Yup, the same i was thinking. I like snare since it lets me save my answers for other things, but that just fits my playstyle.
If T1 discard scares you so much, then play spellpierce, seems like you want to anyways.
Now, if you want my opinion, spellpierce belongs in the sb.
Conditional as it may be, snare is always going to hit something, since every deck in the format has turn 2 plays, many of which are REALLY relevant.
As you said, answering goyf for 1 mana is great, and lets me save paths for finks. Answering bob lets me have a tempo win, and i can save electrolizes for my opponent´s face/DRS/walkers, it wins counter wars, stops snapcaster, thalia/leonin/quasali/wall of roots/etc etc etc, so its always live.
On the other hand, pierce anwsers noncreature spells only, and while every deck plays non-creature spells, in most cases they are not as relevant as creature spells, except in control/combo match ups.
And lets be honest here, those 2 arent the majority of the metagame.
So just SB for the matches you want them in, and you wont have dead cards in your hand as often.
Still, i wouldnt cut mana leaks for spellpierce if you want an answer to liliana.
And why sowing salt? Tron?
+1 to all of this.
I want to just throw my support behind having Sowing Salt sideboard for several reasons:
1. Hits Scapeshift and Tron decks hard
2. You get to see the opponents entire library so you can see which form of a deck they're running as well as what key elements of the deck (if you aren't entirely sure what they're running for some reason) needs targeted.
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Current Decks:
Modern
Modern Warp / UR Control / UR Storm / Naya Breachshift / ElectroBalance
Legacy
Solidarity / Lands / Sneak and Show / Grixis Delver / Reanimator / Belcher / Storm / Dredge
very good point, indeed. having a dead card in hand is exactly what i fear, since the 2 cards are both kinda "situational" since they have very specific target (cmc2 spell, non creat spell...). I thought about putting it SB (both pierce or snare, whatever will be my choice) but i would have to take counterflux out and i dunno if it's worth it.
Yupz, Tron. As i wrote before scapeshift does not care too much about your t4 sowing salt since it just counters it, and you'll have to be t5 or t6 to cast it protected by a counter. Usually, scapeshift is already done at t6, or if you tap yourself out, it's gonna combo the very turn later. Plus, they usually are careful to field non basic mountains because they know we wanna break them. So yeah, i tested it vs scapeshift but i decided not to run it (i prefer a 1x tectonic edge more MB, taking usually out a plains since i need both eiganjo against pyroclasm and mountain to burn him down as fast as i can... where i SB in that land i usually take out one other land which is always different depending to the MU i am playing). Tron is kinda different (if it does not play Blue) and it suffers a lot from land destruction, of course. Last time i went without Tron hate (else than Stony silence which is there principally because of Affinity), because i feared Pod so much and the time before i saw NO Tron. But last time there were a bunch. At the end, i did not play against neither Tron or Pod, but there were LOTS of people playing them and 4 Pod top8ed (which is a lot, in a very various metagame...). So now i am very undecided on what to do. Which is the WORST cards for Pod? What does it suffer more?
I would never T4 a sowing salt against Scapeshift... however keeping up protection to stop them from going off and then when you have the chance to cast it... it hurts. I would agree that Tectonic edge is a superior pick, I was simply listing decks that don't like you casting them.
very good point, indeed. having a dead card in hand is exactly what i fear, since the 2 cards are both kinda "situational" since they have very specific target (cmc2 spell, non creat spell...). I thought about putting it SB (both pierce or snare, whatever will be my choice) but i would have to take counterflux out and i dunno if it's worth it.
