I still see Sea Gate Wreckage in many lists. Do players actually like this card? I found it very bad in the Serum Powder Eldrazi Stompy list, and am more inclined to run a Scavenger Grounds in that slot. Wreckage has been dead 99% of the time for me.
Raphaël Lévy has a new article and video up at TCG with a Vengevine/Lotleth Troll build that looks pretty good, might be worth a look. It's got me convinced.
For real though, Sweltering Suns just seems better than Anger for us. Maybe not if your shop holds a lot of GW decks, but otherwise it's gotta considered almost strictly better. In my opinion.
Souls is good but enchantments are not a huge problem in most metas, so it seems to me that Ancient Grudge is where we want to be for Lantern, KCI, and Affinity. Grudge is waaaaay better than the White artifact removal, due to its flashback.
I've played a lot of Lingering Souls in Modern (though never in this deck), but it's grindy card in a deck that is trying to win fast. Doesn't seem like a great fit, to me. I would probably want it in a meta with lots of Control decks in it, but right now my local meta is defined by Blood Moon and Ensnaring Bridge... which is exactly why I am playing this deck, with 2x EE and 3x Grudge in the 75.
Disclaimer: All of the below pertains to my perspective on the RB build.
I have considered a second Stomping Grounds but I decided that's not correct. Normally T1 puts us at 17, and then Street Wraith knocks us around too. We definitely want both R and B by T2, and we have only 18 lands. Doubling the chances of a Mountain that hits us for 2 in our opening hand is not good. Abrupt Decay doesn't really seem needed for this deck, and actually casting it would certainly come with a lot of pain. To me, it's not worth the tradeoff of being more resistant to milling our only source of G away (or having it destroyed)--instead I think we just prioritize fetching it right away when we're expecting to need it.
Personally my sideboard is close to yours, but I think you need Brutality instead of Thoughtseize, unless you can be certain you don't have Burn in your local meta. I'm also not sold on Lili, since BB on T3 is far from guaranteed, and I'm not really sure what matches I'd want it in.
The tradeoff for Radiant Flames would be to cast it for RRR and preserve our Adepts and Phoenixes against a token deck, but that seems like a corner case. Getting to X=3 with Converge pressures our manabase and life total if we need that number, for instance against Elves or Humans. Most decks can play around their own sweepers, in my experience, so Sweltering Suns seems likely to be better overall--the cycling clause fits our deck design perfectly.
I don't like Anger because of the nonbo with Bloodghast and Phoenix.
I don't tend to worry too much about Etched Champion, in theory at least, since Hollow Boy can block it. However I haven't yet faced Affinity with this deck. Maybe Kozilek's Return could be a thing? Three CMC for only 2 damage really seems too slow though, especially against a deck like Humans or Elves.
I like the added artifact and graveyard hate that Rakdos Charm provides, I could see it being good maybe. Anyone else playing this tech to good success?
I have a standard list, -1 Collective Brutality and +1 EE in the main. I do that for several reasons:
I want a mainboard out to Ensnaring Bridge, which is everywhere in my meta.
I want a reasonable mainboard answer to go-wide decks like Humans, Elves, Affinity, and Mardu Pyromancer.
I sometimes see Chalice on 1 against me in G1.
Since I discard so much stuff anyway, the "dead card" problem isn't really a factor with EE, and I am certain I like this tweak in my meta. I also run a singleton Verdant Catacombs in place of a red fetch, since it gives me one more way to get a Swamp if I'm facing a game one Blood Moon, which happens a lot. (Catacombs still hits all my shocks, too.) Right now I am seeing Moon or Bridge in more than half the matches I play, no exaggeration.
In the side I have 3x Leyline of the Void--are other players still running this package? Any thoughts? Also, I have two Blood Moons in the side myself, but I'm not sure I'm sold on them. Any players have any spicy SB tech to share here? I've considered a single Sweltering Suns for a third piece of go-wide aggro hate, but maybe Pyroclasm would be better. Has anyone tried either of these out?
TIL that apparently, "Kataki" means disaster. But seriously lolol at those card name translations in general. If I'm understanding his point, he likes Resto because it walls Mantis Rider in the mirror and flies over clogged ground states in other matches (as well as the obvious blanking removal factor). He likes its positioning against Affinity. He also dithers a little over whether Resto #2 is better or worse than a singleton copy of Dissatisfaction Molecule of Cissig (lol again). He likes Image in part because of how well it copies the sideboard cards. He advocates for 4x Canopy, then he goes into his sideboard choices.
In the side he's playing 2x Kataki and also 2x Reclamation Sage--and I have to say that at least where I play, four serious artifact hate cards would be a bare minimum right now. Ensnaring Bridges (and also Blood Moons) are literally everywhere--there were four Ponza players last night at my LGS, and three Lantern players, plus lots of other decks running one or the other prison card. In fact, in my meta, Humans feels like a bad choice currently because of all these 3 CMC hate cards. I can expect to see one or the other in over half the matches I play, no exaggeration.
My Hollow One deck is killing it so far with 4x Ancient Grudge in the side, but the play style is not as much fun for me. Anyone here playing Humans in a meta comparably infested with Bridge and Moon? How are you doing, if so? The sideboard lottery is coming up sevens for you, or do you have an approach I'm missing?
The MOCS lists are in and Humans placed five decks in the top 32, including taking both 1st and 2nd. Four of the five performing builds decks ran 2x Restoration Angel in the 75, and the in finals both decks were running both copies mainboard. No decks show any copies of Deputy of Acquittals.
Resto replays the bounced card right away, which seems better with Meddling, Lieutenant, etc. But obviously it is much slower and harder to cast. Others' thoughts? Any commenters here tried this tech?
Bugler looks like an intriguing option.
http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=14699&writer=Raphael+Levy&articledate=6-19-2018
I haven't been digging the BR deck too much lately, personally, so it'll be fun to give a new version a whirl.
I've played a lot of Lingering Souls in Modern (though never in this deck), but it's grindy card in a deck that is trying to win fast. Doesn't seem like a great fit, to me. I would probably want it in a meta with lots of Control decks in it, but right now my local meta is defined by Blood Moon and Ensnaring Bridge... which is exactly why I am playing this deck, with 2x EE and 3x Grudge in the 75.
I have considered a second Stomping Grounds but I decided that's not correct. Normally T1 puts us at 17, and then Street Wraith knocks us around too. We definitely want both R and B by T2, and we have only 18 lands. Doubling the chances of a Mountain that hits us for 2 in our opening hand is not good. Abrupt Decay doesn't really seem needed for this deck, and actually casting it would certainly come with a lot of pain. To me, it's not worth the tradeoff of being more resistant to milling our only source of G away (or having it destroyed)--instead I think we just prioritize fetching it right away when we're expecting to need it.
Personally my sideboard is close to yours, but I think you need Brutality instead of Thoughtseize, unless you can be certain you don't have Burn in your local meta. I'm also not sold on Lili, since BB on T3 is far from guaranteed, and I'm not really sure what matches I'd want it in.
Looks like most lists are off the 2x SB Blood Moon lately. How are players here liking Big Game Hunter?
I don't like Anger because of the nonbo with Bloodghast and Phoenix.
I like the added artifact and graveyard hate that Rakdos Charm provides, I could see it being good maybe. Anyone else playing this tech to good success?
- I want a mainboard out to Ensnaring Bridge, which is everywhere in my meta.
- I want a reasonable mainboard answer to go-wide decks like Humans, Elves, Affinity, and Mardu Pyromancer.
- I sometimes see Chalice on 1 against me in G1.
Since I discard so much stuff anyway, the "dead card" problem isn't really a factor with EE, and I am certain I like this tweak in my meta. I also run a singleton Verdant Catacombs in place of a red fetch, since it gives me one more way to get a Swamp if I'm facing a game one Blood Moon, which happens a lot. (Catacombs still hits all my shocks, too.) Right now I am seeing Moon or Bridge in more than half the matches I play, no exaggeration.In the side I have 3x Leyline of the Void--are other players still running this package? Any thoughts? Also, I have two Blood Moons in the side myself, but I'm not sure I'm sold on them. Any players have any spicy SB tech to share here? I've considered a single Sweltering Suns for a third piece of go-wide aggro hate, but maybe Pyroclasm would be better. Has anyone tried either of these out?
Thanks for reading.
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TIL that apparently, "Kataki" means disaster. But seriously lolol at those card name translations in general. If I'm understanding his point, he likes Resto because it walls Mantis Rider in the mirror and flies over clogged ground states in other matches (as well as the obvious blanking removal factor). He likes its positioning against Affinity. He also dithers a little over whether Resto #2 is better or worse than a singleton copy of Dissatisfaction Molecule of Cissig (lol again). He likes Image in part because of how well it copies the sideboard cards. He advocates for 4x Canopy, then he goes into his sideboard choices.
In the side he's playing 2x Kataki and also 2x Reclamation Sage--and I have to say that at least where I play, four serious artifact hate cards would be a bare minimum right now. Ensnaring Bridges (and also Blood Moons) are literally everywhere--there were four Ponza players last night at my LGS, and three Lantern players, plus lots of other decks running one or the other prison card. In fact, in my meta, Humans feels like a bad choice currently because of all these 3 CMC hate cards. I can expect to see one or the other in over half the matches I play, no exaggeration.
My Hollow One deck is killing it so far with 4x Ancient Grudge in the side, but the play style is not as much fun for me. Anyone here playing Humans in a meta comparably infested with Bridge and Moon? How are you doing, if so? The sideboard lottery is coming up sevens for you, or do you have an approach I'm missing?
Lots of Humans talk--like three plus pages worth--on the State of Modern thread on this forum right now.
Resto replays the bounced card right away, which seems better with Meddling, Lieutenant, etc. But obviously it is much slower and harder to cast. Others' thoughts? Any commenters here tried this tech?