1st world states problems.
Modern forum
Posted on March 7, 2015, 8:52 p.m. by gnarlicide
So modern states is coming up. And I have been away since last November. I really want to play in states this April, and I need some help with a few things.
- Deck choice: I have 3 complete decks and two shells at the ready. They are Jund, Junk, Burn (those are the complete ones) and Esper control and BUG ( similar to G Fabs lost from last week).
Each one has its pros and cons
Jund: my pet go to deck. Been playing it since BBE and know it inside and out. Which is obviously a pro to the choice. Cons? Well, some matchups are uphill battles, (I am looking at tron on that). If there was a tron-less meta, I would snap choose it.
Junk: too easy, swap the red for white and play. Similar to Jund with pros. Also has some better SB hate for some decks. But oh god, I hate the idea of the mirror.
Burn: it's my daughters deck. I probably don't know as well as she does or as well as say another good burn player does. Tends to run out of gas in testing.
Esper: i will admit, I have been playing a shitload of control lately, so this might be right up my alley with the way I have been seeing the game lately. I would gear towards a version with Monastery Mentor and clog up the board with cheap cantrips and swing.
BUG: I have been wanting to play bug for a very very long time now. Especially since we got the new fetches in modern. I cannot decide if I want a delver style BUG or a control style BUG. Either one would be fun.
With the last two lists, I am leaning towards them for the sweet applicability of "hosers" out of the SB. Namely, Hurkyl's Recall for that damned affinity matchup. That and I really want to cast Bribery against Tron or any deck with a good sized dude.
- Keep in mind, I have not had much of a chance to play test, but I have been able to read articles, decklists and metagame for a heavily competitive environment.
Give me some suggestions on a deck to throw down with in states. What's better positioned? What will I likely run into other than Twin?
JexInfinite says... #3
BUG control is strictly better than Esper. If you can beat Abzan and Twin with Jund quite easily, go with that, but it seems like BUG can take care of it all.
March 7, 2015 9 p.m.
JexInfinite says... #4
But honestly, you can beat anything if you know your deck, and the opponent's well enough.
March 7, 2015 9:01 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #5
You could always attempt to rig the mana base of your jund deck to handle blood moon then hose other midranfe decks with it
March 7, 2015 9:10 p.m.
JexInfinite says... #6
The good thing about Jund is that Blood Moon only screws 2 of your colours. You can still cast Lightning Bolt and Olivia Voldaren if you fetch a Swamp. There's also the basic land + Abrupt Decay thing which people forget about.
March 7, 2015 9:19 p.m.
lemmingllama says... #7
Jund might be a bit hard to pull off due to the amount of Burn that has been showing up lately. It's manabase is very punishing, and it can have some bad matchups. That being said, it is much better for you to play a deck that you have a lot of practice with instead of a deck that you are weaker at.
If you don't want to do Jund, I would say to try out BUG control/delver. (both are strong and with a lot of answers, although I personally like the control list more) It fits in well in the current meta, and it is incredibly difficult to sideboard against. You can win a lot of game 1's, and really clean up post board.
March 7, 2015 9:25 p.m.
gnarlicide says... #8
I will say that I tried Jund with a white splash for rhino. I liked it a lot, but I feel like it would do really poorly. Literally, the only white card MB was siege rhino. I really dislike path to exile, and that keeps me from going all in on junk. But dem side board options, tho.
BUG control is a deck that I do think would be really good to play namely for the game 1's. But lack of experience would be my downfall.
So pretty much I have narrowed it down to BGx... So now we solve for "x". Mathematically speaking.
March 7, 2015 10:13 p.m.
gnarlicide says... #9
The other question is: is Olivia really that good in Jund? I personally never liked her and thought she was too mana intensive. Is there something I am missing with her other than her flying and body?
March 7, 2015 10:15 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #10
she used to be okay in the mirror I think? Other than that she can single-handedly keep affinity from doing anything (aside from champion)
March 7, 2015 10:17 p.m.
gnarlicide says... #11
Yeah, this is true. I suppose affinity is still a major player in the current meta.
March 7, 2015 10:18 p.m.
lemmingllama says... #12
Olivia Voldaren is good due to the fact that she wins games just by herself. You play her on turn 5-6 so you can get her out of Lightning Bolt range, then proceed to kill all their creatures with her and swing in for massive damage. She is one of those "answer me or I win" cards that can really pull it's weight in an attrition match up. Plus if you live the dream and steal their Siege Rhino with her...
