Leyline doesn't excite me. Very narrow and falls to cryptic as you mentioned. You also want like 3 minimum to max out turn 1 availability but 3 slots is a lot for such a narrow card.
There are plenty of GY options beyond Leyline and wheel. Spellbomb, surgical, Kalitas etc. But against specifically thopters and coco, Scooze is the best option and that's why we prefer to run 3 maindeck.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MODERN RGB Jund BGR WGB Junk/Abzan Company WGB
LEGACY RUGB Delver GURB
EDH UW Geist of Saint Traft Aggro-Control WU RUG Riku of Two Reflections Combo GUR BBB Skithiryx Control BB
Haha yes. Found the replacement for my bitterblossom. After a little more testing, unless it makes me like it more, I'm gonna add 2 Murderous Cut. I think that may make me want to remove Tasigur though. I'm going to keep poking around.
EDIT: Doing more thinking, I do want to try to get 2-3 Courser of Kruphix in the deck. I'm not a big fan of Path to Exile, and could see dropping to 2. It's good, but I don't like it vs a lot of decks. Tasigur would also conflict with the new Murderous Cut, so I could drop that with the third PtE and have 2 coursers added in. I'm also just not the biggest fan of Tasigur in the first place. Once again, after playing more games with my current list, I'll try double courser with Blossom.
I also wanted a 7th discard spell. Probably/possibly over the command, though I really do like my removal...
A fourth Abrupt Decay is another option on the Cheap Removal side of things.
The deck farthest away from it: http://deckbox.org/sets/1412450 Changes are: -2 Blossom -1 PtE -1 Dromoka's Command -1 Lingering Souls -1 Tasigur. +1 Abrupt Decay +1 Inquisition of Kozilek +2 Murderous Cut +2 Courser of Kruphix. I also was briefly considering dropping a Scooze for another Courser. I also made some sideboard rearrangements.
Now that I've mapped out where my testing will be heading with this deck, I'm going to play around with the numbers between those two decks a whooooooole ton. I'll be posting games/records/notes for you guys.
Yes this is true. This is why I prefer N. Spellbomb over every other GY hate open to us for the sole reason that Spellbomb is asymmetrical.
RiP is just another option they may prefer that wasn't mentioned and actually is the best answer against 'Yard based strategies available to W and possibly all colors in Modern IF they are willing to neuter some of their spells. RiP against Grixis Control is auto-scoop.
If players aren't willing I'd advise N. Spellbomb. It is an excellent answer because it is a deterrent, front-loads mana, and replaces itself.
Cage doesn't affect LE, Void wastes SB slots and is a terrible top-deck, and Relic is symmetrical.
On the GY hate topic, am I right in thinking that RIP is a replacement effect, so the exile can't be responded to?
Also, thanks for all the answers to my questions, it's refreshing to find such a friendly group online for now, I'll try to collect 2-3 LotV, and then maybe think about Goyfs. Until then I'll run Putrid Leech as it's an alright card and I have it
So I got 9th place at a GPTLA last weekend that I’ll report real briefly. Here was the list I used and I am 100% satisfied with and probably won’t change unless there is a huge metagame shift post GP LA/Charlotte.
SB: -1 Kitchen Finks, -1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor, -2 Maelstrom Pulse, +1 Duress, +1 Fulminator Mage, +1 Damnation, +1 Engineered Explosives.
Do note, I sideboarded COMPLETELY wrong. I should have sideboarded in all my fulminators for opposing Inkmoth Nexus
Game 2: I mulligan to 5. Keep 3 land Thoughtseize, Abrupt Decay. Scry land to bottom. I turn 1 Thoughtseize revealing Forest, Inkmoth Nexus x2 , Dismember, Hierarch, Pierce, Wild Defiance. My opponent top decks pump spells and I can’t kill Nexus with Decay.
Rnd 2: Scott on Jeskai Control. (2-1)
Game 1: I widdle down my opponent’s life with Kitchen Finks and Goyf until I get him down to lethal on board and he has 2 cards in hand. I Inquisition and he reveals Restoration and Kiki-Jiki. He flashes Angel in at EOT and wins on the spot
Game 2: My opponent mulligans and I beat him down with Goyfs again. I Thoughtseize turn 3 and he reveals only a Resto Angel and the rest are lands and I ride Goyf to victory.
