Yeah I realize this, thank you. Is it really that ambitious to say that about the removal spells? I know it doesnt completely blank them but it makes them much more irrelevant when youre grinding your opponent out like Jund does. Its also much easier to allow your huntmaster to flip when you would like, when you have the engine of Bob, and Liliana going. He is just a very good finisher when you have that soft lock going.
Would you suggest something other than Huntmaster, and if so what and why?
Huntmaster is flexible, he's got that going for him. But he lacks the impact of Olivia or the inevitability Batterskull grants. If I were to play a high CMC card, I'd probably run one of these.
Huntmaster of the Fells is very good. Its two bodies for one, and the gaining of life is relevant due to all the shocks, fetchs, thoughtseizes, and bobs. He basically blanks removal because youre always left with a Wolf, and if he isnt killed he can take over the game as you flip him at your pleasure. I am not sure what you play instead of him.
Saying that the Wolf token invalidates removal is kinda ambitious, same goes for saying that you can flip the Huntmaster at your leisure - people sometimes play instants, you know?
I looked at your list and realized I had almost all the cards for it, so I decided to sleeve up a version and I would like to talk about my substitutions. You should start a thread for the deck.
I certainly will start writing at least a small thread about the deck this night.
I'm happy so many people are taking interest in this deck!
Nice.
A couple of questions then:
1. Did you test any 6 CMC creature ? Was none of them efficient ?
2. What's your opinion on Thrag and Fauna Shaman in the list ?
Thx
1. I did, but Christian cut it to include the combo, while I cut something else to include it. At first, I tested Reaper of the Abyss. I like that it has evasion and a lot of power, but you rarely tutor for it. Then, I tried Ruric Thar, the Unbowed, which I used in the GP. On paper, he's a fine choice, but the problem is getting him into play. He singlehandedly won me a game against Jund and UWR each, but that's not enough in my eyes. I'll continue testing him, though, as I feel that the tournament was very hostile to tutoring him up.
2. Thragtusk is a concession to aggressive decks. You can inflict a lot of damage to yourself with this deck and Thragtusk gives you 2 blockers + 5 life. Plus, he's awesome to draw when topdecking.
I've liked Thragtusk a lot so far, even though I wasn't happy in the beginning, but he's really pulling his weight.
Fauna Shaman, on the other hand, is a different horse altogether. She was included as a replacement for the last Skirsdag High Priest. We used to play 3 Priests, but then we included the combo and a lone Priest is kinda bad, so we went with something similiar, that allows us to get more gas out of our draws. I wouldn't say Fauna Shaman is bad, she surely isn't, but she's slow as hell. I guess that's fine, tbh, I don't think I've lost a game where I activated her twice. Don't get me wrong, I'd never tutor for her, but she's a fine draw.
Was Thrinax the reason to play Jund ? Did he make a particular use of the tokens ? Pod Thrinax into Madrush Cyclops maybe ?
I don't know I haven't seen the list.
I designed the deck Christian Schneider used. We played each other at the FNM before the GP and he was amazed by the deck, so I gave him a list. He then decided to add the Kiki+Conscripts combo to it, which was a good addition. Redcap into Conscripts, untap Pod, Redcap into Kiki is a surprising kill for most people.
Thrinax was mainly a means to an end to provide Falkenrath Aristocrat with enough fodder to survive. Pod Thrinax into Aristocrat and suddenly your deck goes from durdle to aggro. It's very hard to kill aside from actual Path to Exile.
It interesting that McClain only played 1 melira but 3 chords. So it's obvious he wasn't trying to combo that often, so how useful is chord in this deck? Why not just play creatures in that slot?
Some kiki decks don't even play chord anymore, though I guess they have an easy decision to replace them with domri.
Jund Charm seems good if you're worried about Affinity. Ingot Chewers should clean up the rest.
If you're really desperate, 1 Shatter Storm seems fine.
If you want to play a Human based deck in Modern, I'd take a look at some sort of Naya Allies/Naya Blitz. Naya Blitz was a decent Aggro deck with an absurd goldfish during the last Standard season, I'm sure you can find the old primer in the Standard archives, or you could just take a look at some old tournaments.
Kiki gives you a few "Oops, I win"-moments, though.
Proxy them up and give them a spin, I'd say.
Huntmaster is flexible, he's got that going for him. But he lacks the impact of Olivia or the inevitability Batterskull grants. If I were to play a high CMC card, I'd probably run one of these.
Saying that the Wolf token invalidates removal is kinda ambitious, same goes for saying that you can flip the Huntmaster at your leisure - people sometimes play instants, you know?
I certainly will start writing at least a small thread about the deck this night.
I'm happy so many people are taking interest in this deck!
1. I did, but Christian cut it to include the combo, while I cut something else to include it. At first, I tested Reaper of the Abyss. I like that it has evasion and a lot of power, but you rarely tutor for it. Then, I tried Ruric Thar, the Unbowed, which I used in the GP. On paper, he's a fine choice, but the problem is getting him into play. He singlehandedly won me a game against Jund and UWR each, but that's not enough in my eyes. I'll continue testing him, though, as I feel that the tournament was very hostile to tutoring him up.
2. Thragtusk is a concession to aggressive decks. You can inflict a lot of damage to yourself with this deck and Thragtusk gives you 2 blockers + 5 life. Plus, he's awesome to draw when topdecking.
I've liked Thragtusk a lot so far, even though I wasn't happy in the beginning, but he's really pulling his weight.
Fauna Shaman, on the other hand, is a different horse altogether. She was included as a replacement for the last Skirsdag High Priest. We used to play 3 Priests, but then we included the combo and a lone Priest is kinda bad, so we went with something similiar, that allows us to get more gas out of our draws. I wouldn't say Fauna Shaman is bad, she surely isn't, but she's slow as hell. I guess that's fine, tbh, I don't think I've lost a game where I activated her twice. Don't get me wrong, I'd never tutor for her, but she's a fine draw.
I designed the deck Christian Schneider used. We played each other at the FNM before the GP and he was amazed by the deck, so I gave him a list. He then decided to add the Kiki+Conscripts combo to it, which was a good addition. Redcap into Conscripts, untap Pod, Redcap into Kiki is a surprising kill for most people.
Thrinax was mainly a means to an end to provide Falkenrath Aristocrat with enough fodder to survive. Pod Thrinax into Aristocrat and suddenly your deck goes from durdle to aggro. It's very hard to kill aside from actual Path to Exile.
A deck contains Pod + Kiki? Let's label it Kiki Pod!
Watched the Finals on site, nice to see Dickmann take it home. I think the Top 16 is quite nice, nothing to complain about.
I mean, go big, or go home.
I hope you have the endurance to go through 9 rounds, then.
Melira is the worst card in this deck. You only need it when you combo with Seer + Redcap. Cutting it seems natural to me.
If you're really desperate, 1 Shatter Storm seems fine.