I agree that three lands is where we want to be (at least preboard). I don't want to play another land just to discard more often to Looting. I was considering another land to more consistently hit my first three land drops. Looting just somewhat mitigates the downside by making flooding less bad.
I know we can turbo Xerox with the cantrips to hit land drops, but that's not always where we want to be. Realistically, I don't think I ever actually want to cantrip to hit early lands. I can't think of a matchup in which I don't want to stick a clock or interact early. I've definitely done some cantriping to find my second and third land, but if playing a 19th land means we can spend those early turns playing to the board and then use our cantrips to just smooth out our draws (and I'm grouping using cantrips to grow Goyf out of Bolt range or get a Mandrills down in the play to the board category), I think that might be worth it. I don't think I'm going to try 19 yet, but it's something I'm considering testing out.
I agree that three lands is where we want to be (at least preboard). I don't want to play another land just to discard more often to Looting. I was considering another land to more consistently hit my first three land drops. Looting just somewhat mitigates the downside by making flooding less bad.
I know we can turbo Xerox with the cantrips to hit land drops, but that's not always where we want to be. Realistically, I don't think I ever actually want to cantrip to hit early lands. I can't think of a matchup in which I don't want to stick a clock or interact early. I've definitely done some cantriping to find my second and third land, but if playing a 19th land means we can spend those early turns playing to the board and then use our cantrips to just smooth out our draws (and I'm grouping using cantrips to grow Goyf out of Bolt range or get a Mandrills down in the play to the board category), I think that might be worth it. I don't think I'm going to try 19 yet, but it's something I'm considering testing out.
Ok. If you put it this way it make a lot more sense. I may have misunderstood your last post
I agree it's not nice to be mana screwed, but I hate flooding late game too! In any case as for now I'm liking the mana base.
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Decks played: Modern:
0 Affinity;
URG Delver
URGW Countercats
(Here you can find some video contents about Countercats and Temur Delver decks)
Ok guys here's my quick report from last night. 3-1
G1 Vs Owling Mine WIN 2-1
M1 I'm on the draw and couldn't line up a threat with counters available for what he was doing fast enough.
M2 T1 Delver plus counter magic all the way.
M3 Was a good one. I had boarded out all of my snags knowing he didn't own TITI. Turns out he picked some up! He plays it turn three and My heart sinks! But I want to see how this goes down so I alter my play style a bit and hold threats in my hand after getting a hoots on board. we trade 1 for 1 his bounce spells vs my counters. He flips TITI, In response I FTC for 10 so I can take a hit or two. Which I do before eventually playing 2 delvers and a pyromancer in the same turn... The delvers flip, I get in for damage and Revelry his Howling mine for the last two points of damage. I suspect he was drawing the wrong side of his deck though for some reason.
G2 Vs Std Ramnap Red LOSE 2-0
M1 I'm mana screwed on 2 lands drawing the wrong side of my deck to handle aggro.
M2 I flood hard super early.... Aint that the way it goes sometimes... *Shakes head* embarrasing....
G3 Vs Mono G Tron WIN 2-0
M1 I have a T2 Hoots plus mana leak to get some beats in... He makes turn 4 tron and taps out for walking balista. I leak it. Keeping 1 blue up for the snag in my hand. His next turn he plays Ulamog choosing to exile my blue lands instead of my creature. I float a blue, Ulamog resolves, Snag it back to his hand at end of turn, untap and attack for lethal... Got lucky there...
M2 T1 delver T2 flips T3 Sphere.. Game
G4 Vs Bogles Win WIN 2-1
M1 T1 Delver T2 Thermo-alchemist He didn't see a bogle this game. I'm the beat down with delver, ping, bolt, ping, visions, ping, snag your dancer you lose 1, ping, forked bolt you, ping, Game.
M2 He Builds up a lifelinker (new tech) Out of bolt range and sandbags 3 bogles in his hand until I run out of counter magic targeting his most important enchantments, He pulls a griffs boon out of the graveyard and flies over ftw.
M3 I open with 3 fetch, Hoots, Peirce, Leak, and Scatter... Pretty much the nuts vs bogles.. Easy game
Sad to lose to a Std deck.. But being lucky and unlucky is just part of the game sometimes. Proven by my snag in the tron game. I last minute swapped my wanting to try 2x tireless tracker for 2x Essence Scatter and I was always happy to see them. I don't own a sahili so I ran Alchemist I only saw it that one game but the pings won me the game. I don't have any control or midrange at my store really so I was ok with that inclusion. I honestly don't know what I would prefer between TITI or essence scatter right now. I just don't have the ability to test the data properly at my tiny lgs.
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Modern: MONKEY GROW & Amulet Titan Legacy: RG Lands EDH: Merieke Ri Berit Esper Good stuff
Hello! I've been off RUG Delver for a little while now but the new FL build has me excited again. I'm going to be heading to FNM this week in my hometown but it's been so long since I've played there that I'm essentially going into the meta blind. I was wondering if the following list would be a good choice for an unknown meta:
I'm wondering if I should just cut Traverse altogether. Saheeli technically makes it some percentage more reliable, but she also fills the same slot in a roundabout way - i.e., increasing threat count via her -2. Thoughts? I could also use some sideboard tips please! Would a Snapcaster be a viable sideboard option against midrange/control?
