I was without an LGS for a while but recently found out about a new store near me offering Modern FNM so I got to pull out the old Turns deck. There were only about 16 players compared to the 30+ we used to get at the old place but I went 5-0 to win the event. 3 rounds of swiss then cut to top 4.
Round 1 2-0 vs Julian Grace-Martin playing the Hollow One/Vengevine aggro deck he debuted at SCG Syracuse over the summer.
Lost the die roll but he didn't have insane starts, I was able to keep his threats tapped down and comboed off pretty easily in both games. Brought in 2 Relic of Progenitus which helped in Game 2. Relic is great to bring in place of a couple Remands in a lot of matchups.
Round 2 2-0 vs Esper Spirits
This was kind of a brew and he just wasn't even close to fast enough. Lost the die roll again but luck was definitely "on my side" as I started with Gemstone Caverns with a luck counter both games.
Round 3 2-1 vs U/W Merfolk
Interesting deck, playing white for sideboard stuff, and Remands maindeck instead of Cursecatcher. Game 1 I didn't play around Remand and he Remanded my Time Warp two turns in a row to win the game. Games 2+3 I made sure to Gigadrowse him on end step before going off.
Top 4 2-1 vs same guy on U/W Merfolk
I lost game 2 due to never finding a Mine effect even after casting 4 cantrips but games 1+3 were pretty textbook.
Finals 1-0 vs Grixis Delver
We decided to split the prize packs, but there was an odd number so we played one game for the extra pack. I kept 4 lands and 3 Mines/Dictates and was able to win pretty easily through Thoughtseize, Delver etc.
I've been running pretty well lately (9-1 in past two FNMs) but the list I'm on seems sooo solid to the point of feeling unfair. I haven't changed a card in the maindeck and at this point I can't see changing anything in the future. It just runs so feaking smooth with the 7 cantrips. Cutting Snapcaster and Cryptic was the best decision I've ever made, feels like I can't lose since maxing out on cantrips and Gigadrowse/Exhaustion.
I did test Opt and Search for Azcanta. Opt, to me, is almost trash level. Very inferior to Sleight of Hand in this deck. Search is interesting, but it didn't convince me to take out any Howling Mines. In a lot of matchups where they are attacking your hand it's just critical to get raw numbers of cards into your hand early.
Also Thing in the Ice has overperformed for me and I think the 1-2 split is perfect.
Ha, well I definitely don't want to be Hitler, especially considering my Jewish heritage.
I actually tried putting together some non-blue decks like a R/G creature/ramp deck and a G/W token/anthem thing but I think if I'm going to get excited about this format I have to pick the low-hanging fruit of what I really enjoy first and then maybe try out other strategies later.
I've gotten a ton of useful advice out of this thread and my Hanna, Ship's Navigator deck is starting to come together.
It's looking like it will have:
-Only 2 counterspells (Counterspell and Arcane Denial) because they don't fit that well in the deck anyway.
-I think the only silly infinite combo I have is Parallax Wave, Parallax Tide, Opalescence.
-Only pillow fort type effects that affect people attacking ME, not the entire game so no Moat, Stasis or the like.
-A single Armageddon for LD just because it works so well with artifact mana and Propaganda effects
I threw in a few Angels and Sphinxes to help win the game hopefully.
This deck has a lot of things that are close to my heart... I won multiple type II tournaments when I was 13 with the Replenish deck and also top 16'd the JSS Championship with it. Also throwing in lots of cards that were awesome back in the day like Jester's Cap, Mystic Remora, Grinning Totem, Browse, Island Sanctuary, etc.
If the people I play with complain I can always switch some things out.
Thanks for the advice. I originally had my eye on shenanigans like Nekusar, the Mindrazer and Arcanis the Omnipotent but I decided to keep the combo side of things (as well as my love for taking extra turns) to a bare minimum because I can definitely see how things like infinite comboing everyone out at the same time or taking all the turns is not fun for anybody.
I'm not just into winning the game as quickly as possible, I also like things long and drawn out.
