Sorry to hit you guys with the double posts here but I wanted to share something I have been working on for those who play the UW build..
I have done tweaking to my sideboard and currently it is as followed
For those inclined I have compiled all of the "most played" decks currently as of the past several months of Starcity coverage with their average sideboards and have broken down my strategy for side boarding and how I will most likely attack the tournament next weekend (Note this doesn't include EVERY deck, just the ones I do not already have a lot of experience against as is or what I consider to be "difficult" matchups
Modern Cheat Sheet – Taking Turns
Mardu Pyromancer:
o Average Sideboard –
• Engineered Explosives
• Nihil Spellbomb
• Surgical Extraction
• Kambal, Consul of Allocation
• Liliana of the Veil/The Last Hope
• Molten Rain/Land Destruction
• (+) Collective Brutality
• Kolghan’s Command/Discard
o They will most likely bring in more hand disruption and graveyard hate (doesn’t do much against us – may consider side boarding out a snapcaster mage given how the match goes)
o Strategy: -1 Dictate, -1 Island, - 2 Remand, +3 Timely Reinforcements, +1 Commandeer
Humans:
o Average Sideboard –
• Auriok Champion – Strong against red decks (unimportant)
• Dark Confidant
• Hostage Taker (Exile Creature or Artifact – May then cast)
• Izzet Staticaster (Good against low power creatures)
• Reclamation Sage
• Sin Collector (THREAT)
• Dismember
• Gaddock Teeg (THREAT)
• Kataki, War’s Wage
o They will probably bring in Kambal if they have it and Sin Collector to attack the hand in the early turns
o Strategy: -1 Howling Mine, -1 Island, -1 Gigadrowse, -1 Remand, +3 Terminus, +1 Supreme Verdict
Jeskai Control:
o Average Sideboard –
• Runed Halo
• Celestial Purge
• Disdainful Stroke
• Dispel
• Negate
• Vendilion Clique
• Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
• Engineered Explosives
• Wear//Tear
o They will probably side in more counter magic and Vendilion Clique for hand disruption – Focus on using gigadrowse/exhaustion to tap their mana down and avoid Cryptic Command
o Strategy: -1 Dictate, -1 Path to Exile, -1 Remand, - 1 Island, +2 Swan Song, +1 Commandeer, +1 Dispel
Ironworks Combo:
o Average Sideboard –
• Defense Grid
• Ensnaring Bridge
• Wurmcoil Engine
• Silence
• Lightning Bolt
• Nature’s Claim
• Ghirapur Aether Grid
• Guttural Response
o They will probably have difficulty siding in effective cards, watch out for Guttural Response (one mana counters blue instant spell) and silence on our combo turns – cast time warp effects first just in case
o Strategy: -1 Dictate, -1 Path to Exile, -1 Island, -1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor, +2 Swan Song, +1 Stony Silence, +1 Runed Halo (naming Pyrite Spellbomb or Sideboard threat)
G/R Land Destruction:
o Average Sideboard –
• Relic of Progenitus
• Trinisphere (THREAT)
• Ancient Grudge/Abrade
• Chandra Planeswalkers
o They will probably board in Choke if they have that or Trinisphere so Disenchant will be important, They will probably cut a blood moon after game one if they see enough islands
o Strategy: -1 Howling Mine, -1 Path to Exile, -1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor, -1 Gigadrowse, -1 Fetch, +3 Terminus, +1 Disenchant, +1Swan Song
Burn:
o Average Sideboard –
• Ensnaring Bridge
• Rest in Peace
• Destructive Revelry
• Path to Exile
o This is already a tough matchup as is, avoid destructive revelry and only use Howling Mine effects when absolutely ready to combo as them drawing extra cards is dangerous
o Strategy: -1 Dictate, -1 Path to Exile, -1 Fetch, -1 Howling Mine, -1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor, +3 Timely Reinforcements, +2 Dispel
You do raise good points.. so what would be a more favorable choice for side boarding then? I have tried supreme verdict in the past in place of several terminus and it feels iffy..
I agree I wasn't as much of a fan of the Chalice but they seemed like the best option against them. Should I just run more counter spells instead?
