I am still somewhat new to the deck, but i play a 1-of Worship in the board. In a "fair" Meta full of Jund, White Weeny and Burn the card is nuts. Just not dying by having a mana dork out feels amazing.
Though i have never experiences burn to be a troublesome MU due to 4 Finks and the speed of the combo. You don't even need a wincon once you announce 100.000 life. They just can't beat that.
1-of Worship cna be nice, but then you hit the problem of having to draw it naturally and the chances of that are pretty low. You can always scry to it with Seer but tat that point you've probably already won. If you're playing vs a lot of Jund then play Pharika, God of Affliction, they don't have a card in their deck that can remove her (maybe LotV's ult but if that's happening then you have bigger problems...) She also does work vs control strategies, and things like Burn or WW are deck is already favoured. Just bring in some removal from the SB.
How do you side against Jund? Thanks.
Go check out the sideboarding section of the primer. It's a general sideboard that I float around using and the general advice is relevant.
I got destroyed tonight at FNM. Really rough day, but not sure what I could have done better. 24 person FNM for 5 rounds.
Round 1 vs. Mono Black Rack. I lose game 1 due to a bunch of Bitterblossom tokens after I peel a bunch of lands. I actually had him at 5 life, although most of that was self-inflicted. He drew Ensnaring Bridge, which went well with Bitterblossom. I had several turns to draw Finks or Recap to combo, but found lands instead. I also could have possibly drawn Orzhov Pontiff when I was at 7 life, but he still wins in the damage race without some life gain. In game 2, he does turn 1 Inquisition of Kozilek into turns 2 and 3 Smallpox. I win this one convincingly. In the final game, I was stuck on 1 land after Smallpox and double Wrench Mind. Turn 1 Inquisition slowed me down as well. I eventually empty my hand and am swinging with 2 2/2 creatures, but he draws 2 more the Rack to go with the other and win the race. This was the first time I've ever lost to Mono Black Rack with any deck I've ever played, so I was honestly pretty pissed. 1-2.
Round 2 vs. Merfolk. I draw some quick action and he doesn't have the killer hands. In the next game, he does Vapor Snag on my Noble Hierarch, but I turn 2 Wall of Roots into Noble Hierarch and end up drawing the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Noble Hierarchs. He scoops a while later because he just didn't have any pressure. 2-0.
Round 3 vs. Jund. I hadn't lost to this guy before in around 10-15 tries. Well, this was a tournament of firsts. He mulls to 5 in the first game. I keep a 4 land, 3 creature hand. I end up drawing all lands, while fetching for every fetchable land in my deck and 1 Chord of Calling. He plays the turn 4 Kalitas of course and Goyf/PiaK are too much for one Chord after he does 2 Terminate and 1 Maelstrom Pulse on my opening hand's 3 creatures. In the next game, he makes me discard something. I have a 1 land hand and don't draw lands. I eventually Chord for a mana dork to play Collected Company next turn, but he does Anger of the Gods to sweep me and then beats with a Goyf that he had and a Goyf/Kalitas that join the party on his next 2 draws. He told me that he drew well. I didn't care if he drew well; it's what Jund does. I was a bit concerned with drawing all lands, except 1 Chord in game 1 and mulling a 0 land hand to 1 land, then not drawing a land until everything was gone. Then I drew 3 lands straight while 5/6 Goofs got me. 0-2.
Round 4 vs. Jeskai Nahiri. The guy has a slow hand with only Vision/Visions before turn 4. I think he will play Nahiri, as this player has averaged 2-3 Nahiris per game against me in the past 3 matches. He doesn't and loses pretty badly to a few creatures. In the next game, I flood out. I literally had 39 cards left in my deck at one point with 2 Gavony Township and 2 fetches among them. In the final game, he taps out for Nahiri. I drop Finks and Viscera Seer to go with my Anafenza and combo for infinite life. But he has double Path to Exile for Kitchen Finks and SCM/Path for my Anafenza. He doesn't scoop and does Emrakul before I draw Melira that I set up for infinite Bolster counters. Maybe this was the mistake? He doesn't scoop and we go to time with me having hardly any permanents in play and drawing poorly. He doesn't scoop to me because he said that I "tried to cheat him" by going to damage from Emrakul's attack. 1-1-1.
Round 5 vs. GW Death and Taxes. The new Thalia made an appearance. I had a really good hand and draw well this time. I was locked with Gaddock Teeg, Aven Mindcensor, and Leonin Arbiter. I was greedy by keeping 2 Eternal Witness in hand with Chord of Calling instead of just getting my Godless Shrine that got Ghost Quartered with the hate in play. This was really the main mistake that I felt I did tonight, by being too greedy. I eventually combo for infinite life, as I topdeck Kitchen Finks. I put Anafenza on top to get infinite counters. He scoops. In the next game, he had an early new Thalia, then Gaddock Teeg, then Sunlance on my Bop and Thalia to slow me down. I had Redcap, but now it takes longer. I stabilize, but Aven Mindcensor finishes me off with double exalted. In the final game, I just play too many creatures. He has a huge wall to go through, but I'm surprised he didn't attack with his 5/5 Scooze. I had a 2nd Orzhov Pontiff in hand, waiting for the chance to +1/+1 my team and swing for lethal, but I just ended up killing him with BoP with a Bolster counter and 2 Noble Hierarch I drew in a row. 2-1.