Yupz, Tron. As i wrote before scapeshift does not care too much about your t4 sowing salt since it just counters it, and you'll have to be t5 or t6 to cast it protected by a counter. Usually, scapeshift is already done at t6, or if you tap yourself out, it's gonna combo the very turn later. Plus, they usually are careful to field non basic mountains because they know we wanna break them. So yeah, i tested it vs scapeshift but i decided not to run it (i prefer a 1x tectonic edge more MB, taking usually out a plains since i need both eiganjo against pyroclasm and mountain to burn him down as fast as i can... where i SB in that land i usually take out one other land which is always different depending to the MU i am playing). Tron is kinda different (if it does not play Blue) and it suffers a lot from land destruction, of course. Last time i went without Tron hate (else than Stony silence which is there principally because of Affinity), because i feared Pod so much and the time before i saw NO Tron. But last time there were a bunch. At the end, i did not play against neither Tron or Pod, but there were LOTS of people playing them and 4 Pod top8ed (which is a lot, in a very various metagame...). So now i am very undecided on what to do. Which is the WORST cards for Pod? What does it suffer more?
Spell Pierce is crap in this deck, if only because it's so situational and useless except very early in the game (tested it a lot, in fact, I've tested all the relevant counters in modern for this deck extensively).
Going back to the roots, I've found that an Izzet Charm as a 1-of is fantastic. Not only lets you answer planeswalkers, it also burns random confidants or alleviates mana flood when necessary. It's not an "ultra good" card per se, but it's amazing as a 1-of (not more) because of its versatility
The absolute, definitive best counter suite for Geist of Saint Win is:
Charm is the classic card that can do everything but in a subotpimal way. BUT, in this deck it can do the job. I could try it
i'd go more counter heavy but that's just my bad because i wanna be protected, is more of a psychological thing so i could try like this
3 command
4 remand
2 izzet charm
and maybe i could go 2x spell snare SB instead of something else... maybe grafdigger's... i think i have to find something against GY since there are lots of living end and vengevine any thought?
You know a card that people have been overlooking? Aurelia's Fury. Again, as a 1-of, it can be the nutz, I've "countered" a Living End by casting it in response to the cascade, sometimes a Rift Bolt, sometimes you just don't want that Tron player to cast that Karn or Oblivion Stone...
Plus, it can do a ton of damage, endgame I've often finished my opponent by casting it for 6 or more.
All in all, quite a good card, plus it can work as a super (non cantrip) Electrolyze if you need it.
PS: I have 2 RIP and 1 Relic of Progenitus SB against random graveyard based strategies, hate them heh
You know a card that people have been overlooking? Aurelia's Fury. Again, as a 1-of, it can be the nutz, I've "countered" a Living End by casting it in response to the cascade, sometimes a Rift Bolt, sometimes you just don't want that Tron player to cast that Karn or Oblivion Stone...
Plus, it can do a ton of damage, endgame I've often finished my opponent by casting it for 6 or more.
All in all, quite a good card, plus it can work as a super (non cantrip) Electrolyze if you need it.
PS: I have 2 RIP and 1 Relic of Progenitus SB against random graveyard based strategies, hate them heh
I tried Aurelia's Fury as a 1-of and it felt quite borderline--Ral Zarek feels about as good as it, and that's saying something. I'm probably dropping a Ral for a Cryptic Command, and that's saying something else. I feel like I'll get more bang for my buck overall with Cryptic than Fury (especially since Fury at X = 2 is almost a worse Electrolyze).
But i could see myself playing an izzet charm, and maybe a second cryptic.
Right now the best hate for GY strategies imo is between RiP and relic of progenitus, but since we play snapcatsers, i wouldnt dare get RiPs in, we lost so much without tiago, that its not even funny.
When you Sidebpard in RIP are you gonna take snapcaster out? I fear i will find some dredgevines but that's fine because Grafdigger's cage is alright against it (and it does WELL against Pod, too, which is a deck that scares me), the problem is Living end since Grafdigger's does not work against it because it exiles creatures...
I was wondering if torbor orb could be a good move against twin and kiki pod...
Yes, I side out 3 Snaps and bring in the RIPs and Relic against Living End & cia. I had the same concerns as most of you about the Snaps, but it's no problem at all: think about the times you lost against Living End or other graveyard based decks, you don't lose because of a lack of card advantage, you lose because their strategies are unfair if you don't attack the yard.
A Living End player will lose a ton of time and resources against RIP while you smash them with a Clique, Geist or burn. In a nutshell, they are affected like a million times more if you play RIP than the possible loss of CA that you could suffer by taking the Snaps out.
