The deck known as Restoration is primarily a midrange strategy built around the strengths of one card: Restoration Angel. Restoration Angel is very well positioned in the Modern format: she's a large, evasive body with flash, which means she's just the sort of beater a midrange, controlling deck that wants to use instant-speed answers needs. But she does one more thing: "When Restoration Angel enters the battlefield, you may exile target non-Angel creature you control, then return that card to the battlefield under your control." This exile-then-return ability (known colloquially as "blinking") is what puts her into the topmost tier of Modern-legal creatures.
How to Build Restoration:
Creatures
Restoration Angel: Must have. It's the namesake of the deck, for Pete sake! Having the large, instant-speed threat that is Restoration Angel is what makes this deck good. Control (or Control-like) decks that want to interact at instant speed love having their creatures be much the same. Her ability to blink creatures is just icing on the cake; even if she's not blinking for value, she can swoop in to rescue a creature being targeted with a removal spell or making an unprofitable block.
Blade Splicer: One of Angel's "friends" so to speak. By itself, Blade Splicer is a pretty good beater. Being two bodies is favorable against spot removal and Liliana of the Veil and a 3/3 body with First Strike is very good as well. The combined power and toughness of both bodies makes it very efficient as well, as it is essentially a 4/4 for three. But Angel puts it over the top. Blinking Blade Splicer essentially makes your Angel an instant-speed 6/7 for four spread over two bodies.
Wall of Omens: Angel's other friend. Again, by itself, Wall of Omens isn't a bad card. Being an 0/4 that replaces itself is not terrible, especially in Modern, where it's toughness makes it a relevant blocker. If your Jund opponent wants to get in with their Bloodbraid Elf then they need to get rid of the Wall. But even if they do, because Wall replaced itself in your hand, you don't lose any cards, which negates of card advantage loss from having your creature removed. But even then, waiting to remove it does not favor them either because, like Blade Splicer, Restoration Angel is going to turn that parity into hard advantage. This time by giving you another card from that wall.
Vendilion Clique: The best Faerie. Vendilion Clique is the best disruptive element this deck has. Clique wants to come down during your opponent's draw step, although it doesn't always have to, and tuck one of the cards in their hand to put an end to whatever they were leading up to. Keep in mind that you don't always have to tuck something, as Clique's ability is not mandatory. Assess what your opponent has and decide whether or not there is anything you cannot handle. Keep in mind that, if you need to, you can Angel your Clique to nab a second card. But keep in mind that your opponent drew four cards over the two turns you've done this.
Snapcaster Mage: Tiago is crazy powerful. There aren't many blue decks that don't want him. Use him to buy back your cheap removal and countermagic to keep yourself in the game. Being a 2/1 is relevant as well, as Tiago can certainly get in for a little bit of damage mid-game. Also keep in mind that Angel allows you to reuse Tiagos already in play, although you're paying quite a bit of mana for what ever spell that you're flashing back this turn. Can still be very relevant, however.
Geist of Saint Traft: The most efficient beater available to a UW deck is this format. Don't leave home without them. Sometimes you can win a game on the back of just landing one early and riding it all the way to victory. Also, keep in mind that this deck can durdle somewhat. It's not the fastest deck out there by a wide margin. So there are match-ups where you really need to just drop Geist and start attacking as quickly as possible, such as Tron and combo decks.
Master of Waves: At Pro Tour Valencia 2014 (or Pro Tour Born of the Gods, if you are so inclined) there was a deck known as "Blue Moon" that played Master of Waves as a threat. The thing about this deck was it didn't really have many ways to enable it: basically just Snapcaster and the Master itself, maindeck. This is because you don't really need that high a devotion for the Master to be very efficient: by itself, it's four power on two bodies. With just a Snapcaster it's six across three. We have a lot of permanents to enable him beyond that: Vendilion Clique, Threads of Disloyalty, and Jace Beleren! Moreover he's another very good candidate for Restoration Angel-ing. For this reason, it is my opinion that the Master is certainly worth a spot.
