I like the ability to splash in white and blue, makes architect that much more powerful with the hulk, if there were more efficient blue and white cyclers or utility cards i'd love that, with a higher blue focus you can run dispels side board instead of ricochet trap... has the benefit of being able to stop more than counters in a pinch.
Tell me how it works out!
Obligatory post pointing out that the card you mentioned (Dispel) has too low of a CMC ;D
But I also like blue in the deck because I really want to be able to at least consider Spiketail Drakeling.
URGImperial AnimarGRU BRGProssh, Tokenmaker of KherGRB WURNarset NostalgicRUW UBR"I like your deck better" JelevaRBU UBlue BraidsU GAzusa, Lost but RampingG
WUHanna, Pillowfort's NavigatorUW WBRAleshacratsBRW UBRGrixis Pew PewRBU URGYasova the ThreateningGRU BGGlissa the ArticiferGB WUSygg MerfolkUW RSquee, Value NabobR
Adding Blue has always been on my list of ideas, and is indeed where I'm going with the Legacy version of this deck I'm working on. Vendillion Clique always seems nice when you've got a dead Living End stuck in hand.
Yeah, blue is probably quite a bit better in the Legacy builds because you get to play with Force of Will (a free 5 cmc counterspell), decent cyclers like Primoc Escapee, and Shardless Agent (sometimes, you need the extra body post-Living End, and at least you get board presence if Living End gets countered).
SHHHHHHH, I WAS JUST TESTING YOU.
...
And completely freaking forgot rule number 1.
...
D'oh, got too excited over possibly being able to run counters.
Could see some strange tricks in this build with Esper Soujourners but I think it's still WAY too terrible to even deserve a slot while running blue, cycling 3 is terrible even if it can really only be 2 because of it's ability.
The spiketail would be interesting over the fulminator package, would gear for different things, I think if we run blue, besides the cyclers we should be looking for better non cycle cards to fit into our deck...
Entertaining thoughts though even if it eventually gets proven suboptimal.
Primoc Escapee isn't modern I think, neither is shardless agent since it's only in planechase.
And we can't really change up the cascade spells we use as everything else is too high cmc or happens to be Ardent Plea which will never be useful ever.
SHHHHHHH, I WAS JUST TESTING YOU.
...
And completely freaking forgot rule number 1.
...
D'oh, got too excited over possibly being able to run counters.
Could see some strange tricks in this build with Esper Soujourners but I think it's still WAY too terrible to even deserve a slot while running blue, cycling 3 is terrible even if it can really only be 2 because of it's ability.
The spiketail would be interesting over the fulminator package, would gear for different things, I think if we run blue, besides the cyclers we should be looking for better non cycle cards to fit into our deck...
Entertaining thoughts though even if it eventually gets proven suboptimal.
Primoc Escapee isn't modern I think, neither is shardless agent since it's only in planechase.
Escapee and Agent were part of a discussion to extend the deck into legacy, hence the discussion of Force of Will.
But I do think Spiketail does an interesting job of replacing Fulminator. It's almost like he sets them back two lands instead of one and protects the Living End really well.
URGImperial AnimarGRU BRGProssh, Tokenmaker of KherGRB WURNarset NostalgicRUW UBR"I like your deck better" JelevaRBU UBlue BraidsU GAzusa, Lost but RampingG
WUHanna, Pillowfort's NavigatorUW WBRAleshacratsBRW UBRGrixis Pew PewRBU URGYasova the ThreateningGRU BGGlissa the ArticiferGB WUSygg MerfolkUW RSquee, Value NabobR
Sojourners are an option I've look at before, but they just aren't splashy enough for the cost, Esper or Jund.
I am realizing that I have to pay much more attention to my life total playing with so many fetches and shocks. Once I've settled on some solid numbers I'll post another list, but Brindle Boar has come off the bench. This mainly affects you when up against something like Burn or Affinity. Affinity we just pray we can take the turn or 2 of swings before we can wipe, as usual. It'll just be a hair closer than we may be comfy with. Burn, however, pretty much picks up game 1 unless you've got boars in main (depending on your meta, may not be a bad idea with this build).
However, it isn't all bad. So many one-mana card draws makes the deck feel more combo. I feel a bit better about spreading out my SB slots because of how deep I can dig in the early turns. And mainboard Leylind of the Void is a dream. Casting it isn't a headache, and it's almost always relevant.
If you're splashing white in your deck, 3-4 Ghostly Prison need to be in your side.
1) it gets skipped by Cascade 2) it helps against some of our worst match-ups (Storm when Empty the Warrens goes off; Splinter-Twin is dead in its tracks) 3) it gives us breathing room against other decks that are punished by constantly A) playing cards, B) tapping out, and C) light on mana (Jund, Junk, Zoo, Faeries, etc.)
It's a relatively good card against the whole meta besides Tron. But it's especially needed against Splinter-Twin and big boards.
In the current meta, our worst match-up is UR Combo decks (Storm and Splinter-Twin). Ghostly Prison is your best friend if you can produce white mana by turn 3.
Still working on my mana base and wondering if anyone has tested a more suicidal base including, for example, 2 Stomping Ground, 2 Blood Crypt, 2 Overgrown Tomb plus an array of Zendikar Lands. Too risky? The mana flow is very consistent but how much can I really take on average before I'm hitting the tipping point? In the (rare) event of mana flood/dead turn, they can come into play tapped and save a couple life but an opening hand of pain can suck the life out of you. Thoughts?
Still working on my mana base and wondering if anyone has tested a more suicidal base including, for example, 2 Stomping Ground, 2 Blood Crypt, 2 Overgrown Tomb plus an array of Zendikar Lands. Too risky? The mana flow is very consistent but how much can I really take on average before I'm hitting the tipping point? In the (rare) event of mana flood/dead turn, they can come into play tapped and save a couple life but an opening hand of pain can suck the life out of you. Thoughts?
Main brindle boars and I can see this working out without being terribly painful, also good against burn/aggro if your meta is full of it.
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In the current meta, our worst match-up is UR Combo decks (Storm and Splinter-Twin). Ghostly Prison is your best friend if you can produce white mana by turn 3.
I hate that it is a blank on Tron decks, but everything else about it makes sense. I will add this to the list of things to try next.
If you're splashing white in your deck, 3-4 Ghostly Prison need to be in your side.
1) it gets skipped by Cascade 2) it helps against some of our worst match-ups (Storm when Empty the Warrens goes off; Splinter-Twin is dead in its tracks) 3) it gives us breathing room against other decks that are punished by constantly A) playing cards, B) tapping out, and C) light on mana (Jund, Junk, Zoo, Faeries, etc.)
It's a relatively good card against the whole meta besides Tron. But it's especially needed against Splinter-Twin and big boards.
In the current meta, our worst match-up is UR Combo decks (Storm and Splinter-Twin). Ghostly Prison is your best friend if you can produce white mana by turn 3.
I see your point, but is durdling with Ghostly Prison really what this deck wants to be doing? I feel like we're getting away from our own M.O. between this and "killing them with their own wincon" a la Rakdos Charm. If Splinter Twin decks give you a rash, just bring in Sudden Death and Slaughter Games and be done with it.
The resounding Cycle
Overall bad for us, we don't want to wait til turn 8 to win and no attraction to using them without cycling.
Sojouner Cycles
If only they cycled for 2 mana we might be able to fit SOME of them in... sadly they're bad.
So pretty much all the cyclers that arn't the glassdust and architects suck.
Looking at Evoke cards then.
