I'm a little confused as to how/why Hexdrinker is good. It's great in an aggro plan as a 2/1 for 1 mana. But then, if i understand leveling correctly, we need to pump 3 more mana into it for it to become a 4/4 with protection from Fatal Push and Path to Exile. That would mean on turn 2 we would want to tap out to level it twice, and hope we're holding onto a Shoal or Force, with a pitchable card. Then turn 3 we tap 1 more mana and then it's swinging as a hard to remove 4/4... I guess this isn't too bad, but it seems like it really forces us to have Shoal and Force in our hands, and if they shoot off an instant in response to our leveling, then we need Shoal and probably a 1cmc blue spell - Force wouldn't even protect it here. I just feel like we'd be playing a very different deck if we wanted to rely on Hexdrinker.
Playing Hexdrinker and trying to level him up right away probably won't be the best use of your Mana in most cases. It will probably be more of 1 Mana here and there to get him to lvl 2. He puts a lot of pressure on your opponent to not tap out gaining us tempo along with being a t1 threat. Compared to Mandrils coming down turn 2-3.
While I don't think this completely replaces mandrils a split between the two complement each other by not letting us not have awkward hands with multiples of each.
You just play normally with Hexdrinker and be opportunistic with your chances to level up.
Looking at both Hooting Mandrils and Hexdrinker they are both bad in multiples. It would probably be best to try and and a 2-2 or a 2-1 split. That would also free some graveyard tension to run 1-2 Magmatic Sinkhole in the main/side.
Thanks for posting. Have you tried the new Cindervines yet? Also, what do you think about 2-1 split in either direction with thought scour and faithless looting. I played with it for a bit and being able to loot away dead cards was really nice same with flash back. Defiantly didn't want to see more than 1 tho.
GUR
Instant
Pick 3, each mode may be picked more than once.
- Do 1 damage to target creature or player.
- Counter target spell unless its controller pays 1.
- Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
I played the needle and held up spell pierce to get to ee next turn with hunt master alive because it was going to be hard to come back without him. If they attacked with what they had on board I would have lived at one with monkey and hm left. They played another 2 Mana anthem so I died. Was hoping they tried for another pw or more tokens. I just felt it was still winnable and was wondering how other people thought was the correct play.
Could be counting wrong (either us or mnesci is) but this is my line too. Odds are they don't draw something good and try flashing back Souls, which we can Pierce (and don't even need to thanks to EE). Spend the next turn wiping with EE and then start flipping Hunt again.
JW, why did you post a Counter-Cat question in this thread?
Since I look at them so often I keep both threads open in different tabs on my comp. I was just in the wrong one when I posted and didn't realize. Tho like what mnesci said this board state has all the card temur plays so I didn't bother deleting. Sorry, won't happen again. Also thanks for the input everyone.
I played the needle and held up spell pierce to get to ee next turn with hunt master alive because it was going to be hard to come back without him. If they attacked with what they had on board I would have lived at one with monkey and hm left. They played another 2 Mana anthem so I died. Was hoping they tried for another pw or more tokens. I just felt it was still winnable and was wondering how other people thought was the correct play.
Hi all! I just picked up the ashton's list on mtgo and its been a blast. The deck really has a learning curve so I'm getting better as I go. I like the mana base, but I have a love hate relationship with Breeding Pool as there is no shock pair for it. I know Sacred Foundry doesn't cast much in our deck so you can't play but it is bothersome when you only have 2 lands at times. Also the Monkey feels kinda clunky at times in this deck. Is there really nothing better for the 6 slots the Monkey and ts take up?
YO, pimpdonny. I noticed that a majority of the 5-0 lists we've seen more recently play 2 Serums main, so I was hoping you could tell us a little more about your experience with them. I know you've been on 2 my Serums for a while, so I have a few questions: How have they felt to you? Assuming you choose to play Serum, Is 2 the right number? Why not 3/4? How does having Serum affect your other main board choices?
I remember someone mentioned using Serum to dig for the relevant interaction rather than simply playing more, do you view it the same?
UG
L:2
+2: Add U or G mana to your mana pool.
+1: You may cast spells as if they had flash until the end of your opponent's turn.
-4: Draw a card.
UR
You may activate abilities of this pw as if they had flash but only once per turn cycle.
L:2
+1: Scry 1.
-2: Deal 2 damage to target creature or player.
-4: Counter target spell.
UB
L:1
+2: Mill the top 2 cards of target players library.
-3: Target spell in your graveyard gains flashback until end of turn.
-X: Target creature gets -X/-X until end of turn.
UW
L:2
+1: Tap target creature it doesn't untap during its next untap step.
-2: Return target non-creature non-land permanent to its owners hand.
-5: Gain an emblem that grants you hexproof and 2 life on each of your upkeeps.
RG
L:2
+1: You may have target creature gain haste until end of turn.
