Well there goes our white-blue matchup. Against Flusterstorm AND Prohibit not even Ricochet Trap really helps now... Plus the Force of Negation I am very sad
Well, storm is not "coming back" as WotC claims, even though prowes is or surge are related mechanics. It is very good in a storm vombo deck, but the fact tha it only adds red, is not an instant and relies on having basically set up, makes it look OK to me. Modern Storm would probably play it, at least 2 bacause past in flames will get you the win there, but not this card alone and it only helps with the finish. I really lie the simplicity so I give it a 8/10 over all.
Mine:
Awake the Beast - 3 G
Instant
Destroy target Artifact or Enchantment, then
create a 3/3 green Beast creature token.
You may pay G rather than pay Awaken the
Beast's mana cost. If you do target opponent
creates a 3/3 green Beast creature token instead.
UW is rough even worse when they can fetch to basics and play normally. It is worse that Jeskai by far in my opinion. Use fulminator mage and beast within to get rid of lands, and have a target for Demonic Dread. Play 2-3 Ricochet Traps in your sideboard, try to get rid of enough white sources. Watch out for settle the wrackage too, but this one you can avoid more easily and ricochet it for 4 mana.
I am a little worried about Modern Horizons. Usually the "normal" good rare cards don't improve Living End. Other deck will sure get their benefit or a new very good graveyard hate creature/enchantment comes up and presents a problem for us. The biggest powercreap we had in many years was the printing of 2 common creatures that could cycle and have more power by the drawback of cycling for only 1 specific mana. We would need some strange Split-Card, an evoke creature or better faerie macabre to get a powerboost and I am not sure why they should print something like that randomly. Of course another instant with cascade and 3 mana in black-green would be perfect but, well that is not going to happen...
I hope they don't print containment priest or we are f*cked
I played against a dredge player in my local game store and we practiced with the London Mulligan Rule. Leyline of the Void was busted as hell and I hate that card so much I will not play it. It is just so not fun. If the London Mulligan will be the new way to go, I will play 1 Godless Shrine and 1 Sacred Foundry and 3 Wear // Tear in the sideboard I think...
The alternative you could be playing 2 Krosan Grip or something but it is only OK if you have a also Simian Spirit Guide, otherwise it is too slow.
There was only 1 burn deck in the top 32? How is that possible? and look at the top cards played right now...
Looks like the Steel overseer has "won" over Mimic and Llanowar Reborn is "better" than Ruins of Oran-Rief which I still don't understand
edit: How can WOTC not reprint Surgical Extraction and Manamorphose in some stupid from the vault: Spells set? These ******* prices...
This sunday was a league tournament with 36 people. I got 5th Place with a 4-1-1 and was really happy with the deck list here:
Mainboard
3 Simian Spirit Guide
3 Faerie Macabre
3 Fulminator Mage
4 Street Wraith
1 Ingot Chewer
2 Shriekmaw
2 Monstrous Carabid
4 Horror of the Broken Lands
2 Archfiend of Ifnir
4 Desert Cerodon
1 Forest
1 Mountain
2 Swamp
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Copperline Gorge
1 Blood Crypt
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Stomping Ground
3 Bloodstained Mire
1 Wooded Foothills
2 Blooming Marsh
4 Violent Outburst
2 Beast Within
3 Living End
4 Demonic Dread
What I played against:
1 Round Tron: 2-0
2 Round Arclight Phoenix: 2-0
3 Round Humans: 0-2
4 Round Arclight Phoenix: 1-1
5 Round Tron: 2-0
6 Round Burn: 2-1
I am not sure but tron seams to me like a really nice matchup. 5 Land destruction in the main, Good answers to their graveyard Hate, We don't loose to Karn.
Against Acrlight Phoenix I had a lot of fun. It is really interesting to play against and I would say we are a bit favored, because of the faerie macabre and the bounce effect of Titi is not killing us, when we can cycle the bounced creatures or play a Shriekmaw again to kill it.
The Matchup against Humans I played really bad in Game 2 but the first one was also close. It is doable in my opinion, much better than Spirits.
Against Burn I felt I was really lucky winning the first game. Seconds game he drew no hate, just killed me faster. Game 3 he was slower and the hate he drew was ensnaring bridge which I removed rather fast without it having any impact. I feel like we normally loose that if he just plays his normal 60 and draws good.
