Modern Nexus has an article up that argues against Search for Azcanta in Modern, even in the specific context of our deck. I found that a little strange, given how high on the card most people here are.
I’ve been happy with one Search so far, sharing the card advantage load with other options like Jace, Rev, and Crucible—-but as someone new to the deck, I don’t really have a frame of reference to compare it to.
@Chantu9Y: Thanks! Agreed wholeheartedly on the added mental strain that comes with anything resembling a control mirror. My match against Izzet was probably the most strenuous of the night, despite 2-0ing without really being in danger of losing the second game.
I know you're set on playing 61 cards, but if you can be convinced to cut anything, I would recommend cutting the 3rd cryptic. I find having too many 4 drops very clunky and Cryptic is one of the first cards that tends to get cut post-board in a lot of matches, at least in my experience. I've been playing 2 cryptics for awhile now to reasonable success. It's a great card, don't get me wrong, and I think that playing 3 is justifiable if the rest of your list is perfect, but I think the error margin of playing a 61st card is much, much higher than the error margin between playing 2 and 3 cryptic command.
Cheers
Thanks man.
Shaving a Cryptic is definitely up for consideration, and I’ll try that at some point. A copy of Jace, Blessed Alliance, the Crucible, a land, and maybe even a two-mana counterspell are other considerations for the cut. Soon I’ll whittle it down to 60, but for now I’m gonna ride the 61-card hype train until it crashes.
Checking in with a report from my first paper event with this deck! It was a great debut, despite my build being a little bit of a mess: I ended up bringing a 61-card setup (the list I posted a couple pages back with a Crucible tacked on), which, as people here have pointed out, is definitely suboptimal; but I was willing to lose a few percentage points of efficiency to see how everything played. Things got a little worse when I showed up and found out that the dude who was lending me Cryptics for the night (the only cards in here I don’t own yet—waiting on the IM printing), only had two copies. Without any time to really think about it before the tourney kicked off, I threw my Vendilion Clique in the main and added a Disenchant to the side (also suboptimal, but decent in my meta).
Round 1 vs GW Combo Elves:
I was on the play, and kept a four-lander with Serum Visions, Wall of Omens, and Verdict. He had a full board and an empty hand by the end of his T3, which would have been a blowout for me if not for the fact that his opener included a maindeck Selfless Spirit. My Wall plus Jace and Gideon were able to stall for a while as I dug for a Path or D-Sphere for the Spirit, but I never found one and Ezuri overruns got him there. Game 2 he flooded the board similarly, but this time I had an EoT Path for his Spirit into a T4 Verdict and T5 Gideon Jura, who closed the game in a hurry. Game 3 he played a little more cautiously, which worked for me, as I kept an opener that was great in every way besides the lack of a wrath. Mana Leak countered his Archdruid, Dispel countered his CoCo, and Jace kept his dorks at bay while I took over the board. His topdecked Choke made the game last longer than it should have, but once more Jura beats got me over the line. 1-0
Round 2 vs Izzet Delver/Pyromancer:
Game 1 I got an early advantage with Verdict taking down a flipped Delver, a Pyromancer, and three tokens. From there I felt favored, but he burned me down to three life over time, then topdecked a Lightning Bolt on an empty hand. I responded to the Bolt by Revving for 4, and drew Search, Cryptic, Negate, and a land, which put the game on lockdown. Game 2 was crazily long and interactive, with a midgame highlight being my Jura, his Negate, my Negate, his Negate, my Dispel, his Dispel...lol. Later on I resolved a Gideon OTT, ticked him up, and next turn made his emblem, which combined with my card advantage and better topdecks put the game out of reach. 2-0
Round 3 vs RG Ponza:
Game 1 he kept a threat-less hand with a dork, a Blood Moon, and a couple of Stone Rains. My opener of five lands (two fetches, a basic, Field, and Farmland) Serum Visions, and Gideon OTT was well positioned against him. I slammed Gideon on T3, ticked him up, and then swung every turn after that. Besides his Arbor Elf, who chumped Gids at some point, the only other creature he found was a Goblin Dark-Dwellers while at 4 life, for which I had an EoT Path and the lethal swing to follow. Probably the quickest I’ve ever won a game with this deck, lol. Game 2 was a huge blowout for me...I Mana Leaked his T3 Stone Rain, then proceeded to lock him out of red with three straight Spreading Seas. Both Gideons hit the field shortly thereafter, and it was over rather quickly. 3-0
