Hello everyone, I'm not experienced with affinity but I'm playing in Madrid in the Team event, and my teammate is gonna play it. I was trying to understand affinity a bit better (namely card choices overall), and run into a couple of fun-ofs. I understand that more often than not it's personal taste, but maybe you could enlight me how those cards perform if you tested them and/or when you bring them in if it's not a clear hate-card: Hazoret, Bitterblossom, Dismember vs Dispatch, Rule of Law vs Eidolon, Pierce vs Denial.
I see people suggesting PWs, but are they really better than Selfless spirit and Lead the Stampede/similar? Also, the 5-mana ones seem incredibly expensive.
Also, why do people like Champion that much? Isn't Ezuri just always better?
Played Elves for the first time this weekend in a pptq, went 4-2 without making top8. Detected a few mistakes I made, but I think at some point I also run hot, so it's hard to say how different it would have been.
R1: beat blue architect, seemed like a bye
R2: lost to GW counters. Combo'd on the play g1, he combo'd g2 on the play, g3 I had the combo for next turn but he hit Aved Mindcensor of a CoCo, which kinda locked me, as he drew 2 paths and a Witness to kill my potential dangerous natural draws.
R3: beat GR Valakut, got a bit lucky, as he flooded and didn't draw Anger g1, g2 I landed a spirit that had me covered.
R4: lost to storm. G1 he combo'd faster, g2 I went for a Westvale t3 with him at 17, he didn't have an answer, g3 I probably misplayed: afraid of Remand, I path'd his Baral on my turn, which ramped him and allowed him to play a second Baral. This also meant 1 less creature in play, thus I couldn't Chord for Eidolon next turn, when he went off. Then I learned he took Remands of. I could have won this one, but the MU doesn't seem great.
R5: Beat Grixis shadow. G1 I elfball quickly, g2 I have a slow start and he has staticaster to clear my board, g3 I put a huge board on t2, and he concedes too soon, although it looked really bad for him.
R6: Beat burn. It didn't seem close, and eidolon seems worse for them than for us.
MVP: Westvale Abby. Won 3-4 games with it, even playing such a small tournament. Totally worth the slot.
HM: The combo. It allows to steal games that if they last, you probably have a hard time winning.
Unknown: Driven/Despair. Never got to cast it. Not sure if better or worse than Lead. I like the idea of ripping their hand apart while drawing a few cards. Those cards are not guaranteed though.
Disappointed: Shaman. I understand why people like it, and that's why I decided to run them too, but at no point during the tournament I was like "oh man I wish I draw/hit a shaman now". Never ever felt that way. I either need to rebuild, or one of the other lords is good enough anyway, so I don't think the extra 3drops are worth - rather have either more Ezuri that saves elves from sweepers or Archdruid that ramps.
Note, of course, that my sample size is really small for some of these conclusions. Manabase is almost assuredely not perfect. Kitchen Finks didn't seem necessary. Path might better be a split with Dismember.
Game 2 – Opening hand had double Souls and Grafdigger’s Cage, snap keep. T1 Swiftspear + Probe seeing a slow hand with Reflector Mage, Exarch, Ewit and, T2 Grafdigger’s Cage + Seize taking Exarch, T3 Souls into T4 into T5 Souls + Flashback and attack for a bunch does the trick.
I wish I could play your Cage, seems much better than the regular one (hint: cage and souls is a nombo)
Magnus Lanto and Sam Black articles on Death Shadow are good for this, don't have links right now but I'm sure you can find them easily by googling. Usually you side out the combo agains removal-heavy decks. I never side out cantrips, except for Street Wraith against Burn and the like. You also never side out other creatures, you usually just go up the count against grindy decks. Notice that you don't want too many delve cards as well, so usually Mandrills takes BI place.
Later I can post my sb plans. But specifically on Grixis Delver, it probably plays out like Jund, which is better than Jeskai. Path is a beating, while Terminate is good but costs 2 mana, which makes a huge difference, specially when taking into account Snapcaster. I think the trick is to understand that your threats cost much less than their removal. So you can't just play a single threat each turn, because this let's them use their removal once a turn. Instead, try to Probe and Thoughtseize first to know what you're up against and clear the way, and then drop 2-3 threats in the same turn (ideally Death Shadow and Mandrils), saving Monastery for last. Nacatl turn 1 is also pretty good if you have Mutagenic backup, because they're pretty much forced into bolt it, taking 3 for fetching, and you counter it for free, which adds to the board if next turn you jam 2 more threats. T2 they can have terminate, but you're still bashing with 2 threats.
