Thanks for the super thorough write up and the detailed analyses over past posts. Looks like you finished 9-6 overall? Still a strong GP performance. Looking forward to more details on what went well, what could've gone better, and the list overall.
Thanks! Yeah, my overall record was 9-6. I think I had above average luck on day 1, and poor luck on day 2. I learned a lot about the deck though, and I think I can make some small improvements. My day 1 record was 6-2 (with 2 byes), but my day 2 record was 3-4. I feel like I got really unlucky with mulligans and comboing on day 2, but also that the deck mulligans too much. Here's my matchups, and I'll ellaborate more on the changes after. I have some notes on the games, but am going to do a brief write-up, with the larger points.
Day 1:
R3: 1-2 vs mono G tron
Game 1: I smoked him, like should happen; easy win.
Game 2: Mull to 6. I try to combo turn 2 and fizzle, drawing retract but no opal. I have 8 cheerios on the board, and SV, retract, and lands in my hand. He drops a turn 3 karn, exiles my paladin, and SV whiffs on a second Sram/paladin. He drops turn 4 Ulaamog, exiles my lands, and that's game.
Game 3: I have to mull to 5 to find a decent hand, and keep cheerio x3, paladin, and opal. I figure if I hit a land I am in it, and I won't get a better 4 card hand. My land turns out to be 6 cards down, and he drops turn 3 Karn again, which seals the game.
I feel I got unlucky in this matchup, but that's cheerios. 2-1
R4: 2-0 vs Amulet Titan
Game 1: I keep a great hand that looks like turn 3 sure win. On his turn 2 he has two amulets and sakura tribe scout and looks like he is ready to go crazy. Instead of going for a turn 2 win, I drop a land and pass, holding a Hurkyl's Recall (card is amazing). Next turn he starts going nuts, casts summoner's pact for titan, and drops titan with 2 mana floating and no land drops. In response to the trigger I cast Hurkyl's recall targeting him. His lands come into play tapped, and after he passes I win on my turn 3.
Game 2: Keep 7. Both our draws are slower. My turn 2 paladin eats an abrade, but I stick a Sram after and win on turn 4.
3-1
R5: 2-0 vs Gb Tron
This deck splashed black for thoughtseize.
Game 1: Pretty strange. I mull to 5 to find a hand with land serum visions. No creature, but I don't think I'll be luckier on a mull to 4. He mulls to 4 himself. Scry reveals a Sram on top, and I win easily on turn 3.
Game 2: I mull to 6 to find a creature. He drops some artifacts, plays stirrings, and looks setup to complete tron on turn 4. Luckily I go off turn 3.
4-1
R6: 2-1 vs Esper Goryo?
I wrote this deck down as BW something. Talking to others, the deck is called Esper Goryo, and plays like a control deck that mills itself, and uses goryo's vengeance to bring back Jace, Mind's Prodigy and Obzedat?!,. which then flip or exile, keeping them in play later. I get lucky this matchup, but don't have too many notes.
Game 1: Keep 7. I eat an inquisition with snags my paladin. SV finds me a second, and I combo off turn 3 after he taps out.
Game 2: Keep 7 again, but he has too much removal. Winds up playing 2 inquisition and 3 paths (flashback with Jace), and I can't compete.
Game 3: He keeps a slow hand with no discard and one removal spell. It's not enough, and I combo off turn 4.
Intersting deck. Def should be a bad matchup, but I got pretty lucky. Makes up for losing to tron. 5-1
R7: 2-0 vs Counters CoCo
This is that druid -1/-1 counter deck that generates infinite mana and plays a walking ballista.
Game 1: I mull to 5, keeping a hand with land, cheerios, and retract. I don't like to mull to 4 if my hand has playable lands. Scry something to the bottom. Luckily his deck is slow and can't interact. I find Sram turn 3 and fizzle. His turn 4 he doesn't find the combo, but is setup to next turn. I draw another cheerio, which finds me a repeal, into a retract, into a win.
Game 2: I keep great 7 with 2 SV, cheerios, 2 land, and a path to exile. I feel that 2 SV makes up for no creature, and I know PTE will be useful. My first SV finds the Sram. I fizzle turn 2 after drawing a few cards, drop opal and pass. He drops Eidalon of Rhetoric on turn 3, which I path at his EOT. My second SV finds the retract, and I win turn 3.
This locks me in for day 2, which was a big relief. Still looking to do well to increase my standing.
R8: 1-2 vs Grixis control
I knew I'd have to face this deck eventually. Think GDS, but more card draw, removal, and discard. Opponent was also Corey Burkhart, the pro player.
Game 1: I keep a great 7 with 2 lands, 3 Paladin/Sram. and 2 cheerios. He turn 1 thoughtseizes a Sram. I drop paladin, draw a few cards turn 2 and fizzle, drawing another paladin. He fatal pushes my paladin, and inquisitions another in my hand. I drop another Sram, cantrip into a cheerio, and fizzle again, drawing paladin/sram #5. Sram eats a Kaloghan's command, and I pitch a land. I rip the retract, drop Paladin #5, and win. Super lucky for me, but that's the only way to win this matchup.