What I would change: -1 Dead // Gone +1 Faerie Macabre. I was not able to change the deck before the tournament but It did not matter that much. Still,I thin 4 faeries are very good right now and 2 dead//gone is not needed. The Krosan Grip I really like, eventhough it is akward sometimes.But I may change that in the future. And last, the no Verdant Catacombs is budged reason and I am not willing to pay this much more if so little people even bring bloodmoon even if they have it in their 75.
Currently the big hitters are: Dredge, burn, phoenix, and grixis death shadow. Obviously modern is a very open meta and is the one where people are most likely to jam pet decks no matter what meta but given the above 4, it's safe to say that we're being pulled in many directions and looking at some less than favorable matches.
My personal opinion is that modern the format post KCI is still simply too fast and operating on too many different axis for living end to deal with without making concessions in our 75 that pulls the deck in many different areas.
Against the top 4, shaving some LD actually has some benefits, the only deck that LD can (not guaranteed) to hit hard is GDS, the other decks either don't care, can recover, or are resilient. The problem is that UW/x and tron are evergreen decks so the need for LD is always present and shaving these pieces opens you up to losing percentage points against the two aforementioned decks.
I think if the plan is to jam living end into this meta, that the key has to be in the SB. Looking at the current top tier decks, a 8 leyline plan (white and black) is very much something to consider. 8 leylines alone covers the top 4 decks pretty well and can hit a smattering of others in the process.
I understand the thought behind having the Leylines. The white Leyline is really good against burn and the Thoughtseize -> Surgical Extraction plan. But I am not a fan of having a 4 of in your deck that is completely useless unless in your opening hand. That might be my personal preference not to take that risk. The Black leyline is good, no question. I still prefere the faerie Macabre (3 in the main) because the opponent may not see it coming and plays like he would normally do. And against the decks that don't really care for about the graveyard, it is still OK to get a 2/2 Flyer on the field.
I agree that our winning route is through "sideboard" cards but here is a thought for you: What if you play 1-2 Shriekmaws and or 1-2 Ingot Chewers in the mainboard. When did you need more than one Archfiend and had the time to cycle them both? When was the Monstrous Carabid ever an answer to anything?
Right now I play only 2 Archfiends and 2 Carabids, simply because the games we have good matchups, we don't need that many cyclers. The bad Matchups we lose because they have problematic cards we don't have an answer to or that are too hard to handle. The Evoke creatures come back, so they not only grant you meanngful interaction and hate, they also come back which is why they are so damn good in this deck.
My Experience with UWx Control:
You have to be faster and attack their lands. You have at least 3 Fulminator Mages to get rid of the Colonades / Hllowed FOuntains. The opponent may recognize that and will try to search for basic lands. The basic lands can be destroyed with Beast Within. These two cards, fastened up by a Simian Spirit guide, are our best winning route in my opinion. You will need a target when you cast Demonic Dread and these are your best choices. If you can manage to prohibit the double U, many counterspells can not be cast (Cryptc Command, Logic Knot, Snapcaster + something.) After LE getting rid of the double W prevents Supreme Verdict and Settle the Wreckage. You can Use Ricochet Trap on the last one mentioned but you need 4 Mana to do so.
My plan would be:
3-4 Fulminator Mage
2 Beast Within
3 Faerie Macabre
3-4 Simian Spirit Guide
1-2 Krosan Grip
2-3 Ricochet Trap
Cards that will most likely do nothing or not enough
Shriekmaw - no real targets
Archfiend of Ifnir - to slow and eats a Path anyway
Ingot Chewer - their graveyard hate is enchantment based (if they bring any)
And to back up my point from before: Playing Hate cards in the mainboard can have massive benefits. Usually the downside is, they do nothing if the opponents deck doeas not care about these cards. But in Living End you still get a creature out of it, even if there was no interaction. I am only concerned about playing 2 Shriekmaws in the mainboard because you have to hit one of your creatures eventually. But Fearie Macabre and Ingot chewer never completely fail.
