With 4x J.Familiar + 4x M.Wanderer (and only 22x artifacts) it is closer to a D&T deck imho.
Might as well run "W/U D&T" with A.Vial over E.Sculptor and Thalia over L.Golem and PtE for removal.
Actually, I think I want to shave the fourth Master of Etherium for a Kira, Great Glass-Spinner (it is a spirit afterall), then shave one of the one-drops (bird) for the Hangarback Walker. I had forgotten that I wanted to try a Kira, but I somehow don't own any of them.
I went 3-1 tonight at Tuesday Modern. I beat Storm 2-1, UR Kiln Fiend stuff 2-0, and BG Tron 2-0, and I lost to Dredge 0-2. Running two Thalias in the main was critical for beating Storm, and I feel really good about her. 6 main deck tax effects definitely disrupted others' disruption, and it felt really synergistic with Mausoleum Wanderer.
Dredge was disappointing - in game 2 I got the turn one relic, but popped it before he started dredging in earnest. In for-fun game three he coached me a bit on how to use the relic properly against Dredge and I won the game.
Next time I definitely want to try Judge's Familiar over Signal Pest. Pest was lackluster, and Mausoleum Wanderer felt amazing. I also want to try running a single Academy Ruins - it seems like it would be great after running out of gas. I am also looking forward to trying Chalice and Oboro and the 4th Blinkmoth Nexus once I get those cards.
I don't really think that Sage of Epityr is a playable card, it just doesn't do anything that is worth a card slot (like Index that nobody plays). Glint-Nest Crane would be much better (or even Serum Visions).
I actually love sage. Often it makes it so I can line up my land drops and if I don't need them space it out so I can loot them away. I also am going lower on lands though with sage. Crane doesn't come down t1 can't get land and our 2 drop spot is just way too full. I really think you want a blue one drop t1 and it's either sage or familiar for me right now. As far as any non creature non artifict cards I just can't get behind any.
Sage is great for smoothing out land drops, I totally agree. I really like it for that reason, along with the fact that you can set up some really sweet lines of play. I know the card looks awful and no other deck plays it, but I think it has a lot of synergy with this deck.
As far as Glint-Nest Crane, it is pretty sweet but you need a lot of artifacts to support it. I ran 3-4Darksteel Citadel and it still whiffed more than I'd like. Plus, it isn't a one drop like Sage. I have considered Serum Visions, but it gets taxed by Thalia/Thorn and isn't "free" like Sage is when you have an Engineer or Architect out.
I went 1-4 in MTGO Modern League with the aggro version again, almost the same list as before:
My matches were:
1-2 Jeskai Geist Tempo
1-2 Storm
2-1 Storm
1-2 Nykthos Green
0-2 Soul Sisters
I drew better this time, didn't have to mulligan nearly as much, so I am not sure what went wrong. I'll probably go back to Sage of Epityr instead of Signal Pest for now. I get mana screwed too often without Sage.
For the people playing the white splash why not run 4 fast land 4 strand and 1 plains 0 fountain? You still want as little damage to yourself as possible I think.
If I go away from pests I might drop the masters all together and go to Myr in it's spot.
For the people playing the white splash why not run 4 fast land 4 strand and 1 plains 0 fountain? You still want as little damage to yourself as possible I think.
If I go away from pests I might drop the masters all together and go to Myr in it's spot.
I don't think the damage costs me too many games, but I'll try to pay closer attention. Seachrome Coast is cool, but the coming into play tapped is worse than losing life most of the time. It's all about balance. It's also worth mentioning thatSage of Epityr and Smuggler's Copter help a lot in sorting lands and mitigating their drawbacks.
EDIT: Myr Superion is bad IMO. I tried 4, then 2 and they still got stuck in my hand sometimes - and that was before Fatal Push was a thing. Sage helps with the turn 2 dream, but that's still not enough for me to play it.
