I would personally cut BI entirely, it's too often a dead card or a tad too expensive to keep a protecting spell up. The loss of Probe hurt bad. A 1-of I can get behind at most. With Scale Up, the deck doesn't need BI as much, my guess is the new spell increases the clock high enough so the deck doesn't need the flashy spells anymore.
Bauble and other cantrips always feel bad in the deck when I play them, so I agree with your friend.
A manabase with Sanctum and the new Waterlogged Grove is tempting.
Your list seems to lack some removal spells to make a bunch of MUs easier game 1. Without the London Mull Rule, I'd say it's better to be a bit interactive in the maindeck. Humans & UR Phoenix are enough to warrant some Dismembers in the main deck, UW control on top of it makes me want to add Spellskite over counterspells. the horror can also turn into a 6/4 and win through normal damage.
Hard to predict what Modern's gonna be with MH1 though. Just guesses.
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Well deserved 1st place! Also: spicy 61 cards
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Thanks for your insight!
Why is Chandra not played in the MD? Is she too slow? So far it always felt good to cast her on curve. Removal and a steady burn source is nice to have
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It is a good deck in the swiss portion of the tournament but always struggles to "get there" in the finals.
Stirrings is still an insane card but you have to build you whole deck around it which makes it balanced imo.
I still see no reason at all for a stirrings ban.
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Broken Bond is a sorcery speed Naturalize with MAYBE Exploration stapled to it. Does not seem appealing considering the upside can whiff completely.
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It's a really good card, only problem is it does not cut our opponent's off colorwise but it can be boarded in just about any MU
I love it and will certainly take it for a spin!
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I have been to MCM Series Hamburg this Saturday, finishing 42nd out of 386 players with 6-3. Here's the list i ran:
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
4 Grove of the Burnwillows
2 Forest
1 Ghost Quarter
1 Sanctum of Ugin
4 Karn Liberated
2 Ugin, the spirit Dragon
2 Ulamog, the ceaseless Hunger
1 World Breaker
3 Wurmcoil Engine
4 Chromatic Sphere
3 Oblivion Stone
4 Expedition Map
1 Relic of Progenitus
4 Sylvan Scrying
4 Ancient Stirrings
2 Pyroclasm
2 Kozilek's Return
2 Pithing Needle
3 Nature's Claim
2 Thragtusk
1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth
3 Warping Wail
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Orbs of Warding
Unfortunately i forgot to note down how exactly i sideboarded but i will try to put it all together as good as i can from memory.
Round 1 vs. Classic Abzan (no Shadow)
Game 1 i was on a mull to 5 with a super slow potential Tron but not knowing what my opponent was playing i decided to keep and see how it goes. He went T1 Discard, T2 Goyf, T3 Lili. After a mull to 5 there was not much i could do anymore. Got stomped by Goyfs and Rhinos.
Board: +2 Thragtusk, +1 Kozilek, Butcher of Truth, +1 Relic// -1 Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger, -2 Wurmcoil Engine, -1 Pyroclasm
Game 2 i kept a solid T3 Tron hand with a Karn. He had no discard the first couple turns and i jammed Karn into Ugin which was enough for him to concede.
Game 3 was more of a battle. He had tons of discard but no gas and i had no ways to hit Tron. After i finally got to Tron i hit Kozilek in the Stirrings. Drawing 4 cards when you're in a grindy MU just feels amazing! Kozilek then beat down for 2 turns winning it for me.
Round 2 vs. WR Taxes
Game 1 my opponent started with basic Plains and passed. Already figured i was in for a Taxes MU and was pretty happy i kept a hand with Pyroclasm and Kozilek's Return. He played T2 Leonin Arbiter but had no GQ to go along with it. He then went Turn 3 Flickerwisp and T4 "big" Thalia Thalia, heretic cathar. Felt pretty amazing to cast EOT Kozilek's Return eating his whole board. Managed to stabilize easily with an Ulamog after that and he scooped it.
Board: +3 Nature's Claim, +1 Thragtusk//-1 Relic, -2 Wurmcoil, -1 World Breaker
Game 2 he mulled to 5 trying to find some hate, got stuck on 2 lands while i jammed Karn into Ugin... Not much to say here.
Round 3 vs. Affinity
Game 1 was super weird. I was on the play and started with a Mine into Star and had to explain the cards to him. He played a Darksteel Citadel and passed. Turn 2 i cracked for green, played a Power Plant and picked up a Tower with Sylvan Scrying. He played Glimmervoid and a Steel Overseer. Then i realized he's on affinity but still super confused about the incredible slow start... In the end i took one or two hits from Overseer before i got to do my thing.
Board: +3 Nature's Claim, +2 Pithing Needle//-2 Ugin, the Spirit Dragon, -1 Relic, -1 Ulamog, -1 Karn
Game 2 he again kept a slow hand with no real gas for the first three turns. He played a turn 2 Ethersworn Canonist which i exiled with a turn 3 Karn. He had to sac his Glimmervoid as he had no artifacts in play anymore, that's when he conceded.
