After a small hiatus from posting, I only ever posted once lol, I decided to come back strong with a tournament report and some insight...
First, the decklist
Second, the results...
Overall 3-1-2 (6-3-2) 2 I.D.
Let me say, I'm not going to go over every turn by turn, but I will make some key observations and mention key turning points or plays. Match 1 GW Lands (2-0)
My opponent played wooded foothills, grabbed a basic forest and played noble... I was fearful of Blood moon so I sniped the noble with push and fetched accordingly. I soon realized it was GW Lands/Value after I saw ghost quarters and Ramunap Excavator. The matchup feels favorable. So long as you don't let them stick a way to recur lands (i.e. Ghost Quarter) from the grave... essentially line up removal properly and let Liliana/flaying tendrils deal with birds and nobles in the midgame... win the game. Match 2 UW Teferai Gideon Control (2-1)
This match went to time but I won game 3 in turns... I had him on the backfoot game 1; however; he stuck a Teferi, Hero of Dominaria to tuck my six loyalty Liliana, The Last Hope... I couldn't find my pulse in time to stop the Teferi from ultimate to which he then just exiled all my stuff and beat me to death with Gideon of the Trials and Celestial Colonnade. Game 2 I landed 2 Pithing Needle early first one naming Celestial colonnade, as I Thoughtseized away a copy of Teferi. the second naming Teferi. I was at 14. Couldn't draw my threats to apply pressure though I was can-tripping through my whole deck... just lands. Eventually, he finds a detention sphere to steal my needles and get two hits in with his colonnade. I finally find a Liliana, the last hope though my opponent has Celestial Purge in hand and facing down a colonnade I blind -2 and find Kitchen Finks I cast the finks which gain me life back up to 8, he colonnade beats Lili. then I find another Liliana, the Last Hope for another blind -2 which finds me a Snapcaster to decay the sphere and get the needles down again. he verdicts the board. I go back to 10 and have a 2/1 finks and start beating down... I eventually find Tasigur and Goyf and he draws air as i start getting cards back with tasi. game 3 i mull to 6 with three goyf, 1 lili, 1 land, 1 decay, 1 forest on the draw i keep, risky.. i know... but i had to end the game fast or risk the draw. Eventually my third resolved goyf and a tasi get there on turn 3 of 5. Matchup feels.... kinda 45/55 their way game 1 due to Verdict, but post-board when you add needles, and disdainful stroke it feels pretty 60/40 my way. Match 3 Esper Thopter Sword (2-0)
Game 1 he fetched delta for an island and played Expedition Map, the fear of mono-blue Tron, even though they don't normally play fetches, forced me to stub his expedition map on turn 1, then he played swamp and I stubbed his collective brutality on two, he started picking apart my hand with thoughtseize... he plays a couple artifacts, a timely topdeck thoughtseize lets me take his Thopter foundry and he topdecks Sword of the Meek I find Goyf and start beating for 5 and he draws running lands.
Game 2 I keep a 7 with 4 lands, decay, snapcaster, pithing needle. He turn 1 thoughtseized and was forced to take needle due to not siding in the abrupt decays in his board... I am able to hold up decay for the rest of the game and find Scavenging Ooze and a Tarmogoyf and a second needle to lock him out of winning. He finds ensaring bridge which meets my decay and he floods on lands. This matchup feels 60/40 my way game one due to decay being a house against what his deck is trying to do. Only going further in my favor with a 70/30 split post board due to Needles and Night of Souls' Betrayal we can win past infinite life with Jace, the Mind Sculptor ultimate... is it ideal? no, but I've won more than my fair share of games with it. Match 4 Mardu Pyromancer (1-1-1)ID
Intentional Draw, I was happy as this matchup every time I play it feels pretty difficult to pilot Match 5 UR Wizards (1-1-1) ID
Intentional Draw, this matchup seems impossible to lose for me... decays are a house against any Delver strategy, it's more about managing my life total than anything else. as they have limited answers for Goyf and Tasigur, and post board with disfigure, brutality, 3 finks, and Thragtusk coming in... its neigh unlosable. Top 8
Match 1 Ad Nauseam (1-2)
G1, I stick an early Goyf and realize early on I am playing against Ad Nauseam and already have a stub in hand so I dig for the second one in case he has the Pact of Negation... he find Phyrexian Unlife as I find my second stub. he attempts to go off and I stub his Ad Naus, he pacts my stub, I stub his Ad Naus again. he scoops.
G2, I mull to 6 looking for either needle or disruption. I find a stub but no ferocious enabler. long story short, I find a brutality the turn before he is supposed to go off. I attempt to brutality he has the pact, un-taps angels grace, Ad Naus on turn 4. I was on 3 lands and couldn't interact.
G3, I mull to 6, find Snapcaster, chart a course, stub, 2 lands, serum... I dig for threats but don't find any. he serum visions once! the only cantrip he played all game. turn 4 comes up I find a thoughtseize. Attempt to thoughtseize... he pacts, I snap thoughtseize, he pacts again... un-tap angels grace, lotus bloom off suspend, 1 land untapped... sac bloom, tap the land, exile simian spirit guide Ad Naus... GG...
A matchup I feel like if my opponent doesn't have a nut draw. I can win. But does require some finagling. I would say 45/55 their way. due to lack of counterspells, plus lack of 2-drop pressure if Goyf isn't in the opening hand.
Third, Overall thoughts and changes...
