Play report from tonight, forgot to take out the Lili and add a Plains irl, instead of just online, and right away I gaped out big.
1-2 vs. Zoo: I beat her G1 with Percy and 2x Souls for chump blockers galore against her swarm. Then in G2 I searched for my nonexistent second Plains but ended up shocking myself to cast Path on her Voice of Resurgence. On her turn. Like a dope. Tunnel vision. Ugh. She won G3 riding Voice too after double Pathing both my Rats. Loxodon Smiter was a big player. Major misplay G2.
1-2 vs. Dredgevine: In G1 he pulled three Vengevines and swung too big for me. In G2, Relic bought me room for Percy to swing in, while Spirits chumped his creatures, just as happened in match 1. In G3, two early IoKs only helped him dredge, and no Grunt or Relic meant I should have mulliganed to 5 instead of held hand disruption. Another three Vengevines. Well, live and learn (or don't). Didn't see Grunt in hand once. Misplay G3.
2-0 vs. Mono-B devotion A Zombies/Griselbrand build. In G1 disruption and removal took care of his Obliterator and Griselbrand, leaving Pack Rat to easily clean up against Bloodghasts. G2 also fell quickly to Pack Rat.
2-1 vs. Burn: Not my buddy this time but a new player. I played cautiously G1 on the draw after seeing a Mountain. Lingering Souls x2 raced him FTW. In G2 I mulled to 3 and then ceded, a new experience for me. In G3 I won with Percy and Pack Rat even after my he Pathed my Firewalker right away.
I feel dumb about Match 1 and Match 2, but again that's how I learn, it seems. I made myself a neat little notebook to record matches in, so hopefully that'll help.
Shambling Vent made an appearance now and again, but neither felt like it was slowing me down, nor saw any meaningful play. I ran into some Ghost Quarter a couple of times. Wargear was always welcome except when I had both of em early. Percy was huge again. Used Miren once as an out. Lingering Souls was invaluable tonight. Pack Rat is really very good in the right circumstances.
I goldfished our decks against each other on tappedout.net and I like some of your approaches. Shambling Vent was a bummer to see opposing me on a late game empty board, which was a game state that came up a lot. Spellskite was also not fun to play against. Grunt was good at getting rid of Darkblast which was also a pain in the butt. Wargear continued to impress as long as it wasn't facing chump blockers. Whichever deck got Pack Rat out first, or drew into more Lingering Souls, seemed to be the probable winner in the mirror. I didn't do any sideboarding.
I may lose some lands for a 3x Vent. It was much better than I expected. I don't think I have room for Spellskite, but it sure would be good wearing Wargear. Food for thought. Thanks.
Another Modern event tonight and I'll write a play report. I made a notepad so I should be well-organized with my match records.
Spellskite and Shadow of Doubt are probably the weirdest things about this deck. Each maintains a high floor against the field and can be a true hoser in certain situations due to its unique disruptive effect. I like to play a controlling style so I will put cards like that in the main if I think they are good enough against the average opponent. Definitely among the most flexible slots in the deck.
That is an interesting direction to take the deck. I like it. Wish we could play a few matches head-to-head to see how our approaches play out. The Shambling Vent/Elspeth, Knight-Errant interaction does look very good. What are your win-cons?
How is pack rat working out for you? For me it is always in a weird spot, I either go all in on turn 2 if I see their hand turn one or I wait until turn 5. Most of the times I cast it I feel like I could win just with a different 2 drop. Plus you pretty much have to run mutavault with pack rat. With all of the other colorless lands we run it can lead to some very bad draws. What match ups against tier 1 decks do you feel that pack rat is good against? Possibly Jund?
How is shambling vent working for you? I played 2 in my main deck for a modern event tonight and I really didn't get a chance to test it. Jötun Grunt did feel like a strong creature in most match ups though.
Pack Rat for me is a strong closer in some games and in others is bait for removal so my Bob sticks around longer. I don't know of any other 2-drop that would win games faster, personally. I find T2 and T5 can both be good plays. It can be a great late-game card when there is a stagnant board state, especially with a Mutavault or two on the battlefield. Sometimes it does feel too slow.
