MTG Salvation

Didn't realize this site still works.

Quote from Shadesfear »

I think that a discord fits well, I took the liberty of creating it https://discord.gg/9xJqwpN, it's still very raw and I don't have the time to manage it and add bots and information for a couple of weeks (Exams).

But if some you want to mod it, write me! maybe you @Zulander ?

For now just join and we'll get it up and running in it's own pace

Sounds good, I just joined.

I’m down to start a forum or discord

Interesting. I always hated Thalia + Damping Sphere while also playing BBE. lost me too many games.

I think if you're playing mongoose you probably want 4 faithless lootings, 11-12 fetch lands, some amount of horizon lands, and that's a lot of work just for a 1 mana 3/3 with shroud that gets outclasses pretty fast.

Quote from Zulander »

Zulander's DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
//creatures 4 Noble Hierarch 4 Wild Nacatl 1 Grim lavamancer 4 Tarmogoyf 2 Scavenging Ooze 4 Knight of the Reliquary 3 Gruul Spell Breaker 2 Bloodbraid Elf 4 Lightning Bolt 4 Path to Exile 2 Dromoka's Command 1 Domri Rade	4 Wooded Foothills 4 Windswept Heath 3 Arid Mesa 2 Stomping Ground 2 Sacred Foundry 1 Temple Garden 1 Horizon Canopy 2 Forest 1 Plains 1 Kessig Wolf Run	//Sideboard 1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant 1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar 3 Gaddock Teeg 1 Remorseful Cleric 1 Blood Moon 2 Alpine Moon 1 Stony Silence 1 Ancient Grudge 1 Dromoka's Command 3 Knight of Autumn

I ran this deck back again last week to 2 different 3-1 finishes. Faithless Looting definitely feels very strong in the list when you're digging for specific cards in such a crazy random un-interactive format right now. It won be about 3-4 games alone by digging for what I needed. When/if the meta goes back to being a grind/midrange oriented format then they'll get cut, but for the foreseeable future I think they're necessary at finding the hate cards.

So I've been pretty quiet here recently, these next few weeks/months are going to be a bit busy for me, however I have been trying to really pivot some of the decks functions in the current meta. My personal meta is infested with Titans (breach and amulet), Phoenix decks (both UR and Mono R), and burn. So the most recent lists I've been playing have included Faithless Looting while cutting on the extra fluff the deck has been carrying. It's been pretty promising, but nothing too back breaking. Here's the list:

Quote from lugger »

Ok, so this immediately pushes us into a tool box deck -- which is fine IMO.

What are we getting?

I'm packing:

• Scavenging Ooze
• Renegade Rallier
• Knight of Autumn
• Shalai, Voice of Plenty
• Fairgrounds Warden
• Magus of the Moon
• Goblin Cratermaker

This card is also good with Tracker, FWIW.

Tracker is rarely a card you want a bunch of, but it is excellent in attrition MUs and this card lets you find it.

This card, notably, pumps Goyf.

I'll engineer a list tonight, probably.

Let us know how it goes. This seems way more of a maverick style card than Zoo, it also seems a bit over costed even for the bigger decks.

Quote from mirrislegend »

Has this list been discussed? It has 5-0'd on MTGO at least 3 times that I've seen:
http://tcdecks.net/deck.php?id=29703&iddeck=249508
I'm not really sure what it is or what its doing, but it seems to be beating people left and right. Anyone want to weigh in?

What the hell is that thing.

It's been pretty flexible so far. This past week I've also cut my Bloodbraid Elfs for a set of Huntmaster of the Fells. It's much better in the Burn matchup and is still 2 bodies for 1 card against control/midrange. Still testing it out though so far.

This place has been pretty quiet recently, which is a bit surprising considering all the new cards we got in RNA as well as the banning of KCI. Anywho, here's the most recent list I'll be trying out:

I'm excited for Gruul Spellbreaker, I think it'll be great. I do have some thoughts on Zoo in the current and post-Grull Spellbreaker meta.

Current Meta Zoo
In it's larger form, it currently is pretty bad as it seems most, if not all midrange strategies are too far behind. This is primarily due to the pushed power levels of other decks that force midrange strategies to be too inherently weak by comparison. This type of metagame forces us to either play a weaker deck against the field, or adapt. In the past it's either been small zoo via Bushwhackers or more naya burn-ish style variants with Kird Ape/Ataraka's Command. There was something recently that caught my eye, Domain Zoo. I think this is the best Zoo deck in the current meta for a few primary reasons:

1. It is actually fast enough to beat the combo decks, especially after you slow them down post-board.
2. There aren't a lot of cards that punish it. Blood Moon and Anger of the Gods are some of the best cards currently, but post-board you get answers in the form of Dromoka's Command and other cards.

