I've been watching a lot of Jeff Hoogland's streams lately, and he has been tuning a UR Delver build recently. Grim Lavamancer does ridiculous amounts of work, and I'm starting to wish we could play it, but I've always felt it would be too much strain on the graveyard. It's a one man army in a lot of our closer (or straight up bad) matchups though.
My first thought was we could run 1-2 out of the board. Anyone who played Reveler out of the board has experience with boarding out Mandrills to relieve graveyard strain. I could see trimming down to 1-2 Mandrills against decks like Humans (any Fish deck, really), Affinity, Infect, and just about any other creature-heavy deck.
While typing that though, it occurred to me that I'm already down to 3 Mandrills (and, really key here, 0 Traverse) in the main. Running a one-off Lavamancer in the main isn't exactly out of the question. I think I might want to add a second Scour (and I don't know where the space would come from) but I think it's possible.
I'll probably try out 1-2 in the board first, but if I could comfortably fit one into the main, that would be cool.
I think two Tarfire are great, but then I'm on the delirium plan. But I also find that it kills plenty of things, and kills them dead, unlike Vapor Snag. I almost want to find room in my board for second Dismember, because I hate being so soft to Goyf, the delve threats, and Death's Shadow, but Vapor Snag is probably just a better option.
I spent some money over the last few days, and I feel okay about it now that I'm in a place where I'll be playing Modern at least once a week. Got a set of Italian black-bordered Bolts to replace the white-bordered Revised ones I've always run; got 2 Arena Promo Beta foil Islands and 1 Arena Promo Beta foil Forest; and finally splurged on an Engineered Explosives and a Surgical Extraction as sideboard options. This new meta I'm in seems really combo-heavy, and Surgical seems like it's going to put in some work. Explosives is just great and gives me outs to Bogles, Humans, Mardu, Jund, etc.
Sideboard space feels really tight. I'll probably never leave home without a pair of Ancient Grudges and at least two sweepers, so it's really just 11 cards to play with, and there are so many options.
Individual card notes:
1. I was really impressed by Damping Sphere this week, so much so that for the first time I'm considering cutting my pair of OG Blood Moons. Seems perfect for this deck: comes down early with no weird mana requirements and slows down decks just enough for us to apply our pressure.
2. I also really like Basilisk Collar as a hedge against creature decks and Burn, and am pretty much always happy to draw it. I know Chaughy runs Feed the Clan and likes it, but I feel pretty confident against Burn anyway and this has wider utility for me.
3. Having a second Snapcaster in the board feels really good, too, for matchups where you're forced to grind things out. I know Jordan loved his Huntmasters for that, but I think with the Looting build, I'm way less likely to hit 4 mana, and it also conflicts with sweepers in the matchups where I want both. Snapcaster is another grindy card with some versatility, and being able to buy back a Bolt or whatever is pretty much always good.
4. Grafdigger's Cage is a card that's come and gone, but I used to play in a place infested with Collected Company decks, so it's a remnant of that. I also don't mind boarding out my maindeck Snapcaster and playing that to shut down UW or UWR's creatures.
5. Surgical seems like it's going to be good against KCI, Storm, Ad Naus, Reanimator, etc. I don't know if that's enough to justify a slot, but it's a nice thing to have available.
6. I'm cutting Destructive Revelry for Engineered Explosives. We have better answers to the artifact decks, and there are so few enchantments that I care about that it just doesn't seem worthwhile. Yeah, Rest in Piece hurts a ton, but Explosives answers that in a pinch. I also almost never see it cast against me.
7. Firespout has been my favorite sweeper I've tried. I never liked double red on Anger, preferring Pyroclasm for the easier cost and earlier window. The problem is Humans. Firespout gives another point of damage and it's easier than Anger to cast. Plus the art is incredible.
8. Counters: I know others have run Ceremonious Rejection and Disdainful Stroke, but I feel like my other choices make these redundant. Blood Moon and Damping Sphere crush Tron. Sweepers and Grudges crush Affinity. Sphere slows down KCI. I haven't seen Lantern in a year. Both of them seem awfully narrow for Hollow One. So what am I worried about with these cards? Scapeshift? Blood Moon seems good there, too, and has additional utility against Jund, Celestial Colonnade decks, and greedy manabases in general. Plus our mainboard counters do work there. So I've been jamming a pair of Dispels, which replace some non-Bolt removal spells against Control, Storm, maybe even as a bullet against Abzan Company post-board, when they bring in Paths as extra targets. It seems like a lot of the things we care about a lot are instants, and this is as efficient as it gets for that.
EDIT: With regard to Grim Lavamancer, I played one in the side and thought about trying to fit one mainboard when I was playing against tons of Humans, Elves, and Collected Company decks. But it's really slow and it relies on the graveyard too much for me. I don't want more spot removal against those decks with the 9 that I run mainboard. I want sweepers. That said, it's currently in the 30 or so cards I've got in my possible inclusions.
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
It really depends on their draw I think. You almost always lose the "Arbiter into Ghost Quarters" games, especially when you are on the draw. They also have games in which they just find a bunch of Paths and you run out of stuff. Vial making counters worse can cause us to have extra dead cards as well. Outside of them having really good hands though, I think we are fine. You can still lose, but it's usually an ok matchup for me.
I've shelfed the Lavaman idea after tweaking my sideboard a bit. I dropped the second Grudge for an Abrade. I've heard great things about it, and want it for Humans and Burn (in addition to where artifact hate is good).
Stuff about the Burn matchup:
I've seen more Ensnaring Bridge out of Burn lately, and with Looting, I'm comfortable having one of each Grudge and Abrade postboard. I did some testing, and although I want to jam more games postboard on the draw, it felt great. Visions and Looting make it possible to find an answer to Bridge (if it resolved, which isn't unlikely) while also letting you dump them if you need to. So far, Feed the Clan has been nuts. If you find it and successfully play around Skullcrack, it's a pretty easy win. Collar wasn't as much of a swing (Snap-Feed is ridiculously), but I think it's still great.
What I found interesting is that I didn't miss Huntmaster at all when I didn't draw it. I think that Feed and Collar are enough lifegain that Huntmaster really isn't necessary. And Huntmaster can be very clunky depending on your draws. If you get Pathed, Huntmaster gets better, but I feel like the downside of your clunky hands outweighs the upside given that there are more efficient ways to come back from boardstates that Huntmaster really saves you from. Skullcrack is also way harder to play around with your sorcery-speed four drop, meaning if they have Crack, you are only making two bodies for your four mana, dealing with the board, but being vulnerable to their spells.
Notably, I'm not cutting Huntmaster from my board. It still comes in against a lot of decks. Namely Midrange/Control and creature-heavy decks. I could see cutting it for something that does a better job at being somewhat grindy while clogging up the board and/or kill creatures. I'm not boarding it in against Burn anymore though. I'd rather board in my second Snapcaster mage or keep my least worst maindeck card.