I think I will be happy with a fair U/W controllish deck with an enchantment/light prison theme so we'll see how it goes. I can see JohnnyDegenerate's point that once you get into the fun of it you loosen up and find the things that really make the format cool.
I love it when people who weren't around when FoW was legal in standard make baseless speculations about whether it was good or not, and in what decks, without realizing that the Dojo still exists online:
I would definitely grab a playset of Dictate of Kruphix over Howling Mine first, and pick up the other two Time Warps, then Temporal Mastery and Cryptics. Stubborn Denial should get cut, usually by the time we have a big creature the opponent is locked out of the game anyway. I've also wanted Spell Snare to work in the past but I just don't think it's the right deck for it. Just my opinion.
I think the Probe ban was one of the best ways to attack Infect, I'm very happy about that. The information they gained against interactive decks was huge, not to mention helping rough draws and filling the graveyard.
Some random thoughts from a fellow old-timer who recently returned to the game:
1. The aesthetics of the game have changed. That was the hardest thing for me to get over. The art no longer has that iconic 90s fantasy "Magic" feel to it, most of it is not really resonant or unique to me at all and a lot of it looks semi computer-generated. I also hated the new frames. But...it's not the 90s anymore so I really can't complain. Everything about the card aesthetics is objectively "better" now, it's just different from what we originally fell in love with.
2. One of the problems of being a grown-up is that things in general just aren't as exciting as they were when you were a kid and just discovering them. The adult brain just can't be (and probably shouldn't be) immersed in game to the extent that you were as a kid, and the thrill of discovery is a little blunted by the millions of people on forums who have already figured everything out, what's good and what's bad, how much money you have to spend to be competitive.
3. On the bright side, Magic is pretty much objectively a better game now. Wizards has had decades to refine their design and development to create the most fun gameplay. The game is also way, way more popular. When I was a kid we had to travel to attend any kind of tournament because the local comic shop would never get more than 5 or 6 people to play and it wasn't even worth it for them. Now I go to FNM at my local store and there are regularly 30-40 people there.
4. Playing the actual game of Magic is shockingly similar now to how it was in 1994. It's still the same awesome, fun, challenging, thought-provoking game that we originally fell in love with. In fact, probably even better if you're really honest.
5. Magic players are still the same cool, welcoming, interesting people as ever. There are just a lot more of us now, and to me, that makes this pretty much the best time ever to be a Magic player.
So I hope you do come back to the game, you can't actually go back to when you were 12 years old, but to me playing magic is about the closest you can get.
OK so here's my Thing in the Ice brew, in preliminary testing it actually seems maybe a little better than straight combo Turns. Thing gives you a more dynamic endgame and more lines of play in the middle game. It has great synergy with Warps, and cheap counter magic which both protects it and helps it tick down. I put the Ancestrals in the side against attrition style decks in favor of more counters in the main.
I'm actually winning more often with a Horror than an awoken land, but it's nice to have two different routes to victory. The Dictates go great with either strategy. Overall the deck really works well with itself and feels pretty viable.
So I'm new to this deck and I'm currently play testing 5 variations of all different color schemes but they all have 1 problem in common. Aggro. How do you beat the overwhelming amount of aggro decks currently in the meta. My green blue version consistently fires off t5 or 6 for unlimited turns till the win but against Naya, eleves, merfolk, or almost any of the coco company decks I can't get it up and out fast enough how do you combat the aggro decks in the format to live long enough to combo out? Also sword of feast or famine on a land or snapcaster is a crazy good and efficient way to win. I run 2 of the swords in my version.
OK. Everyone has their pet cards that are crazy cool/good/efficient ways to win. The problem is that they take up slots that you NEED for early interaction. The sweetest thing about this deck is that with Part the Waterveil, the win condition is literally built into the combo, taking up no extra slots.
