MTG Salvation

There seems to be an ongoing reference to the number three in plenty of cards from the set, like the art of a couple of pirate cards picturing a group of three pirates, the art in spires of orazca showing three spires, jace creating two other copies of itself, and now most recently the flavor text of the temple of aclazotz mentioning "the Threefold Sun". Has anyone else notice this? And what will it mean for rivals of ixalan? It reminds me to all the clues to emrakul back during shadows over innistrad

Quote from ET1 »

Ryan Overturf must be celebrating somewhere on the graves of probe and dredge

Just look at what he twitted

Finally you ********s will stop playing Pyromancers. @kjvsthehighway

https://twitter.com/RyanOverdrive/status/818536844849803265
As someone who plays Kevin's list, I felt offended

Quote from CurdBros »

...Now the best we can hope for is having another attacker on the field attacking....

That's why I like to pair Geist of Saint Traft with Young Pyromancer

On another note, we got another great option in Unsubstantiate. This one is a doozy. It's going to take a second for me to wrap my mind around this one, but it looks sweet!

It looks tempting, versatile and very good at "tempoing", but these days hard answers seem to be the best choice... maybe if the meta changes, we will have to wait and see

Quote from CurdBros »

...Long Road Home looks like an interesting card to test in our deck....

PS- I am a little upset that they gave white a 2 CMC Instant that answers an attacking Geist of Saint Traft. I was very comfortable knowing that the only playable sacrifice affects were in black, now jeskai control will have an answer to geist, however, we can just sacrifice the angel during combat.

Not to rain on your parade but... Long Road Home is just a non-arcane Otherworldly Journey... and regarding the scenario with geist and Blessed Alliance, an opponent can just cast the alliance in responce to geist's trigger going to the stack, before the angel comes in.
BTW I've been away from this thread because I'm now on Grixis Delver, and with yesterday's results, I don't think I'll be switching back to Jeskai any time soon, but still keep on the lookout in any case this decks gets another shot at being great... Good luck to you all

It annoys me that people compare new mechanics like this one and start saying that magic is imitating other collectable card games. You seem to forget that Magic is the original CCG, the design space for these games is kind of the same, and the guys in magic R&D are more responsable exploring this space, taking more time to reach certain mechanics because they care about the long term life of the game

@GofyTomcat1 Regarding your last posted deck... I don't want to sound like the kind of person I hate but, where are your early threats? I ask this because you title your deck as "now with more tempo", but one of the keys of tempo is landing an early threat and protecting it while disrupting your opponent, and your build seems more midrange. I insist a lot in this kind of thing because I think we really need to clarify the deck's objective or strategy so we can better focus in discussing it and optimizing, otherwise the conversation gets diluted. Also, your maindeck has 62 cards... is it the right number or is there a mistake in the number of lands?
Can you share recent result with your lists? you say you run 2 (at least), I would like to know which one has worked better for you, so we can focus in making it even better.
Edit: One thing I like about your deck is the Keranos, God of Storms in the sideboard, think it can really help in the games this deck struggles the most

Quote from CurdBros »

Quote from Ronyx Bladewing »

Updating from most recent testing with a friend, got crushed by his aggro decks (affinity, fish, zoo, company elves), not taking eldrazi into account since A) don't exist in my meta and B) will get banned either way. Will make the following changes to the sideboard:
- 2 Mirran Crusader
- 2 Anger of the Gods
+ 3 Grim Lavamancer
+ 1 Izzet Staticaster
...

Aggro decks are typically decks that I feel that we are favored against. I typically love playing against affinity, infect, small zoo, etc. With bolts, paths, vapor snags, and snaps I always feel pretty good about my chances. With that said, any aggro deck in modern can be tough. It looks like your fairly well prepaired with 2 EE's in the sideboard and an additional path to exile. Also three Grim Lavamancers are amazing against the small aggro decks. I actually moved a grim back into my main board because he is so awesome. I always bring this card up and people are probably tired of me saying this, but Deflecting Palm is a game changer against aggro decks sometimes. I really love that card in my sideboard.

I do have a couple of questions for you?

How has deprive played for you? I have been thinking of adding one of these to my deck instead of remand or possibly Logic Knot.

Do you prefer Molten Rain over Spreading Seas?

Does Electrolyze ever feel too expensive? I have preferred Boros Charm over Electrolyze lately. I know they are different cards, but I just have never had any luck with electrolyze (however, our decks differ slightly).

All in all the deck looks sweet. I don't see any glaring reasons why you would struggle against aggro. Just a bad night or something. I do think adding Lavamancer over Crusader is a great choice right now.

