Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
If someone wants to build it. What do you consider the core cards for this deck?
I suppose Cragganwick and Impervious auto include. What else are needed?
I think most of the cards are important. I would rate them like this, starting with the mana base.
4 Forest
1 Mountain, 2 Stomping Ground, 7 fetchlands, 4 of which are Wooded Foothills, the other 3 can be any fetch that gets Forests
Then Fauna Shaman, Strangleroot Geists, Steel-Leaf Champions for getting some opponents to less than 17 life, Bolts, Noble Hierarchs are very important to go with 2 Birds, Eldritch Evolution, most of the cards.
I personally think that you can play the deck without Cavern of Souls. It is way less important than Noble Hierarch, which you really, really want 4 of. Then also Scavenging Ooze and Linvala, Keeper of Secrets to go with 4 Knight of Autumn in the board. Outside of that, you just need to figure out which tool box creatures you want for your meta.
My friend borrowed the deck today for a small Christmas Eve 4 person tournament. He lost to me on Elves and another guy on Grishoalbrand. We tested and he had tougher luck than I usually do, only getting me once in 9 games.
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Ugh. 12 person WNM. 4 Tron players at least. 2 new players playing Mono White Soul Sisters mixed with Martyr of Sands.
Round 1 vs. Tron. Turn 4 Tron. No Ugin. I put pressure and draw a land to finish him off with a Cragganwick Cremator for 16. In the next 2 games, there wasn't much to see, outside of turn 3 Tron both games, multiple Wurmcoil Engines and Walking Ballistas, a few big dudes, and I drew 14 land and a Birds of Paradise in 15 draws in these games. I keep on 1 Forest, BoP, double Noble Hierarch in game 3 and peel all lands and a BoP after drawing all lands in my draw steps in the second one. Literally needed a Cragganwick Cremator or Eldritch Evolution to win after playing land after land and Karn exiling lands in hand. This is why we keep 1 Tireless Tracker in because with it, I pretty assuredly win this game. No Alpine Moon, Magus of the Moon or Eldritch Evolution (I said that already), or Damping Sphere, although he DID have 1 Nature's Claim in hand this game. 1-2.
Round 2 vs. UR Phoenix. In this game, I have a million turns to draw Bolt or a 3rd land, but I don't find them and he kills my mana dorks with Gut Shot and me with a Phoenix and some burn. In the next game, it is the same, although I did draw a single land to be able to play Cragganwick Cremator or Eldritch Evolution if drawn. I played 2 Knight of Autumn to gain life, slowing the hits of double Phoenix. No Cremation or Evolution. No -tion. 0-2.
Round 3 vs. Mono White creatures. I draw the absolute nuts and smash him low, leaving an Impervious Greatwurm in hand. He stabilizes with some blockers, but I eventually just run the Wurm out and draw Lightning Bolt to finish him next turn. In the next game, I get him with Cragganwick Cremator for … 0. Doesn't matter, I had Surrak and a quick clock to race a double strike creature with a +2/+2 enchantment on it. Told you it was a budget deck for a newer player, right? 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Burn. My friend who usually runs Tron, but loaned it to my other friend tonight to run Burn. He matched against the Soul Sisters/Martyr player and somehow won 2-1 in Round 1. Then he lost 2 straight due to mana flood. Drawing 4 lands in a row is bad for our deck, but at least we have Tireless Tracker. He literally has nothing but a scoop phase if he does it. In the first game, I Bolt a Goblin Guide after he gets me 2 lands. He has an Eidolon, but he fails to find a Bolt late in the game after I cast some 4 drops every turn. In the second game, I play mana dork into Knight of Autumn. I then play another one next turn after he failed to find his 2nd land drop 2 turns in a row. He scooped so we oculd leave. There wasn't much of a chance after that. One land from Burn can't beat that kind of draw. I'm assuming he had a million Searing effects in hand. Hmph! 2-0.
I finish 2-2. Now I am 39-18-1 with this deck. I see the bad draws with this deck, even if I did draw the nuts in Round 3. It was too late...
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
I finish 2-2. Now I am 39-18-1 with this deck. I see the bad draws with this deck, even if I did draw the nuts in Round 3. It was too late...
No! you beat up a poor Timmy. Hehe, just kidding. Got to try to beat em all to keep a good record. Anyway, I see you experienced the mana floods that my deck sometimes give me. When the wurmcoils and karn start getting out, Tron becomes unstoppable. Better luck on the next FNM.
Thanks for teaching about the core cards of the deck. Might try building it if spare funds come by.
