Cards that seem interesting to me:
-Sorcerous Spyglass: Unbelievable sideboard card that will cause headaches. This card is very important for decks like UW control who have horrid combo matchups and they can't play thoughtseize. This card will change sideboarding in modern. Also lantern just windslams this in the deck. The strongest modern card reveled thus far.
-Hostage Taker: This is the most interesting card in the set for me. Dimir NEVER gets a way to deal with artifacts. Plus if it survives a turn you get to cast their threat that you removed? This seems modern playable.
-Jace, Cunning Castaway: Once again people are underrating another 3 drop planeswalker again. This one looks pretty decent. He fits into tempo strats pretty well. Turn 2bitterblossom/threat into jace makes me interested as a faeries player. The token is also pretty decent sized for a three mana planeswalker to pop out. I wouldn't sleep on this card. This seems modern playable.
Cute but not good enough.
-Sanguine Sacrament: This is a great rate for lifegain. Plus it's an instant and it goes back into your library. Not bad by any means. It may ask for too much mana though.
-Tocatli Honor Guard: Another torpor orb effect. Now we have 12 of them. Maybe the terrible torpor orb deck gets a little bit better?
Probably not very good for Modern, but I'm liking the 4 mana 4/5 dino with "Enrage" ability. It's a huge removal magnet.. but if it sticks, it's card draw if the opponent attacks into it.
We've seen tons of bad bob impersonators before, not sold that this one is any different.
I am not sold on hum either, but he has great potensial. More of a good thing is good. Also the life loss is not that big. It should average in at about 1. Ooze and finks can heal back some of the damage a well. Usually you take more damage from being in 3 colours that bgx decks usually are.
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I have dyslexia, no I am not going to spell check for you, yes you have to live with the horrors of it.
No, Thrun is still the ultimate unkillable thing. Carnage Tyrant just dies to Verdict.
Thrun is the ultimate unkillable thing that ties up 2 of your mana every turn as it blocks an opposing Tasigur.
Thrun also only costs 4 mana. Carnage Tyrant might as well cost a billion mana. 6 mana is Modern is an insane mana cost. IF the card gets played, it may be a 1-2 of in the sideboard of ramp decks against Control. But even then I am still convinced Thrun is better.
As someone who plays scapeshift, I can tell you that long ago I dropped thrun in favour of gaea's revenge and Surrak dragonclaw. Both are great in their own ways, and better than thrun.
I'm pretty interested in the new dinosaur. Seems like it might be better than gaea's revenge because of trample and being able to block a gurmag angler without dying.
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Modern: G Tron, Vannifar, Jund, Druid/Vizier combo, Humans, Eldrazi Stompy (Serum Powder), Amulet, Grishoalbrand, Breach Titan, Turns, Eternal Command, As Foretold Living End, Elves, Cheerios, RUG Scapeshift
It's a great card that can have a ton of uses. Aven Mindcensor for example in hatebears.
I can only see Wreckage being good as sideboard for UW against Dredge. But they already have RiP so they don't need it. I think see a 4 mana restrictive Wrath effect seeing any play in Modern.
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Modern Decks: UBG Lantern Control GBU BRG Bridge-Vine GRB
Commander Decks UBG Muldrotha, Value Elemental GBU BRG Windgrace Real-Estate Ltd. GRB
#PayThePros
I can only see Wreckage being good when anything else could have easily replaced it. Claiming to have your opponent alpha attack you, then you play Aven Mindcensor into Settle the Wreckage is your game plan in Modern you need a serious headshake to think that's a viable strat. You need to have 7 mana, a dumb opponent, and multiple conditions met to think you're gonna win a game like that.
Woudn't Noble Hierarch be the 1-drop for a Merfolk CoCo build ? (like in all CoCo decks)
Also wouldn't Cosi's Trickster be a better beatstick than Kumena's Speaker ?
Making it at least a 2/2 shouldn't be too hard.
At the stage of the game when you cast Wreckage (turn 4/5+) I don't think that giving the opponent basic lands is that big of an issue if you wipe out their attackers.
Most decks don't even play that many basics anyway and might already drawn one of them or got one of their creatures Path'ed earlier in the game.
I think it might be a reasonable option for decks that play creatures, U/W control probably doesn't need it as it doesn't care about preserving its own creatures and would just run Supreme Verdict/Wrath of God though having the option to either Cryptic or Wreckage doesn't sound terrible.
