@simonepontz personally I try not to worry too much about metagaming for large tourneys. The field is going to be incredibly diverse so it's pretty much pointless to worry about it. Basically it comes down to how confident you are in the deck and your ability to play it as well as dodging your bad matchups(aka luck). Anyways good luck!
So I think these matches are very good/slightly good.
However, regarding tron I have 57/43 of 46 matches, so I think is not as good as usually people thinks.
Turn 3 Karn is very frecuent, and it hurts a lot, moreover, sideboarding nature's claim make it more hard as you can only combo generally using lotus + angel's grace, because Pentad Prism and Phyrexian Unlife are too vulnerable.
I agree in the rest that Tom said.
I honestly have bad records against Burn, and I think has you said that it might be better than what I suggest. Ruben Bresler thought it was probably the best matchup for us, I just feel sometimes too much on my toes. I'm around 57% win rate against it (sample size of 43 matches in 4 years). But honestly, it should be better for me.
Storm and Affinity are very fast goldfishing matchups. I'd have a better rate against robots if I had Hurkyl's Recall (ran it in 2016, and I was like 70/30). But I'm glad you're doing fine against Storm!
For Tron, I almost never lost. 12-2-2 in 16 games. As you said, the only way to lose it T3 Karn. If it's that, you've got to have it by turn 4-5ish. If not, lights out.
I'm hoping to start contributing to this thread since it revolves around my favorite deck. As long as I can regularly go to local tournaments I'll be posting up with information as best as I can. My current deck list consists of:
LAND
3 Gemstone Mines
3 City of Brass
3 Darkslick Shores
2 Seachrome Coast
3 Temple of Deceit
2 Temple of Enlightenment
1 Graven Cairns
1 Dreadship Reef
SIDEBOARD
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Pact of Negation
2 Thoughtseize
2 Fatal Push
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Echoing Truth
2 Bontu's Last Reckoning
4 Leyline of Sanctity
Overall, a pretty standard Spoils/Fetchless mana build.
Today I ended up going 3-1-0 at the weekly modern event (which was much smaller than usual).
Match 1 - Affinity - Win
Game 1
My opponent was fairly new to Modern and didn't know how Ad Nauseam worked very well. I ended up being able to combo off before he was able to present a significant board state.
Game 2
I was able to Slaughter Pact a big swing and then Hurkyl's Recall the next turn to give me enough time to find the pieces I needed.
1-0
Match 2 - Mardu Pyromancer - Loss
Game 1
My opponent ended up not having any hand disruption and pinged me with some Lingering Souls tokens until I was at 6, at which point I was able to combo.
Game 2
I got Thoughtseized early on and then he was able to Surgical Extraction all of my Ad Nauseams which. I wasn't able to assemble a Lab Man kill and he ended up grinding me out.
Game 3
I had a Leyline of Sanctity in hand as well as Angel's Grace/Ad Naus, but also the Lightning Storm. I dropped Leyline and it kept him from disrupting me until he laid a Liliana of the Veil down which ended up eating away at my hand. He then laid his own Leyline of Sanctity down turning off my LS. Once he had this out, he Surgical'd my Spoils of the Vault away and ended up eventually ultimating Liliana. It ended up being a pretty rough matchup for me. My opponent was good, and I think I got some good insight into future Mardu matchups from him.
1-1
Match 3 - Bant Company Variant - Win
Game 1
My opponent was able to Spell Queller a T4 Lotus Bloom, but wasn't able to stop the combo a couple turns later after I fogged his attacks with Angel's Grace and ended up being able to combo.
Game 2
My opponent was able to build up enough of a board state that my life got low quickly. I had a Phyrexian Unlife out which got taken out by a Qasali Pridemage ending up in a game loss for me.
Game 3
I had a hand full of redundancy, eventually dropping a Phyrexian Unlife. In his end step I ended up casting an Ad Nauseam to bait what I thought would be a Spell Queller so I could go off on my turn. He ended up casting Collected Company in response into Qasali Pridemage destroying my Phyrexian Unlife, so I let my Ad Naus fizzle out. Going into my turn I was able to untap and freely cast Ad Nauseam/Angel's Grace.