Notable card in my 75 right now include:
2 Anger of the Gods - against Dredge, Humans , Vizier COmbo
2 Brindleboar - against Burn , Skred, 8Whack, 8Rack
2 Shriekmaw (May go up to 3) - against Burn, Humans, Spirits, Vizier Combo
3 Ricochet Trap (May go down to 2) - against UWx-control, Jeskai Control, Grixis Death's Shadow
3 Ingot Chewer - against both affinity versions, Tron, the graveyard hate
3 Faerie Macabre (may go up to 4) - against Dredge, UWx-control, Jeskai Control, Arclight Phoenix, any Death's Shadow, Jund, Surgical Extraction plan
4 Fulminator Mage - against UWx-control, Jeskai Control, Tron, Titan Shift, Amulet Titan
2 Krosan Grip (May go down to 1 or be replaced completely) against Leyline (i hate that card) and other enchantments.
2 Dead // Gone - against Burn, Humans, Elves, Vizier Combo, Affinity
I hope I did not write this for nothing and it can help some people:
Play and Sideboard guide against Living End
In this matchup you (the Hardened Scales player) can get the win but you have to keep many things in mind. The matchup can be played very differently depending on the opponent's sideboard and what cards are drawn.
General strategy
Game 1: Don't commit too hard on the board with creatures unless you have an Arcbound Ravager. This is the best card (in this matchup) to draw. When Living End goes on the stack, sacrifice your creatures to Ravager and if you want to get an advantage put all those counters on a Hangarback Walker which is generally the second best card in the matchup.
You dont't loose much and get many Thopters and your Ravager and other non XX mana creatures are back on the field.
Example boards against Living End:
Top: Ravager, Hangarback, Arcbound Worker, Hardened Scales.
Don't worry about Living End at this point.
Good: Ballista, Metallic Mimic, Hangarback walker. Hardened Scales
Shot down the Metallic Mimic and if you can in any way put more counters on Hangarback walker. When Living End resolves Hangarbacks ability will go on the stack but first Mimic will enter the battlefield, you name Thopter. Hangarbacks ablity will resolve last and create X thopters all 3/3 flying.
Decent: Every board where you get some thopters or can kill your non XX creatures. OR a board without any creatures because Demonic Dread need a target and if the opponent got the violent outburst you don't lose creatures and hopefully don't get run over. No creature in the Living End deck has trample and because their Archfiends cost 2 to cycle you normally don't see a board full of flyers. Animation Module is good here as it creates chump blockers and gives you much time.
Bad: A board full of your value creatures like Steel Overseer or Metallic Mimic starting without the option to sacrifice anything.
What you should expect and fear of the Living End player:
3-4 Ingot Chewers
Best answer to all Artifacts ever, does not get hit by chalice / Inquisition of Kozilek can be devistating because its a 2 for 1 if Living End resolves. The opponent will most likely hit hatecards like Relic of Progenitus with it. But if you don't watch out your Arcbound Ravager is also going to die to it.
3-4 Faerie Macabre
One of the reasons this matchup feels bad for many Hardened Scales players. If you play well and sacrifice your creatures this prohibits them from comming back. I personally never play Living End without at least 3 of them and you have to expect them in the main board in this meta.
Leyline of the Void
Some lists run it in the sideboard. It is really bad because it is Faerie Macabre in far worse for the Hardened Scales Player. It makes our main interaction with the combo useless, and exiles Hangarback Walker which is really bad.
What you should side in:
all Relic of Progenitus that you have in the side board. Slows down the game enormously which helps the Hardened Scales player a lot.
2 Dismember can be great against the Archfiends of Ifnir who otherwise can kill yor chump blockers/ thopters by putting -1/-1 counters on them.
2-4 Nature's Claim. It depends if you now your opponent plays leyline or not. If you are unsure play 3 because it is another good way to kill our creatures so they come back with living end. then if you now, switch up to 2 or 4.
What NOT to side in:
Gravediggers Cage - it does not work so don't use it.
Chalice of the Void - you could play it on 0 but with all the cheep artifact hate that Living End has, it is not worth it, as it has no effect on the graveyard itself and the opponent can just cycle normally until he/she finds an answer.
Damping Sphere - It will the opponent only cost 1 mana more to play Living End and because it has to be on the battlefield the opponent can easily play around it.
I'm back and ready for more of these shenanigans. I've thrown together a list similar to the one from GP Oakland, but I'm not so sure what the meta looks like these days so I had a couple of questions.
Of course I've always loved Faerie Macabre, but why are we maindecking her now? Ironworks combo? General Snapcaster hate? Dredge?
