In my experience Hulk still feels like a really strong deck and I'm not sure why it doesn't get more spotlight. Perhaps because Leyline of Sanctity is a hard counter to it.
I'm kind of upset, but mostly disappointed with the direction this thread has taken.
This is one of, if not the only combo deck in the format that can win on turn 3 reliably while still playing significant spells that interact with the opposing gameplan. Instead of building to that strength, many go away from it entirely by slowing the core with Through the Breach and oddball beatdown subthemes. Can't we just stop building our cannons with glass, and use titanium instead?
I propose a true turn 3 combo deck; a build fast enough to punish every combo that refuses to interact with the board, every control deck that dares to play hand-clogging removal, and every aggro deck that thinks it can race. Not only does my main deck commonly succeed in the "dream" of a highly probable turn 3 modern win, it can do it with turn 1 disruption over 24% of all games over a three hundred game solitaire sample size.
In practice, the deck still functions as intended, winning game 1 against all opposition it has seen at Paradox Comics in Fargo ND (with all but one on turn 3). My match record speaks poorly for the intent of the deck, as my sideboard plan was inefficient and incomplete. With that said, I'd like to continue the discussion of this deck by posting my current main deck, along with the proposed sideboard I'll be sleeving up in two day's time.
I'll be the first to admit failure in my own design. I believe Echoing Truth to be the absolute last card this deck wants game 1, and those slots SHOULD be another Izzet Charm and one Inquisition of Kozilek. Aside from that, I'm not sure anything short of unbanning or new card injection would change any of that 60.
10 Creatures - Automatic fill. The redundancy is necessary to function in the face of Path, Bolt, and Decay.
2 Echoing Truth - A hedge against the world. Should be something that gets you the turn 3 win instead.
4 Faithless Looting - Digs two deep, bins hulk and other vital cogs.
4 Footsteps of the Goryo - Automatic fill.
4 Gitaxian Probe - Could easily be Serum Visions, but I valued information and cost over dig.
4 Ideas Unbound - Digs three deep, bins hulk and other vital cogs.
3 Izzet Charm - Digs, discards, kills bears, makes Storm and Ad Nauseam cry inside.
4 Sleight of Hand - Digs two deep, card selection, deck protection to keep cogs out of the hand.
2 Taigam's Scheming - Digs five deep, bins vital cogs, card selection, deck protection combined with fetch.
4 Thoughtseize - Covers all bases. Stops combo dead, gets hulk out of the hand in a pinch.
19 Land - CANNOT enter tapped. CANNOT miss Ideas Unbound. CANNOT lose flexibility for any turn 1 play.
Faults of the existing sideboard - I made the mistake of thinking the deck needed to hate other fast decks, and stop permission dead. I quickly realized removing any of the main deck in favor of hate only served to dilute the deck and slow it to a point of losing games. This is the perfect example of what we shouldn't be doing:
3 Annul
4 Early Frost
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Kami of Ancient Law
2 Rakdos Charm
3 Swan Song
This deck is amazingly proficient in winning game 1. It's also horrible at winning game 2 and 3 against decks that interact with you already, then add meaningful hate. This is the main reason why my sideboard was a failure. It did nothing to solve the match problem the main deck is bound to have.
This is the part where you ask, "Isn't that just a bad Twin deck?"...and you would be mostly correct. The benefit here, however, is the absolute lack of splash hate from game 1. Nothing that hurts Hulk does serious damage to Twin, and operating at sorcery speed in game 1 can leave opposition discounting their early permission and removal. "Why not just play Twin?" you might ask... That's simply because Hulk is much faster, and harder to interact with in game 1 than any other combo in the format.
If you stop looking at the guise of prior, awful builds of what should be the format's next bannable combo deck, you will start to see the immense power allowed by a streamlined main deck. Goldfish it, sleeve it up and teach your LGS to fear game 1.
I take this deck seriously. Too seriously... If only because nobody else seems to. Put Hulk on your shoulders and actually change the format instead of being shoehorned into the turn 4 rule and Hearthstone mid range decks.
Best of luck, and remember to have fun!
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Pre-Curse
Missing the good ole days
Standard - Mono Black Devotion, UWR Tapout Control
Modern - BUG Delver, cHULK
Legacy - Spanish Inquisition
Anyone playing this deck ever consider Thirst for Knowledge? I know, it doesn't set up a turn 3 footsteps, but it loots, goes 3 deep, replaces itself, and like izzet charm can go eot so an opponent doesn't see what you discard until it's too late.
