I think main deck leyline is very appealing. It provides protection against our most mainstream weakness in discard and also provides semi-free wins against very popular decks in storm and burn when we open on them (I think online where these are a big share of the meta this is particularly important).
There are just corner cases when you can cast Pact of Negation turn 1 after playing Seachrome Coast to grace next turn. Or a Pact of Negation on turn 3 to combo on turn 4.
But I agree that Leyline of Sanctity mainboard seems to be necessary in the current meta. I will never cut 3 Spoils of the Vault main deck since it's a better card with 4 Phyrexian Unlifes mainboard. Perhaps 1 Boseiju in the main? but it seems to not be worth it since most blue decks have either Spreading Seas or Ghost Quarter mainboard so 4 Pact of Negations in your 75 is the bare minimum.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
plays Ad Nauseam and Amulet Bloom in Modern
"He traded sand for skins, skins for gold, gold for life. In the end, he traded life for sand."
—Afari, Tales
For the deck, I got 3rd edition white bordered basic lands. So much swag with white borders and pink sleeves
Report from FNM
Match 1 : Grixis Control.
Result: 0-2.
Notes : really a bad game. Poor draws, never found Ad Nauseam in game 1 and wasted double Angel's Grace buying turns. Game 2 was one turn shy of comboing, but he destroyed my Phyrexian Unlife (I would have comboed with SSG and the 4 lands in play at the upkeep after a Pact of Negation on something I don't remember).
Match 2 : Emeria Control.
Result: 2-0.
Notes : nothing to say. Straight win in game 1 with the combo on turn 7-8 after using Mystical Teachings to get a Pact of Negation to protect the combo. Game 2 was even faster when he got bait by a Phyrexian Unlife. Easy matchup.
Match 3 : Dredge.
Result: 2-1.
Notes : game 1, combo on turn 4. No interactions whatsoever. Game 2, I had a slow hand an mulled down to 6 with no combo pieces, but lots of cantrips. He comboed faster that I could. Game 3, Pact of Negation on Unburial Rites targeting Iona, then at the upkeep Angel's Grace and Ad Nauseam. Easy stuff again.
Match 4 : UWR Control.
Result: 2-0.
Notes : game 1 took like 12 turns. I had 3 Lotus Bloom in play, 5 lands and 1 Pact of Negation. 3 Mana Leak on his side, I paid for 2 and used Pact of Negation on the last one. Game 2, Phyrexian Unlife on the board and Silence in response to a Lightning Helix. Silence resolves, free Ad Nauseam. Yay!
In all, deck well-tuned for right now. I feel like I'd be 6-2 on a day 1 GP and fighting hard to get 7-2 and through day 2. I don't see Infect anymore, no BG/x at all, so all good matchups mostly.
how did Grixis in round 1 destroy your Unlife? Did he play an Engineered Explosives on 3? Do you think having the 3 Leyline of Sanctity instead of the 3 Pact of Negation during those matchups would have made a huge difference to secure the win?
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
plays Ad Nauseam and Amulet Bloom in Modern
"He traded sand for skins, skins for gold, gold for life. In the end, he traded life for sand."
—Afari, Tales
how did Grixis in round 1 destroy your Unlife? Did he play an Engineered Explosives on 3? Do you think having the 3 Leyline of Sanctity instead of the 3 Pact of Negation during those matchups would have made a huge difference to secure the win?
Exactly : EE did the job on 3 and that was game over. Having Leyline main is not the way I want to go because of my meta. It's filled with Tron, Storm, Affinity, Hatebears, Soul Sisters and BW Tokens. I'm not sure it's the best for me. In a blind meta also, I wouldn't go for it either : having them in the sb is handy for game 2 and 3 if it goes there and Pact as always been relevent.
played a 40-man PPTQ and tried the 3 leylines main and got wrecked with my first 2 matchups and a 6 temple build.