I haven't tried Deflecting Palm but I feel it is best against big aggro decks and not swarms. Can you provide a game situation in which it was great for you?
I really like Grim Lavamancer a lot, it was in my deck when I first put it together, and I have been looking to put him back in the 75 for a while. My recent bad streak against aggro gave me the perfect excuse. I still haven't tried him against my friend, but I will report back when I do. I think he will help me fry some fishes, roast some elves y melt some robots just fine. Also I think he complements pretty well Geist of Saint Traft, where one is good for the offense the other is good for the defense/control, rounding the tempo plan.
Ever since the Treasure Cruise banning I have felt blue being to weak, with threats becoming better and better, I realized the deck needed a hard counter. I really love Remand, but many times I was only delaying something I just wished I could get rid off definitely because I wouldn't have the time to finish off my opponent before he resolved that threat, and Mana Leak was not reliably in some cases. Ever since I put it in, I haven't regret it. I have not tried Logic Knot but I feel in many cases can be a worst Mana Leak, be it because we don't have enough cards in the grave at the moment, or because we don't want to leave Snapcaster Mage or Lavamancer without fuel.
I like Molten Rain because it helps flip Delver of Secrets, can be snapped back, and the damage furthers our tempo plan. The only con is that it comes the turn after tron is assembled, but I have managed always to have a response for whatever they play that turn to then blow their land on my turn. If in the future I find it is too slow, then I wont have problems swapping to Spreading Seas.
In my last games I did felt Electrolyze to be too slow, and I'm thinking to try maybe Forked Bolt, although Boros Charm doesn't sound bad either, I'm a big fan of the card and I think is the one that complements the most Geist (well, Ride Down is the best with Geist but Boros Charm is the more versatile one)
The last sideboard slot I have my eye on is the Isochron Scepters, I love the card and it wins some matchups, but will probably be the next one to go if I need to put something for unfavorable matchups.
I was also taken aback by my lost against all those aggro, I don't know if it was bad luck, I did get some bad hands and mulligan didn't help. After I test again with my friend I'll come back with results.

So last night I played against a friend who has almost the entire t1/t2 gaunlet (jund, abzan company, burn, affinity, tron, merfolk... no eldrazi in my local meta thank god, although that's only because my LGS had to close because the economy and government) and he used tron and affinity. I had a really good matchup against tron and somewhat against affinity. I'll keep saying that Geist of Saint Traft slays tron, and also Deprive was really good in the matchup, twice my opponent cast Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger targeting two lands, and I just casted Deprive to save one of those lands and get rid of ula. My current counter suite consist of 2 Spell Snare, 2 Spell Pierce and 2 Deprive (keeping it cheap, but having the only cmc 2 counter be a hard counter). I know my list doesn't take into account the eldrazi but I'm just betting it will get banned sooner or latter. For reference my decklist is posted here http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/deck-creation-modern/592647-jeskai-prowess-tempo-the-jeskai-way?comment=485
Edit: thinking on swapping the Timely Reinforcements in the SB for a mass removal (2 Engineered Explosives doesn't seem enough), maybe Anger of the Gods

Just posted this list in the Jeskai Delver thread, it made 5th-8th in a SCG Regional in Seattle, has 4 Stormchaser Mage so that makes it a prowess deck right? No eldrazi in the top 8 (so must certainly none in the event) but thats ok because most probably they will ban something from that monster anyway
http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?deck_id=1260128

Quote from Juan993 »

Could be competitive a version without Snapcaster in your opinion?

Not grixis delver, but if you want to play a delver deck without snaps, you could try UR Undoing Delver (or iGrow) http://www.mtgsalvation.com/forums/the-game/modern/deck-creation-modern/625277-igrow-urx-undoing-delver the UR version runs abbot instead
...Now back on topic, thanks for the updated primer @Redvader, I am finally switching from jeskai to grixis this weekend since I'll be getting the last cards I was missing from the deck, and I hope to give some feedback on my experience with it

Played a version, very similar to Overturf's, at a local event this past week. Didn't drop a single game the whole night, and the list felt great. I've been between this deck and Grixis Delver/Control the last month or so, getting prepared for an upcoming IQ. List for reference:



The night was four rounds, with a cut to top 8. In order, I played against Infect, Jund, Kiki-Chord, Affinity, and Burn before splitting the finals.

Infect and Affinity were pretty typical, flip a Delver and Bolt the stuff. I feel like I stole game 2 against Jund because he incorrectly fetched and cut himself short on red Mana. Kiki-Chord was interesting. I basically just kept up Queller/Counter Magic to play around Resto and Chord. Burn was an easy 2-0 between Helix and counters.

Thoughts on the deck, Spell Queller is fantastic and probably the reason I prefer this color combo over Grixis Delver. Clique was the only card I didn't love seeing, but he's never a bad card anyway. I'm still between this and Grixis Control for the IQ, but I'm leaning toward this list as it fits my playstyle a little more.

Just thought I'd share my experience and keep this thread alive.

Your question made me finally decide it was time to sign up.

As a more... oldschool Vorthos (I practically never play the game, but love the art and story and collect the cards for its own sake), I think the answer to this question lies in the older novels, because they contain a lot of information about what it means to be a Phyrexian and what compleation is. Three characters spring to mind: Gix, Mishra and Xantcha.

So, chronologically speaking, the first time we see Gix is in The Thrawn. Here, he initially appears as a murderer and a rebel against the Thrawn empire, and his personality is established to be cruel, violent, and vicious. Even Yawgmoth seems to hold some contempt for him, but still conspires with Gix and essentially makes him his right hand man in the plot. During this time, Yawgmoth takes his time perfecting the compleation process, which he initially bills to the Thrawn as a surgical process for curing the wasting syndrome Pthisis, which Gix and his rebels suffer from. Incidentally, I should note that Yawmoth identifies powerstones as the cause of Pthisis, but Urza never observes powerstones to do this, and later discovers that Phyrexian Oil actually contains microscopic powerstones suspended in otherwise mundane oil. Anyway, that insight into Yawmoth's twisted mind out of the way, Gix is one of the first people Yawgmoth compleats and "improves" (as in, by the end of the story Gix is already starting to appear demonic).

