Intro: UWR Tempo is, at its heart, a 1 threat ride deck. What this means is generally you play one hard to deal with threat as early as possible and ride it to victory. Legacy RUG Delver is the hard core version of this, landing an efficient one drop and not letting your opponent do anything at any cost. While Aggro decks care about racing and control decks care about Card Advantage, Tempo decks rely on tempo. At all costs. What this means is that cards like Stifle, Mana Leak, Vapor Snag, Azorius Charm, etc. are exactly what you want. Tempo decks want to trade card advantage for time. This is all they care about. As long as they can continue to put the opponents life total to 0, it doesn’t matter. If the tempo deck ends the game with 1 threat and 3 lands and no cards in hand, they are perfectly happy because odds are the opponent is dead at this point in the game.
So how does this deck transfer to standard? Glad you asked
So the absolute core is 53 cards. Scary that its such a large amount, but that’s the way it goes. So 7 “Flex” slots.
Lets go over the one thing though. 24 lands. No more, no less. (Actually, 1 more is ok but do NOT cut to 23 lands.) 24 lands is the correct amount. Why? Well we want to get to 4 mana on turn 4. The optimal number is 24+. If you don't believe me, look at this chart made by Mathochism and TheDarkShineKnight for proof...numbers don't lie people.
So lets discuss the core:
Creatures:
4 Geist of Saint Traft: The main win condition. Essentially it’s a 6/2 which 4 of them is nigh unblockable. No one wants to block a self exiling 4/4 so its most of the time 4 to the face. Add in Hexproof and the guy is insane.
4 Restoration Angel: A flash 3/4. Delver is good in that it’s a 3 power creature. This is a delver that is pre flipped and you never have to tap out for. Ever. You can hold up counterspells on their turn, if they don’t do anything you play angel and just continue as normal. Tempo card at its finest.
4 Snapcaster Mage: a varied 2/1 beater who has a spell attached to it. Sometimes its hurling spears at peoples face, or sending an opposing creature to the top of the deck, or its just a 4 mana silvergill adept. Very important to the deck
2 Thundermaw Hellkite: 5 mana for a Lava axe and a 5/5 Flier ETB tapped. Awesome card is awesome. Run 2, possibly 3 if you want
Spells:
X Azorius Charm: a very versatile card that cycles when you want it to, gain life when you want it to, and putting a beater to the top of the library when you just want more time. As a tempo deck, this is the mode used the most often, however the other modes being attached make for a very versatile card. I’ve seen as many as 4, as few as 2. You should run at least 3. I don’t like 4 (I like a different card instead of the 4th. Right now its an Izzet Charm) but its still a strong card to run
3 Searing Spear: Kills Thragtusk and his beast, so bring 2 (see what I did there… ). Seriously though 3 toughness is huge and being able to fling 3 damage to the face is also helpful. With Snapcaster and 6 mana its 6 damage to the face. And a 2/1 after the fact. Its very helpful. Run 3
X Pillar of Flame: a 1 mana kill spell that exiles when it kills them. This means it kills Messengers and Crawlers dead. Very helpful in a Zombie infested meta, and also helpful in a Human infested meta. At the moment I’m down to 2, but 3-4 is also fine.
2 Detention Sphere: A big weakness of the old delver decks is that if you didn’t counter an important spell, the only way to get rid of it was snag. This sucked vs. Walkers, as snag did not get rid of them, and they couldn’t play O-ring as it wasnt an instant/sorcery. Without Delver, we can play D-Sphere without disynergy, and the fact it exiles multiple same name things is even better.
6 Counterspells: This is generic, and most people run more than 6, but counterspells are the reason this deck is as good as it is right now. At the moment, the generic and most agreed upon is 2 Essence Scatter. This is a card that is only as good as the creatures it counters, and since Standard is full of ETB, efficient creatures (like the overused Thragtusk) and Cavern is at an all time low, Essence Scatter is good right now!
The other common counterspell used at the moment is Syncopate. Although it’s a miniature and I’ll admit worse Mana leak, a 2 mana counterspell that exiles instead of flat countering is huge. The fact that people STILL don’t play around this is hilarious, and with Snapcaster 4 mana counterspell that exiles is still playable. Late game it’s a bit worse, but hey counter for 4 mana when they play a tusk on turn 7 is still fine. It buys us time. That’s all that matters when we get right down to it.
Dissipate: this is a card that’s losing ground, and I don’t know why. It’s a 3 mana HARD COUNTER and the format is transitioning into almost ALL midrange/control. Even against Aggro its not horrid, as it’s a 3 mana “No”. Although they run Cavern, there is only one deck that is all creatures, and they have to have Cavern on angel as that’s the one you counter most anyway. A 3mana no against Control and Jund is huge, as they could play around Syncopate all day and you just run right into Dissipate. Don’t cut them. I run 2 main and 2 Side. My recommendation? Do the same (however If you run 1 Dissipate and 4 Syncopate I will forgive you. 3 Syncopate and 2 Dissipate is, in my experience, a better card)
7 is what you SHOULD run (3-4 Syncopate, 2 Essence Scatter, 1-2 Dissipate) if not more, but I put it at 6 for the core as some people are cutting down (which is stupid btw. But just my opinion)
LANDS:
24 lands I already talked about, so I’m not going to rant about it again. Run 24.