Aethersnipe
If it werent for the double blue evoke I could see running this, the effect is nice for a 4/4 body when we get it back, but itll also return something when it comes back, harder to get to work - already hurts enough to have to shoot down a faerie macabre with deadshot mino, though returning a macabre back to hand would actually be workable.
Mulldrifter This card is amazing, it's essentially cycle a 2/2 flying to draw 2 instead of 1, worth paying 3 for since you draw 2 more offa living end, maybe not a 4 of but 2 would be nice.
Reveillark
We don't have enough targets to make this worth while.
Wispmare
Enchantment hate, ingot chewer but smaller, meh.
Am I missing anything that would be good in blue/white for us?
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That is not dead which may eternal lie, and with strange Aeons even death may die.
URGImperial AnimarGRU BRGProssh, Tokenmaker of KherGRB WURNarset NostalgicRUW UBR"I like your deck better" JelevaRBU UBlue BraidsU GAzusa, Lost but RampingG
WUHanna, Pillowfort's NavigatorUW WBRAleshacratsBRW UBRGrixis Pew PewRBU URGYasova the ThreateningGRU BGGlissa the ArticiferGB WUSygg MerfolkUW RSquee, Value NabobR
On the bottom of page 18 I posted a completely UW version of Living End which I thought would be interesting. Since then I've decided that the deck was inferior to Jund-color LE. There are a lot of interesting resources we can get out of UW, but I think ultimately that a splash will slow down the deck too much or steer the deck away from it's original purpose.
Cards to consider: Glassdusk Hulk: Better than Deadshot Minotaur most of the time. Mulldrifter: At first glance it looks like an extra-good cycler. Unfortunately, it doesn't have flash, so no EoT evoke. 3-mana is also pretty steep. I prefer normal cyclers or land cyclers. Compulsive Research: Mulldrifter but worse as far as we're concerned. Filters more but has less net card advantage. Drift of Phantasms: Tutors are nice, but we're running 7-8 cascades anyways. We don't want to spend T3 using a sorcery-speed tutor to find a combo-piece we'll most likely get just by cycling. Also, a 0/5 flying wall is good pre-cascade against aggro, but useless post-cascade.
Wispmare: Only run this if you're not happy with Krosan Grip. Dawnfluke: If infect is a big problem, this is great. Otherwise, Brindle Boar is better. Ghostly Prison: This looks like a really good idea, especially with Simian Spirit Guide to drop it turn 2. On the other hand, all of are cascades are 3-mana wraths anyways. Ardent Plea: Pretty redundant, plus double-splash is probably a bad idea.
Blue
You value knowledge, logic, and deceit. You love to pursue wisdom but also to manipulate and deceive. At your best, you are brilliant and progressive. At your worst, you are treacherous and cold. Your symbol is a water droplet. Your enemies are green and red.
Sooooo prepare yourselves for the epically long post.
Backstory - so I have finals on the 17th, 18th and 19th. My birthday is on the 18th. So I finally got my priorities straight and registered for GP Toronto on Friday, though an awesome member of my Magic Club helped immensely by lending me a playset of Fulminators, which was essentially the one thing keeping me from actually going (apparently, Fulminators don't exist in Toronto anymore). T'was my first major tournament, and somewhere between getting my mat stolen, pulling a Sphinx's Revelation from one of my packs, finding out my foil Deathrite Shaman is worth like $40, and beating Tron and Jund 2-0, I had a really good time. I think it's seriously upped my self-esteem in this game, and I feel like I can actually pilot the deck at an at least semi-competitive level without flopping TOO hard.
Also, before I go any further, I would like to extend a huge thanks to my buddies at the UofT Magic Club, for helping me out in unbelievable ways. From convincing me to go for the tournament, to lending me cards I needed, to testing, to helping me chisel the sideboard out, I literally would not have come that far without them. A large thanks also goes out to all the regulars in this thread, that I hope to join as well, for keeping up the discussion with new ideas and tech and whatnot. Seriously guys, you're awesome.
So, now, on to the fun stuff.
Before going through what the matches were like, first lets go over my decklist. On the signup sheet, we had to come up with a 'deck name', and I wanted to be a bit more original and awesome than my buddy's UR Pyro Storm that he chose to name "The Big Ka-Pow-Pow". In honor of the awesome band Megadeth (if you know who I'm talking about, then props), and their awesome song that is disturbingly appropriate for the deck, here is ...
- First things first, I realize there's a bit of a mana misbalance, between the two 'lesser' colors, Green and Black. This happened because on the BUS to the event, I realized that I had forgotten to switch the one Blackcleave Cliffs that I hadn't managed to find for an Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth. I brought only two Commander decks with me, one mono-R and one mono-G. Balls. So since there's already a ton of red, I decided to replace it with a Forest instead. That ended up screwing me for a black a bit, but oh well.
- If I, or anyone, had ever doubted Pale Recluse, it is officially awesome. I think I only hardcast it once if at all, but the landcycling was surprisingly useful a surprising margin of the time.
Sideboard!
-After consulting with some guys at the Magic club, we decided to go with Jund Charm over the Leyline in terms of grave hate for several reasons. For one, flexibility. Yeah yeah, I know, I know, why would you ever use it for anything else, but the +1/+1 counter mode actually won me game 3 of Round 8. The other reasons were the two inherent flaws of the Leyline - (A) to get full mileage of the Leyline, I need to start with it in hand, which may result in me either mulling it away if the rest of the hand is crap, or keeping the terrible hand because of the Leyline; and (B) - given that I don't start with it, a drawn leyline either messes up the turn by forcing me to cast it at sorcery speed, not even touching all the cards that are already there anyway, or being a dead card in the hand. Jund Charm avoids both of them, with the additional rationale that we're probably keeping BRX for an Outburst anyway, and most grave-based decks only need a single well-placed Charm to hurt them pretty hard, and the excess of 'hitting everything over an extended period of time' wasn't worth the risk. I think the Charm worked VERY well, given that if the Charms were instead Leylines, I wouldn't have won some of the games that I did.
- Everything else is pretty Standard, except the Boar. The boar helped to secure a victory in the UR Storm match, and helped survive a bit in the RDW match, but I can't help but wonder if perhaps the Boar should have been at 2, or if that would make him too inconsistent/unreliable?
Now, the REAL juicy stuff! Matches!
So there were what, 1300-something people signed up? That was a bit ridiculous, considering the biggest event I'd played before was a 60-something-player pre-release, haha
MATCH 1: RDW Game One; Nothing particularly entertaining happened, got burned to death. Got a bit greedy and didn't cascade when I should have because I wanted a bigger End (had only like 2 guys in there or something) in response to an attack, which pushed him into the red zone with a bolt and a Lavamancer activation. Ouch. Lesson learned.
Game Two; Living End sees a bit more action, cascading before a painful attack with a pretty juicy grave, only to meet a Rakdos Charm off a Blood Crypt that he was using to splash black for Bump in the Night. Still, board gets wiped, I get another turn, and draw into nothing that can save me. He unearths a Hellspark Elemental, and hits me for 3, bringing me down to 0. Prior to that, a Boar serves its purpose and lures away a Lavamancer activation. Hooray, gain "6" life! Still, Pain and suffering. 0-2
RECORD: 0-1
Comments: Literally in my mind as I was writing this, but I should probably have thrown the rest of the Fulminators out for the Jund Charms to use the Pyroclasm mode. Not that I drew into Fulminators anyway, but it probably would have been the right play to make. Note taken.
MATCH 2: SOUL SISTERS
Probably my worst match of the day. Blechhhhhh Game One; I keep a decent hand with one End, then cycle into another, and draw the third. Meanwhile, he goes turn 1 Martyr of the Sands, turn 2 swing Martyr, sac it revealing SIX, cast SS, and the hell continues. By the time I manage to suspend an End, I die to 2 Soul's Attendant, a Squadron Hawk, and 2 Honor of the Pure, with 1 counter on the End. Gah.
