Just wanted to say that a one of Mwonvuli Acid-Moss in the mainboard has been insane for me in testing in a BtL build. It takes the place of Hunting Wilds. I've really liked being able to knock my opponent down to 2 or 3 lands and catapult myself to 5 or 6 not to mention how much time it can buy against the Eldrazi and Tron decks while having the utility to destroy problematic lands. The card is insane although it is something that gets sided out against the more aggressive decks (Burn, Zoo, etc.)
Now it looks like there's endless tron and eldrazi decks to prey on.
So lately I was trying some Twin variants, now I guess I can try Scapeshift again ...I think it might be tier 1 again, but I kind of fear the eldrazi deck. How is that matchup guys? I can't really imagine we would prey on a deck with a bilion of discard and "when you cast" effects that can't be countered
I honestly think that playing Think Twice in the main is the first step, because there are so many discard spells and Lilis going around. Mainboard Anger/Firespout or Electrolyze deals with Blight Herder (somewhat), but as for OSower, I guess we just ignore the ability and counter the creature half.
My thoughts are to run Mana Leak, counter the giant bodies, and pick off whatever's left over.
I think our biggest problems against the Eldrazi deck are Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger and Oblivion Sower. Game One you just have to hope they don't have it/ hope they don't hit your lands as it feels like you can ignore everything else that they do. For sideboard games, I've found that Leyline of Sanctity does a really good job at crippling them as their creatures are slow enough that they don't pose much of a threat. Black has less options but I always bring in slaughter games and typically name Oblivion Sower and that usually buys me enough time to find Scapeshift for the win.
I may be crazy but I'm testing 1-2 Voidslimes maindeck. At worst it's a Cancel but I really like the clutchness of being able to counter Oblivion Sower and Ulamog's triggers. Additionally, being able to counter Ghost Quarters and Tectonic Edges will be nice as we will probably be seeing an uptick in land destruction effects.
I've seen a lot of people gush about Bring to Light in this thread. For those of you who have tested the card, how does it compare to the old Clutch of the Undercity lists from the past? I haven't tested Bring to Light yet, but I feel like if the optimal build of Scapeshift was a 4 color version with an off-color tutor and silver bullets we would all be playing that instead of the currently accepted RUG-Cryptic build. I have to admit however, that Bring to Light seems a lot more versatile and grabs a lot more things than Clutch as well as leaving the possibility to cast counterspells when you want to cast the spell that turn.
I think the Elder Dragon is better in cube, but this seems like a card that is way more fun to play. The dream would be playing this guy, dropping a primeval titan next turn, attaching lightning greaves to titan and swinging in.
This was just spoiled and I like it a lot for Upheaval and Wildfire decks. It feels like a bigger Mind Stone that makes 1 less mana than Thran Dynamo. I'll definitely be testing this rock out.
The FTV printing of Grove of the Burnwillows seems to have had a price jump this week. I picked up the play set I needed for around $42 last week and it looks like TCG Mid is now $52 with 5 sellers left. CFB has begun offering them at $60.
I like that both cards do fairly unique things. Omnath can store mana and potentially be a big beater while Shaman can ramp out a big beater and provide a Biorhythm effect maybe once every 100 games. I am trying to support green ramp in my cube.
Black has its share of token producers in order to support stax/pox and there are a few token producers in Green. I think there are enough token producers in my cube that there might be a viable token deck but I'm not explicitly going out of my way to provide it support. At that point is Spectral Procession needed or would it be more beneficial to cut it for something else?
Note: I don't run Ajani Goldmane because my group commented on white having an excessive number of planeswalkers compared to other colors during our first few sessions. I cut Ajani to try to address these problems as I like the Elspeths and Gideon more.
I have found myself moving away from explicitly supporting tokens in cube in favor of supporting other strategies while leaving cards that happen to make tokens and are good on their own in the cube (Brimaz, King of Oreskos, Hero of Bladehold, Cloudgoat Ranger, etc,). With that being said, would you guys recommend still running Spectral Procession and what decks besides those focusing on tokens would want it? It feels like Spectral is a 4-drop rather than a true 3-drop outside of Mono-White decks which puts it in direct competition with cube's other powerful 4-drops. I'm not sure if making 3 1/1 flying spirits is as powerful as playing a Restoration Angel or Hero of Bladehold, especially without explicit token support.
(Forgot to mention that my cube is 360 un-powered)
Obviously only the Hellkite and Golem are competing for the same slot but I think I only want two of these at 360. They each have advantages that makes this a difficult choice for me. Hellkite hits players, Atarka can be Natural Ordered in, and Bosh can be Tinkered in.