I finish 10th at 2-2-1. Like I said, it was a terrible night. I'm not sure the last time I did this poorly, but then again, I actually have no recollection of mulliganing 3 no land hands during a 5 round tournament. I also don't remember the last time being mana flooded AND mana screwed in teh same match twice in a 5 round tournament. I know, excuses.
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)
Yeah, admittedly I was pretty salty for several reasons.
1. I wanted to get some more store credit to finish Restore Balance (and I just needed 2 Leyline of the Void), but I can easily get over that.
2. I lost to Mono Black Rack for the first time, so I can no longer say that I've never lost to that particular deck. Admittedly, my opponents before weren't that good with it, although they also haven't drawn like my opponent last FNM.
3. I lost to a guy who hadn't beaten me before with any of the decks we've played. After he mulled to 5 in the first game, I thought that I would have a solid game no matter how I drew. Twice when I fetched, my next card was Collected Company, but I kept my optimism up as I drew land after land. Mind you, it is a 22 land deck. There are 2 other players at my LGS that I was 15-0 and 18-0 at one point and since they first beat me, they have been nearly 50% since against me.
4. The draw was also frustrating because although technically, he eventually wins by milling me out and keeping a 7 card hand with Emrakul to discard, I'm 99% sure he didn't know this. The only reason I comboed in the final game is that he tapped out. He should have had it easily. Also there seems to be some variance in the 3 matches we've played the last month, as he's drawn more Nahiri, the Harbinger than any other 2 cards in his deck combined. He said that he wouldn't scoop to me because he thought that I was "trying to cheat him" by not announcing his card's trigger.
I know about fringe strategies. I play them a bunch myself and honestly, I usually do better than I do with Tier 1 decks. I like the diversity. I just don't like the scary feeling of my first draw step determining the whole game (if I drew a land, it meant I would draw mostly lands the whole game and if I drew a non land, it meant that I would only draw those). It was one of those feelings that no matter how much I varied my shuffling, it wouldn't help, although the changing in shuffling strategies worked in the final match. I was happy that I drew land and spells that 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)
Adding to that, a large part of our grindy plan is Gavony Township, and 23 lands makes it easier to activate when you side out dorks or they get removed.
Anyway, went to a 96 people PPTQ yesterday at my LGS, by far the largest event I've attended with this deck yet. Ended up going 4-3, with this decklist:
Match 1: Dredge(vine?) (2-0)
G1: he has a fast hand but no disruption, and I have a turn 4 combo, which was just in time.
G2: he mulls to 5 and gets mana screwed, I have natural turn 3 combo.
I've played against this guy before, but these games went by so fast I couldn't really tell what exact version of dredge he was playing.
In: Pharika, 3 Path
Out: Redcap, Pridemage, 2 Witness
Match 2: Naya Zoo (0-2)
G1: I mull to 5 looking for lands, he's on the play, I die before being able to do anything.
G2: I keep Gavony Township, 2 other lands, Birds, Finks, Melira. End up flooding and never see another card that isn't a dork or a land, and he has a Path for my Finks.
In: 3 Path, 2 Decay, Courser, Forge-Tender
Out: Fiend Hunter, Pontiff, Redcap, 2 Witness, 2 Chord
Match 3: Monogreen Stompy (2-1)
G1: Fast game. I'm on the draw and combo at a really low life total on my turn 3 or 4.
G2: I mull to 4. Only see a single land the entire game.
G3: Was able to grind it out with Township resetting a Finks every turn, saving removal for tramplers. End up beating down with a 7/8 Birds of Paradise.
This was a newer player. I did not expect this deck to give me as much trouble as it did, but trample damage backed by gigantic Aspect of Hydras is real.
In: 3 Path, 2 Decay
Out: Redcap, Pontiff, Ooze, Pridemage, Spellskite
Match 4: Merfolk (0-2)
G1: I kept a bad hand against this matchup, but I didn't know what I was playing against. My plan was to cast an early Company this game, but double Cursecatcher backed up by 3 lords made short work of me.
G2: Mull to 5 again and had to keep a bad hand, only dorks and spells. He had a Cursecatcher, Negate, and even a Swan Song.
In: 3 Path, 2 Decay, 1 Rec Sage, 1 Pulse
Out: Redcap, Pontiff, Ooze, Spellskite, 1 Wall of Roots, 2 Chords
Match 5: Naya Burn (0-2)
G1: Kept a hand with 2 Finks by accident (again, didn't know what I was up against). Ended up not mattering though, he was on the play and had a god hand including 2 Atarka's Command, and I die before getting off my second Finks.
