I know the LGS - very good players and good sized events. Very competitive. Interesting to see a more controllish version using Blight Herder instead of Smasher.
Congratulation for your result! (top 8 I think). What was the number of participants?
Any update of your decklist after the tournament?
Thanks.
Hmm, must have been someone else - my store's event ended up being really small. Beat traditional Abzan 2-1, beat RG Tron 2-1 (felt like I made the best plays available to me in this one), and lost to Esper Delve 1-0-1. I did get those Fulminator Mages, so I'm going to be updating my sideboard to include those and an Aven Mindcensor. Really happy to see three SCG IQ top 8s from Herder and Smasher variants, and especially glad to see RidetheIguana still at it. Grats guys!
@Rotax94 welcome! I have played WB E&T, the Aggro Scourge/Serum Powder version, and this processors deck. I find that this deck is the most fun. Games are always feeling very competitive, tho E&T seems to post the better results. I honestly don't know if this is due to so many more people playing that version, but I feel E&T is better positioned. Hope you enjoy it.
When I saw the GP kobe list it lade me try it right away.
Something didn’t feel good. Yes, the deck can win with the inasane eldrazi hands, tks into reality smasher on turn 4 but something was lacking. The deck didn’t have the depth i was thinking of. Scullers didn’t feel as strong and the combo with strangler wasn’t that strong, it was cute but not a game changing state.
So I decided to cut out the white color, just leaving path to exiles in the main and strong white cards in the sb in the form of rest in peace and stony silence.
I don’t have modo, so i used xmage for testing.
It looks and feels stronger, a more solid build.
My initial list featured 4 wrench mind and the full playset of mindstone and relics.
I play x2 urborg to help me cast those wrench mind
After testing for a while, they didn’t feel as strong as i thought they would be, so i cut them and added 4 inquisition + 2 thoughtseize. It’s a lot better. I also added x4 matter reshaper as well as bontu’s last reckoning in the main deck.
Mind stone is very good against blood moon effects, i’m running 3
I will post the list later if you guys want
I know the LGS - very good players and good sized events. Very competitive. Interesting to see a more controllish version using Blight Herder instead of Smasher.
~55 people, top 4 split. I was undefeated in the swiss and got manascrewed, tilted, and made many misplays in my top 8 match against UW. T3 Inq seeing both Gideons of the Trials was tilting too. But my friend (with essentially my list) and I both were X-1 in matches, his only loss being to me in the swiss. Our car put 3 people in the top 8.
Blight Herder is a bomb, it makes Reality Smasher look like draft chaff. There are many spots where a Herder would win where a Smasher would not, and very few where a Smasher would do the job but a Herder wouldn't get there.
So going to make educated guess on reasons Blight Herder can be better than Smasher:
Works better with the processor theme providing an additional 3 processor cards on top of the Stranglers
Similar reason it provides reason to keep playset of Relics in MB
Castable under Blood Moon effects
Provides 4 creatures with one card. Can provide blockers for days while LS can fly over
Laughs at Liliana of the Veil's -2
Not immediately obvious but the tokens can be sacked for colorless mana. If have a Relic in play can tap out for Herder and still be able to pop relic
Even if can't/won't process its same 4/5 body for 5
Deck not trying to aggro out opponent but out value/attrition so haste/trample of Smasher less relevant
Similar to Master of Waves for old mono blue Merfolk, but can't be easily answered
Better synergy with Sorin +1 (11 power + lifelink)
Overall like the 3rd place by Tristan more, overall I think this kind of deck plays a bit like B/W tokens but with some strong eldrazi cards and tempo. Should be very strong against decks trying to jund you out.
Tested a bit today vs grixis control and affinity.
...
I'm happy with the deck, i'm not running fetchland becouse it's my second deck and don't want spend too much money now, btw the manabase is ok with 2 godless and 1 filterland.
Thx,for your answer. Lost to matches to gheist today, think that they are unbeatable when hit the board. With fetches doesn't the manabase become too clunky?
Yeah, match with storms is pretty good, unless they have bloodmoon.
Think that nearly every creature deck is a good matchup, because we have many removals and cards that trade 2 for 1.
