Woot, back-to-back 5-0s in Friendly League! I'm really getting the hang of this deck and really loving it
Mini-tournament report.
Round 1 - Living End
Game 1 - My maindeck is perfectly set up to beat him, with 4 maindeck Relic and no removal. I Scapeshift on 8 lands.
Game 2 - He hard-casts Horror of Broken Lands to apply pressure while Relic keeps him off Living End. Double Courser gains me a ton of life until I can Scapeshift.
Round 2 - GW Eldrazi Evolution
Game 1 - He has a slow draw with no TKS or Smasher. Turn 4 Titan wins.
Game 2 - His 1st play is turn 3 Reshaper, which I Anger. I have a slow draw, but turn 5 Primeval for double Valakut wins even though he Paths Titan.
Round 3 - UW Spirits
Game 1 - He comes out lightning fast with turn 3 Geist and turn 4 Clique taking Titan. He is at 19, so Wood Elves attacks him rather than staying back to block Geist. He trades Clique, afraid of falling to 18. That buys me lots of time. He leaves 3 mana open representing Spell Queller, so I don't Scapeshift but rather Primal Command for life and Titan. Queller can't counter Titan. He EOTs Queller to pressure me, but fetchland kills it so I survive the turn and win on the attack.
Game 2 - He taps out for turn 3 Geist. I play turn 3 Baloth. He Paths it but that ramps me to turn 4 Titan which kills him turn 5.
Round 4 - Abzan Midrange
Game 1 - He has Gaddock Teeg and Qasali Pridemage, but Teeg doesn't stop Titan. He concedes when I play it turn 4.
Game 2 - Inquisition takes my first acceleration. I get turn 3 STE that stays back a turn to block his 7/7 Knight of the Reliquary, but he has Abrupt Decay to clear my chump blocker and Path for Titan. KotR swings for the win.
Game 3 - He misplays by taking Scapeshift instead of Chandra with his turn 1 Thoughtseize. I get stuck on 2 lands, so I have to wait until turn 4 to cast Chandra after Farseek and STE. He can't kill Chandra by attacking the turn she comes out. The next turn I have Anger + Bolt to kill Voice and Rhino. I then play Primal for creature and put land onto his deck. Chandra then accelerates out Titan with only 5 lands. He Paths Titan but Chandra keeps Titans coming.
Round 5 - Jund Midrange
Game 1 - He has discard but no fast clock, only Ooze followed by Bob. That lets me get to turn 5 Titan, finding 2 Valakut. He has lethal on board, but Wood Elves + Farseek kills him from 9. Bob and lands did a lot of damage to him so it only took 3 Valakut activations to win.
Game 2 - He has 3 discard spells by turn 2 but no clock or green mana. I find 1 Titan and Primal Command. First Titan finds 2 Valakut then dies to Terminate. Primal Command puts a land on top and finds Titan. Titan #2 gets mountain #5 and #6 for 12 damage, then a mountain from hand wins.
Key learning:
1) Maindeck Relic is very good right now.
2) People often misplay against us out of fear of Scapeshift, often taking that instead of the action needed to get us to making Scapeshift a meaningful threat.
3) This deck still topdecks better than any. Once you get to 6 mana, just about any draw will greatly affect the board or win the game.
4) Courser is a great all-around utility creature.
5) Wood Elves over-performed as a 1-of. I never once found KHE, especially since they often got sided out, but I could see KHE turning into a 2nd Wood Elves.
6) I didn't miss Explore at all.
7) Primal Command came in handy quite a few times this league using 3 modes (search, gain 7, removal).
8) Baloth is a great sideboard card against midrange decks.
What do you guys think about running Titan Shift at Grand Prix Las Vegas?
It is my 2nd choice, as of now (I have 4 reasonable options), but the main thing that leans me toward it is Counters Company should be super popular. I've tested it to be a good matchup for Titan Shift. Not to mention, Dredge is strong and Dredge is a good matchup. Storm seems like it would be fine as well.
