Between a playset of Path to Exile and 3 Scavenging Ooze mainboard, you shouldn't have to go to extremes with junk's SB to combat dredge. Flaying Tendrils is attractive if dredge shows up in my meta but I'm the only one to have played the deck in the past 3 months in my store so not sweating it.
So guys, I got inspired just now and have an idea to propose... Why not play Glimmerpost+Vesuva in a UW shell? Against aggro and UR based control decks, you have all the lifegain. Against Blood Moon, Vesuva copies your basic lands already in play, and you have 8 Colonnades if that ever matters (Jund, anyone?). Seems like a sweet plan. Also, you can use Deprive to pick up the Vesuva/Glimmerpost again.
Edit: Just beat 8Whack with SIX Glimmerposts out on XMage. Lol
Why not just use Radiant Fountain instead? Don't get me wrong, I know the potential life gain is higher given enough time but this is modern, where linear aggro reigns supreme so it seems unlikely you will see that 3rd Glimmerpost.
The only thing Grim Flayer does for jund, is give the deck pseudo evasion via trample. The supposed other thing it does is set up Dark Confidant triggers and filter draws but really that is just win more because if bob sticks around and/or you're getting to freely connect against an opponent, I'd argue any creature would get the job done. Honestly in my opinion the card is getting way over hyped atm. By the time you have delirium activated, it doesn't stack up well against the other midrange creatures in Tarmogoyf, Tasigur, the Golden Fang, Siege Rhino, Reality Smasher, Gurmag Angler, etc. Really wish the excitement would wane at this point and we can be honest with what Grim Flayer really is: a 2/2 for 2 that does nothing on ETB and doesn't take over a game like goyf or bob do.
Also the opportunity cost of including him in your deck right now is really high when you take into account what you would normally cut for him (Scavenging Ooze) and the fact that graveyard decks are trending upward.
Oath of Nissa is decent in little kid abzan where there are 20+ creatures and you're looking to chain Siege Rhino. It is a little lackluster in abzan midrange because you're main priority is to gain control of the board which oath does not help with.
One of the reasons Grim Flayer has been adopted in jund is because of their creatures lack of evasion. Between Siege Rhino and souls tokens, abzan does not have this problem. Abzan, though, would generate more CA than jund with his ability by putting Lingering Souls in the GY. So if you want to play Grim on that merit, it could warrant testing but personally I think the opportunity cost of including him is too high.
I've played all the GY hate and prefer Nihil Spellbomb myself. It cantrips and slows down the dedicated GY decks just enough until you can draw into scooze to put the game away.
Also, I've been testing Blessed Alliance lately with a 2/2 split. Card is decent but I haven't concluded whether or not to keep it. Will keep testing.
On one hand, I think Grim Flayer is more effective in junk b/c you can put Lingering Souls into the graveyard, but it will also be more difficult to turn on delirium than jund. The cards I'm most interested in for junk is Blessed Alliance and Liliana, the Last Hope. No one is really talking about BA much but it's an excellent card to have against the linear aggro decks except for maybe affinity. Lili 2.0 I think is a little undervalued right now. Her +1 is Darkblast every turn, her -2 is CA for junk's very high quality threats and her ult should be easy to reach with decent inevitability. I expect her to see some split play with LotV depending on what you want to metagame for.
The best cards to fight against tron from my experience has been Stony Silence, Pithing Needle and Fulminator Mage. Don't expect to have a high win% game 1 against that deck but you can easily pull it down to 50/50 depending on how much of your SB you want to dedicate to that MU.
Deck felt incredibly smooth. I threw it together before heading out tonight and didn't optimize it. Mutavault was better than I thought being able to be a rat for Pack Rat or a zombie for Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet and there was a point where I used Mutavault with Crucible of Worlds to chump block for a few turns until I could draw out of a jam. Only weakness with the deck is being vulnerable to artifacts and enchantments with my only loss coming against enchantments.
It's fast and resilient. Dredge feels like its 1 reprint/print away from being at least tier 2 status.
Ideas as what that could be? Thanks.
I think Cabal Therapy or Ichorid would make the deck very competitive but not oppressive. Dread Return would put it over the top and allow Oops all Spells in modern so I wouldn't get my hopes up for that ever.