Ya if you are worried about being able to unvalue paths and gqs then fetch a shock even tapped. Conceled courtyard is good but I dont think 4 are necessary.
Against any combo deck we want both relic and thoughtsieze opening against them, and hopefully follow up with either a tks or a sculler. We should hardly ever loose any control/combo match due to the aggressiveness of our removal. Just review the combo decks and know when to remove or discard what to win those matchups. Burn and storm is all about either removing the key combo burn spell or removing their most efficient counter spell. Tks off an untapped shock to hit a boros charm and see their hand is never a bad play t1 or 2.
Round 1: Kiki-Chord (2-0) - This has usually not gone my way, but I had the right cards at the right time. G1 I had a Path in hand to keep me from dying to a chorded Kiki-Jiki. G2 I kept a one-land hand with lots of interaction and a ZP and was rewarded - the ZP ended up winning me the game by clearing a path for my Souls on a board crowded in the air. I don't remember the sideboard here other than Zealous Persecution and Grafdigger's Cage. Totally forgot to bring in Aven Mindcensor.
Round 2: Prison Red (1-2) - Won G1 with the sequence of T1 IoK, T2 Sculler, T3 Sculler, T4 Herder. It was gross. G2 was a good reminder that I'm extremely weak to Ensnaring Bridge decks and my ways of dealing with planeswalkers can be pretty limited. G3 was more of the same - Koth of the Hammer and Bridge doing serious work. Only had one Blood Moon effect hit the board in the form of Magus, and it ate a Collective Brutality right away. This one was a rough matchup - certainly G1 was a fluke, but maybe mulliganing to a disruptive hand is the way to go? Again, I don't remember my full sideboard decisions - I know I brought in LotV and Blessed Alliance (was worried about Stormbreath Dragon, but there were none). Gideon's Intervention, Fragmentize, and Pithing Needle definitely came in too. Cards out were some combination of Fatal Push, Wasteland Strangler, and IoK.
Round 3: Skred (2-1) - Was holding out decently in G1 keeping a Stormbreath Dragon tucked under a Sculler. Opponent hit his sixth land drop with a Skred in hand - I was thinking Stormbreath was CMC 6 and that I'd be able to get rid of it with a TKS my next turn. Oops. G2 and G3 were won narrowly through the combination of Gideon's Intervention (naming Goblin Rabblemaster in G2, Koth in G3), Sorin, and Herder. This one felt really good. Cards in were 2 Blessed Alliance, Gideon's Intervention, Zealous Persecution, 2 Damnation (G3 only, I think), and Zealous Persecution, and maybe Pithing Needle? Cards out would have been IoK, Fatal Push, Collective Brutality, and maybe a Strangler.
Round 4: Bye (thanks WER?)
All-in-all, the deck ran pretty well. I did feel a little vulnerable to must-answer planeswalkers, but running into two Koth decks in a row is decidedly abnormal for my store. Will try to note my sideboard changes in the future.
Cool report and congratz on the result. Interesting with the Herders over Smashers. Have you tried both? What's your reason for picking herders? How is your mainboard gq working out? Do you feel like you need it or is it situational?
About your sideboard, How is LotV working out? What do you bring her in against? Also, that's some spice with Gideon's Intervention. What are you targeting with that card?
Sorry for all the questions. Hope you will answer them.
If you search this thread for ridetheiguana you will find many of the answers to your questions, as he has had the most posted success with this Herders version of the deck. I used to play smashers, but have switched over and happy I did. I have been playing more or less this version of the deck (http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=116775), and specifically its sideboard. I used to play Gideon's Intervention and liked it, but prefer these other cards - always not enough slots in SB for all I'd like to do.
Cool report and congratz on the result. Interesting with the Herders over Smashers. Have you tried both? What's your reason for picking herders? How is your mainboard gq working out? Do you feel like you need it or is it situational?
About your sideboard, How is LotV working out? What do you bring her in against? Also, that's some spice with Gideon's Intervention. What are you targeting with that card?
Sorry for all the questions. Hope you will answer them.
