At this point I doubt we would use Eladamri's Call... it doesn't do much for 2 mana cost in my opinion.
Losing Bomat Courier would mean we would have less consistent delirium and less haste creature will slow down the deck more than Eladamr's Call will help.
Plus we increase risk of getting mana screwed if we add white.
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The only change I made from my previous jund list is swapping out 4 Chancellor of the Dross with 3 Drogskol Reaver and 1 Thrun, the Last Troll. There was a need to adapt to the current meta which had many variant of midrange decks and fewer fast combo deck like Hogaak. Against these midrange deck, life drain was insignificant and having additional double strike creature and hexproof was more valuable.
Oh yeah I almost forgot about Nurturing Peatland, the only card that was good enough to make the cut from all the new sets including War of Spark, Modern Horizon, and M20... sad but at least I was able to prove Soulflayer can still win
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How do you find the London mulligan for soulflayer so far? Does it helped more you to find a good hand or the opponent to find the sb card against you?
In my experience, not many decks can beat a hasty, double-striking, indestructible/hexproof 'Flayer. The strategy is actually pretty resilient to hate because the combo can be pulled off in one turn. Some general notes: spread your keywords out so combo-hate like Surgical Extraction and Slaughter Games doesn't hit a playset of your best soup creature; prioritize hexproof against blue/white decks, indestructible against black/red/green decks, lifelink and/or haste against aggro decks; if their best hope is Tormod's Crypt or Relic of Progentius, we can outrace those. We're bigger and faster than midrange, we have maindeck protection against control, maindeck cushions against aggro, and can race combo decks. The goal is consistency (and obviously speed), but the key is redundancy. To that end, there are a few interesting cards I wanted to hear what the community had to say about:
Ashiok, Dream Render - This seems like a nuts sideboard card. Hoses fetches and any opposing graveyard shenanigans...on top of fueling a whole soulflayer on a single activation. Currently testing 2x in the SB.
Sinister Concoction - This has better synergy with our deck than Lightning Axe imo. While it costs one more mana and a life, its a great delirium/soulflayer enabler as its an enchantment and mills a card. I cant think of a downside in modern to replace 5 dmg with a destroy effect either. Going to test 2x replacing my Axe.
Lightning Skelemental - A hard-castable threat I definitely want to try. Can act as a fifth beater while waiting for flayers or in the late game, and puts itself in the graveyard for us. One of the more powerful options if going the Hellspark Elemental etc. route. Going to test 2x replacing 2x Samut.
Corpse Churn / Grapple with the Past / Commune with the Gods / Gather the Pack (Maybe even Tracker's Instincts for builds running Caryatid?) / Cathartic Reunion - Basically I think the deck could benefit from a 9-10th copy of immediate filtering/graveyard fueling. Don't get me wrong, Bomat Courier is awesome, but he's a bit slow and doesn't guarantee anything. Playing two of these spells by turn 2 instead of one allows for a more reliable and powerful turn 3 Soulflayer, which is essentially our best strategy. Since I only play 3 Couriers, I'm thinking of adding a single copy of one of these to get a 12 total copies of filter/gy fuel effects. I don't like Reunion because you discard before you draw. I don't like Incubation // Incongruity because it doesn't fuel the gy. I like the Corpse Churn type effect because lategame it can get back a dead flayer.
Liliana, the Last Hope - The above mentioned effect on a stick. And her +1 is not irrelevant. Can attract hate away from our life total/flayer. Going to test this in place of a Brutality.
Most versions of this deck run multicoloured enough that green mana is not scarce, right? Because Grapple with the Past is strictly better than Corpse Churn unless we genuinely think having one green mana when we want to cast a 2-cost instant is a relevant limitation. Especially now that we run Nurturing Peatland - if we whiff on creatures-we-want-to-return we can fall back on a land that can be turned into draw.
Most versions of this deck run multicoloured enough that green mana is not scarce, right? Because Grapple with the Past is strictly better than Corpse Churn unless we genuinely think having one green mana when we want to cast a 2-cost instant is a relevant limitation.
We want to be casting Grisly Salvage or Lotleth Troll by turn 2, so if you play your lands right green mana should not be an issue. I like the interaction with Peatland, and with Traverse the Ulvenwald already in the deck might make some sac-utility lands viable.
I like your analysis! I don't like Cathartic Reunion either mainly because we mulligan too much. I personally don't like any existing graveyard filler that cost 2 or more mana beside Grisly Salvage but I agree Grapple with the Past is worth a try if nothing else. Having 9-10th graveyard filler would be nice but for maximizing utility, I think it be better to play something else that good at doing something(like Bomat) than play a card that only mediocre at doing something(like Grapple). If another card like Grisly Salvage exist I'd definitely play as 9-10th gy filler.
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I imagine the London mulligan rule helped this deck immensely. One question I have because I'm considering building the deck, is it ever correct to play Caryatid on turn 2? Are you always hoping to pitch it and delve to get the hexproof?
