Taking All the Turns

Modern Combo Competitive Control UB (Dimir)

Oloro_Magic

Land (23)

• 1x Drowned Catacomb
• 2x Flooded Strand
• 1x Gemstone Caverns
• 1x Inkmoth Nexus
• 7x Island
• 1x Mikokoro, Center of the Sea
• 1x Misty Rainforest
• 1x Oboro, Palace in the Clouds
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x River of Tears
• 1x Scalding Tarn
• 1x Snow-Covered Island
• 3x Sunken Hollow
• 1x Watery Grave

Sorcery (17)

• 1x Collective Brutality
• 2x Exhaustion
• 1x Exhaustion
• 2x Part the Waterveil
• 4x Serum Visions
• 2x Temporal Mastery
• 1x Temporal Mastery
• 4x Time Warp

Planeswalker (2)

• 2x Jace, the Mind Sculptor

Artifact (1)

• 1x Howling Mine

Instant (11)

• 1x Commandeer
• 2x Cryptic Command
• 2x Fatal Push
• 3x Gigadrowse
• 1x Gigadrowse
• 2x Remand

Creature (2)

• 2x Snapcaster Mage

Enchantment (4)

• 4x Dictate of Kruphix

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Sideboard

Artifact (5)

• 1x Chalice of the Void
• 2x Chalice of the Void
• 1x Damping Sphere
• 1x Engineered Explosives

Sorcery (3)

• 1x Collective Brutality
• 2x Inquisition of Kozilek

Instant (4)

• 1x Commandeer
• 1x Dispel
• 2x Hurkyl's Recall

Creature (3)

• 1x Spellskite
• 2x Thing in the Ice  ^Flip

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This is my competitive modern deck nowadays (I'll be making a primer here soon just need to find the time :p), any suggestions would be much appreciated but before making suggestions please see the "Already Considered" box below, you can certainly try to make a case for those cards already considered just please give a concise and supported argument.

Already Considered

• As Foretold + Ancestral Vision combo

I won't lie and say I have not seriously considered running this combo for the sheer amount of value it creates, the problem with it however is that opponents see it from a mile away. Turn one Thoughtseize can strip my hand from being able to utilize this combo and I have found when testing the combo that the deck loses too much consistency without it active. As such I am not playing either piece, the reasoning for Ancestral Vision to be expanded on below.

• Ancestral Vision

My reasoning for this is pretty simple, it is a dead card if I don't have it for turn 1-3. The deck can combo off on turn 5 in a perfect world, and waiting for an Ancestral Vision to pop or worse drawing them whilst comboing off is just not an ideal situation, the mine effects give me enough draw power that Ancestral Vision is in many ways surplus to requirements.

• Thoughtseize (Sideboard)

I play Inquisition of Kozilek over Thoughtseize simply because the lose of 2 life is a big deal in a deck like turns. Pre-sideboard we don't really have any blockers (though I do have ample interaction) so it isn't uncommon to end games with below ten life. Anything that is helping my opponent is therefore a risk and with modern being a largely 1-3 drop format Inquisition of Kozilek does the job. (Note: a vital part of the deck is not allowing your opponent have access to tons of mana, agro decks that play close to the ground are the hardest to beat and are the decks you would want to interact with using a card like Thoughtseize .

• Riddleform

An interesting card that can definitely be relevant but it is just too inconsistent to warrant a spot.

• Thing in the Ice   (Mainboard)

Thing in the Ice   is a card that could definitely find its way into the mainboard however part of the appeal to me of Thing in the Ice   is that game 2 a lot of opponents will side out removal as I don't play many creatures, Thing in the Ice   becomes much better if this happens and as such I believe it belongs in the sideboard.

• Spreading Seas (Sideboard)

The only matchups where I see this card being relevant are Tron and Bant Eldrazi which I count amongst my better matchups (unless of course they have natural Tron which is always difficult if I don't have Gigadrowse ). As such I don't think Spreading Seas is necessary as it just adds an out that is not always needed.

• Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Although it would fix any mana problem I could ever have, it is another slot in the manabase that does not have blue in it which takes away from the effectiveness of Gigadrowse a vital part of the deck. Therefore I don't believe it can be in the deck.

