Glorybound seems out of place in modern. I don't think a 3/1 that is a 4/4 sometimes is good. It dies to too many random blockers and if you exert your opponent gets a whole lot more time. It dies to bolt, unlike any other card in your deck. Just play lingerin souls instead. Souls is great in every single matchup. Never once have I drawn one and wished it was something else.
The problem with Kiki as 2/4-of is that terrible in your opening hand. Not only that but a 2RRR can only swing the game in your favor with combined with another relevant card.
As soon as you play a resto or Kiki, your opponent Will Always hold a removal to stop the combo.
About the Glory-bound: I think the card design is great but not suitable for the current meta.
A great addition to the deck is Gideon of the trials. A early Gideon is too strong. I am happy with my 3-of gids.
The main problem I see is that there is no way to just get kiki when we want him in mardu, unlike in naya, and don't have the card selection to draw the combo reliably, unlike jeskai. And if we don't kill them with the combo, I don't like the chances of a glory bound getting there in a push meta whilst playing a deck with no other push targets. You are better off playing kiki in a jeskai or naya build, black does not offer much support.
With such a GY-focused meta do you think that Jötun Grunt can be playable ?
It can also be blinked by Resto to reset the age counters and keep him on board.
Here's an interesting read on Pack Rat in Modern from earlier this year. Essentially you need to go hard control and then Pack Rat becomes a viable way to quickly turn the corner with a ~4 turn clock, while also pitching bad topdecked discard.
The linked version is a BR build that leans on Blood Moon. Presumably you could cut Moon for Lingering Souls, add in Helix, Path, Gideon AoZ, 1-2x Smuggler's Copter, and wind up with a Mardu build. Would it be better than the BR version with Blood Moon? I'm not sure. The added burn and Gideon would let the deck be more proactive, I suppose.
I play at the same FNM's as Aazadan. Our local store is very competitive and has a large percentage of higher quality players. A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of watching Aazadan put big damage down out of nowhere with his mardu Bushwhacker-Death's Shadow deck. After watching him pilot it against a variety of opponents, I have switched around my mardu deck to incorporate what I believe to be the best aspects of his build. I tested my own version two weeks ago and afterwards had a conversation with him about our lists. After testing a bit i made changes based on our conversation, this is what I am going to bring to the next FNM
I am probably going to swap the Slaughter Games out for Lost Legacy at some point. Ogre Battledriver is the pet card im testing and if he does not perform well he will probably turn into a Grim Lavamancer. And I know some of you are going to ask, but before you do, compare Hide // Seek to Wear // Tear, now realize Wear // Tear can't go search out their only Emrakul in response to their Nahiri ult, or tuck away a resolved Keranos. It's almost strickly better, how often does the fuse actually come up with Wear // Tear. I will take notes this week and let you all know how it goes.
No push? No street wraith? Dreadbore instead if terminate? 6 tapped lands? 4 k command? 8 fetches and 3 thoughtseize only life loss? Hammer of purphoros?
This list is unrefined. Ogre battledriver seems good with lingering souls, but if they kill it you spent 4 mana on something that did not warp the game in your favor. Ranger is bad when you are above 13 in this deck, which looks like often.
I would run 3 more bushwackers for the ogre and the hammers. Play a fourth thoughtseize and 2 pushes over the tidehollows. Cut a couple rangers and k commands to play street wraith.Play 12 fetches and no tapped lands. Deaths shadow is the worst card in the game at 14 life. You need ways to lose that life.
Also i would find room for orzhov charm. That card seems to be the sole reason to play white imo.
No push? No street wraith? Dreadbore instead if terminate? 6 tapped lands? 4 k command? 8 fetches and 3 thoughtseize only life loss? Hammer of purphoros?
This list is unrefined. Ogre battledriver seems good with lingering souls, but if they kill it you spent 4 mana on something that did not warp the game in your favor. Ranger is bad when you are above 13 in this deck, which looks like often.
I would run 3 more bushwackers for the ogre and the hammers. Play a fourth thoughtseize and 2 pushes over the tidehollows. Cut a couple rangers and k commands to play street wraith.Play 12 fetches and no tapped lands. Deaths shadow is the worst card in the game at 14 life. You need ways to lose that life.
Also i would find room for orzhov charm. That card seems to be the sole reason to play white imo.
The meta has slowed down alot since this last winter. Fatal Push isn't what it used to be. I cut mine after too many games where it's dead vs Scapeshift and Ad Nauseum. It can never be pointed at life totals so it had to go.
What makes you think Street Wraith is playable in here? there is no Tarmogoyf to grow and no delirium to turn on. I am not even running Gurmag Angler so there really is no reason to try and grow the yard.
Dreadbore is better than Terminate nowadays. I switched when they printed Nahiri. Over a year later I am still choosing it over Terminate.
4-6 manlands is the correct range for a midrange deck. we can absolutely afford for some of our lands to enter tapped.
KCommand is pivotal because of its versatility. weather your using it to 2 for one robots in response to their attack or knock a card out of your combo opponents hand and handing them 2. It is relevant in all matchups. (although i could easily go down to 3)
Yup, no need to race toward 0 as fast as possible because this isn't a combo deck its a midrange deck. Remember we aren't planning on planting our shadows until turn 5. That is plenty of time for us to find our way to about 8-10 life.
Hammer of Purphoros turns all late game draws into some form of gas/action spell. Plus if I manage to put out a turn 3 hammer, then when I turn 4 the Ranger of Eos I can get 2 Shadows instead of a Shadow and a Whacker. I was using it with Hero of Bladehold in a previous build to great effect. Never underestimate hammer.
I have mixed thoughts on battledriver. Our first two turns of the game will be us wrecking their hands with targeted hand distruption. If i know I am hoping to curve a Battledriver into a turn 5 lingering souls then I will take their removal. Him giving my turn 5 Ranger and its pet Shadow extra damage and haste might also be another strong selling point. He is the weakest card in the deck and I probably should cut him for a second bushwhacker or some other ranger target.
Cutting the Scullers for Fatal Pushes and Thoughtsieze is not a good idea for this build. I just put the scullers in recently because I needed more ways to get in with damage. They give me a better clock and soak up early removal.
Judging by your sugestion, I feel like your overly concerned with trying to achieve the same kind of velocity that the Jund build has. We should out-grind them most hands. Thank you for your ideas, I will definitely pull out my Orzhov Charms from deep storage and slot them in here sometime soon.
No push? No street wraith? Dreadbore instead if terminate? 6 tapped lands? 4 k command? 8 fetches and 3 thoughtseize only life loss? Hammer of purphoros?
This list is unrefined. Ogre battledriver seems good with lingering souls, but if they kill it you spent 4 mana on something that did not warp the game in your favor. Ranger is bad when you are above 13 in this deck, which looks like often.
...
Also i would find room for orzhov charm. That card seems to be the sole reason to play white imo.
I'm not a fan of the Battledriver either, but I've seen him win with it before. Sometimes, simply being an unexpected card is good enough.
Street Wraith though isn't something you actually need in a DS list. I've got thoughts on Grixis (in Jund it's there for Delirium too), but in Mardu especially you don't want it, it just cuts too deeply into your threat density. It's better to have cards that do things. Though I am going to try it again this week. I don't expect to like it, but perhaps I need the additional life loss without Eidolon in the build.
Orzhov Charm has been so-so for me. When it's good it's great, but when it's bad it's really bad. It's on my list of things to cut.
I'm actually going to try something a little different this week and take a break from an Eidolon build. Still DS, just not using that as an enabler.
Street Wraith is one of the better cards in grixis and jund shadow, imo. It is never something you are vying to have, but you are never dissatisfied in seeing it. It actually doesn't reduce threat density at all, as it reduces your deck to 56 cards, and makes your decks more threat dense, and lets you shave lands.
And i still disagree on hammer. I've never played with it, but 3 mana for no immediate board impact? I think a 4th bushwacker and wraith would be more optimal.
Street Wraith is one of the better cards in grixis and jund shadow, imo. It is never something you are vying to have, but you are never dissatisfied in seeing it. It actually doesn't reduce threat density at all, as it reduces your deck to 56 cards, and makes your decks more threat dense, and lets you shave lands.
Playing 56 cards is the popular description for a free cantrip but that's not actually what it is. It's drawing an additional card. If you have a 6 turn game you draw 13 cards, add in a Street Wraith and you draw 14, 2 Wraiths and it's 15. This clarification might seem pedantic at first, but I promise you it isn't. On average you'll see a single copy of a 4 of after 10 cards. That's a convenient number because 10 cards is turn 3 on the play. So in your first 3 turns rather than seeing 10 cards, if you include 4 Street Wraiths you'll see 11 cards. This means that a deck that needs 22 land will still be more consistent if you give it 22 land. To put some numbers on this, if you want an 80% chance of seeing 3 lands by turn 4 (after seeing 11 cards) you need 21 lands. If you include 4 Street Wraith you need 20 lands. If it was a 56 card deck, you would only need 19 lands.
Now, this same principal applies to threats. Lets say I have a deck like mine, 22 lands, 15 threats, and 23 others. Compared to another deck which is 21 lands, 14 threats, and 21 others. By turn 5 (since that's when DS is really strong) I'll see 12 cards which gives me about 3 threats. With Street Wraith, I'll see the same number of threats (it's a fraction of a card less) because that one extra card is offset by the chance of drawing something useful. If it were a 56 card deck, I would see 4 threats. But in the Wraith deck I'm also out some life to achieve the same end result. The life loss could be good or bad depending on the rest of the deck.
And i still disagree on hammer. I've never played with it, but 3 mana for no immediate board impact? I think a 4th bushwacker and wraith would be more optimal.
I don't try Hammer often, one of the main criticisms I've seen of the deck though is that Bushwhackers aren't really threats and the topdecks are poor. Hammer is similar to Bushwhacker but gives you some more threats later in the game.
Went 1-3, never saw either combo or any removal all night.
(246-174-26)
As soon as you play a resto or Kiki, your opponent Will Always hold a removal to stop the combo.
About the Glory-bound: I think the card design is great but not suitable for the current meta.
A great addition to the deck is Gideon of the trials. A early Gideon is too strong. I am happy with my 3-of gids.
I copmletely agree about Lingering Souls and Gideon, much better cards that work pretty well together.
Also, the KiKi-Resto combo isn't great in a sorcery-speed deck like Mardu and much better suited to a "Jeskai Flash" type of shell imho.
The two slots were filled with wipes.
That's why I am trying to understand what are you doing with yours spare kiki's
It can also be blinked by Resto to reset the age counters and keep him on board.
I wasn't fond of it but I'm slightly changing my mind.
The linked version is a BR build that leans on Blood Moon. Presumably you could cut Moon for Lingering Souls, add in Helix, Path, Gideon AoZ, 1-2x Smuggler's Copter, and wind up with a Mardu build. Would it be better than the BR version with Blood Moon? I'm not sure. The added burn and Gideon would let the deck be more proactive, I suppose.
The original decks is Esper but is mostly BW, here - https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/instant-deck-tech-obzedat-s-vengeance-modern
I wonder if the blue cards can be replaced to build a Mardu version of the deck.
The alternatives for: Jace VP, Serum Visions, Thought Scour and Pieces of the Puzzle can possibly be:
Liliana, Faithless Looting, Tormenting Voice/Cathartic Reunion and more Collective Brutality (or maybe some Night's Whisper).
Some more possible Goryo's Vengeance targets:
Linvala, the Preserver (lifegain+token), Sidisi, Undead Vizier (tutor), Godo, Bandit Warlord (cheats out Batterskull)
Jankier options can be Dragonlord Kolaghan and Ob Nixilis, Unshackled for the surprise 10 damage ability, probably more relevant with the second as a response to a Fetchland crack.
What do you think ?
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Thoughtseize
2 Collective Brutality
3 Tidehollow Sculler
Removal:
2 Lightning Bolt
2 Dreadbore
2 Crackling Doom
4 Kolaghan's Command
Pressure:
1 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Death's Shadow
4 Lingering Souls
3 Ranger of Eos
1 Ogre Battledriver
2 Hammer of Purphoros
4 Marsh Flats
4 Bloodstained Mire
3 Blood Crypt
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Godless Shrine
4 Shambling Vent
2 Lavaclaw Reaches
1 swamp
1 Plains
1 Mountain
Side:
3 Hide // Seek
2 Stony Silence
2 surgical Extraction
2 Slaughter Games
2 Soulfire Grand Master
1 Wrath of God
1 Dreadbore
1 Lightning Helix
1 Gideon's Intervention
I am probably going to swap the Slaughter Games out for Lost Legacy at some point. Ogre Battledriver is the pet card im testing and if he does not perform well he will probably turn into a Grim Lavamancer. And I know some of you are going to ask, but before you do, compare Hide // Seek to Wear // Tear, now realize Wear // Tear can't go search out their only Emrakul in response to their Nahiri ult, or tuck away a resolved Keranos. It's almost strickly better, how often does the fuse actually come up with Wear // Tear. I will take notes this week and let you all know how it goes.
Uw Taking Turns
The Bad Moon
Small Mardu Midrange
Big Mardu Midrange
Grixis Waste Not Combo
Bw 8-Rack
Bw Midrange
This list is unrefined. Ogre battledriver seems good with lingering souls, but if they kill it you spent 4 mana on something that did not warp the game in your favor. Ranger is bad when you are above 13 in this deck, which looks like often.
I would run 3 more bushwackers for the ogre and the hammers. Play a fourth thoughtseize and 2 pushes over the tidehollows. Cut a couple rangers and k commands to play street wraith.Play 12 fetches and no tapped lands. Deaths shadow is the worst card in the game at 14 life. You need ways to lose that life.
Also i would find room for orzhov charm. That card seems to be the sole reason to play white imo.
The meta has slowed down alot since this last winter. Fatal Push isn't what it used to be. I cut mine after too many games where it's dead vs Scapeshift and Ad Nauseum. It can never be pointed at life totals so it had to go.
What makes you think Street Wraith is playable in here? there is no Tarmogoyf to grow and no delirium to turn on. I am not even running Gurmag Angler so there really is no reason to try and grow the yard.
Dreadbore is better than Terminate nowadays. I switched when they printed Nahiri. Over a year later I am still choosing it over Terminate.
4-6 manlands is the correct range for a midrange deck. we can absolutely afford for some of our lands to enter tapped.
KCommand is pivotal because of its versatility. weather your using it to 2 for one robots in response to their attack or knock a card out of your combo opponents hand and handing them 2. It is relevant in all matchups. (although i could easily go down to 3)
Yup, no need to race toward 0 as fast as possible because this isn't a combo deck its a midrange deck. Remember we aren't planning on planting our shadows until turn 5. That is plenty of time for us to find our way to about 8-10 life.
Hammer of Purphoros turns all late game draws into some form of gas/action spell. Plus if I manage to put out a turn 3 hammer, then when I turn 4 the Ranger of Eos I can get 2 Shadows instead of a Shadow and a Whacker. I was using it with Hero of Bladehold in a previous build to great effect. Never underestimate hammer.
I have mixed thoughts on battledriver. Our first two turns of the game will be us wrecking their hands with targeted hand distruption. If i know I am hoping to curve a Battledriver into a turn 5 lingering souls then I will take their removal. Him giving my turn 5 Ranger and its pet Shadow extra damage and haste might also be another strong selling point. He is the weakest card in the deck and I probably should cut him for a second bushwhacker or some other ranger target.
Cutting the Scullers for Fatal Pushes and Thoughtsieze is not a good idea for this build. I just put the scullers in recently because I needed more ways to get in with damage. They give me a better clock and soak up early removal.
Judging by your sugestion, I feel like your overly concerned with trying to achieve the same kind of velocity that the Jund build has. We should out-grind them most hands. Thank you for your ideas, I will definitely pull out my Orzhov Charms from deep storage and slot them in here sometime soon.
Uw Taking Turns
The Bad Moon
Small Mardu Midrange
Big Mardu Midrange
Grixis Waste Not Combo
Bw 8-Rack
Bw Midrange
I'm not a fan of the Battledriver either, but I've seen him win with it before. Sometimes, simply being an unexpected card is good enough.
Street Wraith though isn't something you actually need in a DS list. I've got thoughts on Grixis (in Jund it's there for Delirium too), but in Mardu especially you don't want it, it just cuts too deeply into your threat density. It's better to have cards that do things. Though I am going to try it again this week. I don't expect to like it, but perhaps I need the additional life loss without Eidolon in the build.
Orzhov Charm has been so-so for me. When it's good it's great, but when it's bad it's really bad. It's on my list of things to cut.
I'm actually going to try something a little different this week and take a break from an Eidolon build. Still DS, just not using that as an enabler.
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Marsh Flats
4 Arid Mesa
3 Blood Crypt
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Mana Confluence
1 Plains
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Slayers' Stronghold
Creatures 17
4 Death's Shadow
1 Goblin Bushwhacker
4 Dark Confidant
2 Tidehollow Sculler
2 Reckless Bushwhacker
1 Ranger of Eos
3 Street Wraith
2 Hammer of Purphoros
Spells 19
4 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Path to Exile
3 Fatal Push
2 Lightning Bolt
4 Lingering Souls
2 Kolaghan's Command
1 Dismember
1 Pithing Needle
1 Crackling Doom
1 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Lost Legacy
1 Pyroclasm
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Deflecting Palm
1 Anger of the Gods
1 Surgical Extraction
1 Slagstorm
1 Harsh Mentor
1 Gut Shot
1 Rakdos Charm
I'm not 100% confident in this build, most notably I don't like Street Wraiths, but it does include some things I've been wanting to try.
And i still disagree on hammer. I've never played with it, but 3 mana for no immediate board impact? I think a 4th bushwacker and wraith would be more optimal.
But it does seem like a fun card, so idk.
Playing 56 cards is the popular description for a free cantrip but that's not actually what it is. It's drawing an additional card. If you have a 6 turn game you draw 13 cards, add in a Street Wraith and you draw 14, 2 Wraiths and it's 15. This clarification might seem pedantic at first, but I promise you it isn't. On average you'll see a single copy of a 4 of after 10 cards. That's a convenient number because 10 cards is turn 3 on the play. So in your first 3 turns rather than seeing 10 cards, if you include 4 Street Wraiths you'll see 11 cards. This means that a deck that needs 22 land will still be more consistent if you give it 22 land. To put some numbers on this, if you want an 80% chance of seeing 3 lands by turn 4 (after seeing 11 cards) you need 21 lands. If you include 4 Street Wraith you need 20 lands. If it was a 56 card deck, you would only need 19 lands.
Now, this same principal applies to threats. Lets say I have a deck like mine, 22 lands, 15 threats, and 23 others. Compared to another deck which is 21 lands, 14 threats, and 21 others. By turn 5 (since that's when DS is really strong) I'll see 12 cards which gives me about 3 threats. With Street Wraith, I'll see the same number of threats (it's a fraction of a card less) because that one extra card is offset by the chance of drawing something useful. If it were a 56 card deck, I would see 4 threats. But in the Wraith deck I'm also out some life to achieve the same end result. The life loss could be good or bad depending on the rest of the deck.
I don't try Hammer often, one of the main criticisms I've seen of the deck though is that Bushwhackers aren't really threats and the topdecks are poor. Hammer is similar to Bushwhacker but gives you some more threats later in the game.
I agree.
Also without any good cantrips in Mardu Street Wraith is a no-brainer 4x-of imho.
Though I still think that it could be a decent idea to try out Vexing Devil + Bone Picker as the threats alongside Death's Shadow and Gurmag Angler.
#Casting a Bone Picker for B isn't that hard either with Vexing Devil or by removing an opposing creature or one of your creatures dying.
#Vexing Devil does a decent Boros Charm impression and can be recurred with Orzhov Charm (like DS) and Kolaghan's Command which together with a full set of Lightning Bolts can threaten to burn out opponents if they keep taking damage from Vexing Devil.