G2: Really close game. I had a good hand, but my landbase just killed me in this game. I had to lead with turn 1 Canopy and shock myself the next 2 turns, he burned me out for exact damage. He cast an Anger of the Gods off the side which was interesting, but ended up not mattering since I would be dead if it had been any burn spell anyway.
In: 3 Path, 2 Decay, Forge-Tender, Courser
Out: Pontiff, Fiend Hunter, Redcap, 2 Chord, 2 Witness
Match 6: Jeskai Nahiri (2-0)
G1: Opponent had all the removal and counters, basically killed whatever I played every turn. Didn't see Nahiri in time though, and eventually I was able to stick a few dorks on the field and Township them into oblivion.
G2: Kept a hand with 2 Company and draw a third. End up outvaluing him to death and casting like 7 Company over the course of the game. I was eventually able to put together the life combo, but he disrupted me before I could infinite bolster him to death, so it didn't matter much anyway.
In: 1 Path, Pulse, Courser, Forge-Tender, 4 Sculler
Out: 1 Melira, 3 Noble Hierarchs, Fiend Hunter, Pridemage, Pontiff, Redcap
Match 7: Goblins/8Whack (2-1)
G1: Opponent has a fast hand, I get bushwhacked out of the game.
G2: Survive on Spellskite, Wall of Roots and Finks, combo off eventually.
G3: Turn 1 Forge-Tender was an all star, I proceed to chain Companies and win through beatdown.
In/Out: same as the Zoo match, except I left the Pontiff in (can't remember what I took out for it).
It seems like it was a good day for fast, aggressive strategies (Dredgevine won the tournament eventually). Even though this deck is favored against those decks, unfortunately I stumbled too much on draws against a few of those matchups like the Burn and Zoo matches which I lost 0-2, but that's just how it goes I guess. I don't think I made any huge misplays here though which is nice, and it was a lot of fun overall.
I feel good about the deck configuration as it is. The only card I didn't side in once was the Mindcensor, but the event was full of Company and Kiki-Chord so I'm still glad I had it in there. Still not sure if I want the Pridemage maindeck, though.
How do people feel about a 1-of n-Thalia in the main? I'm going to give it a try at LGS modern event this week. She seems like a good addition to our fair game B-plan.
Does she help on the combo? No.
Is she a good addition to the fair plan? If yes, is she better than voice of resurgence and on what occasions? I doubt we should play any thing that does not helpthe combo at all. We have gavony for the plan b and even birds can aid on that. If you want so badly to have such a tool, i would prefer voice any day.
I don't know about any day, If I'm playing against Tron I think I would want that Thalia more.. If we are just considering those two cards.
As a Tron Player i have to admit that i am legitamately scared of a MD Newlia. It slows down the deck so much and gives you opportunity to combo easier.
On top of that it's a great beater with Hierachs and First Strike. I will run a Newlia MD for sure, even as 61st card if necessary. The effect and body are worth it imo.
Adding to that, a large part of our grindy plan is Gavony Township, and 23 lands makes it easier to activate when you side out dorks or they get removed.
Anyway, went to a 96 people PPTQ yesterday at my LGS, by far the largest event I've attended with this deck yet. Ended up going 4-3, with this decklist:
Match 1: Dredge(vine?) (2-0)
G1: he has a fast hand but no disruption, and I have a turn 4 combo, which was just in time.
G2: he mulls to 5 and gets mana screwed, I have natural turn 3 combo.
I've played against this guy before, but these games went by so fast I couldn't really tell what exact version of dredge he was playing.
In: Pharika, 3 Path
Out: Redcap, Pridemage, 2 Witness
Match 2: Naya Zoo (0-2)
G1: I mull to 5 looking for lands, he's on the play, I die before being able to do anything.
G2: I keep Gavony Township, 2 other lands, Birds, Finks, Melira. End up flooding and never see another card that isn't a dork or a land, and he has a Path for my Finks.
In: 3 Path, 2 Decay, Courser, Forge-Tender
Out: Fiend Hunter, Pontiff, Redcap, 2 Witness, 2 Chord
Match 3: Monogreen Stompy (2-1)
G1: Fast game. I'm on the draw and combo at a really low life total on my turn 3 or 4.
G2: I mull to 4. Only see a single land the entire game.
G3: Was able to grind it out with Township resetting a Finks every turn, saving removal for tramplers. End up beating down with a 7/8 Birds of Paradise.
This was a newer player. I did not expect this deck to give me as much trouble as it did, but trample damage backed by gigantic Aspect of Hydras is real.
In: 3 Path, 2 Decay
Out: Redcap, Pontiff, Ooze, Pridemage, Spellskite
Match 4: Merfolk (0-2)
G1: I kept a bad hand against this matchup, but I didn't know what I was playing against. My plan was to cast an early Company this game, but double Cursecatcher backed up by 3 lords made short work of me.
G2: Mull to 5 again and had to keep a bad hand, only dorks and spells. He had a Cursecatcher, Negate, and even a Swan Song.
