The pro tour/shortly after will decide the meta. Then prices will stop fluctuating.
Then hopefully the price of Karn, Scion of Urza can go down a bit...OR it could go up, which is pretty scary. I'm more upset with myself that I didn't speculate on History of Benalia (the one card from Dominaria that I wanted to spec on) at $11 each preorder. I would have definitely bought at least 12 of them if it had started at $8, but $11 felt like it didn't give me much squeeze room. I think it's sitting at over $20 now.
I feel that. I procrastinated buying up Teferi's at $12 for preorder and ended up having to buy or trade for them @ $35. This whole set is wild.
I'm thinking about removing Matter Reshaper and adding Tireless Tracker.
opinions?
I think is necessary to look for cards advantage.
I don't think the land count is high enough for tracker to payoff in our deck, honestly. You want your Tracker to leave two clues aprox. to get some value out of it, and with 22 lands and only 2 fetchlands the odds decreases significantly. This deck generates card advantage by doing 2x1 in almost all the core creatures we use. Matter Reshaper satisfies that condition, having more synergy with the rest of our cards than Tracker. And I honestly think that our deck topdecks are really good, so if you go topdecking mode with another deck I think you'll eventually end up winning (some luck also involved of course).
If you think you gas out more times than you would like to, maybe Endbringer, Sea Gate Wreckage or alike are the cards you are looking for. Hope this reasoning helps you decide what to try out.
I've always thought Matter Reshaper was one of the best creatures in the deck. When it has to it adds to the beat down, and when you end up on the defensive it's a good blocker that replaces itself. I would need a REALLY good reason to take it out of the deck. I don't think that's Tireless Tracker.
Ive seen some lists recently that run 2 copies of Approach. Not sure I like it though because it gets hit by Negate, whereas having some sort of creature like Gearhulk or Caracal would likely not get countered as well as punish the opponent for siding out removal spells against you
I played one copy of Approach for a bit (it's an Immortal Sun now to play around with) and I found that it gave me a free win in game one against a lot of midrange decks because I could create Drakes to keep pressure off instead of win, and then slam Approach twice because they have no counters or Duress effects in their main. Then I just sided it out for Negates or whatever. I think having Approach as a backup plan is probably a good idea. Honestly though this deck isn't very well-positioned right now. It's too hard to beat Mono-Red consistently and blue-based midrange will have the Negate at least as often as not when you need to Settle them out of existence.
doing a modern fnm with the bloodbraid version. i have 2 slagstorm but no growth spasm. would cultivate or kodamas reach be good substitutes, or just use explores??
also is there a titanshift discord?
I think either of those two would be fine substitutes. More broadly, I was wondering what this deck's difficult matchups are. Discard hurts, and Burn seems pretty rough, but other than that I'm puzzling a bit.
I've been looking to get into Modern for awhile, and it's a bummer that all the staples are spiking, but I have an itch that Standard can't scratch. At least as far as mastering a single deck and sticking with it over a long period of time. I really want to play a deck that costs less than $1000 to optimally build, is somewhat well-positioned in the format going forward, and is sort of resilient to hate. Affinity and Burn don't appeal to me a ton. Recently I've been looking at RG TitanShift and Mono-Green Tron. Does anyone have any recommendations? Are there other decks I should look at? Thanks!
I've always really loved the game plan of Tron and I think I want to get into Modern very soon. However, I'm a little nervous about the prospect of having to go up against Blood Moon AND Damping Sphere after Dominaria comes out. So I have a question for all of you seasoned pilots: what do you think "traditional" Tron's place is in the overall meta, and are you worried about that 1-2 punch as well? I liked Yoshihiko Ikawa's rationale for why Blood Moon isn't necessarily as good against Tron as some people might think, but the addition of another strong hate card in the meta feels like it throws another wrench into the equation. That being said, I'm undecided on which version is best. Is Thoughtseize (and the versatility of Collective Brutality) better to have against them so the deck can be proactive? Or is having access to a wider variety of artifact/enchantment hate (like GR has) more valuable? Or, finally, is the consistency of Mono Green the best way to go? My local meta includes a fair share of Burn and also a couple prison decks, so I think I'd see more of those cards on a week to week basis, but I also want to be prepared for larger events if I decide to attend them. I'd love to know what any of you think. Thanks!