Game 3: I Thoughtseize him revealing Supreme Verdict, Kikix2, Engineered Explosives, Vendilion Clique, Island, Foundry. I take Clique following up with Goyf. I beat him down with only 1 Rhino forcing him to an Wrath on it. I then land Tarmogoyf forcing him to waste an explosives on it it, making him 1v1 his mass removal spells. I then land an Ooze to victory as he tries to chump block with Kiki but I have a removal spell for it and lethal on board.
Rnd 3: Logan on Jund (1-2)
Game 1: I mulligan to 6. I actually get him down to 1 life after he turn 2 Dark Confidants. At 1 life, he ends up Terminateing his own Bob. However, he takes over the game with a MD Olivia and steals my own goyf. At the end of the game and I count 9 land and only 4 non-land spells. Bad beats
Game 2: We exchange removal spells but the typical Abzan-Jund matchup played out and Lingering Souls won the game when my opponent ran out of removal spells.
Game 3: I mulligan again to 5 and can’t get past 2 lands.
Rnd 4: Daniel on Lantern Control (2-1)
Game1: I feel like every match I lose vs. against Lantern plays out how it did game 1. I beat him down with Goyf and Scooze all the way down to 1 life. I pass the turn. My opponent has lantern and 2 mill rocks in play. He mills himself in desperation to draw a bridge. His second millrock mills into bridge and he proceeds to lock me out. I actually had a cool out where I took out my whole graveyard except a Decay via delve and proceeded to use Tasigur’s ability. Sadly, I milled a Path and a land.
Game 2: I Duress his Ensnaring Bridge that he digged for with Ancient Stirrings and I Surgical Extraction it away. Cool thing is after he played stirrings, he only had 2 untapped lands left. I had the Extraction and a Painful Truths away. I spent the turn Painful Truthing, hoping to hit a discard spell and I luckily drew a Duress.
Game 3: My opponent mulligans to 5 and gets stuck on 2 lands. I Memoricide him turn 4 and snag all his bridges for the win.
Rnd 5: Melcher on some sort of Mill brew with Thing in the Ice (2-0)
SB: -1 Path to Exile, +1 Duress. I really don’t know how to sideboard since I’ve never played this odd mill deck before.
Game 2: The game was actually pretty close. I beat down with Souls tokens and Rhino and my opponent Archive Traps me twice and with a couple of other mill spells, I get down to 1 card in my library. I draw the last card in my deck and swing for lethal.
Rnd 6: “Max” on Burn (2-0)
At this point, it is a long shot to make top 8 if at all but doesn’t hurt to try.
Game 1: I mulligan to 5. Great. My opponent gets stuck on 1 land the whole game though while I Decay his early Swiftspear. He ends up only being able to cast 1 burn spell per turn while I deploy Goyf -> Lingering Souls -> Rhino and I lock it up before he can draw his second land.
Game 2: It ends up being a close game. I have a rhino in hand and play a shockland tapped while being at 1 life. I pass the turn while my opponent is hellbent. He topdecks a land! On my turn, I play Siege Rhino followed by another Rhino the next turn and I run away with the game.
End result: 4-2, 9th place by a few percentage points.
Overall I am pretty satisfied with my deck and the minor tweaks I have made. Shoutout to HomelandZecurity for the 3 Ooze main suggestion. It is good in so many matchups that 3 seem like the appropriate number. The only slot that I would really question currently is my 1 maindeck Finks. I feel like it can be a real flex spot but for now, the main deck lifegain/ resilient creature is good. This was my first ever competitive event and I would like to give credit to all of my opponents. They were all a pleasure to play with.
Looking at several jund lists and several junk lists, the average cmc of a drawn card in jund is roughly 1.2566, whereas junk is around 1.3333. Dropping painful truths and singleton baneslayer angels and tasigurs for confidant can easily get this down to average cmc 1.2833. Jund is starting to pack more huntmaster and kalitas, and double copies of pulse and k-command easily imitate lingering souls. I'm probably underestimating the painful mana base though.
Oh and nice tournament write up. I like the sideboarding plan. I was on the fence about memoricide but maybe I'll give it a try
Thanks! The Memoricide effect might be even more useful after the SCG Indy event this weekend. Against Jeskai Nihiri and GR Valakut, naming Nahiri and Primeval Titan respectively takes away their quickest and most efficient way to win. After a T4 Memoricide, being able to strip the respective deck's win conditions should lock up the game for us
So I got 9th place at a GPTLA last weekend that I’ll report real briefly. Here was the list I used and I am 100% satisfied with and probably won’t change unless there is a huge metagame shift post GP LA/Charlotte.