Game 2: This game was super close again. Claim/Fame keeps me in it for a bit while he is removing my threats and ripping my hand to shreds, but he has no clock, and is drawing a lot of lands. I've fizzled twice, and have no creatures, but 6 cheerios on the board. If I can draw one my Ghirapur Aether Grids I win, but instead lose to a creeping tar pit.
Game 3: This looks more like how I would expect this matchup to play out. I mull to 6, and only draw 1 paladin, which gets thoughtseized.
Still make day 2, and almost won an unwinnable matchup, so I'm not mad. 6-2
Round 9: 0-2 vs Bant Spirits
This deck should be a great matchup. I actually wind up going 1-3 vs the 4 spirits decks I play, but my luck was attrocious.
Game 1: Mull to 6, keep a 1 lander with all combo pieces, 1 cheerio and a repeal. Scry non-land to the bottom, repeal a cheerio, and fail to draw another cheerio to activate opal, or a land. Finally on my turn 4 I hit the second land. He is tapped out with lethal next turn, so I have to go for it. I fail to draw a second cheerio, and lose with 3 retract and 3 paladin in my hand.
Game 2: Keep 7 with 2 lands, 3 paladin, retract, and repeal. Repeal on his hierarch buys me a turn, but I topdeck 4 lands in a row, and lose on turn 5 with no cheerios and 3 paladin on the field.
I wonder about my mulliganing decisions, but chalk it up to bad luck. I had a lot of chances to draw what I needed, but it didn't come through. 6-3
Round 10: 2-0 vs Humans
I've found humans to be about 60/40 in my playing, so I was pretty excited to see turn 1 ziggurat into hierarch.
Game 1: I keep 7. He has a Kitesail freebooter that grabs my retract, which buys him a turn. He doesn't have enough of a clock though, so I wind up winning in a non-eventful turn 4, after hitting a second retract.
Game 2: I mull to 6 to find a turn 2 creature. Luckily the hand also comes with a path. He drops turn 2 Thalia, I drop a land and pass. He plays a kitesail freebooter, and in response I path the Thalia. He snags retract. I drop a land, paladin, and draw a few cards, fizzling, but dropping 6 cheerios and drawing a Ghirapur AEthergrid and an echoing Truth. His next turn sees double meddling mage, naming repeal and grapeshot. Joke is on him, since I switched repeal for echoing truth. It's not even relevant though, as I drop an aethergrid and wipe his board. This game was pretty close to a blowout.
7-3
Round 11: 1-2 vs Jund
I was doing pretty good at avoiding these matchups. Jund is definitely the better matchup of midrange decks, but still not great.
Game 1: I keep 7, and he turn 1 inquisitions my Paladin. I didn't take great notes this matchup, but I hit another Sram, and manage to draw enough cards to outlast all his removal and discard, with a lethal grapeshot on turn 5 while he has fatal damage next turn.
Game 2: This game was really close. I mull to 6 for a nice hand with lands, cheerios, paladin, and claim. His turn 1 inquisition grabs claim, and he drops goyf turn 2. I play paladin and draw a few cards, then fizzle. This game is pretty grindy, with lots of discard and removal. Towards the end, my only out is aethergrid, and I don't draw it.
Game 3: I keep a decent 7 with 2x paladin but only 1 cheerio. My only notes say I lost to too much discard plus removal, which is expected.
Not a super surprising result, but I thought I might have gotten there game 2. 7-4
Round 12: 2-1 vs Spirits
Another spirits deck, and I am excited to hopefully win.
Game 1: Super easy game. Keep 7, drop a turn 2 paladin and draw a bunch of cards, including retract with no opal. Next turn I cast retract with a hallowed fountain, and win.
Game 2: I mull to 5 and keep a 2 lander with retract and some cheerios. Maybe I should have gone to 4? This is my problem with this deck, and the main place where I doubt my decisions. I fail to hit a creature, and lose turn 5.
Game 3: Don't have many notes, but it looks like this matchup was fairly non-interactive. I have an easy win on turn 4.
This is more how I'm used to this matchup going. 8-4
Round 13: 0-2 vs Spirits
More spirits. Felt pretty good initially.
Game 1: I mull to 5 and keep a 1 lander with cheerios, paladin, and repeal. Scry a land to the bottom, and never hit my second or an opal. Overrun on turn 5.
Game 2: I mull to 4, after a 1 lander, 7-card hand, and no lands or opals in my 6 and 5. Keep a hand of x2 land and x2 cheerios, and never hit a creature.
This was some bad beats. After all this mulliganing, I'm starting to realize that half my mulligans are great 1 landers that I can't keep. The other half are to find paladin. I'm starting to think the deck needs at least 16, maybe 17 lands. I feel I lose more often to bad mulligans than I do to drawing lands and fizzling. If we fizzle, we can likely reboot next turn, and most of the time I am 1 turn slow because I was looking for that extra land. 8-5
Round 14: 1-2 vs Spirits
Looks like I got my wish: lots of spirits.
Game 1: Have to mull to 5 before I hit lands and a Sram. I draw a few cards on turn 2, but there's no gas, and I lose turn 5 to flyers.
