I see that Junk is a "Tier Two" Deck now... interesting. Anyways this is the list I played to a 13th place finish at GP OKC a month or so back and played it to a lack luster 9th place at the recent RPTQ. I really like this list as it is right now and can not see myself playing another deck in the near future.
Main Deck
3 Noble Hierarch
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Fulminator Mage
4 Siege Rhino
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
3 Path to Exile
3 Abrupt Decay
1 Dismember
4 Lingering Souls
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
3 Liliana of the Veil
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Marsh Flats
1 Windswept Heath
1 Temple Garden
1 Godless Shrine
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Treetop Village
2 Twilight Mire
1 Gavony Township
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Forest
1 Plains
2 Swamp
Sideboard
2 Zealous Persecution
3 Fulminator Mage
2 Stony Silence
3 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Damnation
1 Hallowed Moonlight
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Liliana of the Veil
I wrote about parts of the RPTQ in this article I just finished.
Please let me know what you think about the list and the article.
Thanks
Eric
Great write up! Really enjoyed the read (even the legacy part). Glad to see you running the Gavony/GQ split, as I definitely think its where we want to be right now with our utility lands.
Pile of questions incoming:
How were the Noble Hierarchs performing?
Would you change the maindeck Fulminator Mage going forward to something like Kitchen Finks? I've tried a maindeck Fulmi in the past and consistently found it lackluster.
Why three Fulminators in the board if you're already maindecking one?
Is Leyline of Sanctity really worth it to you over something like Kitchen Finks, Timely Reinforcements, or Feed the Clan? If so, why?
Also, if I could suggest a bit of formatting in the decklists both here on the forum and in your blog-post itself. Things like Lands: 24, Creatures: 17, etc. make it much easier to see the nuances of your list rather than having to count them ourselves.
Thanks for the write up! Hopeful for more Abzan reports from you in the future.
Yeah, Ghost Quarter is quite a beast lately. If I didn't feel Gavony Township was too good to cut, I'd be playing 2 GQ. It's wonderful to draw against Bloom, Merfolk, Infect, Affinity, Jund, Grixis, etc. Basically any deck with problematic lands. It also has some utility in targeting your own lands in a pinch, which isn't something to be ignored.
@SabinFrost Metagame prevalence is basically the way all magic-related sites judge Tiers. There is no best deck in Modern, there is only ever a best deck for a certain meta. If I'm going to play at my local meta, then I may construct my sideboard wildly different. However, that isn't relevant when taken to big SCG events and/or GPs. For big events, Tiers based on metagame prevalence are going to be better than any other form for getting across to players how they should be boarding. Aside from this exceedingly useful information, there is - as Patrick Chapin put it - only a few percentages in difference between the best deck in modern and the twentieth best deck in modern. Therefore, what's important passed the Tiers is simply playing a deck you know is powerful and playing it to the best of your ability.
TLDR; Tiers that aren't based on metagame prevalence are almost pointless for competitive Modern.
Maybe it's just my local meta but Grixis decks are still running rampant while I have not seen much twin. But with what everyone has been saying I'll be happy to give Slaughter Pact a try in my last flex spot (currently a 4th Abrupt Decay)
On a different topic. I noticed you are not running any Fulminator Mages. An idea I thought of taking my list was to cut all the Fulminators, forfeit any chance against Tron, for a better match up agaisnt the wide decks: Zoo, Elves, Merfolk, Tokens, and Sideboard slots for Burn.
I'm hoping 2x EE is enough to combat Merfolk, Elves and Zoo post SB as I have been struggling with these match ups. My only problem is that this SB loses game against other SB decks as Fulminator Mages and the second sweeper were usually filled in.
I placed two Feed the Clan in the SB as I start to prepare for a GP I'll be attending and believe that dedicated SB slots are necessary to solidify the match up.
I absolutely advocate taking out Fulminator Mages. The Tron match-up is just awful, and it's really not worth filling those 3 spots in the board with something that basically only delays their inevitability. If you want to beat Tron, this isn't the deck to do it with. As for the Burn/Zoo SB slots, I like Feed the Clan but I like Timely Reinforcements even more. I also run 2 Kitchen Finks for this match-up, and it's been good enough that I've considered maindecking 1-2.
Slaughter Pact doesn't kill Angler or Tasigur or even Rhino who are all pretty common cards.
I usually put one Slaughter Pact in decks but I can't ever justify running lots of them.