SB: -1 Kitchen Finks, -1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor, -2 Maelstrom Pulse, +1 Duress, +1 Fulminator Mage, +1 Damnation, +1 Engineered Explosives.
Do note, I sideboarded COMPLETELY wrong. I should have sideboarded in all my fulminators for opposing Inkmoth Nexus
Game 2: I mulligan to 5. Keep 3 land Thoughtseize, Abrupt Decay. Scry land to bottom. I turn 1 Thoughtseize revealing Forest, Inkmoth Nexus x2 , Dismember, Hierarch, Pierce, Wild Defiance. My opponent top decks pump spells and I can’t kill Nexus with Decay.
Rnd 2: Scott on Jeskai Control. (2-1)
Game 1: I widdle down my opponent’s life with Kitchen Finks and Goyf until I get him down to lethal on board and he has 2 cards in hand. I Inquisition and he reveals Restoration and Kiki-Jiki. He flashes Angel in at EOT and wins on the spot
Game 2: My opponent mulligans and I beat him down with Goyfs again. I Thoughtseize turn 3 and he reveals only a Resto Angel and the rest are lands and I ride Goyf to victory.
Game 3: I Thoughtseize him revealing Supreme Verdict, Kikix2, Engineered Explosives, Vendilion Clique, Island, Foundry. I take Clique following up with Goyf. I beat him down with only 1 Rhino forcing him to an Wrath on it. I then land Tarmogoyf forcing him to waste an explosives on it it, making him 1v1 his mass removal spells. I then land an Ooze to victory as he tries to chump block with Kiki but I have a removal spell for it and lethal on board.
Rnd 3: Logan on Jund (1-2)
Game 1: I mulligan to 6. I actually get him down to 1 life after he turn 2 Dark Confidants. At 1 life, he ends up Terminateing his own Bob. However, he takes over the game with a MD Olivia and steals my own goyf. At the end of the game and I count 9 land and only 4 non-land spells. Bad beats
Game 2: We exchange removal spells but the typical Abzan-Jund matchup played out and Lingering Souls won the game when my opponent ran out of removal spells.
Game 3: I mulligan again to 5 and can’t get past 2 lands.
Rnd 4: Daniel on Lantern Control (2-1)
Game1: I feel like every match I lose vs. against Lantern plays out how it did game 1. I beat him down with Goyf and Scooze all the way down to 1 life. I pass the turn. My opponent has lantern and 2 mill rocks in play. He mills himself in desperation to draw a bridge. His second millrock mills into bridge and he proceeds to lock me out. I actually had a cool out where I took out my whole graveyard except a Decay via delve and proceeded to use Tasigur’s ability. Sadly, I milled a Path and a land.
Game 2: I Duress his Ensnaring Bridge that he digged for with Ancient Stirrings and I Surgical Extraction it away. Cool thing is after he played stirrings, he only had 2 untapped lands left. I had the Extraction and a Painful Truths away. I spent the turn Painful Truthing, hoping to hit a discard spell and I luckily drew a Duress.
Game 3: My opponent mulligans to 5 and gets stuck on 2 lands. I Memoricide him turn 4 and snag all his bridges for the win.
Rnd 5: Melcher on some sort of Mill brew with Thing in the Ice (2-0)
SB: -1 Path to Exile, +1 Duress. I really don’t know how to sideboard since I’ve never played this odd mill deck before.
Game 2: The game was actually pretty close. I beat down with Souls tokens and Rhino and my opponent Archive Traps me twice and with a couple of other mill spells, I get down to 1 card in my library. I draw the last card in my deck and swing for lethal.
Rnd 6: “Max” on Burn (2-0)
At this point, it is a long shot to make top 8 if at all but doesn’t hurt to try.
Game 1: I mulligan to 5. Great. My opponent gets stuck on 1 land the whole game though while I Decay his early Swiftspear. He ends up only being able to cast 1 burn spell per turn while I deploy Goyf -> Lingering Souls -> Rhino and I lock it up before he can draw his second land.
Game 2: It ends up being a close game. I have a rhino in hand and play a shockland tapped while being at 1 life. I pass the turn while my opponent is hellbent. He topdecks a land! On my turn, I play Siege Rhino followed by another Rhino the next turn and I run away with the game.