Was telling my friends about this deck the past days. And they were impressed to hear about a deck that domes people for 16, filled with 5/4's, and sometimes hardcasts the 16/16. But I also told them that the deck is not on auto pilot, and needs some skill to use properly. Dorks being killed and mana flood is sometimes the downfall of the deck.
I finish 2-2. Now I am 39-18-1 with this deck. I see the bad draws with this deck, even if I did draw the nuts in Round 3. It was too late...
No! you beat up a poor Timmy. Hehe, just kidding. Got to try to beat em all to keep a good record. Anyway, I see you experienced the mana floods that my deck sometimes give me. When the wurmcoils and karn start getting out, Tron becomes unstoppable. Better luck on the next FNM.
Thanks for teaching about the core cards of the deck. Might try building it if spare funds come by.
Was telling my friends about this deck the past days. And they were impressed to hear about a deck that domes people for 16, filled with 5/4's, and sometimes hardcasts the 16/16. But I also told them that the deck is not on auto pilot, and needs some skill to use properly. Dorks being killed and mana flood is sometimes the downfall of the deck.
The draws in that round slaughter my opponents from Round 1 and 2. The funny thing is that it didn't do quite as good against the Timmy because he had bodies to throw in front and I didn't get the Combo. The guy came with his sister. Both had Mono White decks; her deck was Martyr of Sands and Soul Sisters thrown together. Most people here don't know these decks well enough to realize that it's bad. Mono White Martyr is Mono White Control, while Soul Sisters is a similar deck, but more Midrangish and actually just anti creature.dec.
Honestly against Tron or Phoenix, if I knew all my draws were all lands or no lands, I would have mulliganed perfectly functional hands. Unfortunately that's not a part of Magic currently, outside of shuffling better.
The deck's not autopilot, but as long as you have a plan of what to do to win and what tool box creatures hurt which decks, you should be fine. The most important thing is making sure that you have as few cards in hand ready for when you try to go off.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Round 1 vs. Jund. I mull a hand with 0 land. I mull another hand with 0 land. I keep on 3 land and 2 spells that get discarded. He doesn't play any more discard, just 2 Liliana of the Veil. I keep an Impervious Greatwurm in case I draw Cragganwick Cremator. I draw 2 Wurms before I draw Cragganwick Cremator. Not much to see here. I don't see Cremator or Eldritch Evolution, which admittedly there were no creatures in play. In game 2, I mull a 0 land hand. Then I mull another 0 land hand. I keep a 4 land hand. He makes me discard Strangleroot Geist. I end up drawing 7 lands in a row with a Birds of Paradise scrunched in between there. Double Liliana of the Veil kept me down. Made me sacrifice some permanents with the ultimate before playing the other. I had 5 land in play with 2 more fetch lands for a total of 7 land. I keep the pile with 4 land. I draw Tireless Tracker. He makes me sacrifice it. I draw and play Steel-Leaf Champion for 3 turns straight, him making me sacrifice 2 of them and his draw being Fatal Push to go with a fetch. I draw after those 4 straight 3 drops (after my first 6 draw steps being lands). I try to play what I think is the 4th Steel-Leaf Champion in a row. It's gotta be, right? 6 lands, Tireless Tracker, triple Steel-Leaf Champion, then another? Nope, Impervious Greatwurm and I scoop. This is why I really want to cut Nullhide Ferox. It is bad vs. most decks and we have more chances to draw every land in our deck before finding the Ferox. Good job dude! 0-2.
Round 2 vs. GDS. One of 2 friends I came with. He usually plays Tron and played that Mono Black Devotion deck you may have seen from one of my tournament reports. In the first game, I have Cragganwick Cremator and Impervious Greatwurm early. It's just a matter of getting rid of my hand. He plays double Death's Shadow. I draw...an SLC and play Cragganwick Cremator with double Wurm (and a Steel-Leaf Champion that was just drawn) in hand to win. The next game is similar, but I have double Wurm and Relic of Progenitus that I drew (no land this time). I only have 4 land in play, so I go for it. He hits Relic of Progenitus, much to his surprise. I don't show him that it's double Wurm. I act as if I had no way to kill him, while I lose to Temur Battle Rage next turn. In the final game, I have a choice to go for Strangleroot Geist to try lethal or Cragganwick Cremator with Geist and Wurm in hand. I assume the 67% didn't get it done in game 2; the 50% won't be better, right? He Snaps Bolt and plays Temur Battle Rage for lethal next turn. Temur Battle Rage is too easy for this deck to find. He had 1 in each of the 3 games. 1-2.