Here's what I've played through 2 leagues so far today:
1-2 Mono Blue Scrying Sheets
2-0 Mono White Nykthos
2-1 Living End
1-2 Death's Shadow
1-2 Devoted Druid
2-0 Death's Shadow
2-0 u/r tempo Thing in the Ice.
2-1 Living End
0-2 Merfolk
1-2 Tron
Went 5 - 5 overall. Not great, but not nearly as bad as yesterday, lol. First league I actually didn't have the 3 Thrones, but I decided to go for it in the second league. I feel like Sage + Fetches gives me some extra outs to the legendary rule. So far so good, I'll keep you guys posted.
For the people playing the white splash why not run 4 fast land 4 strand and 1 plains 0 fountain? You still want as little damage to yourself as possible I think.
If I go away from pests I might drop the masters all together and go to Myr in it's spot.
I don't think the damage costs me too many games, but I'll try to pay closer attention. Seachrome Coast is cool, but the coming into play tapped is worse than losing life most of the time. It's all about balance. It's also worth mentioning thatSage of Epityr and Smuggler's Copter help a lot in sorting lands and mitigating their drawbacks.
EDIT: Myr Superion is bad IMO. I tried 4, then 2 and they still got stuck in my hand sometimes - and that was before Fatal Push was a thing. Sage helps with the turn 2 dream, but that's still not enough for me to play it.
Here's what I've played through 2 leagues so far today:
1-2 Mono Blue Scrying Sheets
2-0 Mono White Nykthos
2-1 Living End
1-2 Death's Shadow
1-2 Devoted Druid
2-0 Death's Shadow
2-0 u/r tempo Thing in the Ice.
2-1 Living End
0-2 Merfolk
1-2 Tron
Went 5 - 5 overall. Not great, but not nearly as bad as yesterday, lol. First league I actually didn't have the 3 Thrones, but I decided to go for it in the second league. I feel like Sage + Fetches gives me some extra outs to the legendary rule. So far so good, I'll keep you guys posted.
I don't particularly think Myr is great either but master with no pests seems meh as it won't be that big and it's a 3 drop so it's one of our slower creatures. Push tends to hit both just as easily so that doesn't matter too much. As for your list 3 throne seems deep.
Master of Etherium doesn't feel like a three-drop. Grand Architect does; it always costs three. But there are many ways to cheat master into play with convoke, or cost reduction, or architect mana. Master plays an important role in beefing up the copter and golem above bolt range. Overall, there are 26 total artifacts in the deck, so thats at least half your cards for master to grow by. It still felt fine as a 3 of, and offered room to side out in favor of trinket mages + one-drops.
Master of Etherium doesn't feel like a three-drop. Grand Architect does; it always costs three. But there are many ways to cheat master into play with convoke, or cost reduction, or architect mana. Master plays an important role in beefing up the copter and golem above bolt range. Overall, there are 26 total artifacts in the deck, so thats at least half your cards for master to grow by. It still felt fine as a 3 of, and offered room to side out in favor of trinket mages + one-drops.
The loadstone/copter point is very good and hasn't come up for me too often because people tend to go after my mana cheaters. I just don't like that many times early without pest it'll be like a 3 or 4. Maybe I'm just used to them as 8/8's. Edit: the more I think about it I see that a lot. I guess I wanted a fatty and didn't care about the lord effect with the loss of pests. I was on 2 but I'll try the three out and see how that goes with the lord in mind more than the fatty.
Small report with my usual list:
Tuesday went 3-0 beating blue tron, merfolk and devoted druid combo
today went 3-1 losing to elves (very close games) and beating pyromancer ascension burn (strange brew), tezzeret thopter-sword and storm (was lucky G3 opponent mulled to 5).
Still happy with my list, don't wanna change anything. I'll be taking a break from this deck next week since i'm satisfied with how it is right now and want to tweak other decks.
