In my experience with the deck you have to be careful with mulligans. You will very rarely get a turn 2 win and you should not mulligan to try and get it. I run less karoo lands than most people here seem to run because I had the problem with lots of karoo on opening hand and nothing that would stay. If I get a hand with 2 color producing lands and some ways to search for combo pieces I usually keep it, the deck is very redundant and you should get all you need. Also, remember that you don't always have to combo to win. I have won games by -4ing garruk with 1 lotus cobras and 1 tretop village in play after getting a few swings with them before, you can also play titan without the amulet just to get him out search and treetop or something like that then try to hit next turn.
Turn 4 is the most consistent winning turn for me but if I can wait another turn to get 2 more mana on turn 5 and remand a counter on my titan or something like that I will do that. It is better to be safe since you may not be able to combo again fast enough.
The deck truly is difficult to pilot, I have been playing with it for some time now and I still miss some pretty big opportunities. Always think if you can get something strong or lots of lands in play fast, consider what your draw could be because sometimes not playing the only karoo in your hand is the right decision even if you lose the land drop.
Since I am posting here I want to ask you guys about some cards:
Why is nobody using lotus cobra and fetch lands? Lotus cobra is great since we play lots of lands and with fetch lands it can ramp even more
Why do people not use ancient stirrings? It searches for lands and for the fundamental amulet
What's with kessig wolf run? Sunhome seems better in every aspect and running both just makes you have another colorless producing land to mess the opening hands
Why not use teetering peaks? It can mean 4 more damage with sunhome going from 16 to full 20 damage in one hit.
I've seen people use Khalni Garden and Kabira Crossroads. Are those good enough? The deck already has a lot of "enters tapped" lands and it can make it way too slow I think.
Kessig Wolf Run + Inkmoth Nexus is for resiliency. They're my default go-to first Prime Time search lands for when I don't have Amulet. Sunhome is pretty terrible with Inkmoth (and Azusa/whatever other creatures you maindeck).
I've been playing the deck for about a week and have learned a lot of the ins and outs, possible lines of play, and general strategy.
I cut Kabira Crossroads for Temple of Mystery, it seems much better.
Kessig is quite nice.
One of my biggest problems is having one of Boros Garrison and Slayer's Stronghold in hand when I want to play the Titan. I was thinking of adding a second Boros Garrison to the deck to counteract this.
Teetering Peaks is an interesting idea.
The deck seems very weak to Blood Moon, I might try the fetch+Lotus Cobra idea but that distills the deck a lot.
Azusa is weak to removal as many of our lands have a trigger that they can respond to by killing Azusa, but she's a powerhouse otherwise.
Meloku is an interesting addition I tested and like so far.
Once I iron out the matchups and playtest more I might be interested in helping out with a primer, but definitely need to play more with the deck first.
I've tested extensively against:
UR Delver
U Tron
RG Aggro
America Control
Jund
I need to test more against:
RG Tron
Scapeshift
Splinter Twin (especially the lists with Blood Moon sideboarded)
Pod
Merfolk
before I can comment on specific matchups.
Tolaria West is nuts, but it sucks that there's no good time to fetch it after giving Primeval Titan haste.
Engineered Explosives on 3 is another option. Lotus Cobra can indeed help against Blood Moon because it lets us play Wear//Tear on the board, and fetches allow us to run a couple more basic lands.
Overall I think the drop in consistency by running these cards is not really worth it, so I'll test the Seal as well.
Yeah we definitly need a primer, i've been practicing with the deck a lot this week and i can't seem to win...
Man this deck is way harder to pilot than i thought at first...
How do you manage to be consistent with this deck?? I am mulliganing at least 50% of the time if not more...the manabase is so greedy...sometimes I have only lands...a lot of times I have like 2-3 lands but cant play any like 3 bounce land or 3 lands that does not produce any color or wrong color...
Other times I have what I need, but turn one thoughtseize and it's over. If you don't have amulet things are really slower...sometimes I have amulet but nothing to drop more lands...I watched lot of replays from guys who are doing well, but they don't seem to mull that much and they have it all...
A primer would really help. We need to know what is a good starting hand and a good idea where we should be going because turn 2 titan does not happens that much
Thoughtseize is defiantly a problem, and i feel theros has made it abundant online. It seems like half of every deck runs it right now.. when i barely saw it before. Curious which version you are running?
I personally think trinket mage is great in the deck, some may disagree. You still get your nut draws, but it gives you alot of consistency and lets you have a silver bullet pithing needle and explosives you can fetch. Explosives is near as good as pyroclasm g1 and saved me countless times. The other thing is its never really bad having 2 amulets, especially g2/3 when they WILL have natures claim or whatnot to kill your first one. Plus 2 amulets in play is a 1 titan instant kill.
