Living End plays Beast Within and Abrupt Decay in their 75, so CotV isn't an auto-loss for them. Also, if you're playing countermagic + Snapcaster, you should already be favored.
@rhinne, that's actually not true. there were/are phases where clique drops out of favor and is often run at a smaller amount than angel. like none of the "control" lists run clique in the mainboard, instead normally playing restoration angels and snapcasters, with clique in the side.
I think Rhinne meant playing blue within the context of UWR Midrange, not playing blue within the context of the entire Modern cardpool.
I think Ajani V. is a fine choice. As is Restoration Angel. As is Venser, Shaper Savant. There are a multitude of cards to play in your 2-4 flex slots, so whatever works for you, have at it.
If my opponent casts Lingering Souls via Flashback (pays his 1B, removes it from the game), and I bounce the spell back into it's opponent's hand with my Venser, Shaper Savant, what happens?
2x Thrun is in my sideboard as it is a clock that UWR cannot effectively answer and it is just more beef to side in versus other grindy, midrange decks if Goyf + KotR aren't getting it done.
RiP Miracles have a pretty hard time against BGx decks due to Abrupt Decay and discard. I run both Esperblade and RiP Miracles and it really boils down to if you enjoy playing with a pure control deck (RiP Miracles) or an aggro-control deck (Esperblade).
Personally, I like Esperblade as it can definitely get on the aggro plan in a hurry, or it can play the traditional draw-go control game just as efficiently and easily. RiP Miracles, you're stuck on traditional draw-go with little versatility to switch up your gameplan. Having run both decks, and having played against PFire Jund constantly (2 in my meta), I dislike how a well-timed Abrupt Decay can set RiP Miracles pretty far behind, whereas Esperblade doesn't care too much about Abrupt Decay.
Unbanning Jitte would be a mistake. Modern is a creature-based midrange, attrition war format right now; why on Earth would you want to see those decks running 2-4x Jitte among their 75? What does it add to the format?
Doesn't seem terrible. Boros Charm, even without thinking about how it interacts with Liliana of the Veil, isn't a terrible card. In my list, I run 4 Remand, 2 Mana Leak, 2 Izzet Charm, so I suppose Boros Charm would take the place of Izzet Charm. I'll try that out and see how it feels. Being able to Boros Charm for 4, then Snapcaster Boros Charm for another 4 damage could be a "win out of nowhere" play too.
Venser, Shaper Savant saw play as a 1-of in some Miracles lists for Legacy. Miracles took a massive beating with the printing of Return to Ravnica (Abrupt Decay says hi). I'm not quite sure what caused his price spike other than he's a a decent card, but easily gets outclassed by that other 4cc blue "bounce your dude" card in Legacy...
Interesting view on Stirring Wildwood vs. Treetop Village. Because you play Treetop Village, perhaps that's why you're finding access to WW on turn 2 difficult? A turn 1 Stirring Wildwood, turn 2 fetchland is a pretty common line of play for me if I'm facing Burn and holding Kor Firewalker. Assuming I lost game 1 (pretty good chance of that), A turn 2 Kor Firewalker on the play is pretty backbreaking versus Burn.
The main reason I don't like Treetop Village is that the two best decks in the format, UWR Midrange and Jund, both run Lightning Bolt (and UWR Midrange has Lightning Helix for good measure). Tapping three lands (1G + Treetop Village) just to have it get Bolted is a very devastating loss of tempo. With Wildwood, I tap four lands (1WG + Stirring Wildwood) and know that my 3/4 manland is going to actually do something relevant.
EDIT: Also, versus UWR Midrange, being able to block Clique and Restoration Angel is pretty big. 3/4 Reach seems more relevant than 3/3 Trample. I view Stirring Wildwood as more of a long game card over the aggro that Treetop Village can provide me (but during those early turns where the 1 mana difference between Village and Wildwood actually matter the most, I'm probably doing better things with my mana than bashing in with Village).
Ral Zarek is much more aggro than control, imo. His +1 ability is pretty much there to tap down a blocker, allowing you to swing in with... oh say, Geist of Saint Traft. His -2 ability leans more towards aggro as I'd imagine that you'll be either Bolting a potential blocker, clearing your path for Geist, or just Bolting your opponent directly to get the last few point of damage dealt. Ral's ultimate is whatever as it can be terrific or terrible depending on a number of factors.
So, if no Bloom is out and they cast Reshape, counter Reshape. If a Bloom is already out, do not waste a counter on Reshape.
Counter Second Sunrise and Faith's Reward whenever possible, regardless of the board state.
Is this close? Sorry if this seems dumb, but Eggs is a pretty tricky deck (for both players) and if I have a chance at disrupting is combo, I want to know exactly where in the combo stream I'm supposed to counter his key spell.
I think Rhinne meant playing blue within the context of UWR Midrange, not playing blue within the context of the entire Modern cardpool.
Please use card tags in future posts. The Forum Guidelines explain how to do that. ~ Hendrik
Personally, I like Esperblade as it can definitely get on the aggro plan in a hurry, or it can play the traditional draw-go control game just as efficiently and easily. RiP Miracles, you're stuck on traditional draw-go with little versatility to switch up your gameplan. Having run both decks, and having played against PFire Jund constantly (2 in my meta), I dislike how a well-timed Abrupt Decay can set RiP Miracles pretty far behind, whereas Esperblade doesn't care too much about Abrupt Decay.
As a Milwaukeean going to SCG Open, this is my assessment as well. As such, Esperblade it is!
The main reason I don't like Treetop Village is that the two best decks in the format, UWR Midrange and Jund, both run Lightning Bolt (and UWR Midrange has Lightning Helix for good measure). Tapping three lands (1G + Treetop Village) just to have it get Bolted is a very devastating loss of tempo. With Wildwood, I tap four lands (1WG + Stirring Wildwood) and know that my 3/4 manland is going to actually do something relevant.
EDIT: Also, versus UWR Midrange, being able to block Clique and Restoration Angel is pretty big. 3/4 Reach seems more relevant than 3/3 Trample. I view Stirring Wildwood as more of a long game card over the aggro that Treetop Village can provide me (but during those early turns where the 1 mana difference between Village and Wildwood actually matter the most, I'm probably doing better things with my mana than bashing in with Village).
Counter Second Sunrise and Faith's Reward whenever possible, regardless of the board state.
Is this close? Sorry if this seems dumb, but Eggs is a pretty tricky deck (for both players) and if I have a chance at disrupting is combo, I want to know exactly where in the combo stream I'm supposed to counter his key spell.