I can certainly see changing Immapwner's recent list to add 2 Brimaz.
Something like:
-1 Tidehollow Sculler
-1 Disfigure or Lingering Souls
+2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
I really like it man this is what I'm planning on moving towards once I get the money saved up how has courser been I haven't had the pleasure of trying him out in modern
Has anyone tested restoration angel?? I know that she doesn't bounce for value much in this deck except sculler and blanking removal but flash is insanely good anyways
Hey guys. Thanks to DoggieDoo I found this thread after looking around with making a BW midrange deck. This is the list that I'm going to start running:
So I do a few things differently namely in the creature and swords area. Personally I refuse to believe that pack rats is really that awesome. I read all the justification and watched some of your videos but I'm not a believer lol. I think it's something I'll have to play with myself to truly understand. Maybe I will this Friday. I personally much prefer Brimaz since while he is vulnerable to a multitude of things, he starts out of bolt range which is a huge plus IMO. I also love Auriok Champion but most likely that's a holdout from playing soul sisters a lot so right now it's really just a test card. That being said if you put a sword on her she goes super saiyan and kinda just wins. What are your thoughts on these differences?
I'm curious why you decided to take the swords out. Is it because pack rat was simply so good that it can win games without swords? I think the key reason I don't like pack rat is because while it's good at preventing dead cards from lingering around, I'd like to hope that if you put the "correct" distribution of situational cards in the deck you won't have as many dead cards. That being said I guess the key with pack rat is that it always smooths out games.
It's fine to play brimaz, the brimaz version and the pack rat version play out differently, and it's just up to your preference.
Auriok champion seems really weak in here, I've seen it in one or two other lists so maybe she's secretly awesome, but I don't think we play enough tokens to really get value out of her. She's just a 1/1 and while she does have extremely relevant protections, she doesn't put up much of a clock. She can't really pull you from behind either because just small increments of 1 life doesn't do much. It's different for soul sisters because their cards get bigger if they gain life and they have anthems.
I don't play sword of war and peace because it just don't do enough. When I played it I boarded it out in almost every matchup. Look at the top decks, you don't want it against affinity, pod, twin, jund, tron, or storm. It might come into play against delver and scapeshift, but probably not. Sword of fire and ice seems better but you still don't want it against most of the top decks.
Pack rat isn't here just to get rid of dead cards, although that's a great upside. He can close out a game quickly, let's you hold up mana to deal with threats while still adding to the board if you didn't have to do anything, and he clogs up the board better than brimaz. Pack rat has pulled me out of games that I wouldn't be winning, he's just that good. I had a game against boggles where I had 2 rats and 4/5 land in my opener (not sure if I mulled or not, this is game 1 btw) and I beat him just by using pack rat (he didn't get any life gain enchantments, but still got a ton of auras), now while this is a corner-case scenario, it still speaks to the power of pack rat. Hell in the video I posted where I faced kiki pod ( I believe it's game 3) he had a board that brimaz couldn't get through and I was still attacking, he also drew a path and couldn't stop the rats whereas brimaz would be dead and since he couldn't have attacked I would have no board and a bunch of lands.
When people started playing pack rat in standard, I had much the same viewpoint as you do, but after playing with it, I have completely changed my mind.
I'm going to be uploading some more videos in an hour or so, so watch for that, and you can get a better sense on how good pack rat is.
On another note, I noticed today that mtggoldfish has taken down my decklists, not sure what that's about, they are current (hell I finished in the money on the posted daily for yesterday). I just think it's weird.
Yea I always forget how pack rat is a very exponential curve. I watched the most recent videos and it is surprising how quickly it just takes off. I'm going to a rather large tourney on Saturday and I hope that I'll actually have my bobs and lilis so I can play this. Ironically since first place gets a set of goys if I win with it I might end up going full junk. We'll see though. Kinda doubt I'll be able to come in first out of 50 one of the first times I actually play the deck anyways. Most likely I'll try to take the Brimaz and pack rat route and see how it turns out.
I really like it man this is what I'm planning on moving towards once I get the money saved up how has courser been I haven't had the pleasure of trying him out in modern
My Junk deck is obviously off-topic but I'll mention it here.
