I just wanted to give my two cents after picking the deck back up. I went 2-1 with it and the game I lost too was a polymorph deck lol. The deck never really went off but I will say I enjoyed having one inventor's fair in the deck for the minor life gain and the search ability for an artifact.
I was laughing when I realized I actually own every single card needed to build the deck except for one: Phyrexia's Core. Does that card really help in some matches? It's just a one of so I'm kind of curious. I've been pondering if it is worth it to just add a second Inkmoth nexus.
Phyrexia's Core is about as optional as it gets. Inkmoth Nexus is probably the more conventional choice at this point.
Looks like a fun card to brew with, but it's not going to be efficient enough in Scales. You're unlikely to have more than 2-3 creatures in play at once and then it's still an expensive spell that makes you take your foot off the gas. Part of the beauty of this deck is how mana efficient it can be, and how able to grind out value.
Bumping this for anyone still following. In the last week I've gone 3-2 once, 4-1 three times, and 5-0 twice. Roughly an 83% win rate. Very well positioned at the moment.
For those still following along, I think the meta has swung back to a place where this deck is very well positioned. Little control, lots of creature decks, and we can grind well enough against the midrange out there. In my last three leagues I'm 5-0, 3-2, and 5-0. Makes me regret trying to make Sultai decks work for the last week rather than just jamming Hardened Scales.
[*]Match-ups with a much worse win rate (bad): Mardu Reveler, Jeskai/UW/UR/Grixis Control, Living End, Valuetown
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you must not be playing chalice of the voids if you have bad match ups against what you've mentioned. chalice is pretty much a wrap against all of those decks
Funny to come back to this comment, because no version I've seen plays Chalice. So yes, fair to say I'm not playing it!
List tags are malformed.
I still love the play patterns of the deck but I'd say the meta has definitely shifted, leaving Scaled Affinity in a worse position. I'm up to 244 matches on MTGO and down to a 62% overall win rate. Not bad by any means, but for those following along that's a drop from 68.5% in about half the matches. Which means my record has been significantly worse than both those numbers over the last sample size.
Good matchups (>62%): Hollow One, Humans, Elves, Grixis DS, Titanshift, Burn (a lot of pilot error though), Mardu (barely)
Okay matchups (~50%): KCI, Jeskai (barely), Tron (worse depending on version)
Bad matchups (<50%): UW Control, UR Control
By the numbers, that looks like we have a great deck (and we do!). But Hollow One and Humans are way, way down in the meta and Ux Control is growing. The surprise element has also diminished, as a lot of opponents initially underestimated the explosiveness of the deck and missed the right times to interact. With more awareness, I'm seeing more respect; that makes it harder to win out of nowhere with a sandbagged Ravager.
I still plan to mix in Scaled Affinity, but I'm also looking for a secondary anti-meta deck in the meantime. It would be great to turn the tables on Control the same way we had been on Hollow One & Humans.
A couple notes since I've continued to grind this deck:
Animation Module is solid in the grindy match-ups. I've swapped in 1 MB for my 2nd Leap to avoid drawing multiples since they're good against the same opponents.
Generally, going B isn't worth it because it means sacrificing your value colorless lands (Inkmoth, Citadel, etc.) which are critical to quick wins. You could potentially cut the 2x Blinkmoth and then swap in 8 dual G/B lands for G sources, but that only gets you to 10 B sources. Opal helps; still inconsistency though. One reason to like Oona's Blackguard -- it seems good against grindy decks.
For those playing on MTGO, there are A LOT of grindy decks in the meta as of the last three days. UR, UW, Jeskai, Mardu...bah. Those matches aren't awful, but they're not the creature decks I'd been destroying. 6/26 matches against great MUs, 10/26 against not so great, 2 mirror matches, and more in the uncertain or in between category.
Not sure if that means it's time to buy new Karn/Nissa for the MB as a hedge against the grind? Or maybe time to jam something like (ugh) Scapeshift for a few days until aggro returns.
Definitely agree that the mainboard is very tight as is. There are maybe 3-4 slots I'd consider swapping around -- the 4th Opal, the 3rd Throne/2nd Leap, the 2nd Blinkmoth, maybe the 2nd Sparring Construct. You definitely don't want to cut a green source from the manabase, but maybe a 3rd Welding Jar for Blinkmoth helps enable Opal early more regularly so you don't miss the land? I'd say that and Animation Module/Nissa/Karn in the sideboard are changes I'm considering.
The challenge in the really grindy match-ups (e.g. Jeskai, UW Control, Mardu Reveler) is removal picking off your threats 1:1 and ignoring the pawns (Worker, Consruct) until it's easy to clean them up or outclass them. In the games I lose, I'm not getting to untap with more than one non-pawn. That makes Module hard to utilize, although maybe the strategy is to really slow down when you have it. Play threats out in ones and twos to get the servo token each time.
Throne of Geth is probably the most situational card in the deck. It can shine as a pseudo-Ravager late game to pump the team or a guarantee that Walker will get popped rather than exiled by Path. Other times it's pretty useless. Typically I'll play it last unless there's a specific reason not to. When sideboarding I consistently drop one or both that I play since it's the weakest card in the deck in most match-ups.
I feel you on Spellskite -- it further clogs the two drop spot and it misses a lot of what I want to protect against. More Welding Jar would be my choice if we're looking for additional protection, but I think we need a more repeatable 2 for 1 effect. Honestly, I'd love copies 5 & 6 of Walker if I could. But back in reality, maybe it's a planeswalker.
I'm not 100% my changes were for the better. Horizon Canopy can be a mixed bag in the grindier matches and the extra forests make Blood Moon a nonstarter; occasionally miss the extra draw though and probably should be playing the Pendelhaven.
I haven't felt short without the extra Sphere. Nissa is probably a good addition, although I've pondered new Karn in her place. Shapers' Sanctuary looks great in theory but it's just not helping enough against control or midrange. Maybe they should be additional copies of Nissa/Karn? Not sure. My first few lists ran Animation Module in the main but it was challenging to use because the deck runs so tight on mana for the first dozen turns. Perhaps it's the grindy SB card I'm looking for?
Although perhaps I'm looking for answers without really having a problem. 4-1, 2-3, and 5-0 today. No complaints here!
Having played both versions, I have to agree with Click5. Arcbound Worker (and Sparring Construct, much to my earlier chagrin) often make a full turn difference in when you can have lethal. There's an art to sequencing a turn 4 kill where you drop Ravager or Ballista and your tapped out opponent can only watch; usually it relies on a 1 drop to round your curve/add the last couple counters. Then you can leverage the threat of winning on the spot to edge ahead on value when needed.
I'm also not a big fan of Metallic Mimic because it's so susceptible to spot removal compared to the alternatives. In a nutshell it's a weaker choice because it's not an individual threat, further jams your 2 spot, and encourages you to take less threatening lines to maximize its value. I was introduced to this deck through Zyrnak's videos and tried Magic Aids' version with Mimics. Matt Nass and company have it right, or at least very close to it (see the 9th place finisher at GP Barca).
For what it's worth, I'm up to a 68.5% win rate through 111 matches and just put up my first 5-0. Net winnings are roughly 210 tickets.
I've become a huge fan of this deck. Started with the Metallic Mimic version (no Vials) and then I started watching Matt Nass after Click5 turned me on to him (thanks again). At this point I've seen about 90% of his videos where he's playing Hardened/Scaled Affinity; still not an expert but I feel very comfortable with how his version runs and generally how he'd sideboard.
Quick rundown of my own stats, with more detail I can fill in later if there's interest:
86 matches played on MTGO, 54 in Competitive Leagues. Small sample size but enough to play most decks a couple times and get a feel.
Overall 66% win rate.
Match-ups with an even better win rate (great): Humans, GDS, Hollow One, Affinity, Elves, Ponza
Match-ups with a ~ 66% win rate (good): Tron, Burn, Counter Company
Match-ups with a much worse win rate (bad): Mardu Reveler, Jeskai/UW/UR/Grixis Control, Living End, Valuetown
Match-ups without enough games to get a feel: Titanshift, KCI, Bogles
Like Click5 says above, Gut Shot is for small creature decks especially those that side in Kataki. There may be room to improve the SB overall for those bad match-ups; I've been playing an extra Leap MB in place of a Throne, but I'm not sure that's the solution. A lot to be said on sequencing, when to push, etc. but this is a great deck that can turn 4 or 5 non-interactive decks while grinding against other creature decks and not getting completely stomped versus control.
Thanks for that. I recognize a decent number of the pros' handles, but apparently not Matt Nass. I suppose that gives the Construct idea more credibility! I'll have to give it a watch.
From personal experience, it's a really fun deck. Probably worth waiting until the next announcement though if you think there's even a small chance Ancient Stirrings sees the chop.
Not sure I'm sold on the 2x Sparring Construct; just doesn't do much unless you have a sac outlet. I've found I'm winning through one of two ways with this deck: (1) consistent (enough) goldfish kills on T4/5 against decks that don't want to interact much and (2) grinding with individual card value against more midrange-y decks. Don't think the Constructs help enough with (1) to hurt (2).
Re: the conversation above -- it hasn't felt like the deck is missing another sac outlet. There are probably 3-5 flex spots in my estimation and I think I want those to be some combination of value cards like Shapers' Sanctuary, Karn, Scion of Urza, Evolutionary Leap, etc.
