It's preference, but for me, no.
Try tracker vs affinity compared to lingering souls. Same against Jund and control matches.
Path is still better than the 2mana black removal spells.
Manlands are even worse.
I can;t really see what the Rock has to offer compared to Jund and Junk.
I won't say that these things outweigh what Jund or Junk offers, but there are key advantages with BG in mana consistency (which comes up a lot with Ooze and against Blood Moon or Field of Ruin), a lot less painful mana (I've felt this comes up way, way more often than I realized against Aggro), and the ability to run a playset of Field of Ruin without worries. I don't feel like the removal suite is that much lacking now with Fatal Push, Cast Down, Dismember, Collective Brutality, Abrupt Decay, and Maelstrom Pulse as options, but I won't argue that Path and Terminate are much better at being general purpose. Tireless Tracker and Tasigur also are beefy threats even when the graveyard is being nuked, although Tasigur may be a bit expensive at that point.
To the downsides I have to admit Hissing Quagmire has some nice upsides with the Deathtouch, but agree that Raging Ravine and Shambling Vents I feel are better overall. At least we still keep Treetop Village. I can't comment on Lingering Souls though since I haven't actually played Junk and instead come from Jund. Honestly what I miss most from Jund is K-Command for grind, but I'm starting to become addicted to Field of Ruin. It doesn't make Tron favorable by any means and honestly does nothing to Valakut, but hitting greedy mana bases and utility lands for what can be close to free has crazy value. I also have a soft spot for Tireless Tracker, and coming from Jund I'm comparing that to BBE.
I'm going to be trying out a 2/2 Split of Hostage Taker and Bristling Hydra in addition to 2/2 Blossoming Defense and Essence Scatter. I'm hoping it improves our Temur matchup while we rely on the back of Glint-Sleeve Siphoner to give us the card advantage in those games. Essence Scatter being an answer to Hazoret, Scarab God, Hydras, and Glorybringer. Hydra just going off the advice here, and that it's never really let me down. Not as game swinging as a successful Hostage Taker, but it's a brick wall certainly.
Hostage Taker can be a 3 for 1 instead of a 2 for 1 in creature mirrors, and you get to benefit from their ETB effects. Hostage Taker can also do things like hiding your own stuff underneath it to psuedo-protect from a Fumigate, or even just later in the game to recast your Rogue Refiner.
The key though is you have to play Blossoming Defense to protect it. Without Blossoming Defense then Confiscation Coup is better, which is what Temur tends to be doing. Blossoming Defense is also pretty good in a Snek deck though too in general since it lets you stick a two drop on turn three through removal, and the deck is overloaded on two drops that the opponent usually feels they need to answer right away. Just sometimes you need to play the delicate balance of waiting on using your Blossoming Defense and making sure you drop your threats with that mana up.
On the side though it looks like Hostage Taker is dropping in price since it didn't show up in Worlds beyond the draft decks.
Took this to FNM and played against BW Tokens, Temur Energy, UW Approach, and Merfolk. Went 4-0, but I feel like it was only because the sideboard package is incredibly stacked at dealing with Control. Negate, Duress, and Spell Pierce combined are brutal. BW Tokens made me feel like I need a sweeper in the sideboard, but Longtusk Cub and The Scarab God managed to pull me through it regardless. Temur Energy is a fun one where I'm glad I have The Scarab God. Bristling Hydra is impossible to remove, but that's not a big deal when I can have a bigger threat and also hit their life total directly with Walking Ballista. Merfolk doesn't really feel like it did anything. Sure it had a bunch of smaller threats and was trying to tempo me out, but when your two drops are Walking Ballista and Longtusk Cub you just win that war. Hostage Taker did some hilarious things too in that matchup.
What I'd want to change going forward is getting that 4th Glint-Sleeve Siphoner back in. Those things make the deck feel super consistent. I'm just not sure what to pull out. I want to keep the spell package given the Spell Pierce is what saved me against UW Control. Double mainboard The Scarab God feels right against any other Midrange deck. I need a sweeper in the side, and I might want to go up on the Negate package. All the red players in my shop seem to have vanished, but I'm not sure I'll change anything about the list because of it. Deathgorge Scavenger is a card that works in many matchups and I'm not ready to drop it even if I managed to dodge the Gifts players this time around. I'd almost like to fit another Appetite for the Unnatural, but the sideboard is already compact and wants sweepers so I'm not sure where to bring that.
