So, confession time: I don't actually own a Ponza deck. I came across the deck in a Channel Fireball video and was immediately intrigued. The ability to play big interesting creatures AND lose friends? I just couldn't resist! Not owning the cards, I have been testing the deck to see how much I like it through other means. As a result, I have pretty much all options open to me. Because of this, I come before you with a deck list for your scrutiny and a couple of questions.
Grixis:
How does Ponza fair against Deaths Shadow? I've played this match a couple of times now and it feels fine if I get to go first with a Utopia Sprawl turn 1 and Stone Rain turn 2. In any game that I am on the draw however, I find a combination of hand disruption and easy removal makes the match almost always swing one way. In Delver variants I find counter magic wears me down and no hard removal makes those big creatures nearly unstoppable for both decks. Any advice? Where am I going wrong?
Mulligan:
Should I be looking to mulligan any hand that doesn't include a turn 1 play - be it sprawl or elf - and how damaging is mulligan to the deck in general? I've found that going down to 5 cards made it almost impossible to stay in the game, whilst keeping a sub-spar hand at 7 gave equally difficult results. Is this an error with my build?
The Deck:
I have placed my trial build for your perusal bellow. Please feel free to tell me if anything looks off. I struggle with the side-board, having never played Green/Red before, so am quite open to suggestions that may help my testing continue. Happy losing friends and thanks for your attention.
If you were going to run 10 posts, how would you change your land-base? Presumably you would need more basic lands to make it playable. I found the trick of balancing the two was having enough basic land without finding myself unable to play a 4 colour deck. Quite challenging! My present build just has a lot of land and a lot of posts...
Love your interpretation of the list, Jenncertainty. I may very well give it a go. I am a big fan of the main deck Leyline being discussed, as well as the addition of As Foretold. Unfortunately, I have an emotional attachment to the Borderposts and just can't bring myself to drop them so low. They feel like such an integral part of the deck. Do those of you playing under 10 copies not find your Balances are less effective?
From last weekends Grand Prix, comes this deck from Dan Ward. He took 10th place with it. It was the closest that control got to a top-spot and was surprisingly Blue/White. See bellow:
Hey everyone. Had some great advice from this thread previous, so am hoping to indulge your experience again.
I am wondering if there exists a Simic list for Modern? I came across the Thing in the Ice one, but it's a full year outdated. I had heard that a Simic list did rather well at an event this year, but have somehow managed to miss it. Does anyone know of any present decks utilising a pure or majority of these colours?
Hi everyone. I am looking for some advice regards Nahiri, the Harbinger. At one point, she was ~£25 at an absolute minimum and I couldn't find her for anything else. I am not really a fan of spending that sort of money, so I didn't invest. For the last 2-3 weeks however I have been finding Nahiri at closer to 12, and even 10 in one occasion. Before I consider investing, could anyone give me an idea as to why this price may have collapsed? Are there better options for that spot? Or an abundance of easy ways to take care of her which didn't exist this time last year? I am looking to play her within a Restore Balance shell, if that helps. Thanks.
What a great idea. Always nice to see new and exciting tribal themes appearing. How is the deck handing? From the looks of it you have to survive a fairly long time before coming back into the game, which considering blue is a bit meh in Modern does sound like a challenge. Anyone experiencing difficulty in these colours?
I love the list. It looks very well formed. Do you find that 6 threats is enough? I have been playing Esper with 5 and am finding I often don't get into the game until late, which is quite hurtful.
Question to those running Archfiend of Ifnir, how many cycle cards are you finding is enough? I am presently running Censor but it is not performing and I want to replace it. I don't want to harm my Archfiend though.
Hi everyone. I would like to throw my own draft onto the "needs help" bonfire. Having seen what's in my meta, this is the control deck I want to try. It's not perfect, but it will change as I play it and discover what is lacking. Any obvious mishaps here please let me know, but mostly I am needing help on the land. I just can't quite get my numbers right to hit those perfect figures for all the double colours. Any thoughts? Much appreciated.
Considering a lot of people are running W/U lists, can I ask why no one has considered Cataclysmic Gearhulk? I have not done any testing, but am interested why it's not so far been considered for the list.
Is Fatal Push a must have now? I've been avoiding it due to rising cost (and the fact no one wants to trade them) but it seems for anyone including black you pretty much have to. I am very pleased to see your Esper list working and look forward to hearing about it's growth. I am just about ready to draw up my first draft, which I'll probably sleeve up and test this weekend. Not sure I am going to be ready for Game Day, but will be good to see how Control does overall in that less competitive environment.
Has the development of the meta and pro-tour dominance shifted anyone towards particular builds or colour combinations? Are there any "must have" cards yet for the meta?
