The basic idea of the deck is to use Boomerang, Eye of Nowhere, Remand and Mana Tithe to slow down the opponent long enough for us to cast a Reality Acid on every land/permanent the enemy plays and then utilize Flickerwisp, Kor Skyfisher, Riptide Chimera and similar effects to trigger the Acid earlier than it naturally would, without putting it in the graveyard. Venser helps this strategy, but might be too slow. Threads of Disloyalty abuses the fact that our opponent shouldn't be able to get anything bigger out and takes it away from him. Sun Titan serves as a finisher and returns whatever we are currently missing.
With Reality Acid being an answer to theoretically "anything", the sideboard seeks to supplement the main strategy. Spreading Seas puts the enemy off colour and shuts down some land based strategies all together. Porphyry Nodes helps against aggressive decks to deal with threats until we have enough time to play our strategy, the same is true for Vapor Snag. Spell Pierce is an additional cheap "Taxing" spell against anything else to supplement the Mana Tithe.
There's also the option/idea to go tricolor with green to add acceleration and Herald of the Pantheon, which is acceleration in addition to life gain. What do you guys think of this idea? Is this even valid, or is it too slow/gimmicky?
Seems like a cool idea to me. I’d like to see the Spreading Seas main, though. I think they go nicely with the mana denial plan, and even when your opponent is playing islands, they act as cantrips in your deck. You’ll need the velocity, as playing boomerang and eye of nowhere can allow you to get ahead on mana, but can then leave you light on action (not a problem with Owling Mine decks due to all the drawing).
If you find your mana to be developing too slowly to pull off the reality acid trickery and/or the mana denial plan doesn’t work as consistently as you’d like, I think adding green might be worth considering. Noble Hierarch and Utopia Sprawl could accelerate you enough to make bouncing acid and replaying it on the same turn a bit more likely. Oath of Nissa is a pretty handy magical card, too.
Another fun thing I’ve been toying with in a couple of my decks is Vedalken Shackles + a sacrifice outlet of some sort. Evolutionary Leap might work okay in your deck. Assuming you survive long enough to get it online, it’s super demoralizing for any creature based decks. I’m assuming, based on the list above, your plan is to see how quickly you can be unfriended by your local magic group, and the shackles can help with that.
*edit* oops, not sure how I missed that you were already considering green. The card you mentioned seems solid.
Yeah, Spreading Seas is definitely maindeckable, for the carddraw alone, and it screws with enough decks. I'm just not sure what to remove for it, but probably something along the lines of reducing the amount of Mana Tithe's and Remands, or potentially getting rid of a Riptide Chimera or both.
In terms of adding G, there's of course also the option to just go UG without adding in white, using more blue bounce such as Drake Familiar. The following is just a quick list I threw together without thinking too much about it, it probably requires a lot more work, and at least so far looks worse than the UW list, especially because there just isn't as much "blink" in these colors, which of course saves the mana necessary to replay Reality Acid. In U there's Echoing Truth and Displacement Wave. Paradoxical Outcome could in theory be good, but it requires having multiple Reality Acids on the board to really become "good". Rite of Undoing might be worth a consideration though.
Vedalken Shackles could be a good card instead of Threads of Disloyalty. I'm not too sure how to abuse it though. Evolutionary Leap could of course work, but this just seems like it takes too long.
Have you done any testing with this idea yet? With the exception of the Noble Hierarch's, I should be able to put these rough drafts together for a test run online. Birds of Paradise can sub in for them just so I can get an idea of how it would affect the mana situation.
Shackles is a solid magic card, even without breaking it in half with a sac outlet, but this might not be the right shell for it. Particularly if we end up in 3 colors. As for cutting white, I'm leery. Kor Skyfisher seems awfully efficient, and Flickerwisp seems like one of the cards that might end up making the deck viable. Allowing you to get additional uses out of Reality Acid without investing more mana seems clutch.
Which brings me to Riptide Chimera, which I quite like for the same reason. No additional mana invested, but I get to replay my Acid. My thought was to max out on the Chimera, and only play enchantments that I'm happy to replay, either because they offer some sort of benefit (Acid, Oath of Nissa, Spreading Seas) or because they are super cheap (Utopia Sprawl).
Match 1 against a Jund colored deck.
Opponent on the play.
He drops a land and passes. I drop a Hallowed Fountain, taking the 2 damage, but not casting anything.
Undeterred by this suspicious play, my opponent drops another land and casts Lotleth Troll. I cast Mana Tithe in response.
He concedes the match without a word. . . eh. . . sometimes this happens in the Just for Fun room.
Match 2 against a brew that has lots of ways to get land.
I mull to five and manage to put up a surprisingly good fight against an onslaught of mana fueled by Azusa, Lost but Seeking. Had I drawn into a Reality Acid, I think I could have pulled it out, but as it was his Drogskol Reaver finally put me away.
Takeaways from this game:
Spreading Seas + Riptide Chimera is pretty awesome, and it allowed me to put up a solid fight (against a deck that had no real interaction). Being able to constantly put the Seas on the most troublesome land was very nice. A late Mana Tithe was a dead draw and made me angry. Late Boomerangs and Eyes of Nowhere can feel bad in some decks, but allowed for some trickery in this one and I wasn't as disappointed to draw them as I thought I'd be in the face of endless mana from my opponent.
Game 2 is a grindy affair, but by the time he concedes, I'm in control. Reality Acid + Riptide Chimera was doing work. Early on, Kor Skyfishers and Spreading Seas teamed up to give me a board presence, some velocity via card draw, and cut my opponent off of green to prevent any Asuza's from showing up. I will say that in the mid-game, before I was able to seize control, I was very thirsty for mana, and this was without missing any land drops. Between all the card draw from the Seas and returning Reality Acid to my hand turn after turn, I had lots of decisions to make w/ regard to keeping up mana for remand vs. casting permanents just so I didn't have to discard them at the end of my turn. I'm wondering if more of a tap-out approach might make the deck feel less tricky to pilot in situations like that.
Time was nearly up at this point, so we did not run it back for game 3.
So, against decks with no interaction that aren't particularly explosive, it can compete! LOL, but I suppose that's true for all but the durdliest of decks. I'll keep playing around with it, but won't have much time for games for the rest of the week.
I'm mostly playing paper magic, so I am still waiting for some cards to arrive before I can test the deck out. The main issue the deck does have imho might be the fact that we are forced to play at sorcery speed, because there is nothing to flash out a Reality Acid, and without adding Aether Vials, we can't speed in our Flickerwisps and Kor Skyfisher either.
Vials might however be a good addition when you consider that we potentially can draw a lot with Spreading Seas bouncing via Chimeras. That would also remove the necessity of adding G to the deck, however that also would make it very budget "unfriendly", but might be a solid improvement for the deck.
I have a love/hate relationship with Vial, but there's no denying how good it is with Flickerwisp. We could peep out the D&T lists for some inspiration as well, since I'm not sure only playing 12 critters makes Vial worth it. Incidentally, D&T is really the only competitive list I own, so testing a list with Vials and any other D&T goodness that seems relevant won't be difficult.
There are some interesting one mana enchants that have ETB effects that could potentially be exploited:
After seeing this thread, this idea popped into my head. I did some research, and I found a similar deck called Bant choke
So early game land disruption (Boomerang, Sea's claim) are huge blows to an opponent's tempo, but come with awful card advantage. The idea of this deck is that if your land disruption is all enchantment-based, then Eidolon of Blossoms & Verduran Enchantress can reclaim that card advantage mid-game.
It’s an interesting take. I think the reality acid + riptide chimera trickery could certainly fit in there as well.
