Rest for the weary is good if you just want a sideboard card for burn. I like to cast it on their end step on turn 2.
Blessed alliance has been good to me, usually the 4 life gained is enough against burn and the card has versatility. It is good against bogles and decent in other matchups (scapeshift, infect, ...).
So, I have been thinking a lot lately about jund and junk, the premiere midrange decks in the format, and grim player really bugs me. The card does so much for a 2 drop, it's crazy. Tidehollow is ok at the 2 drop spot, but I have found him to be awkward at times, with mana constraints. Plus, he isn't exactly great, or even ok, as the game goes on. Really random, but has anyone tested pack rat? It's a 2 drop threat that can be abused a bit through lingering souls and the new Lillian. Plus, as anyone who played in standard at the time can attest, if not dealt with quickly he can easily take over. It's just, I feel that slot is a bit soft in our decks, unless you're powering out a 3 drop Eldrazi via temple then the second turn I am either casting more disrupt ion or durdling waiting the answer threats. Just a thought I had, haven't had the chance to test it yet.
Welcome to not playing a green midrange deck in modern. The really good 2-drop slot for decks that don't run green is dark confidant. However, if you run dark confidant you need to have a lower mana curve (average cmc for the deck should be less than 2, ideally around 1.4 or less) which immediatly eliminates the possibility of us running reality smasher or 4 thought-knot's.
I have played a lot of pack rat in modern and it is a fine card. It is best friends with dark confindant and can quickly take over games if left unchecked. If you want to give it a go, I would suggest running a deadguy ale build. You can find the primer here.
... Lost Legacy - The fact that its turn 3 instead of 4 is huge; memoricide was ok but a often a turn too slow, this card is going to help our worst match ups [tron, scapeshift] and even using it on yourself against ad naus if they turn 0 leyline to get rid of your own Thoughtseize is a corner case I can see coming up on occasion.
Fragmentize - 1 less and sorcery is ok by me, i'm ok with losing the ability to hit ink and blink in affinity for blowing up map/vial/seas on the draw or leyline on 1 or t2 if we have vent in our opener.
I will try out lost legacy and give it a fair shot, but cards like this don't work too well in modern. Modern decks are typically versatile enough to have more than one lines of attack. This card is card disadvantage for us and I don't feel that the upsides are worth it. I am excited to playtest it though.
Fragmentize - I am skeptical of this card. Our deck is littered with 3 drops and the problematic artifact/enchantments usually come down on turn 2 (spreading seas, cranial plating, etc.) and I would rather hit them (or float a W in response to a blood moon casting) on their turn rather than being 1 mana short of casting a thought-knot or lingering souls on my turn. Hitting cranial plating on the opponents turn before it does massives amount of damage to us is a big deal. The card also misses on inkmoth nexus, but that may not be a big deal.
Concealed Courtyard - I feel that, in the long run, the printing of this card will increase the number of abzan decks; therefore increasing the number of people playing lingering souls. We will most likely see an uptick in lingering souls hate (night of souls' betrayal, zealous persecution, izzet staticaster) in the next 6 months. I am very excited that we don't need to take 5 damage for a turn 1 thoughtseize anymore.
If Mind Stone didn't turn on T3 Seer or Smasher I'd probably cut it too. It also helps me cast, and keep mana up for, Relic. But I have been giving it the eye now my curve is so much lower.
Yeah, it was a hard cut. I have only played 3 matches with out it so I don't know how much it drops the consistency down. Turn 3 liliana and turn 4 thought-knot is still great though.
I definitely run into, and aggressively build against, lots of fast aggro strategies. Usually G1 is extremely hard, especially on the draw. Without a lot of answers in the form of raw removal power, I feel too slow much of the time. I need to board very strongly because I am at such a disadvantage. Tonight the current approach paid off, and it has been good on cockatrice as well.
As a replacement for Blight Herder, Reshaper has been extremely good. It is much faster, being a very strong T2 play that happens pretty often. Unlike Eldrazi Displacer, it also maintains the deck's important Bolt-resistant advantage.
Displacer is great in the long game, which this deck of course pushes towards. But the amount of cantripping or other card draw that is now present here strengthens the longer games too. Tonight in my first match, I drew 3 in my end step using Relic, Mind Stone, and Wreckage. Play a Smasher FTW.
I feel like adding a Wastes as card #61. Definitely thinking one is required to fix the currently-badly-nerfed Blood Moon matches, but I also do not want to cut any of my other lands or spells.