Game 2: I keep 7 with a few cheerios, Sram, opal, and retract. My turn 2 Sram eats a path, and I draw a retract from the trigger. He drops double hierarch and passes. I draw a Grapeshot. He has 5 cards in hand, and will have at least 4 mana next turn. I choose to blow my hand to wipe his board and grapeshot him for 12. He is a little stuck on land, but drops the 1/3 lord and passes. My next draw is Sram, which I run out, incase he hits a land and can cast spell queller. Next turn he passes. I topdeck a repeal, repeal my sigil of distinction, and cast it for X=3. Draw Paladin, and start swinging with 4/4 Sram. His fetches and shocks have done enough damage to him, that he can't grab a dual to cast CoCo, and I beat down for the win.
Game 3: I keep a great 7. Sram #1 eats a path again. I have a few more Sram/paladins, and it looks like I failed to combo a few more times. On my turn 3, he is tapped out, with lethal on the board next turn. I have Sram, 4 cheerios, 2 land, and mox opal on the board. My hand is triple paladin, and a land. I rip the cheerio, and think for a sec. I choose to drop a land, tap my lands and opal to cast 2 paladin, and try to win drawing 3 cards per cheerio. I think the other option was to cast 1 paladin and try to combo off 2 cards per cheerio, hoping to hit a retract. I've never fizzled with 3 paladin on the field, so I went for it. First cheerio found another cheerio, which hit the retract, but no opal, or cheerios. Of the 8 cheerios on the board, non is a paradise mantle, which would have won me the game. Super bad luck, but I think it was the right play.
1-3 vs spirits today. Really poor, and completely opposite my MTGO results. I really think it's bad luck with draws and mulliganing. Their deck is so non-interactive, most games I fizzled an easy win, or mulled to oblivion. 8-6
Round 15: 2-1 vs Izzet Phoenix
finally facing the Izzet Phoenix deck. I saw it all over the place at all the tables, but never had to face it. I also didn't get much practice vs it on MTGO, so I was unfamilair with it. It was also the last round and I was getting tired and ready to leave, so my notes aren't that great.
Game 1: I am on the play. Keep 7, turn 1 SV into the goods (already have Sram in hand). He turn 1 SVs also, and turn 2 I drop Sram and fizzle after drawing a few cards. He bolts Sram, but I have another. My turn 3 I drop Paladin, repeal a cheerio, fizzle again, but equip a 2/13 vigilance reach paladin. I have retract in hand, but no opal. He turn 3 goes off with 3 phoenixes, I block one, then win next turn.
Game 2: I mull to 5 to hit a decent hand, and lose to bolt on Sram after not finding another.
Game 3: Don't remember much about this game. Claim was relevant, but I had more creatures than he had removal, and that's all that I need.
Not sure how this matchup actually is. It's definitely better than Jeskai and GDS. Looking forward to playing it more.
My overall record was 9-6, with 6-2 Day 1, and 3-4 Day 2. Here's my thoughts:
Despite my mediocre record overall, I am super happy that I chose to play Cheerios. I didn't see another cheerios player on day 1 (but didn't look at the lower tables), and am sure I am the only cheerios player to make day 2. I also learned an incredible amount about the deck that I didn't know just from playing online.
This deck is a roller coaster. Even when you are winning, you are not sure you will win. I knew, through MORT, that I mulliganed to 6 cards in 40% of my games. I didn't realize what this actually meant, until I had to physically reshuffle my deck, and draw 6 cards. It's brutal, and nerve-wracking. I also realize that a lot of my mulligans are not to find a Sram, but to find 2 lands. Fizzling from drawing into land really sucks, but I don't think it's as bad as mulling amazing hands because you only have 1 land. I think this deck is barely under the threshold of true consistency for big tournaments, and it just needs to be tipped a bit. I think having to mulligan so much is one of this decks biggest problems, and also the one that's easiest to address.
Modern is also an amazing format, and I think this deck is positioned well. There are so many viable decks, many of them non-interactive, and we are the best vs non-interactive decks. It is pretty easy to skip bad matchups with such a diverse field (I ran into no Jeskai or GDS all day). The top 8 of GP Portland was 7 different decks, including UB control, Izzet phoenix X2, and elves?!
With all said and done: these are the initial changes I am going to make, and test for the deck:
I think Kenshin was absolutely right in his thoughts about cantrips. Repeal was fun, but underwhelming all day. SV was amazing, and really helped me to smooth out my draws and not mulligan as much. I am still keeping 1 repeal main, just to deal with random hate game 1. Regarding Noxious revival, I love the card. But I've never actually had to use 2 in the same match. I kept 2 so I could use 1 while I combo, and still have 1 incase my grapeshot gets put in the yard. This has never actually come up though, so I feel safe cutting 1 to make room for an extra land. I really think that cutting the mulligan rate will be the easiest way to boost this deck overall, and adding land 16 will help a lot. I would even be open to 17 lands, if 16 shows promise. I am also super sold on Hurkyl's Recall, and it will need to be pried from my cold, dead fingers, before I cut it.
Overall, super happy with how things turned out. I would have liked to Top 8, but this was my first day 2 of a Grand Prix ever, and am especially happy I did it with cheerios. I'll be tweaking this deck, but not playing nearly as much (until another large modern even is located close to where I live). Here's to hoping for some good azorious cards in the next Ravnica set!
Do you mulligan every hand without a second land? I almost exclusively keep good one lander hands, especially on the draw, and especially if the rest of the hand has a good mix of everything that would lead to a quick kill. I've been punished before, but if the hand is good enough then going off a turn later rarely matters.
I agree and think the second noxious is the most flexible card in the list. It can be easily switched to a 4th Serum Visions IMO, though I do choose to keep both Noxious at the moment. Graveyard decks are are the rise, and it's better vs. interactive decks.
I'm surprised so many people on this sub are a fan of Hurkyl's. I ran it for a while and quickly preferred Leave//Chance before eventually settling on just running extra repeals. Repeal has been an MVP and I would not go below 2 in the main right now. Other than the Noxious/Serum Visions flex slot, the 61st card in the deck would be a 4th repeal for me.
Anyway, it's great that more discussion is being posted about this deck and it's awesome that you made day two. Hopefully you find more success in the future.
As a side note, has anyone tried a maindeck Jeskai Ascendancy competitively? I was a huge fan but the format got a bit too interactive but now it seems like it's going the other way. I'm thinking of throwing one back and was interested to see if anyone has had similar feelings.
I switched to 16 lands and never looked back! I also keep a lot of 1 landers, which is even easier with Serum & Nox in the list. Mulligan aggressively, with bloodlust in your heart, and never fear going to 4. 3 is number to fear!
I have a Rugged Prairie, Simian Spirit Guide list that runs Leave/Chance that I haven't run in awhile, but I also love that card much more than Hurkle's Recall.
Can anyone elaborate more on the matchup against Izzet-Titi-Phoenix? Local meta is drowning in this deck right now which is moving me away from hardened scales and I'm tempted to finish Cheeri0s since its not too expensive once you've got the moxes and I already have the fetches.
With the mono-red version running 8 3-dmg cards my major concern is that you don't get a paladin and an early sram gets blown away before you can equip for +0/+3
Do you mulligan every hand without a second land? I almost exclusively keep good one lander hands, especially on the draw, and especially if the rest of the hand has a good mix of everything that would lead to a quick kill. I've been punished before, but if the hand is good enough then going off a turn later rarely matters.
I agree and think the second noxious is the most flexible card in the list. It can be easily switched to a 4th Serum Visions IMO, though I do choose to keep both Noxious at the moment. Graveyard decks are are the rise, and it's better vs. interactive decks.
I'm surprised so many people on this sub are a fan of Hurkyl's. I ran it for a while and quickly preferred Leave//Chance before eventually settling on just running extra repeals. Repeal has been an MVP and I would not go below 2 in the main right now. Other than the Noxious/Serum Visions flex slot, the 61st card in the deck would be a 4th repeal for me.
Anyway, it's great that more discussion is being posted about this deck and it's awesome that you made day two. Hopefully you find more success in the future.
As a side note, has anyone tried a maindeck Jeskai Ascendancy competitively? I was a huge fan but the format got a bit too interactive but now it seems like it's going the other way. I'm thinking of throwing one back and was interested to see if anyone has had similar feelings.
If the 1 lander has a cantrip or an opal plus cheerios, I will usually keep it. If not, I will pitch it, depending on the matchup. If I've mulled already and get a scry, I keep a good 1 lander, no questions. I feel like I get punished too often for keeping 1 landers in my opening 7. With an extra land, and an extra visions, I'd feel much better about keeping a 1 lander. As for recall, I am the opposite: I am surprised not everyone else runs it! It saved me from fizzling in at least 4 games, and won me the game twice. Jeskai ascendency certainly looks interesting. I do like the idea of a beatdown even if you fizzle. I may get around to trying it in a bit. Now that I have the deck made in real life, I might start checking out the local game store.
I switched to 16 lands and never looked back! I also keep a lot of 1 landers, which is even easier with Serum & Nox in the list. Mulligan aggressively, with bloodlust in your heart, and never fear going to 4. 3 is number to fear!
I think 16 lands is the way to go. I def think that I mulled really aggressively that tournament. I didn't go to four though, maybe I should have. I will just have to play more and see what happens.
I was wondering when someone would bring this up. This is gonna be a major pain. It might push humans past spirits again. Card is great vs Tron, Amulet Titan, and GDS. I expect to face this a lot vs Spirits and Humans, as we will be collateral damage. I think it's rougher for us than Thalia is, since we can still pay mana to draw cards with Thalia in play. I don't know why Wizards thought another efficient hate-bear was needed.
As a humans player I’m over the moon to see this card. But, as a Cheeri0s player this card is rough! However, I suspect this will mainly see sideboard play rather than maindeck. That doesn’t make Game 2 any easier though....
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Cheeri0s is the breakfast of championsWRU Everyone loves an angry mobRWG Why so Bloo?RU
As a humans player I’m over the moon to see this card. But, as a Cheeri0s player this card is rough! However, I suspect this will mainly see sideboard play rather than maindeck. That doesn’t make Game 2 any easier though....
A quick check on the State of Modern thread makes me feel better. This hatebear doesn't stop wurmcoil engine or ulamog, and is also a non-bo with Thalia (since Thalia's tax counts as mana spent to cast the spell). I think it's gonna be okay.
