MTG Salvation

Quote from SPMiller

Okay, so Affinity is a combo deck because it uses Modular for huge swings and Affinity for extremely cheap CA?

Okay, that came out of nowhere. Please don't start putting words on my mouth by just singling out one post. The post you quoted is to supplement my other post about 6 pages back.


Anyway 1st off, affinity became a deck only because of the prevalence of the mechanic in the deck. 2nd, arcbound ravager imo is not the feature card of affinity, it's cranial plating. 3rd, affinity does not "build around" specific cards. All that leads to the conclusion that Affinity is just aggro. There is no specific card the deck needs in order further the deck's strategy, making it far from being a combo deck.

Edit: Just look at it this way... If a deck needs to fetch, tutor, stall, dig, and set up the board for "specific cards" and/or specific game mechanic, It's a combo deck.

Quote from SPMiller

As much as it's true that this GP was combo-heavy, RG Tron is not a combo deck. It has no combo elements; it's aggro-control on a ramp strategy. Combo is literally the one thing Tron is NOT.

Okay, as i've previously stated in this thread. No matter how you slice it, tron IS combo. Even if GR has more control elements, it being an urzatron deck makes it combo deck. Even if the deck doesn't finish the game w/ a combo, so long as the deck specializes on abusing specific game mechanics that creates a significant advantage, it is a combo deck.

Oh my, I have been under the impression that urzatron is a combo deck for all this years playing this game. I think people have misinterpreted that a deck can only be called a "combo" deck, when it needs a "combo finish". People need to wake up though, because that's not the whole truth.

By definition, a combo deck is a deck that specializes in abusing specific combos in their deck. That said, ANY urzatron deck IS a combo deck. The tron lands themselves are a combo, w/o question, so that makes the deck a combo deck. Heck, prime time combos w/ the lands he fetches, so that in itself defines the deck as a combo deck. RG tron is a combo-ramp-control deck. It's not one or the other, it is one AND the other.

Infect, on the other hand, I wouldn't call a combo deck. It doesn't really need the pump spells to win, so it's not really a combo deck per se. It's just a busy body semi non-interactive deck. IMO the pump spells just gets you there faster.

Day 2 metagame breakdown shows "11 others" down at the bottom of the list. That is such a tease. >_>

Just above it though, is 2 Ad Nauseum decks! Definitely bonkers, that deck is.

Quote from Wedges

PS. I'll write a primer, when does it need to be completed by?

Since the rotation is Jan 28, you might need it done before Christmas Holidays. I certainly don't think anyone would want to be cramming an all-nighter for a primer during the holidays. LOL

As for SB tweaks, I would think that in your list, Favor the Mighty is replaceable. What is it for anyway? Awesome Monkey Spirits?

Another one you could do w/o would probably be Infest.

You need Leyline of Sanctity! Always must have it in the 75!

People just like Fetches because it creates redundancy AND increases statistical probabilistic drawing advantage. Running them is not a necessity, but it is recommended. Some people just interpret "recommendation" as is, but otherwise, to them it reads "requirement".

hmmm... Phantasmal Image? Also, though the card I'm about to mention is technically 4cc, Phyrexian Metamorph?

Well anyway, I love combos, so I have a Clone bias when blue creatures are brought up.

To the person who mentioned it, Illusory Angel is not Modern Legal. You had me going there when I saw it. Please don't get me too excited. It's bad for my health.

Quote from Loa Vecre

Went 4-5 with Borderpost Restore Balance. Not exactly champion results, but for my first GP it's not bad IMO.

I did hear about another guy running the No-Post version, and supposedly he was 3-1 or 4-1 at some point, but I haven't heard anything beyond that. Hopefully he succeeded where I could not.

Ah, that deck brings me back to my janky extended format days... so what kinds of brick walls did you run into headfirst in this tourney?

Based on what I saw on the GP Antwerp Stream, I think the core of the deck are the same creatures featured in the Grand Architect devotion thread posted above, MINUS the Grand Architect.

I only saw a glimpse of the deck, but I think it ran Kira, Great Glass-Spinner, Tidebinder Mage, Omenspeaker, and a bunch more creatures w/ hybrid mana on them.

Apparently, one of the pilots was Raphael Levy, and he was a feature match on the GP Antwerp coverage page. It also appears that he has been playing the same deck since the last PT.

Quote from Phoenix Ignition

Right you are. I have some sort of mental block in remembering "Disfigure" instead of "Dismember."

What comes in and out really depends on what your sideboard and maindeck is. If you're using the latest list I posted you can take out Remands and a Steel (Always leave in 1 steel, but you can take out the 2nd against fast decks that you can't interact with much in combat).

That's 4 slots, I keep 2 Stony Silence and 1 more disfigure sideboard, and then whatever else you have that's marginally good (Threads for me).

So there wasn't an increase in the removal suite at all? The way it is now, I'm still not convinced w/ the match up game 1... so I guess it really is up to G2 or possibly G3 when it comes down to it, huh? But might it be just me not being able to run a 3rd or 4th Geist? *sigh* >_>

I like this deck, but I might need more tweaking to it. I might give the 1 or 2 slots I've thought of dedicating to 1 or 2 geist for a dismember, or two, instead of Blade Splicer for now to test it vs the Affinity deck I just finished building 2 days ago.
I'm currently at this list:

I might give -1 Vendillion Clique and possibly -1 Snapcaster Mage since those 2 are the cards I often see in my hand that I wish was another card instead at times. Maybe +1 Disfigure and +1 Dismember.

Quote from mirrorentity

Not the player but Witchbane Orb is your Leyline you can tutor/cast more reliably, and Mindlock is symmetrical, kinda awkward.

Yeah, I know it is in the main deck and is tutorable, but Leyline, is what I call "mulligan-able". Scapeshift can't win unless they Clutch or abrupt decay LoS back to your hand.

Mindlock Orb is the same deal. Granted, yes, Mindlock Orb screws Tezzerator bad. BUT it screws up Scapeshift much, much, much worse. Tezzerator CAN operate in top deck mode, on the other hand, Scapeshift NEEDS to fetch.

EDIT: For me, I'd like to know what are the minority decks out there. It's there where you see hidden gems.

SB Leyline of Sanctity perhaps? Better yet, Mindlock Orb. That should buy at least 2 additional turns.

So I apparently lost track of this deck somehow within the last week then. lol
Because I certainly didn't see a list that included Dismember. That change wasn't presented on the OP so I was still assuming that Affinity was still a bad MU that Blade Splicer might make it better.

I haven't tested this deck yet with a full set of Geist (only got 2. =.=) so I was thinking I could slot in Blade Splicer.>_>


A bit more on the removal suite does make the MU a bit more of a manageable, so what comes out/in vs Affinity?

I think between the Discard suite and aside from blocking the token, Spellskite+Welding Jar defense can hold down Geist for a few turns until he empties his hand for a Bridge.