I still wouldn't mind seeing JtMS being unbanned. They've printed more ways of interacting with planeswalkers since he was banned and think he would be fine as a go to 4cmc walker for control.
I think Flashfreeze should at least be added to the primer as a sideboard option. I've almost considered it main as it pretty much counters most of the things I don't wanna see like: pod/chord of calling, blood moon/all of burn.dec, kiki/twin, scapeshift/and their fetching, trons filters, choke, storms rituals, goyf etc..
Targeted discard + liliana + Esper Charm can be pretty rough on control/combo. The souls/bitterblossom + Sorin route is great at stalling until you pump out emblems and start your own clock. Burn matchup is a bit weak, but easy to side for.
The biggest difference being you trade tarmogoyf as the beater for Geist of Saint Traft, and you get the blue 2cmc power card snapcaster. Spirit of the Labyrinth seems like a good card that fit the strategy of incremental attrition by denying extra draws to catch up, and also makes Mikokoro, Center of the Sea asymmetrical when you activate it on your opponent's turn.
I suppose the ideal play would be:
t1- land, noble or birds
t2- land, arbiter with GQ untapped with life from the loam in hand
From there land Trinisphere and you have a hard lock
I just like the idea of using ghost quarter to setup a "strip mine" lock, I mean it has to be decently powerful since the card the deck is based on is banned in legacy right? I was also trying to find a way to fit in possessed portal as a finisher, but not sure if it would just be overkill...
went 4-1 drew to top 8 won against the mirror and top 4 just all split
orzhov midrange- 2-0
rg midrange ramp- 2-0
big red- 2-0
selesnya aggro- 0-2
mono green aggro- drew; played it out for fun and won 3 straight games with mb
top 8:
devotion red- 2-0
It was a new meta to me so I just played something aggressive for fun. Still messing around with the shredfreak, and he wasnt that bad. pushed through orzhov for a few swings when all he hand in hand were doom blades. goblin shortcutter as a 2 of was impressive, as he usually was a t3 play letting me swing in another 4 damage with my other 1 and 2 drops. Think im going to test out seismic stomp against selesnya. i can play the control until they start flashing in advent of the wurm, so I'll see if that helps swing in enough damage to get to the red zone.
I have found fanatic to be slightly lackluster against control, only because of the amount of removal some decks are running. I think where he shines the most is finishing off an aggro or midrange stalled board. If you go with chandra, she adds a little inevitability where they really do need to answer her or be buried in CA. If I'm drawing from her, I'd like to build a deck where the draws are a little stronger.
Two sets of evasive creatures is nice, one that recurs and other with protection. Not explosive like the fanatic, but always being able to have a creature with chandra on board is nice and she makes desecration demon not block. Shred freak and cackler could put decks running black removal into a spot where they need to use hero's downfall since they avoid doomblade, and that could make chandra, pyromaster a little stronger.
So first turns setup your tempo with Aether vial or disruption and land dark confidant for draw with all the 2 cmc lords. Or would staying counter heavy mono blue be stronger.
A lot of the RDW builds doing well at States do not include Firedrinker.
I went Saturday and faced the mirror 4 out of 6 rounds (which is just ridiculous) and it came down to luck of the draw mostly. We were always both close to 0. None of them ran Firedrinker though. Lots of Cacklers, Legion Loyalists, a few Shortcutters, and Frostburn Weirds. No Firedrinkers in any of those matches except for mine, and they were utilized against me greatly in game 1. I'm not making things up to try and prove a point, because it seems 50/50 with the winning decklists if they include him or not. I'm just saying it's a bit rude to outright throw someone's opinion in the gutter when the real-life evidence says they aren't completely alone. You can play test all day, but your experiences at a real tournament are what matter most.
Those could have been metagame choices, considering how well red has been doing lately, and maybe they expected to face the mirror a lot. In addition to not playing theirs out when they see you go turn 1 mountain, and would side all of them out game 2. I like firedrinker for his 2 power as a 1 drop and as a mana sink, the drawback is negligible considering majority of the time you are the beatdown and having a 1 drop that can trade with a 3 drop(loxodon smiter) or a 5 drop(blood baron of vizkopa) is powerful.
The game plan is to do what RDW likes to do: Turn creatures sideways and hit the opponent. I also have a plan B running: Build up devotion, then finish off with a Fanatic of Mogis. That's why I run Ash Zealot and BTW in the same deck and no Mutavault.
About running four Titan's Strength main:
Since I really want to have my 4 mana on turn 4, and I really want a Reckoner on turn three I run a full playset of Titan's Strength.
It also offers incredible combat tricks together with Boros Reckoner because you are allowed to play it on your opponents creatures as well. Consider this: You attack with your Reckoner and two mana open. Your opponent wants to get rid of him as soon as possible. Blocking with a toughness 3 creature would be bad because you could give him first strike, so they will likely chump him with a toughness 4 dude. Now it's up to you if you want to save your reckoner and take down a fatty or if you want to pump the fatty, loose the reckoner and redirect 7 or more damage into the face of your opponent.
That card seriously messes up the combat math, offers a lot of mind games and forces your opponent into bad blocks. And on top of all that glory it also sets up your next draw and makes sure you hit your next land drop, you hit your burn spell to finish, you scry away that late one drop that is useless.
You should give Titan's Strength a chance. It's really *that* good.
