Interesting that hey didn't have any Pharika's Cures among the 75 as it helps a lot in the worst match up (RDW).
Well with 10 removal spells in the main and 5 more in the side, RDW could be handled by them, but maybe they weren't anticipating much RDW at the GP? I know I have 4 Pharika's Cure in my sideboard because I play at least 4 aggro decks at every Standard event I play in at my LGS.
Well with 10 removal spells in the main and 5 more in the side, RDW could be handled by them, but maybe they weren't anticipating much RDW at the GP? I know I have 4 Pharika's Cure in my sideboard because I play at least 4 aggro decks at every Standard event I play in at my LGS.
I don't even think RDW is the hardest matchup, though it isn't easy game 1. The hardest matchup I've played against is actually Rakdos aggro. Those Spike Jesters...
What I'm most curious about is what matches they brought in the extra two pack rats out of the board and if they ever boarded out the ones in the main. I think sideboarding is the key part of this deck as it can go between an aggressive midrange deck to almost complete control depending on the matchups.
I'm really wondering now as to their sideboard plans against various decks. The SCG team keeps saying that Underworld Connections is the decks engine but running 4 MD makes me wonder if they took out some amount against fast aggro or whether they ever boarded out specter.
They probably did. The incremental life loss increasing aggro's clock considerable. Yes, you're drawing more cards then they are, but you are essentially shooting yourself in the foot with the 1 life.
The best way to combat heavy aggro decks is just to jam creatures, so i guess that's were the extra Pack Rats came in for.
Packrats probably came in against control if anything. Forces them to burn a sweeper 90% of the time and lets you dump dead removal into something useful. Pack rat doesn't really do much against aggro.
Every time I saw Brad sideboard, he just grabs all 15 cards and throws it into his deck then takes out 15 cards. He moved very quickly during sideboarding (especially against Esper) that it was kinda hard for me to see what exactly he brought in.
The best way to combat heavy aggro decks is just to jam creatures...
Not sure this applies to devotion decks. Blocking won't cut it against an active Purphoros, Fanatic trigger, or even an inactive Thassa. All of our staple creatures eat lightning or get swung past by blue/red. So mostly I just jam removal in place of the weaker creatures.
Only notable difference is that I still believe pharikas cure is a necessary evil to deal with RDW. I still find the matchup unfavorable. Anyway. Here are my sideboard ideas, was wondering if I could get input
RDW : +3 pharikas cure, +2 doom blade, +2 devour flesh
-4 thoughtseize, -2 underworld connections, -1 erebos
I think this is fairly straight forward. Bring in removal and bring out cards that cause u to lose life. RDW has reach so life total is relevant.
Other quick aggro (orzohv, boros etc): same cards in, -4 connections, -2 thoughtseize, - q erebos
I feel as if against aggro decks that don't have reach, u still want access to thoughtseize to keep them off of troublesome permanents or answers to your desecration demons
Gw/gr aggro midrange: +2 doom blade, +3 lifebane zombie
-2 devour flesh, - 1 connections, -1 merchant, -1 specter
I think u want more targeted removal for large threats, and that mana dorks make using devour flesh weak. I think nightveil specter is evasive, so I don't want to remove all copies but I still don't want to be fat at the three drop spot
Mono u devotion :+1 pithing needle, +3 duress, +1 pack rat, +2 devour flesh
-2 doom blade, - 2ultimate price, -2 whip of erebos, -1 gray merchant
Side out targeted removal and out in more sac outlets. Still have heros doenfall for big threats. Bring in duress to hit problematic cards like jace thassa and bident.
Esper or most control lists: +3 duress, +1 pithing needle, +1 pack rat, +2 lifebane zombie
-2 doom blade, -2 ultimate price, -2 devour flesh, -1 heroes downfall
Remove removal for more disruption. Also become more threat dense.
Packrats probably came in against control if anything. Forces them to burn a sweeper 90% of the time and lets you dump dead removal into something useful. Pack rat doesn't really do much against aggro.
Not true. Pack Rats was one of the most undervalued cards pre-GP. It provides plenty to the deck, and was never once sided out from what I had seen. The G/R 2nd place winner used an aggro deck, and was taken down Game 1 and Game 3 by Pack Rats.
