Master of etherium is a 1 of in my deck. I MB 3 etched champions to use as a pierce strategy. Impossible to kill without a board wipe
You guys are forgetting etherium gives everyone +1/+1, he impacts things immediately if not removed, better if the opponent is tapped out and you have some guys out already.
Definitely have 2 ancient grudges in the SB, maybe even 3. I'm not liking wear and tear very much.
Thoughtseize is exactly what combo decks don't want to see. It also helps snag hate cards out.
I don't fault anyone for liking walker, he's not a bad card. Just slow.
I like galvanic blast in a lot of game 1s, depending on the matchup it's easy to sideboard out and put in a few cards in its place. Affinity doesn't need to side out much ever.
Sometimes I wish I could squeeze in some thoughtcasts, but I can't see myself cutting more.than 1 galvanic blast in this meta
Honestly, I kinda disagree with spellskite being too grindy. I think Hangarback walker is more grindy, and pays off less. I dislike Hangarback walker as long as cards like Path of exile, vaporsnag, and Cryptic Command exist. I love sticking a spellskite down against removal heavy decks, bolt can't kill it, so the average player may counter it or use a precious removal spell to leave your next powerhouse to give you gas.
I learned the hard way that spellskite is a MUST answer if I have removal in my hand, I do not want it getting in my way of destroying a plating or overseer.
Honestly, once I drop him I'm mainly just worried about a board wipe or a very specific anti affinity hate card. He's honestly even good against non-interactive decks you have to race against. I'll gladly steal Amulet Bloom's double strike 12/6 ability from Titan. He's even good against Karn to redirect if you can finish for lethal with the rest of your cards
Spellskite is a massive roadblock to infect, and it helps shore up the match against Twin until they draw K Command, Ancient grudge, or some form of Bolt, snap, bolt moves.
Spellskite is the nuts, man.
I'm not replacing my Master of Etheriums with hangar backs; he's amazing against non-interactive decks with light amounts of a removal, and helps me race way faster against unfair decks.
I already cut the 3rd copy of menmite for the 2nd copy of Spellskite, so I can't really cut Menmnite when I sideboard. He's good for explosive hands, but I don't like too many 1/1's that can be chumped blocked easily
Have you guys watched Karsten's test video's of Hangar? At first I thought it was just him being dismissive about a list that wasn't his, but I think he's right, it's too slow. Honestly, I think these hangarback walker affinity decks having good results is just the deck being so good in general
I don't like the 17th land as a flex spot, yes, there's better opening hands with 7 cards on a more consistent basis, but that deck mulligans well, so you can afford to mulligan aggressively. Affinity is one of those few decks where you can mulligan to 5, draw one creature and a plating, and threaten to win the game by turn 4 or 5. I found myself flooding out too much with the extra land and 3rd menmite. That's just me, personally, I wouldn't tell anyone they're wrong for that.
I won my last FNM in the semi finals when i mulliganed to 5 and drew a vault skirge, 2 platings, land, and a mox opal. I won by turn 4 or 5, I think. Then I won the final on a mulligan with drawing 3 signal pests, 2 blinkmoths and a cranial plating on turn 4 or 5. The deck is so nasty, I'll take my spellskite giving me protection over a slow ass hangarback that MAY give me 2 1/1's
Charles is right, Choke in the SB is definitely a meta call. It's a not win card, but if they tap out it could slow them down
I'm not 100% sure if I like it, but I wouldn't tell someone it's a bad idea either
Honestly, my goal in games is to kill the opponent fast before they stabilize and hit me with hate cards. I may keep 1 or 2 important cards in hand on games 2 and 3 if I
don't feel lethal coming soon on my part.
How does everyone feel about running 2x mainboard Spellskites? While everyone was playing around with Hangarback, I've been super impressed with Spellskites inclusion. When I was playing my jund deck against an affinity player last week, his Spellskites were making game winning decisions plays against Abrupt Decays and lightning bolts. It's straight up good in nearly every matchup I can think of. Infect? yep. Tron? Yup? Junk and Abzan? Yeth! Some kind of UW control? check. Even the mirror for Ravagers and plating? Yes, sir.
I sold off my 3 copies of Hangarback before the clash pack was unveiled, I don't think it's better than any of the established 2 drops Affinity already had
Affinity doesn't want to have a 5 mana stuck in hand. Affinity doesn't even want to see two 3 mana creatures in the opening hand.
Affinity has galvanic blast to deal on average 4 damage to a creature, or finish an opponent off. If your opponent just played a creature with more than 4 toughness with flying, either they're losing bad and you finish them with invasive flyers, or they just board wiped you and you brick for several turns while being chipped at
Affinity plays thoughtcast for long, grindy games.
Affinity has barely changed since it's birth in modern.
Honestly, I think hangarback is just a weak alternative to overseer. Overseer not being answered immediately in nearly every game over, I can't say the same for hangar.