Hey guys! So I just signed up for Starcity Worcester next weekend, was hoping to get some last minute opinions on my decklist I'll be bringing. I've been working on how I want to sideboard against certain matchups and I usually have difficulty figuring out what to trim/cut
I imagine there will be a lot of Mardu Pyromancer, KCI, and Humans there since they are kind of the top decks of the format currently.. That formed most of my decision with the sideboard (I think the Chalice are very strong against Mardu given most of their deck runs on one mana spells and without their faithless looting they brick easily) and the Terminus are obviously strong against Humans..
Does anyone have any suggestions though?
Could Censor be a better option then? In that it can replace itself if you do not require a counter spell?
EDIT: As I posted this, I noticed the cmc is 2 and not 1 so it is in essence a worse remand... lol
Has anyone tried a single Spell Snare as a form of interaction in their mainboard?
I have went through a lot of the popular decks in the meta and it hits a lot of really good cards..
Against:
KCI - Myr Retrievers
Tron - Sylvan Scrying
Humans - Dark Confidant, Meddling Mage, Kitesail Freebooter, Thalia
Jeskai - Hits Logic Knot and Mana Leak as well as their Search for Azcanta
Burn - Lightning Helix, Searing Blaze, and Eidolon
BR Hollow One - Hits Collective Brutality and Goblin Lore
Etc...
Seems really good on paper, just wondering if anyone has actually tried it and could give feedback?
Alright, so I took my UW to a super FNM tonight.. there were like 6 long rounds lol
I ended up going 4-2 with matchups against RB Hollow One, Boggles, Humans, Mono-white Taxes, Skred Red, and Elves
My overall take from tonight was that I want to try UB because it seems better positioned for the decks in my area, and I realized I was wrong about Telling Time being good (SADFACE)... Although it sets up miracles occasionally, there are some times where you really don't want any of the cards and it stinks putting one on top and one in hand lol
That being said.. I also realized that Day's Undoing is also un-needed.. There aren't enough times of almost decking for it to be worth it.. So I may use that room to go up a remand and try a few path to exile main board similar to how you are running lightning bolt mainboard.
I think Jace is really good as a one of; however I think you could probably run a Search for Azcanta in it's place. I'm a big believer in the card. For turn 2 plays there aren't many for this deck unless you are running gigadrowse/remand/or have a hand full of cantrips, and being able to see miracles on the top and remove bad cards from the top is really useful
Anyone ready to share their GP Vegas lists? I am planning on trying a black or white splash this summer after playing mono-U for 2 years, so looking for any feedback.
So a few questions about the UR build if you don't mind..
A) Are the 4x Lightning Bolt used primarily to deal 3 to your opponent or as creature removal in place of fatal push in your UB build?
B) What makes this the go to play style now? I know Pyroclasm seems excellent against Mardu Pyromancer and humans however I thought the white and black builds allowed for better sideboard options? What was your thought after this weekend? (I know it wasn't a fair tournament to base opinions on given the poor draws and whatnot)
C) Have you tried an As Foretold build with UR? I have seen a few Twitch streamers play it with like Wheel of Fate being the engine to keep drawing cards as well as Ancestral Vision allowing for a lot of solid 0 cmc plays. I have also seen Chandra, Torch of Defiance in place of JtMS as it can reach it's ultimate quicker and kill more efficiently. Just wondering if you have tried any of these styles in preparation for the tournament, or if you have any interest in it..
I know those are kind of heavy questions, but I am interested in trying red as well! Thank you so much!
**EDIT: So late night MTGO talk.. My build in paper includes 4x Serum Visions and 3x Opt however in place of Opt I wanted to spice it up and instead run Telling Time.. {I know that older builds of the deck used to run it) and it seems excellent.. Since I have been running Remand in my build as of lately it allows for a turn 2 set up with counter magic backup and it is a card that is just as relevant in the late game.. I think I may try it at the next FNM and see how it goes
Very true.. the reason I think it could be good is for matchups where mana denial is a concern.. I have won games with as foretold alone against RG Ponza and other mana denial styled decks since it gets around their casting cost.. and even on two it allows you to pass turn with a free remand...
It stinks because not enough people bring Taking Turns to big tournaments so we don't have hard data on what is the best like Jeskai and other Tier 1 decks; however, I feel like with proper tweaking this deck could be a Tier 1 given it's way of winning leaves very little interaction by the opponent..
Here's a weird question for everyone that I have had for a while and can't really reach a conclusion on from playing the deck..