Round 1 - Jeskai 2-1
lost game 1 - I had a lotus bloom on turn 1 and he never tapped low and had burn spells on my face with a turn 2 snapcaster as his clock. he countered my lotus bloom on turn 4 and i didn't have enough mana to try to combo off
won game 2 - easily with pact of negation backup
lost game 3 - with a Geist of Saint Traft turn 3. I slam Unlife and then he casts Wear. I play a second Unlife and he counters it. Was short on mana to combo off.
Round 2 - Jeskai 2-1
lost game 1 - had leyline on turn 0 to turn off his burn spells but he casts a snapcaster on turn 2 as his clock. tried to combo when he had 2 untapped lands but he had a 4 cards in his graveyard to cast Logic Knot. I was stupid enough to confirm if he just wanted to delve 3 cards since I had 2 extra mana from pentad prism. He changed his mind to delve 4 since he suspected I had a simian in hand which I did to be able to pay for 3.
won game 2 - easily with Pact of negation backup
lost game 3 - after a turn 1 thoughtseize on his Geist #1. He drew another one and I pacted it on turn 3 playing grace next turn. He draws another Geist the next turn which I can't kill.
Round 3 - Merfolk 0-2
lost game 1 - with him on a mulligan to 5. I was going to combo next turn and he had 2 Cursecatchers. He attacks his Smuggler's Copter the next turn and draw a third Cursecatcher. My only out is an untapped land on my next turn to be able to pay the 3 mana off the Cusecatchers and I drew a temple.
lost game 2 - kept a gemstone mine as my only land and 2 pentead prisms and 3 cantrips but has 1 pact of negation. He had me on lethal on turn 5 if I let him resolve his spreading seas. I had to pact and lost. I should have cast Spoils for Bontu's Last Reckoning. He just had gas all the way with a turn 1 vial.
Round 4 - RG Devotion 2-0
turn 4 wins both games
Round 5 - Dredge 2-0
game 1 - I was on the play and I knew he was on dredge and had 2 lotus blooms on suspend. On turn 3, I cast Leyline off Simian which was the right play since he already had a Conflagrate in his graveyard to shoot me for lethal. I draw Spoils the next turn to combo.
game 2 - I was on the draw and played an Urborg and Grafdigger's Cage. He casts Abrupt Decay on turn 2. and I cantip into another Grafdigger's Cage and just won on the spot.
Round 6 - Titanshift 0
game 1 - I open with leyline on turn 0 but just had 1 grace and spoils and he casts a turn 2 Chalice on 1 then eventually Chandra, TOD on turn 3 shooting me for 2 each turn. He eventually draws his maindeck Chalice and casts it for 1. I finally draw Ad Nauseam but needed to find a Phyrexian Unlife. He reveals another Chalice for 3 which is GG
game 2 - I open with leyline on turn 0 again and he again casts Chandra TOD on turn 3 then a Primeval Titan on turn 4 with him tapped out, I decided to cast Spoils for value since I had 7 mana on my next turn at 18 life. Ad Nauseam was the 19th card.
The leylines maindeck wrecked me with the Jeskai matchups and was trying to stay away from those matchups with this build. I thought these were winnable matchups with pact of negation maindeck and I'm still on the fence which one I'll be using for the next PPTQ.
Anyone else want to share their experience with the deck recently? I was missing the 2 Dreadship Reefs with a 21-land build and the Boseiju in the sideboard. I guess I was just unlucky with the pairings.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
plays Ad Nauseam and Amulet Bloom in Modern
"He traded sand for skins, skins for gold, gold for life. In the end, he traded life for sand."
—Afari, Tales
[[fiery justice]] and [[abrupt decay]] seem like notable omissions to me.
Fracturing gust and slaughter games seems like it'd be my first cuts. I don't think stuff like wear//tear and wargate are good in the sideboard--they're for casting from the hand, not wishing for then casting a turn later--in the games you want them, you want to be fast, so either run multiples or figure something out that's better.
played a 40-man PPTQ and tried the 3 leylines main and got wrecked with my first 2 matchups and a 6 temple build.
