2019 Holiday Exchange!
 
A New and Exciting Beginning
 
The End of an Era
  • posted a message on Burn
    @elconquistador1985 been a while since I have posted in here but was curious if any cards lost/gained value from the planeswalker redirect erratas that came out on Friday? Thoughts?
    Posted in: Aggro & Tempo
  • posted a message on [Primer] RG Ponza / Modern Land Destruction
    Quote from MarcWizard »
    are we really that hungry for more 3 drops? between 8 rains, 4 trackers and some of us are running voices and coursers, i think there are plenty.

    I was looking at another aspect of the deck which our BBE doesn't play well with: the dorks.

    They're so important on turns 1 and 2... and afterward we're not too hot on seeing them, or cascading into them. Side issue: 60% of them die to bolts and pushes.

    I've been thinking of solving this problem by changing up 2 birds for Simian Spirit Guide.

    Pros:
    It enables 4 mana on turn 2 a lot more consistently. Arbor/Sprawl + guide in any combination will let you BBE or Acid-moss on turn 2.
    It also makes the turn 2 blood moon/rain far more reliable, since they can't interact with it outside of discard.
    When hit by BBE, its a 2/2 body.

    Cons:
    While it ignores removal in the early turns, the mana ramp is not repeatable.
    For all its worth, 2/2 non-flying isn't the bee's knees. Still beats arbor elf or birds in terms of offensive power tho.



    You forgot to mention 4 Moons which means typical lists play at least 14 3CMC spells if not more.

    The SSG debate has been around from time to time in here but in short the answer is not worth it. It sounds good in theory but in actual testing most people find out that it isn’t great because not having the consistent mana source you can just stumble even more often. Example: you have 2 lands and a SSG with no other lands sure you can cast the Moon but then you are at 2 mana for your next turn and if you don’t hit your land in the next 2 turns you allow your opponent to climb back into the game. Now I can almost already hear your response saying well if the opponent bolts the bird or elf you are in the same boat. I will agree that is 100% true but not every game does your opponent have the removal spell. If they did this deck wouldn’t exist.

    So let’s look at T3 in 2 land and a dork vs 2 land and a SSG. If dork lives you can play at least any 3 mana or less spell without drawing a land. If SSG is used then you are limited to 1-2 CMC spells (which some people do run a 1 of Scooze in the main now) if you don’t top deck a land.

    But hey don’t take my word for it! I encourage you to do your own testing and to report back your findings.
    Posted in: Midrange
  • posted a message on [Primer] RG Ponza / Modern Land Destruction
    Ok guess it is time to go over general sb strategies. There has already been disagreements with regards to how to sb against burn, but I will give my thoughts and encourage others to do so as well because collectively we can become better players if we help one another.

    I will cover as many as I can but if you want me to address other decks or further explain reasons why I sideboard the way I do just let me know.

    Burn: kinda covered already but Trinisphere and life gain cards in. Blood moons and PWs out.

    Storm: Trinisphere and GY hate (if you play choke then also bring this in). Blood moon and big finishers out.

    Humans: Sweepers, 1-2 life gain, 1-2 Artifact hate (Abrade strong here). PW and couple Rains out (1 Elf if need be to make swap even)

    G/B/x midrange or control: GY hate (if you play Finks and Scooze very strong here) (if playing against control Thrun). Flex cards out such as Courser and Lightning Bolt.

    Affinity: All artifact hate and Sweepers in. PW (argument can be made for keeping Nissa in if playing P&K) and some number of Rains out.

    Tron: Honestly nothing is worth bringing in to make the matchup better than it already is.

    Valakut: Same as Tron.

    Hollow One: GY hate and Sweepers with 1-2 Artifact hate in. PW and Blood Moon out.

    Dredge: GY hate and Sweepers. PW and some flex spots out.

    Living End: GY hate and Trinisphere in (if you play P&K don’t forget that it can shoot down your own creatures thus wait to crack clues). PW and some number of flex spots out.

    Boggles: Trinisphere and 1-2 Sweepers in (if you play beast within great here to blow up the Daybreak Cornet) (if you play Fracturing Gust it is the typically the game ended). Chandra and some number of flex spots out.

    Death Shadow: GY hate and Thrun in (Primal Command can come in clutch to give opponent life to kill Shadows). Chandra and some number of flex spots out (Courser not great).

    D&T: Some artifact hate and Sweepers in. PW and a couple flex spots out.