Junk feels like Jund with a more versatile lightning bolt (Path to Exile).
However the drawbacks are huge from playing Junk over Jund.
You don't get Blackcleave Cliffs and I regularly take 8+ damage from my own lands, thoughtseizes, and Dark Confidants. Stirring Wildwood is way worse then Raging Ravine even though it doesn't die to bolt. It is a tiny threat and won't kill your opponent on its own like a ravine. Anger of the Gods wins against Melira Pod, Affinity, Zoo, and other random aggro decks. Junk/Rock's sweeper, Drown in Sorrow is not nearly as good.
Junk's white sideboard cards are sweet. Better than Jund's and GB Rock. Lingering Souls is slow and grindy, but most decks are combo and fast aggro. You don't need much help against Midrange. Also, without DRS, you spend entire turns making tokens and not disrupting your opponent or killing their threats. Chandra, Pyromaster is the grindy midrange card Jund uses to replace Lingering Souls, although she sucks at blocking. Courser of Kruphix seems boring, he is, but he fits the grindy midrange strategy. He helps draw cards (by drawing lands from the top), heals a little bit, blocks 3/3 ground creatures, and doesn't die to Anger of the Gods.
------------
I might try a Pack Rat Junk list, because I love Abrupt Decay and Scavenging Ooze, but the massive damage you do to yourself is hard to offset, especially with all the burn decks running around in MTGO.
I beat U/W tron 2-0, UWR Twin 2-1, and lost to affinity 1-2 (just didn't draw what I needed game 3).
Brimaz was sick, he gives us an option for when you don't have enough resources to end a game quickly with pack rat, plus he can soak up removal spells if you do plan on winning with pack rat (which is still my preferred win-con). I like brimaz in here along with the rats, it's just a nice diversification of threats.
I changed up my board a bit to fit in 2 stony silence, mostly for tron, but it's nice to have a potential blowout card against affinity as well. I think our tron matchup is probably the hardest one though, and I'd like to have stony silence to seal up a game if we can kill their first few threats so they can't just crack eggs to find their 2nd karn or whatever. Although karn is still an issue and I was considering hero's downfall over the second stony but thought better of it. Though, it would be nice to have downfall to kill pyromancers and lili's from jund as well as deal with karn.
I also changed out an isolated chapel for a 2nd plains to help out hands with too many tapped lands. I've had 2/3 openers with just temple and chapel. I was considering fetid heath but I think it would colorscrew me with some hands since I have so many colorless lands.
If MTG is a part of your life, the formats are like relationships:
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
It's a raw list cause I have not much time to test it. Really not sure of the Zealous Persecutions, but I dont want to run more disfigure like cards (Vendetta).
I added disfigure because its fast and I missed it at my todays games.
I've runned ghost quarter but I think tectonic edge is the better choice. Really hard with the fulmniator mage in the list like immapwner (what I saw in the gameplays)
Escpacially Ive not thought much about the sideboard. I have to tinker about that
..Its also hard because i have no leylines of sanctity and fulminator mage
Nice list.
If you can't afford fulminator, then I would consider a 1-of hero's downfall in the board mainly for karn but also to deal with walkers for jund. I would also consider either ghost quarter or rain of tears as a 2-of to help against tron and man-lands (rain is better against scapeshift, but quarter would be easier on the curve).
And while it's worse against discards decks (as in I wouldn't use it against them) a 2-of witchbane orb isn't out of the question as a budget replacement to leylines since they still stop scapeshift, burn, and storm, but scapeshift has a chance to counter it, and it's kinda slow.
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If MTG is a part of your life, the formats are like relationships:
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
witchbane orb is too slow.. it's a bad replacement, so the next I will have to buy is a playset leylines. I have to sell some magicstuff - I hope it will sell fast for getting those
You could try Aegis of the Gods as a budget stand in for leyline of sanctity. It's a pretty weak standin... bad vs burn and UWR but pretty ok vs jund if you're trying to avoid discard. I'd totally be cool with him eating a kill spell simply so they can target you again. All that being said leyline of sanctity is an awesome card that's worth buying. I doubt they will reprint it, soon if ever, and it'll always have a rather novel effect. Plus it can't be abrupt decayed
Hero's downfall is a good addition, because last time I dont get rid of Karn (I played my Vampire deck; it's good but mono black sucks at much points)
I think I will figure out rain of tears first. I had played ghost quarter but I changed it to tectonic edge.
