Game 3 - Lost after double Rack and Lili Veil locked me down to death.
Blue Moon
My final match of four. I'm actually surprised by how poorly I did. Both games he got multiple Thing in the Ice out (2nd game he had ALL FOUR), which kept setting me back. Merfolk kept dying to spot removal too and Kira was too slow to help.
Now for the good news:
Wins
Bridgevine
I lost the first game after he got double Bridge from Below in his graveyard and started churning out an army of token zombies. I removed 2 Reejerey, 2 Kira, and a Vial to put in 3 Relic of Progenitus & 2 Surgical Extraction.
Game 3, he mulled down to 4; I again managed to land Spreading Seas on curve and got 16 damage on board turn 4 with the help of Reejerey. He was forced to use Bontu's Last Reckoning to wipe but I had enough lords left in my hand to finish the job on turn 6.
Ponza
Game 1, I steamrolled once I got Spreading Seas out.
Game 2, Choke hit the board right before I drew a Rejeerey -_-
Game 3, I had two Spreading Seas in my opening hand. I turned his Utopia Sprawl'd forest into an island. He kept a low land hand, so he fetch shocked himself to get Stomping Ground out. I turned that into another island and swung for lethal the turn after thanks to all my lords.
Thoughts
I did okay but I was hoping to do better, especially against Blue Moon. Oddly, I never had to use Mistcaller's ability against Bridgevine but the threat of it on the field was useful. 8 Rack was a miserable matchup. Besides counters and Hurkyl, I had zero answers to his enchantments or artifacts. I had a massive board Game 2 but couldn't do anything because of double Ensnaring Bridge and got Rack'd to death.
To be fair, I've only played at this store once a week for a month now, and there are a lot of old players who started showing up again. There are 2 KCI players, and multiple control players, but now there are more midrange & combo players. I'm seriously considering building Tropical Fish (I have all the important pieces) because monoblue has almost no permanent answers to artifacts or enchantments besides counters (that I'm aware of). I could've won game 2 of 8 Rack if I had artifact hate, with 5 tokens, 2 lords, master of waves, and 3 other merfolk.
I realize that would make my manabase much weaker to Blood Moon, but considering the high number of artifact deck players (there was even an Affinity player today, but I mercifully was not matched against him) now in my meta, I need more versatility.
On a random note, I usually get extremely nervous at events, even low pressure ones like FNM, but I wasn't nearly as much this time around, so that's a nice little silver lining.
Shoutout to all the posters in this thread, especially those that gave me advice and feedback. Looking forward to next Friday and hoping I do better!
You could shave a Reej or two for more PI's. (Btw, there's another neat trick you can use with them, if a Master isn't around: creaturize your Mutavault, then copy it.) I could see Unified Will in place of Spell Pierce in the SB; I'm really not a big fan of the Pierce, especially against slower decks like control. If you do decide to cut Kira or Dismember or move them to the SB, you could add the other two Masters. I know it's clunky, but against control that shouldn't be too big a deal. And you're really going to want to leverage that combo once you see it. You can always side some out against the man-heavy decks.
Well I only have 2 Masters right now, but thanks for the input!
Here's yet another updated list; I put Kopala in the sideboard but I wasn't sure if I should just replace her with more counters or something. I also removed 2 islands, going down to 12 from 14, for 2 Wanderwine Hubs, also unsure about that, considering the Ponza & Blue Moon players maindecking their Blood Moons. I'm pretty sure the RG Ponza player might have a Choke though in board.
With so low budget there aren't many decks you can make. I would go with CoCo Slivers. It's not very challenging deck to play, accessible with your budget and could be fun if you like tribal decks but unfortunately it's not very competitive. Sure it's good enough for smaller local tournaments like FNM but I wouldn't take it to GP.
I already own CoCo Slivers and I have full playsets of both Aether Vial and Cavern of Souls if that helps bring up any other decks that rely on them.
Back from a several month long hiatus from MTG, and currently trying to get back into the swing of Modern.