Due to having artifact hate in against Burn, I don't want Deprive in against them anymore. Unless I just swap it for Leak, I'm probably overboarding, and the UU is a very real cost against Burn.
I looked at matchups in which I board in Deprive. Basically, Control, some big mana, and some combo decks. I tweaked my postboard configuration, and am happy without Deprive against Storm and KCI, and don't really need it against Tron. That basically leaves UW, Jeskai, and Titanshift.
So, I want to drop Deprive for a card that can come in against UW, Jeskai, and Titanshift. My first thought was Disdainful Stroke or Blood Moon. Blood Moon gets points for being good against Midrange, but I kind of want to go narrower since I don't need the card for Tron. I could even live with having a worse Valakut matchup, and just keep an extra burn spell in there.
Basically, I want a narrow and powerful sideboard card. I want it to have some application against Control, either being absolutely amazing, or being decent against Control while being amazing in some other matchup. I want a Rest in Peace/Stony Silence esque card that doesn't come in often, but turns a matchup on it's head when you draw it.
Should I just go with Blood Moon? It's powerful, but also versatile enough that I think there are more narrow and powerful options available.
So, I want to drop Deprive for a card that can come in against UW, Jeskai, and Titanshift. My first thought was Disdainful Stroke or Blood Moon. Blood Moon gets points for being good against Midrange, but I kind of want to go narrower since I don't need the card for Tron. I could even live with having a worse Valakut matchup, and just keep an extra burn spell in there.
Basically, I want a narrow and powerful sideboard card. I want it to have some application against Control, either being absolutely amazing, or being decent against Control while being amazing in some other matchup. I want a Rest in Peace/Stony Silence esque card that doesn't come in often, but turns a matchup on it's head when you draw it.
Should I just go with Blood Moon? It's powerful, but also versatile enough that I think there are more narrow and powerful options available.
the card itself really isn't worth the card board its printed on...does it serve a purpose? Sure its a blue 1 drop that might not be a 1/1. I would not put it in a list and expect to win a PTQ or GP though.
Hazoret has always looked interesting to me, and seems like it could crush midrange, too.
So mnesci, what's your sideboard plan against Jund-style midrange? I used to be on Jordan's plan of remove all counters and jam 2 Huntmasters, 2 Moon, Collar, and even a Magus of the Moon for a while. But now that my board is totally reconfigured, my plan is way smaller. Cut both Stubborn Denials, a Leak, and a Spell Pierce, bringing in Collar, Snapcaster, and both Moons. The games play out so much differently with this configuration. Against Path decks, I can see bringing in a 4 drop, but I don't even have any in my board now anyway.
Luckily, most of the midrange I've been seeing lately is Pyromancer, which we've got sweepers for, and Traverse Shadow, which seems easier than traditional 23-25 land Jund or old school Junk, which I haven't seen since the Bloodbraid unban.
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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
Hazoret has always looked interesting to me, and seems like it could crush midrange, too.
So mnesci, what's your sideboard plan against Jund-style midrange? I used to be on Jordan's plan of remove all counters and jam 2 Huntmasters, 2 Moon, Collar, and even a Magus of the Moon for a while. But now that my board is totally reconfigured, my plan is way smaller. Cut both Stubborn Denials, a Leak, and a Spell Pierce, bringing in Collar, Snapcaster, and both Moons. The games play out so much differently with this configuration. Against Path decks, I can see bringing in a 4 drop, but I don't even have any in my board now anyway.
Luckily, most of the midrange I've been seeing lately is Pyromancer, which we've got sweepers for, and Traverse Shadow, which seems easier than traditional 23-25 land Jund or old school Junk, which I haven't seen since the Bloodbraid unban.
Neither of those decks can ever remove Hazoret outside of a Lili -2. They each play fewer than 4 Lilis and that plan requires you to not have another creature on board or a Stubborn for it (Hazoret grants ferocious). Under pressure, the God can at least do an Oblivion Ring impersonation by walling a huge Shadow or something, all while shooting over damage each turn with its ability.
I don't think being forced to look for that fourth land a little is a compelling reason to omit Hazoret. That said, I wouldn't advise going above 1 Hazoret to start in your list. With Looting and without Bomat Courier, it will be significantly harder to make your land drops.
the card itself really isn't worth the card board its printed on...does it serve a purpose? Sure its a blue 1 drop that might not be a 1/1. I would not put it in a list and expect to win a PTQ or GP though.
Hazoret has always looked interesting to me, and seems like it could crush midrange, too.
So mnesci, what's your sideboard plan against Jund-style midrange? I used to be on Jordan's plan of remove all counters and jam 2 Huntmasters, 2 Moon, Collar, and even a Magus of the Moon for a while. But now that my board is totally reconfigured, my plan is way smaller. Cut both Stubborn Denials, a Leak, and a Spell Pierce, bringing in Collar, Snapcaster, and both Moons. The games play out so much differently with this configuration. Against Path decks, I can see bringing in a 4 drop, but I don't even have any in my board now anyway.
Luckily, most of the midrange I've been seeing lately is Pyromancer, which we've got sweepers for, and Traverse Shadow, which seems easier than traditional 23-25 land Jund or old school Junk, which I haven't seen since the Bloodbraid unban.
My current iteration is the leftmost tab "Looting 19 Lands."
On Jund specifically, I'm still partially on the "board counters out" plan, but with Looting, I don't mind keeping some. I really don't know what you board out with this build. I basically just trim the cards that get worse in the late game. It's tough because I like everything when we are ahead, but when we are behind I think I can live with having some counters/Snags because you can Loot them away if you don't have a board.
Alpine Moon comes in to name Raging Ravine. I don't know if that is just bad though. I haven't practiced much against Jund with this build.
@Ashton Thanks for the recommendation of Hazoret. I think I like it for the slot. UWx decks have some answers in Path, Terminus and Teferi, but those answer all our threats anyways, so I'd hope they are running out of relevant cards once Hazoret resolves. I tried it against Jeskai briefly, and it was a nice additional threat. I actually think that it is going to be a decent card against Control, while often crushing Midrange decks when it sticks, so it'll almost certainly serve my needs as a haymaker. Against Jund and Mardu, it seems nuts. Abzan has Path, but once again, we have a lot of things they want to Path.
Walling Shadow sounds fantastic as long as they don't resolve a Battlerage. I don't think finding the lands to cast Hazoret will be a huge deal unless it is in your opener. These Midrange decks want to prolong the game usually anyways (Mardu is especially bad at turning the corner, and, as mentioned, we interact with their clock so easily), so unless you are really aggressive in Looting away lands, you'll easily find four. I am on 19 lands right now though. And if you are Looting that much and discarding lands, your spells are probably really good. I've kept lands off of Looting and dumped lackluster spells if the land would make my plays better. You can also just hold onto a fourth land for as long as you like if you want to save it for a topdecked Hazoret/Looting, or to protect draws from Kommand. That gets a bit worse if they have an active Lili, but you aren't sandbagging cards for anything if Lili is picking apart your hand every turn.
