MTG Salvation

So i just came back from a 1K modern with 54 players using the decklist i Posted on 728. I went 3-3 but could have pretty easily been 5-1 had this not been my 1st tournament in about 6 years. lack of understanding of the format and meta cost me at least 1 match. Big take away from the day was the 3 Spell Pierce in the main were clutch. Also id agree with the assessment that was made that having a 2nd Crucible of worlds in the board didn't pay dividends. I sided it in for multiple games but it never ended up being a factor.

G1 - Mono Green Tron 2-1 Me. This went about as well as i could expect. Slowed him down turn 1 and 2 and got a chalice of the void online for 1 and kept counter backup for Sylvan Scrying. G2 he just flat out raced me. G3 i had a Natural tron in hand and out put down a turn 3 Wurmcoil engine and followed it up with spreading seas and tectonic edge to keep him off tron and won

G2 - Thopter Foundry 1-2 Him. This one caught me off guard. Unfortunately this is a match i should have 1. Game 1 Raced out a sundering titan and mind slaver and he couldn't rebound from it. Unfortunately both G2 and G3 i got solid control and an early chalice for 0 and for 2 out. both games i could have won easily if i got any kind of creature or win con and the deck wouldn't give it to me either game. This match loss sucked especially hard when he ended up being the 1 seed after 6 rounds

G3 - Bant Spirits 1-2 Him. Good match here but this is a really tough match up for Blue tron it seems. The deck can just come out fast with lots of protection. G1 and G3 he got out fast creatures using flash in response to me doing things and had hex proof and indestructible online to keep them there. I played the best i could but the deck just flat out beat me soundly.

G4 - ScapeShift 2-1 me. This was definitely a good matchup for me. G1 kept a sketchy hand and paid for it but almost stabilized. G2 and G3 i put out a quick slaver and when i took his turn he had a scapeshift in hand both times. Binned all his lands and failure to find and he scooped them up.

G5 - Jeski Control 1-0 him. This was a really tough match but a winnable one. This match in particular i felt like lack of meta knowledge cost me. G1 took almost 45 minutes. couldn't get game 2 done. I think next time i come up against this ill feel a lot better about it.

G6 - BW Control 2-0 Me. Not a lot to say about this one. Got out a fast mind slaver lock G1. G2 i got tron out quickly and put down a big walking ballista followed up with academy ruins to recur it every turn and he just couldn't do anything about it.

All in all i feel i did ok, not having played modern ever or any magic since innistrad was just coming out. I would have 0 concern playing this deck again with maybe 1 or 2 minor changes. I felt like this deck could have easily T8 today. And as far as the spell pierce goes, every opponent commented on how they weren't expecting them and how they kept walking right into them. They are definitely staying in the main for now

So I was thinking about a couple cards that could be good in various applications in the board or main and would like some feedback.

Nexus of fate - I feel like this could great in the main as a one or two of. Against Jeski control or any other Uxx control, when they go to do XYZ at the end of your turn, dropping this in response could be a solid game changer. Maybe its too mana intensive or the 2 Blue mana is too big of a draw back, but it looks appealing.

Bribery - As a 1 or 2 of in the board, or 1 main or etc, I could see this card being really good. Against tron, Eldrazi, scapeshift, etc this card could be really good.

aetherize this card I'm giving serious thought too. I ran 4x spatial Contortion and it did very little for me. Almost every scenario I boarded it in, I would have rather had Aetherize. That could just have been the luck of the draw and decks I got, but a good chunk of the aggro/critter type decks I saw, mass non targeting bounce would have been a whole lot better.

These were just some musings I had I wanted to test and thought I'd check in and see if anyone had toyed with them

I used to play it and the blow outs felt great but spatial contortion protects you more from creature combo where aetherize does not. Being able to answer a devoted druid or kikijiki. Even just killing burns creatures with it rather than dismember is enough to keep them.

I definitely found aetherspouts too slow. I could see aetherize if you're playing talismans as t3 bounce board is fast enough to matter, t4 is on the bubble since they will replay everything (compared to verdict or damnation)

I think spatial and repeal are more versatile at getting youto the wurmcoil or ugin to turn the corner vs aggro overall.

That's all good insight. The bribery and nexus were kind of softball ideas and the input makes sense. I see the value of spatial. The problem I'm running in to is against a bunch of the aggro it isn't enough to kill the mobs, against infect it is a real gamble, and stuff like spirits and humans it is eiyher unusable or a drop in the bucket. Of hate to try and clear 7 spots in the board for various creature removal ish stuff. If like to think the stuff that really needs just that kind of spot removal the counters would be enough to handle but maybe not. This Friday ill test it out with Aetherize of spatial and see how it runs

You can't contain an aggro deck with spot removal, you just try to stem the bleeding to get you to your angel, wurmcoil, rift, ugin, or ostone. Contortion is good because it can also kill combo pieces and nuisances like Thalia or dark confidant permanently.

Keep that in mind when assessing what you need in the aggro match. Your goal is to Tron up and slam a game breaker not try to one for one them indefinitely. It's all about buying time to make your endgame.

I dont run the solemn. It feels slow and clunky and when I could cast it, I feel like I should have far better expenditures for the mana. I am currently running 2 chalice main and 1 in the board. TBH, the 3rd comes in fromt the board pretty regularly. I briefly have thought about putting the 3rd in the main but I feel like G1 I saccrafice some versatility if I do. I may try some testing with 3 main but right now I think I feel best about 2 main 1 board.

Welcome to the forums, Dalk.

I like your list. I‘d probably cut Solemn, although ramping with Talisman into Solemn on T3 can be quite strong (enabling Wurmcoil on T4). I don‘t run Talismans in my build however, as I don‘t like to tap out on T2/T3 and rather keep up mana for Condescend, Remand, Repeal or Dismember.

