Nice work on the primer Rayo, however I am unsure about the Valakut matchup being favorable, I do not have enough experience to say but it does not feel clearly favourable.
Narnam Renegade looks nice actually, I will try him when I next play modern as a 2 of I think
I don't think needing 1 green for goyf is a tough mana requirement, eternal witness + cryptic is what warps the mana base.
Those are all good value cards, but I don't believe bant has had any notable success. Have you tried playing a Bant variant against opponents? For how many games against what etc. So many games I win are because of bolt-snap bolt, bolt witness bolt, with some cryptic tapping action - giving that up seems like a bad idea. White offers more reliable removal, and some value dudes like fink/resto, however, this deck is a tempo deck, and those arent particularly appealing options for this type of deck.
@rayo
Primer looks good, first sentence in the first paragraph under 'card choices' is a bit awkward, seems like there is a word missing?
Some details are hazy as am writing this two days post the fact, work getting in the way etc.
Bant Spirits (0-2)
g1: I keep a medium 6 with 3 spells 3 lands, he proceeds to curve noble (which I bolt), into thalia, into noble mausoleum. I get a vial down t2, remand a drogskol, and eventually vial in a goyf. He has assembled 3-4 guys to my goyf, I believe hes on 4 and im on 5 at this point. I vial clique in, and see coco, archangel avacyn (5cmc flash one), a bird, and something else. I don't take anything, but I am pretty sure I should have taken coco. I end up going for a (thalia taxed) cryptic endstep, which he sacs mausoleum to counter. I die to flyers the following turn. Feels like I had a lot of relevant decisions that game - probably made some poor ones.
g2: Less interesting, we exchange guys with removal, he draws a geist, I draw 12 lands (clique was only threat all game). I electrolyze a dork and him to draw into goyf to block his geist, but he paths goyf.
Matchup feels tough between mainboard thalia, mausoleum, lots of flyers, and coco.
g1: Exchange resources, hes on 2 snaps main (maybe more), I get to snare one, remand another. Board stalls out, with him having gurmag and tasi, me with snap goyf and both on low life. I bolt him end step after he taps out to kill my clique I vial in. In my main phase I vial in the e-witt (had been slowrolling it, figuring bolt chain was my path to victory), get back bolt and win.
g2: Plays out similarly, except this time I go for cryptic tap his team on his end step, he orzhov charms goyf in response (after tanking) and goes to 5. I then untap and bolt him twice (again had been holding them).
sideboarding: +1 Garruk +1 Huntmaster -2 clique (excepted souls from sideboard as I saw godless shrine g1 - he did bring 2 in).
Storm (2-1)
g1: punt by remanding gifts instead of bolting baral - always bolt the enabler.
g2: mull to 6, sculpt a hand of dispels, snares and a cryptic. Ride vialed in goyfs to victory.
g3: fight over echoing truth (my two goyfs - had no vial out), he uses 2 spells and is left with 3 cards in hand so goyfs being in hand is ok. Replay both goyfs, pass, he plays electro and a cantrip and passes back. I vial in witness and bolt electro, attack with goyfs. He untaps, cantrips a bit, and scoops.
Sideboarding: +2 dispel +1 negate +1 izzet -1 scooze -1 traverse -1 snag (I think) Yes I went up to 61 cards
This matchup feels favorable for us. Have played the matchup a fair few times now and always felt quite straightforward.
Jeskai Saheeli (2-1)
Don't remember details much here - last game was tired.
g1: Tempo him out, he cannot resolve any of his spells, and dies.
g2: Board stalls after we both remove everything we present each other, he then resolves RIP (I should maybe board in natural state preemptively? which i do for g3). I scoop to avoid going to time - did not feel like he was going to win necessarily.
g3: 10 minutes on clock. I mull to 6, and game plays out similarly to g1, he cannot keep up with tempo draw, and gets an awkward land draw with no white source for his 2x felidar, and 1 x supreme verdict I see with clique (and leave him with).
sideboarding: dont remember, same as storm I believe minus izzet staticaster, treated this as a combo matchup, rather then a grindy one, this may be too conservative.
Deck felt great, I made mistakes, spirits was possibly winnable.