I'd personally rather push up the numbers of Blossoming Defense than play a 3 mana combat trick. Sure it won't kill a Glorybringer, but they probably aren't only attacking with the Glorybringer and it's useful against black and white removal. Can also be key in protecting a Hostage Taker until you can cast their spell. Against red you can blow out an Ahn-Crop Crasher as well.
The mana seems solid at requiring 12 Blue, 18 Green, 18 Black, and getting 13 Blue, 20 Green, and 18 Black. Could maybe use Foul Orchard, Fetid Pools, or Evolving Wilds to tighten it up a bit but I'm fairly certain I don't need Servant of the Conduit. I haven't liked Servant for a long time either so that pleases me. Not sure if 21 lands and 4 Attunes are right either, but it's served me well for the curve in the past. The only question is Vraska's Contempt being rather mana hungry.
The instant speed suite of cards comes in at a Blossoming Defense to keep my opponents on guard, 4 Fatal Push for any Aggro, and Vraska's Contempt to deal with much of what anyone can throw at us. It's got 4-7 cards dead against various Control, but that's always been the case. I'm not sure how well Control will survive though with Shapers' Sanctuary and Carnage Tyrant around. Main things I'm looking to deal with are Runamap Red, Temur Black Energy, God-Pharaoh's Gift, and some flavor of Dinos.
The creature core is based on the 4 of Winding Constrictor, Longtusk Cub, Walking Ballista, and Glint-Sleeve Siphoner. They've been a part of this deck since the inception and I don't think I'm ready to cut any of it. 4 Rogue Refiner coming with the deck once it's gone blue feels mandatory as well. This core alone is plenty capable of winning games via all the interactions and card advantage I can accrue. Now come the one of cards I'm just not certain of and need more than the 15 or so games of testing I've already done to decide whether I'm keeping them that way. The deck feels un-optimized with them there, but I'm not sure which way I want to proceed. Rishkar, Peema Renegade provides more +1/+1 counter support and can dump the deck into the field more effective with the mana ramp, Ripjaw Raptor feels like it has a place here with it's body and Enrage shenanigans, and Bristling Hydra has always been one of the more difficult to deal with cards in any Green based energy deck often ending games on the spot against Control. Hostage Taker is a great 1 for 1 or 3 for 1 when it works right. It either forces an answer or goes to the skies in card advantage. Also a funny way to deal with an artifact in the main board. Verdurous Gearhulk will end games if Constrictor is out or even it if isn't can spread out a bunch of power into play so it's definitely the primary 5 drop. Of course The Scarab God will flat out win games on his own against any other grindy deck that can't deal with him. This card is the reason you can beat dinos in a ground stall.
My sideboard feels horrible. It's got anti-graveyard, anti-control, anti-combo, anti-creature, anti-artifact, and anti-enchantment but it doesn't feel like it fits with what I'd side out yet. I've been super impressed with Shapers' Sanctuary though. The rest I think needs tweaking up or down, but without really knowing the meta and without enough experience yet I'm unsure which direction.
I don't think we worry too much about Solemnity. If they tap out on turn 3 then we can respond with Chandra, Glorybringer, or plenty more. It will likely see play against us sure, but only because it's going to be on the board for GB Energy decks. I'm interested to see if Abrade, Crash Through, Driven // Dispair, or Unsummon can see any play though. Too bad Samut is such a low impact card compared to Chandra.
So according to the meta for next Modern FNM store I'm going to visit, the entire store is pretty much on Eldrazi Tron (5+ players in ~12 size events) with just one of a Burn and Living End being the competitive decks. The rest is budget jank. Any suggestions on what I should be throwing in the main/side for this? I'm starting on a pretty regular Abzan Company manabase/decklist and am entirely open to buying up whatever I need to give me the best chance against Eldrazi Tron.
I've always loved Voltaic Brawler, but I think he requires a saturation of one/two drops to play in a world with Fatal Push, and he works well in a world with Heart of Kiran. It's a deck that goes low to the ground and possibly plays Jund to get their own Fatal Push alongside other black cards.
I ended up testing the Marvel and Zombies matchups pretty extensively and settled on Temur Energy for Game Day. Negate felt a lot better than Transgress at dealing with Marvel.