Duals/Basics/Utilities are pretty much set. Its 20 duals (all of them), 2-4 basics, 0-2 Utility lands (moorland haunt, slayers stronghold, desolate lighthouse and cavern of souls are your options.). I'm considering cutting a couple Clifftop's for Basics so when this happens, or if someone shows me its working, I'll update this. But for now, 20 duals, 2-4 basics, and 0-2 Utility lands
So what about the flex slots?:
Now, the 7 open slots are flex in that you can run very different cards, but the substance remains the same:
More Creatures: Some lists run the 15th creature in one of these slots, most of the time another Thundermaw Hellkite, however people like me have looked at Zealous Conscripts as the other threat, as its synergy with Resto Angel and the fact that it’s a 3+ power that just drops and can kill people out of no where. Example is if they tap out for an Angel of Serenity on like turn 7 to stabilize, you drop Conscripts and just kill them. It’s a very strong and VERY under utilized so it can just blow people out which is awesome. Some people also run Dungeon Geists and Fettergeist main, which is interesting but I don’t know if this is correct…
More removal: Azorius Charm, Searing Spear, Pillar of Flame, Izzet Charm, Feeling of Dread…these are all great cards and running more is never a bad thing. Clearing the way for our threats (read: Geist) is our primary goal. If we can’t counter it, we better be able to kill it or we’re in pretty deep trouble so the more, the better. Some people also run the 3rd D-Sphere, which I can get behind, however for me 2 has been the soft spot.
More Counters: More Syncopates, more Dissipates, more Essence Scatters, Izzet Charms or Negates. For me, more counterspells belong in the board but I can get behind a couple more main until Cavern becomes more prevalent.
Bonfire of the Damned: This is a relatively new inclusion due to the recent success of Ryan Forsberg, however its one that poses an interesting conundrum. Do we tap out to sweep/burn them? In most matchups the answer is yes, however in those matchups do we really need Bonfire? Against the Humans decks is where its good, as control decks have moved away from Entreat and Jund decks its just better to 1/1 them with counters most of the time. Its an intrigueing card, and I don’t mind it as a 1 of, but I’m debating cutting it and I would NEVER run 2.
Unsummon: this card is used in a tonne of lists, however I’m unsure If I would call it…core. Ryan ran 1, I’ve seen some lists run none, but most run 2. It’s the epitome of a Tempo card. If they tap out for an Olivia on turn 4, we Unsummon it and they we just Timewalked. Its pretty awesome in some situations, and when it works..it WORKS. But when its a bad card its absolutely horrid. Probably play at least 1, I’d almost consider 1 core however I am willing to admit its not a great card so its not the “core”
The 7 slots is pretty much set to the above in my experience. So what 7 do I/other pros use?
So really, its all about preference. It appears Todd is all about incremental advantage, and Ryan went for power. I like a mix of both, so that’s where my 7 fall.
Sideboards:
This is a little bit less standardized, but here is what the majority of the boards have:
More counters:
Most lists run a mix of Dispel, Dissipate, Negate, and Syncopate in the board. In some matchups, the burn isn’t as helpful as the counters so you overload on counters. Its that simple. Dispel for mirror/control, Negate for tokens/control, Dissipate for Jund/control, and syncopate for any deck with Geist mostly…and control.
The big thing is, the bigger decks need more counters as if we get to the late game they are at an advantage, so the abundance of counters is to allow us to regain the advantage.
Freeze effects:
Essentially these are tap down effects. Most decks I’ve seen run a mix of Dungeon Geists and tamiyo’s in the board, as these are good with dealing with Thragtusk, Angel of Serenity, and restoration angel. Dungeon Geists is odd in that if you freeze a Thragtusk they can “restore” it, but we can also “restore” our Geists so that’s not a compelling argument for me.
These are best in aggressive decks where we want to stall them down. Best answers to Thragtusks are countering it and stopping it. So we can do both.
Removal effects:
This includes Pillars and Supreme Verdicts. Essentially, aggro help. Decks like Humans, RDW and Zombies require more fast removal so we can stabilize. Pillar is great in all aggro matchups to killing their initial threats, and verdict is good in the W/x matchups as they require a specific board presence to win. I still bring in a Supreme Verdict vs. RDW, but against Zombies it is very unhelpful, but we have other cards that are so its not that big of a deal (Tamiyo and Geists are reasonable vs. Messnger, 4 of Pillar is good, and we CAN just race with Geist/Angel due to their lack of fliers)
Graveyard Hate:
We play white. There is Reanimator in the meta. If your not running some sort of yard hate, you better have a damned good reason. Purify is the common choice, due to RIP screwing up our Snapcasters, however some people have run RIP to good results….just side out Snapcaster. Its more important to us that their yard is gone then vice-versa. Just purge it.
Planeswalkers:
I already covered Tamiyo in the freeze effects, but a lot of people like Jace AoT, and I’ve even seen people run Memory adept or Chandra. Essentially, these are against control again. If we lay a Jace down before them, they have to waste a Jace to kill ours. If they don’t, we just gain tonnes of card advantage and beat them at their own game while retaining ours.
With memory adept/Chandra, essentially it’s a card that says “answer me now, or die” (more so Memory Adept than Chandra). If you want to you can run them, but its not mandatory by any means.
Note: If Zombies becomes a deck again, a good card to consider is Knight of Glory. Very good card in the matchup and we can continue with our general plan. Something to take into consideration as Todd and I both had 4 in our boards about 2 weeks ago
As for matchups, I’m working more on that and it will come in the future.
Hopefully this was helpful, if you have any more questions let me know
I talked with Koopa, and he and I both agreed that it is an "Aggro" deck in that we want to get our opponents down as fast as possible. I am trying to convince him to change it to UW/x Aggro variants but I still think its fine.
The deck is configured such that it excels against the mirror, jund, reanimator. The lack of Azorius Charm, however, makes the deck weaker against GW, RB Zombies and RbDW, so probably needs a bit of tweaking. Pike is unbeatable with Scour/Ravings though.
I played my latest list again last night and I must say, I had some issues with my land.
I kept a pretty solid 2 land hand, could play everything but GoST at a reasonable rate, absorb some damage and go to town with GoST nad I proceeded to just flood. 8 land pocket from turn 1. I have also been experiencing too many times where I will only find UR land or UW land and that is it. and I will still cap at 7 lands.