Some other cards I’ve been tinkering with are: Fists of Ironwood - I like that you can target opposing creatures if you think your opponent is holding back removal in hopes of a 2 for 1. With Herald of the Pantheon out it’s quite a deal.
Rise of the Hobgoblins - this one s pretty mana intensive, but maybe in a rampier version of the deck.
Oh man, how could I forget about Cloudstone Curio? That’s gnarly. I think I forgot that it worked on more than just creatures. I could see going very deep on enchantments with comes into play abilities + enchantment creatures + some enchantments with flash to protect it all (well, protect everything except the curio itself I guess...) via instant speed bounce.
r1 vs Jeskai Grave Control, 1-1-1
SB: +4 rest in peace, -4 wall of omens
notes: kept seas in for his colonnades.
r2 vs Bant Humans 1-1
SB +3 spellskite (more blockers), +1 starfield of nyx, -4 spreading seas
notes: we didn't start game 3 (almost at overtime.)
r3 vs D&T 1-2
SB +3 spellskite (more blockers) +1 starfield of nix, -4 spreading seas
notes: in game 3, he had anti-library search creatures followed by tons of Ghost Quarters/new GQ's. so pressure + disruption ftw.
r4 vs Abzan Rites 1-1-1
SB +4 rest in peace, -4 reality acid (acid was too slow)
notes: he ran GW and GB man lands. seas did some work.
summary: deck worked but my lack of timely win cons resulted in too many unfinished games. if it wasn't for my opponents scooping once i had active planeswalkers going, i probably wouldn't have started game 3 in rounds 1 & 4.
heard today that leyline of sanctity doesn't defend burn as well as it used to (new wording.) avens replace leylines and sun titan could be the finisher i'm looking for.
Given how fast modern is, I’m not convinced that reality acid is worth running if the only way to abuse it is Venser. The bird seems exceptionally underpowered for modern. Also, I suspect you could shave a land or two given your one and two drops.
r1 vs Boros Elemental Burn, 2-0
SB +4 spellskite, -4 spreading seas
notes: his deck ran Flamekin Harbinger and ran at least 4 ball lightning variants. i venser'd a bunch of life until his hand was empty.
r2 vs D&T, 1-2
SB +4 spellskite, -4 spreading seas
notes: this was guy i tested w/prior to the event.
game 1 went as usual (5-0 now vs him.)
game 2 he got anti-land seach creatures and disrupted my mana base ftw.
game 3 i got to low life, then reset the board. i then got mana flooded while he recovered pressure. i kept a 4 land/wall/d.sphere/wrath opening hand to prevent a LD loss like in game 2.
r3 vs Hallowed One, 2-1
SB +4 rest in peace, -4 spreading seas
notes: game 2 was hilarious b/c i aggro mulled down to 4, got a turn 2 RIP out and thought i was safe. he hardcasted all his threats that game and won. lol
summary: my changes post-FNM helped greatly. decided against sun titan b/c i didn't want to have to board in different win-cons whenever i boarded in RIPs. 2 elspeths were just right and justified not lowering my land count.
didn't use reality acid or expect to but the deck is named after it. maybe if i face another "super friends" style deck...
spellskite was MVP from the board for being a great wall, even if i didn't face boggles or infect.
Would something like Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, I was trying to find the Stormscape Familiar analog that reduced Blue spells since it makes Reality Acid and most of your deck cheaper, allowing for more play two cards a turn action. But it may not have been reprinted in Modern...
Riptide Chimera seems very playable if you can play enough cheap enchantments with "Enter the Battlefield" effects. But you really need to play a whole lot of enchantments to make this work.
I think Herald of the Pantheon is the best we get in terms of cost reduction. While it certainly doesn’t help everything you want to cast, it assists the things you’ll want to recast over and over, which is the important part. The fact that it reduces the cost of Riptide Chimera and Eidolon of Blossoms is pretty sweet, too.
Speaking of casting things over and over, I’m pretty sold on Cloudstone Curio from my “testing” (solitaire on my phone). Versions without it feel way too fair and a little too slow for modern. From running out a few dozen opening hands, I get the feeling that an unanswered Cloudstone Curio probably secures the win within a couple turns (this assumes at least having something worth repeating from your pool of enchantments, of course).
I’ll continue to brew around a foundation of Riptide Chimera, Reality Acid, and Cloudstone Curio. I’m currently pretty high on green for Herald of the Pantheon, Eidolon of Blossoms, and Oath of Nissa, but could certainly be persuaded to go another route. Even if somebody starts with the same base, though, there is still a fair amount of room for variation. For example, the band choke inspired list above seems pretty brutal, but a more value oriented approach could end up being better if the mana denial plan is too loose. Ramping up also has its allure as the deck can be thirsty for the mana.
Real testing isn’t possible for me for a long time, so hopefully somebody gets inspired to play around with this!
I continue to be inspired by this concept. I noticed the following interaction and hopefully it works like I think it does.
Let’s say I have a Cloudstone Curio on the field, as well as a Temporal Isolation on an opposing creature. When I cast an Oblivion Ring or Detention Sphere, I’m assuming both the ETB ability of the O-ring and the Curio’s ability trigger simultaneously, and I choose the order in which they go on the stack. Is this correct?
If it is, then it provides a nice way of abusing the wording on O-ring in order to permanently exile things, without the need to bother with Aether Vial. Stack it so that the curio’s ability resolves first and return the Isolation to your hand. Because it has flash, you can immediately recast it before the Oblivion Ring’s etb ability resolves, once again triggering the Curio. This time, return the O ring to your hand and Voila! The target is forever exiled. Seems fun, right?!
r1 vs RDW, 1-2.
SB +4 spellskite, -4 spreading seas.
notes: double bomat couriers won him both his wins. i learned today he can:
1. stack the discards
2. draw all the cards upon resolution
3. not discard any new cards as the discard costs were all paid
Blood Moon shut me down after SB but double courier is what drew it.
r2 vs D&T, 0-2.
SB +3 lands, +1 spellskite. -4 spreading seas.
notes: actually lost a game to Sword of Light and Shadow (pro white.) also his creature that gives indestructible to all his other creatures neutered my board wipes.
r3 vs affinity, 2-1.
SB none.
notes: aven riftwatcher blocks everything he has (except Etched Champion.) detention sphere was good vs his Cranial Plating. his scooped after my "super friends" (planes walkers) did their job a few times...
r4 vs abzan, 2-0.
SB +4 RIP, -4 spreading seas.
notes: got to ultimate venser in game 2. chaining cantrips together destroyed his permanents en route to him conceding.
summary: i can accept losing to RDW b/c couriers are amazing. unlucky for me that he could have 2 active ones in play simultaneously. i leaned having cantrips in my opening hand isn't enough, i have to have walls or avens for early defense.
my D&T opponent in r2 having sword of pro white (light and shadow) was pretty good vs me. i elspeth'd away a 5/5 serra avenger but sword enabled him to commit sparingly to the board, while going thru my flying blockers (aven rift watcher, celestial colonnade.
if anymore has suggestions on how to crush D&T, i's sure be grateful for the help!
Testing out a few ideas with this, but particularly interested in abusing d-sphere/o-ring with flash enchants. If it works out, maybe even Boon Satyr makes an appearance? There are probably some lands that would help the plan, but I haven’t got that far yet. Sideboard would be a lot of white hosers that conveniently happen to be enchantments.