Was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a new deck to build, preferably on a budget that doesn't exceed $200-$250~.
I'm away from most of my collection due to an internship, but I have access to an almost complete playset of the three Tron lands, and I have my CoCo Slivers, Elemental Combo, and Grixis Delver on hand as well.
In terms of playstyles, seeing as I'm returning from a few months of not playing, I'd love suggestions for a deck that doesn't require too much thinking, but offers a varied means of winning. I love MTG Goldfish's Free Win Red idea, with a Blood Moon & Ensnaring Bridge lockdown, but in terms of playing a deck like Grixis Control or other interaction heavy decks, I don't feel entirely confident I can handle those kinds of decks after just re-entering the scene.
Thanks so much in advance for any suggestions, and apologies if my post isn't super clear at first glance.
I used to play Izzet/Grixis Blitz a lot and I would jump into multiplayer games, kill two players and then get hosed by everyone. Every time. It's not very fun for that sort of thing for anyone involved.
Yeaaaaaah blitz decks and Ele-Combo/Shotgun aren't really decks meant for multiplayer. Adding on from my own experience, it'll usually be me and one other guy as the last people standing, but I'm 3/4 of the way dead from other attacks or from casting my spells.
Loving all the activity in this thread, wish I could play more to contribute some more to you guys.
This a little on the side, but it appears that SoI is going to have more prowess creatures as well, plus I'm already seeing a few interesting spells from spoilers. Anyone think anything leaked so far has some potential? Also, MTG Goldfish has what appears to be a fun-looking Pauper version of our deck archetype.
Yeah, now that you reminded me, I did question some of their choices when it came to cards. Although now I am pretty fired up to try building a Prowess deck. I've been experimenting on and off with Grixis Delver as well.
If you're running that many non-creature spells, I don't think Serum Visions will be an absolute necessity, as with my Ele-Combo, I usually find at least one or two of either Nivvy or Fiend in my opening hand, and then I'm set for the game, as I will 90 percent of the time keep gold-fishing non-creature spells.
I am also curious, however, how does Stormchaser Mage fare? The flying, haste, AND prowess seems very tempting to me, at least as a supporting cast member to my elementals haha.
I do eventually want to try a Shotgun version pilot at some point, but I'm gonna need to get some more Death's Shadow once they go down in price; I traded my only two a few months ago for a Spellskite, and now I kinda regret that decision.
If the Shotgun is your prized pet deck, however, then my Ele-Combo is definitely mine. I've gotten so comfortable with the deck that I can even take on people in free for all multiplayer matches and still come out on top, not to mention I'm a terror with it at my LGS's FNMs, when I have the time to go. I've said it before, but it's quite enjoyable to see the amount of disbelief and salt that pops up on people's faces when they run decks that cost half a grand, yet still are taken out before turn 4 by the jankiest deck they've ever seen.
My list is focused entirely on getting a turn 2 or 3 knockout by slamming down a Nivmagus Elemental first turn and then beefing him up for the kill in any number of ways by the 2nd or 3rd turn. It's an all in combo, so I'm only concerned with really trying to knock out my opponent ASAP. It's "all in" in the sense that if I don't win by turn 3, it's gonna get a LOT harder for me to take the momentum back. I don't care about my life that much, as it's another expendable resource to fuel spells so I can get them out as quickly as possible.
Went 2-2; my wins were both 2-1s.
I won against Bridgevine & Ponza, lost 1-2 against 8 Rack, got smoked 0-2 by Blue Moon (dude had great hand & draws both rounds).
Let's get the sad stuff out of the way first.
Losses
8 Rack
My first match. I won the first game by breaking through with Master of Waves and 5 tokens before they could set up.
I boarded out 4 Mistcaller & 2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner, added 2 Ceremonious Rejection, 2 Unified Will, & 2 Hurkyl's Recall.