There are so many cards that seem like they would be amazing in this deck, but take a look at the Truckis MTGO list. This list has become my master list, and I think it should be the starting point for every Turns list, just because it is so ruthlessly focused on cutting out the chaff. There are 9 cards that are simply the best cards in this deck. This list plays 4 of each of them and cuts everything else. I've gone through so many iterations of the deck, adding all kinds of cute cards that I thought would be awesome against certain decks. But lately I've just been playing the Truckis list and somehow, it just wins more than anything I else I came up with. It doesn't look like it on paper but somehow this thing just gets there.
Making tweaks and changing things up is awesome, but IMHO this is the core to start with. Sideboard is up to you of course.
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Round 1 2-0 vs Julian Grace-Martin playing the Hollow One/Vengevine aggro deck he debuted at SCG Syracuse over the summer.
Lost the die roll but he didn't have insane starts, I was able to keep his threats tapped down and comboed off pretty easily in both games. Brought in 2 Relic of Progenitus which helped in Game 2. Relic is great to bring in place of a couple Remands in a lot of matchups.
Round 2 2-0 vs Esper Spirits
This was kind of a brew and he just wasn't even close to fast enough. Lost the die roll again but luck was definitely "on my side" as I started with Gemstone Caverns with a luck counter both games.
Round 3 2-1 vs U/W Merfolk
Interesting deck, playing white for sideboard stuff, and Remands maindeck instead of Cursecatcher. Game 1 I didn't play around Remand and he Remanded my Time Warp two turns in a row to win the game. Games 2+3 I made sure to Gigadrowse him on end step before going off.
Top 4 2-1 vs same guy on U/W Merfolk
I lost game 2 due to never finding a Mine effect even after casting 4 cantrips but games 1+3 were pretty textbook.
Finals 1-0 vs Grixis Delver
We decided to split the prize packs, but there was an odd number so we played one game for the extra pack. I kept 4 lands and 3 Mines/Dictates and was able to win pretty easily through Thoughtseize, Delver etc.
I've been running pretty well lately (9-1 in past two FNMs) but the list I'm on seems sooo solid to the point of feeling unfair. I haven't changed a card in the maindeck and at this point I can't see changing anything in the future. It just runs so feaking smooth with the 7 cantrips. Cutting Snapcaster and Cryptic was the best decision I've ever made, feels like I can't lose since maxing out on cantrips and Gigadrowse/Exhaustion.
I did test Opt and Search for Azcanta. Opt, to me, is almost trash level. Very inferior to Sleight of Hand in this deck. Search is interesting, but it didn't convince me to take out any Howling Mines. In a lot of matchups where they are attacking your hand it's just critical to get raw numbers of cards into your hand early.
Also Thing in the Ice has overperformed for me and I think the 1-2 split is perfect.
3x Howling Mine
1x Thing in the Ice
4x Serum Visions
3x Sleight of Hand
4x Exhaustion
4x Gigadrowse
4x Remand
3x Temporal Mastery
4x Time Warp
20x Island
1x Gemstone Caverns
1x Inkmoth Nexus
1x Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
1x Echoing Truth
2x Gut Shot
3x Hurkyl's Recall
2x Redirect
2x Relic of Progenitus
3x Spell Pierce
2x Thing in the Ice
1
I actually tried putting together some non-blue decks like a R/G creature/ramp deck and a G/W token/anthem thing but I think if I'm going to get excited about this format I have to pick the low-hanging fruit of what I really enjoy first and then maybe try out other strategies later.
I've gotten a ton of useful advice out of this thread and my Hanna, Ship's Navigator deck is starting to come together.
It's looking like it will have:
-Only 2 counterspells (Counterspell and Arcane Denial) because they don't fit that well in the deck anyway.
-I think the only silly infinite combo I have is Parallax Wave, Parallax Tide, Opalescence.
-Only pillow fort type effects that affect people attacking ME, not the entire game so no Moat, Stasis or the like.
-A single Armageddon for LD just because it works so well with artifact mana and Propaganda effects
I threw in a few Angels and Sphinxes to help win the game hopefully.