Last night my mana issues were consistent and it really brought me down in spirits as well. Is anyone else having issues like this? I was running 23 land for a while and my issues was that I would see 4 lands and nothing more. Sometimes I would see 5 but not very often.
To finish things off, RbDW is getting harder and harder for me to play against, Staticaster is amazing in that match but sometimes she is just not enough. Tips on this match? I really do not want to be facing it in and out next weekend at the Open.
^I really think you should be running 24 land, no less. You want to hit a land drop turn 1,2,3,4 and if you lucky the fifth as well. I know its a lot of land but I play 2 Izzet charm as well. The extra counter is nice, you dont need to waste your hard counter on spells and save them for creatures. Also late game when you dont want to see land anymore it serves a great purpose for Looting, ditching the land for new cards. Its helpful in my eyes but thats one persons opinion. I cap out at 6 mana and start filtering threw the rest.
Dont let let mana hurt bring you down on the deck. You can have the best deck in the world, but you just have some bad days. I played games where I needed to mulligan 2-3 times, not normal but just a bad luck draw day.
The deck is configured such that it excels against the mirror, jund, reanimator. The lack of Azorius Charm, however, makes the deck weaker against GW, RB Zombies and RbDW, so probably needs a bit of tweaking. Pike is unbeatable with Scour/Ravings though.
hm. this is an interesting way to build this.
I'm going to look more into it...
EDIT: @DayOldHate did your buddy ever miss Detention Sphere?
Edit: Nov 4th: Decided to try a couple things. With Zombies on the decline, I decided to cut the Knights from the board. I then decided to cut a Pillar for a Bonfire of the Damned, move the 2 Pillars to the board, add 1 Zealous Conscripts to the board and added another Supreme Verdict to the board.
I'm still deciding between Feeling of Dread / Izzet Charm
I dont think I want 2 colorless lands, but with Stronghold I'm willing to consider Moorland Haunt along with it.
After Forsberg's success with bonfire, i'm willing to try it.
This is in the tweaking phase, as the sideboard is currently in flux and I'm testing a couple of things.
vs. Zombies
-2 Essence Scatter
-2 Dissipate
-1 Zealous Conscripts
+2 Pillar of Flame
+2 Supreme Verdict
+1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
I want to go up to 4 Pillars, and I think Essence Scatter is pretty bad. Counterspells in general aren't great in this matchup, but I want some for things like burn spells or counterable zombies, and Syncopate for exiling Gravecrawlers is better than Essence Scatter imo. This matchup is the one I'm testing most due to cutting the Knights, so take this with a grain of salt.
vs. Mono-Red
-1 Zealous Conscripts
+1 Supreme Verdict
This matchup feels PRETTY good and I dont want to really change much...This is just for an out.
vs. Non-Tusk Control
+2 Negate
+2 Dissipate
+1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
+1 Zealous Conscripts
-2 Pillar of Flame
-2 Essence Scatter
-1 Bonfire of the Damned
-1 Feeling of Dread / Unsummon (if i'm running Izzet Charm)
Pillars are pretty bad, Essence scatter is bad as they dont play many creatures and I can just use Syncopate / Dissipate for the finishers. If they're running Snapcaster, I can see running Purify the Grave possibly but for now this has been ok. The one of unsummons are helpful for removal spells or rebuying Snapcaster, and I dont think I want to cut 1 Searing Spear, but we'll see.
vs. Tusk Control
+2 Negate
+2 Dissipate
+1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
+2 Dungeon Geists
+1 Zealous Conscripts
-2 Pillar of Flame
-2 Essence Scatter
-2 Unsummon
-1 Bonfire of the Damned
-1 Azorius Charm
Unsummon is fine but tusk decks run a couple less wraths, and I'd rather have the Geists. Plus, they normally go hand in hand with AoS, and Geists is good against it too! still debating about cutting the Essence Scatter, but with 4 Dissipate and 3 Syncopate, I'd rather have Geists as a threat. We shall see.
EDIT: I'm trying cutting an Azorius Charm for a Conscripts, as most of the time Charm is just a cantrip
vs. Jund
-2 Unsummon
-2 Pillar of Flame
-1 Bonfire of the Damned
+2 Dissipate
+2 Dungeon Geists
+1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
most of their creatures are value, and the ones that aren't I can answer on my turn or with Spear/Sphere/counters anyway, so Unsummon leaves. Pillar only kills Huntmaster non-flipped. Easy cut.
The -2's are all about how I feel the deck is made. if its value based I cut the Unsummons. If its all like Smiters/Paladins/Archangels then I am still working on it...I dont know what I want to cut, or if Dungeon Geists is even good vs. that style.
Dont think I like Dungeon Geists vs. this deck either, especially since their best beaters are either Geist of Saint Traft (which we can kill if need be) or transferrable with Sublime Archangel...Dissipate is very slow and there isnt much I want to steal.
vs. Frites without Dorks (4 colour)
-3 Pillar of Flame
-1 Feeling of Dread / Izzet Charm
-3 Searing Spear
+2 Dissipate
+2 Purify the Grave
+2 Dungeon Geists
+1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
unsure if cutting spear is correct, but tapping down their fatties and swinging around it doesnt seem too bad...
vs. Junk Rites with Dorks
this is a lot harder to board against...
Cards I kinda want in this matchup are Verdict, Geists, Dissipate, Purify the Grave and Tamiyo...which is 9 cards. And I dont have 9 cards to cut...
I can see cutting a Syncopate due to them ramping past it easy, and the Pillars, although killing dorks, ONLY kill dorks and its not always that important...so that 4. I also want to cut the Unsummons as they cast their big guys easier so u can't strand them, so thats 6. I can see cutting a spear if needed as well, so thats 7. So here is where we're at.