Do you think As foretold can work alongside Dictate of Kruphix/Howling Mine
Im thinking 1x As Foretold, 3 Dictate, 2 Howling Mine
From what I've played it feels really good once it gets to 2 counters and up; however, it also feels like by then you are already winning anyhow...
Just wondering what everyone's opinion is on As Foretold
There are some versions out there that try that sort of thing with like Nissa, Steward of Elements and then like Courser of Kruphix and Utopia Sprawl but every stream always ends with how it isn't worth it..
Like the mana ramp seems nice on paper being able to combo a turn earlier or so but 80% of the time it ends in dead draws
It's tough because I think Collective Brutality is literally the perfect card right now in the meta as it does so many useful things however it's huge drawback is it's escalate cost of discarding cards from hand... That's why I think white is favorable because a lot of the sideboard options don't have as big of set backs.
Plus you get access to like Terminus and that is just unbeatable for a lot of decks..
Hey everyone! I'm off to a semi-big tournament this weekend and I was wondering if you could offer some advice on the Mardu Pyromancer matchup? I come from playing Taking Turns a lot lately but wanted to come back to Jeskai for the tournament..
I find the redundancy of their deck difficult to beat. Any suggestions?
Im running the normal Teferi list with the only change being -1 Search for Azcanta and + Spell Snare as it hits a lot of important cards currently in the format..
and my sideboard is average as well - disdainful stroke, dispels, runed halo, detention sphere, etc...
Sidenote: most of my opinions on the matchup come from taking turns and not piloting jeskai against it so it may be more favorable then I am thinking but I want to be prepared for this weekend since there will probably be a lot of it there!
Thank you!
Yeah.. I sort of agree with everyone's opinion on Nexus of Fate... I think if you really did want to make the deck work then you would probably want to build the deck more so around Jace (having 2-3 copies) and As Foretold. I just don't see where it would be any more consistent or fun to play then the traditional...
From my time with this deck, the worst hands I see are always ones with a temporal mastery or two in it because paying 7 mana is far worse then 2... and for that reason I think having a Nexus in hand would feel even worse since brainstorming it would do nothing.
Ahh thank you! It seems like your list is a lot more of a UW control style with the win condition being Taking Turns haha.. I have thought about doing the same as you can kind of see my deck heading. I like remand a lot but it also is starting to feel like a dead card again though... I have been playing a lot of matches against mardu pyromancer in my area lately and remand does nothing to stop them because all of their spells are one mana so you really can't set them back in the way countering a collected company or planes walker does.
For that reason... I am currently experimenting with: 1x Spell Snare, increasing the number of gigadrowse and exhaustion and relying more on straight up mana denial, and including 2x as foretold [these are not all being done at once lol] But I think as foretold has a lot of promise. I used to run it as a 1x of in place of a dictate and I loved it! On turns where you miracle a temporal mastery, being able to cast as foretold makes your following turns infinitely better since it allows you to cast things like serum vision for free.. and as the combo goes on it only becomes more and more of a utility..
Ever since I increased my land count the added effect of drawing cards of remand hasn't seemed as important.
I have done tweaking to my sideboard and currently it is as followed
3 Terminus
1 Supreme Verdict
3 Timely Reinforcements
2 Swan Song
2 Dispel
1 Stony Silence
1 Commandeer
1 Runed Halo
1 Disenchant
For those inclined I have compiled all of the "most played" decks currently as of the past several months of Starcity coverage with their average sideboards and have broken down my strategy for side boarding and how I will most likely attack the tournament next weekend (Note this doesn't include EVERY deck, just the ones I do not already have a lot of experience against as is or what I consider to be "difficult" matchups
Modern Cheat Sheet – Taking Turns
Mardu Pyromancer:
o Average Sideboard –
• Engineered Explosives
• Nihil Spellbomb
• Surgical Extraction
• Kambal, Consul of Allocation
• Liliana of the Veil/The Last Hope
• Molten Rain/Land Destruction
• (+) Collective Brutality
• Kolghan’s Command/Discard
o They will most likely bring in more hand disruption and graveyard hate (doesn’t do much against us – may consider side boarding out a snapcaster mage given how the match goes)
o Strategy: -1 Dictate, -1 Island, - 2 Remand, +3 Timely Reinforcements, +1 Commandeer
Humans:
o Average Sideboard –
• Auriok Champion – Strong against red decks (unimportant)
• Dark Confidant
• Hostage Taker (Exile Creature or Artifact – May then cast)
• Izzet Staticaster (Good against low power creatures)
• Reclamation Sage
• Sin Collector (THREAT)
• Dismember
• Gaddock Teeg (THREAT)
• Kataki, War’s Wage
o They will probably bring in Kambal if they have it and Sin Collector to attack the hand in the early turns
o Strategy: -1 Howling Mine, -1 Island, -1 Gigadrowse, -1 Remand, +3 Terminus, +1 Supreme Verdict
Jeskai Control:
o Average Sideboard –
• Runed Halo
• Celestial Purge
• Disdainful Stroke
• Dispel
• Negate
• Vendilion Clique
• Elspeth, Sun’s Champion
• Engineered Explosives
• Wear//Tear
o They will probably side in more counter magic and Vendilion Clique for hand disruption – Focus on using gigadrowse/exhaustion to tap their mana down and avoid Cryptic Command
o Strategy: -1 Dictate, -1 Path to Exile, -1 Remand, - 1 Island, +2 Swan Song, +1 Commandeer, +1 Dispel
Ironworks Combo:
o Average Sideboard –
• Defense Grid
• Ensnaring Bridge
• Wurmcoil Engine
• Silence
• Lightning Bolt
• Nature’s Claim
• Ghirapur Aether Grid
• Guttural Response
o They will probably have difficulty siding in effective cards, watch out for Guttural Response (one mana counters blue instant spell) and silence on our combo turns – cast time warp effects first just in case
o Strategy: -1 Dictate, -1 Path to Exile, -1 Island, -1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor, +2 Swan Song, +1 Stony Silence, +1 Runed Halo (naming Pyrite Spellbomb or Sideboard threat)
G/R Land Destruction:
o Average Sideboard –
• Relic of Progenitus
• Trinisphere (THREAT)
• Ancient Grudge/Abrade
• Chandra Planeswalkers
o They will probably board in Choke if they have that or Trinisphere so Disenchant will be important, They will probably cut a blood moon after game one if they see enough islands
o Strategy: -1 Howling Mine, -1 Path to Exile, -1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor, -1 Gigadrowse, -1 Fetch, +3 Terminus, +1 Disenchant, +1Swan Song
Burn:
o Average Sideboard –
• Ensnaring Bridge
• Rest in Peace
• Destructive Revelry
• Path to Exile
o This is already a tough matchup as is, avoid destructive revelry and only use Howling Mine effects when absolutely ready to combo as them drawing extra cards is dangerous
o Strategy: -1 Dictate, -1 Path to Exile, -1 Fetch, -1 Howling Mine, -1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor, +3 Timely Reinforcements, +2 Dispel
I agree I wasn't as much of a fan of the Chalice but they seemed like the best option against them. Should I just run more counter spells instead?
2 Snapcaster Mage
Spells:
3 Exhaustion
3 Remand
3 Gigadrowse
4 Serum Visions
2 Opt
2 Path to Exile
2 Cryptic Command
4 Time Warp
3 Temporal Mastery
3 Part the Waterveil
2 Howling Mine
4 Dictate of Kruphix
Planeswalkers:
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Lands:
4 Flooded Strand
2 Scalding Tarn
1 Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1 Geir Reach Sanitarium
1 Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
2 Hallowed Fountain
3 Glacial Fortress
8 Island
4 Terminus
3 Timely Reinforcements
3 Chalice of the Void
2 Swan Song
1 Disenchant
2 Stony Silence
I imagine there will be a lot of Mardu Pyromancer, KCI, and Humans there since they are kind of the top decks of the format currently.. That formed most of my decision with the sideboard (I think the Chalice are very strong against Mardu given most of their deck runs on one mana spells and without their faithless looting they brick easily) and the Terminus are obviously strong against Humans..
Does anyone have any suggestions though?
EDIT: As I posted this, I noticed the cmc is 2 and not 1 so it is in essence a worse remand... lol
What other options are there?
Currently my forms of interaction are:
2x Gigadrowse
2x Path to Exile
3x Remand
and 2x Cryptic Command
I'm wondering if that is enough.. It feels good. Definitely like the path in there now since I see a lot of Thalia in my area
I have went through a lot of the popular decks in the meta and it hits a lot of really good cards..