End result: 4-2, 9th place by a few percentage points.
Overall I am pretty satisfied with my deck and the minor tweaks I have made. Shoutout to HomelandZecurity for the 3 Ooze main suggestion. It is good in so many matchups that 3 seem like the appropriate number. The only slot that I would really question currently is my 1 maindeck Finks. I feel like it can be a real flex spot but for now, the main deck lifegain/ resilient creature is good. This was my first ever competitive event and I would like to give credit to all of my opponents. They were all a pleasure to play with.
Haha yes. Found the replacement for my bitterblossom. After a little more testing, unless it makes me like it more, I'm gonna add 2 Murderous Cut. I think that may make me want to remove Tasigur though. I'm going to keep poking around.
EDIT: Doing more thinking, I do want to try to get 2-3 Courser of Kruphix in the deck. I'm not a big fan of Path to Exile, and could see dropping to 2. It's good, but I don't like it vs a lot of decks. Tasigur would also conflict with the new Murderous Cut, so I could drop that with the third PtE and have 2 coursers added in. I'm also just not the biggest fan of Tasigur in the first place. Once again, after playing more games with my current list, I'll try double courser with Blossom.
I also wanted a 7th discard spell. Probably/possibly over the command, though I really do like my removal...
A fourth Abrupt Decay is another option on the Cheap Removal side of things.
The deck farthest away from it: http://deckbox.org/sets/1412450 Changes are: -2 Blossom -1 PtE -1 Dromoka's Command -1 Lingering Souls -1 Tasigur. +1 Abrupt Decay +1 Inquisition of Kozilek +2 Murderous Cut +2 Courser of Kruphix. I also was briefly considering dropping a Scooze for another Courser. I also made some sideboard rearrangements.
Now that I've mapped out where my testing will be heading with this deck, I'm going to play around with the numbers between those two decks a whooooooole ton. I'll be posting games/records/notes for you guys.
Wanted to address this post before it gets lost in the shuffle.
I figured it was only a matter of time before we starting looking at Murderous Cut as another removal option. It's a great spell, and can help balance the removal suite nicely. But I wouldn't slice Tasigur out of the deck just to marginally improve your removal. Tasigur is a much more unique and powerful card compared with Cut. He represents Goyfs 5+6, and can often come down for even cheaper, while also being a guaranteed 4/5. Both as a blocker and attacker, this can be invaluable. But it's really his lategame prowess that makes it hard to justify cutting him. As a potentially very cheap threat that can buy you extra cards, he really is unique, and he's won me countless games in heads-up hellbent situations. I'd much rather have Tasigur in my deck than Murderous Cut, given the plethora of other removal options we have. Tasigur is irreplaceable.
You still probably only want 2-3 Delve spells max here, and I could see running a 1/1 split on Tas/Cut if you're really in the market for more flexible removal. But I wouldn't cut Tas completely, and I honestly don't think we need Cut bad enough right now anyway. Keep in mind it's conditional, and often will be just as costly to cast as Pulse or Abzan Charm. This is less of an issue on your threats, as you can resolve them in whatever order works best, but removal often needs to work asap. I've had issues with Cut in the past showing up too late to the party to matter.
On a similar note, I think Courser is also a great card, but I don't think you want more than 2. The first copy is generally plenty, and a 2/4 for 3 is often underwhelming, despite the upsides. HE's good in grinds, but very slow against any combo or fast aggro deck. Does work against Burn and Zoo, but they can still run him over more often than not. Great in the mirror. In any case, don't overload on them is all.
That said, test it all for yourself. I'm just speaking from my own experience.
_______
Not sure why we were still discussing Rest in Peace, as it's the last option we'd ever consider for graveyard hate. If Legacy Dredge was a deck, we'd still have better options. Anyway, Spellbomb, Surgical, and Scooze are the obvious GY hate options, with Kalitas and Anafenza being good options against certain decks as well. Not sure we need to explore options beyond that at the moment. For me, Scooze is still doing more than enough work, and I'm not above running a playset in the 75. I've done it before and didn't regret it.
