Hello everyone, it has been a while but I wanted to share my recent success at a local tournament with RUG Scapeshift. I got 1st Place which won me a playset of Tarmogoyfs.
First off, my list. I was looking for a good RUG list and purklefluff's intrigued me.
As you can see, I'm running 61 Cards main. This is mainly because I wanted room for a second Sudden Shock in my sideboard so I moved a Obstinate Baloth to the main. Honestly I feel like the deck wants 24.5 lands so this change seems ok.
Now for the tournament. I expected a large showing of people, but labor day weekend and another event in a neighboring city made the attendance low.
We had 16 players, which made it 4 rounds with a cut to top 4.
I didn't take notes on this tournament to everything is from memory.
Round 1: vs. Jeskai Ascendancy
Game 1:
I haven't seen this deck for a long time, but I still remembered how it works. I didn't know what my opponent was playing until he Glittering Wished for Jeskai Ascendancy. I didn't have counter magic for the Jeskai Ascendancy, but I had an Anger of the Gods for his mana dorks. I hoped it would be enough but he untapped and discarded a Fatestitcher and was able to combo off and kill me.
Sideboard:
- 1 Obstinate Baloth
- 1 Cryptic Command
- 1 Hour of Promise
- 4 Sleight of Hand
+ 2 Engineered Explosives
+ 1 Anger of the Gods
+ 1 Fracturing Gust
+ 1 Grafdigger's Cage
+ 2 Sudden Shock
Game 2:
My opponent was stuck on 2 lands for several turns and gave me to time to Scapeshift.
Game 1:
I lose the die roll and my opponent has turn 1 1 drop, turn 2 double one drop, turn 3 lord. I don't have a way to answer his board and lose the next turn.
Sideboard:
- 1 Hour of Promise
- 2 Prismatic Omen
- 2 Remand
- 2 Sleight of Hand
+ 1 Anger of the Gods
+ 2 Engineered Explosives
+ 2 Obstinate Baloth
+ 2 Sudden Shock
Game 1:
I'm on the play and have a good hand while my opponent has turn 1 Thought Scour. They cast a delve creature which I Remand (back-breaking). They can't deploy a threat and get removal flooded while I end up playing a Prismatic Omen and a valakut and burn my opponent out the old fashioned way.
Sideboard:
- 4 Remand
- 2 Anger of the Gods
- 1 Cryptic Command
- 1 Prismatic Omen
+ 2 Obstinate Baloth
+ 3 Chalice of the Void
+ 2 Engineered Explosives
+ 1 Surrak Dragonclaw
I am relieved to get fourth seed and make it into top 4.
Top 4: Semi-Finals vs. Esper tokens/Polymorph
I had seen this deck while scouting so I knew what was up.
Game 1:
I'm on the draw due to seeding and my opponent has turn 1 Thoughseize. I reveal my hand of 3 land, 3 Remand, Sleight of Hand. They take Sleight of Hand but can't land a token maker due to my Remands. I draw straight gas and cast a lethal Scapeshift with plenty of time to spare.
Sideboard:
- 1 Obstinate Baloth
- 2 Prismatic Omen
- 2 Sleight of Hand
+ 1 Grafdigger's Cage
+ 1 Anger of the Gods
+ 2 Engineered Explosives
+ 1 Fracturing Gust
Game 2:
I have a strong hand and outrace my opponent. They don't have discard and I'm able to play an Engineered Explosives for 0 as an insurance policy and find what I need to win.
4-1
Top 4 Finals: vs. UW Control
My opponent offers the split but I want the 4 Tarmogoyfs so I say we should play it out.
Game 1:
We go back and forth for a long time but I'm able to land a prismatic omen against no clock. I cast Scapeshift the next turn with double Remand backup into my opponent's 5 untapped mana. He only has a cryptic which I remand and take the game.
I didn't side out anger because I knew my opponent played Spell Queller.
Game 2:
My opponent mulligans and misses their second land drop for 3 turns and I'm able to Scapeshift for the win with counter backup.
Overall 5-1
I was very excited to win the tournament and the deck preformed very well for me. The hardest matchups for the deck is definitely fast aggressive strategies which I fortunately only played two of. I think I still want another card in my board against these types of decks, but I'm not sure what it should be and what I should cut for it. What have you guys tested?
That is a very spicy list! The 4 Grave Titans in the sideboard really get me. The inclusion of dark petition is interesting. However, I think the strength of the blue versions is being able to stall with Cryptic Command, and with this jund version I feel that stalling is hard to do. I think he is trying to play a fair game rather than trying to ignore your opponents gameplan. It is an interesting idea.
NOTE: If you allready have Valakut in play you keep it and sacrifice one less land with scapeshift (only searching for the second Valakut).