Thinking about making a list with Thirst & Remand. Opinions?
Hey ktkenshinx that's my deck! What a weird feeling to browse around searching for the hulk combo thread, reading some replies, then seeing your exact decklist in a post. Heh. I got third because I split prizes after winning first round of top8 and went home to watch Game of Thrones. I think I lost two games total that day, both to Infect.
I agree with you, this deck should see more play as it's incredibly well positioned, consistent, and resilient to the current field of strong decks that show up.
The list I wanted to play was -1 swan song MB, +1 pact of negation but just couldn't find it anywhere.
Currently I'm running the following list. It trades a very small percentage of winning games quickly (turn 3 vs. turn 4) for more mainboard interaction against the majority of decks out there. Taigam's Scheming has been amazing, it lets you hide cards from annoying Abzan lists that Thoughtseize you as well as digs 5 cards deep. The downside to it is less ways to have discard outlets. I wanted to try and steer away from Ideas Unbound as discarding at End of Turn can get real clunky; and Izzet Charm does good work as it provides answers to the top decks (quite surprising actually).
I don't recall my sideboard right now, but I believe it's 2 Swan Song, 2 Pyroclasm, 3 Leyline of Sanctity, 2 Emrakul, 1 Grave Titan, 1 Through the Breach, 1 Lightning Axe, 3 Tasigur. Currently testing Tasigur as a transform option. He fits well in this deck full of discard. May be unnecessary, but will have to see. I've only been playing this deck for a few weeks but I borrowed it from a guy who's played it for a couple of years. It's very well tuned (his list, not necessarily mine).
I'd rather play Evolutionary Leap and cut Protean Hulk/Footsteps of the Goryo entirely. Coupled with Commune with the Gods and the maximum number of Viscera Seers, it should be enough to dig for the four combo pieces. And in a pinch, it can give you a sacrifice outlet for Reveillark to create two blockers, or to quick start your combo if the appropriate pieces are already in the yard.
2-0 vs B/R Midrange
This person was not an experienced player, and their deck was functional but underpowered. I steamrolled them. Game 1 combo on turn 3, game 2 combo on turn 4 after Thoughtseizing away 1 of his 2 kill spells.
2-0 vs Affinity
Affinity can't usually interact meaningfully game 1, so it's just a race, and I won the race. I combo out on turn 3. Game 2 I board in my Overgrown Tomb and the 3 Natures claims. He attempts to kill me by saccing his board to a ravager, and I have a natures claim for the creature. I combo out 2 turns later, before he can find a way to rebuild.
2-1 vs TarmoTwin
G1 I win through 2 Remands and Cryptic Command. Game 2 I punt. I have 4 lands out, he's tapped out, I have Looting, Hulk, and Foosteps in my hand. I get confused and excited and cast Footsteps first with no Hulk in the yard. Opponent very reasonobly does not let me take it back. A reveillark comes and goes, and I hold no grudges while I die to a pair of Goyfs. Game 3 I win on turn 4 after ripping Spell Pierce and Snapcaster from his hand.
2-1 vs B/W Tokens
G1 is the first game of the night I am not able to find my combo in time. Game 2 is long and I fear Rest in Peace. I never see it and win after ripping some Path to Exiles out of his hand. Game 3 is much faster. He never finds a third land or meaningful interaction, and I win on turn 4 with a Thoughtseize for protection.
This deck is the real deal; I was dunkin' asses all night. Feels super consistent. Thirst For Knowledge is actually great, since you get to keep more cards off it. Taigam's Scheming is equally great, although I think 2 is just about the right number. Pentad Prism is nice for speed and for the rare interaction with TFK, but they are usually the first thing to come out when sideboarding. I never had to play through grave hate, which probably would make things harder, but the deck has the tools to beat it. Grave Hate backed up by counter magic might be rough though.
Went 4-1 at an fnm. Same 75 i posted above. lost 1-2 to 8 rack (surgical extraction+discard is rough) but beat twin, tokens, restore balance and mono white prison with maindeck RIP. The mono white matchup was notable due to winning g2 through 2 turn 0 leylines, a nevermore, and a rip.
Re: thirst for knowledge, I really like it. If you're going to pay three mana, tfk being instant speed is better. Even when I had a prism in hand, discarding 2 is often more desirable. And if you want, you can pitch the prism to get real ca, which is nice in a deck that tends to have negative ca. I don't think I'd play more than 2 though since 3cmc is on the high side.
The problem being that there are plenty of popular modern decks that don't care about infinite life. Tron (blue and R/G), Infect, and any of the misc mill decks running about still kill you through that.
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My EDH/Commander Decks: x Kozilek, The Butcher of Truth WUBRG Sliver Overlord UR Mizzix of the Izmagus
My Legacy Decks: WUBRG/x Dredge UBR Storm
My Modern Decks: BRG Smallpox WUBRG Slivers WUBRG/x Lantern Control
I considered the melira combo but this one seems to be the best combination of compact and resilient. I've wracked my brain to come up with other combos but to no avail.
Took this deck to my local tonight for 4 rounds of modern after not playing magic for a few weeks. Went 2-2, but the results were encouraging nonetheless, so I'll post.
Only minor changes from my last list. Murderous Cut is better than Dismember. Still only costs 1, doesn't cost life, and kills everything including my Hulks giving it marginal utility against Path to Exile. I swapped a Watery Grave for another basic Swamp to have another basic to fetch, since I never need to fetch an Island Swamp twice. IoK became a Spell Pierce since I liked having 1 mana protection that could be used reactively if needed.
Match 1: UW Tron (2-0)
This seems like a bad matchup as they have counterspells and Path. Fortunately they have few counterspells, and I was able Thoughseize away the disruption. He did resolve a Gifts against me but it wasn't enough since he didn't go for the Unburial Rites plan.
Match 2: Jeskai Twin (2-0)
More counterspells, more Paths, and a combo that matches hulk for speed. Seems like a nightmare matchup. An early TS took a Twin, and from there on they were on the back foot to prevent me from comboing off. Another TS and a bait Footsteps let me plow through countermagic. Game 2 he brought in the white leyline, and grafdiggers cage, mulled aggressively to get hate, and so a couple protection spells let me easily beat his mull to 5. After this round we played 3 more games and he only won 1 in which I drew 36 cards and never saw a hulk. In the first of these extra games the fact that Murderous Cut kills Hulk did come up when I used it to win through a Snapcaster'd Path.
Match 3: Affinity (0-2)
At this point I was feeling pretty good, and then Affinity rolled me. Game 1 I had the combo in hand at 13 life, my opponent had 11 power on the board, and I thought I had it in the bag despite my opponents extremely fast hand. Turns out he was hiding a Galvanic blast in hand and that did me in. Game 2 I got screwed by variance and got the hulk in my yard but couldn't find a Footsteps. Pyroclasm and Claim held him off for a while but it wasn't enough.
Match 4: Burn (0-2)
This is actually a nightmare matchup and it is so rarely seen at my local that I wasn't prepared for it. In the 3 weeks I was away from the store, the meta seemed to have shifted a bit back towards hyper-aggro, so I need a plan for that. Game 1 was just a blowout. Eidolon + fetch/shock heavy manabase was a beating. Game 2 I swapped the Thoughtseizes for the Claims since they can hit Eidolon and my Pentad Prisms to try to stall a bit. Well it wasn't enough. I got into a position where if he had no burn spells in his 5 card hand I could combo out and win at 1 life, but since it was a burn deck, he had burn spells, in multiples.
So in 11 total games tonight I won 6. Not as good as some previous runs, but decent. I think the affinity matchup is winnable ( I beat it convincingly a few weeks ago), and burn may be as well if I can come up with a sideboard plan that doesn't slow me down too much. I would go so far as to say the matchup against blue decks is actually excellent. Most graveyard hate can be played through as well. Extraction effects are really the only ones that are particularly hard to beat. I am convinced this deck is competitive, especially if I can find a decent sideboard plan for burn. It does have some issues with variance, but even the best decks do and I have yet to lose more than 1-2 games a night to crappy variance.
My total match win record with this deck so far (in my local modern tourneys, which is the only place I've played it) is 10-3. My game win record is somewhere around 21-9, I don't have complete records of this. I'm sure that the more games I play with it this will even out as I lose to variance and get wrecked by burn more often.
Played this to a 3-1 finish at modern this week. I forgot some cards at home and so the list is a little wonky (should be -2 Ideas Unbound, +2 Taigam's Scheming, and I wanted to try Leyline of Sanctity in the board) but I made do. Changes this week include dropping pentad prism and splitting the slots between more protection and more draw power.
