Round 1 I played my friend and his mono green devotion superfriends home brew deck. Won 2-0.
Round 2 was eldrazi stompy. Won 2-1.
Round 3 we decided to split, we were the only 2 2-0. Not sure what he was playing, he left quick after collecting his winnings. There was a Temur scapeshift, monoblack devotion, and Abzan decks at the event
Played in a saturday event at the LGS. 8 people showed. I experimented with removing a snap and the 4th remand for 2 boomerang main.
Round 1 2-0 vs RUG scapeshift
Round 2 0-2 vs Bant spirits. 3 aether vials turns 1 and 2 led to disaster. Round 2 i got a few turns going, but couldnt get any extra draw to build anything.
2 dredge decks, 2 burn decks, 2 spirits, scapeshift and my mono U turns made up the line up
Boomerangs were ok, cyclonic rift may be better for the early/late game potential. 2nd snap out feels wrong, but didnt seem to hurt. Just trying to shore up the early game weakness. Spirits was rough. Brought in 2 devastation tide, and a ratchet bomb from the side. Didnt see any of them. Maybe another ratchet bomb would help?
Hello there, I played UW Control for the last couple of years and will now try out the Turns-deck. I changed up the lists of Daniel Wong and Matthew Stein a bit, since I wanted to start with an already proven basement. Maybe you guys can tell me your opinions on the changes I made, I would definately appreciate it. As soon as I'll have the Cards I'm missing, I can give some Information on how the deck performed at my LGS's FNM, but the results will probably be influenced by my lack of experience with this archetype. (And since I'm also new to this site [came here from Wong's YouTube-channel], and wasn't able to figure out, how to post a decklist, I can only give a link to the deck itself.)
Aaaand… it didn't work. Wow, that's a way to introduce myself… Can someone please explain to me, how I post a decklist I saved, or give me a source, where I can learn how to do it? Sorry for bothering you guys!
Welcome @The Rematcher. I’m still figuring out the posting deck lists myself. Good luck. I really enjoy playing taking turns, I’m on a mono blue version. I like a good time travel story.
Went 2-0-1 again today at the Sunday afternoon modern event. 6 person, 3 rounds, we intentional draw to split prize money. Round 1 was 2-0 vs tooth and nail devotion deck. Round 2 was 2-1 to UW control. We played round 3 for fun, he was on dredge. I won G1. G2 I miracled a deviation tide to bounce a bunch of his stuff, but had no plans for the conflagrate in the yard. Was probably dead any ways. G3 I got to use commandeer against a conflagrate for 3 for lethal, but nothing for the 2nd one same turn.
Added 2 pithing needle for those pesky spirits, to name aether vial and mausoleum wanderer. 2 Grafdiggers cage for dredge, Phoenix match up. Is grafdigger good against storm? Shut off past in flames and all the flashback?
Thanks JPoJhonson, after seeing your code, I realized its similarities to the export function of my saved decks, so this was pretty easy!
Like I said, this is mostly just a fusion of Wong's and Stein's lists, but the changes I made are the addition of Minamo, School at Water's Edge in the main (over a basic) and exchanging the Howling Mine with Search for Azcanta, which is a bit risky I think, but I really want to try out, if it works out well. So feedback on my changes and the Lightning Axe in the Sideboard would be nice! Other Sideboard-Options I'm thinking of: Entrancing Melody or even one or two white cards such as RIP.
@JetterBetter: I think Grafdigger's Cage should be fine in those matchups (storm often uses Gifts Ungiven to win, and without all the Flashback, they will probably have a hard time gathering enough resources to get lethal) while also randomly hating on other decks like Creatures Toolbox.
Thanks JPoJhonson, after seeing your code, I realized its similarities to the export function of my saved decks, so this was pretty easy!
Like I said, this is mostly just a fusion of Wong's and Stein's lists, but the changes I made are the addition of Minamo, School at Water's Edge in the main (over a basic) and exchanging the Howling Mine with Search for Azcanta, which is a bit risky I think, but I really want to try out, if it works out well. So feedback on my changes and the Lightning Axe in the Sideboard would be nice! Other Sideboard-Options I'm thinking of: Entrancing Melody or even one or two white cards such as RIP.
@JetterBetter: I think Grafdigger's Cage should be fine in those matchups (storm often uses Gifts Ungiven to win, and without all the Flashback, they will probably have a hard time gathering enough resources to get lethal) while also randomly hating on other decks like Creatures Toolbox.
Hey TheRematcher! Welcome to the forum!
I like the decklist! I've been a fan of a single lightning axe in my UR Taking Turns build for while now.. I actually run mine in the mainboard in place of the fourth lightning bolt. It guarantees that I have a solid removal spell for almost everything threatening in modern; and similar to the idea of Commandeer (the discard doesn't matter when you are drawing so many cards every turn)
I think your list is really solid and you will enjoy the deck a lot as we have! I also came from playing control for a long time and found this deck was the perfect blend of control and all the nonsense that Modern should entail haha
As you mentioned, you're trying Search for Azcanta - I hope it works! From my experience, you never really want it to flip because it just becomes an additional island - and if you compare a once a turn scry to drawing additional cards, it is slightly worse then Howling Mine.. That being said, you may find success with it!
