Im running 1 in the main, two in the sideboard. Reasoning: i hate when i loose grindy matchups to topdecks, and some decks are made to give you bad topdecks.
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Modern: RBW Mardu Pyro X Eldrazi
Pauper: X Affinity G Stompy
- R1 against Abzan (2-0): Kalitas was the MVP. Even with the nombo with PtE, the deck still runs 7 kills (WS, CB and GftT) and opponent will eventually chumpblock something, and 1 zombie token is just enough to make Kalitas a beast.
Sided in 3 Leyline, 1 Pithing Needle, 2 Ratchet Bomb, 1 Damnation, 1 Grafdiggers Cage and 1 Purge. Sided out 3 Thoughtseize, 2 CB, 4 Souls. Don't know if was a good choice to side out Souls, but I was considering I could handle GY with Cage and Relics, and Souls against decks with Ooze is not very useful. The truth is that Relic and Ooze don't get priority to exile it if you have mana to cast and flashback on same turn, which he did 2 times making 8 tokens. Ratchet Bomb solved it, but still not sure if I had kept Souls would be better.
- R2 against GW Tron (2-0): G1 rushed a T2 Strangler, T3 Thoughtseized a Karn and attack 3, T4 Smasher attack 8, T5 attack 8. He was at 1 life, Collective Brutallity for life swap.
Sided in 2 Disenchant, 2 Ratchet Bomb, 1 Pithing Needle. Sided out 1 GftT, 4 Relics. G2 was much the same, but was attacking him with a Strangler and a Shambling Vent, keeping 1 GQ untapped. I also had a Ratchet Bomb with 1 counter while he was Troned with 2 Power Plant and had 1 Expedition Map, 1 Oblivion Stone and 1 card in hand, at 4 life. He topdecked and played Stirrings, I resp breaking Bomb and he resp saccing Map to fetch his 2nd Tower. I resp GQing his Mine and unTroning him, he adds 7 on pool, find a Karn in Stirrings and play him saccing Ugin's Sanctum to fetch a Wurmcoil, and exiling WS with Karn. My turn I attack with Vents, putting him at 2. His turn he plays Wurmcoil and exiles Vents with Karn, my turn I CB him for lifeswap.
-R3 against Valakut/Breach/Trap (2-1): G1 I mull to 5 keeping a hand with 2 Souls, 1 Eldrazi Temple, 1 GQ and 1 Herder. Next turns I draw Relic, GQ, GQ, Relic, while he played on T5 a Trap on EOT finding Titan.
Sided in 3 Leyline, 2 Disenchant, 1 Grafdiggers. Sided out 4 Relics, 1 Displacer and 1 Souls. Actually never find any SB card on G2 on G3. G2 played Seize T2, TKS T3, Smasher T4, Smasher T5. G3 he mulled to 5, with 2 lands, Sakura, Titan and Breach. He kept his scry on top, so I Seized him on T2, taking off Breach. T3 TKS on Titan, CB on Trap and kept hitting him with TKS while he never got into the 6th land.
-R4 against Affinity (2-1): G1 mulled to 5 keeping a hand with 1 Temple, 1GQ and 2 TKS and 1 Souls. Pretty much G1 against Valakut.
Sided in 2 Disenchant, 2 Ratchet Bomb, 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Tendrils and 1 Damnation. Sided out 4 Relics, 3 Thoughtseize. No way Affinity can beat postSB.
As i read through your report, Smasher was awesome right, so why not play 4 Smasher instead of 2/2 with Herder ? Wouldn´t be better a 4th Seize on the map slot ?
I went 3-0-1 today, ending up 8-1 in games after playing out the draw for fun. Only 12 players; I faced a couple of non-tier decks, and a couple good aggro decks.
I have been enjoying a lower-to-the ground, card-advantage angle lately. I wanted to strengthen the deck's aggro MUs and improve the topdecking long-game. I also trimmed processors, but at the same time made my remaining processors more reliable. So far it seems good; faster and more consistent, though right now it is more susceptible to Blood Mood (which I faced tonight) than before.
vs. Esper Midrange/Control (brew?): 2-0 [1-0]
SIDE IN: Needle x2, Unmaking x1 / SIDE OUT: Sorin x1, Strangler x1 All-Stars: Seer, Smasher, Souls
3x TKS in G1 shredded his hand, taking a Gideon, a Jace, and a Verdict. In G2, a resolved Smasher using Cavern, plus two Souls, were way too much. He could not apply any pressure at any time in this match. I did miss Ghost Quarter, which is MUCH less reliable at two-of than it was at three-of, since he had both Vents and Colonnades--but it ended up not really mattering.
vs. Mono-W Graveyard Recurrence (brew?): 2-0 [2-0]
SIDE IN: Prison x1 / SIDE OUT: n/a All-Stars: Smasher, Path, Souls, Relic, Prison.
Like the first guy, he had a lot of white lifegain. That made both of these players slow to kill. Not a lot to tell here: this guy had Emeria, The Sky Ruin and Sun Titan, but I Path'ed all of them he could cast and of course Relic is also quite handy. His targets were mostly bad, though: Wall of Roots, Lone Missionary, Blade Splicer. He said he ran Flickerwisp, but he never played any against me. Not a lot to tell, though Prison made it easy in G2. Yes, I am at 61 cards a lot after siding.
vs. Affinity: 2-0 [3-0]
SIDE IN: Damnation x2, Stony x2, Needle x2, Unmaking x1, Bomb x1, Prison x1, Tendrils x1 / SIDE OUT: Relic x4, Thoughtseize x4, Throat x1 All-Stars: Lingering Souls, Sorin, Stony, Prison, Needle.