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I feel Orzhov and the mirror match are the two most important matches to have Erebos in against. He shuts down whip, Obzedat, and Blood Baron life gain which makes it incredibly easy to race them. I also feel Lifebane Zombie is strong against Orzhov as well since it picks out their threats outside of Desecration Demon. Obviously Doomblade comes out in this match and Dark Betrayal if you run them should definitely be coming in.
Devour Flesh I feel is still necessary against the GR decks, even if you're just using it to kill their mana dorks early that's fine since it slows the deck down to a reasonable pace and can hopefully allow us time to get Connections online and start burying them in card advantage. Against them I feel like I'm more apt to take out the rats and a specter and connections or two just to flush out the removal suite. I also think thoughtseize is still relevant against them, especially in the early turns, since if they keep a shaky hand with mana dorks and a couple of big guys, we can just take out the strongest threat in their hand, deny them as much mana as we can and hope to start dropping Demons and Merchants to seal the deal.
I might be wrong on that rat there after seeing BBD turn Polukranos into a chump blocker, but I feel that draws like that aren't going to happen and that we need to keep our hand full of removal spells to stall the board out in our favor.
Against control I really do like running multiple rats and then ways to protect it through hand disruption, since even 2-3 rat tokens can force a quick clock and pressure planeswalkers and they'll be forced to use topdecked verdicts and Dspheres or run the risk of getting overrun, and when they do just dropping another rat can easily wrap up the game.
I'm not sold on Cure being necessary in the board anymore. Every time I've played against RDW they've been super close matches and the RDW players always say they hate playing against the black devotion deck because we can keep the board clear enough and unless they get nutty draws a whip or a merchant can just stabilize us out of burn range while they are in topdeck mode. I've also never actually seen the cures I've brought in against RDW everytime I've faced them in an event, so that might just be me being bitter about it, but I feel that any removal spell that was in the same spot would have been just as good (except for those awkward triple rakdos cackler starts). The biggest key is keeping their devotion down so we don't get blown out by Fanatic because that is their best form of reach, since they are very likely to just burn out rats and specters. I think we're just overreacting to seeing double BTE turn 2 into like Firefist Striker or a burn spell and feeling way behind when it actually isn't the end of the world. I also like the interaction with devour flesh and Desecration demon because RDW will desperately try to just push out the last few points of damage to get you into burn range and sac like a cackler or jackyl pup to tap down the demon and that 6+ life just ruin their day.
I feel Orzhov and the mirror match are the two most important matches to have Erebos in against. He shuts down whip, Obzedat, and Blood Baron life gain which makes it incredibly easy to race them. I also feel Lifebane Zombie is strong against Orzhov as well since it picks out their threats outside of Desecration Demon. Obviously Doomblade comes out in this match and Dark Betrayal if you run them should definitely be coming in.
Devour Flesh I feel is still necessary against the GR decks, even if you're just using it to kill their mana dorks early that's fine since it slows the deck down to a reasonable pace and can hopefully allow us time to get Connections online and start burying them in card advantage. Against them I feel like I'm more apt to take out the rats and a specter and connections or two just to flush out the removal suite. I also think thoughtseize is still relevant against them, especially in the early turns, since if they keep a shaky hand with mana dorks and a couple of big guys, we can just take out the strongest threat in their hand, deny them as much mana as we can and hope to start dropping Demons and Merchants to seal the deal.
I might be wrong on that rat there after seeing BBD turn Polukranos into a chump blocker, but I feel that draws like that aren't going to happen and that we need to keep our hand full of removal spells to stall the board out in our favor.
Against control I really do like running multiple rats and then ways to protect it through hand disruption, since even 2-3 rat tokens can force a quick clock and pressure planeswalkers and they'll be forced to use topdecked verdicts and Dspheres or run the risk of getting overrun, and when they do just dropping another rat can easily wrap up the game.