Good point, is has to be tried.
Last time what killed me about Living end was Fulminator Mage (+ their cmc1 red counters)... how do you deal with these?
If at all possible don't let Fulminator resolve, recurring it gets extremely painful for the 3 color mana base
Good point, is has to be tried.
Last time what killed me about Living end was Fulminator Mage (+ their cmc1 red counters)... how do you deal with these?
Living End is a very, very tricky matchup, but after practicing a lot I've found quite a good strategy:
1) Always, always fetch basics in the beggining. It can be a bit awkward, but in the beggining you just want to not get blown out by fulminator mages (plus you can even kill them for value now!). Except for Cryptic you are actually fine with Island, Plains, Mountain and that way you can stall and Remand if they try to go for the Living End.
2) Your 4th land drop will be a non-basic but, as I said, having 3 safe mana is usually very good. Keep making land drops and burning them while never tapping out, until you hopefully reach enough mana not to worry about it.
3) If they start to tap out to cast some of their horrible creatures, take the chance to play a Snap - Electrolyze and slowly burn them down too.
4) Finally, take into account that they only have 3 Living Ends, then they are only a bad Limited deck. If you manage to Remand 1 of them and Cryptic the other, for example, they will be very cautious as to when to use their last one. Use this to your advantage.
That being said, it's probably 65-35% in their favor pre-board, and gets 50-50% post board with those lovely Rest in Peaces and Relics
The best way to hold them is saving all remands for the cascaded living end, if they have it in their hands, the hardcast is a lot slower and weaker.
Path to exile also works wonders in the first game.
Post sideboard, any Gy hate played at the right time should be enough, just dont slam it in the table as soon as you draw it, check how many guys they can reanimate, if its 2 or even 3, maybe let them do it, you should be able to get rid of them anyways.
Timiing is everything in this match up, screw up when to play what, and you are dead.
I actually tried it a few months ago, it seemed a natural fit. Didn't impress me very much due to having to tap out on T4, which was suicide against Storm and Eggs. Now the meta may have changed though!
What I did like a lot were its defensive capabilities against aggro/midrange decks and being able to own Liliana out of nowhere.
Speaking of which, I think this decks needs to focus less of the "flash" aspect now and more about playing powerful cards, especially because of voice of resurgence.
I don't think that tapping out for Lightning Angel, Ral Zarek, etc now is as bad as before, and may in fact be the best line of play.
All in all, happy about the performace of WUR in the GP (and those Grim Lavamancers look hot to clear the path for Geist easily!) and of Modern in general, Melira Pod is a great deck to win the tournament because it's unique to Modern and showcases some amazing interactions and mini-combos
So looking at the results from the GP this weekend, Voice of Resurgence and Pod looks to be very strong right now. Spell Snare seems like a great way to stop it. Thoughts?
Well, if its artifact hate for pod, y think Damping Matrix is better than cage.
Tron isnt that much of a worry for us, i dont think land destruction in the SB is really necessary agaisnt GR, and agaisnt UW they wont let you resolve that.
Stony silence is still the best card to slow them down enough for geist to win.
Just pack a few snares for pyroclasm and the game is ours.
Even so, mindsensor is a good card to have, but i dont know if MB is the way yet, could be.
On lightning angel, i dont think it fits this deck actually. LA may be the correct choice in a more controlish build, since you dont run other creatures (besides snap) so Restoration´s blink is kinda usless to them. Here it has a lot more valuable since we run other cratures, like geist, glique, and so on.