Death's Shadow decks seem tough for this deck, but I guess they can't stop a topdecked Hornet Nest in games 2 and 3, right? How would you go about beating this deck? I'm guessing Relic of Progenitus and Obstinate Baloth come in with the Nests. I could put it together, as I have the pieces, but I have Titan Shift, Burn, Grishoalbrand, Ad Nauseam, and Collected Counters together right now.
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Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
It's what I would run if I went to play. Shadow isn't the best matchup for RG which is why I swapped to the Jund version. If you are considering the Jund version and expect a lot of grixis shadow to wreck your day, Terminate can kill Tasigur and Gurmag Angler which otherwise blank our removal. As for hornet nest, their only good answer to it is terminate which they only run a couple of. And Relics definitely come in. Baloths most likely come in unless you really expect them to take out Lilliana and K Command which is unlikely. Courser is great in this matchup as it gains life and draws cards.
Also, I mentioned this in the old thread but would like to mention it again here. Relic is awesome against Deaths Shadow because it not only neuters their graveyard synergies, it also represents a card in hand that they can't hit with hand attack. You can crack it on your turn and immediately cast the card you draw so that they never get a chance to thoughtseize that card. This is a fairly Niche play, but it's an important one to remember and another reason why that card is bonkers.
It's what I would run if I went to play. Shadow isn't the best matchup for RG which is why I swapped to the Jund version. If you are considering the Jund version and expect a lot of grixis shadow to wreck your day, Terminate can kill Tasigur and Gurmag Angler which otherwise blank our removal. As for hornet nest, their only good answer to it is terminate which they only run a couple of. And Relics definitely come in. Baloths most likely come in unless you really expect them to take out Lilliana and K Command which is unlikely. Courser is great in this matchup as it gains life and draws cards.
Also, I mentioned this in the old thread but would like to mention it again here. Relic is awesome against Deaths Shadow because it not only neuters their graveyard synergies, it also represents a card in hand that they can't hit with hand attack. You can crack it on your turn and immediately cast the card you draw so that they never get a chance to thoughtseize that card. This is a fairly Niche play, but it's an important one to remember and another reason why that card is bonkers.
Round 1 vs. Amulet Titan. I've actually played this matchup a bunch. It comes down to consistency vs. power. If they stumble, we win. If they don't, we don't. He mulled to 5, but still had a Titan on turn 4, which I landed mine after that to kill his and then I got there because he didn't have much gas. In the next game, my start is a bit slow, just some ramp and Lightning Bolt on Sakura Tribe-Scout. I saved one for Azusa as well, but he made the right play of doing a regular land before a Karoo so I couldn't respond to the bounce by Bolting the Azusa. Then he kept casting Titans, searching up a Pact of Negation. I find a land and cast Scapeshift in case. He does Swan Song, so he actually had 2 answers to my spell. The next game is similar, but there was a 2 turn window where I could have drawn Scapeshift. By that time, he finds Pact of Negation and even if Scapeshift was drawn, which it might have been (I'm forgetting exactly now), it is over. 1-2.
Round 2 vs. Grixis Shadow. In the first game, he does a turn 2 Gurmag Angler, then some discard. I struggle to find lands and ramp, but I have 1 or 2 turns (forgot now) to find Scapeshift to possibly win. I don't find it and we're on to game 2. I keep in the next game a 2 red source hand with Hornet Nest, Ramp, and Relic of Progenitus. It gets there as eventually I cast the Hornet Nest and he has no answer. The next game is similar to Game 2, but he has Collective Brutality for my Hornet Nest. I can't even be mad. He cast 3 Serum Visions this game, so to find a 2 of is definitely much more likely. Knocked out of top 8 contention. 1-2
Round 3 vs. Bye. My opponent doesn't show up, so I get the win. 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Junk Midrange. In the first game, he gets 2 discard spells right away and then 2 more later on. I don't have Valakut and am stuck drawing lands while a late Dark Confidant, Ooze, and Souls are attacking me. I'm not sure if he noticed, but he should have flashed Souls back to put lethal on board (instead of overplaying around Anger of the Gods), but I draw Scapeshift and win anyway. In the next game, there is a lot of discard, but he makes a HUGE mistake of making me discard an Obstinate Baloth (when I was stuck on 3 land) and had a hand of Scapeshift, Obstinate Baloth, Obstinate Baloth. He thought he could Surgical Extraction it, but that sets the tempo for him. I draw another land and Baloth and have 3 Baloths to Tarmogoyf, Siege Rhino, and a 6/6 Scavenging Ooze. I double block a few times, then draw lands and Scapeshift to win. Yes, the Scapeshift that he didn't take. 2-0.