In G1, 2x Souls plus Sorin shut him down fast. In G2, he T3 Blood Moon'ed me, but I fetched for a Plains (having Souls and Path in hand), in response. Pathing a Spirit got me black, and a topdecked Unmaking was later to get rid of the Moon. I'd already Needle'ed his Ravagers, so I was reluctant to play Stony after Moon hit, because my only source of C then is Mind Stone. After he landed the first Overseer, I was convinced it was worth it, though. Prison slowed him way down in G2. I can board very aggressively against aggro strategies in general, and against Affinity in particular, and usually I win the best of 3 in this common Tier 1 match.
vs. Bushwhacker Zoo: ID [3-0-1] (played it out and went 2-1)
SIDE IN: Damnation x2, Rest x2, Timely x1, Bomb x1, Prison x1, Tendrils x1 / SIDE OUT: Smasher x4, TKS x1, Thoughtseize x1, Unmaking x1 All-Stars: Rest, Timely, Sorin, Vent, Prison, Damnation
In G1 he wiped me out with 3 turns of Goblin Guides (plus Burning-Tree Emissary and Bushwhacker) but no lands, after I'd kept a 2-lander. I mis-sided in G2 (Tendrils was a mistake because most of his gang is x/3) and really missed Smasher's ability to close out a game. I ended up gaining a remarkable 26 life in G2 from Timely, Rest, Sorin, and Vent--but I closed it at 2 life nevertheless, after a long and frustrating topdecking war (no Souls!) and a staggering 16 lands on the battlefield. In G3 I took Thoughtseize out altogether and brought in 3 Smashers. It was later to quickly close the game for me after Goblin Guide ramped me nicely and I fired a T3 Damnation to reset.
Thoughts:
I definitely run into, and aggressively build against, lots of fast aggro strategies. Usually G1 is extremely hard, especially on the draw. Without a lot of answers in the form of raw removal power, I feel too slow much of the time. I need to board very strongly because I am at such a disadvantage. Tonight the current approach paid off, and it has been good on cockatrice as well.
As a replacement for Blight Herder, Reshaper has been extremely good. It is much faster, being a very strong T2 play that happens pretty often. Unlike Eldrazi Displacer, it also maintains the deck's important Bolt-resistant advantage.
Displacer is great in the long game, which this deck of course pushes towards. But the amount of cantripping or other card draw that is now present here strengthens the longer games too. Tonight in my first match, I drew 3 in my end step using Relic, Mind Stone, and Wreckage. Play a Smasher FTW.
I feel like adding a Wastes as card #61. Definitely thinking one is required to fix the currently-badly-nerfed Blood Moon matches, but I also do not want to cut any of my other lands or spells.
I have been testing without Brutality, but I have some in the mail and will see. I wish it didn't get hit by Spell Snare. Thinking it goes where Unmaking is for trial purposes, though it could replace Throat, too.
Pretty much any RG Valakut build is very tough for me.
Nice write ups everyone. I've begun play testing a lot for SCG Milwaukee, here is where my list currently sits post rotation based off spoilers currently available.
Reality Smasher as the closer - after a lot of testing with how grindy the deck is, I've come to the choice to put away my blight herders for now and run smashers, there are too many games where a top deck smasher is GG. If a more controlling meta should exist in the near future this will be revisited.
LtLH vs. LotV - With smasher in play and the meta still being very aggressive I've chosen to move in this direction, this is in a similar bucket to smasher vs. herder, where if control was more present I would consider the switch. Her +1 is great right now, and if they do manage to deal with but not path your TKS or smasher being able to recur them is great in addition to digging for a threat, she also pushes card advantage with souls in the deck and her ult just closes games out.
Dec for CoBr #2 - Dec is a great card with a good amount of upside but CoBr's utility has over performed time and time again its only brought out against a few decks in the meta; escalating pitching souls early or late game TS or Iok to get real value is amazing. With the reduction of herder and great experiences so far the second copy was brought in from the board.
Manabase - With what I perceive to be an uptick in Path to Exile post Kaladesh with Abzan over Jund in addition to Bant eldrazi firmly planting its flag and the current composition of the deck I cut 1 basic plains for 1 basic wastes.
Here are the numbers: 15B symbols with an additional 4 for flashing back souls not factored in, 13W symbols & 8C with an additional 3 for activating displacer not factored in. 14B sources of which 11 come into play untapped for T1 disruption a bit low but I'm willing to concede that for vent's strength, 13WC sources, this falls in line with hitting all three colors for 90% on turns 1 & 2 respectively. I also treat fetid and urborg as just a C&B source respectively not factoring in their upside.
I've previously posted about why I swapped the number of TS & IoK.
Sideboard.
Languish - Eldrazi is the only deck where we lose some percentage points but with our removal suite and own smashers, I'm ok with this, I think we will continue to see an uptick in selfless spirit.
Lost Legacy - The fact that its turn 3 instead of 4 is huge; memoricide was ok but a often a turn too slow, this card is going to help our worst match ups [tron, scapeshift] and even using it on yourself against ad naus if they turn 0 leyline to get rid of your own Thoughtseize is a corner case I can see coming up on occasion.
Aven Mindcensor - Again a card that helps our more challenging match ups.
Fragmentize - 1 less and sorcery is ok by me, i'm ok with losing the ability to hit ink and blink in affinity for blowing up map/vial/seas on the draw or leyline on 1 or t2 if we have vent in our opener.
Shaving cage down to 1 - We're already pre-boarded against dredge and while you have to respect their nut draw, I'm ok with Aven Mindcensor picking up points across the board against chord, tron, titanshift & Nahari in its place.
I definitely run into, and aggressively build against, lots of fast aggro strategies. Usually G1 is extremely hard, especially on the draw. Without a lot of answers in the form of raw removal power, I feel too slow much of the time. I need to board very strongly because I am at such a disadvantage. Tonight the current approach paid off, and it has been good on cockatrice as well.
As a replacement for Blight Herder, Reshaper has been extremely good. It is much faster, being a very strong T2 play that happens pretty often. Unlike Eldrazi Displacer, it also maintains the deck's important Bolt-resistant advantage.
Displacer is great in the long game, which this deck of course pushes towards. But the amount of cantripping or other card draw that is now present here strengthens the longer games too. Tonight in my first match, I drew 3 in my end step using Relic, Mind Stone, and Wreckage. Play a Smasher FTW.