-3 Pillar of Flame
-1 Izzet Charm
-1 Searing Spear
-2 Unsummon
+2 Purify the Grave
+2 Dissipate
+1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
+2 Dungeon Geists/Supreme Verdict
I dont even think Supreme Verdict is that good due to them having Unburial Rites, but sometimes they just overflow the board...If we were playing Rest in Peace, we can cut the 4 Snapcaster Mage and its easier to play around, but Snapcaster for counters is huge. This is one of the harder matchups to play IMO, and its hard to board for as well...
I'm still unsure about cutting Pillar but it ONLY kills dorks...and if u dont kill the dork turn 1 its a lot worse later game. plus its not even that good as they have mulches and salvages to find other lands, so they dont rely on them as much...
Thoughts on this?
Tourney 1: FNM: 4-0-1 (5-0, drew for top prizes before we played)
The only reason why I would consider the build with the Pike is because it will make GoST a serious threat. I'm not sure if I like it overall, but I think its worth playing around with.
Anyone try Niv-Mizet in this deck? I've been experimenting with one until I find a 3rd Dragon and so far I've found that if I untap with him in play I just win. This deck already likes to go to the dome, an aspect he reinforces very effectively. The card advantage that goes along with that seems to just be unfair. He does not play well with Bonfire, and he's a little pricey @ 6 mana, but he has a nice fat ass and if your oppo can't remove him or kill you the next turn it's pretty much gg.
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Some people like to win MtG matches in the Red Zone. I prefer to win the way God intended: on the stack.
EDIT: @DayOldHate did your buddy ever miss Detention Sphere?
Sphere would've been good in a number of matchups, namely against Smiters and Zombies where they can force threats through counters and when your burn spells can't trade favourably with them. Only problem is that it doesn't synergise well with pikes. If you aren't running pikes, then you have to have Spheres I'd think.
I think Niv Mizzet is more of a control type of card, having it at 6 mana makes it a bit difficult for us to cast him. I don't think it belongs in the deck. If you need card draw, it's better to run 1-2 copies of Sphinx's Revelation.
The same goes with Bonfire of the Damned. It's bad against Jund, Bant Control and makes you tap out when you should be keeping your mana up for countermagic.
is Slayers' Stronghold really that good? I'm using Moorland Haunt and Desolate Lighthouse and I'm impressed with Loothouse. Should the game drag longer than expected, Loothouse really helped me to dig further.
Turning Restoration Angel into a 7 mana Thundermaw Hellkite late game is important. Turning Snapcaster into an Actual clock is important. Turning Thundermaw into a 7/5 with Vigilance is important. Moorland Haunt is horrid without something like Pike, and Desolate Lighthouse is...ok...but not GREAT. We want to be aggressive. If we're getting to a point where we have to loot we're in trouble and the Loothouse doesnt always dig us out of the hole...
I also starting using Lighthouse and Haunt until I tryed out the Stronghold, and I must say the Strongshold can have some power. It all comes down to preference but if you want to know try it and you will understand.
Its mana cost works really well to. Most, if not all of the spells in the deck cost 2 cmc. You can flash out an angel, and on five mana pump the angel to swing for five keeping a blocker and still having two up for a charm, EScatter, SS, you name it.
Slayer's Stronghold makes everything a threat, and when you have threats that are already a threat and you make them bigger and give them Vigilance or Haste it becomes even more of an issue for an opponent. A 5/4 Vigilant flyer is bonkers and very difficult to deal with.
So I am in love with this deck, and hope that it stays relevant until Innistrad rotates out. My two favorite creatures. Geist, and Hellkite. My Meta is almost all control. The only 2 aggro decks are 1 BG Zombies, and 1 GW midrange with paladins, smiters, wolfir and Sublime. Everything else is control. UWR, Grixis, Bant, and some BUGW walkers/entreat/terminus deck. And also a couple Reanimator. So here is my list, im not the best deck builder, but took the "core" and added my 7. Any ideas as to how to make it best against control would be appreciated. I really like the 4 spears to get that last bit of damge in with snappy flashback.
I know some of us are still using Dungeon Geist as a SB card. But decks are starting to adapt. I'm thinking of swapping it with Clone. I know it costs 4 mana, but it's pretty good now that the meta is all about midrange and control. What do you guys think?
Gotta say of the things I'm thinking about in Standard, how to play around Dungeon Geists isn't one of them.
I still like them. Against Angel of Serenity it's good, and its still fine vs. Thragtusk. And against aggro decks it slows down Smiter's while being hard to kill.
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Thanks Hero's of the Plane
Modern
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So how does this deck transfer to standard? Glad you asked
Sample Deck:
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Geist of Saint Traft
3 Thundermaw Hellkite
2 Detention Sphere
3 Azorius Charm
2 Dissipate
2 Essence Scatter
1 Feeling of Dread
3 Searing Spear
3 Syncopate
1 Unsummon
2 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Pillar of Flame
1 Mountain
1 Plains
4 Clifftop Retreat
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
1 Slayers' Stronghold
4 Steam Vents
4 Sulfur Falls
3 Dungeon Geists
1 Dissipate
3 Purify the Grave
1 Syncopate
2 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
2 Pillar of Flame
2 Supreme Verdict
This list is everything that I listed above. So why does it work?
Lets look at the core of the deck
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Restoration Angel
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
6+ Counterspells (Syncopate, Dissipate, Essence Scatter)
3 Searing Spear
2 Detention Sphere
So the absolute core is 53 cards. Scary that its such a large amount, but that’s the way it goes. So 7 “Flex” slots.
Lets go over the one thing though. 24 lands. No more, no less. (Actually, 1 more is ok but do NOT cut to 23 lands.) 24 lands is the correct amount. Why? Well we want to get to 4 mana on turn 4. The optimal number is 24+. If you don't believe me, look at this chart made by Mathochism and TheDarkShineKnight for proof...numbers don't lie people.
So lets discuss the core:
Creatures:
4 Geist of Saint Traft: The main win condition. Essentially it’s a 6/2 which 4 of them is nigh unblockable. No one wants to block a self exiling 4/4 so its most of the time 4 to the face. Add in Hexproof and the guy is insane.
4 Restoration Angel: A flash 3/4. Delver is good in that it’s a 3 power creature. This is a delver that is pre flipped and you never have to tap out for. Ever. You can hold up counterspells on their turn, if they don’t do anything you play angel and just continue as normal. Tempo card at its finest.
4 Snapcaster Mage: a varied 2/1 beater who has a spell attached to it. Sometimes its hurling spears at peoples face, or sending an opposing creature to the top of the deck, or its just a 4 mana silvergill adept. Very important to the deck
2 Thundermaw Hellkite: 5 mana for a Lava axe and a 5/5 Flier ETB tapped. Awesome card is awesome. Run 2, possibly 3 if you want
Spells:
X Azorius Charm: a very versatile card that cycles when you want it to, gain life when you want it to, and putting a beater to the top of the library when you just want more time. As a tempo deck, this is the mode used the most often, however the other modes being attached make for a very versatile card. I’ve seen as many as 4, as few as 2. You should run at least 3. I don’t like 4 (I like a different card instead of the 4th. Right now its an Izzet Charm) but its still a strong card to run
3 Searing Spear: Kills Thragtusk and his beast, so bring 2 (see what I did there… ). Seriously though 3 toughness is huge and being able to fling 3 damage to the face is also helpful. With Snapcaster and 6 mana its 6 damage to the face. And a 2/1 after the fact. Its very helpful. Run 3
X Pillar of Flame: a 1 mana kill spell that exiles when it kills them. This means it kills Messengers and Crawlers dead. Very helpful in a Zombie infested meta, and also helpful in a Human infested meta. At the moment I’m down to 2, but 3-4 is also fine.
2 Detention Sphere: A big weakness of the old delver decks is that if you didn’t counter an important spell, the only way to get rid of it was snag. This sucked vs. Walkers, as snag did not get rid of them, and they couldn’t play O-ring as it wasnt an instant/sorcery. Without Delver, we can play D-Sphere without disynergy, and the fact it exiles multiple same name things is even better.
6 Counterspells: This is generic, and most people run more than 6, but counterspells are the reason this deck is as good as it is right now. At the moment, the generic and most agreed upon is 2 Essence Scatter. This is a card that is only as good as the creatures it counters, and since Standard is full of ETB, efficient creatures (like the overused Thragtusk) and Cavern is at an all time low, Essence Scatter is good right now!
The other common counterspell used at the moment is Syncopate. Although it’s a miniature and I’ll admit worse Mana leak, a 2 mana counterspell that exiles instead of flat countering is huge. The fact that people STILL don’t play around this is hilarious, and with Snapcaster 4 mana counterspell that exiles is still playable. Late game it’s a bit worse, but hey counter for 4 mana when they play a tusk on turn 7 is still fine. It buys us time. That’s all that matters when we get right down to it.
Dissipate: this is a card that’s losing ground, and I don’t know why. It’s a 3 mana HARD COUNTER and the format is transitioning into almost ALL midrange/control. Even against Aggro its not horrid, as it’s a 3 mana “No”. Although they run Cavern, there is only one deck that is all creatures, and they have to have Cavern on angel as that’s the one you counter most anyway. A 3mana no against Control and Jund is huge, as they could play around Syncopate all day and you just run right into Dissipate. Don’t cut them. I run 2 main and 2 Side. My recommendation? Do the same (however If you run 1 Dissipate and 4 Syncopate I will forgive you. 3 Syncopate and 2 Dissipate is, in my experience, a better card)
7 is what you SHOULD run (3-4 Syncopate, 2 Essence Scatter, 1-2 Dissipate) if not more, but I put it at 6 for the core as some people are cutting down (which is stupid btw. But just my opinion)
LANDS:
24 lands I already talked about, so I’m not going to rant about it again. Run 24.
Duals/Basics/Utilities are pretty much set. Its 20 duals (all of them), 2-4 basics, 0-2 Utility lands (moorland haunt, slayers stronghold, desolate lighthouse and cavern of souls are your options.). I'm considering cutting a couple Clifftop's for Basics so when this happens, or if someone shows me its working, I'll update this. But for now, 20 duals, 2-4 basics, and 0-2 Utility lands
So what about the flex slots?:
Now, the 7 open slots are flex in that you can run very different cards, but the substance remains the same:
More Creatures: Some lists run the 15th creature in one of these slots, most of the time another Thundermaw Hellkite, however people like me have looked at Zealous Conscripts as the other threat, as its synergy with Resto Angel and the fact that it’s a 3+ power that just drops and can kill people out of no where. Example is if they tap out for an Angel of Serenity on like turn 7 to stabilize, you drop Conscripts and just kill them. It’s a very strong and VERY under utilized so it can just blow people out which is awesome. Some people also run Dungeon Geists and Fettergeist main, which is interesting but I don’t know if this is correct…
More removal: Azorius Charm, Searing Spear, Pillar of Flame, Izzet Charm, Feeling of Dread…these are all great cards and running more is never a bad thing. Clearing the way for our threats (read: Geist) is our primary goal. If we can’t counter it, we better be able to kill it or we’re in pretty deep trouble so the more, the better. Some people also run the 3rd D-Sphere, which I can get behind, however for me 2 has been the soft spot.
