So I guess I figured out why relic was a 4-of in the sideboard for the 8th place list for the modern challenge (see reference list below) - They are using crucible main deck! With only 24 land you can't really afford to be siding out Crucible unless you are siding in a land. That means you can't really have RIP in the board unless you're also willing to dedicate a SB slot to a land for the matchups where you need RIP (bringing in land against Dredge seems bad). I think that when I do decide to try out a crucible MD list I will probably take a similar Dredge approach and eschew RIP, but I will probably run a 2/2 Surgical/Relic split to hedge a bit against combo decks as well.
Yeah I noticed this when I was running 24 lands with Crucible in the main and I brought in RIP and had my useless Crucible in hand. In that kind of build it acts as your 25th land. I don't think you can ever afford to board it out with only 24 lands. RIP is so good though that I'm not sure if it's all worth it, the card draw from the relics is nice, but I'd probably go with the 2 relic 2 surgical split as well, or maybe 1 cage. I'm currently running pretty much Benny's latest list with a 2nd Jace instead of Supreme Will and it's working great. I don't have Surgicals on MTGO because they are freaking $30 right now!
IMHO, they use Relic just because it cantrips. It's *another* cantrip in a build already full of them (Visions, Seas, Walls, Cryptics) that complements well the "dig-into-the-library" plan. I don't like the choice, simply because RIP is a necessary evil against Dredge. But, if Dredge isn't in the metagame anymore, then Relics are probably better.
I did 3-2 in yesterday's tournament, missing the top8 for the first time after seven events. Played my usual list (25 lands, 4 Cryptics, 4 Verdicts, 2 Jace AOT, 3 little Gideon) but this time I went with 3 Walls maindeck instead of the usual two. I'm liking having more cantrips, it really helps digging for key pieces. I'm actually on 4 SV, 4 Seas, 3 Walls and 2 Farmland, and the deck's been incredbly smooth. I also added another Runed Halo in the sideboard (going to three) in spite of the second Celestial Purge. I had a bit of bad luck in the pairings, but, well, you can't always reach the top. Won against Mardu Burn (2-0), Cheerios (2-1) and UB Faeries (2-0). Lost against Goblins (0-2. I cannot describe how much I hate playing against this deck!) and Skred Red (1-2).
Now, I just wanted to point out two things.
First, little Gideon has been amazing for me in the current metagame. I didn't like it at first, because when it was printed Decay was still a thing and go-wide strategies such as Elves and CoCo were prevalent. Nowdays, with Valakut, Eldra-Tron, Burn and Shadow at the top, Gideon is just insane. It's also very good in the mirror, thanks to the emblem which prevents you from decking, and it has multiple functions: being able to race against combo and killing Lilianas against Shadow really is something, other than providing the "usual" damage prevention and insurance against burn spells. So, I decided to up the count to three, even though I always liked the single Jura to complement them. Elspeth is still a necessary evil in the sideboard, though, because Thrun isn't manageable otherwise.
Second, given what I wrote above, I'm wondering if the two Vendilion (or Queller/Geist, if you prefer them) slots are actually better being real counterspells. If I already have three lil Gid in the maindeck, I have a very decent race against combo of the sort. But then, it's very important to answers cleanly the opponent's Primeval Titan, Ad Nauseam and such. Maybe an additional Negate (the fourth?) and a single Disdainful Stroke (or even a Disallow?) may be better in those slots. Dunno.
Little Gid is a house, I've been on 3 for awhile and I wouldn't consider going less. Gid is also good against Ad Nauseam, just emblem and they pretty much can't win G1. Disallow is interesting to me because I've been thinking of Nimble Obstructionist. I recently read Frank Karsten's article on sideboarding, and he makes an interesting point for the inclusion of broad cards in the sideboard. Disallow and Obstructionist both fit that criteria imo. I really like being able to counter triggers, and Obstructionist does it without being able to be countered and draws a card. 3/1 flash flyer is good enough against most of the decks where the Cycle ability isn't great (like burn).
Gideon's emblem is good against Ad Nauseam only if you also play Runed Halo in your sideboard (I do). Else, they can just bounce the planeswalker before comboing. Having two targets makes it much more difficult for the Nauseam player. But also consider that they often play Laboratory Maniac. Still, it's very consistent for the beatdown plan.
