Comparing him to Geist is odd though. Geist is an irremovable threat essentially. It is not safe to tap out for Brimaz on turn 3. It can be safe to tap out for Geist. Geist is the card that makes this deck viable as he is a hexproof creature that beats for twice his mana cost. Vigilance is good and all, but not hexproof good.
I think Brimaz is good against zoo, but that alone doesn't justify a mainboard spot...
Against most decks, a turn 3 Brimaz and a turn 4 swing will lead to the 1/1 token getting blocked and killed, and Brimaz just got in for 3...whoopee...
The only relatively aggresive decks in the format right now are UR Delver (flies over, but the pyromancer tokens don't chump well, that is for sure), Zoo (great here, I'll admit), and Affinity (flies over for days). I just don't see him shining against Pod, Splinter Twin, and Jund which are the real problem areas for this deck.
I could see him as a side in for remands against those matchups, but even then, once Zoo sees him they will save PtE for Brimaz or just Ghor-Clan him on their next attack. Again, I don't think the card is bad, I just don't think he is worth cutting spells for. I guess you arguing for removing resto angel/V Clique, but I definitely don't think V Clique can be removed. I'll test out some matches where my resto's are Brimaz's and see how that goes.
Out of curiosity, is spellskite an auto-side in versus zoo? He blocks for days and can eat their bolts/lightning helix negating at least 1 life lost, and when you have open blue, shuts off the whole thing.
I think you may be undervaluing Vendillion Clique. You are right that he draws removal, but that isn't always a bad thing. Against zoo, for example, he takes the best non-land card from their hand and either draws a bolt away from your face, starts the clock on them, or blocks a nacatl.
I think it is important to remember, that against zoo if you don't run Geist, they can also easily remove plenty of your threats...they do run 4xPtE for man lands and resto angel, and bolt/helix will take care of snapcaster and vendillion clique...
Also, while I believe the faeries matchup is not great for UWR midrange, I also don't think UB faeries will NOT be able to handle most of current tier 1 modern and will be in the realm of bogles as an annoying deck to deal with, but not top tier...
Geist isnt bad vs fae either, they have very few ways to profitably interact with him, and no, double blocks from tokens arent one of it, you are still giving 2 life and 2 turns worth of tokens for that, and keep in mind that uwr still runs eiganjo, or bolt effects.
I think this is a key point...If Fae turn 1 fetch, shock thoughseizes and then turn 2 bitterblossoms, they essentially start the game at 14 life...having fae double block a geist and letting that 4/4 flyer through means they are at 10...
There is a really solid chance that you can burn them out from there, or let bitterblossom kill them...
Shrug. If you want to keep playing Geists MD in a meta that doesn't let it work well, go ahead and do it. No one is stopping you. Spell Snare is literally one of the most meta-dependent cards possible. And Electrolyze doesn't deal with ANY creature in Zoo, Bogles, Tokens with ANY sort of anthem effect, Faeries, Living End, reanimation strategies, etc. etc. etc. If you want to be so narrow-minded that you can't realize that the deck HAS to change in a drastically changing meta, enjoying getting crushed each week.
The meta hasn't changed yet, so don't act like you know what exactly is going to happen either. Geist is the only threat we have that threatens our opponents. If you remove Geist from the deck, other decks get inevitability, meaning they can just wait us out. You clearly like UWR control, but I don't think you understand how UWR midrange operates. Our goal in game 1 is generally to land Geist and clear the board for swings, and all the removal in our deck allows for that pretty well. For example, against Zoo, if you remove all their threats but have none of your own and they keep drawing gas it doesn't matter. But since they fetch and shock a lot, they are already hurting themselves for 3-5 a game, so one gesit swing already has them half dead, a second spells game with burn to the face or manland over the top...
Ok, right now the cards that I'm considering the most for my sideboard that I think will be contentious are Bonfire of the Damned and Terminus. I know there is hate for miracle cards without manipulation of the top of your deck, but hear me out...