Round 1 - Jeskai 2-1
lost game 1 - I had a lotus bloom on turn 1 and he never tapped low and had burn spells on my face with a turn 2 snapcaster as his clock. he countered my lotus bloom on turn 4 and i didn't have enough mana to try to combo off
won game 2 - easily with pact of negation backup
lost game 3 - with a Geist of Saint Traft turn 3. I slam Unlife and then he casts Wear. I play a second Unlife and he counters it. Was short on mana to combo off.
Round 2 - Jeskai 2-1
lost game 1 - had leyline on turn 0 to turn off his burn spells but he casts a snapcaster on turn 2 as his clock. tried to combo when he had 2 untapped lands but he had a 4 cards in his graveyard to cast Logic Knot. I was stupid enough to confirm if he just wanted to delve 3 cards since I had 2 extra mana from pentad prism. He changed his mind to delve 4 since he suspected I had a simian in hand which I did to be able to pay for 3.
won game 2 - easily with Pact of negation backup
lost game 3 - after a turn 1 thoughtseize on his Geist #1. He drew another one and I pacted it on turn 3 playing grace next turn. He draws another Geist the next turn which I can't kill.
Round 3 - Merfolk 0-2
lost game 1 - with him on a mulligan to 5. I was going to combo next turn and he had 2 Cursecatchers. He attacks his Smuggler's Copter the next turn and draw a third Cursecatcher. My only out is an untapped land on my next turn to be able to pay the 3 mana off the Cusecatchers and I drew a temple.
lost game 2 - kept a gemstone mine as my only land and 2 pentead prisms and 3 cantrips but has 1 pact of negation. He had me on lethal on turn 5 if I let him resolve his spreading seas. I had to pact and lost. I should have cast Spoils for Bontu's Last Reckoning. He just had gas all the way with a turn 1 vial.
Round 4 - RG Devotion 2-0
turn 4 wins both games
Round 5 - Dredge 2-0
game 1 - I was on the play and I knew he was on dredge and had 2 lotus blooms on suspend. On turn 3, I cast Leyline off Simian which was the right play since he already had a Conflagrate in his graveyard to shoot me for lethal. I draw Spoils the next turn to combo.
game 2 - I was on the draw and played an Urborg and Grafdigger's Cage. He casts Abrupt Decay on turn 2. and I cantip into another Grafdigger's Cage and just won on the spot.
Round 6 - Titanshift 0
game 1 - I open with leyline on turn 0 but just had 1 grace and spoils and he casts a turn 2 Chalice on 1 then eventually Chandra, TOD on turn 3 shooting me for 2 each turn. He eventually draws his maindeck Chalice and casts it for 1. I finally draw Ad Nauseam but needed to find a Phyrexian Unlife. He reveals another Chalice for 3 which is GG
game 2 - I open with leyline on turn 0 again and he again casts Chandra TOD on turn 3 then a Primeval Titan on turn 4 with him tapped out, I decided to cast Spoils for value since I had 7 mana on my next turn at 18 life. Ad Nauseam was the 19th card.
The leylines maindeck wrecked me with the Jeskai matchups and was trying to stay away from those matchups with this build. I thought these were winnable matchups with pact of negation maindeck and I'm still on the fence which one I'll be using for the next PPTQ.
Anyone else want to share their experience with the deck recently? I was missing the 2 Dreadship Reefs with a 21-land build and the Boseiju in the sideboard. I guess I was just unlucky with the pairings.
I went to a 22-person event this past weekend, also playing the 3/1-mb/sb leyline split and 3 pacts in the side. However, I had a copy of Boseiju & Urborg as my 2 maindeck tech lands. Having a 7th etb-tapped land hurts, but having Urborg eases the pain of an early Boseiju(or late at 0-1 life).
