Honestly you are at the point where your Meta reflects the entire landscape of Modern. What do you have and what do you want to play, is the real question.
If you want to play Control, build up UW Terminus, and there you go.
This is what I was thinking. His meta is essentially close to what you'd see at a GP. Perhaps fewer Spirits, but that's about it.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Alright folks. I'm stepping out for a few hours and I need help.
I need a 2019 Deck. I've played what feels like everything. I need to at the very least have some counter game, I need to not fold to UW Miracles, and I cannot be a dog to Tron.
Money is not an issue, but I'm not big on Discard, and I dont play Prison.
Is there a deck that actually exists for me in Modern that I have not tried?
Uhh have you tried Bant Spirits? Spell Quellers, counters like disdainful stroke and unified will in the sideboard. Pretty good vs UW control. Not great vs Tron but the tools are there with the mentioned counters and gaddock teeg.
Other reasons to consider Bant Spirits: Ability to play all the good white sideboard cards. Strong synergy between cards and a lot of interaction between quellers, mausoleum wanderers, phantasmal image, vial tricks.
Guys please opinions on japanese cards. Lost a 3/3 creature against Japan celestial colonade. This guy played all creatures and spells in english cards, but some cards in his manabase was japanese. I dont registrated this really ( my brain say its all fine and all english to me lets attack his empty board)...and i am sure it is a Kind of legal cheating. It is not ok, but i know legal. I Hate such people. I never forget colonade normally, but with this Tricks it can happen one time in 3 years and such people take advantage of this
If I am a customer spending premium amount of dollars, I expect a premium service. Jund falls into the category of a premium deck costing more dollars than a majority of the rest of the format. I'm not getting the desired performance ratio per dollars spent out of the Jund deck because WOTC decided to make the format more diverse.
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Alright folks. I'm stepping out for a few hours and I need help.
I need a 2019 Deck. I've played what feels like everything. I need to at the very least have some counter game, I need to not fold to UW Miracles, and I cannot be a dog to Tron.
Money is not an issue, but I'm not big on Discard, and I dont play Prison.
Is there a deck that actually exists for me in Modern that I have not tried?
Come join us in RUG Delver land. Deck is a little underpowered but has tools to beat all kinds of stuff. It hangs with the blue decks well, tends to beat Tron, and crushes combo. So you have to build a board to beat swarm decks and midrange, but it's lots of fun.
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I can't say I'm pleased to see you and must warn you I may have to do something about it.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: URDelver
Modern: UGRDelver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
I was thinking Spirits, I've got almost all of it, just need the lords, but being soft to Tron I don't know if I can do it, I'm so tired of losing to it.
Hey all, I'm kind of brand new to MTG still but have done quite a bit of reading and some games with friends and at the game store.
Im hoping for some suggestions on a deck to play as well as hopefully help finding a proper Budget Tron deck for modern.
I've posted in the budget forums as well but sadly it looks like this last reply on the deck posting is over a month ago.
It shows my full card collection, though it's not very robust. Mostly consists of core 19, UMA, and guilds of ravnica. Most expensive and notable card is Liliana of the veil.
Colors you like to play: Any, though blue, green, and black seem most interesting currently.
Style you like to play: Ideally.I'd love to try out a Tron deck. It looks like a ton of fun honestly. I'm hoping for a suggestion on a decklist as I'm completely out of my element there and most 'budget' decks I see are like 250+ for Tron.
Budget: I'm aiming for 100-150 max ideally. Suggestions for upgrades are super appreciated though.
Level you want to play at, or aim to build up to: Casual currently and then FNM.
I super appreciate any suggestions and assistance. I did find one deck listed at http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/budget-urza-tron-90/
But was unsure as the comments on the video poked quite a bit of holes on it. I thought it'd be best to find people knowledgeable to reach out to, so here I am.
