And bogles will always hold a very special place in my heart. I'm gonna miss it a lot. There's nothing like the look on your opponent's face when they see that turn 1 bogle, as they prepare themselves for the most un-interactive round of magic ever.
This is one of my favorite things too! I actually enjoy watching them react facially to the fetch, then land, expecting maybe Noble Hierarch or maybe Wild Nacatl, then seeing a much more HATED creature and deck type.
I doubt that Coronet will be reprinted because Bogles is really a very fringe deck. I would be surprised if anyone showed me that Bogles is more than 3% at the most of the whole metagame. Also it rarely top 8s any important events, probably mainly because the "better players" don't prefer to play it. Coronet also would have to be in a draft set where presumably there would be other Auras. Or else it can get really tough to cast one. I know that eventually it "will be reprinted" since it has the odd Future Sight border, but this will be somewhere way down the road in another Enchantment block some day. I guess it could rise a little bit at a time, but it really is not a popular deck by any means.
Yeah I know! I remember back when TC was legal and UR Delver was 15% of the meta, bogles was a stupidly good matchup against delver (and it still is). The delver players were always extra pissed about my deck, and I could often hear them cuss under their breath about the game they were about to lose. Those were the days...;)
And to my knowledge, bogles is fairly popular. I mean it's tier 2, and not one of the top tier 2 decks either like Bloom Titan or Jund, but 90% of people I have played know about the deck, and those 3 cards are known for being some of the most expensive modern cards.
I personally don't think that any of those cards will be in Modern Masters. Daybreak Coronet and Leyline of Sanctity have the smallest chance. Horizon Canopy has some chance, but personally I doubt it. I would sell Coronet. I don't see it going higher. Leyline will probably stay the same or slowly rise. Horizon Canopy will stay the same unless reprinted.
Grixis Delver is a sweet deck, no doubt, but it doesn't compare to Bogles though.
What makes you think this? I was under the impression that if a notable card like Coronet for example isn't reprinted it will almost certainly rise. I honestly don't think $35 is close to the ceiling of it, it was from a super under opened set, and plus it's broken in half. If that's the case though, sweet! Snaps will rise, and so will the couple shocks I need, so I will be glad to pick them up before they spike!
And bogles will always hold a very special place in my heart. I'm gonna miss it a lot. There's nothing like the look on your opponent's face when they see that turn 1 bogle, as they prepare themselves for the most un-interactive round of magic ever.
That's part of the reason I'm switching over to delver, though, as part of me wants something that's more "fair" and interacts more with the opponent. That, and I'm a Spike at heart, so while I do quite good at FNM, I always get my ass handed to me at bigger events.
I'm currently building Grixis Delver. I was going to keep around bogles as a backup deck, mainly as something to revert to if it becomes insane/Grixis Delver starts sucking. However, I was just thinking that I could probably get everything I need for Delver by selling cards from bogles. However, what value cards do you guys think will be in MM2, and which cards will miss it? I have 4 Coronets, 4 Leylines, and 1 Canopy.
I don't know if I already mentioned this, but I too went to an event over the weekend, a local PPTQ. Wasn't too sure what to expect, but ended up going 4-3, which isn't too shabby I suppose. I wasn't too far away from top 8-ing.
Round 1: GR Tron 0-2
Whew, this was a nightmare. We already have a pretty awful matchup against tron, but I had no chance in this one. Game one I kept a sub optimal hand, and the tron player got a great one. I got obliterated hard. Game 2, attempting to avoid what happened game 1, I pitched my first hand, which wasn't great. Sadly, I had to pitch every hand after that, until I was down to 3. At least I likely would have lost this anyways.
Round 2: Naya Zoo 1-2
Now this was a round I should have won. We have a great matchup against zoo, and yet I couldn't quite bring it home. Game 1 was a fairly easy win, he played some threats, and then I got my bogle stupidly big and won. Game two, it looked like I would win too. I swung at my opponent for 15, which would have been lethal, only to have it Deflecting Palmed back at me. I was speechless for a good 5 seconds, before the only words I could muster were cussing at my opponent (luckily my opponent was cool, though this did get me a warning from the judge). Game three a turn 3 Blood Moon screwed me over. At the time I had 2 shocks so yeah...wasn't much I could do.