Round 1 vs. UB Mill: 2-1
This was a really weird match. The last thing I was expecting to play was a dedicated mill deck. Game 1 he hit me with a turn 2 Glimpse the Unthinkable, and Extirpated my Snapcasters turn 3. I got out a turn 3 Geist, which got one good swing in before getting hit with a Geth's Verdict. Turn 5 he hits me with Haunting Echoes. Luckily I'm holding 2 Lightning Helix and 2 Lightning Bolt, and there was no burn in my graveyard, so he basically just got everything that wasn't burn out of my way so I was that much more likely to topdeck the single burn spell I needed to kill him. Game 2 I boarded out all of my Paths for more counters (Negate and Counterflux) and lost from a turn 1 double Archive Trap when I tried to fetch, flollowed by a turn 2 Mesmeric Orb. Game 3 I boarded out the Izzet Charms for Wear//Tear because that Orb was annoying. I was happy I did, because game 3 he dropped another turn 2 Orb, which I mana leaked, followed by a turn 3 Orb, which I hit with Wear. I don't remember the details, after that, but I ended up winning easily with a couple of Geist swings and some burn. 1-0
Round 2 vs. Mono Red Dragonstorm: 2-0
This guy has a truly terrible Dragonstorm deck that occasionally wins because of maindeck Blood Moon and Magus of the Moon, both of which he can get out turn 1 pretty easily with his rituals. Turn 1 Koth is also not unheard of and a pain to deal with. Fortunately, I've played him a few times before and knew to fetch for my basic lands ASAP. Game 1 I pathed his first turn Magus, Helixed his second turn Magus, and by then had a planes and two Islands and was able to play through his turn 3 Blood Moon. Game 2 I only got out a planes and no Islands before he stuck his Moon, but that was enough for me to burn out his Koth and drop a Restoration Angel. After that it was a trivial matter to win with Resto beats before he could assemble his combo. 2-0
Round 3 vs. Wbr Martyr: 2-1
This is a tough matchup for me. If I can keep him under 30 life long enough he eventually runs out of gas and at that point it doesn't much matter what I kill him with. But if he ever makes it to 30, I can rarely stop his 6/6 flying lifelinking Ascendants. Game 1 I got turn 3 Geist, which is usually enough to win this matchup for me, but he got wrathed on my opponent's turn. After that he gained a lot of life and got out a big ascendant. I actually managed to kill it by flashing in a Resto to block, blinking my snapcaster to flashback a Lightning Helix on it. Unfortunately, he was at 60 some life by then, and was still able to finish me off with Squadron Hawks long before I could do that much damage. Game 2 I took out all of my Snapcasters, Mana leaks, and Izzet Charms for Rest in Peace, Supreme Verdict, Counterflux, and Sowing Salt (a techy choice, but his only black source is Godless Shrine). Fortunately, he continued to play around the soft counters that I'd sided out. Games 2 and 3 I had multiple Geists in my starting hand, so I had no fear dropping him turn 3, which is usually enough to keep him off 30 life and whittle him down. My only real worry was going to time, and that worry did cause me to overextend a little, but it paid off in the end. 3-0
Round 4 vs. RG Tron: 2-1
Game 1 I got him down to 1 life before he got Emrakul and won. Took out my Paths, Izzet Charms, and Remands for Negates, Sowing Salts, Stony Silences, Wear//Tears, and my fourth Tectonic Edge. I then proceded to not see any of the cards I sided in either game, and won both with good old-fashioned beats and burn. I would go into more detail, but I feel like this is a pretty straightforward matchup. You either kill the other guy before he gets out Ermrakul or you don't. 4-0
Ultimately, there are a few things I learned this week. First of all, when you sideboard out Izzet Charm every single round, it's a sign it doesn't belong in the deck. Second, in my metagame it is absolutely worth it to run as much burn as possible. Considering adding a fourth Electrolyze. And finally, I play tempo much better than I play control. Last week I tried the more controlling build based on Unwin's list, with the Cryptics and Revelations... went 0-4. This week, I went back to the more aggresive tempoish version, and went 4-0. Obviously my local meta was a big contributing factor, but it's become clear to me that I am much better at evaluating what to counter or remove at what time when I can present a quick clock. I have a much harder time of it when I have to play the long game.