Decks faster than Living End almost all use the graveyard. People who are good at magic and use creature decks fnd a way to build pressure and kill their own creature to let them return or they use discard/thoughtscour them. Its good against phoenix and ok against dredge and awesome against Hollow One in my opinion. And yes it is good against the Snapcaster Mage and very importantly it helps us not getting Surgical Extractioned: use the faerie macabre on Living End in the Graveyard (Or on a cascade spell that got discarded) when the opponent tries exile them withSurgical Extraction. The target is removed and the spell fizzles so they can not remove all our Cascade Spells/Living End
Are there fewer Counterspells these days that going down to only two Ricochet Traps is the way?
One reason might be the Faerie Macabre as a way to deal with snapcaster but in my opinion it depends on your local meta and what you expect. I always run 3 because I hate to loose against Merfolk's Spreading Sees and play against blue decks often.
Going from 4 each of Beast Within and Fulminator Mage down to 2 and 3 respectively is losing a LOT of LD for me. I'm guessing not running a full set of Fulminator isn't standard, but even that aside I'm going down to 75% of my current LD. I'm guessing Tron isn't nearly as common anymore?
Good to be back in the thick of it, but man I'm gonna miss Deadshot Minotaur. I just don't like the art on these new guys as much.
Edit: Also, are decks creature-centric enough that we don't need Dryad Arbor anymore?
The LD-package has shrunk for the better i.m.o. You do not need so many LD effects for 3 mana, because you will likely draw very many of them. The Beast Within @ 2 peaces is likely to the fast nature of Modern right now and the Fulminator Mage can only hit Non-basics which many decks try to play around. I keep always 4 Fulminator mages in my 75 and I can imagine a time where a third Beast within comes in as well.
I think the meta is so creature-centric right now that you can afford to not play Dryard Arbor. You don't want to lose against creature decks and they are so fast that you really need all the mana you can get, and in the worst case the opponent uses his 3-4 copies of Fatal push, a normally dead card against our land which sucks hard.
| Faerie Macabre is good against dredge, Hollow One, Phoenix and Death's Shadow. Ply at least 2 in the main is my suggestion
|
v
I am not 100% sure on that but maybe you can enlighten me on this: If I play against Harden Scaled Affinity, and use Living End in my turn, can I choose in which order the triggers are placed?
Situation: H.S.A player uses Ravager to sac the Metallic Mimic, than itself and adds the counter to a Walking Ballista which he then shoots at me. Now everything is in the graveyard and comes back. Now the H.S.A-player wants to name "Construct" with the mimic so that his Ballista enters with a counter. I thought that was OK, since the Mimic has a effect that says "as" which I understand is between the cast -> enter the battlefield order. But if it is my turn wouldn't I be able to change the order of the triggers so that Ballista dies ?
I am kind of new to this deck, but already deeply in love. So many different possibilities, so many angles - wow. I played it for around 1 week on xmage / Proxy and it really keeps me coming back. I have some questions concerning the mana base:
The choice between LLanowar Reborn and Ruins of Oran-Rief really is stuck in my head. I like to have more green mana, but the effect on Ruins of Oran-Rief seems much better. And how important is the 1 Phyrexia's Core ?
Edit: RIght now I really like the Metallic Mimic in the deck, naming constructs and sometimes Thopter, what is your point on that?
Imagine this against an burn decks board of rest in peace and Eidolon of the great Revel or against a leyline of the void and chalice of the void
What do you think, 3 or 4 ones in the 75?
Mine:
Awake the Beast - 3 G
Instant
Destroy target Artifact or Enchantment, then
create a 3/3 green Beast creature token.
You may pay G rather than pay Awaken the
Beast's mana cost. If you do target opponent
creates a 3/3 green Beast creature token instead.
Thank you so much. I forgot that it dies to living End first and they can not flash it while living end is resolving. Glad you mentioned it!
I hope they don't print containment priest or we are f*cked
The alternative you could be playing 2 Krosan Grip or something but it is only OK if you have a also Simian Spirit Guide, otherwise it is too slow.
I admit, it does look sweet. I'll try that list, with slightly variation and R/W for 4 Wear//Tear in the Sideboard. Thanks for sharing !
There was only 1 burn deck in the top 32? How is that possible? and look at the top cards played right now...
