- 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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I've stopped playing Ancestral Vision in my build, Opt is pretty much what I want right now. It's better with Snapcaster Mage, helps Logic Knot or Murderous Cut better, and lets you hold mana up for counters/removal. I wish there was a better instant speed card advantage spell, but I don't want to load up on something like Glimmer of Genius.
I beat UG Ponza 2-1 (topdecked Go for the Throat to race Grave Titan), then lost 0-2 to Mono White Eldrazi (mulligan to 5 game one, mulligan to 6 game two and I can’t stop an Aether Vial on 4 and 3 Thoughtknot Seers), lost 1-2 vs UR Madcap Experiment/Blue Moon (he gets turn 3 Blood Moon on the play game 2, then resolves one around turn 6 of game 3 when I get stuck on 2 Darkslick Shores, Island, Mutavault), and lost 0-2 to Infect (I drew only two removal spells the entire match, Go for the Throat and Collective Brutality).
Sideboard plans;
UG Ponza: -3 Spell Snare, -2 Cryptic Command, +2 Thoughtseize, +2 Countersquall, +1 Flashfreeze
Mono White Eldrazi: -2 Shadow of Doubt, -1 Logic Knot, -1 Spell Snare, -1 Cryptic Command, +2 Collective Brutality, +1 Damnation, +1 The Scarab God, +1 Liliana, the Last Hope
UR Madcap: -4 Fatal Push, -2 Go for the Throat, +2 Countersquall, +1 Liliana, the Last Hope, +1 Dispel, +1 Flashfreeze, +1 Damnation
Infect: -2 Spell Snare, -2 Shadow of Doubt, -1 Cryptic Command, +2 Collective Brutality, +1 Liliana, the Last Hope, +1 Dispel, +1 The Scarab God
Before the tournament, I swapped a Thoughtseize in the sideboard for a Flashfreeze. I had hoped to switch out a Shadow of Doubt, but didn’t know what to put in its place.
Hey man, thanks for your thoughts.
The Mistbind Cliques have always been on the edge of adding another. I love them when they do their thing, but when I'm behind and can't champion something, they l bad. I've seen many people run three, and I see the logic behind it, but I've sacrificed raw power for a little better consistency. I've also cut the extra Vendilion Clique since I found it too slow at disrupting/not strong enough at disrupting, plus there's a fair bit of Walking Ballistas, Liliana, the Last Hopes or Lingering Souls going around, so Vendilion Clique has lost some stock with me. I'd like a little more from my 3 mana creature. Maybe I'll put it back in, but I've usually been able to close games out with tokens or Tar Pits.
Spell Snare doesn't always overlap with Spellstutter Sprite, they actually are very different. If you're on the draw, Sprite can't hit a two drop, since you don't have mana, nor can it get one on the play. Snare has the bonus of being 1 mana, so you can cast it and still hold up Sprite to counter their response or second spell. I've liked Spellstutter Sprite as a 'stay ahead' sort of play, where you use it to counter the spell that can get them back in the game, while putting more pressure on board.
I like the thought of Flashfreeze in the sideboard a little better than Disdainful Stroke, since Flashfreeze has a few more applications (I can fire it off at an early spell, or bring it in vs Ponza and get a Stone Rain or Blood Moon)
Maybe I'm building this deck to be too much like UB Control with a forced Faerie sub-theme, but there's logic behind my thought, no matter how convoluted they are. i'm willing to try changes, but I really only get to play modern vs a few local decks once or twice a week (I'm saving up for a computer and then MtGO), so usually things get tried once or twice before moving to the next one.
Thanks for the tips!
I don't know if it's just me, or something else, but I've struggled vs Scapeshift // TitanShift a fair bit. There's a player at my local store who plays the deck a lot, and my record against him is barely 50% (though I also seem to mulligan A LOT vs him, so there's many factors). I've always played the matchup with the idea that going long. Valkut will kill you. If you don't have the fast clock (turn two Bitterblossom being ideal), they can just make land drops and take over. It's rough sometimes, since you can't really tap low to swing with Tar Pit or Mutavaults. It's partially the reason why I wanted another Spell Snare, as snagging Farseek or Tribe-Elder on the draw is quite good, and can give you enough time to deploy a threat, plus it's a good target for Snapcaster Mage.
Like I said before, I'm not 100% sold on Shadow of Doubt, and it is basically there to just try and get people. In a sense, it does kind of act as a counterspell, and sometimes the tempo hit works out pretty good. It for sure goes down in value when the opponent knows about it. I wonder if I should swap the second copy for the 4th Spell Snare (lets channel the Ryan Overtuf spirit) or a second Logic Knot, or is there something else better?