As you can see I hadn't really optimized the deck much beforehand and I was just trying out some cards to see how it feels and get some idea of how the deck works. Cryptic Command for instance did not really seem to be worth it in the deck. The deck tends to always have something to do with its mana, especially because almost everything in the deck costs 2-3 and you get to recast lots of things frequently. I am also not sure if the Boomerang/Eye of Nowhere plan to slow down the enemy is simply too cute to actually use, however bouncing my own Reality Acids with Boomerang was nice on occasion. Sun Titan + Ghost Quarter turned out to be reasonably hurtful. Riptide Chimera turned out to be way better than I thought, because recasting a 3 mana "Destroy target permanent" every turn is actually quite good. It is however quite slow, and it's often tough to get Chimera out just on the right turn.
Anyway, here's how the matches went:
Match 1 - Grixis Control 0-2
He played Thoughtscours, Tasigurs, Snapcasters, Lilianas and a Chandra. Game 1 went kinda bad for me, mostly because I didn't really know what a bad hand means in this deck. I kept some 3 lander with a Mana Tithe and Skyfishers, but no Spreading Seas or Reality Acid. I am pretty sure by now that you almost always want a spreading seas in your opening hand. It took quite some time for me to lose, but for the whole game I drew neither a Reality Acid nor a Spreading Seas, so the Flickerwisp and Venser didn't do much at all. I also made a mistake of not using Venser to exile Flickerwisp to use Flickerwisp to exile Tasigur so he would return at the end of the opponent's turn. He had 3-4 lands for the entire match, while I sat at 7-8. A single Acid could have won this first game and I constantly kept wishing for more card draw. Game 2 I kept an opener with Eye to Nowhere, which was cute I guess. I got a Sun Titan out which even managed to attack, however I had only a land to bring back so it didn't do much. Similar to Game 1 I drew no Spreading Seas or Reality Acid, I still managed to get him down to 4 life. I eventually lost due to the fact that I drew nothing that actually did something. Late Mana Tithes aren't good when you don't remove their lands and lonely Chimeras are a bit clunky.
Match 2 - Green Tron 2-0
This match was incredibly easy. I destroyed more lands than he could play and apparently that ruined his day. There really isn't anything to board in here, the main deck pretty much is Tron hat. Game 1 He drew 3 ancient stirrings in his first 3 turns, but I got a spreading seas, slowing him down long enough to get a Reality Acid on T3 followed by two Flickerwisps the next turs, followed up by Venser. From then on he just lost a land every turn which quickly spelled game over. Game 2 He managed to get a Karn out, I cast a Reality Acid on it, which is quite the interesting scenario, because while Karn can remove the acid, he also kills himself in the process. Nothing much to say, it was a very crushing defeat on the back of Flickerwisp and Riptide Chimera.
Match 3 - Slivers 0-2
This was quite interesting, because he didn't have any basics, Ghost Quarters became a lot more powerful, and it was also the only create deck I faced. Game 1 He quickly put out Sinew Sliver followed by a haste giving Sliver. The turn after, I bounced the haste sliver to prevent 3 of 4 sliver from attacking, but it didn't buy me enough time to do what I want and I was eventually overwhelmed. I decided to board in the Porphyry Nodes and Threads of Disloyalty. Game 2 He opened with Galerider Sliver, Followed by a Diffusion Sliver the next turn. I landed a spreading seas, and got him back down to 1 land, sadly only after he played Manaweft Sliver. I wound up taking the Manaweft Sliver by playing Threads of Disloyalty for 5 mana, which slowed him down quite some time. Had he not managed to play a second Diffusion Sliver I could have started removing his creatues. I was constantly hacking away at his life and got him down to 7, I had 3 creatures with total 7 power on board (1 Chimera, 1 stolen sliver, 1 flickerwisp) the turn he attacked me for 15 while I was at 13 health (each sliver being a 3/3 at that point) I blocked with my flickerwisp, putting me down to 6 power with a Venser in hand. I could have become unblockable but was lacking exactly 1 point of damage. A Wrath of God or a drawn Porphyry nodes would likely have won the game, but it wasn't ment to be.
Match 4 - Tron 1-1-1
This was not so different from the first tron matchup, but it wound up taking quite a bit longer to get through. Game 1 was pretty easy. He was left without much option to act, went down to 0 lands with an expedition map out. Game 2 This turned into quite the drawn out thing. I let him assemble tron to get my Chimera engine going, so he put out a Ugin, which I handled relatively easily, but he managed to constantly reassemble his Tron, I got him down to his last mine, but never drew a Ghost Quarter after he Extirpated my Reality Acid. I eventually lost to him drawing back to back Wurmcoil Engines with 10 minutes left on the clock. Game 3 Heading into it we both mulled to 5, but I didn't have a good hand still at that point. We never finished, because the turn he cast an Ulamog with a Wurmcoil out was turn 4 of extra turns. I ended the game with a Boomerang in hand and enough life to survive his coming attack. He wouldn't have been able to recast any creatures bounced by boomerang, so it is not clear who would have won, probably him though.
Match 5 - UB "Superfriends" 2-0
This went quite well. He had an Ashiok, which didn't really want to play the creatures in my deck, a Thing in the Ice, which unflipped just to be exiled and return unflipped again. Game 1 He Inquisitioned me to get rid of Reality Acid on turn 1. I played a Spreading Seas on his dual land, which was fine, but enabled his Drowned Catacombs to come in untapped. He got a Jace, Vryn's Prodigy out, a Thing in the Ice, managed to have both flipped, but they did very little before getting removed. Ashiok just sat there exiling my stuff until she got Blinked by a Flickerwisp entering in my EOT, nulling her for a whole turn. It took some time, but eventually I beat him down. Game 2 He only drew 2 lands. He did extirpate my Reality Acids after Inquisition hitting it on turn 1, but it was quite meaningless. I kept recycling my Spreading Seas and just beat him down without much defense on his part.
Overall I am now quite willing to try going UG/UGW because it seems like some sort of mana accelleration might be necessary to be more consistent. Having Venser and a Reality Acid on the board is amazing. Having Riptide Chimera + Acid + Venser is the greatest, which is why I don't necessarily want to give up W completely. Herald of the Pantheon seems like he would help with getting out Riptide Chimera and Acid on the same turn given a single piece of acceleration on T1, which would be amazing and definitely something the deck wants to do to get rolling.
My favorite card that I have wanted to play for a long time (since I last played it in standard) is Riptide Chimera. It's undercosted 3/4 flying body was always my favorite win condition and making it's drawback an advantage made it fun. Years ago I came up with a legacy combo with the Chimera using Second Chance, but it was too slow in theory to actually buy the cards. I tabled the idea for years until I recently decided to try and brew into modern -- here the "all the turns are mine" becomes "you lose a permanent every turn" with Reality Acid. Knowing this is what I want to play the requirements for deckbuilding became a little more clear:
I need to play a significant amount of enchantments.
I need to attack the opponents land base to slow the game down.
These two requirements lead to a quick addition of Root Maze, Spreading Seas, and Choke all of which meet the criteria of enchantments and attacking the land base.
Turn 1: Forest, Root Maze
Turn 2: Need a green 1 drop. Tap land.
Green one drop that makes the most sense to me is Utopia Sprawl as you will have 3 mana turn three. The issue here is the forest clause of Utopia Sprawl, so I will need to figure that out in the future as I think 8 Forests should be the target, where my list currently only has 4.
Now if we rethink this for a potential gameplay this is:
Turn 1: Forest, Root Maze.
OppT 1: Tapped Fetchland.
Turn 2: Utopia Sprawl on Forest. Lumbering Falls.
OppT 2: Fetch Shockland tapped. Shockland.
Turn 3: Choke
Turn 1: Yavimaya Coast, Root Maze.
OppT 1: Tapped Fetchland.
Turn 2: Lumbering Falls.
OppT 2: Fetch Shockland tapped. Shockland.
Turn 3: Eye of Nowhere their land. Field of Ruin.
OppT 3: Shockland tapped. 1 Mana Spell.
Turn 4: pass
OppT 4: Field of Ruin their land on their Upkeep. Each player gets a tapped basic.
Eventually you get Jace and dig for things and his flipside reduces the attack of the opponents small creatures that got through the land hate, and/or you get Riptide Chimera/Reality Acid and finish them off.
Obviously mono-red style decks will be extremely difficult to beat. Root Maze + Choke + Mind Bend can lock a specific basic land out of the game. Spellskite should help as well. Nature's Claim is for Eidolon of the Great Revel or other very difficult cards.
I don't expect this to every be -good-, but I'd like to give it a shot regardless. The wincons are attack with Riptide Chimera or Jace Ultimate and cast spells. Root Maze with enough stall becomes good with Temporal Adept in theory, which could also bounce Reality Acids (same with Boomerang and Eye of Nowhere).
This might just need to become a really poor Legacy deck and replace Utopia Sprawl (and it's forest issue) with Elephant Grass to deal with aggro and the heavier blue meta might be better for choke.
Regardless I'm brewed to a stall and wanted to come to the MTG Salvation community to see if anyone has ideas. I found this thread and figured it's similar enough to post here.
I am of the opinion that for Boomerang/Eye of Nowhere to be effective, you need a lot of card draw. This deck gets a little more use out of them than most, thanks to Reality Acid, but without a fast clock or the ability to get up on cards, you frequently wind up getting ahead of your opponent on mana, but not having enough action left in hand to take advantage of the situation. Meanwhile, your opponent is sculpting a strong hand that will eventually come online and even up the odds.
Additionally, if they (boomerang and eye of nowhere) don’t show up early, they wind up being a little underpowered later in the game.
All that said, I’ve never combined them with Root Maze, so perhaps that makes a difference.
I also think 8 colorless lands is too many. Especially if you stick with Boomerang and Temporal Adept.
Finally, with only Spreading Seas to capitalize on it, I think Choke might be better in the sideboard to be brought in when you face blue decks.
At this point, we’re all in the brew stage, so I suggest you try your list and let us know how it goes. We need your help as much as you need ours at this point!
This leaves 22 spots for lands, which seems a tad low, but in practice it works out thanks to card draw/selection in the form of Oath of Nissa, Spreading Seas, Search for Azcanta, and Eidolon of Blossoms. Can't have anything with 'Island' in the type, as the Choke will backfire.
wanted to post this in Jeskai Saheeli Combo but something happened to that thread. i already subscribe here, plus i'm using retro tech from Acid Trip so here i post. enjoy!
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1/11/19 FNM-modern, 3-0.
test vs HardenedScalesAffinity, 2-0.
SB: not allowed.
r1 vs TitanShift, 2-1.
SB:+2 alpine moon, +2 spellskite, +1 teferi. -3 aven riftwatcher, -2 bolt.
notes: alpine moon on Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle won me games 2&3.
r2 vs Dredge, 2-1.
SB:+2 anger of the gods, +2 spellskite. +2 surgical extraction, +1 teferi. -4 bolt, 3 aven riftwatcher.
notes: opponent revealed post match that he sided enchantment removal for RIP.
r3 vs BorosBurn, 2-1.
SB:+2 dispel, +2 spellskite, -4 path to exile.
notes: nahiri exiled 3 eidolons in g3. aven riftwatcher getting “blinked” by felidar guardian and saheeli rai brought my life total too high.
test vs Merfolk, 3-1.
SB: not allowed.
notes: he had no maindeck counters, aside from Cursecatcher.
r1 vs HardenedScalesAffinity, 2-1.
SB: +2 anger of the gods, +2 stony silence. -3 aven riftwatcher, -1 lightning bolt.
notes: i nahiri'd out an emrakul but pathed his Hangarback Walker before attacking so annihilate wouldn't give him blockers.
r2 vs UrzaTron, 2-0.
SB: +2 alpine moon, +2 stony silence, +1 teferi, hero of dominaria. -3 aven riftwatcher, -2 lightning bolt.
notes: opponent was casual. he didn't know alpine mooning an Urza's Tower would prevent Urza's Mine and Urza's Power Plant from making 2 mana. he even chose to draw in game 2. when i named Urza's Tower w/alpine moon, he had only had Urza's Mine out so i named Urza's Tower to prevent him from getting colored mana.
r3 vs BorosBurn, 2-1.
SB +2 anger of the gods, +2 spellskite. -4 path to exile.
notes: aven riftwatcher gaining value from felidar guardian and saheeli rai was just too much.
summary: deck still solid, despite no ravnica allegiance additions.
another possible play i didn't use was - nahiri for felidar guardian, then saheeli rai combo.
2 Riptide Chimera
2 Sun Titan
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Flickerwisp
Other Spells (16)
4 Boomerang
4 Eye of Nowhere
4 Mana Tithe
4 Remand
4 Reality Acid
3 Threads of Disloyalty
2 Venser, the Sojourner
Lands (23)
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Flooded Strand
4 Seachrome Coast
3 Plains
4 Island
4 Spell Pierce
3 Vapor Snag
4 Porphyry Nodes
4 Spreading Seas
The basic idea of the deck is to use Boomerang, Eye of Nowhere, Remand and Mana Tithe to slow down the opponent long enough for us to cast a Reality Acid on every land/permanent the enemy plays and then utilize Flickerwisp, Kor Skyfisher, Riptide Chimera and similar effects to trigger the Acid earlier than it naturally would, without putting it in the graveyard. Venser helps this strategy, but might be too slow. Threads of Disloyalty abuses the fact that our opponent shouldn't be able to get anything bigger out and takes it away from him. Sun Titan serves as a finisher and returns whatever we are currently missing.
With Reality Acid being an answer to theoretically "anything", the sideboard seeks to supplement the main strategy. Spreading Seas puts the enemy off colour and shuts down some land based strategies all together. Porphyry Nodes helps against aggressive decks to deal with threats until we have enough time to play our strategy, the same is true for Vapor Snag. Spell Pierce is an additional cheap "Taxing" spell against anything else to supplement the Mana Tithe.
There's also the option/idea to go tricolor with green to add acceleration and Herald of the Pantheon, which is acceleration in addition to life gain. What do you guys think of this idea? Is this even valid, or is it too slow/gimmicky?
If you find your mana to be developing too slowly to pull off the reality acid trickery and/or the mana denial plan doesn’t work as consistently as you’d like, I think adding green might be worth considering. Noble Hierarch and Utopia Sprawl could accelerate you enough to make bouncing acid and replaying it on the same turn a bit more likely. Oath of Nissa is a pretty handy magical card, too.
Another fun thing I’ve been toying with in a couple of my decks is Vedalken Shackles + a sacrifice outlet of some sort. Evolutionary Leap might work okay in your deck. Assuming you survive long enough to get it online, it’s super demoralizing for any creature based decks. I’m assuming, based on the list above, your plan is to see how quickly you can be unfriended by your local magic group, and the shackles can help with that.
*edit* oops, not sure how I missed that you were already considering green. The card you mentioned seems solid.