Round 5 vs. Hulk Steps. I scoop to him because he was my friend's tiebreaker. We play it out anyway. He does turn 1 Faithless Looting, discard Protean Hulk and something else. I do turn 1 Suspend Search for Tomorrow. He does turn 2 exile Simian Spirit Guide, Footsteps of the Goryo, and proceeds to combo me out on his end step. The next game goes like this. I keep with only 1 ramp spell, but Relic of Progenitus. I go slowly up on mana while exiling a card per turn, which admittedly doesn't do much. He eventually goes for Footsteps of the Goryo. I pop the Relic. I then try to play my just drawn Sakura-Tribe Elder to have Scapeshift next turn if he doesn't have countermagic. He then does Faithless Looting, discarding the Protean Hulk again and Footsteps of the Goryo ends my life again. I sit with Lightning Bolt in hand, but after he searched for a 2nd Viscera Seer, I saw the writing on the wall. 0-2.
I finish 2-3 or 1-3 in matches played. Really rough day, but I now remember some of the shortcomings of the deck. This is not necessarily a knock on the deck and it's still what I'm most likely to play at GP Vegas, but our nut draws don't compare with our opponent's. If they nut draw, they essentially win. That's it.
Legacy - Sneak Show, BR Reanimator, Miracles, UW Stoneblade
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/ Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander - Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build) (dead format for me)
That's why this deck needs value cards like Courser of Kruphix et al, and good disruption that actually lines up against our opponents threats, because our nut draw is a turn 4 win when other decks in the format nut into a turn 3 or even turn 2 win. And if we don't disrupt that, we will lose to a nut draw. And if our disruption doesn't line up properly, we can't disrupt them. That's the biggest reason o like Jundshift right now, Push lines up better than bolt against more of the format right now.
Titan Shift giveth and Titan Shift taketh away. I had two consecutive 5-0s followed by a 1-4 :-P In the 1-4 league, I had 3 matches where I drew 5+ lands in a row to lose. One thing I learned: when I side into a midrange deck (Chandra, Harmonize, Tireless Tracker as soon as I buy and add them), I should remove 1-2 lands. Less reliance on Scapeshift to win means I don't need 27 lands + 14 ramp spells. No wonder I flood so often!
I've been toying with the idea of trying to build a more midrange Titan Shift deck that would have ramp and payoff cards but also maindeck utility stuff like Tireless Tracker. I really want to test out 8 fetchlands and KHE with Renegade Rallier. My Magical Christmas-land game goes: turn 2 KHE, turn 3 fetch, Rallier, getting back fetch, pop KHE, turn 4 Scapeshift/Titan with 7 lands. It's probably a bad idea that won't work, I admit, but I like messing around with splashes. If I maindeck Tireless Tracker, that already puts me to wanting to max out on fetchlands. Rallier is a decent body that can block/trade or beat down. White gives me access to Nahiri. I'd love to also try Ajani Vengeant just because it's one of my favorite cards of all time, even though it's probably terrible :-P
I would even consider a BtL package but that may be taking it too far.
The shell would be something like:
26-27 lands
12-14 ramp spells (counting Rallier as ramp)
10 payoff cards (maybe including BtL or increasing the Pact count since I have more maindeck cards I can find)
2 Nahiri
3 Tireless Tracker
4-7 other disruption (Bolt, Path, Relic, Dromaka's Command, what else is there?)
If you want Rule of Law against Storm and Living End, I'd just run RiP instead since it affects a lot more matchups. Maybe just 3 RiP and 0 Rule, which frees up a slot for the EE you want to run.
I'd run 1 Reclamation Sage instead of 1 Claim in the sideboard since you can Pact for it. With maindeck Nahiri, I don't know that you really need Claim in the sideboard. Perhaps a grindy card like Tireless Tracker?
