MTG Salvation

While I'm not fully sold on the Jailer, Unearth does make it look a littler better to me



The Hogaak Lists from the SCG were packing a ton of creature hate. 2 Push, 2 Trophy, 2 Brutality, 1 Plague Engineer. These players came prepared for the Jailer!

Seeing how MTGSalvation is going down on July 8th, I don't see it getting a primer on here. I am glad to see the deck I was rolling with last year finally got the pieces to make the deck viable.

FuneralofGod, I have been following you in the Jund Death's Shadow for some time now so I am happy to see you in here with good words on Mardu Death's Shadow. I don't have the money to make the deck the way it is now, but I know I will keep my eye on the deck going forward.



As for the Jailer, I honestly can't say.

http://www.starcitygames.com/events/coverage/mardu_deaths_shadow_with_abe_c.html

Not sure if this is a sign of things to come or just a fluke, but a Mardu Death's Shadow deck seems like it's doing well at the SCG

It seems like the 8 pyro lists have been putting up some good records according to MTGGoldfish. Is this build the future of the deck or can the "older" school Reveler builds still do work?



And I would assume that Illness in the Ranks is only really good vs Mardu Pyro right now(or am I forgetting something?)so I feel like it would be something that doesn't really need to be worried about.

I am currently building into the deck(just need my Blackcleave Cliffs at this point. Right now, I have 58 cards in the main but the list isn't set in stone just yet. I love Young Pyromancer and Blood Moon, even if both are not always good. I scoured the net looking at just about every list for the deck I could and tried to compile a list that suits me. I will have explain some of my choices for some of my cards and have a few questions as well.





I'm not really sure what the last two spots in the main should be. If I were to go to a large tournament, I would probably shore up the main with 2x Surgical Extraction just to be safe.

The 2x Lightning Helix are there to help close games out and gain some life back. I know very few lists play them so if they are not good, I have no problem cutting them. Has anyone else ran them and had success with them?

The 1x Nahiri, the Harbinger just seems like it could be good even if it is slow. It could help to be a answer for somethings, card filtering, and grabbing a Bedlam Reveler in a pinch seems good in theory. I have seen a lot of people say the four mana walkers have been to slow for them. Should I turn Nahiri into Kaya, Orzhov Usurper instead? Or are both just bad?

I have seen some lists jam the Blood Moon plan into their board in exchange for some Path to Exile in the main? This, to me, seems like blasphemy for this deck. Has Moon become to slow now? I asked earlier and never got a answer back.

I plan to grab some Leyline of the Void once they come down in price and slot them in over the Nihil Spellbomb. Right now, they are a little rich for my blood.

Unearth with Ranger-Captain of Eos seems like some real strong synergy. I would think Seasoned Pyromancer could slide right into a Unearth build too. Late game draw could be strong and card selection can be good some games. I could see it getting stuck in hand a lot too. But the risk could be worth it.

Poor Goblin Rabblemaster has never panned out to be the closer I wanted it to be. I try to fit him into so many different decks.



Have you tested with your list? If so, how did it run for you? I'm liking what I see but I have no time frame for when I will be able to play again.

^

Sounds really spicy

Is Blood Moon still worth its weight in the main? I love the card but it seems like it could be a little slow.

I guess my big problem with Unearth. is that it feels like I would have to add more creatures to the main to get the most value from it. Having cycle does help to feed Gurmag Angler if nothing else. But returning a Death's Shadow and allowing the opponent a turn to answer it seems weak to me. I will have to try and do some testing with it when I can but I'm not sure when my schedule will free up.


The deck used to have 2 Young Pyros in the main when I first put the deck together but they never felt good to me game one. Casting it turn 2 felt like a waste of turn(even if it ate removal) and the deck always seemed to run out of hand very quickly. I did play two out of the board and loved them there. I was able to steal a few games because of them.

While Unearth could be a very useful tool for the deck, I feel like Postmortem Lunge is a stronger card because the haste, and it really doesn't see any play.

While I haven't played for quite some time now, I do plan to dust this deck off soon here with some changes. Modern looks a little different then it did when we posted it. I do fear all the graveyard hate running around right now.

What roll does the Ghor-Clan fill exactly? I've seen some in lists here and there and was curious what it is really needed for?

Spooly, that was the article that made me really commit to the deck. I was looking into everything I could about the deck before I sleeved the deck up, it was one of the last things I read and it sealed the deal for me. Do you think running the Godless Shrine and Souls out of the board are still worth it? I love Lingering Souls as a card but do they really pull their weight now?