Game 2 - Lost after they set up double Ensnaring Bridge & Liliana of the Veil, kept discarding their own hand once they had the enchantment version of The Rack out.
Game 3 - Lost after double Rack and Lili Veil locked me down to death.
Blue Moon
My final match of four. I'm actually surprised by how poorly I did. Both games he got multiple Thing in the Ice out (2nd game he had ALL FOUR), which kept setting me back. Merfolk kept dying to spot removal too and Kira was too slow to help.
Now for the good news:
Wins
Bridgevine
I lost the first game after he got double Bridge from Below in his graveyard and started churning out an army of token zombies. I removed 2 Reejerey, 2 Kira, and a Vial to put in 3 Relic of Progenitus & 2 Surgical Extraction.
2nd game I managed to land Spreading Seas on curve and also had a Surgical Extraction in my opening hand. As soon as Bridge from Below went into the grave, I extracted it which saved my bacon. Merfolk Trickster did work here by tapping down his Vengevine whenever it came back.
Game 3, he mulled down to 4; I again managed to land Spreading Seas on curve and got 16 damage on board turn 4 with the help of Reejerey. He was forced to use Bontu's Last Reckoning to wipe but I had enough lords left in my hand to finish the job on turn 6.
Ponza
Game 1, I steamrolled once I got Spreading Seas out.
Game 2, Choke hit the board right before I drew a Rejeerey -_-
He played a Chandra, Torch of Defiance and got Inferno Titan out with the exile draw ability, then swung for lethal next turn.
Game 3, I had two Spreading Seas in my opening hand. I turned his Utopia Sprawl'd forest into an island. He kept a low land hand, so he fetch shocked himself to get Stomping Ground out. I turned that into another island and swung for lethal the turn after thanks to all my lords.
Thoughts
I did okay but I was hoping to do better, especially against Blue Moon. Oddly, I never had to use Mistcaller's ability against Bridgevine but the threat of it on the field was useful. 8 Rack was a miserable matchup. Besides counters and Hurkyl, I had zero answers to his enchantments or artifacts. I had a massive board Game 2 but couldn't do anything because of double Ensnaring Bridge and got Rack'd to death.
To be fair, I've only played at this store once a week for a month now, and there are a lot of old players who started showing up again. There are 2 KCI players, and multiple control players, but now there are more midrange & combo players. I'm seriously considering building Tropical Fish (I have all the important pieces) because monoblue has almost no permanent answers to artifacts or enchantments besides counters (that I'm aware of). I could've won game 2 of 8 Rack if I had artifact hate, with 5 tokens, 2 lords, master of waves, and 3 other merfolk.
I realize that would make my manabase much weaker to Blood Moon, but considering the high number of artifact deck players (there was even an Affinity player today, but I mercifully was not matched against him) now in my meta, I need more versatility.
On a random note, I usually get extremely nervous at events, even low pressure ones like FNM, but I wasn't nearly as much this time around, so that's a nice little silver lining.
Shoutout to all the posters in this thread, especially those that gave me advice and feedback. Looking forward to next Friday and hoping I do better!
Yes! Will report back after tomorrow night, I'm feeling good about the deck
Well I only have 2 Masters right now, but thanks for the input!
Here's yet another updated list; I put Kopala in the sideboard but I wasn't sure if I should just replace her with more counters or something. I also removed 2 islands, going down to 12 from 14, for 2 Wanderwine Hubs, also unsure about that, considering the Ponza & Blue Moon players maindecking their Blood Moons. I'm pretty sure the RG Ponza player might have a Choke though in board.
2 Kira, Great Glass-Spinner
4 Lord of Atlantis
2 Master of Waves
4 Master of the Pearl Trident
4 Merfolk Trickster
4 Merrow Reejerey
4 Mistcaller
2 Phantasmal Image
4 Silvergill Adept
2 Cavern of Souls
12 Island
4 Mutavault
2 Wanderwine Hub
Other
4 Aether Vial
2 Dismember
4 Spreading Seas
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Deprive
2 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Kopala, Warden of Waves
3 Relic of Progenitus
2 Surgical Extraction
2 Unified Will
Sorry for the confusion!