I had a terrible GP Lille this weekend, only won 1 match. I still think the deck is powerful and it was a good choice, the 3 in the top8s of the weekend tell me so at least, plus the others that top16d. It was just one of those days, also with bad matchups: r3 jeskai (L), r4 abzan evolution (L), r5 affinity (w), r6 abzan evolution (L), affinity (L). Today I played a SSS qualifier, single elimination, went 4-1. Beat dredge, affinity, burn, merfolk, finally losing to...naya evolution - it seems a really tough matchup these evolution decks.
I still like the deck, I'm just not sure if dredge is not even more powerful overall.
Maybe I overstated it, but tilzinger is right, he literally said "it mostly felt like playing Death Shadow with a handicap". He also says that the set up cost for Traverse and Dryad is big and you don't get delirium consistently enough, which makes you slower (because you do not have nacatl and BI). However, he says Traverse, when on, is really good, and he was really impressed by Ghor-Clan, but that ultimately it is not worth to add so much inconsistency to the deck. In the end, he thinks it's a "failed experiment".
Not sure about Temple Garden. It's true you have more 1g spells now, but you never wanna start with with TG because it casts nothing else but green spells, whereas Stomping Ground or Overgrown Tomb let you cast other spells (specially when your t2 is a combination of Seize/Death Shadow and Swiftspear/Bolt, that Temple Garden doesn't help to achieve).
Actually, many times I do not have Nacatl and just don't fetch white at all with the first 2 lands. If you want perfect mana t2, you're still in the position of 1g source, so I guess it would only really matter by the 3rd land (assuming no Nacatl)? If that's the case, you're probably better served with a combination of OT+SG for the first two lands.
PS: I liked Nihil Spellbomb a lot, it's another cantrip and helps delirium. Worse against coco/chord, but I'm considering cutting cage for the 2nd one (it also depends if I end up running dryad at all ofc!...also considering some monkeys main atm).
Yet another top8, yet another loss at quarter-finals. Lost to dredge this time, with some really weird draws :\ Tested 1 Mandrils main, instead of 1 dryad. I don't think it was even relevant to say anything about it. Still not sure what 1-drop should be playing on those slots. But the power is definitely there, I did something I had never done before I believe: top8ing 3 pptqs in a row after picking up a deck with close to no testing at all (the pptqs where I live are pretty tough actually).
I've been testing this deck now, played in two 6-round pptq. Lost in the semi- and quarter-finals of each. I'm playing the 4 color version, with 2 Dryads and 1 goyf instead of Lynx. Not a huge fan of Lynx, makes your fetching awkward and it's a terrible topdeck. However, I'm not super impressed with Dryad (with 1 Tarfire in place of 1 Bolt). Mandrils has been the best sb card in many matchups (playing 3, I wouldn't play just 2 with so many midrange decks around). What do you guys think of cutting one Become and the at least 1 dryad for Mandrils MD? Also, I don't dislike the idea of a 1-of Postmortem Lunge.
Hi guys! I'm preparing for GP Lille and I can't find a deck I like in Modern. I'd like something combo-ish and aggressive, and this might be it. Although it's more interactive than I'd like (sweepers and all)...what are the good and bad matchups? Is there concensus on what spells to use (Coco/Chord/Lead/Evolution), and if black is worth it? Thanks!
All in all, how would you build your sb? Why do you like Celestial Purge against Jund in the first place? It accomplishes nothing as far as I can tell. Why don't you like Echoing Truth/Recall? Chalice to 0 and/or 1 is a beating, they solve Spellskite, affinity, Nexus and other problems (Echoing in particular).
After reading both sb guides, I'd like to bring up the sb discussion, since the main deck seems to be consensual and pretty fixed, except for maybe number of temples and Reefs (edit: and 4th unlife vs 21st land).