The question is what you would cut for it, for me i found Garruk wasn't necessary and lots of versions are running him.
As far as Temple of mystery I think it deserves a spot, but i wouldn't cut Kabira crossroads for it. I took it out of my deck and regretted it when i ran into burn. Of course if you never see burn its a moot point, but i have won games vs burn at 1/3 life many times, and lost others where kibira would have won me the game. (even spending a turn to fetch it with tolaria west)
cbgirardo if you suspect they may have path(hatebears and such) and your titan won't kill that turn, fetch a bounce+west on your attack fetch. If he has nothing you win the next turn anyway with the attack, if he doesnt you bounced the west to your hand, and with 3 mana you can Titan again. I like running 2 west maindeck just because it has so much utility.
Notes: Chalice of the Void: Against Living End on 0, Twin on 3 and Jund on 2, it's 3/4 of a G1 win. Trinket Mage: Nothing to add here. Temple of Mystery: I hate them, but they just sort of work. Stirring Wildwood: Most of the times i fetched for inkmoth it was actually to have a flying blocker against an opponent's inkmoth. Im trying this because it fixes mana and three mana it's not that difficult to pay. Also bolt proof.
Also, there were two copies of the deck on this' week Modern Premier event. Link here (2nd and 5th places)
I've been looking for a fun deck lately, and this seems like it could be a good candidate. It seems like the creature base has a lot of variation in it. Some run Oracles, Azusas, neither, and some run some amount of Explores and Ancient Stirrings. I've gone through the thread, but there hasn't been any real discussion on a lot of these options besides "This is my deck and it works!" I'm wondering what people think of these before I go ahead and get the pieces for this deck together.
I've been looking for a fun deck lately, and this seems like it could be a good candidate. It seems like the creature base has a lot of variation in it. Some run Oracles, Azusas, neither, and some run some amount of Explores and Ancient Stirrings. I've gone through the thread, but there hasn't been any real discussion on a lot of these options besides "This is my deck and it works!" I'm wondering what people think of these before I go ahead and get the pieces for this deck together.
Oracle, Azusa, Explore all do one thing in common which is quintessential to the existence of the deck: be able to play more that one land per turn. Summer bloom is by far the best way which is why is a MUST. Azusa also stars on most lists, but then running oracle or explore is for redundancy. Some people preffer to have just the normal trick and make it as consistent as possible (playing 3 hive minds, oracle) while others prefer to have more versatility (trinket mages, garruk, gifts). It all reduce to preference and style. The same is with Stirrings vs Serum Visions vs Trinket mage.
explore isnt actully good enough because it only generates mana with multiple amulets in play. Serum visions is much better at moving through the top of your deck, and azusa/sakura tribe scout are much better mana producers (after summer's bloom of course)
Ive liked oracle, but he just costs so much, he is only really good if youve already ramped, or if the game goes particularly long
It just seems to me that you'll lose so much of your hand if you play Azusa and not be able to replenish it. It seems to me that Summer Bloom is a combo piece, while the land drops should just be ramp to get there, so I would think that Explores would be better. Azusa ramps, but also requires you to have those lands in hand and does nothing after. I can't imagine she can do more after dropping an additional 2 lands, since that'd empty your hand... Am I thinking of this deck incorrectly? What does Azusa normally do in a game?
I suppose the bigger problem is that I don't see what happens in a normal game. All I read in this thread are descriptions of the T2 kill/Primeval Titan swings, which I doubt are very common. I haven't found any videos or anything.
What would common turns 1-4 look like?
It just seems to me that you'll lose so much of your hand if you play Azusa and not be able to replenish it. It seems to me that Summer Bloom is a combo piece, while the land drops should just be ramp to get there, so I would think that Explores would be better. Azusa ramps, but also requires you to have those lands in hand and does nothing after. I can't imagine she can do more after dropping an additional 2 lands, since that'd empty your hand... Am I thinking of this deck incorrectly? What does Azusa normally do in a game?
I suppose the bigger problem is that I don't see what happens in a normal game. All I read in this thread are descriptions of the T2 kill/Primeval Titan swings, which I doubt are very common. I haven't found any videos or anything.
What would common turns 1-4 look like?
Azusa's role is that it's a worse summer bloom, but it's tutoreable with the pact. Therefore, its necessary. And trust me, most of the time, if your hand is full, it's full of lands. If you draw an azusa, it will have something to do.
Also think that the deck more often than not uses resources straight from the library. The hand is relevant just during the early game
Normal would be something like
T1: Amulet if you have it, Serum visions/stirrings/sakura if you do not, ETB tapped land if you have neither (preferrably a land that gets you value like a scry land, a khalni garden)
T2: If you played an amulet, play either azusa or land (keep the karoos yet) unless you can go for the kill. if you know the matchup and have a tolaria west in hand, you can go for a hate card as well (cavern against control, explosive against jund or a pact if you need a creature) If you do not played an amulet and can do something to look for it, do it. otherwise, land, go.