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While the scry mode of azcanta is very nice, I usually like it flipping in to an extra land. It helps power into the lands needed to chain turns, or be able to multi spell and try and gain advantages, or dig for the clutch answer. Flipping it is sometimes a chore, we don’t load up the graveyard a ton, and temporal and PTW get exiled on cast, along with snap targets. And it is a “May” flip, so it can stay in search mode
I haven’t looked back since taking the howling mines out. Dictate+Jace+Azcanta to go with remands and cryptic seems to usually have me where I need to be without gassing my opponent up.
Never had issues with running out of cards, always have plenty of draw. I am considering shifting the 3x Snapcaster Mage to 3x Mission Briefing for the dig as well as being able to use the Ancestral Visions a second time. The win condition of Snappies has been great though and being able to block in addition to the flashback has been extremely beneficial.
I play a mono blue version of the deck (not frequently enough because of work :frown::frown: ) and took it to a side event at the MagicFest Strasbourg last weekend.
I played 2-1 in 3 rounds of Swiss and went against Merfolk (0-2), UW Midrange (2-1) and Burn (2-1). Thanks to 2 maindeck Radiant Fountain and 4 SB Dragon's claw I didn't fear the Burn matchup too much. As it turned out the event was overrun by Burn
Here's my decklist and along with a small report (here).
How is the Phoenix Matchup for you guys? I haven't played against them so far with Turns.
Thanks for posting your decklist and report. Looks sweet! How have the Spreading Seas been? I can see them being strong in the right meta, but I'm not sure if many places have that meta right now. The Phonex matchup has been pretty close to even for me, but a lot of my losses have been due to my own misplays. They don't have a lot of countermagic game 1 (usually 0 - 2 Izzet Charm as the only counters), so you can do things like hold up Cryptic Command with relatively little fear of it being countered. In my experience, if the opponent has a very fast start (like turn 3 flipped Thing in the Ice, or turn 2 two Phoenixes), then the game is incredibly difficult. When their starts are much slower (turn 3 single Phoenix, or you kill their Thing in the Ice), it can be hard for them to kill you before you go off.
Thanks for reply!
I agree with you, Spreading Seas didn't feel very good this time around. It excels if there's a lot of Big Mana decks and 3-color decks. I plan to replace it with Remand, bounce spells or maybe I splash a color for removal like (bolt, push or path). All cards I consider to replace Spreading Seas with are instants (or sorceries), which is also nice for the post board Thing in the Ices.
Round 1 I played my friend and his mono green devotion superfriends home brew deck. Won 2-0.
Round 2 was eldrazi stompy. Won 2-1.
Round 3 we decided to split, we were the only 2 2-0. Not sure what he was playing, he left quick after collecting his winnings. There was a Temur scapeshift, monoblack devotion, and Abzan decks at the event
Thanks you three for the replies! Always good to get more perspectives
Played in a saturday event at the LGS. 8 people showed. I experimented with removing a snap and the 4th remand for 2 boomerang main.
Round 1 2-0 vs RUG scapeshift
Round 2 0-2 vs Bant spirits. 3 aether vials turns 1 and 2 led to disaster. Round 2 i got a few turns going, but couldnt get any extra draw to build anything.
2 dredge decks, 2 burn decks, 2 spirits, scapeshift and my mono U turns made up the line up
Boomerangs were ok, cyclonic rift may be better for the early/late game potential. 2nd snap out feels wrong, but didnt seem to hurt. Just trying to shore up the early game weakness. Spirits was rough. Brought in 2 devastation tide, and a ratchet bomb from the side. Didnt see any of them. Maybe another ratchet bomb would help?
My intuition is that Ratchet Bomb is too slow (cast it on T2, tick it up T2, T3, blow it up X=2 on T4 or X=3 on T5), but I'm not sure. Interaction is definitely necessary, and it might be among the best you can do in mono-U.
Thanks JPoJhonson, after seeing your code, I realized its similarities to the export function of my saved decks, so this was pretty easy!
Like I said, this is mostly just a fusion of Wong's and Stein's lists, but the changes I made are the addition of Minamo, School at Water's Edge in the main (over a basic) and exchanging the Howling Mine with Search for Azcanta, which is a bit risky I think, but I really want to try out, if it works out well. So feedback on my changes and the Lightning Axe in the Sideboard would be nice! Other Sideboard-Options I'm thinking of: Entrancing Melody or even one or two white cards such as RIP.
