You are right. I have realized this in games too. Granted I do like having Wild Cantor because it can ramp you for quick kills on occassion and when you get infinite mana (say you don't have the full combo) you can use the infin scry to set up what you need on top and then flashback looting or cast something else from hand. It may not be necessary but I have liked having it as an option. I'm continuing to tweak as I figure stuff out as well. Currently Liliana Death's Majesty has been great. Dodges an increase in Spell Quellers that I have noticed and doesn't actually rely on the GY since she can just make Zombies if needed. I should mention that I am actually not worried about Cryptic Command with this deck at all. Between Makeshift Manniquin and Through the Breach (and leaving Seer in play rather than freely sacing it off) I've been able to really pressure a lot of my control opponents cryptics. If they tap out for it at EOT I have set it up so I can win on my turn. I've also seen very little RiP running around and more Relic/Cage/Spellbomb. I did run into 1 Jeskai player running surgical and we just can't beat that card so *shrugs*
Hey all. I recently played Bubble Hulk in a local modern weekly for the first time in a while and 4-0’d without dropping a game. I played against Hardened Scales Affinity, Tron, Grixis Control, and Mardu Pyromancer. The deck felt awesome and none of the games were particularly close.
Chart a Course: I’ve posted about it before but this card is the real deal. Does exactly what you’re looking to do in the early turns and acts as an above average draw spell in games where you need to beat down.
Search for Azcanta: I wanted something good against slower decks and thought Search fit well in my game plan. I think it’s an okay inclusion in the deck but going forward I’m going to cut them for the third and fourth Makeshift Mannequins. When I live long enough to activate Azcanta, I’m often looking for reanimation spells anyways, so why not just run more? Mannequin is also quite good right now with the amount of Jeskai in the field.
No Woodfall Primus: I had Primus in my Hulk lists for a while but kept losing games where I reanimated it. I also think it's more important to focus on going all in on the combo in game one by just playing additional draw/looting spells.
Sideboard
Pack Rat: This guy has been excellent for me. He lets me fight on an axis that isn’t impacted by common Bubble Hulk hate cards, while also playing into the main gameplan. He’s also a great Protean Hulk find in games where they somehow negate your main combo.
Arguel’s Blood Fast: I needed a fifteenth card at the last minute. Don’t play this.
Going forward I think the deck should look like this:
All in all I think Bubble Hulk is in a pretty decent spot. There isn’t a crazy amount of graveyard hate going around at the moment and people just don’t see it coming. It’s also an absolute blast to play. If anyone has any questions about matchups or anything else about the deck, don’t be afraid to ask!
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Grixis Shadow UBR Grixis Control UBR Bubble Hulk UBR
May I ask whether you could suggest a cheap(er) alternative manabase to build the deck on MTGO? The other cards are rather affordable, it's just the fetchlands (and shocklands, to a lesser extent) really...
If you trim down to Rakdos (like ktkenshinx and Exatraz have done on the previous page) you can save yourself the cost of those Scalding Tarns.
Their manabases each run some number of Fetches/Fastlands which are on the expensive end, but you can probably get by replacing them with a manabase centered around Shocks/Checklands.
You should probably grab a few MTGO copies of Through the Breach with the savings; it's a useful card for dodging graveyard hate and is cheaper on MTGO right now than it has been in a long time.
May I ask whether you could suggest a cheap(er) alternative manabase to build the deck on MTGO? The other cards are rather affordable, it's just the fetchlands (and shocklands, to a lesser extent) really...
If you trim down to Rakdos (like ktkenshinx and Exatraz have done on the previous page) you can save yourself the cost of those Scalding Tarns.
Their manabases each run some number of Fetches/Fastlands which are on the expensive end, but you can probably get by replacing them with a manabase centered around Shocks/Checklands.
You should probably grab a few MTGO copies of Through the Breach with the savings; it's a useful card for dodging graveyard hate and is cheaper on MTGO right now than it has been in a long time.
Run Painlands before checklands IMO. You need them to come in untapped on turn 1 and turn 4. Quick update where I am at with the list. I really really love it but I have to shelve it for the time being. My meta is just overwhelmed in UW and Jeskai control deck which has been fine and I've been feasting on (instant speed recursion is dumb) but in order to shore up their KCI matchups, a lot are moving to surgical which obviously we can't really beat. Oh well. I'm going to keep playing in on my stream and tweaking and updating until the surgicals die down locally. This is definitely a deck that will need to ebb and flow like that in the current Modern format.
Hey, I think this was played on Hoogland's stream the other day. He played Exatraz' b/r version but since it didn't have a lot of card selection, it performed poorly over the course of the league. Are there any changes you've made to the deck to improve the card selection issue?
I've put together a grixis version, prioritizing cards like Taigem's Scheming and Izzet Charm in my build. It's far more classic in that sense. I've been running cold, but the deck feels generally quite consistent at doing what it wants to do. Anybody having success?
Hey, I think this was played on Hoogland's stream the other day. He played Exatraz' b/r version but since it didn't have a lot of card selection, it performed poorly over the course of the league. Are there any changes you've made to the deck to improve the card selection issue?
I've put together a grixis version, prioritizing cards like Taigem's Scheming and Izzet Charm in my build. It's far more classic in that sense. I've been running cold, but the deck feels generally quite consistent at doing what it wants to do. Anybody having success?