In: 3 Path, 2 Decay, 1 Rec Sage, 1 Pulse
Out: Redcap, Pontiff, Ooze, Spellskite, 1 Wall of Roots, 2 Chords
Match 5: Naya Burn (0-2)
G1: Kept a hand with 2 Finks by accident (again, didn't know what I was up against). Ended up not mattering though, he was on the play and had a god hand including 2 Atarka's Command, and I die before getting off my second Finks.
G2: Really close game. I had a good hand, but my landbase just killed me in this game. I had to lead with turn 1 Canopy and shock myself the next 2 turns, he burned me out for exact damage. He cast an Anger of the Gods off the side which was interesting, but ended up not mattering since I would be dead if it had been any burn spell anyway.
In: 3 Path, 2 Decay, Forge-Tender, Courser
Out: Pontiff, Fiend Hunter, Redcap, 2 Chord, 2 Witness
Match 6: Jeskai Nahiri (2-0)
G1: Opponent had all the removal and counters, basically killed whatever I played every turn. Didn't see Nahiri in time though, and eventually I was able to stick a few dorks on the field and Township them into oblivion.
G2: Kept a hand with 2 Company and draw a third. End up outvaluing him to death and casting like 7 Company over the course of the game. I was eventually able to put together the life combo, but he disrupted me before I could infinite bolster him to death, so it didn't matter much anyway.
In: 1 Path, Pulse, Courser, Forge-Tender, 4 Sculler
Out: 1 Melira, 3 Noble Hierarchs, Fiend Hunter, Pridemage, Pontiff, Redcap
Match 7: Goblins/8Whack (2-1)
G1: Opponent has a fast hand, I get bushwhacked out of the game.
G2: Survive on Spellskite, Wall of Roots and Finks, combo off eventually.
G3: Turn 1 Forge-Tender was an all star, I proceed to chain Companies and win through beatdown.
In/Out: same as the Zoo match, except I left the Pontiff in (can't remember what I took out for it).
It seems like it was a good day for fast, aggressive strategies (Dredgevine won the tournament eventually). Even though this deck is favored against those decks, unfortunately I stumbled too much on draws against a few of those matchups like the Burn and Zoo matches which I lost 0-2, but that's just how it goes I guess. I don't think I made any huge misplays here though which is nice, and it was a lot of fun overall.
I feel good about the deck configuration as it is. The only card I didn't side in once was the Mindcensor, but the event was full of Company and Kiki-Chord so I'm still glad I had it in there. Still not sure if I want the Pridemage maindeck, though.
Nice write-up. Do you think that main board Voice of Resurgence will help with match-ups such as naya burn and zoo decks as it can trade for their creatures and provide with a good blocker? Do you also feel good about main board fiend hunter?
Nice write-up. Do you think that main board Voice of Resurgence will help with match-ups such as naya burn and zoo decks as it can trade for their creatures and provide with a good blocker? Do you also feel good about main board fiend hunter?
It probably helps slightly, yes, but I can't really justify running Voice anymore. Voice was at its best against Jund and Control, but Jund now runs Kalitas maindeck and Anger on the side, and Jeskai now has Nahiri, Anger and Path to easily deal with Voice. To improve the Zoo/Burn match it would be better to run a Kor Firewalker if you really need to, although we are still favored against them regardless without it. Both of those matches I lost I was on the draw game 1, and either I stumbled on draws or they drew really well both times. I really think the Burn match in general isn't as easy for us as people think, though.
As for Fiend Hunter, he didn't really matter in any of my matches, but I did run into a lot of Bolt decks. I really think I'd miss him if he wasn't in there though, since we don't run any removal at all in the main, being able to turn a Chord into removal is really nice to have available when you need it.
Having a low curve to get something going against jeskai nahiri and be able to have CoCo or chord up on their 4th turn in case of an eventual nahiri is actually a pretty solid place to be, so I don't dislike the voices here since they let us play freely on our turn as well, they do run alot of counters. But yeah, I mostly like the voices to lower our curve a bit more and have more solid early plays. We have alot of creatures they'd like to exile, upping that count seems solid. The only nuisance is that voice hits for 2 and nahiri ticks up for 2 so they aren't exactly ideal for this matchup, they're still pretty decent if you know how to use them properly though.
About the new thalia, she actually stops the nahiri ultimate ^^ I like her alot I'm not sure this deck is the best fit for her though.
The hate that misses Archangel + Spike Feeder includes Scavenging Ooze, Grafdigger's Cage, Torpor Orb, Leyline of the Void, Faerie Macabre, etc. The Thune/Feeder combo, if executed intelligently, also often dodges any single removal spell (if you wait until you can put a third +1/+1 counter on Spike Feeder)
Voice is especially bad because even against UWR, Nahiri just exiles it
Take out voice or reveillark. Actually, probably wouldn't even use voice if Im not sure the meta is just Jund and midranges. I tried Eldritch Evolution but didn't like it too much, but it's probably much better with voices, possibly same deal with revellark. I'd say keep 61 and try executing that plan.
