You should consider Amulet Titan as well, even though it doesn't have Hive Mind anymore. I felt like I would never play it again without Hive Mind; I loved killing with that card! But it is still enjoyable and very strong if you're willing to put in the time. Anyway, Engineered Explosives is a must as a 1 of MB and 1 of SB, so maybe it's not the deck for you right now. I just wanted to throw that out there because it took me a while to enjoy it without Hive Mind, but it still is a contender.
Your build looks good. I have played the Bogles/Titanshift matchup many times from both sides and I would say that the most important thing is to have Reclamation Sage for their Leyline of Sanctity and a super quick clock. In game 1, it is simply about goldfishing damage and the Scapeshift with 8 lands usually does the trick, even if they've gained some life (Daybreak Coronet). It's usually a tight race and around 50/50 in my experience. Fracturing Gust can definitely help you there and shore up Affinity as well. Seems okay vs. KCI too. Krark-Clan Ironworks on the stack, Fracturing Gust. Yep.
Roast is mostly for Humans, along with Hollow One, Merfolk, and other creature based decks. Despite our deck looking super good vs. Humans, I've found it to be only slightly over 50/50 and Roast is what gives us the edge.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Kind of a lurker here, but have been playing RG Titanshift for a long time. Just took down a 41 person PPTQ, and posted a small tournament report. Feel free to respond on reddit as i dont check MTGSalvation often.
Stuck on BBE Shift, I'm refining my deck for many months I won or made top 8 at many store tournaments (40-50 players), a lot of 5-0, 4-1 on MTGO...
Sunday is the big day of the PPTQ.
I much prefer BBE than the others flex spots, this way to put the pressure at the same time as to play a ramp spell is devastating against most decks of the meta which is very "control" in my country and on mtgo.
How did you do? I also reconsidered my changes to adapt to a recent meta and reverted back to BBE Shift on Sunday. 59 player PPTQ.
Round 1 vs. Humans. Tough player in round 1. Seen him at many PPTQs and other Comp REL tournaments. Even more than me, lol! But a solid matchup for me. I get natural Valakut early on and chain it to kill 2 Freebooters to Prime Time to win. In the next game, he has a quick Kitesail Freebooter, Meddling Mage, Mantis Rider, and Thalia's Lieutenant draw off Aether Vial. Had 1 turn to draw Anger of the Gods since he named Sweltering Suns. Didn't and lost. In the final game, his draw is similar but slower. I Anger of the Gods after he names Sweltering Suns. He has a Mantis Rider down next and a Vial on 2. He goes to Vial, I am considering Thalia's Lieutenant, so I want to Bolt with the +1/+1 on the stack. It ends up being Phantasmal Image and I take 3 after Bolting the Rider. I had a clue that he had Image because he named it with an Unclaimed Territory, but I thought he also had Lieutenant or was trying to next level me. It hits me again, but I draw the 6th land to land my Prime Time (thank God). I could have played Obstinate Baloth to pad my life total, but Prime Time made it much easier, killing his Image'd Rider. He has 1 card in hand and I'm at 6 life. I pray that it's not Image and he draws the 3rd Mantis Rider. If it is, I'm dead because of my earlier mistake. It isn't and I win. 2-1.
Round 2 vs. Mardu Pyromancer. No Blood Moons to be seen. He had some Rabblemasters, but I always had the removal right away or the next turn and chained up to Prime Time and Scapeshift in consecutive games. I think I drew 4 Bolts and 2 Sweltering Suns in the 2 games. Poor dude. 2-0.
Round 3 vs. Mono Red Prison. He gets Blood Moon on turn 2 and some Planeswalkers. I play creatures to kill the Planeswalkers. He draws Ensnaring Bridge. I am actually locked out since he is at 12 and I only have 3 Bolts left. I play longer, hoping he will scoop to Summoner's Pact, thinking I may have Reclamation Sage main like most smart people do. I finally get it when I have less than 15 cards left and he doesn't scoop while I'm searching, so I scoop. In the next game, I am locked out for a while with Ensnaring Bridge. But I have Tracker and he is getting me a million clues. I kill or slow Planeswalkers with Bolts. I finally crack a last Clue while I have Prime Times on the field and get Ancient Grudge, allowing Prime Times to swing for lethal. I played them, despite Torpor Orb, so I'd have lethal once I get Ancient Grudge because Pact for Sage was out because of Torpor Orb. In the last game, he got a turn 1 Rabblemaster, then I Bolted it. He did Blood Moon, but literally had no other gas after I killed Sarkhan Fireblood. A deck full of Desperate Ritual, Pyretic Ritual, and Simian Spirit Guide can definitely do that. 2-1.