I've been having a ton of success with Grixis, top 8ing a 1k and losing back to back win and ins in a pptq in the time since my last post. In the two tournaments combined, I beat Red Prison, Ad Nauseum, Storm, Hardened Scales Affinity, Hollow One, Jeskai Control, and Mardu Pyromancer, losing to Tron twice, Hollow One, and Bogles. In retrospect I think I could’ve won all of the matches I lost with better mulligan decisions and a number of specific in game decisions, but it’s a hard deck to play. That being said, I continue to think of it as being a good choice against the current field.
Hey, I think this was played on Hoogland's stream the other day. He played Exatraz' b/r version but since it didn't have a lot of card selection, it performed poorly over the course of the league. Are there any changes you've made to the deck to improve the card selection issue?
I've put together a grixis version, prioritizing cards like Taigem's Scheming and Izzet Charm in my build. It's far more classic in that sense. I've been running cold, but the deck feels generally quite consistent at doing what it wants to do. Anybody having success?
Meh, Hoogland also had a run of bad luck and he 100% punted away that last match against Titanshift. He failed to identify that he shouldnt have made his 2nd land drop intentionally and it cost him. The deck in all forms is currently in not a great slot as people move to surgical and Leyline of the Void in response to Bridgevine. Also UW is now running MB Relic FWIW. If Hoogland hadn't made the mistakes he'd have ended up 3-2. IIRC he also cost himself a win earlier in the league but it was like game 2 IIRC and so he'd have to play a 3rd game still.
Can someone explain to me how Wild Cantor and Insolent Neonate are used in the deck?
So we determined Wild Cantor was ultimately unnecessary but both cards were in the list to get us out of situations in where we wouldn't normally be able to combo. Neonate for example helps us if we get both Revielarks in hand. It also helps us if we assemble the natural Seer/Double/Reviellark combo while it's in yard because we can rummage through our deck til we find Mogg Fanatic or Hulk.
Hey, I think this was played on Hoogland's stream the other day. He played Exatraz' b/r version but since it didn't have a lot of card selection, it performed poorly over the course of the league. Are there any changes you've made to the deck to improve the card selection issue?
I don't know exactly what list he used, but this should not be a problem. When I initially proposed the BR version, I used the Grishoalbrand selection suite and it hasn't changed since. That deck is notorious for strong selection and digging, so it's possible that Hoogland cut too many of the selection and dig spells for other slots. I'm not sure because I haven't seen the list, but that's the only explanation I can think of. That, or he thinks Grishoalbrand has the same problem, which I don't think is true.
I've put together a grixis version, prioritizing cards like Taigem's Scheming and Izzet Charm in my build. It's far more classic in that sense. I've been running cold, but the deck feels generally quite consistent at doing what it wants to do. Anybody having success?
Not a fan of the Grixis version in this metagame because the manabase is too painful. The BR version is virtually painless which was another reason I initially proposed it over Grixis. BR also lets you play an additional four dig slots with the Temples. Besides, there is too much aggro in this current metagame to afford the extra life points, at least in my own experience.
My manabase has 4 spirebluff canal and 2 darkslick shore, since you generally don't need to go long, and you want your first three lands to come into play untapped all the time. I'm using mires and Delta's so I can grab a basic swamp off any of my fetches. This has been an issue sometimes trying to play izzet charm. I did testing with chart a course, and that card is fantastic but becomes much worse then izzet charm post-board when you need the counter mode for hate and the shock mode for ooze. The manabase is not painful, and it's nice that you don't have any lands that come into play tapped when you don't want them to.
I've been testing with and without Woodfall Primus, and it feels like he makes a significant difference in consistency. I like having him as another target for footsteps and being able to cast body double to blow up a grafdiggers cage or land is nice. I'll be testing sideboarded through the breaches probably after gp Richmond
Hey everyone! I played a 4-round FNM-style tourny last night and felt like writing about it.
A bit of background first: I haven’t played paper magic since about November or December of last year. Recently I have been focusing on working on tasks around the house and really hitting the gym a lot more frequently. I keep telling myself that I need to get out and play, but something always comes up or just seems like a better option. This week my buddy was in from out of state and, since we used to play Magic a lot back in college, we typically try to make it out to a weekly local event when he comes home. We are both free Tuesday night and my friend’s local shop is hosting modern. No excuses this time, let’s play some Magic!
Like me, my friend enjoys weird decks (or at least weird cards in known decks). This time he brought Taking Turns with him, but a UG version that used…. Scute Mob as a win con. Since he was playing some jank, I figured I shouldn’t play Tron, Humans, UW Miracles or some other unfun T1 pile. Perfect excuse to play an off the wall combo deck… Bubble Hulk.
Round 1 RG Eldrazi –
G1: My opponent is nice enough. He says he is practicing for an SCG Open and that his deck is aggressive (or something along those lines). I am ready for a rules lawyer with tight play piloting Vengevine, Humans, or some Affinity variant. I lose the roll, keep a fine hand that can win on T3-4 if I find a Footsteps. He starts off on Wooded Foothills into forest into Ancient Stirrings. I am a bit confused as RG Eldrasi is NOT on my Radar. After a few uneventful turns of me looting, him digging and playing some unimpressive eldrazi, I end up combing on T4.
SB: I feel like I need speed and artifact removal here. Abrade might be able to hit a stray ooze or an early creature to keep me alive a bit longer if needed.
+2 Abrade
-2 Night's Whisper
G2: He has a Relic and Grafdigger’s cage. I see no removal or TTB all game. Dead.
G3: I throw back a 1 lander on 7, see an unplayable 6, and keep a 5 that needs to find a hulk and some mana. I end up finding the mana, but not the Hulk. Spaghetti beats get me.
0-1 (1-2)
Round 2 Burn –
G1: My opponent is my buddy who owns the shop. I know what he is on since he had been discussing trading decks around earlier that night. I figure I justt need speed here and the Brutalities will help me stay alive a bit longer. I keep a 7 card hand with looting, combo creatures, and lands. I figure we can try to draw into something, but we never do. Burn does its thing (even stuck on one land for the first few turns) and I am quickly down a game.
SB: I still think I just need to race here. I brought in Duress since I am not sure I want to lose the life to Whisper.
-2 Night's Whisper
-1 Neonate
+3 Duress
G2: I keep 6 card hand with 2 lands with 2 Body double and 2 Reunions. This game is interesting as I am able to draw into a brutality that keeps me alive for a bit, I play an ape to chump (I assumed searing blaze is out) and I buy more time than I really deserve. At 2 life I cast another Brutality and bin a Hulk to kill one of his two goblin guides and go to 4 life. I have footsteps in hand but I am 1 mana short of casting it for the win. I need him to brick once and he does not. He hits a guide off the top and swings for lethal.
0-2 (1-4)
Round 3 Mono Green Stompy
G1: I am not sure what he is on, but I keep an hand with Primus, Lands, looting. No hulk and no reanimation. He has a pretty aggressive start with a T1 Dryad Militant T2 Ooze. I am able to deal with the ooze, but being unable to flashback Looting hurts pretty bad. I eventually have to Footsteps a Woodfall Primus to blow up some lands and get a blocker. That buys me a few turns, but he goes wide with Treetop Village and Strangleroot Geist before I can find a Hulk and another reanimation spell.
SB: Creature removal and some Artifact hate (Abrade is a great card)
+2 Anger
+2 Abrade
+1 Lightning Axe
-2 Night's Whisper
-2 Neonate
-1 Body Double (I think? I know what I brought in for the matchup, but I forget the last card I took out)
G2: I have a fine 7 with all the pieces I need to combo. I see an ooze on his T2 that meets an Abrade (no wonder people like this card). His T3 he develops his board looking to go wide again. I loot a Hulk into the GY and have a Makeshift Mannequin to get it back after I untap. With my life total at 13, he untaps with an Avatar of the resolute, Dryad Militant, Strangleroot Geist, and that land that gives a creature +2/+2 and a lot of untapped mana. He swings out and I don't THINK he can kill me, but like I said, I haven't played Magic in quite awhile. I don't think I get punished for getting the Hulk out to block, so I go for it. He helps me out by dismembering the Hulk to take the counter off and get it into the GY. We win from there.
G3: He doesn't have an ooze, I have a standard T3 kill. Neat. We're on the board.
1-2 (3-5)
Round 4 Bogle
G1: Ok, so I know a 2-2 record at best isn’t really report-worthy, but I found the power of Woodfall Primus in this match and it kind of made me what to do a write-up. I know my opponent is on Bogles and I saw Leyline in his main earlier. I am REALLY hoping to dodge it, get under him, and salvage my night. I win the roll and keep a pretty fast 7, but before any games actions are taken, he reveals double Leyline. Great. So, my first few turns are spent looting for some answers. I am able to bin a Body double, Woodfall Primus and a Hulk. No reanimation spell just yet. At this point, I was thinking “I need 2 reanimation spells here to win. That’s a tall order”. However, after drawing Footsteps, I start to think through some lines and I THINK that with my GY, I can win in one turn. So, I play a Viscera Seer and Footsteps targeting Hulk. Sac Hulk to get Body Double and another seer. Copy Hulk, sac “Hulk” to get Reveilark and Fanatic. Sac Reveilark to get back 2x Body double. Double1 copies Primus, Double2 copies Hulk (should have copied Reveilark). Primus trigger to hit Leyline1. Sac “Primus”, persist, copy Primus again, trigger to kill Leyline2. Sac “Hulk” get another Reveilark and then loop through as normal. ** I complicated this line in the moment. It is MUCH easier to get the combo out and then use a combo of Body Double, Reveilark, and Primus to nuke all of their non-creature permanents before finishing with the normal combo** This deck is fun (for me)! Let’s go to Game 2!
SB: I need to hit RIP early and I need to be able to slow him down. Brutality is terrible anyway….
-4 Brutality
-1 Neonate
+3 Duress (I need to hit RIP. At worst I take an aggressive enchantment)
+2 Wear/Tear
G2: I Don't Remember a ton from this. I just know he didn't have the fastest start in the world. He didn't have any interaction with my GY and I think I just combo on T4 or T5 and we move to the next game.
G3: I see a pretty bad 7 that has 2x Duress, Wear/Tear, 1 scry land, SSG, and 2 Body Double. Yuck. My 6 is better with 3 Lands, Looting, Duress, Body Double. He plays out a Bogle and on my T1 I Duress to see Lands, Bogle, Spiritdancer, and 2 Coronets. No grave hate so I take a Coronet, I figure I can get through this. T2, he draws, puts out a Spirit Dancer (if I remember right) and passes. I draw loot away a Hulk and pass. He plays some enchantments on his dancer and draws a few cards. On T3 I draw another duress, play it and see Suppression Field. Very glad we caught that one. Play Faithless looting to find a Footsteps and pass hoping he doesn't find a RIP (I have a wear/Tear but would need a new Hulk) he plays out a few more enchantments (not nearly enough for lethal) attacks and passes. We Footsteps and win the game and match to end 2-2.