Ghiapur as a sideboard card is the best thing that's happened to affinity in a while, to be honest.
Zendikar looks to be garbage for modern, but I'd definitely classify this 3 drop as a major bomb, especially one that that synergies very well with lingering souls. Maybe 1 or 2 Siege Rhino's could be swapped out for her to lower the curve as a whole
Yeah, yeah, she's lightning bolted, but man, she's brutal with other creatures on the board
Boltable, Decayable, no immediate board impact. A similar option resides in Anafenza, the Foremost and she sees no play even though she has a beefier body and a great ability. That being said, yea Drana, Liberator of Malakir is easier to cast, lower CMC and a badass card. I just don't think it's powerful enough for modern.
Anafenza is a gbw, that only gives one creature a +1/+1.
I really hate this "does it die to lightning bolt?"
Steel overseer, ravager, delver, pyromancer, Olivia, dark confidant, scavenging ooze before 4 mana, huntmaster, merfolk lords, almost everything relevant dies
If it's not tasigur or his fishy friend nearly everything dies to abrupt decay and bolt. I hate that argument
She's a 3 mana investment bomb with a huge upside.
Let's be honest, as amazing as siege rhino is, 4 may be too many and junk is too clunky and top heavy to be tier 1
Lingering souls and drana sounds nasty after exhausting the opponents resources. She also has evasive with flying
Zendikar looks to be garbage for modern, but I'd definitely classify this 3 drop as a major bomb, especially one that that synergies very well with lingering souls. Maybe 1 or 2 Siege Rhino's could be swapped out for her to lower the curve as a whole
Yeah, yeah, she's lightning bolted, but man, she's brutal with other creatures on the board
I agree that Karsten is quick to dismiss lists that aren't his. At the same time, he's right, Ensoul artifact was kinda a trend and has died down. It's incredibly clunky and is also another colored spell.
I wouldn't mainboard 4 Master of Etherium, there's way too much removal; he's amazing in non interactive matches though. I have him as a 1 of, with 3 Etched Champions. As a Jund Player, I dread them, they're impossible to get rid of without a timely removal or shatterstorm/anger of the gods, and LOTV is usually too late to come out and get rid of them
Right now I believe the playset of Galvanic is the best, things will have to slow down significantly to start playing more than 1 or 2 copies of thought cast
Thoughtseize dilutes your plan too much for game 1. Affinity wrecks most decks game 1, I'd save it for matches were you suspect boarded in anger of the gods, stoney silence, etc.
I think I may sell of the Hangarbacks while they're up in price, they're only 16 because of how good they are in standard, I think people are just excited to test him out in modern and legacy. He won't stick around I don't think. I may as well trade up for them and get myself some staples for other decks while he's worth it
Is hangarback walker the real deal or just a new trend that will fade?
He's amazing in standard but he feels so massively slow in modern. I feel like overseer and spellskite are more often better than walker.
His synergy is amazing with ravager and plating, but then again, so is steel overseers. Cutting on overseer feels like losing some strength in the swarm approach, or baiting out bolts
He didn't look too impressive in karstens testing either.
I'm wondering if I should sell my 3 copies and pick up modern pieces that are proven
You guys are forgetting etherium gives everyone +1/+1, he impacts things immediately if not removed, better if the opponent is tapped out and you have some guys out already.
Definitely have 2 ancient grudges in the SB, maybe even 3. I'm not liking wear and tear very much.
Thoughtseize is exactly what combo decks don't want to see. It also helps snag hate cards out.
I don't fault anyone for liking walker, he's not a bad card. Just slow.
I like galvanic blast in a lot of game 1s, depending on the matchup it's easy to sideboard out and put in a few cards in its place. Affinity doesn't need to side out much ever.
Sometimes I wish I could squeeze in some thoughtcasts, but I can't see myself cutting more.than 1 galvanic blast in this meta
I learned the hard way that spellskite is a MUST answer if I have removal in my hand, I do not want it getting in my way of destroying a plating or overseer.
Honestly, once I drop him I'm mainly just worried about a board wipe or a very specific anti affinity hate card. He's honestly even good against non-interactive decks you have to race against. I'll gladly steal Amulet Bloom's double strike 12/6 ability from Titan. He's even good against Karn to redirect if you can finish for lethal with the rest of your cards
Spellskite is a massive roadblock to infect, and it helps shore up the match against Twin until they draw K Command, Ancient grudge, or some form of Bolt, snap, bolt moves.
Spellskite is the nuts, man.
I'm not replacing my Master of Etheriums with hangar backs; he's amazing against non-interactive decks with light amounts of a removal, and helps me race way faster against unfair decks.
