I guess I have a couple questions. Do you find that your mana is consistent enough with all of the single mana sources? Have you considered Goblin Guide over Young Wolf? And, how has Hooting Mandrills been for you?
Hi guys, as I am watching your deck always pretty closely, a list which replaced the red splash for a white splash to go for a more midrangy approach recently went 5-0 in a competitive modern leage and another one went top4 in an SCQ IQ. Maybe the lists can give you some ideas for improvement, as they do not have an own thread and I think that they kinda belong here.
I've been following cavemandan's list for a while. I've already made the deck, will take it to FNM tomorrow.
I'm going to test Huatli's Raptor, when running only one Avatar there's the risk of drawing the card, which means there are no good 2 CMC cards to get from a neoform on a 1 mana creature. Running some trial hands I've got got situations with lots of evolve creatures but the only sac target is a young wolf.
Raptor benefits from buffing your creatures in a go wide strategy which could be better against heavy removal, whereas Avatar goes tall. However if your evolve dudes wont benefit from the 3 power of a Neoform'd Raptor it's always going to be better to go for avatar.
I'm not sure how much I like running Spell Pierce and Path as one ofs, I'm going to MB an Evolutionary Leap and keep 2 Pierce and Path in the SB.
UW Control 1 - 2
Whir Prison 2 - 0
G Tron 2 - 1
Suicide Zoo 2 - 1
Deck is actually pretty good, with the right hand you can explode onto the board with 14~16 power turn 3. Other hands are slower but still create a wide board state pretty quickly. Evolutionary Leap is crazy value in a deck with 12 creatures that replenish themselves on death, basically reads "pay G, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature, draw a creature card". Neoform is great for fishing up silver bullet sideboard cards also.
That being said, boardwipes basically mean it's game over. Without targets for Neoform or Pongify, and losing all the evolve creatures that you've built up, the game is pretty much unrecoverable.
Some fun plays you can make with the deck:
Neoform for Rallier to bring back Gaddock Teeg or Kataki from the graveyard.
Pongify the opponents creatures then cast Deputy of Detention to permanently remove them.
Pongify your own Voice of Resurgence when it's targeted by Path or other exile effects to keep the tokens.
Cast Sidi's Fathful to return Knight of Autumn to your hand so you can use it again to remove artifacts / gain life.
T1 Raptor
T2 Geist, evolve Raptor
T3 Neoform Geist (Evolve), Geist comes back (Evolve), for Evolution Sage (Evolve), play fetch, proliferate twice.
End result? 5/6 flier, 5/4 hasty Geist, and 6/5 Sage on turn 3.
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Current Modern Decks BG Elves // "He's back. And he brought his friends. And their friends." BG The Rock // "Dwayne Johnson approved." RU Izzet Phoenix // "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." UGW Bant Spirits // "Super Ghost Bros." BUG Sultai Wildnerness Teachings // "How many turns did I just take again?" C Colorless Eldrazi // "Smash you."
Yeah, Anger or Verdict seem like game overs, I'm trying to figure out what to cut to make room for Heroic Intervention and Chart a Course; my meta has Red Prison, Amulet, and Phoenix these days.
Current Modern Decks BG Elves // "He's back. And he brought his friends. And their friends." BG The Rock // "Dwayne Johnson approved." RU Izzet Phoenix // "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." UGW Bant Spirits // "Super Ghost Bros." BUG Sultai Wildnerness Teachings // "How many turns did I just take again?" C Colorless Eldrazi // "Smash you."
So this is the deck i'm gonna take to FNM tomorrow. I'm going to try Groundbreaker, Revolution Sage is probably the best Neoform target if you have a fetch in hand, but being able to Neoform onto Geist for 10 hasty power seems pretty useful to me. With a turn one evolve creature thats 18 damage by turn three, assuming they played a fetch/shock that's the game right there. Also could be useful against an opponent who clears the board, you can hold Neoform plus one two drop in hand for a hasty finisher.
I'm not too committed to Huatli's Raptor, but it's nice to have another 2 drop that pumps the board, might work well with Sidisi's Faithful if it comes to that.