I have been testing without Brutality, but I have some in the mail and will see. I wish it didn't get hit by Spell Snare. Thinking it goes where Unmaking is for trial purposes, though it could replace Throat, too.
Pretty much any RG Valakut build is very tough for me.
Your first point is exactly why I haven't had a high mana curve and I am glad that you are finding that matter reshaper preforms well. It is a great card against aggro and other midrange decks.
Last night, I went 3-0-1 in a local modern event with 11 people. I used to run languish in my sideboard but I recently sold them since they went up in value. I really, really like languish as the primary sweeper and I am going to get them back once they dip in price again.
Match 2 :: UWR control [2-0] All stars :: Discard spells, tidehollow / displacer combo, lingering souls
This was an easy matchup with all of the active discard and lingering souls.
Match 3 :: Bushwacker Zoo [2-0]
Out :: Liliana of the Veil x2, Relic x2
In :: Blessed alliance x2, Engineered Explosives, Day of Judgement. All stars :: Discard spells, path to exile, relic / wasteland strangler combo
I have played against this guy many times with BW midrange in modern and it is a tough match. The game is pretty much decided by turn 4. If we can stabilize and lay down a thought-knot or reality smasher (which are really hard for them to kill) we are going to win. But this deck is very explosive and the matchup feels like a lottery. Either they have a very explosive start and win or we have the correct cards in our hand.
You ever have those matchups where the opponent has all of the correct cards for everything you lay. Well I was that person in this matchup. I always feel a little lucky when I win against this deck.
Match 4 :: RG Tron, intentional draw [2-0]
Out :: Liliana of the Veil x2, Relic x3
In :: Pithing needle x2, Anguished Unmaking, 2 other cards I don't remember All stars :: Pithing needle, hitting matter reshaper on turn 3.
I flat out destroyed tron. I swear it was a fluke, but I really like pithing needle in this matchup. Game 1 he kept a really risky hand and I was able to apply a quick clock (matter reshaper, wasteland strangler, lingering souls) while keeping more threats in my hand in case of oblivion stone. Game 2 he played expedition map turn 1, I played pithing needle naming map which effectively locked him out of the game.
Quick thoughts :: I replaced the mind stone's with liliana's and it was good to play such a good planeswalker again. I feel that we need a liliana (of the veil or the new one) to add some more depth to this deck. I was happy to bring her back and I didn't miss mind stone. I am trying to get my hands on some of the new liliana's to try her out.
Is anybody else having problems with RG scapeshift? I have about a 20% win percentage against that deck after 10 matches or so. Ghost quarter does pretty much nothing against a smart scapeshift player who fetches 6 mountains.
On a side note: I went 3-1 to win the modern tourney at my local mtg store last week taking 1st place due to tiebreakers and have gone 3-2, 3-2 online. I like worship, but am torn with tidehollow. On one hand it provides information and actively tears their hand apart, on the other hand it dies to everything. I do have a love-hate relationship with tidehollow in my CBW midrange brew and am still waiting for a great BW 2 drop.
But the mana is still bad.... Ideally one wants: 12 C, 20 B, and 20 W to cast matter reshaper on turn 3 and tidehollow sculler on turn 2. Running tidehollow, liliana, and a lot of colorless creatures makes it very difficult to get the correct mana distribution.
The changes I'm going to make going forward are cutting MD spellskite and Liliana of the veil for two Liliana, The Last Hope. Virtual card advantage with her -2 is great for creatures in your yard or flipping over a lingering souls, her +1 is well positioned in the current state of the meta and her ultimate closes games. Jeskai Flash and boggles are tier 3 right now so if you have to deal with them you have blessed alliance in the board to deal with them in addition to just stripping their hand or racing.
First of all, good job at the GP! It was very interesting to read your report and it sounds like you got a little lucky in that RG Tron match!
Liliana, the last hope is very interesting. First of all, it helps use with decks that go wide (elves, merfolk) and against zoo/burn matchups and I really like the -2 ability. Kolaghan's command has proven itself in modern with the strongest ability to return a creature to your hand. Liliana, the last hope sticks around after it returns a creature to your hand and the ultimate is a game closer. I am interested to hear how it fares in the deck.