Batterskull: Nothing locks up a game like Batterskull. Its combination of lifelink and vigilance make it impossible to race, and if its germ is removed you can simply return it to your hand and recast it or equip it to one of the many creatures that UW Midrange is able to generate. Previously this deck's five-mana lifelinker was Baneslayer Angel but I can't for the life of me think of a reason to run the Angel over the Skull. One additional power and toughness, first strike, and flying just aren't as valuable as vigilance and greater resistance to removal in the role it must play. For this reason the Angel has returned to the bench and Batterskull is batting in her place.
Removal and Countermagic
Path to Exile: The most efficient removal spell in Modern. There isn't much reason not to run Path to Exile in any deck that has white in it. Cram these babies and never feel bad about it. However, a word of warning: don't be Path-happy. Giving your opponent land makes your soft counters much worse later in the game. This is one of the most prevelent mistakes new Modern players make. Know what you have to and do not have to Path. Your Mana Leaks will thank you for it.
Dismember: LSV doesn't like Dismember. But you know what? It's really stupid good. Perhaps its functionally colorless nature is a problem but when you're playing to win you ain't got time for dat. The cost of four life may seem steep, but you have to weigh the pros and cons of your decision. Take four now or much more later? When played correctly, that four life will pay off in the long run.
Mana Leak: Best counter in Modern. Don't leave home without them. Leak selectively and don't be afraid to Leak cantrips against combo decks. Leaking just to force a tap out is also not out of the question, provided that's what your gameplan needs.
Cryptic Command: Such a crazy good spell. Does roughly a million things and is almost never dead. Don't be afraid to bounch your own stuff, this is an ETB-heavy deck. Sometimes bouncing shocklands can mess with your opponent as well. But you'll usually either be counter-tapping or counter-drawing. Ask anyone who's ever played Cryptic and they'll back that up.
Spell Snare: Very good ancillary counter. Might not want to force the full four, but that's up to you. Nails quite a few things, like Snapcaster, Tarmogoyf, Lightning Helix, and Terminate. There are some rumblings about cutting Leak in favor of Snare and Cryptic because when Leak is good, you would much rather be playing Wall of Omens and Blade Splicer. After that period, Snare and Cryptic Command are fairly better counterspells.
Remand: Another good support counter. Some people feel it's a one-or-the-other thing between Remand and Leak, but that's not really true. One reason to compliment Leak with Remand is to keep your opponent from defaulting into playing around Leak. By running a split you can prevent your opponent from getting the read on your countermagic suite. A timely Remand when your opponent suspects Leak can wreck faces.
Other Spells
Jace Beleren: An excellent draw engine. The trick to Jace Beleren is to tick him up to five loyalty on his first turn and then tick him down on turns thereafter, ticking him back up again as needed. It may seem risky to give your opponent a card but keep in mind that for every card they draw you're drawing at least three.
Elspeth, Knight-Errant: Elspeth is probably the second or third strongest planeswalker ever printed, depending on how you stack her up against Liliana of the Veil. By ticking upward for both of her abilities as well as creating blockers she can be very hard to take down. She can also finish games rather quickly once she chooses to go on offense with her second ability. A good choice, if you're a fan.
Gideon Jura: Stifles creatures as good or better than Elspeth, has a removal option, and can end games rather quickly as a 6/6 soldier that cannot be damaged. Costs a single mana more than Elspeth but for that extra mana you get the option to kill creatures and your planeswalker isn't quite as soft to creatures that fly.
Threads of Disloyalty: There sure are a lot of little duders around. Threads takes 'em and makes 'em work for you! Watch out for Abrupt Decay and other cards that can destroy it, though. The good news, though, is that Decay is falling out of style somewhat now that GBx is falling in presence a bit.
Detention Sphere: Exiles just about anything, at the cost of three mana and the risk of being blown out by a removal spell. The risk is worth it, though: Sphere's flexibility and possibility of generating card advantage by removal more than one thing with the same name is very strong. Definitely consider this.
Sword of Feast and Famine: UW Midrange is, at heart, a CawBlade deck. A Stoneblade deck. Tap-out aggro-control. There is no tap-out aggro-control deck that Sword of Feast of Famine is bad in. This deck is so packed with power cards that it will frequently have a way to immediately use its untapped lands post-swing, creating some truly unfair turns.