Maybe someone tried phyrexian obliterators in abyssal spot? How it works? Path kill both. 3-4 urborgs is a must?
Phyrexian Obliterator is so hard to cast. I run 2 Urborgs and I would not advise any more than that. Obliterator dies without profit to Dismember, which can be played in almost any deck and is all over my meta.
The deck ain't cheap. If you want to move from the MED into Dead Guy I would start with the mana base and get the fetches and shocks. Caves of Koilos is very bad with Thoughtseize and Dark Confidant. Isolated Chapel is very bad with colorless lands and this deck needs Mutavault to make Pack Rat strong enough to be a player. After that, get some Thoughtseizes and two more IoKs and make sure you have four Paths. All of this stuff dual-purposes to strengthen the Tokens build.
Then, to get the rest of the way there, you will need to throw down for Bob and Lili. I don't know any competitive versions of this deck that don't feature those two cards as major players. I built into Dead Guy from the Modern Event Deck in just this way.
Jötun Grunt is conditional for sure, but it works for me. Maindeck graveyard hate is a terrific idea in the current meta (as it plays out at my LGS, anyway). Personally I don't plan to take it out but I also wouldn't run it as more than a two-of. Some people prefer a more disruption-heavy Tidehollow Sculler focus but Sculler is much worse than Grunt in the late game. Others run Gatekeeper of Malakir which I haven't tried.
Came in third at 3-1 tonight in a field of 16; my LGS has two Modern nights now but the big one is on Monday with typically 30+ players. Tonight did not feel as competitive.
2-0 vs. Bogles: Bogles dies to Lili and IoK/TS. Disenchant and EE out of the board seal the deal.
2-1 vs. Dredgevine: My deck was dominant in the two games I won and not terrible in the one I lost, but in that one I didn't have the W I needed. (See below.)
0-2 vs. Grixis Control: In this match my mana was completely inadequate; with six colorless utility lands, two Urborgs, and only 23 lands total, it seems I am too greedy. I have to make some breathing room by adding a Plains and losing a Lili, I think.
2-1 vs. Affinity: I had some nonbos in this match and I could have sideboarded better. But Stony Silence + Lingering Souls = Affinity can't win.
Abyssal Persecutor is absolutely the real deal. No way I would ever take it out in the current meta. Sorin, Solemn Visitor felt very strong again tonight. His +1 and -2 were both very relevant. Grafted Wargear is the PERFECT equipment for this deck, and only partly because it ridonkulizes and then gets rid of Percy. You can also use it to kill Bob if low on life, and in the meantime he's been swinging as a 5/3. Jötun Grunt is probably going to die in a couple of turns anyway, so nothing to lose there. And +3/+2 on flying Spirit or Vampire tokens that are easily replaceable is obviously very, very good. So the "disadvantage" is either an actual plus or it's trivial. And all with equip 0!!
If I could find room for a third Grafted Wargear I would add it. It fits the deck to a T.
Had a lot of fun tonight, the deck played as intended and I avoided many of my typical boneheaded misplays. As always, thanks to the board for the advice and collaboration.
In Tokens your line to victory is pretty much always the same; play tokens, buff with +X/+X and vigilance, and swing for the win. I didn't think it was particularly weak after upgrading from the Event Deck base build, but I didn't find it very engaging either. In Dead Guy you have several possible lines to victory; Abyssal Persecutor, Spirit Tokens, or Pack Rat. Jotun Grunt can swing big when he has the depth in the graveyards to support him. All of the creatures can get much more deadly when they buff up with Grafted Wargear.
Other than that, Dead Guy (in the current build being played and discussed in this thread) is more removal intensive than Tokens and has card advantage from Dark Confidant and Liliana. It requires more thought and skill to play well.
Some players are running a lifegain variant that uses Restoration Angel and Kitchen Finks that has a different road to victory but I haven't played that deck and can't speak for it.
