Hey guys! I'm new to the deck,but I created a discord link that we could hopefully discuss updates on strategy/sideboarding/tech with in real time. https://discord.gg/FPNkpJh
Hey guys what modern deck would you consider if you were going to be taking a break from magic? Due to a lot of factors I will have to do so and am unsure which simplistic one to go with; was thinking boggles,tron, titanshift, or burn because I want to be able to catch up with latest lists easily if I have to. I also want it to be competitive the times I can occasionally drop by a tournament. I am open to other suggestions for sure!
I thought I sided them in on there and forgot I didn't; good catch! I sided out the other 2 bloodghasts for them since we need an out to Etched Champion and ghasts will never connect anyway I assume.
Hey guys! I don't own this deck anymore, but am planning on potentially building it for a friend of mine. The list that I had played with had done well for me at the time, but it's easily too old at this point (at least a year and a half). I wanted to know how you guys would suggest making the deck as competitive as possible, since I know the people in this thread spent more time on the deck then I.
Hey guys! I am planning on taking UW turns to GP Hartford next weekend! I am very much looking forward to this event and the deck has been doing very well for me in testing thus far. In terms of the list as of now, 74 out of the 75 cards are set in stone. https://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/21-03-18-uw-turns/
This is very close to the list that got 30th at Phoenix. The only card I am very hesitant to include as of now is EE; in this slot, I want to have something to hedge against hollow one and humans a little more (as well as having another way to deal with Gaddock Teeg ideally). I have been considering the following in the slot and wanted opinions:
Detention Sphere: The card I am currently testing in this slot. Hollow One doesn't run a way to remove the enchantment, it has the flexibility of EE, but can hit things that don't have a CMC of 2 maximum. Dealing with teeg is another plus! A con though is that it doesn't remove blood moon, but I have only lost exactly one game to moon. With 9 basics and the card draw we have it isn't a huge deal. It also hits storm's empty the warrens plan and is a card to board against things like big mana and tempo decks (albeit big mana is favorabl already) that could prove worthy of this inclusion
Echoing Truth: Coming in a tad earlier (turn 2 vs turn 3) can be a really nice option.
Ghostly Prison: Hollow One is slowed down a lot, humans and other go wide decks are slowed down, but it doesn't have a great topdeck feeling if it isn't turn 3 or 4 in comparison to the flexibility of the prior 2. Also, gigadrowse combining with this card can be VERY useful.
Silent Arbiter: A beefy card that mandates a showdown between one singular creature in combat. It doesn't provide the flexibility that echoing or D Sphere has, but the impact it has on multiple decks can't be ignored. That said, four mana is problematic potentially (it might come too late),and not being an enchantment means that hollow one can remove it (Albeit if howling mine wasn't seen artifact hate won't be boarded in).
At the end of the day this slot will probably only be final once I scout the room on friday based on the modern challenge, but I wanted to gather opinions! Any questions that you have on the build I will be happy to answer. I also have written a comprehensive sideboard guide for every modern deck I can possibly think one would face for this GP, and after I will be more than happy to do a writeup on it!
Phoenix and Seba have been helping me out a lot for the list/sideboard guide to prepare for this, so I want to give them a shout out for that
Busted out the old elves as a mental break from storm. I cut the two beast withins in the board for a second corrosion and the nissa. I have to say that I was extremely impressed. The deck seems to have gotten better positioned; I crushed Mardu Pyro zoo and Affinity, narrowly lost to GW Valuetown on a blindsided worship g2 and a topdecked linvala game 3 when I got mana screwed and relied on dorks (both were a one of in his deck). Although storm is still my main deck, Elves is good against what storm is unfavored in. Thus, I will probably be using the deck more than I thought !
How do you suggest sideboarding against Grixis Control and UR Pyro? I have been playing against grixis control multiple times on MTGO lately, and I am torn on what my sideboarding plan should be. I also assume the tap out with giga is the main plan against them , but just want to confirm. http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/scherer-storm/
I also am seeing UR Pyro pop up more at my LGS and while I have not played against it yet in pairings, I want to be prepared for it in case.
Played in a local 3 rounder today to a 3-0 finish! Same list.
Round 1 Burn
I sit down and sigh as I am ready to end my undefeated tournament storm record. He goes turn 1 bolt me, turn 2 eidolon and I turn 3 kill his eidolon with the hand that would be the turn 3 kill for the win through it! I ended the game at 4 life so it was costly. Being on the play helped me a ton.
Game 2 I kept a risky one lander that if I drew one mana I won. Didnt get there.
Game 3 I kept an eidolon proof hand with unsub two lands bolt gifts baral and serum visions. After I rid him of the eidolon I go off turn 4.
Games 2-1 Match 1-0
I was beyond pumped since eidolon as we all know is never easy to beat.
