Just posted a $200 budget Mono-U video. I got to try out Tempest Djinn in the sideboard and was impressed. Of course, it's no Thing in the Ice and certainly can't deal with a swarm of creatures, but being able to block effectively the turn it comes down (often discouraging the opponent from attacking at all) and being able to attack without casting a bunch of spells first are substantial upsides. It also justifies the budget manabase that includes 22 basic Islands, which is great when first getting into the deck.
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.
Thanks for the info you two. Really appreciate hearing lots of experiences and opinions!
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.
Thanks for the report! Glad to hear you're finding success with the deck. Hardened Scales seems like a tough matchup, though. I really haven't found a good solution to it yet. Even cards like Hurkyl's Recall don't seem to do enough against them.
@Timewalkin, Tempest Djiin you say... intriguing. I may need to play around with that card. Baral out of the side also sounds spicy. Thanks for all your advice and encouraging words, much appreciated. This Is my current idea for hardened scales at the moment, out 4x remand 2x snap. In 2x pithing needle, 2x ratchet bomb, and 2x spellskite. Needles to name overseer, ravager, or ballista. Skite has a decent butt to block early, and can keep the ravager from putting counters somewhere else, maybe absorb a few ballista pings.
Wasn’t able to play much last week. Did a Sunday event, only 5 people. Finished 2-1. Beat Bant nexus 2-0. Beat BG deck 2-1. Swore I was going to lose that one, somehow survived an onslaught of thoughtseize and IoK to finally awaken an inkmoth for a poisonous death. Don’t know if I could’ve survived long enough to beat him with a normal land. He was smart enough to keep me away from dictates. Game 3 was not as much hand destruction, but i survived a surgical on time warp, then snap flashed back on PTW. after Bob, thoughtseize and his mana base did enough damage to him, with a few clutch gigadrowse and exhaustion my snap beat him down. Game 3... my buddy decided to build 8 Whack. Has me pulling my hair out. Lost 1-2 and almost had it. I actually won game 1, my hand curved out perfect, and he didn’t have the hella explosive start. Game 2 I mana flooded hard. G3 dictate flashed in before turn 4, 3 lands on board, cryptic, warp, PTW, in hand, and whiff on the 4th land. Oy, goblins.
Gotta rant for a second on stupid tie breakers. 5 people, someone had a bye every round. Tie breakers decided the 8 whack deck that defeated me, 2-1, with a bye for 1 win was good enough to take first??? I actually beat 2 opponents, and this bumped his points because he beat me and I had 2 actual wins. WTF?! Salty AF.
Taking my list to an SCG IQ this weekend! I’m excited, it’s my first go at something bigger then FNM. I’m looking to take a lot of turns
I have been running Tempest in the main as a singleton for some time just as a variety pick for wincons, since this deck can see most of its cards in short order. There have been a handful of matches where he just gums up the ground long enough that once you get going in the air you just win.
He is usually the first thing to get sided out for hate though, in any match that I know he does not add a ton of value. I have considered running a copy in the sideboard as well but I think 4 copies is way overkill as it just activates to much removal your opponent may have. The absolutely best turns with Tempest in my plays have been if you flip a miracle walk on turn 5 for 2 mana and you play the Jin that turn.
Hi guys, I lately brew a bit with UG turns and wanted to share this list. Any thoughts and critics on the deck are welcome as well as advice on some Sideboard ideas.
@Timewalkin, Tempest Djiin you say... intriguing. I may need to play around with that card. Baral out of the side also sounds spicy. Thanks for all your advice and encouraging words, much appreciated. This Is my current idea for hardened scales at the moment, out 4x remand 2x snap. In 2x pithing needle, 2x ratchet bomb, and 2x spellskite. Needles to name overseer, ravager, or ballista. Skite has a decent butt to block early, and can keep the ravager from putting counters somewhere else, maybe absorb a few ballista pings.
