Just played against Skred Red and boy am I glad that's a fringe deck. Maindeck relic of progenitus. Maindeck sweepers to deal with young pyromancer+tokens. Maindeck blood moon and land destruction. Must be like 20-80 in their favor.
The finishing potential that's introduced by having him in play seems ridiculous. If you think about it; cast loam, three lands to hand, first seismic assault activation you trigger a draw, dredge three to get loam back and for any land you hit with the dredge you trigger another draw. After that you have loam back in your hand, two lands left, plus whatever extra draws you triggered from lands in the dredge.
Initial thoughts I have are that resolving him at five mana might be slow, but sliding him into an unburial rites suite is a no-brainer.
Feel free to test it. I have a feeling not a lot of people play loam shells anymore. Might be good
Slow as all hell, it's a 5 drop that dies to just about any removal in the format atm(Grasp, ruinous path, most notably ultimate price and Languish). That kind of effect really needs to be cheap so you can get some value out of it the turn you play it(you have to wait until 6 mana to possibly get a token out of it guaranteed). Its flip side is a massive win-more. Deck is far better off playing like any of the Delver decks from eternal formats(that is, lower to the ground, good card advantage and synergy)
Caling someone salty is just a petty way to deflect criticism.
People hating on others for playing a deck they don't like or can't easily beat is pathetic so calling them salty is the least of insults they deserve, hating on a deck type and saying it's 'easy' isn't really criticism. It's just that person can't handle losing, their problem. Everyone going into Modern should surely know its a rock/paper/scissors (lizard/spock) format. Tron rolls over to infect and maybe bogles, i also struggle against goblins and to some extent zoo. Combo is hard, and if a control deck has the right counter density in their hands you aint never getting to tron. Plus sideboarding crumle to dust is horrible. Taxes is stupid too with the sheer volume of tec edge and GQ. If you can't play without hating on your opponent then don't play. Be a gent or get gone IMO.
Unless you are willing to bathe in the salt and tears of your opponents atleast twice each tournament - Tron isn't for you.
It is by far one of the most hated decks of the format because "It's a timmy deck"; "It takes no skill, plays itself"; "Fast mana like this should not exist in modern"; "Impossible to hate"; "My fair deck has no chance against it" yada yada. That's perfectly normal. People like to whine what seems OP from their point of view. They don't see that tron just dies to infect, very often ad nauseam and similar decks. Combo and Aggro are the weakest MUs, but many people like to play fair magic. And that's exactly the type of deck Tron preys on, thus resulting in incredible amounts of NaCl.
Now to your actual question:
Mulliganing is in fact one of the biggest things a tron player has to learn. Let's say you're in Game 1 against an unknown opponent. A perfect hand would be: Natural Tron, a way to secure this tron through hate (Star + Scrying or a map) and 1-2 Payoff spells. But this is obvious.
What a hand should be able to do (for me) is:
Either have Turn 3, latest Turn 4 Tron (Payoff spell is not 100% required. Tron online is the main objective for me)
Be able to keep me alive in bad MUs (1-2 Early sweepers, Spellskite) This hand really needs some carddraw though, so it's a bit of an inconvenient keep for me.
Everything else changes depending on the matchup. My advice to you: Keep drawing practice hands and think "Would i keep this, can this fulfill my gameplan?" Tron Mulligans really well, so don't be afraid to pick up a 6 on the play of maybe even a 5 or 4 on the draw.
Caling someone salty is just a petty way to deflect criticism.
Any thoughts on the recent spoiler from EMN Stunning Growth? 3G sorcery return all lands in the graveyard to the battlefield tapped.
Now, this kind of goes against the normal strategy of using lands as discard fuel for seismic assault/retrace cards but if any deck in modern can take advantage of it. I imagine it's this one. Maybe some sort of rampy shenanigans? I honestly don't know but it's an objectively powerful effect that just seems ready to be broken somehow.
I like that they`re throwing independent websites a bone by letting them get an exclusive preview of a card. They sure as hell don`t do enough to acknowledge the wider community, but this is one thing they do right.