On a final note, what do you guys think about 1 vs 2 copies of Ugin? Is multiple too greedy with all the land hate going around right now?
Both the new Mardu Vehicles and Grixis midrange control decks look to be bad match ups for this deck.
I have not played against RWB Vehicles yet, but Grixis goes can go into hard control with counters and Duress.
Once they have control of the game, they use Glorybringer as a wincon
I agree with you about the Mardu Vehicles matchup, but I've had zero problems with Grixis. Drake Haven has an excellent game 1 against them, and Duress has never been backbreaking post-board. If they resolve a Scarab God things get kind of tough, but even then Cast Out has come through a bunch of times. I'm not that worried about Grixis. Finding a game plan against Vehicles is going to be rough, though.
So I have been messing around with both UW Cycling and UR Enigma Drake decks for a little while now. I think both Enigma Drake and Drake Haven play very well together.
I think separately both decks have a few big holes. UW Cycle doesn't have any early interaction and suffers against the fast starts of RW Aggro and Mardu Vehicles. Furthermore it's only real win-con is typically Haven or Gideon of the Trials, if it's even included. This open it up for a lot of problems, a single Lost Legacy or Ixalan's Binding on Haven could mean game.
UR Enigma Drake has a tough time against any resolved God and reoccurring creatures. While UR has a better game against aggro, it still suffers. Lastly UR also is light on threats and can easily be shut down with the right cards.
By combing the two deck ideas we fill a lot of those holes. Between Red's early removal and White's lifegain, we improve our game against aggro. By combing Enigma Drake, Drake Haven, Cryptic Serpent, and planeswalkers we increase the threat density a lot! Lastly using White's exile effects we can now efficiently handle resolved Gods.
I completely agree with your assessment of UW Haven's holes. I'm genuinely not sure that there's a good sideboard the deck can have which addresses its deficiencies against faster decks and also lets it beef up against control match ups. I'm not entirely sure that Jeskai "Enigma Haven" is the answer though. The biggest strength of Drake Haven, I've found, is its ability to stabilize so consistently by digging into sweepers. I actually think that post-board it has at least an even chance against Hazoret-based creature aggro decks. The match up that I think is going to be the bigger problem is vehicles, and I'm not entirely convinced that combining it with the Enigma Drake shell makes that much of a difference, especially if you're not playing Abrade anywhere in your list. I would replace the 2 Obstructionists in your SB with Torrential Gearhulks and then find room for some number of Fragmentize and Abrade between the 4 Lightning Strike and 3 Forsake the Worldly in your SB. With more sweepers I haven't had any trouble against Gift decks, and I don't think the "exile" part of Forsake the Worldly is that relevant against Vehicles. There might be a hybrid that exists here, but I think that hybrid is based more on the Drake Haven deck than the Enigma Drake deck. I also think it would be wise to replace most of the creatures in your list with sweepers, at least going up to 4 Settle. Settle the Wreckage is too good for any control deck like this to be running less than 4.
I kind of don't understand the lack of hype surrounding this deck. It has a good matchup against Energy, a winnable one against RDW, and will absolutely wreck all the attempts at tribal decks that people are brewing. Negate and Spell Pierce make its life a little bit difficult, but I always bring in my own to deal with them. It's super easy to get a sweeper by the time your opponent is doing dangerous things, usually even on the draw. What's the deal, fellow cyclers?
What is your strategy vs Ram Red
Right now I side in 4 Authority and the 3 life-gain kitties and pray to god I can get a T1 Authority without mulling below 6. That being said, I haven't played against any red-based aggro since the banning, and Ferocidon was EASILY the most difficult thing that deck had to deal with. I probably need to find something better than the Caracals to deal with aggro decks, I'm thinking Baffling End is a nice fit atm, but without its namesake or that annoying dino I feel a lot better about the matchup.
