Certainly not worth a report as I had not played the game in two months and kept piling on mistakes, probably one of my worst result ever.
Most matches felt winnable though (Tron, UR Delver, Burn) except for one painful loss against Dredge. Took an absolute beating both games including a T3 kill, Creeping Chill for 9 dmg both times, etc...
How the **** do you win? How would you recommend I sideboard?
@Chaughey Thank you so much for your recent contributions to this thread! A good report and an interesting new list. But we certainly don't want you to burn out either! And I'm sure videos will be perfect too!
Thanks a lot for posting here! Every time I move away from the deck because I feel it's just not good enough, I come back to it because the shell is just so much fun. So I'm glad someone is having success with it! And congratulations btw
List looks super cool, really want to give it a try. At first glance, my only change would be to cut the 3 Feed the clan from the board and replace them by 3 Huntmaster of the Fells which, while not being as good vs burn still does the job and has much more uses in other matchups.
Just lurking here, as I've yet to play the deck (but I'm gathering up the remaining pieces, maybe in a couple month, I'll be able to give it a try ).
Definitely not an expert then but I can at least give you an opinion on Blood Moon in RUG shells since, before switching to my current deck, Counter-Cat, I used to play a lot of Monkey-Grow. Completely different decks obviously but at least they share the tempo aspect (even though it's much more integral to Monkey Grow's gameplan).
Anyway, MG plays 3 Blood Moon side which are absolutely crucial in a lot of matchups. Almost has 0 impact on the deck manabase, flat out wins the game sometimes and is just very good, even when people know you'r playing it, expect it and fetch accordingly. Was bringing it in against anything linear (Infect, Bogles), Celestial Colonnades deck, 3 colors deck, Tron, etc.
But the thing is, the 0 impact on the manabase, it definitely isn't true here. Casting Cryptic Command under Blood Moon seems like a tall order. And generally speaking, the more you wait to drop it (if you have to wait your basics), the less impact it has.
Regarding Blood Moon against Tron (regular version, I had already stopped playing the deck when Eldrazi emerged), it is defnitely very good but it's far from game winning. You absolutely need a quick clock because they will get rid of it (Oblivion Stone destroyed mines quite a few times)
Just the opinion of someone who doesn't play Eternal Command, take it with a grain of salt
GP in my city last weekend. Played two Modern side events so 8 rounds total. Good thing is, lots of players (Sunday was 150+) and a bunch of archetypes I dont get to face at my LGS. Bad thing is, I got wrecked...
Matches were:
Merfolk (L), Affinity (D), RW Planewalkers control (L), Jeskai midrange (W), Affinity (L), Treefolk homebrew (D), Affinity (W), Abzan (L)
So, total is: 2-2-4, not the best
A few notes:
Sometimes, Magic doesn't want you to win. I have a very close game 1 against Merfolk that I lose when he topdecks a lord for exactly lethal while I have lethal on board too myself. My draws game 2 are: 7 no land, 6 1 land unkeepable, 5 no land, 4 no land...
I had a really hard time beating Etched Champion every time I faced it. Gets worse when they have multiple or a ravager was able to pump. Engineered Explosives is good obviously but you don't always draw it.
Speaking of which, loved the second one! Very good card, lots of application! Had only one Saturday but was able to trade the second for Sunday, no regret!
RW PW control felt like climbing a mountain. Uncommon matchup fortunately.
Beating Treefolk largely depends on how many Delver you draw Those damn trees are bigger than everything you can have on the ground.
The deck was as fun as ever to play but... There's something that annoys me with it. I played some games against a friend that is on BW token and I just wasn't able to win a single game 1. And I feel like this is the case against most of the field. There are some matchups where you have so many dead cards that your best bet is going straight to game 2. Feels like a real disadvantage especially when going to time.
@Jordan: you're obviously a much more experienced player than I am, as it been really different for you?
Anyway, this was just a little rant, I had a good time with the deck and I'm sticking with it for a while
Thanks I guess everything makes sense. I'm just surprised that you board out leak against Abzan. I seem to recall (at least when I was playing the Monkey Grow version) that it was necessary against bombs such as Rhino.
Against UW Control with creatures, if you keep Path, would you still bring in Spreading Seas?
Played my monthly Modern last sunday with Counter-Cat. Went decently well even though I can't quite break into T8. 26 players showed up and I finished 2-1-2, losing my spot in the deciding final match.
The deck is as fun as ever to play and I'll be bringing it to the GP in my city in a couple weeks. Only side events unfortunately (main event is team limited, sad face) but that should still be a hundred players so, fearsome competition!
