1) Commune with Nature doesn't get lands and Traverse the Ulvenwald nonbos with Become Immense. Also, with only 13-15 creatures, Commune will whiff often.
Long ago (really, really long ago) Serum Visions was played. Now we have more pump spells (BI, Defense) so nobody uses it. I've seen some BG variants with Grisly Salvage, which can find threats/Pendelhaven while filling up the graveyard, but is quite slow at 2 mana. Also seen Sylvan Scrying to grab Inkmoth Nexus/Pendelhaven.
2) Vines and Defense protect your creatures. If you feel like you need more, play Viridian Corrupter as the 13th infect creature.
3) Yes, more for boarding into Geist of Saint Traft than other SB cards.
RIP kills Become Immense. That's why the grave hate of choice is Cage.
As for Stony Silence I guess he just didn't feel the need to push artifact deck matchups that much in his favor. He's already got 5 artifact removal SB. Few people play regular Affinity and Lantern now, and KCI and Tron are good matchups.
There isn't a card newer than Blossoming Defense in this list. What's new is the Geist SB strategy. It's great against UW; they can't touch it with their spot removal, and it kills them fast enough even without pump spells.
This version plays out more similarly to Legacy Infect, with max cantrips, 3 maindeck Spell Pierce and 4 Disrupting Shoal (!). In the SB he has Pongify over Dismember, for Shoal synergy I guess. Or maybe even normal damage beats after they try to kill your Infect guy, lol.
21 land seems a bit high, especially with 8 cantrips. I'm also not convinced that the black splash is necessary, again because you have 8 cantrips to find your Infect guys.
TL;DR version:
- Count your graveyard to make it seem like you just drew Become Immense
- "Accidentally" reveal a blue spell to make your opponent blow his Fulminator Mage on Breeding Pool, which allows you to play Inkmoth Nexus safely
- Vines your opponent's Spellskite and hope that he doesn't know how the card works
Huey explained it here, it's for Burn. Finks is often a 3-for-1 against Burn because it gains life and blocks two creatures. It also lets you go for a regular damage kill.
Does it matter what fetches we run given that some Eldrazi lists have Oblivion Sower? Is using Verdant Catacombs a bad idea?
I don't think they will side in Oblivion Sower against Infect. It doesn't really matter which fetches you play. Spreading them out reduces the chance of getting blown out by Surgical Extraction, but that card is not commonly played.
I think Distortion Strike is generally better. The card that you draw off Slip Through Space isn't guaranteed to trigger Wild Defiance.
One advantage that Slip Through Space has is that it goes into your graveyard immediately for Become Immense.
Unnatural Endurance looks barely playable. It's similar to Ranger's Guile in that it offers a small pump and protection from being destroyed, but Endurance's protection extends to combat situations as well.
Maxing Probes is standard now that Become Immense is part of the deck. With regards to Serum Visions it depends on how many Infect creatures you're playing. You definitely want 4 each of Elf, Agent and Inkmoth, then you have a few options for the last few Infect creatures: Wild Defiance (it's pseudo-infect), Serum Visions/Sleight of Hand, Sylvan Scrying or splashing black for Plague Stinger. So if you're playing something like 2 Wild Defiance and 1 Dryad Arbor you don't need more cantrips.
You can use any fetch that can grab a basic Forest. The only reason you might want Misty Rainforest is if you're playing a basic Island, but it's not advisable to do so. You can gain an infinitesimal advantage if you play with fetches that the other Noble Hierarch decks use, e.g. if you play Wooded Foothills and Windswept Heath then you could pass as Zoo in game 1 if you lead with (fetch ->) Forest -> Hierarch, or if you play Windswept Heath and Verdant Catacombs you could pass as Melira.
Inkmoth is not going to get reprinted any time soon.
Long ago (really, really long ago) Serum Visions was played. Now we have more pump spells (BI, Defense) so nobody uses it. I've seen some BG variants with Grisly Salvage, which can find threats/Pendelhaven while filling up the graveyard, but is quite slow at 2 mana. Also seen Sylvan Scrying to grab Inkmoth Nexus/Pendelhaven.
