- clockwork_revolutionary2213
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Jul 16, 2018clockwork_revolutionary2213 posted a message on MTGSalvation's Deckbuilder is Here!Figured I'd post in here, since I can't find a support thread for the deck builder, but Jace, the Mind Sculptor is not showing up as Modern Legal (Bloodbraid Elf shows up though)Posted in: Articles
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Dec 14, 2017clockwork_revolutionary2213 posted a message on MTGSalvation's Deckbuilder is Here!It seems like Khans of Tarkir is missing from the modern format, is that an issue for everyone, or just me?Posted in: Articles
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4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Blood Moon
1 Keranos, God of Storms
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Flooded Strand
1 Mountain
7 Island
1 Spirebluff Canal
2 Sulfur Falls
3 Steam Vents
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Logic Knot
1 Spell Snare
4 Cryptic Command
2 Electrolyze
1 Abrade
4 Opt
1 Roast
2 Serum Visions
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Blood Moon
3 Relic of Progenitus
2 Dispel
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Negate
1 Jace's Defeat
2 Ancestral Vision
2 Anger of the Gods
1 Roast
I have a third Blood Moon in the sideboard since I couldn't think of a 15th card off the top of my head, and I figured there's some matches where you'd like a third for consistency sake. I have Keranos over Vendilion Clique for no particular reason, mostly since i wanted to play a control based game. I've heard of people running Docent of Perfection, and as a huge, huge, huge fan of Delver of Secrets, I might try that. Has anyone seen a list with that guy?
Let me know what you think, or if something should be changed or tweaked.
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
Enchantment
1 Search for Azcanta
Land
2 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Blood Crypt
2 Steam Vents
2 Watery Grave
1 Bloodstained Mire
4 Polluted Delta
2 Swamp
1 Mountain
3 Island
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Field of Ruin
2 Sulfur Falls
2 Logic Knot
2 Spell Snare
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Kolaghan's Command
4 Cryptic Command
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Electrolyze
1 Mana Leak
3 Fatal Push
1 Abrade
2 Terminate
Sorcery
3 Ancestral Vision
2 Cruel Ultimatum
2 Collective Brutality
Planeswalker
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Countersquall
1 Dispel
2 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Infernal Reckoning
3 Thoughtseize
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Damnation
1 By Force
As you can see, it moves away from card draw like Opt and Think Twice, in favor of the raw card advantage of Ancestral Vision, relying on the removal spells and counters to lengthen the game to that point. Nicol Bolas is a nice card I want to play, and a great target to buy back with Kolaghan's Command or Ultimatum. It's also a good extra win con if Ultimatum won't get there, and a 4/4 can close games fast vs non interactive decks. I'll post updates as i play and make changes. Any thoughts?
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Nicol Bolas, the Ravager
Enchantment
2 Search for Azcanta
Land
2 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Blood Crypt
2 Steam Vents
2 Watery Grave
1 Bloodstained Mire
4 Polluted Delta
2 Swamp
3 Island
4 Scalding Tarn
1 Mountain
1 Field of Ruin
1 Sulfur Falls
1 Shadow of Doubt
2 Logic Knot
1 Mana Leak
2 Spell Snare
2 Kolaghan's Command
4 Cryptic Command
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Fatal Push
2 Terminate
1 Electrolyze
1 Hero's Downfall
3 Ancestral Vision
1 Collective Brutality
Planeswalker
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
It's a bit midrange, a bit control, and hopefully a lot of fun to play. The curve might be a little clunky, and I probably shouldn't play the full set of Cryptic Command, but I will admit that I never want to play a blue deck in modern with out the full 4. It's a personal failing, I know, but I'll live with it. I'm also not sure if I should be playing the Ancestral Visions, or if they should come out for Serum Visions instead. I like the play style of Ancestral turn one, then counter or kill whatever get played, then reload and drop Jace or Nicol Bolas. Everything else is somewhat obvious or self explanatory, with the typical counter spell suite, removal spells (I decided on the Hero's Downfall over Dreadbore so that i can kill a Teferi, Hero of Dominaria before they get to untap the lands or a Jace before they resolve the -0). Shadow of Doubt is another pet card, which gets people often enough in my local meta that it gets a slot in the maindeck of all my first drafts of modern decks.
