I'm having trouble deciding between a full Naya Pod version and an aggro version. The deck does well, but my creation feels like a bad mixture of both. Please help tune this up a bit. I know the Kibler route in depth, but what changes would you guys make if you wanted it to be a full-out pod deck?
I feel like I've made some weird conglomeration of a Naya pod list.
Card choices:
Hellrider vs. Huntmaster 4, Metamorph 2, or something else? - I had picked Hellrider because of how awesome the early game aggro works with Gavony Township. I had a few games in testing where I was able to sit, draw, pump, and attack on the backs of mana dorks and Hellrider. It's a really janky card to top deck, though, when your current route of play is moving up the pod list. I'm beginning to believe that Hellrider is only good in R/G Aggro and mostly good in multiples.
Geist-Honored Monk vs. Vorapede - Vorapede definitely pods better, but the Monk has a tendency to be ridiculous on it's own in testing. Also, putting a couple flying spirit tokens in the air to block has saved me a few times while podding next turn into Inferno Titan to clear the board a bit.
Thalia - At minimum, she sets the majority of decks in the meta back a turn trying to deal with her which is huge for us. Against fellow aggro decks, her first strike is great, loves to get pumped by Township, and we typically have good matchups against them regardless.
Give me your thoughts guys! Help me tune this deck!
PS - Oh yeah, and I know the 3 Birthing Pods is weird instead of 4. I don't know if it's just crazy variance, but when I was running 4, I was constantly drawing multiples at times when I needed other types of gas off the top of the deck. In testing, I can't give you a definite that the deck has improved running 3, but I can tell you that I certainly haven't lost more being in dire need of a Pod.
Try it for yourself and you'll see that it's fast enough. The power level of the deck is very high with consistent synergy.
Thoughts -
1. 50/50 matchup with Delver. This completely depends on how many Vapor Snags + Snapcaster Mages they find in their opening hand. Vapor Snag is one card that brutalizes this deck. I believe we can make the matchup better after sideboard. Geist-Honored Monk and Lingering Souls put us in the air and I've consistently found myself in great blocking position against Geist of Saint Traft (double/triple blocking not to get blown out by Vapor Snag).
2. No Hero of Bladehold? Hero has amazing synergy and power along the token line, but has horrible synergy with pod. Hero brings power, but power isn't what I've been lacking in testing.
3. My most consistent concern is drawing power. Lingering Souls is nice casting out of the graveyard, but I'm top decking too much in too many matches. More Solemns? Take out Oblivion Ring or Intangible Virtue for 2 Garruk Relentless so we're still doing something on the board even when we're top decking? Any ideas would be good.
4. Viridian Emissary over Strangleroot Geist? Gavony Township is the real deal in this deck. It's easy not to over extend when you can sit on your board position and Township. For awhile, Emissary was bad when Wolf Run and Delver were king. With the resurgence of aggro, Emissary is great again. Grabs our one of Swamp for Lingering Souls flashback. Doesn't have it's benefit negated when being pumped by Gavony. Geist and Emissary both pod well, but we have a lot to do with the extra lands we're pulling out of our deck.
5. Sideboard - This is where I need ideas. 2 GSZ for Virtue or O-Ring might need to come in from the board for some special needs cards (more Acidic Slimes, Tree against red which I think might be coming back with Delver being rampant, Corruptor, etc). Ray of Revelation can be good against token matchups. Surgical Extraction for Frites. Maybe even Spellskite for Wolf Run and decks running Angelic Destiny. The board I have listed, I just pulled out of my ass, but throw me a few more ideas.
I'm glad this is really picking up steam I was having good results with the basic version and you guys are making this so much better
@Dark Tutelage comments - you guys are right on in making those comments. I had posted my version without Dark Confidant and that was my mistake as Bob is clearly better. Bob is pretty perfect in this deck as most of our casting costs are very low.
There are a lot of very good discard cards being suggested. I would mention two things about this. First, this is mostly a burn deck taking the best burn we can in Modern and upping it's power level. We definitely want the majority of our top decks to be great whether its another enchantment (doubling the value of discard), more discard, or more burn. Second is more of a question. The big question really and that is "What is our best opponent forcing discard spells?" Originally, I was going for quantity over quality and I'm realizing that probably closes the door on a lot of opportunities for great value.
My first foray into discard + value was Smallpox. We run off less land than many decks, we burn them for 1, and then the discard, of course.
Burning Inquiry falls in the quantity of discard area, but it does so much with this deck for one red mana. All it takes is two enchantments and we're pinging them for 12 for one mana.
Blightning, well, do we really need to talk about Blightning???
Smallpox is probably the weakest discard so the question is what is better than Smallpox that fulfills the purpose of discarding?
