Welcome to the updated primer for RW lockdown, which has now been updated to include the Stax approach and the recent banning of death-rite shaman and the resurgence of Zoo and Fae due to Bitterblossom and Wild Nactyl being unbanned. RW lockdown is a broad name given to decks aimed at locking the opponent out of the game. Its a highly customizable idea with plenty of scope for innovation, although counterspells need not apply for slots in this deck.
There are two basic approaches- both use a low creature approach and a RW core with a high percentage of permanents aimed at reducing your opponent's ability to hurt you. The first approach, sometimes described as Boros Control on other MTG sites, is the control of the board via Ensnaring Bridge, Leyline of Sanctity and sometimes Blood Moon . Planeswalkers are normally used to finish and utility spells and sweepers act as back up. For clarity purpose it shall be called "Boros bridge lockdown" here. The second approach has its origins in white stax decks, a popular legacy deck in times past and still played today by its devoted followers. This approach will include more landkill, taxes and often recursive engines that slowly strangle the opponent's ability to even cast spells, often acting asymmetrically. It shall be referred to as "RW stax" here.
I. Introduction- reasons to play these decks
[Spoiler= Why play these decks and not USA control?] These decks give you an immensely satisfying feeling of control without basing the game around the stack and permission spells. Unlike USA control the best cards are not so obvious, and when your opponent sits down they won't be able to reel off 95% of your decklist with stunning precision. These decks are also the sort of decks that frustrate opponents, and induce apoplexy, rage quitting and head shaking whilst scooping. If you like opponents saying "stupid main board Leyline" or "he World Quellered every land away and I had no permanents" then read on. From a deck building perspective it is a wide open landscape- ideal for those who want to create, brew and innovate. RW has a massive toolbox and has access to superb permanent control, that is why it forms the spine of many control decks- and there are many highly effective forgotten bits of tech out there that really deserve a day in the sun.
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[spoiler=Explanation of boros bridge lockdown]Leyline of Sanctity and Ensnaring Bridge - when these are in play, your opponent can't play magic. They can't attack you, unless you allow it. They can't burn you to death with permanents or spells. For good measure it is often advisable to reduce his or her ability to do stuff via Blood Moon , and if the meta is especially multiple creature heavy (eg twin, tokens) then Ghostly Prison can function as a supplementary anti creature measure. They have no choice but to remove one of the pieces of the lock before he can hope to continue. They had better do it quickly because while your lock is in place, your wincons- planeswalkers -are building up to their ultimates.
Multiple copies of Ensnaring Bridge in play means the opponent must remove them all before they can attack (watch out though for Detention Sphere ), so you can add layers and layers to your defenses. Ensnaring Bridge can cause most decks that use creatures as their win condition to shut down completely. As you might guess, that covers a lot of decks. The Leyline can also win games for you by itself, adding protection vs Grim Lavamancer , direct burn and targeted discard in black-white tokens and the increasingly popular 8 rack. Red and Black just don't have have a real answer to this card and resolving it often forces decks into a weaker plan B.
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[spoiler=Explanation of RW stax lockdown]
RW stax is based on the legacy mono white stax deck. It works on a similar principle- tax the opponents using Magus of the Tabernacle and Ghostly Prison , restrict mana, and eventually win by virtue of a recursive lock- often World Queller and/or Crucible of Worlds returning Ghost Quarter and Tectonic Edge
This type of deck is not well liked by wizards due to its frustrating nature putting players off. It is not much fun to have spells but be unable to cast them. However, it IS fun to reduce some top tier decks to zero permanents using a bunch of cards they have to read twice. The number of potential lock cards and methods of restricting mana is surprisingly diverse, but more of that in the card choices for stax section.
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II. Win cons for Boros bridge lockdown - meet the planeswalkers
[spoiler=The walkers]
The Planeswalkers - Your victory lies with them.
Ajani Vengeant: Arguably the most powerful 4cc walker, he sees little play in Modern, although recent USA control lists have started using him. The problem Ajani V. has is his colors. You see, this Ajani is actually a control card, but most people instinctively want place him into a mid range aggro deck. That's ok, he is right at home here with our lock in place. With the board under control, Ajani can keep your opponents lands or other problematic permanent tapped, further denying them resources. Ajani's ultimate is the most powerful ultimate for a 4cc planewalker hands down, but he can only ultimate in a deck like this that can protect him. Ajani is the reason this deck has red, period, and is the most popular choice of PW in this build (and indeed in he has seen play in stax style decks too). His only downside is that he needs the lock to be in place before he can be safely cast.
As an aside if you choose to run Ghostly Prison you will need to note two things. Firstly prison does not protect him or any other planeswalker- although please do not point this out to the less aware opponents:). Secondly his ultimate is highly synergistic with Ghostly prison.
Elspeth, Knight-Errant: The most versatile 4cc planeswalker in this format has never been happier than in a deck like this. Elspeth is tough, she hits the deck with 5 loyalty counters and a 1/1 soldier to block for her. Shes so strong and self sufficient I will play here even before I have the board completely locked. For the most part, she will be just be making tokens, but her ult basically ensures your lock is never disturbed. Her indestructible tokens are your actual win condition in most games (unless you burn them).
Her +3+3 and flying does not work too well with bridge, however, but otherwise she is a very valid choice.
One of the few playable 5cc Planeswalker, Gideon is an absolute bomb here. First off, he's huge. You will cast him and have him +2 buying yourself at least 1 turn to stabilize. He keeps creatures from hurting your other, "squishier" walkers as well. If the board is already stable when he comes into play he adds an extra layer of protection for both you and your walkers, as well as an alternate win condition with his +0 ability. With Gideon is +2'ing every turn, you can now safely begin to fill your hand with cards. This will allow you to attack or to force your enemy to attack you with his creatures then have Gideon destroy them. Again when he is a man he sometimes can't attack through bridge- but if bridge is resolved then you are often on your way to winning. If you are prepared to go to five, this is a strong option.
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III. Card Analysis and Gameplan for Boros bridge lockdown
[SPOILER]3 Easy Steps to Winning:
1. Stall
[SPOILER]Ghostly Prison As discussed already when this card hits the table fast aggro decks slow down and is especially effective vs Splintertwin variants and token strategies. Did we mention that [card/]Bitterblossom [/card] is unbannned? Ensnaring Bridge: While you are busy stalling the game and wiping the board you will start to empty your hand. Once you play Bridge, the game is basically yours to control. You are now free to cast any walker without too much fear. The key card.
Lightning Helix This is your all purpose spot removal card, and is essential in the zoo resurgent world. Helix is a fantastic card with various uses that been discussed at length elsewhere. It eats newly unbanned kitties and gains you 3 life- what's not to like? Journey to Nowhere An extremely versatile alternative to Helix, capable of eating goyf. Removes creatures of all shapes and sizes, although can of course be removed. Lightning Bolt and Path to Exile The best burn spell in history, the best 1cc creature removal in the format but not very good with.......
Chalice of the Void Chalice set to 1 blocks a ton of irritants such as Lightning Bolt,Spell Pierce, Swansong, Discard, Path to Exile, mana dorks and many others. At 1 it is completely one sided if you choose not to run path or bolt yourself. Set Chalice to 2 to block most of the format's counterspells and hate bears. Never set this to 3 or higher. This card is mutually exclusive to builds with bolt and path, as chalice is often best set to 1 in many matches.
Mind Stone While not technically a stall card, this provides acceleration to your 4cc/5cc cards. This acceleration is absolutely critical because without the threat of a turn 3 wrath, the deck can fold to fast aggro. Late game it cycles itself? Amazing card, well worth considering.
Oblivion Ring You answer to everything; can't affect manlands however, and can be removed, especially by late game tron.
Tectonic Edge Provides a maindeck answer to Tron and Manlands. Gives the deck a much needed mana-denial sub-theme when combined with cards like Ghostly Prision and Ajani.
If you are prepared to run a Crucible of Worlds you can bleed this deck into RW stax builds, and use Ghost Quarter to do basics as well
Spellskite He protects every other permanent you play, and can chump block quite well. Downside is he dies to Wrath, but he does live through Pyroclasm, Anger of the Gods etc. He can also redirect modular ravagers. A superb card vs twin and boggles if you have failed to draw stall, although it is not there for those matches. A very valid choice that could be played main or side- always worth considering.
Leyline of Sanctity When played on Turn 0 the Leyline gives you excellent stall against any deck running red or black, burn and 8 rack are up against it if this resolves early. It also provides defense against many planeswalker abilities, and will need to be removed for Valakut to do it thing, and stops gifts too
Runed Halo This card has been given a bit of play in other strategies (recently used by a few French pros, for example, in the last Pro Tour). A cheap Leyline that can name etched champions or ornithopters that try to sneak under bridges and then have cranial plating moved onto them.
Blood Moon
Makes life hard for the unsuspecting, nerfs manlands and slows tron till they hit five mana to oblivion ring. Always worth thinking about.
Nevermore The main answer to combos unless you want to splash black for Slaughter Games . Keeps cards that could hurt in hand.
Trading Post Used to draw cards, get stuff back and gain life in some versions.
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2. Wipe boards and cast utility spells
[SPOILER]Pyroclasm. Sadly largely defunct in the face of wild nactyl et al, its still worth considering. Anger of the Gods The new age pyroclasm, it might just edge Slagstorm .
Wrath of God Wipes the board, no questions asked, manlands excluded of course unless the opponent is blocking- which is not very likely. We will need wrath effects to ensure that we can reliably keep the board free of creatures. Day of Judgement: This is copies 4-5 of Wrath. Having 2 different spells gives you some token defense to Extirpate etc.
Rest in peace Ideal graveyard hosing from the board. Would exclude Crucible of Worlds as they don't play well together.
[card] Grafdigger's cage [card] anti pod option that nerfs gravyards. Not good vs living end, but good vs dredge and a multitude of other decks. Stony Silence Ideal for affinity and more importantly tron. Torpor orb More anti pod, twin and death and taxes options
[card] Pithing Needle [card] Utility for enemy walkers, pod perhaps etc. Kher Keep Mentioned as it appeared in two successful daily lists- and has been used to good effect in stax lists, where it keeps [card] Culling Scales [card] around forever.
[card] Disenchant [card] have you not hear of........
[card] Wear//Tear [card]. Nuff said- always worth considering in the 75.
[/SPOILER] 3. Win
[SPOILER]
As per the walkers section above. You basically win in three ways
Ajani Vengeant With your lock in place this walker begins to build up to an ult that give you a winning position. Sometimes used in stax variants too, ideal for this deck. Elspeth, Knight-Errant We heard you wanted a win condition. How does a never ending army of indestructible tokens sound? Good? Good. Chandra Naalar She ends the game and gives you repeatable creature removal. Use this or Gideon. Gideon does not end the game as well as Chandra but he is more defensive. Gideon JuraKeeps creatures off you and your other planeswalkers. Often gets insanely huge, been seen with well over 40 counters on him. Provides another layer of defense should your opponent Echoing Truth your bridges or something.
You can also win via burn to the head, especially if you forsake chalice and run bolt, or by opponents scooping to your high level of inevitability.
Finally Assemble the Legion is a non planeswalker win con that some lists have used.
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IV. Match Up Analysis for Boros Bridge lockdown Updated 2-21-14
[SPOILER=Red Burn]Game 1: 70% Games 2-3 70%
We have a strong game vs/ Red burn out of the box. A turn 0 Leyline is basically a guaranteed win since it forces them to beat you with critters. Red's aggro suite is strong, but without the burn spells it's too slow to threaten us before we lock down the board. Chalice set at 1 will slow them down even further while Lightning Helix heals you up. There's not much in the sideboard needed to help with this match. MVP's: Leyline of Sanctity, Lightning Helix, Ghostly Prison[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER= UWR Midrange]Game 1: 50% (list dependent), Games 2-3: 50% (list dependent)
While not necessarily our greatest match up, it can be won. It is very list dependent on both sides. They have the same sweepers as you, sometimes the same planeswalkers and their primary offensive threat is manlands. A resolved leyline hurts their targeted removal. They do, of course, have counterspells and cryptic bounce. A lot of this depends on if they run Detention Sphere . Extra copies of lock permanents on the table are not good vs sphere, but just having one or two on the table leaves you vulnerable to bounce. Extra lands will get around their mana leaks (but not swansong), Cryptic Command is a primary worry so name that with Nevermore if youn run it. Running Boil in the board has been suggested and found to be effective and unexpected, and some have used [card] Defense Grid [card]. Tec edges hurt their manlands, and any variant running a Crucible can recur lands to seriously hurt their manabase. MVPs Bridge, Chalice, Boil, resolved ajani ultimates/crucible [if run]. [/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=Affinity]Game 1: 65%, Games 2-3: 65%
Affinity, now called Robots! This is a great match for us. They are pure aggro and they have no way to disrupt our lock, or any of our stall cards. The key is to neutralize their biggest offenders first. Signal Pest needs to be removed asap since he can pump other robots and can attack underneath a bridge with 0 power. Ghostly Prison will bring the deck to a screeching halt, and Ensnaring Bridge stops any robots wearing cranial plating from attacking. A Leyline in play or Chalice at 1 blocks Galvanic Blast. Wrath of God is always a nice way to stabalize in this match. No sideboard needed here, but Stony Silence will make them cry and should be there anyway for tron. MVP's Lightning Helix, Ghostly Prison, Wrath of God, Stony Silence[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=Jund]Game 1: 60%, Games 2-3: 65%+
On the decline thanks to DRS being hit with the ban hammer, but always with us, Jund and its Rock offspring thrive on playing high value cards that 2 for 1 their enemy until they get to late game with a board advantage. We completely negate this strategy by blanking out a lot of their cards with non creature threats and nullifying huge swaths of their cards with Leyline and Bridge. Sweepers keep the board clear of threats and create large card advantage for us. They have no way to beat us until they remove the lock, and that means drawing pulses and decays en masse. Again careful play is required as cards in hand are vulnerable to lilly but multiples on the table vulnerable to pulse. Control lilly, get an early stall and a t0 leyline and this deck is relatively facile. [/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=Splinter Twin]Game 1: 60%, Games 2-3: 65%- assuming ghostly prison is run
The format's top combo deck (?) is actually a good match for us unless they draw the absolute nuts each game. We can get free wins here with a resolved Ghostly Prison or Spellskite. Another feather in our cap is that a lot of people playing Twin have adopted a mid rangey UWR approach over the traditional "All in Twin". This is great for us because it gives us more time to lock them out, and makes leyline a non dead card. MVPs: Ghostly Prison, Spellskite, Ensnaring Bridge, Nevermore, Helix[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=(G/R/U) Tron]Game 1: 30%, Games 2-3 50%
The modern format's ramping juggernaut. Tron is probably our toughest match overall, which is why so much sideboard space is devoted to dealing with it. Most of our creature removal and stall cards are useless in Game 1. Tectonic Edge and Chalice set to 1 can slow them down some (if you do not run chalice then path can take out wurmcoil simply), but you will probably need your sideboard hate to finish them. Post board we have Sowing Salts, Blood Moon (if not main), Pithing Needle and Nevermore. You won't need your leyline's unless they are running the sub=optimal mindslaver lock, and if they are tronning that off they have probably won. Mono U tron is just as hard if not harder as resolving sowing salt is more difficult.
N.B. Watch out for their board wipes- oblivion stone costs just 3 to drop. Another reason to run Stony Silence .
Hopefully on the decline due to zoo, if your meta is full of this then you had perhaps consider more mainboard landkill, and perhaps head towards more stax orientated lists.
MVP's: Tectonic Edge, Sowing Salt, Blood Moon, Stony Silence (Boil for mono U tron) [/SPOILER]
[spoiler=Zoo variants] There are so many variants of zoo- domain zoo, blue zoo, knight of the reliquary zoo, budget zoo that its is hard to put a percentage on it. Suffice to say that if this match is not in our favor we are doing it wrong. The tools are there to win- Leyline reduces burn, bridge and prison reduce attacks, and main deck they run at best 4 [card] qasali pridemage [card].
