Affinity is hard if they have ravager, otherwise a breeze. And it gets way easier with more archfiend of Ifnir.
Burn is hard
Humans are hard if they have the disruption draw. They also get hurt badly by Shriekmaw.
New thought after the call with Trav and some guys tonight: why not Bloodbraid Elf? Move the interactive spells to the board, trim a couple Demonic Dread, then we have more cascade spells in addition to more threats.
So are you running into a lot of blue mirrors and you're looking for a trump? I play on MODO and the metagame has become maybe 50% Blood Moon decks so I haven't been much concerned with mirrors. IF you are concerned, Anguished Unmaking is a great card, but Vendilion Clique is practically a combo with JAce, and I've been running 2 maindeck in every list since I started playing him. Not only does it block attackers, it strips card like Blood Moon so that you can actually tap out for the Jace the next turn.
Also, I played a UWR deck through a league the other day and had so much room in the aideboard that I tried out a Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir. Still haven't gotten to use it, but it should work well given how people are just slamming planeswalkers in mirrors, these days.
On another note, I don't find that Esper Charm synergizes with Jace at all, in fact I think the two are bumping shoulders, similar to Snapcaster and Jace.
You must be playing in friendly leagues or having a bad string of MUs, because I’ve recorded almost 100 matches in comp since the unbanning and even POSSIBLE blood moon decks (stretching to include fetchless storm, every UR deck even though not all play it, et al) is still less than 15%.
Re: Esper charm + Jace, Esper charm dumps their hand, hits that blood moon you’re worried about, blows up D sphere on your jace, draws cards when you’re at parity, et al. Charm is more important now than ever, in my opinion.
Funny you mention that, I tested 2 spellskite in the board this week in 2 comp leagues on MTGO. It was pretty sick, I went to 4/1 Champion/master in MB and used the 4th champion slot + 2nd Spell pierce slot in board to play 2 spellskite. Didn’t get to play Jund in 10 rounds.
It was huge VS mirror, basically shut his t2 aether Grid off with Mox + drum. Ended up losing the game to a couple loose plays - I was at my LGS for modern and it was about to start so I was rushing through the game.
If Jund is going to continue to be a big part of meta I think I’m going to 2nd jar > 2nd memnite.
I played in TNM last night and finished 3-1, losing to my friend on RG Eldrazi. We had spent Monday night going through leagues with RG Eldrazi and we both know the G1 is miserable for him but the SB makes g2 and g3 exponentially better for them. G1 I killed t3, g2 he killed t4, g3 was a slug fest that would’ve ended quickly if my double Pest double bomat memnite overseer Inkmoth hand ever found a second mana in six draws.
R1 vs UWr Control t1 double bomat ended up dealing 8 damage and drawing 8 cards by the time he finally cast wrath. I just redeployed and killed him the next turn. 2-0
R2 vs Mardu pyromancer, I killed him t4 on the play through double bolt, push, and terminate. G2 he got stuck on 2 lands and I killed on t4 with tons of backup. 2-0
R3 RG eldrazi, see above. 1-2
R4 Ad Nauseam, this Guy is a long time Ad Nauseam player and runs a YouTube channel with a ton of tutorials on the deck. Very good Ad Nauseam player, but I have a t3 regular damage kill on the draw G1, g2 I threaten lethal t3 on the draw, he bontu’s Last reckoning my board, I suit up Inkmoth nexus with plating and give him lethal poison. 2-0
The version I played at TNM was 3 bomat over 3 blast, the version I play online is 3 blast still. Also been testing 4th Champion but haven’t liked it much. 3 is fine. A lot of non-interactive decks trying to prey on the scrambled meta right now.
The only living end lists that have performed recently are 4 archfiend lists (Not that many have performed). The modern challenge was the most recent “large” event with a finish by living end. The GP lists this summer played them.
It’s been a pattern, we’ve disagreed every time, but in a large tournament (7+ Rounds) the utility he brings must be worth something special. I’m going to give it another shot.
I disagree with him being out of touch — in the Mastermind we discuss modern and standard daily. But who knows, I’m going to Test the deck at locals the next few weeks and a couple online leagues, see where it’s at.
I don’t know buddy, I talked to TWoo about it a couple days ago and he pretty much agreed. 2/20 SSG/Land split, 2 Land cyclers, 4 archfiend, 2 Beast within, 8 cascade, no Faerie or Shriekmaw MB... reached independent conclusions before talking.
With 3 MB Scooze and 4 BBE to find them, they can very reliably find a MB answer to our combo. They’re also playing fewer push and more hard kill, like dreadbore, so a mediocre draw won’t cut it anymore.