2-1
Match 4 - U/W Spirits - Win
Game 1
My opponent didn't have a great understanding about how Ad Nauseam worked but was able to lay down a lot of power with Mausoleum Wanderer + Curious Obsession, 2 Selfless Spirits & a Supreme Phantom. I had cast Phyrexian Unlife which bought me a turn to all of the damage. I then cast an Ad Nauseam on his end step which got countered by Mausoleum Wanderer and was safely able to cast another Ad Nauseam on my turn.
Game 2
My opponent went down to 5 cards, laid a basic plains T1 and did not make another land drop. I got the rare T3 combo to wrap the day up.
3-1
Overall, I feel really good about how this deck performs and the disciplined sequencing that I am learning. I was impressed with Bontu's Last Reckoning over Damnation or Wrath of God as the main sweeper. The untapped lands didn't matter as much as I honestly thought they would have. I just picked up City of Brass and have found that the damage is negligible for the color fixing opportunities it presents.
Speaking of color fixing, has anybody else tried out Graven Cairns? I haven't used it much, but it allows me to use a SSG for the 2 black needed for Ad Nauseam, still presents the ability to use Pentad Prism T2 and gives me another opportunity to get 2 red if I have exiled too many SSGs off of a Spoils.
...and now Speaking of Spoils...I know people have a love or hate it approach. I generally hope that I only see 1 in a game and use it as a last resort. Otherwise it is good for cycling a scried card on my opponents end step (since we have many opportunities to see what's coming). I personally think it's only a viable option in the fetchless mana base due to the fact that you can make a somewhat informed decision based on what you have/haven't seen and how many cards you have dug through. I love a good risk, otherwise it wouldn't be the card for me.
Congrats to DaSneakyPete for such a good 9-0 run at PTQ ! He's the man !
Seeing that it's quiet around here, I thought I'd post some thoughts / analysis on sideboard against some decks I face :
Death Shadow - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Lotus Bloom, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 flex.
In: 4 Leyline of Sanctity, 1 flex., 1 Dispel.
***Not always sure about this one, got to play it more.
Storm - EVEN (maybe)
Out: 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 flex.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 1 Dispel.
Jund - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 2 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Lotus Bloom, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 flex.
In: 4 Leyline of Sanctity, 2 Thoughtseize, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning
Burn - FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Lotus Bloom.
In: 4 Leyline of Sanctity, 2 Path to Exile, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Abzan Company - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Lotus Bloom, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 2 Thoughtseize.
Affinity - EVEN
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Lotus Bloom.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Wear // Tear, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Tron - FAVORABLE
Out: 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 X
In: 1 Wear//Tear, 2 Path to Exile.
UWx Control - FAVORABLE
Out: 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Slaughter Pact
In: 1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All, 1 Dispel.
Zoo/Merfolk - FAVORABLE
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Pentad Prism.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Humans - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Pentad Prism.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Curious how my combo brethren have found boseiju in a metagame where both UW and Jeskai are sporting field of ruin. I play grishoalbrand and have cut boseiju for a third pact of negation a long time ago. Perhaps I'm missing something here.
Curious how my combo brethren have found boseiju in a metagame where both UW and Jeskai are sporting field of ruin. I play grishoalbrand and have cut boseiju for a third pact of negation a long time ago. Perhaps I'm missing something here.
Hey Jonathan, nice to see you around. I think with that many FoR, you'd have to run 2 Boseiju to see it being very useful. There's three way to look at it :
1) Run 2 Boseiju and no Pact.
2) Run 2 Pact.
3) Run 1 Boseiju and a counterspell (normally Pact, I run Dispel for some other reasons).
I'm not feeling very comfortable having no extra counterspells in the sideboard if I'd go with 2 Boseiju, and having no is also a downer. I guess the split is still fine, but I think also that the consensus around here should be to run 2 Boseiju maybe.
Curious how my combo brethren have found boseiju in a metagame where both UW and Jeskai are sporting field of ruin. I play grishoalbrand and have cut boseiju for a third pact of negation a long time ago. Perhaps I'm missing something here.
Hey Jonathan, nice to see you around. I think with that many FoR, you'd have to run 2 Boseiju to see it being very useful. There's three way to look at it :
1) Run 2 Boseiju and no Pact.
2) Run 2 Pact.
3) Run 1 Boseiju and a counterspell (normally Pact, I run Dispel for some other reasons).
I'm not feeling very comfortable having no extra counterspells in the sideboard if I'd go with 2 Boseiju, and having no is also a downer. I guess the split is still fine, but I think also that the consensus around here should be to run 2 Boseiju maybe.
Cheers!
Thanks (y) that makes sense to me. Having 1 in an era where even jeskai is running fields seems flimsy. Curious to hear about your rationale on dispel. Because you can pay for pact or negate it with Grace, I'd think it's just better to have free counterspells. Are you playing that in addition to 4 pacts of negations, or as the fourth pact of negation?
Curious how my combo brethren have found boseiju in a metagame where both UW and Jeskai are sporting field of ruin. I play grishoalbrand and have cut boseiju for a third pact of negation a long time ago. Perhaps I'm missing something here.
Hey Jonathan, nice to see you around. I think with that many FoR, you'd have to run 2 Boseiju to see it being very useful. There's three way to look at it :
1) Run 2 Boseiju and no Pact.
2) Run 2 Pact.
3) Run 1 Boseiju and a counterspell (normally Pact, I run Dispel for some other reasons).
I'm not feeling very comfortable having no extra counterspells in the sideboard if I'd go with 2 Boseiju, and having no is also a downer. I guess the split is still fine, but I think also that the consensus around here should be to run 2 Boseiju maybe.
Cheers!
Thanks (y) that makes sense to me. Having 1 in an era where even jeskai is running fields seems flimsy. Curious to hear about your rationale on dispel. Because you can pay for pact or negate it with Grace, I'd think it's just better to have free counterspells. Are you playing that in addition to 4 pacts of negations, or as the fourth pact of negation?
Yes, sometimes I run 4 Pact because I have lots of control in my meta (UW, Esper, UTron). Normally I run 3 main, 1 Dispel or 1 Pact in the side. Sometimes, I run Dispel if I expect the game to get longer against instant speed decks or control decks. In the early game, you don't always have all the combo pieces, so having Dispel to disrupt the opponent without having to waste Angel's Grace is good. Is it the best configuration ? I'm not sure, I doubt. But it works most of the time for me and it prevents Surgical Extraction effects from control decks and gives early interaction without sacrificing a combo piece when you don't have either the mana or an extra Angel's Grace.
So it really is mostly for utility purposes, I'd say sticking with a 4th Pact is more classic and regular, but Dispel is not bad either.
Curious how my combo brethren have found boseiju in a metagame where both UW and Jeskai are sporting field of ruin. I play grishoalbrand and have cut boseiju for a third pact of negation a long time ago. Perhaps I'm missing something here.
Hey Jonathan, nice to see you around. I think with that many FoR, you'd have to run 2 Boseiju to see it being very useful. There's three way to look at it :
1) Run 2 Boseiju and no Pact.
2) Run 2 Pact.
3) Run 1 Boseiju and a counterspell (normally Pact, I run Dispel for some other reasons).
I'm not feeling very comfortable having no extra counterspells in the sideboard if I'd go with 2 Boseiju, and having no is also a downer. I guess the split is still fine, but I think also that the consensus around here should be to run 2 Boseiju maybe.
Cheers!
Thanks (y) that makes sense to me. Having 1 in an era where even jeskai is running fields seems flimsy. Curious to hear about your rationale on dispel. Because you can pay for pact or negate it with Grace, I'd think it's just better to have free counterspells. Are you playing that in addition to 4 pacts of negations, or as the fourth pact of negation?
Yes, sometimes I run 4 Pact because I have lots of control in my meta (UW, Esper, UTron). Normally I run 3 main, 1 Dispel or 1 Pact in the side. Sometimes, I run Dispel if I expect the game to get longer against instant speed decks or control decks. In the early game, you don't always have all the combo pieces, so having Dispel to disrupt the opponent without having to waste Angel's Grace is good. Is it the best configuration ? I'm not sure, I doubt. But it works most of the time for me and it prevents Surgical Extraction effects from control decks and gives early interaction without sacrificing a combo piece when you don't have either the mana or an extra Angel's Grace.
So it really is mostly for utility purposes, I'd say sticking with a 4th Pact is more classic and regular, but Dispel is not bad either.
Cheers!
makes sense to me. When I played grixis I did waffle between pacts and some number of dispels. The point about early interaction like Surgical is a valid one.
Congrats to DaSneakyPete for such a good 9-0 run at PTQ ! He's the man !
Seeing that it's quiet around here, I thought I'd post some thoughts / analysis on sideboard against some decks I face :
Death Shadow - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Lotus Bloom, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 flex.
In: 4 Leyline of Sanctity, 1 flex., 1 Dispel.