@Ashton Thanks for the recommendation of Hazoret. I think I like it for the slot. UWx decks have some answers in Path, Terminus and Teferi, but those answer all our threats anyways, so I'd hope they are running out of relevant cards once Hazoret resolves. I tried it against Jeskai briefly, and it was a nice additional threat. I actually think that it is going to be a decent card against Control, while often crushing Midrange decks when it sticks, so it'll almost certainly serve my needs as a haymaker. Against Jund and Mardu, it seems nuts. Abzan has Path, but once again, we have a lot of things they want to Path.
Walling Shadow sounds fantastic as long as they don't resolve a Battlerage. I don't think finding the lands to cast Hazoret will be a huge deal unless it is in your opener. These Midrange decks want to prolong the game usually anyways (Mardu is especially bad at turning the corner, and, as mentioned, we interact with their clock so easily), so unless you are really aggressive in Looting away lands, you'll easily find four. I am on 19 lands right now though. And if you are Looting that much and discarding lands, your spells are probably really good. I've kept lands off of Looting and dumped lackluster spells if the land would make my plays better. You can also just hold onto a fourth land for as long as you like if you want to save it for a topdecked Hazoret/Looting, or to protect draws from Kommand. That gets a bit worse if they have an active Lili, but you aren't sandbagging cards for anything if Lili is picking apart your hand every turn.
I agree that it's not a big deal. Above I said the land issue is "not a compelling reason to omit Hazoret." I'm just suggesting starting with a single copy because you are bound to have more trouble hitting land drops than me given your build. In mine I am very comfortable with 2 Hazoret side.
I have actually found that Path matchups are great settings for Hazoret. Opponents must deal with Goyf/Mandrills and inadvertently ramp us into four mana. Hazoret also gobbles up the planeswalkers Path decks tend to rely on.
the card itself really isn't worth the card board its printed on...does it serve a purpose? Sure its a blue 1 drop that might not be a 1/1. I would not put it in a list and expect to win a PTQ or GP though.
I agree that it's not a big deal. Above I said the land issue is "not a compelling reason to omit Hazoret." I'm just suggesting starting with a single copy because you are bound to have more trouble hitting land drops than me given your build. In mine I am very comfortable with 2 Hazoret side.
I have actually found that Path matchups are great settings for Hazoret. Opponents must deal with Goyf/Mandrills and inadvertently ramp us into four mana. Hazoret also gobbles up the planeswalkers Path decks tend to rely on.
Mensci is on 19 lands. I'm on 17 and 2 Traverse. I haven't seen a very recent list of yours, but last I knew you were on 18 and 2 Sleight of Hand. Not sure if mnesci playing Looting negates the 19th land and cantrip differences. Certainly I'll have a tougher time casting 4 drops than either of you, but you're both right in that matchups where Hazoret would come in want to go long and many have Path to ramp us. If I can find one before round 1 tonight, I'll try it out.
Do you play the deck much anymore? I thought you were pretty much on Colorless these days.
EDIT Nevermind. Just saw your 19 land, Looting, Courier list buried in an article on Nexus. Looking forward to reading about it.
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
@Ashton I should have been clearer. The part about having enough lands to cast Hazoret wasn't specifically directed at you. I was just agreeing that it was fine and explaining why I doubt casting Hazoret is going to be an issue.
@MikePemulis I didn't realize you were on 17 lands. I remember casting Huntmaster postboard with 17, but that was before Looting, and there were definitely times at which it was hard. With your build having fewer creatures and more counters, you might be best off just keeping the "protect the queen" plan going postboard. Blood Moon might be the best three mana haymaker.
the card itself really isn't worth the card board its printed on...does it serve a purpose? Sure its a blue 1 drop that might not be a 1/1. I would not put it in a list and expect to win a PTQ or GP though.
I just tried Ashton's list and it runs very smoothly. I played with red prison and aggro scapeshift (landfall creatures plus prismatic omen plus valakut), two matches in wich courier made the difference. It's impressive how it can change a game with even just a couple of cards under it! I have to try it against more creature-centric match ups though (even if I think they're swapped with the 4cmc spells post side in those matches).
I think I can understand most of your choices (low counter count and full set of bauble for limiting the downside of bomat for example). Then I love the fact that bomat and baubles make goyfs huge!
I have just a few questions (that I think will surely be addressed in your next article ):
Mutagenic growth over other burn spells: is it for both the defensive and offensive option and the fact it is free? Is so well positioned in the current meta?
Spirebluff canal over another fetch: I understand that let us limit the life loss and that's important, but the interaction with bomat is pretty valuable imho. If you have 1 bomat and you fetch you know exactly which cards it exiled. But maybe I overvalue those informations. Moreover it's always a 3 color land and another way to find basics before landing moon and it help filling the gy.
No damping sphere: I found it almost better than moon in current meta (I'm playing 2 spheres and a moon), so I'm suprised to see none in your side.
All in all I find this deck more aggro/fast than Chaughey's one. It may help in some metagames.
Thanks for sharing!
Gnarlwood Dryad was impossible to support with both Shoal and Stubborn Denial, so it got the axe.
I tried running a Hooting Mandrills to turn on Denial, but found it unnecessary and at odds with the Graveyard plan; the second Reveller has been much better.
Speaking of Bedlam Reveler, I have found it to be stellar, it just needed the Faithless Looting tech to really come into its own.
Faithless Looting is the glue that holds this all together. The deck runs so many situationally powerful cards that it's really valuable to be able to dig for what you need and ditch the chaff. Here it also turns on delirium, triggers Thing twice, ramps Reveler and is generally just an all-star. Between Looting and Shoal, few cards go to waste.
My Tarmogoyfs are BIG.
Thing continues to impress. I love it in conjunction with Shoal - they support each other; Shoal protects Thing and allows for the occasional turn three flip, and Thing pitches to Shoal when it's unwanted.
I really want better sideboard cards for UW control, actually, just something that deals with or survives Supreme Verdict. That match got a lot better when I realised that Azcanta was the enemy, and boarded Fulminator Mage and Ghost Quarter to get with Traverse. However, Supreme Verdict is still a headache, and the match is always an uphill struggle.
I may want to find space for Ghost Quarter in the main, but I'm unsure what I would cut as the list is so delicately balanced. Can't really go lower on Delver flips, blue for Shoal, or delirium enablers, which pretty much only leaves non-blue creatures. Hmmm.