The weakest "burn" in the deck that I could see getting rid of is Bump in the Night. Lightning Bolt and Rift Bolt can take care of problem creatures while we delve into our powerful discard focus (or burn to the face, of course). Is there an extremely high value discard spell that would be better in place of Bump in the Night?
@YamiJoey I like your land base and am going to change it up in the OP.
@SonOfBhaal In doing some more testing (and thanks for testing this with me), I'm finding the same thing your finding that this deck has a lot more power with card draw. I'm going to replace Tutelage with Bob and make him a 4 of. Faithless Looting makes me nervous due to the card disadvantage off the first rip, but getting rid of land packets really boosts the top decking power. I'm going to test with Looting for a little bit before I make the changes. I'm having trouble finding a slots for Looting, although, with some of these changes, I could take the mana base from 22 down to 20. Also, after testing Nocturnus, I've come to the same conclusion. We're not winning with creatures, the 4 mana cost is too much, and most of the decks we're up against have a plenty of creature interaction or better creatures overall.
@Wheel of Fate - I love what the card does, but isn't 4 turns too long to wait for it to kick in?
@Ancient Grudge - Sideboard card necessity and a good start to building one
@Sideboard - Leyline of Sanctity definitely murders us cold. Do we have anything great in red or black to deal with that?
Changes coming in OP so check them out and comment
They would draw, declare that they are entering their Main Phase (or rather; as they draw, explain that you wish to play a card in their Draw Phase, as very few people will declare this), and then play an Instant speed card or ability.
However; you may not use Augur of Skull's ability in their Draw Step, as his ability states "During your upkeep"
If you sacrifice a guy, regenerate doesn't kick in. Your guy will still be sent to the Graveyard, as 'Regenerate' only stops 'Destroy' mechanics, not Sacrifice, or state-based actions, such as being destroyed due to having 0 Toughness. (Yes, I know I said 'destroy' twice, but this is an exception.)
But yes, as in my first example, you could force them to discard the card they have in their hand before they enter their Main Phase if you used an Instant speed discard ability.
Ah, true! I quickly glanced over the card and thought "sac, draw 2 cards / regen" and completely missed out on everything else
Those might be the two weaker cards in the deck then.
@Blackerest Lotus - Thanks for the comments, I definitely had my doubts about Hellhole Rats as well, and replaced 2 of them and a land with 3 Smallpox. I think I'll make some further adjustments. I'll definitely try out Nocturnus, too. Probably -1 Smallpox -2 Augur of Skulls to +2 Abyssal Nocturnus +1 land (back to 22)
I don't think, that Augur is good, because when the enemy doesn't have any handcards, it's dead and even if he has, you have to leave 2 Mana open to regenerate him after the enemy kills him.
/agree on the Augur
Time to make some adjustments to the main deck post
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Personal testing awesome moment of awesome!
t1 draw land go
t2 draw land Liliana's Caress go
t3 draw land Liliana's Caress, Burning Inquiry for 12 go
t4 draw land Megrim, Burning Inquiry for 18
And looking at my starting hand of 3 land, 2 caress, 2 inquiry... I was actually thinking mulligan
@Ignithas, that's an interesting build The only thing I worry about is the reliability of getting only 4 of a feature card in the deck. I tested my version of the list without Megrim only using 8 enchantment effects and found myself wanting a bit more consistency. Only running 4 kills the power of the deck a lot, imo. Without a Bloodchief Ascension, it's only a half burn/half discard deck. With it, this version probably isn't half as powerful or quick.
I do like the Searing Blaze addition, though. I need to work a full compliment of fetch lands and switch out one of my burn spells for this. Too many ground threats are always a concern
@Rambling Simon - The Rack has great synergy with this Nice idea! Do you think there's a card in the main deck that it's better than?
@patomaluco - Smallpox is great. I tried to keep all my discard at 2 or more, but I think you're right that an edict effect is necessary. Pox hurts them a lot more than us due to our low need of land.
(I know the sideboard is short, but I was missing some of the cards and just filled the rest up with land)
Match 1 3.5/5 quality player Esper Delver Spirits (Finkle's List) 2-0 Both games played out pretty typically for Frites. It would've been a harder match, but he couldn't find a Mana Leak or a Dissipate to save his life. It wasn't turn 3 Elesh, but it was Turn 4 or 5 Inferno Titan with more fatties coming. The match was over really quickly.
Match 2 4/5 quality player RB Zombies 2-1 Game 1 He destroyed my mana dorks (common theme), but I was able to pitch a Rites/Elesh and recover for the win. Game 2 He got there very quickly and was able to rip through my singleton Inferno Titan with an edict. Game 3 He had a massive hand of burn and removal, but he wasn't very active for himself on his turns. After 2 full run throughs of Rites, I finally finished him off hardcasting an Elesh.
