@Kangha94: I'm not sure I'm approaching the grixis energy match-up right. Sure, game one is nothing, but games two and three have been nightmares for me. What is your general game plan for sideboarded games in this match-up?
@Kangha94 - Thanks for the post, really like the list. Been trying it out the last few days with really good success. There have been some games where I drop Nezahal, Primal Tide in game 1 then just beat them down with him. The nice thing about that is they don't see approach, so they have no idea what I am playing in game 2. Also, I have been very impressed with Baffling End. It may be the 2 drop we have been missing. The fact that the creature goes away, even if they remove the enchantment is so nice, we really don't care about the 3/3 it leaves behind.
The only change I have made so far is swapping one of the Cast Outs for a Ixalan's Binding. Being able to make one card go away for the rest of the game is so nice.
It is nice to be back on UW. I really like the 3 color versions, but UW is so much more consistent and Baffling End seems like it is the early interaction the deck needed.
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Modern
Currently Playing UW UW Control/Miracles R Skred Red
I think my trump cards here are thaumatic compass and azor the law... because majority of my games they both give me a chance of winning.
Also i like nezahal from the sideboard against control/counter deck.
On my second game i used to blink azor the lawbringer with vizier of deferment.
So far i love this deck even without glimmer or pull or illuminations and baffling ends and also cast out.
@xaltair... can u give me your new updated or latest deck list.. thanks.
After my poor showing of 2-3 at the last big tourney about 3 weeks ago, I haven't played this deck much. I was trying to test the local meta by playing a strange U/B control deck and testing the waters.
I will come back to U/W approach this week, and hopefully play an FNM or two because this weekend I have a PPTQ happening and I want to play Approach in it.
The main deck is not changed much but the sideboard I will be testing this week is this:
So, as before after sideboading the deck becomes more aggro but this time it can win with Horse tokens.
Sunscourge champions and vizier of deferment are used early game to survive until I can fumigate and then mid-game I can drop Cloudblazer to draw cards and gain life, and once I have a crested sunmare out I can Eternalize the champions, or use cloudblazer to gain life and make tokens.
The sunscourge champions are in the side now because I am running baffling end main (3) because I've heard good things about it and I tested it at the last tourney and it is a house against mono black decks, or mono red decks. Against control I can always discard it to champion of wits so it's not a dead card in the first game, same as with settle the wreckage or fumigate.
The god-pharaoh's gifts are there as an alternate win condition as well. I also keep 2 Approaches in the deck even after sideboarding, so I only take 1 out.
The only true sideboard cards are 2 crook of condemnation and 2 forsake the worldly to deal with opposite GPG's decks.
I run 1 Nezahal main deck so I don't think I need another one in the sideboard, if I do then I'll cut one GPG card for it.
Can't wait to make some horse tokens and kick some butt with them!
This could be good for the new meta of creature heavy decks!
I took a look, they are not tuned for aggro match-ups and half the decks on there are U/W Cycling not Approach. The 4-5 Approach decks are pretty standard but as I said before they are not main deck tuned for aggro match-ups but just in general. Having 4 Settles and 4 Fumigates main deck doesn't mean that you can win against aggro decks.
If you expect heavy aggro in your meta you should be playing 3-4 Sunscourge Champion and maybe even 2-3 Vizier of deferment main deck, if not then you can play those in the sideboard like I am doing.
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Pretty much the same approach only without Authority of the Consuls. I have a 4th Baffling End, a couple of two-mana counters and a third Champion coming in.
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Some people like to win MtG matches in the Red Zone. I prefer to win the way God intended: on the stack.
So, I still have 2 Approach of the second sun main deck after sideboarding because it can still win out of nowhere, and also have 2 fumigates main deck, along with 3 settle the wreckage, 2 cast out and 3 baffling end.
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So, as I said today I went back to this deck for FNM to prepare for Sunday's PPTQ event.
I ended up going 2-1 tonight after facing not less than 3 Grixis midrange decks, one in each round actually. I will give a short event report and then I will be posting the deck that I intend to play from now on, it is changed a bit from the version I played tonight (about 3 cards got changed main deck).
Event Report
Round 1 - VS R/B/U Grixis midrange - result 2-0
Game 1- he got mana screwed or rather stuck on 4 lands and I got mana flooded hardcore but lucky for me I had a turn 2 search for azcanta out so I kept putting the lands in my graveyard. So of course on turn 7 I had enough lands to cast approach, then a couple of turns later I cast it again to win the game. Game 2- he sideboarded without knowing I will be bringing in creatures, so turn 5 I got a cloudblazerout and beat him for a couple of turns and turn 7 I dropped nezahal, primal tide and on his turn he cast a scarab god. On my turn I cast out his scarab god and hit with nezahal and cloudblazer. On his turn he couldn't draw an answer and scooped.
Round 2 - VS R/B/U Grixis midrange with scarab god, chandra, hostage taker, whirler virtuoso, and Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh - result 0-2
Game 1- I couldn't get my mana out and he dropped a scarab god early and manage to make some tokens and I didn't draw any answer to it so I lost.
