I do not have a marsh flats and only 1 verdant, can i play other black/white/green fetches instead? what do you guys recommend?
Also is the WG cycle land from amonkhet a decent replacement for canopy?
Thanks!
I would recommend playing any green fetches and only green shocklands to fetch. This increase the consistency at which you will have green mana to play a turn 1 dork. Also helps with chord. Yes, I am saying don't run godless shrine or basic swamp, the plains is neccesary though. Also, I wouldn't play scattered groves for canopy, coming into play tapped is too huge a cost. Instead you get some Razorverge thickets as the best replacement. You could also consider additional temple gardens or fetches for the slot.
Obviously, making these upgrades would make the deck a lot better but I understand if you can't right now. (The verdants aren't actually neccesary so don't worry about getting them).
Dreadnaught33, my thoughts on meddling mage in the board is that it is a card that helps our traditional bad matchups like tron and ad nauseam while still being pretty good against jund shadow. Just name shadow or goyf (or both) after they've emptied their hand killing your stuff and force them to find more removal (and protect with spirit too). The reason you want 4 I think is so you can name a threat and then name things that can kill the mage. For example, against ad naus, you name ad nauseam first, then slaughter pact or echoing truth with subsequent ones (or whatever else they might have.) it's also important to remember not to name the card till the mage resolves as if it enters, the card is named and they can't respond by casting the spell.
I'm actually gonna order a playset myself. Now just to figure out if I want the Chris pikula art or the new shards one. Maybe two of each?
Got second place at my states in Alabama with my same list run back again. I don't really wanna do another full report on the tourney though. We had 6 rounds. In the Swiss I played against and beat: Tron, Goblins, Living End, And Grixis Delver. I then ID'D the last two rounds to get third seed in top 8. In top 8, I beat some awesome brew playing hideaway lands, emrakul, amulet of vigor, prime time, knight, and spell queller. I then beat ad nauseam in top 4 and lost to living end in the finals. Pretty good day honestly. I absolutely love this deck and glad I proved to everyone around that it's not complete jank. I also had guys from my last time there come up and tell me how they'd told their entire Local groups about my deck cause they thought it was awesome.
Hey, everyone! I'm back again with yet another successful tournament with this super amazing awesome should-be-tier-1 deck.
My mainboard is the same list from my above report, (the second one where I replaced the retreats with a courser and elspeth). My sideboard, for clarification was as follows: (in no particular order)
2 Kitchen Finks
2 Reflector Mage
2 Unified Will
2 Blessed Alliance
1 Negate
2 Stony Silence
2 Gaddock Teeg
2 Izzet Staticaster
I will post my opinions on each of these cards after my report if y'all are interested. (Especially for all you folks asking about Gaddock Teeg.)
This tourney was a monthly modern that a large shop about 2 hours from me runs, top prize is a future sight goyf, with store credit awarded to other top 8 finishes. The event had about 36 people and 6 Rounds. Please note I hardly ever remember my opening hands.
Round 1: Abzan Midrange
Game 1: this was the pretty normal game you'd expect, he thoughtseizes me turn 1 and is impressed by my hand of value creatures and ends up taking my elspeth. His first two land drops are a concealed courtyard and plains though so I don't immediately know what he on but just go with my normal plan of dork into knight. We trade my creatures with his kill spells and he gets a grim flayer down. After I get hit a couple times for 2, he has delirium online but I get a huge knight on the field to hold the flayer back while I draw cards with tracker and assemble a lethal field.
Game 2: I saw a lingering souls game 1 so the Staticaster was immediately brought in. I mull to 6 and keep a 1 lander with great three drops, a voice, and a Staticaster. (I keep a lot of risky hands especially when I mulligan) but my scry is another land. He IOKs me and takes the voice I believe. I hit my second land, he plays a flayer and starts beating. I find a 3rd land and drop a knight. I use the knight the next turn to find a stomping ground to cast the Staticaster to deal with some spirits. I find a scooze next turn which is great considering my low life total. My knight is tapped on a turn when he attacks with his flayer and a shambling vent. I block and eat his only creature in the yard which shrinks his flayer and kills it, while I Staticaster the vent that was blocked by a courser. This leads to a big enough advantage for me to steal the game. (Sorry, a lot happened that game, tried to give you the highlights but it's confusing to remember, pretty much everyone in the shop was watching us at this point too.)
Unified will is not great here cause of souls and reflector mage is lackluster with siege rhino but I would consider it in the future, it's just hard to board out my creatures.