Dark Confidant is totally playable here, we just have better options if we want them. He synchs just a little bit better with Jund, despite what the numbers tell you. They have incentive to run more creatures thanks to Kommand, and they do have a lower enough curve to matter. They also have Blackcleave Cliffs to help smooth the mana pain. Lots of little things add up to an overall better fit. He's still fine here, but most folks choose to use the other options that fit. The big upside to not playing him is that our deck becomes almost wholly Bolt-proof, which makes us the better Izzet-chomper. Snapcaster is less scary when he doesn't trade for anything in your deck. Also, when you aren't afraid of getting Bolted out. Bob opens us up to those types of vulnerabilities. If that's okay with you, than play Bob. For the rest of us, we're happy with Truths and Charms for now.
Private Mod Note
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Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
MODERN RGB Jund BGR WGB Junk/Abzan Company WGB
LEGACY RUGB Delver GURB
EDH UW Geist of Saint Traft Aggro-Control WU RUG Riku of Two Reflections Combo GUR BBB Skithiryx Control BB
Wanted to address this post before it gets lost in the shuffle.
I figured it was only a matter of time before we starting looking at Murderous Cut as another removal option. It's a great spell, and can help balance the removal suite nicely. But I wouldn't slice Tasigur out of the deck just to marginally improve your removal. Tasigur is a much more unique and powerful card compared with Cut. He represents Goyfs 5+6, and can often come down for even cheaper, while also being a guaranteed 4/5. Both as a blocker and attacker, this can be invaluable. But it's really his lategame prowess that makes it hard to justify cutting him. As a potentially very cheap threat that can buy you extra cards, he really is unique, and he's won me countless games in heads-up hellbent situations. I'd much rather have Tasigur in my deck than Murderous Cut, given the plethora of other removal options we have. Tasigur is irreplaceable.
You still probably only want 2-3 Delve spells max here, and I could see running a 1/1 split on Tas/Cut if you're really in the market for more flexible removal. But I wouldn't cut Tas completely, and I honestly don't think we need Cut bad enough right now anyway. Keep in mind it's conditional, and often will be just as costly to cast as Pulse or Abzan Charm. This is less of an issue on your threats, as you can resolve them in whatever order works best, but removal often needs to work asap. I've had issues with Cut in the past showing up too late to the party to matter.
On a similar note, I think Courser is also a great card, but I don't think you want more than 2. The first copy is generally plenty, and a 2/4 for 3 is often underwhelming, despite the upsides. HE's good in grinds, but very slow against any combo or fast aggro deck. Does work against Burn and Zoo, but they can still run him over more often than not. Great in the mirror. In any case, don't overload on them is all.
That said, test it all for yourself. I'm just speaking from my own experience.
Yeah, I've gone over most of this myself. I wanted more removal that was relatively painless. Since I had already added an excellent grind engine/mana sink in Gavony Township, I didn't think I really needed another. I'm slowly adjusting my numbers around and it's doing fine atm. I still do have a Tasigur.
I'm brand new to abzan, played blue almost exclusively until now. With 1 or 2 ghost quarters mainboard, can someone explain the significance of 3 fulminator mages sideboard?
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I'm brand new to abzan, played blue almost exclusively until now. With 1 or 2 ghost quarters mainboard, can someone explain the significance of 3 fulminator mages sideboard?
Usually those GQ slots are either 2 Gavony or a 1-1 split of Gavony and Vault; I've never seen 2 GQ MB unless Tron or Scapeshift was in excess in the meta.
Occasionally, 3 F. Mages are utilized in the Tron MU a majority of the time.
They have some application against 3 colored builds, Infect, Affinity, UWR Control and mirrors too.
I've cut my copies down to 2 since Tron isn't as represented in my meta ATM.
There are plenty of GY options beyond Leyline and wheel. Spellbomb, surgical, Kalitas etc. But against specifically thopters and coco, Scooze is the best option and that's why we prefer to run 3 maindeck.
RGB Jund BGR
WGB Junk/Abzan Company WGB
LEGACY
RUGB Delver GURB
EDH
UW Geist of Saint Traft Aggro-Control WU
RUG Riku of Two Reflections Combo GUR
BBB Skithiryx Control BB
EDIT: Doing more thinking, I do want to try to get 2-3 Courser of Kruphix in the deck. I'm not a big fan of Path to Exile, and could see dropping to 2. It's good, but I don't like it vs a lot of decks. Tasigur would also conflict with the new Murderous Cut, so I could drop that with the third PtE and have 2 coursers added in. I'm also just not the biggest fan of Tasigur in the first place. Once again, after playing more games with my current list, I'll try double courser with Blossom.
I also wanted a 7th discard spell. Probably/possibly over the command, though I really do like my removal...
