Is compulsive research outshined by sultai charm? Or is the general consensus that the triple color requirement is too steep?
I personally think that Sultai Charm is just better than Compulsive Research if you can support the 3 colors and it is also better than Maelstrom Pulse if your meta does not have a lot of Lingering Souls.
Fulminator Mage is a great card for obvious reasons, but is Rain of Tears better here because it can be recurred with Snapcaster Mage?
I see Sultai Charm as a harder to cast Putrefy. It's too slow and expensive for the decks you need it for.
Sultai Charm is more like a harder-to-cast, instant-speed Maelstrom Pulse that doesn't hit Siege Rhino, planeswalkers, or swarms of tokens, but can be cycled if necessary.
So it doesn't answer what the biggest threats are in a deck that is popular in the metagame. It doesn't shore up our Tron matchup. It's slow against Affinity and Fish, and to a smaller degree Zoo (if anyone is playing that anymore) - against the latter three decks, it exchanges card for card at a mana disadvantage so chances are we are already behind on board. The only good application I see it for consistently is Twin (targeting a Deceiver Exarch or Pestermite) using the mono colored creature mode when a Spellskite is on board, or nailing a creature in the BUG mirror. In both cases, I would much rather run Go for the Throat or Dismember.
Don't mean for this to come off as an attack at all - I just don't see how Sultsi Charm is a good metagame choice right now.
Also, here is my list I played a few weeks ago. I T8ed a 40 man Modern Event with it:
Didn't really think about my sideboard - I did a quick survey of the room and most of it was pretty hastily cobbled together. Monastery Siege and GftT sucked.
I'm always tweaking this deck and it has been pretty good for me so far. I'd like to find room for Stubborn Denial as it helps the Tron matchup a lot.
Quick tourney rundown:
Round 1: UR Twin
G1 I start pulling ahead but forget to pay for A snapcastered Pact. Hit my head on the table and keep going
G2 resolve Jace and won.
G3 Goyf and clique beats and win
Round 2: pseudo mirror (Fabianos list)
These games were grindy; I don't recall details too much but Thragtusk was though to battle through. Jace on an empty board on -2 got me answers I needed.
Round 3: jeskai flash
This was a touch matchup-despite their creature count, Ashiok blanked on threats quite a few turns. I got a clique in play from his deck that died pretty quick. I lost to an Ajani Vengeant.
G2 same thing but got blown out by a Threads if Disloyalty on a Goyf and I couldn't get a Decay in time.
Round 4: fish
G1 he gets a great hand and I for on t4.
G2 and 3 I draw all kinds of removal and stall out long enough for a clique to go all the way.
Round 5: Tron
ID into t8
I lost pretty quickly in the top 8 after getting stuck on two lands both games.
Sorry for the shorthand, I wrote this whole thing on my iPad.
Nice work! What made you stay away from Damnation in the main? I am actually running 2x Damnation MB and 1x Consume the Meek (I had no idea that was an instant). We have a creature heave meta.
In the cycling aspect of the charm lies it's versatility. Digging two deep instead of three (compulsive research) seems like a small price to pay for the flexibility to blow up tarmogoyf, tasigur, confidant, shackles, even shut down twin combo (Pulse can't, being a sorcery) and even against tokens where you might rather have a Pulse, the charm can still hit their anthems. Also pops any Sword that might be cast-equip-swung in the same turn. It's just about being versatile. If you know you're diving into a meta of tron & affinity, then maybe sultai charm isn't the right call.
Running a 1/1 split of Pulse & Charm feels right to me. But the ease to cast of Research can't be argued. And since this deck doesn't need a high land count to take over the game, Research will surely generate a +1 CA
Played about 6 games against Bloom Titan just now. Fulminator did work, and Abrupt Decay was great. We went 3-3, very draw dependent obviously. Countersquall was actually quite good.
Nice work! What made you stay away from Damnation in the main? I am actually running 2x Damnation MB and 1x Consume the Meek (I had no idea that was an instant). We have a creature heave meta.
There are a few reasons -
I'm only running 20 lands. The build originally started as a Delver tempo build based off what the UR Delver decks were doing and I kind of stuck with that.
I'm running more discard, more counters, and spot removal - this allows the deck to have "autopilot" openers like T1 discard, T2 discard into Spell Snare, T3 Mana Leak or drop a threat if the coast is clear. It also gives me a little more defense against manlands and creatures with Flash.
I'm not sure if Damnation is completely necessary in a well-distributed metagame. Besides Affinity and Fish (where Damnation is possibly too slow) the rest of the format relies on one or two highly efficient threats to carry the opponent to a win.
I like the idea of Consume the Meek, particularly in a build with plays a higher count of Delve-able threats like Hooting Mandrills, Tasigur, or even Tombstalker. The idea of a one-sided Wrath effect is intriguing, especially since it wipes out activated manlands.
In the cycling aspect of the charm lies it's versatility. Digging two deep instead of three (compulsive research) seems like a small price to pay for the flexibility to blow up tarmogoyf, tasigur, confidant, shackles, even shut down twin combo (Pulse can't, being a sorcery) and even against tokens where you might rather have a Pulse, the charm can still hit their anthems. Also pops any Sword that might be cast-equip-swung in the same turn. It's just about being versatile. If you know you're diving into a meta of tron, affinity, then maybe sultai charm isn't the right call.
Running a 1/1 split of Pulse & Charm feels right to me. But the ease to cast of Research can't be argued. And since this deck doesn't need a high land count to take over the game, Research will surely generate a +1 CA
Believe me, I love Sultai Charm and all of its modes certainly have merit in the meta - I want it to have a home in this deck but I don't believe it provides enough value. You want cheap, instant speed removal vs. Twin (one reason why Slaughter Pact is so good), if you nuke a Goyf, Tasigur, or Confidant you are losing tempo; if you are playing Fabiano's build, you aren't answering manlands except for the X-moth Nexuses in Affinity (and still losing tempo in that process).
Modally, you are comparing this card to a Go for the Throat; Naturalize; loot effect. Arguably, these are at best fringe mainboard cards, possibly sideboard studs. If Sultai Charm were that good, wouldn't people be running 2 or 3 in their sides in lieu of a total of 4-5 copies of each of these individual effects? This would conserve valuable sideboard space but the mana efficiency of these effects is important too.
Edit: Comparison may prove useful. Last time I checked, Esper Charm is probably the best 3 mana tri-colored charm in Modern. With it, you are getting: Divination or Mind Rot and half of a Disenchant. The first draw and discard modes are probably the most played, clock in at 3cmc in value and also at instant speed.
Anticipate seems like the real deal. My one loss last night was to Scapeshift who was running a playset. One loss was a major misplay on my part, and then we played a third game for fun and I won that one somewhat comfortably, so that matchup seems ok. Game 1 is pretty bad though.
Anyway, I took out Jace AOT and Compulsive Research for 2x Anticipate and so far i am loving them.
Also I enjoy Ashiok way more than I thought I would. I was playing my friend who was running Amulet Combo. I turn 3 Ashiok and I hit 2x Amulets and a Leyline of Sanctity. A couple turns later I hit another Leyline, a bunch of his bounce lands, and finally a Primeval Titan which won me the game.
I told him "I'm not sure why I like this so much, milling is just not good normally". He says "That's because you're not milling. You're just stealing all my *****".
Just played 10 games against Gr Tron and went 5-5. Ashiok is crucial in that matchup. Wurmcoil is obviously a problem, but if we get an Ashiok down early and start going to town we will usually be ok. If an Ashiok is out, Karn is forced to kill him and then you can get him on the crack back with Goyf, Tas, or Tarpit. Getting a Goyf down early is obviously important. Every game where I had an early Goyf followed by Ashiok I won. Every game I lost was due to a Wurmcoil.
Countersquall was fantastic from the Sideboard. I am now running 2x Thoughtseize, 3x Cryptic, and 2x Anticipate in the mainboard and it runs much better than before. Anticipate is the real deal.
How do you guys sideboard versus Abzan, UWR Control and Twin? I saw Gerard keeping in both IoK/Thoughtseize and the mana leaks versus Abzan for example, but what to take in? Is it worth taking in Spellskite to protect Ashiok/Tarmogoyf? When to take out Jace/Ashiok?
Thanks for help
From my testing, I would leave Ashiok in for Abzan for sure. Hitting a Rhino or Goyf or even a Scooze would be great. I would take him out against UWR and probably Twin. Jace stays in against Twin obviously.
Against UWR and Abzan I would bring in Fulminator Mage and Rain of Tears as Colonnade and Treetop are problems. I would take out Damnation against these decks (unless UWR is midrange). I also run 2x Countersquall in the SB and I would bring those in for Twin and UWR. Countersquall won me a couple games against Gr Tron, as the 2 damage put him in range of my Goyf both times.
...if you really think you get to weaken goyfs with delve you are playing some kind of other cardgame than me.
I play Chapins Esper Delve Shell and the number of times I´ve double snuffed Goyfs with a Cut and an attacking Tas are to many to count.
That's my sentiment exactly. People act like it's a foregone conclusion that Goyf is just 4 of in everything. That may be correct 9 times out of 10, bit there's always an exception. When you play mandrills and enough ways to fill your yard by turn 1 or 2, I think he's a pretty simple inclusion over goyf
When I played the deck in paper, I only had Spreading Seas. It did quite the same thing as Fulminator, but in my opinion better vs non bgx decks:
I comes 1 turn earlier than Mage, which is crucial vs Tron.
It replaces itself which is always good.
Therefore I think it has some up and downs compared to Mage. Im sticking with it for now.
Furthermore: Have you guys testing a version that is more going for the instant speed approach? Clique main, Putrefy, etc? I really dislike tapping out in control but I guess thats the spirit of those colors...
Also: How has been Anticipate for you? It looks like a nice addition, since it improves sideboard matches if you are looking for specific cards, and g1 it serves very well for answers, too.
The Grixis Delver deck is very popular at the moment and it plays Deprive (up to 1-3 copies).
Maybe its something for us?
I love Anticipate. So far it has been incredible. I am running two and could easily up it to 3. I like Putrefy, but most of the artifacts we want to hit (Plating, Amulet, etc) are hit by Abrupt Decay. Since we tend to tap out more, I think Slaughter Pact would be better in that spot (at least in my build).
Pact is excellent and plays very well with Snapcaster.
If we add Deprive, we probably want to shave down our Abrupt Decay count - I've been toying with the idea of a version running Deprive, Delver, and Shackles but I can't get the mana to be consistent enough.
I'm not sure I like Spreading Seas; in my experience, it's only a temporary fix until Tron gets their Oblivion Stone online.
I've moved to a version with 2 Cliques main in place of Ashiok and cut an Inquisition for another Tasigur. I'm not in love with the build right now. Being able to apply solid pressure turns 3-6 is critical to how this deck plays out, and planeswalkers are kind of slow.
IMO:
You need the Goyfs. They are just too good, especially if you are playing Stubborn Denial. 8 ferocious enablers in the deck and Stubborn Denials in hand significantly improves your Tron, Burn, and Control matchups.
If you want to play Scavenging Ooze, I would recommend at least one copy of Twilight Mire - it has the added incentive of making your Abrupt Decays easier to cast.
I've put in a lot of time with differing builds in these colors. I started with Delver variants, but I remember doing one with Bitterblossoms and planeswalkers (I was a 5cc player when Faeries was in Standard and remember the frustration of trying to battle through an army of flying 1/1s) and even a goofy brew with Death's Shadow, Urborg, and Funeral Charm (swamp walking 10/10 FTW!) but Tarmogoyf and discard have always been the base of the deck. There are essentially two 'engines' at play - the BGx based attrition game backed by efficient creature beats and instant speed interaction with Snapcaster recursion for long-game value.
It follows then, that some of the most memorable wins are when the two sides synergize seamlessly: against UR Twin in a game 3, I had a Goyf and a Tar Pit on board facing down a Spellskite and Pestermite with the opponent at 10 life. Opponent passes turn, and I end step Dismember his Mite. He pays the mana to redirect to Skite. I Snap back the Dismember we interact with some counters, I win the counter spell war, kill his other goon and then untap and bash for the win.
I would think most of us play for that "a-ha!" moment where we know we have the win in hand; this deck gives us a ton of options (both build and play wise) that if used properly, can help us outmaneuver our opponents.
Hello everyone.
I'm been testing this deck a lot (Fabiano list) and I wanted to get people's opinion on the abzan match up and what to sideboard.
I originally thought to sideboard out
4x serum visions
1x golgari charm
to bring in the following:
1x thoughtseize
1x Sower of Temptation
1x Damnation
1x Batterskull
1x Course of Death's Hold
(No fulminator mages)
I typically aim for a discard spell/mana leak opening to take their haymakers and use abrupt decays to kill the low cmc stuff, but I found the late game top deck wars kill you when you draw a thoughtseize/IOK. Has anyone had any good experience in this match up. It's about 50/50 for me, but I think it should be vastly in our favour. Thanks.
Hello everyone.
I'm been testing this deck a lot (Fabiano list) and I wanted to get people's opinion on the abzan match up and what to sideboard.
I originally thought to sideboard out
4x serum visions
1x golgari charm
to bring in the following:
1x thoughtseize
1x Sower of Temptation
1x Damnation
1x Batterskull
1x Course of Death's Hold
(No fulminator mages)
I typically aim for a discard spell/mana leak opening to take their haymakers and use abrupt decays to kill the low cmc stuff, but I found the late game top deck wars kill you when you draw a thoughtseize/IOK. Has anyone had any good experience in this match up. It's about 50/50 for me, but I think it should be vastly in our favour. Thanks.
I approach postboard games as if it was the mirror match. I would board out discard as the games typically reach a state where one or both players are playing off the top of their deck.
Bring in Fulminators and keep Golgari Charm (you can use it to save a Goyf from Abrupt Decay or blow out their Lingering Souls tokens). If you see Confidants and/or Hierarchs, I would bring in the Disfigures - these also have the fringe benefit of helping you win Goyf/Tasigur/Rhino stalemates. Sower is also fantastic against them as they really only have Path or Murderous Cut to answer.
If you don't own Fulminator Mages, I think Rain of Tears is acceptable as they can be recurred with Snapcaster. Their manlands are definitely a threat that we need to answer. Definitely keep the Serum Visions as card quality is very important in this pairing.
I'm not sold on Batterskull in this meta as it doesn't beat a Siege Rhino by itself, but it's a great top deck on an empty board.
Thanks MX42.
I did some more testing let night putting back in the ser visions and taking out the ioks but leaving in a couple of thoughtseizes and the match up was much better. I play two Tec edges which helps a lot with the man lands and I thought about adding the rain of tears package as well. The golgari charm does have some additional side benefits so I'll leave them in.
How neccessary is the 4 Goyfs? I only have 2 Goyfs but I am interested in this deck. Also, what do people think about Think Twice to gain card advantage throughout the game?
Goofs are critical to the deck. I suppose Hooting Mandrills are a serviceable replacement, but they hinder the Snapcaster synergy in our deck, and they lose to opposing Goyfs, Tasigurs, and Rhinos.
Speaking of Snapcaster, it is incredible - a resolved Snappy temporarily extends our hand size by X, where X is the number of instants and sorceries in the bin. I'm running 3 and I'm thinking of filling out the set; T1 Thoughtseize, T2 Mana Leak, T3 Snappy flashing back Thoughtseize T4 Cryptic counter/bounce Snappy seems like a good line of play to me.
As far as Think Twice - it's an okay card. What would you cut for it? I would rather have more answers or threats than card draw. Serum Visions is the only thing I could think of that comes close to getting cut, but IMO it is worlds better than TT as it enables you to manipulate your next two draw steps.
How neccessary is the 4 Goyfs? I only have 2 Goyfs but I am interested in this deck. Also, what do people think about Think Twice to gain card advantage throughout the game?
Think Twice seems a little weak. I'd rather run Compulsive Research, Jace Architect of Thought, or Sultai Charm.
Also, Tasigur seems disgustingly good.
I may try this! Let me know how it is.
So it doesn't answer what the biggest threats are in a deck that is popular in the metagame. It doesn't shore up our Tron matchup. It's slow against Affinity and Fish, and to a smaller degree Zoo (if anyone is playing that anymore) - against the latter three decks, it exchanges card for card at a mana disadvantage so chances are we are already behind on board. The only good application I see it for consistently is Twin (targeting a Deceiver Exarch or Pestermite) using the mono colored creature mode when a Spellskite is on board, or nailing a creature in the BUG mirror. In both cases, I would much rather run Go for the Throat or Dismember.
Don't mean for this to come off as an attack at all - I just don't see how Sultsi Charm is a good metagame choice right now.
Also, here is my list I played a few weeks ago. I T8ed a 40 man Modern Event with it:
4 misty rainforest
2 watery grave
2 breeding pool
1 overgrown tomb
2 creeping tar pit
1 twilight mire
1 island
1 swamp
2 forest
4 tarmogoyf
3 Snapcaster mage
2 Tasigur, the golden fang
2 vendilion clique
1 jace, architect of thought
4 Thoughtseize
3 inquisition of kozilek
4 serum visions
3 spell snare
4 mana leak
4 abrupt decay
2 dismember
1 slaughter pact
1 murderous cut
2 sower of temptation
2 negate
2 Golgari charm
1 damnation
1 drown in sorrow
1 go for the throat
2 feed the clan
1 deglamer
2 monastery siege
Didn't really think about my sideboard - I did a quick survey of the room and most of it was pretty hastily cobbled together. Monastery Siege and GftT sucked.
I'm always tweaking this deck and it has been pretty good for me so far. I'd like to find room for Stubborn Denial as it helps the Tron matchup a lot.
Quick tourney rundown:
Round 1: UR Twin
G1 I start pulling ahead but forget to pay for A snapcastered Pact. Hit my head on the table and keep going
G2 resolve Jace and won.
G3 Goyf and clique beats and win
Round 2: pseudo mirror (Fabianos list)
These games were grindy; I don't recall details too much but Thragtusk was though to battle through. Jace on an empty board on -2 got me answers I needed.
Round 3: jeskai flash
This was a touch matchup-despite their creature count, Ashiok blanked on threats quite a few turns. I got a clique in play from his deck that died pretty quick. I lost to an Ajani Vengeant.
G2 same thing but got blown out by a Threads if Disloyalty on a Goyf and I couldn't get a Decay in time.
Round 4: fish
G1 he gets a great hand and I for on t4.
G2 and 3 I draw all kinds of removal and stall out long enough for a clique to go all the way.
Round 5: Tron
ID into t8
I lost pretty quickly in the top 8 after getting stuck on two lands both games.
Sorry for the shorthand, I wrote this whole thing on my iPad.
Sales Thread
Running a 1/1 split of Pulse & Charm feels right to me. But the ease to cast of Research can't be argued. And since this deck doesn't need a high land count to take over the game, Research will surely generate a +1 CA
Draft My Cube!
There are a few reasons -
I'm only running 20 lands. The build originally started as a Delver tempo build based off what the UR Delver decks were doing and I kind of stuck with that.
I'm running more discard, more counters, and spot removal - this allows the deck to have "autopilot" openers like T1 discard, T2 discard into Spell Snare, T3 Mana Leak or drop a threat if the coast is clear. It also gives me a little more defense against manlands and creatures with Flash.
I'm not sure if Damnation is completely necessary in a well-distributed metagame. Besides Affinity and Fish (where Damnation is possibly too slow) the rest of the format relies on one or two highly efficient threats to carry the opponent to a win.
I like the idea of Consume the Meek, particularly in a build with plays a higher count of Delve-able threats like Hooting Mandrills, Tasigur, or even Tombstalker. The idea of a one-sided Wrath effect is intriguing, especially since it wipes out activated manlands.
Believe me, I love Sultai Charm and all of its modes certainly have merit in the meta - I want it to have a home in this deck but I don't believe it provides enough value. You want cheap, instant speed removal vs. Twin (one reason why Slaughter Pact is so good), if you nuke a Goyf, Tasigur, or Confidant you are losing tempo; if you are playing Fabiano's build, you aren't answering manlands except for the X-moth Nexuses in Affinity (and still losing tempo in that process).
Modally, you are comparing this card to a Go for the Throat; Naturalize; loot effect. Arguably, these are at best fringe mainboard cards, possibly sideboard studs. If Sultai Charm were that good, wouldn't people be running 2 or 3 in their sides in lieu of a total of 4-5 copies of each of these individual effects? This would conserve valuable sideboard space but the mana efficiency of these effects is important too.
Edit: Comparison may prove useful. Last time I checked, Esper Charm is probably the best 3 mana tri-colored charm in Modern. With it, you are getting: Divination or Mind Rot and half of a Disenchant. The first draw and discard modes are probably the most played, clock in at 3cmc in value and also at instant speed.
Sultai Charm gets you a restricted Doom Blade or Go for the Throat, Naturalize, and a non-recurring Pulse of the Grid. The value of the effects - whether combined or on their own - just is not worth it.
Sales Thread
Anyway, I took out Jace AOT and Compulsive Research for 2x Anticipate and so far i am loving them.
Also I enjoy Ashiok way more than I thought I would. I was playing my friend who was running Amulet Combo. I turn 3 Ashiok and I hit 2x Amulets and a Leyline of Sanctity. A couple turns later I hit another Leyline, a bunch of his bounce lands, and finally a Primeval Titan which won me the game.
I told him "I'm not sure why I like this so much, milling is just not good normally". He says "That's because you're not milling. You're just stealing all my *****".
Ashiok, Stealer of your *****.
Countersquall was fantastic from the Sideboard. I am now running 2x Thoughtseize, 3x Cryptic, and 2x Anticipate in the mainboard and it runs much better than before. Anticipate is the real deal.
From my testing, I would leave Ashiok in for Abzan for sure. Hitting a Rhino or Goyf or even a Scooze would be great. I would take him out against UWR and probably Twin. Jace stays in against Twin obviously.
Against UWR and Abzan I would bring in Fulminator Mage and Rain of Tears as Colonnade and Treetop are problems. I would take out Damnation against these decks (unless UWR is midrange). I also run 2x Countersquall in the SB and I would bring those in for Twin and UWR. Countersquall won me a couple games against Gr Tron, as the 2 damage put him in range of my Goyf both times.
That's my sentiment exactly. People act like it's a foregone conclusion that Goyf is just 4 of in everything. That may be correct 9 times out of 10, bit there's always an exception. When you play mandrills and enough ways to fill your yard by turn 1 or 2, I think he's a pretty simple inclusion over goyf
Modern = RBW Aristocrats (Here's the primer thread I made!)
BGW Endless Renewal ( The primer right here! )
Legacy = UB Stiflenought
I love Anticipate. So far it has been incredible. I am running two and could easily up it to 3. I like Putrefy, but most of the artifacts we want to hit (Plating, Amulet, etc) are hit by Abrupt Decay. Since we tend to tap out more, I think Slaughter Pact would be better in that spot (at least in my build).
If we add Deprive, we probably want to shave down our Abrupt Decay count - I've been toying with the idea of a version running Deprive, Delver, and Shackles but I can't get the mana to be consistent enough.
I'm not sure I like Spreading Seas; in my experience, it's only a temporary fix until Tron gets their Oblivion Stone online.
I've moved to a version with 2 Cliques main in place of Ashiok and cut an Inquisition for another Tasigur. I'm not in love with the build right now. Being able to apply solid pressure turns 3-6 is critical to how this deck plays out, and planeswalkers are kind of slow.