I think if the plan all along was to pitch it, there are better options (like Striped Riverwinder which comes with its own self pitch cycling, or Nightveil Predator that has flying and deathtouch along with hexproof). Caryatid is here for its dual purpose of being castable for ramp and mulchable for hexproof.
There are many situation you want to cast Caryatid. You want to cast it against any green/red/black color deck or any deck that plays Liliana of the Veil, Blood Moon, and Kaya's Guile. It also a good plan to cast Caryatid if opponent starts the game with Leyline of the Void in play.
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Too bad the Menace keyword came after Soulflayer was printed, because insolent neonate would be definitely worth thinking about as a looting replacement if Soulflayer could gain menace. As it is, I’m not sure neonate works.
Another option is thought scour, but it involves a reworking of the mana base away from red and doesn't allow for hand sculpting.
I'll have a modern tourrnament in 2 weeks and I will try a couple of grapples and corpse churns instead of the looting,and I will come back with the results.
Hmmm. Does newly-spoiled Questing Beast (Haste Vigilance Deathtouch) have the right combination of keyword soup to get a consider? We've never had Deathtouch and Haste available on the same creature in Modern before, never mind adding Vigilance.
I believe deathtouch is quite irrelevant for this deck. Hexproof would be a lot better.
But we are not looking for new creatures,we need some good gy fillers. Too bad Once upon a time doesn't fill the gy,it would be a great card...this way is just good...
I'll have a modern tourrnament in 2 weeks and I will try a couple of grapples and corpse churns instead of the looting,and I will come back with the results.
Finished 3-2 on this tournament. I put 4 Commune with the gods instead of the lootings and put out some creatures to put in Chancellor of the dross.
Started with 0-2 against a Jund and some kind of Saheeli combo. I was drawing very bad, 4 commune with the gods ended in just 1 creature in the graveyard. After that I destroyed a grixis control deck,a burn and elves.
Here are my thoughts:
- A huge mistake was to put out 3 bomat couriers and 1 Chromanticore because Traverse was parcticly useless. I will definitely put them back and cut something out.
- The biggest problem of the banning of looting is not the card draw and filling the graveyard but mainly the discard. I couldn't win without Lotleth Troll in play. I will definitely put the 4th copy in the deck.
- For the same reason Cathartic reunion is a lot better card than Commune with the gods
- I'll probably play 3 reunions and 3 Grapple with the past, for a total of 10 gy fillers, plus the grapple is an instant (othervise grisly salvage is the only instant)
- I think 4 Traverses are too much, I'll cut 1 out
I think theres a 2mana green satyr somewhere in theros block that either search the top 4 or 5 cards of the deck for a creature/land and dumps the rest into the graveyard. Maybe that's a consideration?
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4 Sylvan Caryatid
4 Mana Confluence
Cairn wanderer
Losing Bomat Courier would mean we would have less consistent delirium and less haste creature will slow down the deck more than Eladamr's Call will help.
Plus we increase risk of getting mana screwed if we add white.
4x Soulflayer
3x Lotleth Troll
3x Bomat Courier
4x Sylvan Caryatid
3x Samut, Voice of Dissent
3x Drogskol Reaver
3x Zetalpa, Primal Dawn
1x Ghor-Clan Rampager
1x Thrun, the Last Troll
1x Hazoret the Fervent
Spell x14
4x Traverse the Ulvenwald
4x Faithless Looting
4x Grisly Salvage
2x Collective Brutality
4x Verdant Catacombs
4x Bloodstained Mire
2x Wooded Foothills
2x Nurturing Peatland
1x Cavern of Souls
2x Overgrown Tomb
2x Blood Crypt
2x Swamp
1x Forest
4x Thoughtseize
3x Damping Sphere
2x Assassin's Trophy
2x Ancient Grudge
2x Lightning Axe
2x Engineered Explosives
The only change I made from my previous jund list is swapping out 4 Chancellor of the Dross with 3 Drogskol Reaver and 1 Thrun, the Last Troll. There was a need to adapt to the current meta which had many variant of midrange decks and fewer fast combo deck like Hogaak. Against these midrange deck, life drain was insignificant and having additional double strike creature and hexproof was more valuable.
