5th place in a PPTQ this weekend. Not a big event, 28 people I think. Played Nass' most recent list with the blue sideboard.
Round 1 Humans 2-0
Game 1 opponent kept an aggro hand with no disruption. I turn 3d him.
Game 2 He leads with vial, then follows with thalia and meddling mage. I end up playing Sai then casting EE on 2. Win the game off the back of 15 thopter tokens. Sai is a beast.
Round 2 UW Spirits 1-2
I get game 1 off of a quick combo when he taps out for threats instead of holding up a queller. Game 2 I mull to 5 and keep a 1 lander with 2 eggs and 2 KCI. It ends up real bad as I dont draw a land until its too late. Game 3 I let the previous game influence me and kept a hand with 4 lands, then drew 4 more en route to getting stomped.
Round 3 Grishoalbrand 2-1
A typical "2 ships passing in the night matchup. I'm on the play game 1 and while he stocks his yard he never finds a Goryos. I get him on turn 4. Game 2 he turn 2s me. Game 3 I play an egg then hold up negate for a couple turns. He taps out to dig on his turn 4 so I win on the next turn.
Round 4 Titanshift 2-0
I play Scapeshift as well, so while I havent played against KCI from the Scapeshift side of things I always assumed it was a great KCI matchup. Turned out I was right as game 1 I was just the faster combo deck. Game 2 I brought in negates as Im no worried about a titan so much. but Scapeshift will just win him the game. I mull to 5, but it was a really good 5- egg, citadel, mind stone, wellspring, buried ruin; Opal scried to top. He had a fast start with double ramps and got a titan off, but I was able to kill him the next turn.
Round 5 Storm 2-1
This match was against a very good storm player from my LGS, whom I have never beaten on KCI, although our games have gotten closer and closer as I have grown more familiar and comfortable with the deck. Broke through at the right time. I honestly dont remember too much about these games as they were some of the most intense I have played in a while. Game 1 was a non interactive win for me, but after we each sided in our interactive spells the games were insanely intense close affairs.
This was not my LGS, but my store brought a good group of player to this event and it showed. We took 7 of the top 8 spots in the event.
Top 8 Jeskai Control 1-2
I got game one after eating up his hard counters with a couple KCIs and an EE on 5(!) to try to kill Teferi. Resolved a KCI the turn after that and was able to combo off. I bring in 3 Sai, 3 negates, and 4 claims. In hindsight Im pretty sure I over boarded but im not sure what not to bring in. Maybe fewer claims? Game 2 He has a counter for every KCI then ends up ulting Teferi on the back of 2 dampening spheres. I play a few more turns then concede. Game 3 I am able to sneak Sai out early, and end up with 5 thopters before he finds a way to deal with Sai. This very nearly wins me the game as i get him to 3. By the time he kills them all I have a pyrite and Trawler on board, 2 claims in hand, and am otherwise top decking. He Wear Tears the Trawler, So I pyrite in response then return pyrite with the trawler trigger. He activates collonade and attacks with it and a snap for exactly lethal, so i claim my own citadel, wich he dispels, then try it again. Another dispel. Oh well.
Sai is awesome in this deck. I think I was lucky in not facing any Stonys or even any Graveyard hate. This deck is a blast to play and I'm so glad I made the switch to it, even if it does eat a ban in a few months (although I dont think it should... hopefully).
In the paper world, is it worth it to do the resiviour plan? Also is there a Sideboarding guide? I went through a few pages but failed to find. I built this and plan to make it my primary over tron until the tron hate dies down a little.
If you are on the Matt Nass version then heres some tips from him concerning the combo/sideboarding: https://www.channelfireball.com/articles/how-to-kci/. As far as aetherflux reservoir is concerned, I run it online as my wincon, but the pyrite loops are way superior in paper because they are interaction as well as card draw at any point before we combo off. Once we combo it doesnt matter how we win- we have infinite mana and draw the deck, so it makes sense to play a card that doubles as the win as well as helping us get to that point.
I want to ask a question for those of you here. What would you do in this situation?
You are on the draw. Your opponent just lead Cavern of Souls, naming Human, and played Aether Vial. They are on Humans. Your hand consists of Mountain, Cinder Glade, Wooded Foothills, Search for Tomorrow, Lightning Bolt, Sweltering Suns, Bloodbraid Elf and you have just drawn Prime Time for the turn. Do you fetch a Forest or a Stomping Ground for the Search for Tomorrow?
Here's my thoughts. You want a Stomping Ground, so that later potential Valakut triggers from the Prime Time will come earlier. You can also probably afford the life loss since you have Bolt and Sweltering Suns vs. them. But you could save 2 life, but also guarantee that your Cinder Glade comes into play untapped (like if they Meddling Mage the Search for Tomorrow and Lightning Bolt both, so you can't Bolt with Search on the stack). Or is that too much thinking? It's probably Stomping Ground, right?