A fourth Abrupt Decay is another option on the Cheap Removal side of things.
My current, completely unrevised list: http://deckbox.org/sets/1409910
The deck farthest away from it: http://deckbox.org/sets/1412450 Changes are: -2 Blossom -1 PtE -1 Dromoka's Command -1 Lingering Souls -1 Tasigur. +1 Abrupt Decay +1 Inquisition of Kozilek +2 Murderous Cut +2 Courser of Kruphix. I also was briefly considering dropping a Scooze for another Courser. I also made some sideboard rearrangements.
Now that I've mapped out where my testing will be heading with this deck, I'm going to play around with the numbers between those two decks a whooooooole ton. I'll be posting games/records/notes for you guys.
Albeit, a nombo with Souls.
BGW ABZAN WGB
BGR JUND RGB
A nonbo with Scooze, Finks (if you have them), Tarmogoyf, Lingering Souls. That's like half your deck. Don't play graveyard hate that hits you too. Play Grafdigger's Cage (only hurts Lingering Souls here), Nihil Spellbomb, Relic of Progenitus, Wheel of Sun and Moon, or Leyline of the Void. All of these hurt Scooze and Tarmogoyf to some extent.
RiP is just another option they may prefer that wasn't mentioned and actually is the best answer against 'Yard based strategies available to W and possibly all colors in Modern IF they are willing to neuter some of their spells. RiP against Grixis Control is auto-scoop.
If players aren't willing I'd advise N. Spellbomb. It is an excellent answer because it is a deterrent, front-loads mana, and replaces itself.
Cage doesn't affect LE, Void wastes SB slots and is a terrible top-deck, and Relic is symmetrical.
BGW ABZAN WGB
BGR JUND RGB
Also, thanks for all the answers to my questions, it's refreshing to find such a friendly group online
Siege Rhinos, more three drops and going up to 5+ drops make him a risk I think. Painful truths feels like the way to go for this deck for card draw.
I've seen Bob in Abzan but the curve would need to be lowered slightly in order to incorporate him, competitively speaking.
IF we receive our respective WB Fastland then Bob would become more appealing.
Until then, life-loss from the land base and the slightly higher curve makes Abzan featuring Bob more suicidal than it's Jund counterpart.
BGW ABZAN WGB
BGR JUND RGB
1 Forest
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Godless Shrine
1 Hissing Quagmire
2 Marsh Flats
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Plains
1 Shambling Vent
1 Stirring Wildwood
2 Swamp
1 Temple Garden
1 Twilight Mire
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Windswept Heath
3 Scavenging Ooze
4 Tarmogoyf
1 Kitchen Finks
3 Siege Rhino
1 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Sorcerys (12)
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
4 Lingering Souls
2 Maelstrom Pulse
Instant (8)
4 Path to Exile
3 Abrupt Decay
1 Abzan Charm
Planeswalkers (4)
3 Liliana of the Veil
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
1 Creeping Corrosion
1 Damnation
1 Duress
1 Engineered Explosives
3 Fulminator Mage
2 Kitchen Finks
1 Memoricide
1 Painful Truths
2 Stony Silence
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Worship
Rnd 1: Jose on Infect. (0-2)
Game 1: I mulled to 6 on the draw. My opponent leads on Noble Hierarch. I T1 Inquisition and take Glistener Elf while revealing Become Immense, Inkmoth Nexus, Apostle’s Blessing and Spell Pierce. He top decks Blighted Agent and kills me while I am stuck on 2 lands.
SB: -1 Kitchen Finks, -1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor, -2 Maelstrom Pulse, +1 Duress, +1 Fulminator Mage, +1 Damnation, +1 Engineered Explosives.
Do note, I sideboarded COMPLETELY wrong. I should have sideboarded in all my fulminators for opposing Inkmoth Nexus
Game 2: I mulligan to 5. Keep 3 land Thoughtseize, Abrupt Decay. Scry land to bottom. I turn 1 Thoughtseize revealing Forest, Inkmoth Nexus x2 , Dismember, Hierarch, Pierce, Wild Defiance. My opponent top decks pump spells and I can’t kill Nexus with Decay.