Post board can be tough, but 3 little gids should basically ensure a victory g1 so we have to lose both post-board games. How do you feel about Obstructionist: counter Lotus Bloom activation? Could buy us a couple turns to beat face with Gid/Snap?
Played a couple control mirrors last night and they were rough. One guy was UW control, but more all in with 4 snaps, 4 cryptics and a gearhulk. He also had a lot of mana leaks and logic knots, seemed pretty much unwinnable for me. Same thing when I played against esper, the discard didn't get me too much, but countersquall, remands, playset of snaps and cryptics and another gearhulk were all too much for my 2 snaps 3 cryptics and a few mana leaks. I kind of hope one of those guys went 5-0 so I can see their lists!
Edit: Also I tried running the crucible main with relics in the side and my first matchup was against dredge of course. He brought in ancient grudges which made my relics and crucible even more useless.
The number doesn't matter, because they will kill it right after resolving Ad Nauseam and casting Laboratory Maniac with multiple Pact of Negation in their hand. If we don't have multiple targets, such as Runed Halo, the only utility of Gideon's emblem here is to take time, letting them wasting an additional turn before winning (most of the time), so that you can beat them with the walker.
The first game against Ad Nauseam is utterly terrible. We're something about 30-70, and we can only win if we clog up our hand with the right half of library. Postboard is much more manageable.
Of course the number of Gideons matters, the more we have the more likely we are to see it early enough to be able to cast it without fear of them comboing off. Yes, they will kill it with lightning storm, but that means that they have to execute both lightning storm and Lab Man which is much more mana intensive, buying us a lot of time before they decide to combo off, and in that time we have a 4/4 swinging in that they don't have removal for.
I think we are in agreement that Little Gideon is very good against them, but we are certainly in disagreement about how bad the matchup is. I think that disagreement comes from the fact that you are just now moving to 3 Little Gideon. You will see the matchup moving much closer to even now if you keep 3 little gideon.
@Slowgod
Played a couple control mirrors last night and they were rough. One guy was UW control, but more all in with 4 snaps, 4 cryptics and a gearhulk. He also had a lot of mana leaks and logic knots, seemed pretty much unwinnable for me. Same thing when I played against esper, the discard didn't get me too much, but countersquall, remands, playset of snaps and cryptics and another gearhulk were all too much for my 2 snaps 3 cryptics and a few mana leaks. I kind of hope one of those guys went 5-0 so I can see their lists!
Edit: Also I tried running the crucible main with relics in the side and my first matchup was against dredge of course. He brought in ancient grudges which made my relics and crucible even more useless.
Sorry to hear about your luck last night, sounds like you got paired up against a lot of bad matchups. I am glad to learn from your game against Dredge with the crucible main configuration. I hadn't considered Ancient Grudge from them because I don't think I have ever cast an artifact in that match-up lol. I might suggest not casting crucible in G1 next time against them, that way they don't bring in grudge. My only other idea is to moev back to RIP but also consider adding a land to your SB somewhere. Then your SB plan against Dredge is side out Crucible (and whatever else) and side in a land (plus whatever else). I just hate to waste a SB slot on a land. Maybe its possible that since RIP is just so good against them, being on only 24 land and no crucible post board is fine?
It was weird that they brought those in because I didn't even play the crucible in game 1, no idea why he brought those in really, but they got me pretty good. Of course if the relics I drew in game 2 had been the RIPs that I just took out of the deck he would have had no chance.
Gideon is good against Ad Nauseam, because he is a 4/4 for 3 mana?!
He is good because his Emblem makes it much more difficult for them to combo kill us. The fact that he is a 4/4 helps speed up our clock after he emblems.
So they essentially have to set up more mana to Lightning Storm and Laboratory Maniac. 5 for Ad Naus, 3 for Lightning Storm, 3 for Maniac, maybe 1 for Serum Visions, total 11-12 mana. However, if they have access to their whole library, they draw every Simian Spirit Guide and every Pentad Prism left in their library. I'm just theorizing, never played the matchup with Gideon in play. Not sure of their capability if they draw their whole library.
Well Pentad Prism doesn't gain them mana, it just breaks even. Spirit Guide does though, yes. But they Still need 12 Mana (combo you described) instead of 8 Mana (5 For Ad Naus, 3 for Storm). 4 more mana is a world of difference; keeps your mana leaks online a lot longer. And in the mean time, you have a 4/4 that they don't have removal for.