I think basic forest is correct here. You need to make sure that your Cinder Glade comes down untapped on turn 3, and with a forest you guarantee turn 3 sweltering mana. Do they name SFT with meddling mage? I dont know, but if they do and you fetched stomping ground you are pretty screwed. Additionally every point of health matters in a matchup where they can drop a couple Mantis Riders post wrath to finish you off. I dont see the need to aggressively fetch for the Stomping Ground.
Looks like Zac Elsic just got 2nd in the SCG invitational running Matt Nass list. My own experience with the deck so far has been pretty good. I would love to play it this week in Vegas but just dont have enough reps, and I have a feeling that more artifact hate will be on the way, as its seems like affinity is back on the uptick as well. So i'll be sticking with Titanshift due to familiarity, but man KCI is a blast, and some of the most fun I've had slinging magic cards.
Hey everyone! Looking at getting into this deck, will be building Matt Nass most recent list. I havent been finding a lot of gameplay vids or guides for the deck and i'm wondering if anyone can point me towards some good gameplay to watch. I'm also curious as to what peoples opinion on good or bad matchups are vs T1 and T2 decks.
Bloodbraid is great because of the obvious- yes most of the time he's ramping you. But he also acts as a sweeper a good amount of time, or removal. The first time you cascade into anger vs a board of elves or any aggro deck you will be sold. The RNG really isnt as random as you would think, its simply accelerating the drawing and casting of the next CMC 3 card in your deck.
Also Bloodbraid is really good at pressuring plainswalkers, as well as being great vs control strategies.
At the very least I would recommend giving the BBE variant a shot. You may like it, you may not. I havent looked back since I put it in the deck. And understand that its mostly not going to be as flashy as a Jund BBE into K-command or what have you, but it still functions very well in Titanshift regardless.
I was actually just wondering this same thing. I dont have a lot of experience (any) vs this deck, but seeing their decklists makes me think its just horrible. I think we can deal with most moon decks because they dont tend to back up an early moon with much pressure, but I would assume this one does via counters then bam! emrakul. I wonder if an early choke or boil would be effective? This also incidentally gives us better game against the blue based Scapeshift variants.
It is indeed as you described, and yes, I agree about other Blood Moon decks. TBH i dont even think Ponza is a bad MU for us and we actually can win that easily to the point that I think we are favored against Ponza.
Anyways, I might be trying out Choke. It gets cascaded by Bloodbraid, which I'm not sure if it is good or not. The dream is to be able to cast Scapeshift and Boil/Choke in the same turn and force them to counter one of those. All their counters are either Remand or Cryptic Command, and cascaded abilities return to your hand unlike flashback. I can see a 3cmc spell that pretty much wins the game on the spot pretty darn good
That Choke is a BBE hit I think definitely makes it the better play. As well as being castable on the same turn as a 7 land scapeshift.
I was actually just wondering this same thing. I dont have a lot of experience (any) vs this deck, but seeing their decklists makes me think its just horrible. I think we can deal with most moon decks because they dont tend to back up an early moon with much pressure, but I would assume this one does via counters then bam! emrakul. I wonder if an early choke or boil would be effective? This also incidentally gives us better game against the blue based Scapeshift variants.
Has there ever been a tempo combo control version of scapeshift, sort of how Splinter Twin worked before it was banned? I love the Temur colour shard but I find it hard to play decks that are so all in that they can be destroyed on turn 2 by a Lost Legacy or a Thoughtseize into a Surgical Extraction. Is the Prismatic Omen version my best option?
The omen version is very resilient to the types of hate that combo decks tend to lose to. I have won multiple games after getting valakut extracted or scapeshift slaughter games'd just by switching to protect prime time, beat down. While those effects are inconvenient, they are no more than small roadblocks for omenshift, rather than game over like they are for BTL and regular RUG shift. You can even protect your valakuts from crumble by playing scapeshift early with an omen out and getting all 4, then using your land drops 6+ to deal 12 damage per.
GP Brisbane had RUG OmenShift in 32nd, TitanShift in 23rd, BtL Shift in 22nd, and TitanShift in 14th.
I'm not an expert on BtL, but the deck placing here looks like a pretty standard white splash list. 4 Chalice in the side is interesting, probably a meta call.
Counting his deck up comes to 64 cards, which seems nuts, so I looked up his list. Hes not running search for tomorrow.
Its interesting that he is running bolts as well, and no filtering whatsoever for getting rid of omens. No electrolyze doesnt surprise me, as thats a card I will probably be dropping to go back to 4 remands; it comes out pretty much every game now.
Its pretty sweet to see an omen based deck do well. I was starting to wonder if I was a little crazy for thinking it is competitive.