Round 4 vs Dredge:
I prepared myself for an early scoop G1, despite a respectable opening seven in my hand, but my opponent mulled to five on the play, which gave me some hope. Opponent made his first land drop and passed, then went two turns without hitting another land or a play. My progression was T1 Colonnade, T2 Serum and fetch, T3 Serum and pass holding up Mana Leak. His T4 saw him hit a second land drop and cast Cathartic Reunion, which I was crucially able to counter. From there I tried a Spreading Seas lock (didn’t work as he found lands 3 and 4), but Wall of Omens, Gideon OTT, and Jace took over the board and won me the game just as he was starting to really look threatening. Game 2 I kept an okay 4-land opener including a Grafdigger’s Cage. Cage was a huge stumbling block for him, but I flooded out hard, despite aggressively thinning out my deck (prioritizing fetches over Colonnades) and Scrying lands to the bottom whenever possible. He found an Abrupt Decay for my Cage and then went off as I continued to flood.
Game 3 I drew two unkeepable hands and mulled to a very sketchy five of Island, Cage, Celestial Purge, D-Sphere, and Settle the Wreckage, Scrying Gideon Jura to the bottom. Thankfully for me, I hit my land drops right away, and my opponent lacked an early answer for the Cage, so I was able to stabilize and recover from my card disadvantage. The game went on for ages as I hung on to my Settle, able to control the board well enough with Gideon OTT, a pair of Walls, and Paths/Spheres that I was never taking more than a Narcomeba hit on any given attack. The turning point of the game cane when he Decayed my Cage, and I knew I had two turns to find an answer. On the first turn of do or die I minused Jace and found a Search. Next turn I flipped the Search, activated it to find three lands and a Path, then cashed in Jace, at last finding my first Rest In Peace of the series. I immediately slammed it and then Verdicted his massive board. He shifted to a hardcast plan, but I was able to get in with Gideon OTT and a Colonnade while holding up seven mana for Settle, Path, and a counterspell, which got me the win. 4-0
Not bad for the deck’s paper debut, especially considering 61 cards + only two Cryptics + hurried inclusions of Clique main and Disenchant side ( I probably should have just left Clique in the side and played with 60). But I will say that I’ve never been so mentally exhausted after a local Modern event as I was last night. The cognitive load is real when piloting UW, even though some of that is probably due to me being new to the archetype.
Thrilled with the power of this deck, the challenge it presents as a pilot, and the types of matches it leads to. Before last night I was considering shaving a Jace, but he was arguably my MVP on the night, so I think in a couple weeks I’ll run it back exactly as is, 61 cards and all (though hopefully with a third Cryptic by then!).
Sorry for the huge wall of text, but thanks for all of the discussion that helped me nail down the decklist and playstyle before my first tourney, and thanks especially to bennyhillz and HolyShamgar for some great and informative streaming.
Thanks lads. I should have clarified that the 61 card count was to be for my first few weeks of intensively playing the deck and learning its ins and outs; but even so, may as well just make a cut somewhere and play with 60.
Any insight on the Merfolk matchup? Obviously it’s on the unfavorable side and typically hinges on whether or not you can find a Verdict or two. I’ve found Spreading Seas to be surprisingly valuable. Shutting down Mutavaults and Caverns makes our lives a whole lot easier.
Whether or not to bring in Stony Silence is an open question IMO. It’s live against Vial, but not quite worth it for just that (consider also that they may side out some number of Vials despite its usefulness against counterspells, due to the lengthy nature of the matchup). Smuggler’s Copter is a huge pain; its presence makes Stony Silence a lot more appealing. Then there’s the question of the Merfolk player bringing in Relics, which they may or may not do.