Overall my history with this deck over the past month or so I've lost legit 6 games of magic... over the past month I'm riding high on 22-6-2 record that's a 73% win rate between FNM and 2 major 5+ round events with 1k payouts, I went (4-2) and missed top 8 on breakers, and then (3-0-2) losing in the first round of top 8... I've missed the cut for top 8 prizes at FNM ONCE. This deck feels like the real deal, the only matchups I would say are difficult or losing matchups would be Humans, only cause I haven't jammed against them enough to really truly know the best route of action to take to beating them; However, reflector mage game 1 is back-breaking if you have multiple Goyfs in hand or just resolved a Tasi and if they can land a Thalia's Luietenant before you can Flaying Tendrils away a good majority of their things.. the matchup obviously is bad...
I would also say Mardu Pyromancer is bad, because of how effectively they churn through their deck, as well as chump blocking Goyf for days game 1 anyway... post board with Night of Souls' Betrayal, tokens and YP no longer matter, but Hazoret the Fervent is a pain to deal with...
I would also say Tron is a pain, only cause inevitability obviously and also Titan-shift decks are a pain cause we don't interact with lands effectively and we have no counters for primetime mainboard and again chumps with Sakura-Tribe Elder are highly annoying... Other than those matchups every other matchup feels either 50/50 or better in my opinion. Of course, it could be that I am playing an unknown deck and surprising some with no real idea of how to attack this deck or it could be the deck is that good. I'm willing to bet on the latter.
The only changes I really want to make to this deck are fixing some sideboard numbers, I often overcompensate for the burn match, mainly cause I hate losing to it. So my immediate thoughts to change were trimming finks down to 2 and removing thragtusk and brutality from the board... for 3 other cards that i'm not sure of yet.
The few changes I want to make to the mainboard is maybe switching the number of Sleight of Hand and Serum Visions... So sleight will be 4 and visions will be 2-of, Taking scavenging ooze out and trimming Tasigur to 1-of for 2 Tireless Tracker. and maybe sending the third Thoughtseize to the sideboard for something else. I'm not 100% sure yet... I'll keep everyone posted.
I forgot to mention my testing after the Tron matchup, I was able to get ahold of the corect kiora... have yet to side her in, kinda wondering what she's really there for will probably be switching out with something else.
Updated list btw:
two simple changes to sideboard only...
-1 Liliana, death's Majesty
+1 Surgical Extraction
-1 Ceremonious Rejection
-1 Scavenging Ooze
+2 Gifted Aetherborn
Just an update... at the Thursday night Modern I finished 3-1...
R1: UR Moon
G1: I was lucky enough to draw the correct mix of basics plus fetches to make moon irrelevant.. eventually landed a JTMS and began to win the card advantage war... and game 1.. 2 Collective Brutalities gained me enough life to make his burn not so great.
G2: I boarded out 2 cast down, 1 fatal push, a cryptic, and a snap... brought in another Thoughtseize, both strokes, Scooze, and Vraska... Game 2 fetch, shock, thoughtseize on the draw seemed scary but i figured he possibly trimmed some number of bolts. turn 2 brutality, and turn 3 snap thoughtseize followed up by turn 4 goyf. seemed to set me up to walk away with the game... I forget what happened between then and getting bolt snap bolted out the game.
G3: I mull to 5 keep a hand that was fine against a control deck... however opponent played turn 2 young pyromancer, turn 3 clique, and turn 4 JTMS to set me far behind... I had an AV coming off, and a cryptic in hand to fight over it... he won the fight... i lost that game.
Rd2: BOROS stuffy doll (2-0) stuffy doll is bad against a deck that doesn't need creatures to win... and bolt is generally bad against me... he admits control is his worst matchup so i effectively had a bye. plus deck is so fringe the match is relatively unremarkable or worth remembering.
Rd3: BW Soul Sisters (2-0) G1 I suspend AV on turn 1. my opponent gained 15 life on turn 2... follows up with Ascendant which i have the push for... he spectrals on 3 which i can't counter. I play snap serum visions turn 3... take 6 after honor of the pure comes down... i forget exactly how it worked out... but i was able to land a nissa, followed up by a JTMS after pulsing his tokens away... he flooded... I helped him flood.
-I boarded out 4 Goyf, 1 Clique, brought in 2 damnation, 1 vraska, 1 Kiora, the crashing wave cause i wasnt able to get ahold of the other kiora, 1 thoughtseize.
Game 2 my opponent has pretty similar turn 1 and 2... we have similar play pattern to game 1 except he doesn't find a spectral and eventually i land a JTMS into Vraska, and my opponent has 2 paths and 2 lands rotting in his hand the rest of the game. As i Jace fateseal him out and vraska works her way up to an impending ult... he conceded
Rd4: Merfolk (2-0) G1 was very close collective brutality gained me 6+ life that game and i won on 1 life... basic gameplan was kill lords... keep goyf on board... I eventually landed a JTMS and walked away with the game.
-I boarded out 4 goyf, 2 thoughtseize, 2 cryptic command. i didnt see Cavern game 1 so i kept in leaks... brought in kiora, 2 damnation, 2 fulminator mage, vraska, scooze, and to the slaughter.
I think my opponent over boarded for g2... but he deployed his threats, each meeting removal, eventually i landed a Kiora on a board state with grafdigger's cage being the only non-land permanent my opponent had... walked her to ult and he conceded. my opponent's hand at the end of the game was 1 grafdigger's cage and something irrelevant.
Kinda bad "FNM report" my next one, if i do one will be better. I just haven't had the time to sit down and put the memory to paper and my memory is pretty bad lol...
PS:
TL:DR: the deck has yet to drop a match since UR moon.... Feels like a great all around deck and feels like it has game against anything haven't fought the Human or Hollow One menaces yet, but i welcome the challenge.
Full thing:
So i wasn't satisified with the kinds of decks i saw at the magic event, luckily my friend and i have created a gauntlent we can practice against. When i got home i asked my roommate if he could play me a game vs the dreaded tron menance (his native deck) he plays Mono-G tron... I won 2-0... albeit a huge chunk of game 1 wins vs tron as BUG comes down to turn 1 AV or TS into turn 2 goyf into field of ruin on 3 and hope they stumble until you can get Cryptic online.. however i wouldn't neccasarily call it a fluke... as i fought through Karn, 2 Worldbreakers, and 2 Ulamog. to get that game 1 win. Game 2 was much more lopsided as my sideboard is kinda skewed to beat them. He was pretty tilted so we didnt play anymore, he went to bed. Since then i have played JUND twice beating it both times (2-0) as managing life total and resolving AV against them seems to just win you the game. I've beaten GW company (2-0) Collective is a houe against them kill your bird take your company seemed good, Affinity (2-1) if they stumble at all i feel like the match swings heavily in our favor, burn (2-1) seems like the die roll kinda decides this one, collective being a house card seemed great but i did lose game 2 after resolving 2 of them, Storm (2-0) i mean we kinda just accidentally beat this deck without it really being a target game one 5 discard spells that hit gifts, 8 removal spells that hit their lords 11 if you count brutality vs electromancer and then post board having access to another thoughtseize, damping sphere and scooze make the matchup feel kinda unloseable, GW hexproof (2-1), and UW control (2-0).. i could just be riding the high of a good string of games, but this deck seems to have huge promise, again i havent tested against the two main menaces of the format... but i am confident in the hollow one match, and i kinda almost just give up trying to really figure out how to beat humans without warping my board and main to do so. but with all the removal main, plus AV to kinda catch back up after 1-for-1'ing early i think the matchup will probably be 40/60 them, at best 50/50... can't wait to test against them.
Omissions include:
6+ Discard spells main, I don't really like dedicated discard in the main deck that much and only really on turn 1 or if I have a threat to follow it up with the same turn.... so I conceded to the idea I probably want some non-zero number main just cause I do recognize it is a huge reason to be in black, so I decided on 2 thoughtseize... and thoughtseize over Inquisition mainly cause thoughtseize hits EVERYTHING so its not effectively dead vs anything except burn.....
NON-ZERO number of Liliana of the Veil... In my testing she's okay.... but considering most games she was just non-targeted removal and past that I didn't want to really use her. As I don't like discarding cards and she's awkward with countermagic.... yeah you could use mode 4 and not use her at all but then that kinda defeats the purpose of having a planeswalker on board that should be gaining you incremental advantages each turn.
a non-zero number of Dark Confidant... playing JTMS and Cryptic alongside him seemed.... painful. Decided my card advantage engines would be Ancestral Vision and JTMS...
Extra thoughts:
Decided to try out AV mainly cause I loved casting that card in Grixis Control which feels like forever ago... aka 2 years... decided I could potentially make it work here by simply overloading on early removal hence the 3 collective brutality in the main... I heard somewhere, earlier in this thread I believe, "Collective is good as a 1-of in the main, but you probably want 3 in your 75." Personally, I love the utility of Brutality... ditching dead cards in match-ups when a card is worse... like in the control matchup discarding Pushes and Cast Downs to get some lifegain off it. In some testing of it against a friend on USA control I won the game with 4 life... thanks to 2 Brutality that got some extra lifegain value... and coincidentally BECAUSE of AV I'll often ditch cards just cause I know I will be refilling soon... also obviously turning AV into a discard spell, removal spell, or lifegain attached to whatever other modes you decided on means when AV is dead it's not necessarily dead because it's essentially a free pitch to Collective or Jace brainstorms.... Also decided on 3 because originally my idea was 3 main 1 side.... but didnt like having it in the board and felt like i was drawing it too much in the mid-game with 4.
Nissa, Steward of Elements Is effectively a mana-sink in this deck... that could also be played on turn 3 and threaten to smooth draws and eventually end the game. I like her.
2 Field of Ruin I like more than 1 land destruction effect in my deck's manabase... I think earlier i was on either 1 or 0 and i can tell you right now, the risk of being mana-screwed is worth the ability to deal with Tron-lands, man-lands from Midrange and control, cavern from those decks, and also random good value lands like Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and Gavony Township I feel like a lot of people are on the train of being a 3-color deck we cant afford more than 1 land that cant be tapped for colored mana. I disagree... I've fooled with the idea of going up to 3 just to really sink my teeth in against tron game 1 to give me the highest chance to slow them down and also to really help against midrange and control... So far. I don't think i will fall that deep into it.
Man-land split.... sometimes hexproof is better than unblockable so I like 1 Lumbering Falls
Any specific questions about my sideboard I will be happy to answer... dont want to make this already really long post longer.
-The Manabase, feels somewhat suboptimal wouldn't necessarily say inconsistent just a bit rough. I'm sure its just a need for UUUCryptic and potential turn 3 V-Cliquebut also wanting to hit BB to be able to cast multiple removal spells and potential Turn 3 LTLH and also GG to try to get value out of Scooze should he hit the board. Most times it doesn't really affect anything as I just fetch extra green later, but still sketchy to me.