Haven’t ever tried budget Tron, or played vs it, but here’s a more recent video on more or less the same deck, in case it’s useful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWgvTNEHp1M
If you have some good GB cards, I guess you could try for ‘The Rock’ (Modern GB midrange), but that would end up very expensive, and I’m not sure how good budget GB midrange would be...
I am playing in the Grand Prix Oakland and I have narrowed it down to 5 decks, lol.
1. Cragganwick Cremator - I was 25-4 at one point with this deck, but a recent 16-16 dropped me to 41-20 with the deck. Most of this has been due to 0 land mulligans and mana flood during games. It would be fun to play this, as it's the deck I've played the most in recent times. I don't mind not making Day 2, even though I will certainly go for it because there is a PPTQ that day.
2. Abzan Company - I recently picked up the last 3 foil pieces I needed to update the deck; 3 foil Assassin's Trophy. I haven't played the deck for a while, so I don't know its place in the current meta. It seems like Jeskai has gone down, so it's probably fine. Not sure about Phoenix though.
3. Titanshift - This is my old faithful and the deck I played in 2 GPs to 11-4 and 4-1, dropping 3 matches in a row to end up 5-4. It is just so mediocre, but it's easy to play to its potential and I have infinite experience, although not much recently.
4. Grishoalbrand - I was considering bringing this back, but the lack of fair decks in the meta make this not so good apparently. The influx of more and more Tron decks, along with KCI, does make this enticing. I sure do hope Infect is on the decline if I do go with this.
5. Elves or UR Phoenix - Elves is the most fun deck for me to play in Modern. But I won't have much fun if I'm scrabbling for a 50% win rate. I played UR Phoenix in Standard 2 days in a row and I LOVED THE TASTE! It was really fun and I can imagine what I can do in Modern, even though I still believe that you need certain hands to win (if you are going the control route in a particular game, you're probably getting smashed).
So, you see. I tried to give a pretty detailed description, so please give me your reason(s) that I should choose whatever deck you believe I should. I have high expectations of myself. I feel that I can always come to the right decisions if I think about it and don't decide to purposely NOT go for them based on what I believe my opponents to have in hand or on top of their library.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
How's your Cremator match up vs interactive decks? I have been out for a few days, but I would bet UW, UWR, and GDS, to have good representation as they all spike on Phoenix.
Honestly going over your list, I would take something like Company, or Titanshift.
Most of my remembrance of Cremator is clouded by my recent 16-16, but I remember that Cremator is better vs. interactive than not interactive decks, I believe.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
I am playing in the Grand Prix Oakland and I have narrowed it down to 5 decks, lol.
1. Cragganwick Cremator - I was 25-4 at one point with this deck, but a recent 16-16 dropped me to 41-20 with the deck. Most of this has been due to 0 land mulligans and mana flood during games. It would be fun to play this, as it's the deck I've played the most in recent times. I don't mind not making Day 2, even though I will certainly go for it because there is a PPTQ that day.
2. Abzan Company - I recently picked up the last 3 foil pieces I needed to update the deck; 3 foil Assassin's Trophy. I haven't played the deck for a while, so I don't know its place in the current meta. It seems like Jeskai has gone down, so it's probably fine. Not sure about Phoenix though.
3. Titanshift - This is my old faithful and the deck I played in 2 GPs to 11-4 and 4-1, dropping 3 matches in a row to end up 5-4. It is just so mediocre, but it's easy to play to its potential and I have infinite experience, although not much recently.
4. Grishoalbrand - I was considering bringing this back, but the lack of fair decks in the meta make this not so good apparently. The influx of more and more Tron decks, along with KCI, does make this enticing. I sure do hope Infect is on the decline if I do go with this.
5. Elves or UR Phoenix - Elves is the most fun deck for me to play in Modern. But I won't have much fun if I'm scrabbling for a 50% win rate. I played UR Phoenix in Standard 2 days in a row and I LOVED THE TASTE! It was really fun and I can imagine what I can do in Modern, even though I still believe that you need certain hands to win (if you are going the control route in a particular game, you're probably getting smashed).