All 4 vials out I assume? I will try that next time I face them. I guess my thinking was that if abzan abrupt decays a vial (which they do), that's one less at a goyf/clique/snap/wit? Idk, not great logic, I like your thinking.
Garruk won me a game (and match) vs DSJ, 2/2 every turn hard to beat for them sometimes. Seems dece, 2nd huntmaster could be better on average though. Something to be said for diversifying your sideboard though.
Any tech for Bant eldrazi? matchup seems soooooo bad, cavern of souls is super rough, and their dudes cant be answered easily.
As an aside, I am thinking of porting this deck to legacy for my first legacy event, using Counterspell, force, brainstorm, ponder, fire/ice, and a couple jace
I recall considering it, but decided against it, in hindsight shaving a bolt definitely seems wise haha.
Him being a 2for1 and gaining life is just really nice, they never have any sweepers (that I've seen) so in topdeck wars, and board stalls (like the one you described previously) hes just great. Like I mentioned in a previous post (I think) I treat DS as a fast Jund, keranos too slow, huntmaster good
Yes one vial out definitely feels awkward, I suppose we can't blank decay cause of our creature suite, so taking one out doesnt help on that front. I suppose part of the thinking is that we want higher quality topdecks? It is a hard one to figure out.
I actually like some number of bolts against DS (they always get greedy and go low).
Hm, I think I may have lost 0-2, can't recall that game particularly well haha.
I actually think we are favored versus abzan, cryptic and snap are so excellent. Although g1 clique doesnt look good vs souls
Agreed, not sure what spellskite does anymore. Especially since we are nowhere near all in on our 'combination'.
Koz return I like for the instant speed quite a bit actually, good against coco too if that deck rises like I think it will (the new variant).
I wish we could run a Venser, as he is so very on theme, but he seems more like a maindeck card, and an expensive one.
In terms of value replacements for Keranos, pnk would be ok, except I dont like trying to get double red on turn 4. I could get behind a Chandra, or actually probably Garruk Relentless? Ive had success with him vs DS. He basically plays out like an easy to cast, slower gideon, with repeated removal for small guys, and sometimes tutoring! I've convinced myself now and will be trying him
Yea good observation re: grixis vs jund DS, threads does seem very narrow. Agreed, bolt is perfect for this deck, dont think any other color combination is worth what you lose. Redirect is interesting, again narrow, definitely will lead to some blowouts as described. I find that going wide is good vs DS, so long as we have the time we have higher card quality.
Brief FNM report from tonight:
BW Tokens (2-0)
He played a bunch of flying tokens (spectral procession, midnight haunting, souls), and then randomly some ensnaring bridge. First game I remanded some tokens, deployed threats and countered planeswalkers, then went for cryptic tap to swing with lethal goyf and snap. Second game he had two bridges and two leylines in play, went draw go for a while with huge board states (including Keranos on my side), eventually went to time, drew ancient grudge on t4 and killed both bridges and swung for lethal (Keranos had steadily killed his board). SB -2 Clique -1 Vapor Snag +1 Grudge +1 Keranos +1 Izzet Staticcaster
DS Jund (2-1)
First game he was land light so i tried to tempo him out, even countered a thoughtseize and bounced an overgrown tomb at one point. This was definetly incorrect and I lost the game, but I wanted to see if DS could be 'raced' and even though he was at 1, I never saw a bolt. Next two games I played far more carefully, didnt attack with uncontested goyf when he was at 15, then eventually went wide, and cryptic tapped for the win. Third game also involved a bolt to finish. SB -1 Vial +1 Huntmaster of the Fells
UR TRON (1-2)
This was a pile, wss U tron shell, with some wurmcoils, cast trigger eldrazi, and other monstrosities. Kept some medium hands that perhaps I shouldnt have. Game 1 I had the cryptic lock with tap his wurmcoils, bounce my ewitt, but he drew condescend and I died. Second game we drew go for a while (didnt see enough Goyfs here), then cast Kozilek or some such nonsense. SB: (unsure) I think +1 Grudge +1 Negate +2 Dispel (he showed remands thirst condescend) +1 Spreading Sea +1 Ceremonious Rejection
ABZAN (1-2)
First game he had goyf some souls and a lili, I managed to attack with two snaps, 1 gets through, and bolt, bolt, e-witt bolt him to win it. Next game I punted by casting electrolyze on my turn instead of waiting to let huntmaster flip and take an extra soul out - this may have cost me the game, am unsure. Third game I definetly punted by traversing for Keranos (ordinarily great against BGx) when he had 4 souls on field - getting izzet was the line as my life was too low (8-10ish) at the time. Regardless, close games I think I should have won with better play.