Round 4 vs. Hollow Bois. In the first game, I stabilize and cast a Prime Time. He has Gurmag Angler, Flamewake Phoenix, and Bloodghast on the field. He is dead next turn. He draws and plays a Goblin Lore, being stuck on 2 lands for this game. He ends up discarding another Flamewake Phoenix, so I'm dead to land since he has another Bloodghast from earlier in the game. I think he forgot about the Bloodghast from earlier because he missed a lot of land drops, but I was at 8 life and he got a land from Goblin Lore to bring back the other Phoenix, but without the landfall trigger from the earlier forgotten Bloodghast, he doesn't have 8 exact damage after I block the Angler with Prime Time. He attacks with just the 2 Flamewake Phoenixes and the 1 Bloodghast, which I block since I have Scapeshift anyway. He scoops when I attack. In the next game, he does cycle 2 Street Wraith, Faithless Looting, play 2 Hollow Ones. The next turn he does Burning Inquiry, which is good because I have an Obstinate Baloth in hand. But it doesn't hit that, with him getting a Flamewake Phoenix to swing for 10, then 10 after he Bolts my Sakura-Tribe Elder (sacrifice obv. but it paves the way for 10 more). In the final game, it comes down to top decking after I have an Obstinate Baloth on the field and neither of us has a hand. He has a Blood Moon that stopped the Scapeshift in my hand from doing anything, but I make a big mistake by not Scapeshifting the 4 non-Forest cards away to get rid of 4 potential dead draws. But he has 1 more Faithless Looting in the graveyard. Did someone mention how good that card is? He does it and finds a Gurmag Angler, delving down to 1 card in his yard (since an earlier Angler got killed by Anger/Bolt). I'm at 10 and he's at 8. I can't swing with Baloth because he HAS to block, so I take 5 down to 5. Then I chump next turn. Then I die. Remember, I could have done Scapeshift to take 4 more lands out of my deck? I ended up drawing 2 Wooded Foothills and 1 Windswept Heath in my last 3 draw steps to lose to the Angler. I guess part of me hoped for the Summoner's Pact/Reclamation Sage (sided in for Hollow One, not the Blood Moon that I did not expect), then I Scapeshift for the win. I'm pretty sure it's better to thin the lands though because it's more outs in the deck. Bad play because I haven't played the deck for a while. I feel that if I'm not running a deck for a while, I play it very well, but not completely optimally. This was a tough loss. The opponent was super nice though. His friend was the Mardu guy from Round 2. I can't be mad. 1-2.
Round 5 vs. KCI. In the first game, he does KCI things. He doesn't hit a 3rd land drop, but has Mox Opal and Mind Stone. Turn 4 kill after I ramped like crazy, but was missing Scapeshift. If he didn't hit turn 4 and I drew Scapeshift any time that game, I would have won. In the next game, he just draws a lot of lands and 2 Nature's Claims that nearly give him another turn, but Prime Time is just too much freaking damage. Tireless Tracker got me there, as I drew into the cards that let me win just in time. I think I did 30 damage to him this game. In the final game, I have Ancient Grudge to slow him down. I make a grave mistake while trying to thin my deck with 1 Valakut in play, getting Forest instead of Mountain for 3 damage. I thought I'd be safe after he Ancient Stirrings for Krark-Clan Ironworks, but he had Negate, which technically could have stopped the win by me if I didn't punt. He was at 12 and would have been at 9. I had Bolt and Search for Tomorrow in hand and drew a land, so that's 9 damage. But he's at 12 because I didn't put him to 9. I guess I would have done Bolt you, Search for Tomorrow and hope it resolved, then land drop to kill him. He's a smart player, playing around Damping Sphere quite a bit, so I doubt he doesn't do Negate. Still, it was a terrible play. He does the KCI like I said, then Negate on flashbacked Ancient Grudge in response to Scrap Trawler. Then he goes off and kills me. I also made a mistake of not getting my Valakut trigger of a fetch to kill the Scrappy before extra 2 triggers that he did. One would have happened because of priority, but the other 2 could have been stopped. Oh well, freaking KCI. 1-2.