Is UG Merfolk going to be a thing? I don't think so, at least not just with Kumena's Speaker and no other good green Merfolk. It'll end up as a bad version of the old Company Zoo decks - you have Kumena's Speaker, they have Wild Nacatl; you have a bunch of 2-mana 2/2 lords, they have Voice of Resurgence and 3-mana 4/4s (which makes for both more value off Company and more efficient mana usage off T1 Hierarch). They can even add the Vizier combo if they want, you can't unless you want your lords to be bears 80% of the time.
I can only see Wreckage being good when anything else could have easily replaced it. Claiming to have your opponent alpha attack you, then you play Aven Mindcensor into Settle the Wreckage is your game plan in Modern you need a serious headshake to think that's a viable strat. You need to have 7 mana, a dumb opponent, and multiple conditions met to think you're gonna win a game like that.
You don't need to play mindcensor first, or at all. The decks that wreckage is good against won't have anything left to play, or won't have basics to fetch, if you wipe their board at this stage.
I love tempo strategies and I for one think this card looks really good.
A permission based draw go deck utilising Settle the Wreckage as a way to deal with Bogles and Dredge in game 1 who are generally nightmare match ups for control decks, without overloading on too many "narrow" cards like edicts and graveyard hate. Well that's my theory anyway...
Is UG Merfolk going to be a thing? I don't think so, at least not just with Kumena's Speaker and no other good green Merfolk. It'll end up as a bad version of the old Company Zoo decks - you have Kumena's Speaker, they have Wild Nacatl; you have a bunch of 2-mana 2/2 lords, they have Voice of Resurgence and 3-mana 4/4s (which makes for both more value off Company and more efficient mana usage off T1 Hierarch). They can even add the Vizier combo if they want, you can't unless you want your lords to be bears 80% of the time.
The situation I see with Kumena's Speaker is that by itself isn't the proper way to evaluate the card. Wild Nacatl needs manabse restrictions for it to be the effective 3/3 which we all desire, but KS can become that 3/3 with another creature by it's side, and then more. I don't think we should be directly comparing it to the aggressive green drops we have seen over Modern's career, but instead look as to how it can compliment or replace Cursecatcher, because in Modern, that card isn't very relevant in most matchups.
Sorcerous Spyglass is (maybe) a good fit for decks that want to use Needle proactively, but in Lantern, the information is very easy to get, so no reason to replace Needles with Spyglasses. The ability is only relevant when there is something unexpected that will wreck you if the activated ability will get used once AND you haven't cast a discard spell or seen the card you would name with Lantern already. Pretty marginal amount of value, for me it's clearly smaller than the difference between costing 1 and 2
I haven't paid any attention to the game in months but I know that there were some RW Lockdown builds that used Simian Spirit Guides and Boom//Bust. I was always bothered with how wonky the curve could be for those decks though. Sorcerous Spyglass wouldn't solve the curve problem but it presents a slightly different take on setting up a soft lock. It doesn't necessarily need to work against Tron in that case because we've got other ways to get rid of the lands. If we used it then it wouldn't be to counter Tron. But I can't remember which decks that build is weak against right now so it might be a moot point.
Sorcerous Spyglass is (maybe) a good fit for decks that want to use Needle proactively, but in Lantern, the information is very easy to get, so no reason to replace Needles with Spyglasses. The ability is only relevant when there is something unexpected that will wreck you if the activated ability will get used once AND you haven't cast a discard spell or seen the card you would name with Lantern already. Pretty marginal amount of value, for me it's clearly smaller than the difference between costing 1 and 2
I haven't paid any attention to the game in months but I know that there were some RW Lockdown builds that used Simian Spirit Guides and Boom//Bust. I was always bothered with how wonky the curve could be for those decks though. Sorcerous Spyglass wouldn't solve the curve problem but it presents a slightly different take on setting up a soft lock. It doesn't necessarily need to work against Tron in that case because we've got other ways to get rid of the lands. If we used it then it wouldn't be to counter Tron. But I can't remember which decks that build is weak against right now so it might be a moot point.
Unfortunately the Boom // Bust decks no longer work because of the changes they made to the CMC of split cards while they are in your hand.
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Modern Decks: UBG Lantern Control GBU BRG Bridge-Vine GRB
Commander Decks UBG Muldrotha, Value Elemental GBU BRG Windgrace Real-Estate Ltd. GRB
#PayThePros
I think UG Merfolk can perhaps be a viable deck, but Speaker alone will not be the reason. A few more powerful green cards and we could have a deck in the making. Of course, Collected Company makes sense as well, but I am referring to new cards.
I think UG Merfolk can perhaps be a viable deck, but Speaker alone will not be the reason. A few more powerful green cards and we could have a deck in the making. Of course, Collected Company makes sense as well, but I am referring to new cards.