I honestly did not know what to board, so I think I boarded out some of the land hate for Dismembers and Boars. Not that it mattered.
Game Two; a bit more action. Following a ridiculous opener of t1 Ascendant, t2 Martyr and sac revealing 4 to bring him to 32, I manage to cascade into an End with 2 Carabids that get promptly eaten by a boarded-in Surgical Extraction. He ends up Extracting me at least once more, while beating me down with more Ascendants. I manage to Macabre the Martyr away in response to the first End, and then pitch the 2nd to get rid of an Ascendant, but I never draw another cascade and by the time I suspend an End and it gets to 1 counter (always the one counter!) I die a horrible death. 0-2
RECORD: 0-2
At this point morale's getting low, but X-2's can still make it to Day 2! Not that I expected to make it or anything, but I stick it out for one of my better matches:
MATCH THREE: TRON
Well, ladies and gents, we all know how this matchup goes. Game One; Turn one he suspends two Lotus Blooms. I start worrying, then I see an Urza land and calm down. I see a Relic, and bait the pop with an Avalanche Rider in the grave (AR in grave, I Outburst, he taps Relic, I cycle Minotaur and Wraith, he pops it). He then proceeds to Ancient Stirrings revealing Emrakul while sitting on a Forest and an Urza land, then proceeds to nom his Blooms for Green, and proceeds to cast Tooth and Nail, dropping Emrakul. I untap, can't target him with the Dread in my hand, and Outurst instead. GG
Sideboard - Faerie Macabre is irrelevant in the matchup, so -2 Faerie -1 Jungle Weaver (i think), +3 Ingot Chewer.
Game Two; he leads with a turn one Cage as I stifle a giggle and keep playing with a straight face, but am forced to let out a sigh as he drops a turn 3-4 Rest in Peace, to which I have no answer. Damn. Regardless, I manage to draw into several Beast Withins, using one to knock off the RiP. Throughout the rest of the relatively event-less game he drops three PowerPlants, and a single Mine which quickly eats another Beast. I cascade, he realizes the Cage does nothing, he scoops after dropping an Expedition Map and realizing he still can't do anything in time with an incomplete Tron. GG. 2-0
RECORD: 1-2
Morale is slowly improving, as I head off into
MATCH FOUR: UW CONTROL
This match is so uneventful that I'm not even gonna break it down. Both games I land-d him so terribly I almost feel bad as I go t3 fulminator, t4 rider, t5 cascade, and I feel like a jerk as I Beast Within his last land and swing. No resistance. I sideboard 3 ricochet traps for I forget what, probably the fae and a weaver (looks like that's my default siding - if I only need 3 of something, it's generally Riders/Fae +1 Weaver out), but I never see any of the traps. Game two follows a similar pattern, though there is a bit more resistance this time as I cascade twice and he gets a Blade Splicer back. Still, I stifle a giggle as he's sitting on 3 lands, I cast a Fulminator, he Leaks it, I shrug and cascade the next turn bringing back a Rider and THREE mages, and he has no lands left. Short, sweet, simple. 2-0
RECORD: 2-2
So to summarize the last 2 rounds - LD is kinda strong. Apparently optimized decks with tons of nonbasics find it hard to come back after t3 fulminator into t4 avalanche riders. Can't imagine why ;P
Morale returning, I head into what would become the absolutely most frustrating match I've played. If the SS match was downright terrible, this is its cousin in plain annoyance that made me want to find and flip any and all tables in the vicinity.
MATCH FIVE: UR PYRO STORM Game One; is uneventful. He Probes me turn 1, sees, the End, sees 1 of each Cascade, sees a cycler, lots of movement in the eyebrows, but I still don't think he got it. He goes off unhindered, and I don't even get to Cascade.
Sideboooooard - I see a Pyro Game One, so I figure I need better grave hate than the Fae. So -2 Fae -1 Avalanche Rider for +3 Jund Charm, and -1 Rider and I can't remember what else for 2-3 Boars. Let's do this.
Game Two; I'm on the play, and keep him off red by Fulminating his Shivan Reef. He never sees another land, I beat him down with a Boar before eating it for life and Cascading. He sees the End and scoops.
No board changes.
Game Three; oh my god. If I were to pour myself out right now, MTGS would suspend me for months on just cursing infractions. Here's how it goes: I'm at 12 life after fetches, shocks, and Street Wraith(s), he's at 17 after fetching an untapped shock. End of his turn, I Living End into 13 power, swing, he's at 4. Last turn. He starts going off. Hits a storm of 5 before Epic Experimenting for 7. Electromancer and a land hit the bin, and he's left with another EE, a Seething Song, a Manamorphose, a Serum Visions, and of course, Grapeshot. He throws 10 grapes at me, I'm at TWO. He's sitting on an untapped Island, 1 blue mana and 6 red. Serum Visions from hand, into a Probe, into another fracking Grapeshot. I rage, but he got it. 1-2
RECORD: 2-3
At this point, I know I'm not getting in, but I decide to stick around for more playing and experience. Because hey, I paid for it, right? Might as well make the most of it.
And just as I jokingly complain to the guy beside me that of the "Big Three" of current Modern, I only faced 1 Tron and no Jund at all, I get into
MATCH SIX: JUND
Again, we already know how this matchup is supposed to go. Game One; I take because of a combination of epic Land D and him not knowing what my deck does until I Outburst.
Board - Can't remember the exact boarding, but I brought in 2 Dismembers. I may have also touched 2 Charms, but I can't remember that, or what I boarded out.
Game Two; I end up taking on the back of a Living End bringing back a Street Wraith and Deadshot Minotaur. The Minotaur dies, I hardcast Pale Recluse, and pretty much win the game on the back of an unblockable Wraith. 2-0.
RECORD: 3-3
Now, this next match gets really screwy. The previous round was taking a REALLY long time, so I went to grab a drink with my friends. I run back, and the board for my last name is on the other side of the hall, and I find out the table is AGAIN on the other side closer to the door. In the end, I show up 3 min late and take a Game 1 loss against
MATCH SEVEN: WG Game "One"; I take rather easily, cascade, swing. Nothing important. My sleeves were getting stuck to my sleeves (card to sweater), and I got called JUDGE on like 3 times, getting a warning since apparently, "Displacing cards a significant amount from the library" counts as "Looking at cards" in the rules. That was about the most interesting thing to happen that game.
No board changes.
Game "Two"; I keep a hand with a REALLY nice curve. End of his turn 3, I sac my Catacombs to fetch for a land to cycle my Pale Recluse to drop a Fulminator on my turn ... as he calls out he has a response, and drops Aven Mindcensor. I curse, look at the top four, and curse again. Down a land. I don't see a land for a while and take a beating, until I desperately Living End to keep me alive. I cast the Fulminator Mage, he Paths it, and I blow up a dual not noticing he has the WG manland and I'm at 3. He untaps, animates the land, and swings for lethal. I curse at myself, and take the loss. 1-2.
MATCH EIGHT: MONO-RED CONTROL?
This match was arguably the weirdest match I played all day, and probably my most difficult. I guess it was a homebrew, as it mainboarded all the red hate - Moon, Magus, Relic, etc - with a wincon of, I guess, Magus beatdown along with Koth. Game One; I see the Relic and play around it, baiting the pop similar to the Jund match. After that, I cascade with a rather small grave, and eat him.