The Secluded Glens are pretty much just for playing a pain free turn 2 Bitterblossom. I avoid playing them turn one if I need them untapped, and late game, they act like Darkslick Shores. I've not been a fan of the third Tar Pit, as always ETB tapped lands are something I don't want too many of. The Drowned Catacombs suggestion is good, though there's enough times when I don't have an Island or Swamp out because my hand had Darkslick Shores plus Mutavault or something. Maybe if I run another Watery Grave it might be worth trying again.
I've got a small local modern event tomorrow, so I'll make some fine adjustments to the list and try it out.
4 Spellstutter Sprite
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Mistbind Clique
1 Vendilion Clique
4 Opt
4 Fatal Push
4 Cryptic Command
3 Spell Snare
2 Shadow of Doubt
2 Go for the Throat
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Logic Knot
4 Mutavault
4 Polluted Delta
4 Darkslick Shores
3 Island
2 Watery Grave
2 Flooded Strand
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Secluded Glen
1 Swamp
2 Collective Brutality
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Countersquall
2 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Dispel
1 Damnation
1 The Scarab God
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
I decided to ditch the Mana Leaks in favor of Spell Snare #3 and a Logic Knot, with my thinking being 'I'd rather cheaper interaction, and a counterspell that scales with the late game'. Spell Snare has game vs almost every matchup and is easier to leave up than the 2 mana for Mana Leak. Logic Knot can be my hard counter of choice, though I will admit, I'm a little unsure of how well it will be, hence only one copy. Shadow of Doubt, while maybe incorrect to play two, will probably be alright, plus it has the chance to just blow people right out. Everything else in the maindeck is pretty normal.
The sideboard is where I'm quite unsure. I have no idea how many different archtypes might show up, and I'm wary of skewing too far towards something (like Burn or Dredge for example). I've decided to play the Ceremonious Rejections, as it's a nice cheap way to interact with Eldrazi or Tron, as countering an early Chalice of the Void or Expedition Map can give enough time for me to pull out a win. i've come to the realization that the deck can't win vs Tron/Eldrazi by playing the control deck, so I have to get them on a tempo advantage. The Scarab God is probably the loosest part of the sideboard, but its done a fair share when I've drawn it (its quite good in creature match ups, to no surprise).
Does anyone have any suggestions? This will be the first major tournament I've taken the deck to since last February (GP Vancouver) and I'm a little unsure of the meta as a whole.
You get to cast the card without paying the mana cost as long as it’s exiled by Release
Warkite Marauder might be pretty okay if you have lots of Peppersmoke or Darkblast in the deck. Moment of Craving might also be alright as a sideboard card (it's like a moderate Collective Brutality).
Hey man, Dire Fleet Poisoner only gives an attacking Pirate +1/+1, so Mutavault would be the only target for the buff, unless you have other poisoners, in which case, you may as well play UB Aggro/Tempo and not worry about Faeries. I don't think the extra damage argument is really that good, as Creeping Tar Pit is excellent for that, and many times Mistbind Clique or a swarm of tokens can smash in. I don't think the Poisoner adds enough to the deck to warrant what it would hinder, especially when it can be chumped by all sorts of the tokens that exist in common decks (Lingering Souls, Young Pyromancer, other Faerie tokens) and even lines up very poorly to Lightning Bolt, Kolaghan's Command (the can shoot it, or even get back a creature that traded with it earlier), and all the other burn in Grixis/Jeskai decks (as much as I hate the 'Dies to Removal' argument, all our other creatures have a strong ETB effect, so if we're getting them to spend a removal spell on Vendilion Clique or Snapcaster Mage, we've already gotten our value from them, whereas Poisoner doesn't have an ETB effect even close to on par with the other creatures).
I went 2-2 at the local 12 person modern event last night, with the following version of my list;
4 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
2 Mistbind Clique
4 Bitterblossom
4 Opt
2 Shadow of Doubt
2 Go for the Throat
2 Spell Snare
1 Hero's Downfall
4 Cryptic Command
2 Mana Leak
4 Fatal Push
2 Secluded Glen
4 Mutavault
2 Creeping Tar Pit
4 Darkslick Shores
2 Flooded Strand
4 Polluted Delta
3 Island
1 Swamp
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Countersquall
1 Dispel
1 Essence Extraction
3 Thoughtseize
2 Collective Brutality
1 Damnation
2 Liliana of the Veil
Round 1, I played against RW Burn.