The matchup is surprisingly interesting (unless you’re Verdict-less and they just casually Islandwalk to the T4 kill, lol).
So I’ve seen some people saying that a pair of Search for Azcanta allows us to trim the land count down to 24. The same argument has been applied to a maindeck copy of Crucible of Worlds. Since I recently snapped up a 10th edition Crucible on the cheap, I’ll be playing one of each to start. Is it too outlandish to roll with 61 cards and 25 lands, or should I just shave a land and play with 60?
Mark me down as another person enjoying the chipper77 streams. Free time is at a premium right now so I’m having to go through the playbacks piecemeal, but they’re very informative. Nice work.
Hi SavageGaul, I think you got the core mostly right (the second Jace is definitely a flex slot, though) and I like how you've recognized that Opt/Spell Snare/Snapcaster should form a package. That said, I would highly recommend you go with 4 Serum Visions and 2 Search for Azcanta to round out the deck. I actually believe that with 2 Search you only need 24 lands but feel free to experiment with that. My recommendations for your 25th land would be, from best to worst: 1. third Plains (and I would play that over Irrigated Farmland in the 24 land version), 2. Prairie Stream, 3. fourth Glacial Fortress.
Thank you, I appreciate the feedback.
I’m going to take your advice and run with the more proven Serum package for a while. I’ll be playing 1 each of Search and Alliance, at least to start, partially to see how both cards really play and partially because Alliance is more budget-friendly. I’m a big believer in Alliance for this deck, especially in my local meta.
With that said, I’m having trouble whittling down the last few sideboard slots. Right now I’m at 18:
Secure feels a little more like a maindeck card than a sideboard one, but with no Elspeth (and a maindeck Alliance as an out to Thrun), it sort of replaces her role as another wincon. Still, maybe this is one to cut.
Shadow of Doubt, while strong, also feels like maindeck material, and I wonder if it’s enough of a hoser to claim a spot in the side.
Flashfreeze doesn’t see much play. Why is that? It seems just about as strong and widely applicable as cards like Disdainful Stroke.
A Purge could be trimmed too, I suppose, but otherwise I’m not sure what cuts to make!
I’ve tried my hand at various decks over the past few months in my quest to settle on a third Modern deck (alongside Living End and GB Elves), but ultimately a lot of the decks I was playing were too similar to what I already had. This experience led me to explore some U Control options, and upon watching some games with this deck I knew instantly that this is where I need to be!
I’ve only been able to play ~20 proxy games, but between those and reading a lot here, I think I have a solid grasp on how I’d like to proceed. I would greatly appreciate any feedback on the below choices before buying into the deck. First, the landbase:
25 lands seems perfect for a newer pilot—I won’t experiment with the established land count just yet. I’m very high on Field of Ruin, hence the playset, but I do own Tec Edge and GQ as well. My main question is what fits best in the final flex slot. Mystic Gate? Temple of Enlightenment? A second Fountain or Farmland? A fourth Fortress? I don’t really want to buy into all of those options, so I guess my question is: which would you start with?
I’m basically committed to running these cards in these numbers, unless someone has a compelling argument otherwise. You’ll have noticed the lack of one-mana cantrips and the fact that we’re only at 54 cards. That’s because, in my amateur estimation, I can go one of two ways with the remaining slots:
This setup taps out a lot more, but it digs for answers better and scales into a more dominant late game. The Alliance feels nice here, but it could be a lot of other cards, including a second Search for Azcanta. Jace Beleren is another thought. He might not be quite strong enough, but I do think he fits in nicely.
Am I on the right track with how I’m evaluating the cards in context? If not, where did I go astray? If so, any suggestions as to which setup I should run with to start?
I won’t post my prospective sideboard just yet, mainly because it depends heavily on what my maindeck ends up looking like.
