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  • posted a message on Bubble Hulk
    Hey everyone! I played a 4-round FNM-style tourny last night and felt like writing about it.

    A bit of background first: I haven’t played paper magic since about November or December of last year. Recently I have been focusing on working on tasks around the house and really hitting the gym a lot more frequently. I keep telling myself that I need to get out and play, but something always comes up or just seems like a better option. This week my buddy was in from out of state and, since we used to play Magic a lot back in college, we typically try to make it out to a weekly local event when he comes home. We are both free Tuesday night and my friend’s local shop is hosting modern. No excuses this time, let’s play some Magic!

    Like me, my friend enjoys weird decks (or at least weird cards in known decks). This time he brought Taking Turns with him, but a UG version that used…. Scute Mob as a win con. Since he was playing some jank, I figured I shouldn’t play Tron, Humans, UW Miracles or some other unfun T1 pile. Perfect excuse to play an off the wall combo deck… Bubble Hulk.

    My (untested) list is below.



    Round 1 RG Eldrazi –
    G1: My opponent is nice enough. He says he is practicing for an SCG Open and that his deck is aggressive (or something along those lines). I am ready for a rules lawyer with tight play piloting Vengevine, Humans, or some Affinity variant. I lose the roll, keep a fine hand that can win on T3-4 if I find a Footsteps. He starts off on Wooded Foothills into forest into Ancient Stirrings. I am a bit confused as RG Eldrasi is NOT on my Radar. After a few uneventful turns of me looting, him digging and playing some unimpressive eldrazi, I end up combing on T4.

    SB: I feel like I need speed and artifact removal here. Abrade might be able to hit a stray ooze or an early creature to keep me alive a bit longer if needed.
    +2 Abrade
    -2 Night's Whisper

    G2: He has a Relic and Grafdigger’s cage. I see no removal or TTB all game. Dead.

    G3: I throw back a 1 lander on 7, see an unplayable 6, and keep a 5 that needs to find a hulk and some mana. I end up finding the mana, but not the Hulk. Spaghetti beats get me.
    0-1 (1-2)

    Round 2 Burn –
    G1: My opponent is my buddy who owns the shop. I know what he is on since he had been discussing trading decks around earlier that night. I figure I justt need speed here and the Brutalities will help me stay alive a bit longer. I keep a 7 card hand with looting, combo creatures, and lands. I figure we can try to draw into something, but we never do. Burn does its thing (even stuck on one land for the first few turns) and I am quickly down a game.

    SB: I still think I just need to race here. I brought in Duress since I am not sure I want to lose the life to Whisper.
    -2 Night's Whisper
    -1 Neonate
    +3 Duress

    G2: I keep 6 card hand with 2 lands with 2 Body double and 2 Reunions. This game is interesting as I am able to draw into a brutality that keeps me alive for a bit, I play an ape to chump (I assumed searing blaze is out) and I buy more time than I really deserve. At 2 life I cast another Brutality and bin a Hulk to kill one of his two goblin guides and go to 4 life. I have footsteps in hand but I am 1 mana short of casting it for the win. I need him to brick once and he does not. He hits a guide off the top and swings for lethal.
    0-2 (1-4)

    Round 3 Mono Green Stompy
    G1: I am not sure what he is on, but I keep an hand with Primus, Lands, looting. No hulk and no reanimation. He has a pretty aggressive start with a T1 Dryad Militant T2 Ooze. I am able to deal with the ooze, but being unable to flashback Looting hurts pretty bad. I eventually have to Footsteps a Woodfall Primus to blow up some lands and get a blocker. That buys me a few turns, but he goes wide with Treetop Village and Strangleroot Geist before I can find a Hulk and another reanimation spell.

    SB: Creature removal and some Artifact hate (Abrade is a great card)
    +2 Anger
    +2 Abrade
    +1 Lightning Axe
    -2 Night's Whisper
    -2 Neonate
    -1 Body Double (I think? I know what I brought in for the matchup, but I forget the last card I took out)

    G2: I have a fine 7 with all the pieces I need to combo. I see an ooze on his T2 that meets an Abrade (no wonder people like this card). His T3 he develops his board looking to go wide again. I loot a Hulk into the GY and have a Makeshift Mannequin to get it back after I untap. With my life total at 13, he untaps with an Avatar of the resolute, Dryad Militant, Strangleroot Geist, and that land that gives a creature +2/+2 and a lot of untapped mana. He swings out and I don't THINK he can kill me, but like I said, I haven't played Magic in quite awhile. I don't think I get punished for getting the Hulk out to block, so I go for it. He helps me out by dismembering the Hulk to take the counter off and get it into the GY. We win from there.