I think Strangler plays well with Sculler and Path but I am not sure that is stronger than what we are already doing. If somebody starts trying it out I will be all ears. It occurs to me that this whole opening up of the exile zone to interaction is a pretty big shift, and who knows how it will play out?
2-2 tonight in a small field of 22. I am still at 23 lands with 6 colorless and two Urborgs. I did get manascrewed once tonight with no white sources though. Sorin, Solemn Visitor did not factor into tonight's matches but I am definitely keeping him.
1-2 vs. RUG Infect: I should have won G1 but got so focused on the board I overlooked a Souls in my yard and lost with him at 1 life. So many dumb mistakes in my game! Grunt was very strong in the first game. G2 I took with Spirit tokens and my single Sculler swinging with Wargear attached. G3 he had multiple Inkmoths and whittled me down using Pendelhaven and Exalted triggers from Noble Hierarch. Should have been a win this match but as I often do, I misplayed. IN: Engineered Explosives x2, Fulminator Mage x3, and Disenchant x2. OUT: Pack Rat x3, Go for the Throat x1, Abyssal Persecutor x3 (Rat and Percy being too slow, was my thinking).
2-1 vs. Burn: Finally beat my buddy with the Burn deck. G1 was an easy win for him. G2 I took with repeated Mutavault swings using Vault of the Archangel after IoK x3 in the first three turns followed by Lili. Too much discard for him to overcome, and I ended with 15 life. G3 I won riding two Kor Firewalkers. IN: Kor Firewalker x3. OUT: Go for the Throat x1 and Victim of Night x2.
2-0 vs. Bogles: Bogles is very weak against Dead Guy and I always know what they are trying to do and how to stop it. IN: Disenchant x2 and Engineered Explosives x2. OUT: Targeted removal x3 (saving Path for Percy and the Kor Spiritdancers they often run) and Percy x1. Bogles dies to Lili and our disruption suite every time. Make sure you get their Daybreak Coronet for free by Disenchanting their other Aura to make it fall off, which is an easy twofer.
0-2 vs. Affinity: In G1 I kept a hand that was very very bad against Robots and lost on T3. G2 I held on for longer but wasn't able to use Engineered Explosives or Grafted Wargear due to my own one-of Stony Silence. We needLingering Souls in this match and a single copy in G2 was not enough. IN: Eng. Expl. x2, Fulminator Mage x3, Disenchant x2, Stony Silence x1. OUT: Lili x3, Percy x3, Go for the Throat x1, Jötun Grunt x1.
I could have done better tonight in both G1 and G4, if it weren't for the fact that I continue to occasionally, and at inopportune moments, miss lines that would play out better and should have been apparent.
I am still sold on Jötun Grunt despite the fact that he is sometimes dead in hand due to limited graveyard fodder. When he is good he is really good, and he is always a surprise. Grafted Wargear continues to impress; swinging for flample 9 with an auto-out for Abyssal Persecutor is so rad, and it also really wakes up the Spirit tokens. Tonight the Wargear even made Tidehollow Sculler into a serious threat! That has never happened for me before.
I need to watch out for nonbos like those I experienced in match 4. I think the sideboard continues to need tuning. I am considering Chalice of the Void in place of Engineered Explosives, and I need to go back to 2x Stony Silence because that card is the very best against Affinity, and also very good against Tron.
Sideboarding suggestions would be much appreciated. Especially in regards to in/out suggestions. I often find it easier to find what I need to board in than it is to figure out what to board out.
I agree that WW and BB both are a stretch for this mana base if you play more than one or two colorless utility lands. More than once after sideboarding, I have had Kor Firewolker stagnate in my hand for want of a second white source. Taplands have been too slow for me as well, which is why I went from 4x Isolated Chapel to 2x, after playing the deck for a few weeks. I could see Shambling Vent as maybe a one of, I guess.
Kazal, I'd caution you against considering all of those cards threats. SoLaS is only a threat if you also have a creature to attach it to and 2 mana to do so. Sculler is very rarely able to swing or block without giving the exiled card back to your opponent.