Round 3 vs. GB Elves. She mulled to 4. I mulled to 4. I play a Cragganwick Cremator on turn 4, which was super lucky. I have no cards in hand, but she's at 3 because of Horizon Canopy. I draw the next turn. Lightning Bolt, hmph! She was just rebuilding too. In the next game, she gets me with a turn 2 double Shaman of the Pack for a million, but since her boyfriend is leaving at 0-3, she decides to pack it up too. Whew. About to lose on turn 3. Better lucky than good. 2-0.
Round 4 vs. UW Control. I do Noble into turn 2 Steel-Leaf Champion. He kept 2 on top with Serum Visions, but didn't really act like they were Terminus. They weren't and turn 3 double Strangleroot Geist got him low enough for me to keep Wurm in hand with Cavern of Souls. I finally draw Cragganwick Cremator when he had me at lethal next turn with Celestial Colonnade. Whew! I expected to keep drawing nothing. I think we may need to play a single manland or 2 in the deck for draws of 7 lands straight! In the next game, it is similar, but he deals with the Steel-Leaf Champion and the Strangleroot Geist while I peel land after land. He had turn 3 Gideon of the Trials. He got there soon thereafter while I drew triple Impervious Greatwurm. I kept with Impervious Greatwurm, so I had the 4 of a kind. Wish I was in Las Vegas and bet the whole HOUSE! Would have been rich as ****! For the final game, I got scared and sided out 2 Impervious Greatwurm for the first time ever. I just rushed him and dodged Terminus. I had Cragganwick Cremator and Wurm in my opener, but kept drawing stuff that prevented me from playing it. I draw a fetch, find Temple Garden, and play Knight of Autumn. He sees the Detention Sphere on double Strangleroot Geist and scoops before I choose a mode. Lucky me. 2-1.
I finish 2-2, so 41-20-1 with the deck. I'm down to my regular percentage in Modern overall. Sad.
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
That's just sad on the Jund match up. Sometimes the shuffles just don't go well.
If you're looking for a manland, maybe a single Raging Ravine? This deck isn't as dedicated to the moon plan as ponza, so I think you can have a use for a manland that grows.
What do you plan to replace the ferox with? Maybe replace him with a Chameleon Colossus to kick some GDS and other black decks? You have plenty of land and dorks, you could get him to 8/8 easily. Another option is a singleton Harmonize, it's green's ancestral recall, to help you get out of land pockets.
Had a good laugh at the las vegas joke. Gambling is bad you know.
Yeah, it's sad losing to Jund. I think out of the 25 decks I play, 23 of them probably beat Jund up, including this one. But I figured out what doesn't beat Jund - mulling to 5 both games with lands as the draws without a Tireless Tracker. I guess if I had drawn the Tracker before the lands, I would have gotten 2 Clues before it died (from a fetchland). My "Blood Moon" strategy is literally 1 Magus of the Moon and 3 Eldritch Evolution.
I think Chameleon Colossus could be okay vs. some decks, but it's terrible against others that I regularly face. Harmonize is sweet, but goes against the Cragganwick plan, which is to have few cards in hand. Tireless Tracker is fine because you don't have to draw the cards until you want to. Besides, Harmonize is Green's Concentrate.
I don't gamble at all. I just don't feel like wasting money. But occasionally I wonder if I went wrong in this life decision...
*I am probably going to try the deck again tonight. Hopefully I don't see 11 of the 23 lands in my first 7 draw steps (4 in the opener). Wish me luck in drawing lands and spells. I literally don't care what else I draw. I just want to play the game of Magic the Gathering. I've played enough of Magic the "landing" as of lately.
**Also, can you ship me your Ponza list? I may actually try it since there's been a lot of Tron recently and it can easily win the Burn matchup as well.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Fighting any discard deck becomes really hard if you mulligan twice. Espescially Jund or GDS, they can just snipe whatever few good cards you have in a 5 card opener. Maybe you'll get him next time.
So what is the current list that everyone is looking at?
I saw one from foodchaingoblin from a couple weeks ago but diditn know if it had changed.
Mine is the same. I haven't changed anything since then.
I actually am not sure how many people are playing this deck. I think it's very few. I even took a couple of tournaments off after my mana floods and screw with Cragganwick.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
I played this at the Oakland Magic Fest. 1154 players.
Round 1 vs. BYE. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. BYE. 2-0.
Round 3 vs. UR Phoenix. I lose the die roll. Turn 2 Thing, flip, I peel lands. Next game, Lightning Axe on SLC, Thing, Manamorphose X 3, kill me with it and Phoenixes. 0-2.
Round 4 vs. UR Phoenix. I lose the die roll. Pretty much a copy of Round 1. Not much else to say, but I think Thing in the Ice is hiding some Manamorphose in the Ice with him. ? After this round, I make a bold prediction that UR Phoenix wins this tournament. Little did I know that there would be a LOT of KCI, which made my guess unlikely. But I ended up right! 0-2.