More Counters: More Syncopates, more Dissipates, more Essence Scatters, Izzet Charms or Negates. For me, more counterspells belong in the board but I can get behind a couple more main until Cavern becomes more prevalent.
Bonfire of the Damned: This is a relatively new inclusion due to the recent success of Ryan Forsberg, however its one that poses an interesting conundrum. Do we tap out to sweep/burn them? In most matchups the answer is yes, however in those matchups do we really need Bonfire? Against the Humans decks is where its good, as control decks have moved away from Entreat and Jund decks its just better to 1/1 them with counters most of the time. Its an intrigueing card, and I don’t mind it as a 1 of, but I’m debating cutting it and I would NEVER run 2.
Unsummon: this card is used in a tonne of lists, however I’m unsure If I would call it…core. Ryan ran 1, I’ve seen some lists run none, but most run 2. It’s the epitome of a Tempo card. If they tap out for an Olivia on turn 4, we Unsummon it and they we just Timewalked. Its pretty awesome in some situations, and when it works..it WORKS. But when its a bad card its absolutely horrid. Probably play at least 1, I’d almost consider 1 core however I am willing to admit its not a great card so its not the “core”
The 7 slots is pretty much set to the above in my experience. So what 7 do I/other pros use?
Well if we look at the flex compared to my list…
1 Azorius Charm
1 Izzet Charm
1 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Unsummon
If we look at Todd Anderson’s recent list, his 8 (he’s at 5 counters, but more on that in a sec) slots are as follows:
2 Izzet Charm (1 belongs in the 6th counter slot essentially)
3 Unsummon
1 Pillar of Flame
And if we look at Ryan Forsberg’s list:
1 Feeling of Dread
1 Unsummon
2 Bonfire of the Damned
So really, its all about preference. It appears Todd is all about incremental advantage, and Ryan went for power. I like a mix of both, so that’s where my 7 fall.
Sideboards:
More counters:
Most lists run a mix of Dispel, Dissipate, Negate, and Syncopate in the board. In some matchups, the burn isn’t as helpful as the counters so you overload on counters. Its that simple. Dispel for mirror/control, Negate for tokens/control, Dissipate for Jund/control, and syncopate for any deck with Geist mostly…and control.
The big thing is, the bigger decks need more counters as if we get to the late game they are at an advantage, so the abundance of counters is to allow us to regain the advantage.
Freeze effects:
Essentially these are tap down effects. Most decks I’ve seen run a mix of Dungeon Geists and tamiyo’s in the board, as these are good with dealing with Thragtusk, Angel of Serenity, and restoration angel. Dungeon Geists is odd in that if you freeze a Thragtusk they can “restore” it, but we can also “restore” our Geists so that’s not a compelling argument for me.
These are best in aggressive decks where we want to stall them down. Best answers to Thragtusks are countering it and stopping it. So we can do both.
Removal effects:
This includes Pillars and Supreme Verdicts. Essentially, aggro help. Decks like Humans, RDW and Zombies require more fast removal so we can stabilize. Pillar is great in all aggro matchups to killing their initial threats, and verdict is good in the W/x matchups as they require a specific board presence to win. I still bring in a Supreme Verdict vs. RDW, but against Zombies it is very unhelpful, but we have other cards that are so its not that big of a deal (Tamiyo and Geists are reasonable vs. Messnger, 4 of Pillar is good, and we CAN just race with Geist/Angel due to their lack of fliers)
Graveyard Hate:
We play white. There is Reanimator in the meta. If your not running some sort of yard hate, you better have a damned good reason. Purify is the common choice, due to RIP screwing up our Snapcasters, however some people have run RIP to good results….just side out Snapcaster. Its more important to us that their yard is gone then vice-versa. Just purge it.
Planeswalkers:
I already covered Tamiyo in the freeze effects, but a lot of people like Jace AoT, and I’ve even seen people run Memory adept or Chandra. Essentially, these are against control again. If we lay a Jace down before them, they have to waste a Jace to kill ours. If they don’t, we just gain tonnes of card advantage and beat them at their own game while retaining ours.
With memory adept/Chandra, essentially it’s a card that says “answer me now, or die” (more so Memory Adept than Chandra). If you want to you can run them, but its not mandatory by any means.
That’s pretty much it…some common sideboards are:
Todd Anderson’s:
3 Rest in Peace
2 Dispel
2 Dissipate
2 Negate
2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
1 Pillar of Flame
Ryan Forsberg’s:
1 Dissipate
3 Purify the Grave
1 Syncopate
2 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
2 Pillar of Flame
2 Supreme Verdict
Mine (subject to change):
2 Dungeon Geists
2 Negate
2 Dissipate
2 Purify the Grave
3 Supreme Verdict
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
1 Zealous Conscripts
Note: If Zombies becomes a deck again, a good card to consider is Knight of Glory. Very good card in the matchup and we can continue with our general plan. Something to take into consideration as Todd and I both had 4 in our boards about 2 weeks ago
As for matchups, I’m working more on that and it will come in the future.
Hopefully this was helpful, if you have any more questions let me know
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Modern
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Nice primer, btw!
IMO its just easier if it stays here.
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4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Restoration Angel
3 Thundermaw Hellkite
Enchantment (2)
2 Detention Sphere
Instant (17)
3 Syncopate
2 Essence Scatter
2 Dissipate
3 Searing Spear
3 Azorius Charm
1 Izzet Charm
1 Feeling of Dread
1 Unsummon
1 Sphinx's Revelation
2 Pillar of Flame
Land (24)
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Steam Vents
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Sulfur Falls
3 Clifftop Retreat
2 Island
2 Plains
1 Desolate Lighthouse
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Pillar of Flame
2 Dungeon Geists
2 Negate
2 Dissipate
2 Purify the Grave
2 Supreme Verdict
2 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
1 Bonfire of the Damned
I've been testing this deck recently with very good results.