In my experience there are three major lines to victory in my version of this deck (this assumes that our own disruption and removal is functioning as intended):
Abyssal Persecutor followed by successfully getting rid of him, Pack Rat getting out of control (usually only works with a boost from Mutavault),
Spirit tokens flying over blockers.
I have not played Gatekeeper of Malakir but may try it based on others' reports. I would probably try it as a one-of in place of Sculler to start and see how it works for me, because it is so hard to cut cards from the deck without compromising a valuable play position.
Grunt and Bob can do incidental damage but they are utility plays, not game closers (typically). Equipment makes all our threats much more serious. I like Grafted Wargear a lot because I can swing with it on T3 or T4 no problem on Bob, Grunt (when he is worth playing early), or a Spirit. Sword of Light and Shadow is better in many ways, but it is much slower, and if Bob or a Spirit dies to Bolt while wearing it, re-equipping it will be a real tempo hit.
Jötun Grunt is excellent against Snapcaster, Delve, Goyf, Living End, Scooze, Dredge, and others. I really like it, but sometimes it is a dead draw because it will kill itself off too quickly to be useful.
My win record with the deck is bad this past month so take my advice with a grain of salt. Maybe I'll do better next Monday if I go in well rested, instead of after four hours of sleep and ten hours of teaching and staff meetings. (I have great excuses, you see.)
Bah, I played like crap tonight and got my butt handed to me, but I did like Sorin a lot. First time I've tried him out and he is a keeper. I did end up pulling the one Plains and that made it hard for me to cast Firewalkers; in one game I never landed white source #2 and had two dead Firewalkers in my hand from the beginning of the game. I think the land needs to go back and something else needs to make room for Sorin. It can't be a creature though, because I feel like I am already skating on the very edge of enough creatures for this midrange deck. Maybe the Tidehollow Sculler.
Grafted Wargear was very good too, finally got a chance to put it through its paces. I almost think I'd like three actually. One of my UWR opponents managed to get rid of 12 Spirit tokens. He had all the removal that match, as in, Supreme Verdict x3 and Detention Sphere x2 plus the usual Bolts, Paths, etc.
Jötun Grunt was good again as well in the two matches against UWR control. I think maindeck graveyard hate is a very good idea in the current meta. It's not the absolute best card for that purpose, to be sure, but it is a good beater (especially with Wargear) and if you land it in the later game it can really stick around for a while.
I don't think I'd ever want to run 2 sorins. but I think I would probably start with cutting your last sculler. I really don't like the purpose it serves in the deck. 3 percys seems a bit high though so maybe you could cut 1 of them.
Sorin, Solemn Visitor is good but I wouldn't run 2, hes not really strong if you have a losing board, hes only good if you have some souls or other creatures or the board is empty. Then he can start to shine.
Thanks fellas. So... what are your thoughts about dropping a land to add him in as a one-of? Anyone playing 23 lands? It would put me at four 4 CMC cards to turn to Bob as well as lower my mana base. Thinking I might cut one Plains and go with a singleton of the basic white.
I don't want to drop the Sculler because he is disruption #8 and deals with Loxodon Smiter well; also he is a tempo play against removal, which works well if you plan it that way.
What to cut? Trying to keep the average CMC down as far as possible. Right now I'm thinking maybe cut 1 Lili and 1 Percy for two Sorins? But I really don't want to go to 2 Abyssal Persecutor. I run 24 lands; how is 23 working for those who run that number? Opinions, please.
Mutavault is obviously more efficient than Shambling Vents, but the mana fixing and the lifelink make it still worth testing. Being an additional hedge in the burn matchup can open up sideboard slots.
You seem pretty experienced in the format and I'm glad you're sharing your perspective, but I wonder about the Burn utility of a manland that enters tapped and then activates with a 3 butt. Seems like Bolt might make that a double tempo loss. Am I missing something?
