The maths are very nice with this deck, i guess militia bugler will be good in a version which only try to combo i guess.
I prefear (in theory) a eternal witness :
-with company you dig more.
-help to search the kill when you have infinite green mana by play again chord or company.
-take back removals post SB is powerful and helps to don't miss a land-drop is nice.
In humans, the main difference it's champion and lieutenant like too have an other guy with them. I have some problem to understand bugler in bant knightfall.
I think a nice version may be a GW with 4 witness and 4 buggler to have the most resiliency you can.
Eternal Witness is always going to be played before other 3drops. Look at how Renegade Rallier fared, it is sweet in the deck but Revolt is hard to always have active so it won't be played over a Witness. Burgler has less setup in the fact that it will always replace itself with some other creature in your hand. Right now I'm imagining it would be played as either a support card in the flex slots, or as one of the ways to really up the consistency of the deck.
I played a straight GW build last night to a 2-2 finish. I lost to Grixis Death's Shadow and Elves, beat GB Infect and Goblins.
Last week I played a bant version that top 8'd GP Vegas to a 1-3 finish, beating Titan, and losing to Burn, Mill, and Jeskai. I wanted to run a deck that had a beat more of a beefcake role game 1 so moved over to a straight GW build, since the local meta is only about 10 players right now.
I don't think this boarding plan is correct. And I'll talk about it later that after playing the elves player I'm generally for taking out Chord of Calling over CoCo, Chokeand maybe Shalai should have been two paths, at least.
Game 2: same as game 1, he bolts/pushs my things, drops death's shadow, and my hand is too slow to develop a board.
Round 2 versus GB Infect:
Both games they didn't have the ability to get me off my combo fast enough, and turns out Vizier makes it really easy to keep their ground forces off the table. Turns out a handful of discard and creature interaction just isn't good enough here.
(2-0 in games, 1-1 overall)
Round 3 versus Elves:
Game 1: I keep a hand with the combo in it, he cracks me for 20 on turn 3.
Game 2: I misplay, I play turn 1 dork, and I start developing a board by deploying an early walking ballista on 1 with a chord in hand to go for the combo. He starts briking on lands, but eventually gets a heritage druid down. I forget my own gameplan, and ping the druid before coco, and suddenly can't start fetching combo pieces (with a CoCo + ewitt in my hand). He bricks on land, but hits another heritage druid + CoCo in hand and I lose.
Again, I think my boarding plan is wrong here, as it pushes my curve marginally up in what should just be a drag race match.
(we play a third game for fun, I mull to four and kill him on turn 3. Felt good).
Rd 4 versus Goblins
Game 1 he gets under me with double Legion Loyaltist + Piledriver, ooph.
He's on the beat down, I drop Devoted Druid with the combo in hand (he saw walking ballista off an early Goblin Guide flip). He can't kill it, I untap and murderize him.
-1 something +1 path
I remember boarding up to the 3 paths. I think I took a one-of vizier out. But I forget the exact card. I go on the GW beatdown plan with something like, selfless spirit, knight, ewitt get back knight, knight with double path's being thrown in there at some point. He still holds up a card, so I'm not able to crack through. Eventually I knight for gavony township, CoCo out my combo and just need a payoff- which I grab before he can get bolt + grenade.
2-2 overall.
Reflection: My play with the deck is still not great. I make a lot of misplays between lack of a clear boarding plan and suboptimal play. Knight is good, but slow. I might go down a Knight and up another Ewitt to maximize chance of going in on the combo, which is definitely where I feel the deck's power is. Eidolon and Shalai both have very high cmc for chord targets, and they often feel like useless trap cards after I board them in. I might look at replace one, particularly Eidolon. Right now I've replaced them with a Phyrexian Revoker.
There is a gav township in the deck, I guess I forgot to add it to the list. The original list I was trying to put together had something like 2 additional ghost quarter and a FoR, I didn't have those in my collection so I just added some more basic lands + additional temple garden.
I agree in hindsight Ramunap seems loose. There are two jesaki control decks lying around in my meta, so I wanted something that I could chord for to try and hurt their mana base more.
Round 1 vs. UW Spirits. He had just started since M19 came out because Spirits got some new toys. In the first game, he played turn 1 Mausoleum Wanderer. But then he just flooded out, drawing lands and double Aether Vial. He literally drew just 2 Rattlechains until it didn't matter. I also drew hardly anything after a mull to 6. I drew 3 more Birds of Paradise to go with the 1 in my opener, but it was good because they chumped until I could get creatures through since he also drew 3 Path to Exile. I eventually drew Scavenging Ooze and then Knight of the Reliquary. Scavenging Ooze ate all the Birds, a Rattlechains, and a Vizier of Remedies. In the next game, he was racing me with a Spell Queller, Rattlechains, turn 3 Mausoleum Wanderer, and a Spirit Lord from M19, but I got the infinite Combo and then got double Collected Company to put a million power on the board. Not to mention, he did 2 spells on my turn for 2 Elemental X/X tokens from Voice of Resurgence. He went all in for an attack and I blocked 2 of his creatures with Birds of Paradise from the CoCos, lived, and then swung back for lethal. He said that he could have left blockers, but I showed him that I had drawn Rhonas for infinite damage anyway. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. UR Breach. He can't find the Combo, but finds what he needs to keep my board pretty clear. After a mull to 6 with 4 lands, I flooded out. I don't remember what happened in the end after I Ghost Quarter a late Azcanta, teh Sunken Ruin, but I drew some gas and got there. So scared that he had the Combo, but didn't see anything. I make a mistake in siding because from what I've heard from this store is that UR players are leaning against Breach now, choosing to go other routes. So I sided in 3 Path to Exile and used it once on a Snapcaster Mage. I mulled to 5 this game, kept a 1 land hand, scryed a 2nd Knight of the Reliquary to the bottom, and then drew a 3rd Knight. I ended up drawing 3 more Chord of Calling to go with the 1 in hand while only drawing a 2nd land. All the 1 drops and 2 drops got burned, a Snap hit me, and then before I got burned out and was starting to mount a comeback, he got Through the Breach Emrakul, the Aeon's Torn. Glad I saw that! In the last game, he mulled to 6. But he played 3 Lightning Bolt right away and I drew 6 lands in 7 draw steps. In the end, he got the Through the Breach Emrakul, the Aeon's Torn while I finally started drawing some non lands. I got Bojuka Bog the turn after he flipped Search for Azcanta. Then I drew a late game Eidolon of Rhetoric, which I always seem to draw late vs. this deck. Is it possible to draw it before 2-3 Snaps are played? I don't know, but I probably won't side it again. It wasn't Jeskai and he didn't Bolt, Remand, Snap/Bolt, CC, Breach Emmy by turn 5, but it didn't go well for me. I was pretty disappointed. Didn't see a Blood Moon. 1-2.