Deck felt good, pretty keen to cut Keranos for possibly 2nd Huntmaster, and Pulse I didnt draw so don't know yet. Might try that Spellskite you have. Needed to remind myself that I have the inevitability in both punts and I would have had a better chance.
I will try Stone Rain, my friend does always bring in fulms vs UW control to some success (in DS aggro), so perhaps a similar principle applys to us. Although I would say we are less on the aggro, more on the control end of the spectrum.
Congrats! Some sick plays there, must have been satisfying to see those winning lines! Do you have any thoughts as to potential changes to SB/MB? Under/overperformers?
Pithing needle is probably just a hold over from legacy, I bring it in vs decks that are more or less all in on walkers, like Nahiri, Saheeli, as well as Tron, Affinity (it's a 1cmc inkmoth/sometimes cranial answer), Ad Nauseum (theoretically, havent played this matchup in forever but it names lightning storm), Lantern (if I ever played it). That's all I can think of atm, I like the card a lot but could be dissuaded.
Good point re: Pulse, GY hate is tough.
Second Huntmaster would probably be better then Keranos. I have also used him for ages and my liking the card has probably kept it around longer then I should do. While two sweepers is on the low end, I would say that Anger is relatively hard for us to cast, and that between snap/witness removal we have quite a good tempo plan vs those type of decks without needing to lean as heavily on sweepers. Also, electrolyze main is sometimes a good impression of a sweeper. Also, I would be hesitant to swap Keranos for a non-grindy card as my meta has a fair bit of UW/random grindy control decks, and only having 1 card to bring in seems low.
Re: land hate, for tron I have ceremonious, negate, needle, seas, grudge, state which seems like enough. For valakut (which I havent played much) I feel like the deck just needs to tempo them out and get them dead, and stone rain is just a three mana kill 1 valakut, molten pinnacle, which seems too inefficient. Would need to play vs Valakut more to say for sure.
Repeal is probably better then FF on average, and we have plenty of grindy sideboard options, will try it. Letting them choose just seems so much worse, hence I prefer FF to steam. We don't want raw CA as you said, just enough ways to tempo them out with the right tools in the form of 1 ofs.
Fair comments re: familiar, I want a 14th creature and atm its between sprite and a 3rd clique. Yea that was my thinking, very good vs DS.
Current sideboard is: 1 x Anger of the Gods 1 x Izzet Staticcaster 2 x Dispel 1 x Negate 1 x Pithing Needle 1 x Spreading Seas 1 x Ceremonious Rejection 1 x Ancient Grudge 1 x Natural State 1 x Keranos, God of Storms 1 x Huntmaster of the Fells 2 x Surgical Extraction 1 x Pulse of Murasa
Pulse and Ceremonious are being tested. Pulse is for burn and grindy matchups as a third regrowth.
Thoughts? Numbers definitely feel like they need tweaking, have been trying to map some general sideboard plans and have some awkward tension, probably also because I haven't yet got the best feel for some of the key matchups.
@Rayo
Interesting re: Censor, makes sense. I have been playing it on xmage and felt about the same (majority of the time it cycled).
I am running 4 commands and liking it :).
I will try a traverse, have liked the card a lot in other RUG variants. Repeal feels a little too controly to me - snag is mostly the same and more efficient.
Hieroglyphic Illumination is actually a pretty nice idea, although thirst may just be better - could run a Filigree Familiar over the finks too.
Confirmed ruse is sweeet, I usually side it out vs removal heavy decks but it's been great as a 1 of.
Agreed, I would never bring in surgical vs DSJ, I like all the 2 for 1s like Keranos and huntmaster + whatever removal we could theoretically bring in - I have found that DSJ is essentially faster Jund with a 1 mana 7/7. Your point about discard is a good one, I hardly ever bring in surgical - just against dredge, grishoalbrand and thopter sword I guess. I have 2 surgical 1 anger as is, but will consider replacing the surgicals.
Have played on and off since shortly after Shota brewed the deck. Totally agree, the deck is primarily a tempo deck that leverages a mana advantage (vial). Tracker was included for FNM because I released I had a flex slot and didn't want to run 2nd electrolyze/snag, and hadn't considered Traverse, it's not in the deck anymore.
Some other spice I am considering - Spellstutter Sprite, no idea how good it would be, but is indeed a good tempo card. Will report back once ive played some games with it.
My main deck is similar, differences being +1 basic mountain, -2 censor (don't own so can't test but am interested in doing so for sure - possibly up to 4), +1 Cryptic Command +1 Remand -1 Scooze (this card is amazing and takes over some matchups but is a literal bear in some, could see two but happy with 1).
I have hardly played DS matchup, it seems 'fine' barring their nut hand. Seems like we need to be the control, and scrap a kill together with Cryptic tapping and/or a flurry of bolts and snaps. 1 of threads seems fine. modern is such a crapshoot facing DS once is about all you need expect.
Having just picked the deck back up (was my first modern deck) I only have one recent result, 3-1 at LGS event 2-0 vs jeskai saheeli, 2-0 vs casual random deck, 2-0 vs
Fish, and 1-2 vs burn (g3 I shuffled my lethal three card hand away when fetching! Something I've never done). Deck felt excellent, lock came up once but was not essential by any means.
Finks seems unexciting but I have not played the card much at all so don't feel qualified to say. How do you rate it in this archetype ?
I would play one EE if I owned one, as a flexible good stuff card.
I play two Surgical, card is nice with snaps and wit.
Ruse was awesome, wish we had a value 1/2 drop that we could run out (although that is fairly offplan to begin with ):D
I ran a single Tracker cause I think the card is insane.
I don't think it fits perfectly with the deck , but it does allow you to leave Vial on three, and crack clues at instant speed - which was awesome for me vs merfolk. Even when he was tidebinder tapped he drew me three (game winning) cards.
Narnam Renegade looks nice actually, I will try him when I next play modern
Sorry, was referring to this part of the sentence: "Overall it is to say" should 'important' be in there?
I don't think needing 1 green for goyf is a tough mana requirement, eternal witness + cryptic is what warps the mana base.
Those are all good value cards, but I don't believe bant has had any notable success. Have you tried playing a Bant variant against opponents? For how many games against what etc. So many games I win are because of bolt-snap bolt, bolt witness bolt, with some cryptic tapping action - giving that up seems like a bad idea. White offers more reliable removal, and some value dudes like fink/resto, however, this deck is a tempo deck, and those arent particularly appealing options for this type of deck.
@rayo
Primer looks good, first sentence in the first paragraph under 'card choices' is a bit awkward, seems like there is a word missing?
I assume he/she decided to split the diff - 2serum/2thirst vs 4 serum. Seems ok, but a little clunky for my liking.
Roast seems good atm, kills all delve threats, DS more reliably, goyfs and drazi.
sideboard looks heavily configured for midrange/control.
Some details are hazy as am writing this two days post the fact, work getting in the way etc.
Bant Spirits (0-2)
g1: I keep a medium 6 with 3 spells 3 lands, he proceeds to curve noble (which I bolt), into thalia, into noble mausoleum. I get a vial down t2, remand a drogskol, and eventually vial in a goyf. He has assembled 3-4 guys to my goyf, I believe hes on 4 and im on 5 at this point. I vial clique in, and see coco, archangel avacyn (5cmc flash one), a bird, and something else. I don't take anything, but I am pretty sure I should have taken coco. I end up going for a (thalia taxed) cryptic endstep, which he sacs mausoleum to counter. I die to flyers the following turn. Feels like I had a lot of relevant decisions that game - probably made some poor ones.
g2: Less interesting, we exchange guys with removal, he draws a geist, I draw 12 lands (clique was only threat all game). I electrolyze a dork and him to draw into goyf to block his geist, but he paths goyf.
Matchup feels tough between mainboard thalia, mausoleum, lots of flyers, and coco.
sideboarding: +1 anger +1 izzet -1 traverse -1ruse (caverns)
Grixis Death Shadow (2-0)
g1: Exchange resources, hes on 2 snaps main (maybe more), I get to snare one, remand another. Board stalls out, with him having gurmag and tasi, me with snap goyf and both on low life. I bolt him end step after he taps out to kill my clique I vial in. In my main phase I vial in the e-witt (had been slowrolling it, figuring bolt chain was my path to victory), get back bolt and win.
g2: Plays out similarly, except this time I go for cryptic tap his team on his end step, he orzhov charms goyf in response (after tanking) and goes to 5. I then untap and bolt him twice (again had been holding them).
sideboarding: +1 Garruk +1 Huntmaster -2 clique (excepted souls from sideboard as I saw godless shrine g1 - he did bring 2 in).
Storm (2-1)
g1: punt by remanding gifts instead of bolting baral - always bolt the enabler.
g2: mull to 6, sculpt a hand of dispels, snares and a cryptic. Ride vialed in goyfs to victory.
g3: fight over echoing truth (my two goyfs - had no vial out), he uses 2 spells and is left with 3 cards in hand so goyfs being in hand is ok. Replay both goyfs, pass, he plays electro and a cantrip and passes back. I vial in witness and bolt electro, attack with goyfs. He untaps, cantrips a bit, and scoops.
Sideboarding: +2 dispel +1 negate +1 izzet -1 scooze -1 traverse -1 snag (I think) Yes I went up to 61 cards
This matchup feels favorable for us. Have played the matchup a fair few times now and always felt quite straightforward.
Jeskai Saheeli (2-1)
Don't remember details much here - last game was tired.
g1: Tempo him out, he cannot resolve any of his spells, and dies.
g2: Board stalls after we both remove everything we present each other, he then resolves RIP (I should maybe board in natural state preemptively? which i do for g3). I scoop to avoid going to time - did not feel like he was going to win necessarily.
g3: 10 minutes on clock. I mull to 6, and game plays out similarly to g1, he cannot keep up with tempo draw, and gets an awkward land draw with no white source for his 2x felidar, and 1 x supreme verdict I see with clique (and leave him with).
sideboarding: dont remember, same as storm I believe minus izzet staticaster, treated this as a combo matchup, rather then a grindy one, this may be too conservative.
Deck felt great, I made mistakes, spirits was possibly winnable.
All 4 vials out I assume? I will try that next time I face them. I guess my thinking was that if abzan abrupt decays a vial (which they do), that's one less at a goyf/clique/snap/wit? Idk, not great logic, I like your thinking.
Garruk won me a game (and match) vs DSJ, 2/2 every turn hard to beat for them sometimes. Seems dece, 2nd huntmaster could be better on average though. Something to be said for diversifying your sideboard though.
Any tech for Bant eldrazi? matchup seems soooooo bad, cavern of souls is super rough, and their dudes cant be answered easily.
As an aside, I am thinking of porting this deck to legacy for my first legacy event, using Counterspell, force, brainstorm, ponder, fire/ice, and a couple jace
Him being a 2for1 and gaining life is just really nice, they never have any sweepers (that I've seen) so in topdeck wars, and board stalls (like the one you described previously) hes just great. Like I mentioned in a previous post (I think) I treat DS as a fast Jund, keranos too slow, huntmaster good
Yes one vial out definitely feels awkward, I suppose we can't blank decay cause of our creature suite, so taking one out doesnt help on that front. I suppose part of the thinking is that we want higher quality topdecks? It is a hard one to figure out.
I actually like some number of bolts against DS (they always get greedy and go low).
Hm, I think I may have lost 0-2, can't recall that game particularly well haha.
I actually think we are favored versus abzan, cryptic and snap are so excellent. Although g1 clique doesnt look good vs souls
Agreed, not sure what spellskite does anymore. Especially since we are nowhere near all in on our 'combination'.
