I used to run 2xRoot Maze in the side when tron had a larger meta share. Even making Wurmcoil Engine enter tapped gives you the much needed turn against them. But then I removed them once I started enjoying Narnam Renegade with fetches.
Rancor is also 1cmc so it should've been countered.
You're right, good catch, I must have screwed up my notes. Been playing a lot of games with the deck lately. Not really the point though - Summoning Trap into Leatherback Baloth on turn 2 was the point in that play.
Well, yeah I can see the appeal of it, but how consistent is it and how many sideboard slots do you dedicate for the traps? Personally, I would like to have a 2mana artifact hate than Summoning Trap as in my experience the problem with chalice on 1 is the non creature 1mana spells that we have. A 4/5 on turn 5-6 is not that impressive without rancor and pumps.
Played three more matches vs Eldrazi Tron tonight with my test partner. Went 1-2, 2-5 in games. The matchup does feel pretty bad. Walking Ballista is really rough, as is All is Dust (Undying on Geist is nice tho).
Had this play tonight:
On the play, game 2:
1: Forest, Experiment One
2: Windswept Heath->Forest, Narname Renegage, Narname Renegage, Swing 3
3: Forest, Avatar of the Resolute, Rancor on Experiment One, Swing 10
4: Leatherback Baloth, Aspect of Hydra on Avatar +9/+9, Swing 26
The deck can do this pretty consistently if unanswered. Big "if" though, unfortunately.
Does anyone use Summoning Trap? I've been using it for a while, but I finally made a couple plays with it. Basically, I just cast a 1-drop creature against Chalice on 1, then dig for a creature. First I got a Rhonas, but it was too late in a loss. Then I made this play in game 3 of the match I won:
On the draw, game 3:
1: Forest, Experiment One [He plays Chalice on 1 turn 2]
2: Forest, Experiment One (countered by Chalice), Summoning Trap->Leatherback Baloth, Rancor on Experiment One, Swing 4
Turn 2 Baloth was pretty nice. I feel like Summoning Trap is pretty decent if you know it's going to be relevant, like against Chalice or a UWx deck.
Rancor is also 1cmc so it should've been countered.
And I'm still running this list in paper. However, on magic online I'm running the following list and as soon as I get the fetch lands, I'll run the same on on paper also:
I know there has been lots of discussion about Narnam Renegade and fetches, some of us like them, some of us find them cumbersome, but I'm running them with success on 2-man queues, and leagues (still didn't have a 5-0 with him though). They provide early aggression, evolve Experiment One more consistently, and help having bigger Avatar of the Resolutes, hence the only 2 Leatherback Baloth.
I was wondering tho, why do you run Kalonian Tusker instead of Dungrove Elder? Using two mana for a slow play that just dies to a bolt feels bad. Dungrove, even if a bit slow, is really a pain for our opponent and transition really well to the mid game.
I like to have more turn 2 plays available and Kalonian Tuskers are the best ones we have after the ones we're already running, that's why I'm running them.
Against Valakut, the problem is turn 3 Anger of the Gods, especially when we're on the draw, and for that I'd say don't overextend until you can protect the creatures you need to protect, and for that we have Vines of Vastwood and Aspect of Hydra. Here, having Torpor Orb helps a lot as it stops Obstinate Baloth's lifegain and initial two lands of Primeval Titan. Sure, Heroic Intervention can be of use in this matchup but I don't think it's more effective than torpor orb.
About Root Maze:
I really love this card as it gives us an extra turn against Ad Nauseam, and Tron. Against Tron, it can buy you even more than just one turn, which is great. Wurmcoil Engine comes into play tapped? Oblivion Stone comes into play tapped? Expedition Map comes into play tapped? 3rd Tron land comes into play tapped? Yeah, I'd love all of them!
I've already stated the reasons why I think Torpor Orb and Pithing Needle are suitable for us. And here is my sideboard:
I think my sideboarding strategy can be improved.
Any advice?
Welcome to stompy, it's great to hear you enjoying the deck! Can you please share your mainboard also? And if possible your means of your playing (paper or magic online).