I feel like adding a Wastes as card #61. Definitely thinking one is required to fix the currently-badly-nerfed Blood Moon matches, but I also do not want to cut any of my other lands or spells.
I have been testing without Brutality, but I have some in the mail and will see. I wish it didn't get hit by Spell Snare. Thinking it goes where Unmaking is for trial purposes, though it could replace Throat, too.
Pretty much any RG Valakut build is very tough for me.
Your first point is exactly why I haven't had a high mana curve and I am glad that you are finding that matter reshaper preforms well. It is a great card against aggro and other midrange decks.
Last night, I went 3-0-1 in a local modern event with 11 people. I used to run languish in my sideboard but I recently sold them since they went up in value. I really, really like languish as the primary sweeper and I am going to get them back once they dip in price again.
Match 2 :: UWR control [2-0] All stars :: Discard spells, tidehollow / displacer combo, lingering souls
This was an easy matchup with all of the active discard and lingering souls.
Match 3 :: Bushwacker Zoo [2-0]
Out :: Liliana of the Veil x2, Relic x2
In :: Blessed alliance x2, Engineered Explosives, Day of Judgement. All stars :: Discard spells, path to exile, relic / wasteland strangler combo
I have played against this guy many times with BW midrange in modern and it is a tough match. The game is pretty much decided by turn 4. If we can stabilize and lay down a thought-knot or reality smasher (which are really hard for them to kill) we are going to win. But this deck is very explosive and the matchup feels like a lottery. Either they have a very explosive start and win or we have the correct cards in our hand.
You ever have those matchups where the opponent has all of the correct cards for everything you lay. Well I was that person in this matchup. I always feel a little lucky when I win against this deck.
Match 4 :: RG Tron, intentional draw [2-0]
Out :: Liliana of the Veil x2, Relic x3
In :: Pithing needle x2, Anguished Unmaking, 2 other cards I don't remember All stars :: Pithing needle, hitting matter reshaper on turn 3.
I flat out destroyed tron. I swear it was a fluke, but I really like pithing needle in this matchup. Game 1 he kept a really risky hand and I was able to apply a quick clock (matter reshaper, wasteland strangler, lingering souls) while keeping more threats in my hand in case of oblivion stone. Game 2 he played expedition map turn 1, I played pithing needle naming map which effectively locked him out of the game.
Quick thoughts :: I replaced the mind stone's with liliana's and it was good to play such a good planeswalker again. I feel that we need a liliana (of the veil or the new one) to add some more depth to this deck. I was happy to bring her back and I didn't miss mind stone. I am trying to get my hands on some of the new liliana's to try her out.
If Mind Stone didn't turn on T3 Seer or Smasher I'd probably cut it too. It also helps me cast, and keep mana up for, Relic. But I have been giving it the eye now my curve is so much lower.
... Lost Legacy - The fact that its turn 3 instead of 4 is huge; memoricide was ok but a often a turn too slow, this card is going to help our worst match ups [tron, scapeshift] and even using it on yourself against ad naus if they turn 0 leyline to get rid of your own Thoughtseize is a corner case I can see coming up on occasion.
Fragmentize - 1 less and sorcery is ok by me, i'm ok with losing the ability to hit ink and blink in affinity for blowing up map/vial/seas on the draw or leyline on 1 or t2 if we have vent in our opener.
I will try out lost legacy and give it a fair shot, but cards like this don't work too well in modern. Modern decks are typically versatile enough to have more than one lines of attack. This card is card disadvantage for us and I don't feel that the upsides are worth it. I am excited to playtest it though.
Fragmentize - I am skeptical of this card. Our deck is littered with 3 drops and the problematic artifact/enchantments usually come down on turn 2 (spreading seas, cranial plating, etc.) and I would rather hit them (or float a W in response to a blood moon casting) on their turn rather than being 1 mana short of casting a thought-knot or lingering souls on my turn. Hitting cranial plating on the opponents turn before it does massives amount of damage to us is a big deal. The card also misses on inkmoth nexus, but that may not be a big deal.
Concealed Courtyard - I feel that, in the long run, the printing of this card will increase the number of abzan decks; therefore increasing the number of people playing lingering souls. We will most likely see an uptick in lingering souls hate (night of souls' betrayal, zealous persecution, izzet staticaster) in the next 6 months. I am very excited that we don't need to take 5 damage for a turn 1 thoughtseize anymore.
If Mind Stone didn't turn on T3 Seer or Smasher I'd probably cut it too. It also helps me cast, and keep mana up for, Relic. But I have been giving it the eye now my curve is so much lower.
Yeah, it was a hard cut. I have only played 3 matches with out it so I don't know how much it drops the consistency down. Turn 3 liliana and turn 4 thought-knot is still great though.
That's a shrewd angle, good suggestion. Although, as I think about my list, I realize that the cards I find strongest are unconditional; Throat kills (almost) everything while Brutality misses a lot of creatures. Thoughtseize takes anything while CB misses creatures, artifacts, etc. And cutting Stone has some serious consequences, as discussed below.
I feel that, in the long run, the printing of Concealed Courtyard will increase the number of abzan decks; therefore increasing the number of people playing lingering souls. We will most likely see an uptick in lingering souls hate (night of souls' betrayal, zealous persecution, izzet staticaster) in the next 6 months. I am very excited that we don't need to take 5 damage for a turn 1 thoughtseize anymore.
If Mind Stone didn't turn on T3 Seer or Smasher I'd probably cut it too. It also helps me cast, and keep mana up for, Relic. But I have been giving it the eye now my curve is so much lower.
Yeah, it was a hard cut. I have only played 3 matches with out it so I don't know how much it drops the consistency down. Turn 3 liliana and turn 4 thought-knot is still great though.
I have been re-thinking the fastland. I realized that the only turn that I actually don't mind playing a tapped land, is T1 and, rarely, T2. A tapland in the midgame can be very bad. I almost never take 5 for T1 Seize; instead I take 3 a lot off Caves or fetch --> Swamp. Or I'll play the Seize T2 sometimes.