Cycling is a real deck (IMO). If/when Energy loses a piece and tribal aggro starts to pick up in the meta after RIX comes out, I think things get healthier. I enjoy standard a lot right now, even when I have to play against Hazoret aggro or Energy every match in an FNM. All-in-all, Magic is still just as much a social game as a competitive one. For someone who doesn't want to shell out the money to play Energy, I'd say just build whatever you think is fun and get to know your LGS's scene better. Worst-case scenario is losing. Most people need to get better at doing that, anyways, based on this thread.
I kind of don't understand the lack of hype surrounding this deck. It has a good matchup against Energy, a winnable one against RDW, and will absolutely wreck all the attempts at tribal decks that people are brewing. Negate and Spell Pierce make its life a little bit difficult, but I always bring in my own to deal with them. It's super easy to get a sweeper by the time your opponent is doing dangerous things, usually even on the draw. What's the deal, fellow cyclers?
holy smokes I completely forgot that sanctuary triggers from discard. Tomb Robber triggers it! 2 mana for an explore and a 2/2 flying drake? Per activation? It helps put stuff in the yard, gets bigger or pulls lands out of the way, it seems like a good fit.
I think you'd have to change the shell entirely for that card to work in the deck, probably changing it to UB. Anyways, paying 2 for a drake without any guaranteed card draw seems pretty uninspiring, especially since it's so fragile. I like the consistency of the deck as it currently exists a lot more.
I've been playing some hybrid of the lists put up on CFB by Corey Burkhart and Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa. I'm still a little unsure about my sideboard, but I think the main deck is pretty tight as is. This is my list:
I'm really struggling with Ramunap Red. There are a few people at my LGS who play it. Anyone have tips for how to survive longer against them? Ferocidon is especially problematic when I don't draw Fumigate or Cast Out. Otherwise I'm tearing through the meta. Temur Energy really struggles against this deck and when 4 Color doesn't draw 2 Scarab Gods in the same game I usually pull it out there as well.
The thing that concerns me about this is that you can get either a premium or non-premium version of either the shocks or the fetches. It's going to feel like a huge f u to open up the one in 300 packs that has one and get a non premium Blood Crypt.
They kept saying premium. I believe they are foil only.
Edit: Not sure if I've been wooshed by sarcasm, so I'm leaving my comment.
I'm actually being serious. If you look at the collector's number on the Arid Mesa and the Steam Vents there are 45 cards in that collection. 10 Fetchlands (foil and nonfoil), 20 shocklands (foil and non foil) and 10 of the new full art duals in both foil and non foil. I know I'm still 5 lands short but unless I missed some huge announcement about other cards being a part of this I'm worried that I'm right.
There are only 25 cards in this "set" that can be opened in BFZ, and all are foil. 10 Shccks, 10 Fetches, 5 new Duals. The other 20 will be available in Sweat, but we do not know what those 20 cards are at this time.
My favorite card will forever be Woolly Thoctar. The first competitive deck I ever played was Naya Midrange in Shards/Zendikar standard, and sticking one of those guys turn 3 was a very good sign for the game to come, plus in my opinion he's the best vanilla creature ever printed. Slap a Behemoth Sledge on him and it was hard to lose.
I feel that. I procrastinated buying up Teferi's at $12 for preorder and ended up having to buy or trade for them @ $35. This whole set is wild.
I've always thought Matter Reshaper was one of the best creatures in the deck. When it has to it adds to the beat down, and when you end up on the defensive it's a good blocker that replaces itself. I would need a REALLY good reason to take it out of the deck. I don't think that's Tireless Tracker.
I played one copy of Approach for a bit (it's an Immortal Sun now to play around with) and I found that it gave me a free win in game one against a lot of midrange decks because I could create Drakes to keep pressure off instead of win, and then slam Approach twice because they have no counters or Duress effects in their main. Then I just sided it out for Negates or whatever. I think having Approach as a backup plan is probably a good idea. Honestly though this deck isn't very well-positioned right now. It's too hard to beat Mono-Red consistently and blue-based midrange will have the Negate at least as often as not when you need to Settle them out of existence.