In terms of adding G, there's of course also the option to just go UG without adding in white, using more blue bounce such as Drake Familiar. The following is just a quick list I threw together without thinking too much about it, it probably requires a lot more work, and at least so far looks worse than the UW list, especially because there just isn't as much "blink" in these colors, which of course saves the mana necessary to replay Reality Acid. In U there's Echoing Truth and Displacement Wave. Paradoxical Outcome could in theory be good, but it requires having multiple Reality Acids on the board to really become "good". Rite of Undoing might be worth a consideration though.
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Drake Familiar
4 Herald of the Pantheon
3 Riptide Chimera
Enchantments (12)
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Spreading Seas
4 Reality Acid
4 Boomerang
4 Eye of Nowhere
4 Exhaustion
Lands (21)
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Botanical Sanctum
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Breeding Pool
3 Island
2 Forest
Vedalken Shackles could be a good card instead of Threads of Disloyalty. I'm not too sure how to abuse it though. Evolutionary Leap could of course work, but this just seems like it takes too long.
Shackles is a solid magic card, even without breaking it in half with a sac outlet, but this might not be the right shell for it. Particularly if we end up in 3 colors. As for cutting white, I'm leery. Kor Skyfisher seems awfully efficient, and Flickerwisp seems like one of the cards that might end up making the deck viable. Allowing you to get additional uses out of Reality Acid without investing more mana seems clutch.
Which brings me to Riptide Chimera, which I quite like for the same reason. No additional mana invested, but I get to replay my Acid. My thought was to max out on the Chimera, and only play enchantments that I'm happy to replay, either because they offer some sort of benefit (Acid, Oath of Nissa, Spreading Seas) or because they are super cheap (Utopia Sprawl).
Let me play around and I'll report back.
4 Riptide Chimera
4 Flickerwisp
2 Snapcaster Mages
4 Eye of Nowhere
4 Spreading Seas
4 Reality Acid
2 Mana Tithe
24 Land
Match 1 against a Jund colored deck.
Opponent on the play.
He drops a land and passes. I drop a Hallowed Fountain, taking the 2 damage, but not casting anything.
Undeterred by this suspicious play, my opponent drops another land and casts Lotleth Troll. I cast Mana Tithe in response.
He concedes the match without a word. . . eh. . . sometimes this happens in the Just for Fun room.
Match 2 against a brew that has lots of ways to get land.
I mull to five and manage to put up a surprisingly good fight against an onslaught of mana fueled by Azusa, Lost but Seeking. Had I drawn into a Reality Acid, I think I could have pulled it out, but as it was his Drogskol Reaver finally put me away.
Takeaways from this game:
Spreading Seas + Riptide Chimera is pretty awesome, and it allowed me to put up a solid fight (against a deck that had no real interaction). Being able to constantly put the Seas on the most troublesome land was very nice. A late Mana Tithe was a dead draw and made me angry. Late Boomerangs and Eyes of Nowhere can feel bad in some decks, but allowed for some trickery in this one and I wasn't as disappointed to draw them as I thought I'd be in the face of endless mana from my opponent.
Game 2 is a grindy affair, but by the time he concedes, I'm in control. Reality Acid + Riptide Chimera was doing work. Early on, Kor Skyfishers and Spreading Seas teamed up to give me a board presence, some velocity via card draw, and cut my opponent off of green to prevent any Asuza's from showing up. I will say that in the mid-game, before I was able to seize control, I was very thirsty for mana, and this was without missing any land drops. Between all the card draw from the Seas and returning Reality Acid to my hand turn after turn, I had lots of decisions to make w/ regard to keeping up mana for remand vs. casting permanents just so I didn't have to discard them at the end of my turn. I'm wondering if more of a tap-out approach might make the deck feel less tricky to pilot in situations like that.
Time was nearly up at this point, so we did not run it back for game 3.
So, against decks with no interaction that aren't particularly explosive, it can compete! LOL, but I suppose that's true for all but the durdliest of decks. I'll keep playing around with it, but won't have much time for games for the rest of the week.
Vials might however be a good addition when you consider that we potentially can draw a lot with Spreading Seas bouncing via Chimeras. That would also remove the necessity of adding G to the deck, however that also would make it very budget "unfriendly", but might be a solid improvement for the deck.
There are some interesting one mana enchants that have ETB effects that could potentially be exploited:
1 Cartouche of Solidarity
1 Glaring Aegis
1 Legion's Landing
1 Oath of Nissa
Just food for thought.
1 Convincing Mirage
1 Courser of Kruphix
1 Eidolon of Blossoms
1 Leyline of Anticipation
1 Root Maze
1 Sea's Claim
1 Spreading Seas
1 Verduran Enchantress
After seeing this thread, this idea popped into my head. I did some research, and I found a similar deck called Bant choke
So early game land disruption (Boomerang, Sea's claim) are huge blows to an opponent's tempo, but come with awful card advantage. The idea of this deck is that if your land disruption is all enchantment-based, then Eidolon of Blossoms & Verduran Enchantress can reclaim that card advantage mid-game.
Some other cards I’ve been tinkering with are:
Fists of Ironwood - I like that you can target opposing creatures if you think your opponent is holding back removal in hopes of a 2 for 1. With Herald of the Pantheon out it’s quite a deal.
Rise of the Hobgoblins - this one s pretty mana intensive, but maybe in a rampier version of the deck.
Saving Grace + Kefnet the Mindful - obviously gotta fear Path to Exile, but against a lot of decks recycling this a couple times will get you there.
Dream Stalker - for more controlling versions or versions that don’t want white.
Vedalken Mastermind - Again, probably not jiving with a tempo approach, but worth consideration for grindier control decks.
Aether tradewinds should see some play in your deck for sure. With acid out it is so great.
Your cards actually gave me some great ideas that I will have to test.
// 4 Artifact
4 Cloudstone Curio
// 16 Creature
4 Dream Stalker
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Drake Familiar
4 Flickerwisp
// 13 Enchantment
4 Reality Acid
4 Legion's Landing
4 Spreading Seas
1 Faith's Fetters
4 Aether Tradewinds
// 23 Land
4 Hallowed Fountain
7 Plains
8 Island
4 Mystic Gate
//11 Enchantments
4 Sea's Claim
3 Faith's Fetters
4 Detention Sphere
4 Supreme Verdict
More fun ideas!
6 island
4 celestial colonnade (primary win-con)
4 flooded strand
4 hallowed fountain
4 radiant fountain (venser - gain 2 life)
2 plains
(1) drops:
4 serum visions
4 sleight of hand
4 spreading seas
4 wall of omens
(3) drops:
4 detention sphere
4 reality acid
2 aven riftwatcher (venser - gain 4 life)
(4) drops:
3 jace, the mind sculptor (secondary win con, all around good card)
3 supreme verdict
(5) drops:
4 venser, the sojourner
4 rest in peace
4 spellskite
3 leyline of sanctity (just heard this got worse vs burn...)
3 stony silence
1 starfield of nix (recur enchantments)
r1 vs Jeskai Grave Control, 1-1-1
SB: +4 rest in peace, -4 wall of omens
notes: kept seas in for his colonnades.
r2 vs Bant Humans 1-1
SB +3 spellskite (more blockers), +1 starfield of nyx, -4 spreading seas
notes: we didn't start game 3 (almost at overtime.)
r3 vs D&T 1-2
SB +3 spellskite (more blockers) +1 starfield of nix, -4 spreading seas
notes: in game 3, he had anti-library search creatures followed by tons of Ghost Quarters/new GQ's. so pressure + disruption ftw.
r4 vs Abzan Rites 1-1-1
SB +4 rest in peace, -4 reality acid (acid was too slow)
notes: he ran GW and GB man lands. seas did some work.
summary: deck worked but my lack of timely win cons resulted in too many unfinished games. if it wasn't for my opponents scooping once i had active planeswalkers going, i probably wouldn't have started game 3 in rounds 1 & 4.