The possibility to be able to choke them on mana the turn they want to combo off was another reason I thought Nimble Obstructionist could be ok; not specifically for this matchup, but stifle on lotus bloom puts them behind a lot of tempo, and keeps Mana Leak live a lot longer. I'll admit I haven't tested Obstructionist, but I'm on the verge of trying 1 main and 1 side because the more I think about it, the more "2U: Uncounterable Stifle + Draw a card" seems busted and very broad.
Speaking of Mana Leak - It's one of the reason Tec Edge is better than GQ. Also, being able to GQ a key land before the opponent makes 4 land drops really only comes up against Affinity, in my experience, and that match-up is already fine. The ability to keep leaks live, and stay even on lands (Not 0 for 1'ing yourself with GQ) is very relevant. The mana denial plan is very real against Scapeshift decks, a lot of the time you just need to delay them a turn or 2 to set up before they can cast Shift with 8 lands in play, or Titan with 9 lands in play. Cavern of souls is largely irrelevant in the early turns since we are setting up for a verdict in those turns anyways. Cavern is an issue when they are trying to cast smashers or larger creatures, but by that time we should have been able to find the time to Tec Edge (or spreading seas).
Hey guys, tourney report from tonight's FNM. I went 1-3, which was probably because I faced 4 bad MUs over the 4 rounds of the tourney. It wasn't a big thing that anyone will gain experience from, and I actually punted a couple times so I won't be writing the whole thing down.
I've been testing the one-of Shadow in place of TT, and so far it's been unimpressive. I do have a PPTQ coming up on September 9th, but I'm not sure whether I want to play Jeskai or UW.
Ran into Merfolk and all in Esper control again last night, my only 2 losses which both seem pretty unwinnable. I actually won 1 game against esper thanks to Elspeth which I held onto until I knew I could cast and get her to stick, but then lost game 3 due to a geist vs my all 4 boarded out verdicts
I never beat Merfolk either and I can't stop playing against them, where have all the shadow decks gone? I had 3 verdicts in hand vs merfolk and still end up losing. Their mutavaults and copters are too evasive and then I drew no paths, islandwalk is the most annoying thing ever. What is the plan vs merfolk? Bring in all your creatures and try to race? When I see turn 1 island, aether vial I'm already tilted.
I play burn and or affinity once per league and have only lost 1 match to burn getting a complete nut draw, even though I swear they ALWAYS have t1 and 2 goblin guide + other spell into double boros charms. I won my last game at -3 health thanks to Gideon emblem.
Ran into Merfolk and all in Esper control again last night, my only 2 losses which both seem pretty unwinnable. I actually won 1 game against esper thanks to Elspeth which I held onto until I knew I could cast and get her to stick, but then lost game 3 due to a geist vs my all 4 boarded out verdicts
I never beat Merfolk either and I can't stop playing against them, where have all the shadow decks gone? I had 3 verdicts in hand vs merfolk and still end up losing. Their mutavaults and copters are too evasive and then I drew no paths, islandwalk is the most annoying thing ever. What is the plan vs merfolk? Bring in all your creatures and try to race? When I see turn 1 island, aether vial I'm already tilted.
I play burn and or affinity once per league and have only lost 1 match to burn getting a complete nut draw, even though I swear they ALWAYS have t1 and 2 goblin guide + other spell into double boros charms. I won my last game at -3 health thanks to Gideon emblem.
Yea, I've also noticed a distinct lack of good matchups. Might be time to switch up the main board a bit to combat Storm and Coco a little more.
Dedicated control decks are difficult, half our cards are dead against them. Luckily those decks suck, so hopefully you shouldn't come across them too often. Merfolk isn't unwinnable though, try bringing in a singleton Stony Silence against them post-board. Shuts down copter and vial and sometimes relic in the postboard games.
The issue against Control is only against Jeskai or Blue Moon. When we're facing Grixis, Esper or whatever, they have very few ways to end up the game, thanks to our incounterable removals and exile clauses. They usually end-up without a real way to win the game, and Gideon's emblem really shines in the mill game-into-the-game. Heavy Burn-spells Control are difficult to face, though, because unless we are able to completely shut down their red sources they can just slowroll the damage to our face, and they're also able to deal with our planeswalkers. Not that they are impossible match-ups, but it's really not nice to face them.