Round 2 Affinity
This man is an extremely dedicated long time affinity player (foiled out deck to boot), so I was excited for the match. I mull to 6, he mulls to 5. I get to 9 infect (!) turn 4 regardless and go off without disruption.
Sideboard In: 2 spree, 2 bolt, 1 echoing Truth, 1 Wipe Away Out: 2 remand, 3 Opt 1 Sleight of Hand
Instead of the third bolt, I know he runs multiple chalice of the voids as a "gotcha", so I sacrificed one of my bolts for another way to deal with it. Normally it would just be a third bolt in though.
Game 2 he is on a one lander with a spellbomb cage vault skirge ornithopter. Spree on 4 gets rid of his board while I bolt the ornithopter. This gives me ample time to set up a combo turn easily.
Games 4-1 Match 2-0
Due to lower turnout in comparison to usual, there were only 3 rounds. However, I couldn't split with the only other 2-0 because there was a round 1 draw.
Round 3 Abzan
Game 1 he thoughtseizes me into scooze into lili, but the grapeshot in my hand gets rid of scooze and I go off without trouble.
This is a grindfest with multiple pieces resolving. Eventually, I wait untill I have 4 lands to baral ritual, ritual manamorphose gifts in response to push on his end, empty for 8 storm with manamorphose pieces and opt backup. He inquisitioned my pieces, uses souls tokens to chump for a turn, which gives me a draw step to find the repeal for if he pulsed one of my dudes. I held back the three cards in case he had a board wipe besides pulse, but instead he cant fight through the goblin swarm and I take it!
Games 6-1 Match 3-0
Always happy to be storming with you guys! I am a tad nervous as to how well I am doing on paper because while I do playtest a lot/ watch streams consistently, I don't want my luck to run out when it comes time for my GP/PTQ's.
Hey guys! Just came back from a thursday night modern event. This was my first event since the unbans, so I was excited. 15 players total; seemed to be a lot of people utilizing Jace (understandably so)in the meta. I went with Caleb's latest adventuregear list but replacing the 4th opt with a repeal. The list has been going very well for me so I see no reason to change it for now.
Round 1 Jeskai Control
I keep a hand with several cantrips a grapeshot and lands. I played draw go with him for a while untill gifts end step to force interaction. On turn 6 he gave me a one turn window to win when he played Jace with one mana up for removal of the bear he assumed I would play. I had drawn a PiF and a second grapeshot, so I was able to kill him in that window.
Game 2 I turn 2 Empty for 6 and he spends his resources dealing with the tokens (but not before they get him down to a low life total). I grapeshot him for 4 when he is at 4 and that's that.
Games 2-0 Match 1-0
Round 2: UG Devotion
Seemed like a cool deck, but unsure how competitive it was. He played Tireless Tracker into Oracle of Mul Daya to get a ton of mana/clues, but then died after playing a Jace.
Sideboard: In 2 Empty 1 Echoing Truth 1 Wipe Away Out: 1 PiF 1 Grapeshot 1 Opt 1 Unsubstantiate
I wasn't entirely sure what he was playing, so I tried to play around random hate such as trinisphere. It wound up not mattering since he didnt reperesent anything worth bouncing and I stormed off while he durded.
Games 2-0 Match 2-0
Round 3 GDS
I knew what I was playing against from sitting close to him round 2. His deck was beautiful (foiled out) and I was anticipating a good match. Game 1 he gets himself down to 8 which is enough for the grapeshot in my hand (he had deployed a shadow, stubborn denialed Gifts the turn after, and thoughtseized me three times).
Sideboard: In 2 Empty 4 Pieces 1 Wipe Away 2 Giga 3 Bolt Out: 4 gifts, 4 baral, 2 electromancer, 1 Past in Flames, 1 remand
Game 2 he had the nut draw of 3 Shadows with stub backup and there was nothing I could do.
Game 3 he thoughtseized and saw a hand of two rituals manamorphose grapeshot sleight and two lands. He took manamorphose (which I can somewhat understand because he assumed I wouldnt have enough gas). Unfortunately for him, he got down to 10 when I topdecked a Pif and another ritual, so I was able to get him for exactsies on turn 3 when he tapped out for two shadows.
Games 6-1 Match 3-0
I split against the only other undefeated player (who was on Mardu Pyromancer) who just wanted to go home, but I felt good about my chances against him if we were to play it out. I played a mock fourth round against Bant Knightfall for fun and handily won 2-0.
Overall, I feel very positive that I want to be on storm in this new meta. The shift seems very solid for us, and I don't know when the list will need to be edited (albeit I do keep hearing about Search for Azcanta in the main which I am intrigued by). How is search for you guys if anyone here tryed it?