witchbane orb is too slow.. it's a bad replacement, so the next I will have to buy is a playset leylines. I have to sell some magicstuff - I hope it will sell fast for getting those
Ethersworn canonist and Kor firewalker was burn and Ur storm hate, but I think the Leylines are hating better and more decks
Well I didn't mean to play ghost quarter over tec edge, I meant to have them in the board so you'd play them in addition to tec edge. Fulminator's job is to mainly deal with problematic lands not to necessarily cut them off of colors (although that happens sometimes) and ghost quarter does the same thing. I think you're right in trying out rain of tears first though.
I agree, witchbane orb is too slow, but if you couldn't afford leylines it would be what I would try out.
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If MTG is a part of your life, the formats are like relationships:
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
Been lurking on this forum for a bit. Pretty much built the deck but have trouble against Melinda pod... Are there any other 3 drops that could take the place of brimaz? What about master of the feast?
Master of the Feast pretty much dies to all the same common removal Brimaz, King of Oreskos does (Path to Exile, Abrupt Decay)but he draws your opponent an extra card every turn.
That is a huge drawback in a deck that tries to out-card advantage your opponent. He kills just as fast as Brimaz, actually slower because of the tokens that build up.
Been lurking on this forum for a bit. Pretty much built the deck but have trouble against Melinda pod... Are there any other 3 drops that could take the place of brimaz? What about master of the feast?
Master of the Feast pretty much dies to all the same common removal Brimaz, King of Oreskos does (Path to Exile, Abrupt Decay)but he draws your opponent an extra card every turn.
That is a huge drawback in a deck that tries to out-card advantage your opponent. He kills just as fast as Brimaz, actually slower because of the tokens that build up.
Add Torpor Orb onto that list. Yes it hurts tidehollow sculler but I think it's worth playing as a 1 of in the board along side of cage as it also stops twin.
Against pod decks I just try and kill everything they play slow their acceleration down is a good way to attack them... I'm on a junk list now as ooze is just so good right now along with thrun and abrupt decay I bring in RiP stony and drown in sorrow.
I've played against eggs, ru twin, mono green devotion and zoo and Melira is def the hardest. I think it would be good to run graffdiggers with leyline, rest in peace, stony silence and what Craig wescoe recommended runed halo... Halo seems like a very versitlle card
After testing for quite some time I have found the worst matchup by far to be g/r tron and 1 drop zoo.
We also have some issues against pod and jund.
I am playing the demon to have a threat that can kill goyf in combat, as well as fly over clogged board states, it's possible that abyssal persecutor is better, but I'm worried that I'll win and be unable to kill him. Desecration demon seems very good against jund because they have to either use terminate, maelstrom pulse, double up on bolt, or in rare cases they can make you sac it to Liliana. All of which are cards that are already heavily pressured by our threats. If you lose to jund it's because they have bigger threats than you and demon out-classes jund's threats, I am also playing the doomblade specifically to be able to kill jund's threats as well as, restoration angels, and zoo's threats. Demon also pressures combo decks if we can hold them off for a few turns.
I am playing darkblast to have a removal spell I can call upon multiple times to kill melira pod's creatures. It not only kills all of their mana dorks, eternal witness, viscera seer, and pontiff, but it also kills persist creatures and sometimes voice tokens. It can also mess up combat math if nothing else. It may seem like a "nombo" with rest in peace, but sometimes you don't get rip and even if you do it still kills something, there's just little opportunity cost to playing it. It has tested very well against pod as well as affinity, fae, delver, and hatebears.
I haven't tested this yet, but my friend that has been working on this with me has started playing damnation in the sideboard for the zoo matchup and against aggressive decks like merfolk, as well as pod. These decks can get out in front of us by playing more threats than our removal can handle and damnation seems like a good "reset button". He is playing 2 over a disenchant and a leyline in the sideboard. I'm going to try out one over a leyline in the board. I'm not sure this is correct, however, because against burn and scapeshift, you really want a turn 0 leyline, but it seems like a good answer to have. I'll be trying it out in the next daily I play in.