@JetterBetter: I think Grafdigger's Cage should be fine in those matchups (storm often uses Gifts Ungiven to win, and without all the Flashback, they will probably have a hard time gathering enough resources to get lethal) while also randomly hating on other decks like Creatures Toolbox.
Hey @TheRematcher! Your list looks solid to me. Minamo is a reasonable choice in many metas, since it's mostly better than an Island, but it does make the deck weaker to nonbasic hate like Fulminator Mage or Blood Moon. Just something to be aware of! For Howling Mine versus Azcanta, I prefer Howling Mine because this deck needs card quantity more than card quality, so just drawing more cards is what I'd rather be doing. However, it's still a good idea to try out new things, especially if Howling Mine's downside is particularly bad in your meta (decks like Burn, Infect, Elves, and Dredge are way better when a Mine is in play). One change I'd recommend making is replacing the Hallowed Fountain with Watery Grave because of Surgical Extraction in the sideboard. Unlike the fetchland split which doesn't really matter, paying or not paying 2 life for Surgical can make a huge difference in close games against Dredge or Phoenix. Another thing to consider is more interaction with the stack - a card like Negate, Logic Knot, or Delay - but that's very meta dependent so it's not necessary by any means. I'd also advise against adding white cards like Rest in Peace unless you massively change the manabase. Frank Karsten's article recommends 13 white sources to consistently cast a 1W card like Rest in Peace or Stony Silence, and having 5 fetchlands plus a Hallowed Fountain just won't cut it.
While the scry mode of azcanta is very nice, I usually like it flipping in to an extra land. It helps power into the lands needed to chain turns, or be able to multi spell and try and gain advantages, or dig for the clutch answer. Flipping it is sometimes a chore, we don’t load up the graveyard a ton, and temporal and PTW get exiled on cast, along with snap targets. And it is a “May” flip, so it can stay in search mode
I haven’t looked back since taking the howling mines out. Dictate+Jace+Azcanta to go with remands and cryptic seems to usually have me where I need to be without gassing my opponent up.
I like your take on Search for Azcanta. It really isn't a Howling Mine, but it does have a lot of upsides that Mine doesn't. I suppose they're pretty different cards and it isn't necessarily right to compare them directly.
Also, I just posted a Blue-Black Turns video! It's pretty much my list from GP Hartford 2018 with one sideboard card swapped.
Welcome @The Rematcher. I’m still figuring out the posting deck lists myself. Good luck. I really enjoy playing taking turns, I’m on a mono blue version. I like a good time travel story.
Went 2-0-1 again today at the Sunday afternoon modern event. 6 person, 3 rounds, we intentional draw to split prize money. Round 1 was 2-0 vs tooth and nail devotion deck. Round 2 was 2-1 to UW control. We played round 3 for fun, he was on dredge. I won G1. G2 I miracled a deviation tide to bounce a bunch of his stuff, but had no plans for the conflagrate in the yard. Was probably dead any ways. G3 I got to use commandeer against a conflagrate for 3 for lethal, but nothing for the 2nd one same turn.
Added 2 pithing needle for those pesky spirits, to name aether vial and mausoleum wanderer. 2 Grafdiggers cage for dredge, Phoenix match up. Is grafdigger good against storm? Shut off past in flames and all the flashback?
@Rasselas, Got the list from a guy that top 8 an open sometime recently, don’t rememeber the name. thought it looked awesome, and I had most of the cards already. Switched howling mine for search for azcanta. Sideboard is all my own concoction, with the help of these forums and my own experience.
@ZCOWAN, “the perfect blend of control, and all the nonsense modern should entail”, love it, hahaha
@JPoJohsnon, congrats on the 3-0. Looks pretty solid.
@Timewalkin, checking out the Ub turns video now. Looks pretty sweet.
Not enough people showed up today for a modern event to fire :0(. Going to try FNM, the lgs usually has a good turn out. Spent some time trying to find trades for amulet titan im building, picked up a new emrakul for tron sideboard, and leyline of the void for GDS SB on trades.
Came across a sweet synergy between azcanta and JTMS... with no way to shuffle my library, I sometimes finding myself flooding lands, or other cards I don’t need, when brianstorming with Jace and it gets annoying. Search can let me yard 1 to help filter through, and sunken ruin can plow through the top 2, and check the next 2 for something needed.
Also, I just posted a Blue-Black Turns video! It's pretty much my list from GP Hartford 2018 with one sideboard card swapped.
Just watched the video yesterday, and it was awesome as always! I really like how you talk out your paths to winning.. That's something that i've tried to get into the practice of doing. It is so easy to just draw seven cards and play, but if you know what you're working towards you make better decisions!
I will say that you definitely make the deck look easy..