The deck feels super sweet against Aggro and Midrange which I felt was going to be the primary thing to deal with. It didn't let me down either. The mana-ramp felt great, the 3 drops felt like they kept me in the game, and then dropping a relentless amount of Bristling Hydra, Glorybringer, and Elder-Deep Fiend just shattered those games. I went 2-0 in each game against BG Aggro, RW Humans, BW Zombies, and Mardu. The games didn't even feel close. I was super glad to dodge Control though since I felt I was pretty weak to that, but I did bring in all three Chandra and the Lifecrafter's Bestiary as a hedge against that.
What I missed though was New Perspectives in my final game of the day. On the draw against the deck I just couldn't race it, and while the Negates in the side helped me keep one game in check with a double Negate I eventually had to start choosing whether to hold up a Negate or quicken the clock in the third and final game. I held up the Negate and pressed forward only to get blown out by Elder-Deep Fiend being Censor'd as I tried to time walk. I'm not sure what my sideboard could have been if I was expecting the matchup, and maybe it was just in the cards for me not being able to handle consistent Turn 5 New Perspectives pressure. Super fun games though, and I was happy to bring the deck.
4-1 on Game Day with Temur Energy. As long as Control presence remains low, and I can figure out how to deal with New Perspectives, then I'd totally recommend the deck.
Yeah only ~16 red sources means it's easier to cast Radiant Flames on Turn 3 than Sweltering Suns. If I'm basic land heavy with Attune to Aether I'm likely getting green, red, and black instead of green, red, and red as well. I've had plenty of games where that's the case. I'd only be bringing it in on matchups that I really want it anyway so the cycling feels less relevant. The possible ability to go to 1 or 2 damage could be relevant as well given the variable size of our own creatures as well.
I've run anywhere between 3-4 Heart of Kiran, 3-4 Scrounger (which sometimes are sided out), and 0-2 Tireless Tracker in the main for a long time. It's turned on a decent amount. It can sometimes just be an easier to cast Murder, but combined with answering anything not indestructible and that usual 3 damage it's been better than Harnessed Lightning where I'd consider replacing them entirely. All the artifacts are resilient to removal in their own ways as well which helps a lot. It's around an 75% - 85% chance to see them by around Turn 3 - 5 on the hypergeometric calculator with only 8 sources.
I won't say that these things outweigh what Jund or Junk offers, but there are key advantages with BG in mana consistency (which comes up a lot with Ooze and against Blood Moon or Field of Ruin), a lot less painful mana (I've felt this comes up way, way more often than I realized against Aggro), and the ability to run a playset of Field of Ruin without worries. I don't feel like the removal suite is that much lacking now with Fatal Push, Cast Down, Dismember, Collective Brutality, Abrupt Decay, and Maelstrom Pulse as options, but I won't argue that Path and Terminate are much better at being general purpose. Tireless Tracker and Tasigur also are beefy threats even when the graveyard is being nuked, although Tasigur may be a bit expensive at that point.
To the downsides I have to admit Hissing Quagmire has some nice upsides with the Deathtouch, but agree that Raging Ravine and Shambling Vents I feel are better overall. At least we still keep Treetop Village. I can't comment on Lingering Souls though since I haven't actually played Junk and instead come from Jund. Honestly what I miss most from Jund is K-Command for grind, but I'm starting to become addicted to Field of Ruin. It doesn't make Tron favorable by any means and honestly does nothing to Valakut, but hitting greedy mana bases and utility lands for what can be close to free has crazy value. I also have a soft spot for Tireless Tracker, and coming from Jund I'm comparing that to BBE.
The key though is you have to play Blossoming Defense to protect it. Without Blossoming Defense then Confiscation Coup is better, which is what Temur tends to be doing. Blossoming Defense is also pretty good in a Snek deck though too in general since it lets you stick a two drop on turn three through removal, and the deck is overloaded on two drops that the opponent usually feels they need to answer right away. Just sometimes you need to play the delicate balance of waiting on using your Blossoming Defense and making sure you drop your threats with that mana up.
On the side though it looks like Hostage Taker is dropping in price since it didn't show up in Worlds beyond the draft decks.