This hasn't been my experience at all. I don't mind the red-based control decks, Thier removal doesn't line up well with our threats and as long as we can avoid fetch-shocking the matchup has felt solid to me. Blue moon seems a little worse for us (haven't come across it, but seen it plenty of times on streams) but still manageable. Esper decks on the other hand, have more planeswalkers, counters and sometimes Esper charms that best our spheres and also forces us to play our threats earlier or fear having them discarded. I haven't played the esper match much, so maybe I'm running bad, but it doesn't feel like a good match.
CoCo is problematic when they're on the Vizier/Dryad plan, because we don't have that many istant answers to the combo (compared to URx and UBx versions of the deck), while we're pretty good at grinding against the Kiki-Chord variant and the 4-C Saheeli one. Anyway, the MU is usually between 45-55 and 55-45 depending on the builds of both archetypes.
Yea, it's not that it's a bad match up, it just seems more popular now, so if we can find a little switch in the main that helps against Coco and storm would be nice. D-Sphere is a little underwhelming in those matches, might try cutting them (or one) for something. Any suggestions?
I do bring in Stony against Merfolk and then they end up not playing their vials, I think they side some out expecting stony. Sometimes I leave SS in, sometimes I take some out, but the problem is they seem content to just play 1 creature at a time and hit me for a couple damage here and there to play around verdict. I think I have also been playing a little to conservatively, trying to get more value out of my verdicts when I should probably just be using them anytime they have even 2 creatures on board.
I've also done fine against Jeskai control, but Esper decks I run into are on Thoughtseize, Inquisition, 4 snaps, 4 Cryptics, Lillianas, Gearhulk etc. They usually just strip my hand of good cards and can almost always win counter wars since they just have a lot more of them. I think RIP is good in this match because their snaps and lingering souls are a lot more threatening than ours. I know a lot of people say that esper is worse against most other popular decks, so I don't know why it seems so popular still.
I also played against another UW deck that was on 4 snaps/cryptics and gearhulk and that wasn't very fun either. Went to game 3 where his crucible stuck and mine didn't and I got ran out of lands eventually. Gearhulk targeting cryptic seems so darn good I want to try it, but I imagine you're dead with gearhulk in hand against most fast decks.
I do bring in Stony against Merfolk and then they end up not playing their vials, I think they side some out expecting stony. Sometimes I leave SS in, sometimes I take some out, but the problem is they seem content to just play 1 creature at a time and hit me for a couple damage here and there to play around verdict. I think I have also been playing a little to conservatively, trying to get more value out of my verdicts when I should probably just be using them anytime they have even 2 creatures on board.
I've also done fine against Jeskai control, but Esper decks I run into are on Thoughtseize, Inquisition, 4 snaps, 4 Cryptics, Lillianas, Gearhulk etc. They usually just strip my hand of good cards and can almost always win counter wars since they just have a lot more of them. I think RIP is good in this match because their snaps and lingering souls are a lot more threatening than ours. I know a lot of people say that esper is worse against most other popular decks, so I don't know why it seems so popular still.
I also played against another UW deck that was on 4 snaps/cryptics and gearhulk and that wasn't very fun either. Went to game 3 where his crucible stuck and mine didn't and I got ran out of lands eventually. Gearhulk targeting cryptic seems so darn good I want to try it, but I imagine you're dead with gearhulk in hand against most fast decks.
Yea, trying using your verdicts more often. And don't bring in more than 1 Stony. It's like a policing card, they expect you to have it so they sometimes will cut thier artifacts but you have to keep them honest. You don't want more than 1 just in case they sided some out and you never want to draw 2 in the case where they did side some out.
And Yea, Gearhulk is bad before snapcaster #4 imo. As snap #5 it's fine, but in our deck more than 2 snaps is kinda rough. I've often thought 1 snap might be correct, but it's so powerful it's hard to justify cutting the second.
... in our deck more than 2 snaps is kinda rough. I've often thought 1 snap might be correct, but it's so powerful it's hard to justify cutting the second.
I've always felt 2 Snaps were right in any draw-go build that I've played, mostly because they're overcosted Verdicts 5&6 when they need to be, but also extra counterspells (with legs) when that's better in the matchup. The small clock they give us can be relevant (especially in concert with Lil' Gideon and sideboard beaters like Clique/Queller/Geist). For those reasons, I wouldn't play less than 2 OR more than 3 -- if you play less than 2 you lose a lot of potential for clocking combo decks, but when you play a full 4 (and even just 3 sometimes) you flood on Ambush Vipers.
