Hey Scry
Since the Eldrazi overrun Modern I have actually stopped playing more or less. But I'm looking forward to start again once it gets one or two pieces banned.
That said your LGS (or wherever you play) seems to be relatively unharmed by the tentacle menace and also richer in fair decks (out 10 decks you played 3 control variations, I'd love to play in that meta!:D)
That said, some thoughts on your list:
I have tried Dryad Arbor some time ago and found it to be too cute. It's super awesome if you can vial it in on turn one (with a vial on 0) but that doesn't happen nearly often enough. You play a better mana base for it than I did (played only 4x fetches that can search for a forest) and it helps to support Nulltread Gargantuan so I can see it being good in your deck but I'd probably much rather play a Ghost Quarter in the slot as manlands should be an issue with only 2x removals maindeck that can take care of them (and nice card against other annoying utility lands. AND Tron. How the heck did you beat Tron with this deck?)
Then the 2x Nulltread Gargantuan: I really like their size (being 5/6 is really good in this format) and that they aren't graveyard dependent. I really dislike that playing it is card disadvantage and you need an active Vial to really get mileage out of him. I mean you need another creature in play to be actually able to play him. Which basically means you won't be able to play him for profit before turn 5 without a Vial (T2 Bob/Goyf into T3 Gargantuan sucks and you usually avoid casting Snap or Witness T3 because you need some interaction). Also the fact that it doesn't target makes it a lot worse if you ask me. Let's say you vial in Gargantuan on your opponents end step (like you described) with only a Witness in play. He bolts the Witness in response to the ETB trigger, because the trigger doesn't target you need to put the Gargantuan on top of your library and your opponent 2 for 1ed you. Even with another creature like Goyf or Bob in play this scenario doesn't look good. I can see that tricks like this are good against opponents who don't expect them, but it won't work for a long time.
I'd rather play Kitchen Finks and/or Vendillion Clique in it's spot.
Also with Twin gone, I really see no reason to play Slaughter Pact in this deck. We usually want to keep mana open anyways and paying 2b on our upkeep can suck a lot more than just playing 2b the normal way. I'd play another Dismember in it's place probably.
Sorry for all the criticism, just the honest opinion of someone who's been playing the archetype for quite a while now:D
If you want some help with the SB, I'm glad to help too. Just give me a short list of the decks you usually face in your meta and I'll see what I can do!
Hey, sure thing, I'm happy at least one other person is still interested in this deck:D
I think your first two thoughts belong together, so I'll merge my answer:
1+2) With Ruse, Command and Snappy + any blue spell our main colour is definetely blue. Which is way I (and I think most of the other lists i saw here) play 8 fetches that fetch blue Misty Rainforest and Polluted Delta in your case. I assume you went for verdant catacomb because you wanted more lands to fetch Dryad Arbor. That makes sense if you wanna play Arbor, but I think it leads to a not optimal mana base just to play an ok card. Also only two basics? I mean maybe you don't have many Blood Moon decks in your meta but Path to Exile and Ghost Quarter are real, too and don't you ever need two fetch for something but would rather be able not to fetch a shock?
I'd say play at least another Island, probably also another swamp would be good (if there really aren't any blood moons at your LGS you can maybe leave them out). Also three fastlands + two Flooded groves seem to be too many lands without basic land type to play three Hinterland Harbor style lands.
I'm no expert on landbases but mine was born out of testing and I think I haven't changed it for at least the last six months. You can find it in one of my older posts more on the top of this page.
Here's my idea for a landbase for your deck:
4x Misty Rainforest
4x Polluted Delta
2x Breeding Pool
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Watery Grave
1x Darkslick Shores
2x Island
1x Forest
1x Swamp
2x Flooded Grove
1x Hinterland Harbor
1x Drowned Catabomb
1x Ghost Quarter
I'd give this a some good testing and then maybe start making minor changes.
3) Killing Manlands is indeed a good reason (although Dismember does that too) and being nice with Snappy and Witness is true aswell. If you're happy with it keep it.
4)The thing is: What do you do with it without a Vial? Then you can't play your reactive card in a reactive way. If it wouldn't put the card on top of your library but in your hand I'd like it a lot more. But it doesn't. So I think if you wanna go for a threat I already told you some options, if you wanna have something reactive that protects and/or reuses your creatures (and is good for reach or a surprise block) play Simic Charm.