Round 3: ??? 2-0
This was...bizarre. The first thing I noticed when I sat down for this match is that my opponent smelled like he had smoked some drug very recently. He also seemed a little out of it, so he may have been slightly high? Anyways, this was easy. Game 1, he got stuck on one land. I had no idea what he was running, but his land was a B/W shock so I boarded for B/W Tokens. Game 2, I had a god hand, and got him down to 2 on turn 3. He imprinted a Raise the Alarm on an Isocern Scepter, so it appeared to be some B/W token build? It appeared very sub-optimal though.
Round 4: B/W Tokens 2-0
This WAS actual B/W tokens. That being said, bogles has a stupidly good matchup against even optimized B/W token builds. There's not much to say besides that I won without much trouble. After the game, he commented that he wasn't expecting to win, as bogles and R/G Tron are his two worst matchups.
Round 5: Affinity 0-2
I am led to believe this matchup should be about 50-50, but it definitely doesn't feel this way. Game 1, he equipped a Cranial Plating to his Vault Skirge early to gain a bunch of life, before eventually killing me. Game 2, I boarded in all my affinity hate, but I didn't mull into it, and didn't draw any, leading to another early loss.
Round 6: Merfolk 2-1
This was against one of my friends. I have played against his deck many times, so I know that the difference between winning is often whether you stick a Daybreak Coronet or not. I don't really remember too much about this besides that I won the first round pretty easily (think I stuck a Coronet), lost the second because all his creatures had Islandwalk and he had made one of my lands a mountain, and I won the third round barely. I wasn't expecting to win, as Merfolk is not a great matchup.
Round 7: N/A
My opponent didn't show up. Free win, I guess.
I'm kicking myself for not winning that zoo round, as then I could have likely gone X-2 which is usually good enough to go Top 16. Oh well. Had fun, wets my appetite for more events like that.
Foodchaingoblins: Is there a reason you don't run Razorverge Thicket? It's nuts in this deck, having pretty much now drawbacks, besides not being fetch-able. I guess that's probably why though.
I know it was long, but it was thorough. Today I played at an SCG Invitational Qualifier; 49 players and 6 rounds.
Round 1 vs. Infect. I told you it was a poor matchup. Pendelhaven into Noble Hierarch, just like both games on FNM. I Path to Exile a guy, but he doesn't lose a beat. Another Infecter and Become Immense. Turn 4 it's over. The next game is worse. I mulligan to 6 and he kills me with on turn 4 again. Slow hand for myself, although I landed Gaddock Teeg (only for Become Immense) and Nature's Claim on a Spellskite. 0-2.
Round 2 vs. BUG Midrange. Gerard Fabiano's deck. In the first game, he has all of the answers. Unfortunately for him, he shows a single Cryptic Command while at 3 life from Dark Confidant before 2 Tarmogoyf could kill me. I chumped and won a 1 life the turn before. Honestly he could have won this game, but concentrated too much on my stuff and his Bob killed him. His graveyard had fetch, Inquisition turn 1, Disfigure, Abrupt Decay X 2, and Golgari Charm all in his graveyard early in the game. I nearly wanted to quit, but I drew my way out of it and he failed to kill his Bob, while revealing a lethal Cryptic Command. In the next game, it was my turn to have all of the plays. A good draw and backup creatures for Liliana of the Veil make it easy. Rancor makes it easy. 2-0.
Round 3 vs. UR Twin. In the first game, I just have a bunch of pressure. I have 2 lands and a Path to Exile, so I'm safe, although 1 turn I thought he may have Twin and Remand. In the next game, he has Mana Leak and Negate to slow me down. But I have all 3 Nature's Claim. I destroy 3 Twin. Eventually I don't have enough blockers and when I get a lifelink Aura to suit up, he has the 4th Twin (me at 6 life). In the final game, it is more of the same. I put pressure on in the midgame with some Auras. He did a Cryptic Command on my Suppression Field (after 2 early Remand, but I put it back in play), then Vendilion Clique to ship it. He finally loses to trample from a topdecked Rancor. He told me that he punted because he could have done Pestermite into Vendilion Clique and then Twinned the next turn. Two Twin were already in the graveyard and I had no Path or Claim in hand. 2-1.