Thanks! I've played just about every BW Processor variant (except for ones playing Displacer, which I'd love to do!). I don't have the chance to play very often, but the Herder list just feels like it has the most coherent plan. I definitely suggest reading through RidetheIguana's posts here and on reddit about why he picks Herder. He also has some (slightly outdated) sideboard guidance here.
LotV has been middling for me, but I think that's because I'm still learning when to bring her in and how to use her. Gideon's Intervention is a "meta" play in the sense that the people at my shop seem to rotate decks frequently and they're all over the place.
G1 (L) - Having a hard time remembering the fine details of G1, but, in short, I did not handle Thalia, Guardian of Thraben or Thalia, Heretic Cathar in the way I should have. Those two kept me about a turn behind where I realistically should have been with (what I remember being) a very good hand.
G1 (W) - Unchecked Sorin, Solemn Visitor and a boardstate that never made Smallpox worth casting led to a grindy game that I was advantaged the whole time. Kept using my tokens and Sorin's anthem to keep the opponent's planeswalkers from sticking around.
G2 (L) - I don't remember what happened in this one.
G3 (L) - Kept a risky seven with a lot of land. Drew four or five lands off the top and ate Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and Bloodghast beats.
G1 (L) - Didn't play this one as tight as I should have. Ate a hit from a 12/12 Death's Shadow to end this one, not sure how I didn't play around that.
G2 (W) - Don't remember a lot about this one. Was almost certainly on the Relic-Souls-Liliana plan this game which, it turns out, is pretty good against their deck. I remember ending this after he fetched end of my turn from 4 to 3 to Opt with no open blue mana and an untapped fetch, giving me a window to Path to Exile his Death's Shadow.
G1 (L) - Grindy, but Affinity eventually did Affinity things.
G2 (W) - I was leading the life total 40-17 on a very clogged board state with only a little under ten minutes left in the round, opponent decided to concede to try to take it in G3.
Wrap-up: I finished 17th (out of 62 I think), and, outside of G1 of the 5c Humans match, I felt like I played decently. Obviously I dodged bad matchups - there were plenty of Tron and Scapeshift decks out there (will be curious to see what the top 8 ends up looking like). As a side note, the Herder variant of this deck benefits a bit from being stealthy - I had people playing around Reality Smasher and boarding for Aether Vial simply because they couldn't figure out what I was playing.
Funny how you can name Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle with Gideon's Intervention. Sure Valakut is not a spell, but the part that says preventing the damage that it will do should be enough to win that matchup. Their only other threat at that point is Titan which well, is a Path magnet.
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=116775
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=116777 (Same pilot took almost identical deck to top 16 in NJ Open in 2016)
I know the LGS - very good players and good sized events. Very competitive. Interesting to see a more controllish version using Blight Herder instead of Smasher.
Also saw this one: http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=116752.
Hmm, must have been someone else - my store's event ended up being really small. Beat traditional Abzan 2-1, beat RG Tron 2-1 (felt like I made the best plays available to me in this one), and lost to Esper Delve 1-0-1. I did get those Fulminator Mages, so I'm going to be updating my sideboard to include those and an Aven Mindcensor. Really happy to see three SCG IQ top 8s from Herder and Smasher variants, and especially glad to see RidetheIguana still at it. Grats guys!
BWCBW Eldrazi ProcessorCWB
Something didn’t feel good. Yes, the deck can win with the inasane eldrazi hands, tks into reality smasher on turn 4 but something was lacking. The deck didn’t have the depth i was thinking of. Scullers didn’t feel as strong and the combo with strangler wasn’t that strong, it was cute but not a game changing state.
So I decided to cut out the white color, just leaving path to exiles in the main and strong white cards in the sb in the form of rest in peace and stony silence.
I don’t have modo, so i used xmage for testing.
It looks and feels stronger, a more solid build.
My initial list featured 4 wrench mind and the full playset of mindstone and relics.
I play x2 urborg to help me cast those wrench mind
After testing for a while, they didn’t feel as strong as i thought they would be, so i cut them and added 4 inquisition + 2 thoughtseize. It’s a lot better. I also added x4 matter reshaper as well as bontu’s last reckoning in the main deck.