Rnd 2: Scott on Jeskai Control. (2-1)
Game 1: I widdle down my opponent’s life with Kitchen Finks and Goyf until I get him down to lethal on board and he has 2 cards in hand. I Inquisition and he reveals Restoration and Kiki-Jiki. He flashes Angel in at EOT and wins on the spot
SB: -3 Abrupt Decay, +1 Duress, +1 Painful Truths, +1 Memoricide
Game 2: My opponent mulligans and I beat him down with Goyfs again. I Thoughtseize turn 3 and he reveals only a Resto Angel and the rest are lands and I ride Goyf to victory.
Game 3: I Thoughtseize him revealing Supreme Verdict, Kikix2, Engineered Explosives, Vendilion Clique, Island, Foundry. I take Clique following up with Goyf. I beat him down with only 1 Rhino forcing him to an Wrath on it. I then land Tarmogoyf forcing him to waste an explosives on it it, making him 1v1 his mass removal spells. I then land an Ooze to victory as he tries to chump block with Kiki but I have a removal spell for it and lethal on board.
Rnd 3: Logan on Jund (1-2)
Game 1: I mulligan to 6. I actually get him down to 1 life after he turn 2 Dark Confidants. At 1 life, he ends up Terminateing his own Bob. However, he takes over the game with a MD Olivia and steals my own goyf. At the end of the game and I count 9 land and only 4 non-land spells. Bad beats
SB: -3 Thoughtseize, -3 Inquisition, +1 Damnation, +1 Engineered Explosives, +1 Fulminator Mage, +2 Kitchen Finks, +1 Painful Truths
Game 2: We exchange removal spells but the typical Abzan-Jund matchup played out and Lingering Souls won the game when my opponent ran out of removal spells.
Game 3: I mulligan again to 5 and can’t get past 2 lands.
Rnd 4: Daniel on Lantern Control (2-1)
Game1: I feel like every match I lose vs. against Lantern plays out how it did game 1. I beat him down with Goyf and Scooze all the way down to 1 life. I pass the turn. My opponent has lantern and 2 mill rocks in play. He mills himself in desperation to draw a bridge. His second millrock mills into bridge and he proceeds to lock me out. I actually had a cool out where I took out my whole graveyard except a Decay via delve and proceeded to use Tasigur’s ability. Sadly, I milled a Path and a land.
SB: -4 Path to Exile, -3 Liliana of the Veil, -1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor. +1 Surgical Extraction, +1 Memoricide, +1 Creeping Corrosion, +2 Stony Silence, +1 Duress, +1 Painful Truths, +1 Engineered Explosives
Game 2: I Duress his Ensnaring Bridge that he digged for with Ancient Stirrings and I Surgical Extraction it away. Cool thing is after he played stirrings, he only had 2 untapped lands left. I had the Extraction and a Painful Truths away. I spent the turn Painful Truthing, hoping to hit a discard spell and I luckily drew a Duress.
Game 3: My opponent mulligans to 5 and gets stuck on 2 lands. I Memoricide him turn 4 and snag all his bridges for the win.
Rnd 5: Melcher on some sort of Mill brew with Thing in the Ice (2-0)
Game 1: I land a Goyf while my opponent has a Thing in the Ice. I decay it and beat down with my goyf while my opponent tries to mill me with Glimpse the Unthinkable and Mind Funeral
SB: -1 Path to Exile, +1 Duress. I really don’t know how to sideboard since I’ve never played this odd mill deck before.
Game 2: The game was actually pretty close. I beat down with Souls tokens and Rhino and my opponent Archive Traps me twice and with a couple of other mill spells, I get down to 1 card in my library. I draw the last card in my deck and swing for lethal.
Rnd 6: “Max” on Burn (2-0)
At this point, it is a long shot to make top 8 if at all but doesn’t hurt to try.
Game 1: I mulligan to 5. Great. My opponent gets stuck on 1 land the whole game though while I Decay his early Swiftspear. He ends up only being able to cast 1 burn spell per turn while I deploy Goyf -> Lingering Souls -> Rhino and I lock it up before he can draw his second land.
SB: -3 Thoughtseize, -1 Lingering Souls, -1 Abzan Charm, +1 Duress, +1 Engineered Explosives, +2 Kitchen Finks, +1 Worship
Game 2: It ends up being a close game. I have a rhino in hand and play a shockland tapped while being at 1 life. I pass the turn while my opponent is hellbent. He topdecks a land! On my turn, I play Siege Rhino followed by another Rhino the next turn and I run away with the game.
End result: 4-2, 9th place by a few percentage points.
