MTG Salvation

In this case, they're adding a Godless Shrine to the board to fit Lingering Souls in. The white source hurts in the main but you can board it in when you bring in Lingering Souls. You might board out a land, but if you're upping the average mana cost of your deck (adding 4 3-drops) then you might want the extra land (so you go up to 19 and more consistently hit 3 lands on turn 3).

Replace it with some amount of both. If you're playing 12 fetches, I'd say 2 Verdants 2 Flooded Strands. I'm currently running 11 fetches, 5 shocks (1 Steam Vents, 2 Watery Grave, 2 Blood Crypt) and 2 basics.

I like a 2-2 split on Stubb, Stubb is pretty mediocre in some matches and I would much rather board in extra copies against control or combo than have these very situational cards. With a card like TBR, you're better off playing them main because they're never dead and can be removed.

One thing I prefer about YP over Rabblemaster is the immediate value. In some cases, they just kill your Rabblemaster immediately, where with YP you can at least cast Opt or Thought Scour and get some value.

Flamewake Phoenix seems bad. I know it's tempting as a recurring threat, but it's only recurred if you're winning. Better not to play it and to find something else as a threat, like Liliana or Young Pyromancer.

Lili Last Hope is good. She picks up dead creatures and shoots opposing creatures. She does everything you could want a permanent on the battlefield to do.

I think it's a really big deal you get to see the card before you draw it. I'm almost always in a situation where a land is either exactly what I need or the worst possible draw. While Serum Visions helps me filter more cards, Opt gives you more immediate value. Since the deck is playing like 12 fetches, you often get less value out of Serum Visions because you get forced to fetch and nullify the value it offers.

I feel like it's mostly how the community viewed Goyf in DS. They figured if we want it, we go the Jund route and play Bauble to maximize on Goyf. Honestly, Goyf is probably fine in a deck like above, and I have a friend that plays a similar list.

If you look at your specific list, it cuts two Delve creates and adds 4 Goyfs. You don't play Planeswalkers so realistically, the size of Goyf is likely to remain relatively small. It feels like the Tasigurs/Gurmags you cut are just better. They're likely to be just as effective as Goyf.

I run a 3 Push 1 Bolt split just because Bolt has implications Push doesn't.

5c versions of a deck like this will always have their advantages and disadvantages. We've seen 5c goodstuff decks before, and while at some points they're very good, they're not always reliable or good long-term. I don't particularly see enough reason to want a 5c version of GDS, but I could absolutely accept that red isn't the best third colour. I've always wondered if we should be playing red because a lot of the cards are replaceable. In red specifically, you get:

• Bolt/Terminate/Dreadbore, which can be subbed with other cheap removal like Fatal Push (if playing less than 4), Dismember, Path
• Pyroclasm / Anger of the Gods / Kozilek's Return, which can be subbed out with Flaying Tendrils as some lists already do
• Temur Battle Rage, which honestly isn't the most important card, and isn't always played
• Young Pyromancer, which is just an additional threat that could be Lingering Souls in white, Tarmogoyf in green
• Kolaghan's Command, which is really the one flexible card you can't sub out, but you can find ways to deal with losing this

I've thought about 4c Grixis splashing white for a sideboard card or two, Path, and Lingering Souls. The biggest problem I see is that LD is a thing, and we don't want to play enough lands to mitigate that. 18 is the correct number, in my opinion, and you can probably get away with at most 11 fetches and 7 other lands. Combined with cards like Thought Scour, you run into awkward situations where you won't have the right lands to grab.

As for some cards people have been talking about:

• Young Pyromancer - Seems good to bump up the threat count. I think it's better in the mirror than my experiences have suggested, because I've won more games my opponents have boarded them in. I think there are possibly better cards than this though. I've been fond of Liliana in the mirror as a counter threat.
• Temur Battle Rage - Seems really bad to me. It can sometimes steal games but I think our deck has a lot of power and isn't quite looking to spend cards to try to be "win more" as it goes.
• Anger of the Gods - Has been significantly better for me than other AOE removal. The fact that it permanently answers cards from Dredge and Company decks has actually been a significant deal. It's harder to cast for sure, but in the decks it hoses, you're typically not getting LD'd.
• Opt - I've been enjoying this card. I think scrying first is a very relevant factor in a deck that wants to draw lands on a particular schedule. A lot of the time, you don't draw enough lands and need more, or you're flooding and need less.
• Search for Azcanta - Seems quite bad to me. Not the kind of thing our deck needs to be doing. The flip effect is super expensive and I don't think slowly gaining an advantage is powerful enough.
• Chart a Course - Seems like it's worse than 1-mana cantrips to me, but I haven't tested and could be wrong. It feels like you're paying one mana extra to cast Sleight of Hand and discard instead of bottom the card you don't want. Sure, if you attack it's good, but you won't attack enough of the time for it to be consistent.

That's one of the reasons this deck is considered difficult, because a single mistake is usually a big thing. Being off one mana somewhere, a card short in your graveyard, math wrong on your life total, it's all easy for it to occur and easy for it to be a big thing. A deck like Burn is usually much more forgiving on mistakes because you generally get to situations where you can topdeck lethal. Our deck usually doesn't have that option (outside of like Bolt / Snap situations).

Burn always felt a little unfavourable to me. The games often come down to the last turn or so, having a Death's Shadow in play and messing up their math can be big. I've certainly won a game like that before.

Stubborn Denial with Lilianas seems fine, mostly because the matchups where Liliana is good is gamebreaking. There aren't very many scenarios where both matter significantly.

You tend to crush the mirror with her because it's impossible to deal with. They have like no ways to kill her, maybe Bolt, K Command, or Snapcaster. The deck typically doesn't land multiple creatures at once in the mirror, so typically she can eat guys and stay alive. I once had a comp REL mirror where she got up to 9 counters. The fact she often kills more than one creature makes a huge difference since nobody's playing multiple dudes at once.

I think Dismember is fine, it's not a ton different from Terminate or Dreadbore. They're all flexible and all that matters is what decks you're concerned about. Dreadbore is good in the mirror, Dismember is good if they have land destruction or you want to pain yourself, Terminate is good if you don't want to pain yourself. You can play any of them realistically, just probably not too many Dismembers.

I definitely accept discard is better early, but I think it's worst than Denials late. Neither seem like the best top deck late game, but being able to answer a topdeck threat seems better than having a Thoughtseize when there's potentially nothing in their hand. My biggest concern is always making sure to draw less dead cards. You might be right that the discard is okay simply because it answers creatures (especially the Delve ones), but I've seen opponents draw it late game and get punished by it.

I can see an argument for Bolt + Snap + Bolt, not sure if I would keep in my one-of Bolt for that reason. It's often a pretty dead card since it doesn't kill much and would be only something to do at the end of a game. I will admit, games often do get to a point where you can win like that. I've always seen some argument for Fatal Push, it's just a matter of whether I think it'll be useful enough of the time. I play a lot of removal that can kill Shadow and the delve creatures (two Terminates main, three Lili total, and a Dreadbore in the board).

I tend to like Street Wraith in some number because it's not bad late game. I've won games from an unblockable Street Wraith in the mirror, it absolutely happens.

I also do agree K Command is clunky, but if the game goes late, it's not that bad. I can deal with one Spellbomb, it's not that hard to deal with.

I feel like I just need a ton of testing in sideboarded games to find out what the correct board is.

I was wondering what people's thoughts on sideboarding for the mirror is. Every time I look at a guide or video, people advocate for taking out Stubborn Denial and Kolaghan's Command, while leaving in discard. I tend to go the other way, board out the discard and leave in the Stubborn Denials and Kolaghan's Command. I have a huge emphasis on the late game, so I'm wondering what other people think.

From my most recent list (a few posts above), I boarded as follows:
-4 Thoughtseize
-2 Inquisition
-3 Fatal Push
-1 Bolt
+2 Liliana of the Veil
+1 Stubborn Denial
+1 Surgical Extraction
+1 Nihil Spellbomb
+2 Collective Brutality
+1 Engineered Explosives
+1 Kolaghan's Command
+1 Dreadbore

My thought process is that the mirror is an incredibly grindy game. They go back and forth quite a bit and typically we go extremely late, or so that's how the majority of my mirror matches have gone. I like boarding out cards that are bad topdecks. Discard is bad because it doesn't do much late (people have Thoughtseized me and seen a land as the only card), and the Pushes / Bolts seem mediocre when they're very situational removal. What I like about Kolaghan's is that it's a good value card, and with Stubborn Denial, it's good at protecting my creatures, so as long as I have something on board, it's a winner; it also answers Liliana sometimes.