The list is fine... It's how to pilot it though... You should read through the last 2 or three pages for sure.
I still like the idea of packing traverse with thought scours for some reason... Probably because it can get us a creature as a late top deck and helps with getting land drops with adding a mill element.
The sideboard is pretty straight forward match up to match up. The trickiest one might be feed the clan... If you think for any reason the extra life can get you there bring them in.
Snapcaster isn't going to beat a control or midrange deck. I personally would favour ChandraTOD. We still don't have an optimal answer to those decks so it's still up in the air.
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Modern: MONKEY GROW & Amulet Titan Legacy: RG Lands EDH: Merieke Ri Berit Esper Good stuff
I still like the idea of packing traverse with thought scours for some reason... Probably because it can get us a creature as a late top deck and helps with getting land drops with adding a mill element.
The sideboard is pretty straight forward match up to match up. The trickiest one might be feed the clan... If you think for any reason the extra life can get you there bring them in.
Snapcaster isn't going to beat a control or midrange deck. I personally would favour ChandraTOD. We still don't have an optimal answer to those decks so it's still up in the air.
I actually threw a Snapcaster in my sideboard for Midrange/Control! Ok, that isn't entirely fair. The second Snapcaster is in my 75 as a card to improve my Midrange/Control matchup somewhat while also being awesome against other decks. When I want more removal or counters and don't have to be as low to the ground, Snapcaster comes in to join the 1 off in the mainboard. Such matchups include Humans, Affinity, KCI, and Storm (for Storm, only on the play). That's in addition to the Midrange/Control decks.
Obnixilis is right about Snapcaster and Midrange though. It doesn't just bury them like an unanswered planeswlaker could. But it helps. If I can make Midrange a bit easier to face while also improving other matchups, I'm down.
On Traverse in the Looting build, I'm torn. I love Traverse, but I'm not sure it's really necessary. Looting is actually kind of insane in the late game. You just get to fix your topdecks so well. Cutting Traverse definitely hurts threat density, but I think it's mitigated enough thanks to Looting that I'd try it. The question is: What gets the slot? It probably should be something that can impact the board to improve matchups in which Traverse is more lackluster (Aggro and Combo). On the other hand, I've been considering a 19th land, so, if I want it, maybe I'd try that over Traverse to keep Scour in the deck.
Hello! I've been off RUG Delver for a little while now but the new FL build has me excited again. I'm going to be heading to FNM this week in my hometown but it's been so long since I've played there that I'm essentially going into the meta blind. I was wondering if the following list would be a good choice for an unknown meta:
I'm wondering if I should just cut Traverse altogether. Saheeli technically makes it some percentage more reliable, but she also fills the same slot in a roundabout way - i.e., increasing threat count via her -2. Thoughts? I could also use some sideboard tips please! Would a Snapcaster be a viable sideboard option against midrange/control?
I don't like traverse in this build. No artifacts and/or tribals hurts delirium so much. I'd just play the 3rd leak.
In side you may cut a grudge or revelry for a Chandra ToD. I'm playing Huntmaster, but UWx Control just shrug and cast mass removal when they see it, so I may change the side. The most difficult part for me is to leave out blood moon. But it may be worth.
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Decks played: Modern:
0 Affinity;
URG Delver
URGW Countercats
(Here you can find some video contents about Countercats and Temur Delver decks)
I'm fairly certain it's a card that's been on our radar but not greatly tested yet unless somebody has been grinding with it the past couple of weeks and hasn't reported the data yet.
I would be curious what 3 titi main board feels like.
If you don't have humans at your store I'd be inclined to value your firespouts for any other tribal decks you might have and keep the configuration you have. It's seeing results without titi already.
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Modern: MONKEY GROW & Amulet Titan Legacy: RG Lands EDH: Merieke Ri Berit Esper Good stuff
Personally, I think Pyromancer is the least impactful part of the Looting build that Chaughey is having success with (Chaughey, feel free to tell me how wrong I am!). Looting itself has been amazing for me thus far. It allows you to find the cards you need when you need them, and, late in the game, draws up to four cards. Once you know you just need more threats (or Bolts if they are low on life), you can just aggressively bin cards that aren't bad, but don't do the job. I had a match against Mardu Pyromancer the other day in which I out-Looted them (I found three copies, I think they found one) and just kept finding action.
Another big thing might just be how Chaughey plays the early turns. In Chaughey's report, I'm pretty sure they mentioned mulliganing hands that could function but were too slow (one land with Serum Visions). It might just be because this build uses more mana, but I feel like hands (at least, seven card hands) that need to cantrip to find a second land drops are traps. They just spend too much time looking for cards when they should be interacting or playing threats. Personally, I've kept tons of hands like that, and just been too slow to take the game. Modern might just be too fast for those kinds of hands.