I'm in agreement here. I find that removal nowadays needs to be giving you answers to a turn 2 Tasigur or Angler above all else. Slaughter Pact is very good against twin, allowing you to tap out for Rhino and follow up with a complete blow out. However, I find discard, Abrupt Decay, and patience is good enough for the Twin match up already.
It's still not something you want to run more than a one-of main unless Twin takes over the meta entirely, so I might be splitting hairs here. The only Tier 1 decks that are actually running running Tasigur aside from us is Jund (as a one-of) and Grixis Twin (no more than a 2-of), and no Tier 1 decks are running Gurmag Angler. The Tas/Angler meta is gone for now, and it's important that we realize this and diversify our removal against the greater range of threats presented to us from the linear aggro strategies that are now much more prominent. Are Tasigur and Angler gone from the meta? No - they're always going to be here - but they're not prominent enough that it's healthy to justify basing your removal suite around them.
[/deck]
Bull*****. Grixis Delve. Grixis Delve is far more relevant than any outdated Primer on MTG Salvation in actual Magic at actual important events. Thoughtscour on itself, crack two fetchlands, tap 2 mana and it can play an Angler turn 2 and then sit on countspells and removal. Outside of the optimal it still reliably drops them Turn 3.
I would like to remind you that Tiers are based on metagame prevalence, not power level (though the two are closely related). According to Modern Nexus, no deck running Angler regularly is over 3% of the meta, which means no Angler deck is tier 1 at the moment (I can't predict the future).
I suggest you stop assuming and/or calling bullcrap on things you clearly haven't taken the time to gather information on.
Slaughter Pact doesn't kill Angler or Tasigur or even Rhino who are all pretty common cards.
I usually put one Slaughter Pact in decks but I can't ever justify running lots of them.
I'm in agreement here. I find that removal nowadays needs to be giving you answers to a turn 2 Tasigur or Angler above all else. Slaughter Pact is very good against twin, allowing you to tap out for Rhino and follow up with a complete blow out. However, I find discard, Abrupt Decay, and patience is good enough for the Twin match up already.
Following the current meta, I find that while it's important to have removal for Tas/Angler, it's almost more important to have efficient removal for the smaller creatures from Zoo and Burn (i.e. Abrupt Decay). In fact, I entirely advocate 1-2 Darkblast or Disfigure in the sideboard. In terms of Slaughter Pact, I think it's actually important for Abzan/Junk to have that edge against Twin. We're more favored in that match-up than Jund is, but it's still a lot closer of a match-up than people are willing to give it credit for. We're also clunkier than Jund and Slaughter Pact lets us tap out for our clunkier threats (Rhino and Souls) and not get punished. Patience is key against any variant of Twin, but having an edge against a deck that will be an enormous part of Modern for the far-foreseeable future isn't a bad plan, IMO.
It's still not something you want to run more than a one-of main unless Twin takes over the meta entirely, so I might be splitting hairs here. The only Tier 1 decks that are actually running running Tasigur aside from us is Jund (as a one-of) and Grixis Twin (no more than a 2-of), and no Tier 1 decks are running Gurmag Angler. The Tas/Angler meta is gone for now, and it's important that we realize this and diversify our removal against the greater range of threats presented to us from the linear aggro strategies that are now much more prominent. Are Tasigur and Angler gone from the meta? No - they're always going to be here - but they're not prominent enough that it's healthy to justify basing your removal suite around them.
Sideboard (15)
1x Batterskull
1x Celestial Purge
2x Mana Leak
1x Wrath of God
1x Leyline of Sanctity
4x Lingering Souls
1x Mulldrifter
1x Stony Silence
3x Wear / Tear
My end results: I went 2-2 but lost horribly one matchup to a misplay. Notes below:
Round 1 vs Atarka Burn
I lost game one on the draw and won game two on the play with an early Tasigur. Game three my opponent got me to four life after I cleared his board and cleaned him out with Geist and Colonnade
(1-0)
Round 2 vs Melira Company
I horribly lost game one due to bad mulliganning and misplay against voice of resurgence. Game two he combo-ed out thanks to collected company and chord of calling. I need dispels in the sideboard.
(1-1)
Round 3 vs Blitzkreig (B/R discard deck)
Game one he resolved a turn 2 mindwrench into a turn 3 Liliana and turn 4 blightning and turn 5 phyrexian obliterator. Somehow I won. I top decked burn spells to kill Liliana and a path to kill obliterator. Colonnade won me the game. Game two he won quickly. Game three I (bravely, foolishly) played Geist on turn three. He did not play Liliana and I won and I remanded his languish two turns in a row for the win.
