Agreed with the above that your post is a a bit hard to grapple with, but…
Maybe you should look at Knightfall. It’s an aggressive Midrange deck with a strong beatdown Plan A, a one-turn-KO Plan B using the Knight of the Reliquary/Retreat to Coralhelm combo, and a Plan C of just outvaluing your opponent with Colleted Company, Tireless Tracker, etc. You also get access to tons of great SB tech, and you’re not terribly soft to hate. When you do see hate cards, you can play around them with your Plan A/C, or just blow them up with Qasali Pridemage.
It’s not budget, but the most expensive pieces are Modern staples (lands and Noble Hierarch are really the only real money pieces IIRC). Some are looking at a Jace plan, but I think a Jaceless route with Company will still be totally viable.
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Playing UX Mana Denial until Modern gets the answers it needs.
WUBRG Humans BRW Mardu Pyromancer UW UW "Control" UR Blue Moon
Yep I figured as much. I know I do need to get all of those thoughts together and learn more about the format before posting anything like that.
My budget is based off of the $500 i could roughly get for the naya deck and the other playables that i have which includes the naya fetches ect. I can spend up to 1000 with the 500 above. I know that opens up a ton of decks in the format. I just want one that can be tweaked to the current meta. I want to have a deck that i can learn and enjoy playing over time.
I can be more specific to the routes I am looking to take and with what has been said:
Temur Midrange (Because of blood moon, better beatdown creatures and burn)
Sultai Midrange (It's spicy, has access to stronger removal to play a grind-you-out type of game)
I do not want to play jund or abzan.
I am looking toward one of the directions above that could be flexible enough to adapt to the meta easily.
Both decks will have some of the most powerful cards in modern's existence that are staples for plenty of other decks.
If I were to start with either the sultai or temur midrange, how could I achieve that without going crazy if I dont have to immediately?
Would you recommend getting the goyfs and some of the blue cards and wait for the fetches? Or am I thinking about this wrong?
I will most likely buy the 4 goyfs for sure because they will be going in either variant. The tarns or catacombs may have to wait either way. As will as Lili or Jace. I feel as if these cards choices will satisfy what i am looking for from a versatile deck without being too draw go-ish. I can use baby Jace for now and I will most likely want to run 2 copies of snapcaster.
The 3rd color is practically in the air as it provides the deck with similar features. I know the core components of both decks but will they be as good without having the fetches and a few of the higher-end pieces right away? Is there ways to ease into a higher end deck like these?
If this is still unclear (which it might be), I will try back after some soulsearching.
Thanks for this. I do have the play set of company and 3 knights with the retreats. This is definitely an option now that i think about it. How do you feel the deck is moving forward? Now that i think about it, I do practically have this deck minus any blue mana. It does appear to have its outs and can beat down. Is it consistent enough to take down an fnm? I know it also depends on the pilot.
I could try this out to see if i do want to go toward a company route.
Knightfall can definitely take down FNM, although variance, matchups, etc. will of course play heavily into it. Being low on interaction makes hyperaggression difficult to deal with, and outside the combo, it’s hard to outrace combo or big mana. But the heavy board presence and oops-I-win combo mean those matches are better than they are for most Midrange decks in my experience.
It’s impossible to say how things will go post-bannings, but I expect Knightfall won’t be going anywhere.
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Playing UX Mana Denial until Modern gets the answers it needs.
WUBRG Humans BRW Mardu Pyromancer UW UW "Control" UR Blue Moon
I actually really like that suggestion and i can turn that into humans if i wanted to down the road. You are right about the versatility and sb options.
Your budget probably pushes the decks you want as being too expensive. I don't know what good lists for either Sultai or Temur Midrange are, so I'm just using whatever's available on MTGGoldfish to run numbers:
Temur Moon is around 1300 in paper, and you're missing like all of it. The bulk of the money is in Snaps, Goyfs, Cryptics, Aether Vials, and lands you don't have (Scalding Tarn and Misty Rainforest).
Sultai Midrange is 1700 in paper, and you're once again missing like all of it. The bulk of the money is in Snaps, Goyfs, Lilianas, and Catacombs.
I think in general, any deck playing a combination of Snapcaster + Goyf or Goyf + Liliana is probably too expensive.
Let's also take a moment to say that it's hard to predict where any blue deck will end up with the Jace unban. On top of that, Sultai and Temur midrange aren't well established decks. Buying into them is a bit risky, because even though there are good cards in the colours, the decks just haven't performed. Sultai's been a combination people have been trying for years to make work (I've been trying personally since 2013), and it's put up maybe a couple of results here and there. So you're taking a huge risk with these decks, and I'd recommend waiting on them if they're what you really want to play. You won't figure out a good Jace deck in a week, that's for sure.
If you decide that instead you want to budget this, don't expect results for a while. Playing with minimal copies of Jace, Liliana, Snapcaster, Goyf, etc. are going to give you lesser results. That's to be expected, but you could do much better now investing in a cheaper deck. The power of BGx as an archetype has always been that every card is good, and while there are Goyf substitutes, the power level certainly drops quite a bit.
Knightfall is a decent option. I wouldn't exactly say it's great, you can certainly compete at FNM with it though. The fact that you don't have to spend a lot on it is a big selling point.
The bottom line is always about being realistic with your goals. Magic is expensive, and so you need to sort of plan out your budget and expectations, then align a deck that fits within those goals. I'm always going to advocate for a full deck over a partial deck. Sometimes you can get away with a small number of substitutes (especially shocks/fetches), but it's hard to play BGx without Liliana, or blue control without Jace.
That is perfect advice and just what I was looking for. I believe i am just going to fill out this knightfall deck and just start to play more and learn modern a bit more before heavily investing immediately. I do appreciate your time and I believe I have clarity on some short and long term goals. I definitely understand what you mean by all of that.
So, which decks do we think are going to be strong in the Jace/BBE meta? I'm looking to build new decks in the near future, but I'm going to wait on Jace/BGx until the prices stabilize. I'm not looking at anything specific, just trying to gauge what's good and go from there. I'm not limited by budget nor do I have a strong enough preference on any strategy/colours to dictate my choice. I do, however, want it to be competitive (i.e. I'm not building random rogue decks).
Hi guys! I'm new to the forum and will highly appreciate any advice on which deck to choose for friendly Modern FNM's.
I have no preferences regarding my future deck strategy, and my budget is not limited, so feel free to advise!
My situation: our playgroup is very small. Decks present are as follows: Burn, Bogles, Goblins, BGx, 8 Rack, UW Control, Storm.
So I need to build such a deck that
A) Has good matchups against our small playgroup.
B) Can't be easily hated (as the playgroup is small, people can put much hate into sideboards or even tweak their established decklists).
Is there a deck in current Modern that fits all my points or do I live in a wonderland?
You live in wonderland if you think you can beat 7 different decks consistently without being able to be hated out. On top of that, the format only has 7 decks so the ability for people to tweak their decks is high as well. Most of the time people are playing where a given deck is like 5-10% of the format, and there's no guarantee. In your case, your deck is 12.5% of the meta and guaranteed.
Best is just to pick a deck that doesn't get completely crushed that you like.
Thanks for your feedback, darksteel88!
I'm new to the format and definitely wasn't going to consistently beat all 7 decks
Maybe you could tell me which decks (or type of decks) to consider in such meta? I could even build several decks and bring one or another from time to time...
I mean I could build one at random but I don't know how those decks function, I only saw them a couple of times when attending tournaments for newbs like me I'm going to attend events from time to time, so no need in a really competitive deck, but it would be great to have 1-2 decks that don't fold to those present in our LGS, just for a start, so that I have a chance to perform better than 0-X
Hey, I'm looking for some ideas and it'd be great if someone could help me out.
So I'm trying to find a new deck to play and I've got a few options:
I own all of UW and Jeskai control (apart form search for azcanta).
The problem is, as much as I love control, I tend to go overtime a lot, and it really becomes tiring to play after a few rounds. So I need something faster, even if equally challenging.
The good, UW control pieces are going up in price. So I thought that maybe I could sell the uw pieces and buy into something else.
I do plan on keeping the scalding tarn and snapcaster mage because I can always build UR tempo decks, and grixis shadow decks.
So I'd be selling celestial collonade and probably cryptic command as well.
It has to be a tier 1/2 deck (preferably tier 1), and something that will definitely be relevant for a long time.
Since it's something that I will be playing for a long time, I think it needs to be fun as well as competitive.
So I was thinking something like:
Affinity, Tron, eldrazi tron or jund.
Tron seems like the strongest and most resilient, I don't know how fun it is.
Jund is more like tier 2, but it might get better.
Affinity is competitive and seems fun, but maybe it's too aggro? Might get boring quickly, have no idea.
I own some of jund pieces, but am still missing goyfs, verdant catacombs, Bobs and Liliana of the veil. Collonades could cover for some Bobs or 3 goyfs, but It'd take some time to grab the rest.
But Karns are also expensive so.
Play styles I enjoy are: Twin, tempo decks, jund. Never tried tron but it seems to be very linear.
Eldrazi seems more interactive while powerful too.
Anyway, if anyone could give me their insight, I'd be very much grateful
Your meta is pretty open to be honest. I don't see any sort of deck that's going to be good enough to do significantly well against the field. Just pick a deck you like and test it out. There's aggro, control, midrange, combo, there's just no sort of pattern in what you can target. Maybe picking something general that has game against a lot of decks, like UWx Control or BGx might work out well. Like in an open meta, decks that have good average matchups is a good idea.
Affinity seems like a good choice for you. It's surprisingly not that linear and it'll be complex enough for you to enjoy. You probably won't get bored easily as a result. Even if the gameplay revolves around just dumping your hand and trying to go ham, there's a lot of nuances in sequencing cards, playing suboptimal hands, etc.
Tron is definitely bad, any flavour of Tron seems bad for you. The deck is just far too linear for your tastes and you will get bored for sure. Jund is good, it's probably better than tier 2 right now. It's also going to be fairly expensive for you.
In the short term, maybe playing UW is still good. You can just keep practicing the deck and get faster with it. I mean, by all means build another deck, but don't build a suboptimal version of it. You're going to need to spend a ton and you probably can't trade off UW pieces if it means you can't play Modern in the meantime.
Affinity seems like a good choice for you. It's surprisingly not that linear and it'll be complex enough for you to enjoy. You probably won't get bored easily as a result. Even if the gameplay revolves around just dumping your hand and trying to go ham, there's a lot of nuances in sequencing cards, playing suboptimal hands, etc.
Tron is definitely bad, any flavour of Tron seems bad for you. The deck is just far too linear for your tastes and you will get bored for sure. Jund is good, it's probably better than tier 2 right now. It's also going to be fairly expensive for you.
In the short term, maybe playing UW is still good. You can just keep practicing the deck and get faster with it. I mean, by all means build another deck, but don't build a suboptimal version of it. You're going to need to spend a ton and you probably can't trade off UW pieces if it means you can't play Modern in the meantime.
Thanks a lot for your help!
I've got my eye on affinity for quiet some time. I'm hopping there are some mox opal and arcbound ravenger reprints. So maybe I could get the cheaper stuff first.
Jund I've always fancied, I do like playing thoughtseizes.
I'm inclined to selling sollonades because they've gone up quiet a bit and might be worth selling right now.
I do have grixis shadow thought, but something tells me it'll take a hit from the recent unbannings, the delve creatures might not be as good.
Merfolk is pretty much the opposite of diverse. You're always playing the same strategy and you have almost no flexibility on what you can play. You have to play a certain amount of core merfolk and you're basically always an aggressive midrange deck.
Okay so I have been playing a smallpox/BW supe4friends on MTGO build but seems all my 4 CMC Sorins cant keep up with all the blue jace decks. Also other decks are super aggro. So most decks are either jace decks or 2fast4jace decks. (Which are also 2fast4Sorin decks). Before Sorins were hard to deal with, now whats go9d at killing Jace is also good at killing Sorin!.
I have a 2 EDh and 2 Modern decks IRL (B/R 8 Rack and MonoGreen Devotion).
Anyway back to MTGO, I would rather not spend as much money on MTGao as I did in paper, So Ill list what I have and how to go from there.
Why not build Eldrazi and Taxes? It's BW so you can keep your lands, and very much a proactive control deck. It plays on the permission side of control, so it plays things like Leonin Arbiter and Thalia. You basically just keep your opponent from being able to interact profitably while jamming with your bigger Eldrazi. Seems like a good fit all around.
Merfolk is pretty much the opposite of diverse. You're always playing the same strategy and you have almost no flexibility on what you can play. You have to play a certain amount of core merfolk and you're basically always an aggressive midrange deck.
Yes, the main strategy is the same but this deck has about 10 spare slots which I can fill with countermagic, chalices, collected companies, card advantage, aura destruction or anything I need. And I couldn't think of a way this deck can be completely hated after in games 2-3. I liked your suggestion about UWx and BGx but I'm not skilled enough to play UWx control. Maybe BGx is a bit more simple to master for a new player... Still can't decide...