Match 3 2/5 quality player UW Humans 1-1 AGONIZING GAME 1 - I love it when a guy is able to get his girl involved in Magic. I really do. But she was AGONIZINGLY SLOW. She took 40 minutes to finish me off Game 1 when she should've had me in 5. I was tearing through my deck into the GY at record speed and finding nothing. That was infuriating due to how rare it was. When I did finally build up a board, she through out Day of Judgment which completely took me off guard. A couple O-rings on my guys and a Mirran Crusader backed up by Angelic Destiny later, and we move to Game 2 - I beg her to play faster. I hit a god hand and draw like a champ and the game is over by turn 5 (Elesh, swinging with mana dorks as well). Which took her the entire rest of the 10 minutes we had for us just to get there.
Match 4 4.5/5 quality player UB Control (Mill) 1-2 Game 1 - I'm able to slip a couple spirits through as he counters/kills everything else. He taps out for Jace to mill me which easily gives me Rites into Elesh and I'm able to mega strike with my spirits. He gets rid of Elesh immediately on my next attack phase, but I'm able to get there with spirits Game 2 - BSZ rears it's ugly head 3 times. He has plenty of counters whenever I make a move and waits this time to drop Jace to have counter backup and mills me out. Game 3 - Very close game. My mana dorks live to attack and Avacyn's Pilgrim is a hero. Counters/death to my big creatures, but I fall to mill one turn short of a winning swing with Emissary and mana dorks.
Match 5 3.5/5 quality player Wolf Run Black 2-0 Game 1 - he mulligans to 3 and just gives it to me Game 2 - He ramps, I kill him (yay)
@Panic_Puppet I totally forgot about Mindcrank!!! Yami's right, that has to be a thing in this deck. Seems like it would be way too easy to get an instant win. Help me figure out how to get it in!
@YamiJoey I agree the execution is lacking a bit. I've never been good at putting together a Modern mana base the most efficient way possible. I'm used to standard and just built it off that. Been testing the deck a lot, though, and have never had mana problems once. Reply and let me know a good mix of lands
Also, I did consider Thoughtseize/Inquisition/etc, but realized that I wasn't ever wanting to go to 1 for 1 discard. It's nice making sure a Goyf doesn't hit the table, that's for sure, but this deck does act more like a burn deck and needs/wants awesome top decks. Knowing that, my next worry was "crap, if I'm drawing more enchantments, those are usually bad top decks, right?". They're actually not, for each kill, burn, discard that you draw, the enchantment just gets you there twice as quickly each time you drop one. So for blatant discard only effects, you want something that does a lot more than a 1 for 1 to match the power that you want to have when top decking.
@SonofBhaal Thanks for testing with the list Fun to play, right? I hadn't considered Quest of Pure Flame in this deck, I've actually been testing it in my Modern burn list to see if it deserves a spot. Been sad to say it's a little too slow And Augur of Skulls seems like a weird card, but he's really an all-star in this deck and almost of a 4 of. I'm still debating about cutting Hellhole Rats for 2 more Augurs. The regenerate effect of this guy is just sick and you hate to lose to a Reliquary or Goyf that you helped them boost because of discard. Plus, he gives your mana something to do if you're top decking with nothing to cast.
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Quick rule question - I've always been a little fuzzy on instant based actions and haven't had to deal with this situation in standard much. It's your opponent's turn and he draws a card and goes to his Main Phase 1. Can you immediately regenerate your Augur of Skulls and sac it or does your opponent have priority in action? If I do get to do that immediately upon entering his Main Phase 1, does he get to respond by, say... playing a creature?
I've seen a good amount of modern decks so far, but I haven't seen this one yet. If it's already popular and has another name, sorry! Please let me know and you can lock up the thread. If not, this is a fun one to play
I got this idea from someone on Cockatrice and tuned it up.
Q: Why not just play burn?
A: The interaction with your opponent's hand gives you a better long game against opponents that have survived the burn list's opening 7. Plus, it's a slightly different deck, fun, and often kills equally as quickly as burn does.
This deck kills really quickly and from multiple angles. Getting your opponent into top deck mode in the first 3-4 turns just makes it easier to finish them off.
How to play - Drop one of the enchantments from the package as soon as possible. Follow up with more if you have them. Your hand/deck pretty much plays itself as you continue.
With 1 Enchantment up -
Blightning starts hitting for 7
Burning Inquiry for 6
Smallpox does 3 to them and only one to you
(nearly every spell does "burn" damage at this point)
Card Discussion -
Megrim - The 2 of these might be overkill, but having multiples of this effect on the board just makes this deck better and better.
Burning Inquiry - This card needs one of the enchantments out, but 10 of them makes it consistent and easy. Does massive damage from discard but keeps their hand full for your "hard discard" spells.