I think that you hit a string of luck with Titan's strength and that variance will eventually catch up to you with a larger sample size of games. Rubblebelt Maaka can perform nearly the same function, but with the plus side of not being a dead card in topdeck mode. I don't think the legion loyalist is worth it if you're not on the AiR dynacharge plan, but that's personal opinion.
http://www.mtggoldfish.com/metagame/modern#paper
3 Liliana of the Veil
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
3 Bitterblossom
3 Lingering Souls
3 Esper Charm
2 Think Twice
2 Azorius Charm
3 Path to Exile
1 Smother
1 Doomblade
1 Go for the Throat
Targeted discard + liliana + Esper Charm can be pretty rough on control/combo. The souls/bitterblossom + Sorin route is great at stalling until you pump out emblems and start your own clock. Burn matchup is a bit weak, but easy to side for.
3 Tectonic Edge
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Shizo, Death's Storehouse
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4 Creeping Tarpit
4 Marsh Flats
1 Watery Grave
3 Godless Shrine
2 Darkslick Shores
2 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Island
4 Spirit of the Labyrinth
4 Dark Confidant
2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Vendillion Clique
Walkers 3
3 Liliana of the Veil
Disruption/removal 17
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
4 Path to Exile
2 Vapor Snag
2 Void Snare
1 Slaughter Pact
2 Detention Sphere
The biggest difference being you trade tarmogoyf as the beater for Geist of Saint Traft, and you get the blue 2cmc power card snapcaster. Spirit of the Labyrinth seems like a good card that fit the strategy of incremental attrition by denying extra draws to catch up, and also makes Mikokoro, Center of the Sea asymmetrical when you activate it on your opponent's turn.
Sample deck for reference:
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Leonin Arbiter
3 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
3 Batterskull
4 Path to Exile
3 Mindlock Orb
3 Crucible of Worlds
3 Trinisphere
1 Buried Ruin
4 Gemstone Mine
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Stirring Wildwood
8 Forest
I suppose the ideal play would be:
t1- land, noble or birds
t2- land, arbiter with GQ untapped with life from the loam in hand
From there land Trinisphere and you have a hard lock
or
t1- land, dork
t2- land, azusa plus 2 lands
t3- batterskull
I just like the idea of using ghost quarter to setup a "strip mine" lock, I mean it has to be decently powerful since the card the deck is based on is banned in legacy right? I was also trying to find a way to fit in possessed portal as a finisher, but not sure if it would just be overkill...
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Ash Zealot
4 Rakdos Shred-Freak
2 Goblin Shortcutter
4 Boros Reckoner
4 Fanatic of Mogis
3 Shock
3 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
21 Mountain
1 Mutavault
4 Frostburn Weird
4 Mizzium Mortars
3 Act of Treason
2 Seismic Stomp
2 Annhilating Fire
went 4-1 drew to top 8 won against the mirror and top 4 just all split
orzhov midrange- 2-0
rg midrange ramp- 2-0
big red- 2-0
selesnya aggro- 0-2
mono green aggro- drew; played it out for fun and won 3 straight games with mb
top 8:
devotion red- 2-0
It was a new meta to me so I just played something aggressive for fun. Still messing around with the shredfreak, and he wasnt that bad. pushed through orzhov for a few swings when all he hand in hand were doom blades. goblin shortcutter as a 2 of was impressive, as he usually was a t3 play letting me swing in another 4 damage with my other 1 and 2 drops. Think im going to test out seismic stomp against selesnya. i can play the control until they start flashing in advent of the wurm, so I'll see if that helps swing in enough damage to get to the red zone.
4 Rakdos Cakler
4 Ash Zealot
4 Rakdos Shred-Freak
4 Chandra's Phoenix
4 Stormbreath Dragon
3 Magma Jet
4 Lightning Strike
2 Chandra, Pyromaster
3 Mutavault
Two sets of evasive creatures is nice, one that recurs and other with protection. Not explosive like the fanatic, but always being able to have a creature with chandra on board is nice and she makes desecration demon not block. Shred freak and cackler could put decks running black removal into a spot where they need to use hero's downfall since they avoid doomblade, and that could make chandra, pyromaster a little stronger.
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Watery Grave
4 Darkslick Shores
2 Drowned Catacomb
4 Mutavault
4 Aether Vial
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
2 Mana Leak
3 Vapor Snag
2 Dismember
4 Lord of Atlantis
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Phantasmal Image
4 Dark Confidant
So first turns setup your tempo with Aether vial or disruption and land dark confidant for draw with all the 2 cmc lords. Or would staying counter heavy mono blue be stronger.
Those could have been metagame choices, considering how well red has been doing lately, and maybe they expected to face the mirror a lot. In addition to not playing theirs out when they see you go turn 1 mountain, and would side all of them out game 2. I like firedrinker for his 2 power as a 1 drop and as a mana sink, the drawback is negligible considering majority of the time you are the beatdown and having a 1 drop that can trade with a 3 drop(loxodon smiter) or a 5 drop(blood baron of vizkopa) is powerful.
I think that you hit a string of luck with Titan's strength and that variance will eventually catch up to you with a larger sample size of games. Rubblebelt Maaka can perform nearly the same function, but with the plus side of not being a dead card in topdeck mode. I don't think the legion loyalist is worth it if you're not on the AiR dynacharge plan, but that's personal opinion.