Game 3, lost 1-2 against Lantern. I lost g1 to Bridge, won g2 with a good clock and 2 Pierces for Lantern and Bridge, and lost g3 due to his Ghirapur Aether Grid, dealing 7 damage to me each turn. I somewhat found a way to deal damage through a Bridge with an Ornithopter and 2 Pests, but other than those I could have done nothing against double Bridge and triple Needle for Ravager, Plating and Grid.
May I ask how did you die to Grid if there was a Needle on it? Or am I missing something?
How did you like the Skylashers? Did they provide you with profitable blocks/attacks?
Would I like 2-3 more one drops? Yes! But they haven't been printed yet. We have to be patient. I am confident that one drop will come, it will.be green or split mana like Dryad. Be two power without jumping through hoops. And won't sacrifice the core benefit of a painless, bloodmoon resistant manabase. Basically if you are trying to shove narnam renegade into stompy please go play wasteland viper it's actually a better card for our game plan.
Relic < Tormods
Do you know what's better than drawing a card from relic? Not being dead to reanimator, living end, knightfall,gifts storm, suicide jund, etc because you couldnt find the 2 mana in time to cast relic and pop it. You are stompy you have 21 lands and many games are decided on the first 10 mana you use. You don't have time to spend 20% of your resources on relic.
Sky Slasher are the real deal. MVP vs anything blue + infect, affinity. Ill go more into detail in my report covering my wins vs infect and affinity. skylasher is all star. You can also look at my post history as I've faunned over them in more detail before.
Firstly, I do like that Narnam Renegade can be a 2/3, 1 more toughness helps (Snapcaster, Thalia, Goblin Guide, etc.). I think the decision to play Narnams depends on personal taste, meta call and accessibility to fetches. I own 7 fetchlands in mtgo and I play with them, in paper I don't have any but I would still play them as a playset, however there are no modern paper tournament around where I live so I cannot test them. So, basically Narnam's pros outweigh its cons for me, hence I play them as a playset. In my opinion, the reason Narnam Renegade is better than Wasteland Viper is simply Narnam being a better creature than the Viper. Surely Viper can also be a combat trick but stompy already has a plenty of tricks available to it already.
You might be correct about Tormod's Crypt for reanimator, living end and gifts storm but I don't think Relic of Progenitus is too slow for knightfall and suicide jund. Again, both has their advantages and disadvantages I guess.
I've never tried Skylashers myself but I can see them being quite strong in a infect&affinity meta. Curious to hear how it worked out.
Made some matches and now it seems to work, a bit faster than classic stompy with narnam and elephant but aoh is still a probable win condition. Now I'm testing some SB options, Heroic Intervention could be an interesting card we'll see. Advices are welcome
Hello there Tech, may I ask what exactly do you want to know? If you tell why you're running that specific list, people on the forum might help you. We normally think "yeah it's another take on stompy, probably good for his/her meta" when we see a bunch of core stompy cards.
Thanks! I've only been playing modern since last February, and been playing only Stompy. I spent a lot of time these past two weeks mulling over my final list+sideboard and I'm really happy on how it turned out. The other bonus from the GP Vancouver was being able to get a few more pieces of foil from the vendors, I'm pretty close to having a full foil/promo stompy deck including sideboard. Though ill say them Legacy foil Rancors and Treetops are pricey lol
Any chance of sharing the list? Also a little bit information about your matches would be cool
Rancor is also 1cmc so it should've been countered.