I'm just about to run out the door for Modern Monday, but took a quick picture of the deck. Spot the newly-arrived bling:
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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
So I plan on writing a longer post soon when I have more time, but I've had a lot of thoughts mulling about the deck and the discussion happening here I haven't been able to address and so I'm laying some thoughts down quickly:
1. @mnesci: it was two pages back, but everything you've said in regards to Looting, tempo, land configuration and Young Pyromancer has been spot on. I don't disagree with any of it and think it's an exemplary discussion of the topics. Just wanted to throw my two cents of confirmation to what you've already said.
2. @Ashton that Bomat list looks sweet, if a bit mindboggling. I'm very curious/looking forward/hopeful to hear more about its play and advantages.
3. @MikeP pretty basics. I always default to the Unhinged/Unglued but seeing yours reminds me there are other amazing basics sets I need to invest in. I remember getting packets of 5 special "Arena League" basics during Onslaught/Mirrorin block when I’d play FNM and JSS seemed like the pinnacle of my life’s purpose. I think I might switch it up now...
4. Speaking of speed differences, after all that fun with Saheeli during the advent of UW Miracles, I've been forced to go through a bit of an evolution with the deck (I love Saheeli. If you can't tell from my set up here, she's not long for this world). While I haven't been able to play as much the past couple weeks and took some time to make mistakes with the new lines I was experiencing (which led to many heartbreaking match losses and league punts of course), I think I finally have a the numbers right and put up a 5-0 with it.
Before that though, here's why I've been forced to change the list I was playing
I personally think the version playing Gargadon is even more impressive, but this is a good sample of the deck as there's no "stock list" yet I don't think like you'd find with RB Hollow One (which for what it's worth is one of RUG’s best match ups. Vengevine was a rude awakening). But regardless the finer details, Stitcher is absolutely ridiculous and turbo charged the formerly fringy strat. This deck has exploded online, and with it everything I knew about the speed benchmarks of Modern all of a sudden felt terribly slow. Because there's this deck that's pumping out 4 2/2 Bridge Tokens and double Vengevine on turn 2 and all of a sudden you're deader than the Gravecrawlers staring at you from the graveyard that would come into play next turn if you hadn't already lost. At the risk of exaggeration, it feels almost like how when before Eldrazi Winter started there was that WB Eldrazi Processor deck that was crushing everything before the really broken stuff was figured out. Now I'm not saying the deck is Eye of Ugin Colorless Eldrazi. But honestly, with its best draws it puts Hollow One to shame and doesn't feel that much different than 4 Eldrazi Mimics turn 1 with a Smasher follow up. Because you dead.
Alright, so what that means is that I had to get faster to keep up. And that meant Saheeli had to go. Because while she's a fantastic threat and adds another dimension to the deck, she's certainly not necessary and I had new problems to worry about besides trying to squeeze some points against Control's flavor of the month (or maybe UW is just the best version of Control period. Certainly against us it seems). And then besides speeding up, as has been mentioned on this thread the deck can feel like it wants more lands than 18, but crucially I wanted to avoid adding a 19th actual land. Oh, and as you all must know intimately by now, I despise Thought Scour. So that led me to:
At this point, I'm operating on a certain core between my removal (10), counters (7), and velocity (8). I believe these are the correct proportions and the best general answers/digging in the Modern metagame. You can change to the preferred analogues of course, for instance a Dismember over a Vapor Snag, Tarfire over a Forked Bolt, etc. But in my opinion and experience, these are the best cards for getting you across the finish line in the most matchups and I've seen no reason to change the numbers over many leagues.
What has changed, obviously, is adding the Noble Heirarchs in place of the Thought Scours, and then shuffling the creature-base around. But I’ll say this briefly about Noble: frickin' fantastic. I still make a lot of mistakes, the play patterns change pretty dramatically with Noble in play, and it introduces a new level of complexity and difficulty in decision making (an obvious example, Delver or Noble turn 1?). But Noble makes the deck faster and notably improves the cards: Faithless Looting, Serum Visions, Snapcaster, Tarmogoyf, and Young Pyromancer. These cards are mana intensive and Noble allows you to fully utilize their functionality while you progress your gameplan, which those cards can sometimes get in the way of and make the deck play like a clunk-fest (like find your lands/interact AND play creatures). And then angles like giving Goyf an extra point wins a lot of fights, or Delver actually beating half a Lingering Souls, etc.
Otherwise the 4x Delver/4x Goyf is locked, I like playing 3x Hooties if I'm not running Scour and Snapcaster earned some equity on Pyromancer with the extra Noble mana making flashbacks more reliable (also a function of 1 less Mandrill) so I split those numbers 2/1 in favor of the extra reach.
As for the sideboard, it's mostly the same, but with some room made for Surgical Extraction, which is probbaly our best GY hate for the Vengevine match up *though I wish I could just have room for 4Surgical/4Tormod's Crypt*. I still like all the rest of the cards and the focus, feel comfortable against midrange/control, and basically just cross my fingers a little more against Burn. FWIW, I didn't have much success with Basilisk Collar, as it was too mana-intensive and situational in my experiences. I was thrilled to have a card I brought in against many matchups, but 3 mana and hoping your opponent doesn't have a removal spell blowout (specifically in the burn matchup) was just too many heart-attacks to suffer while playing. Though maybe with Noble I’d think differently...and I loved it against Eldrazi with Pyromancer. I'll always have those memories.
I'll talk more about it when I can but for now I thought I'd share early developments. Also of note, while I mention RB Vengevine as the impetus for the deck change, the Nobles have been pretty fantastic against the spread. As it turns out, Modern is pretty
fast no matter the deck.
@MikePemulis I didn't realize you were on 17 lands. I remember casting Huntmaster postboard with 17, but that was before Looting, and there were definitely times at which it was hard. With your build having fewer creatures and more counters, you might be best off just keeping the "protect the queen" plan going postboard. Blood Moon might be the best three mana haymaker.
After a rough 1-3 night, I'm considering tinkering with some stuff. I'm not sure the Traverse build is the best, although I've loved tutoring creatures late game. If I get rid of Traverse, I'll definitely go to 18 lands, which makes a Hazoret or Huntmaster or two in the board more reasonable.
For what it's worth, I lost in close games against Ironworks and Burn, beat Mardu Pyromancer, and got crushed by Bant Eldrazi. The Eldrazi player was exceptionally good and I doubt that's a very good matchup anyway, and that deck sort of rose and fell while I was away from Modern, so this was my first match against it. The Ironworks player is the one I beat 2-0 last week, and I lost 1-2 this week. Had a Damping Sphere and a Goyf out, he had already cast his first spell that turn, and so he paid 2 for Engineered Explosives "on 1" but it came down with two counters. Cool interaction. I got blown out after that. Against Burn, Eidolon wrecked me in both games I lost. In the game I won, I was at 4 and he was at 5 on my end step. I had a Tarfire and Bolt in hand and the mana to cast them, and he had two open mana. He went for the Boros Charm on my end step, and I responded. That's the sort of thing I would've misplayed on eight months ago, so that felt good. Deck felt real good against Pyromancer, but the player was bad and was doing dumb stuff like shocking himself to Bolt me on turn 1. He's new to the deck and a Burn player at heart. Grafdigger's Cage was a house here. I love that card, and it seems like I always have my 1-of whenever I board it in.