MVPs- the deck
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Death and Taxes]
Another one that is very list dependent on their side. The more aggressive their build, and the more mono white it is, the easier it gets. Their ability to cast flickerwisp and restoration angel targeting wisp to remove key permanents temporarily can be hard, and Gaddock Teeg and Qasali Pridemage don't play nicely with our bridges, plus Thalia taxes all our spells, and they ignore Leyline. Many D and T decks don't use green however, and are more aggro white weenie based, and these are easier by far. That said if you run Torpor Orb you get a much better game two, and a chalice set to two or three can be lethal for them if they don't get vial down, and ghostly prison is a real pain for them plus their paths can be dead too.
MVP- them not running green splashes, Ghostly Prison, Wrath, Torpor Orb.
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[spoiler=Merfolk, U tempo and Fae]
Theses are probably the most difficult matches- if they can get an early threat and counter your first couple of relevant plays they are in he driving seat. The more counterspells these decks play the harder it is. Ninja bear delver and R/U pyromancer have come and gone to an extent, the latter being relatively lower in counterspell count and high on targeted burn, which is easier for us than some tempo decks. UB fae is on the rise, and Torpor orb hurts fae, and resolved ghostly prisons/bridge can be hard for them to deal with.
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[spoiler=Final notes on other matchups]
It should be said modern is diverse and there are a large number of highly playable fringe strategies, such as hive minds, restore balances and ad nauseam. This is not standard where there are 5 playable decks, and knowing your meta is important.
In general combo decks that don't target are a source of irritation- hive mind being a classic case. If you splash black for slaughter games you can improve these matches by aiming at their key cards, and if you don't then Nevermore is your best bet.
Other aggro/control matches like martyr proc or soul sistas can be hard to win because they can gain so much life, but at the same time they have a hard time beating bridges, prisons, ajani and chalices and it is just as hard for them-these can often be long drawn out games- keep an eye on the clock.
Storm is a great match for obvious reasons- they don't go off till turn 4 and leyline plus prison is a really naughty lock.
Scapeshift has cryptics to bounce resolved leyline and blood moon, but if they don't get them they are toast. Worth considering aggressive mulligans if you know what they are on.
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V. Decklists for Boros Bridge lockdown- Updated 2-24-14
[SPOILER=Boros bridge decklists]
And here is the most current version or RW Lockdown:
VII. RW Stax Lockdown- The core
[spoiler=The core cards]
The core of RW stax is always gong to include the Magus of the Tabernacle and Ghostly Prison cards above, period. The former is a staple in the legacy mono white stax, and the latter a frequently used option. Outside of that it is likely that you will see World Queller as a replacement for smokestack, and thus flagstones of trokair always gets an inclusion, even in mono white variants. Flagstones interacts with boom // bust to produce a turn 2 sinkhole and fix your mana- and so these cards often come as a package. You can check out more on this later in the card choices section.
Queller is a very strong card that gets stronger if you know how to use it and stack it with magus properly of course so you don't . You do NOT chose the type until resolution, so stack the trigger and give an opponent the time to respond. If they don't, it is too late. NEVER NAME THE TYPE UNTIL RESOLUTION! You can name some very odd types if you don't want to name ones on the board- check out the gatherer rulings- and often force opponents to do stuff in fear of what you may name. If you have a token generator (eg Kher Keep ) you can potentially create a one sided The Abyss in white (!!!!), and naming "artifact" v s affinity can even deal with their indestructible and protection from color permanents. If you have ever seen an affinity deck reduced to zero permanents, its probably this guy who did it. He tends to be the card that comes down last, not just from his casting cost but because on his own he is weaker than Magus.
Magus is just obscene with a t3 ghostly, and it is one of the the main weapon against token strategies, and realistically ghostly and magus is a hammer blow for many critter strategies, as even most goyfs bounce of our isolationist wizard.
Many lockdowns can be achieved to win the game from there, as waiting around for a scoop is never ideal.
[/spoiler] VIII. RW Stax Lockdown- analysis, lock engines and card choices discussion
[spoiler=Overview]
Boros bridge lockdown and stax variants have a lot in common. Both will gain control via use of permanents, both may run planeswalkers, especially ajani vengeant, and both use removal and sweepers, essentially being creature light. The biggest difference between the two is the increased focus on mana restrictions and taxes in the stax variants, and their locks being more recursive.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Lock engines]
The most obvious lock is ghostly prison and magus of the tabernacle. In any low creature version these cards will be near auto includes if you want to follow the stax route to RW control.
The other lock engine already discussed above is World Queller and Kher Keep, allowing repeated critter destruction, repeated artifact, planeswalker or enchantment kill (if you don't have any) , or just additional land kill so they cannot pay either the ghostly tax or eventually Magus of the Tabernacle's bar bill.
Another deceptively dangerous engine is culling scales and kher keep . The tricks here are pretty simple. During your upkeep you target the lowest cc non land permanent- theirs- and kill it. Every turn. If you get to 3 cc, you simply make a token in response to the targeting (which is locked as it stacks), and the ability fizzles (check gatherer if you do not believe it). Alternatively, but more safely, you make a token EOT and munch that. The keep can create a nasty situation for enemies- if you are attacked you make the token and block, leaving their men as the scales' next victim. If you are not attacked you don't make the tokens, leading to the same result. The advice is never make a token on a clear board unless it is to keep the scales alive, as it will stop your scales doing its work when the scales finally turns up. Scales can play well with Magus and Queller- but always stack so that you don't pay an upkeep of a critter that you are going to sacrifice to Queller or shoot with scales.
More locks can be achieved with inclusion of land destruction, especially the mass land kill half offered by Boom // Bust- in conjunction with Magus it is often a board wipe and in conjunction with ghostly prison it acts to buy a lot of time. Of course it can also be a turn 2 sinkhole that fixes your mana, or a turn 3 stone rain that targets your fetchland and their real land.
On a similar line it has been suggested that Hikori, Dust Drinker could act in a similarly synergistic way with both magus and prison, whilst Storage Matrix has similar restrictive potential, although its use precludes the use of tapping artifact mana sources.
Trinisphere A sort of lock card on its own, it is ideal for making free spells, not so free. It is the last thing applied after cost adjustors, and keeps everyone playing fair.
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[spoiler= Utility and card choices]
The list of utility cards available is unsurprisingly close to boros control lists using bridge. For a fuller discussion of these cards you can check out their first appearance in the Boros Bridge card choices section above.
Leyline of sanctity, lightning helix, wrath, bolt, are all as described in the card choices section for the bridge based versions, and all are likely to be in the seventy five, although Leyline is probably less likely to make main deck if you are restricting their mana heavily. Planeswalkers may also make an appearance, and again top choice is Ajani Vengeant, although ghostly prison won't protect him from attack, and he is not as essential. Bridge too may be worth a slot, although it is not the main focus of the strategy, whilst Chalice of the Void is the one most likely to miss out in any stax list using culling scales. Assemble the legion does not play well with magus, so is unlikely to make the cut. Other than that its a very similar list of suspects to boros control.
Mystifying Maze is amazingly good with ghostly prison in the right builds, forcing them to commit more men and dealing with unexpectedly large ravager beefed etched champions, goyfs, baneslayers, wurmcoils or other single high power beaters in the format. Late game removal that is especially annoying for them if they are paying ghostly prison taxes. Aven mindcensor is also a valid option, especially if you try and recur Ghost Quarter.
Likewise the board options are similar- Stony Silence for tron/affinity, Rest In Peace for graveyards (although note the lack of synergy with Crucible), boil (highly effective), Defense Grid, Surgical Extraction, Nevermore (or Slaughter Games if you splash black), Runed Halo, Blood Moon, Grafdigger's Cage, and Ratchet Bomb could all conceivably see play for obvious reasons. Spellskite is also strong, although not synergistic with Culling Scales, where it may prevent an enemy Liliana of the Veil being gotten to. Some have tried Dampening Matrix, although stony silence is much better vs tron and affinity.
Certain cards such as Oust work better with landkill, and the option of oblivion ring is as strong as ever, main or side. Path is not synergistic with landkill, and Journey to Nowhere is fine as long as you don't inlcude scales.
Trading post and Mind Stone could also conceivably take slots in this type of build too.
Of special interest is the amount of landkill beyond boom//bust. When used as a stone rain or Sinkhole the cheaper half of this split card can be rather underwhelming in singles, but landkill is best operated in multiples and both Stone Rain and Molten Rain are legal and synergistic with ghostly prison and magus.[/spoiler]
IX RW stax lockdown- matchups
[spoiler= Tron RG and mono U]
These are much easier than boros control and a good reason to play this type of approach. Packing early landkill offers tron real problems when it tries to get going- t2 boom // bust on a flagstones, or just t3 stone/molten rain is nasty for them, especially when followed by more t4 and 5. Packing repeated landkill via Crucible of Worlds or World Queller offers inevitability, whilst packing stony silence game two can choke them when combined with a little landkill. If you can find room for surgical extractions you can effectively lock their tron out of the game from t2.
Don't expect much from ghostly prison, sweepers or magus in this match, but the landkill maindeck and stony silence is dynamite, and can yield some facile victories.
The mono u version is harder, slightly, but boil goes a long, long way towards a win.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Zoo variants]
As per boros control- these should be at the easier end of the spectrum- we are an anti critter deck with super stall, and their mana bases can be quite greedy. Qasali pridgemage is the biggest issue- if they don't run him they are probably toast, if they do then they may have a chance in quicker builds.
An extra sweeper or two in the board, or additional bridge type defenses may not go amiss if you are really worried about this match. Perversely the local game store fnm type builds that are more direct and cheaper on the manabase with typically fewer fetches are better vs our strategy than the more professional versions.
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[spoiler=Affinity]
Provided there is enough hate this match is much, much easier than you would believe.The biggest issue is getting stuck with too much landkill- a small amount is needed for a land light deck. Queller can recursively kill artifacts, including indestructible Darksteel citadels. Once sat behind a prison the culling scales, Magus and Quellers do fine work in reducing their options. Just watch out for ravager counters going onto etched champions- once that happens you need to get a mystifying maze online for safety..
MVPs- Ghostly, Queller, Magus, (mystifying maze)
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[spoiler=Burn/RDW] This boils down to running Leylines and drawing Helices game one. They can't kill your men easily, you can kill their land, but if the game drags out you will need to draw your helices and post board Leylines if you run them. Boros control using bridges has a stronger match due to its Leylines being main deck.
MVP- Leylines, Helices
[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Hatebears and Death and Taxes]
GW Hate bears are much their easier of the two, as D and T runs vials, and is able to save stuff with flickerwisp/resto. The only real issue is GW hatebears sometimes run sigurda, which invalidates magus, and pridemages in both decks can answer a prison. A bunch of mana dorks is asking for trouble vs magus, and they don't have enough paths for all of the Magus/Quellers. A resolved bust plus prison or magus should be enough to seal victory, and scales is especially good in this match if run.
D and T offers the many of the same threats up to 3cc, with an inferior top end but better defense and tricks. The more aggressive their build the easier the match gets.
MVPs- culling scales, ghostly, landkill, magus, queller
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Merfolk]
This is an odd one. With a vial start on the play they can land two threats and counter your first 2-3 plays, before steaming in for a win.Magus can bite on a vapor snag, and there is nothing you can do.
Correpondingly without a vial, and especially on the draw they tap out, and then face a prison or culling scales, from which point they have to tap out to attack or to overwhelm the culling scales, which east their non-land permanents to date. You can then landkill when they tap out, put them way behind and mop up their men bolt by bolt. You can even stick a queller sometimes early and just munch on their depleted land resources.
More careful game two play results in end of turn bolt vs Merfolk battles, which we win. Every tapout battle can lead to a boil and from there it is easy to win.
It is worth bringing in stony silence just for vial, because without it they lose more often than not, which is amazing for a tempo deck. MVPs- them not landing a Vial, Ghostly, Boil
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Fae and other U tempo]
EOT flashing is a right pain compared to merfolk. Their scions grant hexproof, so care is needed, and champion helps beat mass sweepers. Scales can be weak vs hexproof, queller costs too much for this battle. Magus, if he resolves is a house and bitterblossom vs ghostly prison is hilarious till they get rid of it. If they work out what you are up to by casting thoughtseize then life is harder, but it is not an easy match for either side. Chaining cliques is their way to winning, but is also very risky for them with your instant removal and boils game 2. It is nice to turn the tables on aggressive mistbinds and Boil in response....:)
Other blue tempo decks without red are easier than you expect, and it is the pace of UR pyromancer that is most threatening- if they resolve counters on your ghostly/scales then it is ugly time. They do not like Magus though, and it is often lavamnancer that wins the match for them if they get a result. This is a tight, tight match. Always.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=8 rack]
This match is like a dog and an alligator trying to communicate in Welsh. Neither deck has much to say to the other, one is trying to keep cards in hand via landkill, the other trying to empty hands whilst sitting behind a bridge that does not do much, if anything. Rack wins if it gets mana, boom // bust resolving in a big way normally stops 8 rack dead in its tracks, and Leylines in the 75 really help. Lilly dies to burn, but their discard is so pinpoint it can wreck you. A resolved culling scales is, however, brutal.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Soul Sistas/Martyr Proc]
A lovely match if they are not quick- they run no counters and are very vulnerable to sweepers and can be slowed. Cautious play on their part is only playing into the Stax's player's hands. Their best route is to go all in asap. The late game is all about inevitability- they end up with no lands, a big life total and no permanents, normally.
MVPs Culling Scales, Ghostly Prison, Bust
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Living End]
You win this if you pack lots of early landkill and if you go first there are hands they cannot beat. You lose if you skimp on landkill, as they go off and Beast Within your defenses. Relying on Nevermore is not as good as splashing for Slaughter Games, but to commit to a splash for effectively a few combo decks is not always the best call, as our mana base needs flagstones and thus more "real" lands than fetch heavy smooth manabases that are common in the format..
MVP- landkill, landkill, landkill, Nevermore (Slaughter Games)
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Twin]
They lose if you resolve early Ghostlies and then aim at their lands or get a scales/kheer keep.
They win if they get the countermagic and flash stuff they need. you can of course Boil them. If they are playing white twin things are easier.
MVPs Ghostly Prison, boil game 2/3
[/spoiler]
[spoiler= Other decks- an overview]
As mentioned for boros control, there are a lot of niche decks in the format. If you meet someone trying to amulet of vigor, Hivemind or Ad Nauseam you, then you can at lest lie safe in the knowledge that these spells all require vast mana resources
Sure, these matches typically leave you with a lot of dead cards, but aiming at their mana is always a good bet and gives a strong chance of them blowing out with no land and no combo and a smiling Worldqueller locking them out....
One exception is instant reanimator- you MUST land a Ghostly or it will be curtains. If you do then you are well on the way to win, if you do not then you need to hit a land a turn from turn 2 or it is game 2, where upon you get to play with less dead cards......
[/spoiler] V. Decklists for RW Stax- Updated 2-24-14
[SPOILER=RW Stax]
There are plenty of other RW stax style lists out there- check on you tube for some video examples. Out of respect for the fact that the authors have not given permission to link to their videos no links are included for this archetype as of yet. But they are out there.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Future developments and off shoots]
There are lots of ways this type of deck could go, and lots of related ideas. A more increased creature route brings us into the realms of Death and Taxes, whilst cards like Exhaustion and Zur's weirding are crying out for prison builds to abuse them. For now here is a suggested tezzeret style lockdown approach.
Are you a true control player at heart? Do you despise how blue has given up its hard control in exchange for tempo and speed? Do you enjoy taking away your opponent's ability to play Magic? If you answered yes to any of those questions I implore you to read on and explore this primer. I have been working on this deck in various incarnations since modern was announced. This primer is the result of exhaustive MTGO testing, so I hope you find it useful. This deck is extremely effective in a Jund heavy meta, or any meta that does not feature mass counterspells. As of this writing 11/21/13, blue is very weak in the meta and Jund / BGx decks are everywhere. RW Lockdown is well positioned to take advantage of this meta shift.