In SB I might do 2 maelstrom pulse and 0 decay and keep both courser and rec sage, or just not use courser. def rec sage over courser.
Our deck is already extremely GY dependant so I don't really like Lark as the top end, in a deck with eldritch evo I'd at least include the archangel of thune combo. I have a list I'm testing out with a red splash but it does not include any CoCos so there are no casting cost restrictions on the creatures.
If you are running eldritch evo then some voices are definitely to be included, especially if your deck has relevant 4 drops to tutor up, which brings me to my question.
Do you guys feel like Eldritch Evo pushes out CoCo more or Chord? From my testing the deck really needs a restructuring since Eldritch Evo cannot reach its full potential in a deck that has to run almost only 3 or less drops. So I'd say eldritch evo and collected don't mesh that well together and would need a really tweaked out list to co-exist in the same deck to their full potential.
(possibly 3/3 on Evolution and Chord but Chord feels much worse in testing)
This has felt like a huge improvement over the pre-Eldritch Moon deck. Selfless Spirit is obviously leagues better than Burrenton Forge-tender, Eldritch Evolution is faster than Chord and they're generally good in the same situation.
The list looks good, I agree with the reduction of e-wit to 2,she is good to be sac'd to eldritch evolution, but with 4 of our main spells exiling themselves I feel like there is often a good target missing in the GY. I'm not sure how good CoCo is in your list though, you have 34 (43 counting dorks) cards you don't want to hit, i guess it's still good but a bit less consistent. What do you think about reducing the combo pieces? Since we now have another more reliable tutor to combo off I feel like this might be the way to go, I've been testing a 2 viscera / 1 melira / 1 anafenza / 1 Archangel split and I've loved the free slots , it does make combo-ing off very early less consistent which is relevant against other combo / affinity / elves etc. I've been testing some other 4/5 cc bullets in these free slots and I'm loving the Sigarda, tutoring her up with eldritch evo on a finks has won me alot of games recently. Other bullets I've tested are Resto / Zealous Conscripts / Avalanche Riders / Thragtusk / Thrun among others, but yeah, it was in a more eldritch evolution focused build.
I'm wondering if 3 Noble Hierarch is too many. I feel like flooding out with dorks and lands is very bad for this deck. At first I saw a lot of lists playing 2 Hiearch, but lately I've seen 3. 4 BoP, 3 NH, 2 WoR, and 23 lands is 32 mana sources. Not that reducing the Hierarch count by 1 would really alter the percent of mana sources in this deck by too much, but I just hate flooding out.
Thoughts on 2 vs 3 Hierarch?
Also, for the Archangel and Spike Feeder combo, does this make the deck "better"? I guess the debate is whether or not the additional combo line is better than having 2 more silver bullets...
TLDR; I'm nitpicking at 3 slots in my deck and it's driving me nuts to not know if I'm making the correct choices.
To cbgirardo,
I run a similar deck to yours. My sideboard is pretty different though. I run a ton of removal, and don't run any Fulminators. How has Sigarda, Host of Herons worked out for you? Also how has the deck in general worked out?
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MTGO/MTGA: Tyclone
My Primers ~ GWx Vizier Company ~ Knightfall ~ RG Eldrazi ~ Green's Sun's Zenith
More Brews ~ Modern Four Horsemen ~ Gitrog Dredge
Round 1 vs. Mono Black Rack. I lose game 1 due to a bunch of Bitterblossom tokens after I peel a bunch of lands. I actually had him at 5 life, although most of that was self-inflicted. He drew Ensnaring Bridge, which went well with Bitterblossom. I had several turns to draw Finks or Recap to combo, but found lands instead. I also could have possibly drawn Orzhov Pontiff when I was at 7 life, but he still wins in the damage race without some life gain. In game 2, he does turn 1 Inquisition of Kozilek into turns 2 and 3 Smallpox. I win this one convincingly. In the final game, I was stuck on 1 land after Smallpox and double Wrench Mind. Turn 1 Inquisition slowed me down as well. I eventually empty my hand and am swinging with 2 2/2 creatures, but he draws 2 more the Rack to go with the other and win the race. This was the first time I've ever lost to Mono Black Rack with any deck I've ever played, so I was honestly pretty pissed. 1-2.
Round 2 vs. Merfolk. I draw some quick action and he doesn't have the killer hands. In the next game, he does Vapor Snag on my Noble Hierarch, but I turn 2 Wall of Roots into Noble Hierarch and end up drawing the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Noble Hierarchs. He scoops a while later because he just didn't have any pressure. 2-0.