2-2 (5-6)
My entire 75 could use some work. I will probably mess around with it today. But the deck felt fast, powerful, and fun. I loved it. I will certainly attempt to tune it and I hope to run it again soon. A few thoughts below (after 4 matches, mind you):
Holy Hell is Cathartic Reunion Awkward. In postboard games I am always terrified to bin combo pieces in case of a Relic/Crypt/RIP/Spellbomb/Ooze/etc. I'd actually consider going into Grixis JUST to play Izzet Charm.
Woodfall Primus is a beast. Might go up to 3.
Do we need 3 body Double? Two seems acceptable.
4 Brutalities main might be too much with Burn being kind of rare. I'd cut to 3 I think.
Through the Breach just wasn't cast, but I didn't play against any control. I'd keep it for now, but it would be on my watch-list for cards to move to the SB.
I think I need another Blood Crypt in the manabase. No idea why I played 1.
If I continue with the BR version with Reunion, I'd consider going to 20 lands to have the option to bin those more often.
3 SSG seems fine. You still can combo on T1 with the god draw. Again, another card I might remove one copy to see how it feels. They didn't do anything tonight, but it is a small sample size.
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EDH RGOmnath, Locus of ManaRG URThe Locust godUR
Modern UWMiraclesUW
Legacy BGIce Station Zebra (Living Fins)BG UBRGrixis ControlUBR RGLandsRG
Any1 still playing this? having some consistent success with the Grixis version
I stepped away because of the extensive GY hate in the format targeting H1, Bridgevine, and KCI. Lots of Extraction too to disrupt decks like Gx Tron and Valakut on top of those. UW Control also sucks with its maindeck Paths, Terminus sets, and countermagic. All of these have really pushed Bubble Hulk into a weak position in my experience.
The Khak, I like a lot your transformation sideboard deck with Pack Rat, ¿Do you play Cryptbreaker?, I think Cryptbreaker can be better than Pack Rat, ¿What do you think?
The thing about Pack Rat is that, it can copy itself allowing it to dodge removal spells. Cryptbreaker just makes 2/2 tokens. Also consider that Cryptbreaker requires you to tap it, so you can't attack with it and use its ability like you can with Pack Rat, this also create some issues with summoning sickness.
SB: 3 Bontu's Last Reckoning
SB: 2 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
SB: 2 Echoing Truth
SB: 4 Pack Rat
SB: 1 Pithing Needle
SB: 2 Swan Song
SB: 1 Thopter Engineer
Before I get into the real matches I play tested vs Jeskai control/Burn/UB Mill and won 2-1 vs Jeskai, went 2-2 vs Burn, and 2-1 vs Mill. Now all of these games were pre sideboard but was still happy with the results of testing so It gave me the good ole feeling in da belly going into the night.
Match 1 vs DRAW - ****. Got to watch people play for an hour while I pray to the Ape Gods to bless me with some fast starts as most of the room is UW Control/Jund with a mix of Spirits/Tron/Scales.
Match 2 vs Affinity
Game 1: He pooped out some robots but he was a bit to slow. I lead with faithless looting discarding hulk and primus. He plays some dudes and says go, I rip an APE like sweet Ape Lord Harambe inteded and exile that bad boy to cast Footsteps on turn 2 for da win.
Game 2: Same thing happened g1 he had a bit faster of a start but a Brutality slowed him down into the turn 3 footsteps on da hulk father.
Match 3 vs Scales
Game 1: Im on the play which smells nice and I keep a risky hand of 3 reanimate effects, an Ape (God bless) 2 lands and a Brutality. I say land go as he plays a Hardened Scales. I rip a **Bad Ass Hulk** off the top, and pitch brutality draining and making him discard. He casts a Ballista with 2 counters on it from the good ole Scales. I combo next turn through the ballista trying to interrupt by shooting my Viscera Seers.
Game 2: Im expected some surgical and or Relic/Cage. I bring in my Pack rats and echoing truth's and get down to business. This game was grindy but ended up being won on the back of Pack Rat making 4 extra copies of itself.
Match 4 vs UW Spirits
Game 1: He leads on vial, i loot and discard hulk/body double. He gets a Wanderer in and that gets the Collective Brutality treatment making him discard his path as well. I go for the footsteps on hulk but he vials in a Wanderer.. BUT WAIT I HAD THE APE BOYS. Exile the ape to pay the (1) and go off.
Game 2: He gets some wanderer's into play but I am able to brutality one, which helps. At some point im at 9 and cast Makeshift Mannequin which forces him to sac his wanderer. On my turn I footsteps with no responses and go off.
Overall the deck felt great, I probably ran hot with the Apes coming in clutch. Not sure if I need 3 Bontu's in the sideboard, maybe go down to 2 and add another threat like Grave Titan or something..
I believe against Scales I took out 2 brutality, 1 Scheming, 1 Simian Spirit Guide, and 1 Chart a Course. I brought in 3 Pack rat and 2x Echoing Truth!
Against Spirits I brought in 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Swan Song, 1 Echoing truth, 3 Pack rat. I boarded out 2 Apes, 1 Looting, 2 Schemings and Chart a Course and a Brutality.