Sorry for the lengthy post. Thanks for all the great discussion here! I’ve learned a lot, and look forward to contributing as I get more experienced with this fantastic deck.
Here’s another minor point of discussion: with Death’s Shadow’s meta share slowly waning, what are people’s thoughts on Grove of the Burnwillows going forward? With its imminent reprint in Iconic Masters, it should be easier to people to get ahold of— — but is it worthwhile?
It’s applications against Shadow are an obvious pro, as is the fact that it’s a painless, always-untapped dual land. But is that enough to make up for enemy lifegain? Before Amonkhet I’d have said yes, but now an end step Violent Outburst is often enough to finish our opponent cleanly with one swing after we untap, a possibility which Grove can put out of reach. R/G also seems to be the worst color pairing for the purposes of cycling, at least with the creature base I run.
I lean hard on chording for Kataki against affinity, because rec sage is a little slow and fracturing gust has to be drawn. How do you find your robots MU? They're usually just a little faster than us, and if they get an early cranial on a vault skirge things can get very bad because our shamans suddenly have a lot more work to do. Its like swimming after a moving goal.
Affinity is definitely a matchup that gets worse on the GB Shaman build relative to GW Vizier. Plating is without a doubt the priority target for my one maindeck Rec Sage, which can help scrape out a win G1. I would say the matchup is slightly unfavorable for my build.
Kataki is a great hoser for sure. Philosophically, I'm opposed to including cards that can't be hardcast (unless I happen upon a Canopy), so I'd probably include a second Gust before Kataki. If only Chord could search your hand along with your library!
So as someone who's stayed loyal to the GB/Shaman/Lead plan despite the rise of the Vizier combo, I thought I'd share the list that has served me very well (3-1, 3-0, 3-1, and 3-0 in recent weeks) at my little LGS:
Took down Izzet Control, Boros Burn, and Jund Shadow last night. Only won once with Ezuri pumps (and even then it was just tapping five lands and swinging with two dudes after grinding out early damage). Going off with Ezuri is definitely a Plan B in this setup. Nettle Sentinel, Scooze, Shaman, and Lead the Stampede were the MVP cards.
I'm considering cutting a Visionary for a third Sentinel. Sentinel has overperformed lately, but Visionary is undeniably nice in the more attrition-based GB build. I could cut Elves of Deep Shadow, but playing a ninth noncreature spell makes me want a ninth mana dork. The one-of flex slots filled by Scooze and Rec Sage have paid dividends, so I don't want to trim those. Any thoughts?
I'm also curious as to any glaring omissions people see in my sideboard. This is pretty well tuned for my local meta, but in an unknown field, am I missing anything obvious? Thanks!
I played 2 in the SB for a long time (granted, I only actually play LE about 20% of the events I enter - I usually play Control) and it has always felt slacking to me. Every time I've had it in hand, there has been some reason why it wouldn't been better to be something else.
Against Dredge, I'd rather have Leylines or Anger of the Gods. Against swarm, Anger of the Gods every time. Against Midrange, I'm definitely happier with Faerie than Charm because I need the mana
I agree that there are better sideboard options than Jund Charm. My question, which I should have specified, was what people thought of it as a maindeck option. Surely that's where such a flexible, generalist card belongs, if it's worth including in the 75 at all. Either way, I'll keep playing it for a while and report back.
Mark me down as another one who sacks Fulminator right away against E-Tron. The potential upside of kicking them for 2 is just never worth passing up the tempo advantage for.
Cruised to a casual 3-0 at a small event last night, beating out Zoo, Izzet Control, and Dredge. I mention this because my penchant for playing spicy one-ofs in every deck I own paid off nicely last night--I stole game 1 from Dredge thanks to a maindecked Jund Charm that completely blew him out. That win ended up being necessary, too, as I lost G2 and won a very amusing G3 (mulled to 5, keeping Leyline of the Void, three lands, and a SSG, nearly losing to hardcasted Dredger beats!).