Round 5 vs. UR Phoenix. I lost the die roll. Similar, but I drew not a single land this whole match. I won game 2 because I was on the play and played a million 1 and 3 drops. I lost the other 2 fairly badly, but not as badly as Rounds 1 and 2. 1-2.
Round 6 vs. Eldrazi Aggro. I lose the die roll. Super cool guy. We chat afterward and he drops out, while signing the slip 2-0. He had too much Aggro and Eldrazi Obligator to nail me in game 1, but is on the back foot in game 2 with Alpine Moon early too and he drew no creatures in game 3 except 2 Simian Spirit Guide, which nearly stopped me, as I drew 7 land and BoP. 2-1.
Round 7 vs. No Show. No reason to show up unless you want to lose the die roll and have some odd variance like myself. Glutton for punishment. Look it up. 2-0.
Round 8 vs. Dredge. I WIIIN the die roll! I have played at least 3 GPs where I lost every die roll except the final one of the day, so I knew how this would go. He has poor dredges and can't get past 2 lands. Conflagrate makes it close though. In the next game, he dredges poorly again, but he hits 2 Creeping Chill to give Bloodghasts haste and do lethal. In the final one, Relic of Progenitus slows him down enough for me to get a lethal Cragganwick. I thought I'd do that once this tournament! 2-1.
I don't make Day 2 and I go 5-3 total. Pretty sad stuff, considering I actually won 2 rounds myself.
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Nice write-up as always. I'm gonna be honest, I've stopped playing the deck. The last time I played I was just shut down by decks such as Storm, Tron, and Spirits.
There were opportunities to win the game, but it always meant relying on Craggwick discard with only 50% or 33% chance of getting the win, and if you whiff it's game over. Taking the time to make it 100% is a turn or two too slow I think. Those odds just aren't suiting me at the moment.
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Decks - Modern Currently active
- Humans
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Yeah, I can see that. After opponents nut drawing on me while my shuffling skills were in the bottom 30% of the GP, I decided to take a small break from it myself. On the horizon, I see myself going back to KCI, Dredge, Amulet, Grishoalbrand, or the deck I played for the Mythic Championship Qualifier - Druid Evolution.
I think a lot of my friends were somewhat disappointed because they know that I usually Day 2, but I honestly believe that had I drawn 90-100% lands or no lands with most decks, I would not have won either. Maybe I would have made it further in the game to draw out of that? I don't know. The hands that I kept were pretty solid in general. I did not have many loose keeps. The opening hands were fine. It's just the 7-8 cards following them were just atrocious. Even in some of those rough losses, I literally had Cragganwick Cremator or Eldritch Evolution for it as outs to possibly win or definitely win the game. But it never happened. Thing in the Ice is just insane!
I agree completely with you Soot. It is a bit slow because taking the turn off can be deadly and you don't always know if your opponent has it or not. If we knew every time, it would make the decision to "go for it" much easier, but we don't. While it's cool to play a deck that has almost no hate for it, have a strong combo, and a tool box, I think it's not well positioned.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Have you seen the recent changes that people have made? What do you think of them? Specifically I'm talking about...
1. 4 Knight of Autumn in the SB, taking out Shattering Spree, Kitchen Finks, Reclamation Sage, and
2. 4th Impervious Greatwurm. The Ghalta, as much as I theoretically love it is just straight up worse. If you're casting Ghalta, you've already won for the most part. Sometimes you are 16 damage away (fetch shock and fetch from opponent) and you have Cragganwick or Evolution and Ghalta in hand.
3. 4 Bloodbraid Elves, taking out Nullhide Ferox, Scavenging Ooze, and 2 Tireless Tracker. I personally don't like it and am not ready to give up on Tireless Tracker or Scooze, but it may be the better direction currently.
sorry, I'm late.
1. In Japanese Community,Knight of Autumn met with a favorable reception. I think this is one of the best second-sidecards. I used it 1 or 2 in Steelleaf type. Blood moon-goyf type can't use it.
2. maybe it depends on metagame of Community you join. VS Human, Eldrazi, Tax, Ghalta is Stronger. VS Combo, Spirit, Ghalta is weaker. now I use 4GreawWurm.
3. I think BloodbraidElves in this deck isn't strong. First,this deck has many dork. Second,8-4cost is too heavy using Cragganwick.Third, this deck doesn't have many eliminate spells like Fatal push or Trophy.
I think this deck has disadvantage to UR Phoenix. 2-Flameslash in place of Lightnig Bolt can reduce it.
But if you play with Tron, It looks really trash.