Wasn’t able to play much last week. Did a Sunday event, only 5 people. Finished 2-1. Beat Bant nexus 2-0. Beat BG deck 2-1. Swore I was going to lose that one, somehow survived an onslaught of thoughtseize and IoK to finally awaken an inkmoth for a poisonous death. Don’t know if I could’ve survived long enough to beat him with a normal land. He was smart enough to keep me away from dictates. Game 3 was not as much hand destruction, but i survived a surgical on time warp, then snap flashed back on PTW. after Bob, thoughtseize and his mana base did enough damage to him, with a few clutch gigadrowse and exhaustion my snap beat him down. Game 3... my buddy decided to build 8 Whack. Has me pulling my hair out. Lost 1-2 and almost had it. I actually won game 1, my hand curved out perfect, and he didn’t have the hella explosive start. Game 2 I mana flooded hard. G3 dictate flashed in before turn 4, 3 lands on board, cryptic, warp, PTW, in hand, and whiff on the 4th land. Oy, goblins.
Gotta rant for a second on stupid tie breakers. 5 people, someone had a bye every round. Tie breakers decided the 8 whack deck that defeated me, 2-1, with a bye for 1 win was good enough to take first??? I actually beat 2 opponents, and this bumped his points because he beat me and I had 2 actual wins. WTF?! Salty AF.
Taking my list to an SCG IQ this weekend! I’m excited, it’s my first go at something bigger then FNM. I’m looking to take a lot of turns
Thanks for the report, and good luck at the SCG IQ! Your Hardened Scales plan sounds solid, though one annoying aspect of the matchup is how many Nature's Claims they get to bring in. Those usually hit Mine and Dictate, but in this case Nature's Claim can also hit Pithing Needle or Ratchet Bomb or Spellskite at inopportune times. There's not much we can do about that though, and spreading the Claims thin by having a bunch of artifacts and enchantments might be the way to go.
I have been running Tempest in the main as a singleton for some time just as a variety pick for wincons, since this deck can see most of its cards in short order. There have been a handful of matches where he just gums up the ground long enough that once you get going in the air you just win.
He is usually the first thing to get sided out for hate though, in any match that I know he does not add a ton of value. I have considered running a copy in the sideboard as well but I think 4 copies is way overkill as it just activates to much removal your opponent may have. The absolutely best turns with Tempest in my plays have been if you flip a miracle walk on turn 5 for 2 mana and you play the Jin that turn.
Glad you've had some success with the Djinn! I disagree about 4x in the sideboard being too many - key aspect being sideboard. In the mainboard games, your opponent is more likely to have removal spells like Fatal Push (revolted of course), Path to Exile, Terminate, etc that are very good against Tempest Djinn, but very bad against the rest of the deck. In fact, the budget list I posted has zero creatures, with the only target for those removal spells being an awoken land (and if you suspect that your opponent has a handful of removal, try to Gigadrowse before awakening). In the post-board games, your opponent is much less likely to have those removal spells, and Tempest Djinn will get its time to shine. Having multiple is also good for blocking better and killing more quickly, which is why I don't think 4x is overkill. Of course, if your opponent anticipates this plan and leaves removal in for game 2, or if your opponent switches up their sideboard plan for game 3 after getting beaten down by a Djinn, you can next-level the opponent by sticking with plan A and leaving Tempest Djinn in the sideboard.
Hi guys, I lately brew a bit with UG turns and wanted to share this list. Any thoughts and critics on the deck are welcome as well as advice on some Sideboard ideas.
This list is sweet! I like the 6x ramp spells to power out T3 Wilderness Reclamation and Dictate. There's certainly a weird tension in the manabase between wanting Forests for Utopia Sprawl and wanting blue sources for Gigadrowse / Blue Sun's Zenith / Cryptic Command, but it looks like you mostly solved that with a lot of fetchlands and Breeding Pools. I'm kind of concerned about a manabase with 10 fetches and 5 shocks that isn't a Death's Shadow deck. It would be pretty funny to have Death's Shadow in the sideboard though... probably not a good idea, but a funny one. It also feels weird to me that Mystical Teachings can't grab hard removal in this deck, but I think trying to add cards like Abrupt Decay, Assassin's Trophy, Fatal Push, etc will stretch the manabase too far. I guess that's just one of the inherent issues with Simic though. I think it's worthwhile to add some one-ofs like Cyclonic Rift and/or Echoing Truth so that you have more ways than just Cryptic Command to temporarily remove problem permanents like Meddling Mage, Thalia, Gaddock Teeg, etc. It may also be worthwhile to run an Engineered Explosives maindeck as hard removal, which Mat Stein did at Toronto with UR. I don't really know about what the sideboard should look like. My usual go-to includes some number of Thing in the Ice, but the enchantment count is so high in this deck (and consequently, Instant/Sorcery count relatively low) that I think TitI is slightly less effective than normal. Probably still worth in my opinion, but good to be aware of. Engineered Explosives / Ratchet Bomb seem reasonable removal options, along with maybe some more bounce spells like Echoing Truth. Some selection of counterspell(s) for the meta is probably worth it. You can add some green Naturalize effects if those are important for your meta. Add a dash of graveyard hate in Surgical / Relic / Tormod's Crypt / whatever, and you've got yourself a sideboard!