T3: Start karooing lands for value if you dont have an amulet and start doing broken things if you have.
The other important thing that distinguishes Azusa from explore is the small matter of her actually accelerating to your mana that turn as well as the next one, unlike explore, which only increases your potential mana for the next turn.
If you want to see better cards, run scrylands, if you want more cards run compulsive research (and you should already be running 4x serum visions)
Since funnywille asked for it and I believe that it might help many other players (including me if other people also do this) I will post my decklist and go on a card-by-card explanation including some cards that I don't use but have tried or think I understand why people use.
Primeval Titan, Amulet of Vigor, Slayer's Stronghold, Boros Garrison: Main combo pieces. Play Titan with Amulet of the field search of Stronghold and Barrison the hit on the same turn.
Lotus Cobra: It is great ramp in this deck, in the worst case summer bloom becomes pyretic ritual and if you have a basic or shock land you get even more out of it. You have to remember that even without the Amulet a turn 3 Titan or Hive mind is a fairly big treat and if you for some reason already have the Stronghold on the field you don't need the Amulet to give the Titan haste. It also hits and blocks and that can be relevant
Azusa: It's worse summer bloom that can be fetched by Summoner's Pact. Some people use more than me but I find that one is enough to search with pact if really needed and I prefer running more draw, control and cobras because azusa will rarely do much on the turn it hits since it costs 3 and only gives 2 land drops (sometimes 1 if people kill her on the land's trigger)
Summoner's Pact: It searches for Titan, Azusa and Gaea's Revenge after sideboard. Must have for consistency and versatility.
Sleight of Hand: Some people think Serum Visions is better and it really is a close call but this deck is supposed to be fast deck and sleight of hand gets you what you need NOW while serum visions gets it next turn.
Remand: Very good IMO. It is frequently better to wait a turn with them remand mana ready than to play anything else. This deck can go from nothing to win in 1 turn so being able to slow you opponent to get one more turn of land drop and get a draw in the process is very good. It can also save your Titan from Path of exile or counter if you can get a little more mana. (remember, if the opponent has mana to counter titan twice you can remand your own titan to get him back and draw a card)
Ancient Stirrings: It searches for lands and the amulet for 1 mana, that may not seem much but those are the 2 things you usually need the most.
Summer Bloom: Must have. Even without the amulet those land drops mean big ramp. Since the deck plays around karoo lands you usually get all 3 land drops from it and on turn 2 that can mean a turn 3 Titan/Hive mind.
Hive Mind: Secondary win condition that can win out of nowhere with very little your opponent can do. It can win games otherwise lost and get your opponents by surprise. Some people use other pacts for decks that can pay the green one but I think it is too risky and can be a dead card on many situations
Garruk Wildspeaker: He can be a big ramp for the next turn untapping karoo lands, get creatures, overrun your cobras/beasts and even untap the Titan's lands once as an Amulet would making him pretty versatile but lately I've been thinking he is too slow and Gifts Ungiven would be a better card for this slot
Misty Rainforest: Since I run Lotus Cobra, Misty rainforest is very important. It fixes my mana (early game this is very important) and gets 3 mana if the cobra is out. I've seen lots of people run Gemstone Mine and Tendo Ice Bridge for mana fixing but with the cobra, rainforest is better and it also searches for basics if you are afraid of a blood moon
Teetering Peaks: It makes sure that you can kill in one hit with Titan and since it can be bounced it also helps when hitting with the cobra/Treetop
Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion: Some people seem to think Kessig Wolf Run is better but unless you are using it on a 1/x creature or have a LOT of mana sunhome always costs at least the same and since the main creature you will use it on is Titan sunhome is no doubt better for me. Some people use both but I have too many problems with color fixing as is and don't recommend it.
Treetop Village: Some people use inkmoth nexus but Treetop (and I guess inkmoth too) usually hits the field when a Titan attacks but I know it won't kill in one hit and might get killed before it attacks again. Usually when this happens the opponent is left with less than 10 life so Treetop needs to hit less than a Inkmoth would and it is already a 3/3 trample making it much more efficient than I believe a Inkmoth would be. Treetop also benefits more from sunhome than Inkmoth so that is better for m.
Vesuva: It helps a lot with consistency. If you get a combo land on your hand it can break the combo because you won't be able to fetch it and you might need to tap it to get the Titan out so vesuva makes sure you can still combo as long as that land is in the field. Some people run more of them and that's fine but I think 1 is all you need.
Gaea's Revenge: Any deck with a lot of control. Not many creatures can kill it and the only spell that people use and can hit it is Beast Within. I have been thinking of running 1 mainboard actually.
Seal of Primordium: As DarkBrew said, it is the best answer for blood moon and I can say that it helps a lot in other situations killing a Inkmoth or just as a way to spend your mana in case you get a lot but don't have a Titan or something like that (happens sometimes)
Noxious Revival: Not the greatest sideboard but I like it for it's versatility. It can get a combo piece back, save you from Surgical Extraction or get that Griselbrand, Emrakul or even Counter out of the yard stopping some decks in desperate times.
Ghostly Prison: I've been thinking of getting pyroclasm but I'm not sure since I run Cobras. This really helps against merfolk, tokens and some other decks
Damping Matrix: Haven't tested it yet but seems good.
Sejiri Steppe: Basically to avoid blockers but I nearly never side it in. I think it's going out
Gut Shot: Just to fill the spot really. Have killed a inkmoth and a Aven Mindsensor with it but not really good.
I guess that's it. Hope I can help someone with this
I've been tinkering around with this deck and had a few ideas:
-Magus of the Candelabra as an alternative to Garruk or to fill up some free slots. It can come down earlier and basically accomplishes the same purpose, but I can see why Garruk's beasts might give him an advantage.
-- I've seen surprisingly few Spellskites in the sideboard (maybe I'm just looking at the wrong decks). It's just so good against so many decks and has the advantage of being Stirringsable as well as Pactable.
-- Gaddock Teeg in the board, especially for the builds that don't rely on Hive Mind as much.
-- Could Prime Time's old friend Scapeshift work here?
I've been tinkering around with this deck and had a few ideas:
-Magus of the Candelabra as an alternative to Garruk or to fill up some free slots. It can come down earlier and basically accomplishes the same purpose, but I can see why Garruk's beasts might give him an advantage.
-- I've seen surprisingly few Spellskites in the sideboard (maybe I'm just looking at the wrong decks). It's just so good against so many decks and has the advantage of being Stirringsable as well as Pactable.
-- Gaddock Teeg in the board, especially for the builds that don't rely on Hive Mind as much.
-- Could Prime Time's old friend Scapeshift work here?
I think the magus is interesting but not good enough. You would need a lot of karoos for him to be actually effective and that isn't as common as one might think. The normal for me is 1-2 karoos and in that case it's only 2 mana ramp.
I also dislike inkmoth but I think Treetop village is better than zendikar manlands because it has trample and costs less so you can use mana to buff it for exemple.
Spellskite! I knew I forgot something in my decklist's sideboard. I usually use 2 spellskites instead of the damping matrixs because I didn't have them, now I will probably take out gut shot and sejiri steppe for the spellskites. I share them with another deck so it wasn't with the Karoo deck and I forgot. (just a note: spellskite is not "Pactable" since it's not green)
Don't know what to think about Gaddock Teeg
I think it's fairly settled that scapeshift and valakut are not an option in this deck. We need to focus else we try a lot and do nothing
Since funnywille asked for it and I believe that it might help many other players (including me if other people also do this) I will post my decklist and go on a card-by-card explanation including some cards that I don't use but have tried or think I understand why people use.
Primeval Titan, Amulet of Vigor, Slayer's Stronghold, Boros Garrison: Main combo pieces. Play Titan with Amulet of the field search of Stronghold and Barrison the hit on the same turn.
Lotus Cobra: It is great ramp in this deck, in the worst case summer bloom becomes pyretic ritual and if you have a basic or shock land you get even more out of it. You have to remember that even without the Amulet a turn 3 Titan or Hive mind is a fairly big treat and if you for some reason already have the Stronghold on the field you don't need the Amulet to give the Titan haste. It also hits and blocks and that can be relevant
Azusa: It's worse summer bloom that can be fetched by Summoner's Pact. Some people use more than me but I find that one is enough to search with pact if really needed and I prefer running more draw, control and cobras because azusa will rarely do much on the turn it hits since it costs 3 and only gives 2 land drops (sometimes 1 if people kill her on the land's trigger)
Summoner's Pact: It searches for Titan, Azusa and Gaea's Revenge after sideboard. Must have for consistency and versatility.
Sleight of Hand: Some people think Serum Visions is better and it really is a close call but this deck is supposed to be fast deck and sleight of hand gets you what you need NOW while serum visions gets it next turn.
Remand: Very good IMO. It is frequently better to wait a turn with them remand mana ready than to play anything else. This deck can go from nothing to win in 1 turn so being able to slow you opponent to get one more turn of land drop and get a draw in the process is very good. It can also save your Titan from Path of exile or counter if you can get a little more mana. (remember, if the opponent has mana to counter titan twice you can remand your own titan to get him back and draw a card)
Ancient Stirrings: It searches for lands and the amulet for 1 mana, that may not seem much but those are the 2 things you usually need the most.
Summer Bloom: Must have. Even without the amulet those land drops mean big ramp. Since the deck plays around karoo lands you usually get all 3 land drops from it and on turn 2 that can mean a turn 3 Titan/Hive mind.
Hive Mind: Secondary win condition that can win out of nowhere with very little your opponent can do. It can win games otherwise lost and get your opponents by surprise. Some people use other pacts for decks that can pay the green one but I think it is too risky and can be a dead card on many situations
Garruk Wildspeaker: He can be a big ramp for the next turn untapping karoo lands, get creatures, overrun your cobras/beasts and even untap the Titan's lands once as an Amulet would making him pretty versatile but lately I've been thinking he is too slow and Gifts Ungiven would be a better card for this slot
Misty Rainforest: Since I run Lotus Cobra, Misty rainforest is very important. It fixes my mana (early game this is very important) and gets 3 mana if the cobra is out. I've seen lots of people run Gemstone Mine and Tendo Ice Bridge for mana fixing but with the cobra, rainforest is better and it also searches for basics if you are afraid of a blood moon
Teetering Peaks: It makes sure that you can kill in one hit with Titan and since it can be bounced it also helps when hitting with the cobra/Treetop
Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion: Some people seem to think Kessig Wolf Run is better but unless you are using it on a 1/x creature or have a LOT of mana sunhome always costs at least the same and since the main creature you will use it on is Titan sunhome is no doubt better for me. Some people use both but I have too many problems with color fixing as is and don't recommend it.
Treetop Village: Some people use inkmoth nexus but Treetop (and I guess inkmoth too) usually hits the field when a Titan attacks but I know it won't kill in one hit and might get killed before it attacks again. Usually when this happens the opponent is left with less than 10 life so Treetop needs to hit less than a Inkmoth would and it is already a 3/3 trample making it much more efficient than I believe a Inkmoth would be. Treetop also benefits more from sunhome than Inkmoth so that is better for m.
Vesuva: It helps a lot with consistency. If you get a combo land on your hand it can break the combo because you won't be able to fetch it and you might need to tap it to get the Titan out so vesuva makes sure you can still combo as long as that land is in the field. Some people run more of them and that's fine but I think 1 is all you need.
Gaea's Revenge: Any deck with a lot of control. Not many creatures can kill it and the only spell that people use and can hit it is Beast Within. I have been thinking of running 1 mainboard actually.
Seal of Primordium: As DarkBrew said, it is the best answer for blood moon and I can say that it helps a lot in other situations killing a Inkmoth or just as a way to spend your mana in case you get a lot but don't have a Titan or something like that (happens sometimes)
Noxious Revival: Not the greatest sideboard but I like it for it's versatility. It can get a combo piece back, save you from Surgical Extraction or get that Griselbrand, Emrakul or even Counter out of the yard stopping some decks in desperate times.
Ghostly Prison: I've been thinking of getting pyroclasm but I'm not sure since I run Cobras. This really helps against merfolk, tokens and some other decks
Damping Matrix: Haven't tested it yet but seems good.
Sejiri Steppe: Basically to avoid blockers but I nearly never side it in. I think it's going out
Gut Shot: Just to fill the spot really. Have killed a inkmoth and a Aven Mindsensor with it but not really good.
I guess that's it. Hope I can help someone with this
Do you miss the Tolaria Wests? I actually find them the most important land in the deck as it usually finds an answer for every situation. Also, no cavern of souls?
Do you miss the Tolaria Wests? I actually find them the most important land in the deck as it usually finds an answer for every situation. Also, no cavern of souls?
I have never tried tolaria west and it might be good but I just never tried. Tolaria west basically fetches pact right? I just don't think it's gonna be that important. If you can explain why it's so important I would like that, to me treetop village seems enough after the first Titan strike.
No cavern of souls simply because it's expensive. I'd like one but it's not priority and too expensive.
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Turn 4 is the most consistent winning turn for me but if I can wait another turn to get 2 more mana on turn 5 and remand a counter on my titan or something like that I will do that. It is better to be safe since you may not be able to combo again fast enough.
The deck truly is difficult to pilot, I have been playing with it for some time now and I still miss some pretty big opportunities. Always think if you can get something strong or lots of lands in play fast, consider what your draw could be because sometimes not playing the only karoo in your hand is the right decision even if you lose the land drop.
Since I am posting here I want to ask you guys about some cards:
Why is nobody using lotus cobra and fetch lands? Lotus cobra is great since we play lots of lands and with fetch lands it can ramp even more
Why do people not use ancient stirrings? It searches for lands and for the fundamental amulet
What's with kessig wolf run? Sunhome seems better in every aspect and running both just makes you have another colorless producing land to mess the opening hands
Why not use teetering peaks? It can mean 4 more damage with sunhome going from 16 to full 20 damage in one hit.
I've seen people use Khalni Garden and Kabira Crossroads. Are those good enough? The deck already has a lot of "enters tapped" lands and it can make it way too slow I think.
I cut Kabira Crossroads for Temple of Mystery, it seems much better.
Kessig is quite nice.
One of my biggest problems is having one of Boros Garrison and Slayer's Stronghold in hand when I want to play the Titan. I was thinking of adding a second Boros Garrison to the deck to counteract this.
Teetering Peaks is an interesting idea.
The deck seems very weak to Blood Moon, I might try the fetch+Lotus Cobra idea but that distills the deck a lot.
Azusa is weak to removal as many of our lands have a trigger that they can respond to by killing Azusa, but she's a powerhouse otherwise.
Meloku is an interesting addition I tested and like so far.
Once I iron out the matchups and playtest more I might be interested in helping out with a primer, but definitely need to play more with the deck first.
I've tested extensively against:
UR Delver
U Tron
RG Aggro
America Control
Jund
I need to test more against:
RG Tron
Scapeshift
Splinter Twin (especially the lists with Blood Moon sideboarded)
Pod
Merfolk
before I can comment on specific matchups.
Tolaria West is nuts, but it sucks that there's no good time to fetch it after giving Primeval Titan haste.
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
Overall I think the drop in consistency by running these cards is not really worth it, so I'll test the Seal as well.
I stream Modern events semi-regularly at http://www.twitch.tv/nezeru
Thoughtseize is defiantly a problem, and i feel theros has made it abundant online. It seems like half of every deck runs it right now.. when i barely saw it before. Curious which version you are running?
I personally think trinket mage is great in the deck, some may disagree. You still get your nut draws, but it gives you alot of consistency and lets you have a silver bullet pithing needle and explosives you can fetch. Explosives is near as good as pyroclasm g1 and saved me countless times. The other thing is its never really bad having 2 amulets, especially g2/3 when they WILL have natures claim or whatnot to kill your first one. Plus 2 amulets in play is a 1 titan instant kill.
The question is what you would cut for it, for me i found Garruk wasn't necessary and lots of versions are running him.
As far as Temple of mystery I think it deserves a spot, but i wouldn't cut Kabira crossroads for it. I took it out of my deck and regretted it when i ran into burn. Of course if you never see burn its a moot point, but i have won games vs burn at 1/3 life many times, and lost others where kibira would have won me the game. (even spending a turn to fetch it with tolaria west)
cbgirardo if you suspect they may have path(hatebears and such) and your titan won't kill that turn, fetch a bounce+west on your attack fetch. If he has nothing you win the next turn anyway with the attack, if he doesnt you bounced the west to your hand, and with 3 mana you can Titan again. I like running 2 west maindeck just because it has so much utility.
This is the list im currently testing
1 Cavern of Souls
3 Gemstone Mine
1 Golgari Rot Farm
1 Gruul Turf
1 Kabira Crossroads
1 Khalni Garden
3 Selesnya Sanctuary
4 Simic Growth Chamber
1 Slayers' Stronghold
1 Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
3 Tendo Ice Bridge
2 Tolaria West
1 Vesuva
3 Azusa, Lost but Seeking
4 Primeval Titan
4 Amulet of Vigor
2 Hive Mind
2 Pact of Negation
4 Serum Visions
1 Slaughter Pact
4 Summer Bloom
4 Summoner's Pact
1 Temple of Mystery
1 Stirring Wildwood
2 Trinket Mage
1 Engineered Explosives
1 Chalice of the Void
1 Island
1 Forest
Notes: Chalice of the Void: Against Living End on 0, Twin on 3 and Jund on 2, it's 3/4 of a G1 win.
Trinket Mage: Nothing to add here.
Temple of Mystery: I hate them, but they just sort of work.
Stirring Wildwood: Most of the times i fetched for inkmoth it was actually to have a flying blocker against an opponent's inkmoth. Im trying this because it fixes mana and three mana it's not that difficult to pay. Also bolt proof.
Also, there were two copies of the deck on this' week Modern Premier event. Link here (2nd and 5th places)
BRG Living End
UGWRB Titan Bloom (40% complete)
Oracle, Azusa, Explore all do one thing in common which is quintessential to the existence of the deck: be able to play more that one land per turn. Summer bloom is by far the best way which is why is a MUST. Azusa also stars on most lists, but then running oracle or explore is for redundancy. Some people preffer to have just the normal trick and make it as consistent as possible (playing 3 hive minds, oracle) while others prefer to have more versatility (trinket mages, garruk, gifts). It all reduce to preference and style. The same is with Stirrings vs Serum Visions vs Trinket mage.
BRG Living End
UGWRB Titan Bloom (40% complete)
Ive liked oracle, but he just costs so much, he is only really good if youve already ramped, or if the game goes particularly long
I suppose the bigger problem is that I don't see what happens in a normal game. All I read in this thread are descriptions of the T2 kill/Primeval Titan swings, which I doubt are very common. I haven't found any videos or anything.
What would common turns 1-4 look like?
Azusa's role is that it's a worse summer bloom, but it's tutoreable with the pact. Therefore, its necessary. And trust me, most of the time, if your hand is full, it's full of lands. If you draw an azusa, it will have something to do.
Also think that the deck more often than not uses resources straight from the library. The hand is relevant just during the early game
Normal would be something like
T1: Amulet if you have it, Serum visions/stirrings/sakura if you do not, ETB tapped land if you have neither (preferrably a land that gets you value like a scry land, a khalni garden)
T2: If you played an amulet, play either azusa or land (keep the karoos yet) unless you can go for the kill. if you know the matchup and have a tolaria west in hand, you can go for a hate card as well (cavern against control, explosive against jund or a pact if you need a creature) If you do not played an amulet and can do something to look for it, do it. otherwise, land, go.
T3: Start karooing lands for value if you dont have an amulet and start doing broken things if you have.
BRG Living End
UGWRB Titan Bloom (40% complete)
If you want to see better cards, run scrylands, if you want more cards run compulsive research (and you should already be running 4x serum visions)
4x Lotus Cobra
4x Primeval Titan
1x Azusa, Lost but Seeking
Instant/Sorcery
4x Summoner's Pact
4x Sleight of Hand
4x Remand
4x Ancient Stirrings
4x Summer Bloom
Other spells
2x Hive Mind
4x Amulet of Vigor
3x Garruk Wildspeaker
Lands
2x Island
2x Forest
1x Breeding Pool
1x Temple Garden
4x Misty Rainforest
2x Selesnya Sanctuary
4x Simic Growth Chamber
1x Boros Garrison
1x Teetering Peaks
1x Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion
1x Treetop Village
1x Slayer's Stronghold
1x Vesuva
3x Dispel
1x Gaea's Revenge
2x Seal of Primordium
3x Noxious Revival
2x Ghostly Prison
2x Damping Matrix
1x Sejiri Steppe
1x Gut Shot
Primeval Titan, Amulet of Vigor, Slayer's Stronghold, Boros Garrison: Main combo pieces. Play Titan with Amulet of the field search of Stronghold and Barrison the hit on the same turn.
Lotus Cobra: It is great ramp in this deck, in the worst case summer bloom becomes pyretic ritual and if you have a basic or shock land you get even more out of it. You have to remember that even without the Amulet a turn 3 Titan or Hive mind is a fairly big treat and if you for some reason already have the Stronghold on the field you don't need the Amulet to give the Titan haste. It also hits and blocks and that can be relevant
Azusa: It's worse summer bloom that can be fetched by Summoner's Pact. Some people use more than me but I find that one is enough to search with pact if really needed and I prefer running more draw, control and cobras because azusa will rarely do much on the turn it hits since it costs 3 and only gives 2 land drops (sometimes 1 if people kill her on the land's trigger)
Summoner's Pact: It searches for Titan, Azusa and Gaea's Revenge after sideboard. Must have for consistency and versatility.
Sleight of Hand: Some people think Serum Visions is better and it really is a close call but this deck is supposed to be fast deck and sleight of hand gets you what you need NOW while serum visions gets it next turn.
Remand: Very good IMO. It is frequently better to wait a turn with them remand mana ready than to play anything else. This deck can go from nothing to win in 1 turn so being able to slow you opponent to get one more turn of land drop and get a draw in the process is very good. It can also save your Titan from Path of exile or counter if you can get a little more mana. (remember, if the opponent has mana to counter titan twice you can remand your own titan to get him back and draw a card)
Ancient Stirrings: It searches for lands and the amulet for 1 mana, that may not seem much but those are the 2 things you usually need the most.
Summer Bloom: Must have. Even without the amulet those land drops mean big ramp. Since the deck plays around karoo lands you usually get all 3 land drops from it and on turn 2 that can mean a turn 3 Titan/Hive mind.
Hive Mind: Secondary win condition that can win out of nowhere with very little your opponent can do. It can win games otherwise lost and get your opponents by surprise. Some people use other pacts for decks that can pay the green one but I think it is too risky and can be a dead card on many situations
Garruk Wildspeaker: He can be a big ramp for the next turn untapping karoo lands, get creatures, overrun your cobras/beasts and even untap the Titan's lands once as an Amulet would making him pretty versatile but lately I've been thinking he is too slow and Gifts Ungiven would be a better card for this slot
Misty Rainforest: Since I run Lotus Cobra, Misty rainforest is very important. It fixes my mana (early game this is very important) and gets 3 mana if the cobra is out. I've seen lots of people run Gemstone Mine and Tendo Ice Bridge for mana fixing but with the cobra, rainforest is better and it also searches for basics if you are afraid of a blood moon
Teetering Peaks: It makes sure that you can kill in one hit with Titan and since it can be bounced it also helps when hitting with the cobra/Treetop
Sunhome, Fortress of the Legion: Some people seem to think Kessig Wolf Run is better but unless you are using it on a 1/x creature or have a LOT of mana sunhome always costs at least the same and since the main creature you will use it on is Titan sunhome is no doubt better for me. Some people use both but I have too many problems with color fixing as is and don't recommend it.
Treetop Village: Some people use inkmoth nexus but Treetop (and I guess inkmoth too) usually hits the field when a Titan attacks but I know it won't kill in one hit and might get killed before it attacks again. Usually when this happens the opponent is left with less than 10 life so Treetop needs to hit less than a Inkmoth would and it is already a 3/3 trample making it much more efficient than I believe a Inkmoth would be. Treetop also benefits more from sunhome than Inkmoth so that is better for m.
Vesuva: It helps a lot with consistency. If you get a combo land on your hand it can break the combo because you won't be able to fetch it and you might need to tap it to get the Titan out so vesuva makes sure you can still combo as long as that land is in the field. Some people run more of them and that's fine but I think 1 is all you need.
Sideboard
Dispel: Counters and Path to exile. Sometimes Terminate or Thoughtseize
Gaea's Revenge: Any deck with a lot of control. Not many creatures can kill it and the only spell that people use and can hit it is Beast Within. I have been thinking of running 1 mainboard actually.
Seal of Primordium: As DarkBrew said, it is the best answer for blood moon and I can say that it helps a lot in other situations killing a Inkmoth or just as a way to spend your mana in case you get a lot but don't have a Titan or something like that (happens sometimes)
Noxious Revival: Not the greatest sideboard but I like it for it's versatility. It can get a combo piece back, save you from Surgical Extraction or get that Griselbrand, Emrakul or even Counter out of the yard stopping some decks in desperate times.
Ghostly Prison: I've been thinking of getting pyroclasm but I'm not sure since I run Cobras. This really helps against merfolk, tokens and some other decks
Damping Matrix: Haven't tested it yet but seems good.
Sejiri Steppe: Basically to avoid blockers but I nearly never side it in. I think it's going out
Gut Shot: Just to fill the spot really. Have killed a inkmoth and a Aven Mindsensor with it but not really good.
I guess that's it. Hope I can help someone with this
UWR Midrange
BRG Jund
BG Rock
UR Storm
The Philippine Modern Community
RGWUB MTG Modern Philippines
-Magus of the Candelabra as an alternative to Garruk or to fill up some free slots. It can come down earlier and basically accomplishes the same purpose, but I can see why Garruk's beasts might give him an advantage.
--Using one of the Zendikar manlands (Celestial Colonnade, Stirring Wildwood, or Raging Ravine) instead of Inkmoth, due to working better with Garruk and Prime time, and tapping for colors.
-- I've seen surprisingly few Spellskites in the sideboard (maybe I'm just looking at the wrong decks). It's just so good against so many decks and has the advantage of being Stirringsable as well as Pactable.
-- Gaddock Teeg in the board, especially for the builds that don't rely on Hive Mind as much.
-- Could Prime Time's old friend Scapeshift work here?
Regarding running a 4-color deck without fetchlands:
MostlyLost on Cockatrice.
I think the magus is interesting but not good enough. You would need a lot of karoos for him to be actually effective and that isn't as common as one might think. The normal for me is 1-2 karoos and in that case it's only 2 mana ramp.
I also dislike inkmoth but I think Treetop village is better than zendikar manlands because it has trample and costs less so you can use mana to buff it for exemple.
Spellskite! I knew I forgot something in my decklist's sideboard. I usually use 2 spellskites instead of the damping matrixs because I didn't have them, now I will probably take out gut shot and sejiri steppe for the spellskites. I share them with another deck so it wasn't with the Karoo deck and I forgot. (just a note: spellskite is not "Pactable" since it's not green)
Don't know what to think about Gaddock Teeg
I think it's fairly settled that scapeshift and valakut are not an option in this deck. We need to focus else we try a lot and do nothing
Do you miss the Tolaria Wests? I actually find them the most important land in the deck as it usually finds an answer for every situation. Also, no cavern of souls?
BRG Living End
UGWRB Titan Bloom (40% complete)
I have never tried tolaria west and it might be good but I just never tried. Tolaria west basically fetches pact right? I just don't think it's gonna be that important. If you can explain why it's so important I would like that, to me treetop village seems enough after the first Titan strike.
No cavern of souls simply because it's expensive. I'd like one but it's not priority and too expensive.