Changes from previous build: -1 Bird(up to 3), +1 Hydra(3) in main, +1 Blood Moon(3), +1 Bonfire(4). +1 Elesh Norn(1), -1 Primal Command(0), -1 Eternal Witness(0), -1 Outpost Siege (1).
I need to buy Worships for Eldrazi (would play probably ~2). Elesh is good vs Affinity/Infect/Coco/Eldrazi. Moons - tron/affinity/infect/eldrazi. Bonfire - zoo/coco/eldrazi/affinity/infect. Slaughter games vs shoal/scapeshift/ad nauseum.
...and I can't currently remember the 15th sideboard card... I'll edit it in later.
Just talking generically about my games today Primal command pulled it's weight fantastically. I got a scoop from my tokens opponent who saw me get eternal witness with it, saw the soft lock, and presumed it was a hard lock, though in fairness it was the game where he was land flooded and once I'd time walked him three times I was going to get the Sabertooth and then it would have been a hard lock. It was also useful to just slow him down bouncing lands and springs in game 3.
It was obviously a complete beast in the burn matchup. I think I ended on 26 life in game 1 after I just chained together commands and witnesses and blocking / decaying his threats. He also left eidolon in after sideboard ing which he realized was a mistake halfway through game 2.
I think, but I can't be certain that primal command also did super good work in game 1 against twin as I kept him off four mana for a turn, but I don't think he had it. (I could be wrong though, he spent a lot of the game digging)
Slaughter games basically saved me from a round 1 defeat against Jeskai ascendancy combo. I'd slowed him down by killing his early dorks and then along came slaughter games allowing me to rip his glittering wishes from the deck which I believe really makes it hard for them to win as they often hide win cons in the sideboard.
The absolute biggest card though was abrupt decay. Pulled work in every single game (and most notably versus the combo players) it just got me out of so many situations, especially 3 deceiver exarchs and a pester mite in the same game. (Thank you eternal witness!)
Overall I was really impressed with the deck, I think it was maybe running a little hot? But there were a few matchups I hadn't played a great deal, and I think that people had a hard time understanding the decks angle of attack, which maybe helped.
Lots of compliments on the deck though, I think people like seeing something like this across the table from them!
I'm expecting tomorrow (today really, but I'm going to try and get some more sleep) to be a lot harder work, and I'm going to do my best but there are still some matchups I'd prefer to avoid.
For the record I saw significant amounts of splinter twin and abzan in the grinder, so I would not at all be surprised to see a big meta share from those decks.
Lots of other decks were represented, I saw boggles, gifts, Tron, infect, soul sisters, merfolk, dredge... I could go on, but I guess what I'm saying is, the meta looks pretty healthy, I've no idea how it will shake out tomorrow, but I shall jolly well do my best!
I played almost same list on modern monday 1 week ago, however played Lotus Cobras over Strangleroots (I dont really find value in geists, but hat is me). I finished 4-0-1 splitting finals.
I'm just going to throw this out there as my opinion on Chord.
I look at this as a Chord vs Genesis Wave discussion, much like Genesis Wave vs Tooth and Nail. Tooth and Nail looks like a much better card than Genesis Wave at first glance; you can tutor for the exact cards you want and put them into play immediately, and for the same mana cost as a 6 card Genesis Wave. The thing about Genesis Wave is the flexibility, in that you can cast it for anywhere between 4 and 7 for value, and you can get something other than two creatures (land, enchantments, and planeswalkers). Sometimes tutoring up two creatures isn't what you want to be doing because it doesn't win you the game, whereas you can start to chain Genesis Waves and win the game almost on the spot.
So enough about Tooth and Nail, let's talk Chord of Calling.
I see the appeal of Chord; it's instant speed and let's us play more of a toolbox. We can, in theory, play around our weaknesses by having one-ofs in our deck, and tutor them up at a moment's notice. We have the ability to generate a lot of mana, and running upwards of 20 creatures with CMC of 3 or less, we can utilize Convoke at the same time.