On to the question of Peezy and Thing: I've recently started trying out Thing between Leagues, and I think it does a good job of being a threat/temporary boardwipe. The two cards definitely have advantages against different decks. Thing is much slower, but hits like a truck when it gets going. It is also more binary: it transforms or it doesn't. I haven't gotten to try it against Humans yet, but I agree that I like the idea of bouncing all the puny humans and slamming for seven damage. The big disadvantage of Thing in that matchup specifically that I can think of is that Humans can slow down our non-creature spells, and then Reflector Mage the Thing when it gets close to thawing.
I've been going out of my way to practice against Humans with the Looting build (Peezy version), and game one still sucks. I think postboard might actually be passable know that there is so much removal. My current list and boardplan for Humans for reference:
My new plan is to try ignoring Vials and just run them out of threats. Previously, I was boarding in a Grudge, but I think if we just kill enough humans, our threats run them over. I'm working on finding out how viable that is. Counting Snapcasters and Huntmaster, I have 17 ways to remove creatures. I could see cutting some cantrips (and probably a Mandrills due to churning through the deck less) for more if I had more options in the board.
Humans is one of the matchups in which I expect the 19th land to help. Having to Traverse to find a land while they build their board (especially if Thalia shows up) is awful. I started off with Spirebluff because it saves some life sometimes. I could see another fetch being better for the extra card in the graveyard, but I thought I'd start here. Not providing G isn't a big deal because I don't use much G. I really just wanted another land, and I've been using R and U much more.
Hello! I've been off RUG Delver for a little while now but the new FL build has me excited again. I'm going to be heading to FNM this week in my hometown but it's been so long since I've played there that I'm essentially going into the meta blind. I was wondering if the following list would be a good choice for an unknown meta:
I'm wondering if I should just cut Traverse altogether. Saheeli technically makes it some percentage more reliable, but she also fills the same slot in a roundabout way - i.e., increasing threat count via her -2. Thoughts? I could also use some sideboard tips please! Would a Snapcaster be a viable sideboard option against midrange/control?
I don't like traverse in this build. No artifacts and/or tribals hurts delirium so much. I'd just play the 3rd leak.
In side you may cut a grudge or revelry for a Chandra ToD. I'm playing Huntmaster, but UWx Control just shrug and cast mass removal when they see it, so I may change the side. The most difficult part for me is to leave out blood moon. But it may be worth.
Thanks for the feedback and advice everyone! I'm also not sold on Traverse but I do find FL either sets it up or bins it as needed. I think the only thing I would replace Traverse with would be Stubborn Denial because of the 4x Mandrills. Also, I got a little insight into the meta and I'm likely facing mostly aggro/burn with the possibility of ponza and lantern so I'm liking the thought of Traverse in those two matchups. I'll let everyone know how it goes after the weekend.
Last night at FNM I went 3:1 with the exact list posted earlier.
Matchups:
Tron 2-0
8Rack 2-0
Scapeshift 0-2
RB Aggro 2-1
I was pretty happy with my results considering it's been over 6 months since I've played in a tournament. I'm kicking myself for two things: the first is that I misplayed against Scapeshift (I played a goyf right into a wrath ) and the second is for not packing Disdainful Stroke in the sideboard, I think it's really strong for us and it answers a ton of stuff in the matchups where we need more counters (especially where our noncreature counters don't help).
I was super happy with Faithless Looting and more underwhelmed than ever with Thought Scour (it feels awful to cast, imo we need to cut it somehow). Traverse actually felt very good and surprisingly easy to set up, I don't think we need any more support for it than simply running Looting and 4 card types. That said, I feel like having 7+ counters in the main might be good for us, the whole night I felt like I could've used more interaction.
Spicy inclusion Saheeli Rai sealed the deal twice for me, once against 8Rack and once against RB Aggro. Both times I had a 5/6 goyf that she helped turn into 10 damage. Very spicy stuff. She was borderline 'win-more' in those scenarios but I appreciated putting away the game quickly.
Agreed on Thought Scour. I hate it. I went from 3, to 2, to 1, and just tonight figured I'd cut it and play another interactive spell. It's good at rushing out a turn 2 Mandrills, but so awful in every other situation that I felt great cutting it.
Here's what I'm bringing to my next Monday Modern:
I just moved across country and played for the first time in a month. New shop, obviously. The meta as I observed it: 2x Burn, UW Control, UWR Control, Mardu Pyromancer (with Monastery Mentor!), KCI, Abzan Traverse, Abzan Company, UR Prowess, and UB Mill. It's a bigger town than my last one, though, so that's just a starting point, and it sounds like there are lots of Modern players coming and going.
I can't say I'm pleased to see you and must warn you I may have to do something about it.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: URDelver
Modern: UGRDelver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Attended a big tournament of 210 people yesterday. I never do well at these.
G1 vs Death and taxes Lose
G2 vs Mardu pyromancer Lose
G3 vs Burn Win
G4 vs Eldrazi tron Lose
Drop.
Sad in my heart.