Round 3 vs. Jeskai. This deck is a Jeskai magnet. I always face Jeskai when I'm on this deck. I don't even think it's THAT bad. But I know I will draw poorly and 4 Bolt and 4 Path to Exile will be gone by turn 6. I win the die roll. He Bolts my Birds of Paradise, which is the right play. I do Devoted Druid. I then go Vizier of Remedies into Duskwatch Recruiter and Walking Ballista for GG. He doesn't have a 2nd Lightning Bolt, surprisingly enough and had Celestial Colonnade on turn 2. In the next game, I mull to 5 and it is pretty close for a while, but he draws Teferi and I draw Birds and lands. That is a bad combo for us. In the last game, I make the only obvious PUNT that I feel I did today. He allowed a Knight of the Reliquary to be not summoning sick and I should have found Ghost Quarter to destroy Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin. He had 1 card at the time and 5 mana, going to 6 on the Search. He drew and Searched for 3 straight answers on 3 straight turns, I didn't naturally draw Ghost Quarter until it was too late, and the Knight ate the 4th Path to Exile after that punt. I did get a Bojuka Bog in response to a Snapcaster Mage earlier, which put me in position to win. But the punt and not drawing gas while he did led to my demise. I kind of didn't want to because I assumed his last card was a 2nd Search for Azcanta, but that's no way to play. I wonder what would have happened if I made the right play then? We'll never know. 1-2.
Round 4 vs. Tron. He wins the die roll. Tron piece, Map. Second Tron piece, leave up activation. I feel a bit badly because he EoT activated it while not seeing that my land drop was Ghost Quarter. There was some sun in his eyes at that time, so I Quarter the Tron piece and he has to drop O Stone instead. He then made a mistake after Vizier of Remedies resolved by letting it resolve, then cracking O Stone. I float mana, draw Collected Company by cracking a Horizon Canopy that I saw from Courser of Kruphix, and then getting Duskwatch Recruiter with 1,000,000 mana in my pool. He scoops. In the next game, he has turn 3 Tron off Sylvan Scying this time, but only Star into Ancient Stirrings and no mana to cast the Karn he found. I kill him on my turn 3. I had the Walking Ballista in hand and did Collected Company into Vizier of Remedies on 2 land and Devoted Druid on turn 3. Got lucky. 2-0.
Round 5 vs. Mono Red Prison. Game 1, I have the combo. He Abrades it on turn 2, but I rebuild while he has Karn, Scion of Urza and Chandra, Torch of Defiance. He goes for Chalice of the Void on 1. I do Chord of Calling for Devoted Druid, despite drawing 1 for the turn since he can kill it with Chandra. Then I untap and kill him. In the next game, he does Simian Spirit Guide, Desperate Ritual, Blood Moon. He gets Koth. I draw a Forest, but forgot that he played a Grafdigger's Cage before I drew the Forest. I leave up Collected Company, which does nothing. I could have cast Scavenging Ooze to potentially attack Koth or Devoted Druid to potentially Company into the win. BIG PUNT!!! In the final game, he get stuck on 1 land and I combo out on turn 3 or 4. Didn't matter. He missed land drops and had 3 Rituals in hand, which he could use for Anger of the Gods and Chandra he showed me. 2-1.
Round 6 vs. Humans. Played this guy now 3 times recently, including yesterday at his store's tournament. I've had a deck that is advantaged against Humans each time - Titanshift, Bogles, and now GW Company. In the first game, I punt by not leaving up enough mana to Chord for Devoted Druid because I cast a 2 drop after turn 2 Knight of the Reliquary. I do it the next turn and combo out as he's completely tapped out, Aether Vial too. In the next game, I go for Collected Company to find the win, but I get E Witness instead. He Vials in Direfleet Daredevil to cast the Company that I targeted instead. He gets a Lieutenant and something else, but before his Company resolves, I cast another Company, one I drew for the turn, and got Duskwatch Recruiter for game. In fact, there were 2 Duskwatch Recruiters. Drew super well the last 3 rounds. Why can't I draw well against Jeskai or UR? I will admit that I drew the nuts on Jeskai in that Game 1, but that's literally the only time. It's tough mulliganing against a deck like Jeskai that will play 4 Bolt/4 Path early in the game while you draw no gas or CoCos. 2-0.
I finish 4-2, which got me 11th place. They paid to 16 places, but it didn't really matter anyway. I needed to top 8, so I could try for 1st place. First place gets an Invitation to play in a 16 person tournament for $2,500 in prizes in a few months. I will not be able to go here probably again since it's so far, so it really was my only chance. Sad times...
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)
Just finished a long local league (19 games), finished 15-4 tied for 1st place, but ended 2nd due to tiebreakers.
- Wins against Boggles x2, Martyr proc, Jund, Abzan, Merfolk, Amulet Titan, Ponza, Burn, BR Hollow One, Jeskai, Esper control, GR Hollow Vine, RG Eldrazi, WO.
- Lost against Humans, Jund, BR Hollow One, UR Storm
Overall, the deck felt very good. Several of my losses were due to Anger of the Gods from Jund, Storm and Hollow One, while Humans defeated me with Meddling Mages naming my key cards.
I had a high % of T3-T4 wins, which IMO is key in modern while also you need to be able to grind against midrange decks like Jund, Mardu or Control. Against storm I felt very unfavoured, in G3 my own Eidolon prevented me from winning with the combo assembled in table and a chord in hand
After all the games played, I would make the following changes:
MD:
- 1 Noble Hierarch
- 1 Walking Ballista
- 1 Tireless Tracker
+ 1 Qasali Pridegame
+ 1 Shalai
+ 1 Selfless Spirit
- 2 Razorverge Thicket
+ 1 Swamp
+ 1 Overgrown Tomb
Ive been playing the deck for a while and I couldn't disagree more on the jeskai mu. I think it is slightly favorable at worst. Ive played both sides and never has jeskai won. You need to play tight and chord/company at the right time and grab the right things at the situation. It can be hard to play well against control and if you make a mistake you can lose but if both players play perfectly I think company wins 50-50 game one and then 60-40 post board. Now if we are talking about comboing them then yes it is very hard but with the grindy beat down plan we should get them. I also play 3 scullers and a sin collector in the board along with a few other unconventional cards that help.
Do you all think that since modern is getting faster and faster the deck needs to evolve a bit? Maybe it's time for Voice of Resurgence+Eldritch evolution shells?
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Possibly. I do think something needs to change, but I'm not sure what. I think the deck can be somewhat built to hedge against certain matchups though, whether it's Abzan Counters, GW Company, or some Bant Company/Knightfall version.
I played in 2 events. I played in a 3 round tournament on Friday at the GP Sacramento.
Round 1 vs. Aetherflux Reservoir. Cool deck. Beat me in the first game after a mull to 5. He comboed out, not much I could do with the draws that I had. In the next game, I had an amazing hand and he mulled to 5, having a few answers to my answers, but not enough. In the final game, I had an all right hand and drew Devoted Druid on turn 2 and ended up comboing out on the next turn. 2-1.
Round 2 vs. Hollow One. He Bolted my Birds of Paradise. He also Bolted my Devoted Druid and then swung me to near lethal on turn 3. Not much I can do. In the next game, I have a potential turn 2 Knight of the Reliquary that would be a 4/4. I'm thinking he'll play Grim Lavaman and then Bolt + activate him to kill the Knight since there's not much else he could do to kill it. He does just that, after some tanking on turn 2. He gets gas, despite discarding a Hollow One and I get lands. I die with 2 lands in hand that I couldn't play. Ugh. 0-2.
Round 3 vs. GR Eldrazi. I should be able to save some face and get some Tix, right? Nope. Game 1, Noble Hierarch into Thought-Knot Seer into Reality Smasher into Reality Smasher. Gets me. In the next game, since I'm on the play, I have the Combo all in hand, but turn 2 Thought-Knot Seer off a MULL TO 5 by him gets the Vizier and then he plays Smasher, Smasher again. I have enough to stabilize if he doesn't have anything else, but he top decks Abrade and gets my creature to make the Voice token a 4/4 and push the final point of damage to kill me. 0-2.
Rough getting 1-2, then having a rough last match of Day 1 and Day 2 in the GP.
Today's FNM. 20 players since a group of people wanted ot do Commander. First time seeing this and it took all our Modern players.
Round 1 vs. Storm. Not much to see here. He had no dudes, but turn 3 played 5 Rituals into triple Manamorphose and Past in Flames. GGs. In the next game, I get enough pressure to get him with Knight of the Reliquary. In the final game, he is about to lose, but draws Gifts Ungiven and then wins the game. Sweet match! 1-2.
Round 2 vs. Goblin Fecundity Storm. Plays Goblins. I have the turn 3 Combo, but just Scavenging Ooze and some mana dorks after sacrificing 2 Horizon Canopy and playing Collected Company. He goes for Traverse the Ulvenwald. That's not going to have delirium with infinite Green mana for me and Scavenging Ooze. I go on to win. In the next game after a mull to 6, I have turn 2 Eidolon of Rhetoric, which prevented me from losing on turn 3. Modern is sweeeeeet! 2-0.
Round 3 vs. Jeskai. Friend from my car pool. Once I saw him on Jeskai, I knew we'd play each other this tournament. I was just surprised that I didn't play the other 2 guys we came with. I grind him out after getting an early lead. In the next game he gets stuck on mana, but I can't quite finish him off as he chains all of the Cryptic Commands into Wrath of God and ScM Wrath of God. I probably would have killed him in 2 turns, but 1-0 is fine. 1-0.
Round 4 vs. Queller Zoo. He made a mistake after I Chorded for Vizier and then I got Rhonas and swung for lethal. He used his mana to exile my Chord in response to an Eternal Witness targeting it, but he was tapped out for Rhonas. In the following game, I take a million damage from a turn 1 Wild Nacatl and when I decline a block to put me to 3 life with Burrenton Forge-Tender in play, he goes for Path to Exile on it and then Lightning Bolt to kill me. I wasn't beating that anyway after 2 Devoted Druids died. In the final game, I got out 2 Knight of the Reliquary after a Path to Exile was drawn against his Scavenging Ooze. I end up getting there in the way after a bunch of chumps by his creatures to my HUGE Knights. 2-1.
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)
Does anyone have a strong list with Militia Bugler? I am ready to try him, but I want it to be a strong version of the deck.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
I played his list from last week to the #1 seed after Swiss in a 53 person PPTQ on Sunday, losing to Storm in the Quarterfinals.
This list seems fantastic. In the Valuetown facebook group, we've been calling lists like these that run Knight 'Combony' as they can go hard on value or into the combo. Super sweet stuff.
I love the list in it's entirety. I even love the Blue added. There's literally only 1 thing that bothers me a little - the lack of Tireless Tracker. I've felt like this card was often a must-kill on sight for the opponent and literally won the game in other matches by itself, churning excess land draws into more cards. It does come out in many matchups, don't get me wrong, that are much too quick, but I love having him against attrition type decks where the Combo is merely a pipe dream.
What is everybody's thoughts on Tireless Tracker? I guess it will vary from meta to meta. Some people just play in super grindy metas where it's good and some don't.
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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)
Militia Bugler replaces Tireless Tracker in these lists. It performs the same function vs the removal decks of letting you grind, while also finding combo pieces in the other match ups.