-2 Spell Snare is probably one too many, but I love it against pretty much everything that isn't RG Ponza or Eldrazi or Tron. Still probably wouldn't mind shaving down to 1, but if I did shave it down to 1-of I would want to replace it with another 1-drop. Possibly Disfigure as its great against aggro, kills BBE without having to turn on revolt and can shrink down bigger creatures on turn 3 if our Goyf isn't big enough yet.
-1-of Censor probably seems out of place, but I personally love it and its overperformed for me in my testing last night as it actually countered a turn 3 Reality Smasher game 1 and game 2 cycled to find me land 4 to cryptic tap/draw on my opponents next turn to follow up Damnation against them. Also the 1-of Opt probably also seems out of place, but I really want to add more 1-drops but DON'T want to play hand disruption main.
-I talked to a close friend and old testing buddy who plays JUND and he reaffirmed my fear that I may be running too little life-gain main to make Bitterblossom worth it. I agreed, but told him I wasn't sure what to play for life-gain main outside of Scooze and CB as I didn't want to get too Janky, but I didn't want to increase the mana curve too much. I considered Finks, but didn't really want to HAVE to commit to GG on turn 3 as well. I was going back and forth on a singelton Pulse of Murasa as it will guarantee we hit land drop four for crucial turn 4 Cryptics/JTMS if we have to or turn 4 Damnation or buying back Snap or other value while also gaining me six life, However I think it truly will come down to putting one or two Swaggy T into the Main deck
-Speaking of Bitterblossom I replaced Search For Azcanta with it after I decided to give it a try to help the humans matchup, mainly, while also having splash damage vs other Midrange/Control strategies and in testing it seems to perform well enough to warrant more testing. It's especially good against their slower more manageable hands. I look at it as trading 1-life for 3+ dmg and I added it up over a course of a game it effectively cost me 5 life to prevent 14 damage... (Two 4/4 Mantis Rider swings and three 2/3Freebooter swings) I ultimately lost that game, but the blossom definitely bought me time to find the relevant spells I needed... my opponents disruption was just a little consistent and frequent for me to overcome.
-Lastly, THE PERSONIFICATION OF LUKEWARM I WANT THIS CARD TO BE SO GOOD! I LOVE THIS CARD, there are games it has won me games there are also games where it hit nothing but land and my opponent drew all the gas... The high variance dependant on my opponent's deck makes this card feel less good, but the ability to take creatures makes it feel OP... I am always going back and forth on this card but alas I may finally be axing it probably for a copy of CB
In other words my fellow members of the Opulent Palace.... I would like help to improve this list and get some fresh eyes on it....
So far the one day I've had of testing this idea and this deck it pulled a 4-1 finish with the only loss being a PUNT that came from not playing against Ad Naus in probably 2 months and forgetting momentarily that the deck can win with Phyrexian Unlife plus Ad Nauseam as I tapped out on my turn 4 to kill my opponents Pentad Prism to keep him off of Ad Naus mana after he tapped down and only had a single B up after he cast Unlife and he Pact of Negationed my pulse... Spoils to Ad Naus going to -7 in the process and he kills me in his upkeep as I die with Abrupt Decay in hand. I won game 2, and he won game 3 on his turn 4, my turn 3. after double lotus bloom turn 1, double ad naus in hand... top deck Phyrexian Unlife
the 4 wins were against... Mardu Vampires (2-0), BR Demigod of Revenge Deck (2-1), Colorless Eldrazi (2-0) which was an absolute bonkers matchup as game one I stabilized at 1 life with JTMS facing down TKS and Reality Smasher game 1.. i also cast Cryptic 5 times that game... and game 2 i won on the back of double Goyf Thragtusk after blowing up the board with damnation.... and I beat Burn in the last round (2-1) game 1 a turn 3 Collective set me up nicely to win.. game 2 he turn 4'd me... and game 3 I raced with a 5/6 goyf.
First, the decklist
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Snapcaster Mage
2 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
1 Scavenging Ooze
Fifteen Sorceries
4 Serum Visions
3 Chart a Course
3 Thoughtseize
2 Sleight of Hand
2 Flaying Tendrils
1 Maelstrom Pulse
Eleven Instants
3 Fatal Push
3 Abrupt Decay
3 Stubborn Denial
1 Dismember
1 Cast Down
2 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Jace, The Mind Sculptor
Twenty-Two Lands
3 Misty Rainforest
3 Polluted Delta
3 Verdant Catacombs
2 Botanical Sanctum
2 Darkslick Shores
2 Blooming Marsh
2 Swamp
1 Breeding Pool
1 Watery Grave
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Island
1 Forest
1 Nihil Spellbomb
1 Disfigure
1 Collective brutality
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Night of Souls' Betrayal
1 Thragtusk
2 Pithing Needle
2 Damping Sphere
2 Disdainful Stroke
3 Kitchen Finks
Second, the results...
Overall 3-1-2 (6-3-2) 2 I.D.
Let me say, I'm not going to go over every turn by turn, but I will make some key observations and mention key turning points or plays.
Match 1 GW Lands (2-0)
My opponent played wooded foothills, grabbed a basic forest and played noble... I was fearful of Blood moon so I sniped the noble with push and fetched accordingly. I soon realized it was GW Lands/Value after I saw ghost quarters and Ramunap Excavator. The matchup feels favorable. So long as you don't let them stick a way to recur lands (i.e. Ghost Quarter) from the grave... essentially line up removal properly and let Liliana/flaying tendrils deal with birds and nobles in the midgame... win the game.