Game 2- I was having mana issues again, this was a tough game, he managed to get a hostage taker out and get my thaumatic compass and cast it on the same turn, then he dropped scarab god and started making tokens from my creatures. I managed to fumigate and then use crook of condemnation to exile both our graveyards, but he dropped NICOL BOLAS in the next turn and made me exile the 2 cards in my hand. I managed to draw approach and cast it and then he was BOLAS again to exile cards from the top of my library and got another approach. Also he cast a whirler virtuoso and made two tokens and attacked me, I was a couple of turns from drawing my Approach but I didn't know that BOLAS can also deal 7 damage to me (I live in Tokyo so my opp's cards are all in Japanese, I looked at what the card does online but I forgot that his ability targets players too, it was the first time to play against him).
Round 3 - VS R/B/U Grixis combo/midrange - treasures and Marionette Master - result 2-1
Game 1- This was a funny one, I didn't know what his deck does because he did nothing most of the game. I reached 7 mana and cast approach without problems and on his turn he noticed I was tapped out and cast brass's bounty to make 7 treasures. A couple of turns later I was again almost tapped out but for some reason I had not drawn any counterspells the whole game so far, I was holding a hand of 3 baffling end, 2 settle the wreckage, 1 fumigate and another card. He cast Marionette Master and put 3 counters on it and then started to sac treasures and of course dealt more damage than my 27 life. Game 2- He got mana screwed a bit and couldn't cast much and on turn 7 I cast nezahal and proceeded to beat him down with it. Game 3- Much of the same except he spent the first couple of turns duressing me and although he made me discard an Approach I drew into another one and he just didn't draw any business and I cast Approach twice to win. He was surprised that I still kept approaches in the deck in games 2 and 3.
So, I didn't get to play against aggro decks although my deck was tuned for those match-ups so baffling end did nothing all 3 matches. I did have trouble dealing with main deck Scarab God and with planeswalkers especially Nicol Bolas. I did have 2 Cast Out and 2 Negates main deck but after sideboarding I didn't have any extra cards to deal with planeswalkers.
So, to improve the first game against the scarab god and planeswalkers I have added 2 commit//memory main deck, if the scarab god comes out it can get bounced back with commit and then the next turn I can flashback memory to make sure there are no creatures in any graveyards. Commit is also good at bouncing back or countering planeswalkers for another turn or maybe two. I used to play it main deck back when I started playing this deck after Amonkhet came out last year.
In the sideboard, I have added 2 ixalan's binding to help fight scarab god and planeswalkers in game 2 and 3. The other sideboard cards are self-explanatory and I usually board in a lot of creatures in game 2 and 3 against both aggro decks and midrange decks. They usually board out a lot of their removal since in the first game they see I don't have many creatures so I can run them over after side boarding.
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@Xaltair - I like the direction your deck is going. Thanks for the nice write up also. Approach really seems like a deck that can flourish from a lot of different ideas.
Not sure if you guys have seen this yet. 4 Color Mastermind's Acquisition Approach. It is basically Bant Approach with black to run Mastermind's Acquisition. I started playing testing it a few days ago and it is so much fun. And surprisingly good. Combine the ramp with being able to grab any card from your library and/or sideboard is crazy. I think it needs a little tweaking, it feels like it is about 90% there. I am still trying to get the sideboard right. There are so many silver bullets you can add to it. I have moved one of the Approachs to the side and added Fatal Push main. That seemed to help smooth out the early game.
Yes, it looks jankly as hell. I know. I laughed when I first saw it. But after spending a few hours with it, I will be ordering the paper cards today. I am going to the GP in Memphis is a few weeks and this just may be what I take there.
@pumpmonkey- that deck is the real deal, I got rocked by it 3 weeks ago when I went 2-3 at the tourney, my first loss was to this 4 color approach deck, it cast approach faster than me in the first game and in the second game again I couldn't beat him fast enough since he got approach with mastermind's acquisition and cast it to win again, but I think he went 3-2 at that tourney so he didn't do really good either.
I think 3 approaches main deck and 1 in the sideboard is the way to go for this deck. I would also run an Angrath, the Flame-Chained in the sideboard since you can tutor for him, and he seems like one of the stronger planeswalkers available these days.
As a side note I built a sick U/B control deck using mastermind's acquisition since that card is hella good.
Thanks for the suggestion, I do feel like having 2-3 walkers in the sideboard would work well. Still playing with the numbers and cards, hopefully, I will get to playtest with some friends at my LGS this weekend. But the deck just runs very smoothly, surprisingly smooth. But I have not gone up against any control list either so.... I will post a new list in a few days once I bang on it some more.
Anyone else here going to GP Memphis?
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Modern
Currently Playing UW UW Control/Miracles R Skred Red
In part due to the great contributions on this thread, I think I'm feeling comfortable enough to try some tournaments on MTGO. Thanks again for everyone's posts! Before I do that I want to make sure I have the right deck. According to MTGGoldfish two Control variants (UB and Grixis) now make up about 20% of the meta. Approach of the Second Sun will always have a special place for me but I have started to wonder (reluctantly) if those control variants are simply a bit more robust.
If you have opinions on Approach v UB/Grixis control I'd like to hear!
Then this UW Approach build pops up with a 5-0 result today . . .
That UW build I referenced above has Slash of Talons in the sideboard. That got me wondering how many more creatures a non-Revolt triggered Push will remove vs. Slash. Sharing in case others are interested. . .
I'm a little surprised at the efficacy of Slash of Talons. It is sort of in competition with Authority of the Consuls in my sideboard. I will think about this card more. . .
the problem that I have been having with Grixis at my LGS is that they are keen to my sideboard plan of trading out Approach for Gearhulk and Nezahal. They bring in their Duress, Negate, and Disallow. While still leaving in an Abrade and multiples of Vraska's Contempt. All while landing a turn 2 Glint-sleeve Siphoner which is nightmare if Baffling end is not available right away.
Questioning whether Glyph Keeper would be useful with its recursion and semi-hexproof.
On my 3 days of magic, today being the 2nd one I played the standard showdown at my LGS and went 1-1-1 out of 3 rounds, it was a weird day.
I will give a short description of what happened:
Round 1 - VS- Mono Red aggro with ahn crop, bomat, hazoret, etc... result 1-2
Game 1- I don't know what happened, but I took care of his guys and managed to approach twice for the win, go figure.
Game 2- I kept a 5 land hand and 2 creatures and wouldn't you know I drew another land and of course he beat me down quickly.
Game 3- He got mana flooded hardcore, I kept a 2 land hand and of course I didn't draw any lands for the next 4 turns to basically lose to a 2/1 pirate and a 1/1 pirate which beat me for 3 every turn and then he burned me to death.
After sideboarding I should have an even better chance to beat this deck than in the first game so this was a fluke and it was my bad for keeping a 5 land hand in the second game, and of course I had no idea I'd get mana screwed in the 3rd.
Round 2 - VS - 4 Color Planeswalkers.deck - I don't know what to call it, he played Vraska G/B, he played Ajani G/W, he played Gideon and Nissa G/W 1-1
Game 1 - It took me a while but I managed to cast approach twice for the win.
Game 2 - We went to time because he got Gideon's emblem out so I was holding 2 approaches but couldn't cast them since I can't win until I get rid of Gideon, I had 2 Cast outs and 2 Commits in my deck and I lost to him the turn before I could draw the commit to bounce Gideon and cast approach in the same turn, this was also turn 3 of the last 5 turns so we drew the match 1-1.
Again a strange occurrence since I had 4 outs and probably less than 20 cards left in my deck, I should've won this match pretty easily but he had most of his deck on board including all 4 of his planeswalkers.
Round 3 -VS - G/U Merfolk with the usual things including Kumena and all his buddies - result 2-1
Game 1 - I managed to top deck a Fumigate and cast it on turn 5 to wipe his board clean and then cast a second one on turn 7 to wipe it clean again, then I cast approach back to back to win the first game.
Game 2 - I only managed to get 1 plains out of the 7 lands I had in play, so I couldn't cast fumigate or settle the wreckage or anything and got killed by merfolk.
Game 3 - I got a turn 2 baffling end on his merfolk, then turn 3 I cast vizier of deferment to exile a guy and block the other guy. Turn 4 I cast ixalan's binding on another merfolk and turn 5 or 6 I cast fumigate to clear his board. He was down to one card in hand pretty much topdecking when I cast my champion of wits, the next turn I Eternalized a sunscourge champion and started to beat him down, and a couple of turns later he was dead when my deck went aggro on him. I forgot to say that he actually countered my approach when I cast it, and that's why I managed to fumigate a turn after because he wasted his counter on the approach, for some reason he was really afraid of losing to it again.
I was actually surprised that I managed to beat this deck because he got the enchantment that makes 1/1 hexproof tokens whenever he casts a merfolk out in the game that he beat me, and in the third game but I managed to ixalan's binding it.
So, after yesterday's testing and today's testing I give you the final version of the deck that I will be playing at the PPTQ tomorrow:
The deck is as streamlined as it's going to get before tomorrow's tourney. I have decided to play 2 slaughter the strong as a meta choice because everyone is expecting turn 4 settle or turn 5 fumigate and so being able to get rid of some big creatures with slaughter on turn 4 or 5 and keeping back one counter can be key in many match-ups. If there is a creature left it can be handled by baffling end, cast out or ixalan's binding. This card also takes care of hazoret indirectly and of the scarab god and maybe kill some tokens that he made also, and if they get to keep one token it doesn't matter since vizier of deferment can kill that token when it comes into play.
On the creature side, my idea of going aggro with small creatures usually takes people by surprise and has worked for me today, and cloudblazer was an MVP every time I got to cast it, gaining 2 life, a blocker and drawing 2 cards is amazing for this deck. His friend vizier of deferment is also amazing being able to deal with 2 creatures (exile one and block another) is key on turn 3 when you are facing 2-3 creatures attacking you.
Last but not least ixalan's binding proved to work great against almost all decks that I played it against and I think 2 are enough in the side to go along with the 2 cast outs main deck and 3 baffling ends main deck as well.
In case you are wondering how I sideboard against aggro decks I take out:
So after sideboarding I still have 2 approaches main deck to gain life and win games out of nowhere, but the rest of the deck is basically only cards to remove creatures and my own creatures to beat down after.
As I said before I stopped playing competitive magic back in 2009-10 season and then stopped playing magic for good back in 2011. I started again last year in April 2017 when Amonkhet came out.
That along with the fact that I live in Tokyo but can't read Japanese at all, and barely speak it means that I didn't know that I have to pre-register for the PPTQ at my local store in advance.
On their website it just says registration time and that the max is 60 players and usually there are not many players coming to this store for FNM or for Standard Showdown on Saturdays.
So, I went there early today hoping to register quickly only to find out that all 60 spots were pre-registered already, and I had to wait but instead of a waitlist to see if any extra people can get in they had a page on which I can write my name and then they picked people AT RANDOM instead of in the order in which they signed up.