Let me know what you think.
Full disclosure, I've been playing UB Faeries for 4 years now, and I'm looking for another sort of deck to play, so I came up with this. I'm not sure if this should go in this category, or the UB Tezzeret Thopter deck category, but I was thinking of building a control deck that uses the Thopter Foundry // Sword of the Meek engine as a late game win condition. I don't want to play the all in versions with Mox Opal and Tezzeret, but a normal, Draw Go style that gets an unstoppable engine in the late game.
Here's my quick list
2 Snapcaster Mage
1 Torrential Gearhulk
Enchantment
2 Search for Azcanta
Land
2 Creeping Tar Pit
3 Hallowed Fountain
3 Watery Grave
4 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
2 Field of Ruin
1 Plains
3 Island
1 Swamp
1 Marsh Flats
3 Sword of the Meek
4 Thopter Foundry
1 Time Sieve
Instant
2 Esper Charm
3 Logic Knot
2 Spell Snare
4 Cryptic Command
4 Fatal Push
1 Cast Down
4 Serum Visions
Planeswalker
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria
I'm not sure if I should be running a board wipe or two in the list, but otherwise I think it looks alright. The ThopterSword combo, coupled with Time Sieve can do a nice Time Vault // Voltaic Key impression, and alongside the planeswalkers can end a game super quick. My original thought was to play straight UB, but I wanted Teferi, Esper Charm, and the option to side board in Monastery Mentor, along with White's other hay-maker sideboard cards if I wanted. I still need to figure out a full sideboard, but I want some opinions on the main deck first. Can you guys give me your thoughts (or point me in the direction of the correct thread if it exists)?
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Mistbind Clique
4 Bitterblossom
2 Watery Grave
1 Secluded Glen
4 Mutavault
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Darkslick Shores
4 Island
2 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Field of Ruin
2 Swamp
1 Hero's Downfall
4 Cryptic Command
4 Fatal Push
1 Cast Down
2 Thoughtseize
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Collective Brutality
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Countersquall
1 Dispel
3 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Deathmark
1 Collective Brutality
1 Damnation
2 Liliana of the Veil
I was playing a Wizard's Retort for a few weeks but found it too cute and not pulling it's weight. I replaced it with a 25th land, Field of Ruin, which I hope will help my land light draws as well as provide a small edge vs big mana decks.
I've been able to have a slightly narrow edge against Humans, though it is a very difficult match up if you fall even a little bit behind. Tron and the Eldrazi decks are a bit of a nightmare to play against, but if you aggressively mulligan to a hand that can pressure them and they get unlucky, you can pull out a win. I haven't played against much Mardu yet, but that might be a fairly even, or slightly favored match, since Bitterblossom trumps their one for one removal, and if you're aware, you can fetch around Blood Moon. Jeskai Control is another match that I haven't gotten to face, and I'm actually not sure whose favored. I used to feel Faeries was a slight favorite in the match, but no it really depends on builds, plus Jeskai got some nice stuff lately.
At the last Modern night I played, I went 2-2. I beat a Collected Company humans deck and a newer player with a deck built of draft chaff and assorted bulk rares. I lost to both Tron and GR Scapeshift/Through the Breach, never keeping an opening hand against either. I've noticed I've needed to mulligan a huge amount of one landers, which is why i moved toward playing the 25th land. I didn't want another land that could end up coming into play tapped. Playing another colorless land is a bit worrying, but at least this one can get me a basic in a pinch, and can take down some trouble some creature lands or a Tron land. I'll see how it plays and will evaluate things after.