On another topic, I plan on playing through a competitive league on MTGO on Thursday, and will record it with my commentary and thought processes. It won't be streaming, but I'll post it to Youtube probably Friday. I'm curios to see what other Cheerios players think of my decisions. I've also added 3 Dark Confidant to the board, in place of Silence. Silence only comes in vs UW control, and Bob is great in that matchup too. I'll bring it in in any grindy matchups. It also combos with claim/fame, which is more of a reason to include him.
The new Incubation is a blue Commune with Nature. It's not quite Stirrings in our deck the same way Stirrings works in KCI, but it's the kind of dig I'd consider testing as engines 9+. The split mode is randomly useful against stuff like Mage too, as long as you have Opal/Mantle to cast it.
Just want to point out that Bob was considered a long time ago in this thread.... particularly in a few Esper builds. I think it wasn’t discussed too much more because no one posted any major benefits of including him. However, I would be intrigued to see people’s results.
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Cheeri0s is the breakfast of championsWRU Everyone loves an angry mobRWG Why so Bloo?RU
The new Incubation is a blue Commune with Nature. It's not quite Stirrings in our deck the same way Stirrings works in KCI, but it's the kind of dig I'd consider testing as engines 9+. The split mode is randomly useful against stuff like Mage too, as long as you have Opal/Mantle to cast it.
As a guy who used to run Serum Powder, I like it a lot. It could make a lot more hands keepable.
I played for the first time in almost month last night, beating Humans, Living End and Tron before losing game 3 to Bant Spirits on the play to a mull to 5 with 2 lands, Retract, Equip & Serum Visions that didn't get there. I think against that deck on the play I might try siding in all 3 Claim to increase the range of keepable hands to include Fetch/Claim/Creature, skipping land drop and discarding creature T1. The only thing is I might have to wait on Claim, they could drop a Wanderer T1. Is this just reaching because I'm salty?
Claim was really good against Living End and against Humans I got to Echoing Truth 3 Meddling Mages (1 was a Phantasmal Image; don't target that with ET!) naming Retract, Path & Grapeshot and my opponent was like: Woops!!
Thanks! Yeah, my overall record was 9-6. I think I had above average luck on day 1, and poor luck on day 2. I learned a lot about the deck though, and I think I can make some small improvements. My day 1 record was 6-2 (with 2 byes), but my day 2 record was 3-4. I feel like I got really unlucky with mulligans and comboing on day 2, but also that the deck mulligans too much. Here's my matchups, and I'll ellaborate more on the changes after. I have some notes on the games, but am going to do a brief write-up, with the larger points.
Day 1:
R3: 1-2 vs mono G tron
Game 1: I smoked him, like should happen; easy win.
Game 2: Mull to 6. I try to combo turn 2 and fizzle, drawing retract but no opal. I have 8 cheerios on the board, and SV, retract, and lands in my hand. He drops a turn 3 karn, exiles my paladin, and SV whiffs on a second Sram/paladin. He drops turn 4 Ulaamog, exiles my lands, and that's game.
Game 3: I have to mull to 5 to find a decent hand, and keep cheerio x3, paladin, and opal. I figure if I hit a land I am in it, and I won't get a better 4 card hand. My land turns out to be 6 cards down, and he drops turn 3 Karn again, which seals the game.
I feel I got unlucky in this matchup, but that's cheerios. 2-1
R4: 2-0 vs Amulet Titan
Game 1: I keep a great hand that looks like turn 3 sure win. On his turn 2 he has two amulets and sakura tribe scout and looks like he is ready to go crazy. Instead of going for a turn 2 win, I drop a land and pass, holding a Hurkyl's Recall (card is amazing). Next turn he starts going nuts, casts summoner's pact for titan, and drops titan with 2 mana floating and no land drops. In response to the trigger I cast Hurkyl's recall targeting him. His lands come into play tapped, and after he passes I win on my turn 3.
Game 2: Keep 7. Both our draws are slower. My turn 2 paladin eats an abrade, but I stick a Sram after and win on turn 4.
3-1
R5: 2-0 vs Gb Tron
This deck splashed black for thoughtseize.
Game 1: Pretty strange. I mull to 5 to find a hand with land serum visions. No creature, but I don't think I'll be luckier on a mull to 4. He mulls to 4 himself. Scry reveals a Sram on top, and I win easily on turn 3.
Game 2: I mull to 6 to find a creature. He drops some artifacts, plays stirrings, and looks setup to complete tron on turn 4. Luckily I go off turn 3.
4-1
R6: 2-1 vs Esper Goryo?
I wrote this deck down as BW something. Talking to others, the deck is called Esper Goryo, and plays like a control deck that mills itself, and uses goryo's vengeance to bring back Jace, Mind's Prodigy and Obzedat?!,. which then flip or exile, keeping them in play later. I get lucky this matchup, but don't have too many notes.
Game 1: Keep 7. I eat an inquisition with snags my paladin. SV finds me a second, and I combo off turn 3 after he taps out.
Game 2: Keep 7 again, but he has too much removal. Winds up playing 2 inquisition and 3 paths (flashback with Jace), and I can't compete.
Game 3: He keeps a slow hand with no discard and one removal spell. It's not enough, and I combo off turn 4.
Intersting deck. Def should be a bad matchup, but I got pretty lucky. Makes up for losing to tron. 5-1
R7: 2-0 vs Counters CoCo
This is that druid -1/-1 counter deck that generates infinite mana and plays a walking ballista.