Stony Silence is good against Eldrazi Tron, but I don't know that I'd side it in since that is a good matchup anyway.
Primordial looks terrible. I understand having a pet card, and it's fine for that. But I'd probably run another Tireless Tracker instead.
So I'm looking to play a Naya version at my LGS for the FNM on friday.
Just for the lulz and because i want to try it.
Here is the list i am planning to bring, anything you'd change?
Should i run a temple garden?
Play 3 Nahiri in the main?
Should i replace rule of law with restin piece?
I have never tried the Naya version and while i obviously want to build the best deck i can i see fnm as a place to have fun and test decks.
My list feels very unfinished and i really would love some input.
Here is the reasoning for some of the choices:
-Farseek over explore because we want to hit all 3 colors
-3rd Nahiri in the main because i really want to have game against leylines and blood moons, who are both becoming very common here
-Rule of law against storm and living end
-Rest in piece for the same matchups, also dredge
-Stony silence for affinity and lantern, is it good enough vs eldrazitron?
-Sylvan primordial is kind of my catch all pet card, maybe it should be dragonlord dromoka or atarka since we have the nahiri to deal with most noncreature permanents.
I would also like to make room for at least one engineered explosives in the sideboard.
From my experience splashing a color, you should cut a basic mountain for temple garden. 12 mountains is perfectly fine, you just have to be a bit careful and not make the dumb mistakes I did in my initial testing that ran me out of mountains too quickly.
And you know your meta better than we do, but I feel Rest In Peace hit so more decks than rule of law so I would run that if I were you. It even hits storm and living end which you say are why you want rule of law. The 3 RiP 0 rule suggestion Coinmagic made frees up a slot for EE as well.
With Nahiri, I feel the cycling on Sweltering Suns is less important so the 1-2 split you have seems fine. But, without Rest In Peace in the board, all Angers shores up your Dredge match more.
I would probably cut Sylvan Primordial. I run a Thrun sometimes, occasionally a Gaea's Revenge. I've even been known to slam Inferno Titan still. I feel all of these are better winconditions than Sylvan Primordial.
Very true, grave hate is very good in those grindy midrange games. Especially against abzan, it turns off Goyf, Grim Flayer, and Lingering Souls. On top of all that, it turns off the Fulminator Mage into Surgical extraction play you mentioned. It even hurts Snapcaster and Tasigur decks. *cough* grixis shadow *cough*
Edit: one thing I didn't initially comment on, I like the 4 farseeks 0 explores in three color lists. That's where I'm headed in Jund soon. The consistency of the ramp along with ensuring perfect mana make it too good to resist.
As you said, Cartouche is good in exactly one situation, when you have 7 mana and a primeval Titan to play. I think that's a little too niche to be worth including in the deck. Also, I've never been a fan of Amulet of vigor outside of the dedicated Amulet decks. I just don't think it's ever good here. It feels like a win-more card when you are casting Titan or Scapeshift, a do nothing card in most situations, and a useless topdeck late game.
I say all of that with the caveat of "I love to be proven wrong. If you make the deck better and that means I was wrong, I am happy." I doubted the Jund lists at first and now I love it. I doubted Courser back in the day now I would never sleeve up without it. If Cartouche of Zeal and Amulet end up being great in the flex slots then I will try them out. They just seem worse than other options.
I don't know that haste is really needed, but Crimson Wisps or Expedite are infinitely better that Cartouche. Worst-case, you target your opponent's creature to cycle them.
If you want Haste, maybe Samut is something to try out.
He gives Haste to Prime Titan, can hit for 6, comes in opp end step and is an additional threat.
@OfurTheSalty Thank you, glad to hear you like the deck. Also, thanks for the /r/Scaepshift shoutout lol.
Like others said, if you're looking for the effect something like Expedite would be all around better. Easily giving haste to Titan is what would make it broken (see pre-ban Amulet Titan deck), so most of the effects that allow you to do that aren't easy to use. Someone suggested Samut, which seems reasonable but would require you to cast both Search for Tomorrow and a 2 mana ramp spell to hit this and your titan on curve. If you're already playing Amulet, you could just put a Boros Garrison and Slayer's Stronghold in your manabase (that's would strictly be for fun).