I beat Humans twice in the PPTQ Sunday with the list I posted. You mulligan for a 1-drop or Devoted Druid and hope to combo off turn 3 or 4 - Humans usually needs a Reflector Mage to delay you enough.
Sideboard you bring in Paths and Worship and a Pridemage. You still want to combo off as fast as possible - Paths will be used on a big Lieutenant or Mantis Rider to stay alive or a Meddling Mage naming a part of the combo. Worship just keeps you alive long enough to combo, but they play 2 Rec Sage and 3-4 Buglers so don't count on it to lock them out of the game. You can combo off through Meddling Mage with Chord and Company. A smart Humans player with Meddling Mage Path to Exile and just try to race you.
For any match up you need to combo to win fast enough (other combo decks, aggro) you are going to have a tough time if you keep a hand without a 1-drop and/or a piece of the Devoted Vizier combo in your hand.
Yeah, this is true. Militia Bugler is essentially a "better Tireless Tracker" for 1 turn and with Modern being so quick, that's often where you need it the most. I didn't consider that. I ordered 3 foil Militia Bugler online and 2 more foil Unified Will online as I'd like to keep my deck fully foiled, as it is now. When those cards come, I am going to test that list, which I saved. I may even try Knightfall or Bant Company without Retreat to Coralhelm, but with Spell Queller again.
I originally quit Knightfall because over a 3 month span, my win percentage was 58.73%, which is much lower than I've had with other decks. It certainly was fun, but things like Grixis Shadow were tough, along with Tron too.
I guess I may have to try without my favorite Modern legal creature, Tireless Tracker. I guess I can still have fun with him in the Titanshift sideboard, lol.
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)
Not a big fan of Bugler. I feel that our already existing options outweigh what he can provide. For 3-drop value creatures, I prefer mainboard Witness. Its ability to recycle threats or rebuy a combo piece is much stronger than getting a random thing from the top of your deck. In the grindy matchups when you need to grind G1, Witness gets you an impactful card 100% of the time. In a faster matchup, Bugler's ability to dig deep to the combo makes him better G1. However, in a matchup like those, I board out my Witnesses, and would do the same for Bugler. I need to be fast in those games, and a 3-drop that "draws a card" doesn't really achieve that for me.
I want my deck to grind better, and because of that, I run Witness over Bugler. If non-interactive (that don't involve sending stuff to the yard) decks are really running rampant, then I would definitely make that switch to Bugler. However, the "value 3-drop" is pretty bad in any non-interactive matchup, which is what pushes me to value the grind potential over mostly everything else. I do also note that the better body is relevant against Mardu or any other Lingering Souls/Young Pryo matchups.
I don't really run Tracker in this type of deck anymore. Since we're so chock-full of combo pieces, I find that rebuying a value creature or perhaps another piece is simply more relevant for the "value 3-drop". Tracker's advantage is that left unchecked, it dominates the game by virtue of being a threat. Sucks a lot more in fast matchups compared to Bugler, but I would still play Tracker over Bugler. Bugler itself really isn't a must answer threat. Tracker is, and when you're playing against midrange or control, you need your threat density to be high. If I want to grind, I would play Tracker, but only in the board.
If the meta requires us to be uber-fast, I'd go with Bugler. Unfortunately, I don't feel like we're at that point yet, so he's gonna sit out on the sidelines.
Been testing Pharika, God of Affliction as a replacement for Tracker/Courser in grindy matchups because it doesn't die. Not super impressed with it so far, but I prefer it over the latter. Being impossible to remove is rather good, especially when blockers are relevant.
Been playing this deck for a good few months and really like the all in variant Laplasjan plays. Considering how diverse modern is I want to be aggressive with my combo game 1, which works well when playing 4x devoted druid, vizier, and duskwatch recruiter. Game 2 and 3 are better for grinding after sideboard modifications. Although not a massive sample size but in playing MTGO friendly leagues I have played 26 unique decks in 35 matches.
He tweaks his flex/sb slots a little, but he always runs finks combo, and always plays 4x Duskwatch recruiter. He also wrote a mini guide for the deck a couple of months ago.
I have some questions for yall regarding the finks combo. I like having it in the deck in theory, but in practice, I think I have actually gone off with it twice in 4-5 months of playing the deck. Is my experience an outlier or are people actually comboing with finks? Finks is a decent magic card, but Knight of the Reliquary seems better unless you combo or against burn. It also lets you play a Ghost Quarter package, which helps against Valakut/tron.
@FoodChainGoblins
Any list or you not have change something since your last list here ?
Still this or pretty close to it with minor SB changes. I may try Laplasjan's list after reading the primer or I may try Knightfall/Bant Company pretty soon. I'm considering which deck would be better for PPTQ season.
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)
Hi, I started with modern and this deck about a year ago & this primer has helped a lot - thank you!
My take on the finks / knights discussion is that our worst card is by far vizier (no etb effect, no ramping, nothing w/o other combo pieces). Therefore, my opponents often ignore it and save their removal for the druid if I don't run the finks combo. But if I run the finks combo, they actually also have to kill the vizier on sight, which strains their resources. This is especially important against midrange & control!
Finks are also very nice with gavony township (also in midrange & control mu) & even if you are up against a deck that does not care about your life total, with the infinite scrys you can easily get your other combo (and st draw & play it immediately thanks to canopy). Viscera seer can be chorded for in turn 3 with finks / vizier / birds in play and also delivers quite a bit of value by its own in removal - heavy MUs (and gives protection from exile effects).
Finally, I had opponents (bant spirits) board in RIP to prevent infinite life, diluting their deck and slowing down their game plan while not really affecting me.
Do you know sb who streams gwx vizier regularly / puts vids on youtube? I find it always very interesting to watch other pilots...
Hi, I started with modern and this deck about a year ago & this primer has helped a lot - thank you!
My take on the finks / knights discussion is that our worst card is by far vizier (no etb effect, no ramping, nothing w/o other combo pieces). Therefore, my opponents often ignore it and save their removal for the druid if I don't run the finks combo. But if I run the finks combo, they actually also have to kill the vizier on sight, which strains their resources. This is especially important against midrange & control!