EDIT:
On the subject of sideboard choices, I find Stony Silence to be sufficient pod hate. It shuts down their combo enabler, and we have more than enough removal to deal with everything else, in my experience, plus it helps aginst Tron by slowing them down, and on the off chance you run into someone still trying to make Eggs work it'll be great there. Rest in Peace is amazing graveyard hate for me. Sure, it hurts our Snapcasters, but it completely shuts down graveyard based decks. Well worth the tradeoff if you ask me. For nonbasic land hate, I like 1 extra Tectonic Edge and 2 Sowing Salt. Sowing Salt forces Tron to play fair, and can also keep decks that splash a color with nothing but shocklands off that color.
"I am confident that if anyone actually
penetrates our facades, even the most
perceptive would still be fundamentally
unprepared for the truth of House Dimir."
A. How does the deck deal with this card? If GoST dies, though unlikely to this card, how do we fix this?
B. Does Spotlight even see play in Modern?
Good news--Glaring Spotlight sees basically no Modern play!
If you do see it, though, you'll probably have to plow through it. Sometimes, you're dubiously lucky enough to not draw Traft. Other times, he'll get targeted, and you'll want a Batterskull or something. Heck, them popping the Spotlight for some crucial Hexproof can be problematic enough.
A. How does the deck deal with this card? If GoST dies, though unlikely to this card, how do we fix this?
B. Does Spotlight even see play in Modern?
Lol @ Glaring Spotlight xDDDD
Don't worry, I'll be very happy if anyone brings a card to deal (not kill) Geist, since that's a straight 2x1 (glaring + bolt or whatever). Look, we don't NEED Mr. Traft at all to win, it's just that when it resolves it's brutal against 90% of Modern's decks and single handedly wins you matches.
But winning with Colonnades and burn is very, very common too, and you should be glad that someone brings such a bad card against you
PS: no, I have never seen it played in Modern, ever
I know i already have counterflux in SB but cmc3 is kinda heavy against scape and twin when they always have at leat 1 counter (so we need to have 2 of them, and mana open for casting both)
I think you're forgetting that Counterflux can't be countered. They try and Scapeshift and you're holding that? Doesn't matter how many counters they have. Now if you're talking about Mindcensor, then yes, you'd need extra counters. Makes me think Counterflux is better in that matchup.
Yep, counterflux is great against Scape, and personally I have removed my Sowing Salts from the SB and substituted them with
1x Tectonic Edge
1x Surgical Extraction
I think this package is much more solid against Scapeshift (removing a Valakut with Surgical or even a Stomping Grounds can be gg) and Tron, since having 3 Tectonics after SB is great on its own and you can cause the same effect as Sowing Salt with Surgical at the cost of 0 mana and 2 life (and easily Snapcasterable)
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+1 to all of this.
I want to just throw my support behind having Sowing Salt sideboard for several reasons:
1. Hits Scapeshift and Tron decks hard
2. You get to see the opponents entire library so you can see which form of a deck they're running as well as what key elements of the deck (if you aren't entirely sure what they're running for some reason) needs targeted.
Modern Warp / UR Control / UR Storm / Naya Breachshift / ElectroBalance
Solidarity / Lands / Sneak and Show / Grixis Delver / Reanimator / Belcher / Storm / Dredge
I would never T4 a sowing salt against Scapeshift... however keeping up protection to stop them from going off and then when you have the chance to cast it... it hurts. I would agree that Tectonic edge is a superior pick, I was simply listing decks that don't like you casting them.
Against Kiki-Pod, Suppression Field.
Modern Warp / UR Control / UR Storm / Naya Breachshift / ElectroBalance
Solidarity / Lands / Sneak and Show / Grixis Delver / Reanimator / Belcher / Storm / Dredge
Spell Pierce is crap in this deck, if only because it's so situational and useless except very early in the game (tested it a lot, in fact, I've tested all the relevant counters in modern for this deck extensively).