1-0
Round 2: Esper Midrange
Game 1: long story short he answers all my threats with paths and pushes and plays lingering souls and Geist for the win.
Game 2: He gets stuck on 2 land and never finds a 3rd, couldn't lose that one.
Game 3: my hand is a little land heavy but has 2 trackers so I keep. He IOKs one of them away and surgicals it. I play some a voice and knight but they get pathed and pushed while he upticks a lili of the last hope to kill my dorks until he ultimates her, I scoop them up.
Even though unified will is lessened by souls, I need the interaction for his removal spells and hard to answer threats. He also runs 4 paths, 4 push I believe which is much more efficient than abzan's less than 4 split.
1-1
Round 3: Superfriends
Game 1: I recognize this opponent as an abzan player from a previous tourney so I settle in for a midrange game. Turn 1 he plays stomping ground into arbor elf. Wait what? I'm thinking it could be ponza, or devotion. His next play is a windswept Heath and an oath of nissa to get it. I ask if he's playing that 4 color walker deck that Todd Stevens made. He seems surprised I know what he is doing. I start attacking with the knight I dropped last turn, spell queller his Nahiri and that's pretty much game.
Game 2: I don't quite remember this one but not much happened again and I won.
Round 4: RUG? Tron
Game 1: he drops a misty into a basic forest into expedition map. I have no idea what is going on and just do my normal thing. He plays another forest and 2 maps. He cracks one to find a steam vents and another for a tron piece over the next couple turns but it's too late and my board has overwhelmed him.
Game 2: turn 1 he drops a tormod's crypt. I get a Gaddock Teeg out which slows him down, along with a knight. He gets tron online and plays a wurmcoil. I stare at the negate in my hand, wishing it was a unified will. The next turn he attacks with the wurmcoil. I read my opponent and determine he won't see his crypt still sitting in play so I block with my knight then activate his ability to grab a fetch to grab a land to make him a 6/6 to trade. My opponent lets it happen, gets his wurms and passes. I'm kinda dumbfounded and proceed to easily trade some creatures with his wurms and then kill him. He reveals a hand of 2 ugins and 2 Karns, uncastable cause of Gaddock Teeg.
Round 5: GR Tron
Game 1: my opponent mulls to four and I have a normal hand, but it has three paths. Even though I know he's on tron I keep it against my better judgement. It has lands, a dork and a courser soooo... Anyways she mulls to four, plays sanctum and passes. I draw for turn, yep it's the fourth path.... I play some midrange creatures and he starts to find his tron pieces. I think to myself damn I messed this up. He gets tron online, plays planar bridge. The next turn he uses it to find ugin to wipe my board putting ugin at four. I path two of my creatures, determining they're not getting any better, still holding two of them. I play a knight and pass with with several lands in play. He casts a sundering Titan, I float a white and he exiles three of my lands, ticks ugin up bolting me. I use the white to path the Titan which he blows up two more of my lands. I then attack with knight for lethal since he just out so many lands there. He should've minus 3ed the ugin so I got very lucky.
Game 2: I play some creatures, he gets natural tron but has no threats. He finds a ugin and triggers sanctum getting emrakul which is castable next turn, I negate the ugin. I play a Teeg on my turn, leaving me with eight permanents in play including a knight, dork, stony silence and lands, I'm at 20. He is low enough to die to the knight next turn but not the Teeg. He plays the emrakul and takes his extra turn, he attacks and I have to sac 6 permanents. I need the knight to swing for the win but he has 1 card in hand. I have to decide if I should keep the silence or the Teeg as my only other permanent. Silence best so stone, but Teeg beats karn or ugin. I decide to keep Teeg and he reveals the karn in his hand and that's game.
Top 8: Round 1: RW Burn. This is a friend i came here with, so it's a little awkward but it's happened before so we're cool with it.
Game 1: he beats to a bloody pulp with goblins and swiftspears while killing my mana dorks with blaze and helix. Then triple burns my face.
Game 2: he has a heavy creature draw and doesn't answer my dorks this time allowing me to get some sizable blockers in play and stabilize while attacking safely.
Game 3: this goes really long, he gets me down to five, I have many blockers out. but I slowly gain back life with courser and scooze. He knows I have a negate in hand from a guide trigger which makes things tense. Eventually my creatures get there.
Game 1: Wasn't much of a game, I play bird into knight into elspeth and he has no answers, dying to a flying 7/7.
Game 2: we trade resources for a while then he finds an Olvia Voldaren that I cannot answer.
