A lot of the sideboards rock Grafdigger's Cage for Pod, but it also hits us pretty hard with our Retrace cards, so I assume it's brought in for that as well.
Aw man, usually Bauble is an easy cut to make but I totally blanked when I wrote that! Haha. I'm pretty sure that's what I sided out at my PTQ because I faced Twin twice (first round and my win-and-in).
I'm still not a fan of Drown in Sorrow on the draw, but I see your logic in playing it with a SSG or Pentad Prism. Drawing it past turn 2-3 if they have a Steel Overseer is pretty awful, especially since it's not Instant-speed so we can't even use it to reduce damage. I usually keep in Supreme Verdict even on the draw incase I hit SSG or Prism, but I figured for most of the competitive community they wouldn't like it.
I would cut 1 Echoing Truth. I can't think of many circumstances where 2 is necessary. I side into Scorn a lot of matches but don't end up playing it a lot of time, so cutting it seems okay. I am going to keep playing it, but I could see myself cutting it in the future.
I've never been a fan of Thoughtseize in the board, as our main 60 is proactive that I want our S.B. dedicated fully to making sure we combo or stop other combos. What would you bring it in for, other combo decks? Getting a Liliana out of the way? Actually, that isn't a bad idea... Haha. I had to survive 2 Liliana ultimates in my Top 8 because outside of Echoing Truth it's pretty hard to stop (there's always Pithing Needle).
Matt Rose
Assuming we win game 1, they will be on the play. They have to choose first, and decide to mulligan. If that's our hand and they decide to mulligan, I would as well. If we were sitting on a cantrip, or a Peer, or anything over that SSG or the 3rd land I would probably keep it because it would at least let us refuel if they Thoughtseize turn 1 or 2. Against discard-heavy decks I almost tend to keep any 7 that has mana and is a hand full of "whatever" because I have to assume they always have Thoughtseize turns 1 or 2 and will curve into Liliana. In the Top 8 two out of three of my matches I kept opening hands where they was a lot of fodder for Thoughtseize/Liliana to eat, so I've been trying this strategy pretty often.
Of course, just hitting a Leyline in your first 6 or 7 is ideal, but if your first 6 or 7 don't have it, I would just stay at whatever your 6 gives you unless you can't play anything at all. I will admit, as much as I think this is the best combo deck to play right now, it mulligans poorly. So trying to dig for a Leyline may back fire, and you could end up keeping a 5 that just destroys itself.
Because BG decks are doing pretty well at PTQ's this season though, this is why I stress 4 Leyline's are necessary now if you are serious about tournament play. Besides those decks floating around, the field is pretty open and easy prey for Ad Nauseam to take down.
Just take your time playing, and review every line of play and scenario in your head. Twin is a favorable match-up (60/40) and you will be paired against it at PTQ's, but can be very unforgiving if you mess up. Just remember: they're scared of your deck more than you are scared of yours. Force them into tap-counter wars, and punish them every time they dare to tap mana.
Daliren:
You are allowed to read hand-written notes inbetween games during sideboarding, so I would recommend writing this down on a piece of paper. I always consulted my notes and double-checked in between every game 2 and 3. I put a few notes on some match-ups, because Affinity is pretty bad that I think some cards are wonderful if we hit them early on the play, whereas on the draw it might be too late if we're dead. Good luck buddy!
UWR : +1 Silence +1 Echoing Truth +1 Patrician's Scorn
-1 Pentad Prism -1 Sleight Of Hand -1 Slaughter Pact
Twin : +1 Silence +1 Echoing Truth +1 Patrician's Scorn +1 Slaughter Pact
-2 Sleight Of Hand -1 Peer Through Dephts -1 Pentad Prism
Here you want to side into Dismember as well, but for the life of me I can't decide what else to cut, I forget what my strategy was. On the draw I think I cut a Temple, but on the play that's your call. I think a cut a Lotus Bloom, Prism, or SSG, but that could be considered risky.
Scapeshift : +1 Silence
-1 Pentad Prism or -1 Sleight of Hand
Jund/BG/Junk : +4 Leyline Of Sanctity
-3 Pact Of Negation -1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
Affinity : On the Play: +3 Hurkyl's Recall +1 Drown In Sorrow +1 Slaughter Pact +1 Echoing Truth +1 Supreme Verdict
-3 Pact Of Negation -1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All -1 Sleight Of Hand -1 Pentad Prism -1 Conjurer's Bauble On the Draw: +3 Hurkyl's Recall, +1 Slaughter Pact, +2 Echoing Truth
-3 Pact of Neggation, -1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All, -1 Sleight of Hand, -1 Pentad Prism
Melira Pod : On the Play: +1 Drown In Sorrow +1 Slaughter Pact +1 Supreme Verdict +1 Dismember
-3 Pact Of Negation -1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All On the Draw: not too sure if Supreme Verdict is too slow here or not. It helps if you can fire it off turn 3 off the back of a SSG or Pentad Prism.
I've gone off-and-on about siding into Dismember to ensure they don't ramp too quickly. I've seen some people also side into more cards like Hurkyl's Recall and Echoing Truth because of cards like Birthing Pod and Spellskite. I'd say that's your call, but the original 4 I posted I think are pretty necessary.
Hate Bears : +1 Drown in Sorrow, +1 Supreme Verdict, +1 Dismember, +1 Slaughter Pact
-3 Pact of Negation, -1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
I'm not too sold on bringing in Echoing Truth here. I rather just try to go for the combo as fast as possible, and have some removal there just in case Thalia or something hits.
I recently moved an hour away from my hometown and my Team-mates, so I haven't gotten a lot of testing in yet. But there is a Modern scene where I am now, so I am going to attend starting next week. Until then, I've only tested a few games.
Sleeved this up against my friend, who was rocking 4C-Gifts. Seems like an awful match-up, but thankfully this deck isn't very common in general. I went 0-3 (no sideboard testing). Young Pyromancer was a pretty bad card against a deck full of cards like Abrupt Decay, Path to Exile, Damnation, etc. There was only one instance where I could fire off some value and gets 1/1 beats in before Elesh Norn hit. Pack Rat seems pretty good here, but only when you have 5 mana (always keep mana open in response to their kill spells). I was pretty happy with that, but Pack Rat is definitely a late-game card. You pretty much always want to play it when you've depleted most their resources it, whether it be their hand, creatures, or lands from Ghost Quarter-Life from the Loam. I still think Pack Rat is a good finisher though, as it in the late game it doesn't simply fold to a single Bolt, Abrupt Decay, and Path.
That match-up in general was pretty bad, but there's a handful of reasons why. Not too concerned about it. I'll have more results to post in the incoming week or two as I start attending Modern weeklies here.
I goldfished a bunch of hands for a few hours, and it seemed solid overall. I figured since Modern is a turn-4 format, I drew my openers and followed up on what my next 3-4 turns would usually consist of. Is it always correct to fetch for a Red-shock (Stomping Ground/Blood Crypt). I figured I always go for red mana early in the game if I can because of Seismic Assault's backbreaking cost.
I've played Teferi in:
7 Local Tournaments
1 Grand Prix 5 Round Grinder
1 Grand Prix
1 PTQ
And dozens, dozens, dozens of casual/practice matches.
Number of times I've cast him?
Zero.
I really want to cut him. I never seem to get paired against UWR Control in sanctioned matches, but I play against UR Delver, Twin, Merfolk, and others a lot. Against most those decks I just can never justify the room to side him in. I think the only match-ups I really want him auto-included is UR Delver or UWR. I either never draw him, or end up not needing him.
It makes me sad because he is by far one of the spiciest and innovative cards in the deck, but I think after a few months of testing I'm going to take him out.
4 Leyline is necessary I've realized at this point. From my PTQ list, I absolutely loved my 75 besides wishing I had 1 more Leyline (4 instead of 3). 2 of my 3 Top matches were Thoughtseize-Liliana decks. I've also been examining a lot of the other PTQ Top 8 decklists Wizards has posted, and there is so many BG lists running around. If you're taking serious consideration of taking this to a PTQ, GP, GPT, or unknown meta, 4 Leyline is the way to go!
Although I love our mana base, sometimes it can get scary if we draw too many cards... and I'm saying that with a mana base of 20. I can't even imagine with 18, especially if you crack a few, have to discard one, etc. Also, preemptively game 1 if we aren't playing against a Discard deck, using that single Conjurer's Bauble to stick a fetchland back on the bottom is a good safety measure. Cards like that and Mystical Teachings are what push the deck in long grindy games where times can get scary and the game depends on every single play and turn.
Bastoner: Did every RG Tron did they land a turn 3 Karn? Because RG Tron (and Living End) are our best match-ups, especially game one. Outside of a turn 3-4 Karn, they have no way of really disrupting us in a major way.
I've been looking for a great non-combo (nonbo?) deck since Tokens became irrelevant back during the Winter. I just took 2nd at a PTQ with Ad Nauseam, so I need another deck to fall back on with all the hate I assume people will now pack. I figured with Deathrite Shaman banned, and graveyard-hate in general being at an all-time low, I figured it's time to revisit Assault Loam!
I liked the look of the creatureless Jund versions, and the list posted above with a soft white splash for Lingering Souls looks beautiful. Besides DRS and grave-hate, a lot of the problems I had encountering a year ago was just drawing too many kill-spells and not advancing the board state. Young Pyromancer adds so much value to this deck, especially with the Retrace cards. I was also considering trying Chandra, Pyromaster as card-advantage, but I figured I would try another idea: Pack Rat.
It seems mana-intensive, but against grindy and attrition-based match-ups, between Rat and Loam I figured it could pretty back-breaking for our opponents.
I'm currently writing a primer and report on my PTQ Finals. Hopefully I'll have it done soon and I will post it here.
Otherwise, I found out today Retaliate is a card. I think I'm going to try this as a 1-of in my sideboard over Supreme Verdict.
I board into 3 Hurkyl's Recall, Echoing Truth, Slaughter Pact, and Supreme Verdict against Affinity... Drown in Sorrow if I'm on the play. Side it out if I'm on the draw. However, I recently added Supreme Verdict to my deck (with pretty good success) because both Recall and E-Truth can be pretty bad Fogs or Time Walks. Sometimes it is enough to stall them, sometimes it isn't. Slaughter Pact isn't the greatest choice ever, but we need as much defense as we can. So naturally on the Play I really like Supreme Verdict, and then I found out about Retaliate. It can be fetched with Mystical Teachings, or grabbed with Peer, and cast at Instant speed which is relevant against cards like Inkmoth Nexus and Blinkmoth Nexus... plus it helps against decks that play other man-lands like Mutavault in Merfolk.
The card isn't even a full $1 so I'm going to try it out.
Here's one thing I have to ask, do you think 4 Gemstone Mine is right? I think it isn't because those counters can disappear quickly, and I'd rather play more Scars lands. An opener with no other lands but Mines is pretty sad.
I have tried this before often, and I have started to stray from it. Sadly Ad Nauseam isn't a deck that wants to mulligan to 6 or 5 because our 6 can still be pretty bad - but I would take a 6 with one blue land over a 7 with 2 Gemstone Mine. I've faced easy match-ups where I knew there would be little-to-no-disruption (Tokens, Scapeshift, etc.) starting with 2 Gemstone Mines and it can still cause you to lose. I've decided in bigger tournaments to just shuffle those hands away. I did it twice at the PTQ and was rewarded. I do like hands with Gemstone, but typically starting with another land. I will sometimes tap it turn 2 for a Pentad Prism, because you are making yourself shoot up to so much mana the next turn... But I generally am conservative with my Gemstones. I truly do believe 4 is necessary though otherwise I would of changed it a while ago. I wouldn't mind trying 1 City of Brass in the list sometime, but I'm generally a conservative player and I like to try using my life as a resource for potential lines of play. We are already playing a ballsy all-in deck, so I'm hesitant to always make ourselves hurt even more from ourselves. I would suggest mulliganing those hands and see how it goes, but if you're still not liking Gemstone, maybe try a 2-2 split with City of Brass/Mana Confluence.
@IxidorVersionTwo: Would you consider your configuration of fetchlands (2 Misty, 1 Flats, 1 Mesa) ideal or what are your reasons to play it this way?
I think fetching a basic Island is important because otherwise, as I said before, you always have to take 3 damage that way.
1) Budget. I already had an assortment of fetches that weren't Scalding Tarn. I like 2 Misty and 1 Marsh, having good access to mainly Hallowed Fountain but also a basic Island as well. I don't commonly fetch out a Plains but it happens. Our basic Swamp is byfar our worst land because it does not support our deck for anything besides filling coloress mana spots on spells, and the BB on Ad Nauseam, it's still relevant as a land that doesn't hurt you when you need to fetch your 5th land without pain. If I had a Scalding Tarn, I would try swapping it out for an Arid Mesa... but I think out of 5 months of playing, a handful of tournaments, Grinder, PTQ, and Grand Prix, I think my assortment of fetchlands have only back-fired on me once. I like 2 Misty, 1 Marsh, 1 Arid.
2) Fetching a basic Island is very nice, especially game one turn 1 if you don't know what they're on. If I have something like a Fetch, and a Temple of Deceit in my starting hand, I will go straight for the Island, because I always have to assume it could be the worst (extremely fast aggro), and getting access to white mana later in the game is super easy.
Dylan: our best match-up is Tron, especially the RG version. UW can give us some troubles though it is favored for us... RG Tron and Living End are our best match-ups game 1, as they do nothing of major significance to interact with us. The best Tron can do is hope Karn can hit enough cards on his Exile abilities, while Living End may blow up a land or a Phyrexian Unlife with Beast Within.
I prefer fetchlands. The statistics behind deck-thinning is extremely small (especially since we should be running 4) - However, it's the mater of having a choice in what we need. It happens more than you would think where your fetch needs to hit a specific land, whether mana restrictions apply, or even life totals. City of Brass seems ideal in a deck that wants to solitaire, but if you are looking to be competitive you have to respect Affinity, Jund, BG Obliterator, Zoo, Burn, Twin, etc. A lot of these decks can either be aggressive or tempo you out, where taking incremental damage each turn is crucial. Even though it is a hefty 4 mana, this is exactly why I started playing Supreme Verdict (plus Drown in Sorrow is bad on the draw, or later in the game, though you should still play 1).
I honestly think our mana base is fantastic. For how shaky it looks, the more tournaments I play the more I realize how beautifully crafted it is.
Dont try the Travis woo version. It messes with the deck in fear of too many decks that are a good match up. I maindeck 3 Unlife but if you fear aggro, play 4. Zoo
As previously posted, I got 2nd at a 107-person PTQ yesterday (June 28, in Sioux Falls).
I went completely undefeated in the first 6 rounds, but then lost the 7th round because my opponent wanted to play because he wanted to make sure he could be on the Play in the Top 8. I lost that match because I didn't know they sided in Rule of Law game 2, and game 3 I was stuck on 2 lands the first 10 turns. By the time I established it was too late. Otherwise I think UW Tron is a relatively good match-up. So that pushed me from 1st in standing to 6th when entering the top 8. My matches go as followed:
Swiss
2-1 UR Twin
2-1 Merfolk
2-1 Affinity
2-0 Merfolk
2-1 UR Twin
I.D. RG Tron
1-2 UW Tron Top 8
2-1 BW Vampires (I'm not even joking)
2-0 GR Tron
1-2 Four Color Gifts
Alright, some quick notes:
Played against a lot of BLUE that day, which I was totally fine with. I switched Tolaria West from my Sideboard to the Maindeck earlier this week, so grabbing Boseiju or a Pact was easier.
I failed to get paired against any Pod or UWR at all, even though they came out in full force. The first 5 rounds of Swiss I was constantly sitting next to UWR decks, or even UWR mirror-matches, but I guess they all kept losing. A giant horde of them lost rounds 6 and 7, which shaped our Top 8 into the wild whacky thing that it was.
I kept failing to beat Affinity in testing, so I put Supreme Verdict in the side as a necessarily evil. I think it worked out great, taking out 5 of his dudes when he least expected it. A lot of the time time walking them with a Recall just isn't good enough. I figured that is my worst match-up so I bring in a lot against it.
Vampires literally went 5-1-1 and got into the top. I have no clue how it beat other established decks, but against us it is pretty rough because it was 4 Thoughtseize, 4 Liliana, 4 Wrench Mind, and a lot of 1-3 mana tempo creatures. I think it was a flash in the pan, but against us I pretty much treated it like Jund, and managed to only win by top-decking an Ad Nauseam when I was facing lethal (-6 life, 8 poison counter). It was one hell of a game.
Merfolk remains to be a relatively easy walk in the park, and was glad to face it not once but twice.
I lost in the finals to myself. I went into the match not thinking I would win, so I was completely surprised that I won when I took an extremely risky play: he Abrupt Decay my Phyrexian Unlife in response to Ad Nauseam, and I proceeded to still flip about 10 cards with Ad Nauseam and was able to sculpt my hand for a win the next turn. Game 2 he kept a really bad 6, and I had a great curve into a turn 4 win, except I forgot to put down my Lotus Bloom turn 1. I had been playing flawlessly all day and once I hit the 10th round of Magic I was just so tired. My opponent missed his 2nd land drop, and on turn 3 he was forced to play a tapped land (Creeping Tarpit). He tapped out turn 4 after missing his 3rd land drop for a Sylvan Caratid. He passed, and I had realized had that 1 Charge Counter not been there if I had played it turn 1, I would of won. So I passed, and now that he had 3 mana he was able to start playing back breaking cards: Rule of Law, and then a Liliana of the Veil, and then a Thoughtseize, and so on and so forth. That one mistake for a turn give him enough time to put down enough cards to hate me out. Game 3 was pretty grindy too, but he was able to naturally draw all his hate cards with his land-drops, so it wasn't much of a game.
It was a little irritating knowing I could of 2-0 a bad match-up in the finals of a PTQ, but I'm not trying to sweat it. Ad Nauseam is a fantastic choice for the Modern format right now, and I will keep playing it.
I loved my entire 75. I think the only difference I would of made is +1 Leyline of Sanctity in the side.
Just got 2nd at a 107 person PTQ (7 rounds). Punted the finals when I had it 2-0 so the pain still hurts a bit, but expect a write up tomorrow or Monday.
I keep losing to Affinity as well, though statistically I have been on the draw a majority of the time. Lost to a pretty close match at GP Minneapolis (1-2 round 2, both game losses I would of won had I been on the play/a turn ahead).
I also just played a small Modern event the other day after ignoring Modern for a month...
I did alright in the 4 rounds of Swiss, but went to 0-2 agaisnt Affinity. I then got paired against Affinity in the top 8, only to go 0-2 again. A lot of the games I was able to do good plays like playing a Hurkyl's Recall on 10+ artifacts, and Echoing Truth a Cranial Plating to make 15 damage into 2. Despite all these good protective plays, I just had a lot of bad luck with my starting hands, not drawing Ad Nauseam, etc.
I'm just not winning a lot of Affinity match-ups; I feel like our deck is pretty well positioned against everything else in the field. Hell, I even beat a 8-Rack deck at the GP. Anything is possible.
I may bring in another Drown in Sorrow, or a Gigadrowse. Teferi has proven to be a waste of space in my SB, and Gigadrowse seems more applicable to more match-ups.
I don't think I ever posted this, but I had RK Post do this at GP Minneapolis last month! It always gets a chuckle out of people.
Also, I rarely play this match-up, but I figured I would ask:
At a side-event at GP MINN, I faced Omni-Tell in the semi-finals. I have faced Sneak & Show often and know it's a good match-up, so I treated it just as that and sided in 4 Ashen Rider. I beat him game 1, but game 2 and 3 pretty much felt like like a solitaire match for both of us... Just couldn't go off fast enough, even with disrupting his turn 1 Cantrip two of the three games. What to do in this match-up besides hoping to win fast? Just hope we start with a Chancellor and Rider in our hand?
I know this match-up isn't very common but I figure I would ask if anyone has any experience?
I'm still not a fan of Drown in Sorrow on the draw, but I see your logic in playing it with a SSG or Pentad Prism. Drawing it past turn 2-3 if they have a Steel Overseer is pretty awful, especially since it's not Instant-speed so we can't even use it to reduce damage. I usually keep in Supreme Verdict even on the draw incase I hit SSG or Prism, but I figured for most of the competitive community they wouldn't like it.
I would cut 1 Echoing Truth. I can't think of many circumstances where 2 is necessary. I side into Scorn a lot of matches but don't end up playing it a lot of time, so cutting it seems okay. I am going to keep playing it, but I could see myself cutting it in the future.
I've never been a fan of Thoughtseize in the board, as our main 60 is proactive that I want our S.B. dedicated fully to making sure we combo or stop other combos. What would you bring it in for, other combo decks? Getting a Liliana out of the way? Actually, that isn't a bad idea... Haha. I had to survive 2 Liliana ultimates in my Top 8 because outside of Echoing Truth it's pretty hard to stop (there's always Pithing Needle).
Assuming we win game 1, they will be on the play. They have to choose first, and decide to mulligan. If that's our hand and they decide to mulligan, I would as well. If we were sitting on a cantrip, or a Peer, or anything over that SSG or the 3rd land I would probably keep it because it would at least let us refuel if they Thoughtseize turn 1 or 2. Against discard-heavy decks I almost tend to keep any 7 that has mana and is a hand full of "whatever" because I have to assume they always have Thoughtseize turns 1 or 2 and will curve into Liliana. In the Top 8 two out of three of my matches I kept opening hands where they was a lot of fodder for Thoughtseize/Liliana to eat, so I've been trying this strategy pretty often.
Of course, just hitting a Leyline in your first 6 or 7 is ideal, but if your first 6 or 7 don't have it, I would just stay at whatever your 6 gives you unless you can't play anything at all. I will admit, as much as I think this is the best combo deck to play right now, it mulligans poorly. So trying to dig for a Leyline may back fire, and you could end up keeping a 5 that just destroys itself.
Because BG decks are doing pretty well at PTQ's this season though, this is why I stress 4 Leyline's are necessary now if you are serious about tournament play. Besides those decks floating around, the field is pretty open and easy prey for Ad Nauseam to take down.
Just take your time playing, and review every line of play and scenario in your head. Twin is a favorable match-up (60/40) and you will be paired against it at PTQ's, but can be very unforgiving if you mess up. Just remember: they're scared of your deck more than you are scared of yours. Force them into tap-counter wars, and punish them every time they dare to tap mana.
Daliren:
You are allowed to read hand-written notes inbetween games during sideboarding, so I would recommend writing this down on a piece of paper. I always consulted my notes and double-checked in between every game 2 and 3. I put a few notes on some match-ups, because Affinity is pretty bad that I think some cards are wonderful if we hit them early on the play, whereas on the draw it might be too late if we're dead. Good luck buddy!
UWR : +1 Silence +1 Echoing Truth +1 Patrician's Scorn
-1 Pentad Prism -1 Sleight Of Hand -1 Slaughter Pact
Twin : +1 Silence +1 Echoing Truth +1 Patrician's Scorn +1 Slaughter Pact
-2 Sleight Of Hand -1 Peer Through Dephts -1 Pentad Prism
Here you want to side into Dismember as well, but for the life of me I can't decide what else to cut, I forget what my strategy was. On the draw I think I cut a Temple, but on the play that's your call. I think a cut a Lotus Bloom, Prism, or SSG, but that could be considered risky.
Scapeshift : +1 Silence
-1 Pentad Prism or -1 Sleight of Hand
Jund/BG/Junk : +4 Leyline Of Sanctity
-3 Pact Of Negation -1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
Affinity :
On the Play: +3 Hurkyl's Recall +1 Drown In Sorrow +1 Slaughter Pact +1 Echoing Truth +1 Supreme Verdict
-3 Pact Of Negation -1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All -1 Sleight Of Hand -1 Pentad Prism -1 Conjurer's Bauble
On the Draw: +3 Hurkyl's Recall, +1 Slaughter Pact, +2 Echoing Truth
-3 Pact of Neggation, -1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All, -1 Sleight of Hand, -1 Pentad Prism
Melira Pod :
On the Play: +1 Drown In Sorrow +1 Slaughter Pact +1 Supreme Verdict +1 Dismember
-3 Pact Of Negation -1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
On the Draw: not too sure if Supreme Verdict is too slow here or not. It helps if you can fire it off turn 3 off the back of a SSG or Pentad Prism.
I've gone off-and-on about siding into Dismember to ensure they don't ramp too quickly. I've seen some people also side into more cards like Hurkyl's Recall and Echoing Truth because of cards like Birthing Pod and Spellskite. I'd say that's your call, but the original 4 I posted I think are pretty necessary.
Hate Bears : +1 Drown in Sorrow, +1 Supreme Verdict, +1 Dismember, +1 Slaughter Pact
-3 Pact of Negation, -1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
I'm not too sold on bringing in Echoing Truth here. I rather just try to go for the combo as fast as possible, and have some removal there just in case Thalia or something hits.
Sleeved this up against my friend, who was rocking 4C-Gifts. Seems like an awful match-up, but thankfully this deck isn't very common in general. I went 0-3 (no sideboard testing). Young Pyromancer was a pretty bad card against a deck full of cards like Abrupt Decay, Path to Exile, Damnation, etc. There was only one instance where I could fire off some value and gets 1/1 beats in before Elesh Norn hit. Pack Rat seems pretty good here, but only when you have 5 mana (always keep mana open in response to their kill spells). I was pretty happy with that, but Pack Rat is definitely a late-game card. You pretty much always want to play it when you've depleted most their resources it, whether it be their hand, creatures, or lands from Ghost Quarter-Life from the Loam. I still think Pack Rat is a good finisher though, as it in the late game it doesn't simply fold to a single Bolt, Abrupt Decay, and Path.
That match-up in general was pretty bad, but there's a handful of reasons why. Not too concerned about it. I'll have more results to post in the incoming week or two as I start attending Modern weeklies here.
I goldfished a bunch of hands for a few hours, and it seemed solid overall. I figured since Modern is a turn-4 format, I drew my openers and followed up on what my next 3-4 turns would usually consist of. Is it always correct to fetch for a Red-shock (Stomping Ground/Blood Crypt). I figured I always go for red mana early in the game if I can because of Seismic Assault's backbreaking cost.
7 Local Tournaments
1 Grand Prix 5 Round Grinder
1 Grand Prix
1 PTQ
And dozens, dozens, dozens of casual/practice matches.
Number of times I've cast him?
Zero.
I really want to cut him. I never seem to get paired against UWR Control in sanctioned matches, but I play against UR Delver, Twin, Merfolk, and others a lot. Against most those decks I just can never justify the room to side him in. I think the only match-ups I really want him auto-included is UR Delver or UWR. I either never draw him, or end up not needing him.
It makes me sad because he is by far one of the spiciest and innovative cards in the deck, but I think after a few months of testing I'm going to take him out.
Although I love our mana base, sometimes it can get scary if we draw too many cards... and I'm saying that with a mana base of 20. I can't even imagine with 18, especially if you crack a few, have to discard one, etc. Also, preemptively game 1 if we aren't playing against a Discard deck, using that single Conjurer's Bauble to stick a fetchland back on the bottom is a good safety measure. Cards like that and Mystical Teachings are what push the deck in long grindy games where times can get scary and the game depends on every single play and turn.
Bastoner: Did every RG Tron did they land a turn 3 Karn? Because RG Tron (and Living End) are our best match-ups, especially game one. Outside of a turn 3-4 Karn, they have no way of really disrupting us in a major way.
I liked the look of the creatureless Jund versions, and the list posted above with a soft white splash for Lingering Souls looks beautiful. Besides DRS and grave-hate, a lot of the problems I had encountering a year ago was just drawing too many kill-spells and not advancing the board state. Young Pyromancer adds so much value to this deck, especially with the Retrace cards. I was also considering trying Chandra, Pyromaster as card-advantage, but I figured I would try another idea: Pack Rat.
It seems mana-intensive, but against grindy and attrition-based match-ups, between Rat and Loam I figured it could pretty back-breaking for our opponents.
2 Pack Rat
4 Life from the Loam
4 Seismic Assault
3 Abrupt Decay
4 Raven's Crime
2 Thoughtseize
1 Flame Jab
4 Lingering Souls
4 Faithless Looting
3 Smallpox
3 Arid Mesa
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Copperline Gorge
2 Stomping Ground
1 Blood Crypt
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Godless Shrine
1 Graven Cairns
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Forest
2 Raging Ravine
2 Ghost Quarter
Otherwise, I found out today Retaliate is a card. I think I'm going to try this as a 1-of in my sideboard over Supreme Verdict.
I board into 3 Hurkyl's Recall, Echoing Truth, Slaughter Pact, and Supreme Verdict against Affinity... Drown in Sorrow if I'm on the play. Side it out if I'm on the draw. However, I recently added Supreme Verdict to my deck (with pretty good success) because both Recall and E-Truth can be pretty bad Fogs or Time Walks. Sometimes it is enough to stall them, sometimes it isn't. Slaughter Pact isn't the greatest choice ever, but we need as much defense as we can. So naturally on the Play I really like Supreme Verdict, and then I found out about Retaliate. It can be fetched with Mystical Teachings, or grabbed with Peer, and cast at Instant speed which is relevant against cards like Inkmoth Nexus and Blinkmoth Nexus... plus it helps against decks that play other man-lands like Mutavault in Merfolk.
The card isn't even a full $1 so I'm going to try it out.
I have tried this before often, and I have started to stray from it. Sadly Ad Nauseam isn't a deck that wants to mulligan to 6 or 5 because our 6 can still be pretty bad - but I would take a 6 with one blue land over a 7 with 2 Gemstone Mine. I've faced easy match-ups where I knew there would be little-to-no-disruption (Tokens, Scapeshift, etc.) starting with 2 Gemstone Mines and it can still cause you to lose. I've decided in bigger tournaments to just shuffle those hands away. I did it twice at the PTQ and was rewarded. I do like hands with Gemstone, but typically starting with another land. I will sometimes tap it turn 2 for a Pentad Prism, because you are making yourself shoot up to so much mana the next turn... But I generally am conservative with my Gemstones. I truly do believe 4 is necessary though otherwise I would of changed it a while ago. I wouldn't mind trying 1 City of Brass in the list sometime, but I'm generally a conservative player and I like to try using my life as a resource for potential lines of play. We are already playing a ballsy all-in deck, so I'm hesitant to always make ourselves hurt even more from ourselves. I would suggest mulliganing those hands and see how it goes, but if you're still not liking Gemstone, maybe try a 2-2 split with City of Brass/Mana Confluence.
1) Budget. I already had an assortment of fetches that weren't Scalding Tarn. I like 2 Misty and 1 Marsh, having good access to mainly Hallowed Fountain but also a basic Island as well. I don't commonly fetch out a Plains but it happens. Our basic Swamp is byfar our worst land because it does not support our deck for anything besides filling coloress mana spots on spells, and the BB on Ad Nauseam, it's still relevant as a land that doesn't hurt you when you need to fetch your 5th land without pain. If I had a Scalding Tarn, I would try swapping it out for an Arid Mesa... but I think out of 5 months of playing, a handful of tournaments, Grinder, PTQ, and Grand Prix, I think my assortment of fetchlands have only back-fired on me once. I like 2 Misty, 1 Marsh, 1 Arid.
2) Fetching a basic Island is very nice, especially game one turn 1 if you don't know what they're on. If I have something like a Fetch, and a Temple of Deceit in my starting hand, I will go straight for the Island, because I always have to assume it could be the worst (extremely fast aggro), and getting access to white mana later in the game is super easy.
I prefer fetchlands. The statistics behind deck-thinning is extremely small (especially since we should be running 4) - However, it's the mater of having a choice in what we need. It happens more than you would think where your fetch needs to hit a specific land, whether mana restrictions apply, or even life totals. City of Brass seems ideal in a deck that wants to solitaire, but if you are looking to be competitive you have to respect Affinity, Jund, BG Obliterator, Zoo, Burn, Twin, etc. A lot of these decks can either be aggressive or tempo you out, where taking incremental damage each turn is crucial. Even though it is a hefty 4 mana, this is exactly why I started playing Supreme Verdict (plus Drown in Sorrow is bad on the draw, or later in the game, though you should still play 1).
I honestly think our mana base is fantastic. For how shaky it looks, the more tournaments I play the more I realize how beautifully crafted it is.
I went completely undefeated in the first 6 rounds, but then lost the 7th round because my opponent wanted to play because he wanted to make sure he could be on the Play in the Top 8. I lost that match because I didn't know they sided in Rule of Law game 2, and game 3 I was stuck on 2 lands the first 10 turns. By the time I established it was too late. Otherwise I think UW Tron is a relatively good match-up. So that pushed me from 1st in standing to 6th when entering the top 8. My matches go as followed:
Swiss
2-1 UR Twin
2-1 Merfolk
2-1 Affinity
2-0 Merfolk
2-1 UR Twin
I.D. RG Tron
1-2 UW Tron
Top 8
2-1 BW Vampires (I'm not even joking)
2-0 GR Tron
1-2 Four Color Gifts
Alright, some quick notes:
Played against a lot of BLUE that day, which I was totally fine with. I switched Tolaria West from my Sideboard to the Maindeck earlier this week, so grabbing Boseiju or a Pact was easier.
I failed to get paired against any Pod or UWR at all, even though they came out in full force. The first 5 rounds of Swiss I was constantly sitting next to UWR decks, or even UWR mirror-matches, but I guess they all kept losing. A giant horde of them lost rounds 6 and 7, which shaped our Top 8 into the wild whacky thing that it was.
I kept failing to beat Affinity in testing, so I put Supreme Verdict in the side as a necessarily evil. I think it worked out great, taking out 5 of his dudes when he least expected it. A lot of the time time walking them with a Recall just isn't good enough. I figured that is my worst match-up so I bring in a lot against it.
Vampires literally went 5-1-1 and got into the top. I have no clue how it beat other established decks, but against us it is pretty rough because it was 4 Thoughtseize, 4 Liliana, 4 Wrench Mind, and a lot of 1-3 mana tempo creatures. I think it was a flash in the pan, but against us I pretty much treated it like Jund, and managed to only win by top-decking an Ad Nauseam when I was facing lethal (-6 life, 8 poison counter). It was one hell of a game.
Merfolk remains to be a relatively easy walk in the park, and was glad to face it not once but twice.
I lost in the finals to myself. I went into the match not thinking I would win, so I was completely surprised that I won when I took an extremely risky play: he Abrupt Decay my Phyrexian Unlife in response to Ad Nauseam, and I proceeded to still flip about 10 cards with Ad Nauseam and was able to sculpt my hand for a win the next turn. Game 2 he kept a really bad 6, and I had a great curve into a turn 4 win, except I forgot to put down my Lotus Bloom turn 1. I had been playing flawlessly all day and once I hit the 10th round of Magic I was just so tired. My opponent missed his 2nd land drop, and on turn 3 he was forced to play a tapped land (Creeping Tarpit). He tapped out turn 4 after missing his 3rd land drop for a Sylvan Caratid. He passed, and I had realized had that 1 Charge Counter not been there if I had played it turn 1, I would of won. So I passed, and now that he had 3 mana he was able to start playing back breaking cards: Rule of Law, and then a Liliana of the Veil, and then a Thoughtseize, and so on and so forth. That one mistake for a turn give him enough time to put down enough cards to hate me out. Game 3 was pretty grindy too, but he was able to naturally draw all his hate cards with his land-drops, so it wasn't much of a game.
It was a little irritating knowing I could of 2-0 a bad match-up in the finals of a PTQ, but I'm not trying to sweat it. Ad Nauseam is a fantastic choice for the Modern format right now, and I will keep playing it.
I loved my entire 75. I think the only difference I would of made is +1 Leyline of Sanctity in the side.
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Arid Mesa
1 Marsh Flats
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Island
1 Seachrome Coast
1 Tolaria West
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Watery Grave
1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
2 Temple of Deceit
2 Temple of Enlightenment
4 Pentad Prism
4 Lotus Bloom
4 Serum Visions
4 Sleight of Hand
2 Peer Through Depths
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Conjurer's Bauble
3 Pact of Negation
1 Slaughter Pact
4 Ad Nauseam
4 Angel's Grace
3 Phyrexian Unlife
1 Lightning Storm
3 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Drown in Sorrow
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Echoing Truth
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Dismember
1 Silence
1 Favor of the Mighty
1 Patrician's Scorn
1 Teferi, Mage of Zhaflir
I also just played a small Modern event the other day after ignoring Modern for a month...
I did alright in the 4 rounds of Swiss, but went to 0-2 agaisnt Affinity. I then got paired against Affinity in the top 8, only to go 0-2 again. A lot of the games I was able to do good plays like playing a Hurkyl's Recall on 10+ artifacts, and Echoing Truth a Cranial Plating to make 15 damage into 2. Despite all these good protective plays, I just had a lot of bad luck with my starting hands, not drawing Ad Nauseam, etc.
I'm just not winning a lot of Affinity match-ups; I feel like our deck is pretty well positioned against everything else in the field. Hell, I even beat a 8-Rack deck at the GP. Anything is possible.
I may bring in another Drown in Sorrow, or a Gigadrowse. Teferi has proven to be a waste of space in my SB, and Gigadrowse seems more applicable to more match-ups.
Also, I rarely play this match-up, but I figured I would ask:
At a side-event at GP MINN, I faced Omni-Tell in the semi-finals. I have faced Sneak & Show often and know it's a good match-up, so I treated it just as that and sided in 4 Ashen Rider. I beat him game 1, but game 2 and 3 pretty much felt like like a solitaire match for both of us... Just couldn't go off fast enough, even with disrupting his turn 1 Cantrip two of the three games. What to do in this match-up besides hoping to win fast? Just hope we start with a Chancellor and Rider in our hand?
I know this match-up isn't very common but I figure I would ask if anyone has any experience?