I somehow completely dodged Shadow lists, but faced Jeskai round 2 and felt the lack of Pacts. Hilariously enough, I lost game 2 with 2 pacts in hand and a Boseiju in play, couldn't find a copy of AdNaus at all. Having faced Burn and Jundy Jund during that event made main deck leyline feel fantastic, though. Against DS, I'm more afraid of their discard than their 3-4 counter spells (game 1). Postboard I definitely side-in pacts alongside leyline #4, hedging my bets against interaction.
In round 6 game 2, did you have Unlife or Grace in hand? I understand spoils at opponent's endstep if you have Unlife in hand, but with 7 mana & grace it seems odd.
It felt safe to Spoils for Ad Nauseam since I had a Lightning Storm and 1 ape in hand and scrying another ape at the bottom of my library even if I had Grace in hand. I saw chalice of the voids and beast withins and didn't want him to untap and have access to draw 2 cards (the other from Chandra TOD) and get lucky and destroy my leyline and just kill me with lethal or leaving a fetch land and triggering all his valakuts to throw at me during upkeep after casting grace.
Do you think the 2 Godhead of Awes in the sideboard is enough to combat Grixis DS? What other matchups would it be useful? Seems like it's only good in Grixis DS and maybe Jund or Abzan (except Grim Flayer)?
Anyone else using other sideboard cards against Grixis DS? Seems like you want to have at least 1 Boseiju, 4 Leylines and at least 3 Pacts in that matchup and that's a lot of cards if you also include 2 Godhead of Awe
It felt safe to Spoils for Ad Nauseam since I had a Lightning Storm and 1 ape in hand and scrying another ape at the bottom of my library even if I had Grace in hand. I saw chalice of the voids and beast withins and didn't want him to untap and have access to draw 2 cards (the other from Chandra TOD) and get lucky and destroy my leyline and just kill me with lethal or leaving a fetch land and triggering all his valakuts to throw at me during upkeep after casting grace.
Do you think the 2 Godhead of Awes in the sideboard is enough to combat Grixis DS? What other matchups would it be useful? Seems like it's only good in Grixis DS and maybe Jund or Abzan (except Grim Flayer)?
Anyone else using other sideboard cards against Grixis DS? Seems like you want to have at least 1 Boseiju, 4 Leylines and at least 3 Pacts in that matchup and that's a lot of cards if you also include 2 Godhead of Awe
Godhead of Awe also seems quite decent against Eldrazi Tron and Bant Eldrazi. Oh, and the Vengevine/Hollow One deck.
I think I would simply board in 4 Leyline and 2 Godhead in this matchup. Shaving some number of Spoils of the Vault, Angel's Grace, Pentad Prism, and Pact of Negations, although the exact number of each im not certain.
Need one last slot, which I want to be filling the grindy matchup slot but specifically for scenarios where I am behind. Normally, this would be a painful truths-esque card. However, I don't want to really be playing Esper Charms or whatever to just spend my turn drawing 2 when I'm behind.
The cards previously for contention in this slot were Narset Transcendent and Keranos, God of Storms. The problem I've had with both these cards is they aren't great at catching you up when you're both topdecking but your opponent has pressure in play. Normally Sigarda is just the default go-to when you have nothing else; her problem is that on some boards she just chump blocks and doesn't advance you at all. With a toolbox sideboard like this deck, I want something specifically to stop decks from crushing me in this spot.
Godhead of Awe is probably okay at this. Should I just bank on her to get the job done in the spots where Sigarda will have to be on blocking duty?
Anyhow, my considerations for this 15th slot are:
- Assemble the Legion. Chumpblocks the first turn but can turn a board around after a few turns. It's really slow, but the card is cute.
- Villainous Wealth. I think you have to cast this for probably 5 or more before it becomes decent, but maybe I'm wrong. This usually lets you get onto the board while also maybe drawing you some removal spells, as most of the grindy decks right now are midrange decks with a mix of threats and removal.