Pain Magnification - Amazing synergy in this deck. All the burn and enchantments are each their own sources that set off a chain reaction of more dmg and more discard.
Blightning - As if it wasn't good enough on it's own, it's insane in this deck.
Bloodchief's Ascension - Very easy to turn online with all the burn and the life gain is relevant since you're leaving their creatures alone to swing at you.
Let me know what you guys think of the deck and if you have any suggestions for it, especially for sideboard. Try it out for yourselves on MODO or Cockatrice.
I'm more of a fan of Modern Burn as it has so many sweet top decks and a lot of good opening hands, but Modern Kuldotha Red is fun, too.
When I play this version, I'm quickly looking to win in 2 ways... obviously. Quick strike and multiple 5s to the face. Previous versions I've used have been more creature focused aggression, but many decks out there can sweep or recover quickly and you're screwed when you run out of gas. I still have the most important creature base, but more artifacts and card cycling to keep pushing you into those 5 to face or Rebirth into Bushwhacker.
That's a huge part of the list so where you go from there is up to you. Mox Opals are powerful, but metalcraft can be unreliable when you're destroying artifacts. The 0 cost is great, but Spellbomb gives me real profit when I destroy it. The card in this deck basically reads "Pick 1 effect, sac to do 5 damage, sac to make 3 1/1 goblins, sac to make your creatures unblockable... kicker R when saccing, draw a card" So much profit for so little mana.
Instead of Teetering Peaks land on a single creature, I focused more on group attacks for better synergy. Signal Pest battle cry, Contested War Zone battle cry, Bushwhacker kicker, and Goblin Wardriver battle cry.
The common way of currently sideboarding with Frites goes a couple different ways. We're either transforming into a weak aggro version with Strangleroot Geist and Thrun against Control or we're shoring up our other matches with Ancient Grudge and/or Ray of Revelations. It's common to see a couple Memory's Journey to fight the GY hate that is sure to be coming in games 2 and 3.
My idea takes what Rhinox posted (GW Aggro focus) in The evolution of Frites thread and uses that as a full on transitional sideboard.
Through testing, I've had more consistent wins using this method than either main decking a GW Aggro list or utilizing the original list and sideboard.
Here's a bit of what I've noticed about the deck:
1. Levy's original list is more consistent and extremely powerful. I have a very good rate of game 1 wins.
2. Transitional sideboarding is awesome in this meta when they bring in the graveyard hate. Strangleroot and Thrun rarely cut it, though, which is exactly where the GW Aggro Reanimator shines so much more powerfully.
When it comes to sideboarding, react with them. Game 2, if they're replacing cards (bringing in the GY hate), make the transition. Game 3, if they go back to the sideboard and switch things up again, there's a good possibility that they're taking out the GY hate and trying to shore up their deck against aggro. If you're feeling up to it, transition back. I usually don't bother because the GW Aggro version is powerful on it's own. Game 3, if they DON'T go back and switch anything out, the GW Aggro version is the best spot you can be in as you've likely just faced in whatever GY hate they've sided in against you. I'd love any comments you have on what specific matches are better for either deck.
And now, the decks (tuned very slightly to make the sideboarding work) and the transition.
The Oblivion Rings are for the matches where you NEED removal that you don't have. You can decide what cards are working least for you to include. They work for two reasons. Mulch is the only card that ditches them into the GY and Sun Titan brings them back anyway.
I've won a fair amount of games without ever landing an Elesh or Sun Titan. Plenty of mana dorks and other creatures on the field that get big with Gavony Township. When our opponent does happen to get a sweeper off, we're way better off than other typical GW or Naya Aggro decks in recovering. That's where Sun Titan and Rites become all stars. Oh and we still have 3 Elesh to their 1... or none in some lists.
I'm telling you, test this yourselves and report back here. I get more match wins out of this than I have with any of the other versions. The "wtf?" face I get from opponents when I start dropping Geists and Splicers in game 2 is priceless. I mean, that's how transitional sideboards are supposed to work, right? You make them make their own decks worse against yours by sideboarding against your game 1 deck.
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Avacyn's Pilgrim
3 Strangleroot Geist
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
3 Blade Splicer
1 Daybreak Ranger
1 Fiend Hunter
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Solemn Simulacrum
3 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Hellrider
1 Acidic Slime
1 Archon of Justice
1 Geist-Honored MOnk
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
3 Oblivion Ring
2 Green Sun's Zenith
Lands
4 Copperline Gorge
4 Razorverge Thicket
3 Gavony Township
6 Forest
1 Mountain
1 Plains
2 Rootbound Crag
3 Sunpetal Grove
1 Daybreak Ranger
1 Tree of Redemption
2 Act of Aggression
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Ray of Revelation
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Arc Trail
2 Spellskite
1 Combust
I feel like I've made some weird conglomeration of a Naya pod list.