Long story short about 10-12 people signed up on that list, and they picked 4 at random and my name wasn't one of them so I couldn't participate in the PPTQ, which sucks because I worked on this deck a lot this past week and played both FNM and Showdown yesterday and was eager to play the deck in a bigger tournament and post my results.
I have learned my lesson and will make sure to pre-register for the next standard PPTQ in advance, whenever that may be.
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As I said before I stopped playing competitive magic back in 2009-10 season and then stopped playing magic for good back in 2011. I started again last year in April 2017 when Amonkhet came out.
That along with the fact that I live in Tokyo but can't read Japanese at all, and barely speak it means that I didn't know that I have to pre-register for the PPTQ at my local store in advance.
On their website it just says registration time and that the max is 60 players and usually there are not many players coming to this store for FNM or for Standard Showdown on Saturdays.
So, I went there early today hoping to register quickly only to find out that all 60 spots were pre-registered already, and I had to wait but instead of a waitlist to see if any extra people can get in they had a page on which I can write my name and then they picked people AT RANDOM instead of in the order in which they signed up.
Long story short about 10-12 people signed up on that list, and they picked 4 at random and my name wasn't one of them so I couldn't participate in the PPTQ, which sucks because I worked on this deck a lot this past week and played both FNM and Showdown yesterday and was eager to play the deck in a bigger tournament and post my results.
I have learned my lesson and will make sure to pre-register for the next standard PPTQ in advance, whenever that may be.
Sorry to hear that xaltair. I can't imagine playing this game in a foreign language. I have a hard enough time in English. . .
the problem that I have been having with Grixis at my LGS is that they are keen to my sideboard plan of trading out Approach for Gearhulk and Nezahal. They bring in their Duress, Negate, and Disallow. While still leaving in an Abrade and multiples of Vraska's Contempt. All while landing a turn 2 Glint-sleeve Siphoner which is nightmare if Baffling end is not available right away.
Questioning whether Glyph Keeper would be useful with its recursion and semi-hexproof.
This is a 5-0 list that has Glyph Keeper and Slash of Talons in the side. I am liking Baffling End more and more. Being playing around with the 4 color list I posted a few days ago, but the straight UW version is just so smooth right now. But is it good enough for Approach not to need to splash a 3rd color? Not sure. For me, what it really just comes down to is, do you want to splash a 3rd color for the instant speed early spot removal and some sideboard cards? And I am not sure how to answer that. UW or Esper/Jeskai (I consider the Bant version a very different deck than those 3) are pretty much the same except the 1/2 mana spot removal. Can UW stand on it on without them? I am leaning towards yes. But still playing with the new cards and waiting to see how the new meta plays out.
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Modern
Currently Playing UW UW Control/Miracles R Skred Red
As I said before I stopped playing competitive magic back in 2009-10 season and then stopped playing magic for good back in 2011. I started again last year in April 2017 when Amonkhet came out.
That along with the fact that I live in Tokyo but can't read Japanese at all, and barely speak it means that I didn't know that I have to pre-register for the PPTQ at my local store in advance.
On their website it just says registration time and that the max is 60 players and usually there are not many players coming to this store for FNM or for Standard Showdown on Saturdays.
So, I went there early today hoping to register quickly only to find out that all 60 spots were pre-registered already, and I had to wait but instead of a waitlist to see if any extra people can get in they had a page on which I can write my name and then they picked people AT RANDOM instead of in the order in which they signed up.
Long story short about 10-12 people signed up on that list, and they picked 4 at random and my name wasn't one of them so I couldn't participate in the PPTQ, which sucks because I worked on this deck a lot this past week and played both FNM and Showdown yesterday and was eager to play the deck in a bigger tournament and post my results.
I have learned my lesson and will make sure to pre-register for the next standard PPTQ in advance, whenever that may be.
Sorry to hear that xaltair. I can't imagine playing this game in a foreign language. I have a hard enough time in English. . .
It is actually not that hard to play magic against Japanese players except if they have a card that I haven't seen before, or a card that is hardly used. One guy played Nicol Bolas God Pharaoh the other day and I had to read what the card does online because his was in Japanese and after I read it I forgot that he can do 7 damage to a player, I thought it was only creatures so when I went down to 5 life because of not blocking his creatures he activated it Bolas and hit me for 7 to win the game. Had I remembered it can hit players I'd have blocked one of his creatures at least to stay over 7 life.
Such is life, it was my mistake for not reading the card and remembering it fully, and it was the first time ever that I had to play against this planeswalker, but it is hard when you can't just pick up a card and read it whenever you want. Aside from that the rules of the game are the same and funny enough I don't have issues in most games and don't have to call a judge usually at all during FNM or such tournaments.
The only problems have been with not being able to read the cards that they play so I'll have to check them online to see what they do, and sometimes they can't read my cards if I play English cards and they have to check it online to see what the card does, but magic is still magic and most games go on without a problem.
I do think I became better at playing magic by doing it this way and also at knowing potential cards that go into a specific deck so I can play around them or wait to counter them, but the metagame is wide open at my LGS so I never know what kind of deck I'll be playing against. People here don't all play the BEST deck online, so you never know what you're going to get.
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Tried your decklist in mtgo and got 5-0.