Round 3 vs. Jund. I hadn't lost to this guy before in around 10-15 tries. Well, this was a tournament of firsts. He mulls to 5 in the first game. I keep a 4 land, 3 creature hand. I end up drawing all lands, while fetching for every fetchable land in my deck and 1 Chord of Calling. He plays the turn 4 Kalitas of course and Goyf/PiaK are too much for one Chord after he does 2 Terminate and 1 Maelstrom Pulse on my opening hand's 3 creatures. In the next game, he makes me discard something. I have a 1 land hand and don't draw lands. I eventually Chord for a mana dork to play Collected Company next turn, but he does Anger of the Gods to sweep me and then beats with a Goyf that he had and a Goyf/Kalitas that join the party on his next 2 draws. He told me that he drew well. I didn't care if he drew well; it's what Jund does. I was a bit concerned with drawing all lands, except 1 Chord in game 1 and mulling a 0 land hand to 1 land, then not drawing a land until everything was gone. Then I drew 3 lands straight while 5/6 Goofs got me. 0-2.
Round 4 vs. Jeskai Nahiri. The guy has a slow hand with only Vision/Visions before turn 4. I think he will play Nahiri, as this player has averaged 2-3 Nahiris per game against me in the past 3 matches. He doesn't and loses pretty badly to a few creatures. In the next game, I flood out. I literally had 39 cards left in my deck at one point with 2 Gavony Township and 2 fetches among them. In the final game, he taps out for Nahiri. I drop Finks and Viscera Seer to go with my Anafenza and combo for infinite life. But he has double Path to Exile for Kitchen Finks and SCM/Path for my Anafenza. He doesn't scoop and does Emrakul before I draw Melira that I set up for infinite Bolster counters. Maybe this was the mistake? He doesn't scoop and we go to time with me having hardly any permanents in play and drawing poorly. He doesn't scoop to me because he said that I "tried to cheat him" by going to damage from Emrakul's attack. 1-1-1.
Round 5 vs. GW Death and Taxes. The new Thalia made an appearance. I had a really good hand and draw well this time. I was locked with Gaddock Teeg, Aven Mindcensor, and Leonin Arbiter. I was greedy by keeping 2 Eternal Witness in hand with Chord of Calling instead of just getting my Godless Shrine that got Ghost Quartered with the hate in play. This was really the main mistake that I felt I did tonight, by being too greedy. I eventually combo for infinite life, as I topdeck Kitchen Finks. I put Anafenza on top to get infinite counters. He scoops. In the next game, he had an early new Thalia, then Gaddock Teeg, then Sunlance on my Bop and Thalia to slow me down. I had Redcap, but now it takes longer. I stabilize, but Aven Mindcensor finishes me off with double exalted. In the final game, I just play too many creatures. He has a huge wall to go through, but I'm surprised he didn't attack with his 5/5 Scooze. I had a 2nd Orzhov Pontiff in hand, waiting for the chance to +1/+1 my team and swing for lethal, but I just ended up killing him with BoP with a Bolster counter and 2 Noble Hierarch I drew in a row. 2-1.
I finish 10th at 2-2-1. Like I said, it was a terrible night. I'm not sure the last time I did this poorly, but then again, I actually have no recollection of mulliganing 3 no land hands during a 5 round tournament. I also don't remember the last time being mana flooded AND mana screwed in teh same match twice in a 5 round tournament. I know, excuses.
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)1. I wanted to get some more store credit to finish Restore Balance (and I just needed 2 Leyline of the Void), but I can easily get over that.
2. I lost to Mono Black Rack for the first time, so I can no longer say that I've never lost to that particular deck. Admittedly, my opponents before weren't that good with it, although they also haven't drawn like my opponent last FNM.
3. I lost to a guy who hadn't beaten me before with any of the decks we've played. After he mulled to 5 in the first game, I thought that I would have a solid game no matter how I drew. Twice when I fetched, my next card was Collected Company, but I kept my optimism up as I drew land after land. Mind you, it is a 22 land deck. There are 2 other players at my LGS that I was 15-0 and 18-0 at one point and since they first beat me, they have been nearly 50% since against me.
4. The draw was also frustrating because although technically, he eventually wins by milling me out and keeping a 7 card hand with Emrakul to discard, I'm 99% sure he didn't know this. The only reason I comboed in the final game is that he tapped out. He should have had it easily. Also there seems to be some variance in the 3 matches we've played the last month, as he's drawn more Nahiri, the Harbinger than any other 2 cards in his deck combined. He said that he wouldn't scoop to me because he thought that I was "trying to cheat him" by not announcing his card's trigger.
I know about fringe strategies. I play them a bunch myself and honestly, I usually do better than I do with Tier 1 decks. I like the diversity. I just don't like the scary feeling of my first draw step determining the whole game (if I drew a land, it meant I would draw mostly lands the whole game and if I drew a non land, it meant that I would only draw those). It was one of those feelings that no matter how much I varied my shuffling, it wouldn't help, although the changing in shuffling strategies worked in the final match. I was happy that I drew land and spells that 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)Anyway, went to a 96 people PPTQ yesterday at my LGS, by far the largest event I've attended with this deck yet. Ended up going 4-3, with this decklist:
4x Birds of Paradise
3x Eternal Witness
1x Fiend Hunter
4x Kitchen Finks
2x Melira, Sylvok Outcast
1x Murderous Redcap
3x Noble Hierarch
1x Orzhov Pontiff
1x Qasali Pridemage
1x Scavenging Ooze
1x Spellskite
3x Viscera Seer
2x Wall of Roots
3x Gavony Township
1x Godless Shrine
2x Horizon Canopy
2x Overgrown Tomb
1x Plains
1x Razorverge Thicket
1x Swamp
2x Temple Garden
4x Verdant Catacombs
4x Windswept Heath
4x Chord of Calling
4x Collected Company
2x Abrupt Decay
1x Aven Mindcensor
1x Burrenton Forge-Tender
1x Courser of Kruphix
1x Maelstrom Pulse
3x Path to Exile
1x Pharika, God of Affliction
1x Reclamation Sage
4x Tidehollow Sculler
Match 1: Dredge(vine?) (2-0)
G1: he has a fast hand but no disruption, and I have a turn 4 combo, which was just in time.