4 rest in peace
4 spellskite
3 stony silence
2 aven riftwatcher
2 sun titan
heard today that leyline of sanctity doesn't defend burn as well as it used to (new wording.) avens replace leylines and sun titan could be the finisher i'm looking for.
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkfx2kA8gok&feature=emb_logo
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3RYiZJFCK0
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j18HlKybrm8&feature=emb_logo
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiAEzfAgpbI
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vNr_4ubfMg
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJcwpxraL-g
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8MyVNLVYNw
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-M5ffoArnY
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_yQEBOPi_w&feature=emb_logo
extended - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLpUB9zpyr4&feature=emb_logo
Decklist on moxfield.com
https://www.moxfield.com/decks/EWcB210IuEiG-QpklzMokw
test vs D&T, 4-0
SB none
r1 vs Boros Elemental Burn, 2-0
SB +4 spellskite, -4 spreading seas
notes: his deck ran Flamekin Harbinger and ran at least 4 ball lightning variants. i venser'd a bunch of life until his hand was empty.
r2 vs D&T, 1-2
SB +4 spellskite, -4 spreading seas
notes: this was guy i tested w/prior to the event.
game 1 went as usual (5-0 now vs him.)
game 2 he got anti-land seach creatures and disrupted my mana base ftw.
game 3 i got to low life, then reset the board. i then got mana flooded while he recovered pressure. i kept a 4 land/wall/d.sphere/wrath opening hand to prevent a LD loss like in game 2.
r3 vs Hallowed One, 2-1
SB +4 rest in peace, -4 spreading seas
notes: game 2 was hilarious b/c i aggro mulled down to 4, got a turn 2 RIP out and thought i was safe. he hardcasted all his threats that game and won. lol
summary: my changes post-FNM helped greatly. decided against sun titan b/c i didn't want to have to board in different win-cons whenever i boarded in RIPs. 2 elspeths were just right and justified not lowering my land count.
didn't use reality acid or expect to but the deck is named after it. maybe if i face another "super friends" style deck...
spellskite was MVP from the board for being a great wall, even if i didn't face boggles or infect.
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkfx2kA8gok&feature=emb_logo
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3RYiZJFCK0
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j18HlKybrm8&feature=emb_logo
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiAEzfAgpbI
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vNr_4ubfMg
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJcwpxraL-g
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8MyVNLVYNw
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-M5ffoArnY
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_yQEBOPi_w&feature=emb_logo
extended - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLpUB9zpyr4&feature=emb_logo
Would something like Grand Arbiter Augustin IV, I was trying to find the Stormscape Familiar analog that reduced Blue spells since it makes Reality Acid and most of your deck cheaper, allowing for more play two cards a turn action. But it may not have been reprinted in Modern...
Riptide Chimera seems very playable if you can play enough cheap enchantments with "Enter the Battlefield" effects. But you really need to play a whole lot of enchantments to make this work.
Speaking of casting things over and over, I’m pretty sold on Cloudstone Curio from my “testing” (solitaire on my phone). Versions without it feel way too fair and a little too slow for modern. From running out a few dozen opening hands, I get the feeling that an unanswered Cloudstone Curio probably secures the win within a couple turns (this assumes at least having something worth repeating from your pool of enchantments, of course).
I’ll continue to brew around a foundation of Riptide Chimera, Reality Acid, and Cloudstone Curio. I’m currently pretty high on green for Herald of the Pantheon, Eidolon of Blossoms, and Oath of Nissa, but could certainly be persuaded to go another route. Even if somebody starts with the same base, though, there is still a fair amount of room for variation. For example, the band choke inspired list above seems pretty brutal, but a more value oriented approach could end up being better if the mana denial plan is too loose. Ramping up also has its allure as the deck can be thirsty for the mana.
Real testing isn’t possible for me for a long time, so hopefully somebody gets inspired to play around with this!
Let’s say I have a Cloudstone Curio on the field, as well as a Temporal Isolation on an opposing creature. When I cast an Oblivion Ring or Detention Sphere, I’m assuming both the ETB ability of the O-ring and the Curio’s ability trigger simultaneously, and I choose the order in which they go on the stack. Is this correct?
If it is, then it provides a nice way of abusing the wording on O-ring in order to permanently exile things, without the need to bother with Aether Vial. Stack it so that the curio’s ability resolves first and return the Isolation to your hand. Because it has flash, you can immediately recast it before the Oblivion Ring’s etb ability resolves, once again triggering the Curio. This time, return the O ring to your hand and Voila! The target is forever exiled. Seems fun, right?!
main deck, same as 5/6/18.
4 reality acid (haven't used yet. haven't faced other control decks yet.)
4 rest in peace (best SB card in modern?)
4 spellskite
2 glacial fortress (extra lands vs D&T)
1 flagstones of trokair (D&T)
r1 vs RDW, 1-2.
SB +4 spellskite, -4 spreading seas.
notes: double bomat couriers won him both his wins. i learned today he can:
1. stack the discards
2. draw all the cards upon resolution
3. not discard any new cards as the discard costs were all paid
Blood Moon shut me down after SB but double courier is what drew it.
r2 vs D&T, 0-2.
SB +3 lands, +1 spellskite. -4 spreading seas.
notes: actually lost a game to Sword of Light and Shadow (pro white.) also his creature that gives indestructible to all his other creatures neutered my board wipes.
r3 vs affinity, 2-1.
SB none.
notes: aven riftwatcher blocks everything he has (except Etched Champion.) detention sphere was good vs his Cranial Plating. his scooped after my "super friends" (planes walkers) did their job a few times...
r4 vs abzan, 2-0.
SB +4 RIP, -4 spreading seas.
notes: got to ultimate venser in game 2. chaining cantrips together destroyed his permanents en route to him conceding.
summary: i can accept losing to RDW b/c couriers are amazing. unlucky for me that he could have 2 active ones in play simultaneously. i leaned having cantrips in my opening hand isn't enough, i have to have walls or avens for early defense.
my D&T opponent in r2 having sword of pro white (light and shadow) was pretty good vs me. i elspeth'd away a 5/5 serra avenger but sword enabled him to commit sparingly to the board, while going thru my flying blockers (aven rift watcher, celestial colonnade.
if anymore has suggestions on how to crush D&T, i's sure be grateful for the help!
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkfx2kA8gok&feature=emb_logo
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3RYiZJFCK0
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j18HlKybrm8&feature=emb_logo
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiAEzfAgpbI
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vNr_4ubfMg
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJcwpxraL-g
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8MyVNLVYNw
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-M5ffoArnY
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_yQEBOPi_w&feature=emb_logo
extended - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLpUB9zpyr4&feature=emb_logo
Mana Denial Bant
4 Riptide Chimera
3 Eidolon of Blossoms
4 Sea’s Claim
4 Convincing Mirage
4 Speading Seas
4 Choke
4 Reality Acid
1 Legion’s Landing
1 Oath of Nissa
1 Fists of Ironwood
Bant Flashy Fun
4 Riptide Chimera
2 Eidolon of Blossoms
1 Kefnet the Mindful
1 Legion’s Landing
1 Oath of Nissa
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Speading Seas
1 Fists of Ironwood
4 Reality Acid
1 Saving Grace
4 Temporal Isolation
2 Detention Sphere
2 Oblivion Ring
Testing out a few ideas with this, but particularly interested in abusing d-sphere/o-ring with flash enchants. If it works out, maybe even Boon Satyr makes an appearance? There are probably some lands that would help the plan, but I haven’t got that far yet. Sideboard would be a lot of white hosers that conveniently happen to be enchantments.