So, you see. I tried to give a pretty detailed description, so please give me your reason(s) that I should choose whatever deck you believe I should. I have high expectations of myself. I feel that I can always come to the right decisions if I think about it and don't decide to purposely NOT go for them based on what I believe my opponents to have in hand or on top of their library.
Says it is narrowed down to five decks, then lists six
Says it is narrowed down to five decks, then lists six
The last one was a hybrid.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Alright folks. I'm stepping out for a few hours and I need help.
I need a 2019 Deck. I've played what feels like everything. I need to at the very least have some counter game, I need to not fold to UW Miracles, and I cannot be a dog to Tron.
Money is not an issue, but I'm not big on Discard, and I dont play Prison.
Is there a deck that actually exists for me in Modern that I have not tried?
Ponza maybe? It's not the greatest matchup for UW but it can do work, and Tron (amulet titan as well) doesn't stand a chance.
As an aside, between RW Nahiri and Pyro Prison which one would be better atm. I have both, and do quite well with Prison, but the RW list is more fun to play imo. Just wondering if there's enough that it's good against to justify the switch.
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Decks: Modern:
Pyro Prison
Sun and Moon
Eldrazi Stompy
Hello everyone. I play RB grishoalbrand combo and UB mill in modern and my brother plays mardu pyromancer. Lately the meta had shifted and become faster and his deck struggles heavily at FNM. There are a decent number of tron players that never give me a hard time but he struggles and doesnt want to commit so much of his precious sb to these decks and complains about the meta and how bad pyromancer is rn. Hes only 13 so he doesnt have alot of looney to just go make a new deck. However his birthday is coming up and idk whag to get him. Can anyone give me suggestions on a deck to make for him that also wont break the bank? He says he likes interactive decks, and doesnt like playing brainless aggro decks or combo decks and likes to be fun and interactive. Tron is off the table cause he hates that deck.
He currently has everything pyromancer plays except for liliana if the veil and the rb fast land. I cant recite his sb but any suggestions for mardu sb yall have seen that work would also be appreciated. Thanks in advance Merged with the "What deck should I play" thread. - Torpf
I'm going to Magicfest (as much as I still prefer the term "GP") Toronto Feb 8-10th this year and I'm still unsure what to play. I'll go over my options and a bit of thoughts
1. 4C/ traverse shadow. I have a reasonable amount of success with this deck. Top4d a 28 person 1k event a few months ago and had a few other events where I cam close to prizing. I feel comfortable with this deck. I'm essentially on the jund splash blue for counterspells, I like the options it has, as it has a clock and stubborn denial in the main to protect against random nonsense and more counters in the side for specific matches.
2. mardu pyromancer. another deck I've done well with lately, top 4d a 16 person PPTQ. I like the threats it has and blood moon seems reasonable. Being able to t1 discard, t2 pyro if possible then flood the board or stall with blood moon is fun.
3. Grixis Deaths shadow. I haven't played this deck much in the past 6-7 months but it's been putting up numbers. I haven't played much of it myself so I don't know how I feel about it but I could grind it a lot over the next month to see. Has part of what I love about 4c shadow in a sense because it can counter nonsense.
4. traverse abzan. Probably not a real option but it's a deck that I really enjoy playing. I haven't played it at anything higher than a few FNMS so I might not have the reps with it but I could play it.
5. Blue moon/UW control/Jeskai control/grixis control. I haven't played any modern control deck in a while but I could jump on one of those for the GP. Grixis control is probably worse than GDS though.
so mostly midrange options. I know playing fair decks in modern isn't great right now but I tried jumping on the dredge train over the summer and just couldn't figure it out plus hated playing it
Of the choices you listed, I would go with these in this order...
1. Traverse Shadow - you know how to play it well and it still is a solid deck in my opinion. I could be mistaken, as I don't really know how the recent meta changes affect it, but if you can beat UR Phoenix and KCI or hang with them, that's a plus.
