Have you seen Aurther Fusco's (snapdelverthing)Disrupting Shoal list? Its one of my all time favorite decks to watch run and i would say it's the best modern shell for shoal.

I think that the additional splash of B and R will really hurt shoal's effectiveness turns 1-3

I have not seen that list before. It's super sweet, although a bit dated. While it's undoubtedly the best shell for Disrupting Shoal, it's not the only shell. With 12x 1-mana cantrips, casting Shoal for free in the early turns has not been an issue in testing. Although the high cantrip count comes with a cost. This list is playing much less removal than a typical list. The mana can also be a bit tight - drawing the wrong lands or the wrong number is devastating. I think the manabase needs a lot of improvement. Additionally, sometimes I can't stick a threat so I'm stalling into nothing, which isn't good. I'd like to find room for 2x Young Pyromancer, but I don't know how; especially because if I had room for 2 more cards I'd play 2 more Fatal Push first.

I've been looking over it and I'm honestly at a loss, I agree on needing 2 more threats as well as additional push... As far as the mana base goes have you considered swapping Darkslick Shores for additional Watery Grave and Steam Vents? Or are you worried about it being to painful?

Have you considered dropping black (I know that you traditionally play grixis)? I feel like if you drop Angler and tasigur you can drop down to 8-10 cantrips for additional control, I mean when you can counter this efficiently is the removal as necessary? I could be wrong about that but it but it would also solve your mana issues

SeekerofSecrets I pulled back to 2 Opt to add 1 Young Pyromancer and 1 Fatal Push. I think I like this a lot more. The deck still has 14 blue 1-drops (86% chance of having at least one in the opening hand). Supposing I cast delver turn 1, there's still a 74% chance of having a blue cantrip to pitch.

UR might be more smooth with Shoal, but then again I think UR delver would fold hard to Jund and Jace decks. Playing without delve threats makes the deck vulnerable to Fatal Push and playing without Kolaghan's Command makes the deck vulnerable to everything artifact. I'm going to keep this list Grixis because that's what I play, but I do think a UR list is worth trying.

I don't know whether I want a 3rd Tasigur or the 1-of Pyromancer for my 12th creature. I don't know the meta well enough to be sure. For now I'm trying Pyromancer, just to see if it works.

I think the deck needs 1 more land, but at this point I don't know what else I can cut. I also don't know what land I would add (probably bloodstained mire? or steam vents?). I do want to minimize the pain of lands, but I also can't play any more basics than this - any additional lands have to be dual lands to support the diversity of spell casting requirements.

Any thoughts on what the sideboard should have?

I might actually build this list; I'm basically missing 4x Shoal and 3x Darkslick Shores.

TheAlexGnan thoughts on what I should play in the sideboard? Or any mainboard tuning, for that matter.

Hey sorry about never getting back to you, I was having some troubles with the site

So I like the current set up I am a little curious about 2 tasigur though I've always liked the 2-2 split of tasigur and angler (that could just be personal preference though, I think that you have more experience with them then I do)

I also like the side board, especially the addition of lingering souls (that's a cool piece of tech) but I might include like Vandalblast

Have you bought it in paper? how does it perform?

The 3-1 Tasigur/Angler split is what Ryan Overturf prefers, so I've picked it up for the time being. Tasigur is easier to play turn 2 and his ability is very relevant. Tasigur is the better card, but he's legendary. He's a bit of a removal magnet, so it's rare to draw a 2nd and not need it. However, in this meta, where there are a lot more Fatal Pushes and quite a few 5-toughness creatures, I could see a 2/2 split. Frankly I don't know which is correct. I'll find out once I play a lot of games.