(2-1)
Round 4 vs Kiki Junk Combo
I won game one off of geist, snapcaster, and electrolyze vs his mana dorks. Game two I mulliganed down to five and it showed. Game three I made a play mistake and it cost me the game. My opponent was at two life and I had crackling doom and kolaghan's command in hand. I cracked my fetchland and forgot to fetch a black source. I did nothing for two turns (and didn't draw a black land, fetch land, bolt, or helix either to end the game) and lost to a kiki jiki and resto angel combo.
(2-2)
Since then I've added dispel to the sideboard as it would have been fantastic in each matchup except the discard deck.
Thoughts on the black splash:
Tasigur is a beast. I almost want a 3rd in the deck because he is that good.
Crackling Doom and K-Command are fantastic. Lingering Souls in the side is great vs Liliana and flooded. I sided them in each matchup.
The only issue is I did lose a game because I fetched the wrong color mana. Kind of what happened to GreatNate https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7Z7jDrRNJ4 here. I am running a black source for each relevant shock though.
I can definitely use mulligan and sideboard help and would appreciate criticism on my list.
I, too, have decided on the black splash after some time, since Abzan and Jund are extremely heavy in my meta. Crackling Doom is an absolute beast of a card. I keep an updated list on tappedout which I have linked in my signature, if you're curious to see a similar list. I can definitely offer some criticism on your list - mostly on the sideboard, which could definitely use some work.
Main Deck:
1. I'm definitely on the side that encourages running some amount of Serum Visions in the deck. It really helps the deck consistency-wise and makes our BGx match-up better by allowing us to set up our draws and recover from discard. I'm currently on 3, which I think is the correct number.
Sideboard:
1. You have a few-too-many sideboard slots devoted to grindy match-ups. Lingering Souls is an amazing card in a number of match-ups, and you already have a Keranos, God of Storms main, as well as two Tasigur, the Golden Fang. You definitely don't need the Batterskull or the Mulldrifter. Batterskull isn't great against Jund or Grixis, since they both have Kolaghan's Command to deal with it. Mulldrifter is pretty iffy in general, especially since you only have one K-Command for the synergies therein. It's also probably just not where Geist wants to be. I could also see cutting down to three Lingering Souls.
2. Those two Mana Leak should probably be Dispel, though I do see in your post that you decided to add Dispel to the board anyhow. The one-of Leyline of Sanctity isn't doing much for you. I can see why you would run an effect like that, considering the fact that you seem to have some very discard-focused decks in your meta. If you really feel you need that effect, I would run at least 3 to improve the consistency of having it in your opening hand (a turn four Leyline of Sanctity is just way too late). Stony Silence should be at least a 2-of, since it's something you want in your opening hand to jam on turn 2 against Affinity and Tron. If you don't want to increase the number there, I'd suggest running an artifact sweeper such as Shatterstorm in its place.
That's pretty much it for the criticism, since everything else I could offer is personal preference (such as playing V-Clique instead of Tasigur). I hope I could help!
Alright, so I've gotten quite a bit of testing in with Whirler Rogue, and I can safely say that it's a pretty great inclusion as a one-of so far. It has so many little things that I loved about it during testing, such as being able to block an Etched Champion and being a late-game bomb versus Abzan by going wide and getting Geist through Goyfs and Souls (Abzan especially seems to have a tough time when you resolve the card). Its pretty decent against both Jund and Grixis, as well, since it's at least a 2-for-1 there, and sometimes a 3-for-1. Blinking the thing with Resto is a scary prospect for any fair deck. It adds a lot of little things to the deck and those little things really added up from what I could tell.
In conclusion, I definitely think it's a card we need to be giving more attention to. Am I sure that it belongs here? No, not yet, but it's certainly very promising.
I've generally had big trouble sticking any creature other than Geist of Saint Traft in Geist Midrange, so I heavily suspect that Pia and Kiran Nalaar are better than Whirler Rogue in your build. Opponents are forced to boot the primary body in order to stop Parents Nalaar for activating their ability once, while they can kill a single Whirler Rogue token and keep you from making anything unblockable more than once (at least until Resto blinks the Rogue). A Parents Nalaar ping plus a Bolt can outright kill an X/5. If you really need to race Tron, Parents Nalaar can realistically put out 6 damage the turn after it ETB, while Whirler Rogue always swings for 4 max.