Boarding: The only nonbasic I saw was Scrying Sheets, with an all-snow base, so I figured the Fulminators had to go as well as the near-useless Faeries here, bringing in 3 Ingot Chewers, and 3 Jund Charms, because I had nothing better do with the slots.
Game Two; He starts with a turn 1 Chalice of the Void, followed by a Relic. I'm a bit manascrewed, and never see any of the Chewers.
Game Three; saw me doing SO many things I never thought I'd do. An opening of Chalice and Relic also means I'm not Ending any time soon, so I end up paying the Ech on both Riders, and when both die, I hardcast an Ingot Chewer to eat the Chalice, quickly replaced by two more. Yup, no Ends this game. I feel like it's this game that made realize how diverse the End can be, and just how difficult a deck it CAN be to pilot. Game ends when he drops a Spellskite and attempts to Skred my Chewer with 3 Snow Mountains. I have 6 mana open. I Beast Within the Spellskite, and then Jund Charm my Chewer to a 5/5. He swings with a Magus hoping I block, I guess, but I take the 2. I still need my Chewer. I untap, drop a land. Swing with Chewer. He looks at life totals, I'm at 7, he's at 11. He takes the 5 down to 6 (which makes sense considering his next move), and I tap out for a Jungle Weaver. As any other Modern player staring down a hardcast 5/6 reach, his face reads, "oh snap." He untaps, plays Koth, uses +1 to untap a mountain .. and passes.
I untap, and draw. Okay. Tap 3, Demonic Dread targeting the Beast token. Cascade into an End, declare not casting. Beast can't block. Combat. Swing with 5/6 Weaver and 5/5 Chewer. Magus blocks Weaver. 5 goes through .. until I tap 3 and show my Violent Outburst, and declare "Don't cast Living End." And there we have it, an example of how the End can live through disruption, hardcast, and win. I do admit though. the Avalanche Riders were pretty boss.
MVPs: Street Wraith for being relevant, Fulminators/Riders for doing what they do, Demonic Dread declaring no End for letting me get through.
Phew. Questions, comments, flames, I'll take it all.
Twitch: MTGJankmaster; lurking>streaming (but maybe one day when I get good at magic)
xMage: Jankmaster Commander - Now Playing WUBSen Triplets - "If you shake my hand, better count your fingersBUWRHomura, Human AscendantRRGBorborygmos EnragedGRURMelek, Izzet ParagonRU
Commander - Still Brewing BRGGyrus, Waker of CorpsesGRBURSaheeli, the GiftedRUWRJor Kadeen, the PrevailerRW
@DasNekros: Thanks for the report! I'm sure you'll do better at your next event (just make sure to have your deck all together and to not be late for rounds). I've got a couple Q's:
1) How well did Jund Charm work in place of Leyline of the Void? Was there ever a time you really wanted Leyline instead of charm?
2) What is UR Pyro Control? I don't know if the Pyro refers to Pyromancer's Swath or Pyromancer Ascension, though I assume the latter because you mentioned grave-hate. This match-up sounds very hard because it's Storm but it doesn't sound like it utilizes Flashback very much so grave-hate becomes weaker. When you played against the deck, what did you want? What cards would have helped you?
Private Mod Note
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Blue
You value knowledge, logic, and deceit. You love to pursue wisdom but also to manipulate and deceive. At your best, you are brilliant and progressive. At your worst, you are treacherous and cold. Your symbol is a water droplet. Your enemies are green and red.
@DasNekros: Thanks for the report! I'm sure you'll do better at your next event (just make sure to have your deck all together and to not be late for rounds). I've got a couple Q's:
1) How well did Jund Charm work in place of Leyline of the Void? Was there ever a time you really wanted Leyline instead of charm?
2) What is UR Pyro Control? I don't know if the Pyro refers to Pyromancer's Swath or Pyromancer Ascension, though I assume the latter because you mentioned grave-hate. This match-up sounds very hard because it's Storm but it doesn't sound like it utilizes Flashback very much so grave-hate becomes weaker. When you played against the deck, what did you want? What cards would have helped you?
Thanks! As for the Q's:
1) Jund Charm was really effective. I think the one game that I started with it in hand and ended up using it as the "Exile grave" mode (i.e. most comparable to Leyline) was Game 3 against Pyro Storm (indeed, it's storm, just noticed my mistype after you pointed it out) after he Probes me, sees it in hand, and baits the Charm with a turn5-6 Past in Flames with the Visions in the grave, which I get rid of with the Charm. Apart from that, as I mentioned, I probably should have brought the Charm in against RDW and possibly even White Life for the Pyroclasm mode, not to mention that it played a pretty vital role in winning game 3 against Red Disrupt. In testing, I ended up drawing a sideboarded Charm against my buddy's DredgeVine deck, and it got me the win.
To summarize, I can't remember if it was said in the thread or at Club, but most decks don't necessarily need the full Leyline presence. Mainboard Faerie works wonders in pinpoint exile, while the Charm just sits in the hand for a well-placed grave removal. Granted, it dies to IoK or Thoughtseize, but Leyline can die to enchantment removal too, and loses the element of surprise that the Charm retains, most of the time. I'm very glad I had the Charms, as I wouldn't have been able to do what I did with Leylines. Granted, there wasn't as big a stress on the grave, so not having one on hand wasn't necessarily CRUCIAL, but the multiple modes really helped out.
2) Yes, you're right, it was UR Pyro Storm, and I'll go change it now. He went off the Ascension game 1, and that was the cue to board in the Charms. While it doesn't focus AS MUCH on Past in Flames for the Storm and digging, Pyromancer Ascension involves having multiples of spells in the grave. So the plan was if I see the Ascension, then as soon as it seems he's got a few spells in there, nuke the grave so he has to get spells in the grave again and hopefully have much less of an arsenal once the Ascension does get online.
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Twitch: MTGJankmaster; lurking>streaming (but maybe one day when I get good at magic)
xMage: Jankmaster Commander - Now Playing WUBSen Triplets - "If you shake my hand, better count your fingersBUWRHomura, Human AscendantRRGBorborygmos EnragedGRURMelek, Izzet ParagonRU
Commander - Still Brewing BRGGyrus, Waker of CorpsesGRBURSaheeli, the GiftedRUWRJor Kadeen, the PrevailerRW
Maybe mainboard Jund Charm and sideboard Leyline of the Void, because Charm gives us a better game 1 vs. aggro while also effectively exiles graveyards. Leyline comes in from the side against combo and Dredgevine because the power of Leyline depends on knowing what you opponent's deck is.
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Blue
You value knowledge, logic, and deceit. You love to pursue wisdom but also to manipulate and deceive. At your best, you are brilliant and progressive. At your worst, you are treacherous and cold. Your symbol is a water droplet. Your enemies are green and red.
Maybe mainboard Jund Charm and sideboard Leyline of the Void, because Charm gives us a better game 1 vs. aggro while also effectively exiles graveyards. Leyline comes in from the side against combo and Dredgevine because the power of Leyline depends on knowing what you opponent's deck is.
That is definitely an option to consider. Perhaps the Charm might contest for the spot of the Fae, but I suppose it's a similar matter of SSG and speed - whether you personally feel a free uncounterable exile 2 is better than BRG for entire grave + other flexibility as needed.
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Twitch: MTGJankmaster; lurking>streaming (but maybe one day when I get good at magic)
xMage: Jankmaster Commander - Now Playing WUBSen Triplets - "If you shake my hand, better count your fingersBUWRHomura, Human AscendantRRGBorborygmos EnragedGRURMelek, Izzet ParagonRU
Commander - Still Brewing BRGGyrus, Waker of CorpsesGRBURSaheeli, the GiftedRUWRJor Kadeen, the PrevailerRW
@dasnekros, Good job made a lot better choices than I would have made.