FuneralofGod, I'm curious to hear your thoughts about keeping in/boarding in the Stubs for Shadow match ups. I boarded mine out against the Shadow match up and felt like it was correct but when he told me he brought in more I felt dumb for taking mine out.

Well after a 1-3 drop at the PPTQ yesterday, I've had time to go over my notes and reflect back on my day. I will start by saying the deck felt amazing vs the matches I played against. I never felt like I had any auto loss matches and I never felt like I needed to heavily board against any of the matches either. I definitely need to learn what to side in/out. Just about every game I felt lost when it came to what should come out. We can touch on that as we go. The mana base while shaky, felt solid all day. I think I may have fetched wrong a few times but I never felt like it cost me any games. My notes are kinda scattered and not very in depth(I should have wrote this up last night while it was fresh in my mind). You probably should just scroll down to the bottom for the questions section.

Round 1 - vs Sultai Shadow(no red or white splash)(0-2)

Game 1 - I win the roll and keep a very mild hand(1 shock, 1 fetch, Traverse, Shadow, Wraith, Goyf, TBR)start off with fetch pass. He goes fetch, shock, ThoughtSeize and knows he's in for a fun game. After a few turns we get into a board state where we each have a goyf and a shadow. Both in top deck mode and no cards in hand, he rips a Tombstalker and that's game for me. Was not expecting it.

I don't fully remember what I board in/out right now, but I found myself in a dilemma. In any Shadow match up, is it right to bring in the Stubs from the board? I elected not to and we will touch on that in a little bit.

Game 2 - Our early turns looked like mirror moves. Fetch, Shock, Inquisition, Bauble, pass. After a few turns of this I land a Goyf that is a 6/7 and attack in. He chooses to not block with his Shadow. I put him down to 3 life, and for whatever reason, didn't feel like playing the Bolt in my hand with him at 3 life and tapped out so instead elect to play Traverse into Shadow(don't ask). He draws and attached a Rancor onto his Shadow and deals lethal with the trample.

Let me start by saying my round one opponent was a super nice guy(I didn't stay till the end but I was rooting for him). He explained to me why he went with Sultai(He likes the colors and safer mana base). After our game he showed me what he boarded in and reveled to me he brought in his Stubs from the board. I didn't bother to ask him why and now feel a little stupid for not asking.

Round 2 - Lantern (2-0)
We sit down and start to shuffle when the judge notifies us we got the deck check this round. After talking to each other for a few minutes the judge comes back and notifies me that my opponent will receive a game one loss for something wrong with his deck sheet(I believe he wrote a number down wrong number of copies of something in his deck). Sadness. So off to game two.

Game 2 - I keep a hand of 2 Fetch, TS, Inquisition, DS, Goyf, Decay. I start with Fetch, Shock, TS. See he is on Lantern. It looks like he kept a very mild hand with a few lands, Codex, other mill artifact, Lantern, and Decay. I rip the Decay and pass the turn. He starts off land Lantern pass. I draw a Wraith and fetch shock play Goyf pass that turn. He draws, plays a land, and casts Ancient Stirrings to find a Mox Opal(assuming the other cards were nothing special for him to take Opal).Plays Opal and the other mill artifact and passes. End of his turn cycle the Wraith to draw Bauble. Draw for turn is TBR. Two quick turns later I put him to 0.

I wish this would have been more then just one game but he wasn't salty and I was happy to talk to him for a few minutes afterwards.

Round 3 - UG Infect

This match made me salty because I keep a hand with one of each hand hate, Decay, Goyf, Bauble, two fetch. I win the roll and start with fetch shock TS. His hand is 2x Blossoming, Might, Wild Defiance, G Elf, Forest, Inkmoth. I take the Elf. He draws and goes Forest Noble pass. I fetch shock on my next turn and discard the Might. Looking back now, I wish I would have Decayed his Noble when he was tapped out. Saldy, I never found any removal for the Inkmoth or counter magic this game and his Inkmoth takes me down a few turns later. Grinds my gears because the Decay felt so good when I kept.

I forgot what I boarded out but I brought in 2 Stubs, Collective Brutality, and Abrade. I didn't think about it at the time, but I think I should have also boarded in the Alpine Moons to keep the Inkmoths at bay.

