Haven't played this deck in a while as I've been drafting the new set and developing my den protector/deathmist standard list that I've been playing since release weekend. Had some time this evening and jumped in the 4 PM daily. Went 4-0 beating grixis twin, grixis delver twice and affinity in that order.
I did stick a third verdict back into the main and am only running one main deck mana leak. If the daily that I played isn't published tomorrow then I'll get an updated list on here.
White sun's zenith and sunblast angel both work very well with this shell. I played one of each when I played this deck in standard, but I can't quite justify their inclusion in this list.
Very interesting deck, TurboG73!
Given the number of artifacts you run... what about Thirst for knowledge in those 3 flexible slots? How often do you find the limited amount of counters maindeck really useful? Do they not dilute the deck a little?
The main deck counters are basically outs for some matchups that are almost unwinnable without them. The goal with those slots is to provide outs against tough matchups without dilluting the deck. That is why I am on mana leak right now as it is flexible enough that it is decent in most all matchups. I like monastery siege over thirst for knowledge. I could definitely see running up to a playset of that card but I haven't found the room for it yet. currently have 1 main and 1 sideboard and have found that I haven't been using the sb copy much so probably just going to stick with the 1 main myself. I haven't been able to play much recently. Haven't been in a daily for a while.
You can also see against Splinter Twin how the deck is not "comfortable" in playing the draw-go approach that was advocated because your pressure cards cost three or more, thus if you are holding up mana for reactive measures, you can avoid being comboed out but you are not racing them properly. Also, this leaves them free to go with the beatdown plan.
I've run up against twin maybe 8-10 times in playing and have had much greater success playing the draw-go strategy rather than trying to force the action. I *definitely* agree with Stephen when he says that playing Twin requires close to optimal play at all times. I've never felt like it was an unwinnable matchup, but noticed a couple of times when I made one mistake that cascaded into losing the game.
I restate my question, perhaps I wasn't clear.
Leaving up Path to Exile/Spellbomb from turn three on means you are slowing down that crucial turn when you feel safe to drop a beatstick to pressure them- because at a certain point you clearly have to, and not playing Restoration Angel means you have to do it on your own turn.
The problem I saw in some games is that your less-costed creatures line up poorly against their SnapBolt + Electrolyze plan, namely Missionary and Flickerwisp. At least something like Kitchen Finks would be slightly more annoying for them.
If you adopt the draw-go approach you'll reach a point where this dilemma will catch you. The only thing that they can't beat with red removal in the current list is Sun Titan, which is absolutely a luxury at six mana.
You can see that this clearly comes up in the videos I mentioned. Regardless of how he played and what tweaks he made, look at the way the game is being played out. He is locked at 3-4 mana doing anything because of risking being comboed out. This is why i'm honestly skeptical about this "draw-go" approach in a deck that's structurally meant to do the opposite. Sure you can start staying open for 1-2-3 mana at time to ensure your cc1 disruption is active even despites Exarch/Mite tapping you, but at that point you're invalidating your ways of actively winning the game.
Hence why I advocate that the current build is too heavy on drops and/or needs Restoration Angel to break the tempo of matchups like Twin, UWr and Scapeshift. Whereas the latter two have become more fringe lately, the first is on all-time high. Of course it requires "optimal plays", but honestly I don't feel your list can do well on a consistent basis against a competent opponent (I say "your" because I play one with fewer 3-drops, Resto and Finks). There is too much inherent clunkiness and the lack of a fast, difficult-to-kill beater like Tarmogoyf means that most times the momentum of the game is shifted towards their favor.
Twin being in the format makes the other strategies needing to adapt- for example cutting down their curve, unless epecific cases (like Tron, which is a total underdog in the matchup). In my opinion the OP build is skipping this step a bit too much. But if the 3-1s and 4-0s in Dailies are being accumulated against lots of Twin then I won't bother anymore.
Playing draw/go against twin changes their win condition from twin to keranos and burn. I side out a Sun Titan, verdicts, and pilgrim's eyes to lower the curve and play the whole game with mana up to deal with an end of turn exarch. There is no reason to play anything to press the tempo when you can hold answers to twin and stall the game. Twin is a tough matchup, but I have a lot of fun playing it as it does require optimal play and I am pretty 50/50 in the matchup to date.
The deck is 'structurally designed' to stall the game by any means necessary. Most changes that people make to my core list weaken this plan in favor of more tempo plays like restoration angel. There are definitely advantages to being able to press the tempo of a match, but I've found that the deck tends to get overpowered when going in that direction.
Playing control decks in any format requires a deep knowledge of the format and the deck that you are piloting. Modern is a very difficult format to control and I have learned to accept that it is not possible to win every match with any deck in this format. Winning in modern requires a high level of competence as well as a decent amount of luck in matchups and draws. Even the great matchups can go against you sometimes. Yesterday I lost to living end for the first time ever. That being said, if I'm going to play modern, I'm going to play something that I enjoy that is capable of taking down a tournament when the matchups and draws roll in your favor. I feel like this is a fairly difficult list to pilot optimally and I don't expect people to have the same success with it as soon as they pick it up.
It is a fun list that will reward you for getting to know it, but I'd highly recommend that you keep the deck's focus on controlling and stalling games rather than optimizing specific interactions or trying to push the tempo.
The LD lands are a very key component of the deck. I am pretty sure cutting below 4 is a mistake. I have even run a fifth in the board before, but I don't think that is right either. In general I don't really care if my creatures get countered as games against decks with counters often go long enough for emeria to become active. If i were to make room for another nonbasic land, it would probably be a flagstones, but I am really happy with the current mana base. Monastery siege is really good. I have yet to play it against burn, but I don't think that it is quite as strong there as some seem to think as those games often go long enough for them to pay the extra cost for their burn spells. Not that it is bad against them, I just don't think that it shuts them down. I'm not sure what to cut to find room for a second, but I'm pretty sure we want more.
Where does Snapcaster Mage fit into this deck. It seems like you would REALLY want him somewhere as it's just value town from then on. I can see how Flickerwisp is good if someone blows up your D-Sphere and you want it back but those seems like pretty corner case scenarios, also giving all you counterspells flashback seems like a good way to shore up the Twin matchup.
Really good against burn and we aren't gaining life unless we really want to be. Good card against a lot of "at the face" strategies. I am probably going to run 1 as a replacement for Leyline of Sanctity as I sold all my LoS's into the hype train and I'd bet my left nut it'll be reprinted in MM2.