Round 6 vs. UW Control. I just ramp up, get a Prime Time Mana Leaked and then do a bunch of Valakut triggers when I draw them. I let him resolve Vendilion Clique, taking my other Prime Time, but I have 2 Bolt in hand, one of which I use on the Clique next turn, assuming he may counter one, but can't counter the other and may be tapped low. I think that 2 Sakura-Tribe Elders did 11 damage to him and 2 fetches did 2 more. When he went for Field of Ruin, I sacrificed both Sakura-Tribe Elder and my fetchland for lethal. I also had drawn 2 more Bolt, so I'm pretty sure his goose was cooked anyway. He was at 7 and I had 3 Valakut triggers and 2 Bolt in hand. In the next game, I side out Scapeshifts and put in the creature plan. I end up resolving a Prime Time after he tapped out for Jace, the Mind Sculptor. He admitted that he made a bunch of mistakes during this tournament, his first ever Modern tournament. But he says that he's pretty good at drafting, which I believe. He's a smart player, but just didn't know the Modern meta and what 1 costly mistake can do. He scoops the next turn. He also Vendilion Cliqued me to see GAAAAS in hand, so he knew... 2-0.
I finish at 4-2 for 14th place. Rough beats since we were literally top decking after I had board advantage vs. Hollow Bois. He ended up losing in the top 8 to Humans in a super close match.
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
A friend who runs Titanshift is going to try Naya Breach for the Saturday PPTQ. I actually don't know why I didn't think of it, but Through the Breach is probably better right now with the meta potentially so fast. He said it's running White for SB Rest in Peace. What do you think of Breach? I'm personally not tied in to either one; I just usually preferred Titanshift because of the added consistency and resiliency to discard.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Good matchups:
Humans, Company decks, Tron, Jund, Mardu
Bad matchups:
KCI, Storm, Hollow One
Even matchups:
Burn, Affinity
That's just off the top of my head. I think that Jeskai and UW are both slightly favored. Others will tell you they are highly favored.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Yoooo. So I took a long break from Magic and Im thinking about playing again soon. I've seen a lot of lists not running BBE anymore, but I was always an advocate for it. @Foodchaingoblins, you said that you're back to BBE? You got a current stock list right now? I've also seen hardened scales coming up as another combo deck, is that legit? Whats the SB looking like nowadays
Things I see wrong with the deck. It probably needs GY hate in the SB. Crumble to Dust and Beast Within (sad to say) can go. Reclamation Sage probably needs to be main. Growth Spasm is bad. Bloodbraid Elf is potentially bad. I just don't know where else to go. The 3 Obstinate Baloth are very good. Thrun may not be necessary, as well as the 2 Tireless Tracker (my current favorite Modern legal card).
I actually don't think that Titanshift is poised to do well in this metagame. There are not enough fair decks running around and we can't rely on seeing Company, Humans, and Tron enough to get big time results. In the Modern metagame thread in the past 4 GPs and SCG Opens, Titanshift has won only 45% of its matches. There are simply better choices in my opinion.
I love the deck. I know how to play it well. It's one of the few decks that I can play a whole tournament knowing I probably made every mulligan decision and play correctly, but that is simply not enough. It's better to play a top deck, like KCI, UW Control, or Company less than optimally than play this deck optimally in my opinion. Now if you have a local meta where you think this would shine, who am I to argue with that? I just don't think it's well placed overall right now in the larger meta.
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
I decided to buy into the deck today, sold Ad Nauseam. Got rid of it after 4 years on the deck, got tired of playing the same thing and was always interested in Scapeshift archetype. So, I played today for the first time also and won against UW/x Control, Tron and Jund, but lost also against Burn and BG/x. So 3-2 in all, but I played also after the tournament against the Burn and it felt unwinable because I lost also that game. I have 2 Obstinate Baloth, 2 Feed the Clan and 1 Sweltering Sun in the sideboard for it. How do you guys feel about the matchup ?
I decided to buy into the deck today, sold Ad Nauseam. Got rid of it after 4 years on the deck, got tired of playing the same thing and was always interested in Scapeshift archetype. So, I played today for the first time also and won against UW/x Control, Tron and Jund, but lost also against Burn and BG/x. So 3-2 in all, but I played also after the tournament against the Burn and it felt unwinable because I lost also that game. I have 2 Obstinate Baloth, 2 Feed the Clan and 1 Sweltering Sun in the sideboard for it. How do you guys feel about the matchup ?
Cheers !
Would you mind posting your decklist?
With the burn matchup we need to race for a kill, so post-SB I generally side out Primeval Titan in favor of Baloths (buys you time) and sweepers like Suns/Anger of the Gods. Most lists run 2 sweepers mainboard.
Feed the Clan is excellent tech against Burn, but IMO is a little too narrow in most cases. I would recommend another Baloth in the SB, as it is very useful against aggressive decks as a blocker and lifegain, and great against discard.
