MTG Salvation

On MTG Arena, my opponent was able to cast Galvanic Iteration and Anger of the Gods (for 6 damage) with 7 lands on the battlefield (not sure if they were all used for that, of if another spell was cast before), while I had two (2) Annointed Peacekeeper on the battlefield, both naming Anger of the Gods and both above 3/3, thanks to Thalia's Lieutenant. Is this a bug that should be reported? Or is it true that multiple copies of Annointed Peacekeeper all naming the same card have no effect? Actually, I think I remember seeing the card in my opponent's hand switching from 1RR to 3RR after my first Annointed Peacekeeper, but then reverting to 1RR after the second copy (instead of going up to 5RR). This was quite suspicious, and I took note of that (but no screenshot).

I tried to add my deck to the Deck Builder, but Pioneer isn’t a format available in the drop down menu. Please update? This format (and Explorer) is thriving more than ever, and here to stay. Thanks!

Thanks for all the clarifications!

Quote from Rezzahan »

Yes, you can cast the saga. And read the card: it says to return it under your control.

Yeah... In that context, my question seems pretty dumb. I was just confused if it really applied to that specific context, since I recall you could flicker a stolen creature so it returns to the battlefield under it's owner's control. I was wondering if that kind of exile effect from Fable of the Mirror-Breaker applied here.

PART ONE :

Say I have Secluded Courtyard in play, naming Human. Can I use it to produce colored mana for the purpose of casting an Adventure, if the creature's part is Human? For example, produce W to cast Usher to Safety, which is the Instant part of Shepherd of the Flock?

I've searched the rules, and found this : "Adventure spells only exist on the stack. In all other zones, the characteristics of an adventure are ignored; only the characteristics of the creature card apply."

This seems to mean that the card is considered a Human in my hand, and thus could tap Secluded Courtyard to cast it, whatever part of the card I wish to cast. But this seems to be contradicted by : "When casting an adventurer card as an Adventure, only the alternative characteristics are evaluated to see if it can be cast."

I guess I can't use Secluded Courtyard that way (or Unclaimed Territory, or Cavern of Souls), but I really want to make certain before I miss a precious interaction I'm not aware of.

PART TWO :

I play Hostage Taker to kidnap a Bonecrusher Giant. While in exile, can I cast the Adventure part of the spell? And if I do, will I be able to follow up by casting the creature part of the spell to put a 4/3 on the battlefield under my control? Will I have to pay the exact mana cost of 2R, or the Hostage Taker's ability still apply and I can pay with any mana? Does this change of zone (from the exile of Hostage Taker to the exile of the Adventure) means that my opponent retakes control of the card and I can't cast the creature, but my opponent can?

PART TWO-POINT-ONE :

Sub-question to the above : What happens if I use Hostage Taker to kidnap a flipped Reflection of Kiki-Jiki? I guess I can cast the saga, but what happens on stage III? Will it exile and come back as a creature under my control? Or under my opponent's control?

I have Niambi, Esteemed Speaker on the battlefield, nothing else, and another copy of Niambi in hand. My opponent tries to remove her with an instant spell. What happens if I cast the Niambi that I have in hand and it resolves? Can the new one bounces the target of the removal in my hand? Or the legendary rule triggers before her ability resolves?

I have Dennick, Pious Apparition in play, and my opponent plays Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet. What happens if opponent kills any of my other creatures? Do I get to investigate? Or does Kalitas’ ability prevents me from doing so, as my creature didn’t die but was exiled instead?

In another scenario with Dennick, Pious Apparition, what happens if it dies? Do I investigate, or not? My feeling is that I won’t get the clue, but I would like to understand how it is different from Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet’s ability. If I’m not mistaken, when Kalitas dies at the same time as some of my creatures (by trading in combat, for example), opponent gets that many 2/2 zombie tokens. Why do they get the tokens, while I won’t get the Clues?

I play Extraction Specialist on my turn, and reanimate Charming Prince from my graveyard. I choose third mode, to flicker Extraction Specialist. It returns to the battlefield at the beginning of the (my) next end step. I have another Charming Prince in my graveyard to reanimate, and again choose third mode to flicker Extraction Specialist. This all happened at the the beginning on the end step, right? So, when will the last Extraction Specialist enter the battlefield? Right now? Or at the beginning on my opponent’s end step?

OK, thanks. So, in that scenario of the Humans vs Greasefang matchup (Pioneer), Big Thalia is only good to tap the two 4/4 Angel tokens, so opponent can't use them to crew or block on my turn... which is only good if I can go lethal (dead, otherwise, I am).

I have Thalia, Heretic Cathar on the battlefield. It's my opponent's turn, and they already have Greasefang, Okiba Boss on the battlefield, played in a previous turn. They fetch Parhelion II at the beginning of combat (from their graveyard). Greasefang crews the vehicle, and opponent attacks with Parhelion II. It's ability triggers, and two 4/4 Angel tokens are created. They enter the battlefield tapped, because of Thalia. But Parhelion II's ability says that they are attacking. Are they still attacking, because they ETB tapped?

Vigilance is a bit messing with my understanding of this interaction.

That being said, I'm not even sure what happens to Adeline, Resplendent Cathar's tokens in that scenario. The ability says that the 1/1 Human token ETB tapped and attacking. How does Thalia, Heretic Cathar's ability messes with that, if at all?

IMHO, First Strike is more important than Poisonous. You most probably hit for lethal anyway.

I don’t like Lavabelly. Kalastria Healer never saw play in Ally decks in Modern (except for combo with Rally the Ancestors), and it only costs 2 mana. Pretty sure there are better options for us.

Yixlid Jailer is not a Human... But isn’t it a good graveyard hate? We can name Wizard with Cavern or Territory, and still use the land to cast Meddling Mage and Reflector Mage.

I know Leyline of the Void and Grafdigger’s Cage are often used for that role. But one is a dead card if we draw it after turn 1, and none have a 2/1 body...

There’s a new Jeskai Humans deck that is posting good scores on MTGO.

Frankly, I don’t like the manabase, but the deck has main deck Lightning Bolt for some reach and interaction. What do you guys think?

Quote from Vyviel »

My main question was is it possible to build a decent kitchen table casual sliver tribal deck using only the common and uncommon modern horizons cards.

It depends what the others around the table are playing. Playing a deck made of only commons and uncommons from Modern Horizon is a bit far stretched, IMHO. Chances are your friends are playing something a bit more fine tuned... but if you can pull it together, and have fun, go for it!

Another thing : Cindervines on turn 2 is auto-win against Storm. So a SB card that is good against 3+ matchups should get more of our attention, IMHO. Maybe a mix of Cindervines and Smash to Smithereens?

You have strong arguments... but I think there’s more to Cindervines than just artifacts and enchantments hate. Good SB cards are useful in more than one matchup. I believe that, against Control, it would be super good to bring that in. Having a card that serves both purposes is something to consider. And the odds of Cindervines only doing 2 damage to the opponent are slim. We can actively cast it on turn 2, get some dividends, and crack for a colorless mana when it’s necessary, thus allowing us to go full Aggro and not save so many ressources in case opponent plays the hated card. I can see it doing 4+ damage in many scenarios.

And like you said, there’s not much enchantments in Modern. Chances are VERY high opponent can’t deal with Cindervines if it resolves.