Here's a list that recently 5-0'ed


Going forward
I firmly believe there are 2-3 cards that will be banned in the upcoming modern ban-cycle. Those cards are Ancient Stirrings, Faithless Looting, and Mox Opal; with the latter having less of a backing to be banned in modern. While I do not believe Stoneforge Mystic should be unbanned, and not due to it's power level but due to the deck building impact, that is a card that realistically has a chance of coming off the ban list. I think GSZ also has a chance, but I'm not sure that would be a smart move either. In the past however, Wizards has shown a preference of banning engines instead of the cards that make them powerful, ala banning Survival of the Fittest in legacy as opposed to banning Vengevine. This helps make the case of keeping GSZ/Stoneforge banned as opposed to unbanning them and then banning the card that makes them "oppressive", so I don't think we'll see them come off the banlist and then ban Dryad Arbor and Batterskull. Let's break these possible changes down.

Bannings:
Ancient Stirrings decks:
1. Tron
2. KCI
3. Eldrazi variants
4. Amulet Titan
5. Hardened Scales Affinity

I think Zoo has a legitimate weakness to 4 of these 5, with the exception being midrange Eldrazi variants. Overall, seeing this card go would be very beneficial for Zoo decks.

Faithless Looting decks:
1. Dredge
2. Arclight Phoenix decks
3. Mardu Pyromancer
4. Grishoalbrand
5. Hollow One

The decks that this card enables are less problematic as a whole for Zoo, but can are not necessarily the "good" matchups for the deck.
Having these two cards leave the format open the metagame up drastically, as almost every single one of these decks is considered in the top 1 - 2 tiers of the current meta.

Assuming these changes, with zero unbans, and with the printing of Gruul Spellbreaker, Naya Zoo (larger variants) as we know it would become an incredibly viable strategy again. However, with the possibility of unbanning two cards on-color, it would behoove us to shift strategies again as GSZ would be the best card in the deck, essentially allowing us to play 8 of our best creature in any given matchup with a silver-bullets for added flexibility. I think this would lend Zoo to a much more midrange deck, if not even push these naya strategies into a completely different archtype.
Stoneforge Mystic would be a completely different subject. It's inclusion in the format would lend UW decks a much faster finisher, while also powering up Abzan builds even more than Jund. This is of course as long as it's power level is as insane as it's original inclusion to the banlist would make it seem to be. This would be a large inconvenience for Zoo decks, as one of the best ways we beat these style decks is doing so in a quick and efficient manner. Batterskull forces us to either show up with an answer in the main or be behind. I would not want this card to be unbanned.

Grull Spellbreaker
This card seems to be the other three drop that larger Naya variants have always wanted. Even in a Liliana of the Veil meta, I still think that this card is more powerful than Smiter. It's ability to stress the opponents Path to Exiles is an added feature to the clock that this can add to the battlefield, especially when combined with a more aggro-control package including Bloodbraid Elf, Dromoka's Command, and Domri Rade's into the maindeck. I've already brewed up a list that would love to facemidrangedeck.meta, presuming the bannings of Stirrings, Opal, and/or Looting actually take place:


While this entire post is hypothetical, I think it's definitely not too far off from what is actually on the horizon for Modern. Thanks for reading this giant block of text.

http://www.magicspoiler.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Tithe-Taker-Ravnica-Allegiance-Spoiler.jpg

This card is nuts! Voice + Thalia.

Quote from lugger »

naya zooMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Creature (28) 4 Tarmogoyf 4 Noble Hierarch 4 Wild Nacatl 4 Knight of the Reliquary 2 Voice of Resurgence 2 Scavenging Ooze 4 Knight of Autumn 4 Bloodbraid Elf Land (22) 2 Forest 2 Plains 1 Horizon Canopy 3 Arid Mesa 1 Kessig Wolf Run 1 Temple Garden 2 Sacred Foundry 2 Stomping Ground 4 Windswept Heath 4 Wooded Foothills	Instant (10) 3 Lightning Helix 3 Path to Exile 4 Lightning Bolt	Sideboard (15) 2 Gaddock Teeg 1 Remorseful Cleric 2 Kraul Harpooner 1 Stony Silence 2 Tectonic Edge 1 Hammer of Purphoros 2 Damping Sphere 2 Settle the Wreckage 2 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar

I've been thinking a lot about Naya again.

I still don't have a strong SB worked out. I hate playing Gaddock Teeg and 4cmc walkers in the same deck but maybe they're necessary. It makes me wonder if History of Benalia would just be as effective against UW as Gideon, despite being obviously less powerful.

Naya is good, but again in an open meta it can be a bit too slow if you're board isn't prepared. I've actually cut a tracker in my list for Brimaz, he's great in all the same matchups but doesn't die to bolt and has an immediate clock. I've also put Elspeth in my board along with Teegs, but if you've got a Teeg on the board and a walker in your hand you're already locking the game down until Teeg is answered, so it's not so bad.

I got another 3-1 last FNM with Dark Zoo. I beat a Jeskai/Fevered Visions deck, UR Thing in the Ice, and Mardu Pyromancer. Lost to Titanshift, because well I didn't realize anyone would play it so I skimmed down to only 1 Alpine Moon in the board. Assassin's Trophy, while making the mana very clunky, has been an absolute beast in the deck. Here's the list I've been running: