Hi guys, ex-Twinner here who bought into copycat the moment she and her cat were printed but the list was never quite strong enough until Astrolabe.
I've gone 3 FNMs now with 2-1, 3-0, 2-1, the losses stemming from flood and me letting my opponent roll back something I should have insisted on. Oh well.
My list prioritizes the combo, meaning card velocity and maximum of all pieces, and looks like this:
I always thought the push that Copycat needed would come from something fancy and powerful, like Force of Negation. In truth the real push came from the humblest little 1 cmc artifact. The astrolabe fundamentally changed a flaw in the original copycat deck - that saheeli and her feline friend were pretty horrible at working with anything else in the deck; and you had to pick between velocity to your combo, control and mana efficiency. They were limited to replicating the snapcaster ETB, and then Teferi and Narset came along and benefited the cat, but that was about it. I'm benefiting so much from Astrolabe and I still can't believe how much it changes the deck. Teferi bouncing the astrolabe and drawing and then recasting for another draw is just crazy.
As I windmill slammed my combo over the past few weeks the nostalgia was real.
Guys, Thrill of Possibility is a great option now. Strictly better tormenting voice with the exception being if your opponent has a dispel in hand. Since we're interactive, being able to hold up interaction and wait and see what the opponent does before casting is awesome.
the introduction and upcoming proliferation of planeswalkers thanks to hogaak's removal and GY deck nerfs means you will need to be better equipped to deal with PW threats such as small teferi, small chandra, w6 and the old but gold big tef and lily veil.
The best options in modern are:
Dreadbore
+ most efficient in our colors
+ gives nothing back unlike trophy
- may require more pain from lands to cast t2 due to color
- sorcery speed (doesn't matter with smol tef)
Magmatic Sinkhole
+ Singular color means easy castability
+ delve make for incredibly efficient casts in the midgame
+ instant speed
+ actually competent as a creature removal
- needs thought scour to go live early
- does little for walkers over 5 loyalty
Bedevil
+ hits 3 relevant types in the current meta, with artifacts being a very useful addition against urza, affinity, tron
+ instant speed
- technically highest cmc since sinkhole has delve
- also the most difficult to cast in terms of color
My take is: you probably can run 2 sinkholes if you run a full playset of thought scours. Without thought scours, even a single sinkhole will not be feasible since without the GY support it's basically dead until the midgame, which is too late against the problematic w6 and smol teferi. Dreadbore is probably a must, the question is, 1 or 2? Bedevil is not something to sleep on for the decks that only splash R. It's quite a real contender for the 3-slot if Kommand is being given up.
Oh man dude don't get me started on cost - i foiled out my entire mardu deck, and when I continued with tormenting voice/brutality replacing looting it just wasn't the same. I felt like I wasn't controlling well enough, I went into topdeck mode real quick and I'm mostly just sitting and waiting to naturally draw creativity or die.
Regarding 4 nahiris, the first mardu version I ran did that - 4 nahiris and 4 creativities. The result however is you get some very clunky draws and starting hands - 2 nahiris and 1 creativity in your starting hand is very likely a ship, and you don't have looting anymore to help fix them. I can get behind at most 2 copies of Nahiri + 4 creativities; thats something like the 4 creativities and 2 polymorphs in my version. Having 6 curve toppers is about right.
I also toyed with the idea of going back to straight RW, which was the version before mardu. At the time, there were no smol chandras, and with her around, you could do some pretty sick aggro. playing full sets of krenko's command and dragon fodder coupled with a playset of goblin grenade is no joke. Especially when the goblin grenade can be recast with chandra's -2. Just imagine -
t1 legion's landing -
t2 fodder, attack for 1 -
t3 chandra, attack for 5 -
t4 attack for 5 again, grenade, flashback grenade.
Straight RW also has a much easier time playing blood moon. I'm not sure if you even want the black splash at that point - lingering souls is not good without looting, bitterblossom alone isn't worth the color, and there isn't any particular deck that discard is strong against at the moment.
It's been a long time. The loss of faithless looting is bad, but DHWorlds_BsB is right - the format is that much slower. Still I couldn't stand the powering down of lingering souls. The interaction between looting and souls was pretty powerful. Compounding the issue is not only do we lose velocity, we also lose one of the best ways of getting a topdecked emrakul or iona replaced with usable cards and getting them back into the library. Tormenting Voice actually shuffles emmy in before you draw 2, and I've tested it - it feels horribly slow. Collective Brutality is presently the best way to get rid of the cards while also interacting with the board at least.
Without the incentive of souls and in search of a card that can let me loot - giving me selection while ridding myself of topdecked payoff cards - I started to question if Black is still the color to support red and white with. For info, I replaced looting with Collective brutality as a discard outlet, but the mardu deck has been taking a break while I tested another color set - Jeskai.
Deck has participated in 2 FNMs so far, going 2-1 and then 3-0 for an overall of 5-1. Not too bad, but plenty more testing to do. About the card choices-
Izzet Charm
Yup, the successor to Faithless Looting can only be cast once and costs U more, but is also a swiss army knife. It's a spell pierce or shock if u need it to be. Hitting a Karn and then polymorphing into Emrakul is good. Speaking of polymorph-
Polymorph
Splashing blue for Izzet Charm naturally means access to redundancies. There are a large number of games where Creativity would simply save the day but we can't find it. Losing the awesome selection and velocity of Looting just makes it worse. With 2 extra combo pieces in the deck, I've been flipping up iona and emmy a lot more often.
Serum Visions
Speaking of velocity, this card digs the deepest of the 3 blue modern cantrips. I could see this being Sleight of Hand, but I supposed I'm still undecided.
Cloudform
The substitute for lingering souls at the 3-drop slot, this hexproof flier can win games against midrange/control by itself, and can't be removed when you're polymorphing or creativity-ing it.
Teferi, Time Raveler
He brings so much to the deck I can't even. Stops people interacting with creativity or your tokens as you're going for it. Enables end-step creativity/polymorph. Bounces troublesome stuff like Aria of Flame, and even drawing.
Round 1 vs Neobrand (Win, 2-0)
G1 I open with a thoughtseize and take a Simian Spirit Guide to slow him down. I don't see the combo there, on turn 2 I develop my board with 2 soldiers. Turn 3 I quicken the clock with a Chandra who attacks with 2 elementals. Turn 4 I check his hand again with Chandra's -2 on the thoughtseize I casted on turn 1. I see a neoform and take it. On turn 5 my opponent isn't able to do anything meaningful and I creativity for 2 into Iona and Emmy, blocking green.
G2 The opponent is on the play and he mulls to 5 looking for THAT hand. He doesn't find it. In the meantime, I have the T1 landing T2 Raise the Alarm T3 Creativity into Iona. As you can imagine the tilt is quite real. Not that Neobrand should be complaining about my turn 3 Iona.
Score: 1-0
We're off to a good start and Chandra is already showing off. She adds to aggro, provides free targets for creativity and does a good snapcaster mage impression.
Round 2 vs Amulet Titan (Loss, 0-2)
G1 I lose the die roll, and he gets a titan on the board before I can do my thing. I hit Iona and name green. If I'd hit Emmy I probably would have taken the game, just too bad.
G2 the poor luck continues and I mana screw on 2 lands while the opponent runs smoothly, setting up a value chain with tolaria wests of summoner's pacts for titans and keeping up additional counterspell pacts to counter any attempt I make to gain a foothold. I never really make any impact.
Score: 1-1
Bad beats.
Round 3 vs Humans (Loss, 0-2)
G1 I lose the die roll (i lose every die roll today, apparently), and the opponent has the nut: T1 vial, T2 vial in a champ and then small Thalia, slowing me down while I get clocked.
G2 I can't blame this loss on my luck, because I do something real stupid and forget to board out Iona. I DID remember to board in Elesh Norn. Unfortunately, the creativity hits Iona (because Murphy doesn't let up and you know what his laws are like) which is completely useless against the vialled humans. He puts her neatly away with a Detention guy and continues beating me to a pulp even though I managed to helix the deputy, since iona is just 1 blocker. If the creativity had hit either emmy or elesh, the game would have been mine.
Score: 1-2
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Round 4 vs Jund (Win 2-1)
G1 I lose the die roll (I wasn't kidding) and the opponent leads with a thoughtseize revealing my hand of inquisition, thoughtseize, souls, souls and 3 lands. I feel kinda bad for him but we have a laugh about it. He takes my thoughtseize and on my turn I inquisition away a liliana, the last hope. Can't have that running round can we. Crazily enough I manage to lose this round with a silly misplay despite having the advantage. When his only creature is a scavenging ooze i try to -2 my chandra targeting a Kaya's guile - which OF COURSE gets exiled with the ooze. WAKE UP, MAN! The attrition game goes on but I ultimately die with the opponent at 1 life. Sigh.