5)If Tron is a big player in your meta, I really miss some Fulminator Mages (which are also pretty good against Jund/Junk and UWR Control). They are a bit hard on the mana, but Vial helps. A Countersquall seems nice too (against UWR and Tron). For what do you need the 4th Decay? Thragtusk has always been a favorite of mine for the Grindy MUs, rusing him is living the dream!:D
I don't stream, but do some playtesting on cockatrice fairly often. My name is Heuhaufen2 there. I don't plan to go on any tournaments as long as the new meta we will have after the banlist anouncement has settled a bit, but maybe I can write down some FNMs here and there. Although I plan on brewing with Traverse the Ulvenwald for the next few weeks:D
I got back on MTGO this weekend. Found out I have half the deck online. Still short about 300 Tix, but I'll cover that gap this summer hopefully. Played a few rounds with a pile I don't even want to post, but I still won both matches. One against a grixis deck that was supposedly missing cards, and against a Pili-Pala combo deck. Not the most competitive, but it was fun playing MODO again.
I'm currently testing two different Ruse lists, and I can't decide which I like better. I have been playing Bant since Thraben Inspector was spoiled; that card is pure gas. Hierarchs are also very important to the Bant version of the deck, and Restoration Angel is a sweet card with or without Vials.
The other version that I've really been liking is Temur-Black. Essentially the Temur Version but with Kolaghan's Command, which, if you didn't know, is obscene with Eternal Witness. Cool sideboard option: Countersquall.
I'm still in the camp that Goyf doesn't belong in the deck. I like Tasigur in the Sultai/TemurB versions better. But that's just my opinion.
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Thanks to Rivenor for the signature and XenoNinja for the Avi!
Wow, I can't believe I never found this thread. I'd been playing Delver Ruse Witness, going under with Delver of Secrets while holding off with cheap counterspells like Snare and Pierce and threatening to hold the long game with Ruse/Witness. Throw in Simic Charms and the deck is even Abrupt Decay proof and can suddenly end games with a 6/5 flier or 5/4 witness.
I've been looking around again because I realized that instead of going under with Delver, we've got a new trick in the form of Eldritch Evolution. We've got no shortage of decent sacrifice targets, especially if you run the full sets of witness, oracles and perhaps Hooting Mandrills.
What I can't decide, however, is what the payoff is going to be at 5 cmc (presuming the common target is a witness).
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Hey MarcWizard
As you may have realized, this thread is pretty much dead sadly.
I still play RUG Eternal Ruse, but have started posting in the Eternal Command thread since my list is pretty close to the Command list and there tend to be at least some people once in a while in that thread.
That said, I'm not sure Eldritch Evolution is what we want. It's true that we tend to have a Snap or Witness sitting around, that make nice fodder for it, but it's a Sorcery (we don't like sorcery speed things), we can't reuse it with snaps/witnesses, it opens us up for blowouts (feels pretty bad if the card gets countered) and what creatures do you actually wanna get with it? Traverse the Ulvenwald actually seems like it has a lot more potential for us if you ask me.
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Since the Eldrazi overrun Modern I have actually stopped playing more or less. But I'm looking forward to start again once it gets one or two pieces banned.
That said your LGS (or wherever you play) seems to be relatively unharmed by the tentacle menace and also richer in fair decks (out 10 decks you played 3 control variations, I'd love to play in that meta!:D)
That said, some thoughts on your list:
I have tried Dryad Arbor some time ago and found it to be too cute. It's super awesome if you can vial it in on turn one (with a vial on 0) but that doesn't happen nearly often enough. You play a better mana base for it than I did (played only 4x fetches that can search for a forest) and it helps to support Nulltread Gargantuan so I can see it being good in your deck but I'd probably much rather play a Ghost Quarter in the slot as manlands should be an issue with only 2x removals maindeck that can take care of them (and nice card against other annoying utility lands. AND Tron. How the heck did you beat Tron with this deck?)
Then the 2x Nulltread Gargantuan: I really like their size (being 5/6 is really good in this format) and that they aren't graveyard dependent. I really dislike that playing it is card disadvantage and you need an active Vial to really get mileage out of him. I mean you need another creature in play to be actually able to play him. Which basically means you won't be able to play him for profit before turn 5 without a Vial (T2 Bob/Goyf into T3 Gargantuan sucks and you usually avoid casting Snap or Witness T3 because you need some interaction). Also the fact that it doesn't target makes it a lot worse if you ask me. Let's say you vial in Gargantuan on your opponents end step (like you described) with only a Witness in play. He bolts the Witness in response to the ETB trigger, because the trigger doesn't target you need to put the Gargantuan on top of your library and your opponent 2 for 1ed you. Even with another creature like Goyf or Bob in play this scenario doesn't look good. I can see that tricks like this are good against opponents who don't expect them, but it won't work for a long time.
I'd rather play Kitchen Finks and/or Vendillion Clique in it's spot.
Also with Twin gone, I really see no reason to play Slaughter Pact in this deck. We usually want to keep mana open anyways and paying 2b on our upkeep can suck a lot more than just playing 2b the normal way. I'd play another Dismember in it's place probably.