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Modern: MONKEY GROW & Amulet Titan Legacy: RG Lands EDH: Merieke Ri Berit Esper Good stuff
I've played a lot with Pyromancer and TiTI, and it's definitely a meta call. Pyro is stronger against Liliana and Jace whereas Thing is much better against most creature matchups. I like either in conjunction with Spell Pierce and Disrupting Shoal, though Thing gets a bonus with the latter for being a blue two drop.
I personally think Thing's evacuation effect does some serious heavy lifting for this deck, and does a much better job of getting past blockers and dealing with flyers than Pyro can. You can run both since bouncing your tokens doesn't matter too much when you have a 7/8 on an empty board.
That said, I'm not sure I'd want to run it with Mandrills. It could be ok, since generally flipping it with a counter up creates a winning game state, but getting stuck with an uncastable Hoots after Thing is removed would be pretty rough. This is part of the reason I was keen to revisit Gnarlwood Dryad and hence Delirium.
I'm still not sure how important Traverse really is to my build. It certainly helps smooth land drops, increase threat density, and allows bullets like Reveler and Ghost Quarter, but it does feel slow, takes blue slots from the Shoal count, and the Reveler package may just be redundant while running Chart a Course.
Round 1, 1-1-1 draw against Belcher. I've never played against this deck and weirdly he never comboed off, but he hardcast Chancellor of the Tangle in games 2 and 3, after I had boarded out my Vapor Snags. Ouch. I brought in 2 Ancient Grudge and a Snapcaster Mage for increased interaction, taking out 2 Vapor Snag and the Dismember. We went to turns and I kept digging for chumps for his Chancellor. Not a deck I was prepared for at all.
Round 2, 2-1 against Storm. Game 1 was this deck in classic mode: land an early Goyf, hold up counters, beat him down over a few turns. Game 2, I ran out of counters after a battle over my Hooting Mandrills, and then he went off. Game 3, Damping Sphere crushed him as he kept a one lander.
Round 3, 2-0 against KCI. Game 1 he seemed to be choked on cards, so after landing Delver, I was aggressive in Leaking and Piercing his cantrips. He was confused at my play, but I was filling the yard for Mandrills and he didn't find relevant stuff. Countered the only KCI I saw and beat him down the next turn. Game 2, I boarded in 2 Damping Sphere and the Snapcaster Mage. Sphere came down turn 2 after a Delver, and seemed to keep him just a turn behind where he wanted to be. It took a while, but eventually I Snap-Tarfired him for the win.
Round 4, 2-1 against UR Delver. I knew he was on maindeck Blood Moon, fetched accordingly, and was able to zap his Pyromancer and Delver, ran over his Snapcasters, and Bolted for lethal. I boarded out 2 Vapor Snag, Forked Bolt, Snapcaster, and 2 Delver for 3 Firespout, 2 Dispel, and Grafdigger's Cage. Game 2, I had a turn 2 Cage after seeing a Snapcaster on top of his deck with Bauble, and he just about cried. He drew 3 Ambush Viper that game. Eventually I had to Dismember a Bedlam Reveler and I got burned out. Game 3, I slow rolled my creatures and focused on being sure when I cast a threat, it would stick. Getting Mandrills Vapor Snagged sucked, but I played it slowly and Firespouted his board, then turned the corner with a few green guys. Ended up waiting for him to counter my lethal Tarfire, then responded with Bolt with Dispel backup.
So that was fun. First FNM I've won since reentering Modern last December. Damping Sphere was good and it coming down on turn 2 was great. Cage felt great, and I had seen a few Collected Company decks the week before and figured I wanted a bullet for that. I liked having the second Snapcaster in the board for when I wanted extra interaction. I'm pretty firm on the Traverse build and 17 lands. It's solid early game, especially in grindy matchups, and I tutored a Snapcaster once and a Mandrills once tonight, and both were huge. Delirium is pretty easy with the Baubles and Tarfires.
I will say that Grudge felt so useless against KCI that I didn't even bother to bring it in. I need to pick up an Engineered Explosives for the board, and one of the Grudges may be going. It's great against Affinity and Lantern, but I feel good against Affinity anyway and I haven't seen Lantern in a year.
I can't say I'm pleased to see you and must warn you I may have to do something about it.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: URDelver
Modern: UGRDelver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
What do you think about a clone effect in the 3 cmc slot (now filled by Saheeli in my list)? Phyrexian Metamorph, Protean Raider or Phantasmal Image are the candidates.
It may help both if we are the beatdown copying one of our threats and if we are playing defensively copying the best of our opponent's creature (for that reason I ignored Mirror Image).
My issue is that 19 lands plus 15 creatures means just 26 cards to flip Delvers, though. That's part of why I like the Traverse / Bauble plan so much, because it's a land on turn 1 if you need it, also fueling the yard, and if you don't, you just hang onto it until you can tutor a creature, which doesn't take long with 2 Tarfires and 2 Baubles.
I think in general a copy effect is cool, and if I was running one, it'd probably be Saheeli. I might still run one out of the board for grindier matchups, as I'm pretty threat-light in my list. Pyromancer just doesn't do it for me. I've run Huntmaster in the past, but it competes with my boardwipes for the matchups that I want both sweepers and an engine. Also 4 mana is no joke in my build. Saheeli seems like the best option.