Right now I'm playing a lone Faerie and a lone Jund Charm as maindeck flex slots with grave hate, but after last night I'm considering a second Charm. Its other modes are relevant: we have a Pyroclasm effect, which is useful by providing another wrath against weenies, especially when we don't have enough dudes in the yard to justify cascading; and an instant-speed combat trick with lasting upside, to make combat math even harder for our opponent than it already is with Horror and Archfiend.
- only 22 lands
- 2x Mindcensor, Copter, and Finks in the main
- 1-of Big Thalia in the main
- 4x Kor Firewalker in the side
- Sword of Light and Shadow and Akroma, Angel of Fury (!) as one-ofs in the side
- no Mirran Crusader in the 75
I have to say that I'm a fan. Akroma is a little far out there, but she's surely a nod to UW Control.
Probably better than Sin Collector in Black / Rainbow builds? Has flying, and can come down on turn 2 (even without a dork) ahead of Anger of the Gods or Karn. Only temporary exiling, though. I might try running 3 in the SB.
Came here to post this.
Not sure whether it replaces Sin Collector or works in tandem with him (probably via a mix of main and sideboard slots), but either way this is looking like a pretty sweet addition!
Edit: After further thought, the choice between Freebooter and Collector isn't going to be an easy one. Freebooter is pretty bad against sweepers compared with Collector, for instance. Collector's CMC 3 isn't necessary slower with 6/8 mana dorks in most lists that run him, either--and his base power of 2 is relevant surprisingly often.
I’ve been happy with one Search so far, sharing the card advantage load with other options like Jace, Rev, and Crucible—-but as someone new to the deck, I don’t really have a frame of reference to compare it to.
Thanks man.
Shaving a Cryptic is definitely up for consideration, and I’ll try that at some point. A copy of Jace, Blessed Alliance, the Crucible, a land, and maybe even a two-mana counterspell are other considerations for the cut. Soon I’ll whittle it down to 60, but for now I’m gonna ride the 61-card hype train until it crashes.
Round 1 vs GW Combo Elves:
I was on the play, and kept a four-lander with Serum Visions, Wall of Omens, and Verdict. He had a full board and an empty hand by the end of his T3, which would have been a blowout for me if not for the fact that his opener included a maindeck Selfless Spirit. My Wall plus Jace and Gideon were able to stall for a while as I dug for a Path or D-Sphere for the Spirit, but I never found one and Ezuri overruns got him there. Game 2 he flooded the board similarly, but this time I had an EoT Path for his Spirit into a T4 Verdict and T5 Gideon Jura, who closed the game in a hurry. Game 3 he played a little more cautiously, which worked for me, as I kept an opener that was great in every way besides the lack of a wrath. Mana Leak countered his Archdruid, Dispel countered his CoCo, and Jace kept his dorks at bay while I took over the board. His topdecked Choke made the game last longer than it should have, but once more Jura beats got me over the line. 1-0
Round 2 vs Izzet Delver/Pyromancer:
Game 1 I got an early advantage with Verdict taking down a flipped Delver, a Pyromancer, and three tokens. From there I felt favored, but he burned me down to three life over time, then topdecked a Lightning Bolt on an empty hand. I responded to the Bolt by Revving for 4, and drew Search, Cryptic, Negate, and a land, which put the game on lockdown. Game 2 was crazily long and interactive, with a midgame highlight being my Jura, his Negate, my Negate, his Negate, my Dispel, his Dispel...lol. Later on I resolved a Gideon OTT, ticked him up, and next turn made his emblem, which combined with my card advantage and better topdecks put the game out of reach. 2-0
Round 3 vs RG Ponza:
Game 1 he kept a threat-less hand with a dork, a Blood Moon, and a couple of Stone Rains. My opener of five lands (two fetches, a basic, Field, and Farmland) Serum Visions, and Gideon OTT was well positioned against him. I slammed Gideon on T3, ticked him up, and then swung every turn after that. Besides his Arbor Elf, who chumped Gids at some point, the only other creature he found was a Goblin Dark-Dwellers while at 4 life, for which I had an EoT Path and the lethal swing to follow. Probably the quickest I’ve ever won a game with this deck, lol. Game 2 was a huge blowout for me...I Mana Leaked his T3 Stone Rain, then proceeded to lock him out of red with three straight Spreading Seas. Both Gideons hit the field shortly thereafter, and it was over rather quickly. 3-0