Still, she is in one of those flex spots where you can use more Tasigur, the Golden Fangs, Huntmaster of the Fells Flip, or even Thundermaw Hellkite. More of a meta call than anything else.
March 7, 2015 10:21 p.m.
selesvyaloverer8 says... #14
the last thing burn wants is to draw 4 lands, dont play Outpost Siege i would look at seth manfield's list from pt frf, he top 8ed, if you want to play burn here it is
March 7, 2015 10:58 p.m.
CanadianShinobi says... #15
My vote is for Esper. Remember that deck you came across gnarlicide? I've been play testing the hell out of it on Xmage. And then using the variant I cooked up with Mystical Teachings. I have to conclude that the original version is better. It's weird because it plays more like an Abzan deck that swapped green for blue. Tasigur and Snappy fuel your kills and counters while Monastery Mentor acts as the killing power and blocking power.
I actually had a decent match with Abzan a couple of hours ago. I would say take the list that you linked from the Japan event and toy with the removal and counter suite. I would also swap Sorin, Lord of Innistrad for Sorin, Solemn Visitor since that way you can keep your life up if you decide to opt for a Dismember or two.
March 7, 2015 11 p.m.
gnarlicide says... #16
CanadianShinobi yeah, if I went Esper, I would play that exact list. Teachings is not good at the moment, IMO. Which sucks because it would be fun.
Right now Jund is where I am leaning. With BUG in a close second place. (how original of me, then again, my LGS calls me "Jund Dave" because I played that shard in three formats at one point, lol).
Tarmogoyf does weird thing to a man when he has access to a playset of them. Weird things.
March 7, 2015 11:16 p.m.
CanadianShinobi says... #17
I would assume the man becomes slightly mad with power. Alas... take your Jund then. I'm going to save up for that Esper list, because frankly I like it more than Jeskai at the moment. But I seriously think that list has some potential.
March 7, 2015 11:18 p.m.
Only a playset? Knowing you I figured you'd have many, many sets by now.
March 7, 2015 11:18 p.m.
gnarlicide says... #19
CanadianShinobi, don't get me wrong, I am also getting the remaining pieces together for it, but for states I feel like I should run a sure thing. Especially with the little amount of testing I have done in the format. I am literally only missing cryptics and snaps.
bigguy99, I would have more, but my wife says we are only down to our last two children. And they are her favorites.. Lol.. No for real. I have debated selling a kidney for my first and only set.
March 7, 2015 11:23 p.m.
CanadianShinobi says... #20
I was only joking, I know how important it is to be sure of the deck you're piloting.
March 7, 2015 11:34 p.m.
gnarlicide says... #21
I gotcha man. I am not offended. I just don't want to scrub out. I do this every time I plan on going to a higher profile event. I sit there with a grip of choices. And usually end up going with what I know.
If it was standard, it would be different. But in modern and legacy, it's very difficult for me to justify playing something else since the cards are so expensive.
But I am definitely going to build that Esper list and rumble with it locally until I can tune it a little more. You are right, that deck has so much potential.
March 7, 2015 11:43 p.m.
gnarlicide says... #24
VampireArmy. This list.
http://www.mtgtop8.com/event?e=9179&d=252730&f=MO
Dude in Japan won a few days before GFab won in the US.
The days are looking bright for rogue brews, my friend.
March 7, 2015 11:50 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #25
Sigh see that makes me wanna play blue. Deck does everything i want my mardu deck to do....literally
March 7, 2015 11:51 p.m.
gnarlicide says... #26
Go figure, a guy named CanadianShinobi ninjas me...
Lol.
March 7, 2015 11:51 p.m.
gnarlicide says... #27
Honestly, I am compelled to play blue for the awesome EoT affinity hate.
And in magical Christmas land, casting Bribery against an unsuspecting Tron player gives me giant, life threatening boners.
And the idea of a 0 turn Leyline of Singularity against an all in twin player or token player.
Sometimes I troll too hard.
March 7, 2015 11:55 p.m.
CanadianShinobi says... #28
bows
And you can always join the Blue Side VampireArmy. We have Counterspell. Bwahahaha!
