Nothing comes close to Kor Firewalker against burn
Care to explain? I have played competitive Jeskai for many years and have always found firewalker lacking. I have found it useful at time in a straight U/W list but not so useful in Jeskai.
Timely Reinforcements gives you 3 bodies and 6 life (plus flashback opp w Snap).
Ajani Vengeant is almost always a 2 for one and is great in other match-ups.
Blessed Alliance, as you say is also good in other match-ups.
Against Naya Burn in particular there are many turns where you can't block with it which is a very huge downside. They have 8 "damage can't be prevented" effects at instance speed and 4 of them grow their 2/2 so it will just eat the firewalker. "
Furthermore, I rarely see lists run this card anymore.
Generally I advise Jeskai players to pack multiple life gain spells that can be flashed back with Snapcaster or cards like Ajani Vengeant which is extremely effective.
Atarka's Command does not prevent damage, so it's just Skullcrack we need to be aware of if we want to block with Firewalker.
Firewalker is much harder to play around than a slow 3 mana (timely) or 4 mana (ajani) sorcery speed spell, because it gains 1 life many times, instead of several life one time. The prot. blocking is of course also very useful. Also, its a clock they can't touch. You'll generally start attacking with it pretty soon to end the game, while it gains life incrementally from your own and your opponents spells. You'll often need counter backup when playing timely or ajani, or you can be blown out, so it may be as late as 4-5-6 mana. Good luck with that if you're stuck on lands that particular game. Blessed alliance doesn't do as much, it's effectively just a "Counter target boros charm", but the instant speed and usefulness with snapcaster counts up. Helix is generally better than blessed because you can remove a creature in addition to the lifegain.
Burn fell out of top tier status for a while (before it returned more recently), so people then cut down on burn hate and Firewalkers a while back.
The WW casting cost can be a problem in jeskai (contra UW), but it will gain even more life in jeskai than UW because we play our own red spells.
Not saying everyone should play Firewalkers, but for people in burn-heavy local metas, I definitely think it's the most effective answer.
Nothing comes close to Kor Firewalker against burn, so its a great choice if you're in a burn-heavy meta. Its downside is that its not all that useful in other matchups, its pretty specific for burn. Like Blessed alliance is also very good against shadow decks, eldrazi, hexproof etc.
This happened on his second turn. I would be at 16 life if I didn't block.
Should I have not blocked here?
If he suicide-attacks into your firewalker with two mana open, I would be afraid to block. Think I would wait with that block until I had counter-backup. You gain so much life from the firewalker through the game, you would probably have won if you didn't block. Your list looks to have a very good burn-matchup BTW, with 4 helix, 2 snare and 2 leak, and 2 firewalkers, negate and dispel sideboard.
Did you consider 1-2 Vendilion Clique? Good card imo.
1. Storm can go off before you even hit your 4th land drop rendering Flux uncastable
2. Trap is free which allows you to play proactively
3. Trap can be a utility counter against "uncounterable" spells such as Slaughter Games or hard cast Emrakul, the Aeons Torn as well as can be sided in against decks playing Cavern of Souls since it "exiles" the stack.
4. Trap can counter Time Walk decks Gigadrowse while allowing you to hold up mana for another counter.
5. Trap can be commonly free in counter wars against the mirror match
6. Trap can blindside "eggs" decks that rely on casting multiple cantrip eggs a turn, including Tron decks in addition to decks generally playing lots of spells a turn.
Storm cannot Remand Trap, the only thing they can do is sideboard in Dispel but I think the benefits of Trap are worth it.
If you wait to counter Storm's third ritual, that can be too late. In general, we want to counter their first ritual.
Counterflux is great against Ad Nauseam because of Pact of Negation. Not so great against Storm, where I'd rather have cheaper counters, like Spell Snare, dispel and remand/leak.
Been testing Steppe Lynx in a more midrange shell to give the deck a chance to win turn 4 against combo/ramp, and I must say it's a pretty consistent 4/5 beat machine with 24 lands and 12 fetchlands. If you have an uncracked fetchland, it can also play a role as a 2/3 blocker against various weenie decks. It's vulnerable to removal though, so it often comes out against removal heavy decks (that conveniently don't side out their removal if they see Lynx game 1), but it's nice to have the option of a fast turn 1 tempo-clock.
I also like Thundermaw now. It dodges Push/Decay/Bolt, can surprise-kill Shadow-decks etc., and Lingering Souls is bound to have a presence now , because it's so good against grixis shadow.
How are you uwr geist players doing against the new hype, Grixis Shadow? How do you sideboard that matchup? A little unsure what to keep in of counterspells and creatures. Is gideon (AoZ) worthwhile in that matchup?
I think this deck might end up flipping to the more predominant UWx deck taking over straight UW control in light of Abzan CoCo and Elves moving up in meta share. I've dusted off my old geist deck and starting to get some reps in atm - how do you guys feel about Abzan CoCo?
Im thinking 2x Anger of the Gods (main deck) with Cage, RIP, Needle out of the board..
2 anger main would be more suited to a nahiri control build or a resto-kiki-wall build than a geist build.
I feel vizier CoCo is a favorable matchup for uwr. Electrolyze, Snapcaster is king, and Izzet Staticaster from the side is often backbreaking.
Played in my LGS' Tuesday Night Modern event tonight since I'm finally back from college for the summer. Had a disappointing 2-2. Here's the list I played:
Round 1: Abzan CoCo (with Devoted Druid + White Vizier + Walking Ballista)
I won game 1 handily, and then game 2 was a long, long grind fest. At one point he had like 8-10 creatures in play, one of which was an unpersisted Kitchen Finks, and I was just absolutely dead on board. I drew a Cryptic to tap+draw and drew a Snapcaster. I had a Wrath in the bin already. I think I drew a land on my draw step and played it and passed. I flashed back the Cryptic and tapped+bounced my Snapcaster, letting me see another card that I wouldn't have by flashing back the Wrath on my turn. I drew a Surgical Extraction, cast the Snapcaster flashing back the Wrath and hitting his Finks with the trigger on the stack with Surgical. I took a few draw steps and eventually he just found a Ballista that he played for 4 and just domed me. Lighthouse shined in this game by letting me dig and dig for answers. Game three he comboed me with Ballista.
Round 2: Living End
My opponent had played at the table next to me the round before and I noticed he was on Living End. This lead to me keeping a hand of 2x Path, Hallowed Fountain and 4 other non-lands thinking it would be good enough. He played a turn 3 Fulminator and I hadn't seen another land so I just scooped because my opponent had said he didn't know what I was on as we were shuffling up for game one. Game two I played a turn 2 Rest in Peace, and my opponent stated that he had left his Krosan Grips in the sideboard (which seems like a horrible oversight since he knew I was playing white). I played a turn 4 Gideon and he lost a few turns later. He mulliganed to 5 game three and I played a Geist at some point and finished him off quickly.
Round 3: Affinity
I mulliganed to 5 game one, which basically means I might as well have just not played given how explosive Affinity is (and I knew what my opponent was on since he's THE affinity guy at our shop). My notes have me going from 17 to 1 so obviously he had a huge boardstate, though I don't remember the specifics. Game two he ended up with three Platings in play at once and no creatures, I played a Jace with one mana up for a Bolt thinking I could Bolt anything he played and be ok. He played an Etched Champion. Can't Bolt that.
Round 4: Tron
I got the pair up to one of my friends so I just conceeded to him so he could get prizes since I was out of contention. We played it out anyway and I took it 2-1. I mulled to 6 game one and he went to 5. I fought through an Ulamog being cast and hitting me once, and we were both at 1 going into what would have been my last turn. Lighting Helix on top took game 1. Game two I just got very Tron-ed and game three I kept an iffy one-lander since the match didn't really matter and I had a Hallowed Fountain, Ceremonious Rejection, Negate, Path and 2 Helixes. I thought it was pretty fine since Rejection and Negate do good work in the matchup. I ended up just beating him down as he stumbled.
Thoughts:
I want a 24th land really bad, and I don't know how I feel about Gideon in the main. I think if I want a 4 mana planeswalker, it should be Elspeth, Knight-Errant, and that's what I'll be playing on Friday. I think I'll probably trim the Spell Snare (doesn't seem great right now, at least in my meta), Gideon and the Valorous Stance for a 24th land and 2x Elspeth.
I'd try a couple of Stony Silence in the side. Great against Affinity, Tron, Ad Nauseam, Tezzeret, Krark-Clan combo etc.
I'm thinking Condemn in the sideboard to potentially kill several Death's Shadow at once, or a combination of killing a Tarmogoyf and one or more Death's Shadows. A real blowout card in the matchup, especially with Snapcasters.
https://mtgdecks.net/Modern/wur-traft-decklist-by-takase-ryousuke-692430
2 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Glory-Bound Initiate
1 Lightning Angel
1 Monastery Mentor
3 Restoration Angel
4 Snapcaster Mage
Artifact (1)
1 Isochron Scepter
Instants/sorceries (22)
2 Cryptic Command
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
4 Path to Exile
4 Remand
4 Serum Visions
4 Arid Mesa
2 Celestial Colonnade
4 Flooded Strand
1 Glacial Fortress
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Seachrome Coast
1 Spirebluff Canal
2 Steam Vents
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Counterflux
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Monastery Mentor
2 Negate
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Rest in Peace
1 Stony Silence
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Surgical Extraction
2 Wear/Tear
1 Wrath of God
Glory-Bound Initiate made top 8 in Esper midrange in GP Kobe. Can it be glorious in jeskai midrange too?
UWRUWR Delver/Lynx TempoUWR-------UWRUWR Midrange GeistUWR-------UWRUWR Nahiri ControlUWR-------UWRUWR SaheeliUWR
BGRJund / Jund ShadowBGR-------BGWAbzan / Abzan ShadowBGW
Commander (Leviathan/MTGO): UWGeist of Saint TraftUW
Atarka's Command does not prevent damage, so it's just Skullcrack we need to be aware of if we want to block with Firewalker.
Firewalker is much harder to play around than a slow 3 mana (timely) or 4 mana (ajani) sorcery speed spell, because it gains 1 life many times, instead of several life one time. The prot. blocking is of course also very useful. Also, its a clock they can't touch. You'll generally start attacking with it pretty soon to end the game, while it gains life incrementally from your own and your opponents spells. You'll often need counter backup when playing timely or ajani, or you can be blown out, so it may be as late as 4-5-6 mana. Good luck with that if you're stuck on lands that particular game. Blessed alliance doesn't do as much, it's effectively just a "Counter target boros charm", but the instant speed and usefulness with snapcaster counts up. Helix is generally better than blessed because you can remove a creature in addition to the lifegain.
Burn fell out of top tier status for a while (before it returned more recently), so people then cut down on burn hate and Firewalkers a while back.
The WW casting cost can be a problem in jeskai (contra UW), but it will gain even more life in jeskai than UW because we play our own red spells.
Not saying everyone should play Firewalkers, but for people in burn-heavy local metas, I definitely think it's the most effective answer.
UWRUWR Delver/Lynx TempoUWR-------UWRUWR Midrange GeistUWR-------UWRUWR Nahiri ControlUWR-------UWRUWR SaheeliUWR
BGRJund / Jund ShadowBGR-------BGWAbzan / Abzan ShadowBGW
Commander (Leviathan/MTGO): UWGeist of Saint TraftUW
UWRUWR Delver/Lynx TempoUWR-------UWRUWR Midrange GeistUWR-------UWRUWR Nahiri ControlUWR-------UWRUWR SaheeliUWR
BGRJund / Jund ShadowBGR-------BGWAbzan / Abzan ShadowBGW
Commander (Leviathan/MTGO): UWGeist of Saint TraftUW
If he suicide-attacks into your firewalker with two mana open, I would be afraid to block. Think I would wait with that block until I had counter-backup. You gain so much life from the firewalker through the game, you would probably have won if you didn't block. Your list looks to have a very good burn-matchup BTW, with 4 helix, 2 snare and 2 leak, and 2 firewalkers, negate and dispel sideboard.
Did you consider 1-2 Vendilion Clique? Good card imo.
UWRUWR Delver/Lynx TempoUWR-------UWRUWR Midrange GeistUWR-------UWRUWR Nahiri ControlUWR-------UWRUWR SaheeliUWR
BGRJund / Jund ShadowBGR-------BGWAbzan / Abzan ShadowBGW
Commander (Leviathan/MTGO): UWGeist of Saint TraftUW
Could you have won if you didn't block?
UWRUWR Delver/Lynx TempoUWR-------UWRUWR Midrange GeistUWR-------UWRUWR Nahiri ControlUWR-------UWRUWR SaheeliUWR
BGRJund / Jund ShadowBGR-------BGWAbzan / Abzan ShadowBGW
Commander (Leviathan/MTGO): UWGeist of Saint TraftUW
If you wait to counter Storm's third ritual, that can be too late. In general, we want to counter their first ritual.
Counterflux is great against Ad Nauseam because of Pact of Negation. Not so great against Storm, where I'd rather have cheaper counters, like Spell Snare, dispel and remand/leak.
UWRUWR Delver/Lynx TempoUWR-------UWRUWR Midrange GeistUWR-------UWRUWR Nahiri ControlUWR-------UWRUWR SaheeliUWR
BGRJund / Jund ShadowBGR-------BGWAbzan / Abzan ShadowBGW
Commander (Leviathan/MTGO): UWGeist of Saint TraftUW
I also like Thundermaw now. It dodges Push/Decay/Bolt, can surprise-kill Shadow-decks etc., and Lingering Souls is bound to have a presence now , because it's so good against grixis shadow.
