In most of the actual NBLM tournaments that have been run and have published their top 8's, the field was pretty evenly split between combo decks and fair decks, but in none of them that I've recorded did any of the following decks win: Affinity, Storm, Hypergenesis. In fact, most of them were won by entirely fair midrange decks, powered either by blue countermagic (spell pierce/mental misstep/mana leak) or hatebears of various types.
In my own testing, the format is similar to legacy in that decks looking to actually build with consistency in mind get to execute their gameplan EVERY game, without fail. Unlike legacy, there's very little to no potential for getting train-wrecked on the first or second turn--it's still largely a turn 3 format unless you're literally goldfishing, and the police cards that exist (hatebears, particularly thalia and teeg, lightning bolt/path, mental misstep/mana leak/spell pierce) are actually able to do their jobs because the overall format is mana-efficient enough that soft permission is once again viable.
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Jun 20, 20125
LanternIQTeam posted a message on Lantern IQ Season 2 Thread (September Decklists due on the 7th)Posted in: Modern
Community Goals And Lantern's Note
I started this monthly tournament, at first, as a way to play more modern, since my store didn't offer it. Since then, its evolved into something more. It brought a few people from MTGSal closer together. People now plan, joke, even team up to test for these games. I feel that these games transcend what they used to be, and are now doing the impossible. So remember when you sign up, these are our goals for the games:
1. To further the Mtg Sal community and bring people together.
2. To further Modern format as a whole. Brewing/ tweaking archetypes/ Refining playing skills.
3. To have fun and be friendly yet still competitive and professional.
And of course, thank you guys, the players for everything.
~Lantern
Rules:
1. All Modern Rules apply here, as well as normal magic rules.
2. This will be best of 3 games, Single elimination rounds(You win 2 games you move on to next round, you loose 1 round you're out). You may sideboard between matches. Should there be a tie, it will go to game 4, and on until someone has won 2 matches.
3. Winner of the Tournament will get an invite to the later in the year "Burning Pumpkin Brawl" Invitational Contest to duke it out for 2013's Best Modern Mtg Sal player, aka the Reaper King Crown.
4. Second place will get 3 points, and 3rd and 4th will get 2 points, for the wild card spot.
5. If you already have been invited and win, the initiation will go to runner up. If they also already have an invite, the semifinal players will play for it.
6. If a winner of a previous invite wins again, 1 point will be given to 5-8th place as a special community treat.
Part 1: Pre-game
1. You must have Cockatrice downloaded, with all sets updated, and registered on the main site. See http://www.woogerworks.com/index.php/accountregistration
2. You must post your cockatrice name, deck code , via post this thread.
3. You must send me your cockatrice name, deck and Decklist Via Private message. Deck list must be copy pasted from deck editor. AFTER THIS YOUR DECK IS LOCKED IN AND CANT BE CHANGED. See this link for the correct format to message.
Part 2: Playtime!
1.When the pairings go up on Sunday, its up to you to message each other and figure out when you will play, and who will create the match.
2. When you find a time for both of you, post up the time here, so we can get a judge, or at least a member of the community to view the match.
3. When you create the match, title it "Lantern IQ (name) vs. (name), make it so spectators can view the match, see everything and chat. Set a password to: Lantern . This way judges, and spectators can watch and interact if need be.
4. If someone is more then 9 minutes late, and did not reschedule ahead of time, it is a round loss. It is up to the players to talk that one out.
5. The winner of the best of 3 will advance to next week. If a Official Judge is present, they will post the results. If not, a spectator can vouche for the results. If neither are there, then both parties must post up the result.
6. If an Illegal action is preformed (missing a dark confidant trigger) and the spectators/judges present can not see the move for what ever reason (In this case, hands are not revealed) then it results in a game loss.
7. Byes and Free Space. Free space is reserved for 24 hours after the start of a tournament to change into a participant. These are either a late entry or someone who entered and was missed in registration. Should the slot not be filled, it becomes a bye. Should some one be removed from the tournament, either by infraction of rules or dropping, it will result in a bye for the other player.
8. If you don't complete your match in the 1 week time frame, you can appeal for a 3 day extension. If a winner isn't determined by then, both players are eliminated unless there are extenuating circumstances
Official Judges:
1 or 2 of these people will have ruling power over whatever match they are overseeing. When they are Judging, whatever they say goes in the match. This extends to spectators as well.
Judges/Requirements to be one
Requirements:
3 months or more of Modern playing experience
2 years of magic playing experience
Curious and friendly personality
well rounded knowledge of rules
Well rounded knowledge of Lantern IQ rules
frequent poster in modern forums
Things to keep in mind:
1. Should you need to interrupt a match for any reason, first type a "game halt" before anything else so as to stop the game.
2. Review the gatherer and http://magiccards.info/ for rulings.
3. Should anyone be unsportsmanlike, you have authority to do what you deem necessary.
4. that being said, respect people and treat everyone fairly. Your there to help people not hinder them.
Penalties
Players:
1. Should someone be unsportsmanlike, give them a warning. If its the second offence, they loose the round. Community event, its important.
2. Should someone make an major illegal move, attempt to fix the situation. If it can not be done, or you can not know for certain it can be fixed, it is a game loss. (ex. Dark confidants trigger)
3. Should someone make a minor illegal move that does not effect the game majorly, judges may use their discression at what is the best option (ex. Missing a green sun zenith shuffle)
Should something extreme happen (racial slur, cheating, Resurrection of the dead) suspend the game, and then refer to me.
Spectators
1. Should a player say they don't want much chatter, and a spectator ignores it, you may kick them from the game.
2. Should a spectator reveal by accident minor game information or by accident give minor advice to a player (Ex. naming colors of a deck, saying he should have attacked) they get a warning, if they do it again, they are kicked from the game
3. Should they reveal important game information or give direct advice (EX. He has a counter in hand, doom blade the finks) they should be kicked from the game, and I should be notified.
Current Infractions/warnings given:
N/A
Common issues:
Should the server drop: Restart whatever game they are on. Do not guess at board state.
One player is dropped: Unless a spectator (no player) can reform board state/hands ect, replay game
One players internet crashes: it is up to the other player. Make a new time to play, or ask a judge to DQ the player whos internet lagged out.
Some notable cards/interactions:
Aether Vial:
If you miss an Aether Vial trigger during your upkeep, then proceeded to the draw step and drew your card for the turn, you missed the trigger, you may not put a counter on Aether Vial. If you have not drawn yet for turn, you may return to the upkeep step to put a counter on it.
Cryptic Command and Manlands (ie. Mutavault):
If your opponent taps down your creatures during the Start of Combat step, and you control an inanimate Manland, it IS legal to animate your manland after Cryptic Command has resolved, and attack with said manland.
Dark Confidant:
If you miss a trigger during your upkeep, STOP THE GAME, then undo your draw (ctrl+shift+D), then resolve the trigger. If the Undo action is impossible (due to a card being played) and spectators are able to see hands, the spectators can confirm what card you drew, reveal the card, then draw your card for turn. If spectators cannot see hands, and the draw cannot be undone, it will result in a GAME LOSS.
Delver of Secrets:
If you miss a trigger during your upkeep, and proceed to draw for turn, you may NOT undo your draw in order to flip your Delver of Secrets.
*There is a slight exception to the rule: If you are in your upkeep, and make it clear that you are attempting to resolve your Delver of Secrets trigger, and accidentally draw for your turn (while in upkeep), you MAY undo the draw to flip the Delver.*
ALSO, if you are playing a deck with both Delver of Secrets and Dark Confidant, make it clear which trigger you are resolving first. You may not reveal for a Bob trigger, then flip your Delver because it is an instant or sorcery card.
Nivmagus Elemental:
If you cast an Instant or Sorcery spell, you gain priority immediately afterwards. If you pass priority to an opponent, and they pass priority again, without doing anything, your spell will resolve, and you do NOT regain priority to activate the Elemental's effect.