I just cant wait to see what SB options Gatecrash gives us. As in what new charms specificaly.
Chances are unlikely we'll get a charm worth our time. These are 2 mana charms, which means we're siding out the Living End plan. So far we're 0 for 25 on CMC 2 or less charms even reaching back into legacy, I don't suspect these five will be too different.
URGImperial AnimarGRU BRGProssh, Tokenmaker of KherGRB WURNarset NostalgicRUW UBR"I like your deck better" JelevaRBU UBlue BraidsU GAzusa, Lost but RampingG
WUHanna, Pillowfort's NavigatorUW WBRAleshacratsBRW UBRGrixis Pew PewRBU URGYasova the ThreateningGRU BGGlissa the ArticiferGB WUSygg MerfolkUW RSquee, Value NabobR
So i was looking back at the cascade cards and saw this in the rulings. "5/1/2009: If a spell with Cascade is countered, the Cascade ability will still resolve normally."
Is this correct?
Yes. Cascade is a triggered ability, and it is put on the stack when you cast the spell. At this point, even if the original spell is countered, the ability is still on the stack waiting to resolve.
In casual playing against my club, this deck is now everyone's bane.
Big creature decks just fold, they've recently tried not dropping land and only discarding creatures to circumvent me, but then I hardcast a carabid or drop a faerie macabre and laugh maniacally.
Once I learned to play around counterspells control decks from multiple formats just started folding, the matchup is still more difficult but it's not terrible, especially post sideboard.
Interestingly enough burn decks and lack of nonbasic lands to hit with fulminator mage has been an issue (Slightly), so i've basically swapped them out for brindle boars in casual, they go back in for competitive modern play.
Also Reverberate or any other copy spell is a pain in the rear, at least etbs still fire and I can keep saccing brindle boars.
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That is not dead which may eternal lie, and with strange Aeons even death may die.
Obligatory post pointing out that the card you mentioned (Dispel) has too low of a CMC ;D
But I also like blue in the deck because I really want to be able to at least consider Spiketail Drakeling.
Living End Contributor and Enthusiast
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Rules Advisor
Modern: BRGLiving EndGRB
Legacy: UBGShardless BUGGBU
BRGProssh, Tokenmaker of KherGRB
WURNarset NostalgicRUW
UBR"I like your deck better" JelevaRBU
UBlue BraidsU
GAzusa, Lost but RampingG
WBRAleshacratsBRW
UBRGrixis Pew PewRBU
URGYasova the ThreateningGRU
BGGlissa the ArticiferGB
WUSygg MerfolkUW
RSquee, Value NabobR
SHHHHHHH, I WAS JUST TESTING YOU.
...
And completely freaking forgot rule number 1.
...
D'oh, got too excited over possibly being able to run counters.
Could see some strange tricks in this build with Esper Soujourners but I think it's still WAY too terrible to even deserve a slot while running blue, cycling 3 is terrible even if it can really only be 2 because of it's ability.
The spiketail would be interesting over the fulminator package, would gear for different things, I think if we run blue, besides the cyclers we should be looking for better non cycle cards to fit into our deck...
Entertaining thoughts though even if it eventually gets proven suboptimal.
Primoc Escapee isn't modern I think, neither is shardless agent since it's only in planechase.
And we can't really change up the cascade spells we use as everything else is too high cmc or happens to be Ardent Plea which will never be useful ever.
EDH: Borborygmos Enraged, Sedris, The Traitor King
60 Card: Grixis Delver, Living End, Shardless BUG, Ninjas
We've all done it at least once.
Escapee and Agent were part of a discussion to extend the deck into legacy, hence the discussion of Force of Will.
But I do think Spiketail does an interesting job of replacing Fulminator. It's almost like he sets them back two lands instead of one and protects the Living End really well.
Living End Contributor and Enthusiast
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Modern: BRGLiving EndGRB
Legacy: UBGShardless BUGGBU
BRGProssh, Tokenmaker of KherGRB
WURNarset NostalgicRUW
UBR"I like your deck better" JelevaRBU
UBlue BraidsU
GAzusa, Lost but RampingG
WBRAleshacratsBRW
UBRGrixis Pew PewRBU
URGYasova the ThreateningGRU
BGGlissa the ArticiferGB
WUSygg MerfolkUW
RSquee, Value NabobR
I am realizing that I have to pay much more attention to my life total playing with so many fetches and shocks. Once I've settled on some solid numbers I'll post another list, but Brindle Boar has come off the bench. This mainly affects you when up against something like Burn or Affinity. Affinity we just pray we can take the turn or 2 of swings before we can wipe, as usual. It'll just be a hair closer than we may be comfy with. Burn, however, pretty much picks up game 1 unless you've got boars in main (depending on your meta, may not be a bad idea with this build).
However, it isn't all bad. So many one-mana card draws makes the deck feel more combo. I feel a bit better about spreading out my SB slots because of how deep I can dig in the early turns. And mainboard Leylind of the Void is a dream. Casting it isn't a headache, and it's almost always relevant.
1) it gets skipped by Cascade
2) it helps against some of our worst match-ups (Storm when Empty the Warrens goes off; Splinter-Twin is dead in its tracks)
3) it gives us breathing room against other decks that are punished by constantly A) playing cards, B) tapping out, and C) light on mana (Jund, Junk, Zoo, Faeries, etc.)
It's a relatively good card against the whole meta besides Tron. But it's especially needed against Splinter-Twin and big boards.
In the current meta, our worst match-up is UR Combo decks (Storm and Splinter-Twin). Ghostly Prison is your best friend if you can produce white mana by turn 3.
ex-Moderator
Legacy love.
Main brindle boars and I can see this working out without being terribly painful, also good against burn/aggro if your meta is full of it.
EDH: Borborygmos Enraged, Sedris, The Traitor King
60 Card: Grixis Delver, Living End, Shardless BUG, Ninjas
I hate that it is a blank on Tron decks, but everything else about it makes sense. I will add this to the list of things to try next.
This is what I've done. I'm relying on Shock/Fetches and need the life. So far I'm digging it.
I see your point, but is durdling with Ghostly Prison really what this deck wants to be doing? I feel like we're getting away from our own M.O. between this and "killing them with their own wincon" a la Rakdos Charm. If Splinter Twin decks give you a rash, just bring in Sudden Death and Slaughter Games and be done with it.
EDIT: And Storm cares not a whit about Ghostly Prison - they're killing you with Grapeshot.
if we want a really bad late game counter we have Traumatic Visions
Yoked Plowbeast
Inferior to jungle spider.
The resounding Cycle
Overall bad for us, we don't want to wait til turn 8 to win and no attraction to using them without cycling.
Sojouner Cycles
If only they cycled for 2 mana we might be able to fit SOME of them in... sadly they're bad.
So pretty much all the cyclers that arn't the glassdust and architects suck.
Looking at Evoke cards then.
Aethersnipe
If it werent for the double blue evoke I could see running this, the effect is nice for a 4/4 body when we get it back, but itll also return something when it comes back, harder to get to work - already hurts enough to have to shoot down a faerie macabre with deadshot mino, though returning a macabre back to hand would actually be workable.
Mulldrifter This card is amazing, it's essentially cycle a 2/2 flying to draw 2 instead of 1, worth paying 3 for since you draw 2 more offa living end, maybe not a 4 of but 2 would be nice.
Reveillark
We don't have enough targets to make this worth while.
Wispmare
Enchantment hate, ingot chewer but smaller, meh.
Am I missing anything that would be good in blue/white for us?
EDH: Borborygmos Enraged, Sedris, The Traitor King
60 Card: Grixis Delver, Living End, Shardless BUG, Ninjas
It's not quite the same as the others, but blue gives us Spiketail Drakeling.
Living End Contributor and Enthusiast
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Rules Advisor
Modern: BRGLiving EndGRB
Legacy: UBGShardless BUGGBU
BRGProssh, Tokenmaker of KherGRB
WURNarset NostalgicRUW
UBR"I like your deck better" JelevaRBU
UBlue BraidsU
GAzusa, Lost but RampingG
WBRAleshacratsBRW
UBRGrixis Pew PewRBU
URGYasova the ThreateningGRU
BGGlissa the ArticiferGB
WUSygg MerfolkUW
RSquee, Value NabobR
Cards to consider:
Glassdusk Hulk: Better than Deadshot Minotaur most of the time.
Mulldrifter: At first glance it looks like an extra-good cycler. Unfortunately, it doesn't have flash, so no EoT evoke. 3-mana is also pretty steep. I prefer normal cyclers or land cyclers.
Compulsive Research: Mulldrifter but worse as far as we're concerned. Filters more but has less net card advantage.
Drift of Phantasms: Tutors are nice, but we're running 7-8 cascades anyways. We don't want to spend T3 using a sorcery-speed tutor to find a combo-piece we'll most likely get just by cycling. Also, a 0/5 flying wall is good pre-cascade against aggro, but useless post-cascade.
Wispmare: Only run this if you're not happy with Krosan Grip.
Dawnfluke: If infect is a big problem, this is great. Otherwise, Brindle Boar is better.
Ghostly Prison: This looks like a really good idea, especially with Simian Spirit Guide to drop it turn 2. On the other hand, all of are cascades are 3-mana wraths anyways.
Ardent Plea: Pretty redundant, plus double-splash is probably a bad idea.
You value knowledge, logic, and deceit. You love to pursue wisdom but also to manipulate and deceive. At your best, you are brilliant and progressive. At your worst, you are treacherous and cold. Your symbol is a water droplet. Your enemies are green and red.
Backstory - so I have finals on the 17th, 18th and 19th. My birthday is on the 18th. So I finally got my priorities straight and registered for GP Toronto on Friday, though an awesome member of my Magic Club helped immensely by lending me a playset of Fulminators, which was essentially the one thing keeping me from actually going (apparently, Fulminators don't exist in Toronto anymore). T'was my first major tournament, and somewhere between getting my mat stolen, pulling a Sphinx's Revelation from one of my packs, finding out my foil Deathrite Shaman is worth like $40, and beating Tron and Jund 2-0, I had a really good time. I think it's seriously upped my self-esteem in this game, and I feel like I can actually pilot the deck at an at least semi-competitive level without flopping TOO hard.
Also, before I go any further, I would like to extend a huge thanks to my buddies at the UofT Magic Club, for helping me out in unbelievable ways. From convincing me to go for the tournament, to lending me cards I needed, to testing, to helping me chisel the sideboard out, I literally would not have come that far without them. A large thanks also goes out to all the regulars in this thread, that I hope to join as well, for keeping up the discussion with new ideas and tech and whatnot. Seriously guys, you're awesome.
So, now, on to the fun stuff.
Before going through what the matches were like, first lets go over my decklist. On the signup sheet, we had to come up with a 'deck name', and I wanted to be a bit more original and awesome than my buddy's UR Pyro Storm that he chose to name "The Big Ka-Pow-Pow". In honor of the awesome band Megadeth (if you know who I'm talking about, then props), and their awesome song that is disturbingly appropriate for the deck, here is ...
4 Deadshot Minotaur
4 Street Wraith
4 Pale Recluse
4 Fulminator Mage
2 Faerie Macabre
2 Avalanche Riders
2 Jungle Weaver
4 Beast Within
4 Violent Outburst
4 Demonic Dread
3 Living End
1 Temple Garden
1 Overgrown Tomb
3 Copperline Gorge
1 Blackcleave Cliffs
4 Verdant Catacombs
3 Mountain
2 Swamp
3 Forest
3 Jund Charm
3 Ingot Chewer
3 Dismember
3 Ricochet Trap
3 Brindle Boar
- If I, or anyone, had ever doubted Pale Recluse, it is officially awesome. I think I only hardcast it once if at all, but the landcycling was surprisingly useful a surprising margin of the time.
Sideboard!
-After consulting with some guys at the Magic club, we decided to go with Jund Charm over the Leyline in terms of grave hate for several reasons. For one, flexibility. Yeah yeah, I know, I know, why would you ever use it for anything else, but the +1/+1 counter mode actually won me game 3 of Round 8. The other reasons were the two inherent flaws of the Leyline - (A) to get full mileage of the Leyline, I need to start with it in hand, which may result in me either mulling it away if the rest of the hand is crap, or keeping the terrible hand because of the Leyline; and (B) - given that I don't start with it, a drawn leyline either messes up the turn by forcing me to cast it at sorcery speed, not even touching all the cards that are already there anyway, or being a dead card in the hand. Jund Charm avoids both of them, with the additional rationale that we're probably keeping BRX for an Outburst anyway, and most grave-based decks only need a single well-placed Charm to hurt them pretty hard, and the excess of 'hitting everything over an extended period of time' wasn't worth the risk. I think the Charm worked VERY well, given that if the Charms were instead Leylines, I wouldn't have won some of the games that I did.
- Everything else is pretty Standard, except the Boar. The boar helped to secure a victory in the UR Storm match, and helped survive a bit in the RDW match, but I can't help but wonder if perhaps the Boar should have been at 2, or if that would make him too inconsistent/unreliable?
Now, the REAL juicy stuff! Matches!
So there were what, 1300-something people signed up? That was a bit ridiculous, considering the biggest event I'd played before was a 60-something-player pre-release, haha
MATCH 1: RDW
Game One; Nothing particularly entertaining happened, got burned to death. Got a bit greedy and didn't cascade when I should have because I wanted a bigger End (had only like 2 guys in there or something) in response to an attack, which pushed him into the red zone with a bolt and a Lavamancer activation. Ouch. Lesson learned.
Sideboard - -2 Avalanche Riders, -1 Fulminator Mage; +3 Brindle Boar.
Game Two; Living End sees a bit more action, cascading before a painful attack with a pretty juicy grave, only to meet a Rakdos Charm off a Blood Crypt that he was using to splash black for Bump in the Night. Still, board gets wiped, I get another turn, and draw into nothing that can save me. He unearths a Hellspark Elemental, and hits me for 3, bringing me down to 0. Prior to that, a Boar serves its purpose and lures away a Lavamancer activation. Hooray, gain "6" life! Still, Pain and suffering. 0-2
RECORD: 0-1
Comments: Literally in my mind as I was writing this, but I should probably have thrown the rest of the Fulminators out for the Jund Charms to use the Pyroclasm mode. Not that I drew into Fulminators anyway, but it probably would have been the right play to make. Note taken.
MATCH 2: SOUL SISTERS
Probably my worst match of the day. Blechhhhhh
Game One; I keep a decent hand with one End, then cycle into another, and draw the third. Meanwhile, he goes turn 1 Martyr of the Sands, turn 2 swing Martyr, sac it revealing SIX, cast SS, and the hell continues. By the time I manage to suspend an End, I die to 2 Soul's Attendant, a Squadron Hawk, and 2 Honor of the Pure, with 1 counter on the End. Gah.
I honestly did not know what to board, so I think I boarded out some of the land hate for Dismembers and Boars. Not that it mattered.
Game Two; a bit more action. Following a ridiculous opener of t1 Ascendant, t2 Martyr and sac revealing 4 to bring him to 32, I manage to cascade into an End with 2 Carabids that get promptly eaten by a boarded-in Surgical Extraction. He ends up Extracting me at least once more, while beating me down with more Ascendants. I manage to Macabre the Martyr away in response to the first End, and then pitch the 2nd to get rid of an Ascendant, but I never draw another cascade and by the time I suspend an End and it gets to 1 counter (always the one counter!) I die a horrible death. 0-2
RECORD: 0-2
At this point morale's getting low, but X-2's can still make it to Day 2! Not that I expected to make it or anything, but I stick it out for one of my better matches:
MATCH THREE: TRON
Well, ladies and gents, we all know how this matchup goes.
Game One; Turn one he suspends two Lotus Blooms. I start worrying, then I see an Urza land and calm down. I see a Relic, and bait the pop with an Avalanche Rider in the grave (AR in grave, I Outburst, he taps Relic, I cycle Minotaur and Wraith, he pops it). He then proceeds to Ancient Stirrings revealing Emrakul while sitting on a Forest and an Urza land, then proceeds to nom his Blooms for Green, and proceeds to cast Tooth and Nail, dropping Emrakul. I untap, can't target him with the Dread in my hand, and Outurst instead. GG
Sideboard - Faerie Macabre is irrelevant in the matchup, so -2 Faerie -1 Jungle Weaver (i think), +3 Ingot Chewer.
Game Two; he leads with a turn one Cage as I stifle a giggle and keep playing with a straight face, but am forced to let out a sigh as he drops a turn 3-4 Rest in Peace, to which I have no answer. Damn. Regardless, I manage to draw into several Beast Withins, using one to knock off the RiP. Throughout the rest of the relatively event-less game he drops three PowerPlants, and a single Mine which quickly eats another Beast. I cascade, he realizes the Cage does nothing, he scoops after dropping an Expedition Map and realizing he still can't do anything in time with an incomplete Tron. GG. 2-0
RECORD: 1-2
Morale is slowly improving, as I head off into
MATCH FOUR: UW CONTROL
This match is so uneventful that I'm not even gonna break it down. Both games I land-d him so terribly I almost feel bad as I go t3 fulminator, t4 rider, t5 cascade, and I feel like a jerk as I Beast Within his last land and swing. No resistance. I sideboard 3 ricochet traps for I forget what, probably the fae and a weaver (looks like that's my default siding - if I only need 3 of something, it's generally Riders/Fae +1 Weaver out), but I never see any of the traps. Game two follows a similar pattern, though there is a bit more resistance this time as I cascade twice and he gets a Blade Splicer back. Still, I stifle a giggle as he's sitting on 3 lands, I cast a Fulminator, he Leaks it, I shrug and cascade the next turn bringing back a Rider and THREE mages, and he has no lands left. Short, sweet, simple. 2-0
RECORD: 2-2
So to summarize the last 2 rounds - LD is kinda strong. Apparently optimized decks with tons of nonbasics find it hard to come back after t3 fulminator into t4 avalanche riders. Can't imagine why ;P
Morale returning, I head into what would become the absolutely most frustrating match I've played. If the SS match was downright terrible, this is its cousin in plain annoyance that made me want to find and flip any and all tables in the vicinity.
MATCH FIVE: UR PYRO STORM
Game One; is uneventful. He Probes me turn 1, sees, the End, sees 1 of each Cascade, sees a cycler, lots of movement in the eyebrows, but I still don't think he got it. He goes off unhindered, and I don't even get to Cascade.
Sideboooooard - I see a Pyro Game One, so I figure I need better grave hate than the Fae. So -2 Fae -1 Avalanche Rider for +3 Jund Charm, and -1 Rider and I can't remember what else for 2-3 Boars. Let's do this.
Game Two; I'm on the play, and keep him off red by Fulminating his Shivan Reef. He never sees another land, I beat him down with a Boar before eating it for life and Cascading. He sees the End and scoops.
No board changes.
Game Three; oh my god. If I were to pour myself out right now, MTGS would suspend me for months on just cursing infractions. Here's how it goes: I'm at 12 life after fetches, shocks, and Street Wraith(s), he's at 17 after fetching an untapped shock. End of his turn, I Living End into 13 power, swing, he's at 4. Last turn. He starts going off. Hits a storm of 5 before Epic Experimenting for 7. Electromancer and a land hit the bin, and he's left with another EE, a Seething Song, a Manamorphose, a Serum Visions, and of course, Grapeshot. He throws 10 grapes at me, I'm at TWO. He's sitting on an untapped Island, 1 blue mana and 6 red. Serum Visions from hand, into a Probe, into another fracking Grapeshot. I rage, but he got it. 1-2
RECORD: 2-3
At this point, I know I'm not getting in, but I decide to stick around for more playing and experience. Because hey, I paid for it, right? Might as well make the most of it.
And just as I jokingly complain to the guy beside me that of the "Big Three" of current Modern, I only faced 1 Tron and no Jund at all, I get into
MATCH SIX: JUND
Again, we already know how this matchup is supposed to go.
Game One; I take because of a combination of epic Land D and him not knowing what my deck does until I Outburst.
Board - Can't remember the exact boarding, but I brought in 2 Dismembers. I may have also touched 2 Charms, but I can't remember that, or what I boarded out.
Game Two; I end up taking on the back of a Living End bringing back a Street Wraith and Deadshot Minotaur. The Minotaur dies, I hardcast Pale Recluse, and pretty much win the game on the back of an unblockable Wraith. 2-0.
RECORD: 3-3
Now, this next match gets really screwy. The previous round was taking a REALLY long time, so I went to grab a drink with my friends. I run back, and the board for my last name is on the other side of the hall, and I find out the table is AGAIN on the other side closer to the door. In the end, I show up 3 min late and take a Game 1 loss against
MATCH SEVEN: WG
Game "One"; I take rather easily, cascade, swing. Nothing important. My sleeves were getting stuck to my sleeves (card to sweater), and I got called JUDGE on like 3 times, getting a warning since apparently, "Displacing cards a significant amount from the library" counts as "Looking at cards" in the rules. That was about the most interesting thing to happen that game.
No board changes.
Game "Two"; I keep a hand with a REALLY nice curve. End of his turn 3, I sac my Catacombs to fetch for a land to cycle my Pale Recluse to drop a Fulminator on my turn ... as he calls out he has a response, and drops Aven Mindcensor. I curse, look at the top four, and curse again. Down a land. I don't see a land for a while and take a beating, until I desperately Living End to keep me alive. I cast the Fulminator Mage, he Paths it, and I blow up a dual not noticing he has the WG manland and I'm at 3. He untaps, animates the land, and swings for lethal. I curse at myself, and take the loss. 1-2.
MATCH EIGHT: MONO-RED CONTROL?
This match was arguably the weirdest match I played all day, and probably my most difficult. I guess it was a homebrew, as it mainboarded all the red hate - Moon, Magus, Relic, etc - with a wincon of, I guess, Magus beatdown along with Koth.
Game One; I see the Relic and play around it, baiting the pop similar to the Jund match. After that, I cascade with a rather small grave, and eat him.
Boarding: The only nonbasic I saw was Scrying Sheets, with an all-snow base, so I figured the Fulminators had to go as well as the near-useless Faeries here, bringing in 3 Ingot Chewers, and 3 Jund Charms, because I had nothing better do with the slots.
Game Two; He starts with a turn 1 Chalice of the Void, followed by a Relic. I'm a bit manascrewed, and never see any of the Chewers.
