, so I've got a lot of time to tweak it
Ali put up an article on the frontier siege ramp build. I'm leaning more towards this version of the deck. Ridiculous amounts of mana are always fun
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
2 Liliana of the Veil
Creatures
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Spellskite
Spells
4 Gitaxian Probe
3 Thirst for Knowledge
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Go for the Throat
1 Doom Blade
1 Dismember
2 Damnation
Artifacts
4 Talisman of Dominance
3 Dimir Signet
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Pithing Needle
2 Torpor Orb
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Ensnaring Bridge
4 Darksteel Citadel
3 Darkslick Shores
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Mutavault
3 Polluted Delta
1 Watery Grave
1 Island
1 Swamp
1 Academy Ruins
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Duress
2 Negate
2 Trinket Mage
1 Spellskite
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Pithing Needle
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Witchbane Orb
2 Mana Leak
Villainous Wealth with no Frontier Siege?
It forces your opponent to make difficult decisions based on their hand. And if a deck drops a lot of stuff on board early, then playing it turn 3-4 their hand is either lands or more threats, so you either make them discard threats or slow down their curve by getting rid of the lands. And it puts 3 cards in the yard for your delve engine.
I haven't tried out the delve build yet,but I saw on camera where the dude started to play a land, paused a second, and kept it in hand just incase Gerard dropped a secrets
Trash for Treasure seems funny, but the deck would have to change a lot for it
2 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
4 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Grave Titan
4 Birds of Paradise
Planeswalkers
2 Liliana of the Veil
Spells
4 Unburial Rites
4 Grisly Salvage
4 Mulch
4 Faithless Looting
1 Life from the Loam
1 Raven's Crime
2 Lingering Souls
Land
3 Overgrown Tomb
1 Temple Garden
2 Forest
2 Windswept Heath
3 Verdant Catacombs
1 Godless Shrine
1 Plains
1 Stomping Ground
1 Copperline Gorge
1 Swamp
1 Raging Ravine
3 Mana Confluence
1 Llanowar Wastes
1 Mountain
1 Marsh Flats
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Baneslayer Angel
1 Spellskite
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Torpor Orb
3 Nature's Claim
1 Plains
1 Swamp
2 Stony Silence
1 Aven Mindcensor
2 Thoughtseize
Was looking through some notebooks of old decklists and found frites from innistrad/scars. I loved playing that deck, so I thought I'd try a modern version of it. Any ideas on how I can improve this?
4 Primeval Titan
Spells
4 Fog
4 Darkness
4 Holy Day
3 Amulet of Vigor
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Serum Visions
4 Explore
2 Urban Evolution
2 Supreme Verdict
1 Crucible of Worlds
Land
3 Maze's End
2 Simic Guildgate
1 Golgari Guildgate
1 Dimir Guildgate
1 Rakdos Guildgate
1 Orzhov Guildgate
2 Azorius Guildgate
1 Gruul Guildgate
1 Izzet Guildgate
1 Boros Guildgate
2 Selesnya Guildgate
1 Forest
1 Island
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Tendon Ice Bridge
1 Gemstone Mine
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Vitu-Ghazi, the City Tree
2 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Crackling Perimeter
4 Nature's Claim
2 Forest
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Slaughter Games
The card I'm most unsure of is Vhitu Ghazi. I may drop it for a 3rd cavern of souls when I can get one. Its also been awhile since I've played modern, so the side will most likely change a bit. Any ideas or suggestions would be great, but modern isn't huge in my area, so I won't have a lot of chances to test this
4 Bloodsoaked Champion
3 Gnarled Scarhide
4 Tormented Hero
4 Pain Seer
3 Spiteful Returned
2 Master of the Feast
3 Herald of Torment
3 Mogis's Marauder
4 Thoughtseize
3 Sign in Blood
2 Bile Blight
4 Hero's Downfall
Land
4 Polluted Delta
1 Bloodstained More
16 Swamp
3 Dark Betrayal
1 Whip of Erebos
3 Drown in Sorrow
2 Bile Blight
4 Despise
2 Stain the Mind
This is a weird format lol