Con someone point me towards some moderately priced RGx decks with Bloodbraid Elf in them? I have been trying to talk my son into modern for a bit but he hasn't been interested. Then he saw this card and now is interested, but I don't want to break my bank with Tarm though. Appreciate any help you can give me.
Unfortunately, every BBE deck I've seen is playing Tarmogoyf. Even the aggressive creature ones are playing Goyf because it's just the best 2-drop. That being said, you can play it without Goyf and just work toward it. Goyf isn't the kind of card that is extremely crucial to any deck, it's just the highest power level in a 2-drop. Just sub it out and then try to find a chance to upgrade it later down the road.
I'd play something like Zoo and then see where that goes. You'll want fetches and shocks but I've seen people play with higher counts of fast lands (like Inspiring Vantage, which is pretty cheap). It's also a deck that's just a mass of cheap, efficient creatures, so you can always just work your way up to more expensive cards.
Alternatively, I've seen RG Eldrazi decks with Eldrazi Obligators that are playing BBE, but I have no idea how good that is. It won't play Goyf but it's not a guarantee that it's good.
Hey guys, just looking for a bit of advice here. I have been looking into building a control deck for a while now, but after the Jace unban I feel like I would really love to play a control deck, since I was taking a long break when Jace was in Standard all those years ago and I never got to play with him. I liked the U/W and Jeskai control builds the best, but was unsure which would perform better in a fairly diverse meta. Even something like the Temur Breach Moon decks looked kind of cool, the combo/control aspect.
I have been doing a lot of research and I am reading a lot of mixed results on all ends, some are saying Grixis control with Jace is great, others say not great, and so on for every deck. I get it, its a new meta and nobody knows for SURE which control deck is best right now, but im just looking for some advice from people who may know more than I.
Here is a bit of history to get what kind of collection I have and what my budget would be. I first built Mono-Blue Tron about 1.5-2 years ago, but quickly learned I needed a simpler deck for my entry to the format. I then built Grixis Delver, and loved it. I played it quite a bit and learned the ins and outs of the format fairly well. Gitaxian Probe was banned and I found myself being crushed by Death's Shadow decks all over the place and was discouraged, so I built Burn as a fairly cheap alternative deck that could win matches at FNMs. Burn is fun but its really not my style, I enjoy interactivity and control/tempo types of decks the most.
A couple months ago I finally upgraded my Delver deck into Grixis Death's Shadow and really enjoy the deck. However, with Jace being unbanned I would love to play with him, and play a solid control shell, but i cant decide which shell to choose. Budget wise I wouldnt sell any of my decks (except for Burn I guess), but I can spend probably $500-$600 or so spread out a bit over a month or two. More if I really like any of these options and decide to sell a deck.
I have all the Khans fetches, and Scalding Tarns only for Zendikar fetches, and shocklands for the decks I talked about above. Obviously budget wise Grixis control is the cheapest option for me. I have 3 cryptic commands, and I'd only need a couple Creeping Tar Pits, Search for Azcanta's, and the Jaces. U/W would leave me needing colonnades, which im hoping will be reprinted in M25 (not holding my breath though), another Vendillion Clique and the board wipes/ sideboard stuff. Jeskai control would be maybe just a bit more than U/W price wise. I'd really only need the geists and a couple oddball stuff like Sulfur Falls and sideboard tech. The one I have researched the least would be Esper control. If that included Liliana's AND Jaces that would obviously be out of my budget, but not impossible over a longer period of time.
I almost forgot to mention this. I noticed a U/R Pyromancer deck showing some good results since the Pro Tour, and seems kind of similar to the tempo style deck i enjoyed with my beloved Delver deck. That would be by FAR the cheapest deck for me right now, as I'd only need to pick up 3 Blood Moons and maybe a couple sideboard cards. However, I know very little about this deck and its position in the meta.
If I had a bigger budget, or sold my Burn/Tron deck, Bloodbraid Jund or another Bloodbraid midrange deck sounds like a lot of fun too. I just dont have hardly any of the Jund lands (Blackcleave Clifs doubling in price really hurts), Goyfs, Lilianas, Dark Confidants. So that seems like a bit out of my league price wise at the moment, but I'm guessing I would probably get better advice regarding that idea rather than "which control deck should I build after Jace was unbanned."
