Hey all, I've been testing Alex Floyd's Esper version and have been having trouble sideboarding. I'm not sure when to bring in the creature plan, when to shave/cut approaches, and when to shave the card advantage engine (Searches and Glimmers). I'm also unsure of what our sideboard plan should be in the mirror match. Any tips or suggestions? Is there any general rule to follow for the creature plan?
Thank you two for your input. I have access to almost all of the cards that are options, and will give greater thought to how I want to meta.
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar was a card that I was thinking of trying, he seemed better than Elspeths or Gideon Jura. But I was ignoring the synergy of Jura with Condemn and Blessed Alliance, so my judgement was probably premature.
Hey all, I've been looking at UW Control lists and am thinking about putting it together. My favorite deck of all time was the Sphinx's Rev deck Ivan Floch won Pro Tour M15 with, and this seems about as close as I can ever get to playing that deck again. However, I noticed there was a lot of variation in UW lists, and I would really appreciate anyone's personal input on why they chose the cards they did.
Cantrips/CA: Ancestral Vision vs. Serum Visions vs. Think Twice
Countersuite: Negate vs. Remand vs. Mana Leak vs. number of Cryptics
Planeswalkers: Gideon Jura vs. Jace, AoT vs. Elspeth Sun's Champion
X spells: Sphinx's Revelation vs. Secure the Wastes vs. White Sun's Zenith
I have my own opinions and ideas about some of these, but I firmly understand that people who have been playing and testing the deck for longer periods of time offer stronger arguments than an outsider. Thank you!
JDeeezy, I'm a fan of Volcanic Fallout in burn sideboards. I imagine it's at least decent against Merfolk, although I do not have experience in the matchup.
Can someone please explain to me the main differences between playing this and RG Titanshift? They seem very similar to an outsider.
My take is that the RG Breach version has the primary wincon of Primeval Titan and/or Emrakul, the Aeons Torn. They usually want to Through the Breach them, though Primeval Titan can also be hard-cast. Some RG Breach decks wont play Emrakul these days and are all in on casting Titan. RG Breach might play one or two copies of Scapeshift, but it's as a secondary wincon. RG Titanshift (AKA RG Scapeshift), on the other hand, plays Primeval Titan but it's primary goal is to cast Scapeshift to win. RG Scapeshift doesn't usually play Through the Breach.
If you go back and follow previous posts in this thread you'll see that some people have chosen to add copies of Nahiri, the Harbinger to their decks, though it seems more fringe, IMO. That's just my take on a few of the differences.
Thanks for your input. A friend is considering building one of these two so I wanted to be able to give him advice. To me, it seems like Breach is more combo-centric and fast, while Titanshift aims for more consistency.
Hey all, I top 4ed the Modern Classic at SCG Richmond with Naya Burn. I typed up a tournament report, and hope some people may find it useful!
In terms of my deck, I play a mostly standard Naya list. However, I play 4 maindeck Helix, 4 maindeck Searing Blaze, and no Wild Nacatls.
Round 1 – Grixis Delver
Game 1 he has a turn 2 Angler on the play and I can’t race. Game 2 he manages his blue mana poorly, putting down his counter shield and allowing me to overload him. Game three went longer than I would have liked, but I topdeck an uncounterable Volcanic Fallout with him at 1. Overall, I feel like this is not a great matchup for me, but he didn’t draw much cheap interaction. 1-0
Round 2 – Abzan
Game 1 I have Searing Blaze for an early Scooze and he doesn’t have much to back it up, allowing me to quickly overload him. Game 2 he mulls to 5 and has mana issues, so it was mostly a non-game. Abzan can be a really bad matchup depending on their sideboard, but he didn’t have Leylines and I went under his lifegain. 2-0
Round 3 – Infect
Game 1 I foolishly tap out to maximize damage, and he quickly untaps with Might + Become Immense. Post sideboard I have a ton of hate, and am able to leverage my ability to play at instant speed over him, taking games 2 and 3. This is a pretty good matchup, and Searing Blaze is an absolute all-star here. 3-0
Round 4 – Bant Eldrazi
I was paired against Ali Aintrazi, the most ‘famous’ player I have played against so far. Game 1 he has a nice curve, but I am able to keep pace. When he taps out for Drowner, I punish him with a flurry of spells and take the game. Game 2 he has a pretty slow start, but I deal myself a little damage and defer Pathing a Reality Smasher; he has a second and beats me down. Game 3 he mulls to 6. He plays two Cavern of Souls but no creatures, and I have my best draw of the tournament – a natural turn three. I have never actually played against Bant Eldrazi before, but have watched some videos and felt comfortable. Not sure how the matchup is, but I’m glad I dodged Though-Knot Seers. 4-0