I decided to buy into the deck today, sold Ad Nauseam. Got rid of it after 4 years on the deck, got tired of playing the same thing and was always interested in Scapeshift archetype. So, I played today for the first time also and won against UW/x Control, Tron and Jund, but lost also against Burn and BG/x. So 3-2 in all, but I played also after the tournament against the Burn and it felt unwinable because I lost also that game. I have 2 Obstinate Baloth, 2 Feed the Clan and 1 Sweltering Sun in the sideboard for it. How do you guys feel about the matchup ?
Cheers !
Would you mind posting your decklist?
With the burn matchup we need to race for a kill, so post-SB I generally side out Primeval Titan in favor of Baloths (buys you time) and sweepers like Suns/Anger of the Gods. Most lists run 2 sweepers mainboard.
Feed the Clan is excellent tech against Burn, but IMO is a little too narrow in most cases. I would recommend another Baloth in the SB, as it is very useful against aggressive decks as a blocker and lifegain, and great against discard.
Thanks for the input, I'm still very new to the deck, so I'm still learning to sideboard. Here's my decklist at the moment :
Things I see wrong with the deck. It probably needs GY hate in the SB. Crumble to Dust and Beast Within (sad to say) can go. Reclamation Sage probably needs to be main. Growth Spasm is bad. Bloodbraid Elf is potentially bad. I just don't know where else to go. The 3 Obstinate Baloth are very good. Thrun may not be necessary, as well as the 2 Tireless Tracker (my current favorite Modern legal card).
I actually don't think that Titanshift is poised to do well in this metagame. There are not enough fair decks running around and we can't rely on seeing Company, Humans, and Tron enough to get big time results. In the Modern metagame thread in the past 4 GPs and SCG Opens, Titanshift has won only 45% of its matches. There are simply better choices in my opinion.
I love the deck. I know how to play it well. It's one of the few decks that I can play a whole tournament knowing I probably made every mulligan decision and play correctly, but that is simply not enough. It's better to play a top deck, like KCI, UW Control, or Company less than optimally than play this deck optimally in my opinion. Now if you have a local meta where you think this would shine, who am I to argue with that? I just don't think it's well placed overall right now in the larger meta.
I'm probably going to change the SB some, as some cards wont really do anyting for my local meta like crumble to dust. When I play online itll obviously be different but I plan to mostly play in paper at my casual crowd for a while.
How is Solemn Simulacrum? I never really liked it in theory, but never played with it, and just thought something like Wood Elves or Growth Spasm is better.
Just as I felt the deck was unplayable in the PPTQ meta where I went 4-2, it was super playable in yesterday's PPTQ meta of 52 players. Magic has a way of making you eat your own words.
I think then that anything is playable and can do well in Modern, but it just really depends on what that particular meta is that day and if you can draw decently at the same time. Saw a bunch of Control and Tron. Only 2 KCI players, both of whom did poorly.
I never thought I would like Solemn Simulacrum in this deck, but I feel that it is a "better version" of Bloodbraid Elf in certain metas. It automatically hits a ramp card, where Bloodbraid Elf hardly ever hit a ramp for me. I would always be disappointed because I would expect it to hit ramp over 50% of the time, but it ended up being much less than that. Also he is a speed bump for certain decks, just like Wood Elves, except he can draw you gas. Drawing an extra land, especially after a mulligan, or an extra ramp spell, is often all we need to close the deal. Plus if you sided in Ancient Grudge against your opponent and it is useless in that game, but you have Sad Robot, you can use it there. Probably happen 1 out of 100 games, but still. I would like to try substituting the Bloodbraid Elves with Sad Robot, but I am unable to locate my other copies of the card (probably have to just buy more, sigh). In a meta with countermagic, obviously Bloodbraid Elf is better, but even with the card, we are rarely able to be the beatdown. So the haste is often fairly irrelevant IMO.
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
I had some issues with BG/x has I lost my two games 1-2 in my last playtesting. I think I'm sideboarding correctly with 3 Obstinate Baloth and 2 Anger of the Gods, but I seems that I fall short to some planeswalker (Liliana namely). Even a Titan is not enough to finish the game because in both games, I had a Titan on the field with 6 lands, grabbed 2 Valakut, but got it killed to a Liliana on like 4-5 loyalty. Thoughseized ripped appart my hand and when I had Scapeshift, I couldn't cast it. I read the primer and the last few pages, stating that the matchup is favorable / even. In all, I'm 1-3 so far in playtesting (I'm not the best Valakut player yet, but it seems a hard matchup). Tips ?
And Burn seems unwinnable to if we're on the draw. I never won a game so far. However, Tron and Control seem favorable / very favorable (that's that!)
Good part in the Jund Mu is,that we have realy good topdecks with titan and scapeshift after beeing hellbent.