Your Lands
Celestial Colonnade: The best manland available. May seem expensive, but keep in mind that it's a very lategame finisher. Once you're exahusted all of your opponent's resources this vigilant 4/4 is gonna get in there and do some damage. Keep in mind that because it has vigilance and doesn't tap when it attacks, you can tap it for mana - even if it's currently attacking! Works wonders with one-mana counters and removal like Spell Snare and Dismember.
Seachrome Coast: Enters play untapped if it's your first, second, or third land drop. Important because you need to play guys on those turns. Your first three land drops are clutch.
Tectonic Edge: Deals with opposing manlands (Jund's Raging Ravine can deal some real damage) and can pester color-greedy decks such as Spirit Jund and Penta-colored Zoo.
Eiganjo Castle: Prevents two damage dealt to your Geist of Saint Traft, which means it takes at least a 5/5 for one to block and kill it. Can help you get your Angels through or make Geist an impenetrable wall. Don't run too many, though, because it's Legendary. One is usually enough.
Moorland Haunt: There are a lot of creatures in this deck, and you can't really recycle them in any way, so Moorland Haunt does it for you. It uses all your deal Walls, Splicers, Angels and such to create a stream of 1/1 spirits for your blocking and attacking pleasure.
Sideboard Options
Stony Silence: Turns off artifacts, ala Null Rod. Does wonders against Affinity (even turns off some of their lands!) and Tron (no more trinkets or Expedition Map!). Outside of that, there's the occasional Isochron Scepter or Equipment deck that you may want to consider siding it in for.
Negate: You definitely have Splinter Twins, Scapeshifts, Past in Flameses, and whatnot to counter. Consider packing a couple of these for a hard answer to those spells and more.
Supreme Verdict: Aggro decks can be a pain. Sometimes you need to clear the board to stabilize and you'd be hard-pressed to find a better board-wipe than Verdict. Allowing your opponent's creatures to regenerate is unfortunate (I actually pack Golgari Charms for these sometimes for that very reason) but all in all you won't go wrong with it.
Timely Reinforcements: Oh, aggro again. Gain some life, get some blockers, stay alive a while longer. Sometimes your opponent will Bolt themselves so you don't gain any life, though. I'm not really sure why they think that is a good play.
Celestial Purge: Lots of red and black things to exile nowadays. Good Junk and Jund sideboard material. Gets rid of pesky lots of things, plus Liliana, Ajani Vengeant, and etc.
Aven Mindcensor: Tron again! You don't want these guys searching their library. If you do, you're gonna have a bad time. Cut them off at the pass and forbid that crap.
Phantasmal Image: What legendary dude? Sometimes you need answers for Thrun, opposing Geists, and the like. Super ultra fragine in any other respect however.
Spellskite: I gots the duders, you gots the removal spells. Please target Spellskite with them removal spells. Great for protecting your dudes if you need to. Keep in mind that Go for the Throat cannot be redirected to Spellskite, however.
Disenchant: There is no shortage of artifacts and enchantments in Modern. Okay, maybe enchantments, but certainly not artifacts. If you anticipate either pack one or two of these. They'll save your hiney.
Looks nice! You might want to add a section about splash colors, because the UWR version has proven itself to be a major contender. Other than that, spectacular!
I'm a proud member of the Online Campaign for Real English. If you believe in capital letters, correct spelling, and good sentence structure, then copy this into your signature.
If that's your "casual," what on earth is required for "formal," a butler in livery shuffling the decks whilst a pianist plays Brahms in front of a tapestry?
That was planned from the beginning because of James Searles' WR version that did well in Chicago.
Cool beans. Also, what do you think of cutting blade splicer? It feels like one of the weakest cards in the deck. I cut mine for more burn and some baneslayer angels.
Edit: Also, I can make a video explaining the card choices and the deck, if it would be helpful.
I'm a proud member of the Online Campaign for Real English. If you believe in capital letters, correct spelling, and good sentence structure, then copy this into your signature.
If that's your "casual," what on earth is required for "formal," a butler in livery shuffling the decks whilst a pianist plays Brahms in front of a tapestry?