Vendilion Clique:
If you use the "Reveal your hand" feature, reveal the chosen card before putting it on the bottom of your library. If you fail to do so, put the bottom card of your library on the field/stack to confirm that the bottomed card is the chosen card (to do this, press and hold ctrl, then click and drag your library to the field)
This next one is more of an interaction of sorts.:
Mana Dork + Village Bell Ringer + Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker/Splinter Twin does not get around Ghostly Prison's restriction. The same is true for decks using Rituals. refer here for explanation.
Burning Pumpkin Brawl:
16 players will advance to the Burning Pumpkin Brawl, 12 from the IQ's who have won invites and and 4 with the highest wildcard points. This will be an all month event! The winner will be awarded with bragging rights, the Reaper King's Crown and an MTGSAL trophy.
They may battle with any modern deck they choose.
Date TBD Semis and Finals
Deck lists are released to the public.
Match 1: 12:00AM GMT/8:00PM EST
Semifinalist A1 Vs. Semifinalist B
Match 2: 1:00AM GMT/9:00PM EST
Semifinalist C Vs. Semifinalist D
Match 3: 2:00AM GMT/10:00PM EST
Finalist A/B Vs. Finalist C/D
Questions and Concerns that have been brought up:
How do I know when I should sign up by?
Decklists/Codes are always due by the Sunday after the 1st of every month
Is the upcoming new set legal?
If it's on cockatrice's official Oracle card database, then yes. The IQTeam will post for confirmation.
Where is my Deck Id?
There is two ways to do it. the easiest is to build your deck in deck editor and it will say it on the deck. This is the way I prefer, because I can pop in your deck list (which you PM me) and I can make sure its the same. The second way is to upload your deck to the server once you connect. Don't do it that way, do it the first way.
What are the points used for?
by the end of this run, we should have anywhere from 8-12 players. But wed rather have the end of the year Invitational be 16 players, thus there will be some "wild card spots" These points will go to that.
Is my decklist going to be revealed at the end of this?
Yes, unless you tell me not to. This is to further testing and community, so it will be. Let me know if you don't want it to.
Why do you need the Deck Code AND the Decklist?
Decklists are used for a couple reasons, one being I'm going to put them up at the end so everyone can learn and adapt for the next one (And modern in general) Also when you start a game, you load the deck in. the chat will say "Lantern Loaded Deck! (XXXX111XX)" Thats how we verify its the same. Anytime you enter a card into deck editor, it changes that code. Depending on how big your deck and SB are it can even add more numbers (thats how I caught the cheater). But luckly, unless someone is hacking or clicking cards until the correct code comes up, no one can see the decklists. That means one person (like me) has to take the decklist, load it into cockatrice, and check to see if the code matches the decklist.
Why do you lock your deck list in?/Why do I have to get you to verify the deck?
This was discussed at length, and is, I admit, a complicated issue. There were a few alternatives presented, but none gave the security, ease, and collection of data, the one currently in place does. To see more about it see me.
When should I be ready for the next game?
Sign ups are the 1st of every month.
I don't want to reveal my hands as a match setting, because I don't want accidental spectators to comment on it, or cheating. Is that ok?
Yes. But that must be ok'd with the players present, and that also means if an illegal action happens, and we cant see it, then the player who preformed that action gets a game loss.
What is a free spot? Do i have a bye?
Free spaces are used as a safety buffer. Sometimes while dealing with upwards to 50 messages, I loose track of a decklist. That's where the free spots come in. Basically its insurance that if you signed up you get a spot. If by midnight the next day, no one has informed me of a mistake, the free spots become open for late submitters.
COCKATRICE and its Legal Battle:
Currently cockatrice is having a legal battle with Hasbro. As such we will continue as planned, on a different server.
The host is: play.woogerworks.com
and the port is still 4747
When the connect dialog pops up, change the host category to the one above, and you will need to make a new account to be a registered user on that server. I don't know the link to where you register off hand, but I will try and find it.
How to change Cockatrice to: play.woogerworks.com.
1) Open the Cockatrice program as normal.
2) Click to connect and wait for the "Connect to Server" box to appear.
3) Type "play.woogerworks.com" into the "Host" box (where it currently reads "play.cockatrice.de")
4) Keep all other details the same (Port: 4747. Username, etc.)
5) Play MTG.
The link to register is: http://www.woogerworks.com/cockatrice/
That I agree with. And this is the Account that will be used.
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Jan 15, 2014
5
MEMEME670 posted a message on [BNG] [Cockatrice] Cockatrice update for BNG!Linked is a cards.xml with most of the cards spoiled so far (If you want a specific card/cards added to the file, just let me know.)Posted in: Third Party Products
cards.xml (Reminder: Uncheck the box below 'Download' before downloading.)
Tutorial
1. Download the file.
2. Find your card database (Cockatrice > Settings)
3. Put the file into the card database.
Done.
Last Update: Jan 23rd -
Dec 3, 2013
2
SPMiller posted a message on [[Official]] Current Modern Banned List Discussion (Next Announcement: 1/27/14)Posted in: Modern
BB is not a control card.Quote from Robert_GA couple of things about Bitterblossom.
1. Control is not doing well in modern. Either BB or Big Jace is needed to fix that....and I don't see big Jace getting unbanned anytime soon.
2. Bitterblossom never really saw Abrupt Decay before it was banned. With AD in the format along side Inquisition of Kozilek.....BB can easily be answered.
Anyways....my control deck is asking for BB to be unbanned. It could happen. -
Sep 16, 2013
12
NoUndies posted a message on [[Official]] Current Modern Banned List Discussion (Next Announcement: 1/27/14)Posted in: ModernQuote from ValanarchAnd Aura Hexproof must be a combo deck too because Kor Spiritdancer encourages playing auras. That is not a valid argument. Splinter Twin is a combo deck because it uses specific cards to win (also, anything that goes infinite is a combo deck). Any deck that needs a combination of specific cards to win is a combo deck. Affinity can win many ways (Arcbound Ravager, Inkmoth Nexus, Etched Champion, Vault Skirge). It is not a combo deck. And if you can't just count the cards with affinity on them that are played in Affinity, why did you bring the name up?
Bogles is an aggro-combo deck, the commentators were discussing this very point during the world champs. Go check the Youtube videos of Reid Duke hangin' out with his wang out if you don't believe me. It doesn't need to assemble its combo to win, but when it does, it starts drawing its deck to the point where you can't catch up. The original standard version of affinity was also considered to be an aggro-combo deck due to the combination of disciple of the vault and arcbound ravager.
See here, where affinity is listed towards the bottom.
I'm not sure the current version of affinity could be classified as strictly aggro-combo, though having seen it in action, I'd say that it definitely shares traits with combo decks, since it is capable of playing aggro efficiently, but can blow up in a single turn with a resolved cranial plating. Same goes for foodchain goblins, and legacy elves. They play the aggro game, but have a specific combination of cards that allows them to essentially go off and win the game.
Right now the problem with this format is that Wizards are trying to push the game in a direction it was never designed to go in, and it's going to take a serious change in priorities for them to fix modern. They intentionally kept all of the powerful control cards out of the format, and had to ban fast combo because, surprise surprise, with no control in the format, it was trouncing aggro and midrange. Now that they've banned fast combo, GB/x is by far the strongest combination in the format, and it's only getting stronger with each new set that they print. It still makes me laugh that people think counterspell is too strong, and yet DRS into a turn two liliana is fine.
DRS is now the 4th most played non-land card in legacy, behind FoW, brainstorm, and ponder, which should be an indication as to how strong that card really is. The other three cards on that list are legendary for their power, and even the hallowed lightning bolt sees less play than DRS. Hell, there have been discussions about whether or not he should be banned in legacy, since fair blue decks -- which have access to Jace, mind you -- fold to Jund. What keeps things in check is that GB/x can't fight combo, and so when midrange gets out of hand, combo players come out of the woodwork to teach them a thing or two about speed. At that point, control returns and pushes combo back down, and the cycle repeats itself.