G2 the deck kind of runs itself. I draw both my sideboard bitterblossoms and decide to go all in. True enough he doesn't find his Plague Engineer or maelstrom pulse, and dies to faeries.
G3 Chandra decides to become the all star of the deck, providing beats, absorbing some damage, ticking up and flashing back removals and hand disruption. The opponent finally manages to kill her through my tokens, but it's too late; the card advantage and damage lead is too much. I finish this round with token beats.
Score: 2-2
It's really not my imagination: Chandra, Acolyte of Flame doesn't just lend resilience and additional disruption to the deck; she's also an offensive powerhouse minus the lifeloss of bitterblossom that lets the deck pivot a LOT harder toward beatdown.
Round 5 vs Neobrand
G1 I lose the die roll (ha, ha, ha) and luckily enough my opponent doesn't have the turn 1. I, however have 2 discard spells in my hand and spend the first 2 turns making sure I don't suddenly die. A couple of soldiers and Chandra beat him down while I hold up Path to Exile for Griselbrand.
G2 He manages to go off. I don't remember what I'd done, but I definitely wasn't able to stop him. It was a Lab Maniac finish. It was at the bottom of his library and he was sweating bullets trying to find it.
G3 He tries to go off but I'm ready with a Path to exile, and hit the griselbrand with the first activation on the stack. At this time he's already low on life and doesn't have enough to draw another 7, meaning he has to go off with this draw 7; which is a tall order. I take the game with token beats.
Score: 3-2
Chandra Chandra Chandra. Finding her foil was pretty hard, but totally worth it. Her position in the deck is as solid as Kaya's Guile.
Overall the deck did okay today, I think the pilot needs to be more careful.
Well, someone has to start this trainwreck of a deck's primer. I'll do it, I guess.
Gravekin refers to the ridiculous elemental deck that basically got its latest, BUILD ME NOW card from M20. Long story short, we're taking the upgraded Ball lightning from MH1, Lightning Skelemental (I still cannot believe they missed a chance for "Ball Blightning"), adding it to it's predecessor, and bringing these back from the grave repeatedly with the newly "modern"-ized MH1 enabler, Unearth.
Thunderkin Awakener joins the line-up as a ridiculously overpowered and self-repeating, hasty unearther. And just in case you're worried this isn't enough redundancy, MH1 also provided us with Vesperlark, which brings back dead thunderkin and... can be brought back with thunderkin - DOES NOBODY ELSE SEE HOW STUPID THIS DECK IS?! IT BUILT ITSELF!
Also, I forgot to mention this deck can run Vampiric Tutor, except that instead of being an instant and costing you 2 life, it's a 1/1 creature: Flamekin Harbinger. And.... do I need to say it again? Flamekin can be brought back with both Vesperlark and Thunderkin.
We need more redundancy, don't we? Of course we do. Enter Flickerwisp. Let's see, tutorable with Flamekin. Blinks Flamekin for an additional tutor, or a land that could let u hold up a path, push or bolt despite committing all your mana to attack. Comes back with unearth. Comes back with Thunderkin. Removes a blocker so your thunderkin doesn't get killed. Unlike the balls, sticks around to deal 3 every turn without further assistance. Has evasion. Yea okay.
So there you go, a circlejerk of circlejerking elementals.
Now just add the most efficient cards in the format to the deck: Faithless Looting - needs no explanation. The nut draw for this deck ISN'T looting into thunderkin for skelemental. Its looting into double unearth TWO skelementals, dealing 12 and making the opponent discard 4, possibly when all they've done is lay 1 land. Do you need a plastic bag? You look nauseous. Burning Inquiry - 4 lootings aren't enough, and this deck has enough redundancy that it doesn't really mind accidentally dropping a thunderkin, since you have vesperlarks and unearths to undo these "mistakes". Lightning Bolt - it's not until you bolt your own vesperlark (which was brought back with thunderkin) after an opponent fatal pushes your thunderkin to basically return thunderkin before combat that vesperlark's ridiculousness comes to light. Plus, you know, maybe the opponent might try something like "stabilize" against your ridiculous redundancy, so having some reach is cool. Collective Brutality There are some decks that try to go faster than us, typically with devoted druid and vizier. Others may wise up and hold up removal for thunderkin. But it's cool, you can maindeck this card which, while dropping balls into the GY, will also kill off opposing combo pieces, dorks, or strip away precious removals.
And then some utility cards Boros Charm - sometimes people think they can destroy your kin, which is so wrong. But if they're not doing naughty stuff like removing your thunderkin, then you have 4 points of reach. Or, you know, you can give skelemental double strike because why not? It's just 12 damage and discard 4... stop crying, here's some tissue.
For the sideboard we have basically, hmmm. Enchantment removal in Wispmare which you can tutor with harbinger and unearth and also return with vesperlark... okay. We have artifact removal in Ingot Chewer, which doesn't come back but can be tutored all the same. Then you have Fulminator Mage, which you can also tutor. And unearth. I mean we're already strong against Tron but sometimes watching these Tron pilots roll around crying in a pool of their own vomit can be refreshing. Depriving Jund of their mana besides making their removal look inadequate is also an option.
So finally, I'd like to present this abomination of a deck, which admittedly is affected by GY hate. But hey, that didn't stop Hogaak.
The boros charms, collective brutality numbers are pretty loose - you can tweak them to your heart's delight. I think the core is pretty much in-the-face obvious (hint: the elementals, unearth and looting spells), but you can do other stuff like Cathartic Reunion or Lightning Axe, too.
Have fun with the deck! I'll be testing and tweaking as I go along, too, especially for that sideboard. I'm playing some cards that help with grindier games, since the maindeck is pretty all-in. The downside is that they too are GY dependant, and you can bet your last dollar those rest-in-peaces and leylines are coming in to blank the graveyard. All I can say is: keep your wispmares close, and your flamekin closer.
M20 has provided yet another powerful piece of tech.
Chandra, Acolyte of Flame does 2 things that the deck needs:
1. she can provide bodies for attacking, or more importantly, creativity.
2. she can "snap" basically every single instant and sorcery in the deck. Every. Single. One. Including Indomitable Creativity.
By providing bodies every single turn off of a non-creature, non-artifact permanent, Chandra Acolyte fills a niche requirement for this deck, dodging Creativity's artifact/creature pick up while providing the utility of Bitterblossom's tokens every turn without the lifeloss, and Snapcaster Mage, which is incredible for a single card. The cost to this power is being vulnerable to both combat and noncombat damage.
Here's my post M20 list that will run the Bridge-less battlefield tonight.
I didn’t realize I was missing lands! Gonna have to update that when I get home from work. I believe the missing lands are 2 rugged prairies, 5 basics (3 mountain 1 plains 1 swamp) and 1 mutavault.
The reason behind prairies is sometimes u flip legions landing and have 4 mana on turn 3, but don’t have the triple red. Rugged prairies solve that problem.
If your losses are from creativity targets getting sniped, you might wanna tune your play style to slow roll a little more. Where possible, use discard the turn before you go off to check, or simply go for more targets. Waiting to make another land drop may be wise. Usually when I go for 2 or 3, the opponent is only able to handle one, because leaving up mana for 2 removals is punishing for any deck. Also, always attack first and cast creativity in the second main. This increases the chance they will use their precious removal to preserve their life total. When u declare attacker’s, *read your opponent’s expression*. This will clue you in as to whether they are making a decision (to use removal or not) or resigned to taking damage. It’s not 100%, and you need to tell the difference between confidence (yea I got removal but I’m keeping it for your combo) and resignation. This game of chicken has won me a number of games against midrange decks, sometimes 2 damage at a time.
Re: saheeli. Like you, I’m pretty medium. The meta is too fast to play a 3 cmc young pyro. I might give her slot to something that handles the prevalent big mana and gy meta.
Re: Kaya’s guile. The card did good whenever I drew it. Definitely staying in the main and I’m wondering if I should drop something for a second copy.
Re: sunbaked. I like it, I’m just cautious about painlands because the build does itself plenty of damage. Some helixes main helps with thoughtseize and bitterblossom, but you have to be careful not to overload your life as a resource. I’m considering dropping bitterblossom (again) because lately the card has been more liability than savior. If I did that, I think I could reasonably play the canopy lands.
Re: bolts vs paths. I didn’t make this decision lightly. Bolts sound so much better because they let you pivot to being the beat down so much easier. However, after losing games to phoenixes and vengevines and gravecrawlers I realized it wasn’t my decision if I wanted more wins. On the upside, path to exile has gotten me to 4 or 5 mana ahead of schedule, and allowed me to win with creativity that way, so it’s not a purely defensive spell sometimes.
Mardu Charm is replaced by Kaya's Guile in the maindeck, with the latter allowing 2 modes, and lifegain/GY hate being very relevant in the deck and against the meta respectively. In the board, a Ravenous Trap is replaced by a more permanent answer against Hogaak in the form of Worship. It may sound counterintuitive against a deck that can mill you out; but this deck has an Emrakul main and will have to find their enchantment removal if they want the beatdown kill. Also, I cracked a shiny one from a gideon spellbook. So sue me.
Match 1 vs Vizier combo (Loss 0-2)
G1 is basically unbeatable, I have 1 removal spell and he has 2 layers of Giver of Runes to back up his combo. I thoughtseized his Eladamri's Call but an Eternal witness brings it back anyway.
Boarding: 1 Wrath of God, 1 Elesh Norn, IN. 1 Iona, 1 Bitterblossom, OUT.
G2 I make a rookie mistake and keep a 5 lander with 2 discard spells. Was worried about mulling down and missing lands. My deck proceeds to hand me 5 more lands, 1 bitterblossom, 1 helix and 1 lingering souls. This was pathetically insufficient. I need to be more greedy with my mulligans.
Score: 0-1
I think I let the deck down in G2 instead of the other way around.
Match 2 vs Mono Red Prison (Win 2-1)
G1 I flip a legion's landing turn 3 but don't have the combo. He lands a couple of goblin rabblemasters but I manage to stay alive long enough to go off. I pull both Emrakul and Iona blocking red for the win. My life goes pretty low, though.
Board: 1 Bitterblossom, 2 Thoughtseize OUT; 2 Wear // Tear, 1 Worship
G2 goes badly as he does a turn 2(!) Chandra, Torch using 2 rituals, then upticks for RR and casts chalice for one. What. The. Hell. I haven't even gotten my bearings when he drops a Sorcerous Spyglass and sees my hand of fatal push, path to exile and Nahiri, and conveniently blanks the last spell in my hand. The game drags because he can't find the last mana to cast Lattice and lock me out, but eventually Torch of Defiance ultimates and even though I manage to fetch my Iona, he eventually casts enough artifacts for 5 damage a pop to kill me.
G3 plays out a lot more like a proper game of magic. A chalice on 1 is largely ignored, and I trade tokens and helixes strategically with incoming gobbos and their token minions to stay alive. I go for 2 with the remaining tokens and get Iona and Emrakul on board; he untaps and fetches a bridge with Karn; but I am ready with a wear // tear in my hand to seal the win.
Score: 1-1
Artifact removal is really important in this match up, I only wish we could have more slots in the modern sideboard.
Match 3 vs Hogaak (Win 2-1)
G1 I gamely try to stay alive against a wave of zombies, 1 vengevine and 1 hogaak. His draws aren't even that good; but Hogaak's average draw is 14 power, 8 of which is trample damage. My path spent on vengevine and my tokens exhausted, I die.
Board: Iona, 2 thoughtseize, 2 bitterblossom OUT; Elesh Norn, 2 Wheel of Sun and Moon, 1 Wrath of God, 1 Worship IN
G2 the opponent keeps a slow hand that does nothing the first 2 turns. This means my turn 4 Emrakul is plenty fast enough to seal the win against his board of 2 lands and 1 Altar. What was going on over there I wonder?
G3 is the closest game. I path his turn 1 stitcher's supplier, but not before it put 1 vengevine, 1 bridge and 1 gravecrawler in. Turn 2 sees the opponent evoke a wispmare and cast gravecrawler, which means me getting hit by vengevine and I'm down to 14 (turn 1 shock), and he's got 1 token and 1 crawler. I spend my turn 2 casting Wheel of Sun and Moon, so I'm a sitting duck for 8 damage next turn bringing me to 6. I pass with 2 mana and a fetch; I block the vengevine and gravecrawler and take 2 more damage from the lone token, bringing me to 4 life, but at least the bridge is exiled now, in case another wispmare takes out the Wheel. I fetch tapped, going down to 3. My deck hands me the 4th land I need to survive; I shock and go to ONE LIFE, and cast Wrath of God, putting his crawler and vine on the bottom of his library. I've secured the board but I'm not out of the woods yet; Hogaak plays plenty of enchantment removal. His next turn sees a Insolent Neonate; I cast Kaya's Guile and force him to sacrifice it without value, while I pad my life total to 5. Fortunately I have my lingering souls to flashback, and creativity in my hand. I pull Elesh Norn, and while the opponent manages to remove Wheel with a wispmare, the 0/1 doesn't buy enough time for him to come back. I win with a 3/3 token and Elesh Norn beats.
Score: 2-1
The Hogaak deck is crazy strong. Every time I face it, even when I win, it feels more because the opponent drew badly. Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite does an excellent job of locking the deck down, and is easily the strongest card against it.
Mardu Charm is replaced by Kaya's Guile in the maindeck, with the latter allowing 2 modes, and lifegain/GY hate being very relevant in the deck and against the meta respectively. In the board, a Ravenous Trap is replaced by a more permanent answer against Hogaak in the form of Worship. It may sound counterintuitive against a deck that can mill you out; but this deck has an Emrakul main and will have to find their enchantment removal if they want the beatdown kill. Also, I cracked a shiny one from a gideon spellbook. So sue me.
Match 1 vs Vizier combo (Loss 0-2)
G1 is basically unbeatable, I have 1 removal spell and he has 2 layers of Giver of Runes to back up his combo. I thoughtseized his Eladamri's Call but an Eternal witness brings it back anyway.
Boarding: 1 Wrath of God, 1 Elesh Norn, IN. 1 Iona, 1 Bitterblossom, OUT.
G2 I make a rookie mistake and keep a 5 lander with 2 discard spells. Was worried about mulling down and missing lands. My deck proceeds to hand me 5 more lands, 1 bitterblossom, 1 helix and 1 bitterblossom. This was pathetically insufficient. I need to be more greedy with my mulligans.
Score: 0-1
I think I let the deck down in G2 instead of the other way around.
Match 2 vs Mono Red Prison (Win 2-1)
G1 I flip a legion's landing turn 3 but don't have the combo. He lands a couple of goblin rabblemasters but I manage to stay alive long enough to go off. I pull both Emrakul and Iona blocking red for the win. My life goes pretty low, though.
Board: 1 Bitterblossom, 2 Thoughtseize OUT; 2 Wear // Tear, 1 Worship
G2 goes badly as he does a turn 2(!) Chandra, Torch using 2 rituals, then upticks for RR and casts chalice for one. What. The. Hell. I haven't even gotten my bearings when he drops a Sorcerous Spyglass and sees my hand of fatal push, path to exile and Nahiri, and conveniently blanks the last spell in my hand. The game drags because he can't find the last mana to cast Lattice and lock me out, but eventually Torch of Defiance ultimates and even though I manage to fetch my Iona, he eventually casts enough artifacts for 5 damage a pop to kill me.
G3 plays out a lot more like a proper game of magic. A chalice on 1 is largely ignored, and I trade tokens and helixes strategically with incoming gobbos and their token minions to stay alive. I go for 2 with the remaining tokens and get Iona and Emrakul on board; he untaps and fetches a bridge with Karn; but I am ready with a wear // tear in my hand to seal the win.
Score: 1-1
Artifact removal is really important in this match up, I only wish we could have more slots in the modern sideboard.
Match 3 vs Hogaak (Win 2-1)
G1 I gamely try to stay alive against a wave of zombies, 1 vengevine and 1 hogaak. His draws aren't even that good; but Hogaak's average draw is 14 power, 8 of which is trample damage. My path spent on vengevine and my tokens exhausted, I die.
Board: Iona, 2 thoughtseize, 2 bitterblossom OUT; Elesh Norn, 2 Wheel of Sun and Moon, 1 Wrath of God, 1 Worship IN
G2 the opponent keeps a slow hand that does nothing the first 2 turns. This means my turn 4 Emrakul is plenty fast enough to seal the win against his board of 2 lands and 1 Altar. What was going on over there I wonder?
G3 is the closest game. I path his turn 1 stitcher's supplier, but not before it put 1 vengevine, 1 bridge and 1 gravecrawler in. Turn 2 sees the opponent evoke a wispmare and cast gravecrawler, which means me getting hit by vengevine and I'm down to 14 (turn 1 shock), and he's got 1 token and 1 crawler. I spend my turn 2 casting Wheel of Sun and Moon, so I'm a sitting duck for 8 damage next turn bringing me to 6. I pass with 2 mana and a fetch; I block the vengevine and gravecrawler and take 2 more damage from the lone token, bringing me to 4 life, but at least the bridge is exiled now, in case another wispmare takes out the Wheel. I fetch tapped, going down to 3. My deck hands me the 4th land I need to survive; I shock and go to ONE LIFE, and cast Wrath of God, putting his crawler and vine on the bottom of his library. I've secured the board but I'm not out of the woods yet; Hogaak plays plenty of enchantment removal. His next turn sees a Insolent Neonate; I cast Kaya's Guile and force him to sacrifice it without value, while I pad my life total to 5. Fortunately I have my lingering souls to flashback, and creativity in my hand. I pull Elesh Norn, and while the opponent manages to remove Wheel with a wispmare, the 0/1 doesn't buy enough time for him to come back. I win with a 3/3 token and Elesh Norn beats.
