2019 Holiday Exchange!
 
A New and Exciting Beginning
 
The End of an Era
  • posted a message on Devoted Devastation (aka Turbo Druid/Druid Evolution)
    Quote from mirrislegend »
    Quote from Orzhova »
    What has the opinion been on Worship? Been having trouble with Burn, not sure if thats the solution or if Spellskite will be enough. Stuck in a league rn with an old list can't wait to finish it and try out stuff (like Incubation).
    Worship is a 4 mana spell that doesn't win the game. Given that our deck plays mostly flimsy creatures that are constantly killed by Burn, I personally think Worship is a no-go. However, there are lists that play it (http://tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=29425&iddeck=245573) and I don't know if we reject it outright should Phoenix continue to be a contender (though Thing in the Ice definitely crushes Worship).

    If you read through the thread so far, you'll see Burn discussed quite a bit. Success against Burn requires a strategy that is unusual for us. Normally we sideboard lightly and lean on the raw speed and consistency of the deck. Against Burn, we oversideboard. Instead of being a combo deck with some hate cards, we're a deck that tries to not lose to Burn with a combo in it. Sideboarding-out card choice priorities are shifted and the post-board games should be played in accordance.


    Yeah, my bad on the burn stuff, posted without fully reading the thread. All caught up now haha.

    Worship does seem like a reach, was def wondering about it since the other lists have been running it.
    Posted in: Deck Creation (Modern)
  • posted a message on Devoted Devastation (aka Turbo Druid/Druid Evolution)
    Just switched to this deck in preparation for GP Toronto. Loving how fast it is as people switch back to their Trons etc after the KCI ban. Incubation is really exciting. Definitely cutting the stonys from the board rn with the banning, as Hardened seems too slow to contest unless they are lucky and Tron is in the same boat. Looking at maybe running a list like this



    The singleton Sin Collector has been sticking out to me, doesn't seem worth it. What has the opinion been on Worship? Been having trouble with Burn, not sure if thats the solution or if Spellskite will be enough. Stuck in a league rn with an old list can't wait to finish it and try out stuff (like Incubation).
    Posted in: Deck Creation (Modern)
  • posted a message on Collected Company Elves

    Ok my mistake, but with damnation and wrath of god or pyroclasm will work. Let say you have 10 elfs, next turn you will have 10 2/2 bears ready to attack.


    Definitely not unreasonable considering Xathrid Necromancer is run in humans
    Posted in: Aggro & Tempo
  • posted a message on Collected Company Elves
    I am considering taking Elves to my local GP in a month, however I don't know if I am quite sold on taking this deck yet. How are you guys finding this deck in the meta currently? The deck seems blisteringly fast and too much for many decks to deal with, however at the same time Humans has become popular making Anger/KReturn/Pyroclasm ETC popular choices and the Storm matchup sounds poor.
    Posted in: Aggro & Tempo
  • posted a message on Grixis Death's Shadow
    Lots of people are running Dismember in addition to Terminates nowadays, but I saw Gerry T going full Dismembers. The card is great, variable life loss and kills most creatures in the format and doesnt require red. However, the card does NOT hit Primetime, Wurmcoil or huge Goyfs/DS. Dismember on the other hand does actually kill Gideon of the Trials from UW which is annoying, but definitely not a huge factor. Anyone else have any thoughts towards Dismember that I'm missing because even though the life loss and colour freedom is convenient I cant help but notice these glaring weaknesses
    Posted in: Midrange
  • posted a message on Grixis Death's Shadow
    Oh definitely. Our deck does lose despite many people beliefs. Eldrazi Tron is nowhere a good matchup, 5050 at most and this is considering the players sitting are very good players or pros.

    I'm of those persons who still believe DS is very good but not oppressively good.

    Chamaleon Colossus seems like a total beating. Valakut decks are proving powerful in this metagame. I think it had a few 7-1 in the MOCS.


    Yeah, it did have a few placements, I don't even really know what it loses to. Chameleon is so disgusting (I had a game the other day where I misclicked and didnt take it: THE WORST), just hoping others move to jund/4c death shadow since they arent as affected by problack which means people will pack it less.

    Quote from Spooly »

    Valakut is a tough matchup for the typical builds, but -2 IoK, +2 Leak and 2 Disdainful Stroke in the SB is enough to turn the matchup in my experience. But usually Stroke comes at the cost of Ceremonious Rejection, And both changes will hurt your Eldrazi Tron matchup. You need the IoKs for Hangerback Walkers, and they often blank leak with Cavern or just a pile of mana.


    That sounds like they would help, though it does come at a notable cost as you said. I do appreciate the advice tho. I might just rely on Valakut not being played that much over other decks, but if it goes up I'll for sure be packing those.
    Posted in: Midrange
  • posted a message on Grixis Death's Shadow
    What are you guys doing against Valakut decks? I've found the matchup pretty miserable. I thought it would be okay, since they are a combo deck, but they have a ton of inevitability. I swear half the games I play they have absolutely nothing besides land in their hand, but they still win since an eventual Titan is too much damage. I feel like I gotta put a ton of pressure, but its hard when its very possible to be dying from 9-12 life. God, they even run Chameleon Colossus too now which is super annoying. I'm considering adding a Disdainful Stroke over a Ceremonious in the side, but I really do love Ceremonious. Snapping Ceremonious feels much better than Disdainful against Tron.

    Anyone have any ideas? Am I just a scrub or is my mind making stupid connections since I've lost a lot to them recently.
    Posted in: Midrange
  • posted a message on Grixis Death's Shadow
    Ugh, the BW Eldrazi matchup is absolutely miserable. 4 Relics, Mirran Crusader, Rest in Peace...

    The amount of hate against us is pretty extreme right now. Every CoCo or even any deck that touches white is running crusaders (or light caster, which I think is a bad card). Luckily, most of the grave hate cards which are out in full against are hitting Dredge as well, so maybe we can lighten up on some Dredge hate (famous last words). I'm gonna be trying some Flaying Tendrils or Kozilek's in the board instead of Angers. I know some people have already been doing that, but I think it might be more correct now. Leaning towards tendrils, as Kozilek's hardly touches dredge. Not hitting amalgams sucks, but at least we are hitting Bloodghasts which makes it harder for Amalgams to recur. Both Tendrils and Kozilek's hit Etched Champ (which didn't get hit by anger) and Mirran Crusader (which did, but getting 2 red sources against some taxing decks which are in vogue since Vegas is hard).

    I'm not sure on the Ari Lax stuff, and IDK if I'm willing to spend money on Sleights to test it. I don't think it is that good, but I can certainly see myself being wrong. Many people expressed concerns of how it is likely that you are spending turns just digging through your deck, and while we are mana efficient I don't think we would be gaining a significant enough advantage by running sleights than we do without them to justify it. Again, I could easily see myself being wrong here.

    I'm hoping I can rely on Tron players to beat up people that beat us up (I don't imagine many of the more fair midrange decks with souls do well against Iron), as we likewise beat up people that beat up them (spell based combo). It makes me consider 3 Ceremonious, but I've been doing fine against Tron (not great, but fine) with only 2. Also considering LotV, as she seems really good in the mirror and against Eldrazi Tron, but less good against Souls and Coco. Too bad she's so expensive.

    Mainboard I'm currently on 2 Bolt since Vegas, but maybe dropping them. I know some people are running mainboard Mirran Crusaders because they are drinking serious haterade, but most is SB and bolt feels pretty garbage main. Prob dropping for 1 Fatal Push and 1 LtLH or TBR
    Posted in: Midrange
  • posted a message on Grixis Death's Shadow
    Seeing a lot of Mirran Crusader on camera, expecting more people to be packing it now. Most people are on 4 Push 3 Stubb now, maybe cut one of each to have LB back in the deck?
    Posted in: Midrange
  • posted a message on Grixis Death's Shadow
    Thanks for the insight. Makes sense, I should have drawn the parallel to old Grixis Control bringing in Dispel for Chord and stuff.
    Posted in: Midrange
  • posted a message on Grixis Death's Shadow
    Hey guys, I have a couple of issues that I debate myself on when it comes to SBing and I was wondering if anyone had some insight.

    Mostly, I'm concerned when it comes to Eldrazi Tron and Abzan Coco. The matchups are fine, but I'm wondering if I'm doing the right things.
    My list is the standard with 3 Push/2 LB/2 Terminate



    Eldrazi Tron:
    +3 Ceremonious
    +2 Stubborn Denial
    -3 Fatal Push
    -2 LB
    I bring in the Ceremonious for obvious reasons, but the Stubborn Denials I bring since I think stopping All is Dust or Chalice is better than removing their small guys with Push. I'm not sure if I should bring in another Kolaghan's, or what I would cut for that

    Coco:
    -4 Street Wraith
    -2 Stubborn Denial
    -1 TS
    -2 IOK
    +1 Anger
    +1 Liliana, the Last Hope
    +1 Izzet Staticaster
    +2 Nihil Spellbomb
    +2 Surgical Extraction
    +2 Collective Brutality

    I feel like since this match goes long and I don't really care to race, I take out Street Wraiths. Stubborn Denial is mostly what I'm concerned with, I am taking it out since I know they only run 8 non-creatures, but those non-creatures are very powerful. Plus they bring in removal, so maybe I should keep in Denials? I also cut some discard for removal since I figured why not, it pretty much equates to the same against their deck and Collective is basically removal or discard charm.

    Thanks, idk if I'm completely wrong
    Posted in: Midrange
  • posted a message on [Primer] Melira Pod / Angel Pod / Junk Pod / Abzan Pod (8/2011 - 1/2015)
    Quote from Barandis
    The other thing is that in my experience, we combo a lot more in game 1 than in games 2 and 3. Sideboarded games always show us more removal and general hate and are easier to win by attacking. I'd rather have this combo in game 1 and then board it out than do it the other way around.


    This. Archangel sided in later games compromises our g2/g3 strategy of heavy persist aggro with constant threat of combo. Adding archfeeder leans towards the deck focussing more on comboing out (archangel is slow for aggro and feeder is...feeder). Plus, a lot of hate I see is either grafdigger or stony silence, which can't be answered by tutoring for a non-grave based combo, you have to switch plans to aggro or try to break those permanents. Archfeeder main deck on the other hand just seems like "winmore" and an unnecessary answer to the problem of getting grave hated. Grave hate is annoying but I honestly don't think grave hate hits us as hard as other decks think it does, but don't tell them that :p
    Posted in: Modern Archives - Proven
  • posted a message on [Primer] Melira Pod / Angel Pod / Junk Pod / Abzan Pod (8/2011 - 1/2015)
    Hi guys, I top 8'ed an 87 players 1k tournament with the following list.



    round1: Splinter twin 2-0 win
    round2: Mono-U tron 1-1 draw
    round3: rg tron 2-1 win
    round4: infect 2-1 win
    round5: uwr geist 1-2 loss
    round6: gw boggle 2-1 win
    round7: melira pod 2-0 win

    Total: 5-1-1 (good for 7th place)

    I lost in top8 to rg scapeshift which seems to be a nightmare match-up.


    Good stuff man, grats. How have you found the Archangel/Spike Feeder combo? Do you think it warrants the slots and what matchups was it good in? I haven't tried it yet but I think its too cheeky to run, looking for some backup for it.

    RG Scapeshift seems rough. All these decks with Pyroclasms...so hard to deal with for us. Maybe Burrenton Forge-Tender sb? Then again, I dunno how you got past RG Tron they run a ton of that, good job bro.
    Posted in: Modern Archives - Proven
  • posted a message on [Primer] Melira Pod / Angel Pod / Junk Pod / Abzan Pod (8/2011 - 1/2015)
    Quote from Barandis
    Tron. I lost in top 8 of my last tournament against Mono-Blue Tron, and it wasn't a fun match.

    I do try to combo in game one since it negates the importance of their fatties, but I agree that it's very hard to do after they bring in Pithing Needle/Trickbind/Squelch from the board. Since they always hit your pod*, this is bad both for combo and for finding answers. It's a balancing act of playing around them while you try to find Aven Mindcensor or Fulminator Mage. I think your only real chance is to keep them off Tron, which will not kill them but will slow them down enough to allow your Gavony Townships to come online. But it's not easy.

    I agree with Lingering Souls. With hand disruption, consider the situation. If you have a Scavenging Ooze available, then by all means hit their Slaver, but otherwise they'll probably just be able to get it back with a tutoried-up Academy Ruins anyway. If you're turn 1 on the play, then definitely hit Expedition Map instead. I don't think you're missing a lot by playing Duress in this matchup, even if it might occasionally be nice to rip a fatty out of their hand and push to keep them from recurring it.

    I don't like Thalia, but you might want to consider Ethersworn Canonist. It seems kind of contradictory since they win with artifacts, but as an occasional mono-blue Tron player, I have fits with that card. Being unable to play a counter and a Repeal in the same turn, or two counters, or Thirst for Knowledge and anything else blue, really is a bit of a burden. Some of them do play Snapcaster Mage, and Canonist makes that card really bad. Again, it's not going to win the game, but it can make it a little easier for you to do other things.

    You definitely must have Harmonic Sliver or Qasali Pridemage as well, because you cannot possibly win with beat down while a Platinum Angel is in play. You could bring in Dismember for it, but what else are you going to hit? Probably not worth it.

    While I would cut some combo pieces, I'd be careful about cutting Viscera Seer and perhaps the card to find it (Ranger of Eos). If you have Spirit tokens and a sac outlet, you shut off the lifelink from Wurmcoil Engine for a while, and that's important because you can't fight through that either.

    Otherwise, you can run more Voice of Resurgence in your sideboard (also very good against the other deck you're having problems with), and perhaps Path to Exile. If you really have a lot of Tron in your meta, you should give some serious consideration to playing one Stomping Ground and bring Realm Razer out of the board. I wouldn't waste the space if Tron wasn't pretty significant in your area though.

    * In game two of the top 8 match, he got out a turn 4 Sundering Titan, looked at the Misty Rainforest in my graveyard, and played Pithing Needle naming Verdant Catacombs. It's not always best to hit Birthing Pod.


    Rough luck with that Sundering Titan. Last 2 games against Tron the minute I get non-lock Mindslavered, a Chord appears at the top of my deck letting them get Seer and wipe my board. Game before that, pod let them tutor Cartel Aristocrat instead (should sac'd all my 0's and 1's). Ugh

    Yeah Duress is really nice against them. I luckily don't think I have a lot of Tron in my meta, but there are some confirmed Tron decks that I don't want to scoop to. Thankfully it isn't a Realm Razer situation. I'll try out Fulminators again, seems good in goldfishing but I don't know. Currently I took out 2 Dismembers from SB, because I found I didn't side them in ever. A lot of other people also seem to be taking out dismember. What matchup was Dismember typically sided in for?

    If not Viscera Seer, then what would I take out? Maybe 1 Redcap (I love this card but turn 4 its not doing anything)? I'm just scared of a Mindslaver-> podding or chording for a seer. I think that if that happens though I was probably done anyway. There's so many cards I want for this matchup that sideboarding out cards is such a pain haha.

    Though another Voice and Fulminators is really breaking the bank I think it's pretty necessary. Voice is absolutely ridiculous.

    @Lectrys: Ethersworn could be a good swap out, but I'm running it for LE mostly, since I know there is a confirmed high tier LE player in my meta. I guess it is a bit narrow, I'll consider removing it since already my LE matchup is pretty solid (thank you based ooze).

    Souls to me seems good because they fly over every card they own as well as block for days, they have no exile to punish them and the card is stupid with township. They run very few board wipe cards (1-2 ostone? from what i've seen) which they can't even tutor properly for. 3 Chord could be good, but again I am just sorta running out of stuff to not add.

    I'll use that gameplan for UWR, I'm pretty even against them but recently have been losing, just making sure that I was doing the right thing. I think it'll get even easier with another Voice.

    Thanks guys Grin
    Posted in: Modern Archives - Proven
  • posted a message on [Primer] Melira Pod / Angel Pod / Junk Pod / Abzan Pod (8/2011 - 1/2015)
    Hey guys, I'm having problems with a few matchups, I've been wondering if I could get some advice. I've been practicing a bit and i've lost a fair bit of UTron and UWR control/tempo matchups (along with the obvious RGTron). I was wondering if anyone could give me some advice?

    Right now I'm even considering running Pithing Needle or Phyrexian Revoker for Tron. I just don't know what to do. I've tried Fulminators (maybe I should revisit them?), Realm Razer and Gaddock Teeg, none of which have dented them. Is the matchup normally bad for UTron? Or am I just playing poorly? A resolved Mindslaver is an instant gg, so does it just come down to luck? If there is SB or matchup advice, it would be helpful.
    My current gameplan has been:
    +3 Souls (race)
    +2 Duress (ostone/mindslaver)
    +1 Thalia (slow them down slightly)
    +1 Mindcensor (maps/treasure mage)
    -2 Abrupt decay (I could decay...treasure mages?)
    -1 Viscera Seer (g2+g3 is usually just going to come down to beats, not comboing)
    -1 Melira
    -1 Pontiff (doesn't really help, maybe I should keep for +1/+1 with souls?)
    -1 Ranger of Eos (slow)
    -1 Chord (slow)

    UWR control seems to be -just- out of reach. A lot of 1-life-into-sphinx's-into-more-sphinx's-into-gg. I've been siding out in a similar way to the previous matchup, but should I be aiming to not overextend and combo out? Or just aggro as hard as I can and rely on persist/voice to get me through verdicts?

    Current list is looking like this, 3 Souls in the pitiful attempt at trying to outrace Tron decks. No Thoughtseize because money.

    Posted in: Modern Archives - Proven
  • To post a comment, please or register a new account.