Tasighoul,
I agree that TBR seems poor in the mirror. I generally prefer to remove it when boarding against most removal heavy decks since I find sticking a threat to be more important than what is effectively a burn spell that requires a creature. Extra ways to protect a threat, ways to find threats, or additioanl threats all seem better unless it looks to be critical to power through chump blockers.
I need some tips for the Twin mirror matchup. I'm fairly new to the deck and my last few matches against some good players l feel like l got straight up outplayed. There's probably not a simple answer to this question but what are some guidelines to when should l be trying to apply pressure (eg. trying to resolve pestermite, snapcaster bolting) and when should l be sitting back for his move, sculpting my hand for the impending counter war.
I don't have a ton of advice for the mirror, but be aware of how safe it is to combo based on the play/draw, particularly game 1 where you are running the entire combo and few ways to actually kill Exarch. Often, if you are on the play (or your opponent misses land drops) you hit a point where you have 3 untapped lands in play at the end of their turn and they only have 3 lands up as well. This gives you an opportunity to tap one land and leave them unable to cast their own tap guy to stop your combo and kill you with their own. At this point you can feel pretty safe going in on an exarch, since the worst they can do is remand, or possibly double bolt, leaving you still slightly ahead. I think practice can go a long way, since this does seem to me like a fairly challenging matchup to play and really makes you stay aware of what the opponent could do.
Long story short, consider what cards they are likely to have and play accordingly. You don't want to have your exarch tapped in response to Splinter Twin and then die to the same on the other side, but will frequently get good opportunities to win via combo. Feeling out the tempo plan is a bit tougher, but as long as you get used to the cards, it shouldn't be too hard to know when to try for the combo.
Also, what about Brutal Expulsion? i'm considering this over an Electrolyze... theoretical it's a very good spell and can generate a huge tempo swing..
I haven't gotten to actually try out Brutal Expulsion, but my initial impression is that at 4 mana it is more likely competing with Cryptic Command rather than Electrolyze, and in a straight UR deck that can get triple blue fairly consistently, I think I would usually rather have Cryptic. The bouncing permanents is pretty comparable, I would usually prefer to counter a spell rather than return it to hand for this much mana. At a lower cost it could play a role similar to Remand against countermagic as well as help fend off Abrupt Decay, but 4 extra mana is a lot to ask for those situations. I guess overall I see this being good less often than Cryptic Command since it really relies on that 2 damage shot mattering while Cryptic should almost always find something good to do.
Once you start looking at decks heavily in three (or more) colors and casting Cryptic Command becomes more difficult I think making the change to Brutal Expulsion is more of a consideration, but in the lists here that are very dedicated to blue I don't think we want it.
While at the base level the combo is bad against Jund and Junk, they know that as well and often sideboard accordingly. I wouldn't do it all the time, but if you think your opponent will be siding to beat your midrange Blood Moon plan and may not play around the combo as much as they should, leaving in a couple combo pieces can catch them off guard. It certainly isn't something to plan on, but in a grindy game that ends up a topdeck war, Splinter Twin on a Snapcaster Mage is also pretty strong.
I would generally side out the entire combo against BG midrange, but it isn't totally unreasonable to keep the option in mind if you think you can get your opponent.
To clarify a bit more against choke, any destroy enchantment effects that could be in your deck almost certainly cost green, so you don't want your only green land pinned down by the Choke. Ancient Grudge is the main reason, since many of the match ups that you want it you are much more concerned with early red for bolt and casting both halves than you are with cryptic. Many games where you fetch for the green source are not going to be ones that you want to cast a lot of counters.
You could try out Phyrexian Metamorph and Phantasmal Image as more efficient clone effects than Evil Twin. Cabal Coffers also is not Modern legal, so you probably shouldn't be running that.
What's the reasoning for switching the Dispel and Spellskite? It could definitely be a good swap, but its tough to judge whether it is good for a particular list for something without seeing the reasons. Do you want to focus on the combo more? As mentioned above you probably want both cards MB and could cut something else. Metagame considerations could also make that good. If you see a bunch of Infect, Boggles, etc. that Spellskite is amazing against and don't face that many decks with lots of instants to counter, making that exchange seems great. I think it is definitely an interesting idea and would like to hear more from you on why you are making that change. I would recommend trying it out, since that's really the only way to decide for sure if you like a configuration.
Spreading seas is a good card, but it doesn´t play in goldfish,why ???
Do you mean "Why is the card not listed as a common option on MTG Goldfish.com?"
If that is what you are trying to ask, I would say that it is not a common option. I think the most publicized recent lists have been the ones successful at the recent Modern Pro Tour and Grand Prix where it did well, and Paul Cheon's "Updating UR Splinter Twin" article on ChannelFireball.com. Since as far as I know, none of those lists had Spreading Seas, the netdecking on Magic Online and elsewhere is not especially likely to run it. While it is a solid card, it is not nearly as established as a Twin component relative to other options, in part due to the recent big finishes I mentioned.