Oh yeah I almost forgot about Nurturing Peatland, the only card that was good enough to make the cut from all the new sets including War of Spark, Modern Horizon, and M20... sad but at least I was able to prove Soulflayer can still win
4x Soulflayer
3x Bomat Courier
3x Lotleth Troll
4x Sylvan Caryatid
2x Samut, Voice of Dissent
1x Lightning Skelemental
2x Drogskol Reaver
3x Zetalpa, Primal Dawn
2x Chromanticore
1x Hazoret the Fervent
Spells 16
4x Traverse the Ulvenwald
4x Faithless Looting
4x Grisly Salvage
2x Collective Brutality
2x Lightning Axe
4x Bloodstained Mire
4x Wooded Foothills
1x Verdant Catacombs
1x Nurturing Peatland
1x Blooming Marsh
1x Dragonskull Summit
2x Overgrown Tomb
2x Blood Crypt
1x Stomping Ground
1x Forest
1x Swamp
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
2x Damping Sphere
2x Assassin's Trophy
1x Ancient Grudge
1x Force of Vigor
1x Lightning Axe
1x Anger of the Gods
2x Ashiok, Dream Render
1x Spark Trooper
1x Nightveil Predator
In my experience, not many decks can beat a hasty, double-striking, indestructible/hexproof 'Flayer. The strategy is actually pretty resilient to hate because the combo can be pulled off in one turn. Some general notes: spread your keywords out so combo-hate like Surgical Extraction and Slaughter Games doesn't hit a playset of your best soup creature; prioritize hexproof against blue/white decks, indestructible against black/red/green decks, lifelink and/or haste against aggro decks; if their best hope is Tormod's Crypt or Relic of Progentius, we can outrace those. We're bigger and faster than midrange, we have maindeck protection against control, maindeck cushions against aggro, and can race combo decks. The goal is consistency (and obviously speed), but the key is redundancy. To that end, there are a few interesting cards I wanted to hear what the community had to say about:
Ashiok, Dream Render - This seems like a nuts sideboard card. Hoses fetches and any opposing graveyard shenanigans...on top of fueling a whole soulflayer on a single activation. Currently testing 2x in the SB.
Sinister Concoction - This has better synergy with our deck than Lightning Axe imo. While it costs one more mana and a life, its a great delirium/soulflayer enabler as its an enchantment and mills a card. I cant think of a downside in modern to replace 5 dmg with a destroy effect either. Going to test 2x replacing my Axe.
Lightning Skelemental - A hard-castable threat I definitely want to try. Can act as a fifth beater while waiting for flayers or in the late game, and puts itself in the graveyard for us. One of the more powerful options if going the Hellspark Elemental etc. route. Going to test 2x replacing 2x Samut.
Corpse Churn / Grapple with the Past / Commune with the Gods / Gather the Pack (Maybe even Tracker's Instincts for builds running Caryatid?) / Cathartic Reunion - Basically I think the deck could benefit from a 9-10th copy of immediate filtering/graveyard fueling. Don't get me wrong, Bomat Courier is awesome, but he's a bit slow and doesn't guarantee anything. Playing two of these spells by turn 2 instead of one allows for a more reliable and powerful turn 3 Soulflayer, which is essentially our best strategy. Since I only play 3 Couriers, I'm thinking of adding a single copy of one of these to get a 12 total copies of filter/gy fuel effects. I don't like Reunion because you discard before you draw. I don't like Incubation // Incongruity because it doesn't fuel the gy. I like the Corpse Churn type effect because lategame it can get back a dead flayer.
Liliana, the Last Hope - The above mentioned effect on a stick. And her +1 is not irrelevant. Can attract hate away from our life total/flayer. Going to test this in place of a Brutality.
My deviantART; if you're interested in alters, PM me!
Yup,though there wasn't any help form the last 3 editions, banning the bridge is a massive help.
We want to be casting Grisly Salvage or Lotleth Troll by turn 2, so if you play your lands right green mana should not be an issue. I like the interaction with Peatland, and with Traverse the Ulvenwald already in the deck might make some sac-utility lands viable.
My deviantART; if you're interested in alters, PM me!
Draft My Cube!
My deviantART; if you're interested in alters, PM me!
Another option is thought scour, but it involves a reworking of the mana base away from red and doesn't allow for hand sculpting.
But we are not looking for new creatures,we need some good gy fillers. Too bad Once upon a time doesn't fill the gy,it would be a great card...this way is just good...
Finished 3-2 on this tournament. I put 4 Commune with the gods instead of the lootings and put out some creatures to put in Chancellor of the dross.
Started with 0-2 against a Jund and some kind of Saheeli combo. I was drawing very bad, 4 commune with the gods ended in just 1 creature in the graveyard. After that I destroyed a grixis control deck,a burn and elves.
Here are my thoughts:
- A huge mistake was to put out 3 bomat couriers and 1 Chromanticore because Traverse was parcticly useless. I will definitely put them back and cut something out.
- The biggest problem of the banning of looting is not the card draw and filling the graveyard but mainly the discard. I couldn't win without Lotleth Troll in play. I will definitely put the 4th copy in the deck.
- For the same reason Cathartic reunion is a lot better card than Commune with the gods
- I'll probably play 3 reunions and 3 Grapple with the past, for a total of 10 gy fillers, plus the grapple is an instant (othervise grisly salvage is the only instant)
- I think 4 Traverses are too much, I'll cut 1 out
Any comments?