Round 5 – RG Titan Breach
Another matchup I have never played but I understood the basis of his deck. He had mulligan issues the whole match. Game 1 I forgot to do the math and attack with an Eidolon when I’m at 17; he untaps and breaches a Titan, dealing a total of 18 between the Titan and Valakut. Game 2 an early Eidolon puts a ton of pressure on him and I burn him out. Game 3 he mulls to 5 and I keep a 7 with one land and several one drops. I don’t draw the second land, but put him to 3 with a bolt in hand; however turn 5 he is able to Breach a Titan and defeat me. I definitely feel favored in this matchup, but my luck caught up with me this round. 4-1
Round 6 – Tron
The natural prey for Burn. However, game 1 he has turn 3 Wurmcoil and I don’t have any Skullcrack effects so he takes it. Games 2 and 3 he fails to find Tron early and I can hold up Skullcrack effects, so the games go in a more traditional fashion (with lots of fire to face). Not much to say about this matchup, sideboarded Nature’s Claim and Thragtusk either 2-1 themselves or can be played around. 5-1
Round 7 – Jund
Going into this round, I figured a win would likely clinch me; my opponent was also verbally distressed when he found out my deck. Game 1 he has Goyf and Scooze, but the Scooze was a little late and couldn’t gain him enough life so I take it. Game 2 was much swingier. He has Goyf into Liliana, and I have a Skullcrack for his Finks; I have no cards in hand but topdeck and hardcast a Rift Bolt for the win. This is a generally good matchup for Burn, but I also think it is one of the more skill-dependent matchups and the games are always close. 6-1
Round 8 – Intentional Draw into Top 8. I am seeded 5th. 6-1-1
Quarterfinals – 4 Color Company
I’m not really familiar with this deck – it seemed to have a bunch of value creatures and the Knight of Reliquary-Retreat to Coralhelm combo, but the mana also seemed pretty bad. I wasn’t totally sure what to expect but dorky green matchups are usually good for Burn. Game 1 I have a slow start, but he hits only 1 Grim Flayer off of a Company and I have enough time to burn him out. Game 2 he Paths my Goblin Guide turn 1 (which – unless you have the next few turns lined up perfectly – seems really bad). Turn 2 I have 3 mana and am able to deploy my hand very quickly. I have a Skullcrack for his Finks, and Boros Charm finishes him off.
Semifinals – UWR Nahiri
I was playing against Ben Nikolich, who not only is a great guy, but one who shares an oddly high amount of qualities with me (the least of which being name). He was playing UWR, which is a matchup I am experienced but not confident in. Game 1 I hoped to just dodge Helix, but he finds it and Snaps it back. He stabilizes at 2 and beats me down with Snap and Clique. Game 2 I keep a just ok 7 and flood out; he also has Timely Reinforcements and I have to use burn spells on Nahiri. The game went long and I changed my plan to be able to withstand a hit from Emrakul, a sure sign that something went terribly wrong. My plan doesn’t work and he finishes me off; he ended up defeating the RG Breach player I played earlier in the finals.
Overall, I’m very satisfied with my results. I feel that I played mostly fine and drew well, with only a few major misplays (and 2 missed Eidolon triggers). My opponents mulliganed a fair amount and weren’t packing much hate. I’m also super happy that some of my other friends did well.
In terms of my deck, I feel that it was well-positioned and mostly well-tuned. I played several good matchups and no terrible ones. Despite Burn putting up good results recently, I never faced backbreaking hate until the semifinals. And despite several other Burn decks floating around the top, I never played the mirror, which I feel great about with 4 Helix main and 3 Kor Firewalker in the side. I reaffirm my distaste for Wild Nacatl and definitely prefer playing more Helix, but that’s just a personal preference. A change I will look into is going down on Searing Blaze in the main. Thanks for reading!
Hey all, so I'm planning on playing burn at SCG Richmond two weekends from now. Currently I'm running a fairly stock Naya list. Unfortunately, I didn't play much this summer and am a bit out of touch with the metagame. How do we look right now?
I have very little experience playing against Bant Eldrazi, Dredge, Death's Shadow, and UWR Nahiri. How are our matchups there? I would greatly appreciate any advice on the flex slots or sideboard to combat these newly popular decks.