I'm thinking the fastland is a miss for me, for now. And cutting Mind Stone would mean I definitely 100% need a Wastes, since then I would have no outs under Moon for 75% of my creatures. I'm not willing to cede the Blood Moon matches, and have been considering Wastes in the side (while keeping 2x Mind Stone), though as always I really don't like siding lands. The list is tight.
I know how you feel about CB, i felt the same, until i used it. Card is just good. It´s awesome agains´t our BM and good agains´t what this deck is already good.
For now, since there is a lot of BMoon around, you should shave the Cavern for the wastes, maybe use the Cavern SB.
How is SGW doing for you ? Is it really worth it ?
So, I have been thinking a lot lately about jund and junk, the premiere midrange decks in the format, and grim player really bugs me. The card does so much for a 2 drop, it's crazy. Tidehollow is ok at the 2 drop spot, but I have found him to be awkward at times, with mana constraints. Plus, he isn't exactly great, or even ok, as the game goes on. Really random, but has anyone tested pack rat? It's a 2 drop threat that can be abused a bit through lingering souls and the new Lillian. Plus, as anyone who played in standard at the time can attest, if not dealt with quickly he can easily take over. It's just, I feel that slot is a bit soft in our decks, unless you're powering out a 3 drop Eldrazi via temple then the second turn I am either casting more disrupt ion or durdling waiting the answer threats. Just a thought I had, haven't had the chance to test it yet.
So, I have been thinking a lot lately about jund and junk, the premiere midrange decks in the format, and grim player really bugs me. The card does so much for a 2 drop, it's crazy. Tidehollow is ok at the 2 drop spot, but I have found him to be awkward at times, with mana constraints. Plus, he isn't exactly great, or even ok, as the game goes on. Really random, but has anyone tested pack rat? It's a 2 drop threat that can be abused a bit through lingering souls and the new Lillian. Plus, as anyone who played in standard at the time can attest, if not dealt with quickly he can easily take over. It's just, I feel that slot is a bit soft in our decks, unless you're powering out a 3 drop Eldrazi via temple then the second turn I am either casting more disrupt ion or durdling waiting the answer threats. Just a thought I had, haven't had the chance to test it yet.
Welcome to not playing a green midrange deck in modern. The really good 2-drop slot for decks that don't run green is dark confidant. However, if you run dark confidant you need to have a lower mana curve (average cmc for the deck should be less than 2, ideally around 1.4 or less) which immediatly eliminates the possibility of us running reality smasher or 4 thought-knot's.
I have played a lot of pack rat in modern and it is a fine card. It is best friends with dark confindant and can quickly take over games if left unchecked. If you want to give it a go, I would suggest running a deadguy ale build. You can find the primer here.
So , whats is the general opinion in the Tidehollow sculler variation?
After read last pages i was thinking in trying a couple but i cannot play until 2 weeks. Testing the curve deck if we get to cast them in turn 2 seems nice with wasteland strangler and a 1-2 eldrazi displacer to blink them. But lm worry that in the late game become a little usless.
Thats the change that i was thinking to do in MB if add the tidehollows:
Wall of Omens insteald Tidehollow to help with agro and give consistency to early game similar to Matter reshaper but with the possibility to blink them for extra draw card.
Congratulations! My first question is, 25 lands: were they a problem ever?
No! 24 lands is a problem. I've tried so many times 24 lands, and even with Mind Stones I usually got stuck on 4th mana. This is the best manabase I got since I started with this deck.
As i read through your report, Smasher was awesome right, so why not play 4 Smasher instead of 2/2 with Herder ? Wouldn´t be better a 4th Seize on the map slot ?
Both are great. Against Zoo, Jund and Nahiri Herder is much better than Smasher, for example. And 5 discards I think is enough, I've tried 4 Seizes and 2 CB but draw a Seize lategame is so sad... Also one of the reasons I don't like Sculler, they are weak earlygame and useless lategame. And the deck has a lot of utility lands, so Map is useful to get them. Sea Gate, Vault and GQ has put me back on so many games I thought I lost...
I'm testing out LtLH and am impressed so far. Her -2 feels really good, buying back even something as small as a tidehollow can have a huge effect. Bea, I think anguished deserves a slot, if not MB then in SB. It is literally the best "Catch-all" answer we have. Also, since you're running LoLH, wouldn't it be better to have higher sculler and strangler numbers? Since they can be bough back and have their effects reused.
Played to a 1-2-1 record tonight, losing to GB Elves and Bant Eldrazi, beating one Grixis Goodstuff brew and drawing against another Grixis Goodstuff brew. I had a lot of flooding for some reason tonight. I continue to lose roughly 80% of my dice rolls, which has been happening for a month or more. Can't wait for that streak to break!
Tried a couple of new angles, not sure how I feel about them.
I have to say that Brutality was very interesting. It is very versatile and much more effective than I gave it credit for. However, if it had been Mind Stone, I would have been able to cast my Seer instead of discarding it, in a couple of games. Taking Stone out means I need the Wastes, which I put in the side, removing Tendrils... and then, naturally, I lost to Elves 0-2 in my first match tonight. I also could have killed a couple of important creatures if I'd had my Go for the Throat. I'm thinking about putting the Stones back in and cutting Unmaking main instead, but Unmaking is so versatile and fills so many holes in my deck. Every single card change pulls on a network of interactions that affects the build as a whole.
Sea Gate Wreckage is amazing some of the time, and feels useless some of the time. But it is not actually useless. Hitting a few lands in a row feels bad, but it still reduces the pain of those top decks by a turn, which is not so bad when you stop to really think about it. It's undoubtedly better than a Wastes in those situations. It seems even better in a build with Brutality, which can discard the unplayable land card (or Thoughtseize, or Unmaking when you are at 2 life) that is clogging up your hand.
I would say that Brutality might be pushing this build towards Whip of Erebos over Sorin, maybe. Sorin is great, but is best with tokens, which have declined with the move away from Herder. Smasher is also a major win condition for this deck the can sometimes clog up an early hand. Even one beat with a trampling 5/5 lifelinker would be a huge late-game swing... and you could do it without ever getting to 5 mana. Cracking Relic and drawing into Whip would feel pretty bad, though. Playing the Relic/Whip/Brutality interaction optimally seems tricky and intriguing to me.
Matter Reshaper has been an outstanding T2 play and I am keeping it in some significant quantity, like at least three. The card is pure value. Displacer is a house but I think you'd need to build around him with more ETB effects to maximize his value. Dies to Bolt is a big downside, in a deck that has few other good targets. It plays much better in creature heavy, target-rich environments. It also seems like Eldrazi and Taxes already has the Sculler/Flickerwisp/Displacer/Strangler/Seer synergies all tied up already. And running Sculler is going to necessitate cutting the large majority of the C lands, all the Reshapers, and and some Smashers.
The build feels in flux to me right now, not sure how to resolve all the different directions it is being pulled in by this aggro meta, abundance of new cards, and emergence of performing Sculler builds.
Titanshift is another MU I found rough, which is why I included both fulminator mage and Aven Mindcensor in the board.
My H/W list
RBW Mardu Pyro
X Eldrazi
Pauper:
X Affinity
G Stompy
List:
02 Blight Herder
04 Thought-knot Seer
04 Wasteland Strangler
02 Reality Smasher
02 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
01 Eldrazi Displacer
Instant(5)
01 Go for the Throat
04 Path to Exile
Artifacts(5)
01 Expedition Map
04 Relic of Progenitus
Planeswalker(1)
01 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
Sorcery(9)
04 Lingering Souls
02 Collective Brutality
03 Thoughtseize
01 Bojuka Bog
04 Caves of Koilos
04 Eldrazi Temple
04 Ghost Quarter
02 Godless Shrine
02 Marsh Flats
01 Plains
01 Sea Gate Wreckage
02 Shambling Vent
01 Swamp
01 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
01 Vault of the Archangel
01 Pithing Needle
01 Grafdigger's Cage
01 Damnation
01 Flaying Tendrils
02 Disenchant
02 Celestial Purge
02 Ratchet Bomb
02 Blessed Alliance
03 Leyline of Sanctity
- R1 against Abzan (2-0): Kalitas was the MVP. Even with the nombo with PtE, the deck still runs 7 kills (WS, CB and GftT) and opponent will eventually chumpblock something, and 1 zombie token is just enough to make Kalitas a beast.
Sided in 3 Leyline, 1 Pithing Needle, 2 Ratchet Bomb, 1 Damnation, 1 Grafdiggers Cage and 1 Purge. Sided out 3 Thoughtseize, 2 CB, 4 Souls. Don't know if was a good choice to side out Souls, but I was considering I could handle GY with Cage and Relics, and Souls against decks with Ooze is not very useful. The truth is that Relic and Ooze don't get priority to exile it if you have mana to cast and flashback on same turn, which he did 2 times making 8 tokens. Ratchet Bomb solved it, but still not sure if I had kept Souls would be better.
- R2 against GW Tron (2-0): G1 rushed a T2 Strangler, T3 Thoughtseized a Karn and attack 3, T4 Smasher attack 8, T5 attack 8. He was at 1 life, Collective Brutallity for life swap.
Sided in 2 Disenchant, 2 Ratchet Bomb, 1 Pithing Needle. Sided out 1 GftT, 4 Relics. G2 was much the same, but was attacking him with a Strangler and a Shambling Vent, keeping 1 GQ untapped. I also had a Ratchet Bomb with 1 counter while he was Troned with 2 Power Plant and had 1 Expedition Map, 1 Oblivion Stone and 1 card in hand, at 4 life. He topdecked and played Stirrings, I resp breaking Bomb and he resp saccing Map to fetch his 2nd Tower. I resp GQing his Mine and unTroning him, he adds 7 on pool, find a Karn in Stirrings and play him saccing Ugin's Sanctum to fetch a Wurmcoil, and exiling WS with Karn. My turn I attack with Vents, putting him at 2. His turn he plays Wurmcoil and exiles Vents with Karn, my turn I CB him for lifeswap.
-R3 against Valakut/Breach/Trap (2-1): G1 I mull to 5 keeping a hand with 2 Souls, 1 Eldrazi Temple, 1 GQ and 1 Herder. Next turns I draw Relic, GQ, GQ, Relic, while he played on T5 a Trap on EOT finding Titan.
Sided in 3 Leyline, 2 Disenchant, 1 Grafdiggers. Sided out 4 Relics, 1 Displacer and 1 Souls. Actually never find any SB card on G2 on G3. G2 played Seize T2, TKS T3, Smasher T4, Smasher T5. G3 he mulled to 5, with 2 lands, Sakura, Titan and Breach. He kept his scry on top, so I Seized him on T2, taking off Breach. T3 TKS on Titan, CB on Trap and kept hitting him with TKS while he never got into the 6th land.
-R4 against Affinity (2-1): G1 mulled to 5 keeping a hand with 1 Temple, 1GQ and 2 TKS and 1 Souls. Pretty much G1 against Valakut.
Sided in 2 Disenchant, 2 Ratchet Bomb, 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Tendrils and 1 Damnation. Sided out 4 Relics, 3 Thoughtseize. No way Affinity can beat postSB.
RBW Mardu Pyro
X Eldrazi
Pauper:
X Affinity
G Stompy
GXTronGX
RWxBurnRWx
1x Cavern of Souls
4x Caves of Koilos
4x Eldrazi Temple
2x Ghost Quarter
2x Godless Shrine
1x Isolated Chapel
3x Marsh Flats
1x Plains
1x Sea Gate Wreckage
2x Shambling Vent
2x Swamp
1x Vault of the Archangel
3x Matter Reshaper
4x Reality Smasher
4x Thought-Knot Seer
4x Wasteland Strangler
Instant (6)
1x Anguished Unmaking
1x Go for the Throat
4x Path to Exile
Sorcery (8)
4x Lingering Souls
4x Thoughtseize
Artifact (6)
2x Mind Stone
4x Relic of Progenitus
Planeswalker (1)
1x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
1x Anguished Unmaking
2x Damnation
1x Flaying Tendrils
1x Ghostly Prison
2x Grafdigger's Cage
2x Pithing Needle
1x Ratchet Bomb
2x Rest for the Weary
2x Stony Silence
1x Timely Reinforcements
vs. Esper Midrange/Control (brew?): 2-0 [1-0]
SIDE IN: Needle x2, Unmaking x1 / SIDE OUT: Sorin x1, Strangler x1
All-Stars: Seer, Smasher, Souls
3x TKS in G1 shredded his hand, taking a Gideon, a Jace, and a Verdict. In G2, a resolved Smasher using Cavern, plus two Souls, were way too much. He could not apply any pressure at any time in this match. I did miss Ghost Quarter, which is MUCH less reliable at two-of than it was at three-of, since he had both Vents and Colonnades--but it ended up not really mattering.
vs. Mono-W Graveyard Recurrence (brew?): 2-0 [2-0]
SIDE IN: Prison x1 / SIDE OUT: n/a
All-Stars: Smasher, Path, Souls, Relic, Prison.
Like the first guy, he had a lot of white lifegain. That made both of these players slow to kill. Not a lot to tell here: this guy had Emeria, The Sky Ruin and Sun Titan, but I Path'ed all of them he could cast and of course Relic is also quite handy. His targets were mostly bad, though: Wall of Roots, Lone Missionary, Blade Splicer. He said he ran Flickerwisp, but he never played any against me. Not a lot to tell, though Prison made it easy in G2. Yes, I am at 61 cards a lot after siding.
vs. Affinity: 2-0 [3-0]
SIDE IN: Damnation x2, Stony x2, Needle x2, Unmaking x1, Bomb x1, Prison x1, Tendrils x1 / SIDE OUT: Relic x4, Thoughtseize x4, Throat x1
All-Stars: Lingering Souls, Sorin, Stony, Prison, Needle.
In G1, 2x Souls plus Sorin shut him down fast. In G2, he T3 Blood Moon'ed me, but I fetched for a Plains (having Souls and Path in hand), in response. Pathing a Spirit got me black, and a topdecked Unmaking was later to get rid of the Moon. I'd already Needle'ed his Ravagers, so I was reluctant to play Stony after Moon hit, because my only source of C then is Mind Stone. After he landed the first Overseer, I was convinced it was worth it, though. Prison slowed him way down in G2. I can board very aggressively against aggro strategies in general, and against Affinity in particular, and usually I win the best of 3 in this common Tier 1 match.
vs. Bushwhacker Zoo: ID [3-0-1] (played it out and went 2-1)
SIDE IN: Damnation x2, Rest x2, Timely x1, Bomb x1, Prison x1, Tendrils x1 / SIDE OUT: Smasher x4, TKS x1, Thoughtseize x1, Unmaking x1
All-Stars: Rest, Timely, Sorin, Vent, Prison, Damnation
In G1 he wiped me out with 3 turns of Goblin Guides (plus Burning-Tree Emissary and Bushwhacker) but no lands, after I'd kept a 2-lander. I mis-sided in G2 (Tendrils was a mistake because most of his gang is x/3) and really missed Smasher's ability to close out a game. I ended up gaining a remarkable 26 life in G2 from Timely, Rest, Sorin, and Vent--but I closed it at 2 life nevertheless, after a long and frustrating topdecking war (no Souls!) and a staggering 16 lands on the battlefield. In G3 I took Thoughtseize out altogether and brought in 3 Smashers. It was later to quickly close the game for me after Goblin Guide ramped me nicely and I fired a T3 Damnation to reset.
Thoughts:
2 Tidehollow Sculler
2 Wasteland Strangler
3 Eldrazi Displacer
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Reality Smasher
Spells 21
4 Lingering Souls
4 Path to Exile
4 Relic of Progenitus
3 Thoughtseize
2 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Collective Brutality
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Concealed Courtyard
4 Eldrazi Temple
3 Shambling Vent
3 Ghost Quarter
1 Godless Shrine
1 Fetid Heath
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Wastes
2 Languish
2 Lost Legacy
2 Zealous Persecution
2 Stony Silence
2 Blessed Alliance
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Duress
1 Fragmentize
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Pithing Needle
To me the swingiest cards in this archetype and in previous builds are as follows: Sorin, Solemn Visitor, Declaration in stone, Tidehollow Sculler & Blight Herder. So I've cut Sorin, Blight and Dec and kept Strangler as the only processor.
Reality Smasher as the closer - after a lot of testing with how grindy the deck is, I've come to the choice to put away my blight herders for now and run smashers, there are too many games where a top deck smasher is GG. If a more controlling meta should exist in the near future this will be revisited.
LtLH vs. LotV - With smasher in play and the meta still being very aggressive I've chosen to move in this direction, this is in a similar bucket to smasher vs. herder, where if control was more present I would consider the switch. Her +1 is great right now, and if they do manage to deal with but not path your TKS or smasher being able to recur them is great in addition to digging for a threat, she also pushes card advantage with souls in the deck and her ult just closes games out.
Dec for CoBr #2 - Dec is a great card with a good amount of upside but CoBr's utility has over performed time and time again its only brought out against a few decks in the meta; escalating pitching souls early or late game TS or Iok to get real value is amazing. With the reduction of herder and great experiences so far the second copy was brought in from the board.
Manabase - With what I perceive to be an uptick in Path to Exile post Kaladesh with Abzan over Jund in addition to Bant eldrazi firmly planting its flag and the current composition of the deck I cut 1 basic plains for 1 basic wastes.
Here are the numbers: 15B symbols with an additional 4 for flashing back souls not factored in, 13W symbols & 8C with an additional 3 for activating displacer not factored in. 14B sources of which 11 come into play untapped for T1 disruption a bit low but I'm willing to concede that for vent's strength, 13WC sources, this falls in line with hitting all three colors for 90% on turns 1 & 2 respectively. I also treat fetid and urborg as just a C&B source respectively not factoring in their upside.