It can now handle merfolk.
tweaked it a bit though as i changed nezahal into gearhulks
The only change I have made so far is swapping one of the Cast Outs for a Ixalan's Binding. Being able to make one card go away for the rest of the game is so nice.
It is nice to be back on UW. I really like the 3 color versions, but UW is so much more consistent and Baffling End seems like it is the early interaction the deck needed.
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
After my poor showing of 2-3 at the last big tourney about 3 weeks ago, I haven't played this deck much. I was trying to test the local meta by playing a strange U/B control deck and testing the waters.
I will come back to U/W approach this week, and hopefully play an FNM or two because this weekend I have a PPTQ happening and I want to play Approach in it.
The main deck is not changed much but the sideboard I will be testing this week is this:
So, as before after sideboading the deck becomes more aggro but this time it can win with Horse tokens.
Sunscourge champions and vizier of deferment are used early game to survive until I can fumigate and then mid-game I can drop Cloudblazer to draw cards and gain life, and once I have a crested sunmare out I can Eternalize the champions, or use cloudblazer to gain life and make tokens.
The sunscourge champions are in the side now because I am running baffling end main (3) because I've heard good things about it and I tested it at the last tourney and it is a house against mono black decks, or mono red decks. Against control I can always discard it to champion of wits so it's not a dead card in the first game, same as with settle the wreckage or fumigate.
The god-pharaoh's gifts are there as an alternate win condition as well. I also keep 2 Approaches in the deck even after sideboarding, so I only take 1 out.
The only true sideboard cards are 2 crook of condemnation and 2 forsake the worldly to deal with opposite GPG's decks.
I run 1 Nezahal main deck so I don't think I need another one in the sideboard, if I do then I'll cut one GPG card for it.
Can't wait to make some horse tokens and kick some butt with them!
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Mtg Lifestyle
of new UW Appraoch Decks.
One even has 4 settles and 4 fumigates mainboard.
This could be good for the new meta of creature heavy decks!
I took a look, they are not tuned for aggro match-ups and half the decks on there are U/W Cycling not Approach. The 4-5 Approach decks are pretty standard but as I said before they are not main deck tuned for aggro match-ups but just in general. Having 4 Settles and 4 Fumigates main deck doesn't mean that you can win against aggro decks.
If you expect heavy aggro in your meta you should be playing 3-4 Sunscourge Champion and maybe even 2-3 Vizier of deferment main deck, if not then you can play those in the sideboard like I am doing.
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Mtg Lifestyle
What I do,
-3 Approach of the Second Sun
-1 Pull from Tomorrow
-2 Search for Azcanta
-2 Glimmer of Genius
-2 Disallow
Add
+4 Authority of the Consuls
+4 Regal Caracal
+2 Sunscourge Champion
I sideboard in these cards:
I sideboard out these cards:
So, I still have 2 Approach of the second sun main deck after sideboarding because it can still win out of nowhere, and also have 2 fumigates main deck, along with 3 settle the wreckage, 2 cast out and 3 baffling end.
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Mtg Lifestyle
I ended up going 2-1 tonight after facing not less than 3 Grixis midrange decks, one in each round actually. I will give a short event report and then I will be posting the deck that I intend to play from now on, it is changed a bit from the version I played tonight (about 3 cards got changed main deck).
Event Report
Round 1 - VS R/B/U Grixis midrange - result 2-0
Game 1- he got mana screwed or rather stuck on 4 lands and I got mana flooded hardcore but lucky for me I had a turn 2 search for azcanta out so I kept putting the lands in my graveyard. So of course on turn 7 I had enough lands to cast approach, then a couple of turns later I cast it again to win the game.
Game 2- he sideboarded without knowing I will be bringing in creatures, so turn 5 I got a cloudblazerout and beat him for a couple of turns and turn 7 I dropped nezahal, primal tide and on his turn he cast a scarab god. On my turn I cast out his scarab god and hit with nezahal and cloudblazer. On his turn he couldn't draw an answer and scooped.
Round 2 - VS R/B/U Grixis midrange with scarab god, chandra, hostage taker, whirler virtuoso, and Nicol Bolas, God-Pharaoh - result 0-2
Game 1- I couldn't get my mana out and he dropped a scarab god early and manage to make some tokens and I didn't draw any answer to it so I lost.
Game 2- I was having mana issues again, this was a tough game, he managed to get a hostage taker out and get my thaumatic compass and cast it on the same turn, then he dropped scarab god and started making tokens from my creatures. I managed to fumigate and then use crook of condemnation to exile both our graveyards, but he dropped NICOL BOLAS in the next turn and made me exile the 2 cards in my hand. I managed to draw approach and cast it and then he was BOLAS again to exile cards from the top of my library and got another approach. Also he cast a whirler virtuoso and made two tokens and attacked me, I was a couple of turns from drawing my Approach but I didn't know that BOLAS can also deal 7 damage to me (I live in Tokyo so my opp's cards are all in Japanese, I looked at what the card does online but I forgot that his ability targets players too, it was the first time to play against him).
Round 3 - VS R/B/U Grixis combo/midrange - treasures and Marionette Master - result 2-1
Game 1- This was a funny one, I didn't know what his deck does because he did nothing most of the game. I reached 7 mana and cast approach without problems and on his turn he noticed I was tapped out and cast brass's bounty to make 7 treasures. A couple of turns later I was again almost tapped out but for some reason I had not drawn any counterspells the whole game so far, I was holding a hand of 3 baffling end, 2 settle the wreckage, 1 fumigate and another card. He cast Marionette Master and put 3 counters on it and then started to sac treasures and of course dealt more damage than my 27 life.