I can't remember who said it, but someone on the forums here made a good point about CoCo in Merfolk. Merfolk as a deck makes liberal use of Aether Vial, which makes you want to run a lot of 2 drop creatures. CoCo on the other hand makes you want to run a lot of 3 mana creatures so you can get a mana advantage out of the card. In a way to two strategies oppose each other.
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Modern Decks: UBG Lantern Control GBU BRG Bridge-Vine GRB
Commander Decks UBG Muldrotha, Value Elemental GBU BRG Windgrace Real-Estate Ltd. GRB
#PayThePros
Yeah, Shapers' Sanctuary is the first decent creature-kill hoser we've gotten. It'll be interesting if decks like Affinity try it. Might incentivize more cards like Firespout and Anger of the Gods.
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WoTC, thank you for finally announcing the Modern format, an eternal format where everyone can participate.
I agree that Carnage Tyrant looks great as a green ramp top end. Gaea's Revenge trades unpleasantly with Gurmag Angler, anyway, even if it does have the advantage of Haste.
I think Lantern Control still wants Sorcerous Spyglass anyway. It won't entirely replace Pithing Needle because Needle is only 1 mana and that's crucial when you're popping Inventors' Fair for it, but you don't start every Game 1 with a hand peek (targeted discard) or a long enough deck peek (early Lantern of Insight), and Lantern Control pilots generally want their opponents' deck archetypes ASAP so they know what to mill. Also, Lantern Control has a somewhat horrific weakness to Chalice of the Void on X = 1, and Sorcerous Spyglass can do things like shut up Walking Ballista through those Chalices.
I wonder how often Sorcerous Spyglass will do a good enough targeted discard impression to make it into nonblack decks.
Again, I mainly see Settle the Wreckage in decks with high enough creature counts (I'd say Junk/Abzan Midrange's creature count or higher) so they'd refuse to play real Wraths over this. I think Company decks (Devoted Vizier Company, Melira Company, Medium Zoo, Knightfall, Humans, Elves, etc.) are a good example of decks that want Settle the Wreckage--the Combo Company decks have great incentives for the opponent to swing right into them (attack enough times and they'll eventually need to block with combo pieces!), so they can punish opponents pretty hard, and all Company decks also poop out enough blockers to force opponents to overextend.
I think UG Merfolk can perhaps be a viable deck, but Speaker alone will not be the reason. A few more powerful green cards and we could have a deck in the making. Of course, Collected Company makes sense as well, but I am referring to new cards.
I can't remember who said it, but someone on the forums here made a good point about CoCo in Merfolk. Merfolk as a deck makes liberal use of Aether Vial, which makes you want to run a lot of 2 drop creatures. CoCo on the other hand makes you want to run a lot of 3 mana creatures so you can get a mana advantage out of the card. In a way to two strategies oppose each other.
I had never conciously thought about this, although I would tend to agree.
The common problem with Merfolk at the current meta though, is that the early, and late game are absolutely terrible. Merfolk needs to replace Cursecatcher and Master of Waves to see success in our new Modern metagame. Having little to no impact turn 1, then having something go completley over the top and just explode to Fatal Push doesn't seem good for most matchups. I suspect with the printing of a few more 1-3 Merfolk in the UG combination we see an entirely new breed of the deck have success.
Financially, I wouldn't wait on Lord of Atlantis, or Meerow Reejery those cards can explode overnight with any decent spoiler.
So, we've got Huatli, one of our two non-Jace walkers for the set. (Vraska might be coming in the second part of the block, I'm not sure.)
She looks... really bad for 5 mana.
TBH I'm guessing devs saw the reception of Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and pushed her up a mana so we didn't have another 4 mana walker that made a token with a 0 ability.
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Cards that seem interesting to me:
-Sorcerous Spyglass: Unbelievable sideboard card that will cause headaches. This card is very important for decks like UW control who have horrid combo matchups and they can't play thoughtseize. This card will change sideboarding in modern. Also lantern just windslams this in the deck. The strongest modern card reveled thus far.
-Hostage Taker: This is the most interesting card in the set for me. Dimir NEVER gets a way to deal with artifacts. Plus if it survives a turn you get to cast their threat that you removed? This seems modern playable.
-Carnage Tyrant: Straight up replaces Gaea's Revenge in Titanshift. It can also be tutored up by summoner's pact.
-Jace, Cunning Castaway: Once again people are underrating another 3 drop planeswalker again. This one looks pretty decent. He fits into tempo strats pretty well. Turn 2bitterblossom/threat into jace makes me interested as a faeries player. The token is also pretty decent sized for a three mana planeswalker to pop out. I wouldn't sleep on this card. This seems modern playable.