EDIT: Anyone have any interest in Bomat Courier? I'm watching Mengucci play Grixis Delver in Legacy and it looks awesome there. Probably not good enough without better cantrips.
I can't say I'm pleased to see you and must warn you I may have to do something about it.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: URDelver
Modern: UGRDelver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Modern is a lot more creatures-centric than legacy. It would be blocked much more easily. It's difficult to let it work even in affinity.
This is only theory though. We should test it to be sure.
By the way I tested metamorph and didn't like it much. 3 is a lot. It can be useful in some MU, but it's useless in other. I'm going back to 4 mandrill replacing sleight of hand with a thought scour.
Loved the 2 tarfire instead.
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Decks played: Modern:
0 Affinity;
URG Delver
URGW Countercats
(Here you can find some video contents about Countercats and Temur Delver decks)
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I know we can turbo Xerox with the cantrips to hit land drops, but that's not always where we want to be. Realistically, I don't think I ever actually want to cantrip to hit early lands. I can't think of a matchup in which I don't want to stick a clock or interact early. I've definitely done some cantriping to find my second and third land, but if playing a 19th land means we can spend those early turns playing to the board and then use our cantrips to just smooth out our draws (and I'm grouping using cantrips to grow Goyf out of Bolt range or get a Mandrills down in the play to the board category), I think that might be worth it. I don't think I'm going to try 19 yet, but it's something I'm considering testing out.
Interested in RUG (Temur) Delver in Modern? Find gameplay with live commentary at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8UcKe8jVh1e2N4CHbd3fhg
Ok. If you put it this way it make a lot more sense. I may have misunderstood your last post
I agree it's not nice to be mana screwed, but I hate flooding late game too! In any case as for now I'm liking the mana base.
Modern:
G1 Vs Owling Mine WIN 2-1
M1 I'm on the draw and couldn't line up a threat with counters available for what he was doing fast enough.
M2 T1 Delver plus counter magic all the way.
M3 Was a good one. I had boarded out all of my snags knowing he didn't own TITI. Turns out he picked some up! He plays it turn three and My heart sinks! But I want to see how this goes down so I alter my play style a bit and hold threats in my hand after getting a hoots on board. we trade 1 for 1 his bounce spells vs my counters. He flips TITI, In response I FTC for 10 so I can take a hit or two. Which I do before eventually playing 2 delvers and a pyromancer in the same turn... The delvers flip, I get in for damage and Revelry his Howling mine for the last two points of damage. I suspect he was drawing the wrong side of his deck though for some reason.
G2 Vs Std Ramnap Red LOSE 2-0
M1 I'm mana screwed on 2 lands drawing the wrong side of my deck to handle aggro.
M2 I flood hard super early.... Aint that the way it goes sometimes... *Shakes head* embarrasing....
G3 Vs Mono G Tron WIN 2-0
M1 I have a T2 Hoots plus mana leak to get some beats in... He makes turn 4 tron and taps out for walking balista. I leak it. Keeping 1 blue up for the snag in my hand. His next turn he plays Ulamog choosing to exile my blue lands instead of my creature. I float a blue, Ulamog resolves, Snag it back to his hand at end of turn, untap and attack for lethal... Got lucky there...
M2 T1 delver T2 flips T3 Sphere.. Game
G4 Vs Bogles Win WIN 2-1
M1 T1 Delver T2 Thermo-alchemist He didn't see a bogle this game. I'm the beat down with delver, ping, bolt, ping, visions, ping, snag your dancer you lose 1, ping, forked bolt you, ping, Game.
M2 He Builds up a lifelinker (new tech) Out of bolt range and sandbags 3 bogles in his hand until I run out of counter magic targeting his most important enchantments, He pulls a griffs boon out of the graveyard and flies over ftw.
M3 I open with 3 fetch, Hoots, Peirce, Leak, and Scatter... Pretty much the nuts vs bogles.. Easy game
Sad to lose to a Std deck.. But being lucky and unlucky is just part of the game sometimes. Proven by my snag in the tron game. I last minute swapped my wanting to try 2x tireless tracker for 2x Essence Scatter and I was always happy to see them. I don't own a sahili so I ran Alchemist I only saw it that one game but the pings won me the game. I don't have any control or midrange at my store really so I was ok with that inclusion. I honestly don't know what I would prefer between TITI or essence scatter right now. I just don't have the ability to test the data properly at my tiny lgs.
Modern: MONKEY GROW & Amulet Titan
Legacy: RG Lands
EDH: Merieke Ri Berit Esper Good stuff
4x Delver of Secrets
4x Hooting Mandrills
4x Tarmogoyf
2x Young Pyromancer
Instant (16)
4x Lightning Bolt
2x Mana Leak
4x Spell Pierce
2x Thought Scour
4x Vapor Snag
Sorcery (11)
4x Faithless Looting
2x Forked Bolt
4x Serum Visions
1x Traverse the Ulvenwald
1x Saheeli Rai
Land (18)
1x Breeding Pool
1x Forest
2x Island
4x Misty Rainforest
1x Mountain
4x Scalding Tarn
2x Steam Vents
1x Stomping Ground
2x Wooded Foothills
3x Ancient Grudge
1x Basilisk Collar
3x Damping Sphere
2x Destructive Revelry
2x Feed the Clan
2x Firespout
2x Stubborn Denial
I still like the idea of packing traverse with thought scours for some reason... Probably because it can get us a creature as a late top deck and helps with getting land drops with adding a mill element.
