W/B Tokens is a surprisingly miserable matchup from my pairings, Burn, UR Aggro, and Infect are toss ups. Through your round 4 match did you find the UR to be on a more burn route? I advocate for bringing them in against most midrange/combo matchups, yet perhaps Thoughtseize is too aggressive here. Would also like to hear more about the Hollow One matchup as I've been told it's heavily in our favor. Bad records happen to all of us as variance can be a *****...
Hollow One deck just drawing the nut hand both games. I couldn’t do anything about it. I haven’t played against it and sidebaording too aggressively, I should have thought more about it. At that point I knew I wasn’t going to get anywhere in the tournament and wanted to see how the deck plays against Affinity since it was the first time I played against that deck type.
I don’t recommend removing overseer vs tokens, he makes your entire deck beat theirs. Also if they play Lingering souls, signal Pest to 0 copies is my first cut — they get picked off too easily.
I’ve never played against W/B Tokens before, didn’t really expect how to go about it. Not thinking about it, I definitely messed up and should have kept all the Steel Overseers in. Signal Pest should have been cut. Oh well, Loss and learn, that’s how I look at it.
This is why I rarely play Affinity at my LGS anymore. People can hate us out very easily, so I just play durdle decks at FNM/TNM. Like tron or storm... the kind of decks I want people to prepare for at bigger events
I played at the Modern IQ in one of the LGS where I am. Had 80 players, 7 rounds. Needless to say, I did pretty badly. I went 5-2, really only winning 1 match and the another “win” was the bye.
Here is how it went...
Round 1 - W/B Tokens
Game 1 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: 1 x Blood Moon, 1 x Etched Champion, 2 x Ghirapur Æther Grid, 2 x Wear // Tear, 1 x Whipflare
===taken out: 3 x Galvanic Blast, 2 x Signal Pest, 1 x Steel Overseer, 1 x Vault Skirge
Game 2 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: N/A
===taken out: N/A
Game 3 - N/A
Round 2 - Naya Burn
Game 1 - Win
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: 1 x Etched Champion, 2 x Ghirapur Æther Grix, 1 x Rule of Law, 2 x Wear // Tear
===taken out: 4 x Steel Overseer, 2 x Vault Skirge
Game 2 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: N/A
===taken out: N/A
Game 3 - Loss
Round 3 - Infect
Game 1 - Win
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: 1 x Ancient Grudge, 1 x Etched Champion, 2 x Ghirapur Æther Grid, 1 x Rule of Law, 1 x Whipflare
===taken out: 1 x Master of Etherium, 2 x Memnite, 1 x Signal Pest, 2 x Steel Overseer
Game 2 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: N/A
===taken out: N/A
Game 3 - Loss
Round 4 - Hollow One
Game 1 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: 2 x Blood Moon, 1 x Etched Champion, 1 x Grafdigger’s Cage, 2 x Rest in Peace, 1 x Rule of Law
===taken out: 1 x Master of Etherium, 1 x Signal Pest, 4 x Steel Overseer, 1 x Vault Skirge
Game 2 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: N/A
===taken out: N/A
Game 3 - N/A
Round 5 - U/R Aggro
Game 1 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: 1 x Etched Champion, 1 x Rule of Law, 2 x Thoughtseize
===taken out: 4 x Steel Overseer
Game 2 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: N/A
===taken out: N/A
Game 3 - N/A
Round 6 - BYE
Game 1 - N/A
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: N/A
===taken out: N/A
Game 2 - N/A
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: N/A
===taken out: N/A
Game 3 - N/A
Round 7 - Jund
Game 1 - Win
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: 2 x Blood Moon, 1 x Etched Champion, 2 x Rest in Peace
===taken out: 1 x Master of Etherium, 4 x Steel Overseer
Game 2 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: N/A
===taken out: N/A
Game 3 - Win
Tournament Standings - 59th out of 78
Honestly, I should dropped after the third round, I payed to play, I wanted to play and see my deck in more of a competitive light.
Anyways that’s all I have to report. What do you all think?
I personally believe that trying to pack 2-3 answers to a card that is a potential 1-3 of in our opponent’s deck, is a really bad proposition. Logically speaking, it makes very little sense to play a color-requiring card to answer their card that shuts off all but 4 of our colored sources.
You are right, it doesn’t make much sense to pack so much answers for a sideboard hate card. When my meta runs sooooooo much Affinity hate, it tends to irritate me in trying to answer it as well.
Yes, that is a good option, still quite slow and a toss up when it comes to getting our colored mana source, Spire of Industry. I’ll definitely put more work into using it against any matchup where Stony Silence is possible.
I'm of the mindset that it's not as bad as everyone is saying it is. Affinity is a deck that has been around since modern has been a format because it's able to stand up to almost any deck. I believe our SB will evolve to the current meta and we are still a solid deck choice going forward Just my opinion though
I completely agree, the deck is by no means bad, it's been around since its inception. Heck, it has been so strong it nearly destroyed Standard back in its day. Affinity has any ways been good with changing for the current meta. As of right now, I do admit that I'm still struggling to piece together a sideboard to deal with many threats as of right now.
My largest question for you and honesty everyone else, what it the best way to deal with Stony Silence because it is usually game over for me when an opponent drops that on the board.
Affinity is in a spot where it is as strong as it could be. The format is in flux as of right now. Two big unbans is huge they are finding decks where they are best in, unfortunately Jund is now the deck to beat... again. It is where it is a cycle of four decks types dominate Modern as follows:
Aggro
Strong against: Control & Combo
Weak against: Midrange
Combo
Strong against: Midrange
Weak against: Aggro & Control
Control
Strong against: Combo
Weak against: Aggro & Midrange
Midrange
Strong against: Aggro & Control
Weak against: Combo
It may be different from what I pointed out but that was my thought process. Nonetheless the less, Affinity right now is having a hard time competing with Modern synergy shaken up right now.
Master is generally worth more than 5 dmg if she sticks, but I see where you’re coming from. I’ve been meaning to test her but haven’t yet — been testing standard for a few weeks for the SCG event
Master of Etherium is amazing when it sticks around and can be a huge threat by itself or by pumping others. One of the reasons why I shifted to one in the mainboard is because it can ruin matches where they may run mainboard Ensnaring Bridge. At that point not even Ornithopter with the help of Signal Pest can get there. Granted, very few decks right now run mainboard Ensnaring Bridge; however, when one or two of them show up, ehhh, it sucks.
Standard is in a good place now, I love the Energy style decks even after the banning of Attune with Aether, just haven't given my time for it because Modern is in such an interesting place where Bloodbraid Elf got unbanned and now Jace, the Mind Sculptor is now apart of the format for the first time.
Hazoret main is quite interesting, enough so where I'd be willing to give it a try in a more general meta. Post-unbans I made room for a 3rd Champion so if you're content with Hazoret, shave a Memnite as mentioned. I like the direction of your sideboard; aside from a few things it isn't too different from my own:
Hopping on the Sanctuary hype, and it's been average so far. Going forward I will probably shave one for a Bitterblossom, or try to find room for 2 in the board; I really feel like it's an ace against UWx control and Jund.
Well to report how the tournament went, the 3rd Etched Champion mainboard is really good, more ways to get in when needed and block when needed as well. Definitely gonna keep it in. Hazoret the Fervent mainboard is still amazing and throws people off all the time, I had match where my opponent just didn't know what to do against it. I did shave a Memnite for the 3rd Etched Champion. The one thing I hate and I really mean hate is that my meta is super anti-Affinity in sideboard and pretty much everyone that runs white, will always run Stony Silence. More often than not, I just can't through it. Last night I had it in hand but I couldn't cast it because I had none white producing lands and just couldn't get rid of it in time. Been making me worry about playing Affinity for the IQ this Saturday. I may play Merfolk because I know that deck that best, plus it hates hard on Jund and any deck that runs more than 2 colors. Even my Dredge deck is starting to sound viable as well. Hard to say. What do you think is competitive for an IQ? Dredge, Affinity, or Merfolk?