    G3: He doesn't have an ooze, I have a standard T3 kill. Neat. We're on the board.
    1-2 (3-5)

    Round 4 Bogle
    G1: Ok, so I know a 2-2 record at best isn’t really report-worthy, but I found the power of Woodfall Primus in this match and it kind of made me what to do a write-up. I know my opponent is on Bogles and I saw Leyline in his main earlier. I am REALLY hoping to dodge it, get under him, and salvage my night. I win the roll and keep a pretty fast 7, but before any games actions are taken, he reveals double Leyline. Great. So, my first few turns are spent looting for some answers. I am able to bin a Body double, Woodfall Primus and a Hulk. No reanimation spell just yet. At this point, I was thinking “I need 2 reanimation spells here to win. That’s a tall order”. However, after drawing Footsteps, I start to think through some lines and I THINK that with my GY, I can win in one turn. So, I play a Viscera Seer and Footsteps targeting Hulk. Sac Hulk to get Body Double and another seer. Copy Hulk, sac “Hulk” to get Reveilark and Fanatic. Sac Reveilark to get back 2x Body double. Double1 copies Primus, Double2 copies Hulk (should have copied Reveilark). Primus trigger to hit Leyline1. Sac “Primus”, persist, copy Primus again, trigger to kill Leyline2. Sac “Hulk” get another Reveilark and then loop through as normal. ** I complicated this line in the moment. It is MUCH easier to get the combo out and then use a combo of Body Double, Reveilark, and Primus to nuke all of their non-creature permanents before finishing with the normal combo** This deck is fun (for me)! Let’s go to Game 2!

    SB: I need to hit RIP early and I need to be able to slow him down. Brutality is terrible anyway….
    -4 Brutality
    -1 Neonate
    +3 Duress (I need to hit RIP. At worst I take an aggressive enchantment)
    +2 Wear/Tear

    G2: I Don't Remember a ton from this. I just know he didn't have the fastest start in the world. He didn't have any interaction with my GY and I think I just combo on T4 or T5 and we move to the next game.

    G3: I see a pretty bad 7 that has 2x Duress, Wear/Tear, 1 scry land, SSG, and 2 Body Double. Yuck. My 6 is better with 3 Lands, Looting, Duress, Body Double. He plays out a Bogle and on my T1 I Duress to see Lands, Bogle, Spiritdancer, and 2 Coronets. No grave hate so I take a Coronet, I figure I can get through this. T2, he draws, puts out a Spirit Dancer (if I remember right) and passes. I draw loot away a Hulk and pass. He plays some enchantments on his dancer and draws a few cards. On T3 I draw another duress, play it and see Suppression Field. Very glad we caught that one. Play Faithless looting to find a Footsteps and pass hoping he doesn't find a RIP (I have a wear/Tear but would need a new Hulk) he plays out a few more enchantments (not nearly enough for lethal) attacks and passes. We Footsteps and win the game and match to end 2-2.
    2-2 (5-6)

    My entire 75 could use some work. I will probably mess around with it today. But the deck felt fast, powerful, and fun. I loved it. I will certainly attempt to tune it and I hope to run it again soon. A few thoughts below (after 4 matches, mind you):

    Holy Hell is Cathartic Reunion Awkward. In postboard games I am always terrified to bin combo pieces in case of a Relic/Crypt/RIP/Spellbomb/Ooze/etc. I'd actually consider going into Grixis JUST to play Izzet Charm.

    Woodfall Primus is a beast. Might go up to 3.

    Do we need 3 body Double? Two seems acceptable.

    4 Brutalities main might be too much with Burn being kind of rare. I'd cut to 3 I think.

    Through the Breach just wasn't cast, but I didn't play against any control. I'd keep it for now, but it would be on my watch-list for cards to move to the SB.

    I think I need another Blood Crypt in the manabase. No idea why I played 1.

    If I continue with the BR version with Reunion, I'd consider going to 20 lands to have the option to bin those more often.

    3 SSG seems fine. You still can combo on T1 with the god draw. Again, another card I might remove one copy to see how it feels. They didn't do anything tonight, but it is a small sample size.
    Posted in: Combo
  • posted a message on Taking Turns
    Hello everyone!

    My friend is coming back into town and I think we might got to FNM and play the same deck: Turns.

    Anyway, this will be my first experience with the deck and I have a few questions:
    • Based on the discussion here, it seems that the white splash is accepted as the "best". Is that correct?
    • Is 1 the correct number of Jace, the Mind Sculptor to run? I have 3 sitting around and it seems the potential to brainstorm when going off could be better than simply drawing an extra card. But it does cost 2 more than mine and 1 more than Dictate.

    Anything else someone new to the deck should know before jumping in?
    Thanks
    Posted in: Modern Archives - Established
  • posted a message on [Primer] Lantern Control
    All,

    For some time I have considered putting together Lantern when I get the Control/Prison itch. Over the past few months I've been getting cards here and there. Unfortunately, I have been going off of an old list as it seems Glint-Nest Care isn't being played much (or at least the frequent posters here are not playing it).

    I have added my list below. Is BUG still viable with Crane or should I go move to a more conventional GB list? Thoughts?

    Posted in: Control
  • posted a message on RG Titan Scapeshift
    T1? Damn!

    So, my only critique of the "stock" list I have been running is that I seem to draw Scapeshift more frequently than i want to.

    Thoughts on going to 3 Scapeshift rather than 4? If so, what do I replace it with? Baloth? Another Threat? Ramp?
    Posted in: Modern Archives - Proven
  • posted a message on RG Titan Scapeshift
    First time playing titanshift last night (I had been playing breach titan and BTL Scapeshift before) and went 3-0-1 (4-0 since we split in the last round but when we played for the extra pack, I won).