Speaking of which this deck has been testing amazingly, I have been regularly 3-1ing dailies, and I find my losses are mainly mistakes on my part. There is a ptq in Austin on sunday, and I'm going to be taking this, maybe with the damnation, maybe without.
If MTG is a part of your life, the formats are like relationships:
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
After testing for quite some time I have found the worst matchup by far to be g/r tron and 1 drop zoo.
We also have some issues against pod and jund.
I am playing the demon to have a threat that can kill goyf in combat, as well as fly over clogged board states, it's possible that abyssal persecutor is better, but I'm worried that I'll win and be unable to kill him.
Speaking of which this deck has been testing amazingly, I have been regularly 3-1ing dailies, and I find my losses are mainly mistakes on my part. There is a ptq in Austin on sunday, and I'm going to be taking this, maybe with the damnation, maybe without.
Glad to hear all the progress and the changes you've made after playing with it.
I didn't see it mentioned in this thread, so I will:
Craig Wesco, pro player known for white weenie and small aggro decks, wrote an article on TCG player noting the top 4 modern decks (Pod, Twin, Jund, Affinity)
and that Burn and WB tokens are solid options to get to the top tables. http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=11839
An almost exact copy of Wecoe's list won an MTGO Premier event on 6/1/14.
www.wizards.com/Magic/Digital/MagicOnlineTourn.aspx?x=mtg/digital/magiconline/tourn/7143378","FileName":"Fosprey__1st_Place__br___Modern_Premier__7143378_on_06_01_2014_br___http___www.wizards.com_Magic_Digital_MagicOnlineTourn.aspx_x_mtg_digital_magiconline_tourn_7143378","Deck":[{"Qty":4,"CardName":"Arid Mesa"},{"Qty":1,"CardName":"Fetid Heath"},{"Qty":4,"CardName":"Godless Shrine"},{"Qty":2,"CardName":"Isolated Chapel"},{"Qty":4,"CardName":"Marsh Flats"},{"Qty":6,"CardName":"Plains"},{"Qty":2,"CardName":"Windbrisk Heights"},{"Qty":3,"CardName":"Hero of Bladehold"},{"Qty":4,"CardName":"Mirran Crusader"},{"Qty":2,"CardName":"Doom Blade"},{"Qty":4,"CardName":"Honor of the Pure"},{"Qty":4,"CardName":"Inquisition of Kozilek"},{"Qty":4,"CardName":"Lingering Souls"},{"Qty":4,"CardName":"Path to Exile"},{"Qty":4,"CardName":"Spectral Procession"},{"Qty":4,"CardName":"Thoughtseize"},{"Qty":4,"CardName":"Zealous Persecution"}],"SideBoard":[{"Qty":4,"CardName":"Leyline of Sanctity"},{"Qty":3,"CardName":"Rest in Peace"},{"Qty":4,"CardName":"Runed Halo"},{"Qty":4,"CardName":"Stony Silence"}]}">
I know we're not looking to be tokens, but this deck is better than ever with the format being open. Hero of Bladehold is one of the scariest cards to play against if it doesn't get countered or Path'd immoderately. However she costs more than Brimaz and still get blocked by Tarmogoyf.
Discard, removal, and a fast clock certainly seem to be a winning formula in modern.
I've been playing immapwner's list and it works fairly well, pack rat just gets out of control... I must say I used to play tokens quite a bit but dead guy had more control tokens was lacking... I think hero of blade hold Might be a good addition. she is just such a beast, and when she swings it's usually game
Also in my deck I run 2 bile blight and it's worked great main deck.. Can wipe mana dorks or destroy splinter twin when they think it's safe to go off
Also just got a great suggestion, have you tried putting in shizo, death's storehouse with eiganjo castle? Guarantees Brimaz gets through and survives burn or blocking goyf
4 Marsh Flats
4 Godless Shrine
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Isolated Chapel
2 Temple of Silence
2 Mutavault
1 Vault of the Archangel
6 Swamp
1 Plains
4 Path to Exile
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
2 Disfigure
4 Dark Confidant
3 Pack Rat
3 Tidehollow Sculler
1 Doom Blade
1 Smother
4 Lingering Souls
3 Geralf’s Messenger
3 Liliana of the Veil
2 Restoration Angel
What do you guys think?