2) Vines and Defense protect your creatures. If you feel like you need more, play Viridian Corrupter as the 13th infect creature.
3) Yes, more for boarding into Geist of Saint Traft than other SB cards.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
As for Stony Silence I guess he just didn't feel the need to push artifact deck matchups that much in his favor. He's already got 5 artifact removal SB. Few people play regular Affinity and Lantern now, and KCI and Tron are good matchups.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
2 Pendelhaven
2 Forest
2 Breeding Pool
2 Wooded Foothills
2 Windswept Heath
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Verdant Catacombs
1 Temple Garden
4 Glistener Elf
4 Blighted Agent
4 Noble Hierarch
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Spellskite
4 Might of Old Krosa
4 Groundswell
3 Become Immense
4 Vines of Vastwood
3 Blossoming Defense
1 Distortion Strike
2 Rancor
1 Dismember
1 Spell Pierce
4 Nature's Claim
1 Dismember
1 Viridian Corrupter
1 Spell Pierce
1 Spellskite
1 Wild Defiance
2 Grafdigger's Cage
4 Geist of Saint Traft
There isn't a card newer than Blossoming Defense in this list. What's new is the Geist SB strategy. It's great against UW; they can't touch it with their spot removal, and it kills them fast enough even without pump spells.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
2 BG Infect in T8 with the black disruption suite of discard and Fatal Push.
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/modern-ptq-2018-06-18
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
4 Noble Hierarch
4 Plague Stinger
4 Serum Visions
4 Sleight of Hand
4 Become Immense
4 Disrupting Shoal
4 Might of Old Krosa
3 Spell Pierce
4 Vines of Vastwood
2 Forest
4 Inkmoth Nexus
2 Misty Rainforest
1 Overgrown Tomb
2 Pendelhaven
4 Windswept Heath
4 Wooded Foothills
1 Spell Pierce
2 Abrupt Decay
3 Blossoming Defense
2 Distortion Strike
2 Illness in the Ranks
1 Nature's Claim
3 Pongify
1 Seal of Primordium
Mizzium Skin is a blue hexproof effect, btw.
21 land seems a bit high, especially with 8 cantrips. I'm also not convinced that the black splash is necessary, again because you have 8 cantrips to find your Infect guys.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
http://www.gatheringmagic.com/andrewjessup-11072016-opening-a-dialogue-on-ethics/
TL;DR version:
- Count your graveyard to make it seem like you just drew Become Immense
- "Accidentally" reveal a blue spell to make your opponent blow his Fulminator Mage on Breeding Pool, which allows you to play Inkmoth Nexus safely
- Vines your opponent's Spellskite and hope that he doesn't know how the card works
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
http://www.starcitygames.com/article/33405_Preparing-For-SCGRegionals-And-SCGNY.html
Basically it's just there to beat removal-heavy decks.
Another Infect article:
http://www.mtgmintcard.com/articles/writers/soh-weng-heng/your-perfect-infect
This one comes with a list of 5-card loadouts depending on the metagame you're expecting.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
Dispel/Spell Pierce do the job better and are dead in fewer scenarios.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
http://www.channelfireball.com/articles/not-quite-top-8-at-pro-tour-oath-of-the-gatewatch/
I don't think they will side in Oblivion Sower against Infect. It doesn't really matter which fetches you play. Spreading them out reduces the chance of getting blown out by Surgical Extraction, but that card is not commonly played.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
One advantage that Slip Through Space has is that it goes into your graveyard immediately for Become Immense.
Unnatural Endurance looks barely playable. It's similar to Ranger's Guile in that it offers a small pump and protection from being destroyed, but Endurance's protection extends to combat situations as well.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
You can use any fetch that can grab a basic Forest. The only reason you might want Misty Rainforest is if you're playing a basic Island, but it's not advisable to do so. You can gain an infinitesimal advantage if you play with fetches that the other Noble Hierarch decks use, e.g. if you play Wooded Foothills and Windswept Heath then you could pass as Zoo in game 1 if you lead with (fetch ->) Forest -> Hierarch, or if you play Windswept Heath and Verdant Catacombs you could pass as Melira.
Inkmoth is not going to get reprinted any time soon.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.