I haven't been playing much Modern recently, but with GP OKC next month I need to get back into it. I'm still happy with my maindeck, but thinking about my sideboard. Right now, I'm on:
There's a part of me that would like to squeeze in 1-2 Roast (for E Tron and Shadow), but I'm not sure there's anything I'm comfortable cutting. Dragon's Claw is one option, but I'm wary going into a big event without some extra Burn protection. Kozilek's is another, but with the recent surge in 5C Humans, extra sweepers seems smart.
I don't think you need both 3x Boros Reckoner AND 3x Goblin Rabblemaster in your sideboard. I figure your intent is to bring them in based on matchup(Reckoner for when you need a wall, Rabble for when you need to go wide), but I would suggest moving one set to the main if that's your gameplan. Reckoners or Eternal Scourge maindeck, then swap out for the goblins if you need to be faster.
Agreed. I'd also like a bit more artifact removal. Shifting Reckoners to the main in red-zone based metas, or alternatively Rabblemasters in Control/Combo metas is probably going to be worth some additional wins. Deciding which is preferable is hard, because Rabblemasters are much better against their best opponents than Reckoners are theirs, but Rabblemaster's have more potential to be utterly useless while Reckoners rarely are.
Reckoner is a card I haven't used to any real effect in a very long time. The card is so powerful, but Scourge's ability to grind is unmatched. We basically have the best three drops at our disposal, and while it can be a meta choice, I would always take Scourge in the blind. I do want to Skred haduken someone with Reckoner though, so maybe I'll try that again. I'm also glad we're getting so many tournament reports! Sounds like we're all doing pretty well.
@TexasGoyf I don't think you want Reckoners in the sideboard. While there are several matchups where it's good, it isn't necessarily better than a lot of cards already in the deck. Sideboards shouldn't just have good cards; they need to ruin the opponent's day, and then microwave their ice cream for good measure.
I get to actually play at FNM tonight! I'm very excited to Skred some faces, and I get to break out my foreign copies, "Miniavalanche" (this is, by the way, the correct version our namesake card).
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Cheers guys! Totally understand the arguments about Reckoner & Rabblemaster. Here's where I'm coming from:
When I first built Skred, I was on maindeck Reckoners. After a little while I cut them; as CavalryWolfPack has said, they're sometimes good and sometimes weak, which isn't ideal maindeck material. Since then, I've been playing a few out of the board, and they've totally overperformed against 3 tier 1 decks: Eldrazi Tron, Burn, and GDS. Likewise, they're solid in most fair matchups. I'd be open to cutting them, but I can't think of a replacement that's good against all 3 of the aforementioned decks. Roast would be a way to go, but that isn't useful against Burn and leaves me wanting Dragon's Claw, thus needing even more sideboard cuts.
Rabblemaster is actually the card I'd prefer to cut of the 2; I have him in there for Tron and linnear combo, but without SSG he's still so slow that he doesn't significantly swing those matchups. I like the Scab Clan suggestion, might hafta try him.
Re. E Scourge: I don't play him in the main or the board. I understand the card's power, but I've never been very impressed and have found P&K + the sideboard creatures to get the job done.
We'll see what happens! I have like 4 weeks till OKC, so maybe I'll have some type of breakthrough between now and then.
I know Reckoner's a bit controversial, but I've found him to be way more impactful than Rabblemaster. A part of me would like some Ratchet Bombs in here, but I think I can live without them.
I know Reckoner's a bit controversial, but I've found him to be way more impactful than Rabblemaster. A part of me would like some Ratchet Bombs in here, but I think I can live without them.
Just an aside: I've found some utility in running a split of Shattering Spree, Abrade, and Shatterstorm, rather than multiples of either. Shatterstorm is for Affinity and Lantern Control, Abrade is ideal for Aether Vial decks(doubling as creature/artifact removal), and Shattering Spree is for everything else. A side bonus is Abrade dodges Chalice on 1, which shuts off Shattering Spree; very nice against Tron variants that run Chalice of the Void.
Shattering Spree actually penetrates Chalice on X=1. Chalice only counters spells that are cast; the copies created by Replicate aren't cast, so aren't countered. So all the spells you picked dodge Chalice.
I run 2x Vandalblast in addition to 2x Spree and 2x Ratchet Bomb. I like the flexibility of Vandalblast doing things like removing an Expedition Map on turn 1, while also acting like a 1-sided Shatterstorm later. It is vulnerable to Chalice on X=1, though.
My losses were to Scapeshift (maindeck Rec Sage ) and G Tron. In retrospect, I was underestimating the value Rabblemaster's clock provides. I'll be adding him back in.
OKC this weekend! Unfortunately I'm not gonna be playing in the main event (my wife is coming with me, so spending 1-2 full days playing Magic would probably be rude), but I'll hopefully get to Skred some folks in a side event.
Tron and Scapeshift are not fun matchups. Turns out turn 4-5 Primetimes are very good.
I've been getting absolutely crushed over the past few events. Consistent 1-3's and a few 2-2's. I might take a bit of a break from Skred until my metagame actually stabilizes. One week it's a pretty balanced meta, and then out of ni where the collective unconscious of the store says "Hmmmm, time to sleeve up aggro," and then there's Affinity (one of my worst matchups), Burn (literally dependent on the die roll in my experience: whoever takes the first turn wins!), and 8Whack (not as rough as Affinity, but Goblin Grenade is a massive beating). With my current work schedule, my only option for playing Magic is Legacy because I never get a friday off (working retail does that). Before anybody asks: yes, I Blood Moon people in Legacy too. I've debated putting Snow-Covered Mountains into Moggcatcher (think Legacy Goblin Stompy) just to spread the love for the holidays.
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Hi, New scred player, but have grinded a LOT of mtgo the last two weeks.
Ive done a spredsheet of my matchups with win loss, and what name I thought was right for the deck I was playing against.
The spreadsheet is in a attached picture.
Some comments on the matchups with more matches:
Jeskai: They don't have enough counterspells to keep everything of the board, Remember boardwipes for game two for Geist of saint traft. Easy matchup
5C humans: Bloodmoon + sweepers and targeted removal makes the matchup easy. Getting Thalia of the bord on turn two/three helps a lot. Easy
Amulet titan: Mainboard bloodmoons keeps us alive long enough to skred the titans and pressure them with planeswalkers. Dependent on draw
Any Tron: Pretty much the worst matchup i have played against, there never seems to be a way to get them, maby with SSG for turn two moon. Feels impossible.
Jund: Interesting matchup, seems to be in our favour because of mainboard relic. haste takes care of liliana. Medium, with a lot of choices.
Storm: Feels like it's in storms favour, but not as impossible as it looks on paper, Relic and removal helps, i use Eidolon in sideboard for these. Hard
Affinity: In affinity's favour, but 1 or 2 more dedicated sideboard cards could tip it in our favour. dont be afraid to bolt turn 1 plays even if you have a sweeper. Hard but possible.
Eldrazitron: see tron.
Burn: Super hard matchup, needs 4 dragons claw in sideboard to have a chance, running 3, and it's not enough. Hard but can be done.
I wrote down stats on all games from when i started to now at 100 games.
What I have noticed is that midrange and control is good matchups.
Aggro and decks going wide is medium.
graveyard based decks are ok.
Combo is super hard.
Big mana tron is impossible. the hope is to dodge these decks.
Decklist: The deck is not optimal or up to date, but it still performs fairy well.
While I'm conducting the Sad Trombone Orchestra, I'll give you a run down of my experience with the card. I played it over the summer, so keep in mind that the meta has changed a lot.
Regent brings a lot to the table. Bolting an opponent anytime they target it is beyond sweet, and the abilities stack with multiples in play (two Regents means the opponent takes a whopping six damage!). A 4/4 flier will end games quickly, and paired with Stormbreath Dragon it can become a neigh-unstoppable force. However, Regent does have it's downsides. For starters, it clutters up the 4 cmc spot. We already play Koth, Chandra, and P&K: adding another one means we end up running 11-12 four drops, in addition to the playset of Stormbreath Dragons because you want to max out on those if you're playing Regent. This means we either cut P&K, which is the most viable option even if it hurts a lot; Koth, are best finisher; or Chandra, our source of card advantage. As it stands, Thunderbreak Regent is outclassed by Pia and Kiran Nalaar and Chandra. Perhaps if there is ever a rise of GBx archetypes again Thunderbreak will get some time in the limelight, but even then we're already so good against them it's hard to justify its inclusion.
Speaking of other flying finishers, I finally worked up the nerve to cut my two Stormbreaths, my Batterskull, and my singleton Obsidian Fireheart to do something a bit more saucy: four Demigod of Revenge. Time to give Cryptic Command players some nightmares!