I've got a little starting hand question, as I'm new to the deck and don't know what to keep and what not (sure, I read the posts in the thread, but there are still hands I would keep and some I would not keep that are questionable)
G1T1 on the play:
Windswept Heath, Caves of Koilos, Declaration in Stone, Lingering Souls, Lingering Souls, TKS, Sorin
Keep, mull, keep. For the first situation, if you know what you are playing against it might be a mull. But you have chump blockers for days and a sorin to back it up.
Deaddrift, you keep bringing up me not having enough colored sources and linking an article which says I have more than enough for 2 drops (13, I have 15 and 16 White and Black respectively). Not considering every option available to you no matter how bad it feels gives up such a big edge in games of magic. Embrace counterintuitive plays, they come up and are the deciding factor in turning a loss into a win. Winning isn't always pretty. As for Ghost Quarter, I use it offensively almost every time, the utility is immense, and having the option to hit your own lands can't be bad. Don't do it to fix your mana willy nilly, but if it leads to you being able to cast a series of game winning cards which you otherwise could not without giving up enough tempo to keep you from winning, you'd be foolish to not.
Since the majority of you lands are BW, I think you need to treat tidehollow as a 2 colored mana source. Therefore, you need at least 20 BW colored sources to reliably cast tidehollow on turn 2. I have been trying out tidehollow in my processor list (with 14 B and 14 W sources) and it has been a struggle to cast tidehollow at all some games. In my BW eldrazi midrange list ( http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/22-01-16-bw-eldrazi-midrange/ ; the sideboard is out of date) with 17 B and 17 W sources, it is still rough to cast tidehollow. I used to run liliana in that list (you can check the bw eldrazi midrange forum posts in my sig for why I cut it). The fact is, until wizards actually prints a bw fast land or fetch-able colorless sources the mana base for BW will be rough.
Strongly considering dropping MD surgical for 3rd displacer, and moving up to 2 damnation and 2 zealous while cutting surgical, r-bomb & memorcide while replacing rest for the weary with 3 blessed alliance.
I am not the biggest fan of surgical. I really like the card, but everytime I play it I am underwhelmed.
Eldrazi displacer is a great card that really helps out against tokens and you can flicker thought-knot to mill their deck if you are in a stalemate. I like to flicker thought-knot on their draw step when I have a decent board presence to make sure things do not get out of hand.
Blessed alliance has been great for me in the side and collective brutality is downright amazing (but is bad against tron). I posted some comments a few pages ago about some of the new cards.
I would recommend a worship or two in the sideboard. This card flat out wins games against wide decks that we have no business winning. Merfolk, for example, typically has one card in their 75 that can deal with it. It is also great against: elves (if you can live until turn 4), burn, zoo, bw tokens, and a lot of other decks.
I also recommend running a celestial purge in the side to deal with blood moon, liliana, and nahari. The new mardu control deck with bob's, emurakul, and nahari can be a difficult match. Nahari is a big pain to deal with since she has such a high starting loyalty.
So, I have been playing some MTGO leagues. I have started to find a decent 60 so I started to fill in the sideboard. I still believe that the deck needs some more 2-drops, but I haven been enjoying relic for additional card draw and to enable wasteland strangler and eternal scourge. So far, I am 3-2, 3-2, 4-1, 4-1. I just finished the last match and lost to infect due to him drawing 3 might of old krosa which happens... I guess. Here is my current list:
A few things that I notice while playing the deck:
You need to hit land drops
Be agressive with your relics. I found blight herder underwhelming so I cut it and am very aggressive when I crack relic. It would be nice if we had more card draw other than relic and mind stone but I found sea gate wreckage to be too slow.
Each card that I play in the 60 are either great all of the time (thought-knot and reality smasher are the only ones) or just mediocre. The mediocre cards are amazing in the right matchup. For example, eternal scourge is great against control, jund, or any targeted removal but is a 3/3 beater against scapeshift. Collective brutality I found to be decent against a vast majority of modern decks and I usually cast it for the -2/-2 and discard mode. But, it is pretty bad against tron.
The burn matchup isn't that bad with this curve. Collective brutality does a lot of work and blessed alliance does enough.
Tron is still bad. I have only been matchuped against mono green tron (and I won) and it was on the heels of reality smasher. I did get a eldrazi mimic out on turn 2, but my opponent played warping wail. I do think that I'll add another mimic in the sideboard and probably cut a disenchant.
Worship is amazing. Decks that run very wide are a problem for us. Worship solves this problem. It is also great against burn.
The day of judgment in the side should be a damnation, but I have day of judgement for budget reasons.
Well, then it might wotk. Before Eye's ban (and probably before OGW release but not sure), I saw a guy playing an UB Eldrazi processors, running Ashiok and Sire of Stagnation. If I'm not mistaken he made top4 on a 30 playes tournament with the deck. Maybe you can fit Ashiok in your deck, besides helping processings she's amazing only by herself. Maybe on RIP spot.
And isn't Serum better than AV?
Just came back from a 17 players tourn, got 1st place playing the list above, exchanging 1 Displacer for 1 Endbringer and 2 IoK for 2 Collective Brutallity.
Round1 played against Burn, G1 made TKS on T2, Smasher T3 and Smasher T4. G2 made CB on T2 upgraded by discarding a Souls, and discarded a burn and killed Mulan, following Souls on T3 and Herder T4.
Round2 against RG LD. G1 he mulled to 5, I made T2 TKS, T3 TKS, gg. G2 he broke 4 lands, but I stablished with a dual and a Temple, being able to killing his 2 Arbor Elfs with 2 Stranglers. At one moment, he was at 4 life and had only a Baloth, I had only a Smasher and a CB in hand. I played upgraded and gave -2-2 to Baloth and swap 2 life. GG.
Round3 against a Seancè IDFK what that deck was about. I know G1 Relic made it's job. G2 sided out all Ligering Souls and end up being finished by a Reveilark. G3 came back with 2 Souls MD, opened with a TKS on T4, Sorin T5, levelup Sorin til 6 and Sorin Emblem won the game.
Round4 split with the other guy 3-0, dunno what he was playing.
Last considerations:
Don't know about Endbringer, he never showed up. Maybe Ill be trying something else on this spot.
CB has won me 2 games. Amazing card!
Nice work!!! I tested out endbringer a while ago and found him to be too slow. BUT if he (or she?) lands it is an absolute beast.
I have played in two leagues on MTGO now testing out some new cards and the processor deck. I went 3-2 both times, withs several mistakes on my part. Such as forgetting to put a basic plains in my deck, which I could of sworn that I did. I am still in the process of tweaking my deck, but here is the current iteration is in my signature (CBW eldrazi processor deck). The sideboard is still a work in progress, I am trying to nail down the 60 before I start thinking about the sideboard.
I have been testing out some of the new cards:
collective brutality - This card is hands down awesome. Almost every modern deck has an instant or sorcery card that feels great to grab and the card can two-for-one our opponents if we discard a useless card in hand. I found that it wasn't very hard to ditch an extra land or lingering souls because the payoff is worth it.
eternal scourge - I am still unsure about this card. It is great against control, they have no way to get rid of it. It is much better than shambling vent in that matchup. I am happy with running matter reshaper, wasteland strangler, and eternal scourge in the main 60 since each card passes my first test (3 power) and is okay in every matchup but down right amazing in the right matchup. This is why I run a split of the three creatures.
blessed alliance - This card is better than rest for the weary in the sideboard. I played a match against burn and gaining 4 life was enough most of the time. With the addition of collective brutality and the fact that our creatures are larger than theirs, the burn matchup is just fine. This card also hits emrakul the aeons torn and slippery bogle, which is a huge plus.
As a side note, has anybody tried worship in their sideboard. It hoses aggro decks such as merfolk.
As for the new cards, none of them went spectacularly well. Eternal Scourge sounds good in theory, but was just too slow and didn't affect the board. Collective Brutality was the best-performing of the tryouts, and the versatility was worth the 2-mana casting cost. I might go up to 2 copies.
I agree, I tried out the new cards: eternal scourge, collective brutality, and a bit of blessed alliance (which was in the sideboard) and I found that eternal scrouge was meh, I like matter reshaper better. I found that collective brutality was AMAZING! It was so useful in every match. It is not hard to pitch a useless card to activate several modes. I have only played five matches so far and I'll probably try another league match online tonight to further test the new cards. I'll probably try them with the deck in my sig and not with the processor list that I have been trying:
deaddrift, I used your list at a 68-player PPTQ this weekend with some slight changes (1 Inquisition for Thoughtseize because sitting down to register my friend said there was quite a bit of burn (there wasn't), 1 Eternal Scourge for Matter Reshaper after people were saying good things about early testing, 2 Wraths for 2 Damnations because I don't own any).
Unfortunately I got paired with GR Tron in round one. I made a bad mistake in game one because I did not think he had mana up for O-Stone so I played a second Reality Smasher to go for lethal, but I missed an untapped land and got wrecked. Got a quick win in game 2, but mulled to 5 in game 3 and lost easily.