The sideboard is pretty straight forward match up to match up. The trickiest one might be feed the clan... If you think for any reason the extra life can get you there bring them in.
Snapcaster isn't going to beat a control or midrange deck. I personally would favour ChandraTOD. We still don't have an optimal answer to those decks so it's still up in the air.
Modern: MONKEY GROW & Amulet Titan
Legacy: RG Lands
EDH: Merieke Ri Berit Esper Good stuff
I actually threw a Snapcaster in my sideboard for Midrange/Control! Ok, that isn't entirely fair. The second Snapcaster is in my 75 as a card to improve my Midrange/Control matchup somewhat while also being awesome against other decks. When I want more removal or counters and don't have to be as low to the ground, Snapcaster comes in to join the 1 off in the mainboard. Such matchups include Humans, Affinity, KCI, and Storm (for Storm, only on the play). That's in addition to the Midrange/Control decks.
Obnixilis is right about Snapcaster and Midrange though. It doesn't just bury them like an unanswered planeswlaker could. But it helps. If I can make Midrange a bit easier to face while also improving other matchups, I'm down.
On Traverse in the Looting build, I'm torn. I love Traverse, but I'm not sure it's really necessary. Looting is actually kind of insane in the late game. You just get to fix your topdecks so well. Cutting Traverse definitely hurts threat density, but I think it's mitigated enough thanks to Looting that I'd try it. The question is: What gets the slot? It probably should be something that can impact the board to improve matchups in which Traverse is more lackluster (Aggro and Combo). On the other hand, I've been considering a 19th land, so, if I want it, maybe I'd try that over Traverse to keep Scour in the deck.
Interested in RUG (Temur) Delver in Modern? Find gameplay with live commentary at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8UcKe8jVh1e2N4CHbd3fhg
I don't like traverse in this build. No artifacts and/or tribals hurts delirium so much. I'd just play the 3rd leak.
In side you may cut a grudge or revelry for a Chandra ToD. I'm playing Huntmaster, but UWx Control just shrug and cast mass removal when they see it, so I may change the side. The most difficult part for me is to leave out blood moon. But it may be worth.
Modern:
I would be curious what 3 titi main board feels like.
If you don't have humans at your store I'd be inclined to value your firespouts for any other tribal decks you might have and keep the configuration you have. It's seeing results without titi already.
Modern: MONKEY GROW & Amulet Titan
Legacy: RG Lands
EDH: Merieke Ri Berit Esper Good stuff
Another big thing might just be how Chaughey plays the early turns. In Chaughey's report, I'm pretty sure they mentioned mulliganing hands that could function but were too slow (one land with Serum Visions). It might just be because this build uses more mana, but I feel like hands (at least, seven card hands) that need to cantrip to find a second land drops are traps. They just spend too much time looking for cards when they should be interacting or playing threats. Personally, I've kept tons of hands like that, and just been too slow to take the game. Modern might just be too fast for those kinds of hands.
On to the question of Peezy and Thing: I've recently started trying out Thing between Leagues, and I think it does a good job of being a threat/temporary boardwipe. The two cards definitely have advantages against different decks. Thing is much slower, but hits like a truck when it gets going. It is also more binary: it transforms or it doesn't. I haven't gotten to try it against Humans yet, but I agree that I like the idea of bouncing all the puny humans and slamming for seven damage. The big disadvantage of Thing in that matchup specifically that I can think of is that Humans can slow down our non-creature spells, and then Reflector Mage the Thing when it gets close to thawing.
I've been going out of my way to practice against Humans with the Looting build (Peezy version), and game one still sucks. I think postboard might actually be passable know that there is so much removal. My current list and boardplan for Humans for reference:
4x Tarmogoyf
3x Hooting Mandrills
3x Young Pyromancer
1x Snapcaster Mage
2x Spell Pierce
2x Stubborn Denial
2x Mana Leak
4x Lightning Bolt
1x Tarfire
2x Forked Bolt
3x Vapor Snag
1x Dismember
4x Serum Visions
1x Thought Scour
4x Misty Rainforest
4x Scalding Tarn
2x Wooded Foothills
2x Steam Vents
1x Breeding Pool
1x Stomping Ground
1x Spirebluff Canal
2x Island
1x Forest
1x Mountain
1x Alpine Moon
2x Ancient Grudge
1x Anger of the Gods
1x Basilisk Collar
1x Ceremonious Rejection
2x Damping Sphere
1x Deprive
1x Destructive Revelry
1x Engineered Explosives
1x Feed the Clan
1x Huntmaster of the Fells
In: Anger, Pyroclasm, Huntmaster, Collar, EE, Snapcaster
Out: The 6 maindeck counters
My new plan is to try ignoring Vials and just run them out of threats. Previously, I was boarding in a Grudge, but I think if we just kill enough humans, our threats run them over. I'm working on finding out how viable that is. Counting Snapcasters and Huntmaster, I have 17 ways to remove creatures. I could see cutting some cantrips (and probably a Mandrills due to churning through the deck less) for more if I had more options in the board.