Most people never saw this deck in the first place. For as well positioned and good as I think it is and always has been, it never makes up more than a fraction of the field. Modern has a huge spread of viable decks to begin with, but the deck has a lot of things going against it as far as representation:
It is complex to play
Some people just never play combo
The cards are really esoteric and will not see play in other lists, making them a "bad" investment
It is not a list you can convert into or convert from another format like legacy, it exists only in modern unlike something like affinity which is very similar in both formats.
Format decktype confirmation bias
More on that last bit. I believe that part of the reason you see Jund everywhere, even though I do not think it's actually a great deck, at least not one deserving to own as much of the meta as it does, is simply because it gets the most coverage and had the most people playing it to start with. People who want to build a new list or play something new will see it win events and have high representation and just assume that it is the list to play. Because it gets played more, more strategy articles and the like will get written about it so new players have the most resourced to play it etc. It is a list that started at the top and as a result will likely stay near the top just because. Living end, being a niche deck, really will never attract that many people because of the opposite reasons Jund does, even though it may very well be the superior deck. Just a working theory.
The things that makes decks spring up is usually a big event or multiple event win or some new tech card that is too indisputably powerful to ignore. It's hard to win events when you are already under represented, and the new cyclers we got are hardly flashy enough to catch peoples eyes.
As an aside, I think Living End is in a great position to be taking down events because Jund has a historically bad MU in our deck. They can’t rely on spot removal + hand disruption vs the deck that needs 1 of 8 spells off the top to win the game. They don’t play many ways to interact with us even post board, damnation + surgical are the only things they’ve got in the arsenal.
I think with the rise of Jund, 4 Ape is no longer correct — awful topdecked and we need more consistent mana vs them. 3/19 or even 2/20 sounds right, possibly 3/20 if you sacrifice flex slots.
Note: is anyone interested in a Discord server for our deck? I’m wanting to make it the best possible again
If my opponent is holding up fetches and/or fetching basics, is fulminator really a haymaker anymore?
Yes, because the threat of this card makes it so that they can’t reaolve BOTH cryptic command AND supreme verdict without ALSO making their deck scramble for mana.
Holding up fetch lands also means you get to resolve Fulminator, and when he fetches, you sac to target a different fetch, then he sacs it, and you cascade because the opponent is down two lands anyway.
Smarter not harder boys, our deck uses the stack very well.
I’m a really big fan of the “slow down and land haymakers” plan vs Jund, it’s very possible I’m playing it wrong and I’m only winning on the back of the decks pure power but I’ve only lost to Jund in one sanctioned match and it was the semifinals of the $1k this weekend where he flipped five consecutive lands to his dark confidant to not be dead (got him to 2 life).
Playing haymakers every turn means they have to find an answer every turn or die. Cards like signal pest and memnite are miserable in that MU. I’m currently playing 3 bomat courier over my 3 galv blast, I think they swing that MU a fair amount if they can connect a couple times. I drew 6 cards vs tron in response to an oblivion stone last weekend 😜
Edit: modern testing session last night at the shop before the legacy tournament, some thoughts.
1) Bomat Courier has a few things going for it. Haste to pick up equipment and bash in the late game, must-answer before turn 3 or we’re likely cashing in for cards, Lightning-rod for removal to make our overseer/master/ravager stickier, and of course artifact synergy. Played a dozen matches vs UW and a dozen more vs Jund, bomat was a star player most of the time. Much better than Blast for me there, which is where I really want the help anyway (I can race other combo with bomat just fine anyway)
2. People are starting to pack less hate because they’re overloading on “beat Midrange/Control”. Cards like display of dominance are taking SB slots away from affinity hate, which is something I’ve noticed really lacking recently — to the tune of 2-3 cards in the board on average, instead of the old days of 5 fine affinity cards
3. The format is simultaneously doing two things; slowing down to play jace and bbe, and speeding up to win before they impact the game. This leaves the powerful and flexible robots in a great position; we can play the fast game and we can play the grindy game, putting us in position to take down more events.
As an example, at the $1k this past weekend I saw several linear decks doing well in the early rounds along with a really high number of BGx. Tron was beat out very quickly by the storm, burn, and counters company decks, while those decks were clocked by the BGx and UWx decks.
Affinity has game in all of those matchups, so it seems like this meta evolution could be very ripe for us. Only thing that has me worried is the higher proportion of Kolaghans Command in the MB for jund, but honestly fewer fatal pushes and abrupt decays makes that card less of a problem at 3cmc anyway.
Anyone else feeling real good about the meta? I’m currently on 3/2 Champion / master split in the MB still, thinking 4/1 if the meta gets any grindier.
Firmly disagree that you want to shave one haymaker for another vs control. We want as many as possible. I’m more likely to shave SSGs because of their disadvantage than Fulminator mages.
