MTG Salvation

Based on day 2, the projected top 32, and top 8, modern looks very healthy

So healthy in fact I think our dreams and hopes of getting BBE/SFM is shattered

I hope I'm wrong...but I'm not sure WOTC wants to risk a shake up with such a healthy format.

That was an amazing game.

I'll have to rematch that game, too. I have to understand board states like that more.

Many interesting choices in Reid's list.

- 0 Surgical Extraction is a bit of a head scratcher. It seems like one of BGx's highest-impact sideboard cards.
- Only 3 Lingering Souls! This is the reason to play white at all. Why?
- Does Grim Flayer really need the Nihil Spellbomb help? It seems like such a terrible maindeck card against the field.

Quote from Spsiegel1987 »

That game 1 against Humans was amazing, he purely outplayed his opponent. I honestly cannot believe he won that, it should have been a roll. He knew when to block, when to attack. I would have been steamrolled in his position. I couldn't understand his initial swing in at all.

Really amazing, you don't see this quality of play on the SCG circuit.

It's up if anybody wants to watch it.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/225335453

Love Nihil Spellbomb, and play them over Baubles any day. Sorry dredge, sorry goryo, disables a snapcaster, witness, rallier, stops storm cold, kills a finks, shrinks an opposing goyf or flayer in the mirror, forces kolaghan's selection. Not even a bad late game draw as you will likely have the mana to cantrip it if necessary.

I was playing this list when I played abzan prior to rock. Thats the way to go. Not those centralized lists or whatever. 100 % on reids side here.

If you think about it, path wont make a huge impact actually. You would cut a pulse for it and if you play 2 paths you only got 1 extra removal to hit angler. I think this matchup is still about goyfs bigger than anglers primarily.

If its just for this matchup, I am not sure we want path. Would aldo not run more than 2 copies.

Spellbomb would have been a win maybe yeah.

1) I don't know why you have to cut a Pulse for Path. There's no reason why you can't run 2 Pulse and 2 Paths. I actually 5-0'd a league recently with such a list. It also had a Celestial Purge in the sideboard to have more answers to creatures that get past Fatal Push / Decay. Especially if Bedlam Reveler becomes more popular, I think this will be good:



2) I agree that 4 Souls is probably good right now. I have to imagine the thinking behind cutting to 3 is that it is really bad against Tron and combo, but those decks didn't do very well at the PT. The format seems very fair right now.

You have to keep in mind that modern is a fast changing format right now. And next week, you dont want to beat the decks from this week, you need to beat decks that want to beat decks this week. If the format is fair now, tron will be good next week.

You are always behind if you focus on decks this week.

MTGO almost always predicts what a meta looks like, without fail, minus your local FNM.

You have to think about what did well this week and how people would respond to things in the upcoming weeks.

How about cutting 1 Push and 1 Spellbomb for 2 PtE if the meta requires so. I really want the single LtLH and a single artifact main to help enable Delirium and grow Goys. I run 1 EE main as a hedge against Bogles. As for the 3 Souls, I think Reid cut down to 3 as he his list is light on White sources. If you exchange the Treetops for another Vent/Wildwood then it's probably okay.

Quote from Spsiegel1987 »

MTGO almost always predicts what a meta looks like, without fail, minus your local FNM.

You have to think about what did well this week and how people would respond to things in the upcoming weeks.

Thats why I think 4 Souls arent good next week. Fair decks are good now, so next week people want to prey on fair decks. And subsequently you need to beat those next week, which arent decks where Souls is great (Tron).

I think you're right, I think stuff like Tron will thrive with a top 8 like that.

I'm showing up with BG Tron tomorrow at my FNM, actually.

In looking at RD's list, he is going very aggressive, dropped his 5th pure removal spell (murderous cut) for Grim Flayer (going to guess he went this way after playing Traverse Shadow in a fast build and feeling that). That 2nd Grim is the slot for the singleton PtE with a second PtE sideboard, and I very much like the idea of Celestial Purge in that sideboard slot, since it covers some of Pulse territory as well. He used to keep the 4th souls sideboard, but has put the 2nd LLH in it's place (would be great to hear his line on that). I like that he confirmed Nihil Spellbomb as the bomb.

A general claim of Pulse >> Path is ?? based solely on instant v. sorcery.

Quote from fraugher »

In looking at RD's list, he is going very aggressive, dropped his 5th pure removal spell (murderous cut) for Grim Flayer (going to guess he went this way after playing Traverse Shadow in a fast build and feeling that). That 2nd Grim is the slot for the singleton PtE with a second PtE sideboard, and I very much like the idea of Celestial Purge in that sideboard slot, since it covers some of Pulse territory as well. He used to keep the 4th souls sideboard, but has put the 2nd LLH in it's place (would be great to hear his line on that). I like that he confirmed Nihil Spellbomb as the bomb.

A general claim of Pulse >> Path is ?? based solely on instant v. sorcery.

Dont know to which list you are comparing that to. The latest list we have is from his article series, and based on that his changes were:

Mainboard:

-1 Treetop Village // +1 Forest
-1 Murderous Cut // +1 Tireless Tracker
-1 Mishra's Bauble // +1 Nihil Spellbomb

Sideboard:

-1 Thrun, the Last Troll // +1 Damnation
-1 Grafdiggers Cage // +1 Liliana, the Last Hope
-1 Thoughtseize // +1 Duress

He always played Flayer and no Paths ever. And also no 4th Souls in the board.

I would play a tron deck at a gp for sure.

What about he made it into the top8 because he decided NOT to play Path?

Quote from sabralod »

I think we have seen many Tron variants in Bilbao - they didn't make it to the top8.
If you analyse the records, you will see 20 Tron variants out of ~140 Deck.

Wasn't that last game of Duke a lesson why we should play path? Only Pulse and Lili are to less, to fight CMC 5+ creatures early on. A turn 2 Angler also very common in Grixis DS...

No, it's really not. He made the top 8 with his deck list. A lot of decks lose to a turn 1 4/4.

His opponents deck won the variance lottery.