If anything, I would expect Dromaka's Command to be played in the "Abzan" decks that are more like a GW aggro deck splashing black. The lists running lots of mana dorks, Loxodon Smiters, Wilt-leaf Liege, etc. may be better suited to using this card. As far as Twin hate in particular goes, I would think this is probably worse than Path so I would expect maybe one or two in some sideboards, but I would be surprised if it becomes something you see often. The flexibility is nice, but I don't think the power level on any one mode is remotely close to good enough for Modern.
I think I would compare it to something like Izzet Charm. The card exists, and occasionally shows up as a copy or two in a deck, but isn't quite there in terms of power level and usually loses its slot to something else. Having never played a green deck in Modern, I could be very off on my evaluation, so please correct me if what I said was dumb.
I think that people are excited because Assault Formation is a new card that looks cool and is synergistic with Deceiver Exarch. Unfortunately it doesn't actually seem like something we want to play because in the process of making our Exarchs swing for 4 we reduce our Vendilion Cliques, Snapcaster Mages, and Pestermites all into 1/1s. It seems like we would prefer to not have the effect to begin with, and then investing mana and a card at sorcery speed to make it happen makes it even worse. There isn't anything wrong with trying out new cards, but this one does not appear promising in anything close to normal lists. I'm afraid that even if we morph the deck enough to fit Assault Formation well, we end up being so much worse when we don't draw it that it is not worth it. We already have a combo with Exarch, and it is way better than swinging for 3 extra damage, so I don't think neutering our air assault is a worthwhile sacrifice to pump up our ground guys. Perhaps those testing it will come to the same conclusion, perhaps they will find something I didn't and come back saying it is awesome. Either way, as long as we don't totally bury the core deck, discussing some weird variants isn't a bad way to expand our scope a bit and consider some new possibilities.
One thing to watch out for is that while pumping Exarch, you also weaken Clique, Snapcaster, and Pestermite. 4/4 Exarch is pretty awesome, but I'm not sure if it is worth it.
At first glance, it seems pretty tough to cast Strangleroot Geist with so few green sources. I would add some more, and probably more lands in general since 20 is a bit low to curve out into Obliterator and Vraska. You could also cut the early drops to not need as many lands, whichever you prefer. Revenge of the Hunted seems kind of out of place. It seems pretty insane with Obliterator, but with no library manipulation, I would be concerned with having it stuck in hand too much. Plunge into Darkness and Noxious Revival also seem like they could go. Plunge can gain some life, so perhaps it fits as a sideboard card against burn and zoo. Revival doesn't seem very good most of the time, though it does synergize with the aforementioned Obliterator+Revenge. I think that if you want to make that synergy happen you need to focus on it, otherwise it is likely better to just play cards better within the deck as a whole. Manabase wise, why Bloodstained Mire? Budget makes sense, but otherwise I would think Verdant Catacombs would be way better.
My immediate changes would be -2 Noxious Revival, -2 Plunge, +4 lands (preferably Verdant Catacombs, but anything that gets you B/G could help out.)
You could also look into adding some sacrifice outlets to get more value from all the undying. Based on a quick Gatherer search Qarsi High Priest, Viscera Seer, Bloodthrone Vampire, Korozda Guildmage, and Nezumi Bone-Reader all look like things to consider. Skirsdag High Priest is also pretty awesome if lots of things are dying, so you could try adding him. You could possibly trim some Retribution of the Ancients since multiples aren't useful, and maybe the Mutilates, since you will hopefully be able to shut down more aggressive creature decks with your Undying guys blocking and trading, leaving you with creatures and theirs dead.
Rending Volley is definitely great against Twin, especially if we are going for the combo since it is basically the same as Combust for 1 fewer mana. I don't think it changes things a ton though, since other cards like Torpor Orb and Illness in the Ranks already can shut down the combo. I can't really see this new card showing up much where Combust would not have, so now we just need to be wary of R rather than 1R.
In my sideboard I'm playing Anger of the Gods since that seems to be the default (and best) choice for sweeper. At the same time I keep eyeing my copies of Volcanic Fallout and thinking that the instant speed (and uncounterability) just fits the deck so much better. Has anyone tried it? I'm assuming people prefer Anger due to Voice of Resurgence and Kitchen Finks (well, and against Zoo also).
I believe some of the main reasoning behind Anger of the Gods is that it kills Zoo's 3 toughness guys and keeps things like Finks from coming back, which is a lot of what it gets used against. If you expect lots of Delver/Fae decks that care about countering things and have mostly 2 or less toughness creatures, Volcanic Fallout certainly has potential. Many lists now aren't running either and end up using Engineered Explosives instead as a slightly more flexible but sometimes more mana intensive way of sweeping things. All three are solid cards against Affinity, and we already pack some other hate for them anyway. I would recommend just estimating how many 3 toughness creatures and persist-like creatures you expect to see vs. the number of countermagic decks you want to sweep against and see which looks bigger. It mostly comes down to meta, so just make your best guess.
edit: After replying I remembered that Volcanic Fallout does damage to you as well, and I would say that in a substantial portion of match ups where we want sweepers we are protecting our life total, so while not huge, the 2 damage to ourself is a slight inconvenience.