The sb looks like:
1 Pact of Negation
1 Slaughter Pact
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Thoughtseize
1 Boseiju
+ 6 flex slots which usually contain a mix of the following: Fog effect (Darkness or Ethereal Haze), Bounce effects (Hurkyl's Recall and Echoing Truth), and Spellskite.
After seeing a few guides, it seems to me there are many different views in how to approach each matchup. I can't even understand if someone is right or wrong, or if it's just a philosophy in how the players see the deck. For example, Andreas played 0 fogs, whereas Bob lists 0 spellskites and 0 Recalls (1 Truth), and Scapeshift84 above played 0 spellskite and 2+2 of the others.
Also, what players side out in each MU is quite interesting. Again, maybe it's how they see the deck operating, but here are a few examples:
Q: To add or remove Unlifes?
D: I think Andreas' point is that it's decayable, so you're better off comboing with spells. Bob's argument is that Unlife gives you a shot to combo from the top of the deck against lili.
Q: What to take out first, Bloom or Unlife?
D: I'd say the second one.
Tron
Andreas: -3 Spoils, +1 Pact of Negation, +2 Thoughtseize
Bob: -3 Pact of Negation, +1 Echoing Truth, +1 Slaughter Pact, +1 Unlife
Scapeshift84: -2 Phyrexian Unlife, -1 Pact Of Negation, -1 Pentad Prism, +2 Thoughtseize +2 Hurkyl’s Recall
Q: Do you need spoils? To add or remove Pact of Negation? And Unlife?
D: Adreas' makes the point the MU is so good you don't need the risk to spoil your win (see what I did there?).
Also, why do people like Champion that much? Isn't Ezuri just always better?
4 Heritage Druid
3 Nettle Sentinel
4 Elvish Mystic
4 Dwynen's Elite
1 Elvish Visionary
4 Elvish Archdruid
3 Ezuri, Renegade Leader
2 Shaman of the Pack
4 Devoted Druid
1 Vizier of Remedies
4 Collected Company
4 Cavern of Souls
3 Windswept Heath
2 Forest
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Temple Garden
2 Razorvege Thicket
2 Blooming Marsh
2 Horizon Canopy
1 Westvale Abby
1 Kataki, War's Wage
1 Phyrexian Revoker
1 Scavenging Ooze
2 Selfless Spirit
1 Reclamation Sage
2 Kitchen Finks
3 Path to Exile
1 Eidolon of Rhetoric
2 Driven//Despair
1 Aven Mindcensor
R1: beat blue architect, seemed like a bye
R2: lost to GW counters. Combo'd on the play g1, he combo'd g2 on the play, g3 I had the combo for next turn but he hit Aved Mindcensor of a CoCo, which kinda locked me, as he drew 2 paths and a Witness to kill my potential dangerous natural draws.
R3: beat GR Valakut, got a bit lucky, as he flooded and didn't draw Anger g1, g2 I landed a spirit that had me covered.
R4: lost to storm. G1 he combo'd faster, g2 I went for a Westvale t3 with him at 17, he didn't have an answer, g3 I probably misplayed: afraid of Remand, I path'd his Baral on my turn, which ramped him and allowed him to play a second Baral. This also meant 1 less creature in play, thus I couldn't Chord for Eidolon next turn, when he went off. Then I learned he took Remands of. I could have won this one, but the MU doesn't seem great.
R5: Beat Grixis shadow. G1 I elfball quickly, g2 I have a slow start and he has staticaster to clear my board, g3 I put a huge board on t2, and he concedes too soon, although it looked really bad for him.
R6: Beat burn. It didn't seem close, and eidolon seems worse for them than for us.
MVP: Westvale Abby. Won 3-4 games with it, even playing such a small tournament. Totally worth the slot.
HM: The combo. It allows to steal games that if they last, you probably have a hard time winning.
Unknown: Driven/Despair. Never got to cast it. Not sure if better or worse than Lead. I like the idea of ripping their hand apart while drawing a few cards. Those cards are not guaranteed though.
Disappointed: Shaman. I understand why people like it, and that's why I decided to run them too, but at no point during the tournament I was like "oh man I wish I draw/hit a shaman now". Never ever felt that way. I either need to rebuild, or one of the other lords is good enough anyway, so I don't think the extra 3drops are worth - rather have either more Ezuri that saves elves from sweepers or Archdruid that ramps.