The only way this deck loses to Zoo, Faeries, Merfolk, Pod, or Affinity is generally a cluttered board on the other side. Otherwise, they don't have the access to the burn we do because we play 12 copies of bolt/helix (yay for snapcaster) and they don't have a 3 mana hexproof creature that swings for 6 on a clear board (yay geist). In those games, miracl'ing off the top almost guarantees victory as we have more card draw and snaps and tempo and colonnade, etc...
Now, most people would say, "why not run verdict instead of terminus/bonfire because it can't be countered and destroys better than bonfire and is cheaper than a non-miracle'd terminus?" There is a reason that verdict is never run in this deck practically, and that is because UWR midrange is really UWR tempo...if you are wrath'ing on turn 4 or 5, there is a good chance you are dead meat. However, if you are needing to miracle on turn 4 or 5, there is a very good chance that you can still win. If you wrath on turn 4-6 meaning you can't follow it up with a creature, faeries will keep churning out tokens and will be ready to spellstutter your geist the next turn or tap your lands or do other dirty things. Zoo draws nothing but threats or burn spells, so you are probably already cooked, and any creature will stonewall your assault. Affinity still has that cranial plating on the board, and next turn they will just pop it onto their blink/inkmoth nexus. Doesn't matter that you have wiped the board, you have already lost...
Now, if you are casting bonfire for miracle and you have anything on your side of the board, you suddenly are ahead on board presence and not behind. If you terminus, you have plenty of mana to drop a threat or counter/remove their play next turn.
In conclusion, I don't think this deck is immune from needing some form of wrath-like effect, but if we are going to run one, it needs to fit in the tempo mindset instead of control.
Essentially, if you topdeck terminus and don't want to play it, you are probably already way ahead. If you do play it, you come out ahead most of the time.
2x Spellskite: Guy playes bogles in my playgroup is the main reason...
2x Thundermaw Hellkite: Good against faeries, but not sure about this guy. Maybe I should cut to a 1 of...
2x Wear//Tear: Bogles, faeries, affinity...I'm actually considering making it a 3 of...
2x Aven Mindcensor: Tron and Pod especially...
2x Stone Silence: Tron and affinity, also pod...
2x Engineered Explosives: Again, bogles, but this also acts as a decent sweeper against affinity, zoo, faeries...
1x Batterskull: Great against any fast deck essentially, and can also help against midrange strategies...
2x Spell Pierce: I think this card is more relevant now as zoo wants to ping you with their extra mana, it hits bitterblossom, helps against counters (aside from spellstutter), kills burn decks, and also can hose splinter twin pretty hard...
I honestly am leaning mainly towards cutting the thundermaws as they really haven't proved amazing for 1 more Wear//Tear and another counter spell of some sort in the sideboard. The main deck I'm facing that is giving me fits is the guy that plays bogles in my playgroup obviously, but there is also an affinity, burn, tron, and splinter twin deck that are all complete. There is also a UWR control player, but I don't really face much Pod, Scapeshift, or Living End...
Would love some comments on how I should tweak my deck for a grand prix, and also how I should tweak it even more than it already is for my local meta...
What are people's thoughts of running spell pierce main board. For me I have run 2 and have loved it. Granted its a dead draw late game, but early its a beast. Playing a turn 4 geist with pierce backup is just devastating vs control. I also feel like its more of a legacy staple so people don't play around it nearly as much as they do snare,remand/leak, and cryptic. Granted it often gets boarded out for sweepers in ago match-ups but ive overall been pretty pleasantly surprised by it.
I think the question is Spell Pierce vs. Spell Snare vs. Mana Leak, and right now I'm still leaning towards mana leak main and spell snare side. Leak just hits more early, and the main scenario where pierce shines is ONLY that play of turn 4 geist with 1 blue open, and that isn't enough for it not to hit creatures for me.
The other time I feel that spell snare/spell pierce shine over leak is when you are on the draw as your draw on opponent's turn 2 play, but the main thing you want to hit there is a 2 drop (Bob, Goyf, BB, Melira, which means snare works better and MAY have relevance late game. The only matchup I really like spell pierce in is splinter twin, as it allows for you to play your geist on the play on turn 4 and hopefully trick them into dropping twin turn 4...