Overall I am pretty satisfied with my deck and the minor tweaks I have made. Shoutout to HomelandZecurity for the 3 Ooze main suggestion. It is good in so many matchups that 3 seem like the appropriate number. The only slot that I would really question currently is my 1 maindeck Finks. I feel like it can be a real flex spot but for now, the main deck lifegain/ resilient creature is good. This was my first ever competitive event and I would like to give credit to all of my opponents. They were all a pleasure to play with.
Thanks! The Memoricide effect might be even more useful after the SCG Indy event this weekend. Against Jeskai Nihiri and GR Valakut, naming Nahiri and Primeval Titan respectively takes away their quickest and most efficient way to win. After a T4 Memoricide, being able to strip the respective deck's win conditions should lock up the game for us
Shame what happened in the Jund MU.
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Wanted to address this post before it gets lost in the shuffle.
I figured it was only a matter of time before we starting looking at Murderous Cut as another removal option. It's a great spell, and can help balance the removal suite nicely. But I wouldn't slice Tasigur out of the deck just to marginally improve your removal. Tasigur is a much more unique and powerful card compared with Cut. He represents Goyfs 5+6, and can often come down for even cheaper, while also being a guaranteed 4/5. Both as a blocker and attacker, this can be invaluable. But it's really his lategame prowess that makes it hard to justify cutting him. As a potentially very cheap threat that can buy you extra cards, he really is unique, and he's won me countless games in heads-up hellbent situations. I'd much rather have Tasigur in my deck than Murderous Cut, given the plethora of other removal options we have. Tasigur is irreplaceable.
You still probably only want 2-3 Delve spells max here, and I could see running a 1/1 split on Tas/Cut if you're really in the market for more flexible removal. But I wouldn't cut Tas completely, and I honestly don't think we need Cut bad enough right now anyway. Keep in mind it's conditional, and often will be just as costly to cast as Pulse or Abzan Charm. This is less of an issue on your threats, as you can resolve them in whatever order works best, but removal often needs to work asap. I've had issues with Cut in the past showing up too late to the party to matter.
On a similar note, I think Courser is also a great card, but I don't think you want more than 2. The first copy is generally plenty, and a 2/4 for 3 is often underwhelming, despite the upsides. HE's good in grinds, but very slow against any combo or fast aggro deck. Does work against Burn and Zoo, but they can still run him over more often than not. Great in the mirror. In any case, don't overload on them is all.
That said, test it all for yourself. I'm just speaking from my own experience.
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Not sure why we were still discussing Rest in Peace, as it's the last option we'd ever consider for graveyard hate. If Legacy Dredge was a deck, we'd still have better options. Anyway, Spellbomb, Surgical, and Scooze are the obvious GY hate options, with Kalitas and Anafenza being good options against certain decks as well. Not sure we need to explore options beyond that at the moment. For me, Scooze is still doing more than enough work, and I'm not above running a playset in the 75. I've done it before and didn't regret it.
Dark Confidant is totally playable here, we just have better options if we want them. He synchs just a little bit better with Jund, despite what the numbers tell you. They have incentive to run more creatures thanks to Kommand, and they do have a lower enough curve to matter. They also have Blackcleave Cliffs to help smooth the mana pain. Lots of little things add up to an overall better fit. He's still fine here, but most folks choose to use the other options that fit. The big upside to not playing him is that our deck becomes almost wholly Bolt-proof, which makes us the better Izzet-chomper. Snapcaster is less scary when he doesn't trade for anything in your deck. Also, when you aren't afraid of getting Bolted out. Bob opens us up to those types of vulnerabilities. If that's okay with you, than play Bob. For the rest of us, we're happy with Truths and Charms for now.
RGB Jund BGR
WGB Junk/Abzan Company WGB
LEGACY
RUGB Delver GURB
EDH
UW Geist of Saint Traft Aggro-Control WU
RUG Riku of Two Reflections Combo GUR
BBB Skithiryx Control BB
Yeah, I've gone over most of this myself. I wanted more removal that was relatively painless. Since I had already added an excellent grind engine/mana sink in Gavony Township, I didn't think I really needed another. I'm slowly adjusting my numbers around and it's doing fine atm. I still do have a Tasigur.
Occasionally, 3 F. Mages are utilized in the Tron MU a majority of the time.
They have some application against 3 colored builds, Infect, Affinity, UWR Control and mirrors too.
I've cut my copies down to 2 since Tron isn't as represented in my meta ATM.
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