Against Merfolk I was on the play. The games were somewhat easy. Maybe my opponent just kept weird hands. With the tons of removal our deck feels very strong, the only worrisome moment would be if they have a Spreading Seas and at least 2 Lords to make their creatures Bolt proof and unblockable. Other than that it is very straightforward.
The deck in general feels pretty strong against creature and tribal aggro. A card I particularly enjoy here is Ensnaring Bridge. They really cannot answer this card and it gives you so practically infinite turns against decks like humans and merfolk.
Against Bogles I won game 1 on the play because I had discard on turn 1, tons of Souls and Pyromancer token to chump and eventually win in the air with Spirits. Game 2 Blood Moon was a winner because it screwed my opponent super hard out of pumping 2-3 auras per turn. Also Explosives + Surgical is great against them as they only have 8 dangerous threats in their deck.
Bogles game 1 is one of those must start MU's similar to burn. Taking their creature before it does anything really cripples them, game 2 and 3 this is another MU where Ensnaring Bridge and Blood Moon really shines. As you said, basically locking them out of their game plan.
Not much to say about the UW Draw. Either you manage to rush it with Rabblemaster or you get Terminused out of the game. Pretty boring MU in my opinion.
Scapeshift and Dredge were horrible though I just did not see any Blood Moons against Scapeshift and no Gravehate against Dredge. I feel like those are "Draw or Bust" Matchups.
I agree with your assessment that Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle decks are very dependent on drawing Blood Moon's. Weirdly Ensnaring Bridge is also great against their alternative game plan, beating you with big, green, dumb things. Nothing is better than having Blood Moon, Ensnaring Bridge and 4 Spirit tokens beating your opponent to death.
About Liliana: She is great against Merfolk, Humans, Spirits, sometimes even Jund, the mirror... Either killing a creature every turn or buying back a Pyro/Reveler/Rabblemaster is a great deal for 3 mana. She is easy enough to cast to warrant a permanent SB slot, maybe even MD if you expect a creature based meta, in my opinion.
I really enjoy the role Liliana, the last Hope fulfill in the deck, and I really want to get my hands on one. I will be getting 1 more Goblin Rabblemaster as well. I also think I will be trying out 2x Ensnaring Bridge in SB. I don’t know why the prison aspect of the deck appeals to me, but I will report back when I get some testing done either way.
Wish you the best of luck next time and I will try to make some different changes and get us some data.
I was very happy with my maindeck, especially the MD Rabblemasters did a lot of work. Having a clock that goes from 1 to 6 is really nice.
In the sideboard i came to dislike the Experimental Frenzy a lot. It is just WAY too slow and does not synergize well with Reveler and Looting.
Hazoret felt a bit clunky and overkill with the MD Rabblemasters.
I have already exchanged these cards with a 2nd Wear//Tear and 3 Molten Rain. That feels more "at home".
If you have any specific questions, ask away!
I agree that having Experimental Frenzy in the same deck as Bedlam Reveler is not optimal, but I must say it is great to have someone test it. My short experience with Hazoret the Fervent is consistent with yours, in that having too many high cmc cards in this deck can be a pain at times. I believe rabblemaster is more suited for this role. Especially if you are also running Ensnaring Bridge.
Good stuff! Data is the spice of life for a magic player. I have considered spicing up the MD with some kind of threat to make it more aggressive, and I believe Goblin Rabblemaster is an excellent choice. How did the MU's go? Did you get to be on the play game 1? What part of the meta you reckon Liliana, the last Hope lines up well against? (I have yet to acquire this card.)
Heh, I think we will have to make more sacrifices to RNGesus so that a miracle mixup of cards will occur, and your text will be printed.
The problem I have is that whenever I play the deck it feels so close, like I just need 1 good draw to win. Then I proceed to find 2x Bedlam Reveler and a Hazoret the Fervent in my top 3. And then there is the fact that my local LGS has like 4x burn and 3x dregde decks in it. (out of 14-24 players).
I'd rather get a good BW 2-drop threat instead of more removal.
What kind of creature are you looking for? I have never considered the creature package of Mardu to be lacking in the current shell, I understand the deck is not the fastest, but existing cards can help with that. Or are you thinking a BW 2 drop in general? I really hope we get some cool new charm type effect, or a way to abuse Young Pyromancer/Lingering Souls tokens to power up spells. I have no idea what new mechanics are in store for us in the future sets, but boy am I excited!
For those interested in alternative lists. In the Team mixed event at GP Last Vegas someone got 8th place running this list: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/1475538#paper. I really think something like this would be an exciting alternative to the mainboard Blood Moon package. Trading disruption and grindability for speed and resilience against traditional removal. In the current meta this is an exciting alternative approach to the deck.
As an added bonus the KCI and Dregde matchups will possibly feel somewhat winnable game 1 with this deck. As opposed to the near perfect draw requirements of the current versions of the deck in game 1 of these matchups.
I really want to test the 1-off Hazoret the Fervent in the main. Played a skred pilot who just slapped my life total silly with that thing. And the discard ability on top gains relevancy as the game goes long. The best part being so many decks (except UW) cannot deal with him in the current meta. I have tried putting 1-off Lightning Helix in my deck instead of the 3rd Collective Brutality but the card seems clunky without the shift in manabase to incorperate 2xSacred Foundry. I might not be used to the idea of fetching for it, but with Blood Moon in the main it feels clunky at best.
Hello fellow masochists! I have been lurking here for some time, I have been playing the deck in paper for about 3 months. I have tried to get some real good results to report before actually getting on here, but after a long time X-2 out of 4 at my local fmn`s I decided I want to contribute before I die from old age. I have some thoughts on the whole blood moon thing, I come from a UWr/Esper/Uw control background (what I have played for the past 5 years) and I would like to give you my 2 cents.
My argument for keeping Blood Moon in the maindeck is this, while it does not do any good in 50% of the matches we play. But 50% of the time it will always get discarded, countered, fought over and generally causing increased stress for my opponents. Game 2 is even better, we get to side out Blood Moon, they get to keep fearing it. I have started switching out 2x Blood Moon for 2x Molten Rain against the fair decks and destroy the few duals they dare fetch up. Then in game 3, when you are on the play just to side them right back in and play prison guard for 20 minutes while beating them with goblins. As for the Tron matchup I have not played Tron yet, (only U-Tron) so I cannot do anything but shudder in horror as I read your retelling the tales of despair. But as a former control player I understand the need to actually kill them, not just disrupt the Ursa lands. Goblin Rabblemaster and Hazoret the Fervent are great for this ofc. And I think we just need some luck and the blessings from our lord and savior Rakdos, Lord of Grind, Defiler of hands to succeed against Tron.
While I agree I have looked at Alpine Moon and see benefits in having disruption lower on the curve, I cannot see how it will hold up quite the same in other matchups. If the goal is to beat Tron I read about this guys having 3 Pithing Needle 3 Molten Rain in the SB and he said G2 & G3 was slightly favoured. When it all comes down to it I think the fundamentals of modern is you cannot beat every deck consistently. And I believe Blood Moon still holds value on a psychological level if nothing else.
I look forward to hearing about others attempt to make Alpine Moon work in SB and having a more aggressive mainboard.
Happy Grinding folks.
The deck in general feels pretty strong against creature and tribal aggro. A card I particularly enjoy here is Ensnaring Bridge. They really cannot answer this card and it gives you so practically infinite turns against decks like humans and merfolk.
Bogles game 1 is one of those must start MU's similar to burn. Taking their creature before it does anything really cripples them, game 2 and 3 this is another MU where Ensnaring Bridge and Blood Moon really shines. As you said, basically locking them out of their game plan.
This is where I enjoy having 2x Dreadbore mainboard, I used to run 1 Liliana of the Veil in side and they have huge trouble fighting a resolved Lily, I believe this is also true for Liliana, the last Hope. Alternatively, just draw all your Lingering Souls.
I agree with your assessment that Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle decks are very dependent on drawing Blood Moon's. Weirdly Ensnaring Bridge is also great against their alternative game plan, beating you with big, green, dumb things. Nothing is better than having Blood Moon, Ensnaring Bridge and 4 Spirit tokens beating your opponent to death.
I really enjoy the role Liliana, the last Hope fulfill in the deck, and I really want to get my hands on one. I will be getting 1 more Goblin Rabblemaster as well. I also think I will be trying out 2x Ensnaring Bridge in SB. I don’t know why the prison aspect of the deck appeals to me, but I will report back when I get some testing done either way.
Wish you the best of luck next time and I will try to make some different changes and get us some data.
I agree that having Experimental Frenzy in the same deck as Bedlam Reveler is not optimal, but I must say it is great to have someone test it. My short experience with Hazoret the Fervent is consistent with yours, in that having too many high cmc cards in this deck can be a pain at times. I believe rabblemaster is more suited for this role. Especially if you are also running Ensnaring Bridge.
The problem I have is that whenever I play the deck it feels so close, like I just need 1 good draw to win. Then I proceed to find 2x Bedlam Reveler and a Hazoret the Fervent in my top 3. And then there is the fact that my local LGS has like 4x burn and 3x dregde decks in it. (out of 14-24 players).
What kind of creature are you looking for? I have never considered the creature package of Mardu to be lacking in the current shell, I understand the deck is not the fastest, but existing cards can help with that. Or are you thinking a BW 2 drop in general? I really hope we get some cool new charm type effect, or a way to abuse Young Pyromancer/Lingering Souls tokens to power up spells. I have no idea what new mechanics are in store for us in the future sets, but boy am I excited!
As an added bonus the KCI and Dregde matchups will possibly feel somewhat winnable game 1 with this deck. As opposed to the near perfect draw requirements of the current versions of the deck in game 1 of these matchups.
Have you incorperated Lightning Helix into your list since you are running 1-off Blood Moon main?
My argument for keeping Blood Moon in the maindeck is this, while it does not do any good in 50% of the matches we play. But 50% of the time it will always get discarded, countered, fought over and generally causing increased stress for my opponents. Game 2 is even better, we get to side out Blood Moon, they get to keep fearing it. I have started switching out 2x Blood Moon for 2x Molten Rain against the fair decks and destroy the few duals they dare fetch up. Then in game 3, when you are on the play just to side them right back in and play prison guard for 20 minutes while beating them with goblins. As for the Tron matchup I have not played Tron yet, (only U-Tron) so I cannot do anything but shudder in horror as I read your retelling the tales of despair. But as a former control player I understand the need to actually kill them, not just disrupt the Ursa lands. Goblin Rabblemaster and Hazoret the Fervent are great for this ofc. And I think we just need some luck and the blessings from our lord and savior Rakdos, Lord of Grind, Defiler of hands to succeed against Tron.
While I agree I have looked at Alpine Moon and see benefits in having disruption lower on the curve, I cannot see how it will hold up quite the same in other matchups. If the goal is to beat Tron I read about this guys having 3 Pithing Needle 3 Molten Rain in the SB and he said G2 & G3 was slightly favoured. When it all comes down to it I think the fundamentals of modern is you cannot beat every deck consistently. And I believe Blood Moon still holds value on a psychological level if nothing else.
I look forward to hearing about others attempt to make Alpine Moon work in SB and having a more aggressive mainboard.
Happy Grinding folks.