Admittedly, Parents Nalaar have been feeling slow lately, and Gideon, Ally of Zendikar has been such a fantastically faster clock...
I mean, I originally tested Parents Nalaar as a one-of for the same idea I've tested Whirler Rogue - the ability to go wide versus certain match-ups. It's entirely possible that Pia and Kiran Nalaar is just better in this deck, and it's also possible that we don't want either. That is, however, why we test instead of basing things on pure speculation. Both cards do almost the same things - it all comes down to which of the activated abilities seems to be best. So far, I've favored Whirler Rogue's ability to get Geist through over PKN's shock ability. It's very relevant that you can use Whirler Rogue's ability the turn it comes down, which means that you can curve Geist into Whirler Rogue and get Geist through a blocker sometimes. That usually means you can get an activation out of it before them bolting one of the tokens becomes relevant. Again, though, their main addition to the deck is the ability to go wide. The two cards are so close to eachother, and I think Whirler Rogue synergizes with the deck better so far.
I've only had two days to test so far, though, and that's no where near enough to be calling either card good in the shell yet. So, only time will tell.
Alright, so I've gotten quite a bit of testing in with Whirler Rogue, and I can safely say that it's a pretty great inclusion as a one-of so far. It has so many little things that I loved about it during testing, such as being able to block an Etched Champion and being a late-game bomb versus Abzan by going wide and getting Geist through Goyfs and Souls (Abzan especially seems to have a tough time when you resolve the card). Its pretty decent against both Jund and Grixis, as well, since it's at least a 2-for-1 there, and sometimes a 3-for-1. Blinking the thing with Resto is a scary prospect for any fair deck. It adds a lot of little things to the deck and those little things really added up from what I could tell.
In conclusion, I definitely think it's a card we need to be giving more attention to. Am I sure that it belongs here? No, not yet, but it's certainly very promising.
Has anyone given any thought to running Whirler Rogue as a one-of? It has the same effect of going wide that Pia and Kiran has, as well as the relevant flying. It can be value-blinked with Restoration Angel and the two Thopters can be tapped to make Geist unblockable. It seems like it could add a lot to the deck as a one-of, and I'm very interested in giving it a try.
What do you guys think about running relic in the board? Certain matchup can really benefit from having some GY hate.
Well, it tends to be a non-bo with Tarmogoyf. I also tend to think that unless you have quite a few graveyard decks such as Dredgevine or Loam Pox, then Scooze out of the board is generally better.
I am frustrated today. I played 2 8-mans yesterday losing both round 1 to burn and Grixis twin using muldrifter. Part of the reason for my loses was missing my second land drop against burn for 3 turns and having to mulligan to 5 game two against the Grixis deck.
I am starting to feel, that with even probes, 22 land is too few. Also how do you all feel about huntmaster. When I played him at SCG Cincinnati he solely won me many games, but recently he just gets bolted immediately. I am debating putting in another krasis for him. I know dickmann is using Lavaman, but for some reason I just don't want to play him.
Thoughts?
My thoughts are that what you're probably experiencing is variance. That, combined with frustration, has been the case of many bad changes done to decks by myself. So, from experience I'd definitely say to keep jamming more and more games, and if you still feel like you're consistently missing the land drops, add another land.
As for Huntmaster, I'm not a fan of him right now. As you said, he gets bolted quite a bit and he also just gets stonewalled by the bigger creatures in the format (Tas, Goyf, Gurmag, Rhino). I think you should give Lavamancer a second thought, though. He really helps to turn on your lightning bolts against Tasigurs and opposing Goyfs as well as being a big nuisance against Merfolk, Infect, Affinity, etc. I've also found him to survive rather well, since our opponents are hesitant to bolt him instead of a Krasis, since Krasis is both a reasonably sized beater and a combo outlet. (You can also use tapper creatures to untap your Lavamancer and use him again in a pinch. Don't forget that interaction.)
I know that Patrick has tested Magus especially against Bloom + Tron. The later will board out Pyroclasm while the former might have Seals. While both can have Nature's Claim or Rending Volley, Magus will not die to that (Dismember is a thing though). In the end Patrick played his GQ main and used 2 sideboardslots for something else, I dont think it is a really big issue.