Sorry for all the criticism, just the honest opinion of someone who's been playing the archetype for quite a while now:D
If you want some help with the SB, I'm glad to help too. Just give me a short list of the decks you usually face in your meta and I'll see what I can do!
I think your first two thoughts belong together, so I'll merge my answer:
1+2) With Ruse, Command and Snappy + any blue spell our main colour is definetely blue. Which is way I (and I think most of the other lists i saw here) play 8 fetches that fetch blue Misty Rainforest and Polluted Delta in your case. I assume you went for verdant catacomb because you wanted more lands to fetch Dryad Arbor. That makes sense if you wanna play Arbor, but I think it leads to a not optimal mana base just to play an ok card. Also only two basics? I mean maybe you don't have many Blood Moon decks in your meta but Path to Exile and Ghost Quarter are real, too and don't you ever need two fetch for something but would rather be able not to fetch a shock?
I'd say play at least another Island, probably also another swamp would be good (if there really aren't any blood moons at your LGS you can maybe leave them out). Also three fastlands + two Flooded groves seem to be too many lands without basic land type to play three Hinterland Harbor style lands.
I'm no expert on landbases but mine was born out of testing and I think I haven't changed it for at least the last six months. You can find it in one of my older posts more on the top of this page.
Here's my idea for a landbase for your deck:
4x Misty Rainforest
4x Polluted Delta
2x Breeding Pool
1x Overgrown Tomb
1x Watery Grave
1x Darkslick Shores
2x Island
1x Forest
1x Swamp
2x Flooded Grove
1x Hinterland Harbor
1x Drowned Catabomb
1x Ghost Quarter
I'd give this a some good testing and then maybe start making minor changes.
3) Killing Manlands is indeed a good reason (although Dismember does that too) and being nice with Snappy and Witness is true aswell. If you're happy with it keep it.
4)The thing is: What do you do with it without a Vial? Then you can't play your reactive card in a reactive way. If it wouldn't put the card on top of your library but in your hand I'd like it a lot more. But it doesn't. So I think if you wanna go for a threat I already told you some options, if you wanna have something reactive that protects and/or reuses your creatures (and is good for reach or a surprise block) play Simic Charm.
5)If Tron is a big player in your meta, I really miss some Fulminator Mages (which are also pretty good against Jund/Junk and UWR Control). They are a bit hard on the mana, but Vial helps. A Countersquall seems nice too (against UWR and Tron). For what do you need the 4th Decay?
Thragtusk has always been a favorite of mine for the Grindy MUs, rusing him is living the dream!:D
I don't stream, but do some playtesting on cockatrice fairly often. My name is Heuhaufen2 there. I don't plan to go on any tournaments as long as the new meta we will have after the banlist anouncement has settled a bit, but maybe I can write down some FNMs here and there. Although I plan on brewing with Traverse the Ulvenwald for the next few weeks:D
I'm currently testing two different Ruse lists, and I can't decide which I like better. I have been playing Bant since Thraben Inspector was spoiled; that card is pure gas. Hierarchs are also very important to the Bant version of the deck, and Restoration Angel is a sweet card with or without Vials.
The other version that I've really been liking is Temur-Black. Essentially the Temur Version but with Kolaghan's Command, which, if you didn't know, is obscene with Eternal Witness. Cool sideboard option: Countersquall.
I'm still in the camp that Goyf doesn't belong in the deck. I like Tasigur in the Sultai/TemurB versions better. But that's just my opinion.
Thanks to Rivenor for the signature and XenoNinja for the Avi!
Quotes:
I've been looking around again because I realized that instead of going under with Delver, we've got a new trick in the form of Eldritch Evolution. We've got no shortage of decent sacrifice targets, especially if you run the full sets of witness, oracles and perhaps Hooting Mandrills.
What I can't decide, however, is what the payoff is going to be at 5 cmc (presuming the common target is a witness).
BGW Elves BGW|BW Tokens BW|WBR Sword&ShieldWBR|BUG DelverBUG|UWR Kiki UWR | UR Storm UR
As you may have realized, this thread is pretty much dead sadly.
I still play RUG Eternal Ruse, but have started posting in the Eternal Command thread since my list is pretty close to the Command list and there tend to be at least some people once in a while in that thread.
That said, I'm not sure Eldritch Evolution is what we want. It's true that we tend to have a Snap or Witness sitting around, that make nice fodder for it, but it's a Sorcery (we don't like sorcery speed things), we can't reuse it with snaps/witnesses, it opens us up for blowouts (feels pretty bad if the card gets countered) and what creatures do you actually wanna get with it?
Traverse the Ulvenwald actually seems like it has a lot more potential for us if you ask me.