...you may meet a stranger...across a crowded room.
Yeah, My folks really liked the musical South Pacific so that song is kind of burned into my brain, but as you may or more likely may not know, Enchanted Evening is a magic card. And a terrible one!
So for five mana you can turn ALL permanents into enchantments.
a) Five mana is steep
b) ...enchantments? So what?
so as I've mentioned before, I have a cube full of some of the worst magic cards in history. The card just happens to be in it and, quite by accident, I discovered a very interesting combo.
(also, that happens every once in awhile. Random, terrible cards interact to do something magnificent. I think there was an actual gasp when someone went Endemic Plague + a Changeling. Wrath of God, anyone?)
My first thought was hey, let's blow up all the enchantments! But even things like Back to Nature cost 2 (1G) at a minimum. A combo that costs seven mana is too much. But! There's a neat little card called Patrician's Score. it's 3W to destroy all enchantments, BUT if you've played another white spell this turn, it's free. So Enchanted Evening + Patrician's Scorn = destroy all permanents for five mana.
Obviously, you can't just blow up the board and hope your opponent concedes from frustration. Sure, that will happen sometimes, but you can't count on it.
So, I thought this deck could be similar to Restore Balance. Suspend some creatures and blow everything up, your opponent struggles to do anything relevant and then some giant monster with haste beats down. This deck is sometimes better than Restore Balance though. Although you can't attack your opponent's hand, you don't have to worry about pesky planeswalkers/artifacts since your opponent gets to keep nothing.
The problem is, blue and white aren't exciting in the suspend-creature department. Most of them cost 2-3 to suspend and then you end up with 2/2s. No thanks. Errant Ephemeron is great though, he has been my main win condition so far. I have considered Greater Gargadon, but that requires a better manabase...
My second thought was persist creatures. The only ones that are actually any good are Safehold Elite and Kitchen Finks. Finks buys us some time against aggressive decks, while the utility of getting a 1/1 creature back (from Safehold Elite) is pretty meh.
And the third was indestructible cards. Darksteel Citadel is in there so I can continue to function after blowing up the world, but the creatures in the darksteel department are all pretty expensive. The cheapest you can get a 0/1 for 3. Cool...
There's that one artifact for 2 that can turn itself into a 2/2 for 3, but that's SUPER mana intensive just to get a bear. Pass...
So here's what I ended up with...
4 Enchanted Evening
4 Patrician's Scorn
4 Peer through Depths
4 Sleight of Hand
4 Serum Visions
2 Simian Spirit Guide
4 Mindstone
2 Everflowing Chalice
3 Traveler's Amulet
3 Chromatic Star
4 Errant Ephemeron
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Darksteel Citadel
4 Flooded Strand
2 Hallowed Fountain
1 Mystic Gate
2 Plains
9 Island
Potential Sideboard:
4 Timely Reinforcements
3 Fracturing Gust
3 Silence
4 Rest for the Weary
1 Pull from Eternity
So - let's see your Enchanted Evening brews - can we make this dollar rare worth something?
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Sunday, June 28, 2015
Cheerios, The Next Evolution?
Greetings again everyone. Like Travis posted before me, it has gotten a little bit dusty in here. I am guilty like the rest when it comes to this, but life is something that cannot always be set aside for the glory of my keyboard. As for me, I have been working on what I feel to be the next evolution for the deck we have come to love as Cheerios. I know I have come to advocate the use of Monastery Mentor and Myth Realized on different occasions, so this is going to sound like blasphemy. I have completely gone away from Mentor and Myth. Let me repeat this statement again. I have completely gone away from Mentor and Myth.
Go ahead. Say what you need to here. I know I've just gone against everything I've said, but it is how it is.
We good? Ok.
So, if we have gone away from Myth and Mentor, what are we doing? Well, I know what I am doing. I am going all Grapeshot, all day. Draw cards, cast Grapeshot. To facilitate this, I have incorporated the Veldalken Archmage. Yes, he is basically a 4 mana Paladin for this deck, but with the current evolution of the meta we can't rest our hope in a single enchantment that we can barely protect. Sure, its size does a good deal to protect it from burn, but there is a plethora of removal spells ready to bring it down and there is only one card that is capable of protecting us as long as we need it. That brings us to addition number 2: Silence.