Thats a different archetype
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Mabbz on MTGO | Demgrinds on Twitch & Twitter | Helpdesk
A friend of mine played it to a 1st place finish in Swiss.
http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?deck_id=1066397
The deck is configured such that it excels against the mirror, jund, reanimator. The lack of Azorius Charm, however, makes the deck weaker against GW, RB Zombies and RbDW, so probably needs a bit of tweaking. Pike is unbeatable with Scour/Ravings though.
I kept a pretty solid 2 land hand, could play everything but GoST at a reasonable rate, absorb some damage and go to town with GoST nad I proceeded to just flood. 8 land pocket from turn 1. I have also been experiencing too many times where I will only find UR land or UW land and that is it. and I will still cap at 7 lands.
Last night my mana issues were consistent and it really brought me down in spirits as well. Is anyone else having issues like this? I was running 23 land for a while and my issues was that I would see 4 lands and nothing more. Sometimes I would see 5 but not very often.
To finish things off, RbDW is getting harder and harder for me to play against, Staticaster is amazing in that match but sometimes she is just not enough. Tips on this match? I really do not want to be facing it in and out next weekend at the Open.
Dont let let mana hurt bring you down on the deck. You can have the best deck in the world, but you just have some bad days. I played games where I needed to mulligan 2-3 times, not normal but just a bad luck draw day.
hm. this is an interesting way to build this.
I'm going to look more into it...
EDIT: @DayOldHate did your buddy ever miss Detention Sphere?
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4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Restoration Angel
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
1 Zealous Conscripts
2 Detention Sphere
3 Syncopate
2 Essence Scatter
2 Dissipate
2 Pillar of Flame
3 Searing Spear
3 Azorius Charm
1 Feeling of Dread / Izzet Charm
2 Unsummon
1 Bonfire of the Damned
4 Steam Vents
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Sulfur Falls
4 Clifftop Retreat
2 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Island
2 Pillar of Flame
2 Dungeon Geists
2 Negate
2 Dissipate
2 Purify the Grave
3 Supreme Verdict
1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
1 Zealous Conscripts
Edit: Nov 4th: Decided to try a couple things. With Zombies on the decline, I decided to cut the Knights from the board. I then decided to cut a Pillar for a Bonfire of the Damned, move the 2 Pillars to the board, add 1 Zealous Conscripts to the board and added another Supreme Verdict to the board.
I'm still deciding between Feeling of Dread / Izzet Charm
I dont think I want 2 colorless lands, but with Stronghold I'm willing to consider Moorland Haunt along with it.
After Forsberg's success with bonfire, i'm willing to try it.
This is in the tweaking phase, as the sideboard is currently in flux and I'm testing a couple of things.
vs. Zombies
-2 Essence Scatter
-2 Dissipate
-1 Zealous Conscripts
+2 Pillar of Flame
+2 Supreme Verdict
+1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
I want to go up to 4 Pillars, and I think Essence Scatter is pretty bad. Counterspells in general aren't great in this matchup, but I want some for things like burn spells or counterable zombies, and Syncopate for exiling Gravecrawlers is better than Essence Scatter imo. This matchup is the one I'm testing most due to cutting the Knights, so take this with a grain of salt.
vs. Mono-Red
-1 Zealous Conscripts
+1 Supreme Verdict
This matchup feels PRETTY good and I dont want to really change much...This is just for an out.
vs. Non-Tusk Control
+2 Negate
+2 Dissipate
+1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
+1 Zealous Conscripts
-2 Pillar of Flame
-2 Essence Scatter
-1 Bonfire of the Damned
-1 Feeling of Dread / Unsummon (if i'm running Izzet Charm)
Pillars are pretty bad, Essence scatter is bad as they dont play many creatures and I can just use Syncopate / Dissipate for the finishers. If they're running Snapcaster, I can see running Purify the Grave possibly but for now this has been ok. The one of unsummons are helpful for removal spells or rebuying Snapcaster, and I dont think I want to cut 1 Searing Spear, but we'll see.
vs. Tusk Control
+2 Negate
+2 Dissipate
+1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
+2 Dungeon Geists
+1 Zealous Conscripts
-2 Pillar of Flame
-2 Essence Scatter
-2 Unsummon
-1 Bonfire of the Damned
-1 Azorius Charm
Unsummon is fine but tusk decks run a couple less wraths, and I'd rather have the Geists. Plus, they normally go hand in hand with AoS, and Geists is good against it too! still debating about cutting the Essence Scatter, but with 4 Dissipate and 3 Syncopate, I'd rather have Geists as a threat. We shall see.
EDIT: I'm trying cutting an Azorius Charm for a Conscripts, as most of the time Charm is just a cantrip
vs. Jund
-2 Unsummon
-2 Pillar of Flame
-1 Bonfire of the Damned
+2 Dissipate
+2 Dungeon Geists
+1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
most of their creatures are value, and the ones that aren't I can answer on my turn or with Spear/Sphere/counters anyway, so Unsummon leaves. Pillar only kills Huntmaster non-flipped. Easy cut.
vs. GW Aggro
-2 ???
-2 Dissipate
-1 Zealous Conscripts
+2 Dungeon Geists
+2 Supreme Verdict
+1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
The -2's are all about how I feel the deck is made. if its value based I cut the Unsummons. If its all like Smiters/Paladins/Archangels then I am still working on it...I dont know what I want to cut, or if Dungeon Geists is even good vs. that style.
vs. UW Humans
-1 Zealous Conscripts
-2 Dissipate
+1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
+2 Supreme Verdict
Dont think I like Dungeon Geists vs. this deck either, especially since their best beaters are either Geist of Saint Traft (which we can kill if need be) or transferrable with Sublime Archangel...Dissipate is very slow and there isnt much I want to steal.
vs. Frites without Dorks (4 colour)
-3 Pillar of Flame
-1 Feeling of Dread / Izzet Charm
-3 Searing Spear
+2 Dissipate
+2 Purify the Grave
+2 Dungeon Geists
+1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
unsure if cutting spear is correct, but tapping down their fatties and swinging around it doesnt seem too bad...
vs. Junk Rites with Dorks
this is a lot harder to board against...