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Wound up going 2-2 in the OKC side event, beating Affinity and UR Storm and losing to Affinity and Dredge. Rough day (Dredge and Affinity are good matchups, I don't wanna be losing to them). On the plus side, I found Japanese Ancient Tombs and Null Rods I needed!
Did anyone play in the main event? The Top 8 looks super unfriendly to Skred, but the Top 32 looks a bit better.
...
Affinity: In affinity's favour, but 1 or 2 more dedicated sideboard cards could tip it in our favour. dont be afraid to bolt turn 1 plays even if you have a sweeper. Hard but possible.
...
Burn: Super hard matchup, needs 4 dragons claw in sideboard to have a chance, running 3, and it's not enough. Hard but can be done.
...
Interesting that neither of you like the Burn or Affinity matchups; I've found them to be amongst our better Tier 1 matchups. Both decks have some things we struggle hugely with (e.g. hands with all spells and no creatures from Burn; Etched Champion with Cranial Plating from Affinity), but their average draws line up pretty poorly with ours.
...
Affinity: In affinity's favour, but 1 or 2 more dedicated sideboard cards could tip it in our favour. dont be afraid to bolt turn 1 plays even if you have a sweeper. Hard but possible.
...
Burn: Super hard matchup, needs 4 dragons claw in sideboard to have a chance, running 3, and it's not enough. Hard but can be done.
...
Interesting that neither of you like the Burn or Affinity matchups; I've found them to be amongst our better Tier 1 matchups. Both decks have some things we struggle hugely with (e.g. hands with all spells and no creatures from Burn; Etched Champion with Cranial Plating from Affinity), but their average draws line up pretty poorly with ours.
I find Burn to be 50-50 when we win the toss, and 65-35 when we lose the toss. Games 2 and 3 are definitely better than game 1, but even on the play they're far from a lock. Closing down the ground game is easy, but outracing them is hard when our clock typically finishes the game on turn 6 at best.
As for Tron, the problem there is closing out the game before Wurmcoil Engines and the like take over. With Blood Moon, this is reasonable: our clock can often slightly outpace their threats if they only hit one land per turn. Without Blood Moon, this is usually a losing battle. The game gets somewhat worse after sideboarding too, since they start bringing in enchantment removal.
Burn is one of our better tier 1 matchups, but it isn't in the way we want it to be. We can remove all their creatures, but it usually comes down to a few points of life. This makes the die roll crucial in deciding the match. That 2 points of first turn Goblin Guide damage is all the difference. lord_darkview nailed it, imo. As for Affinity, voffel's sideboard is built to deal with more aggressive strategies. Eidolon seems very good against Affinity, and Chandra Pyromaster can ping off threats every turn. I'm certain I'm in sore need of a retooling, but I'm willing to step away from Batterskull. It's a crutch I've leaned on for far too long, and while it can singlehandedly decide games, it's a five drop that dies to Fatal Push. That isn't a pretty prospect when it takes 8 mana to replay it.
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Just started playing my Skred deck again. I went 3-1 at my lgs, playing against, affinity, mono-white death and taxes, bant eldrazi,and losing to Grixis Death's Shadow in the final round. What's the general strategy against DS? Also does Obliterate seem like a worthy sb card with all these big mana decks showing up from the last GP results?
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Agreed. I'd also like a bit more artifact removal. Shifting Reckoners to the main in red-zone based metas, or alternatively Rabblemasters in Control/Combo metas is probably going to be worth some additional wins. Deciding which is preferable is hard, because Rabblemasters are much better against their best opponents than Reckoners are theirs, but Rabblemaster's have more potential to be utterly useless while Reckoners rarely are.
Modern: Merfolk UU // Green Devotion GG // SkRed Red RR
Legacy: Death & Taxes WW // Burn RR // Death's Shadow Delver UB
Commander: Brago UW // Karlov WB
@TexasGoyf I don't think you want Reckoners in the sideboard. While there are several matchups where it's good, it isn't necessarily better than a lot of cards already in the deck. Sideboards shouldn't just have good cards; they need to ruin the opponent's day, and then microwave their ice cream for good measure.
I get to actually play at FNM tonight! I'm very excited to Skred some faces, and I get to break out my foreign copies, "Miniavalanche" (this is, by the way, the correct version our namesake card).
When I first built Skred, I was on maindeck Reckoners. After a little while I cut them; as CavalryWolfPack has said, they're sometimes good and sometimes weak, which isn't ideal maindeck material. Since then, I've been playing a few out of the board, and they've totally overperformed against 3 tier 1 decks: Eldrazi Tron, Burn, and GDS. Likewise, they're solid in most fair matchups. I'd be open to cutting them, but I can't think of a replacement that's good against all 3 of the aforementioned decks. Roast would be a way to go, but that isn't useful against Burn and leaves me wanting Dragon's Claw, thus needing even more sideboard cuts.
Rabblemaster is actually the card I'd prefer to cut of the 2; I have him in there for Tron and linnear combo, but without SSG he's still so slow that he doesn't significantly swing those matchups. I like the Scab Clan suggestion, might hafta try him.
Re. E Scourge: I don't play him in the main or the board. I understand the card's power, but I've never been very impressed and have found P&K + the sideboard creatures to get the job done.
We'll see what happens! I have like 4 weeks till OKC, so maybe I'll have some type of breakthrough between now and then.
we did it everybody
HAHAHA!
Modern: Merfolk UU // Green Devotion GG // SkRed Red RR
Legacy: Death & Taxes WW // Burn RR // Death's Shadow Delver UB
Commander: Brago UW // Karlov WB
Squad goals
Turns out you were right! I lost to Affinity last night. To avoid a repeat of that at GP OKC next month, here's the retooled board I'm gonna try:
3 Boros Reckoner
3 Molten Rain
2 Kozilek's Return
2 Roast
3 Shattering Spree
2 Dragon's Claw
I know Reckoner's a bit controversial, but I've found him to be way more impactful than Rabblemaster. A part of me would like some Ratchet Bombs in here, but I think I can live without them.
Just an aside: I've found some utility in running a split of Shattering Spree, Abrade, and Shatterstorm, rather than multiples of either. Shatterstorm is for Affinity and Lantern Control, Abrade is ideal for Aether Vial decks(doubling as creature/artifact removal), and Shattering Spree is for everything else. A side bonus is Abrade dodges Chalice on 1, which shuts off Shattering Spree; very nice against Tron variants that run Chalice of the Void.
Shattering Spree actually penetrates Chalice on X=1. Chalice only counters spells that are cast; the copies created by Replicate aren't cast, so aren't countered. So all the spells you picked dodge Chalice.
I run 2x Vandalblast in addition to 2x Spree and 2x Ratchet Bomb. I like the flexibility of Vandalblast doing things like removing an Expedition Map on turn 1, while also acting like a 1-sided Shatterstorm later. It is vulnerable to Chalice on X=1, though.
Modern: Merfolk UU // Green Devotion GG // SkRed Red RR
Legacy: Death & Taxes WW // Burn RR // Death's Shadow Delver UB
Commander: Brago UW // Karlov WB
3 Reckoner
3 Molten Rain
2 Kozilek's Return
2 Roast
3 Shattering Spree
2 Dragon's Claw
My losses were to Scapeshift (maindeck Rec Sage ) and G Tron. In retrospect, I was underestimating the value Rabblemaster's clock provides. I'll be adding him back in.
OKC this weekend! Unfortunately I'm not gonna be playing in the main event (my wife is coming with me, so spending 1-2 full days playing Magic would probably be rude), but I'll hopefully get to Skred some folks in a side event.
I've been getting absolutely crushed over the past few events. Consistent 1-3's and a few 2-2's. I might take a bit of a break from Skred until my metagame actually stabilizes. One week it's a pretty balanced meta, and then out of ni where the collective unconscious of the store says "Hmmmm, time to sleeve up aggro," and then there's Affinity (one of my worst matchups), Burn (literally dependent on the die roll in my experience: whoever takes the first turn wins!), and 8Whack (not as rough as Affinity, but Goblin Grenade is a massive beating). With my current work schedule, my only option for playing Magic is Legacy because I never get a friday off (working retail does that). Before anybody asks: yes, I Blood Moon people in Legacy too. I've debated putting Snow-Covered Mountains into Moggcatcher (think Legacy Goblin Stompy) just to spread the love for the holidays.
Ive done a spredsheet of my matchups with win loss, and what name I thought was right for the deck I was playing against.
The spreadsheet is in a attached picture.