Would love to hear your thoughts Daniel or even see a video potentially about Sultai Reclamation and how to improve the deck from where it currently is. The deck plays a lot like Taking Turns from my experience so far, so you would probably find it easy to pick up and play
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UU"Brute force can sometimes kick down a locked door, but knowledge is a skeleton key"UU
Took me a while, but I took this list (only missing foil Jace, Time Warp, Exhaustion and Chalice/Surgical in foil) to a 7-1 (+2 ID's) finish in side events at GP Straatsburg. Also finished 3-1 in my last FNM. Ended up with 4 boxes for my troubles
My wins:
Tron (2x) (number of Karns commandeered: 1)
Dredge (2x)
Titan (Exhaustion!)
Lantern
Burn (got lucky)
U/R Living End with As Foretold (Chalice on 0)
B/G Elves
Eldrazi Tron
My losses:
Merfolk and Esper Tempo(Aether Vial + Queller, Deputy of Detention, Kitesail Freebooter...)
Also beat the living crap out of U/W Control and U/R Phoenix in casual games.
The current meta has some good vibes going on for Taking Turns. Humans and Spirits being pushed out by U/R Phoenix and Dredge, who have way worse interaction and need to (mostly) attack to win is very favorable. The rise of Death's Shadow and burn are less ideal, as is the decline of U/W Control.
I also keep my faith in Mono-U for now. It is consistent, has Field of Ruin and hardly loses to itself (and almost foil). I often find 1 dismember to be enough to make a difference and I get lucky enough to have a shot in the worse match ups.
I would consider 1 twisting image if Thing in the Ice, Hierarch and Spellskite show up (even) more often. It is a modest common, so should be easy to test. Next stop: MKM Ghent in april.
Your sideboard seems solid to me. Obviously, it depends on what the meta you're playing in looks like, but it seems like you have your bases covered. Lots of anti-aggro in Timely, (kind of) EE, Thing, Terminus, some graveyard interaction, and some stack interaction in Spell Pierce. Personally I prefer Negate over Spell Pierce, since in Modern it's common for players to build up more mana than they need (for example, Ad Nauseam, Scapeshift, and Amulet Titan all have ways to get tons of mana), but it's certainly a lot more difficult to hold up two mana for Negate than just one for Spell Pierce.
@Rasselas, Got the list from a guy that top 8 an open sometime recently, don’t rememeber the name. thought it looked awesome, and I had most of the cards already. Switched howling mine for search for azcanta. Sideboard is all my own concoction, with the help of these forums and my own experience.
Your list looks sweet! I feel like 4 colorless sources is a little on the high side for a deck that has Gigadrowse and Cryptic. Personally I'd swap out Inkmoth for a basic Island (unless your meta has tons of Soul Sisters or infinite life) because I think the advantage you get from one extra copy of Gigadrowse is often more helpful than the advantage you get from having an Infect land available. How are Spreading Seas and Devastation Tide out of the sideboard? Those are the cards that strike me as not commonly played, and I'm curious if they're working well for you.
Also, I just posted a Blue-Black Turns video! It's pretty much my list from GP Hartford 2018 with one sideboard card swapped.
Just watched the video yesterday, and it was awesome as always! I really like how you talk out your paths to winning.. That's something that i've tried to get into the practice of doing. It is so easy to just draw seven cards and play, but if you know what you're working towards you make better decisions!
I will say that you definitely make the deck look easy..
Would love to hear your thoughts Daniel or even see a video potentially about Sultai Reclamation and how to improve the deck from where it currently is. The deck plays a lot like Taking Turns from my experience so far, so you would probably find it easy to pick up and play
Thanks for the support! Thinking through your possible options is a really important part of becoming a better Magic player in general (and also a better person, but I digress). I think I need to work on the actual execution part, as you can tell by my several incorrect inputs that caused me to pass the turn a few times. I'm working on the whole multitasking thing! Anyway, Sultai Reclamation looks really sweet. As they're currently built, they're definitely more control-y than current Turns builds, and from what I've watched of the deck, it leans on Creeping Tar Pit and Snapcaster Mage to actually win. I'll probably make a video of it in the future, but I'd really like to get some reps in to feel comfortable casting Mystical Teachings first. Knowing your options with tutors can be really difficult!
Took me a while, but I took this list (only missing foil Jace, Time Warp, Exhaustion and Chalice/Surgical in foil) to a 7-1 (+2 ID's) finish in side events at GP Straatsburg. Also finished 3-1 in my last FNM. Ended up with 4 boxes for my troubles
My wins:
Tron (2x) (number of Karns commandeered: 1)
Dredge (2x)
Titan (Exhaustion!)
Lantern
Burn (got lucky)
U/R Living End with As Foretold (Chalice on 0)
B/G Elves
Eldrazi Tron
My losses:
Merfolk and Esper Tempo(Aether Vial + Queller, Deputy of Detention, Kitesail Freebooter...)
Also beat the living crap out of U/W Control and U/R Phoenix in casual games.
The current meta has some good vibes going on for Taking Turns. Humans and Spirits being pushed out by U/R Phoenix and Dredge, who have way worse interaction and need to (mostly) attack to win is very favorable. The rise of Death's Shadow and burn are less ideal, as is the decline of U/W Control.