Finks are also very nice with gavony township (also in midrange & control mu) & even if you are up against a deck that does not care about your life total, with the infinite scrys you can easily get your other combo (and st draw & play it immediately thanks to canopy). Viscera seer can be chorded for in turn 3 with finks / vizier / birds in play and also delivers quite a bit of value by its own in removal - heavy MUs (and gives protection from exile effects). Finally, I had opponents (bant spirits) board in RIP to prevent infinite life, diluting their deck and slowing down their game plan while not really affecting me.
Do you know sb who streams gwx vizier regularly / puts vids on youtube? I find it always very interesting to watch other pilots...
You must be lucky then. When I'm on Abzan Counters and I see a Rest in Peace, I tend to draw the Eternal Witnesses and the Scavenging Ooze. I mean, they're still creatures, but immensely neutered.
I am also curious about someone who streams it. I would definitely watch that!
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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)
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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
Last week I played a bant version that top 8'd GP Vegas to a 1-3 finish, beating Titan, and losing to Burn, Mill, and Jeskai. I wanted to run a deck that had a beat more of a beefcake role game 1 so moved over to a straight GW build, since the local meta is only about 10 players right now.
1 Walking Ballista
4 Knight of the Reliquary
4 Devoted Druid
3 Birds of Paradise
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Courser of Kruphix
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Vizier of Remedies
2 Duskwatch Recruiter
1 Ramunap Excavator
2 Eternal Witness
2 Tireless Tracker
4 Chord of Calling
4 Collected Company
Lands
1 Tectonic Edge
4 Misty Rainforest
6 Forest
2 Plains
4 Windswept Heath
1 Horizon Canopy
3 Temple Garden
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Remorseful Cleric
3 Path to Exile
2 Choke
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Shalai, Voice of Plenty
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
2 Worship
2 Voice of Resurgence
Round 1 versus Grixis Death's Shadow
Bolted the bird(s) as I played them, dropped a bunch of death's shadows and beat me to death before I could assemble the combo.
-4 coco, -1 courser of kruphix, -1 ramunap excuvator, -1 Tireless Tracker, +2 Worship, +2 choke + 2 Voice of Resurgance + 1 Shalai
I don't think this boarding plan is correct. And I'll talk about it later that after playing the elves player I'm generally for taking out Chord of Calling over CoCo, Chokeand maybe Shalai should have been two paths, at least.
Game 2: same as game 1, he bolts/pushs my things, drops death's shadow, and my hand is too slow to develop a board.
Round 2 versus GB Infect:
Both games they didn't have the ability to get me off my combo fast enough, and turns out Vizier makes it really easy to keep their ground forces off the table. Turns out a handful of discard and creature interaction just isn't good enough here.
(2-0 in games, 1-1 overall)
Round 3 versus Elves:
Game 1: I keep a hand with the combo in it, he cracks me for 20 on turn 3.
+2 worship, +1 eidolon of rhetoric, -1 scavenging ooze, -1 Courser, -1 Ramunap Excuvator
Game 2: I misplay, I play turn 1 dork, and I start developing a board by deploying an early walking ballista on 1 with a chord in hand to go for the combo. He starts briking on lands, but eventually gets a heritage druid down. I forget my own gameplan, and ping the druid before coco, and suddenly can't start fetching combo pieces (with a CoCo + ewitt in my hand). He bricks on land, but hits another heritage druid + CoCo in hand and I lose.
Again, I think my boarding plan is wrong here, as it pushes my curve marginally up in what should just be a drag race match.
(we play a third game for fun, I mull to four and kill him on turn 3. Felt good).
Rd 4 versus Goblins
Game 1 he gets under me with double Legion Loyaltist + Piledriver, ooph.
+2 worship, +2 path, +2 Voice -4 Chord of Calling, -1 Ramunap Excuvator, -1 Tireless Tracker
He's on the beat down, I drop Devoted Druid with the combo in hand (he saw walking ballista off an early Goblin Guide flip). He can't kill it, I untap and murderize him.
-1 something +1 path
I remember boarding up to the 3 paths. I think I took a one-of vizier out. But I forget the exact card. I go on the GW beatdown plan with something like, selfless spirit, knight, ewitt get back knight, knight with double path's being thrown in there at some point. He still holds up a card, so I'm not able to crack through. Eventually I knight for gavony township, CoCo out my combo and just need a payoff- which I grab before he can get bolt + grenade.
2-2 overall.
Reflection: My play with the deck is still not great. I make a lot of misplays between lack of a clear boarding plan and suboptimal play. Knight is good, but slow. I might go down a Knight and up another Ewitt to maximize chance of going in on the combo, which is definitely where I feel the deck's power is. Eidolon and Shalai both have very high cmc for chord targets, and they often feel like useless trap cards after I board them in. I might look at replace one, particularly Eidolon. Right now I've replaced them with a Phyrexian Revoker.
There is a gav township in the deck, I guess I forgot to add it to the list. The original list I was trying to put together had something like 2 additional ghost quarter and a FoR, I didn't have those in my collection so I just added some more basic lands + additional temple garden.
I agree in hindsight Ramunap seems loose. There are two jesaki control decks lying around in my meta, so I wanted something that I could chord for to try and hurt their mana base more.
https://mtgdecks.net/Modern/counters-company-decklist-by-kendall-burdette-741819
Round 1 vs. UW Spirits. He had just started since M19 came out because Spirits got some new toys. In the first game, he played turn 1 Mausoleum Wanderer. But then he just flooded out, drawing lands and double Aether Vial. He literally drew just 2 Rattlechains until it didn't matter. I also drew hardly anything after a mull to 6. I drew 3 more Birds of Paradise to go with the 1 in my opener, but it was good because they chumped until I could get creatures through since he also drew 3 Path to Exile. I eventually drew Scavenging Ooze and then Knight of the Reliquary. Scavenging Ooze ate all the Birds, a Rattlechains, and a Vizier of Remedies. In the next game, he was racing me with a Spell Queller, Rattlechains, turn 3 Mausoleum Wanderer, and a Spirit Lord from M19, but I got the infinite Combo and then got double Collected Company to put a million power on the board. Not to mention, he did 2 spells on my turn for 2 Elemental X/X tokens from Voice of Resurgence. He went all in for an attack and I blocked 2 of his creatures with Birds of Paradise from the CoCos, lived, and then swung back for lethal. He said that he could have left blockers, but I showed him that I had drawn Rhonas for infinite damage anyway. 2-0.