4 Spreading Seas
4 Reality Acid
4 Remand
4 Boomerang
2 Eye of Nowhere
4 Flickerwisp
4 Kor Skyfisher
2 Riptide Chimera
1 Cryptic Command
2 Sun Titan
2 Venser, the Sojourner
4 Ghost Quarters
4 Flooded Strand
3 Plains
3 Islands
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Hallowed Fountain
1 Glacial Fortress
1 Prairie Stream
1 Rest in Peace
4 Threads of Disloyalty
4 Spell Pierce
1 Vapor Snag
2 Riptide Chimera
3 Porphyry Nodes
As you can see I hadn't really optimized the deck much beforehand and I was just trying out some cards to see how it feels and get some idea of how the deck works. Cryptic Command for instance did not really seem to be worth it in the deck. The deck tends to always have something to do with its mana, especially because almost everything in the deck costs 2-3 and you get to recast lots of things frequently. I am also not sure if the Boomerang/Eye of Nowhere plan to slow down the enemy is simply too cute to actually use, however bouncing my own Reality Acids with Boomerang was nice on occasion. Sun Titan + Ghost Quarter turned out to be reasonably hurtful. Riptide Chimera turned out to be way better than I thought, because recasting a 3 mana "Destroy target permanent" every turn is actually quite good. It is however quite slow, and it's often tough to get Chimera out just on the right turn.
Anyway, here's how the matches went:
Match 1 - Grixis Control 0-2
He played Thoughtscours, Tasigurs, Snapcasters, Lilianas and a Chandra.
Game 1 went kinda bad for me, mostly because I didn't really know what a bad hand means in this deck. I kept some 3 lander with a Mana Tithe and Skyfishers, but no Spreading Seas or Reality Acid. I am pretty sure by now that you almost always want a spreading seas in your opening hand. It took quite some time for me to lose, but for the whole game I drew neither a Reality Acid nor a Spreading Seas, so the Flickerwisp and Venser didn't do much at all. I also made a mistake of not using Venser to exile Flickerwisp to use Flickerwisp to exile Tasigur so he would return at the end of the opponent's turn. He had 3-4 lands for the entire match, while I sat at 7-8. A single Acid could have won this first game and I constantly kept wishing for more card draw.
Game 2 I kept an opener with Eye to Nowhere, which was cute I guess. I got a Sun Titan out which even managed to attack, however I had only a land to bring back so it didn't do much. Similar to Game 1 I drew no Spreading Seas or Reality Acid, I still managed to get him down to 4 life. I eventually lost due to the fact that I drew nothing that actually did something. Late Mana Tithes aren't good when you don't remove their lands and lonely Chimeras are a bit clunky.
Match 2 - Green Tron 2-0
This match was incredibly easy. I destroyed more lands than he could play and apparently that ruined his day. There really isn't anything to board in here, the main deck pretty much is Tron hat.
Game 1 He drew 3 ancient stirrings in his first 3 turns, but I got a spreading seas, slowing him down long enough to get a Reality Acid on T3 followed by two Flickerwisps the next turs, followed up by Venser. From then on he just lost a land every turn which quickly spelled game over.
Game 2 He managed to get a Karn out, I cast a Reality Acid on it, which is quite the interesting scenario, because while Karn can remove the acid, he also kills himself in the process. Nothing much to say, it was a very crushing defeat on the back of Flickerwisp and Riptide Chimera.
Match 3 - Slivers 0-2
This was quite interesting, because he didn't have any basics, Ghost Quarters became a lot more powerful, and it was also the only create deck I faced.
Game 1 He quickly put out Sinew Sliver followed by a haste giving Sliver. The turn after, I bounced the haste sliver to prevent 3 of 4 sliver from attacking, but it didn't buy me enough time to do what I want and I was eventually overwhelmed. I decided to board in the Porphyry Nodes and Threads of Disloyalty.
Game 2 He opened with Galerider Sliver, Followed by a Diffusion Sliver the next turn. I landed a spreading seas, and got him back down to 1 land, sadly only after he played Manaweft Sliver. I wound up taking the Manaweft Sliver by playing Threads of Disloyalty for 5 mana, which slowed him down quite some time. Had he not managed to play a second Diffusion Sliver I could have started removing his creatues. I was constantly hacking away at his life and got him down to 7, I had 3 creatures with total 7 power on board (1 Chimera, 1 stolen sliver, 1 flickerwisp) the turn he attacked me for 15 while I was at 13 health (each sliver being a 3/3 at that point) I blocked with my flickerwisp, putting me down to 6 power with a Venser in hand. I could have become unblockable but was lacking exactly 1 point of damage. A Wrath of God or a drawn Porphyry nodes would likely have won the game, but it wasn't ment to be.
Match 4 - Tron 1-1-1
This was not so different from the first tron matchup, but it wound up taking quite a bit longer to get through.
Game 1 was pretty easy. He was left without much option to act, went down to 0 lands with an expedition map out.
Game 2 This turned into quite the drawn out thing. I let him assemble tron to get my Chimera engine going, so he put out a Ugin, which I handled relatively easily, but he managed to constantly reassemble his Tron, I got him down to his last mine, but never drew a Ghost Quarter after he Extirpated my Reality Acid. I eventually lost to him drawing back to back Wurmcoil Engines with 10 minutes left on the clock.
Game 3 Heading into it we both mulled to 5, but I didn't have a good hand still at that point. We never finished, because the turn he cast an Ulamog with a Wurmcoil out was turn 4 of extra turns. I ended the game with a Boomerang in hand and enough life to survive his coming attack. He wouldn't have been able to recast any creatures bounced by boomerang, so it is not clear who would have won, probably him though.
Match 5 - UB "Superfriends" 2-0
This went quite well. He had an Ashiok, which didn't really want to play the creatures in my deck, a Thing in the Ice, which unflipped just to be exiled and return unflipped again.
Game 1 He Inquisitioned me to get rid of Reality Acid on turn 1. I played a Spreading Seas on his dual land, which was fine, but enabled his Drowned Catacombs to come in untapped. He got a Jace, Vryn's Prodigy out, a Thing in the Ice, managed to have both flipped, but they did very little before getting removed. Ashiok just sat there exiling my stuff until she got Blinked by a Flickerwisp entering in my EOT, nulling her for a whole turn. It took some time, but eventually I beat him down.
Game 2 He only drew 2 lands. He did extirpate my Reality Acids after Inquisition hitting it on turn 1, but it was quite meaningless. I kept recycling my Spreading Seas and just beat him down without much defense on his part.
Overall I am now quite willing to try going UG/UGW because it seems like some sort of mana accelleration might be necessary to be more consistent. Having Venser and a Reality Acid on the board is amazing. Having Riptide Chimera + Acid + Venser is the greatest, which is why I don't necessarily want to give up W completely. Herald of the Pantheon seems like he would help with getting out Riptide Chimera and Acid on the same turn given a single piece of acceleration on T1, which would be amazing and definitely something the deck wants to do to get rolling.
These two requirements lead to a quick addition of Root Maze, Spreading Seas, and Choke all of which meet the criteria of enchantments and attacking the land base.
Turn 1: Forest, Root Maze
Turn 2: Need a green 1 drop. Tap land.
Green one drop that makes the most sense to me is Utopia Sprawl as you will have 3 mana turn three. The issue here is the forest clause of Utopia Sprawl, so I will need to figure that out in the future as I think 8 Forests should be the target, where my list currently only has 4.