Played UR turns last night at my LGS and went 3-0 beating Breach Titan, G Tron, and As Foretold balance.
My list was basically D Wong's UR list w 2 mines instead of Jace a second Part the Waterveil in place of Opt.
Loving the deck a lot it seems very strong!
4 Snaps is definitely the way to go and Commandeer is fantastic.
Congrats, glad you're enjoying the deck! How do you like the second Part the Waterveil? So far I haven't missed it, but I've certainly had games that were dicey because I burned my only Part early.
I now added a hopefully reasonable Sideboard and exchanged the Hinterland Harbor with a Gemstone Caverns to maximize the chances of a turn 2 draw engine. I'm not quite sure how many Nexus of Fate I want in the deck, but I will probably Proxy this up against some friends in the near future to tweak the numbers. I also would like some card filtering options in there, but I feel like there is nothing to cut from the maindeck to make room for either Serum Visions or Opt. It might also be a good idea to put extra copies of Gigadrowse into the Sideboard, but the Control-matchup is probably good enough without them.
@TheRematcher! Hey just looked at your list and it seems sweet, but I have one suggestion
I would cut the Utopia Sprawl and Rite of Flourishing entirely and use that space to add more interaction, like being able to go to 3-4 gigadrowse and maybe add remand.. I've been playing Sultai Reclamation a lot lately and have noticed that Wilderness Reclamation is only super powerful when the deck is functioning at instant speed.
Also - for the sideboard, you should try Tireless tracker.. seemed like one of the coolest green sideboard creature options to utilize the power of tons of mana.. It's really strong against discard decks which we usually have a tough time against
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@zcowan:
For me, the Sprawls and Rites are more essecial to the deck than the reclamation part, which mostly is another win condition and not an engine. I also own a sultai-reclamation deck and in that deck it feels more like an engine, while in this deck, you just use it to take turns with Nexus or cryptic your Opponent. You might undervalue the Sprawls and Rites a bit, but turn1 sprawl into turn2 rites (or double sprawl + Dictate) allowes this deck to effectively win on the 3rd turn.
Your Suggestion seems to me more as a different deck idea, where you try to go all in on the Nexus-plan, but the end-phase-ramp of the reclamations doesn't really support the typical interaction spells of the turns deck (Exhaustion and Gigadrowse) that well, since Exhaustion is a sorcery and Gigadrowse only benefits from a single untap.
@TheRematcher I’m a big search for azcanta fan, maybe try a couple of those? Synergy with reclamation is amazing. Deck sounds very interesting. Simic charm might be a card to check out as a means of interaction in a UG build.
5-2 record at the SCG IQ. 10th place out of 75. Lost to humans twice. Beat BW tokens, Mono R Phoenix, BG, Burn, and had a no show in the last round that I assume forgot to tell someone he dropped. Very happy with my performance. Sad I just missed out on top 8. I think I’m going to try a white splash for sideboard answers to problem match ups. Maybe only add 3 fetches and 3 shocks main, take out 2 radiant fountains and 4 islands. Bring hate out of the sideboard. Terminus, timely, path, rip, stony, EE probably?
@JPo 1st opponent did a lot of gigadrowse while I had a hand full of them. and dictate right after I drew one and planned on flashing it in eot. Didn’t think he would name it. Ouch. He also ran off 3 freebooters in game 2 that disrailed my early plans while he beat my face. 2nd opponent said he was new to modern, from vintage. Had no idea what my deck had, so named tw and temporal since that’s all he really saw. Thalia and gaddock were big problems in that game. Cryptic and Jace bounces helped, but it was a rough one
@TheRematcher, I would cut the reclamation entirely then.. to me it seems like way too many enchantments for ramp but not enough payoff
I can get behind doing reclamation and going instant speed or the rites/utopia turbo turns style but they don't get along together haha
That's all I was getting at!
