I completely agree with the article and firmly believe that playing bob is good, but also playing Tireless Tracker gives you a certain card advantage that is great, also being a potentially large threat that doesn't rely on graveyard (unlike goyf).
Well, I've been trying it for the past 5 days online quite a bit and there are a couple of things I have noticed that have made me like the 17 land count but dislike the baubles.
I think they are absolutely amazing with a fetchland, they are almost a free opt in that scenario, you scry, and then draw next upkeep.
However, I have found them to be quite a bad draw later in the game, if you don't have a fetchland the best you can do with it is look at the opponent's top and draw next turn, where the draw might be a threat that you can't actually play and is susceptible to thoughtseize, if you crack in their turn its ok, but still its 1 turn later than a regular cantrip.
So my decision has been to try a list such as this:
I do agree that there is a little inconsistency in saying that the less lands the better (which I agree) and then putting 3 EE in the SB.
I believe this deck operates more than ok with 2 or 3 lands, which makes EE be either a removal over 2 turns or simply not able to cast for the desired value if it is 3.
I haven't tried the Baubles, but they do seem like a good idea, will try these weeks and see where I go with it.
The 4 gurmag is something I personally would prefer to play a 3-1 split with Tasigur. Don't know if its just because I think its quite a bit easier to cast or its just me being uneducated in the matter since I haven't tried baubles yet.
The idea I most disagree with is K command being bad. Well, I think its not bad at all, I think its a very powerful card, it can surprise with instant speed discard, it can get back a thteat, it can destroy unwanted artifacts and/or be removal or burn. I think its extremely versatile and a tool I 100% like to have in any grixis deck I play.
Also the last idea is I would maybe play 1 or 2 IoK in the main, I think it is good to have early discard, since late game it can be dead, and upping the amount of discard is good for that.
Thats where I stand now, I will test the baubles and see where it takes me with a 17 land setup, I am very much enjoying this deck and have tons of fun playing it, it has so many lines and you can change it quite a bit to fit any player's style I think.
Hi everyone, I have a question.
With the amount of large creatures that we cant deal with efficiently (goyf and DS mainly) would it be suitable to fit a couple of path to exile in the main?
If so, what would we take out?
Ill post my list later for suggestions if possible.
This supported my color requirements just fine. I also found the Lighthouse to help a lot in flood situations (and Nahiri as well). Only having 6 Blue fetches doesn't seem great with Cryptic in your deck though, unless you're willing to take a fair chunk of damage from your mana.
I don't think I could advocate going below 24 lands.
As for Cryptic, I like it a lot, though I don't play Ancestral Vision in the main deck (which, imo, takes up the Cryptic/Sweeper slot).
I feel like every time I change deck in modern I run into you, and we have very, VERY similar tastes, in playstyle too.
Could you please share your list?
I am currently playing Jeskai flash (or old control style) because I have been off of GPTs and stuff like that, but I feel like I have some time now and I would like to get back into competitive regional level.
To me Jeskai Nahiri with cryptic is the way to go, it is very much my playstile.
I am also not a fan of AV (but I saw Mclaren play with 2 in the main and was a nice addition).
Just one thing about your manabase, don't you think you could switch one of the steam vents for a second hallowed fountain?
Many times I have found myself wanting to have the second white, to play path + helix or nahiri + path.
Especially now that you have removed the double red from anger in the main.
I think he actually meant that you have not been insulting, so its a good thing
Also, I think the swapping Delver for AV is the way to go, and I have to +1 your previous post.
AV gives us the weapon we need to grind better and delver is just another target for their cheap removal (by law they must bolt the bird or ugly insect)
I have personally played this deck quite a bit with the Young pyromancer plan with gitaxian probe and it is more of an aggro-tempo style of play (which I like a lot).
But lately, with the rise of Grixis control and Nahiri Jeskai decks, I feel like it underperformed, I imagine that is why this deck has gone to a more controling route because with that version you lack the land drops needed and you can't afford to run powerful spells that cost more than 3 (you only have 2x kolaghan's command as the top of the curve).
I may be mistaken, but I feel like those are the reasons.
I think its just a matter of flavor, I will stick to the original 18 land plan, since I don't own the sideboard ancestral visions and I really fancy the aggro-tempo game style.
Hope I helped, if I am wrong (which is possible) please correct me, experienced players, I have been under a year with this deck, but on and off from control, twin, etc...
Still maintaining the search for tomorrow, the sakuras and the explore / farseek.
The plan would be to use some lands to throw at the opponent's head, like darkmore salvage and ramping to make up for those lands, when you are done with them just land a titan and a couple of valakut triggers, it was very counter intuitive, and was missing a key piece (such as this sorcery now stunning regrowth) that allows you to recycle your used lands and transform them into valakut triggers.
I am most definetly going to give that deck a shot, it was a hell of a lot of fun to play too.
I have been testing this deck for some time now with pulse of murasa, to me it feels extremely useful, it can get a land if you are going to miss a land drop or they destroyed valakut, it can get sakura if you are missing some ramp (or a blocker) and it can get you titan back if they make you discard it.