Koz return I like for the instant speed quite a bit actually, good against coco too if that deck rises like I think it will (the new variant).
I wish we could run a Venser, as he is so very on theme, but he seems more like a maindeck card, and an expensive one.
In terms of value replacements for Keranos, pnk would be ok, except I dont like trying to get double red on turn 4. I could get behind a Chandra, or actually probably Garruk Relentless? Ive had success with him vs DS. He basically plays out like an easy to cast, slower gideon, with repeated removal for small guys, and sometimes tutoring! I've convinced myself now and will be trying him
Awesome! Look forward to reading it!
Brief FNM report from tonight:
BW Tokens (2-0)
He played a bunch of flying tokens (spectral procession, midnight haunting, souls), and then randomly some ensnaring bridge. First game I remanded some tokens, deployed threats and countered planeswalkers, then went for cryptic tap to swing with lethal goyf and snap. Second game he had two bridges and two leylines in play, went draw go for a while with huge board states (including Keranos on my side), eventually went to time, drew ancient grudge on t4 and killed both bridges and swung for lethal (Keranos had steadily killed his board). SB -2 Clique -1 Vapor Snag +1 Grudge +1 Keranos +1 Izzet Staticcaster
DS Jund (2-1)
First game he was land light so i tried to tempo him out, even countered a thoughtseize and bounced an overgrown tomb at one point. This was definetly incorrect and I lost the game, but I wanted to see if DS could be 'raced' and even though he was at 1, I never saw a bolt. Next two games I played far more carefully, didnt attack with uncontested goyf when he was at 15, then eventually went wide, and cryptic tapped for the win. Third game also involved a bolt to finish. SB -1 Vial +1 Huntmaster of the Fells
UR TRON (1-2)
This was a pile, wss U tron shell, with some wurmcoils, cast trigger eldrazi, and other monstrosities. Kept some medium hands that perhaps I shouldnt have. Game 1 I had the cryptic lock with tap his wurmcoils, bounce my ewitt, but he drew condescend and I died. Second game we drew go for a while (didnt see enough Goyfs here), then cast Kozilek or some such nonsense. SB: (unsure) I think +1 Grudge +1 Negate +2 Dispel (he showed remands thirst condescend) +1 Spreading Sea +1 Ceremonious Rejection
ABZAN (1-2)
First game he had goyf some souls and a lili, I managed to attack with two snaps, 1 gets through, and bolt, bolt, e-witt bolt him to win it. Next game I punted by casting electrolyze on my turn instead of waiting to let huntmaster flip and take an extra soul out - this may have cost me the game, am unsure. Third game I definetly punted by traversing for Keranos (ordinarily great against BGx) when he had 4 souls on field - getting izzet was the line as my life was too low (8-10ish) at the time. Regardless, close games I think I should have won with better play.
Deck felt good, pretty keen to cut Keranos for possibly 2nd Huntmaster, and Pulse I didnt draw so don't know yet. Might try that Spellskite you have. Needed to remind myself that I have the inevitability in both punts and I would have had a better chance.
Congrats! Some sick plays there, must have been satisfying to see those winning lines! Do you have any thoughts as to potential changes to SB/MB? Under/overperformers?
Good point re: Pulse, GY hate is tough.
Second Huntmaster would probably be better then Keranos. I have also used him for ages and my liking the card has probably kept it around longer then I should do. While two sweepers is on the low end, I would say that Anger is relatively hard for us to cast, and that between snap/witness removal we have quite a good tempo plan vs those type of decks without needing to lean as heavily on sweepers. Also, electrolyze main is sometimes a good impression of a sweeper. Also, I would be hesitant to swap Keranos for a non-grindy card as my meta has a fair bit of UW/random grindy control decks, and only having 1 card to bring in seems low.
Re: land hate, for tron I have ceremonious, negate, needle, seas, grudge, state which seems like enough. For valakut (which I havent played much) I feel like the deck just needs to tempo them out and get them dead, and stone rain is just a three mana kill 1 valakut, molten pinnacle, which seems too inefficient. Would need to play vs Valakut more to say for sure.
Ok thanks! Didn't realise re: shortcut.