Game 1, I was on the draw, and kept a hand of Polluted Delta, Creeping Tar Pit, Snapcaster Mage, Spell Snare, Mana Leak, Opt, Bitterblossom, since I suspected my opponent was playing his normal Death's Shadow deck. He then Lava Spiked me turn one and I felt like just going to game 2. I trade the Spell Snare for a Skullcrack, the Mana Leak for a Monastery Swiftspear in the mid game, and manage to stay alive at 2 with counter magic for topdecked burn spells. The opponent floods on land, I Vendilion Clique away the Bitterblossom, then end the game in a few short attacks. I got really lucky to take this game.
Game 2, the opponent muligans to 5, while I go to six cards myself (2 fetchlands, an Opt, a Spellstutter Sprite, a Mana Leak, and a Collective Brutality). He has no turn one play, so I play one of the fetches (having drawn Cryptic Command), and Opt in response to an Eidolon of the Great Revel, taking Fatal Push. An escalated Collective Brutality (discarding Cryptic Command and the Hero's Downfall drawn for this turn) kills Eidolon, drains him, and steals Boros's Charm. He play's a Goblin Guide (I get an Island), suspends Rift Bolt, the passes back. I draw Snapcaster Mage. His Rift Bolt hits me down to 11, He play's another Eidolon (I Fatal Push Goblin Guide in response), then it's back to me. I play a Polluted Delta, getting Swamp, then Snapcaster back the Collective Brutality, discarding my last 2 cards for all three modes, leaving him with just Sacred Foundry in hand and me at 9 life. An Essence Extraction on a Swiftspear a few turns later sealed things up for me.
Sideboard Plan: -4 Bitterblossom, -1 Cryptic Command, +2 Collective Brutality, +1 Dispel, +1 Essence Extraction, +1 The Scarab God
(I threw The Scarab God in, as even though you're almost always winning when you play a 5 drop in this match, it really speeds the clock up and ends the game before they can draw multiple burn spells. I probably wouldn't play it in a high stakes match, but it's worked for me pretty well)
Round 2, 4 Color Planeswalkers
Game 1, I'm on the play with Creeping Tar Pit. The opponent plays Noble Hierarch and passes back. My hand is a little slow, with Mistbind Clique, Hero's Downfall, Shadow of Doubt, Snapcaster Mage, Mutavault, Flooded Strand, but I draw Mana Leak and hold it up. The opponent plays another Noble Hierarch into Bird's of Paradise, then beats first Noble. Play another land, and pass back, Mana Leaking the Gideon, Ally of Zendikar the opponent tries to stick. I just play draw-go for a few turns, Hero's Downfalling Gideon Jura, and flashing in Vendilion Clique to kill Jace, Architect of Thought. I get to Shadow of Doubt a Nahiri, the Harbinger ultimate, then Snapcaster Mage the Shadow of Doubt back later to do it all again. Mistbind Clique and Creeping Tar Pit end up taking the game.
Game 2, He kinda gets wreaked by his mana base, and I Countersquall a few times, and smash in with Mistbind Clique from turn 5 on, taking the game quickly.
Sideboard Plan: -2 Spell Snare, -2 Mana Leak, - 1 Fatal Push, +2 Countersquall, +3 Thoughtseize
Round 3, Mono White Eldrazi
Game 1, I'm on the draw manage to keep my head above water, Fatal Pushing multiple Golem tokens, blocking the Blade Splicers with Faerie tokens from my turn 2 Bitterblossom. I grind through both versions of Thalia, and end up at 2 life after bouncing Bitterblossom with Cryptic Command, while the opponent has flooded out hard. I bash through two topdecked Thought-knot Seers and take the game.
Game 2, I mulligan to 4 after all my hands were utter trash (no lands, Mutavaults and double Cryptic Command, that sort of thing), and keep Darkslick Shores, Snapcaster Mage x2, Spellstutter Sprite, with a Mutavault on top. My plan is to just flash guys in and get damage to the face, which worked out fine, until he gets Aether Vial on three, at which point, Blade Splicer ruins my day. I hadn't drawn anything of use, and this game is over.