Going to my first modern night here in Anchorage this week. First gaming session since moving from Nebraska. It's been a couple of months, and I last played Grixis Death's Shadow, before that Abzan Company (still have both sleeved), But figured I'd get into control again since it's Tier 1 and probably good for an unknown meta. Here's the decklist I'll take, pretty stock I think. Throwing a Elspeth Knight-Errant in MB to speed things up a bit. (And I don't have the second Jace AOT yet. It's in the mail).
I think that the number of anti-DS decks is hitting an all time high - I run into loads of control mirrors these days. I think that the meta is starting to move away from DS decks. Of course DS is still strong and will be back in high numbers once control decks lose popularity.
My other deck is Merfolk. UW decks with 4x Verdict MD will have game - but most builds don't and I just assume they wont draw it game 1 and and go all out dumping my hand as fast as I can (while being weary of D-Sphere in my sequencing) and overloading controls removal. Games 2/3 slow down as UW boards in more removal and Merfolk board in more counterspells - the Merfolk player is far more weary of getting blown out by Verdict and so will drip feed threats as necessary. The UW player should be looking to force over extension from the merfolk player using Little Gid, Walls and Jace while picking off Lords that provide islandwalk. If you know the matchup well it will be close to 50-50. And yes Stony is a great card - if you see copters id bring both in - as Merfolk will be running some number of Vials (likely side out 1 or 2), and also 2-3x Relic of Progenitus. Copter is really powerful against UW - gets around verdict and loots away garbage like extra lands, vials, cursecatchers etc in the late game
I think that the number of anti-DS decks is hitting an all time high - I run into loads of control mirrors these days. I think that the meta is starting to move away from DS decks. Of course DS is still strong and will be back in high numbers once control decks lose popularity.
My other deck is Merfolk. UW decks with 4x Verdict MD will have game - but most builds don't and I just assume they wont draw it game 1 and and go all out dumping my hand as fast as I can (while being weary of D-Sphere in my sequencing) and overloading controls removal. Games 2/3 slow down as UW boards in more removal and Merfolk board in more counterspells - the Merfolk player is far more weary of getting blown out by Verdict and so will drip feed threats as necessary. The UW player should be looking to force over extension from the merfolk player using Little Gid, Walls and Jace while picking off Lords that provide islandwalk. If you know the matchup well it will be close to 50-50. And yes Stony is a great card - if you see copters id bring both in - as Merfolk will be running some number of Vials (likely side out 1 or 2), and also 2-3x Relic of Progenitus. Copter is really powerful against UW - gets around verdict and loots away garbage like extra lands, vials, cursecatchers etc in the late game
I haven't played DS once in like 100 matches in the past few weeks online, I really wish I could play against them. I've only played against tron a few times even which I'm always happy to play against, except blue tron, I lost to that. Ad Nauseum has a 100% turn 3 kill rate against me, love it!
I did beat Merfolk fairly easily last night, basically just used a verdict anytime I could and then snap+verdict, path islandwalk guys and eventually ran them out of cards. I don't think they had the greatest draws though like most of my opponents usually have. I've died to so many perfect top decks when opponent is down to 0 cards and only 1 card can save them, I wish I could stack my deck so perfectly!
Special tech against Merfolk: Batterskull and Wurmcoil Engine. They have a hard time beating these cards.
As a side note: I feel there is a rise of Abrupt Decays recently making Detention Spheres less appealing. Do you regard D-Sphere as part of the core or optional/flex slot?
Don't think D-Sphere is optional at all, it's so good that I can't remember ever even siding out 1 copy. It just hits anything you can't counter or weren't expecting especially in game 2-3.
Detention Sphere is a very broad card which makes it awesome, but it is lackluster against Storm and Control. Since there has been an uptick in storm, control and Abrupt Decay, it may be time to move it out for something that plays at instant speed.
I've noticed some increase in popularity in secure the wastes, Ben has been championing it for a little now over the Gideon Jura. Though I suspect after the rules changes to planeswalkers uniqueness today, decisions regarding the proper Gideon count will need to be reevaluated. Before the announcement, which I haven't had time to process yet, I was thinking of including Secure the Wastes, Snapcaster number 3, a spell Pierce and a Elspeth, Knight Errant in place of dspehres, cryptic #3 and something else.