2. Grixis Shadow - it is also a solid option. Not spectacular. Matt Sperling nearly ran it at the MCQ in Oakland, but won instead with UR Phoenix.
3. Speaking of Phoenix, I know it's not one of your options, but I would suggest it. My first 4 rounds at Oakland, I ran into this deck on the draw for me. I think this deck on the play (or probably otherwise) is a good place to be.
The next section may be a bit harsh and definitely biased -
1. Blue Moon is a worse Phoenix deck, UW Control can get it done, but a LOT, and I mean a LOT of things have to go your way, Jeskai is okay I guess, Grixis Control I believe is stronger than most people think; still it's pretty bad, and I would never try Abzan Traverse, even if it sounds fun. I literally had months where I looked forward to getting paired vs. one of these at my LGS (during the reign of G Shadow). The deck is SO weak to grave hate and has a terrible clock. It's really hard to Jund/Junk people out nowadays - too many angles.
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
Burn is always fun and cheap. I recently build a Little Naya Zoo deck that performs fairly well.
They are also fairly linear but with potential for complex lines of play, so simple to learn, but takes time to master.
Vial-less Fish is also totally doable. Should be fairly competitive.
Or if you want to go off the deep end, introduce him to the Restore Balance combo. There are a dozen ways to build that deck, all of which HOSE UrzaTron.
Budget decks dont suck! Everything above is "budget", you just need quality budget decks rather than trying to make an expensive deck cheap.
On the flipside, I think that Pyromancer is actually a fine deck in the current meta, and if you throw in a couple Damping Spheres or Blood Moons and protect them with hand-manipulation.dek, they cant do a ton before you have overwhelmed them.
Of the choices you listed, I would go with these in this order...
1. Traverse Shadow - you know how to play it well and it still is a solid deck in my opinion. I could be mistaken, as I don't really know how the recent meta changes affect it, but if you can beat UR Phoenix and KCI or hang with them, that's a plus.
2. Grixis Shadow - it is also a solid option. Not spectacular. Matt Sperling nearly ran it at the MCQ in Oakland, but won instead with UR Phoenix.
3. Speaking of Phoenix, I know it's not one of your options, but I would suggest it. My first 4 rounds at Oakland, I ran into this deck on the draw for me. I think this deck on the play (or probably otherwise) is a good place to be.
The next section may be a bit harsh and definitely biased -
1. Blue Moon is a worse Phoenix deck, UW Control can get it done, but a LOT, and I mean a LOT of things have to go your way, Jeskai is okay I guess, Grixis Control I believe is stronger than most people think; still it's pretty bad, and I would never try Abzan Traverse, even if it sounds fun. I literally had months where I looked forward to getting paired vs. one of these at my LGS (during the reign of G Shadow). The deck is SO weak to grave hate and has a terrible clock. It's really hard to Jund/Junk people out nowadays - too many angles.
I think I'm going to try and jam a bit with GDS before I say for sure. It's getting a bit close to the GP so I would prefer to have my choice locked in but I an hoping to get some people together to test for sure
If you want to play Control, build up UW Terminus, and there you go.
Spirits
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)I need a 2019 Deck. I've played what feels like everything. I need to at the very least have some counter game, I need to not fold to UW Miracles, and I cannot be a dog to Tron.
Money is not an issue, but I'm not big on Discard, and I dont play Prison.
Is there a deck that actually exists for me in Modern that I have not tried?
Spirits
Other reasons to consider Bant Spirits: Ability to play all the good white sideboard cards. Strong synergy between cards and a lot of interaction between quellers, mausoleum wanderers, phantasmal image, vial tricks.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Come join us in RUG Delver land. Deck is a little underpowered but has tools to beat all kinds of stuff. It hangs with the blue decks well, tends to beat Tron, and crushes combo. So you have to build a board to beat swarm decks and midrange, but it's lots of fun.