The problem is that in this era, the design and development team have defined a specific type of interaction that they want to dominate the game (creature fights). They've pushed the value of creatures under the false assumption that they can never be broken, because they can always be answered by removal. However, creatures are, and always have been, the dominant win condition, and when you make them too strong, you need progressively stronger answers to keep things in balance. When you combine legacy level threats with standard level answers, you get non-interactive games with a lot of variance, and the format homogenizes around midrange.
In modern, the answers to those creatures are clustered around GB/x, and combo has been banned out of the format. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that GB/x is so strong, because that combination has access to not not only some of the strongest creatures ever printed (Goyf, DRS, Bob), but they also have one of the best removal suites in abrupt decay and maelstrom pulse, and the best disruption in the format thanks to thoughtseize and inquisition of kozilek. Unbanning visions isn't going to change this, because the card just doesn't do enough. Drawing cards is incredibly powerful, but it's never been stronger than just outright winning the game. In fact, my guess is that it would power up UWR, but we'd still have the problem of there being only one control deck in the format, and it may even push that particular deck over the top (I have my doubts, but I've been wrong before).
The reason we're even in this state to begin with is because of bull**** arguments about interaction and fun that had no business influencing the design of the game. Here's an idea: if your midrange deck is folding to combo because it's uninteractive, the problem is not just the combo deck being uninteractive, it's also your deck being uninteractive with combo. You made a choice not to interact by not including cards that can fight that strategy in your deck. If you're playing aggro, your strategy is equally as uninteractive as any combo deck, because your goal is to kill your opponent before they get to play magic. The distinction between creature-based interactions and spell-based interactions is an arbitrary preference that players and Wizards have bought into, and it needs to stop, because it's affecting the long term health of the game.
I guess my real point is this: fun is subjective, and interaction is a strategic choice that all decks make. By focusing on only one type of interaction (the combat step), WotC have essentially pushed the game in this direction, and the result is what we saw this weekend. At this stage, I don't see how modern can ever have a balanced metagame without a change in design policy, and even assuming such a policy were implemented tomorrow, it would take years for it to come into effect. The turn four rule is a joke, and anyone who can't see or realise the effect it has on the balance of this game has no business designing games in the first place.
my $0.02 -
Sep 12, 20133
Lantern posted a message on Lantern IQ Season 2 Thread (September Decklists due on the 7th)Posted in: Modern
Meet the 16ers! Bios inside spoilers. Decklist after.
SPC!
Name or Username: (What ever you prefer) SPC
Why the Username: Woke up one morning hungover, noticed that my Lackeyccg username had been changed to SPC, never changed it back.
Age: (If you would rather not say, use a fun number) 24
Occupation: (If you would rather not say, use a fun job title) Retail Manager
Hometown: (Same deal as above) MA
How long have you been playing magic: Started at Judgement, quit before Kamigawa, started again after Eventide
How long have you been on MTG sal: July 2011
If you had a Bad Super Hero name and catch phase related to magic what would it be?
Super Hero Name: Rider of the Storm, because I love storm and I love The Doors
Catch Phrase: "U Mad Bro?" because of my tendency when playing combo to toy with and then showboat excessively against rude players
Why do you like the Lantern IQs:
The competition level reminds me a lot of the opening rounds of a PTQ. Most of the best players on our modern forums participate, and it gives me an incentive to test this format, which is great because I don't have any local modern tournaments outside of the PTQs
Why do you like Modern:
Old Extended was my favorite format for years, Modern is the closest thing to that I will ever get to play again. I am more familiar with the card pool and its interactions than any other format, and I don't like standard.
Previous Magic Accomplishments:
A Top 8 and a Top 16 during the last round of Modern PTQs, Deck-Pimping Extrordinaire
What deck did you play and why did you choose it?
Storm. Storm is and always will be the deck I know the best and am most comfortable piloting, and I felt that knowledge of my deck would be more important in this tournament than actual metagaming would be.
What changes would you make to your deck or side and why would you make them?
In the MD, -1 Faithless Looting +1 Gifts Ungiven. The MD is very consistent, but I miss having 2 Gifts MD and I don't need 4 Lootings.
In the board, Shattering Spree has been disappointing. It might be better as Blood Moon or Molten Rain instead.
What's the Meta you expect from the BPB?
Rhinne on either Jund or UWR
Akaiser on UWR
Martin on Zoo
Lantern on Zoo
Dodito on D&T
TheTanStar on Bant
Mastodon on GBx Midrange
ZX_XZ on Dredge
Pyro on Pod
Talked to Badd B and to a lesser extent Tom about the expected metagame, but we couldn't come to a consensus on what to play. We had this list, but couldn't agree on any single strategy that would be good vs the entire field.
Anything you're worried about?
Facing Akaiser or Rhinne (lost to both of them at least twice each during the IQs)
What is the most important card in your deck?
Before the combo, Pyromancer Ascension
While going off, Manamorphose
Story time: Best magic experience?
1: Kitchen Table games circa Onslaught block against my friends. Wellwisher Elves vs Dragonspeaker Shaman Dragons vs Scalpelexis Mill.
2: Discovering competitive Extended and the wonders of TEPS.
3: The never-ending quest to foil-out competitive decks on a relatively small budget. So far I've finished Legacy High Tide, Modern Storm, and I'm 5-15 cards each away from finishing GW Hatebears Jund and Zoo.
(optional) Want to say anything extra? Any shout outs? Fun facts? Go for it!
Shout out to Badd B for letting me bounce ideas off of him and test them, no matter how bad/boring they might be.
Cant wait for Season 2 of the IQs!
MartinMcFly
Name or Username: (What ever you prefer)
MartinMcFly
Why the Username:
Because I'm too old to be going by Marty
Age: (If you would rather not say, use a fun number)
All this time traveling, I don't even know anymore. Or if this even makes sense
Occupation: (If you would rather not say, use a fun job title)
Best magic player on cockatrice
Hometown: (Same deal as above)
Hill Valley, California all day baby
How long have you been playing magic:
On and off for long stints since maybe Torment
How long have you been on MTG sal:
October 12th, 2012
If you had a Bad Super Hero name and catch phase related to magic what would it be?
Why do you like the Lantern IQs:
I like the competition and I've learned a lot about modern from the players here. Not just the usual meta-this-and-that you get from GPs and PTs. You can learn a lot about the actual modern culture. (In magic, not civilization)
Why do you like Modern:
Diversity and deckbuilding possibilities. The format is neither broken nor underpowered (pending more unnecessary bans). Overpriced? Different story.
Previous Magic Accomplishments:
6-2 in a couple GPs?
FNM Superstar?
Happen to draw awkward stares from Reid Duke and awkwarder moments from Brian Kibler a couple times. (I know neither of them but I've been in the same vicinity multiple times and tried talking to both. Magic players are hilarious)
What deck did you play and why did you choose it?
Boom/Bust Zoo (Tempo)
There are many ways to go about boom/bust, the one i chose was a tempo-type build I had been testing for months. I used this deck to win IQ9, however w/o Bloodbraid Elf things are way, way tighter and I definitely seem to have made a deckbuilding error or two in attempting to replace her.
What changes would you make to your deck or side and why would you make them?
The return of boros charm in my deck. the added burn + evasion against rwu control. Also my best defense against Liliana of the Veil.
What's the Meta you expect from the BPB?
GW D&T/Hatebears & RWU Control + Wild variation from some of my favorite modern deckbuilders. And a Lantern Zoo. That's exactly what I ended up seeing.
Anything you're worried about?
Losing without feeling I played my absolute best, which I feel is what happened. But I had fun.
What is the most important card in your deck?
Boom/Bust. Most important by far. The card that can hurt and/or help me the most. Best is probably Knight of the Reliquary
Story time: Best magic experience?