What I dont like is Ravine though. We are no control/midrange deck by any means and having tapped mana in the early turns, where you want to hold up Remand or Twin-Dudes, can be a real issue. Also decks like Burn will punish you for every land that comes untapped before turn 4. I would also say that the list above will suffer with BMoon due to only 7 fetches to get your Basics in time (and 2 colourless lands).
Finally I dont like Obstinate Baloth. In times where you see Goyfs, Tasigurs and Gurmag Angler, Baloth has a pretty weak body (and outside of discard needs GG). I would stay with Thragtusk.
Yeah, I can see Magus being pretty decent against Tron since they board out the Clasms. I'm still not convinced that's where you want to be, since Tron tends to be favorable anyhow.
1. All of your tappers die to Lightning Bolt, which means that your plan B is waaaaay worse against decks with Lightning Bolt. Consequently, it quite probably makes your plan A worse against them, as well. I tested a creature set-up very similar to yours (3 Krasis, 2 Pestermite), and I found this to be the case.
2. I"ve tested Raging Ravine quite a bit, and I can definitively say that it"s not where we want to be. Having a land come into play tapped from turns 1-4 for this deck is absolutely abysmal. This heavily outweighs any potential value we can get from the land.
3. I"m not sure this deck can afford to play two colorless lands, especially when running FOUR [c »
4. Why Magus of the Moon over the second Blood Moon? That seems really loose to me.
Overall, this build seems a lot less well-positioned in the current metagame than the average RUG Twin list. Perhaps if we start seeing a ton of Abzan and less Grixis Control/Twin then this might possibly be a decent build. Otherwise, I think you're playing a worse version of the deck, which is a pretty big no-no competitively.
I'm going to go on a limb and guess you have no clue what your talking about in reference to Plan A vs. B. Clearly with this list, my Plan A is NOT to combo out.
Additionally, many people are opting to run a copy of Magus over a Blood Moon as well as Raging Ravine.
I have no clue as to what about my post would infer a lack of knowledge as to your post about you "Doubling-down on the tempo plan".
No, as with the majority (if not all) of RUG Twin lists, your plan A is to tempo them out with the back up of comboing, which is plan B. Many people are opting to run a Magus of the Moon over the second Blood Moon, yes. Those people are either playing Grixis and can recur him with a Kolaghan's Command or are playing Collected Company and want to be able to tutor that effect. Otherwise Magus is literally just a Blood Moon that dies to creature removal such as Lightning Bolt. Considering the rest of your non-Tarmogoyf creature suite dies to this same card in a meta that plays it heavily, it seems very loose. If you can give me a beneficial reason to play it over the second Blood Moon other than, "Many people are opting to do so", then I will reconsider my opinion.
@Adreena If it's "obviously" the case, then I think that's *also* pretty loose. Amulet isn't a match up I see much in an open field, and it definitely isn't worth making one of your best cards against really tough match-ups, such as Jund and Abzan, worse by dying to creature removal. Amulet just Slaughter Pacts it anyhow, right? Unless you can back it up with Dispel/Spell Pierce? On turn 4? I mean, they might even bring Firespout in against Trei_gamer's build in particular, seeing that it kills Krasis, Pestermite and Snap. That's probably worse against them than actual Blood Moon.
I also just came from RUG Delver (Monkey Grow)
But so far i found (especially) Keranos amazingly good. Most opponents dont have a way of dealing with him, even after boarding and he constantly provides card advantage or burn, both of which is great. I strongly suggest to test him. Huntmaster may be better vs Aggro, but Keranos eats control and grindy midrange alive.
Cool! I'll try that thanks.
What is everyone's thought on scavenging ooze mainboard? It's brings more beating power and eats opponents graveyards making it tougher to delve or graveyard combo or snap mage.
Scavenging Ooze in the main is pretty decent, especially against opposing Snapcaster decks. It definitely requires that you run an extra green source (Probably cut a Sulfur Falls for an extra Hinterland Harbor) as well as a Flooded Grove. Along with that, it means you can't afford to run Blood Moon out of the board, so it's definitely a choice. That choice will, of course, depend on the makeup of your meta. If it's full of Grixis, I'd probably want to be on the Ooze plan, at least out of the board.
We've doubled down on the Tempo plan with 4x Krasis, 2x Pestetmite, and 2 Vapor Snag and it's been amazing. EoT tapping something with a Krasis and hitting with Krasis and Goyf has been amazing.
The Tarfire seems cute, but a 5th bolt that grows goyf has been pretty amazing.