3. @MikeP pretty basics. I always default to the Unhinged/Unglued but seeing yours reminds me there are other amazing basics sets I need to invest in. I remember getting packets of 5 special "Arena League" basics during Onslaught/Mirrorin block when I’d play FNM and JSS seemed like the pinnacle of my life’s purpose. I think I might switch it up now...
In my cube, I've got 35 of each basic, but they're singleton. So I play one of each Euro land, one of each Arena promo, a Beta cycle, one of each of the full-arts, etc. I love basics, and with these 2001 Arena foils with the Beta art, they only did Island and Forest and never completed the cycle. The Island is absolutely stunning, and the Forest is pretty good, too.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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
the card itself really isn't worth the card board its printed on...does it serve a purpose? Sure its a blue 1 drop that might not be a 1/1. I would not put it in a list and expect to win a PTQ or GP though.
Just ordered a few Couriers, two extra Baubles, and some Hazorets so I can try out probably 72 of your 75 next Monday.
A few questions:
1. With a curve this low, are 18 lands possible?
2. Seems really light on counters to me. If you were to include another maindeck counter, say in a combo-heavy meta, what might you cut?
3. Do you ever board in all four 4-drops?
4. The real question: are you taking this anywhere competitive, or is that still Colorless Eldrazi for you?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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
Just ordered a few Couriers, two extra Baubles, and some Hazorets so I can try out probably 72 of your 75 next Monday.
A few questions:
1. With a curve this low, are 18 lands possible?
2. Seems really light on counters to me. If you were to include another maindeck counter, say in a combo-heavy meta, what might you cut?
3. Do you ever board in all four 4-drops?
4. The real question: are you taking this anywhere competitive, or is that still Colorless Eldrazi for you?
1. I actually started with 18 lands, but found 19 was best for emptying hand with Courier, ensuring I hit early land drops, and enabling sideboard plans. Looting prevents flood.
2. FB for a 4th Denial I guess, but I don't miss mainboard Leaks at all. 6 permission post-side is plenty. Bomat also happens to be insane against linear combo since they skimp on removal and don't block.
3. Yes, often; against midrange and control.
4. I've played in I think a single Comp REL tournament since the Classic. I still go to weeklies at Pandemonium twice a week and play online a lot via free clients (still haven't figured out how to set up MODO on my Mac).
the card itself really isn't worth the card board its printed on...does it serve a purpose? Sure its a blue 1 drop that might not be a 1/1. I would not put it in a list and expect to win a PTQ or GP though.
My first thought was we could run 1-2 out of the board. Anyone who played Reveler out of the board has experience with boarding out Mandrills to relieve graveyard strain. I could see trimming down to 1-2 Mandrills against decks like Humans (any Fish deck, really), Affinity, Infect, and just about any other creature-heavy deck.
While typing that though, it occurred to me that I'm already down to 3 Mandrills (and, really key here, 0 Traverse) in the main. Running a one-off Lavamancer in the main isn't exactly out of the question. I think I might want to add a second Scour (and I don't know where the space would come from) but I think it's possible.
I'll probably try out 1-2 in the board first, but if I could comfortably fit one into the main, that would be cool.
Interested in RUG (Temur) Delver in Modern? Find gameplay with live commentary at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8UcKe8jVh1e2N4CHbd3fhg
I spent some money over the last few days, and I feel okay about it now that I'm in a place where I'll be playing Modern at least once a week. Got a set of Italian black-bordered Bolts to replace the white-bordered Revised ones I've always run; got 2 Arena Promo Beta foil Islands and 1 Arena Promo Beta foil Forest; and finally splurged on an Engineered Explosives and a Surgical Extraction as sideboard options. This new meta I'm in seems really combo-heavy, and Surgical seems like it's going to put in some work. Explosives is just great and gives me outs to Bogles, Humans, Mardu, Jund, etc.
Sideboard space feels really tight. I'll probably never leave home without a pair of Ancient Grudges and at least two sweepers, so it's really just 11 cards to play with, and there are so many options.
Individual card notes:
1. I was really impressed by Damping Sphere this week, so much so that for the first time I'm considering cutting my pair of OG Blood Moons. Seems perfect for this deck: comes down early with no weird mana requirements and slows down decks just enough for us to apply our pressure.
2. I also really like Basilisk Collar as a hedge against creature decks and Burn, and am pretty much always happy to draw it. I know Chaughy runs Feed the Clan and likes it, but I feel pretty confident against Burn anyway and this has wider utility for me.
3. Having a second Snapcaster in the board feels really good, too, for matchups where you're forced to grind things out. I know Jordan loved his Huntmasters for that, but I think with the Looting build, I'm way less likely to hit 4 mana, and it also conflicts with sweepers in the matchups where I want both. Snapcaster is another grindy card with some versatility, and being able to buy back a Bolt or whatever is pretty much always good.
4. Grafdigger's Cage is a card that's come and gone, but I used to play in a place infested with Collected Company decks, so it's a remnant of that. I also don't mind boarding out my maindeck Snapcaster and playing that to shut down UW or UWR's creatures.
5. Surgical seems like it's going to be good against KCI, Storm, Ad Naus, Reanimator, etc. I don't know if that's enough to justify a slot, but it's a nice thing to have available.
6. I'm cutting Destructive Revelry for Engineered Explosives. We have better answers to the artifact decks, and there are so few enchantments that I care about that it just doesn't seem worthwhile. Yeah, Rest in Piece hurts a ton, but Explosives answers that in a pinch. I also almost never see it cast against me.
7. Firespout has been my favorite sweeper I've tried. I never liked double red on Anger, preferring Pyroclasm for the easier cost and earlier window. The problem is Humans. Firespout gives another point of damage and it's easier than Anger to cast. Plus the art is incredible.
8. Counters: I know others have run Ceremonious Rejection and Disdainful Stroke, but I feel like my other choices make these redundant. Blood Moon and Damping Sphere crush Tron. Sweepers and Grudges crush Affinity. Sphere slows down KCI. I haven't seen Lantern in a year. Both of them seem awfully narrow for Hollow One. So what am I worried about with these cards? Scapeshift? Blood Moon seems good there, too, and has additional utility against Jund, Celestial Colonnade decks, and greedy manabases in general. Plus our mainboard counters do work there. So I've been jamming a pair of Dispels, which replace some non-Bolt removal spells against Control, Storm, maybe even as a bullet against Abzan Company post-board, when they bring in Paths as extra targets. It seems like a lot of the things we care about a lot are instants, and this is as efficient as it gets for that.