The next time we see Gix chronologically is in The Brother's War. Interestingly, since this book was written first, Gix appears rather different. In fact, when he first comes through the portal he doesn't even have a name-- he adopts the name "Gix" for convenience sake (Gix is the name of an old Dominarian god, apparently). Gix proves to be an able manipulator, turning Mishra into more and more of a villain and behind closed doors Gix and his followers manage to compleat Mishra. Now, here's where Mishra becomes important: Mishra's personality and identity doesn't change as a result of being compleated, Gix is preying on Mishra's preexisting hatred for Urza and his trust in the advisors Gix has placed in his court. No one even knows that Mishra is a Phyrexian until the end of the novel when Urza casts his first spell and reveals Mishra's metal endoskeleton. So compleation does not, in itself, brainwash people! At least, not during the reign of Old Phyrexia. That, as we see in the next novel, is a separate process.

So, that brings us to Gix's next and final appearance in Magic's chronology: the novel Planeswalker. Now, if it weren't for authorial intent you could be forgiven for thinking that Gix in The Brother's War was a separate entity from Gix in The Thrawn, but this novel makes it clear that the Preator and the man are the same being. How then did he lose his memory of his name and human identity? Well, that's where Xantcha comes in. Throughout the book, it becomes very clear that the way Old Phyrexia brainwashed people, including their own newts, was through cultish behavioral modification techniques. Up until she meets Urza and escapes, Xantcha is constantly being bombarded with abuse and propoganda by Gix and other high ranking Phyrexians that is designed to break one's will, and destroy your sense of self and identity. Its not that they go into your brain and re-code you like a computer (at least, not unless they are repurposing an artifact creature), its that they take your identity and mold it to serve their society. Your personality actually remains intact, as we see with Gix and others: he still behaves like the murderous human he once was, its just that over the thousands of years of being a Phyrexian his identity became completely consumed by Yawgmoth's will, and his old name became a distant memory from literally thousands of years past. The same happens with others who becomes compleated; indeed, they don't even appear to grant that "reward" until the person has earned it by submitting to them. The reason Xantcha never gets compleated is that she had an unbreakable will, and in the end Gix decided that it was better to simply execute her (on another plane, no less!) than keep trying. If they could have simply re-written her brain, he would have done so.

And that explains why characters like Volrath, Crovax, Ertai (who kept elements of his humanity like the ability to have romantic feelings, for instance) and others from the old sagas retained so much of their identities and personality after joining up with the Phyrexians. Becoming compleated doesn't remove your free will or change your original personality, you become a phyrexian after your will has already been broken, and the only personality change that occurs after Compleation is your change in loyalty and beliefs. The same likely applies to some (though perhaps not all) of the Mirrians that have been compleated by New Phyrexia: the Phyrexians didn't just abduct Ezuri because he was a Mirrian leader, for instance, they chose him because his power hungry personality already fit with the Phyrexian mindset and made him a prime candidate for compleation to begin with. Now, it is possible that because New Phyrexia is more open minded to using the full color spectrum that they can access true blue/white mind control magic, but they also had access to the full color spectrum on Rath and were picky about who they compleated there too. Their conquest isn't as simple as spreading oil like the Zerg spread creep in Starcraft, they do still fight and kill anyone who gets in their way. Those who are the most violently resistant to Phyrexia are the ones most likely to resist compleation as well. That's likely what makes them feel that Atraxa is their final victory-- she isn't just a magnum opus on the compleation process, but symbolic that they can break the will of even the most powerful and resistant Mirrian fighters.

At least, that is how I read it. There is an unfortunate dearth of information on New Phyrexia, and obviously the writers intend to make them different from Old Phyrexia in as many ways as they can. So there is no way of knowing how similar their compleation and brainwashing methods are to the days of Yagmoth. There probably is a ton of narrative convenience going on, especially since they only created Atraxa because they needed to justify their new four color commanders somehow.

Woah it's like Affinity and Devotion had a giant baby.

Full write-up link here, matchups copied below: http://www.mtgcanada.com/going-rogue/going-rogue-major-event-jeskai-tempo/

Overall, very happy with the performance. Used every sideboard card, won the matches I was supposed to win (plus Eldrazi D&T), lost the matches I was supposed to lose, and split the matches I was supposed to be 50/50-ish in. Wouldn't mind the second affinity match back, but sometimes Arcbound Ravager is Arcbound Ravager.

Anyways, I hope this is interesting.

Bedlam Reveler feels like something I want. Even at 4 mana (4 instants and sorceries? cake), the 3/4 body is great, has prowess, and is a card drawing machine. I think I will be including it.