Alternatively, you could shove 1 Mindslaver to your sideboard, replacing either 1 Spreading Seas or the Wurmcoil Engine. 2 Wurmcoil mainboard along 2 Ballistas should be enough.

If you decide to board in the 3rd Chalice for game 2, you can still board out 1-2 Maps. Map can also be discarded to Thirst, should you have played Chalice first.

All in all, the list looks solid to me.

My meta has a lot of burn, humans, dredge, fish, eldrazi, and bant. Platinum Angel with Chalice on one is very strong, but I think mainboard Silent Arbiter could do us pretty good in this meta with the new agro hollow one/ vengevine decks out there. I'm gonna start trying it out in place of the new Karn because he's been more meh for me more than anything.

Thoughts?

I think you could probably play more dismembers as an earlier out to the fatties. I'm currently playing 4 of them and 4 spatials. Aggro seems to have a harder time vs that. Along with 3 surgicals for hollow one and combos. They seem to have shored up at least a little for me. I lose more to me punting than the deck not performing.

I've been playing tks out of the side to punish them for boarding out removal but I could see it maindeck.

I like gearhulk over second snap so far as it's able to win games flashing in either where snap just gets pushed or bolted making the body pretty meh. Also another artifact for thirst. Snap hitting x spells is obviously good tho so who knows.

What is your usual gifts package? Ruins ruin crucible and something they can't afford to give you (coil or ballista)

What do you think k of trinket mage vs treasure. I found finding ballista almost always and occasionally map or chalice. Treasure gets wurmcoil or slaver only... Not really very versatile.

Storm would need to cast past in flames again to give grapeshot flashback. The bigger risk is that they remand it after obstructionist and do it again

What are your guys thoughts on silent arbiter in the sideboard. I've been using it to great success against go wide strategies such as 8wack and tokens.

Quote from Jadeclone »

What are your guys thoughts on silent arbiter in the sideboard. I've been using it to great success against go wide strategies such as 8wack and tokens.

I think he’s well suited right now. Worst case scenario he eats two bolts or a path which will ramp you to Wurmcoil next turn. Just look out for flector mage and kolaghans command, but Jund or Grixis isn’t big right now anyway.
Chalic on one should help you out; almost a pseudo protect the queen.

Hi All,

I'm playing in a big tournament on Saturday (only my 2nd sanctioned tournament since playing MTG again last Feb). I have 2 decks: 5c humans and Blue Tron and have decided to play Tron because I feel most comfortable with it, as well as me hating mirror matches so much which would happen a lot if I run humans.

I'm hoping to get input about my near-final deck list where, in the tournament, the meta for 64 players would look somewhat like as follows:

12% Spirits (bant or UW)
12% Hallow One / Vengevine Decks / Combination (hallow vine)
12% Mardu Pyromancer / Jund / Abzan / Death Shadow
12% Jeskai / UW Control
22% Other Aggro / Fast Decks (humans, infect, 8whack, burn, wizards, bogles, etc.)
10% Combo Decks (storm, kci, scapeshift, vizier etc.)
5% Prison / Lock Decks (lantern, red prison)
5% Tron (green, eldrazi, red green)
10% Others (mid range, ponza, etc.)

I'm probably already locked in on my list but would greatly appreciate all your inputs and would very much consider a last minute tinkering. My List is as follows:

2 walking ballista
2 wurmcoil engine
2 nimble obstructionist
1 snapcaster mage

4 thirst for knowledge
4 condescend
3 repeal
3 spatial contortion
2 remand
2 dismember
1 supreme will
1 cyclonic rift

4 expedition map
2 chalice of the void
1 oblivion stone
1 mindslaver

1 ugin, the spirit dragon
4 urza's tower
4 urza's power plant
4 urza's mine
1 academy ruins
1 tolaria west
1 gemstone caverns
2 river of tears
1 field of ruin
6 island

Sideboard:

2 surgical extraction
2 negate
1 ceremonious rejection
1 engineered explosives
1 chalice of the void
1 grafdigger's cage
1 tectonic edge
1 spatial contortion
1 spell snare
1 summary dismissal
1 silent arbiter
1 karn, scion of urza
1 crucible of worlds

I thank you all in advance and regardless of how hard a critism i'd get, I would appreciate everything really and look to learn. Thank you

2 obstructionist maindeck is unusual - im not sure what exactly youre hoping they will do.

Five spot removal main is a bit high too but that can just be a meta call.

I stand by one copy of trinket mage even though it usually gets balista, it can also get map, chalice, explosives, cage, needle. Vs living end grabbing chalice on zero is great, and when you just need a tron piece or academy ruins grabbing map feels good.

Also, a very important ruling/interaction question please:


when an opponent activates an aether vial to put down a creature and you respond with stifle effects from nimble obstructionist / squelch / and other similar cards, what happens to the creature?

It stays in their hand. They activate and then when you say they can resolve the trigger the creature goes into play. By not letting it resolve, nothing happens.

Great input - I've yet to test out trinket mage to be honest and I most likely would give it a shot today with play testing.

Regarding nimble obstructionist - in relation to the 5 removal spells that I have, they actually also work as a pseudo 6 to 7 removal spell (as flash blockers). they can get rid of attacking mantis riders, drogskol captains, etc.

Aside from that, they are also surprisingly great against a lot of decks and could also work as a pseudo land destruction against fetch lands, not to mention a silver bullet against opposing field of ruins / ghost quarter / tec edge.

Lastly, but least likely, they can be deployed as a beater to set clocks to opponents. All in all a pretty versatile card that I love playing these days.

Quote from SwissRolls »

It stays in their hand. They activate and then when you say they can resolve the trigger the creature goes into play. By not letting it resolve, nothing happens.

Thank you, this is very helpful.