@afosz The deck has no way to win on turn 3. There are a few a ways to do it with Amulet, but are a little more convoluted. You can win with 4 lands, Scapeshift, KHE, and Omen, but that happens on turn 4 as well.
Mini-tournament report.
Round 1 - Living End
Game 1 - My maindeck is perfectly set up to beat him, with 4 maindeck Relic and no removal. I Scapeshift on 8 lands.
Game 2 - He hard-casts Horror of Broken Lands to apply pressure while Relic keeps him off Living End. Double Courser gains me a ton of life until I can Scapeshift.
Round 2 - GW Eldrazi Evolution
Game 1 - He has a slow draw with no TKS or Smasher. Turn 4 Titan wins.
Game 2 - His 1st play is turn 3 Reshaper, which I Anger. I have a slow draw, but turn 5 Primeval for double Valakut wins even though he Paths Titan.
Round 3 - UW Spirits
Game 1 - He comes out lightning fast with turn 3 Geist and turn 4 Clique taking Titan. He is at 19, so Wood Elves attacks him rather than staying back to block Geist. He trades Clique, afraid of falling to 18. That buys me lots of time. He leaves 3 mana open representing Spell Queller, so I don't Scapeshift but rather Primal Command for life and Titan. Queller can't counter Titan. He EOTs Queller to pressure me, but fetchland kills it so I survive the turn and win on the attack.
Game 2 - He taps out for turn 3 Geist. I play turn 3 Baloth. He Paths it but that ramps me to turn 4 Titan which kills him turn 5.
Round 4 - Abzan Midrange
Game 1 - He has Gaddock Teeg and Qasali Pridemage, but Teeg doesn't stop Titan. He concedes when I play it turn 4.
Game 2 - Inquisition takes my first acceleration. I get turn 3 STE that stays back a turn to block his 7/7 Knight of the Reliquary, but he has Abrupt Decay to clear my chump blocker and Path for Titan. KotR swings for the win.
Game 3 - He misplays by taking Scapeshift instead of Chandra with his turn 1 Thoughtseize. I get stuck on 2 lands, so I have to wait until turn 4 to cast Chandra after Farseek and STE. He can't kill Chandra by attacking the turn she comes out. The next turn I have Anger + Bolt to kill Voice and Rhino. I then play Primal for creature and put land onto his deck. Chandra then accelerates out Titan with only 5 lands. He Paths Titan but Chandra keeps Titans coming.
Round 5 - Jund Midrange
Game 1 - He has discard but no fast clock, only Ooze followed by Bob. That lets me get to turn 5 Titan, finding 2 Valakut. He has lethal on board, but Wood Elves + Farseek kills him from 9. Bob and lands did a lot of damage to him so it only took 3 Valakut activations to win.
Game 2 - He has 3 discard spells by turn 2 but no clock or green mana. I find 1 Titan and Primal Command. First Titan finds 2 Valakut then dies to Terminate. Primal Command puts a land on top and finds Titan. Titan #2 gets mountain #5 and #6 for 12 damage, then a mountain from hand wins.
Key learning:
1) Maindeck Relic is very good right now.
2) People often misplay against us out of fear of Scapeshift, often taking that instead of the action needed to get us to making Scapeshift a meaningful threat.
3) This deck still topdecks better than any. Once you get to 6 mana, just about any draw will greatly affect the board or win the game.
4) Courser is a great all-around utility creature.
5) Wood Elves over-performed as a 1-of. I never once found KHE, especially since they often got sided out, but I could see KHE turning into a 2nd Wood Elves.
6) I didn't miss Explore at all.
7) Primal Command came in handy quite a few times this league using 3 modes (search, gain 7, removal).
8) Baloth is a great sideboard card against midrange decks.
It is my 2nd choice, as of now (I have 4 reasonable options), but the main thing that leans me toward it is Counters Company should be super popular. I've tested it to be a good matchup for Titan Shift. Not to mention, Dredge is strong and Dredge is a good matchup. Storm seems like it would be fine as well.