Humans is one of the matchups in which I expect the 19th land to help. Having to Traverse to find a land while they build their board (especially if Thalia shows up) is awful. I started off with Spirebluff because it saves some life sometimes. I could see another fetch being better for the extra card in the graveyard, but I thought I'd start here. Not providing G isn't a big deal because I don't use much G. I really just wanted another land, and I've been using R and U much more.
Interested in RUG (Temur) Delver in Modern? Find gameplay with live commentary at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8UcKe8jVh1e2N4CHbd3fhg
Vial + cavern plus every creature doing something is just so much value vs us.
Modern: MONKEY GROW & Amulet Titan
Legacy: RG Lands
EDH: Merieke Ri Berit Esper Good stuff
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1208533#paper
Modern: MONKEY GROW & Amulet Titan
Legacy: RG Lands
EDH: Merieke Ri Berit Esper Good stuff
Matchups:
- Tron 2-0
- 8Rack 2-0
- Scapeshift 0-2
- RB Aggro 2-1
I was pretty happy with my results considering it's been over 6 months since I've played in a tournament. I'm kicking myself for two things: the first is that I misplayed against Scapeshift (I played a goyf right into a wrathI was super happy with Faithless Looting and more underwhelmed than ever with Thought Scour (it feels awful to cast, imo we need to cut it somehow). Traverse actually felt very good and surprisingly easy to set up, I don't think we need any more support for it than simply running Looting and 4 card types. That said, I feel like having 7+ counters in the main might be good for us, the whole night I felt like I could've used more interaction.
Spicy inclusion Saheeli Rai sealed the deal twice for me, once against 8Rack and once against RB Aggro. Both times I had a 5/6 goyf that she helped turn into 10 damage. Very spicy stuff. She was borderline 'win-more' in those scenarios but I appreciated putting away the game quickly.
Here's what I'm bringing to my next Monday Modern:
1x Breeding Pool
1x Forest
2x Island
4x Misty Rainforest
1x Mountain
3x Scalding Tarn
2x Steam Vents
1x Stomping Ground
2x Wooded Foothills
Creature (13)
4x Delver of Secrets
4x Hooting Mandrills
1x Snapcaster Mage
4x Tarmogoyf
1x Dismember
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Mana Leak
3x Spell Pierce
2x Stubborn Denial
2x Tarfire
2x Vapor Snag
Sorcery (11)
4x Faithless Looting
1x Forked Bolt
4x Serum Visions
2x Traverse the Ulvenwald
Artifact (2)
2x Mishra's Bauble
2x Ancient Grudge
1x Basilisk Collar
2x Blood Moon
2x Damping Sphere
1x Destructive Revelry
2x Dispel
3x Firespout
1x Grafdigger's Cage
1x Snapcaster Mage
I just moved across country and played for the first time in a month. New shop, obviously. The meta as I observed it: 2x Burn, UW Control, UWR Control, Mardu Pyromancer (with Monastery Mentor!), KCI, Abzan Traverse, Abzan Company, UR Prowess, and UB Mill. It's a bigger town than my last one, though, so that's just a starting point, and it sounds like there are lots of Modern players coming and going.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
G1 vs Death and taxes Lose
G2 vs Mardu pyromancer Lose
G3 vs Burn Win
G4 vs Eldrazi tron Lose
Drop.
Sad in my heart.
Modern: MONKEY GROW & Amulet Titan
Legacy: RG Lands
EDH: Merieke Ri Berit Esper Good stuff
I personally think Thing's evacuation effect does some serious heavy lifting for this deck, and does a much better job of getting past blockers and dealing with flyers than Pyro can. You can run both since bouncing your tokens doesn't matter too much when you have a 7/8 on an empty board.
That said, I'm not sure I'd want to run it with Mandrills. It could be ok, since generally flipping it with a counter up creates a winning game state, but getting stuck with an uncastable Hoots after Thing is removed would be pretty rough. This is part of the reason I was keen to revisit Gnarlwood Dryad and hence Delirium.