Score: 2-1
The Hogaak deck is crazy strong. Every time I face it, even when I win, it feels more because the opponent drew badly. Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite does an excellent job of locking the deck down, and is easily the strongest card against it.
Someone complimented my Emrakul today, hehe. Just got back from Agorahobby's June Modern Championship, where I went 6th into swiss rounds and got knocked out round one by mana screw.
Score 1-0
More like, the opponent is a no-show. Honestly I'd rather play magic. I hardly get the time off to do this.
Round 2: Gx Tron (Lost 1-2)
G1 was pretty much auto-loss. I make some tokens, he casts Ugin, I have no way back.
IN: 2 Crumble to Dust, 1 Avacyn, 2 Stony Silence - OUT: 2 Fatal Push, 2 Inquisition, 1 Iona
G2 I manage to make him stumble on the tron with hand disruption, then hit 4 lands and crumble a tron land. In that window I win with creativity into Emrakul. He has an O stone out but won't have enough mana to activate before I swing next turn.
G3 I crumble on turn 4, but it's one turn too late; and in that one turn he has his tron active, he casts an Ugin. Once again, it's lights out by unreasonable bomb.
Score: 1-1
Here I thought this archetype would be in hiding thanks to Hogaak. But there isn't a SINGLE altar of dementia in the room. I can't believe this. Crumble is a better plug, but Alpine Moon is the only thing fast enough in these colors. It's a floodgate tho, one that can be easily opened with Nature's Claim.
Round 2: Red Deck Wins (Win 2-1)
G1 He manages to get me with a flurry of 1-drop prowess creatures. The last swiftspear I am unable to remove and he throws his burn spells liberally at my tokens so she can keep getting through for 4 damage, which makes his Light up the Stage live. Lava Dart turns even his land topdecks into kill spells and additional Prowess. If I wasn't getting killed by it I'd admire how efficient his deck is against me.
IN: 2 Teyo, 1 Saheeli, 1 Wrath of God - OUT: 2 Thoughtseize, 2 Bitterblossom
Saheeli and Wrath aren't the best cards, but I am literally out of cards to swap for the life-loss cards that we are definitely swapping out.
G2 Teyo is MVP here, coming down after I path and push a couple of threats, creating a wall which then becomes an Emrakul. With no outs, the opponent scoops.
G3 he has 2 prowess peeps out AND a phoenix. I have 1 soldier token and 2 spirits. He attacks and I block only the phoenix, and I drop to 12 life. I untap and kill both my remaining tokens, putting both Iona and Emrakul on the board.
Score: 2-1
Well, that's the deck doing what it was meant to. I'm wondering if I shouldn't have an extra helix or collective brutality in the side.
Round 3: EldraTron (Win 2-1)
G1 He has the turn 2 thought knot seer. Very very unreasonable. What is this, eldrazi winter? I'm not dressed for this. A reality smasher follows and well, my reality is smashed.
IN: 2 Crumble to Dust, 1 Wrath of God, 1 Avacyn - OUT: 1 Iona, 1 Nahiri, 1 Bitterblossom, 1 Mardu Charm
G2 is an awkward battle of attrition - one I didn't think I could win but I somehow did, with his lone TKS being unable to keep up with my flurry of tokens. On the final turn I have stripped his hand of the bigger threats like smasher and pathed his Endbringer - his only removal is dismember and I have 6 1/1 attackers for his 6 life. When I show him a path for his TKS, he scoops.
G3 is the tightest game I play today. I go for 1 on turn 4, and hit Emrakul. On his side of the board:
2 TKS
1 Reality Smasher
5 lands
Chalice on 1
I have a path and inquisition that are dead thanks to his chalice.
My life total is 13. His, 20.
I pass the turn, he untaps and takes a while to think. I don't blame him. If he swings all out, I'll block and kill his smasher, leaving him with 8 permanents, and when I swing back he will have to sac chalice or TKS, either releasing my removal or letting me draw. In the end, he elects to drop a Matter Reshaper and pass.
I untap, draw another creativity. I know I have to swing, and then make my decisions from there. At this point there is no way playing defensive will save me, since I have no way to make tokens. Ah, a lingering souls would have been BRILLIANT. I attack, and he sacrifices 5 lands and reshaper, which flips up an expedition map. he has 2 TKS and 1 smasher on the board, exactly 13. It's my turn to think, and my opponent gets a little impatient - "Do you have it or not?" - I'm not sure what he feels "it" is. I decide to cast creativity on his smasher, discarding my inquisition to let it resolve. If he flips up another smasher, he wins. Literally anything else will not be enough barring another smasher drawn. He hits.... a 3rd thought knot seer. Enough for 12 damage, leaving me at 1. He scoops.
Score: 3-1
Although Crumble to Dust is a lot slower than Moon, I didn't miss the Blast Zones peppering the tables today. It really isn't an end-all. Nothing beats clocking or comboing these big mana opponents. Multiple moons could pin down someone counting on Claim, but Blast Zone will wipe em all at once.
Round 4: ID into top 8 (6th Seed)
Score: 3-1-1
Round 5 (Swiss): Copycat and Friends
G1: He hits my spells with Spell Pierce not once, not twice, but 3 times. First pierce catches my turn 1 inquisition. Second pierce catches my turn 2 thoughtseize. When I try to lingering souls, he snap-pierces that, too. I make some tokens and do some damage, but when he has the combo I don't have the path or revolt for push necessary to stop it.
IN: nothing. I got nothing for this match up, apparently.
G2: Being on the play is a lot better. He spends some removal to soften the damage, and when he tries to combo I helix his Saheeli with the activation on the stack. It's a mistake he cannot come back from, as I go for 2, he bolts 1 token and I hit Emrakul.
G3: Non-game. My first hand is a 5 lander with Souls and Raise the alarm. I'm on the draw and this looks like a suicidal hand against a combo deck, so I mull. It goes downhill REAL quick.
6 card hand: no lands
5 card hand: Godless shrine, 1 thoughtseize, 1 push, 1 raise the alarm, 1 souls - Keep, scry a second thoughtseize to the bottom.
I proceed to draw no lands for 5 turns while he hits all of his. When the small teferi comes down, I extend the hand.
Score: 3-2-1
Wow, that last game left me REALLY salty. you'd think playing 24 lands would be enough.
Overall, I think I'm going to need more ways to deal with the tron decks.
I need to point out that dredge has mostly (I haven't seen any of the previous version since mh1 launch) morphed into Hogaak mill. Auriok Champion does nothing against this new version. You'll gain a tonne of life, but then you'll die by library death the turn after they go off.
I'm doing pretty well without either of those cards, though they will of course help.
On the subject of MTGSalvation's closure and what that means for the primer, I'll be migrating the information over to a Google document. Please be patient, as some reformatting will be required during the transition.
I went searching for an alternate forum and for modern, there really isn't a replacement. I moved my primer to www.mtgthesource.com, which is ordinarily aimed at Legacy discussion but they have an existing sub for Modern. I'm hoping we can all migrate to the same site so the modern traffic and discussions can continue there.
I've gone 3 FNMs now with 2-1, 3-0, 2-1, the losses stemming from flood and me letting my opponent roll back something I should have insisted on. Oh well.
My list prioritizes the combo, meaning card velocity and maximum of all pieces, and looks like this:
4 Saheeli Rai
4 Feldar Guardian
Control (21)
4 Teferi, Time Raveler
4 Snapcaster Mage
2 Spell pierce
2 Force of Negation
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
1 Lightning Helix
2 Narset, Parter of Veils
4 Serum Visions
4 Arcum's Astrolabe
Real Estate (21)
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Arid Mesa
3 Flooded Strand
1 Steam Vents
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Hallowed Fountain
2 Sulfur Falls
1 Sunbaked Canyon
2 Snow-covered Island
1 Snow-covered Plains
1 Snow-covered Mountain
I always thought the push that Copycat needed would come from something fancy and powerful, like Force of Negation. In truth the real push came from the humblest little 1 cmc artifact. The astrolabe fundamentally changed a flaw in the original copycat deck - that saheeli and her feline friend were pretty horrible at working with anything else in the deck; and you had to pick between velocity to your combo, control and mana efficiency. They were limited to replicating the snapcaster ETB, and then Teferi and Narset came along and benefited the cat, but that was about it. I'm benefiting so much from Astrolabe and I still can't believe how much it changes the deck. Teferi bouncing the astrolabe and drawing and then recasting for another draw is just crazy.
As I windmill slammed my combo over the past few weeks the nostalgia was real.