A few things here that strike me as possibly bad:
1. All of your tappers die to Lightning Bolt, which means that your plan B is waaaaay worse against decks with Lightning Bolt. Consequently, it quite probably makes your plan A worse against them, as well. I tested a creature set-up very similar to yours (3 Krasis, 2 Pestermite), and I found this to be the case.
2. I've tested Raging Ravine quite a bit, and I can definitively say that it's not where we want to be. Having a land come into play tapped from turns 1-4 for this deck is absolutely abysmal. This heavily outweighs any potential value we can get from the land.
3. I'm not sure this deck can afford to play two colorless lands, especially when running FOUR Bounding Krasis as well as two Cryptic Command.
4. Why Magus of the Moon over the second Blood Moon? That seems really loose to me.
Overall, this build seems a lot less well-positioned in the current metagame than the average RUG Twin list. Perhaps if we start seeing a ton of Abzan and less Grixis Control/Twin then this might possibly be a decent build. Otherwise, I think you're playing a worse version of the deck, which is a pretty big no-no competitively.
Great write up! Really enjoyed the read (even the legacy part). Glad to see you running the Gavony/GQ split, as I definitely think its where we want to be right now with our utility lands.
Pile of questions incoming:
How were the Noble Hierarchs performing?
Would you change the maindeck Fulminator Mage going forward to something like Kitchen Finks? I've tried a maindeck Fulmi in the past and consistently found it lackluster.
Why three Fulminators in the board if you're already maindecking one?
Is Leyline of Sanctity really worth it to you over something like Kitchen Finks, Timely Reinforcements, or Feed the Clan? If so, why?
Also, if I could suggest a bit of formatting in the decklists both here on the forum and in your blog-post itself. Things like Lands: 24, Creatures: 17, etc. make it much easier to see the nuances of your list rather than having to count them ourselves.
Thanks for the write up! Hopeful for more Abzan reports from you in the future.
@SabinFrost Metagame prevalence is basically the way all magic-related sites judge Tiers. There is no best deck in Modern, there is only ever a best deck for a certain meta. If I'm going to play at my local meta, then I may construct my sideboard wildly different. However, that isn't relevant when taken to big SCG events and/or GPs. For big events, Tiers based on metagame prevalence are going to be better than any other form for getting across to players how they should be boarding. Aside from this exceedingly useful information, there is - as Patrick Chapin put it - only a few percentages in difference between the best deck in modern and the twentieth best deck in modern. Therefore, what's important passed the Tiers is simply playing a deck you know is powerful and playing it to the best of your ability.
TLDR; Tiers that aren't based on metagame prevalence are almost pointless for competitive Modern.
I absolutely advocate taking out Fulminator Mages. The Tron match-up is just awful, and it's really not worth filling those 3 spots in the board with something that basically only delays their inevitability. If you want to beat Tron, this isn't the deck to do it with. As for the Burn/Zoo SB slots, I like Feed the Clan but I like Timely Reinforcements even more. I also run 2 Kitchen Finks for this match-up, and it's been good enough that I've considered maindecking 1-2.
I would like to remind you that Tiers are based on metagame prevalence, not power level (though the two are closely related). According to Modern Nexus, no deck running Angler regularly is over 3% of the meta, which means no Angler deck is tier 1 at the moment (I can't predict the future).
I suggest you stop assuming and/or calling bullcrap on things you clearly haven't taken the time to gather information on.
Following the current meta, I find that while it's important to have removal for Tas/Angler, it's almost more important to have efficient removal for the smaller creatures from Zoo and Burn (i.e. Abrupt Decay). In fact, I entirely advocate 1-2 Darkblast or Disfigure in the sideboard. In terms of Slaughter Pact, I think it's actually important for Abzan/Junk to have that edge against Twin. We're more favored in that match-up than Jund is, but it's still a lot closer of a match-up than people are willing to give it credit for. We're also clunkier than Jund and Slaughter Pact lets us tap out for our clunkier threats (Rhino and Souls) and not get punished. Patience is key against any variant of Twin, but having an edge against a deck that will be an enormous part of Modern for the far-foreseeable future isn't a bad plan, IMO.