EDIT: With regard to Grim Lavamancer, I played one in the side and thought about trying to fit one mainboard when I was playing against tons of Humans, Elves, and Collected Company decks. But it's really slow and it relies on the graveyard too much for me. I don't want more spot removal against those decks with the 9 that I run mainboard. I want sweepers. That said, it's currently in the 30 or so cards I've got in my possible inclusions.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
Modern: MONKEY GROW & Amulet Titan
Legacy: RG Lands
EDH: Merieke Ri Berit Esper Good stuff
I've shelfed the Lavaman idea after tweaking my sideboard a bit. I dropped the second Grudge for an Abrade. I've heard great things about it, and want it for Humans and Burn (in addition to where artifact hate is good).
Stuff about the Burn matchup:
I've seen more Ensnaring Bridge out of Burn lately, and with Looting, I'm comfortable having one of each Grudge and Abrade postboard. I did some testing, and although I want to jam more games postboard on the draw, it felt great. Visions and Looting make it possible to find an answer to Bridge (if it resolved, which isn't unlikely) while also letting you dump them if you need to. So far, Feed the Clan has been nuts. If you find it and successfully play around Skullcrack, it's a pretty easy win. Collar wasn't as much of a swing (Snap-Feed is ridiculously), but I think it's still great.
What I found interesting is that I didn't miss Huntmaster at all when I didn't draw it. I think that Feed and Collar are enough lifegain that Huntmaster really isn't necessary. And Huntmaster can be very clunky depending on your draws. If you get Pathed, Huntmaster gets better, but I feel like the downside of your clunky hands outweighs the upside given that there are more efficient ways to come back from boardstates that Huntmaster really saves you from. Skullcrack is also way harder to play around with your sorcery-speed four drop, meaning if they have Crack, you are only making two bodies for your four mana, dealing with the board, but being vulnerable to their spells.
Notably, I'm not cutting Huntmaster from my board. It still comes in against a lot of decks. Namely Midrange/Control and creature-heavy decks. I could see cutting it for something that does a better job at being somewhat grindy while clogging up the board and/or kill creatures. I'm not boarding it in against Burn anymore though. I'd rather board in my second Snapcaster mage or keep my least worst maindeck card.
Due to having artifact hate in against Burn, I don't want Deprive in against them anymore. Unless I just swap it for Leak, I'm probably overboarding, and the UU is a very real cost against Burn.
I looked at matchups in which I board in Deprive. Basically, Control, some big mana, and some combo decks. I tweaked my postboard configuration, and am happy without Deprive against Storm and KCI, and don't really need it against Tron. That basically leaves UW, Jeskai, and Titanshift.
So, I want to drop Deprive for a card that can come in against UW, Jeskai, and Titanshift. My first thought was Disdainful Stroke or Blood Moon. Blood Moon gets points for being good against Midrange, but I kind of want to go narrower since I don't need the card for Tron. I could even live with having a worse Valakut matchup, and just keep an extra burn spell in there.
Basically, I want a narrow and powerful sideboard card. I want it to have some application against Control, either being absolutely amazing, or being decent against Control while being amazing in some other matchup. I want a Rest in Peace/Stony Silence esque card that doesn't come in often, but turns a matchup on it's head when you draw it.
Should I just go with Blood Moon? It's powerful, but also versatile enough that I think there are more narrow and powerful options available.
Interested in RUG (Temur) Delver in Modern? Find gameplay with live commentary at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8UcKe8jVh1e2N4CHbd3fhg
Counter-Cat
Colorless Eldrazi Stompy
So mnesci, what's your sideboard plan against Jund-style midrange? I used to be on Jordan's plan of remove all counters and jam 2 Huntmasters, 2 Moon, Collar, and even a Magus of the Moon for a while. But now that my board is totally reconfigured, my plan is way smaller. Cut both Stubborn Denials, a Leak, and a Spell Pierce, bringing in Collar, Snapcaster, and both Moons. The games play out so much differently with this configuration. Against Path decks, I can see bringing in a 4 drop, but I don't even have any in my board now anyway.
Luckily, most of the midrange I've been seeing lately is Pyromancer, which we've got sweepers for, and Traverse Shadow, which seems easier than traditional 23-25 land Jund or old school Junk, which I haven't seen since the Bloodbraid unban.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
I don't think being forced to look for that fourth land a little is a compelling reason to omit Hazoret. That said, I wouldn't advise going above 1 Hazoret to start in your list. With Looting and without Bomat Courier, it will be significantly harder to make your land drops.
Counter-Cat
Colorless Eldrazi Stompy
My sideboard plans for most common decks:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/s09fhbqkeabhs5l/Temur Delver Sideboard Suggestions.xlsx?dl=0
My current iteration is the leftmost tab "Looting 19 Lands."
On Jund specifically, I'm still partially on the "board counters out" plan, but with Looting, I don't mind keeping some. I really don't know what you board out with this build. I basically just trim the cards that get worse in the late game. It's tough because I like everything when we are ahead, but when we are behind I think I can live with having some counters/Snags because you can Loot them away if you don't have a board.
-2 Pierce
-1 Leak
-2 Snag
-1 Scour
+1 Hazoret
+1 Snapcaster
+1 Alpine Moon
+1 EE
+1 Collar
+1 Huntmaster
Alpine Moon comes in to name Raging Ravine. I don't know if that is just bad though. I haven't practiced much against Jund with this build.
@Ashton Thanks for the recommendation of Hazoret. I think I like it for the slot. UWx decks have some answers in Path, Terminus and Teferi, but those answer all our threats anyways, so I'd hope they are running out of relevant cards once Hazoret resolves. I tried it against Jeskai briefly, and it was a nice additional threat. I actually think that it is going to be a decent card against Control, while often crushing Midrange decks when it sticks, so it'll almost certainly serve my needs as a haymaker. Against Jund and Mardu, it seems nuts. Abzan has Path, but once again, we have a lot of things they want to Path.
Walling Shadow sounds fantastic as long as they don't resolve a Battlerage. I don't think finding the lands to cast Hazoret will be a huge deal unless it is in your opener. These Midrange decks want to prolong the game usually anyways (Mardu is especially bad at turning the corner, and, as mentioned, we interact with their clock so easily), so unless you are really aggressive in Looting away lands, you'll easily find four. I am on 19 lands right now though. And if you are Looting that much and discarding lands, your spells are probably really good. I've kept lands off of Looting and dumped lackluster spells if the land would make my plays better. You can also just hold onto a fourth land for as long as you like if you want to save it for a topdecked Hazoret/Looting, or to protect draws from Kommand. That gets a bit worse if they have an active Lili, but you aren't sandbagging cards for anything if Lili is picking apart your hand every turn.