Snapcaster would be very good with the heavy counter sideboard option (which I am currently not on). In the main, I don't think that it has enough targets to warrant the slot. I could see running 1 main if the sideboard had a heavy counter package. I personally don't think that kor firewalker or timely reinforcements are flexible enough sb cards to warrant inclusion. I think leyline is more flexible and stronger against burn than either, but if you are wanting a budget alternative to leyline specifically for the burn matchup, either seem strong.
AND, YES, the cmc is a very strong argument in favor of lone missionary.
Trying Monastery Siege and loving it. Also currently running a more proactive answer suite with the runed halos/nevermores/leyline over more reactive counterspells. definitely pros and cons to each route and the correct choice is probably a meta call. The counter route is significantly better against tron.
I just played this at my FNM- ended up 2-2, at fifth place.
My list was a bit diluted, because I don't have all 4 Emeria in paper- I was running with only 2 and with plains in the other two slots. The deck ran really well, though. I beat Affinity and Burn, and then lost to Junk and Burn.
Lessons I learned: Scavenging Ooze is Satan. Kill on sight. Save removal for it. Flickerwisping your opponent's Liliana on turn 3 is really, really useful.
I'm sure the burn matchup is really good, especially post-board, but I'm not sure what to board out. I'd bring in Dispel and Negates, obviously. Would siding out the Detention Sphere's be worth doing? The ability to 2-for-1 an opponent off of two Goblin Guides or Swiftspears is very useful. Possibly the Aether Spellbombs as well?
Also, did you take my suggestion to try Monastery Siege? I suggested it on the article at SCG on facebook at the name Dave Ellis. It'd be a really good card against Burn.
side out pilgrim'seye, sphere, mortarpod and spellbomb against burn. I like to side in the third verdict as it is a good out to eidolon.
I am currently running a one of monastery siege main and will probably be testing multiples soon.
I'm glad that you got here on Salvation (I was a guy who suggested to come here in the Starcitygames comments of the Daily Digest, don't know if you read my post).
The deck is sweet and I like it, but I would like to ask you some of the questions I already pointed out there.
1.
Splash color: How much is it fundamental to splash for blue in the deck? You said you started from a mono-white deck. Why not to stick to that-in other words, which are the *essential* advantages of it?
* Counterspells seem weak because you have a very heavy tap-out approach. However, they are good against the worst matchups, i.e. Scapeshift and Tron, even if I don't know if they are enough. For example, I'm looking at a hatebear-esque strategy (Mindcensor + Quarter) as the way to win those matchups rather than sitting behind a wall of blue disruption and hope you can snag Karn and Scapeshift.
* Supreme Verdict is at times worse against Wrath of God (e.g. Welding Jar) and at times better (fringe boards against Twin). However, a Wrath effect is usually bad in the matchup because of flash creatures and also because you rarely want to dismantle your own board state, as you're tipically going to win with beats).
* Court Hussar is strange. As you pointed out it is ok that he dies so that it come back, but this implies that there may come up some awkward situations where you can't Flickerwisp it and you'd really need to have the body sticking (e.g. for blocking). Sea Gate Oracle is weaker but at least he stays on the battlefield.
* Detention Sphere is miles better than Oblivion Ring, especially against Lingering Souls, this is true.
* Aether Spellbomb is neat. An out to Iona, Etched Champion, a recurrable removal via Sun Titan. Also, a turn-one play.
I can see some advantages of splashing blue. However, there are also some disadvantages. First of all, you're running 2 Islands, which hinders the consistency of getting Emeria online as soon as possible (ideally turn eight with perfect land-drops). Hallowed Fountains are also more susceptible to Tec Edge, unlike regular Plains. As I wrote in a mono-white topic of the deck, Flagstones of Trokair would be a nice way to "convert" your Ghost Quarters into Plains in those matchups where you are not going to throw GQ at your opponent's lands. Ever tried those?
2.
Perhaps you're underestimating Restoration Angel a bit. More than its body and effect it is the flash ability to provide the biggest upside for the deck. You are going to have a very hard time against decks like Twin and Scapeshift because you can't tap out for your heavy drops. Restoration Angel allows you to build board and value (e.g. with Wall of Omens) while pressuring them to committ mana in their own turn, and if they do you're free to cast your bombs (like Sun Titan). It's nice, if not essential, to differentiate the timings of your plays, in my opinion.
3.
You provided a reason for your choices and I'm fine with that, but after some tests with the deck I'm almost 100% sure that 4 Sun Titan is too many. You can't open a hand with double ST because too much of the current metagame revolves around combo decks. Titan shines against grindy decks: Azban. I found him slow even against Tron. If a Karn ever -3s a land of yours, you're not going to stick him easily. Long story short, I would try 2 to 3, siding them out completely or mostly against the aforementioned decks.
I am eager to discuss these with you if you'd like to.
While I admit that the amount of blue I play is more than just a splash, splashing a second color is incredibly easy in modern so I feel like small advantages gained from the second color are reason enough to include it. Whether playing blue or not, the core of the deck is heavily favored against creature based decks and most control builds, so the deckbuilding choices outside of that core have to maximize the win percentage in other matchups. Splinter Twin, specifically, is a very strong deck that is very popular right now so it heavily influences the non-core slot choices. We also need answers for the other combo decks and the tron decks which are a tough matchup. Burn is a decent matchup, but it definitely needs considered when making card choices. My goal with the core of the deck and specifically the 3 flex main slots and 12 of the sb slots is to raise my win percentages as much as possible against Twin, combo, tron variants, burn and the various combo decks. I feel like blue is really important here. Without it our answers are limited to enchantments like runed halo and leyline and hate bear type creatures, both of which are very weak against tron. Tron is the matchup that got me away from enchantment answers and testing more counters. While we can't let a single tier 2 matchup dictate our card choices in modern, I'm going to experiment with whatever I can to improve that matchup without giving up too much against other decks. This somewhat addresses the choice of playing blue for counterspells which is where my testing has lead me while also admitting that I'm not 100% convinced that a lot of counters are the ideal route to go. I do really like dispel as a backup to the enchantment answers of runed halo, nevermore, and leyline.