Liliana is a problem indeed,because she can ultimate realy quick and we cant deal good with her. Only discard baloth, bolt and natural valakut on her.
But overall bgx is a good MU for us because they have a realy hard time to stop our ramping.
I feel the burn MU is a bit tricky. U need ur Sakura to block, get Baloth under Skullkrack-radar and win with natural attacks or scapeshift. Remember to trim Titans in this Mu because they are to slow.
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My question, do we need Thrun or Carny Tyrant against uw and jeskai beside our mainplan and Baloth+Thragtusk? (i aint run Tracker at the moment)
Good part in the Jund Mu is,that we have realy good topdecks with titan and scapeshift after beeing hellbent.
Liliana is a problem indeed,because she can ultimate realy quick and we cant deal good with her. Only discard baloth, bolt and natural valakut on her.
But overall bgx is a good MU for us because they have a realy hard time to stop our ramping.
I feel the burn MU is a bit tricky. U need ur Sakura to block, get Baloth under Skullkrack-radar and win with natural attacks or scapeshift. Remember to trim Titans in this Mu because they are to slow.
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My question, do we need Thrun or Carny Tyrant against uw and jeskai beside our mainplan and Baloth+Thragtusk? (i aint run Tracker at the moment)
Thanks for the input ! I just jammed a game tonight and won 2-0 : I found a sideboard configuration that seems to work (-3 Khalni, -2 Farseek). Even through 2 Liliana in game 1, I pulled the win with Titan, so resiliency showed up.
About Thrun, I always felt it was a great card. Control has a lot of issues getting it out of the way!
Hey guys, bit of a unique question here. Right now my only modern deck is Titanshift, but I'm looking to add another to my modern repertoire. What are some decks that shine in matchups where Titanshift lacks? Budget isn't a huge concern, but I would prefer something interactive.
Zero Titanshift in the top 16 GP Hong Kong and top 28 GP Stockholm. Is the deck a bad choice in the current meta, or a great one moving forward ? I have a mixed feeling on this. Both GPs have 50% of control and/or Tron decks, which is a good MU for Titanshift but at the same time aggro decks like Humans/Spirits/Hardened Scales kinda difficult for us.
So, with the spirit meanace inbound, what are we doing to beat them? I've been playing a copy of Hour of Devastation to beat out spell queller and selfless spirit. Also a decent sweeper vs all the other aggro lists. Anyone got some sweet tech they wanna share?
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Your build looks good. I have played the Bogles/Titanshift matchup many times from both sides and I would say that the most important thing is to have Reclamation Sage for their Leyline of Sanctity and a super quick clock. In game 1, it is simply about goldfishing damage and the Scapeshift with 8 lands usually does the trick, even if they've gained some life (Daybreak Coronet). It's usually a tight race and around 50/50 in my experience. Fracturing Gust can definitely help you there and shore up Affinity as well. Seems okay vs. KCI too. Krark-Clan Ironworks on the stack, Fracturing Gust. Yep.
Roast is mostly for Humans, along with Hollow One, Merfolk, and other creature based decks. Despite our deck looking super good vs. Humans, I've found it to be only slightly over 50/50 and Roast is what gives us the edge.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)https://www.reddit.com/r/Scapeshift/comments/98tlwq/1st_place_pptq_with_rg_titanshift_report_inside/
Sunday is the big day of the PPTQ.
I much prefer BBE than the others flex spots, this way to put the pressure at the same time as to play a ramp spell is devastating against most decks of the meta which is very "control" in my country and on mtgo.
List :
wish me good luck for sunday
RG Titan Scapeshift GR
UBWAd Nauseam WBU
CEldrazi TronC
Round 1 vs. Humans. Tough player in round 1. Seen him at many PPTQs and other Comp REL tournaments. Even more than me, lol! But a solid matchup for me. I get natural Valakut early on and chain it to kill 2 Freebooters to Prime Time to win. In the next game, he has a quick Kitesail Freebooter, Meddling Mage, Mantis Rider, and Thalia's Lieutenant draw off Aether Vial. Had 1 turn to draw Anger of the Gods since he named Sweltering Suns. Didn't and lost. In the final game, his draw is similar but slower. I Anger of the Gods after he names Sweltering Suns. He has a Mantis Rider down next and a Vial on 2. He goes to Vial, I am considering Thalia's Lieutenant, so I want to Bolt with the +1/+1 on the stack. It ends up being Phantasmal Image and I take 3 after Bolting the Rider. I had a clue that he had Image because he named it with an Unclaimed Territory, but I thought he also had Lieutenant or was trying to next level me. It hits me again, but I draw the 6th land to land my Prime Time (thank God). I could have played Obstinate Baloth to pad my life total, but Prime Time made it much easier, killing his Image'd Rider. He has 1 card in hand and I'm at 6 life. I pray that it's not Image and he draws the 3rd Mantis Rider. If it is, I'm dead because of my earlier mistake. It isn't and I win. 2-1.