Round 4 vs. Jund Reanimator. In the first game, he does a turn 4 Worldspine Wurm with Through the Breach. He has 3 5/5 Wurms. I missed a land drop, but if I draw land, I cast Coronet and beat him in a few turns (since I have first strike, lifelink blocker, and attacker with Rancor too). I draw another Bogle, which I think buys me time. But I forgot that the Wurms had trample and I'm at 5 from a Worldspine Wurm. In the next game, I play turn 2 Rest in Peace and it seems that he's all-in on Goryo's Vengeance. I also have 2 Path to Exile I hand. I do one on a Through the Breach/Worldspine Wurm and he has nothing after that. I have multiple Daybreak Coronet after other Auras. In the last game, he mulled to 5 cards and played nothing. He got stuck on 1 land for a few turns. I had Bogles and Gaddock Teeg (for Through the Breach). I kept just attacking with those since I kept a hand with no Auras, but 2 Spiritdancer and failed to draw them for a while. When I did and drew cards, it ended quickly after that. I had a single Suppression Field that I sided only for Griselbrand and any other potential card that it could hurt. He forgot to fetch, but drew the 3rd land to make it easier. 2-1.
Round 5 vs. Junk Midrange. I honestly just drew the nuts on this guy. Bogle after he turn 1 Stirring Wildwood. Multiple Rancor and Ethereal Armor ended it with a Bogle and Dryad Arbor in case. Game 2 was more of the same. My hand wasn't quite as quick, but it had a lot of resiliency. Since he was 4-0, he could still draw into the top 8. 2-0.
Round 6 vs. Burn. ID into top 8. He said that he didn't want to go to the Invitational and since I split, it's good. I don't mind playing it out, but a free win is a free win. 2-0.
Top 8 vs. UR Twin. I have the nut hand. Bogle/Rancor/double Ethereal Armor. I have a Path to Exile too, but it doesn't come down to that because of lethal. I didn't even have to Path his blocker to let lethal. It was already lethal. The next game is just really good for me. I have 2 Umbras on a Bogle, but don't want to put Daybreak Coronet because I would only have 1 Forest up with Nature's Claim and Path to Exile in hand. Eventually I do a Path to Exile and 2 Nature's Claim on his 3 Splinter Twin over many turns. He draws too many land, but I needed a single land to have the guts to play Daybreak Coronet and have Path or Nature's Claim up. I finally draw it many turns later and he does Spell Snare. Next turn, I have the other Coronet. It's game soon after that. His next 2 cards were 2 Cryptic Command. 2-0.
Top 4 vs. Burn. He scooped to me since I decided to split. The split prize was the same as 2nd place, so only 1st place would get more. I get the Invitation to the SCG Invitational for top 2 anyway. 2-0.
Finals vs. Junk Midrange. This guy is our LGS best player, but I have done well against him when I played decent decks (lost with Bloom and Breach). He has never won against my Bogles in 4 tries. Well, he got it this time. I get my hand picked apart because his seed was 1 higher than mine, so he was on the play. On the draw for him would have won me the game, but he has multiple Bobs and all of the answers. The next game is similar, but he gets low on life. Back to Nature blows me out, Engineered Explosives was rough, and drawing 6 Bogles and no Auras (after my opener of Hyena Umbra and Daybreak Coronet were Back to Nature'd). It was nice to see him finally beat my Bogles, but I would have loved to win 1st place, get my picture taken, and get the ETurtle Witness pin for 1st place. 0-2.
I started the tournament the same way I ended it, 0-2. I finished 2nd place at 6-2-1. I finally stopped the "4-2 curse."
Congrats! It's nice to here bogles doing well. How big is the invitational you got an invite to?