4 Aether Hub
4 Blooming Marsh
4 Botanical Sanctum
3 Forest
1 Hashep Oasis
2 Ifnir Deadlands
1 Island
2 Swamp
Spells (12)
4 Attune with Aether
3 Blossoming Defense
4 Fatal Push
1 Spell Pierce
3 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
4 Hostage Taker
4 Longtusk Cub
2 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
4 Rogue Refiner
2 The Scarab God
4 Walking Ballista
4 Winding Constrictor
1 Appetite for the Unnatural
2 Vraska's Contempt
2 Negate
4 Duress
4 Deathgorge Scavenger
2 Vraska, Relic Seeker
Took this to FNM and played against BW Tokens, Temur Energy, UW Approach, and Merfolk. Went 4-0, but I feel like it was only because the sideboard package is incredibly stacked at dealing with Control. Negate, Duress, and Spell Pierce combined are brutal. BW Tokens made me feel like I need a sweeper in the sideboard, but Longtusk Cub and The Scarab God managed to pull me through it regardless. Temur Energy is a fun one where I'm glad I have The Scarab God. Bristling Hydra is impossible to remove, but that's not a big deal when I can have a bigger threat and also hit their life total directly with Walking Ballista. Merfolk doesn't really feel like it did anything. Sure it had a bunch of smaller threats and was trying to tempo me out, but when your two drops are Walking Ballista and Longtusk Cub you just win that war. Hostage Taker did some hilarious things too in that matchup.
What I'd want to change going forward is getting that 4th Glint-Sleeve Siphoner back in. Those things make the deck feel super consistent. I'm just not sure what to pull out. I want to keep the spell package given the Spell Pierce is what saved me against UW Control. Double mainboard The Scarab God feels right against any other Midrange deck. I need a sweeper in the side, and I might want to go up on the Negate package. All the red players in my shop seem to have vanished, but I'm not sure I'll change anything about the list because of it. Deathgorge Scavenger is a card that works in many matchups and I'm not ready to drop it even if I managed to dodge the Gifts players this time around. I'd almost like to fit another Appetite for the Unnatural, but the sideboard is already compact and wants sweepers so I'm not sure where to bring that.
4 Aether Hub
4 Blooming Marsh
4 Botanical Sanctum
2 Fetid Pools
4 Forest
1 Island
2 Swamp
Spells (12)
4 Attune with Aether
3 Blossoming Defense
4 Fatal Push
1 Spell Pierce
4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
4 Hostage Taker
4 Longtusk Cub
2 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
4 Rogue Refiner
1 The Scarab God
4 Walking Ballista
4 Winding Constrictor
4 Duress
3 Negate
3 Deathgorge Scrounger
2 Vraska, Relic Seeker
2 Vraska's Contempt
1 The Scarab God
4 Aether Hub
4 Blooming Marsh
4 Botanical Sanctum
3 Forest
1 Hashep Oasis
2 Ifnir Deadlands
1 Island
2 Swamp
Spells (12)
4 Attune with Aether
1 Blossoming Defense
4 Fatal Push
3 Vraska's Contempt
4 Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
4 Longtusk Cub
4 Walking Ballista
4 Winding Constrictor
1 Rishkar, Peema Renegade
4 Rogue Refiner
1 Ripjaw Raptor
1 Bristling Hydra
1 Hostage Taker
2 Verdurous Gearhulk
1 The Scarab God
2 Appetite for the Unnatural
2 Shapers' Sanctuary
2 Negate
3 Duress
1 Vraska, Relic Seeker
2 Never // Return
2 Carnage Tyrant
2 Sentinel Totem
The instant speed suite of cards comes in at a Blossoming Defense to keep my opponents on guard, 4 Fatal Push for any Aggro, and Vraska's Contempt to deal with much of what anyone can throw at us. It's got 4-7 cards dead against various Control, but that's always been the case. I'm not sure how well Control will survive though with Shapers' Sanctuary and Carnage Tyrant around. Main things I'm looking to deal with are Runamap Red, Temur Black Energy, God-Pharaoh's Gift, and some flavor of Dinos.