I dislike spoiler threads to the point where I almost always just look at the card in the first post and then close the thread, because everyone seems to think that every card spoiled should be constructed playable and support their deck and not decks that they dislike, and at least half the cards should be eternal playable, and so on. The bad vibes among posters completely kill the excitement for me, expectations are too high. It`s a problem inherent with spoiling a few cards at a time, most of them are going to be not very interesting to a lot of players. That`s just how it is, most cards in a new set is not for *you* exactly. But this isn`t a flaw in the spoiler policy per se.
God forbid a card gets criticism. Sounds like you don't play competitive magic at all.
Ugh. Okay, I`ll bite. I only play competitive magic, actually. But that doesn`t mean that I go on a rant every time they spoil a card that isn`t competitively viable.
"Blue enchantment is super ultra mega garbage."
"Mind Dilation seems like one of those designs where they replace a card last minute and have to make the new one bad on purpose because they don't have time to test it. It's a 7 mana mythic enchantment that does nothing right away, can proceed to do nothing, or possibly very unexciting things."
"a really, really bad enchantment."
"Blue enchantment is absolute garbage."
"The enchantment is nonsense"
I didn`t bother digging too deep, but you get the picture. This happens in almost every spoiler thread except for the three or four cards that ar obviously super powerful. Those only get complains about rarity or about archetypes or colors getting pushed. Meanwhile, I have friends who are super excited about Mind's Dilation in EDH and casual magic. This product is for them too. This is someone`s favorite card in the set. Also, not every card can be competitively viable. We know this. It`s a fundamental principle of how booster packs work. Some cards are good and some aren`t. It`s been like that for over 20 years. Complaining and whining whenever a card isn`t going to make it into their favourite format is no good for anyone. Card criticism, or evaluation if you will, is a good thing, but I`d hardly call it criticism when it`s nothing deeper than "this card isn`t exactly what I wanted, set blows".
Also, please reply exactly how my post led you to believe that I
don't play competitive magic at all.
because I don`t see the connection at all. I`d like to believe that you weren`t just trolling/flaming.
Also, this quote is for you: "I do love people who write off an entire post with an unintelligent one-liner." Who wrote that?
Lol, sure. Every card is amazing. Set is amazing. Your opinion is perfect. Everyone who says a card isn't competitively viable is dumb. Got it.
I don't even know what you want. You want every spoiler thread to be nothing but positivity cause SOMEONE out there could possibly make use of the card? That's asinine. It's like one time I argued with someone who thought that something was "modern-viable" because they put it in their awful casual treefolk deck that just so happened to be modern-legal. Most of the people on this site play competitive magic and as such threads are going to be dominated by those types of perspectives. This is especially so when everyone is clamoring for new cards to break the strangehold that GW has on standard atm. What you call "whining and complaining" is called CRITICISM. I don't know what your idea of card criticism/discussion is but it's incredibly stifling to real discussion.(also, love the small quip basically saying a card isn't garbage because someone will play it in in EDH, real intelligent there)
Also, that response was literally to someone providing 0 points/reasons for their argument. I guess you're really grasping for comebacks.
I like that they`re throwing independent websites a bone by letting them get an exclusive preview of a card. They sure as hell don`t do enough to acknowledge the wider community, but this is one thing they do right.
I dislike spoiler threads to the point where I almost always just look at the card in the first post and then close the thread, because everyone seems to think that every card spoiled should be constructed playable and support their deck and not decks that they dislike, and at least half the cards should be eternal playable, and so on. The bad vibes among posters completely kill the excitement for me, expectations are too high. It`s a problem inherent with spoiling a few cards at a time, most of them are going to be not very interesting to a lot of players. That`s just how it is, most cards in a new set is not for *you* exactly. But this isn`t a flaw in the spoiler policy per se.
God forbid a card gets criticism. Sounds like you don't play competitive magic at all.
In longer grindy games a few lands can be ok to side out like against Jund or Grixis control. Against decks running Rest in Peace you really want additional lands so you can draw into the last few points of damage with Assault and also have plenty of land to restart loam and dredging into more lands after you answer Rest in Peace.