4 Kite Shield
4 Accorder's Shield
3 Bone Saw
4 Paradise Mantle
4 Spidersilk Net
4 Mox Opal
4 Retract
2 Noxious Revival
4 Veldalken Archmage
4 Puresteel Paladin
1 Grapeshot
1 Echoing Truth
4 Muddle the Mixture
3 Silence
3 Plains
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Flooded Strand
4 Seachrome Coast
So, I went back to Muddle the Mixture. After meeting Eoin (serenechaos) in Charlotte, he loved the fact that the Muddle version I piloted in states was very consistent, and it re-affirmed my believe that consistency is what we need for this list.
Some things to note. Archmage is not a may effect. This means if you are going off with him, be mindful of how many spells you need to cast to get there. Killing yourself is not the best thing ever. This does, however, open us up the possibility of really winning with Lab Maniac for reals, which I am now testing as an out to Infinite Lifegain strats like soul sisters and some Collected Company variants. Also, Mox Opal does draw a card with Archmage. It helps, haha.
With this version, I will still go for it on turn 2 or 3 if the cards permit. However, I also now have the luxury of waiting until my opponent either taps out, or just gets blown out by the mainboard silence. Mainboard Silence catches storm with their pants down, has some game against Reanimator and Through the Breach builds (I'll cast Desperate Ritual, respond with Silence lol), and even stops you from losing the Hive Mind. Check this out: Opponent has Hive Mind active and casts Summoner's Pact. Hive Mind triggers. which you respond to with Silence. Hive Mind triggers, and if no one does anything, your opponent now casts Silence, which means you cannot cast anything else from Hive Mind. Lolz. Also, if they cast Summer Bloom and make a million mana, if you respond to the last bounce trigger with a Silence they have a pool of mana and can't actually spend it on Titans or anything.
Most of our matchups do remain the same, save Burn. Burn just beats the bloody jesus out of us game one, and there isn't much we can do about it. The rest of our matchups, in my eyes, come down to patience. You will draw cards naturally, and there are now 12 cards that basically end the game if you have them, with Muddle doubling as the rofl counter.
I have been happy with the new list so far. There are some numbers that I am still working on, namely how many Archmages I want in the main, how many Silences, how many Noxious Revivals. However, I have never been upset about drawing the Archmage. Yes, he costs 4. Yes, that's more than the Mentor. However, If you cast Archmage, you typically win the game on the spot, as opposed to making an army and hoping that you don't just die.
Beyond my changes, I am curious as to the versions of this list that other folks are playing. Do we favor the Muddle w/Mentor versions? Myth Realized version? Do we enjoy the Russian Roulette Spoils of the Vault versions? either way, the end game is the same. We all want the opponent dead. And me, most of all, want them dead without having the pass the turn.
Thank you all so much for continuing to check out this blog. If there is anyone happier to see this blog get noticed, it is our originator Travis.
And btw guys. I know he made a list regarding Hardened Scales. Please make one with Allies. It is super fun. :)
Breakfast of Champions
Go ahead. Say what you need to here. I know I've just gone against everything I've said, but it is how it is.
We good? Ok.
So, if we have gone away from Myth and Mentor, what are we doing? Well, I know what I am doing. I am going all Grapeshot, all day. Draw cards, cast Grapeshot. To facilitate this, I have incorporated the Veldalken Archmage. Yes, he is basically a 4 mana Paladin for this deck, but with the current evolution of the meta we can't rest our hope in a single enchantment that we can barely protect. Sure, its size does a good deal to protect it from burn, but there is a plethora of removal spells ready to bring it down and there is only one card that is capable of protecting us as long as we need it. That brings us to addition number 2: Silence.
4 Kite Shield
4 Accorder's Shield
3 Bone Saw
4 Paradise Mantle
4 Spidersilk Net
4 Mox Opal
4 Retract
2 Noxious Revival
4 Veldalken Archmage
4 Puresteel Paladin
1 Grapeshot
1 Echoing Truth
4 Muddle the Mixture
3 Silence
3 Plains
4 Hallowed Fountain
4 Flooded Strand
4 Seachrome Coast
So, I went back to Muddle the Mixture. After meeting Eoin (serenechaos) in Charlotte, he loved the fact that the Muddle version I piloted in states was very consistent, and it re-affirmed my believe that consistency is what we need for this list.