I'll have to think on it for a bit, but I'm liking the sounds of 5 Gideon's (3 Trials, 2 Ally) and 2-3 Jace (1 Architect, 1 Unraveler and maybe 1 beleren). I had been thinking on replacing Jace AOT for Unraveler of Secrets for a little while, Unraveler has been very good for me in UB control - though I doubt Beleren is good enough even with the rules change. The rules change will take some time to think through and test - it's a whole new perspective on UW's threat base.
Yeah I noticed this when I was running 24 lands with Crucible in the main and I brought in RIP and had my useless Crucible in hand. In that kind of build it acts as your 25th land. I don't think you can ever afford to board it out with only 24 lands. RIP is so good though that I'm not sure if it's all worth it, the card draw from the relics is nice, but I'd probably go with the 2 relic 2 surgical split as well, or maybe 1 cage. I'm currently running pretty much Benny's latest list with a 2nd Jace instead of Supreme Will and it's working great. I don't have Surgicals on MTGO because they are freaking $30 right now!
Little Gid is a house, I've been on 3 for awhile and I wouldn't consider going less. Gid is also good against Ad Nauseam, just emblem and they pretty much can't win G1. Disallow is interesting to me because I've been thinking of Nimble Obstructionist. I recently read Frank Karsten's article on sideboarding, and he makes an interesting point for the inclusion of broad cards in the sideboard. Disallow and Obstructionist both fit that criteria imo. I really like being able to counter triggers, and Obstructionist does it without being able to be countered and draws a card. 3/1 flash flyer is good enough against most of the decks where the Cycle ability isn't great (like burn).
Post board can be tough, but 3 little gids should basically ensure a victory g1 so we have to lose both post-board games. How do you feel about Obstructionist: counter Lotus Bloom activation? Could buy us a couple turns to beat face with Gid/Snap?
Edit: Also I tried running the crucible main with relics in the side and my first matchup was against dredge of course. He brought in ancient grudges which made my relics and crucible even more useless.
Of course the number of Gideons matters, the more we have the more likely we are to see it early enough to be able to cast it without fear of them comboing off. Yes, they will kill it with lightning storm, but that means that they have to execute both lightning storm and Lab Man which is much more mana intensive, buying us a lot of time before they decide to combo off, and in that time we have a 4/4 swinging in that they don't have removal for.
I think we are in agreement that Little Gideon is very good against them, but we are certainly in disagreement about how bad the matchup is. I think that disagreement comes from the fact that you are just now moving to 3 Little Gideon. You will see the matchup moving much closer to even now if you keep 3 little gideon.
@Slowgod
Sorry to hear about your luck last night, sounds like you got paired up against a lot of bad matchups. I am glad to learn from your game against Dredge with the crucible main configuration. I hadn't considered Ancient Grudge from them because I don't think I have ever cast an artifact in that match-up lol. I might suggest not casting crucible in G1 next time against them, that way they don't bring in grudge. My only other idea is to moev back to RIP but also consider adding a land to your SB somewhere. Then your SB plan against Dredge is side out Crucible (and whatever else) and side in a land (plus whatever else). I just hate to waste a SB slot on a land. Maybe its possible that since RIP is just so good against them, being on only 24 land and no crucible post board is fine?
He is good because his Emblem makes it much more difficult for them to combo kill us. The fact that he is a 4/4 helps speed up our clock after he emblems.
Well Pentad Prism doesn't gain them mana, it just breaks even. Spirit Guide does though, yes. But they Still need 12 Mana (combo you described) instead of 8 Mana (5 For Ad Naus, 3 for Storm). 4 more mana is a world of difference; keeps your mana leaks online a lot longer. And in the mean time, you have a 4/4 that they don't have removal for.
The possibility to be able to choke them on mana the turn they want to combo off was another reason I thought Nimble Obstructionist could be ok; not specifically for this matchup, but stifle on lotus bloom puts them behind a lot of tempo, and keeps Mana Leak live a lot longer. I'll admit I haven't tested Obstructionist, but I'm on the verge of trying 1 main and 1 side because the more I think about it, the more "2U: Uncounterable Stifle + Draw a card" seems busted and very broad.