There's something to be said for batterskull or maybe even wurmcoil in the baneslayer spot. Unless your opponent brought in artifact destruction for some reason, they are both more resilient than baneslayer in that even if they get double-bolted or terminated or pathed (not wurmcoil for path) they still do things. Wurmcoil can also be saved by resto. A disadvantage is that they don't fly, but that's usually not relevant. Not having first strike means it's easier for an opponent to block then bolt I guess.
I'm also playing some talismans of progress. It means you get to have cryptic/supreme verdict (and also resto) up a turn sooner, which can be pretty important at times. I also tried out azorius signets, but I really like being able to leave up path/snare when you go turn-2 mana artifact.
And I'm testing cutting some of the two mana counterspells for dissipates. While the exiling is rarely relevant (but sometimes is), the fact that it's a hard-counter at all points in the game is good, since we don't win too fast and so opponents will often be able to pay for leak/recast through remand.
Outside of Tarmogoyf, no other creature can beat a 3/3 first strike.
If they have a removal, removing the golem means they leave Blade Splicer for Restoration Angel to blink. If they remove the Blade Splicer, you still have a 3/3, which can trade with any of their creatures.
Liliana can't completely remove it.
Why I think, in some situation, it's better than Geist (in the Jund matchup):
If they have anything on their side of the board, Geist can't attack in without killing itself, while a 3/3 first strike can kill any (outside of Tarmogoyf) of their creatures.
Blinking with Restoration Angel is better with Blade Splicer than Geist.
While Geist is better offensively(deals more damage against an empty board), Blade Splicer is better defensively. I doubt Jund's board will be empty on turn 3.
has anyone tried Spellstutter Sprite in some number? i want to lower the amount of Spell Snares in the deck for some amount of Sprites.
the perks of Spellstutter:
is a hard counter with a 1/1 flying body attached to it.
will always hit 1cmc spells: Bolt, Deathrite Shaman, Spell Snare
often times can hit 2cmc spells
possibility of hitting 3cmc spells
with a Cavern of Souls on either Wizard or Faerie, you now have uncounterable counterspells
reusable with Restoration Angel
everything about this says 'run 4 of me'. but maybe i'm missing something. input welcome!
I agree, on adding a color splash section. Id also avocate for a budget section (or else you will find a ton of people asking) as well as a mis. list of other options and cards a resto player can use.
Changed name for thread clarification, added a link to old thread at the end, stickied. Good Work.
1. I have notice that most lists do not play draw spells, which is strangely a little unusual for a deck with blue and a midrange kinda deck. Sometimes I feel that the lack of draw spells takes away the ability to draw my way into some answer from a stale hand, manascrews and floods also become worse, but on the other hand space seems rather tight in this deck and it's quite hard to take out anything to replace with draw spells. How do you guys feel about it?
2. How do you all find the matchup against Jund? So far, I find it rather exasperating, that bloody bloodbraid elf (Just a personal opinion, some may disagree, and I am sorry to say this, but I feel that bloodbraid elf should be banned from modern) is such a cheat, and each of their creatures have a large impact on the gamestate, it's rather tough to come out on top of the trading game against them.
I agree, on adding a color splash section. Id also avocate for a budget section (or else you will find a ton of people asking) as well as a mis. list of other options and cards a resto player can use.
Changed name for thread clarification, added a link to old thread at the end, stickied. Good Work.
I don't agree with that.
It's most common name is Azorius Midrange and I don't like having my primers fiddled with.
1. I have notice that most lists do not play draw spells, which is strangely a little unusual for a deck with blue and a midrange kinda deck. Sometimes I feel that the lack of draw spells takes away the ability to draw my way into some answer from a stale hand, manascrews and floods also become worse, but on the other hand space seems rather tight in this deck and it's quite hard to take out anything to replace with draw spells. How do you guys feel about it?
2. How do you all find the matchup against Jund? So far, I find it rather exasperating, that bloody bloodbraid elf (Just a personal opinion, some may disagree, and I am sorry to say this, but I feel that bloodbraid elf should be banned from modern) is such a cheat, and each of their creatures have a large impact on the gamestate, it's rather tough to come out on top of the trading game against them.