Death's Shadow decks seem tough for this deck, but I guess they can't stop a topdecked Hornet Nest in games 2 and 3, right? How would you go about beating this deck? I'm guessing Relic of Progenitus and Obstinate Baloth come in with the Nests. I could put it together, as I have the pieces, but I have Titan Shift, Burn, Grishoalbrand, Ad Nauseam, and Collected Counters together right now.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Also, I mentioned this in the old thread but would like to mention it again here. Relic is awesome against Deaths Shadow because it not only neuters their graveyard synergies, it also represents a card in hand that they can't hit with hand attack. You can crack it on your turn and immediately cast the card you draw so that they never get a chance to thoughtseize that card. This is a fairly Niche play, but it's an important one to remember and another reason why that card is bonkers.
Marath, Will of the Wild Tokens!! / Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund Dragons! / Muzzio, Visionary Architect / Brago, King Eternal / Daretti, Scrap Savant / Narset, Enlightened Master / Alesha, Who Smiles at Death / Bruna, Light of Alabaster / Marchesa, the Black Rose / Iroas, God of Victory / Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury / Omnath, Locus of rage / Titania, Protector of Argoth / Kozilek, the Great Distortion
Modern
Elves / Titanshift / Merfolk
http://magic.wizards.com/en/events/coverage/gpkob17/day-1-9-0-decklists-2017-05-28
Not only that, but only 26 lands plus Cultivate. And only 2 Scapeshift. Very different decklist!
http://magic.wizards.com/en/events/coverage/gpcop17/9-0-decklists-of-grand-prix-copenhagen-2017-05-28
This one is very typical, with Khalnis.
EDIT: TEEMU HALONEN just made top 8 :), and Carlos Ballester lost the win and in with Titanshift too So we have at least those two in the top16
They also have Collective Brutality to kill Hornet Nest.
I played at a 26 person GPT for 5 rounds.
Round 1 vs. Amulet Titan. I've actually played this matchup a bunch. It comes down to consistency vs. power. If they stumble, we win. If they don't, we don't. He mulled to 5, but still had a Titan on turn 4, which I landed mine after that to kill his and then I got there because he didn't have much gas. In the next game, my start is a bit slow, just some ramp and Lightning Bolt on Sakura Tribe-Scout. I saved one for Azusa as well, but he made the right play of doing a regular land before a Karoo so I couldn't respond to the bounce by Bolting the Azusa. Then he kept casting Titans, searching up a Pact of Negation. I find a land and cast Scapeshift in case. He does Swan Song, so he actually had 2 answers to my spell. The next game is similar, but there was a 2 turn window where I could have drawn Scapeshift. By that time, he finds Pact of Negation and even if Scapeshift was drawn, which it might have been (I'm forgetting exactly now), it is over. 1-2.
Round 2 vs. Grixis Shadow. In the first game, he does a turn 2 Gurmag Angler, then some discard. I struggle to find lands and ramp, but I have 1 or 2 turns (forgot now) to find Scapeshift to possibly win. I don't find it and we're on to game 2. I keep in the next game a 2 red source hand with Hornet Nest, Ramp, and Relic of Progenitus. It gets there as eventually I cast the Hornet Nest and he has no answer. The next game is similar to Game 2, but he has Collective Brutality for my Hornet Nest. I can't even be mad. He cast 3 Serum Visions this game, so to find a 2 of is definitely much more likely. Knocked out of top 8 contention. 1-2
Round 3 vs. Bye. My opponent doesn't show up, so I get the win. 2-0.
Round 4 vs. Junk Midrange. In the first game, he gets 2 discard spells right away and then 2 more later on. I don't have Valakut and am stuck drawing lands while a late Dark Confidant, Ooze, and Souls are attacking me. I'm not sure if he noticed, but he should have flashed Souls back to put lethal on board (instead of overplaying around Anger of the Gods), but I draw Scapeshift and win anyway. In the next game, there is a lot of discard, but he makes a HUGE mistake of making me discard an Obstinate Baloth (when I was stuck on 3 land) and had a hand of Scapeshift, Obstinate Baloth, Obstinate Baloth. He thought he could Surgical Extraction it, but that sets the tempo for him. I draw another land and Baloth and have 3 Baloths to Tarmogoyf, Siege Rhino, and a 6/6 Scavenging Ooze. I double block a few times, then draw lands and Scapeshift to win. Yes, the Scapeshift that he didn't take. 2-0.