The best options in modern are:
Dreadbore
+ most efficient in our colors
+ gives nothing back unlike trophy
- may require more pain from lands to cast t2 due to color
- sorcery speed (doesn't matter with smol tef)
Magmatic Sinkhole
+ Singular color means easy castability
+ delve make for incredibly efficient casts in the midgame
+ instant speed
+ actually competent as a creature removal
- needs thought scour to go live early
- does little for walkers over 5 loyalty
Bedevil
+ hits 3 relevant types in the current meta, with artifacts being a very useful addition against urza, affinity, tron
+ instant speed
- technically highest cmc since sinkhole has delve
- also the most difficult to cast in terms of color
My take is: you probably can run 2 sinkholes if you run a full playset of thought scours. Without thought scours, even a single sinkhole will not be feasible since without the GY support it's basically dead until the midgame, which is too late against the problematic w6 and smol teferi. Dreadbore is probably a must, the question is, 1 or 2? Bedevil is not something to sleep on for the decks that only splash R. It's quite a real contender for the 3-slot if Kommand is being given up.
Regarding 4 nahiris, the first mardu version I ran did that - 4 nahiris and 4 creativities. The result however is you get some very clunky draws and starting hands - 2 nahiris and 1 creativity in your starting hand is very likely a ship, and you don't have looting anymore to help fix them. I can get behind at most 2 copies of Nahiri + 4 creativities; thats something like the 4 creativities and 2 polymorphs in my version. Having 6 curve toppers is about right.
I also toyed with the idea of going back to straight RW, which was the version before mardu. At the time, there were no smol chandras, and with her around, you could do some pretty sick aggro. playing full sets of krenko's command and dragon fodder coupled with a playset of goblin grenade is no joke. Especially when the goblin grenade can be recast with chandra's -2. Just imagine -
t1 legion's landing -
t2 fodder, attack for 1 -
t3 chandra, attack for 5 -
t4 attack for 5 again, grenade, flashback grenade.
Straight RW also has a much easier time playing blood moon. I'm not sure if you even want the black splash at that point - lingering souls is not good without looting, bitterblossom alone isn't worth the color, and there isn't any particular deck that discard is strong against at the moment.
Without the incentive of souls and in search of a card that can let me loot - giving me selection while ridding myself of topdecked payoff cards - I started to question if Black is still the color to support red and white with. For info, I replaced looting with Collective brutality as a discard outlet, but the mardu deck has been taking a break while I tested another color set - Jeskai.
4 Indomitable Creativity
2 Polymorph
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
Tokens (9)
3 Legion's Landing
4 Raise the Alarm
2 Cloudform
Interaction (12)
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Path to Exile
4 Izzet Charm
Cantrips (4)
4 Serum Visions
Walkers (6)
4 Teferi, Time Raveler
2 Chandra, Acolyte of Flame
4 Arid Mesa
4 Scalding Tarn
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Steam Vents
1 Hallowed Fountain
3 Inspiring Vantage
2 Sulfur Falls
1 Rugged Prairie
1 Mountain
1 Island
1 Plains
4 Tocatli Honor Guard
2 Lightning Helix
1 Timely Reinforcements
3 Ceremonious Rejection
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Platinum Emperion
1 Stony Silence
2 Rest In Peace
Deck has participated in 2 FNMs so far, going 2-1 and then 3-0 for an overall of 5-1. Not too bad, but plenty more testing to do. About the card choices-
Izzet Charm
Yup, the successor to Faithless Looting can only be cast once and costs U more, but is also a swiss army knife. It's a spell pierce or shock if u need it to be. Hitting a Karn and then polymorphing into Emrakul is good. Speaking of polymorph-
Polymorph
Splashing blue for Izzet Charm naturally means access to redundancies. There are a large number of games where Creativity would simply save the day but we can't find it. Losing the awesome selection and velocity of Looting just makes it worse. With 2 extra combo pieces in the deck, I've been flipping up iona and emmy a lot more often.
Serum Visions
Speaking of velocity, this card digs the deepest of the 3 blue modern cantrips. I could see this being Sleight of Hand, but I supposed I'm still undecided.
Cloudform
The substitute for lingering souls at the 3-drop slot, this hexproof flier can win games against midrange/control by itself, and can't be removed when you're polymorphing or creativity-ing it.
Teferi, Time Raveler
He brings so much to the deck I can't even. Stops people interacting with creativity or your tokens as you're going for it. Enables end-step creativity/polymorph. Bounces troublesome stuff like Aria of Flame, and even drawing.
4 Indomitable Creativity
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Nahiri, the Harbinger
Disruption (12)
4 Path to Exile
2 Fatal Push
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
2 Lightning Helix
Tokens (11)
2 Legion's Landing
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Lingering Souls
1 Kaya's Guile
Utility (4)
4 Faithless Looting
2 Chandra, Acolyte of Flame
4 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Godless Shrine
1 Blood Crypt
1 Inspiring Vantage
2 Clifftop Retreat
1 Dragonskull Summit
2 Rugged Prairie
1 Mutavault
3 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Wear // Tear
2 Alpine Moon
1 Crumble to Dust
2 Teyo, the Shieldmage
2 Bitterblossom
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
1 Worship
1 Wrath of God
2 Stony Silence
Round 1 vs Neobrand (Win, 2-0)
G1 I open with a thoughtseize and take a Simian Spirit Guide to slow him down. I don't see the combo there, on turn 2 I develop my board with 2 soldiers. Turn 3 I quicken the clock with a Chandra who attacks with 2 elementals. Turn 4 I check his hand again with Chandra's -2 on the thoughtseize I casted on turn 1. I see a neoform and take it. On turn 5 my opponent isn't able to do anything meaningful and I creativity for 2 into Iona and Emmy, blocking green.
G2 The opponent is on the play and he mulls to 5 looking for THAT hand. He doesn't find it. In the meantime, I have the T1 landing T2 Raise the Alarm T3 Creativity into Iona. As you can imagine the tilt is quite real. Not that Neobrand should be complaining about my turn 3 Iona.
Score: 1-0
We're off to a good start and Chandra is already showing off. She adds to aggro, provides free targets for creativity and does a good snapcaster mage impression.
Round 2 vs Amulet Titan (Loss, 0-2)
G1 I lose the die roll, and he gets a titan on the board before I can do my thing. I hit Iona and name green. If I'd hit Emmy I probably would have taken the game, just too bad.
G2 the poor luck continues and I mana screw on 2 lands while the opponent runs smoothly, setting up a value chain with tolaria wests of summoner's pacts for titans and keeping up additional counterspell pacts to counter any attempt I make to gain a foothold. I never really make any impact.
Score: 1-1
Bad beats.
Round 3 vs Humans (Loss, 0-2)
G1 I lose the die roll (i lose every die roll today, apparently), and the opponent has the nut: T1 vial, T2 vial in a champ and then small Thalia, slowing me down while I get clocked.
G2 I can't blame this loss on my luck, because I do something real stupid and forget to board out Iona. I DID remember to board in Elesh Norn. Unfortunately, the creativity hits Iona (because Murphy doesn't let up and you know what his laws are like) which is completely useless against the vialled humans. He puts her neatly away with a Detention guy and continues beating me to a pulp even though I managed to helix the deputy, since iona is just 1 blocker. If the creativity had hit either emmy or elesh, the game would have been mine.
Score: 1-2
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Round 4 vs Jund (Win 2-1)
G1 I lose the die roll (I wasn't kidding) and the opponent leads with a thoughtseize revealing my hand of inquisition, thoughtseize, souls, souls and 3 lands. I feel kinda bad for him but we have a laugh about it. He takes my thoughtseize and on my turn I inquisition away a liliana, the last hope. Can't have that running round can we. Crazily enough I manage to lose this round with a silly misplay despite having the advantage. When his only creature is a scavenging ooze i try to -2 my chandra targeting a Kaya's guile - which OF COURSE gets exiled with the ooze. WAKE UP, MAN! The attrition game goes on but I ultimately die with the opponent at 1 life. Sigh.
G2 the deck kind of runs itself. I draw both my sideboard bitterblossoms and decide to go all in. True enough he doesn't find his Plague Engineer or maelstrom pulse, and dies to faeries.
G3 Chandra decides to become the all star of the deck, providing beats, absorbing some damage, ticking up and flashing back removals and hand disruption. The opponent finally manages to kill her through my tokens, but it's too late; the card advantage and damage lead is too much. I finish this round with token beats.
Score: 2-2
It's really not my imagination: Chandra, Acolyte of Flame doesn't just lend resilience and additional disruption to the deck; she's also an offensive powerhouse minus the lifeloss of bitterblossom that lets the deck pivot a LOT harder toward beatdown.
Round 5 vs Neobrand
G1 I lose the die roll (ha, ha, ha) and luckily enough my opponent doesn't have the turn 1. I, however have 2 discard spells in my hand and spend the first 2 turns making sure I don't suddenly die. A couple of soldiers and Chandra beat him down while I hold up Path to Exile for Griselbrand.
G2 He manages to go off. I don't remember what I'd done, but I definitely wasn't able to stop him. It was a Lab Maniac finish. It was at the bottom of his library and he was sweating bullets trying to find it.