There are several deck guide articles that show up when you google something like “scg grixis shadow”. The most recent one I see is:
http://www.starcitygames.com/article/36259_The-Procrastinator-s-Guide-To-Grixis-Death-Shadow.html
which should cover some more recent matchups like Jeskai.
Tasighoul,
I agree that TBR seems poor in the mirror. I generally prefer to remove it when boarding against most removal heavy decks since I find sticking a threat to be more important than what is effectively a burn spell that requires a creature. Extra ways to protect a threat, ways to find threats, or additioanl threats all seem better unless it looks to be critical to power through chump blockers.
I don't have a ton of advice for the mirror, but be aware of how safe it is to combo based on the play/draw, particularly game 1 where you are running the entire combo and few ways to actually kill Exarch. Often, if you are on the play (or your opponent misses land drops) you hit a point where you have 3 untapped lands in play at the end of their turn and they only have 3 lands up as well. This gives you an opportunity to tap one land and leave them unable to cast their own tap guy to stop your combo and kill you with their own. At this point you can feel pretty safe going in on an exarch, since the worst they can do is remand, or possibly double bolt, leaving you still slightly ahead. I think practice can go a long way, since this does seem to me like a fairly challenging matchup to play and really makes you stay aware of what the opponent could do.
Long story short, consider what cards they are likely to have and play accordingly. You don't want to have your exarch tapped in response to Splinter Twin and then die to the same on the other side, but will frequently get good opportunities to win via combo. Feeling out the tempo plan is a bit tougher, but as long as you get used to the cards, it shouldn't be too hard to know when to try for the combo.
I haven't gotten to actually try out Brutal Expulsion, but my initial impression is that at 4 mana it is more likely competing with Cryptic Command rather than Electrolyze, and in a straight UR deck that can get triple blue fairly consistently, I think I would usually rather have Cryptic. The bouncing permanents is pretty comparable, I would usually prefer to counter a spell rather than return it to hand for this much mana. At a lower cost it could play a role similar to Remand against countermagic as well as help fend off Abrupt Decay, but 4 extra mana is a lot to ask for those situations. I guess overall I see this being good less often than Cryptic Command since it really relies on that 2 damage shot mattering while Cryptic should almost always find something good to do.
Once you start looking at decks heavily in three (or more) colors and casting Cryptic Command becomes more difficult I think making the change to Brutal Expulsion is more of a consideration, but in the lists here that are very dedicated to blue I don't think we want it.
I would generally side out the entire combo against BG midrange, but it isn't totally unreasonable to keep the option in mind if you think you can get your opponent.
You could try out Phyrexian Metamorph and Phantasmal Image as more efficient clone effects than Evil Twin. Cabal Coffers also is not Modern legal, so you probably shouldn't be running that.
Do you mean "Why is the card not listed as a common option on MTG Goldfish.com?"
If that is what you are trying to ask, I would say that it is not a common option. I think the most publicized recent lists have been the ones successful at the recent Modern Pro Tour and Grand Prix where it did well, and Paul Cheon's "Updating UR Splinter Twin" article on ChannelFireball.com. Since as far as I know, none of those lists had Spreading Seas, the netdecking on Magic Online and elsewhere is not especially likely to run it. While it is a solid card, it is not nearly as established as a Twin component relative to other options, in part due to the recent big finishes I mentioned.
I think I would compare it to something like Izzet Charm. The card exists, and occasionally shows up as a copy or two in a deck, but isn't quite there in terms of power level and usually loses its slot to something else. Having never played a green deck in Modern, I could be very off on my evaluation, so please correct me if what I said was dumb.
My immediate changes would be -2 Noxious Revival, -2 Plunge, +4 lands (preferably Verdant Catacombs, but anything that gets you B/G could help out.)
You could also look into adding some sacrifice outlets to get more value from all the undying. Based on a quick Gatherer search Qarsi High Priest, Viscera Seer, Bloodthrone Vampire, Korozda Guildmage, and Nezumi Bone-Reader all look like things to consider. Skirsdag High Priest is also pretty awesome if lots of things are dying, so you could try adding him. You could possibly trim some Retribution of the Ancients since multiples aren't useful, and maybe the Mutilates, since you will hopefully be able to shut down more aggressive creature decks with your Undying guys blocking and trading, leaving you with creatures and theirs dead.
I believe some of the main reasoning behind Anger of the Gods is that it kills Zoo's 3 toughness guys and keeps things like Finks from coming back, which is a lot of what it gets used against. If you expect lots of Delver/Fae decks that care about countering things and have mostly 2 or less toughness creatures, Volcanic Fallout certainly has potential. Many lists now aren't running either and end up using Engineered Explosives instead as a slightly more flexible but sometimes more mana intensive way of sweeping things. All three are solid cards against Affinity, and we already pack some other hate for them anyway. I would recommend just estimating how many 3 toughness creatures and persist-like creatures you expect to see vs. the number of countermagic decks you want to sweep against and see which looks bigger. It mostly comes down to meta, so just make your best guess.
edit: After replying I remembered that Volcanic Fallout does damage to you as well, and I would say that in a substantial portion of match ups where we want sweepers we are protecting our life total, so while not huge, the 2 damage to ourself is a slight inconvenience.