I just finished with an 81 person Modern PPTQ. I went 5-2 and finished 12th after losing a win-and-in against Twin in round 6. I still can't figure out that matchup and it just feels like whoever draws better will come out on top. Here is my list:
Game One I was able to bounce his creastures and seal the game with Sundering Titan and Batterskull. (1-0)
Game Two I got overrun by a Monastery Mentor that ended up getting out of control when I ultimately ran out of bounce and counter spells. Man Lands are tough for out deck to deal with. (1-1)
Game Three I was able to grind his resources down with bounce and counterspsells. Sundering Titan once again sealed the deal when I left him with two lands. (2-1)
I don't remember what I sided in exactly but I do remember bringing in Aetherize, Aetherspouts,Dismembers, and Vapor Snags. Snag is questionable but deals with Twin well and let's us bounce man lands, Unsummon might better as we can bounce our own spells pain free.
Round 2 vs Scapeshift (1-1)
Game One he couldn't draw Scapeshift and I hung on until I could get Sundering Titan out. Titan was able to destroy 3 mountains coming into play. I play and Crack Oblivion Stone to send Titan to the graveyard to get 2 more mountains with the threat of Academy Ruins recursion. He proceeds to scoop. (1-0)
Games Two and Three were similar in that it felt as if I ran out of resources/ wasn't able to draw enough counterspells and ended up getting comboed on. I think this is similar to the twin matchup in feeling draw dependent. (1-1) & (1-2)
For this matchup I sided out repeals and Ugin to bring the Squelches and Spell Pierces in.
Round 3 vs Bogles (2-1)
Game One I lucked into a turn 2 Spellskite and bounced his pithing needle the entirety of the game. I play Batterskull and bash for the win. (1-0)
Game Two I continually bounced or countered his auras until I was able to drop and Ugin. I proceeded to alternate between plusing and minusing to get rid of creatures and enchantments. Ugin and other fatties close the game out. My favorite moment of this game was bouncing a a Kor Spiritidancer with 7 enchantments on it. (2-0)
I brought the Aether twins, Spell Pierces, and Squelches in for this matchup.
Round 4 vs Burn (3-1)
Game One was pretty straight forward. I hung on with bounce and played a Wurmcoil Engine. (1-0)
Game Two was also pretty straight forward. He's stuck on one land for a bunch of turns, and I counter enough to survive until I can land Bottle Gnomes and Batterskull. (2-0)
I brought in Bottle Gnomes and Spell Pierces in for this matchup. This matchup seems pretty easy if we can survive long enough.
Round 5 vs Abzan (4-1)
Game One we trade resources until I land a Wurmcoil Engine while he has a Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Siege Rhino and 4 Lingering Souls spirits in play. I was worried that Engine was going to get Path to Exiled. I spend a few turns with 7 lands in play with no tron with Ugin in Play. When I did draw my next land I drop Ugin and wipe his board and he proceeds to scoop. (1-0)
Game Two he Inquistion of Kozileks me and proceeds to take any answers I had. He drops two early Tarmogoyf and beats for the win. (1-1)
Game Three I mull to five and keep 4 tron lands with tron in hand and Wurmcoil Engine. He inquisitions and misses but gets the Engine with Thoughtseize. I proceed to draw into a Oboro and Treasure Mage and get Sundering Titan in play and blow up some lands. I draw and play a second Engine and he proceeds to scoop. (2-1)
I brought in Squelches, Vapor Snags, and Dismembers. I wish I could've played against Abzan more.
Round 6 vs Twin (4-2)
Game One laster a very long time and I prioritized fetching islands with expedition map rather than tron lands in an attempt to be the "better control deck" which may have been incorrect. He ends up comboing after all of resources get drained. (0-1)
Game Two we have another grind game and I get impatient and try to force a Wurmcoil Engine in. While tapped out he bolts-snaps-bolts and kills me with his Grim Lavamancers. (0-2)
I brought in Dismembers, Spell Pierces, Vapor Snags, and Squelches. This matchup is frustrating because it feels so draw dependent. I feel like I need to test against twin more. Losing this win-and-in was unfortunate.
Round 7 vs Twin (5-2)
Game One against this twin player was very grind but I am able to outlast him with my Thirst For Knowledges and Counters. Fatties win he Day once again. (1-0)
Game Two I sequence lands and maps poorly and he is able to combo on turn 4. (1-1)
Game Three was a very grindy game that saw both of us making misplays such as him playing Splinter Twin when I had a Spellskite on board and me spending 3 of my counters to try to counter a lightning bolt that was nowhere near killing me. After his resources are drained enough Batterskull and Wurmcoil Engines win the game.
I brought the same things in as I did against the first twin player.