I've always run 2 Dryad Arbor and never found it to be a problem. (It was a problem for the first time this past weekend during States when I drew both of them in 3 consecutive games, of which two were mulls to 5 and 6. So it hurt me for the first time in playing the deck for at least 6 months. But it happened in a match in which I won and another match against Twin where he drew well enough that not much would have beaten him anyway.) Gaddock Teeg is another one that is pretty weak, but it slows decks down. In theory if you can stick it against Twin with an Umbra, you're looking pretty good, but I have yet to do that for at least the past 6 matches.
I was even thinking about doing a test of Gitaxian Probe this Friday. I would take out 2 lands, probably a Temple Garden and a fetch, Unflinching Courage, and Spirit Link. I think the chances, at least for me, of facing RDW, is nearly 0%. Same goes for Delver, so the lifelink cards and the life loss from Probe hardly matter. It's probably a dumb idea, but we'll see.
The only cards that I'm really sure of in the SB are...
4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Nature's Claim
1 Krosan Grip (or another Nature's Claim)
The other 5 cards are really up for grabs.
Probe is an interesting idea. Tell me how that goes...
Saw this deck take first place, a more proactive approach instead of waiting for Leyline and Suppression Field, he's on a more classical aggressive build of Bogles.
Looks really similar to my list, at least mainboard-wise. I don't know how comfortable I feel without the Leylines in the sideboard, but I could see taking out the Suppression Fields. These days, they're barely coming in for anything.
That deck list looks a little suboptimal imo. Blue splashes have been tested and the consensus is that they're not worth it. Don't know why you would run IS, which IS good, but a little slow, over Spiritwalker, which is a little inconsistent, however it can lead to some super explosive plays and massive card advantage. Also I run Spirit Link as a one of and I'm thought about taking it about before -- I wouldn't feel comfortable running 3 mainboard. Same with Keen Sense. And no Rancor? I feel like you're running too many cards that don't boost P/T, which is critical. which is It's nice you're innovating though. Good luck at your next big event!
Congratulations on your 3-0. I know it sucks about the prize split, but the wins are more important. At least that's how I feel. I truly believe that the small changes that you made helped you a bit.
Thanks! Yeah I care a lot more about victories then prize packs. I'm just annoyed because I think he may have thrown the second round, in which case it doesn't feel like a real win. But I may have won anyways (aside from that suicide swing, it looked like he didn't make any misplays or anything) so it doesn't bother me that much.
And why aren't Spiritdancers that great in this meta? We could replace them with ledgewalkers but imo they're still worth running.
Hey guys, after going 1-2 and 2-1 at my last two modern FNMs, I managed to go 3-0 last night! Here's a tournament report:
First round was against this godawful white weenie deck. It wasn't even good white weenie -- you'd think he just threw whatever cheap white cards he had into the deck. Needless to say, it was an easy victory for me, though I also got some great hands, turn 4 killing him each time.
2-0
1-0 total
Second round was much harder. It was against this discard heavy B/W Midrange deck. It is somewhat similar to the classic Deadguy Ale deck, but more control-y, and more Black heavy, running 4 Phyrexian Obliterators. Game one I kept a ballsy hand with no bogle but a Dryad Arbor and Kor Spiritdancer. He inquisitioned the Spiritdancer away, and after I suited up the Arbor, he Path to Exiled it. I got more creatures but he found someway of removing them. I eventually scooped after I sacced my Bogle at 5 or so life. Game two I kept a pretty good hand with a PTE, Bogle, Ethereal Armor, Coronet, and a few lands. I played around his sac effects, keeping one fetch uncracked at all times. My bogle steadily grew, and he couldn't remove it before I killed him on turn 5 or 6. He showed me a double Liliana of the Veil hand, which he could have used next turn to make me sac my Arbor, then my Bogle. Game 3, he was on the play, and I was prepared to mull down to however low it took to get into one of the four Leyline of Sancitys I boarded in against him. Luckily I didn't need to, as I got one in my otherwise good opening hand. He couldn't deal with it and I cruised to an easy game two victory.