March 7, 2015 11:55 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #29
You know what feels bueno vs tron? Slaughter Games naming wurmcoil Hide/Seek for their biggest guy. Exiling emurkul and gaining 15 life feels good man
March 7, 2015 11:58 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #31
If you ever add white to your jund deck seriously consider hide/seek. Both sides wreck tron. Hide tucks twins, removes wurmcoil for no token, messes with everything, seek is less good but can utterly swing games vs anything stompy. I love it
March 8, 2015 12:05 a.m.
gnarlicide says... #32
And here I was thinking I was the only SOB playing with secret tech...
March 8, 2015 12:08 a.m.
Yuuki's Esper list is super sweet, and if you have time to get the games in with it I would really consider it over the G/B/x decks that most of your opponents will be gunning for. But if not play the deck you know in and out.
March 8, 2015 10:37 a.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #34
If you have the cards for it, try Gerard's Sultai deck. It's incredibly powerful and I haven't yet lost a game with it. The sideboard is very well-built but can obviously be tuned as needed.
March 8, 2015 10:44 a.m.
gnarlicide says... #35
Oh yeah. If I can get the snaps and cryptics in time, I will strongly consider taking either of those decks, as I know Jund/junk pretty much have giant targets on their heads. Luckily, aside from Blood Moon there isn't much hate against Jund
March 8, 2015 11:25 a.m.
VampireArmy says... #36
And then little kid abzan starts sideboarding Fiendslayer Paladin...Lol
March 8, 2015 11:59 a.m.
GlistenerAgent says... #39
Both decks have sick blockers though. The Paladin also dies to Path to Exile.
March 8, 2015 12:12 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #40
Which is why i only mentioned it vs jund heheh.
You need something like Blood Baron of Vizkopa vs abzan
Not a single one of their spells can touch him
March 8, 2015 12:18 p.m.
gnarlicide says... #41
Yeah but how often does the baron see play?
As a side note, I traded 4 foil barons for 4 verdant catacombs when they were in standard. Best trade ever.
March 8, 2015 1:46 p.m.
VampireArmy says... #42
That was a sweet deal.
He sees none because either people just haven't thought of it or the mirror isn't that hard to beat for abzan heh
March 8, 2015 1:52 p.m.
Didgeridooda says... #43
I think you should put all of them on a wheel. Spin it for the answer.
March 8, 2015 1:56 p.m.
DarkMagician says... #44
Can you link the article with the information for states?
March 8, 2015 9:23 p.m.
gnarlicide says... #45
So here's my annual necrobump:
After proxy gauntlet testing, I have decided to play BUG. It's smoother and more taxing for the opponent. And because goyfs.
That and I got a helluva deal on 3 snaps, 2 cryptics, 4 serum visions and 3 darkslick shores. They cost me a total of 113 USD. A LGS was going out of business and liquidated all their stuff. I came in right after the owner announced it. I rule.
Truth be told, if he had the cards for Esper, I probably would have gone that route.
March 14, 2015 9:40 p.m.
lemmingllama says... #46
You got a nice deal there! Anyways, BUG is one of the more solid options currently since people can't easily sideboard to deal with you. Good luck with the deck though!
March 14, 2015 10:35 p.m.
Didgeridooda says... #47
So, that is quite a deal. Seems you got 3 snappy on sale, and the rest free.
March 14, 2015 10:39 p.m.
Didgeridooda says... #48
Or just paid for the 2 cryptics, and got the rest free. That really was a great deal.
March 14, 2015 10:40 p.m.
gnarlicide says... #49
Fuck yeah. The only cards I am missing from the deck are the damnations and the spellskites. Which should be pretty easy to get in the next three weeks.
A buddy of mine reminded me that he owes me money from some cards he got from me a while ago. Lol.
March 15, 2015 12:39 a.m.
OtakulordAndrew says... #50
I would recommend jund for the most familiarity you have with the deck personally, Junk if you want a decent match up also for the mirror games I would recommend Wilt-Leaf Liege and Assault Formation. The esper and bug decks would probably be quite entertaining and it sounds like you would have fun playing them, they would also be a breath of fresh air from the larger numbers of junk midrange, quick aggro decks and the combo decks primarily splinter twin that are so prevalent in the current meta.
bigguy99 says... #2
Jund and Junk seem the most competitive out of those. Burn could be good too, but I don't think you should take a deck you're not very familiar with. The same goes for Esper and BUG. Also, I haven't seen Tron be super prevalent so if that's what you're scared of when playing the first two then don't be too frightened. Between Jund and Junk I'd pick the latter just because OMG ABZAN MIDRANGE but Jund could be good with all the removal it's packing (but it is rather suicidal).
March 7, 2015 8:56 p.m.