Card choices:
Hellrider vs. Huntmaster 4, Metamorph 2, or something else? - I had picked Hellrider because of how awesome the early game aggro works with Gavony Township. I had a few games in testing where I was able to sit, draw, pump, and attack on the backs of mana dorks and Hellrider. It's a really janky card to top deck, though, when your current route of play is moving up the pod list. I'm beginning to believe that Hellrider is only good in R/G Aggro and mostly good in multiples.
Geist-Honored Monk vs. Vorapede - Vorapede definitely pods better, but the Monk has a tendency to be ridiculous on it's own in testing. Also, putting a couple flying spirit tokens in the air to block has saved me a few times while podding next turn into Inferno Titan to clear the board a bit.
Thalia - At minimum, she sets the majority of decks in the meta back a turn trying to deal with her which is huge for us. Against fellow aggro decks, her first strike is great, loves to get pumped by Township, and we typically have good matchups against them regardless.
Give me your thoughts guys! Help me tune this deck!
PS - Oh yeah, and I know the 3 Birthing Pods is weird instead of 4. I don't know if it's just crazy variance, but when I was running 4, I was constantly drawing multiples at times when I needed other types of gas off the top of the deck. In testing, I can't give you a definite that the deck has improved running 3, but I can tell you that I certainly haven't lost more being in dire need of a Pod.
Do you love Lingering Souls? Do you want to have good matchups against Control, Zombies, and Naya Pod? Do you love casting for value all day long?
My call to the community is, MAKE THIS DECK AS GOOD AS POSSIBLE!!!!).
Creatures
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Viridian Emissary
3 Blade Splicer
1 Fiend Hunter
2 Master Splicer
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Acidic Slime
1 Archon of Justice
1 Geist-Honored Monk
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
Spells
4 Lingering Souls
2 Intangible Virtue
2 Oblivion Ring
Lands
3 Gavony Township
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Isolated Chapel
2 Sunpetal Grove
5 Forest
5 Plains
1 Swamp
2 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Tree of Redemption
2 Viridian Corruptor
1 Acidic Slime
2 Ray of Revelation
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Celestial Purge
3 Timely Reinforcements
Try it for yourself and you'll see that it's fast enough. The power level of the deck is very high with consistent synergy.
Thoughts -
1. 50/50 matchup with Delver. This completely depends on how many Vapor Snags + Snapcaster Mages they find in their opening hand. Vapor Snag is one card that brutalizes this deck. I believe we can make the matchup better after sideboard. Geist-Honored Monk and Lingering Souls put us in the air and I've consistently found myself in great blocking position against Geist of Saint Traft (double/triple blocking not to get blown out by Vapor Snag).
2. No Hero of Bladehold? Hero has amazing synergy and power along the token line, but has horrible synergy with pod. Hero brings power, but power isn't what I've been lacking in testing.
3. My most consistent concern is drawing power. Lingering Souls is nice casting out of the graveyard, but I'm top decking too much in too many matches. More Solemns? Take out Oblivion Ring or Intangible Virtue for 2 Garruk Relentless so we're still doing something on the board even when we're top decking? Any ideas would be good.
4. Viridian Emissary over Strangleroot Geist? Gavony Township is the real deal in this deck. It's easy not to over extend when you can sit on your board position and Township. For awhile, Emissary was bad when Wolf Run and Delver were king. With the resurgence of aggro, Emissary is great again. Grabs our one of Swamp for Lingering Souls flashback. Doesn't have it's benefit negated when being pumped by Gavony. Geist and Emissary both pod well, but we have a lot to do with the extra lands we're pulling out of our deck.
5. Sideboard - This is where I need ideas. 2 GSZ for Virtue or O-Ring might need to come in from the board for some special needs cards (more Acidic Slimes, Tree against red which I think might be coming back with Delver being rampant, Corruptor, etc). Ray of Revelation can be good against token matchups. Surgical Extraction for Frites. Maybe even Spellskite for Wolf Run and decks running Angelic Destiny. The board I have listed, I just pulled out of my ass, but throw me a few more ideas.
And for burn
In essence, this is a burn deck... with an awesome discard package ... that when discarded burns them... and vice versa
Going to replace to Smallpox with 2 Wheel of Fate and keep testing
@Dark Tutelage comments - you guys are right on in making those comments. I had posted my version without Dark Confidant and that was my mistake as Bob is clearly better. Bob is pretty perfect in this deck as most of our casting costs are very low.
There are a lot of very good discard cards being suggested. I would mention two things about this. First, this is mostly a burn deck taking the best burn we can in Modern and upping it's power level. We definitely want the majority of our top decks to be great whether its another enchantment (doubling the value of discard), more discard, or more burn. Second is more of a question. The big question really and that is "What is our best opponent forcing discard spells?" Originally, I was going for quantity over quality and I'm realizing that probably closes the door on a lot of opportunities for great value.