I also keep my faith in Mono-U for now. It is consistent, has Field of Ruin and hardly loses to itself (and almost foil). I often find 1 dismember to be enough to make a difference and I get lucky enough to have a shot in the worse match ups.
I would consider 1 twisting image if Thing in the Ice, Hierarch and Spellskite show up (even) more often. It is a modest common, so should be easy to test. Next stop: MKM Ghent in april.
Nice, your list looks sweet! I feel like you have a lot of colorless sources for a deck with Gigadrowse, Cryptic Command, and Boomerang, but I suppose that Field of Ruin is basically an Island when you need it to be. And Twisted Image is some amazing tech for if those 0/Xs start picking up meta share. Thanks for the reminder about that card!
Nice, your list looks sweet! I feel like you have a lot of colorless sources for a deck with Gigadrowse, Cryptic Command, and Boomerang, but I suppose that Field of Ruin is basically an Island when you need it to be. And Twisted Image is some amazing tech for if those 0/Xs start picking up meta share. Thanks for the reminder about that card!
I have won more thanks to Field of Ruin than I have lost because of the lack of colored sources, but it happens
@Rasselas, Got the list from a guy that top 8 an open sometime recently, don’t rememeber the name. thought it looked awesome, and I had most of the cards already. Switched howling mine for search for azcanta. Sideboard is all my own concoction, with the help of these forums and my own experience.
Your list looks sweet! I feel like 4 colorless sources is a little on the high side for a deck that has Gigadrowse and Cryptic. Personally I'd swap out Inkmoth for a basic Island (unless your meta has tons of Soul Sisters or infinite life) because I think the advantage you get from one extra copy of Gigadrowse is often more helpful than the advantage you get from having an Infect land available. How are Spreading Seas and Devastation Tide out of the sideboard? Those are the cards that strike me as not commonly played, and I'm curious if they're working well for you.
It is a rare occasion where I flood with my colorless lands. It has happened though. I’ve won more games through my utility lands then lost from not having blue sources. Sometimes the turns run out, shorter clock, flying and ability to ignore life gain shenanigans on inkmoth is sometimes just needed. 4 colorless sources feel perfect. No gq, I can’t afford to sac my own land. FoR seems slow. Spreading seas is cheaper and draws a card. It’s worked well for me when used. Haven’t used it a ton. Devastation tide I haven’t been able to use much. It bought me a turn against dredge one game, and loaded their hand for a conflag the next. I was dead that game anyways. It’s a tough match. Looking to answers for decks that load the board fast like spirits, humans, hardened scales, green devotion, etc. when they outpace my gigadrowse it feels like a decent option.
FNM at the lgs. 29 players. 4-1 for 3rd place with mono U Turns.
Round 1 1-2 Hardened scales affinity.
Closer then I expected. G1 I couldn’t find answers, and worker, scales, worker, Ravager, ballista did me in. G2 answers flowed and I won. Learned that if you cryptic command to tap team and bounce creature, and they sac targeted creature, tap portion fizzles as well. Good to know. G3 was really close, and I felt like I was ready to pull it out. I got a few turns going with a ratchet bomb on 2, ready to blow up his board of 2 Ravagers, overseer, hardened scales, and mox. Ran out of gas, he sacs everything to the ravagers, takes me to 5. I cryptic bounce his ravAgers, and drew turds until th ravager came back and killed me.
R2 2-0 RU prowess deck
I saw some swiftspears and a RU flying, haste, prowess wizard with electrolyze, opt and forked bolts. Other then that gigadrowse and exhaustion kept him from playing much before going off.
R3 2-1 Green devotion, tooth and nail
G1 He played a couple enchantments in a land, cast a spell, cryptic command, counter, bounce enchanted land. He tried to beat me down with BTE. G2 think I never got a dictate this game, he eventually got enough on board to tooth and nail me. G3 was like G1.
R4 mono B devotion
G1 he played a couple gifted aetherborn, I played some gigadrowse and exhaustion, take some turns. G2 he was stuck on 1 lands for a few turns, and he watched me take a bunch.
R5 UW control
G1 and 2 were pretty much the same. I put search for azcanta down t2, followed by some draw go for a few turns. I gigadrowse his lands during his end step when I’m ready to go off. He was playing on his phone the whole time, salty he didn’t get to play magic. Bro, you are playing straight control, how are you going to say anything?
Deck was great. Still trying to get reps and see as many match ups as I can, shape my sideboard. Maybe it’s time to finally get mtgo, for the experience.
Round 2 was eldrazi stompy. Won 2-1.
Round 3 we decided to split, we were the only 2 2-0. Not sure what he was playing, he left quick after collecting his winnings. There was a Temur scapeshift, monoblack devotion, and Abzan decks at the event
Round 1 2-0 vs RUG scapeshift
Round 2 0-2 vs Bant spirits. 3 aether vials turns 1 and 2 led to disaster. Round 2 i got a few turns going, but couldnt get any extra draw to build anything.