Restoration Angel + Kitchen Finks is almost certainly better than Resto + Geralf's Messenger.
Resetting Finks when it has a counter is good, resetting a Geralf with a counter is bad because he shrinks, then he enters tapped, again.
This deck's win condition is Pack Rat, other creatures are just there to help via: disruption, anti-aggro, card advantage, and pressure.
Kitchen Finks helps block/pressure/gain life.
Geralf is slow clock that doesn't threaten your opponent much without burn or haste threats to back him up. Also he's bad on defense because he's tapped.
Restoration angel is a sick card, but you probably want to play more value creatures with ETB effects. Restoration angel then probably becomes one of your win conditions, because a 3/4 flier is a win con in modern.
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Something like:
-1 Tidehollow Sculler
-1 Disfigure or Lingering Souls
+2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
Yea I always forget how pack rat is a very exponential curve. I watched the most recent videos and it is surprising how quickly it just takes off. I'm going to a rather large tourney on Saturday and I hope that I'll actually have my bobs and lilis so I can play this. Ironically since first place gets a set of goys if I win with it I might end up going full junk. We'll see though. Kinda doubt I'll be able to come in first out of 50 one of the first times I actually play the deck anyways. Most likely I'll try to take the Brimaz and pack rat route and see how it turns out.
My Junk deck is obviously off-topic but I'll mention it here.
Junk feels like Jund with a more versatile lightning bolt (Path to Exile).
However the drawbacks are huge from playing Junk over Jund.
You don't get Blackcleave Cliffs and I regularly take 8+ damage from my own lands, thoughtseizes, and Dark Confidants.
Stirring Wildwood is way worse then Raging Ravine even though it doesn't die to bolt. It is a tiny threat and won't kill your opponent on its own like a ravine.
Anger of the Gods wins against Melira Pod, Affinity, Zoo, and other random aggro decks. Junk/Rock's sweeper, Drown in Sorrow is not nearly as good.
Junk's white sideboard cards are sweet. Better than Jund's and GB Rock.
Lingering Souls is slow and grindy, but most decks are combo and fast aggro. You don't need much help against Midrange. Also, without DRS, you spend entire turns making tokens and not disrupting your opponent or killing their threats. Chandra, Pyromaster is the grindy midrange card Jund uses to replace Lingering Souls, although she sucks at blocking.
Courser of Kruphix seems boring, he is, but he fits the grindy midrange strategy. He helps draw cards (by drawing lands from the top), heals a little bit, blocks 3/3 ground creatures, and doesn't die to Anger of the Gods.
------------
I might try a Pack Rat Junk list, because I love Abrupt Decay and Scavenging Ooze, but the massive damage you do to yourself is hard to offset, especially with all the burn decks running around in MTGO.
Here's the list:
4 Godless Shrine
2 Isolated Chapel
4 Marsh Flats
2 Temple of Silence
2 Plains
2 Swamp
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
3 Mutavault
2 Tectonic Edge
2 Vault of the Archangel
Creatures: 13
3 Tidehollow Sculler
4 Dark confidant
4 Pack Rat
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos
2 Slaughter Pact
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
2 Disfigure
4 Path to Exile
1 Vendetta
4 Lingering Souls
Planeswalkers: 3
3 Liliana of the Veil
2 Disenchant
2 Rest in Peace
2 Stony Silence
3 Fulminator Mage
2 Memoricide
4 Leyline of Sanctity
I beat U/W tron 2-0, UWR Twin 2-1, and lost to affinity 1-2 (just didn't draw what I needed game 3).
Brimaz was sick, he gives us an option for when you don't have enough resources to end a game quickly with pack rat, plus he can soak up removal spells if you do plan on winning with pack rat (which is still my preferred win-con). I like brimaz in here along with the rats, it's just a nice diversification of threats.
I changed up my board a bit to fit in 2 stony silence, mostly for tron, but it's nice to have a potential blowout card against affinity as well. I think our tron matchup is probably the hardest one though, and I'd like to have stony silence to seal up a game if we can kill their first few threats so they can't just crack eggs to find their 2nd karn or whatever. Although karn is still an issue and I was considering hero's downfall over the second stony but thought better of it. Though, it would be nice to have downfall to kill pyromancers and lili's from jund as well as deal with karn.