Ive been on 3 Champion/2master/2 memnite MB for a long time, it’s never felt wrong. Hazoret is interesting, curious to hear how he pans out. I’ll be testing with 1/1 split at TNM
I’m definite adding a third mainboard Etched Champion and cutting a Memnite, once that hits the field, pretty much our best way to get in there for damage to our opponent or in this case now days, against a Jace, the Mind Sculptor. I do admit, it’ll be odd for cutting a turn one 0 drop for a 3 drop eventually.
I’ll tell you have it does tomorrow at my meta’s Modern Monday tournaments.
With the rise of Jund now in Modern thanks to Bloodbraid Elf. Affinity needs to step up it's game. As of recently, I have having 1 Hazoret the Fervent mainboard and wow, it has been doing the deck really good. Being indestructible is a huge plus because it gets around pretty all non-Path to Exile removal. We pretty much always have close to 0 cards in hand always, might as well take advantage of it.
I have an IQ coming up and I want to try to things out. I've tempted to switch out Ethersworn Canonist for Rule of Law, just incase I come across from Storm players at the IQ. Their is a lot of creature removal in Modern so Ethersworn Canonist is a spicy sideboard option but in actuality, doesn't cut it. Storm hasn't been big in my area so I may cut it out completely an replace for a 2nd Ancient Grudge.
For IQ, I'm thinking about this for the Sideboard:
Storm is good but usually Affinity can win quicker for them to set up. So I decided to cut out Rule of Law for a 2nd Rest in Peace.
I've been thinking about changing mainboard of the deck for adding all three Etched Champion and cutting one Memnite since it honestly really only there to chip damage when possible, Cranial Plating pumping, and Springleaf Drum helper in mana production.
What does everyone think? Any recommendations, critiques, thoughts? All are welcome!
Hello everyone! Been playing Infect every now and then, really shakes up the meta in my location when I bring it out, mainly because I am the only one that kept their Infect deck and the loss Gitaxian Probe and the introduction of Fatal Push. How is the decks that everyone is using now? Mine goes as follows:
The only real spice in my deck that I really surprise pretty much everyone when I play it Postmortem Lunge. I never heard of that card, but when I discovered it, I had to put it into my deck.
I have made a lot of changes to my sideboard from playing a lot, especially in the meta I am in. I used to have 2 Grafdigger's Cage, ended up cutting 1 for a third Kitchen Finks. I also cut Stonewood Invocation from my sideboard, mainly because I really never used it and then replaced it for 1 Surgical Extraction.
What do you all think of my deck? Any critiques, changes, etc.?
I have majorly improved my sideboard in Affinity now to the point I think it actually works (from my personal opinion of course). Here is my sideboard now:
I added from my original sideboard the 2 Blood Moons, and the 2 Thoughtseizes. I find it really helpful against some decks.
I have considered switching Ethersworn Canonist for Rule of Law. Enchantments are a bit harder to deal with than creatures; however, Ethersworn Canonist does add pluses for having an artifact into play to make Cranial Plating stronger. Hard to say. I have thought about adding Surgical Extraction to the Sideboard but I don't know what to take out. It might be the second Wear // Tear, mainly having two in my sideboard because of the local meta I have runs a lot of Stony Silence in sideboards.
Hello all! I've built Affinity about three months ago and I really loving it a lot! The deck is a complex deck to say the least, don't get me wrong, the deck can be picked up and played by most people and play it fine. I have managed to inflict 9 Infect damage by turn 2 once and it was so mean haha.
Needless to say, Affinity is still strong and a viable deck in just about any meta. The meta I am in around my area, has a lot of players that play white and thus nearly all play Stony Silence in sideboards and to say in a watered down way... it is extremely annoying. I have upped my sideboard hate for it by going to 2 Wear // Tear from before going to 1. My sideboard is looking as follows:
I am going to eventually change the Inquisition of Kozileks for Thoughtseize since it can better for getting rid of higher mana cost issues. I really like Ethersworn Canonist for matches that cast a lot of spell on top of one another {i.e., Storm, control, etc.). I see people always mention Blood Moon and understand it's usefulness in certain matches but I find it find can hurt with wanting to use Inkmoth Nexus and Blinkmoth Nexus.
What do you all think about my sideboard for Affinity? Especially if the meta I am in uses a lot of white based decks?
Here is my deck list for the deck currently as well:
Been playing Infect a lot lately and have put up good numbers from two numbers I have played with it:
Modern Monday 11-20-17
Round 1 - Mono Black Home Brew
Game 1 - Win
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: 2 x Kitchen Finks, 2 x Spellskite
===taken out: 2 x Distortion Strike, 1 x Twisted Image, 1 x Viridian Corrupter
Game 2 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in:
===taken out:
Game 3 - Loss
Round 2 - Krark Clan Ironworks Combo
Game 1 - Win
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: 1 x Hurkyl’s Recall, 2 x Nature’s Claim, 2 x Spell Pierce
===taken out: 1 x Become Immense, 1 x Dismember, 2 x Distortion Strike, 1 x Postmortem Lunge
Game 2 - Win
===sideboard tech===
===taken in:
===taken out:
Game 3 - N/A
Round 3 - Grishoalbrand
Game 1 - Win
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: 2 x Grafdigger’s Cage, 2 x Spell Pierce, 2 x Spellskite
===taken out: 1 x Become Immense, 1 x Dismember, 2 x Distortion Strike, 1 x Postmortem Lunge, 1 x Viridian Corrupter
Game 2 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in:
===taken out:
Game 3 - Win
Round 4 - G/W Elves
Game 1 - Win
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: 2 x Dismember, 2 x Grafdigger’s Cage, 2 x Spellskite
===taken out: 1 x Become Immense, 2 x Distortion Strike, 1 x Postmortem Lunge, 1 x Twisted Image, 1 x Viridian Corrupter
Game 2 - Win
===sideboard tech===
===taken in:
===taken out:
Game 3 - N/A
Round 5 - B/G 8Rack (DRAW)
Game 1 - Win
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: N/A
===taken out: N/A
Game 2 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: N/A
===taken out: N/A
Game 3 - Win
Tournament Standings - 4th out of 27
It has been good, Infect is a deck that throws people off because it is thought to dead because of ban, that is definitely not the case. My only concern and thought is that if you play it at your meta too much, people will get used to it and know how to adapt to it. Which it is why after the third time, this time not coming in top cut, I'm paying another to switch up the meta.
Hollow One deck just drawing the nut hand both games. I couldn’t do anything about it. I haven’t played against it and sidebaording too aggressively, I should have thought more about it. At that point I knew I wasn’t going to get anywhere in the tournament and wanted to see how the deck plays against Affinity since it was the first time I played against that deck type.
I’ve never played against W/B Tokens before, didn’t really expect how to go about it. Not thinking about it, I definitely messed up and should have kept all the Steel Overseers in. Signal Pest should have been cut. Oh well, Loss and learn, that’s how I look at it.
I played at the Modern IQ in one of the LGS where I am. Had 80 players, 7 rounds. Needless to say, I did pretty badly. I went 5-2, really only winning 1 match and the another “win” was the bye.
Here is how it went...
Round 1 - W/B Tokens
Game 1 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: 1 x Blood Moon, 1 x Etched Champion, 2 x Ghirapur Æther Grid, 2 x Wear // Tear, 1 x Whipflare
===taken out: 3 x Galvanic Blast, 2 x Signal Pest, 1 x Steel Overseer, 1 x Vault Skirge
Game 2 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: N/A
===taken out: N/A
Game 3 - N/A
Round 2 - Naya Burn
Game 1 - Win
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: 1 x Etched Champion, 2 x Ghirapur Æther Grix, 1 x Rule of Law, 2 x Wear // Tear
===taken out: 4 x Steel Overseer, 2 x Vault Skirge
Game 2 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: N/A
===taken out: N/A
Game 3 - Loss
Round 3 - Infect
Game 1 - Win
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: 1 x Ancient Grudge, 1 x Etched Champion, 2 x Ghirapur Æther Grid, 1 x Rule of Law, 1 x Whipflare
===taken out: 1 x Master of Etherium, 2 x Memnite, 1 x Signal Pest, 2 x Steel Overseer
Game 2 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: N/A
===taken out: N/A
Game 3 - Loss
Round 4 - Hollow One
Game 1 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: 2 x Blood Moon, 1 x Etched Champion, 1 x Grafdigger’s Cage, 2 x Rest in Peace, 1 x Rule of Law
===taken out: 1 x Master of Etherium, 1 x Signal Pest, 4 x Steel Overseer, 1 x Vault Skirge
Game 2 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: N/A
===taken out: N/A
Game 3 - N/A
Round 5 - U/R Aggro
Game 1 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: 1 x Etched Champion, 1 x Rule of Law, 2 x Thoughtseize
===taken out: 4 x Steel Overseer
Game 2 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: N/A
===taken out: N/A
Game 3 - N/A
Round 6 - BYE
Game 1 - N/A
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: N/A
===taken out: N/A
Game 2 - N/A
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: N/A
===taken out: N/A
Game 3 - N/A
Round 7 - Jund
Game 1 - Win
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: 2 x Blood Moon, 1 x Etched Champion, 2 x Rest in Peace
===taken out: 1 x Master of Etherium, 4 x Steel Overseer
Game 2 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: N/A
===taken out: N/A
Game 3 - Win
Tournament Standings - 59th out of 78
Honestly, I should dropped after the third round, I payed to play, I wanted to play and see my deck in more of a competitive light.
Anyways that’s all I have to report. What do you all think?
You are right, it doesn’t make much sense to pack so much answers for a sideboard hate card. When my meta runs sooooooo much Affinity hate, it tends to irritate me in trying to answer it as well.
Yes, that is a good option, still quite slow and a toss up when it comes to getting our colored mana source, Spire of Industry. I’ll definitely put more work into using it against any matchup where Stony Silence is possible.
I completely agree, the deck is by no means bad, it's been around since its inception. Heck, it has been so strong it nearly destroyed Standard back in its day. Affinity has any ways been good with changing for the current meta. As of right now, I do admit that I'm still struggling to piece together a sideboard to deal with many threats as of right now.
My largest question for you and honesty everyone else, what it the best way to deal with Stony Silence because it is usually game over for me when an opponent drops that on the board.
Aggro
Strong against: Control & Combo
Weak against: Midrange
Combo
Strong against: Midrange
Weak against: Aggro & Control
Control
Strong against: Combo
Weak against: Aggro & Midrange
Midrange
Strong against: Aggro & Control
Weak against: Combo
It may be different from what I pointed out but that was my thought process. Nonetheless the less, Affinity right now is having a hard time competing with Modern synergy shaken up right now.
What does everything think?
Master of Etherium is amazing when it sticks around and can be a huge threat by itself or by pumping others. One of the reasons why I shifted to one in the mainboard is because it can ruin matches where they may run mainboard Ensnaring Bridge. At that point not even Ornithopter with the help of Signal Pest can get there. Granted, very few decks right now run mainboard Ensnaring Bridge; however, when one or two of them show up, ehhh, it sucks.
Standard is in a good place now, I love the Energy style decks even after the banning of Attune with Aether, just haven't given my time for it because Modern is in such an interesting place where Bloodbraid Elf got unbanned and now Jace, the Mind Sculptor is now apart of the format for the first time.
Well to report how the tournament went, the 3rd Etched Champion mainboard is really good, more ways to get in when needed and block when needed as well. Definitely gonna keep it in. Hazoret the Fervent mainboard is still amazing and throws people off all the time, I had match where my opponent just didn't know what to do against it. I did shave a Memnite for the 3rd Etched Champion. The one thing I hate and I really mean hate is that my meta is super anti-Affinity in sideboard and pretty much everyone that runs white, will always run Stony Silence. More often than not, I just can't through it. Last night I had it in hand but I couldn't cast it because I had none white producing lands and just couldn't get rid of it in time. Been making me worry about playing Affinity for the IQ this Saturday. I may play Merfolk because I know that deck that best, plus it hates hard on Jund and any deck that runs more than 2 colors. Even my Dredge deck is starting to sound viable as well. Hard to say. What do you think is competitive for an IQ? Dredge, Affinity, or Merfolk?
Used to be on 2 Master of Etherium but then I tried Hazoret the Fervent and wow, it is really game changing. One thing for sure, no one is expecting it at all. The only real removal for her is anything at exiles, such as Path to Exile and Celestial Purge.
I’ll tell you have it does tomorrow at my meta’s Modern Monday tournaments.
Here is my deck as of right now:
4 Cranial Plating
4 Mox Opal
4 Springleaf Drum
Creatures (27):
4 Arcbound Ravager
2 Etched Champion
1 Hazoret the Fervent
1 Master of Etherium
3 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
4 Steel Overseer
4 Vault Skirge
4 Galvanic Blast
Lands (17):
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Mountain
4 Spire of Industry
1 Ancient Grudge
2 Blood Moon
1 Dispatch
1 Etched Champion
1 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Ghirapur Aether Grid
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Rest in Peace
2 Thoughtseize
2 Wear // Tear
1 Whipflare
I have an IQ coming up and I want to try to things out. I've tempted to switch out Ethersworn Canonist for Rule of Law, just incase I come across from Storm players at the IQ. Their is a lot of creature removal in Modern so Ethersworn Canonist is a spicy sideboard option but in actuality, doesn't cut it. Storm hasn't been big in my area so I may cut it out completely an replace for a 2nd Ancient Grudge.
For IQ, I'm thinking about this for the Sideboard:
2 Blood Moon
1 Etched Champion
2 Ghirapur Aether Grid
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Rest in Peace
2 Thoughtseize
2 Wear // Tear
1 Whipflare
Storm is good but usually Affinity can win quicker for them to set up. So I decided to cut out Rule of Law for a 2nd Rest in Peace.
I've been thinking about changing mainboard of the deck for adding all three Etched Champion and cutting one Memnite since it honestly really only there to chip damage when possible, Cranial Plating pumping, and Springleaf Drum helper in mana production.
What does everyone think? Any recommendations, critiques, thoughts? All are welcome!
4 Blighted Agent
4 Glistener Elf
4 Noble Hierarch
1 Viridian Corrupter
Instants (24):
1 Apostle's Blessing
2 Become Immense
4 Blossoming Defense
1 Dismember
2 Groundswell
4 Might of Old Krosa
4 Mutagenic Growth
1 Spell Pierce
1 Twisted Image
4 Vines of Vastwood
2 Distortion Strike
1 Postmortem Lunge
Lands (20):
3 Breeding Pool
1 Dryad Arbor
2 Forest
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Pendelhaven
4 Windswept Heath
2 Dismember
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Hurkyl's Recall
3 Kitchen Finks
2 Nature's Claim
2 Spell Pierce
2 Spellskite
1 Surgical Extraction
The only real spice in my deck that I really surprise pretty much everyone when I play it Postmortem Lunge. I never heard of that card, but when I discovered it, I had to put it into my deck.
I have made a lot of changes to my sideboard from playing a lot, especially in the meta I am in. I used to have 2 Grafdigger's Cage, ended up cutting 1 for a third Kitchen Finks. I also cut Stonewood Invocation from my sideboard, mainly because I really never used it and then replaced it for 1 Surgical Extraction.
What do you all think of my deck? Any critiques, changes, etc.?
2 Blood Moon
1 Dispatch
1 Etched Champion
1 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Ghirapur Aether Grid
1 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Rest in Peace
2 Thoughtseize
2 Wear // Tear
1 Whipflare
I added from my original sideboard the 2 Blood Moons, and the 2 Thoughtseizes. I find it really helpful against some decks.