Mind stone is very good against blood moon effects, i’m running 3
I will post the list later if you guys want
~55 people, top 4 split. I was undefeated in the swiss and got manascrewed, tilted, and made many misplays in my top 8 match against UW. T3 Inq seeing both Gideons of the Trials was tilting too. But my friend (with essentially my list) and I both were X-1 in matches, his only loss being to me in the swiss. Our car put 3 people in the top 8.
Blight Herder is a bomb, it makes Reality Smasher look like draft chaff. There are many spots where a Herder would win where a Smasher would not, and very few where a Smasher would do the job but a Herder wouldn't get there.
Overall like the 3rd place by Tristan more, overall I think this kind of deck plays a bit like B/W tokens but with some strong eldrazi cards and tempo. Should be very strong against decks trying to jund you out.
Yeah, match with storms is pretty good, unless they have bloodmoon.
Think that nearly every creature deck is a good matchup, because we have many removals and cards that trade 2 for 1.
Against any combo deck we want both relic and thoughtsieze opening against them, and hopefully follow up with either a tks or a sculler. We should hardly ever loose any control/combo match due to the aggressiveness of our removal. Just review the combo decks and know when to remove or discard what to win those matchups. Burn and storm is all about either removing the key combo burn spell or removing their most efficient counter spell. Tks off an untapped shock to hit a boros charm and see their hand is never a bad play t1 or 2.
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/competitive-modern-constructed-league-2017-11-13.
I am wondering how those who play Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet think of the card. I have been playing one each of Liliana of the Veil and Liliana, the last hope in my 75 instead of Kalitas. I play the 4 mutavaults and like them. thoughts?
1x Cavern of Souls
4x Caves of Koilos
3x Concealed Courtyard
4x Eldrazi Temple
1x Ghost Quarter
1x Godless Shrine
4x Marsh Flats
1x Plains
3x Shambling Vent
2x Swamp
Artifact (4)
4x Relic of Progenitus
2x Collective Brutality
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
4x Lingering Souls
2x Thoughtseize
Creature (14)
3x Blight Herder
4x Thought-Knot Seer
3x Tidehollow Sculler
4x Wasteland Strangler
Instant (5)
1x Fatal Push
4x Path to Exile
Planeswalker (2)
2x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
1x Aven Mindcensor
2x Blessed Alliance
2x Damnation
1x Fragmentize
2x Fulminator Mage
1x Gideon's Intervention
1x Grafdigger's Cage
2x Liliana of the Veil
1x Pithing Needle
1x Stony Silence
1x Zealous Persecution
Round 1: Kiki-Chord (2-0) - This has usually not gone my way, but I had the right cards at the right time. G1 I had a Path in hand to keep me from dying to a chorded Kiki-Jiki. G2 I kept a one-land hand with lots of interaction and a ZP and was rewarded - the ZP ended up winning me the game by clearing a path for my Souls on a board crowded in the air. I don't remember the sideboard here other than Zealous Persecution and Grafdigger's Cage. Totally forgot to bring in Aven Mindcensor.
Round 2: Prison Red (1-2) - Won G1 with the sequence of T1 IoK, T2 Sculler, T3 Sculler, T4 Herder. It was gross. G2 was a good reminder that I'm extremely weak to Ensnaring Bridge decks and my ways of dealing with planeswalkers can be pretty limited. G3 was more of the same - Koth of the Hammer and Bridge doing serious work. Only had one Blood Moon effect hit the board in the form of Magus, and it ate a Collective Brutality right away. This one was a rough matchup - certainly G1 was a fluke, but maybe mulliganing to a disruptive hand is the way to go? Again, I don't remember my full sideboard decisions - I know I brought in LotV and Blessed Alliance (was worried about Stormbreath Dragon, but there were none). Gideon's Intervention, Fragmentize, and Pithing Needle definitely came in too. Cards out were some combination of Fatal Push, Wasteland Strangler, and IoK.