Conclusion
Although it sucked to lose the win-and-in, this was my first major tournament with U-Tron after spending 9 months playing it at the weekly tournament level and I managed to finish just outside of the Top 8. I feel like familiarity with the deck has a large part in being successful as there are many play choices that have to be made with knowledge of the meta being vital. It looks like the deck is well positioned in the current meta although there are some bad matchup (Zoo, Infect, etc.)
While I don't think it's as good as Den Protector, it's a solid supplement to it and I'm pretty sure I'll be running it as a nice catch-all to annoying artifacts/enchantments. (also glad Kranny got a spoiler. )
I do wonder (with these and the other megamorphs) with how often it'll be right to just hardcast these cards with megamorphs, particularly these strong 1X 2/1s. It'll probably come with time.
I agree with all of this. I'm glad that the new megamorphs are strong enough to be hard cast when the effect is irrelevant or you just want to curve out like with Ire Shaman. That versatility is making me feel really good about supporting morph at 360 and not having to worry about vanilla 3/2's for 4 sitting in hand.
I think our biggest problems against the Eldrazi deck are Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger and Oblivion Sower. Game One you just have to hope they don't have it/ hope they don't hit your lands as it feels like you can ignore everything else that they do. For sideboard games, I've found that Leyline of Sanctity does a really good job at crippling them as their creatures are slow enough that they don't pose much of a threat. Black has less options but I always bring in slaughter games and typically name Oblivion Sower and that usually buys me enough time to find Scapeshift for the win.
I may be crazy but I'm testing 1-2 Voidslimes maindeck. At worst it's a Cancel but I really like the clutchness of being able to counter Oblivion Sower and Ulamog's triggers. Additionally, being able to counter Ghost Quarters and Tectonic Edges will be nice as we will probably be seeing an uptick in land destruction effects.
This was just spoiled and I like it a lot for Upheaval and Wildfire decks. It feels like a bigger Mind Stone that makes 1 less mana than Thran Dynamo. I'll definitely be testing this rock out.
I like that both cards do fairly unique things. Omnath can store mana and potentially be a big beater while Shaman can ramp out a big beater and provide a Biorhythm effect maybe once every 100 games. I am trying to support green ramp in my cube.
Looking at my cube, I have the following token producers in white:
Blade Splicer
Brimaz, King of Oreskos
Hallowed Spiritkeeper
Monastery Mentor
Hero of Bladehold
Cloudgoat Ranger
Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Elspeth, Sun's Champion
Sigil of the Empty Throne (supporting Enchantress)
Mastery of the Unseen (Not tokens but close)
In terms of mass pump I have the following in white
Accorder Paladin
Hero of Bladehold
Spear of Heliod
Sorin, Lord of Innistrad
Black has its share of token producers in order to support stax/pox and there are a few token producers in Green. I think there are enough token producers in my cube that there might be a viable token deck but I'm not explicitly going out of my way to provide it support. At that point is Spectral Procession needed or would it be more beneficial to cut it for something else?
Note: I don't run Ajani Goldmane because my group commented on white having an excessive number of planeswalkers compared to other colors during our first few sessions. I cut Ajani to try to address these problems as I like the Elspeths and Gideon more.
(Forgot to mention that my cube is 360 un-powered)
Dragonlord Atarka
Bosh, Iron Golem
Bogardan Hellkite
Obviously only the Hellkite and Golem are competing for the same slot but I think I only want two of these at 360. They each have advantages that makes this a difficult choice for me. Hellkite hits players, Atarka can be Natural Ordered in, and Bosh can be Tinkered in.
4 Urza’s Power Plant
4 Urza’s Mine
4 Urza’s Tower
7 Island
1 Academy Ruins
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
1 Tectonic Edge
Instants
4 Thirst For Knowledge
4 Remand
4 Condescend
3 Repeal
1 Spell Burst
1 Cyclonic Rift
4 Expedition Map
3 Talisman of Dominance
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Batterskull
1 Mindslaver
Creatures
2 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Sundering Titan
1 Platinum Angel
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Spellskite
2 Treasure Mage
Planeswalker
1 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
Sorcery
1 Fabricate
2 Dismember
2 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Vapor Snag
2 Spell Pierce
2 Squelch
2 Bottle Gnomes
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Aetherize
1 Aetherspouts
Round 1 vs Esper Delve (1-0)
Game One I was able to bounce his creastures and seal the game with Sundering Titan and Batterskull. (1-0)
Game Two I got overrun by a Monastery Mentor that ended up getting out of control when I ultimately ran out of bounce and counter spells. Man Lands are tough for out deck to deal with. (1-1)
Game Three I was able to grind his resources down with bounce and counterspsells. Sundering Titan once again sealed the deal when I left him with two lands. (2-1)
I don't remember what I sided in exactly but I do remember bringing in Aetherize, Aetherspouts,Dismembers, and Vapor Snags. Snag is questionable but deals with Twin well and let's us bounce man lands, Unsummon might better as we can bounce our own spells pain free.