G2: he mulls to 5 and gets mana screwed, I have natural turn 3 combo.
I've played against this guy before, but these games went by so fast I couldn't really tell what exact version of dredge he was playing.
In: Pharika, 3 Path
Out: Redcap, Pridemage, 2 Witness
Match 2: Naya Zoo (0-2)
G1: I mull to 5 looking for lands, he's on the play, I die before being able to do anything.
G2: I keep Gavony Township, 2 other lands, Birds, Finks, Melira. End up flooding and never see another card that isn't a dork or a land, and he has a Path for my Finks.
In: 3 Path, 2 Decay, Courser, Forge-Tender
Out: Fiend Hunter, Pontiff, Redcap, 2 Witness, 2 Chord
Match 3: Monogreen Stompy (2-1)
G1: Fast game. I'm on the draw and combo at a really low life total on my turn 3 or 4.
G2: I mull to 4. Only see a single land the entire game.
G3: Was able to grind it out with Township resetting a Finks every turn, saving removal for tramplers. End up beating down with a 7/8 Birds of Paradise.
This was a newer player. I did not expect this deck to give me as much trouble as it did, but trample damage backed by gigantic Aspect of Hydras is real.
In: 3 Path, 2 Decay
Out: Redcap, Pontiff, Ooze, Pridemage, Spellskite
Match 4: Merfolk (0-2)
G1: I kept a bad hand against this matchup, but I didn't know what I was playing against. My plan was to cast an early Company this game, but double Cursecatcher backed up by 3 lords made short work of me.
G2: Mull to 5 again and had to keep a bad hand, only dorks and spells. He had a Cursecatcher, Negate, and even a Swan Song.
In: 3 Path, 2 Decay, 1 Rec Sage, 1 Pulse
Out: Redcap, Pontiff, Ooze, Spellskite, 1 Wall of Roots, 2 Chords
Match 5: Naya Burn (0-2)
G1: Kept a hand with 2 Finks by accident (again, didn't know what I was up against). Ended up not mattering though, he was on the play and had a god hand including 2 Atarka's Command, and I die before getting off my second Finks.
G2: Really close game. I had a good hand, but my landbase just killed me in this game. I had to lead with turn 1 Canopy and shock myself the next 2 turns, he burned me out for exact damage. He cast an Anger of the Gods off the side which was interesting, but ended up not mattering since I would be dead if it had been any burn spell anyway.
In: 3 Path, 2 Decay, Forge-Tender, Courser
Out: Pontiff, Fiend Hunter, Redcap, 2 Chord, 2 Witness
Match 6: Jeskai Nahiri (2-0)
G1: Opponent had all the removal and counters, basically killed whatever I played every turn. Didn't see Nahiri in time though, and eventually I was able to stick a few dorks on the field and Township them into oblivion.
G2: Kept a hand with 2 Company and draw a third. End up outvaluing him to death and casting like 7 Company over the course of the game. I was eventually able to put together the life combo, but he disrupted me before I could infinite bolster him to death, so it didn't matter much anyway.
In: 1 Path, Pulse, Courser, Forge-Tender, 4 Sculler
Out: 1 Melira, 3 Noble Hierarchs, Fiend Hunter, Pridemage, Pontiff, Redcap
Match 7: Goblins/8Whack (2-1)
G1: Opponent has a fast hand, I get bushwhacked out of the game.
G2: Survive on Spellskite, Wall of Roots and Finks, combo off eventually.
G3: Turn 1 Forge-Tender was an all star, I proceed to chain Companies and win through beatdown.
In/Out: same as the Zoo match, except I left the Pontiff in (can't remember what I took out for it).
It seems like it was a good day for fast, aggressive strategies (Dredgevine won the tournament eventually). Even though this deck is favored against those decks, unfortunately I stumbled too much on draws against a few of those matchups like the Burn and Zoo matches which I lost 0-2, but that's just how it goes I guess. I don't think I made any huge misplays here though which is nice, and it was a lot of fun overall.
I feel good about the deck configuration as it is. The only card I didn't side in once was the Mindcensor, but the event was full of Company and Kiki-Chord so I'm still glad I had it in there. Still not sure if I want the Pridemage maindeck, though.