Round 5 vs. Hulk Steps. I scoop to him because he was my friend's tiebreaker. We play it out anyway. He does turn 1 Faithless Looting, discard Protean Hulk and something else. I do turn 1 Suspend Search for Tomorrow. He does turn 2 exile Simian Spirit Guide, Footsteps of the Goryo, and proceeds to combo me out on his end step. The next game goes like this. I keep with only 1 ramp spell, but Relic of Progenitus. I go slowly up on mana while exiling a card per turn, which admittedly doesn't do much. He eventually goes for Footsteps of the Goryo. I pop the Relic. I then try to play my just drawn Sakura-Tribe Elder to have Scapeshift next turn if he doesn't have countermagic. He then does Faithless Looting, discarding the Protean Hulk again and Footsteps of the Goryo ends my life again. I sit with Lightning Bolt in hand, but after he searched for a 2nd Viscera Seer, I saw the writing on the wall. 0-2.
I finish 2-3 or 1-3 in matches played. Really rough day, but I now remember some of the shortcomings of the deck. This is not necessarily a knock on the deck and it's still what I'm most likely to play at GP Vegas, but our nut draws don't compare with our opponent's. If they nut draw, they essentially win. That's it.
Premodern - Trix, RecSur, Enchantress, Reanimator, Elves https://www.facebook.com/groups/PremodernUSA/
Modern - Neobrand, Hogaak Vine, Elves
Standard - Mono Red (6-2 and 5-3 in 2 McQ)
Draft - (I wish I had more time for limited...)
Commander -
Norin the Wary, Grimgrin, Adun Oakenshield (taking forever to build)(dead format for me)Edit: spelling
Marath, Will of the Wild Tokens!! / Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund Dragons! / Muzzio, Visionary Architect / Brago, King Eternal / Daretti, Scrap Savant / Narset, Enlightened Master / Alesha, Who Smiles at Death / Bruna, Light of Alabaster / Marchesa, the Black Rose / Iroas, God of Victory / Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury / Omnath, Locus of rage / Titania, Protector of Argoth / Kozilek, the Great Distortion
Modern
Elves / Titanshift / Merfolk
I've been toying with the idea of trying to build a more midrange Titan Shift deck that would have ramp and payoff cards but also maindeck utility stuff like Tireless Tracker. I really want to test out 8 fetchlands and KHE with Renegade Rallier. My Magical Christmas-land game goes: turn 2 KHE, turn 3 fetch, Rallier, getting back fetch, pop KHE, turn 4 Scapeshift/Titan with 7 lands. It's probably a bad idea that won't work, I admit, but I like messing around with splashes. If I maindeck Tireless Tracker, that already puts me to wanting to max out on fetchlands. Rallier is a decent body that can block/trade or beat down. White gives me access to Nahiri. I'd love to also try Ajani Vengeant just because it's one of my favorite cards of all time, even though it's probably terrible :-P
I would even consider a BtL package but that may be taking it too far.
The shell would be something like:
26-27 lands
12-14 ramp spells (counting Rallier as ramp)
10 payoff cards (maybe including BtL or increasing the Pact count since I have more maindeck cards I can find)
2 Nahiri
3 Tireless Tracker
4-7 other disruption (Bolt, Path, Relic, Dromaka's Command, what else is there?)
That looks pretty straightforward.
If you want Rule of Law against Storm and Living End, I'd just run RiP instead since it affects a lot more matchups. Maybe just 3 RiP and 0 Rule, which frees up a slot for the EE you want to run.
I'd run 1 Reclamation Sage instead of 1 Claim in the sideboard since you can Pact for it. With maindeck Nahiri, I don't know that you really need Claim in the sideboard. Perhaps a grindy card like Tireless Tracker?
Stony Silence is good against Eldrazi Tron, but I don't know that I'd side it in since that is a good matchup anyway.