I had 1 Valakut was on the battlefield already, so in response to casting a Scapeshift my opponent would Ghost Quarter it. I then search a basic and have 9 lands. Scapeshift resolves and I sacrifice 7 lands leaving 2 mountains getting Valakut and 6 mountains. This only deals 18 damage. If I had a 7th mountain in my deck (11 total) then I would have been able to win in this scenario, as my opponent was at 20.
I understand that with double Valakut the number of mountains required in your deck is much less, but if you draw a Valakut and your opponent has interaction (Fulminator Mage or Ghost Quarter) then it can be hard to win. Sometimes you don't have the time/cards for another land drop.
If you math it right you don't even need that, just more lands.
I see that this 11th mountain business is a big deal. After redoing the math, you are correct that I only needed the 10 mountains to win. However, if I had drawn 4 mountains with only 10 mountains in my deck (a plausible scenario) then I would have only been able to deal 18 damage to my opponent, which wasn't lethal.
While most of the time 10 mountains is sufficient, there are definitely scenarios where we will be unable to deal lethal damage. It may just be my opinion, but I think that having the 11th mountain as a security blanket is better than playing a Canopy Vista for a possible Hunting Wilds double white plan.
Please keep in mind that in reference to micah1's list, I am running an additional fetch in 4 Misty Rainforest, meaning that I have another white source in my manabase (4 Misty Rainforest, Sacred Foundry, Temple Garden, Hallowed Fountain, Plains). This is the main reason why I believe that this choice is correct. However, this one land we are talking about could be considered a "flex" spot, so it is really up to personal preference. I've seen some lists that run a Flooded Grove in this slot too, although I'm not sure how much I like it in the BtL versions.
I ended up going 3-1, losing to affinity in 3 games, but both losses were close. Game 2 my opponent drew 3 galvantic blast in 4 cards to kill me after I stabilized at 7 life with Negate backup. And in game 3 I misplayed by letting my opponent untap with steel overseer which gave him a much faster clock which cost me 2 draw steps. Nature's claim was good and the life gain wouldn't have mattered, even though I lost both sideboarded games.
The 11th mountain won me a game against eldrazitron where I had drawn 1 valakut and 3 mountains. I had to go off with 9 lands getting 1 valakut and 8 mountains. (He had 2 ghost quarter so I needed every mountain to make sure my triggers resolved.
I played Grixis Shadow twice, and Leyline of Sanctity was great! I prevented my opponent from doing extra damage to themselves and filling up the yard, so they couldn't even cast a creature until turn 4. One game I had Rest in Peace and Leyline of Sanctity, and my opponent's deck felt completely neutered. Chameleon Colossus performed well again I definitely deserves a spot in the deck.
Thanks for responding! I am still new to Scapeshift decks, and I appreciate a lot of your advice.
3 Supreme Will may be too many, I will cut one for a 3rd Scapeshift when I get one. As for Remand, I think the card is great but it is not good against a lot of the top decks and doesn't compare to the card selection from Supreme Will. I think 3 is the right number for me.
When I added the Mistys, I wasn't sure which land to cut. So I cut a Breeding Pool. I used to play with the black splash, like the list from GP Copenhagen, so I based my land base off of that one. It ran 11 mountains, so I figured that that would be a good place to start. I have had a couple games where I needed the 11th mountain to kill someone, as drawing 5+ mountains and not having an 8th or 9th land is certainly plausible.
I didn't think about Hunting Wilds when it came to the land choices though. I can see it being nice to be able to get double while and double blue off of it, but i haven't had any trouble with getting colors so far. The 4 Misty Rainforest do help a lot.
Nature's Claim has good versatility, and I haven't played the deck enough to determine if the life gain from it is irrelevant. However, I can definitely see a scenario where I can't kill my opponent with 7 lands due to the life gain from Nature's Claim.
I agree that my sideboard plan vs Living End was sub-optimal. I haven't played the matchup as scapeshift before, so I didn't even consider their land destruction plan and being impactful. I like your sideboard plan much better.
The Sideboard Guide I created was assuming owning a third Scapeshift over the Izzet Charm, so there are some adjustments given the deck configuration.
Overall though the deck performed well. I will make some tweaks to the main deck and sideboard and hope to keep everyone updated.
Hello everyone! I'm new to the thread and posting in general, but I've been playing Bring to Light Scapeshift for a few months now and would like to give a tournament report, along with some thoughts I had about the deck.
First off, Tournament report. I played at a modern PPTQ on Saturday, making top 8 but unfortunately losing in the quarters.
My list is inspired off micah1's list from the SCG Open. I wanted to run 3 Scapeshifts, but I don't own a 3rd copy, so I ended up running an izzet charm instead. I updated the list for supreme will and some other tweeks, such as adding an 11th mountain (sacred foundry) and adding 4 mistys, as well as my own sideboard plan. I wanted back to nature against possible phyrexian unlife + Solemnity combo.
Game 1 7-7 on the draw. Win
My opponent does the usual things, stripping a BtL from my hand and assembling a board. Fortunately he only had one discard spell and I was able to block with some Steves (Sakura-Tribe Elders) and stall with a cryptic. I find another BtL and win.
Sideboard
- 3 Remand
- 1 Hunting Wilds
- 1 Farseek
- 1 Anger of the Gods
- 1 Cryptic Command
- 1 Snapcaster Mage
- 2 Supreme Will
+ 1 Chameleon Colossus
+ 2 Obstinate Baloth
+ 3 Rest in Peace
+ 2 Negate
+ 2 Dispel
Game 2 7-5 on the draw. Win
My opening hand was a little loose, but since my opponent mulled I decided to keep. My hand was 4 lands with all my colors, 2 path, 1 verdict. Opponent had thoughtsieze to take a path, but only had one large creature the whole game which met another path. Tried to go aggro with just a snapcaster mage, but a baloth stopped him. Ended up finding supreme will into BtL, my opponent had double stubborn denial in hand but no 4 power creatures on board, so he cast force spike twice, which I paid for.
1-0
Round 2 vs. Affinity 2-1
Game 1 7-6 on the draw. Win
I get a nut hand and keep, 3 lands, 3 ramp spells, scapeshift. My opponent goes turn 1 , Turn 2 vault skirge + steel overseer, turn 3 steel overseer + signal pest, turn 4 etched champion. Luckily I was able to avoid all of this with a quick turn 4 win. Search->Steve->Hunting Wilds->hardcast Search->BtL->dome for 36. It felt very good
Sideboard
- 3 Remand
- 1 Supreme Will
- 1 Hunting Wilds
- 1 Cryptic Command
+ 1 Creeping Corrosion
+ 3 Obstinate Baloth
+ 1 Mapcap Experiment
+ 1 Platinum Emperion
Game 2 6-7 on the draw. Loss
My opponent has Turn 3 blood moon with 3 signal pest and master of etherium. I wasnt thinking about bloodmoon in their board and didnt sideboard for it. So I took my beats and went onto game 3.
Sideboard Change:
- 3 Obstinate Baloth
+ 1 Back to Nature
+ 2 Negate
Game 3 6-6 on the play. Win
I mull to a good hand of forest, misty, anger, 2 steve, search. I draw well and cast anger turn 4 to clear his board, I go down to 2 life after a few more turns, have scapeshift in hand and draw cryptic, stall with cryptic (since my opponent didnt play around it) and topdeck a search to get my 8th land to kill my opponent at 20.
2-0
Round 3 vs Grixis Shadow 0-2 (My friend who ended up winning the PPTQ)
Game 1 6-7 on the draw. Loss
I mulled and kept a questionable hand of 3 lands and 3 ramp spells. He had 2 thoughtseize, turn 2 shadow, and an instant speed kcommand to make me discard in the draw step. He revealed after the game that he had stubborn in hand too.
Sideboard:
Same as Round 1
Game 2 7-7 on the play. Loss
I keep a solid hand of 2 lands, search, Supreme Will, BtL, RIP. He had Inquisition into double Thoughtseize, taking RIP, Btl, and Supreme Will. I have turn 3 cryptic, but he had the stubborn for it since I couldn't pay the 1. I never recovered and he showed me another stubborn in hand. Was a rough loss.
2-1
Round 4 vs Boggles 2-0
Game 1 7-6 on the play. Win
I keep a good hand with search, 3 lands, path, remand, supreme will. My opponent has only 2 boggles with no enchantments. He tries to cast spirit dancer which I remand. Turns out his only enchantment in hand was unflinching courage and he was trying to get value out of spirit dancer. It was too slow though and I combo kill him.
Sideboard:
- 3 Path to Exile
- 2 Remand
+ 1 Back to Nature
+ 2 Negate
+ 1 Madcap Experiment
+ 1 Platinum Emperion
Game 2 6-6 on the draw. Win
I mull to 6 with 3 lands, search, steve, madcap, negate. My opponent reveals white leyline to start the game. I ramp into turn 4 madcap with negate backup while my opponent is stuck on one land. I'm locked at 9 life and my opponent doesn't have lifelink. We basically draw go for 6-7 turns and my opponent still doesn't find another land. I find supreme will->cryptic bounce leyline->Btl for the win. My opponent admitted that 3 path was the only out in his deck.
3-1
Round 5 Grixis Shadow 0-0-3 ID
The tournament was capped at 32 players for some reason, play space I guess, but I did the math and determined we could split into top 8.
3-1-1
Top 8: Quarterfinals vs. Living End 1-2
Game 1 7-7 on the draw. Win
I didn't know what my opponent was playing initially, so i keep a reasonable hand of Island, mountain, misty, remand, cryptic, anger, search. My opponent does some cycling and hardcasts a Fulminator turn 3, suspending a living end turn 4. He doesn't find a cascade spell all game and I remand his suspended Living end. I'm able to stall pretty long with verdict and cryptic while my opponent floods a little. I topdeck Scapeshift for the win.