I. Introduction
[Spoiler=Why play this deck?]This deck gives you an immensely satisfying feeling of control. The strategy is a total lock down. Its perfect for a creature-win-card meta like modern. The deck is constructed to slow down and remove creatures of all sizes, in small numbers or large. When that's done, you attack the core mechanic of creature based win strategies with Ensnaring Bridge. Once you have control of the board you start to drop your planeswalkers. Alone each of the walkers is a serious threat, but once they start working together the raw power of the deck becomes apparent. The walkers are a well balanced team of heroes that will win games while being tons of fun to use. If you want to control the game and use Planeswalkers to win...this is the deck for you![/spoiler]
[spoiler=Explanation of the Lock]Leyline of Sanctity and Ensnaring Bridge - when these are in play, your opponent can't play magic. He can't attack you, unless you allow it. He can't burn you to death with permanents or spells. He cannot touch you, period. He has no choice but to remove one of the pieces of the lock before he can hope to continue. And he had better do it fast because while your lock is in place, your planeswalkers are building up to their ults. Did I mention this deck has planeswalkers? Well it does, but they deserve a section all to themselves.
Multiple copies of ensnaring bridge in play means the opponent must remove them all before he can attack, so you can add layers and layers to your defenses. Ensnaring Bridge causes most decks that use creatures as their win condition to shut down completely. As you might guess, that covers a lot of decks. The Leyline can also win games for you by itself. It completely shields you from both Red and Black and neither have an answer to this card.
When put together, Bridge and Leyline form a very hard lock.
[/spoiler] II. Planeswalker Meet and Greet
[spoiler=The walkers]
The Planeswalkers - Your victory lies with them.
Ajani Vengeant: Arguably the most powerful 4cc walker, he sees almost no play in Modern. The problem Ajani V. has is his colors. You see, this Ajani is actually a control card, but most people instinctively want place him into a mid range aggro deck. That's ok, he is right at home here with our lock in place. With the board under control, Ajani can keep your opponents lands or other problematic permanent tapped, further denying them resources. Ajani's ult is the most powerful ult for a 4cc planewalker hands down, but he can only ult in a deck like this. Ajani is the reason this deck has red, period. His only downside is that he needs the lock to be in place before he can be safely cast.
Ajani is your Mage planeswalker.
Elspeth, Knight-Errant: The most versatile 4cc planeswalker in this format has never been happier than in a deck like this. Elspeth is tough, she hits the deck with 5 loyalty counters and a 1/1 soldier to block for her. Shes so strong and self sufficient I will play here even before I have the board completely locked. For the most part, she will be just be making tokens, but her ult basically ensures your lock is never disturbed. Her indestructible tokens are your actual win condition in most games (unless you burn them).
Elspeth is your Support planeswalker.
One of the few playable 5cc Planeswalker, Gideon is an absolute bomb here. First off, he's huge. You will cast him and have him +2 buying yourself at least 1 turn to stabilize. He keeps creatures from hurting your other, "squishier" walkers as well. If the board is already stable when he comes into play he adds an extra layer of protection for both you and your walkers, as well as an alternate win condition with his +0 ability. With Gideon is +2'ing every turn, you can now safely begin to fill your hand with cards. This will allow you to attack or to force your enemy to attack you with his creatures then have Gideon destroy them.
Gideon is your Tank Planeswalker.[/SPOILER] III. Card Analysis and Gameplan
[SPOILER]3 Easy Steps to Winning:
1. Stall
[SPOILER]Ghostly Prison: When this card hits the table fast aggro decks slow down to a manageable crawl. Also provides a hard counter to Splintertwin and Token strategies. Lightning Helix This is your all purpose spot removal card. Helix is a fantastic card with various uses that been discussed at length elsewhere. Its purpose here is to give us spot removal and much needed healing. Journey to Nowhere An extremely versatile alternative to Helix. Removes creatures of all shapes and sizes. Can be interchanged with Helix in formats that are not using as much fast Burn Mind Stone While not technically a stall card, this provides acceleration to your 4cc cards. This acceleration is absolutely critical because without the threat of a turn 3 wrath, the deck can fold to fast aggro. Late game it cycles itself? Amazing card. Chalice of the Void Chalice set to 1 blocks a ton of irritants such as Lightning Bolt, DRS, Spell Pierce, Discard, Path to Exile and many others. At 1 it is completely one sided. Set Chalice to 2 to block most of the format's counterspells and hate bears. Never set this to 3 or higher. Oblivion Ring You answer to everything; can't affect manlands however. Tectonic Edge Provides a maindeck answer to Tron and Manlands. Gives the deck a much needed mana-denial sub-theme when combined with cards like Ghostly Prision and Ajani. Spellskite He protects every other permanent you play, and can chump block quite well. Downside is he dies to Wrath, but he does live through Pyroclasm. Leyline of Sanctity When played on Turn 0 the leyline gives you excellent stall against any deck running red or black. It also provides defense against many planeswalker abilities.[/SPOILER]2. Wipe
[SPOILER]Pyroclasm In most games this is a 2cc Wrath. This is one of the best sweepers in the format, use 3-4. Wrath of God Wipes the board, no questions asked. We will need 4-5 wrath effects to ensure that we can reliably keep the board free of creatures. Day of Judgement This is copies 4-5 of Wrath. Having 2 different spells gives you some token defense to Extirpate etc.
[/SPOILER]3. Lock
[SPOILER]Ensnaring Bridge While you are busy stalling the game and wiping the board you will start to empty your hand. Once you play Bridge, the game is basically yours to control. You are now free to cast any walker without too much fear. Ajani Vengeant With your lock in place this walker begins to build up to an ult that give you a winning position. Elspeth, Knight-Errant I heard you wanted a win condition. How does a never ending army of indestructible tokens sound? Good? Good. Chandra Naalar She ends the game and gives you repeatable creature removal. Use this or Gideon. Gideon does not end the game as well as Chandra but he is more defensive. Gideon Jura Keeps creatures off you and your other planeswalkers. Often gets insanely huge, ive had well over 40 counters on him. Provides another layer of defense should your opponent Echoing Truth your bridges or something.[/SPOILER][/SPOILER]
IV. Match Up Analysis - Updated 11-21-13
[SPOILER=Red Burn]Game 1: 70% Games 2-3 70%
We have a strong game vs/ Red burn out of the box. A turn 0 Leyline is basically a guaranteed win since it forces them to beat you with critters. Red's aggro suite is strong, but without the burn spells it's too slow to threaten us before we lock down the board. Chalice set at 1 will slow them down even further while Lightning Helix heals you up. There's not much in the sideboard needed to help with this match. MVP's: Leyline of Sanctity, Lightning Helix, Ghostly Prison[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER= UWR Midrange]Game 1: 50%, Games 2-3: 60%
While not necessarily our greatest match up, this match is very winnable because right now these lists heavily favor red. Play reactive against them and bring them into a late game. Extra lands will get around their mana leaks, Cryptic Command is your primary threat so name that with Nevermore. Chalice gives them fits as well. If any parts of your lock resolve it spells big trouble for them. MVPs Nevermore, Bridge, Chalice[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=Affinity]Game 1: 65%, Games 2-3: 65%
Affinity, now called Robots!, is a great match for us. They are pure aggro and they have no way to disrupt our lock, or any of our stall cards. The key is to neutralize their biggest offenders first. Signal Pest needs to be removed asap since he can pump other robots and can attack underneath a bridge with 0 power. Ghostly Prison will bring the deck to a screeching halt, and ensnaring bridge stops any robots wearing cranial plating from attacking. A Leyline in play or Chalice at 1 blocks Galvanic Blast. Wrath of God is always a nice way to stabalize in this match. No sideboard needed here. MVP's Lightning Helix, Ghostly Prison, Wrath of God[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=Jund]Game 1: 60%, Games 2-3: 65%+
Our Jund match up is why we are playing this deck. Jund is the flagship for the format right now. So much so that it has spawned and entire class of BGx based decks that are all quite similar in nature. Jund thrives on playing high value cards that 2 for 1 their enemy until they get to late game with a board advantage. We compeltely negate this strategy by blanking out a lot fo their cards with non creature threats and nullifying huge swaths of their cards with Leyline and Bridge. Sweepers keep the board clear of threats and create large card advantage for us. They have no way to beat us until they remove the lock, and there is a lot of redundancy in place which makes it even more difficult. This deck can be crafted to be a pure Jund killer if the meta calls for it. Abuse it.[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=Splinter Twin]Game 1: 60%, Games 2-3: 65%
The format's top combo deck is actually a good match for us unless they draw the absolute nuts each game. Twin has largely been pushed out of the format by BGx decks and Abrupt Decay. We can get free wins here with a resolved Ghostly Prison or Spellskite. Another feather in our cap is that a lot of people playing Twin have adopted a mid rangey UWR approach over the traditional "All in Twin". This is great for us because it gives us more time to lock them out. MVPs: Ghostly Prison, Spellskite, Ensnaring Bridge, Nevermore, Helix[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=(G/R/U) Tron]Game 1: 30-40%, Games 2-3 50-60%
The modern format's ramping juggernaut. Tron is probably our toughest match overall, which is why so much sideboard space is devoted to dealing with it. Most of our creature removal and stall cards are useless in Game 1. Tectonic Edge and Chalice set to 1 can slow them down some, but you will probably need your sideboard hate to finish them. Post board we have Sowing Salts, Blood Moon, Pithing Needle and Nevermore. You won't need your leyline's unless they are running the sub=optimal mindslaver lock. MVP's: Tectonic Edge, Sowing Salt, Blood Moon[/SPOILER]
V. Desklists - Updated 11-13-13
[SPOILER=Primer Decklists]
And here is the most current version or RW Lockdown:
I started playing around with a jankier version of this deck yesterday (weaker land base, wall of omens in place of ghostly prison, sacred mesa as a penny-pinching stand in for Elspeth). The lock is an evil, beautiful thing once you get it up. The deck seems very strong against a variety of decks game one, but once the tools to break the lock come in post-sideboard the slow nature of the deck's win-cons and the lack of card draw seems like it can hurt you.
Some cards which I'd like to hear your opinion on:
Path to Exile: Yes, it is anti-synergistic with GP, but having more instant speed removal is helpful, especially when your opponent destroys ensnaring bridge or has a passive ability creature like Bob in play.
Peace of mind: Is it worth the slots? I have had trouble with having a glut of 4 cost spells in hand and no way to cast them fast enough to activate bridge. On the other hand, it seems like this might still be too slow.
Boros signet: Against a deck where you know you need a fast wrath or lots of spot removal, is it worth bringing these in as extra mind stones?
Boseiju, Who Shelters All: Permission based control seems to feast on this deck's relative lack of card drawing and its focus on quality answers over quantity. Have you ever tried this out in a delver/ fae heavy meta?
I started playing around with a jankier version of this deck yesterday (weaker land base, wall of omens in place of ghostly prison, sacred mesa as a penny-pinching stand in for Elspeth). The lock is an evil, beautiful thing once you get it up. The deck seems very strong against a variety of decks game one, but once the tools to break the lock come in post-sideboard the slow nature of the deck's win-cons and the lack of card draw seems like it can hurt you.
Some cards which I'd like to hear your opinion on:
Path to Exile: Yes, it is anti-synergistic with GP, but having more instant speed removal is helpful, especially when your opponent destroys ensnaring bridge or has a passive ability creature like Bob in play.
No, no and NO. Absolutely not. If you feel the need for more creature spot removal use Journey to Nowhere. Its cheap and just as effective as PtE without the awful drawback. We have a tax theme going on here were not going to accelerate them.
Peace of mind: Is it worth the slots? I have had trouble with having a glut of 4 cost spells in hand and no way to cast them fast enough to activate bridge. On the other hand, it seems like this might still be too slow.
I've honestly never laid eyes on that card before just now so never tested it. I have no need for a card like this though. All of my non-lock cards are broad threat removal cards. If I don't play them its because there's no threat (does not apply to blue always). Also you should liberally mulligan with this deck to get a nice hand or Leyline. As you can imagine having fewer cards isn't necessarily a disadvantage.
Boros signet: Against a deck where you know you need a fast wrath or lots of spot removal, is it worth bringing these in as extra mind stones? Maybe as a 1 of. You could also consider Everflowing Chalice.
Boseiju, Who Shelters All: Permission based control seems to feast on this deck's relative lack of card drawing and its focus on quality answers over quantity. Have you ever tried this out in a delver/ fae heavy meta?
I play in a delver heavy meta. Our game against delver with heavy red burn is very strong. Against heavy counterspells is even match or better. On the play we have the upperhand. Boseiju never really wowed me but i did test it, maybe some in the side to help vs blue irritations.
It feels like this deck could be improved a lot by the addition of Blue. Think about it. Tamiyo, Jace Beleren, and some light countermagic could both provide a way to protect the lock from bothersome cards like Maelstrom Pulse and give the deck even more ways to capitalize on the time and the fact that it can make it into the late game. Probably Remand/Spell Snare is the wrong way to go, but you always have Spell Pierce, maybe Mana Leak, and so on. Also, Spreading Seas could be quite strong against your average Jund or Naya Pod deck. Just something to consider.
If not, though, have you tried Suppression Field? I used it to great effect in a U/W Stax-style deck back when combo decks ruled the roost, before Ponder/Preordain were banned. It could be quite powerful in this fetchland-heavy format.
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Heh, I played against this deck online with my restore balance deck. The deck folds to the enemy's leyline of sanctity's which turns the game into a decking contest. Though I guess your deck has elspeth so you can set it up so you can attack with bridge.
It feels like this deck could be improved a lot by the addition of Blue. Think about it. Tamiyo, Jace Beleren, and some light countermagic could both provide a way to protect the lock from bothersome cards like Maelstrom Pulse and give the deck even more ways to capitalize on the time and the fact that it can make it into the late game. Probably Remand/Spell Snare is the wrong way to go, but you always have Spell Pierce, maybe Mana Leak, and so on. Also, Spreading Seas could be quite strong against your average Jund or Naya Pod deck. Just something to consider.
If not, though, have you tried Suppression Field? I used it to great effect in a U/W Stax-style deck back when combo decks ruled the roost, before Ponder/Preordain were banned. It could be quite powerful in this fetchland-heavy format.
There's no room for any of this. That's the problem with blue control, its takes a bloated suite of counterspells and card draw to make anything happen. There is no room for luxury spells, and no need for them. My threat removal package is all encompassing. I get REWARDED for removing threats and emptying my hand remember.
I have tried many versions with blue and white, some included Venser, some didn't. No version I tested was any where near as efficient as the list in the primer.
I like the idea behind this,t his is going to be the next deck I load up. Question though, have you considered using Porphyry Nodes? If it stops them from playing creatures and ends up getting destroyed itself then it's done its job, or you could combine it with something like Forbidden Orchard to make sure it doesn't leave.
Another suggestion (that is synergistic with my last assuming you go the forbidden orchard route) is adding a singleton Kher Keep. Your manabase won't be hurt from one colorless land and you only run Blood Moon in your sideboard. If you happen upon it in a game then it's a mana sink that gives you chump blockers. (By the way, you have 2x Blood Moon twice)
Lastly, have you felt a need for quicker red boardwipes to go against the likes of affinity and other more aggressive decks? Pyroclasm might be a sideboard candidate if the meta becomes saturated with thsoe sorts of decks. It's an expensive choice but I also think Bonfire of the Damned would work pretty well because how it scales and how it can directly hit players. I won't be sleeving that card up anytime soon because of price, but I think it's powerful enough to be worthy of inclusion.
I'll have to try to put together my own decklist tonight, going off of yours.
I like the idea behind this,t his is going to be the next deck I load up. Question though, have you considered using Porphyry Nodes? If it stops them from playing creatures and ends up getting destroyed itself then it's done its job, or you could combine it with something like Forbidden Orchard to make sure it doesn't leave.
Love Porphyry nodes, I will drop the sadbots and test 3 of these in it's place. I like the idea of the mini lock with the orchard as well. You've given me some things to think about.
Another suggestion (that is synergistic with my last assuming you go the forbidden orchard route) is adding a singleton Kher Keep. Your manabase won't be hurt from one colorless land and you only run Blood Moon in your sideboard. If you happen upon it in a game then it's a mana sink that gives you chump blockers. (By the way, you have 2x Blood Moon twice)
Lastly, have you felt a need for quicker red boardwipes to go against the likes of affinity and other more aggressive decks? Pyroclasm might be a sideboard candidate if the meta becomes saturated with thsoe sorts of decks. It's an expensive choice but I also think Bonfire of the Damned would work pretty well because how it scales and how it can directly hit players. I won't be sleeving that card up anytime soon because of price, but I think it's powerful enough to be worthy of inclusion.
Pyroclasm yes, if the meta calls for it. Bonfire...meh I think ill pass. Wrath of God wipes the board better for less mana than the miracle. I don't think doing damage to them is worth it.
I'll have to try to put together my own decklist tonight, going off of yours.
Solemn Simulacrum sounds bad. 4 is near the top of the curve. Too much high CC=bad for bridge. Instead, run 3 Chalice of the Void. Chalice of the Void. on 1 is great for your deck.
Keep in mind that Ghostly Prison just gets better in multiples, so consider adding a 4th.
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Without counters this deck automatically looses to combo. Counter spells also play into the "you can't do anything" theme. This deck should definitley be u/w instead of w/r
Without counters this deck automatically looses to combo. Counter spells also play into the "you can't do anything" theme. This deck should definitley be u/w instead of w/r
No, no and no. I do not automatically fold to all combo decks. Modern Combo decks still need to do 1 of 3 things:
1. Burn your face with a Grapeshot storm
2. Cascade or cheat a bunch of creatures into play
3. Cast Hive Mind
Our regular main deck lock stops the first 2, and we have a large amount of sideboard hate for non-creature threats that gives Hive Mind fits.
Examples:
Rule of Law - Storm & Cascade broken; Hive Mind seriously slowed
Nevermore - Naming Echoing Truth, or Hive Mind, or Pact of XXX, or maelstrom Pulse. There's lots of bombs to name.
Pithing Needle - Naming a fetch land like Scalding Tarn effectively destroys all copies that haven't yet been played.
Heavy counterspells is the deck's weakness. But the current meta has no decks running mass counterspells with the exception of Mystical Techings that pops up here and there. Even against heavy counters the game is very winnable, all you need to do is resolve 1 Ensnaring Bridge and their win condition is broken until they deal with it.
He has a point, though: a lot of these decks will be packing a bounce spell or 2 to protect from cards like Thalia out of Naya Pod. Without a good way to beat them, the savvy combo player can fairly easily deal with your lock, since you don't have a way to effectively interact on the stack. I mean, the deck is basically an updated version of the decade-old stax strategies that emerged to combat first Academy and High Tide, then the storm combo decks of Legacy and Vintage. Obviously, you have several advantages over the lists of yore (the ability to turn dead turns into incremental advantage through your 8-pack of Planeswalkers, for one), but you still have some of the weaknesses inherent to the strategy: the inability to interact on the stack, as well as a way to dig through your deck for the lock/for finishers before your opponent draws into a Cryptic or some other way to deal with it.
Now, you can say "I don't think there's sufficient space for blue in the deck", or "too taxing on the manabase", or "R/W is consistent enough". And you could be right. I don't pretend to be an expert in your deck, I just know the deck in most abstract sense. But it's worth exploring a small splash, maybe for Compulsive Research or Jace Beleren and a couple Mana Leaks, to force the opposing decks to think before wildly tossing their spells onto the stack, and as a way to recoup lost cards and dig further down. Just something to ponder.
Now, I actually proxied up your list and played a couple matches, and I have some interesting observations:
1. The deck concept is solid, especially against creatures. It really gets its money's worth out of the Affinity and Pod matchups. Delver, though, is a different animal, mostly because it can just counter and bounce its way past your lock pieces. The matchup doesn't seem insurmountable though.
2. That said, there are a few problems the deck has got: It has no way to deal with a fast Storm draw or similar unless it has a Leyline in the opener. barring some kind of aggressive Mulligan strategy, you lose a lot of games as a result.
3. Solemn Simulacrum seems really out of place in this deck: you often don't want to draw the card, as that can make the difference between an active Ensnaring Bridge and a useless Ensnaring Bridge, and the ramp function is basically never used, making it an expensive 2/2.
4. Mind Stone seems strictly worse than Boros Signet here, since you basically never want to draw the card later on.
With that in mind, I've constructed a modified list. Take it as you will.
There are a few changes going on here. First, I cut Gideon Jura, since it wasn't doing much for me and would occasionally get stuck in my hand, nullifying my Ensnaring Bridges and leaving me helpless before a swarm of little guys. Instead, I upped the numbers of the 4-drops, though I may wind up bringing them down to 3 and adding another Planeswalker instead. Perhaps Tibalt, to provide a way to dig without burning your bridges. Second, I cut the Solemns for Mana Tithe, which pretty much IMMEDIATELY made the matches better across the board. Its inclusion forced decks to play around countermagic and bought the deck at least a turn to set up the lock. Finally, I added in Boom//Bust. I found that the deck often will get into lock situations, only to have the opponent topdeck a Gifts Ungiven or Birthing Pod and dig their way out of the situation with a massive surge of card advantage, culminating in them breaking out of the lock through some combination of ETB effects and Bounce Spells, then killing me. Bust as a late game plan reinforces the lock, making it almost impossible for opposing decks to draw out of it. This is further reinforced by the fact that you A. play more lands than the average Modern deck, and B. aren't artificially depressing your landcount by playing large numbers of fetches. It's worked quite well.
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You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
I don't think the deck looks too terrible, but I also feel like you're underestimating your opponent's ability to deal with 1-2 hate pieces, and considering how dependent you are on a few active hate pieces to win, you end up being a lot more vulnerable than you would normally realize.
Most combo decks play bounce spells in the board to deal with problem permanents such as leyline or rule of law, ensnaring bridge is slow to get online, especially with a high curve, and the plethora of tempo decks will be able to just counter 1-2 key cards and subsequently beat you down with a Delver, Geist, or whatever else is relevant. You're also highly dependent on a turn 1 leyline to win, which will only happen around 40% of the time.
Pod decks almost unanimously play 1-2 maindeck cards to deal with enchantments and artifacts (typically qasali pridemage) and then more cards in their sideboard such as Wickerbough Elder or Harmonic Sliver.
Jund plays maindeck Maelstrom Pulse, and Liliana will give you problems when she resolves.
You also need to account for how much artifact / enchantment hate is present in the meta mainly due to affinity, but also to other big name cards like Splinter Twin, Birthing Pod and Vedalken Shackles.
Finally, the primary problem with a deck like this is the fact that a large portion of your deck is useless when you're drawing multiples. Topdecking leyline of sanctity is terrible when you already have one in play. Same goes with Rule of Law, ensnaring bridge, or any of the planeswalkers that you may draw in multiples.
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Find me online - I'm on Cockatrice * Tag - Badd B - Or on MTGO - Tag - Cbus05
So I tried a list similar to the OP. Jammed it against Jund. At least in Game 1, Jund found it surprisingly hard to break out of the lock. I did stick in 3 Mind Stones and 3 Wall of Omens (pulling Jens), true, but they smash one Bridge, another comes up. They smash a Leyline, they get Wrathed (or Pyroclasmed).
One problem that did come up, though, was getting planeswalkers stranded in hand. I can play duplicate Bridges and Leylines, true, but not duplicate walkers. They could start swinging with Kitchen Finks and Bobs. (Yes, into tokens and Walls, but they could swing nevertheless.)
Given my playstyle with this deck, I almost feel like pulling Gideon Jura and replacing him with two Faithless Lootings, two Tibalts, or the other Walls/Mind Stones. All Gideon will be is a lock piece (though I'm wondering how Gatecrash Boros Gideon will look).
Oh yeah, Ajani Vengeant bit it to Bolt all the time, even with the lock up.
I'm still concerned about the UR Storm match-up and the Twin Pod match-up. UR Storm has the patience to bounce your Leyline and kill you that turn, as this deck does not kill fast enough. Also, Empty the Warrens can slip across a Bridge (but not a Ghostly Prison) pretty darn well. If you don't Wrath fast enough, Twin Pod can chain into Zealous Conscripts or Qasali Pridemage, steal or blast the most troublesome lock piece, and swing with infinite Village Bell-Ringers.
One more thing--stick some Blinkmoth Nexuses in the deck. Those guys actually won games. They're evasive and have a worthless 1 power.
I'm really loving the feedback and suggestions here. Please keep them coming.
I agree the Solemns were out of place. They are actually a hold over for when the deck used Karn, but they are gone now and I am currently testing replacements.
THe porphyry node test was a bust, good old Journey to Nowhere worked much better for me. I am interested Mana Tithe as well, and I will test that later.
I'm not sure how you guys are getting bolted or gift's...the leyline prevents all of this.
BTW I said it b4 but you absolutely SHOULD use an aggressive mulligan strategy...having less cards isn't always a disadvantage here.
It's really tough for me to test anything properly right now because MTGO has a nasty bug that prevents all Leylines from being played on Turn 0. If you try it loses connection then reshuffles both players.
Even with this handicap I was able to beat WOTC_Astrocles and his nice bant deck last night, so I'm pretty happy about that.
Tried it against RG Artifact Tron. I predicted Tron would crush it, and it did. This deck does not kill fast enough. I pulled off an Elspeth ultimate once and Karn exiled Ensnaring Bridge. I O. Ringed Emrakul once and the writing was still on the wall, as Karn exiled it next turn. They can wipe out all your hard work with Oblivion Stone to boot. The only lock piece that works is the Bridge, and they pack enough Karns and O. Stones to remove it.
I'm not even sure Blood Moon will work, as Tron hit 7 lands very reliably. See enough Tron and I'll have to recommend Sowing Salt in the board.
Tried it against RG Artifact Tron. I predicted Tron would crush it, and it did. This deck does not kill fast enough. I pulled off an Elspeth ultimate once and Karn exiled Ensnaring Bridge. I O. Ringed Emrakul once and the writing was still on the wall, as Karn exiled it next turn. They can wipe out all your hard work with Oblivion Stone to boot. The only lock piece that works is the Bridge, and they pack enough Karns and O. Stones to remove it.
I'm not even sure Blood Moon will work, as Tron hit 7 lands very reliably. See enough Tron and I'll have to recommend Sowing Salt in the board.
Sowing salt is in the board. Game 1 vs tron is tough but games 2-3 we have pithing needle naming karn, sowing salts on any piece, nevermore naming oblivion stone....etc
So, I played several more matches with the deck, and I'm about done working on it. The strategy in and of itself has some merit, but it felt in many ways like playing a watered-down version of our Mono-U tezz decks or U/W stax with Lodestone Golem. It definitely feels like the deck has merit, but without many good ways to capitalize on the time you bought and a VERY clunky transition into the aggro come the late game. It needs an overpowering endgame plan to keep the opponent from drawing out of the lock, not just more ways to garner incremental advantages.
As for how to do that, I ultimately drew on an old strategy from just after the release of Zendikar, in the UWg Gifts Decks of that extended season: Emeria, the Sky Ruin+Yosei, the Morning Star+Miren, the Moaning Well. The crucial advantage of this plan is that there will be a nonzero number of games where you simply drop a Yosei after stabilizing the board and winning on the back of a giant dragon, but also that you will eventually be able to get Emeria active and simply end the game. I'm sure there are other ways to go about it, but I found that game plan to be consistent enough even through the Ensnaring Bridges. I also cut down the number of Ensnaring Bridges in favor of Ghostly Prison, which works better against everything but Tron, which was crap beforehand too. Here's my final list:
I'm starting to wonder how much Red offers the deck. At this point, at least for my list, it's mainly tron hate in the Side (for the record, I practically can't lose to Tron now, mainly because I'm packing 9 Sideboard slots against it), Lightning Helix, and Ajani. Except Ajani's been underperforming in this list, and Lightning Helix isn't much better than Path here, at least in my experience. There are definitely also times where I'd prefer something like Path or Journey over the Helix. Would a mono-white version be better?
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You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
So, I played several more matches with the deck, and I'm about done working on it. The strategy in and of itself has some merit, but it felt in many ways like playing a watered-down version of our Mono-U tezz decks or U/W stax with Lodestone Golem. It definitely feels like the deck has merit, but without many good ways to capitalize on the time you bought and a VERY clunky transition into the aggro come the late game. It needs an overpowering endgame plan to keep the opponent from drawing out of the lock, not just more ways to garner incremental advantages.
As for how to do that, I ultimately drew on an old strategy from just after the release of Zendikar, in the UWg Gifts Decks of that extended season: Emeria, the Sky Ruin+Yosei, the Morning Star+Miren, the Moaning Well. Would a mono-white version be better?
I wasn't kidding when I said Ive done extensive testing in on this combo. You are asking yourself all the same questions I first asked when I started exploring the idea. The yosei package just makes it that much more vulnerable to early threats. Red is needed for Helix and Ajani. THe helix is a critical piece to beating red burn, a common deck in any meta. Helix is needed to fight the speed of the format in general.
Ajani is needed for his ult, that is the game breaker you are looking for...you blow up their lands.
Trust me when I say ive tried it all. Yosei - Venser - Sun Titan - Karn: they are all fine win conditions, use them if you like. If you have an mtgo accnt I can show you these variations. Some of them work better than others, and of all of the ones ive tried this particular deck has been the most successful.
The whole idea of this deck is to be in top deck mode. The only non-lock cards you will draw are threat removal or more walkers. You are constantly wiping the board or removing permanents, if they draw out of the lock you have many layers to protect yourself i.e. Gideon.
One card I might consider putting back in is Buried Ruin to bring back fallen bridges.
I'm just saying what I've found. I've never been comfortable with that strategy, and for good reason: relying on topdecks is only good if the other side is doing it too, and without a way to stop someone slowly sculpting their hand with Thirst for Knowledge or Jace Beleren or Serum Visions or whatever, you're eventually going to get outmaneuvered. It also feels very vulnerable to countermagic in my matches. Basically, the deck is a club, which is a fine and effective weapon, but not in a format full of rapiers. Again, I found a similar approach in U or UW to basically have total strategic superiority, with better matchups basically across the board. To be fair, our U lists are significantly more tuned, and I've had much more experience with them, but it's hard to argue with a list that has more flexibility while maintaining the same consistency.
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There are two basic approaches- both use a low creature approach and a RW core with a high percentage of permanents aimed at reducing your opponent's ability to hurt you. The first approach, sometimes described as Boros Control on other MTG sites, is the control of the board via Ensnaring Bridge, Leyline of Sanctity and sometimes Blood Moon . Planeswalkers are normally used to finish and utility spells and sweepers act as back up. For clarity purpose it shall be called "Boros bridge lockdown" here. The second approach has its origins in white stax decks, a popular legacy deck in times past and still played today by its devoted followers. This approach will include more landkill, taxes and often recursive engines that slowly strangle the opponent's ability to even cast spells, often acting asymmetrically. It shall be referred to as "RW stax" here.