I still think white needs help. While blue players complain, white is still mainly full of trash if it doesn't slot into hatebears or isn't path to exile and lingering souls
Let's be honest, people
Lingering souls
Path to exile
Restoration angel
Wall of omen (not great, but better than decent)
Are like the only good white, major wide applicable cards. While you guys complain, white is an awful color relegated to two of those four cards in popular decks while the rest is just fantasic sideboard cards
Blue would be way too good with jace, a fairly low 4 mana BOMB that nearly wins on the spot if dropped on an empty board
Let's start with introducing the 2 mana blue hard counter before possibly destroying the format with one of the biggest mistake cards ever printed in magic
White is fine. White is a key component of Abzan CoCo (Tier 1), Burn (tier 1), D/T (Tier 2), Jeskai Control (Tier 2), Kiki Chord (Tier 2), Junk (Tier 2), and Zoo (Tier 2). White and Blue have ALWAYS been support colors who enhance G/B/R and you see this in the way that white manifests itself through modern's entire tier structure. So you're unhappy with white having the best removal spell in the format, the grindiest card in the format, the best planeswalkers in the format, and the best sideboard support structure in the format? DEFINITELY seems like a color that's struggling to me.
All of the current color balance is fine. Each color is well represented in tier 1 and 2. Both tiers feature a fantastic variety of strategies, archetypes, and gameplans. Stahp.
Best planeswalkers??? Maybe better planeswalkers would have been a more appropriate description.
I like the idea of Archangel Avacyn but I think you would be better served by Restoration Angel when taking creature etb's into account. I'd say keep it SB and bring it in vs. ***/verdict/damnation.
Going to be testing out Traverse the Ulvenwald this weekend. Not running any silver bullet tutors maindeck so as not dillute the grindy nature of the deck with potentially useless cards in certain MUs. Decided to run Dark Confidant to ensure that I will either have a creature in my graveyard or be drawing a bunch of cards. You may or may not agree on my tutors but that can be discussed later, I'd prefer to find out first if Traverse the Ulvenwald is even playable.
Why not just use Radiant Fountain instead? Don't get me wrong, I know the potential life gain is higher given enough time but this is modern, where linear aggro reigns supreme so it seems unlikely you will see that 3rd Glimmerpost.
Also the opportunity cost of including him in your deck right now is really high when you take into account what you would normally cut for him (Scavenging Ooze) and the fact that graveyard decks are trending upward.
Also, I've been testing Blessed Alliance lately with a 2/2 split. Card is decent but I haven't concluded whether or not to keep it. Will keep testing.
The best cards to fight against tron from my experience has been Stony Silence, Pithing Needle and Fulminator Mage. Don't expect to have a high win% game 1 against that deck but you can easily pull it down to 50/50 depending on how much of your SB you want to dedicate to that MU.
4 Pack Rat
4 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
4 Thoughtseize
1 Disfigure
1 Smother
1 Hero's Downfall
3 Dismember
1 Murderous Cut
4 Liliana of the Veil
15 Swamp
4 Mutavault
3 Ghost Quarter
1 Tectonic Edge
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Duress
1 Disfigure
1 Hero's Downfall
1 Damnation
3 Ratchet Bomb
2 Pithing Needle
1 Crucible of Worlds
4 Extirpate
Deck felt incredibly smooth. I threw it together before heading out tonight and didn't optimize it. Mutavault was better than I thought being able to be a rat for Pack Rat or a zombie for Kalitas, Traitor of Ghet and there was a point where I used Mutavault with Crucible of Worlds to chump block for a few turns until I could draw out of a jam. Only weakness with the deck is being vulnerable to artifacts and enchantments with my only loss coming against enchantments.
I think Cabal Therapy or Ichorid would make the deck very competitive but not oppressive. Dread Return would put it over the top and allow Oops all Spells in modern so I wouldn't get my hopes up for that ever.
It's fast and resilient. Dredge feels like its 1 reprint/print away from being at least tier 2 status.
Best planeswalkers??? Maybe better planeswalkers would have been a more appropriate description.
Big fan of Elspeth, Knight-Errant but again I think there is a better alternative in Sorin, Solemn Visitor b/c life gain is a thing plus flying on the tokens is real nice.
4 Tarmogoyf
3 Scavenging Ooze
2 Siege Rhino
3 Traverse the Ulvenwald
4 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
4 Path to Exile
3 Abrupt Decay
3 Lingering Souls
1 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Liliana of the Veil
3 Windswept Heath
2 Overgrown Tomb
1 Temple Garden
1 Godless Shrine
2 Woodland Cemetery
2 Stirring Wildwood
2 Shambling Vent
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Forest
2 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Kor Firewalker
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
3 Fulminator Mage
2 Kitchen Finks
2 Stony Silence
1 Pithing Needle
1 Damnation
1 Engineered Explosives
2 Nihil Spellbomb