Game 1: I mull to 5, keeping a hand with land, cheerios, and retract. I don't like to mull to 4 if my hand has playable lands. Scry something to the bottom. Luckily his deck is slow and can't interact. I find Sram turn 3 and fizzle. His turn 4 he doesn't find the combo, but is setup to next turn. I draw another cheerio, which finds me a repeal, into a retract, into a win.
Game 2: I keep great 7 with 2 SV, cheerios, 2 land, and a path to exile. I feel that 2 SV makes up for no creature, and I know PTE will be useful. My first SV finds the Sram. I fizzle turn 2 after drawing a few cards, drop opal and pass. He drops Eidalon of Rhetoric on turn 3, which I path at his EOT. My second SV finds the retract, and I win turn 3.
This locks me in for day 2, which was a big relief. Still looking to do well to increase my standing.
R8: 1-2 vs Grixis control
I knew I'd have to face this deck eventually. Think GDS, but more card draw, removal, and discard. Opponent was also Corey Burkhart, the pro player.
Game 1: I keep a great 7 with 2 lands, 3 Paladin/Sram. and 2 cheerios. He turn 1 thoughtseizes a Sram. I drop paladin, draw a few cards turn 2 and fizzle, drawing another paladin. He fatal pushes my paladin, and inquisitions another in my hand. I drop another Sram, cantrip into a cheerio, and fizzle again, drawing paladin/sram #5. Sram eats a Kaloghan's command, and I pitch a land. I rip the retract, drop Paladin #5, and win. Super lucky for me, but that's the only way to win this matchup.
Game 2: This game was super close again. Claim/Fame keeps me in it for a bit while he is removing my threats and ripping my hand to shreds, but he has no clock, and is drawing a lot of lands. I've fizzled twice, and have no creatures, but 6 cheerios on the board. If I can draw one my Ghirapur Aether Grids I win, but instead lose to a creeping tar pit.
Game 3: This looks more like how I would expect this matchup to play out. I mull to 6, and only draw 1 paladin, which gets thoughtseized.
Still make day 2, and almost won an unwinnable matchup, so I'm not mad. 6-2
Round 9: 0-2 vs Bant Spirits
This deck should be a great matchup. I actually wind up going 1-3 vs the 4 spirits decks I play, but my luck was attrocious.
Game 1: Mull to 6, keep a 1 lander with all combo pieces, 1 cheerio and a repeal. Scry non-land to the bottom, repeal a cheerio, and fail to draw another cheerio to activate opal, or a land. Finally on my turn 4 I hit the second land. He is tapped out with lethal next turn, so I have to go for it. I fail to draw a second cheerio, and lose with 3 retract and 3 paladin in my hand.
Game 2: Keep 7 with 2 lands, 3 paladin, retract, and repeal. Repeal on his hierarch buys me a turn, but I topdeck 4 lands in a row, and lose on turn 5 with no cheerios and 3 paladin on the field.
I wonder about my mulliganing decisions, but chalk it up to bad luck. I had a lot of chances to draw what I needed, but it didn't come through. 6-3
Round 10: 2-0 vs Humans
I've found humans to be about 60/40 in my playing, so I was pretty excited to see turn 1 ziggurat into hierarch.
Game 1: I keep 7. He has a Kitesail freebooter that grabs my retract, which buys him a turn. He doesn't have enough of a clock though, so I wind up winning in a non-eventful turn 4, after hitting a second retract.
Game 2: I mull to 6 to find a turn 2 creature. Luckily the hand also comes with a path. He drops turn 2 Thalia, I drop a land and pass. He plays a kitesail freebooter, and in response I path the Thalia. He snags retract. I drop a land, paladin, and draw a few cards, fizzling, but dropping 6 cheerios and drawing a Ghirapur AEthergrid and an echoing Truth. His next turn sees double meddling mage, naming repeal and grapeshot. Joke is on him, since I switched repeal for echoing truth. It's not even relevant though, as I drop an aethergrid and wipe his board. This game was pretty close to a blowout.
7-3
Round 11: 1-2 vs Jund
I was doing pretty good at avoiding these matchups. Jund is definitely the better matchup of midrange decks, but still not great.
Game 1: I keep 7, and he turn 1 inquisitions my Paladin. I didn't take great notes this matchup, but I hit another Sram, and manage to draw enough cards to outlast all his removal and discard, with a lethal grapeshot on turn 5 while he has fatal damage next turn.
Game 2: This game was really close. I mull to 6 for a nice hand with lands, cheerios, paladin, and claim. His turn 1 inquisition grabs claim, and he drops goyf turn 2. I play paladin and draw a few cards, then fizzle. This game is pretty grindy, with lots of discard and removal. Towards the end, my only out is aethergrid, and I don't draw it.
Game 3: I keep a decent 7 with 2x paladin but only 1 cheerio. My only notes say I lost to too much discard plus removal, which is expected.
Not a super surprising result, but I thought I might have gotten there game 2. 7-4
Round 12: 2-1 vs Spirits
Another spirits deck, and I am excited to hopefully win.
Game 1: Super easy game. Keep 7, drop a turn 2 paladin and draw a bunch of cards, including retract with no opal. Next turn I cast retract with a hallowed fountain, and win.