My first foray into discard + value was Smallpox. We run off less land than many decks, we burn them for 1, and then the discard, of course.
Burning Inquiry falls in the quantity of discard area, but it does so much with this deck for one red mana. All it takes is two enchantments and we're pinging them for 12 for one mana.
Blightning, well, do we really need to talk about Blightning???
Smallpox is probably the weakest discard so the question is what is better than Smallpox that fulfills the purpose of discarding?
The weakest "burn" in the deck that I could see getting rid of is Bump in the Night. Lightning Bolt and Rift Bolt can take care of problem creatures while we delve into our powerful discard focus (or burn to the face, of course). Is there an extremely high value discard spell that would be better in place of Bump in the Night?
@YamiJoey I like your land base and am going to change it up in the OP.
@SonOfBhaal In doing some more testing (and thanks for testing this with me), I'm finding the same thing your finding that this deck has a lot more power with card draw. I'm going to replace Tutelage with Bob and make him a 4 of. Faithless Looting makes me nervous due to the card disadvantage off the first rip, but getting rid of land packets really boosts the top decking power. I'm going to test with Looting for a little bit before I make the changes. I'm having trouble finding a slots for Looting, although, with some of these changes, I could take the mana base from 22 down to 20. Also, after testing Nocturnus, I've come to the same conclusion. We're not winning with creatures, the 4 mana cost is too much, and most of the decks we're up against have a plenty of creature interaction or better creatures overall.
@Wheel of Fate - I love what the card does, but isn't 4 turns too long to wait for it to kick in?
@Ancient Grudge - Sideboard card necessity and a good start to building one
@Sideboard - Leyline of Sanctity definitely murders us cold. Do we have anything great in red or black to deal with that?
Changes coming in OP so check them out and comment
Ah, true! I quickly glanced over the card and thought "sac, draw 2 cards / regen" and completely missed out on everything else
Those might be the two weaker cards in the deck then.
@Blackerest Lotus - Thanks for the comments, I definitely had my doubts about Hellhole Rats as well, and replaced 2 of them and a land with 3 Smallpox. I think I'll make some further adjustments. I'll definitely try out Nocturnus, too. Probably -1 Smallpox -2 Augur of Skulls to +2 Abyssal Nocturnus +1 land (back to 22)
/agree on the Augur
Time to make some adjustments to the main deck post
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Personal testing awesome moment of awesome!
t1 draw land go
t2 draw land Liliana's Caress go
t3 draw land Liliana's Caress, Burning Inquiry for 12 go
t4 draw land Megrim, Burning Inquiry for 18
And looking at my starting hand of 3 land, 2 caress, 2 inquiry... I was actually thinking mulligan
I do like the Searing Blaze addition, though. I need to work a full compliment of fetch lands and switch out one of my burn spells for this. Too many ground threats are always a concern
@Rambling Simon - The Rack has great synergy with this
@patomaluco - Smallpox is great. I tried to keep all my discard at 2 or more, but I think you're right that an edict effect is necessary. Pox hurts them a lot more than us due to our low need of land.
2 Llanowar Elves
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Inferno Titan
3 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
2 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
4 Unburial Rites
4 Faithless Looting
4 Mulch
3 Tracker's Instincts
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Copperline Gorge
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Darkslick Shores
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Rootbound Crag
6 Forest
1 Plains
2 Memory's Journey
3 Ancient Grudge
3 Ray of Revelation
4 Viridian Emissary
(I know the sideboard is short, but I was missing some of the cards and just filled the rest up with land)
Match 1 3.5/5 quality player Esper Delver Spirits (Finkle's List) 2-0 Both games played out pretty typically for Frites. It would've been a harder match, but he couldn't find a Mana Leak or a Dissipate to save his life. It wasn't turn 3 Elesh, but it was Turn 4 or 5 Inferno Titan with more fatties coming. The match was over really quickly.
Match 2 4/5 quality player RB Zombies 2-1 Game 1 He destroyed my mana dorks (common theme), but I was able to pitch a Rites/Elesh and recover for the win. Game 2 He got there very quickly and was able to rip through my singleton Inferno Titan with an edict. Game 3 He had a massive hand of burn and removal, but he wasn't very active for himself on his turns. After 2 full run throughs of Rites, I finally finished him off hardcasting an Elesh.