I. Introduction- reasons to play these decks
[Spoiler= Why play these decks and not USA control?] These decks give you an immensely satisfying feeling of control without basing the game around the stack and permission spells. Unlike USA control the best cards are not so obvious, and when your opponent sits down they won't be able to reel off 95% of your decklist with stunning precision. These decks are also the sort of decks that frustrate opponents, and induce apoplexy, rage quitting and head shaking whilst scooping. If you like opponents saying "stupid main board Leyline" or "he World Quellered every land away and I had no permanents" then read on. From a deck building perspective it is a wide open landscape- ideal for those who want to create, brew and innovate. RW has a massive toolbox and has access to superb permanent control, that is why it forms the spine of many control decks- and there are many highly effective forgotten bits of tech out there that really deserve a day in the sun.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Explanation of boros bridge lockdown]Leyline of Sanctity and Ensnaring Bridge - when these are in play, your opponent can't play magic. They can't attack you, unless you allow it. They can't burn you to death with permanents or spells. For good measure it is often advisable to reduce his or her ability to do stuff via Blood Moon , and if the meta is especially multiple creature heavy (eg twin, tokens) then Ghostly Prison can function as a supplementary anti creature measure. They have no choice but to remove one of the pieces of the lock before he can hope to continue. They had better do it quickly because while your lock is in place, your wincons- planeswalkers -are building up to their ultimates.
Multiple copies of Ensnaring Bridge in play means the opponent must remove them all before they can attack (watch out though for Detention Sphere ), so you can add layers and layers to your defenses. Ensnaring Bridge can cause most decks that use creatures as their win condition to shut down completely. As you might guess, that covers a lot of decks. The Leyline can also win games for you by itself, adding protection vs Grim Lavamancer , direct burn and targeted discard in black-white tokens and the increasingly popular 8 rack. Red and Black just don't have have a real answer to this card and resolving it often forces decks into a weaker plan B.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Explanation of RW stax lockdown]
RW stax is based on the legacy mono white stax deck. It works on a similar principle- tax the opponents using Magus of the Tabernacle and Ghostly Prison , restrict mana, and eventually win by virtue of a recursive lock- often World Queller and/or Crucible of Worlds returning Ghost Quarter and Tectonic Edge
This type of deck is not well liked by wizards due to its frustrating nature putting players off. It is not much fun to have spells but be unable to cast them. However, it IS fun to reduce some top tier decks to zero permanents using a bunch of cards they have to read twice. The number of potential lock cards and methods of restricting mana is surprisingly diverse, but more of that in the card choices for stax section.
[/spoiler]
II. Win cons for Boros bridge lockdown - meet the planeswalkers
[spoiler=The walkers]
Ajani Vengeant: Arguably the most powerful 4cc walker, he sees little play in Modern, although recent USA control lists have started using him. The problem Ajani V. has is his colors. You see, this Ajani is actually a control card, but most people instinctively want place him into a mid range aggro deck. That's ok, he is right at home here with our lock in place. With the board under control, Ajani can keep your opponents lands or other problematic permanent tapped, further denying them resources. Ajani's ultimate is the most powerful ultimate for a 4cc planewalker hands down, but he can only ultimate in a deck like this that can protect him. Ajani is the reason this deck has red, period, and is the most popular choice of PW in this build (and indeed in he has seen play in stax style decks too). His only downside is that he needs the lock to be in place before he can be safely cast.
As an aside if you choose to run Ghostly Prison you will need to note two things. Firstly prison does not protect him or any other planeswalker- although please do not point this out to the less aware opponents:). Secondly his ultimate is highly synergistic with Ghostly prison.
Elspeth, Knight-Errant: The most versatile 4cc planeswalker in this format has never been happier than in a deck like this. Elspeth is tough, she hits the deck with 5 loyalty counters and a 1/1 soldier to block for her. Shes so strong and self sufficient I will play here even before I have the board completely locked. For the most part, she will be just be making tokens, but her ult basically ensures your lock is never disturbed. Her indestructible tokens are your actual win condition in most games (unless you burn them).
Her +3+3 and flying does not work too well with bridge, however, but otherwise she is a very valid choice.
One of the few playable 5cc Planeswalker, Gideon is an absolute bomb here. First off, he's huge. You will cast him and have him +2 buying yourself at least 1 turn to stabilize. He keeps creatures from hurting your other, "squishier" walkers as well. If the board is already stable when he comes into play he adds an extra layer of protection for both you and your walkers, as well as an alternate win condition with his +0 ability. With Gideon is +2'ing every turn, you can now safely begin to fill your hand with cards. This will allow you to attack or to force your enemy to attack you with his creatures then have Gideon destroy them. Again when he is a man he sometimes can't attack through bridge- but if bridge is resolved then you are often on your way to winning. If you are prepared to go to five, this is a strong option.
[/spoiler]
III. Card Analysis and Gameplan for Boros bridge lockdown
[SPOILER]3 Easy Steps to Winning:
1. Stall
[SPOILER]Ghostly Prison As discussed already when this card hits the table fast aggro decks slow down and is especially effective vs Splintertwin variants and token strategies. Did we mention that [card/]Bitterblossom [/card] is unbannned?
Ensnaring Bridge: While you are busy stalling the game and wiping the board you will start to empty your hand. Once you play Bridge, the game is basically yours to control. You are now free to cast any walker without too much fear. The key card.
Lightning Helix This is your all purpose spot removal card, and is essential in the zoo resurgent world. Helix is a fantastic card with various uses that been discussed at length elsewhere. It eats newly unbanned kitties and gains you 3 life- what's not to like?
Journey to Nowhere An extremely versatile alternative to Helix, capable of eating goyf. Removes creatures of all shapes and sizes, although can of course be removed.
Lightning Bolt and Path to Exile The best burn spell in history, the best 1cc creature removal in the format but not very good with.......
Chalice of the Void Chalice set to 1 blocks a ton of irritants such as Lightning Bolt,Spell Pierce, Swansong, Discard, Path to Exile, mana dorks and many others. At 1 it is completely one sided if you choose not to run path or bolt yourself. Set Chalice to 2 to block most of the format's counterspells and hate bears. Never set this to 3 or higher. This card is mutually exclusive to builds with bolt and path, as chalice is often best set to 1 in many matches.
Mind Stone While not technically a stall card, this provides acceleration to your 4cc/5cc cards. This acceleration is absolutely critical because without the threat of a turn 3 wrath, the deck can fold to fast aggro. Late game it cycles itself? Amazing card, well worth considering.
Oblivion Ring You answer to everything; can't affect manlands however, and can be removed, especially by late game tron.
Tectonic Edge Provides a maindeck answer to Tron and Manlands. Gives the deck a much needed mana-denial sub-theme when combined with cards like Ghostly Prision and Ajani.
If you are prepared to run a Crucible of Worlds you can bleed this deck into RW stax builds, and use Ghost Quarter to do basics as well
Spellskite He protects every other permanent you play, and can chump block quite well. Downside is he dies to Wrath, but he does live through Pyroclasm, Anger of the Gods etc. He can also redirect modular ravagers. A superb card vs twin and boggles if you have failed to draw stall, although it is not there for those matches. A very valid choice that could be played main or side- always worth considering.
Leyline of Sanctity When played on Turn 0 the Leyline gives you excellent stall against any deck running red or black, burn and 8 rack are up against it if this resolves early. It also provides defense against many planeswalker abilities, and will need to be removed for Valakut to do it thing, and stops gifts too
Runed Halo This card has been given a bit of play in other strategies (recently used by a few French pros, for example, in the last Pro Tour). A cheap Leyline that can name etched champions or ornithopters that try to sneak under bridges and then have cranial plating moved onto them.
Blood Moon
Makes life hard for the unsuspecting, nerfs manlands and slows tron till they hit five mana to oblivion ring. Always worth thinking about.
Nevermore The main answer to combos unless you want to splash black for Slaughter Games . Keeps cards that could hurt in hand.
Trading Post Used to draw cards, get stuff back and gain life in some versions.
[/SPOILER]
2. Wipe boards and cast utility spells
[SPOILER]Pyroclasm. Sadly largely defunct in the face of wild nactyl et al, its still worth considering.
Anger of the Gods The new age pyroclasm, it might just edge Slagstorm .
Wrath of God Wipes the board, no questions asked, manlands excluded of course unless the opponent is blocking- which is not very likely. We will need wrath effects to ensure that we can reliably keep the board free of creatures.
Day of Judgement: This is copies 4-5 of Wrath. Having 2 different spells gives you some token defense to Extirpate etc.
Rest in peace Ideal graveyard hosing from the board. Would exclude Crucible of Worlds as they don't play well together.
[card] Grafdigger's cage [card] anti pod option that nerfs gravyards. Not good vs living end, but good vs dredge and a multitude of other decks.
Stony Silence Ideal for affinity and more importantly tron.
Torpor orb More anti pod, twin and death and taxes options
[card] Pithing Needle [card] Utility for enemy walkers, pod perhaps etc.
Kher Keep Mentioned as it appeared in two successful daily lists- and has been used to good effect in stax lists, where it keeps [card] Culling Scales [card] around forever.
[card] Disenchant [card] have you not hear of........
[card] Wear//Tear [card]. Nuff said- always worth considering in the 75.
[/SPOILER]
3. Win
[SPOILER]
As per the walkers section above. You basically win in three ways
Ajani Vengeant With your lock in place this walker begins to build up to an ult that give you a winning position. Sometimes used in stax variants too, ideal for this deck.
Elspeth, Knight-Errant We heard you wanted a win condition. How does a never ending army of indestructible tokens sound? Good? Good.
Chandra Naalar She ends the game and gives you repeatable creature removal. Use this or Gideon. Gideon does not end the game as well as Chandra but he is more defensive.
Gideon JuraKeeps creatures off you and your other planeswalkers. Often gets insanely huge, been seen with well over 40 counters on him. Provides another layer of defense should your opponent Echoing Truth your bridges or something.
You can also win via burn to the head, especially if you forsake chalice and run bolt, or by opponents scooping to your high level of inevitability.
Finally Assemble the Legion is a non planeswalker win con that some lists have used.
[/spoiler]
[/spoiler]
IV. Match Up Analysis for Boros Bridge lockdown Updated 2-21-14
[SPOILER=Red Burn]Game 1: 70% Games 2-3 70%
We have a strong game vs/ Red burn out of the box. A turn 0 Leyline is basically a guaranteed win since it forces them to beat you with critters. Red's aggro suite is strong, but without the burn spells it's too slow to threaten us before we lock down the board. Chalice set at 1 will slow them down even further while Lightning Helix heals you up. There's not much in the sideboard needed to help with this match. MVP's: Leyline of Sanctity, Lightning Helix, Ghostly Prison[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER= UWR Midrange]Game 1: 50% (list dependent), Games 2-3: 50% (list dependent)
While not necessarily our greatest match up, it can be won. It is very list dependent on both sides. They have the same sweepers as you, sometimes the same planeswalkers and their primary offensive threat is manlands. A resolved leyline hurts their targeted removal. They do, of course, have counterspells and cryptic bounce. A lot of this depends on if they run Detention Sphere . Extra copies of lock permanents on the table are not good vs sphere, but just having one or two on the table leaves you vulnerable to bounce. Extra lands will get around their mana leaks (but not swansong), Cryptic Command is a primary worry so name that with Nevermore if youn run it. Running Boil in the board has been suggested and found to be effective and unexpected, and some have used [card] Defense Grid [card]. Tec edges hurt their manlands, and any variant running a Crucible can recur lands to seriously hurt their manabase. MVPs Bridge, Chalice, Boil, resolved ajani ultimates/crucible [if run]. [/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=Affinity]Game 1: 65%, Games 2-3: 65%
Affinity, now called Robots! This is a great match for us. They are pure aggro and they have no way to disrupt our lock, or any of our stall cards. The key is to neutralize their biggest offenders first. Signal Pest needs to be removed asap since he can pump other robots and can attack underneath a bridge with 0 power. Ghostly Prison will bring the deck to a screeching halt, and Ensnaring Bridge stops any robots wearing cranial plating from attacking. A Leyline in play or Chalice at 1 blocks Galvanic Blast. Wrath of God is always a nice way to stabalize in this match. No sideboard needed here, but Stony Silence will make them cry and should be there anyway for tron. MVP's Lightning Helix, Ghostly Prison, Wrath of God, Stony Silence[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=Jund]Game 1: 60%, Games 2-3: 65%+
On the decline thanks to DRS being hit with the ban hammer, but always with us, Jund and its Rock offspring thrive on playing high value cards that 2 for 1 their enemy until they get to late game with a board advantage. We completely negate this strategy by blanking out a lot of their cards with non creature threats and nullifying huge swaths of their cards with Leyline and Bridge. Sweepers keep the board clear of threats and create large card advantage for us. They have no way to beat us until they remove the lock, and that means drawing pulses and decays en masse. Again careful play is required as cards in hand are vulnerable to lilly but multiples on the table vulnerable to pulse. Control lilly, get an early stall and a t0 leyline and this deck is relatively facile. [/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=Splinter Twin]Game 1: 60%, Games 2-3: 65%- assuming ghostly prison is run
The format's top combo deck (?) is actually a good match for us unless they draw the absolute nuts each game. We can get free wins here with a resolved Ghostly Prison or Spellskite. Another feather in our cap is that a lot of people playing Twin have adopted a mid rangey UWR approach over the traditional "All in Twin". This is great for us because it gives us more time to lock them out, and makes leyline a non dead card. MVPs: Ghostly Prison, Spellskite, Ensnaring Bridge, Nevermore, Helix[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=(G/R/U) Tron]Game 1: 30%, Games 2-3 50%
The modern format's ramping juggernaut. Tron is probably our toughest match overall, which is why so much sideboard space is devoted to dealing with it. Most of our creature removal and stall cards are useless in Game 1. Tectonic Edge and Chalice set to 1 can slow them down some (if you do not run chalice then path can take out wurmcoil simply), but you will probably need your sideboard hate to finish them. Post board we have Sowing Salts, Blood Moon (if not main), Pithing Needle and Nevermore. You won't need your leyline's unless they are running the sub=optimal mindslaver lock, and if they are tronning that off they have probably won. Mono U tron is just as hard if not harder as resolving sowing salt is more difficult.
N.B. Watch out for their board wipes- oblivion stone costs just 3 to drop. Another reason to run Stony Silence .
Hopefully on the decline due to zoo, if your meta is full of this then you had perhaps consider more mainboard landkill, and perhaps head towards more stax orientated lists.
MVP's: Tectonic Edge, Sowing Salt, Blood Moon, Stony Silence (Boil for mono U tron) [/SPOILER]
[spoiler=Zoo variants] There are so many variants of zoo- domain zoo, blue zoo, knight of the reliquary zoo, budget zoo that its is hard to put a percentage on it. Suffice to say that if this match is not in our favor we are doing it wrong. The tools are there to win- Leyline reduces burn, bridge and prison reduce attacks, and main deck they run at best 4 [card] qasali pridemage [card].
MVPs- the deck
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Death and Taxes]
Another one that is very list dependent on their side. The more aggressive their build, and the more mono white it is, the easier it gets. Their ability to cast flickerwisp and restoration angel targeting wisp to remove key permanents temporarily can be hard, and Gaddock Teeg and Qasali Pridemage don't play nicely with our bridges, plus Thalia taxes all our spells, and they ignore Leyline. Many D and T decks don't use green however, and are more aggro white weenie based, and these are easier by far. That said if you run Torpor Orb you get a much better game two, and a chalice set to two or three can be lethal for them if they don't get vial down, and ghostly prison is a real pain for them plus their paths can be dead too.
MVP- them not running green splashes, Ghostly Prison, Wrath, Torpor Orb.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Merfolk, U tempo and Fae]
Theses are probably the most difficult matches- if they can get an early threat and counter your first couple of relevant plays they are in he driving seat. The more counterspells these decks play the harder it is. Ninja bear delver and R/U pyromancer have come and gone to an extent, the latter being relatively lower in counterspell count and high on targeted burn, which is easier for us than some tempo decks. UB fae is on the rise, and Torpor orb hurts fae, and resolved ghostly prisons/bridge can be hard for them to deal with.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Final notes on other matchups]
It should be said modern is diverse and there are a large number of highly playable fringe strategies, such as hive minds, restore balances and ad nauseam. This is not standard where there are 5 playable decks, and knowing your meta is important.