G3 He tries to go off but I'm ready with a Path to exile, and hit the griselbrand with the first activation on the stack. At this time he's already low on life and doesn't have enough to draw another 7, meaning he has to go off with this draw 7; which is a tall order. I take the game with token beats.
Score: 3-2
Chandra Chandra Chandra. Finding her foil was pretty hard, but totally worth it. Her position in the deck is as solid as Kaya's Guile.
Overall the deck did okay today, I think the pilot needs to be more careful.
Gravekin refers to the ridiculous elemental deck that basically got its latest, BUILD ME NOW card from M20. Long story short, we're taking the upgraded Ball lightning from MH1, Lightning Skelemental (I still cannot believe they missed a chance for "Ball Blightning"), adding it to it's predecessor, and bringing these back from the grave repeatedly with the newly "modern"-ized MH1 enabler, Unearth.
Thunderkin Awakener joins the line-up as a ridiculously overpowered and self-repeating, hasty unearther. And just in case you're worried this isn't enough redundancy, MH1 also provided us with Vesperlark, which brings back dead thunderkin and... can be brought back with thunderkin - DOES NOBODY ELSE SEE HOW STUPID THIS DECK IS?! IT BUILT ITSELF!
Also, I forgot to mention this deck can run Vampiric Tutor, except that instead of being an instant and costing you 2 life, it's a 1/1 creature: Flamekin Harbinger. And.... do I need to say it again? Flamekin can be brought back with both Vesperlark and Thunderkin.
We need more redundancy, don't we? Of course we do. Enter Flickerwisp. Let's see, tutorable with Flamekin. Blinks Flamekin for an additional tutor, or a land that could let u hold up a path, push or bolt despite committing all your mana to attack. Comes back with unearth. Comes back with Thunderkin. Removes a blocker so your thunderkin doesn't get killed. Unlike the balls, sticks around to deal 3 every turn without further assistance. Has evasion. Yea okay.
So there you go, a circlejerk of circlejerking elementals.
Now just add the most efficient cards in the format to the deck:
Faithless Looting - needs no explanation. The nut draw for this deck ISN'T looting into thunderkin for skelemental. Its looting into double unearth TWO skelementals, dealing 12 and making the opponent discard 4, possibly when all they've done is lay 1 land. Do you need a plastic bag? You look nauseous.
Burning Inquiry - 4 lootings aren't enough, and this deck has enough redundancy that it doesn't really mind accidentally dropping a thunderkin, since you have vesperlarks and unearths to undo these "mistakes".
Lightning Bolt - it's not until you bolt your own vesperlark (which was brought back with thunderkin) after an opponent fatal pushes your thunderkin to basically return thunderkin before combat that vesperlark's ridiculousness comes to light. Plus, you know, maybe the opponent might try something like "stabilize" against your ridiculous redundancy, so having some reach is cool.
Collective Brutality There are some decks that try to go faster than us, typically with devoted druid and vizier. Others may wise up and hold up removal for thunderkin. But it's cool, you can maindeck this card which, while dropping balls into the GY, will also kill off opposing combo pieces, dorks, or strip away precious removals.
And then some utility cards
Boros Charm - sometimes people think they can destroy your kin, which is so wrong. But if they're not doing naughty stuff like removing your thunderkin, then you have 4 points of reach. Or, you know, you can give skelemental double strike because why not? It's just 12 damage and discard 4... stop crying, here's some tissue.
For the sideboard we have basically, hmmm. Enchantment removal in Wispmare which you can tutor with harbinger and unearth and also return with vesperlark... okay. We have artifact removal in Ingot Chewer, which doesn't come back but can be tutored all the same. Then you have Fulminator Mage, which you can also tutor. And unearth. I mean we're already strong against Tron but sometimes watching these Tron pilots roll around crying in a pool of their own vomit can be refreshing. Depriving Jund of their mana besides making their removal look inadequate is also an option.
So finally, I'd like to present this abomination of a deck, which admittedly is affected by GY hate. But hey, that didn't stop Hogaak.
4 Ball Lightning
4 Lightning Skelemental
4 Thunderkin Awakener
4 Vesperlark
3 Flamekin Harbinger
3 Flickerwisp
Spells (19)
4 Faithless Looting
4 Burning Inquiry
4 Unearth
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Boros Charm
1 Collective Brutality
4 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained mire
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Blood Crypt
1 Dragonskull Summit
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Rugged Prairie
2 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Unclaimed Territory
2 Wispmare
4 Fulminator Mage
2 Ingot Chewer
2 Lightning Helix
1 Wear // Tear
2 Kolaghan's Command
1 Liliana, the Last Hope
1 Yawgmoth, Thran Physician
The boros charms, collective brutality numbers are pretty loose - you can tweak them to your heart's delight. I think the core is pretty much in-the-face obvious (hint: the elementals, unearth and looting spells), but you can do other stuff like Cathartic Reunion or Lightning Axe, too.
Have fun with the deck! I'll be testing and tweaking as I go along, too, especially for that sideboard. I'm playing some cards that help with grindier games, since the maindeck is pretty all-in. The downside is that they too are GY dependant, and you can bet your last dollar those rest-in-peaces and leylines are coming in to blank the graveyard. All I can say is: keep your wispmares close, and your flamekin closer.
Chandra, Acolyte of Flame does 2 things that the deck needs:
1. she can provide bodies for attacking, or more importantly, creativity.
2. she can "snap" basically every single instant and sorcery in the deck. Every. Single. One. Including Indomitable Creativity.
By providing bodies every single turn off of a non-creature, non-artifact permanent, Chandra Acolyte fills a niche requirement for this deck, dodging Creativity's artifact/creature pick up while providing the utility of Bitterblossom's tokens every turn without the lifeloss, and Snapcaster Mage, which is incredible for a single card. The cost to this power is being vulnerable to both combat and noncombat damage.
Here's my post M20 list that will run the Bridge-less battlefield tonight.
4 Indomitable Creativity
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Nahiri, the Harbinger
Disruption (12)
4 Path to Exile
2 Fatal Push
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
2 Lightning Helix
Tokens (11)
2 Legion's Landing
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Lingering Souls
1 Kaya's Guile
Utility (4)
4 Faithless Looting
2 Chandra, Acolyte of Flame
4 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Godless Shrine
1 Blood Crypt
1 Inspiring Vantage
2 Clifftop Retreat
1 Dragonskull Summit
2 Rugged Prairie
1 Mutavault
3 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Plains
1 Wear // Tear
2 Alpine Moon
1 Crumble to Dust
2 Teyo, the Shieldmage
2 Bitterblossom
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
1 Wheel of Sun and Moon
1 Worship
1 Wrath of God
2 Stony Silence
The reason behind prairies is sometimes u flip legions landing and have 4 mana on turn 3, but don’t have the triple red. Rugged prairies solve that problem.
If your losses are from creativity targets getting sniped, you might wanna tune your play style to slow roll a little more. Where possible, use discard the turn before you go off to check, or simply go for more targets. Waiting to make another land drop may be wise. Usually when I go for 2 or 3, the opponent is only able to handle one, because leaving up mana for 2 removals is punishing for any deck. Also, always attack first and cast creativity in the second main. This increases the chance they will use their precious removal to preserve their life total. When u declare attacker’s, *read your opponent’s expression*. This will clue you in as to whether they are making a decision (to use removal or not) or resigned to taking damage. It’s not 100%, and you need to tell the difference between confidence (yea I got removal but I’m keeping it for your combo) and resignation. This game of chicken has won me a number of games against midrange decks, sometimes 2 damage at a time.
Re: saheeli. Like you, I’m pretty medium. The meta is too fast to play a 3 cmc young pyro. I might give her slot to something that handles the prevalent big mana and gy meta.
Re: Kaya’s guile. The card did good whenever I drew it. Definitely staying in the main and I’m wondering if I should drop something for a second copy.
Re: sunbaked. I like it, I’m just cautious about painlands because the build does itself plenty of damage. Some helixes main helps with thoughtseize and bitterblossom, but you have to be careful not to overload your life as a resource. I’m considering dropping bitterblossom (again) because lately the card has been more liability than savior. If I did that, I think I could reasonably play the canopy lands.
Re: bolts vs paths. I didn’t make this decision lightly. Bolts sound so much better because they let you pivot to being the beat down so much easier. However, after losing games to phoenixes and vengevines and gravecrawlers I realized it wasn’t my decision if I wanted more wins. On the upside, path to exile has gotten me to 4 or 5 mana ahead of schedule, and allowed me to win with creativity that way, so it’s not a purely defensive spell sometimes.