Well, I confess I am trying to fit Approach of the Second Sun and Dovin Baan in there, so I may very well be creating my own issues here. Overall though I think you have managed to develop the most competitive list, even if U/W is also viable. If anything, I am attempting to build a U/W list and keep finding that I need either Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet or Archfiend of Ifnir to make the deck play. The removal just becomes easy additions once that justification has been made. I'll need to do some more thinking...
You thinking of playing the Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet as well as Archfiend of Ifnir, or instead of? I am also trying to build a list that involves the Archfiend, though I am increasingly finding it difficult outside of a more traditional discard based deck. Are you finding it powerful enough even with the very few cycle based cards you use? I imagine even with all that draw you're not dropping hand=size often enough to make end of turn discard a thing?
Having tried to put this deck together I kept coming back to Esper. Mostly because I just can't get away from needing an alternative win-con in either Kalitas or Ifnir, and then finding I miss either the counter magic or control of Blue/White too much to drop either colour.
So, confession time: I don't actually own a Ponza deck. I came across the deck in a Channel Fireball video and was immediately intrigued. The ability to play big interesting creatures AND lose friends? I just couldn't resist! Not owning the cards, I have been testing the deck to see how much I like it through other means. As a result, I have pretty much all options open to me. Because of this, I come before you with a deck list for your scrutiny and a couple of questions.
Grixis:
How does Ponza fair against Deaths Shadow? I've played this match a couple of times now and it feels fine if I get to go first with a Utopia Sprawl turn 1 and Stone Rain turn 2. In any game that I am on the draw however, I find a combination of hand disruption and easy removal makes the match almost always swing one way. In Delver variants I find counter magic wears me down and no hard removal makes those big creatures nearly unstoppable for both decks. Any advice? Where am I going wrong?
Mulligan:
Should I be looking to mulligan any hand that doesn't include a turn 1 play - be it sprawl or elf - and how damaging is mulligan to the deck in general? I've found that going down to 5 cards made it almost impossible to stay in the game, whilst keeping a sub-spar hand at 7 gave equally difficult results. Is this an error with my build?
The Deck:
I have placed my trial build for your perusal bellow. Please feel free to tell me if anything looks off. I struggle with the side-board, having never played Green/Red before, so am quite open to suggestions that may help my testing continue. Happy losing friends and thanks for your attention.
4 Arbor Elf
2 Obstinate Baloth
1 Thragtusk
2 Inferno Titan
3 Stormbreath Dragon
(8) Enchantment
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Blood Moon
(2) Instant
2 Beast Within
(22) Land
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Stomping Ground
10 Forest
1 Mountain
3 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
(13) Sorcery
3 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Primal Command
4 Mwonvuli Acid-Moss
4 Stone Rain
2 Trinisphere
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Thrun, the Last Troll
2 Destructive Revelry
3 Abrade
3 Anger of the Gods
1 Creeping Corrosion
(Not my deck!)
3 Approach of the Second Sun
4 Fumigate
Instant
4 Blessed Alliance
4 Censor
4 Glimmer of Genius
3 Hieroglyphic Illumination
4 Supreme Will
2 Unsummon
4 Aether Meltdown
3 Cast Out
Land
2 Blighted Cataract
4 Irrigated Farmland
9 Island
6 Plains
4 Prairie Stream
4 Authority of the Consuls
1 Descend upon the Sinful
2 Hour of Revelation
2 Linvala, the Preserver
2 Negate
2 Regal Caracal
2 Torrential Gearhulk
I am wondering if there exists a Simic list for Modern? I came across the Thing in the Ice one, but it's a full year outdated. I had heard that a Simic list did rather well at an event this year, but have somehow managed to miss it. Does anyone know of any present decks utilising a pure or majority of these colours?
Thanks
Question to those running Archfiend of Ifnir, how many cycle cards are you finding is enough? I am presently running Censor but it is not performing and I want to replace it. I don't want to harm my Archfiend though.
2 Torrential Gearhulk
3 Archfiend of Ifnir
Enchantments
4 Cast Out
Instants
3 Disallow
2 Essence Scatter
3 Pull from Tomorrow
1 Commit
4 Hieroglyphic Illumination
3 Grasp of Darkness
3 Censor
3 Fatal Push
4 Port Town
4 Plains
4 Island
4 Choked Estuary
2 Swamp
3 Evolving Wilds
1 Westvale Abbey
4 Fetid Pools
Planeswalker
2 Dovin Baan
Sorcery
1 Approach of the Second Sun
1 Sphinx of the Final Word
3 Forsake the Worldly
4 Negate
3 Blessed Alliance
1 Disallow
3 Fumigate
Having tried to put this deck together I kept coming back to Esper. Mostly because I just can't get away from needing an alternative win-con in either Kalitas or Ifnir, and then finding I miss either the counter magic or control of Blue/White too much to drop either colour.