For me the most important reasons to play blue are detention sphere and spellbomb. The upgrade of detention sphere over O-ring is significant. Being able to wipe an army of tokens or any other multiples on the board is great card advantage. Flickering it to pick up additional copies of a previously exiled card is a common line of play. Spellbomb is a card my friend added to the deck last year. I talked it up pretty sufficiently in the primer. It wins games. Verdict over wrath is key against non-twin blue decks, specifically delver builds. The advantages of wrath over verdict aren't as relevant with this deck because of the number of blockers that we can put on the board to deal with regenerating creatures. As for a verdict on my board, I won't verdict if my board is stronger than theirs and I have access to those cards again via Sun Titan and Emeria. If you are worried about losing the body of court hussar, than flicker something else. It so rarely comes up. It is more common that you want it in the yard to abuse with sun titan and emeria. There isn't a better emeria target against many decks. It is a card that significantly contributes to the consistency of the deck and allows for a lower than expected land count.
Many people have suggested flagstones because of it's synergy with ghost quarter, but that isn't reason enough to disrupt the 2 color mana base. I could potentially see playing it in mono-white, but even there it seems bad when you don't draw ghost quarters. As for the 2 islands, they do interfere with the emeria plan a little, but it is essential to get double blue against twin and having the basics to search for with pilgrim's eye and ghost quarter is important. Also key to grab with flooded strands when you are playing against decks that could be playing blood moon.
I have played with restoration angel a lot in standard and in this build. I am fully aware of it's power and affect on the tempo of the game. In this build, the value gained from flickerwisp and even a card like glimmerpoint stag is significantly higher than restoration angel. Yes, angel is a better win con, but this is a control deck first that eventually finds a way to win. The additional abilities of flickerwisp are significantly better at controlling the early game. Angel is a very good card but it has a different agenda than the rest of the deck. 4 cmc is also pretty relevant. I would never play it over flickerwisp, and I have decided that there is not an available slot to play it in addition to flickerwisp. As for not being able to tap out for high cmc cards against counter, just don't play anything. I play a lot of draw go against twin. Draw, go is a very emeria friendly strategy. The matchups where this is relevant you board out a sun titan and the verdicts anyway so there are only the 3 remaining sun titans as high drops. This is a control deck, not a tempo deck.
4 Sun Titans..........While combo is a significant player in the meta, there are a lot more decks that sun titan shines against. After [i]some[i]tests with the deck, I also reduced the number of Sun Titans, but after extended testing I am in favor of siding out 1 when necessary and having the maximum amount available in the main game 1. Titan is better than you'd expect for 6 cmc against aggro decks and burn. Many of those games are won by a turn 5 (path) or 6 sun titan bringing back a lone missionary. This deck mulligans extremely well, so having to mulligan a sun titan heavy hand occasionally is a price I am willing to pay to increase my odds of seeing multiples over the course of the game. IF you were to remove a Sun Titan, that could make room for a restoration angel, but that is a change I thought was good, tried and have moved away from.
Went 3-1 in this afternoon's daily beating junk, scapeshift, and w/u hatebears. losing to eternal ghostway. He drew well, I didn't draw removal. We'll see if those results get published tomorrow. I've got a little different SB config I'm trying right now and I was playing a 1 of monastery siege over the 3rd hussar which felt really powerful.
http://archive.wizards.com/Magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/deck/667 here's the original idea this guy took inspiration from. It was an Extended deck, circa 2011. He basically added blue to gain Wrath and ORing upgrades. Court Hussar is fine too but him not staying on the field when Flickered/Titaned may be a problem, despites the CA. Perhaps Sea Gate Oracle is better for that, although the one card less matters.
I admit I misjudged the deck quite quickly. Now I get the reason behind every piece. Even Pilgrim's Eye starts making sense. I would still trim down the 3-drops and add some Restos. Also, the deck doesn't have a turn one play and this really matters. Modern is way faster than Extended was.
that "original idea" was also my decklist which was an adaptation of a standard deck I'd been piloting for about 18 months. We took 3 copies to that PTQ.
Court Hussar not staying on the field is a bonus because of Sun Titan and Emeria. Everybody that I've seen try to play this deck in the past immediately cuts pilgrim's eyes and then comes back to me saying how inconsistent the deck is. Don't underestimate the little thopter, let your opponents do that.
Back when jund ruled the roost during Zendikar block standard, I found this neat little deck that drew a lot of cards and tutored for lands to discard to blightning. Before Sun Titan was even a thing, I was winning local events with 4x pilgrim's eye in a mono-white emeria deck. After about a year and a half of playing mono-white emeria in standard. I got into the soon to be extinct format of extended. My literal first extended event was a PTQ on Sunday of the 2011 GP Denver. I went 7-2 losing only to misplays from not knowing the matchups. I was playing the event purely for playtesting purposes, so I was quite surprised by the results. I continued to tune and a few weeks later, I took 3 copies to a large PTQ in Seattle and my friend took down the event. http://archive.wizards.com/Magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/deck/667
I x-2ed 3 PTQs with it and then extended died and I moved away from Magic for a while. Last year I was talked into getting into Modern and I knew exactly where I wanted to start. I made plans to attend GP Minneapolis with some friends so I used a few tix to put the core of the deck together on MTGO for some testing. http://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/232201 Obviously that sb is garbage. It was just some blue/white cards I had in my account. Went to the GP and performed decently, but math seemed to hate me that day. For example, the odds of top-decking 3 consecutive lands when there are only 5 left in your deck are pretty extreme. I was having a lot of success with my standard brew at the time so the modern project got sidetracked. Then delve happened to modern and that seemed like a for meta for this shell. Post delve bannings I decided to give it another run and it hasn't disappointed.
I am still very much in the tuning phase so the list is ever changing. Right after my 4-0 daily, I discovered I had been playing with a 14 card SB for a few days. Oops.
SO, THE DECK:
Core creatures
Pilgrim's Eye, 3-4 I LOVE being able to run this card in modern. It looks so bad but is so sneaky good in this shell. I say that it does everything poorly, but it does everything. Many games have been won because I had a flying, colorless blocker for inkmoth, blinkmoth, etched champion, creatures wearing sword of light and shadow, phyrexian crusader, etc. There have also been many games were I get in 4 to 5 points of damage per pilgrim's eye because it isn't a kill on sight threat. Most importantly, though, is getting the ETB effect an average of 3 times over the course of the game, allowing me to run fewer lands and quickly thinning the deck as the game goes longer.
Lone missionary, 3 Everyone wants to know why I choose this over kitchen Finks. It costs one less which is very key to the curve and it gains 4 life per ETB instead of 2. I know that typically you get more ETBs out of the Finks, but with Flickerwisp, Sun Titan, and Emeria, the 4 life per ETB is significant and is commonly used every turn in longer games.
Wall of Omens, 4 No explanation needed. I wanted more than 4, so...
Court Hussar, 2-3 Being able to get this card back into the graveyard is an advantage where it may appear to be a disadvantage. Before playing this card there were many times I had an active emeria and wall of omens on the board, but no way to generate additional value from them. When cast for 3 early in the game, court hussar is often a necessary blocker, but later in the game there are often times when I cast it with all blue/colorless mana so that it will go straight to the graveyard where I can access it's ability again sooner with Sun titan or Emeria.
Flickerwisp, 4 If abusing ETB triggers was the only purpose than Restoration Angel would be a better choice here, but Killing tokens, and getting more damage out of mortarpods is just the beginning of the extra talents theat the Flickerwisp has. The interaction with Detention Sphere is amazingly powerful. Resetting the sphere after additional copies of the originally exiled card are cast. Using the sphere on tokens, then resetting it onto something else. The 3 CMC is also key as it functions similar to phantasmal image when targeted by Sun Titan. Flickering a different flickerwisp allows the flicker ability to go on the stack on your end step so that an opponents permanent can be exile for the duration of their turn. I kept an opponent off of monastery siege draws for 3 turns with this recently. I would run a Glimmerpoint Stag over a Restoration Angel because of all of these interactions.
Sun Titan, 4 A full playset here seems like a lot and I have tested with 3 and even 2, but the card is so powerful that it is best to have 4 in the deck and SB one out in the appropriate matchups and be willing to mulligan certain hands that have 2+ of the giant. The best Sun Titan target is often a fetch land to quickly ramp into emeria.
SPELLS:
Path to Exile, 4 No much to say here. Pathing your own creatures to suddenly activate emeria comes up semi-regularly.
Detention Sphere, 3 As explained above, Flickerwisp plus Detention Sphere equals value. Being able to pull removal out of the yard with Sun Titan is also pretty nice. The advantages of Sphere over O ring is the primary reason to play blue.
Supreme Verdict 2-3 Creature based matchups are heavily in our favor game 1 and almost a lock after boarding into the full set of verdicts. I went down to 2 main the same time that I went up to 3 court hussar. There are enough matchups where verdict is weak, that it I'm ok with a slightly harder matchup against creature decks game 1.
Mortarpod 2 Killing one toughness creatures is just the beginning. Getting 2 or even 3 toughness creatures is easy with flickerwisp. Doing damage to planeswalkers with wall of omens is nice and when emeria and sun titan start doing work in the late game, mortarpod ensures that they have a good target in the yard all while shortening the opponents clock with the extra damage.
Aether Spellbomb, 2 Amazing against Twin and sweet interaction with Sun Titan, which is reason enough to run a couple in the current meta. Also great against infect, affinity, fish, and anything with token creatures. Also backs up pilgrim's eye in protecting against pro-white creatures. A simple cycle that you can recur with Sun Titan is solid in every other matchup. I am seriously considering going to 3 main, specifically for the twin matchup.
LANDS
Emeria, The Sky Ruin 3-4 Have tested a lot with only 3, but when you get to the point in the game where you can use it you really want to have at least one. The ability stacks, so having redundancy in your end game win con is certainly acceptable
Flooded Strand 3-4 I ran a set of fetches back in extended when I was mono white just for the fetch plus Sun titan ramp option.
Ghost Quarter 3-4 Necessary over tec edge against tron. Made this change recently and it is definitely correct. Extra ghost quarters in matchups where they aren't needed can target another non plains land to get another plains. Something that comes up against twin is the ability to turn a land into an island to activate spellbomb's bounce ability.
Hallowed Fountain 4
Island 2 A second blue source is key against Twin
Plains 6
That leaves 3 slots that I consider to be flexible that I am constantly tuning. In those 3 slots, I am currently running a swan song, a mana leak and a runed halo.
Creature based decks are great matchups. Twin is obviously a strong and popular deck that needs to be accounted for. There needs to be flexible answere to combo decks and tron in the board. I have tried runed halo/nevermore/leyline of sanctity and they are great in some matchups. I have more recently opted for more counterspells which are more flexible but weaker in some specific areas.
SIDEBOARD:
2 verdict and 1 sphere get used against all creature based matchups and sphere has additional utility.
2 Stony Silence obviously good in the already great affinity matchup, but are in the board because of their strength against tron
1 Dismember for twin and infect
1 Leyline of Sanctity/Lone Missionary/kor firewalker. Need another out to burn here and I am currently running the leyline as it has additional applications, specifically storm.
I have tried a lot of different cards in the rest of the sb slots. The bulk of the sb in this deck has to be able to shut down combo and help with twin and tron. I like runed halo/nevermore/leyline a lot, but they are susceptible to bounce and need to be backed up with counters. I like running up to 6 of these with dispels. The other option is to run more flexible counters like negate and mana leak.
Affinity, Infect, Abzan/Rock/etc, Delver, Living End. YES, PLEASE!!!!!! 85/15 feels conservative here. All creature based matchups are very heavy in our favor and get even better when you side out the 3 flex slots for the rest of the verdicts and the last sphere.
Burn. Can be difficult game 1. I'm running about 60/40 game 1 and 70/30 post board. The amount of triggers that resolve from lone missionary have a lot to do with who wins the matchup. post board counterspells for their skullcrack are really good. SB out pilgrim's eyes and spellbombs for counterspells and leyline/missionary.
Twin. 60/40. I love playing twin because it is a matchup that requires optimal play to win. It is a common enough deck that this matchup dictates or influences a lot of my card choices. Spellbomb is very good here. Keranos and bolts beat me as often as the combo but lone missionary and sphere combat that plan. SB out verdicts and pilgrim's eyes for counters/nevermore and dismember.
Tron. GR Tron Specifically is a bad matchup that influences my sb decisions. I feel like I'm about 35/65. I don't expect to get this matchup in my favor, but I want it to be competitive. Blue Tron is easier than r/g because they only have a few ways to win that are easier to interact with but it still is probably not in my favor.
Storm. the other tough matchup probably also about 35/65
U/W based control 75/25 or better. Deal with their man lands and play the long game until emeria is active
Scapeshift and other combo 40/60 game 1, 80/20 post board.
This deck is a control deck whose primary function is to control what the opponent is doing and eventually win with flickerwisp, sun titan and emeria. It's primary focus is not maximizing the Sun Titan and Emeria abilities. There are a lot of flashy cards and techy SB options that seem like they would be good, but the card choice reflect the primary objective of controlling the game.
I've seen Guardian Seraph in a few MTGO daily winning decks recently and sideboarded in ally builds. I was considering taking the Unstable Footings out of the SB, but very little, if anything, in standard has the ability to wreck our deck like Guardian Seraph can, so the Unstable Footings stay for now.
What is the point in having megrim unless you have burning inquiry? You can't count on overdraw as a means to discard. there are too many decks out there that will play as many cards as you can feed them, and you can't afford to waste 3 mana on something that will never do a point of damage. Paired with burning inquiry, megrim can be devastating, especially if you have underworld or kederekt involved, but only having 4 cards in a deck to combo with means that megrim will be as good as a dead card in your hand unless you have a burning inquiry. As I mentioned before, Burning Inquiry is one of the most important cards in the deck, and I don't know if I'd consider the deck competitive enough to run without that key component.
The deck does best when it worries less about what the opponent is doing and focuses on winning a race. I will not main board any removal that cannot be directed to the face for the kill. terminate seems really out of place here. This is not your standard red/black build that auto-includes terminate. the average kill with this deck is on my turn 5 or their turn 6. I chuckle to myself when they plop a baneslayer down, thinking they've just made some ground. By the time a baneslayer gets out, I'm usually set up for the kill within 1 or 2 turns. Even If they do gain 5 off of a Baneslayer swing, I don't care. this deck has a propensity for overkill. very rarely is a kill "swing" exactly lethal. When built right, this deck explodes to the tune of 20-30+ damage in one turn by turn 4-6. I like deathmark in the sideboard for bant, mythic, and allies, and will not hesitate to bring it in when I know that they will have a lot of creatures fast, or something like Rafiq of the Many, which demands an automatic response. there is room in the SB to play with, so terminates sideboard does make a lot of sense to me, but I don't want to go into game 1 with anything that won't hit to the face.
Because this deck is often about winning a race, I have a very hard time with EtB tapped lands. Bojuka Bog seems strange to me. Open the vaults is a great matchup because it is a turn too slow for my deck, so the only potential value of bojuka bog is RDW, which is already in one of its worst matchups against us. RDW hates bolts and bursts. RDW is why I keep the 2 bursts in the SB in addition to the 2 I maindeck. Lavaclaw seems pointless to me. I need all of my mana available immediately. there is nothing worse than having the kill cards in your hand and drawing/burning inquiry/sign in blood into an EtBT land that you needed to be able to use for your kill shot. The four borderposts, which are necessary as a red permanent for kederekt, are the only mana sources that I would ever consider for this deck that come in tapped, because their potential to fuel your deck is a lot better than their drawback of EtBT. Also, with only 3 quests and no borderposts, you have only 3 red permanents for your kederekt. I am considering running a goblin guide or 2 if I can find room for them so that I can get an 8th or 9th red permanent for kederekt.
For speed over power reasons, I can't see running any fonts over having a playset of mines. I'm bouncing back and forth between 1 and 2 fonts main, and I think that I like running 1 and 3 runeflare instead of 4. Quest for pure flame is an automatic 4 of which is infinitely better with burning inquiry. my turn four wins are fueled by quests, burning inquiry and a few direct damage spells.
Sign in Blood is another auto-include for me which is a great hand fixer/filler and an awesome finisher in this deck.
I can't imagine spending 3 mana on sadistic sacrament to go after their library instead of spending 3 mana on underworld dreams, a mana accelerating borderpost, or any other combination of my cards that set up the kill or go for the face.
I like Banefire in the sideboard. I have really been considering that, as a few of the control builds out there do give me a bit of trouble.
I would suggest trying this and see what it does for you:
-4 Megrim
-2 sadistic sacrament (maybe move to SB)
-3 terminate (maybe move to SB)
-3 Lavaclaw Reaches
-2 Bojuka Bog
-2 mountain
+4 Veinfire Borderpost
+4Burning Inquiry
+1 Howling Mine
+1 Quest for Pure Flame
+4 sign in Blood
+2 Earthquake
Beyond that, I'd suggest figuring out how to get 1 or 2 more earthquakes in. My first thought would be to pull a burst, runeflare, font, or even an underworld dreams.
I hope that I am not being too critical. I'll always add supporting arguments if I am going to suggest changes to a deck. I have played hundreds of matches online with my build, and there is nothing more satisfying than easily sweeping a match against a net deck and then being called a noob for thinking that my terrible deck is any good. I really enjoy playing a deck that is both a combo deck and extremely consistent. I have really built the deck for consistency. i can see how a few of my inclusions may be a slight power drop-off from other's builds, but I am willing to bet that I have fewer bad draws than anyone else running a Draw to Death variation. I am very open-minded and would love to see thoughtful arguments supporting any changes to my deck, especially the sideboard. I'll be working on improving the sideboard this week.
I did stick a third verdict back into the main and am only running one main deck mana leak. If the daily that I played isn't published tomorrow then I'll get an updated list on here.
White sun's zenith and sunblast angel both work very well with this shell. I played one of each when I played this deck in standard, but I can't quite justify their inclusion in this list.
The main deck counters are basically outs for some matchups that are almost unwinnable without them. The goal with those slots is to provide outs against tough matchups without dilluting the deck. That is why I am on mana leak right now as it is flexible enough that it is decent in most all matchups. I like monastery siege over thirst for knowledge. I could definitely see running up to a playset of that card but I haven't found the room for it yet. currently have 1 main and 1 sideboard and have found that I haven't been using the sb copy much so probably just going to stick with the 1 main myself. I haven't been able to play much recently. Haven't been in a daily for a while.
Playing draw/go against twin changes their win condition from twin to keranos and burn. I side out a Sun Titan, verdicts, and pilgrim's eyes to lower the curve and play the whole game with mana up to deal with an end of turn exarch. There is no reason to play anything to press the tempo when you can hold answers to twin and stall the game. Twin is a tough matchup, but I have a lot of fun playing it as it does require optimal play and I am pretty 50/50 in the matchup to date.
The deck is 'structurally designed' to stall the game by any means necessary. Most changes that people make to my core list weaken this plan in favor of more tempo plays like restoration angel. There are definitely advantages to being able to press the tempo of a match, but I've found that the deck tends to get overpowered when going in that direction.
Playing control decks in any format requires a deep knowledge of the format and the deck that you are piloting. Modern is a very difficult format to control and I have learned to accept that it is not possible to win every match with any deck in this format. Winning in modern requires a high level of competence as well as a decent amount of luck in matchups and draws. Even the great matchups can go against you sometimes. Yesterday I lost to living end for the first time ever. That being said, if I'm going to play modern, I'm going to play something that I enjoy that is capable of taking down a tournament when the matchups and draws roll in your favor. I feel like this is a fairly difficult list to pilot optimally and I don't expect people to have the same success with it as soon as they pick it up.
It is a fun list that will reward you for getting to know it, but I'd highly recommend that you keep the deck's focus on controlling and stalling games rather than optimizing specific interactions or trying to push the tempo.
Snapcaster would be very good with the heavy counter sideboard option (which I am currently not on). In the main, I don't think that it has enough targets to warrant the slot. I could see running 1 main if the sideboard had a heavy counter package. I personally don't think that kor firewalker or timely reinforcements are flexible enough sb cards to warrant inclusion. I think leyline is more flexible and stronger against burn than either, but if you are wanting a budget alternative to leyline specifically for the burn matchup, either seem strong.
AND, YES, the cmc is a very strong argument in favor of lone missionary.
Trying Monastery Siege and loving it. Also currently running a more proactive answer suite with the runed halos/nevermores/leyline over more reactive counterspells. definitely pros and cons to each route and the correct choice is probably a meta call. The counter route is significantly better against tron.
I am currently running a one of monastery siege main and will probably be testing multiples soon.
My current list that I went 3-1 with yesterday: http://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/274204
While I admit that the amount of blue I play is more than just a splash, splashing a second color is incredibly easy in modern so I feel like small advantages gained from the second color are reason enough to include it. Whether playing blue or not, the core of the deck is heavily favored against creature based decks and most control builds, so the deckbuilding choices outside of that core have to maximize the win percentage in other matchups. Splinter Twin, specifically, is a very strong deck that is very popular right now so it heavily influences the non-core slot choices. We also need answers for the other combo decks and the tron decks which are a tough matchup. Burn is a decent matchup, but it definitely needs considered when making card choices. My goal with the core of the deck and specifically the 3 flex main slots and 12 of the sb slots is to raise my win percentages as much as possible against Twin, combo, tron variants, burn and the various combo decks. I feel like blue is really important here. Without it our answers are limited to enchantments like runed halo and leyline and hate bear type creatures, both of which are very weak against tron. Tron is the matchup that got me away from enchantment answers and testing more counters. While we can't let a single tier 2 matchup dictate our card choices in modern, I'm going to experiment with whatever I can to improve that matchup without giving up too much against other decks. This somewhat addresses the choice of playing blue for counterspells which is where my testing has lead me while also admitting that I'm not 100% convinced that a lot of counters are the ideal route to go. I do really like dispel as a backup to the enchantment answers of runed halo, nevermore, and leyline.
For me the most important reasons to play blue are detention sphere and spellbomb. The upgrade of detention sphere over O-ring is significant. Being able to wipe an army of tokens or any other multiples on the board is great card advantage. Flickering it to pick up additional copies of a previously exiled card is a common line of play. Spellbomb is a card my friend added to the deck last year. I talked it up pretty sufficiently in the primer. It wins games. Verdict over wrath is key against non-twin blue decks, specifically delver builds. The advantages of wrath over verdict aren't as relevant with this deck because of the number of blockers that we can put on the board to deal with regenerating creatures. As for a verdict on my board, I won't verdict if my board is stronger than theirs and I have access to those cards again via Sun Titan and Emeria. If you are worried about losing the body of court hussar, than flicker something else. It so rarely comes up. It is more common that you want it in the yard to abuse with sun titan and emeria. There isn't a better emeria target against many decks. It is a card that significantly contributes to the consistency of the deck and allows for a lower than expected land count.
Many people have suggested flagstones because of it's synergy with ghost quarter, but that isn't reason enough to disrupt the 2 color mana base. I could potentially see playing it in mono-white, but even there it seems bad when you don't draw ghost quarters. As for the 2 islands, they do interfere with the emeria plan a little, but it is essential to get double blue against twin and having the basics to search for with pilgrim's eye and ghost quarter is important. Also key to grab with flooded strands when you are playing against decks that could be playing blood moon.
I have played with restoration angel a lot in standard and in this build. I am fully aware of it's power and affect on the tempo of the game. In this build, the value gained from flickerwisp and even a card like glimmerpoint stag is significantly higher than restoration angel. Yes, angel is a better win con, but this is a control deck first that eventually finds a way to win. The additional abilities of flickerwisp are significantly better at controlling the early game. Angel is a very good card but it has a different agenda than the rest of the deck. 4 cmc is also pretty relevant. I would never play it over flickerwisp, and I have decided that there is not an available slot to play it in addition to flickerwisp. As for not being able to tap out for high cmc cards against counter, just don't play anything. I play a lot of draw go against twin. Draw, go is a very emeria friendly strategy. The matchups where this is relevant you board out a sun titan and the verdicts anyway so there are only the 3 remaining sun titans as high drops. This is a control deck, not a tempo deck.
4 Sun Titans..........While combo is a significant player in the meta, there are a lot more decks that sun titan shines against. After [i]some[i]tests with the deck, I also reduced the number of Sun Titans, but after extended testing I am in favor of siding out 1 when necessary and having the maximum amount available in the main game 1. Titan is better than you'd expect for 6 cmc against aggro decks and burn. Many of those games are won by a turn 5 (path) or 6 sun titan bringing back a lone missionary. This deck mulligans extremely well, so having to mulligan a sun titan heavy hand occasionally is a price I am willing to pay to increase my odds of seeing multiples over the course of the game. IF you were to remove a Sun Titan, that could make room for a restoration angel, but that is a change I thought was good, tried and have moved away from.
Went 3-1 in this afternoon's daily beating junk, scapeshift, and w/u hatebears. losing to eternal ghostway. He drew well, I didn't draw removal. We'll see if those results get published tomorrow. I've got a little different SB config I'm trying right now and I was playing a 1 of monastery siege over the 3rd hussar which felt really powerful.
that "original idea" was also my decklist which was an adaptation of a standard deck I'd been piloting for about 18 months. We took 3 copies to that PTQ.
Court Hussar not staying on the field is a bonus because of Sun Titan and Emeria. Everybody that I've seen try to play this deck in the past immediately cuts pilgrim's eyes and then comes back to me saying how inconsistent the deck is. Don't underestimate the little thopter, let your opponents do that.
Court Hussar lets you see an additional card, has vigilance, and is easier to get into the graveyard when you want it there.
http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/deck-creation-modern/600378-mono-value-control-aka-azorious-titan
Deck is still in the tuning phase and I am looking forward to seeing it improve through additional testing and discussion.
I x-2ed 3 PTQs with it and then extended died and I moved away from Magic for a while. Last year I was talked into getting into Modern and I knew exactly where I wanted to start. I made plans to attend GP Minneapolis with some friends so I used a few tix to put the core of the deck together on MTGO for some testing. http://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/232201 Obviously that sb is garbage. It was just some blue/white cards I had in my account. Went to the GP and performed decently, but math seemed to hate me that day. For example, the odds of top-decking 3 consecutive lands when there are only 5 left in your deck are pretty extreme. I was having a lot of success with my standard brew at the time so the modern project got sidetracked. Then delve happened to modern and that seemed like a for meta for this shell. Post delve bannings I decided to give it another run and it hasn't disappointed.
I am still very much in the tuning phase so the list is ever changing. Right after my 4-0 daily, I discovered I had been playing with a 14 card SB for a few days. Oops.
SO, THE DECK:
Core creatures
Pilgrim's Eye, 3-4 I LOVE being able to run this card in modern. It looks so bad but is so sneaky good in this shell. I say that it does everything poorly, but it does everything. Many games have been won because I had a flying, colorless blocker for inkmoth, blinkmoth, etched champion, creatures wearing sword of light and shadow, phyrexian crusader, etc. There have also been many games were I get in 4 to 5 points of damage per pilgrim's eye because it isn't a kill on sight threat. Most importantly, though, is getting the ETB effect an average of 3 times over the course of the game, allowing me to run fewer lands and quickly thinning the deck as the game goes longer.
Lone missionary, 3 Everyone wants to know why I choose this over kitchen Finks. It costs one less which is very key to the curve and it gains 4 life per ETB instead of 2. I know that typically you get more ETBs out of the Finks, but with Flickerwisp, Sun Titan, and Emeria, the 4 life per ETB is significant and is commonly used every turn in longer games.
Wall of Omens, 4 No explanation needed. I wanted more than 4, so...
Court Hussar, 2-3 Being able to get this card back into the graveyard is an advantage where it may appear to be a disadvantage. Before playing this card there were many times I had an active emeria and wall of omens on the board, but no way to generate additional value from them. When cast for 3 early in the game, court hussar is often a necessary blocker, but later in the game there are often times when I cast it with all blue/colorless mana so that it will go straight to the graveyard where I can access it's ability again sooner with Sun titan or Emeria.
Flickerwisp, 4 If abusing ETB triggers was the only purpose than Restoration Angel would be a better choice here, but Killing tokens, and getting more damage out of mortarpods is just the beginning of the extra talents theat the Flickerwisp has. The interaction with Detention Sphere is amazingly powerful. Resetting the sphere after additional copies of the originally exiled card are cast. Using the sphere on tokens, then resetting it onto something else. The 3 CMC is also key as it functions similar to phantasmal image when targeted by Sun Titan. Flickering a different flickerwisp allows the flicker ability to go on the stack on your end step so that an opponents permanent can be exile for the duration of their turn. I kept an opponent off of monastery siege draws for 3 turns with this recently. I would run a Glimmerpoint Stag over a Restoration Angel because of all of these interactions.
Sun Titan, 4 A full playset here seems like a lot and I have tested with 3 and even 2, but the card is so powerful that it is best to have 4 in the deck and SB one out in the appropriate matchups and be willing to mulligan certain hands that have 2+ of the giant. The best Sun Titan target is often a fetch land to quickly ramp into emeria.
SPELLS:
Path to Exile, 4 No much to say here. Pathing your own creatures to suddenly activate emeria comes up semi-regularly.
Detention Sphere, 3 As explained above, Flickerwisp plus Detention Sphere equals value. Being able to pull removal out of the yard with Sun Titan is also pretty nice. The advantages of Sphere over O ring is the primary reason to play blue.
Supreme Verdict 2-3 Creature based matchups are heavily in our favor game 1 and almost a lock after boarding into the full set of verdicts. I went down to 2 main the same time that I went up to 3 court hussar. There are enough matchups where verdict is weak, that it I'm ok with a slightly harder matchup against creature decks game 1.
Mortarpod 2 Killing one toughness creatures is just the beginning. Getting 2 or even 3 toughness creatures is easy with flickerwisp. Doing damage to planeswalkers with wall of omens is nice and when emeria and sun titan start doing work in the late game, mortarpod ensures that they have a good target in the yard all while shortening the opponents clock with the extra damage.
Aether Spellbomb, 2 Amazing against Twin and sweet interaction with Sun Titan, which is reason enough to run a couple in the current meta. Also great against infect, affinity, fish, and anything with token creatures. Also backs up pilgrim's eye in protecting against pro-white creatures. A simple cycle that you can recur with Sun Titan is solid in every other matchup. I am seriously considering going to 3 main, specifically for the twin matchup.
LANDS
Emeria, The Sky Ruin 3-4 Have tested a lot with only 3, but when you get to the point in the game where you can use it you really want to have at least one. The ability stacks, so having redundancy in your end game win con is certainly acceptable
Flooded Strand 3-4 I ran a set of fetches back in extended when I was mono white just for the fetch plus Sun titan ramp option.
Ghost Quarter 3-4 Necessary over tec edge against tron. Made this change recently and it is definitely correct. Extra ghost quarters in matchups where they aren't needed can target another non plains land to get another plains. Something that comes up against twin is the ability to turn a land into an island to activate spellbomb's bounce ability.
Hallowed Fountain 4
Island 2 A second blue source is key against Twin
Plains 6
That leaves 3 slots that I consider to be flexible that I am constantly tuning. In those 3 slots, I am currently running a swan song, a mana leak and a runed halo.
Creature based decks are great matchups. Twin is obviously a strong and popular deck that needs to be accounted for. There needs to be flexible answere to combo decks and tron in the board. I have tried runed halo/nevermore/leyline of sanctity and they are great in some matchups. I have more recently opted for more counterspells which are more flexible but weaker in some specific areas.
SIDEBOARD:
2 verdict and 1 sphere get used against all creature based matchups and sphere has additional utility.
2 Stony Silence obviously good in the already great affinity matchup, but are in the board because of their strength against tron
1 Dismember for twin and infect
1 Leyline of Sanctity/Lone Missionary/kor firewalker. Need another out to burn here and I am currently running the leyline as it has additional applications, specifically storm.
I have tried a lot of different cards in the rest of the sb slots. The bulk of the sb in this deck has to be able to shut down combo and help with twin and tron. I like runed halo/nevermore/leyline a lot, but they are susceptible to bounce and need to be backed up with counters. I like running up to 6 of these with dispels. The other option is to run more flexible counters like negate and mana leak.
Affinity, Infect, Abzan/Rock/etc, Delver, Living End. YES, PLEASE!!!!!! 85/15 feels conservative here. All creature based matchups are very heavy in our favor and get even better when you side out the 3 flex slots for the rest of the verdicts and the last sphere.
Burn. Can be difficult game 1. I'm running about 60/40 game 1 and 70/30 post board. The amount of triggers that resolve from lone missionary have a lot to do with who wins the matchup. post board counterspells for their skullcrack are really good. SB out pilgrim's eyes and spellbombs for counterspells and leyline/missionary.
Twin. 60/40. I love playing twin because it is a matchup that requires optimal play to win. It is a common enough deck that this matchup dictates or influences a lot of my card choices. Spellbomb is very good here. Keranos and bolts beat me as often as the combo but lone missionary and sphere combat that plan. SB out verdicts and pilgrim's eyes for counters/nevermore and dismember.
Tron. GR Tron Specifically is a bad matchup that influences my sb decisions. I feel like I'm about 35/65. I don't expect to get this matchup in my favor, but I want it to be competitive. Blue Tron is easier than r/g because they only have a few ways to win that are easier to interact with but it still is probably not in my favor.
Storm. the other tough matchup probably also about 35/65
U/W based control 75/25 or better. Deal with their man lands and play the long game until emeria is active
Scapeshift and other combo 40/60 game 1, 80/20 post board.
Results: http://www.mtggoldfish.com/player/TurboG73
This deck is a control deck whose primary function is to control what the opponent is doing and eventually win with flickerwisp, sun titan and emeria. It's primary focus is not maximizing the Sun Titan and Emeria abilities. There are a lot of flashy cards and techy SB options that seem like they would be good, but the card choice reflect the primary objective of controlling the game.
http://www.starcitygames.com/article/30479_Daily-Digest-Mono-Value-Control.html
I see this build as being a turn (or 2) too slow.
What is the point in having megrim unless you have burning inquiry? You can't count on overdraw as a means to discard. there are too many decks out there that will play as many cards as you can feed them, and you can't afford to waste 3 mana on something that will never do a point of damage. Paired with burning inquiry, megrim can be devastating, especially if you have underworld or kederekt involved, but only having 4 cards in a deck to combo with means that megrim will be as good as a dead card in your hand unless you have a burning inquiry. As I mentioned before, Burning Inquiry is one of the most important cards in the deck, and I don't know if I'd consider the deck competitive enough to run without that key component.
The deck does best when it worries less about what the opponent is doing and focuses on winning a race. I will not main board any removal that cannot be directed to the face for the kill. terminate seems really out of place here. This is not your standard red/black build that auto-includes terminate. the average kill with this deck is on my turn 5 or their turn 6. I chuckle to myself when they plop a baneslayer down, thinking they've just made some ground. By the time a baneslayer gets out, I'm usually set up for the kill within 1 or 2 turns. Even If they do gain 5 off of a Baneslayer swing, I don't care. this deck has a propensity for overkill. very rarely is a kill "swing" exactly lethal. When built right, this deck explodes to the tune of 20-30+ damage in one turn by turn 4-6. I like deathmark in the sideboard for bant, mythic, and allies, and will not hesitate to bring it in when I know that they will have a lot of creatures fast, or something like Rafiq of the Many, which demands an automatic response. there is room in the SB to play with, so terminates sideboard does make a lot of sense to me, but I don't want to go into game 1 with anything that won't hit to the face.
Because this deck is often about winning a race, I have a very hard time with EtB tapped lands. Bojuka Bog seems strange to me. Open the vaults is a great matchup because it is a turn too slow for my deck, so the only potential value of bojuka bog is RDW, which is already in one of its worst matchups against us. RDW hates bolts and bursts. RDW is why I keep the 2 bursts in the SB in addition to the 2 I maindeck. Lavaclaw seems pointless to me. I need all of my mana available immediately. there is nothing worse than having the kill cards in your hand and drawing/burning inquiry/sign in blood into an EtBT land that you needed to be able to use for your kill shot. The four borderposts, which are necessary as a red permanent for kederekt, are the only mana sources that I would ever consider for this deck that come in tapped, because their potential to fuel your deck is a lot better than their drawback of EtBT. Also, with only 3 quests and no borderposts, you have only 3 red permanents for your kederekt. I am considering running a goblin guide or 2 if I can find room for them so that I can get an 8th or 9th red permanent for kederekt.
For speed over power reasons, I can't see running any fonts over having a playset of mines. I'm bouncing back and forth between 1 and 2 fonts main, and I think that I like running 1 and 3 runeflare instead of 4. Quest for pure flame is an automatic 4 of which is infinitely better with burning inquiry. my turn four wins are fueled by quests, burning inquiry and a few direct damage spells.
Sign in Blood is another auto-include for me which is a great hand fixer/filler and an awesome finisher in this deck.
I can't imagine spending 3 mana on sadistic sacrament to go after their library instead of spending 3 mana on underworld dreams, a mana accelerating borderpost, or any other combination of my cards that set up the kill or go for the face.
I like Banefire in the sideboard. I have really been considering that, as a few of the control builds out there do give me a bit of trouble.
I would suggest trying this and see what it does for you:
-4 Megrim
-2 sadistic sacrament (maybe move to SB)
-3 terminate (maybe move to SB)
-3 Lavaclaw Reaches
-2 Bojuka Bog
-2 mountain
+4 Veinfire Borderpost
+4Burning Inquiry
+1 Howling Mine
+1 Quest for Pure Flame
+4 sign in Blood
+2 Earthquake
Beyond that, I'd suggest figuring out how to get 1 or 2 more earthquakes in. My first thought would be to pull a burst, runeflare, font, or even an underworld dreams.
I hope that I am not being too critical. I'll always add supporting arguments if I am going to suggest changes to a deck. I have played hundreds of matches online with my build, and there is nothing more satisfying than easily sweeping a match against a net deck and then being called a noob for thinking that my terrible deck is any good. I really enjoy playing a deck that is both a combo deck and extremely consistent. I have really built the deck for consistency. i can see how a few of my inclusions may be a slight power drop-off from other's builds, but I am willing to bet that I have fewer bad draws than anyone else running a Draw to Death variation. I am very open-minded and would love to see thoughtful arguments supporting any changes to my deck, especially the sideboard. I'll be working on improving the sideboard this week.
And one final thought:
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.EARTHQUAKE ROCKS IN THIS DECK!!!!
Happy Burning,
Turbo