What I am happy about, however, is that burn seems to have fallen off of the map a little, so people will probably be packing less hate.
I'm not sure if anyone took my version of the deck into testing, but I've updated it slightly (above) and have gone 9-1 in testing this week.
It should be seriously considered for those who like a counter-burn play style. It may look like a delver deck, but the play style is actually quite different. Nevertheless there is overlap.
I'm likely taking it to some major tournaments this year, as with tight play, it even handles poor match ups well.
As Nauseam and Kitchen Finks are the two scariest cards to see. Fevered Visions is a godsend to over perform in the control matches.
It is a bit terrifying to pilot as it's basically a control deck without a fatty finisher, and I wind up winning a lot of games tightly that look like losses two turns prior.
Feedback and questions welcome. I'm probably about 100 matches in on it, but have only recorded results of the last 10. Of the 9 wins, two were sub tier 3 decks. The one loss came 0-2 versus 8Rack.
Thanks for your feedback LeoTzu - Mentor might just not be a good fit for Modern.
taptwo, after considering this list I think I would really like a counter-burn kind of deck. Here's what I have initially thought of:
I made a number of changes. For starters, my meta is terribly warped around UWR Control, so having 4 Geist could really be a boon. I cut down to no Probes and only 2 Serums - which I could easily see as incorrect, but after playing a bit of UR Delver I haven't been too impressed with them in a more proactive deck. Instead, I added two Mana Leaks and went up to 21 lands. I figure I will want to hit 4-5 mana regularly for countermagic and Snapcaster. I also exchanged Vapor Snags for Paths. Has snag proved better than path in your testing?
The sideboard allows me to do something I've wanted to in awhile. 4 Boros Charm allow me to transform into almost a burn deck. On the other side, countermagic and removal could let me transform into a more control style deck. Keeping my opponent guessing could be a lot of fun. I also kept the two Fevered Visions - not really sure how they play, but they seem sweet.
This deck reminds me a lot of Joel Larsson's standard deck from Pro Tour Gatecrash. Kind of scrappy, with a little bit of enough things to get there. I might build it in MTGO and do some testing.
Hey all, I've been brewing a lot in modern recently. Trying to make Monastery Mentor work, and not having a ton of success. Was he ever tried in this Jeskai Delver shell? If so, why didn't he really work out?
I run 19 lands, including one Clifftop Retreat. I can only remember having to mulligan once because of it; in every two-land hand, however, it's pretty excellent.
Hi guys, new burn player here. I'm looking for any advice about my deck.
For reference, here is most of my meta: 2x Jund, 2x Elf, 2x UWR control, Abzan, Abzan Company, Affinity, Burn, Esper Gifts, GB Rock, Grishoalbrand, Grixis control, Kiki-Chord, Merfolk, Lantern Control, 2x Infect
More specifically: Is 1 Lavamancer and 2 Helixes main okay? Also 3 Searing Blazes in main? Or should i side one out?
Thanks!
Hey, welcome to the forum.
Lavamancer/Helix/Shard Volley/maindeck Searing Blaze/maindeck Skullcrack are all pretty much flex spots and come down to your meta. Searing Blaze in particular is very swingy and goes from being the best card in your deck to being totally dead. Given the meta you posted, I would probably go with around 2 maindeck blazes with 1 more in the side. It's awesome against decks all the decks with dorks, affinity, and infect, but is really bad against control and combo decks, which your meta seems to have a few of. My meta is somewhat similar to yours, and what I've done is go up to 4 Helix main. It is never dead, is still a fine kill spell against the decks I mentioned, and also gives me a huge g1 boost against aggro (in particular the mirror).
Gideon, Ally of Zendikar was a card that I was thinking of trying, he seemed better than Elspeths or Gideon Jura. But I was ignoring the synergy of Jura with Condemn and Blessed Alliance, so my judgement was probably premature.
Cantrips/CA: Ancestral Vision vs. Serum Visions vs. Think Twice
Countersuite: Negate vs. Remand vs. Mana Leak vs. number of Cryptics
Planeswalkers: Gideon Jura vs. Jace, AoT vs. Elspeth Sun's Champion
X spells: Sphinx's Revelation vs. Secure the Wastes vs. White Sun's Zenith
I have my own opinions and ideas about some of these, but I firmly understand that people who have been playing and testing the deck for longer periods of time offer stronger arguments than an outsider. Thank you!