Also, how would you guys suggest boarding for UR Pyromancer? I am unsure about it atm.
Hey guys! I just played my first event with Storm and didn't drop a game! I ran Caleb's latest adventuregear list but cut the 4th opt for a repeal based on his latest stream's results with it. Looking forward to playing this deck as my primary one moving forward!
I was curious to ask what are your guys's most interesting matchups to play against to you and why?
Hey guys! I have been playing a mono G build for a month or two, and I have been doing very well against the majority of decks in my experience. HOWEVER, I am consistently losing to Gx tron. I wanted to get some opinions on the idea of replacing a Lead the Stampede and Fracturing Gust with two Beast Withins to try and combat the deck. I also am debating on switching my 2 Heroic Intervention with Shaper's Sanctuary, but I am iffy since Heroic has saved games before.
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/21-11-17-mono-g-elves/ The list for reference. I am loving playing the deck for sure, but I am planing on switching to GB sometime soon. That said, not sure how soon (budget reasons), and I want to take advantage of what I have first.
Hey guys! I have been seeing some great debate recently on if the card Hazoret is worthy of inclusion. I am under the firm belief that it is, but would love to see your guys's thoughts on the subject matter! I just released a new video of my Skred Red podcast that I discuss this topic, and it might be able to further the discussion here: https://youtu.be/wRzbVIvWpqQ .
I'm struggling to stay competitive with this deck. I feel like I always flood out and lose due to being too slow. Here's my list, because I desperately need help!
Again, I seriously don't know what I'm doing wrong. I just can't seem to win anymore.
What specifically are you losing to? I would add a Hazoret for sure; it makes flooding out not too bad and makes all topdecks live. I have been doing very well in this meta with my list honestly, but there are some serious differences between our lists. If I were you, I would change the following from your list:
-1 Magma Jet (Not that high of an impact card doesn't kill the things we care about) -1 Blood Moon (not too good in multiples) -1 Batterskull (I used to think this card was a necessity, but my list has done better when I cut it. Dies to a lot of things right now, and unfortunately I think we could be doing better. In the side, -2 Pyrite Spellbomb: this makes us not have much for pro red, but I don't see how pyrite spellbomb is worth more then a one of as a sideboard slot. I used to run the card, but it did not make an impact for me much. I also would cut the Pithing Needle (I get how it is versatile but what is it vastly improving? I want every sideboard slot to have a specific purpose), and the Grafdigger's seem like overkill since dredge is a great matchup anyway with this deck (anger's and relics maindeck and moon screws with them a decent amount surprisingly, and company decks are pretty good matchups too such as elves). Sudden Shock is a debatable card and depends on the meta, but I would advise against running it since it makes our good matchups better but does nothing against what we are not great against.
In terms of what I would add? +1 Relic (the graveyard hate as well as another outlet for the scourge combo and at worst a cantrip is very very valuable as a card. At worst is an easy board out target but a lot of the time there is value in this card. With storm, Shadow decks, and dredge caring about GY, I would never leave home without 4 in the main). +1 Roast (kills most goyf, eldrazis, Shadow's a decent amount of the time, and almost every other threat we can care about in the deck), +1 Hazoret (Seriously, I have a video coming out at the end of the week that explains why this card is a mainstay in my list for a long time, but it has been incredible. People can't remove it, every draw is live, the pressure and resiliency it provides is very relevant, and it gets through multiple cards that are typically brought in against us. This is what I replaced Batterskull with, and Hazoret won me way more games on it's own). For the side, I would add one more Dragon's Claw to have the best chance possible against burn (I always felt 4 was overkill since I wanted to have some more space and I have been happy with this), I would go to 4 Molten Rain since it punishes the many decks that are greedy on mana these days (Shadow, tron varients, even valakut to an extent), I also like going up to 3 Rabble since the decks that are our worst matchups are the uninteractive decks, and this card singlehandedly wrecks them. When you have this card boarded in, you want it as often as possible. Thus, I like it as a 3 of. A 4th anger in the board seems vital with company decks/other creature decks surging. When you want it against decks, the possibility of driving it as often as possible is VITAL. Finally, the last two flex spots can be adjusted to your meta, but I like having these 2 being against control decks. This can be in the form of 2 stormbreath (which control decks now a days have a REALLY hard time beating), or 2 Ricochet Trap (which I am using right now since people don't play against it as much and it negates countermagic/makes ancestral visions ours, so while more narrow I hate losing to blue and this ensures we have some protection against it).
I didn't realize this untill after typing this all out, but I am essentially arguing for why you should play my list (it would be my list verbatim if you use Ricochet trap as the control card), but my list is the current configuration because it has been working consistently.
So I took Skred to GP Copenhagen which was my first GP. I did pretty well day 1 (7-2), but sadly not as great on day 2 ending up with a total record of 9-6 for 296th place.
