True, but if we imagine the decks that could run these cards to their potential,
what does Affinity seem to hate the most and which one is it prepared to handle?
And based on that information, can we weigh the effectiveness of that card against other decks - is it worth the sideboard slot?
EDIT: should I just ask this in the Affinity primer thread?
It varies. For instance, Hurkyl's Recall probably won't be much help for you in a Burn sideboard. Also, here's a segment from the Affinity premier about artifact hate.
Stony Silence
Found in: UWR Control, UWR Midrange, Boggles, Death and Taxes, Hate Bears
Combat with: Duress, Thoughtseize, Spell Pierce
Notes: If it resolves and you don't have a Glimmervoid and a destroy enchantment effect, you're very likely to lose.
Thank you, I appreciate that!
This information answers most of my question.
I'll head over to the primer and ask them which one grinds their gears the most
The problem with stony, as mentioned here, is that it needs to be online early to be effective. Once tron drops Karn, Emrakul, or Wurmcoil - they could care less about your stony silence. Admittedly, Hurkyl's Recall doesn't do anything there either.
If the SB is dedicated solely to affinity, I think Hurkyl's is the better card.
I thought I've previously heard that all Hurkyl's Recall does is buy time, and not much time at that. I remember trying it as UB Faeries against Affinity, and it was too easy for Affinity to dump half its hand on the table straight after I bounced their stuff during combat.
I have better memories of Stony Silence against Affinity. I mainly stick it in sideboards to combat both Affinity and Tron, although Stony also throws a significant jammer into Ad Nauseam's works.
Silence is certainly better. Although it may even be correct to run a split if you really aren't sure. Recall is really only useful in defense against an alpha strike early and it buys you A turn since they more than likely drop their hand. In modern it isn't as back breaking because the only artifact land they run is citadel. If they are on the moth lands, plus void or islands then recall only acts as a fog before they recast everything and next turn do exactly the same thing.
Stony on the other hand stops any equipping, shuts down many of their mana sources and buys you multiple turns Because swinging with a 0/1 pest, a 1/2 thopter and a 2/1 skirge isn't going to kill you very quick. It also means they can't go all in on a ravager at any point. With recall they can do that after the fact and load up an inkmoth with counters to just kill you.
As an affinity player...
stony silence has completely shut me down.. on multiple occasions.
i know im far from the best player but i had no answer for it.
ive never came up against hurkyl's recall but im sure it just buys you time. As i can just s*** my hand the next turn or 2nd main
It really does come down to which deck you're playing and if affinity is really that scary to you. Hurkyl's Recall is great in a deck that only needs that extra turn to win because it really only is a minor hindrance that they WILL recover from in a turn or two. Stony Silence flat out stops them if they haven't started their engines but if they have a decent board state it's almost completely dead. I prefer silence because I play grindier decks and basically have to have it to cover multiple bases but when I'm playing any U/x combo deck that can win on a dime I'm totally fine with having hurkyl's in hand just to buy that pivotal turn.
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With the banning of twin comes the end of an era...
Which card deserves a couple sideboard slots versus Affinity?
Current Affinity sideboards run enchantment removal
Recall can be played at EOT to be most effective, useful both early and late game
Stony crushes early plays but is somewhat weaker late game
Which one is worth running in the current meta?
Are there other cards that are better, like Creeping Corrosion perhaps?
Stony Silence is a very good card because its not only effective against affinity, but makes Tron and Ad nauseam hard to play.
Hurkyl's Recall is more designed for the aggro decks to fog 2 turns => Stop the current attacks, opponent needs to wait 1 more turn to attack. Its very good for Ad nauseam as it effectively bought them 2 turns (which means they win)
Whats interesting abut Hurkyl's Recall is the card could be a sideboard in affinity decks => The affinity player would play Hurkyl's Recall in response to a boardwipe such as Creeping Corrosion or Supreme Verdict and then dump their hand on the following turn. So these cards all have their ups and downs, but its important to understand why some players would play 1 over the other.
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I'm actively maintaining a comprehensive article to help explain to new cube players how some complex vintage level cards work in a cube environment. Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Which card deserves a couple sideboard slots versus Affinity?
Are there other cards that are better, like Creeping Corrosion perhaps?
what does Affinity seem to hate the most and which one is it prepared to handle?
And based on that information, can we weigh the effectiveness of that card against other decks - is it worth the sideboard slot?
EDIT: should I just ask this in the Affinity primer thread?
This information answers most of my question.
I'll head over to the primer and ask them which one grinds their gears the most
If the SB is dedicated solely to affinity, I think Hurkyl's is the better card.
Draft My Cube!
I have better memories of Stony Silence against Affinity. I mainly stick it in sideboards to combat both Affinity and Tron, although Stony also throws a significant jammer into Ad Nauseam's works.
Stony on the other hand stops any equipping, shuts down many of their mana sources and buys you multiple turns Because swinging with a 0/1 pest, a 1/2 thopter and a 2/1 skirge isn't going to kill you very quick. It also means they can't go all in on a ravager at any point. With recall they can do that after the fact and load up an inkmoth with counters to just kill you.
stony silence has completely shut me down.. on multiple occasions.
i know im far from the best player but i had no answer for it.
ive never came up against hurkyl's recall but im sure it just buys you time. As i can just s*** my hand the next turn or 2nd main
If Hurkyl's is on colour and Silence is not, OR if your deck uses a fair few noncreature artifacts, Hurkyl's is the way to go.
In either case, Stony is weaker if you draw it very late.
Stony Silence is a very good card because its not only effective against affinity, but makes Tron and Ad nauseam hard to play.
Hurkyl's Recall is more designed for the aggro decks to fog 2 turns => Stop the current attacks, opponent needs to wait 1 more turn to attack. Its very good for Ad nauseam as it effectively bought them 2 turns (which means they win)
Whats interesting abut Hurkyl's Recall is the card could be a sideboard in affinity decks => The affinity player would play Hurkyl's Recall in response to a boardwipe such as Creeping Corrosion or Supreme Verdict and then dump their hand on the following turn. So these cards all have their ups and downs, but its important to understand why some players would play 1 over the other.
Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i
Stony silence is better every day of the week. It completely shuts off affinity/lantern/Tez decks. If you can run Stony Silence than it's not close.
Decks I'm playing in Modern right now:
URB Grixis Reveler (http://www.mtgvault.com/supast4r7/decks/modern-grixis-reveler/)
UB Faeries (http://www.mtgvault.com/supast4r7/decks/ub-fae-2/)
UW Azorious Control (http://www.mtgvault.com/supast4r7/decks/modern-ojutai-control-2/)