Hi guys, I've recently picked up Affinity again online, but found guides and forum posts on how to sideboard quite confusing. Specifically, I would like input on how/when to sideboard Thouhtseize, Blood Moon and Rest in Peace.
I'm mainly confused by the somewhat hybrid builds like Eldrazi Tron and GR Eldrazi. Should we bring in Blood Moon? And what about Death Shadow decks and Jeskai control? It seems like a decent hoser, but not a game-winning card like it can be against Tron or Scapeshift.
I played RG Eldrazi in the quarterfinals of a $1k this weekend, blood moon crushed them. It isn’t so good vs Eldrazi Tron because they play more wastes and maps to find them, along with more colorless spells. RG plays spells with G mana symbols, which helps us out. It’s not a surefire thing, and I’d only consider it if you feel the MU is bad (I curb stomped him, the games felt fine). Vs Jeskai, deaths shadow, Jund, etc — blood moon is a house, and I will almost always consider it when SBing. Especially if they don’t seem experienced vs Affinity. Even if they fetch basics, it keeps them from having high-velocity games where they can curve XX colored spells into YY colored spells because of shocks. Shutting off their colonnades, keeping 5cDS from resolving anything, and keeping Jund off Green and Black are all very relevant plays worth considering, but not surefire.
The same goes for Rest in Peace versus Snapcaster/delve decks and the Hollow One decks. It seems like a minus tempo play that shuts down only a part of their plan.
I bring Rest in Peace ONLY when it’s going to severely cripple their gameplan. Almost never vs Snapcaster decks. Never vs Grixis Deaths Shadow. I bring it gorgeous Hollow One because Bloodghast, Phoenix, Gurmag, and Looting flashback are all relevant interactions to shut down. Keeping their Phoenix off the table let’s you fly in for the kill while you chumpblock — don’t forget the Phoenix HAS to attack, which means you don’t need to worry about it pulling blocker duty very often.
Thoughtseize. Do we bring it in against Midrange decks, Eldrazi decks and Tron? I'm certain about the combo MUs and certain control MU where they could have mass removal, but not sure about the BIG creature/midrangy decks, like BBE Jund. I end up wanting to bring it in against almost all decks, but that just seems wrong. Thx a lot, I hope this whole thing makes sense
i bring it in vs any deck that has a haymaker for Affinity. Shatterstorm, stony silence, Kozilek s return, creeping corrosion, et al. Vs Jund, it’s nice to know what kind of game they’re playing — creature heavy hand that they’re just not deploying to bluff removal, hand with a crap ton of removal, etc. I bring Tseize Against just about everything except the mirror match.
I put my answers in bold, hope that helps you see where I come from!
I play 3 chewer and 2 trap as a baseline. More chewer is doable, third trap in a Control heavy meta is fine. I prefer to play just 2 Trap myself. I’ve gotten pretty good at the Control MU so it’s not a huge worry.
Burn is hard
Humans are hard if they have the disruption draw. They also get hurt badly by Shriekmaw.
New thought after the call with Trav and some guys tonight: why not Bloodbraid Elf? Move the interactive spells to the board, trim a couple Demonic Dread, then we have more cascade spells in addition to more threats.
You must be playing in friendly leagues or having a bad string of MUs, because I’ve recorded almost 100 matches in comp since the unbanning and even POSSIBLE blood moon decks (stretching to include fetchless storm, every UR deck even though not all play it, et al) is still less than 15%.
Re: Esper charm + Jace, Esper charm dumps their hand, hits that blood moon you’re worried about, blows up D sphere on your jace, draws cards when you’re at parity, et al. Charm is more important now than ever, in my opinion.
It was huge VS mirror, basically shut his t2 aether Grid off with Mox + drum. Ended up losing the game to a couple loose plays - I was at my LGS for modern and it was about to start so I was rushing through the game.
If Jund is going to continue to be a big part of meta I think I’m going to 2nd jar > 2nd memnite.
I played in TNM last night and finished 3-1, losing to my friend on RG Eldrazi. We had spent Monday night going through leagues with RG Eldrazi and we both know the G1 is miserable for him but the SB makes g2 and g3 exponentially better for them. G1 I killed t3, g2 he killed t4, g3 was a slug fest that would’ve ended quickly if my double Pest double bomat memnite overseer Inkmoth hand ever found a second mana in six draws.