Man, I just WRECKED Lantern Control. Like, it didn't even feel fair. G1 opening hand was Steam Vents, Polluted Delta, Delver, Bolt, Thought Scour, 2x Mana Leak. I lost the dice roll. His T1, before I even get to play, is Probe me, then Ghost Quarter playing Pithing Needle on Delta. Having never played the matchup, I got pretty scared at this point. I only had 1 land now, and only 15 left to draw into. My draw was Kommand. Played Delver and passed. Delver flipped on Bolt next turn, he had Codex Shredder and Ghoulcaller's Bell as his turn 2 plays. Delver never died, I just let him resolve everything and held up double answers to Ensnaring Bridge. When it finally showed up, I leaked it, he had no cards left in hand, I had Kommand and Remand left over still. GG.
G2, I brought in 2x Rakdos Charm, third Kommand, 2 Countersquall, and Engineered Explosives. I cut a Scour, a fatty, Pillar, and all 3 Snares. Abrupt Decay post board is literally the only 2 cost card I ever saw from him. Finally found a matchup where Snare is totally useless lol.
After G1, I started to learn how to use fetches/thought scour with his Lantern and mill cards to gain control of my draw steps. I knew he'd mill any answer to Bridge, so I again let him resolve everything he wanted to while holding up Remand, Rakdos Charm, and Terminate (not enough to board in lol, actually came in handy). He'd mill a Countersquall, I didn't care. I opened with basic Mountain and Island and Bloodstained Mire, Delver, Rakdos Charm, Remand, and Kommand. Turn 1 Delver flipped, he milled the card before draw, and suddenly I got full understanding of how I could use his stuff to manipulate my draws better than he could. G2 was almost not even fun, it was that easy. A Spellskite came down to protect a Bridge in hand, and Terminate actually helped there by leaving my Rakdos Charm for the Bridge. He drew Abrupt Decay the turn before he died, same turn I drew a second Delver. Easy win off of Delver.

Like seriously, I realized that in their whole deck, the only card I even care about is Ensnaring Bridge. One threat and an answer to a Bridge and you can easily win. Having maindeck answers to artifacts I feel makes the matchup heavily in our favor. I just don't see how they can not die if we just answer the Bridge.

Since I've switched to a build very close to Ryan's (4 cards off, besides JVP instead of Snap), my win rate has significantly increased. Previously, I was at about a 45% win rate over 50 games. Since I've changed my list, I'm now at about a 55% win rate over 91 games, still including the first 50 games. After math gets involved, it means I've had a 66% win rate with the updated list, vs all kinds of decks. I'm very pleased with these results. I think roughly a 2/3 win percentage vs a wide field is quite acceptable.

Hi everyone.

Haven't posted anything for quite some time here. Was busy with work and moved to new apartment, but still kept playing Modern FNMs and Xmage

My deck hasn't changed that much. Running 2 Magma Jet in my mainboard for two weeks now and I'm very happy with them. Scry is priceless with Delver and in a deck that runs only 19-20 lands. Also still running my 2 Negate in the mainboard and I think I'll never switch back. And the 2 Cavern of Souls are also still in my mainboard and fit perfectly. Chances that I draw both of them as two of first four lands in a game are so slim it almost never happens. Well, here is how the whole deck looks now:



Deck performs really well. Last FNM I went 3-1. Won against UW control, BW Tokens and Goblins and lost against Jund (third game in that match I lost against double Lilly). Last 10 matches on Xmage were 7-3 I think. Tonight I won against Grixis and Jund and it felt good. Last match I lost was against Abzan which grinded me to death -_-
Still didn't streamline my sideboard. Maybe I never will. I just love all the cards in there. The Firewalker for example won me the third game against Goblins at FNM single-handedly. It's pure luck to draw that 1-of (well, Scry makes it easier), but that also makes it more exciting
Thought about Ojutai's Command you guys were discussing, but it doesn't fit my deck. I want active cards rather than reactive cards, especially with CMC4.
I am still contemplating if I should add a second CMC4 card again, which most likely would be Ral Zarek or a second Hero of Bladehold and to maybe cut the single Spell Pierce instead to shift the mana curve, but that sounds more like a sideboarding plan...
My second copy of Steam Vents could/should? be a Wandering Fumarole but I am not sure about that either.

If any of you would like to play a few test matches on Xmage then please message me. Time might be difficult though because I can only play after 10 pm CET -_-

I'm kind of amazed at the assumptions people make about the story.

Like, okay, the Eldrazi defeat was an obvious Deus Ex Machina, but at least it didn't come from nowhere.

I also don't get the superhero/comic book stuff at all, outside of some planeswalkers allying themselves, which has happened before. No one describes the Weatherlight Saga as being comic booky.

The current Magic Story is serialized, but no one has been successfully about to describe why now is different than the team-ups that came before in the story. At most, they're describing the natural issues with serialized storytelling, of which comic books ALSO suffer.

And SOI isn't just marginally better than BFZ, it's WAY better, and it seems like the only reason people don't like it is Jace, because he's 'oversaturated', which isn't true by any objective metric.

So, this is the list I'm currently playing and a tournament report from West Virginia's State Championship. I finished 9th out of 73 participants and had the highest win rate overall of the day.