Went 4-0 tonight, swapped the pests for familiar's mainboard, beat burn 2-1, skred 2-0, gb ds (white out of the board) 2-1, and grixis control 2-0. Deck was amazing once again with just slight changes. I did try one nykthos and it did allow me to cast an architect on 3 but if it were an island it would have been just the same. I'll likely go down to just 1 cavern now that I'm on 4 bird 4 spirit 3 human wizard as my 1 drops. I did add 2 skites to the board and they'll likely never not be in there now, they were very strong. I'm to the point where testing different lands has been fine but I'll probably drop the scrying sheets, 1 cavern, and nykthose just for islands so I'm sure to be able to hit my t1 U mana. I've felt 20 land is find I just need to be sure Island is one of my starters (even though I've won 3 matches with starting land drops of 3 blinkmoths).
Nice job on the 5-0! I agree adding more one drops could be good (I've tried it with some success), but what don't you like about the Throne? I just started using it myself, but it has been amazing so far. Also, are you going to splash a second color once you get those fetches?
Nice job on the 5-0! I agree adding more one drops could be good (I've tried it with some success), but what don't you like about the Throne? I just started using it myself, but it has been amazing so far. Also, are you going to splash a second color once you get those fetches?
I found the Throne didn't really do enough. Sure there were a few games were it dealt some damage but most times I wanted a card that did something. Against removal heavy decks I never had enough creatures in play to take full advantage of it and against aggressive decks I wanted more removal/disruption.
I do plan on trying a red splash once I have the fetches online. I want to add some number of Izzet Staticaster and Lightning Bolt to the sideboard which should help with Elves, Affinity, etc.
Nice job on the 5-0! I agree adding more one drops could be good (I've tried it with some success), but what don't you like about the Throne? I just started using it myself, but it has been amazing so far. Also, are you going to splash a second color once you get those fetches?
I found the Throne didn't really do enough. Sure there were a few games were it dealt some damage but most times I wanted a card that did something. Against removal heavy decks I never had enough creatures in play to take full advantage of it and against aggressive decks I wanted more removal/disruption.
I do plan on trying a red splash once I have the fetches online. I want to add some number of Izzet Staticaster and Lightning Bolt to the sideboard which should help with Elves, Affinity, etc.
I'd like to try Lightning Bolt, seeing as how we're aggressive enough to want to burn the opponent out some of the time. Plus, it doesn't ramp opponents through taxes like my Path to Exile does. Izzet Staticaster seems like it'd be awesome too, although it is kind of a bummer trying to cast 3 drops through Golem. Speaking of 3 drops, I think Blood Moon might be worth testing too.
Went 3-2 last night. Lost to BW Eldrazi Taxes 0-2 and Mono Red Goblins 1-2. I should have beat Goblins but I misplayed in game 3. My wins were against Eldrazi Tron, the mirror with Signal Pest, and Naya Burn. BW Eldrazi taxes felt unwinnable. The combination of Tidehollow Sculler, Wasteland Strangler, and Eldrazi Displacer was too much.
Trying to cast 3 drops though tax effects seems rough. In games with a lot of removal you go to the trinket mage/trawler plan IMO. I've been toying with the idea of a couple stuffy dolls. Card seems like a game winner vs ds and any deck with big fatties trying to attack you. Only issue there is primetime and smasher have trample so that's rough. It would also allow a win through a lock deck with leyline/bridge type effects as we can shoot the doll with ballista as another way to deal damage indirectly.
I think you played me, AdamP, in that league match - my OP told me he/she had liked my deck before dropping a Etherium Sculptor of his/her own.
Anyway, just posting to say that I went 4-1 with the deck in my second league run today - aggro matches are tough. Won against Mono Red Burn, RG Scapeshift, UR Storm, and 4c Doubling Season. Lost against Esper tokens. I'm finally at a point where I'm content with my SB, I think.
3-1 tonight losing to the mirror (already knew it was the mirror) kept bad hands because I honestly didn't care to much about testing against it. His deck ran super fast both games though anyway and was basically the list Zak first posted awhile back. Pest plan is better for the mirror probably considering there is nothing to counter with judges. Anyway beat grixis control, infect, and bant eldrazi. So 10-2 in 3 weeks with a loss to storm and the mirror.