I've never like Smuggler's Copter, as it relies on you having another threat on the battlefield along side it. Paulo Vitor explained it in his article on CFB (it's a little out of date now, what with he unbannings and all), which really resonated with me.
As for The Scarab God, I've found that it isn't that great when behind, as it's just too slow and not overly large/cheap for it's size. It does leverage a game into your favor when at parity, and just seals it up when you're ahead. I've tested it as both a single main deck copy and a single side board copy.
As for Naru Meha, I don't think she's good enough for modern. If you could copy any instant or sorcery, maybe. As is though, we aren't taking advantage of the +1/+1 pump, and there's no spells in the deck that I'd want to double at a 4 mana premium.
4 Spellstutter Sprite
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Mistbind Clique
Enchantment
4 Bitterblossom
Land
2 Watery Grave
1 Secluded Glen
4 Mutavault
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Darkslick Shores
4 Island
2 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
2 Swamp
3 Opt
1 Hero's Downfall
4 Cryptic Command
4 Fatal Push
Sorcery
2 Thoughtseize
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
Planeswalker
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Countersquall
1 Ravenous Trap
1 Dispel
1 Disdainful Stroke
2 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Jace's Defeat
2 Collective Brutality
1 Damnation
Round 1, I played against a Naya Dinosaur deck, piloted by the resident brewer at my store. I won game one off the back of removal and Jace, the Mind Sculptor fairly easily, so I underestimated the quality of the deck.
Game two, he came out to a fast start, though I managed to stabilize at around 7 life. He had a large amount of lands and a Kessig Wolf Run, so I had to answer every creature he played, with us both top decking. I hit a land when he got a Rampaging Ferocidon and it was over.
Game three, I kept Island, Darkslick Shores, Watery Grave, Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Inquisition of Kozilek, Opt, Snapcaster Mage while he mulliganed down to 6. I took Birds of Paradise with the Inquisition, leaving Collected Company, Deathgorge Scavenger, Kinjalli's Sunwing, and a pair of fetchlands. He plays his land and passes, I draw Fatal Push, play the island, and pass. He plays a Relentless Raptor, which get's Fatal Pushed, then I Opt, keeping Thoughtseize. I draw another Jace, play my third land (no more in hand), and Thoughtseize away the Deathgorge Scavenger (leaving the Collected Company, a Sunwing, and a Temple Garden, thinking I'm still in a good spot with the Snapcaster in my hand and a Fatal Push in the graveyard. I didn't want him to eat the Fatal Push, figuring that I still had a turn to worry about the CoCo. Unfortunately, the top of his deck favored him, and he found a second Deathgorge Scavenger. I found a second Jace, the Mind Sculptor on the top of mine, and fell behind, as even though I took the CoCo with a flashed back Thoughtseize, I ended up missing land #4 for a second turn in a row.
I'm fairly sure this would be a good matchup for me, but it was an interesting deck to play against. Rampaging Ferocidon would be killer vs Bitterblossom.
Sideboard Plan: -1 Liliana, the Last Hope, -1 Cryptic Command, +1 Deathmark, +1 Damnation
Round 2, I played against someone who never played modern before. They had a deck that could best be described as draft chaff from Ixalan and Kaledesh blocks, tossed in a blender and poured into some really bad quality sleeves, with a couple of Nix Fleece Rams and Ball Lightnings sprinkled to taste. It wasn't particularly close. I didn't even bother sideboarding, as he didn't have a sideboard for his deck (keeping it fair).
Round 3 was against BR Hollow One. I kept a hand that would be good against their slow draws, while he mulligans to 5 on the play. One Burning Inquiry later, I'm facing 2 Hollow Ones and a Flamewake Pheonix in the graveyard, while my hand improved, but wasn't fast enough. It's not often a deck can say it won a game turn one on a mull to 5 I guess.