Match 1: 2-0 vs Grishoalbrand
His draws aren't great and I'm able to pick what action he does have out of his hand. Game 2 is similar but the conclusion was interesting. We went long and eventually I found myself in a difficult situation. Both my Viscera seers were in my graveyard. This probably was a Misplay on my part. Anyway, I footsteps a hulk, realize I can't combo off, and so I get fanatic and a body double to copy the griselbrand in his graveyard. On my turn, I swing with gris, draw 7, footsteps a reveillark in my graveyard (which I should have done the first time), and combo out.
Match 2: 1-2 vs infect
G1 he mulls to five and I have so much discard he never gets in the game, game 2 he blows me out like it's his job despite me 2 for 1ing him with a sideboard pyroclasm. Game 3 I dance around a relic of progenitus, get him to blow it, and find myself in position to win if I can rip a land in the next 2 turns. I don't.
Match 3: 2-1 vs burn
I sneak out game 1 when he has a slow start and I have both my inquisitions. Game 2 runs a bit long and I find myself in an odd spot. 5 lands in play, one of which is a city of brass, hulk in the grave, body double and murderous cut in hand. With 4 life left I can rip any land or footsteps and win (if it's a fetch=>shock land I'll win with the lethal city trigger on the stack). I rip a taigam's scheming. He untapped and bolts me to death. I'm able to win game 3 in a manner similar to game 1.
Match 4: 2-1 vs grixis twin.
I'm beginning to see twin as a good matchup, even though it doesn't look great on paper since i havent dropped a match to it yet. Counterspells are pretty easy to fight through. I take g1 pretty quickly. I think he tapped out since I had no hulk in my yard, I end of turn Izzet Charm to pitch a hulk, and footsteps while he can do nothing. G2 he grinds out with snapcasters, bolts and Kommands. Game 3 is highly interactive but I'm able to make a window for myself with diacard and go off on turn 4 or 5.
Faster combo decks (i'll include burn here even though I think of it as aggro) are the worst matchups. I've decided that defense grid is not a good sideboard option and i'll probably switch those to be dispels since they have utility against both the blue decks defense grid was for and the faster combo decks.
I'm still impressed with the resilience of this deck. Last night's performance brings my overall record with the deck to 13-4 for matches, 28-13 for games. This is convincing enough to me that I'm strongly considering bringing it to a GPT in my town.
Having played a similar version of the deck myself for some time I have to agree that it is a lot stronger than I initially expected. I've actually had some success with running 1 copy of Squee, Goblin Nabob to offset some of the card disadvantage from all the looting. I also haven't been playing with ideas unbound or taigam's scheming (though I'm considering testing both since it seems as though many of you have had nice results with those).
I think darkblast is a nice 1-of as a sideboard card as the dredge 3 allows you to further your own gameplan while disrupting theirs in the matches where -1/-1 is relevant removal. I was also playing a couple tasigurs as the ability gives some raw cardcount allowing me to loot more before running out of cards, in addition to being able to do better in longer games. I wouldn't be surprised if cutting some of the slower elements from my version for a more combo-centric approach might be stronger though.
I've also been playing with only 1 reveillark but 3 body doubles, as hardcast body doubles often can be a nice replacement to footsteps.
EDIT: Don't have the exact list I used to use as I regularly disassemble decks to test new brews but it was fairly close to this:
Modern: Eldrazi CB,
"There are no two words in the English language more harmful than 'good job'." -Terrance Fletcher, Whiplash (2014)
This is one of, if not the only combo deck in the format that can win on turn 3 reliably while still playing significant spells that interact with the opposing gameplan. Instead of building to that strength, many go away from it entirely by slowing the core with Through the Breach and oddball beatdown subthemes. Can't we just stop building our cannons with glass, and use titanium instead?
I propose a true turn 3 combo deck; a build fast enough to punish every combo that refuses to interact with the board, every control deck that dares to play hand-clogging removal, and every aggro deck that thinks it can race. Not only does my main deck commonly succeed in the "dream" of a highly probable turn 3 modern win, it can do it with turn 1 disruption over 24% of all games over a three hundred game solitaire sample size.
In practice, the deck still functions as intended, winning game 1 against all opposition it has seen at Paradox Comics in Fargo ND (with all but one on turn 3). My match record speaks poorly for the intent of the deck, as my sideboard plan was inefficient and incomplete. With that said, I'd like to continue the discussion of this deck by posting my current main deck, along with the proposed sideboard I'll be sleeving up in two day's time.