Speaking of Mana Leak - It's one of the reason Tec Edge is better than GQ. Also, being able to GQ a key land before the opponent makes 4 land drops really only comes up against Affinity, in my experience, and that match-up is already fine. The ability to keep leaks live, and stay even on lands (Not 0 for 1'ing yourself with GQ) is very relevant. The mana denial plan is very real against Scapeshift decks, a lot of the time you just need to delay them a turn or 2 to set up before they can cast Shift with 8 lands in play, or Titan with 9 lands in play. Cavern of souls is largely irrelevant in the early turns since we are setting up for a verdict in those turns anyways. Cavern is an issue when they are trying to cast smashers or larger creatures, but by that time we should have been able to find the time to Tec Edge (or spreading seas).
4x Serum Visions
1x Shadow of Doubt
2x Snapcaster Mage
1x Sphinx's Revelation
4x Spreading Seas
1x Supreme Will
2x Wall of Omens
3x Cryptic Command
3x Mana Leak
1x Negate
4x Path to Exile
3x Supreme Verdict
1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
2x Gideon of the Trials
4x Celestial Colonnade
4x Flooded Strand
1x Ghost Quarter
3x Glacial Fortress
2x Hallowed Fountain
5x Island
2x Plains
3x Tectonic Edge
1x Temple of Enlightenment
1x Dispel
2x Negate
2x Rest in Peace
2x Stony Silence
1x Supreme Verdict
2x Surgical Extraction
2x Timely Reinforcements
2x Vendilion Clique
I've been testing the one-of Shadow in place of TT, and so far it's been unimpressive. I do have a PPTQ coming up on September 9th, but I'm not sure whether I want to play Jeskai or UW.
That's all for tonight. Hope this helps!
UWR Control
BR Hollow One
I never beat Merfolk either and I can't stop playing against them, where have all the shadow decks gone? I had 3 verdicts in hand vs merfolk and still end up losing. Their mutavaults and copters are too evasive and then I drew no paths, islandwalk is the most annoying thing ever. What is the plan vs merfolk? Bring in all your creatures and try to race? When I see turn 1 island, aether vial I'm already tilted.
I play burn and or affinity once per league and have only lost 1 match to burn getting a complete nut draw, even though I swear they ALWAYS have t1 and 2 goblin guide + other spell into double boros charms. I won my last game at -3 health thanks to Gideon emblem.
Yea, I've also noticed a distinct lack of good matchups. Might be time to switch up the main board a bit to combat Storm and Coco a little more.
Dedicated control decks are difficult, half our cards are dead against them. Luckily those decks suck, so hopefully you shouldn't come across them too often. Merfolk isn't unwinnable though, try bringing in a singleton Stony Silence against them post-board. Shuts down copter and vial and sometimes relic in the postboard games.
This hasn't been my experience at all. I don't mind the red-based control decks, Thier removal doesn't line up well with our threats and as long as we can avoid fetch-shocking the matchup has felt solid to me. Blue moon seems a little worse for us (haven't come across it, but seen it plenty of times on streams) but still manageable. Esper decks on the other hand, have more planeswalkers, counters and sometimes Esper charms that best our spheres and also forces us to play our threats earlier or fear having them discarded. I haven't played the esper match much, so maybe I'm running bad, but it doesn't feel like a good match.
Yea, it's not that it's a bad match up, it just seems more popular now, so if we can find a little switch in the main that helps against Coco and storm would be nice. D-Sphere is a little underwhelming in those matches, might try cutting them (or one) for something. Any suggestions?
I've also done fine against Jeskai control, but Esper decks I run into are on Thoughtseize, Inquisition, 4 snaps, 4 Cryptics, Lillianas, Gearhulk etc. They usually just strip my hand of good cards and can almost always win counter wars since they just have a lot more of them. I think RIP is good in this match because their snaps and lingering souls are a lot more threatening than ours. I know a lot of people say that esper is worse against most other popular decks, so I don't know why it seems so popular still.
I also played against another UW deck that was on 4 snaps/cryptics and gearhulk and that wasn't very fun either. Went to game 3 where his crucible stuck and mine didn't and I got ran out of lands eventually. Gearhulk targeting cryptic seems so darn good I want to try it, but I imagine you're dead with gearhulk in hand against most fast decks.
Yea, trying using your verdicts more often. And don't bring in more than 1 Stony. It's like a policing card, they expect you to have it so they sometimes will cut thier artifacts but you have to keep them honest. You don't want more than 1 just in case they sided some out and you never want to draw 2 in the case where they did side some out.