Anyway, sideboarding is still one of my weakest point so I could likely use a review and some advices.
Matches I played with choices (Meta is usually filled with Tron, Shadow and other t1 decks, managed to dodge them all!):
Abzan midrange: 0-2
- 2 Thought Scour, 3 Disrupting Shoal, 2 Spell Pierce
+ 2 Huntmaster of the Fells, 2 Pyroclasm, 1 Snapcaster Mage, 1 Engineered Explosives, 1 Tamiyo, Field Researcher
UB Faeries: 2-1
- 4 Path to Exile, 2 Thought Scour, 1 Disrupting Shoal, 1 Lightning Bolt
+ 2 Pyroclasm, 1 Snapcaster Mage, 2 Huntmaster of the Fells, 1 Engineered Explosives, 2 Negate
Grixis Delver: 1-1
- 2 Spell Pierce, 2 Thought Scour, 1 Chart a Course, 1 Disrupting Shoal
+ 2 Pyroclasm, 2 Huntmaster of the Fells, 1 Engineered Explosives, 1 Snapcaster Mage
GW kitchen brew: 2-0
- 3 Disrupting Shoal, 2 Spell Pierce (did not see any Collected Company here, I don't think there was, might be questionable otherwise?)
+ 2 Huntmaster of the Fells, 2 Pyroclasm, 1 Engineered Explosives
UW Control: 0-2
- 3 Disrupting Shoal, 2 Thought Scour, 4 Path to Exile (not sure about other lists but he was playing more creatures than I expected, Finks and Restoration Angel notably, felt sligthly uncomfortable boarding out all 4, wonder if that was the correct choice...)
+ 1 Snapcaster Mage, 2 Spreading Seas, 2 Huntmaster of the Fells, 2 Negate, 1 Surgical Extraction, 1 Tamiyo, Field Researcher
Good thing is, apart Abzan, all matches felt winnable.
Quick question regarding sideboarding.
Do you sometimes side out completely Wild Nacatl? Played my first tournament with the deck a week ago including two matches against UW Control (4 Spreading Seas) and 1 against Bant Toolbox (4 Ghost Quarters) and they were like never 3/3, ever.
Also, just read Jordan's article on cantrips, if I get it well, so far, Opt is not replacing Sleight of Hand, correct? (unless testing proves otherwise obviously)
After a short stint with DS Jund where I realised midrange deck just where not for me (finally figured out that playing discard is not something I enjoy), I went back to my beloved delver. Gave a try to Counter-Cat and while a single tournament is way too few to confirm Jordan's feeling that it's the best delver deck right now (not that I disagree either ), at least, it was incredibly fun to play with and incredibly closed to the Monkey Grow of old. I never quite recovered from the probe ban but, appart from trading Blood Moon for Path to Exile, the new version with Shoal felt like being at home.
Got murdered by Ghost Quarters and Spreading Seas 3 games in a row though but that's another story
Anyway, you guys should give it a try!
Also, the deck's name is much better!
Made a post in the "What Deck Should I Play" thread, looking for an advice for an ex-RUG Delver player, bored of playing Death's Shadow. Which led me here! Hopeful of finding a deck I truly enjoy
Two questions for a start.
Do you guys have any recent video coverage of the deck to get a feel of how it plays like? YouTube doesn't have much and while the 2012 championship match was cool, modern wasn't really the same. Was thinking GP footage on twitch, etc.
I think I have most of the cards already but what would an updated list look like given current meta? Mine has quite a lot of Grixis Shadow and Tron (both GR and Eldrazi), a couple UW Control, and a mix of linear stuff (Affinity, Burn, Dredge, etc).
@idSurge: yeah, I can absolutely relate to that. It's been very conflicting for me between paying something fun and something "tiered". Not like I travel to GPs and such but my monthly weekend tournament is still fairly competitive so I like to have a shot at the very least.
@Pokerkingdave: thanks for pointing the list. Even though in this day and age, if I had to play something similar, it would probably be Death's Shadow.
@FoodChainGoblins: thanks a bunch for the video sir! Found the original match and it was a good watch, even though the meta is quite different from back then. I'll give the deck a try. I mean, it's filled with cards I like to play with and I have most of them already so, why not
Ex-RUG Delver ("Monkey Grow") player here, wandering aimlessly, having no idea what to play. Basically, I can't find a deck I truly enjoy since the ban of Gitaxian Probe. And being paper only, I get to play like once month, twice max, so no intensive testing. I'm currently on Death's Shadow Jund but I miss playing with my snappies and don't want to switch to Grixis because I will miss playing with my goyfs. And I don't know why but there's something I find boring with going turn 1 discard every game (gets even worse when following up with turn 2 discard)... Not sure what style I truly enjoy. Had a lot of fun with delver, and I quite enjoy the only Legacy deck I own, Death&Taxes, so I guess tempo? Had a quick look at Eternal Command but there's like zero video coverage to get a feel of how the deck plays like.