This deck has a lot of things that are close to my heart... I won multiple type II tournaments when I was 13 with the Replenish deck and also top 16'd the JSS Championship with it. Also throwing in lots of cards that were awesome back in the day like Jester's Cap, Mystic Remora, Grinning Totem, Browse, Island Sanctuary, etc.
If the people I play with complain I can always switch some things out.
1
I'm not just into winning the game as quickly as possible, I also like things long and drawn out.
I think I will be happy with a fair U/W controllish deck with an enchantment/light prison theme so we'll see how it goes. I can see JohnnyDegenerate's point that once you get into the fun of it you loosen up and find the things that really make the format cool.
1
http://www.classicdojo.org/dekdexoldcover.html
(look at June-October 1997)
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1
1
2
1. The aesthetics of the game have changed. That was the hardest thing for me to get over. The art no longer has that iconic 90s fantasy "Magic" feel to it, most of it is not really resonant or unique to me at all and a lot of it looks semi computer-generated. I also hated the new frames. But...it's not the 90s anymore so I really can't complain. Everything about the card aesthetics is objectively "better" now, it's just different from what we originally fell in love with.
2. One of the problems of being a grown-up is that things in general just aren't as exciting as they were when you were a kid and just discovering them. The adult brain just can't be (and probably shouldn't be) immersed in game to the extent that you were as a kid, and the thrill of discovery is a little blunted by the millions of people on forums who have already figured everything out, what's good and what's bad, how much money you have to spend to be competitive.
3. On the bright side, Magic is pretty much objectively a better game now. Wizards has had decades to refine their design and development to create the most fun gameplay. The game is also way, way more popular. When I was a kid we had to travel to attend any kind of tournament because the local comic shop would never get more than 5 or 6 people to play and it wasn't even worth it for them. Now I go to FNM at my local store and there are regularly 30-40 people there.
4. Playing the actual game of Magic is shockingly similar now to how it was in 1994. It's still the same awesome, fun, challenging, thought-provoking game that we originally fell in love with. In fact, probably even better if you're really honest.
5. Magic players are still the same cool, welcoming, interesting people as ever. There are just a lot more of us now, and to me, that makes this pretty much the best time ever to be a Magic player.
So I hope you do come back to the game, you can't actually go back to when you were 12 years old, but to me playing magic is about the closest you can get.
1
I'm actually winning more often with a Horror than an awoken land, but it's nice to have two different routes to victory. The Dictates go great with either strategy. Overall the deck really works well with itself and feels pretty viable.
4x Serum Visions
4x Time Warp
4x Part the Waterveil
4x Thing in the Ice
2x Cryptic Command
2x Dispel
4x Exhaustion
4x Remand
2x Spell Snare
2x Gigadrowse
1x Inkmoth Nexus
20x Island
2x Radiant Fountain
4x Ancestral Vision
3x Dismember
2x Dispel
2x Gigadrowse
3x Hurkyl's Recall
1x Spell Pierce
1
OK. Everyone has their pet cards that are crazy cool/good/efficient ways to win. The problem is that they take up slots that you NEED for early interaction. The sweetest thing about this deck is that with Part the Waterveil, the win condition is literally built into the combo, taking up no extra slots.
There are so many cards that seem like they would be amazing in this deck, but take a look at the Truckis MTGO list. This list has become my master list, and I think it should be the starting point for every Turns list, just because it is so ruthlessly focused on cutting out the chaff. There are 9 cards that are simply the best cards in this deck. This list plays 4 of each of them and cuts everything else. I've gone through so many iterations of the deck, adding all kinds of cute cards that I thought would be awesome against certain decks. But lately I've just been playing the Truckis list and somehow, it just wins more than anything I else I came up with. It doesn't look like it on paper but somehow this thing just gets there.
Making tweaks and changing things up is awesome, but IMHO this is the core to start with. Sideboard is up to you of course.
4 Temporal Mastery
4 Time Warp
4 Dictate of Kruphix
4 Howling Mine
4 Remand
4 Exhaustion
4 Radiant Fountain