2-1
2-0 total
Third round was Merfolk. I know we have a crappy matchup against them and I was already mentally kicking myself for not putting Chokes in my sideboard. I decided to hope for the best and see what happened. Game one he had a pretty slow hand and I had another great one, with a turn 3 Coronet. That proved to me an MVP against him, allowing me to swing, gain life, and block his creatures. The turn before I won, he swung for about 20 with Islandwalk (he Spreading Seas one of my lands the turn before) but by that point I was at 35 life an it was too late for him. My bogle had Spirit Mantle on it, so he couldn't block, and I swung for easily lethal. Between game 1 and 2, he asked me if I want to split packs. I said sure, but I wasn't sure what the pack ratio was. He went to check and reported back that it was 3 for 3-0, and 2 for 2-1, with the promo for the winner as well. I said that in that case, I wasn't very interested in splitting packs, but he persisted, saying that we already agreed to it. I said whatever, agreeing that the winner would get 2 packs and the promo, and the loser would get 3 packs. I figured I probably wouldn't win anyways. Game two was pretty similar. I got another early Coronet, which he had trouble coming back from. However turn 4 or so, when he had two Merfolk out (the tap/untap lord and something else) he swung into my coronetted bogle that could easily block and kill one of them, and then gain more life off that then the other one was swinging for. I blocked the lord, thinking he may have some trick up his sleeve, but he didn't. I won a few turns later, but I'm still not 100% sure he didn't intentionally throw that game for the extra pack. I pulled some moderately good stuff in my packs, but the guy pulled a Sarkhan, supposedly in the pack I gave him. That's the last time that I'm splitting packs.
Overall though it was a very satisfying night. Nice to know my deck still can get it done. Right before the tournament I tweaked my deck a little, taking out a Cathedral of War for another aura (Keen Sense) and an Unflinching Courage for another Spirit Mantle. I don't know how much different it made, but I found myself getting mana flooded a lot less with the new setup. I'm gonna pick up a third Spider Umbra and replace a Keen Sense with it, as well as taking out a Flooded Strand for a second Wooded Foothills but after that I like shape my deck is in. Now it's just a matter of getting more Horizon Canopys...
Your deck looks great! Funnily enough our sideboards are identical, save for one card (you have an extra Spirit Mantle, I have a Kataki). I agree that 3 Unflinchings is too much though, I would take one out for a Keen Sense, and then another out for either a Spirit Link, if your local meta is heavily aggro, or Mantle if it isn't. Good luck!
Hey guys,
For the longest time, I was running boggles with 20 lands, including a Dryad Arbor. It was fine, but I found that my curve was lower then I wanted it to be and I often was screwed at one or no mana. I decided to move up to 21 mana, taking out a Brushland and a Keen Sense for two off color fetch lands I had lying around. Ever since then, I've been running out of gas early like nobody's business. It's weird -- I will keep an opening hand with a few lands, a bogle and a couple auras, play the bogle turn 1, auras turn two, and then just get flooded with dead cards after that, whether they are lands or extra bogles. This had happened before but now it's happening at a far higher rate and I'm very confused. Am I doing something wrong? This is my deck list -- please note there's only one Horizon Canopy due to budget reasons -- I managed to trade for that at the last FNM but I can't bring myself to shell out $35 for a nonessential card (read: not Daybreak Coronet.
I too once shared your views with regards to Horizon Canopy of not being an essential card but when I was able to borrow a set for a whole month, I immediately decided to buy my own set. The draw ability of the card really helps, I was able to get out of losing situation due to being able to either filter the topdeck or get the card I need to win that turn. Try it out first, before you judge.
Okay thanks. I did find the one Horizon Canopy I had very helpful. Does increasing your amount of Canopies lead to running 21 lands instead of 20?
Hey guys,
For the longest time, I was running boggles with 20 lands, including a Dryad Arbor. It was fine, but I found that my curve was lower then I wanted it to be and I often was screwed at one or no mana. I decided to move up to 21 mana, taking out a Brushland and a Keen Sense for two off color fetch lands I had lying around. Ever since then, I've been running out of gas early like nobody's business. It's weird -- I will keep an opening hand with a few lands, a bogle and a couple auras, play the bogle turn 1, auras turn two, and then just get flooded with dead cards after that, whether they are lands or extra bogles. This had happened before but now it's happening at a far higher rate and I'm very confused. Am I doing something wrong? This is my deck list -- please note there's only one Horizon Canopy due to budget reasons -- I managed to trade for that at the last FNM but I can't bring myself to shell out $35 for a nonessential card (read: not Daybreak Coronet.