Round 2 vs. Mardu Pyromancer. No Blood Moons to be seen. He had some Rabblemasters, but I always had the removal right away or the next turn and chained up to Prime Time and Scapeshift in consecutive games. I think I drew 4 Bolts and 2 Sweltering Suns in the 2 games. Poor dude. 2-0.
Round 3 vs. Mono Red Prison. He gets Blood Moon on turn 2 and some Planeswalkers. I play creatures to kill the Planeswalkers. He draws Ensnaring Bridge. I am actually locked out since he is at 12 and I only have 3 Bolts left. I play longer, hoping he will scoop to Summoner's Pact, thinking I may have Reclamation Sage main like most smart people do. I finally get it when I have less than 15 cards left and he doesn't scoop while I'm searching, so I scoop. In the next game, I am locked out for a while with Ensnaring Bridge. But I have Tracker and he is getting me a million clues. I kill or slow Planeswalkers with Bolts. I finally crack a last Clue while I have Prime Times on the field and get Ancient Grudge, allowing Prime Times to swing for lethal. I played them, despite Torpor Orb, so I'd have lethal once I get Ancient Grudge because Pact for Sage was out because of Torpor Orb. In the last game, he got a turn 1 Rabblemaster, then I Bolted it. He did Blood Moon, but literally had no other gas after I killed Sarkhan Fireblood. A deck full of Desperate Ritual, Pyretic Ritual, and Simian Spirit Guide can definitely do that. 2-1.
Round 4 vs. Hollow Bois. In the first game, I stabilize and cast a Prime Time. He has Gurmag Angler, Flamewake Phoenix, and Bloodghast on the field. He is dead next turn. He draws and plays a Goblin Lore, being stuck on 2 lands for this game. He ends up discarding another Flamewake Phoenix, so I'm dead to land since he has another Bloodghast from earlier in the game. I think he forgot about the Bloodghast from earlier because he missed a lot of land drops, but I was at 8 life and he got a land from Goblin Lore to bring back the other Phoenix, but without the landfall trigger from the earlier forgotten Bloodghast, he doesn't have 8 exact damage after I block the Angler with Prime Time. He attacks with just the 2 Flamewake Phoenixes and the 1 Bloodghast, which I block since I have Scapeshift anyway. He scoops when I attack. In the next game, he does cycle 2 Street Wraith, Faithless Looting, play 2 Hollow Ones. The next turn he does Burning Inquiry, which is good because I have an Obstinate Baloth in hand. But it doesn't hit that, with him getting a Flamewake Phoenix to swing for 10, then 10 after he Bolts my Sakura-Tribe Elder (sacrifice obv. but it paves the way for 10 more). In the final game, it comes down to top decking after I have an Obstinate Baloth on the field and neither of us has a hand. He has a Blood Moon that stopped the Scapeshift in my hand from doing anything, but I make a big mistake by not Scapeshifting the 4 non-Forest cards away to get rid of 4 potential dead draws. But he has 1 more Faithless Looting in the graveyard. Did someone mention how good that card is? He does it and finds a Gurmag Angler, delving down to 1 card in his yard (since an earlier Angler got killed by Anger/Bolt). I'm at 10 and he's at 8. I can't swing with Baloth because he HAS to block, so I take 5 down to 5. Then I chump next turn. Then I die. Remember, I could have done Scapeshift to take 4 more lands out of my deck? I ended up drawing 2 Wooded Foothills and 1 Windswept Heath in my last 3 draw steps to lose to the Angler. I guess part of me hoped for the Summoner's Pact/Reclamation Sage (sided in for Hollow One, not the Blood Moon that I did not expect), then I Scapeshift for the win. I'm pretty sure it's better to thin the lands though because it's more outs in the deck. Bad play because I haven't played the deck for a while. I feel that if I'm not running a deck for a while, I play it very well, but not completely optimally. This was a tough loss. The opponent was super nice though. His friend was the Mardu guy from Round 2. I can't be mad. 1-2.