I know I'm asking a tough question, but any help would be greatly appreciated. I tried to give as much information as I could, without being confusing. Sorry if i failed at that. If i need to give more info or clarify anything let me know. Sorry for the novel length post but I tried to give as much necessary info as possible. Thanks guys!
Based on what your post, I’d recommend starting out acquiring the pieces for Grixis Control and U/R Pyro immediately. It shouldn't cost you much since you have most of the pieces already, and those you don’t are format staples with wide playability like Blood Moon.
I’d then recommend starting to acquire most of your missing pieces for Jeskai/UW. The shocks aren’t too pricey, and you already have some of the fetches. Geist and whatever Gideons you fancy aren’t budget-busters, which leaves mostly Celestial Colonnade as your big expense. Personally, I’d hold out for a reprint in Masters 25, and otherwise just acquire them as your budget permits. They’ll probably see a price hike if there’s no reprint, but that’s always the risk you take with those things.
The reason I recommend doing it this way is you’ll end up with a lot of flexibility to build different decks while expanding your pool of available staples. That helps you weather meta changes, and also means you’ll be free to find the decks that work best for you and your environment.
As a side note, I’d keep an eye out for U/R Breach pieces as well. It’s not on your list and the Breach/Emrakul package is pricey, but it might fit you well if you’re looking for a good Jace/Moon package.
Hope that’s helpful!
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Playing UX Mana Denial until Modern gets the answers it needs.
WUBRG Humans BRW Mardu Pyromancer UW UW "Control" UR Blue Moon
Hey, I was looking to post in a general thread but then I found the perfect one for my question.
The biggest issue I have right now is that I was thinking about coming back to mtg sadly the Jace unbanning really took me by surprise and now I don't even know if it's even worth it to play the game. I rather simply wait for this card to hit the banlist again before brewing something that has a good match up against it.
Here's a list of decks that I enjoyed playing in the past and used to some amount of success:
Soul Sister
KotR Naya
U Tron
Melira Pod
Genesis Wave devotion
As you can see there is one big trend with my decks, while they all fairly different, as a player , I really enjoy mana ramp, I find it really powerful if left unchecked and I also love control/midrange. My issue is that with the current unbanning you need Jace for control and Bloodbraid for midrange, while bloodbraid isn't much of an issue I don't really have a clue about a list going under 200$ that can perform well against the eventual meta.
As a student I don't have much ressource and I won't invest money into a game if I can't have a fair chance of winning. I've also thinkered on weird Wizard Devotion decks but I don't see those as being really concrete against tier 1.
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Maybe you should look at Knightfall. It’s an aggressive Midrange deck with a strong beatdown Plan A, a one-turn-KO Plan B using the Knight of the Reliquary/Retreat to Coralhelm combo, and a Plan C of just outvaluing your opponent with Colleted Company, Tireless Tracker, etc. You also get access to tons of great SB tech, and you’re not terribly soft to hate. When you do see hate cards, you can play around them with your Plan A/C, or just blow them up with Qasali Pridemage.
It’s not budget, but the most expensive pieces are Modern staples (lands and Noble Hierarch are really the only real money pieces IIRC). Some are looking at a Jace plan, but I think a Jaceless route with Company will still be totally viable.
WUBRG Humans
BRW Mardu Pyromancer
UW UW "Control"
UR Blue Moon
My budget is based off of the $500 i could roughly get for the naya deck and the other playables that i have which includes the naya fetches ect. I can spend up to 1000 with the 500 above. I know that opens up a ton of decks in the format. I just want one that can be tweaked to the current meta. I want to have a deck that i can learn and enjoy playing over time.
I can be more specific to the routes I am looking to take and with what has been said:
Temur Midrange (Because of blood moon, better beatdown creatures and burn)
Sultai Midrange (It's spicy, has access to stronger removal to play a grind-you-out type of game)
I do not want to play jund or abzan.
I am looking toward one of the directions above that could be flexible enough to adapt to the meta easily.
Both decks will have some of the most powerful cards in modern's existence that are staples for plenty of other decks.
If I were to start with either the sultai or temur midrange, how could I achieve that without going crazy if I dont have to immediately?
Would you recommend getting the goyfs and some of the blue cards and wait for the fetches? Or am I thinking about this wrong?