2 dredge decks, 2 burn decks, 2 spirits, scapeshift and my mono U turns made up the line up
Boomerangs were ok, cyclonic rift may be better for the early/late game potential. 2nd snap out feels wrong, but didnt seem to hurt. Just trying to shore up the early game weakness. Spirits was rough. Brought in 2 devastation tide, and a ratchet bomb from the side. Didnt see any of them. Maybe another ratchet bomb would help?
Modern Warp / UR Control / UR Storm / Naya Breachshift / ElectroBalance
Solidarity / Lands / Sneak and Show / Grixis Delver / Reanimator / Belcher / Storm / Dredge
Went 2-0-1 again today at the Sunday afternoon modern event. 6 person, 3 rounds, we intentional draw to split prize money. Round 1 was 2-0 vs tooth and nail devotion deck. Round 2 was 2-1 to UW control. We played round 3 for fun, he was on dredge. I won G1. G2 I miracled a deviation tide to bounce a bunch of his stuff, but had no plans for the conflagrate in the yard. Was probably dead any ways. G3 I got to use commandeer against a conflagrate for 3 for lethal, but nothing for the 2nd one same turn.
Added 2 pithing needle for those pesky spirits, to name aether vial and mausoleum wanderer. 2 Grafdiggers cage for dredge, Phoenix match up. Is grafdigger good against storm? Shut off past in flames and all the flashback?
2 Spreading Seas
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Pithing Needle
1 Ratchet Bomb
2 Spellskite
2 Dispel
2 Boomerang
2 Devastation Tide
Thanks JPoJhonson, after seeing your code, I realized its similarities to the export function of my saved decks, so this was pretty easy!
Like I said, this is mostly just a fusion of Wong's and Stein's lists, but the changes I made are the addition of Minamo, School at Water's Edge in the main (over a basic) and exchanging the Howling Mine with Search for Azcanta, which is a bit risky I think, but I really want to try out, if it works out well. So feedback on my changes and the Lightning Axe in the Sideboard would be nice! Other Sideboard-Options I'm thinking of: Entrancing Melody or even one or two white cards such as RIP.
4 Snapcaster Mage
Enchantment
4 Dictate of Kruphix
1 Search for Azcanta
Land
1 Minamo, School at Water's Edge
3 Snow-Covered Island
1 Gemstone Caverns
4 Sulfur Falls
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Steam Vents
1 Temple of Epiphany
1 Flooded Strand
1 Polluted Delta
3 Island
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Cascade Bluffs
1 Engineered Explosives
Instant
3 Gigadrowse
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Cryptic Command
Sorcery
3 Exhaustion
4 Time Warp
2 Part the Waterveil
3 Temporal Mastery
4 Serum Visions
Planeswalker
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Crackling Drake
1 Gelectrode
3 Thing in the Ice
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Commandeer
1 Rending Volley
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Lightning Axe
2 Abrade
2 Anger of the Gods
@JetterBetter: I think Grafdigger's Cage should be fine in those matchups (storm often uses Gifts Ungiven to win, and without all the Flashback, they will probably have a hard time gathering enough resources to get lethal) while also randomly hating on other decks like Creatures Toolbox.
Hey TheRematcher! Welcome to the forum!
I like the decklist! I've been a fan of a single lightning axe in my UR Taking Turns build for while now.. I actually run mine in the mainboard in place of the fourth lightning bolt. It guarantees that I have a solid removal spell for almost everything threatening in modern; and similar to the idea of Commandeer (the discard doesn't matter when you are drawing so many cards every turn)
I think your list is really solid and you will enjoy the deck a lot as we have! I also came from playing control for a long time and found this deck was the perfect blend of control and all the nonsense that Modern should entail haha
As you mentioned, you're trying Search for Azcanta - I hope it works! From my experience, you never really want it to flip because it just becomes an additional island - and if you compare a once a turn scry to drawing additional cards, it is slightly worse then Howling Mine.. That being said, you may find success with it!
I haven’t looked back since taking the howling mines out. Dictate+Jace+Azcanta to go with remands and cryptic seems to usually have me where I need to be without gassing my opponent up.
My intuition is that Ratchet Bomb is too slow (cast it on T2, tick it up T2, T3, blow it up X=2 on T4 or X=3 on T5), but I'm not sure. Interaction is definitely necessary, and it might be among the best you can do in mono-U.