Game 3: pretty much the same as game 2 down to the olivia.
Board: 2 kitchen finks, 2 reflector mage, 2 unified will, 2 blessed alliance.
-----------
So a top 4 finish is not too bad, got 50 in store credit and my deck was the talk of the tournament, every opponent loved playing against me and I had lots of spectators. This really is the best deck that no one is playing.
-----------------------------
Sideboard explanations:
-2 Kitchen Finks: great against burn and aggressive zoo decks. Also great at 2for1ing rock opponents.
- 2 Reflector mage: great against goyf decks and creatures without ETB abilities including zoo. I haven't seen him really shine yet though and may replace him.
-2 unified will and 1 Negate: countermagic to help against our worst matchups (tron and scapeshift) and useful against blue based control. Seriously considering going up to 3 Wills and dropping negate altogether as there were many time a unified will would have been better against tron to counter wurmcoil or sundering Titan, even ulamog if I'd seen him. Negate also doesn't counter Primetime.
- 2 Blessed Alliance: Great against burn, zoo, and midrange decks. Early and mid-game it's normal modes are quite good. Late game all three modes are super relevant, making them lose a creature and you untapping the fatties you just attacked them with for surprise blocks. Also combos with knight's ability and Staticaster in corner situations. I would never remove this and am considering another copy.
-2 stony silence: for affinity, tron, and ad nauseam. It is okay against tron. But I have not tested against affinity or ad nauseam much (currently on my schedule for this week) so I am unsure if it is necessary here, but it will stay until i find out just in case.
-2 Izzet Staticaster: answers lingering souls, affinity's near entire creature base, and other random x/1s in various decks like abzan company, hatebears, or snapcaster decks. I urge anyone who plays this deck to never cut this card from their board as it is one of the rewards for playing this archetype.
-2 Gaddock Teeg: my personal pet sideboard card that has saved my butt time and time again. Comes in against tron, control (to stop wraths and cryptic or at least draw removal spells out), scapeshift, abzan company, and sun and moon. Sometimes he severely hoses our opponents, but at the very least he buys us time to beat down while our opponent deals with him. High ceiling. Our companies being uncastable is an unfortunate side-effect but if you have him out in those matches, you should already be winning. You should not cut company when bringing him in unless you have other reasons to do so as company is still your best cards and helps find Teeg. Besides, you'll still need company if you never see him to have a chance in some matchups.
In a vacuum (assuming a blind Metagame) I'd say suicide zoo is probably better right now. Granted, I haven't been able to test this deck much due to not actually finding a build of the deck that is the 'norm' for the deck. There's like 5 different lists and I don't which one Is the right one.:sweat:
Pharika seems pretty good against jund, since they don't have anything that exiles, just destruction spells, and the deathtouchers hold back their goyfs/scoozes from attacking. She also doesn't get hit by damnation which will fill up our graveyard for more snakes.
Alright, theres been enough budget talk in this thread. This thread is about playing magic, not buying cards. Yes some cards are better than others, and their cost is higher. We have a budget sub. Please use that.
1
I would recommend playing any green fetches and only green shocklands to fetch. This increase the consistency at which you will have green mana to play a turn 1 dork. Also helps with chord. Yes, I am saying don't run godless shrine or basic swamp, the plains is neccesary though. Also, I wouldn't play scattered groves for canopy, coming into play tapped is too huge a cost. Instead you get some Razorverge thickets as the best replacement. You could also consider additional temple gardens or fetches for the slot.
Obviously, making these upgrades would make the deck a lot better but I understand if you can't right now. (The verdants aren't actually neccesary so don't worry about getting them).
1
I'm actually gonna order a playset myself. Now just to figure out if I want the Chris pikula art or the new shards one. Maybe two of each?
2
1
My mainboard is the same list from my above report, (the second one where I replaced the retreats with a courser and elspeth). My sideboard, for clarification was as follows: (in no particular order)
2 Kitchen Finks
2 Reflector Mage
2 Unified Will
2 Blessed Alliance
1 Negate
2 Stony Silence
2 Gaddock Teeg
2 Izzet Staticaster
I will post my opinions on each of these cards after my report if y'all are interested. (Especially for all you folks asking about Gaddock Teeg.)
This tourney was a monthly modern that a large shop about 2 hours from me runs, top prize is a future sight goyf, with store credit awarded to other top 8 finishes. The event had about 36 people and 6 Rounds. Please note I hardly ever remember my opening hands.