R1 vs UWr Control t1 double bomat ended up dealing 8 damage and drawing 8 cards by the time he finally cast wrath. I just redeployed and killed him the next turn. 2-0
R2 vs Mardu pyromancer, I killed him t4 on the play through double bolt, push, and terminate. G2 he got stuck on 2 lands and I killed on t4 with tons of backup. 2-0
R3 RG eldrazi, see above. 1-2
R4 Ad Nauseam, this Guy is a long time Ad Nauseam player and runs a YouTube channel with a ton of tutorials on the deck. Very good Ad Nauseam player, but I have a t3 regular damage kill on the draw G1, g2 I threaten lethal t3 on the draw, he bontu’s Last reckoning my board, I suit up Inkmoth nexus with plating and give him lethal poison. 2-0
The version I played at TNM was 3 bomat over 3 blast, the version I play online is 3 blast still. Also been testing 4th Champion but haven’t liked it much. 3 is fine. A lot of non-interactive decks trying to prey on the scrambled meta right now.
It’s been a pattern, we’ve disagreed every time, but in a large tournament (7+ Rounds) the utility he brings must be worth something special. I’m going to give it another shot.
Go ask him on stream, my conjecture is “bring out dudes vs Removal decks and bring in Ascension”
Manlands play a big role in these “everything dies” MUs, as does champion and Ravager. Don’t expose ravager if you can’t put his counters elsewhere.
With 3 MB Scooze and 4 BBE to find them, they can very reliably find a MB answer to our combo. They’re also playing fewer push and more hard kill, like dreadbore, so a mediocre draw won’t cut it anymore.
As an aside, I think Living End is in a great position to be taking down events because Jund has a historically bad MU in our deck. They can’t rely on spot removal + hand disruption vs the deck that needs 1 of 8 spells off the top to win the game. They don’t play many ways to interact with us even post board, damnation + surgical are the only things they’ve got in the arsenal.
I think with the rise of Jund, 4 Ape is no longer correct — awful topdecked and we need more consistent mana vs them. 3/19 or even 2/20 sounds right, possibly 3/20 if you sacrifice flex slots.
Note: is anyone interested in a Discord server for our deck? I’m wanting to make it the best possible again
Yes, because the threat of this card makes it so that they can’t reaolve BOTH cryptic command AND supreme verdict without ALSO making their deck scramble for mana.
Holding up fetch lands also means you get to resolve Fulminator, and when he fetches, you sac to target a different fetch, then he sacs it, and you cascade because the opponent is down two lands anyway.
Smarter not harder boys, our deck uses the stack very well.
+2 Bitterblossom +2 blood moon +2 Rest In Peace +2 Thoughtseize +1 Spell pierce +1 Champion
I’m a really big fan of the “slow down and land haymakers” plan vs Jund, it’s very possible I’m playing it wrong and I’m only winning on the back of the decks pure power but I’ve only lost to Jund in one sanctioned match and it was the semifinals of the $1k this weekend where he flipped five consecutive lands to his dark confidant to not be dead (got him to 2 life).
Playing haymakers every turn means they have to find an answer every turn or die. Cards like signal pest and memnite are miserable in that MU. I’m currently playing 3 bomat courier over my 3 galv blast, I think they swing that MU a fair amount if they can connect a couple times. I drew 6 cards vs tron in response to an oblivion stone last weekend 😜
Edit: modern testing session last night at the shop before the legacy tournament, some thoughts.
1) Bomat Courier has a few things going for it. Haste to pick up equipment and bash in the late game, must-answer before turn 3 or we’re likely cashing in for cards, Lightning-rod for removal to make our overseer/master/ravager stickier, and of course artifact synergy. Played a dozen matches vs UW and a dozen more vs Jund, bomat was a star player most of the time. Much better than Blast for me there, which is where I really want the help anyway (I can race other combo with bomat just fine anyway)
2. People are starting to pack less hate because they’re overloading on “beat Midrange/Control”. Cards like display of dominance are taking SB slots away from affinity hate, which is something I’ve noticed really lacking recently — to the tune of 2-3 cards in the board on average, instead of the old days of 5 fine affinity cards
3. The format is simultaneously doing two things; slowing down to play jace and bbe, and speeding up to win before they impact the game. This leaves the powerful and flexible robots in a great position; we can play the fast game and we can play the grindy game, putting us in position to take down more events.
As an example, at the $1k this past weekend I saw several linear decks doing well in the early rounds along with a really high number of BGx. Tron was beat out very quickly by the storm, burn, and counters company decks, while those decks were clocked by the BGx and UWx decks.
Affinity has game in all of those matchups, so it seems like this meta evolution could be very ripe for us. Only thing that has me worried is the higher proportion of Kolaghans Command in the MB for jund, but honestly fewer fatal pushes and abrupt decays makes that card less of a problem at 3cmc anyway.
Anyone else feeling real good about the meta? I’m currently on 3/2 Champion / master split in the MB still, thinking 4/1 if the meta gets any grindier.
I put my answers in bold, hope that helps you see where I come from!