Sales Thread
You need the Goyfs. They are just too good, especially if you are playing Stubborn Denial. 8 ferocious enablers in the deck and Stubborn Denials in hand significantly improves your Tron, Burn, and Control matchups.
If you want to play Scavenging Ooze, I would recommend at least one copy of Twilight Mire - it has the added incentive of making your Abrupt Decays easier to cast.
I've put in a lot of time with differing builds in these colors. I started with Delver variants, but I remember doing one with Bitterblossoms and planeswalkers (I was a 5cc player when Faeries was in Standard and remember the frustration of trying to battle through an army of flying 1/1s) and even a goofy brew with Death's Shadow, Urborg, and Funeral Charm (swamp walking 10/10 FTW!) but Tarmogoyf and discard have always been the base of the deck. There are essentially two 'engines' at play - the BGx based attrition game backed by efficient creature beats and instant speed interaction with Snapcaster recursion for long-game value.
It follows then, that some of the most memorable wins are when the two sides synergize seamlessly: against UR Twin in a game 3, I had a Goyf and a Tar Pit on board facing down a Spellskite and Pestermite with the opponent at 10 life. Opponent passes turn, and I end step Dismember his Mite. He pays the mana to redirect to Skite. I Snap back the Dismember we interact with some counters, I win the counter spell war, kill his other goon and then untap and bash for the win.
I would think most of us play for that "a-ha!" moment where we know we have the win in hand; this deck gives us a ton of options (both build and play wise) that if used properly, can help us outmaneuver our opponents.
Sales Thread
I'm been testing this deck a lot (Fabiano list) and I wanted to get people's opinion on the abzan match up and what to sideboard.
I originally thought to sideboard out
4x serum visions
1x golgari charm
to bring in the following:
1x thoughtseize
1x Sower of Temptation
1x Damnation
1x Batterskull
1x Course of Death's Hold
(No fulminator mages)
I typically aim for a discard spell/mana leak opening to take their haymakers and use abrupt decays to kill the low cmc stuff, but I found the late game top deck wars kill you when you draw a thoughtseize/IOK. Has anyone had any good experience in this match up. It's about 50/50 for me, but I think it should be vastly in our favour. Thanks.
I approach postboard games as if it was the mirror match. I would board out discard as the games typically reach a state where one or both players are playing off the top of their deck.
Bring in Fulminators and keep Golgari Charm (you can use it to save a Goyf from Abrupt Decay or blow out their Lingering Souls tokens). If you see Confidants and/or Hierarchs, I would bring in the Disfigures - these also have the fringe benefit of helping you win Goyf/Tasigur/Rhino stalemates. Sower is also fantastic against them as they really only have Path or Murderous Cut to answer.
If you don't own Fulminator Mages, I think Rain of Tears is acceptable as they can be recurred with Snapcaster. Their manlands are definitely a threat that we need to answer. Definitely keep the Serum Visions as card quality is very important in this pairing.
I'm not sold on Batterskull in this meta as it doesn't beat a Siege Rhino by itself, but it's a great top deck on an empty board.
Sales Thread
I did some more testing let night putting back in the ser visions and taking out the ioks but leaving in a couple of thoughtseizes and the match up was much better. I play two Tec edges which helps a lot with the man lands and I thought about adding the rain of tears package as well. The golgari charm does have some additional side benefits so I'll leave them in.
Speaking of Snapcaster, it is incredible - a resolved Snappy temporarily extends our hand size by X, where X is the number of instants and sorceries in the bin. I'm running 3 and I'm thinking of filling out the set; T1 Thoughtseize, T2 Mana Leak, T3 Snappy flashing back Thoughtseize T4 Cryptic counter/bounce Snappy seems like a good line of play to me.
As far as Think Twice - it's an okay card. What would you cut for it? I would rather have more answers or threats than card draw. Serum Visions is the only thing I could think of that comes close to getting cut, but IMO it is worlds better than TT as it enables you to manipulate your next two draw steps.
Sales Thread
Think Twice seems a little weak. I'd rather run Compulsive Research, Jace Architect of Thought, or Sultai Charm.
Storm Crow is strictly worse than Seacoast Drake.