There's a lot of them, but I'll do the one I had with this deck maybe 2 or 3 times in testing. It goes like this,
EOT
Violent outburst - Cascade into Boom/bust - Choose Bust as mode - Cast Boros Charm - Choose indestructible as mode - watch my cute combo force once nice stranger to ragequit
(optional) Want to say anything extra? Any shout outs? Fun facts? Go for it![/QUOTE]
Would like to thank Lantern for organizing these now world renown (hey it's kinda true right?) tournaments and all the players I've gotten to connect and play with. I love this game and look forward to winning next year. Which I will.
Rhin
Name or Username: Martin / Rhin
Why the Username: I always use the same nick, i tyhink i got it from an rpg a loooong time ago.
Age: 25
Occupation: Certified public accountant
Hometown: Buenos Aires, Argentina
How long have you been playing magic: 1&1/2 years
How long have you been on MTG sal: 1 year i think
If you had a Bad Super Hero name and catch phase related to magic what would it be? Ahh, i really dont know
Why do you like the Lantern IQs:
Its a fun and relaxed place to test and get to know people. the IQs are actually really competitive, so its a useful testing group.
Why do you like Modern:
For one, i dont like expending a lot on a game, and i specially dont like to switch decks everytime there is a new set, so std is out. Legacy is cool, but way too broken for my taste, I dont like the fact that there are T1 combos and free countermagic.
Previous Magic Accomplishments:
I havent been playing for long, so i dont have a lot of them.
I have a few gpts, and i think a top 8 at a ptq, but since there are no gps nearby, i still havent played one.
What deck did you play and why did you choose it?
For the most part y played uwr geist. bIts a well balanced and very versatile deck that rewards tight play and resource management, it doesnt have any bad matchs ups, and it feels like, if you play it correctly, you have an out to all situations.
On the brawl i played 4 colours gifts.
The deck is the closest thing to classic control we will get to see in modern, its really hard to play correctly (i didnt) and its just so much fun i couldn't help myself.
Trying different grifts combinations according to the situation, powerful beaters, lifegain, counterspells, discard, removal, reanimator and combo lockdowns, feels the deck can do anything.
What changes would you make to your deck or side and why would you make them?
I would need to think on it a bit more, i guess with the coming of the m14 cards, the Gys in not a safe bet any longer.
What's the Meta you expect from the BPB?
I expect the usual combo decks, a bit of midrange. and a rogue or two.
Anything you're worried about?
Deathrite shaman, scavenging ooze.
What is the most important card in your deck?
gifts, no doubt.
Story time: Best magic experience?
The time i made top 8 at the ptq was by far my best accomplishment, and also the most fun tournament i have gone to.
Lots of friends, lots of crazy things, and the afterparty was a blast
(optional) Want to say anything extra? Any shout outs? Fun facts?
Badd Business
Why the Username: I started back playing when I was a business major in college. I happened to be listening to a song I liked named Badd Business. I was bad at magic at that time. So it just became my username. There really wasn't that much thought put into it however.
Age: 26
Occupation: Digital Marketing Analyst
Hometown: Believeland (Cleveland) - Currently Columbus
How long have you been playing magic:: Started in 1994, stopped in 1999, started again in 2001, stopped in 2005, started again in 2010 until now (although mostly online since 2010).
How long have you been on MTG sal: I think it's like 2.5 years? I'm too lazy to check my bio right now haha.
If you had a Bad Super Hero name and catch phase related to magic what would it be? Lucksack man. I have the luckiest sack in the world.
Why do you like the Lantern IQs: Free meta to test in without cost restrictions, generally casual environment with mostly good natured players. I get to play my rogue decks against mostly tier decks with occasional brews thrown in. What's not to love?
What changes would you make to your deck or side and why would you make them? : Maindeck Obstinate Baloth. I lose to Liliana more than just about any other card with the deck I played, so not a huge surprise I lost the first match to a turn 2 Liliana on the draw, putting me behind for g2. I wouldn't do this if I was expecting more combo, but I figured most people would be playing fair decks, so it would have been smart in retrospect.
What's the Meta you expect from the BPB?: I generally expected aggro and midrange. I know at least 2 players will be on Zoo, and quite a few will be on midrange decks, with the others likely playing pod or UWR control. I wasn't expecting much combo or tron.
Anything you're worried about?
: I really hope Wizards unbans fair cards that support synergistic but lightly competitive decks like Bitterblossom and Sword of the Meek. I respect goodstuff decks, but the format gets really boring when it's just about jamming all of the best cards into a 4 color shell. I also think they need to print better answers to turn 2 Liliana of the Veil on the play. There is zero way for most of the decks of the format to interact with this play that seems to happen relatively often these days.
Previous Magic Accomplishments: Nothing particularly notable, I like to brew decks a lot .
What is the most important card in your deck? : Eternal Witness - Gifts pulls everything together, but most of the deck is about abusing Eternal Witness recursion.
Story time: Best magic experience? Playing 8 player team 4-way magic in 5th grade. Had so much fun doing this all night long with good friends back then.
Mastodon
Name or Username: Mastodon, (Marshall, IRL)
Why the Username: Favorite band. Pretty typical way to make a username lol.
Age: 22
Occupation: Musician/Teacher
Hometown: Raleigh, NC
How long have you been playing magic: 2 years
How long have you been on MTG sal: 2 years
If you had a Bad Super Hero name and catch phase related to magic what would it be?
Why do you like the Lantern IQs: It's a free magic tournament, first of all. Secondly, the meta is really wide open and full of off-the-wall decks, which keeps the game fresh and keeps you on your toes.
Why do you like Modern: I like being able to play with dark confidant a lot. It's one of my favorite cards. It's pretty good in legacy, too, but it doesn't stand out in legacy as much as it does in modern. I also like just having one deck and sticking with it, which is why I enjoy modern and legacy over standard. Lastly, although legacy definitely has the best spells, modern has some great spells, too, that aren't standard legal and don't typically see play in legacy (another reason I enjoy EDH as well).
Previous Magic Accomplishments: Not much. I've won some FNM's, a couple of legacy and modern events, and I top 4'ed a 16-man GPT. My crowning achievement: I steam-rolled a small legacy event with affinity and won a wasteland...and yes, I was playing real decks and real players. I'm not a huge fan of standard or limited (besides cube), so I don't get as many opportunities to play.
What deck did you play and why did you choose it?
Junk. When I was thinking about decks to play I thought I would either play a stronger meta deck, or just stick with what I was familiar with. That said, I just stuck with what I was familiar with. Honestly, it may not be the strongest deck in the format, but I didn't feel like taking the time to learn a new deck. It also has very few weak match ups, plus it has strong control match ups, which I thought would be prevalent in this event.
What changes would you make to your deck or side and why would you make them?
I expected a fair amount of control decks, this influenced a lot of my meta decisions. I also expected to not see some of the more specific popular meta decks, such as storm, bogle, tron, etc, so I left out some particular cards that I would normally keep for those decks. I guess I would say to look at my list for specifics.
What's the Meta you expect from the BPB?
As I said: control. That and pod. But honestly, I don't really know what anyone is playing except for 3 people. Badd B I know is on some form of control, nahadoth is playing dega aggro, and lantern is probably playing some form of aggro as well. Of course, this is entirely speculation, I don't really know for sure.
Anything you're worried about?
My match up against Badd B. Our games are always really close. His decks, though never in the meta, usually have quite a bit of potency.
What is the most important card in your deck?
Depends on the match up, but definitely either Liliana of the veil or Knight of the Reliquary. I know people complain about KotR in modern, but kotr has won me a lot of games in a lot of different ways. Sure, we don't have maze of ith or wasteland, but we have plenty of other neat tools in this format.
Story time: Best magic experience?
...learning how to play from my fraternal big brother, Bryan, and spending a lot of time going to events and playing with him and several other friends.
