Redefine the modern Meta
Modern Deck Help forum
Posted on June 9, 2015, 8:17 p.m. by ezio27
Here is my dilemma:
So I keep going to my LGS and everyone is all about the tier 1 decks or the pros. These tier 1 decks are a bit annoying to me. Rather than see decks with broader sideboard answers, I see decks that have answers for one deck even. It is quite a bit of a disturbance to me. I love it when I see new decks that are rogue brews and use commons and uncommons never thought to be viable in modern. It always seems to be about all these star decks and GPs and invitationals at my LGS...
So where I want to go with this thread is to start looking at the meta of the modern format, and find ways to stray away from it and maybe even convert the colors of certain decks. It may seem a bit weird but I feel like the meta has evolved in modern and it seems like it is being constricted. I sort of want this breath of fresh air into the format from other sets if you know what i mean. just start with a card or a deck that you think either defines the current meta, or has potential to create a sub-meta of rogue decks.
I like living lore. I have seen some pros do that exact brew with it. I also have already color swapped infect.
June 9, 2015 8:37 p.m.
Whoops that was not my brew I have not quite gotten the hang of tapped out yet -_- here's the URL
http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/24-05-15-rakdos-infect/
June 9, 2015 8:38 p.m.
That's pretty cool, always thought Infect needed 
.
Something I would like to see is some weird variation of Tron. Like 
. Or just any form of it with .
June 9, 2015 8:44 p.m.
So, I'm not entirely sure what you wanted to get out of this thread, but if you're looking for a fairly competitive brew that can hold its own with higher level decks, I'll throw my shameless plug here. Its a Dega Monastery Mentor deck that wins through attrition, and its done pretty well for me in a relatively competitive meta. I think there are plenty of options out there that aren't "net decks", its just a matter of creatively building something that can withstand the meta. You have to understand what decks are prevalent and how to beat them if you want to be successful with your brew.
June 9, 2015 8:45 p.m.
I understand your point, i feel like i want this to be more of a conversational sharing forum. It is more like a player friendly budget ish brew forum where also they can discuss different answers that are not commonly used or find new answers and new decks. I personally want this forum to be a place where players can redefine their own playstyle. I also want it to be a forum where players can see how the meta has progressed throughout time. Maybe if Abzan dies and someone sees where it died a few sets from now, mayber they'll be inspired to bring it back.
June 9, 2015 8:58 p.m.
Abzan dies? Lol.
Actually... what kind of card could kill Abzan?
June 9, 2015 9:01 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #9
Is this about the meta or about your decks?
If it's about the meta, it doesn't belong in Deck Help.
June 9, 2015 9:12 p.m.
brandontraps says... #10
Selfish plug: Zur Controls Silver Bullets!. Basically a control deck with Zur the Enchanter as the focus. I've tested it for a few months on untap and it's done really well. It's not tier1 but I love playing it so much it doesn't matter. There's not a whole lot of enchantment hate in the meta either.
I too like to see tier1 decks with different colors. I was working on a Bant Melira pod deck until it got banned /cry. I played against a B/G tron deck that was pretty cool.
June 9, 2015 9:17 p.m.
RoarMaster says... #11
If you are trying to break the meta, well, if it was that easy everyone would do it. It takes hundreds of hours of playtesting a deck against dozens of other decks in order to get an accurate view of how your deck will fare against the current meta. Generally this is done by professional players with huge budgets and large swaths of open time to waste on it. Id say its almost impossible to casually break the game, although it has been done on occasion.
June 9, 2015 9:30 p.m.
Shameless Plug:
~War and Truth~ MDN DECKBUILDER COMPETITION WINNER Playtest
Modern*
SCORE: 41 | 10 COMMENTS | 3860 VIEWSIt is able to beat most of the current meta, but it has a few problems against bloom titan.
June 9, 2015 9:32 p.m.
gnarlicide says... #13
well, i just don't actually know how to help you, bro. I play Jund. So I guess I am one of those annoying dudes. But now I know why when I sit across from opponents, they let out a nasty groan. Like, "ugh, THIS deck."
June 9, 2015 9:44 p.m.
I started out with a deck built around Deep-Sea Kraken which as I started trying to improve gradually over time just became esper control.... Not sure where I was going with this but I had a rouge build that turned into a regular archetype check out my profile to see both.