Round 2 vs Scapeshift (1-1)
Game One he couldn't draw Scapeshift and I hung on until I could get Sundering Titan out. Titan was able to destroy 3 mountains coming into play. I play and Crack Oblivion Stone to send Titan to the graveyard to get 2 more mountains with the threat of Academy Ruins recursion. He proceeds to scoop. (1-0)
Games Two and Three were similar in that it felt as if I ran out of resources/ wasn't able to draw enough counterspells and ended up getting comboed on. I think this is similar to the twin matchup in feeling draw dependent. (1-1) & (1-2)
For this matchup I sided out repeals and Ugin to bring the Squelches and Spell Pierces in.
Round 3 vs Bogles (2-1)
Game One I lucked into a turn 2 Spellskite and bounced his pithing needle the entirety of the game. I play Batterskull and bash for the win. (1-0)
Game Two I continually bounced or countered his auras until I was able to drop and Ugin. I proceeded to alternate between plusing and minusing to get rid of creatures and enchantments. Ugin and other fatties close the game out. My favorite moment of this game was bouncing a a Kor Spiritidancer with 7 enchantments on it. (2-0)
I brought the Aether twins, Spell Pierces, and Squelches in for this matchup.
Round 4 vs Burn (3-1)
Game One was pretty straight forward. I hung on with bounce and played a Wurmcoil Engine. (1-0)
Game Two was also pretty straight forward. He's stuck on one land for a bunch of turns, and I counter enough to survive until I can land Bottle Gnomes and Batterskull. (2-0)
I brought in Bottle Gnomes and Spell Pierces in for this matchup. This matchup seems pretty easy if we can survive long enough.
Round 5 vs Abzan (4-1)
Game One we trade resources until I land a Wurmcoil Engine while he has a Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Siege Rhino and 4 Lingering Souls spirits in play. I was worried that Engine was going to get Path to Exiled. I spend a few turns with 7 lands in play with no tron with Ugin in Play. When I did draw my next land I drop Ugin and wipe his board and he proceeds to scoop. (1-0)
Game Two he Inquistion of Kozileks me and proceeds to take any answers I had. He drops two early Tarmogoyf and beats for the win. (1-1)
Game Three I mull to five and keep 4 tron lands with tron in hand and Wurmcoil Engine. He inquisitions and misses but gets the Engine with Thoughtseize. I proceed to draw into a Oboro and Treasure Mage and get Sundering Titan in play and blow up some lands. I draw and play a second Engine and he proceeds to scoop. (2-1)
I brought in Squelches, Vapor Snags, and Dismembers. I wish I could've played against Abzan more.
Round 6 vs Twin (4-2)
Game One laster a very long time and I prioritized fetching islands with expedition map rather than tron lands in an attempt to be the "better control deck" which may have been incorrect. He ends up comboing after all of resources get drained. (0-1)
Game Two we have another grind game and I get impatient and try to force a Wurmcoil Engine in. While tapped out he bolts-snaps-bolts and kills me with his Grim Lavamancers. (0-2)
I brought in Dismembers, Spell Pierces, Vapor Snags, and Squelches. This matchup is frustrating because it feels so draw dependent. I feel like I need to test against twin more. Losing this win-and-in was unfortunate.
Round 7 vs Twin (5-2)
Game One against this twin player was very grind but I am able to outlast him with my Thirst For Knowledges and Counters. Fatties win he Day once again. (1-0)
Game Two I sequence lands and maps poorly and he is able to combo on turn 4. (1-1)
Game Three was a very grindy game that saw both of us making misplays such as him playing Splinter Twin when I had a Spellskite on board and me spending 3 of my counters to try to counter a lightning bolt that was nowhere near killing me. After his resources are drained enough Batterskull and Wurmcoil Engines win the game.
I brought the same things in as I did against the first twin player.
Conclusion
Although it sucked to lose the win-and-in, this was my first major tournament with U-Tron after spending 9 months playing it at the weekly tournament level and I managed to finish just outside of the Top 8. I feel like familiarity with the deck has a large part in being successful as there are many play choices that have to be made with knowledge of the meta being vital. It looks like the deck is well positioned in the current meta although there are some bad matchup (Zoo, Infect, etc.)
I agree with all of this. I'm glad that the new megamorphs are strong enough to be hard cast when the effect is irrelevant or you just want to curve out like with Ire Shaman. That versatility is making me feel really good about supporting morph at 360 and not having to worry about vanilla 3/2's for 4 sitting in hand.