I don't know about any day, If I'm playing against Tron I think I would want that Thalia more.. If we are just considering those two cards.
Decks
Modern
BGR Jund RGB
BW Eldrazi and Taxes WB
BWGAbzan Company GWB
Mtgo Modern
G Company Elves G
On top of that it's a great beater with Hierachs and First Strike. I will run a Newlia MD for sure, even as 61st card if necessary. The effect and body are worth it imo.
BRGJundGRB
GCTronCG
WBRMardu PyromancerRBW
Legacy:
GElvesG
Nice write-up. Do you think that main board Voice of Resurgence will help with match-ups such as naya burn and zoo decks as it can trade for their creatures and provide with a good blocker? Do you also feel good about main board fiend hunter?
It probably helps slightly, yes, but I can't really justify running Voice anymore. Voice was at its best against Jund and Control, but Jund now runs Kalitas maindeck and Anger on the side, and Jeskai now has Nahiri, Anger and Path to easily deal with Voice. To improve the Zoo/Burn match it would be better to run a Kor Firewalker if you really need to, although we are still favored against them regardless without it. Both of those matches I lost I was on the draw game 1, and either I stumbled on draws or they drew really well both times. I really think the Burn match in general isn't as easy for us as people think, though.
As for Fiend Hunter, he didn't really matter in any of my matches, but I did run into a lot of Bolt decks. I really think I'd miss him if he wasn't in there though, since we don't run any removal at all in the main, being able to turn a Chord into removal is really nice to have available when you need it.
About the new thalia, she actually stops the nahiri ultimate ^^ I like her alot I'm not sure this deck is the best fit for her though.
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
Voice is especially bad because even against UWR, Nahiri just exiles it
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
Im planing play this in my PPTQs of weekend
Creatures (29)
1 Spellskite
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Eternal Witness
1 Fiend Hunter
3 Kitchen Finks
1 Murderous Redcap
3 Noble Hierarch
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Viscera Seer
2 Wall of Roots
2 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
2 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
3 Voice of Resurgence
1 Reveillark
Lands (23)
2 Forest
1 Plains
1 Swamp
3 Gavony Township
1 Godless Shrine
3 Horizon Canopy
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Razorverge Thicket
2 Temple Garden
4 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
Spells (9)
3 Chord of Calling
4 Collected Company
2 Eldritch Evolution
Sideboard
3 Tidehollow Sculler
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Reclamation Sage/Courser of Kruphix
1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence
2 Abrupt Decay
3 Path to Exile
1 Pharika, God of Affliction
1 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Maelstrom Pulse
I could not get to 60 cards , I await suggestions.
Grixis Delver RBU
Abzan BGW
Legacy
Elves GB
Abzan Deathblade BGW
In SB I might do 2 maelstrom pulse and 0 decay and keep both courser and rec sage, or just not use courser. def rec sage over courser.
If you are running eldritch evo then some voices are definitely to be included, especially if your deck has relevant 4 drops to tutor up, which brings me to my question.
Do you guys feel like Eldritch Evo pushes out CoCo more or Chord? From my testing the deck really needs a restructuring since Eldritch Evo cannot reach its full potential in a deck that has to run almost only 3 or less drops. So I'd say eldritch evo and collected don't mesh that well together and would need a really tweaked out list to co-exist in the same deck to their full potential.
4 Birds of Paradise
3 Noble Hierarch
2 Viscera Seer
2 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
2 Melira, Sylvok Outcast
2 Wall of Roots
1 Cartel Aristocrat
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Spellskite
4 Kitchen Finks
2 Eternal Witness
1 Fiend Hunter
1 Spike Feeder
1 Murderous Redcap
1 Archangel of Thune
4 Collected Company
4 Eldritch Evolution
2 Chord of Calling
Lands: 22
4 Windswept Heath
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Forest
2 Gavony Township
2 Overgrown Tomb
2 Razorverge Thicket
2 Temple Garden
1 Godless Shrine
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Plains
1 Swamp
3 Fulminator Mage
2 Maelstrom Pulse
2 Path to Exile
1 Anafenza, the Foremost
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Gavony Township
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Orzhov Pontiff
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Selfless Spirit
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
(possibly 3/3 on Evolution and Chord but Chord feels much worse in testing)
This has felt like a huge improvement over the pre-Eldritch Moon deck. Selfless Spirit is obviously leagues better than Burrenton Forge-tender, Eldritch Evolution is faster than Chord and they're generally good in the same situation.
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
Thoughts on 2 vs 3 Hierarch?
Also, for the Archangel and Spike Feeder combo, does this make the deck "better"? I guess the debate is whether or not the additional combo line is better than having 2 more silver bullets...
TLDR; I'm nitpicking at 3 slots in my deck and it's driving me nuts to not know if I'm making the correct choices.
I run a similar deck to yours. My sideboard is pretty different though. I run a ton of removal, and don't run any Fulminators. How has Sigarda, Host of Herons worked out for you? Also how has the deck in general worked out?