Game 2: I mull to 5 and keep a 2 lander with retract and some cheerios. Maybe I should have gone to 4? This is my problem with this deck, and the main place where I doubt my decisions. I fail to hit a creature, and lose turn 5.
Game 3: Don't have many notes, but it looks like this matchup was fairly non-interactive. I have an easy win on turn 4.
This is more how I'm used to this matchup going. 8-4
Round 13: 0-2 vs Spirits
More spirits. Felt pretty good initially.
Game 1: I mull to 5 and keep a 1 lander with cheerios, paladin, and repeal. Scry a land to the bottom, and never hit my second or an opal. Overrun on turn 5.
Game 2: I mull to 4, after a 1 lander, 7-card hand, and no lands or opals in my 6 and 5. Keep a hand of x2 land and x2 cheerios, and never hit a creature.
This was some bad beats. After all this mulliganing, I'm starting to realize that half my mulligans are great 1 landers that I can't keep. The other half are to find paladin. I'm starting to think the deck needs at least 16, maybe 17 lands. I feel I lose more often to bad mulligans than I do to drawing lands and fizzling. If we fizzle, we can likely reboot next turn, and most of the time I am 1 turn slow because I was looking for that extra land. 8-5
Round 14: 1-2 vs Spirits
Looks like I got my wish: lots of spirits.
Game 1: Have to mull to 5 before I hit lands and a Sram. I draw a few cards on turn 2, but there's no gas, and I lose turn 5 to flyers.
Game 2: I keep 7 with a few cheerios, Sram, opal, and retract. My turn 2 Sram eats a path, and I draw a retract from the trigger. He drops double hierarch and passes. I draw a Grapeshot. He has 5 cards in hand, and will have at least 4 mana next turn. I choose to blow my hand to wipe his board and grapeshot him for 12. He is a little stuck on land, but drops the 1/3 lord and passes. My next draw is Sram, which I run out, incase he hits a land and can cast spell queller. Next turn he passes. I topdeck a repeal, repeal my sigil of distinction, and cast it for X=3. Draw Paladin, and start swinging with 4/4 Sram. His fetches and shocks have done enough damage to him, that he can't grab a dual to cast CoCo, and I beat down for the win.
Game 3: I keep a great 7. Sram #1 eats a path again. I have a few more Sram/paladins, and it looks like I failed to combo a few more times. On my turn 3, he is tapped out, with lethal on the board next turn. I have Sram, 4 cheerios, 2 land, and mox opal on the board. My hand is triple paladin, and a land. I rip the cheerio, and think for a sec. I choose to drop a land, tap my lands and opal to cast 2 paladin, and try to win drawing 3 cards per cheerio. I think the other option was to cast 1 paladin and try to combo off 2 cards per cheerio, hoping to hit a retract. I've never fizzled with 3 paladin on the field, so I went for it. First cheerio found another cheerio, which hit the retract, but no opal, or cheerios. Of the 8 cheerios on the board, non is a paradise mantle, which would have won me the game. Super bad luck, but I think it was the right play.
1-3 vs spirits today. Really poor, and completely opposite my MTGO results. I really think it's bad luck with draws and mulliganing. Their deck is so non-interactive, most games I fizzled an easy win, or mulled to oblivion. 8-6
Round 15: 2-1 vs Izzet Phoenix
finally facing the Izzet Phoenix deck. I saw it all over the place at all the tables, but never had to face it. I also didn't get much practice vs it on MTGO, so I was unfamilair with it. It was also the last round and I was getting tired and ready to leave, so my notes aren't that great.
Game 1: I am on the play. Keep 7, turn 1 SV into the goods (already have Sram in hand). He turn 1 SVs also, and turn 2 I drop Sram and fizzle after drawing a few cards. He bolts Sram, but I have another. My turn 3 I drop Paladin, repeal a cheerio, fizzle again, but equip a 2/13 vigilance reach paladin. I have retract in hand, but no opal. He turn 3 goes off with 3 phoenixes, I block one, then win next turn.
Game 2: I mull to 5 to hit a decent hand, and lose to bolt on Sram after not finding another.
Game 3: Don't remember much about this game. Claim was relevant, but I had more creatures than he had removal, and that's all that I need.
Not sure how this matchup actually is. It's definitely better than Jeskai and GDS. Looking forward to playing it more.
My overall record was 9-6, with 6-2 Day 1, and 3-4 Day 2. Here's my thoughts:
Despite my mediocre record overall, I am super happy that I chose to play Cheerios. I didn't see another cheerios player on day 1 (but didn't look at the lower tables), and am sure I am the only cheerios player to make day 2. I also learned an incredible amount about the deck that I didn't know just from playing online.
This deck is a roller coaster. Even when you are winning, you are not sure you will win. I knew, through MORT, that I mulliganed to 6 cards in 40% of my games. I didn't realize what this actually meant, until I had to physically reshuffle my deck, and draw 6 cards. It's brutal, and nerve-wracking. I also realize that a lot of my mulligans are not to find a Sram, but to find 2 lands. Fizzling from drawing into land really sucks, but I don't think it's as bad as mulling amazing hands because you only have 1 land. I think this deck is barely under the threshold of true consistency for big tournaments, and it just needs to be tipped a bit. I think having to mulligan so much is one of this decks biggest problems, and also the one that's easiest to address.