====================

Opponent: Kiki Chord
Round 1 - Game 1
On the play - Both keep 7 cards.
Turn 1, I fetch for Watery Grave, slam a Delver of Secrets and pass turn. Opponent play a basic Plains and Paths an unflipped Delver.
Turn 2, I tap down for a Young Pyromancer, which he also Paths away almost immediately, and I begin to internally thank him for the tempo boost. My back to back Rise//Fall over the next few turns is gonna be savage,
He stutters on 2 lands turn 3 after accelerating me to 5 and I feel pretty good about my position. He then randomly discards Eternal Witness and Chord of Calling to Fall and the look of defeat is all too apparent as I’m sure he knows what’s coming next. He plays a Voice, but it’s too little too late at this point.
I Snapcaster Mage and flashback Fall. I don’t even know what he discards at this point and I’m not sure it matters. He has 1 card in hand. I pass turn. He draws, plays a land and passes.
Turn 4, I Thought Scour myself and then Delve out Tasigur and hit him with a draw step Kolaghan’s Command. He concedes.
Round 1 - Game 2
In: Izzet Staticaster, Engineered Explosives, Dispel, Dispel, Thoughtaeize, Thoughtseize
Out: Gitaxian Probe, Gitaxian Probe, Gitaxian Probe, Electrolyze, Thought Scour, Thought Scour
He basically just combos/curves out on turn 4 off of turn 1, Bird Turn 2 Wall of Roots, ScOoze, Turn 3 Resto, Turn 4 Kiki.
This is basically what his deck is designed to do and this is best-case scenario for him. He hasnt seen my best case scenario, so it’s whatever. Time to do what I’m designed to do and rip his plan apart in game 3.
Round 1 - Game 3
No Sideboard changes.
On the draw - Both keep 7 cards.
He opens with Forest, Bird of Paradise I play Steam Vents, then Bolt the Bird and pass turn..Next turn I Thoughtseize away a Chord and feel good about life.
I drop Delve guy after Delve Guy; 3 total, iirc. I go to Snap - Kologhan’s Command during his draw step, realize I only have access to 4 mana and say “Nevermind” as I exile the Kologhan’s Command and laugh off first round jitters. He doesn’t look impressed. He seems equally unimpressed with the Top Deck Rise//Fall I have for him next turn. My opponent comments an “Of course you do” as I keep drawing into gas. Turns out playing a ton of cantrips can have that effect. *Shrug*
SIDEBOARD NOTES: Dispels are the card I want the most here to hit the Chords, obviously, but I am also a big fan of Staticaster if I can hit multiple dorks or even just a Witness. And Engineered Explosives on 2 does some serious work here. Thoughseizes are just an attempt to use Fall, Kologhan’s Command, and ‘Seize to rip his hand apart. Most Kiki players falsely feel favoured in this matchup. But in my opinion, we are VERY good at stopping their gameplan of creature-based combo and they are not good at stopping us as Path is their main removal spell and we play the Tempo game so well.

As an aside: My opponent this round quickly reminds me of how important it is to be humble in victory and graceful in defeat. Not sure how they raise 'em in Pennsylvania, but in West "by God" Virginia, we practice a little thing called respect [Thanks, Mama!]. My opponent makes several remarks during the match. Including the "So how long have you been playing Magic?" that I've grown so accustomed to hearing at these events. You see, I don't really come across as the most intelligent person and I understand this. "Playing dumb" has always just been a part of my personality. I'm a natural jokester and Magic is a game at the end of the day. So I'm going to laugh and I'm going to have fun. I laugh off his comment and reply “Oh, not too long. Just started playing this deck, honestly” while thinking “15 years, but what do I care if you know that?”
I also hear another standby: "Interesting card choice," and even get a "I'm sorry. But I'm gonna have to ask you to speed up your play" at one point. I want to remark “It's almost as if I'd decided to play a deck that requires more thought than EoT Resto; Untap Kiki.” #AllTNoShade. But I decide that only one of us should be rude today. So I don't bother to point out that my opponent used Path to Exile on an Unflipped Delver of Secrets or that he also Path-ed my Pyromancer the turn he stuttered on 2 lands when I had 0 spell cards in my hand, putting me to 5 mana on turn 3 and letting me Snap-Fall; Delve Angler and close up the game. Instead, I smile and nod when he says "Hymn to Tourach is good" and rolls his eyes. I mutter a "Bless it's little heart," coolly referring to him and not the card, being the southern lady I am and all and half-heartedly wish him luck for the rest of the day. Always sucks to start off a tournament on such a sour note. On to round 2!

Opponent: Affinity
Round 2 - Game 1
On the draw - He mulls to 6; I keep 7.
He opens with: Ornithopter, Ornithopter, Darksteel Citadel, Mox Opal, Vault Skirge. I say to myself “Thank you, baby Jesus”. This is the matchup I want to play all day long. My testing partner mains Affinity and she is definitely a more than ample pilot; so, I have plenty of legit experience with this matchup. First Serum Visions scrying a Kolaghan’s Command to the top.
Turn 2 he drops an Ensoul Artifact on Darksteel Citadel and I scratch my head trying to think of answers for it. I draw tons of removal, but ultimately cannot answer the Ensoul Artifact and he takes the first round.
Round 2 - Game 2
In: Izzet Staticaster, Engineered Explosives, Blood Moon, Rakdos Charm, Vandalblast.
Out: Remand, Remand, Gitaxian Probe, Gitaxian Probe, Gitaxian Probe
On the play - He mulls to 5. I keep 7.
My opening hand has Vandalblast, Rakdos Charm, Thought Scour, and a Delver as well as lands to cast it all, so I’m set.
We go back and forth for a bit, but an Overloaded Vandalblast wipes his board. My opponent insists his Etched Champion survives the Blast. I politely point out there was no DEBT in the exchange, but tell him to feel free to call a judge, He declines as he puts the Champion into the yard. RIP.
Round 2 - Game 3
Out: Izzet Staticaster, Blood Moon, Electrolyze
In: Gitaxian Probe, Gitaxian Probe, Gitaxian Probe
On the draw - We both mull to 6.
He opens with a start similar to game one. But this time, my start is much better with a Delver flipping turn 2 into Pyromancer and double Probe. When he drops the Ensoul Artifact, I answer on my next turn with Rise bouncing the Citadel.
He gets 2 Etched Champions in play over the course of the game, but ultimately loses to flying Delver beats, a grounded army of tokens just attacking into them [I think 7 at one point] and Bolt-Snap-Bolts.
NOTES: Rise//Fall is not something I typically want in this matchup either, but I realized it was my only answer to Ensoul Artifact on a Citadel, so I left it in. I was originally going to side in 2 Blood Moon in Game 2, but Staticaster answers the “ManLands” at instant speed and is also a 3 drop, so I opted for it instead. Game 3, Blood Moon and Staticaster are just too slow on the draw, in my opinion and turn 2 Pyromancer, Probe is definitely a thing.