I should probably go to 2 Bontu's in the side, but yes anger is better vs Dredge and Gy based decks. But Bontu is better vs Spirits/humans/elves and other go wide strategies
G1 vs Tron we should win, so they will side out probably wurmcoil/maybe O-Stone because it cant stop the combo. So we board in Needles/Echoing Truth/Pack rat.
could chain body double and Sidisi's Faithful to bounce anything on opponents side that might remain in the way as far as blockers goes. body double gets hulk and is expoited to go find master and torch courier.
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List is:
4 Protean Hulk
4 Simian Spirit Guide
2 Body Double
2 Viscera Seer
1 Reveillark
1 Mogg Fanatic
Spells
4 Footsteps of the Goryo
4 Chart a Course
4 Faithless Looting
4 Serum Visions
3 Izzet Charm
3 Collective Brutality
2 Makeshift Mannequin
1 Lightning Axe
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Polluted Delta
2 Steam Vents
2 Darkslick Shores
2 Spirebluff Canal
1 Watery Grave
1 Blood Crypt
1 Island
1 Swamp
1 Mountain
4 Pack Rat
3 Swan Song
2 Echoing Truth
2 Pyroclasm
2 Lightning Axe
1 Thopter Engineer
1 Arguel's Blood Fast
Some thoughts on card choices:
Chart a Course: I’ve posted about it before but this card is the real deal. Does exactly what you’re looking to do in the early turns and acts as an above average draw spell in games where you need to beat down.
Search for Azcanta: I wanted something good against slower decks and thought Search fit well in my game plan. I think it’s an okay inclusion in the deck but going forward I’m going to cut them for the third and fourth Makeshift Mannequins. When I live long enough to activate Azcanta, I’m often looking for reanimation spells anyways, so why not just run more? Mannequin is also quite good right now with the amount of Jeskai in the field.
No Woodfall Primus: I had Primus in my Hulk lists for a while but kept losing games where I reanimated it. I also think it's more important to focus on going all in on the combo in game one by just playing additional draw/looting spells.
Sideboard
Pack Rat: This guy has been excellent for me. He lets me fight on an axis that isn’t impacted by common Bubble Hulk hate cards, while also playing into the main gameplan. He’s also a great Protean Hulk find in games where they somehow negate your main combo.
Arguel’s Blood Fast: I needed a fifteenth card at the last minute. Don’t play this.
Going forward I think the deck should look like this:
4 Protean Hulk
4 Simian Spirit Guide
2 Body Double
2 Viscera Seer
1 Reveillark
1 Mogg Fanatic
Spells
4 Makeshift Mannequin
4 Footsteps of the Goryo
4 Chart a Course
4 Faithless Looting
4 Serum Visions
3 Izzet Charm
2 Collective Brutality
2 Lightning Axe
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Polluted Delta
2 Steam Vents
2 Darkslick Shores
2 Spirebluff Canal
1 Watery Grave
1 Blood Crypt
1 Island
1 Swamp
1 Mountain
4 Pack Rat
4 Swan Song
2 Echoing Truth
2 Pyroclasm
2 Lightning Axe
1 Grave Titan
All in all I think Bubble Hulk is in a pretty decent spot. There isn’t a crazy amount of graveyard hate going around at the moment and people just don’t see it coming. It’s also an absolute blast to play. If anyone has any questions about matchups or anything else about the deck, don’t be afraid to ask!
Their manabases each run some number of Fetches/Fastlands which are on the expensive end, but you can probably get by replacing them with a manabase centered around Shocks/Checklands.
You should probably grab a few MTGO copies of Through the Breach with the savings; it's a useful card for dodging graveyard hate and is cheaper on MTGO right now than it has been in a long time.
Run Painlands before checklands IMO. You need them to come in untapped on turn 1 and turn 4. Quick update where I am at with the list. I really really love it but I have to shelve it for the time being. My meta is just overwhelmed in UW and Jeskai control deck which has been fine and I've been feasting on (instant speed recursion is dumb) but in order to shore up their KCI matchups, a lot are moving to surgical which obviously we can't really beat. Oh well. I'm going to keep playing in on my stream and tweaking and updating until the surgicals die down locally. This is definitely a deck that will need to ebb and flow like that in the current Modern format.
I've put together a grixis version, prioritizing cards like Taigem's Scheming and Izzet Charm in my build. It's far more classic in that sense. I've been running cold, but the deck feels generally quite consistent at doing what it wants to do. Anybody having success?
I've been having a ton of success with Grixis, top 8ing a 1k and losing back to back win and ins in a pptq in the time since my last post. In the two tournaments combined, I beat Red Prison, Ad Nauseum, Storm, Hardened Scales Affinity, Hollow One, Jeskai Control, and Mardu Pyromancer, losing to Tron twice, Hollow One, and Bogles. In retrospect I think I could’ve won all of the matches I lost with better mulligan decisions and a number of specific in game decisions, but it’s a hard deck to play. That being said, I continue to think of it as being a good choice against the current field.