1. You just answered your own question Yes, space is the main issue, if you add something, what do you take out? Wall of Omens helps a lot, a cantrip that buys us time. The other thing I would consider is Thirst of Knowledge because 1) it draws you 3 cards, which equates to more selection, and 2) it is an instant, which allows you to threaten them with counter magic. Mana is too tight for cards like Serum Visions; you don't really want to play with turn 1, 2, 3, or even 4 because you want to counter their spells or stabilize due to the fast modern environment.
2. I think the match up against Jund is OK (by OK I mean 50/50). I understand it is pretty demoralizing when Bloodbraid hits the field, but it really isn't all that different from our Restoration Angel.
They both cost the same. The elf comes with a (almost) random spell on a 3/2 haste body. The angel comes with an addition come into play trigger on a 3/4 flying body with flash. Haste and flash is more or less the same (I think flash is better for us). Angel comes with a bigger body and flying. I think the random free less than 4 cmc spell that comes with elf is comparable with the controlled extra trigger. One could argue that the angel can come in on an empty board, but that is the same as elf flipping on removal on an empty board or discard on an empty hand. Both have amazing potential, but both can randomly (more so on elf) suck.
The over all game plan of Jund is the same as UW: eke out card advantage while putting out efficient threats. We just do it with different cards. When it comes to trading, I think it's about even, bloodbraid vs restoration.
^ i dont quite agree on that, elf is a lot more powerful since you can decide what cards you fit in the deck, sure, you can always flip a kozilek or a terminate, but more often than not, you will flip liliana, bob, goyf, shaman, souls, etc etc etc etc, because the deck is designed that way.
Angel is powerful herself, but depends severely on the boardstate.
Droping an angel with a wall for value is cool, on a snappy for CA sounds great, and on a blade splcier is just nuts, but unless you use angel to save one of said guys, it will:
A) land on an empty field, or
B) its target will get destroyed.
So no, they are not the same, elf is superior IMO.
I think it would be nice to explain what makes this UW deck different than the other UW decks. What are the good and bad match ups? What is the theory behind playing a lower curve than other UW decks?
I think it would be nice to explain what makes this UW deck different than the other UW decks. What are the good and bad match ups? What is the theory behind playing a lower curve than other UW decks?
1. Restoration Angel. It's a Midrange deck, not control. It's going to interact with you much earlier than, say, Geist or Titan by playing creatures from turns two through four. Wall and Splicer are meant to counter 1-for-1 trading by being card parity instead of -1.
2. Working on it. Hold yer horses. I'm a busy guy.
3. There isn't one. It's just not the same as those other UW decks.
^ i dont quite agree on that, elf is a lot more powerful since you can decide what cards you fit in the deck, sure, you can always flip a kozilek or a terminate, but more often than not, you will flip liliana, bob, goyf, shaman, souls, etc etc etc etc, because the deck is designed that way.
Angel is powerful herself, but depends severely on the boardstate.
Droping an angel with a wall for value is cool, on a snappy for CA sounds great, and on a blade splcier is just nuts, but unless you use angel to save one of said guys, it will:
A) land on an empty field, or
B) its target will get destroyed.
So no, they are not the same, elf is superior IMO.
I agree, in that yes, cascade on Bloodbraid is better than blinking. However, I am comparing both cards as a whole in their respective decks, meaning we have to consider other attribute of the card as well.
With that said, the angel has a bigger body and an extra ability (haste vs. flying and flash). I believe two advantages out weight the lesser power of blinking compared to cascade.
Thanks guys for joining this discussion, it's going good and let's keep it going
Certainly, both angel and elf are strong cards and each have their advantages. Nonetheless, like Rhinne, I still find that the elf has a slight edge over the angel particularly for this matchup because:
- Angel needs something like a setup board state, for example having a splicer/tiago/clique on the board, but as we all know Jund plays a bucket load of removal and burn.
While elf is such a convenient (and in a sense an idiot proof card and a free lunch), it does not require any setup, when you have it, you can cast it to get 2 SPELLS FOR THE PRICE OF 1. Sure it may cascade into a blank spell, but paying 4 mana for a 3/2 haste body alone on an empty board with both players having empty hands before combat is not that bad a deal after all.