Cute but not good enough.
-Sanguine Sacrament: This is a great rate for lifegain. Plus it's an instant and it goes back into your library. Not bad by any means. It may ask for too much mana though.
-Tocatli Honor Guard: Another torpor orb effect. Now we have 12 of them. Maybe the terrible torpor orb deck gets a little bit better?
-Deeproot Champion: Another miracle grow creature that joins myth realized and Quirion Dryad. It's still not playable. Cute but probably not good enough.
Decks I'm playing in Modern right now:
URB Grixis Reveler (http://www.mtgvault.com/supast4r7/decks/modern-grixis-reveler/)
UB Faeries (http://www.mtgvault.com/supast4r7/decks/ub-fae-2/)
UW Azorious Control (http://www.mtgvault.com/supast4r7/decks/modern-ojutai-control-2/)
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Want to play a UW control deck in modern, but don't have jace or snaps?
Please come visit us at the Emeria Titan control thread
I am not sold on hum either, but he has great potensial. More of a good thing is good. Also the life loss is not that big. It should average in at about 1. Ooze and finks can heal back some of the damage a well. Usually you take more damage from being in 3 colours that bgx decks usually are.
It's a great card that can have a ton of uses. Aven Mindcensor for example in hatebears.
As someone who plays scapeshift, I can tell you that long ago I dropped thrun in favour of gaea's revenge and Surrak dragonclaw. Both are great in their own ways, and better than thrun.
I'm pretty interested in the new dinosaur. Seems like it might be better than gaea's revenge because of trample and being able to block a gurmag angler without dying.
I can only see Wreckage being good as sideboard for UW against Dredge. But they already have RiP so they don't need it. I think see a 4 mana restrictive Wrath effect seeing any play in Modern.
Modern Decks:
UBG Lantern Control GBU
BRG Bridge-Vine GRB
Commander Decks
UBG Muldrotha, Value Elemental GBU
BRG Windgrace Real-Estate Ltd. GRB
#PayThePros
On a serious note, Kumena's Speaker might be able to compliment the entire Collected Company Merfolk strategy since Master of Waves has become near garbage since the printing of Fatal Push.
Also wouldn't Cosi's Trickster be a better beatstick than Kumena's Speaker ?
Making it at least a 2/2 shouldn't be too hard.
At the stage of the game when you cast Wreckage (turn 4/5+) I don't think that giving the opponent basic lands is that big of an issue if you wipe out their attackers.
Most decks don't even play that many basics anyway and might already drawn one of them or got one of their creatures Path'ed earlier in the game.
I think it might be a reasonable option for decks that play creatures, U/W control probably doesn't need it as it doesn't care about preserving its own creatures and would just run Supreme Verdict/Wrath of God though having the option to either Cryptic or Wreckage doesn't sound terrible.
Is UG Merfolk going to be a thing? I don't think so, at least not just with Kumena's Speaker and no other good green Merfolk. It'll end up as a bad version of the old Company Zoo decks - you have Kumena's Speaker, they have Wild Nacatl; you have a bunch of 2-mana 2/2 lords, they have Voice of Resurgence and 3-mana 4/4s (which makes for both more value off Company and more efficient mana usage off T1 Hierarch). They can even add the Vizier combo if they want, you can't unless you want your lords to be bears 80% of the time.
| Ad Nauseam
| Infect
Big Johnny.
You don't need to play mindcensor first, or at all. The decks that wreckage is good against won't have anything left to play, or won't have basics to fetch, if you wipe their board at this stage.
I love tempo strategies and I for one think this card looks really good.
2 Arid Mesa
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Wandering Fumarole
1 Celestial Colonnade
2 Flooded Strand
1 Nephalia Drownyard
2 Hallowed Fountain
3 Island
1 Mountain
2 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Polluted Delta
2 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
1 Swamp
2 Watery Grave
Creature (4)
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
Instant (29)
3 Path to Exile
1 Mana Tithe
1 Spell Snare
1 Spell Pierce
1 Spell Burst
1 Surgical Extraction
3 Lightning Bolt
1 Lightning Helix
1 Blessed Alliance
1 Remand
4 Think Twice
1 Supreme Will
1 Kolaghan's Command
1 Kozilek's Return
2 Mystical Teachings
1 Summary Dismissal
1 Cryptic Command
1 Settle the Wreckage
1 Logic Knot
1 Sphinx's Revelation
1 Wrecking Ball
1 Cast Out
1 Aven Mindcensor
1 To the Slaughter
1 Patrician's Scorn
1 Gather Specimens
1 Commandeer
1 Psychic Spiral
1 Venser, Shaper Savant
1 Extirpate
1 Crypt Incursion
1 Sulfur Elemental
1 Notion Thief
1 Izzet Staticaster
1 Hide // Seek
1 Rakdos Charm
1 Wear // Tear
A permission based draw go deck utilising Settle the Wreckage as a way to deal with Bogles and Dredge in game 1 who are generally nightmare match ups for control decks, without overloading on too many "narrow" cards like edicts and graveyard hate. Well that's my theory anyway...