Current list is:
4 Protean Hulk
4 Simian Spirit Guide
2 Body Double
2 Viscera Seer
1 Reveillark
1 Mogg Fanatic
Spells
4 Footsteps of the Goryo
4 Chart a Course
4 Faithless Looting
4 Serum Visions
3 Makeshift Mannequin
3 Izzet Charm
3 Lightning Axe
2 Collective Brutality
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Polluted Delta
2 Steam Vents
2 Darkslick Shores
2 Spirebluff Canal
1 Watery Grave
1 Blood Crypt
1 Island
1 Swamp
1 Mountain
4 Pack Rat
3 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Swan Song
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Echoing Truth
1 Grave Titan
Meh, Hoogland also had a run of bad luck and he 100% punted away that last match against Titanshift. He failed to identify that he shouldnt have made his 2nd land drop intentionally and it cost him. The deck in all forms is currently in not a great slot as people move to surgical and Leyline of the Void in response to Bridgevine. Also UW is now running MB Relic FWIW. If Hoogland hadn't made the mistakes he'd have ended up 3-2. IIRC he also cost himself a win earlier in the league but it was like game 2 IIRC and so he'd have to play a 3rd game still.
So we determined Wild Cantor was ultimately unnecessary but both cards were in the list to get us out of situations in where we wouldn't normally be able to combo. Neonate for example helps us if we get both Revielarks in hand. It also helps us if we assemble the natural Seer/Double/Reviellark combo while it's in yard because we can rummage through our deck til we find Mogg Fanatic or Hulk.
I don't know exactly what list he used, but this should not be a problem. When I initially proposed the BR version, I used the Grishoalbrand selection suite and it hasn't changed since. That deck is notorious for strong selection and digging, so it's possible that Hoogland cut too many of the selection and dig spells for other slots. I'm not sure because I haven't seen the list, but that's the only explanation I can think of. That, or he thinks Grishoalbrand has the same problem, which I don't think is true.
Not a fan of the Grixis version in this metagame because the manabase is too painful. The BR version is virtually painless which was another reason I initially proposed it over Grixis. BR also lets you play an additional four dig slots with the Temples. Besides, there is too much aggro in this current metagame to afford the extra life points, at least in my own experience.
I've been testing with and without Woodfall Primus, and it feels like he makes a significant difference in consistency. I like having him as another target for footsteps and being able to cast body double to blow up a grafdiggers cage or land is nice. I'll be testing sideboarded through the breaches probably after gp Richmond
A bit of background first: I haven’t played paper magic since about November or December of last year. Recently I have been focusing on working on tasks around the house and really hitting the gym a lot more frequently. I keep telling myself that I need to get out and play, but something always comes up or just seems like a better option. This week my buddy was in from out of state and, since we used to play Magic a lot back in college, we typically try to make it out to a weekly local event when he comes home. We are both free Tuesday night and my friend’s local shop is hosting modern. No excuses this time, let’s play some Magic!
Like me, my friend enjoys weird decks (or at least weird cards in known decks). This time he brought Taking Turns with him, but a UG version that used…. Scute Mob as a win con. Since he was playing some jank, I figured I shouldn’t play Tron, Humans, UW Miracles or some other unfun T1 pile. Perfect excuse to play an off the wall combo deck… Bubble Hulk.
My (untested) list is below.
4 Protean Hulk
3 Simian Spirit Guide
3 Body Double
3 Viscera Seer
2 Reveillark
2 Insolent Neonate
2 Woodfall Primus
1 Mogg Fanatic
Spells
4 Footsteps of the Goryo
4 Faithless Looting
4 Collective Brutality
3 Makeshift Mannequin
2 Cathartic Reunion
2 Night's Whisper
2 Through the Breach
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Temple of Malice
2 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Blood Crypt
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Swamp
2 Mountain
3 Duress
2 Wear//Tear
1 Lightning Axe
2 Anger of the Gods
2 Abrade
2 Pithing Needle
1 Through the Breach
2 Boil
Round 1 RG Eldrazi –
G1: My opponent is nice enough. He says he is practicing for an SCG Open and that his deck is aggressive (or something along those lines). I am ready for a rules lawyer with tight play piloting Vengevine, Humans, or some Affinity variant. I lose the roll, keep a fine hand that can win on T3-4 if I find a Footsteps. He starts off on Wooded Foothills into forest into Ancient Stirrings. I am a bit confused as RG Eldrasi is NOT on my Radar. After a few uneventful turns of me looting, him digging and playing some unimpressive eldrazi, I end up combing on T4.
SB: I feel like I need speed and artifact removal here. Abrade might be able to hit a stray ooze or an early creature to keep me alive a bit longer if needed.
+2 Abrade
-2 Night's Whisper
G2: He has a Relic and Grafdigger’s cage. I see no removal or TTB all game. Dead.
G3: I throw back a 1 lander on 7, see an unplayable 6, and keep a 5 that needs to find a hulk and some mana. I end up finding the mana, but not the Hulk. Spaghetti beats get me.
0-1 (1-2)
Round 2 Burn –
G1: My opponent is my buddy who owns the shop. I know what he is on since he had been discussing trading decks around earlier that night. I figure I justt need speed here and the Brutalities will help me stay alive a bit longer. I keep a 7 card hand with looting, combo creatures, and lands. I figure we can try to draw into something, but we never do. Burn does its thing (even stuck on one land for the first few turns) and I am quickly down a game.
SB: I still think I just need to race here. I brought in Duress since I am not sure I want to lose the life to Whisper.