All of that while gaining 6 life, I only run 1, but there has not been a single time where I have drawn it and not felt happy with it.
Also, on a side note, It has won me a couple of games vs grishoalbrand by returning their reanimate target, but I guess thats just a cute side-effect.
I personally struggle with CoCo lists too. Naya company hurts me as well, so I went for a hibernation in the SB. It lifts choke too, and can even play it eot with a voice on the table.
It has saved me a few times, give it a try!
About the vampiric links, I feel that when I put them on enemy creatures they are meh, when I manage to slam it on one of mine its ok, but generally underwhelming as you stated.
I wanna find a good SB to play with too, will post mine later today, but its very similar anyway.
MD rise // fall is coming in for me, I just needed one more reason for it, and bouncing unkillable things did it haha
I think painful truths is a very good card, however, I think it is sideboard material, since it os basically uncastable in the fast aggro matches.
Against midrage it is just fantastic.
I am going to be including one in my sideboard since my local meta has jund, mardu midrange, abzan and rug midrange.
Hi, I personally have a 1 of hibernation in my sideboard, it helps an inmense amount vs naya company (which is a strong deck and are quicker and have more creatures than us) and also bogles, which is quite hard.
I also run 1 surgical extracion and 1 tormods crypt for graveyard hate (I've been encountering quite a bit of graveyard based decks lately).
Personally, I'm normally always on the move between one city and another, so I always run around with a unknown meta sideboard, it looks like this:
You are investing 1 mana in maybe drawing 3 cards in 4 turns. Vs a blue deck that runs remand that seems quite terrible, although it seems fantastic vs GBx and any other deck that you have to go grindy against.
I guess we will have to wait and see, for now, im not going to play them.
Imo, banning Eye, apart from doing what it is meant to do (making eldrazi a deck that is not Tier -1) it could finally get rid of the problem Tron has, which is basically inevitability against many matchups.
It is a deck that can simply win by not missing land drops, assembling tron and searching for your fat eldrazi (emrakul, Ulamog, you name it) and casting it.
If they remove the eye, it will still have the monster turn 3 plays, which is the risk/reward factor of the deck, but not be just on another level and not being able to interact with search for emrakul, cast it, win.
I dont think it will make or break tron, but we will se in just a few minutes =P
Nice article, congrats!
I think they are absolutely amazing with a fetchland, they are almost a free opt in that scenario, you scry, and then draw next upkeep.
However, I have found them to be quite a bad draw later in the game, if you don't have a fetchland the best you can do with it is look at the opponent's top and draw next turn, where the draw might be a threat that you can't actually play and is susceptible to thoughtseize, if you crack in their turn its ok, but still its 1 turn later than a regular cantrip.
So my decision has been to try a list such as this:
1x Blood Crypt
4x Bloodstained Mire
1x Island
4x Polluted Delta
3x Scalding Tarn
1x Steam Vents
1x Swamp
2x Watery Grave
Creatures (15)
4x Death's Shadow
4x Gurmag Angler
4x Snapcaster Mage
3x Street Wraith
4x Opt
4x Thought Scour
1x Serum Visions
1x Dismember
4x Fatal Push
2x Inquisition of Kozilek
1x Kolaghan's Command
1x Lightning Bolt
3x Stubborn Denial
2x Temur Battle Rage
1x Terminate
4x Thoughtseize
2x Ceremonious Rejection
1x Collective Brutality
2x Disdainful Stroke
1x Engineered Explosives
1x Flaying Tendrils
1x Kolaghan's Command
1x Kozilek's Return
2x Liliana of the Veil
2x Nihil Spellbomb
2x Young Pyromancer
I'm back and forth with 18 and 17 lands, just because I like the second Blood Crypt, but I'm still testing and I'll keep checking.
I believe this deck operates more than ok with 2 or 3 lands, which makes EE be either a removal over 2 turns or simply not able to cast for the desired value if it is 3.
I haven't tried the Baubles, but they do seem like a good idea, will try these weeks and see where I go with it.
The 4 gurmag is something I personally would prefer to play a 3-1 split with Tasigur. Don't know if its just because I think its quite a bit easier to cast or its just me being uneducated in the matter since I haven't tried baubles yet.
The idea I most disagree with is K command being bad. Well, I think its not bad at all, I think its a very powerful card, it can surprise with instant speed discard, it can get back a thteat, it can destroy unwanted artifacts and/or be removal or burn. I think its extremely versatile and a tool I 100% like to have in any grixis deck I play.
Also the last idea is I would maybe play 1 or 2 IoK in the main, I think it is good to have early discard, since late game it can be dead, and upping the amount of discard is good for that.
Thats where I stand now, I will test the baubles and see where it takes me with a 17 land setup, I am very much enjoying this deck and have tons of fun playing it, it has so many lines and you can change it quite a bit to fit any player's style I think.
With the amount of large creatures that we cant deal with efficiently (goyf and DS mainly) would it be suitable to fit a couple of path to exile in the main?
If so, what would we take out?