Modern is also an amazing format, and I think this deck is positioned well. There are so many viable decks, many of them non-interactive, and we are the best vs non-interactive decks. It is pretty easy to skip bad matchups with such a diverse field (I ran into no Jeskai or GDS all day). The top 8 of GP Portland was 7 different decks, including UB control, Izzet phoenix X2, and elves?!
With all said and done: these are the initial changes I am going to make, and test for the deck:
-1 Noxious Revival
-1 Repeal
+1 Seachrome Coast
+1 Serum Visions
I think Kenshin was absolutely right in his thoughts about cantrips. Repeal was fun, but underwhelming all day. SV was amazing, and really helped me to smooth out my draws and not mulligan as much. I am still keeping 1 repeal main, just to deal with random hate game 1. Regarding Noxious revival, I love the card. But I've never actually had to use 2 in the same match. I kept 2 so I could use 1 while I combo, and still have 1 incase my grapeshot gets put in the yard. This has never actually come up though, so I feel safe cutting 1 to make room for an extra land. I really think that cutting the mulligan rate will be the easiest way to boost this deck overall, and adding land 16 will help a lot. I would even be open to 17 lands, if 16 shows promise. I am also super sold on Hurkyl's Recall, and it will need to be pried from my cold, dead fingers, before I cut it.
Overall, super happy with how things turned out. I would have liked to Top 8, but this was my first day 2 of a Grand Prix ever, and am especially happy I did it with cheerios. I'll be tweaking this deck, but not playing nearly as much (until another large modern even is located close to where I live). Here's to hoping for some good azorious cards in the next Ravnica set!
I agree and think the second noxious is the most flexible card in the list. It can be easily switched to a 4th Serum Visions IMO, though I do choose to keep both Noxious at the moment. Graveyard decks are are the rise, and it's better vs. interactive decks.
I'm surprised so many people on this sub are a fan of Hurkyl's. I ran it for a while and quickly preferred Leave//Chance before eventually settling on just running extra repeals. Repeal has been an MVP and I would not go below 2 in the main right now. Other than the Noxious/Serum Visions flex slot, the 61st card in the deck would be a 4th repeal for me.
Anyway, it's great that more discussion is being posted about this deck and it's awesome that you made day two. Hopefully you find more success in the future.
As a side note, has anyone tried a maindeck Jeskai Ascendancy competitively? I was a huge fan but the format got a bit too interactive but now it seems like it's going the other way. I'm thinking of throwing one back and was interested to see if anyone has had similar feelings.
With the mono-red version running 8 3-dmg cards my major concern is that you don't get a paladin and an early sram gets blown away before you can equip for +0/+3
If the 1 lander has a cantrip or an opal plus cheerios, I will usually keep it. If not, I will pitch it, depending on the matchup. If I've mulled already and get a scry, I keep a good 1 lander, no questions. I feel like I get punished too often for keeping 1 landers in my opening 7. With an extra land, and an extra visions, I'd feel much better about keeping a 1 lander. As for recall, I am the opposite: I am surprised not everyone else runs it! It saved me from fizzling in at least 4 games, and won me the game twice. Jeskai ascendency certainly looks interesting. I do like the idea of a beatdown even if you fizzle. I may get around to trying it in a bit. Now that I have the deck made in real life, I might start checking out the local game store.
I think 16 lands is the way to go. I def think that I mulled really aggressively that tournament. I didn't go to four though, maybe I should have. I will just have to play more and see what happens.
Thankfully we’re a fringe deck....
Everyone loves an angry mob RWG
Why so Bloo? RU
I was wondering when someone would bring this up. This is gonna be a major pain. It might push humans past spirits again. Card is great vs Tron, Amulet Titan, and GDS. I expect to face this a lot vs Spirits and Humans, as we will be collateral damage. I think it's rougher for us than Thalia is, since we can still pay mana to draw cards with Thalia in play. I don't know why Wizards thought another efficient hate-bear was needed.
Everyone loves an angry mob RWG
Why so Bloo? RU
A quick check on the State of Modern thread makes me feel better. This hatebear doesn't stop wurmcoil engine or ulamog, and is also a non-bo with Thalia (since Thalia's tax counts as mana spent to cast the spell). I think it's gonna be okay.
On another topic, I plan on playing through a competitive league on MTGO on Thursday, and will record it with my commentary and thought processes. It won't be streaming, but I'll post it to Youtube probably Friday. I'm curios to see what other Cheerios players think of my decisions. I've also added 3 Dark Confidant to the board, in place of Silence. Silence only comes in vs UW control, and Bob is great in that matchup too. I'll bring it in in any grindy matchups. It also combos with claim/fame, which is more of a reason to include him.
JIGGYWIGGY (5-0) With 3 Bobs and Claim / Fame in SB
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/competitive-modern-constructed-league-2018-12-18
Everyone loves an angry mob RWG
Why so Bloo? RU
Claim was really good against Living End and against Humans I got to Echoing Truth 3 Meddling Mages (1 was a Phantasmal Image; don't target that with ET!) naming Retract, Path & Grapeshot and my opponent was like: Woops!!