Game 2- He got mana screwed a bit and couldn't cast much and on turn 7 I cast nezahal and proceeded to beat him down with it.
Game 3- Much of the same except he spent the first couple of turns duressing me and although he made me discard an Approach I drew into another one and he just didn't draw any business and I cast Approach twice to win. He was surprised that I still kept approaches in the deck in games 2 and 3.
So, I didn't get to play against aggro decks although my deck was tuned for those match-ups so baffling end did nothing all 3 matches. I did have trouble dealing with main deck Scarab God and with planeswalkers especially Nicol Bolas. I did have 2 Cast Out and 2 Negates main deck but after sideboarding I didn't have any extra cards to deal with planeswalkers.
This is my latest decklist after today's tourney:
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Irrigated Farmland
1 Hostile Desert
1 Arch of Orazca
1 Ipnu Rivulet
1 Shefet Dunes
7 Island
6 Plains
Creatures(4)
1 Nezahal, primal tide
3 Champion of Wits
Enchantments(6)
2 Search for Azcanta
2 Cast out
2 Baffling End
2 Thaumatic Compass
Spells(24)
3 Essence Scatter
2 Negate
2 Supreme Will
2 Disallow
2 Commit // Memory
3 Settle the Wreckage
3 Fumigate
3 Approach of the Second Sun
4 Hieroglyphic Illumination
2 Crook of Condemnation
2 Ixalan's Binding
2 Vizier of Deferment
3 Sunscourge Champion
2 Crested Sunmare
2 Cloudblazer
1 Nezahal, primal tide
1 Dovin Baan
So, to improve the first game against the scarab god and planeswalkers I have added 2 commit//memory main deck, if the scarab god comes out it can get bounced back with commit and then the next turn I can flashback memory to make sure there are no creatures in any graveyards. Commit is also good at bouncing back or countering planeswalkers for another turn or maybe two. I used to play it main deck back when I started playing this deck after Amonkhet came out last year.
In the sideboard, I have added 2 ixalan's binding to help fight scarab god and planeswalkers in game 2 and 3. The other sideboard cards are self-explanatory and I usually board in a lot of creatures in game 2 and 3 against both aggro decks and midrange decks. They usually board out a lot of their removal since in the first game they see I don't have many creatures so I can run them over after side boarding.
Check out my Youtube channel where I upload MTG content videos twice a week!
Mtg Lifestyle
Not sure if you guys have seen this yet. 4 Color Mastermind's Acquisition Approach. It is basically Bant Approach with black to run Mastermind's Acquisition. I started playing testing it a few days ago and it is so much fun. And surprisingly good. Combine the ramp with being able to grab any card from your library and/or sideboard is crazy. I think it needs a little tweaking, it feels like it is about 90% there. I am still trying to get the sideboard right. There are so many silver bullets you can add to it. I have moved one of the Approachs to the side and added Fatal Push main. That seemed to help smooth out the early game.
Yes, it looks jankly as hell. I know. I laughed when I first saw it. But after spending a few hours with it, I will be ordering the paper cards today. I am going to the GP in Memphis is a few weeks and this just may be what I take there.
Here is an article on it. Instant Deck Tech: Four-Color Acquisition (Standard)
1 Shefet Monitor
Spell 32
4 Approach of the Second Sun
1 Battle at the Bridge
3 Beneath the Sands
4 Fumigate
4 Gift of Paradise
4 Hour of Promise
2 Ixalan's Binding
4 Mastermind's Acquisition
1 Never // Return
2 Settle the Wreckage
3 Vraska's Contempt
Land 27
1 Arch of Orazca
4 Blooming Marsh
3 Concealed Courtyard
3 Forest
3 Hashep Oasis
2 Ifnir Deadlands
1 Ipnu Rivulet
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Profane Procession
3 Scattered Groves
1 Shefet Dunes
2 Sunpetal Grove
1 Swamp
1 Bontu's Last Reckoning
4 Duress
1 Forsake the Worldly
1 Nezahal, Primal Tide
1 Pull from Tomorrow
4 Regal Caracal
1 Slice in Twain
1 The Scarab God
1 Wildest Dreams
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
I think 3 approaches main deck and 1 in the sideboard is the way to go for this deck. I would also run an Angrath, the Flame-Chained in the sideboard since you can tutor for him, and he seems like one of the stronger planeswalkers available these days.
As a side note I built a sick U/B control deck using mastermind's acquisition since that card is hella good.
Check out my Youtube channel where I upload MTG content videos twice a week!
Mtg Lifestyle
Anyone else here going to GP Memphis?
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
If you have opinions on Approach v UB/Grixis control I'd like to hear!
Then this UW Approach build pops up with a 5-0 result today . . .
Seems this deck has reduced the 10-12 counters we typically see in favor of Aether Meltdown, Baffling End, and Slash of Talons in the side.
Thanks!