I also changed out an isolated chapel for a 2nd plains to help out hands with too many tapped lands. I've had 2/3 openers with just temple and chapel. I was considering fetid heath but I think it would colorscrew me with some hands since I have so many colorless lands.
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
Nice list.
If you can't afford fulminator, then I would consider a 1-of hero's downfall in the board mainly for karn but also to deal with walkers for jund. I would also consider either ghost quarter or rain of tears as a 2-of to help against tron and man-lands (rain is better against scapeshift, but quarter would be easier on the curve).
And while it's worse against discards decks (as in I wouldn't use it against them) a 2-of witchbane orb isn't out of the question as a budget replacement to leylines since they still stop scapeshift, burn, and storm, but scapeshift has a chance to counter it, and it's kinda slow.
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
You could try Aegis of the Gods as a budget stand in for leyline of sanctity. It's a pretty weak standin... bad vs burn and UWR but pretty ok vs jund if you're trying to avoid discard. I'd totally be cool with him eating a kill spell simply so they can target you again. All that being said leyline of sanctity is an awesome card that's worth buying. I doubt they will reprint it, soon if ever, and it'll always have a rather novel effect. Plus it can't be abrupt decayed
Well I didn't mean to play ghost quarter over tec edge, I meant to have them in the board so you'd play them in addition to tec edge. Fulminator's job is to mainly deal with problematic lands not to necessarily cut them off of colors (although that happens sometimes) and ghost quarter does the same thing. I think you're right in trying out rain of tears first though.
I agree, witchbane orb is too slow, but if you couldn't afford leylines it would be what I would try out.
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
That is a huge drawback in a deck that tries to out-card advantage your opponent. He kills just as fast as Brimaz, actually slower because of the tokens that build up.
For Melira Pod, you can try cards like
Drown in Sorrow
Aven Mindcensor
Path to Exile
Disenchant
Stony Silence
Grafdigger's Cage
Add Torpor Orb onto that list. Yes it hurts tidehollow sculler but I think it's worth playing as a 1 of in the board along side of cage as it also stops twin.
4 godless shrine
2 isolated chapel
4 marsh flats
2 temple of silence
2 plains
2 swamp
2 urborg, tomb of yawgmoth
3 mutavault
2 tectonic edge
1 vault of the archangel
Creatures: 15
3 tidehollow sculler
4 dark confidant
4 pack rat
2 brimaz, king of oreskos
2 desecration demon
1 slaughter pact
3 inquisition of kozilek
3 thoughtseize
1 darkblast
1 disfigure
4 path to exile
1 doom blade
4 lingering souls
Planeswalkers: 3
3 Liliana of the veil
2 disenchant
2 rest in peace
2 stony silence
4 fulminator mage
2 memoricide
4 leyline of sanctity
After testing for quite some time I have found the worst matchup by far to be g/r tron and 1 drop zoo.
We also have some issues against pod and jund.
I am playing the demon to have a threat that can kill goyf in combat, as well as fly over clogged board states, it's possible that abyssal persecutor is better, but I'm worried that I'll win and be unable to kill him. Desecration demon seems very good against jund because they have to either use terminate, maelstrom pulse, double up on bolt, or in rare cases they can make you sac it to Liliana. All of which are cards that are already heavily pressured by our threats. If you lose to jund it's because they have bigger threats than you and demon out-classes jund's threats, I am also playing the doomblade specifically to be able to kill jund's threats as well as, restoration angels, and zoo's threats. Demon also pressures combo decks if we can hold them off for a few turns.
I am playing darkblast to have a removal spell I can call upon multiple times to kill melira pod's creatures. It not only kills all of their mana dorks, eternal witness, viscera seer, and pontiff, but it also kills persist creatures and sometimes voice tokens. It can also mess up combat math if nothing else. It may seem like a "nombo" with rest in peace, but sometimes you don't get rip and even if you do it still kills something, there's just little opportunity cost to playing it. It has tested very well against pod as well as affinity, fae, delver, and hatebears.