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Phyrexia's Core is about as optional as it gets. Inkmoth Nexus is probably the more conventional choice at this point.
Funny to come back to this comment, because no version I've seen plays Chalice. So yes, fair to say I'm not playing it!
List tags are malformed.
Good matchups (>62%): Hollow One, Humans, Elves, Grixis DS, Titanshift, Burn (a lot of pilot error though), Mardu (barely)
Okay matchups (~50%): KCI, Jeskai (barely), Tron (worse depending on version)
Bad matchups (<50%): UW Control, UR Control
By the numbers, that looks like we have a great deck (and we do!). But Hollow One and Humans are way, way down in the meta and Ux Control is growing. The surprise element has also diminished, as a lot of opponents initially underestimated the explosiveness of the deck and missed the right times to interact. With more awareness, I'm seeing more respect; that makes it harder to win out of nowhere with a sandbagged Ravager.
I still plan to mix in Scaled Affinity, but I'm also looking for a secondary anti-meta deck in the meantime. It would be great to turn the tables on Control the same way we had been on Hollow One & Humans.
For those who don't want to do the math from my post a couple above (but mostly just to share because it's really cool to see my list posted), it's about 4 down here: https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/mtgo-standings/competitive-modern-constructed-league-2018-07-10. Should make its way to MTGgoldfish later in the day.
Throne of Geth is probably the most situational card in the deck. It can shine as a pseudo-Ravager late game to pump the team or a guarantee that Walker will get popped rather than exiled by Path. Other times it's pretty useless. Typically I'll play it last unless there's a specific reason not to. When sideboarding I consistently drop one or both that I play since it's the weakest card in the deck in most match-ups.
I feel you on Spellskite -- it further clogs the two drop spot and it misses a lot of what I want to protect against. More Welding Jar would be my choice if we're looking for additional protection, but I think we need a more repeatable 2 for 1 effect. Honestly, I'd love copies 5 & 6 of Walker if I could. But back in reality, maybe it's a planeswalker.
Mainboard:
-1 Throne of Geth
-1 Pendelhaven
-2 Horizon Canopy
+1 Evolutionary Leap
+3 Forest
Sideboard:
-1 Evolutionary Leap
-1 Damping Sphere
-1 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar
+2 Shapers' Sanctuary
+1 Grafdigger's Cage
I'm not 100% my changes were for the better. Horizon Canopy can be a mixed bag in the grindier matches and the extra forests make Blood Moon a nonstarter; occasionally miss the extra draw though and probably should be playing the Pendelhaven.
I haven't felt short without the extra Sphere. Nissa is probably a good addition, although I've pondered new Karn in her place. Shapers' Sanctuary looks great in theory but it's just not helping enough against control or midrange. Maybe they should be additional copies of Nissa/Karn? Not sure. My first few lists ran Animation Module in the main but it was challenging to use because the deck runs so tight on mana for the first dozen turns. Perhaps it's the grindy SB card I'm looking for?
Although perhaps I'm looking for answers without really having a problem. 4-1, 2-3, and 5-0 today. No complaints here!
I'm also not a big fan of Metallic Mimic because it's so susceptible to spot removal compared to the alternatives. In a nutshell it's a weaker choice because it's not an individual threat, further jams your 2 spot, and encourages you to take less threatening lines to maximize its value. I was introduced to this deck through Zyrnak's videos and tried Magic Aids' version with Mimics. Matt Nass and company have it right, or at least very close to it (see the 9th place finisher at GP Barca).
For what it's worth, I'm up to a 68.5% win rate through 111 matches and just put up my first 5-0. Net winnings are roughly 210 tickets.
Quick rundown of my own stats, with more detail I can fill in later if there's interest:
Like Click5 says above, Gut Shot is for small creature decks especially those that side in Kataki. There may be room to improve the SB overall for those bad match-ups; I've been playing an extra Leap MB in place of a Throne, but I'm not sure that's the solution. A lot to be said on sequencing, when to push, etc. but this is a great deck that can turn 4 or 5 non-interactive decks while grinding against other creature decks and not getting completely stomped versus control.
From personal experience, it's a really fun deck. Probably worth waiting until the next announcement though if you think there's even a small chance Ancient Stirrings sees the chop.
Not sure I'm sold on the 2x Sparring Construct; just doesn't do much unless you have a sac outlet. I've found I'm winning through one of two ways with this deck: (1) consistent (enough) goldfish kills on T4/5 against decks that don't want to interact much and (2) grinding with individual card value against more midrange-y decks. Don't think the Constructs help enough with (1) to hurt (2).
Re: the conversation above -- it hasn't felt like the deck is missing another sac outlet. There are probably 3-5 flex spots in my estimation and I think I want those to be some combination of value cards like Shapers' Sanctuary, Karn, Scion of Urza, Evolutionary Leap, etc.