4 Steppe Lynx
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Vendilion Clique
1 Thundermaw Hellkite
Spells: (21)
2 Serum Visions
4 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Lightning Helix
2 Electrolyze
2 Remand
1 Mana Leak
1 Logic Knot
1 Spell Snare
2 Cryptic Command
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Flooded Strand
4 Arid Mesa
2 Steam Vents
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Island
1 Plains
1 Mountain
1 Moorland Haunt
2 Celestial Colonnade
2 Rest in Peace
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Stony Silence
2 Crumble to Dust
1 Negate
2 Dispel
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Blessed Alliance
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
1 Wear / Tear
UWRUWR Delver/Lynx TempoUWR-------UWRUWR Midrange GeistUWR-------UWRUWR Nahiri ControlUWR-------UWRUWR SaheeliUWR
BGRJund / Jund ShadowBGR-------BGWAbzan / Abzan ShadowBGW
Commander (Leviathan/MTGO): UWGeist of Saint TraftUW
UWRUWR Delver/Lynx TempoUWR-------UWRUWR Midrange GeistUWR-------UWRUWR Nahiri ControlUWR-------UWRUWR SaheeliUWR
BGRJund / Jund ShadowBGR-------BGWAbzan / Abzan ShadowBGW
Commander (Leviathan/MTGO): UWGeist of Saint TraftUW
From the sideboard they may have more targets, like Selfless Spirit and Sin Collector.
UWRUWR Delver/Lynx TempoUWR-------UWRUWR Midrange GeistUWR-------UWRUWR Nahiri ControlUWR-------UWRUWR SaheeliUWR
BGRJund / Jund ShadowBGR-------BGWAbzan / Abzan ShadowBGW
Commander (Leviathan/MTGO): UWGeist of Saint TraftUW
2 anger main would be more suited to a nahiri control build or a resto-kiki-wall build than a geist build.
I feel vizier CoCo is a favorable matchup for uwr. Electrolyze, Snapcaster is king, and Izzet Staticaster from the side is often backbreaking.
UWRUWR Delver/Lynx TempoUWR-------UWRUWR Midrange GeistUWR-------UWRUWR Nahiri ControlUWR-------UWRUWR SaheeliUWR
BGRJund / Jund ShadowBGR-------BGWAbzan / Abzan ShadowBGW
Commander (Leviathan/MTGO): UWGeist of Saint TraftUW
I'd try a couple of Stony Silence in the side. Great against Affinity, Tron, Ad Nauseam, Tezzeret, Krark-Clan combo etc.
UWRUWR Delver/Lynx TempoUWR-------UWRUWR Midrange GeistUWR-------UWRUWR Nahiri ControlUWR-------UWRUWR SaheeliUWR
BGRJund / Jund ShadowBGR-------BGWAbzan / Abzan ShadowBGW
Commander (Leviathan/MTGO): UWGeist of Saint TraftUW
UWRUWR Delver/Lynx TempoUWR-------UWRUWR Midrange GeistUWR-------UWRUWR Nahiri ControlUWR-------UWRUWR SaheeliUWR
BGRJund / Jund ShadowBGR-------BGWAbzan / Abzan ShadowBGW
Commander (Leviathan/MTGO): UWGeist of Saint TraftUW
UWRUWR Delver/Lynx TempoUWR-------UWRUWR Midrange GeistUWR-------UWRUWR Nahiri ControlUWR-------UWRUWR SaheeliUWR
BGRJund / Jund ShadowBGR-------BGWAbzan / Abzan ShadowBGW
Commander (Leviathan/MTGO): UWGeist of Saint TraftUW
UWRUWR Delver/Lynx TempoUWR-------UWRUWR Midrange GeistUWR-------UWRUWR Nahiri ControlUWR-------UWRUWR SaheeliUWR
BGRJund / Jund ShadowBGR-------BGWAbzan / Abzan ShadowBGW
Commander (Leviathan/MTGO): UWGeist of Saint TraftUW
UWRUWR Delver/Lynx TempoUWR-------UWRUWR Midrange GeistUWR-------UWRUWR Nahiri ControlUWR-------UWRUWR SaheeliUWR
BGRJund / Jund ShadowBGR-------BGWAbzan / Abzan ShadowBGW
Commander (Leviathan/MTGO): UWGeist of Saint TraftUW