So since after my last modern deck (BW Eldrazi) kind of bit the dust with the banhammer on Eye of Ugin I bought into the BTL Scapeshift deck for MTGO. I've played lots of combo decks, being a blue player, and have had a bit of success with the deck in tournament practice matches. Can anyone give me a run-down on the matchups i will constantly see? I like to think of modern much more in the establishing roles of the match type thinking.
So i just played against Delver, my opponent was definitely the aggressor and I was happy to stall out until i could scape with hard counter magic up. So I kept hand heavy with Izzet Charm, Snapcaster Mage, and Lightning Bolt.
I am very familliar with a vas majority of the decks in modern so I have a general idea of how I think the matchups are but would love to hear from players that have played with the deck.
I an aggro meta I really like lists like this. I really do feel 2 snaps is correct (3 felt flooded, 1 left me wanting more). Farseek I'm a bit torn on. I really like Worldly Council in this spot (as a 2 of) as it's basically always an Impulse in BTL and can find you what you need in a pinch. At worst it's usually anticipate on T2.
A card to consider for the side board is sudden shock. The split second has been invaluable against infect as the deck is as soft as can be against inkmoth nexus. Meliera is good but isn't an I win button as they can still do 12+ damage in the air in a single turn by the time you get her out.
Also spellskite in the SB. You can BTL it and it stops a ton of nonsense. Not a huge fan of swan song as BTL isn't an all in scapeshift variant, often we're looking to drag the game out while finding an opening for BTL or scapeshift. The 2/2 is very detrimental to that.
Personal opinion but I like to go 3 Baloth, 1 huntmaster of the fells in the SB. Huntmaster is slightly better in some matchups and I like to have the choice of BTLing or Baloth or Huntmaster in games where they come in (and generally when they come in it's all 4).
A ton of this is personal opinion and your deck looks like a great starting point.
EDIT: consider Jund charm in the SB if graveyard decks like Storm and whatnot are holding you back. Its 2 damage mode is serviceable and lets it do double duty in your sideboard.
It does have the advantage of basically only costing 2 by virtue of the fact that you can use the land you sac and the new lands come in untapped. Being instant speed also is nice so you can do stuff like hold up cryptic and still potentially ramp or ramp and remand in the same turn (on T3). That said I think Twin was way too popular when Scapeshift hit the modern scene and playing Harrow basically just got you wrecked by remand. If your meta is counterspell light it might be ok but watch out for counterspells post board.
In almost every game I play, I side out all 4 remand. Why do we play remand? when do we actually keep them in the main for games 2/3? I understand that it slows the game down, digs, disrupts, etc. but if the card was good enough, why do we side it out in almost every single matchup? I'm asking because the thought of cutting it from the deck for harder disruption seems good to me.
This might be your meta. If you are facing a lot of burn and infect and zoo, trading 2 mana for 1 mana is just not worth it imo (especially when they can just recast the spell on the same turn). Maybe that 1 mana means they don't kill you to next turn but generally there are better ways to beat those decks (<3 me some sudden shock for infect). When you start remanding Rhinos, Chords, Collect Company, Cryptic Command, Counterspells against your Scapeshift, etc. then you're in business.
I an aggro meta I really like lists like this. I really do feel 2 snaps is correct (3 felt flooded, 1 left me wanting more). Farseek I'm a bit torn on. I really like Worldly Council in this spot (as a 2 of) as it's basically always an Impulse in BTL and can find you what you need in a pinch. At worst it's usually anticipate on T2.
A card to consider for the side board is sudden shock. The split second has been invaluable against infect as the deck is as soft as can be against inkmoth nexus. Meliera is good but isn't an I win button as they can still do 12+ damage in the air in a single turn by the time you get her out.
Also spellskite in the SB. You can BTL it and it stops a ton of nonsense. Not a huge fan of swan song as BTL isn't an all in scapeshift variant, often we're looking to drag the game out while finding an opening for BTL or scapeshift. The 2/2 is very detrimental to that.
Personal opinion but I like to go 3 Baloth, 1 huntmaster of the fells in the SB. Huntmaster is slightly better in some matchups and I like to have the choice of BTLing or Baloth or Huntmaster in games where they come in (and generally when they come in it's all 4).
A ton of this is personal opinion and your deck looks like a great starting point.
EDIT: consider Jund charm in the SB if graveyard decks like Storm and whatnot are holding you back. Its 2 damage mode is serviceable and lets it do double duty in your sideboard.
This might be your meta. If you are facing a lot of burn and infect and zoo, trading 2 mana for 1 mana is just not worth it imo (especially when they can just recast the spell on the same turn). Maybe that 1 mana means they don't kill you to next turn but generally there are better ways to beat those decks (<3 me some sudden shock for infect). When you start remanding Rhinos, Chords, Collect Company, Cryptic Command, Counterspells against your Scapeshift, etc. then you're in business.
They are definitely worse on the draw.
Or Disolve. Closer to the cryptic cost and is still counter + effect (not nearly as good as draw but at least it's fixing your next draw).