Against:
KCI - Myr Retrievers
Tron - Sylvan Scrying
Humans - Dark Confidant, Meddling Mage, Kitesail Freebooter, Thalia
Jeskai - Hits Logic Knot and Mana Leak as well as their Search for Azcanta
Burn - Lightning Helix, Searing Blaze, and Eidolon
BR Hollow One - Hits Collective Brutality and Goblin Lore
Etc...
Seems really good on paper, just wondering if anyone has actually tried it and could give feedback?
I ended up going 4-2 with matchups against RB Hollow One, Boggles, Humans, Mono-white Taxes, Skred Red, and Elves
My overall take from tonight was that I want to try UB because it seems better positioned for the decks in my area, and I realized I was wrong about Telling Time being good (SADFACE)... Although it sets up miracles occasionally, there are some times where you really don't want any of the cards and it stinks putting one on top and one in hand lol
That being said.. I also realized that Day's Undoing is also un-needed.. There aren't enough times of almost decking for it to be worth it.. So I may use that room to go up a remand and try a few path to exile main board similar to how you are running lightning bolt mainboard.
So a few questions about the UR build if you don't mind..
A) Are the 4x Lightning Bolt used primarily to deal 3 to your opponent or as creature removal in place of fatal push in your UB build?
B) What makes this the go to play style now? I know Pyroclasm seems excellent against Mardu Pyromancer and humans however I thought the white and black builds allowed for better sideboard options? What was your thought after this weekend? (I know it wasn't a fair tournament to base opinions on given the poor draws and whatnot)
C) Have you tried an As Foretold build with UR? I have seen a few Twitch streamers play it with like Wheel of Fate being the engine to keep drawing cards as well as Ancestral Vision allowing for a lot of solid 0 cmc plays. I have also seen Chandra, Torch of Defiance in place of JtMS as it can reach it's ultimate quicker and kill more efficiently. Just wondering if you have tried any of these styles in preparation for the tournament, or if you have any interest in it..
I know those are kind of heavy questions, but I am interested in trying red as well! Thank you so much!
**EDIT: So late night MTGO talk.. My build in paper includes 4x Serum Visions and 3x Opt however in place of Opt I wanted to spice it up and instead run Telling Time.. {I know that older builds of the deck used to run it) and it seems excellent.. Since I have been running Remand in my build as of lately it allows for a turn 2 set up with counter magic backup and it is a card that is just as relevant in the late game.. I think I may try it at the next FNM and see how it goes
It stinks because not enough people bring Taking Turns to big tournaments so we don't have hard data on what is the best like Jeskai and other Tier 1 decks; however, I feel like with proper tweaking this deck could be a Tier 1 given it's way of winning leaves very little interaction by the opponent..
Do you think As foretold can work alongside Dictate of Kruphix/Howling Mine
Im thinking 1x As Foretold, 3 Dictate, 2 Howling Mine
From what I've played it feels really good once it gets to 2 counters and up; however, it also feels like by then you are already winning anyhow...
Just wondering what everyone's opinion is on As Foretold
Like the mana ramp seems nice on paper being able to combo a turn earlier or so but 80% of the time it ends in dead draws
Plus you get access to like Terminus and that is just unbeatable for a lot of decks..
WHY DON"T WE JUST GO ESPER! lol
I find the redundancy of their deck difficult to beat. Any suggestions?
Im running the normal Teferi list with the only change being -1 Search for Azcanta and + Spell Snare as it hits a lot of important cards currently in the format..
and my sideboard is average as well - disdainful stroke, dispels, runed halo, detention sphere, etc...
Sidenote: most of my opinions on the matchup come from taking turns and not piloting jeskai against it so it may be more favorable then I am thinking but I want to be prepared for this weekend since there will probably be a lot of it there!
Thank you!
From my time with this deck, the worst hands I see are always ones with a temporal mastery or two in it because paying 7 mana is far worse then 2... and for that reason I think having a Nexus in hand would feel even worse since brainstorming it would do nothing.
For that reason... I am currently experimenting with: 1x Spell Snare, increasing the number of gigadrowse and exhaustion and relying more on straight up mana denial, and including 2x as foretold [these are not all being done at once lol] But I think as foretold has a lot of promise. I used to run it as a 1x of in place of a dictate and I loved it! On turns where you miracle a temporal mastery, being able to cast as foretold makes your following turns infinitely better since it allows you to cast things like serum vision for free.. and as the combo goes on it only becomes more and more of a utility..
Ever since I increased my land count the added effect of drawing cards of remand hasn't seemed as important.