In general combo decks that don't target are a source of irritation- hive mind being a classic case. If you splash black for slaughter games you can improve these matches by aiming at their key cards, and if you don't then Nevermore is your best bet.
Other aggro/control matches like martyr proc or soul sistas can be hard to win because they can gain so much life, but at the same time they have a hard time beating bridges, prisons, ajani and chalices and it is just as hard for them-these can often be long drawn out games- keep an eye on the clock.
Storm is a great match for obvious reasons- they don't go off till turn 4 and leyline plus prison is a really naughty lock.
Scapeshift has cryptics to bounce resolved leyline and blood moon, but if they don't get them they are toast. Worth considering aggressive mulligans if you know what they are on.
[/spoiler]
V. Decklists for Boros Bridge lockdown- Updated 2-24-14
[SPOILER=Boros bridge decklists]
And here is the most current version or RW Lockdown:
3 Battlefield Forge
2 Rugged Prairie
3 Plains
3 Marsh Flats
1 Mountain
2 Reflecting Pool
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Arid Mesa
3 Wrath of God
4 Ghostly Prison
2 Chandra Nalaar
3 Ajani Vengeant
3 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Pyroclasm
4 Pentad Prism
4 Journey to Nowhere
4 Oblivion Ring
4 Rest in Peace
3 Stony Silence
4 Chalice of the Void
Lands (26)
5 Plains
4 Arid Mesa
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Temple of Triumph
3 Tectonic Edge
3 Clifftop Retreat
2 Mountain
1 Kher Keep
INSTANTS and SORCERIES (15)
4 Path to Exile
4 Lightning Helix
4 Lightning Bolt
3 Wrath of God
4 Ghostly Prison
4 Pithing Needle
3 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 Ajani Vengeant
2 Gideon Jura
2 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Stony Silence
2 Sowing Salt
3 Rest in Peace
1 Pulse of the Fields
1 Combust
1 Akroma, Angel of Fury
2 Wear / Tear
3 Torpor Orb
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Mind Stone
3 Wrath of God
3 Trading Post
3 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Ghostly Prison
2 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Elspeth Knight-Errant
2 Ajani Vengeant
2 Chandra Nalaar
2 Oblivion Ring
1 Assemble the Legion
1 Day of Judgment
4 Temple of Triumph
4 Plain
3 Arid Mesa
3 Mountain
3 Clifftop Retreat
3 Tectonic Edge
3 Sacred Foundry
1 Kher Keep
3 Rest in Peace
2 Nevermore
2 Molten Rain
2 Chalice of the Void
2 Stony Silence
2 Sowing Salt
1 Spellskite
1 Wear // Tear
[DECK=RW Lockdown 12-8]
Lands
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Tectonic Edge
3 Rugged Prairie
3 Battlefield Forge
8 Plains
Stall / Wipe
4 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Wrath of God
4 Mind Stone
3 Chalice of the Void
3 Ghostly Prison
4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Pyroclasm
4 Oblivion Ring
1 Lightning Helix
Finishers
3 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
3 Ajani Vengeant
3 Trading Post
4 Rule of Law
4 Sowing Salt
3 Pithing Needle
4 Nevermore
8 Plains
1 Mountain
4 Tectonic Edge
4 Sacred Foundry
3 Rugged Prairie
3 Battlefield Forge
Hard Lock
3 Oblivion Ring
4 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Chalice of the Void
4 Lightning Helix
3 Wrath of God
4 Mind Stone
3 Ghostly Prison
4 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Day of Judgment
3 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 Gideon Jura
3 Ajani Vengeant
4 Rule of Law
3 Pithing Needle
4 Sowing Salt - (blood moon)
4 Nevermore
9 Plains
2 Mountain
2 Battlefield Forge
4 Rugged Prairie
3 Sacred Foundry
4 Tectonic Edge
1 Urza’s Factory
3 Boros Signet
4 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Ajani Vengeant
4 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
3 Oblivion Ring
4 Mana Tithe
4 Lightning Helix
3 Earthquake
2 Boom//Bust
4 Blood Moon
3 Magus of the Moon
2 Open the Vaults
2 Wrath of God
4 Stony Silence
[spoiler=Forum decklist]
3x Chalice of the Void
4x Ensnaring Bridge
4x Mind Stone
2x Trading Post
3x Ghostly Prison
4x Leyline of Sanctity
3x Oblivion Ring
3x Ajani Vengeant
3x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
3x Wrath of God
2x Boom // Bust
3x Flagstones of Trokair
1x Mountain
8x Plains
2x Rugged Prairie
4x Sacred Foundry
4x Tectonic Edge
[/spoiler]
VI. Video Index - Updated 11-13-13- Boros Bridge lockdown
[SPOILER]11-11-13 RW Lockdown vs White Weenie: http://youtu.be/jwNAqc_7j4Y
11-11-13 RW Lockdown vs Splinter Twin: http://youtu.be/MVLxpRl6xcM
11-11-13 RW Lockdown vs BUG Control: http://youtu.be/9HeSVxwL1Dk
11-11-13 RW Lockdown vs Gruul: http://youtu.be/_N6xzmgmBZ4
11-11-13 RW Lockdown vs Red Burn: http://youtu.be/GEvdKZpo2Ts
11-11-13 RW Lockdown vs Bogle Blouses: http://youtu.be/h2jvImgBwtQ <--Hilarious rip in this one
11-13-13 RW Lockdown vs Jund: http://youtu.be/i2UoMMUe9C4
11-13-13 RW Lockdown vs Merfolk: http://youtu.be/s9dLLs0TTbE[/SPOILER]
VII. RW Stax Lockdown- The core
[spoiler=The core cards]
The core of RW stax is always gong to include the Magus of the Tabernacle and Ghostly Prison cards above, period. The former is a staple in the legacy mono white stax, and the latter a frequently used option. Outside of that it is likely that you will see World Queller as a replacement for smokestack, and thus flagstones of trokair always gets an inclusion, even in mono white variants. Flagstones interacts with boom // bust to produce a turn 2 sinkhole and fix your mana- and so these cards often come as a package. You can check out more on this later in the card choices section.
Queller is a very strong card that gets stronger if you know how to use it and stack it with magus properly of course so you don't . You do NOT chose the type until resolution, so stack the trigger and give an opponent the time to respond. If they don't, it is too late. NEVER NAME THE TYPE UNTIL RESOLUTION! You can name some very odd types if you don't want to name ones on the board- check out the gatherer rulings- and often force opponents to do stuff in fear of what you may name. If you have a token generator (eg Kher Keep ) you can potentially create a one sided The Abyss in white (!!!!), and naming "artifact" v s affinity can even deal with their indestructible and protection from color permanents. If you have ever seen an affinity deck reduced to zero permanents, its probably this guy who did it. He tends to be the card that comes down last, not just from his casting cost but because on his own he is weaker than Magus.
Magus is just obscene with a t3 ghostly, and it is one of the the main weapon against token strategies, and realistically ghostly and magus is a hammer blow for many critter strategies, as even most goyfs bounce of our isolationist wizard.
Many lockdowns can be achieved to win the game from there, as waiting around for a scoop is never ideal.
[/spoiler]
VIII. RW Stax Lockdown- analysis, lock engines and card choices discussion
[spoiler=Overview]
Boros bridge lockdown and stax variants have a lot in common. Both will gain control via use of permanents, both may run planeswalkers, especially ajani vengeant, and both use removal and sweepers, essentially being creature light. The biggest difference between the two is the increased focus on mana restrictions and taxes in the stax variants, and their locks being more recursive.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Lock engines]
The most obvious lock is ghostly prison and magus of the tabernacle. In any low creature version these cards will be near auto includes if you want to follow the stax route to RW control.
The other lock engine already discussed above is World Queller and Kher Keep, allowing repeated critter destruction, repeated artifact, planeswalker or enchantment kill (if you don't have any) , or just additional land kill so they cannot pay either the ghostly tax or eventually Magus of the Tabernacle's bar bill.
Another deceptively dangerous engine is culling scales and kher keep . The tricks here are pretty simple. During your upkeep you target the lowest cc non land permanent- theirs- and kill it. Every turn. If you get to 3 cc, you simply make a token in response to the targeting (which is locked as it stacks), and the ability fizzles (check gatherer if you do not believe it). Alternatively, but more safely, you make a token EOT and munch that. The keep can create a nasty situation for enemies- if you are attacked you make the token and block, leaving their men as the scales' next victim. If you are not attacked you don't make the tokens, leading to the same result. The advice is never make a token on a clear board unless it is to keep the scales alive, as it will stop your scales doing its work when the scales finally turns up. Scales can play well with Magus and Queller- but always stack so that you don't pay an upkeep of a critter that you are going to sacrifice to Queller or shoot with scales.
More locks can be achieved with inclusion of land destruction, especially the mass land kill half offered by Boom // Bust- in conjunction with Magus it is often a board wipe and in conjunction with ghostly prison it acts to buy a lot of time. Of course it can also be a turn 2 sinkhole that fixes your mana, or a turn 3 stone rain that targets your fetchland and their real land.
Crucible of worlds offers more lockdown potential with recurring Ghost Quarter and Tectonic Edge, as well as draw potential with Horizon Canopy. The so called "wastelock" of legacy, but in diminished form.
On a similar line it has been suggested that Hikori, Dust Drinker could act in a similarly synergistic way with both magus and prison, whilst Storage Matrix has similar restrictive potential, although its use precludes the use of tapping artifact mana sources.
Trinisphere A sort of lock card on its own, it is ideal for making free spells, not so free. It is the last thing applied after cost adjustors, and keeps everyone playing fair.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler= Utility and card choices]
The list of utility cards available is unsurprisingly close to boros control lists using bridge. For a fuller discussion of these cards you can check out their first appearance in the Boros Bridge card choices section above.
Leyline of sanctity, lightning helix, wrath, bolt, are all as described in the card choices section for the bridge based versions, and all are likely to be in the seventy five, although Leyline is probably less likely to make main deck if you are restricting their mana heavily. Planeswalkers may also make an appearance, and again top choice is Ajani Vengeant, although ghostly prison won't protect him from attack, and he is not as essential. Bridge too may be worth a slot, although it is not the main focus of the strategy, whilst Chalice of the Void is the one most likely to miss out in any stax list using culling scales. Assemble the legion does not play well with magus, so is unlikely to make the cut. Other than that its a very similar list of suspects to boros control.
Mystifying Maze is amazingly good with ghostly prison in the right builds, forcing them to commit more men and dealing with unexpectedly large ravager beefed etched champions, goyfs, baneslayers, wurmcoils or other single high power beaters in the format. Late game removal that is especially annoying for them if they are paying ghostly prison taxes.
Aven mindcensor is also a valid option, especially if you try and recur Ghost Quarter.
Likewise the board options are similar- Stony Silence for tron/affinity, Rest In Peace for graveyards (although note the lack of synergy with Crucible), boil (highly effective), Defense Grid, Surgical Extraction, Nevermore (or Slaughter Games if you splash black), Runed Halo, Blood Moon, Grafdigger's Cage, and Ratchet Bomb could all conceivably see play for obvious reasons. Spellskite is also strong, although not synergistic with Culling Scales, where it may prevent an enemy Liliana of the Veil being gotten to. Some have tried Dampening Matrix, although stony silence is much better vs tron and affinity.
Certain cards such as Oust work better with landkill, and the option of oblivion ring is as strong as ever, main or side. Path is not synergistic with landkill, and Journey to Nowhere is fine as long as you don't inlcude scales.
Trading post and Mind Stone could also conceivably take slots in this type of build too.
Of special interest is the amount of landkill beyond boom//bust. When used as a stone rain or Sinkhole the cheaper half of this split card can be rather underwhelming in singles, but landkill is best operated in multiples and both Stone Rain and Molten Rain are legal and synergistic with ghostly prison and magus.[/spoiler]
IX RW stax lockdown- matchups
[spoiler= Tron RG and mono U]
These are much easier than boros control and a good reason to play this type of approach. Packing early landkill offers tron real problems when it tries to get going- t2 boom // bust on a flagstones, or just t3 stone/molten rain is nasty for them, especially when followed by more t4 and 5. Packing repeated landkill via Crucible of Worlds or World Queller offers inevitability, whilst packing stony silence game two can choke them when combined with a little landkill. If you can find room for surgical extractions you can effectively lock their tron out of the game from t2.
Don't expect much from ghostly prison, sweepers or magus in this match, but the landkill maindeck and stony silence is dynamite, and can yield some facile victories.
The mono u version is harder, slightly, but boil goes a long, long way towards a win.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Zoo variants]
As per boros control- these should be at the easier end of the spectrum- we are an anti critter deck with super stall, and their mana bases can be quite greedy. Qasali pridgemage is the biggest issue- if they don't run him they are probably toast, if they do then they may have a chance in quicker builds.
An extra sweeper or two in the board, or additional bridge type defenses may not go amiss if you are really worried about this match. Perversely the local game store fnm type builds that are more direct and cheaper on the manabase with typically fewer fetches are better vs our strategy than the more professional versions.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Affinity]
Provided there is enough hate this match is much, much easier than you would believe.The biggest issue is getting stuck with too much landkill- a small amount is needed for a land light deck. Queller can recursively kill artifacts, including indestructible Darksteel citadels. Once sat behind a prison the culling scales, Magus and Quellers do fine work in reducing their options. Just watch out for ravager counters going onto etched champions- once that happens you need to get a mystifying maze online for safety..
MVPs- Ghostly, Queller, Magus, (mystifying maze)
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Burn/RDW] This boils down to running Leylines and drawing Helices game one. They can't kill your men easily, you can kill their land, but if the game drags out you will need to draw your helices and post board Leylines if you run them. Boros control using bridges has a stronger match due to its Leylines being main deck.
MVP- Leylines, Helices
[/spoiler]
[Spoiler=Hatebears and Death and Taxes]
GW Hate bears are much their easier of the two, as D and T runs vials, and is able to save stuff with flickerwisp/resto. The only real issue is GW hatebears sometimes run sigurda, which invalidates magus, and pridemages in both decks can answer a prison. A bunch of mana dorks is asking for trouble vs magus, and they don't have enough paths for all of the Magus/Quellers. A resolved bust plus prison or magus should be enough to seal victory, and scales is especially good in this match if run.
D and T offers the many of the same threats up to 3cc, with an inferior top end but better defense and tricks. The more aggressive their build the easier the match gets.
MVPs- culling scales, ghostly, landkill, magus, queller
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Merfolk]
This is an odd one. With a vial start on the play they can land two threats and counter your first 2-3 plays, before steaming in for a win.Magus can bite on a vapor snag, and there is nothing you can do.
Correpondingly without a vial, and especially on the draw they tap out, and then face a prison or culling scales, from which point they have to tap out to attack or to overwhelm the culling scales, which east their non-land permanents to date. You can then landkill when they tap out, put them way behind and mop up their men bolt by bolt. You can even stick a queller sometimes early and just munch on their depleted land resources.
More careful game two play results in end of turn bolt vs Merfolk battles, which we win. Every tapout battle can lead to a boil and from there it is easy to win.
It is worth bringing in stony silence just for vial, because without it they lose more often than not, which is amazing for a tempo deck. MVPs- them not landing a Vial, Ghostly, Boil
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Fae and other U tempo]
EOT flashing is a right pain compared to merfolk. Their scions grant hexproof, so care is needed, and champion helps beat mass sweepers. Scales can be weak vs hexproof, queller costs too much for this battle. Magus, if he resolves is a house and bitterblossom vs ghostly prison is hilarious till they get rid of it. If they work out what you are up to by casting thoughtseize then life is harder, but it is not an easy match for either side. Chaining cliques is their way to winning, but is also very risky for them with your instant removal and boils game 2. It is nice to turn the tables on aggressive mistbinds and Boil in response....:)
Other blue tempo decks without red are easier than you expect, and it is the pace of UR pyromancer that is most threatening- if they resolve counters on your ghostly/scales then it is ugly time. They do not like Magus though, and it is often lavamnancer that wins the match for them if they get a result. This is a tight, tight match. Always.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=8 rack]
This match is like a dog and an alligator trying to communicate in Welsh. Neither deck has much to say to the other, one is trying to keep cards in hand via landkill, the other trying to empty hands whilst sitting behind a bridge that does not do much, if anything. Rack wins if it gets mana, boom // bust resolving in a big way normally stops 8 rack dead in its tracks, and Leylines in the 75 really help. Lilly dies to burn, but their discard is so pinpoint it can wreck you. A resolved culling scales is, however, brutal.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Soul Sistas/Martyr Proc]
A lovely match if they are not quick- they run no counters and are very vulnerable to sweepers and can be slowed. Cautious play on their part is only playing into the Stax's player's hands. Their best route is to go all in asap. The late game is all about inevitability- they end up with no lands, a big life total and no permanents, normally.
MVPs Culling Scales, Ghostly Prison, Bust
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Living End]
You win this if you pack lots of early landkill and if you go first there are hands they cannot beat. You lose if you skimp on landkill, as they go off and Beast Within your defenses. Relying on Nevermore is not as good as splashing for Slaughter Games, but to commit to a splash for effectively a few combo decks is not always the best call, as our mana base needs flagstones and thus more "real" lands than fetch heavy smooth manabases that are common in the format..
MVP- landkill, landkill, landkill, Nevermore (Slaughter Games)
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Twin]
They lose if you resolve early Ghostlies and then aim at their lands or get a scales/kheer keep.
They win if they get the countermagic and flash stuff they need. you can of course Boil them. If they are playing white twin things are easier.
MVPs Ghostly Prison, boil game 2/3
[/spoiler]
[spoiler= Other decks- an overview]
As mentioned for boros control, there are a lot of niche decks in the format. If you meet someone trying to amulet of vigor, Hivemind or Ad Nauseam you, then you can at lest lie safe in the knowledge that these spells all require vast mana resources
Sure, these matches typically leave you with a lot of dead cards, but aiming at their mana is always a good bet and gives a strong chance of them blowing out with no land and no combo and a smiling Worldqueller locking them out....
One exception is instant reanimator- you MUST land a Ghostly or it will be curtains. If you do then you are well on the way to win, if you do not then you need to hit a land a turn from turn 2 or it is game 2, where upon you get to play with less dead cards......
[/spoiler]
V. Decklists for RW Stax- Updated 2-24-14
[SPOILER=RW Stax]
4 Flagstones of Trokair
2 Ghost Quarter
5 Plains
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Tectonic Edge
3 Magus of the Tabernacle
4 Simian Spirit Guide
3 World Queller
4 Boom // Bust
3 Chalice of the Void
2 Crucible of Worlds
3 Ghostly Prison
4 Oblivion Ring
3 Storage Matrix
3 Trinisphere
3 Flagstones of Trokair
2 Ghost Quarter
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Mountain
4 Plains
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Tectonic Edge
3 World Queller
4 Boros Signet
2 Chalice of the Void
3 Crucible of Worlds
4 Ghostly Prison
4 Lightning Helix
2 Mind Stone
4 Oblivion Ring
2 Wildfire
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
Further discussion of these decks can be found at
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Forum decklists]
4 flagstones of trokair
4 sacred foundry
4 arid mesa
2 godless shrine
1 blood crypt
1 mountain
1 Rugged Prarie
1 ghost quarter
1 tectonic edge
2 mystifying maze
1 kher keep
2 culling scales
4 ghostly prison
4 magus of the tabernacle
3 world queller
4 molten rain
4 stone rain
4 boom//bust
4 lightning bolt
4 lightning helix
1 terminate
1 wrath of god
3 stony silence
2 boil
2 defense grid
2 slaughter games
1 surgical extraction
2 rest in peace
1 ratchet bomb
1 combust
1 Torpor orb
3x Crucible of Worlds
2x Day of Judgment
1x Encroaching Wastes
1x Faith's Fetters
4x Flagstones of Trokair
2x Ghost Quarter
4x Ghostly Prison
2x Horizon Canopy
4x Magus of the Tabernacle
4x Mutavault
4x Oblivion Ring
12x Plains
4x Simian Spirit Guide
3x Tectonic Edge
3x Trinisphere
1x World Queller
2x Wrath of God
There are plenty of other RW stax style lists out there- check on you tube for some video examples. Out of respect for the fact that the authors have not given permission to link to their videos no links are included for this archetype as of yet. But they are out there.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Future developments and off shoots]
There are lots of ways this type of deck could go, and lots of related ideas. A more increased creature route brings us into the realms of Death and Taxes, whilst cards like Exhaustion and Zur's weirding are crying out for prison builds to abuse them. For now here is a suggested tezzeret style lockdown approach.
[Spoiler=Tezzeret Variation 12-8-12]
1 Tolaria West
1 Academy Ruins
1 Plains
3 Mystic Gate
1 Island
3 Tectonic Edge
3 Celestial Colonnade
3 Adarkar Wastes
3 Hallowed Fountain
4 Darksteel Citadel
Accelerate
1 Mox Opal
3 Talisman of Progress
3 Azorius Signet
Sweepers / Stall
4 Ghostly Prison
1 Day of Judgment
3 Wrath of God
4 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Thopter Foundry
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Trinisphere
1 Trading Post
1 Torpor Orb
1 Crucible of Worlds
3 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Pithing Needle
Walkers
4 Tezzeret the Seeker
3 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 Pithing Needle
1 Witchbane Orb
4 Rule of Law
1 Relic of Progenitus
4 Nevermore
3 Quiet Purity
[spoiler=Old Primer]
I. Introduction
[Spoiler=Why play this deck?]This deck gives you an immensely satisfying feeling of control. The strategy is a total lock down. Its perfect for a creature-win-card meta like modern. The deck is constructed to slow down and remove creatures of all sizes, in small numbers or large. When that's done, you attack the core mechanic of creature based win strategies with Ensnaring Bridge. Once you have control of the board you start to drop your planeswalkers. Alone each of the walkers is a serious threat, but once they start working together the raw power of the deck becomes apparent. The walkers are a well balanced team of heroes that will win games while being tons of fun to use. If you want to control the game and use Planeswalkers to win...this is the deck for you![/spoiler]
[spoiler=Explanation of the Lock]Leyline of Sanctity and Ensnaring Bridge - when these are in play, your opponent can't play magic. He can't attack you, unless you allow it. He can't burn you to death with permanents or spells. He cannot touch you, period. He has no choice but to remove one of the pieces of the lock before he can hope to continue. And he had better do it fast because while your lock is in place, your planeswalkers are building up to their ults. Did I mention this deck has planeswalkers? Well it does, but they deserve a section all to themselves.
Multiple copies of ensnaring bridge in play means the opponent must remove them all before he can attack, so you can add layers and layers to your defenses. Ensnaring Bridge causes most decks that use creatures as their win condition to shut down completely. As you might guess, that covers a lot of decks. The Leyline can also win games for you by itself. It completely shields you from both Red and Black and neither have an answer to this card.
When put together, Bridge and Leyline form a very hard lock.
[/spoiler]
II. Planeswalker Meet and Greet
[spoiler=The walkers]
Ajani Vengeant: Arguably the most powerful 4cc walker, he sees almost no play in Modern. The problem Ajani V. has is his colors. You see, this Ajani is actually a control card, but most people instinctively want place him into a mid range aggro deck. That's ok, he is right at home here with our lock in place. With the board under control, Ajani can keep your opponents lands or other problematic permanent tapped, further denying them resources. Ajani's ult is the most powerful ult for a 4cc planewalker hands down, but he can only ult in a deck like this. Ajani is the reason this deck has red, period. His only downside is that he needs the lock to be in place before he can be safely cast.
Ajani is your Mage planeswalker.
Elspeth, Knight-Errant: The most versatile 4cc planeswalker in this format has never been happier than in a deck like this. Elspeth is tough, she hits the deck with 5 loyalty counters and a 1/1 soldier to block for her. Shes so strong and self sufficient I will play here even before I have the board completely locked. For the most part, she will be just be making tokens, but her ult basically ensures your lock is never disturbed. Her indestructible tokens are your actual win condition in most games (unless you burn them).
Elspeth is your Support planeswalker.
One of the few playable 5cc Planeswalker, Gideon is an absolute bomb here. First off, he's huge. You will cast him and have him +2 buying yourself at least 1 turn to stabilize. He keeps creatures from hurting your other, "squishier" walkers as well. If the board is already stable when he comes into play he adds an extra layer of protection for both you and your walkers, as well as an alternate win condition with his +0 ability. With Gideon is +2'ing every turn, you can now safely begin to fill your hand with cards. This will allow you to attack or to force your enemy to attack you with his creatures then have Gideon destroy them.
Gideon is your Tank Planeswalker.[/SPOILER]
III. Card Analysis and Gameplan
[SPOILER]3 Easy Steps to Winning:
1. Stall
[SPOILER]Ghostly Prison: When this card hits the table fast aggro decks slow down to a manageable crawl. Also provides a hard counter to Splintertwin and Token strategies.
Lightning Helix This is your all purpose spot removal card. Helix is a fantastic card with various uses that been discussed at length elsewhere. Its purpose here is to give us spot removal and much needed healing.
Journey to Nowhere An extremely versatile alternative to Helix. Removes creatures of all shapes and sizes. Can be interchanged with Helix in formats that are not using as much fast Burn
Mind Stone While not technically a stall card, this provides acceleration to your 4cc cards. This acceleration is absolutely critical because without the threat of a turn 3 wrath, the deck can fold to fast aggro. Late game it cycles itself? Amazing card.
Chalice of the Void Chalice set to 1 blocks a ton of irritants such as Lightning Bolt, DRS, Spell Pierce, Discard, Path to Exile and many others. At 1 it is completely one sided. Set Chalice to 2 to block most of the format's counterspells and hate bears. Never set this to 3 or higher.
Oblivion Ring You answer to everything; can't affect manlands however.
Tectonic Edge Provides a maindeck answer to Tron and Manlands. Gives the deck a much needed mana-denial sub-theme when combined with cards like Ghostly Prision and Ajani.
Spellskite He protects every other permanent you play, and can chump block quite well. Downside is he dies to Wrath, but he does live through Pyroclasm.
Leyline of Sanctity When played on Turn 0 the leyline gives you excellent stall against any deck running red or black. It also provides defense against many planeswalker abilities.[/SPOILER]2. Wipe
[SPOILER]Pyroclasm In most games this is a 2cc Wrath. This is one of the best sweepers in the format, use 3-4.
Wrath of God Wipes the board, no questions asked. We will need 4-5 wrath effects to ensure that we can reliably keep the board free of creatures.
Day of Judgement This is copies 4-5 of Wrath. Having 2 different spells gives you some token defense to Extirpate etc.
[/SPOILER]3. Lock
[SPOILER]Ensnaring Bridge While you are busy stalling the game and wiping the board you will start to empty your hand. Once you play Bridge, the game is basically yours to control. You are now free to cast any walker without too much fear.
Ajani Vengeant With your lock in place this walker begins to build up to an ult that give you a winning position.
Elspeth, Knight-Errant I heard you wanted a win condition. How does a never ending army of indestructible tokens sound? Good? Good.
Chandra Naalar She ends the game and gives you repeatable creature removal. Use this or Gideon. Gideon does not end the game as well as Chandra but he is more defensive.
Gideon Jura Keeps creatures off you and your other planeswalkers. Often gets insanely huge, ive had well over 40 counters on him. Provides another layer of defense should your opponent Echoing Truth your bridges or something.[/SPOILER][/SPOILER]
IV. Match Up Analysis - Updated 11-21-13
[SPOILER=Red Burn]Game 1: 70% Games 2-3 70%
We have a strong game vs/ Red burn out of the box. A turn 0 Leyline is basically a guaranteed win since it forces them to beat you with critters. Red's aggro suite is strong, but without the burn spells it's too slow to threaten us before we lock down the board. Chalice set at 1 will slow them down even further while Lightning Helix heals you up. There's not much in the sideboard needed to help with this match. MVP's: Leyline of Sanctity, Lightning Helix, Ghostly Prison[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER= UWR Midrange]Game 1: 50%, Games 2-3: 60%
While not necessarily our greatest match up, this match is very winnable because right now these lists heavily favor red. Play reactive against them and bring them into a late game. Extra lands will get around their mana leaks, Cryptic Command is your primary threat so name that with Nevermore. Chalice gives them fits as well. If any parts of your lock resolve it spells big trouble for them. MVPs Nevermore, Bridge, Chalice[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=Affinity]Game 1: 65%, Games 2-3: 65%
Affinity, now called Robots!, is a great match for us. They are pure aggro and they have no way to disrupt our lock, or any of our stall cards. The key is to neutralize their biggest offenders first. Signal Pest needs to be removed asap since he can pump other robots and can attack underneath a bridge with 0 power. Ghostly Prison will bring the deck to a screeching halt, and ensnaring bridge stops any robots wearing cranial plating from attacking. A Leyline in play or Chalice at 1 blocks Galvanic Blast. Wrath of God is always a nice way to stabalize in this match. No sideboard needed here. MVP's Lightning Helix, Ghostly Prison, Wrath of God[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=Jund]Game 1: 60%, Games 2-3: 65%+
Our Jund match up is why we are playing this deck. Jund is the flagship for the format right now. So much so that it has spawned and entire class of BGx based decks that are all quite similar in nature. Jund thrives on playing high value cards that 2 for 1 their enemy until they get to late game with a board advantage. We compeltely negate this strategy by blanking out a lot fo their cards with non creature threats and nullifying huge swaths of their cards with Leyline and Bridge. Sweepers keep the board clear of threats and create large card advantage for us. They have no way to beat us until they remove the lock, and there is a lot of redundancy in place which makes it even more difficult. This deck can be crafted to be a pure Jund killer if the meta calls for it. Abuse it.[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=Splinter Twin]Game 1: 60%, Games 2-3: 65%
The format's top combo deck is actually a good match for us unless they draw the absolute nuts each game. Twin has largely been pushed out of the format by BGx decks and Abrupt Decay. We can get free wins here with a resolved Ghostly Prison or Spellskite. Another feather in our cap is that a lot of people playing Twin have adopted a mid rangey UWR approach over the traditional "All in Twin". This is great for us because it gives us more time to lock them out. MVPs: Ghostly Prison, Spellskite, Ensnaring Bridge, Nevermore, Helix[/SPOILER]
[SPOILER=(G/R/U) Tron]Game 1: 30-40%, Games 2-3 50-60%
The modern format's ramping juggernaut. Tron is probably our toughest match overall, which is why so much sideboard space is devoted to dealing with it. Most of our creature removal and stall cards are useless in Game 1. Tectonic Edge and Chalice set to 1 can slow them down some, but you will probably need your sideboard hate to finish them. Post board we have Sowing Salts, Blood Moon, Pithing Needle and Nevermore. You won't need your leyline's unless they are running the sub=optimal mindslaver lock. MVP's: Tectonic Edge, Sowing Salt, Blood Moon[/SPOILER]
V. Desklists - Updated 11-13-13
[SPOILER=Primer Decklists]
And here is the most current version or RW Lockdown:
3 Battlefield Forge
2 Rugged Prairie
3 Plains
3 Marsh Flats
1 Mountain
2 Reflecting Pool
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Arid Mesa
3 Wrath of God
4 Ghostly Prison
2 Chandra Nalaar
3 Ajani Vengeant
3 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Pyroclasm
4 Pentad Prism
4 Journey to Nowhere
4 Oblivion Ring
4 Rest in Peace
3 Stony Silence
4 Chalice of the Void
4 Sacred Foundry
4 Tectonic Edge
3 Rugged Prairie
3 Battlefield Forge
8 Plains
Stall / Wipe
4 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Wrath of God
4 Mind Stone
3 Chalice of the Void
3 Ghostly Prison
4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Pyroclasm
4 Oblivion Ring
1 Lightning Helix
3 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
3 Ajani Vengeant
3 Trading Post
4 Rule of Law
4 Sowing Salt
3 Pithing Needle
4 Nevermore
8 Plains
1 Mountain
4 Tectonic Edge
4 Sacred Foundry
3 Rugged Prairie
3 Battlefield Forge
Hard Lock
3 Oblivion Ring
4 Ensnaring Bridge
3 Chalice of the Void
4 Lightning Helix
3 Wrath of God
4 Mind Stone
3 Ghostly Prison
4 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Day of Judgment
3 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 Gideon Jura
3 Ajani Vengeant
4 Rule of Law
3 Pithing Needle
4 Sowing Salt - (blood moon)
4 Nevermore
[Spoiler=Tezzeret Variation 12-8-12]
1 Tolaria West
1 Academy Ruins
1 Plains
3 Mystic Gate
1 Island
3 Tectonic Edge
3 Celestial Colonnade
3 Adarkar Wastes
3 Hallowed Fountain
4 Darksteel Citadel
Accelerate
1 Mox Opal
3 Talisman of Progress
3 Azorius Signet
Sweepers / Stall
4 Ghostly Prison
1 Day of Judgment
3 Wrath of God
4 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Thopter Foundry
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Trinisphere
1 Trading Post
1 Torpor Orb
1 Crucible of Worlds
3 Ensnaring Bridge
1 Ratchet Bomb
1 Pithing Needle
Walkers
4 Tezzeret the Seeker
3 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 Pithing Needle
1 Witchbane Orb
4 Rule of Law
1 Relic of Progenitus
4 Nevermore
3 Quiet Purity
[SPOILER=Forum Decklists]
3x Chalice of the Void
4x Ensnaring Bridge
4x Mind Stone
2x Trading Post
3x Ghostly Prison
4x Leyline of Sanctity
3x Oblivion Ring
3x Ajani Vengeant
3x Elspeth, Knight-Errant
3x Wrath of God
2x Boom // Bust
3x Flagstones of Trokair
1x Mountain
8x Plains
2x Rugged Prairie
4x Sacred Foundry
4x Tectonic Edge
9 Plains
2 Mountain
2 Battlefield Forge
4 Rugged Prairie
3 Sacred Foundry
4 Tectonic Edge
1 Urza’s Factory
3 Boros Signet
4 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Ajani Vengeant
4 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
3 Oblivion Ring
4 Mana Tithe
4 Lightning Helix
3 Earthquake
2 Boom//Bust
4 Blood Moon
3 Magus of the Moon
2 Open the Vaults
2 Wrath of God
4 Stony Silence
VI. Video Index - Updated 11-13-13
[SPOILER]11-11-13 RW Lockdown vs White Weenie: http://youtu.be/jwNAqc_7j4Y
11-11-13 RW Lockdown vs Splinter Twin: http://youtu.be/MVLxpRl6xcM
11-11-13 RW Lockdown vs BUG Control: http://youtu.be/9HeSVxwL1Dk
11-11-13 RW Lockdown vs Gruul: http://youtu.be/_N6xzmgmBZ4
11-11-13 RW Lockdown vs Red Burn: http://youtu.be/GEvdKZpo2Ts
11-11-13 RW Lockdown vs Bogle Blouses: http://youtu.be/h2jvImgBwtQ <--Hilarious rip in this one
11-13-13 RW Lockdown vs Jund: http://youtu.be/i2UoMMUe9C4
11-13-13 RW Lockdown vs Merfolk: http://youtu.be/s9dLLs0TTbE[/SPOILER][/spoiler]
Some cards which I'd like to hear your opinion on:
Path to Exile: Yes, it is anti-synergistic with GP, but having more instant speed removal is helpful, especially when your opponent destroys ensnaring bridge or has a passive ability creature like Bob in play.
