City of Brass is actually better in this deck than mana confluence. It seems counter-intuitive, but the life loss being on the stack separately means you can lightning helix before it leaves the stack if you're at 1 life. It's a niche example, but definitely could come up.
Also, with Growth Spiral, you are running 7 simic cards. It might be a bit too many and could make your Niv hits less effective.
Hey all, am putting together a deck for FNM, haven't played magic in a while from what y'all say this deck sounds like a blast.
I'm thinking of running a list that relies on Glittering Wish as a silver bullet tutor. I'd fill the sb with one of cards that are extremely strong in particular matchups. Basically I'm aiming to combine 5c Glittering wish with this deck, as I feel they compliment each other well.
Possible Silver bullets:
New Ashiok
Wheel of sun and moon
Geist of saint traft
Extra supreme verdict (1 MB)
Fracturing gust
Sigarda, Host of Herons
Cindervines
Zealous Persecution
Anathemancer (criminally underrated)
Deafening Clairon
Unmoored Ego (probably running one MB)
Kambal
Despark
Angrath's Rampage
Lavinia, Azorius Renegade
In terms of my multicolored cards, I'm thinking of going the midrange route with inquisitions, thought disruptions, and sin collectors to help pick out my silver bullets, along with value cards like Bloodbraid and k commands. Also gonna run unmoored Ego to benefit off the hand disruption.
Imo, this deck looks at it's most powerful when it plays like a toolbox, so I'm going all in on that route.
When Spellstutter Spirit enters the battlefield, counter target spell with converted to a cost equal to or less than the number of spirits you control.
When Aven Spiritdancer or another bird you control dies, create a 1/1 spirit.
1/1
This one would be really good for attrition against aggro decks. My Squadron Hawks would create insane value, and my Aven Mimeomancers wouldn't be removed straight away.
Last one, which would be good for all control decks:
Aven of Deathrite 1UB
Creature - Bird
Flash
When Aven of Deathrite enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice it. If you do, draw two cards.
3/1
This one would be a really good card advantage engine that could fill in for Esper Charm. It also doubles as being a surprise blocker, or a threat to apply surprise pressure with.
I know this has probably been said before, but really, just reprint Shardless Agent and Baleful Strix into the Modern cardpool in the inevitable Return to Alara. Sultai's not even a thing, and it's not like Strix is busted anyways. Cascading into Ancestral Vision, while it could be a worrying issue, is not that bad of a prospect when you take into account that there's a bunch of decks that can kill you with your grip full of cards. Plus Temur shenanigans with Bloodbraid Elf would be cool, and it's another wedge that is criminally underrepresented.
Completely agree with you about the. It's such a fun color combination, but gets no play. I think shardless agent would be really good for it, but also printing two cards that work together yet play into the remur strategy. For instance, something like:
Temur Snapcaster U(R/G)
Creature - Bear
Flash
When Temur Snapcaster enters the battelfield, counter target spell, then temur Snapcaster deals damage to itself equal to that spell's converted Mana cost. Any damage done to temur snapcaster that is more than it's toughness is instead dealt to you. For instance, if you counter a seven Mana spell, you take 5 damage and temur Snapcaster takes 2
So while modern is in a good place right now, there are still some key card slots that are missing. For example, an instant speed cantrip. These are the cards I wish were printed.
Opt. This one is obvious. For instant speed blue decks to thrive, they need an efficient instant speed cantrip.
Innocent Blood, this one is less obvious, but think about it. Obviously fatal push is better against wide decks, but this is great against deaths shadow and tasigur decks that often have less creatures. It's a great card for pure control decks that have a tough time against midrange.
Crop Rotation. Now from the start, I know there are a lot of decks that would kill for this.
To name a few:
Jund
Abzan
Tron
Titanshift (Although I'm not sure about this one, because it seems like they want more of "ramp to a game winning card" and this doesn't do that very well.
But it would open up a ton of new avenues for decks that have fallen away a bit. It might even create a mono green eldrazi list.
Here are a few decks that would benefit:
Bant Eldrazi
Amulet Titan
Bogles Maybe
Knight of the Reliquary decks
Green control decks that want to run land toolbox packages.
Crucible of Worlds decks
Delirium decks
Merged with the "Print this Wizards (so I can play it in modern)" thread. - Torpf
To build off of this last post.