(optional) Want to say anything extra? Any shout outs? Fun facts? Go for it!
shout out to my magic friends (not that they'll ever see this): matt, bryan, johnny, mark, ej, and josh.
Lantern
Name or Username: Lantern
Why the Username: Born on halloween. Do the math. Fun fact: if you see pumpkin head alters on a zoo deck in real life. You just met me.
Age: 22
Occupation: Television Writer.
Hometown: Philly/Savannah/Atlanta is where I call home.
How long have you been playing magic:Sinnncceee I was 7ish? But I got competitive in Zen/alara standard. Woot Goblin Guide and nacatl.
How long have you been on MTG sal: Hmm. 4 years? I made a really bad Merfolk with Lullmage Mentor. It was awesome. Played rdw 4 matches in a row to win FMN. Reported how awesome the deck was. Went again. Reposted how awesome I am at loosing.
If you had a Bad Super Hero name and catch phase related to magic what would it be?
The Zoo Keeper: "Don't feed the animals? Too bad its dinner time."
Why do you like the Lantern IQs: Well, the reason I started it was because Modern was a budding format that didnt have enough air time around my area. I really wanted in on the format, but had no one to play with. Now I could have big events every month!
Why do you like Modern: Its like a legacy I don't have to play blue in. I also liked the fact that more people I knew could get into it then legacy, so Id play more people. And the format will keep growing! I wanna see this baby learn to walk, then run.
Previous Magic Accomplishments:
I beat Ben Stark with that Merfolk deck I was talkin' about earlier. That was fun. He made fun of the fact my deck was stored in a soap box. My victory never smelled so sweet.
I randomly play FMN modern across the US when traveling. I play a turn 1 Kird Ape altered with a pumpkin head. People then take a second to put two and two together and go "Aw, crap. Hi Lantern." That's probably my biggest accomplishment every time.
What deck did you play and why did you choose it? Zoo, because I have to keep up my rep. Also it's my favorate style of play. Take a bunch of good burn spells, awesome guys who like turning sidewise. Add some mana fixing and go to town! Monkey Business!
What changes would you make to your deck or side and why would you make them?
Eh, probably more Vines of Vastwood. There seems to be more american control and midrange then I was expecting, and less pod. Probably take out the aven. I havent seen pod and scapeshift in a while.
What's the Meta you expect from the BPB?
I was expecting Pod... But I think theres more midrange. I feel like Rhinne is rocking some kinda Black controlish deck. Tom is either on white hate (death and taxes or hatebears) or them merfolk. Hoping the latter! Badd I'm ganna say is on American control or tempo. Seems up his style for this event. Zx_xZ is on dredge. At least I'm about as sure of that as I'm sure Im playing Zoo... MTGBarbados seems to favor Resto control. What ever that dudes playing, Im sure his sideboard is awesome... The rest is a toss up! But the IQs usually have less combo, more midrange. Not awesome for me either way.
Anything you're worried about?
Midrange generally has bigger dudes then I do. They eat mine. Combo is generally an auto loose... I'm fairly sure the meta is tilting online to control and tempo... Making Zoo a great choice, but the IQ guys generally perfer playing decks they like. At least I'm good at zoo and I'll always have plan b! Race.
What is the most important card in your deck? Wild Nacatlaw man... Probably Ghor-clan Rampager. Guy sets up bad blocks, voids removal, and hits for tons. I think Domri comes in a close second if I end up seeing more Control then I think I will. The side sports 3 Thalias, which can flat out wreck any blue deck right now.
Story time: Best magic experience?
Other then the Stark Game?! At the start of Inn standard, I knew everyone wanted to play "mage blade" tempo or aggro. So I built legion of Doom with a buddy of mine (mewing loki) All it was, was 4 lilianna, 2 chandra, 1 sorin, 3 Garruk... And everything else was board wipes. We kept taking first place with it, and playing each other at the end, which sucked.
Not the best story in the world, but man oh man, was it fun to double sorins vengence with chandra and have everyone hate us. Plus it let me and Loki ignore real life work and only chat about next week's games at meetings. Fantastic 2ish months of my life.
(optional) Want to say anything extra? Any shout outs? Fun facts? Go for it!
Guys, the Lantern IQs were awesome. They let me play some fun magic, get better at modern, but mostly let me meet some really good players. Your all fantastic. Its ganna be fun getting by butt handed to me by y'all.
Also. Who else thinks we need some modern squirrels? Swarmyard is so lonely.
LEH1982
LEH – Real name is Luke.
Initials of full name
30
Counsellor
Harrogate, North Yorkshire – UK
Casually, since Mirrodin (so 10 years). Probably about 4-5 years formatted (Legacy, Modern some Standard)
I’ve been a member of the MTGSalvation community since 02/11/2011.
Rot Man - "In life, I was a fetid, disease-ridden thing. In death, not much changed." (not to be confused by the Festering Goblin flavour text, obviously)
I started playing in the Lantern IQs as a way of getting into the Modern format as my LGS was struggling to run events at the time and I enjoyed playing the format. I like the Lantern IQs as they bring together people from all over the world and, as a result, tends to have a fairly unique metagame that you don’t get at FNM or the Pro circuits. I find competing in the IQs enjoyable and have made so good friends during my time competing in the events.
Modern is a fun format, on the whole, it’s a more creature-centric format than Legacy with stronger spells than Standard – it also rewards skilful plays, despite what the haters of the format tend to spout out. Modern is a solid format where strong deck building and gameplay are rewarded, and that’s why I enjoy playing in the format.
I’ve competed in numerous Legacy PTQs making top 8 in all of them. I’ve never competed in a Pro Tour though as family makes it too difficult to travel and I live outside of any major cities. I’ve also beat our store pro every time I’ve played him.
Although I didn’t actually take part in the event due to personal issues and bad timing, I was planning on bringing a sort of personalised Death Cloud build:
4 Deathrite Shaman
3 Kitchen Finks
3 Scavenging Ooze
4 Tarmogoyf
2 Putrefy
2 Abrupt Decay
1 Dismember
2 Damnation
3 Death Cloud
4 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
3 Garruk Wildspeaker
3 Liliana of the Veil
3 Forest
4 Swamp
4 Overgrown Tomb
4 Verdant Catacombs
2 Marsh Flats
1 Twilight Mire
4 Treetop Village
2 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
SB: 1 Dismember
SB: 2 Duress
SB: 2 Surgical Extraction
SB: 2 Gaze of Granite
SB: 3 Torpor Orb
SB: 4 Fulminator Mage
SB: 1 Maelstrom Pulse
I haven’t watched any of the MUs of the event so far so I don’t know what I’d change really.
I would have expected to have seen: Pod, UWR Midrange/Control, Twin, Hatebears and a Zoo deck.
I dislike the Hatebear MU most, however, I feel that my build is inbetween Death Cloud and G/B Aggro enough to be able to put up a good fight game 1 and I have a decent SB ready for that MU game 2-3. Not really tested the deck though so it’s all theorycraft.
The deck is using Death Cloud as a value card, so it’s not entirely centric to the deck, however, it’s usually the card I want to see fairly often, ideally with a Liliana of the Veil and/or Garruk Wildspeaker in play.
I got banned from ever playing my casual Controlling Wizards deck after every game I’ve ever had with it for being too annoying to play against. It’s a ban that currently covers two cities to date
TOM
Name or Username: Tom(Hatebears, decklist needed)
Why the Username: It's my name
Age: 17
Occupation: None/Student
Hometown: San Jose suburb
How long have you been playing magic: 10 years
How long have you been on MTG sal: 3 years
If you had a Bad Super Hero name and catch phase related to magic what would it be? Tomogoyf, nuff said
Why do you like the Lantern IQs: I like to have a bit of competitiveness to look forward to and test for while playing magic with my online buddies.
Why do you like Modern: Most fun affordable format where I don't have to worry about my cards rotating or being forced to pitch the bucks towards the latest and greatest.
Previous Magic Accomplishments: Winning small tournaments, nothing huge.
