In the 190 person ptq yesterday I started 4-0 with RUG Twin beating mono-black obliterator, junk, BG obliterator rock, and merfolk, then I lost to burn and uwr geist, so I dropped. Pretty sad way to go out, given the rest of the top tables were really favorable matchups. It feels really awful to win against solid decks that are hard matchups and then play extremely fringe decks that are bad matchups and lose, but that's been the story so far this season. Oddly enough a UW Merfolk deck won the whole thing...
To me, the decision was essentially the upside of Blood Moon/Spreading Seas/Lavamancer/Clique over the downside of losing to Junk. I chose TarmoTwin based on this decision and so far it has proven potent against Junk and I don't miss anything other than Clique, which I still factor in as a possible sideboard card or to play rather than Charm.
Sadly I decided not to go to the second IQ today, but I'll let you guys know how next weekend's PTQ goes.
The IQ yesterday went quite well, I went undefeated until top 8, then lost to a UWR geist deck by mulling to oblivion. Dismember helped a fair amount in beating Junk, as well as the tarmotwin mirror. That's enough to qualify me for Seattle later in the year, but I might as well keep trying to get more invites for next year too. I'll be going to another modern IQ in a few hours.
I played a 150 player PTQ last weekend to a 5-2-1 finish.
R1 2-1 Junk on the back of Huntmaster
R2 2-1 UR Twin - got turn 4'd game one, but played some methodical post board games thanks to the sideboard plan.
R3 2-0 Affinity - it's always fun when Anger of the Gods does its thing with a Goyf out
R4 0-2 Junk - I didn't draw much and actually lost game 2 due to quad snapcaster against a turn 2 ooze that I didn't draw removal for.
R5 0-2 R/B Waste Not Infect - He had turn 1 Duress, t2 Waste Not, t3 Wrench Mind, t4 Wrench Mind and I was barely unable to combo him still. Game 2 he had heavy discard backed with the three drop and four drop infect creatures for another fast win.
R6 2-1 Scapeshift - In Game 1 he topdecked a scapeshift when I had lethal on board, but in the post board games I applied a lot of pressure yet again, just this time with counter support.
R7 1-1-1 UWR - In game 3 I had him dead on board as we drew... not very relevant as we were both out of contention (the highest 6-2 got 9th). Of note, this player (Eric Centauri) had made top 8 at GP Dallas.
R8 2-0 R/G Tron - I beat a turn 3 Karn game 1 thanks to bolting it and dropping a goyf, then going for the combo later on. Game 2 I got around another turn 3 tron by remanding several times and comboing off. Of note, this player (Barry Smith) recently won an SCG open and was the one tron player wrecking face on day 2 at GP Minneapolis. He was a gracious opponent who apparently hit Scapeshift and Twin players all day, yet still managed to pull off a reasonable record.
Oddly enough, the finals had a Taking Turns deck up against U/R Twin. The Twin player had a situation in game 2 where he didn't realize that Spellskite could redirect Gigadrowse copies, so he lost a game when he could have immediately jammed the combo to win. Twin did end up taking the match, however. The Turns player actually went undefeated until that point, although there were some shenanigans involving him not informing opponents to draw off Dictate of Kruphix in multiple matches. Seems like with the downturn in aggressive decks, something like that could be worthwhile - it even appeared to have an edge against Scapeshift.
After this tournament, I began testing out Izzet Charm instead of Gitaxian Probe and it has worked fairly well so far. I hesitate on it still due to the low land count and that cutting a sorcery weakens Tarmogoyf a bit, but the upsides of the card are great. I've also squeezed a Dismember in the sideboard in large part for Scavenging Ooze and Tarmogoyf, as they really just require more specialized answers. I'll be skipping out on a PTQ this weekend for two modern IQs, going with RUG again. These are mostly for testing as I'm already qualified. I have a PTQ the following weekend, so hopefully I can break my pattern and not only top 8, but win it.
Echoing Lejoon, I have 2 counterflux in the board. RUG can try to pressure with goyfs while jamming the combo (or holding flux up) and UR can play similarly - Cliques (and to an extent, Blood Moon) definitely help. Scapeshift really is just a hard matchup.
If you are stuck on U/R, I recommend trying Staticaster and possibly Sulfur Elemental for Lingering Souls.
Shackles is very slow, but a legitimate bomb in U/R twin. Kiki-Jiki is a lot worse for certain, but I like Electrolyze in many matchups and regretted the time I tried cutting it.
I'm looking into using Stoke the Flames over Flame Slash, as it will tend to cost 1RR in this deck, which is pretty reasonable for being an instant that you can also point at your opponent. It would certainly make Exarchs/Restos less scary.
I am feeling that Life from the Loam is too slow and situational, so I decided to try out a Deathmark in that slot for now. I qualified for the invitational in somerset and will be bringing this list along.
I 5-2'd the PTQ with huntmaster tarmotwin, which I decided on due to the rise in Junk. As great as Clique often was before, it matches up so horribly against lingering souls that I couldn't consider playing it anymore. I was thinking about Sulfur Elemental on the 16 hour car trip, but decided against it in part because Huntmaster was still very appealing.
I lost to tron after flooding in both postboard games, then I lost to affinity playing for top 8 because he got turn 2 master of etherium in games 1 and 3. I nearly won game 1 anyway with a splinter twin on huntmaster, but randomly didn't have a second red source for the twin. Game 3 I also nearly won, but he followed up with turn 3 plating and turn 4 spellskite and I didn't draw artifact removal. I demolished jund, in no small part thanks to huntmaster, along with 2 mirrors, rug delver, and kiki-pod.
I'll be heading to the ptq in Tulsa, OK in a few weeks with the same 75. I still like gitaxian probe, but I'll give the izzet charms a try soon to see if it's worth it.
I'm going to give huntermaster tarmotwin a try tonight for a local modern event. It is certainly worse against Scapeshift, but I'm not expecting much of that for PTQs anyway. Will try to make up my mind in time for this weekend's PTQ.
Though I like UR against Jund and BG, TarmoTwin is better against Junk, because Anger and Tarmogoyf are pretty important at fighting back against Lingering Souls. I'll likely be sticking with UR anyway, but I'm hoping to dodge Junk.
Sadly I decided not to go to the second IQ today, but I'll let you guys know how next weekend's PTQ goes.
Really I've only made minor tweaks to the board, but I am always very happy with it in the vast majority of matchups.
R1 2-1 Junk on the back of Huntmaster
R2 2-1 UR Twin - got turn 4'd game one, but played some methodical post board games thanks to the sideboard plan.
R3 2-0 Affinity - it's always fun when Anger of the Gods does its thing with a Goyf out
R4 0-2 Junk - I didn't draw much and actually lost game 2 due to quad snapcaster against a turn 2 ooze that I didn't draw removal for.
R5 0-2 R/B Waste Not Infect - He had turn 1 Duress, t2 Waste Not, t3 Wrench Mind, t4 Wrench Mind and I was barely unable to combo him still. Game 2 he had heavy discard backed with the three drop and four drop infect creatures for another fast win.
R6 2-1 Scapeshift - In Game 1 he topdecked a scapeshift when I had lethal on board, but in the post board games I applied a lot of pressure yet again, just this time with counter support.
R7 1-1-1 UWR - In game 3 I had him dead on board as we drew... not very relevant as we were both out of contention (the highest 6-2 got 9th). Of note, this player (Eric Centauri) had made top 8 at GP Dallas.
R8 2-0 R/G Tron - I beat a turn 3 Karn game 1 thanks to bolting it and dropping a goyf, then going for the combo later on. Game 2 I got around another turn 3 tron by remanding several times and comboing off. Of note, this player (Barry Smith) recently won an SCG open and was the one tron player wrecking face on day 2 at GP Minneapolis. He was a gracious opponent who apparently hit Scapeshift and Twin players all day, yet still managed to pull off a reasonable record.
Oddly enough, the finals had a Taking Turns deck up against U/R Twin. The Twin player had a situation in game 2 where he didn't realize that Spellskite could redirect Gigadrowse copies, so he lost a game when he could have immediately jammed the combo to win. Twin did end up taking the match, however. The Turns player actually went undefeated until that point, although there were some shenanigans involving him not informing opponents to draw off Dictate of Kruphix in multiple matches. Seems like with the downturn in aggressive decks, something like that could be worthwhile - it even appeared to have an edge against Scapeshift.
After this tournament, I began testing out Izzet Charm instead of Gitaxian Probe and it has worked fairly well so far. I hesitate on it still due to the low land count and that cutting a sorcery weakens Tarmogoyf a bit, but the upsides of the card are great. I've also squeezed a Dismember in the sideboard in large part for Scavenging Ooze and Tarmogoyf, as they really just require more specialized answers. I'll be skipping out on a PTQ this weekend for two modern IQs, going with RUG again. These are mostly for testing as I'm already qualified. I have a PTQ the following weekend, so hopefully I can break my pattern and not only top 8, but win it.
If you are stuck on U/R, I recommend trying Staticaster and possibly Sulfur Elemental for Lingering Souls.
I lost to tron after flooding in both postboard games, then I lost to affinity playing for top 8 because he got turn 2 master of etherium in games 1 and 3. I nearly won game 1 anyway with a splinter twin on huntmaster, but randomly didn't have a second red source for the twin. Game 3 I also nearly won, but he followed up with turn 3 plating and turn 4 spellskite and I didn't draw artifact removal. I demolished jund, in no small part thanks to huntmaster, along with 2 mirrors, rug delver, and kiki-pod.
I'll be heading to the ptq in Tulsa, OK in a few weeks with the same 75. I still like gitaxian probe, but I'll give the izzet charms a try soon to see if it's worth it.
Sure, but not as much as 2 Vandalblast, 2 Ancient Grudge, 1 EE, 1 Dispel, and 2 Anger of the Gods. I have a special kind of hatred for that deck.