On Lands, I'm pretty sure 20 is the sweet spot, mostly you need two lands in hand from the draw, and then to draw into another later on. I've had issues with opponents shutting down blue/white mana with Field of Ruin so i'm going to go for two blue/white shock lands. I agree with cavemandan that the deck needs to be able to play green from every land, cards like Geist and Groundbreaker are very restrictive mana wise.
Red Prison 2 - 0
(Got super lucky in that my opponent had terrible draws, this deck is a nightmare to play against with Chalice and Blood Moon etc.)
Tron 2 - 0
(Game 1 had a nut hand, dealing 18 on turn 3 with Groundbreaker, Experiment One having regenerate meant O-Stone couldn't help him)
Tron 1 - 2
(A resolved Ugin is game over. Wormcoil is also very difficult to deal with)
UR Phoenix 1 - 2
(If we can neoform for Eidolon of Rhetoric it's an easy win, otherwise letting them flip Thing In The Ice is normally game over)
A pretty average result, although I got to play the absolute nut hand vs Tron:
Turn 1 -> Experiment One
Turn 2 -> Geist [4 dmg]
Turn 3 -> Pelt Collector, Neoform for Groundbreaker. [18 dmg] [Exp One 4/4, Geist 3/2, Pelt Collector 5/5]
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Decks - Modern Currently active
- Humans
- Evolve Zoo
@Capt. Nick
Single mana sources are certainly a risk. To be honest, I've never tried it without them because Field or ruin and path to exile are such prevalent cards and having the basics as fetch targets is nice against anything aggressive. Goblin Guide is a very good card. I just found this deck too reliant on the evolve and pongify synnergies for something that is "just a good aggro card". Hooting mandrills is a really good card for a deck that plays 12 fetches. But it's also really bad when drawn in multiples so I just try not to be greedy and take the 1-of.
Finished 2:0 (UW control) 2:0 (8-rack) 1:2(prison whirr) and 2:0(Merfolk) last FNM with it and got third place (Sorry for the flexing)
Has anyone had a chance to try oko, thief of crowns? Seems like a perfect fit for what this deck is trying to do.
You can turn your late game evolve creatures into elks, you can elk creatures that have +1/+1 counters to make them into 4/4's and 5/5's, You can elk troublesome creatures and artifacts like urza, lord high artificer or chalice of the void, and you can gain life to help race burn.
there's also the ultimate that lets you trade creatures, but I feel like that's probably less relevant than the other two abilities.
1 Avatar of the Resolute
4 Cloudfin Raptor
1 Deputy of Detention
1 Evolution Sage
4 Experiment One
3 Pelt Collector
1 Renegade Rallier
2 Sidisi's Faithful
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Voice of Resurgence
4 Young Wolf
4 Neoform
3 Pongify
3 Rapid Hybridization
4 Botanical Sanctum
2 Breeding Pool
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Forest
1 Hallowed Fountain
3 Horizon Canopy
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Temple Garden
4 Windswept Heath
1 Aven Mindcensor
2 Damping Sphere
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Evolutionary Leap
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Kataki, War's Wage
2 Knight of Autumn
1 Lavinia, Azorius Renegade
1 Path to Exile
1 Reflector Mage
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Avatar of the Resolute
4 Cloudfin Raptor
1 Deputy of Detention
1 Evolution Sage
4 Experiment One
1 Groundbreaker
1 Narnam Renegade
1 Pelt Collector
1 Renegade Rallier
1 Sidisi's Faithful
4 Strangleroot Geist
3 Voice of Resurgence
4 Young Wolf
2 Forest
4 Botanical Sanctum
2 Breeding Pool
4 Horizon Canopy
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Temple Garden
3 Windswept Heath
1 Evolutionary Leap
1 Path to Exile
3 Pongify
2 Rapid Hybridization
1 Spell Pierce
4 Neoform
2 Damping Sphere
1 Aven Mindcensor
2 Knight of Autumn
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Thrashing Brontodon
1 Evolutionary Leap
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Path to Exile
1 Spell Pierce
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Lavinia, Azorius Renegade
I'm going to test Huatli's Raptor, when running only one Avatar there's the risk of drawing the card, which means there are no good 2 CMC cards to get from a neoform on a 1 mana creature. Running some trial hands I've got got situations with lots of evolve creatures but the only sac target is a young wolf.
Raptor benefits from buffing your creatures in a go wide strategy which could be better against heavy removal, whereas Avatar goes tall. However if your evolve dudes wont benefit from the 3 power of a Neoform'd Raptor it's always going to be better to go for avatar.
I'm not sure how much I like running Spell Pierce and Path as one ofs, I'm going to MB an Evolutionary Leap and keep 2 Pierce and Path in the SB.
Currently active
- Humans
- Evolve Zoo
https://www.reddit.com/r/ModernMagic/comments/bltxpf/my_monkey_style_defeats_your_dino_style_bant/
Legacy: Strawberry Shortcake, Aggro Loam, DnT+b
Modern: Devoted Karn
Vintage: Survival
UW Control 1 - 2
Whir Prison 2 - 0
G Tron 2 - 1
Suicide Zoo 2 - 1
Deck is actually pretty good, with the right hand you can explode onto the board with 14~16 power turn 3. Other hands are slower but still create a wide board state pretty quickly. Evolutionary Leap is crazy value in a deck with 12 creatures that replenish themselves on death, basically reads "pay G, put a +1/+1 counter on target creature, draw a creature card". Neoform is great for fishing up silver bullet sideboard cards also.
That being said, boardwipes basically mean it's game over. Without targets for Neoform or Pongify, and losing all the evolve creatures that you've built up, the game is pretty much unrecoverable.
Some fun plays you can make with the deck:
Neoform for Rallier to bring back Gaddock Teeg or Kataki from the graveyard.
Pongify the opponents creatures then cast Deputy of Detention to permanently remove them.
Pongify your own Voice of Resurgence when it's targeted by Path or other exile effects to keep the tokens.
Cast Sidi's Fathful to return Knight of Autumn to your hand so you can use it again to remove artifacts / gain life.
Currently active
- Humans
- Evolve Zoo
T1 Raptor
T2 Geist, evolve Raptor
T3 Neoform Geist (Evolve), Geist comes back (Evolve), for Evolution Sage (Evolve), play fetch, proliferate twice.
End result? 5/6 flier, 5/4 hasty Geist, and 6/5 Sage on turn 3.
BG Elves // "He's back. And he brought his friends. And their friends."
BG The Rock // "Dwayne Johnson approved."
RU Izzet Phoenix // "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."
UGW Bant Spirits // "Super Ghost Bros."
BUG Sultai Wildnerness Teachings // "How many turns did I just take again?"
C Colorless Eldrazi // "Smash you."
Here's my in progress list:
1 Avatar of the Resolute
4 Cloudfin Raptor
2 Evolution Sage
4 Experiment One
4 Pelt Collector
1 Renegade Rallier
2 Sidisi's Faithful
1 Steel Leaf Champion
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Voice of Resurgence
4 Young Wolf
3 Botanical Sanctum
2 Breeding Pool
1 Forest
2 Horizon Canopy
2 Misty Rainforest
2 Razorverge Thicket
2 Temple Garden
2 Verdant Catacombs
4 Windswept Heath
Other (9)
4 Neoform
3 Pongify
2 Rapid Hybridization
1 Aven Mindcensor
2 Deputy of Detention
2 Evolutionary Leap
1 Gaddock Teeg
2 Heroic Intervention
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Knight of Autumn
1 Lavinia, Azorius Renegade
1 Meddling Mage
2 Scavenging Ooze
BG Elves // "He's back. And he brought his friends. And their friends."
BG The Rock // "Dwayne Johnson approved."
RU Izzet Phoenix // "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."
UGW Bant Spirits // "Super Ghost Bros."
BUG Sultai Wildnerness Teachings // "How many turns did I just take again?"
C Colorless Eldrazi // "Smash you."