Round 2 vs. UR Breach. He can't find the Combo, but finds what he needs to keep my board pretty clear. After a mull to 6 with 4 lands, I flooded out. I don't remember what happened in the end after I Ghost Quarter a late Azcanta, teh Sunken Ruin, but I drew some gas and got there. So scared that he had the Combo, but didn't see anything. I make a mistake in siding because from what I've heard from this store is that UR players are leaning against Breach now, choosing to go other routes. So I sided in 3 Path to Exile and used it once on a Snapcaster Mage. I mulled to 5 this game, kept a 1 land hand, scryed a 2nd Knight of the Reliquary to the bottom, and then drew a 3rd Knight. I ended up drawing 3 more Chord of Calling to go with the 1 in hand while only drawing a 2nd land. All the 1 drops and 2 drops got burned, a Snap hit me, and then before I got burned out and was starting to mount a comeback, he got Through the Breach Emrakul, the Aeon's Torn. Glad I saw that! In the last game, he mulled to 6. But he played 3 Lightning Bolt right away and I drew 6 lands in 7 draw steps. In the end, he got the Through the Breach Emrakul, the Aeon's Torn while I finally started drawing some non lands. I got Bojuka Bog the turn after he flipped Search for Azcanta. Then I drew a late game Eidolon of Rhetoric, which I always seem to draw late vs. this deck. Is it possible to draw it before 2-3 Snaps are played? I don't know, but I probably won't side it again. It wasn't Jeskai and he didn't Bolt, Remand, Snap/Bolt, CC, Breach Emmy by turn 5, but it didn't go well for me. I was pretty disappointed. Didn't see a Blood Moon. 1-2.
Round 3 vs. Jeskai. This deck is a Jeskai magnet. I always face Jeskai when I'm on this deck. I don't even think it's THAT bad. But I know I will draw poorly and 4 Bolt and 4 Path to Exile will be gone by turn 6. I win the die roll. He Bolts my Birds of Paradise, which is the right play. I do Devoted Druid. I then go Vizier of Remedies into Duskwatch Recruiter and Walking Ballista for GG. He doesn't have a 2nd Lightning Bolt, surprisingly enough and had Celestial Colonnade on turn 2. In the next game, I mull to 5 and it is pretty close for a while, but he draws Teferi and I draw Birds and lands. That is a bad combo for us. In the last game, I make the only obvious PUNT that I feel I did today. He allowed a Knight of the Reliquary to be not summoning sick and I should have found Ghost Quarter to destroy Azcanta, the Sunken Ruin. He had 1 card at the time and 5 mana, going to 6 on the Search. He drew and Searched for 3 straight answers on 3 straight turns, I didn't naturally draw Ghost Quarter until it was too late, and the Knight ate the 4th Path to Exile after that punt. I did get a Bojuka Bog in response to a Snapcaster Mage earlier, which put me in position to win. But the punt and not drawing gas while he did led to my demise. I kind of didn't want to because I assumed his last card was a 2nd Search for Azcanta, but that's no way to play. I wonder what would have happened if I made the right play then? We'll never know. 1-2.
Round 4 vs. Tron. He wins the die roll. Tron piece, Map. Second Tron piece, leave up activation. I feel a bit badly because he EoT activated it while not seeing that my land drop was Ghost Quarter. There was some sun in his eyes at that time, so I Quarter the Tron piece and he has to drop O Stone instead. He then made a mistake after Vizier of Remedies resolved by letting it resolve, then cracking O Stone. I float mana, draw Collected Company by cracking a Horizon Canopy that I saw from Courser of Kruphix, and then getting Duskwatch Recruiter with 1,000,000 mana in my pool. He scoops. In the next game, he has turn 3 Tron off Sylvan Scying this time, but only Star into Ancient Stirrings and no mana to cast the Karn he found. I kill him on my turn 3. I had the Walking Ballista in hand and did Collected Company into Vizier of Remedies on 2 land and Devoted Druid on turn 3. Got lucky. 2-0.
Round 5 vs. Mono Red Prison. Game 1, I have the combo. He Abrades it on turn 2, but I rebuild while he has Karn, Scion of Urza and Chandra, Torch of Defiance. He goes for Chalice of the Void on 1. I do Chord of Calling for Devoted Druid, despite drawing 1 for the turn since he can kill it with Chandra. Then I untap and kill him. In the next game, he does Simian Spirit Guide, Desperate Ritual, Blood Moon. He gets Koth. I draw a Forest, but forgot that he played a Grafdigger's Cage before I drew the Forest. I leave up Collected Company, which does nothing. I could have cast Scavenging Ooze to potentially attack Koth or Devoted Druid to potentially Company into the win. BIG PUNT!!! In the final game, he get stuck on 1 land and I combo out on turn 3 or 4. Didn't matter. He missed land drops and had 3 Rituals in hand, which he could use for Anger of the Gods and Chandra he showed me. 2-1.
Round 6 vs. Humans. Played this guy now 3 times recently, including yesterday at his store's tournament. I've had a deck that is advantaged against Humans each time - Titanshift, Bogles, and now GW Company. In the first game, I punt by not leaving up enough mana to Chord for Devoted Druid because I cast a 2 drop after turn 2 Knight of the Reliquary. I do it the next turn and combo out as he's completely tapped out, Aether Vial too. In the next game, I go for Collected Company to find the win, but I get E Witness instead. He Vials in Direfleet Daredevil to cast the Company that I targeted instead. He gets a Lieutenant and something else, but before his Company resolves, I cast another Company, one I drew for the turn, and got Duskwatch Recruiter for game. In fact, there were 2 Duskwatch Recruiters. Drew super well the last 3 rounds. Why can't I draw well against Jeskai or UR? I will admit that I drew the nuts on Jeskai in that Game 1, but that's literally the only time. It's tough mulliganing against a deck like Jeskai that will play 4 Bolt/4 Path early in the game while you draw no gas or CoCos. 2-0.