I'm still not sure how important Traverse really is to my build. It certainly helps smooth land drops, increase threat density, and allows bullets like Reveler and Ghost Quarter, but it does feel slow, takes blue slots from the Shoal count, and the Reveler package may just be redundant while running Chart a Course.
a few posts abovehere:1x Breeding Pool
1x Forest
2x Island
4x Misty Rainforest
1x Mountain
3x Scalding Tarn
2x Steam Vents
1x Stomping Ground
2x Wooded Foothills
Creature (13)
4x Delver of Secrets
4x Hooting Mandrills
1x Snapcaster Mage
4x Tarmogoyf
1x Dismember
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Mana Leak
3x Spell Pierce
2x Stubborn Denial
2x Tarfire
2x Vapor Snag
Sorcery (11)
4x Faithless Looting
1x Forked Bolt
4x Serum Visions
2x Traverse the Ulvenwald
Artifact (2)
2x Mishra's Bauble
2x Ancient Grudge
1x Basilisk Collar
2x Blood Moon
2x Damping Sphere
1x Destructive Revelry
2x Dispel
3x Firespout
1x Grafdigger's Cage
1x Snapcaster Mage
Round 1, 1-1-1 draw against Belcher. I've never played against this deck and weirdly he never comboed off, but he hardcast Chancellor of the Tangle in games 2 and 3, after I had boarded out my Vapor Snags. Ouch. I brought in 2 Ancient Grudge and a Snapcaster Mage for increased interaction, taking out 2 Vapor Snag and the Dismember. We went to turns and I kept digging for chumps for his Chancellor. Not a deck I was prepared for at all.
Round 2, 2-1 against Storm. Game 1 was this deck in classic mode: land an early Goyf, hold up counters, beat him down over a few turns. Game 2, I ran out of counters after a battle over my Hooting Mandrills, and then he went off. Game 3, Damping Sphere crushed him as he kept a one lander.
Round 3, 2-0 against KCI. Game 1 he seemed to be choked on cards, so after landing Delver, I was aggressive in Leaking and Piercing his cantrips. He was confused at my play, but I was filling the yard for Mandrills and he didn't find relevant stuff. Countered the only KCI I saw and beat him down the next turn. Game 2, I boarded in 2 Damping Sphere and the Snapcaster Mage. Sphere came down turn 2 after a Delver, and seemed to keep him just a turn behind where he wanted to be. It took a while, but eventually I Snap-Tarfired him for the win.
Round 4, 2-1 against UR Delver. I knew he was on maindeck Blood Moon, fetched accordingly, and was able to zap his Pyromancer and Delver, ran over his Snapcasters, and Bolted for lethal. I boarded out 2 Vapor Snag, Forked Bolt, Snapcaster, and 2 Delver for 3 Firespout, 2 Dispel, and Grafdigger's Cage. Game 2, I had a turn 2 Cage after seeing a Snapcaster on top of his deck with Bauble, and he just about cried. He drew 3 Ambush Viper that game. Eventually I had to Dismember a Bedlam Reveler and I got burned out. Game 3, I slow rolled my creatures and focused on being sure when I cast a threat, it would stick. Getting Mandrills Vapor Snagged sucked, but I played it slowly and Firespouted his board, then turned the corner with a few green guys. Ended up waiting for him to counter my lethal Tarfire, then responded with Bolt with Dispel backup.
So that was fun. First FNM I've won since reentering Modern last December. Damping Sphere was good and it coming down on turn 2 was great. Cage felt great, and I had seen a few Collected Company decks the week before and figured I wanted a bullet for that. I liked having the second Snapcaster in the board for when I wanted extra interaction. I'm pretty firm on the Traverse build and 17 lands. It's solid early game, especially in grindy matchups, and I tutored a Snapcaster once and a Mandrills once tonight, and both were huge. Delirium is pretty easy with the Baubles and Tarfires.
I will say that Grudge felt so useless against KCI that I didn't even bother to bring it in. I need to pick up an Engineered Explosives for the board, and one of the Grudges may be going. It's great against Affinity and Lantern, but I feel good against Affinity anyway and I haven't seen Lantern in a year.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Phyrexian Metamorph, Protean Raider or Phantasmal Image are the candidates.
It may help both if we are the beatdown copying one of our threats and if we are playing defensively copying the best of our opponent's creature (for that reason I ignored Mirror Image).
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Young Pyromancer
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
3 Hooting Mandrills
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Tarfire
2 Forked Bolt
3 Vapor Snag
3 Spell Pierce
1 Stubborn Denial
3 Mana Leak
4 Serum Visions
1 Sleight of Hand
1 Breeding Pool
1 Forest
2 Island
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
2 Wooded Foothills
1 Basilisk Collar
2 Damping Sphere
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Blood Moon
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Destructive Revelry
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 Stubborn Denial
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
2 Firespout
Modern:
I think in general a copy effect is cool, and if I was running one, it'd probably be Saheeli. I might still run one out of the board for grindier matchups, as I'm pretty threat-light in my list. Pyromancer just doesn't do it for me. I've run Huntmaster in the past, but it competes with my boardwipes for the matchups that I want both sweepers and an engine. Also 4 mana is no joke in my build. Saheeli seems like the best option.
EDIT: Anyone have any interest in Bomat Courier? I'm watching Mengucci play Grixis Delver in Legacy and it looks awesome there. Probably not good enough without better cantrips.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
This is only theory though. We should test it to be sure.
By the way I tested metamorph and didn't like it much. 3 is a lot. It can be useful in some MU, but it's useless in other. I'm going back to 4 mandrill replacing sleight of hand with a thought scour.
Loved the 2 tarfire instead.
Modern: