Township is indeed something I shall keep a close look at in order to see if I keep it or not. It helped me in certain games but as you say other lands might be more useful now that the amount of persist creatures is significantly lower.
Twin is indeed a MU in which you have to be careful. I can understand that some of you may feel more comfortable with an extra removal spell but I prefer to try to maximise permanent "hindrings" (spellskite, qasali for example) to the extent possible. Two path has been for now the good balace for me.
You are right. Initially I had two qasali main deck and due to splinter twin, I went to 1 qasali and 2 path to exile. The other qasali has been put in the side and I did not envisage any SB replacement for it. I guess it might be good to replace it by harmonic sliver to crush affinity like in the good old times (for those who do not know the tech, this + kiki = 1 artifact destroyed when the sliver is landed, 2 additional artifacts when the sliver is copied on the opponent's EOT and 3 additional artifacts when you copy the sliver again during your turn; total 6 artifacts blowned up with that sequence).
I got this advice from a player writing threads on StarCity: increase the number of EoT critters to justify the 4 restoration angels.
While I agree on the principle, the implementation seems rather difficult as the 2-drop ETB critters are rather mediocre in naya colors. I can only think of wall of omen or elvish visionary, which on their own are just not putting pressure...
So two questions to help me out:
is there any 2-drop critters I forgot and which are decent in putting some pressure. I obviously do not want to trade voice of resurgence for a wall or a 1/1 with mediocre ETB trigger,
reporting the result, not much time to spare so it will be real quick. i played 4 games with some friends:
first: 1 - 2 against modern Abzan
first game was easy, wall roots blocked all day until I EOT Angel to Chord-kiki.
second game was terrible, i got a lots of mana dorks and no tutor, two rhinos later i was dead.
third game was a close one, but i lost to the removal.
Second: 0 - 2 against Twin
not much to say on this one, the match was completely one-sided, perhaps with the correct SB would be better, need to plan it.
Third: 2 - 0 Burn
Wall of roots, kitchen Finks and Angel MVPs of this match
fourth: 2 - 1 Affinity
difficult match without the SB, i will consider reclamation sage instead of pridemage, good played path to exiles won me the match
To summarize, the decks is still competitive, still needs serious tune-up but i'll gave it a try.
Haha indeed, twin without SB is not a good idea Choke T2 is a powerhouse against them and by the time they have the mana to cryptic command it, you chord spellskite.
I've been playing a lot blue versions of Pod, so I can tell you about the cards you mention:
Leave Coiling Oracle out of your lists. If you run white, Voice is always gonna be better and if you don't, Tarmo ftw (or any truly good 2-drop).
Venser is worse than many other 4-drops and serves close to no purpose in modern. If you play blue, go for GEA, Kira, Metamorph, Image, Sower because these cards do something MD. Even Spiketail Drakeling sounds better than Venser to me. That's to say how I believe Venser is obsolete in the format.
Instead of looking for bad 2-drops, just cut a Resto and play Murderous Redcap. Many Kiki Pod lists used to run 3 Restos and it was just fine.
If you splash blue, just netdeck a Kiki Pod list.
Oh and I played your list a little bit, and 2 things : you NEED a Sacred Foundry. I naively tried that in Abzan (no Shrine), and it's as bad as it is here. Also Grove of the Burnwillows is better than any non-shockland you have in your list. Kiki Pod used to play 2-4 copies.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Pioneer - A bunch of stuff Modern - Humans Legacy - Grixis Phoenix / Death & Taxes
I tried this yesterday and coiling oracle is in fact a good 2-drop. It is essentially card advantage, repeated with every blink or copy. You should have a look at this list which mde 4-0 at a daily: http://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/modern-bant-blink#online
To maximise arbor elf/utopia sprawl, it is preferrable to limit the number of non-forest (grove, sacred foundry, etc).
I made a turn 3 against splinter twin on the draw yesterday:
T 1: forest, arbor elf
T 2: stomping ground, utopia sprawl on forest set on white / end of opponent's turn: village bell-ringer, which got remanded
T 3: I tapped my two lands for GWR; used the green for another utopia sprawl on forest set on red; untap/tap the forest with arbor elf for GWWRR, I played village bell-ringer to untap the elf (RR), untap/tap fhe forest for GWRRR and .... kiki-jiki, mirror breaker !
I have been toying around with the main lately (without finding any major improvement) but I have not touched the sb (the one in the primer is the one I use online, in the paper version I have 2 blood moon).
* manifest ? has anyone tried this ? Could be good with the 4 restoration angel. If so, which "manifest card" would you include ?
* collected company: I had a quick try on cockatrice. Not sure it would fit into the deck, even if we cut the zealous conscripts. What do you think ?
* ghostway
These are pretty much three alternative I could consider to the 2 primal command but I am not sure there are any better...
Little modification in the main: I now use naya charm instead of primal command, primarily as a recursion engine, secondarily as a win condition and in last resort as creature removal 3-4.
I added a second witness also and traded a voice of resurgence for a second qasali pridemage; zealous is out of the main.
After a small break, I decided to re-start brewing this deck with some fresh ideas:
I. knight of the reliquary: she has it all, good beater, mana dorks in some instances and land tutor for (i) combo protection (sejiri steppe), (ii) beatdown plan (gavony township) and (iii) color fixing ([/card]fire-lit thicket[/card]);
II.
I have modified the previous mix restoration angel / village bell-ringer (4-1) by a 3-2 mix. With the inclusion of knight of the reliquary, village bell-ringer makes more sense (you can use her capacity and still attack on that turn).
And another combo win on the spot (Turn 4). The guy did not see it coming and will regret the play of wall of omens
I will post the current version of the deck later this week. This deck is so good, a shame noone else is interested by the venture so far.
Turn 1
It is now X's turn.
It is now the untap step.
It is now the first main phase.
It is now the second main phase.
X puts Island into play from hand.
It is now the ending phase.
It is now artvi's turn.
It is now the untap step.
artvi untaps his permanents.
It is now the upkeep step.
It is now the draw step.
artvi draws 1 card(s).
It is now the first main phase.
artvi puts Wooded Foothills into play from hand.
artvi taps Wooded Foothills.
artvi sets counter life to 19 (-1).
artvi puts Wooded Foothills from table into graveyard.
artvi is looking at his library.
artvi puts Stomping Ground into play from library.
artvi stops looking at his library.
artvi shuffles his library.
artvi sets counter life to 17 (-2).
artvi taps Stomping Ground.
artvi plays Utopia Sprawl from hand.
artvi: green
artvi puts Utopia Sprawl into play from the stack.
It is now the ending phase.
Turn 2
It is now X's turn.
It is now the untap step.
artvi sets annotation of Utopia Sprawl to "green".
It is now the upkeep step.
It is now the draw step.
X draws 1 card(s).
It is now the first main phase.
X puts Flooded Strand into play from hand.
It is now the ending phase.
It is now artvi's turn.
It is now the untap step.
artvi untaps his permanents.
It is now the upkeep step.
It is now the draw step.
artvi draws 1 card(s).
It is now the first main phase.
artvi puts Plains into play from hand.
artvi taps Plains.
artvi taps Stomping Ground.
artvi plays Voice of Resurgence from hand.
X taps Flooded Strand.
X puts Flooded Strand from table into graveyard.
X is looking at his library.
X puts Plains into play from library.
X taps Plains.
X taps Island.
X plays Remand from hand.
X stops looking at his library.
X shuffles his library.
artvi moves Voice of Resurgence from the stack to hand.
X draws 1 card(s).
It is now the ending phase.
X puts Remand from the stack into graveyard.
Turn 3
It is now X's turn.
It is now the untap step.
X untaps his permanents.
It is now the upkeep step.
It is now the draw step.
X draws 1 card(s).
It is now the first main phase.
X puts Seachrome Coast into play from hand.
It is now the ending phase.
It is now artvi's turn.
It is now the untap step.
artvi untaps his permanents.
It is now the upkeep step.
It is now the draw step.
artvi draws 1 card(s).
It is now the first main phase.
artvi taps Utopia Sprawl.
artvi taps Plains.
artvi plays Voice of Resurgence from hand.
X taps Island.
X taps Seachrome Coast.
X taps Plains.
X plays Logic Knot from hand.
X: 1
artvi: i pay
X: make that 2
X exiles Remand from graveyard.
X exiles Flooded Strand from graveyard.
X plays Remand from exile.
artvi: ?
X puts Remand from the stack into graveyard.
artvi: you choose first please next time
X: sorry I didn't read sprawl
artvi puts Voice of Resurgence from the stack into graveyard.
artvi plays Arbor Elf from hand.
X: thought it just gave you green
artvi puts Arbor Elf into play from the stack.
It is now the ending phase.
X puts Logic Knot from the stack into graveyard.
Turn 4
It is now X's turn.
It is now the untap step.
X untaps his permanents.
It is now the upkeep step.
It is now the draw step.
X draws 1 card(s).
It is now the first main phase.
X puts Celestial Colonnade into play tapped from hand.
X taps Seachrome Coast.
X taps Plains.
X plays Wall of Omens from hand.
X puts Wall of Omens into play from the stack.
X draws 1 card(s).
artvi: k
It is now the ending phase.
It is now artvi's turn.
It is now the untap step.
artvi untaps his permanents.
It is now the upkeep step.
It is now the draw step.
artvi draws 1 card(s).
It is now the first main phase.
artvi puts Gavony Township into play from hand.
artvi: thinking
artvi taps Stomping Ground.
artvi sets counter r to 1 (+1).
artvi sets counter g to 1 (+1).
artvi taps Arbor Elf.
artvi untaps Stomping Ground.
artvi taps Stomping Ground.
artvi sets counter r to 2 (+1).
artvi sets counter g to 2 (+1).
artvi taps Plains.
artvi sets counter w to 1 (+1).
artvi taps Gavony Township.
artvi sets counter x to 1 (+1).
artvi plays Village Bell-Ringer from hand.
artvi sets counter x to 0 (-1).
artvi sets counter w to 0 (-1).
artvi sets counter g to 1 (-1).
artvi: k ?
X: yeah
artvi puts Village Bell-Ringer into play from the stack.
artvi untaps Arbor Elf.
artvi taps Arbor Elf.
artvi untaps Stomping Ground.
artvi taps Stomping Ground.
artvi sets counter r to 3 (+1).
artvi sets counter g to 2 (+1).
artvi plays Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker from hand.
X: did you just win?
artvi: unlesss you have an answer
X has conceeded the game
Township is indeed something I shall keep a close look at in order to see if I keep it or not. It helped me in certain games but as you say other lands might be more useful now that the amount of persist creatures is significantly lower.
Twin is indeed a MU in which you have to be careful. I can understand that some of you may feel more comfortable with an extra removal spell but I prefer to try to maximise permanent "hindrings" (spellskite, qasali for example) to the extent possible. Two path has been for now the good balace for me.
You are right. Initially I had two qasali main deck and due to splinter twin, I went to 1 qasali and 2 path to exile. The other qasali has been put in the side and I did not envisage any SB replacement for it. I guess it might be good to replace it by harmonic sliver to crush affinity like in the good old times (for those who do not know the tech, this + kiki = 1 artifact destroyed when the sliver is landed, 2 additional artifacts when the sliver is copied on the opponent's EOT and 3 additional artifacts when you copy the sliver again during your turn; total 6 artifacts blowned up with that sequence).
While I agree on the principle, the implementation seems rather difficult as the 2-drop ETB critters are rather mediocre in naya colors. I can only think of wall of omen or elvish visionary, which on their own are just not putting pressure...
So two questions to help me out:
reporting the result, not much time to spare so it will be real quick. i played 4 games with some friends:
first: 1 - 2 against modern Abzan
first game was easy, wall roots blocked all day until I EOT Angel to Chord-kiki.
second game was terrible, i got a lots of mana dorks and no tutor, two rhinos later i was dead.
third game was a close one, but i lost to the removal.
Second: 0 - 2 against Twin
not much to say on this one, the match was completely one-sided, perhaps with the correct SB would be better, need to plan it.
Third: 2 - 0 Burn
Wall of roots, kitchen Finks and Angel MVPs of this match
fourth: 2 - 1 Affinity
difficult match without the SB, i will consider reclamation sage instead of pridemage, good played path to exiles won me the match
To summarize, the decks is still competitive, still needs serious tune-up but i'll gave it a try.
Haha indeed, twin without SB is not a good idea Choke T2 is a powerhouse against them and by the time they have the mana to cryptic command it, you chord spellskite.
8 fetch lands
10 forests (including breeding pools, stomping grounds, temple gardens)
3 non-forest basic lands (mountain, plains, islands)
2 filter lands (fire-lit thicket)
Ramp (8)
4 Abor elf
4 utopia sprawl
3 coiling oracle
3 eternal witness
Blink (6)
4 restoration angel
2 venser, the sojourner
Utilities (8)
1 spellskite
1 voice of resurgence
1 scavenging ooze
1 reclamation sage
2 deceiver exarch
2 kitchen finks
1 zealous conscripts
4 Chord of calling
Combo (2)
2 kiki-jiki, mirror breaker
Disruption (2)
2 path to exile
Any thoughts ?
Leave Coiling Oracle out of your lists. If you run white, Voice is always gonna be better and if you don't, Tarmo ftw (or any truly good 2-drop).
Venser is worse than many other 4-drops and serves close to no purpose in modern. If you play blue, go for GEA, Kira, Metamorph, Image, Sower because these cards do something MD. Even Spiketail Drakeling sounds better than Venser to me. That's to say how I believe Venser is obsolete in the format.
Instead of looking for bad 2-drops, just cut a Resto and play Murderous Redcap. Many Kiki Pod lists used to run 3 Restos and it was just fine.
If you splash blue, just netdeck a Kiki Pod list.
Oh and I played your list a little bit, and 2 things : you NEED a Sacred Foundry. I naively tried that in Abzan (no Shrine), and it's as bad as it is here. Also Grove of the Burnwillows is better than any non-shockland you have in your list. Kiki Pod used to play 2-4 copies.
To maximise arbor elf/utopia sprawl, it is preferrable to limit the number of non-forest (grove, sacred foundry, etc).
ghostway protects from wrath in addition....
3 Kitchen Finks
4 Utopia Sprawl
4 Restoration Angel
3 Elvish Visionary
1 Zealous Conscripts
1 Thragtusk
2 Wall of Roots
2 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
3 Eternal Witness
1 Spellskite
1 Scavenging Ooze
4 Chord of Calling
3 Ghostway
2 Voice of Resurgence
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
2 Fire-Lit Thicket
5 Forest
3 Stomping Ground
2 Temple Garden
1 Mountain
1 Plains
With arbor & utopia, you have the 4 mana turn 2.
T 1: forest, arbor elf
T 2: stomping ground, utopia sprawl on forest set on white / end of opponent's turn: village bell-ringer, which got remanded
T 3: I tapped my two lands for GWR; used the green for another utopia sprawl on forest set on red; untap/tap the forest with arbor elf for GWWRR, I played village bell-ringer to untap the elf (RR), untap/tap fhe forest for GWRRR and .... kiki-jiki, mirror breaker !
* manifest ? has anyone tried this ? Could be good with the 4 restoration angel. If so, which "manifest card" would you include ?
* collected company: I had a quick try on cockatrice. Not sure it would fit into the deck, even if we cut the zealous conscripts. What do you think ?
* ghostway
These are pretty much three alternative I could consider to the 2 primal command but I am not sure there are any better...
I added a second witness also and traded a voice of resurgence for a second qasali pridemage; zealous is out of the main.
Correct.
I.
knight of the reliquary: she has it all, good beater, mana dorks in some instances and land tutor for (i) combo protection (sejiri steppe), (ii) beatdown plan (gavony township) and (iii) color fixing ([/card]fire-lit thicket[/card]);
II.
I have modified the previous mix restoration angel / village bell-ringer (4-1) by a 3-2 mix. With the inclusion of knight of the reliquary, village bell-ringer makes more sense (you can use her capacity and still attack on that turn).
III.
Dromoka's command and naya charm, along with path to exile for more answers.
Here is an updated but yet tested decklist:
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
4 Forest
1 Plains
1 Mountain
3 Stomping Ground
2 Temple Garden
1 Fire-Lit Thicket
1 sejiri steppe
1 Gavony Township
1 kessig wolf run
Creatures (25)
4 Arbor Elf
2 Voice of Resurgence
2 Wall of Roots
1 Scavenging Ooze
1 Spellskite
1 Qasali Pridemage
2 Courser of kruphix
2 Village Bell-Ringer
1 Eternal Witness
1 fiend hunter
3 Restoration Angel
2 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Non-creature spells (12)
4 Chord of Calling
4 Utopia Sprawl
2 Path to Exile
1 naya charm
1 Dromoka's command
2 Bonfire of the Damned
2 Choke
1 Sigarda, Host of Herons
1 Burrenton Forge-Tender
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Wear // Tear
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 Obstinate Baloth
1 Magus of the Moon
1 Harmonic sliver
1 ghost quarter
+ 1 ghost quarter in sb for tron / infect / affinity.
I lost yesterday against burn (mull to 4 on the first and no lifegain on the second) and won against one of these collected company combo decks.
I will post the current version of the deck later this week. This deck is so good, a shame noone else is interested by the venture so far.
Turn 1
It is now X's turn.
It is now the untap step.
It is now the first main phase.
It is now the second main phase.
X puts Island into play from hand.
It is now the ending phase.
It is now artvi's turn.
It is now the untap step.
artvi untaps his permanents.
It is now the upkeep step.
It is now the draw step.
artvi draws 1 card(s).