Round 2, I got a quick win 2-1 win against Jeskai Nahiri. Turn 2 Thought-Knot into turn 3 Reality Smasher for game 1. I got stuck on two lands with a Spreading Seas on one in game 2. Game 3, I got an early Thought-Knot. He Clique'd away my Reality Smasher, but I consecutively drew Blight Herder, Blight Herder, Reality Smasher to overwhelm his back-to-back Nahiri's and kill him.
Round 3 was against Uw Merfolk. He was able to build up his board in game 1 and then play Spreading Seas to push through lethal. Game 2 was very stalled, with me leaving up 2 Ghost Quarters to fend off 2 Mutavaults and the threat of Spreading Seas. I played a couple of defensive Reality Smashers, then a Blight Herder with tokens, and finally drew Sorin to swing the race. Game 3 I was mauled by a triple lord draw with Aether Vial on turn 1 as well. That dropped me to 1-2.
Round 4 was against Grixis Delver. I got turn 2 Thought-Knot, exiling Remand. He got turn 3 Gurmag Angler, which I Pathed, and I was able to beat down for the win. Game 2, he played Delvers on turns 1 and 2. I played the Eternal Scourge. It got some damage in, along with him taking some pain from his mana base. He revealed Kolaghan's Command to flip the Delvers. I Pathed one of them and he chose to get the land and shuffle away the command. He attacked for 3 that turn, but decided to trade the Insectile Aberration with Eternal Scourge the next turn. He countered both halves of Lingering Souls, but I drew a second copy and the four spirits finished him off. 2-2
Game 4 was Jeskai Nahiri again. He scooped to a turn 3 Reality Smasher game 1. Game 2, he kept a sketchy 1 land hand with Celestial Colonnade. I Thoughtseized away a Path, leaving 2 Bolts, another Path, a Snapcaster, and Timely Reinforcements. Then I Ghost Quartered the Colonnade to make him choose white or red. He got a plains. I played Thought-Knot the next turn which took the Snapcaster and ate the Path. I followed that up with Reality Smasher and 4 spirits to secure the win. 3-2
Round 6 was against Living End with Kiki/Exarch combo. He was not happy to see main deck Relic of Progenitus (2 in my opening 7). Smashers did the bulk of the work to win both games. I probably was overzealous in game 2, using Surgical Extractions on his turn 1 cycled Deadshot Minotaur and turn 3 Fulminator Mage, instead of waiting to get a Living End, but it worked out ok. 4-2
Round 7 was against Elves. I got an early Thought-Knot to take one of her two copies of Collected Company in hand, but she actually drew the other two as well and overwhelmed me. Game 2, I had to mull to 5, couldn't find Wrath, and Lingering Souls didn't help against Ezuri's pump. 4-3 final record.
I really enjoyed the deck. It crushed the deck I wanted to beat (Jeskai). I expected quite a bit of Jund too, which there was. I just didn't run into it. I am definitely planning on running the deck again at other upcoming PPTQs and possibly GP Indianapolis.
Also if you are interested, the Top 8 archetypes were 2 GR Tron, 1 Burn, 1 Lantern Control, 1 Bogles, 1 Abzan, 1 Ad Nauseam, and 1 Living End.
Quarters: Abzan>Ad Nauseam, Burn>Tron, Tron>Living End, Lantern>Bogles.
Semis: Burn>Tron, Lantern>Abzan.
Finals: Burn>Lantern.
Sounds like you had a fun time! If you could please follow the format that deaddrift has been using for tournaments reports? It would be really helpful for people who are trying to figure out what cards are preforming well and under-performing. From your report it seems that reality smasher and thought-knot pulled their weight. It also looks like you won the favorable matchups (control, living end) but lost to tron and creature decks. How did you feel about the merfolk and elves matchup, what cards did you wish you had and what cards were horrible?
I had 2 flex spots with a Matter Reshaper and Displacer. I also took out Whip which probably would be a second copy of Sorin if I had it, but they served the same function. I miss the lifegain a bit, but the sideboard can be used to deal with that (Which is a WIP).
Why do you run a mainboard surgical extraction? Would an additional kill spell or anguished unmaking be better? I would try out cutting the surgical, duress, and oblivion ring for a couple of collective brutality and another CMC 3 creature. Just to try them out. Discarding eternal scourge with relic in play to activate another mode just screams value.