Sideboard:
- 1 Supreme Will
- 1 Snapcaster Mage
- 1 Anger of the Gods
- 1 Path to Exile
- 1 Supreme Verdict
+ 3 Rest in Peace
+ 2 Negate
Game 2 6-7 on the draw. Loss
I have rest in peace but my opponent has turn 4 slaughter games naming scapeshift. I hope to draw valakuts/verdict naturally, but can't before I die to hardcast beats.
I was surprised by slaughter games but shouldn't have been. I should have sideboarded differently.
Sideboard change:
- 2 Negate
- 1 Farseek
- 1 Izzet Charm
- 1 Hunting Wilds
- 1 Path to Exile
+ 1 Supreme Verdict
+ 1 Madcap Experiment
+ 1 Platinum Emperion
+ 1 Chameleon Colossus
+ 2 Obstinate Baloth
Game 3 6-7 on the play. Loss
I keep a hand of 3 land, search, cryptic, verdict while my opponent starts cycling. I have turn 3 Cryptic but my opponent plays and instantly fetches with his fourth land drop and my heart sinks. He reveals the slaughter games and takes scapeshift again. I get an eyebrow raise when he passes the platinum emperion looking through my deck. I draw RIP try to stall for a bit but flood out hard. Drawing 5 lands in a row. My opponent starts hardcasting threats so I am forced to verdict. My opponent natures claims my RIP. I find a supreme will which finds me either platinum emperion or chameleon colossus. I want to keep up cryptic so I take chameleon colossus over emperion. My opponent has double beast within, I crypticed one of them, but my colossus hits the grave. He plays a desert cerodon and cycles 2 monstrous carabids. I chump with the token and draw second verdict. I clear the board but next turn my opponent casts living end, bringing back 2 monstrous carabid and the desert cerodon. I Have enough mana to cast cryptic and pump colossus 3 times, making it 32/32, but cant get past the desert cerodon. I flood for 4 more draw steps and get beaten down by an archfiend. I felt like I had lots of outs to win me the game but failed to find them. I lose the game with 19 lands on the battlefield.
I finished in 8th Place.
Overall the deck preformed very well and I was very happy with the mana base and mix of spells (minus not having the third Scapeshift). Supreme Will seemed to fit very well into the deck, as it is mostly used to dig but gives you added security. One thing I wanted to improve was the sideboard. I'm thinking about adding Leyline of Sanctity to the board to combat discard spells and Slaughter Games, but not entirely sure what to cut. I feel that Chameleon Colossus is a great answer to death shadow in the meta and that Baloth was just a weaker Colossus. I'm thinking about cutting 3 Baloths and 1 Rest in Peace from the board for another Colossus and 3 Leyline of Sanctity. Another answer to a resolved blood moon would also be nice.
I created a sideboard guide for the event based off of my list. I will attach it to this Tournament Report.
First off, my list. I was looking for a good RUG list and purklefluff's intrigued me.
After some slight alterations, I settled on this:
4x Sakura-Tribe Elder
1x Hour of Promise
3x Primeval Titan
4x Scapeshift
3x Prismatic Omen
2x Anger of the Gods
4x Remand
4x Cryptic Command
4x Sleight of Hand
2x Supreme Will
4x Misty Rainforest
4x Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
4x Steam Vents
4x Stomping Ground
1x Breeding Pool
1x Sheltered Thicket
1x Flooded grove
1x Mountain
2x Forest
3x Island
3x Chalice of the Void
1x Surrak Dragonclaw
2x Obstinate Baloth
1x Anger of the Gods
1x Fracturing Gust
2x Ceremonious Rejection
1x Grafdigger's Cage
2x Sudden Shock
2x Engineered Explosives
As you can see, I'm running 61 Cards main. This is mainly because I wanted room for a second Sudden Shock in my sideboard so I moved a Obstinate Baloth to the main. Honestly I feel like the deck wants 24.5 lands so this change seems ok.
Now for the tournament. I expected a large showing of people, but labor day weekend and another event in a neighboring city made the attendance low.
We had 16 players, which made it 4 rounds with a cut to top 4.
I didn't take notes on this tournament to everything is from memory.
Round 1: vs. Jeskai Ascendancy
Game 1:
I haven't seen this deck for a long time, but I still remembered how it works. I didn't know what my opponent was playing until he Glittering Wished for Jeskai Ascendancy. I didn't have counter magic for the Jeskai Ascendancy, but I had an Anger of the Gods for his mana dorks. I hoped it would be enough but he untapped and discarded a Fatestitcher and was able to combo off and kill me.
Sideboard:
- 1 Obstinate Baloth
- 1 Cryptic Command
- 1 Hour of Promise
- 4 Sleight of Hand
+ 2 Engineered Explosives
+ 1 Anger of the Gods
+ 1 Fracturing Gust
+ 1 Grafdigger's Cage
+ 2 Sudden Shock
Game 2:
My opponent was stuck on 2 lands for several turns and gave me to time to Scapeshift.