***Not always sure about this one, got to play it more.
Storm - EVEN (maybe)
Out: 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 flex.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 1 Dispel.
Jund - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 2 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Lotus Bloom, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 flex.
In: 4 Leyline of Sanctity, 2 Thoughtseize, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning
Burn - FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Lotus Bloom.
In: 4 Leyline of Sanctity, 2 Path to Exile, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Abzan Company - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Lotus Bloom, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 2 Thoughtseize.
Affinity - EVEN
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Lotus Bloom.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Wear // Tear, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Tron - FAVORABLE
Out: 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 X
In: 1 Wear//Tear, 2 Path to Exile.
UWx Control - FAVORABLE
Out: 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Slaughter Pact
In: 1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All, 1 Dispel.
Zoo/Merfolk - FAVORABLE
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Pentad Prism.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Humans - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Pentad Prism.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Cheers!
Do you have a SB plan against Mardu Pyro? It's hard to decide what to take out... Prims is good against Blood Moon, Pact is good Against Blood Moon/Liliana.
I just have 1x Teachings to take out and 3x Bontu, 4x Leyline, 3x Seize, and 1x Path to go in
I'm considering taking out the City of Brass. My locals has a decent amount of Burn and other aggressive strategies and its never a land I'm happy to see in my hand. I'll probably take one out for the third Spoils and maybe run another Darkslick and Seachrome for the other two. Or maybe two more basics since there's a decent amount of Blood Moon.
So tl;dr what should I replace 3x City of Brass with (if I do take out the Cities)?
Congrats to DaSneakyPete for such a good 9-0 run at PTQ ! He's the man !
Seeing that it's quiet around here, I thought I'd post some thoughts / analysis on sideboard against some decks I face :
Death Shadow - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Lotus Bloom, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 flex.
In: 4 Leyline of Sanctity, 1 flex., 1 Dispel.
***Not always sure about this one, got to play it more.
Storm - EVEN (maybe)
Out: 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 flex.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 1 Dispel.
Jund - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 2 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Lotus Bloom, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 flex.
In: 4 Leyline of Sanctity, 2 Thoughtseize, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning
Burn - FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Lotus Bloom.
In: 4 Leyline of Sanctity, 2 Path to Exile, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Abzan Company - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Lotus Bloom, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 2 Thoughtseize.
Affinity - EVEN
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Lotus Bloom.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Wear // Tear, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Tron - FAVORABLE
Out: 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 X
In: 1 Wear//Tear, 2 Path to Exile.
UWx Control - FAVORABLE
Out: 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Slaughter Pact
In: 1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All, 1 Dispel.
Zoo/Merfolk - FAVORABLE
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Pentad Prism.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Humans - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Pentad Prism.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Cheers!
Do you have a SB plan against Mardu Pyro? It's hard to decide what to take out... Prims is good against Blood Moon, Pact is good Against Blood Moon/Liliana.
I just have 1x Teachings to take out and 3x Bontu, 4x Leyline, 3x Seize, and 1x Path to go in
I don't really have a plan ( maybe that's why I'm not that good against it ). But seriously, it's like a hard BG/x matchup. I wouldn't take out too much mana rocks to respect Blood Moon (especially if you don't have fetches). Maybe cutting 1 Unlife, 2 Sleight, 2 Prism, 1 Teachings, a land and the rest is flex I guess. Maybe also you board in too much stuff : 4 Leyline + 2 Bontu's + 1-2 Path should be enough. Thoughseize is great, but bringing in 11 cards in the main 60 is really intense considering we're a combo deck.
@StayHappyThere : you could go full on 8 fastlands and 7 temples. Or 8 fastlands, 6 temples, 1 utility land. Or 8 temples and 1 utility land. It's really up to you
I run Sphinx of the Final Word post board against control. It really puts them in a precarious position if when he hits the board I switched out Dromoka for him since Jace/Teferi can deal with him pretty easily.
Spirits are a very bad matchup, in my case I would side as follows:
-2 pentad prism: becase spirits do not play land disruption and play stony silence, moreover pentad is very bad against spell queller because if you kill queller, pentad enters with 0 counters.