Note, of course, that my sample size is really small for some of these conclusions. Manabase is almost assuredely not perfect. Kitchen Finks didn't seem necessary. Path might better be a split with Dismember.
I wish I could play your Cage, seems much better than the regular one
Later I can post my sb plans. But specifically on Grixis Delver, it probably plays out like Jund, which is better than Jeskai. Path is a beating, while Terminate is good but costs 2 mana, which makes a huge difference, specially when taking into account Snapcaster. I think the trick is to understand that your threats cost much less than their removal. So you can't just play a single threat each turn, because this let's them use their removal once a turn. Instead, try to Probe and Thoughtseize first to know what you're up against and clear the way, and then drop 2-3 threats in the same turn (ideally Death Shadow and Mandrils), saving Monastery for last. Nacatl turn 1 is also pretty good if you have Mutagenic backup, because they're pretty much forced into bolt it, taking 3 for fetching, and you counter it for free, which adds to the board if next turn you jam 2 more threats. T2 they can have terminate, but you're still bashing with 2 threats.
I still like the deck, I'm just not sure if dredge is not even more powerful overall.
Actually, many times I do not have Nacatl and just don't fetch white at all with the first 2 lands. If you want perfect mana t2, you're still in the position of 1g source, so I guess it would only really matter by the 3rd land (assuming no Nacatl)? If that's the case, you're probably better served with a combination of OT+SG for the first two lands.
PS: I liked Nihil Spellbomb a lot, it's another cantrip and helps delirium. Worse against coco/chord, but I'm considering cutting cage for the 2nd one (it also depends if I end up running dryad at all ofc!...also considering some monkeys main atm).
EDIT: he appears on 7-1 better decks actually.
All in all, how would you build your sb? Why do you like Celestial Purge against Jund in the first place? It accomplishes nothing as far as I can tell. Why don't you like Echoing Truth/Recall? Chalice to 0 and/or 1 is a beating, they solve Spellskite, affinity, Nexus and other problems (Echoing in particular).
The sb looks like:
1 Pact of Negation
1 Slaughter Pact
4 Leyline of Sanctity
2 Thoughtseize
1 Boseiju
+ 6 flex slots which usually contain a mix of the following: Fog effect (Darkness or Ethereal Haze), Bounce effects (Hurkyl's Recall and Echoing Truth), and Spellskite.
After seeing a few guides, it seems to me there are many different views in how to approach each matchup. I can't even understand if someone is right or wrong, or if it's just a philosophy in how the players see the deck. For example, Andreas played 0 fogs, whereas Bob lists 0 spellskites and 0 Recalls (1 Truth), and Scapeshift84 above played 0 spellskite and 2+2 of the others.
Also, what players side out in each MU is quite interesting. Again, maybe it's how they see the deck operating, but here are a few examples:
Jund (4 Leyline)
Andreas: -2 Unlife, -2 Pact
Bob/Scapeshift84: -3 Prism, -3 Pact (brings 1 Unlife)
Q: To add or remove Unlifes?
D: I think Andreas' point is that it's decayable, so you're better off comboing with spells. Bob's argument is that Unlife gives you a shot to combo from the top of the deck against lili.
Infect (1 Pact, discard, fog/spellskite)
Andreas: -4 Unlife, -2 Sleight of Hand
Bob: -4 Lotus Bloom, -1 Unlife, -2 Reef
Scapeshift84: -3 Bloom, -3 Unlife
Q: What to take out first, Bloom or Unlife?
D: I'd say the second one.
Tron
Andreas: -3 Spoils, +1 Pact of Negation, +2 Thoughtseize
Bob: -3 Pact of Negation, +1 Echoing Truth, +1 Slaughter Pact, +1 Unlife
Scapeshift84: -2 Phyrexian Unlife, -1 Pact Of Negation, -1 Pentad Prism, +2 Thoughtseize +2 Hurkyl’s Recall
Q: Do you need spoils? To add or remove Pact of Negation? And Unlife?
D: Adreas' makes the point the MU is so good you don't need the risk to spoil your win (see what I did there?).