Some comments on the matchups with more matches:
Jeskai: They don't have enough counterspells to keep everything of the board, Remember boardwipes for game two for Geist of saint traft. Easy matchup
5C humans: Bloodmoon + sweepers and targeted removal makes the matchup easy. Getting Thalia of the bord on turn two/three helps a lot. Easy
Amulet titan: Mainboard bloodmoons keeps us alive long enough to skred the titans and pressure them with planeswalkers. Dependent on draw
Any Tron: Pretty much the worst matchup i have played against, there never seems to be a way to get them, maby with SSG for turn two moon. Feels impossible.
Jund: Interesting matchup, seems to be in our favour because of mainboard relic. haste takes care of liliana. Medium, with a lot of choices.
Storm: Feels like it's in storms favour, but not as impossible as it looks on paper, Relic and removal helps, i use Eidolon in sideboard for these. Hard
Affinity: In affinity's favour, but 1 or 2 more dedicated sideboard cards could tip it in our favour. dont be afraid to bolt turn 1 plays even if you have a sweeper. Hard but possible.
Eldrazitron: see tron.
Burn: Super hard matchup, needs 4 dragons claw in sideboard to have a chance, running 3, and it's not enough. Hard but can be done.
I wrote down stats on all games from when i started to now at 100 games.
What I have noticed is that midrange and control is good matchups.
Aggro and decks going wide is medium.
graveyard based decks are ok.
Combo is super hard.
Big mana tron is impossible. the hope is to dodge these decks.
Decklist: The deck is not optimal or up to date, but it still performs fairy well.
2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Chandra, Pyromaster
4 Koth of the Hammer
4 Blood Moon
4 Relic of Progenitus
3 Anger of the Gods
4 Skred
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Stormbreath Dragon
2 Pia and Kiran Nalaar
2 Eternal Scourge
21 Snow-Covered Mountain
2 Scrying Sheets
4 Mind Stone
3 Dragon's Claw
1 Kozilek's Return
2 Molten Rain
2 Ratchet Bomb
1 Roast
1 Shattering Spree
1 Shatterstorm
1 Chandra, Flamecaller
2 Eidolon of the Great Revel
...have you ever took the five minutes needed to read the primer?
flowers shall grow
and I am in them
and that is eternity."
Regent brings a lot to the table. Bolting an opponent anytime they target it is beyond sweet, and the abilities stack with multiples in play (two Regents means the opponent takes a whopping six damage!). A 4/4 flier will end games quickly, and paired with Stormbreath Dragon it can become a neigh-unstoppable force. However, Regent does have it's downsides. For starters, it clutters up the 4 cmc spot. We already play Koth, Chandra, and P&K: adding another one means we end up running 11-12 four drops, in addition to the playset of Stormbreath Dragons because you want to max out on those if you're playing Regent. This means we either cut P&K, which is the most viable option even if it hurts a lot; Koth, are best finisher; or Chandra, our source of card advantage. As it stands, Thunderbreak Regent is outclassed by Pia and Kiran Nalaar and Chandra. Perhaps if there is ever a rise of GBx archetypes again Thunderbreak will get some time in the limelight, but even then we're already so good against them it's hard to justify its inclusion.
Speaking of other flying finishers, I finally worked up the nerve to cut my two Stormbreaths, my Batterskull, and my singleton Obsidian Fireheart to do something a bit more saucy: four Demigod of Revenge. Time to give Cryptic Command players some nightmares!
Did anyone play in the main event? The Top 8 looks super unfriendly to Skred, but the Top 32 looks a bit better.
Interesting that neither of you like the Burn or Affinity matchups; I've found them to be amongst our better Tier 1 matchups. Both decks have some things we struggle hugely with (e.g. hands with all spells and no creatures from Burn; Etched Champion with Cranial Plating from Affinity), but their average draws line up pretty poorly with ours.
I find Burn to be 50-50 when we win the toss, and 65-35 when we lose the toss. Games 2 and 3 are definitely better than game 1, but even on the play they're far from a lock. Closing down the ground game is easy, but outracing them is hard when our clock typically finishes the game on turn 6 at best.
As for Tron, the problem there is closing out the game before Wurmcoil Engines and the like take over. With Blood Moon, this is reasonable: our clock can often slightly outpace their threats if they only hit one land per turn. Without Blood Moon, this is usually a losing battle. The game gets somewhat worse after sideboarding too, since they start bringing in enchantment removal.
Modern: Merfolk UU // Green Devotion GG // SkRed Red RR
Legacy: Death & Taxes WW // Burn RR // Death's Shadow Delver UB
Commander: Brago UW // Karlov WB