Repeal is probably better then FF on average, and we have plenty of grindy sideboard options, will try it. Letting them choose just seems so much worse, hence I prefer FF to steam. We don't want raw CA as you said, just enough ways to tempo them out with the right tools in the form of 1 ofs.
Fair comments re: familiar, I want a 14th creature and atm its between sprite and a 3rd clique. Yea that was my thinking, very good vs DS.
Current sideboard is: 1 x Anger of the Gods 1 x Izzet Staticcaster 2 x Dispel 1 x Negate 1 x Pithing Needle 1 x Spreading Seas 1 x Ceremonious Rejection 1 x Ancient Grudge 1 x Natural State 1 x Keranos, God of Storms 1 x Huntmaster of the Fells 2 x Surgical Extraction 1 x Pulse of Murasa
Pulse and Ceremonious are being tested. Pulse is for burn and grindy matchups as a third regrowth.
Thoughts? Numbers definitely feel like they need tweaking, have been trying to map some general sideboard plans and have some awkward tension, probably also because I haven't yet got the best feel for some of the key matchups.
Interesting re: Censor, makes sense. I have been playing it on xmage and felt about the same (majority of the time it cycled).
I am running 4 commands and liking it :).
I will try a traverse, have liked the card a lot in other RUG variants. Repeal feels a little too controly to me - snag is mostly the same and more efficient.
Hieroglyphic Illumination is actually a pretty nice idea, although thirst may just be better - could run a Filigree Familiar over the finks too.
Confirmed ruse is sweeet, I usually side it out vs removal heavy decks but it's been great as a 1 of.
Agreed, I would never bring in surgical vs DSJ, I like all the 2 for 1s like Keranos and huntmaster + whatever removal we could theoretically bring in - I have found that DSJ is essentially faster Jund with a 1 mana 7/7. Your point about discard is a good one, I hardly ever bring in surgical - just against dredge, grishoalbrand and thopter sword I guess. I have 2 surgical 1 anger as is, but will consider replacing the surgicals.
Have played on and off since shortly after Shota brewed the deck. Totally agree, the deck is primarily a tempo deck that leverages a mana advantage (vial). Tracker was included for FNM because I released I had a flex slot and didn't want to run 2nd electrolyze/snag, and hadn't considered Traverse, it's not in the deck anymore.
Some other spice I am considering - Spellstutter Sprite, no idea how good it would be, but is indeed a good tempo card. Will report back once ive played some games with it.
EDIT: Just had a thought - Fortune's Favor(http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=414355), instant speed, fills gy, draws 1-3. What do you guys think?
Nice result and sweet list !
My main deck is similar, differences being +1 basic mountain, -2 censor (don't own so can't test but am interested in doing so for sure - possibly up to 4), +1 Cryptic Command +1 Remand -1 Scooze (this card is amazing and takes over some matchups but is a literal bear in some, could see two but happy with 1).
I have hardly played DS matchup, it seems 'fine' barring their nut hand. Seems like we need to be the control, and scrap a kill together with Cryptic tapping and/or a flurry of bolts and snaps. 1 of threads seems fine. modern is such a crapshoot facing DS once is about all you need expect.
Having just picked the deck back up (was my first modern deck) I only have one recent result, 3-1 at LGS event 2-0 vs jeskai saheeli, 2-0 vs casual random deck, 2-0 vs
Fish, and 1-2 vs burn (g3 I shuffled my lethal three card hand away when fetching! Something I've never done). Deck felt excellent, lock came up once but was not essential by any means.
Finks seems unexciting but I have not played the card much at all so don't feel qualified to say. How do you rate it in this archetype ?
I would play one EE if I owned one, as a flexible good stuff card.
I play two Surgical, card is nice with snaps and wit.
Ruse was awesome, wish we had a value 1/2 drop that we could run out (although that is fairly offplan to begin with ):D
I ran a single Tracker cause I think the card is insane.
I don't think it fits perfectly with the deck , but it does allow you to leave Vial on three, and crack clues at instant speed - which was awesome for me vs merfolk. Even when he was tidebinder tapped he drew me three (game winning) cards.
Let me know what ya think !