-2 Night's Whisper
-1 Neonate
+3 Duress
G2: I keep 6 card hand with 2 lands with 2 Body double and 2 Reunions. This game is interesting as I am able to draw into a brutality that keeps me alive for a bit, I play an ape to chump (I assumed searing blaze is out) and I buy more time than I really deserve. At 2 life I cast another Brutality and bin a Hulk to kill one of his two goblin guides and go to 4 life. I have footsteps in hand but I am 1 mana short of casting it for the win. I need him to brick once and he does not. He hits a guide off the top and swings for lethal.
0-2 (1-4)
Round 3 Mono Green Stompy
G1: I am not sure what he is on, but I keep an hand with Primus, Lands, looting. No hulk and no reanimation. He has a pretty aggressive start with a T1 Dryad Militant T2 Ooze. I am able to deal with the ooze, but being unable to flashback Looting hurts pretty bad. I eventually have to Footsteps a Woodfall Primus to blow up some lands and get a blocker. That buys me a few turns, but he goes wide with Treetop Village and Strangleroot Geist before I can find a Hulk and another reanimation spell.
SB: Creature removal and some Artifact hate (Abrade is a great card)
+2 Anger
+2 Abrade
+1 Lightning Axe
-2 Night's Whisper
-2 Neonate
-1 Body Double (I think? I know what I brought in for the matchup, but I forget the last card I took out)
G2: I have a fine 7 with all the pieces I need to combo. I see an ooze on his T2 that meets an Abrade (no wonder people like this card). His T3 he develops his board looking to go wide again. I loot a Hulk into the GY and have a Makeshift Mannequin to get it back after I untap. With my life total at 13, he untaps with an Avatar of the resolute, Dryad Militant, Strangleroot Geist, and that land that gives a creature +2/+2 and a lot of untapped mana. He swings out and I don't THINK he can kill me, but like I said, I haven't played Magic in quite awhile. I don't think I get punished for getting the Hulk out to block, so I go for it. He helps me out by dismembering the Hulk to take the counter off and get it into the GY. We win from there.
G3: He doesn't have an ooze, I have a standard T3 kill. Neat. We're on the board.
1-2 (3-5)
Round 4 Bogle
G1: Ok, so I know a 2-2 record at best isn’t really report-worthy, but I found the power of Woodfall Primus in this match and it kind of made me what to do a write-up. I know my opponent is on Bogles and I saw Leyline in his main earlier. I am REALLY hoping to dodge it, get under him, and salvage my night. I win the roll and keep a pretty fast 7, but before any games actions are taken, he reveals double Leyline. Great. So, my first few turns are spent looting for some answers. I am able to bin a Body double, Woodfall Primus and a Hulk. No reanimation spell just yet. At this point, I was thinking “I need 2 reanimation spells here to win. That’s a tall order”. However, after drawing Footsteps, I start to think through some lines and I THINK that with my GY, I can win in one turn. So, I play a Viscera Seer and Footsteps targeting Hulk. Sac Hulk to get Body Double and another seer. Copy Hulk, sac “Hulk” to get Reveilark and Fanatic. Sac Reveilark to get back 2x Body double. Double1 copies Primus, Double2 copies Hulk (should have copied Reveilark). Primus trigger to hit Leyline1. Sac “Primus”, persist, copy Primus again, trigger to kill Leyline2. Sac “Hulk” get another Reveilark and then loop through as normal. ** I complicated this line in the moment. It is MUCH easier to get the combo out and then use a combo of Body Double, Reveilark, and Primus to nuke all of their non-creature permanents before finishing with the normal combo** This deck is fun (for me)! Let’s go to Game 2!
SB: I need to hit RIP early and I need to be able to slow him down. Brutality is terrible anyway….
-4 Brutality
-1 Neonate
+3 Duress (I need to hit RIP. At worst I take an aggressive enchantment)
+2 Wear/Tear
G2: I Don't Remember a ton from this. I just know he didn't have the fastest start in the world. He didn't have any interaction with my GY and I think I just combo on T4 or T5 and we move to the next game.
G3: I see a pretty bad 7 that has 2x Duress, Wear/Tear, 1 scry land, SSG, and 2 Body Double. Yuck. My 6 is better with 3 Lands, Looting, Duress, Body Double. He plays out a Bogle and on my T1 I Duress to see Lands, Bogle, Spiritdancer, and 2 Coronets. No grave hate so I take a Coronet, I figure I can get through this. T2, he draws, puts out a Spirit Dancer (if I remember right) and passes. I draw loot away a Hulk and pass. He plays some enchantments on his dancer and draws a few cards. On T3 I draw another duress, play it and see Suppression Field. Very glad we caught that one. Play Faithless looting to find a Footsteps and pass hoping he doesn't find a RIP (I have a wear/Tear but would need a new Hulk) he plays out a few more enchantments (not nearly enough for lethal) attacks and passes. We Footsteps and win the game and match to end 2-2.
2-2 (5-6)
My entire 75 could use some work. I will probably mess around with it today. But the deck felt fast, powerful, and fun. I loved it. I will certainly attempt to tune it and I hope to run it again soon. A few thoughts below (after 4 matches, mind you):
Holy Hell is Cathartic Reunion Awkward. In postboard games I am always terrified to bin combo pieces in case of a Relic/Crypt/RIP/Spellbomb/Ooze/etc. I'd actually consider going into Grixis JUST to play Izzet Charm.
Woodfall Primus is a beast. Might go up to 3.
Do we need 3 body Double? Two seems acceptable.