Aside: My opponent this round was refreshing given the first round. Haha. Super nice guy. Wishes me luck and says “Don’t eff up my tiebreakers.” I have no intention of it. I’m here for blood this year and being underestimated and talked down to in round 1 has fueled my Fat Amy hate fire. I’m beginning to notice holes in my sideboarding game, though. I need to work on this more, for sure.

Opponent: Jund
Round 3 - Game 1
On the Play - Both Keep 7
This is where my tournament notes start lacking. So, I don’t have a lot of specific plays to recall. Game 1 is grindy back and forth with me Bolting his turn 2 Bob.. He plays 2 Lilianas throughout the course of the game, but she seems decidedly underwhelming. Also playing a maindeck Grim Lavamancer because I Forked Bolt to kill it and a Liliana at 1 that had Tributed my Tasigur. The game is very grindy until we get to the point where he has 1 card in hand and I have 2.
I know he has a Maelstrom Pulse in hand from a Probe and I stare at the 2 Gurmag Anglers in my hand, which I have access to cast. I decide to just drop the one and give him a few turns to play out. He Pulses it, I drop the second and he cannot answer it in time.

Round 3 - Game 2
Out: Forked Bolt, Electrolyze, Gitaxian Probe, Kolaghan’s Command, Kolaghan’s Command
In: Blood Moon, Blood Moon, Engineered Explosives, Spellskite, Countersquall
Game two, I remember vividly as he turn 1 Fetch and pass, So I fetch and pass as well. On his turn 2, he plays Bob; I fetch a Blood Crypt and Bolt Bob. Turn 2, I play a basic Island and a Pyromancer and pass turn. He bolts the Pyro and plays a fetch.. I untap and play a fetch, but do not crack and instead pass turn. He fetches Overgrown Tomb EoT making his in play lands Overgrown Tomb, Blood Crypt, and Forest. He plays a Raging Ravine as his land for turn and drops an Ooze. I fetch a basic Island on his EoT and he says “Oh no, don’t do it” because he realizes what’s coming. I untap and cast Blood Moon, Then Bolt his Ooze and swing for 2. He gets a Goyf, but it’s met with Terminate and Pyromancer gets there again.
NOTES: Siding out Kolaghan’s Command may be wrong here. Not sure. But I feel like none of the modes are terribly impactful here. I’d considering siding out Rise//Fall, but it’s great in the grindier matchups, which Jund has potential to be.

Aside: Another very pleasant opponent and one I’ve spoken to once before at an event here. Actually, I’d like to go ahead and say here that anyone looking for a fun environment with lots of competitive players should check out Four Horseman Games and Comics in Morgantown, WV. I’m considering making the trek more regularly to play with these guys as all of the regulars seem really nice and skilled, which makes for great playtesting opponents in my experience. Overall, this is the win of the day I feel the worst about. In part, because I feel like I “cheesed out” a skilled player who I would have preferred to outplay. But I suppose bringing in the Blood Moons and sneakily setting it up was outplaying in a way. *Sigh* Cheese magic. I wish my opponent luck for the rest of the day and genuinely mean it.

Opponent: Merflok
This round was on stream as a featured match as my deck choice had garnered some attention. Here’s a link to the stream if you’d rather just watch. Game at ~57:00.
https://www.twitch.tv/fourhorsemencomics/v/62574957
Round 4 - Game 1
On the draw; both keep 7.
My opponent opens with Wanderwine Hub [Reveal: Cursecatcher], Aether Vial and I know it’s Merfolk. I’ve tested this matchup into the ground and it feels like I am pretty heavily favoured despite the maindeck islands, so I feel pretty confident. I drop my basic island and a Delver and pass.
He plays a Cavern on Merfolk - I know he has a Curcecatcher in hand. Thought Scour flips my Delver during the upkeep and get in for 3. Drop a Pyromancer during Main 2 and feel like life is good.
A Harbinger flips my Delver and the casters act like it was the play of the century for some reason. I put the 1 mana Delver back into play knowing he’ll soon flip again off of one of the 29 cards in the deck that flip him. I’m honestly not too concerned about the Delver. The Pyromancer is what wins these games.
It feels like he’s constantly slinging creatures at me, so I just use my cheap spells to crank out pyromancer tokens and try to keep him off Islandwalk. I’m the control here and he’s definitely overextending. I do get access to black when it definitely matters, though. TY Magic gods.
Pyromancer tokens overtake the game … what’s new?
Round 4 - Game 2
On the draw; both keep 7
In: Engineered Explosives, Thoughtseize, Thoughtseize, Izzet Staticaster
Out: Remand, Remand, Kolaghan’s Command, Rise//Fall
Opponent drops a turn 2 Chalice on 1 turning off 26 of my maindeck cards. I stare at the board thinking for a minute. If I’d had a Pyromancer, I 100% would have tried to play through this still getting the tokens from every countered spell matters. However; I did not. I also did not side in Artifact Hate [I never do against the Vials and wasn’t really expecting Chalice - lesson learned. - leaving 1x Kolaghan’s Command as my only out here. I decide it will be too little too late and opt to go for game 3.
Also, the Casters called it 100%. The concession was based on 1) My hand at the time and 2) My confidence in being able to win on the play in game 3.
Round 4 - Game 3
In: Rakdos Charm, Kolaghan’s Command
Out: Izzet Staticaster, Electrolyze
I open with a Thoughtseize aiming to grab the singleton Chalice I know my opponent is running and am VERY happy to grab an Aether Vial as a consolation prize. I’m also very confused by him keeping the Spreading Seas maindeck. I’ve already shown that cutting me off of coloured mana isnt going to be enough, but I digress.
After a few turns, I realize we are both stuttering on land drops, so I start aiming my Thought Scours at the opponent to set him off lands. This round also shows how the deck can often play out of one-land hands with enough cantrips. I’d NEVER have kept this hand if I hadn’t had so much draw fixing.
Basically, my cantrips help me stabilize and my opponent never gets passed that second land. Pyromancer beats are, once again, a thing,