What deck did you play and why did you choose it? GW Hatebear/Taxes because I feel its the best midrange deck. It has better matchups against a lot of the field than Jund does (better against pod, shift, tron) and it generally beats Jund too, so, yay!
What changes would you make to your deck or side and why would you make them?
At the moment I wouldn't make any changes.
What's the Meta you expect from the BPB?
I expected some players to play what they usually play, and aside from that I just expected the common tier decks (Pod, Midrange, Tron, Shift).
Anything you're worried about?
Living End and Kiki Pod are a little scary for me. Most decks I have a solid chance against, however.
What is the most important card in your deck?
Probably Leonin Arbiter. It's a great card that can really mess up a lot of decks, but it requires you to build around it and not play certain good cards (DRS, KotR, Fuana, fetches).
Story time: Best magic experience? Eh, of all time? I've had some pretty crazy games in the past where I've barely won. Once in Legacy I was dead the next turn but then brainstormed into Aluren and Imperial Recruiter, with just 2 other cards left to put back, for the win. Another time I was dead unless I hit 2 of 3 specific cards on my turn (I had 3 draws though via Bobs). I hit the 2 I needed and won the match.
Want to say anything extra? Any shout outs? Fun facts? Go for it!
Shout out to Badd B and SPC for spending a lot of their time testing and theorizing with me prior to the BPB, they are great players and strategists and it's sad to see them knocked out early.
Nahadoth
Name or Username: Nahadoth (real name Aaron)
Why the Username: It was a character in a book I once read and I liked the name.
Age: 20
Occupation: Lord of Land Destruction
Hometown: Hello, Wisconsin!
How long have you been playing magic: On and off Casually since 7th edition, Competitively since 2012
How long have you been on MTG sal: around 2 years?!
If you had a Bad Super Hero name and catch phase related to magic what would it be? I don't really have one Sliver king maybe as I used to play casual slivers back in the day...
Why do you like the Lantern IQs: it’s a free way to play competitively and build skill and knowledge of the wonderful game of magic.
Why do you like Modern: I like modern because it’s a fun and diverse format and it takes more skill than Standard!!
Previous Magic Accomplishments: Took 3rd at States(Wisconsin) and top 32’d (I was 32 ) a TCGplayer maxpoint series Platnum event
What deck did you play and why did you choose it? I am playing JUND Midrange and I chose it (even though I like to play off the map decks) because I am a Jund addicted lunatic ever since I played it at states(2012)
I feel that Jund has the cards to deal with about every situation you’d need to deal with and I enjoy being able to bring on the beats when needed while also being able to go the distance of a long grindy game.
What changes would you make to your deck or side and why would you make them?
I don’t feel any changes need to be made, In my testing the deck is well balanced with a strong sideboard vs. most of the metagame.
What's the Meta you expect from the BPB? I expected alot some UWR, Zoo, Hatebears and Combo. I was considering the idea of most of the meta being jund but I decided most of the people already had their own thing and I didn't have to worry about the mirror match much
Anything you're worried about? Bad Hands, Mulligans is my main worry.
What is the most important card in your deck? I think Liliana of the Veil is probably one of the best due to her ability to just screw my opponant over hard in one way or another the other 2 cards I would have to say is my 2 Maindeck Maelstorm Pulse (killing anything nonland) and my Batterskull in the side (which I actually forgot was a card until 2 days before my deckcode was locked and I just think it is an insane card overall)
Story time: Best magic experience? the first tournament I ever won was at my local game shop Innistrad block constructed I was playing Junk Tokens (before lingering was banned) and I beat one of the best players at the shop shortly after I got into competetive magic
(optional) Want to say anything extra? Any shout outs? Fun facts? Go for it! I'd like to shout out to EforEveryone (my brother) for helping me decide on my Deck and Sb and being there to bounce ideas off of. Also FUn fact about me I started playing modern via the Lantern IQ's
Tinfoil Hat
Name or Username: Brodi, Tinfoil Hat
Why the Username: I'm a huge conspiracy theory junkie. I know the governments of the world are hiding something or somethings, that could change the world, for better or for worse. I know of one of these for fact, but for fear of my life, I choose not to disclose it freely.
Age: 20
Occupation:
Hometown: Southern California
How long have you been playing magic: Since Zendikar
How long have you been on MTGsal: Since Sept 2010
If you had a Bad Super Hero name and catch phase related to magic what would it be?
Counterspell-and-Card-Draw-Man!
"Wait!...I have a response!" (In Shatner's voice)
Why do you like the Lantern IQs:
They allow me to play and test wonky brews (or just Modern in general) in a tournament setting. It's difficult to find and/or get to a Modern tournament around here.
Why do you like Modern:
Modern is a beautiful, diverse, fun format. Brewers can be brewers, spikes can be spikes, and Timmy's can do huge wacky plays. Anyone can play a deck they want to play. Aggro, Tempo, Midrange, Control, Ramp, Combo, Hybrid archetypes, all exist. Sure there are the dissenters that....well...Stromkirk Noble says it best, "Dissenters shall inevitably abhor."
But, I love this format. I'm gonna be playing it as long as it is supported and as long as it's possible to. Long live Modern!
Previous Magic Accomplishments:
X-3 drop at GP Lille 2012. Awwww yeah.
What deck did you play and why did you choose it?
URg Fae. I don't like netdecking. I would've brought a brew, probably Patriots or something if it weren't for my best friend. He's been behind me in these tournaments and even is the reason I'm hear today (He discovered Kiki-Pod for me, forced me to play it). So a few months ago, when I told him the BPB was approaching, we started talking about decks. He would not let me brew. I would not play an established "teir 1" deck. We compromised. We poured over PTQ winners and found this deck. I tested it, at first skeptical, but I fell in love with it. It's solid.
What changes would you make to your deck or side and why would you make them?
Definitely sideboard some Pithing Needles. Snapcaster's are huge for the deck and Ooze shuts them down. Also, a resolved walker is pretty good vs me.
What's the Meta you expect from the BPB?
Well, I knew a few of the decks ahead of time, by the people who'd be playing them. ZX_XZ was a lock for dredge, Tom almost always plays a Hatebears style deck. Akaiser was definitely on UWR something, either Resto or Wafo. Lantern always plays Zoo. Badd B usually plays a -based control deck.
Anything you're worried about?
A resolved Pod is pretty good vs me. I would normally say tron, but in testing the match seems to be about even. Also, turn 1 Thoughtseize/IoK always makes me fear for the game.
What is the most important card in your deck?
Depends on the matchup. Either Mistbind Clique, Cryptic Command, or Vedalken Shackles. Or even Bolt sometimes.
Story time: Best magic experience?
I was playing Glass Cannon Griselbrand right after AVR came out. I kept a no-lander on the play, and won on turn 1. Faithless looting off SSG, into the swamp that I needed-->Discard Griselbrand and irrelevant card-->SSG pitch for Goryo's Vengeance. My opponent just said "Damn. O.O"
(optional) Want to say anything extra? Any shout outs? Fun facts? Go for it!
Shoutout to my best friend Chase for always helping me, and keeping me from misplaying, being my second (sometimes first) brain. Haha
Yarn
Name or Username: (What ever you prefer)
yarn
Why the Username:
It's an nagaram
Age: (If you would rather not say, use a fun number)
17
Occupation: (If you would rather not say, use a fun job title)
Student
Hometown: (Same deal as above)
Sydney represent!
How long have you been playing magic:
Six years at least - I remember losing to my friend's Ashmoor Gouger starter deck. My deck wasn't much better.
How long have you been on MTG sal:
I joined in 2011 but never did anything here. Only really got into serious Magic when Modern came out, skipped a year and came back after the Affinity dynasty to the Bloodbraid Age.
If you had a Bad Super Hero name and catch phase related to magic what would it be?
The Taxman
No great injustice comes without cost.
Why do you like the Lantern IQs:
They're snippets of of tournament split over a month. Plus, the playing standard is pretty darn high.
Why do you like Modern:
It's a quite an open format (Jund still wrecks many brews) and I'm too lazy to get into the dark depths of legacy. It's fairly easy to keep up with the innovation and dynamic metagame.
Previous Magic Accomplishments:
Nothing much. Scrubbed out of a sealed GP once, so IQs are the pinnacle of my MTG 'career'.
What deck did you play and why did you choose it?
GW Hatebears! White is my favourite to play, because the decisions you have to make are subtle yet gamechanging. It rewards you for knowing other decks and there are just so many answers to (non-spell) cards jammed in the board.
What changes would you make to your deck or side and why would you make them?
Probably some better removal in the board. If the meta is different, I'd want the Aether Vials to be Dryad Militants or something.
What's the Meta you expect from the BPB?
Probably a bunch of control and possibly some classic BGx midrange.
Anything you're worried about?
Jund or Geist? Though I am a dead duck to that contraptions deck...
What is the most important card in your deck?
I do love me some swords. Hierarch is pretty sweet for jumping the curve.
Story time: Best magic experience?
Pauper cubing at school with a teacher who played Magic in our free periods. I remember once I cast Swift Justice for exacties, and it's an underrated format that's heaps of fun. It's formats like this that make you realise how great Magic is - the people and the gameplay.
(optional) Want to say anything extra? Any shout outs? Fun facts? Go for it!
Shoutout to OSLYN being a wicked fun playgroup.
Lantern, thanks for coming up with the brilliant IQ.
And the MTGS community for being awesome!
mtgbarbados
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Jun 27, 20131
Sasky posted a message on What is the Power Level of Counter in ModernI personally find counterspells fantastic in modern. They are not ridiculous like in legacy, nor are they practically useless in standard. Modern offers a nice array of counter magic that is well-balanced.Posted in: Modern -
May 27, 20132
Jenesis posted a message on What promotes "fun" gameplay?Posted in: Magic GeneralQuote from VegaTDMShort version: What aspects of Magic are the most fun the you? The least fun? Most boring? Most "anti fun"?
My subjective preferences as to what is fun and not fun for me:
Fun:
--Formats where a variety of disparate strategies are viable.
--Decks that are capable of presenting answers to a wide variety of permanent types and strategies.
--Formats which promote matchups in which each pilot's optimal strategy is expected to change depending on what the opponent is doing.
--Decks that are easy to learn, hard to master; where the cards themselves have a lot of non-obvious options and synergies.
--Burn spells, counterspells, and attacking with small creatures.
Not fun:
--Formats which promote heavily lopsided matchups, especially in game ones. (This includes, for example, mirror matches in which the player on the play is heavily favored to win.)
--Game states in which the optimal play is both obvious and repetitive.
--As a corollary to the above, decks that are heavily focused on doing one thing only, which cannot win if that one thing is counteracted with minimal effort on the opponent's part.
--Cards whose in-game effect depends heavily on a random element, when designed for tournament play. Warp World is great fun, Bonfire of the Damned less so.
--Formats in which decks based around attacking with small creatures are strictly dominated.
Example:
I have a Wasteland. I am given the choice of blowing up one of your lands now, tapping it for mana to cast a spell, or saving it in my hand to blow up one of your lands later. This is fun.
I somehow ramp out a turn 1 Crucible of Worlds and have a Strip Mine. I proceed to blow up every land you play and refuse to cast anything until several turns have gone by without you playing any land. This is not fun. - To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
4
Instead of printing more hate cards, or growing the sideboard slots to 20 in Modern, Wizards needs to take a different approach with their "hate".
Unfortunately, we need more versatile answer cards that don't completely suck if you stick them in your maindeck, but also won't 100% blow out your opponent if they land. Right now, given the state of the meta, there needs to be more answers to aggro decks (or aggro-combo) and decks that can just burn you out.
1
Please read this article first people - http://www.moxboardinghouse.com/media/modern-no-banned-list/
This isn't bad either - http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=13333&writer=Melissa DeTora&articledate=6-13-2016.
Hypergenesis is not that good: It never was that good. Not sure where this "consensus" is coming from. I'm guessing none of these people have ever tried playing this format, nor did they ever play old extended back before modern existed. Hypergenesis is a turn 3 combo deck that has a very tough time fighting through disruption, and will often lose to it's own terrible hands. You would be far better off playing Storm, Eggs, Affinity, Elf-Ball, or Infect if you want to play a deck that wins super fast, yet can actually win through some disruption.
And yes, fair decks are perfectly viable in NBL modern: Stoneblade, Countertop, Miracles, Death and Taxes, UR Delver, Burn, GW Maverick, Tezzerator, Deadguy Ale, Faeries, Jund, Junk are all both viable as well as competitive in this format. I wouldn't doubt that a competitive hatebear-oriented Pod or Coco list could be playable as well. I also wouldn't be surprised if Lantern Control could be a strong player in this format, although it would get a lot of splash hate with how powerful the artifact decks are.
This also isn't including the combo-hybrid decks like Twin, Amulet-Bloom, Cloudpost or Scapeshift that are still unfair, but play more of a combo-control game than the other decks seen in here.
Another tip: Chalice of the Void shuts down the majority of the super unfair decks that people in here say would win with ease. Stony Silence wrecks many of the top decks, and rest in peace is another similarly dominant SB card.
Final point: Infect is just a worse version of dark depths combo - requires 3 combo pieces (shoal, creature, 9 mana red spell), has less redundancy, and is easier to disrupt (far easier to kill an inkmoth nexus or blighted agent than it is to kill Marit Lage).
1
There are a lot of options (obviously). Personally, I would probably opt for a deck that can beat up on the unfair decks, but has the ability to combo out on it's own as well. BTL Scapeshift (with Dig Through Time), Junk Depths, or maybe Jeskai Ascendancy Combo would be my choice.
Quite often, you have pikes try to bring the most unfair deck possible to tournaments like these. As a result, you often have unassuming "fair" decks like Death and Taxes clean up off the back of simple maindeck cards like Thalia, along with sideboard stony silences. Just be prepared to have a sideboard that can deal with graveyards, artifacts, and can stop decks from playing lots of spells in one turn (either maindeck or sideboard).
Yes, it's a surprisingly diverse format (at least with how it is currently set up in an unsettled meta) that allows even fair decks to thrive. Some decks can be insanely quick, but those decks often lose to slower decks that have the requisite answers. Even a deck like Burn can be a strong contender to win a tournament.
Overall Thoughts on the Format From Actually Playing It
1. Skullclamp isn't as overpowered as people think. That's not to say it's bad, but it's far from ridiculously over-powered. The two decks it is super powerful in are Elves and Affinity, both of which you would need to have a lot of hate for anyway. In non-combo decks like UR delver, it's strong, but not really any stronger of a card advantage source than something like Treasure Cruise. Also, considering you have to sacrifice your own creatures, it's important to realize it is also a tempo disadvantage unlike Cruise.
2. Affinity and other linear decks are insane, but also extremely vulnerable to artifact disruption and general hate. People who say Affinity will reign supreme must be forgetting the fact that everyone will be packing Stony Silences and other uber-strong hate cards in their sideboard.
3. Hypergenesis is bad. Seriously, it's a linear combo deck that at it's best, is no faster than the other linear combo decks (Storm, Elves, Dredge, Shoal), but is way easier to disrupt, and loses to its own bad-draws way more often.
4. Twin is a great format policeman. In essence, it still plays the role of "combo deck that beats other linear decks" quite handily.
5. UR delver-style decks will obviously be a staple, but have their own weaknesses as well.
6. Dark-Depths decks are significantly underrated. One of the best decks I played with was a Junk-Depths list that was a standard midrange deck with a lot of disruption that could occasionally win out of nowhere with Depths. With Thespian's Stage int he format, there is a ton of inevitability, and there is nothing a control deck can do to counter the playing of lands.