-2 sleight of hand: worst than serum visions and 6 cantrip is usually fine, I do not want to cantrip in another cantrip so much
-1 spoils of the vault (I maintain 2 spoils at main becuase I play 3)
-1 phyrexian unlife: because 4 is too redundant and it could be countered by queller, however, I am not siding out more copies because is good against thalia or damping sphere
+2 fatal push
+1 slaughter pact
+1 echoing truth
+2 toughtseize: It could discard everything: geist, queller, counter, stony,... and mausoleum on the play. Usefull before combo too in case your opp. has an aether vial and queller in hand to counter lightning storm or lab maniac and you already used the slaugher pact.
I really don't like Bontu's here, but maybe deserves a try, however, its very hard to cast having mausoleum wanderer or thalia in play, too much mana, and 1 turn without playing is too much, I preffer to finish the game as soon as possible using an early spot removal.
Suscribe your sideboarding here point by point. I play 2 Spoils 1 Teachings, so I take out a second Phyrexian or a Pact. I always feel like I want to kill one of their creatures or play a TSZ before going of at instant speed
Also, when I play Ad Nauseam I often encounter discard to take out Ad Nauseam + Surgical Extraction on it. I never win games after this happens, and it happens. Should I always board in Leyline for matchups in which this combo could possibly occur? The three times it happened to me were against Grixis Shadow, Mardu Pyromancer, and UB Faeries. Leyline seems reasonable to bring in against all 3 of these (shuts down Mistbind Clique and Vendillion Clique out of fae).
I also want to add either Sphinx of the Final Word or Dragonlord Dromoka as a backup plan and vs control decks in general. Which is generally better? Dromoka cost 1 less but does not have hexproof. Although, assuming they take out all of their removal anyway, that wouldn't really matter. There's also Teferi, but since he CAN be countered, he doesn't seem as strong as the other two
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Best matchups :
- Tron
- UW Control / Jeskai Control
- Titanshift
50/50 :
- Affinity
- Storm
- Burn
Bad matchups:
- Infect
- Jund / Pyromancer
- GDS
- Humans
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
I honestly have bad records against Burn, and I think has you said that it might be better than what I suggest. Ruben Bresler thought it was probably the best matchup for us, I just feel sometimes too much on my toes. I'm around 57% win rate against it (sample size of 43 matches in 4 years). But honestly, it should be better for me.
Storm and Affinity are very fast goldfishing matchups. I'd have a better rate against robots if I had Hurkyl's Recall (ran it in 2016, and I was like 70/30). But I'm glad you're doing fine against Storm!
For Tron, I almost never lost. 12-2-2 in 16 games. As you said, the only way to lose it T3 Karn. If it's that, you've got to have it by turn 4-5ish. If not, lights out.
Cheers !
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
I'm hoping to start contributing to this thread since it revolves around my favorite deck. As long as I can regularly go to local tournaments I'll be posting up with information as best as I can. My current deck list consists of:
LAND
3 Gemstone Mines
3 City of Brass
3 Darkslick Shores
2 Seachrome Coast
3 Temple of Deceit
2 Temple of Enlightenment
1 Graven Cairns
1 Dreadship Reef
CREATURES
4 Simian Spirit Guide
1 Laboratory Maniac
ARTIFACTS
4 Lotus Blood
4 Pentad Prism
CANTRIPS
4 Serum Visions
4 Sleight of Hand
3 Spoils of the Vault
COMBO PIECES
4 Ad Nauseam
4 Angel's Grace
4 Phyrexian Unlife
OTHER
3 Pact of Negation
WIN-CON
1 Lightning Storm
SIDEBOARD
1 Slaughter Pact
1 Pact of Negation
2 Thoughtseize
2 Fatal Push
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Echoing Truth
2 Bontu's Last Reckoning
4 Leyline of Sanctity
Overall, a pretty standard Spoils/Fetchless mana build.
Today I ended up going 3-1-0 at the weekly modern event (which was much smaller than usual).
Match 1 - Affinity - Win
Game 1
My opponent was fairly new to Modern and didn't know how Ad Nauseam worked very well. I ended up being able to combo off before he was able to present a significant board state.
Game 2
I was able to Slaughter Pact a big swing and then Hurkyl's Recall the next turn to give me enough time to find the pieces I needed.
1-0
Match 2 - Mardu Pyromancer - Loss
Game 1
My opponent ended up not having any hand disruption and pinged me with some Lingering Souls tokens until I was at 6, at which point I was able to combo.
Game 2
I got Thoughtseized early on and then he was able to Surgical Extraction all of my Ad Nauseams which. I wasn't able to assemble a Lab Man kill and he ended up grinding me out.
Game 3
I had a Leyline of Sanctity in hand as well as Angel's Grace/Ad Naus, but also the Lightning Storm. I dropped Leyline and it kept him from disrupting me until he laid a Liliana of the Veil down which ended up eating away at my hand. He then laid his own Leyline of Sanctity down turning off my LS. Once he had this out, he Surgical'd my Spoils of the Vault away and ended up eventually ultimating Liliana. It ended up being a pretty rough matchup for me. My opponent was good, and I think I got some good insight into future Mardu matchups from him.
1-1
Match 3 - Bant Company Variant - Win
Game 1
My opponent was able to Spell Queller a T4 Lotus Bloom, but wasn't able to stop the combo a couple turns later after I fogged his attacks with Angel's Grace and ended up being able to combo.
Game 2
My opponent was able to build up enough of a board state that my life got low quickly. I had a Phyrexian Unlife out which got taken out by a Qasali Pridemage ending up in a game loss for me.
Game 3
I had a hand full of redundancy, eventually dropping a Phyrexian Unlife. In his end step I ended up casting an Ad Nauseam to bait what I thought would be a Spell Queller so I could go off on my turn. He ended up casting Collected Company in response into Qasali Pridemage destroying my Phyrexian Unlife, so I let my Ad Naus fizzle out. Going into my turn I was able to untap and freely cast Ad Nauseam/Angel's Grace.
2-1
Match 4 - U/W Spirits - Win
Game 1
My opponent didn't have a great understanding about how Ad Nauseam worked but was able to lay down a lot of power with Mausoleum Wanderer + Curious Obsession, 2 Selfless Spirits & a Supreme Phantom. I had cast Phyrexian Unlife which bought me a turn to all of the damage. I then cast an Ad Nauseam on his end step which got countered by Mausoleum Wanderer and was safely able to cast another Ad Nauseam on my turn.
Game 2
My opponent went down to 5 cards, laid a basic plains T1 and did not make another land drop. I got the rare T3 combo to wrap the day up.
3-1
Overall, I feel really good about how this deck performs and the disciplined sequencing that I am learning. I was impressed with Bontu's Last Reckoning over Damnation or Wrath of God as the main sweeper. The untapped lands didn't matter as much as I honestly thought they would have. I just picked up City of Brass and have found that the damage is negligible for the color fixing opportunities it presents.
Speaking of color fixing, has anybody else tried out Graven Cairns? I haven't used it much, but it allows me to use a SSG for the 2 black needed for Ad Nauseam, still presents the ability to use Pentad Prism T2 and gives me another opportunity to get 2 red if I have exiled too many SSGs off of a Spoils.
...and now Speaking of Spoils...I know people have a love or hate it approach. I generally hope that I only see 1 in a game and use it as a last resort. Otherwise it is good for cycling a scried card on my opponents end step (since we have many opportunities to see what's coming). I personally think it's only a viable option in the fetchless mana base due to the fact that you can make a somewhat informed decision based on what you have/haven't seen and how many cards you have dug through. I love a good risk, otherwise it wouldn't be the card for me.
Seeing that it's quiet around here, I thought I'd post some thoughts / analysis on sideboard against some decks I face :
Death Shadow - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Lotus Bloom, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 flex.
In: 4 Leyline of Sanctity, 1 flex., 1 Dispel.
***Not always sure about this one, got to play it more.
Storm - EVEN (maybe)
Out: 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 flex.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 1 Dispel.
Jund - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 2 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Lotus Bloom, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 flex.
In: 4 Leyline of Sanctity, 2 Thoughtseize, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning
Burn - FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Lotus Bloom.
In: 4 Leyline of Sanctity, 2 Path to Exile, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Abzan Company - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Lotus Bloom, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 2 Thoughtseize.
Affinity - EVEN
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Sleight of Hand, 1 Lotus Bloom.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Wear // Tear, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Tron - FAVORABLE
Out: 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 X
In: 1 Wear//Tear, 2 Path to Exile.
UWx Control - FAVORABLE
Out: 1 Pentad Prism, 1 Slaughter Pact
In: 1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All, 1 Dispel.
Zoo/Merfolk - FAVORABLE
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Pentad Prism.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Humans - NOT FAVORED
Out: 2 Pact of Negation, 1 Laboratory Maniac, 1 Mystical Teachings, 1 Pentad Prism.
In: 2 Path to Exile, 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Supreme Verdict.
Cheers!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Hey Jonathan, nice to see you around. I think with that many FoR, you'd have to run 2 Boseiju to see it being very useful. There's three way to look at it :
1) Run 2 Boseiju and no Pact.
2) Run 2 Pact.
3) Run 1 Boseiju and a counterspell (normally Pact, I run Dispel for some other reasons).
I'm not feeling very comfortable having no extra counterspells in the sideboard if I'd go with 2 Boseiju, and having no is also a downer. I guess the split is still fine, but I think also that the consensus around here should be to run 2 Boseiju maybe.
Cheers!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Yes, sometimes I run 4 Pact because I have lots of control in my meta (UW, Esper, UTron). Normally I run 3 main, 1 Dispel or 1 Pact in the side. Sometimes, I run Dispel if I expect the game to get longer against instant speed decks or control decks. In the early game, you don't always have all the combo pieces, so having Dispel to disrupt the opponent without having to waste Angel's Grace is good. Is it the best configuration ? I'm not sure, I doubt. But it works most of the time for me and it prevents Surgical Extraction effects from control decks and gives early interaction without sacrificing a combo piece when you don't have either the mana or an extra Angel's Grace.
So it really is mostly for utility purposes, I'd say sticking with a 4th Pact is more classic and regular, but Dispel is not bad either.
Cheers!
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Do you have a SB plan against Mardu Pyro? It's hard to decide what to take out... Prims is good against Blood Moon, Pact is good Against Blood Moon/Liliana.
I just have 1x Teachings to take out and 3x Bontu, 4x Leyline, 3x Seize, and 1x Path to go in
UBlue EndU
BAd NauseamB
1x Laboratory Maniac
4x Ad Nauseam
4x Angel's Grace
3x Spoils of the Vault
2x Pact of Negation
1x Lightning Storm
4x Sleight of Hand
4x Lotus Bloom
4x Pentad Prism
4x Phyrexian Unlife
4x Gemstone Mine
3x City of Brass
4x Temple of Deceit
2x Temple of Enlightenment
3x Darkslick Shores
3x Seachrome Coast
1x Plains
1x Island
I'm considering taking out the City of Brass. My locals has a decent amount of Burn and other aggressive strategies and its never a land I'm happy to see in my hand. I'll probably take one out for the third Spoils and maybe run another Darkslick and Seachrome for the other two. Or maybe two more basics since there's a decent amount of Blood Moon.
So tl;dr what should I replace 3x City of Brass with (if I do take out the Cities)?
How did it go?
I don't really have a plan ( maybe that's why I'm not that good against it ). But seriously, it's like a hard BG/x matchup. I wouldn't take out too much mana rocks to respect Blood Moon (especially if you don't have fetches). Maybe cutting 1 Unlife, 2 Sleight, 2 Prism, 1 Teachings, a land and the rest is flex I guess. Maybe also you board in too much stuff : 4 Leyline + 2 Bontu's + 1-2 Path should be enough. Thoughseize is great, but bringing in 11 cards in the main 60 is really intense considering we're a combo deck.
Cheers !
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Aggro: Naya Burn RWG
Combo: Scapeshift RG
Control: Jeskai Control UWR
Legacy
Control: Miracles UW
Aggro: Burn R
Suscribe your sideboarding here point by point. I play 2 Spoils 1 Teachings, so I take out a second Phyrexian or a Pact. I always feel like I want to kill one of their creatures or play a TSZ before going of at instant speed
What's our best plan against Death and Taxes, specially the BW Eldrazi and Taxes version?
Also, when I play Ad Nauseam I often encounter discard to take out Ad Nauseam + Surgical Extraction on it. I never win games after this happens, and it happens. Should I always board in Leyline for matchups in which this combo could possibly occur? The three times it happened to me were against Grixis Shadow, Mardu Pyromancer, and UB Faeries. Leyline seems reasonable to bring in against all 3 of these (shuts down Mistbind Clique and Vendillion Clique out of fae).
I also want to add either Sphinx of the Final Word or Dragonlord Dromoka as a backup plan and vs control decks in general. Which is generally better? Dromoka cost 1 less but does not have hexproof. Although, assuming they take out all of their removal anyway, that wouldn't really matter. There's also Teferi, but since he CAN be countered, he doesn't seem as strong as the other two