Lingering Souls
Relic
Thought-Knot
Path
I'd say run 4 of these or you're not playing Processors.
Continuing my evaluation of Scourge, I honestly might bring it up to 4 of. Even if it doesn't become a staple like the above cards I think it's a pretty broken card. In our shell it's probably the best reoccurring creature we could ask for. Time will tell.
The core of a processor deck should contain at least one processor card. For the core of a processor deck, see deaddrift's post here. Otherwise you are running a CBW midrange deck, which I am a huge fan of (see my sig)!
Blessed alliance has been good to me, usually the 4 life gained is enough against burn and the card has versatility. It is good against bogles and decent in other matchups (scapeshift, infect, ...).
Lone missionary I have not tried this card out, but it would be good if you have flicker effects in your deck (eldrazi displacer, restoration angel)
I prefer having blessed alliance in my side because I like sideboard cards that are useful in multiple matchups.
Welcome to not playing a green midrange deck in modern. The really good 2-drop slot for decks that don't run green is dark confidant. However, if you run dark confidant you need to have a lower mana curve (average cmc for the deck should be less than 2, ideally around 1.4 or less) which immediatly eliminates the possibility of us running reality smasher or 4 thought-knot's.
I have played a lot of pack rat in modern and it is a fine card. It is best friends with dark confindant and can quickly take over games if left unchecked. If you want to give it a go, I would suggest running a deadguy ale build. You can find the primer here.
I will try out lost legacy and give it a fair shot, but cards like this don't work too well in modern. Modern decks are typically versatile enough to have more than one lines of attack. This card is card disadvantage for us and I don't feel that the upsides are worth it. I am excited to playtest it though.
Fragmentize - I am skeptical of this card. Our deck is littered with 3 drops and the problematic artifact/enchantments usually come down on turn 2 (spreading seas, cranial plating, etc.) and I would rather hit them (or float a W in response to a blood moon casting) on their turn rather than being 1 mana short of casting a thought-knot or lingering souls on my turn. Hitting cranial plating on the opponents turn before it does massives amount of damage to us is a big deal. The card also misses on inkmoth nexus, but that may not be a big deal.
Concealed Courtyard - I feel that, in the long run, the printing of this card will increase the number of abzan decks; therefore increasing the number of people playing lingering souls. We will most likely see an uptick in lingering souls hate (night of souls' betrayal, zealous persecution, izzet staticaster) in the next 6 months. I am very excited that we don't need to take 5 damage for a turn 1 thoughtseize anymore.
Yeah, it was a hard cut. I have only played 3 matches with out it so I don't know how much it drops the consistency down. Turn 3 liliana and turn 4 thought-knot is still great though.
Your first point is exactly why I haven't had a high mana curve and I am glad that you are finding that matter reshaper preforms well. It is a great card against aggro and other midrange decks.
Last night, I went 3-0-1 in a local modern event with 11 people. I used to run languish in my sideboard but I recently sold them since they went up in value. I really, really like languish as the primary sweeper and I am going to get them back once they dip in price again.
Here is my decklist:
3 Tidehollow Sculler
2 Eldrazi Displacer
2 Matter Reshaper
3 Wasteland Strangler
4 Thought-Knot Seer
3 Reality Smasher
Artifacts (3)
3 Relic of Progenitus
Sorcery (9)
4 Lingering Souls
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
1 Collective Brutality
Instant (4)
4 Path to Exile
2 Liliana of the Veil
1 Sorin, Solemn Visitor
Land (24)
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Marsh Flats
2 Ghost Quarter
3 Godless Shrine
2 Shambling Vent
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Wastes
1 Fetid Heath
1 Anguished Unmaking
2 Blessed Alliance
1 Day of Judgment
2 Disenchant
1 Engineered explosives
2 Stony Silence
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Warping Wail
1 Rest in peace
1 Zealous persecution
2 Pithing needle
Match 1 :: Bye
All stars :: Free win!
Match 2 :: UWR control [2-0]
All stars :: Discard spells, tidehollow / displacer combo, lingering souls
This was an easy matchup with all of the active discard and lingering souls.
Match 3 :: Bushwacker Zoo [2-0]
Out :: Liliana of the Veil x2, Relic x2
In :: Blessed alliance x2, Engineered Explosives, Day of Judgement.