SIDEBOARD NOTES: I don’t even know why I brought the Staticaster in to begin with, tbh. Maybe I was thinking “I hate Cursecatcher”. Haha! It’s definitely underwhelming in the matchup. I didn’t get to showcase it in this matchup, but I’ve won MULTIPLE games in testing off of Rakdos Charm “Each creature gut shots you - Snapcaster: Flash it back.” for upwards of 10 damage.

Opponent: Abzan Company
Round 5 - Game 1
On the play; both keep 7.
My opponent leads off with a mana dork that gets bolted. We go back and forth for most of the game, but the 1-for-1 answers of Delver just can’t keep up with the recursive threats of Company.
He doesn’t have to “combo” out. I lose to Gavony Township pumping his little guys into big guys.
Round 5 - game 2
On the play; both keep 7.
In: Engineered Explosives, Izzet Staticaster, Blood Moon, Blood Moon, Dispel, Dispel, Surgical Extraction
Out: Remand, Gitaxian Probe, Gitaxian probe, Gitaxian Probe, Rise//Fall, Kolaghan’s Command, Kolaghan’s Command
Engineered Explosives does some work here and makes me consider wanting a second copy. We go back and forth again. Him playing threats and me killing them with Voice and Kitchen Finks being absolute houses for him against my list. I definitely need some exiling removal in this 75. Still, I feel fine with my performance thus far.

Aside: This guy has been here for every event I’ve attended at this particular locale and he always does very well. More importantly, he is always very nice and a great guy to play against. Note of the day to my fellow players: DON’T BE A DOUCHE!. This guy goes on to win the whole tournament and is my first loss of the day; but I’m happy losing to him. We had a fun and grindy game which went pretty long. I very quickly realize that I have made a huge oversight with my sideboard building as I really don’t have any concrete answers to this deck. I write myself a quick note to consider Grafdigger’s Cage and Pillar of Flame for my 75. After the game, my opponent wishes me well and says “I’ll see you in top 8”.

Opponent: Death’s Shadow Suicide
Round 6 - Game 1
On the draw; both keep 7.
He opens fetch, shock, Gitaxian Probe [paying life], and I am very confused as to why someone would take 5 turn 1 and not play any relevant spells.
I open with a similar play of fetch basic island, probe, and serum visions. I see the Death’s Shadow in his hand and feel like this should be a decent enough matchuo. I just have to kill everything, I decide.
He goes through several creatures and I keep answering Shadows with Terminates until he saves one with an Apostle’s Blessing, which ultimately kills me off of a second blessing and a Temur Battle Rage.
Round 6 - Game 2
On the play - both go to 6.
In: Thoughtseize, Thoughtseize, Surgical Extraction, Vampiric Link, Vampiric Link, Spellskite, Engineered Explosives
Out: Rise//Fall, Kolaghan’s Command, Kolaghan’s Command, Gitaxian Probe, Gitaxian Probe, Gitaxian Probe, Electrolyze
I open with Thoughtseize and swipe the Death’s Shadow in his hand. It seems like he never really recovers as he has plenty of creature pump spells, but no actual creatures to play them on.
I cast a Vampiric Link on his Immolating Souleater when he drops it, effectively taking it out of play, and he answers with Apostle’s Blessing a few turns later for Pro-Black to make the enchant fall off. I immediately regret running these at all. Haha.
I still manage to go the distance with kills spells and Angler beats.
Round 6 - Game 3
On the draw - Both keep 7
In: Rise//Fall, Electrolyze
Out: Vampiric Link, Vampiric Link
He does the patented Fetch, shock, probe play from before and passes turn.
I drop to 13 to Fetch, Shock, Thoughtseize -> Death’s Shadow, Surgical Extraction -> Death’s Shadow and he audibly curses.
We go back and forth with me dropping him to 8 and I am sitting across from a Souleater. I play 2 Pyromancers in my hand and pass turn. He plays an Apostle’s Blessing on Red and swings for lethal. This was my biggest misplay of the tournament as I was also holding a Tasigur I could have played instead of the second Pyromancer.

Standing as posted. I am 9th currently with 15 points. All of the top 8 are sitting at 18 or better and all have decided to ID. This locks me in 9th. “Not bad at all” I think to myself as I sit down across from my Round 7 opponent.