And if you feel like I'm just an annoying dude that wants something that doesn't exist in Modern, then you're probably right
Anyway, doesn't cost a thing to ask for recommandations I guess
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Misty Rainforest
3 Wooded Foothills
2 Steam Vents
1 Breeding Pool
1 Stomping Ground
2 Island
1 Forest
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Hooting Mandrills
3 Young Pyromancer
1 Snapcaster Mage
4 Faithless Looting
4 Vapor Snag
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Forked Bolt
3 Mana Leak
3 Spell Pierce
2 Stubborn Denial
1 Traverse the Ulvenwald
3 Damping Sphere
2 Ancient Grudge
2 Destructive Revelry
3 Huntmaster of the Fells
1 Hazoret the Fervent
2 Firespout
2 Stubborn Denial
Certainly not worth a report as I had not played the game in two months and kept piling on mistakes, probably one of my worst result ever.
Most matches felt winnable though (Tron, UR Delver, Burn) except for one painful loss against Dredge. Took an absolute beating both games including a T3 kill, Creeping Chill for 9 dmg both times, etc...
How the **** do you win? How would you recommend I sideboard?
List looks super cool, really want to give it a try. At first glance, my only change would be to cut the 3 Feed the clan from the board and replace them by 3 Huntmaster of the Fells which, while not being as good vs burn still does the job and has much more uses in other matchups.
Definitely not an expert then but I can at least give you an opinion on Blood Moon in RUG shells since, before switching to my current deck, Counter-Cat, I used to play a lot of Monkey-Grow. Completely different decks obviously but at least they share the tempo aspect (even though it's much more integral to Monkey Grow's gameplan).
Anyway, MG plays 3 Blood Moon side which are absolutely crucial in a lot of matchups. Almost has 0 impact on the deck manabase, flat out wins the game sometimes and is just very good, even when people know you'r playing it, expect it and fetch accordingly. Was bringing it in against anything linear (Infect, Bogles), Celestial Colonnades deck, 3 colors deck, Tron, etc.
But the thing is, the 0 impact on the manabase, it definitely isn't true here. Casting Cryptic Command under Blood Moon seems like a tall order. And generally speaking, the more you wait to drop it (if you have to wait your basics), the less impact it has.
Regarding Blood Moon against Tron (regular version, I had already stopped playing the deck when Eldrazi emerged), it is defnitely very good but it's far from game winning. You absolutely need a quick clock because they will get rid of it (Oblivion Stone destroyed mines quite a few times)
Just the opinion of someone who doesn't play Eternal Command, take it with a grain of salt
Matches were:
Merfolk (L), Affinity (D), RW Planewalkers control (L), Jeskai midrange (W), Affinity (L), Treefolk homebrew (D), Affinity (W), Abzan (L)
So, total is: 2-2-4, not the best
A few notes:
- Sometimes, Magic doesn't want you to win. I have a very close game 1 against Merfolk that I lose when he topdecks a lord for exactly lethal while I have lethal on board too myself. My draws game 2 are: 7 no land, 6 1 land unkeepable, 5 no land, 4 no land...
- I had a really hard time beating Etched Champion every time I faced it. Gets worse when they have multiple or a ravager was able to pump. Engineered Explosives is good obviously but you don't always draw it.
- Speaking of which, loved the second one! Very good card, lots of application! Had only one Saturday but was able to trade the second for Sunday, no regret!
- RW PW control felt like climbing a mountain. Uncommon matchup fortunately.
- Beating Treefolk largely depends on how many Delver you draw
Those damn trees are bigger than everything you can have on the ground.
The deck was as fun as ever to play but... There's something that annoys me with it. I played some games against a friend that is on BW token and I just wasn't able to win a single game 1. And I feel like this is the case against most of the field. There are some matchups where you have so many dead cards that your best bet is going straight to game 2. Feels like a real disadvantage especially when going to time.@Jordan: you're obviously a much more experienced player than I am, as it been really different for you?
Anyway, this was just a little rant, I had a good time with the deck and I'm sticking with it for a while
Against UW Control with creatures, if you keep Path, would you still bring in Spreading Seas?
The deck is as fun as ever to play and I'll be bringing it to the GP in my city in a couple weeks. Only side events unfortunately (main event is team limited, sad face) but that should still be a hundred players so, fearsome competition!