    U/W/x control: Thrun and GY hate in (if you play choke and Finks bring them in too). 1 Elf and some number of flex spots out.

    I hope this is a good start for y’all. With all the outs mentioned above you can also take out 1 BBE if needed. Variance doesn’t always help.
    Posted in: Midrange
  • posted a message on [Primer] RG Ponza / Modern Land Destruction
    Regarding Nissa VOZ no one has ever said she is crucial to the deck. Please keep in mind there are quite a few flex spots in Ponza which she is 1 of. If you don’t like her then don’t run her but I am glad to see people test cards and find out that they don’t like it rather than not try a card just because at first glance doesn’t look great.
    For those interested in her merits, she is good against big creature decks and has the potential to make all the dorks into actual thread along with making cards like P&K or Huntmaster better as well. Her ult is basically game winning, but every ult should be. Pretty good hit off BBE.

    I am not sure where an updated sb guide is but I am sure we can come up with something collectively. Question is are we going to use just generalizations or use a list for + and -?
    Posted in: Midrange
  • posted a message on [Primer] RG Ponza / Modern Land Destruction
    For those unsure about the burn matchup (I switched from burn to play Ponza but I still play it about 25% of the time in Modern and 100% of the time in Legacy) Blood Moon isn’t that great. You can keep in the other Rain effects because Trinisphere is your friend here along with your life gain package.
    Courser alone is a house against burn as the incremental life gain burn can’t deal with very well. Also never block with Courser unless you are facing down lethal as they can then just bolt or blaze it.
    Kitchen Finks is also very good because of it having 2 triggers of life gain due to having persist and this one you always block with.
    If you have played any of the other life gain thing above Thragtusk, Primal Command, or Wurmcoil have the potential to put the game out of reach for them but this is a situation where you are forcing them to have the Skullcrack or they lose.
    As for what to on the lookout for Deflecting Palm can wreck you so trying to hit with a big finisher might not be wise.
    Lastly any sweepers are good here as all of there guys are pretty small. Burn tries to stick creatures early to provide them with consistent damage.
    Hopefully this helps.
    Posted in: Midrange
  • posted a message on [Primer] RG Ponza / Modern Land Destruction
    Quote from lord_darkview »
    Currently, if you deal direct damage to a player, you can choose to redirect that damage to a planeswalker they control.

    This rule is going to be changed so planeswalkers are targeted directly. Many cards will receive errata. Cards that target a player will have planeswalker added to the list of potential targets (think Lightning Bolt). Cards that damage without targeting will work as written, and will lose the ability to incidentally damage planeswalkers (think Earthquake).


    This is the current speculation (and seems the most logical) but we aren’t 100% certain what all the erratas will be for sure until the set release of Dominaria. That is when Rosewater said all cards older cards than Dominaria will be adjusted.
    Posted in: Midrange
  • posted a message on [Primer] RG Ponza / Modern Land Destruction
    As for the humans and d&t matchup I board basically the same. Bring in all sweepers for early board control and Grudges for Vial then side out some of the Rain effects along with big mana spells. Specifically for your list would be something like:
    In: 2 Ancient Grudge, 2 Anger of the Gods, 1 Slagstorm
    Out: All 3 Chandra (Big Chandra is too expensive and Chandra TOD typically can’t live past 1 turn) 2 Molten Rain because Stone Rain you can more reliable to cast and Rain effects can still be useful.
    Posted in: Midrange
  • posted a message on [Primer] RG Ponza / Modern Land Destruction
    Quote from Mcnealstash »
    I don't have to test the card to know it has a built in failure rate in this deck- ponza plays multiple 4, 5, and 6 cmc cards- there are going to be times when hazoret isn't going to do anything. Even if hazoret worked say, 75% of the time, which seems fairly generous, it still would not be worth mainboarding as like I said, many other good, proactive options in the 4 cmc slot exist. Hazoret is better in a deck like jund or mardu as a midrange mirror breaker sideboard card because you can actively discard your hand to the likes of liliana and collective brutality to get her online.