Liliana is obviously an all star, as is Dreadbore. Surgical and Spellbomb are similarly quite good. I like Kolaghan's for the reasons above, and I like EE as a catch all that can answer Pyromancer / Liliana. I brought in Brutality mostly because it seemed more versatile than the discard (it can answer things like Pyromancer and Snapcaster).

What do other people think about the mirror match? Do you agree with my reasoning and the sideboard plan?

This is from memory so don't quote me:



Not sure on a couple of those cards, I don't think I ran two Spellbombs in the board nor the third Collective Brutality. I also don't think I had all 4 Push. I think the rest is right.

Here's a short tournament report from a weekly event I played in yesterday. I played a fairly stock list, one Liliana of the Veil in the main, two in the board. 4 Opts, 2 Serum Visions, 4 Thought Scour, and 18 lands.

Round 1 Blue Moon Breach

Game 1 I assumed he was on Blue Moon from seeing the Desolate Lighthouse, didn't recognize it was this Breach variant. I haven't been keeping up with Modern lately so I just assumed stock Blue Moon, especially when he played a guru land (assumed a pet deck of some rich kid). Anyway, in game 1 he just didn't draw any of the important cards, no Breach, no Blood Moon, no Emrakul, so yeah it was pretty smooth sailing. In game 2, he drew Blood Moon but I had a basic Swamp in play and a fetch land to find an Island. That pretty much nullified his Blood Moon and the game was pretty easy for me afterward.

Record: 1-0


Round 2 vs Counters Company

Game 1 I just had all the right answers, and eventually some creatures finished out the game. In game two, I didn't really draw any creatures and had far too many lands. My opponent just ran away with that one, I couldn't keep up with the wide array of creatures (I was still live to Anger of the Gods). In game 3, my opponent mulled and struggled a bit on lands, and it gave me enough room to find my own creatures. I got to the point I was putting him into lose-lose situations.

Record: 2-0


Round 3 Ad Nauseam

Game 1 my opponent led off with double Lotus on the play, and I thought it would go poorly for me. However, he basically ran out of steam with my early discard. After his double Lotus came off, I ended up casting Inquisition with the Lightning Storm in his hand... that was the end of that game, I won shortly after. In the second game my opponent mulled and then ran out of steam. He ended up having to go for an Ad Nauseam with no way to protect himself at 5 life, and flipped over a Leyline immediately.

Basically, the combination of counters and discard were good here. Kept my opponent off of doing what he needed, and I had early creatures. The fact they're 100% on a combo plan is nice because it makes me not care whatsoever about burning myself out to make DS bigger.

Record: 3-0


Round 4 vs Grixis Death's Shadow

We were both 3-0 and I offered to split, my opponent didn't want to. Alright then, we'll play out the mirror, which I haven't lost yet.

Game 1 I have turn 1 Tasigur and a bunch of removal backup, my opponent bricked on lands: game ended without too much trouble In game 2 my opponent bricked on lands early, but found some later on, enough to stabilize. I didn't have enough pressure and he just had a good hand of removal and dudes to overturn it. He was extremely low but I just couldn't find the last few points. In game 3, I got off to a good start. He played Young Pyromancer but couldn't do enough with it (only one dude), and eventually I just ran him over with some big dudes.

Record: 4-0


Was pretty pleased considering I haven't really been playing Modern much lately. I think a second Stubborn Denial in the side (I played only 3 total) would be good. I found in the mirror, I didn't have enough cards to board in (I board out all the removal that Tasigur/Gurmag dodge and the discard), so probably some more cards that are just good against them is ideal. I'm still not sure whether 18 lands is correct, it's definitely better than 19, but I think maybe with the right amount of Scry, you can manage drawing too many lands. I'm also somewhat tempted to dump the Kolaghan's because I think it is hard to cast with Snapcaster, and you can more easily play fewer lands without it.

I get that the deck is very efficient and all, but the issue is that the flooding is contributing directly to losses. Drawing several lands in a row or a high volume over a period of turns is manifesting itself into results. Just yesterday, I scooped a game with multiple lands in my hand.

What I'm really trying to see is if there are ways I can alleviate that. Maybe I play certain cards that help deal with flooding. Maybe I cut lands and add cheap spells to alleviate needing multiple lands. I'm just trying to see if that's actually something to do. Perhaps shaving a land to play a copy of Opt is good. Perhaps changing out some cheap spells for more powerful, more expensive cards could alleviate this as well. I'm just here trying to see how I can manage this.