Round 4 vs Dredge:
I prepared myself for an early scoop G1, despite a respectable opening seven in my hand, but my opponent mulled to five on the play, which gave me some hope. Opponent made his first land drop and passed, then went two turns without hitting another land or a play. My progression was T1 Colonnade, T2 Serum and fetch, T3 Serum and pass holding up Mana Leak. His T4 saw him hit a second land drop and cast Cathartic Reunion, which I was crucially able to counter. From there I tried a Spreading Seas lock (didn’t work as he found lands 3 and 4), but Wall of Omens, Gideon OTT, and Jace took over the board and won me the game just as he was starting to really look threatening. Game 2 I kept an okay 4-land opener including a Grafdigger’s Cage. Cage was a huge stumbling block for him, but I flooded out hard, despite aggressively thinning out my deck (prioritizing fetches over Colonnades) and Scrying lands to the bottom whenever possible. He found an Abrupt Decay for my Cage and then went off as I continued to flood.
Game 3 I drew two unkeepable hands and mulled to a very sketchy five of Island, Cage, Celestial Purge, D-Sphere, and Settle the Wreckage, Scrying Gideon Jura to the bottom. Thankfully for me, I hit my land drops right away, and my opponent lacked an early answer for the Cage, so I was able to stabilize and recover from my card disadvantage. The game went on for ages as I hung on to my Settle, able to control the board well enough with Gideon OTT, a pair of Walls, and Paths/Spheres that I was never taking more than a Narcomeba hit on any given attack. The turning point of the game cane when he Decayed my Cage, and I knew I had two turns to find an answer. On the first turn of do or die I minused Jace and found a Search. Next turn I flipped the Search, activated it to find three lands and a Path, then cashed in Jace, at last finding my first Rest In Peace of the series. I immediately slammed it and then Verdicted his massive board. He shifted to a hardcast plan, but I was able to get in with Gideon OTT and a Colonnade while holding up seven mana for Settle, Path, and a counterspell, which got me the win. 4-0
Not bad for the deck’s paper debut, especially considering 61 cards + only two Cryptics + hurried inclusions of Clique main and Disenchant side ( I probably should have just left Clique in the side and played with 60). But I will say that I’ve never been so mentally exhausted after a local Modern event as I was last night. The cognitive load is real when piloting UW, even though some of that is probably due to me being new to the archetype.
Thrilled with the power of this deck, the challenge it presents as a pilot, and the types of matches it leads to. Before last night I was considering shaving a Jace, but he was arguably my MVP on the night, so I think in a couple weeks I’ll run it back exactly as is, 61 cards and all (though hopefully with a third Cryptic by then!).
Sorry for the huge wall of text, but thanks for all of the discussion that helped me nail down the decklist and playstyle before my first tourney, and thanks especially to bennyhillz and HolyShamgar for some great and informative streaming.
Any insight on the Merfolk matchup? Obviously it’s on the unfavorable side and typically hinges on whether or not you can find a Verdict or two. I’ve found Spreading Seas to be surprisingly valuable. Shutting down Mutavaults and Caverns makes our lives a whole lot easier.
Whether or not to bring in Stony Silence is an open question IMO. It’s live against Vial, but not quite worth it for just that (consider also that they may side out some number of Vials despite its usefulness against counterspells, due to the lengthy nature of the matchup). Smuggler’s Copter is a huge pain; its presence makes Stony Silence a lot more appealing. Then there’s the question of the Merfolk player bringing in Relics, which they may or may not do.
The matchup is surprisingly interesting (unless you’re Verdict-less and they just casually Islandwalk to the T4 kill, lol).