Looks like the Steel overseer has "won" over Mimic and Llanowar Reborn is "better" than Ruins of Oran-Rief which I still don't understand
edit: How can WOTC not reprint Surgical Extraction and Manamorphose in some stupid from the vault: Spells set? These ******* prices...
Mainboard
3 Simian Spirit Guide
3 Faerie Macabre
3 Fulminator Mage
4 Street Wraith
1 Ingot Chewer
2 Shriekmaw
2 Monstrous Carabid
4 Horror of the Broken Lands
2 Archfiend of Ifnir
4 Desert Cerodon
1 Forest
1 Mountain
2 Swamp
4 Blackcleave Cliffs
2 Copperline Gorge
1 Blood Crypt
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Stomping Ground
3 Bloodstained Mire
1 Wooded Foothills
2 Blooming Marsh
4 Violent Outburst
2 Beast Within
3 Living End
4 Demonic Dread
Sideboard
1 Simian Spirit Guide
2 Brindle Boar
1 Shriekmaw
1 Fulminator Mage
1 Ingot Chewer
2 Dead // Gone
3 Ricochet Trap
2 Krosan Grip
2 Anger of the Gods
What I played against:
1 Round Tron: 2-0
2 Round Arclight Phoenix: 2-0
3 Round Humans: 0-2
4 Round Arclight Phoenix: 1-1
5 Round Tron: 2-0
6 Round Burn: 2-1
I am not sure but tron seams to me like a really nice matchup. 5 Land destruction in the main, Good answers to their graveyard Hate, We don't loose to Karn.
Against Acrlight Phoenix I had a lot of fun. It is really interesting to play against and I would say we are a bit favored, because of the faerie macabre and the bounce effect of Titi is not killing us, when we can cycle the bounced creatures or play a Shriekmaw again to kill it.
The Matchup against Humans I played really bad in Game 2 but the first one was also close. It is doable in my opinion, much better than Spirits.
Against Burn I felt I was really lucky winning the first game. Seconds game he drew no hate, just killed me faster. Game 3 he was slower and the hate he drew was ensnaring bridge which I removed rather fast without it having any impact. I feel like we normally loose that if he just plays his normal 60 and draws good.
What I would change: -1 Dead // Gone +1 Faerie Macabre. I was not able to change the deck before the tournament but It did not matter that much. Still,I thin 4 faeries are very good right now and 2 dead//gone is not needed. The Krosan Grip I really like, eventhough it is akward sometimes.But I may change that in the future. And last, the no Verdant Catacombs is budged reason and I am not willing to pay this much more if so little people even bring bloodmoon even if they have it in their 75.
I understand the thought behind having the Leylines. The white Leyline is really good against burn and the Thoughtseize -> Surgical Extraction plan. But I am not a fan of having a 4 of in your deck that is completely useless unless in your opening hand. That might be my personal preference not to take that risk. The Black leyline is good, no question. I still prefere the faerie Macabre (3 in the main) because the opponent may not see it coming and plays like he would normally do. And against the decks that don't really care for about the graveyard, it is still OK to get a 2/2 Flyer on the field.
I agree that our winning route is through "sideboard" cards but here is a thought for you: What if you play 1-2 Shriekmaws and or 1-2 Ingot Chewers in the mainboard. When did you need more than one Archfiend and had the time to cycle them both? When was the Monstrous Carabid ever an answer to anything?
Right now I play only 2 Archfiends and 2 Carabids, simply because the games we have good matchups, we don't need that many cyclers. The bad Matchups we lose because they have problematic cards we don't have an answer to or that are too hard to handle. The Evoke creatures come back, so they not only grant you meanngful interaction and hate, they also come back which is why they are so damn good in this deck.
My Experience with UWx Control:
You have to be faster and attack their lands. You have at least 3 Fulminator Mages to get rid of the Colonades / Hllowed FOuntains. The opponent may recognize that and will try to search for basic lands. The basic lands can be destroyed with Beast Within. These two cards, fastened up by a Simian Spirit guide, are our best winning route in my opinion. You will need a target when you cast Demonic Dread and these are your best choices. If you can manage to prohibit the double U, many counterspells can not be cast (Cryptc Command, Logic Knot, Snapcaster + something.) After LE getting rid of the double W prevents Supreme Verdict and Settle the Wreckage. You can Use Ricochet Trap on the last one mentioned but you need 4 Mana to do so.