Game 3:
We had a good game of magic, I start with turn 1 Grafdigger's Cage after my opponents turn 1 Birds of Paradise. He turn 2 Glittering Wishes for Jeskai Acendancy. I Sudden Shock his Bird. He doesnt have a third land and plays a Sylvan Caryatid. I don't have counter magic so I play Sakura-Tribe Elder and pass. He casts Jeskai Ascendancy and still doesn't have a third land. I cast Anger of the Gods to kill his dork again. Next turn, my opponent plays 2 Birds of Paradise and passes. I untap and draw Fracturing Gust, I pass the turn. My opponent finds a land and hardcasts a Leyline of Sanctity. They then cast a Sleight of Hand. I respond with Fracturing Gust and then untap and Scapeshift for the win.
1-0
Round 2: vs. Burn
Game 1:
My opponent is on the play with double Goblin Guide. I have turn 2 Sakura-Tribe Elder but my opponent has Searing Blaze and I can't recover.
Sideboard:
- 4 Remand
- 1 Cryptic Command
- 4 Sleight of Hand
- 1 Hour of Promise
+ 2 Obstinate Baloth
+ 3 Chalice of the Void
+ 1 Anger of the Gods
+ 2 Engineered Explosives
+ 2 Sudden Shock
Game 2:
I have a good hand with turn 2 Chalice of the Void and my opponent is stuck on 1 land for 4 turns. They have the Destructive Revelry but its too late and I Scapeshift for the win.
Game 3:
My hand is decent with Sakura-Tribe Elder and Obstinate Baloth. My opponent has turn 1 Monestary Swiftspear. I play Steve and pass because he sided out Searing Blaze right? Nope, he plays land Searing Blaze and gets me for 5. I miss my fourth land and hardcast a Search for Tomorrow. My Opponent Plays third land and lava spike, putting me to 8. I have to slam Obstinate Baloth, but he has Skull Crack and I can't recover.
1-1
Round 3: vs B/R Vampires
Game 1:
I lose the die roll and my opponent has turn 1 1 drop, turn 2 double one drop, turn 3 lord. I don't have a way to answer his board and lose the next turn.
Sideboard:
- 1 Hour of Promise
- 2 Prismatic Omen
- 2 Remand
- 2 Sleight of Hand
+ 1 Anger of the Gods
+ 2 Engineered Explosives
+ 2 Obstinate Baloth
+ 2 Sudden Shock
Game 2:
I have turn 1 Search for Tomorrow into turn 2 Sakura-Tribe Elder into turn 3 Obstinate Baloth. My opponent is stuck on 1 land and can't establish a board.
Game 3:
I mulligan and my hand is 3 land, Search for Tommorrow, Sakura-Tribe Elder, Primeval Titan. My opponent casts Thoughtseize and takes Primeval Titan. I suspend Search for tomorrow. My opponent casts double one drop and passes. I draw Obstinate Baloth, play Steve and pass. My opponent casts another Thoughtseize and I reveal my hand of 3 land and Obstinate Baloth. My opponent isn't familiar with Obstinate Baloth and has to call a judge to fathom the situation. I topdeck Anger of the Gods my next turn, which prompts a concession from my opponent.
2-1
Round 4: vs Grixis Death's Shadow
Game 1:
I'm on the play and have a good hand while my opponent has turn 1 Thought Scour. They cast a delve creature which I Remand (back-breaking). They can't deploy a threat and get removal flooded while I end up playing a Prismatic Omen and a valakut and burn my opponent out the old fashioned way.
Sideboard:
- 4 Remand
- 2 Anger of the Gods
- 1 Cryptic Command
- 1 Prismatic Omen
+ 2 Obstinate Baloth
+ 3 Chalice of the Void
+ 2 Engineered Explosives
+ 1 Surrak Dragonclaw
Game 2:
My opponent misses his second land drop and passes. I play a Misty Rainforest and fetch, debating if I should play Chalice of the Void on 1 into possible Stubborn Denial or play Sakura-Tribe Elder. My question is answered when my opponent responds to the fetch with Thought Scour, saying he didn't want it to get Remanded. I play Chalice of the Void and am able to Cryptic Command his Kolaghan's Commmand a 2 turns later. The next turn I flash in Surrak Dragonclaw in the endstep on an empty board. It meets a Terminate. I untap and slam Primeval Titan which goes unanswered and wins me the game.
3-1
I am relieved to get fourth seed and make it into top 4.
Top 4: Semi-Finals vs. Esper tokens/Polymorph
I had seen this deck while scouting so I knew what was up.
Game 1:
I'm on the draw due to seeding and my opponent has turn 1 Thoughseize. I reveal my hand of 3 land, 3 Remand, Sleight of Hand. They take Sleight of Hand but can't land a token maker due to my Remands. I draw straight gas and cast a lethal Scapeshift with plenty of time to spare.