4 Misty Rainforest
4 Windswept Heath
2 Breeding Pool
2 Temple Garden
2 Forest
2 Horizon Canopy
4 Botanical Garden
Creatures (30)
4 Cloudfin Raptor
4 Experiment One
2 Pelt Collector
2 Sidisi's Faithful
4 Young Wolf
1 Avatar of the Resolute
1 Huatli's Raptor
4 Strangleroot Geist
1 Deputy of Detention
1 Evolution Sage
1 Groundbreaker
1 Renegade Rallier
4 Pongify
4 Neoform
1 Rapid Hybridization
1 Evolutionary Leap
2 Path to Exile
2 Spell Pierce
2 Damping Sphere
2 Scavenging Ooze
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Deputy of Detention
2 Knight of Autumn
1 Evolutionary Leap
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
1 Lavinia, Azorius Renegade
So this is the deck i'm gonna take to FNM tomorrow. I'm going to try Groundbreaker, Revolution Sage is probably the best Neoform target if you have a fetch in hand, but being able to Neoform onto Geist for 10 hasty power seems pretty useful to me. With a turn one evolve creature thats 18 damage by turn three, assuming they played a fetch/shock that's the game right there. Also could be useful against an opponent who clears the board, you can hold Neoform plus one two drop in hand for a hasty finisher.
I'm not too committed to Huatli's Raptor, but it's nice to have another 2 drop that pumps the board, might work well with Sidisi's Faithful if it comes to that.
On Lands, I'm pretty sure 20 is the sweet spot, mostly you need two lands in hand from the draw, and then to draw into another later on. I've had issues with opponents shutting down blue/white mana with Field of Ruin so i'm going to go for two blue/white shock lands. I agree with cavemandan that the deck needs to be able to play green from every land, cards like Geist and Groundbreaker are very restrictive mana wise.
Currently active
- Humans
- Evolve Zoo
Red Prison 2 - 0
(Got super lucky in that my opponent had terrible draws, this deck is a nightmare to play against with Chalice and Blood Moon etc.)
Tron 2 - 0
(Game 1 had a nut hand, dealing 18 on turn 3 with Groundbreaker, Experiment One having regenerate meant O-Stone couldn't help him)
Tron 1 - 2
(A resolved Ugin is game over. Wormcoil is also very difficult to deal with)
UR Phoenix 1 - 2
(If we can neoform for Eidolon of Rhetoric it's an easy win, otherwise letting them flip Thing In The Ice is normally game over)
A pretty average result, although I got to play the absolute nut hand vs Tron:
Turn 1 -> Experiment One
Turn 2 -> Geist [4 dmg]
Turn 3 -> Pelt Collector, Neoform for Groundbreaker. [18 dmg] [Exp One 4/4, Geist 3/2, Pelt Collector 5/5]
Currently active
- Humans
- Evolve Zoo
Single mana sources are certainly a risk. To be honest, I've never tried it without them because Field or ruin and path to exile are such prevalent cards and having the basics as fetch targets is nice against anything aggressive. Goblin Guide is a very good card. I just found this deck too reliant on the evolve and pongify synnergies for something that is "just a good aggro card". Hooting mandrills is a really good card for a deck that plays 12 fetches. But it's also really bad when drawn in multiples so I just try not to be greedy and take the 1-of.
Finished 2:0 (UW control) 2:0 (8-rack) 1:2(prison whirr) and 2:0(Merfolk) last FNM with it and got third place (Sorry for the flexing)
4 cloudfin raptor
4 pelt collector
3 experiment one
3 young wolf
4 strangleroot geist
3 rhonas the indomitable
Spells (20)
4 rapid hybridization
3 pongify
4 spell pierce
3 rancor
2 vapor snag
4 chart a course
4 misty rainforest
1 breeding pool
3 prismatic vista
2 forest
1 island
4 botanical sanctum
4 waterlogged grove
3 shapers' sanctuary
3 reclamation sage
3 relic of progenitus
2 damping sphere
3 disdainful stroke
1 nissa, voice of zendikar
Elves || GSpirits G || Spirits || Fish
Pauper
GElvesG || CAffinityC
Commander
G Roon (and the Hidden Realms) G
You can turn your late game evolve creatures into elks, you can elk creatures that have +1/+1 counters to make them into 4/4's and 5/5's, You can elk troublesome creatures and artifacts like urza, lord high artificer or chalice of the void, and you can gain life to help race burn.
there's also the ultimate that lets you trade creatures, but I feel like that's probably less relevant than the other two abilities.
although trading your dryad arbor for a mantis rider does seem really sweet haha