10 Red Fetches
2 Stomping Ground
2 Sacred Foundry
2 Mountain
2 Inspiring Vantage
1 Copperline Gorge
20th land: Mountain/Gorge/Vantage
Thanks for your input. A friend is considering building one of these two so I wanted to be able to give him advice. To me, it seems like Breach is more combo-centric and fast, while Titanshift aims for more consistency.
In terms of my deck, I play a mostly standard Naya list. However, I play 4 maindeck Helix, 4 maindeck Searing Blaze, and no Wild Nacatls.
Round 1 – Grixis Delver
Game 1 he has a turn 2 Angler on the play and I can’t race. Game 2 he manages his blue mana poorly, putting down his counter shield and allowing me to overload him. Game three went longer than I would have liked, but I topdeck an uncounterable Volcanic Fallout with him at 1. Overall, I feel like this is not a great matchup for me, but he didn’t draw much cheap interaction. 1-0
Round 2 – Abzan
Game 1 I have Searing Blaze for an early Scooze and he doesn’t have much to back it up, allowing me to quickly overload him. Game 2 he mulls to 5 and has mana issues, so it was mostly a non-game. Abzan can be a really bad matchup depending on their sideboard, but he didn’t have Leylines and I went under his lifegain. 2-0
Round 3 – Infect
Game 1 I foolishly tap out to maximize damage, and he quickly untaps with Might + Become Immense. Post sideboard I have a ton of hate, and am able to leverage my ability to play at instant speed over him, taking games 2 and 3. This is a pretty good matchup, and Searing Blaze is an absolute all-star here. 3-0
Round 4 – Bant Eldrazi
I was paired against Ali Aintrazi, the most ‘famous’ player I have played against so far. Game 1 he has a nice curve, but I am able to keep pace. When he taps out for Drowner, I punish him with a flurry of spells and take the game. Game 2 he has a pretty slow start, but I deal myself a little damage and defer Pathing a Reality Smasher; he has a second and beats me down. Game 3 he mulls to 6. He plays two Cavern of Souls but no creatures, and I have my best draw of the tournament – a natural turn three. I have never actually played against Bant Eldrazi before, but have watched some videos and felt comfortable. Not sure how the matchup is, but I’m glad I dodged Though-Knot Seers. 4-0
Round 5 – RG Titan Breach
Another matchup I have never played but I understood the basis of his deck. He had mulligan issues the whole match. Game 1 I forgot to do the math and attack with an Eidolon when I’m at 17; he untaps and breaches a Titan, dealing a total of 18 between the Titan and Valakut. Game 2 an early Eidolon puts a ton of pressure on him and I burn him out. Game 3 he mulls to 5 and I keep a 7 with one land and several one drops. I don’t draw the second land, but put him to 3 with a bolt in hand; however turn 5 he is able to Breach a Titan and defeat me. I definitely feel favored in this matchup, but my luck caught up with me this round. 4-1
Round 6 – Tron
The natural prey for Burn. However, game 1 he has turn 3 Wurmcoil and I don’t have any Skullcrack effects so he takes it. Games 2 and 3 he fails to find Tron early and I can hold up Skullcrack effects, so the games go in a more traditional fashion (with lots of fire to face). Not much to say about this matchup, sideboarded Nature’s Claim and Thragtusk either 2-1 themselves or can be played around. 5-1
Round 7 – Jund
Going into this round, I figured a win would likely clinch me; my opponent was also verbally distressed when he found out my deck. Game 1 he has Goyf and Scooze, but the Scooze was a little late and couldn’t gain him enough life so I take it. Game 2 was much swingier. He has Goyf into Liliana, and I have a Skullcrack for his Finks; I have no cards in hand but topdeck and hardcast a Rift Bolt for the win. This is a generally good matchup for Burn, but I also think it is one of the more skill-dependent matchups and the games are always close. 6-1
Round 8 – Intentional Draw into Top 8. I am seeded 5th. 6-1-1
Quarterfinals – 4 Color Company
I’m not really familiar with this deck – it seemed to have a bunch of value creatures and the Knight of Reliquary-Retreat to Coralhelm combo, but the mana also seemed pretty bad. I wasn’t totally sure what to expect but dorky green matchups are usually good for Burn. Game 1 I have a slow start, but he hits only 1 Grim Flayer off of a Company and I have enough time to burn him out. Game 2 he Paths my Goblin Guide turn 1 (which – unless you have the next few turns lined up perfectly – seems really bad). Turn 2 I have 3 mana and am able to deploy my hand very quickly. I have a Skullcrack for his Finks, and Boros Charm finishes him off.