Now if we rethink this for a potential gameplay this is:
Turn 1: Forest, Root Maze.
OppT 1: Tapped Fetchland.
Turn 2: Utopia Sprawl on Forest. Lumbering Falls.
OppT 2: Fetch Shockland tapped. Shockland.
Turn 3: Choke
Turn 1: Yavimaya Coast, Root Maze.
OppT 1: Tapped Fetchland.
Turn 2: Lumbering Falls.
OppT 2: Fetch Shockland tapped. Shockland.
Turn 3: Eye of Nowhere their land. Field of Ruin.
OppT 3: Shockland tapped. 1 Mana Spell.
Turn 4: pass
OppT 4: Field of Ruin their land on their Upkeep. Each player gets a tapped basic.
Eventually you get Jace and dig for things and his flipside reduces the attack of the opponents small creatures that got through the land hate, and/or you get Riptide Chimera/Reality Acid and finish them off.
Obviously mono-red style decks will be extremely difficult to beat. Root Maze + Choke + Mind Bend can lock a specific basic land out of the game. Spellskite should help as well. Nature's Claim is for Eidolon of the Great Revel or other very difficult cards.
I don't expect this to every be -good-, but I'd like to give it a shot regardless. The wincons are attack with Riptide Chimera or Jace Ultimate and cast spells. Root Maze with enough stall becomes good with Temporal Adept in theory, which could also bounce Reality Acids (same with Boomerang and Eye of Nowhere).
This might just need to become a really poor Legacy deck and replace Utopia Sprawl (and it's forest issue) with Elephant Grass to deal with aggro and the heavier blue meta might be better for choke.
Regardless I'm brewed to a stall and wanted to come to the MTG Salvation community to see if anyone has ideas. I found this thread and figured it's similar enough to post here.
4 Jace, Vryn’s Prodigy
4 Riptide Chimera
1 Temporal Adept
Enchantment (20)
4 Root Maze
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Spreading Seas
4 Choke
4 Reality Acid
4 Boomerang
3 Eye of Nowhere
Land (24)
4 Ghost Quarter
4 Field of Ruin
4 Botanical Sanctum
4 Yavimaya Coast
4 Lumbering Falls
4 Forest
4 Mind Bend
4 Damping Sphere
3 Natures Claim
4 Spellskite
Additionally, if they (boomerang and eye of nowhere) don’t show up early, they wind up being a little underpowered later in the game.
All that said, I’ve never combined them with Root Maze, so perhaps that makes a difference.
I also think 8 colorless lands is too many. Especially if you stick with Boomerang and Temporal Adept.
Finally, with only Spreading Seas to capitalize on it, I think Choke might be better in the sideboard to be brought in when you face blue decks.
At this point, we’re all in the brew stage, so I suggest you try your list and let us know how it goes. We need your help as much as you need ours at this point!
3 Riptide Chimera
3 Eidolon of Blossoms
1 Legion's Landing
1 Oath of Nissa
4 Sea's Claim
3 Convincing Mirage
1 Fists of Ironwood
1 Search for Azcanta
4 Spreading Seas
4 Choke
3 Cloudstone Curio
4 Reality Acid
2 Sigil of the Empty Throne
This leaves 22 spots for lands, which seems a tad low, but in practice it works out thanks to card draw/selection in the form of Oath of Nissa, Spreading Seas, Search for Azcanta, and Eidolon of Blossoms. Can't have anything with 'Island' in the type, as the Choke will backfire.
Sideboard is expected white enchants (Stony Silence and Rest in Peace). Not sure what else to put in there just yet. Root Maze? Detention Sphere?
Any land guru advice would be welcome. Thanks.
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1/11/19 FNM-modern, 3-0.
4 flooded strand
4 scalding tarn
3 island
2 glacial fortress
2 sulfur falls
1 hallowed fountain
1 mountain
1 plains
1 sacred foundry
1 steam vents
4 felidar guardian
4 wall of omens
3 aven riftwatcher (anti aggro-tech)
1 emrakul, the aeons torn (no snapcaster mage)
(20) instants/sorceries:
4 lightning bolt
4 opt
4 path to exile
4 serum visions
4 sleight of hand
(8) planeswalkers:
4 nahiri, the harbinger
4 saheeli rai
4 dispel
2 anger of the gods
2 alpine moon
2 spellskite
2 surgical extraction (RIP = nonbo w/emrakul)
2 stony silence
1 teferi, hero of dominaria
test vs HardenedScalesAffinity, 2-0.
SB: not allowed.
r1 vs TitanShift, 2-1.
SB:+2 alpine moon, +2 spellskite, +1 teferi. -3 aven riftwatcher, -2 bolt.
notes: alpine moon on Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle won me games 2&3.
r2 vs Dredge, 2-1.
SB:+2 anger of the gods, +2 spellskite. +2 surgical extraction, +1 teferi. -4 bolt, 3 aven riftwatcher.
notes: opponent revealed post match that he sided enchantment removal for RIP.
r3 vs BorosBurn, 2-1.
SB:+2 dispel, +2 spellskite, -4 path to exile.
notes: nahiri exiled 3 eidolons in g3. aven riftwatcher getting “blinked” by felidar guardian and saheeli rai brought my life total too high.
round 3 link below (about 1 hour, 57 min in.)
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/362574826
summary: deck seems pretty solid.
one possible play i never used tonight was - nahiri emrakul into play, attack for 15, felidar guardian on emrakul (fresh copy.)
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkfx2kA8gok&feature=emb_logo
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3RYiZJFCK0
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j18HlKybrm8&feature=emb_logo
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiAEzfAgpbI
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vNr_4ubfMg
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJcwpxraL-g
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8MyVNLVYNw
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-M5ffoArnY
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_yQEBOPi_w&feature=emb_logo
extended - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLpUB9zpyr4&feature=emb_logo
decklist - same as #25.
test vs Merfolk, 3-1.
SB: not allowed.
notes: he had no maindeck counters, aside from Cursecatcher.
r1 vs HardenedScalesAffinity, 2-1.
SB: +2 anger of the gods, +2 stony silence. -3 aven riftwatcher, -1 lightning bolt.
notes: i nahiri'd out an emrakul but pathed his Hangarback Walker before attacking so annihilate wouldn't give him blockers.
r2 vs UrzaTron, 2-0.
SB: +2 alpine moon, +2 stony silence, +1 teferi, hero of dominaria. -3 aven riftwatcher, -2 lightning bolt.
notes: opponent was casual. he didn't know alpine mooning an Urza's Tower would prevent Urza's Mine and Urza's Power Plant from making 2 mana. he even chose to draw in game 2. when i named Urza's Tower w/alpine moon, he had only had Urza's Mine out so i named Urza's Tower to prevent him from getting colored mana.
r3 vs BorosBurn, 2-1.
SB +2 anger of the gods, +2 spellskite. -4 path to exile.
notes: aven riftwatcher gaining value from felidar guardian and saheeli rai was just too much.
summary: deck still solid, despite no ravnica allegiance additions.
another possible play i didn't use was - nahiri for felidar guardian, then saheeli rai combo.
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vkfx2kA8gok&feature=emb_logo
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3RYiZJFCK0
limited - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j18HlKybrm8&feature=emb_logo
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiAEzfAgpbI
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vNr_4ubfMg
standard - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJcwpxraL-g
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8MyVNLVYNw
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-M5ffoArnY
modern - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_yQEBOPi_w&feature=emb_logo
extended - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLpUB9zpyr4&feature=emb_logo