But i dont play keranos vs delver, I play goyfs and obstinate baloths and huntmasters and batterskulls. I play keranos vs junk and melira pod.
Do you get to play in events with 26 card sideboards?!?
Delver is easy enough to beat if you play to a different goal than comboing out. What this means is that you prioritize removal-heavy hands and plan to stall them out around turn 5-7. At that point, no number of Treasure Cruises actually matter. You've got Electrolyze or Snapcaster + Forked Bolt or Spell Snare up. On the other hand, if you're attempting to combo, they just need to see one Vapor Snag to unwind all your plans.
So if you play that way, the trump cards should really trump. Your Dig through Time should find a card that is distorting when it resolves. Obstinate Baloth has been like that for me in Scapeshift but I wouldn't trust Twin to offer up two green sources on time and on schedule. If my goal is to resolve a big monster they can't beat, I don't want it to be something like Batterskull or Huntmaster that gets rocked by Vapor Snag or Bolt. So if you play Titan, you get to bring it in against everything, instead of having to devote diverse threats on your board to different matches. It ends up freeing a lot of sideboard space up. And I do bring it in against nearly everything. I've got three and they are a regular go-to for UWR Control, Pod, etc.
f0rk, it definitely supercharges the deck. I found that against removal-heavy decks, it was really rough sometimes when you'd mill 2 Splinter Twin and then you knew you were all in on drawing the other two. If you're going that route, I suggest a Kiki-Jiki somewhere in the list if you're doing 4 Thought Scour.
I really want to play Gigadrowse - you find that you have enough mana to use it? I found that between playing Gigadrowse and then Exarch, I couldn't tap an opponent off of Abrupt Decay/Combust. Do you play it when you've already got an Exarch out? Do it in their combat step so they cannot use or float mana? Please share your experiences!
so much better or so much worse? I love keranos, its more incremental advantage and is downright unkillable
I don't want to gain incremental advantage, I want to win!
Keranos doesn't do a thing about a Siege Rhino or Tarmogoyf on the board. He can't play through an Abrupt Decay from an opponent. He won't beat a Delver player holding Combust. He can't even bolt an opponent who has a Spellskite on the board. Twin doesn't have three Cryptic Commands any more - it can't play that incremental game where you can sit back and counter everything. I liked Batterskull but people are wise to that now and just Smash to Smithereens your card.
Anyway, I'm not here to win converts. I cut Keranos a long time ago and never regretted it. Teferi was a whole lot better at five mana, for that matter.
I came up with Titan a few pages back and I've been really pleased with it. By the time you've attacked the next turn, you've dealt 12 damage + anything you can firebreathe for, so it usually ends the game in a single attack. It gets past Etched Champion, laughs at Dismember, gets value from Vapor Snag, etc. I do find that you need to have one or two more lands in the deck to really feel comfortable with it. So much better than junk like Keranos, though.
I switched back to Anger. It's crucial to have enough red sources for it or you'll die with 'em in your hand. It's a reason to cut a Falls for a Cascade Bluffs, if nothing else.
Delver is a pretty easy match but it has a big learning curve. Mulligans are really important, threat assessment, etc. The fact that their deck is full of air really helps. You're not really trying to combo that deck but just run them out of cards and have a couple points of life left over. I'm always paranoid about UWR Control but again, you gotta remember that Twin is a huge threat against them. You've got a Sphere of Resistance on them since they have to keep a Path up all the time. They have no combo kill. They have to respect your combo kill even if you board it out and you've got junk like Blood Moon that really mess 'em up, too.
Yeah it was during my upkeep. He should have cast it at his end of turn and I should have remembered he had it and discarded something irrelevant. I just cleared out the extra Twin with the Delve payment, which was a bit of grace that saved me when I should have gotten blown out.