Round 4 vs. Mardu Tokens
Game 1 he was on the play, started with a Thoughtseize off a Shockland and audibly sighed when he saw Ulamog and Ugin in my hand. He took the Ugin, obviously. The next turns he played his Token Generators in Young Pyromancer and Monastery Mentor which beat me down to 4. I managed to stick an Ulamog the previous turn before i was dead on board. Drew O-Stone off the top and swung for the win.
Board: +2 Orbs of Warding, +2 Thragtusk//-1 Relic, -1 Ulamog, -2 Wurmcoil
Game 2 he mulled to 6, i stuck a Turn 4 Ugin and he scooped.
Round 5 vs. Burn
Game 1: On the draw. Well. Burn.
Board: +2 Thragtusk, +3 Nature's Claim//-3 Karn, -1 Relic, -1 Ulamog
Game 2: On the play. Well. It's still Burn. Saw no lifegain at all.
Round 6 vs. Esper Death's Shadow
Game 1: Very close game. He saw none of his big threats at all. He beat me down with some Tokens from Lingering Souls but my sweeper handled these. After that it was pretty easy beatdown.
Board: +1 Kozilek, +2 Relic, +2 Thragtusk//-2 Pyroclasm, -1 Ugin, -1 Ulamog, -1 Karn
Game 2: I was overrun by a turn 2 Angler which he rode to victory with tons of counterspell backup. Not much to do here...
Game 3: Same as Game 2, only the Angler was on Turn 3. He showed me how he boarded and he had a whole playset of Ceremonious Rejection... Jeez i start hating that card...
Round 7 vs. Scapeshift (no breach)
Game 1: I hit Turn 4 Ulamog on the play, eating 2 of his 4 Lands. Immediately conceded.
Board: +2 Orbs of Warding, +3 Warping Wail//-2 Pyroclasm, -2 Kozilek's Return, -1 Ugin
Game 2: I was sitting comfortably behind an Orbs of Warding shutting off his Valakuts with an Ulamog waiting to finish the game. I connected once and he was down to 21 cards in his library. He looked through the exiled cards saying "We can shortcut this, if there are no more outs i concede" and then he said he still had one out in the deck, a Nature's Claim. Which he drew right off the top to blow up my Orbs and then Scapeshifted. That was such a crazy game, i can't even be mad about it!
Game 3: I was on the play again and chained Turn 4 Ulamog into Turm 5 Ulamog which got the job done.
Round 8 vs Storm
Game 1: On the draw. Storm.
Board: +2 Orbs of Warding, +2 Relic, +2 Nature's Claim//-2 Pyroclasm, -2 Kozilek's Return, -2 Karn (In hindsight i should have kept in some sweepers...)
Game 2: On the play. It's still Storm. Got killed by Goblins.
Round 9 vs Grixis Delver (no shadow)
Game 1: On the play. I hit a turn 3 Karn followed by Turn 4 Ugin. He had no Mana Leak or other interaction so i got the superfriends to win the game.
Board: +1 Kozilek, +1 Relic, +1 Thragtusk//-1 Ulamog, -1 Wurmcoil, -1 World Breaker (I had no idea what to expect from his board. I decided to test my luck and wait and see if he runs Blood Moons or Crumble and then board accordingly)
Game 2: Pretty grindy game but i had answers to all his threats. In the end Kozilek drew me a bunch of cards and i managed to cast both Kozilek and Ulamog in one turn but he was already dead on board by then. Still the games were super fun because my opponent was such a great guy!
If you guys have any questions please ask
Also a huge thank you to Thenarus for his help with the list!
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It's not so much about fatal push but that it has no real use. Redirecting Valakut triggers is not that good and there are better cards against burn since they always bring in Destructive Revelry against us
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The concept is nothing too out of the ordinary. It's not like a 5 card combo that has nothing else going on. Pretty much everyone who has played modern for atleast 3 months knows about Living End.
I mean, take a new player and Tron. They read an Urza's Tower and know "Oh boy, he's playing big stuff and some ways to get the lands out of his library." Nothing too fancy, pretty straightforward.
The only thing new players may not understand is Cascade but that's about it.
Sorry for the rant but playing a deck because it's "under the radar" and "confusing to your opponent" and not because it's a decent deck is just the wrong approach imo.
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I have always found it to be incredibly mediocre. It shuts off Wurmcoil tokens, World Breaker Recursion and Star Card draws. That hosed me so many times when i played it it's incredible. Straight up losing a Wurmcoil to a Wrath effect or a Terminate feels very bad. I have opted for Relic in my GW List and have been happy with that...
Do you guys have any arguments for Rest in Peace except that it shuts off Snapcasters and Dredge to some extent?