Hey guys. Wondering how we approach the UW Spirits matchup specifically. It seems like Bant is easier because our Stubs can hit Coco, but UW feels very bad. Haven't won a game against my team member except when he scooped on a mull to 5.
The thing is that the deck doesn't need selection, not really. We play a combination of cards that through Search triggers or cycling/casting Heiro we can find the cards we need without playing weaker cantrips. The strength of Heiro is that its good to cycle early game, but it's not a *****ty rip in the lategame like Visions is. I think if you play with only Serums and then you play with only Illuminations, a clear winner emerges.
I personally never side out lands because it's the main resource we need to operate. There's a reason Control decks run a lot of lands and it's because we need them to cast our spells.
It may be a card or two off, but that's pretty much it. Here's my sideboard guide for it- Humans
+2 Runed Halo
+1 Celestial Purge
+1 Detention Sphere
+1 Engineered Explosives
I don't think you need to fin Snare in the deck, but if you wanted to, cutting the Bolt would be the way to go. This is exactly what I would run at a big event at the moment, except I'd shave a Purge for another Halo, or the Counterflux for another Halo. Looks great otherwise, and good luck!
Played a pretty stock list at TNM, went 2-3 with some narrow matches that I probably could have played better, missed at least one Flamewake/Ghast trigger.
Yeah honestly, many pros are good at Standard and Limited, and they wanna expand to Modern. They already assume they're great at it, and they're a decent player because they're a pro, but it's not enough to supplement the experience Modern demands.
I'd check his vods from before the comp (he's on Twitch at BenPatNik), and then use the 60 from the most recent video and the sideboard they display on the videos.
TBH I've always felt that Shaheen is not a good Modern control player. He's decent at playing the decks, but he builds some pretty bad piles. His UW list pre-Jace had no Spreading Seas. Personally I take his decks with a grain of salt usually
I actually quite like this. Haven't tested it, but it looks great. Personally, I would keep the Gideon in the main and ether squeeze in a fourth snap somewhere or just stay at three. Personally, I would cut a Negate for a dispel, and an alliance for either an elspeth or a halo.
2x Field of Ruin
4x Flooded Strand
2x Hallowed Fountain
3x Island
1x Plains
1x Sacred Foundry
4x Scalding Tarn
1x Spirebluff Canal
2x Steam Vents
1x Sulfur Falls
2x Search for Azcanta Flip
3x Cryptic Command
3x Electrolyze
3x Lightning Bolt
3x Lightning Helix
3x Logic Knot
1x Negate
4x Path to Exile
1x Secure the Wastes
2x Supreme Verdict
1x Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
4x Snapcaster Mage
1 Ceremonious Rejection
1x Detention Sphere
1x Disdainful Stroke
2x Dispel
1x Elspeth, Sun's Champion
1x Engineered Explosives
1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
2x Runed Halo
2x Vendilion Clique
1x Wear / Tear
It may be a card or two off, but that's pretty much it. Here's my sideboard guide for it-
Humans
+2 Runed Halo
+1 Celestial Purge
+1 Detention Sphere
+1 Engineered Explosives
-3 Logic Knot
-1 Cryptic Command
-1 Negate
Blind Halo: Mantis Rider/Kitesail Freebooter
Jund
+2 Celestial Purge
+2 Runed Halo
+1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
+1 Detention Sphere
+1 Engineered Explosives
+1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
-2 Lightning Bolt
-2 Logic Knot
-1 Negate
-1 Lightning Helix
-1 Electrolyze
-1 Cryptic Command
Blind Halo: Bloodbraid Elf/Goyf
Tron
+2 Vendilion Clique
+1 Detention Sphere
+1 Disdainful Stroke
+1 Ceremonious Rejection
-3 Electrolyze
-2 Lightning Helix
Burn
+2 Dispel
+2 Celestial Purge
+2 Runed Halo
-2 Path to Exile
-2 Supreme Verdict
-2 Electrolyze
Blind Halo: Eidolon of the Great Revel/Shrine of Burning Rage (only if you're 100% certain they play it)
Affinity
+2 Runed Halo
+1 Ceremonious Rejection
+1 Wear / Tear
+1 Engineered Explosives
-3 Logic Knot
-1 Negate
-1 Cryptic Command
Blind Halo: Etched Champion/Inkmoth Nexus
Bogles
+2 Runed Halo
+1 Detention Sphere
+1 Engineered Explosives
-3 Electrolyze
-1 Logic Knot
Blind Halo: Slippery Bogle/Gladecover Scout
Shadow
+2 Celestial Purge
+2 Runed Halo
+1 Dispel
+1 Sphere
-3 Lightning Bolt
-3 Lightning Helix
Blind Halo: Death's Shadow
Lantern
+2 Dispel
+2 Vendilion Clique
+2 Runed Halo
+1 Wear / Tear
+1 Detention Sphere
+1 Ceremonious Rejection
-4 Path to Exile
-2 Supreme Verdict
-2 Lightning Bolt
-1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
Blind Halo: Codex Shredder/Pyxis of Pandemonium
Shift
+2 Runed Halo
+2 Vendilion Clique
+1 Disdainful Stroke
-2 Path to Exile
-2 Lightning Bolt
-1 Supreme Verdict
Blind Halo: Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle
Hollow One
+2 Celestial Purge
+2 Runed Halo
+1 Wear / Tear
+1 Detention Sphere
-2 Logic Knot
-2 Electrolyze
-1 Negate
-1 Cryptic Command
Blind Halo: Hollow One/Gurmag Angler/Tasigur, the Golden Fang
Storm
+2 Dispel
+2 Vendilion Clique
+1 Celestial Purge
+1 Engineered Explosives
+1 Detention Sphere
-3 Path to Exile
-3 Electrolyze
-1 Supreme Verdict
Jeskai Control
+2 Dispel
+2 Vendilion Clique
+1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
+1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
+1 Disdainful Stroke
-3 Path to Exile
-2 Lightning Bolt
-2 Supreme Verdict
UW Control
+2 Dispel
+2 Vendilion Clique
+1 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
+1 Elspeth, Sun's Champion
+1 Disdainful Stroke
-3 Path to Exile
-2 Lightning Bolt
-2 Supreme Verdict
If anyone has any questions about why I sideboard this way/improvements I could make, please let me know.
4x Flameblade Adept
4x Flamewake Phoenix
2x Gurmag Angler
4x Hollow One
4x Street Wraith
1x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4x Burning Inquiry
1x Call to the Netherworld
1x Collective Brutality
4x Faithless Looting
4x Goblin Lore
4x Blood Crypt
4x Bloodstained Mire
3x Mountain
3x Scalding Tarn
2x Stomping Ground
1x Swamp
4 Lightning Bolt
1 Blood Moon
2x Big Game Hunter
1x Blood Moon
2x Engineered Explosives
2x Fatal Push
2x Grim Lavamancer
3x Thoughtseize
I like the Thoughtseize in the board a lot, it was a last-minute switch that definitely payed off.
I actually quite like this. Haven't tested it, but it looks great. Personally, I would keep the Gideon in the main and ether squeeze in a fourth snap somewhere or just stay at three. Personally, I would cut a Negate for a dispel, and an alliance for either an elspeth or a halo.