Also - Timewalkinonsunshine
Think you may be interested in this.. Was brainstorming with the Discord on a possibly mono blue variant or UB self mill styled turn deck that utilizes the new Jace as a win condition.. Still a work in process but seems cool. Would finally make mission briefing sound better then snapcaster for a deck.. and then thought scour in place of serum visions...
Just the early workings of an idea! Also could justify something like Temporal Trespass as a one of
Id personally still play UR over any other version at a big tournament obviously.. The deck has felt really good lately.. but I do like my experiments haha
@zcowan:
Cutting the reclamations is something I am considering, but I want to try out both first. Trying to do too much is often a problem, because you don't draw what you need, but with 8 mine effects, it could work. Since I own a lot of the cards, I will probably get the missing ones soon, so I can tell if it works out as I want it to do.
@JetterBetter:
I also like azcanta, but this build probably needs the draw effects. I also think the mine's I put in there are superior to others in this build because the dictates can be played at instant speed (even more important in this build because of the reclamations) and the rites are also ramp. I think boomerang would probably still be better in here, than a simic charm, but in a pure reclamation list, boomeranging your opponent's board could work out just well.
UW looks like it may be getting a boost from War of the Spark
Teferi Time Reveler could be good against control matchups and other decks that work at instant speed and it allows us to cast exhaustion and warp effects on our opponent's turn which is nice.. plus it has evasion
Also Dovin's Veto is just a better negate for the sideboard which is awesome.. but im secretly hoping they make counterspell modern legal with Horizon's haha
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UU"Brute force can sometimes kick down a locked door, but knowledge is a skeleton key"UU
I now added a hopefully reasonable Sideboard and exchanged the Hinterland Harbor with a Gemstone Caverns to maximize the chances of a turn 2 draw engine. I'm not quite sure how many Nexus of Fate I want in the deck, but I will probably Proxy this up against some friends in the near future to tweak the numbers. I also would like some card filtering options in there, but I feel like there is nothing to cut from the maindeck to make room for either Serum Visions or Opt. It might also be a good idea to put extra copies of Gigadrowse into the Sideboard, but the Control-matchup is probably good enough without them.
@timewalkinonsunshine: I think you are right about the EE in the main and I will definately think about a Cyclonic Rift as well!
Awesome, I like the sideboard you've come up with. I think it's worth adding an extra wincon like Thing in the Ice (perhaps over the 4th Chalice?) or Tireless Tracker like @zcowan suggested, but that's personal preference. Thanks for being so open to feedback. I'm really interested in the continued evolution of the list, keep us updated on how it goes!
5-2 record at the SCG IQ. 10th place out of 75. Lost to humans twice. Beat BW tokens, Mono R Phoenix, BG, Burn, and had a no show in the last round that I assume forgot to tell someone he dropped. Very happy with my performance. Sad I just missed out on top 8. I think I’m going to try a white splash for sideboard answers to problem match ups. Maybe only add 3 fetches and 3 shocks main, take out 2 radiant fountains and 4 islands. Bring hate out of the sideboard. Terminus, timely, path, rip, stony, EE probably?
Congrats on the finish! Sorry to hear about just missing top 8 though, that's always rough. Humans is a tough one for mono-U because the opponent has so many relevant threats (Thalia, Kitesail Freebooter, Meddling Mage) and mono-U just doesn't have enough ways to get rid of them.
Also - Timewalkinonsunshine
Think you may be interested in this.. Was brainstorming with the Discord on a possibly mono blue variant or UB self mill styled turn deck that utilizes the new Jace as a win condition.. Still a work in process but seems cool. Would finally make mission briefing sound better then snapcaster for a deck.. and then thought scour in place of serum visions...
Just the early workings of an idea! Also could justify something like Temporal Trespass as a one of
Id personally still play UR over any other version at a big tournament obviously.. The deck has felt really good lately.. but I do like my experiments haha
That's definitely an interesting idea... I can imagine something with tons of cantrips, a lower curve, more Mine effects, and a focus on comboing fast without needing a wincon other than new Jace. I'm not sure how good it would be, but it would certainly be fun! Mission Briefing would be pretty good for sure in that build, but I think the scry on Serum Visions makes it worth playing still. But if we're going for tons of cantrips, why not both!