The creature core is based on the 4 of Winding Constrictor, Longtusk Cub, Walking Ballista, and Glint-Sleeve Siphoner. They've been a part of this deck since the inception and I don't think I'm ready to cut any of it. 4 Rogue Refiner coming with the deck once it's gone blue feels mandatory as well. This core alone is plenty capable of winning games via all the interactions and card advantage I can accrue. Now come the one of cards I'm just not certain of and need more than the 15 or so games of testing I've already done to decide whether I'm keeping them that way. The deck feels un-optimized with them there, but I'm not sure which way I want to proceed. Rishkar, Peema Renegade provides more +1/+1 counter support and can dump the deck into the field more effective with the mana ramp, Ripjaw Raptor feels like it has a place here with it's body and Enrage shenanigans, and Bristling Hydra has always been one of the more difficult to deal with cards in any Green based energy deck often ending games on the spot against Control. Hostage Taker is a great 1 for 1 or 3 for 1 when it works right. It either forces an answer or goes to the skies in card advantage. Also a funny way to deal with an artifact in the main board. Verdurous Gearhulk will end games if Constrictor is out or even it if isn't can spread out a bunch of power into play so it's definitely the primary 5 drop. Of course The Scarab God will flat out win games on his own against any other grindy deck that can't deal with him. This card is the reason you can beat dinos in a ground stall.
My sideboard feels horrible. It's got anti-graveyard, anti-control, anti-combo, anti-creature, anti-artifact, and anti-enchantment but it doesn't feel like it fits with what I'd side out yet. I've been super impressed with Shapers' Sanctuary though. The rest I think needs tweaking up or down, but without really knowing the meta and without enough experience yet I'm unsure which direction.
In decks that sometimes ramp with Servant of the Conduit I feel that running the Temur colors with a focus on 3-5 drops is the way to go. A world without Aetherworks Marvel is going to be interesting since I don't feel we will need nearly as many or if at all Negate in the main. Confiscation Coup, Rogue Refiner, and Baral's Expertise may all still be worth it though.
4 Aether Hub
4 Attune with Aether
4 Blossoming Defense
4 Bristling Hydra
4 Electrostatic Pummeler
1 Fling
7 Forest
4 Game Trail
1 Glorybringer
2 Harnessed Lightning
4 Invigorated Rampage
2 Larger Than Life
4 Longtusk Cub
4 Mountain
3 Servant of the Conduit
3 Sheltered Thicket
1 Uncaged Fury
4 Voltaic Brawler
2 Arlinn Kord
2 Glorybringer
2 Harnessed Lightning
3 Manglehorn
3 Prowling Serpopard
3 Tireless Tracker
4 Aether Hub
4 Attune with Aether
4 Botanical Sanctum
3 Bristling Hydra
3 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Confiscation Coup
4 Forest
2 Game Trail
2 Glorybringer
4 Harnessed Lightning
1 Island
4 Longtusk Cub
2 Magma Spray
2 Mountain
3 Negate
4 Rogue Refiner
4 Servant of the Conduit
2 Sheltered Thicket
1 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
2 Spirebluff Canal
2 Tireless Tracker
2 Whirler Virtuoso
2 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Chandra, Flamecaller
2 Confiscation Coup
1 Cut // Ribbons
1 Dispel
2 Dissenter's Deliverance
1 Negate
2 Radiant Flames
2 Tireless Tracker
1 Whirler Virtuoso
4 Bristling Hydra
3 Channeler Initiate
1 Rhonas the Indomitable
4 Elder Deep-Fiend
4 Glorybringer
4 Rogue Refiner
4 Servant of the Conduit
4 Whirler Virtuoso
Sorcery (4)
4 Attune with Aether
4 Harnessed Lightning
3 Magma Spray
Land (21)
4 Aether Hub
4 Botanical Sanctum
4 Forest
3 Game Trail
1 Island
2 Lumbering Falls
2 Mountain
1 Spirebluff Canal
1 Magma Spray
3 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Appetite for the Unnatural
3 Kozilek's Return
4 Negate
1 Lifecrafter's Bestiary
1 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship
What I missed though was New Perspectives in my final game of the day. On the draw against the deck I just couldn't race it, and while the Negates in the side helped me keep one game in check with a double Negate I eventually had to start choosing whether to hold up a Negate or quicken the clock in the third and final game. I held up the Negate and pressed forward only to get blown out by Elder-Deep Fiend being Censor'd as I tried to time walk. I'm not sure what my sideboard could have been if I was expecting the matchup, and maybe it was just in the cards for me not being able to handle consistent Turn 5 New Perspectives pressure. Super fun games though, and I was happy to bring the deck.
4-1 on Game Day with Temur Energy. As long as Control presence remains low, and I can figure out how to deal with New Perspectives, then I'd totally recommend the deck.