I already own CoCo Slivers and I have full playsets of both Aether Vial and Cavern of Souls if that helps bring up any other decks that rely on them.
Was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for a new deck to build, preferably on a budget that doesn't exceed $200-$250~.
I'm away from most of my collection due to an internship, but I have access to an almost complete playset of the three Tron lands, and I have my CoCo Slivers, Elemental Combo, and Grixis Delver on hand as well.
In terms of playstyles, seeing as I'm returning from a few months of not playing, I'd love suggestions for a deck that doesn't require too much thinking, but offers a varied means of winning. I love MTG Goldfish's Free Win Red idea, with a Blood Moon & Ensnaring Bridge lockdown, but in terms of playing a deck like Grixis Control or other interaction heavy decks, I don't feel entirely confident I can handle those kinds of decks after just re-entering the scene.
Thanks so much in advance for any suggestions, and apologies if my post isn't super clear at first glance.
Yeaaaaaah blitz decks and Ele-Combo/Shotgun aren't really decks meant for multiplayer. Adding on from my own experience, it'll usually be me and one other guy as the last people standing, but I'm 3/4 of the way dead from other attacks or from casting my spells.
This a little on the side, but it appears that SoI is going to have more prowess creatures as well, plus I'm already seeing a few interesting spells from spoilers. Anyone think anything leaked so far has some potential? Also, MTG Goldfish has what appears to be a fun-looking Pauper version of our deck archetype.
Yeah, now that you reminded me, I did question some of their choices when it came to cards. Although now I am pretty fired up to try building a Prowess deck. I've been experimenting on and off with Grixis Delver as well.
Saw this little gem on MTG Goldfish:
http://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/budget-magic-58-19-tix-standard-ur-prowess
And though it's geared towards Standard mainly, I see a few parallels between it and some of the builds in this forum.
If you're running that many non-creature spells, I don't think Serum Visions will be an absolute necessity, as with my Ele-Combo, I usually find at least one or two of either Nivvy or Fiend in my opening hand, and then I'm set for the game, as I will 90 percent of the time keep gold-fishing non-creature spells.
I am also curious, however, how does Stormchaser Mage fare? The flying, haste, AND prowess seems very tempting to me, at least as a supporting cast member to my elementals haha.
If the Shotgun is your prized pet deck, however, then my Ele-Combo is definitely mine. I've gotten so comfortable with the deck that I can even take on people in free for all multiplayer matches and still come out on top, not to mention I'm a terror with it at my LGS's FNMs, when I have the time to go. I've said it before, but it's quite enjoyable to see the amount of disbelief and salt that pops up on people's faces when they run decks that cost half a grand, yet still are taken out before turn 4 by the jankiest deck they've ever seen.
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Blood Crypt
4 Steam Vents
1 Wooded Foothills
5 Mountain
Creatures
4 Nivmagus Elemental
4 Kiln Fiend
2 Flamekin Harbinger
4 Apostle's Blessing
4 Assault Strobe
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Ground Rift
4 Slaughter Pact
4 Mutagenic Growth
3 Tainted Strike
3 Distortion Strike
2 Gut Shot
3 Dismember
2 Dragon's Claw
2 Hurkyl's Recall
2 Rakdos Charm
2 Rending Volley
2 Spell Pierce
2 Tormod's Crypt
My list is focused entirely on getting a turn 2 or 3 knockout by slamming down a Nivmagus Elemental first turn and then beefing him up for the kill in any number of ways by the 2nd or 3rd turn. It's an all in combo, so I'm only concerned with really trying to knock out my opponent ASAP. It's "all in" in the sense that if I don't win by turn 3, it's gonna get a LOT harder for me to take the momentum back. I don't care about my life that much, as it's another expendable resource to fuel spells so I can get them out as quickly as possible.