My original list had 4 discard spells (2 Iok and 2 thoughtseize). For Me personally they were underwhelming in the sense that I was incentivized to keep them in against certain match ups where they still had limited impact. Like the jeskai match or the Grixis match ups. Turn one discard seemed really good to me, but then when later turns came around they were almost always horrible top decks, draws, etc . I cut them for 4 spreading seas which gave me main deck interaction with tron and an awesome answer to colonnade; that allowed me better boarding options in that match as i get to take out a large portion of removal as they don't have good targets besides collonade, and surprisingly has utility in a lot of match ups in the format.
My point being I felt like their utility was limited, and that the discard spells were better suited for me as other cards. Obviously I could be wrong, and I'm by no means am I saying play seas. But I think you could find cards that fit your play/decks style and you'd get more value out of them in the discard slot. Even the grixis control decks don't run discard spells, and while jund does they often get sideboarded out for real cards. I'm not sure discard is at a good spot in modern honestly (unless you're playing 8 rack)
Won my local fnm tonight with the list I posted previously. 4 rounds, around 20 people. Matches were as follows
Living end 2-1
Bant tokens brew 2-1
Tron 2-1
Bant knightfall 2-0
Walked out with some ugins with my store credit. List is the same as the one I've posted before, however I cut one spell snare from the main to try out collected brutality. Lost game one each round until the finals, which was (not surprisingly) the easiest match of the night. A fair creature deck is everything we want to play against. Any thoughts or questions get at me.
A) wurmcoil is just a really good card against me. Simple as that. Plan is to keep them off tempo and unable to cast it until they are dead.
B) there's no reason for me to play fulminator in the side since I play spreading seas main. Obstinate baloth and thragrusk , in my view, are just overly costed kitchen finks. They serve similar roles and come in in similar matchups.
C) ashiok is a cute card, but ultimately just that. I think most people play ashiok becuz ashiok is cool. At least that's why I do lol. It won't win you many games off the bat but it's a proactive threaT that can provide value later and gets out of bolt range quickly. Last hope would prolly be the better of the two in the main or side, but pulse of murasa serves as my kolaghans command (honestly it's that good) and rcues creatures fine. I imagine in the build I have you could safely swap Jace for lili and it would prolly be correct. Outside of that I don't have many more thoughts on it. She's def very good.
Played in a 30 man weekly monday, wasn’t sure what to play. Was gonna play titan shift but decided to be interactive as the sultai brew I’ve been playing has been running hot the last few times I’ve run it out. My list is below, it’s the same as what I’ve posted before but it’s here for reference.
Creatures
4 goyf
3 snap
2 scooze
2 tasigur
1 grim flayer
Spells
4 serum vision
4 spreading sea
4 fatal push
3 snare
3 leak
2 abrupt decay
2 dismember
1 maelstrom pulse
1 Jace, AOT
1 Pulse of Murasa
lands
4 delta
2 verdant
2 misty
3 lumbering falls
1 creeping tar-pit
2 breeding pool
1 watery grave
1 overgrown tomb
1 darkslick shores
1 blooming mash
1 botanical sanctum
2 island
1 forest
1 swamp
Sideboard
3 countersquall
2 kitchen finks
1 pulse of murasa
2 clique
1 painful truths
1 to the slaughter
1 damnation
1 go for the throat
1 ashiok
1 ee
1 abrupt decay
Round 1 Naya Company 2-1
Game one kinda just one off goyf beats and kill spells, countered a last ditch company for the concession.
Sideboarding
In
2 kitchen finks
1 damnation
1 go for the throat
1 ee
1 decay
1 ashiok
Out
3 snare
4 spreading seas
Game two I died after casting damnation twice, (once off flashback). He eventually killed me with birds of paradise and kessig wolf run lol. Game three was weird, my hand was all basics, and he cast a blood moon on his turn three without any dudes on board… I drew my fourth basic for turn and countered a company and conceded after he proceeds to draw uncastable spells. Not rlly a game honestly I was kinda disappointed.
Round 2: GB Tron 2-0
I knew what he was playing so I knew what I could look for in opening hands. Mulled to six to some goyfs and a sea game one which got there.
Sideboarding
In
3 countersquall
2 clique
1 to the slaughter
1 kitchen finks (just needed a better card then fatal push)
1 painful truths (better then fatal push)
1 ashiok (better then removal spell)
Out
4 fatal push
2 dismember
3 spell snare (hits brutality and sylvan scrying, but prolly still not good enough)
Game two: he mulls to six and has natural tron on turn three, I had a countersquall for ugin and a clique for his next threat. He didn’t have black or green mana to cast brutality or ancient stirrings so I got their off clique beats and a snapcaster (flashed it in to counter an expedition map with countersquall), not the best value but it got there.
Round 3: Jeskai Nahiri 2-1
New player to the shop didn’t know what he was on. Kept a hand with a goyf and some removal, got stuck on three lands and he cast a nahiri which took over the game.
Sideboarding
In
3 countersquall (duh)
2 clique (duh)
1 painful truths (your ancestral vision)
1 ashiok
1 to the slaughter (idk why more people don’t play this card)
2 finks (hard to deal with threat that provides value past initial casting)
Out
4 fatal push
2 dismember
4 goyf ***
* a lot of people are going to hate me for this one lol, but goyf is not where you wan’t to be in this matchup if you are becoming more of a blue deck out of the sideboard. Jeskai nahiri has an assload of removal and thrives off killing vanilla beaters. By taking out goyf your are able to fight more effectively on the axis in which the matchup is largely won on, value and card advantage. All the creatures in your deck now provide value or are themselves a two for one. Finks requires two kill spells outside of path, vendillion clique provides info and screws with their hand, grim flayer is a pseudo ponder every turn he connects, scooze messes with their graveyards and snapcasters, and tasigur will draw you at least a card if played correctly. Ashiok and Jace are threats in and of themselves, and lumbering falls has hex proof. Further, by taking out goyf in the matchup you are decreasing the number of threats in your deck that can be interacted with via spell snare.