Just as a guy who's been looking to get his hands on some Omens for a few years (no one seems to have any and I don't want to buy them online ), how awkward is running a full 4 omens when having a second is useless so often?
Against control decks where omen really shines it allows me to just jam one into a counterspell. Most decks will also bring in some form of enchantment removal in SB games so having the second copy is relevant sometimes there as well. But mostly that is why I will not go under 2 izzet charms allowing me to loot any extras away. I have played around with running 3 vs 4 omens and do go down sometimes in games 2 and 3 but mostly i want to see it every game.
Sorry guys. I'm probably a real scapeshift noob but I got another question for you.
Why isn't Prismatic Omen played in BTLw Scapeshift? It's perfect fixing, helps against Blood Moon and lets you combo earlier (like other ramp spells). Is it just too fragile?
Omen lists really want to run 4 Valakuts, and BTL lists cant afford that. Also, BTL cant find and cast Omen. And they kind of occupy the same slot in lists.
Kansas City SCG Regionals this weekend. I finished 5-3. (after a 5-1 start. dang.) Grixis Control 2-0, Goblins 1-2 (such a stupid loss too. I had the win in hand and just misplayed in game 3). GR Breach 2-0, Lantern 2-1, Bant Eldrazi 2-1, Ad Naus 2-0 (Omen really is the crucial card here, although a Chalice on 3 is also super good.) Then needing 1 win to money I got steamrolled by Bushwacker Zoo- turn 3'd 2 games in a row, then lost 2-0 to GB Tron. The last match I hit a mental wall and played very poorly just out of exhaustion. I know I couldve won game 2 with better play but I didnt. Finished 47th out of 227 I think. A little disappointing because I can pinpoint a couple poor plays that would have changed things significantly. But the deck played very well and overall very consistently.
I played at a local event today and went 5-0-1. My last round opponent wanted to draw and I agreed since I was the only 5-0 player. (He know what i was playing and it was a bad match up for him) We still played and I won.
Round 1 - Affinity (2-0)
I think this Match up is pretty good since I play 3 Bolts and 2 Repeals. Easy 2-0
Round 2 - Naya Zoo (2-0)
He played pretty poorly but had a good draw. Bring to Light into Anger of the Gods swipes his board and I can stabilize. In Game 2 Hangarback Walker was the MVP. Traded against an Goblin Guide an chumped two Kird Apes to keep me alive.
Round 3- Eggs (2-0)
He never resolves an important Spell and I play Scapeshift two times. Nothing Special. If you keep Counter magic up it is a bye
Round 4 - Affinity (2-0)
Again. I think its a good Match up. Another easy 2-0
Round 5 - R/G Titan (2-1)
Game 1 I drew pretty bad and his Titan wins. I also stopped a Land number 4 Game 2 he casts an Slaughter Games and I thought I was Dead since Baloth and Surrak were my only win option left. He names Primeval Titan which costs him the game. Game 3 I always keep Counterflux up and he can resolve a Scapeshift or Titan. This is also a very good Match up in my opinion.
Round 6 - B/W Midrange (2-1)
He played a Homebrew. Some Lingering Souls, Gideon, Leonin Arbiter and stuff. Game 1 I combo without any problem. Game 2 he has Arbiter and GQ and I didnt find a Second green source. Game 3 I control him and combo off. We drew before we played since he knew it was a bad Match up for him. And it really was.
All in All i liked the Hangarback Walker. Naya Charm was okay. I like to try new Cards. Maybe Hangarback will stay in the Deck. For the future I want to play Chandra Flamecaller in the Maindeck or Sideboard, since I want another good Wincon if I get Slaughter Gamed again.
If you are looking for another wincon due to slaughter games (which I do expect to be on the uptick due to meta shifts) ol Primetime himself is the bees knees, and advances our original gameplan. He also has the added benefit of not being hit by negate.
Round 1 Humans 2-0
Game 1 opponent kept an aggro hand with no disruption. I turn 3d him.
Game 2 He leads with vial, then follows with thalia and meddling mage. I end up playing Sai then casting EE on 2. Win the game off the back of 15 thopter tokens. Sai is a beast.
Round 2 UW Spirits 1-2
I get game 1 off of a quick combo when he taps out for threats instead of holding up a queller. Game 2 I mull to 5 and keep a 1 lander with 2 eggs and 2 KCI. It ends up real bad as I dont draw a land until its too late. Game 3 I let the previous game influence me and kept a hand with 4 lands, then drew 4 more en route to getting stomped.
Round 3 Grishoalbrand 2-1
A typical "2 ships passing in the night matchup. I'm on the play game 1 and while he stocks his yard he never finds a Goryos. I get him on turn 4. Game 2 he turn 2s me. Game 3 I play an egg then hold up negate for a couple turns. He taps out to dig on his turn 4 so I win on the next turn.