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1-2 vs. Zoo: I beat her G1 with Percy and 2x Souls for chump blockers galore against her swarm. Then in G2 I searched for my nonexistent second Plains but ended up shocking myself to cast Path on her Voice of Resurgence. On her turn. Like a dope. Tunnel vision. Ugh. She won G3 riding Voice too after double Pathing both my Rats. Loxodon Smiter was a big player. Major misplay G2.
1-2 vs. Dredgevine: In G1 he pulled three Vengevines and swung too big for me. In G2, Relic bought me room for Percy to swing in, while Spirits chumped his creatures, just as happened in match 1. In G3, two early IoKs only helped him dredge, and no Grunt or Relic meant I should have mulliganed to 5 instead of held hand disruption. Another three Vengevines. Well, live and learn (or don't). Didn't see Grunt in hand once. Misplay G3.
2-0 vs. Mono-B devotion A Zombies/Griselbrand build. In G1 disruption and removal took care of his Obliterator and Griselbrand, leaving Pack Rat to easily clean up against Bloodghasts. G2 also fell quickly to Pack Rat.
2-1 vs. Burn: Not my buddy this time but a new player. I played cautiously G1 on the draw after seeing a Mountain. Lingering Souls x2 raced him FTW. In G2 I mulled to 3 and then ceded, a new experience for me. In G3 I won with Percy and Pack Rat even after my he Pathed my Firewalker right away.
I feel dumb about Match 1 and Match 2, but again that's how I learn, it seems. I made myself a neat little notebook to record matches in, so hopefully that'll help.
Shambling Vent made an appearance now and again, but neither felt like it was slowing me down, nor saw any meaningful play. I ran into some Ghost Quarter a couple of times. Wargear was always welcome except when I had both of em early. Percy was huge again. Used Miren once as an out. Lingering Souls was invaluable tonight. Pack Rat is really very good in the right circumstances.
I may lose some lands for a 3x Vent. It was much better than I expected. I don't think I have room for Spellskite, but it sure would be good wearing Wargear. Food for thought. Thanks.
Another Modern event tonight and I'll write a play report. I made a notepad so I should be well-organized with my match records.
The deck ain't cheap. If you want to move from the MED into Dead Guy I would start with the mana base and get the fetches and shocks. Caves of Koilos is very bad with Thoughtseize and Dark Confidant. Isolated Chapel is very bad with colorless lands and this deck needs Mutavault to make Pack Rat strong enough to be a player. After that, get some Thoughtseizes and two more IoKs and make sure you have four Paths. All of this stuff dual-purposes to strengthen the Tokens build.
Then, to get the rest of the way there, you will need to throw down for Bob and Lili. I don't know any competitive versions of this deck that don't feature those two cards as major players. I built into Dead Guy from the Modern Event Deck in just this way.
Jötun Grunt is conditional for sure, but it works for me. Maindeck graveyard hate is a terrific idea in the current meta (as it plays out at my LGS, anyway). Personally I don't plan to take it out but I also wouldn't run it as more than a two-of. Some people prefer a more disruption-heavy Tidehollow Sculler focus but Sculler is much worse than Grunt in the late game. Others run Gatekeeper of Malakir which I haven't tried.
Blade Splicer sucked for me.
1 Ghost Quarter
4 Godless Shrine
2 Isolated Chapel
4 Marsh Flats
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
3 Mutavault
1 Plains
1 Polluted Delta
3 Swamp
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Vault of the Archangel
Creature (13):
3 Abyssal Persecutor
4 Dark Confidant
2 Jötun Grunt
3 Pack Rat
1 Tidehollow Sculler
1 Go for the Throat
4 Path to Exile
2 Victim of Night
Artifact (2):
2 Grafted Wargear
Planeswalker (4):
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
Sorcery (11):
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Lingering Souls
3 Thoughtseize
2 Disenchant
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Fulminator Mage
3 Kor Firewalker
2 Pithing Needle
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Stony Silence
2-0 vs. Bogles: Bogles dies to Lili and IoK/TS. Disenchant and EE out of the board seal the deal.