** After a lot of testing I’ve come to the conclusion that it may be incorrect to take out abrupt decay in the sideboard games as well. Sometimes you need to have a generic removal spell for random sideboard cards (rest in peace, crucible of worlds, etc) or just a kill spell for snapcasters and vendillion clique, and abrupt decay literally answers all those random problems at the bonus of being uncounterable.
Games two and three were very intricate, so I can’t really give a play by play. Game two I remember my opponent had a nahiri on 6, 1 card in hand, and tapped out (kinda) to activate a colonnade to attack me. I cast a delirium fueled to the slaughter and forced him to sac nahiri and colonnade. Game three I remember casting three countersqualls in one turn late in the game which was pretty brutal. Lumbering falls was the eventual kill condition.
Finals: Burn 1-2
The only one of these games that was close was game two which I won. Just didn’t see the right pieces of interaction and got burned on in game three. I’ll still include my sideboard decisions though.
In
3 countersquall
1 pulse of murasa
2 kitchen finks
1 go for the throat
Was a bummer to lose in the in the finals, still walked out with like thirty credit though. Decks still fun to play, will most likely be looking to find room in the sideboard for one collective brutality though. I believe cutting ashiok for it will be the next move, but who knows.
Played in another local event last night, had five rounds of modern with roughly thirty people showing up to jam! Awesome time all around, took BUG for a spin again after 5-0’ing an event last week. Ran the same maindeck for the most part, albeit on of the misty rainforest was switched into a verdant catacombs as I found I would flood on GU lands with the fetches the way they were. Fetching basic swamp seemed more important than forest/island due to fatal push. Deck is below. the golgari charm which is normally the 15th card was cut for an Ashiok out of the board, more thoughts on this later.
4 goyf
3 snap
2 tasigur
2 scooze
1 grim flayer
4 serum visions
4 fatal push
2 decay
2 dismember
1 maelstrom pulse
1 pulse of murasa
3 leak
3 snare
4 spreading seas
1 Jace, architect of thought
3 lumbering falls
1 tar pit
4 delta
1 misty
3 verdant
2 breeding pool
1 watery grave
1 overgrown tomb
2 botanical sanctum
1 darkalick shores
2 island
1 forest
1 swamp
Sideboard
2 clique
3 countersquall
2 kitchen finks
1 pulse of murasa
1 go for the throat
1 to the slaughter
1 ee
1 abrupt decay
1 damnation
1 painful truths
1 ashiok
Deck ran hot again, and I was able to swing a little luck and variance to another 4-0-1 finish. Me and the other guy split the final prize pool. Walked out with like 50 in store cred. Matchups and notes on them are below.
Burn 2-1
I’m on the play, and my hand has some general good stuff, 2 delta, verdant, goyf, push, snap and a pulse of murasa. Hand seemed fine as I didn’t know what I was playing against. I lead off with my delta and said go. He leads off with stomping ground into goblin guide and swings so the jig is up on what he’s playing. My hand lined up perfectly honestly, as I was able to fetch basics the first three turns and play a oyf to stonewall his dudes. I eventually cast pulse of murasa and snapped it back which prompted a quickend to the game.
Sideboard
In: 2 Finks, 3 countersquall, 1 pulse of murasa, 1 go for the throat
Out: 2 dismember, 2 decay, 1 spreading sea’s, 1 jace
Game two he kills me on turn three with an absolute nut draw. Triple goblin guide into atarka’s command on turn three.
Game three, I keep what is by far a REALLY loose hand with push and double spreading seas and countersquall on a mull to 6. I played a land, he played a lava spike, which made me think he had eidolon in hand. I spreading sea’s his first land so he can’t play an eidolon. He plays another mountain and plays a swiftsspear. I draw a third land, kill his swiftspear then spreading sea’s his second land which drew me a goyf. He doesn’t draw land the rest of the game and dies with two islands on board a couple turns later
Jeskai Nahiri 2-1
This match was probably my favorite the whole night. The games went forever and we were the last two playing as the round ended.
Game One: My hand had a ton of removal, and he’s playing a deck with no good targets. At one point I had all four push in my hand and laughed as he ticked up nahiri every turn. But at least I got his collonades. I died to emrakul.
Sideboard games
In: 1 to the slaughter, 1 ashiok, 3 countersquall, 2 clique, 2 kitchen finks
Out: 4 fatal push, 2 dismember, 2 decay, 1 grim flayer
I sided out the flayer to try and mitigate the effectiveness of snare on my creatures, plus kitchen finks are just incredibly hard for them to deal with. While path to exile is their best removal spell in the matchup, ultimatelyin the sideboard we become more of a blue deck and them ramping us with their removal spells helps us in the sub-game of mana advantage.
Game two: I jammed a goyf on turn two, he didn’t have a removal spell, I cast a clique to take his nahiri, and beat him for five holding up countersquall for a while.
Game 3: This game lasted FOREVER. We traded resources for a while, and neither of us could stick a threat. We got to a point where I had one card in hand (countersquall) and he had none with an ancestral coming off suspend. He goes to cast ancestral, I squall it. The card he draws for turn is colonnade ( he drew one earlier in the game but it had been spreadin sea’s). I think I’m pretty boned, but I draw a serum visions for turn. Cast a vision, it legit draws me spreading sea’s, and I scy my own manland (lumbering falls to the top). I sea’s hiscollonade, play lumbering falls. Next card is kitchen finks And win the game with beats.
Dredge 2-0
I honestly wasn’t expecting to play against this deck, and my sideboard was, to be truthful, not prepared at all for it. Game One I mulled to five and was incredibly lucky to have a scavenging ooze in my five, which honestly took over the game.
Sideboard
In: EE, Damnation, 2 kitchen finks, Ashiok
Out: 2 decay, 1 Jace, 2 dismember
Game two: My opening hand had a spell snare for cathartic reunion, a scangeing ooze, and an ashiok which was surprisingly decent.