Game 2 - Long story short, I again fail to find removal or counter magic and Inkmoth puts me down again in a few turns. Won't lie, this game really put me on tilt. I was going to drop after this match but sided against it so I could get more reps with the deck. Can't get better if you don't play right?


Round 4 - Living End(1-2)

I felt I had a spicy hand with some hand hate, Decay, Goyf, Wraith, Fetches. I won the roll and start with Fetch Shock TS to reveled to me a couple of cycling dudes and Violent Outburst and 2 Simian Spirit Guide. I take the outburst. He lays a land and passes. I land a 5/6 Goyf on the next turn and pass. He cycles two guys at the end of turn. He draws and plays a Outburst with some big boys in the yard. I die two turns later.

I board in the Spellbombs, Stubs and take out the Decays and 2 Bauble.

Game 2 - I was able to open with a Spellbomb and it held him at bay long enough for me to land a big Goyf and beat down quickly. It wasn't much of a game.

Game 3 - This was a feel bad game for me. All I remember is that Fulimnator Mage wreaked me this game. He destroyed my mana base and then then got there.

I decided to drop after this round. I probably should have stayed the last two rounds to get some more reps in but I didn't have it in me. I do have some questions now that I got to jam a few games.


Questions -

Is it correct to ever board out some number of Mishra's Baubles? I felt like I always wanted to keep the in to help grow Goyf and turn on Delirium.

Do we want to bring in the Stubs from the board vs Shadow decks? I was very unsure of this. On one hand I can see why it could be useful but with the hand hate I figured they wouldn't be needed. What do we board out of the main in Shadow match ups?

Would it have been a wrong move to bring in the Alpine Moons vs Infect? Maybe I'm just sore because I didn't find any removal.

Is there a extensive Side Board guide somewhere for me to study over?

I think that's all I have for now

@FuneralofGod, what did your Side Board end up looking like for the PPTQ?
I see you said you opened up Alpine Moon round 4 but I don't remember you having them in the board you posted.


I will end up posting my results later today(spoiler,1-3 drop)and what I liked and disliked about the deck. Also plan on asking for more pointers for Side Boarding and whatnot

Quote from FuneralofGod »

Abrade should be other two slots in your Sideboard. Lingering souls is really only for the Jund and Mardu matches and those decks don't seem to be very popular (in the 5x PPTQs I've played so far this summer). Abrade helps against Affinity, Infect, Spirits, and most importantly humans.

I really can't get behind Ashiok. I'll get around to trying Nissa Steward myself someday. She seems good. But I think Ashiok should be either one of the two Lilianas or even maybe a Snapcaster. Another Stubborn in the main certainly wouldn't hurt, helping your chances in g1 against KCI, Storm, and Tron.

The rest of your list looks solid. The removal package is always a cluster and I don't think they're is any proper configuration unless you know for sure what meta you'll be facing. But I've found that 8x main deck removal and 1x Snapcaster does the trick for me. I'm a lot more scared of Humans and Spirits in g1 than I am of Jund or UW because there's no way to tune your deck to beat the latter for g1. Best you can do is sideboard and pray. But Humans and Coco decks can be beat in g1 if you're prepared.

Best of luck to you in the PPTQ. I'll be playing tomorrow (Sunday) and will report back with my results.

DeckMagic OnlineOCTGN2ApprenticeBuy These Cards
Creatures 4 Death's Shadow 4 Tarmogoyf 4 Street Wraith 1 Snapcaster Spells 4 Inquisition of Kozilek 4 Thoughtseize 4 Mishra's Bauble 3 Traverse the Ulvenwald 4 Lightning bolt 2 Dismember 1 Abrupt decay 1 Fatal Push 2 Faithless Looting 2 Temur Battle Rage 3 Stubborn denial	Lands (17) 4 Verdant catacombs 4 Bloodstained Mire 1 Wooded Foothills 1 Polluted Delta 1 Overgrown Tomb 1 Blood Crypt 1 Stomping ground 1 Steam vents 1 Watery Grave 1 Swamp 1 Forest	Sideboard: 2 Abrade 1 Abrupt decay 2 Collective Brutality 2 Delay 1 Spell Snare 1 Golgari Charm 1 Fulminator mage 1 Radiant flames 1 Kolaghan's Command 1 Duress 2 Nihil Spellbomb

How have the Spell Snare and the Kolaghan's Command been working? I had 1x K Command in the rough draft of the board but three mana looked way to slow. And Snare?! I love the card but how good is it in Modern right now?