2-1 vs. Dredgevine: My deck was dominant in the two games I won and not terrible in the one I lost, but in that one I didn't have the W I needed. (See below.)
0-2 vs. Grixis Control: In this match my mana was completely inadequate; with six colorless utility lands, two Urborgs, and only 23 lands total, it seems I am too greedy. I have to make some breathing room by adding a Plains and losing a Lili, I think.
2-1 vs. Affinity: I had some nonbos in this match and I could have sideboarded better. But Stony Silence + Lingering Souls = Affinity can't win.
Abyssal Persecutor is absolutely the real deal. No way I would ever take it out in the current meta. Sorin, Solemn Visitor felt very strong again tonight. His +1 and -2 were both very relevant. Grafted Wargear is the PERFECT equipment for this deck, and only partly because it ridonkulizes and then gets rid of Percy. You can also use it to kill Bob if low on life, and in the meantime he's been swinging as a 5/3. Jötun Grunt is probably going to die in a couple of turns anyway, so nothing to lose there. And +3/+2 on flying Spirit or Vampire tokens that are easily replaceable is obviously very, very good. So the "disadvantage" is either an actual plus or it's trivial. And all with equip 0!!
If I could find room for a third Grafted Wargear I would add it. It fits the deck to a T.
Had a lot of fun tonight, the deck played as intended and I avoided many of my typical boneheaded misplays. As always, thanks to the board for the advice and collaboration.
Other than that, Dead Guy (in the current build being played and discussed in this thread) is more removal intensive than Tokens and has card advantage from Dark Confidant and Liliana. It requires more thought and skill to play well.
Some players are running a lifegain variant that uses Restoration Angel and Kitchen Finks that has a different road to victory but I haven't played that deck and can't speak for it.
2-2 tonight in a small field of 22. I am still at 23 lands with 6 colorless and two Urborgs. I did get manascrewed once tonight with no white sources though. Sorin, Solemn Visitor did not factor into tonight's matches but I am definitely keeping him.
1-2 vs. RUG Infect: I should have won G1 but got so focused on the board I overlooked a Souls in my yard and lost with him at 1 life. So many dumb mistakes in my game! Grunt was very strong in the first game. G2 I took with Spirit tokens and my single Sculler swinging with Wargear attached. G3 he had multiple Inkmoths and whittled me down using Pendelhaven and Exalted triggers from Noble Hierarch. Should have been a win this match but as I often do, I misplayed. IN: Engineered Explosives x2, Fulminator Mage x3, and Disenchant x2. OUT: Pack Rat x3, Go for the Throat x1, Abyssal Persecutor x3 (Rat and Percy being too slow, was my thinking).
2-1 vs. Burn: Finally beat my buddy with the Burn deck. G1 was an easy win for him. G2 I took with repeated Mutavault swings using Vault of the Archangel after IoK x3 in the first three turns followed by Lili. Too much discard for him to overcome, and I ended with 15 life. G3 I won riding two Kor Firewalkers. IN: Kor Firewalker x3. OUT: Go for the Throat x1 and Victim of Night x2.
2-0 vs. Bogles: Bogles is very weak against Dead Guy and I always know what they are trying to do and how to stop it. IN: Disenchant x2 and Engineered Explosives x2. OUT: Targeted removal x3 (saving Path for Percy and the Kor Spiritdancers they often run) and Percy x1. Bogles dies to Lili and our disruption suite every time. Make sure you get their Daybreak Coronet for free by Disenchanting their other Aura to make it fall off, which is an easy twofer.
0-2 vs. Affinity: In G1 I kept a hand that was very very bad against Robots and lost on T3. G2 I held on for longer but wasn't able to use Engineered Explosives or Grafted Wargear due to my own one-of Stony Silence. We need Lingering Souls in this match and a single copy in G2 was not enough. IN: Eng. Expl. x2, Fulminator Mage x3, Disenchant x2, Stony Silence x1. OUT: Lili x3, Percy x3, Go for the Throat x1, Jötun Grunt x1.