Played at the LGS last night, 4-0 in matches 8-0 in games. Didn't lose a single one. Played against UWR Geist/Delver, 8Rack, Junk and Affinity. I was on the store stream, the recording is here - I start at 1:45:00
Boomerang has been in top decks and is in the primer. It has been tested and is good in game one. After that it tends to be sided out.
This is kind of a noob question, but why side out Boomerang after game 1?
You're usually bringing in something better for the job. Threads against Goyf, Grudge against Affinity, etc. Boomerang is a fine catch-all but it doesn't permanently answer specific issues.
How is a guy that just pumps other dudes and relies on you playing more dudes a good card? Like, what specific situations are you Podding into that guy/playing him and still having business in hand to get the pump advantage from?
I have not had a resolved Mindcensor do a thing vs. Scapeshift. It's folly to assume that they'll Shift and not have a Remand or something else to back it up. Also, the sacrifice is part of the resolution, so they can choose to lose no lands.
Magus of the Moon screws Tron, but Avalanche Riders does it too and it gets really cute with Restoration Angel.
Linvala is good vs. Twin and Pod, and when I say "good," I mean that it nearly wins the game against them on her lonesome. It's a stopper that really does merit playing main. The body is pretty decent on its own. At four mana, you can go turn 1 Birds, turn 2 Pod, turn 3 2-drop into Exarch into Linvala, so she isn't too hard to get out. I just wish there were more truly devastating cards like Linvala in Modern.
Birthing Pod is your best chance of winning. The games where you have it, you win a lot. The games where they have Stony Silence, you still Chord up a Sage/Pridemage and kill it and win. I'd rather bring in a second Sage against Stony Silence than board out Pod. There's little sense in trying to next-level people on dead cards.
Taking Kiki out: I do it now and then if they have Bolt, Helix and Electrolyze handy. Otherwise I don't remove it. They've got to have a really hateful deck to make me want to remove a copy. I keep two in against Burn because your best method of winning is still combo killing them, and copying a Kitchen Finks is still a brutal move.
I ran three Reclamation Sages (should have been 2 sage 1 mage) and it was stellar. Way better than Ancient Grudge.
Thalia is a huge do-nothing. If you want that effect, Eidolon is just a better stopper.
The best way of picking bullets for Pod decks is to remember that you might not ever get to tutor for them, so they better be game-breaking when you get them. Spellskite, Linvala, Pridemage, Archmage, Avalanche Riders all break the game open. Thalia, Mindcensor, etc., do not.
4-0 at FNM tonight. Played against Hatebears, BG Rock, Affinity and RUG Monsters (ported from Standard so irrelevant).
I had Keranos on the board. Never went to get it. I suppose it's there for UWR but it's so awfully slow anyway.
I had a Reveillark maindeck and I never wanted it or got value from it.
I won every single game from the combo.
I cut all the Coursers to go back to boring old Finks and that felt right.
I had a Cunning Sparkmage maindecked and an Izzet Staticaster on the board. Will go to just straight Staticasters, probably, but having a maindeck pinger is glorious. I killed a bunch of Thalias, soldier tokens and a Mirran Crusader with Restoration Angel.
I cut Pridemage and did one Restoration Sage main, two on the board. I realize only now that I was blank to Torpor Orb. Three Sages was amazing, though. Much better than Ancient Grudge tends to be.
I never board them out. They're fantastic every step of the way and they're one of the few ways you have to outright combo someone. If you're looking for easy cuts against burn, then a Kiki and a Linvala are usually perfectly save to side out.
Do you get to play in events with 26 card sideboards?!?
Delver is easy enough to beat if you play to a different goal than comboing out. What this means is that you prioritize removal-heavy hands and plan to stall them out around turn 5-7. At that point, no number of Treasure Cruises actually matter. You've got Electrolyze or Snapcaster + Forked Bolt or Spell Snare up. On the other hand, if you're attempting to combo, they just need to see one Vapor Snag to unwind all your plans.
So if you play that way, the trump cards should really trump. Your Dig through Time should find a card that is distorting when it resolves. Obstinate Baloth has been like that for me in Scapeshift but I wouldn't trust Twin to offer up two green sources on time and on schedule. If my goal is to resolve a big monster they can't beat, I don't want it to be something like Batterskull or Huntmaster that gets rocked by Vapor Snag or Bolt. So if you play Titan, you get to bring it in against everything, instead of having to devote diverse threats on your board to different matches. It ends up freeing a lot of sideboard space up. And I do bring it in against nearly everything. I've got three and they are a regular go-to for UWR Control, Pod, etc.
f0rk, it definitely supercharges the deck. I found that against removal-heavy decks, it was really rough sometimes when you'd mill 2 Splinter Twin and then you knew you were all in on drawing the other two. If you're going that route, I suggest a Kiki-Jiki somewhere in the list if you're doing 4 Thought Scour.
I don't want to gain incremental advantage, I want to win!
Keranos doesn't do a thing about a Siege Rhino or Tarmogoyf on the board. He can't play through an Abrupt Decay from an opponent. He won't beat a Delver player holding Combust. He can't even bolt an opponent who has a Spellskite on the board. Twin doesn't have three Cryptic Commands any more - it can't play that incremental game where you can sit back and counter everything. I liked Batterskull but people are wise to that now and just Smash to Smithereens your card.
Anyway, I'm not here to win converts. I cut Keranos a long time ago and never regretted it. Teferi was a whole lot better at five mana, for that matter.
I'll type up a list later.
http://www.twitch.tv/gameswapmason/b/595117868
I wish I had a Dispel on the sideboard - that card is nuts. Stay tuned for the techy sideboard tech coming out in Game 2 of that vid, btw.
Gigadrowse has been phenomenal for me as a 2-of. You can lock out an opponent with no fear of repercussions and then combo out.
You're usually bringing in something better for the job. Threads against Goyf, Grudge against Affinity, etc. Boomerang is a fine catch-all but it doesn't permanently answer specific issues.
Magus of the Moon screws Tron, but Avalanche Riders does it too and it gets really cute with Restoration Angel.
Linvala is good vs. Twin and Pod, and when I say "good," I mean that it nearly wins the game against them on her lonesome. It's a stopper that really does merit playing main. The body is pretty decent on its own. At four mana, you can go turn 1 Birds, turn 2 Pod, turn 3 2-drop into Exarch into Linvala, so she isn't too hard to get out. I just wish there were more truly devastating cards like Linvala in Modern.
Taking Kiki out: I do it now and then if they have Bolt, Helix and Electrolyze handy. Otherwise I don't remove it. They've got to have a really hateful deck to make me want to remove a copy. I keep two in against Burn because your best method of winning is still combo killing them, and copying a Kitchen Finks is still a brutal move.
I ran three Reclamation Sages (should have been 2 sage 1 mage) and it was stellar. Way better than Ancient Grudge.
Thalia is a huge do-nothing. If you want that effect, Eidolon is just a better stopper.
The best way of picking bullets for Pod decks is to remember that you might not ever get to tutor for them, so they better be game-breaking when you get them. Spellskite, Linvala, Pridemage, Archmage, Avalanche Riders all break the game open. Thalia, Mindcensor, etc., do not.
I had Keranos on the board. Never went to get it. I suppose it's there for UWR but it's so awfully slow anyway.
I had a Reveillark maindeck and I never wanted it or got value from it.
I won every single game from the combo.
I cut all the Coursers to go back to boring old Finks and that felt right.
I had a Cunning Sparkmage maindecked and an Izzet Staticaster on the board. Will go to just straight Staticasters, probably, but having a maindeck pinger is glorious. I killed a bunch of Thalias, soldier tokens and a Mirran Crusader with Restoration Angel.
I cut Pridemage and did one Restoration Sage main, two on the board. I realize only now that I was blank to Torpor Orb. Three Sages was amazing, though. Much better than Ancient Grudge tends to be.