I haven't tested this yet, but my friend that has been working on this with me has started playing damnation in the sideboard for the zoo matchup and against aggressive decks like merfolk, as well as pod. These decks can get out in front of us by playing more threats than our removal can handle and damnation seems like a good "reset button". He is playing 2 over a disenchant and a leyline in the sideboard. I'm going to try out one over a leyline in the board. I'm not sure this is correct, however, because against burn and scapeshift, you really want a turn 0 leyline, but it seems like a good answer to have. I'll be trying it out in the next daily I play in.
Speaking of which this deck has been testing amazingly, I have been regularly 3-1ing dailies, and I find my losses are mainly mistakes on my part. There is a ptq in Austin on sunday, and I'm going to be taking this, maybe with the damnation, maybe without.
Standard/Block = The on-again, off-again holiday fling
Modern/Vintage/Legacy = Stable, homely. A ***** after absence/misreading
Limited/Sealed = Heart breaking free spirit
Commander/Cube = Agreeable, needy and expensive
Pauper/Peasant = Sweet, kind, practical, but shy and boring
Glad to hear all the progress and the changes you've made after playing with it.
Condemn came to mind as an option to kill your own Abyssal Persecutor(if you run him), and it's decent against Wurmcoil Engine, Tarmogoyf, Celestial Colonnade, Raging Ravine.
Condemn will need testing though, as he doesn't touch Splinter Twin decks, and sometimes you just want spot removal.
Faith's Fetters also works well against Karn Liberated, but without enough other targets, it might just be cute. Tron matchup->Bad matchup is bad.
I didn't see it mentioned in this thread, so I will:
Craig Wesco, pro player known for white weenie and small aggro decks, wrote an article on TCG player noting the top 4 modern decks (Pod, Twin, Jund, Affinity)
and that Burn and WB tokens are solid options to get to the top tables.
http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=11839
An almost exact copy of Wecoe's list won an MTGO Premier event on 6/1/14.
Modern Premier #7143378 on 06/01/2014
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Digital/MagicOnlineTourn.aspx?x=mtg/digital/magiconline/tourn/7143378Magic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
4 Arid Mesa
1 Fetid Heath
4 Godless Shrine
2 Isolated Chapel
4 Marsh Flats
6 Plains
2 Windbrisk Heights
Creatures [7]
3 Hero of Bladehold
4 Mirran Crusader
2 Doom Blade
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Lingering Souls
4 Path to Exile
4 Spectral Procession
4 Thoughtseize
4 Zealous Persecution
4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Rest in Peace
4 Runed Halo
4 Stony Silence
I know we're not looking to be tokens, but this deck is better than ever with the format being open.
Hero of Bladehold is one of the scariest cards to play against if it doesn't get countered or Path'd immoderately. However she costs more than Brimaz and still get blocked by Tarmogoyf.
Discard, removal, and a fast clock certainly seem to be a winning formula in modern.
Also in my deck I run 2 bile blight and it's worked great main deck.. Can wipe mana dorks or destroy splinter twin when they think it's safe to go off
4 Marsh Flats
4 Godless Shrine
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Isolated Chapel
2 Temple of Silence
2 Mutavault
1 Vault of the Archangel
6 Swamp
1 Plains
4 Path to Exile
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
2 Disfigure
4 Dark Confidant
3 Pack Rat
3 Tidehollow Sculler
1 Doom Blade
1 Smother
4 Lingering Souls
3 Geralf’s Messenger
3 Liliana of the Veil
2 Restoration Angel
What do you guys think?
Restoration Angel + Kitchen Finks is almost certainly better than Resto + Geralf's Messenger.
Resetting Finks when it has a counter is good, resetting a Geralf with a counter is bad because he shrinks, then he enters tapped, again.
This deck's win condition is Pack Rat, other creatures are just there to help via: disruption, anti-aggro, card advantage, and pressure.
Kitchen Finks helps block/pressure/gain life.
Geralf is slow clock that doesn't threaten your opponent much without burn or haste threats to back him up. Also he's bad on defense because he's tapped.
Restoration angel is a sick card, but you probably want to play more value creatures with ETB effects.
Restoration angel then probably becomes one of your win conditions, because a 3/4 flier is a win con in modern.