Match 3 2/5 quality player UW Humans 1-1 AGONIZING GAME 1 - I love it when a guy is able to get his girl involved in Magic. I really do. But she was AGONIZINGLY SLOW. She took 40 minutes to finish me off Game 1 when she should've had me in 5. I was tearing through my deck into the GY at record speed and finding nothing. That was infuriating due to how rare it was. When I did finally build up a board, she through out Day of Judgment which completely took me off guard. A couple O-rings on my guys and a Mirran Crusader backed up by Angelic Destiny later, and we move to Game 2 - I beg her to play faster. I hit a god hand and draw like a champ and the game is over by turn 5 (Elesh, swinging with mana dorks as well). Which took her the entire rest of the 10 minutes we had for us just to get there.
Match 4 4.5/5 quality player UB Control (Mill) 1-2 Game 1 - I'm able to slip a couple spirits through as he counters/kills everything else. He taps out for Jace to mill me which easily gives me Rites into Elesh and I'm able to mega strike with my spirits. He gets rid of Elesh immediately on my next attack phase, but I'm able to get there with spirits Game 2 - BSZ rears it's ugly head 3 times. He has plenty of counters whenever I make a move and waits this time to drop Jace to have counter backup and mills me out. Game 3 - Very close game. My mana dorks live to attack and Avacyn's Pilgrim is a hero. Counters/death to my big creatures, but I fall to mill one turn short of a winning swing with Emissary and mana dorks.
Match 5 3.5/5 quality player Wolf Run Black 2-0 Game 1 - he mulligans to 3 and just gives it to me Game 2 - He ramps, I kill him (yay)
@Panic_Puppet I totally forgot about Mindcrank!!! Yami's right, that has to be a thing in this deck. Seems like it would be way too easy to get an instant win. Help me figure out how to get it in!
@YamiJoey I agree the execution is lacking a bit. I've never been good at putting together a Modern mana base the most efficient way possible. I'm used to standard and just built it off that. Been testing the deck a lot, though, and have never had mana problems once. Reply and let me know a good mix of lands
Also, I did consider Thoughtseize/Inquisition/etc, but realized that I wasn't ever wanting to go to 1 for 1 discard. It's nice making sure a Goyf doesn't hit the table, that's for sure, but this deck does act more like a burn deck and needs/wants awesome top decks. Knowing that, my next worry was "crap, if I'm drawing more enchantments, those are usually bad top decks, right?". They're actually not, for each kill, burn, discard that you draw, the enchantment just gets you there twice as quickly each time you drop one. So for blatant discard only effects, you want something that does a lot more than a 1 for 1 to match the power that you want to have when top decking.
@SonofBhaal Thanks for testing with the list
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Quick rule question - I've always been a little fuzzy on instant based actions and haven't had to deal with this situation in standard much. It's your opponent's turn and he draws a card and goes to his Main Phase 1. Can you immediately regenerate your Augur of Skulls and sac it or does your opponent have priority in action? If I do get to do that immediately upon entering his Main Phase 1, does he get to respond by, say... playing a creature?
I've seen a good amount of modern decks so far, but I haven't seen this one yet. If it's already popular and has another name, sorry! Please let me know and you can lock up the thread. If not, this is a fun one to play
I got this idea from someone on Cockatrice and tuned it up.
Q: Why not just play burn?
A: The interaction with your opponent's hand gives you a better long game against opponents that have survived the burn list's opening 7. Plus, it's a slightly different deck, fun, and often kills equally as quickly as burn does.
4 Liliana's Caress
4 Bloodchief's Ascension
2 Megrim
Creature Draw
4 Dark Confidant
Support Enchantment
2 Pain Magnification
"To The Face" Package
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Bump in the Night
4 Rift Bolt
4 Blightning
Forced Discard
4 Burning Inquiry
2 Smallpox
Lands 22
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Blood Crypt
2 Stomping Grounds
4 Verdant Catacombs
5 Swamp
3 Mountain
This deck kills really quickly and from multiple angles. Getting your opponent into top deck mode in the first 3-4 turns just makes it easier to finish them off.
How to play - Drop one of the enchantments from the package as soon as possible. Follow up with more if you have them. Your hand/deck pretty much plays itself as you continue.
With 1 Enchantment up -
Blightning starts hitting for 7
Burning Inquiry for 6
Smallpox does 3 to them and only one to you
(nearly every spell does "burn" damage at this point)
Card Discussion -
Megrim - The 2 of these might be overkill, but having multiples of this effect on the board just makes this deck better and better.
Burning Inquiry - This card needs one of the enchantments out, but 10 of them makes it consistent and easy. Does massive damage from discard but keeps their hand full for your "hard discard" spells.
Pain Magnification - Amazing synergy in this deck. All the burn and enchantments are each their own sources that set off a chain reaction of more dmg and more discard.
Blightning - As if it wasn't good enough on it's own, it's insane in this deck.
Bloodchief's Ascension - Very easy to turn online with all the burn and the life gain is relevant since you're leaving their creatures alone to swing at you.
Let me know what you guys think of the deck and if you have any suggestions for it, especially for sideboard. Try it out for yourselves on MODO or Cockatrice.