It was you I played against nikolaigogol. Can you post your SB?
I think when it comes to the mirror it goes Sage of Epityr > Signal Pest > Judge's Familiar. Getting the Ballista or Architect advantage is so important and Sage helps find them.
Looks pretty stock, only thing of interest is TWO throne of the god pharoahs like some of the earlier builds and the 2/2 split between signal pest and judges familiar... which thinking of it.. I kinda really like.
Zac, if you for some reason check this thread overnight.. good luck tomorrow! :-]
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Might as well run "W/U D&T" with A.Vial over E.Sculptor and Thalia over L.Golem and PtE for removal.
Dredge was disappointing - in game 2 I got the turn one relic, but popped it before he started dredging in earnest. In for-fun game three he coached me a bit on how to use the relic properly against Dredge and I won the game.
Next time I definitely want to try Judge's Familiar over Signal Pest. Pest was lackluster, and Mausoleum Wanderer felt amazing. I also want to try running a single Academy Ruins - it seems like it would be great after running out of gas. I am also looking forward to trying Chalice and Oboro and the 4th Blinkmoth Nexus once I get those cards.
3 Signal Pest
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
4 Etherium Sculptor
3 Chief Engineer
4 Grand Architect
4 Master of Etherium
4 Walking Ballista
4 Lodestone Golem
4 Smuggler's Copter
2 Throne of the God-Pharaoh
3 Blinkmoth Nexus
2 Hallowed Fountain
4 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
2 Trinket Mage
2 Thorn of Amethyst
2 Unified Will
1 Grafdigger's Cage
3 Relic of Progenitus
1 Basilisk Collar
2 Aethersphere Harvester
2 Quicksilver Fountain
As far as Glint-Nest Crane, it is pretty sweet but you need a lot of artifacts to support it. I ran 3-4Darksteel Citadel and it still whiffed more than I'd like. Plus, it isn't a one drop like Sage. I have considered Serum Visions, but it gets taxed by Thalia/Thorn and isn't "free" like Sage is when you have an Engineer or Architect out.
I went 1-4 in MTGO Modern League with the aggro version again, almost the same list as before:
4 Grand Architect
4 Etherium Sculptor
4 Chief Engineer
4 Signal Pest
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Lodestone Golem
4 Walking Ballista
4 Master of Etherium
Non-Creature
4 Smuggler's Copter
2 Throne of the God-Pharaoh
2 Misty Rainforest
4 Flooded Strand
5 Island
3 Seachrome Coast
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1 Plains
2 Trinket Mage
4 Chalice of the void
3 Path to Exile
2 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Aethersphere Harvester
My matches were:
1-2 Jeskai Geist Tempo
1-2 Storm
2-1 Storm
1-2 Nykthos Green
0-2 Soul Sisters
I drew better this time, didn't have to mulligan nearly as much, so I am not sure what went wrong. I'll probably go back to Sage of Epityr instead of Signal Pest for now. I get mana screwed too often without Sage.
If I go away from pests I might drop the masters all together and go to Myr in it's spot.
EDIT: Myr Superion is bad IMO. I tried 4, then 2 and they still got stuck in my hand sometimes - and that was before Fatal Push was a thing. Sage helps with the turn 2 dream, but that's still not enough for me to play it.
Here's what I've played through 2 leagues so far today:
4 Grand Architect
4 Etherium Sculptor
4 Chief Engineer
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Lodestone Golem
4 Walking Ballista
4 Sage of Epityr
2 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Judge's Familiar
4 Smuggler's Copter
3 Throne of the God-Pharaoh
Land
2 Misty Rainforest
4 Flooded Strand
5 Island
3 Seachrome Coast
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Plains
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
2 Trinket Mage
4 Chalice of the void
3 Path to Exile
3 Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
2 Relic of Progenitus
1 Basilisk Collar
1-2 Mono Blue Scrying Sheets
2-0 Mono White Nykthos
2-1 Living End
1-2 Death's Shadow
1-2 Devoted Druid
2-0 Death's Shadow
2-0 u/r tempo Thing in the Ice.