Opponent: GW Humans
On the play - Both keep 7
I open with Delver and Gitaxian Probe to see he is playing an interesting list with Sigarda, Heron’s Grace, Thalia’s Leiutenant, Champion of the Parish, and Knight of the Reliquary. “Ummmm … okay” I think to myself. Should be fine. I’m removal heavy. Just gotta keep this Sigarda off the board.
It’s basically a slaughter Game 1 as he can never get his head above water. I have removal for each creature and a steady stream of Pyromancer tokens coming in.
On the draw - Both keep 7
In: Thoughtseize, Thoughtseize, Blood Moon, Blood Moon, Engineered Explosives
Out: Remand, Remand, Gitaxian Probe, Gitaxian Probe, Gitaxian Probe
He opens with a land drop and Champion and passes turn.
I open with a Thoughtseize on his Sigarda. Turn 2, I Mana Leak a Leiutenant, and he basically stumbles for the rest of the game never really getting anything off the ground.
He gets a few hits in, but my removal proves to be too much for his list again. He’s at 4, one card in hand and plays a Scavenging Ooze, then taps out floating GG and exiles 2 creatures in his Graveyard. I say “In response” and drop a Bolt from hand to kill the Ooze and he says “In response to what? I haven’t done anything. I’m still thinking. But you did play your Bolt, so NOW I’ll exile these two and gain 2.” … I give the patented Bianca Del Rio “Really Queen?” Stare. Then I Murderous Cut the Ooze. Then Untap and play a top decked Bolt followed by a Snap -Bolt for the 6 life he has remaining over the next 2 turns. “Good game”.

So, there is is. Finished 9th, literally 1 point outside of top 8 and with the highest overall win percentage of the day. Not a bad showing at all. I was VERY happy with the deck overall. I did have a few points and learned a lot about it from the event, though.
I hate a few of my sideboard cards. Most notably, the Vampiric Links. On paper, they seem good against Burn, but I’m not sure I even want them there. The decision seems to be between Vampiric Link, Dragon’s Claw, and Devour Flesh. I need a lot more testing to decide which as each has merit. Dragon’s Claw is continuous life gain and probably the strongest of the hosers, Vampiric Link has fringe application in other matchups and is a combination of burst and continuous life gain, but it requires a creature to be used. Devour Flesh is the weakest, requiring a creature, creating card disadvantage, and being burst life gain, but has the most application outside of the burn matchup - namely Bogles.
I hate the Remands. They’ve never felt relevant whereas Mana leak has been an absolute all-star. I’m considering going to 3 Mana Leak, but is 3 Mana Leak and 1 Spell Snare with no other MD counterspells enough? I’m not really sure.
I NEED answers to Collected Company in my 75. Forked Bolt was pretty meh throughout the day aside from one great 2 for 1 against Jund. Otherwise, I was turning it at a single creature or player almost every time I used it. I feel like a Pillar of Flame may be better suited there. Also, Grafdigger’s Cage seems like a blowout in a few matchups including Collected Company and seems worth it to turn off the Snapcasters in order to shutdown an opposing deck. This theory needs testing as well.
Young Pyromancer is amazing. This guy is 100% the real deal. The Merfolk games really showcase just how strong the incremental gains of the card can be. I’d love to get a third copy here, but I’m not sure what I’d drop. Similarly, Rise//Fall was amazing throughout the entire event. Allowing for shenanigans repeatedly from a Modern playable Hymn to Tourach to bouncing 2 Snapcasters [one in GY, one in play] to bouncing opposing creatures. The card just does so much. I’m not sure I’d ever want another copy, though. Similarly, Rakdos Charm functions as a swiss army knife in the sideboard, answering Artifacts, Graveyards, and Creature Swarm strategies, but once again, the single copy feels right.

So, West Virginia TCGPlayer States is scheduled for 5/15 and I’ve gotten the day off work and plan to play a similar version of this list. Any thoughts, questions, comments, snide remarks?

Quote from ktkenshinx »

Quote from cfusionpm »

Quote from Ayiluss »

This only confirms that metagame is very healthy right now.

As long as you like playing green.

I don't really see what's wrong with Modern being more a green format than a blue one, especially with so many blue decks waiting in Tier 2 to move into Tier 1. Legacy is a blue format. Modern doesn't have to be too. Once we get one blue-based controlling deck into Tier 1, things will definitely be better. But just looking at where we are now, it's an awesome start to the new format when we haven't even had a Grand Prix yet to really shape the metagame.

I would prefer to see all colors represented across a variety of archetypes; something we had pretty much all of 2015. I don't really want Modern to be a Blue format (not that it ever was), but it would be nice to toss us UR players a bone after claiming in their Twin announcement that: "We considered what one would do with the cards from a Splinter Twin deck with Splinter Twin banned. In the case of some Jeskai or Temur, there are very similar decks to build. In other cases, there is Kiki-Jiki as a replacement." I guess the bigger question is how long do these "replacement UR decks" need to be mediocre-to-bad in order to reevaluate? Without the PT anymore (thank goodness), there's no more predictable schedule. AV and Thopter/Sword certainly don't solve UR/x's problems, but I guess is a step in the right direction? Having spent the last 5 months playing just about every incarnation of Grixis, Jeskai, and UR, I share Michael Majors' frustrations with the harsh limitations and problems the colors have without Twin. The decks weren't being suppressed by Twin, they just weren't very good to begin with.