I think either of those two would be fine substitutes. More broadly, I was wondering what this deck's difficult matchups are. Discard hurts, and Burn seems pretty rough, but other than that I'm puzzling a bit.
It's also really good against Affinity.
On a final note, what do you guys think about 1 vs 2 copies of Ugin? Is multiple too greedy with all the land hate going around right now?
I agree with you about the Mardu Vehicles matchup, but I've had zero problems with Grixis. Drake Haven has an excellent game 1 against them, and Duress has never been backbreaking post-board. If they resolve a Scarab God things get kind of tough, but even then Cast Out has come through a bunch of times. I'm not that worried about Grixis. Finding a game plan against Vehicles is going to be rough, though.
I completely agree with your assessment of UW Haven's holes. I'm genuinely not sure that there's a good sideboard the deck can have which addresses its deficiencies against faster decks and also lets it beef up against control match ups. I'm not entirely sure that Jeskai "Enigma Haven" is the answer though. The biggest strength of Drake Haven, I've found, is its ability to stabilize so consistently by digging into sweepers. I actually think that post-board it has at least an even chance against Hazoret-based creature aggro decks. The match up that I think is going to be the bigger problem is vehicles, and I'm not entirely convinced that combining it with the Enigma Drake shell makes that much of a difference, especially if you're not playing Abrade anywhere in your list. I would replace the 2 Obstructionists in your SB with Torrential Gearhulks and then find room for some number of Fragmentize and Abrade between the 4 Lightning Strike and 3 Forsake the Worldly in your SB. With more sweepers I haven't had any trouble against Gift decks, and I don't think the "exile" part of Forsake the Worldly is that relevant against Vehicles. There might be a hybrid that exists here, but I think that hybrid is based more on the Drake Haven deck than the Enigma Drake deck. I also think it would be wise to replace most of the creatures in your list with sweepers, at least going up to 4 Settle. Settle the Wreckage is too good for any control deck like this to be running less than 4.
Right now I side in 4 Authority and the 3 life-gain kitties and pray to god I can get a T1 Authority without mulling below 6. That being said, I haven't played against any red-based aggro since the banning, and Ferocidon was EASILY the most difficult thing that deck had to deal with. I probably need to find something better than the Caracals to deal with aggro decks, I'm thinking Baffling End is a nice fit atm, but without its namesake or that annoying dino I feel a lot better about the matchup.
I think you'd have to change the shell entirely for that card to work in the deck, probably changing it to UB. Anyways, paying 2 for a drake without any guaranteed card draw seems pretty uninspiring, especially since it's so fragile. I like the consistency of the deck as it currently exists a lot more.
1 Curator of Mysteries
Sorcery (3)
3 Fumigate
Instant (20)
4 Censor
4 Renewed Faith
4 Hieroglyphic Illumination
4 Settle the Wreckage
Artifact (1)
1 Abandoned Sarcophagus
Enchantment (11)
3 Search for Azcanta
4 Drake Haven
4 Cast Out
8 Plains
6 Island
4 Irrigated Farmland
4 Glacial Fortress
1 Shefet Dunes
1 Ipnu Rivulet
4 Authority of the Consuls
1 Spell Pierce
2 Negate
1 Jace's Defeat
1 Nimble Obstructionist
1 Ixalan's Binding
3 Regal Caracal
2 Torrential Gearhulk
I'm really struggling with Ramunap Red. There are a few people at my LGS who play it. Anyone have tips for how to survive longer against them? Ferocidon is especially problematic when I don't draw Fumigate or Cast Out. Otherwise I'm tearing through the meta. Temur Energy really struggles against this deck and when 4 Color doesn't draw 2 Scarab Gods in the same game I usually pull it out there as well.
Thanks man I appreciate the clarification.