My plan would be:
3-4 Fulminator Mage
2 Beast Within
3 Faerie Macabre
3-4 Simian Spirit Guide
1-2 Krosan Grip
2-3 Ricochet Trap
Cards that will most likely do nothing or not enough
Shriekmaw - no real targets
Archfiend of Ifnir - to slow and eats a Path anyway
Ingot Chewer - their graveyard hate is enchantment based (if they bring any)
And to back up my point from before: Playing Hate cards in the mainboard can have massive benefits. Usually the downside is, they do nothing if the opponents deck doeas not care about these cards. But in Living End you still get a creature out of it, even if there was no interaction. I am only concerned about playing 2 Shriekmaws in the mainboard because you have to hit one of your creatures eventually. But Fearie Macabre and Ingot chewer never completely fail.
Notable card in my 75 right now include:
2 Anger of the Gods - against Dredge, Humans , Vizier COmbo
2 Brindleboar - against Burn , Skred, 8Whack, 8Rack
2 Shriekmaw (May go up to 3) - against Burn, Humans, Spirits, Vizier Combo
3 Ricochet Trap (May go down to 2) - against UWx-control, Jeskai Control, Grixis Death's Shadow
3 Ingot Chewer - against both affinity versions, Tron, the graveyard hate
3 Faerie Macabre (may go up to 4) - against Dredge, UWx-control, Jeskai Control, Arclight Phoenix, any Death's Shadow, Jund, Surgical Extraction plan
4 Fulminator Mage - against UWx-control, Jeskai Control, Tron, Titan Shift, Amulet Titan
2 Krosan Grip (May go down to 1 or be replaced completely) against Leyline (i hate that card) and other enchantments.
2 Dead // Gone - against Burn, Humans, Elves, Vizier Combo, Affinity
Play and Sideboard guide against Living End
In this matchup you (the Hardened Scales player) can get the win but you have to keep many things in mind. The matchup can be played very differently depending on the opponent's sideboard and what cards are drawn.
General strategy
Game 1: Don't commit too hard on the board with creatures unless you have an Arcbound Ravager. This is the best card (in this matchup) to draw. When Living End goes on the stack, sacrifice your creatures to Ravager and if you want to get an advantage put all those counters on a Hangarback Walker which is generally the second best card in the matchup.
You dont't loose much and get many Thopters and your Ravager and other non XX mana creatures are back on the field.
Example boards against Living End:
Top: Ravager, Hangarback, Arcbound Worker, Hardened Scales.
Don't worry about Living End at this point.
Good: Ballista, Metallic Mimic, Hangarback walker. Hardened Scales
Shot down the Metallic Mimic and if you can in any way put more counters on Hangarback walker. When Living End resolves Hangarbacks ability will go on the stack but first Mimic will enter the battlefield, you name Thopter. Hangarbacks ablity will resolve last and create X thopters all 3/3 flying.
Decent: Every board where you get some thopters or can kill your non XX creatures. OR a board without any creatures because Demonic Dread need a target and if the opponent got the violent outburst you don't lose creatures and hopefully don't get run over. No creature in the Living End deck has trample and because their Archfiends cost 2 to cycle you normally don't see a board full of flyers. Animation Module is good here as it creates chump blockers and gives you much time.
Bad: A board full of your value creatures like Steel Overseer or Metallic Mimic starting without the option to sacrifice anything.
What you should expect and fear of the Living End player:
3-4 Ingot Chewers
Best answer to all Artifacts ever, does not get hit by chalice / Inquisition of Kozilek can be devistating because its a 2 for 1 if Living End resolves. The opponent will most likely hit hatecards like Relic of Progenitus with it. But if you don't watch out your Arcbound Ravager is also going to die to it.
3-4 Faerie Macabre
One of the reasons this matchup feels bad for many Hardened Scales players. If you play well and sacrifice your creatures this prohibits them from comming back. I personally never play Living End without at least 3 of them and you have to expect them in the main board in this meta.
Leyline of the Void
Some lists run it in the sideboard. It is really bad because it is Faerie Macabre in far worse for the Hardened Scales Player. It makes our main interaction with the combo useless, and exiles Hangarback Walker which is really bad.
What you should side in:
all Relic of Progenitus that you have in the side board. Slows down the game enormously which helps the Hardened Scales player a lot.