It's still not something you want to run more than a one-of main unless Twin takes over the meta entirely, so I might be splitting hairs here. The only Tier 1 decks that are actually running running Tasigur aside from us is Jund (as a one-of) and Grixis Twin (no more than a 2-of), and no Tier 1 decks are running Gurmag Angler. The Tas/Angler meta is gone for now, and it's important that we realize this and diversify our removal against the greater range of threats presented to us from the linear aggro strategies that are now much more prominent. Are Tasigur and Angler gone from the meta? No - they're always going to be here - but they're not prominent enough that it's healthy to justify basing your removal suite around them.
As a reference, here's my current decklist:
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4 Siege Rhino
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Lingering Souls
Removal/Discard: 16
3 Abrupt Decay
4 Path to Exile
1 Abzan Charm
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
Planeswalkers: 4
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Marsh Flats
1 Windswept Heath
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Twilight Mire
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Godless Shrine
1 Temple Garden
1 Gavony Township
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Plains
1 Forest
2 Swamp
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Shambling Vent
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
2 Stony Silence
1 Duress
2 Disfigure
2 Timely Reinforcements
1 Damnation
1 Creeping Corrosion
1 Celestial Purge
1 Golgari Charm
1 Liliana of the Veil
2 Kitchen Finks
I, too, have decided on the black splash after some time, since Abzan and Jund are extremely heavy in my meta. Crackling Doom is an absolute beast of a card. I keep an updated list on tappedout which I have linked in my signature, if you're curious to see a similar list. I can definitely offer some criticism on your list - mostly on the sideboard, which could definitely use some work.
Main Deck:
1. I'm definitely on the side that encourages running some amount of Serum Visions in the deck. It really helps the deck consistency-wise and makes our BGx match-up better by allowing us to set up our draws and recover from discard. I'm currently on 3, which I think is the correct number.
Sideboard:
1. You have a few-too-many sideboard slots devoted to grindy match-ups. Lingering Souls is an amazing card in a number of match-ups, and you already have a Keranos, God of Storms main, as well as two Tasigur, the Golden Fang. You definitely don't need the Batterskull or the Mulldrifter. Batterskull isn't great against Jund or Grixis, since they both have Kolaghan's Command to deal with it. Mulldrifter is pretty iffy in general, especially since you only have one K-Command for the synergies therein. It's also probably just not where Geist wants to be. I could also see cutting down to three Lingering Souls.
2. Those two Mana Leak should probably be Dispel, though I do see in your post that you decided to add Dispel to the board anyhow. The one-of Leyline of Sanctity isn't doing much for you. I can see why you would run an effect like that, considering the fact that you seem to have some very discard-focused decks in your meta. If you really feel you need that effect, I would run at least 3 to improve the consistency of having it in your opening hand (a turn four Leyline of Sanctity is just way too late). Stony Silence should be at least a 2-of, since it's something you want in your opening hand to jam on turn 2 against Affinity and Tron. If you don't want to increase the number there, I'd suggest running an artifact sweeper such as Shatterstorm in its place.
That's pretty much it for the criticism, since everything else I could offer is personal preference (such as playing V-Clique instead of Tasigur). I hope I could help!
I mean, I originally tested Parents Nalaar as a one-of for the same idea I've tested Whirler Rogue - the ability to go wide versus certain match-ups. It's entirely possible that Pia and Kiran Nalaar is just better in this deck, and it's also possible that we don't want either. That is, however, why we test instead of basing things on pure speculation. Both cards do almost the same things - it all comes down to which of the activated abilities seems to be best. So far, I've favored Whirler Rogue's ability to get Geist through over PKN's shock ability. It's very relevant that you can use Whirler Rogue's ability the turn it comes down, which means that you can curve Geist into Whirler Rogue and get Geist through a blocker sometimes. That usually means you can get an activation out of it before them bolting one of the tokens becomes relevant. Again, though, their main addition to the deck is the ability to go wide. The two cards are so close to eachother, and I think Whirler Rogue synergizes with the deck better so far.
I've only had two days to test so far, though, and that's no where near enough to be calling either card good in the shell yet. So, only time will tell.
In conclusion, I definitely think it's a card we need to be giving more attention to. Am I sure that it belongs here? No, not yet, but it's certainly very promising.