Going back to the roots, I've found that an Izzet Charm as a 1-of is fantastic. Not only lets you answer planeswalkers, it also burns random confidants or alleviates mana flood when necessary. It's not an "ultra good" card per se, but it's amazing as a 1-of (not more) because of its versatility
The absolute, definitive best counter suite for Geist of Saint Win is:
For the rest you want proactive cards and disruptive creatures that can put some pressure
You know a card that people have been overlooking? Aurelia's Fury. Again, as a 1-of, it can be the nutz, I've "countered" a Living End by casting it in response to the cascade, sometimes a Rift Bolt, sometimes you just don't want that Tron player to cast that Karn or Oblivion Stone...
Plus, it can do a ton of damage, endgame I've often finished my opponent by casting it for 6 or more.
All in all, quite a good card, plus it can work as a super (non cantrip) Electrolyze if you need it.
PS: I have 2 RIP and 1 Relic of Progenitus SB against random graveyard based strategies, hate them heh
I tried Aurelia's Fury as a 1-of and it felt quite borderline--Ral Zarek feels about as good as it, and that's saying something. I'm probably dropping a Ral for a Cryptic Command, and that's saying something else. I feel like I'll get more bang for my buck overall with Cryptic than Fury (especially since Fury at X = 2 is almost a worse Electrolyze).
That actually looks like a pretty solid counter suite to me.
Mine looks simething like
But i could see myself playing an izzet charm, and maybe a second cryptic.
Right now the best hate for GY strategies imo is between RiP and relic of progenitus, but since we play snapcatsers, i wouldnt dare get RiPs in, we lost so much without tiago, that its not even funny.
Yes, I side out 3 Snaps and bring in the RIPs and Relic against Living End & cia. I had the same concerns as most of you about the Snaps, but it's no problem at all: think about the times you lost against Living End or other graveyard based decks, you don't lose because of a lack of card advantage, you lose because their strategies are unfair if you don't attack the yard.
A Living End player will lose a ton of time and resources against RIP while you smash them with a Clique, Geist or burn. In a nutshell, they are affected like a million times more if you play RIP than the possible loss of CA that you could suffer by taking the Snaps out.
If at all possible don't let Fulminator resolve, recurring it gets extremely painful for the 3 color mana base
XXXX
Modern
URTwinRU R.I.P.
EDH
WUGRoon of the Hidden RealmWUG
Living End is a very, very tricky matchup, but after practicing a lot I've found quite a good strategy:
1) Always, always fetch basics in the beggining. It can be a bit awkward, but in the beggining you just want to not get blown out by fulminator mages (plus you can even kill them for value now!). Except for Cryptic you are actually fine with Island, Plains, Mountain and that way you can stall and Remand if they try to go for the Living End.
2) Your 4th land drop will be a non-basic but, as I said, having 3 safe mana is usually very good. Keep making land drops and burning them while never tapping out, until you hopefully reach enough mana not to worry about it.
3) If they start to tap out to cast some of their horrible creatures, take the chance to play a Snap - Electrolyze and slowly burn them down too.
4) Finally, take into account that they only have 3 Living Ends, then they are only a bad Limited deck. If you manage to Remand 1 of them and Cryptic the other, for example, they will be very cautious as to when to use their last one. Use this to your advantage.
That being said, it's probably 65-35% in their favor pre-board, and gets 50-50% post board with those lovely Rest in Peaces and Relics
I'm not sure clique is that good since they can just cast violent outburst when you tap out to cast clique.
Path to exile also works wonders in the first game.
Post sideboard, any Gy hate played at the right time should be enough, just dont slam it in the table as soon as you draw it, check how many guys they can reanimate, if its 2 or even 3, maybe let them do it, you should be able to get rid of them anyways.
Timiing is everything in this match up, screw up when to play what, and you are dead.
I actually tried it a few months ago, it seemed a natural fit. Didn't impress me very much due to having to tap out on T4, which was suicide against Storm and Eggs. Now the meta may have changed though!
What I did like a lot were its defensive capabilities against aggro/midrange decks and being able to own Liliana out of nowhere.
Speaking of which, I think this decks needs to focus less of the "flash" aspect now and more about playing powerful cards, especially because of voice of resurgence.
I don't think that tapping out for Lightning Angel, Ral Zarek, etc now is as bad as before, and may in fact be the best line of play.