Tron 2-1
Game one: the dreaded tron menace, I knew what the guy was playing so I was able to be a little bit disciplined in my mulligan decisions. I went to six, kept a hand with two serum visions and a mana leak and three lands and thought this can find me spreading seas. I was able to find a goyf and a sea’s off the second visions, and a mana leak on oblivion stone was able to put me ahead on tempo.
Sideboard games
game two: he went turn three worldbreaker and I didn’t have a mana leak. I died soon after lol.
Game three: spreading sea’s two lands and cliqued him to take his o-stone. He whiffed on a ancient stirrings for a third tron land twice, which have been able to let him blow up my only pressure. I got a little lucky.
My last match would have been against grixis delver, and honestly I’m happy to have gotten an ID. I think this matchup is particularly tricky, slightly unfavorable in my view. I was happy with the overall finish though.
So I've messed around wth bug off and on for a year or two. I sleeved up a deck expecting to go (at best) x-2 at a local tourni and just have fun. Ended up going 5-0 with this pile of sultai cards, which though exciting, should never have happened haha.
2 clique
3 countersquall
2 kitchen finks
1 pulse of murasa
1 go for the throat
1 to the slaughter
1 ee
1 abrupt decay
1 damnation
1 painful truths
1 Golgari charm
Matches were
Grixis delver 2-1
Game one sucks cuz you have *****ty pushes and decays in your deck and their game plan is to smack you with delve threats. Games two and three come down to having removal for delve threats and keeping them off black mana with spreading seas (if they snare these you ultimately don't care as that's another snare not aimed at goyf or scooze or snap). I sided out all the fatal push, but kept two abrupt decay main deck just out of respect for delver and young pyromancer. 2 dismember and gonfor the throat are the MVP kill spells in this matchup.
Infect 2-0
Pretty easy, kill their dudes then smack them in the face with Goyf. I a tually kept some seas in the sideboard games as answers to inkmoth nexus.
Slivers 2-1
Interesting merfolk cousin, but ultimately comes down to killing the dudes that matter then smacking them in the face with big dudes. board out mana leaks for countersquall as they play cavern and Aether vial,so all their dudes are uncounterable , but collected company is how they gain velocity so having a clean answer for that in countersquall is pretty awesome.
Rug moon 2-0
Pretty easy matchup as we have main deck answers to their best mid range cards (goyf and moon) while their removal (burn based) lines up horribly against our threats. Spreading seas also can give your more islands or keep them off their green spells. I theoretically had tons of amazing cards in the sideboard, but decided to sideboard very conservatively. Only brought in two finks and the decay. Quite possibly should have brought in countersquall but the maindeck was already good against them.
Jund 2-1
Game one was generally pretty terrible, as our counterspells don't line up with their discard spells. Boarded out all counters and three spreading seas and brought in to he slaughter, both cliques, both finks, the ee, the painful truths, and damnAtion and go for the throat. Eventually just out jund-ed him by winning top deck wars the rest of the match. Painful truths, Jace aot, and pulse of murasa were all stars in games two and three.
Top 8: Lost in 3 to Lands, which while tricky is winnable as long as you know to prioritize Jace as your best win con against them. Killing them via damage is very difficult, as your plows need to keep marit lage in check and them gaining 20 combined with multiple maze of iths and tabernacle keep your creatures in line.
playing Loam for years, and with grim flayer spoiled I tested this list and went an easy 5-0 at my local FNM. Played against Burn, affinity, jund, delver moon, and nahiri chord.
Creatures
4 Grim Flayer
4 Goyf
3 Countryside Crusher
Instant/Sorcery
4 IOK
2 Thoughtseize
1 Raven's Crime
1 Flame Jab
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Terminate
4 Life from the Loam
2 Rakdos Charm
3 Kitchen Finks
2 Feed the Clan
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Flame Jab
1 Raven's Crime
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Darkblast
1 Anger of the Gods
Notes:
Grim flayer was insane every game I played with him. One of the things I disliked about the old versions of aggro loam that played Bob was how weak bob was in matchups where I really wanted him. Bob often disappointed, due to the aggressiveness of the format and his inability to block or swing into chump blockers. Grim flayer was outstanding in the bob slot, and allowed the deck to go much larger than anything I was playing against.
Every creature in the deck is just always going to be larger then what the opponent is playing. Each creature will swing for at least 4, and the synergy and library manipulation offered by crusher and grim flayer give you information that is vital towards determining whether to loam or not. The build is less reliant on seismic assault and flame jab on keepingthe board clear, because your mostly playing the jund game of targeted discard into proactive threat. Loam becomes more of a value package instead of the main strategy, allowing you critical card advantage in liliana mirrors and the ability to get lands you filter out with crusher back into your hand.
I was initially worried the deck would have a problem killing other creatures and problem permanents, as abrupt decay needs to do a lot of work and you only run so many terminates and seismic assaults now. In the fnm, my worries were almost true. But quite often this was solved by just merely swinging with huge dudes every turn. The delver player I played against dropped a blood moon on me. I in turn played two crusher back to back. They both became larger then any creature in his deck and he died to both within a few turns. The nahiri chordplayer in the finals played a nahiri in each game and not once did it get close to 8 counters with the amount of pressure the creatures the deck can apply.
I'm not sure if the Liliana, the last Hope should be a Liliana of the Veil or Kolaghans Command, more testing is needed and the sideboard is always in flux depending on what I'm expecting. The dryad arbor in the main was cute tech to help get delirium faster, I was able to get someone once by dredging it over and attacking with two grim flayers. He allowed the damage through not realizing the creature type on arbor made both flayers 4/4's. Obviously this is just a small local result but the build is really sweet if anyone is interested to take it for a whirl.
It's been a while since I've posted here. Loam was my very first modern deck after I watched Bronson Magnon take down a GP with it. I gave the deck up for a bit after atarka's command decks started taking over the format (pre eldrazi) and with ancestral vision being unbanned i think loam will have a spot in the format with an influx of people trying to slow the game down with visions.