The list I'll be testing:
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
3 Lightning Helix
2 Mana Leak
2 Remand
1 Spell snare
1 Cryptic Command
2 Electrolyze
3 Serum Visions
Creatures: 14
4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
3 Restoration Angel
1 Whirler Rogue
4 Celestial Colonnade
3 Flooded Strand
2 Arid Mesa
3 Scalding Tarn
2 Island
1 Plains
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Eiganjo Castle
2 Steam Vents
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Sulfur Falls
2 Wear // Tear
2 Kor Firewalker
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Keranos, God of Storms
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2 Dispel
1 Shatterstorm
2 Engineered Explosives
1 Celestial Purge
1 Valorous Stance
1 Counterflux
Well, it tends to be a non-bo with Tarmogoyf. I also tend to think that unless you have quite a few graveyard decks such as Dredgevine or Loam Pox, then Scooze out of the board is generally better.
My thoughts are that what you're probably experiencing is variance. That, combined with frustration, has been the case of many bad changes done to decks by myself. So, from experience I'd definitely say to keep jamming more and more games, and if you still feel like you're consistently missing the land drops, add another land.
As for Huntmaster, I'm not a fan of him right now. As you said, he gets bolted quite a bit and he also just gets stonewalled by the bigger creatures in the format (Tas, Goyf, Gurmag, Rhino). I think you should give Lavamancer a second thought, though. He really helps to turn on your lightning bolts against Tasigurs and opposing Goyfs as well as being a big nuisance against Merfolk, Infect, Affinity, etc. I've also found him to survive rather well, since our opponents are hesitant to bolt him instead of a Krasis, since Krasis is both a reasonably sized beater and a combo outlet. (You can also use tapper creatures to untap your Lavamancer and use him again in a pinch. Don't forget that interaction.)
Hope I could help!
Yeah, I can see Magus being pretty decent against Tron since they board out the Clasms. I'm still not convinced that's where you want to be, since Tron tends to be favorable anyhow.
I agree with the rest of these points. +1
I have no clue as to what about my post would infer a lack of knowledge as to your post about you "Doubling-down on the tempo plan".
No, as with the majority (if not all) of RUG Twin lists, your plan A is to tempo them out with the back up of comboing, which is plan B. Many people are opting to run a Magus of the Moon over the second Blood Moon, yes. Those people are either playing Grixis and can recur him with a Kolaghan's Command or are playing Collected Company and want to be able to tutor that effect. Otherwise Magus is literally just a Blood Moon that dies to creature removal such as Lightning Bolt. Considering the rest of your non-Tarmogoyf creature suite dies to this same card in a meta that plays it heavily, it seems very loose. If you can give me a beneficial reason to play it over the second Blood Moon other than, "Many people are opting to do so", then I will reconsider my opinion.
@Adreena If it's "obviously" the case, then I think that's *also* pretty loose. Amulet isn't a match up I see much in an open field, and it definitely isn't worth making one of your best cards against really tough match-ups, such as Jund and Abzan, worse by dying to creature removal. Amulet just Slaughter Pacts it anyhow, right? Unless you can back it up with Dispel/Spell Pierce? On turn 4? I mean, they might even bring Firespout in against Trei_gamer's build in particular, seeing that it kills Krasis, Pestermite and Snap. That's probably worse against them than actual Blood Moon.
Scavenging Ooze in the main is pretty decent, especially against opposing Snapcaster decks. It definitely requires that you run an extra green source (Probably cut a Sulfur Falls for an extra Hinterland Harbor) as well as a Flooded Grove. Along with that, it means you can't afford to run Blood Moon out of the board, so it's definitely a choice. That choice will, of course, depend on the makeup of your meta. If it's full of Grixis, I'd probably want to be on the Ooze plan, at least out of the board.
A few things here that strike me as possibly bad:
1. All of your tappers die to Lightning Bolt, which means that your plan B is waaaaay worse against decks with Lightning Bolt. Consequently, it quite probably makes your plan A worse against them, as well. I tested a creature set-up very similar to yours (3 Krasis, 2 Pestermite), and I found this to be the case.
2. I've tested Raging Ravine quite a bit, and I can definitively say that it's not where we want to be. Having a land come into play tapped from turns 1-4 for this deck is absolutely abysmal. This heavily outweighs any potential value we can get from the land.
3. I'm not sure this deck can afford to play two colorless lands, especially when running FOUR Bounding Krasis as well as two Cryptic Command.
4. Why Magus of the Moon over the second Blood Moon? That seems really loose to me.
Overall, this build seems a lot less well-positioned in the current metagame than the average RUG Twin list. Perhaps if we start seeing a ton of Abzan and less Grixis Control/Twin then this might possibly be a decent build. Otherwise, I think you're playing a worse version of the deck, which is a pretty big no-no competitively.