About a year ago I used to run:
4 Dryad Militant
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Avatar of the Resolute
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Leatherback Baloth
2 Dungrove Elder
4 Vines of Vastwood
4 Rancor
2 Dismember
20 Forest
Then with the uprising of dredge I felt I needed more 2 drops, as Dungrove Elders were too slow, so I started running:
4 Dryad Militant
2 Kalonian Tusker
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Avatar of the Resolute
2 Scavenging Ooze
4 Leatherback Baloth
4 Vines of Vastwood
4 Rancor
3 Dismember
19 Forest
And I'm still running this list in paper. However, on magic online I'm running the following list and as soon as I get the fetch lands, I'll run the same on on paper also:
4 Dryad Militant
4 Narnam Renegade
4 Strangleroot Geist
4 Avatar of the Resolute
2 Scavenging Ooze
2 Leatherback Baloth
4 Vines of Vastwood
4 Rancor
3 Dismember
2 Treetop Village
4 Windswept Heath
3 Wooded Foothills
12 Forest
I know there has been lots of discussion about Narnam Renegade and fetches, some of us like them, some of us find them cumbersome, but I'm running them with success on 2-man queues, and leagues (still didn't have a 5-0 with him though). They provide early aggression, evolve Experiment One more consistently, and help having bigger Avatar of the Resolutes, hence the only 2 Leatherback Baloth.
Snapcaster Mage
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Tidehollow Sculler
Kird Ape
Goblin Guide
Bloodghast
Eidolon of the Great Revel
Young Pyromancer
Dark Confidant
Sure, trample can be a bonus, but as we already have access to Rancor and Avatar of the Resolute, I find Kalonian Tusker to be better than Garruk's Companion.
I like to have more turn 2 plays available and Kalonian Tuskers are the best ones we have after the ones we're already running, that's why I'm running them.
-2 Dungrove Elders
-1 Forest, and
+2 Kalonian Tuskers
+1 Dismember.
I don't know how much you need the Melira, Sylvok Outcasts and Heroic Interventions, but if you plan to replace them with anything I'd suggest a mixture of Torpor Orbs, Pithing Needles and Root Mazes. Here is my reasoning for that:
For Melira, Sylvok Outcast:
Against Infect and Affinity, you have 2 Dismembers, 2 Gut Shots, 2 Natural States, and 2 Unravel the Aethers. Plus, you'd have Pithing Needle, so I don't see Melira, Sylvok Outcast as necessary.
For Heroic Intervention
About Root Maze:
I really love this card as it gives us an extra turn against Ad Nauseam, and Tron. Against Tron, it can buy you even more than just one turn, which is great. Wurmcoil Engine comes into play tapped? Oblivion Stone comes into play tapped? Expedition Map comes into play tapped? 3rd Tron land comes into play tapped? Yeah, I'd love all of them!
I've already stated the reasons why I think Torpor Orb and Pithing Needle are suitable for us. And here is my sideboard:
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Torpor Orb
1 Pulse of Murasa
2 Pithing Needle
2 Relic of Progenitus
2 Natural State
2 Unravel the Æther
2 Prey Upon
2 Root Maze
Welcome to stompy, it's great to hear you enjoying the deck! Can you please share your mainboard also? And if possible your means of your playing (paper or magic online).
May I ask how did you die to Grid if there was a Needle on it? Or am I missing something?
Firstly, I do like that Narnam Renegade can be a 2/3, 1 more toughness helps (Snapcaster, Thalia, Goblin Guide, etc.). I think the decision to play Narnams depends on personal taste, meta call and accessibility to fetches. I own 7 fetchlands in mtgo and I play with them, in paper I don't have any but I would still play them as a playset, however there are no modern paper tournament around where I live so I cannot test them. So, basically Narnam's pros outweigh its cons for me, hence I play them as a playset. In my opinion, the reason Narnam Renegade is better than Wasteland Viper is simply Narnam being a better creature than the Viper. Surely Viper can also be a combat trick but stompy already has a plenty of tricks available to it already.
You might be correct about Tormod's Crypt for reanimator, living end and gifts storm but I don't think Relic of Progenitus is too slow for knightfall and suicide jund. Again, both has their advantages and disadvantages I guess.
I've never tried Skylashers myself but I can see them being quite strong in a infect&affinity meta. Curious to hear how it worked out.
Congratulations once a again and thanks a lot for the list.
A few questions:
Hello there Tech, may I ask what exactly do you want to know? If you tell why you're running that specific list, people on the forum might help you. We normally think "yeah it's another take on stompy, probably good for his/her meta" when we see a bunch of core stompy cards.
Any chance of sharing the list? Also a little bit information about your matches would be cool