I will most likely buy the 4 goyfs for sure because they will be going in either variant. The tarns or catacombs may have to wait either way. As will as Lili or Jace. I feel as if these cards choices will satisfy what i am looking for from a versatile deck without being too draw go-ish. I can use baby Jace for now and I will most likely want to run 2 copies of snapcaster.
The 3rd color is practically in the air as it provides the deck with similar features. I know the core components of both decks but will they be as good without having the fetches and a few of the higher-end pieces right away? Is there ways to ease into a higher end deck like these?
If this is still unclear (which it might be), I will try back after some soulsearching.
Thanks Again
I could try this out to see if i do want to go toward a company route.
It’s impossible to say how things will go post-bannings, but I expect Knightfall won’t be going anywhere.
WUBRG Humans
BRW Mardu Pyromancer
UW UW "Control"
UR Blue Moon
Temur Moon is around 1300 in paper, and you're missing like all of it. The bulk of the money is in Snaps, Goyfs, Cryptics, Aether Vials, and lands you don't have (Scalding Tarn and Misty Rainforest).
Sultai Midrange is 1700 in paper, and you're once again missing like all of it. The bulk of the money is in Snaps, Goyfs, Lilianas, and Catacombs.
I think in general, any deck playing a combination of Snapcaster + Goyf or Goyf + Liliana is probably too expensive.
Let's also take a moment to say that it's hard to predict where any blue deck will end up with the Jace unban. On top of that, Sultai and Temur midrange aren't well established decks. Buying into them is a bit risky, because even though there are good cards in the colours, the decks just haven't performed. Sultai's been a combination people have been trying for years to make work (I've been trying personally since 2013), and it's put up maybe a couple of results here and there. So you're taking a huge risk with these decks, and I'd recommend waiting on them if they're what you really want to play. You won't figure out a good Jace deck in a week, that's for sure.
If you decide that instead you want to budget this, don't expect results for a while. Playing with minimal copies of Jace, Liliana, Snapcaster, Goyf, etc. are going to give you lesser results. That's to be expected, but you could do much better now investing in a cheaper deck. The power of BGx as an archetype has always been that every card is good, and while there are Goyf substitutes, the power level certainly drops quite a bit.
Knightfall is a decent option. I wouldn't exactly say it's great, you can certainly compete at FNM with it though. The fact that you don't have to spend a lot on it is a big selling point.
The bottom line is always about being realistic with your goals. Magic is expensive, and so you need to sort of plan out your budget and expectations, then align a deck that fits within those goals. I'm always going to advocate for a full deck over a partial deck. Sometimes you can get away with a small number of substitutes (especially shocks/fetches), but it's hard to play BGx without Liliana, or blue control without Jace.
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
I have no preferences regarding my future deck strategy, and my budget is not limited, so feel free to advise!
My situation: our playgroup is very small. Decks present are as follows: Burn, Bogles, Goblins, BGx, 8 Rack, UW Control, Storm.
So I need to build such a deck that
A) Has good matchups against our small playgroup.
B) Can't be easily hated (as the playgroup is small, people can put much hate into sideboards or even tweak their established decklists).
Is there a deck in current Modern that fits all my points or do I live in a wonderland?
Best is just to pick a deck that doesn't get completely crushed that you like.
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
I'm new to the format and definitely wasn't going to consistently beat all 7 decks
Maybe you could tell me which decks (or type of decks) to consider in such meta? I could even build several decks and bring one or another from time to time...
I mean I could build one at random but I don't know how those decks function, I only saw them a couple of times when attending tournaments for newbs like me I'm going to attend events from time to time, so no need in a really competitive deck, but it would be great to have 1-2 decks that don't fold to those present in our LGS, just for a start, so that I have a chance to perform better than 0-X
So I'm trying to find a new deck to play and I've got a few options:
I own all of UW and Jeskai control (apart form search for azcanta).
The problem is, as much as I love control, I tend to go overtime a lot, and it really becomes tiring to play after a few rounds. So I need something faster, even if equally challenging.
The good, UW control pieces are going up in price. So I thought that maybe I could sell the uw pieces and buy into something else.
I do plan on keeping the scalding tarn and snapcaster mage because I can always build UR tempo decks, and grixis shadow decks.
So I'd be selling celestial collonade and probably cryptic command as well.
It has to be a tier 1/2 deck (preferably tier 1), and something that will definitely be relevant for a long time.