I wouldn't board in charm vs jeskai nahiri expecting rest in peace. I believe some play a 1 of, but they want snapcaster to be live and they want to be able to discard emrakul to nahiri and shuffle it back in so they can search it up.
Slaughter games is great against Scapeshift, it is fine against Ad Nauseam and I also like it against UR storm. Take grapeshot and have sweepers for empty.
Vs affinity I would likely board out the smallpox. It comes down turn 2, only answers 1 creature which really isn't enough. Much of their mana comes from mana rocks so it isn't like hitting land will get you there. They usually drop multiple creatures so it won't ever hit what you want. What match ups are you struggling with boarding? Are you looking for different sideboard card options?
Good point on the smallpox.
An example from a recent match I played. I was playing against jeskai nahiri. Do I preemptively side in the Golgari Charms in game two expecting Rest In Peace? I did that match and they just sat in my hand all day doing nothing. I'm not even sure it's common for nahiri jeskai to play rest in peace anymore.
I'm rather happy with my sideboard. Do you ever find yourself boarding out lands/loams?
What decks, if any, should I side in Slaughter Games other than Scapeshift? Sorry if there are too many questions. Sideboarding has always been something I'm rather weak at and this is a niche enough deck that there definitely isn't any sideboarding guide anywhere.
Now, most of the board choices are fairly obvious. What I tend to struggle with is what I board out. I play a lot of 4c loam in legacy and it's very common to board out the loams(all 2 of them) against fast decks like infect or burn. Is it ever a good idea to board out loam?(if so, all of them or just keep it to a 1 of?) Do you guys ever board out lands? Again, I find myself boarding out the 1-of Ghost Quarter if I find it's mostly useless.
I've also had games where basically all my cards are so good against the other deck that I board out some of the slower and less reliable dig like Desperate Ravings and the corresponding blue duals.(Watery Grave and Steam Vents) E.g., Against affinity and I board in Golgari Charm, Pyroclasm, Ancient Grudge, and I find myself at a loss for finding bad cards to board out(this is where I was considering cutting loams)
Does anyone know of a sideboard guide for this deck anywhere?
Take out the cards that are bad, side in the cards that are good.
Really, all sideboard guides do is restrict your ability to sideboard well. Learn which cards are bad in certain matchups by testing. Learn what sideboard cards do the most damage.
For example, you might want to cut down your Nahiris against Jund and put in things like Elspeth. Against fast aggro decks, you can cut slow and expensive cards and side in Timely.
God forbid I want some sort of jump-off point instead of re-inventing the wheel.
Im straight RG as well. I run something like 36 lands in my list. Similar spells. Eternal Witness seems too cute, as does Axe, Worm Harvest.
The matchup is real easy against Tron. Get Loam/GQ and its all ogre.
A good way to beat Ad Naus is putting in a set of Leyline of Sanctity instead of Dragon's Claw. Stops Gifts, Storm, Burn, Ad Naus, ect.
EDIT: Also Young Pyromancer/Flame Jab is a pretty good value play.
In addition, Raven's Crime is brutal against tron now that they don't have eye of ugin. Honestly, tron matchup is probably one of loam's best at this point.
Feel free to test it. I have a feeling not a lot of people play loam shells anymore. Might be good
Slow as all hell, it's a 5 drop that dies to just about any removal in the format atm(Grasp, ruinous path, most notably ultimate price and Languish). That kind of effect really needs to be cheap so you can get some value out of it the turn you play it(you have to wait until 6 mana to possibly get a token out of it guaranteed). Its flip side is a massive win-more. Deck is far better off playing like any of the Delver decks from eternal formats(that is, lower to the ground, good card advantage and synergy)
Here's the list I intend to test soon.
4 Stormchaser Mage
4 Curious Homunculus
4 Take Inventory
4 Clash of Wills
3 Fevered Visions
4 Fiery Impulse
2 Collective Defiance
3 Chaos Reveler
4 Incendiary Flow
4 Wandering Fumarole
4 Highland Lake
4 Shivan Reef
4 Island
4 Mountain
2 Rogue's Passage
1 Sea Gate Wreckage
Sideboard
some cards idk yet
I have to imagine that Abbot would be very good in this type of deck.