Round 1: Abzan Midrange
Game 1: this was the pretty normal game you'd expect, he thoughtseizes me turn 1 and is impressed by my hand of value creatures and ends up taking my elspeth. His first two land drops are a concealed courtyard and plains though so I don't immediately know what he on but just go with my normal plan of dork into knight. We trade my creatures with his kill spells and he gets a grim flayer down. After I get hit a couple times for 2, he has delirium online but I get a huge knight on the field to hold the flayer back while I draw cards with tracker and assemble a lethal field.
Game 2: I saw a lingering souls game 1 so the Staticaster was immediately brought in. I mull to 6 and keep a 1 lander with great three drops, a voice, and a Staticaster. (I keep a lot of risky hands especially when I mulligan) but my scry is another land. He IOKs me and takes the voice I believe. I hit my second land, he plays a flayer and starts beating. I find a 3rd land and drop a knight. I use the knight the next turn to find a stomping ground to cast the Staticaster to deal with some spirits. I find a scooze next turn which is great considering my low life total. My knight is tapped on a turn when he attacks with his flayer and a shambling vent. I block and eat his only creature in the yard which shrinks his flayer and kills it, while I Staticaster the vent that was blocked by a courser. This leads to a big enough advantage for me to steal the game. (Sorry, a lot happened that game, tried to give you the highlights but it's confusing to remember, pretty much everyone in the shop was watching us at this point too.)
Board: 2 Staticaster, 2 Blessed Alliance, 2 kitchen finks.
Unified will is not great here cause of souls and reflector mage is lackluster with siege rhino but I would consider it in the future, it's just hard to board out my creatures.
1-0
Round 2: Esper Midrange
Game 1: long story short he answers all my threats with paths and pushes and plays lingering souls and Geist for the win.
Game 2: He gets stuck on 2 land and never finds a 3rd, couldn't lose that one.
Game 3: my hand is a little land heavy but has 2 trackers so I keep. He IOKs one of them away and surgicals it. I play some a voice and knight but they get pathed and pushed while he upticks a lili of the last hope to kill my dorks until he ultimates her, I scoop them up.
Board: 2 kitchen finks, 2 unified will, 1 negate, 2 Izzet Staticaster.
Even though unified will is lessened by souls, I need the interaction for his removal spells and hard to answer threats. He also runs 4 paths, 4 push I believe which is much more efficient than abzan's less than 4 split.
1-1
Round 3: Superfriends
Game 1: I recognize this opponent as an abzan player from a previous tourney so I settle in for a midrange game. Turn 1 he plays stomping ground into arbor elf. Wait what? I'm thinking it could be ponza, or devotion. His next play is a windswept Heath and an oath of nissa to get it. I ask if he's playing that 4 color walker deck that Todd Stevens made. He seems surprised I know what he is doing. I start attacking with the knight I dropped last turn, spell queller his Nahiri and that's pretty much game.
Game 2: I don't quite remember this one but not much happened again and I won.
Board: 2 unified will, 1 negate, 2 Gaddock Teeg.
2-1
Round 4: RUG? Tron
Game 1: he drops a misty into a basic forest into expedition map. I have no idea what is going on and just do my normal thing. He plays another forest and 2 maps. He cracks one to find a steam vents and another for a tron piece over the next couple turns but it's too late and my board has overwhelmed him.
Game 2: turn 1 he drops a tormod's crypt. I get a Gaddock Teeg out which slows him down, along with a knight. He gets tron online and plays a wurmcoil. I stare at the negate in my hand, wishing it was a unified will. The next turn he attacks with the wurmcoil. I read my opponent and determine he won't see his crypt still sitting in play so I block with my knight then activate his ability to grab a fetch to grab a land to make him a 6/6 to trade. My opponent lets it happen, gets his wurms and passes. I'm kinda dumbfounded and proceed to easily trade some creatures with his wurms and then kill him. He reveals a hand of 2 ugins and 2 Karns, uncastable cause of Gaddock Teeg.
Board: 2 unified will, 1 negate, 2 Gaddock Teeg.
3-1
Round 5: GR Tron
Game 1: my opponent mulls to four and I have a normal hand, but it has three paths. Even though I know he's on tron I keep it against my better judgement. It has lands, a dork and a courser soooo... Anyways she mulls to four, plays sanctum and passes. I draw for turn, yep it's the fourth path.... I play some midrange creatures and he starts to find his tron pieces. I think to myself damn I messed this up. He gets tron online, plays planar bridge. The next turn he uses it to find ugin to wipe my board putting ugin at four. I path two of my creatures, determining they're not getting any better, still holding two of them. I play a knight and pass with with several lands in play. He casts a sundering Titan, I float a white and he exiles three of my lands, ticks ugin up bolting me. I use the white to path the Titan which he blows up two more of my lands. I then attack with knight for lethal since he just out so many lands there. He should've minus 3ed the ugin so I got very lucky.