Game 3, I mulliganed and kept a hand of 3 lands, Snapcaster Mage, Fatal Push, Opt, scrying land #4 to the bottom. I play a Darkslick Shores, and Opt EOT after the opponent play's Aether Vial, bottoming another land, then drawing Creeping Tar Pit. I draw Flooded Strand for turn, play it, pass,and Fatal Push the Spellskite he casts turn 2. Another land off the top and I'm getting frustrated and pass back. He casts Eldrazi Displacer, then Aether Vial's in another Spellskite when I go to Snapcaster Mage the Fatal Push. My hand is now all an assortment of lands, and Thought-knot Seer paired with Eldrazi Displacer make me scoop it up. I know it's variance, but that extreme of mana flood makes me frustrated, and I kinda got tilted.
Sideboard Plan: -2 Mana Leak, -1 Vendilion Clique, -1 Spell Snare, -1 Cryptic Command, +1 Damnation, +1 Essence Extraction, +1 The Scarab God, +2 Liliana of the Veil
Round 4, Dredge.
This round isn't even worth mentioning. My opening hands both game are terrible, I was still tilting from last round, and Dredge is a terrible matchup from the start. I lose 0-2 rather quick.
All in all, I found this build to be pretty good, and there's not many tweaks I would make to the list. I like that almost every spell is instant speed, giving me lots of options and lines of play. I may take the second Shadow of Doubt out of the deck, as it is kind of a dead draw sometimes, but I don't know if I want more removal, card draw, another creature, or a counterspell to replace it.
The sideboard could be tuned a bit better, maybe throw in some more graveyard hate, but my local meta is so diverse, yet in bred at the same time, I think I'll just leave it for now. I do want to keep testing The Scarab God though, it's put in some work for me.
4 Cryptic Command
4 Fatal Push
4 Ancestral Vision
2 Go for the Throat
2 Mana Leak
2 Shadow of Doubt
2 Spell Snare
2 Liliana of the Veil
4 Spellstutter Sprite
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Mistbind Clique
2 Vendilion Clique
4 Polluted Delta
4 Darkslick Shores
3 Island
3 Mutavault
2 Flooded Strand
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Watery Grave
2 Secluded Glen
1 Swamp
1 Tectonic Edge
2 Countersquall
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Collective Brutality
1 Damnation
1 Dispel
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Engineered Explosives
1 The Scarab God
1 Disdainful Stroke
I think Ancestral Vision pairs better with the Liliana of the Veils than Opt or Chart a Course do, even if it doesn't work as well with Snapcaster Mage. I think main decking Liliana will help vs many of the popular decks right now, though it may be less potent with out other discard options. I think Shadow of Doubt is well positioned right now, as it stops/hinders Tron, TitanShift, Gifts Storm, and can annoy regular decks (or cycle away if need be). Two might be a little bit much, but it can cycle or be discarded to Liliana, so it may not matter. Spell Snare is another card that is good right now, really only being dead vs Tron (though it hits Sylvan Scying in the green versions).
The copy of The Scarab God in the sideboard is merely speculation, as I want to test this guy a bunch and see what match ups it'd be good in. It seems like a decent card in the attrition Jund or Abzan matches, and maybe even Eldrazi Tron if you can dodge Thought-Knot Seer.
I'm waffling back and forth on putting the 4th Mutavault back in over Tectonic Edge, as I don't think just one hate land would tip the scales in the bad match up enough to warrant not having Mutavault. i also do kind of want to put Jace, Cunning Castaway back in the deck, even as a one of, maybe cutting the second Shadow of Doubt? I was overall impressed with Jace, but he was really only good if you already had a board presence, as dropping him and making a token was not high impact enough. The other card I cut is Chart a Course, which was also very good, but I figured with Liliana of the Veil in the main deck, I would rather a more explosive card advantage engine. Chart a Course was impressive as well, and I can see it creeping it's way into more lists, but I found it to be mediocre a little more often than I would've liked, though that may be bias talking.
Does anyone have any opinions or thoughts on this iteration of the list? I'd love to hear some ideas or constructive critiques.
4 Cryptic Command
4 Fatal Push
4 Opt
2 Go for the Throat
2 Chart a Course
2 Mana Leak
2 Spell Snare
2 Jace, Cunning Castaway
4 Spellstutter Sprite
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Mistbind Clique
1 Vendilion Clique
4 Polluted Delta
4 Darkslick Shores
3 Mutavault
3 Island
2 Secluded Glen
2 Flooded Strand
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Watery Grave
1 Swamp
1 Pendelhaven
2 Liliana of the Veil
2 Countersquall
2 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Damnation
1 Dispel
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Disdainful Stroke
1 Collective Brutality
Note on the changes:
I took out one of the Vendilion Cliques since I felt it wasn't pulling it's full weight. I considered the interaction it provides wasn't fast enough, and it's been quite fragile, especially with a lot of Walking Ballistas in the local meta. I briefly thought about playing a misers Shadow of Doubt, but figured the second Spell Snare would be better all around. I also made some slight changes to the sideboard, to adapt to the local stuff (lots of Boggles, hence the Explosives).