I'm not sold on Cure being necessary in the board anymore. Every time I've played against RDW they've been super close matches and the RDW players always say they hate playing against the black devotion deck because we can keep the board clear enough and unless they get nutty draws a whip or a merchant can just stabilize us out of burn range while they are in topdeck mode. I've also never actually seen the cures I've brought in against RDW everytime I've faced them in an event, so that might just be me being bitter about it, but I feel that any removal spell that was in the same spot would have been just as good (except for those awkward triple rakdos cackler starts). The biggest key is keeping their devotion down so we don't get blown out by Fanatic because that is their best form of reach, since they are very likely to just burn out rats and specters. I think we're just overreacting to seeing double BTE turn 2 into like Firefist Striker or a burn spell and feeling way behind when it actually isn't the end of the world. I also like the interaction with devour flesh and Desecration demon because RDW will desperately try to just push out the last few points of damage to get you into burn range and sac like a cackler or jackyl pup to tap down the demon and that 6+ life just ruin their day.
Pack rat is an interesting card, in certain matches its one you have to be content to just trade as early as possible. However, (like in BBD's first match against Stern) sometimes it just wins games, i've done it at a couple of FNM's since rotation and peoples reactions usually go something like this
1st Rat - 'why are you playing that?'
2nd Rat - 'oh thats cute'
3rd Rat - 'hmmmmmmm'
4th Rat -
5th Rat -
The card is - well probably not anymore - seriously underrated. It can win matches by itself from nowhere, provides a must answer threat for control (and allowing you to pitch dead removal spells for some value) and can actually stonewall agro (not nessesarily mono red 6 one drops nut draw but something like Sterns G/R that doesn't come flying out of the gates). Never mind the fact that it gives devotion and is a brilliant Whip target
Pack rat is an interesting card, in certain matches its one you have to be content to just trade as early as possible. However, (like in BBD's first match against Stern) sometimes it just wins games, i've done it at a couple of FNM's since rotation and peoples reactions usually go something like this
1st Rat - 'why are you playing that?'
2nd Rat - 'oh thats cute'
3rd Rat - 'hmmmmmmm'
4th Rat -
5th Rat -
The card is - well probably not anymore - seriously underrated. It can win matches by itself from nowhere, provides a must answer threat for control (and allowing you to pitch dead removal spells for some value) and can actually stonewall agro (not nessesarily mono red 6 one drops nut draw but something like Sterns G/R that doesn't come flying out of the gates). Never mind the fact that it gives devotion and is a brilliant Whip target
IMO, the craziestthing about it and I didn't really realize till i saw BBD's match, is that u can pretty much sneak in increased power by activating mutavault. Its often forgotten and can really be a huge swing
Mono u devotion :+1 pithing needle, +3 duress, +1 pack rat, +2 devour flesh
-2 doom blade, - 2ultimate price, -2 whip of erebos, -1 gray merchant
Side out targeted removal and out in more sac outlets. Still have heros doenfall for big threats. Bring in duress to hit problematic cards like jace thassa and bident.
Duress can't hit Thassa. She is a creature in the hand, so I feel like you don't want duress. Also taking out all your removal is asking to die to a Master of Waves. Have you even played this matchup?
Duress can't hit Thassa. She is a creature in the hand, so I feel like you don't want duress. Also taking out all your removal is asking to die to a Master of Waves. Have you even played this matchup?
Oh wow all this time I thought duress hit the gods.. Boo. Guess u don't side it in. And honestly its not like u don't have heroes downfall for the master anyway. Have YOU ever played the matchup? I won my game day and just made suggestions. Don't try to jump on me like that.
Even if they don't have Master you will want your 2cmc removal to deal with their little guys promptly. Whip and Merchant are very important for recovering life once you've stabilized on the board, I wouldn't cut them.
Generally my priorities against monoblue aggro:
- Thoughtseize (hits Thassa, but doesn't slow them down otherwise)
- Lifebane Zombie (trigger doesn't hit, can't block anything profitably)
~ Desecration Demon (worthless on defense, game-ending on offense)
+ Nightveil Specter (they'll almost never remove it, blocks well, card advantage on offense)
+ Golgari Charm / Shrivel (kills any number of Masters, Familiars, Bident)
+ Ratchet Bomb (kills whatever they have multiples of, or sits at 4 for Master)
+ Fade into Antiquity (G only, kills Thassa and Bident)
+ Gaze of Granite (G only, board wipe)
+ Putrefy (G only, kills creatures and Bident)
+ Removal (will find plenty of targets)
1-for-1 them all day, and they will never get enough card advantage to come out from under Underworld Connections and Nightveil Specter. Have to hold removal for Master of Waves, possibly 2 kill spells if they side in countermagic.
I suppose it might be a slightly different approach for monoblack as Bident can be problematic. Postboard I have 7-8 kill spells for Bident almost by accident, so it's never been an issue for me.
Anyway, here's the latest list I'm testing this week:
Added a couple Mutavaults and moved to 25 land to avoid hurting my manabase too much. I think it will be fine, but I'm not going to try for another colorless in there. 19 B sources, 21 B/U sources for Nightveil, 10 G sources should pretty consistently see 1BB/1BG by turn 3.
Wanting to go to 4 Underworld Connections because I think it will allow G to take serious advantage in the mirror, but I definitely don't want 4 against aggro.
Reaper of the Wilds looks like a solid option against aggro, and should be an easy beater to defend in midrange/control matchups. Interested to see how she measures up.
Ratchet Bomb I've changed my mind on, I think. It's such a bad topdeck later on and I have Gaze of Granite for a similar purpose which is an amazing topdeck in many situations. I plan to use Pithing Needle instead against GR Monsters.
Played Mono-Blue devotion in the finals for the mat. Got Desecration Demon down and always had a removal spell in hand to hit Master of the Waves. Thassa was out a lot for him too, but I kept his devotion count low and had an Underworld Connections out to match draws with his Scry. Won game 3 after I hit him with my Nightveil Specter, exiled his Specter, played it, and then dropped a Merchant for a huge 16 life swing.
Saturday night Desecration Demon didn't perform so well, yesterday he was an all-star eating key removal so my Specters could get in or being the big body that he is and swinging in for wins.
I still really like Lifebane Zombie in the main for the hand peak and for playing more creatures than removal. Although you can win off of just Merchant the combat side is important to speed out the win and race control.
i'm fall in love for this deck, and so far it's the best deck that i've tested. I think that the worst match up is mono red deck and the fast aggro deck. My LGS's meta is full of these horrible decks, so how can i improve this match up? What are other unfavourable mathcups?
thanks!
I think the best answer to a heavy aggro meta is the red splash. Gives you Anger of the Gods(SB) which is a house and exiles annoying creatures, and Dreadbore which upgrades your situational 2 CMC removal (Doom Blade, Ultimate Price, etc.) saving you SB slots. Also other options as well like Mortors.
I think the best answer to a heavy aggro meta is the red splash. Gives you Anger of the Gods(SB) which is a house and exiles annoying creatures, and Dreadbore which upgrades your situational 2 CMC removal (Doom Blade, Ultimate Price, etc.) saving you SB slots. Also other options as well like Mortors.
Mortars and Dreadbore, yes. Anger of the Gods, no.
The main shell of MBD runs too many BB-mana requirements. Adding a RR would be far more hindering than helpful. Even with the Scrylands and the Shocklands, we cannot hit RR early enough all the time.
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Mortars and Dreadbore, yes. Anger of the Gods, no.
The main shell of MBD runs too many BB-mana requirements. Adding a RR would be far more hindering than helpful. Even with the Scrylands and the Shocklands, we cannot hit RR early enough all the time.
I do agree that 1RR on Anger of the Gods is a stretch, but it can be extremely valuable in giving 2-3 for 1's and decimating opponents boards. I play a few extra red sources for it, it does dilute my access to BBB turn 3 but never seems to affect BB turn 3.
Of course I don't know if this IS the best choice, but I struggle most with aggro decks and turned to Anger of the Gods as a way to help the matchup.
i'm fall in love for this deck, and so far it's the best deck that i've tested. I think that the worst match up is mono red deck and the fast aggro deck. My LGS's meta is full of these horrible decks, so how can i improve this match up? What are other unfavourable mathcups?
thanks!
If your meta is full of RDW, then you'll be fine with mainboarding Pharika's Cure a few extra Doom Blades. This is what I do, my meta is full of RDW.
Played Mono-Blue devotion in the finals for the mat. Got Desecration Demon down and always had a removal spell in hand to hit Master of the Waves. Thassa was out a lot for him too, but I kept his devotion count low and had an Underworld Connections out to match draws with his Scry. Won game 3 after I hit him with my Nightveil Specter, exiled his Specter, played it, and then dropped a Merchant for a huge 16 life swing.
Saturday night Desecration Demon didn't perform so well, yesterday he was an all-star eating key removal so my Specters could get in or being the big body that he is and swinging in for wins.
I still really like Lifebane Zombie in the main for the hand peak and for playing more creatures than removal. Although you can win off of just Merchant the combat side is important to speed out the win and race control.
This is very very similar to what I'm playing. The only difference is that I have:
-1 Nightveil Specter
-1 Far//Away
-1 Mutavault
-1 Swamp
-1 Doom Blade
+1 Dimir Guildgate
+2 Syncopate
+1 Ultimate Price
+1 Erebos, God of the Dead
How have you found Far//Away? I thought they would be better, but they seem to be the least performing card in the deck.
I run 3 far // away, and I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. Sometimes it is great, if I have the mana available. It has helped me beat green/white, being able to far any tokens and then have them sac a creature, but besides that I've been disappointed to have it in my hand.
I've also been running 3 returned phalanx in the deck with lifebane zombie in the SB. I feel that it does me more good since it can hold off aggro. Also, I seem to have the most trouble against red & black, which lifebane is pretty bad against.
How have you found Far//Away? I thought they would be better, but they seem to be the least performing card in the deck.
The trick with Far/Away is that it doesn't have to hit only the opponent's creatures. I have used Far to save one of my creatures from removal or used Away to put it in the grave for Whip and I can use Far to "reset" my Merchant by bringing it back to my hand. Also having two removal spells in one card against RDW has helped me win a few times.
I also encourage running 4 Nightveil Specters, the 3 devotion that it brings REALLY helps with Shrine and Merchant, plus it's 3 toughness stonewalls a lot of RDW's 2/2 creatures and can only be killed by one of their burn spells.
Well with 10 removal spells in the main and 5 more in the side, RDW could be handled by them, but maybe they weren't anticipating much RDW at the GP? I know I have 4 Pharika's Cure in my sideboard because I play at least 4 aggro decks at every Standard event I play in at my LGS.
I don't even think RDW is the hardest matchup, though it isn't easy game 1. The hardest matchup I've played against is actually Rakdos aggro. Those Spike Jesters...
"There are no two words in the English language more harmful than 'good job'." -Terrance Fletcher, Whiplash (2014)
I'm really wondering now as to their sideboard plans against various decks. The SCG team keeps saying that Underworld Connections is the decks engine but running 4 MD makes me wonder if they took out some amount against fast aggro or whether they ever boarded out specter.
The best way to combat heavy aggro decks is just to jam creatures, so i guess that's were the extra Pack Rats came in for.
"There are no two words in the English language more harmful than 'good job'." -Terrance Fletcher, Whiplash (2014)
Every time I saw Brad sideboard, he just grabs all 15 cards and throws it into his deck then takes out 15 cards. He moved very quickly during sideboarding (especially against Esper) that it was kinda hard for me to see what exactly he brought in.
"There are no two words in the English language more harmful than 'good job'." -Terrance Fletcher, Whiplash (2014)
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Not sure this applies to devotion decks. Blocking won't cut it against an active Purphoros, Fanatic trigger, or even an inactive Thassa. All of our staple creatures eat lightning or get swung past by blue/red. So mostly I just jam removal in place of the weaker creatures.
I've modified my list to be similar to what was played at gp Louisville
2 Pack Rat
4 Nightveil Specter
4 Desecration Demon
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
Spells:20
4 Thoughtseize
2 Devour Flesh
2 Doom Blade
2 Ultimate Price
4 Hero's Downfall
4 Underworld Connections
2 Whip of Erebos
4 Mutavault
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
17 Swamp
3 Temple of Deceit
3 Duress
1 Pithing Needle
2 Devour Flesh
2 Doom Blade
1 Pack Rat
3 Pharika's Cure
3 Lifebane Zombie
Only notable difference is that I still believe pharikas cure is a necessary evil to deal with RDW. I still find the matchup unfavorable. Anyway. Here are my sideboard ideas, was wondering if I could get input
RDW : +3 pharikas cure, +2 doom blade, +2 devour flesh
-4 thoughtseize, -2 underworld connections, -1 erebos
I think this is fairly straight forward. Bring in removal and bring out cards that cause u to lose life. RDW has reach so life total is relevant.
Other quick aggro (orzohv, boros etc): same cards in, -4 connections, -2 thoughtseize, - q erebos
I feel as if against aggro decks that don't have reach, u still want access to thoughtseize to keep them off of troublesome permanents or answers to your desecration demons
Gw/gr aggro midrange: +2 doom blade, +3 lifebane zombie
-2 devour flesh, - 1 connections, -1 merchant, -1 specter
I think u want more targeted removal for large threats, and that mana dorks make using devour flesh weak. I think nightveil specter is evasive, so I don't want to remove all copies but I still don't want to be fat at the three drop spot
Mono u devotion :+1 pithing needle, +3 duress, +1 pack rat, +2 devour flesh
-2 doom blade, - 2ultimate price, -2 whip of erebos, -1 gray merchant
Side out targeted removal and out in more sac outlets. Still have heros doenfall for big threats. Bring in duress to hit problematic cards like jace thassa and bident.
Esper or most control lists: +3 duress, +1 pithing needle, +1 pack rat, +2 lifebane zombie
-2 doom blade, -2 ultimate price, -2 devour flesh, -1 heroes downfall
Remove removal for more disruption. Also become more threat dense.
Not true. Pack Rats was one of the most undervalued cards pre-GP. It provides plenty to the deck, and was never once sided out from what I had seen. The G/R 2nd place winner used an aggro deck, and was taken down Game 1 and Game 3 by Pack Rats.
Currently Running:
Nothing, I have just gotten back after a long hiatus, and am just now starting to rebuild my collection.
Devour Flesh I feel is still necessary against the GR decks, even if you're just using it to kill their mana dorks early that's fine since it slows the deck down to a reasonable pace and can hopefully allow us time to get Connections online and start burying them in card advantage. Against them I feel like I'm more apt to take out the rats and a specter and connections or two just to flush out the removal suite. I also think thoughtseize is still relevant against them, especially in the early turns, since if they keep a shaky hand with mana dorks and a couple of big guys, we can just take out the strongest threat in their hand, deny them as much mana as we can and hope to start dropping Demons and Merchants to seal the deal.
I might be wrong on that rat there after seeing BBD turn Polukranos into a chump blocker, but I feel that draws like that aren't going to happen and that we need to keep our hand full of removal spells to stall the board out in our favor.
Against control I really do like running multiple rats and then ways to protect it through hand disruption, since even 2-3 rat tokens can force a quick clock and pressure planeswalkers and they'll be forced to use topdecked verdicts and Dspheres or run the risk of getting overrun, and when they do just dropping another rat can easily wrap up the game.
I'm not sold on Cure being necessary in the board anymore. Every time I've played against RDW they've been super close matches and the RDW players always say they hate playing against the black devotion deck because we can keep the board clear enough and unless they get nutty draws a whip or a merchant can just stabilize us out of burn range while they are in topdeck mode. I've also never actually seen the cures I've brought in against RDW everytime I've faced them in an event, so that might just be me being bitter about it, but I feel that any removal spell that was in the same spot would have been just as good (except for those awkward triple rakdos cackler starts). The biggest key is keeping their devotion down so we don't get blown out by Fanatic because that is their best form of reach, since they are very likely to just burn out rats and specters. I think we're just overreacting to seeing double BTE turn 2 into like Firefist Striker or a burn spell and feeling way behind when it actually isn't the end of the world. I also like the interaction with devour flesh and Desecration demon because RDW will desperately try to just push out the last few points of damage to get you into burn range and sac like a cackler or jackyl pup to tap down the demon and that 6+ life just ruin their day.
Pack rat is an interesting card, in certain matches its one you have to be content to just trade as early as possible. However, (like in BBD's first match against Stern) sometimes it just wins games, i've done it at a couple of FNM's since rotation and peoples reactions usually go something like this
1st Rat - 'why are you playing that?'
2nd Rat - 'oh thats cute'
3rd Rat - 'hmmmmmmm'
4th Rat -
5th Rat -
The card is - well probably not anymore - seriously underrated. It can win matches by itself from nowhere, provides a must answer threat for control (and allowing you to pitch dead removal spells for some value) and can actually stonewall agro (not nessesarily mono red 6 one drops nut draw but something like Sterns G/R that doesn't come flying out of the gates). Never mind the fact that it gives devotion and is a brilliant Whip target
IMO, the craziestthing about it and I didn't really realize till i saw BBD's match, is that u can pretty much sneak in increased power by activating mutavault. Its often forgotten and can really be a huge swing
Duress can't hit Thassa. She is a creature in the hand, so I feel like you don't want duress. Also taking out all your removal is asking to die to a Master of Waves. Have you even played this matchup?
Modern
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Oh wow all this time I thought duress hit the gods.. Boo. Guess u don't side it in. And honestly its not like u don't have heroes downfall for the master anyway. Have YOU ever played the matchup? I won my game day and just made suggestions. Don't try to jump on me like that.
Generally my priorities against monoblue aggro:
- Thoughtseize (hits Thassa, but doesn't slow them down otherwise)
- Lifebane Zombie (trigger doesn't hit, can't block anything profitably)
~ Desecration Demon (worthless on defense, game-ending on offense)
+ Nightveil Specter (they'll almost never remove it, blocks well, card advantage on offense)
+ Golgari Charm / Shrivel (kills any number of Masters, Familiars, Bident)
+ Ratchet Bomb (kills whatever they have multiples of, or sits at 4 for Master)
+ Fade into Antiquity (G only, kills Thassa and Bident)
+ Gaze of Granite (G only, board wipe)
+ Putrefy (G only, kills creatures and Bident)
+ Removal (will find plenty of targets)
1-for-1 them all day, and they will never get enough card advantage to come out from under Underworld Connections and Nightveil Specter. Have to hold removal for Master of Waves, possibly 2 kill spells if they side in countermagic.
I suppose it might be a slightly different approach for monoblack as Bident can be problematic. Postboard I have 7-8 kill spells for Bident almost by accident, so it's never been an issue for me.
Anyway, here's the latest list I'm testing this week:
11 Swamp
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Golgari Guildgate
2 Breeding Pool
1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
3 Mutavault
Creatures (17):
2 Pack Rat
3 Lifebane Zombie
3 Nightveil Specter
4 Desecration Demon
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
4 Thoughtseize
3 Abrupt Decay
3 Putrefy
3 Hero's Downfall
Other (5):
3 Underworld Connections
2 Whip of Erebos
3 Golgari Charm
2 Fade into Antiquity
2 Reaper of the Wilds
2 Devour Flesh
2 Gaze of Granite
2 Pithing Needle
1 Duress
1 Underworld Connections
Added a couple Mutavaults and moved to 25 land to avoid hurting my manabase too much. I think it will be fine, but I'm not going to try for another colorless in there. 19 B sources, 21 B/U sources for Nightveil, 10 G sources should pretty consistently see 1BB/1BG by turn 3.
Wanting to go to 4 Underworld Connections because I think it will allow G to take serious advantage in the mirror, but I definitely don't want 4 against aggro.
Reaper of the Wilds looks like a solid option against aggro, and should be an easy beater to defend in midrange/control matchups. Interested to see how she measures up.
Ratchet Bomb I've changed my mind on, I think. It's such a bad topdeck later on and I have Gaze of Granite for a similar purpose which is an amazing topdeck in many situations. I plan to use Pithing Needle instead against GR Monsters.
Disciple of Phenax isn't making the cut right now, I'm happier with it being Duress and Reaper of the Wilds.
3 Lifebane Zombie
4 Nightveil Specter
4 Desecration Demon
4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
2 Pack Rat
Non-creature Spells:
3 Underworld Connections
3 Doom Blade
3 Hero's Downfall
3 Far/Away
2 Whip of Erebos
4 Thoughtseize
12 Swamp
3 Mutavault
4 Temple of Deceit
4 Watery Grave
2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
1 Pithing Needle
2 Ratchet Bomb
1 Lifebane Zombie
1 Hero's Downfall
2 Cyclonic Rift
1 Erebos, God of the Dead
3 Pharika's Cure
4 Duress
Played Mono-Blue devotion in the finals for the mat. Got Desecration Demon down and always had a removal spell in hand to hit Master of the Waves. Thassa was out a lot for him too, but I kept his devotion count low and had an Underworld Connections out to match draws with his Scry. Won game 3 after I hit him with my Nightveil Specter, exiled his Specter, played it, and then dropped a Merchant for a huge 16 life swing.
Saturday night Desecration Demon didn't perform so well, yesterday he was an all-star eating key removal so my Specters could get in or being the big body that he is and swinging in for wins.
I still really like Lifebane Zombie in the main for the hand peak and for playing more creatures than removal. Although you can win off of just Merchant the combat side is important to speed out the win and race control.
I Stream MTGO on Twitch: broodwarjc
I also post recordings of those streams on Youtube: broodwarjcavidgamer
Standard Deck:
BUPirates
Modern Deck:
B8-Rack
I think the best answer to a heavy aggro meta is the red splash. Gives you Anger of the Gods(SB) which is a house and exiles annoying creatures, and Dreadbore which upgrades your situational 2 CMC removal (Doom Blade, Ultimate Price, etc.) saving you SB slots. Also other options as well like Mortors.
Mortars and Dreadbore, yes. Anger of the Gods, no.
The main shell of MBD runs too many BB-mana requirements. Adding a RR would be far more hindering than helpful. Even with the Scrylands and the Shocklands, we cannot hit RR early enough all the time.
Currently Running:
Nothing, I have just gotten back after a long hiatus, and am just now starting to rebuild my collection.
I do agree that 1RR on Anger of the Gods is a stretch, but it can be extremely valuable in giving 2-3 for 1's and decimating opponents boards. I play a few extra red sources for it, it does dilute my access to BBB turn 3 but never seems to affect BB turn 3.
Of course I don't know if this IS the best choice, but I struggle most with aggro decks and turned to Anger of the Gods as a way to help the matchup.
If your meta is full of RDW, then you'll be fine with mainboarding Pharika's Cure a few extra Doom Blades. This is what I do, my meta is full of RDW.
This is very very similar to what I'm playing. The only difference is that I have:
-1 Nightveil Specter
-1 Far//Away
-1 Mutavault
-1 Swamp
-1 Doom Blade
+1 Dimir Guildgate
+2 Syncopate
+1 Ultimate Price
+1 Erebos, God of the Dead
How have you found Far//Away? I thought they would be better, but they seem to be the least performing card in the deck.
I've also been running 3 returned phalanx in the deck with lifebane zombie in the SB. I feel that it does me more good since it can hold off aggro. Also, I seem to have the most trouble against red & black, which lifebane is pretty bad against.
The trick with Far/Away is that it doesn't have to hit only the opponent's creatures. I have used Far to save one of my creatures from removal or used Away to put it in the grave for Whip and I can use Far to "reset" my Merchant by bringing it back to my hand. Also having two removal spells in one card against RDW has helped me win a few times.
I also encourage running 4 Nightveil Specters, the 3 devotion that it brings REALLY helps with Shrine and Merchant, plus it's 3 toughness stonewalls a lot of RDW's 2/2 creatures and can only be killed by one of their burn spells.
I Stream MTGO on Twitch: broodwarjc
I also post recordings of those streams on Youtube: broodwarjcavidgamer
Standard Deck:
BUPirates
Modern Deck:
B8-Rack