Match 2 UW Teferai Gideon Control (2-1)
This match went to time but I won game 3 in turns... I had him on the backfoot game 1; however; he stuck a Teferi, Hero of Dominaria to tuck my six loyalty Liliana, The Last Hope... I couldn't find my pulse in time to stop the Teferi from ultimate to which he then just exiled all my stuff and beat me to death with Gideon of the Trials and Celestial Colonnade. Game 2 I landed 2 Pithing Needle early first one naming Celestial colonnade, as I Thoughtseized away a copy of Teferi. the second naming Teferi. I was at 14. Couldn't draw my threats to apply pressure though I was can-tripping through my whole deck... just lands. Eventually, he finds a detention sphere to steal my needles and get two hits in with his colonnade. I finally find a Liliana, the last hope though my opponent has Celestial Purge in hand and facing down a colonnade I blind -2 and find Kitchen Finks I cast the finks which gain me life back up to 8, he colonnade beats Lili. then I find another Liliana, the Last Hope for another blind -2 which finds me a Snapcaster to decay the sphere and get the needles down again. he verdicts the board. I go back to 10 and have a 2/1 finks and start beating down... I eventually find Tasigur and Goyf and he draws air as i start getting cards back with tasi. game 3 i mull to 6 with three goyf, 1 lili, 1 land, 1 decay, 1 forest on the draw i keep, risky.. i know... but i had to end the game fast or risk the draw. Eventually my third resolved goyf and a tasi get there on turn 3 of 5. Matchup feels.... kinda 45/55 their way game 1 due to Verdict, but post-board when you add needles, and disdainful stroke it feels pretty 60/40 my way.
Match 3 Esper Thopter Sword (2-0)
Game 1 he fetched delta for an island and played Expedition Map, the fear of mono-blue Tron, even though they don't normally play fetches, forced me to stub his expedition map on turn 1, then he played swamp and I stubbed his collective brutality on two, he started picking apart my hand with thoughtseize... he plays a couple artifacts, a timely topdeck thoughtseize lets me take his Thopter foundry and he topdecks Sword of the Meek I find Goyf and start beating for 5 and he draws running lands.
Game 2 I keep a 7 with 4 lands, decay, snapcaster, pithing needle. He turn 1 thoughtseized and was forced to take needle due to not siding in the abrupt decays in his board... I am able to hold up decay for the rest of the game and find Scavenging Ooze and a Tarmogoyf and a second needle to lock him out of winning. He finds ensaring bridge which meets my decay and he floods on lands. This matchup feels 60/40 my way game one due to decay being a house against what his deck is trying to do. Only going further in my favor with a 70/30 split post board due to Needles and Night of Souls' Betrayal we can win past infinite life with Jace, the Mind Sculptor ultimate... is it ideal? no, but I've won more than my fair share of games with it.
Match 4 Mardu Pyromancer (1-1-1)ID
Intentional Draw, I was happy as this matchup every time I play it feels pretty difficult to pilot
Match 5 UR Wizards (1-1-1) ID
Intentional Draw, this matchup seems impossible to lose for me... decays are a house against any Delver strategy, it's more about managing my life total than anything else. as they have limited answers for Goyf and Tasigur, and post board with disfigure, brutality, 3 finks, and Thragtusk coming in... its neigh unlosable.
Top 8
Match 1 Ad Nauseam (1-2)
G1, I stick an early Goyf and realize early on I am playing against Ad Nauseam and already have a stub in hand so I dig for the second one in case he has the Pact of Negation... he find Phyrexian Unlife as I find my second stub. he attempts to go off and I stub his Ad Naus, he pacts my stub, I stub his Ad Naus again. he scoops.
G2, I mull to 6 looking for either needle or disruption. I find a stub but no ferocious enabler. long story short, I find a brutality the turn before he is supposed to go off. I attempt to brutality he has the pact, un-taps angels grace, Ad Naus on turn 4. I was on 3 lands and couldn't interact.
G3, I mull to 6, find Snapcaster, chart a course, stub, 2 lands, serum... I dig for threats but don't find any. he serum visions once! the only cantrip he played all game. turn 4 comes up I find a thoughtseize. Attempt to thoughtseize... he pacts, I snap thoughtseize, he pacts again... un-tap angels grace, lotus bloom off suspend, 1 land untapped... sac bloom, tap the land, exile simian spirit guide Ad Naus... GG...
A matchup I feel like if my opponent doesn't have a nut draw. I can win. But does require some finagling. I would say 45/55 their way. due to lack of counterspells, plus lack of 2-drop pressure if Goyf isn't in the opening hand.
Third, Overall thoughts and changes...
Overall my history with this deck over the past month or so I've lost legit 6 games of magic... over the past month I'm riding high on 22-6-2 record that's a 73% win rate between FNM and 2 major 5+ round events with 1k payouts, I went (4-2) and missed top 8 on breakers, and then (3-0-2) losing in the first round of top 8... I've missed the cut for top 8 prizes at FNM ONCE. This deck feels like the real deal, the only matchups I would say are difficult or losing matchups would be Humans, only cause I haven't jammed against them enough to really truly know the best route of action to take to beating them; However, reflector mage game 1 is back-breaking if you have multiple Goyfs in hand or just resolved a Tasi and if they can land a Thalia's Luietenant before you can Flaying Tendrils away a good majority of their things.. the matchup obviously is bad...
I would also say Mardu Pyromancer is bad, because of how effectively they churn through their deck, as well as chump blocking Goyf for days game 1 anyway... post board with Night of Souls' Betrayal, tokens and YP no longer matter, but Hazoret the Fervent is a pain to deal with...
I would also say Tron is a pain, only cause inevitability obviously and also Titan-shift decks are a pain cause we don't interact with lands effectively and we have no counters for primetime mainboard and again chumps with Sakura-Tribe Elder are highly annoying... Other than those matchups every other matchup feels either 50/50 or better in my opinion. Of course, it could be that I am playing an unknown deck and surprising some with no real idea of how to attack this deck or it could be the deck is that good. I'm willing to bet on the latter.
The only changes I really want to make to this deck are fixing some sideboard numbers, I often overcompensate for the burn match, mainly cause I hate losing to it. So my immediate thoughts to change were trimming finks down to 2 and removing thragtusk and brutality from the board... for 3 other cards that i'm not sure of yet.
The few changes I want to make to the mainboard is maybe switching the number of Sleight of Hand and Serum Visions... So sleight will be 4 and visions will be 2-of, Taking scavenging ooze out and trimming Tasigur to 1-of for 2 Tireless Tracker. and maybe sending the third Thoughtseize to the sideboard for something else. I'm not 100% sure yet... I'll keep everyone posted.
Updated list btw:
two simple changes to sideboard only...
-1 Liliana, death's Majesty
+1 Surgical Extraction
-1 Ceremonious Rejection
-1 Scavenging Ooze
+2 Gifted Aetherborn
3 Snapcaster Mage
4 Tarmogoyf
1 Vendilion Clique
Thirteen Instants
4 Fatal Push
3 Mana Leak
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Cast Down
2 Cryptic Command
Thirteen Sorceries
4 Serum Visions
3 Ancestral Vision
3 Collective Brutality
2 Thoughtseize
1 Maelstrom Pulse
Three Planeswalkers
2 Jace, The Mind Sculptor
1 Nissa, Steward of Elements
4 Polluted Delta
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Watery Grave
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Field of Ruin
2 Island
2 Swamp
1 Breeding Pool
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Lumbering Falls
1 Sunken Ruin
1 Forest
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Thoughtseize
1 Damping Sphere
2 Gifted Aetherborn
1 To The Slaughter
1 Kiora, Master of the Depths
1 Vraska, Relic Seeker
1 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Fulminator Mage
2 Damnation
R1: UR Moon
G1: I was lucky enough to draw the correct mix of basics plus fetches to make moon irrelevant.. eventually landed a JTMS and began to win the card advantage war... and game 1.. 2 Collective Brutalities gained me enough life to make his burn not so great.
G2: I boarded out 2 cast down, 1 fatal push, a cryptic, and a snap... brought in another Thoughtseize, both strokes, Scooze, and Vraska... Game 2 fetch, shock, thoughtseize on the draw seemed scary but i figured he possibly trimmed some number of bolts. turn 2 brutality, and turn 3 snap thoughtseize followed up by turn 4 goyf. seemed to set me up to walk away with the game... I forget what happened between then and getting bolt snap bolted out the game.
G3: I mull to 5 keep a hand that was fine against a control deck... however opponent played turn 2 young pyromancer, turn 3 clique, and turn 4 JTMS to set me far behind... I had an AV coming off, and a cryptic in hand to fight over it... he won the fight... i lost that game.
Rd2: BOROS stuffy doll (2-0) stuffy doll is bad against a deck that doesn't need creatures to win... and bolt is generally bad against me... he admits control is his worst matchup so i effectively had a bye. plus deck is so fringe the match is relatively unremarkable or worth remembering.
Rd3: BW Soul Sisters (2-0) G1 I suspend AV on turn 1. my opponent gained 15 life on turn 2... follows up with Ascendant which i have the push for... he spectrals on 3 which i can't counter. I play snap serum visions turn 3... take 6 after honor of the pure comes down... i forget exactly how it worked out... but i was able to land a nissa, followed up by a JTMS after pulsing his tokens away... he flooded... I helped him flood.
-I boarded out 4 Goyf, 1 Clique, brought in 2 damnation, 1 vraska, 1 Kiora, the crashing wave cause i wasnt able to get ahold of the other kiora, 1 thoughtseize.
Game 2 my opponent has pretty similar turn 1 and 2... we have similar play pattern to game 1 except he doesn't find a spectral and eventually i land a JTMS into Vraska, and my opponent has 2 paths and 2 lands rotting in his hand the rest of the game. As i Jace fateseal him out and vraska works her way up to an impending ult... he conceded
Rd4: Merfolk (2-0) G1 was very close collective brutality gained me 6+ life that game and i won on 1 life... basic gameplan was kill lords... keep goyf on board... I eventually landed a JTMS and walked away with the game.
-I boarded out 4 goyf, 2 thoughtseize, 2 cryptic command. i didnt see Cavern game 1 so i kept in leaks... brought in kiora, 2 damnation, 2 fulminator mage, vraska, scooze, and to the slaughter.
I think my opponent over boarded for g2... but he deployed his threats, each meeting removal, eventually i landed a Kiora on a board state with grafdigger's cage being the only non-land permanent my opponent had... walked her to ult and he conceded. my opponent's hand at the end of the game was 1 grafdigger's cage and something irrelevant.
Kinda bad "FNM report" my next one, if i do one will be better. I just haven't had the time to sit down and put the memory to paper and my memory is pretty bad lol...
PS:
TL:DR: the deck has yet to drop a match since UR moon.... Feels like a great all around deck and feels like it has game against anything haven't fought the Human or Hollow One menaces yet, but i welcome the challenge.
Full thing:
So i wasn't satisified with the kinds of decks i saw at the magic event, luckily my friend and i have created a gauntlent we can practice against. When i got home i asked my roommate if he could play me a game vs the dreaded tron menance (his native deck) he plays Mono-G tron... I won 2-0... albeit a huge chunk of game 1 wins vs tron as BUG comes down to turn 1 AV or TS into turn 2 goyf into field of ruin on 3 and hope they stumble until you can get Cryptic online.. however i wouldn't neccasarily call it a fluke... as i fought through Karn, 2 Worldbreakers, and 2 Ulamog. to get that game 1 win. Game 2 was much more lopsided as my sideboard is kinda skewed to beat them. He was pretty tilted so we didnt play anymore, he went to bed. Since then i have played JUND twice beating it both times (2-0) as managing life total and resolving AV against them seems to just win you the game. I've beaten GW company (2-0) Collective is a houe against them kill your bird take your company seemed good, Affinity (2-1) if they stumble at all i feel like the match swings heavily in our favor, burn (2-1) seems like the die roll kinda decides this one, collective being a house card seemed great but i did lose game 2 after resolving 2 of them, Storm (2-0) i mean we kinda just accidentally beat this deck without it really being a target game one 5 discard spells that hit gifts, 8 removal spells that hit their lords 11 if you count brutality vs electromancer and then post board having access to another thoughtseize, damping sphere and scooze make the matchup feel kinda unloseable, GW hexproof (2-1), and UW control (2-0).. i could just be riding the high of a good string of games, but this deck seems to have huge promise, again i havent tested against the two main menaces of the format... but i am confident in the hollow one match, and i kinda almost just give up trying to really figure out how to beat humans without warping my board and main to do so. but with all the removal main, plus AV to kinda catch back up after 1-for-1'ing early i think the matchup will probably be 40/60 them, at best 50/50... can't wait to test against them.
I have come to the following list and will be testing it tonight at a Thursday Night Modern event at my LGS....
3 Snapcaster Mage
4 Tarmogoyf
1 Vendilion Clique
Thirteen Instants
4 Fatal Push
3 Mana Leak
2 Abrupt Decay
2 Cast Down
2 Cryptic Command
Thirteen Sorceries
4 Serum Visions
3 Ancestral Vision
3 Collective Brutality
2 Thoughtseize
1 Maelstrom Pulse
Three Planeswalkers
2 Jace, The Mind Sculptor
1 Nissa, Steward of Elements
4 Polluted Delta
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Verdant Catacombs
2 Watery Grave
2 Creeping Tar Pit
2 Field of Ruin
2 Island
2 Swamp
1 Breeding Pool
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Lumbering Falls
1 Sunken Ruin
1 Forest
1 Thoughtseize
1 Damping Sphere
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 To The Slaughter
1 Kiora, Master of Depths
1 Liliana, Death's Majesty
1 Vraska, Relic Seeker
2 Ceremonious Rejection
2 Disdainful Stroke
2 Fulminator Mage
2 Damnation
Omissions include:
6+ Discard spells main, I don't really like dedicated discard in the main deck that much and only really on turn 1 or if I have a threat to follow it up with the same turn.... so I conceded to the idea I probably want some non-zero number main just cause I do recognize it is a huge reason to be in black, so I decided on 2 thoughtseize... and thoughtseize over Inquisition mainly cause thoughtseize hits EVERYTHING so its not effectively dead vs anything except burn.....
NON-ZERO number of Liliana of the Veil... In my testing she's okay.... but considering most games she was just non-targeted removal and past that I didn't want to really use her. As I don't like discarding cards and she's awkward with countermagic.... yeah you could use mode 4 and not use her at all but then that kinda defeats the purpose of having a planeswalker on board that should be gaining you incremental advantages each turn.
a non-zero number of Dark Confidant... playing JTMS and Cryptic alongside him seemed.... painful. Decided my card advantage engines would be Ancestral Vision and JTMS...
Extra thoughts:
Decided to try out AV mainly cause I loved casting that card in Grixis Control which feels like forever ago... aka 2 years... decided I could potentially make it work here by simply overloading on early removal hence the 3 collective brutality in the main... I heard somewhere, earlier in this thread I believe, "Collective is good as a 1-of in the main, but you probably want 3 in your 75." Personally, I love the utility of Brutality... ditching dead cards in match-ups when a card is worse... like in the control matchup discarding Pushes and Cast Downs to get some lifegain off it. In some testing of it against a friend on USA control I won the game with 4 life... thanks to 2 Brutality that got some extra lifegain value... and coincidentally BECAUSE of AV I'll often ditch cards just cause I know I will be refilling soon... also obviously turning AV into a discard spell, removal spell, or lifegain attached to whatever other modes you decided on means when AV is dead it's not necessarily dead because it's essentially a free pitch to Collective or Jace brainstorms.... Also decided on 3 because originally my idea was 3 main 1 side.... but didnt like having it in the board and felt like i was drawing it too much in the mid-game with 4.
Nissa, Steward of Elements Is effectively a mana-sink in this deck... that could also be played on turn 3 and threaten to smooth draws and eventually end the game. I like her.
2 Field of Ruin I like more than 1 land destruction effect in my deck's manabase... I think earlier i was on either 1 or 0 and i can tell you right now, the risk of being mana-screwed is worth the ability to deal with Tron-lands, man-lands from Midrange and control, cavern from those decks, and also random good value lands like Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx and Gavony Township I feel like a lot of people are on the train of being a 3-color deck we cant afford more than 1 land that cant be tapped for colored mana. I disagree... I've fooled with the idea of going up to 3 just to really sink my teeth in against tron game 1 to give me the highest chance to slow them down and also to really help against midrange and control... So far. I don't think i will fall that deep into it.
Man-land split.... sometimes hexproof is better than unblockable so I like 1 Lumbering Falls
Any specific questions about my sideboard I will be happy to answer... dont want to make this already really long post longer.
Decklist...
3x Bitterblossom
Planeswalkers
2x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1x Liliana, the Last Hope
Sorceries
4x Serum visions
1x Collective Brutality
1x Maelstrom Pulse
Creatures
4x Tarmogoyf
3x Snapcaster Mage
1x Vendilion Clique
1x Scavenging Ooze
Instants
3x Cryptic Command
3x Fatal Push
3x Remand
2x Abrupt Decay
2x Cast Down
2x Spell Snare
1x Opt
1x Censor
4x Polluted Delta
2x Misty Rainforest
2x Verdant Catacombs
2x Watery Grave
2x Breeding Pool
1x Overgrown tomb
2x Hinterland Harbor
1x Drowned Catacomb
1x Sunken Ruins
2x Island
2x Swamp
1x Forest
3x Damping Sphere
2x Thragtusk
2x Nihil spellbomb
2x Ceremonious Rejection
1x Damnation
1x Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver
1x Flaying Tendrils
1x Naturalize
1x Disdainful Stroke
1x Dispel
-The Manabase, feels somewhat suboptimal wouldn't necessarily say inconsistent just a bit rough. I'm sure its just a need for UUU Cryptic and potential turn 3 V-Cliquebut also wanting to hit BB to be able to cast multiple removal spells and potential Turn 3 LTLH and also GG to try to get value out of Scooze should he hit the board. Most times it doesn't really affect anything as I just fetch extra green later, but still sketchy to me.
-2 Spell Snare is probably one too many, but I love it against pretty much everything that isn't RG Ponza or Eldrazi or Tron. Still probably wouldn't mind shaving down to 1, but if I did shave it down to 1-of I would want to replace it with another 1-drop. Possibly Disfigure as its great against aggro, kills BBE without having to turn on revolt and can shrink down bigger creatures on turn 3 if our Goyf isn't big enough yet.
-1-of Censor probably seems out of place, but I personally love it and its overperformed for me in my testing last night as it actually countered a turn 3 Reality Smasher game 1 and game 2 cycled to find me land 4 to cryptic tap/draw on my opponents next turn to follow up Damnation against them. Also the 1-of Opt probably also seems out of place, but I really want to add more 1-drops but DON'T want to play hand disruption main.
-I talked to a close friend and old testing buddy who plays JUND and he reaffirmed my fear that I may be running too little life-gain main to make Bitterblossom worth it. I agreed, but told him I wasn't sure what to play for life-gain main outside of Scooze and CB as I didn't want to get too Janky, but I didn't want to increase the mana curve too much. I considered Finks, but didn't really want to HAVE to commit to GG on turn 3 as well. I was going back and forth on a singelton Pulse of Murasa as it will guarantee we hit land drop four for crucial turn 4 Cryptics/JTMS if we have to or turn 4 Damnation or buying back Snap or other value while also gaining me six life, However I think it truly will come down to putting one or two Swaggy T into the Main deck
-Speaking of Bitterblossom I replaced Search For Azcanta with it after I decided to give it a try to help the humans matchup, mainly, while also having splash damage vs other Midrange/Control strategies and in testing it seems to perform well enough to warrant more testing. It's especially good against their slower more manageable hands. I look at it as trading 1-life for 3+ dmg and I added it up over a course of a game it effectively cost me 5 life to prevent 14 damage... (Two 4/4 Mantis Rider swings and three 2/3Freebooter swings) I ultimately lost that game, but the blossom definitely bought me time to find the relevant spells I needed... my opponents disruption was just a little consistent and frequent for me to overcome.
-Lastly, THE PERSONIFICATION OF LUKEWARM I WANT THIS CARD TO BE SO GOOD! I LOVE THIS CARD, there are games it has won me games there are also games where it hit nothing but land and my opponent drew all the gas... The high variance dependant on my opponent's deck makes this card feel less good, but the ability to take creatures makes it feel OP... I am always going back and forth on this card but alas I may finally be axing it probably for a copy of CB
In other words my fellow members of the Opulent Palace.... I would like help to improve this list and get some fresh eyes on it....
So far the one day I've had of testing this idea and this deck it pulled a 4-1 finish with the only loss being a PUNT that came from not playing against Ad Naus in probably 2 months and forgetting momentarily that the deck can win with Phyrexian Unlife plus Ad Nauseam as I tapped out on my turn 4 to kill my opponents Pentad Prism to keep him off of Ad Naus mana after he tapped down and only had a single B up after he cast Unlife and he Pact of Negationed my pulse... Spoils to Ad Naus going to -7 in the process and he kills me in his upkeep as I die with Abrupt Decay in hand. I won game 2, and he won game 3 on his turn 4, my turn 3. after double lotus bloom turn 1, double ad naus in hand... top deck Phyrexian Unlife
the 4 wins were against... Mardu Vampires (2-0), BR Demigod of Revenge Deck (2-1), Colorless Eldrazi (2-0) which was an absolute bonkers matchup as game one I stabilized at 1 life with JTMS facing down TKS and Reality Smasher game 1.. i also cast Cryptic 5 times that game... and game 2 i won on the back of double Goyf Thragtusk after blowing up the board with damnation.... and I beat Burn in the last round (2-1) game 1 a turn 3 Collective set me up nicely to win.. game 2 he turn 4'd me... and game 3 I raced with a 5/6 goyf.