Mark me down as another person enjoying the chipper77 streams. Free time is at a premium right now so I’m having to go through the playbacks piecemeal, but they’re very informative. Nice work.
Thank you, I appreciate the feedback.
I’m going to take your advice and run with the more proven Serum package for a while. I’ll be playing 1 each of Search and Alliance, at least to start, partially to see how both cards really play and partially because Alliance is more budget-friendly. I’m a big believer in Alliance for this deck, especially in my local meta.
With that said, I’m having trouble whittling down the last few sideboard slots. Right now I’m at 18:
2 Rest In Peace
2 Celestial Purge
2 Dispel
1 Negate
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Flashfreeze
1 Shadow of Doubt
1 Grafdigger’s Cage
1 Settle the Wreckage
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Runed Halo
1 Secure the Wastes
No big Elspeth, either.
Secure feels a little more like a maindeck card than a sideboard one, but with no Elspeth (and a maindeck Alliance as an out to Thrun), it sort of replaces her role as another wincon. Still, maybe this is one to cut.
Shadow of Doubt, while strong, also feels like maindeck material, and I wonder if it’s enough of a hoser to claim a spot in the side.
Flashfreeze doesn’t see much play. Why is that? It seems just about as strong and widely applicable as cards like Disdainful Stroke.
A Purge could be trimmed too, I suppose, but otherwise I’m not sure what cuts to make!
I’ve tried my hand at various decks over the past few months in my quest to settle on a third Modern deck (alongside Living End and GB Elves), but ultimately a lot of the decks I was playing were too similar to what I already had. This experience led me to explore some U Control options, and upon watching some games with this deck I knew instantly that this is where I need to be!
I’ve only been able to play ~20 proxy games, but between those and reading a lot here, I think I have a solid grasp on how I’d like to proceed. I would greatly appreciate any feedback on the below choices before buying into the deck. First, the landbase:
4 Flooded Strand
4 Field of Ruin
3 Glacial Fortress
5 Island
2 Plains
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Irrigated Farmland
1 ???
25 lands seems perfect for a newer pilot—I won’t experiment with the established land count just yet. I’m very high on Field of Ruin, hence the playset, but I do own Tec Edge and GQ as well. My main question is what fits best in the final flex slot. Mystic Gate? Temple of Enlightenment? A second Fountain or Farmland? A fourth Fortress? I don’t really want to buy into all of those options, so I guess my question is: which would you start with?
Next, the core spells:
2 Wall of Omens
4 Spreading Seas
2 Detention Sphere
2 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Gideon Jura
3 Supreme Verdict
3 Cryptic Command
2 Mana Leak
1 Negate
1 Sphinx’s Revelation
I’m basically committed to running these cards in these numbers, unless someone has a compelling argument otherwise. You’ll have noticed the lack of one-mana cantrips and the fact that we’re only at 54 cards. That’s because, in my amateur estimation, I can go one of two ways with the remaining slots:
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Spell Snare
This setup doesn’t dig as well, but it plays a much stronger draw-go style and incentivizes inclusion of the third Snapcaster. Alternatively:
1 Search for Azcanta
1 Blessed Alliance
This setup taps out a lot more, but it digs for answers better and scales into a more dominant late game. The Alliance feels nice here, but it could be a lot of other cards, including a second Search for Azcanta. Jace Beleren is another thought. He might not be quite strong enough, but I do think he fits in nicely.
Am I on the right track with how I’m evaluating the cards in context? If not, where did I go astray? If so, any suggestions as to which setup I should run with to start?
I won’t post my prospective sideboard just yet, mainly because it depends heavily on what my maindeck ends up looking like.
Sorry for the lengthy post. Thanks for all the great discussion here! I’ve learned a lot, and look forward to contributing as I get more experienced with this fantastic deck.
It’s applications against Shadow are an obvious pro, as is the fact that it’s a painless, always-untapped dual land. But is that enough to make up for enemy lifegain? Before Amonkhet I’d have said yes, but now an end step Violent Outburst is often enough to finish our opponent cleanly with one swing after we untap, a possibility which Grove can put out of reach. R/G also seems to be the worst color pairing for the purposes of cycling, at least with the creature base I run.