2 Body Double
1 Death Cultist
4 Protean Hulk
1 Reveillark
2 Viscera Seer
Non-Creature Spells (31)
2 Echoing Truth
4 Faithless Looting
4 Footsteps of the Goryo
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Ideas Unbound
3 Izzet Charm
4 Sleight of Hand
2 Taigam's Scheming
4 Thoughtseize
1 Blood Crypt
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Darkslick Shores
2 Island
4 Polluted Delta
2 Steam Vents
1 Swamp
1 Watery Grave
I'll be the first to admit failure in my own design. I believe Echoing Truth to be the absolute last card this deck wants game 1, and those slots SHOULD be another Izzet Charm and one Inquisition of Kozilek. Aside from that, I'm not sure anything short of unbanning or new card injection would change any of that 60.
2 Echoing Truth - A hedge against the world. Should be something that gets you the turn 3 win instead.
4 Faithless Looting - Digs two deep, bins hulk and other vital cogs.
4 Footsteps of the Goryo - Automatic fill.
4 Gitaxian Probe - Could easily be Serum Visions, but I valued information and cost over dig.
4 Ideas Unbound - Digs three deep, bins hulk and other vital cogs.
3 Izzet Charm - Digs, discards, kills bears, makes Storm and Ad Nauseam cry inside.
4 Sleight of Hand - Digs two deep, card selection, deck protection to keep cogs out of the hand.
2 Taigam's Scheming - Digs five deep, bins vital cogs, card selection, deck protection combined with fetch.
4 Thoughtseize - Covers all bases. Stops combo dead, gets hulk out of the hand in a pinch.
19 Land - CANNOT enter tapped. CANNOT miss Ideas Unbound. CANNOT lose flexibility for any turn 1 play.
3 Annul
4 Early Frost
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Kami of Ancient Law
2 Rakdos Charm
3 Swan Song
1 Pestermite
4 Serum Visions
4 Splinter Twin
2 Taigam's Scheming
If you stop looking at the guise of prior, awful builds of what should be the format's next bannable combo deck, you will start to see the immense power allowed by a streamlined main deck. Goldfish it, sleeve it up and teach your LGS to fear game 1.
I take this deck seriously. Too seriously... If only because nobody else seems to. Put Hulk on your shoulders and actually change the format instead of being shoehorned into the turn 4 rule and Hearthstone mid range decks.
Best of luck, and remember to have fun!
Missing the good ole days
Standard - Mono Black Devotion, UWR Tapout Control
Modern - BUG Delver, cHULK
Legacy - Spanish Inquisition
http://sales.starcitygames.com//deckdatabase/displaydeck.php?DeckID=84589
Here's the list:
1 Swan Song
2 Izzet Charm
2 Pact of Negation
1 Summoner's Pact
3 Through the Breach
Sorceries: 16
4 Faithless Looting
4 Footsteps of the Goryo
4 Ideas Unbound
4 Serum Visions
Creatures: 12
3 Viscera Seer
2 Reveillark
2 Body Double
4 Protean Hulk
1 Mogg Fanatic
4 Pentad Prism
Lands: 19
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Blood Crypt
2 Steam Vents
2 Watery Grave
4 Polluted Delta
2 Island
1 Swamp
3 Gemstone Mine
1 Murderous Cut
1 Swan Song
1 Dismember
1 Steel Sabotage
1 Grave Titan
3 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Dispel
1 Spell Pierce
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Through the Breach
1 Echoing Truth
Thinking about making a list with Thirst & Remand. Opinions?
I agree with you, this deck should see more play as it's incredibly well positioned, consistent, and resilient to the current field of strong decks that show up.
The list I wanted to play was -1 swan song MB, +1 pact of negation but just couldn't find it anywhere.
Currently I'm running the following list. It trades a very small percentage of winning games quickly (turn 3 vs. turn 4) for more mainboard interaction against the majority of decks out there. Taigam's Scheming has been amazing, it lets you hide cards from annoying Abzan lists that Thoughtseize you as well as digs 5 cards deep. The downside to it is less ways to have discard outlets. I wanted to try and steer away from Ideas Unbound as discarding at End of Turn can get real clunky; and Izzet Charm does good work as it provides answers to the top decks (quite surprising actually).