Sideboard:
- 1 Obstinate Baloth
- 2 Prismatic Omen
- 2 Sleight of Hand
+ 1 Grafdigger's Cage
+ 1 Anger of the Gods
+ 2 Engineered Explosives
+ 1 Fracturing Gust
Game 2:
I have a strong hand and outrace my opponent. They don't have discard and I'm able to play an Engineered Explosives for 0 as an insurance policy and find what I need to win.
4-1
Top 4 Finals: vs. UW Control
My opponent offers the split but I want the 4 Tarmogoyfs so I say we should play it out.
Game 1:
We go back and forth for a long time but I'm able to land a prismatic omen against no clock. I cast Scapeshift the next turn with double Remand backup into my opponent's 5 untapped mana. He only has a cryptic which I remand and take the game.
Sideboard:
- 2 Search for Tomorrow
- 2 Supreme Will
- 1 Hour of Promise
- 1 Remand
+ 2 Engineered Explosives
+ 1 Surrak Dragonclaw
+ 1 Grafdigger's Cage
+ 2 Obstinate Baloth
I didn't side out anger because I knew my opponent played Spell Queller.
Game 2:
My opponent mulligans and misses their second land drop for 3 turns and I'm able to Scapeshift for the win with counter backup.
Overall 5-1
I was very excited to win the tournament and the deck preformed very well for me. The hardest matchups for the deck is definitely fast aggressive strategies which I fortunately only played two of. I think I still want another card in my board against these types of decks, but I'm not sure what it should be and what I should cut for it. What have you guys tested?
I had 1 Valakut was on the battlefield already, so in response to casting a Scapeshift my opponent would Ghost Quarter it. I then search a basic and have 9 lands. Scapeshift resolves and I sacrifice 7 lands leaving 2 mountains getting Valakut and 6 mountains. This only deals 18 damage. If I had a 7th mountain in my deck (11 total) then I would have been able to win in this scenario, as my opponent was at 20.
I understand that with double Valakut the number of mountains required in your deck is much less, but if you draw a Valakut and your opponent has interaction (Fulminator Mage or Ghost Quarter) then it can be hard to win. Sometimes you don't have the time/cards for another land drop.
I see that this 11th mountain business is a big deal. After redoing the math, you are correct that I only needed the 10 mountains to win. However, if I had drawn 4 mountains with only 10 mountains in my deck (a plausible scenario) then I would have only been able to deal 18 damage to my opponent, which wasn't lethal.
While most of the time 10 mountains is sufficient, there are definitely scenarios where we will be unable to deal lethal damage. It may just be my opinion, but I think that having the 11th mountain as a security blanket is better than playing a Canopy Vista for a possible Hunting Wilds double white plan.
Please keep in mind that in reference to micah1's list, I am running an additional fetch in 4 Misty Rainforest, meaning that I have another white source in my manabase (4 Misty Rainforest, Sacred Foundry, Temple Garden, Hallowed Fountain, Plains). This is the main reason why I believe that this choice is correct. However, this one land we are talking about could be considered a "flex" spot, so it is really up to personal preference. I've seen some lists that run a Flooded Grove in this slot too, although I'm not sure how much I like it in the BtL versions.
(http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/bring-to-light-scapeshift-current/)
I ended up going 3-1, losing to affinity in 3 games, but both losses were close. Game 2 my opponent drew 3 galvantic blast in 4 cards to kill me after I stabilized at 7 life with Negate backup. And in game 3 I misplayed by letting my opponent untap with steel overseer which gave him a much faster clock which cost me 2 draw steps. Nature's claim was good and the life gain wouldn't have mattered, even though I lost both sideboarded games.
The 11th mountain won me a game against eldrazitron where I had drawn 1 valakut and 3 mountains. I had to go off with 9 lands getting 1 valakut and 8 mountains. (He had 2 ghost quarter so I needed every mountain to make sure my triggers resolved.
I played Grixis Shadow twice, and Leyline of Sanctity was great! I prevented my opponent from doing extra damage to themselves and filling up the yard, so they couldn't even cast a creature until turn 4. One game I had Rest in Peace and Leyline of Sanctity, and my opponent's deck felt completely neutered. Chameleon Colossus performed well again I definitely deserves a spot in the deck.
I didn't get to cast any supreme wills all night but it was Thoughtseized from my hand twice.
I tried maindeck Madcap Experiment/Platinum Emperion and it only mattered in the first game against EldraziTron, but it 100% won me the game. My opponent had cavern into triple Reality Smasher.
Overall the deck felt strong especially in my local metagame which is filled high amounts of Tron and Grixis Shadow.
3 Supreme Will may be too many, I will cut one for a 3rd Scapeshift when I get one. As for Remand, I think the card is great but it is not good against a lot of the top decks and doesn't compare to the card selection from Supreme Will. I think 3 is the right number for me.
When I added the Mistys, I wasn't sure which land to cut. So I cut a Breeding Pool. I used to play with the black splash, like the list from GP Copenhagen, so I based my land base off of that one. It ran 11 mountains, so I figured that that would be a good place to start. I have had a couple games where I needed the 11th mountain to kill someone, as drawing 5+ mountains and not having an 8th or 9th land is certainly plausible.
I didn't think about Hunting Wilds when it came to the land choices though. I can see it being nice to be able to get double while and double blue off of it, but i haven't had any trouble with getting colors so far. The 4 Misty Rainforest do help a lot.
Nature's Claim has good versatility, and I haven't played the deck enough to determine if the life gain from it is irrelevant. However, I can definitely see a scenario where I can't kill my opponent with 7 lands due to the life gain from Nature's Claim.
I'm still unsure about Leyline of Sanctity, but I know that Chameleon Colossus is better than Obstinate Baloth right now. So will definitely be adding another to the board.
I agree that my sideboard plan vs Living End was sub-optimal. I haven't played the matchup as scapeshift before, so I didn't even consider their land destruction plan and being impactful. I like your sideboard plan much better.
The Sideboard Guide I created was assuming owning a third Scapeshift over the Izzet Charm, so there are some adjustments given the deck configuration.
Overall though the deck performed well. I will make some tweaks to the main deck and sideboard and hope to keep everyone updated.
First off, Tournament report. I played at a modern PPTQ on Saturday, making top 8 but unfortunately losing in the quarters.
My list is inspired off micah1's list from the SCG Open. I wanted to run 3 Scapeshifts, but I don't own a 3rd copy, so I ended up running an izzet charm instead. I updated the list for supreme will and some other tweeks, such as adding an 11th mountain (sacred foundry) and adding 4 mistys, as well as my own sideboard plan. I wanted back to nature against possible phyrexian unlife + Solemnity combo.
Decklist: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/bring-to-light-scapeshift-pptq/
Round 1 vs. Grixis shadow 2-0
Game 1 7-7 on the draw. Win
My opponent does the usual things, stripping a BtL from my hand and assembling a board. Fortunately he only had one discard spell and I was able to block with some Steves (Sakura-Tribe Elders) and stall with a cryptic. I find another BtL and win.
Sideboard
- 3 Remand
- 1 Hunting Wilds
- 1 Farseek
- 1 Anger of the Gods
- 1 Cryptic Command
- 1 Snapcaster Mage
- 2 Supreme Will
+ 1 Chameleon Colossus
+ 2 Obstinate Baloth
+ 3 Rest in Peace
+ 2 Negate
+ 2 Dispel
Game 2 7-5 on the draw. Win
My opening hand was a little loose, but since my opponent mulled I decided to keep. My hand was 4 lands with all my colors, 2 path, 1 verdict. Opponent had thoughtsieze to take a path, but only had one large creature the whole game which met another path. Tried to go aggro with just a snapcaster mage, but a baloth stopped him. Ended up finding supreme will into BtL, my opponent had double stubborn denial in hand but no 4 power creatures on board, so he cast force spike twice, which I paid for.
1-0
Round 2 vs. Affinity 2-1
Game 1 7-6 on the draw. Win
I get a nut hand and keep, 3 lands, 3 ramp spells, scapeshift. My opponent goes turn 1 , Turn 2 vault skirge + steel overseer, turn 3 steel overseer + signal pest, turn 4 etched champion. Luckily I was able to avoid all of this with a quick turn 4 win. Search->Steve->Hunting Wilds->hardcast Search->BtL->dome for 36. It felt very good
Sideboard
- 3 Remand
- 1 Supreme Will
- 1 Hunting Wilds
- 1 Cryptic Command
+ 1 Creeping Corrosion
+ 3 Obstinate Baloth
+ 1 Mapcap Experiment
+ 1 Platinum Emperion
Game 2 6-7 on the draw. Loss
My opponent has Turn 3 blood moon with 3 signal pest and master of etherium. I wasnt thinking about bloodmoon in their board and didnt sideboard for it. So I took my beats and went onto game 3.
Sideboard Change:
- 3 Obstinate Baloth
+ 1 Back to Nature
+ 2 Negate
Game 3 6-6 on the play. Win
I mull to a good hand of forest, misty, anger, 2 steve, search. I draw well and cast anger turn 4 to clear his board, I go down to 2 life after a few more turns, have scapeshift in hand and draw cryptic, stall with cryptic (since my opponent didnt play around it) and topdeck a search to get my 8th land to kill my opponent at 20.
2-0
Round 3 vs Grixis Shadow 0-2 (My friend who ended up winning the PPTQ)
Game 1 6-7 on the draw. Loss
I mulled and kept a questionable hand of 3 lands and 3 ramp spells. He had 2 thoughtseize, turn 2 shadow, and an instant speed kcommand to make me discard in the draw step. He revealed after the game that he had stubborn in hand too.
Sideboard:
Same as Round 1
Game 2 7-7 on the play. Loss
I keep a solid hand of 2 lands, search, Supreme Will, BtL, RIP. He had Inquisition into double Thoughtseize, taking RIP, Btl, and Supreme Will. I have turn 3 cryptic, but he had the stubborn for it since I couldn't pay the 1. I never recovered and he showed me another stubborn in hand. Was a rough loss.
2-1
Round 4 vs Boggles 2-0
Game 1 7-6 on the play. Win
I keep a good hand with search, 3 lands, path, remand, supreme will. My opponent has only 2 boggles with no enchantments. He tries to cast spirit dancer which I remand. Turns out his only enchantment in hand was unflinching courage and he was trying to get value out of spirit dancer. It was too slow though and I combo kill him.
Sideboard:
- 3 Path to Exile
- 2 Remand
+ 1 Back to Nature
+ 2 Negate
+ 1 Madcap Experiment
+ 1 Platinum Emperion
Game 2 6-6 on the draw. Win
I mull to 6 with 3 lands, search, steve, madcap, negate. My opponent reveals white leyline to start the game. I ramp into turn 4 madcap with negate backup while my opponent is stuck on one land. I'm locked at 9 life and my opponent doesn't have lifelink. We basically draw go for 6-7 turns and my opponent still doesn't find another land. I find supreme will->cryptic bounce leyline->Btl for the win. My opponent admitted that 3 path was the only out in his deck.
3-1
Round 5 Grixis Shadow 0-0-3 ID
The tournament was capped at 32 players for some reason, play space I guess, but I did the math and determined we could split into top 8.
3-1-1
Top 8: Quarterfinals vs. Living End 1-2
Game 1 7-7 on the draw. Win
I didn't know what my opponent was playing initially, so i keep a reasonable hand of Island, mountain, misty, remand, cryptic, anger, search. My opponent does some cycling and hardcasts a Fulminator turn 3, suspending a living end turn 4. He doesn't find a cascade spell all game and I remand his suspended Living end. I'm able to stall pretty long with verdict and cryptic while my opponent floods a little. I topdeck Scapeshift for the win.
Sideboard:
- 1 Supreme Will
- 1 Snapcaster Mage
- 1 Anger of the Gods
- 1 Path to Exile
- 1 Supreme Verdict
+ 3 Rest in Peace
+ 2 Negate
Game 2 6-7 on the draw. Loss
I have rest in peace but my opponent has turn 4 slaughter games naming scapeshift. I hope to draw valakuts/verdict naturally, but can't before I die to hardcast beats.
I was surprised by slaughter games but shouldn't have been. I should have sideboarded differently.
Sideboard change:
- 2 Negate
- 1 Farseek
- 1 Izzet Charm
- 1 Hunting Wilds
- 1 Path to Exile
+ 1 Supreme Verdict
+ 1 Madcap Experiment
+ 1 Platinum Emperion
+ 1 Chameleon Colossus
+ 2 Obstinate Baloth
Game 3 6-7 on the play. Loss
I keep a hand of 3 land, search, cryptic, verdict while my opponent starts cycling. I have turn 3 Cryptic but my opponent plays and instantly fetches with his fourth land drop and my heart sinks. He reveals the slaughter games and takes scapeshift again. I get an eyebrow raise when he passes the platinum emperion looking through my deck. I draw RIP try to stall for a bit but flood out hard. Drawing 5 lands in a row. My opponent starts hardcasting threats so I am forced to verdict. My opponent natures claims my RIP. I find a supreme will which finds me either platinum emperion or chameleon colossus. I want to keep up cryptic so I take chameleon colossus over emperion. My opponent has double beast within, I crypticed one of them, but my colossus hits the grave. He plays a desert cerodon and cycles 2 monstrous carabids. I chump with the token and draw second verdict. I clear the board but next turn my opponent casts living end, bringing back 2 monstrous carabid and the desert cerodon. I Have enough mana to cast cryptic and pump colossus 3 times, making it 32/32, but cant get past the desert cerodon. I flood for 4 more draw steps and get beaten down by an archfiend. I felt like I had lots of outs to win me the game but failed to find them. I lose the game with 19 lands on the battlefield.
I finished in 8th Place.
Overall the deck preformed very well and I was very happy with the mana base and mix of spells (minus not having the third Scapeshift). Supreme Will seemed to fit very well into the deck, as it is mostly used to dig but gives you added security. One thing I wanted to improve was the sideboard. I'm thinking about adding Leyline of Sanctity to the board to combat discard spells and Slaughter Games, but not entirely sure what to cut. I feel that Chameleon Colossus is a great answer to death shadow in the meta and that Baloth was just a weaker Colossus. I'm thinking about cutting 3 Baloths and 1 Rest in Peace from the board for another Colossus and 3 Leyline of Sanctity. Another answer to a resolved blood moon would also be nice.
I created a sideboard guide for the event based off of my list. I will attach it to this Tournament Report.