June 9, 2015 10:01 p.m.
Let's not count things in Abzan that beats Abzan; that feels like cheating lol
June 9, 2015 10:28 p.m.
I agree. Maybe something like "Defy the Modern Meta" would suit the thread a bit better.
June 9, 2015 11:11 p.m.
Servo_Token says... #20
I mean, i'll play pretty much any deck you can come up with with grixis twin all day. Sometimes you just cant beat the meta because people like to play the best decks.
June 10, 2015 1:46 a.m.
If you think you can just break theeta then I'm not sure you understand WHY the meta is the way it is. The reason we have top decks in the first place is because they beat almost everything else. Almost by definition you cannot out-brew a T1 deck. Or, you might be able to hate on one of them but lose to all the others.
As an example my midrange deck lost to a deck that ramped into hexproof creatures. Cool it beat abzan. If I was playing any other t1 deck like burn or delver or twin they would have lost badly.
You can't just 'beat the meta'. There's nothing wrong to build budget brews but to think that you're going to stumble upon theagic recipe is naive.
June 10, 2015 4:21 a.m.
ChiefBell - As much as I do agree it is difficult to "break" the meta, I think it's still important to encourage creativity and trying to look outside the box instead of just net-decking all the time.
If we didn't have people brewing we would never come up with new decks and ideas and the format would remain very stale. Think about someone like Travis Woo who does crazy brews, these ideas help encourage more people to do the same and means we get a broader format.
Yes good decks are good, but a well designed brew with a good sideboard that took these other decks into account could easily win against them. Not even T1 decks are good against every single deck out there, in fact most rely on sideboarding to even stand a chance against some.
June 10, 2015 6:56 a.m.
T1 decks arent good against all other T1 decks. But theyre at least fair against the vast majority of not-T1 decks. You can't design a T2 deck that's good against ENOUGH T1 decks to be worth it.
Also homebrewing isn't responsible for the vast majority of T1 decks. Most of them are, to work on the term 'homebrew', 'lab engineered' by multiple pros working together.
June 10, 2015 7 a.m.
The importance of encouraging creativity depends on your deckbuilding priorities. If you particularly care about that and individuality then sure. If you want to actually win then.... not so much.
June 10, 2015 7:02 a.m.
I have been working very well with Azorious MORPHine trip to great success at FNM. The deck is out of left field for everybody and I do enjoy a lot of success vs a variety of others. No GPs or anything like that, but working on that right now.
If homebrewing is that important to you, do so. If the whole thread is basically a big "hey people, use more homebrews when competing", it will not happen. If it is a tournament, there money or reputation at stake and people will do anything to win.
The format has become quite stable and enjoyable nowadays, especially with the rise of Jund. Enjoy it!
June 10, 2015 7:33 a.m.
I think the problem with t1 decks is that they are good...like I've tryed to go with ideas that I think of that just end up turning into a t1 kinda deck, like the other day I was thinking of a b/r burn deck with bob being awesome to draw more burn spells, a splash later and some more value attrition cards and I accidentally made a jund deck...
June 10, 2015 8:47 a.m.
Fleetwood-Mat says... #28
Well, there are a lot of people out there who will just scoop as soon as you look at their hand. Make a deck with Inquisition of Kozilek, Thoughtseize, Gitaxian Probe, Duress, Surgical Extraction, Extirpate, Peek, Vendilion Clique etc...
I'm sure in U/B, you could find a lot of awesome cards to go right with that kind of deck.
June 10, 2015 3:46 p.m.
There are people who do that? Haha
Anyway, that sounds like a fun deck idea. Maybe something like searching their library for all their wincons and taking them away.
June 10, 2015 3:49 p.m.
JDM what if some of the key cards in abzan get banned or what if the key components of splinter Twin have answers. Also, Epochalyptic I designed this thread to brainstorm answers for the meta and as a tracking thread to try to dig up some answers to tough decks that have gigantic price tags and be able to win against them just enough to be FNM competitive.
For instance, as a white player, i do have a hidden gem that answers any red deck that does not deal infinite damage. So like burn or delver maybe. zoo as well.
Sanctimony is amazing... With the abundance of shock lands being mountains it actually is wildly effective. Red decks are hit with a major setback. Their bolts become shocks and their goblin guide is essentially a 1/1 on the turn they play it.