7. Cloudpost decks are strong - they can wreck most of the fair decks in the format, and with enough disruption, can possibly have game against the unfair decks as well. I prefer UR cloudpost, although UW cloudpost could work well since Path to Exile may be more important in the format with Twin and Marit Lage.
8. All-In Red is really powerful, and gets better the more people want to play unfair decks, which tends to be the majority of people in tournaments like these.
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Control is a difficult deck to crack in an unknown meta. I sort of disagree that control isn't viable in NB modern, I actually think it's one of the stronger choices, but you need to be able to know what to anticipate in advance if we're being honest. Proactive decks don't have to worry about reacting as much to other decks - they simply need to do their thing and hope for the most part they can power through or race the opponent. Control doesnt really have that luxury.
With that said, in a combo-heavy format, decks that play a good mix of permission, discard, and sideboard hate (especially relevant sideboard hate) will be powerful. I tend to think control that can win off a combo finish like Scapeshift or even counterbalance is probably going to be superior in this format, but tempo also is quite powerful if you want to go with more of a control-ish mindset.
Here are some control lists I've had a lot of luck in testing against a pretty wide field (namely on cockatrice admittedly, but against a lot of known and powerful decks in a format like this). Note that 3 of the 4 decks play maindeck relic of Progenitus. That's a good start if you want to have a leg up on combo decks as well as quite a few "fair" decks.
UW Thopter Control
Strategy Win off fast mana, efficient removal and artifact hate. Can combo thopters against more fair decks combined with efficient disruption against unfair decks. Pretty simple and straightforward strategy, but has effective tools against every deck in the format except *maybe* 12 post decks, although this can often just race them when backed with permission.
Main weaknesses is stony silence or other artifact hate.
2x Ponder
2x Mana Leak
2x Stoic Rebuttal
4x Mental Misstep
4x Dispatch
2x Spell Snare
2x Thirst for Knowledge
Artifacts
3x Relic of Progenitus
3x Sensei's Divining Top
4x Thopter Foundry
3x Sword of the Meek
2x Trinket Mage
1x Pithing Needle
1x Engineered Explosives
4x Mox Opal
3x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Lands
4x Seat of the Synod
4x Ancient Den
4x Flooded Strand
3x Hallowed Fountain
2x Snow-Covered Island
1x Misty Rainforest
1x Dispel
3x Supreme Verdict
1x Steel Sabotage
1x Chalice of the Void
3x Disenchant
3x Ethersworn Canonist
1x Repeal
1x Negate
1x Nevermore
UB Planeswalker Prison
Strategy: Somewhat similar to the UW deck, this deck utilizes artifact hate to increase the tempo. Unlike UW thopters however, this is more of a prison deck that wants to drop early planeswalkers off artifact acceleration, then sit behind an ensnaring bridge as you win off the walkers or off thopter combos.
4 Thoughtseize
2 Inquisition of Kozilek
2 Ponder
Planeswalkers
4 Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas
4 Liliana of the Veil
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Artifacts
3 Chrome Mox
4 Mox Opal
4 Thopter Foundry
3 Sword of the Meek
4 Relic of Progenitus
4 Ensnaring Bridge
2 Academy Ruins
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Vault of Whispers
2 Darksteel Citadel
4 River of Tears
2 Tectonic Edge
2 Tectonic Edge
4 Surgical Extraction
4 Duress
3 Echoing Truth
2 Spellskite
Izzet 12-post
Strategy: Slow the game down with efficient removal, disruption, and life gain while accumulating mana to drop bombs (hence going over the top of midrange, aggro, or other control decks).
4x Expedition Map
2x Spellskite
3x Relic of Progenitus
4x Izzet Signet
Instants / Sorceries
4x Preordain
4x Remand
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Thirst for Knowledge
3x Mental Misstep
2x Repeal
2x Ugin, the Spirit Dragon
1x Emrakul, the Aeons Torn
Lands
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Steam Vents
2 Snow-Covered Island
1 Snow-Covered Mountain
4 Cloudpost
3 Vesuva
4 Glimmerpost
1 Eye of Ugin
2x Dispel
3x Chalice of the Void
3x Spell Pierce
2x Crucible of Worlds
3x Shatterstorm
1x Ulamog, the Ceaseless Hunger
1x Kozilek, the Great Distortion
No-Banlist Grixis midrange/control
Strategy: This is a deck reminiscent of the current grixis delve deck, except it utilizes cards on the ban list instead to power itself up. It's a potent anti-combo deck with loads of disruption and an efficient clock.
4x Deathrite Shaman
2x Tasigur, the Golden Fang
3x Snapcaster Mage
Planeswalkers
3x Liliana of the Veil
2x Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Disruption / Instants / Sorceries
2x Preordain
4x Ponder
4x Lightning Bolt
3x Inquisition of Kozilek
3x Thoughtseize
2x Repeal
2x Kolaghan's Command
2x Remand
2x Spell Pierce
1x Terminate
2x Snow-Covered Island
1x Snow-Covered Swamp
1x Snow-Covered Mountain
4x Polluted Delta
4x Scalding Tarn
2x Steam Vents
2x Watery Grave
1x Blood Crypt
1x Breeding Pool
2x Creeping Tar Pit
2x Night of Souls' Betrayal
1x Anger of the Gods
1x Engineered Explosives
3x Relic of Progenitus
1x Pithing Needle
1x Shatterstorm
1x Pyroclasm
3x Blood Moon
1x Slaughter Games
1x Countersquall
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Intruder Alarm + Thraben Doomsayer = infinite creatures
Intruder Alarm + Imperious perfect = Infinite Creatures
Intruder Alarm + Sprout Swarm (with enough creatures) can go infinite with buybacks
Archangel of Thune + Spike Feeder goes infinite (only requires GW)
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Additionally, they need to print some better police cards for the format. I'm not talking fringe sideboard cards like Rending Volley. I'm talking about a viable police card that is maindeck playable. Burn has 8 anti-life gain cards that it plays in the maindeck. Normally, burn would play its sideboard options against hate in the sideboard, but now they get to conserve that space and put their anti-lifegain stuff into the meat of their deck.
Why can't non-burn decks get maindeck-worthy answers? The only somewhat average answer is lightning helix (which requires two colors, and isn't even that great against skullcrack / atarka's command).
Why can't we get a land that prevents other lands from producing more than 1 mana? It would be a ridiculously simple solution to the big mana decks that prevent control and midrange from being part of the format.
I think a big problem is that every card they produce to be a police card either is too narrow (only helps 1-2 fringe matchups), or isn't a card that would ever be relevant outside of sideboard consideration.
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With the newer versions, they'll be dropping Thought-Knot Seers and Reality Smashers the same turn as a blood moon comes down (or earlier), also they have lots of hand disruption. Second, they'll be packing lots of enchantment hate for people running moon in all likelihood.
I made a GB midrange eldrazi variant, and have been testing it on cockatrice, and the curve is super consistent at dropping bombs on turn 2-4 after a turn 1 hand disruption play. A typical curve I'd play looks something like this.
Turn 1: Thoughtseize/ Inquisiton of Kozilek / Ancient Stirrings
Turn 2: Tarmogoyf / Matter Reshaper
Turn 3: Thought-Knot Seer / Reality Smasher
Turn 4: Reality Smasher / Thought-Knot / Other stuff.
Obviously, this can be disrupted, but the problem is that threats come down consistently turn 1-4, and all are massive hard-to-remove bomb that end the game quickly and also generate some level of value for the deck.
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Use knight to sacrifice a land, which then gives you a new land. This triggers the knight to untap. Tap the land for mana, then use knight again. You can go through all the lands in your library amassing upwards of 16-20 mana floating, then use the final land to grab Kessig Wolf Run, and then swing for 35+ damage with trample.
If you want, you can even keep a fetchland up so that you can untap Knight and grab an emergency Sejiri Steppe to protect itself against removal.