Now I'm building new Craggan can defeat Phoenix.
For example,using trivalflame can defeat TiTi and Drake.
I think this deck has disadvantage to UR Phoenix. 2-Flameslash in place of Lightnig Bolt can reduce it.
But if you play with Tron, It looks really trash.
Now I'm building new Craggan can defeat Phoenix.
For example,using trivalflame can defeat TiTi and Drake.
How about lava coil to defeat phoenix? It exiles so phoenix does not come back.
How about lava coil to defeat phoenix? It exiles so phoenix does not come back.
I think UR phoenix's threat is Drake and TiTi. In particular TiTi. TiTi destroyed all Plan RG Cragganwick have.
Phoenix also strong, but it can take measures easily.
So I used Flame Slash last ModdernChallenge I join.
Lavacoil can exiles Phoenix, But I wouldn't like to use 4point-fire to Phoenix.
Dismember is another one I've been thinking about, but I don't know if the life loss is worth it. If we draw this after a hit from Thing in the Ice or whatever else we're facing, we could be too low on life.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Dismember is another one I've been thinking about, but I don't know if the life loss is worth it. If we draw this after a hit from Thing in the Ice or whatever else we're facing, we could be too low on life.
With phoenix, Hollow one, and dredge all being active. I get the shivers using anything that causes life loss these days. This deck has access to burn spells, so I think we can leave the dismember as sideboard against less aggressive decks.
It's all-in combo, using Emrakul, Serra Avatar (which can OTK) and Impervious Greatwurm.
I played it on a MTGO friendly league today and went 3-2, I still need to fine tune it, especially dealing those last few points of damage. And I was playing a suboptimal list as I can't afford Cavern of Souls and some good manabase cards (you don't want Aether Hub, you want actual good lands ).
PS: For those of you hell-bent on the Toolbox plan, Prime Speaker Vannifar should be on your watchlist, and the new Gruul enchantment that gives Riot...
Vintage >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Legacy
16 > 13
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)If someone wants to build it. What do you consider the core cards for this deck?
I suppose Cragganwick and Impervious auto include. What else are needed?
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Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
4 Forest
1 Mountain, 2 Stomping Ground, 7 fetchlands, 4 of which are Wooded Foothills, the other 3 can be any fetch that gets Forests
Then Fauna Shaman, Strangleroot Geists, Steel-Leaf Champions for getting some opponents to less than 17 life, Bolts, Noble Hierarchs are very important to go with 2 Birds, Eldritch Evolution, most of the cards.
I personally think that you can play the deck without Cavern of Souls. It is way less important than Noble Hierarch, which you really, really want 4 of. Then also Scavenging Ooze and Linvala, Keeper of Secrets to go with 4 Knight of Autumn in the board. Outside of that, you just need to figure out which tool box creatures you want for your meta.
My friend borrowed the deck today for a small Christmas Eve 4 person tournament. He lost to me on Elves and another guy on Grishoalbrand. We tested and he had tougher luck than I usually do, only getting me once in 9 games.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Round 1 vs. Tron. Turn 4 Tron. No Ugin. I put pressure and draw a land to finish him off with a Cragganwick Cremator for 16. In the next 2 games, there wasn't much to see, outside of turn 3 Tron both games, multiple Wurmcoil Engines and Walking Ballistas, a few big dudes, and I drew 14 land and a Birds of Paradise in 15 draws in these games. I keep on 1 Forest, BoP, double Noble Hierarch in game 3 and peel all lands and a BoP after drawing all lands in my draw steps in the second one. Literally needed a Cragganwick Cremator or Eldritch Evolution to win after playing land after land and Karn exiling lands in hand. This is why we keep 1 Tireless Tracker in because with it, I pretty assuredly win this game. No Alpine Moon, Magus of the Moon or Eldritch Evolution (I said that already), or Damping Sphere, although he DID have 1 Nature's Claim in hand this game. 1-2.
Round 2 vs. UR Phoenix. In this game, I have a million turns to draw Bolt or a 3rd land, but I don't find them and he kills my mana dorks with Gut Shot and me with a Phoenix and some burn. In the next game, it is the same, although I did draw a single land to be able to play Cragganwick Cremator or Eldritch Evolution if drawn. I played 2 Knight of Autumn to gain life, slowing the hits of double Phoenix. No Cremation or Evolution. No -tion. 0-2.