UW looks like it may be getting a boost from War of the Spark
Teferi Time Reveler could be good against control matchups and other decks that work at instant speed and it allows us to cast exhaustion and warp effects on our opponent's turn which is nice.. plus it has evasion
Also Dovin's Veto is just a better negate for the sideboard which is awesome.. but im secretly hoping they make counterspell modern legal with Horizon's haha
Our control matchup is already pretty good, but if your local meta is just full of control players then this is a great way to go. I'm really excited to see what toys the rest of WAR gives us!
Congrats Daniel, awesome finish. Excited for the report.
Decided to finally try a color splash for my deck. 3 fetches, 2 shocks, and a basic plains. New SB, few old favs. What do you guys think?
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Search for Azcanta
4 Dictate of Kruphix
3 Flooded Strand
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Inkmoth Nexus
15 Island
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Plains
3 Gigadrowse
4 Remand
2 Cryptic Command
4 Serum Visions
3 Exhaustion
4 Time Warp
3 Part the Waterveil
4 Temporal Mastery
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Sideboard (15)
3 Path to Exile
2 Rest in Peace
2 Spreading Seas
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Dragon's Claw
2 Spellskite
Hey guys, new poster here, but longtime turns player. I’ve played UW my entire run, experimenting between dictate builds and As Foretold builds. My current, and longest lasting build is a hybrid between the two, with a huge success rate over the last year +, hoping to take it to a major event sometime this year. Right now though, with War of the Spark spoilers, I’m looking at trying out a full dictate/mine build using the new Jace walker. A lot of hate has been put on him, but with the crazy amount of draw power the dictate/mine build allows, I feel it might have the potential to be a quick and efficient way to close games. Any thoughts or constructive criticisms?
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Thanks for the info you two. Really appreciate hearing lots of experiences and opinions!
Thanks for the report! Glad to hear you're finding success with the deck. Hardened Scales seems like a tough matchup, though. I really haven't found a good solution to it yet. Even cards like Hurkyl's Recall don't seem to do enough against them.
Wasn’t able to play much last week. Did a Sunday event, only 5 people. Finished 2-1. Beat Bant nexus 2-0. Beat BG deck 2-1. Swore I was going to lose that one, somehow survived an onslaught of thoughtseize and IoK to finally awaken an inkmoth for a poisonous death. Don’t know if I could’ve survived long enough to beat him with a normal land. He was smart enough to keep me away from dictates. Game 3 was not as much hand destruction, but i survived a surgical on time warp, then snap flashed back on PTW. after Bob, thoughtseize and his mana base did enough damage to him, with a few clutch gigadrowse and exhaustion my snap beat him down. Game 3... my buddy decided to build 8 Whack. Has me pulling my hair out. Lost 1-2 and almost had it. I actually won game 1, my hand curved out perfect, and he didn’t have the hella explosive start. Game 2 I mana flooded hard. G3 dictate flashed in before turn 4, 3 lands on board, cryptic, warp, PTW, in hand, and whiff on the 4th land. Oy, goblins.
Gotta rant for a second on stupid tie breakers. 5 people, someone had a bye every round. Tie breakers decided the 8 whack deck that defeated me, 2-1, with a bye for 1 win was good enough to take first??? I actually beat 2 opponents, and this bumped his points because he beat me and I had 2 actual wins. WTF?! Salty AF.
Taking my list to an SCG IQ this weekend! I’m excited, it’s my first go at something bigger then FNM. I’m looking to take a lot of turns
He is usually the first thing to get sided out for hate though, in any match that I know he does not add a ton of value. I have considered running a copy in the sideboard as well but I think 4 copies is way overkill as it just activates to much removal your opponent may have. The absolutely best turns with Tempest in my plays have been if you flip a miracle walk on turn 5 for 2 mana and you play the Jin that turn.
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2 Snapcaster Mage
Enchantment
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Dictate of Kruphix
4 Rites of Flourishing
4 Wilderness Reclamation
Land
1 Gemstone Caverns
4 Island
2 Forest
3 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Watery Grave
4 Breeding Pool
1 Gigadrowse
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
3 Mystical Teachings
4 Cryptic Command
3 Nexus of Fate
2 Growth Spiral
Sorcery
4 Time Warp
1 Part the Waterveil
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Engineered Explosives
2 Ravenous Trap
1 Dispel
1 Negate
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Creeping Corrosion
My list was basically D Wong's UR list w 2 mines instead of Jace a second Part the Waterveil in place of Opt.
Loving the deck a lot it seems very strong!