I could have done better tonight in both G1 and G4, if it weren't for the fact that I continue to occasionally, and at inopportune moments, miss lines that would play out better and should have been apparent.
I am still sold on Jötun Grunt despite the fact that he is sometimes dead in hand due to limited graveyard fodder. When he is good he is really good, and he is always a surprise. Grafted Wargear continues to impress; swinging for flample 9 with an auto-out for Abyssal Persecutor is so rad, and it also really wakes up the Spirit tokens. Tonight the Wargear even made Tidehollow Sculler into a serious threat! That has never happened for me before.
I need to watch out for nonbos like those I experienced in match 4. I think the sideboard continues to need tuning. I am considering Chalice of the Void in place of Engineered Explosives, and I need to go back to 2x Stony Silence because that card is the very best against Affinity, and also very good against Tron.
Sideboarding suggestions would be much appreciated. Especially in regards to in/out suggestions. I often find it easier to find what I need to board in than it is to figure out what to board out.
In my experience there are three major lines to victory in my version of this deck (this assumes that our own disruption and removal is functioning as intended):
Abyssal Persecutor followed by successfully getting rid of him,
I have not played Gatekeeper of Malakir but may try it based on others' reports. I would probably try it as a one-of in place of Sculler to start and see how it works for me, because it is so hard to cut cards from the deck without compromising a valuable play position.Pack Rat getting out of control (usually only works with a boost from Mutavault),
Spirit tokens flying over blockers.
Grunt and Bob can do incidental damage but they are utility plays, not game closers (typically). Equipment makes all our threats much more serious. I like Grafted Wargear a lot because I can swing with it on T3 or T4 no problem on Bob, Grunt (when he is worth playing early), or a Spirit. Sword of Light and Shadow is better in many ways, but it is much slower, and if Bob or a Spirit dies to Bolt while wearing it, re-equipping it will be a real tempo hit.
Jötun Grunt is excellent against Snapcaster, Delve, Goyf, Living End, Scooze, Dredge, and others. I really like it, but sometimes it is a dead draw because it will kill itself off too quickly to be useful.
My win record with the deck is bad this past month so take my advice with a grain of salt. Maybe I'll do better next Monday if I go in well rested, instead of after four hours of sleep and ten hours of teaching and staff meetings. (I have great excuses, you see.)
Grafted Wargear was very good too, finally got a chance to put it through its paces. I almost think I'd like three actually. One of my UWR opponents managed to get rid of 12 Spirit tokens. He had all the removal that match, as in, Supreme Verdict x3 and Detention Sphere x2 plus the usual Bolts, Paths, etc.
Jötun Grunt was good again as well in the two matches against UWR control. I think maindeck graveyard hate is a very good idea in the current meta. It's not the absolute best card for that purpose, to be sure, but it is a good beater (especially with Wargear) and if you land it in the later game it can really stick around for a while.
I don't want to drop the Sculler because he is disruption #8 and deals with Loxodon Smiter well; also he is a tempo play against removal, which works well if you plan it that way.
The deck in its current form:
2 Ghost Quarter
4 Godless Shrine
2 Isolated Chapel
4 Marsh Flats
3 Mutavault
2 Plains
1 Polluted Delta
3 Swamp
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Vault of the Archangel
Creature (13):
3 Abyssal Persecutor
4 Dark Confidant
2 Jotun Grunt
3 Pack Rat
1 Tidehollow Sculler
1 Go for the Throat
4 Path to Exile
2 Victim of Night
Artifact (2):
2 Grafted Wargear
Planeswalker (3):
3x Liliana of the Veil
Sorcery (11):
4x Inquisition of Kozilek
4x Lingering Souls
3x Thoughtseize
2x Damnation
2x Disenchant
2x Engineered Explosives
3x Fulminator Mage
3x Kor Firewalker
2x Relic of Progenitus
1x Stony Silence
If my opponent wants to ignore my Mutavault I'm certainly happy to oblige. I agree that Mutavault is necessary to make Pack Rat profitable.