Lingering souls is my favorite tech. Jund and Control are reasonable matchups in game 1, but in games 2 and 3 Jund brings in crap like Thrun, the Last Troll, Kitchen Finks, or even Thragtusk. Ideally I'd play 1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor, 1 Liliana, the Last Hope, and 1 Search for Azcanta  ^Flip for the grindy matchups, but I don't want to get any of those, and frankly I'm not sure they're good enough against Jund/Control post-board. Nothing else in grixis colors is strong enough. Perhaps Stormbreath Dragon, but 5 mana is a lot. HOWEVER, Lingering Souls is amazing against Jund and Control. It's amazing against Lili and Jace, it is a 2-for-1 if countered, and pretty much can't be spot removed. Backed by Countersquall and Tasigur and K-command, I think it makes the post-board matchups pretty good.

I might add a Hallowed Fountain (replacing an Island) to the main to cut Godless Shrine from the sideboard to open up 1 more sideboard spot (either for 1x Terminate or a 3rd Ceremonious Rejection), but I don't know how bad it is to have the mainboard shock.

For my sideboard in general, I'm certain I want 2x Collective Brutality, 2x Dispel, and I really like the Lingering Souls package. The rest of the sideboard is Grim Lavamancer and a pile of tron hate. Each of these are worth addressing:

Grim Lavamancer is a card I like in theory, but I don't know how well it'll play in practice. Repeated removal is great vs aggro decks and it can be another clock, but I don't know if I can play it and Tasigur in the same game. My graveyard is kinda precious. I'd need another piece of removal of some kind if I were to replace it, but I don't know what. Probably another Terminate or Dreadbore.

I don't know what my angle should be vs tron. I've tested this setup and it works with a decent win rate. But I lose if they resolve anything that's 6 mana or more. Damping Sphere is amazing, but I don't know if it's the right approach for my deck. I just can't manage to win unless I board super hard. I believe there is a way to tempo them out, but I have been unsuccessful so far in finding a configuration that works.

Vandalblast is only good against Affinity and Lantern Control, both of which are already hit hard by Ceremonious Rejection and Kolaghan's Command. I'm not too concerned about either matchup. Humans and Hollow One are scarier, so I'd board something to beat them (like Terminate) if I had another sideboard spot.

I am building it in paper and I'm getting close. I'm missing 2x Opt (waiting for the Dominaria art because it's much better), 1x Tasigur, 1x Grim Lavamancer, and 4x Damping Sphere (because it hasn't been printed yet). My goal is to get the non-Dominaria cards by the time Dominaria is printed.

I like hallowed fountain in your main and I've never been a huge fan of Grim Lavamancer. I feel like its getting a little greedy with your yard

Thats would free up 2 spots for possibly Field of Ruin? I've had some decent success with it BUT a 3 color list might be a little mana intensive for it. I also feel like with field you could drop 1 dampening sphere for and additional terminate

I've thought a lot about field of ruin. I love the card, but the deck is too color-intensive to play it in the mainboard. The only cards in the deck that can use generic mana are Snap, the delve threats, k-command, and Mana leak, which isn't very many cards. Additionally, I like to keep 1-land hands with a cantrip. Hitting field of ruin as my next land isn't enough.

In the sideboard it's good against Tron and midrange/control decks that play manlands. Playing it in the sideboard just feels weird. Although that's likely the correct thing to do. I'll make that swap.

My other option is change to Esper. Closing games is hard, but then I can play lingering souls and field of ruin in the mainboard. Losing lightning bolt and k-command kinda sucks, but the upside is path to exile and Esper charm. Draft of a decklist: Esper Midrange.

I've made the hallowed fountain swap. Downside is I can't fetch hollowed fountain with Bloodstained Mire and I have 1 less island to fetch with flooded strand, but I think it's fine.

EDIT: I could play 2 Island, 1 Swamp, and 0 Mountains. I rarely fetch for Mountain, I don't need it against Blood Moon, and I pretty much never need RR, except when doing bolt-snap-bolt. It makes me soft to opposing Field of Ruin, but that's probably fine.

I really like esper as a color combo (im brewing esper caw blade for fun) but im not sure if this set up could handle losing bolt and k komand. But then again having snap, giest and maybe even TiTi in the main seems like it could put in some work

But as far as this list goes I say try dropping the mountain and see how it runs

Now that you have it in paper how does it feel vs the original rocket science?

I am still missing 7 cards (2 Opt, 2 Field of Ruin, 3 Damping Sphere), but thanks to the tappedout playtesters, I've been testing it against most of the meta. In this meta it's better than Rocket Science. Although admittedly, I haven't played Rocket Science vs Tron post-board with Damping Sphere. Playing counterspells seriously in modern for the first time is a good feeling. I go back and forth on Disrupting Shoal, but I think it's the edge I need to be competitive. It lets me win a lot of matchups I wouldn't normally, such as Bogles.

Right now this deck feels close to tuned. Rocket Science does not. I have no idea what Rocket Science is supposed to be playing these days. This deck, on the other hand, feels really smooth. I think it's the stronger deck, but if the meta shifts I could see myself going back. Hopefully I can start playing it in paper tournaments soon, but we'll see how my schedule pans out.

I've settled on 1 of each basic. That Mountain is important enough to justify it. Mainboard Hallowed Fountain doesn't feel great, but in most matchups it doesn't matter. The sideboard Field of Ruins are not as good as I was hoping vs Tron, but frankly I don't think it matters. The extra land count vs midrange and control is super important so I can actually hit my land drops. I could mainboard 1 Field of Ruin to sideboard the Hallowed Fountain, but I don't think that's necessary.

I'm toying with exchanging the Dispels for 2 more Mana Leak because Leak is very relevant vs Tron. But the efficiency of Dispel is critical vs Control and Burn, which is why I play them. Ugh I wish I knew how to pilot this deck vs Tron. I think the matchup should be super favored if played correctly and sideboarded carefully, but I just can't manage to do it.

I don't think i would drop the Dispels they are just to vital in the burn matchup, I normally like having 3 Mana Leak in the main maybe drop 1 Countersquall for 1? That might help your tron match up game 1 before bringing in spear and field. I wish I could offer some more advice on the tron match up but its tough to play a deck that can go so far over our head, maybe a Murderous Cut?

Just for tuning sake maybe drop a visions for an opt?

I think the problem with Murderous Cut is the same as with Grim Lavamancer - my graveyard just can't support it.

Serum Visions is too important because it can set up Delver of Secrets flips. Things I'm considering as far as tuning goes:

• 3 Tasigur and 1 Angler vs a 2-2 split
• 4 Disrupting Shoal vs 3 and another castable counter, such as a 2nd Spell Snare
• 1-1-1 split of Terminate, Dreadbore, Fatal Push vs some other combination
• Possible inclusion of Spirebluff Canal, in place of 1 Darkslick Shores

There are other things for tuning, but those are at the front of my mind at the moment.

I do like the idea of 3 Mana Leak in the main. Countersquall is much better vs Jace decks and vs Path to Exile, but I think mana leak is better on average.

Well i like the 2-2 split of tas and angler but then again having 3 tas lets you jam it on turn 2 with less worry of it being reomoved

I would agree on knocking shoal down to a 3 of

Im not sure on the spot removal but with jace running around i kind of like 2 dread bore and 1 push

Im not sure if spirebluff is worth it, having blue and black is more important to have early than red in this set up

And not that you need Murderous Cut but sense your not running Logic Knot i think that you could support it BUT i forgot that you had access to terminate and dreadbore which i think are strictly better

Most the alters in the deck list are just ones that have been uploaded to the site, so I'm using them because they look cool. I don't actually own them.