Game 2: I play some creatures, he gets natural tron but has no threats. He finds a ugin and triggers sanctum getting emrakul which is castable next turn, I negate the ugin. I play a Teeg on my turn, leaving me with eight permanents in play including a knight, dork, stony silence and lands, I'm at 20. He is low enough to die to the knight next turn but not the Teeg. He plays the emrakul and takes his extra turn, he attacks and I have to sac 6 permanents. I need the knight to swing for the win but he has 1 card in hand. I have to decide if I should keep the silence or the Teeg as my only other permanent. Silence best so stone, but Teeg beats karn or ugin. I decide to keep Teeg and he reveals the karn in his hand and that's game.
Board: 2 unified will, 1 negate, 2 stony silence, 2 Gaddock Teeg.
4-1
Round 6: ID With Bant Eldrazi
Top 8: Round 1: RW Burn. This is a friend i came here with, so it's a little awkward but it's happened before so we're cool with it.
Game 1: he beats to a bloody pulp with goblins and swiftspears while killing my mana dorks with blaze and helix. Then triple burns my face.
Game 2: he has a heavy creature draw and doesn't answer my dorks this time allowing me to get some sizable blockers in play and stabilize while attacking safely.
Game 3: this goes really long, he gets me down to five, I have many blockers out. but I slowly gain back life with courser and scooze. He knows I have a negate in hand from a guide trigger which makes things tense. Eventually my creatures get there.
Board: 2 kitchen finks, 2 unified will, 1 negate, 2 blessed alliance.
Top 8: Round 2: Jund.
Game 1: Wasn't much of a game, I play bird into knight into elspeth and he has no answers, dying to a flying 7/7.
Game 2: we trade resources for a while then he finds an Olvia Voldaren that I cannot answer.
Game 3: pretty much the same as game 2 down to the olivia.
Board: 2 kitchen finks, 2 reflector mage, 2 unified will, 2 blessed alliance.
-----------
So a top 4 finish is not too bad, got 50 in store credit and my deck was the talk of the tournament, every opponent loved playing against me and I had lots of spectators. This really is the best deck that no one is playing.
-----------------------------
Sideboard explanations:
-2 Kitchen Finks: great against burn and aggressive zoo decks. Also great at 2for1ing rock opponents.
- 2 Reflector mage: great against goyf decks and creatures without ETB abilities including zoo. I haven't seen him really shine yet though and may replace him.
-2 unified will and 1 Negate: countermagic to help against our worst matchups (tron and scapeshift) and useful against blue based control. Seriously considering going up to 3 Wills and dropping negate altogether as there were many time a unified will would have been better against tron to counter wurmcoil or sundering Titan, even ulamog if I'd seen him. Negate also doesn't counter Primetime.
- 2 Blessed Alliance: Great against burn, zoo, and midrange decks. Early and mid-game it's normal modes are quite good. Late game all three modes are super relevant, making them lose a creature and you untapping the fatties you just attacked them with for surprise blocks. Also combos with knight's ability and Staticaster in corner situations. I would never remove this and am considering another copy.
-2 stony silence: for affinity, tron, and ad nauseam. It is okay against tron. But I have not tested against affinity or ad nauseam much (currently on my schedule for this week) so I am unsure if it is necessary here, but it will stay until i find out just in case.
-2 Izzet Staticaster: answers lingering souls, affinity's near entire creature base, and other random x/1s in various decks like abzan company, hatebears, or snapcaster decks. I urge anyone who plays this deck to never cut this card from their board as it is one of the rewards for playing this archetype.
-2 Gaddock Teeg: my personal pet sideboard card that has saved my butt time and time again. Comes in against tron, control (to stop wraths and cryptic or at least draw removal spells out), scapeshift, abzan company, and sun and moon. Sometimes he severely hoses our opponents, but at the very least he buys us time to beat down while our opponent deals with him. High ceiling. Our companies being uncastable is an unfortunate side-effect but if you have him out in those matches, you should already be winning. You should not cut company when bringing him in unless you have other reasons to do so as company is still your best cards and helps find Teeg. Besides, you'll still need company if you never see him to have a chance in some matchups.
Taking this to states next week so wish me luck!
1
1