Modern
UBR Grixis Control
U Merfolk
Pauper
U Mono U Delver
Ancestral Visions is freed
Yeah I know! I remember back when TC was legal and UR Delver was 15% of the meta, bogles was a stupidly good matchup against delver (and it still is). The delver players were always extra pissed about my deck, and I could often hear them cuss under their breath about the game they were about to lose. Those were the days...;)
And to my knowledge, bogles is fairly popular. I mean it's tier 2, and not one of the top tier 2 decks either like Bloom Titan or Jund, but 90% of people I have played know about the deck, and those 3 cards are known for being some of the most expensive modern cards.
Modern
UBR Grixis Control
U Merfolk
Pauper
U Mono U Delver
Ancestral Visions is freed
What makes you think this? I was under the impression that if a notable card like Coronet for example isn't reprinted it will almost certainly rise. I honestly don't think $35 is close to the ceiling of it, it was from a super under opened set, and plus it's broken in half. If that's the case though, sweet! Snaps will rise, and so will the couple shocks I need, so I will be glad to pick them up before they spike!
And bogles will always hold a very special place in my heart. I'm gonna miss it a lot. There's nothing like the look on your opponent's face when they see that turn 1 bogle, as they prepare themselves for the most un-interactive round of magic ever.
That's part of the reason I'm switching over to delver, though, as part of me wants something that's more "fair" and interacts more with the opponent. That, and I'm a Spike at heart, so while I do quite good at FNM, I always get my ass handed to me at bigger events.
Modern
UBR Grixis Control
U Merfolk
Pauper
U Mono U Delver
Ancestral Visions is freed
I'm currently building Grixis Delver. I was going to keep around bogles as a backup deck, mainly as something to revert to if it becomes insane/Grixis Delver starts sucking. However, I was just thinking that I could probably get everything I need for Delver by selling cards from bogles. However, what value cards do you guys think will be in MM2, and which cards will miss it? I have 4 Coronets, 4 Leylines, and 1 Canopy.
Modern
UBR Grixis Control
U Merfolk
Pauper
U Mono U Delver
Ancestral Visions is freed
Round 1: GR Tron 0-2
Whew, this was a nightmare. We already have a pretty awful matchup against tron, but I had no chance in this one. Game one I kept a sub optimal hand, and the tron player got a great one. I got obliterated hard. Game 2, attempting to avoid what happened game 1, I pitched my first hand, which wasn't great. Sadly, I had to pitch every hand after that, until I was down to 3. At least I likely would have lost this anyways.
Round 2: Naya Zoo 1-2
Now this was a round I should have won. We have a great matchup against zoo, and yet I couldn't quite bring it home. Game 1 was a fairly easy win, he played some threats, and then I got my bogle stupidly big and won. Game two, it looked like I would win too. I swung at my opponent for 15, which would have been lethal, only to have it Deflecting Palmed back at me. I was speechless for a good 5 seconds, before the only words I could muster were cussing at my opponent (luckily my opponent was cool, though this did get me a warning from the judge). Game three a turn 3 Blood Moon screwed me over. At the time I had 2 shocks so yeah...wasn't much I could do.
Round 3: ??? 2-0
This was...bizarre. The first thing I noticed when I sat down for this match is that my opponent smelled like he had smoked some drug very recently. He also seemed a little out of it, so he may have been slightly high? Anyways, this was easy. Game 1, he got stuck on one land. I had no idea what he was running, but his land was a B/W shock so I boarded for B/W Tokens. Game 2, I had a god hand, and got him down to 2 on turn 3. He imprinted a Raise the Alarm on an Isocern Scepter, so it appeared to be some B/W token build? It appeared very sub-optimal though.
Round 4: B/W Tokens 2-0
This WAS actual B/W tokens. That being said, bogles has a stupidly good matchup against even optimized B/W token builds. There's not much to say besides that I won without much trouble. After the game, he commented that he wasn't expecting to win, as bogles and R/G Tron are his two worst matchups.