Round 3: Skred (2-1) - Was holding out decently in G1 keeping a Stormbreath Dragon tucked under a Sculler. Opponent hit his sixth land drop with a Skred in hand - I was thinking Stormbreath was CMC 6 and that I'd be able to get rid of it with a TKS my next turn. Oops. G2 and G3 were won narrowly through the combination of Gideon's Intervention (naming Goblin Rabblemaster in G2, Koth in G3), Sorin, and Herder. This one felt really good. Cards in were 2 Blessed Alliance, Gideon's Intervention, Zealous Persecution, 2 Damnation (G3 only, I think), and Zealous Persecution, and maybe Pithing Needle? Cards out would have been IoK, Fatal Push, Collective Brutality, and maybe a Strangler.
Round 4: Bye (thanks WER?)
All-in-all, the deck ran pretty well. I did feel a little vulnerable to must-answer planeswalkers, but running into two Koth decks in a row is decidedly abnormal for my store. Will try to note my sideboard changes in the future.
BWCBW Eldrazi ProcessorCWB
Thanks! I've played just about every BW Processor variant (except for ones playing Displacer, which I'd love to do!). I don't have the chance to play very often, but the Herder list just feels like it has the most coherent plan. I definitely suggest reading through RidetheIguana's posts here and on reddit about why he picks Herder. He also has some (slightly outdated) sideboard guidance here.
LotV has been middling for me, but I think that's because I'm still learning when to bring her in and how to use her. Gideon's Intervention is a "meta" play in the sense that the people at my shop seem to rotate decks frequently and they're all over the place.
BWCBW Eldrazi ProcessorCWB
1x Cavern of Souls
4x Caves of Koilos
3x Concealed Courtyard
4x Eldrazi Temple
1x Ghost Quarter
1x Godless Shrine
4x Marsh Flats
1x Plains
3x Shambling Vent
2x Swamp
Artifact (4)
4x Relic of Progenitus
2x Collective Brutality
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
4x Lingering Souls
2x Thoughtseize
Creature (14)
3x Blight Herder
4x Thought-Knot Seer
3x Tidehollow Sculler
4x Wasteland Strangler
Instant (5)
1x Fatal Push
4x Path to Exile
Planeswalker (2)
2x Sorin, Solemn Visitor
1x Aven Mindcensor
2x Blessed Alliance
2x Damnation
1x Fragmentize
2x Fulminator Mage
1x Gideon's Intervention
1x Grafdigger's Cage
2x Liliana of the Veil
1x Pithing Needle
1x Stony Silence
1x Zealous Persecution
Round 1: 5c Humans (1-2)
G1 (L) - Having a hard time remembering the fine details of G1, but, in short, I did not handle Thalia, Guardian of Thraben or Thalia, Heretic Cathar in the way I should have. Those two kept me about a turn behind where I realistically should have been with (what I remember being) a very good hand.
G2 (W) - This was a blowout for me, Fatal Push on T1 Noble Hierarch, T2 Tidehollow Sculler, T3 Wasteland Strangler on another Noble Hierarch, then a Ghost Quarter on his only land kept him off a handful of great red cards.
G3 (L) - I kept a risky seven with a Stony Silence and not much else action. Totally shut down my own T1 Relic of Progenitus with Stony on T2, keeping me from going wide with Blight Herder (I was nervous!). His Aether Vials had come out after G2, and he had plenty of lands to cast two Meddling Mages naming Wasteland Strangler and Thought-Knot Seer (oddly enough, I had none in hand and didn't draw either one this game). Couldn't find a Damnation and got beaten down with Mantis Riders.
Sideboard:
IN: 2x Damnation, 1x Zealous Persecution, 1x Stony Silence
OUT: 2x Thoughtseize, 2x Collective Brutality
Round 2: BW Smallpox (1-2)
G1 (W) - Unchecked Sorin, Solemn Visitor and a boardstate that never made Smallpox worth casting led to a grindy game that I was advantaged the whole time. Kept using my tokens and Sorin's anthem to keep the opponent's planeswalkers from sticking around.
G2 (L) - I don't remember what happened in this one.
G3 (L) - Kept a risky seven with a lot of land. Drew four or five lands off the top and ate Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and Bloodghast beats.