Interested in RUG (Temur) Delver in Modern? Find gameplay with live commentary at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8UcKe8jVh1e2N4CHbd3fhg
I have actually found that Path matchups are great settings for Hazoret. Opponents must deal with Goyf/Mandrills and inadvertently ramp us into four mana. Hazoret also gobbles up the planeswalkers Path decks tend to rely on.
Counter-Cat
Colorless Eldrazi Stompy
Mensci is on 19 lands. I'm on 17 and 2 Traverse. I haven't seen a very recent list of yours, but last I knew you were on 18 and 2 Sleight of Hand. Not sure if mnesci playing Looting negates the 19th land and cantrip differences. Certainly I'll have a tougher time casting 4 drops than either of you, but you're both right in that matchups where Hazoret would come in want to go long and many have Path to ramp us. If I can find one before round 1 tonight, I'll try it out.
Do you play the deck much anymore? I thought you were pretty much on Colorless these days.
EDIT Nevermind. Just saw your 19 land, Looting, Courier list buried in an article on Nexus. Looking forward to reading about it.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
@MikePemulis I didn't realize you were on 17 lands. I remember casting Huntmaster postboard with 17, but that was before Looting, and there were definitely times at which it was hard. With your build having fewer creatures and more counters, you might be best off just keeping the "protect the queen" plan going postboard. Blood Moon might be the best three mana haymaker.
Interested in RUG (Temur) Delver in Modern? Find gameplay with live commentary at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8UcKe8jVh1e2N4CHbd3fhg
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Bomat Courier
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Hooting Mandrills
Artifacts (4)
4 Mishra’s Bauble
Instants (13)
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Vapor Snag
1 Tarfire
1 Dismember
3 Stubborn Denial
2 Mutagenic Growth
Sorceries (9)
4 Faithless Looting
4 Serum Visions
1 Forked Bolt
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Wooded Foothills
1 Spirebluff Canal
2 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
1 Breeding Pool
2 Island
1 Forest
1 Mountain
3 Blood Moon
3 Mana Leak
2 Huntmaster of the Fells
2 Hazoret the Fervent
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Destructive Revelry
1 Firespout
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Engineered Explosives
Counter-Cat
Colorless Eldrazi Stompy
I think I can understand most of your choices (low counter count and full set of bauble for limiting the downside of bomat for example). Then I love the fact that bomat and baubles make goyfs huge!
I have just a few questions (that I think will surely be addressed in your next article
- Mutagenic growth over other burn spells: is it for both the defensive and offensive option and the fact it is free? Is so well positioned in the current meta?
- Spirebluff canal over another fetch: I understand that let us limit the life loss and that's important, but the interaction with bomat is pretty valuable imho. If you have 1 bomat and you fetch you know exactly which cards it exiled. But maybe I overvalue those informations. Moreover it's always a 3 color land and another way to find basics before landing moon and it help filling the gy.
- No damping sphere: I found it almost better than moon in current meta (I'm playing 2 spheres and a moon), so I'm suprised to see none in your side.
All in all I find this deck more aggro/fast than Chaughey's one. It may help in some metagames.Thanks for sharing!
Modern:
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Wooded Foothills
1 Spirebluff Canal
1 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
1 Breeding Pool
2 Island
1 Mountain
1 Forest
Creature (14)
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Thing in the Ice
2 Bedlam Reveler
1 Snapcaster Mage
4 Faithless Looting
4 Serum Visions
3 Traverse the Ulvenwald
Instant (16)
4 Disrupting Shoal
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Stubborn Denial
2 Vapor Snag
1 Logic Knot
1 Mana Leak
1 Tarfire
Enchantment (1)
1 Seal of Fire
Artifact (1)
1 Mishra's Bauble
1 Young Pyromancer
1 Dire Fleet Daredevil
1 Fulminator Mage
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Negate
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Destructive Revelry
1 Tormod's Crypt
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Engineered Explosives
A summary of my findings:
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
1. @mnesci: it was two pages back, but everything you've said in regards to Looting, tempo, land configuration and Young Pyromancer has been spot on. I don't disagree with any of it and think it's an exemplary discussion of the topics. Just wanted to throw my two cents of confirmation to what you've already said.
2. @Ashton that Bomat list looks sweet, if a bit mindboggling. I'm very curious/looking forward/hopeful to hear more about its play and advantages.
3. @MikeP pretty basics. I always default to the Unhinged/Unglued but seeing yours reminds me there are other amazing basics sets I need to invest in. I remember getting packets of 5 special "Arena League" basics during Onslaught/Mirrorin block when I’d play FNM and JSS seemed like the pinnacle of my life’s purpose. I think I might switch it up now...
4. Speaking of speed differences, after all that fun with Saheeli during the advent of UW Miracles, I've been forced to go through a bit of an evolution with the deck (I love Saheeli. If you can't tell from my set up here, she's not long for this world). While I haven't been able to play as much the past couple weeks and took some time to make mistakes with the new lines I was experiencing (which led to many heartbreaking match losses and league punts of course), I think I finally have a the numbers right and put up a 5-0 with it.
Before that though, here's why I've been forced to change the list I was playing
The dirty gross awful thing (RB Vengevine): https://decks.tcgplayer.com/magic/modern/kameron-davis/r-b-vengevine/1329565
I personally think the version playing Gargadon is even more impressive, but this is a good sample of the deck as there's no "stock list" yet I don't think like you'd find with RB Hollow One (which for what it's worth is one of RUG’s best match ups. Vengevine was a rude awakening). But regardless the finer details, Stitcher is absolutely ridiculous and turbo charged the formerly fringy strat. This deck has exploded online, and with it everything I knew about the speed benchmarks of Modern all of a sudden felt terribly slow. Because there's this deck that's pumping out 4 2/2 Bridge Tokens and double Vengevine on turn 2 and all of a sudden you're deader than the Gravecrawlers staring at you from the graveyard that would come into play next turn if you hadn't already lost. At the risk of exaggeration, it feels almost like how when before Eldrazi Winter started there was that WB Eldrazi Processor deck that was crushing everything before the really broken stuff was figured out. Now I'm not saying the deck is Eye of Ugin Colorless Eldrazi. But honestly, with its best draws it puts Hollow One to shame and doesn't feel that much different than 4 Eldrazi Mimics turn 1 with a Smasher follow up. Because you dead.