Cards I kinda want in this matchup are Verdict, Geists, Dissipate, Purify the Grave and Tamiyo...which is 9 cards. And I dont have 9 cards to cut...
I can see cutting a Syncopate due to them ramping past it easy, and the Pillars, although killing dorks, ONLY kill dorks and its not always that important...so that 4. I also want to cut the Unsummons as they cast their big guys easier so u can't strand them, so thats 6. I can see cutting a spear if needed as well, so thats 7. So here is where we're at.
-3 Pillar of Flame
-1 Izzet Charm
-1 Searing Spear
-2 Unsummon
+2 Purify the Grave
+2 Dissipate
+1 Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
+2 Dungeon Geists/Supreme Verdict
I dont even think Supreme Verdict is that good due to them having Unburial Rites, but sometimes they just overflow the board...If we were playing Rest in Peace, we can cut the 4 Snapcaster Mage and its easier to play around, but Snapcaster for counters is huge. This is one of the harder matchups to play IMO, and its hard to board for as well...
I'm still unsure about cutting Pillar but it ONLY kills dorks...and if u dont kill the dork turn 1 its a lot worse later game. plus its not even that good as they have mulches and salvages to find other lands, so they dont rely on them as much...
Thoughts on this?
Tourney 1: FNM: 4-0-1 (5-0, drew for top prizes before we played)
Beat: Jund (2-0), Jund (2-1), Junk Reanimator (2-1), Bant Control (2-0), RDW (2-0)
Record: 10-2
Tourney 2: FNM: 4-1-0
Beat: Jund (2-1), RUG Experiment (2-1), Junk Tokens (2-1), UW Humans (2-0)
Lost: GW Aggro (1-2) (misplay)
Record: 9-5
Tourney 3: Koopa IQ: 2-1
Beat: Bant Control (2-0), Mono-Red (2-0)
Lost: UR Nivmagus (1-2) (bad draws)
Record: 4-2
I'm also testing this list for the moment, trying to figure out if I like it or not. Need more testing with it:
4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Restoration Angel
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
2 Runechanter's Pike
4 Thought Scour
3 Azorius Charm
1 Izzet Charm
3 Searing Spear
2 Pillar of Flame
3 Syncopate
2 Dissipate
2 Essence Scatter
1 Unsummon
4 Steam Vents
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Sulfur Falls
3 Clifftop Retreat
1 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Moorland Haunt
Thanks Hero's of the Plane
Modern
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4 Geist of Saint Traft
4 Restoration Angel
2 Thundermaw Hellkite
2 Runechanter's Pike
4 Thought Scour
3 Azorius Charm
1 Izzet Charm
3 Searing Spear
2 Pillar of Flame
3 Syncopate
2 Dissipate
2 Essence Scatter
1 Unsummon
4 Steam Vents
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Sulfur Falls
3 Clifftop Retreat
1 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Moorland Haunt
So far ok results
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Sphere would've been good in a number of matchups, namely against Smiters and Zombies where they can force threats through counters and when your burn spells can't trade favourably with them. Only problem is that it doesn't synergise well with pikes. If you aren't running pikes, then you have to have Spheres I'd think.
The same goes with Bonfire of the Damned. It's bad against Jund, Bant Control and makes you tap out when you should be keeping your mana up for countermagic.
My old nickname was lockheart87.
something to consider
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I also starting using Lighthouse and Haunt until I tryed out the Stronghold, and I must say the Strongshold can have some power. It all comes down to preference but if you want to know try it and you will understand.
Its mana cost works really well to. Most, if not all of the spells in the deck cost 2 cmc. You can flash out an angel, and on five mana pump the angel to swing for five keeping a blocker and still having two up for a charm, EScatter, SS, you name it.
Here is what I am going to mess around with...
4 Restoration Angel
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Thundermaw Hellkite
2 Essence Scatter
2 Izzet Charm
2 Pillar of Flame
3 Searing Spear
2 Dissipate
2 Unsummon
4 Thought Scour
3 Desperate Ravings
2 Runechanter's Pike
4 Clifftop Retreat
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
1 Mountain
4 Steam Vents
4 Sulfur Falls
2 Moorland Haunt
2 Dissipate
2 Negate
2 Supreme Verdict
3 Izzet Staticaster
1 Volcanic Geyser
2 Pillar of Flame
2 Clone
1 Essence Scatter
4 Geist of St Traft
4 Restoration Angel
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Thundermaw Hellkite
Sorcery/Enchantment 4
2 Detention Sphere
2 Pillar of Flam
Instant 17
4 Syncopate
4 Searing Spear
3 Azorius Charm
2 Dissipate
2 Essence Scater
1 Izzet Charm
1 Sphinx Revelation
4 Steam Vents
4 Sulfur Falls
3 Clifftop Retreat
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Hallowed Fountain
2 Slayers Stronghold
1 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plain
2 Pillar of Flame
3 Supereme Verdict
3 Dungeon Geist
3 Purify the grave
1 Dissipate
1 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Tamiyo, the moon sage
Gotta say of the things I'm thinking about in Standard, how to play around Dungeon Geists isn't one of them.
I still like them. Against Angel of Serenity it's good, and its still fine vs. Thragtusk. And against aggro decks it slows down Smiter's while being hard to kill.
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Modern
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