The situation I see with Kumena's Speaker is that by itself isn't the proper way to evaluate the card. Wild Nacatl needs manabse restrictions for it to be the effective 3/3 which we all desire, but KS can become that 3/3 with another creature by it's side, and then more. I don't think we should be directly comparing it to the aggressive green drops we have seen over Modern's career, but instead look as to how it can compliment or replace Cursecatcher, because in Modern, that card isn't very relevant in most matchups.
I haven't paid any attention to the game in months but I know that there were some RW Lockdown builds that used Simian Spirit Guides and Boom//Bust. I was always bothered with how wonky the curve could be for those decks though. Sorcerous Spyglass wouldn't solve the curve problem but it presents a slightly different take on setting up a soft lock. It doesn't necessarily need to work against Tron in that case because we've got other ways to get rid of the lands. If we used it then it wouldn't be to counter Tron. But I can't remember which decks that build is weak against right now so it might be a moot point.
Unfortunately the Boom // Bust decks no longer work because of the changes they made to the CMC of split cards while they are in your hand.
Modern Decks:
UBG Lantern Control GBU
BRG Bridge-Vine GRB
Commander Decks
UBG Muldrotha, Value Elemental GBU
BRG Windgrace Real-Estate Ltd. GRB
#PayThePros
Modern Decks:
UBG Lantern Control GBU
BRG Bridge-Vine GRB
Commander Decks
UBG Muldrotha, Value Elemental GBU
BRG Windgrace Real-Estate Ltd. GRB
#PayThePros
Modern Decks:
UBG Lantern Control GBU
BRG Bridge-Vine GRB
Commander Decks
UBG Muldrotha, Value Elemental GBU
BRG Windgrace Real-Estate Ltd. GRB
#PayThePros
Yeah, Shapers' Sanctuary is the first decent creature-kill hoser we've gotten. It'll be interesting if decks like Affinity try it. Might incentivize more cards like Firespout and Anger of the Gods.
I think Lantern Control still wants Sorcerous Spyglass anyway. It won't entirely replace Pithing Needle because Needle is only 1 mana and that's crucial when you're popping Inventors' Fair for it, but you don't start every Game 1 with a hand peek (targeted discard) or a long enough deck peek (early Lantern of Insight), and Lantern Control pilots generally want their opponents' deck archetypes ASAP so they know what to mill. Also, Lantern Control has a somewhat horrific weakness to Chalice of the Void on X = 1, and Sorcerous Spyglass can do things like shut up Walking Ballista through those Chalices.
I wonder how often Sorcerous Spyglass will do a good enough targeted discard impression to make it into nonblack decks.
Again, I mainly see Settle the Wreckage in decks with high enough creature counts (I'd say Junk/Abzan Midrange's creature count or higher) so they'd refuse to play real Wraths over this. I think Company decks (Devoted Vizier Company, Melira Company, Medium Zoo, Knightfall, Humans, Elves, etc.) are a good example of decks that want Settle the Wreckage--the Combo Company decks have great incentives for the opponent to swing right into them (attack enough times and they'll eventually need to block with combo pieces!), so they can punish opponents pretty hard, and all Company decks also poop out enough blockers to force opponents to overextend.
I had never conciously thought about this, although I would tend to agree.
The common problem with Merfolk at the current meta though, is that the early, and late game are absolutely terrible. Merfolk needs to replace Cursecatcher and Master of Waves to see success in our new Modern metagame. Having little to no impact turn 1, then having something go completley over the top and just explode to Fatal Push doesn't seem good for most matchups. I suspect with the printing of a few more 1-3 Merfolk in the UG combination we see an entirely new breed of the deck have success.
Financially, I wouldn't wait on Lord of Atlantis, or Meerow Reejery those cards can explode overnight with any decent spoiler.
Modern Tallowisp Spirits - A Modern Tallowisp Deck UW
Eldrazi Ninjas - Summoning Octopus Jutsu YYYYAAAHHHH!
STANDARD
Naban Wizards
She looks... really bad for 5 mana.
TBH I'm guessing devs saw the reception of Gideon, Ally of Zendikar and pushed her up a mana so we didn't have another 4 mana walker that made a token with a 0 ability.