2 Reveillark
2 Body Double
3 Viscera Seer
1 Mogg Fanatic
1 Summoner's Pact
4 Footsteps of the Goryo
3 Through the Breach
3 Pact of Negation
4 Pentad Prism
4 Serum Visions
2 Taigam's Scheming
3 Izzet Charm
1 Lightning Axe
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Polluted Delta
3 Gemstone Mine
2 Steam Vents
1 Watery Grave
1 Blood Crypt
1 Darkslick Shores
1 Shivan Reef
1 Island
1 Swamp
I don't recall my sideboard right now, but I believe it's 2 Swan Song, 2 Pyroclasm, 3 Leyline of Sanctity, 2 Emrakul, 1 Grave Titan, 1 Through the Breach, 1 Lightning Axe, 3 Tasigur. Currently testing Tasigur as a transform option. He fits well in this deck full of discard. May be unnecessary, but will have to see. I've only been playing this deck for a few weeks but I borrowed it from a guy who's played it for a couple of years. It's very well tuned (his list, not necessarily mine).
I think Fauna Shaman is too slow for this deck. I find the self-mill strategy to be the most productive.
Modern: Eldrazi CB,
4 Foosteps of the Goryo
4 Protean Hulk
2 Reveillark
2 Body Double
2 Viscera Seer
1 Mogg Fanatic
Dig
4 Serum Visions
4 Faithless Looting
2 Taigam's Scheming
2 Thirst For Knowledge
Interaction
4 Thoughtseize
1 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Izzet Charm
2 Dismember
4 Polluted Delta
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Watery Grave
2 Steam Vents
1 Blood Crypt
2 Island
1 Swamp
2 Gemstone Mine
1 City Of Brass
4 Pentad Prism
4 Pyroclasm
2 Echoing Truth
2 Lightning Axe
2 Defense Grid
3 Nature's Claim
1 Back to Nature
1 Overgrown Tomb
2-0 vs B/R Midrange
This person was not an experienced player, and their deck was functional but underpowered. I steamrolled them. Game 1 combo on turn 3, game 2 combo on turn 4 after Thoughtseizing away 1 of his 2 kill spells.
2-0 vs Affinity
Affinity can't usually interact meaningfully game 1, so it's just a race, and I won the race. I combo out on turn 3. Game 2 I board in my Overgrown Tomb and the 3 Natures claims. He attempts to kill me by saccing his board to a ravager, and I have a natures claim for the creature. I combo out 2 turns later, before he can find a way to rebuild.
2-1 vs TarmoTwin
G1 I win through 2 Remands and Cryptic Command. Game 2 I punt. I have 4 lands out, he's tapped out, I have Looting, Hulk, and Foosteps in my hand. I get confused and excited and cast Footsteps first with no Hulk in the yard. Opponent very reasonobly does not let me take it back. A reveillark comes and goes, and I hold no grudges while I die to a pair of Goyfs. Game 3 I win on turn 4 after ripping Spell Pierce and Snapcaster from his hand.
2-1 vs B/W Tokens
G1 is the first game of the night I am not able to find my combo in time. Game 2 is long and I fear Rest in Peace. I never see it and win after ripping some Path to Exiles out of his hand. Game 3 is much faster. He never finds a third land or meaningful interaction, and I win on turn 4 with a Thoughtseize for protection.
This deck is the real deal; I was dunkin' asses all night. Feels super consistent. Thirst For Knowledge is actually great, since you get to keep more cards off it. Taigam's Scheming is equally great, although I think 2 is just about the right number. Pentad Prism is nice for speed and for the rare interaction with TFK, but they are usually the first thing to come out when sideboarding. I never had to play through grave hate, which probably would make things harder, but the deck has the tools to beat it. Grave Hate backed up by counter magic might be rough though.
x Kozilek, The Butcher of Truth
WUBRG Sliver Overlord
UR Mizzix of the Izmagus
My Legacy Decks:
WUBRG/x Dredge
UBR Storm
My Modern Decks:
BRG Smallpox
WUBRG Slivers
WUBRG/x Lantern Control
My Standard Decks:
Gx Eldrazi Ramp
Re: thirst for knowledge, I really like it. If you're going to pay three mana, tfk being instant speed is better. Even when I had a prism in hand, discarding 2 is often more desirable. And if you want, you can pitch the prism to get real ca, which is nice in a deck that tends to have negative ca. I don't think I'd play more than 2 though since 3cmc is on the high side.