• Jace Beleren

The classical win-con of turns, I am aiming to win through damage via Part the Waterveil and I feel that is the only win-con I need, so party Jace is not here (I would also need Elixir of Immortality for him to work and I very much dislike that card so...)

Under Consideration

• Tasigur, the Golden Fang (Sideboard)

A relevant body that can come down early to block some of the bigger creatures in modern, though I'm not 100% sold on giving a slot to him. He is definitely worth the price but there may be better options.

• Jace, Vryn's Prodigy  

Currently testing this in the sideboard. On paper it looks like exactly what I want in the deck, a blocker who comes down early who can loot and then once transformed can be used to slow down my opponent's creatures; or it can be used to extend my combo by targeting Time Warp with it's -3. Can also possibly be used as a win-con. With that said further testing is required to see if this is something I want to use.

• Spellskite

Burn is a hellish matchup, and Spellskite can definitely help make the matchup a bit easier seeing as how my opponent will have to spend a burn spell to kill it.

• Primal Amulet   / Primal Wellspring

Honestly, this card is probably too slow for this build of turns. Once flipped the effect is very powerful and will often end games on the spot, the problem with it however is that it will likely come down turn 4 and if I draw it whilst comboing off it is essentially a dead card. In a turns deck such as bant which has access to mana acceleration in the form of Utopia Sprawl this card is much more valuable, but here it fits on the curve awkwardly with Cryptic Command and feels like a "win-more" card. That said the effect is powerful enough that it deserves to be tested so in the coming weeks I plan on doing just that.

• Search for Azcanta  

Recently began testing this card in the deck after moving it out of my in progress standard build and honestly it goes two ways for me. When it is out it functions beautifully providing me with scrying power and a filter, eventually also helping me prolong the turns combo by lowering my chance of fizzling with its second ability. Here in lies the biggest problem with it though, if it isn't out early its pretty much a dead card. In other words I don't really see playing it when comboing off; turn two and followed by Dictate of Kruphix is one thing but on turn 4 of my extra turns it feels a bit like a surplus to requirements. Further testing is required but right now it is a hard maybe.

The deck is constantly evolving and as such I am going to try my best to update the below "Matchups" section on a consistent basis whilst testing, once I start taking the deck to competitive events in the coming months (basically when I have time) those reports will also appear in the accordion block below.

Matchups

Format is W/D/L

• vs. Affinity 2-0-0 (100%)
• vs. Infect 3-0-2 (60%)
• vs. Bogles 4-0-1 (80%)
• vs. Storm 0-0-6 (0%)
• vs. Jace, Cunning Castaway Combo 3-0-0 (100%)
• vs. Seismic Swans (w/ Treasure Hunt ) 2-0-0 (100%)
• vs. Goblins (Tokens) 9-0-3 (75%)
• vs. Slivers 2-0-2 (50%)
• vs. Sultai Reanimator 1-0-0 (100%)
• vs. Mono-Blue Tron 1-0-0 (100%)
• vs. Mono-Blue Living End 4-0-1 (80%)
• vs. Eldrazi-Tron 2-0-1 (66%)
• vs. Traditional Living End 0-0-1 (0%)
• vs. U/R Through the Breach/Madcap Moon 0-0-1 (0%)
• vs. Mono-Red Prison 0-0-1 (0%)
• vs. Mardu Pyromancer 2-0-0 (100%)
• vs. U/W Control (Pre-Jace) 1-0-0 (100%)
• vs. Burn 1-0-5 (16.7%)
• vs. Eldrazi & Taxes 2-0-1 (66.7%)
• vs. Dredge 2-1-0 (100%)
• vs. 5-Color Humans 0-0-2 (0%)
• vs. G/R Land Destruction (Ponza) 2-0-1 (66.7%)
• vs. Grixis Control 0-0-1 (0%)
• vs. KCI Combo 1-0-0 (100%)

As I find more time to play (and remember to record) against other matchups I will update this more thoroughly.

Tournament Reports

As a new year's resolution I am actually going to attempt to make these and not forget like I have been for months and be left with only parts of what I think happened at that tournament. The same goes for the above matchups section.

Small Modern Tournament 3 Rounds of Swiss 04/02/18

Wanting to get some testing in I took the deck to a small modern tournament at a local game store just to see how everything is holding up.

Round One: vs. Angel Tribal

Pretty straight forward one here, opponent was running a homebrew work-in-progress angel tribal deck without any real answers.

2-0 in games; 1-0 in matches.

Round Two: vs. Mono-Blue Living End

I will say it was nice facing some control for once in this world of tron and fast aggressive decks. Game one opponent overplayed themselves into an As Foretold + Living End when I had two mines active and four mana, took a turn to Exhaustion and then comboed-out from there. Game two opponent seemingly kept a bad hand, they had some counters for backup but siding in the discard cleared the way to a straight-forward win.

4-0 in games; 2-0 in matches

Final vs. Mono-Blue Tron

Game one was noteworthy for me in that a line appeared that doesn't often show up, at upkeep I flashed in Snapcaster Mage presenting Gigadrowse in my yard and thusly forcing my opponent to make a decision, either let me tap them down on turn 5 with a mine active or fight over the Snapcaster Mage . Opponent chose the latter firing off, weirdly, a Thirst for Knowledge (liking digging for a Spell Snare ) which presented me with the unique window to flash in my second mine effect in Dictate of Kruphix setting myself up even nicer for next turn. From there I won via turns. Game two I made an awful mistake playing a fourth land despite knowing they had a Mindslaver in play; honestly just stupid on my part I should have just waited and skipped the land drop as opponent was able to capitalize and steal a Time Warp and from there I just couldn't claw it back and scooped to a second Mindslaver . Game three took a while, I had to play around a multitude of counters I knew they had but eventually got there, often having to play Dictate of Kruphix on my own turn just to make sure they stuck. The deciding point came when opponent attempted to Repeal my Howling Mine by which I was able to respond by flashing in a Dictate of Kruphix to immediately replace it.

Overall: 6-1 in games; 3-0 in matches

Honestly despite going 3-0 I am still a little disappointed in myself for that game two against mono-blue tron which I should have played better. Otherwise, discounting the first round the other two rounds largely went my way partly due to my own ability to play around the counters and largely due to these slower decks being some of the matchups I am most confident in my own ability to beat. The advantages to playing a deck like turns keeps coming up to the chorus of: "I don't know how to side against that," and it remains music to my ears.

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PRIMER (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

Introduction and Basic Gameplan

In its most basic definition, Taking Turns is a spell-based combo deck that aims to win via Part the Waterveil after stringing together multiple "extra turn" spells in sequence. To facilitate this we have access to both Howling Mine and Dictate of Kruphix to increase the number of cards we see each and every turn. Often in this version onw wants 2 mine-effects at the very least, any more and you run the risk of decking yourself. This is not a fast deck in comparison to some of the other combo decks in the format, notably Storm, Ad Nauseam, and Scapeshift, as in order to begin our combo we must reach a critical mass of 5 mana to cast Time Warp . This version of the deck plays no ramp to aid in this but rather takes on the guise of a control deck that attempts to keep its opponents off balance in the early turns of the game via cards such as: Gigadrowse , Commandeer , Cryptic Command , and Remand . The goal is to have your opponent tapped out before comboing off for the win via our extra turn spells and eventual "awakened" Part the Waterveil 's.

A recent addition to the deck in the form of the unbanning of Jace, the Mind Sculptor has afforded even more flexibility to the deck, Jace providing both a superior draw engine, a miracle reset button, and an alternate win-condition. I personally have landed on 2-3 Jace's being the magic number though that can fluctuate. JACE IS NOT NECESSARY FOR THIS DECK TO WORK I RAN IT FOR NEARLY A YEAR BEFORE HE WAS UNBANNED AND THE DECK WAS STILL COMPETITIVE

Card Selection

Coming Soon

Hypothetical Hand Scenario's

When to Combo

Sideboarding Guide

If you liked the deck please give it an upvote or make any suggestions you may have! Thanks!

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Top Ranked	Achieved #19 position overall 7 years ago
Date added	7 years
Last updated	5 years
Exclude colors	WRG
Splash colors	B
Legality	This deck is Modern legal.
Rarity (main - side)	14 - 2 Mythic Rares 29 - 9 Rares 5 - 3 Uncommons 4 - 1 Commons
Cards	60
Avg. CMC	3.22
Folders	Modern, Interesting Modern Decks, Modern