4 Indomitable Creativity
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Nahiri, the Harbinger
Disruption (12)
4 Path to Exile
2 Fatal Push
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
2 Lightning Helix
Tokens (13)
2 Legion's Landing
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Lingering Souls
2 Bitterblossom
1 Kaya's Guile
4 Faithless Looting
Real Estate (24)
4 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Godless Shrine
1 Blood Crypt
1 Inspiring Vantage
2 Clifftop Retreat
1 Dragonskull Summit
2 Wear // Tear
2 Crumble to Dust
2 Teyo, the Shieldmage
1 Saheeli, Sublime Artificier
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
2 Wheel of Sun and Moon
1 Worship
1 Wrath of God
2 Stony Silence
Mardu Charm is replaced by Kaya's Guile in the maindeck, with the latter allowing 2 modes, and lifegain/GY hate being very relevant in the deck and against the meta respectively. In the board, a Ravenous Trap is replaced by a more permanent answer against Hogaak in the form of Worship. It may sound counterintuitive against a deck that can mill you out; but this deck has an Emrakul main and will have to find their enchantment removal if they want the beatdown kill. Also, I cracked a shiny one from a gideon spellbook. So sue me.
Match 1 vs Vizier combo (Loss 0-2)
G1 is basically unbeatable, I have 1 removal spell and he has 2 layers of Giver of Runes to back up his combo. I thoughtseized his Eladamri's Call but an Eternal witness brings it back anyway.
Boarding: 1 Wrath of God, 1 Elesh Norn, IN. 1 Iona, 1 Bitterblossom, OUT.
G2 I make a rookie mistake and keep a 5 lander with 2 discard spells. Was worried about mulling down and missing lands. My deck proceeds to hand me 5 more lands, 1 bitterblossom, 1 helix and 1 lingering souls. This was pathetically insufficient. I need to be more greedy with my mulligans.
Score: 0-1
I think I let the deck down in G2 instead of the other way around.
Match 2 vs Mono Red Prison (Win 2-1)
G1 I flip a legion's landing turn 3 but don't have the combo. He lands a couple of goblin rabblemasters but I manage to stay alive long enough to go off. I pull both Emrakul and Iona blocking red for the win. My life goes pretty low, though.
Board: 1 Bitterblossom, 2 Thoughtseize OUT; 2 Wear // Tear, 1 Worship
G2 goes badly as he does a turn 2(!) Chandra, Torch using 2 rituals, then upticks for RR and casts chalice for one. What. The. Hell. I haven't even gotten my bearings when he drops a Sorcerous Spyglass and sees my hand of fatal push, path to exile and Nahiri, and conveniently blanks the last spell in my hand. The game drags because he can't find the last mana to cast Lattice and lock me out, but eventually Torch of Defiance ultimates and even though I manage to fetch my Iona, he eventually casts enough artifacts for 5 damage a pop to kill me.
G3 plays out a lot more like a proper game of magic. A chalice on 1 is largely ignored, and I trade tokens and helixes strategically with incoming gobbos and their token minions to stay alive. I go for 2 with the remaining tokens and get Iona and Emrakul on board; he untaps and fetches a bridge with Karn; but I am ready with a wear // tear in my hand to seal the win.
Score: 1-1
Artifact removal is really important in this match up, I only wish we could have more slots in the modern sideboard.
Match 3 vs Hogaak (Win 2-1)
G1 I gamely try to stay alive against a wave of zombies, 1 vengevine and 1 hogaak. His draws aren't even that good; but Hogaak's average draw is 14 power, 8 of which is trample damage. My path spent on vengevine and my tokens exhausted, I die.
Board: Iona, 2 thoughtseize, 2 bitterblossom OUT; Elesh Norn, 2 Wheel of Sun and Moon, 1 Wrath of God, 1 Worship IN
G2 the opponent keeps a slow hand that does nothing the first 2 turns. This means my turn 4 Emrakul is plenty fast enough to seal the win against his board of 2 lands and 1 Altar. What was going on over there I wonder?
G3 is the closest game. I path his turn 1 stitcher's supplier, but not before it put 1 vengevine, 1 bridge and 1 gravecrawler in. Turn 2 sees the opponent evoke a wispmare and cast gravecrawler, which means me getting hit by vengevine and I'm down to 14 (turn 1 shock), and he's got 1 token and 1 crawler. I spend my turn 2 casting Wheel of Sun and Moon, so I'm a sitting duck for 8 damage next turn bringing me to 6. I pass with 2 mana and a fetch; I block the vengevine and gravecrawler and take 2 more damage from the lone token, bringing me to 4 life, but at least the bridge is exiled now, in case another wispmare takes out the Wheel. I fetch tapped, going down to 3. My deck hands me the 4th land I need to survive; I shock and go to ONE LIFE, and cast Wrath of God, putting his crawler and vine on the bottom of his library. I've secured the board but I'm not out of the woods yet; Hogaak plays plenty of enchantment removal. His next turn sees a Insolent Neonate; I cast Kaya's Guile and force him to sacrifice it without value, while I pad my life total to 5. Fortunately I have my lingering souls to flashback, and creativity in my hand. I pull Elesh Norn, and while the opponent manages to remove Wheel with a wispmare, the 0/1 doesn't buy enough time for him to come back. I win with a 3/3 token and Elesh Norn beats.
Score: 2-1
The Hogaak deck is crazy strong. Every time I face it, even when I win, it feels more because the opponent drew badly. Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite does an excellent job of locking the deck down, and is easily the strongest card against it.
4 Indomitable Creativity
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Nahiri, the Harbinger
Disruption (12)
4 Path to Exile
2 Fatal Push
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
2 Lightning Helix
Tokens (13)
2 Legion's Landing
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Lingering Souls
2 Bitterblossom
1 Kaya's Guile
4 Faithless Looting
Real Estate (24)
4 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Godless Shrine
1 Blood Crypt
1 Inspiring Vantage
2 Clifftop Retreat
1 Dragonskull Summit
2 Rugged Prairie
1 Mutavault
3 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Plains
2 Wear // Tear
2 Crumble to Dust
2 Teyo, the Shieldmage
1 Saheeli, Sublime Artificier
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
2 Wheel of Sun and Moon
1 Worship
1 Wrath of God
2 Stony Silence
Mardu Charm is replaced by Kaya's Guile in the maindeck, with the latter allowing 2 modes, and lifegain/GY hate being very relevant in the deck and against the meta respectively. In the board, a Ravenous Trap is replaced by a more permanent answer against Hogaak in the form of Worship. It may sound counterintuitive against a deck that can mill you out; but this deck has an Emrakul main and will have to find their enchantment removal if they want the beatdown kill. Also, I cracked a shiny one from a gideon spellbook. So sue me.
Match 1 vs Vizier combo (Loss 0-2)
G1 is basically unbeatable, I have 1 removal spell and he has 2 layers of Giver of Runes to back up his combo. I thoughtseized his Eladamri's Call but an Eternal witness brings it back anyway.
Boarding: 1 Wrath of God, 1 Elesh Norn, IN. 1 Iona, 1 Bitterblossom, OUT.
G2 I make a rookie mistake and keep a 5 lander with 2 discard spells. Was worried about mulling down and missing lands. My deck proceeds to hand me 5 more lands, 1 bitterblossom, 1 helix and 1 bitterblossom. This was pathetically insufficient. I need to be more greedy with my mulligans.
Score: 0-1
I think I let the deck down in G2 instead of the other way around.
Match 2 vs Mono Red Prison (Win 2-1)
G1 I flip a legion's landing turn 3 but don't have the combo. He lands a couple of goblin rabblemasters but I manage to stay alive long enough to go off. I pull both Emrakul and Iona blocking red for the win. My life goes pretty low, though.
Board: 1 Bitterblossom, 2 Thoughtseize OUT; 2 Wear // Tear, 1 Worship
G2 goes badly as he does a turn 2(!) Chandra, Torch using 2 rituals, then upticks for RR and casts chalice for one. What. The. Hell. I haven't even gotten my bearings when he drops a Sorcerous Spyglass and sees my hand of fatal push, path to exile and Nahiri, and conveniently blanks the last spell in my hand. The game drags because he can't find the last mana to cast Lattice and lock me out, but eventually Torch of Defiance ultimates and even though I manage to fetch my Iona, he eventually casts enough artifacts for 5 damage a pop to kill me.
G3 plays out a lot more like a proper game of magic. A chalice on 1 is largely ignored, and I trade tokens and helixes strategically with incoming gobbos and their token minions to stay alive. I go for 2 with the remaining tokens and get Iona and Emrakul on board; he untaps and fetches a bridge with Karn; but I am ready with a wear // tear in my hand to seal the win.
Score: 1-1
Artifact removal is really important in this match up, I only wish we could have more slots in the modern sideboard.
Match 3 vs Hogaak (Win 2-1)
G1 I gamely try to stay alive against a wave of zombies, 1 vengevine and 1 hogaak. His draws aren't even that good; but Hogaak's average draw is 14 power, 8 of which is trample damage. My path spent on vengevine and my tokens exhausted, I die.