EDH: UGEdric
Pauper: UR Delver
Modern: UGR Delver
Draft my cube: Eric's 390 Unpowered
KCI: nope. Not into a linear combo at all.
RUG is worth a try.
Thinking on it.
I don't want to be a bye to
Tron. GDS, UW.
I want Counters.
The 3 decks I played most this year.
UWR, Blue Moon, Knightfall.
Spirits
edit: Also offers some nice sideboard options.
Im hoping for some suggestions on a deck to play as well as hopefully help finding a proper Budget Tron deck for modern.
I've posted in the budget forums as well but sadly it looks like this last reply on the deck posting is over a month ago.
Cards you already own:
So I have my full MTG collection on an Excel document and have a PDF copy to share at this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RaJtSOw9ahjWnPyISgdgY0LInQKiud5Q/view?usp=drivesdk
It shows my full card collection, though it's not very robust. Mostly consists of core 19, UMA, and guilds of ravnica. Most expensive and notable card is Liliana of the veil.
Colors you like to play: Any, though blue, green, and black seem most interesting currently.
Style you like to play: Ideally.I'd love to try out a Tron deck. It looks like a ton of fun honestly. I'm hoping for a suggestion on a decklist as I'm completely out of my element there and most 'budget' decks I see are like 250+ for Tron.
Budget: I'm aiming for 100-150 max ideally. Suggestions for upgrades are super appreciated though.
Level you want to play at, or aim to build up to: Casual currently and then FNM.
I super appreciate any suggestions and assistance. I did find one deck listed at http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/budget-urza-tron-90/
But was unsure as the comments on the video poked quite a bit of holes on it. I thought it'd be best to find people knowledgeable to reach out to, so here I am.
If you have some good GB cards, I guess you could try for ‘The Rock’ (Modern GB midrange), but that would end up very expensive, and I’m not sure how good budget GB midrange would be...
1. Cragganwick Cremator - I was 25-4 at one point with this deck, but a recent 16-16 dropped me to 41-20 with the deck. Most of this has been due to 0 land mulligans and mana flood during games. It would be fun to play this, as it's the deck I've played the most in recent times. I don't mind not making Day 2, even though I will certainly go for it because there is a PPTQ that day.
2. Abzan Company - I recently picked up the last 3 foil pieces I needed to update the deck; 3 foil Assassin's Trophy. I haven't played the deck for a while, so I don't know its place in the current meta. It seems like Jeskai has gone down, so it's probably fine. Not sure about Phoenix though.
3. Titanshift - This is my old faithful and the deck I played in 2 GPs to 11-4 and 4-1, dropping 3 matches in a row to end up 5-4. It is just so mediocre, but it's easy to play to its potential and I have infinite experience, although not much recently.
4. Grishoalbrand - I was considering bringing this back, but the lack of fair decks in the meta make this not so good apparently. The influx of more and more Tron decks, along with KCI, does make this enticing. I sure do hope Infect is on the decline if I do go with this.
5. Elves or UR Phoenix - Elves is the most fun deck for me to play in Modern. But I won't have much fun if I'm scrabbling for a 50% win rate. I played UR Phoenix in Standard 2 days in a row and I LOVED THE TASTE! It was really fun and I can imagine what I can do in Modern, even though I still believe that you need certain hands to win (if you are going the control route in a particular game, you're probably getting smashed).
So, you see. I tried to give a pretty detailed description, so please give me your reason(s) that I should choose whatever deck you believe I should. I have high expectations of myself. I feel that I can always come to the right decisions if I think about it and don't decide to purposely NOT go for them based on what I believe my opponents to have in hand or on top of their library.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Honestly going over your list, I would take something like Company, or Titanshift.
If people want to beat Phoenix, they can.
Spirits
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Says it is narrowed down to five decks, then lists six
The last one was a hybrid.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Ponza maybe? It's not the greatest matchup for UW but it can do work, and Tron (amulet titan as well) doesn't stand a chance.