Round 3 vs. Mono White creatures. I draw the absolute nuts and smash him low, leaving an Impervious Greatwurm in hand. He stabilizes with some blockers, but I eventually just run the Wurm out and draw Lightning Bolt to finish him next turn. In the next game, I get him with Cragganwick Cremator for … 0. Doesn't matter, I had Surrak and a quick clock to race a double strike creature with a +2/+2 enchantment on it. Told you it was a budget deck for a newer player, right? 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Burn. My friend who usually runs Tron, but loaned it to my other friend tonight to run Burn. He matched against the Soul Sisters/Martyr player and somehow won 2-1 in Round 1. Then he lost 2 straight due to mana flood. Drawing 4 lands in a row is bad for our deck, but at least we have Tireless Tracker. He literally has nothing but a scoop phase if he does it. In the first game, I Bolt a Goblin Guide after he gets me 2 lands. He has an Eidolon, but he fails to find a Bolt late in the game after I cast some 4 drops every turn. In the second game, I play mana dork into Knight of Autumn. I then play another one next turn after he failed to find his 2nd land drop 2 turns in a row. He scooped so we oculd leave. There wasn't much of a chance after that. One land from Burn can't beat that kind of draw. I'm assuming he had a million Searing effects in hand. Hmph! 2-0.
I finish 2-2. Now I am 39-18-1 with this deck. I see the bad draws with this deck, even if I did draw the nuts in Round 3. It was too late...
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)No! you beat up a poor Timmy. Hehe, just kidding. Got to try to beat em all to keep a good record. Anyway, I see you experienced the mana floods that my deck sometimes give me. When the wurmcoils and karn start getting out, Tron becomes unstoppable. Better luck on the next FNM.
Thanks for teaching about the core cards of the deck. Might try building it if spare funds come by.
Was telling my friends about this deck the past days. And they were impressed to hear about a deck that domes people for 16, filled with 5/4's, and sometimes hardcasts the 16/16. But I also told them that the deck is not on auto pilot, and needs some skill to use properly. Dorks being killed and mana flood is sometimes the downfall of the deck.
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The draws in that round slaughter my opponents from Round 1 and 2. The funny thing is that it didn't do quite as good against the Timmy because he had bodies to throw in front and I didn't get the Combo. The guy came with his sister. Both had Mono White decks; her deck was Martyr of Sands and Soul Sisters thrown together. Most people here don't know these decks well enough to realize that it's bad. Mono White Martyr is Mono White Control, while Soul Sisters is a similar deck, but more Midrangish and actually just anti creature.dec.
Honestly against Tron or Phoenix, if I knew all my draws were all lands or no lands, I would have mulliganed perfectly functional hands. Unfortunately that's not a part of Magic currently, outside of shuffling better.
The deck's not autopilot, but as long as you have a plan of what to do to win and what tool box creatures hurt which decks, you should be fine. The most important thing is making sure that you have as few cards in hand ready for when you try to go off.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Round 1 vs. Jund. I mull a hand with 0 land. I mull another hand with 0 land. I keep on 3 land and 2 spells that get discarded. He doesn't play any more discard, just 2 Liliana of the Veil. I keep an Impervious Greatwurm in case I draw Cragganwick Cremator. I draw 2 Wurms before I draw Cragganwick Cremator. Not much to see here. I don't see Cremator or Eldritch Evolution, which admittedly there were no creatures in play. In game 2, I mull a 0 land hand. Then I mull another 0 land hand. I keep a 4 land hand. He makes me discard Strangleroot Geist. I end up drawing 7 lands in a row with a Birds of Paradise scrunched in between there. Double Liliana of the Veil kept me down. Made me sacrifice some permanents with the ultimate before playing the other. I had 5 land in play with 2 more fetch lands for a total of 7 land. I keep the pile with 4 land. I draw Tireless Tracker. He makes me sacrifice it. I draw and play Steel-Leaf Champion for 3 turns straight, him making me sacrifice 2 of them and his draw being Fatal Push to go with a fetch. I draw after those 4 straight 3 drops (after my first 6 draw steps being lands). I try to play what I think is the 4th Steel-Leaf Champion in a row. It's gotta be, right? 6 lands, Tireless Tracker, triple Steel-Leaf Champion, then another? Nope, Impervious Greatwurm and I scoop. This is why I really want to cut Nullhide Ferox. It is bad vs. most decks and we have more chances to draw every land in our deck before finding the Ferox. Good job dude! 0-2.
Round 2 vs. GDS. One of 2 friends I came with. He usually plays Tron and played that Mono Black Devotion deck you may have seen from one of my tournament reports. In the first game, I have Cragganwick Cremator and Impervious Greatwurm early. It's just a matter of getting rid of my hand. He plays double Death's Shadow. I draw...an SLC and play Cragganwick Cremator with double Wurm (and a Steel-Leaf Champion that was just drawn) in hand to win. The next game is similar, but I have double Wurm and Relic of Progenitus that I drew (no land this time). I only have 4 land in play, so I go for it. He hits Relic of Progenitus, much to his surprise. I don't show him that it's double Wurm. I act as if I had no way to kill him, while I lose to Temur Battle Rage next turn. In the final game, I have a choice to go for Strangleroot Geist to try lethal or Cragganwick Cremator with Geist and Wurm in hand. I assume the 67% didn't get it done in game 2; the 50% won't be better, right? He Snaps Bolt and plays Temur Battle Rage for lethal next turn. Temur Battle Rage is too easy for this deck to find. He had 1 in each of the 3 games. 1-2.
Round 3 vs. GB Elves. She mulled to 4. I mulled to 4. I play a Cragganwick Cremator on turn 4, which was super lucky. I have no cards in hand, but she's at 3 because of Horizon Canopy. I draw the next turn. Lightning Bolt, hmph! She was just rebuilding too. In the next game, she gets me with a turn 2 double Shaman of the Pack for a million, but since her boyfriend is leaving at 0-3, she decides to pack it up too. Whew. About to lose on turn 3. Better lucky than good. 2-0.
Round 4 vs. UW Control. I do Noble into turn 2 Steel-Leaf Champion. He kept 2 on top with Serum Visions, but didn't really act like they were Terminus. They weren't and turn 3 double Strangleroot Geist got him low enough for me to keep Wurm in hand with Cavern of Souls. I finally draw Cragganwick Cremator when he had me at lethal next turn with Celestial Colonnade. Whew! I expected to keep drawing nothing. I think we may need to play a single manland or 2 in the deck for draws of 7 lands straight! In the next game, it is similar, but he deals with the Steel-Leaf Champion and the Strangleroot Geist while I peel land after land. He had turn 3 Gideon of the Trials. He got there soon thereafter while I drew triple Impervious Greatwurm. I kept with Impervious Greatwurm, so I had the 4 of a kind. Wish I was in Las Vegas and bet the whole HOUSE! Would have been rich as ****! For the final game, I got scared and sided out 2 Impervious Greatwurm for the first time ever. I just rushed him and dodged Terminus. I had Cragganwick Cremator and Wurm in my opener, but kept drawing stuff that prevented me from playing it. I draw a fetch, find Temple Garden, and play Knight of Autumn. He sees the Detention Sphere on double Strangleroot Geist and scoops before I choose a mode. Lucky me. 2-1.
I finish 2-2, so 41-20-1 with the deck. I'm down to my regular percentage in Modern overall. Sad.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)If you're looking for a manland, maybe a single Raging Ravine? This deck isn't as dedicated to the moon plan as ponza, so I think you can have a use for a manland that grows.
What do you plan to replace the ferox with? Maybe replace him with a Chameleon Colossus to kick some GDS and other black decks? You have plenty of land and dorks, you could get him to 8/8 easily. Another option is a singleton Harmonize, it's green's ancestral recall, to help you get out of land pockets.
Had a good laugh at the las vegas joke. Gambling is bad you know.
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Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
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I think Chameleon Colossus could be okay vs. some decks, but it's terrible against others that I regularly face. Harmonize is sweet, but goes against the Cragganwick plan, which is to have few cards in hand. Tireless Tracker is fine because you don't have to draw the cards until you want to. Besides, Harmonize is Green's Concentrate.
I don't gamble at all. I just don't feel like wasting money. But occasionally I wonder if I went wrong in this life decision...
*I am probably going to try the deck again tonight. Hopefully I don't see 11 of the 23 lands in my first 7 draw steps (4 in the opener). Wish me luck in drawing lands and spells. I literally don't care what else I draw. I just want to play the game of Magic the Gathering. I've played enough of Magic the "landing" as of lately.
**Also, can you ship me your Ponza list? I may actually try it since there's been a lot of Tron recently and it can easily win the Burn matchup as well.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)-- pm sent
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Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
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I saw one from foodchaingoblin from a couple weeks ago but diditn know if it had changed.
Mine is the same. I haven't changed anything since then.
I actually am not sure how many people are playing this deck. I think it's very few. I even took a couple of tournaments off after my mana floods and screw with Cragganwick.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Round 1 vs. BYE. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. BYE. 2-0.
Round 3 vs. UR Phoenix. I lose the die roll. Turn 2 Thing, flip, I peel lands. Next game, Lightning Axe on SLC, Thing, Manamorphose X 3, kill me with it and Phoenixes. 0-2.
Round 4 vs. UR Phoenix. I lose the die roll. Pretty much a copy of Round 1. Not much else to say, but I think Thing in the Ice is hiding some Manamorphose in the Ice with him. ? After this round, I make a bold prediction that UR Phoenix wins this tournament. Little did I know that there would be a LOT of KCI, which made my guess unlikely. But I ended up right! 0-2.
Round 5 vs. UR Phoenix. I lost the die roll. Similar, but I drew not a single land this whole match. I won game 2 because I was on the play and played a million 1 and 3 drops. I lost the other 2 fairly badly, but not as badly as Rounds 1 and 2. 1-2.
Round 6 vs. Eldrazi Aggro. I lose the die roll. Super cool guy. We chat afterward and he drops out, while signing the slip 2-0. He had too much Aggro and Eldrazi Obligator to nail me in game 1, but is on the back foot in game 2 with Alpine Moon early too and he drew no creatures in game 3 except 2 Simian Spirit Guide, which nearly stopped me, as I drew 7 land and BoP. 2-1.
Round 7 vs. No Show. No reason to show up unless you want to lose the die roll and have some odd variance like myself. Glutton for punishment. Look it up. 2-0.
Round 8 vs. Dredge. I WIIIN the die roll! I have played at least 3 GPs where I lost every die roll except the final one of the day, so I knew how this would go. He has poor dredges and can't get past 2 lands. Conflagrate makes it close though. In the next game, he dredges poorly again, but he hits 2 Creeping Chill to give Bloodghasts haste and do lethal. In the final one, Relic of Progenitus slows him down enough for me to get a lethal Cragganwick. I thought I'd do that once this tournament! 2-1.
I don't make Day 2 and I go 5-3 total. Pretty sad stuff, considering I actually won 2 rounds myself.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)There were opportunities to win the game, but it always meant relying on Craggwick discard with only 50% or 33% chance of getting the win, and if you whiff it's game over. Taking the time to make it 100% is a turn or two too slow I think. Those odds just aren't suiting me at the moment.
Currently active
- Humans
- Evolve Zoo
I think a lot of my friends were somewhat disappointed because they know that I usually Day 2, but I honestly believe that had I drawn 90-100% lands or no lands with most decks, I would not have won either. Maybe I would have made it further in the game to draw out of that? I don't know. The hands that I kept were pretty solid in general. I did not have many loose keeps. The opening hands were fine. It's just the 7-8 cards following them were just atrocious. Even in some of those rough losses, I literally had Cragganwick Cremator or Eldritch Evolution for it as outs to possibly win or definitely win the game. But it never happened. Thing in the Ice is just insane!
I agree completely with you Soot. It is a bit slow because taking the turn off can be deadly and you don't always know if your opponent has it or not. If we knew every time, it would make the decision to "go for it" much easier, but we don't. While it's cool to play a deck that has almost no hate for it, have a strong combo, and a tool box, I think it's not well positioned.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)sorry, I'm late.
1. In Japanese Community,Knight of Autumn met with a favorable reception. I think this is one of the best second-sidecards. I used it 1 or 2 in Steelleaf type. Blood moon-goyf type can't use it.
2. maybe it depends on metagame of Community you join. VS Human, Eldrazi, Tax, Ghalta is Stronger. VS Combo, Spirit, Ghalta is weaker. now I use 4GreawWurm.
3. I think BloodbraidElves in this deck isn't strong. First,this deck has many dork. Second,8-4cost is too heavy using Cragganwick.Third, this deck doesn't have many eliminate spells like Fatal push or Trophy.
But if you play with Tron, It looks really trash.
Now I'm building new Craggan can defeat Phoenix.
For example,using trivalflame can defeat TiTi and Drake.
How about lava coil to defeat phoenix? It exiles so phoenix does not come back.
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Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
I think UR phoenix's threat is Drake and TiTi. In particular TiTi. TiTi destroyed all Plan RG Cragganwick have.
Phoenix also strong, but it can take measures easily.
So I used Flame Slash last ModdernChallenge I join.
Lavacoil can exiles Phoenix, But I wouldn't like to use 4point-fire to Phoenix.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)With phoenix, Hollow one, and dredge all being active. I get the shivers using anything that causes life loss these days. This deck has access to burn spells, so I think we can leave the dismember as sideboard against less aggressive decks.
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Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
It's all-in combo, using Emrakul, Serra Avatar (which can OTK) and Impervious Greatwurm.
I played it on a MTGO friendly league today and went 3-2, I still need to fine tune it, especially dealing those last few points of damage. And I was playing a suboptimal list as I can't afford Cavern of Souls and some good manabase cards (you don't want Aether Hub, you want actual good lands ).
PS: For those of you hell-bent on the Toolbox plan, Prime Speaker Vannifar should be on your watchlist, and the new Gruul enchantment that gives Riot...