I will say this in Pillar of Flame's defense, it is freaking amazing in the games where you get to side out electrolyze for pillar of flame...saving yourself 2 mana means you don't even really mind the sorcery speed as you are leaving up mana. I also think this will be possible as the battle for the top will, in my humble opinion, be between UWR midrange and Pod. Splinter twin is just too slow and non-reactive to compete with faeries and zoo in my opinion.
In the long run, I feel like a good jund player could get the jump on us via lili stripping gas from our hands or killing our geists and now that Jund is weaker and decks have returned that we can matchup well against, I think we are poised to take over...
Sadly, that means we'll be next to get hit by the banhammer
If you are playing timely reinforcements over helix because of its interaction with snapcaster, that doesn't make any sense as one requires 4 mana, and the other 5...
Also, you don't want to rely on timely reinforcements against Zoo necessarily...all it does it provides chump blockers to slow your demise, and doesn't actually get anything off the board. You want to be using a helix as soon as you see that Wild Nacatl or Kird Ape so that you aren't taking unnecessary damage, so you may not even be lower than your opponent as zoo tends to fetch/shock quite a bit...
I was already in love with lightning helix and path to exile before this change, and now they just that much more necessary with the meta...
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Against most decks, a turn 3 Brimaz and a turn 4 swing will lead to the 1/1 token getting blocked and killed, and Brimaz just got in for 3...whoopee...
The only relatively aggresive decks in the format right now are UR Delver (flies over, but the pyromancer tokens don't chump well, that is for sure), Zoo (great here, I'll admit), and Affinity (flies over for days). I just don't see him shining against Pod, Splinter Twin, and Jund which are the real problem areas for this deck.
I could see him as a side in for remands against those matchups, but even then, once Zoo sees him they will save PtE for Brimaz or just Ghor-Clan him on their next attack. Again, I don't think the card is bad, I just don't think he is worth cutting spells for. I guess you arguing for removing resto angel/V Clique, but I definitely don't think V Clique can be removed. I'll test out some matches where my resto's are Brimaz's and see how that goes.
4x Remand
3x Mana Leak
Now I'm thinking about running:
3x Remand
2x Mana Leak
2x Spell Snare
Also, while I believe the faeries matchup is not great for UWR midrange, I also don't think UB faeries will NOT be able to handle most of current tier 1 modern and will be in the realm of bogles as an annoying deck to deal with, but not top tier...
I think this is a key point...If Fae turn 1 fetch, shock thoughseizes and then turn 2 bitterblossoms, they essentially start the game at 14 life...having fae double block a geist and letting that 4/4 flyer through means they are at 10...
There is a really solid chance that you can burn them out from there, or let bitterblossom kill them...
The meta hasn't changed yet, so don't act like you know what exactly is going to happen either. Geist is the only threat we have that threatens our opponents. If you remove Geist from the deck, other decks get inevitability, meaning they can just wait us out. You clearly like UWR control, but I don't think you understand how UWR midrange operates. Our goal in game 1 is generally to land Geist and clear the board for swings, and all the removal in our deck allows for that pretty well. For example, against Zoo, if you remove all their threats but have none of your own and they keep drawing gas it doesn't matter. But since they fetch and shock a lot, they are already hurting themselves for 3-5 a game, so one gesit swing already has them half dead, a second spells game with burn to the face or manland over the top...
The only way this deck loses to Zoo, Faeries, Merfolk, Pod, or Affinity is generally a cluttered board on the other side. Otherwise, they don't have the access to the burn we do because we play 12 copies of bolt/helix (yay for snapcaster) and they don't have a 3 mana hexproof creature that swings for 6 on a clear board (yay geist). In those games, miracl'ing off the top almost guarantees victory as we have more card draw and snaps and tempo and colonnade, etc...