Game two, he had a slower draw, but still had a pair of Hollow Ones and a Bloodghast off Burning Inquiry turn 4, but drew me into Cryptic Command with 4 lands open (I ended up discarding a Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Mistbind Clique along with land #5), so I bounced a Hollow One and drew Ravenous Trap. I then draw for turn and hit Damnation, so I wipe his board and Trap him, getting a fairly stocked graveyard. He doesn't get back from that, and I manage to crawl back with Jace into the game and win.
Game 3, was close to start with. I managed to exile his graveyard twice with Nihil Spellbombs and kept him off early creatures, but I hadn't been able to fetch basic lands, and he dropped a Blood Moon down mid game, and was able to walk it in after that. I did draw my second basic Island, but by then it was too late. What makes it even worse was the fact that I considered boarding in Engineered Explosives, but decided against it.
This is a matchup I hate playing, mostly due to the random 'Oops it's a non game' games, and I also think it's a tough matchup for such a synergy based deck to fight.
Sideboard Plan: -2 Cryptic Command, -1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor, -1 Liliana, the Last Hope, +2 Nihil Spellbomb, +1 Damnation, +1 Ravenous Trap
All in all, I've been liking this build of Faeries, though I don't love the maindeck Liliana of the Veils. They've done just enough work against combo style decks, but they've been problematic for me, as it's tough to hold instant speed stuff as you start to discard. I also want to run one more 'non-conditional' removal spell to complement the one's I have, as I feel Hero's Downfall is a little slow sometimes, but it's killed enough planeswalkers to earn it's spot. i'm thinking Cast Down as a one of. I'm also thinking of testing a singleton copy of Wizard's Retort, even though I'm trying for a less counterspell centric build.
I think this is the build I'm going with for the time being:
4 Spellstutter Sprite
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Mistbind Clique
Enchantment
4 Bitterblossom
Land
2 Watery Grave
1 Secluded Glen
4 Mutavault
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Darkslick Shores
4 Island
2 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
1 Scalding Tarn
2 Swamp
2 Opt
1 Hero's Downfall
4 Cryptic Command
4 Fatal Push
1 Wizard's Retort
1 Cast Down
Sorcery
2 Thoughtseize
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Collective Brutality
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Countersquall
1 Ravenous Trap
1 Dispel
2 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Jace's Defeat
1 Deathmark
1 Collective Brutality
1 Damnation
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Liliana of the Veil
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
Creature (10)
4 Spellstutter Sprite
2 Mistbind Clique
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Vendilion Clique
Sorcery (5)
3 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Cryptic Command
4 Fatal Push
3 Opt
1 Hero's Downfall
Enchantment (4)
4 Bitterblossom
Land (24)
4 Island
4 Mutavault
4 Polluted Delta
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Darkslick Shores
2 Flooded Strand
2 Swamp
2 Watery Grave
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Secluded Glen
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Collective Brutality
1 Ravenous Trap
1 The Scarab God
1 Damnation
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Dispel
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Liliana's Defeat
My only major worry with the deck is that I'm running 2 more Cryptic Command's than the standard now a days. That's probably a bad decision, but I'm not really into cutting them. I thought of cutting the Hero's Downfall to run another land, but I want to test this version to see if it will be a big issue. I do like the idea of playing a 'Jund-esque' style Faeries deck, so hopefully this works out pretty good today. I do suggest reading Paulo's article, as it's the sort of higher level visibility I think Faeries needed to get on the board in modern. I'm hoping that he may do a video on CFB soon with it or something.
4 Faerie Miscreant
2 Mistbind Clique
3 Scion of Oona
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Spellstutter Sprite
2 Vendilion Clique
2 Ancestral Vision
1 Burst Lightning
2 Cryptic Command
1 Electrolyze
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Remand
1 Spell Snare
3 Vapor Snag
2 Flooded Strand
6 Island
1 Mountain
4 Mutavault
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Spirebluff Canal
1 Steam Vents
1 Electrolyze
1 Spell Snare
3 Blood Moon
2 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Dispel
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
2 Magma Spray
1 Negate
2 Relic of Progenitus
I have no idea what to think of this, and kinda want to see it in action.
