I've only really played standard since that's all my friends want to play, and it's short term cheaper. But my playgroup has recently gotten more relaxed with what decks we play - they used to complain when I played decks from the old standard a week after rotation but now I seem to be able to get away with janky modern decks
Anway, exploring all the options out there was far more exciting and interesting than with the limited card pool in stardard and I've become interested in the format recently. But I'm well aware due to the higher power level available what's considered playable is very strict.
So while the potential for creativity and a large card pool excites me, the fact that you are more or less restricted to highly efficient spells with at the very maximum 4cmc does not.
Although my friends might accept me playing a trashy modern deck, I can't imagine my friends embracing it - for example their view of Commander is it's only for people who've played the game the better part of a decade and have a huge collection
So my question is, whether there is space in Modern for a more casual play style and if so where I can find it?
You're right about Stratus Dancer. It does look good, although I'm not convinced. Part of me thinks it's too slow for just being able to counter instants and sorceries.
I disagree with you on Living Lore. I think you might have misread it, it only needs to do combat damage - it doesn't have to be to a player. Plus it's not difficult to make its power and toughness 5, 7, 8 or 11 for 4 which by itself is pretty good. As for Thassa she could be good here too, although I've already got 3 monastery sieges, which does similar things. I suppose Thassa's scry is good for Riddle of Lightning in particular as well as sneaking in big hits with Living Lore. However, monastery siege feeds cards for Living Lore, Delve and Volcanic Visions while also providing some utility.
As for creatures like monastery swiftspear, I just can't see where to fit them in lol.
So I put this together recently. I've only played it a bit with my friends but I'm actually really happy with how it's turned out so far. It could probably do with some polishing though. I'm still very interested in thoughts and suggestions.
This is a fairly rough deck. I'm not particularly experienced in deck building and I don't really have a way to test it. I like the idea of it though, so I thought I'd ask for suggestions/advice.
It uses a counterburn body but it's also got fun stuff. Living Lore, Riddle of Lightning and Volcanic Vision feed of high CMC spells. Cards like Tormenting Voice and Monastery Siege pitch things for the former and latter, as well as feeding delve. There's a fair bit of scry too, which makes hitting a high cmc spell with Riddle fairly easy.
Hitting one of the big spells with Riddle of Lightning is the game finisher. Burn spells + Keranos, God of Storms helps us get there. Due to the controlling nature of the deck I'm not sure how useful the board burn from Volcanic Vision is, but getting back anyone one of our numerous useful spells, plus getting rid of any residual creatures, can't hurt.
There are a number of cards I found that I thought could be useful but couldn't find space for:
The other thing I had trouble with was figuring out how to balance the counter spells, draw cards and burn.
Let me know what you think and give any suggestions.
I personally really like Jeskai Barricade but I can't see many other good reasons to run white.
It seems a shame not to run Twerk Off (Grim Contest) in a toughness deck, but 3 mana for conditional removal seems underwhelming.
Another card no one's seems to have mentioned is Kin-tree Invocation. 2 mana to copy your biggest threat, without needing to rely on Assault Formation seems good to me. Even better if you played a toughness-boosting card like Triton Tactics that turn.
Anway, exploring all the options out there was far more exciting and interesting than with the limited card pool in stardard and I've become interested in the format recently. But I'm well aware due to the higher power level available what's considered playable is very strict.
So while the potential for creativity and a large card pool excites me, the fact that you are more or less restricted to highly efficient spells with at the very maximum 4cmc does not.
Although my friends might accept me playing a trashy modern deck, I can't imagine my friends embracing it - for example their view of Commander is it's only for people who've played the game the better part of a decade and have a huge collection
So my question is, whether there is space in Modern for a more casual play style and if so where I can find it?
I disagree with you on Living Lore. I think you might have misread it, it only needs to do combat damage - it doesn't have to be to a player. Plus it's not difficult to make its power and toughness 5, 7, 8 or 11 for 4 which by itself is pretty good. As for Thassa she could be good here too, although I've already got 3 monastery sieges, which does similar things. I suppose Thassa's scry is good for Riddle of Lightning in particular as well as sneaking in big hits with Living Lore. However, monastery siege feeds cards for Living Lore, Delve and Volcanic Visions while also providing some utility.
As for creatures like monastery swiftspear, I just can't see where to fit them in lol.
3x Lightning Strike
3x Magma Jet
3x Mindswipe
2x Negate
3x Riddle of Lightning
2x Temporal Trespass
4x Tormenting Voice
4x Treasure Cruise
2x Volcanic Vision
4x Living Lore
3x Monastery Siege
8x Island
8x Mountain
4x Swiftwater Cliffs
4x Temple of Epiphany
It uses a counterburn body but it's also got fun stuff. Living Lore, Riddle of Lightning and Volcanic Vision feed of high CMC spells. Cards like Tormenting Voice and Monastery Siege pitch things for the former and latter, as well as feeding delve. There's a fair bit of scry too, which makes hitting a high cmc spell with Riddle fairly easy.
Hitting one of the big spells with Riddle of Lightning is the game finisher. Burn spells + Keranos, God of Storms helps us get there. Due to the controlling nature of the deck I'm not sure how useful the board burn from Volcanic Vision is, but getting back anyone one of our numerous useful spells, plus getting rid of any residual creatures, can't hurt.
There are a number of cards I found that I thought could be useful but couldn't find space for:
The other thing I had trouble with was figuring out how to balance the counter spells, draw cards and burn.
Let me know what you think and give any suggestions.
It seems a shame not to run Twerk Off (Grim Contest) in a toughness deck, but 3 mana for conditional removal seems underwhelming.
Another card no one's seems to have mentioned is Kin-tree Invocation. 2 mana to copy your biggest threat, without needing to rely on Assault Formation seems good to me. Even better if you played a toughness-boosting card like Triton Tactics that turn.