Now, most people would say, "why not run verdict instead of terminus/bonfire because it can't be countered and destroys better than bonfire and is cheaper than a non-miracle'd terminus?" There is a reason that verdict is never run in this deck practically, and that is because UWR midrange is really UWR tempo...if you are wrath'ing on turn 4 or 5, there is a good chance you are dead meat. However, if you are needing to miracle on turn 4 or 5, there is a very good chance that you can still win. If you wrath on turn 4-6 meaning you can't follow it up with a creature, faeries will keep churning out tokens and will be ready to spellstutter your geist the next turn or tap your lands or do other dirty things. Zoo draws nothing but threats or burn spells, so you are probably already cooked, and any creature will stonewall your assault. Affinity still has that cranial plating on the board, and next turn they will just pop it onto their blink/inkmoth nexus. Doesn't matter that you have wiped the board, you have already lost...
Now, if you are casting bonfire for miracle and you have anything on your side of the board, you suddenly are ahead on board presence and not behind. If you terminus, you have plenty of mana to drop a threat or counter/remove their play next turn.
In conclusion, I don't think this deck is immune from needing some form of wrath-like effect, but if we are going to run one, it needs to fit in the tempo mindset instead of control.
Essentially, if you topdeck terminus and don't want to play it, you are probably already way ahead. If you do play it, you come out ahead most of the time.
2x Spellskite: Guy playes bogles in my playgroup is the main reason...
2x Thundermaw Hellkite: Good against faeries, but not sure about this guy. Maybe I should cut to a 1 of...
2x Wear//Tear: Bogles, faeries, affinity...I'm actually considering making it a 3 of...
2x Aven Mindcensor: Tron and Pod especially...
2x Stone Silence: Tron and affinity, also pod...
2x Engineered Explosives: Again, bogles, but this also acts as a decent sweeper against affinity, zoo, faeries...
1x Batterskull: Great against any fast deck essentially, and can also help against midrange strategies...
2x Spell Pierce: I think this card is more relevant now as zoo wants to ping you with their extra mana, it hits bitterblossom, helps against counters (aside from spellstutter), kills burn decks, and also can hose splinter twin pretty hard...
I honestly am leaning mainly towards cutting the thundermaws as they really haven't proved amazing for 1 more Wear//Tear and another counter spell of some sort in the sideboard. The main deck I'm facing that is giving me fits is the guy that plays bogles in my playgroup obviously, but there is also an affinity, burn, tron, and splinter twin deck that are all complete. There is also a UWR control player, but I don't really face much Pod, Scapeshift, or Living End...
Would love some comments on how I should tweak my deck for a grand prix, and also how I should tweak it even more than it already is for my local meta...
I guess I definitely need the Spellkite in the side, but what other matchup does that shine in? And can we really ever win game 1 versus bogles...
At the same time, that would probably be overpowered in multiple formats...
I think the question is Spell Pierce vs. Spell Snare vs. Mana Leak, and right now I'm still leaning towards mana leak main and spell snare side. Leak just hits more early, and the main scenario where pierce shines is ONLY that play of turn 4 geist with 1 blue open, and that isn't enough for it not to hit creatures for me.
The other time I feel that spell snare/spell pierce shine over leak is when you are on the draw as your draw on opponent's turn 2 play, but the main thing you want to hit there is a 2 drop (Bob, Goyf, BB, Melira, which means snare works better and MAY have relevance late game. The only matchup I really like spell pierce in is splinter twin, as it allows for you to play your geist on the play on turn 4 and hopefully trick them into dropping twin turn 4...
In the long run, I feel like a good jund player could get the jump on us via lili stripping gas from our hands or killing our geists and now that Jund is weaker and decks have returned that we can matchup well against, I think we are poised to take over...
Sadly, that means we'll be next to get hit by the banhammer
Also, you don't want to rely on timely reinforcements against Zoo necessarily...all it does it provides chump blockers to slow your demise, and doesn't actually get anything off the board. You want to be using a helix as soon as you see that Wild Nacatl or Kird Ape so that you aren't taking unnecessary damage, so you may not even be lower than your opponent as zoo tends to fetch/shock quite a bit...
I was already in love with lightning helix and path to exile before this change, and now they just that much more necessary with the meta...