Semifinals – UWR Nahiri
I was playing against Ben Nikolich, who not only is a great guy, but one who shares an oddly high amount of qualities with me (the least of which being name). He was playing UWR, which is a matchup I am experienced but not confident in. Game 1 I hoped to just dodge Helix, but he finds it and Snaps it back. He stabilizes at 2 and beats me down with Snap and Clique. Game 2 I keep a just ok 7 and flood out; he also has Timely Reinforcements and I have to use burn spells on Nahiri. The game went long and I changed my plan to be able to withstand a hit from Emrakul, a sure sign that something went terribly wrong. My plan doesn’t work and he finishes me off; he ended up defeating the RG Breach player I played earlier in the finals.
Overall, I’m very satisfied with my results. I feel that I played mostly fine and drew well, with only a few major misplays (and 2 missed Eidolon triggers). My opponents mulliganed a fair amount and weren’t packing much hate. I’m also super happy that some of my other friends did well.
In terms of my deck, I feel that it was well-positioned and mostly well-tuned. I played several good matchups and no terrible ones. Despite Burn putting up good results recently, I never faced backbreaking hate until the semifinals. And despite several other Burn decks floating around the top, I never played the mirror, which I feel great about with 4 Helix main and 3 Kor Firewalker in the side. I reaffirm my distaste for Wild Nacatl and definitely prefer playing more Helix, but that’s just a personal preference. A change I will look into is going down on Searing Blaze in the main. Thanks for reading!
I have very little experience playing against Bant Eldrazi, Dredge, Death's Shadow, and UWR Nahiri. How are our matchups there? I would greatly appreciate any advice on the flex slots or sideboard to combat these newly popular decks.
What I am happy about, however, is that burn seems to have fallen off of the map a little, so people will probably be packing less hate.
Thanks for your feedback LeoTzu - Mentor might just not be a good fit for Modern.
taptwo, after considering this list I think I would really like a counter-burn kind of deck. Here's what I have initially thought of:
4 Snapcaster Mage
4 Young Pyromancer
4 Geist of Saint Traft
1 Vendilion Clique
PERMISSION
2 Spell Pierce
2 Spell Snare
2 Mana Leak
4 Remand
BURN
2 Burst Lightning
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Lightning Helix
2 Electrolyze
2 Path to Exile
2 Serum Visions
LAND
1 Arid Mesa
4 Flooded Strand
2 Glacial Fortress
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Island
1 Mountain
1 Plains
1 Sacred Foundry
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Steam Vents
2 Sulfur Falls
2 Dispel
1 Path to Exile
2 Wear // Tear
4 Boros Charm
2 Negate
2 Stony Silence
2 Fevered Visions
I made a number of changes. For starters, my meta is terribly warped around UWR Control, so having 4 Geist could really be a boon. I cut down to no Probes and only 2 Serums - which I could easily see as incorrect, but after playing a bit of UR Delver I haven't been too impressed with them in a more proactive deck. Instead, I added two Mana Leaks and went up to 21 lands. I figure I will want to hit 4-5 mana regularly for countermagic and Snapcaster. I also exchanged Vapor Snags for Paths. Has snag proved better than path in your testing?
The sideboard allows me to do something I've wanted to in awhile. 4 Boros Charm allow me to transform into almost a burn deck. On the other side, countermagic and removal could let me transform into a more control style deck. Keeping my opponent guessing could be a lot of fun. I also kept the two Fevered Visions - not really sure how they play, but they seem sweet.
This deck reminds me a lot of Joel Larsson's standard deck from Pro Tour Gatecrash. Kind of scrappy, with a little bit of enough things to get there. I might build it in MTGO and do some testing.
Hey, welcome to the forum.
Lavamancer/Helix/Shard Volley/maindeck Searing Blaze/maindeck Skullcrack are all pretty much flex spots and come down to your meta. Searing Blaze in particular is very swingy and goes from being the best card in your deck to being totally dead. Given the meta you posted, I would probably go with around 2 maindeck blazes with 1 more in the side. It's awesome against decks all the decks with dorks, affinity, and infect, but is really bad against control and combo decks, which your meta seems to have a few of. My meta is somewhat similar to yours, and what I've done is go up to 4 Helix main. It is never dead, is still a fine kill spell against the decks I mentioned, and also gives me a huge g1 boost against aggro (in particular the mirror).