"play nice" said the guy calling people salty
Caling someone salty is just a petty way to deflect criticism.
Now, this kind of goes against the normal strategy of using lands as discard fuel for seismic assault/retrace cards but if any deck in modern can take advantage of it. I imagine it's this one. Maybe some sort of rampy shenanigans? I honestly don't know but it's an objectively powerful effect that just seems ready to be broken somehow.
Lol, sure. Every card is amazing. Set is amazing. Your opinion is perfect. Everyone who says a card isn't competitively viable is dumb. Got it.
I don't even know what you want. You want every spoiler thread to be nothing but positivity cause SOMEONE out there could possibly make use of the card? That's asinine. It's like one time I argued with someone who thought that something was "modern-viable" because they put it in their awful casual treefolk deck that just so happened to be modern-legal. Most of the people on this site play competitive magic and as such threads are going to be dominated by those types of perspectives. This is especially so when everyone is clamoring for new cards to break the strangehold that GW has on standard atm. What you call "whining and complaining" is called CRITICISM. I don't know what your idea of card criticism/discussion is but it's incredibly stifling to real discussion.(also, love the small quip basically saying a card isn't garbage because someone will play it in in EDH, real intelligent there)
Also, that response was literally to someone providing 0 points/reasons for their argument. I guess you're really grasping for comebacks.
This is hardly comparable to treasure cruise. Get back to me once this can be fueled by fetches and creatures
God forbid a card gets criticism. Sounds like you don't play competitive magic at all.
Thanks!
Good point on the smallpox.
An example from a recent match I played. I was playing against jeskai nahiri. Do I preemptively side in the Golgari Charms in game two expecting Rest In Peace? I did that match and they just sat in my hand all day doing nothing. I'm not even sure it's common for nahiri jeskai to play rest in peace anymore.
I'm rather happy with my sideboard. Do you ever find yourself boarding out lands/loams?
What decks, if any, should I side in Slaughter Games other than Scapeshift? Sorry if there are too many questions. Sideboarding has always been something I'm rather weak at and this is a niche enough deck that there definitely isn't any sideboarding guide anywhere.
My board is
3 Dragon's Claw
2 Golgari Charm
2 Pyroclasm
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Guttural Response
2 Slaughter Games
List is
4x Blackcleave Cliffs
1x Blood Crypt
1x Forest
1x Ghost Quarter
4x Graven Cairns
1x Lavaclaw Reaches
1x Mountain
1x Overgrown Tomb
3x Scalding Tarn
1x Steam Vents
2x Stomping Ground
1x Swamp
1x Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
4x Verdant Catacombs
1x Watery Grave
4x Faithless Looting
2x Flame Jab
1x Inquisition of Kozilek
4x Life from the Loam
3x Raven's Crime
4x Smallpox
1x Worm Harvest
Instant (7)
2x Abrupt Decay
3x Desperate Ravings
2x Lightning Bolt
3x Seismic Assault
Creature (4)
4x Young Pyromancer
Now, most of the board choices are fairly obvious. What I tend to struggle with is what I board out. I play a lot of 4c loam in legacy and it's very common to board out the loams(all 2 of them) against fast decks like infect or burn. Is it ever a good idea to board out loam?(if so, all of them or just keep it to a 1 of?) Do you guys ever board out lands? Again, I find myself boarding out the 1-of Ghost Quarter if I find it's mostly useless.
I've also had games where basically all my cards are so good against the other deck that I board out some of the slower and less reliable dig like Desperate Ravings and the corresponding blue duals.(Watery Grave and Steam Vents) E.g., Against affinity and I board in Golgari Charm, Pyroclasm, Ancient Grudge, and I find myself at a loss for finding bad cards to board out(this is where I was considering cutting loams)
What are everyone's thoughts?
God forbid I want some sort of jump-off point instead of re-inventing the wheel.
In addition, Raven's Crime is brutal against tron now that they don't have eye of ugin. Honestly, tron matchup is probably one of loam's best at this point.