Peace of mind: Is it worth the slots? I have had trouble with having a glut of 4 cost spells in hand and no way to cast them fast enough to activate bridge. On the other hand, it seems like this might still be too slow.
Boros signet: Against a deck where you know you need a fast wrath or lots of spot removal, is it worth bringing these in as extra mind stones?
Boseiju, Who Shelters All: Permission based control seems to feast on this deck's relative lack of card drawing and its focus on quality answers over quantity. Have you ever tried this out in a delver/ fae heavy meta?
Answers in text above.
540 Peasant cube- Gold EditionSomething SpicyIf not, though, have you tried Suppression Field? I used it to great effect in a U/W Stax-style deck back when combo decks ruled the roost, before Ponder/Preordain were banned. It could be quite powerful in this fetchland-heavy format.
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
My errata'd commons cube
Im quite familiar with both of those decks (especially MWC). This is something different, though the goal might be similar.
There's no room for any of this. That's the problem with blue control, its takes a bloated suite of counterspells and card draw to make anything happen. There is no room for luxury spells, and no need for them. My threat removal package is all encompassing. I get REWARDED for removing threats and emptying my hand remember.
I have tried many versions with blue and white, some included Venser, some didn't. No version I tested was any where near as efficient as the list in the primer.
Another suggestion (that is synergistic with my last assuming you go the forbidden orchard route) is adding a singleton Kher Keep. Your manabase won't be hurt from one colorless land and you only run Blood Moon in your sideboard. If you happen upon it in a game then it's a mana sink that gives you chump blockers. (By the way, you have 2x Blood Moon twice)
Lastly, have you felt a need for quicker red boardwipes to go against the likes of affinity and other more aggressive decks? Pyroclasm might be a sideboard candidate if the meta becomes saturated with thsoe sorts of decks. It's an expensive choice but I also think Bonfire of the Damned would work pretty well because how it scales and how it can directly hit players. I won't be sleeving that card up anytime soon because of price, but I think it's powerful enough to be worthy of inclusion.
I'll have to try to put together my own decklist tonight, going off of yours.
Answered above.
Keep in mind that Ghostly Prison just gets better in multiples, so consider adding a 4th.
It's an updated version of Brawl into an epic, new game.
No, no and no. I do not automatically fold to all combo decks. Modern Combo decks still need to do 1 of 3 things:
1. Burn your face with a Grapeshot storm
2. Cascade or cheat a bunch of creatures into play
3. Cast Hive Mind
Our regular main deck lock stops the first 2, and we have a large amount of sideboard hate for non-creature threats that gives Hive Mind fits.
Examples:
Rule of Law - Storm & Cascade broken; Hive Mind seriously slowed
Nevermore - Naming Echoing Truth, or Hive Mind, or Pact of XXX, or maelstrom Pulse. There's lots of bombs to name.
Pithing Needle - Naming a fetch land like Scalding Tarn effectively destroys all copies that haven't yet been played.
Heavy counterspells is the deck's weakness. But the current meta has no decks running mass counterspells with the exception of Mystical Techings that pops up here and there. Even against heavy counters the game is very winnable, all you need to do is resolve 1 Ensnaring Bridge and their win condition is broken until they deal with it.
Now, you can say "I don't think there's sufficient space for blue in the deck", or "too taxing on the manabase", or "R/W is consistent enough". And you could be right. I don't pretend to be an expert in your deck, I just know the deck in most abstract sense. But it's worth exploring a small splash, maybe for Compulsive Research or Jace Beleren and a couple Mana Leaks, to force the opposing decks to think before wildly tossing their spells onto the stack, and as a way to recoup lost cards and dig further down. Just something to ponder.
Now, I actually proxied up your list and played a couple matches, and I have some interesting observations:
1. The deck concept is solid, especially against creatures. It really gets its money's worth out of the Affinity and Pod matchups. Delver, though, is a different animal, mostly because it can just counter and bounce its way past your lock pieces. The matchup doesn't seem insurmountable though.
2. That said, there are a few problems the deck has got: It has no way to deal with a fast Storm draw or similar unless it has a Leyline in the opener. barring some kind of aggressive Mulligan strategy, you lose a lot of games as a result.
3. Solemn Simulacrum seems really out of place in this deck: you often don't want to draw the card, as that can make the difference between an active Ensnaring Bridge and a useless Ensnaring Bridge, and the ramp function is basically never used, making it an expensive 2/2.
4. Mind Stone seems strictly worse than Boros Signet here, since you basically never want to draw the card later on.
With that in mind, I've constructed a modified list. Take it as you will.
9 Plains
2 Mountain
2 Battlefield Forge
4 Rugged Prairie
3 Sacred Foundry
4 Tectonic Edge
1 Urza’s Factory
3 Boros Signet
4 Leyline of Sanctity
4 Ajani Vengeant
4 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
3 Oblivion Ring
4 Mana Tithe
4 Lightning Helix
3 Earthquake
2 Boom//Bust
4 Blood Moon
3 Magus of the Moon
2 Open the Vaults
2 Wrath of God
4 Stony Silence
There are a few changes going on here. First, I cut Gideon Jura, since it wasn't doing much for me and would occasionally get stuck in my hand, nullifying my Ensnaring Bridges and leaving me helpless before a swarm of little guys. Instead, I upped the numbers of the 4-drops, though I may wind up bringing them down to 3 and adding another Planeswalker instead. Perhaps Tibalt, to provide a way to dig without burning your bridges. Second, I cut the Solemns for Mana Tithe, which pretty much IMMEDIATELY made the matches better across the board. Its inclusion forced decks to play around countermagic and bought the deck at least a turn to set up the lock. Finally, I added in Boom//Bust. I found that the deck often will get into lock situations, only to have the opponent topdeck a Gifts Ungiven or Birthing Pod and dig their way out of the situation with a massive surge of card advantage, culminating in them breaking out of the lock through some combination of ETB effects and Bounce Spells, then killing me. Bust as a late game plan reinforces the lock, making it almost impossible for opposing decks to draw out of it. This is further reinforced by the fact that you A. play more lands than the average Modern deck, and B. aren't artificially depressing your landcount by playing large numbers of fetches. It's worked quite well.
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
Most combo decks play bounce spells in the board to deal with problem permanents such as leyline or rule of law, ensnaring bridge is slow to get online, especially with a high curve, and the plethora of tempo decks will be able to just counter 1-2 key cards and subsequently beat you down with a Delver, Geist, or whatever else is relevant. You're also highly dependent on a turn 1 leyline to win, which will only happen around 40% of the time.
Pod decks almost unanimously play 1-2 maindeck cards to deal with enchantments and artifacts (typically qasali pridemage) and then more cards in their sideboard such as Wickerbough Elder or Harmonic Sliver.
Jund plays maindeck Maelstrom Pulse, and Liliana will give you problems when she resolves.
You also need to account for how much artifact / enchantment hate is present in the meta mainly due to affinity, but also to other big name cards like Splinter Twin, Birthing Pod and Vedalken Shackles.
Finally, the primary problem with a deck like this is the fact that a large portion of your deck is useless when you're drawing multiples. Topdecking leyline of sanctity is terrible when you already have one in play. Same goes with Rule of Law, ensnaring bridge, or any of the planeswalkers that you may draw in multiples.
One problem that did come up, though, was getting planeswalkers stranded in hand. I can play duplicate Bridges and Leylines, true, but not duplicate walkers. They could start swinging with Kitchen Finks and Bobs. (Yes, into tokens and Walls, but they could swing nevertheless.)
Given my playstyle with this deck, I almost feel like pulling Gideon Jura and replacing him with two Faithless Lootings, two Tibalts, or the other Walls/Mind Stones. All Gideon will be is a lock piece (though I'm wondering how Gatecrash Boros Gideon will look).
Oh yeah, Ajani Vengeant bit it to Bolt all the time, even with the lock up.
I'm still concerned about the UR Storm match-up and the Twin Pod match-up. UR Storm has the patience to bounce your Leyline and kill you that turn, as this deck does not kill fast enough. Also, Empty the Warrens can slip across a Bridge (but not a Ghostly Prison) pretty darn well. If you don't Wrath fast enough, Twin Pod can chain into Zealous Conscripts or Qasali Pridemage, steal or blast the most troublesome lock piece, and swing with infinite Village Bell-Ringers.
One more thing--stick some Blinkmoth Nexuses in the deck. Those guys actually won games. They're evasive and have a worthless 1 power.
I agree the Solemns were out of place. They are actually a hold over for when the deck used Karn, but they are gone now and I am currently testing replacements.
THe porphyry node test was a bust, good old Journey to Nowhere worked much better for me. I am interested Mana Tithe as well, and I will test that later.
I'm not sure how you guys are getting bolted or gift's...the leyline prevents all of this.
BTW I said it b4 but you absolutely SHOULD use an aggressive mulligan strategy...having less cards isn't always a disadvantage here.
Even with this handicap I was able to beat WOTC_Astrocles and his nice bant deck last night, so I'm pretty happy about that.
I'm not even sure Blood Moon will work, as Tron hit 7 lands very reliably. See enough Tron and I'll have to recommend Sowing Salt in the board.
Sowing salt is in the board. Game 1 vs tron is tough but games 2-3 we have pithing needle naming karn, sowing salts on any piece, nevermore naming oblivion stone....etc
As for how to do that, I ultimately drew on an old strategy from just after the release of Zendikar, in the UWg Gifts Decks of that extended season: Emeria, the Sky Ruin+Yosei, the Morning Star+Miren, the Moaning Well. The crucial advantage of this plan is that there will be a nonzero number of games where you simply drop a Yosei after stabilizing the board and winning on the back of a giant dragon, but also that you will eventually be able to get Emeria active and simply end the game. I'm sure there are other ways to go about it, but I found that game plan to be consistent enough even through the Ensnaring Bridges. I also cut down the number of Ensnaring Bridges in favor of Ghostly Prison, which works better against everything but Tron, which was crap beforehand too. Here's my final list:
12 Plains
2 Battlefield Forge
2 Emeria, the Sky Ruin
1 Miren, the Moaning Well
2 Rugged Prairie
4 Sacred Foundry
2 Tectonic Edge
3 Boros Signet
4 Ghostly Prison
4 Leyline of Sanctity
3 Lightning Helix
3 Mana Tithe
3 Oblivion Ring
3 Wrath of God
4 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
3 Yosei, the Morning Star
4 Blood Moon
2 Magus of the Moon
3 Path to Exile
3 Sowing Salt
3 Stony Silence
I'm starting to wonder how much Red offers the deck. At this point, at least for my list, it's mainly tron hate in the Side (for the record, I practically can't lose to Tron now, mainly because I'm packing 9 Sideboard slots against it), Lightning Helix, and Ajani. Except Ajani's been underperforming in this list, and Lightning Helix isn't much better than Path here, at least in my experience. There are definitely also times where I'd prefer something like Path or Journey over the Helix. Would a mono-white version be better?
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.
I wasn't kidding when I said Ive done extensive testing in on this combo. You are asking yourself all the same questions I first asked when I started exploring the idea. The yosei package just makes it that much more vulnerable to early threats. Red is needed for Helix and Ajani. THe helix is a critical piece to beating red burn, a common deck in any meta. Helix is needed to fight the speed of the format in general.
Ajani is needed for his ult, that is the game breaker you are looking for...you blow up their lands.
Trust me when I say ive tried it all. Yosei - Venser - Sun Titan - Karn: they are all fine win conditions, use them if you like. If you have an mtgo accnt I can show you these variations. Some of them work better than others, and of all of the ones ive tried this particular deck has been the most successful.
The whole idea of this deck is to be in top deck mode. The only non-lock cards you will draw are threat removal or more walkers. You are constantly wiping the board or removing permanents, if they draw out of the lock you have many layers to protect yourself i.e. Gideon.
One card I might consider putting back in is Buried Ruin to bring back fallen bridges.
You may also know me as the guy in the art of Dark Confidant. No, not Bob Maher, the OTHER one.