I've previously posted about why I swapped the number of TS & IoK.
Sideboard.
Languish - Eldrazi is the only deck where we lose some percentage points but with our removal suite and own smashers, I'm ok with this, I think we will continue to see an uptick in selfless spirit.
Lost Legacy - The fact that its turn 3 instead of 4 is huge; memoricide was ok but a often a turn too slow, this card is going to help our worst match ups [tron, scapeshift] and even using it on yourself against ad naus if they turn 0 leyline to get rid of your own Thoughtseize is a corner case I can see coming up on occasion.
Aven Mindcensor - Again a card that helps our more challenging match ups.
Fragmentize - 1 less and sorcery is ok by me, i'm ok with losing the ability to hit ink and blink in affinity for blowing up map/vial/seas on the draw or leyline on 1 or t2 if we have vent in our opener.
Shaving cage down to 1 - We're already pre-boarded against dredge and while you have to respect their nut draw, I'm ok with Aven Mindcensor picking up points across the board against chord, tron, titanshift & Nahari in its place.
Your first point is exactly why I haven't had a high mana curve and I am glad that you are finding that matter reshaper preforms well. It is a great card against aggro and other midrange decks.
Last night, I went 3-0-1 in a local modern event with 11 people. I used to run languish in my sideboard but I recently sold them since they went up in value. I really, really like languish as the primary sweeper and I am going to get them back once they dip in price again.
Here is my decklist:
3 Tidehollow Sculler
2 Eldrazi Displacer
2 Matter Reshaper
3 Wasteland Strangler
4 Thought-Knot Seer
3 Reality Smasher
Artifacts (3)
3 Relic of Progenitus
Sorcery (9)
4 Lingering Souls
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
1 Collective Brutality
Instant (4)
4 Path to Exile
2 Liliana of the Veil
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
Land (24)
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Marsh Flats
2 Ghost Quarter
3 Godless Shrine
2 Shambling Vent
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Wastes
1 Fetid Heath
1 Anguished Unmaking
2 Blessed Alliance
1 Day of Judgment
2 Disenchant
1 Engineered explosives
2 Stony Silence
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Warping Wail
1 Rest in peace
1 Zealous persecution
2 Pithing needle
Match 1 :: Bye
All stars :: Free win!
Match 2 :: UWR control [2-0]
All stars :: Discard spells, tidehollow / displacer combo, lingering souls
This was an easy matchup with all of the active discard and lingering souls.
Match 3 :: Bushwacker Zoo [2-0]
Out :: Liliana of the Veil x2, Relic x2
In :: Blessed alliance x2, Engineered Explosives, Day of Judgement.
All stars :: Discard spells, path to exile, relic / wasteland strangler combo
I have played against this guy many times with BW midrange in modern and it is a tough match. The game is pretty much decided by turn 4. If we can stabilize and lay down a thought-knot or reality smasher (which are really hard for them to kill) we are going to win. But this deck is very explosive and the matchup feels like a lottery. Either they have a very explosive start and win or we have the correct cards in our hand.
You ever have those matchups where the opponent has all of the correct cards for everything you lay. Well I was that person in this matchup. I always feel a little lucky when I win against this deck.
Match 4 :: RG Tron, intentional draw [2-0]
Out :: Liliana of the Veil x2, Relic x3
In :: Pithing needle x2, Anguished Unmaking, 2 other cards I don't remember
All stars :: Pithing needle, hitting matter reshaper on turn 3.
I flat out destroyed tron. I swear it was a fluke, but I really like pithing needle in this matchup. Game 1 he kept a really risky hand and I was able to apply a quick clock (matter reshaper, wasteland strangler, lingering souls) while keeping more threats in my hand in case of oblivion stone. Game 2 he played expedition map turn 1, I played pithing needle naming map which effectively locked him out of the game.
Quick thoughts :: I replaced the mind stone's with liliana's and it was good to play such a good planeswalker again. I feel that we need a liliana (of the veil or the new one) to add some more depth to this deck. I was happy to bring her back and I didn't miss mind stone. I am trying to get my hands on some of the new liliana's to try her out.
CBW midrange deck
CBW eldrazi processor deck
CBW bw eldrazi shadow midrange
GXTronGX
RWxBurnRWx
I will try out lost legacy and give it a fair shot, but cards like this don't work too well in modern. Modern decks are typically versatile enough to have more than one lines of attack. This card is card disadvantage for us and I don't feel that the upsides are worth it. I am excited to playtest it though.
Fragmentize - I am skeptical of this card. Our deck is littered with 3 drops and the problematic artifact/enchantments usually come down on turn 2 (spreading seas, cranial plating, etc.) and I would rather hit them (or float a W in response to a blood moon casting) on their turn rather than being 1 mana short of casting a thought-knot or lingering souls on my turn. Hitting cranial plating on the opponents turn before it does massives amount of damage to us is a big deal. The card also misses on inkmoth nexus, but that may not be a big deal.
Concealed Courtyard - I feel that, in the long run, the printing of this card will increase the number of abzan decks; therefore increasing the number of people playing lingering souls. We will most likely see an uptick in lingering souls hate (night of souls' betrayal, zealous persecution, izzet staticaster) in the next 6 months. I am very excited that we don't need to take 5 damage for a turn 1 thoughtseize anymore.
Yeah, it was a hard cut. I have only played 3 matches with out it so I don't know how much it drops the consistency down. Turn 3 liliana and turn 4 thought-knot is still great though.
CBW midrange deck
CBW eldrazi processor deck
CBW bw eldrazi shadow midrange
I'm thinking the fastland is a miss for me, for now. And cutting Mind Stone would mean I definitely 100% need a Wastes, since then I would have no outs under Moon for 75% of my creatures. I'm not willing to cede the Blood Moon matches, and have been considering Wastes in the side (while keeping 2x Mind Stone), though as always I really don't like siding lands. The list is tight.