    I figured that you hadn’t which is why I asked. There are plenty of cards that on paper look bad but in actual testing turn out to be great cards. Posting in a forum when you don’t have experience with the card does no good to help further the discussion. There are quite a few people in here who have played with the card to great success. In short try it before you knock it.
    Posted in: Midrange
  • posted a message on [Primer] RG Ponza / Modern Land Destruction
    Quote from Mcnealstash »
    There's no reason to ever play a 4 mana do nothing in modern- hazoret is a card with a built in fail rate- sometimes it's going to work and you'll be happy about it, other times you're going to spend 4 mana to do nothing because you have inferno titan and multiple other spells in hand. Modern is a format that punishes those who aren't trying to have a proactive strategy- and sometimes hazoret is not proactive at all. There's just no reason to include a card like this when there are so many other completely fine options available that readily impact the board when they come down- chameleon colossus, huntmaster, P&K, chandra, mwonvuli acid moss, etc.


    Have you tested the card at all in the deck? If so how many times?
    Posted in: Midrange
  • posted a message on [Primer] RG Ponza / Modern Land Destruction
    While KWR isn’t crucial to the deck giving a creature trample alone is pretty big. It helps with in dealing with chump blockers to get through damage. Is it a colorless land? Yep it is! But 1 out of the 21-22 lands is not a deal breaker to me.
    With the current list I posted I have play about 30+ games but have been on Ponza for a few months now as my local meta hated out burn (my deck of choice) with stuff like playing main deck Leyline of Sanctity and Kor Firewalker along with people playing Soul Sisters. Since people didn’t want me to play magic I didn’t feel bad about blowing up their lands so they couldn’t play magic either.
    I, much like some in here, was hesitant about Hazoret but she is the deal. It took like only 2 games of me seeing here before I was like yep this card is better than even I thought.
    I am not sure what you mean about playing Stormbreath in the same deck as Hazoret though I have seen people in person and in this forum not realize that Hazoret stipulates 1 or less so you can keep 1 card in hand no problem.
    I originally thought she was going to be clunky and I was going to have cards in hand and it would be useless. This isn’t the case really at all in actual play testing.
    It is similar to that of Tireless Tracker. I was like that card from standard that literally does to every piece of removal is good? No Way! Well in testing the card out it is really strong and should be a 3 of at least.
    Hopefully this answers the questions you had and I am willing to help answer any other questions.
    Posted in: Midrange
  • posted a message on [Primer] RG Ponza / Modern Land Destruction
    Quote from RegurKenaid »
    Hazoret is nothing comparing to Inferno Titan. It's a big mistake not playing him.
    Also Nissa is useless in general, but especially when you don't play Birds and Pia and Kirans.


    While there is some backing of Nissa already in recent posts let’s discuss Hazoret vs Inferno Titan.

    Hazoret has haste, Titan doesn’t. This is probably this biggest key difference in our current meta of Jace decks. Even if your opponent pluses Jace, an empty board means Hazoret can take him out while in that same situation with Titan Jace lives to bounce Titan if they draw a counterspell or brainstorm possibly into more answers.

    Pinned behind an Ensnaring Bridge Hazoret can still do damage to your opponent while Titan just sits there to collect dust.

    Titan can shoot down small creatures which does remove pesky chump blockers (best thing going for Titan). The problem here is anything with more than 4 toughness still lives and will chump the Titan.

    Titan can pump himself but again a 4 toughness creature can chump block which removes this positive for Titan.

    If staring down a 6/7 Goyf or large Shadow the Inferno Titan can’t really do anything yet the Hazoret can block all day long, or in the case of having a Kessig Wolf Run you can pump Hazoret and your creature lives while theirs would die vs just trading with the Titan.

    Some games you never get to 6 mana (luck of the draw) so Hazoret being 4 mana means you will be able to cast it more often along with being able to come down earlier.

    Inferno Titan can’t do anything with a bad top deck that turn like drawing one of our 1 mana ramp spells whereas Hazoret changes it into damage.

    If you feel I missed something about Titan that should be further explored please add it to the discussion.
    Posted in: Midrange
  • posted a message on [Primer] RG Ponza / Modern Land Destruction
    You are 100% right about firespout being a nonbo in the board with BBE. It should have been the 3rd Slagstorm. Thank you for reminding me to make the swap.

    I bought 3 with every intention of taking out the firespout as I ran 3 of those in the board prior to the unban.
    Posted in: Midrange
  • posted a message on [Primer] RG Ponza / Modern Land Destruction
    So it is now time to make a report. Been play testing a good amount since the unban and have moved some cards around a few times due to the hits with BBE. While I haven’t done like some and actually log it on a spreadsheet I will just provide my anecdotal evidence and experience.