Round 1, Temur Scapeshift.
Game one, I kept a double Bitterblossom hand with 3 lands, Fatal Push, Cryptic Command, and played turn two Bitterblossom to battle a suspended Search for Tomorrow. I try to Spellstutter Sprite the Search, but he Remands the Sprite. A few turns go by, I counter a Cryptic Command tapping my creatures, and he untaps with Scapeshift and Remand backup. I never cast the second Bitterblossom, but I’m not sure if it would’ve made a difference.
Game 2, I mulligan to 6 (Jace, Dispel, 4 assorted land). He keeps a slow hand, accelerating his lands but having not pay off. I land Jace turn 4, asking if I’m just dead. He draws, plays a land and passes with nothing. I slowly take over and go on to win after many, many brainstorms.
Game 3, my hand is a bit slow, but it had a Thoughtseize and Collective Brutality. These unfortunately could not stop a top decked Scapeshift (copy 3), after I had used a Snapcaster Mage to flash back Thoughtseize and took the second copy one from his hand.
Sideboard plan: -4 Fatal Push, -1 Go for the Throat, -1 Dismember, +2 Countersquall, +1 Dispel, +2 Collective Brutality, +1 Surgical Extraction
Round 2, GR Shamans
Game 1, I mulligan to 5. Mono Islands can’t cast Fatal Push, and I lose to triple Burning Tree Emissary into Rage Forger turn 3
Game 2, I kept the board clean with a hand of double Fatal Push and a Snapcaster, then drop a Jace on turn 5 and draw more removal. Mistbind Clique flies in to win.
Game 3, another removal heavy game. The opponent gets stuck on 3 lands, and so my removal isn’t taxed by multiple creatures. He lands a Troll Ascetic, which gives me pause. We sit at a standstill for a few turns, and then he casts a Burning Tree Emissary without using Cavern of Souls. I pounce on this and Spellstutter Sprite the Emissary, and he tilts a bit. He then swings the Troll in, which winds up getting blocked by Snapcaster, and I take over from there. He concedes when I cast Jace.
Sideboard plan: -1 Logic Knot, -1 Mana Leak, -1 Cryptic Command, +1 Damnation, +1 Engineered Explosives, +1 Liliana, the Last Hope
Round 3, RG Scapeshift
This match was determined by mulligans on my part. It was quick, frustrating, and unexciting.
Sideboard plan: See round 1
Round 4, Homebrew Humans
Neither of us put any effort into these games, as we were both out of prizes. Game one, he kept a single Guost Quarter as his land and quickly lost. Game 2, I had Fatal Push plus Snapcaster Mage for his early guys and Vendilion Clique plus Mistbind to end it.
Sideboard plan: -1 Logic Knot, -1 Mana Leak, +1 Damnation, +1 Engineered Explosives.
All in all, I was impressed by Jace being able to win the game by itself round 1, but acutely felt the absence of more counterspells vs Scapeshift. I’ve usually had 1-3 Spell Snare in my decks, which would’ve been excellent at many points (would’ve helped resolve the Spellstutter Sprite R1G1, or stopped multiple Farseek R3). I wonder if the Dismember is really even needed, as the rest of the removal seemed like enough, especially with the Snapcaster Mages. I was hoping to squeeze in a pair of Spell Snare going forward, though maybe we only want one. The other thing I encountered, was having multiple dead cards on the library from Jace, but no way to get rid of them. There was many turns where I was Brainstorming and just putting back two Bitterblossoms, or Thoughtseize and extra land. I don’t think we need more fetch lands, but it’s something to be aware off. Brainstorm doesn’t feel as broken when you only see one new card each time.
I wish I had faced some more mainstream decks, but that’s the diversity of modern I guess.