Alright, so what that means is that I had to get faster to keep up. And that meant Saheeli had to go. Because while she's a fantastic threat and adds another dimension to the deck, she's certainly not necessary and I had new problems to worry about besides trying to squeeze some points against Control's flavor of the month (or maybe UW is just the best version of Control period. Certainly against us it seems). And then besides speeding up, as has been mentioned on this thread the deck can feel like it wants more lands than 18, but crucially I wanted to avoid adding a 19th actual land. Oh, and as you all must know intimately by now, I despise Thought Scour. So that led me to:
4x Delver of Secrets
3x Noble Heirarch
4x Tarmogoyf
1x Young Pyromancer
2x Snapcaster Mage
3x Hooting Mandrills
Instants and Sorceries (25)
4x Serum Visions
4x Faithless Looting
4x Lightning Bolt
2x Forked Bolt
4x Vapor Snag
4x Spell Pierce
3x Mana Leak
4x Scalding Tarn
4x Misty Rainforest
4x Wooded Foothills
2x Steam Vents
1x Breeding Pool
1x Stomping Ground
1x Island
1x Forest
2x Surgical Extraction
1x Stubborn Denial
1x Forked Bolt
1x Mana Leak
3x Damping Sphere
3x Ancient Grudge
2x Feed the Clan
2x Firespout
At this point, I'm operating on a certain core between my removal (10), counters (7), and velocity (8). I believe these are the correct proportions and the best general answers/digging in the Modern metagame. You can change to the preferred analogues of course, for instance a Dismember over a Vapor Snag, Tarfire over a Forked Bolt, etc. But in my opinion and experience, these are the best cards for getting you across the finish line in the most matchups and I've seen no reason to change the numbers over many leagues.
What has changed, obviously, is adding the Noble Heirarchs in place of the Thought Scours, and then shuffling the creature-base around. But I’ll say this briefly about Noble: frickin' fantastic. I still make a lot of mistakes, the play patterns change pretty dramatically with Noble in play, and it introduces a new level of complexity and difficulty in decision making (an obvious example, Delver or Noble turn 1?). But Noble makes the deck faster and notably improves the cards: Faithless Looting, Serum Visions, Snapcaster, Tarmogoyf, and Young Pyromancer. These cards are mana intensive and Noble allows you to fully utilize their functionality while you progress your gameplan, which those cards can sometimes get in the way of and make the deck play like a clunk-fest (like find your lands/interact AND play creatures). And then angles like giving Goyf an extra point wins a lot of fights, or Delver actually beating half a Lingering Souls, etc.
Otherwise the 4x Delver/4x Goyf is locked, I like playing 3x Hooties if I'm not running Scour and Snapcaster earned some equity on Pyromancer with the extra Noble mana making flashbacks more reliable (also a function of 1 less Mandrill) so I split those numbers 2/1 in favor of the extra reach.
As for the sideboard, it's mostly the same, but with some room made for Surgical Extraction, which is probbaly our best GY hate for the Vengevine match up *though I wish I could just have room for 4Surgical/4Tormod's Crypt*. I still like all the rest of the cards and the focus, feel comfortable against midrange/control, and basically just cross my fingers a little more against Burn. FWIW, I didn't have much success with Basilisk Collar, as it was too mana-intensive and situational in my experiences. I was thrilled to have a card I brought in against many matchups, but 3 mana and hoping your opponent doesn't have a removal spell blowout (specifically in the burn matchup) was just too many heart-attacks to suffer while playing. Though maybe with Noble I’d think differently...and I loved it against Eldrazi with Pyromancer. I'll always have those memories.
I'll talk more about it when I can but for now I thought I'd share early developments. Also of note, while I mention RB Vengevine as the impetus for the deck change, the Nobles have been pretty fantastic against the spread. As it turns out, Modern is pretty
fast no matter the deck.
After a rough 1-3 night, I'm considering tinkering with some stuff. I'm not sure the Traverse build is the best, although I've loved tutoring creatures late game. If I get rid of Traverse, I'll definitely go to 18 lands, which makes a Hazoret or Huntmaster or two in the board more reasonable.
For what it's worth, I lost in close games against Ironworks and Burn, beat Mardu Pyromancer, and got crushed by Bant Eldrazi. The Eldrazi player was exceptionally good and I doubt that's a very good matchup anyway, and that deck sort of rose and fell while I was away from Modern, so this was my first match against it. The Ironworks player is the one I beat 2-0 last week, and I lost 1-2 this week. Had a Damping Sphere and a Goyf out, he had already cast his first spell that turn, and so he paid 2 for Engineered Explosives "on 1" but it came down with two counters. Cool interaction. I got blown out after that. Against Burn, Eidolon wrecked me in both games I lost. In the game I won, I was at 4 and he was at 5 on my end step. I had a Tarfire and Bolt in hand and the mana to cast them, and he had two open mana. He went for the Boros Charm on my end step, and I responded. That's the sort of thing I would've misplayed on eight months ago, so that felt good. Deck felt real good against Pyromancer, but the player was bad and was doing dumb stuff like shocking himself to Bolt me on turn 1. He's new to the deck and a Burn player at heart. Grafdigger's Cage was a house here. I love that card, and it seems like I always have my 1-of whenever I board it in.
In my cube, I've got 35 of each basic, but they're singleton. So I play one of each Euro land, one of each Arena promo, a Beta cycle, one of each of the full-arts, etc. I love basics, and with these 2001 Arena foils with the Beta art, they only did Island and Forest and never completed the cycle. The Island is absolutely stunning, and the Forest is pretty good, too.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
http://modernnexus.com/new-crackback-introducing-miracle-bo/
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Bomat Courier
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Hooting Mandrills
Artifacts (4)
4 Mishra’s Bauble
Instants (13)
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Vapor Snag
1 Tarfire
1 Dismember
3 Stubborn Denial
2 Mutagenic Growth
Sorceries (9)
4 Faithless Looting
4 Serum Visions
1 Forked Bolt
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Wooded Foothills
1 Spirebluff Canal
2 Steam Vents
1 Stomping Ground
1 Breeding Pool
2 Island
1 Forest
1 Mountain
3 Blood Moon
3 Mana Leak
2 Huntmaster of the Fells
2 Hazoret the Fervent
1 Ancient Grudge
1 Destructive Revelry
1 Firespout
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Engineered Explosives
Counter-Cat
Colorless Eldrazi Stompy
A few questions:
1. With a curve this low, are 18 lands possible?
2. Seems really light on counters to me. If you were to include another maindeck counter, say in a combo-heavy meta, what might you cut?
3. Do you ever board in all four 4-drops?
4. The real question: are you taking this anywhere competitive, or is that still Colorless Eldrazi for you?
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
2. FB for a 4th Denial I guess, but I don't miss mainboard Leaks at all. 6 permission post-side is plenty. Bomat also happens to be insane against linear combo since they skimp on removal and don't block.
3. Yes, often; against midrange and control.
4. I've played in I think a single Comp REL tournament since the Classic. I still go to weeklies at Pandemonium twice a week and play online a lot via free clients (still haven't figured out how to set up MODO on my Mac).
Counter-Cat
Colorless Eldrazi Stompy