- Epic Experiment. This is probably just better than Wealth, but slightly worse against hate cards (e.g. if your Ad Naus got slaughtered)
- Cruel Ultimatum. This has less flexibility than the above two, but I doubt you are happy casting the X cards for less than x=5 I think. You lose value because you don't get a creature back usually, but gaining life and drawing cards are good. The discard clause is not super relevant but making your opponent sac a creature is strong.
- Dark Intimations. Same deal as Cruel, but less swingy. It does cost less though so you are much much more likely to Wish and Intimations in the same turn
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Canadian East Coast grinder
I live for fair Magic.
Need one last slot, which I want to be filling the grindy matchup slot but specifically for scenarios where I am behind. Normally, this would be a painful truths-esque card. However, I don't want to really be playing Esper Charms or whatever to just spend my turn drawing 2 when I'm behind.
The cards previously for contention in this slot were Narset Transcendent and Keranos, God of Storms. The problem I've had with both these cards is they aren't great at catching you up when you're both topdecking but your opponent has pressure in play. Normally Sigarda is just the default go-to when you have nothing else; her problem is that on some boards she just chump blocks and doesn't advance you at all. With a toolbox sideboard like this deck, I want something specifically to stop decks from crushing me in this spot.
Godhead of Awe is probably okay at this. Should I just bank on her to get the job done in the spots where Sigarda will have to be on blocking duty?
Anyhow, my considerations for this 15th slot are:
- Assemble the Legion. Chumpblocks the first turn but can turn a board around after a few turns. It's really slow, but the card is cute.
- Villainous Wealth. I think you have to cast this for probably 5 or more before it becomes decent, but maybe I'm wrong. This usually lets you get onto the board while also maybe drawing you some removal spells, as most of the grindy decks right now are midrange decks with a mix of threats and removal.
- Epic Experiment. This is probably just better than Wealth, but slightly worse against hate cards (e.g. if your Ad Naus got slaughtered)
- Cruel Ultimatum. This has less flexibility than the above two, but I doubt you are happy casting the X cards for less than x=5 I think. You lose value because you don't get a creature back usually, but gaining life and drawing cards are good. The discard clause is not super relevant but making your opponent sac a creature is strong.
- Dark Intimations. Same deal as Cruel, but less swingy. It does cost less though so you are much much more likely to Wish and Intimations in the same turn
I would play Grave Titan. Fast Clock, good blocker.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'm actively maintaining a comprehensive article to help explain to new cube players how some complex vintage level cards work in a cube environment. Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Against DS, sideboard plan for me is :
4 Leyline.
2 Path.
1 Silence.
Taking out 1 Pentad, 1 Bloom, 1 Teachings, 1 Unlife (if you run 4) and 1 Sleight. Rest depends on the situation. I hate taking out everything and having speed is key in this matchup. We need to navigate through a lot of hate, so diluting the deck too much is not a good idea. And there's no easy option like taking 4 Bloom out against Storm running Remand.
I play Grave titan in the regular version, but I'm trying to find a fun multicoloured bomb that I can get with Wish
I personally really like Dragonlord Silumgar. Stealing your opponent's stuff is quite nasty (Great answer to Liliana too).
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I'm actively maintaining a comprehensive article to help explain to new cube players how some complex vintage level cards work in a cube environment. Vintage Cube Cards Explained
But I agree that Leyline of Sanctity mainboard seems to be necessary in the current meta. I will never cut 3 Spoils of the Vault main deck since it's a better card with 4 Phyrexian Unlifes mainboard. Perhaps 1 Boseiju in the main? but it seems to not be worth it since most blue decks have either Spreading Seas or Ghost Quarter mainboard so 4 Pact of Negations in your 75 is the bare minimum.
"He traded sand for skins, skins for gold, gold for life. In the end, he traded life for sand."
—Afari, Tales
4 Simian Spirit Guide
1 Laboratory Maniac
Lands (20)
2 City of Brass
2 Flooded Strand
2 Island
2 Polluted Delta
4 Temple of Deceit
2 Temple of Enlightenment
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Plains
1 Tolaria West
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Swamp
1 Watery Grave
4 Ad Nauseam
4 Angel's Grace
4 Lotus Bloom
4 Pentad Prism
4 Serum Visions
4 Sleight of Hand
3 Pact of Negation
3 Phyrexian Unlife
2 Peer Through Depths
1 Mystical Teachings
1 Lightning Storm
1 Slaughter Pact
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Ethereal Haze
2 Path to Exile
1 Celestial Purge
1 Duress
1 Echoing Truth
1 Silence
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Timely Reinforcements
1 Wear // Tear
For the deck, I got 3rd edition white bordered basic lands. So much swag with white borders and pink sleeves
Report from FNM
Match 1 : Grixis Control.
Result: 0-2.
Notes : really a bad game. Poor draws, never found Ad Nauseam in game 1 and wasted double Angel's Grace buying turns. Game 2 was one turn shy of comboing, but he destroyed my Phyrexian Unlife (I would have comboed with SSG and the 4 lands in play at the upkeep after a Pact of Negation on something I don't remember).
Match 2 : Emeria Control.
Result: 2-0.
Notes : nothing to say. Straight win in game 1 with the combo on turn 7-8 after using Mystical Teachings to get a Pact of Negation to protect the combo. Game 2 was even faster when he got bait by a Phyrexian Unlife. Easy matchup.
Match 3 : Dredge.
Result: 2-1.
Notes : game 1, combo on turn 4. No interactions whatsoever. Game 2, I had a slow hand an mulled down to 6 with no combo pieces, but lots of cantrips. He comboed faster that I could. Game 3, Pact of Negation on Unburial Rites targeting Iona, then at the upkeep Angel's Grace and Ad Nauseam. Easy stuff again.
Match 4 : UWR Control.
Result: 2-0.
Notes : game 1 took like 12 turns. I had 3 Lotus Bloom in play, 5 lands and 1 Pact of Negation. 3 Mana Leak on his side, I paid for 2 and used Pact of Negation on the last one. Game 2, Phyrexian Unlife on the board and Silence in response to a Lightning Helix. Silence resolves, free Ad Nauseam. Yay!
In all, deck well-tuned for right now. I feel like I'd be 6-2 on a day 1 GP and fighting hard to get 7-2 and through day 2. I don't see Infect anymore, no BG/x at all, so all good matchups mostly.
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
"He traded sand for skins, skins for gold, gold for life. In the end, he traded life for sand."
—Afari, Tales
Just wondering, thanks
technically in any mu if you think they are bringing hate from the board instead of removal
Exactly : EE did the job on 3 and that was game over. Having Leyline main is not the way I want to go because of my meta. It's filled with Tron, Storm, Affinity, Hatebears, Soul Sisters and BW Tokens. I'm not sure it's the best for me. In a blind meta also, I wouldn't go for it either : having them in the sb is handy for game 2 and 3 if it goes there and Pact as always been relevent.
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Round 1 - Jeskai 2-1
lost game 1 - I had a lotus bloom on turn 1 and he never tapped low and had burn spells on my face with a turn 2 snapcaster as his clock. he countered my lotus bloom on turn 4 and i didn't have enough mana to try to combo off
won game 2 - easily with pact of negation backup
lost game 3 - with a Geist of Saint Traft turn 3. I slam Unlife and then he casts Wear. I play a second Unlife and he counters it. Was short on mana to combo off.
Round 2 - Jeskai 2-1
lost game 1 - had leyline on turn 0 to turn off his burn spells but he casts a snapcaster on turn 2 as his clock. tried to combo when he had 2 untapped lands but he had a 4 cards in his graveyard to cast Logic Knot. I was stupid enough to confirm if he just wanted to delve 3 cards since I had 2 extra mana from pentad prism. He changed his mind to delve 4 since he suspected I had a simian in hand which I did to be able to pay for 3.
won game 2 - easily with Pact of negation backup
lost game 3 - after a turn 1 thoughtseize on his Geist #1. He drew another one and I pacted it on turn 3 playing grace next turn. He draws another Geist the next turn which I can't kill.
Round 3 - Merfolk 0-2
lost game 1 - with him on a mulligan to 5. I was going to combo next turn and he had 2 Cursecatchers. He attacks his Smuggler's Copter the next turn and draw a third Cursecatcher. My only out is an untapped land on my next turn to be able to pay the 3 mana off the Cusecatchers and I drew a temple.
lost game 2 - kept a gemstone mine as my only land and 2 pentead prisms and 3 cantrips but has 1 pact of negation. He had me on lethal on turn 5 if I let him resolve his spreading seas. I had to pact and lost. I should have cast Spoils for Bontu's Last Reckoning. He just had gas all the way with a turn 1 vial.
Round 4 - RG Devotion 2-0
turn 4 wins both games
Round 5 - Dredge 2-0
game 1 - I was on the play and I knew he was on dredge and had 2 lotus blooms on suspend. On turn 3, I cast Leyline off Simian which was the right play since he already had a Conflagrate in his graveyard to shoot me for lethal. I draw Spoils the next turn to combo.
game 2 - I was on the draw and played an Urborg and Grafdigger's Cage. He casts Abrupt Decay on turn 2. and I cantip into another Grafdigger's Cage and just won on the spot.
Round 6 - Titanshift 0
game 1 - I open with leyline on turn 0 but just had 1 grace and spoils and he casts a turn 2 Chalice on 1 then eventually Chandra, TOD on turn 3 shooting me for 2 each turn. He eventually draws his maindeck Chalice and casts it for 1. I finally draw Ad Nauseam but needed to find a Phyrexian Unlife. He reveals another Chalice for 3 which is GG
game 2 - I open with leyline on turn 0 again and he again casts Chandra TOD on turn 3 then a Primeval Titan on turn 4 with him tapped out, I decided to cast Spoils for value since I had 7 mana on my next turn at 18 life. Ad Nauseam was the 19th card.
The leylines maindeck wrecked me with the Jeskai matchups and was trying to stay away from those matchups with this build. I thought these were winnable matchups with pact of negation maindeck and I'm still on the fence which one I'll be using for the next PPTQ.
Anyone else want to share their experience with the deck recently? I was missing the 2 Dreadship Reefs with a 21-land build and the Boseiju in the sideboard. I guess I was just unlucky with the pairings.
"He traded sand for skins, skins for gold, gold for life. In the end, he traded life for sand."
—Afari, Tales
Any obvious multicolored cards that I missed?
Fracturing gust and slaughter games seems like it'd be my first cuts. I don't think stuff like wear//tear and wargate are good in the sideboard--they're for casting from the hand, not wishing for then casting a turn later--in the games you want them, you want to be fast, so either run multiples or figure something out that's better.
I went to a 22-person event this past weekend, also playing the 3/1-mb/sb leyline split and 3 pacts in the side. However, I had a copy of Boseiju & Urborg as my 2 maindeck tech lands. Having a 7th etb-tapped land hurts, but having Urborg eases the pain of an early Boseiju(or late at 0-1 life).
I somehow completely dodged Shadow lists, but faced Jeskai round 2 and felt the lack of Pacts. Hilariously enough, I lost game 2 with 2 pacts in hand and a Boseiju in play, couldn't find a copy of AdNaus at all. Having faced Burn and Jundy Jund during that event made main deck leyline feel fantastic, though. Against DS, I'm more afraid of their discard than their 3-4 counter spells (game 1). Postboard I definitely side-in pacts alongside leyline #4, hedging my bets against interaction.
In round 6 game 2, did you have Unlife or Grace in hand? I understand spoils at opponent's endstep if you have Unlife in hand, but with 7 mana & grace it seems odd.
Do you think the 2 Godhead of Awes in the sideboard is enough to combat Grixis DS? What other matchups would it be useful? Seems like it's only good in Grixis DS and maybe Jund or Abzan (except Grim Flayer)?
Anyone else using other sideboard cards against Grixis DS? Seems like you want to have at least 1 Boseiju, 4 Leylines and at least 3 Pacts in that matchup and that's a lot of cards if you also include 2 Godhead of Awe
"He traded sand for skins, skins for gold, gold for life. In the end, he traded life for sand."
—Afari, Tales
Godhead of Awe also seems quite decent against Eldrazi Tron and Bant Eldrazi. Oh, and the Vengevine/Hollow One deck.
I think I would simply board in 4 Leyline and 2 Godhead in this matchup. Shaving some number of Spoils of the Vault, Angel's Grace, Pentad Prism, and Pact of Negations, although the exact number of each im not certain.
My SB:
- 4 leyline
- 2 Ethereal Haze
- 1 BTL
- 1 Wargate
- 1 Wear tear
- 1 Fracturing Gust
- 1 Firespout
- 1 Verdict
- 1 Godhead
- 1 Sigarda
Need one last slot, which I want to be filling the grindy matchup slot but specifically for scenarios where I am behind. Normally, this would be a painful truths-esque card. However, I don't want to really be playing Esper Charms or whatever to just spend my turn drawing 2 when I'm behind.
The cards previously for contention in this slot were Narset Transcendent and Keranos, God of Storms. The problem I've had with both these cards is they aren't great at catching you up when you're both topdecking but your opponent has pressure in play. Normally Sigarda is just the default go-to when you have nothing else; her problem is that on some boards she just chump blocks and doesn't advance you at all. With a toolbox sideboard like this deck, I want something specifically to stop decks from crushing me in this spot.
Godhead of Awe is probably okay at this. Should I just bank on her to get the job done in the spots where Sigarda will have to be on blocking duty?
Anyhow, my considerations for this 15th slot are:
- Assemble the Legion. Chumpblocks the first turn but can turn a board around after a few turns. It's really slow, but the card is cute.
- Villainous Wealth. I think you have to cast this for probably 5 or more before it becomes decent, but maybe I'm wrong. This usually lets you get onto the board while also maybe drawing you some removal spells, as most of the grindy decks right now are midrange decks with a mix of threats and removal.
- Epic Experiment. This is probably just better than Wealth, but slightly worse against hate cards (e.g. if your Ad Naus got slaughtered)
- Cruel Ultimatum. This has less flexibility than the above two, but I doubt you are happy casting the X cards for less than x=5 I think. You lose value because you don't get a creature back usually, but gaining life and drawing cards are good. The discard clause is not super relevant but making your opponent sac a creature is strong.
- Dark Intimations. Same deal as Cruel, but less swingy. It does cost less though so you are much much more likely to Wish and Intimations in the same turn
I live for fair Magic.
Legacy: D&T/Lands
Modern: BGx
I would play Grave Titan. Fast Clock, good blocker.
Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i
I live for fair Magic.
Legacy: D&T/Lands
Modern: BGx
4 Leyline.
2 Path.
1 Silence.
Taking out 1 Pentad, 1 Bloom, 1 Teachings, 1 Unlife (if you run 4) and 1 Sleight. Rest depends on the situation. I hate taking out everything and having speed is key in this matchup. We need to navigate through a lot of hate, so diluting the deck too much is not a good idea. And there's no easy option like taking 4 Bloom out against Storm running Remand.
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
I personally really like Dragonlord Silumgar. Stealing your opponent's stuff is quite nasty (Great answer to Liliana too).
Vintage Cube Cards Explained
Here are some other articles I've written about fine tuning your cube:
1. Minimum Archetype Support
2. Improving Green Archetypes
3. Improving White Archetypes
4. Matchup Analysis
5. Cube Combos (Work in Progress)
Draft my Cube - https://cubecobra.com/cube/overview/d8i
I live for fair Magic.
Legacy: D&T/Lands
Modern: BGx