All stars :: Discard spells, path to exile, relic / wasteland strangler combo
I have played against this guy many times with BW midrange in modern and it is a tough match. The game is pretty much decided by turn 4. If we can stabilize and lay down a thought-knot or reality smasher (which are really hard for them to kill) we are going to win. But this deck is very explosive and the matchup feels like a lottery. Either they have a very explosive start and win or we have the correct cards in our hand.
You ever have those matchups where the opponent has all of the correct cards for everything you lay. Well I was that person in this matchup. I always feel a little lucky when I win against this deck.
Match 4 :: RG Tron, intentional draw [2-0]
Out :: Liliana of the Veil x2, Relic x3
In :: Pithing needle x2, Anguished Unmaking, 2 other cards I don't remember
All stars :: Pithing needle, hitting matter reshaper on turn 3.
I flat out destroyed tron. I swear it was a fluke, but I really like pithing needle in this matchup. Game 1 he kept a really risky hand and I was able to apply a quick clock (matter reshaper, wasteland strangler, lingering souls) while keeping more threats in my hand in case of oblivion stone. Game 2 he played expedition map turn 1, I played pithing needle naming map which effectively locked him out of the game.
Quick thoughts :: I replaced the mind stone's with liliana's and it was good to play such a good planeswalker again. I feel that we need a liliana (of the veil or the new one) to add some more depth to this deck. I was happy to bring her back and I didn't miss mind stone. I am trying to get my hands on some of the new liliana's to try her out.
On a side note: I went 3-1 to win the modern tourney at my local mtg store last week taking 1st place due to tiebreakers and have gone 3-2, 3-2 online. I like worship, but am torn with tidehollow. On one hand it provides information and actively tears their hand apart, on the other hand it dies to everything. I do have a love-hate relationship with tidehollow in my CBW midrange brew and am still waiting for a great BW 2 drop.
The question is, how many do we run? Should every list run 6 discard spells now?
We typically run 24 lands:
Mandatory:
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Eldrazi Temple
Typical others:
3-4 Marsh Flats (To help with blood moon)
2-3 Shambling Vent
2-4 Ghost Quarter
1-2 Plains
1-2 Swamp
0-1 Vault of the archangel
0-1 Wastes
Possible open spots:
X Godless Shrine
X Concealed Courtyard
With a list running tidehollow and liliana, I would try:
But the mana is still bad.... Ideally one wants: 12 C, 20 B, and 20 W to cast matter reshaper on turn 3 and tidehollow sculler on turn 2. Running tidehollow, liliana, and a lot of colorless creatures makes it very difficult to get the correct mana distribution.
First of all, good job at the GP! It was very interesting to read your report and it sounds like you got a little lucky in that RG Tron match!
Liliana, the last hope is very interesting. First of all, it helps use with decks that go wide (elves, merfolk) and against zoo/burn matchups and I really like the -2 ability. Kolaghan's command has proven itself in modern with the strongest ability to return a creature to your hand. Liliana, the last hope sticks around after it returns a creature to your hand and the ultimate is a game closer. I am interested to hear how it fares in the deck.
Keep, mull, keep. For the first situation, if you know what you are playing against it might be a mull. But you have chump blockers for days and a sorin to back it up.
Since the majority of you lands are BW, I think you need to treat tidehollow as a 2 colored mana source. Therefore, you need at least 20 BW colored sources to reliably cast tidehollow on turn 2. I have been trying out tidehollow in my processor list (with 14 B and 14 W sources) and it has been a struggle to cast tidehollow at all some games. In my BW eldrazi midrange list ( http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/22-01-16-bw-eldrazi-midrange/ ; the sideboard is out of date) with 17 B and 17 W sources, it is still rough to cast tidehollow. I used to run liliana in that list (you can check the bw eldrazi midrange forum posts in my sig for why I cut it). The fact is, until wizards actually prints a bw fast land or fetch-able colorless sources the mana base for BW will be rough.
I am not the biggest fan of surgical. I really like the card, but everytime I play it I am underwhelmed.
Eldrazi displacer is a great card that really helps out against tokens and you can flicker thought-knot to mill their deck if you are in a stalemate. I like to flicker thought-knot on their draw step when I have a decent board presence to make sure things do not get out of hand.
Blessed alliance has been great for me in the side and collective brutality is downright amazing (but is bad against tron). I posted some comments a few pages ago about some of the new cards.
I would recommend a worship or two in the sideboard. This card flat out wins games against wide decks that we have no business winning. Merfolk, for example, typically has one card in their 75 that can deal with it. It is also great against: elves (if you can live until turn 4), burn, zoo, bw tokens, and a lot of other decks.