I already cut the 3rd copy of menmite for the 2nd copy of Spellskite, so I can't really cut Menmnite when I sideboard. He's good for explosive hands, but I don't like too many 1/1's that can be chumped blocked easily
Have you guys watched Karsten's test video's of Hangar? At first I thought it was just him being dismissive about a list that wasn't his, but I think he's right, it's too slow. Honestly, I think these hangarback walker affinity decks having good results is just the deck being so good in general
I don't like the 17th land as a flex spot, yes, there's better opening hands with 7 cards on a more consistent basis, but that deck mulligans well, so you can afford to mulligan aggressively. Affinity is one of those few decks where you can mulligan to 5, draw one creature and a plating, and threaten to win the game by turn 4 or 5. I found myself flooding out too much with the extra land and 3rd menmite. That's just me, personally, I wouldn't tell anyone they're wrong for that.
I won my last FNM in the semi finals when i mulliganed to 5 and drew a vault skirge, 2 platings, land, and a mox opal. I won by turn 4 or 5, I think. Then I won the final on a mulligan with drawing 3 signal pests, 2 blinkmoths and a cranial plating on turn 4 or 5. The deck is so nasty, I'll take my spellskite giving me protection over a slow ass hangarback that MAY give me 2 1/1's
I'm not 100% sure if I like it, but I wouldn't tell someone it's a bad idea either
Honestly, my goal in games is to kill the opponent fast before they stabilize and hit me with hate cards. I may keep 1 or 2 important cards in hand on games 2 and 3 if I
don't feel lethal coming soon on my part.
How does everyone feel about running 2x mainboard Spellskites? While everyone was playing around with Hangarback, I've been super impressed with Spellskites inclusion. When I was playing my jund deck against an affinity player last week, his Spellskites were making game winning decisions plays against Abrupt Decays and lightning bolts. It's straight up good in nearly every matchup I can think of. Infect? yep. Tron? Yup? Junk and Abzan? Yeth! Some kind of UW control? check. Even the mirror for Ravagers and plating? Yes, sir.
I sold off my 3 copies of Hangarback before the clash pack was unveiled, I don't think it's better than any of the established 2 drops Affinity already had
Affinity doesn't want to have a 5 mana stuck in hand. Affinity doesn't even want to see two 3 mana creatures in the opening hand.
Affinity has galvanic blast to deal on average 4 damage to a creature, or finish an opponent off. If your opponent just played a creature with more than 4 toughness with flying, either they're losing bad and you finish them with invasive flyers, or they just board wiped you and you brick for several turns while being chipped at
Affinity plays thoughtcast for long, grindy games.
Affinity has barely changed since it's birth in modern.
Honestly, I think hangarback is just a weak alternative to overseer. Overseer not being answered immediately in nearly every game over, I can't say the same for hangar.
Ghiapur as a sideboard card is the best thing that's happened to affinity in a while, to be honest.
Plus I'd be super sad having to put cranial platings onto the bottom of the deck and not utilizing my manlands
Anafenza is a gbw, that only gives one creature a +1/+1.
I really hate this "does it die to lightning bolt?"
Steel overseer, ravager, delver, pyromancer, Olivia, dark confidant, scavenging ooze before 4 mana, huntmaster, merfolk lords, almost everything relevant dies
If it's not tasigur or his fishy friend nearly everything dies to abrupt decay and bolt. I hate that argument
She's a 3 mana investment bomb with a huge upside.
Let's be honest, as amazing as siege rhino is, 4 may be too many and junk is too clunky and top heavy to be tier 1
Lingering souls and drana sounds nasty after exhausting the opponents resources. She also has evasive with flying
Zendikar looks to be garbage for modern, but I'd definitely classify this 3 drop as a major bomb, especially one that that synergies very well with lingering souls. Maybe 1 or 2 Siege Rhino's could be swapped out for her to lower the curve as a whole
Yeah, yeah, she's lightning bolted, but man, she's brutal with other creatures on the board
I wouldn't mainboard 4 Master of Etherium, there's way too much removal; he's amazing in non interactive matches though. I have him as a 1 of, with 3 Etched Champions. As a Jund Player, I dread them, they're impossible to get rid of without a timely removal or shatterstorm/anger of the gods, and LOTV is usually too late to come out and get rid of them
Right now I believe the playset of Galvanic is the best, things will have to slow down significantly to start playing more than 1 or 2 copies of thought cast
Thoughtseize dilutes your plan too much for game 1. Affinity wrecks most decks game 1, I'd save it for matches were you suspect boarded in anger of the gods, stoney silence, etc.
I think I may sell of the Hangarbacks while they're up in price, they're only 16 because of how good they are in standard, I think people are just excited to test him out in modern and legacy. He won't stick around I don't think. I may as well trade up for them and get myself some staples for other decks while he's worth it
He's amazing in standard but he feels so massively slow in modern. I feel like overseer and spellskite are more often better than walker.
His synergy is amazing with ravager and plating, but then again, so is steel overseers. Cutting on overseer feels like losing some strength in the swarm approach, or baiting out bolts
He didn't look too impressive in karstens testing either.
I'm wondering if I should sell my 3 copies and pick up modern pieces that are proven