Currently Playing:
Legacy: Something U/W Controlish
EDH Cube
Hypercube! A New EDH Deck Every Week(ish)!
x Kozilek, The Butcher of Truth
WUBRG Sliver Overlord
UR Mizzix of the Izmagus
My Legacy Decks:
WUBRG/x Dredge
UBR Storm
My Modern Decks:
BRG Smallpox
WUBRG Slivers
WUBRG/x Lantern Control
My Standard Decks:
Gx Eldrazi Ramp
4 Foosteps of the Goryo
4 Protean Hulk
2 Reveillark
2 Body Double
2 Viscera Seer
1 Mogg Fanatic
Dig
4 Serum Visions
4 Faithless Looting
2 Taigam's Scheming
2 Thirst For Knowledge
Interaction
4 Thoughtseize
1 Spell Pierce
3 Izzet Charm
2 Murderous Cut
4 Polluted Delta
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Watery Grave
2 Steam Vents
1 Blood Crypt
2 Island
2 Swamp
2 Gemstone Mine
1 City Of Brass
4 Pentad Prism
4 Pyroclasm
2 Echoing Truth
2 Lightning Axe
2 Defense Grid
3 Nature's Claim
1 Back to Nature
1 Overgrown Tomb
Only minor changes from my last list. Murderous Cut is better than Dismember. Still only costs 1, doesn't cost life, and kills everything including my Hulks giving it marginal utility against Path to Exile. I swapped a Watery Grave for another basic Swamp to have another basic to fetch, since I never need to fetch an Island Swamp twice. IoK became a Spell Pierce since I liked having 1 mana protection that could be used reactively if needed.
Match 1: UW Tron (2-0)
This seems like a bad matchup as they have counterspells and Path. Fortunately they have few counterspells, and I was able Thoughseize away the disruption. He did resolve a Gifts against me but it wasn't enough since he didn't go for the Unburial Rites plan.
Match 2: Jeskai Twin (2-0)
More counterspells, more Paths, and a combo that matches hulk for speed. Seems like a nightmare matchup. An early TS took a Twin, and from there on they were on the back foot to prevent me from comboing off. Another TS and a bait Footsteps let me plow through countermagic. Game 2 he brought in the white leyline, and grafdiggers cage, mulled aggressively to get hate, and so a couple protection spells let me easily beat his mull to 5. After this round we played 3 more games and he only won 1 in which I drew 36 cards and never saw a hulk. In the first of these extra games the fact that Murderous Cut kills Hulk did come up when I used it to win through a Snapcaster'd Path.
Match 3: Affinity (0-2)
At this point I was feeling pretty good, and then Affinity rolled me. Game 1 I had the combo in hand at 13 life, my opponent had 11 power on the board, and I thought I had it in the bag despite my opponents extremely fast hand. Turns out he was hiding a Galvanic blast in hand and that did me in. Game 2 I got screwed by variance and got the hulk in my yard but couldn't find a Footsteps. Pyroclasm and Claim held him off for a while but it wasn't enough.
Match 4: Burn (0-2)
This is actually a nightmare matchup and it is so rarely seen at my local that I wasn't prepared for it. In the 3 weeks I was away from the store, the meta seemed to have shifted a bit back towards hyper-aggro, so I need a plan for that. Game 1 was just a blowout. Eidolon + fetch/shock heavy manabase was a beating. Game 2 I swapped the Thoughtseizes for the Claims since they can hit Eidolon and my Pentad Prisms to try to stall a bit. Well it wasn't enough. I got into a position where if he had no burn spells in his 5 card hand I could combo out and win at 1 life, but since it was a burn deck, he had burn spells, in multiples.
So in 11 total games tonight I won 6. Not as good as some previous runs, but decent. I think the affinity matchup is winnable ( I beat it convincingly a few weeks ago), and burn may be as well if I can come up with a sideboard plan that doesn't slow me down too much. I would go so far as to say the matchup against blue decks is actually excellent. Most graveyard hate can be played through as well. Extraction effects are really the only ones that are particularly hard to beat. I am convinced this deck is competitive, especially if I can find a decent sideboard plan for burn. It does have some issues with variance, but even the best decks do and I have yet to lose more than 1-2 games a night to crappy variance.
My total match win record with this deck so far (in my local modern tourneys, which is the only place I've played it) is 10-3. My game win record is somewhere around 21-9, I don't have complete records of this. I'm sure that the more games I play with it this will even out as I lose to variance and get wrecked by burn more often.
4 Foosteps of the Goryo
4 Protean Hulk
2 Reveillark
2 Body Double
2 Viscera Seer
1 Mogg Fanatic
Dig
4 Serum Visions
4 Faithless Looting
2 Taigam's Scheming
2 Thirst For Knowledge
2 Ideas Unbound
1 Tormenting Voice
Interaction
4 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Izzet Charm
2 Murderous Cut
4 Polluted Delta
4 Bloodstained Mire
1 Watery Grave
2 Steam Vents
1 Blood Crypt
1 Island
2 Swamp
2 Gemstone Mine
1 City Of Brass
1 Overgrown Tomb
3 Pyroclasm
1 Echoing Truth
2 Lightning Axe
2 Defense Grid
3 Nature's Claim
1 Ancient Grudge
2 Dragon's Claw
Played this to a 3-1 finish at modern this week. I forgot some cards at home and so the list is a little wonky (should be -2 Ideas Unbound, +2 Taigam's Scheming, and I wanted to try Leyline of Sanctity in the board) but I made do. Changes this week include dropping pentad prism and splitting the slots between more protection and more draw power.
Match 1: 2-0 vs Grishoalbrand
His draws aren't great and I'm able to pick what action he does have out of his hand. Game 2 is similar but the conclusion was interesting. We went long and eventually I found myself in a difficult situation. Both my Viscera seers were in my graveyard. This probably was a Misplay on my part. Anyway, I footsteps a hulk, realize I can't combo off, and so I get fanatic and a body double to copy the griselbrand in his graveyard. On my turn, I swing with gris, draw 7, footsteps a reveillark in my graveyard (which I should have done the first time), and combo out.
Match 2: 1-2 vs infect
G1 he mulls to five and I have so much discard he never gets in the game, game 2 he blows me out like it's his job despite me 2 for 1ing him with a sideboard pyroclasm. Game 3 I dance around a relic of progenitus, get him to blow it, and find myself in position to win if I can rip a land in the next 2 turns. I don't.
Match 3: 2-1 vs burn
I sneak out game 1 when he has a slow start and I have both my inquisitions. Game 2 runs a bit long and I find myself in an odd spot. 5 lands in play, one of which is a city of brass, hulk in the grave, body double and murderous cut in hand. With 4 life left I can rip any land or footsteps and win (if it's a fetch=>shock land I'll win with the lethal city trigger on the stack). I rip a taigam's scheming. He untapped and bolts me to death. I'm able to win game 3 in a manner similar to game 1.
Match 4: 2-1 vs grixis twin.
I'm beginning to see twin as a good matchup, even though it doesn't look great on paper since i havent dropped a match to it yet. Counterspells are pretty easy to fight through. I take g1 pretty quickly. I think he tapped out since I had no hulk in my yard, I end of turn Izzet Charm to pitch a hulk, and footsteps while he can do nothing. G2 he grinds out with snapcasters, bolts and Kommands. Game 3 is highly interactive but I'm able to make a window for myself with diacard and go off on turn 4 or 5.
Faster combo decks (i'll include burn here even though I think of it as aggro) are the worst matchups. I've decided that defense grid is not a good sideboard option and i'll probably switch those to be dispels since they have utility against both the blue decks defense grid was for and the faster combo decks.
I'm still impressed with the resilience of this deck. Last night's performance brings my overall record with the deck to 13-4 for matches, 28-13 for games. This is convincing enough to me that I'm strongly considering bringing it to a GPT in my town.
I think darkblast is a nice 1-of as a sideboard card as the dredge 3 allows you to further your own gameplan while disrupting theirs in the matches where -1/-1 is relevant removal. I was also playing a couple tasigurs as the ability gives some raw cardcount allowing me to loot more before running out of cards, in addition to being able to do better in longer games. I wouldn't be surprised if cutting some of the slower elements from my version for a more combo-centric approach might be stronger though.
I've also been playing with only 1 reveillark but 3 body doubles, as hardcast body doubles often can be a nice replacement to footsteps.
EDIT: Don't have the exact list I used to use as I regularly disassemble decks to test new brews but it was fairly close to this:
4 Footsteps of the Goryo
3 Body Double
2 Viscera Seer
1 Reveillark
1 Mogg Fanatic
1 Squee, Goblin Nabob
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4 Faithless Looting
4 Izzet Charm
2 Thought Scour
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Thoughtseize
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Slaughter Pact
3 Bloodstained Mire
2 Watery Grave
1 Blood Crypt
2 Steam Vents
1 Island
1 Swamp
3 Darkslick Shores
2 Blackcleave Cliffs