For now, since there is a lot of BMoon around, you should shave the Cavern for the wastes, maybe use the Cavern SB.
How is SGW doing for you ? Is it really worth it ?
GXTronGX
RWxBurnRWx
My H/W list
Welcome to not playing a green midrange deck in modern. The really good 2-drop slot for decks that don't run green is dark confidant. However, if you run dark confidant you need to have a lower mana curve (average cmc for the deck should be less than 2, ideally around 1.4 or less) which immediatly eliminates the possibility of us running reality smasher or 4 thought-knot's.
I have played a lot of pack rat in modern and it is a fine card. It is best friends with dark confindant and can quickly take over games if left unchecked. If you want to give it a go, I would suggest running a deadguy ale build. You can find the primer here.
CBW midrange deck
CBW eldrazi processor deck
CBW bw eldrazi shadow midrange
After read last pages i was thinking in trying a couple but i cannot play until 2 weeks. Testing the curve deck if we get to cast them in turn 2 seems nice with wasteland strangler and a 1-2 eldrazi displacer to blink them. But lm worry that in the late game become a little usless.
Thats the change that i was thinking to do in MB if add the tidehollows:
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2x Godless Shrine
4x Concealed Courtyard
4x Eldrazi Temple
2x Shambling Vents
4x Caves of Koilos
2x Ghost Quarter
1x Vault of the Archangel
2x Plain
2x Swamp
1x Declaration in stone
1x Collective Brutality
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
2x Thoughtseize
4x Path to exile
4x Lingering Souls
1x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
Artifacts
4x Relic of Progenitus
1x Eldrazi Displacer
2x Reality Smasher
2x Blight Herder
3x Tidehollow Sculler
4x Thought-Knot Seer
4x Wasteland Strangler
My previous MB was inspired in the W/B Blink eldrazi procssor from Chris Headley who put a 5th position in SCG Modern IQ Chatham:
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/453598#paper
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2x Godless Shrine
4x Concealed Courtyard
4x Eldrazi Temple
2x Shambling Vents
4x Caves of Koilos
2x Ghost Quarter
1x Vault of the Archangel
2x Plain
2x Swamp
1x Declaration in stone
1x Collective Brutality
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
2x Thoughtseize
4x Path to exile
4x Lingering Souls
1x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
4x Relic of Progenitus
Creatures
2x Eldrazi Displacer
4x Reality Smasher
2x Wall of Omens
4x Thought-Knot Seer
4x Wasteland Strangler
Wall of Omens insteald Tidehollow to help with agro and give consistency to early game similar to Matter reshaper but with the possibility to blink them for extra draw card.
BWC Processors Eldrazi CWB
UBC Emerge EldraziCBU
C Tron Eldrazi C
RBC Meld Eldrazi CBR
GU Tokens Eldrazi UG
No! 24 lands is a problem. I've tried so many times 24 lands, and even with Mind Stones I usually got stuck on 4th mana. This is the best manabase I got since I started with this deck.
Both are great. Against Zoo, Jund and Nahiri Herder is much better than Smasher, for example. And 5 discards I think is enough, I've tried 4 Seizes and 2 CB but draw a Seize lategame is so sad... Also one of the reasons I don't like Sculler, they are weak earlygame and useless lategame. And the deck has a lot of utility lands, so Map is useful to get them. Sea Gate, Vault and GQ has put me back on so many games I thought I lost...
My H/W list
Tried a couple of new angles, not sure how I feel about them.
1x Cavern of Souls
4x Caves of Koilos
4x Eldrazi Temple
2x Ghost Quarter
2x Godless Shrine
1x Isolated Chapel
3x Marsh Flats
1x Plains
1x Sea Gate Wreckage
2x Shambling Vent
2x Swamp
1x Vault of the Archangel
4x Matter Reshaper
4x Reality Smasher
4x Thought-Knot Seer
4x Wasteland Strangler
Instant (5)
1x Anguished Unmaking
4x Path to Exile
Sorcery (10)
4x Lingering Souls
4x Thoughtseize
2x Collective Brutality
Artifact (4)
4x Relic of Progenitus
Planeswalker (1)
1x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
1x Anguished Unmaking
1x Aven Mindcensor
2x Damnation
1x Ghostly Prison
1x Grafdigger's Cage
2x Pithing Needle
1x Ratchet Bomb
2x Rest for the Weary
1x Wastes
2x Stony Silence
1x Timely Reinforcements
Sea Gate Wreckage is amazing some of the time, and feels useless some of the time. But it is not actually useless. Hitting a few lands in a row feels bad, but it still reduces the pain of those top decks by a turn, which is not so bad when you stop to really think about it. It's undoubtedly better than a Wastes in those situations. It seems even better in a build with Brutality, which can discard the unplayable land card (or Thoughtseize, or Unmaking when you are at 2 life) that is clogging up your hand.
I would say that Brutality might be pushing this build towards Whip of Erebos over Sorin, maybe. Sorin is great, but is best with tokens, which have declined with the move away from Herder. Smasher is also a major win condition for this deck the can sometimes clog up an early hand. Even one beat with a trampling 5/5 lifelinker would be a huge late-game swing... and you could do it without ever getting to 5 mana. Cracking Relic and drawing into Whip would feel pretty bad, though. Playing the Relic/Whip/Brutality interaction optimally seems tricky and intriguing to me.
Matter Reshaper has been an outstanding T2 play and I am keeping it in some significant quantity, like at least three. The card is pure value. Displacer is a house but I think you'd need to build around him with more ETB effects to maximize his value. Dies to Bolt is a big downside, in a deck that has few other good targets. It plays much better in creature heavy, target-rich environments. It also seems like Eldrazi and Taxes already has the Sculler/Flickerwisp/Displacer/Strangler/Seer synergies all tied up already. And running Sculler is going to necessitate cutting the large majority of the C lands, all the Reshapers, and and some Smashers.
The build feels in flux to me right now, not sure how to resolve all the different directions it is being pulled in by this aggro meta, abundance of new cards, and emergence of performing Sculler builds.