I have considered switching Ethersworn Canonist for Rule of Law. Enchantments are a bit harder to deal with than creatures; however, Ethersworn Canonist does add pluses for having an artifact into play to make Cranial Plating stronger. Hard to say. I have thought about adding Surgical Extraction to the Sideboard but I don't know what to take out. It might be the second Wear // Tear, mainly having two in my sideboard because of the local meta I have runs a lot of Stony Silence in sideboards.
What do does everyone think?
Needless to say, Affinity is still strong and a viable deck in just about any meta. The meta I am in around my area, has a lot of players that play white and thus nearly all play Stony Silence in sideboards and to say in a watered down way... it is extremely annoying. I have upped my sideboard hate for it by going to 2 Wear // Tear from before going to 1. My sideboard is looking as follows:
2 Dispatch
1 Etched Champion
1 Ethersworn Canonist
2 Ghirapur Aether Grid
1 Grafdigger's Cage
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
1 Rest in Peace
1 Spell Pierce
2 Wear // Tear
1 Whipflare
I am going to eventually change the Inquisition of Kozileks for Thoughtseize since it can better for getting rid of higher mana cost issues. I really like Ethersworn Canonist for matches that cast a lot of spell on top of one another {i.e., Storm, control, etc.). I see people always mention Blood Moon and understand it's usefulness in certain matches but I find it find can hurt with wanting to use Inkmoth Nexus and Blinkmoth Nexus.
What do you all think about my sideboard for Affinity? Especially if the meta I am in uses a lot of white based decks?
Here is my deck list for the deck currently as well:
4 Cranial Plating
4 Mox Opal
4 Springleaf Drum
Creatures (27):
4 Arcbound Ravager
2 Etched Champion
2 Master of Etherium
3 Memnite
4 Ornithopter
4 Signal Pest
4 Steel Overseer
4 Vault Skirge
4 Galvanic Blast
Lands (17):
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Mountain
4 Spire of Industry
Any ideas? Additions? Changes? All comments are welcome and appreciated!
Modern Monday 11-20-17
Round 1 - Mono Black Home Brew
Game 1 - Win
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: 2 x Kitchen Finks, 2 x Spellskite
===taken out: 2 x Distortion Strike, 1 x Twisted Image, 1 x Viridian Corrupter
Game 2 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in:
===taken out:
Game 3 - Loss
Round 2 - Krark Clan Ironworks Combo
Game 1 - Win
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: 1 x Hurkyl’s Recall, 2 x Nature’s Claim, 2 x Spell Pierce
===taken out: 1 x Become Immense, 1 x Dismember, 2 x Distortion Strike, 1 x Postmortem Lunge
Game 2 - Win
===sideboard tech===
===taken in:
===taken out:
Game 3 - N/A
Round 3 - Grishoalbrand
Game 1 - Win
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: 2 x Grafdigger’s Cage, 2 x Spell Pierce, 2 x Spellskite
===taken out: 1 x Become Immense, 1 x Dismember, 2 x Distortion Strike, 1 x Postmortem Lunge, 1 x Viridian Corrupter
Game 2 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in:
===taken out:
Game 3 - Win
Round 4 - G/W Elves
Game 1 - Win
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: 2 x Dismember, 2 x Grafdigger’s Cage, 2 x Spellskite
===taken out: 1 x Become Immense, 2 x Distortion Strike, 1 x Postmortem Lunge, 1 x Twisted Image, 1 x Viridian Corrupter
Game 2 - Win
===sideboard tech===
===taken in:
===taken out:
Game 3 - N/A
Round 5 - B/G 8Rack (DRAW)
Game 1 - Win
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: N/A
===taken out: N/A
Game 2 - Loss
===sideboard tech===
===taken in: N/A
===taken out: N/A
Game 3 - Win
Tournament Standings - 4th out of 27
It has been good, Infect is a deck that throws people off because it is thought to dead because of ban, that is definitely not the case. My only concern and thought is that if you play it at your meta too much, people will get used to it and know how to adapt to it. Which it is why after the third time, this time not coming in top cut, I'm paying another to switch up the meta.