2-1 Living End
0-2 Merfolk
1-2 Tron
Went 5 - 5 overall. Not great, but not nearly as bad as yesterday, lol. First league I actually didn't have the 3 Thrones, but I decided to go for it in the second league. I feel like Sage + Fetches gives me some extra outs to the legendary rule. So far so good, I'll keep you guys posted.
I don't particularly think Myr is great either but master with no pests seems meh as it won't be that big and it's a 3 drop so it's one of our slower creatures. Push tends to hit both just as easily so that doesn't matter too much. As for your list 3 throne seems deep.
The loadstone/copter point is very good and hasn't come up for me too often because people tend to go after my mana cheaters. I just don't like that many times early without pest it'll be like a 3 or 4. Maybe I'm just used to them as 8/8's. Edit: the more I think about it I see that a lot. I guess I wanted a fatty and didn't care about the lord effect with the loss of pests. I was on 2 but I'll try the three out and see how that goes with the lord in mind more than the fatty.
Decks running white might want to run Ethersworn Canonist or even Norn's Annex in the board too.
Also with the judges, wanderers, sages, sculptor, architect, and chief I wonder if 1 nykthos isn't a bad idea for bigger balistas even.
Tuesday went 3-0 beating blue tron, merfolk and devoted druid combo
today went 3-1 losing to elves (very close games) and beating pyromancer ascension burn (strange brew), tezzeret thopter-sword and storm (was lucky G3 opponent mulled to 5).
Still happy with my list, don't wanna change anything. I'll be taking a break from this deck next week since i'm satisfied with how it is right now and want to tweak other decks.
Affinity
Grixis DS
Abzan traverse
Mono red burn
Naya burn
4 Mausoleum Wanderer
4 Sage of Epityr
4 Etherium Sculptor
4 Chief Engineer
4 Grand Architect
3 Trinket Mage
4 Lodestone Golem
4 Walking Ballista
1 Hangarback Walker
4 Smuggler's Copter
1 Throne of the God-Pharaoh
1 Basilisk Collar
Land
16 Island
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1 Academy Ruins
1 Hangarback Walker
2 Aethersphere Harvester
3 Quicksilver Fountain
2 Thorn of Amethyst
3 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Basilisk Collar
2 Echoing Truth
Sage of Epityr was so much better than Signal Pest, even without the fetches. Fetches were missing because I don't own them online. Trinket Mage fetched up Walking Ballista every time. Throne of the God-Pharaoh was sided out every match I think. Excited to play another league, going to drop the Throne of the God-Pharaoh for maybe another blue one drop (probably Judge's Familiar).
I found the Throne didn't really do enough. Sure there were a few games were it dealt some damage but most times I wanted a card that did something. Against removal heavy decks I never had enough creatures in play to take full advantage of it and against aggressive decks I wanted more removal/disruption.
I do plan on trying a red splash once I have the fetches online. I want to add some number of Izzet Staticaster and Lightning Bolt to the sideboard which should help with Elves, Affinity, etc.
Eldrazi Tron 1-2
UWR Saheeli 2-1
GW Budget Aggro 2-0
Naya Burn 2-1
GR Land Destruction 2-1
Anyway, just posting to say that I went 4-1 with the deck in my second league run today - aggro matches are tough. Won against Mono Red Burn, RG Scapeshift, UR Storm, and 4c Doubling Season. Lost against Esper tokens. I'm finally at a point where I'm content with my SB, I think.
I think when it comes to the mirror it goes Sage of Epityr > Signal Pest > Judge's Familiar. Getting the Ballista or Architect advantage is so important and Sage helps find them.
https://www.twitch.tv/magic
Yeah he crushed and is undefeated still. I'm curious what his full 75 is for this event.
Zac, if you for some reason check this thread overnight.. good luck tomorrow! :-]