Primordial looks terrible. I understand having a pet card, and it's fine for that. But I'd probably run another Tireless Tracker instead.
From my experience splashing a color, you should cut a basic mountain for temple garden. 12 mountains is perfectly fine, you just have to be a bit careful and not make the dumb mistakes I did in my initial testing that ran me out of mountains too quickly.
And you know your meta better than we do, but I feel Rest In Peace hit so more decks than rule of law so I would run that if I were you. It even hits storm and living end which you say are why you want rule of law. The 3 RiP 0 rule suggestion Coinmagic made frees up a slot for EE as well.
With Nahiri, I feel the cycling on Sweltering Suns is less important so the 1-2 split you have seems fine. But, without Rest In Peace in the board, all Angers shores up your Dredge match more.
I would probably cut Sylvan Primordial. I run a Thrun sometimes, occasionally a Gaea's Revenge. I've even been known to slam Inferno Titan still. I feel all of these are better winconditions than Sylvan Primordial.
Marath, Will of the Wild Tokens!! / Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund Dragons! / Muzzio, Visionary Architect / Brago, King Eternal / Daretti, Scrap Savant / Narset, Enlightened Master / Alesha, Who Smiles at Death / Bruna, Light of Alabaster / Marchesa, the Black Rose / Iroas, God of Victory / Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury / Omnath, Locus of rage / Titania, Protector of Argoth / Kozilek, the Great Distortion
Modern
Elves / Titanshift / Merfolk
Edit: one thing I didn't initially comment on, I like the 4 farseeks 0 explores in three color lists. That's where I'm headed in Jund soon. The consistency of the ramp along with ensuring perfect mana make it too good to resist.
Marath, Will of the Wild Tokens!! / Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund Dragons! / Muzzio, Visionary Architect / Brago, King Eternal / Daretti, Scrap Savant / Narset, Enlightened Master / Alesha, Who Smiles at Death / Bruna, Light of Alabaster / Marchesa, the Black Rose / Iroas, God of Victory / Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury / Omnath, Locus of rage / Titania, Protector of Argoth / Kozilek, the Great Distortion
Modern
Elves / Titanshift / Merfolk
I say all of that with the caveat of "I love to be proven wrong. If you make the deck better and that means I was wrong, I am happy." I doubted the Jund lists at first and now I love it. I doubted Courser back in the day now I would never sleeve up without it. If Cartouche of Zeal and Amulet end up being great in the flex slots then I will try them out. They just seem worse than other options.
Marath, Will of the Wild Tokens!! / Karrthus, Tyrant of Jund Dragons! / Muzzio, Visionary Architect / Brago, King Eternal / Daretti, Scrap Savant / Narset, Enlightened Master / Alesha, Who Smiles at Death / Bruna, Light of Alabaster / Marchesa, the Black Rose / Iroas, God of Victory / Freyalise, Llanowar's Fury / Omnath, Locus of rage / Titania, Protector of Argoth / Kozilek, the Great Distortion
Modern
Elves / Titanshift / Merfolk
He gives Haste to Prime Titan, can hit for 6, comes in opp end step and is an additional threat.
WGUBR 5c Humans
GWR Naya Zoo
Legacy:
GW GW Maverick
R Goblins
Modern : RG Titan Shift RG | RG Revolt Zoo RG | RG Ponza RG | RGW Naya Burn RGW
Legacy : RG Belcher RG
How exactly do you win turn 3?
Like others said, if you're looking for the effect something like Expedite would be all around better. Easily giving haste to Titan is what would make it broken (see pre-ban Amulet Titan deck), so most of the effects that allow you to do that aren't easy to use. Someone suggested Samut, which seems reasonable but would require you to cast both Search for Tomorrow and a 2 mana ramp spell to hit this and your titan on curve. If you're already playing Amulet, you could just put a Boros Garrison and Slayer's Stronghold in your manabase (that's would strictly be for fun).
@afosz The deck has no way to win on turn 3. There are a few a ways to do it with Amulet, but are a little more convoluted. You can win with 4 lands, Scapeshift, KHE, and Omen, but that happens on turn 4 as well.
Fetch-Shock-Blog
Moderator of /r/Scapeshift