Game Three; saw me doing SO many things I never thought I'd do. An opening of Chalice and Relic also means I'm not Ending any time soon, so I end up paying the Ech on both Riders, and when both die, I hardcast an Ingot Chewer to eat the Chalice, quickly replaced by two more. Yup, no Ends this game. I feel like it's this game that made realize how diverse the End can be, and just how difficult a deck it CAN be to pilot. Game ends when he drops a Spellskite and attempts to Skred my Chewer with 3 Snow Mountains. I have 6 mana open. I Beast Within the Spellskite, and then Jund Charm my Chewer to a 5/5. He swings with a Magus hoping I block, I guess, but I take the 2. I still need my Chewer. I untap, drop a land. Swing with Chewer. He looks at life totals, I'm at 7, he's at 11. He takes the 5 down to 6 (which makes sense considering his next move), and I tap out for a Jungle Weaver. As any other Modern player staring down a hardcast 5/6 reach, his face reads, "oh snap." He untaps, plays Koth, uses +1 to untap a mountain .. and passes.
I untap, and draw. Okay. Tap 3, Demonic Dread targeting the Beast token. Cascade into an End, declare not casting. Beast can't block. Combat. Swing with 5/6 Weaver and 5/5 Chewer. Magus blocks Weaver. 5 goes through .. until I tap 3 and show my Violent Outburst, and declare "Don't cast Living End." And there we have it, an example of how the End can live through disruption, hardcast, and win. I do admit though. the Avalanche Riders were pretty boss.
MVPs: Street Wraith for being relevant, Fulminators/Riders for doing what they do, Demonic Dread declaring no End for letting me get through.
Phew. Questions, comments, flames, I'll take it all.
xMage: Jankmaster
Commander - Now Playing
WUBSen Triplets - "If you shake my hand, better count your fingersBUW RHomura, Human AscendantR RGBorborygmos EnragedGR URMelek, Izzet ParagonRU
Commander - Still Brewing
BRGGyrus, Waker of CorpsesGRB URSaheeli, the GiftedRU WRJor Kadeen, the PrevailerRW
1) How well did Jund Charm work in place of Leyline of the Void? Was there ever a time you really wanted Leyline instead of charm?
2) What is UR Pyro Control? I don't know if the Pyro refers to Pyromancer's Swath or Pyromancer Ascension, though I assume the latter because you mentioned grave-hate. This match-up sounds very hard because it's Storm but it doesn't sound like it utilizes Flashback very much so grave-hate becomes weaker. When you played against the deck, what did you want? What cards would have helped you?
You value knowledge, logic, and deceit. You love to pursue wisdom but also to manipulate and deceive. At your best, you are brilliant and progressive. At your worst, you are treacherous and cold. Your symbol is a water droplet. Your enemies are green and red.
Thanks! As for the Q's:
1) Jund Charm was really effective. I think the one game that I started with it in hand and ended up using it as the "Exile grave" mode (i.e. most comparable to Leyline) was Game 3 against Pyro Storm (indeed, it's storm, just noticed my mistype after you pointed it out) after he Probes me, sees it in hand, and baits the Charm with a turn5-6 Past in Flames with the Visions in the grave, which I get rid of with the Charm. Apart from that, as I mentioned, I probably should have brought the Charm in against RDW and possibly even White Life for the Pyroclasm mode, not to mention that it played a pretty vital role in winning game 3 against Red Disrupt. In testing, I ended up drawing a sideboarded Charm against my buddy's DredgeVine deck, and it got me the win.
To summarize, I can't remember if it was said in the thread or at Club, but most decks don't necessarily need the full Leyline presence. Mainboard Faerie works wonders in pinpoint exile, while the Charm just sits in the hand for a well-placed grave removal. Granted, it dies to IoK or Thoughtseize, but Leyline can die to enchantment removal too, and loses the element of surprise that the Charm retains, most of the time. I'm very glad I had the Charms, as I wouldn't have been able to do what I did with Leylines. Granted, there wasn't as big a stress on the grave, so not having one on hand wasn't necessarily CRUCIAL, but the multiple modes really helped out.
2) Yes, you're right, it was UR Pyro Storm, and I'll go change it now. He went off the Ascension game 1, and that was the cue to board in the Charms. While it doesn't focus AS MUCH on Past in Flames for the Storm and digging, Pyromancer Ascension involves having multiples of spells in the grave. So the plan was if I see the Ascension, then as soon as it seems he's got a few spells in there, nuke the grave so he has to get spells in the grave again and hopefully have much less of an arsenal once the Ascension does get online.
xMage: Jankmaster
Commander - Now Playing
WUBSen Triplets - "If you shake my hand, better count your fingersBUW RHomura, Human AscendantR RGBorborygmos EnragedGR URMelek, Izzet ParagonRU
Commander - Still Brewing
BRGGyrus, Waker of CorpsesGRB URSaheeli, the GiftedRU WRJor Kadeen, the PrevailerRW
You value knowledge, logic, and deceit. You love to pursue wisdom but also to manipulate and deceive. At your best, you are brilliant and progressive. At your worst, you are treacherous and cold. Your symbol is a water droplet. Your enemies are green and red.
That is definitely an option to consider. Perhaps the Charm might contest for the spot of the Fae, but I suppose it's a similar matter of SSG and speed - whether you personally feel a free uncounterable exile 2 is better than BRG for entire grave + other flexibility as needed.
xMage: Jankmaster
Commander - Now Playing
WUBSen Triplets - "If you shake my hand, better count your fingersBUW RHomura, Human AscendantR RGBorborygmos EnragedGR URMelek, Izzet ParagonRU
Commander - Still Brewing
BRGGyrus, Waker of CorpsesGRB URSaheeli, the GiftedRU WRJor Kadeen, the PrevailerRW
I just cant wait to see what SB options Gatecrash gives us. As in what new charms specificaly.
If wizards would print a green, black and white version of Hydroblast and Blue Elemental Blast Painter could be done in every color.
RRImperial PainterRR
UUUUMonoOmniTellUUUU
BGURWDredgeWRUGB
Chances are unlikely we'll get a charm worth our time. These are 2 mana charms, which means we're siding out the Living End plan. So far we're 0 for 25 on CMC 2 or less charms even reaching back into legacy, I don't suspect these five will be too different.
Living End Contributor and Enthusiast
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Rules Advisor
Modern: BRGLiving EndGRB
Legacy: UBGShardless BUGGBU
BRGProssh, Tokenmaker of KherGRB
WURNarset NostalgicRUW
UBR"I like your deck better" JelevaRBU
UBlue BraidsU
GAzusa, Lost but RampingG
WBRAleshacratsBRW
UBRGrixis Pew PewRBU
URGYasova the ThreateningGRU
BGGlissa the ArticiferGB
WUSygg MerfolkUW
RSquee, Value NabobR
Yes. Cascade is a triggered ability, and it is put on the stack when you cast the spell. At this point, even if the original spell is countered, the ability is still on the stack waiting to resolve.
Big creature decks just fold, they've recently tried not dropping land and only discarding creatures to circumvent me, but then I hardcast a carabid or drop a faerie macabre and laugh maniacally.
Once I learned to play around counterspells control decks from multiple formats just started folding, the matchup is still more difficult but it's not terrible, especially post sideboard.
Interestingly enough burn decks and lack of nonbasic lands to hit with fulminator mage has been an issue (Slightly), so i've basically swapped them out for brindle boars in casual, they go back in for competitive modern play.
Also Reverberate or any other copy spell is a pain in the rear, at least etbs still fire and I can keep saccing brindle boars.
EDH: Borborygmos Enraged, Sedris, The Traitor King
60 Card: Grixis Delver, Living End, Shardless BUG, Ninjas