Here are the two problems I see with Chord
1) It's an X spell that just doesn't win us the game. Yes, we can tutor up cards like Elesh Norn or Craterhoof Behemoth, but it just doesn't out and out win us the game. If I've got an X spell and the ability to run X up through the roof (either mana or Convoke), I want something that will win me the game on the spot.
A simple comparison. Let's call X=8. If I Chord, I grab Craterhoof. It comes into play, gives the team +X/+X. Great, but how big is X going to be? 2? 3? 4? Likely not that big. Further, if I tap any of my creatures to use Convoke (a definite plus for Chord), I lose them as attackers. Now what happens if I Genesis Wave for 8? I get up to 8 new permanents, one of which could be Craterhoof. I might also hit 7 other creatures, which makes my Craterhoof pump at least +7/+7 (so now I have a 12/12 trampling Behemoth, plus whatever other creatures attack). I could also hit Garruk, or a Nykthos, and keep on going. Eternal Witness lets me chain Waves, so the explosiveness of the Genesis Wave > the precision of the Chord of Calling
2) Dead cards. If we go the toolbox route, there's the likelihood of us having dead cards in our hand. Inferno Titan with only one red source? Elesh Norn with only one White source? Chord of Calling without mana dorks? What about these cards in your opening hand?
I'm not saying that there's not a spot for Chord, and maybe it's more of a midrange style deck (which is what I haven't advocated as I'm so deeply attached to the Genesis Wave version), but this is just my opinion
I totally agree with you on many points! However I think you should already know, that:
With Nykthos and devotion on board, Genesis Wave > Chord of Calling
Without Nykthos but with devotion(creatures) on board, Genesis Wave < Chord of Calling
Without Nykthos and without devotion(creatures) on board, Genesis Wave ? Chord of Calling:
Assume we have 4 mana. Genesis Wave for 1 does nothing. Chord for 1 allows you to get Arbor Elf or Noble Hierarch/Birds of Paradise. First one ramps from 4 -> 5 at minimum, with land drop and/or utopia sprawl even more. Second and First fixes your mana.
Assume we have 5 mana. Genesis Wave for 2 does nothing. Chord for 2 gives us: Scavenging Ooze (probably after board) that has a chance of dominating board position. Elvish Visionary / Coaling Oracle gives us guaranted card (something that Wave for 2 doesnt do)
Assume we have 6 mana. Genesis Wave for 3 has a chance of hiting card advantage 3 drop and some mana. Chord for 3 gives us guaranted Selkie / Witness / Archdruid / Courser.
Assume we have 7 mana. Genesis Wave for 4 hits mayority of our deck. Chord still goes for 3 most of the time, or maybe Polukranos or Restoration Angel if you have anything on board.
So Wave > Chord for >6 mana. Wave < Chord for <6 Mana. I think for 6 mana it is close.
I would play minimum amount of "silver bullets" with Chord of Calling, and probably only in sideboard. Only good in almost any matchups are Scavenging Ooze, Polukranos and Restoration Angel and Ezuri, Renegade Leader in elf version. I dissagree with purklefluff about others: I dont think Thrun is any good in modern, dont like idea of main deck Linvala (much rather play Restoration Angel), Elesh Norn, Inferno Titan, Spellskite or Obstinate Baloth, as they dont go well with this kind of deck. I think I should qoute DarkestMage, when I asked about my deck on his stream: "If you want to get to use Chord of Calling for so many maindeck 1 offs, why dont just play pod?". I totally agree with it. Purklefluff, I think your deck would just look better if you would just to play pod.
Don't get me wrong, I play what I call "Hate-offs" in sideboard, but that is because I play Both Chord and Command to fetch them. They just give your deck another dimension to work with, and virtually I have ~6-7 additional copies of them if you count both Chord and Command. I however dont overload on them, as you can't reuse them in similar way as pod can. If you draw stuff like Linvala vs Storm it is just a dead card. Similar to Thrun vs Twin. It does nothing, as they would just combo you off or command it while bashing in the air.
As I said before, we have 3 camps currently:
1. Genesis Wave + Primeval Command
2. Genesis Wave + Chord of Calling
3. Primeval Command + Chord of Calling
I think Lilly should be main for sure. Hitting it T2 as you said is a great play, and it fuels your own yard for reanimiation. I would probably suggest shying away from the other walkers, as it dilutes the game plane of using the graveyard as a resource. I know you are trying to attack from different angles, but you don't want to dilute too much.
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Beat Bant Coco/Kotr/Retreat 2-1
Beat Naya Coco/Nacatl/Zoo 2-1
Beat RG Tron 2-1
Changes from previous build: -1 Bird(up to 3), +1 Hydra(3) in main, +1 Blood Moon(3), +1 Bonfire(4). +1 Elesh Norn(1), -1 Primal Command(0), -1 Eternal Witness(0), -1 Outpost Siege (1).
I need to buy Worships for Eldrazi (would play probably ~2). Elesh is good vs Affinity/Infect/Coco/Eldrazi. Moons - tron/affinity/infect/eldrazi. Bonfire - zoo/coco/eldrazi/affinity/infect. Slaughter games vs shoal/scapeshift/ad nauseum.
1
I played almost same list on modern monday 1 week ago, however played Lotus Cobras over Strangleroots (I dont really find value in geists, but hat is me). I finished 4-0-1 splitting finals.
1
I totally agree with you on many points! However I think you should already know, that:
With Nykthos and devotion on board, Genesis Wave > Chord of Calling
Without Nykthos but with devotion(creatures) on board, Genesis Wave < Chord of Calling
Without Nykthos and without devotion(creatures) on board, Genesis Wave ? Chord of Calling:
Assume we have 4 mana. Genesis Wave for 1 does nothing. Chord for 1 allows you to get Arbor Elf or Noble Hierarch/Birds of Paradise. First one ramps from 4 -> 5 at minimum, with land drop and/or utopia sprawl even more. Second and First fixes your mana.
Assume we have 5 mana. Genesis Wave for 2 does nothing. Chord for 2 gives us: Scavenging Ooze (probably after board) that has a chance of dominating board position. Elvish Visionary / Coaling Oracle gives us guaranted card (something that Wave for 2 doesnt do)
Assume we have 6 mana. Genesis Wave for 3 has a chance of hiting card advantage 3 drop and some mana. Chord for 3 gives us guaranted Selkie / Witness / Archdruid / Courser.
Assume we have 7 mana. Genesis Wave for 4 hits mayority of our deck. Chord still goes for 3 most of the time, or maybe Polukranos or Restoration Angel if you have anything on board.
So Wave > Chord for >6 mana. Wave < Chord for <6 Mana. I think for 6 mana it is close.
I would play minimum amount of "silver bullets" with Chord of Calling, and probably only in sideboard. Only good in almost any matchups are Scavenging Ooze, Polukranos and Restoration Angel and Ezuri, Renegade Leader in elf version. I dissagree with purklefluff about others: I dont think Thrun is any good in modern, dont like idea of main deck Linvala (much rather play Restoration Angel), Elesh Norn, Inferno Titan, Spellskite or Obstinate Baloth, as they dont go well with this kind of deck. I think I should qoute DarkestMage, when I asked about my deck on his stream: "If you want to get to use Chord of Calling for so many maindeck 1 offs, why dont just play pod?". I totally agree with it. Purklefluff, I think your deck would just look better if you would just to play pod.
Don't get me wrong, I play what I call "Hate-offs" in sideboard, but that is because I play Both Chord and Command to fetch them. They just give your deck another dimension to work with, and virtually I have ~6-7 additional copies of them if you count both Chord and Command. I however dont overload on them, as you can't reuse them in similar way as pod can. If you draw stuff like Linvala vs Storm it is just a dead card. Similar to Thrun vs Twin. It does nothing, as they would just combo you off or command it while bashing in the air.
As I said before, we have 3 camps currently:
1. Genesis Wave + Primeval Command
2. Genesis Wave + Chord of Calling
3. Primeval Command + Chord of Calling
I think it depends on a playstyle.