It is now the first main phase.
artvi puts Wooded Foothills into play from hand.
artvi taps Wooded Foothills.
artvi sets counter life to 19 (-1).
artvi puts Wooded Foothills from table into graveyard.
artvi is looking at his library.
artvi puts Stomping Ground into play from library.
artvi stops looking at his library.
artvi shuffles his library.
artvi sets counter life to 17 (-2).
artvi taps Stomping Ground.
artvi plays Utopia Sprawl from hand.
artvi: green
artvi puts Utopia Sprawl into play from the stack.
It is now the ending phase.
Turn 2
It is now X's turn.
It is now the untap step.
artvi sets annotation of Utopia Sprawl to "green".
It is now the upkeep step.
It is now the draw step.
X draws 1 card(s).
It is now the first main phase.
X puts Flooded Strand into play from hand.
It is now the ending phase.
It is now artvi's turn.
It is now the untap step.
artvi untaps his permanents.
It is now the upkeep step.
It is now the draw step.
artvi draws 1 card(s).
It is now the first main phase.
artvi puts Plains into play from hand.
artvi taps Plains.
artvi taps Stomping Ground.
artvi plays Voice of Resurgence from hand.
X taps Flooded Strand.
X puts Flooded Strand from table into graveyard.
X is looking at his library.
X puts Plains into play from library.
X taps Plains.
X taps Island.
X plays Remand from hand.
X stops looking at his library.
X shuffles his library.
artvi moves Voice of Resurgence from the stack to hand.
X draws 1 card(s).
It is now the ending phase.
X puts Remand from the stack into graveyard.
Turn 3
It is now X's turn.
It is now the untap step.
X untaps his permanents.
It is now the upkeep step.
It is now the draw step.
X draws 1 card(s).
It is now the first main phase.
X puts Seachrome Coast into play from hand.
It is now the ending phase.
It is now artvi's turn.
It is now the untap step.
artvi untaps his permanents.
It is now the upkeep step.
It is now the draw step.
artvi draws 1 card(s).
It is now the first main phase.
artvi taps Utopia Sprawl.
artvi taps Plains.
artvi plays Voice of Resurgence from hand.
X taps Island.
X taps Seachrome Coast.
X taps Plains.
X plays Logic Knot from hand.
X: 1
artvi: i pay
X: make that 2
X exiles Remand from graveyard.
X exiles Flooded Strand from graveyard.
X plays Remand from exile.
artvi: ?
X puts Remand from the stack into graveyard.
artvi: you choose first please next time
X: sorry I didn't read sprawl
artvi puts Voice of Resurgence from the stack into graveyard.
artvi plays Arbor Elf from hand.
X: thought it just gave you green
artvi puts Arbor Elf into play from the stack.
It is now the ending phase.
X puts Logic Knot from the stack into graveyard.
Turn 4
It is now X's turn.
It is now the untap step.
X untaps his permanents.
It is now the upkeep step.
It is now the draw step.
X draws 1 card(s).
It is now the first main phase.
X puts Celestial Colonnade into play tapped from hand.
X taps Seachrome Coast.
X taps Plains.
X plays Wall of Omens from hand.
X puts Wall of Omens into play from the stack.
X draws 1 card(s).
artvi: k
It is now the ending phase.
It is now artvi's turn.
It is now the untap step.
artvi untaps his permanents.
It is now the upkeep step.
It is now the draw step.
artvi draws 1 card(s).
It is now the first main phase.
artvi puts Gavony Township into play from hand.
artvi: thinking
artvi taps Stomping Ground.
artvi sets counter r to 1 (+1).
artvi sets counter g to 1 (+1).
artvi taps Arbor Elf.
artvi untaps Stomping Ground.
artvi taps Stomping Ground.
artvi sets counter r to 2 (+1).
artvi sets counter g to 2 (+1).
artvi taps Plains.
artvi sets counter w to 1 (+1).
artvi taps Gavony Township.
artvi sets counter x to 1 (+1).
artvi plays Village Bell-Ringer from hand.
artvi sets counter x to 0 (-1).
artvi sets counter w to 0 (-1).
artvi sets counter g to 1 (-1).
artvi: k ?
X: yeah
artvi puts Village Bell-Ringer into play from the stack.
artvi untaps Arbor Elf.
artvi taps Arbor Elf.
artvi untaps Stomping Ground.
artvi taps Stomping Ground.
artvi sets counter r to 3 (+1).
artvi sets counter g to 2 (+1).
artvi plays Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker from hand.
X: did you just win?
artvi: unlesss you have an answer
X has conceeded the game
Quick question... Are you testing online or in paper? Thanks!