I finish 4-2, which got me 11th place. They paid to 16 places, but it didn't really matter anyway. I needed to top 8, so I could try for 1st place. First place gets an Invitation to play in a 16 person tournament for $2,500 in prizes in a few months. I will not be able to go here probably again since it's so far, so it really was my only chance. Sad times...
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)- Wins against Boggles x2, Martyr proc, Jund, Abzan, Merfolk, Amulet Titan, Ponza, Burn, BR Hollow One, Jeskai, Esper control, GR Hollow Vine, RG Eldrazi, WO.
- Lost against Humans, Jund, BR Hollow One, UR Storm
Played the following list:
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Devoted Druid
4 Vizier of Remedies
3 Duskwatch Recruiter
3 Eternal Witness
3 Kitchen Finks
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Walking Ballista
1 Viscera Seer
1 Tireless Tracker
4 Chord of Calling
4 Collected Company
Lands
4 Windswept Heath
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Forest
1 Plains
2 Temple Garden
1 Overgrown Tomb
2 Razorverge Thicket
2 Horizon Canopy
2 Gavony Township
3 Path to Exile
3 Postmortem Lunge
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
2 Worship
3 Voice of Resurgence
2 Selfless Spirit
Overall, the deck felt very good. Several of my losses were due to Anger of the Gods from Jund, Storm and Hollow One, while Humans defeated me with Meddling Mages naming my key cards.
I had a high % of T3-T4 wins, which IMO is key in modern while also you need to be able to grind against midrange decks like Jund, Mardu or Control. Against storm I felt very unfavoured, in G3 my own Eidolon prevented me from winning with the combo assembled in table and a chord in hand
After all the games played, I would make the following changes:
MD:
- 1 Noble Hierarch
- 1 Walking Ballista
- 1 Tireless Tracker
+ 1 Qasali Pridegame
+ 1 Shalai
+ 1 Selfless Spirit
- 2 Razorverge Thicket
+ 1 Swamp
+ 1 Overgrown Tomb
SB:
- 1 Qasali Pridemage
- 3 Postmortem Lunge
- 2 Selfless Spirit
- 1 Voice of Resurgence
+ 3 Abrupt Decay
+ 2 Sin Collector
+ 1 Tireless Tracker
+ 1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
GBW NO Elves / Aggro Elves
GBWU Combo Elves
EDH Decks:
Duel Commander:
GG Thrun, the last Trolololol GG
GW The Captain WG
GWB Karadores BWG
GWU Jenara UWG
UWB Oloro-DD BWU
Regular EDH:
GBW Ghave the Enchanter WBG
Cards are not money, investments, or a retirement fund, and should never have been treated as such.
Wizards made a mistake caving to speculators once, and we still pay for that mistake 19 years later.
Happy is the man who has broken the chains that hurt the mind and given up worrying once and for all. Be patient and tough. One day this pain will be useful to you.
I played in 2 events. I played in a 3 round tournament on Friday at the GP Sacramento.
Round 1 vs. Aetherflux Reservoir. Cool deck. Beat me in the first game after a mull to 5. He comboed out, not much I could do with the draws that I had. In the next game, I had an amazing hand and he mulled to 5, having a few answers to my answers, but not enough. In the final game, I had an all right hand and drew Devoted Druid on turn 2 and ended up comboing out on the next turn. 2-1.
Round 2 vs. Hollow One. He Bolted my Birds of Paradise. He also Bolted my Devoted Druid and then swung me to near lethal on turn 3. Not much I can do. In the next game, I have a potential turn 2 Knight of the Reliquary that would be a 4/4. I'm thinking he'll play Grim Lavaman and then Bolt + activate him to kill the Knight since there's not much else he could do to kill it. He does just that, after some tanking on turn 2. He gets gas, despite discarding a Hollow One and I get lands. I die with 2 lands in hand that I couldn't play. Ugh. 0-2.
Round 3 vs. GR Eldrazi. I should be able to save some face and get some Tix, right? Nope. Game 1, Noble Hierarch into Thought-Knot Seer into Reality Smasher into Reality Smasher. Gets me. In the next game, since I'm on the play, I have the Combo all in hand, but turn 2 Thought-Knot Seer off a MULL TO 5 by him gets the Vizier and then he plays Smasher, Smasher again. I have enough to stabilize if he doesn't have anything else, but he top decks Abrade and gets my creature to make the Voice token a 4/4 and push the final point of damage to kill me. 0-2.
Rough getting 1-2, then having a rough last match of Day 1 and Day 2 in the GP.
Today's FNM. 20 players since a group of people wanted ot do Commander. First time seeing this and it took all our Modern players.
Round 1 vs. Storm. Not much to see here. He had no dudes, but turn 3 played 5 Rituals into triple Manamorphose and Past in Flames. GGs. In the next game, I get enough pressure to get him with Knight of the Reliquary. In the final game, he is about to lose, but draws Gifts Ungiven and then wins the game. Sweet match! 1-2.
Round 2 vs. Goblin Fecundity Storm. Plays Goblins. I have the turn 3 Combo, but just Scavenging Ooze and some mana dorks after sacrificing 2 Horizon Canopy and playing Collected Company. He goes for Traverse the Ulvenwald. That's not going to have delirium with infinite Green mana for me and Scavenging Ooze. I go on to win. In the next game after a mull to 6, I have turn 2 Eidolon of Rhetoric, which prevented me from losing on turn 3. Modern is sweeeeeet! 2-0.
Round 3 vs. Jeskai. Friend from my car pool. Once I saw him on Jeskai, I knew we'd play each other this tournament. I was just surprised that I didn't play the other 2 guys we came with. I grind him out after getting an early lead. In the next game he gets stuck on mana, but I can't quite finish him off as he chains all of the Cryptic Commands into Wrath of God and ScM Wrath of God. I probably would have killed him in 2 turns, but 1-0 is fine. 1-0.