Since it's something that I will be playing for a long time, I think it needs to be fun as well as competitive.
So I was thinking something like:
Affinity, Tron, eldrazi tron or jund.
Tron seems like the strongest and most resilient, I don't know how fun it is.
Jund is more like tier 2, but it might get better.
Affinity is competitive and seems fun, but maybe it's too aggro? Might get boring quickly, have no idea.
I own some of jund pieces, but am still missing goyfs, verdant catacombs, Bobs and Liliana of the veil. Collonades could cover for some Bobs or 3 goyfs, but It'd take some time to grab the rest.
But Karns are also expensive so.
Play styles I enjoy are: Twin, tempo decks, jund. Never tried tron but it seems to be very linear.
Eldrazi seems more interactive while powerful too.
Anyway, if anyone could give me their insight, I'd be very much grateful
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
Tron is definitely bad, any flavour of Tron seems bad for you. The deck is just far too linear for your tastes and you will get bored for sure. Jund is good, it's probably better than tier 2 right now. It's also going to be fairly expensive for you.
In the short term, maybe playing UW is still good. You can just keep practicing the deck and get faster with it. I mean, by all means build another deck, but don't build a suboptimal version of it. You're going to need to spend a ton and you probably can't trade off UW pieces if it means you can't play Modern in the meantime.
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
Thanks a lot for your help!
I've got my eye on affinity for quiet some time. I'm hopping there are some mox opal and arcbound ravenger reprints. So maybe I could get the cheaper stuff first.
Jund I've always fancied, I do like playing thoughtseizes.
I'm inclined to selling sollonades because they've gone up quiet a bit and might be worth selling right now.
I do have grixis shadow thought, but something tells me it'll take a hit from the recent unbannings, the delve creatures might not be as good.
EDIT: and maybe Merfolk too, it seems like such a diverse deck which can be adjusted into more control or tempo depending on the meta.
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
I have a 2 EDh and 2 Modern decks IRL (B/R 8 Rack and MonoGreen Devotion).
Anyway back to MTGO, I would rather not spend as much money on MTGao as I did in paper, So Ill list what I have and how to go from there.
4 Marsh Flats
4 Concealed Courtyard
2 Godless Shrine
4 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
Im not strictly on a budget, but it would be better if I reuse cards already had no?
I really like control styles, or shall I say Proactive control. Should I play Esper Control? Can an Esper Enchantment Control work?
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
Yes, the main strategy is the same but this deck has about 10 spare slots which I can fill with countermagic, chalices, collected companies, card advantage, aura destruction or anything I need. And I couldn't think of a way this deck can be completely hated after in games 2-3. I liked your suggestion about UWx and BGx but I'm not skilled enough to play UWx control. Maybe BGx is a bit more simple to master for a new player... Still can't decide...
Standard
WBGWBGABZAN AGGROWBGWBG
I'd play something like Zoo and then see where that goes. You'll want fetches and shocks but I've seen people play with higher counts of fast lands (like Inspiring Vantage, which is pretty cheap). It's also a deck that's just a mass of cheap, efficient creatures, so you can always just work your way up to more expensive cards.
Alternatively, I've seen RG Eldrazi decks with Eldrazi Obligators that are playing BBE, but I have no idea how good that is. It won't play Goyf but it's not a guarantee that it's good.
Grixis Death's Shadow, Jund, UW Tron, Jeskai Control, Storm, Counters Company, Eldrazi Tron, Affinity, Living End, Infect, Merfolk, Dredge, Ad Nauseam, Amulet, Bogles, Eldrazi Tron, Mono U Tron, Lantern, Mardu Pyromancer
I have been doing a lot of research and I am reading a lot of mixed results on all ends, some are saying Grixis control with Jace is great, others say not great, and so on for every deck. I get it, its a new meta and nobody knows for SURE which control deck is best right now, but im just looking for some advice from people who may know more than I.
Here is a bit of history to get what kind of collection I have and what my budget would be. I first built Mono-Blue Tron about 1.5-2 years ago, but quickly learned I needed a simpler deck for my entry to the format. I then built Grixis Delver, and loved it. I played it quite a bit and learned the ins and outs of the format fairly well. Gitaxian Probe was banned and I found myself being crushed by Death's Shadow decks all over the place and was discouraged, so I built Burn as a fairly cheap alternative deck that could win matches at FNMs. Burn is fun but its really not my style, I enjoy interactivity and control/tempo types of decks the most.