3 fumigate
3 settle
3 approach
3 baffling end
2 aether meltdown
3 censor
1 pull from tomorrow
4 glimmer
1 ixalan's binding
3 cast out
2 search for azcanta
2 supreme will
3 disallow
2 gearhulk
1 scavenger grounds
1 arch of orazca
2 field of ruin
4 irrigated farmland
4 glacial fortress
3 ipnu rivulet
6 plains
4 island
Sideboard
2 Gideon of the trials
3 regal caracal
1 nezahal
2 negate
3 sunscourge champion
3 authority of the consuls
1 supreme will
http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?p=11439737#post11439737
Reality is only what man allows it to be. Few shape it so that many may accept it.
Fatal Push v Slash of Talons
Non-Ramunap Red
Both cards are very effective in this match-up.
Both: Bomat Courier, Soul-Scar Mage, Earthshaker Khenra, Harsh Mentor
Push: Kari Zev, Skyship Raider
Slash: Ahn-Crop Crasher
Grixis
Neither card great here.
Both: Glint-Sleeve Siphoner
Black-Green Constrictor
Push gets the key players but Slash has plenty of targets available (at least until they get +1'd out of range).
Both: Glint-Sleeve Siphoner, Merfolk Branchwalker
Push: Walking Ballista, Winding Constrictor
Slash: Jadelight Ranger, Rishkar, Peema Renegade, Ravenous Chupacabra
I'm a little surprised at the efficacy of Slash of Talons. It is sort of in competition with Authority of the Consuls in my sideboard. I will think about this card more. . .
the problem that I have been having with Grixis at my LGS is that they are keen to my sideboard plan of trading out Approach for Gearhulk and Nezahal. They bring in their Duress, Negate, and Disallow. While still leaving in an Abrade and multiples of Vraska's Contempt. All while landing a turn 2 Glint-sleeve Siphoner which is nightmare if Baffling end is not available right away.
Questioning whether Glyph Keeper would be useful with its recursion and semi-hexproof.
C Long Live Eldrazi C
On my 3 days of magic, today being the 2nd one I played the standard showdown at my LGS and went 1-1-1 out of 3 rounds, it was a weird day.
I will give a short description of what happened:
Round 1 - VS- Mono Red aggro with ahn crop, bomat, hazoret, etc... result 1-2
Game 1- I don't know what happened, but I took care of his guys and managed to approach twice for the win, go figure.
Game 2- I kept a 5 land hand and 2 creatures and wouldn't you know I drew another land and of course he beat me down quickly.
Game 3- He got mana flooded hardcore, I kept a 2 land hand and of course I didn't draw any lands for the next 4 turns to basically lose to a 2/1 pirate and a 1/1 pirate which beat me for 3 every turn and then he burned me to death.
After sideboarding I should have an even better chance to beat this deck than in the first game so this was a fluke and it was my bad for keeping a 5 land hand in the second game, and of course I had no idea I'd get mana screwed in the 3rd.
Round 2 - VS - 4 Color Planeswalkers.deck - I don't know what to call it, he played Vraska G/B, he played Ajani G/W, he played Gideon and Nissa G/W 1-1
Game 1 - It took me a while but I managed to cast approach twice for the win.
Game 2 - We went to time because he got Gideon's emblem out so I was holding 2 approaches but couldn't cast them since I can't win until I get rid of Gideon, I had 2 Cast outs and 2 Commits in my deck and I lost to him the turn before I could draw the commit to bounce Gideon and cast approach in the same turn, this was also turn 3 of the last 5 turns so we drew the match 1-1.
Again a strange occurrence since I had 4 outs and probably less than 20 cards left in my deck, I should've won this match pretty easily but he had most of his deck on board including all 4 of his planeswalkers.
Round 3 -VS - G/U Merfolk with the usual things including Kumena and all his buddies - result 2-1
Game 1 - I managed to top deck a Fumigate and cast it on turn 5 to wipe his board clean and then cast a second one on turn 7 to wipe it clean again, then I cast approach back to back to win the first game.
Game 2 - I only managed to get 1 plains out of the 7 lands I had in play, so I couldn't cast fumigate or settle the wreckage or anything and got killed by merfolk.
Game 3 - I got a turn 2 baffling end on his merfolk, then turn 3 I cast vizier of deferment to exile a guy and block the other guy. Turn 4 I cast ixalan's binding on another merfolk and turn 5 or 6 I cast fumigate to clear his board. He was down to one card in hand pretty much topdecking when I cast my champion of wits, the next turn I Eternalized a sunscourge champion and started to beat him down, and a couple of turns later he was dead when my deck went aggro on him. I forgot to say that he actually countered my approach when I cast it, and that's why I managed to fumigate a turn after because he wasted his counter on the approach, for some reason he was really afraid of losing to it again.
I was actually surprised that I managed to beat this deck because he got the enchantment that makes 1/1 hexproof tokens whenever he casts a merfolk out in the game that he beat me, and in the third game but I managed to ixalan's binding it.