Army of the Damned
Moan of the Unhallowed
Reassembling Skeleton
There's not much else unless you go full mono-black Zombies so you can dump Gravecrawlers in the yard, too.
When I play this version, I'm quickly looking to win in 2 ways... obviously. Quick strike and multiple 5s to the face. Previous versions I've used have been more creature focused aggression, but many decks out there can sweep or recover quickly and you're screwed when you run out of gas. I still have the most important creature base, but more artifacts and card cycling to keep pushing you into those 5 to face or Rebirth into Bushwhacker.
Musts of any Modern K-red deck, imo:
4 Goblin Guide
4 Goblin Grenade
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Kuldotha Rebirth
4 Shrapnel Blast
4 Memnite
4 Signal Pest
4 Ornithopter
That's a huge part of the list so where you go from there is up to you. Mox Opals are powerful, but metalcraft can be unreliable when you're destroying artifacts. The 0 cost is great, but Spellbomb gives me real profit when I destroy it. The card in this deck basically reads "Pick 1 effect, sac to do 5 damage, sac to make 3 1/1 goblins, sac to make your creatures unblockable... kicker R when saccing, draw a card" So much profit for so little mana.
4 Goblin Guide
4 Goblin Bushwhacker
2 Goblin Wardriver
4 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
4 Goblin Grenade
4 Shrapnel Blast
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Contested War Zone
15 Mountain
Instead of Teetering Peaks land on a single creature, I focused more on group attacks for better synergy. Signal Pest battle cry, Contested War Zone battle cry, Bushwhacker kicker, and Goblin Wardriver battle cry.
Swords are only good if you're running 2-3 sun titans main deck
My idea takes what Rhinox posted (GW Aggro focus) in The evolution of Frites thread and uses that as a full on transitional sideboard.
Through testing, I've had more consistent wins using this method than either main decking a GW Aggro list or utilizing the original list and sideboard.
Here's a bit of what I've noticed about the deck:
1. Levy's original list is more consistent and extremely powerful. I have a very good rate of game 1 wins.
2. Transitional sideboarding is awesome in this meta when they bring in the graveyard hate. Strangleroot and Thrun rarely cut it, though, which is exactly where the GW Aggro Reanimator shines so much more powerfully.
When it comes to sideboarding, react with them. Game 2, if they're replacing cards (bringing in the GY hate), make the transition. Game 3, if they go back to the sideboard and switch things up again, there's a good possibility that they're taking out the GY hate and trying to shore up their deck against aggro. If you're feeling up to it, transition back. I usually don't bother because the GW Aggro version is powerful on it's own. Game 3, if they DON'T go back and switch anything out, the GW Aggro version is the best spot you can be in as you've likely just faced in whatever GY hate they've sided in against you. I'd love any comments you have on what specific matches are better for either deck.
And now, the decks (tuned very slightly to make the sideboarding work) and the transition.
Game 1 List
3x Inferno Titan
3x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
2x Wurmcoil Engine
1x Sheoldren, Whispering One
Mana Dorks
4x Birds of Paradise
3x Avacyn's Pilgrim
2x Llanowar Elves
The Awesome Card
4x Lingering Souls
The Reanimator Package
4x Faithless Looting
4x Mulch
3x Tracker's Instincts
4x Unburial Rites
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Razorverge Thicket
4 Copperline Gorge
2 Darkslick Shores
6 Forest
1 Plains
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Sunpetal Grove
3 Sun Titan
4 Strangleroot Geist
3 Blade Splicer
2 Gavony Township
3 Oblivion Ring
IN:
3 Sun Titan
4 Strangleroot Geist
3 Blade Splicer
2 Gavony Township
OUT:
3 Tracker's Instincts
3 Inferno Titan
2 Wurmcoil Engine
2 Darkslick Shores
1 Llanowar Elves
1 Sheoldred, Whispering One
The Oblivion Rings are for the matches where you NEED removal that you don't have. You can decide what cards are working least for you to include. They work for two reasons. Mulch is the only card that ditches them into the GY and Sun Titan brings them back anyway.
I've won a fair amount of games without ever landing an Elesh or Sun Titan. Plenty of mana dorks and other creatures on the field that get big with Gavony Township. When our opponent does happen to get a sweeper off, we're way better off than other typical GW or Naya Aggro decks in recovering. That's where Sun Titan and Rites become all stars. Oh and we still have 3 Elesh to their 1... or none in some lists.
I'm telling you, test this yourselves and report back here. I get more match wins out of this than I have with any of the other versions. The "wtf?" face I get from opponents when I start dropping Geists and Splicers in game 2 is priceless. I mean, that's how transitional sideboards are supposed to work, right? You make them make their own decks worse against yours by sideboarding against your game 1 deck.