And Yea, Gearhulk is bad before snapcaster #4 imo. As snap #5 it's fine, but in our deck more than 2 snaps is kinda rough. I've often thought 1 snap might be correct, but it's so powerful it's hard to justify cutting the second.
I've always felt 2 Snaps were right in any draw-go build that I've played, mostly because they're overcosted Verdicts 5&6 when they need to be, but also extra counterspells (with legs) when that's better in the matchup. The small clock they give us can be relevant (especially in concert with Lil' Gideon and sideboard beaters like Clique/Queller/Geist). For those reasons, I wouldn't play less than 2 OR more than 3 -- if you play less than 2 you lose a lot of potential for clocking combo decks, but when you play a full 4 (and even just 3 sometimes) you flood on Ambush Vipers.
UWB Esper Draw-Go Control (clicky)
UW Azorius Control (clicky)
Currently pursuing a degree in Biochemistry.
EDH: I've decided I don't like multiplayer formats.
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Flooded Strand
2 Ghost Quarter
3 Glacial Fortress
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Irrigated Farmland
5 Island
2 Plains
2 Tectonic Edge
1 Temple of Enlightenment
Spells
3 Cryptic Command
2 Detention Sphere
Planeswalkers
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Gideon Jura
2 Gideon of the Trials
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Logic Knot
2 Mana Leak
1 Negate
4 Path to Exile
4 Serum Visions
1 Sphinx's Revelation
4 Spreading Seas
3 Supreme Verdict
2 Snapcaster Mage
3 Wall of Omens
1 Blessed Alliance
1 Celestial Purge
1 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Condemn
1 Dispel
1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1 Geist of Saint Traft
2 Rest in Peace
3 Spell Queller
2 Stony Silence
1 Vendilion Clique
Modern
URB Grixis Delver
GWB Abzan Company
RWB Mardu Burn
WB Martyr Proc
My other deck is Merfolk. UW decks with 4x Verdict MD will have game - but most builds don't and I just assume they wont draw it game 1 and and go all out dumping my hand as fast as I can (while being weary of D-Sphere in my sequencing) and overloading controls removal. Games 2/3 slow down as UW boards in more removal and Merfolk board in more counterspells - the Merfolk player is far more weary of getting blown out by Verdict and so will drip feed threats as necessary. The UW player should be looking to force over extension from the merfolk player using Little Gid, Walls and Jace while picking off Lords that provide islandwalk. If you know the matchup well it will be close to 50-50. And yes Stony is a great card - if you see copters id bring both in - as Merfolk will be running some number of Vials (likely side out 1 or 2), and also 2-3x Relic of Progenitus. Copter is really powerful against UW - gets around verdict and loots away garbage like extra lands, vials, cursecatchers etc in the late game
Bant Eldrazi
UW Control
U Merfolk
Legacy
Merfolk
UR Delver
I haven't played DS once in like 100 matches in the past few weeks online, I really wish I could play against them. I've only played against tron a few times even which I'm always happy to play against, except blue tron, I lost to that. Ad Nauseum has a 100% turn 3 kill rate against me, love it!
I did beat Merfolk fairly easily last night, basically just used a verdict anytime I could and then snap+verdict, path islandwalk guys and eventually ran them out of cards. I don't think they had the greatest draws though like most of my opponents usually have. I've died to so many perfect top decks when opponent is down to 0 cards and only 1 card can save them, I wish I could stack my deck so perfectly!
Don't think D-Sphere is optional at all, it's so good that I can't remember ever even siding out 1 copy. It just hits anything you can't counter or weren't expecting especially in game 2-3.
I've noticed some increase in popularity in secure the wastes, Ben has been championing it for a little now over the Gideon Jura. Though I suspect after the rules changes to planeswalkers uniqueness today, decisions regarding the proper Gideon count will need to be reevaluated. Before the announcement, which I haven't had time to process yet, I was thinking of including Secure the Wastes, Snapcaster number 3, a spell Pierce and a Elspeth, Knight Errant in place of dspehres, cryptic #3 and something else.
I'll have to think on it for a bit, but I'm liking the sounds of 5 Gideon's (3 Trials, 2 Ally) and 2-3 Jace (1 Architect, 1 Unraveler and maybe 1 beleren). I had been thinking on replacing Jace AOT for Unraveler of Secrets for a little while, Unraveler has been very good for me in UB control - though I doubt Beleren is good enough even with the rules change. The rules change will take some time to think through and test - it's a whole new perspective on UW's threat base.