All in all, happy about the performace of WUR in the GP (and those Grim Lavamancers look hot to clear the path for Geist easily!) and of Modern in general, Melira Pod is a great deck to win the tournament because it's unique to Modern and showcases some amazing interactions and mini-combos
Cheers!
Tron isnt that much of a worry for us, i dont think land destruction in the SB is really necessary agaisnt GR, and agaisnt UW they wont let you resolve that.
Stony silence is still the best card to slow them down enough for geist to win.
Just pack a few snares for pyroclasm and the game is ours.
Even so, mindsensor is a good card to have, but i dont know if MB is the way yet, could be.
On lightning angel, i dont think it fits this deck actually. LA may be the correct choice in a more controlish build, since you dont run other creatures (besides snap) so Restoration´s blink is kinda usless to them. Here it has a lot more valuable since we run other cratures, like geist, glique, and so on.
4 Arid Mesa
4 Celestial Colonnade
1 Eiganjo Castle
2 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
3 Tectonic Edge
4 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Restoration Angel
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Vendilion Clique
Instants:
3 Electrolyze
2 Izzet Charm
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
2 Mana Leak
4 Path to Exile
3 Remand
2 Counterflux
2 Negate
2 Rest in Peace
2 Sowing Salt
2 Stony Silence
2 Supreme Verdict
1 Tectonic Edge
2 Wear//Tear
My (rushed) report for anyone who's interested.
This was a really weird match. The last thing I was expecting to play was a dedicated mill deck. Game 1 he hit me with a turn 2 Glimpse the Unthinkable, and Extirpated my Snapcasters turn 3. I got out a turn 3 Geist, which got one good swing in before getting hit with a Geth's Verdict. Turn 5 he hits me with Haunting Echoes. Luckily I'm holding 2 Lightning Helix and 2 Lightning Bolt, and there was no burn in my graveyard, so he basically just got everything that wasn't burn out of my way so I was that much more likely to topdeck the single burn spell I needed to kill him. Game 2 I boarded out all of my Paths for more counters (Negate and Counterflux) and lost from a turn 1 double Archive Trap when I tried to fetch, flollowed by a turn 2 Mesmeric Orb. Game 3 I boarded out the Izzet Charms for Wear//Tear because that Orb was annoying. I was happy I did, because game 3 he dropped another turn 2 Orb, which I mana leaked, followed by a turn 3 Orb, which I hit with Wear. I don't remember the details, after that, but I ended up winning easily with a couple of Geist swings and some burn. 1-0
Round 2 vs. Mono Red Dragonstorm: 2-0
This guy has a truly terrible Dragonstorm deck that occasionally wins because of maindeck Blood Moon and Magus of the Moon, both of which he can get out turn 1 pretty easily with his rituals. Turn 1 Koth is also not unheard of and a pain to deal with. Fortunately, I've played him a few times before and knew to fetch for my basic lands ASAP. Game 1 I pathed his first turn Magus, Helixed his second turn Magus, and by then had a planes and two Islands and was able to play through his turn 3 Blood Moon. Game 2 I only got out a planes and no Islands before he stuck his Moon, but that was enough for me to burn out his Koth and drop a Restoration Angel. After that it was a trivial matter to win with Resto beats before he could assemble his combo. 2-0
Round 3 vs. Wbr Martyr: 2-1
This is a tough matchup for me. If I can keep him under 30 life long enough he eventually runs out of gas and at that point it doesn't much matter what I kill him with. But if he ever makes it to 30, I can rarely stop his 6/6 flying lifelinking Ascendants. Game 1 I got turn 3 Geist, which is usually enough to win this matchup for me, but he got wrathed on my opponent's turn. After that he gained a lot of life and got out a big ascendant. I actually managed to kill it by flashing in a Resto to block, blinking my snapcaster to flashback a Lightning Helix on it. Unfortunately, he was at 60 some life by then, and was still able to finish me off with Squadron Hawks long before I could do that much damage. Game 2 I took out all of my Snapcasters, Mana leaks, and Izzet Charms for Rest in Peace, Supreme Verdict, Counterflux, and Sowing Salt (a techy choice, but his only black source is Godless Shrine). Fortunately, he continued to play around the soft counters that I'd sided out. Games 2 and 3 I had multiple Geists in my starting hand, so I had no fear dropping him turn 3, which is usually enough to keep him off 30 life and whittle him down. My only real worry was going to time, and that worry did cause me to overextend a little, but it paid off in the end. 3-0
