R1: affinity. lost game 1 but destroyed him games 2 and 3. i love oblivion stone.
R2: mono black. won 2-0. he never got past 2 lands both games. :/
R3: jeskai control. won 2-0. he is a burn player that was trying to "read the meta" at regionals. everyone told him not to.
R4: rg scapeshift. won game 1. lost game 2 (didn't blow up ostone. played thraggy instead). won game 3 cause he didn't see the win he had in his hand.
Against BW (Eldrazi) Taxes i think Stony Silence is one of the biggest threats. Also Displacer and Path make Wurmcoil Engine very unappealing, it is also still hard to cast if you do not get to Tron. Thragtusk stalls wells, can't be flickered to push through damage and is easier on the curve.
for an unknown meta, i think your deck is perfect. gonna try running it on friday. kinda meh about standard right now (not finding a deck that fits my style)
I am not sure cutting Spring is ever correct with this variant. I haven't missed it though so I am not sure whether I should put it back in or not. I really like Compass, but having three in the deck always felt clunky and the card I cut it for -- Unferi #2 -- does a lot more for me.
You are definitely right about needing the 3rd Fumigate in the MD. I don't know what your meta is like, but I've got a lot of decks going low and wide as hard and fast as they can so cutting a wrath just feels super wrong to me. And this is why I am not comfortable about cutting Spring -- if your oppo has Shalai your Settles are dead (especially if he's smart enough to hold it back and keep is away from your seals), so you need to Spring on T3 into Fumigate on T4 (hopefully). And cutting a Spring makes that less likely.
My board is pretty much all over the place too, but the core pieces are the same as yours.
[card]3 Negate
3 Lyra
1 Nezahal (I really like this card)
2 Desert's Hold
3 Naturalize (there are no many good targets for this right now)
1 Unferi
2 Flex[/card]
The flex slot could be a lot of things. It rally depends on what looks like it's problematic as the meta evolves. Right now I like Spyglass, another Binding and Commit//Memory. I also think we may want more GY hate. The R and RU GPG deck can be very fast and it can win out of nowhere.
There's a 5-0 list from yesterday that is interesting. It's quite different from Davis. There are a few weird decisions in the list like the Grow from the Ashes and the Hostile Desert, but I've always been fond of the Gift of Paradise.
i'll definitely keep all that stuff in mind. i do like spyglass too. just need to find the ones i have. i like your reasonings behind things too. thanks! i've been testing blink of an eye instead of essence scatter and seem to like it a lot.
i have been thinking of axing search for azcanta. i seem to be siding it out in a lot of matchups and i know that it's helpful but i feel like there's better options out there. but that might be wrong. still new to this deck (and standard in general).
Thanks!
I'm going to test Blink in those slots too. I'm not super excited about Scatter. Even if your oppo knows you have them, they probably know you don't have many so it's never the right play to worry about them. You just go hard and try to get there and if they have one of their two scatters then they do. The math says you gamble, so you do. besides...the mono W player I lost to on Monday was running Sram's Expertise into the Benalish dude so I couldn't counter him even if I wanted to. If I was going to run MD counters I'd have to look at Negate, Disallow or Syncopate. I think we have enough board management for the creatures anyway.
I'd keep the SfA. We have very little to do on T2 and scrying every turn has helped my mana development or helped me find key pieces. You may want to side it out against Aggro, but I think you want to keep in in the deck.
you could have countered the dude if you did have the counter in your hand. expertise says cast so you could have still countered it.
i just really like the bounce so far. played a few matches on mtgo and it made your opp do weird blocks. played against a bw vamps deck that had a lot of control elements in it. i brought in carnage tyrant as a threat he couldn't touch and he triple blocked with a radiant destiny out, hoping to kill it. i bounced the destiny and destroyed him.
i agree on the counters. i really feel like we don't need those main board. i don't mind holding up 4 mana for blink/cast out/seal away but feel like most games we can answer with our mainboard threats.