I want this thread to be full of decks that answer people's local meta and can answer a wide variety of decks in modern
And finally, Chiefbell if you want this to be like one of those pro labs where we all brew a deck, then let's do it. I mean, if the pros can do it, we can definitely net deck a special something that we can all put some work into and people can post their lists for it if they want.
With that in mind, i would actually like to propose a theme for that deck: A version of boggles that does not use enchantments on creatures, but enchantments on players in the forms of aura curses and stuff like that.
June 10, 2015 4:14 p.m.
That Aura Curse thing sounds very janky. I'm assuming you want a Curse of Misfortunes kinda deck? Idk, maybe...
I still want Tron. I don't know why, I just want it to work.
June 10, 2015 4:18 p.m.
ezio27 - Sanctimony is awful because Atarka's Command, and Abrupt Decay. Auriok Champion or Kor Firewalker are your best bets.
June 10, 2015 4:24 p.m.
Bell, the point of my post about sanctimony is not to say use sanctimony, it just is to give another option. Kor Firewalker is only limited to thecasting of a red spell, and i am not paying for an Auriok Champion
I understand your point of view but I also want to show that there are other options out there.
and JDM, there actually are mono white tron builds out there but green is not in my big list for tron. I just tend to see more than anything on a lot of green cards, making tron lands a bit inneffective. I know that there are green cards that would love being ramped to with tron lands but i can't think of them right now. It is more or less what we want to ramp to in tron. I mean, i would love to see a tron burn deck come into play. Just place a ton of mana into huge things or burn stuff.
June 10, 2015 4:36 p.m.
is there for Ancient Stirrings and Sylvan Scrying. Besides Primeval Titan there's not many green creatures that Tron wants. But Selesnya colors could give some diversity. I can think of Knight of the Reliquary atm.
June 10, 2015 4:47 p.m.
I can definitely see knight going in there but the land slots are still my main concern. I definitely see where you are coming from though.
If you want something selesnya that may have some use it is Chorus of the Conclave It is quite mana intensive though that would be my main concern. but adding the tron land mana is amazing with the ability.
June 10, 2015 4:53 p.m.
Well, replacing Grove of the Burnwillows with Temple Garden seems okay to use with KotR. That way, you can sac them to search up Tron lands if need be. And then maybe a Wooded Bastion to fix mana.
June 10, 2015 4:55 p.m.
Also I would like to mention i do have an alternative for the ever expensive Tarmogoyf
Even though he is going down i still can not afford him. So my budget goyf is a little guy i like to call Skinshifter
Sure you have to feed mana into him but he can actually reach 4 power at 2 mana in green plus the one mana you use to transform him. I think he is a great budget goyf
June 10, 2015 4:55 p.m.
I can see your idea there, but I personally just don't like expensive mana bases lol. I guess it just is not my style. I really like tron actually because the urza lands are so great and cheap thanks to the many reprints.
June 10, 2015 4:57 p.m.
however grove is so expensive lol that is a great replacement
June 10, 2015 5:01 p.m.
Any thoughts on a Bant Collected Company deck? Bant Hatebears-ish control combo-lockdown! . This is my mutilated version of the one from ForestBearStudios and I have had great success with it against everything aside from burn, looking for answers...
Also, Varolz, the Irresponsibly Dumb is my personal homebrew that isn't super competitive but does relatively well. It's nice and budget, somewhat. I did some research and I think with some goyfs (out of my price range) it could be very successful.
June 10, 2015 5:26 p.m.
Hey I like your Varolz list, the Vexing Devil is very nice. I run a Varolz list too with Death's Shadow but I did not think to put in Fauna Shaman.
I prefer keeping lists dual color for budget reasons but that's just my own preference. I can't really give you much hatebears help because i am not too big on those strategies.
JDMCRIB says... #2
Well, I may sound a bit biased, but Living Lore has some potential. Basically, you discard Cruel Ultimatum or Kolaghan's Command, and loop them every turn with Hall of the Bandit Lord. Or, you can just slap a Enter the Infinite onto it and finish them with Lightning Storm. The list on my page is proving to be fairly successful.
But color-swapping a current top tier deck sounds like a fun idea. Maybe take an archetype and move it into another color combination, perhaps?
June 9, 2015 8:23 p.m.