I think I will be moving a 3rd Stubborn Denial to the main deck which will free up a spot in the sideboard that I have been convinced to make Izzet Staticaster.
Just staying Liliana the last hope is way too expensive right now for the utility she provides, mainly because of Standard, and I can see why people would not run her.
I think not playing Liliana, the Last Hope is a more recent budget concession in the vein of surgical extraction and engineered explosives. Luckily, I acquired my 2 LtLH while playing a WB midrange deck in recent standard, but I will not cough up $100 for another 4 of the aforementioned sideboard cards (I have 2 Extirpate and 2 Ratchet Bombs, but really don't play them either). She is great, but I can understand why people do not play her. It's wishful thinking, but I think her price will plummet when she rotates out of standard.
I'm currently on 3 main deck terminates and zero bolts. I'm also leaning towards dropping IoK although I'm not quite there yet. Too much graveyard shenanigans in my meta. I have 2 Temur Battle Rage in the side that come in versus any deck that I think I will lose to if the game goes long enough. This has served me better than trying to nit pick at their synergy.
A new deck on the radar to watch out for is the As Foretold build with all the suspend cards. You almost have to take As Foretold with disruption or counter it. A free boardwipe and draw 3 from turn 3 on is hard to beat. Regarding Leylines, I've been fairly surprised at how winnable games still are even when they drop them to start.
I got blown out in game one by this deck having never seen it before. Games 2 and 3, I just held up a stubborn denial for the KCI. It is pretty much like extracting our death shadows.
This may seem like a strange question; but I've been looking for a solid '50/50' deck like Jund or Abzan... that isn't Jund nor Abzan. A deck with a fair chance across the board that is not a flash in the pan. Is Grixis Death Shadow that deck, do you guys think? If so, could you tell me why?
It could be. This deck hasn't a lot of free win/free loss. But you're unfavored in the Junk "mirror".
I look it as a good investment. Just getting into modern about 2 months ago, if Death Shadow gets banned or something, you have the basis for the Grixis Delver deck with not more money involved. In the meantime, I think the deck is very well placed to have competitive mathups against the entire field.
I think what is easily overlooked after a few bad games is that snapcaster gives you 8 post board counterspells. Sure he is a bit heavy in the early turns, but so is death shadow and that is the namesake of this deck.
This post comes in at such an odd time. I just killed a burn player with a 12/12 death shadow and a flashed in Snapcaster when he was at 14. I had just let a bolt through to go to 1 and then stubborn denied a boros charm. He had grafdigger's cage in play the whole game so I was hovering over the concede button. You never think of snapcaster mage as a beater, but in a close game he is almost a lightning bolt. I love JVP, but he usually just feels too slow for modern to me.
Mana Leak has been a house in game 1. I have not missed the 2 for 2 swap of IoK one bit. It works out so that Stubborn Denial is usually online by the time Mana Leak loses its value. Testing has not been extensive, but an early game catch all is money to buy us time to get a threat on board.
Thanks for the tips. The aggressive mulligan is something I have yet to properly embrace in Modern. Especially with this deck in particular, you are hard pressed to find an unplayable opening hand, but I can see how some would be less than optimal considering the matchup.
Been getting wrecked by burn. I played a version today that had at least 2 deflecting palms in the main deck. Everything Grixis shadow is trying to do plays right into their game plan. 2 collective brutality and a couple of extra counterspells seems hardly enough, but I hate to devote any more slots to a deck I have seen infrequently. But when I do, it is almost a concession on the spot. I am relatively new to modern, but I guess this is just an example of hoping to dodge the matchup.
I have won too many games I had no business winning with Temur Battle Rage, by just attacking into a board with an 11/11 death shadow, to not run 1 in the main and 1 in the side. Some might argue it is a win more, but with 4 snap casters and a cheap spell, I think it is too good to not run with such a potentially huge creature that can be crump blocked. This is of course all the more pressing if you are holding up a stubborn denial.
I would also like to hear more about your experiences with Ashiok. He/She has always been a pet card of mine, but I just don't see how he/she would improve any matchups with this deck.
I look it as a good investment. Just getting into modern about 2 months ago, if Death Shadow gets banned or something, you have the basis for the Grixis Delver deck with not more money involved. In the meantime, I think the deck is very well placed to have competitive mathups against the entire field.
I would also like to hear more about your experiences with Ashiok. He/She has always been a pet card of mine, but I just don't see how he/she would improve any matchups with this deck.