    2-0 White Weenie (not DnT)
    2-1 Gw Tron
    2-1 Living End
    2-1 Merfolk

    I had a pretty standard list with a "goofy" sideboard. I will post a list later and I can do a quick report if anyone is interested.

    The deck felt very strong and consistent all night (outside of the Tron match where we both mulliganed in each game to 5 or 6 card). I will probably make some small adjustments, but I like this deck going forward.
    Posted in: Modern Archives - Proven
  • posted a message on RG Titan Scapeshift
    Has anyone tried out the Madcap Experiment combo in the side? The BTL Scapeshift lists have been using Madcap Experiment and Platinum Emperion as a 1-of (but they can BTL for it).

    It seems alright in matchups like Affinity, Death's Shadow, Zoo, Burn, and Dredge. Maybe some other applications as well. I am considering trying it, but if using it against dredge, I would need to replace Grafdigger's cage. Additionally, since we cannot BTL into Madcap, you would probably need at least 2 to make it worth while.
    Posted in: Modern Archives - Proven
  • posted a message on [Primer] Ad Nauseam
    Quote from Dizdo »

    The real question is how good will it be when people start to realize that ad nauseam lists can do this.


    I think it has made it better already: if people see this they may keep in creature removal even when the Ad Naus player doesn't board this in (or just doesn't use this in the SB).

    You don't have to use it for it to be good for "us" Wink
    Posted in: Combo
  • posted a message on [Primer] Ad Nauseam
    Another thought (unrelated to my post above)

    No spoils in his list but he runs Lab Man. Very interesting and I would love to hear his reasoning.
    Posted in: Combo
  • posted a message on [Primer] Ad Nauseam
    Well, most matchups board out creature removal and you can potentially cast madcap early with SSG. If you get them with it G2 and go into a G3 they may bring back in removal and you can keepthem guessing and force them to board in a strange way. I like the idea against aggressive decks like infect, burn, zoo, bant eldrazi, and the like. Maybe Jund/Junk as well. Things like titanshift, scapeshift, and any control decks though it seems bad.

    I REALLY want to try this out. Ordered the foils copies already.
    Posted in: Combo
  • posted a message on RG Breach
    Quote from Diogenes35 »
    Happy to help. I think you're right that the traditional Breach deck was very combo-centric, especially with Emrakul in there. Both versions are combo decks, however. One deck prefers Scapeshift while the other Through the Breach & TItan. Both have issues with Blood Moon. While I don't play RG Scapeshift, RG Breach aims for a turn 4 Titan kill (with a possible turn 3 Breach Titan).

    Below is my updated decklist once Kaladesh kicks off. I agree with Duramboros that Chandra, Torch of Defiance is a great addition to the deck and feel it fits much better than Nahiri, the Harbinger ever did. Overall, Chandra provides a more consistent turn 4 Titan (with it's +1 double red). It also provides card advantage in the late game, helps mana flooding, and offers creature removal. For me it feels like a homerun in this deck.

    I play in a meta with combo decks like Scapeshift, RG Scapeshift, Bring to Light Scapeshift, and Ad Nauseum, so I've chosen to run a Blood Crypt main and Slaughter Games in the sideboard as these combo decks can be fast and problematic. With that explained, here is my list....



    Woah.... I really like this list! Odd choice of 3 anger and 4 bolt in the main when your meta is combo heavy though.

    I might have to pick up a few Chandra's to try this out. Damn shame they are still expensive. If I can find them in the low $30 range I'll probably jump.

    Edit: Do you miss the 4th Farseek with only 1 blood crypt?
    Posted in: Deck Creation (Modern)
  • posted a message on [Primer] Collected Company Elves
    Hello all!

    I played this deck for a bit a few months ago. With the new GB fastland, where do you see the manabase for the Gb version of the deck? 4x GB fast lands, 4x Palace? At that point would this deck want fetchlands?

    Thanks in advance!
    Posted in: Modern Archives
  • posted a message on [[Official]] Modern Prices Discussion
    It would seem to me that Tron lands are kind of rough ion a limited setting (can anyone confirm?) and I think they are kind of tough to reprint. Especially in a masters set.

    So, if I had to guess, I'd say they would not be in MM2017
    Posted in: Modern
  • posted a message on [Primer] Lantern Control
    Hello all!

    I realized that I have nearly everything I need for lantern while I was going through some of my cards the other day. However, my friend is currently borrowing my copies of Glimmervoid. Is there a replacement I can run until I get them back? Gemstone Mine? City of Brass? Mana Confluence? Tendo Ice Bridge? Some mix of the 4, or something else I am not thinking of?

    Thanks in advanace!!
    Posted in: Control
  • posted a message on Cruel Control: Ultimate Ultimatum
    Do you mind if I ask to see your current list?

    I had played this deck for some time a year or so ago, but I had almost forgotten about it until I saw my buddy streaming a.... sub-par list.

    I'm looking for a starting point and you seem to be having success.
    Thanks!
    Posted in: Control
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