+0: Draw a card, then discard a card.
-2: Target creature you control fights target creature you don't control.
WB
L:2
+2: Gain 2 life.
-2: Target opponent loses 2 life.
-7: Exile target non-land permanent.
BG
L:2
+1: Look at the top card of your library you may put it into your graveyard.
+0: Target creature gains deathtouch until the beginning of your next turn.
-4: Return target card from your graveyard to your hand.
WG
L:2
+1: Add a +1/+1 counter to target creature.
-2: Target creature gains indestructible until the beginning of your next turn.
-5: Look at the top 3 cards of your library you may put a creature card from them into your hand and put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
BR
L:3
+1: If you have no cards in hand, draw a card.
-X: Discard X cards, deal X damage to target creature or player.
-5: Look at target players hand, pick a non-land card. That player discards that card.
WR
You may activate this pw's abilities twice per turn.
L:1
+1: Creatures you control gain +0/+1 until end of turn.
-1: Creatures you control gain +1/+0 until end of turn.
-6: Creatures you control are unblockable until end of turn.
Playing such a high-cost interactive spell as the crux of your deck is very dangerous right now.
Maybe not unplayably bad, but its certainly not popular.
Just because it's not popular doesn't mean it's not good.
I say this as someone who plays _alot_ of different decks in Modern and I have Top 8:ed WMCQ, 3 PPTQ top 8s and 1 win in the last few months with BTL.
I saw that list a week ago and its been great. Got to the top 8 of a 45 person event and went 3-1-0 (intentional draw last match) twice during the last two modern nights at card kingdom Bellevue.
I know it's not optimal, but is it possible to play the most recent list with a strand or delta in the tarn slot. The only land they miss that tarn gets is stomping ground. Just want to know if I would be wasting my time with a more budget setup or not.
Playing Hexdrinker and trying to level him up right away probably won't be the best use of your Mana in most cases. It will probably be more of 1 Mana here and there to get him to lvl 2. He puts a lot of pressure on your opponent to not tap out gaining us tempo along with being a t1 threat. Compared to Mandrils coming down turn 2-3.
While I don't think this completely replaces mandrils a split between the two complement each other by not letting us not have awkward hands with multiples of each.
You just play normally with Hexdrinker and be opportunistic with your chances to level up.
Instant
Pick 3, each mode may be picked more than once.
- Do 1 damage to target creature or player.
- Counter target spell unless its controller pays 1.
- Target creature gets +1/+1 until end of turn.
Since I look at them so often I keep both threads open in different tabs on my comp. I was just in the wrong one when I posted and didn't realize. Tho like what mnesci said this board state has all the card temur plays so I didn't bother deleting. Sorry, won't happen again. Also thanks for the input everyone.
-EE top card
Its the same guy who had the last 5-0.
UG
L:2
+2: Add U or G mana to your mana pool.
+1: You may cast spells as if they had flash until the end of your opponent's turn.
-4: Draw a card.
UR
You may activate abilities of this pw as if they had flash but only once per turn cycle.
L:2
+1: Scry 1.
-2: Deal 2 damage to target creature or player.
-4: Counter target spell.
UB
L:1
+2: Mill the top 2 cards of target players library.
-3: Target spell in your graveyard gains flashback until end of turn.
-X: Target creature gets -X/-X until end of turn.
UW
L:2
+1: Tap target creature it doesn't untap during its next untap step.
-2: Return target non-creature non-land permanent to its owners hand.
-5: Gain an emblem that grants you hexproof and 2 life on each of your upkeeps.
RG
L:2
+1: You may have target creature gain haste until end of turn.
+0: Draw a card, then discard a card.
-2: Target creature you control fights target creature you don't control.
WB
L:2
+2: Gain 2 life.
-2: Target opponent loses 2 life.
-7: Exile target non-land permanent.
BG
L:2
+1: Look at the top card of your library you may put it into your graveyard.
+0: Target creature gains deathtouch until the beginning of your next turn.
-4: Return target card from your graveyard to your hand.
WG
L:2
+1: Add a +1/+1 counter to target creature.
-2: Target creature gains indestructible until the beginning of your next turn.
-5: Look at the top 3 cards of your library you may put a creature card from them into your hand and put the rest on the bottom of your library in any order.
BR
L:3
+1: If you have no cards in hand, draw a card.
-X: Discard X cards, deal X damage to target creature or player.
-5: Look at target players hand, pick a non-land card. That player discards that card.
WR
You may activate this pw's abilities twice per turn.
L:1
+1: Creatures you control gain +0/+1 until end of turn.
-1: Creatures you control gain +1/+0 until end of turn.
-6: Creatures you control are unblockable until end of turn.
I saw that list a week ago and its been great. Got to the top 8 of a 45 person event and went 3-1-0 (intentional draw last match) twice during the last two modern nights at card kingdom Bellevue.