Round 4 Titanshift 2-0
I play Scapeshift as well, so while I havent played against KCI from the Scapeshift side of things I always assumed it was a great KCI matchup. Turned out I was right as game 1 I was just the faster combo deck. Game 2 I brought in negates as Im no worried about a titan so much. but Scapeshift will just win him the game. I mull to 5, but it was a really good 5- egg, citadel, mind stone, wellspring, buried ruin; Opal scried to top. He had a fast start with double ramps and got a titan off, but I was able to kill him the next turn.
Round 5 Storm 2-1
This match was against a very good storm player from my LGS, whom I have never beaten on KCI, although our games have gotten closer and closer as I have grown more familiar and comfortable with the deck. Broke through at the right time. I honestly dont remember too much about these games as they were some of the most intense I have played in a while. Game 1 was a non interactive win for me, but after we each sided in our interactive spells the games were insanely intense close affairs.
This was not my LGS, but my store brought a good group of player to this event and it showed. We took 7 of the top 8 spots in the event.
Top 8 Jeskai Control 1-2
I got game one after eating up his hard counters with a couple KCIs and an EE on 5(!) to try to kill Teferi. Resolved a KCI the turn after that and was able to combo off. I bring in 3 Sai, 3 negates, and 4 claims. In hindsight Im pretty sure I over boarded but im not sure what not to bring in. Maybe fewer claims? Game 2 He has a counter for every KCI then ends up ulting Teferi on the back of 2 dampening spheres. I play a few more turns then concede. Game 3 I am able to sneak Sai out early, and end up with 5 thopters before he finds a way to deal with Sai. This very nearly wins me the game as i get him to 3. By the time he kills them all I have a pyrite and Trawler on board, 2 claims in hand, and am otherwise top decking. He Wear Tears the Trawler, So I pyrite in response then return pyrite with the trawler trigger. He activates collonade and attacks with it and a snap for exactly lethal, so i claim my own citadel, wich he dispels, then try it again. Another dispel. Oh well.
Sai is awesome in this deck. I think I was lucky in not facing any Stonys or even any Graveyard hate. This deck is a blast to play and I'm so glad I made the switch to it, even if it does eat a ban in a few months (although I dont think it should... hopefully).
I think basic forest is correct here. You need to make sure that your Cinder Glade comes down untapped on turn 3, and with a forest you guarantee turn 3 sweltering mana. Do they name SFT with meddling mage? I dont know, but if they do and you fetched stomping ground you are pretty screwed. Additionally every point of health matters in a matchup where they can drop a couple Mantis Riders post wrath to finish you off. I dont see the need to aggressively fetch for the Stomping Ground.
Also Bloodbraid is really good at pressuring plainswalkers, as well as being great vs control strategies.
At the very least I would recommend giving the BBE variant a shot. You may like it, you may not. I havent looked back since I put it in the deck. And understand that its mostly not going to be as flashy as a Jund BBE into K-command or what have you, but it still functions very well in Titanshift regardless.
That Choke is a BBE hit I think definitely makes it the better play. As well as being castable on the same turn as a 7 land scapeshift.
The omen version is very resilient to the types of hate that combo decks tend to lose to. I have won multiple games after getting valakut extracted or scapeshift slaughter games'd just by switching to protect prime time, beat down. While those effects are inconvenient, they are no more than small roadblocks for omenshift, rather than game over like they are for BTL and regular RUG shift. You can even protect your valakuts from crumble by playing scapeshift early with an omen out and getting all 4, then using your land drops 6+ to deal 12 damage per.
Counting his deck up comes to 64 cards, which seems nuts, so I looked up his list. Hes not running search for tomorrow.
Its interesting that he is running bolts as well, and no filtering whatsoever for getting rid of omens. No electrolyze doesnt surprise me, as thats a card I will probably be dropping to go back to 4 remands; it comes out pretty much every game now.
Its pretty sweet to see an omen based deck do well. I was starting to wonder if I was a little crazy for thinking it is competitive.
Against control decks where omen really shines it allows me to just jam one into a counterspell. Most decks will also bring in some form of enchantment removal in SB games so having the second copy is relevant sometimes there as well. But mostly that is why I will not go under 2 izzet charms allowing me to loot any extras away. I have played around with running 3 vs 4 omens and do go down sometimes in games 2 and 3 but mostly i want to see it every game.
Omen lists really want to run 4 Valakuts, and BTL lists cant afford that. Also, BTL cant find and cast Omen. And they kind of occupy the same slot in lists.
The list is at near the top of this page. Only change is SB Spellskite swapped for an Anger.
If you are looking for another wincon due to slaughter games (which I do expect to be on the uptick due to meta shifts) ol Primetime himself is the bees knees, and advances our original gameplan. He also has the added benefit of not being hit by negate.