Round 5: Affinity 0-2
I am led to believe this matchup should be about 50-50, but it definitely doesn't feel this way. Game 1, he equipped a Cranial Plating to his Vault Skirge early to gain a bunch of life, before eventually killing me. Game 2, I boarded in all my affinity hate, but I didn't mull into it, and didn't draw any, leading to another early loss.
Round 6: Merfolk 2-1
This was against one of my friends. I have played against his deck many times, so I know that the difference between winning is often whether you stick a Daybreak Coronet or not. I don't really remember too much about this besides that I won the first round pretty easily (think I stuck a Coronet), lost the second because all his creatures had Islandwalk and he had made one of my lands a mountain, and I won the third round barely. I wasn't expecting to win, as Merfolk is not a great matchup.
Round 7: N/A
My opponent didn't show up. Free win, I guess.
I'm kicking myself for not winning that zoo round, as then I could have likely gone X-2 which is usually good enough to go Top 16. Oh well. Had fun, wets my appetite for more events like that.
Foodchaingoblins: Is there a reason you don't run Razorverge Thicket? It's nuts in this deck, having pretty much now drawbacks, besides not being fetch-able. I guess that's probably why though.
Modern
UBR Grixis Control
U Merfolk
Pauper
U Mono U Delver
Ancestral Visions is freed
Congrats! It's nice to here bogles doing well. How big is the invitational you got an invite to?
Modern
UBR Grixis Control
U Merfolk
Pauper
U Mono U Delver
Ancestral Visions is freed
Probe is an interesting idea. Tell me how that goes...
Modern
UBR Grixis Control
U Merfolk
Pauper
U Mono U Delver
Ancestral Visions is freed
Looks really similar to my list, at least mainboard-wise. I don't know how comfortable I feel without the Leylines in the sideboard, but I could see taking out the Suppression Fields. These days, they're barely coming in for anything.
Modern
UBR Grixis Control
U Merfolk
Pauper
U Mono U Delver
Ancestral Visions is freed
Modern
UBR Grixis Control
U Merfolk
Pauper
U Mono U Delver
Ancestral Visions is freed
Thanks! Yeah I care a lot more about victories then prize packs. I'm just annoyed because I think he may have thrown the second round, in which case it doesn't feel like a real win. But I may have won anyways (aside from that suicide swing, it looked like he didn't make any misplays or anything) so it doesn't bother me that much.
And why aren't Spiritdancers that great in this meta? We could replace them with ledgewalkers but imo they're still worth running.
Modern
UBR Grixis Control
U Merfolk
Pauper
U Mono U Delver
Ancestral Visions is freed
First round was against this godawful white weenie deck. It wasn't even good white weenie -- you'd think he just threw whatever cheap white cards he had into the deck. Needless to say, it was an easy victory for me, though I also got some great hands, turn 4 killing him each time.
2-0
1-0 total
Second round was much harder. It was against this discard heavy B/W Midrange deck. It is somewhat similar to the classic Deadguy Ale deck, but more control-y, and more Black heavy, running 4 Phyrexian Obliterators. Game one I kept a ballsy hand with no bogle but a Dryad Arbor and Kor Spiritdancer. He inquisitioned the Spiritdancer away, and after I suited up the Arbor, he Path to Exiled it. I got more creatures but he found someway of removing them. I eventually scooped after I sacced my Bogle at 5 or so life. Game two I kept a pretty good hand with a PTE, Bogle, Ethereal Armor, Coronet, and a few lands. I played around his sac effects, keeping one fetch uncracked at all times. My bogle steadily grew, and he couldn't remove it before I killed him on turn 5 or 6. He showed me a double Liliana of the Veil hand, which he could have used next turn to make me sac my Arbor, then my Bogle. Game 3, he was on the play, and I was prepared to mull down to however low it took to get into one of the four Leyline of Sancitys I boarded in against him. Luckily I didn't need to, as I got one in my otherwise good opening hand. He couldn't deal with it and I cruised to an easy game two victory.