Sideboard:
IN: 2x Fulminator Mage, 1x Pithing Needle, 1x Gideon's Intervention, 1x Grafdigger's Cage
OUT: 2x Collective Brutality, 1x Inquisition of Kozilek, 1x Fatal Push, 1x Wasteland Strangler
Round 3: Jeskai Control (2-0)
G1 (W) - Singleton Cavern of Souls did tremendous work here, letting me resolve a Wasteland Strangler (killing a Spell Queller and freeing a Thought-Knot Seer) and a Blight Herder when I knew my opponent had a Logic Knot in hand. Life totals got close due to a Bolt-Snap-Bolt (I had Relic with open mana available, whoops), but it ended up OK.
G2 (W) - This one was never particularly close. Was able to protect Liliana of the Veil and had a Shambling Vent to finish things off.
Sideboard:
IN: 2x Liliana of the Veil, 2x Blessed Alliance
OUT: 2x Collective Brutality, 2x Thoughtseize
Round 4: Mardu Pyromancer/Bedlam Reveler (2-0)
G1 (W) - Relic of Progenitus is a hell of a card. Kept his yard empty, kept unacceptable threats (Liliana, the Last Hope) out of hand, landed a Sorin, Solemn Visitor.
G2 (w) - T1 Inquisition of Kozilek took Liliana, the Last Hope, also revealing Blood Moon and Bedlam Reveler. Followed up with a Tidehollow Sculler to grab the Reveler and was able to play basics around the Blood Moon, ultimately using a Ghost Quarter to fetch up my Plains. Oh and once again, Relic of Progenitus is a hell of a card.
Sideboard:
IN: 2x Damnation, 1x Grafdigger's Cage, 1x Zealous Persecution
OUT: 2x Thoughtseize, 1x Wasteland Strangler, 1x Fatal Push (might have been a Collective Brutality, I don't remember)
Round 5: Grixis Shadow (2-1)
G1 (L) - Didn't play this one as tight as I should have. Ate a hit from a 12/12 Death's Shadow to end this one, not sure how I didn't play around that.
G2 (W) - Don't remember a lot about this one. Was almost certainly on the Relic-Souls-Liliana plan this game which, it turns out, is pretty good against their deck. I remember ending this after he fetched end of my turn from 4 to 3 to Opt with no open blue mana and an untapped fetch, giving me a window to Path to Exile his Death's Shadow.
G3 (W) - Gideon's Intervention naming Shadow and a Path to Exile on a Tasigur, the Golden Fang left him defenseless to Spirit or Scion beats.
Sideboard:
IN: 2x Liliana of the Veil, 2x Blessed Alliance, 1x Gideon's Intervention, 1x Fulminator Mage
OUT: 4x Wasteland Strangler, 2x Collective Brutality
Round 6: Affinity (2-1)
G1 (L) - Grindy, but Affinity eventually did Affinity things.
G2 (W) - I was leading the life total 40-17 on a very clogged board state with only a little under ten minutes left in the round, opponent decided to concede to try to take it in G3.
G3 (W) - Kept a questionable seven with a Sorin, Solemn Visitor and a Damnation, didn't get punished with Thoughtseize. Used Damnation to stabilize (bad sequencing here, had recently used a Fatal Push on an Arcbound Ravager to try to stall, but should have saved it for Blinkmoth Nexus). Got into another crowded Sorin, Solemn Visitor + Spirits + Scions board state where I traded some tokens to force sacrifices to Arcbound Ravager. Finally got to a point where I had two Blessed Alliance in hand and an attack with two of his big threats (a large Master of Etherium and Arcbound Ravager]). Gideon's Intervention naming Ravager and some late threats got me to a place where Sorin anthems got just enough damage through on T5 of extra turns. Phew.
Wrap-up: I finished 17th (out of 62 I think), and, outside of G1 of the 5c Humans match, I felt like I played decently. Obviously I dodged bad matchups - there were plenty of Tron and Scapeshift decks out there (will be curious to see what the top 8 ends up looking like). As a side note, the Herder variant of this deck benefits a bit from being stealthy - I had people playing around Reality Smasher and boarding for Aether Vial simply because they couldn't figure out what I was playing.
BWCBW Eldrazi ProcessorCWB
When playing the Blight Herder variant of the deck, shouldn't a 1-off Vault of the Archangel be included?
Oh BTW, RideTheIguana, do you have a SB guide to your list?