Round 4 vs. RG Tron: 2-1
Game 1 I got him down to 1 life before he got Emrakul and won. Took out my Paths, Izzet Charms, and Remands for Negates, Sowing Salts, Stony Silences, Wear//Tears, and my fourth Tectonic Edge. I then proceded to not see any of the cards I sided in either game, and won both with good old-fashioned beats and burn. I would go into more detail, but I feel like this is a pretty straightforward matchup. You either kill the other guy before he gets out Ermrakul or you don't. 4-0
Ultimately, there are a few things I learned this week. First of all, when you sideboard out Izzet Charm every single round, it's a sign it doesn't belong in the deck. Second, in my metagame it is absolutely worth it to run as much burn as possible. Considering adding a fourth Electrolyze. And finally, I play tempo much better than I play control. Last week I tried the more controlling build based on Unwin's list, with the Cryptics and Revelations... went 0-4. This week, I went back to the more aggresive tempoish version, and went 4-0. Obviously my local meta was a big contributing factor, but it's become clear to me that I am much better at evaluating what to counter or remove at what time when I can present a quick clock. I have a much harder time of it when I have to play the long game.
EDIT:
On the subject of sideboard choices, I find Stony Silence to be sufficient pod hate. It shuts down their combo enabler, and we have more than enough removal to deal with everything else, in my experience, plus it helps aginst Tron by slowing them down, and on the off chance you run into someone still trying to make Eggs work it'll be great there. Rest in Peace is amazing graveyard hate for me. Sure, it hurts our Snapcasters, but it completely shuts down graveyard based decks. Well worth the tradeoff if you ask me. For nonbasic land hate, I like 1 extra Tectonic Edge and 2 Sowing Salt. Sowing Salt forces Tron to play fair, and can also keep decks that splash a color with nothing but shocklands off that color.
"I am confident that if anyone actually
penetrates our facades, even the most
perceptive would still be fundamentally
unprepared for the truth of House Dimir."
A. How does the deck deal with this card? If GoST dies, though unlikely to this card, how do we fix this?
B. Does Spotlight even see play in Modern?
Good news--Glaring Spotlight sees basically no Modern play!
If you do see it, though, you'll probably have to plow through it. Sometimes, you're dubiously lucky enough to not draw Traft. Other times, he'll get targeted, and you'll want a Batterskull or something. Heck, them popping the Spotlight for some crucial Hexproof can be problematic enough.
Lol @ Glaring Spotlight xDDDD
Don't worry, I'll be very happy if anyone brings a card to deal (not kill) Geist, since that's a straight 2x1 (glaring + bolt or whatever). Look, we don't NEED Mr. Traft at all to win, it's just that when it resolves it's brutal against 90% of Modern's decks and single handedly wins you matches.
But winning with Colonnades and burn is very, very common too, and you should be glad that someone brings such a bad card against you
PS: no, I have never seen it played in Modern, ever
I think you're forgetting that Counterflux can't be countered. They try and Scapeshift and you're holding that? Doesn't matter how many counters they have. Now if you're talking about Mindcensor, then yes, you'd need extra counters. Makes me think Counterflux is better in that matchup.
UWRUWR Midrange/GeistRWU
Retired
GWBMelira PodBWG
1x Tectonic Edge
1x Surgical Extraction
I think this package is much more solid against Scapeshift (removing a Valakut with Surgical or even a Stomping Grounds can be gg) and Tron, since having 3 Tectonics after SB is great on its own and you can cause the same effect as Sowing Salt with Surgical at the cost of 0 mana and 2 life (and easily Snapcasterable)