Main deck choices: The main deck is fairly standard Eternal Skred, which fits my playstyle nicely. I feel like P&K always does a lot of work even in multiples (this GP was no exception), so I feel 4 is the right amount. I chose not to run Simian Spirit Guide even though it seems to be popular at the moment. My reasoning was that SSG sometimes gives you great games (most notably T2 Blood Moon), while other times being very underwhelming. SSG therefore seems to add more variability and I chose instead to prioritise consistancy.
Sideboard choices: I'd had problems against Eldrazi Tron and Death's Shadow Grixis in the weeks before the event, so I added a Roast to my sideboard (I usually just play 1 main) and ended up adding a second one to my sideboard the day before the event. I ended up facing only 1 Eldrazi Tron deck and no Grixis Shadow, but overall I was okay with running it, since it was useful against Jund Shadow, which I faced twice. I might go down to 1 main and 1 in the side again though. I chose to run Kozilek's Return rather than Pyrite Spellbomb since both have the primary function of dealing with pro red creatures and I figured that an additional sweep was a more useful secondary function than an additional cantrip artifact.
I'll try to do a match-report as well as I can, but some of it is a bit blurry since 15 rounds of magic in two days was kind of exhausting (but fun none the less!).
Day 1
Match 1 - Jund Death's Shadow
G1: Mull to 6 and I get hit by 2 discard spells, which I never really recover from.
G2: I overwhelme my opponent with 3x P&K, too many chump blockers and bodies to swing with for him to deal with.
G3: I never see my 3rd land - so it goes.
0-1
Sideboard:
In: 2 Roast, 1 Stormbreath, 2 Molten Rain
Out: 2 Anger, 1 Volcanic Fallout, 2 Mind Stone (it might have been better to keep the 2 Mind Stones in instead of the 2 Molten Rains)
Match 2 - GB Infect
G1: I keep a removal light hand and my opponent almost has me with a Glistener Elf and 2 Inkmoth Nexus and I only have a Ratchet Bomb on 1 to deal with the elf. I topdeck Blood Moon and crack Ratchet Bomb and leaves him with a creatureless hand while I finish the game.
G2: Phyrexian Crusader brings me to 10 poison on T4. Not much else to say.
G3: I blow up a land early to delay his Crusader and start beating down with Koth. He sticks the crusader, spends a turn keeping Koth from ultimating while I bring him to 2 life. He has a crusader, 3 cards in hand and 3 mana, after several minutes of looking at his hand he scoops, showing me a hand that could have pumped the Crusader to 10/10 if I hadn't blown up one of his lands earlier. Very intense match.
1-1
Sideboard:
In: 1 Anger of the Gods, 1 Kozilek's Return, 4 Molten Rain, 2 Roast
Out: 4 Relic, 1 Ratchet Bomb, 1 Batterskull, 2 Mind Stone
Match 3 - 8-Rack
Game 1: My opponent wins the die roll and asks me to go first, which confuses me quite a bit until I see that he's on 8-rack. I get an early Relic and exile two if his Raven's Crime, which was huge. Scrying Sheets (and Mind Stones and an additional Relic) help me keep my hand size above damage range most of the time and makes his Inquisitions and Thoughtseizes quite anemic. He never finds an Ensnaring Bridge so I beat him fairly easily.
Game 2: T2 Ratchet bomb sits on the table for many rounds forcing him to keep his win-cons in his hand. This together with relic and Scrying Sheets and a Shatterstorm for his Bridge makes G2 easy.
2-1
Sideboard (as far as I remember):
In: 1 Shatterstorm, 2 Shattering Spree (maybe also Molten Rain, but I honestly don't remember)
Out: 1 Roast, 2 Anger of the Gods
Match 4 - Death's Shadow Jund
I don't remember much from this match. I'm pretty sure that I steal one of the games off a Blood Moon and the other was a grindy game where Roast and relics did a lot of work.
3-1
Sideboard: Same as Match 1
Match 5 - Regular Jund
Game 1: I land a T3 Blood Moon and bolt his Dark Confidant. Easy win
Game 2: T1 Relic makes for some sad Tarmogoyfs.
4-1
Sideboard (not 100% sure, but I think it looked something like this):
In: 2 Roast, 1 Stormbreath Dragon, 3 Molten Rain
Out: 1 Ratchet Bomb, 2 Anger of the Gods, 1 Volcanic Fallout, 2 Mind Stones
Match 6 - Regular Jund (again)
Pretty much the same as match 5, G2 he takes my Blood Moon with Inquisition, but it's still a fairly easy win.
5-1
Match 7 - Mono Red Burn
G1: My opponent is stuck on 1 land for a while and looses enough tempo that I have time to slam a Batterskull and get myself out of burn range. I only see 2 Basic Mountains throughout the game, but it could just be poor luck, so I while I consider the possibility of Mono Red Burn I end up deciding that Boros or Naya is more likely to make it to 5-1, so I keep in Blood Moon for G2.
G2: My opponent plays Incinerate on T2 and I'm now pretty sure that he's actually on Mono Red Burn. He finishes me off before I could stabilize.
G3: Very close game, I play 2 Molten Rains which slows him down quite a bit. I have a Dragon's Claw for a few turns before he finds a Smash to Smithereens. In the end he's on 2 and I'm on 5. He has 2 lands in play and if he finds a 3rd or a 1 mana burn spell, I'm probably dead, but he bricks on the last draw and I win.
6-1
Sideboard:
In: 3 Dragon's Claw, 4 Molten Rain, 1 Stormbreath, 1 Kozilek's Return
Out: 4 Relics, 1 Volcanic Fallout, 1 Roast, 1 Ratchet Bomb, 2 Mind Stone (G3, I side out 3 Blood Moon and put 2 Mind Stone and 1 Relic back in)
Match 8 - Affinity
G1: I make the mistake of cracking ratchet bomb for 0 to clear 2 0-mana creatures and a Mox Opal, leaving him with 1 land and a Springleaf Drum thinking I might be able to take him off mana. However, it hardly slows him down and leaves me with no way to deal with the Cranial Plating that comes down on T3.
G2: I manage to win this game off a well placed sweep followed by P&K.
G3: I keep a hand with 2 removal spells, but never see any more and he swiftly beats me.
6-2
Sideboard:
In: 2 Shattering Spree, 1 Shatterstorm, 1 Anger of the Gods, 1 Kozilek's Return, 1 Roast
Out: 4 Relics, 2 Mind Stone
Match 9 - Abzan CoCo (the version with both the old and the new combo)
G1: I bolt his two Noble Hierarch on his T1 and T2 while he fetches shocks, then slam a Blood Moon on T3. He never plays another spell.
G2: I resolve 3 or 4 Sweeps this game and he doesn't really stand a chance. He is my first and really salty opponent and he storms off in a huff
Sideboard:
In: 2 Roast, 1 Anger of the Gods, 1 Kozilek's Return
Out: Ratchet Bomb, Batterskull, 2 Mind Stone
Being my first GP I'm very excited to have made Day 2! I proud and exhausted I watch the Windmill Slam gameshow and go home to sleep.
Day 2
Match 10 - Eldrazi Tron
G1: I now get to face my first Tron deck. Natural T3 Tron into Karn is more than I can handle.
G2: I keep a hand with 1 Mountain and two Scrying Sheets and a Molten Rain (and 3 other cards), hoping to peel a mountain on T2 or T3, but never see it and T4 and T5 Reallity Smashers quickly finish me off.
7-3
Sideboard
In: 4 Molten Rain, 2 Shattering Spree, 1 Shatterstorm, 1 Stormbreath Dragon, 2 Roast
Out: 4 Relics, 1 Ratchet Bomb, 1 Volcanic Fallout, 2 Mind Stone, 1 Eternal Scourge, 1 Bolt
Match 11 - Affinity (as in old school affinity with actual affinity for artifacts creatures!)
G1: T2 Chalice on 1 leaves me with dead draws and no real way to defend myself. The game is quickly over.
G2: The one and only time I find actual affinity hate during the entire GP(including the Last Chance Trials friday), which is enough to swing the game in my favor.
G3: A long and grindy game. I find a sweep to deal with his board and he's left with a Bomat Courier and no red mana. However, I flood out on lands and find no removal for it until he finds a Springleaf Drum and gets back 6 cards. I have 2 Mountains in hand and quickly die to his renewed preassure.
7-4
Sideboard:
In: 2 Shattering Spree, 1 Shatterstorm, 1 Anger of the Gods, 1 Kozilek's Return, 1 Roast
Out: 4 Relics, 2 Mind Stone
Match 12 - Abzan Coco (with both combos)
G1: I focus on keeping him off the combo, which leaves me open to agro backed by Gavony Township which ends up being too much for me.
G2: I struggle to find removal and he gets a lot of value off Duskwatch Recruiter, however a few well placed Sweeps puts me back in the lead and I finish him off with Koth. Having Kozilek's Return as a 2nd instant speed sweeper makes a big difference in this game.
G3: Lots of removal to deal with his stuff and a Blood Moon on top of that. I win 15 seconds before time is called.
8-4
Sideboard:
In: 2 Roast, 1 Anger of the Gods, 1 Kozilek's Return
Out: Ratchet Bomb, Batterskull, 2 Mind Stone
Match 13 - Affinity
G1: Affinity does it's thing, not much to say.
G2: Another fast hand from my opponent topped off by Etched Champion with a Cranial Plating, P&K can only hold him back for so long. I see no affinity hate.
8-5
Sideboard:
In: 2 Shattering Spree, 1 Shatterstorm, 1 Anger of the Gods, 1 Kozilek's Return, 1 Roast
Out: 4 Relics, 2 Mind Stone
Match 14 - UW Control
G1: Chandra protected by P&K with Skreds for creature-lands is more than he can handle. He does stick an Elspeth, but Volcanic Fallout clears the way through the tokens and I quickly deal with it.
G2: He has a counterspell or Detention Sphere for all my threats and finishes me off with Elspeth tokens.
G3: T1 Relic and T3 Eternal Scourge is more than he can handle. After a few counterspells I stick a Koth and close out the game
9-5
Sideboard:
I don't remember what the exact configuration I ended up with was, but I did side in Molten Rain, which was good in G3 and Stormbreath which I never saw.
Match 15 - GB Tron
G1: T4 Tron with Ulamog T5 - GG.
G2: I keep a hand with 2 mountains and a Blood Moon, but I don't draw any mana sources before T3 where I draw a Mind Stone. I play T4 Blood Moon, which my opponent answers with T4 Oblivion Stone. He cracks it T5 and plays Ulamog T6 - GG.
9-6
Sideboard:
In: 4 Molten Rain, 2 Shattering Spree, 1 Stormbreath Dragon
Out: 4 Relic, 1 Roast, 1 Ratchet Bomb, 1 Volcanic Fallout
Affinity was definitely my achilles heel throughout the turnament, acounting for 3 of my 6 loses (and an additional lose in the Last Chance Trial). I usually find affinity to be a fairly good matchup, but it is dependant on drawing the right answers and I consistantly didn't in this turnament. Perhaps I need to mull more aggressively for hate or perhaps I was just unlucky.
In conclusion: Even though I didn't do very well on Day 2 I'm still very happy just having made day 2 at my first GP and it only serves to reaffirm me in the fact that Skred can be quite competetive as well as tons of fun.
Great report man! I am curious to know what hands did you keep against affinity? Also, instead of fallout, have you considered another Kozi's Return?
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/23-09-16-sEm-stompy/
I saw Steelleaf and know that it slots very well in the deck, but I'm not sure about other changes. Thank you in advance!
This is very close to the list that got 30th at Phoenix. The only card I am very hesitant to include as of now is EE; in this slot, I want to have something to hedge against hollow one and humans a little more (as well as having another way to deal with Gaddock Teeg ideally). I have been considering the following in the slot and wanted opinions:
Detention Sphere: The card I am currently testing in this slot. Hollow One doesn't run a way to remove the enchantment, it has the flexibility of EE, but can hit things that don't have a CMC of 2 maximum. Dealing with teeg is another plus! A con though is that it doesn't remove blood moon, but I have only lost exactly one game to moon. With 9 basics and the card draw we have it isn't a huge deal. It also hits storm's empty the warrens plan and is a card to board against things like big mana and tempo decks (albeit big mana is favorabl already) that could prove worthy of this inclusion
Echoing Truth: Coming in a tad earlier (turn 2 vs turn 3) can be a really nice option.
Ghostly Prison: Hollow One is slowed down a lot, humans and other go wide decks are slowed down, but it doesn't have a great topdeck feeling if it isn't turn 3 or 4 in comparison to the flexibility of the prior 2. Also, gigadrowse combining with this card can be VERY useful.
Silent Arbiter: A beefy card that mandates a showdown between one singular creature in combat. It doesn't provide the flexibility that echoing or D Sphere has, but the impact it has on multiple decks can't be ignored. That said, four mana is problematic potentially (it might come too late),and not being an enchantment means that hollow one can remove it (Albeit if howling mine wasn't seen artifact hate won't be boarded in).
At the end of the day this slot will probably only be final once I scout the room on friday based on the modern challenge, but I wanted to gather opinions! Any questions that you have on the build I will be happy to answer. I also have written a comprehensive sideboard guide for every modern deck I can possibly think one would face for this GP, and after I will be more than happy to do a writeup on it!
Phoenix and Seba have been helping me out a lot for the list/sideboard guide to prepare for this, so I want to give them a shout out for that
Busted out the old elves as a mental break from storm. I cut the two beast withins in the board for a second corrosion and the nissa. I have to say that I was extremely impressed. The deck seems to have gotten better positioned; I crushed Mardu Pyro zoo and Affinity, narrowly lost to GW Valuetown on a blindsided worship g2 and a topdecked linvala game 3 when I got mana screwed and relied on dorks (both were a one of in his deck). Although storm is still my main deck, Elves is good against what storm is unfavored in. Thus, I will probably be using the deck more than I thought !