4 Brutalities main might be too much with Burn being kind of rare. I'd cut to 3 I think.
Through the Breach just wasn't cast, but I didn't play against any control. I'd keep it for now, but it would be on my watch-list for cards to move to the SB.
I think I need another Blood Crypt in the manabase. No idea why I played 1.
If I continue with the BR version with Reunion, I'd consider going to 20 lands to have the option to bin those more often.
3 SSG seems fine. You still can combo on T1 with the god draw. Again, another card I might remove one copy to see how it feels. They didn't do anything tonight, but it is a small sample size.
RGOmnath, Locus of ManaRG
URThe Locust godUR
Modern
UWMiraclesUW
Legacy
BGIce Station Zebra (Living Fins)BG
UBRGrixis ControlUBR
RGLandsRG
I stepped away because of the extensive GY hate in the format targeting H1, Bridgevine, and KCI. Lots of Extraction too to disrupt decks like Gx Tron and Valakut on top of those. UW Control also sucks with its maindeck Paths, Terminus sets, and countermagic. All of these have really pushed Bubble Hulk into a weak position in my experience.
The thing about Pack Rat is that, it can copy itself allowing it to dodge removal spells. Cryptbreaker just makes 2/2 tokens. Also consider that Cryptbreaker requires you to tap it, so you can't attack with it and use its ability like you can with Pack Rat, this also create some issues with summoning sickness.
BUWGRChilds PlayGRWUB
BUWGR Highlander GRWUB
UBSquee's Shapeshifting PetBU
BW Multiplayer Control WB
RG Changeling GR
UR Mana FlareRU
UMerfolkU
B MBMC B
//Creature (16)
2 Body Double
1 Mogg Fanatic
4 Protean Hulk
2 Reveillark
3 Simian Spirit Guide
2 Viscera Seer
2 Woodfall Primus
//Instant (7)
2 Izzet Charm
2 Lightning Axe
3 Makeshift Mannequin
//Sorcery (18)
1 Chart a Course
3 Collective Brutality
4 Faithless Looting
4 Footsteps of the Goryo
4 Serum Visions
2 Taigam's Scheming
//Land (19)
1 Blood Crypt
2 Darkslick Shores
1 Island
1 Mountain
4 Polluted Delta
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Spirebluff Canal
2 Steam Vents
1 Swamp
1 Watery Grave
SB: 3 Bontu's Last Reckoning
SB: 2 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
SB: 2 Echoing Truth
SB: 4 Pack Rat
SB: 1 Pithing Needle
SB: 2 Swan Song
SB: 1 Thopter Engineer
Before I get into the real matches I play tested vs Jeskai control/Burn/UB Mill and won 2-1 vs Jeskai, went 2-2 vs Burn, and 2-1 vs Mill. Now all of these games were pre sideboard but was still happy with the results of testing so It gave me the good ole feeling in da belly going into the night.
Match 1 vs DRAW - ****. Got to watch people play for an hour while I pray to the Ape Gods to bless me with some fast starts as most of the room is UW Control/Jund with a mix of Spirits/Tron/Scales.
Match 2 vs Affinity
Game 1: He pooped out some robots but he was a bit to slow. I lead with faithless looting discarding hulk and primus. He plays some dudes and says go, I rip an APE like sweet Ape Lord Harambe inteded and exile that bad boy to cast Footsteps on turn 2 for da win.
Game 2: Same thing happened g1 he had a bit faster of a start but a Brutality slowed him down into the turn 3 footsteps on da hulk father.
Match 3 vs Scales
Game 1: Im on the play which smells nice and I keep a risky hand of 3 reanimate effects, an Ape (God bless) 2 lands and a Brutality. I say land go as he plays a Hardened Scales. I rip a **Bad Ass Hulk** off the top, and pitch brutality draining and making him discard. He casts a Ballista with 2 counters on it from the good ole Scales. I combo next turn through the ballista trying to interrupt by shooting my Viscera Seers.
Game 2: Im expected some surgical and or Relic/Cage. I bring in my Pack rats and echoing truth's and get down to business. This game was grindy but ended up being won on the back of Pack Rat making 4 extra copies of itself.
Match 4 vs UW Spirits
Game 1: He leads on vial, i loot and discard hulk/body double. He gets a Wanderer in and that gets the Collective Brutality treatment making him discard his path as well. I go for the footsteps on hulk but he vials in a Wanderer.. BUT WAIT I HAD THE APE BOYS. Exile the ape to pay the (1) and go off.
Game 2: He gets some wanderer's into play but I am able to brutality one, which helps. At some point im at 9 and cast Makeshift Mannequin which forces him to sac his wanderer. On my turn I footsteps with no responses and go off.
Overall the deck felt great, I probably ran hot with the Apes coming in clutch. Not sure if I need 3 Bontu's in the sideboard, maybe go down to 2 and add another threat like Grave Titan or something..
Open to Comments/Suggestions
Against Spirits I brought in 2 Bontu's Last Reckoning, 1 Swan Song, 1 Echoing truth, 3 Pack rat. I boarded out 2 Apes, 1 Looting, 2 Schemings and Chart a Course and a Brutality.
Pack rat was amazing
I was thinking can torch courier be paired with any 5cc creature to make a kill condition?
master of cruelties stands out as a possible combo.
could chain body double and Sidisi's Faithful to bounce anything on opponents side that might remain in the way as far as blockers goes. body double gets hulk and is expoited to go find master and torch courier.