- The above point leads to this. Usually I find my UW midrange vs Jund matchup an intensive 1-for-1 trading game until both sides end up with empty boards and playing the top decking game. I don't know about you guys but in a top decking game without any board setup, angel feels like paying the price for 1 spell to get the effect of 1 spell, while a topdeck elf is still a "Get 2 spells for the price of 1" card. Thus, it seems like elf is a better top deck than angel.
- The biggest difference I find between elf and angel, is that elf is "unstoppable" (almost). If I am not wrong, and the if the Jund players I played with were right about the cascade effect, even countermagic cannot stop the cascade effect, yes the manaleak may be able to bin that elf on the stack, but it's cascade will still proceed. However, the angel can be stopped by countermagic and the "blink" effect is stopped as well.
It is this "unstoppable" effect of elf that I find that it has an edge over the angel and is simply exasperating to deal with. I mean sure, we can use a stifle-like card to stifle the cascade effect in addition to countering/removing the hasty elf, but mannnn oh mannnnn that's 2 cards just to deal with 1 lonely elf that was cast with 4 mana. Whereas, a countermagic is all you need to stop a lone angel and its "blink" from resolving.
Certainly I do agree that the matchup vs Jund is around 50-50, but I believe the elf is somewhat like an "arbitrage opportunity in the trading game" that breaks the stalemate and tilts the scale slightly in favor of jund by giving "an efficient and unfair advantage to a fair" (a strong statement IMO but not absolute, it's open for debate) deck like Jund.
And on draw spells yup I do agree, serum vision is imo just disgusting haha. Even in my WUR delver deck, I played Telling Time in place on it. But since this deck is so tight up on space, I guess draws are out its equation for successful play.
UWR's strongest plays against Jund were hitting BBE. Now we have to fight in a more fair manner and can't cause blow-outs. I'm kind of sad about it, especially seeing as Jund was in no way OP.
I believed we stated our reasons to justify what an unfair advantage BBE was, neither would I want to talk about the matchup from the context of splashed variants, though I played other variants, my posts here so far have been and will continue to be from the perspective of strictly just UW Midrange as an expression of my respect to this primer's author.
But all that on BBE is now history. On the perspective of matchups, I sure am looking forward to see how this contender, Jund, evolves and how would it affect UW Midrange if it does.
I totally disagree on people saying "Jund wasn't a problem." Every deck in the format had to run a check against Jund, SB slots against Jund, play around Jund's SB, and pray to God that they don't top deck off a BBE. For people that actually try to brew original decks like Smi77y, you have no idea how challenging/annoying it is to constantly build from scratch when a brew doesn't work against Jund.
It can be said for any deck (Dredge, Reanimator, etc), but Jund presented something other decks didn't have, which was consistency. U/W Angels had a decent match up against Jund, but the truth of the matter was that Jund was always drawing into threats and answers consistently. The pilot rarely ever feels behind, unless their opponent drew a god-like hand.
When you have a deck that people auto-netdeck because it was brain-dead easy to pilot and only required maybe a 2-4 games of practice the night before of a GP, then it's a problem. Also, when you have a format where elitists use the price of the deck as a justification of it being out of reach for everyone else so it wouldn't effect the meta, then that's even a bigger problem.
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EDIT: Do you think we can get this stickied?
signature by rivenor at http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=329663
I'm a proud member of the Online Campaign for Real English. If you believe in capital letters, correct spelling, and good sentence structure, then copy this into your signature.
I hate the reserved list.
Mythic rares are fine.
That was planned from the beginning because of James Searles' WR version that did well in Chicago.
Cool beans. Also, what do you think of cutting blade splicer? It feels like one of the weakest cards in the deck. I cut mine for more burn and some baneslayer angels.
Edit: Also, I can make a video explaining the card choices and the deck, if it would be helpful.
signature by rivenor at http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=329663
I'm a proud member of the Online Campaign for Real English. If you believe in capital letters, correct spelling, and good sentence structure, then copy this into your signature.
I hate the reserved list.
Mythic rares are fine.
I'm also playing some talismans of progress. It means you get to have cryptic/supreme verdict (and also resto) up a turn sooner, which can be pretty important at times. I also tried out azorius signets, but I really like being able to leave up path/snare when you go turn-2 mana artifact.
And I'm testing cutting some of the two mana counterspells for dissipates. While the exiling is rarely relevant (but sometimes is), the fact that it's a hard-counter at all points in the game is good, since we don't win too fast and so opponents will often be able to pay for leak/recast through remand.
My decks:
-Modern UWR gifts control
-Modern Mono-G aggro elves
-Azami, Lady of Scrolls EDH
-Glissa the Traitor EDH
-Modern UWR Counterbalance Control
-Modern UW enchantment control: primer, on tapped out
-Modern regular UWR control
And if you're playing Wurmcoil, a copy of Academy Ruins makes it even better,
Why it's good against Jund:
Why I think, in some situation, it's better than Geist (in the Jund matchup):
the perks of Spellstutter:
is a hard counter with a 1/1 flying body attached to it.
will always hit 1cmc spells: Bolt, Deathrite Shaman, Spell Snare
often times can hit 2cmc spells
possibility of hitting 3cmc spells
with a Cavern of Souls on either Wizard or Faerie, you now have uncounterable counterspells
reusable with Restoration Angel
everything about this says 'run 4 of me'. but maybe i'm missing something. input welcome!
Changed name for thread clarification, added a link to old thread at the end, stickied. Good Work.
1. I have notice that most lists do not play draw spells, which is strangely a little unusual for a deck with blue and a midrange kinda deck. Sometimes I feel that the lack of draw spells takes away the ability to draw my way into some answer from a stale hand, manascrews and floods also become worse, but on the other hand space seems rather tight in this deck and it's quite hard to take out anything to replace with draw spells. How do you guys feel about it?
2. How do you all find the matchup against Jund? So far, I find it rather exasperating, that bloody bloodbraid elf (Just a personal opinion, some may disagree, and I am sorry to say this, but I feel that bloodbraid elf should be banned from modern) is such a cheat, and each of their creatures have a large impact on the gamestate, it's rather tough to come out on top of the trading game against them.
Modern Esper Midrange
EDH Jenara ETB
I don't agree with that.
It's most common name is Azorius Midrange and I don't like having my primers fiddled with.
1. You just answered your own question Yes, space is the main issue, if you add something, what do you take out? Wall of Omens helps a lot, a cantrip that buys us time. The other thing I would consider is Thirst of Knowledge because 1) it draws you 3 cards, which equates to more selection, and 2) it is an instant, which allows you to threaten them with counter magic. Mana is too tight for cards like Serum Visions; you don't really want to play with turn 1, 2, 3, or even 4 because you want to counter their spells or stabilize due to the fast modern environment.
2. I think the match up against Jund is OK (by OK I mean 50/50). I understand it is pretty demoralizing when Bloodbraid hits the field, but it really isn't all that different from our Restoration Angel.
They both cost the same. The elf comes with a (almost) random spell on a 3/2 haste body. The angel comes with an addition come into play trigger on a 3/4 flying body with flash. Haste and flash is more or less the same (I think flash is better for us). Angel comes with a bigger body and flying. I think the random free less than 4 cmc spell that comes with elf is comparable with the controlled extra trigger. One could argue that the angel can come in on an empty board, but that is the same as elf flipping on removal on an empty board or discard on an empty hand. Both have amazing potential, but both can randomly (more so on elf) suck.
The over all game plan of Jund is the same as UW: eke out card advantage while putting out efficient threats. We just do it with different cards. When it comes to trading, I think it's about even, bloodbraid vs restoration.
Angel is powerful herself, but depends severely on the boardstate.
Droping an angel with a wall for value is cool, on a snappy for CA sounds great, and on a blade splcier is just nuts, but unless you use angel to save one of said guys, it will:
A) land on an empty field, or
B) its target will get destroyed.
So no, they are not the same, elf is superior IMO.
1. Restoration Angel. It's a Midrange deck, not control. It's going to interact with you much earlier than, say, Geist or Titan by playing creatures from turns two through four. Wall and Splicer are meant to counter 1-for-1 trading by being card parity instead of -1.
2. Working on it. Hold yer horses. I'm a busy guy.
3. There isn't one. It's just not the same as those other UW decks.
I agree, in that yes, cascade on Bloodbraid is better than blinking. However, I am comparing both cards as a whole in their respective decks, meaning we have to consider other attribute of the card as well.
With that said, the angel has a bigger body and an extra ability (haste vs. flying and flash). I believe two advantages out weight the lesser power of blinking compared to cascade.
Certainly, both angel and elf are strong cards and each have their advantages. Nonetheless, like Rhinne, I still find that the elf has a slight edge over the angel particularly for this matchup because:
- Angel needs something like a setup board state, for example having a splicer/tiago/clique on the board, but as we all know Jund plays a bucket load of removal and burn.
While elf is such a convenient (and in a sense an idiot proof card and a free lunch), it does not require any setup, when you have it, you can cast it to get 2 SPELLS FOR THE PRICE OF 1. Sure it may cascade into a blank spell, but paying 4 mana for a 3/2 haste body alone on an empty board with both players having empty hands before combat is not that bad a deal after all.
- The above point leads to this. Usually I find my UW midrange vs Jund matchup an intensive 1-for-1 trading game until both sides end up with empty boards and playing the top decking game. I don't know about you guys but in a top decking game without any board setup, angel feels like paying the price for 1 spell to get the effect of 1 spell, while a topdeck elf is still a "Get 2 spells for the price of 1" card. Thus, it seems like elf is a better top deck than angel.
- The biggest difference I find between elf and angel, is that elf is "unstoppable" (almost). If I am not wrong, and the if the Jund players I played with were right about the cascade effect, even countermagic cannot stop the cascade effect, yes the manaleak may be able to bin that elf on the stack, but it's cascade will still proceed. However, the angel can be stopped by countermagic and the "blink" effect is stopped as well.
It is this "unstoppable" effect of elf that I find that it has an edge over the angel and is simply exasperating to deal with. I mean sure, we can use a stifle-like card to stifle the cascade effect in addition to countering/removing the hasty elf, but mannnn oh mannnnn that's 2 cards just to deal with 1 lonely elf that was cast with 4 mana. Whereas, a countermagic is all you need to stop a lone angel and its "blink" from resolving.
Certainly I do agree that the matchup vs Jund is around 50-50, but I believe the elf is somewhat like an "arbitrage opportunity in the trading game" that breaks the stalemate and tilts the scale slightly in favor of jund by giving "an efficient and unfair advantage to a fair" (a strong statement IMO but not absolute, it's open for debate) deck like Jund.
And on draw spells yup I do agree, serum vision is imo just disgusting haha. Even in my WUR delver deck, I played Telling Time in place on it. But since this deck is so tight up on space, I guess draws are out its equation for successful play.
Modern Esper Midrange
EDH Jenara ETB
Modern Esper Midrange
EDH Jenara ETB
I believed we stated our reasons to justify what an unfair advantage BBE was, neither would I want to talk about the matchup from the context of splashed variants, though I played other variants, my posts here so far have been and will continue to be from the perspective of strictly just UW Midrange as an expression of my respect to this primer's author.
But all that on BBE is now history. On the perspective of matchups, I sure am looking forward to see how this contender, Jund, evolves and how would it affect UW Midrange if it does.
Modern Esper Midrange
EDH Jenara ETB
It can be said for any deck (Dredge, Reanimator, etc), but Jund presented something other decks didn't have, which was consistency. U/W Angels had a decent match up against Jund, but the truth of the matter was that Jund was always drawing into threats and answers consistently. The pilot rarely ever feels behind, unless their opponent drew a god-like hand.
When you have a deck that people auto-netdeck because it was brain-dead easy to pilot and only required maybe a 2-4 games of practice the night before of a GP, then it's a problem. Also, when you have a format where elitists use the price of the deck as a justification of it being out of reach for everyone else so it wouldn't effect the meta, then that's even a bigger problem.
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