Some things to note. Archmage is not a may effect. This means if you are going off with him, be mindful of how many spells you need to cast to get there. Killing yourself is not the best thing ever. This does, however, open us up the possibility of really winning with Lab Maniac for reals, which I am now testing as an out to Infinite Lifegain strats like soul sisters and some Collected Company variants. Also, Mox Opal does draw a card with Archmage. It helps, haha.
With this version, I will still go for it on turn 2 or 3 if the cards permit. However, I also now have the luxury of waiting until my opponent either taps out, or just gets blown out by the mainboard silence. Mainboard Silence catches storm with their pants down, has some game against Reanimator and Through the Breach builds (I'll cast Desperate Ritual, respond with Silence lol), and even stops you from losing the Hive Mind. Check this out: Opponent has Hive Mind active and casts Summoner's Pact. Hive Mind triggers. which you respond to with Silence. Hive Mind triggers, and if no one does anything, your opponent now casts Silence, which means you cannot cast anything else from Hive Mind. Lolz. Also, if they cast Summer Bloom and make a million mana, if you respond to the last bounce trigger with a Silence they have a pool of mana and can't actually spend it on Titans or anything.
Most of our matchups do remain the same, save Burn. Burn just beats the bloody jesus out of us game one, and there isn't much we can do about it. The rest of our matchups, in my eyes, come down to patience. You will draw cards naturally, and there are now 12 cards that basically end the game if you have them, with Muddle doubling as the rofl counter.
I have been happy with the new list so far. There are some numbers that I am still working on, namely how many Archmages I want in the main, how many Silences, how many Noxious Revivals. However, I have never been upset about drawing the Archmage. Yes, he costs 4. Yes, that's more than the Mentor. However, If you cast Archmage, you typically win the game on the spot, as opposed to making an army and hoping that you don't just die.
Beyond my changes, I am curious as to the versions of this list that other folks are playing. Do we favor the Muddle w/Mentor versions? Myth Realized version? Do we enjoy the Russian Roulette Spoils of the Vault versions? either way, the end game is the same. We all want the opponent dead. And me, most of all, want them dead without having the pass the turn.
Thank you all so much for continuing to check out this blog. If there is anyone happier to see this blog get noticed, it is our originator Travis.
And btw guys. I know he made a list regarding Hardened Scales. Please make one with Allies. It is super fun. :)
Breakfast of Champions
Saturday, June 27, 2015
Modern +1/+1 Counters
*clears cobwebs off blog*
*looks at the tumbleweed blowing past*
So, not many updates lately. Eh, what are you going to do?
I can only post something really when I have a new idea or actually have a report...the latter unfortunately doesn't happen that often anymore.
There's an idea I've been kicking around for a long time. Oona's Blackguard was always a staple of the standard rogue deck, but didn't see much traction after that. Since I've been messing around with modern shamans, I wondered what could be done with the Blackguard. A 1/1 for 2 is pretty low-impact in modern and having other rogues come into play with a counter is that great. But what about the creatures you already have in play becoming specters? (i.e. opponent has to discard a card with damage)
My first thought was Rakdos Cackler into Blackguard. Cool, a 2/2 for one mana that makes your opponent discard a card. Not bad. Other than that, the shell was nonexistent. I mean, Arcbound Worker? What else could there be? So:
Jund Counters
4 Bloodhall Ooze
4 Scab-Clan Mauler
4 Stromkirk Noble
4 Stormblood Berserker
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Oona's Blackguard
4 Skarrgan Pit-skulk
4 War-Name Aspirant
4 Hardened Scales
4 Inspiring Call
20 Lands
This is one of the weirder decks I've come up with. The list is kind of rough right now, there's thing I'm trying out that I'm not sure on. I write "20 lands" because the manabase I have on mtgo is just awful and it's too embarrassing to be written down.
The deck is straightforward. You have a bunch of cheap creatures that come into play with +1/+1 counters and get boosted by Hardened Scales and Oona's Blackguard. Usually, the Blackguard dies before any of my team connects, but I once got an opponent to discard two cards and he then put two Wilt-Leaf Lieges in play. =/ =/ =/ cool.
Inspiring Call is just insane in this deck. It usually reads "draw three cards, creatures you control are indestructible until end of turn." If this had an actual boost effect, I would say that this deck could be viable. (There's a white card that does the boost effect, but it costs 4)
There are some other things I'd like to try out - Solidarity of Heroes seemed crazy until I read that you had to pay for additional targets. Servant of the Scales / Gore-House Chainwalker / and Experiment One are always possible inclusions. Strangleroot Geist is another possibility, but that would require some adjustments of the manabase.
Are you interested in writing for us? Any tournament reports or crazy brews you'd like to share with the world? Let us know!
*looks at the tumbleweed blowing past*
So, not many updates lately. Eh, what are you going to do?
I can only post something really when I have a new idea or actually have a report...the latter unfortunately doesn't happen that often anymore.
There's an idea I've been kicking around for a long time. Oona's Blackguard was always a staple of the standard rogue deck, but didn't see much traction after that. Since I've been messing around with modern shamans, I wondered what could be done with the Blackguard. A 1/1 for 2 is pretty low-impact in modern and having other rogues come into play with a counter is that great. But what about the creatures you already have in play becoming specters? (i.e. opponent has to discard a card with damage)
My first thought was Rakdos Cackler into Blackguard. Cool, a 2/2 for one mana that makes your opponent discard a card. Not bad. Other than that, the shell was nonexistent. I mean, Arcbound Worker? What else could there be? So:
Jund Counters
4 Bloodhall Ooze
4 Scab-Clan Mauler
4 Stromkirk Noble
4 Stormblood Berserker
4 Rakdos Cackler
4 Oona's Blackguard
4 Skarrgan Pit-skulk
4 War-Name Aspirant
4 Hardened Scales
4 Inspiring Call
20 Lands
This is one of the weirder decks I've come up with. The list is kind of rough right now, there's thing I'm trying out that I'm not sure on. I write "20 lands" because the manabase I have on mtgo is just awful and it's too embarrassing to be written down.
The deck is straightforward. You have a bunch of cheap creatures that come into play with +1/+1 counters and get boosted by Hardened Scales and Oona's Blackguard. Usually, the Blackguard dies before any of my team connects, but I once got an opponent to discard two cards and he then put two Wilt-Leaf Lieges in play. =/ =/ =/ cool.
Inspiring Call is just insane in this deck. It usually reads "draw three cards, creatures you control are indestructible until end of turn." If this had an actual boost effect, I would say that this deck could be viable. (There's a white card that does the boost effect, but it costs 4)
There are some other things I'd like to try out - Solidarity of Heroes seemed crazy until I read that you had to pay for additional targets. Servant of the Scales / Gore-House Chainwalker / and Experiment One are always possible inclusions. Strangleroot Geist is another possibility, but that would require some adjustments of the manabase.
Are you interested in writing for us? Any tournament reports or crazy brews you'd like to share with the world? Let us know!
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Tournament Report: Modern PPTQ in Hamburg
Hey guise,
I played some modern today (gasp living end gasp) and did quite decently. I took the train with four other guys at 7 and we got there at 9:30ish. I don't even know what RPTQ or PT this feeds into, but whatever, let's play.
The field is somewhat diverse. I had a bye in the second round so I was able to do a lot of scouting.
4 Proc-Martyr (Monowhite gain life decks)
3 Burn
4 Tron
1 Amulet Bloom
1 Living End
1 Affinity
3 Splinter Twin
1 Elfball
1 Monogreen Ramp
2 Sultai Delver
2 RU(G) Delver
3 Grixis (including one cruel control)
That only adds up at 26 of 31 players, but ya can't get em all.
Round 1: Burn
Miserable, I get 0-2'd quickly.
Round 2: BYE
Wow, I haven't gotten a bye in a tournament in quite awhile actually. I kind of moped for awhile, but 1-1 is fine.
Round 3: Amulent Bloom
I had to play against one of the guys I came with and with the help of land destruction I was able to kill him one turn before he went off both games.
Round 4: Proc-Martyr
I think I had played against this guy before. He seemed to remember me and hate my deck(/me?). He did an awful lot of complaining. Anyway, game one he looked at his opener and conceded. Ok. Game two he led with a Rest in Peace on turn 2! But I had a Beast Within so I just waited until I got to six mana, destroyed it at his end of turn, cycled 5 guys and violent outbursted. Got 'em
Round 5: Tron
We drew in, but we played for fun and I got it 2-1. Fulminator is pretty back-breaking against him.
Top 8
3x Burn
Affinity (R)
Living End (!)
Grixis (R)
Proc-Martyr
Grixis Cruel Control
So, out of the five of us, three managed to top 8. Not bad, eh? Also, notice how literally all of the burn players top 8d. Is there no stopping that deck? Also 4 Proc-Martyr out of 31 is an awful lot. I usually see like one guy running that at a 100+ person PTQ.
Round 6: Proc-Martyr
So game one was really gross and after some bad cycles I was facing down some 6/6 avatars and my 3/4s just weren't good enough. Game 2/3 were pretty straightforward though.
Round 7: Burn
Game one I mulled to 5 and just died on turn 3. Misery!
Game two I was super careful with my life total and cascaded so I wouldn't take any more damage from a creature and I put 2 3/4s and my big 6/3 into play. At 15 life, I go for the attack, expecting my 6/3 to die and he DEFLECTING PALMs it to me. OK. And then plays triple burn spell on his turn, With me having lethal on the board. And my top card is Brindle Boar (after having drawn a blank). Of course, cool.
So, knocked out.
Of the four tournaments I've played Living End, this is how is looks:
Burn 1-3
Proc-Martyr 3-0
Bant Walkers 1-0
Tron 1-0
Infect 2-1
Jund 0-1
Affinity 3-0
Amulet 1-1
Ninja Bear Delver 1-0
Abzan Junk 1-1
GW Hatebears 1-0
Splinter Twin 1-0
Jeskai Control 1-0
R/G Midrange 1-0
I don't know how representative this is of the modern meta, but 18-7 isn't terrible. The 1-3 against burn is horrendous though. Going forward, I will either get some white leylines or gnaw to the bone, but I just have to do something, because being fast just isn't enough. I always end up dying on turn 3-4, partly because of how much damage I do to myself but partly because they're so fast.
Hopefully your weekend was just as successful as mine - keep slinging those cards guys!
I played some modern today (gasp living end gasp) and did quite decently. I took the train with four other guys at 7 and we got there at 9:30ish. I don't even know what RPTQ or PT this feeds into, but whatever, let's play.
The field is somewhat diverse. I had a bye in the second round so I was able to do a lot of scouting.
4 Proc-Martyr (Monowhite gain life decks)
3 Burn
4 Tron
1 Amulet Bloom
1 Living End
1 Affinity
3 Splinter Twin
1 Elfball
1 Monogreen Ramp
2 Sultai Delver
2 RU(G) Delver
3 Grixis (including one cruel control)
That only adds up at 26 of 31 players, but ya can't get em all.
Round 1: Burn
Miserable, I get 0-2'd quickly.
Round 2: BYE
Wow, I haven't gotten a bye in a tournament in quite awhile actually. I kind of moped for awhile, but 1-1 is fine.
Round 3: Amulent Bloom
I had to play against one of the guys I came with and with the help of land destruction I was able to kill him one turn before he went off both games.
Round 4: Proc-Martyr
I think I had played against this guy before. He seemed to remember me and hate my deck(/me?). He did an awful lot of complaining. Anyway, game one he looked at his opener and conceded. Ok. Game two he led with a Rest in Peace on turn 2! But I had a Beast Within so I just waited until I got to six mana, destroyed it at his end of turn, cycled 5 guys and violent outbursted. Got 'em
Round 5: Tron
We drew in, but we played for fun and I got it 2-1. Fulminator is pretty back-breaking against him.
Top 8
3x Burn
Affinity (R)
Living End (!)
Grixis (R)
Proc-Martyr
Grixis Cruel Control
So, out of the five of us, three managed to top 8. Not bad, eh? Also, notice how literally all of the burn players top 8d. Is there no stopping that deck? Also 4 Proc-Martyr out of 31 is an awful lot. I usually see like one guy running that at a 100+ person PTQ.
Round 6: Proc-Martyr
So game one was really gross and after some bad cycles I was facing down some 6/6 avatars and my 3/4s just weren't good enough. Game 2/3 were pretty straightforward though.
Round 7: Burn
Game one I mulled to 5 and just died on turn 3. Misery!
Game two I was super careful with my life total and cascaded so I wouldn't take any more damage from a creature and I put 2 3/4s and my big 6/3 into play. At 15 life, I go for the attack, expecting my 6/3 to die and he DEFLECTING PALMs it to me. OK. And then plays triple burn spell on his turn, With me having lethal on the board. And my top card is Brindle Boar (after having drawn a blank). Of course, cool.
So, knocked out.
Of the four tournaments I've played Living End, this is how is looks:
Burn 1-3
Proc-Martyr 3-0
Bant Walkers 1-0
Tron 1-0
Infect 2-1
Jund 0-1
Affinity 3-0
Amulet 1-1
Ninja Bear Delver 1-0
Abzan Junk 1-1
GW Hatebears 1-0
Splinter Twin 1-0
Jeskai Control 1-0
R/G Midrange 1-0
I don't know how representative this is of the modern meta, but 18-7 isn't terrible. The 1-3 against burn is horrendous though. Going forward, I will either get some white leylines or gnaw to the bone, but I just have to do something, because being fast just isn't enough. I always end up dying on turn 3-4, partly because of how much damage I do to myself but partly because they're so fast.
Hopefully your weekend was just as successful as mine - keep slinging those cards guys!
Tuesday, June 9, 2015
GP Charlotte: Free Breakfast?
Greetings all! Stephen here, wishing everyone another great day of Magic with another decklist and some thoughts about GP Charlotte. I know that most of the folks who tune into this blog, our originator Travis included, likely expect me to write something about Cheerios, which is fair. I did sort of cause the price of foil Retracts to go from 1.20 to 33.00 USD. This is rather entertaining to me, because I personally never thought I would ever push the price of a card to the extreme. Now, it may just be coincidence, but I don't believe so.
Moving forward, Cheerios seems like the list that I would be gunning to play in Charlotte this coming weekend. It's a sweet deck, it's very fast, and it's so far under the radar that no one in their right mind would even think that they would be potentially dead on turn two following a tapped Hallowed Fountain. Even with all of this in mind, I must admit that I do not believe I will be playing Cheerios this weekend. After a good deal of testing leading up to Charlotte, the introduction of Myth Realized, the departure from Muddle the Mixture, and the fated return of a format menace, I cannot see myself packing this list to battle. Recent games have shown that, while Myth Realized can do some serious damage, it is a volatile basket to put ones eggs in. The redeeming qualities are that it rolls over Twin and Tron as if they had no idea the card exists as they have very little to answer such a monster in the first few turns of the game, but what about the rest of the format? Fringe decks can block the monster while we draw essential blanks. Any creature based deck can wall this puppy off long enough to stabilize. And not to mention the modern heavy weights of Grixis, who have Terminate, Abzan and UWR with Path to Exile, and the return of Jund, with Terminate and shared weapon of Abzan Abrupt Decay. This is a lot of hate that is present for our new monster. I've been trying to make it work, and I personally do not feel that I have come up with a list that is optimal enough to take with me for battling purposes. This metagame is shaping up to be very mid-rangy, and it is those types of decks that punish decks like mine; infinite removal and enough card-advantage to keep up and even stay ahead long enough to win. Even if we go to a ton of threats, we are just diluting the deck and losing the extreme speed that drew me to this deck in the beginning.
Now, does this mean I am going to be giving up on Cheerios for good? Not at all. This deck is like a child to me. I still want to take care of it, decide what is best for it, and do my best to raise it into a format monster that people are going to take into account at every event. However, with the format in flux and a new predator that beats Cheerios into the ground, I'm going to set it aside for now and instead do battle with a deck that I feel to have better match ups all around. Ladies and gentlemen, I am bringing back Blink.
Modern Blink: Stephen D.
3 Wall of Omens
3 Runed Halo
3 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Restoration Angel
2 Reveillark
2 Body Double
2 Mirror Entity
1 Gel Elendra Archmage
1 Inquisitor Exarch
2 Venser, Shaper Savant
2 Mystic Snake
2 Path to Exile
3 Gifts Ungiven
1 Day of Judgement
1 Wrath of God
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Noxious Revival
1 Unburial Rites
1 Swamp
3 Island
3 Plains
2 Mystic Gate
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Steam Vents
1 Godless Shrine
1 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
3 Polluted Delta
3 Hallowed Fountain
2 Celestial Colonnade
3 Flooded Strand
SB:
2 Stony Silence
3 Kor Firewalker
1 Runed Halo
3 Rending Volley
I have presented this deck to you all at one point in the past, and today I will be showcasing it again. I feel that this deck is very well positioned for the GP Charlotte. With the meta shifting into midrange, this deck simply puts the breaks on those strategies, grinding harder than any of these decks know how. The only issue is Tron, which is a bad matchup for it. I'm willing to concede that match as most other decks in the format are going to have that decks head on a pike, and I can beat those other decks. Even still, 4 Spreading Seas and Stony Silence should help slow down the menace that is Tron.
As I'm certain you all are aware of how the combo works (I did explain it before), I won't drone you with that again. Moving into Mystic Snake land gives up all types of game against random decks since no one plays around it. Let's just hope that this deck has what it takes to bring down the event, as Cheerios simply isn't going to do it.
Best of luck to those of you going to GP Charlotte, and please, wish me luck as I go too.
-Stephen D.
Moving forward, Cheerios seems like the list that I would be gunning to play in Charlotte this coming weekend. It's a sweet deck, it's very fast, and it's so far under the radar that no one in their right mind would even think that they would be potentially dead on turn two following a tapped Hallowed Fountain. Even with all of this in mind, I must admit that I do not believe I will be playing Cheerios this weekend. After a good deal of testing leading up to Charlotte, the introduction of Myth Realized, the departure from Muddle the Mixture, and the fated return of a format menace, I cannot see myself packing this list to battle. Recent games have shown that, while Myth Realized can do some serious damage, it is a volatile basket to put ones eggs in. The redeeming qualities are that it rolls over Twin and Tron as if they had no idea the card exists as they have very little to answer such a monster in the first few turns of the game, but what about the rest of the format? Fringe decks can block the monster while we draw essential blanks. Any creature based deck can wall this puppy off long enough to stabilize. And not to mention the modern heavy weights of Grixis, who have Terminate, Abzan and UWR with Path to Exile, and the return of Jund, with Terminate and shared weapon of Abzan Abrupt Decay. This is a lot of hate that is present for our new monster. I've been trying to make it work, and I personally do not feel that I have come up with a list that is optimal enough to take with me for battling purposes. This metagame is shaping up to be very mid-rangy, and it is those types of decks that punish decks like mine; infinite removal and enough card-advantage to keep up and even stay ahead long enough to win. Even if we go to a ton of threats, we are just diluting the deck and losing the extreme speed that drew me to this deck in the beginning.
Now, does this mean I am going to be giving up on Cheerios for good? Not at all. This deck is like a child to me. I still want to take care of it, decide what is best for it, and do my best to raise it into a format monster that people are going to take into account at every event. However, with the format in flux and a new predator that beats Cheerios into the ground, I'm going to set it aside for now and instead do battle with a deck that I feel to have better match ups all around. Ladies and gentlemen, I am bringing back Blink.
Modern Blink: Stephen D.
3 Wall of Omens
3 Runed Halo
3 Aven Riftwatcher
4 Restoration Angel
2 Reveillark
2 Body Double
2 Mirror Entity
1 Gel Elendra Archmage
1 Inquisitor Exarch
2 Venser, Shaper Savant
2 Mystic Snake
2 Path to Exile
3 Gifts Ungiven
1 Day of Judgement
1 Wrath of God
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Noxious Revival
1 Unburial Rites
1 Swamp
3 Island
3 Plains
2 Mystic Gate
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Steam Vents
1 Godless Shrine
1 Temple Garden
1 Breeding Pool
3 Polluted Delta
3 Hallowed Fountain
2 Celestial Colonnade
3 Flooded Strand
SB:
2 Stony Silence
3 Kor Firewalker
1 Runed Halo
3 Rending Volley
I have presented this deck to you all at one point in the past, and today I will be showcasing it again. I feel that this deck is very well positioned for the GP Charlotte. With the meta shifting into midrange, this deck simply puts the breaks on those strategies, grinding harder than any of these decks know how. The only issue is Tron, which is a bad matchup for it. I'm willing to concede that match as most other decks in the format are going to have that decks head on a pike, and I can beat those other decks. Even still, 4 Spreading Seas and Stony Silence should help slow down the menace that is Tron.
As I'm certain you all are aware of how the combo works (I did explain it before), I won't drone you with that again. Moving into Mystic Snake land gives up all types of game against random decks since no one plays around it. Let's just hope that this deck has what it takes to bring down the event, as Cheerios simply isn't going to do it.
Best of luck to those of you going to GP Charlotte, and please, wish me luck as I go too.
-Stephen D.
Standard Building on a Budget: Mostly Monoblue (MoMU)
Hi guys, I know it's been awhile. My lack of internet has really made it difficult to post stuff, but hey! as of today, I officially have internet again so I can post things from the snugness of my own home, rather than having to stay an extra 30-45 minutes on campus or something.
I thought we'd try something different with this list. Some people have a strict budget and a set of a certain must-have card makes lists unplayable. And I get that.
So you want to be semi-competitive without forking out a lot of money? Try this list as a starting off point.
MoMU:
4 Elusive Spellfist
4 Gudul Lurker
4 Triton Shorestalker
4 Frostwalker
4 Jeskai Elder
4 Jeskai Sage
4 Artful Maneuver
4 Great Teacher's Decree
4 Defiant Strike
4 Taigam's Strike
2 Mystic Monastery
2 Plains
4 Tranquil Cove
12 Island
Note how there's no rares! Totally budget friendly. You can build the whole deck online for less than half a ticket and in real life, maybe for less than 5 dollars if you have some of the commons already lying around.
So! The point is to have a bunch of unblockable guys and slide under your opponent. Elusive Spellfist is probably the best card in your deck -it basically says prowess with unblockable. Don't get me wrong, the little 1/1 for U unblockable guys do their fair share of work though. The main idea is to use your rebounds to getting additional prowess(es?) and push damage further. Taigam's Strike is really nice, it's just a shame it costs so much. Almost every time I resolve a Great Teacher's Decree I usually end up winning the game.
Is the deck perfect? No. Is it going to win your local FNM? Maybe! But probably not. I built this online and I've only dropped two games so far and I really like how it plays. The only thing you need to worry about is having the right mix of creatures and spells and of course, not drawing too many lands. Frostwalker is not the best in here obviously, but he does so much damage that it's hard to ignore.
I've already won against a couple real decks (Abzan, Sultai dredge) so I think this could be semi-competitive. Red decks and tokens in general give the deck real problems.
There are definitely ways to improve this deck. The mana base is obviously not perfect and temples/fetches would clearly be better. If this gets a lot of views/subscriptions, I'll take it as a sign to keep doing this. So that's all for now - take it easy
I thought we'd try something different with this list. Some people have a strict budget and a set of a certain must-have card makes lists unplayable. And I get that.
So you want to be semi-competitive without forking out a lot of money? Try this list as a starting off point.
MoMU:
4 Elusive Spellfist
4 Gudul Lurker
4 Triton Shorestalker
4 Frostwalker
4 Jeskai Elder
4 Jeskai Sage
4 Artful Maneuver
4 Great Teacher's Decree
4 Defiant Strike
4 Taigam's Strike
2 Mystic Monastery
2 Plains
4 Tranquil Cove
12 Island
Note how there's no rares! Totally budget friendly. You can build the whole deck online for less than half a ticket and in real life, maybe for less than 5 dollars if you have some of the commons already lying around.
So! The point is to have a bunch of unblockable guys and slide under your opponent. Elusive Spellfist is probably the best card in your deck -it basically says prowess with unblockable. Don't get me wrong, the little 1/1 for U unblockable guys do their fair share of work though. The main idea is to use your rebounds to getting additional prowess(es?) and push damage further. Taigam's Strike is really nice, it's just a shame it costs so much. Almost every time I resolve a Great Teacher's Decree I usually end up winning the game.
Is the deck perfect? No. Is it going to win your local FNM? Maybe! But probably not. I built this online and I've only dropped two games so far and I really like how it plays. The only thing you need to worry about is having the right mix of creatures and spells and of course, not drawing too many lands. Frostwalker is not the best in here obviously, but he does so much damage that it's hard to ignore.
I've already won against a couple real decks (Abzan, Sultai dredge) so I think this could be semi-competitive. Red decks and tokens in general give the deck real problems.
There are definitely ways to improve this deck. The mana base is obviously not perfect and temples/fetches would clearly be better. If this gets a lot of views/subscriptions, I'll take it as a sign to keep doing this. So that's all for now - take it easy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)