Round 5 vs. KCI. In the first game, he does KCI things. He doesn't hit a 3rd land drop, but has Mox Opal and Mind Stone. Turn 4 kill after I ramped like crazy, but was missing Scapeshift. If he didn't hit turn 4 and I drew Scapeshift any time that game, I would have won. In the next game, he just draws a lot of lands and 2 Nature's Claims that nearly give him another turn, but Prime Time is just too much freaking damage. Tireless Tracker got me there, as I drew into the cards that let me win just in time. I think I did 30 damage to him this game. In the final game, I have Ancient Grudge to slow him down. I make a grave mistake while trying to thin my deck with 1 Valakut in play, getting Forest instead of Mountain for 3 damage. I thought I'd be safe after he Ancient Stirrings for Krark-Clan Ironworks, but he had Negate, which technically could have stopped the win by me if I didn't punt. He was at 12 and would have been at 9. I had Bolt and Search for Tomorrow in hand and drew a land, so that's 9 damage. But he's at 12 because I didn't put him to 9. I guess I would have done Bolt you, Search for Tomorrow and hope it resolved, then land drop to kill him. He's a smart player, playing around Damping Sphere quite a bit, so I doubt he doesn't do Negate. Still, it was a terrible play. He does the KCI like I said, then Negate on flashbacked Ancient Grudge in response to Scrap Trawler. Then he goes off and kills me. I also made a mistake of not getting my Valakut trigger of a fetch to kill the Scrappy before extra 2 triggers that he did. One would have happened because of priority, but the other 2 could have been stopped. Oh well, freaking KCI. 1-2.
Round 6 vs. UW Control. I just ramp up, get a Prime Time Mana Leaked and then do a bunch of Valakut triggers when I draw them. I let him resolve Vendilion Clique, taking my other Prime Time, but I have 2 Bolt in hand, one of which I use on the Clique next turn, assuming he may counter one, but can't counter the other and may be tapped low. I think that 2 Sakura-Tribe Elders did 11 damage to him and 2 fetches did 2 more. When he went for Field of Ruin, I sacrificed both Sakura-Tribe Elder and my fetchland for lethal. I also had drawn 2 more Bolt, so I'm pretty sure his goose was cooked anyway. He was at 7 and I had 3 Valakut triggers and 2 Bolt in hand. In the next game, I side out Scapeshifts and put in the creature plan. I end up resolving a Prime Time after he tapped out for Jace, the Mind Sculptor. He admitted that he made a bunch of mistakes during this tournament, his first ever Modern tournament. But he says that he's pretty good at drafting, which I believe. He's a smart player, but just didn't know the Modern meta and what 1 costly mistake can do. He scoops the next turn. He also Vendilion Cliqued me to see GAAAAS in hand, so he knew... 2-0.
I finish at 4-2 for 14th place. Rough beats since we were literally top decking after I had board advantage vs. Hollow Bois. He ended up losing in the top 8 to Humans in a super close match.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Humans, Company decks, Tron, Jund, Mardu
Bad matchups:
KCI, Storm, Hollow One
Even matchups:
Burn, Affinity
That's just off the top of my head. I think that Jeskai and UW are both slightly favored. Others will tell you they are highly favored.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)URStormRU
GRTitanshift[mana]RG/mana]
7 Mountain
3 Forest
4 Wooded Foothills
3 Windswept Heath
4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
4 Cinder Glade
2 Stomping Ground
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Primeval Titan
4 Bloodbraid Elf
1 Solemn Simulacrum
3 Farseek
2 Sweltering Suns
4 Search for Tomorrow
4 Scapeshift
2 Summoner's Pact
1 Growth Spasm
2 Tireless Tracker
2 Crumble to Dust
1 Beast Within
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Anger of the Gods
3 Obstinate Baloth
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Roast
Things I see wrong with the deck. It probably needs GY hate in the SB. Crumble to Dust and Beast Within (sad to say) can go. Reclamation Sage probably needs to be main. Growth Spasm is bad. Bloodbraid Elf is potentially bad. I just don't know where else to go. The 3 Obstinate Baloth are very good. Thrun may not be necessary, as well as the 2 Tireless Tracker (my current favorite Modern legal card).
I actually don't think that Titanshift is poised to do well in this metagame. There are not enough fair decks running around and we can't rely on seeing Company, Humans, and Tron enough to get big time results. In the Modern metagame thread in the past 4 GPs and SCG Opens, Titanshift has won only 45% of its matches. There are simply better choices in my opinion.
I love the deck. I know how to play it well. It's one of the few decks that I can play a whole tournament knowing I probably made every mulligan decision and play correctly, but that is simply not enough. It's better to play a top deck, like KCI, UW Control, or Company less than optimally than play this deck optimally in my opinion. Now if you have a local meta where you think this would shine, who am I to argue with that? I just don't think it's well placed overall right now in the larger meta.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Cheers !