Board: Iona, 2 thoughtseize, 2 bitterblossom OUT; Elesh Norn, 2 Wheel of Sun and Moon, 1 Wrath of God, 1 Worship IN
G2 the opponent keeps a slow hand that does nothing the first 2 turns. This means my turn 4 Emrakul is plenty fast enough to seal the win against his board of 2 lands and 1 Altar. What was going on over there I wonder?
G3 is the closest game. I path his turn 1 stitcher's supplier, but not before it put 1 vengevine, 1 bridge and 1 gravecrawler in. Turn 2 sees the opponent evoke a wispmare and cast gravecrawler, which means me getting hit by vengevine and I'm down to 14 (turn 1 shock), and he's got 1 token and 1 crawler. I spend my turn 2 casting Wheel of Sun and Moon, so I'm a sitting duck for 8 damage next turn bringing me to 6. I pass with 2 mana and a fetch; I block the vengevine and gravecrawler and take 2 more damage from the lone token, bringing me to 4 life, but at least the bridge is exiled now, in case another wispmare takes out the Wheel. I fetch tapped, going down to 3. My deck hands me the 4th land I need to survive; I shock and go to ONE LIFE, and cast Wrath of God, putting his crawler and vine on the bottom of his library. I've secured the board but I'm not out of the woods yet; Hogaak plays plenty of enchantment removal. His next turn sees a Insolent Neonate; I cast Kaya's Guile and force him to sacrifice it without value, while I pad my life total to 5. Fortunately I have my lingering souls to flashback, and creativity in my hand. I pull Elesh Norn, and while the opponent manages to remove Wheel with a wispmare, the 0/1 doesn't buy enough time for him to come back. I win with a 3/3 token and Elesh Norn beats.
Score: 2-1
The Hogaak deck is crazy strong. Every time I face it, even when I win, it feels more because the opponent drew badly. Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite does an excellent job of locking the deck down, and is easily the strongest card against it.
The list today:
4 Indomitable Creativity
1 Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Nahiri, the Harbinger
Disruption (12)
4 Path to Exile
2 Fatal Push
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Thoughtseize
2 Lightning Helix
Tokens (13)
2 Legion's Landing
4 Raise the Alarm
4 Lingering Souls
2 Bitterblossom
1 Mardu Charm
4 Faithless Looting
Real Estate (24)
4 Arid Mesa
4 Bloodstained Mire
2 Sacred Foundry
1 Godless Shrine
1 Blood Crypt
1 Inspiring Vantage
2 Clifftop Retreat
1 Dragonskull Summit
2 Wear // Tear
2 Crumble to Dust
2 Teyo, the Shieldmage
1 Saheeli, Sublime Artificier
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Avacyn, Angel of Hope
2 Wheel of Sun and Moon
1 Ravenous Trap
1 Wrath of God
2 Stony Silence
Round 1: BYE
Score 1-0
More like, the opponent is a no-show. Honestly I'd rather play magic. I hardly get the time off to do this.
Round 2: Gx Tron (Lost 1-2)
G1 was pretty much auto-loss. I make some tokens, he casts Ugin, I have no way back.
IN: 2 Crumble to Dust, 1 Avacyn, 2 Stony Silence - OUT: 2 Fatal Push, 2 Inquisition, 1 Iona
G2 I manage to make him stumble on the tron with hand disruption, then hit 4 lands and crumble a tron land. In that window I win with creativity into Emrakul. He has an O stone out but won't have enough mana to activate before I swing next turn.
G3 I crumble on turn 4, but it's one turn too late; and in that one turn he has his tron active, he casts an Ugin. Once again, it's lights out by unreasonable bomb.
Score: 1-1
Here I thought this archetype would be in hiding thanks to Hogaak. But there isn't a SINGLE altar of dementia in the room. I can't believe this. Crumble is a better plug, but Alpine Moon is the only thing fast enough in these colors. It's a floodgate tho, one that can be easily opened with Nature's Claim.
Round 2: Red Deck Wins (Win 2-1)
G1 He manages to get me with a flurry of 1-drop prowess creatures. The last swiftspear I am unable to remove and he throws his burn spells liberally at my tokens so she can keep getting through for 4 damage, which makes his Light up the Stage live. Lava Dart turns even his land topdecks into kill spells and additional Prowess. If I wasn't getting killed by it I'd admire how efficient his deck is against me.
IN: 2 Teyo, 1 Saheeli, 1 Wrath of God - OUT: 2 Thoughtseize, 2 Bitterblossom
Saheeli and Wrath aren't the best cards, but I am literally out of cards to swap for the life-loss cards that we are definitely swapping out.
G2 Teyo is MVP here, coming down after I path and push a couple of threats, creating a wall which then becomes an Emrakul. With no outs, the opponent scoops.
G3 he has 2 prowess peeps out AND a phoenix. I have 1 soldier token and 2 spirits. He attacks and I block only the phoenix, and I drop to 12 life. I untap and kill both my remaining tokens, putting both Iona and Emrakul on the board.
Score: 2-1
Well, that's the deck doing what it was meant to. I'm wondering if I shouldn't have an extra helix or collective brutality in the side.
Round 3: EldraTron (Win 2-1)
G1 He has the turn 2 thought knot seer. Very very unreasonable. What is this, eldrazi winter? I'm not dressed for this. A reality smasher follows and well, my reality is smashed.
IN: 2 Crumble to Dust, 1 Wrath of God, 1 Avacyn - OUT: 1 Iona, 1 Nahiri, 1 Bitterblossom, 1 Mardu Charm
G2 is an awkward battle of attrition - one I didn't think I could win but I somehow did, with his lone TKS being unable to keep up with my flurry of tokens. On the final turn I have stripped his hand of the bigger threats like smasher and pathed his Endbringer - his only removal is dismember and I have 6 1/1 attackers for his 6 life. When I show him a path for his TKS, he scoops.
G3 is the tightest game I play today. I go for 1 on turn 4, and hit Emrakul. On his side of the board:
2 TKS
1 Reality Smasher
5 lands
Chalice on 1
I have a path and inquisition that are dead thanks to his chalice.
My life total is 13. His, 20.
I pass the turn, he untaps and takes a while to think. I don't blame him. If he swings all out, I'll block and kill his smasher, leaving him with 8 permanents, and when I swing back he will have to sac chalice or TKS, either releasing my removal or letting me draw. In the end, he elects to drop a Matter Reshaper and pass.
I untap, draw another creativity. I know I have to swing, and then make my decisions from there. At this point there is no way playing defensive will save me, since I have no way to make tokens. Ah, a lingering souls would have been BRILLIANT. I attack, and he sacrifices 5 lands and reshaper, which flips up an expedition map. he has 2 TKS and 1 smasher on the board, exactly 13. It's my turn to think, and my opponent gets a little impatient - "Do you have it or not?" - I'm not sure what he feels "it" is. I decide to cast creativity on his smasher, discarding my inquisition to let it resolve. If he flips up another smasher, he wins. Literally anything else will not be enough barring another smasher drawn. He hits.... a 3rd thought knot seer. Enough for 12 damage, leaving me at 1. He scoops.
Score: 3-1
Although Crumble to Dust is a lot slower than Moon, I didn't miss the Blast Zones peppering the tables today. It really isn't an end-all. Nothing beats clocking or comboing these big mana opponents. Multiple moons could pin down someone counting on Claim, but Blast Zone will wipe em all at once.
Round 4: ID into top 8 (6th Seed)
Score: 3-1-1
Round 5 (Swiss): Copycat and Friends
G1: He hits my spells with Spell Pierce not once, not twice, but 3 times. First pierce catches my turn 1 inquisition. Second pierce catches my turn 2 thoughtseize. When I try to lingering souls, he snap-pierces that, too. I make some tokens and do some damage, but when he has the combo I don't have the path or revolt for push necessary to stop it.
IN: nothing. I got nothing for this match up, apparently.
G2: Being on the play is a lot better. He spends some removal to soften the damage, and when he tries to combo I helix his Saheeli with the activation on the stack. It's a mistake he cannot come back from, as I go for 2, he bolts 1 token and I hit Emrakul.
G3: Non-game. My first hand is a 5 lander with Souls and Raise the alarm. I'm on the draw and this looks like a suicidal hand against a combo deck, so I mull. It goes downhill REAL quick.
6 card hand: no lands
5 card hand: Godless shrine, 1 thoughtseize, 1 push, 1 raise the alarm, 1 souls - Keep, scry a second thoughtseize to the bottom.
I proceed to draw no lands for 5 turns while he hits all of his. When the small teferi comes down, I extend the hand.
Score: 3-2-1
Wow, that last game left me REALLY salty. you'd think playing 24 lands would be enough.
Overall, I think I'm going to need more ways to deal with the tron decks.
I went searching for an alternate forum and for modern, there really isn't a replacement. I moved my primer to www.mtgthesource.com, which is ordinarily aimed at Legacy discussion but they have an existing sub for Modern. I'm hoping we can all migrate to the same site so the modern traffic and discussions can continue there.