2 Dismember can be great against the Archfiends of Ifnir who otherwise can kill yor chump blockers/ thopters by putting -1/-1 counters on them.
2-4 Nature's Claim. It depends if you now your opponent plays leyline or not. If you are unsure play 3 because it is another good way to kill our creatures so they come back with living end. then if you now, switch up to 2 or 4.
What NOT to side in:
Gravediggers Cage - it does not work so don't use it.
Chalice of the Void - you could play it on 0 but with all the cheep artifact hate that Living End has, it is not worth it, as it has no effect on the graveyard itself and the opponent can just cycle normally until he/she finds an answer.
Damping Sphere - It will the opponent only cost 1 mana more to play Living End and because it has to be on the battlefield the opponent can easily play around it.
My final suggestion:
In: 3 Relic of Progenitus / Tormod's Crypt , 4 Nature's Claim ( 2 If the opponent does not play Leyline of the void. If so: 2 Dismember)
Out: 3 Welding Jar , 2 Throne of Geth , 2 Steel Overseer
Decks faster than Living End almost all use the graveyard. People who are good at magic and use creature decks fnd a way to build pressure and kill their own creature to let them return or they use discard/thoughtscour them. Its good against phoenix and ok against dredge and awesome against Hollow One in my opinion. And yes it is good against the Snapcaster Mage and very importantly it helps us not getting Surgical Extractioned: use the faerie macabre on Living End in the Graveyard (Or on a cascade spell that got discarded) when the opponent tries exile them withSurgical Extraction. The target is removed and the spell fizzles so they can not remove all our Cascade Spells/Living End
One reason might be the Faerie Macabre as a way to deal with snapcaster but in my opinion it depends on your local meta and what you expect. I always run 3 because I hate to loose against Merfolk's Spreading Sees and play against blue decks often.
The LD-package has shrunk for the better i.m.o. You do not need so many LD effects for 3 mana, because you will likely draw very many of them. The Beast Within @ 2 peaces is likely to the fast nature of Modern right now and the Fulminator Mage can only hit Non-basics which many decks try to play around. I keep always 4 Fulminator mages in my 75 and I can imagine a time where a third Beast within comes in as well.
I think the meta is so creature-centric right now that you can afford to not play Dryard Arbor. You don't want to lose against creature decks and they are so fast that you really need all the mana you can get, and in the worst case the opponent uses his 3-4 copies of Fatal push, a normally dead card against our land which sucks hard.
| Faerie Macabre is good against dredge, Hollow One, Phoenix and Death's Shadow. Ply at least 2 in the main is my suggestion
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Situation: H.S.A player uses Ravager to sac the Metallic Mimic, than itself and adds the counter to a Walking Ballista which he then shoots at me. Now everything is in the graveyard and comes back. Now the H.S.A-player wants to name "Construct" with the mimic so that his Ballista enters with a counter. I thought that was OK, since the Mimic has a effect that says "as" which I understand is between the cast -> enter the battlefield order. But if it is my turn wouldn't I be able to change the order of the triggers so that Ballista dies ?
thx a lot : )
I am kind of new to this deck, but already deeply in love. So many different possibilities, so many angles - wow. I played it for around 1 week on xmage / Proxy and it really keeps me coming back. I have some questions concerning the mana base:
The choice between LLanowar Reborn and Ruins of Oran-Rief really is stuck in my head. I like to have more green mana, but the effect on Ruins of Oran-Rief seems much better. And how important is the 1 Phyrexia's Core ?
Edit: RIght now I really like the Metallic Mimic in the deck, naming constructs and sometimes Thopter, what is your point on that?
4 Hardened Scales
1 Evolutionary Leap
Land
1 Pendelhaven
2 Horizon Canopy
2 Llanowar Reborn
1 Forest
1 Forest
1 Forest
1 Forest
4 Inkmoth Nexus
1 Forest
1 Forest
1 Forest
3 Welding Jar
4 Darksteel Citadel
1 Throne of Geth
4 Mox Opal
3 Animation Module
4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Arcbound Worker
4 Hangarback Walker
4 Walking Ballista
1 Steel Overseer
3 Metallic Mimic
Sorcery
4 Ancient Stirrings
1 Shapers' Sanctuary
2 Grafdigger's Cage
1 Pithing Needle
1 Tormod's Crypt
3 Damping Sphere
1 Spellskite
4 Nature's Claim
2 Dismember