    First is BBE is the best card some times but we need to not just play fast and loose with her, meaning the crap shoot isn’t always the best option depending on board state and hand. Unfortunately I have hit Elf and Sprawl more times than I would like but sometimes it does help the plan move along.

    I think not playing Acid Moss should take out ALL 6 drops period. When I built my list that was part of my hypothesis and it is the correct line. I have ended more games with only access to 5 mana and thus I am very confident we don’t need the 6 drops anymore (people are getting better at playing cards to stop the ramp ie spreading seas the sprawled land or simply bolt or pushing the elf).

    I will post current list below (sorry no link as I am using my phone to post):

    Ponza with BBE:

    Maindeck (60)
    4 Arbor Elf
    1 Courser of Kruphix
    3 Tireless Tracker
    4 Bloodbraid Elf
    2 Hazoret the Fervent
    2 Stormbreath Dragon
    1 Thragtusk
    1 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
    2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
    3 Molten Rain
    1 Primal Command
    2 Slagstorm
    4 Stone Rain
    4 Utopia Sprawl
    4 Blood Moon
    1 Cinder Glade
    8 Forest
    1 Kessig Wolf Run
    1 Mountain
    3 Stomping Ground
    4 Windswept Heath
    4 Wooded Foothills

    Sideboard (15)
    2 Kitchen Finks
    1 Thrun, the Last Troll
    1 Abrade
    2 Ancient Grudge
    1 Beast Within
    1 Firespout
    1 Fracturing Gust
    2 Relic of Progenitus
    3 Trinisphere
    1 Choke


    Some things of note. Slagstorm is the real deal. The interaction between it and BBE is absolutely absurd. If no creatures on board the opponent takes 6 much like they would if you hit a Bolt (which is what some list are running instead in this slot), if they have a board you wipe it and still do 3 damage with BBE. Yes it isn’t instant speed but I haven’t had an issue with that thus far. Also I have wrecked Jace and Lilliana decks with the redirect as well.

    Before I was on 7 LD spells and initially I went to 6 (only played 2 Molten Rain instead of 3) as I was scared of not being able to hit 2 red on turn 2 especially since I don’t run birds but I haven’t had any issues and went up to 3.

    I thought putting Kitchen Finks in the main was going to be great to cascade into. I was unimpressed to say the least so it went back to the board.

    At this point if you aren’t running Hazoret you are probably wrong. This card is seeing play in Legacy now as well in the “Dragon Stompy” decks.

    Nissa has also been really impressive in just setting up the early game.

    Last night I went 4-0:
    Skred Red (2-0): Opponent couldn’t handle T2 Chandra G1. G2 BBE into Slagstorm took care of his only threat of Chandra and he flooded out the rest of the game.
    Jeskai Control (1-0): G1 T2 Moon, he scoops the turn after and says doesn’t want to play tilted for the rest of the night and just gives me it 2-0.
    Affinity (2-1): G1 goes like you would expect and I get steam rolled. G2 I saw my 1 of sideboard card in firespout to wipe his board of Skurge, Memnite, and Overseer with 1 counter on each. I hit Thragtusk to stabilize and won from Hazoret and Tusk beats. G3 saw Slagstorm and fought though a Etched Champion because he swong and I was able to topdeck a Hazoret to close it out. In the 2 last games only saw 1 sideboard card. Hard fought matchup for sure.
    Affinity (2-1) same verse as the last: Honestly these games were easier as I saw multiple sideboard cards in games 2 and 3. Beast within his Plating felt so good and having an Abrade along with Grudge in the yard from Turn 1 Thoughtseize meant my T2 was able to take out both Skruge and Pest.
    Posted in: Midrange
  • posted a message on [Primer] RG Ponza / Modern Land Destruction
    It is also worth noting that Andrew went 15-1 for the tournament if I am not mistaken. So even though I don’t agree with his list I am proud of him.
    Posted in: Midrange
  • posted a message on [Primer] RG Ponza / Modern Land Destruction
    Quote from Ralulk »
    PONZA wins the Open! Awesome! All the hate from the announcers, but let them keep refusing to believe this is a real deck. Congrats to Andrew Wolbers!


    lol yeah Ryan was hating on the deck a ton. Definitely congrats to Andrew. I haven’t seen the list but 1 thing he said after winning in the interview was cutting Inferno Titan from 3 to 2. There are a bunch of people still holding on to Titan but good for them if they keep winning.
    Posted in: Midrange
  • To post a comment, please or register a new account.