Any consensus on Grove?
Affinity is definitely a matchup that gets worse on the GB Shaman build relative to GW Vizier. Plating is without a doubt the priority target for my one maindeck Rec Sage, which can help scrape out a win G1. I would say the matchup is slightly unfavorable for my build.
Kataki is a great hoser for sure. Philosophically, I'm opposed to including cards that can't be hardcast (unless I happen upon a Canopy), so I'd probably include a second Gust before Kataki. If only Chord could search your hand along with your library!
4 Gilt-Leaf Palace
4 Blooming Marsh
2 Cavern of Souls
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Pendelhaven
1 Westvale Abbey
4 Llanowar Elves
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Elvish Archdruid
4 Heritage Druid
4 Dwynen's Elite
4 Shaman of the Pack
2 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
2 Nettle Sentinel
2 Elvish Visionary
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Reclamation Sage
1 Elves of Deep Shadow
3 Lead the Stampede
2 Chord of Calling
2 Kitchen Finks
2 Reclamation Sage
2 Heroic Intervention
2 Duress
1 Elvish Champion
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Fracturing Gust
1 Chameleon Colossus
1 Tajuru Preserver
1 Prowess of the Fair (will be Shaper's Sancutary when it drops)
Took down Izzet Control, Boros Burn, and Jund Shadow last night. Only won once with Ezuri pumps (and even then it was just tapping five lands and swinging with two dudes after grinding out early damage). Going off with Ezuri is definitely a Plan B in this setup. Nettle Sentinel, Scooze, Shaman, and Lead the Stampede were the MVP cards.
I'm considering cutting a Visionary for a third Sentinel. Sentinel has overperformed lately, but Visionary is undeniably nice in the more attrition-based GB build. I could cut Elves of Deep Shadow, but playing a ninth noncreature spell makes me want a ninth mana dork. The one-of flex slots filled by Scooze and Rec Sage have paid dividends, so I don't want to trim those. Any thoughts?
I'm also curious as to any glaring omissions people see in my sideboard. This is pretty well tuned for my local meta, but in an unknown field, am I missing anything obvious? Thanks!
I agree that there are better sideboard options than Jund Charm. My question, which I should have specified, was what people thought of it as a maindeck option. Surely that's where such a flexible, generalist card belongs, if it's worth including in the 75 at all. Either way, I'll keep playing it for a while and report back.
Mark me down as another one who sacks Fulminator right away against E-Tron. The potential upside of kicking them for 2 is just never worth passing up the tempo advantage for.
Right now I'm playing a lone Faerie and a lone Jund Charm as maindeck flex slots with grave hate, but after last night I'm considering a second Charm. Its other modes are relevant: we have a Pyroclasm effect, which is useful by providing another wrath against weenies, especially when we don't have enough dudes in the yard to justify cascading; and an instant-speed combat trick with lasting upside, to make combat math even harder for our opponent than it already is with Horror and Archfiend.
Any thoughts on the card?
Of note are the following:
- only 22 lands
- 2x Mindcensor, Copter, and Finks in the main
- 1-of Big Thalia in the main
- 4x Kor Firewalker in the side
- Sword of Light and Shadow and Akroma, Angel of Fury (!) as one-ofs in the side
- no Mirran Crusader in the 75
I have to say that I'm a fan. Akroma is a little far out there, but she's surely a nod to UW Control.
Came here to post this.
Not sure whether it replaces Sin Collector or works in tandem with him (probably via a mix of main and sideboard slots), but either way this is looking like a pretty sweet addition!
Edit: After further thought, the choice between Freebooter and Collector isn't going to be an easy one. Freebooter is pretty bad against sweepers compared with Collector, for instance. Collector's CMC 3 isn't necessary slower with 6/8 mana dorks in most lists that run him, either--and his base power of 2 is relevant surprisingly often.