Hey @TheRematcher! Your list looks solid to me. Minamo is a reasonable choice in many metas, since it's mostly better than an Island, but it does make the deck weaker to nonbasic hate like Fulminator Mage or Blood Moon. Just something to be aware of! For Howling Mine versus Azcanta, I prefer Howling Mine because this deck needs card quantity more than card quality, so just drawing more cards is what I'd rather be doing. However, it's still a good idea to try out new things, especially if Howling Mine's downside is particularly bad in your meta (decks like Burn, Infect, Elves, and Dredge are way better when a Mine is in play). One change I'd recommend making is replacing the Hallowed Fountain with Watery Grave because of Surgical Extraction in the sideboard. Unlike the fetchland split which doesn't really matter, paying or not paying 2 life for Surgical can make a huge difference in close games against Dredge or Phoenix. Another thing to consider is more interaction with the stack - a card like Negate, Logic Knot, or Delay - but that's very meta dependent so it's not necessary by any means. I'd also advise against adding white cards like Rest in Peace unless you massively change the manabase. Frank Karsten's article recommends 13 white sources to consistently cast a 1W card like Rest in Peace or Stony Silence, and having 5 fetchlands plus a Hallowed Fountain just won't cut it.
I like your take on Search for Azcanta. It really isn't a Howling Mine, but it does have a lot of upsides that Mine doesn't. I suppose they're pretty different cards and it isn't necessarily right to compare them directly.
Also, I just posted a Blue-Black Turns video! It's pretty much my list from GP Hartford 2018 with one sideboard card swapped.
Hey, I was wondering, what does your Mono U list look like?
1 - Burn (2-0)
2 - Creature Combo (2-1)
3 - UR Aggro (2-1)
Terminus was the biggest MVP.
Curious what you guys think about my current sideboard, where are the gaps, and what do I need to update?
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Spell Pierce
2 Engineered Explosives
3 Thing in the Ice
3 Terminus
Modern Warp / UR Control / UR Storm / Naya Breachshift / ElectroBalance
Solidarity / Lands / Sneak and Show / Grixis Delver / Reanimator / Belcher / Storm / Dredge
2 Snapcaster Mage
Enchantment (6)
2 Search for Azcanta
4 Dictate of Kruphix
Basic Land (23)
1 Inkmoth Nexus
19 Island
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
2 Radiant Fountain
Instant (9)
3 Gigadrowse
4 Remand
2 Cryptic Command
Sorcery (18)
4 Serum Visions
3 Exhaustion
4 Time Warp
3 Part the Waterveil
4 Temporal Mastery
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Pithing Needle
1 Ratchet Bomb
2 Spellskite
2 Dispel
1 Boomerang
2 Devastation Tide
@JPoJohsnon, congrats on the 3-0. Looks pretty solid.
@Timewalkin, checking out the Ub turns video now. Looks pretty sweet.
Not enough people showed up today for a modern event to fire :0(. Going to try FNM, the lgs usually has a good turn out. Spent some time trying to find trades for amulet titan im building, picked up a new emrakul for tron sideboard, and leyline of the void for GDS SB on trades.
Came across a sweet synergy between azcanta and JTMS... with no way to shuffle my library, I sometimes finding myself flooding lands, or other cards I don’t need, when brianstorming with Jace and it gets annoying. Search can let me yard 1 to help filter through, and sunken ruin can plow through the top 2, and check the next 2 for something needed.
Just watched the video yesterday, and it was awesome as always! I really like how you talk out your paths to winning.. That's something that i've tried to get into the practice of doing. It is so easy to just draw seven cards and play, but if you know what you're working towards you make better decisions!
I will say that you definitely make the deck look easy..
Would love to hear your thoughts Daniel or even see a video potentially about Sultai Reclamation and how to improve the deck from where it currently is. The deck plays a lot like Taking Turns from my experience so far, so you would probably find it easy to pick up and play
2 Snapcaster Mage
Card Draw (6)
2 Howling Mine
4 Dictate of Kruphix
Basic Land (23)
1 Minamo, school at water's edge
1 Oroboro, Palace in the clouds
3 Field of Ruin
1 Nephalia Academy
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Gemstone Caverns
15 islands
Instant (10)
3 Gigadrowse
3 Remand
2 Cryptic Command
1 Boomerang
1 Commandeer
4 Serum Visions
3 Exhaustion
4 Time Warp
3 Part the Waterveil
4 Temporal Mastery
Planeswalker (1)
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Thing in the Ice
2 Dismember
1 Ratchet Bomb
2 Surgical Extraction
1 Dispel
1 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Hurkyl's Recall
Took me a while, but I took this list (only missing foil Jace, Time Warp, Exhaustion and Chalice/Surgical in foil) to a 7-1 (+2 ID's) finish in side events at GP Straatsburg. Also finished 3-1 in my last FNM. Ended up with 4 boxes for my troubles
My wins:
Tron (2x) (number of Karns commandeered: 1)
Dredge (2x)
Titan (Exhaustion!)
Lantern
Burn (got lucky)
U/R Living End with As Foretold (Chalice on 0)
B/G Elves
Eldrazi Tron
My losses:
Merfolk and Esper Tempo(Aether Vial + Queller, Deputy of Detention, Kitesail Freebooter...)