Ill post my list later for suggestions if possible.
I feel like every time I change deck in modern I run into you, and we have very, VERY similar tastes, in playstyle too.
Could you please share your list?
I am currently playing Jeskai flash (or old control style) because I have been off of GPTs and stuff like that, but I feel like I have some time now and I would like to get back into competitive regional level.
To me Jeskai Nahiri with cryptic is the way to go, it is very much my playstile.
I am also not a fan of AV (but I saw Mclaren play with 2 in the main and was a nice addition).
Just one thing about your manabase, don't you think you could switch one of the steam vents for a second hallowed fountain?
Many times I have found myself wanting to have the second white, to play path + helix or nahiri + path.
Especially now that you have removed the double red from anger in the main.
Just wanted to put that out there.
Also, I think the swapping Delver for AV is the way to go, and I have to +1 your previous post.
AV gives us the weapon we need to grind better and delver is just another target for their cheap removal (by law they must bolt the bird or ugly insect)
But lately, with the rise of Grixis control and Nahiri Jeskai decks, I feel like it underperformed, I imagine that is why this deck has gone to a more controling route because with that version you lack the land drops needed and you can't afford to run powerful spells that cost more than 3 (you only have 2x kolaghan's command as the top of the curve).
I may be mistaken, but I feel like those are the reasons.
In the 18 land, pyromancer, probe lists, you would run 1 spell pierce, maybe 2, and more cmc 1 spells, like forked bolt, gitaxian probe, dispel, etc...
I think its just a matter of flavor, I will stick to the original 18 land plan, since I don't own the sideboard ancestral visions and I really fancy the aggro-tempo game style.
Hope I helped, if I am wrong (which is possible) please correct me, experienced players, I have been under a year with this deck, but on and off from control, twin, etc...
I have been trying a list lately that is basically RG titanshift but with no pacts, the gitrog monster, life from the loam, kolaghan's command, abrupt decay, countryside crusher and molten vortex
Still maintaining the search for tomorrow, the sakuras and the explore / farseek.
The plan would be to use some lands to throw at the opponent's head, like darkmore salvage and ramping to make up for those lands, when you are done with them just land a titan and a couple of valakut triggers, it was very counter intuitive, and was missing a key piece (such as this sorcery now stunning regrowth) that allows you to recycle your used lands and transform them into valakut triggers.
I am most definetly going to give that deck a shot, it was a hell of a lot of fun to play too.
All of that while gaining 6 life, I only run 1, but there has not been a single time where I have drawn it and not felt happy with it.
Also, on a side note, It has won me a couple of games vs grishoalbrand by returning their reanimate target, but I guess thats just a cute side-effect.
I actually thought about amulet too and am curious about the response to this suggestion.
I believe artifact hate is very popular, but the fact that they have to choose to destroy it and waste valuable time is intriguing.
also, it is a bad topdeck when you have active valakut, but that is also true for omen.
Looking forward to experienced player's replies.
I personally struggle with CoCo lists too. Naya company hurts me as well, so I went for a hibernation in the SB. It lifts choke too, and can even play it eot with a voice on the table.
It has saved me a few times, give it a try!
About the vampiric links, I feel that when I put them on enemy creatures they are meh, when I manage to slam it on one of mine its ok, but generally underwhelming as you stated.
I wanna find a good SB to play with too, will post mine later today, but its very similar anyway.
MD rise // fall is coming in for me, I just needed one more reason for it, and bouncing unkillable things did it haha
Again congrats and thanks for sharing!
Against midrage it is just fantastic.
I am going to be including one in my sideboard since my local meta has jund, mardu midrange, abzan and rug midrange.
I also run 1 surgical extracion and 1 tormods crypt for graveyard hate (I've been encountering quite a bit of graveyard based decks lately).
Personally, I'm normally always on the move between one city and another, so I always run around with a unknown meta sideboard, it looks like this:
1x hibernation
1x izzet staticaster
2x thoughtseize
1x tormod's crypt
1x dispel
1x countersquall
2x blood moon
2x vampiric link
1x terminate
1x engineered explosives
1x vandalblast
My reasoning for blood moon is that if you land one in the right matchup without them playing around it its basically a free win.
And vandalblast is a 1 cmc spell vs affinity, that if you topdeck it late game you will probably be able to overload it.
It is obviously not the best sideboard, but it works for me.
Hope I helped a bit.
You are investing 1 mana in maybe drawing 3 cards in 4 turns. Vs a blue deck that runs remand that seems quite terrible, although it seems fantastic vs GBx and any other deck that you have to go grindy against.
I guess we will have to wait and see, for now, im not going to play them.
Happy eye is out of modern!
It is a deck that can simply win by not missing land drops, assembling tron and searching for your fat eldrazi (emrakul, Ulamog, you name it) and casting it.
If they remove the eye, it will still have the monster turn 3 plays, which is the risk/reward factor of the deck, but not be just on another level and not being able to interact with search for emrakul, cast it, win.
I dont think it will make or break tron, but we will se in just a few minutes =P