A couple months ago I finally upgraded my Delver deck into Grixis Death's Shadow and really enjoy the deck. However, with Jace being unbanned I would love to play with him, and play a solid control shell, but i cant decide which shell to choose. Budget wise I wouldnt sell any of my decks (except for Burn I guess), but I can spend probably $500-$600 or so spread out a bit over a month or two. More if I really like any of these options and decide to sell a deck.
I have all the Khans fetches, and Scalding Tarns only for Zendikar fetches, and shocklands for the decks I talked about above. Obviously budget wise Grixis control is the cheapest option for me. I have 3 cryptic commands, and I'd only need a couple Creeping Tar Pits, Search for Azcanta's, and the Jaces. U/W would leave me needing colonnades, which im hoping will be reprinted in M25 (not holding my breath though), another Vendillion Clique and the board wipes/ sideboard stuff. Jeskai control would be maybe just a bit more than U/W price wise. I'd really only need the geists and a couple oddball stuff like Sulfur Falls and sideboard tech. The one I have researched the least would be Esper control. If that included Liliana's AND Jaces that would obviously be out of my budget, but not impossible over a longer period of time.
I almost forgot to mention this. I noticed a U/R Pyromancer deck showing some good results since the Pro Tour, and seems kind of similar to the tempo style deck i enjoyed with my beloved Delver deck. That would be by FAR the cheapest deck for me right now, as I'd only need to pick up 3 Blood Moons and maybe a couple sideboard cards. However, I know very little about this deck and its position in the meta.
If I had a bigger budget, or sold my Burn/Tron deck, Bloodbraid Jund or another Bloodbraid midrange deck sounds like a lot of fun too. I just dont have hardly any of the Jund lands (Blackcleave Clifs doubling in price really hurts), Goyfs, Lilianas, Dark Confidants. So that seems like a bit out of my league price wise at the moment, but I'm guessing I would probably get better advice regarding that idea rather than "which control deck should I build after Jace was unbanned."
I know I'm asking a tough question, but any help would be greatly appreciated. I tried to give as much information as I could, without being confusing. Sorry if i failed at that. If i need to give more info or clarify anything let me know. Sorry for the novel length post but I tried to give as much necessary info as possible. Thanks guys!
Based on what your post, I’d recommend starting out acquiring the pieces for Grixis Control and U/R Pyro immediately. It shouldn't cost you much since you have most of the pieces already, and those you don’t are format staples with wide playability like Blood Moon.
I’d then recommend starting to acquire most of your missing pieces for Jeskai/UW. The shocks aren’t too pricey, and you already have some of the fetches. Geist and whatever Gideons you fancy aren’t budget-busters, which leaves mostly Celestial Colonnade as your big expense. Personally, I’d hold out for a reprint in Masters 25, and otherwise just acquire them as your budget permits. They’ll probably see a price hike if there’s no reprint, but that’s always the risk you take with those things.
The reason I recommend doing it this way is you’ll end up with a lot of flexibility to build different decks while expanding your pool of available staples. That helps you weather meta changes, and also means you’ll be free to find the decks that work best for you and your environment.
As a side note, I’d keep an eye out for U/R Breach pieces as well. It’s not on your list and the Breach/Emrakul package is pricey, but it might fit you well if you’re looking for a good Jace/Moon package.
Hope that’s helpful!
WUBRG Humans
BRW Mardu Pyromancer
UW UW "Control"
UR Blue Moon
The biggest issue I have right now is that I was thinking about coming back to mtg sadly the Jace unbanning really took me by surprise and now I don't even know if it's even worth it to play the game. I rather simply wait for this card to hit the banlist again before brewing something that has a good match up against it.
Here's a list of decks that I enjoyed playing in the past and used to some amount of success:
Soul Sister
KotR Naya
U Tron
Melira Pod
Genesis Wave devotion
As you can see there is one big trend with my decks, while they all fairly different, as a player , I really enjoy mana ramp, I find it really powerful if left unchecked and I also love control/midrange. My issue is that with the current unbanning you need Jace for control and Bloodbraid for midrange, while bloodbraid isn't much of an issue I don't really have a clue about a list going under 200$ that can perform well against the eventual meta.
As a student I don't have much ressource and I won't invest money into a game if I can't have a fair chance of winning. I've also thinkered on weird Wizard Devotion decks but I don't see those as being really concrete against tier 1.