2-1
2-0 total
Third round was Merfolk. I know we have a crappy matchup against them and I was already mentally kicking myself for not putting Chokes in my sideboard. I decided to hope for the best and see what happened. Game one he had a pretty slow hand and I had another great one, with a turn 3 Coronet. That proved to me an MVP against him, allowing me to swing, gain life, and block his creatures. The turn before I won, he swung for about 20 with Islandwalk (he Spreading Seas one of my lands the turn before) but by that point I was at 35 life an it was too late for him. My bogle had Spirit Mantle on it, so he couldn't block, and I swung for easily lethal. Between game 1 and 2, he asked me if I want to split packs. I said sure, but I wasn't sure what the pack ratio was. He went to check and reported back that it was 3 for 3-0, and 2 for 2-1, with the promo for the winner as well. I said that in that case, I wasn't very interested in splitting packs, but he persisted, saying that we already agreed to it. I said whatever, agreeing that the winner would get 2 packs and the promo, and the loser would get 3 packs. I figured I probably wouldn't win anyways. Game two was pretty similar. I got another early Coronet, which he had trouble coming back from. However turn 4 or so, when he had two Merfolk out (the tap/untap lord and something else) he swung into my coronetted bogle that could easily block and kill one of them, and then gain more life off that then the other one was swinging for. I blocked the lord, thinking he may have some trick up his sleeve, but he didn't. I won a few turns later, but I'm still not 100% sure he didn't intentionally throw that game for the extra pack. I pulled some moderately good stuff in my packs, but the guy pulled a Sarkhan, supposedly in the pack I gave him. That's the last time that I'm splitting packs.
Overall though it was a very satisfying night. Nice to know my deck still can get it done. Right before the tournament I tweaked my deck a little, taking out a Cathedral of War for another aura (Keen Sense) and an Unflinching Courage for another Spirit Mantle. I don't know how much different it made, but I found myself getting mana flooded a lot less with the new setup. I'm gonna pick up a third Spider Umbra and replace a Keen Sense with it, as well as taking out a Flooded Strand for a second Wooded Foothills but after that I like shape my deck is in. Now it's just a matter of getting more Horizon Canopys...
Modern
UBR Grixis Control
U Merfolk
Pauper
U Mono U Delver
Ancestral Visions is freed
Modern
UBR Grixis Control
U Merfolk
Pauper
U Mono U Delver
Ancestral Visions is freed
Okay thanks. I did find the one Horizon Canopy I had very helpful. Does increasing your amount of Canopies lead to running 21 lands instead of 20?
Modern
UBR Grixis Control
U Merfolk
Pauper
U Mono U Delver
Ancestral Visions is freed
For the longest time, I was running boggles with 20 lands, including a Dryad Arbor. It was fine, but I found that my curve was lower then I wanted it to be and I often was screwed at one or no mana. I decided to move up to 21 mana, taking out a Brushland and a Keen Sense for two off color fetch lands I had lying around. Ever since then, I've been running out of gas early like nobody's business. It's weird -- I will keep an opening hand with a few lands, a bogle and a couple auras, play the bogle turn 1, auras turn two, and then just get flooded with dead cards after that, whether they are lands or extra bogles. This had happened before but now it's happening at a far higher rate and I'm very confused. Am I doing something wrong? This is my deck list -- please note there's only one Horizon Canopy due to budget reasons -- I managed to trade for that at the last FNM but I can't bring myself to shell out $35 for a nonessential card (read: not Daybreak Coronet.
4x Kor Spiritdancer
4x Slippery Bogle
4x Daybreak Coronet
4x Ethereal Armor
4x Hyena Umbra
1x Keen Sense
4x Rancor
2x Spider Umbra
1x Spirit Link
3x Spirit Mantle
2x Unflinching Courage
2x Brushland
1x Cathedral of War
1x Dryad Arbor
1x Flooded Strand
1x Forest
1x Horizon Canopy
1x Plains
4x Razorverge Thicket
4x Temple Garden
4x Windswept Heath
1x Wooded Foothills
Modern
UBR Grixis Control
U Merfolk
Pauper
U Mono U Delver
Ancestral Visions is freed
Modern
UBR Grixis Control
U Merfolk
Pauper
U Mono U Delver
Ancestral Visions is freed