Anyway, sideboarding is still one of my weakest point so I could likely use a review and some advices.
Matches I played with choices (Meta is usually filled with Tron, Shadow and other t1 decks, managed to dodge them all!):
Abzan midrange: 0-2
- 2 Thought Scour, 3 Disrupting Shoal, 2 Spell Pierce
+ 2 Huntmaster of the Fells, 2 Pyroclasm, 1 Snapcaster Mage, 1 Engineered Explosives, 1 Tamiyo, Field Researcher
UB Faeries: 2-1
- 4 Path to Exile, 2 Thought Scour, 1 Disrupting Shoal, 1 Lightning Bolt
+ 2 Pyroclasm, 1 Snapcaster Mage, 2 Huntmaster of the Fells, 1 Engineered Explosives, 2 Negate
Grixis Delver: 1-1
- 2 Spell Pierce, 2 Thought Scour, 1 Chart a Course, 1 Disrupting Shoal
+ 2 Pyroclasm, 2 Huntmaster of the Fells, 1 Engineered Explosives, 1 Snapcaster Mage
GW kitchen brew: 2-0
- 3 Disrupting Shoal, 2 Spell Pierce (did not see any Collected Company here, I don't think there was, might be questionable otherwise?)
+ 2 Huntmaster of the Fells, 2 Pyroclasm, 1 Engineered Explosives
UW Control: 0-2
- 3 Disrupting Shoal, 2 Thought Scour, 4 Path to Exile (not sure about other lists but he was playing more creatures than I expected, Finks and Restoration Angel notably, felt sligthly uncomfortable boarding out all 4, wonder if that was the correct choice...)
+ 1 Snapcaster Mage, 2 Spreading Seas, 2 Huntmaster of the Fells, 2 Negate, 1 Surgical Extraction, 1 Tamiyo, Field Researcher
Good thing is, apart Abzan, all matches felt winnable.
Do you sometimes side out completely Wild Nacatl? Played my first tournament with the deck a week ago including two matches against UW Control (4 Spreading Seas) and 1 against Bant Toolbox (4 Ghost Quarters) and they were like never 3/3, ever.
Also, just read Jordan's article on cantrips, if I get it well, so far, Opt is not replacing Sleight of Hand, correct? (unless testing proves otherwise obviously)
Got murdered by Ghost Quarters and Spreading Seas 3 games in a row though but that's another story
Anyway, you guys should give it a try!
Also, the deck's name is much better!
Made a post in the "What Deck Should I Play" thread, looking for an advice for an ex-RUG Delver player, bored of playing Death's Shadow. Which led me here! Hopeful of finding a deck I truly enjoy
Two questions for a start.
Do you guys have any recent video coverage of the deck to get a feel of how it plays like? YouTube doesn't have much and while the 2012 championship match was cool, modern wasn't really the same. Was thinking GP footage on twitch, etc.
I think I have most of the cards already but what would an updated list look like given current meta? Mine has quite a lot of Grixis Shadow and Tron (both GR and Eldrazi), a couple UW Control, and a mix of linear stuff (Affinity, Burn, Dredge, etc).
Thanks!
@idSurge: yeah, I can absolutely relate to that. It's been very conflicting for me between paying something fun and something "tiered". Not like I travel to GPs and such but my monthly weekend tournament is still fairly competitive so I like to have a shot at the very least.
@Pokerkingdave: thanks for pointing the list. Even though in this day and age, if I had to play something similar, it would probably be Death's Shadow.
@FoodChainGoblins: thanks a bunch for the video sir! Found the original match and it was a good watch, even though the meta is quite different from back then. I'll give the deck a try. I mean, it's filled with cards I like to play with and I have most of them already so, why not
Ex-RUG Delver ("Monkey Grow") player here, wandering aimlessly, having no idea what to play. Basically, I can't find a deck I truly enjoy since the ban of Gitaxian Probe. And being paper only, I get to play like once month, twice max, so no intensive testing. I'm currently on Death's Shadow Jund but I miss playing with my snappies and don't want to switch to Grixis because I will miss playing with my goyfs. And I don't know why but there's something I find boring with going turn 1 discard every game (gets even worse when following up with turn 2 discard)... Not sure what style I truly enjoy. Had a lot of fun with delver, and I quite enjoy the only Legacy deck I own, Death&Taxes, so I guess tempo? Had a quick look at Eternal Command but there's like zero video coverage to get a feel of how the deck plays like.
And if you feel like I'm just an annoying dude that wants something that doesn't exist in Modern, then you're probably right
Anyway, doesn't cost a thing to ask for recommandations I guess