Round 1, Eldrazi Tron.
This was a miserable round. He mulliganed to 5 game 1, and my opening hand wasn't the greatest myself (it had 2 Opt, Bitterblossom, Mana Leak, Creeping Tar Pit, Secluded Glen, Mutavault). I played the turn 2 Bitterblossom and hoped he had nothing too bad, even though he had 2/3rds of Tron out. Well it turns out Walking Ballista for 3 beats Faerie tokens. I don't think I really misplayed there, as leaving up Mana Leak just slows him down a turn, and my clock that game was not fast.
Game 2, it's my turn to mulligan, and I end up going to 4 (Fatal Push, Mutavault, Watery Grave, Liliana of the Veil). I scry a Cryptic Command to the bottom, play Mutavault, then pass. I end up getting down a turn 3 Liliana, but I haven't drawn anything other than lands over 2 draw steps, and she gets answered by Reality Smasher, and I quickly lose this game as well.
Sideboard Plan: -2 Spell Snare, -2 Mana Leak,-1 Fatal Push, -1 Vendilion Clique, +3 Thoughtseize, +2 Liliana of the Veil, +1 Disdainful Stroke
Round 2, Bant Humans
This was an easy match, as this isn't the typical Humans deck, it's a less optimized budget build.
Game 1, my opener has 2 Fatal Push and a Go for the Throat, so I slow him down enough to take over with Bitterblossom and beat down with Tar Pit and tokens.
Game 2, I kept a greedy one lander after a mulligan to 5, and nearly claw my way past multiple Champion of the Parish, but nearly isn't a win.
Game 3, Liliana, the last Hope took over. She killed more creatures this game than ever before, and then Mistbind Cliques on consecutive turns sealed it up.
Sideboard Plan: -2 Mana Leak, -1 Spell Snare, +1 Engineered Explosives, +1 Damnation, +1 Liliana, the Last Hope
(I left the one Spell Snare in to snag any of his 2 drops early, and he was prone to upping the counters on Aether Vial to 3, then casting 2 drops, so I figured it'd be live enough.)
Round 3, Sultai Death's Shadow
Game 1, I flood pretty hard, and after a good start, get beat by unanswerable Tarmagoyfs (turns out Bitterblossom makes them really big).
Game 2, I manage to land a Jace, Cunning Castaway and a Liliana, the Last Hope, but have no way to protect them. One eats an Abrupt Decay, the other gets hit by Death's Shadow and Gurmag Angler. Few short turns later, and I lose.
Sideboard Plan: -2 Mana Leak, -1 Cryptic Command, -1 Mistbind Clique, -1 Spell Snare, +2 Liliana of the Veil, +1 Liliana, the Last Hope, +1 Dispel
I was quite disappointed with how things went last night, but I don't think there was anything that could've gone better play wise. There are a few changes that I'm thinking of making, so I think next week's list will be something like this:
4 Cryptic Command
4 Fatal Push
4 Opt
2 Go for the Throat
2 Chart a Course
2 Mana Leak
1 Spell Snare
1 Shadow of Doubt
2 Jace, Cunning Castaway
4 Spellstutter Sprite
3 Snapcaster Mage
2 Mistbind Clique
1 Vendilion Clique
4 Polluted Delta
4 Darkslick Shores
4 Island
3 Mutavault
2 Flooded Strand
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Watery Grave
1 Swamp
1 Secluded Glen
1 Tectonic Edge
2 Countersquall
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Thoughtseize
2 Collective Brutality
1 Damnation
1 Dispel
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Engineered Explosives
I haven't been to impressed with Pendelhaven currently, and figured a hedge against the land centric decks would be fine. I dislike the idea of playing more than 4 colorless mana lands, as Faeries is such a mana intensive deck. I kind of want to cut the two Mana Leaks to be a little more proactive, maybe playing Spell Snare #2 and them going to 1 Jace, Cunning Castaway, 2 Liliana of the Veil, or maybe even a second Shadow of Doubt, cause getting people is fun.
I switched a Secluded Glen with another Island as well, so I have a little more play vs Blood Moon decks. There's also been the odd time where Secluded Glen coming in tapped was an issue, so this alleviates that a little bit. I also threw a third Liliana of the Veil in the sideboard, though if I add her to the main deck, the sideboard would change a fair bit.