4 Snaps is definitely the way to go and Commandeer is fantastic.
Glad you've had some success with the Djinn! I disagree about 4x in the sideboard being too many - key aspect being sideboard. In the mainboard games, your opponent is more likely to have removal spells like Fatal Push (revolted of course), Path to Exile, Terminate, etc that are very good against Tempest Djinn, but very bad against the rest of the deck. In fact, the budget list I posted has zero creatures, with the only target for those removal spells being an awoken land (and if you suspect that your opponent has a handful of removal, try to Gigadrowse before awakening). In the post-board games, your opponent is much less likely to have those removal spells, and Tempest Djinn will get its time to shine. Having multiple is also good for blocking better and killing more quickly, which is why I don't think 4x is overkill. Of course, if your opponent anticipates this plan and leaves removal in for game 2, or if your opponent switches up their sideboard plan for game 3 after getting beaten down by a Djinn, you can next-level the opponent by sticking with plan A and leaving Tempest Djinn in the sideboard.
This list is sweet! I like the 6x ramp spells to power out T3 Wilderness Reclamation and Dictate. There's certainly a weird tension in the manabase between wanting Forests for Utopia Sprawl and wanting blue sources for Gigadrowse / Blue Sun's Zenith / Cryptic Command, but it looks like you mostly solved that with a lot of fetchlands and Breeding Pools. I'm kind of concerned about a manabase with 10 fetches and 5 shocks that isn't a Death's Shadow deck. It would be pretty funny to have Death's Shadow in the sideboard though... probably not a good idea, but a funny one. It also feels weird to me that Mystical Teachings can't grab hard removal in this deck, but I think trying to add cards like Abrupt Decay, Assassin's Trophy, Fatal Push, etc will stretch the manabase too far. I guess that's just one of the inherent issues with Simic though. I think it's worthwhile to add some one-ofs like Cyclonic Rift and/or Echoing Truth so that you have more ways than just Cryptic Command to temporarily remove problem permanents like Meddling Mage, Thalia, Gaddock Teeg, etc. It may also be worthwhile to run an Engineered Explosives maindeck as hard removal, which Mat Stein did at Toronto with UR. I don't really know about what the sideboard should look like. My usual go-to includes some number of Thing in the Ice, but the enchantment count is so high in this deck (and consequently, Instant/Sorcery count relatively low) that I think TitI is slightly less effective than normal. Probably still worth in my opinion, but good to be aware of. Engineered Explosives / Ratchet Bomb seem reasonable removal options, along with maybe some more bounce spells like Echoing Truth. Some selection of counterspell(s) for the meta is probably worth it. You can add some green Naturalize effects if those are important for your meta. Add a dash of graveyard hate in Surgical / Relic / Tormod's Crypt / whatever, and you've got yourself a sideboard!
Congrats, glad you're enjoying the deck! How do you like the second Part the Waterveil? So far I haven't missed it, but I've certainly had games that were dicey because I burned my only Part early.
2 Snapcaster Mage
Enchantment
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Dictate of Kruphix
4 Rites of Flourishing
4 Wilderness Reclamation
Land
1 Gemstone Caverns
4 Island
2 Forest
3 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Watery Grave
4 Breeding Pool
1 Gigadrowse
1 Blue Sun's Zenith
3 Mystical Teachings
4 Cryptic Command
3 Nexus of Fate
2 Growth Spiral
Sorcery
4 Time Warp
1 Part the Waterveil
4 Chalice of the Void
3 Engineered Explosives
2 Ravenous Trap
1 Dispel
1 Negate
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Creeping Corrosion
@timewalkinonsunshine: I think you are right about the EE in the main and I will definately think about a Cyclonic Rift as well!
I would cut the Utopia Sprawl and Rite of Flourishing entirely and use that space to add more interaction, like being able to go to 3-4 gigadrowse and maybe add remand.. I've been playing Sultai Reclamation a lot lately and have noticed that Wilderness Reclamation is only super powerful when the deck is functioning at instant speed.
Also - for the sideboard, you should try Tireless tracker.. seemed like one of the coolest green sideboard creature options to utilize the power of tons of mana.. It's really strong against discard decks which we usually have a tough time against
For me, the Sprawls and Rites are more essecial to the deck than the reclamation part, which mostly is another win condition and not an engine. I also own a sultai-reclamation deck and in that deck it feels more like an engine, while in this deck, you just use it to take turns with Nexus or cryptic your Opponent. You might undervalue the Sprawls and Rites a bit, but turn1 sprawl into turn2 rites (or double sprawl + Dictate) allowes this deck to effectively win on the 3rd turn.