I was jamming my old assault loam list the other day at my local meta game, we have a fairly stout modern meta with regular 20 man friday night magic tournaments so it's a solid shop for testing and grinding. I was feeling the urge to loam the last few weeks and decided to sleeve up old reliable. Sadly I traded away many of the staples I had for the deck, but the only main difference between my lists from before and after were that I could only get my hands on 1 seismic assault for the last two fnms (stupid mail). Anyway where I would normally run three I instead ran 1 countryside crusher and 1 vortex and one seismic. I would procede to go 4-1 at this fnm losing in the finals to a jeskai player in game three because he drew two bolts in a row while I was at 6, he had no cards in hand (ravens crimes a *****) and was going to die to a raging ravine if he didn't get the second bolt. Anyways, despite my ramblings I feel like I've learned some crucial things about the deck, and the archetype in general which have lead me going with this new list forward which I intend to start jamming at the next few scg's when I get a chance.
4 tarmogoyf
4 Dark Confidant
3 Countryside Crusher
Instant/Sorcery
4 IOK
2 Thoughtseize
1 Ravens Crime
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Flame Jab
1 Dark Blast
4 Life from the Loam
Planeswalker: 3
3 Lillian of the Veil
Enchantment: 2
2 Seismic Assault
Notable Exceptions: NO faithless looting, no molten vortex
This list may be a little old school, but there is a reason to the madness. When faithless looting first got spoiled I was one of the first to jam it into the deck due to its filtering applications with the excess lands your deck inevitably draws, plus it's ability to pitch loam to the yard. However, my first iteration of the deck as a hard control deck with zero creatures took forever to kill people, and faithless looting, in itself is a horrible card when you need to draw exactly something. The amount of situations I've had a looting that failed me are more numerous then the ones I can count where it won me the game. My theory behind its exclusion is that the list above is able to run more cards that not only do things, but increase the threat density of the deck as a whole. Dark Confidant, if left unchecked, will straight up win you games. Tarmogoyf will always just be goyf, big dumb and overpowered at 2cmc. Countryside crusher has overperformed in testing for me, and fills the role that I once considered for courser of kruphix. Crusher not only finds you spells that you can play, but also gives you a little control over the top of your deck while doubling as a gigantic clock. To sum up my point, Faithless looting isn't being run because Bob is just in itself a much more powerful card and effect for the deck in my experience. Likewise for molten vortex, I prefer the much more powerful version of seismic assault.
By upping the creature density of the deck, I've also upped the number of mainboard targeted discard to six, the standard BGx number while keeping a solo ravens crime in for the odd occasion you'll need it. My logic here is that as modern is intrinsically a faster format (despite the inclusion of thopter combo and ancestral vision), turn one targeted hand disruption is incredibly potent for providing information, disrupting your opponents, and setting up your own engine. Sniping opposing removal spells to keep bobs and crushers online for even a turn is enough to get the deck going. While normally aggro could often get under the loam assault combo, this deck provides a quick enough clock on its own to mitigate their explosiveness with the raw power of it's beaters.
I'm clearly not trying to reinvent the wheel with this list, mostly just spark some discussion on an old version of the lsit which I feel may have been discarded before it's time. In my testing the last few weeks of come to think of Bronson Magnon's version to be the product of a genius before its time (haha, a little biased but I've jsut come to appreciate it more).
Deck Critiques:
Currently the only matchup I am absolutely having difficulty with is the Junk match, I chalk this up them just being a superior bgx deck then our archetype, where as we have the advantage over tron in an open meta as opposed to them. Likewise, I think the darkblast should be a third flame jab quite often, and I contemplate shaving a land for a maelstrom pulse. The second thoughtseize could easily be a raven's crime and it's probably correct as one, but for now I'll keep the second crime in the sideboard.
Sideboard:
3 Feed the Clan
1 Obstinate Baloth
2 slaughter games
2 ravens crime
1 flame jab
2 ancient grudge
1 sulfur elemental
1 damnation
2 nihil spellbomb
then i guess lose to the snooze fest? with my sideboard cards this is the strategy I use, Rest in Peace to prevent the elixir loop, flash threats to deploy on their turn, ghost quarters for part the veil and path to exile for thaasa or the awakened land. Rest in peace is a lot more useful then wall of omens and aven mindcensor is a lot more useful then ojutai or sun titan or whatever bomb your deck uses. Why your resources would be tapped on your turn is beyond me, as the goal is to play on their turn. Gigadrowse is their way of jamming the combo, play around it by countering the relevant gigadrowse target. A plan is better then just conceding the matchup because you don't get to run gaddock teeg in your sideoard.
Once again, I said I bring in aven mindcensor as it's an additional threat i can play on their turn. I never mentioned its ability being relevant, the relevant portion being that it comes down on their turn and can start applying pressure. And as I actually play the deck I will tell you first hand graveyard hate is relevant, as they cannot go infinite without the elixir loop. The entire reason they play elixir is to shuffle their used time walk effects back into their deck... and yes vendillion clique is a better flash threat. but since its already in my main deck as a two of no point in having extra's in the sideboard
was more curious if discard is a worthy inclusion in the sideboard for control mirrors lol. obviously iok and thoughtseize would be fantastic choices lol. But against taking-turns I board in rest in peace, mindcensor, and disenchant. The deck actually has an issue with graveyard hate, as its very reliant on rebuying all of its time warps and walk the aeons via buyback and elixir of immortality. The disenchant is obvious hate against dictate of kruphix, and i bring in the midcensor as it is just an extra flash threat that i can deploy on their turn. Keeping mana up and playing on their turn is the main strategy I use. Not letting them flash in dictate on your turn is important, and for me utter ends act is threat removal for a lot of their problem cards like dictate, jace, and thasa.
My point being I felt like their utility was limited, and that the discard spells were better suited for me as other cards. Obviously I could be wrong, and I'm by no means am I saying play seas. But I think you could find cards that fit your play/decks style and you'd get more value out of them in the discard slot. Even the grixis control decks don't run discard spells, and while jund does they often get sideboarded out for real cards. I'm not sure discard is at a good spot in modern honestly (unless you're playing 8 rack)
Living end 2-1
Bant tokens brew 2-1
Tron 2-1
Bant knightfall 2-0
Walked out with some ugins with my store credit. List is the same as the one I've posted before, however I cut one spell snare from the main to try out collected brutality. Lost game one each round until the finals, which was (not surprisingly) the easiest match of the night. A fair creature deck is everything we want to play against. Any thoughts or questions get at me.
A) wurmcoil is just a really good card against me. Simple as that. Plan is to keep them off tempo and unable to cast it until they are dead.
B) there's no reason for me to play fulminator in the side since I play spreading seas main. Obstinate baloth and thragrusk , in my view, are just overly costed kitchen finks. They serve similar roles and come in in similar matchups.
C) ashiok is a cute card, but ultimately just that. I think most people play ashiok becuz ashiok is cool. At least that's why I do lol. It won't win you many games off the bat but it's a proactive threaT that can provide value later and gets out of bolt range quickly. Last hope would prolly be the better of the two in the main or side, but pulse of murasa serves as my kolaghans command (honestly it's that good) and rcues creatures fine. I imagine in the build I have you could safely swap Jace for lili and it would prolly be correct. Outside of that I don't have many more thoughts on it. She's def very good.
Creatures
4 goyf
3 snap
2 scooze
2 tasigur
1 grim flayer
Spells
4 serum vision
4 spreading sea
4 fatal push
3 snare
3 leak
2 abrupt decay
2 dismember
1 maelstrom pulse
1 Jace, AOT
1 Pulse of Murasa
lands
4 delta
2 verdant
2 misty
3 lumbering falls
1 creeping tar-pit
2 breeding pool
1 watery grave
1 overgrown tomb
1 darkslick shores
1 blooming mash
1 botanical sanctum
2 island
1 forest
1 swamp
Sideboard
3 countersquall
2 kitchen finks
1 pulse of murasa
2 clique
1 painful truths
1 to the slaughter
1 damnation
1 go for the throat
1 ashiok
1 ee
1 abrupt decay
Round 1 Naya Company 2-1
Game one kinda just one off goyf beats and kill spells, countered a last ditch company for the concession.
Sideboarding
In
2 kitchen finks
1 damnation
1 go for the throat
1 ee
1 decay
1 ashiok
Out
3 snare
4 spreading seas
Game two I died after casting damnation twice, (once off flashback). He eventually killed me with birds of paradise and kessig wolf run lol. Game three was weird, my hand was all basics, and he cast a blood moon on his turn three without any dudes on board… I drew my fourth basic for turn and countered a company and conceded after he proceeds to draw uncastable spells. Not rlly a game honestly I was kinda disappointed.
Round 2: GB Tron 2-0
I knew what he was playing so I knew what I could look for in opening hands. Mulled to six to some goyfs and a sea game one which got there.
Sideboarding
In
3 countersquall
2 clique
1 to the slaughter
1 kitchen finks (just needed a better card then fatal push)
1 painful truths (better then fatal push)
1 ashiok (better then removal spell)
Out
4 fatal push
2 dismember
3 spell snare (hits brutality and sylvan scrying, but prolly still not good enough)
Game two: he mulls to six and has natural tron on turn three, I had a countersquall for ugin and a clique for his next threat. He didn’t have black or green mana to cast brutality or ancient stirrings so I got their off clique beats and a snapcaster (flashed it in to counter an expedition map with countersquall), not the best value but it got there.
Round 3: Jeskai Nahiri 2-1
New player to the shop didn’t know what he was on. Kept a hand with a goyf and some removal, got stuck on three lands and he cast a nahiri which took over the game.
Sideboarding
In
3 countersquall (duh)
2 clique (duh)
1 painful truths (your ancestral vision)
1 ashiok
1 to the slaughter (idk why more people don’t play this card)
2 finks (hard to deal with threat that provides value past initial casting)
Out
4 fatal push
2 dismember
4 goyf ***
* a lot of people are going to hate me for this one lol, but goyf is not where you wan’t to be in this matchup if you are becoming more of a blue deck out of the sideboard. Jeskai nahiri has an assload of removal and thrives off killing vanilla beaters. By taking out goyf your are able to fight more effectively on the axis in which the matchup is largely won on, value and card advantage. All the creatures in your deck now provide value or are themselves a two for one. Finks requires two kill spells outside of path, vendillion clique provides info and screws with their hand, grim flayer is a pseudo ponder every turn he connects, scooze messes with their graveyards and snapcasters, and tasigur will draw you at least a card if played correctly. Ashiok and Jace are threats in and of themselves, and lumbering falls has hex proof. Further, by taking out goyf in the matchup you are decreasing the number of threats in your deck that can be interacted with via spell snare.
** After a lot of testing I’ve come to the conclusion that it may be incorrect to take out abrupt decay in the sideboard games as well. Sometimes you need to have a generic removal spell for random sideboard cards (rest in peace, crucible of worlds, etc) or just a kill spell for snapcasters and vendillion clique, and abrupt decay literally answers all those random problems at the bonus of being uncounterable.
Games two and three were very intricate, so I can’t really give a play by play. Game two I remember my opponent had a nahiri on 6, 1 card in hand, and tapped out (kinda) to activate a colonnade to attack me. I cast a delirium fueled to the slaughter and forced him to sac nahiri and colonnade. Game three I remember casting three countersqualls in one turn late in the game which was pretty brutal. Lumbering falls was the eventual kill condition.
Finals: Burn 1-2
The only one of these games that was close was game two which I won. Just didn’t see the right pieces of interaction and got burned on in game three. I’ll still include my sideboard decisions though.
In
3 countersquall
1 pulse of murasa
2 kitchen finks
1 go for the throat
out
2 abrupt decay
2 dismember
1 Jace, AOT
1 Spreading Sea’s
1 maelstrom pulse
Was a bummer to lose in the in the finals, still walked out with like thirty credit though. Decks still fun to play, will most likely be looking to find room in the sideboard for one collective brutality though. I believe cutting ashiok for it will be the next move, but who knows.
4 goyf
3 snap
2 tasigur
2 scooze
1 grim flayer
4 serum visions
4 fatal push
2 decay
2 dismember
1 maelstrom pulse
1 pulse of murasa
3 leak
3 snare
4 spreading seas
1 Jace, architect of thought
3 lumbering falls
1 tar pit
4 delta
1 misty
3 verdant
2 breeding pool
1 watery grave
1 overgrown tomb
2 botanical sanctum
1 darkalick shores
2 island
1 forest
1 swamp
Sideboard
2 clique
3 countersquall
2 kitchen finks
1 pulse of murasa
1 go for the throat
1 to the slaughter
1 ee
1 abrupt decay
1 damnation
1 painful truths
1 ashiok
Deck ran hot again, and I was able to swing a little luck and variance to another 4-0-1 finish. Me and the other guy split the final prize pool. Walked out with like 50 in store cred. Matchups and notes on them are below.
Burn 2-1
I’m on the play, and my hand has some general good stuff, 2 delta, verdant, goyf, push, snap and a pulse of murasa. Hand seemed fine as I didn’t know what I was playing against. I lead off with my delta and said go. He leads off with stomping ground into goblin guide and swings so the jig is up on what he’s playing. My hand lined up perfectly honestly, as I was able to fetch basics the first three turns and play a oyf to stonewall his dudes. I eventually cast pulse of murasa and snapped it back which prompted a quickend to the game.
Sideboard
In: 2 Finks, 3 countersquall, 1 pulse of murasa, 1 go for the throat
Out: 2 dismember, 2 decay, 1 spreading sea’s, 1 jace
Game two he kills me on turn three with an absolute nut draw. Triple goblin guide into atarka’s command on turn three.
Game three, I keep what is by far a REALLY loose hand with push and double spreading seas and countersquall on a mull to 6. I played a land, he played a lava spike, which made me think he had eidolon in hand. I spreading sea’s his first land so he can’t play an eidolon. He plays another mountain and plays a swiftsspear. I draw a third land, kill his swiftspear then spreading sea’s his second land which drew me a goyf. He doesn’t draw land the rest of the game and dies with two islands on board a couple turns later
Jeskai Nahiri 2-1
This match was probably my favorite the whole night. The games went forever and we were the last two playing as the round ended.
Game One: My hand had a ton of removal, and he’s playing a deck with no good targets. At one point I had all four push in my hand and laughed as he ticked up nahiri every turn. But at least I got his collonades. I died to emrakul.
Sideboard games
In: 1 to the slaughter, 1 ashiok, 3 countersquall, 2 clique, 2 kitchen finks
Out: 4 fatal push, 2 dismember, 2 decay, 1 grim flayer
I sided out the flayer to try and mitigate the effectiveness of snare on my creatures, plus kitchen finks are just incredibly hard for them to deal with. While path to exile is their best removal spell in the matchup, ultimatelyin the sideboard we become more of a blue deck and them ramping us with their removal spells helps us in the sub-game of mana advantage.
Game two: I jammed a goyf on turn two, he didn’t have a removal spell, I cast a clique to take his nahiri, and beat him for five holding up countersquall for a while.
Game 3: This game lasted FOREVER. We traded resources for a while, and neither of us could stick a threat. We got to a point where I had one card in hand (countersquall) and he had none with an ancestral coming off suspend. He goes to cast ancestral, I squall it. The card he draws for turn is colonnade ( he drew one earlier in the game but it had been spreadin sea’s). I think I’m pretty boned, but I draw a serum visions for turn. Cast a vision, it legit draws me spreading sea’s, and I scy my own manland (lumbering falls to the top). I sea’s hiscollonade, play lumbering falls. Next card is kitchen finks And win the game with beats.
Dredge 2-0
I honestly wasn’t expecting to play against this deck, and my sideboard was, to be truthful, not prepared at all for it. Game One I mulled to five and was incredibly lucky to have a scavenging ooze in my five, which honestly took over the game.
Sideboard
In: EE, Damnation, 2 kitchen finks, Ashiok
Out: 2 decay, 1 Jace, 2 dismember
Game two: My opening hand had a spell snare for cathartic reunion, a scangeing ooze, and an ashiok which was surprisingly decent.
Tron 2-1
Game one: the dreaded tron menace, I knew what the guy was playing so I was able to be a little bit disciplined in my mulligan decisions. I went to six, kept a hand with two serum visions and a mana leak and three lands and thought this can find me spreading seas. I was able to find a goyf and a sea’s off the second visions, and a mana leak on oblivion stone was able to put me ahead on tempo.
Sideboard games
in: 3 countersquall, 2 vendillion clique, 2 kitchen finks, 1 to the slaughter, 1 ashiok, 1 painful truths
Out: 3 spell snare (it legit only hits sylvan scying), 2 dismember, 4 fatal push, 1 scooze
*** I left in decay for o-stone
game two: he went turn three worldbreaker and I didn’t have a mana leak. I died soon after lol.
Game three: spreading sea’s two lands and cliqued him to take his o-stone. He whiffed on a ancient stirrings for a third tron land twice, which have been able to let him blow up my only pressure. I got a little lucky.
My last match would have been against grixis delver, and honestly I’m happy to have gotten an ID. I think this matchup is particularly tricky, slightly unfavorable in my view. I was happy with the overall finish though.
4 goyf
3 snap
2 tasigur
2 scooze
1 grim flayer
4 serum visions
4 fatal push
2 decay
2 dismember
1 maelstrom pulse
1 pulse of murasa
3 leak
3 snare
4 spreading seas
1 Jace, architect of thought
3 lumbering falls
1 tar pit
4 delta
2 misty
2 verdant
2 breeding pool
1 watery grave
1 overgrown tomb
2 botanical sanctum
1 darkalick shorea
2 island
1 forest
1 swamp
Sideboard
2 clique
3 countersquall
2 kitchen finks
1 pulse of murasa
1 go for the throat
1 to the slaughter
1 ee
1 abrupt decay
1 damnation
1 painful truths
1 Golgari charm
Matches were
Grixis delver 2-1
Game one sucks cuz you have *****ty pushes and decays in your deck and their game plan is to smack you with delve threats. Games two and three come down to having removal for delve threats and keeping them off black mana with spreading seas (if they snare these you ultimately don't care as that's another snare not aimed at goyf or scooze or snap). I sided out all the fatal push, but kept two abrupt decay main deck just out of respect for delver and young pyromancer. 2 dismember and gonfor the throat are the MVP kill spells in this matchup.
Infect 2-0
Pretty easy, kill their dudes then smack them in the face with Goyf. I a tually kept some seas in the sideboard games as answers to inkmoth nexus.
Slivers 2-1
Interesting merfolk cousin, but ultimately comes down to killing the dudes that matter then smacking them in the face with big dudes. board out mana leaks for countersquall as they play cavern and Aether vial,so all their dudes are uncounterable , but collected company is how they gain velocity so having a clean answer for that in countersquall is pretty awesome.
Rug moon 2-0
Pretty easy matchup as we have main deck answers to their best mid range cards (goyf and moon) while their removal (burn based) lines up horribly against our threats. Spreading seas also can give your more islands or keep them off their green spells. I theoretically had tons of amazing cards in the sideboard, but decided to sideboard very conservatively. Only brought in two finks and the decay. Quite possibly should have brought in countersquall but the maindeck was already good against them.
Jund 2-1
Game one was generally pretty terrible, as our counterspells don't line up with their discard spells. Boarded out all counters and three spreading seas and brought in to he slaughter, both cliques, both finks, the ee, the painful truths, and damnAtion and go for the throat. Eventually just out jund-ed him by winning top deck wars the rest of the match. Painful truths, Jace aot, and pulse of murasa were all stars in games two and three.
Deck was a lot of fun to play.
the list is as follows
Creatures
4 Stoneforge
3 Snapcaster Mage
1 Vendilion Clique
1 TNN
Instant/Sorcery
4 Brainstorm
1 Ponder
1 Counterspell
1 Esper Charm
2 Lingering Souls
4 Thoughtseize
4 Swords to Plowshares
2 Supreme Verdict
1 Council's Judgment
4 Force of Will
Planeswalker
3 Jace, the Mindsculptor
Lands
4 Flooded Strand
4 Delta
1 Marsh Flats
3 Underground Sea
3 Tundra
1 Scrubland
2 sland
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Karakas
Artifact
1 Batterskull
1 Jitte
Sideboard
2 Flusterstorm
2 Rest In Peace
2 Meddling Mage
1 EE
1 Vendilion Clique
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Duress
2 Disenchant
1 Containment Priest
1 Surgical Extraction
Games
Round 1: 2-1 versus Reanimator
In: 2 Rip, 1 Duress, 1 Surgical, 2 Mage, 1 Containment Priest, 1 Clique, 2 Flusterstorm
Out: 2 Lingering Souls, 1 TNN, 1 Jitte, 1 Stoneforge, 1 Esper Charm, 1 Ponder, 1 Counterspell, 2 Verdict
Round 2: 2-1 versus Elves
In: 1 EE, 1 Verdict, 2 Meddlign Mage, 1 Containment Priest, 1 Clique
Out: 1 Council's Judgement, 1 Esper Charm, 1 Counterspell, 1 Jace, 1 Force of will, 1 Ponder
Round 3: 2-1 versus Deathblade
In: 1 Clique, 1 Verdict, 1 Sword of FaF, 1 Disenchant
Out: 1 Force, 1 Swords, 1 Ponder, 1 Esper Charm
Round 4: ID Lands
Round 5: ID Miracles
Top 8: Lost in 3 to Lands, which while tricky is winnable as long as you know to prioritize Jace as your best win con against them. Killing them via damage is very difficult, as your plows need to keep marit lage in check and them gaining 20 combined with multiple maze of iths and tabernacle keep your creatures in line.
In: 2 Meddling Mage, 1 Vendillion Clique, 2 Disenchant, 1 Surgical, 2 RIP
Out: 4 Thoughtseize, 1 Counterspell, 2 Supreme Verdict, 1 Council's Judgement
Creatures
4 Grim Flayer
4 Goyf
3 Countryside Crusher
Instant/Sorcery
4 IOK
2 Thoughtseize
1 Raven's Crime
1 Flame Jab
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Terminate
4 Life from the Loam
Planeswalker
1 Liliana, the last Hope
3 Liliana of the Veil
Enchantment
2 Seismic Assault
Lands (26)
4 Verdant
3 Bloodstained Mire
3 Blackcleave Cliffs
1 Blood Crypt
1 Overgrown Tomb
2 Stomping Ground
2 Raging Ravine
1 Lavaclaw Reaches
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Blighted Fen
1 Mountain
1 Swamp
1 Forest
Sideboard
2 Rakdos Charm
3 Kitchen Finks
2 Feed the Clan
1 Abrupt Decay
1 Flame Jab
1 Raven's Crime
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Ancient Grudge
1 Darkblast
1 Anger of the Gods
Notes:
Grim flayer was insane every game I played with him. One of the things I disliked about the old versions of aggro loam that played Bob was how weak bob was in matchups where I really wanted him. Bob often disappointed, due to the aggressiveness of the format and his inability to block or swing into chump blockers. Grim flayer was outstanding in the bob slot, and allowed the deck to go much larger than anything I was playing against.