I also am seeing UR Pyro pop up more at my LGS and while I have not played against it yet in pairings, I want to be prepared for it in case.
Round 1 Burn
I sit down and sigh as I am ready to end my undefeated tournament storm record. He goes turn 1 bolt me, turn 2 eidolon and I turn 3 kill his eidolon with the hand that would be the turn 3 kill for the win through it! I ended the game at 4 life so it was costly. Being on the play helped me a ton.
Sideboard In: 3 bolt, 2 Empty, 1 Echoing Truth Out: 2 Opt, 1 Noxious Revival, 2 remand, 1 Goblin Electromancer
Game 2 I kept a risky one lander that if I drew one mana I won. Didnt get there.
Game 3 I kept an eidolon proof hand with unsub two lands bolt gifts baral and serum visions. After I rid him of the eidolon I go off turn 4.
Games 2-1 Match 1-0
I was beyond pumped since eidolon as we all know is never easy to beat.
Round 2 Affinity
This man is an extremely dedicated long time affinity player (foiled out deck to boot), so I was excited for the match. I mull to 6, he mulls to 5. I get to 9 infect (!) turn 4 regardless and go off without disruption.
Sideboard In: 2 spree, 2 bolt, 1 echoing Truth, 1 Wipe Away Out: 2 remand, 3 Opt 1 Sleight of Hand
Instead of the third bolt, I know he runs multiple chalice of the voids as a "gotcha", so I sacrificed one of my bolts for another way to deal with it. Normally it would just be a third bolt in though.
Game 2 he is on a one lander with a spellbomb cage vault skirge ornithopter. Spree on 4 gets rid of his board while I bolt the ornithopter. This gives me ample time to set up a combo turn easily.
Games 4-1 Match 2-0
Due to lower turnout in comparison to usual, there were only 3 rounds. However, I couldn't split with the only other 2-0 because there was a round 1 draw.
Round 3 Abzan
Game 1 he thoughtseizes me into scooze into lili, but the grapeshot in my hand gets rid of scooze and I go off without trouble.
Sideboard In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 2 Empty the Warrens, 1 Echoing Truth, 2 Lightning Bolt Out: 2 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Noxious Revival, 2 Goblin Electromancer, 1 PiF, 1 Unsubstantiate, 1 Grapeshot, 1 Opt
This is a grindfest with multiple pieces resolving. Eventually, I wait untill I have 4 lands to baral ritual, ritual manamorphose gifts in response to push on his end, empty for 8 storm with manamorphose pieces and opt backup. He inquisitioned my pieces, uses souls tokens to chump for a turn, which gives me a draw step to find the repeal for if he pulsed one of my dudes. I held back the three cards in case he had a board wipe besides pulse, but instead he cant fight through the goblin swarm and I take it!
Games 6-1 Match 3-0
Always happy to be storming with you guys! I am a tad nervous as to how well I am doing on paper because while I do playtest a lot/ watch streams consistently, I don't want my luck to run out when it comes time for my GP/PTQ's.
Round 1 Jeskai Control
I keep a hand with several cantrips a grapeshot and lands. I played draw go with him for a while untill gifts end step to force interaction. On turn 6 he gave me a one turn window to win when he played Jace with one mana up for removal of the bear he assumed I would play. I had drawn a PiF and a second grapeshot, so I was able to kill him in that window.
Sideboard: In: 4 Pieces of the Puzzle, 2 Empty the Warrens, 1 wipe away, 2 Gigadrowse
Out: 2 gifts, 1 noxious, 2 electromancer, 1 grapeshot, 1 PiF, 1 Unsubstantiate, 1 Pyretic ritual
Game 2 I turn 2 Empty for 6 and he spends his resources dealing with the tokens (but not before they get him down to a low life total). I grapeshot him for 4 when he is at 4 and that's that.
Games 2-0 Match 1-0
Round 2: UG Devotion
Seemed like a cool deck, but unsure how competitive it was. He played Tireless Tracker into Oracle of Mul Daya to get a ton of mana/clues, but then died after playing a Jace.
Sideboard: In 2 Empty 1 Echoing Truth 1 Wipe Away Out: 1 PiF 1 Grapeshot 1 Opt 1 Unsubstantiate
I wasn't entirely sure what he was playing, so I tried to play around random hate such as trinisphere. It wound up not mattering since he didnt reperesent anything worth bouncing and I stormed off while he durded.
Games 2-0 Match 2-0
Round 3 GDS
I knew what I was playing against from sitting close to him round 2. His deck was beautiful (foiled out) and I was anticipating a good match. Game 1 he gets himself down to 8 which is enough for the grapeshot in my hand (he had deployed a shadow, stubborn denialed Gifts the turn after, and thoughtseized me three times).
Sideboard: In 2 Empty 4 Pieces 1 Wipe Away 2 Giga 3 Bolt Out: 4 gifts, 4 baral, 2 electromancer, 1 Past in Flames, 1 remand
Game 2 he had the nut draw of 3 Shadows with stub backup and there was nothing I could do.
Game 3 he thoughtseized and saw a hand of two rituals manamorphose grapeshot sleight and two lands. He took manamorphose (which I can somewhat understand because he assumed I wouldnt have enough gas). Unfortunately for him, he got down to 10 when I topdecked a Pif and another ritual, so I was able to get him for exactsies on turn 3 when he tapped out for two shadows.
Games 6-1 Match 3-0
I split against the only other undefeated player (who was on Mardu Pyromancer) who just wanted to go home, but I felt good about my chances against him if we were to play it out. I played a mock fourth round against Bant Knightfall for fun and handily won 2-0.
Overall, I feel very positive that I want to be on storm in this new meta. The shift seems very solid for us, and I don't know when the list will need to be edited (albeit I do keep hearing about Search for Azcanta in the main which I am intrigued by). How is search for you guys if anyone here tryed it?
Also, how would you guys suggest boarding for UR Pyromancer? I am unsure about it atm.
I was curious to ask what are your guys's most interesting matchups to play against to you and why?
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/21-11-17-mono-g-elves/ The list for reference. I am loving playing the deck for sure, but I am planing on switching to GB sometime soon. That said, not sure how soon (budget reasons), and I want to take advantage of what I have first.
What specifically are you losing to? I would add a Hazoret for sure; it makes flooding out not too bad and makes all topdecks live. I have been doing very well in this meta with my list honestly, but there are some serious differences between our lists. If I were you, I would change the following from your list:
-1 Magma Jet (Not that high of an impact card doesn't kill the things we care about) -1 Blood Moon (not too good in multiples) -1 Batterskull (I used to think this card was a necessity, but my list has done better when I cut it. Dies to a lot of things right now, and unfortunately I think we could be doing better. In the side, -2 Pyrite Spellbomb: this makes us not have much for pro red, but I don't see how pyrite spellbomb is worth more then a one of as a sideboard slot. I used to run the card, but it did not make an impact for me much. I also would cut the Pithing Needle (I get how it is versatile but what is it vastly improving? I want every sideboard slot to have a specific purpose), and the Grafdigger's seem like overkill since dredge is a great matchup anyway with this deck (anger's and relics maindeck and moon screws with them a decent amount surprisingly, and company decks are pretty good matchups too such as elves). Sudden Shock is a debatable card and depends on the meta, but I would advise against running it since it makes our good matchups better but does nothing against what we are not great against.
In terms of what I would add? +1 Relic (the graveyard hate as well as another outlet for the scourge combo and at worst a cantrip is very very valuable as a card. At worst is an easy board out target but a lot of the time there is value in this card. With storm, Shadow decks, and dredge caring about GY, I would never leave home without 4 in the main). +1 Roast (kills most goyf, eldrazis, Shadow's a decent amount of the time, and almost every other threat we can care about in the deck), +1 Hazoret (Seriously, I have a video coming out at the end of the week that explains why this card is a mainstay in my list for a long time, but it has been incredible. People can't remove it, every draw is live, the pressure and resiliency it provides is very relevant, and it gets through multiple cards that are typically brought in against us. This is what I replaced Batterskull with, and Hazoret won me way more games on it's own). For the side, I would add one more Dragon's Claw to have the best chance possible against burn (I always felt 4 was overkill since I wanted to have some more space and I have been happy with this), I would go to 4 Molten Rain since it punishes the many decks that are greedy on mana these days (Shadow, tron varients, even valakut to an extent), I also like going up to 3 Rabble since the decks that are our worst matchups are the uninteractive decks, and this card singlehandedly wrecks them. When you have this card boarded in, you want it as often as possible. Thus, I like it as a 3 of. A 4th anger in the board seems vital with company decks/other creature decks surging. When you want it against decks, the possibility of driving it as often as possible is VITAL. Finally, the last two flex spots can be adjusted to your meta, but I like having these 2 being against control decks. This can be in the form of 2 stormbreath (which control decks now a days have a REALLY hard time beating), or 2 Ricochet Trap (which I am using right now since people don't play against it as much and it negates countermagic/makes ancestral visions ours, so while more narrow I hate losing to blue and this ensures we have some protection against it).
I didn't realize this untill after typing this all out, but I am essentially arguing for why you should play my list (it would be my list verbatim if you use Ricochet trap as the control card), but my list is the current configuration because it has been working consistently.
Great report man! I am curious to know what hands did you keep against affinity? Also, instead of fallout, have you considered another Kozi's Return?