Voice of Resurgence Noble Hierarch Courser of Kruphix

could all work well here.

Gaddock Teeg and Knight of the Reliquary

Also add more Gavony Township , and maybe Kitchen Finks ?

Alright, I think I need to clarify some things:

@APPLE01DOJ:

I was running 3 Courser of Kruphix and they were doing jackshit. Literally nothing. Sure I got to draw 1 or 2 lands from my library. But with this little aggro, what's really the point? It does nothing against combo, provides a really bad clock, is bad against flyers. Only real upside: If it's in the grave it grows my goyf.

Noble Hierarch : My curve ends at 3CMC (I don't take Thru and Nissa into consideration here, because as 1-ofs I will eventually get there). So what's really the point of running Hierarchs? They make my T1s really awkward when I have one of my man-lands, or a discard-spell. I don't need the ramp at all, I don't run anything that's better when it comes down 1 Turn earlier, like Pod or aggro decks like Zoo. And they are really, really bad topdecks.

Voice of Resurgence : I already run 11 two-drop creatures, that all do more and better than Voice. So what's the point of running another bear? I run goyf, because best creature ever printed, bob because I'm a grindy deck that wants to trade 1for1 and win with his CA and I run ScOoze for graveyard-hate and lifegain. I don't really see why VoR would be any good in my deck, could you please elaborate your suggestion?

@ Skimm3r

Gaddock Teeg I really put that one into consideration, but what do I get out of him? What 4CMC noncreature-card does my deck fear? Splinter Twin ? Not really, no. I still consider Twin as an unlose-able matchup for Rock. Empty the Warrens ? Yeah, that's a bit troublesome. But storm isn't really a big competitor right now, so... Scapeshift ? I run 3 Tectonic Edge main and 3 Fulminator Mage s side, in addition 8 Discard Spells and 4 Lilys. I don't really fear Scapeshift ... So should I in your opinion really waste a slot for another bear?

Knight of the Reliquary : I'm already quite graveyard dependant: Goyf, Ooze (while gy-hate w/o a yard he's a bear) and Souls. I don't want to just die against gy-hate, so: No, he should not be included in this deck.

Gavony Township : I already run 4 colorless sources, I don't think my deck can support more. And Tec-Edge is so much better in the current meta...

Kitchen Finks : It's in the sideboard, I don't need it in the main. It's nice against aggressive/burn decks to gain some life but not maindeckable.

All the cards you mentioned are good, no doubt. But this is neither hate-bears nor junk. Its Rock with a little white splash. So this is not the right environment for the cards you mentioned.

A request for further suggestions: Please tell me why you suggest a certain card. Not just write the card and say it's good. Offer some arguments for the card and why it would improve my deck, also what would you take out to make room for it? Thanks :)

Noble Hierarch so u can still T2 Lilly. I know you're not as big on Lilly as I am but when rock decks dropped after DRS was banned, the biggest difference was the lack of the consistent T2 Lillys. I know they've adapted since then. ...the exalted would be a plus if u only had a Goyf on the field.

Courser of Kruphix because you're running 8 fetches & Dark Confidant . If it wasn't doing anything for u, then perhaps u weren't using him right. He turns your fetches from loose 1 to gain 1. Can save Bob from eating that Nissa or Thrun in a pitch. I don't like what's on my library, I'll just crack this fetch, shuffle & see what else comes up. Ur right, his free land every few turns or so isn't the catch, it's the deck manipulation. I hate the removal arguments, but he does survive both Bolt & Anger.

Voice of Resurgence because he fits the rocks economy theme. U get ur free bear u love some much xD and then a body that excels with things like Lingering Souls that gets bigger for free just like Goyf. Oh plus it does offer a little bit of shield for people that feel they need to play everything EOT.

I have to ask how come no Path to Exile ? I love Slaughter Pact and Dismember has it's uses, I would rather pack a Path play set though.

Personally I love how Knight of the Reliquary can fetch a Treetop Village or Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth . I understand your arguement but I mean whats the difference between DRS being graveyard dependent & KotR being graveyard dependent?

If ur so worried about everything turning into a 2/2 then how about a sword? Sword of Light and Shadow ? or Sword of Fire and Ice ? to protect your bears.

Either way, good luck. Hope ur 75 take u far!

Thanks for your elaboration of your suggestions. What would you take out then for the Hierarchs? Or the Knights?

The Difference between Knight and DRS being gy-dependant? DRS was able to do nasty stuff on T2, Knight can do stuff on T4 (with ramp on T3). Which is a minor difference in a format as fast as Modern.

Where did I say/write, I was concerned everything would be turned into a 2/2? I have considered swords. However I think they're too slow right now.

Please do not view this as a junk deck. Would you run Hierarchs in G/B-Rock? I have stuff to do on T1, T2 and T3. I don't need the ramp, I don't get the extra value from playing Pod T2 or Smiter T2. I think running Hierarchs soley for the T2 lily is just bad and too narrow. Also they suck as topdecks!

As for Voice, what would I take out in it's place? All my creatures are just better. I don't have a reliable way to turn my Voice into X/X for value (like Pod does).

Path to Exile . I kinda dislike this card in my deck. I only run 2 fetchable white sources. I need removal I can cast reliably in my deck, also exiling kinda hurts my Ooze and Goyf. Plus I love the blow-out potential from Pact against Twin-decks.

As for Courser of Kruphix : You only net 1 life when you play the fetch with her in play. It's not always good when your opponent knows what you draw next. The interaction between Courser and Fetchies is cute, I admit. But the downside: You've played your fetch but you want your top card. Now you have to hold back your fetch or else you shuffle away the card you want! Now what happens if your opponent Path to Exile s one of your creatures. Dang, no value gained whatsoever because you want that card. Ignorance is bliss.

The lifegain is sweet and I'm not denying that Courser has upsides. I played her for quite some time (I'm on my G/B/x shell for 6 months now and tried various things), but I don't think she offers what I want in the current meta.

Well, this is what my G/Bx deck is shaping up to & how I would run it. Junk Deck I've been checking out your decks for a long time & understand that your meta is vastly different than my meta. Things that excel for me, u often say the opposite about.

"Now you have to hold back your fetch or else you shuffle away the card you want! Now what happens if your opponent Path to Exile s one of your creatures. Dang, no value gained whatsoever because you want that card. Ignorance is bliss."

Give me a break breh, that's how u play magic. Shit happens. Also if u can cast Courser of Kruphix your mana should already be fixed.

Yes I feel a T2 Lilly is a good enough reason to run Hierarch. How about T2 Bobby + a Seieze. U know just as well as I do, what kind of advantage that can create otherwise U wouldn't be running Slaughter Pact .

Either way, ur 75 as it stands is certainly capable of winning & most of the suggestions and tweaks to come thru at this point are all just personal preference. If I do have to pick a part something, I really don't understand Pack Rat on your SB? That card is extremely slow for modern.

If u do look at my deck, u'll see I declined to run KotR as well. Good card, I feel it's just not needed though.

@ APPLE01DOJ:

I do hold your opinion in high regard. I know you play/love B/G as much as I do. I think it does come with the meta, that our opinions differ so much about certain cards.

I took above 75 to a small online tournament yesterday and I got lucky against U/W Tron, smashed UWR Delver, RUG Delver and 4C Gifts.

I will do one small change, I will swap 1 Slaughter Pact for 1 Path to Exile . It's very useful against Wurmcoil Engine , a card against I'm pretty much dead otherwise.

Pack Rat is insane. If your meta has a lot of Pod and grindy midrange decks try it! Believe me it races as well in Modern as it does in Standard. It's not good enough to be main because it's not really good against fast decks. But against Pod it's ridiculously powerful.

I don't think we will ever agree on the Hierarch point. I strongly dislike to run a bad creature to just make my plays a little faster, where they are already fast enough.

I have a couple of questions about sideboarding. You explained that you cut Thrun, the Last Troll from the board for two Damnation , but I'm wondering if that's really the plan you want to go for. The matchups where you would board in Damnation are probably the same where you board in Obstinate Baloth , and then you run into the problem of Bob killing you.

What are your thoughts on splitting Obstinate Baloth and Thrun? Thrun seems like a complete gamebreaker against a lot of decks, and you should really have access to him in the 75.

I've always wondered why EE is in BG sideboards when you often set it to two and can kill your own guys. Is it a matter of sequencing properly or do you use the card differently?

Finally, I know it's a staple but playing Fulminator Mage to beat a matchup that is absurdly bad like Tron seems unworth the effort.

Fulminator Mage is good for any match up running manlands, any that u just need more bodies, decks running few lands. It's good in tons of shit not just Tron.

That's fair. I also completely forgot how mana denial is a good way to beat control decks.

I'm wondering what your thought process was on Path to Exile. More answers to Rhino?

More like a hedge against Wurmcoil Engine, Ensoul Artifact on Darksteel Citadel or weird decks running Predator Ooze. It basically does the same as Dismember / Slaughter Pact. I'm not completely sold on the path yet, as you really don't want to give your opponent the mana-advantage early in the game. Also it was never like one of the above mentioned wouldn't have gotten the job done. Maybe I will cut it for another Dismember/Pact, but we'll see how the final test goes.

Predator Ooze? Hmm.

I'm not sure Tron is something you need to be worried about, while the Ensoul Artifact thing is relatively easily handled by Dismember or Abrupt Decay. I suppose hedging is good, but I think I'd rather have the second Dismember.

I might try Obstinate Baloth in the board, as it can be sideboarded in in at least three different matchups (mirror, Burn, Scapeshift).

I read your post on the forum and in it Thrun, the Last Troll was an all star (which I agree with 100%) but on here u say that u are cutting him, just curious as to why?

I don't think Thrun, the Last Troll is very well positioned right now. Control is basically non-existent. Also the post about cutting it is from August :P

Don't kill me for saying this, but I honestly think you could use some card draw in here - Treasure Cruise, to be exact. Splash some blue and add more fetchlands, and you should be able to delve and draw three around turn five pretty consistently, giving the deck the second wind and hand replenishment it needs to finish the opponent.

Adding blue just weakens the strategy that is presented here. I believe Abzan Charm is a better draw spell for THIS deck, and the other two modes often come in handy to either remove an opposing threat or surprise beef your threats up. Modal spells are more powerful and versatile. while Treasure Cruise is fantastic it is not what this deck needs.

@ vishnarg

tried that already - manabase is not supportable at the moment. Believe me, you don't need CA, you have enough CA with your ridiculous cards: Liliana, Souls, Goyf, Rhino.

@ blackmarker90

If I would run draw-spells in here it would be either Night's Whisper or Dark Confidant. Sorry to burst your bubble, but Abzan Charm - as bonkers as it is in Standard - has no place in modern. Ridiculous manacost, can not kill a Young Pyromancer, Scavenging Ooze, Snapcaster Mage, Voice of Resurgence, Pestermite, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker or Deceiver Exarch. Maybe as a 1-of. But that's a big maybe. However if I'd run any card-draw spells at all, I'd like to run more than one.

Can I ask what you run Maelstrom Pulse for? I understand sideboarding for anti-token if that is heavy in your meta, but what do you mainboard it for?

It kills anything. No restrictions. That's pretty solid.

Hey hey!

Let me see.....

9 fetches, 4 shocks, 4 basics - seems legit.

7 of your lands come in tapped or tap for colourless on turn 1. 17 don't. Ok so over 1 in 4 of your cards is able to give you T1 mana. 14 of your lands give access to black which is just under 1 in 4.

Your manabase seems stable. Slightly on the slow / risky side given that a lot of it either taps for colourless or comes in tapped but I don't see any huge issues there.

I prefer Vault of the Archangel over Gavony Township. It's cute with Lingering Souls and the lifelink has won me a few games against aggro decks. It's not a huge deal though.

I like how your creature base is all annoying threats. Goyf is way too efficient, as we all know. Kitchen finks is irritating due to persist. Tasigur is way too efficient. Thragtusk is irritating due to the token and life gain. I really like that aspect of the deck. All of the above either cost the same or less than most removal (goyf, taz) or don't die to it completely (tusk, finks). Cool.

I question scooze in this build. Love the life gain, and love the potential for growth. Is a decent early game blocker too. BUT it doesn't fit your theme and it does require mana investment to become big. Is a late game star though. Keeping 2 is probably a wise choice. I don't think I'd go to 3 or 4.

3 decay / 3 path. Cool. 2 dismember. Cool. Is there a reason why you want 2 dismember specifically and not another path or decay? Path can be cast T1 or for 1 mana. Abrupt decay for 2 with no downside. Is dismembers downside when casting for 1 mana better than paths downside? Is it the better card?

7 discard spells. Eh. Not my cup of tea but I recognise that for many it's a standard build. 3 souls is the right amount for a creature heavy meta. Some run 2 in metas that aren't full of burn / delver etc. What do you think? I think with only 11 real creatures in this deck 3 or 4 lingering souls is probably right.

As you know, I don't like 4 lili because I don't think she does enough against various decks. But I realise why many people run 4. How do you find her against twin? I find her mixed, depending on their hand and what they can easily discard without missing. Garruk is very nice.

I like this deck. It's interesting.

What I worry is that it's a bit light on creatures and has a lot of control elements. But it lacks the draw from Dark Confidant to keep the hand stocked up with control elements. Do you ever find yourself running short of control spells versus aggro?

Finks and Tusk are your card draw vs aggro.

Eh. I see that. Though a 5 drop can be kind of shaky. I see a pasteboard feed the clan and explosives though.

It's a little, not a lot.