MTG Salvation

I think I want to play Wishclaw Talisman in any list with 4 Goblin Engineer and 4 Thopter Foundry. I like the Pentad Prisms too.

I don't think you need Time Sieve AND Ghirapur Aethergrid

Sorry to see Mox Opal go, but I like that my baby goes back to being less of a meta deck.

A big question for me now is.. how many lands? I think 22 is a good start if not running replacement mana rocks.

Extended never really went away. It is always going to be necessary to have a format for players to realistically graduate into after a rotation or two, but if it is boundless eventually that effect will be diluted. They will make Pioneer last as long as they can until it isn't filling that role any more, then they will make a new format and Pioneer will fall to the side. By not calling it extended, players will feel comfortable investing in the format and when it "rotates", it will be when the majority of players will be ready for a new format anyway.

In the meanwhile, Modern is likely to be "eternal 2.0". They can augment the power level and balance of the format with Modern Horizons style supplemental products and have an "eternal" format without the mar of the reserved list.

I recently picked up this deck on modo. Still working on getting the cards in paper. I have been running Tectonic Edge instead of Field of Ruin because it is more disruptive and you can only get tron if you are able to hit it on turn 3 when you are on the play anyway.
It has helped win me quite a few games and I never ended up missing Field against Tron so far, but I did wish they were fields against Inkmoth Nexus specifically.

I have put Trashmaster in the main deck along with 1 Cratermaker which has put me at an advantage against the stoneforge decks.
So far my league finishes:
5-0: 0
4-1: 3
3-2: 1
2-3: 2
1-4: 0
0-5: 0

Really enjoying the deck. Long been a fan of goblins in legacy but never built it myself so now I feel like it's my time.

Perhaps we could bring in Padeem?

Perhaps the title of this thread should be changed. Everyone knows it Urza Thopter/Sword or something like that.

So..
We're playing a lot of islands.
We are establishing a board presence. We are not relying on bridge as much..
Can we play shackles again??

I don't have Urzas yet (I should be securing my last 2 tomorrow) so I took an old style build to an event yesterday.

Here's the list:


I managed to make top 4. I don't have a really great memory but here's what I can remember:
Round 1 - UW Control - Both games were a grind but he managed to edge me out both times. Not a great start, especially since I wanted the prize money to pay for my Urzas 0-1
Round 2 - UB Faeries - First game, I thought he was just a derpy UB control deck. He almost got me by swinging in with man lands but I managed to stabilize and pull back gradually. Making sure to play around Surgical the whole way. Second game is when the faeries rolled out. He managed to keep my off balance enough that I couldn't lock down the board fast enough. Third game I got the combo online quickly and once again, gingerly played around Surgical whilst getting an overwhelming board presence. 1-1
Round 3 - Mardu Pyromancer - I remember Kaya's Guile being an issue. Thoughtseize helped a lot. 2-1
Round 4 - Thopter/Sword (with Urza and Engineer) - Yup.. the mirror! Kinda. Funny enough this guy and I showed one another our decks after the first round to compare tech. He had an interesting inclusion in his deck.. a Pentad Prism. I can dig it. First game, I got the board pretty well locked down early. It came to a point where neither of us had a shot at winning. He thought he had me because he had more cards in deck and had Pithing Needled Academy Ruins. But I just went through the paces for probably 40 turns until I drew Aether Grid, which he had forgotten about. Luckily I was able to Thoughtseize his second Pithing needle earlier. That took me game 1. I can't quite remember how I won game 2 but I did. 3-1
Round 5 - UR Phoenix - Early bridge kept him locked down for a long time. It took me a while to find my second combo piece. Luckily, because I found a Thoughtseize and he had 2 Surgical Extractions in hand soaking. Game 2 I managed to get both the combo online as well as Bridge. He did get Aria started but then flooded out on lands and I closed the game quickly. 4-1
Round 6 - ID
Quarter Finals - Mono Red Phoenix - He takes game 1 blazingly fast. I bring in everything that can interact early as well as Liliana and Tezzeret. I leave out Leylines because I am not sure it is Phoenix or just prowess and I don't think it's that good against Phoenix anyway. I manage to take infinite turns on turn 5. Game 3 he gets a shaky start and I am able to curve out decently while he doesn't have a lot of answers.
Semi Finals - Wrenn Jund - Game 1 I let a Wrenn go unanswered.. guaranteeing land drops and then ultimating. He bolted me 5 times in row soon after that. Game 2 it was rough and the writing was on the wall after not too long. I got junded.

Still won $100 credit and secured 2 Urzas though.
I added Pyrite Spellbomb and Ghirapur Aether Grid to my typical old build because I felt I needed some kind of backup plan with all the graveyard hate running around in main decks lately.

When these cards got spoiled, I actually drafted up a build without Bridge and without Whir.

It gave me some slots for interaction in Galvanic Blast / Metallic Rebuke.
I also added a Trinket Mage or two and a Sword of Fire and Ice. Even played around with Vedalken Shackles.
So I was playing Goblin Engineer, Sai, Master Thopterist, Trinket Mage and Urza, Lord of Artifice as threats. Eventually I cut the Galvanic Blasts and added Pyrite Spellbomb, Aether Spellbomb and Vedalken Shackles. Also played 3 Metallic Rebuke.

I haven't given it enough testing to know for sure but I feel like maybe playing Whir is just better, lol.

I don't have Urzas yet so I fell back to a basic build with 4 Serum Visions and 4 Thoughtseize last night and went 4-0. Still felt very solid.
To the point that I am a bit concerned about the fact that these lists don't have any discard/removal/counters. How much do you miss it?

Something I don't like about Sai is you really have to wait until turn 3 to get a lot of value out of him immediately.

Compared to when I play him in Legacy and Duel Commander with sol lands and he feels like he can take over the game quickly.
His greatest value is in giving the opponent more removal targets so you try to run them out of removal so that something sticks. Once Engineer, Sai or Urza sticks, you are going to be happy.

A guy just lost in the finals of an event in Canada Decklists will be on mtgtop8. He was playing the jeskai version, but almost identical.

The video is on here: https://www.twitch.tv/thehairytarantula

Was also the semis coverage match.

I like that main deck Aethergrid means that you can actually win the game that turn by activating Urza until you get it.

After seeing the goldfish video though.. not practical on MTGO. That software really needs to provide a way to record loops and playback x times.

For me so far, I couldn't imagine removing them. Plus, you are basically playing something like 15 snow lands because of all the fetches. Very seldom have I had to wait to cast one.

Astrolabe stays around after doing it's job to be used for Whir improvise mana.