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Would you mind posting your decklist?
With the burn matchup we need to race for a kill, so post-SB I generally side out Primeval Titan in favor of Baloths (buys you time) and sweepers like Suns/Anger of the Gods. Most lists run 2 sweepers mainboard.
Feed the Clan is excellent tech against Burn, but IMO is a little too narrow in most cases. I would recommend another Baloth in the SB, as it is very useful against aggressive decks as a blocker and lifegain, and great against discard.
Thanks for the input, I'm still very new to the deck, so I'm still learning to sideboard. Here's my decklist at the moment :
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Primeval Titan
Spells (22)
2 Summoner's Pact
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Explore
2 Farseek
2 Anger of the Gods
4 Search for Tomorrow
4 Scapeshift
3 Khalni Heart Expedition
Lands (27)
2 Cinder Glade
3 Forest
7 Mountain
1 Sheltered Thicket
3 Stomping Ground
4 Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
3 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Fog
2 Nature's Claim
1 Relic of Progenitus
2 Damping Sphere
2 Beast Within
2 Anger of the Gods
3 Obstinate Baloth
2 Shatterstorm
Maindeck seems stock. For the sideboarding plan:
Burn (not sure at all):
- Out : 3 Primeval Titan, 2 Explore, 1 land.
- In : 2 Anger of the Gods, 3 Obstinate Baloth, 1 Fog.
Tron:
- Out: 2 Slagstorm, 3 Lightning Bolt
- In: 2 Shatterstorm, 2 Beast Within, 2 Nature's Claim
Jund:
- Out : 3 Lightning Bolt.
- In : 3 Obstinate Baloth.
That's pretty much where I am right now. Nothing is set in stone, I'm beginning with the deck
Cheers!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
I'm probably going to change the SB some, as some cards wont really do anyting for my local meta like crumble to dust. When I play online itll obviously be different but I plan to mostly play in paper at my casual crowd for a while.
How is Solemn Simulacrum? I never really liked it in theory, but never played with it, and just thought something like Wood Elves or Growth Spasm is better.
URStormRU
GRTitanshift[mana]RG/mana]
Aswell as he allows u to double ramp on turn 3.
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I think then that anything is playable and can do well in Modern, but it just really depends on what that particular meta is that day and if you can draw decently at the same time. Saw a bunch of Control and Tron. Only 2 KCI players, both of whom did poorly.
I never thought I would like Solemn Simulacrum in this deck, but I feel that it is a "better version" of Bloodbraid Elf in certain metas. It automatically hits a ramp card, where Bloodbraid Elf hardly ever hit a ramp for me. I would always be disappointed because I would expect it to hit ramp over 50% of the time, but it ended up being much less than that. Also he is a speed bump for certain decks, just like Wood Elves, except he can draw you gas. Drawing an extra land, especially after a mulligan, or an extra ramp spell, is often all we need to close the deal. Plus if you sided in Ancient Grudge against your opponent and it is useless in that game, but you have Sad Robot, you can use it there. Probably happen 1 out of 100 games, but still. I would like to try substituting the Bloodbraid Elves with Sad Robot, but I am unable to locate my other copies of the card (probably have to just buy more, sigh). In a meta with countermagic, obviously Bloodbraid Elf is better, but even with the card, we are rarely able to be the beatdown. So the haste is often fairly irrelevant IMO.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)And Burn seems unwinnable to if we're on the draw. I never won a game so far. However, Tron and Control seem favorable / very favorable (that's that!)
Cheers !
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Liliana is a problem indeed,because she can ultimate realy quick and we cant deal good with her. Only discard baloth, bolt and natural valakut on her.
But overall bgx is a good MU for us because they have a realy hard time to stop our ramping.
I feel the burn MU is a bit tricky. U need ur Sakura to block, get Baloth under Skullkrack-radar and win with natural attacks or scapeshift. Remember to trim Titans in this Mu because they are to slow.
-
My question, do we need Thrun or Carny Tyrant against uw and jeskai beside our mainplan and Baloth+Thragtusk? (i aint run Tracker at the moment)
www.magickeller.de
Facebook:
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Magickeller Hannover YOUTUBE Channel
Thanks for the input ! I just jammed a game tonight and won 2-0 : I found a sideboard configuration that seems to work (-3 Khalni, -2 Farseek). Even through 2 Liliana in game 1, I pulled the win with Titan, so resiliency showed up.
About Thrun, I always felt it was a great card. Control has a lot of issues getting it out of the way!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Modern : RG Titan Shift RG | RG Revolt Zoo RG | RG Ponza RG | RGW Naya Burn RGW
Legacy : RG Belcher RG