Also beat the living crap out of U/W Control and U/R Phoenix in casual games.
The current meta has some good vibes going on for Taking Turns. Humans and Spirits being pushed out by U/R Phoenix and Dredge, who have way worse interaction and need to (mostly) attack to win is very favorable. The rise of Death's Shadow and burn are less ideal, as is the decline of U/W Control.
I also keep my faith in Mono-U for now. It is consistent, has Field of Ruin and hardly loses to itself (and almost foil). I often find 1 dismember to be enough to make a difference and I get lucky enough to have a shot in the worse match ups.
I would consider 1 twisting image if Thing in the Ice, Hierarch and Spellskite show up (even) more often. It is a modest common, so should be easy to test. Next stop: MKM Ghent in april.
Your list looks sweet! I feel like 4 colorless sources is a little on the high side for a deck that has Gigadrowse and Cryptic. Personally I'd swap out Inkmoth for a basic Island (unless your meta has tons of Soul Sisters or infinite life) because I think the advantage you get from one extra copy of Gigadrowse is often more helpful than the advantage you get from having an Infect land available. How are Spreading Seas and Devastation Tide out of the sideboard? Those are the cards that strike me as not commonly played, and I'm curious if they're working well for you.
Thanks for the support! Thinking through your possible options is a really important part of becoming a better Magic player in general (and also a better person, but I digress). I think I need to work on the actual execution part, as you can tell by my several incorrect inputs that caused me to pass the turn a few times. I'm working on the whole multitasking thing! Anyway, Sultai Reclamation looks really sweet. As they're currently built, they're definitely more control-y than current Turns builds, and from what I've watched of the deck, it leans on Creeping Tar Pit and Snapcaster Mage to actually win. I'll probably make a video of it in the future, but I'd really like to get some reps in to feel comfortable casting Mystical Teachings first. Knowing your options with tutors can be really difficult!
Nice, your list looks sweet! I feel like you have a lot of colorless sources for a deck with Gigadrowse, Cryptic Command, and Boomerang, but I suppose that Field of Ruin is basically an Island when you need it to be. And Twisted Image is some amazing tech for if those 0/Xs start picking up meta share. Thanks for the reminder about that card!
I have won more thanks to Field of Ruin than I have lost because of the lack of colored sources, but it happens
It is a rare occasion where I flood with my colorless lands. It has happened though. I’ve won more games through my utility lands then lost from not having blue sources. Sometimes the turns run out, shorter clock, flying and ability to ignore life gain shenanigans on inkmoth is sometimes just needed. 4 colorless sources feel perfect. No gq, I can’t afford to sac my own land. FoR seems slow. Spreading seas is cheaper and draws a card. It’s worked well for me when used. Haven’t used it a ton. Devastation tide I haven’t been able to use much. It bought me a turn against dredge one game, and loaded their hand for a conflag the next. I was dead that game anyways. It’s a tough match. Looking to answers for decks that load the board fast like spirits, humans, hardened scales, green devotion, etc. when they outpace my gigadrowse it feels like a decent option.
Round 1 1-2 Hardened scales affinity.
Closer then I expected. G1 I couldn’t find answers, and worker, scales, worker, Ravager, ballista did me in. G2 answers flowed and I won. Learned that if you cryptic command to tap team and bounce creature, and they sac targeted creature, tap portion fizzles as well. Good to know. G3 was really close, and I felt like I was ready to pull it out. I got a few turns going with a ratchet bomb on 2, ready to blow up his board of 2 Ravagers, overseer, hardened scales, and mox. Ran out of gas, he sacs everything to the ravagers, takes me to 5. I cryptic bounce his ravAgers, and drew turds until th ravager came back and killed me.
R2 2-0 RU prowess deck
I saw some swiftspears and a RU flying, haste, prowess wizard with electrolyze, opt and forked bolts. Other then that gigadrowse and exhaustion kept him from playing much before going off.
R3 2-1 Green devotion, tooth and nail
G1 He played a couple enchantments in a land, cast a spell, cryptic command, counter, bounce enchanted land. He tried to beat me down with BTE. G2 think I never got a dictate this game, he eventually got enough on board to tooth and nail me. G3 was like G1.
R4 mono B devotion
G1 he played a couple gifted aetherborn, I played some gigadrowse and exhaustion, take some turns. G2 he was stuck on 1 lands for a few turns, and he watched me take a bunch.
R5 UW control
G1 and 2 were pretty much the same. I put search for azcanta down t2, followed by some draw go for a few turns. I gigadrowse his lands during his end step when I’m ready to go off. He was playing on his phone the whole time, salty he didn’t get to play magic. Bro, you are playing straight control, how are you going to say anything?
Deck was great. Still trying to get reps and see as many match ups as I can, shape my sideboard. Maybe it’s time to finally get mtgo, for the experience.