Every creature in the deck is just always going to be larger then what the opponent is playing. Each creature will swing for at least 4, and the synergy and library manipulation offered by crusher and grim flayer give you information that is vital towards determining whether to loam or not. The build is less reliant on seismic assault and flame jab on keepingthe board clear, because your mostly playing the jund game of targeted discard into proactive threat. Loam becomes more of a value package instead of the main strategy, allowing you critical card advantage in liliana mirrors and the ability to get lands you filter out with crusher back into your hand.
I was initially worried the deck would have a problem killing other creatures and problem permanents, as abrupt decay needs to do a lot of work and you only run so many terminates and seismic assaults now. In the fnm, my worries were almost true. But quite often this was solved by just merely swinging with huge dudes every turn. The delver player I played against dropped a blood moon on me. I in turn played two crusher back to back. They both became larger then any creature in his deck and he died to both within a few turns. The nahiri chordplayer in the finals played a nahiri in each game and not once did it get close to 8 counters with the amount of pressure the creatures the deck can apply.
I'm not sure if the Liliana, the last Hope should be a Liliana of the Veil or Kolaghans Command, more testing is needed and the sideboard is always in flux depending on what I'm expecting. The dryad arbor in the main was cute tech to help get delirium faster, I was able to get someone once by dredging it over and attacking with two grim flayers. He allowed the damage through not realizing the creature type on arbor made both flayers 4/4's. Obviously this is just a small local result but the build is really sweet if anyone is interested to take it for a whirl.
It's been a while since I've posted here. Loam was my very first modern deck after I watched Bronson Magnon take down a GP with it. I gave the deck up for a bit after atarka's command decks started taking over the format (pre eldrazi) and with ancestral vision being unbanned i think loam will have a spot in the format with an influx of people trying to slow the game down with visions.
I was jamming my old assault loam list the other day at my local meta game, we have a fairly stout modern meta with regular 20 man friday night magic tournaments so it's a solid shop for testing and grinding. I was feeling the urge to loam the last few weeks and decided to sleeve up old reliable. Sadly I traded away many of the staples I had for the deck, but the only main difference between my lists from before and after were that I could only get my hands on 1 seismic assault for the last two fnms (stupid mail). Anyway where I would normally run three I instead ran 1 countryside crusher and 1 vortex and one seismic. I would procede to go 4-1 at this fnm losing in the finals to a jeskai player in game three because he drew two bolts in a row while I was at 6, he had no cards in hand (ravens crimes a *****) and was going to die to a raging ravine if he didn't get the second bolt. Anyways, despite my ramblings I feel like I've learned some crucial things about the deck, and the archetype in general which have lead me going with this new list forward which I intend to start jamming at the next few scg's when I get a chance.
Lands: 27
4 verdant
2 bloodstained mire
2 foothills
3 blckcleave cliffs
2 raging ravine
1 lavaclaw reaches
1 blighted fen
3 ghost quarter
1 mountain
1 forest
1 swamp
1 overgrown tomb
1 stomping ground
1 blood crypt
1 graven cairns
1 rootbound crag
1 urborg tomb of yawgmoth
creatures: 11
4 tarmogoyf
4 Dark Confidant
3 Countryside Crusher
Instant/Sorcery
4 IOK
2 Thoughtseize
1 Ravens Crime
3 Abrupt Decay
2 Flame Jab
1 Dark Blast
4 Life from the Loam
Planeswalker: 3
3 Lillian of the Veil
Enchantment: 2
2 Seismic Assault
Notable Exceptions: NO faithless looting, no molten vortex
This list may be a little old school, but there is a reason to the madness. When faithless looting first got spoiled I was one of the first to jam it into the deck due to its filtering applications with the excess lands your deck inevitably draws, plus it's ability to pitch loam to the yard. However, my first iteration of the deck as a hard control deck with zero creatures took forever to kill people, and faithless looting, in itself is a horrible card when you need to draw exactly something. The amount of situations I've had a looting that failed me are more numerous then the ones I can count where it won me the game. My theory behind its exclusion is that the list above is able to run more cards that not only do things, but increase the threat density of the deck as a whole. Dark Confidant, if left unchecked, will straight up win you games. Tarmogoyf will always just be goyf, big dumb and overpowered at 2cmc. Countryside crusher has overperformed in testing for me, and fills the role that I once considered for courser of kruphix. Crusher not only finds you spells that you can play, but also gives you a little control over the top of your deck while doubling as a gigantic clock. To sum up my point, Faithless looting isn't being run because Bob is just in itself a much more powerful card and effect for the deck in my experience. Likewise for molten vortex, I prefer the much more powerful version of seismic assault.
By upping the creature density of the deck, I've also upped the number of mainboard targeted discard to six, the standard BGx number while keeping a solo ravens crime in for the odd occasion you'll need it. My logic here is that as modern is intrinsically a faster format (despite the inclusion of thopter combo and ancestral vision), turn one targeted hand disruption is incredibly potent for providing information, disrupting your opponents, and setting up your own engine. Sniping opposing removal spells to keep bobs and crushers online for even a turn is enough to get the deck going. While normally aggro could often get under the loam assault combo, this deck provides a quick enough clock on its own to mitigate their explosiveness with the raw power of it's beaters.
I'm clearly not trying to reinvent the wheel with this list, mostly just spark some discussion on an old version of the lsit which I feel may have been discarded before it's time. In my testing the last few weeks of come to think of Bronson Magnon's version to be the product of a genius before its time (haha, a little biased but I've jsut come to appreciate it more).
Deck Critiques:
Currently the only matchup I am absolutely having difficulty with is the Junk match, I chalk this up them just being a superior bgx deck then our archetype, where as we have the advantage over tron in an open meta as opposed to them. Likewise, I think the darkblast should be a third flame jab quite often, and I contemplate shaving a land for a maelstrom pulse. The second thoughtseize could easily be a raven's crime and it's probably correct as one, but for now I'll keep the second crime in the sideboard.
Sideboard:
3 Feed the Clan
1 Obstinate Baloth
2 slaughter games
2 ravens crime
1 flame jab
2 ancient grudge
1 sulfur elemental
1 damnation
2 nihil spellbomb