I am not sure cutting Spring is ever correct with this variant. I haven't missed it though so I am not sure whether I should put it back in or not. I really like Compass, but having three in the deck always felt clunky and the card I cut it for -- Unferi #2 -- does a lot more for me.
You are definitely right about needing the 3rd Fumigate in the MD. I don't know what your meta is like, but I've got a lot of decks going low and wide as hard and fast as they can so cutting a wrath just feels super wrong to me. And this is why I am not comfortable about cutting Spring -- if your oppo has Shalai your Settles are dead (especially if he's smart enough to hold it back and keep is away from your seals), so you need to Spring on T3 into Fumigate on T4 (hopefully). And cutting a Spring makes that less likely.
My board is pretty much all over the place too, but the core pieces are the same as yours.
[card]3 Negate
3 Lyra
1 Nezahal (I really like this card)
2 Desert's Hold
3 Naturalize (there are no many good targets for this right now)
1 Unferi
2 Flex[/card]
The flex slot could be a lot of things. It rally depends on what looks like it's problematic as the meta evolves. Right now I like Spyglass, another Binding and Commit//Memory. I also think we may want more GY hate. The R and RU GPG deck can be very fast and it can win out of nowhere.
There's a 5-0 list from yesterday that is interesting. It's quite different from Davis. There are a few weird decisions in the list like the Grow from the Ashes and the Hostile Desert, but I've always been fond of the Gift of Paradise.
i'll definitely keep all that stuff in mind. i do like spyglass too. just need to find the ones i have. i like your reasonings behind things too. thanks! i've been testing blink of an eye instead of essence scatter and seem to like it a lot.
i have been thinking of axing search for azcanta. i seem to be siding it out in a lot of matchups and i know that it's helpful but i feel like there's better options out there. but that might be wrong. still new to this deck (and standard in general).
I started with the Davis list, then cut a compass and a spring for Teferi #2 and Settle #4. I find I am not drawing enough White mana, so I'm thinking about cutting a Forest for a white cycling desert or a 2nd Grove. out of 15 or so games, I have failed to hit WW on T4 at least three times and lost the game twice because of it.
I am starting to see a lot of Brontodons -- which you would think would be bad for a deck that relies on up to 10 enchantment-based removal spells -- but more often than not, the creature you got rid of with the Seal Away on T2/3 is actually worse than the 3/4 Brontodon, so they wait until they can free up a Benalish Crusade dude, or Hazoret or something like that and that gives you the time you need to win. I haven't played against BW Knights yet, but I am not worried about anything else I've run across yet.
/M
i did the fumigate cut for the 2nd teferi and then realized i needed the fumigate so i put it in the board. i really feel like putting it back in. i have a 4th settle coming hopefully this week so i might make that change. how has the settle/compass cuts been? have you been missing them? i put more checklands in to help get that since i really never wanted sanctums in the list. they just felt bad late game.
hows your sb? i'm kinda iffy on mine. been taking all sorts of approach lists and trying to merge some 15 cards together.
I played Bant Approach last night with him at 2 and 1 in the board. I ran into mono-W aggro and got mana screwed G2 and colour screwed G3. That deck is not a thing though...it autoloses to Chainwhirler.
I really like the Bant Approach decks. I think not playing Unferi is categorically incorrect though, so I like your change. I would add another. I think I would cut Spring//Mind.
i'll have to test that out. i really liked teferi a lot in the list. i feel like i want to increase my settle and fumigate +1 each main. i'm kinda like "i don't need a counter spell mainboard"
took jim davis' list to FNM and standard showdown. only changes were to main:
main: +1 teferi -1 fumigate
FNM - only 6 people showed up. everyone else wanted to play dom-ixalan-rivals draft.
R1: 2-0 mardu vehicles. easy match
R2: 2-0 gb rock. it was my buddy and i knew the deck.
R3: split but won first place packs.
wound up winning a mox amber. got a karn and lyra in my packs.
SS - only 6 people again.
R1: 0-2 vampires. just wasn't drawing anything.
R2: 2-0 gw cats. she just kept saying how bad of a player she was. just didn't try.
R3: 2-1 rg dinos. top deck approach is nuts. especially when you don't expect it.
overall, i'm liking bant approach. i feel that it might need something but i'm not really sure. i did see someone play a UW list that didn't have approach but seemed like gas. i think it was the flash deck.
I just got home from doing the Modern Classic at SCG Worcester. Ran ponza to a 18th place finish (7-2). I lost my win-and-in for top 8 but I'm okay with my placement. First ever huge event that I have ever did. Here's my list that a buddy of mine came up with and I ran with:
R1: Ponza (2-0)
R2: Ponza (2-1)
R3: Green Tron (2-1)
R4: Jund (2-0) - he missed his 2nd land game 2
R5: Burn (2-1)
R6: Colorless Eldrazi (1-2)
R7: Boggles (2-1)
R8: Madcap Ponza (2-1)
R9: Storm (0-2)
I'd love to talk more about anything so if you got questions, feel free to ask me.
How has Nahiri been? That's some spicy tech and I think I may take it for a spin at Tuesday night modern at my LGS tomorrow...
sorry for the double post. not really sure how to make it all show up as one post.
anyway...she's amazing. she filters your draws (free cycling), gets rid of annoying enchantments/creatures/artifacts and can poop out a 12 power inferno titan.
I just got home from doing the Modern Classic at SCG Worcester. Ran ponza to a 18th place finish (7-2). I lost my win-and-in for top 8 but I'm okay with my placement. First ever huge event that I have ever did. Here's my list that a buddy of mine came up with and I ran with:
R1: Ponza (2-0)
R2: Ponza (2-1)
R3: Green Tron (2-1)
R4: Jund (2-0) - he missed his 2nd land game 2
R5: Burn (2-1)
R6: Colorless Eldrazi (1-2)
R7: Boggles (2-1)
R8: Madcap Ponza (2-1)
R9: Storm (0-2)
I'd love to talk more about anything so if you got questions, feel free to ask me.
U played 3 mirror matches? really?
yes really. i can tell you each one was different and each one was a challenge. but it's also nice when they miss land drops and you don't cause you can race them better. 3rd ponza match was playing madcap experiment.
so this deck is clearly better with bloodbraid elf? should we be running the molten rain and the stone rain and the mwonvuli moss AND the blood moon? feels too heavy on land destruction now.
I feel that's Meta dependant. I honestly don't like molten in my build. Moss was really good getting my white source when I needed it.
If you want to go full on ld, then there is a deck for that. I like the creature heavy build. Using ld for "spot removal" is really really good, especially against the mirror. I felt that most people go all in and it doesn't leave them a way to interact with my creatures. I put one threat down followed by two more. What do you do?
Also, if you're against the mirror, holding fetches until you need them is great. I was able to blow up sprawls on forests plenty of times, putting them back a bunch. There was one match the guy told me he was hoping I'd crack them early so he could blow up my lands but I just left them
There was a deck that got 11th that had no bbe and was in the ramp game. Had 3 Titans and dragons. So there's some merit to no bbe
2 surgical extraction
3 thought-knot seer
1 relic of progenitus
3 nature's claim
i have 3 open spots. 3 wapring wails? 3 spatial contortion? sell me on something
my main has 4 ostones, 2 dismembers, 1 relic. everything else is stock.
R1: affinity. lost game 1 but destroyed him games 2 and 3. i love oblivion stone.
R2: mono black. won 2-0. he never got past 2 lands both games. :/
R3: jeskai control. won 2-0. he is a burn player that was trying to "read the meta" at regionals. everyone told him not to.
R4: rg scapeshift. won game 1. lost game 2 (didn't blow up ostone. played thraggy instead). won game 3 cause he didn't see the win he had in his hand.
so i went 4-0. won a cavern of souls. <3
for an unknown meta, i think your deck is perfect. gonna try running it on friday. kinda meh about standard right now (not finding a deck that fits my style)
you could have countered the dude if you did have the counter in your hand. expertise says cast so you could have still countered it.
i just really like the bounce so far. played a few matches on mtgo and it made your opp do weird blocks. played against a bw vamps deck that had a lot of control elements in it. i brought in carnage tyrant as a threat he couldn't touch and he triple blocked with a radiant destiny out, hoping to kill it. i bounced the destiny and destroyed him.
i agree on the counters. i really feel like we don't need those main board. i don't mind holding up 4 mana for blink/cast out/seal away but feel like most games we can answer with our mainboard threats.
i'll definitely keep all that stuff in mind. i do like spyglass too. just need to find the ones i have. i like your reasonings behind things too. thanks! i've been testing blink of an eye instead of essence scatter and seem to like it a lot.
i have been thinking of axing search for azcanta. i seem to be siding it out in a lot of matchups and i know that it's helpful but i feel like there's better options out there. but that might be wrong. still new to this deck (and standard in general).
i did the fumigate cut for the 2nd teferi and then realized i needed the fumigate so i put it in the board. i really feel like putting it back in. i have a 4th settle coming hopefully this week so i might make that change. how has the settle/compass cuts been? have you been missing them? i put more checklands in to help get that since i really never wanted sanctums in the list. they just felt bad late game.
hows your sb? i'm kinda iffy on mine. been taking all sorts of approach lists and trying to merge some 15 cards together.
3 syncopate
1 gideon of the trials
3 lyra dawnbringer
2 carnage tyrant
1 fumigate
4 negate
like i said, the fumigate is gonna go back in the main so that frees up one card.
Would love e to compare lists and sb options. 😀
i'll have to test that out. i really liked teferi a lot in the list. i feel like i want to increase my settle and fumigate +1 each main. i'm kinda like "i don't need a counter spell mainboard"
main: +1 teferi -1 fumigate
FNM - only 6 people showed up. everyone else wanted to play dom-ixalan-rivals draft.
R1: 2-0 mardu vehicles. easy match
R2: 2-0 gb rock. it was my buddy and i knew the deck.
R3: split but won first place packs.
wound up winning a mox amber. got a karn and lyra in my packs.
SS - only 6 people again.
R1: 0-2 vampires. just wasn't drawing anything.
R2: 2-0 gw cats. she just kept saying how bad of a player she was. just didn't try.
R3: 2-1 rg dinos. top deck approach is nuts. especially when you don't expect it.
overall, i'm liking bant approach. i feel that it might need something but i'm not really sure. i did see someone play a UW list that didn't have approach but seemed like gas. i think it was the flash deck.
sorry for the double post. not really sure how to make it all show up as one post.
anyway...she's amazing. she filters your draws (free cycling), gets rid of annoying enchantments/creatures/artifacts and can poop out a 12 power inferno titan.
yes really. i can tell you each one was different and each one was a challenge. but it's also nice when they miss land drops and you don't cause you can race them better. 3rd ponza match was playing madcap experiment.
I feel that's Meta dependant. I honestly don't like molten in my build. Moss was really good getting my white source when I needed it.
If you want to go full on ld, then there is a deck for that. I like the creature heavy build. Using ld for "spot removal" is really really good, especially against the mirror. I felt that most people go all in and it doesn't leave them a way to interact with my creatures. I put one threat down followed by two more. What do you do?
Also, if you're against the mirror, holding fetches until you need them is great. I was able to blow up sprawls on forests plenty of times, putting them back a bunch. There was one match the guy told me he was hoping I'd crack them early so he could blow up my lands but I just left them
There was a deck that got 11th that had no bbe and was in the ramp game. Had 3 Titans and dragons. So there's some merit to no bbe