However, I have altered some of my cards. A number of the cards are also signed by pros. Here's some pictures of my alters/signed cards, pieced together from pictures in my binder and deck descriptions for my old modern deck and legacy deck. When I find time I'll be altering all of the cantrips and then the Terminates, but I'm a bit torn on which Terminate art I want to alter. I own Terminate, which is the original printing but frankly I'm not a huge fan of the art. Terminate is the classic artwork and would look pretty good altered. But Terminate would probably be the best alter, but it's also a new artwork and I'm a sucker for the old arts. I'll probably settle on the MM3 artwork, but we'll see.

Also, the deck is not as expensive as it looks. Tappedout is forcing me to have foil lands, which I can't quite figure out (probably because I have damping sphere listed in the sideboard), but with the non-foils the deck drops by a couple hundred dollars. It's still in the $800-$1000 price range, which is still by all means very expensive, but still less than what's listed.

itachi45 check out what I did today.

The contrast in whites is very apparent on the right side in the picture, but not so much on the actual card.

I have no idea why that image is so hilariously big. Here's a link to a more reasonably sized image.

What about cutting the delve creatures for bob? Do you need the extra fatties when you have delver?

Long live Fair Magic. (And awesome alters in this deck) +1

Thanks! Long live fair magic, indeed. Too bad WOTC doesn't agree. Hollow One is such a frustrating matchup.

I hear ya on that. Jund doesn't have a good match-up against Hollow One either. I like your strategy of going all in on Anger of the Gods. I will have to try that instead of splitting between Grafdigger's Cage.

Grafdigger's Cage is good, especially because it is playable against any Snapcaster Mage deck in addition to Hollow One. My own snaps prevent me from playing it. Although in all honesty I could probably play it anyway. Things to think about.

Anger of the Gods is great against Humans too, which is another problem deck for me. And Dredge, if anyone plays that anymore.

Leyline of the Void is the real deal against Hollow One. If I can turn 0 Leyline, basically their only way to win is to drop turn 1 Flameblade Adept followed by Hollow One into a few big swings. I have to keep any hand with Leyline and 1 land, so they can catch me with my pants around my ankles if I don't have a Lightning Bolt. But odds are pretty good I have a Lightning Bolt or Fatal Push. Unfortunately, Leyline of the Void is expensive right now, so I don't have any yet.

Eldrazi decks and Hollow One are my biggest problems. Cavern of Souls is the biggest problem out of Eldrazi decks. If not for that, I could Ceremonious Rejection them into oblivion. But alas, I can only do that sometimes.

Leyline of the Void is my end goal. I can't fork up the money for it right now though. Have you tried Field of Ruin in place of some fetches to combat Cavern of Souls? I would say 1 or 2 should suffice without hindering your ability to get your mana on-line.

I could cut a Flooded Strand and an Island for 2, but hitting my colors is more important than ever with Anger of the Gods in the deck. But the payoff is real. I think 1 for an Island is definitely worth it. I used a lot of removal on manlands against Jund tonight. I'll start with 1 and if it's not hurting too much I'll add another. Not going to 2 right away because I only own 1.

Regarding Leyline, I need 4 Anger of the Gods in the sideboard. The testing I've done shows me it's way too good to not play. Additionally, the Eldrazi matchup is so bad that I need to be sideboarding something for them. Collective Brutality is the best thing I can do against the colorless menace, and the matchup is bad enough to warrant playing 4. Finally, if I play any Leyline of the Void, I need at least 2, and probably should play 4. That only leaves me with 3-5 spots, in which I need to address burn and midrange and control. 3 spots Certainly isn't enough. 4 probably isn't. 5 might be. Those 5 would be 2x Dispel, 1x Countersquall, and 2x Collective Brutality and I'd have to add another Terminate (probably cutting 1 opt) to the main deck to feel safe. Could 2 Leyline of the Void be enough to justify playing any? It's only in the opening hand 22% of the time, but with 2 copies I'd board it in against Control, Mardu Pyromancer, BGx, and any Snapcaster Mage deck.

Basically I'm worried about spots in my sideboard and how I'm allocating them. I need to be good against the field, not just beat one deck.

Thanks for helping me puzzle through this.