One down, two to go!
I still stand by Innocent Blood being amazing in Modern. It's such a great answer to top heavy creature decks and early threats for pure control decks. It wouldn't benefit classic Jund or Junk, but Esper Control variants would love it. It makes Eldrazi Tron a much better matchup. It also works extremely well with Lingering Souls.
On Crop Rotation, it just seems like a really versatile and powerful card. I think it would help out fringe decks more than it would help existing decks. Tron is strange with Crop Rotation, I think it would benefit it, but it only really allows fixing, not making land drops. If you have two lands and you need your third tron land, it's not a very good card. It is, however, really good with Dakmor Salvage and Life from the Loam. I can't see it helping Titanshift either, they just want removal, bombs, and ramp.
So while modern is in a good place right now, there are still some key card slots that are missing. For example, an instant speed cantrip. These are the cards I wish were printed.
Opt. This one is obvious. For instant speed blue decks to thrive, they need an efficient instant speed cantrip.
Innocent Blood, this one is less obvious, but think about it. Obviously fatal push is better against wide decks, but this is great against deaths shadow and tasigur decks that often have less creatures. It's a great card for pure control decks that have a tough time against midrange.
Crop Rotation. Now from the start, I know there are a lot of decks that would kill for this.
To name a few:
Jund
Abzan
Tron
Titanshift (Although I'm not sure about this one, because it seems like they want more of "ramp to a game winning card" and this doesn't do that very well.
But it would open up a ton of new avenues for decks that have fallen away a bit. It might even create a mono green eldrazi list.
Here are a few decks that would benefit:
Bant Eldrazi
Amulet Titan
Bogles Maybe
Knight of the Reliquary decks
Green control decks that want to run land toolbox packages.
Crucible of Worlds decks
Delirium decks
Merged with the "Print this Wizards (so I can play it in modern)" thread. - Torpf
Whispers of Emrakul has won me multiple games. Getting two cards out of your opponent's hand is insane, especially in the mid-next of the game when you're relying on one or two cards.
The games I got to refill my hand with Scour the Laboratory were games I won. The advantage of 3 cards on your opponent is huge.
I went to FNM with it and went 1-2-1, that's two times, a loss and a win. One of the ties should have been a victory for me though, but we ran out of time. I performed better than I thought I would. I was seriously doubting the power level of the my deck. But I won at least a game in each round.
Matchups include: Jund, Grixis Delver, Merfolk, and Knightfall.
Against Jund he crushed me g1 because I couldn't draw enough removal.
G2 I pushed through with flying souls tokens.
G3, he kept playing creatures, but I had sufficient blockers, so we tied.
Against Grixis Delver I went up a game immediately, I Inquisitioned out his best cards and he couldn't hit anything good.
Game two I couldn't find anything to deal with a Gurmag Angler.
Game three we both had a strong presence on board, but mine was flying and I almost got there but we timed out.
Against Merfolk, he went up a game when he ran over me game one.
Game two I removed all his threats and beat down with my Creeping Tar Pit.
Game three I didn't have enough removal for his creatures.
Against Knightfall, I won both games on account of my fliers.
@D90Dennis14
You might be right about the cards not being powerful enough. After testing I'm still not sure. I definitely don't like the cycling cards though.
Not only that, but when you have better commons and uncommons, the set feels better. It's one thing to have a set with a few high value mythic and rares, it's another thing to have a set that you open and think, wow, the average power level is pretty high.
Take BFZ compared to Oath, BFZ had trash uncommons and commons, even rares in some cases. The only thing that made the set good was a few mythics Oath of the Gatewatch not only created a monster deck in modern, which still exists in T1 to some extent, it also gave us lots of cool unique commons and uncommons.
I'm a huge fan of Nimble Obstructionist, It just does so much. It's a 3/1 flash flying for 3, already good. You can disrupt your oppoenent's fetching (which early on can win you the game, 4 lands to 2 is pretty hard to pull back from) or abilities without losing a card. It can shut down ultimates from walkers, Fulminator Mage, Snappy, persist/undying, not to mention other less powerful but nonetheless meaningful abilities.
Not only that, you can threaten both on the same turn. Sign me up for a playset.
I know I'm the only one here, but I'm hoping if I keep posting it'll get some traction.
So the newNimble Obstructionist fits the deck perfectly. While it isn't a cheap cycle, it still cycles. On top of that, it's a flier so it fits with the rest of the creatures and won't get snarled up on the ground. It also gives us a tempo play on turn 3, a turn where we might not be doing much. It seems very powerful on the play to use this on a fetch and leave them with two lands then drop a land next turn and be two turns ahead. Also good on the draw to give you turn priority.
Just a few things with your deck.
City of Brass is actually better in this deck than mana confluence. It seems counter-intuitive, but the life loss being on the stack separately means you can lightning helix before it leaves the stack if you're at 1 life. It's a niche example, but definitely could come up.
Also, with Growth Spiral, you are running 7 simic cards. It might be a bit too many and could make your Niv hits less effective.
Instant
Turning Burn deals 2 damage to Target creature or player.
Draw a card.
It's strong but not busted, could give delver and other tempo decks some much needed power.
I'm thinking of running a list that relies on Glittering Wish as a silver bullet tutor. I'd fill the sb with one of cards that are extremely strong in particular matchups. Basically I'm aiming to combine 5c Glittering wish with this deck, as I feel they compliment each other well.
Possible Silver bullets:
New Ashiok
Wheel of sun and moon
Geist of saint traft
Extra supreme verdict (1 MB)
Fracturing gust
Sigarda, Host of Herons
Cindervines
Zealous Persecution
Anathemancer (criminally underrated)
Deafening Clairon
Unmoored Ego (probably running one MB)
Kambal
Despark
Angrath's Rampage
Lavinia, Azorius Renegade
In terms of my multicolored cards, I'm thinking of going the midrange route with inquisitions, thought disruptions, and sin collectors to help pick out my silver bullets, along with value cards like Bloodbraid and k commands. Also gonna run unmoored Ego to benefit off the hand disruption.
Imo, this deck looks at it's most powerful when it plays like a toolbox, so I'm going all in on that route.
Sorry I can't tag cards, typing from phone.
Spellstutter Spirit 1U
Creature - Spirit
Flying
When Spellstutter Spirit enters the battlefield, counter target spell with converted to a cost equal to or less than the number of spirits you control.
1/1
I like Spellstutter Sprite, I just wish it was for spirits so I could combine it with Lingering Souls and Mausoleum Wanderer. That way it would scale much better late game for my deck.
Another one:
Aven Spiritdancer W
Creature - Bird
When Aven Spiritdancer or another bird you control dies, create a 1/1 spirit.
1/1
This one would be really good for attrition against aggro decks. My Squadron Hawks would create insane value, and my Aven Mimeomancers wouldn't be removed straight away.
Last one, which would be good for all control decks:
Aven of Deathrite 1UB
Creature - Bird
Flash
When Aven of Deathrite enters the battlefield, you may sacrifice it. If you do, draw two cards.
3/1
This one would be a really good card advantage engine that could fill in for Esper Charm. It also doubles as being a surprise blocker, or a threat to apply surprise pressure with.
Completely agree with you about the. It's such a fun color combination, but gets no play. I think shardless agent would be really good for it, but also printing two cards that work together yet play into the remur strategy. For instance, something like:
Temur Snapcaster U(R/G)
Creature - Bear
Flash
When Temur Snapcaster enters the battelfield, counter target spell, then temur Snapcaster deals damage to itself equal to that spell's converted Mana cost. Any damage done to temur snapcaster that is more than it's toughness is instead dealt to you.
For instance, if you counter a seven Mana spell, you take 5 damage and temur Snapcaster takes 2
2/2
To build off of this last post.
One down, two to go!
I still stand by Innocent Blood being amazing in Modern. It's such a great answer to top heavy creature decks and early threats for pure control decks. It wouldn't benefit classic Jund or Junk, but Esper Control variants would love it. It makes Eldrazi Tron a much better matchup. It also works extremely well with Lingering Souls.
On Crop Rotation, it just seems like a really versatile and powerful card. I think it would help out fringe decks more than it would help existing decks. Tron is strange with Crop Rotation, I think it would benefit it, but it only really allows fixing, not making land drops. If you have two lands and you need your third tron land, it's not a very good card. It is, however, really good with Dakmor Salvage and Life from the Loam. I can't see it helping Titanshift either, they just want removal, bombs, and ramp.
Opt. This one is obvious. For instant speed blue decks to thrive, they need an efficient instant speed cantrip.
Innocent Blood, this one is less obvious, but think about it. Obviously fatal push is better against wide decks, but this is great against deaths shadow and tasigur decks that often have less creatures. It's a great card for pure control decks that have a tough time against midrange.
Crop Rotation. Now from the start, I know there are a lot of decks that would kill for this.
To name a few:
Jund
Abzan
Tron
Titanshift (Although I'm not sure about this one, because it seems like they want more of "ramp to a game winning card" and this doesn't do that very well.
But it would open up a ton of new avenues for decks that have fallen away a bit. It might even create a mono green eldrazi list.
Here are a few decks that would benefit:
Bant Eldrazi
Amulet Titan
Bogles Maybe
Knight of the Reliquary decks
Green control decks that want to run land toolbox packages.
Crucible of Worlds decks
Delirium decks
Merged with the "Print this Wizards (so I can play it in modern)" thread. - Torpf
Lol I totally would but 40% for an uncommon is not something I'm willing to pay.
Whispers of Emrakul has won me multiple games. Getting two cards out of your opponent's hand is insane, especially in the mid-next of the game when you're relying on one or two cards.
The games I got to refill my hand with Scour the Laboratory were games I won. The advantage of 3 cards on your opponent is huge.
I went to FNM with it and went 1-2-1, that's two times, a loss and a win. One of the ties should have been a victory for me though, but we ran out of time. I performed better than I thought I would. I was seriously doubting the power level of the my deck. But I won at least a game in each round.
Matchups include: Jund, Grixis Delver, Merfolk, and Knightfall.
Against Jund he crushed me g1 because I couldn't draw enough removal.
G2 I pushed through with flying souls tokens.
G3, he kept playing creatures, but I had sufficient blockers, so we tied.
Against Grixis Delver I went up a game immediately, I Inquisitioned out his best cards and he couldn't hit anything good.
Game two I couldn't find anything to deal with a Gurmag Angler.
Game three we both had a strong presence on board, but mine was flying and I almost got there but we timed out.
Against Merfolk, he went up a game when he ran over me game one.
Game two I removed all his threats and beat down with my Creeping Tar Pit.
Game three I didn't have enough removal for his creatures.
Against Knightfall, I won both games on account of my fliers.
@D90Dennis14
You might be right about the cards not being powerful enough. After testing I'm still not sure. I definitely don't like the cycling cards though.
Take BFZ compared to Oath, BFZ had trash uncommons and commons, even rares in some cases. The only thing that made the set good was a few mythics Oath of the Gatewatch not only created a monster deck in modern, which still exists in T1 to some extent, it also gave us lots of cool unique commons and uncommons.
I'm a huge fan of Nimble Obstructionist, It just does so much. It's a 3/1 flash flying for 3, already good. You can disrupt your oppoenent's fetching (which early on can win you the game, 4 lands to 2 is pretty hard to pull back from) or abilities without losing a card. It can shut down ultimates from walkers, Fulminator Mage, Snappy, persist/undying, not to mention other less powerful but nonetheless meaningful abilities.
Not only that, you can threaten both on the same turn. Sign me up for a playset.
So the newNimble Obstructionist fits the deck perfectly. While it isn't a cheap cycle, it still cycles. On top of that, it's a flier so it fits with the rest of the creatures and won't get snarled up on the ground. It also gives us a tempo play on turn 3, a turn where we might not be doing much. It seems very powerful on the play to use this on a fetch and leave them with two lands then drop a land next turn and be two turns ahead. Also good on the draw to give you turn priority.
As I understand, you can Claim a Snapcaster, snap back the claim with the etb, and get another creature.
2 Snapcaster Mage
4 Curator of Mysteries
4 Architects of Will
4 Scour the Laboratory
4 Thought Scour
2 Mana Leak
1 Cryptic Command
2 Spell Snare
2 Fatal Push
2 Path to Exile
1 Darkblast
3 Whispers of Emrakul
1 Collective Brutality
4 Lingering Souls
2 Cast Out
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
2 Watery Grave
1 Hallowed Fountain
1 Godless Shrine
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Darkslick Shores
1 Seachrome Coast
1 Island
1 Plains
1 Swamp
1 Ghost Quarter
After a little testing, I draw too many lands. Curator of Mysteries is very good, I need to hit payoffs more often.