MTG Salvation

Good morning all! I had a question regarding the Teferi slot the UW versions are running these days. I love t3feri being a control player at heart but man is he expensive! Before I make the purchase of one, I wanted to get your thoughts on if/why he’s essential. I currently run 1 GotT in that slot and have always found him fantastic and would also consider Ranger in the slot as well if trying to halt combos from going off to mimic t3feris static effect. Would love to hear your thoughts on the three cards before I purchase.

Been away from the Modern scene for a while, playing Standard on MTGA. While it's been fun, the call of UW Emeria always finds me. Loaded up the deck, made a few adjustments and been running through a list online to get my feet wet again and relearn the metagame. I'll post my deck soon once I get my sideboard in place. Currently running a list similar to Fincown's posted list but also interested to try out @Gerant's Stoneforge list as well. Will be testing both throughout the week and looking forward to jumping back into Modern with my favorite deck!

Really enjoying reading the resent success of everyone running their builds. Such a fun deck to play and it feels like the last two sets have really raised the bar for us. I’ve considered running Ranger Captains but they’re pretty expensive at the moment to justify testing. Maybe next month or something. I’m also still on the fence having taking out my PWs for my latest iteration but I’ve been on such a hot streak at the moment it’s hard to justify putting them back in. Right now my main deck looks as below:

Brought Back has been a positive inclusion for me and definitely altered the way I’ve sequenced plays, although I’d argue it’s been for the better. There are times when I’ve saved a wrath knowing I could leverage greater value by chumping and returning my creatures or even returning them post board clear. Would be interested in hearing any other testing opinions

My current list for UW:

SB is still a work in progress but thus far, I’m really liking the feel of the deck. Three cards I wasn’t expecting to be as good as they were- Ephemerate, Gideon Blackblade, and Pilgrims Eye. Since playing PE, I’ve hit Emeria consistently while testing. Blackblade has been MVP several times as well. His ability to grant indestructible or lifelink while attacking also can’t be understated. My biggest shock was Ephemerate. Don’t get me wrong, by itself, it’s clearly a dead card, but paired with any creature can be backbreaking. The key to it is the rebound effect and the value it provides. I’ve drawn three cards consistently off of Wall of Omens, gained 16 life off of Missionary, and three lands from PE in a single turn cycle. It’s especially devastating when an opponent tries to remove one of my creatures, only for me to blink it away on their turn, gaining further value. I usually always hold one up just in case of those instances. I don’t think it’s an auto include but worth a spin for those interested.

@Dennis
All this talk about a black splash has me wanting to try and brew a bit. After thinking on it, my version would most likely be skewed toward disruption and cheap removal in BW. While UW is my preferred build, I wouldn’t mind trying to run this at some point:

Strong disagree on that point. While im intrigued at the prospect of BW emeria, the whole point of the deck is to use both the land and Sun Titan as engines to recur creatures between 1-3 cmc with powerful etb effects that will ultimately answer many of the threats your opponents present. The power of UW lies in having the card draw, uncounterable wraths, and counter magic. BW would be enforced by disruption, life manipulation, and a more resistant graveyard. However, as someone whose built many a deck around Lingering Souls, it’s not furthering our gameplan by clogging up the board. That’s a card that’s wasted on a wrath and can’t be recurred when we could be doing something better. Don’t get me wrong, I love the card and think it’s a must have in most BW builds, but I think if you go that route, why aren’t you just playing BW aristocrats, Control, or tokens? Those builds utilize the card to its optimum potential, IMO. Otherwise, I’d be an interesting splash for sure.

So as I’m testing, I still don’t like Mortarpod. Pilgrims has been decent enough and makes sure we hit our land drops. I’ve been also trying out Watcher again but have throw in 3 copies of Ephemerate into the build for more value and consistency. It’s a stretch but the overall curve looks great.

I’m gonna give 3 Pilgrims/2 Mortapods a try over the weekend. Hopefully will be a pleasant surprise as I haven’t played with either in this build in years lol

Also, Mortarpod + Watcher for Tomorrow makes both cards so much better lol

Very impressed by the Top 4 finish! Would love to see some of his matches! Still, I’m not a fan of the list. I feel like his wins had more to do with his skill level than deck power. No Flickers seems insane given the value they generate and three mortapods is blowing my mind. I don’t want to give up a 3 mana slot for Pilgrims, especially when it goes to your hand and not the battlefield. I do like the creature emphasis on getting emeria quicker. It’s just so hard getting the right balance of control elements with effective creatures plus emeria ramps. The main area we struggle with is the one and two mana slots in regards to this. Wall and Path are huge in our decks but our other options have never been set in stone. I like Knight of the White Orchid as it plays earlier than Pilgrims, is a better chump and land is on battlefield untapped. It just not as consistent obviously. If there was a white or blue creature that searched out a land between 1 and 2 mana, I think it would be an auto-include. Till then, I’m still staying away from those two artifacts lol

-Congrats @ Fincown! That’s awesome!
-While it’s got a lot of great text, Cavalier seems pretty mana intensive and too slow for this current metagame.
-Have y’all seen Brought Back? Two mana to bring back two of our ETB creatures seems really strong. I definitely would like to test. This could be a great way to get further value out of our chump blockers at the end of our opponents turn (particularly with a wall, hussar, or Titan).

So I guess the site isn’t shutting down? That’s good news

@Marinojuk Gideon Blackblade has been amazing for me. His versatility makes him a key cog in my wins. He satisfies GotT’s ultimate. He can protect a creature before I wrath and can get a clean attack afterwards. He gets me major life gain or provides an attacker/blocker when needed. The fact that he’s always an indestructible creature makes it easier for me to be aggressive with him. The two Detention Spheres has been fine so far. Between the three wraths and my exiles, I haven’t really missed it. The DVs have also helped alleviate its exclusion for noncreature problems

Here is my list that I’m currently running:

I’ll def let you all know my takes as I go on. As for DV, no regrets. Having 2 MB like the classic builds has been clutch against a majority of my matchups. The fact that it is uncounterable can’t be overstated.