Round 4 vs. Queller Zoo. He made a mistake after I Chorded for Vizier and then I got Rhonas and swung for lethal. He used his mana to exile my Chord in response to an Eternal Witness targeting it, but he was tapped out for Rhonas. In the following game, I take a million damage from a turn 1 Wild Nacatl and when I decline a block to put me to 3 life with Burrenton Forge-Tender in play, he goes for Path to Exile on it and then Lightning Bolt to kill me. I wasn't beating that anyway after 2 Devoted Druids died. In the final game, I got out 2 Knight of the Reliquary after a Path to Exile was drawn against his Scavenging Ooze. I end up getting there in the way after a bunch of chumps by his creatures to my HUGE Knights. 2-1.
I finish 3-1.
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)https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1241931#paper
I played his list from last week to the #1 seed after Swiss in a 53 person PPTQ on Sunday, losing to Storm in the Quarterfinals.
This list seems fantastic. In the Valuetown facebook group, we've been calling lists like these that run Knight 'Combony' as they can go hard on value or into the combo. Super sweet stuff.
What is everybody's thoughts on Tireless Tracker? I guess it will vary from meta to meta. Some people just play in super grindy metas where it's good and some don't.
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 beat Humans twice in the PPTQ Sunday with the list I posted. You mulligan for a 1-drop or Devoted Druid and hope to combo off turn 3 or 4 - Humans usually needs a Reflector Mage to delay you enough.
Sideboard you bring in Paths and Worship and a Pridemage. You still want to combo off as fast as possible - Paths will be used on a big Lieutenant or Mantis Rider to stay alive or a Meddling Mage naming a part of the combo. Worship just keeps you alive long enough to combo, but they play 2 Rec Sage and 3-4 Buglers so don't count on it to lock them out of the game. You can combo off through Meddling Mage with Chord and Company. A smart Humans player with Meddling Mage Path to Exile and just try to race you.
For any match up you need to combo to win fast enough (other combo decks, aggro) you are going to have a tough time if you keep a hand without a 1-drop and/or a piece of the Devoted Vizier combo in your hand.
I originally quit Knightfall because over a 3 month span, my win percentage was 58.73%, which is much lower than I've had with other decks. It certainly was fun, but things like Grixis Shadow were tough, along with Tron too.
I guess I may have to try without my favorite Modern legal creature, Tireless Tracker. I guess I can still have fun with him in the Titanshift sideboard, lol.
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 want my deck to grind better, and because of that, I run Witness over Bugler. If non-interactive (that don't involve sending stuff to the yard) decks are really running rampant, then I would definitely make that switch to Bugler. However, the "value 3-drop" is pretty bad in any non-interactive matchup, which is what pushes me to value the grind potential over mostly everything else. I do also note that the better body is relevant against Mardu or any other Lingering Souls/Young Pryo matchups.
I don't really run Tracker in this type of deck anymore. Since we're so chock-full of combo pieces, I find that rebuying a value creature or perhaps another piece is simply more relevant for the "value 3-drop". Tracker's advantage is that left unchecked, it dominates the game by virtue of being a threat. Sucks a lot more in fast matchups compared to Bugler, but I would still play Tracker over Bugler. Bugler itself really isn't a must answer threat. Tracker is, and when you're playing against midrange or control, you need your threat density to be high. If I want to grind, I would play Tracker, but only in the board.
If the meta requires us to be uber-fast, I'd go with Bugler. Unfortunately, I don't feel like we're at that point yet, so he's gonna sit out on the sidelines.
Been testing Pharika, God of Affliction as a replacement for Tracker/Courser in grindy matchups because it doesn't die. Not super impressed with it so far, but I prefer it over the latter. Being impossible to remove is rather good, especially when blockers are relevant.
My Trades
Laplasjan is an MTGO player with many many 5-0s with Abzan company.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/player/Laplasjan
He tweaks his flex/sb slots a little, but he always runs finks combo, and always plays 4x Duskwatch recruiter. He also wrote a mini guide for the deck a couple of months ago.
https://www.cardknocklife.com/deck-spotlight-abzan-counters-company/
I have some questions for yall regarding the finks combo. I like having it in the deck in theory, but in practice, I think I have actually gone off with it twice in 4-5 months of playing the deck. Is my experience an outlier or are people actually comboing with finks? Finks is a decent magic card, but Knight of the Reliquary seems better unless you combo or against burn. It also lets you play a Ghost Quarter package, which helps against Valakut/tron.
Still this or pretty close to it with minor SB changes. I may try Laplasjan's list after reading the primer or I may try Knightfall/Bant Company pretty soon. I'm considering which deck would be better for PPTQ season.
https://mtgdecks.net/Modern/counters-company-decklist-by-kendall-burdette-741819
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)My take on the finks / knights discussion is that our worst card is by far vizier (no etb effect, no ramping, nothing w/o other combo pieces). Therefore, my opponents often ignore it and save their removal for the druid if I don't run the finks combo. But if I run the finks combo, they actually also have to kill the vizier on sight, which strains their resources. This is especially important against midrange & control!
Finks are also very nice with gavony township (also in midrange & control mu) & even if you are up against a deck that does not care about your life total, with the infinite scrys you can easily get your other combo (and st draw & play it immediately thanks to canopy). Viscera seer can be chorded for in turn 3 with finks / vizier / birds in play and also delivers quite a bit of value by its own in removal - heavy MUs (and gives protection from exile effects).
Finally, I had opponents (bant spirits) board in RIP to prevent infinite life, diluting their deck and slowing down their game plan while not really affecting me.
Do you know sb who streams gwx vizier regularly / puts vids on youtube? I find it always very interesting to watch other pilots...
You must be lucky then. When I'm on Abzan Counters and I see a Rest in Peace, I tend to draw the Eternal Witnesses and the Scavenging Ooze. I mean, they're still creatures, but immensely neutered.
I am also curious about someone who streams it. I would definitely watch that!
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)