So, after yesterday's testing and today's testing I give you the final version of the deck that I will be playing at the PPTQ tomorrow:
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Irrigated Farmland
1 Arch of Orazca
2 Ipnu Rivulet
1 Shefet Dunes
7 Island
6 Plains
Creatures(4)
1 Nezahal, primal tide
3 Champion of Wits
Enchantments(7)
2 Search for Azcanta
2 Cast out
3 Baffling End
2 Thaumatic Compass
Spells(24)
3 Essence Scatter
2 Negate
2 Supreme Will
2 Disallow
1 Commit // Memory
3 Settle the Wreckage
3 Fumigate
3 Approach of the Second Sun
4 Hieroglyphic Illumination
2 Crook of Condemnation
2 Ixalan's Binding
3 Vizier of Deferment
3 Sunscourge Champion
2 Cloudblazer
1 Wakening Sun's avatar
2 Slaughter the strong
The deck is as streamlined as it's going to get before tomorrow's tourney. I have decided to play 2 slaughter the strong as a meta choice because everyone is expecting turn 4 settle or turn 5 fumigate and so being able to get rid of some big creatures with slaughter on turn 4 or 5 and keeping back one counter can be key in many match-ups. If there is a creature left it can be handled by baffling end, cast out or ixalan's binding. This card also takes care of hazoret indirectly and of the scarab god and maybe kill some tokens that he made also, and if they get to keep one token it doesn't matter since vizier of deferment can kill that token when it comes into play.
On the creature side, my idea of going aggro with small creatures usually takes people by surprise and has worked for me today, and cloudblazer was an MVP every time I got to cast it, gaining 2 life, a blocker and drawing 2 cards is amazing for this deck. His friend vizier of deferment is also amazing being able to deal with 2 creatures (exile one and block another) is key on turn 3 when you are facing 2-3 creatures attacking you.
Last but not least ixalan's binding proved to work great against almost all decks that I played it against and I think 2 are enough in the side to go along with the 2 cast outs main deck and 3 baffling ends main deck as well.
In case you are wondering how I sideboard against aggro decks I take out:
And I put in:
So after sideboarding I still have 2 approaches main deck to gain life and win games out of nowhere, but the rest of the deck is basically only cards to remove creatures and my own creatures to beat down after.
Check out my Youtube channel where I upload MTG content videos twice a week!
Mtg Lifestyle
As I said before I stopped playing competitive magic back in 2009-10 season and then stopped playing magic for good back in 2011. I started again last year in April 2017 when Amonkhet came out.
That along with the fact that I live in Tokyo but can't read Japanese at all, and barely speak it means that I didn't know that I have to pre-register for the PPTQ at my local store in advance.
On their website it just says registration time and that the max is 60 players and usually there are not many players coming to this store for FNM or for Standard Showdown on Saturdays.
So, I went there early today hoping to register quickly only to find out that all 60 spots were pre-registered already, and I had to wait but instead of a waitlist to see if any extra people can get in they had a page on which I can write my name and then they picked people AT RANDOM instead of in the order in which they signed up.
Long story short about 10-12 people signed up on that list, and they picked 4 at random and my name wasn't one of them so I couldn't participate in the PPTQ, which sucks because I worked on this deck a lot this past week and played both FNM and Showdown yesterday and was eager to play the deck in a bigger tournament and post my results.
I have learned my lesson and will make sure to pre-register for the next standard PPTQ in advance, whenever that may be.
Check out my Youtube channel where I upload MTG content videos twice a week!
Mtg Lifestyle
Sorry to hear that xaltair. I can't imagine playing this game in a foreign language. I have a hard enough time in English. . .
W/U APPROACH by Gerald_of_Riviera
This is a 5-0 list that has Glyph Keeper and Slash of Talons in the side. I am liking Baffling End more and more. Being playing around with the 4 color list I posted a few days ago, but the straight UW version is just so smooth right now. But is it good enough for Approach not to need to splash a 3rd color? Not sure. For me, what it really just comes down to is, do you want to splash a 3rd color for the instant speed early spot removal and some sideboard cards? And I am not sure how to answer that. UW or Esper/Jeskai (I consider the Bant version a very different deck than those 3) are pretty much the same except the 1/2 mana spot removal. Can UW stand on it on without them? I am leaning towards yes. But still playing with the new cards and waiting to see how the new meta plays out.
Modern
Currently Playing
UW UW Control/Miracles
R Skred Red
Retired
BU Faeries
RGW Naya Burn
BW B/W Tokens
It is actually not that hard to play magic against Japanese players except if they have a card that I haven't seen before, or a card that is hardly used. One guy played Nicol Bolas God Pharaoh the other day and I had to read what the card does online because his was in Japanese and after I read it I forgot that he can do 7 damage to a player, I thought it was only creatures so when I went down to 5 life because of not blocking his creatures he activated it Bolas and hit me for 7 to win the game. Had I remembered it can hit players I'd have blocked one of his creatures at least to stay over 7 life.
Such is life, it was my mistake for not reading the card and remembering it fully, and it was the first time ever that I had to play against this planeswalker, but it is hard when you can't just pick up a card and read it whenever you want. Aside from that the rules of the game are the same and funny enough I don't have issues in most games and don't have to call a judge usually at all during FNM or such tournaments.
The only problems have been with not being able to read the cards that they play so I'll have to check them online to see what they do, and sometimes they can't read my cards if I play English cards and they have to check it online to see what the card does, but magic is still magic and most games go on without a problem.
I do think I became better at playing magic by doing it this way and also at knowing potential cards that go into a specific deck so I can play around them or wait to counter them, but the metagame is wide open at my LGS so I never know what kind of deck I'll be playing against. People here don't all play the BEST deck online, so you never know what you're going to get.
Check out my Youtube channel where I upload MTG content videos twice a week!
Mtg Lifestyle
Removing 4x Disallow and 3x Fumigate.
Talons has been really good so far. Slashing a Glint-Sleeve Siphoner while holding up two mana for Censor or Essence Scatter early in the game.
C Long Live Eldrazi C