I also recommend running a celestial purge in the side to deal with blood moon, liliana, and nahari. The new mardu control deck with bob's, emurakul, and nahari can be a difficult match. Nahari is a big pain to deal with since she has such a high starting loyalty.
Good luck at the PPTQ or GP or whatever it is!
2 Eternal Scourge
2 Matter Reshaper
3 Wasteland Strangler
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Reality Smasher
Artifacts (6)
4 Relic of Progenitus
2 Mind Stone
Sorcery (10)
4 Lingering Souls
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
2 Collective Brutality
4 Path to Exile
Land (24)
4 Eldrazi Temple
4 Caves of Koilos
4 Marsh Flats
3 Ghost Quarter
3 Godless Shrine
2 Shambling Vent
1 Vault of the Archangel
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Wastes
2 Anguished Unmaking
2 Blessed Alliance
1 Celestial Purge
2 Day of Judgment
2 Disenchant
2 Eldrazi Mimic
2 Stony Silence
2 Worship
A few things that I notice while playing the deck:
Collective brutality is a discard or kill spell; therefore, you could cut 2 inquisitions, 1/1 with inquisition and dismember, or 2 dismember.
Nice work!!! I tested out endbringer a while ago and found him to be too slow. BUT if he (or she?) lands it is an absolute beast.
I have played in two leagues on MTGO now testing out some new cards and the processor deck. I went 3-2 both times, withs several mistakes on my part. Such as forgetting to put a basic plains in my deck, which I could of sworn that I did. I am still in the process of tweaking my deck, but here is the current iteration is in my signature (CBW eldrazi processor deck). The sideboard is still a work in progress, I am trying to nail down the 60 before I start thinking about the sideboard.
I have been testing out some of the new cards:
collective brutality - This card is hands down awesome. Almost every modern deck has an instant or sorcery card that feels great to grab and the card can two-for-one our opponents if we discard a useless card in hand. I found that it wasn't very hard to ditch an extra land or lingering souls because the payoff is worth it.
eternal scourge - I am still unsure about this card. It is great against control, they have no way to get rid of it. It is much better than shambling vent in that matchup. I am happy with running matter reshaper, wasteland strangler, and eternal scourge in the main 60 since each card passes my first test (3 power) and is okay in every matchup but down right amazing in the right matchup. This is why I run a split of the three creatures.
blessed alliance - This card is better than rest for the weary in the sideboard. I played a match against burn and gaining 4 life was enough most of the time. With the addition of collective brutality and the fact that our creatures are larger than theirs, the burn matchup is just fine. This card also hits emrakul the aeons torn and slippery bogle, which is a huge plus.
As a side note, has anybody tried worship in their sideboard. It hoses aggro decks such as merfolk.
I agree, I tried out the new cards: eternal scourge, collective brutality, and a bit of blessed alliance (which was in the sideboard) and I found that eternal scrouge was meh, I like matter reshaper better. I found that collective brutality was AMAZING! It was so useful in every match. It is not hard to pitch a useless card to activate several modes. I have only played five matches so far and I'll probably try another league match online tonight to further test the new cards. I'll probably try them with the deck in my sig and not with the processor list that I have been trying:
3 Eternal Scourge
3 Wasteland Strangler
2 Matter Reshaper
4 Thought-Knot Seer
4 Reality Smasher
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
2 Collective Brutality
4 Path to Exile
4 Lingering Souls
2 Mind Stone
4 Relic of Progenitus
Lands (24):
24x Lands
Sounds like you had a fun time! If you could please follow the format that deaddrift has been using for tournaments reports? It would be really helpful for people who are trying to figure out what cards are preforming well and under-performing. From your report it seems that reality smasher and thought-knot pulled their weight. It also looks like you won the favorable matchups (control, living end) but lost to tron and creature decks. How did you feel about the merfolk and elves matchup, what cards did you wish you had and what cards were horrible?
Why do you run a mainboard surgical extraction? Would an additional kill spell or anguished unmaking be better? I would try out cutting the surgical, duress, and oblivion ring for a couple of collective brutality and another CMC 3 creature. Just to try them out. Discarding eternal scourge with relic in play to activate another mode just screams value.
The core of a processor deck should contain at least one processor card. For the core of a processor deck, see deaddrift's post here. Otherwise you are running a CBW midrange deck, which I am a huge fan of (see my sig)!