Your Suggestion seems to me more as a different deck idea, where you try to go all in on the Nexus-plan, but the end-phase-ramp of the reclamations doesn't really support the typical interaction spells of the turns deck (Exhaustion and Gigadrowse) that well, since Exhaustion is a sorcery and Gigadrowse only benefits from a single untap.
5-2 record at the SCG IQ. 10th place out of 75. Lost to humans twice. Beat BW tokens, Mono R Phoenix, BG, Burn, and had a no show in the last round that I assume forgot to tell someone he dropped. Very happy with my performance. Sad I just missed out on top 8. I think I’m going to try a white splash for sideboard answers to problem match ups. Maybe only add 3 fetches and 3 shocks main, take out 2 radiant fountains and 4 islands. Bring hate out of the sideboard. Terminus, timely, path, rip, stony, EE probably?
Modern Warp / UR Control / UR Storm / Naya Breachshift / ElectroBalance
Solidarity / Lands / Sneak and Show / Grixis Delver / Reanimator / Belcher / Storm / Dredge
I can get behind doing reclamation and going instant speed or the rites/utopia turbo turns style but they don't get along together haha
That's all I was getting at!
Also - Timewalkinonsunshine
Think you may be interested in this.. Was brainstorming with the Discord on a possibly mono blue variant or UB self mill styled turn deck that utilizes the new Jace as a win condition.. Still a work in process but seems cool. Would finally make mission briefing sound better then snapcaster for a deck.. and then thought scour in place of serum visions...
Just the early workings of an idea! Also could justify something like Temporal Trespass as a one of
Id personally still play UR over any other version at a big tournament obviously.. The deck has felt really good lately.. but I do like my experiments haha
Cutting the reclamations is something I am considering, but I want to try out both first. Trying to do too much is often a problem, because you don't draw what you need, but with 8 mine effects, it could work. Since I own a lot of the cards, I will probably get the missing ones soon, so I can tell if it works out as I want it to do.
@JetterBetter:
I also like azcanta, but this build probably needs the draw effects. I also think the mine's I put in there are superior to others in this build because the dictates can be played at instant speed (even more important in this build because of the reclamations) and the rites are also ramp. I think boomerang would probably still be better in here, than a simic charm, but in a pure reclamation list, boomeranging your opponent's board could work out just well.
Hope you write a report ?
Teferi Time Reveler could be good against control matchups and other decks that work at instant speed and it allows us to cast exhaustion and warp effects on our opponent's turn which is nice.. plus it has evasion
Also Dovin's Veto is just a better negate for the sideboard which is awesome.. but im secretly hoping they make counterspell modern legal with Horizon's haha
Congrats on the finish! Sorry to hear about just missing top 8 though, that's always rough. Humans is a tough one for mono-U because the opponent has so many relevant threats (Thalia, Kitesail Freebooter, Meddling Mage) and mono-U just doesn't have enough ways to get rid of them.
That's definitely an interesting idea... I can imagine something with tons of cantrips, a lower curve, more Mine effects, and a focus on comboing fast without needing a wincon other than new Jace. I'm not sure how good it would be, but it would certainly be fun! Mission Briefing would be pretty good for sure in that build, but I think the scry on Serum Visions makes it worth playing still. But if we're going for tons of cantrips, why not both!
I finished at 11-4, which was good for 25th place. I'll be writing a report soon, hopefully posted in the next few days!
Our control matchup is already pretty good, but if your local meta is just full of control players then this is a great way to go. I'm really excited to see what toys the rest of WAR gives us!
Decided to finally try a color splash for my deck. 3 fetches, 2 shocks, and a basic plains. New SB, few old favs. What do you guys think?
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Search for Azcanta
4 Dictate of Kruphix
3 Flooded Strand
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Inkmoth Nexus
15 Island
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Plains
3 Gigadrowse
4 Remand
2 Cryptic Command
4 Serum Visions
3 Exhaustion
4 Time Warp
3 Part the Waterveil
4 Temporal Mastery
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Sideboard (15)
3 Path to Exile
2 Rest in Peace
2 Spreading Seas
2 Engineered Explosives
2 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Dragon's Claw
2 Spellskite