As an aside, between RW Nahiri and Pyro Prison which one would be better atm. I have both, and do quite well with Prison, but the RW list is more fun to play imo. Just wondering if there's enough that it's good against to justify the switch.
Modern:
Pyro Prison
Sun and Moon
Eldrazi Stompy
He currently has everything pyromancer plays except for liliana if the veil and the rb fast land. I cant recite his sb but any suggestions for mardu sb yall have seen that work would also be appreciated. Thanks in advance
Merged with the "What deck should I play" thread. - Torpf
As for currently powerful SB cards that might work well for Pyro, Leyline of the Void comes to mind.
1. 4C/ traverse shadow. I have a reasonable amount of success with this deck. Top4d a 28 person 1k event a few months ago and had a few other events where I cam close to prizing. I feel comfortable with this deck. I'm essentially on the jund splash blue for counterspells, I like the options it has, as it has a clock and stubborn denial in the main to protect against random nonsense and more counters in the side for specific matches.
2. mardu pyromancer. another deck I've done well with lately, top 4d a 16 person PPTQ. I like the threats it has and blood moon seems reasonable. Being able to t1 discard, t2 pyro if possible then flood the board or stall with blood moon is fun.
3. Grixis Deaths shadow. I haven't played this deck much in the past 6-7 months but it's been putting up numbers. I haven't played much of it myself so I don't know how I feel about it but I could grind it a lot over the next month to see. Has part of what I love about 4c shadow in a sense because it can counter nonsense.
4. traverse abzan. Probably not a real option but it's a deck that I really enjoy playing. I haven't played it at anything higher than a few FNMS so I might not have the reps with it but I could play it.
5. Blue moon/UW control/Jeskai control/grixis control. I haven't played any modern control deck in a while but I could jump on one of those for the GP. Grixis control is probably worse than GDS though.
so mostly midrange options. I know playing fair decks in modern isn't great right now but I tried jumping on the dredge train over the summer and just couldn't figure it out plus hated playing it
1. Traverse Shadow - you know how to play it well and it still is a solid deck in my opinion. I could be mistaken, as I don't really know how the recent meta changes affect it, but if you can beat UR Phoenix and KCI or hang with them, that's a plus.
2. Grixis Shadow - it is also a solid option. Not spectacular. Matt Sperling nearly ran it at the MCQ in Oakland, but won instead with UR Phoenix.
3. Speaking of Phoenix, I know it's not one of your options, but I would suggest it. My first 4 rounds at Oakland, I ran into this deck on the draw for me. I think this deck on the play (or probably otherwise) is a good place to be.
The next section may be a bit harsh and definitely biased -
1. Blue Moon is a worse Phoenix deck, UW Control can get it done, but a LOT, and I mean a LOT of things have to go your way, Jeskai is okay I guess, Grixis Control I believe is stronger than most people think; still it's pretty bad, and I would never try Abzan Traverse, even if it sounds fun. I literally had months where I looked forward to getting paired vs. one of these at my LGS (during the reign of G Shadow). The deck is SO weak to grave hate and has a terrible clock. It's really hard to Jund/Junk people out nowadays - too many angles.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Hes playing surgical and nihil spell bomb rn
They are also fairly linear but with potential for complex lines of play, so simple to learn, but takes time to master.
Vial-less Fish is also totally doable. Should be fairly competitive.
Or if you want to go off the deep end, introduce him to the Restore Balance combo. There are a dozen ways to build that deck, all of which HOSE UrzaTron.
Budget decks dont suck! Everything above is "budget", you just need quality budget decks rather than trying to make an expensive deck cheap.
On the flipside, I think that Pyromancer is actually a fine deck in the current meta, and if you throw in a couple Damping Spheres or Blood Moons and protect them with hand-manipulation.dek, they cant do a ton before you have overwhelmed them.
I think I'm going to try and jam a bit with GDS before I say for sure. It's getting a bit close to the GP so I would prefer to have my choice locked in but I an hoping to get some people together to test for sure